Taxes: WWJD? - "Jesus would take it all"

.. or so says Monsigneur Larry O'Donnell of the Holy Church of Social Justice. aka MSNBC.

Seems that Rush got on the subject of what Jesus would say about the rich being taxed enough. And the 'WWJD' thing got him probably a little flummoxed so he shifted the meme to what most of us would consider firmer ground; "What Would Jesus Take?" Rush answered himself; "Nothing."

Obviously this is too much for some people, especially those who might say Jesus was a social activist, or a community organizer:



Now I'm not a very good Christian, but I believe. And I've read the Bible through a few times. The first, when I was young, scared the stuffin's out of me. Then as an adult I learned how to read it. And read it through twice. With all verses in context of those coming before and after. In fact the Gospel only really makes sense in context of the Old Testament.

So.. in those terms this guy's takedown covers the particulars O'Donnell cited pretty darn well.

But I've got another thought on it. Or maybe.. would like to advise O'Donnell of a few words also in the Bible.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

as well as..

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's.

Now since we all have to act on our own beliefs and free will, something that O'Donnell seems to have a problem with, I'm gonna have to desist writing 'My Judgment' on that. After all it's possible O'Donnell is right and I am wrong.

If we believe the Bible, we know the devil is a great deceiver and may have pulled scales over my eyes and I've got it all wrong. But, from what I've always believed, I have to side with Rush.. Jesus wouldn't TAKE anything. Isn't that what Free Will is all about?

So, I can't speak for Jesus any more than Rush can. But, when I see what O'Donnell thinks, 'Pharisee' comes to mind.
Read more:
MSNBC's O'Donnell Slams Limbaugh As Biblically Ignorant

"Trump, you Magnificent Bastard!"

.. so says the creator of Dilbert, Scott Adams in his blog.

This morning I read a news item saying that some folks at NBC think Trump might be pretending to run for president to boost ratings. The story noted that ratings for his TV show are up 20% lately. I laughed out loud because sometimes I forget that at least half the country doesn't realize he's just screwing with the media.

The magnificent part of this whole thing is that he's putting no effort whatsoever into concealing his prank. That's what I love about the guy. He knows that no level of clownery in a field of clowns will single him out as the one clown that doesn't really mean it.

In other words, the conservative electorate are being 'Punked'.

Sadly this is one more time Adams shows his acumen in separating out all that is unattractive in human nature.

He goes on to cite Trump's loudly voiced opinion on the birther nonsense. Then explains that Trump is no dummy having graduated from Wharton. While I'll demur on how smart that really makes you, I can't really argue it.

The birther issue is a stupid issue. It attracts the same sort of divisive, idiotic thinking that the 9/11 'Truthers' projected.

Somehow Trump has managed to cross basic issue agendas and gain following from those in both the mainstream GOP and Tea Party, despite some glaring inconsistencies. Approving Eminent Domain for Commercial Development being another sore point. Of course he approves it, he uses it.
I've seen similar behavior before and thought.. well maybe the guy really could open up some discussion, though certainly we dont need yet another narcissist President. so I didn't say anything. Now I think it's true, especially now that 'Dilbert' points it out.

Yet another elitist showing that the electorate are foolish.

Just 'Bastard', in my view.

80/80 rule: Why the Masses are too stupid to govern

Australia is set to implement a carbon tax in 400 days or so. The interesting part is the present Labor/Greens coalition was elected on a promise of no carbon tax. Yet it seems that was the core of the coalition agreement, so there will be a carbon tax.

The purported aim of the tax is to help save the planet. Australia's efforts, if totally effective, reducing global CO2 emissions by a whopping 1%.
Except the PM, Julia Gillard is now solemnly saying that it wont hurt the poor, or industry, or energy companies; somehow all these will be kept whole and job-producing coal exports won't suffer a bit.
Amazingly enough, the 'rough crowd' doesn't buy it.

Tim Blair, a columnist-blogger, who amuses greatly just by pointing out things things like this, focuses our attention on a great piece by thinker/writer/PhD in Architecture,
Elizabeth Farrelly: Democracy is blocking intelligence

It may be, as one correspondent wrote last week, that advertising works on the "80/80 principle", the assumption that 80 per cent of Australians have an IQ average of 80. Now I'm fine with stupidity in advertising. Indeed, I expect nothing less - isn't that why God gave us the mute button? But what makes the 80/80 thought especially gripping - as in, by the throat - is how much it explains that branch of advertising we call politics.

