Can you afford?

Heritage Foundation estimates the amount the new stimulus plan will cost American families.

If all families were asked to equally shoulder the burden of the $825 billion “stimulus” package, it would be like asking them to take on an amount of debt equivalent to what they spend on food, clothing, and health care — or most of what they spend on shelter — for an entire year.

The Philippine Congress finally passed the 2009 budget that also includes a stimulus plan. What would it be worth for us here? Methinks, it would not be as much as in the US. Good luck to us all.

Rowan @ 22 weeks

By any logical measure, Angele - a strikingly attractive woman in her thirties with long  hair and a model's cheekbones - should have been on the sidelines, protesting against the marchers. After all, the divorced mother of two had been raped and subsequently exercised her choice to have a mid-trimester abortion. But things didn't quite go according to plan.

On April 1, 2005, she told me, she went to an abortion clinic in Orlando, Florida to terminate the pregnancy. A physician induced labor, but clinic employees forgot to administer the digoxin intended to stop the fetal heart. The next day, she delivered a 1 lb. 1 oz. baby boy in a toilet in the clinic's grimy restroom. He was still alive.

She can't explain what happened next. No longer a fetus, the tiny boy was now legally a person under federal law and  entitled to constitutional protection under the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. She screamed for help as she stroked and sang to the infant she had tried to kill the day before. When she realized that clinic employees would not help her save him, she had a friend call 911, but help never came.

Excerpt from Barbara Hollingsworth's column on January 26.

Why not?

In a Sunstar Cebu report "‘Little mayor’ nabbed in raid", the little mayor was named but the name of the present town mayor was not. Nothing wrong there really, except that further into the news report, another person was named as probably on the take, and he is described as a technical assistant of the acting mayor of Cebu City, the report also including the name of the acting mayor. Why is there a difference in the treatment? Isn't the name of the town mayor as important as the acting city mayor's?

The welcome page of the online edition of Sunstar has a picture of the little mayor, the caption accompanying it states the name of the town mayor. So perhaps there is fairness in treatment? What do you think?

"This will end in tears"

It is frightening to think there is a real possibility that the entire world economy could go into complete meltdown and famine kill millions. Yet Western - and British - commentators are cocooned in a warm comfort zone of infatuation with America's answer to Neil Kinnock. We should be long past applauding politicians of any hue: they got us into this mess. The best deserve a probationary opportunity to prove themselves, the worst should be in jail.

It is questionable whether the present political system can survive the coming crisis. Whatever the solution, teenage swooning sentimentality over a celebrity cult has no part in it. The most powerful nation on earth is confronting its worst economic crisis under the leadership of its most extremely liberal politician, who has virtually no experience of federal politics. That is not an opportunity but a catastrophe.

Gerald Warner

Are these for us?

QUESTION: Mr. Boehner, you had three strong words in reaction to the Democratic House proposal. What was your message to President Obama?

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH): You know, I’m concerned about the size of the package and I’m concerned about some of the spending that’s in there. How you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives – how does that stimulate the economy?

You can go through a whole host of issues that have nothing to do with growing jobs in America and helping people keep their jobs. Thanks.

H/T: MM

(A) Chance is good

British chemist, inventor, and environmentalist, James Lovelock, whose work on atmospheric CFC's led to a gloabl ban on CFC's granted an interview with the New Scientist. He says, among other things, that "most of the "green" stuff is verging on a gigantic scam. Carbon trading, with its huge government subsidies, is just what finance and industry wanted. It's not going to do a damn thing about climate change, but it'll make a lot of money for a lot of people and postpone the moment of reckoning."

He finds that we may have a chance against climate change, "through the massive burial of charcoal. It would mean farmers turning all their agricultural waste - which contains carbon that the plants have spent the summer sequestering - into non-biodegradable charcoal, and burying it in the soil. Then you can start shifting really hefty quantities of carbon out of the system and pull the CO2 down quite fast."

