Congress and Idiots...but I repeat myself

All too often it appears that our elected representatives are good at only one thing: getting elected. Outside that area they are awfully stupid. For example: U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D) out of Colorado is the lead sponsor in the House on a gun control measure that would ban high capacity magazines--in the future. She thinks such a ban would soon remove all high capacity magazines from the country because, as the Denver Post reports:

“I will tell you these are ammunition, they’re bullets, so the people who have those now they’re going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won’t be any more available.”

That's right, she thinks that when you shoot all the bullets held in the magazine that the magazine is then useless. She doesn't realize that a magazine can be reloaded over and over again. And she's been the lead sponsor of this bill for two sessions of Congress! The country is in the very best of hands.

What he say?

Krugman: You know what this economy needs? A space alien invasion!

No. Really. That's what he said. (There's a link to the spew at the Hot Air site linked above if you don't believe me.)

At least Paul Krugman will be safe during the next zombie invasion. They eat brains, ya know, and he ain't got one.

This guy won a Nobel Prize in economics? Yer kidding, right? Did it come with an expiration date? If so he's long past his "Best If Used By" date.

Idiot in the Wild

Rev. Paul links to a story about a woman who got the bejeezus kicked out of her in an attempt to pet a moose in an Anchorage's Town Square Park the other day. (What Part of Wild Didn't She Understand?)

In the comments he further opines about the stupidity of people thusly:

It just gets worse. The numbers of people who think that wild freakin' bears are Winnie the Pooh or something. Oh, well; to paraphrase a good friend, Alaska can replace "stupid" with "dead" very quickly.

All I can say is:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our

And the award ...

...for the most oxymoronic (with a stress on the "moron" portion) headline and sub headline of the week goes to one Simon Jenkins of the guardian.co.uk. His entry?

Free speech can't exist unchained. US politics needs the tonic of order

If America is to speak in a way that heals, as Obama wishes, it needs the curbs and regulations that make freedom of expression real

I hastily get the impression that the concept of free speech is well above this jerk's pay grade. I mean, come on man! "Free speech can't exist unchained"? Really? What definition of "free" are you using?

No need to fisk this one but if you care to read what he has to say, you can do so here.

My favorite comment comes early and indicates that at least some of those we call inhabitants of our ancestral home get it:

dirkbruere

13 January 2011 8:10PM

Irrespective of questions of American free speech, one thing is certain - they have a lot more of it than we do.

Yeah. And most of us like it that way even though we realize that true free speech affords our foes as well as our friends to express their thoughts and expose their minds.

The current problem is not with "free speech" but with the vitriol, the lack of substance, and the dearth of truth in the expressed thoughts. Even then, however, it is helpful to allow each and every one of us to freely spew forth upon any and all topics. How else will we know who the real fools are?

OMG!

Eugene, Ore. police have arrested the Tooth Fairy!

Bag of teeth links man to Seattle-area dental burglaries

After reading the story, this 26-year old is anything but The Tooth Fairy.

Shane Carlson had long been on the radar of Seattle-area police after his numerous arrests — and convictions — for car prowls, home burglaries and office break-ins. One Edmonds police detective describes the 26-year-old as "an equal-opportunity burglar."

Seems if it wasn't nailed down, he thought it was fair game.

Sounds like he'll be spending some serious time in the slammer, however.

What could possibly be wrong with this?

It's not a climate bill, it's a full employment opportunity for trial lawyers:

Climate bill could trigger lawsuit landslide

Self-proclaimed victims of global warming or those who "expect to suffer" from it - from beachfront property owners to asthmatics - for the first time would be able to sue the federal government or private businesses over greenhouse gas emissions under a little-noticed provision slipped into the House climate bill.

Environmentalists say the measure was narrowly crafted to give citizens the unusual standing to sue the U.S. government as a way to force action on curbing emissions. But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sees a new cottage industry for lawyers.

"You could be spawning lawsuits at almost any place [climate-change modeling] computers place at harm's risk," said Bill Kovacs, energy lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

This is NOT unintended.

