McCain 2008: Everything is fine, shut up, you’re the crazy one

by twit

The McCain camp wants us to know that this recession thing, it’s all mental:

Former Sen. Phil Gramm, a top economic adviser to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, referred to the economic slowdown as “a mental recession” and called the United States “a nation of whiners.”

The comments, in an interview with The Washington Times, could hurt the campaign’s efforts to convince working-class Americans that McCain feels their pain.

The comments, in an interview with The Washington Times, could hurt the campaign’s efforts to convince Americans from all backgrounds that McCain is not a crazy old man.

The Times quoted [Gramm] as saying: “You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession. … We have sort of become a nation of whiners. …

“You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline. … We’ve never been more dominant; we’ve never had more natural advantages than we have today.”

T. Boone Pickens has a plan. Or is he just an old windbag?

by lestro

There’s a new commercial running all across the country in support of a new energy plan put forth by an 80-year-old oil billionaire from Oklahoma.

And here’s the weird thing: It appears to be a really good, progressive plan based bridging the gap to renewable, green power. He calls America the “Saudi Arabia of wind”:

Studies from around the world show that the Great Plains states are home to the greatest wind energy potential in the world — by far.

The Department of Energy reports that 20% of America’s electricity can come from wind. North Dakota alone has the potential to provide power for more than a quarter of the country….

Building wind facilities in the corridor that stretches from the Texas panhandle to North Dakota could produce 20% of the electricity for the United States at a cost of $1 trillion. It would take another $200 billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns.

That’s a lot of money, but it’s a one-time cost. And compared to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil every year, it’s a bargain.

Also, being a good American capitalist, he pitches it as the economic boom it can be in both technology and in the small towns in flyover country (please note his financial stake in this plan):

Sweetwater was typical of many small towns in middle-America. With a shortage of good jobs, the youth of Sweetwater were leaving in search of greater opportunities. And the town’s population dropped from 12,000 to under 10,000.

When a large wind power facility was built outside of town, Sweetwater experienced a revival. New economic opportunity brought the town back to life and the population has grown back up to 12,000.

Biofuels are a crime against humanity

by twit

We should have known something was wrong the instant biofuels became so enthusiastically supported by the Bush Administration, but it still is something of a surprise that the World Bank has for months sat on a report that details the crimes against humanity caused by the biofuels industry.

Fortunately, there is someone with a conscience working at the World Bank who helpfully leaked the “damning” report to the media. Via the Guardian on July 4, 2008:

Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.

The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.

The figure emphatically contradicts the US government’s claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises.

The World Bank report also includes an analysis of what this means for the world:

Rising food prices have pushed 100m people worldwide below the poverty line, estimates the World Bank, and have sparked riots from Bangladesh to Egypt. Government ministers here have described higher food and fuel prices as “the first real economic crisis of globalisation”.

Dow AgroSciences suggests we avoid eating the deformed food

by twit

From the Guardian on June 29, 2008:

The Dow website says: ‘As a general rule, we suggest damaged produce (however this is caused) should not be consumed.’

This is an example photo of a deformed tomato plant, via the Guardian:

Example of unhealthy tomato leaves curling inwards, affected by contaminated manure. Photograph: Katherine Rose

Dow AgroSciences would prefer that we avoid eating deformed food, especially if their pesticide got into the manure used to fertilize the garden…

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has been inundated with calls from concerned gardeners who have seen potatoes, beans, peas, carrots and salad vegetables wither or become grossly deformed.

The society admitted that it had no idea of the extent of the problem, but said it appeared ’significant’.

huzzah

by twit

The sun sets over solar panels in New Mexico. Photograph: Corbis

hooray, it’s Monday

by twit

Let’s have a riot for food, since nobody is expecting such a thing:

“We’re still trying to figure out why so many people showed up.”

Since the economy is going so great, food prices are so low and that price of gas makes us the envy of the world…

Milwaukee police said they have restored order but will remain outside of the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Center after a crowd awaiting free food vouchers became unruly this morning.

it just makes no sense that 2,500 people would show up at a welfare office first thing on a Monday morning, and then start rushing the door…

Police responded to the building about 7 a.m. after 2,500 people lined up on the sidewalk and eventually began to block traffic in the street. A number of people had rushed the door, and some people became caught in the crush; however, there were no serious injuries, according to Schwartz.

