Dad29

Delicate Story-Writing

2009-11-21T08:33:00.003-06:00

Here's a delicate way to put it.

Milwaukee-area Muslim Religious Director Zulfiqar Ali Shah was not allowed to partake in a trip to Israel which would have been paid for largely by Milwaukee-area Jewish donors. As a result, the Muslims have quit the Interfaith Council.

(We'll leave aside the question of chutzpah for a moment and go to the whitewashing job.)

...Jewish leaders said Israel would refuse entry to Shah.

Some Jewish groups have accused Shah of associating with people of extremist or anti-Semitic views. He worked briefly for Kind Hearts, a Muslim charity whose assets were frozen by the U.S. government, which accused it of funding Hamas. An Ohio judge later ruled the charity's right to due process was violated.

And why, exactly, were those "assets frozen"?

NOT because "Jewish groups" accused Shah of associations. Not because "Jewish groups" accused Shah of anti-Semitic views--although each of those might have had something to do with it.

Shah was refused because "Kind Hearts", his employer, was FUNDING HAMAS TERRORIST ACTIVITY, "due process' or not. That's a charge leveled by the US Government, not "Jewish groups."

Mr. Shah now resides on the southwest side of the City of Milwaukee.

The Zoo Interchange: It's Still Doyle (and Barrett's) Potential Manslaughter

2009-11-21T08:04:00.003-06:00

No matter how Tommy Barrett's flack tries to spin this article, here's what counts:

Republicans in control of the Legislature in 2005 sought to move the Zoo Interchange project ahead by putting $38 million for engineering into the 2005-'07 budget, but Doyle vetoed all but $3 million. He then changed course, first seeking money to start the Zoo project in 2012, then pulling back on the funding when the transportation finances dried up in the last budget cycle.

"The governor made the decision," Kanavas said. "He made the call on it, and it was a bad call."

Tommy-the-Highway-Engineer Barrett was scared to death of a woman named Gretchen Schuldt--an ex-JS reporter--who endlessly screeched about the "destruction of Story Hill." So Tommy-the-Highway-Engineer told us that 'the bridges would be just fine until 2020.'

Buy a clue, Tommy.

Story Hill figured into the Zoo disaster because an I-94 widening would have impacted her neighborhood, according to Gretchen, who held a zen-spell over Tommy the Highway Engineer. (Selfishness is supposed to be the province of Eeeeeeeeeevil Suburbanites, not oh-so-lefty City residents, remember?) So Barrett actively opposed any Zoo interchange work. All for the greater good, you know.

...Patrick Curley, chief of staff for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, said any lobbying from the mayor's office focused on protecting homes and businesses without influencing the timing of the projects. Barrett also has joined the race for governor, potentially lining up against Walker in 2010.

Trying to pin the current crisis in the Zoo Interchange on a political push from the mayor's office is misguided, Curley said.

In fact, Barrett's opposition to an improved I-94 was driven by the same mentality which drove Henry Maier's and John Norquist's opposition to an improved I-94. It's the same mentality which inspired the East Germans to build the Wall. They want to trap people in the City of Milwaukee. To them, suburbs are cancers on Their Fiefdom.

This mess is VERY serious.

Aside from doubling-up the costs--replacing the bridges now and replacing them again before 2020--there is a real possibility that chunks of a bridge could fall through car windshields or roofs.

Or a catastrophe: a bridge-sector could collapse, dropping trucks and cars onto active lanes of I-94. It'll look just like Minneapolis, or San Francisco.

Now you know why Tommy and Jim Doyle are running away from their decision. Dead and mangled bodies impact elections and popularity. Accountability? They don't want that.
Manslaughter looks bad on the resume.

Kohl, Feingold to Ruin HSA, HRA Plans

2009-11-21T07:36:00.004-06:00

Since these plans work well, the Democrats Kohl and Feingold will ruin them. By no co-incidence, they will also smash the knuckles of middle-income, diligent, consumers of healthcare.

