Facebook Users - You're Being Spied On

Facebook Users, beware. Your 'private' communications aren't private, and the information in them is being sold by Facebook.

Facebook is using something they call a 'sentiment analysis tool' to data mine all the various postings made by Facebook junkies. This tool can be tweaked to look for certain words or phrases, and report back findings. Those findings can be used by Facebook for whatever purpose they choose (you agreed to it when you signed up), including the sale of the information.

Facebook announced about a month ago, though not where most people would see it, that they are doing this with an eye towards the presidential race, and 'sharing' the information with Politico. Politico, a far left leaning 'internet news' outlet - is in reality a front for a bunch of left wing bloggers. I have not seen a breakdown of the financial arrangement. Politico then uses that information to support or disprove anything they want to say on their website, and there is nothing at all that prevents them from taking reported data and changing it to fit their political views.

The ACLU has come out and argued against this, strangely enough. Given their far left wing leanings, I am surprised that they would publicly attack something that is intended to further far left wing ambitions.

Just remember folks - anything you put onto the internet becomes public property, whether you want it to or not. Information you think is 'private' actually belongs to companies like Facebook, and Google - and they can do anything they want to with it.

Audi Has Had Enough Of The Teenage Vampire Craze

German car maker Audi has made a new commercial, showing the world how it is using its new car technology to rid the world of these stupid, pasty faced teenage vampires. Outstanding work, Audi!

Her Highness Buys Some Essentials

Her Highness, the Missus Big O, spent some time before Christmas shopping for a few essentials. According to The Telegraph, she and the Queen of Qatar visited a thrift shop called Agent Provocateur, located in Manhattan.

For their shopping spree, several blocks of Madison Avenue were blocked off. Apparently, they had the store to themselves.

Missus O spent a reported $50,000 in the store.

What does Agent Provocateur sell? High end lingerie (no pun intended). Take a look at their web site, you will be shocked at the prices.

I don't care what she buys to (hopefully) please her husband with. I do believe that she could have done so at a less exclusive store, and not spent quite so much. I would be very interested to know who paid for it - the trip, the security, the garments ... I have a hard time believing that the Big O would write a check that big himself.

The hypocrisy is truly astounding. This person, who tries to portray herself and her husband as every day middle class Americans fighting for the little people, blows $50 large on lingerie? The arrogance is unbelievable. These two truly believe they are Royalty. What do the 99% ers think about this?

Have you seen anything in the mainstream media about this? Of course not. Turn it around - if Sarah Palin had done this, it would be headline news for at least a week.

Update - spokespersons for Missus O have categorically denied that this took place. It will be interesting to see how this plays out - if it is false, then Agent Provocateur would seem to be lying. They came out and publicly stated that Missus O's visit was responsible for a substantial sales increase in the days leading up to Christmas. We will see ...

The NFL Ought To Be Embarrassed

Yesterday's NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii ought to be the last one the league puts on. What a disgrace. I can't believe the NFL has the audacity to lay a prime time turd like this and call it a football game.

For those few who actually tuned in, this was essentially a half speed friendly scrimmage. They could have been wearing shorts and playing two handed touch and it would have been more exciting. Watching the plays, you see the lines on both sides of the ball essentially stand up and visit with each other for a few seconds after the ball was snapped. Tackling - what's that?

It was so bad, the announcers spent a lot of the game talking about the lack of effort, and how they expected the game to get more realistic as it went on. It didn't.

The AFC won 59-41, but who cares?

The highlight of the game seemed to be the fact that computers had been placed on each sideline so that 'players' could tweet live to all their fans during the game. If I was an advertiser who bought time from the network during this 3 hour 'extravaganza', I would be asking for my money back. If I was one of the few who paid for a ticket to sit in the stands, I'd demand a refund.

All star games typically suck when it comes to the actual game, but this was a new low as far as I am concerned. If the NFL can't find a way to get the players to actually play a game, then there is no reason for them to continue to put this mess on the air.

