March 30, 2011
— Monty The membership of the Loyal Order of the Terminally Boned (LOTB) has been growing by leaps and bounds! Today's inductee...Georgia!
Public employees adopt a new tactic to avoid taking cuts to their benefit plans: pre-emptive retirement. The generous spirit of public service lives on!
A government shutdown looms. They say that like it's a bad thing.
Public-sector employees vs taxpayers: it's class warfare, baby! Old Marxist wine in a new hip bottle!
Okay, now this is serious: Scotch whiskey exports decline as European demand weakens. A nation that cannot afford to get knee-walking drunk is on the brink of the abyss.
Dear GOP: W3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUKcOy9cP3DieyckcUsI">Why are you trying to kill Grandma? What did she ever do to you? (You're going to see a lot of this stuff in the run-up to the 2012 election, so get ready to be called a geezer-killer many times in the coming months.)
Portugal's credit-rating gets downgraded again.
[UPDATE] Who's to blame for the federal budget impasse? The Tea Party, that's who! Reid reminds me of Ahab in Moby Dick:
All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event — in the living act, the undoubted deed — there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask! How can the prisoner reach outside except by thrusting through the wall? To me, the white whale is that wall, shoved near to me. Sometimes I think there's naught beyond. But 'tis enough. He tasks me; he heaps me; I see in him outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white whale agent, or be the white whale principal, I will wreak that hate upon him. Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me. For could the sun do that, then could I do the other; since there is ever a sort of fair play herein, jealousy presiding over all creations. But not my master, man, is even that fair play. Who's over me? Truth hath no confines.
[UPDATE 2 - Via Insty] 13% of US homes are vacant. Highest proportion of empty houses is in...Maine? That's surprising. I would have guessed Nevada.
[UPDATE 3] Alas, poor Ezra! Juiceboxer agonistes. This so-called "easy fix" for Social Security, like all such madcap schemes, rests upon some very weak assumptions.
What I wonder about is how Klein himself seems so oblivious to how someone to the right of center would view a plan like Sperling’s. As Klein states, “Sperling suggests a 3 percent surcharge on all income over $200,000, which would wipe out half of Social Security’s shortfall. He suggests the rest could be made up through bipartisan agreement on benefits cuts or tax changes.”Wow, what a bargaining strategy: you give me half of what I want and then we can bargain over the rest. I’m shocked the administration doesn’t have a bipartisan plan in hand already.
[UPDATE 4] Like rust, the pension-crisis deniers never sleep. They're just trying to defer the collapse until after they retire (or, hopefully, stave it off for a few more decades until they can shuffle off this mortal coil and leave the wasteland for the young 'uns to deal with).
This humiliation will not go unanswered, sir. A price shall be paid...in blood!
Posted by: Monty at
04:43 AM
| Comments (204)
Post contains 572 words, total size 4 kb.
Posted by: Tami at March 30, 2011 04:48 AM (VuLos)
On the decline in Scotch sales, normally during financial bad times liquor sales increase. I suspect what is happening there is the more expensive stuff has fallen off.
I have switched from Crown to Beam myself.
Posted by: Vic at March 30, 2011 04:48 AM (M9Ie6)
Posted by: Conservative Phantom at March 30, 2011 04:48 AM (ub509)
Posted by: Chuck "The Schmuck" Schumer at March 30, 2011 04:51 AM (tvs2p)
http://tinyurl.com/4ao3775
The Won pronounces it "Labia", five times in a single speech. Imagine, for the billionth time, if this were Bush or Palin.
Posted by: Taqiyyotomist at March 30, 2011 04:53 AM (ltfED)
Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at March 30, 2011 04:53 AM (r1h5M)
Posted by: Taqiyyotomist at March 30, 2011 08:53 AM (ltfED)
Hell, honest mistake. I've invade the labia a few times myself.
Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at March 30, 2011 04:55 AM (r1h5M)
Posted by: In Exile at March 30, 2011 04:56 AM (LnauM)
China economist blasts dollar dominance on eve of G20
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at March 30, 2011 04:57 AM (9hSKh)
Crown Royal? That explains alot.
Have you tried Evan Williams? Good stuff at a good price.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at March 30, 2011 04:57 AM (LH6ir)
Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at March 30, 2011 04:58 AM (r1h5M)
Posted by: Ben at March 30, 2011 04:58 AM (wuv1c)
Posted by: Taqiyyotomist at March 30, 2011 08:53 AM (ltfED)
WTF?!
Posted by: Tami at March 30, 2011 04:59 AM (VuLos)
Posted by: Taqiyyotomist at March 30, 2011 04:59 AM (ltfED)
Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at March 30, 2011 05:00 AM (r1h5M)
A nation that cannot afford to get knee-walking drunk is on the brink of the abyss.
Time to dust off grandpas machinery for the extraction of maize byproducts.
Posted by: Colonel full of corn. at March 30, 2011 05:00 AM (lM27V)
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at March 30, 2011 05:01 AM (9hSKh)
It depends on what you mean by "saved" since mandatory spending remains mandatory in a "shutdown" (SS, Medicare, etc. still get paid). And since we're borrowing all of our money above the mandatory spending level, we aren't really 'saving' anything -- we're just cutting down (a very little bit) on the amount we're borrowing.
Posted by: Monty at March 30, 2011 05:01 AM (FC+dS)
Posted by: ParisParamus at March 30, 2011 05:02 AM (bgSjf)
Hell, honest mistake. I've invade the labia a few times myself.
Only to be repelled and later tried the ICC SVU Division
Posted by: Ben at March 30, 2011 05:02 AM (wuv1c)
Monty, do you have any idea how much money is saved in each day of government shut down?
It depends on what you mean by "saved" since mandatory spending remains mandatory in a "shutdown" (SS, Medicare, etc. still get paid). And since we're borrowing all of our money above the mandatory spending level, we aren't really 'saving' anything -- we're just cutting down (a very little bit) on the amount we're borrowing.