Everything is dose related. Whether it's arsenic in your diet or radioactivity in the sea, small amounts now and then are OK, even beneficial, but large amounts, repeatedly, are bad and even terminal. It's the same with almost everything else - cars, houses, chocolate, holidays, even happiness.

For one person to live in an acre of grass and trees is perfectly harmless, even lovable. But for the numberless hordes to do it means an end to wilderness, clean air and polar bears.

By the last, I assume the verdant one-acre domicile is meant for those who truly appreciate and will protect it, like herself and her peers. Certainly not for a jobsworth, barely getting his ticket out of high school, who owns a couple of pizza stores.

She sets all this up by invoking Thomas Jefferson and the beloved 'pursuit of happiness' phrase. And the summary is that either the pursuit or the happiness - maybe better, BOTH- must be rationed and regulated for the good of the whole.

I wonder if maybe the government might issue a license to pursue? Hmmm..
Or just POSSIBLY.. that license to pursuit of happiness is inherent in completing post-graduate studies.
You know, I think that's it! After all it IS a 'Doctorate of Philosophy' isnt it.
And Elizabeth Farrelly has one in Architecture! Leads one to think it isnt so much continuing education in engineering and architectural sciences as it is meant to further appreciation and application of architecture in civilization and society.

So that PhD, really not mattering what field it's in, is indeed a pass into the hallowed halls of the intellectual. Giving the bearer full rights and privileges of the governing elite / protector of the stupid masses.
Which is probably what Jefferson had in mind in the first place, right?
And which, taken to the utmost, explains Noam Chomsky {Dr of Linguistic Mechanics} so beloved by the progressive intellectual elite that he needn't even bother debating his awesome philosophies.

The whole point is that when you read opinions like hers, you should start thinking about what the attack on the previously benign, harmless, beloved of all plant life Carbon Dioxide, really means.

Fragrant Dried Petals and Leaves

Attractive men have long... ring fingers: study

For the visual test, the results were unambiguous. "The longer the ring finger compared to the index -- that is, the greater the exposure to testosterone -- the more attractive the face was rated," she said by phone.

"I feel pretty.. oh so pretty..."
pffffft!

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Facebook poll:

Do you think they should put prayer back in school?

The knee jerk for most who've seen it eliminated is 'yes'.. BUT.. the keyword is 'put back in'
The older I get, the less I believe in Ritual Prayer and more I believe in spontaneous silent prayer. And that is Biblical.
Which means: No, not really. Look at it this way.. watered down invocations to everyone including Gaia. And possible use of prayer rugs to show 'solidarity'.

No thanks.
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How Japan Compares With The World In English Proficiency

or

'Which Furriners Speak English Good?'.. note the Dutch rank #2 to the Norse. Why do the Dutch seem to have a more North American, than British, accent? Dunno.

Texas History Re-Writ

President Obama: "Texas has always been a pretty Republican state, for, you know, historic reasons."

'Aggresive Reporter' Interview seen here: NPR
LBJ? Sam Rayburn? Lloyd Bentsen? Ann Richards?

And this was from a Columbia University Poli-Sci major. As far as we know.

Well, I'm not. so there's that. Reckon the girls on 'The View' will comment?

h/t Powerlineblog

What an odd coincidence!

April 13, 2011
Internet gambling is coming to D.C.

April 15, 2011
FBI shuts down poker sites in major online gambling crackdown

I'm sure it's just a failure to communicate.. or something

Geeks v Suits

Sometimes even cynics take Sunday off
It occurred to me after a little tiff on a soccer message-board that I'm becoming far too sarcastic and cynical in my typing. Paying too much attention to current events and news coverage of those events can do that to you. At least that's the excuse I'll use for the moment.

So I decided I would look around for some good news to comment on.  There really isn't a whole lot of that, unfortunately, but I'll settle for anything the least bit neutral and I did stumble across a theme I'm pretty familiar with:

Code Monkey vs Biz monkey
- To put it another way, the eternal struggle for supremacy in the workplace of the Geek squad and the MBA mob.
The discussion seems to boil down to which is most important in the pecking order of a startup company

In search of a biz monkey (why bother?)

