Thursday, January 10, 2013

MSM-Watch, Part One

There may be updates to this series, "MSM Watch."

HT:  Sipsey

Restrictions on Guns?

I saw that movie, too.

HT:  Cold Fury

The Offspring of Jabba and Hydra

Conservative political punditry from the Cognoscenti--whether Erickson, Will, Sykes, or Jeffrey, has focused on "entitlement spending reform" as a salve to the deficit (and longer-term, to the national debt.)  That's a good discussion to have. 

But all those writers quietly forget that there are other ways to reduce Federal spending, such as elimination of Federal employees.  Curious, no? 

When MorganStanley finds a cost problem, they eliminate 1600 jobs.  Hatteras Yachts, 105.  Henredon Furniture and various coal-mining firms simply close plants, eliminating dozens or hundreds of jobs. 

The Feds?  Nope.

The giant sucking sound made by the Feds in the Department of "Education", the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Departments of Energy, the Transportation Security Administration Theatre, EPA--no layoffs, no cuts.

That group, and quite a few others in D.C., are collectively the offspring of Jabba the Hut and Hydra.  So long as "conservatives" forget that these departments and bureaus should be de-populated, "conservatives" will have a very hard time selling "entitlement reform."

After all, like charity, "reform" begins at home.  DC needs a root-and-branch radical surgery, and now is the time to do it.

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Seeing the Light on Factory Hires and Careers

It's an interesting article on the whole, but this couple of grafs jumps out:

...“Years ago you had apprenticeships, companies that would bring you on and train you,” said Andrew Beere, human resources manager at Pioneer Products, 1917 S. Memorial Drive. “And we have kind of gone back to that. If they have some experience, we’re willing to train.”...

 ...Richard Meeusen, chairman, president and CEO of Racine Federated’s parent company, Badger Meter. “We have presidents and leaders who say every child should have the opportunity to go to college.

“Unfortunately, it sends the message to parents that if they don’t send their kids to college, they’re failing.”

“Now we’re saying, ‘Where are our electricians, auto mechanics, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) workers and CNC (computer numeric control) operators?’” Meeusen said.

He added, “We’ve ripped out all the shop classes and replace them with calculus.”

I've mentioned to a few friends that the next bubble to burst will be Big College.  First, because the ROI is oftentimes negative--or barely positive.  Second, because in many cases it's clear that edyumakayshun did nothing for the chilluns' ability to read, write, and reason.  Finally, because the trades are paying more and more as the pool diminishes (see 'first', above.)

HT:  Vox

Molon Labe, Suckah!

The Petty Dictator has a plan.

“The president is going to act,” said Biden, giving some comments to the press before a meeting with victims of gun violence. “There are executives orders, there’s executive action that can be taken. We haven’t decided what that is yet. But we’re compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and the rest of the cabinet members...--quoted at Gateway

Come and get 'em, bozo.

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Yah, fine, Megna and Fallone both oppose Walker.  Duh.

But look again at the Megna-circulated petition.  Look specifically at Line # 2, signed by Timothy Aiken.

Notice anything--besides his dipsy-doodle on his home address?

C'mon.  You can see it plain as day!

OK.  Let me put it this way:  when did ZIP Code 53226 move over to ZIP Code 53211?  Does Mayor Barrett know that Wauwatosa has just annexed the fashionable Lower East Side?

Monday, January 07, 2013

Obozo's EPA: Killing Jobs, Killing Ratepayers

Nice move, Frank Windsor Lisa Jackson!

In keeping with Obozo's promise that 'you won't be able to afford' coal-generated electricity,  his EPA, led by a charades-queen, has slammed Wisconsin Public Service Corp. with a $1 million ++ fine and forced them to drop $300 million into "new" technology.  WPS will also have to drop $6 million into horse-hockey "mitigation" schemes.

The technology may work; no one else is using it.  But the other effects?

The heavy-handed EPA decision prompted a statement from the Northern Wisconsin energy company claiming “the settlement along with current economic conditions will likely lead to employee staff reductions within its energy supply operations area.”

Nice.

No, that's not all.

The EPA’s settlement with the energy company will not only kill jobs but will likely force higher rates on ratepayers

WPS is not alone here.  A lot of utilities have done exactly what they did:  utilize "best-possible" technology to reduce pollution.  Unfortunately, Ms. Windsor/Jackson demanded un-proven 'maybe-it'll work' technology.

We'll see how that plays out Up Nort'. 