Update - I read Roger Goodell's comments from the Super Bowel concerning the Pro Bowl embarrassment. He has clearly regonized it for what it was, andcame out and stated to reporters that the 'game' has to be improved, or done away with. Good for him - that's a strong statement for the head of the NFL to make about his own product. He3 said he has already contacted the NFLPA about it (no changes can be made to any game or format without the Player's Union agreeing to it).

Obama's State Of The Union Preview

I can save you 45 minutes or so of your time tonight. Instead of watching His Highness deliver his State of the Union address, here's a shortened version:

The situation was a lot worse than we thought.

It's still all Bush's fault.

Republicans are rich racists.

I'm doing a great job, things are getting better.

Reelect me, and those rich bastards are going to pay for everything.

Give me four more years or we're all going to Hell.

Update - Did I nail this, or what? Of course, Obama is so predictable that anyone could have foretold this.

Surprises At Your Local Bookstore

Parents - if you are in the habit of turning your young ones loose inside the local bookstore, such as Barnes & Noble, you might want to look around inside of that store first. You might be surprised at what is sitting on the shelves.

Finding adult themed books on shelves labeled for 'Relationships', 'Social Studies', 'Health', 'Lifestyles', etc, should in no way surprise you. Depending on the specific store and the mindset of the management, there can be some pretty risque and graphic materials sitting there within reaching distance of your young ones. You should also not be surprised that there is no one watching to make sure your young ones don't pick up those materials to spend some quality sneak time.

I was in a local Barnes & Noble this past weekend, browsing through the military history section. Right next to it was a section for 'Social Studies'. I saw a book end with the title 'Suicide Girls' sitting on a waist high shelf. Curious as to what that was all about, I picked it up. What was inside was very graphic photos of nude and semi-nude women, depicting a style called 'Suicide Girls'. Lots of tatoos, lots piercings, lots of dark makeup. The nudity didn't stop with breasts, which were aplenty. There was some very explicit full frontal nudity in it as well.

Now, I'm not a prude, and this kind of material doesn't offend me personally. However, having it on a shelf at or just below eye level of grade school kids doesn't seem to be the best of ideas. Even worse, this shelf unit was directly across a narrow aisle from the kids section. So, on one side of the aisle you've got naked chicks, on the other are reading assistance books for grades 1-5.

I found an employee, and asked him to come with me. I wanted to inform him of the situation. When we got about 20 feet away from the aisle, he said 'I already know what you're going to show me'. He was completely aware of it, agreed that it was a bad idea, and said that his management knew all about it. I asked why it hadn't been changed. His answer indicated that corporate had laid out the store, and local management couldn't change it.

Below is the cover of said book. Trust me, the photo is a lot more tame than what was inside the cover. It also was not the only book that would not be appropriate for underage readers in that section.

This specific store has a real problem with its subject section placement. However, you are very likely to find books that are inappropriate for children in any of these stores. So, know where those books are, or at least keep tabs on your kids, unless you want them getting a dose of unintentional sex ed.

What I Want To Hear From The Republican Candidates

There is one thing that I want to hear from each and every Republican candidate remaining in the race. I would love to hear it from them while they are gathered, such as on stage at a debate. I want to hear this, and I think it is necessary for it to be said in order to unseat His Highness in November.

"No matter which of us is selected as the Republican nomineee, every one of us will rally behind that nominee, encourage all of our supporters to do the same, and we will do everything we can to support the nominee to kick out the current residents of the White House and pull our country out of the National Nightmare it is currently suffering through."

Anyone of them who wouldn't agree to say that ought to be booed right out of the building.

US Supreme Court Slaps Down Texas Democrats

The United States Supreme Court ruled UNANIMOUSLY against Texas Democrats today, in a resounding defeat for judicial activism.

The center of the controvery is the Congressional district redraw mandated by the results of the 2010 census.

