Watching Blackadder explain mathematics reminds me of the health care debate.
It’s Friday, I don’t have much to say. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Today’s “teachable moment” isn’t about race; it’s about politics. When your poll numbers are plummeting, your agenda is stalled in Congress, and last week you made a stupid comment about a story you didn’t understand; you conduct a photo op.
I didn’t know that Joe Biden was going to be included. They should have served harder alcohol.
This is classic…
Last summer I covered proposed move of the Boston Red Sox spring training facility to Sarasota. Ultimately the Red Sox were able to squeeze more money out of the city of Fort Myers. The Cincinnati Reds played their final season in Florida earlier this year so Sarasota was looking at having no spring training team in 2010. Last week the city of Sarasota, the county, and the Baltimore Orioles agreed on terms to move the Orioles from Fort Lauderdale.
The elected leadership of Sarasota County and the city of Sarasota is patting themselves on the back for a job well down. Meanwhile the taxpayers have to subsidize a $30 million project. In today’s Sarasota Herald Tribune Kevin Reichard, publisher of Ballpark Digest says he believes the Ed Smith stadium renovation will cost $40 million. This is hardly shocking to anyone who is knowledgeable about these kind of subsidized projects. The Heartland Institute has an article about a recent study by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. It turns out these projects always cost more than initially believed.
A 2007 study by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation found heavily subsidized stadium projects were significantly more expensive on average than largely privately funded projects. The study found stadiums where taxpayers bore a majority of the cost were $65 million more expensive on average than those for which private entities paid the bulk of the tab.
While private financiers have every reason to scrutinize costs closely, “Government bureaucrats … are often more concerned with reelection prospects and PR plaudits than with cost containment,” the study notes.
In addition, the study found the average taxpayer subsidy per stadium is on the rise and shows no signs of slowing. The amount taxpayers paid for each facility rose 41 percent in just the eight years leading up to 2004.
The main argument for the agreement with the Orioles was the fact that it was going to be paid for in part by a tourist tax. Who pays for the shortfall? Here’s a hint; it won’t be the Baltimore Orioles.
The President is spending enormous political capital on health care reform. The rush strategy that worked so well with the so-called stimulus bill isn’t working with health care. The rush to pass any kind of health care reform makes sense to the White House. Obama wants to cash in his popularity, but it’s probably too late. None of Obama’s major policies have been popular. Even his pick for the Supreme Court is decisively unpopular. The price of change is finally taking its toll on the White House. Obama’s approval ratings are taking a beating and the Democrats are trailing Republicans on the generic ballot. All those Democrats who ran under the flag of fiscal conservatism in 2006 could be gone in 2010 if they blindly support the White House. Now that the president’s popularity is under 50% his ability to bully Congress is diminished.
No one ever said being president was easy. The stock market is starting to surge and housing market appears to have bottomed a few months ago. These are the silver linings to the dark clouds over the White House. While Obama’s hope for enacting major reform may be ending the future still looks bright.
Pronunciation:
\yu̇-ˈtō-pē-ə\
Function: noun
Etymology: Utopia, imaginary and ideal country in Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More, from Greek ou not, no + topos place
Date: 1597
1: an imaginary and indefinitely remote place
2 often capitalized : a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions
3: an impractical scheme for social improvement
I had a really good time mocking rock worshipers the past few weeks in the run-up to Fire the Grid. Covering this event is my cross to bear so I followed some of the action the past twenty-four hours on Twitter. I have to admit that I’m strangely fascinated by this fantasy-world mindset. It’s odd to believe in a “perfect world” when history has so clearly rejected it. Reality isn’t always clear to people. For example, take Twitter user suryadevi. Her take on the event is a feast for the senses.
the fire the grid meditation was very powerful…i will share some of the messages i recieved….firstly we need to clean up the oceans that is vital, it will be like cleaning the blood of humanity. also its time for women to own their power but not in a dominating manner men and women will begin to work together and heal the divide between them. there was an energetic shift that cut away a very heavy energy of survival mentality & lack consciousness. with this removed it will be easier to manifest and support others because there will be a knowing that everything is provided for. some street gangs and criminal organizations will soon begin to shift away from violence and exist more as social institutions. we need to continue to pour LOVE upon those people who run the world, even those we view as corrupt big changes are coming…stay strong and do not get caught up in fear…thats what i got…love & blessings to all….
Far be it from me to question a musician, angel whisperer, and benevolent gangsta dakini. The most startling part of the seven-tweet grid prophecy is the tasty nugget about street gangs and criminal organizations. Not only are they going to shift away from violence (Tom Harkin), but they’re going to exist more as social institutions. The Red Cross better watch out, because the Crips are going to take over. This kind of fantasy world concerns me. I wonder how many people actually think this way. If a person really believes that the Al Capones of the world are suddenly going to become Mother Teresa because a bunch of people meditated about light for an hour, how can they make logical choices about government?