MBA's with buzzwords and the ability to raise a million dollars around some web idea are not scarce. They are fungible.
People who understand technology and are willing to bend it to their will, on the other hand, are scarce. They can't be found with a classified ad on Craigslist or in a blind project ad on eLance.

Which was referring to...

.. and if you can't teach it, regulate it

Not always a good idea to match up a bureaucrat with a politician/lawyer/small businessman, that has more than half a brain.

Easy pickin's ... courtesy  HotAir



Of course they don't look at jobs, they just look at political leverage and tax/fee/fine possibilities.

Nor do they even attempt to address the Cost of Living multiplier effect of any energy tax.
- If tax adds one cent at the beginning of a product's supply chain, it's probably 10 cents or more at the end of it.

This tax and regulation environment explains why there's a freaking mob rush of even 'Green' industries to get out of California.

Gore: Global Warming a lot like the Civil Rights Movement

via Ed Morrissey


The Hill: Gore to young advocates: Battle industry lobbyists to turn the tide on climate

“You need to ask that question and other related questions. Don’t they see the evidence, don’t they hear what the scientists are saying, do they actually believe this lying from the large carbon polluters, that the scientists are making this up?” Gore added.
He went on the offensive against climate change deniers, citing a litany of extreme weather events – ranging from floods in Pakistan to droughts in the U.S. southwest – and noted that nine of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the last 12 years.

All of which has been proven bullshit by scientists NOT trying to make a buck in more funding.

Want to see Al go red-faced to critical mass?  Bring up his claim that Venus is super hot because of runaway carbon warming.
Ask him what the median temperature is in Venus atmosphere where the air pressure is the same as earth sea level.
Interesting that, despite Venus being closer to the Sun and CO2 making up about 60% of its atmosphere, Venus' median air temp at an altitude equating to 1 BAR is about the same as Earth's
 No Al.  It's NOT like the Civil Rights movement.  It's more like the Carpetbaggers era.

How Guvmint Stuff Works

Back in 2005 the Science was settled. The climate was warming like never seen before and we were causing it.
The UN wanted its share of the carbon mitigation/reparations pie but it had to provide something to justify the shakedown... so it put some eager interns to the task and somehow found an estimate of 50 million climate change refugees by 2010.

And that story remained on their website right up until this week.

Anthony Watts has the story of the inept effort to 'disappear the inconvenient facts':

The UN “disappears” 50 million climate refugees, then botches the disappearing attempt

How much credibility should you give any group, which YOU indirectly fund, that attempts to cover up their mistakes rather than simply say they were wrong and explain how it might have happened?
_____________________________________________________
More from WUWT, this time real climate science.
Ocean cold/warm water fronts mix CO2 much more than previously thought

More Pie?

Look at this pie again!


- Townhall: Michael Ramirez

via Ace:
 Another way of looking at that pie. Take those numbers, Divide by 100 MILLION

We have a family that is spending $38,200 per year. The family’s income is $21,700 per year. The family adds $16,500 in credit card debt every year in order to pay its bills. After a long and difficult debate among family members, keeping in mind that it was not going to be possible to borrow $16,500 every year forever, the parents and children agreed that a $380/year premium cable subscription could be terminated. So now the family will have to borrow only $16,120 per year.

 Need a video.. there's yet another way of seeing it.....

Two Signs of the Times: Lady Liberty Faux and Personal Massagers

Post office uses image of Vegas Liberty statue for stamp by accident

- somehow seems fitting, dunnit!

Walgreens as a Sex Shop?

- yeah, I've been noticing those 'personal items' sections have been getting more and more 'in yer face'.

Oh.. I almost forgot: a little bonus sign of the times:

Carbon-neutral Bra's

- Funny, I thought that problem was solved in the sixties.

How much longer till AKC comes clean on Rotties and Pit Bulls?

Yet another tragic story of child killed by family pet..

Mom: Baby Attacked, Killed By Dog

Police are investigating the death of a 7-month-old baby whose mother said was attacked by the family dog.

Katrina Mitchell called 911 Tuesday afternoon saying her infant daughter had been attacked by the family's Rottweiler.