Indeed, how much less will we be borrowing per day if there is a shutdown?
Posted by: Ben at March 30, 2011 05:03 AM (wuv1c)
Have you seen his wife? I wouldn't want to know much about labias if that was the choice I had.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at March 30, 2011 05:06 AM (LH6ir)
I'm honestly not sure anyone can give you a straight answer on how much money the Federal Government spends on operations in a given day, and not all operations are stopped during a "shutdown". (The military, for example, will not cease operations.)
You could probably peg the amount at some arbirary number like $10 Billion per day or so, but that's nothing but a SWAG.
Posted by: Monty at March 30, 2011 05:06 AM (FC+dS)
Yesterday's hint of optimism was really off-putting. Ruined my whole day.
Glad things are properly dark and ominous today.
Posted by: VA Gator at March 30, 2011 05:06 AM (SGgrv)
Posted by: nevergiveup at March 30, 2011 05:08 AM (0GFWk)
Posted by: Nighthawk at March 30, 2011 05:08 AM (RSqz2)
Posted by: maddogg at March 30, 2011 05:11 AM (OlN4e)
If no agreement is reached what will happen is they will continue to spend money except it will be without authorization by congress. That is blatantly unconstitutional, but so what. They haven't really paid any attention to the Constitution since about 1850.
lately they don't even make an attempt to hide the fact they don't give a shit about it.
Posted by: Vic at March 30, 2011 05:11 AM (M9Ie6)
You could probably peg the amount at some arbirary number like $10 Billion per day or so, but that's nothing but a SWAG.
indeed,
Posted by: Ben at March 30, 2011 05:12 AM (wuv1c)
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 05:13 AM (UO6+e)
Nothing if they (which they will) do this.
Agencies retroactively paid workers once the doors reopened, but many government contractors -- paid separately by private employers -- earned nothing during the shutdowns.
As for the private employers, between vacation and non govt contracts I'm guessing very few of them went without pay also.
Posted by: Buzzsaw at March 30, 2011 05:14 AM (tf9Ne)
Posted by: Monkey_Attack at March 30, 2011 05:15 AM (4WwUU)
Most of Europe has structural unemployment that is so high, and has been for a generation, that they are used to it.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at March 30, 2011 05:17 AM (LH6ir)
Ohio Governor John Kasich want to kill Grandma, too.
let's face it, a pillow is about 5 dollars, and exerting a little bit of pressure doesn't cost anything but a few calories. It's a lot cheaper than paying out SS or Medicare.
Vic, let me fluff your pillow for your buddy, you're looking tired.
Posted by: Ben at March 30, 2011 05:18 AM (wuv1c)
Come for the military analysis, stay for the comedy!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at March 30, 2011 05:18 AM (LH6ir)
Given the DOOM, I believe sterno will become popular again.
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at March 30, 2011 05:19 AM (swuwV)
Or, instead of the Morning-Cup-O'-DOOM, we could bottle DOOM, and sell it in liquor stores. Profit!
And @ 25, in a sane world, the man referenced in that article would be strung up and shot. It's maddening to see what has happened to justice in the western world.
Posted by: KinleyArdal at March 30, 2011 05:19 AM (NzSVi)
Most of Europe has structural unemployment that is so high, and has been for a generation, that they are used to it.
Yeah, It's not painful to be unemployed in Europe. As we've seen in England, some unemployed people make as much or more money than employed people through government handouts.
So unemployment isn't going to cause Europeans pain, it is when government run out of money to hand out, or make cut backs, then the Euro's will start to feel the pinch.
Posted by: Ben at March 30, 2011 05:19 AM (wuv1c)
Posted by: JackStraw at March 30, 2011 05:20 AM (TMB3S)
We are basically providing air support for the equivalent of an Arathi Basin PUG in WoW.
Hopefully we can obliterate enough of Qadhafi's material to the point where, in an infantry vs. infantry battle, his forces lose.
Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at March 30, 2011 05:25 AM (TpXEI)
Posted by: blaster at March 30, 2011 05:25 AM (Fw2Gg)
Posted by: Dr. Doom at March 30, 2011 05:26 AM (zgZzy)
Posted by: Waterhouse at March 30, 2011 05:26 AM (YvNBz)
46 Hey, why are we worried? We are going to nominate Tim Pawlenty!
I accept your support in a non-partisan, reach-across-the-aisle way. I'm sure my VP candidate John McCain would echo my sentiments.
Posted by: Tim Pawlenty at March 30, 2011 05:27 AM (zgZzy)
Posted by: nevergiveup at March 30, 2011 05:27 AM (0GFWk)
Why? Your going to guarantee the "rebels" are better than qaddafi?
Shhhhh! You're gonna give up our secret!
Posted by: al Qaeda at March 30, 2011 05:29 AM (zgZzy)
President Barack ObamaÂ’s approval rating and prospects for reelection have plunged to all-time lows in a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday. Half of the registered voters surveyed for the poll think that the president does not deserve a second term in office, while 41 percent say he does. In another Quinnipiac poll released just four weeks ago, 45 percent said the president did not deserve reelection, while 47 percent said he did.
Posted by: Barney the Dinosaur at March 30, 2011 05:30 AM (tvs2p)
Lord, no. The only thing we can hope for now is that both sides lose.
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at March 30, 2011 05:31 AM (9hSKh)
Posted by: MarkC at March 30, 2011 05:31 AM (yPPVC)
Posted by: maddogg at March 30, 2011 05:32 AM (OlN4e)
Lord, no. The only thing we can hope for now is that both sides lose.
And that will truly be unexpected!
