Thursday, June 30, 2011

Amazon Says Goodbye to California

The news today is filled with reports of California telling Amazon that they are going to charge taxes on their California affiliates, justifying their taxing of internet retailers by saying they have an unfair advantage over brick and mortar retailers because they are not being taxed. I can't speak for everyone, but there is a great used bookstore down the street. Problem is the selection is nowhere near as good as Amazon's. But their prices are better than Amazon's because the shipping costs are pretty significant. Amazon's pricing isn't competitive, their selection is the reason I go there.

Amazon ends deal with 25,000 California websites

Amazon to California: Read My Lips, No Online Sales Tax

The Obama Hypocrisy

A nice post on
National Review"

"He criticizes a corporate jet tax break which was extended by a Democrat-controlled House and Senate and which he himself signed into law; he posits "fear-mongering" and "scare tactics" on the part of the Republicans - then goes on to say that if taxes are not raised, "children will not get medical care, young people will not get to go to college, and older Americans will lose their benefits"; he calls for leadership from Republicans, who are "acting like children" and "do not understand the seriousness of the situation" - this from the most uninvolved, poorly informed, unhelpful and demagogic President ever - right before he heads out for another round of golf. Or was it another fund-raiser, I forget.

The best might have been when the Vacationer-in-Chief called for the Congress to forego their Independence Day break to stay and work on a deal. I imagine he and the family will flit out to the Bahamas or Disney World on their big "corporate jet" to get out of their way so that Congress can work!

What a lying, hypocritical, partisan hack we have in the White House! Next vacation, Mr. President, just stay there. Keep the jet, our compliments; it's a small price to pay to have you gone"

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Fanniegate and Reckless Endangerment

Walter Mead spells out what the Mainstream media doesn't want you to know here:

Fanniegate: Gamechanger For The GOP?

And the book that tells the story of breathtaking government incompetence:



And here we have the Paul Krugman admiration society on the crisis:

How Did Paul Krugman Get It So Wrong? (Nobel Laureate Missed the Fannie and Freddie Debacle)

How did Krugman get it so wrong?

How did Paul Krugman get it so Wrong?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Wikipedia removes Thomas James Ball Entry

Wikipedia proves their left-tilt with the deletion of the Thomas Ball article. Thomas Ball was a father who claimed he was wronged in family court. He killed himself by self-immolation on the steps of a courthouse. This tragic story is made even worse by Wikipedia deleting the entry. The Wikipedia entry claims it isn't. Wikipedia-worthy

Of course, if he was gay then it would be:

Suicide of Tyler Clementi

Pretty good proof of Wikipedia's bias. More on Thomas James Ball:

Thomas Ball

The deleted entry

Good thing they can't control everything. Ain't democracy a bitch Wikipedia?

Monday, June 27, 2011

Hawaii Medical Center files for 2nd Bankruptcy

The Honolulu Star Advertiser has reported that the Hawaii Medical Center has filed for a second bankruptcy in two years. The reason:

Reductions in Medicare payments and a large amount of Medicare patients

That's right. An aging population and government healthcare drove the hospital to bankruptcy. But the Democrats are screaming very shrill little girl screams when any changes to Medicare or Social Security are attempted. Because of these huge obligations it is probably too late to do anything about the default or hyperinflation of the US Government as the interest builds up. The real question is when? When it happens it will be lightning fast, probably even too fast for the Feds to print money. And what is the worst situation: Hyperinflation or default? The country will survive, we've survived a civil war, attacks, depression, and a lot of other disasters. Hell, the Brits burnt down the White House in 1812. But a lot of the people that are depending on the Govt to take care of them are in for some rough times. And protesting is not gonna help a whole lot.