Republicans control the State Houses in Texas. The State is responsible for drawing districts for the US Congress. Since the dawn of time, redrawing of districts by the party in power has been a time honored way of protecting and expanding the ruling party's dominance. Is it dirty, yeah. Is it legal, yeah. Do both parties do it, yeah - whoever is in power sets the rules.

Republicans took the 2010 census data and drew a districting map that favored them retaining and possibly expanding Republican representation for Texas in the US House of Representatives. Is this a nice, fair thing to do - probably not. But, Democrats did it the last time they were in power in Texas, and so on back through our state's history. Its just the way things are done.

Democrats pitched a fit, from the Obama White House on down. They wanted a Democrat drawn redistricting plan put into place, which would gain them up to 4 seats in the US House, by drawing districts that guarantee almost 100% minority voting blocks. Obama's DoJ, led by Eric Holder, declared the Republican maps illegal. They went to a US District Court in San Antonio, which issued an injunction against Texas' plan, and instead drew their own districts. Yes, the court, staffed by three Democrats who have no election experience, drew up a redistricting plan and tried to force it on Texas. Obama's DoJ stuck its nose into the mess, saying they upheld the court's plan as legal and fair.

Texas took the matter to the US Supreme Court, which ruled that the San Antonio court had no business coming up with their own map. All 9 members of the Supreme Court agreed with the decision.

The Supreme Court did not rule on the legality of the Republican map, because that was not the issue before it.

The matter was returned to the Democrat controlled count in San antonio to redraw the maps, which is absolutely ridiculous. The matter legally belongs to the Texas State Houses.

Politics are a hard, dirty game. However, there are rules, and just because you don't like how something is being done, doesn't mean you can circumvent or disregard the rules (in spite of what the Obama crowd seems to think).

Democrats, you have been bitch slapped!

Need A Chuckle?

Seems that we are overwhelmed with seriousness these days. If you want to see something funny for a break, check this out ...

http://www.sleepingchinese.com/

Nothing profound, nothing dirty, nothing political, nothing disrespectful ... just some funny pictures.

This Is What Republicans Need To Do More Of

I didn't watch CNN's debate last night, because frankly, I thought it ridiculous to have two debates on competing networks a couple of days apart. But when I saw this on Youtube, I knew I had missed an historic example of how Republicans should be acting, how they should be defending themselves.

I don't believe Newt Gingrich is the best choice for President. However, he does have his moments, and here is one of them ... (repeated standing ovations richly deserved!)

Sheriff Joe Biden - World's Greatest Sport Fan

Sheriff Joe once again showed the enormity of his intellect Wednesday at a Dem fundraiser in San Francisco.

He told the partisan left wing kook crowd that 'the Giants are on their way to the Superbowl.'

OK. San Francisco is playing New York this weekend for the right to go to the Superbowl. New York is, of course, the Giants.

Sheriff Joe obviously mixed up baseball and football (San Francisco Giants).

An easy mistake to make - they both use balls.

(this man is a heartbeat away from the Presidency ... shudder ...)

What Are The Rangers Smoking?

The Texas Rangers announced the signing of Yu Darvish this afternoon. The Japanese pitcher will join the squad in time for spring training.

The contract is said to be 6 years at $60 million. The Rangers paid a $51.7 million fee to the Japanese league and his current team for the right to negotiate and sign him. So, his impact on the Rangers is almost $112 million.

Darvish is a strong performer in Japan. He is 6'5" tall, and only 25 years old. He is said to have good stuff, and is projected as a number 4 or 5 starter (on a starting staff that is not regarded as a strong one). I have seen very little of him, all the sports reports seem to replay video of the same 3 or 4 strikeouts over and over.

The Rangers declined to offer a new contract to their staff ace, CJ Wilson. CJ was not a super strong performer, but could be counted on for 15 wins a year, and to chew up a lot of innings. CJ signed with division rival Anaheim for FAR less than what the Rangers are spending on Darvish.

