I received an email from one of my Senators, John Duncan this evening. He’s touting his sponsorship of a “point of order” on the proposed highway bill, which “called on Congress to face fiscal reality as it considers a two-year highway reauthorization bill.”

He says he’s “against the pending highway bill for violating spending restrictions”. Hey, sounds good. I’m against the feds spending money on highways too. He even wrote an Op-Ed in the Washington Post this week:

But, (as they say) let’s examine the record….

In 2005, this same John Duncan (as US Representative) not only voted FOR the highway re-authorization bill SAFETEA-LU (Safe Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users), he was a co-sponsor. At $286 billion it was the “largest public works bill in U.S. history.”

So according to Corker, it’s fine to sponsor and vote for a $286 billion highway bill under Budget Busting Bush, but the current $109 billion highway bill “spends more than we can afford”.

This is the kind of partisan stupidity that got us into the current debt crisis – and yes, I do consider it a crisis, and I’ve been saying it for years. This asshole voted for the moronic Bush policies that got us here, but now he suddenly found budgetary religion when it’s a moronic Obama policy.

Just like almost all of the others in congress, Senator Corker is a two-faced, lying, hypocritical asshole. He is pandering to his lemming base for personal political gain. Fire them all.

gk

Share

Santorum makes me want to throw up

So I’m reading the headlines this afternoon, and I see where Santorum is now saying that JFK’s speech (I’m quoting from the WSJ story) “makes me throw up”. For the record, Santorum is referring to a speech JFK made on Sept 12, 1960.

Just what did JFK say that made Santorum puke? Here it is:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute–where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote–where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference–and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish–where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source–where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials–and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

I don’t see a problem here – does anyone else? Seems to me that JFK said that no particular religion can dictate policy, and that the instant any religion does, it is an attack against all religions.

But it totally freaked out Santorum.  In response he said:

“To say that people of faith have no role in the public square — you bet that makes you throw up,” Mr. Santorum said. “What kind of country do we live in that says only people of nonfaith can come in the public square and make their case? That makes me throw up, and it should be make every American — you were seeing from a president someone who is now trying to tell people of faith that you will do what the government says; we are going to impose our values on you; not that you can’t come into the public square and argue against it, but now we’re going to turn around and say we’re going to impose our values from the government on people of faith which, of course, is the next logical step when people of faith — at least according to John Kennedy — have no role in the public square.”

Santorum also said: “I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country.”

WTF is this moron smoking? Is he with Gingrich where he thinks he can disregard court decisions that he doesn’t agree with? This asshole is in the lead for the Republican nomination for president?

Wow.

gk

 

Share

Buffett’s view on gold

I posted this last April, as I heard lot’s of people taking about a bubble in gold, and how gold “doesn’t provide a dividend” and how gold “doesn’t make a profit”.   After reading Warren Buffett’s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders today, I felt compelled to update the numbers, as Buffett dissed gold pretty bad.

Buffett talked a bit about the dysfunctional dollar (which I fully agree with him on) saying:  Even in the U.S., where the wish for a stable currency is strong, the dollar has fallen a staggering 86% in value since 1965, when I took over management of Berkshire. It takes no less than $7 today to buy what $1 did at that time. Consequently, a tax-free institution would have needed 4.3% interest annually from bond investments over that period to simply maintain its purchasing power.

After that, Buffett went on to give his opinion as to why gold sucked, saying:  Gold, however,has two significant shortcomings, being neither of much use nor procreative. True, gold has some industrial and decorative utility, but the demand for these purposes is both limited and incapable of soaking up new production. Meanwhile, if you own one ounce of gold for an eternity, you will still own one ounce at its end.

That’s exactly the point.  It won’t go anywhere, it won’t rust away, and no one can inflate the value of it away. It’s a store of value – although it’s done pretty damn well as an investment as well.

Buffett likes to use 1965 as his starting point, because that’s when he started Berkshire Hathaway. No problem with that, but the price of gold was fixed until 1971, so to compare gold to “investment x” starting in 1965 is giving “investment x” a 6 year head start.

Gold was worth $35/oz in 1938, it was worth $35/oz in 1965, and it was worth $35/oz in 1971. Then Nixon fucked us all by uncoupling the dollar from the gold standard.  So that’s the ONLY proper starting point for ANY discussion about gold prices or the appreciation of gold as an asset. Before 1971, by law, it could not change value – at least in the US.

So, as they say, let’s look at the record….

Here’s what I posted in April, 2011:

Just forty years ago in 1971, one ounce of gold would buy 35 US dollars.   Twenty years ago in 1991, one ounce of gold could be exchanged for 350 US dollars.   Today, that same ounce of gold will buy you more than 1500 US dollars.  $1508 to be exact.

