McMetaphor

Mission Accomplished

The bill to fund the federal government that looks after a 19 Trillion Dollar economy showed it's dysfunction when political infighting and posturing caused a shortfall of the required 60 votes by the deadline on Friday night.

Without delay, Trump accused the Democrats of putting politics above the interests of the American people, and the Democrats blamed him for rejecting bipartisan compromise proposals. And the Democrat insistence to staple a DACA requirement to the continued funding of the government.

Both teams claim they will keep talking, and the White House budget chief has expressed optimism that a resolution will be found before Monday.

When that doesn't happen, hundreds of thousands of federal workers face the prospect of no work and shuttered offices at the start of the working week.

The last government shutdown was in 2013, and lasted for 16 days. However, any thoughts that a shutdown will actually save taxpayers, it will, in fact, do the opposite. According to Senator Rand Paul - it actually cost taxpayers more. Here's an article, if you care.

Suddenly Clarity Clarence

Nanny Bloomberg: Drunk on Power

Bloomberg: ‘I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom’

Mayor Bloomberg says surveillance drones are inevitable in NYC: 'get used to it'

Mayor Bloomberg Says Cops Should Go On Strike Until Americans Give Up Their Guns

Mayor Bloomberg says he will spend millions more to defeat the National Rifle Association and pro-gun pols

In New York City there has been a 600 percent increase in stop-and-frisk policing

New York City Mayor Bloomberg to announce he wants to ban Styrofoam

"Poor People Need Soda Ban Because They Can't 'Take Care Of Themselves'"

After the failed soda ban, NYC mayor Bloomberg now wants stores that carry cigarettes to "hide" them

Bloomberg turns away vital food donations to shelters because they aren't healthy enough.

Bloomberg knows more about health care than doctors

Government Assumptions

Freedom is not simply the right of intellectuals to circulate their merchandise. It is, above all, the right of ordinary people to find elbow room for themselves and a refuge from the rampaging presumptions of their “betters.”  -Thomas Sowell

Buffett Doesn't Get It

Warren Buffett made a quote today...

"While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks... My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice."

~ Warren Buffett in a New York Times op-ed called "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich"

Here's the deal, Warren Buffet is to the Left what Donald Trump is to the Right - nuts. But why not put your money where your mouth is, Warren, and build some libraries ala Andrew Carnegie? Or fund a watchdog group to cut down on government waste?

My contention and gripe here is - if you feed the tumor more money, no matter who's it is or where it was earned - you're not solving the government spending problem. You're feeding the damn tumor.

This isn't going to end well

Speaking before parliament, UK PM David Cameron said he has ordered an inquiry into the possibility of banning users from social networks such as Twitter and Facebook if it is determined that they are planning to engage in criminal behavior.

“Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill,” Cameron said. “And when people are using social media for violence we need to stop them. So we are working with the police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.”

Cameron added that he asked the police “if they need any other new powers.” No word if the Chief Constable fell out of his chair or immediately started scribbling some ideas. My guess would be that "firearms" would be pretty high on that list.
Home Secretary Theresa May will hold meetings with representatives from Facebbok, Twitter, and RIM to discuss their role in preventing future riots. “All of them should think about their responsibility and about taking down those images,” Cameron said in reference to Facebook and Twitter posts he believes could incite further unrest.

[The Guardian]

Well, you sodding pikers, I hope you're happy with that bottle you nicked out of the off-licence - you just took down the democracy, haven't you? Not even the bloody Nazis were able to pull that off. You did it in just three nights.