Japanese pitchers tend to not do so well when they show up in the Big Leagues. I can't remember a single one who has been more than average - with most turning out to be big disappointments. I have not seen anything yet that would indicate Darvish will be any different.

I don't get it - pass on a proven performer and tell us its because of the money, and then sign an unproven gamble for a far larger amount of money? I fear they've just screwed themselves.

TSA - Terminally Stupid A*Holes?

I had the misfortune to go through the Corpus Christi International Airport recently. That's a very long title for an airport whose terminal isn't long enough to hold all of those letters. The entire airport has 6 gates, one of which is not in service.

This small facility has the most stringent, and perhaps most incompetent, TSA workers I have ever run into.

Leaving the city, I put my possessions into the bins for the X-Ray machine, just as I do every other time I go through an airport. I've got two TSA 'officers' standing over my shoulders while I am doing this. Apparently they are bored, because there is no one else in the security line.

"Sir, you have to remove your belt." I point to the tub that already holds my belt.

"Sir you have to completely empty your pockets." I show him that my keys and change are already in the tub.

"No, sir, your pockets have to be empty." I make a big show of removing my wallet and placing it into the tub. I cleverly beat the system by not taking out the handful of paper money still in one pocket. One of the TSA gentlemen standing over me picks up my wallet and starts thumbing through it. "Hey, you don't need to do that", I tell him, probably a little more forcefully than I should have. He puts it back down into the tub.

I am waved through the machine finally. It is not a metal detector, but one of the new MRI type machines that gives them a great picture of your junk. I don't care. Apparently they don't like the picture, and subject me to a more personal than warranted patdown. Pervert!

I endure without comment, and walk around to get my tubs. My laptop is grabbed by one 'officer'. "I have to inspect this". OK, I say. She steps over to the swab station. Another 'officer' picks up my shoes, and gets in line at the swab station.

"Don't touch anything, sir," I am admonished as I reach for my laptop bag.

After 'laptop swabbie' gets done, he hands me the computer, and then starts dissecting my laptop bag. Every pocket is gone through. 'Shoe swabbie' is having problems with the swab machine, from the looks of it - either that, or he's sneaking sniffs of my sneakers.

They pile all my stuff back up on the table. No 'thank you', or 'have a nice day' ... they just go back to waiting for the next victim.

I start to put my gear back in order. "Sir, you can't do that there."

I gather all my stuff, two trips worth, and carry it about 30 feet to a seat, where I am finally able to reassemble myself.

Fortunately, I was not in a hurry to catch the flight.

I had booked this flight 3 weeks in advance. It was not a one way ticket. My destination was a short haul, in state. I do not have a middle eastern name. I don't know whether these people were bored, or just plain power mad. I do know that 8 'officers' overseeing a one lane security checkpoint, with one machine, seems to be a bit of a money waste.

BTW - When I got home, I found that my bag had been tossed by TSA as well. Nothing was missing, but every bag, every zipper, every compartment had been opened and the contents gone through. I truly hope they enjoyed three days worth of dirty socks ...

In the interest of full disclosure, the above photo was not taken by me in Corpus. I can only imagine what that crew would have done if I had pulled out a camera!

Update - TSA, but not related to Corpus Christi. Somehow, a 65 year old woman passed through a TSA checkpoint in Terminal D at DFW airport, with a handgun in her carryon bag. From news reports, her bag went through the XRay machine, she passed through, retrieved the bag, and went on her way. Sometime later, someone saw the gun displayed on the machine's monitor. TSA personnel finally were able to locate her 90 minutes later. She had already boarded a plane, and the plane had backed away from the gate. They pulled her off the plane and had her go back through the screening process, where the gun was found. She was taken into custody. The incident started at 6:30am.

The woman is an attorney, and had an expired CHL. Her explanation, made public through her attorney, was that she forgot the gun was in the bag. The fact that she had a CHL and went through that training tells me she should have known better. How in the heck do you forget you have a .38 caliber pistol in your computer bag?