Lovelock will turn 90 this year and will be a space tourist, a guest of Mr. Branson.

Shelby Steele

I direct you to Shelby Steele's The Wall Street Journal piece on January 21.

Here's the last paragraph:

Of course the bad economy has checked some of Mr. Obama's progressive ambitions. He will live with the Bush tax cuts for the time being, and he may include some business tax cuts in his stimulus package. But he clearly wants a more redistributive and socially activist government. And he will be helped in this by two unique sources of authority: the urgency of our economic troubles and his moral authority as the first black president. Again, I am not hopeful for him here, and I despair at seeing the moral capital of my race put to these ends.

More money cometh

Update: Friday, he will!

Update: Not today!

On Thursday, January 22, President Obama is expected to issue an executive order lifting the ban on the use of federal dollars by non-governmental organizations that discuss or provide abortions outside of the United States. January 22 is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. This means that groups working towards reproductive rights outside of the US will again have more funds available for them. This policy ban is known as the "Mexico City policy", and was first used in the time of Pres. Reagan. The ban was lifted during the Clinton presidency and later instituted again during Pres. Bush's two terms.

Read more here.

Let's pray for global warming

It is time. We are in the beginnings of an ice age. Russia's Vostok Station in Antarctica has core sample evidence that suggests that the 12,000-year Holocene period may be over. Core samples also show that CO2 levels follow the earth's temperature rise.

Here's John Tomlinson. Excerpts below:

If you're wondering why North America is starting to resemble nuclear winter, then you missed the news.

At December's U.N. Global Warming conference in Poznan, Poland, 650 of the world's top climatologists stood up and said man-made global warming is a media generated myth without basis. Said climatologist Dr. David Gee, Chairman of the International Geological Congress, "For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming?"

I asked myself, why would such obviously smart guy say such a ridiculous thing? But it turns out he's right.

The earth's temperature peaked in 1998. It's been falling ever since; it dropped dramatically in 2007 and got worse in 2008, when temperatures touched 1980 levels.

Meanwhile, the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. What's more, measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980.

In other words, during what was supposed to be massive global warming, the biggest chunks of ice on earth grew larger. Just as an aside, do you remember when the hole in the ozone layer was going to melt Antarctica? But don't worry, we're safe now, that was the nineties.

Dr. Kunihiko, Chancellor of Japan's Institute of Science and Technology said this: "CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or the other ... every scientist knows this, but it doesn't pay to say so." Now why would a learned man say such a crazy thing?

By the way, did any of the environmentalists and global warming alarmists measure the carbon footprint or emissions from the O-nauguration? Anyone? Anyone? None. Thought so.

Here is one estimate:

What about the carbon footprint of your inauguration?

The President-elect forgot to mention that Disa orchids will be flown in for his inauguration from New Zealand within 24 hours of being picked!

The total bill for Mr Obama’s inauguration, including cost of the security, which will be paid by the taxpayers, will probably exceed the $160million [Figure revised according to the media estimates on January 20, 2009.] At a global average of 584g of CO2/GDP dollar, the inauguration carbon footprint on cost basis alone would be 93,400 metric tons [MT] of CO2.

[But, hey, that's nothing compared with the trillion-dollar bailouts being handed out to any bank/corporation large enough to blackmail the state!]

As for the additional CO2 created by an estimated 2 million people swarming Washington DC for the ceremony, add another 44,000 MT. By January 21, 2009, the inauguration carbon footprint will have exceeded 137,400 MT of CO2.

Another one:

It ain't easy being green, and in the case of Barack Obama's inaugural, it seems like he's not even trying to green it up. According to the Institute for Liberty, the Obamathon in Washington will produce about 575 million pounds of CO2 emissions.

A similar estimate:

Even though Obama proposes job-destroying tax hikes on employers who emit carbon dioxide, the Institute for Liberty reports his $170 million inauguration had a total "carbon footprint" of 575,000,000 pounds.