HMC files for second bankruptcy

Friday, June 24, 2011

Hanauma bay bureaucracy

We made the mistake of going snorkeling in Hanauma Bay Oahu, which used to be a laid back place and fun to go to in the 80s. unfortunately the county government idiots that run this place have turned it into a bureaucratic nightmare. It looks like even the sea turtles have abandoned it. They say they are trying to bring it back after years of neglect...if so, fine. Close it down then. But now they try to indoctrinate you with forcing you to watch a film on what not to do in the bay, without enforcing any of the rules...pretty much like gun control. Worthless. We watched a bunch of fat worthless government employees sit around the parking lot and beach while being hijacked of cash twice, once for the fare to the bay and once when we got there for the entrance fee. Cancun had better lagoons with restaurants and bars and cleanup crews...commercial folks that actually worked for a living. It cost more to go to the Lagoons in Cancun, but it was all inclusive and a much more enjoyable experience.

These fees aren't going to stop Oahu from raising their own residents taxes sky-high

Oahu taxes going up

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Roadwork in Waikiki

We were walking in Waikiki yesterday and I noticed some unusual road construction going on. It's unusual because the roads looked brand new, yet they were being repaved. So I started asking the locals why the streets were being repaved, when they were brand new. The number one response was that there must be a gas leak or something. A cop I asked had the same opinion, that it was a waste of taxpayer money for one of Obama's "Shovel ready projects."
Worse yet, the North Shore of Oahu's roads are falling apart. Why aren't they being repaired? It just doesn't make any sense. And the contractors are breaking water mains, tying up traffic, and causing a mess.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Can Obama Reassemble his coalition?

Why would you want to? Seriously, at this point he should be consulting an economic version of Patraeus on a new strategy. But then he would have to admit he's wrong, about a lot of things. And that's not gonna happen.
Can Obama Reassemble his coalition?

Army Unit Commanders Inflating Their Readiness Numbers

I'm seeing a disturbing trend where US Army unit commanders are obviously inflating their equipment readiness numbers. For example, a unit commander who owns 200 armored vehicles is saying only one of them is down. Seriously? This has to be the awesomest unit in the history of warfare. This kind of BS can not be happening without some kind of implicit agreement or even pressure from the brass to inflate the numbers. Somebody needs to go through these units and the Generals that are pressuring/overlooking the BS numbers and clean house. The only reason the media hasn't gone off on this is that they are batting for Obama and any embarrassment for the military is an embarrassment for him.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Contracting Officer Hall of Shame

A Wall Street Journal detailing the investigation of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction:

The Hunt for Weapons of Mass Corruption

And some morally challenged recipients for the IG's awards:

Lt. Col. Derrick Shoemake:

Two counts of bribery related to the awarding of bottled-water contracts.

Maj Gloria Davis:


225k in bribes, Killed herself:
Long Path to Courtroom for War Contractor Accused of Bribery

I guess we're calling disgraced contracting officers heroes and burying them with medal of honor winners in Arlington

Maj Mark Fuller, 22 counts of bribery:


And assaulting a trout.


Maj. John Cockerham:

Army Major, Family Nabbed In Bribe Scandal


9.6 million in bribes, and looking like someone shoved a porcupine up his yang.

Maj Eddie Pressley:


22 Counts of bribery and wearing a coat that's too small with a stupid looking hat

Promises, promises

Obama: My family would be fine with just 1 term

A picture of one word that says 1000

Monday, June 13, 2011

Matt Damon, America-Hater or Conservative Plant?

I was watching Saving Private Ryan on TV the other night, and was repulsed yet again when I saw Matt Damon playing a brave American soldier in France in WWII. Cause we have seen so many Hollywood Gerbil Racers actually become brave servicemen lately.

And this morning I came across a reference to Green Zone, a blatantly ant-war movie that bombed horribly, starring Damon. And I started thinking. What if Damon were really a Republican plant? What if his plan was to integrate himself with the Hollywood socialist elites, then waste huge amounts of their money in anti-American flops like Green Zone? It's worked great for the Republicans so far. I don't think any other strategy in Hollywood would have wasted so much of their money and ruined any remaining good will from the American people.

