WyBlog

The Pension Plan Which Makes Cars lays an electric lemon

When Pravda The New York Times calls your shiny new electric car a "lemon" you'd better make sure it comes in bright yellow. Unless of course you're the United Auto Workers Pension Plan doing business as Government Motors. Then the joke isn't on you, it's on the U.S. taxpayer.

So the future of General Motors (and the $50 billion taxpayer investment in it) now depends on a vehicle that costs $41,000 but offers the performance and interior space of a $15,000 economy car.

Look for the union label!

I've said this before. GM is no longer a car company; GM is a pension plan which happens to make cars. The auto buying public is not their target market; their one and only "customer" is the United Auto Workers.

The 2011 Chevy Volt looks nothing like the sleek concept car introduced with great fanfare at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show. It's the car only an assembly line hack (and the retirees who came before him) could love. They'll happily build as many of these turkeys as the government will force us to buy, just so long as those pension checks keep coming every month. And at 41 grand a pop you've gotta believe the main cost component isn't parts; it's labor and retiree benefits.

Remember riding in the backseat of most American cars when we were kids? Nobody wanted to sit in the middle, consigned to "the hump". Well the Volt hasn't got a middle seat at all. The battery runs lengthwise through the car so "the hump" is chest-high.

That's a problem Toyota licked in the 1960s. But thanks to UAW ingenuity the Edsel has been repackaged as the eco-warrior's hairshirt-mobile of choice.

For all the money we've shoveled into GM they ought to be giving the Volt away. Maybe if they throw in a UAW retiree to wash and wax it every weekend it'll even pay for itself.

Posted at 21:12 by Chris Wysocki   [/rants]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: GM UAW Chevy-Volt

It's National Cheesecake Day!

News you can use, today is National Cheesecake Day!

Who knew they designated a whole day just for cheesecake? It's got Rule5 written all over it!

So head on over to the Cheesecake Factory where they have pretty girls making cheesecake every day and check out their cheesecake.

Yum, cheesecake!

UPDATE 30 Jul 2010 18:33:
Bob Belvedere loves his cheesecake with a nice buttery cherry frosting.

You will too!

UPDATE 30 Jul 2010 22:13:
Who woulda guessed that cheesecake could make a robot's gears spin?

Posted at 10:22 by Chris Wysocki   [/rule5]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: cheesecake Cheesecake-Factory

NY AG Andrew Cuomo attacks life insurers for following their contract terms

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is running for governor. He hopes to succeed where CA Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi failed, by riding a populist tide of anti-life-insurance-company sentiment on to electoral victory.

It's not often that my day job crosses paths with my blog life. But I was there in the early-90's when Garamendi single-handledly destroyed Executive Life and wiped out billions of dollars worth of policyholder and shareholder value for purely partisan political purposes.

Now Andrew Cuomo has mounted his high horse proclaiming that major life insurers like Prudential and Met Life are ripping off policy beneficiaries. How? By paying them the contractually specified rate of interest on the death benefit proceeds.

Ah, but according to Cuomo the dastardly insurance comnpanies are actually earning more than the typical 3% interest they are contractually obligated to pay. Stop the presses! A company in the business of making money is, wait for it, making money!

Every life insurance contract spells out in excruciating detail all the minute details which apply to the policy. This includes the "credited interest rate on death benefit proceeds". When you sign the contract, you agree to these terms.

But channeling his best Elizabeth Warren impression, Andrew Cuomo has decided New Yorkers are too stupid to understand the written life insurance contract. Ergo it's his job, as protector of the populist tide, to sue the life insurance industry into compliance with his manufactured notion of "fairness".

It's utter rubbish. John Garamendi put thousands of people out of work and wiped out many more thousands of nest eggs in his ultimately unsuccessful quest to rule California with his populist iron fist. I don't know if Andrew Cuomo is destined to be the Empire State's next governor. But I can assure you that his misguided attack on the life insurance industry will leave nothing but destruction and misfortune in its wake.

When Garamendi's meddling forced Executive Life into receivership he hurt "the little people" the most. The policyholders were wiped out, their cash values settled for pennies on the dollar. Clearly his "victory" was pyrrhic, yet he trumpeted its "success". Fortunately, the voters saw through his obsfuscation.

I imagine the voters of New York are equally savvy, and they'll find Andrew Cuomo to be a disingenuous panderer rather than a protector of the people's interest. And I pray that he doesn't flush Prudential or Met Life into the same black hole of political ambition to which John Garamendi consigned Executive Life.

Posted at 22:08 by Chris Wysocki   [/democrats]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Andrew-Cuomo John-Garamendi Life-Insurance Prudential Met-Life

Obama grants FBI wide power to watch us surf the net, librarians strangely silent

Remember the brou-ha-ha which erupted when George Bush pushed the Patriot Act, one facet of which allowed the FBI to peek at our library records. According to the American Library Association the mere idea of our borrowing habits being potentially examined by the Feds was tantamount to imposition of a police state.

So imagine my surprise to read the Barack Obama has requested broad powers to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity to the FBI without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation.

Government lawyers say this category of information includes the addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail; the times and dates e-mail was sent and received; and possibly a user's browser history.

Comparable postal mail records are protected by more than a century of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. Warrants, court orders, probable cause, the whole nine yards. We're insulated from unreasonable searches.

But somehow email is different? Whatever the Feds want, whenever they want it? And nary a peep can be heard from the ALA, or any of the other civil liberties organizations which so vehemently opposed the Patriot Act.

