Former-Pres. Carter protects tyrant - then tyrant insults Carter

Again. He is going around the world thinking of new ways to insult the US. He went to North Korea so President Kim Jon Il could snub him. Kim played his part. He was busy training shipyard workers. That is, Kim insulted Carter.

Carter says the US and Korea (South) are violating the human rights of the North Korean people. He refuses to see that it is the leader of North Korea who is denying food to his people.

Vancouver Sun

South Korea used to send the North 400,000 tons of rice a year, but deliveries became sporadic after relations worsened in 2008 as Pyongyang used all available economic resources to build nuclear warheads and missiles.

The South's deliveries stopped entirely after two attacks from the North last year; one in March when Seoul claims one of its warships was sunk by a North Korean submarine, killing 46 sailors, and another in November when the North shelled a border island and killed four South Koreans.

The U.S. halted its shipments of 500,000 tons of rice a year in 2009 over the North's apparent diversion of the food to the military and its obduracy over talks about its nuclear weapons.

Ed grad students want social justice not student learning

At Harvard the future leaders of education in the US value student learning second. Their priority is diversity, community involvement and justice!

Boston.com

The recent denial of tenure to a prominent Harvard scholar whose work focuses on grass-roots organizing has sparked student protests over the direction of one of the nation’s most influential education schools.

More than 50 doctoral students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education are demanding that the 91-year-old school redirect its mission. Over the last decade, they say, it has veered away from social justice issues in education toward more results-driven management and policy concerns. The students, who are groomed to be national leaders in education, said they fear the shift will hamper their professional development and tarnish the school’s reputation.

“There is a lot of talk about diversity and wanting to support social change, but recent decisions on tenure have sent very clear signals to the student body and the rest of the junior faculty about where the future of the school lies,’’ said Keith Catone, a fifth-year doctoral student in the community, culture, and education program. “That’s not a direc tion that will help Harvard lead a broad movement for educational improvement.’’

Since 2003, the school of education has lost a half-dozen professors who specialized in diversity and community involvement because they were denied tenure or recruited by other universities.

What else is there for education grad students? Get their K-12 students to learn? Oh, you shallow person!!! Protest!!!

Trump is running as a Democrat

The Donald showed his true colors Thursday night in Las Vegas. He is like Vice President "Bite Me" Biden who said the F-bomb on mike when congratulating Pres. Obama after the passage of ObamaCare.

Thursday night: ABC News

Real estate developer Donald Trump unleashed a tirade of profanity in a speech at a boisterous Las Vegas casino as he assured a crowd of adoring supporters Thursday night that he is seriously weighing a presidential run and will make a decision soon.

During a 30-minute stump speech focused mostly on foreign affairs, Trump sprinkled in a number of insults directed toward the nation's leaders.

ABC is so proper that they won't print the foul language that he used. But the video shows repeated F-bombs.

The Democratics love this stuff. John F-ing Kerry used profanity in prepared remarks before students during the 2004 campaign without a complaint from the Democrats.

Clearly Trump intends this for an audience of Democrats.

Obama's precious time - with Oprah

Pres. Obama released his long-form birth certificate Wednesday, saying it was to end wasting time on it. He has real important things to do.
Then he flew AF One into OHare Airport. Tied up the 2d busiest airport so he could wast time taping Oprah.
Then he flew to NY City and tied up traffic in Manhattan. (source: Mike Gallagher). His high-priority task - another fund raiser.
We need an adult in that office. Obama isn't serious about his heavy job.

Obama - Leading from behind

Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker credits Obama's new slogan to one of his advisers:

Leading from behind

And big Demo white-hair Zbig Brzezinski, who doesn't even know how to spell his own name, says:

“I greatly admire his insights and understanding. I don’t think he really has a policy that’s implementing those insights and understandings. The rhetoric is always terribly imperative and categorical: ‘You must do this,’ ‘He must do that,’ ‘This is unacceptable.’ ” Brzezinski added, “He doesn’t strategize. He sermonizes.”

Found: the speculator who is driving up the price of gasoline

Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell blame speculators for high oil prices. Seattle Times They present no evidence.

The Seattle Times editorial board agrees, citing the following empty evidence:

Indeed, oil speculation — meaning the amount of barrels held by speculators — has increased dramatically since June 2008, the last time gas was this expensive. Excessive speculation is estimated to be adding several dollars to the cost of filling up.