I've been through DFW checkpoints so many times I can't even to begin to guess how many. They are just as 'overmanned' as the ones in Corpus. How in the world did this woman take her bag through the checkpoint with a pistol in it without being stopped?

I saw an item during news coverage on this. TSA reported to Congress that they stop an average of 4 handguns PER DAY at security checkpoints in the US. Very few of those are intentional attempts at smuggling a weapon onto an airplane, which leads to the inescapable fact that a lot of people are just plain stupid.

More NAACP Race Baiting

The city of Irving, Texas is having a difficult time with its school district. It has nothing to do with the kids or teachers.

It's about race.

Irving's racial makeup has changed over the years. The majority of folks who live there now (legally or illegally) are Hispanic. Whites follow, with blacks in third.

Irving's School Board has seven positions. They are elected district wide - all voters select all school board positions (called an 'at-large' system). This has become a point of contention. It is a fact that a higher percentage of Whites vote in down ballot elections (such as school boards) than Hispanics or Blacks, and so the school board members have almost universally been White.

Hispanics and Blacks have been in an uproar over this, stating that the racial makeup of the school board should reflect the racial makeup of the student population. (They seem to fail to realize that this is a product of the members of their 'races' not showing up at the polls in numbers that represent that racial makeup.) Hispanics and Blacks are pushing for the adoption of single member districts, where voters would only be able to vote on a single school board member. These districts would be drawn to pretty much guarantee a specific number of Hispanics and Blacks be seated on the school board.

Now, I am not going to voice an opinion on that. There are positives and negatives to both sides of that argument.

What I am thoroughly disgusted with is the race baiting that has been building over this.

The latest component - NAACP Irving leader Anthony Bond (for some unexplained reason) has weighed in with his totally logical, thoughtful solution to the issue.

He has called for students to be instructed to disrupt classrooms in protest of the situation.

"We've got to demonstrate to these kids that we're not going to let a bunch of white people dictate to the majority." - Anthony Bond, media interview regarding Irving, 1/13/12

Wow. So, according to a leader of the NAACP, a minority cannot exert pressure on a majority. That kind of throws the whole Civil Rights movement into the garbage can, doesn't it? Or, does that only apply when the people he thinks he represents are the majority? (Funny that the NAACP does not represent the race in the majority in Irving - Hispanics).

Can you imagine the furor that would result if a White person in a position of authority had said "We've got to demonstrate to these kids that we're not going to let a bunch of black people dictate to the majority"? Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be fighting each other trying to get here first to lead the marches and riots in protest. Why is it OK for a black person in a position of authority to say it?

More Pasty Faced Teenage Boy Silliness Coming

So, if your wives and daughters haven't had enough Vampire-gasms, or swooned to enough teenage boys pretending to be werewolves, be warned - more is coming.

Warm Bodies is due out on August 10th.

Nicholas Hoult, teen hearthrob, will play the character 'R'.

'R' is a zombie.

'R' falls in love with a human girl after he eats the brain of her boyfriend. The movie is said to depict the couple as they move towards each other, and learn to bridge the forbidden love of Zombie/Human. 'R' even re-learns how to speak.

No word on whether 'R' learns how to brush his teeth prior to snuggling up to his hottie. (Can you imagine his breath, walking aorund eating dead people without regard to oral hygiene?)

Seriously?

Marco Rubio - Republican Hero

I hope this man ends up in the White House someday (first Hispanic President?) ...

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to President Obama, detailing in pretty harsh terms what he thinks of The Dear Leader's ability to run this nation. Worth a read.

Vice President Rubio in November?

http://www.humanevents.com/downloads-pdfs/1.6.12%20-%20Obama%20Debt%20Ceiling%20Letter%20-%20FINAL.pdf

Jobless Number Shell Game - Well Underway

As I (and whole lot of folks who are smarter than me) predicted last year, the unemployment rate is going down. Figures just released show it at 8.5%. Expect it to be lower than 8.0% percent in the September time frame.

