2010 archive
No (Stimulus) Signs of the Times 0
It’s there, but Virginians don’t get to see it:
Spokesman Jeff Caldwell said VDOT officials made a decision last year not to put up signs to indicate where stimulus money is being spent.
“We thought the money could better be spent on highways,” Caldwell said.
That reasoning doesn’t give me heartburn, at least, not in and of itself. Signs, especially one-of-a-kind signs, are expensive.
What gives me heartburn are Republican claims that stimulus spending has not led to keeping or creating jobs.
A little advertising (we old folks can remember the “Your Tax Dollars at Work” signs from the Interstate Highway program) would help more persons consider those claims with the derision skepticism which they deserve.
Indeed, more “Your Tax Dollars at Work” signs would remind persons that governance is the means to civilized society, while taxes are the price thereof.
Afterthought:
The Regent recently took credit for creating 71,500 jobs since assuming the Recency. Just for grins and giggles, here’s a breakdown (H/T JCWhite).
Spill Here, Spill Now, Side Effects Dept. 0
The world’s mine oyster, which I shall ope with my swo–oops:
The deaths are blamed on the opening of release valves on the Mississippi River in an attempt to use fresh water to flush oil out to sea. Giant diversion structures at Caernarvon and Davis Pond have been running since April 25 on the orders of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and local officials with the consent of the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Weekly Address 0
Excerpt:
Suddenly, Republican leaders want to change that. They say we shouldn’t provide unemployment insurance because it costs money. So after years of championing policies that turned a record surplus into a massive deficit, including a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, they’ve finally decided to make their stand on the backs of the unemployed. They’ve got no problem spending money on tax breaks for folks at the top who don’t need them and didn’t even ask for them; but they object to helping folks laid off in this recession who really do need help. And every day this goes on, another 50,000 Americans lose that badly needed lifeline.
Struck by a Duck 0
Unlike the one in Philly, this duck boat accident was on dry land:
According to the story, the fuse box fell out from under the dashboard and jammed the brake pedal.
A Step Ahead of the FDIC 0
Virginia’s TowneBank to buy North Carolina’s Bank of Currituck, saving the FDIC some paperwork:
With the rise in non performing assets and the need to write off more of its troubled assets, the bank suffered an erosion of capital.
Misdirection Play 0
(Link fixed.)
The Philadelphia Inquirer speaks sense on Teabags, the NAACP, and racism. A nugget:
Case in point, the beat-down the NAACP has been receiving for having the audacity to point out the obvious: that racists have been infiltrating tea-party movement gatherings because any criticism of America’s first black president gives them a buzz.
A resolution passed by the NAACP at its national convention this week didn’t say being a tea-party member was equivalent to being a racist. It asked the movement to condemn the extremists too frequently seen at its meetings who carry racist signs and make bigoted comments.
(snip)
Tea-party leaders such as Matt Kibbe, CEO of the conservative public-policy group FreedomWorks, say the movement has already made it clear that it doesn’t tolerate racism. Apparently, they need to make the point more strongly. Instead of acknowledging that fact, however, tea-partiers have tried to turn criticism away from them to the NAACP.
Two thoughts:
- No racist I have ever known has admitted to being racist. They have always had elaborate justifications to convince themselves that they have respectable, acceptable reasons for hatin’ on the black or the brown.
- Polls suggest that Teabaggers represent less–some indicate substantially less–than 20% of the population
while seeming to get 18,000% of press coverage. Take away the ones motivated significantly by racism, and the movement turns into a burp.
NAACP 1, Teabaggers 0 0
I am colored too.
I am pink.
And I am a member of the NAACP. I was late, but I finally joined.
And, well, you know, the NAACP is correct.
Teabaggers suborn racism.
They are merely the latest manifestation of the Republican Party’s odious Southern Strategy.
I’m a Southern Boy. I know the damned code, for God’s sake.
Video via Oliver Willis.
More BP FAIL? (Updated) 0
Mithras reports.
Gosh, I hope he’s wrong. But the track record indicates that Buccaneer Petroleum pretty much can’t find its rear end with both hands.
And John Boehheadner wants no more regulation.
The Republican Party–the Party of “Thank you, Mistress, may I have a please have another.”
Furrfu.
Addendum, a Day Later:
So far, holding on.
Dustbiters 0
The FDIC starts its weekend barbecue:
The FDIC is hungry tonight:
-
Mainstreet Savings Bank, Hastings, Michigan
Olde Cypress Community Bank, Clewiston, Florida
Turnberry Bank, Aventura, Florida
Metro Bank of Dade County, Miami, Florida
First National Bank of the South, Spartanburg, South Carolina
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Polite, maybe (though I truly do not think that courtesy flows from the barrel of a gun), but not necessarily very bright.
Making the Poor Poorer 0
Republican Economic Theory does not work and play well with facts. Follow the link and read the whole thing. From the Neiman Watchdog:
(snip)
. . . California professor, G. William Domhoff of Santa Cruz, looks at the increasing concentration of wealth rather than income. By 2007, he reported, only 20 percent of the people owned 85 percent of the wealth in the United States. When he looked at pure financial wealth (leaving out the value of your home), the top 20 percent had a 93 percent share, leaving only seven percent for the rest of us.
One more time, Truman was right.
Not a Refreshing Sugary Summer Drink 0
Thoreau defines Kool-Aid, as in “drank the Kool-Aid.” His summary. Follow the link for his reasoning:
Cuccinelli: Still Hedging His Vets 0
The U. S. Navy Vets charity, which appears to be fraudulent, appears to have disappeared in all but name. (Details at the link below.)
Bobby Thompson, the “founder,” has disappeared (Fiji, anyone?). The Roanoke Times reports that the only one of the listed 85 board members to be found has resigned, and the outfit’s Ohio lawyers are petitioning to be released from representing it (once a court proceeding starts, lawyers who are on record as representing a client usually cannot just quit, because it often means the court proceeding must be delayed so the new lawyers can get up to speed).
Even the telemarketers have jumped ship.
Every other Virginia politician fooled by this outfit has given his or her U. S. Navy Vets campaign contribution to charities known to be legit, given that the contributions were likely made with funds donated to help veterans, not to help political campaigns.
Everyone except the Attorney General, charged with enforcing the law:
Wonder what he intends to do with the interest on that escrow account.
Kook-kook-a-choo.
It Is an Oily Slope 0
A Jacox Elementary teacher who anointed students with “holy oil” in the classroom has resigned.
School officials say she may have performed inappropriate religious practices during her three years with the division.
Clearly, this conduct was over the line. It is not the place of state employees–and public school teachers are state employees–to be performing religious rites while on the job.
It also sounds seriously creepy.
When I attended Catholic Church, which I did for 18 years of marriage to a Catholic, I felt a little odd getting anointed with oil on the one or two high holy days in which Catholics do that, but I was there through my choice, so it was quite okay. When in Rome and all that . . . .
It’s the second or third incident of teachers’ inflicting their religious practices on students to hit the news in the year or so since I started frequenting these part.
Long story at the link.
QOTD 0
George Carlin, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
We will never be an advanced civilization as long as rain showers can delay the launching of a space rocket.
Multiple Count Indictment 0
Via the Booman, see the Bill of Particulars.