Thanks, you two twerps!!

'Flex' accounts let employees set aside some portion of their pre-tax pay for out-of-pocket costs or medical services that their insurance plan doesn't cover, such as a child's orthodontics or testing supplies for diabetics. The Reid bill caps these now-unlimited accounts at $2,500 per year and imposes new restrictions on qualifying medical expenses, raising some $5 billion by exposing income above the non-indexed cap to taxes.

But why stop there? Kohl and Feingold will also vote to destroy HSA's!!

The Reid bill also assaults health savings accounts, or HSAs, which allow individuals to accumulate tax-free funds for future medical expenses when coupled with low-premium, high-deductible insurance. The Reid bill changes tax provisions to make HSAs less attractive, but the real threat comes via increased regulation.

These insurance products will likely be barred from the insurance "exchanges" that will demolish and supplant today's individual market. Employers will also find them more difficult if not illegal to offer once the government has new powers to "define the essential health benefits" that all plans must eventually offer.

Each of those plans helps "bend the trend" of insurance premiums down.

Each of them is a target for Statists like Feingold and Kohl.

Seems to me that we have a target problem here.

So. Who's hurt?

...about 40% of tax filers with HSAs earn under $60,000, according to the IRS. The Employee Benefit Research Institute reports that 4% of adults with private insurance have an HSA this year—up from 1% in 2006—and about 9% are enrolled in some form of consumer-directed health plan. It also found that beneficiaries are evenly split between those with health problems and those without.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, whose members dominate the HSA market, says that enrollees are more likely than those with traditional insurance to be better consumers. They're more likely to track expenses (63% to 43%), save for the future (47% to 18%), and search for information on physician quality (20% to 14%). They're also more likely to participate and see results from wellness programs like weight loss, fitness and smoking cessation.

Ironic. The only "choice" that Feinie and Herbie vote FOR is the "choice" to kill babies in the womb.

Like I said, we have a targeting problem.

Tax Money, Hush Money, All the Same in DC

2009-11-21T07:19:00.003-06:00

Yah, well. It's only tax money.

A congressional investigation of the volunteer organization AmeriCorps contains charges that D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee handled "damage control" after allegations of sexual misconduct against her now fiance, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star and a prominent ally of President Obama, The Washington Examiner has learned

...Walpin was looking into charges that AmeriCorps-paid volunteers ran personal errands for him, washed his car, and took part in politicalactivities. In the course of investigating those allegations, the congressional report says, Walpin's investigators were told that Johnson had made inappropriate advances toward three young women involved in the St. Hope program -- and that Johnson offered at least one of those young women money to keep quiet.

So what's another $1K/month for a little nookie?

Ban the Gun, Not the Terrorist

2009-11-20T18:17:00.002-06:00

The usual idiocy.

More than two dozen anti-gun violence groups have asked President Barack Obaman to ban further importation of the type of handgun used in the Fort Hood massacre.

In a Thursday letter to the president, the group takes aim at the FN Herstal Five-seveN armor-piercing semiautomatic pistol. The letter suggests that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms could take action immediately to effect the import ban.

According to the letter, the Belgian-made gun "is one of the most popular with traffickers supplying Mexican DrugTrafficking Organizations (DTOs) who have nicknamed the gun the “mata policia” or 'cop killer.'”

Jeri Bonavia, executive director of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort Educational Fund, is one of the 27 signatories on the letter.

The FN in question fires a bullet which is about .26" in diameter and has a pointed nose, not the more typical rounded-nose found in 9mm, .40, 10mm, .45 (etc.) That's why it's "armor-piercing"--the shape of the bullet allows it to slip through many vests.

However, it's simply not as effective as a man-stopper. Yes, if you put enough of those rounds through someone, they will die (and there's always the well-aimed shot.)