Yeah, it's almost as if they don't mind overarching government intrusions so long as it's their version of "the good guys" doing the intruding. Obama is going to target those racist Tea Party jerks first anyway, and it isn't like they don't deserve the extra scrutiny, right?

Liberal fascism is alive and well. Just don't send anybody an email objecting to it.

Posted at 19:00 by Chris Wysocki   [/obama_watch]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Obama FBI wiretap Patriot-Act library

A peek at who's signing Barry's birthday card

The email came forth from Her Royal Highness Michelle that all of Chairman Barack's loyal subjects should sign the Dear Leader's birthday card. A web site was made where a "personal note" could be added in commemoration of the 49^th year of our Overlord.

Who could resist the opportunity to peek at the supplications to The Obamessiah? So, a crackerjack computer forensics team hired by the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy hijacked the database! An army of basement dwelling Obamabot h8xor d00dz swarmed to cut us off, but not before we absconded with this excerpt.

Here are some actual birthday wishes, sent to El Jefe by his loyal minions, sometime yesterday afternoon.

And then the screen went blank.

Posted at 10:50 by Chris Wysocki   [/democrats]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Obama birthday Michelle-Obama

Three words which sent a liberal scurrying for the exit

So last Saturday night we're hanging out with some friends at their beach house. Sitting on the dock, drinking a few beers, shooting the breeze. A couple of their neighbors drift on over, introductions are made, we're all having a good time.

My wife brings up the Google indie film project "Life in a Day" wherein folks from around the world are sending Ridley Scott clips of their life on July 24^th. He'll pick and choose "the best ones" and show the results at the Sundance Film Festival. She goes around the table asking each person "what makes you happy?" thinking this might be good fodder for a clip.

After the usual banalities (my wife, my kids, my boat) from the 8 or so people there she ends up with me. Now I've had a few beers. I don't usually talk politics with strangers. But for Google? Why not "tweak" them a little!

So I look into her camera all serious and say, "I know what will make me happy. The first time I hear 3 simple words, probably the greatest three words ever to be uttered by man."

Now everybody is looking at me. "What 3 words?" someone asks. Very slowly I say,

"Former. President. Obama."

My host bursts out laughing, and there are good natured chuckles from a few others.

But one middle-aged woman goes white, like all the blood has drained from her face. She pushes her chair back, stands up, and says, "I'd best be going."

And with that she hustled out of there faster than Chuck Schumer making a beeline for a microphone.

Oh yeah, we definitely sent that clip to Google!

UPDATE 27 Jul 2010 20:20:
Linked by Smitty at The Other McCain! Eight Savory Syllables, "too good to thug."

Also picked up by The Rhetorican, who found happiness.

Thanks Gents!

UPDATE 28 Jul 2010 17:07:
Theo Spark found this news-worthy.

And Obi's Sister agrees, these are sweet words indeed.

Picked up by Linkiest!

Thanks a million!

Posted at 16:46 by Chris Wysocki   [/democrats]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Democrats Obama libtard

An oldie but a goodie, Why the apology ??????

This is making the email rounds again. It's worth reposting!

I've got a buck which says the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue wouldn't give this post a second glance.

Posted at 09:36 by Chris Wysocki   [/odds_n_ends]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: America Obama apology

WyBlog Weekend Weather - Wet, Wild, Warm, with Wistful Wayward Wenches

The heat wave shows no signs of abating. Temps are supposed to top out around 105 today, and a repeat is on tap for tomorrow.

It's time to hit the beach!

Chris Christie unleashed his veto pen again, zapping a short-term homebuyer tax credit. The bill which passed the state legislature with bipartisan support would have granted a tax credit of up to $15,000 to buyers of new homes in New Jersey.

Yes I normally applaud any reduction in taxes. But these one-time credits, like Cash for Clunkers and the $8,000 federal homebuyer tax credit, only serve to accelerate existing demand. When they expire the market dries up.

Now if the legislature really wanted to stimulate a continued interest in home sales they should show up with a permanent mortgage interest deduction. I'd be all over that like white on rice.

Here's one from the ROPMA files.

Flight 93 Father: Ground Zero Mosque is the SECOND Mosque Being Built on a 9/11 Site. Yeah, most people don't understand the significance of that odious "Crescent of Embrace" taking shape in Shanksville, PA. Submission is the enemy of Freedom. Thanks to our politically correct overlords there's a whole lotta Submission goin' around.

Got an extra 30 grand burning a hole in your pocket? Mark August 4^th on your calendar, drop the cash off at the DNC, and head to real estate mogul Neil Bluhm's Chicago mansion for a birthday bash of presidential proportions. Yessirree, Barry O will be one year shy of the Big 5-0 and and he's gonna boogie down like it's 1968 in ole Chi-town. Tickets are on sale now!

Wanna bet Bill Ayers and the Chicago Seven make a guest appearance? Tear gas for everyone!

Lt. Col. Alan West is the quintessential patriotic American. He's running for Congress in Florida and he embodies everything which makes this country great.

"I don't see myself as African American, Black American. I see myself as an American."

Shirley Sherrod and Ben Jealous should write that down.

Remember when I warned you guys about the massive pending Obama tax hikes expiration of the Bush tax cuts? Bob Belvedere and The Reaganite Republican take some small measure of solace in knowing that Limousine Liberals will get socked the hardest.

So limousine liberals, you had your fun... and probably almost broke your arm patting yourself on the back after you went out and cast your vote for Obama. Now you self-righteous posers are getting what you deserve.... Dear Leader is going to tax the crap out of you.

