Sunday, June 26, 2011

Good news from the failed blue state of California: number of retired teachers with $100K pensions jumped 650% in last six years

As if California didn't have enough problems -- from a massive budget deficit to runaway illegal immigration -- news that the powerful public sector unions are raping the system should certainly cheer taxpayers.

Thousands of newly retired school administrators will earn more during retirement than most Californians will make during their working careers.

The number of educators receiving $100,000-plus annual pensions jumped 650 percent from 2005 to 2011, going from 700 to 5,400, according to a Bee review of data from the California State Teachers' Retirement System... [these retirees] get millions more than they put into the system.

Booming administrator salaries are largely behind the trend. Public school superintendents, on average, earned $168,000 in base pay last year, roughly 56 percent more than they did 10 years ago... A series of benefit enhancements a decade ago also explain the rise... as a result, more than a third of the state's six-figure pensioners earn more each year in retirement than they ever did on the job.

...Like other public pension systems, CalSTRS has financial problems. The value of its assets isn't enough to cover what it has promised in benefits. System officials estimate CalSTRS will be unable to fund benefits in about 30 years unless the Legislature implements higher contribution rates for school districts, employees or the state.

California isn't alone. The Manhattan Institute estimates that teacher pension systems around the country are, in aggregate, $1 trillion underfunded.

But California and its ludicrous governor, a product of the public sector unions, are completely off the rails. Like the blue states of Illinois and New York, the inevitable result of Democrat governance -- bankruptcy -- is obvious for all to see.


'Just When You Thought Our Fiscal Nightmare Couldn't Get Any Worse'

It is anything but cheery, but David Limbaugh's latest at Human Events is a must-read for every American.

...Projections of the nation's impending doom have worsened: We face destruction if we don't act, and the crisis is accelerating.

Last year, the CBO predicted our national debt would be 91 percent of gross domestic product in 2021. Now, just a year later, it is projected to be 101 percent in 2021.


It gets worse. The debt is forecasted to be 150 percent of GDP by 2030 and 200 percent by 2037. And, if you can even imagine this, it will proliferate more rapidly thereafter. On our present course, by 2035, federal interest payments will be 9 percent of our entire economy, compared with 1 percent today.

Adding insult to injury, Obamacare, which Obama fraudulently sold as an indispensable component of balancing the budget, will greatly drive up health care costs. The CBO says that mandatory federal spending on health care will increase by 86 percent, from 5.6 percent of GDP presently to 10.4 percent over the next 24 years. Don't say we didn't warn you... Adding aggravation to insult is the recently discovered "glitch" in Obamacare that allows for more than 3 million middle-class Americans to qualify for Medicaid...

What Limbaugh alludes to is a devastating problem: the estimates of Medicare collapsing in only a dozen years and Social Security imploding shortly thereafter assumes rosy growth and hiring projections that can't possibly happen in the current economic climate. In short, these disastrous entitlement programs will collapse much sooner than anyone is willing to admit.


Consider the current situation:

Real US GDP has risen 0.8% over the 13 quarters since the current recession began, compared to an average increase of 9.9% in past recoveries.

Obama’s trillion dollar stimulus failed.

The unemployment rate is still above a 9%.

Obama is the worst jobs president since the Great Depression overseeing the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression and the worst slide in home prices since the Great Depression.

And, just to make it official: "The Obama recovery is the worst ever since the Great Depression".

President Obama took what should have been a normal, run-of-the-mill recession and turned it into a full-blown depression.

By the time his first term ends, Obama will have nearly doubled the U.S. national debt. And just think: he spent it on a series of utterly failed programs like the "Stimulus", HAMP, Cash-for-Clunkers, Weatherization, Green Jobs Initiatives, Obamacare, "Banking Reform", drilling moratoriums, First-Time Home-Buyer Tax Credits, auto company takeovers and QE2, to name but a few.

These are the disastrous policy failures that our children and grandchildren will have to pay for, in the unlikely event our financial system hasn't already collapsed. This is Democrat child abuse, plain and simple.

Remember in 2012.


