A Student Vignette From the Mos Eisley Claire McCaskill School of Scum and Villainy

When his smug little mug starts talking, my eyes glaze over red, but I think I handle my rage and disgust with far better aplomb than…oh…say…the President does. (Like, I never mention “hostage”. Yeah. I can take pressure.)

I just do NOT get where this utter and complete disdain for all things hardworking and legitimately earned comes from. Again, we’re not talking MILLIONAIRES here! We’re talking hard working COUPLES ~ that’s TWO folks getting into a car every day to make that ONE relatively modest number number ~ and you’d think he was a Bolshevik talking about Nicholas from the ghastly way he mocks their lives with his ‘bucket of tears for them’, to denigrating their efforts (“They have $14,000 after taxes every month!” – clearly a crime in his eyes.) and onward! Are they supposed to be ashamed that they (combined, mind you) BOTH work, BOTH went to school, have college degrees (and student loans to pay, according to the piece), have a 401K, a newer car, a house (underwater, according to the piece), two kids (who need to eat and actually wear clothes, according to the piece)? According to WeaselDick on the right…yes. Filthy Whiny Suburban Slime need to shut up and hand over the cash.

HOW does one develop this WARPED sense of being annointed judge and jury for determining an arbitrary number for the cut-off of achieving the American dream? They are redefining what constitutes that American dream…within THEIR ever shrinking “dream” parameters. Remember…?

Obama: “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money“

….and we’ll let you know what that number is in just a sec….got it. $250K.

There’s your “dream”, assholes.

I can see 2012 from my house. Oh, you betcha.

UPDATE: Let me expound on points my dear friend Dave E. makes in the comments, namely that these mythical couples’ $250K wasn’t an instantaneous money dump. It came after years of work and planning. As Dave says, “I started my first full time job at $6.00/hour. I’ve done my time salaried at $30K, or $40K and so on. ”

Since WHEN is $250K the IMPOSSIBLE dream? As I’ve been saying from the second they laid that “number” out as the line of demarcation ~ WAIT A FRICKIN’ MINUTE!!! EVERY AMERICAN has the RIGHT to think he can achieve that income someday, somehow, if he works hard, because…THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA…right? We ALL can GET at least there, right? Wasn’t that the plan, and isn’t THAT what makes us different and has all those people hopping border fences and paddling boats to get here? (As opposed to all the boatloads paddling away, lined up for the first flight out and the hoards crossing madly INTO Mexico and Canada…NOT.)

Who the HELL are they to make you feel like some kind of societal LEECH for aspiring ~ and finally achieving ~ that goal by dint of your own sweat and tears? (As opposed to sitting in a tenement with your hand out or in a liberal think tank condemning the taxpayers who financed your “Bright Futures” scholarships, I mean.)

Oh, I’m snortin’ fire on this.

I’m Shocked, Shocked, I Tell You

The Fed would…lie?

(Reuters) – U.S. government inflation data is “a sham” and is causing the Federal Reserve to vastly understate price pressures in the economy, influential U.S. investor Jim Rogers said on Tuesday.

…Rogers, who rose to prominence after co-founding the now defunct Quantum Fund with billionaire investor George Soros some four decades ago, said he was betting against U.S. Treasuries. “I expect interest rates in the U.S. to go much, much, much higher over the next few years,” he said.

The core personal consumption expenditure index, which removes food and energy costs, is the Fed’s favored measure of inflation and was flat in October for the second straight month.

“Everybody in this room knows prices are going up for everything,” Rogers told the Reuters Summit.

Food and energy costs don’t count for inflation, because in this Happy New Green Economy we don’t harm Gaia by eating or using any type of fuel.

You have to love a system where the Fed allows themselves to “measure” inflation by excluding everything that goes up in price.

It’s brilliant.

It’s Wabbit Season!

Not Duck Season!

We’ll Show Those Brits How…

…We handle snow here in the Colonies

There is a good chance that a major storm will hit areas from the Midwest to the Northeast this weekend adding to a snow cover that will cover 50 percent of the country by Christmas Day.