Florida Vietnam Vet Carlisle Vereen: 1, pinhead homeowner's association: 0. Mr. Vereen taped an American Flag to the inside of his apartment window. The management company promptly informed him of their regulations prohibiting "signs" on doors and windows. Old Glory is a "sign"? Why yes, it's a "sign" of what makes this country great.

"I fought for that flag," the Vietnam veteran CFNews13.com. "I've bled for that flag. My father fought for it, my brother fought for it and my son fought for it in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Faced with mounting bad publicity the management relented. They even brought Mr. Vereen a brand new 6 foot flag and pole and encouraged him to fly it from his patio.

Long may she wave sir, O'er the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave.

Posted at 15:30 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 Chris-Christie Alan-West Obama birthday Chicago-Seven Carlisle-Vereen

Chris Christie vetoes Planned Parenthood subsidy

Chris Christie stuck to his guns. He slashed a $7.5 million subsidy for Planned Parenthood from the state budget. The Democrats in the legislature promptly passed it as a separate bill. Public funding for abortion is the one thing they're willing to go to the mattresses to protect.

See, they call it "women's health" funding. Planned Parenthood needs this money or poor women won't be able to have mammograms or pap smears. Governor Awesome saw through this line of BS. The world's largest abortion provider has plenty of money; they can easily fund "women's health care" if they so choose. But it's a tenet of the infanticide on demand movement that public funds must always be available.

Not in New Jersey. Not this year.

Today Chris Christie vetoed the Planned Parenthood subsidy bill.

Maybe Abortion, Inc. can hold a bake sale or something if they really, really need more blood money.

Posted at 17:44 by Chris Wysocki   [/nj_politics]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Chris-Christie abortion Planned-Parenthood womens-health

Friday Fromage

Cheesy politicians in the news! John Kerry registered his new mega-yacht in Rhode Island to avoid paying Massachusetts sales and excise taxes. Senator Kerry is out in front of the "let the Bush tax cuts expire" crowd. But when it came time to put his wife's money where his mouth is he saved almost half a million bucks by claiming residence in a neighboring state.

Hey, if Kerry wants to move to Rhode Island I think the voters of the Bay State should grant him his wish.

Having given up his Ways and Means Chair I'm guessing Nancy Pelosi's Most Ethical Congress Evah! has decided Rangel has "suffered enough". The voters should put him out of their misery.

On the opposite end of the cheesiness spectrum we have this week's Ten Buck Friday winner — Chip Cravaack. Chip is challenging 18 term Minnesota Democrat Rep. Jim Oberstar.

"It's going to take every American, every person in district 8 to take our country back. And it starts with every Congressional seat, every Senate seat that's available. And we need every seat. Because we need to get our country back."

The goal of Ten Buck Friday is to "nationalize" every race. Every district counts. Chip Cravaack gets that. Sending Alexander Hamilton his way keeps the momentum building.

Remember, we can see November from our house.

The Obama Administration is poised to shut down the East Coast lobster fishing industry. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission plans to impose a five year moratorium on lobster fishing in waters from Cape Cod to North Carolina. Conservationists claim the lobster population is on the verge of extinction. The fishermen, whose livelihood depends on the lobsters being there year after year, beg to differ.

Rather than blaming overfishing Barry's econuts say the lobsters are victims of, you guessed it, Global Warming! Ayup, it's the lie that wouldn't die. And it's a convenient catch-all excuse for any unpopular policy or regulation they care to impose. If you eat lobster you're killing the planet!

A buddy traveling on business sent this pic, taken in the Southwest terminal at Houston Hobby Airport.

Why yes, yes he is.

Cocktail hour beckons. Doesn't a cold frosty gin & tonic sound delightful right about now?

Posted at 16:37 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 Charlie-Rangel John-Kerry Chip-Cravaack Ten-Buck-Friday

Yes I'm afraid of Elizabeth Warren, and you should be too

My favorite feminist is at it again, espousing her "women should rule the world" line of claptrap. In particular she says only a woman is qualified to head up Barry's new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. And of course she has a particular woman in mind — Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren.

Warren is clearly the frontrunner for the job. But according to PunditMom, Obama is "afraid" to appoint her because Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and his Wall Street buddies do not approve.

To be sure Elizabeth Warren is a lefty, progressive wet dream of a regulator.

Warren, a Harvard Law school expert on bankruptcy law, has been the head of the TARP oversight panel and a financial superhero for her ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound while at the same time explaining credit default swaps and the economic meltdown in plain English!

Well what PunditMom calls "plain English" Megan McArdle, who actually worked with Warren, calls "sloppy scholarship". Specious assumptions, statistical tomfoolery, drawing conclusions from incomplete data, it's all there, exposed for the world to see. Warren starts with her ideologically driven conclusion and works backward from there picking and choosing "facts" to suit her chosen narrative. She's Michael Bellesiles in a skirt.

Elizabeth Warren opposes Payday Lending (she labels it "usury") when in reality it's a viable option for small short-term loans. Her views on credit interest rates in particular are troubling. Limiting what a bank can charge will directly lead to limits on who can obtain credit.

Not to worry! Warren is all for those pesky racial and gender quotas Dodd-Frank establishes. There we have another anti-market element. Some people are not credit-worthy, and certainly not at 12%. But like the train wreck with resulted from the Community Reinvestment Act (curiously FinReg ignores Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) Warren would demand loans be made when they would almost certainly be unprofitable.

But hey, who needs profit when all the banks are nationalized? Yes, Elizabeth Warren is on record espousing the nationalization of the entire banking industry. No wonder the SEIU and Big Labor are so enamored with her! When the government takes over the banks all the employees will automatically become union members.