Photo Caption Contest o' the Day: Huma Weiner and Anthony

Over at Patterico's place.

"Did you see the picture I just tweeted, Huma? Only you baby, only you.
"


Which sports do Democrats and Republicans like most?

National Journal has an excellent graphic depicting the breakdown of sports by political party and likelihood to vote.

But where the hell are Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and boxing?


Linked by: Ace o' Spades. Thanks!

Sharia Today: Dearborn, Washington DC and CAIR

Each day we seem to read a few more reminders that Islam in the U.S. is a political system wrapped in the protective coating of a religion. Unfortunately, said political system is utterly and completely at odds with the Constitution and America's founding document, the Declaration of Independence.

Today's Exhibit A: "Peaceful Muslims threw rocks, bottles at Dearborn Arab fest."

Although 10 arrests were made in connection with various anti-Islamic protests during last weekend’s Arab International Festival, the Dearborn City Council commended Police Chief Ronald Haddad Monday night...

...Several more arrests occurred within the Arab International Festival on both Friday and Sunday, as several anti-Muslim Christian groups vocally attacked Islam in and around the free speech zone guarded by Dearborn police and Wayne County sheriffs. The demonstrations drew the ire of hundreds–if not thousands–of festivalgoers, some of whom threw rocks, bottles and insults at the evangelist groups.

Despite the sometimes violent responses–a Sunday scuffle led to the arrest of one of the self-proclaimed “Bible Believers," as well as the man who attacked him–Dearborn officials were generally pleased with the weekend...

The violence occurred because last year's event was attended by a handful of Christians who tried to hand out proselytizing material. The conclusions?

• Dearborn Muslims and Arabs are so volatile and prone to violence that even the bizarre “free speech zones” have to be protected by police
• Some Muslims and Arabs threw rocks, bottles, and insults at those in the police-protection required free speech zones
• Despite police presence, Muslims and Arabs (and leftist tools) still responded violently with multiple arrests for physically attacking non-Muslims
• Dearborn officials were pleased with the Muslim – Arab response to free speech

Today's Exhibit B: a "Shariah Law Neighborhood [Will be] Established Six Blocks From the White House".

An investment arm of oil-rich Qatar is putting up the equity needed to fund the massive [$700 million] CityCenterDC project, officials said moments before breaking ground Monday at the site of the old downtown convention center six blocks from the White House...

...Even before the Qatari investors became involved, [developers] Hines and Archstone determined that leasing to banks would not help them... [But] their hesitancy on bank branches meshed with the policies of their financial partners, who adhere to the restrictions of Shariah, or Islamic law, including the ban on collecting interest. Restaurants will be able to serve liquor, but retailers whose primary business involves selling alcohol will not be allowed, Mr. Alsup said.

...So, no bars or banks for the biggest downtown construction project in recent memory! As Bill Alsup alluded to, banks aren’t all that great for a city streetscape, and it’s admirable that they planned to forego such a dependable and high-rent-paying tenant. It’s less advantageous, though, to not have business devoted primarily to selling alcohol. CityCenterDC is unlikely to be plagued by liquor stores, but it could definitely use a few places to be out at night drinking without getting a full dinner. Could Qatari money turn CityCenterDC into more of a black hole than the last piece of the puzzle in a living downtown?

And in related good news, the "Hamas-Tied CAIR [Has] Release[d] Its First Annual Hit List.

[CAIR's] report lists the "worst" Islamophobes and the "best" of those pushing back against growing anti-Muslim sentiment in American society and presents an initial set of recommendations for Muslims and Americans of other faiths to challenge Islamophobia.

Those commended for pushing back against Islamophobia include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, among others.

Those listed as actively promoting Islamophobia included Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, co-founders of the anti-Muslim hate group Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA); Act! for America leader Brigitte Gabriel; and GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich...

Recommendations in this first annual report are directed toward American Muslims and their institutions. The report states: "This is a reflection of our belief that American Muslims must take the lead in pushing back against Islamophobia. ... In a future report, we will offer recommendations to the public and private sectors."

At some point, the vast reservoir of goodwill possessed by the American people towards people of all cultures, colors and faiths will run dry.