Posted by: MBM Pollsters at March 30, 2011 05:32 AM (zgZzy)
Posted by: Bill Kristol, Obama's New Toy at March 30, 2011 05:32 AM (swuwV)
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 05:32 AM (UO6+e)
Indeed. Gotta make sure neither side runs out of bullets while there's still someone left standing.
Posted by: Purple Avenger at March 30, 2011 05:32 AM (BGPMY)
Posted by: nevergiveup at March 30, 2011 09:27 AM (0GFWk)
Of course not. But I do want to see Qadhafi (and that Lockerbie asshole) get killed.
Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at March 30, 2011 05:33 AM (TpXEI)
CHICAGO (CBS 2) – The threats came in the mail and to date, there have been 25 letters that warn of nuclear bombs destroying America.
People who got them called the FBI and CBS 2′s Kristyn Hartman learned, the BureauÂ’s Chicago office is leading the investigation.
FBI Special Agent Andre Zavala said, “Yes, they alarmed a lot of people.”
The letter inside said, “The Al-Qaeda organization has planted 160 nuclear bombs throughout the U.S. in schools, stadiums, churches, stores, financial institutions and government buildings.” It also said, “This is a suicide mission for us.”Posted by: Bill Maher at March 30, 2011 05:34 AM (tvs2p)
Posted by: nevergiveup at March 30, 2011 05:35 AM (0GFWk)
Of course not. But I do want to see Qadhafi (and that Lockerbie asshole) get killed.
Yeah. I wonder how many of the rebels danced in the streets when the bomber was released to come home and,,,,,keep living.
Posted by: maddogg at March 30, 2011 05:35 AM (OlN4e)
The reverse could be said, too. The House "conservatives" are trying to accomplish something but the establishment keeps playing games instead. I guess it all depends on the desired accomplishment. To me, it's the less conservative who inspire disgust.
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at March 30, 2011 05:37 AM (swuwV)
Yeah. I wonder how many of the rebels danced in the streets when the bomber was released to come home and,,,,,keep living.
Posted by: maddogg at March 30, 2011 09:35 AM (OlN4e)
All of them.
Posted by: Truck Monkey at March 30, 2011 05:38 AM (yQWNf)
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 05:39 AM (UO6+e)
This is why I say that I'm mainly sticking around out of morbid curiosity at this point -- the political process isn't going to save us because the political process is what got us into this mess in the first place.
And this mess has been building for a long, long time -- the seeds were sown more than a century ago. Nobody thought the music would stop; that the party would just go on and on. Well, now the band has packed up and gone home, the guests are gone, and we're left with a giant mess to clean up and a huge bill to pay.
I've tried to run some Monte Carlo simulations on how likely it is that we'll pay our debt down before the interest payments and entitlement spending crush us, and the only ones that have a chance in hell at succeeding depend on supermajorities in both houses of Congress *and* the Presidency. And I don't see that happening in the next ten years. And even if it did, the chances of success are still no better than 50-50, due to the rather "flexible" nature of many of the GOPers (ladies from Maine, I'm looking at you).
Posted by: Monty at March 30, 2011 05:40 AM (FC+dS)
With real DOOM since the feds will all be unemployed moonshine will become popular again.
And a side question; I know we have always strayed off topic on occasion, but it seems here lately that every thread has become an open thread. Including topics that still have active threads specifically for that topic.
Posted by: Vic at March 30, 2011 05:40 AM (M9Ie6)
Posted by: blaster at March 30, 2011 05:41 AM (Fw2Gg)
53 Really? Because I was kinda hoping for a plague of locusts, or maybe a new volcano to be birthed in the part of the country that isn't completely desert...a really big, active volcano, or even just a nice, year long sandstorm....or at least a decent earthquake.
I'm thinking it would be really, really nice for that to happen in every Muslim country on the planet...but I'm not going to get my wish, am I?
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 05:42 AM (5/yRG)
Well, in keeping with the new normal of "every thread is an open thread," feel like answering a nuke question?
They are babbling about finding Pu in the soil around the plants in Japan. But they don't say which isotope. Is it a real problem?
Posted by: Typical disgusting moron at March 30, 2011 05:43 AM (LH6ir)
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at March 30, 2011 05:44 AM (LH6ir)
Posted by: nevergiveup at March 30, 2011 05:44 AM (0GFWk)
Since it's a reactor, the answer to the isotope question is "all of them".
Posted by: Additional Blond Agent at March 30, 2011 05:45 AM (uehxp)
They don't say what isotope, they don't say what the levels are, and they don't say what the soil samples looked like before the event.
What they are saying now is actually worthless and good for only one thing, trying to scare the everyday citizens.
Posted by: Vic at March 30, 2011 05:46 AM (M9Ie6)
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 09:42 AM (5/yRG)
I have the perfect location. How about Washington D.C.?
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at March 30, 2011 05:46 AM (LH6ir)
Posted by: conscious, but incoherent at March 30, 2011 05:50 AM (YVZlY)
Posted by: JackStraw at March 30, 2011 05:52 AM (TMB3S)
With real DOOM since the feds will all be unemployed moonshine will become popular again.
I call that "business opportunity"!
If they really wanted to be serious about tightening the belt, the first thing they should do is for Congress to cut some of their own pay and bennies (to them and their staffers). Nothing says "we're really serious about this" or shows more support than willingness to take the haircut along with the peons...and that is why it will never, ever happen.
At this point, I'm kinda thinking people should figure out how to get together community mutual aid societies and determine how to best ride this pos out. That way, no matter what comes down the pike, some semblence of law, order, and civil society is within reach.
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 05:52 AM (5/yRG)
Posted by: nevergiveup at March 30, 2011 05:52 AM (0GFWk)
65 The reverse could be said, too. The House "conservatives" are trying to accomplish something but the establishment keeps playing games instead. I guess it all depends on the desired accomplishment. To me, it's the less conservative who inspire disgust.