Speculators are making bets at the expense of consumers. Extra dollars spent at the pump make a big difference to families already balancing tight budgets.

Who is holding oil? Where?

It would be very, very expensive to try to raise the price of oil by manipulating the market, even to try and fail, because you have to buy it and store it. The Hunts tried it with silver in the late 1970s and failed. Warren Meyer Coyote Den blog explains:

... In fact, it is almost impossible to find examples of private action sustaining an artificially high price floor. Only with the cooperation of an interventionist government are such sustained price floors possible — that’s why at one point or another in history we have had minimum prices set by the government for taxis, airline fares, rail freight rates, farm products and government-enforced limits on supply that have driven up prices of everything from attorneys to real estate agents to funeral homes to interior design.

The argument du jour is that speculators are driving up oil futures prices, and these higher futures prices in turn drive up prices of oil for current delivery. The first half of this argument has a ring of truth. It is much easier for bubbles to emerge in buy-and-hold type investment assets. Stocks, bonds, futures, and even houses can experience speculative bubbles. But do these bubbles spill over into current commodity prices?

There are two checks on current commodity values that make sustained speculative bubbles much less likely. First, physical commodities are really expensive to inventory. I can hold futures contracts on a million barrels of oil in my desk drawer; a million barrels of physical oil requires a container the size of 63 Olympic swimming pools. Second, the demand curve for oil futures is based on expectations and predictions and hope and fear. The demand curve for physical oil is grounded in the real economics of electricity generation and powering factories and driving trucks.

So lets consider speculation in this context. We start from a market in oil for current delivery that is in balance, where the price is such that supply and demand are roughly equal. Now, enter speculators. They supposedly drive the price up above this “natural” price. As the price rises, we know producers will seek ways to bring more oil to market, and consumers will reduce their consumption. The result is a glut – an excess of supply over demand. Here is the real question to ask if one suspects that speculators are driving the price of oil for current delivery above and beyond the market clearing price: Where is all the extra oil going?

Let’s consider the example of when the Hunt’s tried to corner the silver market in the late 1970s. Over six months, they managed to drive the price from $11 to almost $50 an ounce. Leverage in futures markets allowed them to control a huge chunk of the available world supply. But just driving the price up temporarily did not get them anywhere — to make the fortune they wanted, the prices had to go up and stay up. As prices rose, no one but the Hunt’s were buying, while new supplies flowed onto the market. The only way the Hunt’s could keep the price up was to pour hundreds of millions of dollars in to buy up this excess supply. Eventually, of course, they went bankrupt. They only could maintain the artificially higher commodity price as long as they kept buying and storing excess capacity, a leveraged Ponzi game that eventually collapsed.

So how do oil traders’ supposedly pull off this feat of keeping oil prices elevated above the market clearing price? Well, there is only one way: Excess supply created by the artificially high price has to be stored, either in tanks or in the ground.

In fact, the Koch Brothers (who else?) have recently been accused of buying several tankers just to store oil for speculative gain. Forgetting for a moment whether this makes any economic sense for them, even four full million-barrel tankers would only only increase world crude inventories just over 1%, and would effectively store just over an hour of world oil demand. To keep prices elevated, someone would have to be buying this amount of oil every day, and keep on buying and storing this amount indefinitely.

Certainly this would bankrupt anyone in the attempt — it would cost something like $80 billion (just for the oil) to maintain this game for six months and require storage larger than the entire US strategic petroleum reserve. So it should not be surprising that we see no such trends in inventories. Crude oil and gasoline inventories are among the most carefully watched economic statistics there are. Crude oil inventories always rise this time of year (in anticipation of summer gasoline demand) and the rise in inventory this year has been well within historic norms. Gasoline inventories have actually been falling, indicating that the price of gas is perhaps a bit too low.

The only real option for raising prices is to store the oil in the ground — in other words, don’t allow it to get produced in the first place.

It would cost $80 billion to buy enough oil - four million-barrel tankers full - every day just for six months, plus the cost of storing it. Who is buying oil just to store it? Where is it stored?