The whole premise behind CFPA is the assumption that consumers are too stupid to read their credit card agreements. Sorry, but I don't buy that. Yeah they're boring, but they're important. Turn off American Idol and read.

Besides, a lack of information is not the reason too many Americans are up to their eyeballs in debt. Fixing that problem via regulatory levers would require draconian restrictions. And to what end? Already banks are eliminating free checking. Why? Because Congress decided that people who were too stupid to balance their checkbook needed protection from overdraft fees.

Does anyone really believe that the banks won't find a way to recoup the losses they're sure to realize under Warren's regulatory thumb? Oh yeah, I forgot. She's gonna nationalize the banks. That'll solve all our problems.

Posted at 16:18 by Chris Wysocki   [/democrats]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: CFPA FinReg Dodd-Frank Elizabeth-Warren PunditMom

Thursday Thoughts

Anna Little is The Little Candidate That Could! Defeat Frank Pallone, she could, and it would really help if you got off your ass and voted for her in the latest Ten Buck Friday poll! Keep those sawbucks rolling in!

Add the Las Vegas Review-Journal to the Associated Press anti-blogger hall of shame. They're suing dozens of small-time bloggers in Federal court (claiming $75,000 in "damages") for the crime of excerpting their precious copyrighted content. These are SLAPP suits pure and simple. And the height of their stupidity is obvious — they're suing one of their own sources. The guy was quoted in the paper; he posted it in a "look Mom, I'm in the newspaper!" kind of way, and now he has to defend himself in court?

Anyone who gives a LVRJ reporter the time of day is an idiot. Or let them quote you and sue them for infringing your copyright!

Speaking of the Lame-Stream Media, another day, another JournoList revelation. The anti-Palin demogoguery was coordinated from the minute John McCain announced her as his running mate. Instead of reporting the facts, reporters went into full-on "campaign headquarters mode" as they brainstormed ways to deligitimize Sarah Palin and her candidacy.

"Just the facts, ma'am" is such a quaint little notion, isn't it?

One day soon your refrigerator will nag you to lose weight. And your phone might block a call it thinks you're too stressed to handle. All this, and more, is coming thanks to researchers at Intel who are working on gadgets that monitor you via cameras, audio pickups, and galvanic skin response sensors. "Carefully tailored" software would then adjust its actions to match your mood and needs.

Open the pod bay doors Hal.

Posted at 08:21 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 Anna-Little Ten-Buck-Friday JournoList Sarah-Palin

Wine, Women, Wednesday

New Jersey still doesn't allow direct shipment of wine to consumers. Legislation to legalize it is introduced every year, and every year the liquor wholesalers raise the ugly specter of children ordering wine online and the idea is tabled yet again.

It never seems to occur to the geniuses in our state legislature that the liquor wholesalers might just have a vested interest in retaining their monopoly on wine shipments. The Trenton crowd doesn't care where the campaign cash comes from, they just want it to keep coming. And the liquor wholesalers are happy to oblige.

Now that he's done ruining our healthcare system, nationalizing the auto industry, and hobbling Wall Street Barry is turning his sights on how much we make. The "Paycheck Fairness Act" is back! Trial lawyers everywhere will rejoice when the government mandates "equal pay for equal work"!

His Hollywood buddies can still make $30 million a film. George Soros' fortune is safe. But you and me? Barry's "Pay Czar" will decide if we're making too much money.

What does nationalizing our health care have to do with regulating gold coin sales? An overlooked provision in Obamacare requires gold dealers to report every transaction to the IRS. If you buy gold, Barry wants to know! If you sell gold, Barry needs to know!

It's all about control. The Progressives don't want Americans to have access to unregulated currency. And in the end, that's what gold is. Gold retains its value in the face of rampant inflation. When the Obamabots start printing money (and we know they're gonna start printing money) they need to be able to eliminate the competition. Ergo, a national registry of who has how much gold.

Then they can confiscate our gold. At gunpoint. What, you thought their efforts at gun control were aimed at fighting crime? Bwahahaha! A disarmed population can't resist the usurpations of the state.

The name of the game, George Orwell, is Total Control.

The liberal media wants Rush Limbaugh to die. And even more appallingly, they want to watch him die, slowly and painfully, while they sip cocktails and banter contrapuntally.

Men were hung at Nuremberg for less.

The scions of JournoList occupy the highest echelons of media power at The New York Times, Washington Post, and network television news. They don't report the news; they orchestrate the news. They manipulate our perceptions to suit their vision of utopian reality.

Again, it's all about control. The media is an arm of the Progressive movement, ensuring via their (in)actions that We The People are kept in the dark.

When the New Jacobins come, their first guillotine will be erected in Times Square.

ManBearPig is even more of a pig than first thought. Two more women have come forth to accuse former VP Al Gore of inappropriate sexual contact. A Beverly Hills hotel massage therapist reported that when they were alone Gore pointed at his erect penis and ordered her, "Take care of THIS."

Where's Lorena Bobbit when you need her?

This just in, cheerleading is not a sport. A federal judge in Connecticut ruled that Quinnipiac University cannot count their competive cheerleading squad as "female athletes" for Title IX purposes.

The ruling means that the college will need to recruit a full squad for their girls volleyball team, or eliminate a men's sport to remain in compliance with Title IX gender equality quotas.

That's Title IX, keeping college athletics "equal", one lesbian at a time.

Posted at 19:25 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 wine Paycheck-Fairness-Act gold Obamacare JournoList Al-Gore Title-IX

Shirley Sherrod, the NAACP, and affirmative action

What to make of Shirley Sherrod? Now that the full story is out, is she a "racist"?