The group I'm discussing is caught in the middle between the establishment and the tiny group of purists. Even though all the budgeteers will vote for the RSC alternative, the FY '12 budget has to/will largely reflect the will of the conference. A number of the policies will scare the appropriators and many in the leadership-- they're already engaged in CYA-- so I must ask myself why then won't this set of conservatives support it as a good first step? Instead of providing this assistance and support, though, they are intent in catching the reformers between the two camps as a way of winning the game against the leadership.
Look-- I understand the appropriators and Boehner & co. are wetting their pants over being forced to cut spending and reform entitlements, that they're scared of losing re-election. The leadership has failed to stand-up to the appropriators a number of times this year and it has caused nothing but trouble. But these RSC leaders are playing the same game by refusing to talk to the budgeteers and stating that their alternative is being used to prove a point, then refusing to show the alternative to the budgeteers. In other words, this is about both camps scoring points when they should be focusing on accomplishing actual entitlement reform, meaningful spending cuts, real budget reform, etc.
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 05:54 AM (UO6+e)
Nature of the beast. Every thread (conversation) eventually leads to the invocation of Godwin or "open" status. Complimentarily, threads typically must begin with "First!" Frankly, I prefer Godwinning.
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at March 30, 2011 05:54 AM (swuwV)
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 05:56 AM (UO6+e)
Posted by: blaster at March 30, 2011 05:57 AM (Fw2Gg)
A little bit of OT in amongst the doom and gloom
Great pic of Great White shark very very close to the beach
You're not alone by being labelled extremists - EXTREME must be the word of the day for lefties worldwide
Have a different opinion - youre an extremist here Down Under
No Carbon Tax rallies are happening all over OZ and many of those attending have never protested before - ordinary people who do not want to be ripped off by an incompetent Government - so they are all extremists - not a great way to get votes it seems
We are all extremists now!
Posted by: aussie at March 30, 2011 05:57 AM (O8zaC)
Posted by: blaster at March 30, 2011 05:57 AM (Fw2Gg)
Posted by: Sukie Tawdry at March 30, 2011 05:59 AM (MPtFW)
If they do not do what they promised during the election which was to make serious cuts in department by department individual bills then we will know that the Republican Party is DOOMED. Too many squishes.
People here complain about the "purists". The purists are what we damn need right now but they are being held back by the liberal wing like the ME sisters. If we can't get anything done on actual cuts then it is time to throw up the hands go thirds party and watch the country go down in flames.
Maybe it will split off and the NE and the far West can form their own little communist dominion so the rest of us can survive while they collapse.
Posted by: Vic at March 30, 2011 06:00 AM (M9Ie6)
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 06:00 AM (5/yRG)
Posted by: blaster at March 30, 2011 06:00 AM (Fw2Gg)
So far, the powers that be have been pretty good here with juggling all the metaphorical doom balls. They are not going to let us go full on Mad Max because they will lose their cushy jobs and end up in the Thunderdome. So I don't think that will happen.
However, I do see the potential for the slow, slow suck that takes us to some sort of Carteresque, high misery index that is awful enough to impact our daily lives, but not enough to make us go after those in power with pitchforks.
Posted by: shibumi at March 30, 2011 06:01 AM (OKZrE)
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 06:01 AM (k1rwm)
I'll have the doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, baked beans, doom, doom, doom, and doom.
Posted by: teh Viking the Magnificent, sherif of the Riffian Berbers, true defender of the faithful and the blo at March 30, 2011 06:03 AM (q5DKe)
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 06:05 AM (k1rwm)
That's NOT off topic!
Armed lawyers are a sure sign of doom. I read that in one of the New Testament books the Catholic Church won't allow release of.
Posted by: jwb7605 at March 30, 2011 06:05 AM (Qxe/p)
98 I think that's what they are angling for myself -- however, always expect the unexpected. There are things beyond even their control that could throw things into an uncontrollable tail spin...like that Chicago report mentioned above -- probably a sick prank, but then again...
Best laid plans of mice and men, and all that bullshit.
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 06:06 AM (5/yRG)
*facepalm*
I do wish he'd shut up for just one day. Never before have I seen any politician so skillfully and consistently stick his foot in his mouth, day after freakin' day.
Posted by: KinleyArdal at March 30, 2011 06:06 AM (NzSVi)
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 06:08 AM (5/yRG)
73 So back in the day when the people who wanted to ensure that we had a good temperament when discussing the budget were saying that Demint and Bachmann and the like were being splitters for going for $250B in cuts, I said that we needed them to anchor the right, because if the GOP went in with $61B on the table, they would get rolled by the Democrats and get $30B in cuts over the next few years and call that a win....
That's not what I'm talking about, though. It would be perfectly fine if the RSC released this budget as per usual and stated that their intent was to start a conversation within the GOP. I would be happy if Rep. Jordan didn't make a point of bragging about his litmus test for true conservatism, a test even Michele Bachmann wouldn't pass. If he had responded when his opinion was solicited instead of waiting until this week, things would be different. I understand why he despises Boehner-- I don't trust the man much myself-- but this is not the time to get pay-back for old grievances. This is not about advancing conservatism so much as it is a show of defiance. Otherwise, Jordan, Campbell, and a few others have been noticeably absent on leading the charge on entitlement reform and other issues, and they often refuse to vote on spending bills because they aren't good enough. If you can't vote to defund NPR due to this reason, then you're an unserious hypocrite.
PS: I hate Pawlenty.
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 06:09 AM (UO6+e)
That's what they keep promising but have so far failed to deliver, and that's the real point, isn't it? It's always this commitment to satisfy the base (that got them the power we must note, again) that crumbles into mush. What has the Congress really accomplished so far? I've noticed a good bit of time away from D.C. where the groundwork needs to be developed and almost nothing to advance the conservative agenda. Maybe the committees are being productive, but I hear almost nothing about it. That's a problem. I mean we're relatively clued in to what's going on and yet we hear/read so little. What the heck is going on?