Ninja bandits

by twit

According to Local6.com on June 18, 2008, there are ninja bandits on the loose in Florida:

Several men dressed in ninja costumes forced people into a cooler at gunpoint during the fourth robbery of a Central Florida drug store in a week.

now wherever did they get such an idea? The New York Times has a suggestion on June 16, 2008:

Between early 2004 and mid-2007, a period of unprecedented wealth on Wall Street, seven of the nation’s largest financial companies earned a combined $254 billion in profits.

In Honor of Memorial Day

by twit

Bush and his lapdog John McCain argue against the veto-proof support in Congress for a new and improved GI Bill “on the ground that the bill is too generous and may discourage re-enlistment.” Please make a note of it.

Mr. Bush — and, to his great discredit, Senator John McCain — have argued against a better G.I. Bill, for the worst reasons.

… They have seized on a prediction by the Congressional Budget Office that new, better benefits would decrease re-enlistments by 16 percent, which sounds ominous if you are trying — as Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain are — to defend a never-ending war at a time when extended tours of duty have sapped morale and strained recruiting to the breaking point.

Their reasoning is flawed since the C.B.O. has also predicted that the bill would offset the re-enlistment decline by increasing new recruits — by 16 percent. The chance of a real shot at a college education turns out to be as strong a lure as ever.

Stripteasin’ for Justice

by twit

from the BBC:

Campaign group Pants to Poverty said the “pantathlon” showed “the unfinished business of third world debt”

… “Ten years ago this same weekend, 70,000 people gave birth to a new phase in the fight against poverty.

“This event shows our committed ‘panters’ are prepared to drop their clothes to drive governments to drop the debt.”

Craig Haynes, 22, of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, was one of those taking part.

He said: “We’re here, not to expose ourselves, but to expose injustice.”

Hillary hitches her Veep wagon to McCain’s gas tax plan

by lestro

From the Times:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s decision to take on members of Congress over her proposal for a federal gas tax holiday this summer -– “are they with us or against us” –- is tempting fate a bit, as she risks antagonizing uncommitted superdelegates who are members of Congress and who oppose the tax holiday.

Where have I heard that before? oh, right:

“Over time it’s going to be important for nations to know they will be held accountable for inactivity,” he said. “You’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror.”

yeah, because that’s the kind of change we need.

But beyond that, one has to wonder who the “us” is. She must mean her and McCain, right?

Since just about every newspaper and economist in the country has come out against this plan and Obama has already nixed her ‘Dream Ticket,’ I figure she’s finally officially bucking to be on the ticket with Johnny Mac.

But Hillary, isn’t that YOUR fault?

by lestro

I was reading David Brooks’ column today and I am not sure what his point was, as this stopped me in my tracks:

New dynamos like India and China threaten American dominance thanks to their cheap labor and manipulated currencies. Now, everything is made abroad. American manufacturing is in decline. The rest of the economy is threatened.

Hillary Clinton summarized the narrative this week: “They came for the steel companies and nobody said anything. They came for the auto companies and nobody said anything. They came for the office companies, people who did white-collar service jobs, and no one said anything. And they came for the professional jobs that could be outsourced, and nobody said anything.”

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t it the Clinton Administration - including the first lady - that promoted NAFTA, as well as granted Most Favored Nation status to China?

And hasn’t she been in the Senate for eight years and on the national stage for 16? Shouldn’t she have said something before now?

You know, something other than this:

“I think, on balance, NAFTA has been good for New York and America.”

(Jan. 5, 2004)

Sometimes having Pooh on your ass isn’t a result of bad Mexican food

by loadz

I’m not necessarily against marketing underwear emblazoned with Disney characters to youth so much as I’m opposed to the placement of the Pooh.

I mean really.

Disney also had this to say about the Miley Cyrus naked back photo:

“Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines,” a network statement said.