And it will have been exhausted by countless exhibitions of intolerance and violence, exhibited on a daily basis around the world.


Update: "Dearborn Police Bar Christian Group from Public Street Near Mosque"

Larwyn's Linx: Gunwalker and the Case for Impeaching Holder

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

Gunwalker and the Case for Impeaching Holder: PJM
'We just see the world in a fundamentally different light': PW
Quotes o' the day: Michelle Bachmann breaks out: Hot Air

Peaceful Muslims threw rocks, bottles in Dearborn: Creeping
Bill would freeze White House power to grant amnesty: Hill
Buzzkill: The problem with Huntsman Hype: Politico

Young Voters Sour on Obama: Barone
Palin Heading to Iowa: Malkin
Class of 2010 Shows Some Fire in the Belly: MB

Economy

Think like a criminal: ZH
Obama: 'We can't simply cut our way to prosperity': Hill
S&P: Investors could lose $100B if US credit is downgraded: Hill

How Bad Will the NLRB Get in Coming Months?: Exam
Chicago's Top Cop: Race-Baiter Against the Constitution: Publius
There Are No Socialists: Hanson

Climate & Energy

Obama's Oily Desperation: AmSpec
Uh Oh: Abrupt Climate Change Killed Vikings: RWN
Oh great, Green Power will screw up the electrical grid and make our clocks run fast: RWN

Media

Help! I’ve Fallen Into a Rabbit Hole and I Can’t Get Up!: Nice Doggie
Chicago's wilding summer, a deluded top cop, and the lamestream media: Marathon
Can any Republican presidential candidate withstand being Palinized?: LegalIns

WSJ: That Wretched Hive of Scum and Villany: Obi's Sister
What’s Up With All the Presidential Gaffes, Anyway?: Ledeen
Conservative arguments for gay equality: ConLes

Shredding Freedom: NoisyRoom
'The science is settled: US liberals really are the dumbest creatures on the planet': RWN
CNN Getting Desperate for Accurate Economic Predictions: Malkin

World

American Hero General David Petraeus: “I Disagree With Barack Obama… I’m No Quitter”: GWP
Muslim group seeking global sharia rule to hold US conference June 26: Creeping
The Reincarceration of Conrad Black: Steyn

The Fascist Stealth of Agenda 21: NoisyRoom
GardenSERF Will Recognize The Plot: Barnhardt
Convoy of Mexican soldiers crosses U.S. border: TRS

SciTech

Skype Scandal: Here's How Big Bad Private-Equity Firm Silver Lake Sees The Situation: Insider
Inside the Eiffel Tower's 'secret' bunker: CNet
EU Carbon Credit trading takes a dive. In Greece, they can’t hardly give EU carbon credits away: WUWT

Cornucopia

Weaving and Bobbing Our Way Across Afrika: MOTUS
Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr., 36: AGT
Regretful Obama Voter: tripletmomRN

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support Michele Bachmann for President

QOTD: "No, Mr. Chairman. We don’t estimate speeches. We need much more specificity than was provided in that [Obama's] speech." --CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf

Saturday, June 25, 2011

In pictures: the 'devastating ad' that calls out Obama's jobs failures

I think this is as good a 30-second overview of Obama's economic record as you'll find.






Help out here.


ICE agents warn Americans "to brace themselves for what's coming" as catch-and-release of illegals -- caught committing other crimes -- begins

You may have read that President Obama is now quietly offering a quasi-amnesty for illegal immigrants in a cynical attempt to rebuild his voting base.

Under his direction, new prosecution rules* put ICE agents in a bureaucratic box if they choose to prosecute illegals, with dozens of new, subjective guidelines. In essence, Obama is forcing ICE agents to release illegals even if they are caught committing crimes.

Just yesterday in Pennsylvania, ICE advised police to release three illegals who had been charged with speeding, driving without a license, without insurance, without registration, and providing police with false identification.

In response, the head of the ICE Agents' Union, which represents nearly 8,000 immigration enforcement personnel, has leveled withering criticism at the Obama administration for wantonly endangering American citizens.