According to the EPA, the average American coal-fired power plant produces 10,237,509,070 pounds of CO2 per year. That's 112,191,880 pounds of CO2 every four days.

Also, I was directed to a NYT article about China overtaking the US as the number one CO2 emitter. NYT corrected that article after two days to say: An article on Saturday about the growth in greenhouse-gas emissions from China referred incorrectly to carbon dioxide. It is the main heat-trapping gas produced by human activity; it is not the main heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, which is H20 water vapor.

We knew that of course, right?

All hail the chief!

My President Is Black

Yeah Be The Realest Shit I Never Wrote
I Aint Write This Shit By The Way Nigga
Some Real Shit Right Here Nigga
This Will Be The Realest Shit You Ever Quote

{{Hook}}

My President Is Black, My Lambo’s Blue
And I Be God Damn If My Rims Aint Too
My Momma Aint At Home & Daddy Still In Jail
Tryna Make A Plate Anybody Seen The Scale

My President Is Black, My Lambo’s Blue
And I Be God Damn If My Rims Aint Too
My Money’s Light green And My jordans Light Grey
And They Love To See White Now How Much You Tryna Pay
Lets Go!

{Verse 1}

Today Was A Good Day Hope I Have Me A Great Nite
I Dunno Wat U Fishin For Hope U Catch You A Great White
Need I Say Great White Heavy As Killer Wales
I Cannot Believe This Who Knew It Came In Bails
Who Knew It Came Wit Jail Who Knew It Came With Prison
Jus Cuz You Got An Opinion Does That Make You A Politician
Bush Robbed All Of Us Would That Make Him A Criminal
& Den He Cheated In Florida Would Dat Make Him a Seminal
I Say And I Quote We Need A Miracle
And I Say A Miracle Cuz This Shit Is Histerical
By My Nephews And Nieces I Will Email Jesus
Tell Him Forward To Moses And CC: Allah
Mr Soul Survivor Does That Make Me A Konvict
Be All U Can Be Now Dont Dat Sound Like Some Dumb Shit
When You Dogged Of Crew Orders Black As My Nigga Boo
It’s Really A Desert Storm Thats Word To My Nigga Clue
Catch Me In Las Vegas, A.R. Arizona
Rep For Them Real Niggaz Im Winnin In California
Winnin In Tennessee Hands Down Atlanta
Landslide Alabama On My Way To Sevana

{{Hook}}

{Verse 2}

Woke Up This Morning Headache THIS BIG!
Pay All These Damn Bills Feed All These Damn Kids
Buy All These School Shoes Buy All These School Clothes
For Some Strange Reason My Son Addicted To Polos
Love Me Some Spinach Dip Im Addicted To Use This
And If The Numbers Is Right I Take A Trip Out To Houston
A Earthquake Out In China A Hurricane In New Orleans
Street Dreams Tour I Showed My Ass In New Orleans
Did It For Soulja Slim Brought Out B.G.
Its All Love From The Beginnin You Pimp C
You Know How The Pimp Be
That Nigga Go’n Speak His Mind
If He Could Speak Down From Heaven
He Tell Me Straight All My Crimes
Tell Him Im Doin Fine Obama For Mankind
We Ready For Damn Change So Ya’ll Let The Man Shine
Stuntin On Martin Luther Cuz Im Feelin Just Like A King
Guess Dis Is Wat He Meant Wen He Said Dat He Had A Dream

{{Hook}}

{Nas}

History, Black History
No President Ever Did Shit For Me
Had To Hit The Streets Try To Flip Some Keys
So A Nigga Wont Go Broke
Then They Put Us In Jail Now A Nigga Cant Go Vote
So I Spend Dough All These Hoes Is Trippin
She Aint A Politician Honeys A Polotician
My President Is Black Rolls Golden Charms
22 Inch Rims Like Hulk Hogans Arms
When Thousands Of People Is Riled Up To See You
That Can Arouse Ya Ego You Got Mouths To Feed So
Gotta Stay Tru To Who You Are And Where You Came From
Cuz At The Top Will Be The Same Place You Hang From
No Matter How Big You Can Ever Be
For Whatever Fee Or Publicity Never Lose Your Integrity
For Years Theres Been Surprise Horses In This Stable
Just Two Albums In I’m The Realest Nigga On This Label
Mr Black President Yeah Obama Fa Reel
They Gotta Put Ya Face On The $5000 Dollar Bill

