Armeggedon It - Redux

I wrote the following post 54 weeks ago.  Funny how history keeps repeating itself, isn't it?

"Funny", as it is used here does not mean "Funny" in a good way... 

First, an excellent Rock Video by Def Leppard asking the Moo-sical Question: 

"Are you gettin' it? Armageddon it?" 

Yeah, I'm A-Gettin-It.

Next, let me ask you this:

Q.: Who doesn't get it?
 
A.: President Obama.
 
Here we find the President of the United States mocking over 50% of Americans who did not WANT the Health Care Reform Bill Congress was selling.


Okay, so someone reading this is shaking their head saying, "Oh, but he was only 'mocking' Republicans, right? That's NOT a big deal, stuff like this has been going on FOREVER..."

No. When is the last time you recall this level of Partisanship co-mingled this level Arrogance from a President of the United States? Isn't he supposed to represent ALL Americans, not just the HIS guys and gals on the Left?

Ah, but we have plowed this ground before and it is not the focus of today's post.

I wanted to spend a moment or two to look at the events which have transpired SINCE President Obama told us that HE didn't see "Armeggedon" following the passage of Health Care Legislation.

So how have we fared since Health Care Reform was passed on March 21st, 2010?

Let's take a look back, shall we???

March 21, 2010 Iceland's Volcano goes 'Poof'




BP Rig goes 'Poof' April 20, 2010 for 'Earth Day'




"Goo" Heads for U.S. Coastlines, April 29th, 2010



Nashville Floods, May 2010




Dow Slides Amid Global Economic Fears (2008 - 2010)



I wonder WHAT ELSE President Obama doesn't see? 

Perhaps we should ask him because now, I'm worried.

Ar·ma·ged·don

   /ˌɑrməˈgɛdn/ Show Spelled[ahr-muh-ged-n] –noun

1. the place where the final battle will be fought between the forces of good and evil (probably so called in reference to the battlefield of Megiddo. Rev. 16:16).

2. the last and completely destructive battle: The arms race can lead to Armageddon.

3. any great and crucial conflict.

President Obama, I see great and crucial conflicts arising daily. Maybe you do not because your economic and social policies are causing many of them. And when you ignore the wishes of more than 50% of Americans, might I fairly assume that one side could be considered 'Good' and the other side, if not 'Evil', well, be considered at best, 'Wrong'?

I guess the sides of Good and Evil are in the eyes of the beholder. It is for history to decide who is right and who is wrong.

For now, however, I have chosen the side which I will stand with.

See you on the other side President Obama!

Fundamental Change is leaving - November 2nd, 2010

Dig it.

BONUS!  2011 Update!!!  (You should really quit now, it doesn't get any better)

Violent thunderstorms kill 9 in Okla., Kan., Ark. May 25, 2011

Floodwaters in South falling, but misery remains  May 25, 2011

By the Numbers: 2011 tornado season  May 24, 2011

Iceland volcano eruption: President Obama cuts short Ireland visit  May 23, 2011


Mississippi River flooding: After levee blast, threat shifts to Memphis  May 3, 2011

Japan's nuclear meltdown: Is it another Chernobyl?  March 15, 2011

Massive Tsunami Devastates Japan; Waves Hit Hawaii  March 11, 2011

There is GOOD News, however!!!

No Asteroids have been spotted (as yet)...  

And,

I just saved 15% on my car insurance by switching to ObamaCo!  

Think I'll go take the dog for a walk.  We only have a 50% chance of asteroids this morning...

Keep the Tip

CONFESSION:  The title of this evening's post is the punch-line from a joke I heard at Sacred Heart School whilst in Fourth Grade. 


The joke itself?

Q.  What did the leper say to the prostitute?


A.  "Keep the tip..."


The irony is that leprosy doesn't 'really' make body parts fall off (the whole 'bits dropping off' thing is a myth).  I do, however, believe that it would make dating more of a 'challenge' (speaking from personal experience, all dating is a 'challenge').


The post, other than the tacky intro above has nothing to do with lepers, prostitutes, or 'bits dropping off'.  It does, however, have something to do with bits being REMOVED on purpose. 


A week after San Francisco made headlines by accounting for twenty percent of the most recent 'Obamacare Waivers' handed out, San Francisco makes news again.  This time it is not for the opting out of enforcement of existing law, but rather, for the creation of yet another law which, interestingly enough, would impede on your right to practice (get ready for it)...


Your freedom of religion. 


I had to go look this up, because with the number of items over-turned (or over-looked) in the US Constitution lately, I was thinking that maybe I dreamed that there was such a thing as Freedom of Religion.  But, upon visiting Wikipedia, I found out that there IS such a thing as a Constitutionally-guaranteed 'Freedom of Religion' after all. 


According to them...