"Any American concerned about immigration needs to brace themselves for what's coming," said Chris Crane, President of the National ICE Council which represents approximately 7,000 ICE agents, officers and employees, "this is just one of many new ICE policies in queue aimed at stopping the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws in the United States. Unable to pass its immigration agenda through legislation, the Administration is now implementing it through agency policy ... ICE worked hand-in-hand with immigrants rights groups, but excluded its own officers."

Agents say the policy is a "law enforcement nightmare" developed by the Administration to win votes at the expense of sound and responsible law enforcement policy. "The desires of foreign nationals illegally in the United States were the framework from which these policies were developed," Crane said, "the result is a means for every person here illegally to avoid arrest or detention, as officers we will never know who we can or cannot arrest."

..."Our officers are already under orders not to make arrests or even talk to foreign nationals in most cases unless another agency has already arrested them; you won't find that written in any public ICE policy."

..."I think the writing is on the wall for every person concerned about good government and effective immigration reforms - the things happening at ICE represent neither, said Crane, we are asking everyone to please email or call your Congressman and Senators immediately and ask them to help stop what's happening at ICE, we desperately need your help."

President Obama's new rules for U.S. immigration agents -- which can be legitimately described as a stealth amnesty -- are recklessly endangering American citizens.

Write your Congressman now and demand an investigation of ICE. Be polite, but firm. The lives of your family members may depend on it.

I'm no lawyer, but it would seem that this program and others like it -- Operation Gunrunner, for example -- could very well rise to impeachment level.


* Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion Consistent with the Priorities ofthe Agency for the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Aliens (PDF)


Hat tip: News you may have missed.

Foolproof method of avoiding the TSA's grope-down procedures

Not only can you avoid all of the intrusive TSA groping screening procedures when entering the country, you can also bypass customs. Just follow the example of the 700 illegal aliens who entered the United States using a single trail in Arizona over the course of one month last year, documented by a lone, courageous citizen. These trespassers didn't get groped or scanned or background-checked or tested for contagious diseases. Thanks to the Democrat Party -- which wants open borders -- no one gave them even a cursory look.


Talk of President Obama's DREAM Act-by-fiat is reportedly driving the numbers of illegal immigrants up.

Thousands of undocumented aliens pour over the border every day, unchecked and uncontrolled. They don't have to undergo a virtual colonoscopy at a TSA checkpoint, but you do.

No groping. No full-body scanners. No customs. No criminal background checks.

No terrorist watch lists.

No screening for infectious diseases.

No checks for weapons.

No checks for narcotics or illegal drugs.

Who are these people?

No one knows.

On March 27th, 2010, Arizona rancher Rob Krentz was brutally murdered on his own property by an illegal alien.

Today, Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of the world.

Of 75,000 violent and property crimes in 2009, only 18% were 'cleared' (solved).

Of 8,732 violent crimes in '09, only 2,921 arrests were made.

Of the 522 rapes that year, only 72 arrests were made.

Less than half of the murders that year were cleared.

This is not an indictment of the police. This is an indictment of a federal open borders policy that endangers citizens.

An illegal who commits a crime, like Rob Krentz' murderer, can easily disappear back into Mexico.

You can't board a plane or a cruise ship without copious documentation and a virtual strip search.

Someday soon, if it hasn't happened already, terrorists bent on destruction will enter the country through the swinging doors in the Southwest.

Millions of pounds of drugs pass through the porous border every year.

It's only a matter of time until chem-, bio- or radiological weapons make their way to our cities through similar means. In the mean time, you're the one who has to be strip-searched.



Democrat Republik of Illinois Stiffs 8,000 Businesses to Whom It Owes Money, Including Funeral Homes and Plumbers

President Obama's home state -- the People's Republik of Illinois -- is maintaining its stellar record for fiscal irresponsibility by stiffing vendors -- especially small businesses and charities -- to whom it owes billions.

...In Illinois, you’re never too big or too small to get stiffed by the state, which is $4 billion behind in its bills.