No. But she is a product of our nation's obsession with race, and a symptom of the divisions emphasized by affirmative action. The real "crime" during Ms. Sherrod's speech to the NAACP isn't so much what she said, but how the crowd reacted to her words. The all-black audience clapped and nodded enthusiasticly as she spoke of not wanting to help a poor white farmer.

Because the Gospel According to Affirmative Action requires that even underserving blacks must always be given preferential treatment, ahead of any whites. Affirmative Action is not meant to promote a meritocracy. It isn't about equality at all.

And Shirley Sherrod is merely a cog in its machinery. Her actions were not born out of malice toward whites or any emnity aimed at that poor white farmer. She merely followed the Affirmative Action Playbook to the letter. It has institutionalized the notion that whites don't need help because decades of systemic racism and discrimination have given each and every one of them an almost insurmountable advantage.

This belief system isn't really "racism" as it is commonly understood. I'd say it's "racialism", the promotion of one race over another. The NAACP has transformed from an organization seeking racial equality into champions of black supremacy. Which has now proven to be singularly unhelpful in promoting unity and racial harmony.

Posted at 12:42 by Chris Wysocki   [/rants]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Shirley-Sherrod NAACP racism

Turbocharged Tuesday

What did you do during the first six months in your new job?

Chris Christie put New Jersey back on the path to fiscal sanity. He stood up to the public employee unions and the special interests. The fight is not over, not by a long shot. But for the first time in decades there is hope for our state.

In a rare day at his own job Barry trotted out an unemployed North Jersey man to illustrate how mean Senate Republicans are for blocking an extension to federal jobless benefits. Jim Chukalas of Fredon Township in Sussex County was laid off in September 2008. His 99^th and final unemployment check arrived last week.

"I'm not looking for a handout," said Chukalas, "I'm looking so I can survive so I can get a job and then I can stop receiving the benefits."

But there he was in the Rose Garden, the poster boy for handouts, standing next to the president who claims his policies will help people get back to working again. Jim Chukalas is now 0 for 2. Barry didn't find him a job, and the unemployment fund is still empty. Sorry Jim, you can't eat Hope and Change.

Maybe Jim and Barry can go into the Cap Poop Coffee business. An influential Islamic religious council studied the coffee, made via extracting the beans from the dung of civet cats, and proclaimed it "halal" ("clean"). Well, his early followers did eat Mohammed's poop, so there's a precedent. But still, cat poop? Yet they still refuse to get with 20 feet of a dog?

July 20, 1969, 4:18 PM — The Eagle has Landed! What happened to our giant leap for mankind?

Posted at 10:46 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 Chris-Christie Jim-Chukalas unemployment Apollo-11

Your handy guide to understanding what is, and isn't, racism

Allegations of racism are leading the news again. As a public service I'm providing this handy guide to help my readers navigate the treacherous minefield which is 21^st century race relations.

A self-proclaimed Tea Party leader made an attempt at satire; it backfired. He apologized. Racism!

Members of the New Black Panthers wielding billy clubs intimidated white voters in Philadelphia while proclaiming the era of "black power"? Not racism. And you're a racist for thinking otherwise. Unless you're Bob Scheiffer; then you're just a moron.

Criticizing President Obama? Racism!

Criticizing President Obama's policies? Racism!

A USDA official telling an NAACP crowd that even though her job required it, she refused to help a poor white farmer, instead fobbing him off on "his own kind". Standing ovation, and an award.

Pointing out her hypocrisy? Racism!

The Justice Department decreeing that no civil rights allegations against blacks will be investigated, let alone prosecuted? Business as usual.

Denouncing this policy? Racism!

Derogatory statements about Clarence Thomas? Free speech!

Derogatory statements about Thurgood Marshall? Racism!

A "civil rights" group named La Raza ("The Race")? Cesar Chavez would be proud.

Sarah Palin and her apparently all-white supporting cast? Racism!

MSNBC and Keith Olbermann et al and their lily white cadre of anchors, production assistants and editors? Doing the Lord's work.

Are you detecting a pattern here? Good.

But in case you're slow on the uptake, one of Randy Andy's bosom buddies at The Atlantic, a fellow named Ta-Nehisi Coates, wants you to know that you're a racist, just for being you. And a homophobe, too.

Donald Douglas patiently explains the fallacies behind Mr. Coates insidiously tedious assertions. Contrary to what the professional race-hustlers might have you believe, there really isn't a racist hiding behind every tree.

They're all working for Eric Holder and the New Black Panthers now.

Posted at 23:31 by Chris Wysocki   [/rants]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: racism New-Black-Panthers Justice-Department Eric-Holder NAACP

Monday Megalithic Mendacity

Repeating the lies fits their narrative, if not the facts. Congressman John Lewis was not showered with racial epithets outside the Capitol last March. And no matter what The New York Times says, Andrew Breitbart has the video, and the unclaimed $100K reward, to prove it.

The cast of Jersey Shore is on strike. I'm sure there is someone, somewhere who sees this as bad news...

Lance has way more fun with the automotivators than I do!

Sarah Palin speaks the truth and the libtards go nuts. And I would like to personally "refudiate" this bozo, who linked to my post on the abominable Ground Zero mosque while mocking Sarahcuda. He cites no less of a "conservative authority" than Mad King Charles Johnson of LGF as the basis for his anti-Palin, pro-Islamist screed, which proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that he's got some screws loose.

Fortunately that clown is small potatoes, and he and Chuckie deserve each other.

