It's. Not. Your. Money.

Per Jake Tapper's Twitter feed, Pres. Obama will say the following in his speech on Wall St. reform today "Some on Wall St forgot that behind every dollar traded or leveraged, there is a family looking to buy a house, pay for an education..."

Fair enough as far as that goes.  It's rather like what I do, I'm constantly reminding my co-workers that something that's just a file to us is actually the client's life.  That's a serious obligation.  I do think it's clear that there are some working on the derivatives who forgot the real world impact of default swaps and the like.  I do not believe this was malicious, more a result of being lost in the numbers, but I do think it happened.  People are legitimately angry that their money was treated as simply part of a game. 

Having said that, I would like to remind Pres. Obama, Congress, Federal regulators, state governments, local municipalities and all other forms of government that behind every dollar in taxation or licensing fees or fines or the like there is a family looking to buy a house, pay for education, buy food, pay the light bill and on and on and on.  The same principle applies.

My money is no more the government's than it is Wall Street's.  Actually, no.  Wall Street has more of a claim to my money since my money is given to Wall Street voluntarily and not at the end of a gun.  Be it through direct investment, participation in a retirement fund or other form of investment, my money is being invested because I chose to put it there.  I have no choice but to pay taxes, fees, etc. unless I want it to finally end with a gun in my face.  That is the reality that far far too many politicians ignore.  There is all the difference in the world between voluntarily putting money into a mutual fund and having funds taken from your check so that you don't end up in jail for tax evasion.  These things are not the same. 

So you'll forgive me, Mr. President, if I find your moral posturing on this issue to be as risible as I do your claim about anything else.  You, sir, want to demonize Wall Street while you laugh at American citizens for exercising their rights to protest the forcible taking of their earnings.  Mr. President, I do wish to remind you that you work for us, not the other way around.  So, Mr. President, while you stand there fanning the flames of populist rage against those fat cat bankers, I'm going to sit here and do my best to fuel legitimate anger at the government's desire to take my money.  Fair is fair.

Posted by: alexthechick at 09:04 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 464 words, total size 3 kb.

"I voted Democrat because"

Sorta chainmail fodder, but still funny.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 08:29 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 10 words, total size 1 kb.

Beyond parody

The "refs" decided what was legit and not legit in an election campaign with a completely unknown candidate with a long record of crazy, obvious odd lies. The press acted as a guardian of those in power, not as a fearless skeptic. That's what worries me. If they did it once, they'll do it again.

—Andrew Sullivan writing in The Atlantic, NOT referring to Barack Hussein Obama.

Yeah.

Posted by: Sean M. at 04:35 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 70 words, total size 1 kb.

Dear Earth Day

Fuck you. Fuck your socialism. Fuck your collectivism. Fuck your capitalism killing antics. And fuck you with a car battery soaked in extra acid and tied to a tire fire.

Fuck off, and go to Gaia hell along the way.

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:51 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.

St. Heartache Must Have Dipped Into His "Special" Pouch Of Crazy Weed Tonight

Holy Fucking Fucklickity Split With A Fuckrag On Top! This is some really fucked up shit!

Here's a revealing glimpse into how a delusional, incompetent, pathological liar has managed never to hold a real press conference and yet remains a credible public figure.

But enough about Team Obama.

Oh, wait! Lemme guess. He meant somebody else, right?

Yup.

The reason I banged on and on about Palin's bizarre story about her fifth campaign prop during the campaign was not because I wanted to invade someone's privacy, or engage in loony conspiracy theories. The reason is simply that this story raised legitimate questions of fact, and that the press decided that it would never ask the relevant questions {like Bristol and Levi? Like "I can see Russia from my house"? Like "what books do you read"? Like hacking into her yahoo mail account?-ed}, and indeed ostracize and ridicule those who did {if by "ostracize and ridicule", you mean a paycheck from a formerly prestigious publication and repeated appearances on cable TV to flog your silliness, then I want to suffer as you did-ed}.

But wait! It gets better!