First Amendment – Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Phew, I'm glad I found it!  I was starting to think that I was in one of those Twilight Zone episodes where Hell seems like Heaven (at least for a while - until it makes you 'wacky') and Heaven is a Lady Gaga video which, suprisingly enough, looks a lot like a Fellini film on acid (but in a 'good way').

Some really-concerned citizen decided that it was unfair for small children to have a part of their 'winkies' removed as part of a barbaric custom, which dates back thousands of years before Christ. 

This man, let's call him 'Lloyd Schofield' arbitrarily, has decided that no more children will suffer while he has something to say about it!  Enough's enough!  The WINKIEs will endure!!! 

Lloyd has gone out and gotten 12,000+ signatures on a ballot measure in San Francisco, CA that, if approved, would ban circumcission of any male child less than 18 years of age.  

Yes, that's right Tommy, if you want to have your winkie 'modified' you'll need to wait until you're old enough to fully appreciate the thing.  

And here's the best part:  The proposal, as written, does not provide any consideration for religious beliefs.  

Let's journey back to Wikipedia for more on this topic for those of you playing the Circumcission Home Game!:

Religious male circumcision generally occurs shortly after birth, during childhood or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision is most prevalent in Muslim countries and Israel, and is most prevalent in the Jewish and Muslim faiths, although also common in the United States, the Philippines, South Korea, and Ethiopia, which are predominantly Christian.   

So, if your particular religion says that the helmet needs to come off the little general... 

Sorry - keep that little fella covered up! 

Religion, after all, is for the weak.  It is not for strong, committed men like Lloyd Schofield.  He and his supporters are simply looking to keep you from hurting your child needlessly. 

And you, apparently don't know any better - do you?  It takes a village to raise a child, after all...  Doesn't it?

No, it doesn't.  It takes a parent, two parents, or dare I venture to go THERE? 

Perhaps it takes an entire family.

Lloyd wants this to become law because he believes that he knows better than you do - You, the people who brought this particular child into the world in the first place.  He wants to remove the burdens of religious and personal freedoms which you so thoughtlessly took for granted, perhaps, until today. 

Will this ballot initiative be approved in November?  It's doubtful (although it IS San Francisco, California - these sick pups gave us Nancy Pelosi)...

"Oh, I'm a lumber jack and I'm okay, I sleep
all night and I work all day..." 

Given this bit of back-story, the odds may be closer to 60/40 that it doesn't get adopted into law. 

Buuuttttttt, as San Francisco lawmakers already banned "Happy Meals" in town, there's no telling what mischief they are planning to get in to this upcoming November.  

Doesn't it figure that a town chocked-full of foreskins would also be a town without Happy Meals?  There's an irony there, I believe.   

Anyway, it's late, I'm tired, and I'm goin' on a road trip with my foreskin-less family (four men, a wife, and two female dogs) tomorrow morning.  If you'd like to read more about this particular subject online, feel free to check out the link HERE

p.s.:  If you're a glutton for punishment, can we re-visit the photo which opened this post (above)? 

Yes, let's!

    
Basically, I have two questions for you about this cover:

  1.  If this kid does not HAVE a foreskin...  Why's he asking about it?  How does he know is DOESN'T have one?  Looks a bit young to be peering over the wall of the urinal at Sean...

  2.  Are you a little creeped out by the fact that he's looking for his foreskin, shoving something into his mouth, and the caption on the left of the image says, "Gourmet Baby Food"?  Do male children EAT their own foreskins in this magazine?  AND, what qualifies it as 'Gourmet' grade foreskin?  Does he KNOW what he's eating?  Ewwwwwww!   

p.p.s.:  Mark Levin interviewed Lloyd S.

I'm not sure why...

You can listen by clicking here:  Mark Levin

Good night folks, enjoy the your decision-making ability while you have it...

The New Agenda

Payne, Erica Payne

Remember the calls for 'Civility'?

Yeah, me too. 

Apparently Civility is just too hard.  What we really nice is a substantive debate of the real issues facing America today.

What we need is a new National Agenda.  Or perhaps, an Agenda P'roject'? 

Ah, that's the ticket.

Allow me to introduce you to the founder of the Agenda Project:  Erica Payne (yes, she's a 'Payne' from a long line of 'Paynes').  She has an Agenda.  You could say that it's a Project of hers. 

Let's take a moment to equate ourselves with this nice lady. 

The following comes from the Agenda Project site:  Prior to founding the Agenda Project and the Tesseract Group, Payne co-founded the Democracy Alliance, a donor collaborative whose partners have invested over $100 million in progressive organizations.

Her early career included serving as Deputy National Finance Director for the Democratic National Committee during the 1996 presidential re-election campaign and as a consultant to a number of campaigns and political organizations. In addition to her public sector work, Payne has held senior marketing positions in the private sector.