But banning the weapon merely requires a determined killer to use another weapon (an AR-15 will do, clumsily--or its short cousin, the M-4.) And banning the FN in the USA only deprives US citizens of the weapon. It's ludicrous to think that drug-cartel money can't buy FNs in some other place. But then again, ludicrous is the default-position for gun-banners' alleged minds.

Better to have added 2+2 with Hasan and put him where he belonged a long time ago.

Doyle Kills the Racetrack

2009-11-20T15:40:00.003-06:00

Belling reports that Doyle killed off the Milwaukee Mile, through apparently bad-faith bargaining by his State Fair Board. The report states that the Board chaircritter changed a critical term of the agreement unilaterally......

That Board includes a woman named Wickhem-House, named as a "superlawyer" who practices at Foley & Lardner. Haaaaahvaaaahhhhrd, and all that.

Another member of the State Fair board is a sheep farmer. There's a painting contractor, a wife of another lawyer, and the Chaircritter is with WE Energies.

"Superlawyer" and bad-faith bargaining?

The JS Blog reports:

"Apparently, Sue Crane and her board just simply don't understand business, business protocol or good faith contract negotiations," Frank and Dominic Giuffre wrote in a letter to the board.

"We now have no intention of going anywhere with Sue Crane and her board, because you quite simply can't be trusted," they wrote.

Last one to leave, please turn off the lights.

Abp. Dolan Steps It Up a Notch!

2009-11-20T09:50:00.002-06:00

Wow.

Here's the link to a declaration recently formulated and signed by 148 luminaries, including Abp. Tim Dolan of NYC.

...We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, have gathered, beginning in New York on September 28, 2009, to make the following declaration, which we sign as individuals, not on behalf of our organizations, but speaking to and from our communities. We act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God of holiness and love, who has laid total claim on our lives and by that claim calls us with believers in all ages and all nations to seek and defend the good of all who bear his image...

Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we are compelled by our Christian faith to speak and act in their defense. In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from the creation, and historically understood by believers and non-believers alike, to be the most basic institution in society and; 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image.

Lots more at the link. Other signatories, we are VERY happy to state, include a number of other RC Cardinals and Bishops from around the USA--and a lot of other prominent thinkers, religious leaders, and business figures.

More Climate "Science" Lies?

2009-11-20T09:46:00.004-06:00

Hot stuff, yet to be verified...but really, really damning if it's real.

The details on this are still sketchy, we’ll probably never know what went on. But it appears that University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit has been hacked and many many files have been released by the hacker or person unknown...

(Sample):

Dear Ray, Mike and Malcolm,

Once Tim’s got a diagram here we’ll send that either later today or first thing tomorrow.I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline.

Shocked! Shocked, I say!!

UPDATE: More from Morrissey. Like this:

Phil,
Here are some speculations on correcting SSTs to partly explain the 1940s warming blip. If you look at the attached plot you will see that the land also shows the 1940s blip (as I’m sure you know).

So, if we could reduce the ocean blip by, say, 0.15 degC, then this would be significant for the global mean – but we’d still have to explain the land blip. I’ve chosen 0.15 here deliberately. This still leaves an ocean blip, and i think one needs to have some form of ocean blip to explain the land blip (via either some common forcing, or ocean forcing land, or vice versa, or all of these). When you look at other blips, the land blips are 1.5 to 2 times (roughly) the ocean blips—higher sensitivity plus thermal inertia effects. My 0.15 adjustment leaves things consistent with this, so you can see where I am coming from.Removing ENSO does not affect this.It would be good to remove at least part of the 1940s blip, but we are still left with “why the blip”.

Why the blip, indeed....

HT: Headless

Pure Corruption in PelosiCare/ObamaCare Bill

2009-11-20T08:22:00.002-06:00

Besides all the usual stuff, there's more.

The House resolution establishes a scenario that would effectively exclude non-union employers from eligibility to work on program-funded contracts. It also requires participating health care providers to pay wages and benefits that have been collectively bargained or that union-friendly appointees determine are competitive. This is plainly a move toward coerced unionization. With guaranteed seats at the table, unions are poised to control many newly formed oversight posts and/or committees, formed in connection with new employer mandates and cooperative health care associations.