Furthermore, look at Obama's shortcomings and the policy failures of the Democrats. It's incredible how badly the Progressives are a) stepping on their dicks, and b) exposing their inner Marxists; yet by and large, the GOP as a whole voices nary a peep except for the conservative firebrands who actually believe in something. This is a much poorer showing than I expected particularly in view of the drubbing that was delivered last Fall.
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at March 30, 2011 06:10 AM (swuwV)
Posted by: nevergiveup at March 30, 2011 09:35 AM (0GFWk)
There are, but we don't have a Republican president, and our GOP Congress is too goddamn feckless to defund the war even though Obama unilaterally decided we were going in.
So this is what we've got. I certainly don't want to see Qadaffi on TV when all this is done with a shit-eater's grin on his face saying he 'beat' America.
Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at March 30, 2011 06:10 AM (TpXEI)
Posted by: nevergiveup at March 30, 2011 06:12 AM (0GFWk)
Sadly, no. They just don't provide enough pics, so I gave up.
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at March 30, 2011 06:12 AM (swuwV)
Posted by: blaster at March 30, 2011 06:13 AM (Fw2Gg)
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 10:09 AM (UO6+e)
Amen.
Then I suggest you get used to it or turn off your TV, because that seems to be where we are headedIf Rush is right, and Qaddafi does decide to go into exile, watch for Obama to throw the biggest damn ego party possible.
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at March 30, 2011 06:19 AM (9hSKh)
No it isn't.
Hate to rain on Monty's Parade of Doom (tm) but the reason Maine has so many vacant homes per capita is because the Census Bureau counts many _vacation_ homes as "vacant". If a dwelling is not lived more then a certain number of days a year it is considered vacant. So, for example, a house on the Carolina Coast that is rented/visited most every day between April and October is not vacant but a beach house in Bar Harbor that is only occupied from May to September is vacant.
Don't worry though, Monty, there's plenty of DOOM to overcome this small Unicorn Rainbow Fart.
Posted by: Quilly Mammoth at March 30, 2011 06:20 AM (y3wz3)
PS Ohio is kicking ass for Conservative causes:
The "Heartbeat Bill," a controversial abortion law, is expected to be voted on Wednesday by an Ohio House committee.
If approved by the House health committee, it would head to the full Ohio House for a vote, 10TV's Shayla Reaves reported.
The bill would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, often as early as six weeks.
...House To Vote On Senate Bill 5 (Union Bill)
Posted by: momma at March 30, 2011 06:21 AM (penCf)
I figured it had to be something like that, because Vermont is way up there in the "vacancy rate" listings too, and they're likewise a rich-n-famous playground. Lots of ski lodges, etc.
Posted by: Monty at March 30, 2011 06:23 AM (FC+dS)
So it'll be just like any other Wednesday at the White House.
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at March 30, 2011 06:23 AM (swuwV)
Cash-poor MTA may put recipients of unemployment benefits to work again cleaning subways
Posted by: momma at March 30, 2011 06:24 AM (penCf)
You know what is so frightening, since you are speaking of "stupid", people, normal people are reading all this stuff. I mean beck proved that someone in the administration was a truther, someone in the administration. Which means, stuff we might write off as "just plain ridiculous" some one else might be reading and thinking it's the absolute truth.
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 06:24 AM (k1rwm)
94 @59, Miss80sBaby, I think what you might be seeing is the commencement of a leadership challenge to Boehner, which I would welcome.
As leader of the RSC, Rep. Jordan has a duty to share his plan with his members; he has refused. Stabbing your own members in the back just to get Boehner is also wrong. Everyone on the House Budget Committee shares his ideas; the difficulty is that they can't write a purist budget. Everything in that budget has to go through Boehner, Cantor, and McCarthy, so the budgeteers don't have the luxury of stating exactly what they want. The RSC is not bound by these same restraints, so they can ask for anything they like.
So the question I'm asking is how is this move helpful in advancing the ideas expressed in the FY '12 budget? It's been said that the Rs will need a Lincoln to successfully promote the idea of entitlement reform; how are they going to manage that if they are fighting? You pit the Tea Party against Establishment with the budgeteers caught in the middle and no conversation will be held to advance the idea of turning Medicare into a voucher system. You can't win the war against the Dems while having to fight your own side. What I'm telling you, then, is that while I welcome Jordan's challenge to Boehner, this strategy is going to kill whatever potential they had of successfully addressing these programs.
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 06:24 AM (UO6+e)
95Maybe it will split off and the NE and the far West can form their own little communist dominion so the rest of us can survive while they collapse. Posted by: Vic at March 30, 2011 10:00 AM (M9Ie6)
Thats the obvious sequel to the DOOM threads, but no one wants to go there. People still sort of grooving on being Boned and Doomed.
Posted by: brobdingnagian at March 30, 2011 06:24 AM (K/USr)
Posted by: Carolyn at March 30, 2011 06:26 AM (NYjsM)
Complaining like this is roughly equivalent to saying that the possibilities of an EXTREME earthquake in California should lead us to believe that the state should be shutdown and moved to Kansas.
Posted by: Bill Maher at March 30, 2011 06:28 AM (tvs2p)
Somebody forgot to take his Dilantin, that's what I think.
Posted by: Monty at March 30, 2011 06:29 AM (FC+dS)
Opinion: President doesn't frame foreign policy into bumper-sticker slogans.
Posted by: momma at March 30, 2011 06:29 AM (penCf)
--------
I blame the loss of the comment counts on the front page that came with the new comments thingie. It's hard to see where everyone is without it.
Posted by: Anachronda at March 30, 2011 06:30 AM (6fER6)
A very standard ordinary negotiation tactic. The GOP, especially leadership, needs a great deal of training in the art of effective negotiation.