Here's something we always suspected, but now there is proof. Of course the GM - Chrysler dealership closings were politically motivated! Barry seeks to reorder the very nature of our society, and so what if a few little people are crushed for the greater good? I'll tell you "what". I happen to be acquainted with some of those "little people". They know what Barack Obama did to them, and they know why he did it.

The enemy of our freedom is collectivism. It is the elevation of unions and the eradication of wealth which threatens our nation's long-term survival. We are created equal, but the goal of the collectivists is to ensure that we remain equal.

Call it equality of misery. Because that's what Barack Obama has planned for us. Only an idiot, or someone employed by The New York Times could believe otherwise.

What's that old saying? Oh, yeah. God must love idiots because He made so damn many of them.

Posted at 16:06 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 Jersey-Shore New-York-Times racism Andrew-Breitbart Sarah-Palin

Brother can you spare a dime?

Heckuva stimulus Barry!

The insular view from inside the Beltway is rosy and bright. Out here in the hinterlands it's anything but. People are hurting, and students looking for a summer job are striking out. Those jobs have been scooped up by older workers and recent college graduates.

The Obama recession shows no signs of abating. The unemployment rate for teens aged 16 to 19 now stands at 29 percent.

The outlook here in Caldwell remains bleak.

And it's only going to get worse. Check out "the scariest jobs graph you've seen yet." If the recovery were to magically begin right now, and we started adding jobs at a rate equal to the best average monthly rate for any one year in the past decade, we won't catch up to pre-recession employment until 2022.

Happy days are definitely not here again.

Posted at 11:29 by Chris Wysocki   []   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: unemployment jobs stimulus Obama

Wacky Weekend with WyBlog

So imagine this. You're at the beach on LBI, screaming kids to the left, some pontificating jerk to the right. The ice cream guy is at the top of the dunes, ringing his bell, yelling "ice cream!" The WyWife turns to me and says, "what this beach really needs is a guy selling frozen margaritas."

Oh, yeah.

I need a vacation!

Can you believe the nerve of George Steinbrenner, dying in the only year with no estate tax? How dare he deprive the government of $500 million dollars when there are record unemployment claims and staggering deficits?

The Death Tax is class envy writ large. Everything Steinbrenner accomplished was built with after tax dollars. Taxing him again at death is double taxation.

To almost no one's surprise the Obama Administration has now come clean on the individual insurance mandate in Obamacare. It's a tax. Remember the sage words of Daniel Webster, the power to tax is the power to destroy.

Obamacare will destroy the greatest health care system in the history of the world.

First order of business (h/t Pundette), Barry needs to know how fat we are. Those mandatory electronic health records Obamacare requires must contain a field for every American's BMI (body mass index). And those records must be available, with "appropriate" security measures, to any company participating in the national insurance exchanges.

Privacy? Only if you're a scared 13 year old girl seeking an abortion. Her parents can't know, but Barry's minions will know everything.

No matter the perils we face, rest assured that our great nation will survive. An astounding painting points the way. We are one nation under God, and He will deliver us from evil.

Posted at 17:40 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
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Here's an idea with legs: Impeach Barack Obama!

So we're driving along a country road near our house and what do we see? The sign at right proclaiming "Impeach Obama Stop Here".

I stopped, to snap a picture. Boy oh boy was that ever a mistake.

They swarmed. Literature in hand, and foam at the mouth. Tea Partiers? Hardly.

LaRouche PAC.

Oh yes, it was 100 degrees in the shade, and the nuts were out in force.

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

So many messages, so little sanity. Here's a doozy — the Gulf oil spill was a deliberate act by the British government; the latest salvo in a war on America they've been conducting since 1789. And of course Obama is complicit in this attack since he's allowed BP to lead the cleanup efforts.

I think they were agitating for Obama to nationalize Great Britain (or else he's a traitor!), but since he's a traitor he should be impeached. And look! We made a poster of Obama with a Hitler mustache, isn't that clever? Can you give us a check for $1000? We desperately need funds.

Hopefully they plan to spend at least a few of those bucks on better meds.

You guys know that I'm no Obamabot. But impeachment? Let's get real, OK? That's not gonna happen, and dreaming for it only obscures the many things we could be doing to actually thwart his destructive agenda.

I asked the apparent leader of the group when she thought Obama would be impeached.

"We're hoping to get it done by August!"

I couldn't bring myself to ask, "which year?"

Posted at 22:20 by Chris Wysocki   [/odds_n_ends]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: LaRouche Essex-Fells-NJ Obama BP Glass-Steagal impeachment

French Fried Friday

TGIF d00dz!

Feeling hot, hot, hot? Cool off in a conveniently located dumpster pool! Located on Park Avenue in Manhattan these babies put a whole new spin on "dumpster diving". And don't let the name fool you. They're clean and shiny oases in the concrete jungle, encircled by a five-foot-wide metal deck with a nonstick rubber surface. Alongside are changing-room cabanas, portable showers, and portable toilets.

I want one for my backyard!

Sharks are converging on the Jersey shore. For the second day in a row the beaches in Seaside Park were closed due to shark sightings. Lifeguards shooed people out of the water as helicopters buzzed overhead trying to track the sharks' journeys north.

The sharks are heading north? Then I know where they're going. To Florham Park! That's where the Jets are, right?

A mild earthquake shook the Washington, DC area this morning. The 3.6 magnitude trembler was the largest ever recorded for the area.

The USGS attributed the incident to all of the Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves at the same time.

Would you believe that Jon Corzine does know how to save the taxpayers some money? He's closing up his transition office this week, six months after he left the governor's mansion. And in a remarkable show of fiscal restraint he only spent $135,000 of the $250,000 allotted for the cataloging of his official papers. Thanks, Jon!