As opposed to deliberately manipulating young teens to sell Winnie the Pooh panties, of course.

Photo courtesy of the classy people at TMZ.com.

Clinton rolls out improved operating system: Jobs v.3.0

by lestro

Despite the flaws and security holes in Inevitability v1.x, Experience v2.0, Fighter v3.3, Commander-in-chief v1.2 (a rush release that was hastily recalled when it was discovered to open the user to the nearly fatal error-inducing internet worm Bosnia Bullshit), the combo pack Experienced Fighter v2.4 and the most recent iteration Gun-Toting Shot Drinker v4.0, the Clinton Campaign has high hopes for the upcoming release of its newest opertaing system: Jobs v3.0.

So every speech she gave in Indiana on Friday and Saturday had the same topic sentence. “My campaign is about jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs,” she said, always to thunderous applause…

Since the race started, Mrs. Clinton has cycled through several political personas: the battle-tested White House veteran, the fighter, the girl — her word — tougher than any boy.

Now she is the Dream Boss: the one who will give you a job, provide health insurance, but also understand just how hard you work and the mundane details of what you do.

The new system is a throwback to the first Clinton system, which wowed the world with a fresh look and took the nation by storm 16 years ago with an effective advertising campaign that highlighted youth and hinged on the brilliantly catchy yet simple jingle “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Obama’s “cling to” might come back to haunt him

by lestro

So at a fundraiser last week in San Francisco , Obama said this:

“It’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Ouch. It’s the “cling to” that really hurts. The connotation on that phrase is not going to play well.

Not that it will matter to the media or most voters, especially those he’s talking about, but here is the full quote in context:

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them,” Obama said. “And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

He tried to better explain on Saturday what he meant to say, and it makes sense:

“Lately there has been a little typical sort of political flare up because I said something that everybody knows is true, which is that there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois who are bitter,” Obama said Saturday morning at Ball State University.

“They are angry. They feel like they have been left behind. They feel like nobody is paying attention to what they’re going through.”

“So I said, well you know, when you’re bitter you turn to what you can count on. So people, they vote about guns, or they take comfort from their faith and their family and their community. And they get mad about illegal immigrants who are coming over to this country.”

After acknowledging that his previous remarks could have been better phrased, he added:

“The truth is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation, those are important. That’s what sustains us.

But what is absolutely true is that people don’t feel like they are being listened to.”

That’s a little better, but being right in this case hurts him even more because those same voters he’s talking about will probably only hear the first quote, pack that in with Jeremiah Wright and the flag pin thing, wrap it up with his middle name (which is odd considering the Rev. Wright thing, but it’s still there…) and the allegations of being a Harvard-educated, condescending, aloof guy are right back to the fore.

And Hillary and McCain pounced.

In Indianapolis on Saturday, Mrs. Clinton told voters she was “taken aback by the demeaning remarks Senator Obama made about people in small-town America.”

“Senator Obama’s remarks are elitist and they are out of touch,” Mrs. Clinton told an audience. “They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans. Certainly not the Americans that I know.”

The McCain campaign late Friday evening criticized Mr. Obama for failing to express regret for his remark.

Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Mr. McCain, said, “Instead of apologizing to small-town Americans for dismissing their values, Barack Obama arrogantly tried to spin his way out of his outrageous San Francisco remarks.”

“You can’t be more out of touch than that,” he added.

Hillary actually went even further:

“People don’t need a president who looks down on them,” she said. “They need a president who stands up for them.”

Ouch again. That’s a haymaker that could very well resonate and only time will tell if it lands or if Obama defense and general fact of his campaign bringing more people together can block it.

The idea that he was too aloof was one of those bad tastes in the mouths of voters that led to Kerry’s defeat as well, something one of Clinton top surrogates, Sen Evan Bayh, was very quick to point out:

Absolut Vodka Goggles

by lestro

How is it that the nation ranked ninth in the world in academics and first in most affordable education didn’t see that this ad might cause a problem or two?