Posted by: Scraping the Couric off my shoes at March 30, 2011 06:30 AM (F/4zf)
Okay, someone please explain to me why defunding Planned Parenthood isn't a done deal (I'm looking at you, Scott Brown). Especially after reading this:
Planned Parenthood CEOÂ’s Mammogram Claims Are False (Lila Rose at Big Government)
"...Just a few weeks ago, on national television, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said this about Rep. Mike PenceÂ’s amendment to defund Planned Parenthood:
“If this bill ever becomes law, millions of women in this country are gonna lose their health care access–not to abortion services–to basic family planning, you know, mammograms.”
Yet this is blatantly false.
We got a tip from former Planned Parenthood director, Abby Johnson, that Planned Parenthood does not provide any mammogram services. Just to be sure, our investigative team called up 30 Planned Parenthood clinics in many major metropolitan areas. Every single one of the clinics told our actor that no, they do not provide mammograms. “We don’t provide those services whatsoever,” one staffer in Arizona said. Another in Wisconsin remarked, “We are just a surgical center, we don’t really do health services.” In Overland Park, KS, at Planned Parenthood’s “Comprehensive Health Center,” they said, “We don’t actually have a, um, mammogram machine, at our clinics.”
We called 27 states total. In none of those states does Planned Parenthood provide mammograms..."
Posted by: MWR at March 30, 2011 06:30 AM (4df7R)
Via zerohedge, Pento at RealMarkets has true CPI calculated at -8.75%!
Also a leading guestpost has property taxes up 27% since 2007 while property values have declined 31%. State sales and income taxes are up 10% as well, but property taxes went from half their value to 90%.
Posted by: gary gulrud at March 30, 2011 06:31 AM (/g2vP)
Posted by: maddogg at March 30, 2011 06:32 AM (OlN4e)
Posted by: polynikes at March 30, 2011 06:33 AM (iRWGZ)
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 06:35 AM (UO6+e)
Posted by: Monty at March 30, 2011 10:29 AM (FC+dS)
that's a given, but, these are the "elliot wave" guys and they are connected with Princeton University's web bot project so that sort of gives them "gravitas" in some circles, like WS and government circles. They manage to get people's ears and eyes and thoughts and that is what is concerning. It's once thing to read this stuff and laugh but quite another if you take it literally and use it just like you use data from the folks counting cars in the walmart parking lot to judge the health of the company.
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 06:35 AM (k1rwm)
--------
I know what most of those words mean individually, but not when they're all put together in a row like that.
The first link was particularly nonsensical. I suspect a coded message using that scheme wherein each word stands for a letter.
Posted by: Anachronda at March 30, 2011 06:35 AM (6fER6)
Posted by: ya2daup at March 30, 2011 06:36 AM (ed5Fz)
Am I to understand that "the rebels" in Libya, probably comprised of various warlords, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim Bro-hood, are now owners & distributors of oil?
That's just great.
Posted by: Chief Double-ended Dildo at March 30, 2011 06:36 AM (uFokq)
Posted by: polynikes at March 30, 2011 10:33 AM (iRWGZ)
Weren't they a group of government employees?
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 06:37 AM (k1rwm)
I have put tons of links in The Top Headlines Thread, but no one reads them (I think) after a new thread goes up.
12 year old gives birth on school field trip, Obama says he prays every night, Obama says oil comp. must produce more oil at home, Obama says US to cut 1/3 of all oil imports, Carter visits Raul Castro, Hoyer calls Tea Partiers dictators, BO says his bracket proves he is a great Prez (or something), etc.
Posted by: momma at March 30, 2011 06:37 AM (penCf)
95 ...If they do not do what they promised during the election which was to make serious cuts in department by department individual bills then we will know that the Republican Party is DOOMED...
Just addressing the part about individual bills, my understanding is that old budget rules require them to split the appropriations section into 12 parts.
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 06:40 AM (UO6+e)
when I saw this I thought to myself "can you imagine the question that morons and moronettes would come up with"
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 06:41 AM (k1rwm)
122 You should see some of the stuff put out by the Revelations freaks (courtesy of the co-worker who is worried he'll miss the Rapture). Same level of quasi-sciency talk, lots of measuring geographical points, stock market results, dates and adding them together to show...the end is near! (and of course America really is the whore of Babylon and we're all very doomed to eternal damnation...except for them, of course).
And then, after reading all this stuff, I start to sit back and say "I'm kinda hoping you're right chief, because if people are believing this frakked up nonsense the world really does need to take a big old dump".
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 06:43 AM (5/yRG)
Posted by: blaster at March 30, 2011 06:43 AM (Fw2Gg)
Posted by: maddogg at March 30, 2011 06:44 AM (OlN4e)
Pfft. I'll trade that monopoly money for the thimble and Mediterranean Avenue. You'll thank me.
Posted by: The Fed at March 30, 2011 06:44 AM (swuwV)
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 10:43 AM (5/yRG)
Haven't you heard? The world is supposed to end on May 21st! 111!!!eleventy111!!!
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at March 30, 2011 06:45 AM (9hSKh)
Posted by: FRONT TOWARD LEFT at March 30, 2011 06:45 AM (Pzf4N)
The Justice DepartmentÂ’s Office of Personnel Responsibility (OPR) has concluded an investigation finding that politics played no role in the handling of the New Black Panther Party case, which sparked a racially charged political fight.
After reviewing thousands of pages of internal e-mails and notes and conducting 44 interviews with department staff members, the OPR reported that “department attorneys did not commit professional misconduct or exercise poor judgment” and that the voter-intimidation case against the Panthers was dismissed on “a good faith assessment of the law” and “not influenced by the race of the defendants.”
http://tinyurl.com/4kxjrrr
Posted by: Tami at March 30, 2011 06:46 AM (VuLos)
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 06:48 AM (5/yRG)
ah, don't worry, they are doctors and lawyers and academics..."Obama: Libyan Rebels Comprised of “Professionals, Lawyers and Doctors”…
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 06:49 AM (k1rwm)
yeah, we're not against negotiating when the cuts range between $300B and $600B.
but holy heck we're talking about peanuts here: $6B...$20B...$64B.