The problem here is not really Palin. Every delusional, ignorant nutcase should have a chance to get away with running for national office {see: Kucinich, Dennis-ed}. The problem here is the system - a system that allowed someone no-one knew anything about to get very close to being a 72-year-old's heartbeat away from the presidency, a system that deems some questions unaskable {like asking Joe the Plumber about his tax records yet avoiding a vetting of Obama's policy papers?-ed}, a press that is more concerned with maximizing ratings and avoiding offence than in getting answers {yeah, and that is why they are so willing to hammer Obama every night and give the GOP a pass, right"-ed}. This system is dangerous {but that Chinese Politburo or the Chavez System? Fucking Awesome with a capital J!-ed}. If you construct a sealed media cocoon {like the DC Press Corp protecting Obama and MSNBC?-ed}, and false narrative, and a massive money-machine {how much did Obama spend to pimp his agenda in 2009/10? But we can't have that! We must investigate a woman's uterus-ed}, you can get further than most people imagine {see: Obama, Barack 44th President of the United States-ed}, . And remember, presidents have been elected with 43 percent of the vote before {and Abe Lincoln won a 4 way race. Your point?-ed}.

Jeebus Baconfucking On Cereal Christ! That is some fucked up shit right there. I wonder if Sir Sacsucker McSwampass even realizes that he just self parodied the rise of Obama and the media cocoon used to protect him. But I guess that is too much to ask of a man who has lapped Charles Johnson in the mentally fucked up category and is busy burning donuts in the infield with his trophy of craziness.

Oh well. Glad to see him stay at The Atlantic, so that he can continue to amaze and impress all comers with his rank stupidity and dementia. Crazy people need jobs too.

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:40 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 526 words, total size 4 kb.

All that talk about health care rationing?

Why, that's all just a bunch of silly wingnut paranoia, right? Right?

Pregnant women were forced to travel up to 99 miles in order to give birth last year after being turned away by overstretched maternity units.

Official figures reveal that one unit was forced to close for 78 hours because it could not cope with demand.

Another trust shut its doors 112 times, forcing women only minutes or hours from giving birth to seek care elsewhere.

Oh, and this is certainly no cause for alarm...

Immigration means NHS officials underestimated the number of births last year by 40,000. The birth rate is now at the highest level for 26 years, and the unions say there is a shortage of around 3,000 midwives.

Note that they're not even talking about a shortage of doctors here.

Also, it's not like there's any possible legislation coming down the pike that could blow up the Obamacare cost estimates even more by covering illegals or offering them amnesty or anything. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Lindsey?

Posted by: Sean M. at 12:16 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 177 words, total size 1 kb.

The inevitable Hitler Reacts to The Downfall Parodies Being Taken Off of Youtube video

Naturally,

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 09:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 15 words, total size 1 kb.

Red on Red two-fer

I refuse to call it "blue on blue" because (a) everybody knows red is bad, and (b) red is the color of the (democratic) socialist parties 'round the world... except here for some reason.

Story 1: Anyway, Snarlin' Arlen Specter has a really nasty (and effective) ad up against his primary opponent Congressman Joe Sestak.  Sestak's saying he's being "swiftboated", which I just find all kinds of hilarious.

Story 2: Donny Douchebag Deutsch Douchebag got canned from MSNBC because he criticized Olbermann.  I guess that sheds some light on the not-so-oblique references made on Morning Joe when Joan Walsh just couldn't come up with anybody incendiary on the Left side of the media spectrum.  Of course, when the Olby fill-in gets better ratings than the real Olby, it's pretty obvious that you're running a raw propaganda machine rather than anything even pretending to be a capitalist venture.

--Couldn't happen to nicer people!

Posted by: JoeCollins at 02:53 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 156 words, total size 2 kb.

Revenge of the 20%

There's a business maxim that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.  Like all other such principles, there are all kinds of exceptions, but I'm sure that we can all agree that, no matter what you do, there are those who do most of the work and those who don't.  Or, as I say, anyone who supports socialism has never done a group project. 

I was pondering this over the last month or so as I watched my office prepare for several major events that were going to happen simultaneously.  It was true, 20% of the office was working long hours and keeling over from stress.  The other 80%?  Bitched about being asked to help carry boxes to a truck. 

When evaluating the Tea Party movement and the discontent in American politics, I believe that what we are seeing can best be described as the Revenge Of The Twenty Percent.  Those who achieve are finally pushing back at being forced to pay for those who don't even try.  Those who achieve are finally pushing back at being considered horrible and selfish for wanting to keep the money that they worked so hard to earn.  Those who achieve are finally pushing back at the notion that it's only right that the 20% are supposed to do 80% of the work.  Those who achieve are finally pushing back at the notion that the 80% are not capable of doing more than 20% of the work. 