And those computer models of climate-change have been so darn accurate, too. /sarc


(h/t Hot Air)

Gotta agree with the headline

'Dumbest criminal' nabbed in cop convention holdup

HARRISBURG, Pa. – A retired police chief said he was robbed by "probably the dumbest criminal in Pennsylvania," at a police officers' convention on Friday morning. John Comparetto said as he came out of a stall in the men's room, a man pointed a gun in his face and demanded money. There were 300 narcotics officers from Pennsylvania and Ohio at the gathering.

Some people just do not go around with their eyes open it seems. What a maroon!

The AGW Crowd and Idiots. But I repeat myself.

Appologies to Mr. Mark Twain for the title of this post, but they really are one and the same. Witness:

Well how 'bout that! Undaunted by the wrath of Gaia, approximately 2,500 protesters (estimate conveniently provided by the organizers) took part in the what was billed to be a massive civil disobedience action at the Capitol Power Plant, a coal fired facility that heats many of the government buildings in Washington, DC. (Out With A Shiver: Global Warming Protest Frozen Out by Massive Snowfall)

Protest organizers said about 2,500 people braved the blizzard to oppose greenhouse gas emissions, but the shroud of snow wasn't the only wet blanket in the nation's capital Monday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who called on the architect of the Capitol to stop burning coal at the power plant last week, cancelled her appearance at the rally because her flight to Washington was cancelled.

The greenhouse gas "pollutant" they were aghast about is, of course, carbon dioxide, which is a requirement for photosynthesis and which is proving to trail temperature rises and not trigger them. Oh, and despite statements that CO2 has climbed to "record levels", it is still less than 400 parts per million (or 0.04%) by volume in the atmosphere. It was a great deal higher back in the Carbonaceous Period.

And House Speaker Pelosi was flying in from where? Any one? San Francisco! That's correct! Of course she flies home to SF nearly every weekend just like you commute to work. I wonder what the "carbon footprint" of all those cross country flights works out to, hmmm? The hypocrisy is really astounding!

The snowy scene, with temperatures in the mid-20s, was reminiscent of a day in January 2004, when Al Gore made a major address on global warming in New York -- on one of the coldest days in the city's history.

Yes, the Gore Effect is really much more reliable than the IPCC computer models. (By the way, if you really want to get a laugh, go to the Gore Effect link at Wiki and under "Note" look at the partial list of online articles confirming the Gore Effect.)

The article makes no mention of the presence of Mr. Gore or his pet "scientist" Dr. James Hanson.

On a final note (emphasis mine):

In a press release supporting the protest, Greenpeace wrote that "coal is the country's biggest source of global warming pollution" and that "burning coal cuts short at least 24,000 lives in the U.S. annually."

On a blustery, frigid day, it might be worth noting the government's own stark numbers: pneumonia kills twice as many each year.

Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark!

WTF?!??

Obama aims to control 'exploding' deficits

This headline made my head ache this morning.

We've just seen the passage of a "stimulus" bill that will increase the deficit by at the least $750 Billion, GM and Chrysler come back to DC with their hands out asking for more, a plan for Billions of dollars to help deadbeat and or idiotic mortgage borrowers and their enablers in the banking industry, etc., etc, etc. all before the government budget is even discussed and NOW he wants to control/cut the deficit?

It's akin to an addict promising to control his/her drug use while not actually going into rehab or taking any steps to quit.

Yeah, that'll work.

I see in today's news that President Obama is going to push to have the automakers produce more cars that American's will not buy. (Obama orders push to cleaner, more efficient cars)

Starting his second week in office, Obama took a major step toward allowing California and other states to target greenhouse gases through more stringent auto emission standards, and he ordered new federal rules directing automakers to start making more fuel-efficient cars as required by law.

The auto industry responded warily. Reducing planet-warming emissions is a great idea, carmakers and dealers said, but they expressed deep concern about costly regulations and conflicting state and federal rules at a time when people already are not buying cars. U.S. auto sales plunged 18 percent in 2008.

