Total debt, last day before Bush’s first budget, 9/30/2001 – $5,807,463,412,200.06
Total debt, last day before Obama’s first budget, 9/30/2009 – $11,909,829,003,511.70

Total debt as of yesterday evening, 1/17/2011 – $15,236,288,061,558.65
Bush total debt increase – $6,102,365,591,311.64 (105% increase in 8 years)
Obama debt increase – $3,326,459,058,046.90 (28% increase in 2 1/2 years)

Don’t get me wrong, Obama is increasing debt at a faster initial rate than Bush did in his first 3 years (Bush was at 27% after 3 full years on 9/30/2004), so Obama is closing in fast, but the numbers don’t lie. Bush is still the all time budget busting champ. Worst. President. Ever.

gk

They ended up offering me faster Internet service, but much worse TV service, for about the same I pay now. From a $79/month with “free “Digital preferred plus, HD Equipment, and Internet Speed Upgrade – 30mbps” with unlimited long distance to about $140 to $150 per month, while losing existing functionality.  Yet somehow this isn’t bait and switch.

WTF are they smoking? Just tell me the god damn price for what I want, and we’ll all be happy!  Instead, I had to suffer through this conversation.  And you can too if you are extremely bored.  (I edited a couple of typos and a few comments out of this, but the meaning and intent of the conversation is unaltered.)