International Business Machines Inc. is owed $1.1 million. Office Depot Inc. (ODP) is waiting for a $660,955 check. And the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Sparta is due $340.52. They are among at least 8,000 vendors including businesses, charities and government agencies waiting months for the state to pay up. At least 114 companies are due more than $1 million...

While states periodically fall behind in paying Medicaid providers or, in the case of California, rely on bank loans and IOUs, the Illinois backlog has been growing for three years... forcing some vendors to fire workers, cut services and, if they can, obtain loans and lines of credit to keep their businesses going while the state takes months to pay.

...Creditors include health and education agencies, schools, charities, funeral homes, plumbing-and-heating contractors and purveyors of food, coal, clothing, electronics and pizza...

...In January, lawmakers approved increases of 67 percent in the state income tax and a 46 percent in the corporate income tax. Those, however, weren’t sufficient to cover the backlog, and the bills will be passed onto the fiscal year that begins July 1... They include $5.5 million owed Wright Express Financial Services Corp., for gasoline credit-card charges; $1.4 million for Xerox Corp. (XRX); $11,300 to a downstate restaurant, La Roma Pizza in Canton; and fees for burying the indigent dead to almost 100 funeral homes.

...Delayed payments are also affecting hospitals, universities and public-school districts... Help at Home cares for about 14,000 Illinois senior citizens. Ford said his company is fortunate because it is large -- it operates in 10 states -- and has access to credit. He said he is compensating by billing other governments more quickly... “Other states are carrying the Illinois burden,” Ford said.

Small businesses and charities have been hit hardest by the Democrat-controlled state's fiscal mismanagement: Illinois is waiting between six and nine months to pay its bills.

Decade after decade of graft, corruption, runaway public sector unions, and other Democrat success stories have transformed Illinois from a powerhouse into the lowest-rated state (along with another blue state, California) according to Moody's.

But keep voting Democrat, people of Illinois! Maybe they'll get it right someday!



Larwyn's Linx: Speechworld vs. Realworld

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

Speechworld vs. Realworld: Steyn
A Firsthand Account of Arizona’s Porous Border: Foundry
11 “Progressive” Dem Secretaries Of State owned by Soros: WZ

Liberals’ Frankenstein Monster Runs Amok in Chicago: RWN
Disconnected? Obama? Um …: ProWis
'Undocumented': A liberal reporter's illegal alien sob story: Malkin

NY Passes Gay Marriage; County Clerks, Caterers Hardest Hit: LP
NRLC: Candidates give reason to rejoice: Hot Air
DeMint's Fighting Words: ABC

Economy

NJ Unions Dealt Crushing Defeat: JWF
Ag Department Needs To Be Plowed Under: Hanson
Fatcat Fundraisers Flee From Obama: "Demoralized": JWF

Geithner…? Geithner..? Geithner..?: ChamberPost
The Case for a Boycott of Delta Airlines: PJM
Desperate Democrats jump the stimulus shark: Exam

Climate & Energy

President Obama Abuses Nation’s Oil Reserves: Foundry
Remember the flap over foreign ships and the Deepwater Horizon cleanup?: Exam
EPA sets timeline for controversial air pollution rule: Hill

Supreme Court just becamse the world's most august global warming sceptics: WUWT
Who Didn’t See This Coming? Oh Wait, The EUrotards: CBullitt
Former Dem Senator: We Need “Aggressive Campaign To Go After [Climate] Deniers”: WZ

Media

Wisconsin Left Gears Up As Politico Game Exposed: AmSpec
A dishonest dicussion of the Constitution: ProWis
Too Hot for the HuffPo: Power Line

Michelle Obama: "Fortunately We Have Help From The Media": RCP
Media Matters Tax Exempt Status Delenda Est: VS
Rep. Michele Bachmann on ‘Face the Nation,’ ‘Fox News Sunday’: Orlando Sentinel

NYT's Risen Claims Bush, 'Right Wing Bloggers' Out to Get Him for Wrecking Anti-Terror Efforts: NB
Herman Cain: Jon Stewart Mocked Me Because I'm a Black Conservative: NB
WaPo’s Colby King Calls Michele Bachmann “Barbie With Fangs”: WZ