Payne is the author of The Practical Progressive: How to Build a 21st Century Political Movement, which Jonathan Alter of Newsweek called “a blueprint for a progressive conspiracy to help save the country.”  [Moos Note:  a blueprint for a progressive conspiracy to help save the country?  Doesn't the word 'conspiracy' typically have negative connotations associated with it?  Just wondering.]

She is on the Board of Advisors of the Public Diplomacy Collaborative at the Kennedy School at Harvard University. She is also on the Board of Advisors of Health Care for America Now.

Payne has a MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (2000) and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1991).

Well, isn't that special?  She seems to have a fine pedigree as it pertains to educational background AND she worked under Bill Clinton in 1996 as the National Finance Director for the Democratic National Committee. 

Oops, sorry, did I say she worked under Bill Clinton?  Ah, yes, I see that I did.  Sorry.  Please do not infer something I never meant to imply. 

So what's the agenda of the Agenda Project?  Let's re-visit the website to see if we can get a crystal-clear picture of what their mission is.  Again, pulling from Erica's website www.agendaproject.org:

The Agenda Project’s goal is to build a powerful, intelligent, well-connected political movement capable of identifying and advancing rational, effective ideas in the public debate and in so doing ensure our country’s enduring success.

Between out-dated political parties, self-interested multi-national corporations, and ineffectual elected officials, good values and common sense have lost their power in the public debate. 

Our goal is to return normal Americans to the center of the policy debate by cultivating an understanding of public policy, facilitating common action, and connecting the best ideas and the strongest leaders with engaged citizens, elected officials, the media, political insiders [but I thought she said in the prior paragraph that they were 'ineffectual elected officials'?], and experts through a variety of in-person and on-line platforms [Oh good, now she's talking about me!].

Holy Business-Speak MoosRoom Readers!  Instead of building a Mission Statement, Erica builds 'Mission Control'. 

How about we boil the above objectives down to no more than a few lines?

The Agenda Project - where the Elite meet to tell you what to think, to do, to eat... 

You can't do it on your own.  You're not equipped to understand the BIG thoughts we're thinking.  Now run along and we'll tell you what you need to know [later].   

So Erica's been around for a while, looking to provide a Progressive Conspiracy blueprint for the nation.  Super.  Excellent.  Thanks for being there hot chick with the thick-framed glasses!  Okay, so I began this talking about civility and making nice-nice, and all I do is pick on the poor woman. 

What's the cause of my un-called for personal attack of Erica?  No, nothing personal, but take about a minute and a half and check out our new friend, Erica's, video production.  You might want to make sure there are no kid's in the room when you hit PLAY.  Unless they hate Grandma, of course.  If they do hate Grandma, they'll like this one a lot...



If the video doesn't open properly above, you can access it by clicking HERE

There you go, a NEW tone for civility in America!  When you can win the agrument - just make stuff up! 

It's the Progressive Way...

Oh, and just in case Erica here ever reads this post?  She got it wrong.  A Republican wouldn't have tossed a single elderly woman off the cliff.  A REAL Republican would have built a highly-efficient automated conveyor system to drop seniors into the abyss. 

These Progressive folks do not understand the benefits associated with streamlining operations.  To them it's one man pushing one woman in a wheelchair at a time.  They're cursed with Union-Member thinking.  Sheesh.  How very inefficient. 

Even when they're making stuff up - they get it wrong. 

Well, at least they're consistent...

Speaking of consistent, here's a BONUS video from the Agenda Project.  You WILL want to clear the kids from the room for this one...

If you want to check this one out - click this link:  F*CK YOU

I don't want it in my post.

Why Does This Administration Hate the Irish and the Poorest Americans?

Spuds, Glorious Spuds!!!

 

I wanna eat some!!!

 

Oops, not so fast…

 

Q: “Huh? You mean that I can’t buy any potato-like vegetables with my WIC dollars???”

 

A.: “That’s correct! Give that man / woman / child a cigar!”

 

Those who giveth and taketh away (feel free to use the word ‘Feds’ here) have decided that Potatoes are public Enemy Number 1 when you’re using your WIC-subsidized funding to purchase groceries for your family.

 

Yes, Potatoes are ‘Veggie-Non-Grata’ (personally, I prefer ‘Potatoes Au-Gratin’, but I digress). If you happen to be participating in the WIC program you will immediately and henceforth be unable to purchase SPUDS.

 

This means that if you are going to allow someone else to give you money with which to BUY food, you must also accept the premise that THEY will decide which FOODS that you are ‘allowed’ to eat.