info: Please wait for a Knology sales consultant to respond.
info: You are now chatting with ‘David’
David: Thank you for chatting at Knology!
David: How may I help you today?
Gary: Received a mailer for a $79/month bundle, with free upgrade to “digital preferred plus” HD and 30mbs internet.
Gary: don’t need a phone, but interested in internet and tv
Gary: currently have ATT Uverse, and would like the faster interenet
David: I’ll be glad to talk to you about our services; may I have your address to see if we are available in your area?
Gary: xxxx, xxxxxxx Drive, Knoxville TN
David: Thanks! I will check  your address Gary
Gary: the knology web site hangs when I click on “Internet Edge Plus” to see what the price is, so I figured I’d ask you.
David: Oh ok. May I ask you a few questions to get the right setup for you?
Gary: sure
David: How many TV’s do you need setup?
Gary: 3
David: How many are HD?
Gary: 1 HD, 2 standard
David: Do you want the HD channels for that 1TV?
Gary: yes
David: Any DVR’s?
Gary: yes – currently have U-Verse, where the 1 DVR works for all TV’s. If yours is different, price it so that I can watch the recorded shows on any TV.
David: So 3 DVR’s?
David: We don’t offer the any room DVR at this time
Gary: ???? umm… geesh, thought everyone had that by now. no, 2 DVR’s if you can’t do all.
Gary: 1 HD, 1 standard def
David: Ok
David: Any specific channels you need on your lineup for sure?
Gary: not really, I watch lots of history, H2, military, discovery, science, etc, and the kids do all the disney, nick, abc family. something equivilent to a normal 200 channel package on U-Verse or Direct TV.
David: Any movie channels like HBO, Showtime etc.?
Gary: no
Gary: netflix handles that.
David: How many computers are you running at the house?
Gary: 1 connected hardwire
Gary: multiple laptops, smartphones, ipods, etc, but I’ll do those via wireless
David: Do you own a cable modem?
David: What will you be using the internet for in the house?
Gary: no cable modem, but I can buy one if it makes sense to. I surf, publish pics to Flickr, use netflix, etc. online backups.
David: Do you have a wireless router?
Gary: yes
David: I can rent the modem for $5 to start your service. They run around $90-100 if you buy one locally
Gary: I know. I’m just trying to find out how much the internet service will cost. If it makes sense to add TV, I’ll do it. But I figured for a $79 bundle with no contract, free upgrade to (whatever “digital preferred plus” is, and a free upgrade to 30mbs internet, I thought I’d ask. Still waiting for a price.
Gary: I’m paying $55/month for 18mbs/down, 1.5mbs up service now. can you beat it or not?
David: So just to make sure I have everything correct. You looking for 1HD box  2DVR’s boxes , watching history, H2 military and the kids watch disney, nick etc. no movie channels
Gary: In other words, how much is “Edge Plus”?  the web site doesn’t say
Gary: yes
David: The internet you want my high speed internet with modem rental for pictures, flickr, online backups etc.
Gary: yes. Edge Plus or whatever. The fastest you have. that’s the only reason I’m here, as I’m satisfied with my TV service
David: I will put together the pricing one moment please.
David: I can offer you my Digital preferred cable with, 200 channels including Encore movie channels, ,  pay per view, free on demand,1 free HD digital box, 2DVR’s  and my EDGE plus High speed internet( speeds up to 30 mbps download for $122.80 for  12months plus fees and taxes.  If you don’t own your modem you can rent from me for $5 more per month. I’m sure this make sense for you correct?
Gary: I don’t need Encore, is there a difference if I drop that?
David: It’s included so the same pricing
Gary: OK, can you send a channel lineup for the digital preferred?
David: One moment
Gary: give me a sec while I pull out my uverse bill… want to make sure I’m not missing anything
David: http://www.knology.com/page/cable_tv/view/channel_lineup
David: Sure
David: I just sent the page with the channel lineup
Gary: thanks, hold on please while I check it out.
David: Take your time
Gary: I want to make sure I understand. Does this (the $122) include the basic, expanded basic, digital preferred, HDTV channels (on the one HD TV), and digital music channels I see on that link?
David: Yes it does
David: The modem rental is $5 more just so you know
Gary: Hmm… cool… how much extra is it for NFL Redzone? Gotta have that for my fantasy teams. (It’s included in my current HD package)
Gary: understood about the modem. thanks
David: It’s $6.95 for the redzone you also get the additional sports channel
David: When would like to be installed?
Gary: so the $6.95 is the cost for the “Sports Pak”? No way to get just the Redzone channel? (I don’t care a bit about the other channels in that package.)
David: Sorry it’s all inclusive for $6.95
Gary: Thanks, so that would bring it to about $130 before taxes. My current Uverse taxes are $13.41, so would you’s be about the same? I’m flexible on installation date as I’m not in any hurry. Mainly looking for the internet speed upgrade.
David: Now we do process a credit check to see if any deposit will be required…Is that ok?
Gary: yes, that won’t be a problem.
David: I will need your first and last name, date of birth, social security number. And 2 good contact phone numbers.
Gary: but I don’t know if I want to do this yet. We’ve jumped up a LOT from the $79/month bundle that included phone service (which I do not want) with free upgrade to digital preferred plus, HD, and 30mbs internet offer that’s in the mailer. All I’ve added is a a 2nd DVR (because you can’t do whole house with one like Uverse and Direct TV). Would it be cheaper if I included a phone?
Gary: At $145/month ($150 with cable modem rental) That’s what I pay now for Uverse
David: I actually quoted 2 DVR’s for you so I have the $79 dig pref/ high speed internet + $16.90 ( 1st DVR ) + $16.90 ( 2nd DVR) + $10 EDGE plus internet + $5 modem rental + $6.95  redzone + $134.75 plus taxes and fees
David: I can add the phone for the same pricing you would have around $10-12 additional taxes and fees for the phone
Gary: no, definitely don’t want the phone.
David: Oh ok. Did you want both DVR’s?
David: You do get 1 free HD box as well with the quote above
Gary: I can currently watch any recorded show on any TV, so I’d actually need 3 DVR’s to get the same service I have today. But I only “need” 2 – one for me and my wife, one for the kids room. Question: Why is it +$10 for edge plus when it says “Free Upgrades” “Internet speed upgrade – 30mbps”?
Gary: Does the “free HD box” include DVR? Or is that just to receive the HD channels?
David: Sorry your right  the Edge is included for the free 12months
David: Let me revised your quote.
Gary: Thanks.
David: $79 dig pref/ EDGE plus high speed internet + $16.90 ( 1st DVR ) + $16.90 ( 2nd DVR) +  $5 modem rental + $6.95 redzone + $124.75 plus taxes and fees
Gary: 124.75/month plus about $15 fees and taxes would be around $140/month. Plus I lose a DVR.
David: Yes!  plus you get much faster internet up 30mbps
Gary: True, and that’s very enticing, but the Internet speed increase is the only plus. Sorry David, I don’t see any gain here. If you could price it less than what I currently have, it would be worth it, but no sense in losing existing functionality for a slight speed increase at the same price.
Gary: Thank you! I appreciate your time.
David: The only way would be to give up a DVR
Gary: I know.
David: Let me know if you change your mind
David: My direct line is 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx
Gary: right now 1 DVR is used for all TV’s, and it’s great to record a show and be able to watch from any TV.
Gary: Thanks, I’ll call you if I can figure out a way to make it work.. Really like the speed part, not so much on the TV.
David: I have your chat saved so you don’t have to start all over
David: I’m here from 10am to 7pm.. Tuesday – Saturday
Gary: Thanks, have a good evening.