Obama has begun crowing about it, stating that it is great progress, we have turned the corner, we're headed in the right direction.

Just as predicted.

Does this mean the economy is getting better, and jobs are being created? Not exactly. What it does mean is that Obama and his cronies are massaging the numbers to make them fit what they need for re-election.

New jobless claims for LAST WEEK dropped to about 350,000. They have been hovering around 400,000 per week for many months. (This was touted by the Obama Administration and mainstream news as HUGE progress). What this means is that between 700,000 and 800,000 people are filing new claims for unemployment each month - meaning they lost their jobs.

Obama's bunch reports that about 200,000 new jobs were added last month, and that this is responsible for the dip in umployment. What the hell kind of math is that?

700,000 minus 200,000 is a net loss of 500,000 jobs for the month. How can the unemployment rate go down with a half million more people out of work?

Here's how ... Obama's bunch has been changing the definition of what being unemployed means. If you can't change the numbers, you change what numbers are counted.

People who have exhausted their unemployment benefits are no longer counted as unemployed. They are simply dropped out of the equation. Likewise, folks who find temporary employment when looking for a permanent position are not counted. Long term unemployed , those who have given up trying to find a job, aren't counted. Those on welfare aren't counted. Obama has dropped millions of people who are unemployed out of the equation, to make himself look better.

If all classes of people who were counted in the unemployment figures when Obama took office in 2009 were counted today, the unemployment rate that would be reported would be above 11 percent.

If everyone who wanted work and couldn't find it were counted, the true, actual unemployment rate for the US would be above 17 percent.

Unemployment rates for African-Americans, even using Obama techniques, is above 16 percent. Why is this man still a hero to the Black community?

(BTW - that 200,000 figure for added jobs last month included 50,000 temporary Holiday seasonal positions, positions eliminated this month.)

If this is confusing to you, ask yourself this basic question: HOW CAN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE GO DOWN IF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO LOSE THEIR JOBS IN A MONTH OUTNUMBER THOSE WHO FIND WORK, BY A MARGIN OF FOUR OR FIVE TO ONE?

Update - The figures for NEW unemployment benefit applications for last week have been announced - 399,000. That'a almost 400 thousand newly unemployed folks. No word from the Obama Administration on how this affects their magic 8.5 percent number ...

Coward-in-Chief Strikes Again

Obama is singlehandedly castrating our military. What our enemies worldwide have been unable to do by force, he has chosen to do by pen. Unilateral disarmament. The ultimate goal of every left wing kook - a country without the means to defend itself and its allies.

Obama has, by himself, decided to redefine what our military is, and what it does.

This kind of morphing process happens occasionally as the shape of the world changes. It has been done after each of our wars. Usually, the cuts have been vicious, far too deep, and have left us in vulnerable positions. This time, though, Obama and his close circle of left wing kooks have made the decisions themselves, and the devastation that will result will dwarf all previous cutbacks.

Watch for the F-35 to be cancelled. Watch for the V-22 program to be halted. Watch for missile defense to be scrapped. Watch for work on new generation aircraft carriers to be halted. Watch for health and other benefits for retirees to be slashed. Watch for the number of people in uniform to be slashed even further than has been previously reported. Watch for incredible number of existing weapons systems to be prematurely retired, with no replacement. Watch for huge numbers of operational units and facilites to be done away with.

Obama can't do this just by himself. Congress controls the purse strings. Even though Obama can propose the cuts in a budget he submits, Congress does not have to accept it. He knows this, and will portray Congress' objections as more Republican obstructionism.

In a couple of related Democrat 'We Surrender' outrages:

Obama Administration officials have confirmed that they have offered to the Taliban in Afghanistan to release all Taliban connected prisoners currently held in Gitmo. This in return for the the Taliban opening an office in Qatar. No matter what the crimes were these terrorists have committed, they will be set free to kill again, just so Obama can claim to the world that he is pursuing peace.

