Since I got yesterday’s QotD from Joe, I figured I may as just well make it a twofer. Especially since this one is too excellent to not spread around.
You have enemies? Good. that means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.
Winston Churchill
I don’t suppose he was talking about blogging, but that’s OK, I had enemies well before I first logged in.
I’ll never understand them, I swear.
First they bitch about Bush “shredding the Constitution” and now that he has just written a new one and plans to force it through the Legislative Branch, they just can’t get enough of the guy.
I mean really, WTF?
Oh wait. Sorry. The story was about Castro’s and Chavez’s newest sycophant, Evo Morales, of Bolivia.
Bolivian President Evo Morales has formally received a new draft constitution, ahead of two referendums due on its reform measures.
“The people will never again be marginalized,” the leader told crowds of supporters in La Paz.
He says the changes will give more powers to the poor, Indian majority.
Those sad, oppressed “poor people”. It wouldn’t be their government that keeps them that way, would it?
Just what in the hell this is?
After you take your best guess, you should click this link and go talk to my Rangemaster Pal, Glenn.
Btw, that particular triptych was created with the .20 Vartarg, which you can read about here.
Not yet, but if David Hazinski has anything to do about it, I’ll be feeling the “Pepto” of modern journalists very soon.
You’re beginning to get a lot more news … from you.
It ranges from the CNN YouTube debates to political blogs to cellphone video of that sniper who opened fire at an Omaha Mall. These are all examples of so called “citizen journalism,” the hot new extension of the news business where the audience becomes the reporter.
Supporters of “citizen journalism” argue it provides independent, accurate, reliable information that the traditional media don’t provide. While it has its place, the reality is it really isn’t journalism at all, and it opens up information flow to the strong probability of fraud and abuse. The news industry should find some way to monitor and regulate this new trend.
The Wife is requesting that if my rantings here are to be regulated, that “Anchor McDreamy” be sent to our house (aka: Anderson Cooper). I don’t rightly care who they send to regulate my posting, but be warned that they’d better be bulletproof.
And thank you Journalism Professor Hazinski for proving that you do not know, and most likely do not teach, just what the First Amendment means.
By now you’ve probably read just about as many leftist opinions of what and how and why GWB vetoed the latest bastardized version of the SCHIP legislation.
But have you read the letter he wrote to the HoRs (pronounced: Whores)?
Well, here you go
TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 3963, the “Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007.” Like its predecessor, H.R. 976, this bill does not put poor children first and it moves our country’s health care system in the wrong direction. Ultimately, our Nation’s goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage –not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage. As a result, I cannot sign this legislation.
The purpose of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was to help low-income children whose families were struggling, but did not qualify for Medicaid, to get the health care coverage that they needed. My Administration strongly supports reauthorization of SCHIP. That is why in February of this year I proposed a 5-year reauthorization of SCHIP and a 20 percent increase in funding for the program.
Some in the Congress have sought to spend more on SCHIP than my budget proposal. In response, I told the Congress that I was willing to work with its leadership to find any additional funds necessary to put poor children first, without raising taxes.
The leadership in the Congress has refused to meet with my Administration’s representatives. Although they claim to have made “substantial changes” to the legislation, H.R. 3963 is essentially identical to the legislation that I vetoed in October. The legislation would still shift SCHIP away from its original purpose by covering adults. It would still include coverage of many individuals with incomes higher than the median income in the United States. It would still result in government health care for approximately 2 million children who already have private health care coverage. The new bill, like the old bill, does not responsibly offset its new and unnecessary spending, and it still raises taxes on working Americans.
Because the Congress has chosen to send me an essentially identical bill that has the same problems as the flawed bill I previously vetoed, I must veto this legislation, too. I continue to stand ready to work with the leaders of the Congress, on a bipartisan basis, to reauthorize the SCHIP program in a way that puts poor children first; moves adults out of a program meant for children; and does not abandon the bipartisan tradition that marked the original enactment of the SCHIP program. In the interim, I call on the Congress to extend funding under the current program to ensure no disruption of services to needy children.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 12, 2007.
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Actually, a bit too reasonable. But then again, my opinion of SCHIP makes me sound like the Grinch the leftists and their professional media cohorts are making W out to be.
Found via The DANE
For an entire government agency to kiss my ass?
If it is, I’d like to start with the high court in Versailles.
Amazon.com may not offer free delivery on books in France, the high court in Versailles has ruled.