The answer: The oil is not being bought and stored; the oil is in the ground. The Interior Department is preventing ramping up oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. US Energy Info Administration shows it declining. The EPA is preventing Shell Oil from producing in the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea north of Alaska. The Obama administration is keeping production down. We found the speculator: President Obama. He is not buying and storing oil, but keeping it in the ground: less supply causes higher prices: President Barack Hussein Obama.

Go after him, brave Senators.

Obama's EPA working to raise gasoline prices - Arctic Alaska

Obama is preventing Shell Oil from producing oil in the far-north Beaufort Sea area of Alaska. Shell has spent $ billions to be able to start production. There is about 27 billion barrels of oil.

But Obama's EPA is concerned about air quality for people who live in the area. The nearest village of 245 people is 70 miles away. 70 miles!!

Raising gasoline prices requires a lot of obstruction of productive people. But Obama has his people hard at work. It must be a high priority.

Fox News: Energy in America

Shell Oil Company has announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits....

Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion dollars on plans to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The leases alone cost $2.2 billion. Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby says obtaining similar air permits for a drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico would take about 45 days. He’s especially frustrated over the appeal board’s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area. “We think the issues were really not major,” Slaiby said, “and clearly not impactful for the communities we work in.”

The closest village to where Shell proposed to drill is Kaktovik, Alaska. It is one of the most remote places in the United States. According to the latest census, the population is 245 and nearly all of the residents are Alaska natives. The village, which is 1 square mile, sits right along the shores of the Beaufort Sea, 70 miles away from the proposed off-shore drill site.

Atlas Shrugged

Who is John Galt? We saw Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 Saturday at a King County GOP benefit. Very interesting. Not a great movie, but is is attractively done. It is short; the book could be done in two parts, rather than three.

The Hollywood establishment is stunned:

Chicago Sun Times

The power of Ayn Rand devotees has impressed some Hollywood distribution executives, who took note of the hefty $5,640 per-theater average scored by “Atlas Shrugged: Part 1” during its opening weekend.

“Shocking,” one executive said about the healthy business the low-budget film has been doing, considering its “awful” marketing plan.

Awful or not, business has been brisk enough for producers Harmon Kaslow and John Aglialoro to expand from 299 theaters to 425 this weekend and to 1,000 by the end of the month. They don’t have enough film prints to fill all the orders.

Correction, S-T, the audience is not all devotees of Ayn Rand. It is a rare movie that honors individual effort and achievement over a government machine. A lot of non-big-government people, like me, welcome this movie.

Progress for our environment

The health of the Gulf of Mexico one year after the huge Brightwater Horizon spill is 68 of 100 - the average rating of a group of scientists. Before the spill it was 71 of 100. It's back! Only 3 points of 100 lower after the huge clean-up effort. ET Blog

Air quality in the US has improved by 50% since 1970. Environment Trends 2011, page 3, see below.

Steven Hayward is compiling an index of environmental indicators each year. He gives the overview at Powerline.

The index with animated graphics is at Hayward's site: Environmental Trends

More paid to households than taxes received

This can't continue. What would Senator Cantwell cut?

More cash was paid to households than the taxes received during 2010: $2.3 trillion vs. $2.2 trillion. This, of course, does not count all the government spending for all the federal programs we hear about and the military.

Fox News

... The difference between what households received and what they paid in taxes is about $125 billion, equal to a little more than “three times the amount Republicans and Democrats agreed to cut from government spending through Sept. 30,” the Fiscal Times said. Typically, the gap between government transfers and taxes runs the other way, the Times reports.

“In normal times the household sector gives about eight percentage points more of its income in taxes than it receives in direct transfers,” the Times quotes J.P. Morgan economist Michael Feroli as saying, adding that a return to normalcy, or this eight-percentage-point spread, is equal to about $1.2 trillion in income.

President Obama asked for a commission on the debt; the Simpson-Bowles commission was formed and he endorsed it; then he ignored its recommendations. He left it to the Republicans to propose cuts, so he could kindly - cynically - be against every cut.

Our US senators are out front opposing every proposed cut in spending. The situation is serious.

What would Senator Cantwell cut? Isn't it her job?