And industry analysts said the changes could cost consumers thousands of dollars — for smaller, "greener" cars.

Here's a better idea. Why doesn't the federal government step away from the drawing board and let the automakers produce vehicles that people want to purchase at a price the people can afford.

Or is this a deep rooted plan to keep people off the road? Might work in cities but rural American will cling stubbornly (and correctly) to their workhorses--the larger, four wheel drive SUVs and pickups.

Hey, I'm all for reducing the emissions and raising the MPG, but not at the hands of a government mandate. If I can get a vehicle that will haul and tote the materials I need to haul and tote, one that will have four wheel drive so I can safely and successfully maneuver over and up snow covered roads and hills, one that will have an MPG rating that will make a difference in my wallet, one that is not going to cost me an arm and a leg above the current level, then I'll consider buying it and the automakers may have found a winning formula.

Until then, it seems to me that the government is forcing the manufacturers to produce something that will cost more than I can afford and will, at best be marginally better in the MPG and emissions area while sacrificing the hauling, toting and safety issues. If they continue along this course, I'll be looking for a reliable used vehicle instead of one with all the mandated bells and whistles and they (government and manufacturers) can suck eggs.

From the AP

One-in-four chance McCain may not survive 2nd term

Except, he's still running for the first term, assholes.

Freakin' ageists! That's what they are.

FYI: We elect for four years at a time, in case you hadn't read any US history books lately.

No need to ask whom they would prefer. Their bias is clearly showing.

You may have noticed…

…that I've been posting quite a bit about college football lately and almost nothing about the follies going on in Washington. I know little about economics and have no idea how this "bailout" thing will work.

 

From what I've been reading, however, it seems that government intervention in the credit market—telling the banks they had to lend money to folks who were very likely not able to repay it—caused both the housing bubble and then it's inevitable collapse. It also seems that those easy credit demands came from the democratic side of the aisle. Further, when trouble was seen to be appearing on the horizon, the Republican President and some Senators made attempts to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac only to be thwarted by the Democrats. Perhaps the Republicans should have pushed harder while they had control of Congress, but it was primarily Democrats stepping forward to tut-tut any need for reining in the loose credit.

 

Finally, when a "bailout" plan has been hammered out by a bipartisan group and touted by one and all as a "crap sandwich", it behooves the leaders on both sides of the aisle to keep a poker face until the damn thing is passed if they feel it is really and truly necessary. That Speaker Nancy Pelosi should make such an outrageous, confrontational speech on the floor prior to the vote when she needs all the votes she can get to have the bastard of a bailout passed while the financial markets are waiting on the window ledges …. To learn afterward that she could not move herself to ensure there were 12-13 more "yeas" from her own party when 15 of the 34 Democratic congressmen from California voted "no" and many in the Black Caucus from very safe democratic districts voted "no" …. And that she had basically given permission to members of her party to vote "no"…. And afterward to blame the Republicans when 95 Democrats voted "no"…. It simply boggles the mind.

 

(By the way, that was a terrible phrase to hang on the plan if they wanted to sell it to the public. Something like "Rescue" would have been much more appropriate. And that $700 Billion figure they pulled out of their asses? Oh, it got people's attention all right. But I don't think it got the kind of attention they (Pres. Bush and Paulson) wanted.)

Say what?

Estonian farmers face flatulence tax on cattle

Note to Estonian farmers:
Tar. Feathers. Tax man. Some assembly required.

(h/t to Jungle Trader.)

This man needs a cat.

Holy Moly! Is this what the German Teutonic Superman has become?

A German man who spotted a mouse running across his living room floor while he was watching TV was so scared that he raced into the snow-covered street at 3:25 a.m. wearing nothing but boxer shorts, slippers and a blanket, police said.

Now, you might think some person wandering by and seeing a guy in his underwear called the police. You would be wrong.