Now the Chinese Are Beating Us In Corruption

In a story about Chinese corruption -

SCHMITZ: No, corruption's nothing new, [In China] but people talking about corruption all the time on the street with each other; journalists challenging officials, state-run press running with stories about this -- that is new. Two nights ago, I was chatting with a Chinese friend and he told me he just read the news that the chief engineer for China's high-speed rail embezzled 2.8 billion. I said, 'How? Well 2.8 billion renminbi -- that's about $400 million, boy that's a lot of money.' He corrected me, he tells me, 'No, it was $2.8 billion.' That's incredible. Later on, I saw it was reported this guy had just stashed the money into Swiss and U.S. bank accounts. And this Chinese official reportedly has run off with the amount of money equal to the GDP of Fiji. So this type of corruption is really unprecedented.
(Context)

Come on Chicago! Come on New Orleans! You're totally falling behind in the Corruption Gap!

We Broke

Attention - you cannot pay your mortgage with a credit card.

Obama is on the prompter like a preacher looking to build a new church - "The good news is that we have the money to build the church! The bad news is that it's out there in your pocket."

There's been plenty of yelling and screaming - and a lot of anger toward the Tea Party. This doesn't make sense to me - since they're the ones who hit the fire alarm. Oh, it's because they're birther racists? No, the party is called "tea" because it means Taxed Enough Already. When they called their freshman Congressman that they got elected to the House - they reminded them why the Boehner Bill sucked. They may have mentioned that compromising with the President was a bad idea -- especially since it involved more taxes. More taxes doesn't address the problem - and it's like giving an alcoholic more booze to get them to stop drinking so much. That's the problem. It is Norm Peterson, on a bender, with a tab he has no intention of ever settling. One more Normy? How about we top you off? Perhaps we need to ask a bigger question - maybe the Federal Government is doing a whole lot more than it probably ought to be doing. One of those things? Writing checks.

And here's the best part - they're buying your votes with what used to be your money.

Both teams are acting like those screaming kids in the cereal isle.

What amazes me, is that normal people are getting upset.

"I can't believe they're politicizing this issue..."

THAT'S WHAT THEY DO. That's all this is! It's a political battle - highlighting the useless partisan blinders to obscure the actual truth. We Broke!

And it's broke, it's time to roll up the sleeves and fix it. It's not going to be easy, and given our current attitude of entitlements and leaders who are more interested in their own interests -- we're exactly what I said 2 years ago. We're Greece.

And one last parting shot -- the Congress reflects exactly who put them there. The people who are walking away from underwater mortgages, who floated home equity loans based on inflated price assumptions to purchase stuff on credit to fill into those houses. Sounds similar, like the US debt situation, doesn't it?

Quick Hit

A snippet of a thought... maybe I can do something with this some day?

ROMAN GOV WORKER (John Ratzenburger voice) Eh, ma'am, you've got "The Holy Ghost" scribbled down here as the father - ah, that may fly in your crazy Hebrew culture... but we Romans don't put up with th-

MARY: Please, just play along or my husband will crucify me.

ROMAN GOV WORKER: Eh, whatevs - just don't come back 30 years later telling me this bastard kid of yours is the King of the Jews, alright? Next!

ROMAN GOV WORKER #2: Hey, wasn't that "Virgin Mary."

ROMAN GOV WORKER #1: What'a know, Normmy! I think it was! Hey, guys!?

Debt Debate Roundup

Okay gang. This is it - Eat your peas.

Americans, you deserve better from your 'leaders'. Both sides are morons. But I'll tell you ALL this - if you raise taxes or move that debt ceiling by one dollar more - I don't care who you are, I'm going to actively campaign so that you lose your job.

Happy Monday!

Anger On The Streets: Unrest In Iran, Algeria, Yemen, Morocco And China

There are peaceful demonstrations being staged in Morocco but violence breaks out elsewhere in the Middle East and Chinese police crackdown on planned unrest

Thousands took to the streets of Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier and Marrakech in peaceful protests demanding a new constitution, a change in government and an end to corruption.

Sunday's protests were a test for King Mohamed VI's regime, which boasts that it is more liberal and tolerant than other countries in the region that have seen violence and revolution. But there's a bandwagon rolling - and it's now or never Read more ....