AccuWeather.com meteorologists are predicting a storm will move from the northern Plains into the Ohio Valley, then redevelop off the mid-Atlantic coast. On that path, the storm will produce a swath of plowable snow from the Dakotas through the Midwest and Great Lakes and into the Northeast.

The storm has the potential to explode into a major snowstorm that could produce in excess of 6 inches of snow over a large area of the Northeast U.S. and eastern Canada.

I bought a snowblower this year specifically as insurance against just such an event.

It’s 8:15 a.m. and 29° in Balmy Pensacola, FLORIDA Right Now

Yup. That’s us.

Don’t Look Now, BUT I Think The White House Just Called Chuckie Schumer

…the “P”-word…

…”We wanted a fight, the House didn’t throw a punch,” a senior White House official tells ABC News, pointing out that for months before the 2010 midterm elections, President Obama was making the case against the Bush tax cuts for wealthier Americans. “The House wouldn’t vote before the Senate, and the Senate was afraid they’d lose a vote on it.”

“It was like the Jets versus Sharks except there weren’t any Jets,” the official said.

“Senator Schumer says he wants a fight?
He couldn’t hold his caucus together.“

DUDE!

–Press Secretary Robert Gibbs leads White House staffers in healthy, synchronized, “Chuckie Schumer is a P-word” stretches, choreographed by First Lady Michelle Obama, in the White House parking lot Monday. ©TPI

Not to mention, we all know what happened to the Jets last night.

More Gerbil Warmening In The UK

Remember, kiddies, the OVERWHELMING CONSENSUS is that we are doomed to higher temperatures and no more snow

Thousands of schoolchildren are enjoying a day off, with fresh falls of heavy snow affecting parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.

Some 900 schools are shut in Scotland, where a third of councils closed all sites, along with 650 in Northern Ireland and about 70 in Cumbria.

UK temperatures remain sub-zero – overnight Scotland hit -17C (1F).

The Met Office is warning of icy roads across much of the UK. Central Scotland police advise essential journeys only.

A Day That Will Live In Infamy

Never forget.

And never let it happen again.

RIP, dear souls. May we be worthy of your sacrifices.

I Had A Dream

No seven fat cows getting chased by seven mad cows, no sirree, not for me. No, I get a dream of driving very slowly around a vaguely New Orleans-esque neighborhood in a big mid 60s open-topped highway cruiser, idly waving to the odd mix of folks in their yards and conversing with them in some sort of mumbled patois as I roamed about looking for Julian Assange.

I don’t know where to begin…

“Heartwarming” Doesn’t Begin to Cover It

China Bubbles

Inflation there may be getting out of hand

The Royal Bank of Scotland has advised clients to take out protection against the risk of a sovereign default by China as one of its top trade trades for 2011. This is a new twist.

It warns that the Communist Party will have to puncture the credit bubble before inflation reaches levels that threaten social stability. This in turn may open a can of worms.

“Many see China’s monetary tightening as a pre-emptive tap on the brakes, a warning shot across the proverbial economic bows. We see it as a potentially more malevolent reactive day of reckoning,” said Tim Ash, the bank’s emerging markets chief.

Officially, inflation was 4.4pc in October, and may reach 5pc in November, but it is to hard find anybody in China who believes it is that low. Vegetables have risen 20pc in a month.

And Bingo Was His Name. Oh!

WHAT a magnificent Wabbie he was. Semper Fi, brave, sweet puppy.
Semper Fi.

The Leslie Nielson

…Random Quote Generator

“[Playing chess] Tanya Peters: What are you doing?
Lt. Frank Drebin (Nielsen): Oh! I was, uh, just conjugating my next move.
Peters: Your bishop’s exposed.
Drebin: It’s these pants.”

“Quoting Me In Context Is Like Crushing The Heads Of Kittens”

Or something like that

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports: Did Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) just compare Republicans to terrorists?

Well, not really. But he did compare negotiating with Republicans to negotiating with terrorists.

