Global Test
Dear @JohnKerry
You want the US to run off wind and solar, yet you want Iran to be nuclear.
Why don't you ship them a bunch of windmills?
— Steve Goddard (@SteveSGoddard) March 13, 2015
Not A Muslim
“…here are some of the views of Obama’s new Security Coordinator for the Middle East“.
The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire
I wake up every day around two or three in the afternoon, make a cup of coffee and turn on the news, just waiting for the day when it finally happens, the day that something finally snaps, and I am listening to Sheppard Smith breathlessly trying to describe shaky video of a mob of 500,000 or 800,000 pissed off taxpayers that has invaded Washington and are lining every street in D.C., armed to the teeth, and erecting scaffolding on the National Mall.
Actually, that’s not how I think it is going to go, but I promise you… what can not go on, will NOT go on.
A worthy rant.
h/t David
It’s Probably Nothing
April Fools! Washington’s nuclear deal with Tehran depends on aggressive inspections inside Iran. But the mullahs may well have a secret program outside their borders.
How’s That Hopey Changey Thing Working Out For Ya?
The nation’s political and media elites were quite pleased with themselves when the November 2006 elections brought about that result, largely because their daily hostility to all things Republican and/or conservative contributed mightily to it. They were absolutely ecstatic when Barack Obama, Mr. Perfectly Creased Pants, won the November 2008 presidential election and took office in January 2009.
As will be seen shortly, the former event marked the beginning of the U.S. economy’s worst eight-year stretch since 1945-1952. Obama’s presence in the Oval Office until January 2017 virtually ensures that we’ll have at least two more years of the policies which brought on that miserable result.
Is There Nothing That Obama Can’t Do?
The Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is warning that the new regulations governing the internet which will be voted on later this month, will grant government control of the net, increase taxes, and require hidden fees that will make the internet less free, more expensive, and less innovative.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a statement on Friday that highlighted some of the changes in the internet being sought by the government. Indeed, some of the details are alarming.
More: The FCC’s Big Internet Power Grab Comes Directly From the White House
Operation Nero
Critics accuse the administration of being too slow to act in Syria and Russia. In a new strategy document, the White House will say that was the plan all along.
The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire
Don’t attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by malice.
How’s That Hopey Changey Thing Working Out For Ya?
Gallup CEO Jim Clifton:
Right now, we’re hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is “down” to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. The media loves a comeback story, the White House wants to score political points and Wall Street would like you to stay in the market.
None of them will tell you this: If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job — if you are so hopelessly out of work that you’ve stopped looking over the past four weeks — the Department of Labor doesn’t count you as unemployed. That’s right. While you are as unemployed as one can possibly be, and tragically may never find work again, you are not counted in the figure we see relentlessly in the news — currently 5.6%. Right now, as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work or severely underemployed. Trust me, the vast majority of them aren’t throwing parties to toast “falling” unemployment.
There’s another reason why the official rate is misleading. Say you’re an out-of-work engineer or healthcare worker or construction worker or retail manager: If you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20 — maybe someone pays you to mow their lawn — you’re not officially counted as unemployed in the much-reported 5.6%. Few Americans know this.
Yet another figure of importance that doesn’t get much press: those working part time but wanting full-time work. If you have a degree in chemistry or math and are working 10 hours part time because it is all you can find — in other words, you are severely underemployed — the government doesn’t count you in the 5.6%. Few Americans know this.
There’s no other way to say this. The official unemployment rate, which cruelly overlooks the suffering of the long-term and often permanently unemployed as well as the depressingly underemployed, amounts to a Big Lie.
Forward, Comrade! Interest Costs Poised to Surpass Defense and Nondefense Discretionary Spending
How’s That Hopey Changey Thing Working Out For Ya?
NRO; Federal Government Issued Nearly 5.5 Million Work Permits to Foreign Nationals Since 2009
It’s Probably Nothing
h/t Bettie
Is There Nothing That Obama Can’t Do?
According to unnamed officials, Washington “has given the Iranians 80 percent of what they want” out of the negotiations…
Embargo Lifted, Fidel Alive!
Cuban President Raul Castro demanded on Wednesday that the United States return the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations.
Castro told a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that Cuba and the U.S. are working toward full diplomatic relations but ‘if these problems aren’t resolved, this diplomatic rapprochement wouldn’t make any sense.’
No way, the White House said Thursday.
Embargo Lifted, Fidel Alive!
Nobody saw THIS coming: Cuba leaves talks on US ties insisting it won’t make major changes to its system
6 Year Recovery Watch Remains On High Alert
“Before the recession, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected we would have 5 million more jobs at the end of 2014 than we actually do. It also projected that the GDP would be more than 11 percent higher in 2014 than it is now. This translates into a difference in annual output of roughly $2 trillion or more than $6,000 per person. They predicted that wage and salary income would be roughly 20 percent higher than it is today. Many economists had similar projections.”
Fortunately, a solution exists. (h/t)
Forward!
There are so many other things that the existence of a White House “sleeper cell” would explain that I couldn’t even begin to count them.
Is There Nothing That Obama Can’t Do?
Via Weaselzippers;
State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki repeatedly refused to answer questions this afternoon about the 53 political detainees Cuba promised to release as part of a deal with President Obama to normalize relations with the United States. […]
After Psaki stated that she had no updates to provide, a befuddled Matt Lee asked, “Hold on — hold on a second. Can we — I mean, is it — what’s happening? Are they out? Are they not out? … Where are they?”
Psaki responded, “I don’t have any more updates to provide for you, Matt.”
Lee, frustrated, followed up, “So the Cubans don’t actually have to do anything?”
Forward!
As the bailout concludes, the Treasury Department’s accounting of auto bailout loans shows taxpayers only recovered $70.42 billion of the $79.69 billion loaned through AIFP, a loss of $9.6 billion, or about $65.75 per taxpayer.
Meanwhile, Back At The Launching Pad
Center for New Community in Chicago: A Gold Coast woman who was the human resources director for a social justice nonprofit stole more than $82,000 from the agency over five years, using the money for items such as plastic surgery, overseas trips and clothing from Victoria’s Secret…