Cambodia: "Exhausted Sweatshop Worker Just Has To Laugh After Sewing Fingers Together," reported The Onion. "After working her third straight 17-hour shift, garment worker Nghiem Phuong said Monday she 'couldn't help but laugh' after sewing her index and ring fingers together." She added, "Well, I guess it's just one of those days."
- With the state of our current economy, many are asking if the United States is headed the way of Greece and some of the other socialist failures in Europe. Those who say we are point out the following: 1-Our massive debt (now approaching $16 trillion and to balloon to $26 trillion in about 10 years if the administration's economic and budget policies are passed. Greece's debt is over 120% of their GDP. Many economists believe we'll hit that number in 10-15 years if we remain on the same path as we are now); 2-The weight of Medicare and Social Security entitlement costs; 3-ObamaCare's long-term cost burden; 4-Pensions; 5-Fifty Percent of Americans not paying taxes, thus reductions in revenue; 6-Over half the country receiving some type of entitlements; 7-The massive explosion of Americans who are now living below the poverty line (Just this morning, USA TODAY reported "Families in extreme poverty double." The number living on $2 a day climbed to 1.46 million. That sounds like some cost of living in parts of Africa).
- How are we not like Greece? For one, we're a Republic. We also still have a stronger economy, because we're more productive than socialist regimes. We also control our own currency. We can print our own money. Greece can't because of the Euro.
- So is the the Greek type of tragedy in our future? I don't think anyone knows for sure. But many who follow this do say if we remain on the same path, we just might be writing our own Greek tragedies in the future.
- Last week, I mentioned I walked through a South Jersey town and noticed 22 store fronts vacant, including the Dollar Store (retail to retail area stretched about 4 blocks). This weekend I drove through another S. Jersey town and decided to walk around and check it out. It's retail to retail area is about 1 city block long, both sides of the street. It had 9 store fronts vacant. The two banks that were in the town---are shuttered. The only retail left were several Brazilian restaurants, a small diner, a dollar type store, an independent pharmacy and two salons. And this week I read in the paper that since 2010, 33 cities in Pennyslvania merged their police departments. Please don't try to tell us the economy is improving. It's not on street level.
A new study found 16% of Americans under 16 don't have a job. There's even a name for that group: Art History Majors ...Jimmy Fallon
- The evidence is overwhelming that Islam, The Religion of Peace, is a lie. In Afghanistan, people are dying over the burning of some Quarans (and from Pres. Obama on down to the military head honchos, they genuflect and apologize to the insane Islamic thug hordes who don't bat an eyelash when it comes to killing innocent civilians and thousands of Christians. Having said that, I personally don't like seeing any books burned or banned). Egypt, Syria and Libya are still a mess, and will continue to be. It's not a hard call to make. To predict the future, all one has to do is look at the past. I for one am sick and tired of watching our leaders walking on egg shells so as not to offend this pricks. Genuflecting, apologizing only emboldens these thugs. To them, it's all a sign of weakness in our leadership. Does anyone really believe they care if we apologize? These are lunatics who treat their own wives and daughters as slaves and sometimes even kill them. These are lunatics who proudly saw off heads and raise the severed heads on video all the time proclaiming Allah is great. Give me a break. Stop the bowing. Stop the genuflecting. Stop the apologizing and grow some balls. Do what our troops do. One shot. One kill. And that's another motherf___er we don't have to worry about.
- To give you some idea how delusional the administration is about Iran, they actually said this week they see Iran as a "rational actor." Now consider this, in addition to being a country run by a bunch of maniacs, they're actually said the Jewish population of Israel should be exterminated. When did we hear that before? And does anyone in the right mind believe Hitler was "rational" when it came to the "Final Solution?" The problem is this type of assessment by our administration is irrational.
GOP Introduces New "Mystery Candidate" With Paper Bag Over His Head...The Onion's Political News. They also report the GOP will reveal who the candidate is only after he/she wins the election.
- If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I refer to "The Arab Spring" as a myth, created by the media. There never was an Arab Spring and there never will be an Arab Spring (If readers recall, last year when the military took control of the government, I wrote then that nothing good will come out of it with the military in charge. At the time, the main stream media were praising the takedown of Murabak's regime). As reported by countless news organizations now, Egypt is probably facing more challenges now than they did under Mubarak. USA TODAY, just this morning, reported, "The newly politically empowered Muslim Brotherhood...has supported a crackdown on those who disagree with them, including the very activists who helped bring about the free elections that the Brotherhood dominated." (Free Elections? That The Brotherhood dominated? You have to be kidding me). As many observers now have to admit, they swapped one corrupt dictatorship for another and this one might be far worse.
- Remember Tahrir Square in Cairo? That's where the myth of The Arab Spring sprung. Well, it appears Egyptians are getting tired of their own form of Occupy misfits, thugs, and felons. One Egyptian interviewed said, "They do not represent Egypt...They talk and don't do anything."
- PS: A Reminder To The Rest Of The Media: Egypt is still holding about 19 Americans hostage. Just thought you'd want to know.
- According to Gallup, if the elections were held today, Mitt Romney would beat Pres. Obama by 4 percentage points (46% to 50%). Obama would beat Santorum by the slim margin of 1%age point, 49%-48%. By the way, I think one of the reasons the Occupy movement was such a bust is relatively simple. Excluding the misfits, thugs, felons and destroyers of the environment, they focused on "income inequality." Big deal. Income inequality has been around since before the time of Christ. And almost every Gallup survey shows that most Americans are more concerned about jobs and the economy than income inequality.