Yet another provision would establish lucrative state training partnerships that contain little or no opportunities for non-union employee organizations. Provisions in Senate proposals would exempt union-negotiated health care plans from taxes on “Cadillac” health plans.

That's not all. There's also a TEN BILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT of union-health plans which are going BK.

HT: LaborPains

NYT Circulation Office Raid? Mob-Union Problem

2009-11-20T08:19:00.003-06:00

Most of you noted that the circulation offices of the NYT (and other papers) were raided.

Wanna know why?

Investigators in the city raided offices for some of the nation’s largest newspapers Tuesday as part of a corruption probe into a powerful union that has long faced accusations of ties to organized crime, a law enforcement official said. Police officers working with the Manhattan district attorney’s office searched for paperwork related to the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union in circulation, production and delivery offices of The New York Times, the New York Post, the Daily News and El Diario, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

That's a relief. Here I thought they were just inflating their circulation numbers or something.

Timmy-Boy Gets All Pissy

2009-11-20T07:52:00.002-06:00

Geithner evades, sidesteps, and Blames Bush!

UPDATE:

Lots more at PowerLine, but another Congresscritter is doing the questioning.

Secretary Geithner, you were referencing in your answer to an earlier question about when the financial catastrophe started in September, October of last year, if I understood you correctly, you said that this country did not have the tools to manage that panic. But the inference that I took from that was that there were countries overseas that did have such tools.

Now, I recall a phone call with your predecessor in late October of 2008, when it became public that the United States was pumping monies into the central bank in Europe, and other places. And I suggested that was not the correct thing to be doing. And he said, if the United States is not helping these countries, then they will collapse....

GEITHNER: Congressman, there is no country that came into this crisis with the tools to manage it effectively. And the basic failure I described here was a common failure.One thing you saw around the world was...

BURGESS: Well, let me ask you a question. Then how did George Bush cause those countries to be unprepared for a financial crisis?

Timmy-Boy did not have a coherent answer. Nor was he able to dribble forth an answer when he was reminded that Clinton repealed Glass-Steagall (pushed there by a wrong-headed (R), yes.) Nor to the BawneeFwank rapes of Fannie/Freddie/Ginnie/FHA.

buh-bye, Timmy. Take the Marxist/Statist President with you.

Another FINE Job by Your Government

2009-11-20T07:05:00.003-06:00

Your Government at work.

The decade-old battle to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes might be over.

New research shows the fish likely have made it past the $9 million electric fish barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a source familiar with the situation told the Journal Sentinel late Thursday.

TEN YEARS they've known about this damn thing.

The fish that can grow to 50 pounds or more are a big deal because they are voracious feeders, overwhelming native species, and they pose a huge hazard to recreational boaters because of their habit of jumping out of the water when agitated by the whir of a boat motor.

Next up: your healthcare.

What could possibly go wrong?

Book Title for Paulson

2009-11-20T07:00:00.002-06:00

Best line of the day, from Mark Hemingway:

It seems that former Treasury secretary Henry Paulson has a new book coming out. It's supposed to be an inside account of the collapse of the global banking system. [However], the book might run into some legal trouble, as I believe O.J. Simpson was the first to use the title "If I Did It."

Hey, Henry! You should call to see if Jim Doyle's hideout has space for two.

Zoo Interchange Bridges Falling Down, so Spend Money on KRM!

2009-11-20T06:55:00.003-06:00

Talk about potted plant IQs...

The regional transit authority charged with overseeing the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail project will get back on track with a meeting on Monday.

The reformed nine-member RTA board will meet on Monday morning to discuss its budget, future plans for the KRM project and Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposal to let governments in Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties form local RTAs with the ability to levy new taxes

Hell's Bells! THAT'S the ticket! Spend $270Million on choochootrains in Racine while the State's most critical interchange bridges fall down and go boom.