{{Hook}}

{Outro}

So Im Sittin Here Right Now Man
Its June 3rd Haha 2:08 Am
Nigga I Wont Say Win, Lose Or Draw
Man We Congratulate You Already Homie
See I Motivate The Thugs Right
You Motivate Us Homie
Thats What It Is, This A Hands On Policy
Ya’ll Touchin Me Right
Yeah 1st Black President
Win, Lose Or Draw Nigga Haha
Matta Fact You Know What It Is Man
Shouts Out Jackie Robinson
Booker T Washington Homie
Oh Y’all Aint Think I Knew That Shit!
My President Is Black
I’m Important Too Though!

Another one from Ann

Ann Coulter, this week, will again raise eyebrows from the left. While beginning to point out that NYT's January 2 front-page article on violent crimes by returning GI's is more of the same from last year when it refused to to give comparable and relative statistics, she jumps on to ask, "But as long as the Times has such a burning interest in the root causes of murder, how about considering the one factor more likely to create a murderer than any other?"

The answer, as she says: That is the topic we're not allowed to discuss: single motherhood.

Read all here.

As I describe in my new book, "Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and Their Assault on America," controlling for socioeconomic status, race and place of residence, the strongest predictor of whether a person will end up in prison is that he was raised by a single parent. (The second strongest factor is owning a Dennis Kucinich bumper sticker.)

By 1996, 70 percent of inmates in state juvenile detention centers serving long-term sentences were raised by single mothers. Seventy percent of teenage births, dropouts, suicides, runaways, juvenile delinquents and child murderers involve children raised by single mothers. Girls raised without fathers are more sexually promiscuous and more likely to end up divorced.

A 1990 study by the left-wing Progressive Policy Institute showed that, after controlling for single motherhood, the difference in black and white crime disappeared.

Various studies come up with slightly different numbers, but all the figures are grim. A study cited in the far left-wing Village Voice found that children brought up in single-mother homes "are five times more likely to commit suicide, nine times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 14 times more likely to commit rape (for the boys), 20 times more likely to end up in prison, and 32 times more likely to run away from home."

With new children being born, running away, dropping out of high school and committing murder every year, it's not a static problem to analyze. But however the numbers are run, single motherhood is a societal nuclear bomb.

Many of these studies, for example, are from the '90s, when the percentage of teenagers raised by single parents was lower than it is today. In 1990, 28 percent of children under 18 were being raised in one-parent homes -- mother or father, divorced or never-married. By 2005, more than one-third of all babies born in the U.S. were illegitimate.

That's a lot of social problems in the pipeline.

Think I'm being cruel? Imagine an America with 60 to 70 percent fewer juvenile delinquents, teenage births, teenage suicides and runaways, and you will appreciate what the sainted "single mothers" have
accomplished.

Even in liberals' fevered nightmares, predatory mortgage dealers, oil speculators and Ken Lay could never do as much harm to their fellow human beings as single mothers do to their own children, to say nothing of society at large.

But the Times won't run that series because liberals adore single motherhood and the dissolution of traditional marriage in America. They detest the military, so they cite a few anecdotal examples of veterans who have committed murder and hope that no one asks for details.

Advanced copy of inaugural address of The One

Leaked?  Sounds familiar ...