 

Enter – the Lowly Spud (a.k.a.: Mr. Potato Head)

Loved (and feared) by the Irish, first harvested 7,000 years ago in Ancient Washington, DC (I made this up), and an affordable vegetable which MOST people, except for Son #2 (pretty sure he was switched at birth) enjoy eating a couple of times a week, the potato now falls into the ‘Banned’ category of Vegetables.

 

Eat it baked, eat it mashed, eat it pancaked, eat it fried, but if you’re getting WIC benefits, YOU can now only eat ‘it’ on YOUR dime. The Potato Nazis at the Institute of Medicine tell poor families, women and children, “No (Potato) Soup for YOU!”

 

Foods ALLOWED under the program:

 

Sugar-laden cereals

 

Artery-hardening Cheese Products

 

Starchy Bread (Chucked full o’ Insect Parts)

 

(CAUTION: DON’T EAT PRIOR TO CLICKING ON THAT LINK DIRECTLY ABOVE – TRUST ME)

For a complete listing of ‘WIC’ Approved / Disapproved foods click

HERE

 

Yes, simply because individuals MAY make ‘un-healthy’ potato decisions, the WIC program has made the decision to take that choice…

Away from the parents of small children.

Why? Because (according to the National Academy of Sciences and WIC) parents who are not able to support their own families are NOT able to make good decisions. (This, may go to the heart of why the poor are so ‘loved’ by Democrats. MOTTO: ”An un-educated electorate is our BEST customer!”)

 

So as we leave the poor, the disadvantaged, and the un-educated (according to WIC and the Feds – not necessarily according to ’ME’) in the rear-view mirror of the Potato Mobile, we attach a link to the story which got the ancient wheels turning in my head: WIC’s Problem with Spuds

 

While doing for research for this particular story (oh, come on stop laughing – I do do research sometimes), I came across my favorite bit of irony for the day.

 

It’s from the CDC’s (Center For Disease Control’s) website proclaiming:

 

“Vegetable of the Month: Potato”
(Go ahead and click, it’s all there)

Yes, it’s true.

 

Okay, who didn’t get the e-mail!?!? Come on people get with the program!!!! Potatoes are NOT the veggie of the month, okay??? (Ahem! - The CDC DOES think that they are – and who am I to argue with the goverment?)

 

We leave today’s post with a brief post-mortem to the potato:

 

“May you mash in peace”

 

(Unless, of course, you’re poor in which case: Have some grilled cheese sandwiches made with wheat ‘chocked full’ of insect parts and fecal matter from sources better not recounted here. Don’t worry, the FDA is there to make sure you don’t get too much bug ‘parts’ in your food – yeah, not ‘TOO much’)

My ‘Irish Eyes’ cannot believe what I read some days – this day, it turns out, is no exception.

 

I wonder how many jobs banning ‘Spuds’ will ‘Create’ or ‘Save’? Hmm?

 

Bon appetite!!!

Postage Due

Ah, the good old days.

(Clouds fly backwards as we rewind time to 2009 - during that pesky Health Care 'debate')

Join me as I trek back in time to an article from August 17th, 2009 found at: Bloomberg Online...

The only way the post office can stay in business is its government subsidy. The USPS lost $2.4 billion in the quarter ended in June and projects a net loss of $7 billion in fiscal 2009, outstanding debt of more than $10 billion and a cash shortfall of $1 billion. It was moved to intensive care -- the Government Accountability Office’s list of “high risk” cases - - last month and told to shape up.

That didn’t stop President Barack Obama from holding up the post office as an example at a town hall meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, last week.

When Obama compared the post office to UPS and FedEx, he was clearly hoping to assuage voter concerns about a public health-care option undercutting and eliminating private insurance.
...

Hang on - we need to astral-project back to the present day!  Put on your Star Trek Time Time Paradox head shield (a.k.a.:  'Reynolds Wrap twisted tightly around your skull, topped off with a Hershey Kiss's 'Swoosh' on top.) 

For detailed design support, please see the following example:

Hey, thanks for joining me back here in 2047... 

Hold on, I've gone too far into the future - let me take a couple of twists out of my hat and...  Ah, that's better, we're back in 2011...

Yes, the President referenced the United States Postal Service in a speech given to a crowd of people wanting to know why they should trust the Federal Government to administer their future health care needs.  

Now that we're firmly once again seated in 2011, let's re-visit the US Postal Service to discover, how, exactly, the US Postal Service is doing today!?!?

The following is provided courtesy of CBS News, May 10, 2011:

(AP)  WASHINGTON - The Postal Service is continuing to hemorrhage money, reporting a loss Tuesday of more than $2 billion over the first three months of the year and warning it could be forced to default on federal payments.


Such a default would not interrupt mail service to millions of Americans, but it could further hobble an agency struggling with a sharp decline in mail because of the Internet and a tough economy.