In this image released by the Mexican advertising firm of Teran/TBWA on Monday April 7, 2008, an advertisement created for Swedish Absolut Vodka which ran in Mexico, shows a map of the border of Mexico and the United States where it stood before the Mexican-American War of 1848. The Absolut vodka company apologized for the ad campaign amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers.

(AP Photo/Teran/TBWA)

Needless to say, the right wingers went absolutely batshit, going so far as to create their own response:

The National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition (NIIBC) is known nationally for prior sustained boycotts against Miller Brewing and Bank of America for their support for illegal aliens in the US.

The NIIBC has launched a new website at www.boycottabsolut.com to inform American consumers and provide resources for citizens to engage in the boycott.

“Absolut vodka is trying to sell liquor to Mexicans that aspire to control the Southwest United States,” says William Gheen of ALIPAC.

“The warning signs are everywhere. Illegal immigration is creating a rising threat to our existing border lines and the very existence of the United States. The separatist sentiments and animus towards America are prevalent in the Mexican population and the ranks of illegal aliens inside the US creating a clear and present danger to our nation. Everywhere we look, Global corporations have a hand in this brewing disaster and Absolut just made the list.”

I love that the fence extends out into the ocean on both sides…

The company has obviously apologized and offered to send back the bikini team as a distraction.

love letters from gangsters and thieves

by twit

why, Alan… my, how you do go on…

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday the U.S. economy was in recession, and said it would be appropriate to tap public funds to resolve the mortgage-related crisis that has helped pull the economy under.

why, Bubba… my, how you do go on…

Mark Penn, who lost his job as chief strategist to the Clinton campaign because of his work for the Colombian government on a controversial trade pact, wasn’t her only adviser with such ties. Another is Bill Clinton.

Mr. Clinton supports the pact with Colombia even though his wife opposes it, a Clinton campaign spokesman said Tuesday.

why, Karl… my, how you do go on…

… even Rove had to agree that Sen. Clinton has run a poor campaign.

“She has run a horrific campaign,” said Rove. “It has been astonishingly bad. … [Obama] has strategically always run a better campaign than she has tactically.”

why, Energy Information Administration… my, how you do go on…

… the Energy Information Administration predicted that average gasoline prices will shoot up to $3.60 a gallon in June and average $3.54 per gallon over the summer driving period, an increase of 60 cents a gallon over last summer.

It’s entirely possible, EIA Administrator Guy Caruso said, that gasoline prices could top $4 a gallon during parts of the summer driving period, defined as April 1 to Sept. 30.

Top Ten Things About to Fall Down

by twit

Thank you Popular Mechanics, for this lovely roundup of “The 10 Pieces of U.S. Infrastructure We Must Fix Now” and apparently, are doing not much, if anything, about…

Chicago’s Circle Interchange

“going nowhere”

Brooklyn Bridge

“Repairs aren’t due to start until 2010″

Industrial Canal Lock in New Orleans

“Construction is expected to take 12 years”

Atlanta Water System

“Municipal lines running beneath the streets lose massive volumes of water” … “A similar situation is found throughout the country.”

Seattle Viaduct

“still no decision” … hmm… sounds familiar…

Herbert Hoover Dike

“a 1-in-6 chance that [it] will fail” … “The Army Corps of Engineers has been working on improvements, but funding is limited”

Idaho’s Dover Bridge

“an outrageously low “sufficiency rating” of 2 out of 100 in the National Bridge Inventory.” but the Seattle Viaduct gets a 9… which means “basically intolerable,” apparently…

Wolf Creek Dam

“despite the ongoing construction work, the danger of collapse hasn’t been significantly reduced, and probably won’t be for years”

Sacramento River Levees

“Ongoing efforts to investigate and repair the levees have been met with opposition from local officials”

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport

“among the worst in terms of near-misses on the runway”

More fun:

signs of the times

by twit

this is up on drudge:

LES MISERABLES:

Man in Wheelchair Robbed Bank…

…Man Accused of Stealing Pizza Pans

Wife, husband battle over hot dogs…

…mother and son arrested for stealing food

so i sent this in:

Man assaults sister over butter dispute

A 67-year-old man apparently punched his sister in the shoulder Thursday after he accused her of stealing butter from their mother, the Seattle police reported.