Don't forget to support today's Ten Buck Fridays winner, Van Irion, the Tea Party candidate running in Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District. A farmer at heart, Mr. Irion carries a pitchfork wherever he goes saying, "I'm gonna take the pitchfork to the House floor and clean the manure out of the Capitol."

Isn't it worth 10 bucks to see that?

Posted at 12:22 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 dumpster-pool sharks Seaside-Park Jon-Corzine Van-Irion Ten-Buck-Fridays

Thursday Thermionic Thunder

Archeologists found a 300 year old ship buried under the remains of Ground Zero.

And next to it they found nineteen 300 year old Islamic terrorists with empty sacks of dynamite.

In Japan the billboards are looking for you. Tiny cameras and face recognition software discern your age and gender as you walk by, then the billboard displays an ad tailored to your perceived demographic. The first time I see an ad for Depends I'm outta there!

The Obama family had a personal chef; they flew him in from Chicago to cook for them on a regular basis. Now Sam Kass has been promoted. Not to White House chef, but to "Senior Policy Adviser for Healthy Food Initiatives."

Yup, yesterday he was just a twenty-something Windy City gourmet chef. Today Sam Kass is the new Tasty Food Czar, with a $400 million dollar a year budget to bring "healthy foods" to low-income neighborhoods. Your tax dollars at work!

Did you know, if you don't use MySpace, you're a racist? 'Tis true, according to the latest social science psycho-babble. White teens and adults who started on MySpace have migrated to Facebook, while latino, black, and working-class people prefer to remain behind.

This is somehow equated to the "white flight" experienced by the inner cites in the 1960s, and thus MySpace is now an official "Digital Ghetto". Do the members carry around Digital Ghetto Blasters?

Meanwhile, 2.5 million Muslims are threatening to leave Facebook because they object to Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.

Maybe they'll be happier on MySpace?

Posted at 17:51 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 Ground-Zero MySpace Facebook

Dude, where's my property tax cap?

Well, that didn't take long.

The ink was barely dry on Governor Christie's vaunted 2% property tax cap before the other shoe dropped. State officials announced yesterday that health care costs for towns enrolled in the state's plan will likely rise by about 12 percent next year.

Health care costs are one of the 4 "exceptions" to the cap, and towns will be allowed to pass the increases along via higher taxes.

Higher taxes which will almost certainly exceed the 2% cap.

No Mr. Dressel. This is a "poster child example" of why government is not sensitive to the fiscal realities of the day.

Allow me to introduce you to real reality. The taxpayers are unable to continue funding the ever increasing cost of government. We don't care what the cost drivers are; we want you to contain your costs.

Live within your means. If the cost of something you deem important goes up, cut another area deeper.

When my boss hands out a 2% raise but my health insurance premiums go up 12% I can't very well turn around and tell him to give me more money to cover the difference. No, I'm stuck cutting my budget elsewhere. If it means that I have to learn to like Hamburger Helper, so be it.

Contrary to what you government folks think, tax dollars do not grow on trees, nor do they fall from the sky whenever you command it. They come out of the pockets of real people who are struggling day and night to make ends meet. Every dollar you take from us is one less dollar we have to support our families.

So here's what you have to do. Find a cheaper health plan. Or tell the public employee unions the increase is coming out of their hides, not ours. Or take the money to fund your Cadillac plan out of some other government program. God knows you've got enough of them, there has to be one or two that aren't really necessary.

That my friend is the fiscal reality of the day.

Posted at 09:51 by Chris Wysocki   [/nj_politics]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Chris-Christie NJ-politics property-tax William-Dressel health-care

The ad CBS and NBC don't want you to see

The dhimmis at CBS and NBC don't want you to know the truth about "Cordoba House", the Islamist mosque planned for Ground Zero in New York City. They refused to run an ad opposing it produced by the National Republican Trust PAC.

Here is the ad.

Barracuda Brigade for Our American Girl has more.

We cannot allow the Mohammedans to turn Ground Zero into another Temple Mount.

We will not be relegated to the sidelines while they occupy the high ground and use it to celebrate their "victory" over the infidels. The place where we weep for our honored dead can never be allowed to host a shrine to the jihadis who murdered them.

Stop the mosque at Ground Zero. The future of Western Civilization depends on it.

Posted at 20:36 by Chris Wysocki   [/media]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: ground-zero mosque CBS NBC cordoba-house

"Choose Death!" billboard advertises assisted suicide service

The huge black billboard is hard to miss, looming over US Route 22 in Hillside New Jersey, pointing the way to an easy, clean, and painless death.

They're in the business of helping you end your life. The message is aimed at seniors with chronic, debilitating illnesses who are suffering constant pain. Ever since Dr. Jack Kevorkian went to prison the assisted suicide movement has advocated taking matters into your own hands. Their web site conveniently provides step-by-step instructions. It's so easy anyone can do it!

The only thing they don't do is call the funeral home to pick up your body.

Donald Berwick is kicking himself right now; "Why didn't I think of this!"

Posted at 10:50 by Chris Wysocki   [/rants]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: suicide FinalExitNetwork death-panel Donald-Berwick

Wednesday whinging while working with wombats

Datatrieve is quite possibly the greatest utility ever layered on top of VMS.

Another day, another broken Obamacare promise exposed. Of course Obamacare will use taxpayer money to pay for abortions. That was the plan all along, which makes Bart Stupak (remember him?) the Official Poster Boy for Democratic Party Mendacity.