Four Two score and seven years ago our my father(s?) brought forth on this continent a new nation Messiah, conceived in Liberty Kenya, or Hawaii, or somewhere, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, unless they’re rich or successful. And where they are not equal it is the job of the Government to make them equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war depression. Not The Great Depression, but the next closest thing. And I plan on testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated to capitalism and personal freedom, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war big open area in front of the Capitol building. We Many of you have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. your lives to The One. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground Me, anymore than you have already done. The brave men , living and dead, and women of the press who struggled here to get me elected, have consecrated it, far above our your poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say do here over the next four years, but it can never forget what they did I say here, for I am The One. It is for us the living Government, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work of total Government control which they who fought here have thus far so nobly in years past we could only partially advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion you have elected Me—that we here highly resolve that these dead ideas and ideals shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–Where my wife, for the first time in her life, can be proud to be an American—and that government of the people Government, by the people elected who know better, for the people control of all power, shall not perish from the earth.

H/T:  Bright and Early

Scale back

President-elect Barack Obama said reviving the U.S. economy will require scaling back on his campaign promises and personal sacrifice from all Americans.

“I want to be realistic here, not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace we had hoped,” Obama said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” program broadcast this morning. “Everybody’s going to have to give.”

Why am I not surprised? Only shows that candidates always promise the moon, even if the facts on the ground cannot support the promises.

She says, but They say

She says:

There is no more debate. Global warming is due to the polluting greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide and methane. The dirtiest source of carbon dioxide is coal, the fossil fuel used to provide us with electricity. The other sources are oil and gas, which we use for transportation. Methane from the landfill, dump sites and farms is another greenhouse gas responsible for increasing the earth’s temperature. Humans are the cause, thanks to our unsustainable lifestyle and habits. The fate of our planet rests on each one of us for the solutions. But time is of the essence. We need to move fast.

They say otherwise here, here, here.  I'd put my trust in these climate scientists than a ... a lawyer?

Hubris more than arrogance

The golf brawl mess takes another turn.  Valley Golf and Country Club says that based on its investigation, Delfin de la Paz started the fight.  He is banned for life from the club.  His two children have been prohibited too.  The sons of Sec. Pangandaman have also been banned from the club.  The secretary has been suspended from the club for two years.

As I take the club findings to be correct, I apologize for what I had written in a previous post. 

Weep not for them

From Jules and Jawa:



See also this.

Googling isn't green

Apparently, googling could increase carbon dioxide levels. Foxnews.com reports:

Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.

While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2. Boiling a kettle generates about 15g.

“Google operates huge data centers around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.”

Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centers. However, with more than 200m internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet is provoking concern. A recent report by Gartner, the industry analysts, said the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the world’s airlines - about 2% of global CO2 emissions.

With Google searches increasing CO2 emissions, maybe this is the reason Google CEO Eric Schmidt did not want the chief technology officer position that The One promised he would create. It wouldn't jive with The One's green mind.

I wonder what "internet founder Al" would say about this? His use of the internet, notwithstanding. Anything? Guess not.

Do as I say ...

If you can't see why, well ...

H/T: PlanetGore

Who said this?

"All of us who have served in this office understand that the office transcends the individual. And we wish you all the very best. And so does the country."

These words or similar words were never heard from the opposition when he started his second term.

In my country, these words could not be uttered by the opposition as well.

Who are the statesmen around?

Choice of words

A cardinal isn't exempt from making a better choice of words. It would have not mattered much, perhaps, if he in the past has also minced words about the atrocities of Hamas against the citizens of Southern Israel. Feels like he has the Hamas talking points with him as he said those words.

For what it's worth, read Sandro Magister at Chiesa.

Give me por(n)

Now it is reported that the porn industry in the US is asking for some kind of bailout. Do you think the new stimulus package will include porn, er, pork for the "entertainment" industry? Why? As Chuck says "because they think porn is as American as apple pie, their sales of video's have dropped in the past year some 30%, they lost money, plus they want to revitalize America and believes everyone needs porn. I am sure they'll try to get House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to press top congressional Democrats to "pad this pork" into their agenda's, and call it a massive economic stimulus recovery bill. And then get President-elect Barack H. Obama to sign it as soon as he takes Office."