The agency says the $2.2 billion loss covers Jan. 1 to March 31is sharply higher than the net loss of $1.6 billion for the same period last year. The post office also said it will have reached its borrowing limit, set by Congress, of $15 billion by the end of the budget year on Sept. 30.


Unless Congress intervenes, the Postal Service said, the agency won't have the cash for certain payment to the government, such as billions for a trust fund to provide health care benefits for future retirees.

...
"The Postal Service continues to seek changes in the law to enable a more flexible and sustainable business model," said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe. "The Postal Service may return to financial stability only through significant changes to the laws that limit flexibility and impose undue financial burdens."

The last line from this report by CBS News?  Get ready, here it comes... 

"The Postal Service does not receive tax money for its operations."

Following my slightly disjointed train of thought, President Obama referenced the USPS in a speech to assure the nice folks in the audience that the USPS is 'just like FedEx' (with the obvious exception that the USPS, um, loses money for YEARS on end and now is at risk of not being able to pay health care benefits for its retirees).


Yes, the IRONY is rich today.  Still several years away from the actual implementation of the thus-far-Unconstitutional-Health-Care-Law and one wonders, "Who will pay the health care for the United States Postal Workers when the USPS defaults on its financial obligations?"

Oh come on, that's an easy question.

The hard question is, "Who will pay fo the health care of all Americans when the US Government mis-under-estimates ther cost structures associated with Health Care and then begin rationing care based your particular 'need' for health care?"

The harder 'answer' is this:  Don't worry, your 'need' will be determined by others.  Follow the link coming up in a moment, take a pill, and don't ask any more questions which are not 'useful'...  Ezekiel Emanuel LIVE and uncensored

I hope you (and I) do not find ourselves in the 'Dead Letter' office any time soon. 

I, at least, still FEEL useful...

Mother's Day

The following is a Déjà moo post from 2010. 

Why? 

Because I spent the day with my Mom and Dad - I was BUSY, okay? 

BONUS:  This year (as in TODAY), my parents celebrated their 56th Wedding Anniversary.  Yeah, it's all good...

Even when we're not there with you guys in person, you're always right here - with me.  Thanks for being my folks...

Mike

And now, on with the post, already in progress (for the past 365 days)... 

My Mom asked me not to send her flowers this Mother's Day.  Not because she didn't WANT the flowers, but, because she wanted me to save the money associated with sending flowers saying, "Just a card and a phone call will be fine..." 

You see, that's how Mom's 'are'.  They worry about you more than they worry about themselves.  It's why, I guess, someone decided more than one hundred years ago that there should be such a thing as "Mother's Day". 

The actual story of Mother's Day is, well, convoluted at best.  You can read about it by clicking here:  The Origins of Mother's Day

In honor of Mother's Day, I submit the following video clip to my Mom (I figure she'll see it sooner or later after Dad logs her onto the site).  These two guys are NOT me and my brother, but there are similarities between them and US. 

For those of you who don't know us, I'm the better-looking-one (whichever one you think that is, well, that's me).


Random Thanks for Mom 2010:
Thanks for letting me make the mistakes you knew I had to (in order to learn the difference between a 'GOOD idea' and a 'NOT SO GOOD idea' for myself).

Thanks for always being there after I had some 'REALLY BAD IDEAS'.

Thanks for letting me know it was okay to mess up as long as 'no one got killed'.  (Note:  No lives have been lost thus far, so "It's all good.")

Thanks for knowing when to let go.

Thanks for knowing when to hold on.

Thanks for always being there (wherever 'there' needed to be).

Thanks for getting me the things 'I needed' instead of giving me the things 'I wanted'.  (These two lists were VERY different from each other.)

Thanks for helping me with my kids. 

Thanks for taking your vitamins and doing what the Docs tell you to do so you can tell ME what to do for many years to come.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: 

Thanks for being my Mom.

I hope that one day my kids will feel about me the same way I feel about you and Dad. 

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day too Dad! 

Remember when Mom was working on the weekends and I would come up and ask, "What's for lunch?"

Dad would look at the _________________ (Insert power tool name here) in his hand, look back at me and say the single word, "Skip."

"You mean, like, Peanut Butter sandwiches?", I would ask.

"Nope.  Mom's not here.  So today we're 'skipping' lunch." 

Then he'd put the tool down, walk into the house, wash up and make me and my brother either a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Bowl of Tomato Soup, or, yes, sometimes a PB&J. 

Because being a Dad means being a Mom sometimes too.  Being a parent means being able to slip into either role every day for the rest of your life.  Because being a parent isn't like being 'on the clock' at work, for a parent the shift never ends, and my folks have been fully-engaged since my brother and I were born long ago in a town not so far away. 

Thanks Mom and Dad, all my love to both of you on Mother's Day!