The Washington Times reports that Obama told certain members of Congress last week that he is preparing to share classified US Missile Defense Technology with the Soviets. (Yes - I said Soviets. The two clowns running Russia are committed to resurrecting the Soviet Union.) For what purpose? What is this supposed to do for us?

What it will do is hand all the info needed to defeat our missile defense, a critical technology we have spent billions and billions of dollars on, to our enemies and potential enemies. The Russians are not our allies - we are just coexisting at this point in time. Russian allies ARE China, Iran, North Korea, the Taliban, radical elements in Pakistan. etc. How long will it take them to copy all that info and dispurse it to those countries and more?

Folks, there is no way to define this insanity other than TREASON.

Fiscal Insanity

Our national debt is now over 15 trillion dollars. That means that every man, woman, and child in this country (either legally or illegally) is in debt to the tune of 48,000 dollars.

In spite of all the lip service Obama and Congress gives this incredible situation, spending by the Federal Government continues to increase unchecked. Remember all the grand statements about the debt ceiling deal last summer, how Obama and the Dems said that if we just go ahead and raise the limit to 15 trillion, give or take a couple hundred billion, that real debt reform and spending cuts would be enacted. He got the higher ceiling. No reform has happened.

Obama is about to formally ask Congress to once again raise the debt ceiling by another trillion or so - because we've already reached the ceiling increase agreed to last summer. Imagine that - Washington managed to put us further in debt by well over a trillion dollars in 6 months!

Current projections have us adding a trillion to the national debt EVERY YEAR from this point forward. No plan or proposal currently under evaluation will stop this.

Remember those automatic cuts that fell into place when the Super Committee failed? Over a trillion in automatic cuts, half of which come out of the Pentagon? Obama has plans for that money. He has already stated that money will be available for spending elsewhere - on his pet social programs. Those aren't cuts, they aren't payments to draw down the debt - he's just stealing it to buy more votes.

The nation's debt has exceeded its GNP. As a country, we owe more than we produce. If the country was an individual, it would meet the definition of bankrupt.

This is not sustainable. It cannot continue. There is no magic RESET button that some future President can push to make it all go away. This is a very real, serious problem, and the majority of politicians from both parties are hell bent on ignoring it. Pushing the can down the road for future generations to deal with. They don't want to address it because they are know that every cut will piss off a voting block. The few politicians who try to sound the alarm are branded right wing extremists, racists, obstructionists, Tea Party members ...

Update - Obama officially asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling by another 1.2 Trillion dollars. If Congress votes against the request, Obama has said he would veto and push it through anyway. I'm not sure how the President can veto legislation that is voted down and not sent to him for signature, but apparently He thinks His power is all encompassing ...

Scandal!!! Outrage!!! Oh, the Horror ...

Whataburger, for those of you not fortunate enough to be in the right portion of the country, is home to one of the best hamburgers made by a large chain outlet.

One of the best aspects of a trip to Whataburger was a crisp order of fries, accompanied by their patented formula of ketchup. As close to Heaven as a french fry can get ...

As a trial, Whataburger has rolled out a new ketchup formula, Spicy. My understanding is it will be offered as an option, if public response is strong enough.

I hereby activate the Occupy Whataburger movement. All Whataburger ketchup lovers are hereby instructed to camp out at local Whataburgers, and demand confirmation that the original Whataburger ketchup will continue to be available! Stop a potential catastrophe before it occurs!



Actually, the Spicy ketchup has a hint of jalapeno in it, and it's pretty darned good)

Another Edict From His Lord Highness Obama

President Obama is once again bypassing the will of the people (as represented by our elected officials in Congress) in order to further his far left wing kook agenda.

Meet Richard Cordray. Get to know him, for he will have a large impact on your life.