That's nothing...and we still can't even get that.
Posted by: Chief Double-ended Dildo at March 30, 2011 06:49 AM (uFokq)
Quinnipiac: Obama approval down
"American voters disapprove 48 - 42 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing and say 50 - 41 percent he does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012, both all-time lows, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
[...]
Voters oppose 47 - 41 percent America's involvement in Libya. In the survey concluded Monday evening as President Obama was addressing the nation about Libya, voters say 58 - 29 percent that he has not clearly stated U.S. goals for Libya."
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 06:50 AM (UO6+e)
Obama's approval ratings would be in the 30's if the Republicans would be just half as vocal as the Democrats were under Bush.
Posted by: Chief Double-ended Dildo at March 30, 2011 06:52 AM (uFokq)
Posted by: JackStraw at March 30, 2011 06:53 AM (TMB3S)
Shutdown news:
"McCarthy: House Will Chastise Senate for Inaction; GOP Can Win Shutdown Fight" (NRO)
"McCarthy, in an interview, tells NRO that House Republicans will not be bullied into accepting a vague offer from Senate Democrats. In fact, he says, the GOP will soon bring a bill to the House floor that chastises Harry Reid and company for their failure to pass an alternative spending plan. By publicizing how Democrats are handling the negotiations via a floor debate and a vote, McCarthy and the leadership hope to force their upper-chamber foes into action, or at least highlight their inaction."
Great, we have to rely on such stalwarts as Kevin McCarthy, the Majority Whip who folds faster than an ironing board.
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 06:55 AM (UO6+e)
and he said it with all the conviction of someone who believed what he was saying and he ignored my questions: "who says the tea party is the republican party base and have you heard shoo mer's little extremist comment?"
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 06:55 AM (k1rwm)
The bill would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, often as early as six weeks.
Posted by: momma at March 30, 2011 10:21 AM (penCf)
What a world this is, where defending helpless children from Gosnellian bloodlust is controversial.
I earnestly pray that bill passes.
Posted by: KinleyArdal at March 30, 2011 06:56 AM (NzSVi)
163 I read these things, and I see the college kids walking to class...and I want to mock them, mock them meanly, cruelly, and laughingly.
It would be hilarious is a rumor got started that the draft might get reinstated right before summer semester...and involve...everyone. (hmm, I wonder if there's a way I could do that?) Just for the entertainment value alone --bwhahahahaha!
*you're looking at somebody who likes to go to the organic food section and put up notecards explaining how organic food is really a big lie spread by big agra...and then watch people nervously edge away from the organic tomatoes. One day I'm sure I'll get caught, but until then...
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 06:56 AM (5/yRG)
Crown Royal drinkers........ look at me i drink Crown Royal.
Jim Beam drinkers............ Fuck You.
Posted by: Racefan at March 30, 2011 06:59 AM (MV+oD)
well, saying when you hear a heartbeat still allows plenty of abortions. Some will argue it's there's a person there within the first hours of conception.
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 06:59 AM (k1rwm)
Posted by: ya2daup at March 30, 2011 06:59 AM (/SkhL)
Well, uh, yeah ... you see, those other people, they're not me, and well, you know how it is ....
Posted by: Running up that hill at March 30, 2011 07:01 AM (8/DeP)
In front of a mirror and, therefore, to himself.
Posted by: ya2daup at March 30, 2011 10:59 AM (/SkhL)
"oh dear God, please let them leave me alone during my golf game and when I'm buying ice cream with the kids and when I throw out the first pitch this week and when I entertain the bros at the house and when I want to eat my burrito in peace"
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 07:01 AM (k1rwm)
I'll tell you, and most of you will also remember, this does not feel like 1983.
Well, it feels like the Bizzarro 1983. Everything is opposite. We have Obama instead Reagan. Libya is in our crosshairs again but for opposite reasons.
Reagan inherited a shitty economy and by 1983 we were booming. Obama inherited a sputtering economy, made it worse, and now in his third year, it's getting even worse.
Reagan won in a landslide in 1984 because his policies, both foreign and domestic, were working. Obama will probably win in 2012 because he can fool enough people into believing his policies are working. We live in interesting wacky times.
Posted by: Chief Double-ended Dildo at March 30, 2011 07:01 AM (uFokq)
Posted by: Racefan at March 30, 2011 07:01 AM (MV+oD)
Posted by: joncelli at March 30, 2011 07:02 AM (RD7QR)
Posted by: ya2daup at March 30, 2011 07:03 AM (/SkhL)
ah don't worry, didn't beck point out that his arch enemy is planning a conference so his arch enemy can transform the world economy in his own image so that he controls everything?
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 07:04 AM (k1rwm)
Has anyone noticed when shopping at health food stores that many of the people are pasty, pencil thin, and look ill?
Posted by: Fish the Impaler at March 30, 2011 07:05 AM (ZHsNw)
Posted by: Andy at March 30, 2011 07:06 AM (5Rurq)
Today's House action:
H.R. 471- S.O.A.R. (Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act)
H.R. 872 - Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at March 30, 2011 07:08 AM (UO6+e)
Is Europe suffering? I don't hear much about layoffs, etc., etc., in Europe. What's going on over there. I want to see some poetic justice. Moreover, I want to see them suffer to wake people up here.
The riots in London last week show just how angry the slugs can become when their SlugMoney is threatened. Same thing in Wisconsin, and anywhere else that the access to free taxpayer money comes up for review.