"He alerted the police from a public call box," police in the central city of Göttingen said in a statement released late on Tuesday. "The 23-year-old man told the amazed officers that there was a mouse in his flat and that there was nothing he was more afraid of than the little rodents."

While the man waited outside, the helpful officers ventured into his flat armed with a number of traffic cones in an attempt to catch the mouse. "The furry rodent wasn't found despite an intensive search of all the rooms," police said.

That’s right, he called the cops himself. And they, passing up the opportunity for a major fun fest of ridiculing this schlep, actually carried out a search of the home!

The man decided he couldn't share his flat with the mouse and trudged through the snow to spend the night at a friend's house. "How the mouse spent the rest of the night remains a mystery," police said. "Maybe it came out of hiding and spent the night dancing on the table."

You got that. This uber-race representative was so traumatized at the thought of sharing his abode with a MOUSE that he had to spend the night elsewhere.

The Spiegel article, obviously out of concern that he might get his panties in a twist, does not name our brave hero.

h/t again to the Jungle Trader

Water may not hold a pistol up,but ice will

What do you want to bet that these two geniuses are from south of the border?

The 23-year-old [Alejandro] Renteria had reportedly used a gun to threaten a 19-year-old man at the Pier Park skate park at about 5:45 p.m. Saturday.

When Grand Island police got the call and tried to track down Renteria described as wearing a black jacket with a fur collar a friend of Renteria's tried to toss the gun into Pier Park Lake. But the 22-caliber Ruger landed on the ice in the lake instead, Sgt. Jerry Atwell said.

The police quickly recovered the gun.

Probably didn’t realize it got that cold in Nebraska, but, hey, it was at the SKATE park, ya know. THAT should have given them a clue.

Renteria, 520 O'Neill Circle, was arrested for terroristic threats, use of a weapon, carrying a concealed weapon because he lacked a concealed carry permit, tampering with evidence for trying to dispose of the gun and for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, Atwell said.

Renteria's friend, Luis Jaime, 18, of Grand Island, was cited for possession of marijuana, carrying a concealed weapon and for menacing threats. All are misdemeanor violations.

Something tells me that when the cops stop laughing about this there might be more charges:

The violations were for arrest purposes only and have not been issued as formal charges from the Hall County attorney's office.

Oops!

Wrong house used for firefighting drill

Firefighters in Braintree, Mass., practiced their vital but destructive rescue techniques on a local home this week, but not the right one.
…
The actual training property the firefighters were supposed to practice on turned out to be two blocks away from the Luu family's home.

The one they cut holes in was being renovated. The one they were supposed to practice on was being razed. Big difference.

Another instance of Massholes at large.

WTF!?

N.Y. Bar Serves Bottled Water For $55

Water is the latest trend when it comes to taste and a bit of marketing.

Glass, plastic, carbonated, non carbonated, high mineral content ... no, it's not a fancy drink or a fine wine. Diane Felicissimo is talking about the latest craze -- water.

It's a business making a splash. Americans spent more last year on bottled water than on iPods and movie tickets -- a whopping $15 billion.
…
"There are so many people that are uneducated about water," Felicissimo said.

It’s freakin’ WATER! I don’t care what the label says; whether it’s Evian, Perrier, Poland Springs or whatever. Whether they got it from the bottom of a glacier in the Canadian Rockies or from a Swiss Alp peak. It’s still H2O, dihydrogen monoxide, WATER!

(from News of the Weird Daily)

“Doh!”

Pagans upset over Homer Simpson stunt

The Wessex, Britain, Pagan Federation chapter has said they will do "rain magic" to wash away a giant chalk drawing of cartoon character Homer Simpson.

The 180-foot publicity stunt for the new Simpsons film was drawn next to the Pagans' famous fertility symbol, the Cerne Abbas giant, Britain's The Sun reported Monday.

Next thing you know, some one’ll be blowing up the Cerne Abbas giant because it’s blasphemous or something. Whoever granted permission for this publicity stunt should be sacked.