Your 'Rotten kid',

Mike

p.s.:  This Tuesday, May 10th, Mom is going in for a knee replacement.  I know she'll be fine, but if you get a moment, please remember her in your prayers when you put your head down tonight to sleep.  Just ask God to look over Mike's and John's Mom - He knows who she is... 

'Cause they talk all the time.

Good night folks.   

'Bouncing' The Cat

This, from Wikipedia:  The term "dead cat bounce" is derived from the idea that "even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height".


Also:  Dead cat bounce is a Wall Street term that refers to a small, brief recovery in the price of a declining stock.

I've heard quite a bit over the past two days about President Obama's approval rating jumping 10% following the announcement of UBL's (or OBL's) departure from this plane of existence. 

Within hours of UBL's (or, you know, OBL's) death proclamation by President Obama the media lit up their multiple outlets with stories about the focus of THIS President on the primary objective of the War on Terror (not sure, can I still call it the 'War on Terror'?  If not, please accept my apologies.) 

This new talking points objective?:  The death of ONE MAN.

Oh, now I get it. Sunday evening the War on Terror morphed into the War on Bin Laden. 

Thanks for sharing the news with us, CBS, NBC, ABC, HuffingtonPost, NY Times, and Fox News.  No, seriously, 'Mission Accomplished'.  It's good to know that after almost ten years, the loss of thousands of soldiers' lives in combat, Billions of dollars spent that we were, 'wrong' the whole time.  

So while the death of ONE man holds the hopes of our [IRONY ALERT] Nobel-Peace-Price-winning President Obama's approval resurrection, let me ask you this:  What's next?

The President is taking his first trip to 'Ground Zero' today to bask in the adoration of the grateful American Nation.  GW Bush declined the invitation to attend this 'Love' (or perhaps, 'Death') Fest in Manhattan, to his credit.

Today's trip to Ground Zero will usher in the decline of President Obama's approval 'bump'.  Soak up the sun oh great pontificator, dispenser of truth, protector of America, and 'sensitive to the needs of the Muslim burial proceedings' President Obama - for as the sun sets today, your approval rating will as surely begin its descent.

For a while Pew and other sources will be focusing America on the greatness of this man, but I looked at another poll. A poll which I believe will outlast the momentary glow of the President's accomplishment (watching his announcement Sunday evening - HE did it all, apparently, with some small amount of support by the military).  

The 'Other Poll' was a Rasmussen Poll from April 25th, 2011.  In this poll, only 25% of Americans believe that America is heading in the right direction.  One year earlier this number stood at 33%. 

Yeah, yet more 'change you can believe in'.

As the glow from his beneficent countenance fades from LCD's all across America this evening, Americans will once again be concerning themselves with the business of America - working, caring for their families and paying their bills.  And once they do, they will remember, and focus upon why three out of four of them are 'concerned' about the direction of our nation is heading on.

Then, the bounce ends, and the approval of that multi-lived 'Cat' in the White House once again...

Falls.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

p.s.:  My hat’s off to the people who actually made this happen, the military, the CIA, and those serving at Gitmo who got the information which lead intelligence ‘down the road’ to Pakistan.


 

p.p.s.:  Giving President Obama credit for the feat of  ‘getting Osama’ is like giving credit to the guy who answered your phone call for making, then delivering your pizza, uphill (both ways) in a snowstorm, in less than 15 minutes while the pizza is still ‘piping hot’.  The phone answerer (a.k.a.:  The President) ’took the order’ as others did the heavy lifting to pull it off – yes, the guy answering the phone was NOT the team which made, or delivered the pizza.  It was merely the 'Kid' who answered the phone. 

p.p.p.s.:  Please remember to TIP your pizza delivery people, your CIA, and our Members of the US Military.  If I remember correctly, President Obama and Harry Reid told the American people less than one month ago that they did not want to PAY these people serving in our Armed Forces.  In retrospect, this doesn't seem right, now does it?

These people, after all, work for a living.  They get the call.


UPDATE 9:10PM:  Oh, oh, Rasmussen did another poll. 


You can access it HERE 

Meet Your New - Tax Consultant!

Hey America!!!

Looking for someone to prepare your tax returns?

Looking for a person who is good with 'Numbers'?
(He / she is 'wearing' numbers, after all!)

Looking for a person who's available ALL the time? 
(During normal visitation hours)

Looking to (possibly) meet your perfect mate?!?! 
(I hear it happens!)

Well LOOK no more!!!


I have FOUND your perfect Tax-Preparation--With-High-Availability (Romance-is-Possible) Partner!!!

Some Ivy League Accounting School?  Nah, that would be too expensive.

Your local H&R Block Office?  Well, maybe, if the post I put on FaceBook a few moments ago comes to fruition.

Okay, no more guessing!