I come here everyday for the Doom! and I'm never disappointed.............
Posted by: Boots at March 30, 2011 07:09 AM (neKzn)
Has anyone noticed when shopping at health food stores that many of the people are pasty, pencil thin, and look ill?
Posted by: Fish the Impaler at March 30, 2011 11:05 AM (ZHsNw)
never been in a health food store..... so i guess that is a NO. do they have bacon?
Posted by: Racefan at March 30, 2011 07:12 AM (MV+oD)
Posted by: polynikes at March 30, 2011 10:33 AM (iRWGZ)
Great. I am CERTAIN that none of them used ANY official work time to organize their little gambling ring.
Posted by: NC Ref at March 30, 2011 07:15 AM (/izg2)
Posted by: Empire of Jeff al-Amriki at March 30, 2011 07:16 AM (U9jjw)
well, saying when you hear a heartbeat still allows plenty of abortions. Some will argue it's there's a person there within the first hours of conception.
Posted by: . at March 30, 2011 10:59 AM (k1rwm)
Indeed. I am one of them.
Frankly, it is the most important topic facing the nation, in my opinion. Our legacy of the past forty years is not one of failed promises and fiscal irresponsibility, but fifty million dead children.
Stalin smiles at us from his corner of hell.
Posted by: KinleyArdal at March 30, 2011 07:16 AM (NzSVi)
I have put tons of links in The Top Headlines Thread, but no one reads them (I think) after a new thread goes up.
We read 'em momma. Sometimes the Top Headline thread slows but stays active for hours. Sometimes it doesn't.
Posted by: Ed Anger at March 30, 2011 07:16 AM (7+pP9)
Substitute Boned for Blown. It's Old School time, "then they locked me up"
Posted by: Dave at March 30, 2011 07:22 AM (FQACB)
Posted by: Racefan at March 30, 2011 07:22 AM (MV+oD)
No. But you lost me at "when shopping at health food stores."
Posted by: Andy at March 30, 2011 11:06 AM (5Rurq)
Well, I don't shop their either, but trolling for liberal cooter in tie-dye T's, Birkenstock's, and Hate George Bush/Halliburton bumper stickers can be productive if you're looking to jump bones or find a ready, willing, and able chick who bathes for a Lewinsky!
Posted by: Fish the Impaler at March 30, 2011 07:24 AM (ZHsNw)
The red state/blue state model is flawed in a significant way -- it doesn't account for the urbal/rural split. The more urban areas and tall buildings (and college towns), the more Democrats. The more rural/suburban areas, the more Republicans. Georgia has Atlanta, Decatur, etc. -- so it leans heavily blue in those areas. (It also has a significant black population, which is almost unanimously Democrat.) Minnesota is in the same boat -- were it not for the Twin Cities, Minnesota would be as "red" as Utah.
States are very far from being homogenous. California probably has more conservatives, in absolute numbers, than any other state -- but they are overwhelmed by the even greater number of liberals. The same is true of a lot of states (like Illinois).
Posted by: Monty at March 30, 2011 07:28 AM (FC+dS)
Posted by: The Count at March 30, 2011 07:33 AM (moStH)
198 Georgia, as Monty referenced above, is well down the road to ruin and it's not exactly a blue state.
..............
you are right about down the road to ruin......... but there is hope for us. i grew up with Dems. and Libs. all around me...i mean the meanest of mean Rednecks.......... you know what they say to me now?
maybe Bush wasnt so bad.
Posted by: Racefan at March 30, 2011 07:47 AM (MV+oD)
Posted by: Chuckit at March 30, 2011 07:53 AM (2+z1R)
Posted by: by any other name at March 30, 2011 08:02 AM (H+LJc)
"States are very far from being homogenous. California probably has more conservatives, in absolute numbers, than any other state -- but they are overwhelmed by the even greater number of liberals. The same is true of a lot of states (like Illinois)."
Please remember this when deciding your refugee policy after the doom hits.
Posted by: Randy at March 30, 2011 08:40 AM (D0PNd)
Posted by: Racefan at March 30, 2011 10:59 AM (MV+oD)
What did Jim Beam ever do to you to cause such animosity?
Posted by: Count de Monet, Jim Beam drinker at March 30, 2011 08:44 AM (XBM1t)
184 Between the people younger than me who have to ride the grocery store rascal because they are obese and the pallid waifs who frequent the health food aisle (there is no organic, health food store in my town -- the local grocery caters to both clientele; people watching there can be fascinating), I have come to the conclusion that Americans simply do have way too much time on their hands.
I don't buy into either organic tomatoes and bulk granola or a steady diet of pizza rolls and cheetos...probably because I'm not a person flush with money and do need some value in my food shopping dollar.
It does however lend to some fun mischief opportunities (yeah, I've also put up notecards in the chips/cookies aisle *eating these by the box, and your still fat, connection?* above the reduced fat/diet chips and snacks).
Yeah, I'm cruel, and I'm not a model of health myself -- but these inane food fads and hang ups have got to go.
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 08:47 AM (5/yRG)
Posted by: ParisParamus at March 30, 2011 09:32 AM (bgSjf)
...and better hair.
Posted by: Vashta Nerada at March 30, 2011 10:09 AM (SNs7J)
Yeah, I'm cruel, and I'm not a model of health myself -- but these inane food fads and hang ups have got to go.
Posted by: unknown jane at March 30, 2011 12:47 PM (5/yRG)
Diet is religion, and people don't give up their religion that easily.
Funny that makes you an evangelist. 
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at March 30, 2011 12:33 PM (bxiXv)
Probably because there are more people in Nevada looking for a cheap place to set up their meth lab or pot growing operation.
Posted by: Rod Rescueman at March 30, 2011 03:17 PM (QxGmu)
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Posted by: Paladin at March 30, 2011 04:46 AM (ycm4Q)