At a press conference with fellow Democrats, Menendez lashed out at Republicans for opposing Democratic efforts to extend the Bush tax cuts for the middle class while allowing the tax cuts for the wealthy to expire.

He accused the Republicans of holding middle class tax cuts “hostage” to tax cuts for the wealthy. That’s a common Democratic line, but Menendez took the analogy a step further.

Asked if Democrats have a responsibility to move forward with a bill that can become law – in other words, a bill Republicans will support and not block– here’s what Menendez said:

“Do you allow yourself to be held hostage and get something done for the sake of getting something done, when in fact it might be perverse in its ultimate results? It’s almost like the question of do you negotiate with terrorists.”

(h/t Ace)

They really are unhinged.

If they weren’t completely screwing our country it would be enjoyable to watch.

As Allah points out

One lingering question: If the New Year’s deadline for extending the cuts is what’s creating this terrible “hostage” situation, why didn’t our heavily Democratic majority deal with it earlier this year? And if the answer to that is that those darned Republican terrorists in the Senate would have filibustered, well, we’ll see how much Democrats learn to appreciate “terrorist” tactics when they’re back in the minority come 2013.

Silly Allah, they were busy crafting a prudent budget proposal!

Or not.

Something Else to Watch

…that I keep and eye on, but you never hear much about anymore. Ed’s got the “unexpected” umemployment rate rise (9.8% ~ Thanks, Tim and Barry and Harry and Nance) on the same day that our paper’s business section led with:

November marked a two-year low for the number of people applying for initial unemployment benefits, suggesting that the tight job market may be easing at last.

The slowing of layoffs and a solid month for retailers are the latest evidence of a strengthening economy in the final months of the year. Even the struggling housing market showed signs of improvement: On Thursday, it posted a third straight monthly increase in signed contracts for home purchases.

Right. As for housing, prices tanked in November for the start of a valuation double-dip and a quarter of those houses sold were forclosures. Forgot to mention all that, they did.

But no one’s talking about oil. Right this second it’s sitting at about $88 a barrel, but the WORST thing is the price for wholesale gasoline ~ $2.33/gal as of this morning. Add about $0.80 or so to THAT for your average retail price for regular. It will be well above that in places where gas taxes or difficulty in transportation make it more expensive in any event.

If we’re looking at $4 gal for gas over the winter compounding ObamaCare’s exploding costs, the tax cuts expiring, a possible market meltdown, millions with no hope for employment ~ the bad news ad nauseum that has been festering THIS ENTIRE OBAMA TIME, because those at the pinnacle of douchedome were more worried about their social re-engineering than saving the country?

Oh, dear.

Doesn’t This Absolutely HIDEOUS Boot ON SALE (Gee! Wonder Why?) at Saks

…nostalgically kinda make you want to snuggle up in the warm, wet innards of some freshly disemboweled, exotic, outerspace beast of burden?

Swear to GOD, reeks of tauntaun, n’est pas?

Or is it just me?

Nah.

Oh, Mr. Summers! Your dancing shoes are ready!

A Novel Solution To High Crime

The Second Most Dangerous City in the US has adopted a…unique crime enhancing fighting strategy

CAMDEN, NJ (CBS) – Camden City Council, as expected, voted Thursday to lay off almost 400 workers, half of them police officers and firefighters, to bridge a $26.5 million deficit.

That’s about a quarter of the city’s entire work force.

Five members of City Council voted unanimously to approve the layoff plan — two other members were absent. The cuts take effect in mid-January.

Exactly how many city workers will be affected is still an open question, although nearly half the city’s police and a third of the firefighters are slated to go.

I guess that’s one way to get back to being #1.

A Good Start

Hopefully the GOP will follow through on this

House Republicans seem intent on blowing up the staid appropriations process when they take power in January — potentially upending the old bulls in both parties who have spent decades building their power over the federal budget.

The plans include slicing and dicing appropriations bills into dozens of smaller, bite-size pieces — making it easier to kill or slash unpopular agencies. Other proposals include statutory spending caps, weekly votes on spending cuts and other reforms to ensure spending bills aren’t sneakily passed under special rules.