Now obviously someone is always going to incorporate religion into this discussion, but that would be a stretch. As far as Christianity is concerned, the U.S. government was built in part on the Christian idea that man cannot be trusted (original sin). The whole tenet of Christianity is that man by nature is sinful. Christians know that that any man-made enterprise, government, or bureaucracy will inevitably fail. The great achievement by the founding fathers was creating a government that is able to correct itself after many failures. Even so, the U.S. government has always been corrupt on some level. Look at New Jersey, Louisiana, and Illinois; these states are a bastion of political corruption.
Government will always be corrupt. Gang members will not exist more as social institutions (unless we’re talking about Bill Ayers and the New Left). Anyone who believes that we’ll awake one day to find peace on Earth is living in a fantasy land called Utopia.
Over the past few weeks The Daily Plunge has had a lot of fun with Fire the Grid. Joking aside, there’s a very dangerous element that needs to be addressed. I am posting this right as Fire the Grid begins to enlighten the world about the threat of an interdimensional reptilian race that have been abusing the Earth. Almost two years ago British mystic Rev. Juliet Nightingale exposed the real truth about Fire the Grid.
I have never heard about the grid in my 5 years of reverse speaking research, but I have heard over and over about the net. This electro-magnetic field is our prison. It surrounds the Earth and is invisible to our 5 senses, but holds in astral bodies and is a trap for humanity when we leave our physical lives. It was constructed eons ago by an interdimensional reptilian race who have been abusing the Earth and humanity ever since.
I’m not sure what any of that means but I’m sure it’s serious. What is also serious is the fact that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi may indeed be a member of the reptilian race. I cannot confirm this, but there is a striking similarity in the picture above. So, when the grid fires up at 6:19 EST and a reptile pops out of its Pelosi suit to proclaim a New World Order, remember that you read it here first. And let me be the first to welcome our new alien overlords to our warm and comfortable planet!
At 6:19 pm Eastern Standard Time crazy people all over the universe (lizards included) are going to pray to the Borg, I mean the collective conscious of mankind. Today is the tin-foil hat spectacular Fire the Grid. In 2007 these knights of light ushered in a new era of change. Matthew Welsh’s Spiritual Media Blog is getting ready for the witching hour:
Fire the Grid is a movement for change coming from a place of love and integrity. Tomorrow, July 28 at 3:19 PST, a large number of people across the globe will visualize and meditate on being present and accountable for who you are and your unique role in the cosmos. They will visualize peace and abundance for all.
Did I read that correctly? A movement for change? Was this written by the White House? As you can imagine, lightworkers like Dennis Kucinich are diligently readying their biodegradable candles, essence oils, dead family members, and “meaningful texts.” What constitutes a meaningful text you ask? Well, anything written by Barack Obama counts; however, Bibles are not included. While not generally accepted, the Koran works because it frees the mind and opens the soul.
If you order right now you can get 10 “Sacred Stones” round magnets for only $18.99
While capitalism is to blame for most of the evil facing Mother Earth, no Fire the Grid event would be complete without the official merchandise that can be found at www.firethegrid.org. Shelley Yates has got to eat, you know.
That’s it! Sit back, relax and let the craziness overwhelm your senses.
For a measly $10 billion or so, our beloved Uncle Sam could supply every household in America with a full keg of beer. Sound far-fetched? Well, it is, because the government would rather spend it on pork projects that will help guarantee that certain politicians remain in office in perpetuity.
But this is the ultimate pork (beer) barrel project, practically guaranteed to win the undying devotion of tens of millions of Americans. Providing a keg in every refrigerator has the added benefit of finally paying those reparations I’ve been lobbying for since I turned 21.
Our ancestors, some of whom are actually still alive, lived through one of the darkest eras in American history. Beginning in 1919, our forefathers toiled under the yoke of non-alcoholic beverages. Though a Constitutional Amendment rectified the suffering in 1933, Prohibition was a catastrophe that denied citizens the right to drink beer.
It’s about time the government paid for this horrendous mistake and offered reparations to the descendants of those who were denied the right to a cold beer, even if Schlitz was the brew of choice back then.
With money apparently no object in Washington these days, what’s $10 billion or so? It’s a drop in the bucket, or keg in this case. Since 2007, about $11 trillion has been allocated for “economic recovery” of varying stripes. Just think if this money had been properly allocated. Each fridge (or garage, porch or deck) in America could have been supplied with 1,000 kegs.
Obviously, this is probably way too much beer for the average household, excepting frat houses scattered here and there in this great land. Even ten kegs per household would be acceptable and would still represent only a fraction of the money those Looney Tunes in Washington are spending on their cronies and special interests.
The ancient formulation of “a chicken in every pot” would have yielded 22,000 chickens per pot per household, but I think beer is the better deal here. It’s about time Americans stood up for their right to Prohibition reparations, and their right, of course, to party.
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