As long as the Republicans control at least one house of Congress, and Obama is in the White House, none of these assholes can pass their flavor of BS. So we have gridlock. Which is exactly what I want. The worst possible thing for the country is when a single party controls both congress and the Presidency.

Clinton had it for only 2 years before people saw how screwed up that was and voted Republicans into the house and senate for his last 6 years – the resulting gridlock gave us our only balanced budgets since the 60′s. Dubya had his lackeys in control for 4 of 8 years and totally screwed us with his spending and totalitarian security paranoia.  By 2006 we’d had enough and voted the Dems back in control in Congress – but since dumbass Dubya never met a spending bill he didn’t like, the deficit actually increased his last two years.

Obama’s first two years are (in my opinion) a lot like Clinton’s first two years. His party had total control and he overreached with trying to implement their spending BS to buy votes from their constituency. ObamaCare is a great example.  So in 2010 we voted a bunch of Democrats out.  Hopefully now the Republicans will now block some of the spending – just like with Clinton after 95.

That’s the ONLY way we’ve had success in reducing the rate of growth (I almost said “cutting spending”, but since that’s never happened in my lifetime, that would be a lie) of spending is with a Republican congress blocking almost everything a Democratic president wants to do. The other way (Republican President and Dem Congress) was a total disaster with Dubya spending our money like a drunken sailor with a fresh credit card.

Gridlock is good!

gk

Anyway, I found a few sites that document a few of Mitt Romney’s many flip flops.  Enjoy!

http://mittromneyflipflops.com/index.html?p=1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/22/mitt-romney-iraq-war-position_n_1164384.html

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/12/romney-now-favors-payroll-tax-cut-extension.html

And a few cartoons for you to enjoy.  Enjoy!

gk

It should be called the “Mediocre Bowl” or the “If We Had A Real Championship Tournament These Sucky Teams Would Be Sitting On Their Ass At Home Watching It Bowl”.

I’ll admit the “IWHARCTTSTWBSOTAAH Bowl” isn’t a very catchy name, but it’s appropriate for this game….

Holy crap….   I just looked at the schedule and the “Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl” is coming on next, with a 6-6 team (Illinois) playing a team with a losing record, UCLA at 6-7. Seriously, how do crappy teams like this get a New Years Eve bowl game? Should be on April Fools day.

I just heard that BOTH UCLA and Illinois fired their coaches after the atrocious seasons they had, so BOTH teams have interim coaches.  You heard me right:  Both teams sucked so bad during the season that they fired their coaches, yet somehow they are appearing in New Years Eve bowl games.  I think my “WTF Meter” just blew a fuse.

Try another channel you say? Sure!  So I flip to the “2011 Autozone Liberty Bowl” which features the superpower SEC Conference Vanderbilt Commodores (with an outstanding 6-6 record) against the Big East and Cincinnati at 9-3.  Finally, a goddamn bowl game with at least ONE team with a winning record!

And this is all leading up to Dullapolooza II, Snoozefest II, “Can I buy a Field Goal II”,  ESS EEE SEE Replay, or whatever you what to call the LSU/Alabama no offense, can’t score, how the fuck is this considered a championship game, bowl game.

I call Bowl Shit.

When will the NCAA/corporate bowl gods trash this absolute stupidity of a “championship” and do a real championship tournament. Think about the excitement and TV ratings and millions of dollars if they had a 16 team playoff tournament starting mid-December and ending with a REAL championship game the day before – or even earlier in the day of – the Super Bowl.

Oh well, that would make too much sense, so it won’t happen.  Dumbasses.

gk

However there is a common theme and I can understand the choice: I agree that people around the world are sensing that the old/traditional way of doing things isn’t working, but (for the most part) the protests are calling for more of what has already failed – they (I’m again generalizing) want more government involvement, they don’t understand that government involvement is precisely what has caused all the inequalities they are protesting.