Is Reaganomics Enough?

2009-11-20T06:39:00.004-06:00

Ryan and Hensarling's essay in today's WSJ has a few interesting facts.

Exhibit A is the economic stimulus package signed into law by President Barack Obama in February. Even among previous stimulus efforts, the 2009 stimulus stands out for its ineffective targeting and sheer size. With interest, it is $1.1 trillion, double the size of Roosevelt's New Deal spending as a percentage of GDP.

That was listed as one of the impairments to an imminent economic recovery. There are others, each significant in itself. (ObamaCare, Cap-n-Tax, and the tax-increase scheduled for 2011, not to mention the GM/Chrysler bailout-fiasco.)

Beyond instilling tremendous political uncertainty into economic decision-making, these policies ensure that deficits will shatter all previous records. In the Office of Management and Budget's 2009 Mid-Session Review, the administration projects a decade of deficits averaging 3.3 times the postwar norm of 1.8%. Yet its projections assume that interest rates will be less than half the postwar norm for interest rates, and that economic growth will be almost 10% higher than the high-growth 1980s. Never in the postwar era have such high deficits, low interest rates and high growth rates occurred simultaneously.

You could just say "Fantasyland" to describe Obama's economic projections. (The same name applies to his foreign policy, by the way.) Maybe he watched too much Disney while living in Indonesia?

Ryan and Hensarling make the case for Reaganomics.

Frankly, I don't think that's the solution any more, although it is a PART of a solution.

The solution lies in the 10th Amendments, folks. Reagan only did half the job he should have done. The other half lies in summary execution of about 40% of the Federal monster.

#10: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people

Is It Getting Dark in Here?

2009-11-20T06:13:00.001-06:00

No, it's just your "energy-saving" lightbulb.

Energy-efficient light bulbs lose on average 22% of their brightness over their lifetime, a study has found.

In some cases they emit just 60% as much light as traditional models which are being phased out of shops, it says.

The study in Engineering and Technology magazine concluded that consumers were being misled by the bulbs' packaging.

Does ObamaCare cover replacement eyes??

No Money, Honey: Wisconsin Sinking

2009-11-20T05:56:00.002-06:00

No wonder Jim Doyle is running away from his office. He's like the 8-year-old kid who knows he'll get caught after busting the picture-window at the neighbor's house.

Here's the Wisconsin tax-revenue picture through October.

Individual Income: OFF 5.7% Y-T-D, 09/10

General Sales Tax: OFF 9.9% Y-T-D, 09/10

Corporate and Excise Taxes UP 8.5%, 6.6% respectively.

Net/Net Total Tax Revenues: OFF 6.4% Y-T-D 09/10

Did Jimbo tell you about the State's cost-of-Medicaid under ObamaCare?

Didn't think so.

ObamaCare, Senate: Neutron Rx

2009-11-20T05:41:00.006-06:00

It's a neutron bomb aimed directly at the country.

Taxpayer-funded abortions.

Medicare funding cuts.

30 million remain un-insured (20 million citizens or legal immigrants).

States get socked with Medicaid bills.

$980 Bn Federal spending.

It'll kill anything it gets close to, including health-insurance companies.

What's not to like?

Harry Wants to Push It? That Would Be VERY Foolish

2009-11-19T19:33:00.003-06:00

Reid seems to think that he can Rahma-Jahma the Abortion Enablement act through by Saturday night.

That would be very foolish, Harry. The poll-numbers on that are WAY against you now, and Russ Feingold, "Mr. Civil Liberties" hasn't weighed in to pull the aborto-language out. You don't want to encourage......umnnnn......unrest, do you, Harry?

Don't you have an economy to worry about, Harry? Or million-degree Earth-core temps?

Games of Unrest for Obama

2009-11-19T19:28:00.002-06:00

Don't know much about this online game stuff, but this is interesting.

Where's the Wisconsin "Stimulus" Money?