Then I thought...nahhh. He's not that smart. But maybe trading places with an artist in Cuba for a few years would fix him. Then there are always those who can't admit their mistakes and end up living a life in squalor parroting the party line so they don't have to admit how screwed up they are.

I think this movie says it all about Damon, and the Film Actors Guild:

Thursday, June 9, 2011

America and Humility

Dana Milbank writes about Hubris and Humility on Tour:

Hubris and humility: Sarah Palin and Robert Gates on tour

Milbank does give some credit to the former administration, but under the surface its mostly about:

Current Democratic administration = humble

Current Republicans = hubris

I have to hand it to Mr. Milbank, Obama has plenty to be humble about. Much more of this humbling and Milbank will be living in a third world country along with the rest of us. That's pretty humbling.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

A study of Cuba and Food

Yoani wrote a few years ago on her Generation Y blog about a study showing that the Cubans in the 90s got healthier when the Soviet Union collapsed and they had to eat more vegetables. Here's Yoani's post:

Happy hearts

Yoani tells a different story. A story of suicide and starvation and don't ask where this came from. Apparently the Guardian didn't get the story either:

Economic crisis boost to health of Cubans

Maybe the Canadian person that came up with this thesis:

Organic status and dietary role of organoponicos
in Cienfuegos, Cuba


And that English reporter for the Guardian need to go live under those conditions for a while. Then they can tell us how great it is.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Generation Y and Huffington Post

I was exposed to Yoani Sánchez's Blog a while back which is quite humbling because her translator's English and her writing abilities exceed mine by several orders of magnitude. An interesting thing about Yoani's blog is that is is an explicit critique of Communism, yet the leftist Huffington post and Time Magazine endorse her blog. How do they rationalize their love of Socialism and the bitter realities exposed in Generation Y?
So I looked at some of the comments to Yoani's blog entries on the Puffington Host and they were not all socialists. A lot were, and blame Cuba's woes on the US blockade. Of course, it's the Americans fault! The blockade is the cause of their woes, not their screwed up politics. This is the thinking of my father and his college friends, all of whom are socialists also. If the socialist system isn't functioning better than the capitalist system, its because it wasn't implemented correctly, or America destroyed it by abusing our economic power. This is the problem with this class of people, who as a group have never prospered. Sure, there is the occasional odd ball that makes it but for the most part they remain entrenched in mediocrity. Why is this? After observing them up close for years, the best reason I can come up with is that they are incapable of learning from their mistakes. In life and in politics. And they keep making the same mistakes. Over and over again.



Generation Y Blog

Friday, June 3, 2011

The Washington dance

Arrayed against us, the contractors that do the actual work of the government, is an army of lazy overpaid employees that waste huge amounts of time. Yes, I'm talking about the Federal Government employee. Impossible to fire, and impossible to get them to do anything. I will translate a recent email I got from one:

"Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, we have a lot of emergencies at the Pentagon."

Translation: I'm a very important person at the Pentagon, you are a slimy contractor and not worth his lordship's valuable time.

The reality: The person in question does not work in the Pentagon, but a building that supports the Pentagon in the very important duties of buying toilet paper and sending out newsletters to people that are retired. It's the DOD equivalent of putting your crazy aunt Martha in the closet.

"We've reviewed your request for access and have a few questions for you:"

Translation: I have nothing better to do, and absolutely will not do my job unless my boss makes me do it. So I will ask a bunch of nonsensical questions so I can make up an excuse to not to do my job because you didn't answer my gibberish correctly.

The reality: This person has to continually prove to themselves that they are important by making others jump through bullshit hoops only to deny them the one thing that they have control over. Except they really don't have control because as soon as their boss finds out they are being obstinate he's going to make them do their job anyway.

So I'm sure that we will have to go to their boss and get the request done. All in a days work!