Just thrown into the bottom line of this AP article about the G-20 pledging $1t non-bailout bailout to the IMF is this gem. "Oh, by the way, not that you should care cuz it's obvious, you know, but..."
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The leaders also agreed to new rules on linking executive pay to performance, Brown said.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Keeping Score
Good analysis by Karl Rove in the WSJ. Change you can believe in...
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Members of Congress should also worry about how Mr. Obama is "keeping score." He is steeped in the ways of Chicago politics and has not forgotten his training in the methods once used by Saul Alinsky, the radical Chicago community organizer.
Alinsky's 1971 book, "Rules for Radicals," is a favorite of the Obamas. Michele Obama quoted it at the Democratic Convention. ...
... Alinsky's first rule of "power tactics" is "power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have." Team Obama wants to remind its adversaries it has plenty of power, and it does. The question is whether the White House will wield it responsibly. The jury is still out, but certain clues are beginning to emerge. "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother," even if said with a wink and a smile, isn't quite the "new politics" we were told to expect.
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Members of Congress should also worry about how Mr. Obama is "keeping score." He is steeped in the ways of Chicago politics and has not forgotten his training in the methods once used by Saul Alinsky, the radical Chicago community organizer.
Alinsky's 1971 book, "Rules for Radicals," is a favorite of the Obamas. Michele Obama quoted it at the Democratic Convention. ...
... Alinsky's first rule of "power tactics" is "power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have." Team Obama wants to remind its adversaries it has plenty of power, and it does. The question is whether the White House will wield it responsibly. The jury is still out, but certain clues are beginning to emerge. "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother," even if said with a wink and a smile, isn't quite the "new politics" we were told to expect.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Triple Funding for Volunteers
That's right, more of your tax dollars going to pay people for volunteering. Yeah... paid volunteers. Your tax dollars. On the downside, this law can be used to force kids to volunteer (ie. indoctrinate). These are the consequences of electing a radical, left-wing candidate. Simon Jester
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Please note that some of the strictures in this bill: volunteers cannot protest against proposed new laws, require that they limit their participation in the church of their choice.
...This shall not be borne. Not by me, not by my kids. This isn’t volunteerism, it is serfdom.
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Here is where the name Simon Jester comes from.
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Please note that some of the strictures in this bill: volunteers cannot protest against proposed new laws, require that they limit their participation in the church of their choice.
...This shall not be borne. Not by me, not by my kids. This isn’t volunteerism, it is serfdom.
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Here is where the name Simon Jester comes from.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Same Old Double Standard
Video of Joe Biden's daughter doing cocaine. I suppose, since Obama has admitted to this in his book, then it's a non-story. The video is not released but is for sale "to media". Somehow, I think some stimulus money might finds its way to the seller and the video will never be heard from again. (Powerline)
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I'm not very interested in Ashley Biden's cocaine use (assuming the woman in the video is in fact Ms. Biden). But then, I wasn't very interested in the Bush twins' underage drinking or the drug-related arrest of Sarah Palin's daughter's boyfriend's mother, either. Yet both were major news stories. Does anyone seriously believe that if there had been a video of Barbara or Jenna Bush snorting cocaine during their father's administration, the press would have refused to write about it?
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I'm not very interested in Ashley Biden's cocaine use (assuming the woman in the video is in fact Ms. Biden). But then, I wasn't very interested in the Bush twins' underage drinking or the drug-related arrest of Sarah Palin's daughter's boyfriend's mother, either. Yet both were major news stories. Does anyone seriously believe that if there had been a video of Barbara or Jenna Bush snorting cocaine during their father's administration, the press would have refused to write about it?
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Close It
You want to close Gitmo? Fine. Send them back to fight. Then you must change the rules-of-engagement to "no prisoners" and kill on sight. And you must drop liability on the troops if they kill innocents. I suppose this is an acceptable alternative if you really want to close it. Corner
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The Taliban fighters said the Afghan Taliban delegation [to the fence-mending confab] was led by Mullah Abdullah Zakir, a commander from Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, whose real name is reported to be Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul.
A front-line commander during the Taliban government, Mullah Zakir was captured in 2001 in northern Afghanistan and was detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, until his release in 2007, Afghan Taliban members contacted by telephone said.