- I've always hesitated to take any president or his family to task for taking some vacation time. As one of the toughest jobs on the planet, the president deserves a break (and, in actuality he never gets one. The White House basically travels with the First Family). But the Obama's have taken 16 vacations in the last 3 years, many to exotic places including Africa. If anything, it gives the nation the wrong impression during a time of economic "recession" and uncertainty. It's as if this First Family is completely tone deaf. This past weekend, Michelle and the girls went skiing to Aspen (Memo to Occupiers: that's where many of the 1% vacation. Ever think of Occupying Aspen?).
Obama Urges Citizens To Hide Evidence Of Our Formerly Prosperous Lives From Nation's Young Children...The Onion
- Today we marked Washington and Lincoln's birthdays. We also marked the 50 anniversary of John Glenn's historic trip around our planet. With everything that is going on in our country today, we might delude ourselves in thinking we're not a nation of great heroes. But don't fall into that trap. We're still the greatest nation on the same planet that Friendship 7 encircled 50 years ago. We remain a nation with the "Right Stuff." The evidence is everywhere (perhaps with the exception of Congress and Executive branch of government), and we don't have to look far. Our military is made up of some of the bravest and honorable men and women who ever wore a uniform. On 9/11, our First Responders showed us all what courage really means. On that same day, thousands of Americans proved, once again, to the entire nation and to the world; we're a nation that does not back down. We still have the "Right Stuff." We have a duty and responsibility to protect that tradition. Yes, at times we may come up short. But when that "moment" challenges us, we're not scared to declare, "Bring it on!" I can assure you; George Washington and Abe Lincoln are smiling down upon this great Republic.
- On my post yesterday, I wrote about the Iran problem. In short, I asked how long will the civilized world put up with their nonsense. It's clear Iran is one of the most dangerous regimes on earth right now. And our dithering and appeasement continues to embolden those lunatics. Amir Taheri who is Iranian and who has been very critical of the current regime recently wrote this: "The process {endless talking to Iran} suits Iran fine. It gives 'hostile powers' something to chew on while Iran does what it wants. It also enables US and European leaders to tell their respective publics that they are 'doing something.' And it helps Russia and China to claim that, because diplomacy is working, there is no need for rougher action..." And Taheri reminds us that the Iranian regime has said time and time again that the goal of the regime is the destruction of the capitalist system. In fact, they've also said their goal is to fly the flag of Islam over The White House. I know what many Americans would be saying right now: Bring it on!
- When Pres. Obama took office, the price of a gallon of fuel averaged $1.79. It is now averaging about $3.60 a gallon. In fact, fuel has never been this high at this time of year. Could it be that the administration has still not allowed more drilling on federal lands? (Gas Buddy).
GOP Voters: "Can We See What It Looks Like With Huntsman and Perry Again?" Onion headline.
- When will our administration and the UN going to take Ahmadinajad's threats seriously? This is a guy who has vowed to wipe Israel of the map. This is a regime that is working on developing nuclear weapons (the world dithered with North Korea so long, they finally developed nuclear weapons. Britain and most of Europe appeased Hitler, and the world learned a horrific lesson: appeasement does not work when you're dealing with maniacs). This is a regime that had plans to assassinate diplomats in Washington, D.C. This is a regime that bombed diplomatic vehicles in India and Thailand last week. This is a regime that is enabling the Assad regime. And this is a regime that has funneled weapons to Afghanistan and Iraq to be used against Americans. As I write this, Iran announced it's cutting off oil sales to Britain and France. I say unleash Israel--they have the will and the means to take this prick out or at least his nuke facilities. As Goodwin recently wrote, "Look at how Iran is acting. Now imagine it with a nuclear weapon."
- Benjamin Netanyahu said this recently: "Iran has been exposed for being the most irresponsible power on earth today. The one that exports terror with abandon is murdering people and breaking all the rules."
- While Ahmadinejad said this just last week: "I hope we reach a point where we will be able to meet all our nuclear needs...so we won't need to extend our hand before the world's dastardly people." Yep, sure looks like a guy we can work with.
- News Alert: We might be in for some major bump in fuel costs. As stated above, not only has Iran taken action against Britain and France but news wires are now reporting that Saudi Arabia is cutting its oil output. Prices have already risen on this news in just the last hour.
- In "Braveheart" Mel Gibson yells out "Freedom!" as he's being gutted and killed. If anyone does not think that the contraception debate is really about freedom and not about the rights of women, then they are not paying attention. I'd also suggest they watch "Braveheart" again. As many now know, the president shifted the burden of providing "free" contraceptive services from religious based organizations to health insurers. As Krauthammer said recently, "On what authority?" In other words, if the government can force this upon us, what else can they compel us to do---forcing insurers to pay for toothpaste? The problem is not with contraceptive services, the problem is with the mandate (like ObamaCare). If I were a Republican strategist (and I don't even play one on TV), I'd suggest Republicans focus on the growing intrusiveness of government. After all, haven't we heard Republicans always telling us they believe in smaller government? Well, they have an opportunity to alert Americans about the encroaching assault on freedom, free enterprise and the free exercise of religion. The question is whether they have the balls to get on this challenge. If recent history is any indication, we shouldn't hold our breath.