Sunday, January 06, 2013

It's the Spending, Stupid!! Part 335,648

Rand Paul:

...The arguments against the automatic “cuts” in military spending were particularly dishonest. Hawks on both sides warned of doom and gloom if, as the plan called for, the defense budget would have returned to 2007 levels of spending! Does anybody really believe that our defense spending was woefully inadequate just five years ago? And since 2007 we have been told that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. According to the Congressional Budget Office, over the next eight years military spending would increase 20 percent without the sequester and would increase 18 percent with the sequester. And this is what is called a dangerous reduction in defense spending?...

And that's only a small part of his speech.

HT:  Shedlock

THIS Is "Actuarial Science"?

Umhnnhhh....the Assault Rifles take their revenge?

The Mayans were only off by a couple dozen years?

ObozoCare DOES have a 'kill the semi-elderly' clause?

HT:  JustOneMinute

Stupid Is As....

Collection of stupids from Grim.

One:

PT WAS SWINGING HAMMER AND HIT SELF IN GROIN

Others, even more stupider, at the link.

Podhoretz the Poseur

Legal Insurrection paid a little attention to Podhoretz, who has now joined the Pragmatist gang.

The most passionately anti-Obama Republican politicians and activists consider themselves the truest and purest of conservatives, and often unleash their scorn and fury on others who also call themselves conservative but differ on strategy and tactics.

But in the realm of philosophy, “conservatism” from Thomas Hobbes onward is a worldview dedicated to order and tradition and the proposition that disorder is dangerous and deadly....

...Thus, it is the opposite of “conservative” to embrace chaos instead of order. It is the opposite of “conservative” to embrace crisis rather than accept unpleasant realities.

And yet, over the past week, that is exactly what many conservatives have done. They have violated fundamental conservative precepts.

It is not likely that Podhoretz is ignorant of Burke.  More likely he just conveniently "forgot" him.

Here's what Burke had to say about Podhoretz's faux-Conservative, Hobbes (interpolated with a favorable citation of Babbitt):

With Hobbes, this negation of morality enters English political thought, and we continue to suffer from it poison.

In other words, Podhoretz 1) cites a despicable little disciple of Machiavelli; 2)  calls him a "Conservative"; and 3) uses him to accuse Conservatives of betraying principles.

Podhoretz ought to know about 'betraying principles.'  He does it himself.

Five Rounds. Lefties Remain Confused.

The story of the Georgia woman who successfully defended herself and her children is all over the 'net.

Mewling and squalling Left-O-Bozos remain confused.

...The woman then shot him five times, but he survived, Chapman said. He said the woman ran out of bullets but threatened to shoot the intruder if he moved.....--Cold Fury quoting WSBTV

Wait, wait!! Didn't he fall backwards and die on the first shot, just like in Matt Damon movies??

[Sheriff's deputy] said Slater was shot in the face and neck.

He had FIVE .38" holes in the face, neck, and torso.  Half of a "high-clip".  Still not dead.

Another useful observation at the link, by the way. 

Lefties continue to mewl and squall.  Louder.  That always works better.

Stupid Newspaper Tricks

Yah, so some non-entity Gannett outfit published the names/addresses of every CCW permit holder in some part of New York State.

“That was the most asinine article I’ve ever seen,” said Walter T. Shaw, 65, a former burglar and jewel thief who the FBI blames for more than 3,000 break-ins that netted some $70 million in the 1960s and 1970s. “Having a list of who has a gun is like gold - why rob that house when you can hit the one next door, where there are no guns?  ---Vox quoting Fox News

There are less-theoretical consequences, too.  Seems like a number of those CCW holders are prison guards (and cops.)  And the prisoners now know their home addresses.

Won't take long for the predictable events to occur, and then for a motivated PI lawyer to make Gannett into a smoldering pile of BK.


New "Gun Control"? Not in Congress

The realpolitik hasn't changed.

The White House is weighing a far broader and more comprehensive approach to curbing the nation’s gun violence than simply reinstating an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, according to multiple people involved in the administration’s discussions.

A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors, the sources said....

Uh-huh.  All of which measures will be religiously observed by criminals, of course.

But here's the key sentence:

...Biden’s group has expanded its focus to include measures that would not need congressional approval and could be quickly implemented by executive action...

IOW, they know they can't get what they want from Congress.

The real screamer?

...White House aides have also been in regular contact with advisers to New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I), an outspoken gun-control advocate who could emerge as a powerful surrogate for the Obama administration’s agenda....

Yup.  New York City Mayors have always sold real well west of the Hudson and east of the San Gabriel mountains, no?  It's BANK, baby!!

If you still think that Obozo can get his gun-grab through Congress, then read this item.

On a proposal to ban manufacture of "assault weapons":

....one year before Newtown, Americans opposed the proposition by a 53 to 43 margin. A few weeks ago – three days before Christmas, in fact – the same question was put to the nation with exactly the same wording. How much did it change? Still opposed… 51 to 44. It’s a net shift which is less than the margin of error.