People in Spain, Italy, Greece, Ireland – and even France and Germany – can protest all they want, but the Euro – along with their standard of living – is going down. The big success of the Euro is in demonstrating that when a country cannot manipulate the currency, deficit spending cannot continue. The government is denied the ability to devalue the currency/inflate their way out (temporarily) of debt. ALL inflations and experiments with fiat currencies end this way. As do their governments.

Ours will not be an exception. Attempts to placate the “I want free shit and I want it now” crowds will simply hasten the day “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Person of the Year Introduction – Person of the Year 2011 – TIME

gk

LATOYA DENNIS, BYLINE: Just down the road from the state capitol building in Madison, Christina Long is living in a three bedroom duplex.

CHRISTINA LONG: This is the kitchen. It’s nice and neat. Stove, table, refrigerator, dishwasher.

DENNIS: Long has lived here for the past three months. She’s furnished the living room with a couch, a console TV set that looks like it’s from the ’70s, and a storage cabinet. She says there’s nothing like having your own home. But there’s just one catch: It’s not her home and she’s not renting it either.

LONG: It’s illegal, but at the same time it’s reasonable to me. I mean, you know, is it really illegal to have somewhere to stay? To me, socially(ph) , no, it’s fair.

DENNIS: Long is a single mother of three from Chicago, and she argues that housing should be a human right.

LONG: Everyone deserves somewhere to live. Everyone deserves their own peace of mind. Everybody deserves to be comfortable.

How is this human waste of space named Christina Long not in jail?  She’s been publicly outed as illegally squatting in a house, and yet she seems almost proud of it.  Listen to the audio.

NPR audio

Hello!  I have a question for Latoya Dennis and Christina Long…. If “housing should be a human right” and “Everyone deserves somewhere to live” and Everybody deserves to be comfortable” WHO THE FUCK PAYS FOR IT????

I want a free house and evidently I “deserve to be comfortable” too.   “Everybody” does according to Christina Long.  So where does the money come from to pay for all our free houses?  Who builds the houses? Who cuts down the trees to build them? Who drives the trucks to transport the lumber? Who explores for the oil, drills for the oil, refines the oil into gas and diesel so the trucks can deliver the lumber, etc etc, etc?

I suppose you want free healthcare too.  And you can’t “be comfortable” without food, so farmers and transport companies and grocery stores – and probably restaurants – all need to cater to you as well.

What’s that? Some people have to work to provide for the stuff you want?   Who pays them if you can’t be bothered to pay for the shit you take from them?  Somebody?  Maybe “the government?”  Hey Christina, has it ever occurred to you that – even though you can’t be bothered to support yourself and your out-of-wedlock-kids-you-can’t-afford-to-house – others have to work and pay taxes to support you and the decisions you’ve made?

That’s what I thought.  Christina Long is a waste of space who wants me – and every other working person – to be her slave because she has a desire “to be comfortable.”  Fuck you Christina.  We outlawed slavery back in the 1860′s. But you evidently think it should be reinstated as long as you benefit from it.

Ok, deep breath…..

So I’m thinking Latoya Dennis created a stupid little story that made it to Morning Edition.  Big deal.  NPR has crap like this all the time.  Now I know that NPR presents a leftist worldview, but they usually at least make an attempt at balance, but the only thing even close to providing a balanced view here is a quote from a realtor, explaining that they can’t  show or sell a house  if a squatter is living there.  And that squatters break shit and don’t do repairs.

Again, I heard the story this morning and basically brushed it off.  So on my way home tonight I hear this story about “The People’s Mic”.  And how they’re now using “mic check” to disrupt and shut down those they disagree with, such as Bachmann and Gingrich.  I’m no fan of either of them, but that doesn’t mean I think they should be prevented from speaking at their own events.  “Batshit”  Bachmann has nothing on these anti-democracy assholes.

As the hucksters say on TV, “But wait, there’s more!”

Just before the “Mic Check” story, there’s a fluff piece about the “founder” of the Occupy movement, some Canadian named Kalle Lasn.  The NPR summary of the story is here.

Adbusters Co-Founder Discusses OWS

Anyway, you need to take the time to listen to the story, as Kalle talks about how he now wants people to occupy board meetings, banks, and universities.  He goes on to tie in lots of leftist ideas, such as the “human experiment on planet earth”,  global warming tipping point, social unrest worse than the 60′s, etc. And to assert (I’m paraphrasing here because I don’t remember the exact quote) “unlike the Tea Party, this movement will last because….”