To return this to the workplace analogy, consider your office/workplace/whatever.  You are in the 20% who work.  You'll keep your mouth shut about the 80% to a certain point.  But after that point, then you'll pitch a fit.  Why?  Because the 80% are trying to make you do 100% of the work, not 80%. 

That's what I see happening in America at the moment.  While the percentages don't hold, the concept is the same.  Those who feel entitled are demanding that they be taken care of completely.  Those who work are digging in their heels and saying no, no I will not do that.  Not only that, those who work have had it with being told they are cruel and evil for asking that others work also.  On a personal level, there's nothing that makes me angrier at work then when I get yelled at because I didn't do someone else's job.  Do not tell me that it's my responsibility because I know that a co-worker wouldn't do it.  It's not my job.  It's his/her's.  Go yell at the person who actually messed up, don't yell at me because I didn't hold his/her hand to make sure it got done. 

I also firmly believe the cultural analysis is wrong.  This is not about race.  This is Revenge of the Nerds, 2010 style.  When I look at the Tea Party protests, what I see are the ones who did all the work in the group projects only to sit back and watch the entire group get an A standing up and saying "No.  No, you do not get credit for my work ever again."  That's the source of the anger.  The achievers worked and struggled and saved and tried to take care of themselves.  Now they are being asked to give all that up to the kids in the back of class passing around a bottle and a joint.  This is about the a/v geeks standing up to the jocks.  This is about the bookworms refusing to do the prom queens' homework.  This is about the ones who went to the library on Saturday morning instead of doing a walk of shame saying no, no I will not let you use my paper.

Of course those in the 20% are angry because now the proposition is that 20% will do 100% of the work while being screamed at and called vile names.  Of course there is going to be push back.  Of course there will be anger.  Why would anyone expect otherwise?

Posted by: alexthechick at 12:42 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 672 words, total size 4 kb.

Breaking down the GOP Senate primaries

Hawkins has a good breakdown of the races, and his picks (and sometimes non-picks) in the primaries.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 09:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 23 words, total size 1 kb.

Dear Michael "ClimateGate" Mann

Fuck you. Fuck you and your arrogant personage forever with a frozen meat thermometer soaked in liquid AIDS. Fuck you for lying to help get an awful fucking agenda passed. Fuck you for covering up your lies. And fuck you for trying to sue those who mock you.

What, you fucking can't take a joke or stand to be criticized? What the fuck fuckingly fucked up fuckwhiff of fuck is that all about? I fucking thought scientists encouraged criticism as part of the process. I thought scientists wanted to make their work better through resistance and opposition. And I thought scientists weren't such thin skinned assaholic assfisters of fuckingly fucked up monkey jizz as you are.

Oh well, I guess I was wrong. I guess you are a dickhead. I guess you are unwilling to face criticism for your actions. And I guess you have the emotional maturity of a three year old.

So fuck off, "Doctor" Mann. Fuck you for what you and your junk science have done to the planet, business, and true scientific discovery. And go get raped by a frozen polar bear's wangdang while watching this video:

Posted by: eddiebear at 11:49 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 196 words, total size 2 kb.

Okay, you know what? Gerson needs to quit this bullshit

So, I'm reading this WaPo piece from Michael Gerson, which amounts to a endorsement of McCain, and it's just friggin' grating on me.  He's getting antsy because JD Hayworth is closing the gap between himself and McCain in the Arizona primary.  Gerson knows McCain is in trouble, as does McCain's campaign team.  He knows the Tea Partiers poised to make a serious effort to drive out McCain. 

Gerson goes over the litany of reasons that JD Hayworth is a bad candidate...and you know what?  They're pretty much all correct.  Look, I'll say it, Hayworth is a corrupt ass, and you can't convince me that there aren't much better people for that Senate seat in Arizona.  It doesn't matter though. 

Gerson allows that McCain is an intemperate jackass,

There are reasons McCain is politically endangered. He is the Senate's most gifted practitioner of sudden, disproportionate anger. He often seems overly impressed by his own virtue. Many in Washington and Arizona would pay good money to see him humbled. His epic service is matched by epic flaws -- but an insufficient commitment to fiscal conservatism is not among them.

All I have to say to that last line is Cap & Trade.  Hey, Michael?