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The Taliban fighters said the Afghan Taliban delegation [to the fence-mending confab] was led by Mullah Abdullah Zakir, a commander from Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, whose real name is reported to be Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul.
A front-line commander during the Taliban government, Mullah Zakir was captured in 2001 in northern Afghanistan and was detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, until his release in 2007, Afghan Taliban members contacted by telephone said.
Judges Rule
Why voting in the executive branch is so important. President Bush appointed Judge Roberts and Judge Alito into the US Supreme court. They helped rule the DC gun ban unconstitutional. Now one Massachusetts judge rules the Massachusetts "lock" law unconstitutional. But a second Massachusetts judge, in a separate case, rules the law constitutional. (via Volokh)
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After a police officer's 12-year-old son got access to the officer's handgun, the officer was prosecuted for violating Mass. Gen. Laws. ch. 140, § 131L:
... Last month, the court held the statute was unconstitutional (Commonwealth v. Bolduc), and dismissed the prosecution. I only just now managed to get a copy of the opinion, and here's the relevant discussion:
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Follow link to read the judges opinion.
Four judges, all appointed, all making a judgment on the same subject, not all the same judgment. Your vote for governor or president is a vote for who makes the judgment.
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After a police officer's 12-year-old son got access to the officer's handgun, the officer was prosecuted for violating Mass. Gen. Laws. ch. 140, § 131L:
... Last month, the court held the statute was unconstitutional (Commonwealth v. Bolduc), and dismissed the prosecution. I only just now managed to get a copy of the opinion, and here's the relevant discussion:
------------
Follow link to read the judges opinion.
Four judges, all appointed, all making a judgment on the same subject, not all the same judgment. Your vote for governor or president is a vote for who makes the judgment.
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Right Decision by Obama
President Obama has got this policy right. Will he stay the coarse, or fully commit to victory, time will tell. But for now, I'm happy with his leadership, here. WashTimes
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He said the Afghan government cannot fall to the extremist Taliban or it would "again be a base for terrorists,"
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One thought, though, is that he's putting 4000 troops in to make a total of 27000. But is that enough? Afghanistan is a different theater than Iraq - fewer big cities, smaller population, rural - and there are other NATO troops there. But Bush's "surge" was 24000 troops. Is 4000 enough? Time will tell.
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He said the Afghan government cannot fall to the extremist Taliban or it would "again be a base for terrorists,"
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One thought, though, is that he's putting 4000 troops in to make a total of 27000. But is that enough? Afghanistan is a different theater than Iraq - fewer big cities, smaller population, rural - and there are other NATO troops there. But Bush's "surge" was 24000 troops. Is 4000 enough? Time will tell.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
"It Can Happen Here"
Sobering final statement in this WSJ opinion piece about our political climate. Don't forget to note who is driving the climate, today. And you can't blame this climate on Bush.
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But the biggest lesson here is the old one that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance -- beginning with insistence on the rule of law. Americans clearly cannot trust their elected officials to defend their rights and interests, or care whether justice is served, when the slightest political risk might attach to doing so.
Which brings us back to Mr. Cuomo, whose office has been implicitly threatening to publish names of AIG employees who don't relinquish pay they were contractually entitled to.
Mr. Cuomo is a thug, but at least he reminds us: It can happen here.
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But the biggest lesson here is the old one that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance -- beginning with insistence on the rule of law. Americans clearly cannot trust their elected officials to defend their rights and interests, or care whether justice is served, when the slightest political risk might attach to doing so.
Which brings us back to Mr. Cuomo, whose office has been implicitly threatening to publish names of AIG employees who don't relinquish pay they were contractually entitled to.
Mr. Cuomo is a thug, but at least he reminds us: It can happen here.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Consequences of Trivialities
What is $160M in bonuses when you've shelled out $1000000M? Here is a result of bonus bashing by our esteemed leaders. Resignation letter from AIG bonus recipient in the NYT:
It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. ...
I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.
After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.
I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.
(Read the rest)
It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. ...
I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.
After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.
I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.
(Read the rest)
Home Coming
Long War Journal:
More than 20 Britons who have trained in al Qaeda terror camps inside Pakistan have returned to Britain, according to Pakistani intelligence.
More than 20 Britons who have trained in al Qaeda terror camps inside Pakistan have returned to Britain, according to Pakistani intelligence.
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