World

Obama Mentor: 'The State of Israel is an Illegal, Genocidal ... Place' : JWF
Misunderstanderer of Islam shot during traffic stop, had armor-piercing rounds: Atlas
Netanyahu's Son Demonstrates Another Political Risk of Social Media: Atlantic

Does Hugo Chavez have prostate cancer?: Fausta
Hillary Clinton’s Guide To Patriotism — Now And Then: WZ
What the Murder of Iraqi Jews in 1941 Tells us About the Middle East Today: PJM

The U.N. Prepares for Durban III: Bayefsky
While Obama Finds Excuses For Lybia, Syria Is Still Killing Activists: RWN
The Color Purple Author Alice Walker: Israel And America Are “Terrorist States”: WZ

SciTech

Training materials and e-mails confirm Verizon's 'usage-based' data plans: CNet
Mozilla and Google force businesses to use Internet Explorer: BetaNews
Feds to Launch Probe of Google: WSJ

Cornucopia

A Thing of Beauty: PRS
'It's Ridiculous, and It Could Make Her Angrier': JWF
Overlooked Vancouver Video Shows ‘Kissing Couple’ Was Knocked Down by Riot Police: Lede

Image: Lucianne
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Michele Bachmann for President

QOTD: "Issa’s House Oversight committee would love to get some testimony from Melson, but the Justice Department has thus far refused to allow him to testify.

Of course not! The Justice Department is all about keeping people from giving sworn testimony. That’s one of their core functions." --John Hayward

Friday, June 24, 2011

Good News: Illegal Aliens Helping to Reduce Unemployment Among Young Women by Trafficking Sex Slaves in Texas

Folks, sometimes you just can't even add any snark.

...the Houston Police Department detail[ed] a shocking sex trafficking operation run by illegal aliens, including a former prostitute, Maria Rojas, who had previously been deported. The documents indicate that police officers responded to service calls to the business co-owned by Ms. Rojas on 60 occasions, and were well aware of the criminal activity taking place at these establishments, but apparently did not check the immigration status of any of the arrestees or Ms. Rojas. Houston, Texas, has in place an illegal alien sanctuary policy, Houston PD General Order 500-5, which prohibits police officers from inquiring about the citizenship status of any person.

...The indictment alleges that Maria and Jose Luis Rojas ran a sex slave trafficking ring since at least August 1999. The scheme involved luring young women into the country illegally from Mexico with false promises of employment, then forcing them to work as prostitutes at La Costeñita Bar and El Club Restaurante in Houston. Maria Rojas and Javier Guevara Belmontes (a legal resident) co-owned the locations. The remaining defendants were illegal aliens who served as managers or employees of the businesses...

* Police documented 48 calls for service to La Costeñita between 2006 and 2011. Nine of these events involved vice squad investigations and/or arrests for prostitution, and during this time frame 12 individuals were arrested for prostitution. There were 17 cases of assault (including three shootings and a stabbing). There was one cocaine possession arrest (in May 2008) and one armed robbery arrest (in December 2007).
* There were 12 documented police calls for service to El Club Restaurante between 2006 and 2010. These included four burglaries, two assaults and a shooting.
* Between May 2006 and November 2010, Houston police responded to the residence of Maria Rojas and Javier Belmontes eight times. On three occasions, police spoke with and documented a complaint by Jose Luis Rojas. On November 1, 2010, Jose Luis Rojas reported an armed robbery by six unknown assailants. Three weeks later, Jose Luis Rojas reported receiving a telephonic death threat.

Thanks to the Democrat Party, millions upon millions of illegal immigrants have entered this country without any review whatsoever. No TSA pat-downs, no background checks, no civics tests, no paperwork.

The inevitable result? Drugs, crime, slavery, disease, poverty and Balkanization. Which is why we have a process for this sort of thing. Waiting lists. Background checks. Education on America's founding, the Declaration and the Constitution.

We must seal the border first and foremost and then invite the best and the brightest from other countries.