The bolded part is, in my mind, the key, because remember: The Deficit is a problem, but it is not THE Problem. It is a symptom; the Disease that must be eradicated is the SIZE of Government.

Anything less is just a band aid.

But I am encouraged that the steps outlined above are the right ones to take

“John should talk with the professional appropriators about the complexities, rather than talk off the top of his head. His plans would take a huge amount of the House’s time, but what would it accomplish?” said a dubious former House Republican member of the Appropriations Committee who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A former Democratic appropriator also was skeptical about describing prospective changes at that committee, which has a strong tradition of producing 12 bills every year from 12 subcommittees run by 12 very powerful Appropriations “cardinals.”

“On the practical side, it has to be nuts. Given the difficulty in passing the current bills, adding these changes would be a dream world. … There could be a revolt by members, who will want to get home and campaign.”

That type of squealing from these goddamned pigs on both sides of the aisle tells you that this is a step in the right direction, and it deserves our support.

via Insta

Global Warmening Continues In The UK

Oh Noes! Damn you Chimpy and Big Oil

The man responsible for keeping major roads clear urged drivers to think twice before venturing out.

Mr Turner’s remarks, during an interview on the BBC Today programme came amid growing anger at the state of much of the transport system and complaints that gritting lorries had not appeared in sufficient numbers to keep the country moving.

…He admitted that the country had been caught out by a “huge dump of snow”.

I hates it when the Gritting Lorries don’t appear. I think.

Are they a band?

DADT

Well, here we go.

I think everyone who shares Swilling space knows major dad and I are pretty socially “liberal” in many ways, including believing that gay couples have a right to civil unions. “Marriage”, on the other hand, is for each and every individual religious institution to decide whose union it will and will not consecrate, and that is ABSOLUTELY their right, per the tenents of the beliefs. PERIOD. (We were married by a lovely lady at the Santa Ana court house, and I would no more storm the local Catholic Church demanding a full blown “Say Yes to the Dress” wedding, than I would endorse a gay couple suing to be able to do the same. It’s called “Freedom of Religion/Separation of Church and State”. Go see Miss Peters at the Courthouse, like we did.)

I’ll speak just for me on this, though, since the male side of the house is different, and I will speak from a Woman Marine perspective. Kcruella and I ~ or any WM for that matter ~ can tell you there’re plenty of lesbians in the Marine Corps. We’ve always managed to get along well, but there’s a particularly nasty side that has me concerned about how it will be handled going forward. In all honesty, I don’t even know if it’s still problem, but it was, both Navy and Marine Corps-wise, in the 80’s.

In Memphis, where we went to our follow-on schools after bootcamp, most of the WM’s were 18 or so. The ratio of males to females at the time was 65 to 1. If you eliminated the female sailors and just used women Marines, it became 85 to 1. Many of the girls were overwhelmed by the attention and there was a lesbian…jeez, I hate to say it, but almost pack mentality. Lesbian gangs are not just a figment of “The Man Show” ~ they preyed on these younger, insecure girls. In some cases, especially if harrassment had been rebuffed or, God forbid, reported, it got violent. We were a level headed group of older WM’s, both gay and straight, in barracks leadership while I was there, and able to keep things running without blood spilling, but that definately wasn’t the case at the WAVE barracks. And it apparently hadn’t been the case previously with past WM NCO’s. Be damned if anyone was getting hurt for anything on MY watch, but I was 25 years old, NOT 18 ~ easy to be an authority figure, if one’s up for it and I’m an attention whore.

So, my first concern, from a female point of view is: what happens now? This may be moot anyway, because WM’s go through exponentially more now than we ever conceived of. Possibly their confidence level may be such that they’d kick someone’s ass who threatened them. But those lesbians are also in that Crucible and also in that frame of mind. What is happening in the barracks? Is the threat condition the same and, if so, how will the corrective action change?