“an evolutionary sense for both money and women”

by twit

how could there be an evolutionary sense for money?

on one hand, rapid evolution does happen, but the idea that currency (and capitalism) is some kind of biological part of the human condition just doesn’t sound possible.

at least, not yet…

The Associated Press reports on April 5, 2008 about “a new but growing field called neuroeconomics that attempts to take the hard-wired science of brain biology and mix it with the softer sciences of psychology and economics to figure out why we make the financial decisions we do.”

the implications are full of hilarity:
The link between sex and greed goes back hundreds of thousands of years, to men’s evolutionary role as provider or resource gatherer to attract women, said Kevin McCabe, professor of economics, law and neuroscience at George Mason University, who wasn’t part of the study.

“Risk-taking is a natural way of increasing your relative success, but, of course, there’s a downside to it, what we’re seeing right now in the economy,” McCabe said.

The results of the study jibe with the real life on the trading floor, said Phil Flynn, a former Chicago commodities floor trader and current analyst at Alaron Trading Corp.

“I’m not shocked that it may be part of the deal,” Flynn said Friday. “When you talk about all the euphemisms for trading (on the floor), they can be used for sex as well.”

(”Massaging the market” and “hardcore” were about the cleanest that he and his colleagues could come up with.)

… This all makes sense to Harvard economist Terry Burnham, author of the book “Mean Genes.” Burnham said it could be all summed up in a famous line from the movie “Scarface.”

“In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.”

(image via mammaquatia)

Suburban Wasteland Bus Tours

by twit

From the Chicago Tribune on March 31, 2008, a look at the creation of suburban wastelands:

Smith said lenders who take full possession of foreclosed assets, with all the attendant costs, probably are betting the housing economy is poised to improve.

“In some cities that have low property values, where there are dense concentrations of foreclosures, you see lenders who file foreclosure proceedings but don’t actually take control of the properties, because the lenders have to maintain them and pay taxes on them,” he said.

“There are areas in some parts of the country where property values are quite low, and there are no large-scale expectations of them going up. They don’t know that they will ever recoup those costs,” and so the lenders never re-take title to the properties, allowing them to become derelict, Smith said.

… Nationally, home foreclosure filings continue to rise at an alarming rate. They jumped 60 percent, and bank seizures more than doubled in February from the same month last year, and there is increasing concern that it’s not just mortgage holders but those tapping home equity lines who are at risk of losing their homes.

Now with bus tours…

breaking news: the sun is free

by twit

a solar furnace via kottke.org:

“A solar furnace is a structure used to harness the rays of the sun in order to produce high temperatures. This is achieved by using a curved mirror (or an array of mirrors) acting as a parabolic reflector to concentrate light (Insolation) on to a focal point. The temperature at the focal point may reach up to 3,000 degrees Celsius, and this heat can be used to generate electricity, melt steel or make hydrogen fuel.”

and an ancient legend to go with it:

“In the 3rd century BC, Archimedes allegedly used a mirror to burn up the entire Roman fleet during the siege of Syracuse:

The Middle Way through Tibet

by twit

There won’t be a massive boycott of the Beijing Olympics. Whether individual athletes and other participants will boycott remains to be seen.

The Dalai Lama has suggested a “middle way” through the crisis in Tibet. The Associated Press reports on March 24, 2008:

“DHARMSALA, India (AP) - Nearly six decades of struggle against the might of China has taught the Tibetans one thing: Ask the world for little, expect less.

… They know few countries have the appetite to cross China, particularly at a time the world is counting on the emerging superpower to keep the global economy ticking as the United States appears headed into a recession.

… From the exiled Tibetan leaders, there were no calls for sanctions, like those imposed when Myanmar suppressed pro-democracy protests last year, or even a boycott of this summer’s Beijing Olympics.

It’s an approach that reflects the pragmatism of the Dalai Lama, who has long sought an accommodation based on his “Middle Way” dialogue with Beijing aimed at autonomy for Tibetans under Chinese rule.

