Content-free. Just like the Olympics opening ceremony but way less expensive.

Posted by: andy at 03:10 AM | Comments (216)
Post contains 19 words, total size 1 kb.

It feels good when you Christen a Navy ship that has a good name. USS Somerset, Named For Pennsylvania 9/11 Crash Site, Set For Christening Tomorrow.

The bow stem of the Somerset was made with steel from the bucket of a coal-mining crane called a Marion 7500 walking dragline. It was the larger of two draglines near the crash site, and mining company employees hoisted a big American flag from its boom, more than 150 feet in the air, to honor Flight 93Â’s passengers and crew.

“On that day in Somerset County, 40 free people had an opportunity to fight back. ... That ship represents in the days going forward, a defense for our country, a defense for our values, a defense for our freedom.”

Posted by: CDR M at 05:35 PM | Comments (753)
Post contains 703 words, total size 7 kb.

It seems the bloom is off the FaceBook rose...perhaps good ol' FB was never a rose to begin with. I mean a company that launches an IPO in mid-May (with the flash and dash of a busby berkeley show on roids) at $38 bucks a share with over a $100B plus in market cap And then 60 days later drops to $23.70 / share losing over $50 Billion in shareholder value bears a striking resemblance to the Hope and Change bill of goods that went IPO back in 08.

I ain't got any links. Last time I linked something, blog went bust and the whole thing went right justified...heh, right justified, I like the ring to that.

Oh, and I recently read in one of my ADD trade mags that misspelling is now cool, so save your breath on any foot-fault typos.

Now go watch the 5.5 hours of Olympics...watch for the dip or at least have some...its brutal.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 03:39 PM | Comments (380)
Post contains 175 words, total size 1 kb.

Because content is way overrated and it's Happy Hour on the east coast.

Not overrated? Gratuitous sales pitches because....Capitalism!

more...

Posted by: DrewM at 02:02 PM | Comments (369)
Post contains 192 words, total size 1 kb.

Not a bad idea. Razors, jerky, beans, bacon, and beer. And other stuff.

An Upper West Side grocery store yesterday launched the city’s first “man aisle” — a portion of the store dedicated to facilitate a dude’s otherwise-arduous trip to the grocery store by putting everything in one convenient location — from condoms to steak sauce.

“It’s your essentials,” explained Ian Joskowitz, 43, chief operating officer of Westside Market NYC. “It’s your water, alcohol, soaps, shampoos, deodorants, razors.

“If you’re going to have some guys over to watch a game, you can pretty much stand here — not move two feet — and get your beer, barbecue sauce, chips, whatever. It’s all right here!”

Joskowitz and the store’s CEO, George Zoitas, were inspired to create the manspace — conveniently located right next to the beer section — after reading an ESPN study showing 31 percent of men are shopping for their families, up from 14 percent in the 1980s.

Did they miss anything?

Follow me on Twitter.

Posted by: rdbrewer at 12:50 PM | Comments (344)
Post contains 177 words, total size 1 kb.

The RNC's new ad ripping Obama's claim that "our plan" worked appears below the fold.

The MFM is in full-on defense to try and keep this latest case of foot-in-mouth disease from blowing up like "the private sector is doing just fine" and "you didn't build that" by claiming ... wait for it ... that he was taken out of context.

See, "our" refers to the Obama/Clinton plan. Whatever that is.

Now it's true that Clinton raised marginal tax rates during his term just like Obama wants to do (at least on the eeevilll rich), but Clinton's spending impulses were also held in check by the GOP House takeover in 1994. And the shrinking of the budget deficit towards the end of his presidency benefited enormously from the one-time impact of the dot-com bubble.

Now along comes Obama to claim that "our plan", meaning Clinton's success and his abysmal failure to date, somehow average out to an overall net positive. If I were Bill Clinton, I'd be asking Obama, "what do you mean we"?

Unfortunately for Obama, voters aren't going to Clinton-era polling places with full employment and an economy riding a wave of irrational exuberance.

They're going to the polls to cast a referendum on his 40+ months of 8+% unemployment, anemic GDP growth, trillion+ dollar deficits, 30%+ increase in national debt and loss of our AAA credit rating.

But I wish him the best of luck.

In retirement, I mean. more...

Posted by: andy at 11:58 AM | Comments (366)
Post contains 246 words, total size 2 kb.

Via David Fredoso....Try though you might, you'll never convince me that Jonathan Chait isn't the dumbest man in America.