Not sure WTF this dude has been smoking, but I maybe they didn’t report the 2010 mid term elections in Canada. And I think the 2012 elections will be an even bigger refutation of leftist, big government policies. (Note that I don’t think a damn thing in DC will change, as the politicians all say one thing but vote for bread and circuses anyway.  But they’ll all talk small government.)

Once again, the NPR story had no attempt at balance, no attempt to discuss alternatives, just a bunch of crap presented as fact.

I listen to NPR daily – except during their pledge drives, that crap is unbearable – and this was one of the worst days I’ve ever heard. Besides, I had a headache this afternoon and listening to the promote OWS shit that NPR thought was broadcast worthy today pissed me off.  So I had to vent.

gk

But the movement has morphed into a “they got free shit – give me free shit too!” protest. They want their student loan debt forgiven. They want the banks to forgive mortgage debt. Give foreclosed homes to them. Free health care. Credit card debt forgiveness. $1 trillion to plant trees. Ban nuclear power. Ban carbon based (fossil) fuels. Ban credit reporting companies. Free college educations for everyone. Guaranteed “living wage” for everyone – regardless of if they work or not. Ban private contribution (so much for the 1st amendment) and provide free (public) financing for all political campaigns. Ban public employees from receiving any special benefit (I’m for that one!) except they specifically exempt “generous healthcare benefits and pensions”. ALL citizens should pay taxes (hey, another one I agree with because 49% of the people don’t currently pay income taxes!) Eliminate Medicare because it’ll be redundant once they make healthcare free for everyone. Give the EPA power to shut down (or jail) corporations and individuals they deem harmful. End outsourcing by corporations. Pay teachers more while making education free. Oh, and end all war.

And no, I’m not making any of this up. Here’s a partial list: http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/occupy-wallstreet-list-of-demands
Here’s more (scroll down to get to the demands):
https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration/

At this point they are (in my opinion) simply wannabe hippies. Peace, love, and lots of free shit so no one has to work. They are too stupid to understand that someone has to work to pay for their “I want free shit and I want it now!” demands.

David Sturdivant has lost his liberty, a kidney, his home, his business and all his belongings.

“He was under the mistaken belief it would be OK to shoot at an intruder,” senior assistant district attorney Jason Park said in court.

Stupid fucking cops and DA have zero common sense.  If there’s no right to protect your property, there’s no right to property, and if there’s no right to property, you cannot have capitalism.  Of course, I have not ruled out the fact that that may be exactly what they are trying to do, but they still suck.

Police officers nearby with a crew filming the truTV reality television program Bait Car heard the shot — the only one Sturdivant fired — and responded to the corner of Bolton Road and Collier Drive to find a naked and armed Sturdivant.

Too busy filming a reality show for their 15 minutes of fame instead of patrolling streets and protecting citizens.  They’d rather shoot people who are attempting to do the cops job while the cops are being pretty for the camera.  Fire them.

And I hope “Senior Assistant District Attorney Jason Park” gets the same done to him. Go to jail asshole. Incompetence at that level is way above and beyond the normal moron level of police work – even for a lawyer.  You don’t deserve a public salary. Perhaps your brothers in stupidity in the jail can show you how to behave.

gk

I have found a good use for the Gator blade.  It turns out that it has just enough lift to work with the bagger on the Snapper, so you can chop leaves up a bit before bagging them.  You can bag much better by using the standard high lift Snapper blade, but the leaves are not cut up, so they take up more room in the bag and they don’t decompose very rapidly.

To use the Gator blade to mulch and bag leaves, it works best if you:

1. Install the Gator mulching blade.
2. Install the mulching cover on the Snapper.
3. Drive over the leaves to chop them up.
4. Remove the mulching cover on the mower.
5. Install the bagger.
6. Drive over the mulched up leaves and bag them.

This sounds like much more work than it is, because it takes only a minute or two – and no tools – to install/remove the mulching cover or install/remove the bagger.

So the first pass (with the mulching cover in place) chops up the leaves, condensing the bulky leaves by a considerable amount.  The second pass picks them up and bags them.

Now simply dump the chopped and bagged leaves into the compost bin – or into plastic garbage bags if the compost bin is full – to store them in much less space than if you had used the normal high lift blade for bagging.  Plus the leaves have been finely chopped, so they decompose much faster and don’t take up nearly as much space.

So the Gator mulching blade does have a place – as long as you don’t try to use it to cut grass.

gk