Meanwhile in the Middle East, Bahrain opposition groups mull response. Bahrain protests continue on ninth day. Iran warships to begin Suez Canal passage Tuesday. Not that this is anything to worry about... And speaking of Iran, their security forces quelled opposition protests in Tehran. Iran's forces battle protests nationwide. Yemen's Saleh says won't be forced out by "anarchy". Iraq: Bomb kills police in Shia shrine city of Samarra.

In Asia, China calls for domestic unrest to be defused. 'Jasmine' protests in China fall flat. Afghan police: At least 30 killed in suicide blast. 'Diplomatic surge' to help end Afghan war, Clinton says. Nepal caught between China and India.

In Africa, they're crushing Libya's revolt. Protesters and security clash in capital. So the protests focus on Tripoli as demonstrators set public buildings on fire. Thousands demand change in Morocco. Bodies found after Moroccan protests. Burned bodies found after Morocco protests - minister. Sudan's Omar al-Bashir 'will not seek re-election'. Uganda election: Yoweri Museveni wins fresh term, despite claims of fraud. DR Congo colonel Kibibi Mutware jailed for mass rape.

In Europe, Hamburg rout bodes ill for Merkel in election year. 7 soldiers shot dead in Azerbaijan. Estonia calls for nationwide mourning after fire kills 10 children. Iceland president forces new Icesave referendum.

And in the America's -- Ciudad Juarez sees 40 killed in violent weekend. 12 taxi drivers, fares killed in Mexican resort. Gov't shutdown threat looms over U.S. budget fight. Tar sand row threatens Canada-EU trade deal. Thousands of Aristide backers march in Haiti.

The War on Terrorism, an Al-Qaida figure believed killed in US drone strike. I wonder if he was #2? Increased U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan killing few high-value militants. Pakistan intelligence says US gunman is CIA.

And finally, Oil rises most in three weeks, gold reaches $1,400 on Mideast; stocks drop. EU, oil companies prepare Libya evacuations. Chinese telecom giant calls off US deal.

So - what, sorry, what were you complaining about? The weather? Your commute this morning? Yeah. That sucks.

Thanks to War News Updates for the content.

New Chariman

So, amazingly, this just happened...

Pat Quinn named chairman of Midwestern Governors Association

"I am honored to become Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association. The association has a long history of governors who are committed to working together to improve our entire region, and I look forward to continuing that legacy," said Governor Quinn. "Now, more than ever, we need to band together to create sustained economic growth and success throughout the Midwest."

Governor Quinn assumed office on Monday, January 10, 2011 and will serve as chair through February of 2012.

The other governors must have awarded him this honor because he's going to increase their revenues so much from the stampede to get the hell out of Illinois - or Quinn is just so damn good at lying that they decided to make him their leader. Maybe he promised he was only going to raise their dues 'a little bit.'

"Sometimes I think you WANT to fail" ~ Restaurant employee #1, from my favorite Simpsons episode, New Kid on the Block (1992)

Sweet, sweet Jebus.

So Here's The Deal...

It seems that anyone who is against having their three year old daughter or self to be either 1) photographed naked or 2) given an aggressive pat down by government agents - is to be considered a threat to the Patriot Act. And, anyone speaking out on the issue is a "moron." I actually read on the Facebook this morning...

"Prudes & paranoids exacerbate the stress of travel by getting in the way of angry people trying to see their families."

The response below was a pile of 'likes' and "ha ha... stupid people are stupid."

It seems it's all just a non issue anyway as the TSA has declared that 'Opt-Out Day' is a Bust. According to the TSA's "Blogger Bob," basically nobody is choosing to opt out of the advance screening at airports across the country despite "National Opt-Out Day". Some airports report zero opt-outs. So much for the uprising. [Blog.TSA.gov]

So it seems Americans are shouting,
"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death -- unless I have a plane to catch..."
~ Random American in line 2010.