The action, brought in January 2004 by the French Booksellers’ Union (Syndicat de la librairie française), accused Amazon of offering illegal discounts on books and even of selling some books below cost.
The court gave Amazon 10 days to start charging for the delivery of books, which should at least allow the company to maintain the offer through the end-of-year gift-giving season. After that, it must pay a fine of €1,000 (US$1,470) per day that it continues to offer free delivery. It must also pay €100,000 in compensation to the booksellers’ union.
Retail prices, particularly of books, are tightly regulated in France.
Using “loss-leaders,” or selling products below cost to attract customers, is illegal. Other restrictions apply to books retailers must not offer discounts of more than 5 percent on the publisher’s recommended price. Many independent booksellers choose to offer this discount in the form of a loyalty bonus based on previous purchases. Larger booksellers simply slash the sticker price of books.
Book retail prices are under government control in France?
Holy fuck, I’d hate to find out what kind of price regulations they have on toilet paper. And do they have different price classifications for Two-Ply and/or “Extra Soft”?
Found at Samizdata.Net
Make sure you show this to your leftist friends and remind them that if they want their healthcare run like this, all they have to is vote for a Democrat (or Romney).
Steadily lengthening delays in the resolution of Social Security disability claims have left hundreds of thousands of people in a kind of purgatory, now waiting as long as three years for a decision.
Two-thirds of those who appeal an initial rejection eventually win their cases.
But in the meantime, more and more people have lost their homes, declared bankruptcy or even died while awaiting an appeals hearing, say lawyers representing claimants and officials of the Social Security Administration, which administers disability benefits for those judged unable to work or who face terminal illness.
The agency’s new plan to hire at least 150 new appeals judges to whittle down the backlog, which has soared to 755,000 from 311,000 in 2000, will require $100 million more than the president requested this year and still more in the future. The plan has been delayed by the standoff between Congress and the White House over domestic appropriations.
There are 1,025 judges currently at work, and the wait for an appeals hearing averages more than 500 days, compared with 258 in 2000. Without new hirings, federal officials predict even longer waits and more of the personal tragedies that can result from years of painful uncertainty.
…
The disability process is complex, and the standard for approval has, from the inception of the program in the 1950s, been intentionally strict to prevent malingering and drains on the treasury. But it is also inevitably subjective in some cases, like those involving mental illness or pain that cannot be tested.
In a standard tougher than those of most private plans, recipients must prove that because of physical or mental disabilities they are unable to do “any kind of substantial work†for at least 12 months — if an engineer could not do his job but could work as a clerk, he would not qualify — or prove that an illness is expected “to result in death.â€
And an increasing number of appeals are ending in the death of the petitioner because the court dates are so far in the future.
Sure, a private company can deny a claim, but they aren’t also the judge. Modern civil justice can be slow, but not “500 days to prove you’re really disabled” slow.
But hey, if we didn’t have liberals to only think an idea halfway through, what would we do?
Oh.
Today’s quote could be sub-categorized under: Head up ass. Full Speed Ahead.
But this is supposedly a family blog and we don’t yet have that category.
On with the quote, which I found at Joe’s place
I am not a criminologist and I am aware that there is a body of evidence, especially in the US that shows that gun bans or even gun control does not substantially affect the crime rate. I don’t know if any studies have been done in Ghana but my point is that from a commonsense point of view, if we take out guns, although violent crime may not be reduced, fatalities will be lessened. A sling does not have the same effect as an AK47!
….
There must be many different strategies to bring the spate of gun killings to an end but the surest one is to take out the weapon out of the hands of the criminals. This means total ban on the manufacture, sale and private possession of guns and assault weapons —in effect to restrict their possession to law enforcement officers.
Therefore the unpalatable conclusion must be that gun control has failed and has to be replaced by a complete gun ban at least for a period of time preceded by a campaign against gun use and ownership and an amnesty for the handing in of illegal guns. Let us try this, or perhaps the cry ought to be let is try anything. Doing nothing is not an option.
I could go on and on with suggestions that aren’t “nothing” and that do not invole violating the human rights of the law abiding to protect themselves, but you’ve all heard those.
So take some time and click on over here and read the rest of this post. It is amazing how those suffering from Rectal-Cranial Impaction can still type. I’d like to credit modern medical science, but that is one disability I can do without.
Of BBQ flavored Roasted Almonds
Only nine days left for Christmas shopping for you. The Old Ones finished theirs in June! Mwahahaha!