From $35 to $1500 in forty years.  That’s what inflation does.   It’s easy to demonstrate that this is a monetary phenomenon, not simply a spike in the price of gold, because other commodities have also gone way up in price since Nixon removed us from the gold standard (then tried wage and price controls to “fix” the problem that he caused) – although other commodities didn’t increase to the same extent. A few examples:

1971 2011 % Change
Gold (oz) $35 $1,508 4308.57%
Silver (oz) $1.55 $47.25 3048.39%
Wheat (Bu) $1.34 $9.32 695.52%
Soybeans (Bu) $3.03 $13.82 456.11%
Copper (lb) $0.51 $4.37 856.86%
Aluminum (lb) $0.26 $1.19 457.69%
Oil (barrel) $3.60 $112.00 3111.11%
DJIA 890 12,505 1405.06%
S&P 500 94 1,337 1418.57%
Official CPI (US Dollar) $1.00 $5.52 552.00%
Money Supply (Billions) $684 $8,980 1313.37%

Those prices are from April, 2011. Here’s the same chart updated with Feb, 2012 price information:

1971 2/25/2012 % Change
Gold (oz) $35 $1,772 5062.86%
Silver (oz) $1.55 $35.35 2280.65%
Wheat (Bu) $1.34 $6.40 477.61%
Soybeans (Bu) $3.03 $12.51 412.87%
Copper (lb) $0.51 $3.83 750.98%
Aluminum (lb) $0.26 $1.02 392.31%
Oil (barrel) $3.60 $109.62 3045.00%
DJIA 890 12,982 1458.65%
S&P 500 94 1,365 1452.13%
Official CPI (US Dollar) $1.00 $5.60 560.00%
Money Supply (Billions, official M2 Fed numbers) $684 $9,766 1427.78%

As anyone can see, while the exact percentages have changed, the general trend continues. And even though silver has dropped over the past year, it still beats the DJIA and S&P500 since 1971. And absolutely nothing beats gold as a long term store of value.  Nothing.

Sorry Mr Buffett, I do not doubt your investing acumen,  your long term record in business is excellent, and I do not for a second doubt that people will still be buying Coca-Cola in 2112.  But just look at how much better your returns would have been if you wouldn’t have enriched all those brokers with your billions of dollars worth of transactions since 1971. You, and your investors – would be much richer today had you simply put everything into physical gold.

No, I am NOT suggesting that for anyone. Hell, I don’t have hardly any physical gold – but I wish I did. I’ve bought some silver over over the years, and I wish I had more, but facts are facts. Buffett is wrong on gold.

Gold could lose 50% of its’ current value and still be 1000% ahead of the stock market (total return) since 1971.

Got gold?

gk

Share

Worst. President. Ever.

Just a quick Worst. President. Ever. update. Today we’re looking at the debt competition category.  (All data is from http://www.savingsbonds.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np)

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

Share

Knology Pricing

Transcript of a chat session I had with Knology while trying to find out the actual price after I received a very enticing offer in the mail today.  This isn’t funny, or in anyway unique – I just thought it offered some insight into the way these cable companies think we’re stupid.

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.

Share

Batshit Bachmann drops out

Dammit!  Michelle Bachmann dropped out of the race today.  She was so easy to make fun of, just had to read the speeches that day to get new batshit material. Oh well, the whacko side of the Republican party is still well represented with Perry, Gingrich, and Santorum. I’d add Mitt to the list, but I haven’t checked his website yet today to see where here stands on the issues.

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

Share

Flip Flop Mitt

I ran across a free app in the Android market called Flip-Flop Mitt.  I was actually looking for some documentation on his hold-my-finger-in-the-air-and-see-what-my-position-should-be-today policies when I saw it.  Not bad, but it asks the same 8 questions each time you play.

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

Share

NCAA BowlShit

Flipping through the channels to see what awesome NCAA football matchup the bowl gods have for us on New Years Eve. Two 6-6 teams (Texas A&M and Northwestern) are playing in the “Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas”. WTF?

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

Share

Protester of the Year

It would take me many pages to chronicle my thoughts on this – almost as many pages as TIME took to explain their choice. Suffice it to say that I think there’s a huge difference between the Arab Spring protests and the “I want free shit and I want it now” protests in the US.

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

Share

Occupy NPR

I listen to NPR daily (nothing else but inane college football talk on the radio here) as I drive to and from work.  This morning I heard this bit of garbage from NPR presented as news:

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

Share