I’m also wondering about everyday living conditions. Kcruella and I’d always roll our eyes at the guys when someone’d get all up in arms about “no Goddamned fuckin’ gays in MY Marine Corps!”, while bragging about the 12 year old he shagged in the Philippines. As major dad always tells them, “Oh gays are terrible, but being a child molestor is okay.”

Anyway. Hey, nimrod ~ they’re already here, God bless them. Have always been, so grow the f*ck up. The gay guy who joins the Marine Corps doesn’t wear spandex tucked into his KISS boots while prancing down the hallway. And Kcruella and I are rolling OUR eyes, because WM’s KNOW when we have a lesbian walk in the shower while we’re there. We’ve lived with that for YEARS and everyone’s survived. Uncomfortable at times? Oh, you betcha. But that’s because we KNOW. What I want to know is how the sensitivity training is going to be slanted ~ and you know it’s coming. There has to be balance in the mix or it will be an unmitigated disaster. Are we going to be forced to kowtow to a complete gay “special status” agenda, or are they STILL going to be integrated into the Marine Corps as Marines? Can we PLEASE have an acknowledgement that communal showering with a butch haired, tattooed, bemuscled lesbian who outweighs me by 80 pounds and asks me to scrub her back because the new tattoo is scabby and itches makes me uncomfortable, and GODDAMN IT, THAT’S MY RIGHT, TOO?!?!?! (YES. True story. I begged off, got a towel and found her a “friend” to handle the loofa.)

When I was pregnant with Ebola, Kcruella threw me a delightful baby shower at our humble condo. After all the games, cake, etc., the eight or so of us ~ all Women Marines ~ were sitting around the table when someone kinda laughed and said, “Hey! You know what?”

We’re all, like, “What?”

“This is all the straight WM’s we know!”

We were all laughing then.

Star Light, Star Bright, Star of David

…out of sight.

Google Earth reveals Star of David on roof of Iran Air HQ

Did Israeli prankster architects sneak a Star of David onto the roof of the Teheran airport, or is the controversy in Iran over a Google Earth revelation much ado about nothing?

Regardless of whether it was happenstance or an act of architectural subterfuge, government officials in Iran were incensed this week when they discovered the outline of a Star of David atop the roof of the headquarters of Iran Air, Al- Arabiya reported on Monday.

Oh, I hope Imadinnerjacket’s fuzzy little head exploded when he heard.

How delicious.

(Swill Salute to The Daily Caller)

Another Sign Of The Coming Zombie Apocalypse

A 3.9 earthquake…off the Jersey Shore

Maybe one of Snookie’s underwires failed catastrophically…

Smart Power!

Man, it is so nice that the Professionals and Adults are in charge and keeping that Lame Duck Express rolling along

A food safety bill that has burned up precious days of the Senate’s lame-duck session appears headed back to the chamber because Democrats violated a constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions originate in the House.

By pre-empting the House’s tax-writing authority, Senate Democrats appear to have touched off a power struggle with members of their own party in the House.

…The debacle could prove to be a major embarrassment for Senate Democrats, who sought Tuesday to make the relatively unknown bill a major political issue by sending out numerous news releases trumpeting its passage.

Section 107 of the bill includes a set of fees that are classified as revenue raisers, which are technically taxes under the Constitution.

…This is not the first time that Reid has run afoul of the Constitution’s tax origination provisions. His efforts to pass a tourism promotion bill that was key to his re-election hopes was temporarily stymied earlier this year because the Senate passed a version with revenue raisers similar to those in the food safety bill.

The Constitution…gosh, it causes the Democratic Leadership just all sorts of problems, now doesn’t it?

Good, now get rid of this damned Bill that only increases government meddling, paperwork and employment.

This Is…Odd

And to think all these years I’ve been more concerned about the length of the Doctor’s fingers…

A man’s risk of prostate cancer can be gauged by looking at his hands, scientists have said.

Men whose index fingers are longer than their ring fingers are significantly less likely to develop the disease, according to a study.

It is thought less exposure to the sex hormone testosterone in the womb results in a longer index finger and may also protect against prostate cancer.

I wonder if there’s any research on the middle finger?