Monday, January 04, 2010

Feds probe Detroit's pensions

Feds probe Detroit's pensions
"U.S. probe into pension funds connects to City Hall scandals

An investment adviser who vetted deals that cost Detroit's public pensions $90 million.
A former city pension trustee accused of soliciting bribes.

Middlemen paid by businesses seeking millions in Detroit pension funds.

These developments, among others, have prompted federal authorities to investigate the dealings of the city's pensions -- one for the police and fire departments, another for general city workers"

And guess who pays if there ain't enought to pay the Detroit pensioneers?

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Heroin for dummies - NYPOST.com

Heroin for dummies - NYPOST.com
"Here's the latest smack on taxpayers.
The city spent $32,000 on 70,000 fliers that tell you how to shoot heroin, complete with detailed tips on prepping the dope and injecting it into your arm.
The Health Department handout has outraged New York's top drug prosecutors and abuse experts.
'It's basically step-by- step instruction on how to inject a poison,' said John Gilbride, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York office."

The Health Department defended its brochure, saying it was helpful and necessary, and has been distributed only to addicts or those at risk of becoming abusers.

"Our goal is to promote health and save lives with this information," said Daliah Heller, assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care and Treatment.

Asked why the handout tells people how to shoot up, Heller said, "From a health perspective, there is a less harmful way to inject yourself."

Climategate: You should be steamed

Climategate: You should be steamed
"Now that Copenhagen is past history, what is the next step in the man-made global warming controversy?

Without question, there should be an immediate and thorough investigation of the scientific debauchery revealed by “Climategate.”"

What do the skeptics believe?

First, they concur with the believers that the Earth has been warming since the end of a Little Ice Age around 1850.
The cause of this warming is the question.
Believers think the warming is man-made, while the skeptics believe the warming is natural and contributions from man are minimal and certainly not potentially catastrophic à la Al Gore.

Second, skeptics argue that CO2 is not a pollutant but vital for plant life.

Third, and most important, skeptics believe that climate models are grossly overpredicting future warming from rising concentrations of carbon dioxide.

U.S. Intensifies Screening for Travelers From 14 Nations

U.S. Intensifies Screening for Travelers From 14 Nations
"Citizens of 14 nations, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, who are flying to the United States will be subjected indefinitely to the intense screening at airports worldwide that was imposed after the Christmas Day bombing plot, Obama administration officials announced Sunday."

Good idea but why start in 2010?
Didn't 9-11 happen ...like... in 2001?

U.S. Economy Likely to Perform Poorly Over Next Decade

U.S. Economy Likely to Perform Poorly Over Next Decade - Real Time Economics - WSJ
"The U.S. economy is this decade likely to perform as poorly as the one that just ended due to higher savings by more cautious Americans and a less qualified labor force, several top economists said Sunday."

A "less qualified" workforce?
Huh?
Maybe we just need to spend MORE $$$$ on the big teeechers unions and those "overworked" kolege professors and administrators...right?

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Bin Laden Slams EU Over Prophet Cartoons-bumped from 2008




Our "brave", liberal MSM doesn't seem to have the guts to show any of the offending cartoons.

Which one offends you the most?
Osama bin Laden, in a new audio message posted Wednesday, condemned the publication of drawings that he said insulted the Prophet Muhammad and warned Europeans of a 'severe' reaction to come."

Lack of Estate Tax in 2010: Now Cheaper to Die?

Lack of Estate Tax in 2010: Now Cheaper to Die?
"Indeed, two Australian scholars found that when their nation abolished its inheritance tax in 1979, a disproportionately high number of people died in the week after the abolition as compared with the week before,'"

Power Line - The radical feminist empire strikes back at Duke


Power Line - The radical feminist empire strikes back at Duke
"But for Duke's Women's Center, whose turf includes allegations of sexual misconduct, the decline in 'business' is unwelcome. Its representative argues that the decline in reports of sexual misconduct is the result of a rise in unreported misconducted. This must be true, she maintains, because Duke has a 'rape culture.' The same culture, presumably, that produced the non-rape by the Duke lacrosse players.
But here's my favorite part of the story. Ada Gregory, director of the Women's Center, argues that 'higher IQ males' like those who populate Duke are particularly effective at 'manipulation and coercion.' Hence their ability to 'rape' women without them even realizing it.
It is my understanding that Duke also admits 'higher IQ females.' But if you're a radical feminist, women must always be clueless and helpless, no matter how intelligent they might seem."

Budget Deficits Have Consequences

RealClearMarkets - Budget Deficits Have Consequences
"Just after the debt ceiling increase, the Treasury announced, without consulting Congress, that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would get unlimited funding for the next three years for emergency aid to the housing market, 'to assure markets of the government's support.'
The translation of bureaucratic prose into ordinary speech is quite simple: the administration does not feel bound by congressional debt limits. It will spend as it sees fit.

The next time Congress considers raising the debt ceiling, a few members may wonder aloud what difference the debt ceiling makes when the administration brazenly ignores it.