You can find your Tax Preparation (and possible 'Life-Mate') at your local...  [Drumroll]State Penal Institution!

Yes, I stumbled across a story on The Dailer Caller which states that 50,000 inmates have filed Income Tax Returns WITHOUT any wage (earnings) documentation.  If approved, these returns would provide $130,000,000 in Federal refunds to people, who presumably, will buy a LOT of cigarettes and DingDongs from the 'Cart' as it rattles along the Green Mile (sorry, had to go there).

In a report to be released at the end of 2010, 'presumably fraudulent claims' in 2010 increased over 50% since 2009.  In fact, the IRS has 'identified' nearly 250,000 fraudulent tax returns from prison inmates - totalling $1,480,000,000 (as in "$1.48BILLION) in bogus filing requests.
From the article on The Daily Caller:

“While the IRS is identifying larger numbers of fraudulent returns, improvements must be made to its screening processes to ensure that returns filed by prisoners get adequate scrutiny,” said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. “Expanded and expedited access to wage and withholding information would significantly increase the IRS’s ability to verify information reported on a tax return when processed, and prevent fraud.”

The IRS issued a statement saying the agency takes refund fraud seriously and aggressively fights it.

“The IRS is very successful at detecting and stopping incorrect refunds, including criminal refund fraud, and overall prevents 98 percent of questionable claims from being issued,” the statement said.

The ANSWER to the problem of bogus prison filings? 

Wait for it...

You already know what it is... 

Continuing from the article online:  “However, without congressional action to require state and federal prisons to report the status of inmates to the IRS, there will be gaps in the prison data and compliance problems will persist,” the IRS said in its statement.Yes, if only we had MORE government.  Wouldn't this make the world a better place?

So anyway, getting back to the original premise of this post, since these folks are filing income tax returns anyway, why not sub-contract them out to H&R Block and shut down all those little offices in strip malls across the country? 

Why? 

Just think about it for a moment... 

We'd reduce our carbon footprint by shuttering these rent-a-tax-guy spots in malls across the country!

You'd know where your tax guy / gal IS 'most' of the time! 

He / she would have standardized visiting hours across the state!

You're already 'paying he / she' to bask in the luxury of their heated-cooled-cabled resort complex so you'd get your taxes done - for free!

And, the greatest benefit of all...

IF your incarcerated Tax Advisor CHEATS on YOUR taxes - you don't go to jail!  He (or she) gets an extra six months' sentence added to whatever conviction sentences are facing them today!

It's a WIN, WIN, WIN scenario!

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, allow me to introduce to you the NEW face of Pre-Paid Tax Preparation in America...


Bernie says, "I'll take care of YOUR money like it was MY money.  (Because it's ALL my money)"

Oh, forgot to mention, with the increasing number of illegal aliens in prison?  'Translation Services' for non-English speaking Americans -- FREE!

I'll be sending a link to this post to the White House today. 

I think it's a great idea!!!

How 'bout you?

Join the NEW Moo-vement!

Why settle for these old, worn out titles?
"Birthers"
"Truthers"
"6 Percent-ers"

Okay, probably need to set things up a bit here:

First, I believe that Osama Bin Laden is 'no more'.

Second, I believe that he was killed in Pakistan

Third, Pretty much all other facts reported by the Admininstration are up for grabs...

Here's the thing:  Everything about the announcements coming from of the White House since Sunday evening has seemed too 'Perfect' to me - stereotypically 'Perfect', even. 

Please indulge me for a moment, okay? 

Thanks.

We have heard that Osama (or Usama depending on the network reporting) was found in his 'Mansion-like' home in Pakistan just a stone's throw away from a bunch of retired Pakistani Generals, Colonels, and other "High Ranking" folks either currently serving in, or formerly serving in Pakistan's Military.  He was also 'just down the road a-ways' from the Pakistani equivalent (so I'm told) of West Point.  

Helicopters swoop in (all except one, which has technical difficulties), land at the property, Seals pour out of the choppers like water out a colendar, burst into the Compound, tell the residents to "Give up or we shoot" (the residents, apparently, do not give up) chaos ensues, they end up on the third-floor of the stucture with Osama Bin Laden hiding behind his wife (using her as a human shield), the Seals open fire, effectively turning the lights off for all eternity for Public Enemy #1.  

The team carries his body back to the choppers, take off, travel a while, land on an aircraft carrier (um, somewhere - I assume it was floating in some body of water nearby), obtain his DNA (Ewwwwww), clean his wounds, wrap him in white linen, say a few words as part of a sensitive Islamic religious service, then lower he and a weighted-down pallet into the sea where he can presumably do no more further harm than giving indigestion to some un-suspecting shark dining upon the corpse.

It's much too 'scripted' to me.  I've read Tom Clancy - this all sounded 'familiar'... 