Well, let me tell you why I'm jumping on this particular bandwagon. Yes, I know it's just playing into the hands of the fear mongers who want their buddies to get a government contract. I pointed that out earlier today... It's just that we're running dangerously low on "last" straws. If you look in-between some of those needles, you can probably count the straws that are left on one hand. The straw is what's left of the 'freedom' that the United States is not allowed to take away from you without due process.

We've already given up a lot of liberties with the Patriot Act. With the stroke of a pen, the Big Brother paranoid delusion got much more tangent and better funded. That's the day or two after the Towers Fell.

Prior to that, to anyone paying any attention, the government had already decided to trample their citizen's liberties and rights when they went to Ruby Ridge and attacked the Koresh Compound at Waco. Further liberties where whittled away after Timothy McVey and his unknown supporters responded to the government attacks on it's citizens with violence of their own. All that accomplished was an excuse for Mr. Clinton to sign both the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act [1994] and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. There's also that nasty little "Three Strikes" provision sandwiched in there somewhere. The forth amendment was handcuffed to the radiator while the ATF looked for evidence - without a warrant, just good faith - found none, and the 4th had no recourse to complain. Haven't heard much about the 4th standing up for itself much lately after that.

Warrant-less wiretaps and cameras on every intersection came next. A nifty side benefit, those cameras can actually pay for themselves if you make a right turn on red. Seriously, next time you're at a stoplight in a major city look carefully at the hardware on the line. I was casually told by a fireman that most of Chicago intersections are streaming a video feed.

Then we had the shoe and Christmas panty bomber attempts - both of these fine human beings boarded internationally. Both were thwarted by their fellow passengers - our true last line of defense. Justification for the "porno-scanners" even though security screening missed them and also the original 9/11 attackers? You bet.

Never mind the no-board list. That's a computer terminal hooked up to make it look like we're safer. Oh and those Air Marshals? All 4,000 Air Marshalls make 4 arrests per year. Not 4 per Air Marshall, 4 total. That's roughly $200,000,000 per arrest. Good job, men. Oh, and guys, please don't leave loaded weapons or full clips on the planes.

In the meantime - since America has Bi-Polar Disorder - Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was acquitted Wednesday of all but one count of conspiracy-related charges in a landmark civilian trial involving the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried in civilian court. One count. Well, because if the prosecution had used certain evidence against him - it would have violated his Fifth Amendment rights.

So, a non-citizen, who was convicted of conspiring to kill 248 people - and the bomb he conspired to set off that 'accidentally' killed 248 people - was given Constitutional rights, and murdered 248 people... er, no, conspired to -- While a three year old natural born citizen of the United States is flagged to either be photographed or molested because a computer flagged him as a threat to national security on a domestic flight to see his grandma?

A non-citizen terrorist was given Constitutional rights,
while citizens are losing theirs.

The bad guys have made their point, their attack, and they are winning. They are killing the West with 1000 cuts -- and even boasted exactly that point the other day in a press release! With a mere $4,200 dollars in three BOTCHED attacks, they are bankrupting the West while we run the Constitution in the shredder so that they'll love us.

"To bring down America we do not need to strike big, with the security phobia that is sweeping America, it is more feasible to stage smaller attacks that involve less players and less time to launch." Of the cargo attacks, the AP reports that the target was economic: "We knew that cargo planes are staffed by only a pilot and a co-pilot, so our objective was not to cause maximum casualties but to cause maximum losses to the American economy."

We're hemorrhaging our freedom. Our lifeblood. The Al Qaeda even called their new strategy "OPERATION HEMORRHAGE!"

But, hold on a tick - they're taking the credit for the Mortgage Crisis now? That's a little bold. It's not like they've got a Weather Dominator or - wait, maybe they'll take credit for Katrina too. Frankly, why are we afraid of these morons?

The bigger enemy is ourselves - and what we're allowing our government to take away from us, with nary a peep of discontent or displeasure.

If we don't pick a final straw and stand on it with all our might, we should just throw in the towel called Bill of Rights and just pay our taxes and die like we're supposed to.