Gerson of course leaves out the even longer litany of reasons that McCain sucks, and the fact that McCain has been kicking conservatives in the balls every chance he's had over his entire political career.  Well, Michael, we now have the chance to give him a swift kick to the nads in return for all the years of abuse he gave us, and it looks like we might take it.  This election isn't so much about who is better, they both suck, this is about sending a warning to the GOP leadership, that they aren't invincible, and they aren't going to hitch a free ride on the wave of opposition to the Marxist left. They'll also learn that if they don't learn to respect us, they'll learn to fear us, because we'll drive them out of power, and there's nothing the GOP leadership fears more than to be driven out of their cushy leadership positions.

Then, there's this,

A primary loss might be good for McCain's soul. But it would be bad for his party and for the country.

How so Michael?  Is it the refusal to allow increased gas and oil exploration, Cap & Trade, Amnesty, McCain-Feingold, closing Gitmo, or undermining the Bush tax cuts that was so good for the party and country?  Which one was it?

At his best, McCain is precisely what a senator should be -- independent, passionate, unawed by power, unmoved by influence.

And at his worst, he's an attention whoring, arrogant, ignorant jackass with poor command of the facts on very basic issues, especially economics and the Constitution, and has no coherent political philosophy guiding him.  Your point?

Of course, I think Gerson knows all this.  In fact, I know he knows this.  Before his gig at WaPo, he was a speechwriter for Bush.  He's also an amnesty advocate, as you can see in this early WaPo piece, where he demagogues opponents of Bush's amnesty plan.  That's what is driving this for Gerson, Hayworth, if nothing else, has been a solid opponent against the efforts by both the Democrat and GOP leadership to impose amnesty on this nation.

This fucking pissed me off,

In contrast, Hayworth symbolizes the worst excesses of the Tea Party movement, without having displayed any of its redeeming fiscal virtues while in office. His candidacy presents a test. If the movement embraces politicians such as Hayworth, it will not only prove itself extreme; it will prove itself gullible.

...so in other words, in Gerson's world, we have no choice, accept McCain and endless abuse he dishes out to conservatives, accept the horribly destructive bills he regularly leads the charge for, or our opinion means nothing.  What a bunch of fucking bullshit, I'd suggest Gerson should be ashamed of himself, but I don't think he's capable.  What a bastard.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 10:26 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
Post contains 681 words, total size 5 kb.

Duct tape fixes...

...everything.

Posted by: Alice H at 09:52 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 4 words, total size 1 kb.

Bzzzzzzzzzt

Stupid question time: Why do these sort of stories always involve skanky hobos and not skanky hos?  Wouldn't that be a much more entertaining article if it happened to Jenny McCarthy?

Posted by: Alice H at 09:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 32 words, total size 1 kb.

What's the record for number of "ha"s after a "bwa"?

I know, it's old, but it's new to me.
When the Giants opened the Cowboys' shiny new stadium with a victory, apparently I wasn't the only one who was thought it was funny.
Eli autographed a concrete pillar in the locker room. There's a pic at the link.



I'll be laughing about that for years to come. That's almost funnier than TO crying.
Almost.

Posted by: Veeshir at 06:26 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 74 words, total size 1 kb.

Bunch of fucking Nazis

The film studio that made Downfall is now demanding that Youtube begin removing some of the more popular Downfall videos, and Youtube is complying...though I'll note it looks like people are putting one or two of them back up.  Oddly enough, the director of Downfall thinks it's funny and is totally cool with it, but the studio itself is acting all butthurt about the fact that the movie is being used in parody.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 02:58 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 77 words, total size 1 kb.

Ooooh, a Crisis! Let's expand the govt's control!

Saw this at the puppy blender's place, since theEUnuch response to the ash cloud over EUnuchstan was so poor it means the EU needs more control!
Quote
In the European Parliament MEPs took it in turns to urge the EU to do more.

Wow, EUrocrats wanting to expand their power.
Whodathunkit?

Exit question.
Upon seeing the headlines Ash Shuts Down EU Airspace, am I the only one who thought, "Hail to the king baby."?

Posted by: Veeshir at 02:02 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 82 words, total size 1 kb.

Don't You Hate Seeing Rich Greedy Republicans Taking Money From Companies?

Yeah, especially when this happens.