It's not as if Fannie and Freddie have no money authorized by Congress.
So far they have been allocated $400 billion for emergency housing loans, of which $111 billion has been spent.
That means that the two government-sponsored enterprises already have congressional authority to spend an additional $289 billion. Now the administration finds that this is not sufficient, and the agencies can spend as much as they like even without congressional authority."

Friday, January 01, 2010

Hundreds of Cars Torched in France at New Year - ABC News


Hundreds of Cars Torched in France at New Year
"Youths burned 1,137 cars across France overnight as New Year's Eve celebrations once again turned violent, the French Interior Ministry said on Friday.
Car burnings are regular occurrences in poor suburbs that ring France's big cities, but the arson is especially prevalent during New Year's Eve revelry.
The number of vehicles torched was only 10 short of the record 1,147 burned this time last year, even though the Interior Ministry mobilized 45,000 police during the night -- 10,000 more than 12 months ago."

And just who are the allah-praising "youths" living in these "poor", car burning suburbs?

Top Cartoons Of '09


Investors.com - Top Cartoons Of '09
"IBD Editorial Cartoonist Michael Ramirez picks his favorite cartoons of the year."

Its a Wrap: The Most Underreported Stories of 2009

Its a Wrap: The Most Underreported Stories of 2009

A long, sad list that the media (and their democrat comrades) would prefer you never knew about.

Underreported by the MSM, not the web.

Or FoxNews.

Or much of talk radio.

U.S. to Lose $400 Billion on Fannie, Freddie


U.S. to Lose $400 Billion on Fannie, Freddie
"Taxpayer losses from supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will top $400 billion, according to Peter Wallison, a former general counsel at the Treasury who is now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

The situation is they are losing gobs of money, up to $400 billion in mortgages,” Wallison said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
The Treasury Department recognized last week that losses will be more than $400 billion when it raised its limit on federal support for the two government-sponsored enterprises, he said."

$400 BILLION!!!!!

Does Alamo Bowl belong on Court TV, not ESPN?

Does Alamo Bowl belong on Court TV, not ESPN?
"The Alamo Bowl held a pep rally Thursday afternoon, the kind of delightfully ridiculous event that makes bowls so much fun.

Players, coaches and band members rode in boats to the 'Rivercenter Lagoon,' which is a lagoon in the same sense that your local Wendy's is a rainforest.

It's basically an outdoor mall."

Biggest Exporters of World

Biggest Exporters of World
(2000) ($)

USA 1,065,740,000,000
Germany 633,052,000,000
Japan 528,751,000,000
UK 401,385,000,000
France 377,274,000,000
Canada 321,693,000,000
Italy 294,852,000,000
China 279,562,000,000
Netherlands 258,951,000,000
Hong Kong (China) 244,004,000,000


Source: - World Bank, World Development Indicators 2002"

Trade Protection = Economic War on Yourself


CARPE DIEM: Trade Protection = Economic War on Yourself
"'Protectionism is doing to ourselves in peacetime what our enemies do to us in wartime (cutting off trade and moving a country in the directon of self-sufficiency).'"

Those who want to "protect" us from the discount merchandise offered by developing countries forget (or believe the sophistry of our anti-American MSM) that the USA is the world's largest EXPORTER.

Most popular baby names in West Michigan during the 2000s

Most popular baby names in West Michigan during the 2000s
1. Jacob, Emma
2. Ethan, Isabella
3. Carter, Addison
4. Noah, Olivia
5. William, Ava
6. Isaac, Abigail
7. Caleb, Sophia
8. Gabriel, Ella
9. Evan, Lillian
10. Logan, Natalie

Isn't it a bit odd that, during the recent decade's decline in christian belief, the most popular names seem to come right out of the Bible?

What Ever Happened To The Duke 88?

Instapundit » Blog Archive » POWER LINE: What Ever Happened To The Duke 88?
"POWER LINE: What Ever Happened To The Duke 88?
And, from Professor Bainbridge, Stuart Taylor’s Stinging Indictment of Academe.

Plus, Ed Driscoll reminds us of this video from Mary Katharine Ham."

Great Instapundit links

How quickly we...er....the MSM, forgets...and sure wants us to forget.....

Do click on the video link.

Plus, Mary Katharine gettin' her lacross game down!

Texas Tech interim coach makes his case to stay

Texas Tech interim coach makes his case to stay
"Jerry Turner, vice chairman of the university system's board of regents, told the Associated Press 'other things' came to light during an investigation of Leach's treatment of the receiver. Turner declined to elaborate about the other issues.

Leach was suspended Monday after he refused to agree to guidelines for dealing with players set forth by his bosses in a Dec. 23 letter.
'I'm very sad to say there's only one person to blame for this and it's Mike Leach,' Texas Tech chancellor Kent Hance said."

This keeps getting stranger every day.

And this:

http://www.bringbackleach.com/

Michigan State takes convincing route to GLI title

Michigan State takes convincing route to GLI title
"Michigan State earned its nation-leading 14th win of the season Wednesday night to raise the Great Lakes Invitational banner to the Joe Louis Arena rafters."

Go State!