Mitt Romney’s plan of blatantly lying about President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” speech is clearly drawing blood. But what makes the attack work so well is not so much the lie itself but the broader subtext of it. Watch Obama’s delivery in the snippet put together by this Republican ad:

[You can watch the video here]

The key thing is that Obama is angry, and he’s talking not in his normal voice but in a “black dialect.” This strikes at the core of Obama’s entire political identity: a soft-spoken, reasonable African-American with a Kansas accent. From the moment he stepped onto the national stage, Obama’s deepest political fear was being seen as a “traditional” black politician, one who was demanding redistribution from white America on behalf of his fellow African-Americans.

Whaaaaaat?

First of all, watch the quote. There's nothing remotely "black" about it (whatever that might mean to Chait because again, only liberals can hear the dog whistles). Is "You didn't do that" some sort of new urban slang I'm unfamiliar with? Because honestly, it sounds like pretty standard English to me.

There's also nothing remotely unique in the delivery. He's just...talking to a crowd as far as I can see.

I guess liberals have decided "out of context" isn't getting the job done so it's time to go to traditional option Number 2...RACISM!

The simple fact is, Obama's disdain for hard work and individual achievement is simply showing through and people don't like it. So liberals have to comfort themselves once again with the idea that it's not their beliefs that are being rejected just that the vast majority of Americans are evil racists.

Whatever gets you though the night guys.

One question...does Obama really have a Kansas accent? First, I'm not sure what that would sound like. Secondly, when did he get it? All we hear about is his time in Indonesia and Hawaii, how much time did he spend in Kansas. Funny how libs only trot out Kansas when they want to make him seem so gosh darn ordinary.

BTW- When Elizabeth Warren said the same basic thing a few months ago, were we being anti-Native American for calling her out on that? Inquiring minds want to know.

Posted by: DrewM at 09:36 AM | Comments (576)
Post contains 423 words, total size 3 kb.

. . . in the absurd uproar over his comments regarding London's handling of the Olympics, and as much as I hate giving the man credit and lauding his wisdom in the precious space I've been allotted here at the HQ, there's hardly anyone else around to give it to. Romney's allies on the right have, for the most part, been standing aside with crossed arms and furrowed brow -- tut-tutting the political implications of Mitt's moment of candor.

But not Piers Morgan. Piers studied the situation from a distance, compared what he heard yesterday to everything he'd heard from his fellow countrymen up 'til now, and declared that everyone on the planet, except for himself and Mitt Romney, is full of crap. And that includes me, since I was pretty much thinking the same variation on "Oh my God, he's on bath salts!" that everyone else was thinking.

But, after seeing what Morgan had to say, it occurred to me that Mitt could have turned to his advantage, or at least largely mitigated, if his advisers hadn't panicked and forced him to don the sack cloth and ash.
more...

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 08:56 AM | Comments (107)
Post contains 688 words, total size 5 kb.

Just kidding about the last part. Unlike many high profile Democratic office holders, most Republicans actually respect the First Amendment (John McCain being the obvious exception).

Still, the difference in reaction between Chik-fil-a's statement in support of marriage and the lack of one to the actions of Jeff Bezos and other tech titans in support of redefining marriage is telling.

Billionaire Amazon.com founder and president Jeff Bezos is donating $2.5 million to help a Washington state law that legalized gay marriage survive a referendum this November. Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, are now among the largest donors to gay marriage in the country, The New York Times reported.

I really want to see Romney get into this when he gets back. This isn't simply about defending marriage, it's about defending the right to take a position contrary to government executives and not fearing you'll be punished. For those who say Romney shouldn't talk about anything but jobs, fine. Talk about Democrats who prioritize the redefinition of marriage over jobs and new businesses.

Mitt should challenge Obama to take a stand. That would force him to either be on the side of his new friends in the redefine marriage camp or put him squarely against freedom and jobs.

Seems like a win/win for Mitt. Will he take it?

Posted by: DrewM at 08:08 AM | Comments (305)
Post contains 259 words, total size 2 kb.

Consumer confidence now at all-time lows [correction: the lowest level this year]:

Confidence among U.S. consumers dropped in July to the lowest level this year as the labor market and broader economy showed few signs of improvement.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of sentiment declined to 72.3 this month from 73.2 in June. The gauge was projected to hold at the preliminary reading of 72, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

A slowdown in hiring in the second quarter, which may reflect companiesÂ’ concerns about demand as EuropeÂ’s economy falters, is damping moods of Americans whose spending accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Another report today showed the expansion cooled in the second quarter.

The White House reaction? Hey, green shoots!

Right. Let us know how that works out for you, champ.

Posted by: Slublog at 06:54 AM | Comments (226)
Post contains 157 words, total size 1 kb.