2009-11-19T16:52:00.002-06:00

Rich Zipperer would like to know where the Wisconsin "stimulus" money's being spent.

News accounts the last several weeks by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and others have drawn attention to multiple errors and exaggerations in the reports released by the White House of the number of jobs supposedly created by the federal stimulus spending, including jobs allegedly created in non-existent Wisconsin Congressional Districts.

Zipperer and Montgomery have been advocating for legislative oversight of the stimulus spending results since the data became available in early October, and Assembly Republicans have called for enhanced legislative oversight of the stimulus program since January.

Democrats, of course, have ZERO interest in 'oversight.' You get only one guess as to why...

Think Hoffman Lost NY-23? Think Again

2009-11-19T16:29:00.002-06:00

Breaking:

The computerized voting machines used by many voters in the 23rd district had a computer virus - tainting the results, not just from those machines known to have been infected, but casting doubt on the accuracy of counts retrieved from any of the machines.

Cathleen Rogers, the Democratic Elections Commissioner in Hamilton County stated that they discovered a problem with their voting machines the week prior to the election and that the "virus" was fixed by a Technical Support representative from Dominion, the manufacturer. The Dominion/Sequoia Voting Systems representative "reprogrammed" their machines in time for them to use in the Nov. 3rd Special Election. None of the machines (from the same manufacturer) used in the other counties within the 23rd district were looked at nor were they recertified after the "reprogramming" that occurred in Hamilton County.

Obviously a Cheney/Bush plot, or something.

Or maybe the several-million-degree core-temps of the Earth escaped through narrow tunnels to the machines.

Or something.

HT: AmSpecBlog

Hypothetical, Of Course: Manslaughter Charges for Doyle?

2009-11-19T16:16:00.003-06:00

Hmmmmm.

State transportation officials moved Thursday to replace three bridges in the Zoo Interchange by June, through a unique emergency construction effort that would limit full road closures on the spans to three weekends.

The deteriorating bridges carry traffic northbound on I-894/45 through the interchange and serve as the connecting ramps for traffic moving from northbound I-894 to westbound I-94, and from southbound I-45 to eastbound I-94.

Based on recent inspections, the State Department of Transportation determined those 40-year-old bridges need to be replaced immediately, for safety reasons

We all know that James Earl Doyle, Governor of Wisconsin, in conjunction with Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee, has delayed the rebuild of the Zoo Interchange from the day he assumed office. It's parenthetical that he also stole the trust-fund money needed to PAY for the replacements.

So if one of those bridges collapses and a bunch of people die, should Doyle (and maybe Tommy) be charged with manslaughter?

Why not?

Reid's ObamaCare Tax Hits

2009-11-19T10:35:00.003-06:00

Oh, yah....there are tax increases.

40% excise tax on health coverage in excess of $8,500 (individuals) / $23,000 (families). Amounts are indexed for inflation by CPI-U + 1% – begins in 2013 – $149 B tax increase

(It will be a very close call for most Wisconsin public-employee union members as to whether these taxes will fall on them. VERY close.)

Impose annual fee on manufacturers and importers of branded drugs – begins in 2010 – $22 B tax increase

Impose annual fee on manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices – begins in 2010 – $19 B tax increase

Impose annual fee on manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices – begins in 2010 – $60 B tax increase

There are others, affecting high-end earners (NOW defined as >$200K, not $250K.)

YOU will pay those increased fees mentioned above.

Health-care inflation, anyone?

HT: Hennessey

"I Do Solemnly Swear.......To Be a Photo-Op"???

2009-11-19T10:27:00.002-06:00

That wasn't part of the oath I took on entry to the Armed Services.

Now it is!

Obama arrived on the base 3:19 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time), and received a rousing welcome from 1,500 troops in camouflage uniforms, many holding cameras or pointing cell phones to snap pictures.

“You guys make a pretty good photo op,” the president said.

--WaPo via Gateway