Instead, the Tibetans appealed for international pressure on China to act with restraint, to open the area to international investigators and the media and for organizations like the International Red Cross to be allowed in to ensure wounded Tibetan protesters get treatment.

“Specific things are very difficult. No one is going to send in a peacekeeping force,” said Taklha.

The Tibetans have, however, won the moral support of many nations.

… Some argue that only international pressure has stopped China from completely crushing the Tibetans long ago.”

Should the US boycott the Olympics?

vs.

Previously, in response to a report that hundreds of Tibetans have been killed since March 10, 2008, lestro wondered, “what if they hosted an Olympics and no one came?”

The conversation continues…

Bush: Politics not a factor in Olympics

WASHINGTON - China’s crackdown in Tibet will not cause President Bush to cancel his planned trip to the Beijing Olympics, the White House said Thursday.

… Presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush’s position is that the Olympics “should be about the athletes and not necessarily about politics.”

She said that Bush, in accepting the invitation last year from Chinese President Hu Jintao to attend the Olympics, told him the games would “shine a spotlight on all things Chinese.”

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Perino added.

Bush agreed to go to the Olympics during a meeting with Hu in Australia last September during the Asia Pacific Economic Council meeting. A White House spokesman said at the time that Bush was going to the games for the sports and not for any political statement.

(image via infoplease.com via www.attytood.com)

Should the US boycott the 2008 Olympics?

welcome to the future

by twit

Yesterday, in response to a report that hundreds of Tibetans have been killed since March 10, 2008, lestro wondered, “what if they hosted an Olympics and no one came?” and that made a lot of sense when we were just looking at the reports collected by Boing Boing, including this:

It was impossible not to notice that the United States removed China from its list of top 10 human rights violators just as the biggest anti-China protests in 20 years erupted in Tibet.

[...] China had a chance to shine for its Olympic coming-out party and is blowing it. Its leaders will continue to have to battle protests and unrest — and endure international reproach — until they ensure more freedom for all their citizens, including greater religious tolerance and freedom for Tibet.

from the New York Times Editorial Board, that maybe missed a bit of news before going to print with the phrase ‘international reproach,’ because it turns out that when it comes to the Olympics, it is exactly the opposite:

The European Union is not in favor of a growing call for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics to express disapproval over China’s crackdown on pro-independent movements in Tibet.

[...] Russia even supported the Chinese government. In a statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said, “Russia has repeatedly declared that it views Tibet as an inalienable part of China, and considers the resolution of relations with the Dalai Lama to be an internal matter of the People’s Republic of China.”

Even the Dalai Lama, although he condemned China for its rule of terror and cultural genocide, stopped short of calling for a boycott of the Olympic games.

[...] [Thomas Bach, German vice president of the International Olympic Committee] stressed sports organizations are not world governments and cannot solve problems that decades of international leaders and head of governments had tried, but likewise failed.

The Olympics are an international gesture of goodwill and an economic boom for the country hosting it. Historically, it has not been immune from being drawn into the fray of international conflicts. Fundamentally, it is a diplomatic exercise whether it wants to be or not.

I thought diplomacy was exactly how we are supposed to approach violations of international law. Especially when China sits as a permanent member of the Security Council. What else can be done?

Martin Luther King, Jr. sums it up well:

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

The President knows his time is short

by lestro

Today at the Economic Club of New York, the President got a question about rising costs of food and other products. He gave a bit of a spiel about hard times and no quick fixes, and then he said:

“Anyway, I’m going to dodge the rest of your question. (Laughter.) Thank you for your time.”

via cbsnews

I love that. He’s not wasting anyone’s time anymore.

There’s less than a year left and he’s still got countries to invade, programs to slash, environmental protections to dismantle, international treaties to wipe his ass with and buddies to get rich, so why should he waste everybody’s time dancing around a question we all know he doesn’t know the answer to…

so Hillary lied about NAFTA

by twit

It turns out that it was actually the Clinton campaign that told Canada not to worry about all of the anti-NAFTA rhetoric.

with thanks to Wonkette, for the link to this:

“Quite a few people heard it,” said one source in