Poop and where to put all that poop

So I heard that LA County Board of Supervisors was going to ban the plastic bag .

Made me wonder - what are dog owners going to do with all that poop?

Specifically, dog poop?

Yes, I'm aware of the greatest irony that a non-bio-degradable petroleum product is used to encase the most bio-degradable product and then shipped and encased in a landfill where it most likely will bond to create some type of super virus capable of killing us all -- but, golly, they are really good at getting dog poop off your neighbor's lawn.

So one would expect that there will be bio-friendly poop bags popping up in LA stores and other pet supply establishments. More likely much more expensive than we're accustomed to. Sure, dog owners could purchase reusable wood and metal pooper-scoopers on long sticks, that last for years and don't involve handling warm poop with one's hands, albeit through plastic. These may not be as convenient as the disposable bags but they are worth it. And, then, I guess folks will either curb that s#*t or put it in their manicured lawns?

Once again, some county government group, with good intentions are training their constituents to unlearn bad behavior.We can't do this without the nanny government to forcing the issue? Now, can we talk about something besides poop? Doesn't LA government have a couple more pressing issues on their schedule right now?

You're Going To Die In A Fire!

An ominous theme has emerged from the wreckage of a deadly pipeline explosion in California... There are thousands of pipes just waiting to EXPLODE under YOUR house... RIGHT NOW!!! AHH! We're all going to DIE! We're going to DIE IN A FIRE!?!! OH NOOSS!!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

And now, we can blame the corporations that are supposed to be maintaining these things - and they obviously haven't and have been giving all those fat profits to their share holders - the capitalist pigdogs -- now we've all got pipe BOMBS under OUR NEIGHBORHOODS! Just waiting to go off - who knows when!? WE NEED MORE GOVERNMENT TO REGULATE and INSPECT these un-funded pipe bombs... or we're going to DIE!!! AAahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

At least the minor oil spills in Illinois and Michigan aren't getting any coverage.

BP School Yard Logic

In a cunning move, BP announced that unless the ban on drilling is lifted, they'll have no lunch money to give to the Big Bully Government.

BP, you'll remember spilled about 500 million gallons into the Big Bully's pool at a birthday party, and BP pledged that they'd pay to clean it up. Meantime, Big Bully said that BP couldn't come over anymore and play 'dig for oil' at their house anymore... something like that.

Comes down to this, BP won't pay unless they get to play.

Seems like there's still some swagger in BP's step? It's hard to side with either of these two characters - since they're both doo-doo heads wrecking everyone else's fun.

So instead - I'll note the reader response to this story lifted from NYTimes -- which, when I read it, reminded me that no one has ever made it through Atlas Shrugged or knows what's going on in Venezuela. This comment to Nationalize BP is as short sited, shrill and ignorant as anything ANYTHING I've seen on the Right-Kook-Fringe† side of the carpet for a long, long time. I say, ship this reader to Hugo, for a year. See if he still agrees with his little casual comment about nationalizing a company.

Help me USPS...

Lady, if you're counting on the United States Postal Service to save your rebellion, you are officially screwed. Should have gone with Fed Ex.

The Constitution is NOT an Ala Carte Menu

This isn't a pick and choose, people. It's not the Bible.

Why does it seem that Democrats love the first amendment, but hate the second?

The Republicans are trying to get rid of the 14th, love the second and the tenth, but are treating the first and fifth as optional.

It's a package deal. All or nothing, gang. It's only a buck oh' five.

Genie Back In the Bottle?

Pentagon Demands Documents Back From Wikileaks, Wants Files Deleted

The Pentagon demanded that Wikileaks hand over classified Afghanistan war documents published leaked to the website.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell at Thursday's briefing said "the only acceptable course" is for Wikileaks to turn some 15,000 documents still being reviewed by the website back to the U.S. government and delete all the files from its website pertaining to the original nearly 92,000 documents posted July 25.

Read more ....

I'm guessing that the Pentagon doesn't understand how this whole internet thingy works?