Write this down, there is no such thing as a pro-life Democrat.

Best bumper sticker ever.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Unless it offends Muslims.

Pock-ee-stahn has a dirty little secret. According to Google, Barry's favorite Islamic country ought to be known as Pornistan; they're No. 1 in the world in web searches for pornographic terms.

Please, think of the kittens!

Posted at 09:21 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 Datatrieve Obamacare abortion Sharia free-speech Pakistan

It seems I'm not as thrilled as I should be with Chris Christie's tax cap

Governor Christie has signed the 2 percent property tax cap bill. He's optimistic saying, "This is the beginning of real property tax relief for New Jersey."

Not so fast there Governor Awesome. When this compromise was proposed I said "half a cap is better than none, but it's still half a cap." Nothing I've seen since then has changed my perception.

It's not enshrined in our state Constitution, so a future governor or legislature can void it. And it's got enough holes in it to drive a public employee union parade through with room to spare.

The two biggest drivers of our budget woes — public employee pension contributions and their health insurance benefits — are exempted from the cap. Thus the pressure to somehow find a way to fix the underfunded state pension system will continue unabated.

But really, that ship has sailed. There isn't enough money in the universe to fully fund those pensions. Eventually the unions are going to have to take a haircut. But Christie has put off the day of reckoning by agreeing to keep the pension costs outside the tax cap.

I want to see the unions try to force us to live under the cap and fund those pensions. The cuts in services will be draconian. Garbage will pile up in the streets so clerks can retire in luxury. Then a tax revolt will seal the unions' fate.

Their gold-plated health benefits are also exempted. Where's the savings in that? To incentivize the unions to save money we need to show that there isn't an unlimited pot of gold at the end of Main Street. But here we are again, if health care costs go up 20%, so do our taxes.

And then to really stick it to us taxpayers they exempted debt service too. Wanna know what that means? Umlimited borrowing, that's what it means. When borrowing costs aren't capped, suddenly everything gets paid for with borrowed money.

Hah. The public employee unions scored a decisive victory. Their sacred cows went unscathed. Chris Christie blinked, and our chance to finally corral the cost of government wriggled away.

I'm not alone in believing this either. Three-quarters of New Jersey residents are also skeptical of this plan.

Unfortunately, it's probably the best outcome we could hope for given that spendthrift Democrats control the state legislature. If Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver had been given the time to "study" the plan and hold hearings we'd have even more exemptions. This cap, warts and all, had to be passed, and it had to be passed now.

But when we're having this same discussion a few years hence don't say I didn't warn you.

Posted at 21:23 by Chris Wysocki   [/nj_politics]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: NJ-Politics Chris-Christie property-tax

Which side of the fence do you sit on?

If you ever wondered which side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test.

A friend forwarded it to me. And now I'm sharing it with all of you!

Posted at 15:35 by Chris Wysocki   [/democrats]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: humor Republican Democrat

Tuesday Tumescence

In Chicago the dead vote (early and often!) In Minnesota convicted felons cast illegal ballots which most likely put Al Franken (D-Horse's Ass) in the U.S. Senate. Coincidentally, Eric Holder's Justice Department is unwilling to purge ineligible or dead people from the voter registration rolls. ACORN could not be reached for comment...

Speaking of vote fraud, Team Obama apparently played fast and loose with the caucus system during the 2008 Democratic primary season. An explosive new documentary produced by a lifelong Democrat shows exactly how Barack Obama was "selected, not elected". Malfeasance at the DNC; who woulda thunk it?

So, it's no wonder Barry is protecting the Philadelphia wing of the New Black Panthers. Once the lid is blown off this stinkbomb there's no telling where it will land. What did Barack Obama know and when did he know it?

Remember the Gulf oil spill? Yeah, I know Barry's on vacation and the oil is still spewing, but his storm troopers while not actually accomplishing much of a cleanup are ever vigilent keeping the press and prying eyes at bay. It is now a Class D Felony, punishable by a fine of up to $40,000, to take pictures of the cleanup efforts. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen set the policy, and CNN's Anderson Cooper learned the hard way that he means business.

Remember kids, The Obama Administration is The Most Transparent Administration Evah!

What's a Little Child-Rape Between Friends? Roman Polanski has been set free. Remind me never to take Sophie to Switzerland.

First Lady Michelle Obama is back in the news, uniting the country in shared hatred of the Tea Party movement. In remarks delivered to the annual NAACP convention in Kansas City Mrs. Obama endorsed the new astroturf "One Nation" counter-movement while playing up unsubstantiated allegations of racism purportedly exhibited by various Tea Party members.

Reports that the 99.9999% black crowd chanted Ein Volk!, Ein Reich!, Ein Nation!, Ein Obama! could not be confirmed at this time.

Posted at 09:26 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rule2 Al-Franken vote-fraud CNN Anderson-Cooper Roman-Polanski Michelle-Obama One-Nation NAACP

They can have my air conditioning when they pry it from my cold dead hands

The hairshirt environmentalists are lecturing us again. This time it's a smarmy WaPo Op-Ed decrying our reliance on air conditioning.

In a world without air conditioning, a warmer, more flexible, more relaxed workplace helps make summer a time to slow down again. Three-digit temperatures prompt siestas. Code-orange days mean offices are closed. Shorter summer business hours and month-long closings - common in pre-air-conditioned America - return.

OK WaPo, you first. Because a month without your fishwrap darkening our doorsteps might just help us conclude that we don't need you and your cockamamie advice. Ever.

Posted at 21:26 by Chris Wysocki   [/rants]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: air-conditioning green-energy Washington-Post