It's what I thought on Monday, and it's moreso as I type this today during my quickly-expiring lunch hour.  Okay, let's cut out the 'spurious language' and boil it down to the nuts and bolts version:

• "Dead or Alive, you're coming with us!"  BLAM, BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!!!! [Gunfire]
• Bin Laden hides behind his wife for cover, they are both killed in the exchange of fire
• ONLY his body is removed from the compound, flown to the awaiting Carrier
• He's cleaned up and buried within hours of his demise

Then, of course, there's these 'inconvenient truths', I found on Politico today:

The White House backed away Monday evening from key details in its narrative about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, including claims by senior U.S. officials that the Al Qaeda leader had a weapon and may have fired it during a gun battle with U.S. forces.

Officials also retreated from claims that one of bin Laden’s wives was killed in the raid and that bin Laden was using her as a human shield before she was shot by U.S. forces.

...

At a televised White House briefing Monday afternoon, Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan said bin Laden joined in the fight that several residents of the Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound put up against the Navy SEALs during the 40-minute operation.

“He [bin Laden] was engaged in a firefight with those that entered the area of the house he was in. And whether or not he got off any rounds, I quite frankly don’t know,” Brennan said.

At a Pentagon briefing earlier in the day, a senior defense official said bin Laden used a woman as a human shield so he could fire shots. “He was firing behind her,” the official said.

...

Another White House official familiar with the TV briefing confirmed the change to POLITICO, adding, “I’m not aware of him having a weapon.”

“The bottom line is the team that entered that room was met with resistance and took appropriate action,” said a third American official.

The White House on Monday night declined to elaborate on the nature of the resistance bin Laden allegedly put up. However, an official confirmed that the Al Qaeda founder was shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest.

...

“A different guy’s wife was killed,” a different official familiar with the briefing for TV reporters said Monday night. Bin Laden’s wife was “injured but not killed,” the official said.

Another official familiar with the operation said it did not appear that any woman was used as a human shield, but that the woman killed and the one injured were hurt in the crossfire.

“Two women were shot here. It sounds like their fates were mixed up,” said the U.S. official. “This is hours old and the full facts are still being ascertained as those involved are debriefed.”

The White House didn’t offer a reason for any of the changes. However, Brennan noted during his televised briefing that his information came from reports from the scene as well as live video feeds of the raid. “I wasn’t there,” he said.

Okay, so I WASN'T THERE either, but I'm wondering, given the number of discrepancies over the past 48 hours - was ANYONE there who remembers ANYTHING? 

I saw the President, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton WATCHING the thing unfold via wireless video and audio - what don't THEY know, and WHEN didn't they know it?

And, why weren't THEY filling us in on the details if this guy can't remember 'Nuthin'?

Next Up:  Here comes the 'Gotcha'...

If the President is going to get pushed into releasing the death photos of OBL (or 'UBL'), will they be the 'oogey bloody' ones, or the 'nights in White Linen' cleaned-up versions? 

Because if they're too 'oogey' we're going to have a bunch of Muslim folks even more upset with us than they already are (although, this is pretty hard to imagine).  If they're 'too clean' and life-like in appearance - no one will believe he's dead on Main Street, USA. 

On this one, I believe the President will 'lose' either way.  Not because we don't believe the military, but rather, because we don't believe the veracity of the statements coming out of the White House thus far regarding this neatly-wrapped bit of story-telling.  It's only been 48 hours and the story continues to 'Morph' daily. 

It is with this in mind that I'd like to begin a NEW Secret Conspiracy Organization... 
(Or 'NSCO', if you're into acronyms)

I am a 'Proofer'

From now on, no matter what this Administration (or any Administration, for that matter) tells me, I want, simply stated... 

'Proof' 

I'm assuming that I'll be able to absorb the competing factions of 'Birthers' and 'Truthers' into my  group because all us NUT JOBS need to stick together. 

I was having a conversation with one of the guys in my office yesterday (he's ex-Navy) and he told me that he also thought that the story thus far sounded a bit too 'manufactured' for public consumption also. 

I then proceeded to tell him that approximately six percent of the American Public still does not believe that we landed men on the moon.  He got really quiet, sat down, and looked at me 'square in the eye'. 

"So, you think if we had a really powerful telescope and we aimed it at the moon that we'd see that flag sitting up there on a pole?"

"Sure we would!" I said.

"I dont' think so." he responded.

Okay, so now there are TWO of us!

You too, can join the Moo-vement!

Adding you into the mix (take the original two of us and add you, that'll be)...

This'll make our moo-vement 'several thousand strong'!

(According to the most stringently verifiable government estimates...)

No human shields were utilized in the generation of this post.  Although, my dog looks nervous sitting next to me on the floor here...  I wonder what SHE's got to hide???