At this point in time, it's a moot question.  You can't FIND an AR for sale, anyway.

Friday, January 04, 2013

SCOAMF's Recovery

(Click to embiggificate.)

Four years of this Stuttering Clusterf*** Of A Miserable Failure's "Stimulus" and we have Tennessee Ernie's .'...another day older and deeper in debt...'

A LOT deeper. 

Some Animals Are More Equal

Feinstein explains why SHE is entitled to self-defense.

You?  Suck an egg.

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Another Little Problem With ObozoCare

Surprise!  The box of chocolates has another soured-cream bite!

In a long-awaited interpretation of the new health care law, the Obama administration said Monday that employers must offer health insurance to employees and their children, but will not be subject to any penalties if family coverage is unaffordable to workers.  --JustOneMinute quoting NYT

In other words,

The gist is that employers are not obliged to weigh a worker's family status in deciding his total compensation, which makes sense - because the family insurance can cost an extra $10,000 per year, an employer would have a strong incentive to avoid family guys and gals when hiring for lower paying jobs.
Unfortunately, this means that a stay-at-home spouse becomes a tremendous financial burden due to lost federal subsidies; the employed partner's income can make the couple ineligible for Medicaid but the federal subsidy for health insurance may not be available either.

Nice.

EPA "Experiments" on Old, Sick, and Children

Think Dustin Hoffman v. "Dr." Mengele.

This has been ongoing for a while, but under the radar.  The MFM doesn't give a rip, and Conservatives haven't yet jumped on the bandwagon.

The Obama Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says no law empowers any judge to stop it from conducting illegal scientific experiments on seniors, children and the sick.


That astounding assertion will be tested Friday, when a federal district court in Alexandria decides whether it has jurisdiction to hear claims made by the American Tradition Institute that EPA researchers are exposing unwary and genetically susceptible senior citizens to air pollutants the agency says can cause a variety of serious cardiac and respiratory problems, including sudden death.

Say what?

...EPA-employed or -funded researchers have intentionally exposed a variety of people to concentrated levels of different air pollutants, including particulate matter (soot and dust), diesel exhaust, ozone and chlorine gas — the latter substance more recognized as a World War I-era chemical weapon than as an outdoor air pollutant....

Say WHAAAT?

...The American Tradition Institute contends in its lawsuit that the EPA has broken virtually every rule established to protect human subjects used in scientific experiments, including the Nuremberg Code, ethics principles for human experimentation adopted following the Nuremberg Trials at the end of World War II, and similar U.S. regulations known as “The Common Rule.”...

OK.  So how does EPA intend to defend itself?

The answer is meaningful.  They will not deny the specific allegations.  Instead, EPA argues that it is not subject to any law on the matter.

Mengele would be proud.  There was no law which prohibited his activities, either.





Megna, Fallone Are In SCOWI Race

This will be fun to watch.

Both Vince Megna and Ed Fallone have filed enough signatures to run for SCOWI.

In all likelihood, Fallone will run to the right of Megna (even though they are similarly Left-inclined.) 

Fallone will have the Democrat Party's machinery behind him, as noted by Lakeshore.  That means that Fallone has a fat source of funds, too--and unless Megna wants to spend a whole lot of his personal fortune, he's not likely to prevail.

The fact that the Dem Party of Wisconsin has more-or-less anointed Fallone leaves Megna and his supporters in the position that Eric Hovde and his supporters were in during the Senate primary.  Megna won't necessarily like that comparison (nor Hovde), but the Party Elders have wrinkled their noses at him.

Hmmmm.


Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Obozo's Gifts Buried in "Tax" Bill

If he weren't the savior, some in the MFM might question this.

The "fiscal cliff" legislation passed this week included $76 billion in special-interest tax credits for the likes of General Electric, Hollywood and even Captain Morgan. But these subsidies weren't the fruit of eleventh-hour lobbying conducted on the cliff's edge -- they were crafted back in August in a Senate committee, and they sat dormant until the White House reportedly insisted on them this week....

Really?  These provisions?  Tax-avoidance?

Really.

...A Republican Senate aide familiar with the cliff negotiations tells me the White House wanted permanent extensions of a whole slew of corporate tax credits. When Senate Republicans said no, "the White House insisted that the exact language" of the Baucus bill be included in the fiscal cliff deal. "They were absolutely insistent," another aide tells me....

Sure enough, Title II of the fiscal cliff legislation is nearly a word-for-word replication of the Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012.

The Slimebucket-in-Chief pays off his friends.