But the mere $151,722.42 (inflation adjusted) in contributions from Enron-affiliated executives, employees, and PACs to Bush hardly add up to Obama's $1,007,370.85 (inflation adjusted) from Goldman-affiliated executives and employees. That's also not taking into account how much Goldman contributed to Obama cabinet member Hillary Clinton ($415,595.63 inflation adjusted), which was itself almost three times as much as Bush received as well. It would be fair to say that the total amount the Obama administration has received from those affiliated with Goldman Sachs is ten times that of what Bush received from Enron.

Goldman is being sued for civil fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission for deliberately putting unwitting clients on the wrong side of a mortgage security trade that had been designed to fail {which helped spur the economic collapse that helped Obama win. Funny how that happens-ed}

Posted by: eddiebear at 01:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 155 words, total size 1 kb.

In Which Moron Pundit Declares War On The Left's Person Grading System

First, place the following human traits in order from "Most likely to help you form an opinion about someone" to least.

• Color of skin.
• Choice of where to stick genitals in free time.
• Intolerant/Prejudiced/Racist Personality
• Generically Mean Personality
• Intelligence
• Country of Origin
• Honor
  
• Courage
• Honesty
• Generosity
• Attractiveness
• Weight
• Eye Color
• Clothing
• Talent/Skill/Knowledge
  

I could add a bunch more but you get the idea.  Now, after that, put those same things in order of what traits would be most likely to influence your decision to hire or not hire someone for a job. 

Did all of you rank intelligence above color of skin?  Yes?  Good.

Alright, now the final part:  Rank the above in the order you think these actually effect hiring processes in the real world. 

Did we all put talent/skill/intelligence/etc near or at the top?  Good.

Now, we all know that there are innumerable laws restricting a person's ability to hire based on skin color and even providing advantages to people of certain "victim" groups.  I agree that we shouldn't be judging who we hire based on the color of their skin but instead on qualities that are actually important but I'd argue that that is what happens in 99.5% of all cases.  After all, what business can afford to hire less qualified people just because they don't like black people? 

So why is it we've spent so much effort in America focusing on the differences among us that cause the LEAST amount of unfairness?  Of the qualities on this list that one cannot control from birth, it would seem obvious that base intelligence would account for far more instances of "unfairness" than what color a person is or where they're from.  Doesn't that seem clear? 

So why isn't there a huge stupid people's lobby arguing for Stupid People's Rights?  And since there isn't, it sure seems stupid to focus on less important things like if they have sex with men or women or horses or whatever.

Why do we judge a person that hates only one group of people to be worse than someone that is just an asshole to everyone he meets? 

Why are we so fucking preoccupied with the most trivial of our qualities while ignoring their negligent impact on reality relative to other traits?

It all has to stop.  Its time to realize that something about each of us is despised by someone else in the world and that person may be sitting across an interview desk from you some day.  Its time to get over your chosen excuse and realize that everybody has challenges.  Everybody has a quality that works against their success.  The secret of the successful is that they find a way to excel anyway. 

They aren't special.  You can too.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 10:48 AM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
Post contains 458 words, total size 3 kb.

Hey Marc Ambinder?

The Moral Urgency of Obesity? Really? Really? I still await the philosophical justification for the position that my body is the government's business.

Mr. Ambinder, I have the following modest propositions for you. All of these propositions flow from your apparent belief that it is, in fact, the government's business to tell me what to do with my body.

1. There is a fierce moral urgency to ensure that those who are lonely find surcease from their pain. Thus, the government has the right to tell me with whom I must engage in carnal relations. 

2. There is a fierce moral urgency to ensure that the birth rate increases in order to maintain the needed levels of population for taxation purposes to fund government programs. Thus, the government has the right to force me to have a minimum of 3 children (one of the father, one for the mother, one for the state).

3. There is a fierce moral urgency to ensure that our nation's infrastructure is maintained. Thus, the government has the right to require me to work on a project repairing roads, cutting down forests, repairing dams and other such work.

Seriously, if the government has the right to regulate my body in one aspect, it has the right to regulate it in all other aspects.  It's the dick/donut proposition. If you cannot tell me what to do with one, you cannot tell me what to do with another.

My body does not belong to the government. Funny, didn't we fight this incredibly bloody war to firmly establish that idea?

Posted by: alexthechick at 09:00 AM | Comments (22) | Add Comment
Post contains 265 words, total size 2 kb.