Richard Cordray will be a 'recess appointment' by Obama to become his 'Consumer Watchdog'. By using the political mechanism of the recess appointment, Obama bypasses the normal confirmation process that is undertaken by the Senate. So, Congress isn't going to get to ask this man any questions. He will not have to explain what his positions are, what his background is, what his plans for this newly created position will be.

Obama is appointing one of his buddies to a position created by a Democrat controlled Congress (Frank/Dodd Consumer Financial Protection Board) with a huge amount of power, without anyone else, including Congress, having any say in the matter. Obama is establishing Cordray's objectives, his reach, his powers, and no one else has any say in the matter.

Senate Republicans voted in December, every single one of them, to block the nomination due to the radical nature of Cordray and the far reaching powers he will receive. Quite a few Senate Democrats likewise have expressed reservations about the man and the position. There is no way he would have been confirmed for the position by the Senate.

Knowing this, Obama pulls an end run around Congress. This sounds like the behavior of a dictator, not a President. It really is no surprise.

Introducing Cordray as his appointee at a press rally in Ohio, Obama said "I refuse to take No for an answer ... I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them (Congress)". Thumbing his nose at Congress in an unprecedented power grab, Obama actually brags about what he has done, and in essence says that he will do whatever he wants, no matter what Congress has to say about it.

I'm sorry Obama, but you were elected President, not Dictator.

Later in the day, Obama's henchmen announced he would use the same tactic to appoint three union lackies to the National Labor Relations Board, bypassing Congress on this move as well. All three of these folks would never have passed Senate confirmation.

Cordray was the Attorney General for Ohio for 2 years (2009-2011), before being voted out of office. Before that, he held lower political positions in the state of Ohio. He is a lawyer by trade, and successful enough to have argued 6 cases before the Supreme Court, most of which were against business. His bio has no inidication of any experience in finance, or banking, or business.

This man is supposed to be the watchdog over all financial institutions in the United States. I don't see anything in his background that even remotely qualifies him to hold that position.

(In the interest of full disclosure, Bill Clinton and George Bush made use of recess appointments, in fact both of them made quite a few more than Obama has so far. However, I don't remember any of them being controversial, and they certainly weren't done as an open challenge to Congress.)

Update - The Federal Government is seeking a new employee for Cordray/Obama's new Consumer Financial Protection Commission. This employee will be the 'Invitation Coordinator'. The only task this person will have is to review the appearance invitations coming IN for members of the Commission. They are anticipating an overwhelming public demand for people on this commission to appear at events across the country. I don't know what the requirements are for the position, but it pays $103,000, plus full insurance and retirement benefits and 5 weeks of paid vacation per year. Wow - can I get a job sitting at a desk opening envelopes for six figures?

Un-f**king believable ...

What do you want to bet that it is filled by some Democrat bigwig's relative, or a campaign contributor's wife?

Update - Obama's DoJ issued a 23 page legal opinion paper to the public, affirming that Obama's appointments were legal. No surprise there, anyone who expected differently is smoking stuff stronger than what His Highness himself uses. The opinion changes nothing - those who support Obama continue to support him, and those who don't, don't.

Just another outrageous example of how the United States Department of Justice is just acting as a political arm of Obama's White House.

Good Old Fashioned Hockey

So, for my first post of the New Year, how about some good, wholesome, family fun?

A compilation courtesy of our friends at Hockeyfights.com.

A couple of observations - you see a lot of Boston Bruins in this, a pretty accurate portrayal of them as the dirtiest team in the NHL.

Aaron Downey has the only lights out punch in the bunch. That's pretty much the highlight of his 3 minute Dallas Stars career.

I find it ironic that the NHL, like the NFL, is trying to cut down on hits to the head and the resulting concussions - and yet they still allow fighting to go on unchecked. Sure, the combatants get 5 for fighting, but you don't see any further punishment for being one of the two legitimate participants in a stand up fight.