The Obama Depression: Two-and-a-half years after the 'Stimulus', there are 'more idle men and women than at any time since the Great Depression'

Who could have predicted that the president's virulent anti-job policies would result in rampant unemployment?

The Great Recession has now earned the dubious right of being compared to the Great Depression. In the face of the most stimulative fiscal and monetary policies in our history, we have experienced the loss of over 7 million jobs, wiping out every job gained since the year 2000. From the moment the Obama administration came into office, there have been no net increases in full-time jobs, only in part-time jobs. This is contrary to all previous recessions. Employers are not recalling the workers they laid off from full-time employment.

The real job losses are greater than the estimate of 7.5 million. They are closer to 10.5 million, as 3 million people have stopped looking for work. Equally troublesome is the lower labor participation rate; some 5 million jobs have vanished from manufacturing, long America's greatest strength. Just think: Total payrolls today amount to 131 million, but this figure is lower than it was at the beginning of the year 2000, even though our population has grown by nearly 30 million.

The most recent statistics are unsettling and dismaying, despite the increase of 54,000 jobs in the May numbers. Nonagricultural full-time employment actually fell by 142,000, on top of the 291,000 decline the preceding month. Half of the new jobs created are in temporary help agencies, as firms resist hiring full-time workers.

Today, over 14 million people are unemployed. We now have more idle men and women than at any time since the Great Depression...

And good news, drones: yesterday, CNBC reported that the employment situation just got worse.

So your plan to destroy America appears to be succeeding.


'The Future of Computing... a Symphony of Information... Macintosh-level of disruption" -- What a Load of Crap

MG Siegler at TechCrunch believes a new technology company called Oblong will revolutionize how people use personal technology. I haven't tried it myself, but feel safe in saying Siegler must have been drinking. But first, let's listen to him describe this awe-inspiring platform that Oblong has created.

Over the past several years, I’ve followed pretty much every new thing in the technology space, and written about many of them. But it’s hard not to get cynical when so much of what’s out there is not only not revolutionary, it’s often not even evolutionary. Instead, much of what I see is simply derivative and quite frankly, boring. But every once in a while something crops up that is truly game-changing. And it restores my faith in technology. That’s the best way to describe what I saw when I met with Oblong Industries this week.

The technologies that Oblong is working on are anything but derivative or boring — they are absolutely revolutionary. And they will shape the future of computing.

...Mezzanine is a spatial operating environment meant to be used in conference rooms and other large meeting areas. The peripherals vary, but the system I used consisted of three large screens front and center, two vertically-aligned screen on a wall to the right, a whiteboard to the wall on the left, and two cameras (one in front pointing at you, and one to the side pointing at the whiteboard). The main points of interaction are two “wands”, which I’ll explain more about in a bit. And the system works in concert with any device — meaning laptop, iPhone, iPad, etc — that is in the room and connected to the network as well.

The idea for Mezzanine is to get people in a room together in order to synthesize information in the most collaborative way imaginable... Using these controls, anyone can rearrange data, push new data into the flow, highlight specific things, and queue stuff up to talk about later. Perhaps the best way to think about it is as a symphony of information that everyone in the room can conduct. Again, it’s a bit hard to describe, but when you see it, it just makes sense.

This idea is so dumb I'm not sure I can find words.

But I'll try.

First: what's the business case? How does this help people make money? Uhm, far as I can tell, it doesn't. Hell, it's hard enough to justify getting a built-in projector in most SME conference rooms!

And, dude. Running some collaborative software on laptops using mice and avatars would seem to work just as well without quite as much... standing, gesticulating, and getting up all in my grill.

Sorry, but my personal take is that Oblong has created one of the failiest technologies ever.

As one wag noted: this will revolutionize computing the way the Segway revolutionized personal transportation.


Bumper Sticker o' the Day: 2012


Hat tip: Ray.

Forget Cigarettes, These are the Warning Labels America Needs

Given their love of warning labels and the current state of the hard left Democrat Party, I would propose placing at least one of the following warning stickers on every voting machine in America.








Hat tips: Left Coast Rebel and Mark Levin.