This is a tragic story, yet anecdotal, and we only hear about these things because of the ubiquitous capacities of the internet. But one thing is clear when you read enough of them; you never hear that the family Jack Russell Terrier, or Labrador Retriever attacked the baby. Last one I recall that was not a Pit Bull or Rottweiler was a Great Dane. And while it MAY have happened, I cannot remember a family German Shepherd (Alsatian} attacking a child.
Dog 'Experts' explain the attacks by those two ferocious breeds away by saying they were improperly trained or socialized.
Sorry but Bullshit! We all can't ship our puppies off to Cesar Millan to be trained properly.

Reporter Snookered by Warmists?

WUWT: Fish carried up a mountain on backs of llamas to escape global warming

The endangered vendace, that has been in Britain since the Ice Age, is in danger of dying out as lakes and rivers warm up because of man made global warming.
.....
Lord Chris Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency, said British species have to be protected from climate change.

"In addition to the anticipated warming of lakes and rivers, we may also see an increase in the occurrence of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves.

"All of these could have an impact on much of the native wildlife in England, especially aquatic species such as the rare and specialised vendace, so we are taking action now to conserve the existing populations."

Emph mine.

Now comes the determination: Is the reporter just stupid/incompetent or a liar.

Her own readers took her to school in the comments, here
If you notice, her readers are better at research vetting the facts than she is.
And what will she write if the colony fails because water temp is too low?

I'll go easy on her: She is probably one of those who labored away in J-school 'to make a difference'
- so she is just an idiot, trusting in 'EXPERTS'. Experts at getting funding for their organizations.

New Improved Federal Budget Pie Chart

User Friendly Pie Chart

- Townhall: Michael Ramirez

This was done just prior to the 'agreement' but I guess you can see the 'crumb factor', right?

As it turns out, those crumbly 'cuts' weren't all that, anyway. CBS NEWS:

Many of the cuts appear to have been cuts in name only, because they came from programs that had unspent funds.
For example, $1.7 billion left over from the 2010 census; $3.5 billion in unused children's health insurance funds; $2.2 billion in subsidies for health insurance co-ops (that's something the president's new health care law is going to fund anyway); and $2.5 billion from highway programs that can't be spent because of restrictions set by other legislation.
About $10 billion of the cuts comes from targeting appropriations accounts previously used by lawmakers for so-called earmarks - pet projects like highways, water projects, community development grants and new equipment for police and fire departments. Republicans had already engineered a ban on earmarks when taking back the House this year.
Republicans also claimed $5 billion in savings by capping payments from a fund awarding compensation to crime victims. Under an arcane bookkeeping rule -- used for years by appropriators -- placing a cap on spending from the Justice Department crime victims fund allows lawmakers to claim the entire contents of the fund as "budget savings." The savings are awarded year after year.

Read more about it at AoS:
Suckers! We were fooled again.

The total amount appears to be somewhere between $8 and $14 billion actually cut.

That's out of $1,650 Billion shortfall this year.  Genius!

Note: Comments disputing the numbers will be accepted and researched and corrected if need be. Comments pointing at something else - like 'Soze yer mom!' will be sent where they belong: the shitcan.

Trump and the Birther Nonsense

Just a few weeks after Hawaii's Governor said he was going to end it once and for all, then didn't have anything new to offer, Trump has restarted the controversy. .
It's ridiculously distracting.
But let's put the blame for this where it REALLY belongs: On the State of Hawaii's stupid privacy laws. Only the subject can see the original certificate.

The records dept, as directed by state legislature, of Hawaii skates around the issue here:
Dept of Health faq on Obama's vital records

The pertinent clause is

2 Index Data

Haw. Rev. Stat. §338-18(d) states, “Index data consisting of name and sex of the registrant, type of vital event, and such other data as the director may authorize shall be made available to the public.” Refer to link above for HRS §338-18.

Index data consisting of name and sex of the registrant, and type of event is made available to the public. The director, in accordance with HRS §338-18(d), has not authorized any other data to be made available to the public.

Once the election was over it's done. Unless there's absolute outright provable fraud, and there's no real indication of it, the whole thing is moot. What's important is that it doesn't happen again.

But dont hold your breath... you're going to just have to trust authority.