Who is next to ask?

Do you think we Pinoys can ask for part of the bailout package as we are partners in the war on terror, and this "war" costs money.

This, and our government's (plus others') war on global warming -- although even as we have not done anything to mitigate GW, world temperatures have been dropping.

Global temperatures are not rising. The warmest year in the past century occurred a full decade ago, in 1998. Temperatures have been gradually and steadily falling for most of the past decade. Temperatures in 2008 were no warmer than temperatures in 1980. (Ten Global Warming Truths to Keep Us Sane in 2009)

Why, even Putin thinks there is no more global warming. No kidding. Why would he cut off gas supply to Europe via Ukraine? Here's Jeff Poor:

It’s not often that meteorology intersects with geopolitics – but Europe could be in store for another Cold War, literally.

Accuweather.com’s chief long-range and hurricane forecaster Joe Bastardi observed that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s recent cut of gas flows to Europe via Ukraine may have been done so in anticipation of a global cooling cycle on the Jan. 6 “Glenn Beck Show” radio program. Bastardi has a solid reputation among Wall Street traders for understanding weather’s impact on energy commodities.

View from the other side

As we seem to get more of the same from MSM on the Israel attacks on Hamas, we can check this out:  Pajamas TV.

For context, here is Roger L. Simon in The MSM, Gaza and Pajamas TV:

If your only information about the current Middle East crisis came from CNN, you’d think it boiled down to a bunch of high-tech Israeli bullies running around Gaza torturing Palestinian women and children, while tossing smart bombs on hospitals and blowing up UN schools with Merkava tanks. Almost no context is given. That Israel had done virtually nothing for the three years since voluntarily withdrawing from Gaza but grin and bear it, as missiles after missile, many courtesy of Iran, flew willy-nilly into the Southern part of their country – a fusillade no nation on Earth, civilized or uncivilized, would begin to tolerate – is barely mentioned or mumbled into a half-audible mike while the video plays bloodied Palestinian infants screaming for mama.

The New York Times may be worse. Bending over backwards in a morass of cultural relativist obfuscation, the paper seems to have imbued moral equivalence with a religious fervor usually found at Lourdes.

Of course, the Israelis have the media ticked off. Remembering well the media’s role in the second Lebanon War when some, notably AP and Reuters, went so far as to try to palm off Photoshopped Hezbollah pictures as authentic photos from the front when the forgeries were so obvious bloggers caught them in minutes, this time the IDF has the media cordoned off miles from the action. This time they don’t have the chance to lens endless photos of the same “green man” popping up at one scene of “Israeli brutality” after the other.

Who could blame the Israel government for having had enough of the propaganda wiles of the MSM? I had to laugh when I heard CNN’s Ben Wedeman complaining last night that the network had to rely on their Palestinian stringers inside Gaza, but assuring us they were excellent and reliable. We’re supposed to take that seriously from the network whose former executive director finally admitted after several years that they had covered up (effectively lied about) Saddam’s atrocities in order to get access inside Iraq? Have these people no shame? Well, I guess not.

So that brings us to Pajamas TV. We have decided to help right this imbalance in our small way by emphasizing coverage from Israel as long as this crisis is going on. We have a live camera in Jerusalem and we are going to feature the following talent there, among others: Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post, our own Middle East Editor Allison Kaplan Sommer (a Tel Aviv resident), Richard Landes of Boston University and a part-time Jerusalem resident and Nitsana Leitner of the Israeli Law Center. We admit we are biased in favor of Israel, in favor of the side we view as the good guys in a moral struggle. So bear that in mind when you tune in, but tune in every day for our Gaza Update.

"Red faced and red handed"

► Red Faced and Red Handed: Top Ten Pro-Abortion Moments of 2008
by Katie Walker

H/T: MM