Janet defends frisking 6-year-olds

Janet incompetano is in favor of frisking 6-year-old kids. They might be terrorists. Don't look at what kind of person is higher risk. Just harrass everyone. Foolish? Cruel?
Daily Caller

The shock of a video of a Transportation Security Administration screener patting down a 6-year-old child has drawn anger and even a subsequent potential legislative response. But the TSA’s actions were not improper, says Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
On Wednesday’s “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, Napolitano described the rationale behind such screening – saying everyone must be screened, because otherwise an exempted group could be exploited for a potential terrorist attack.
“Nobody likes to see those kinds of things [...] even though it was done professionally according to the protocols,” she said....

No one likes it except her. How about using a tiny bit of judgement, Janet?

The photo: From Funny Junk. Click to enlarge.

Force isn't enough for the solars; double force

Having a law requiring use of their product isn't enough for those who trust in solar. They are hitting us taxpayers again and ...

There is a Washington state law requiring increased use of renewable power sources, except hydro doesn't count. (Duh.) Solar does count, but that amount of force is not enough for a new solar project near Cle Elum. They want special favor for just their project.

Tell Teanaway Solar Reserve to get in line with all the other privileged renewable projects.

Seattle P-I blog

657 (new?) islands discovered

They found 657 more islands than in 2001. Mostly barrier islands. New ones? In a few cases: Barrier islands are sandy and form and erode away. But mostly existing islands were missed due to low resolution of photos and some science - see below.
Live Science

... The newly identified barrier islands didn't miraculously appear in the last decade, said study team member Matthew L. Stutz of Meredith. They've long existed but were overlooked or misclassified in past surveys. 

Previously, for instance, scientists believed barrier islands couldn't exist in locations with seasonal tides of more than 13 feet (4 meters). Yet the new survey identifies the world's longest chain of barrier islands along a stretch of the equatorial coast of Brazil, where spring tides reach 23 feet (7 meters). 

The 54-island chain extends 355 miles(571 kilometers) along the fringe of a mangrove forest south of the mouth of the Amazon River. Past surveys didn't recognize it as a barrier island coast partly because older, low-resolution satellite images didn't show a clear separation between the islands and mangrove, Stutz says, but also because the chain didn't match the wave-tide criteria used to classify barrier islands in the United States, where most studies have been conducted. 

Scientists failed to consider that supplies of replenishing sand are so plentiful along the equatorial Brazilian coast that they can compensate for the erosion caused by higher spring tides.

The photo: Science of barrier islands from U Texas Bureau of Economic Geology. Click to enlarge.

Seattle Unions fight volunteer cleanup

Cleanscape, a contract garbage hauler, offered to clean parks for free. Unions fight back.

Seattle Times

... The union points to a pattern of CleanScapes offering to donate to the city services such as snow removal and the deployment of speed-watch trailers, without public notice or bids.

Donating without a bidding process. Caught! Why don't the city unions volunteer?

But on the other hand the company is reported to have offered "donations" in exchange for extending a contract. Don't touch that!

In his proposal, Martin said he would donate the snowplow work if the city extended CleanScapes' trash-hauling contract for two years — an extension worth about $80 million, according to Seattle Public Utilities, which contracts for city trash collection.

Tell the taxpayers!

Oh! I agree with my Congressman Jim McDermott; this happens once per decade. Let the taxpayers know where their money is going!

Seattle Times

Americans love complaining about paying taxes. Now we can grouse about taxes with specificity -- thanks to an interactive federal taxpayer receipt rolled out by the Obama administration Friday.

The online tool delivers on Obama's pledge to show Americans just what they're buying with their tax dollars. It debuted on the same day that Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, reintroduced his bill that would codify the initiative by requiring the Internal Revenue Service to issue an annual personalized receipt to every taxpayer.

McDermott considers his legislation an antidote to widespread misunderstanding among Americans about the federal budget.

The taxpayer receipts break down spending by major federal programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the interest on the national debt. If McDermott's bill becomes law, it would entitle every taxpayer an annual paper summary of where her taxes went.

McDermott proposes listing the various federal budget outlays as a percentage of total splending. Included in the itemized expenditures would be the cost of ongoing military operations. For a hypothetical filer with $40,650 in taxable income, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (in Afghanistan) consumed $111.76 and $97.79, respectively, of the $6,350 in total income and payroll taxes.

Expect Obama's government to screw up

Obama was in such a hurry to hand out borrowed money that his people didn't check if the recipients were qualified - like buying a home

Seattle Times

The Internal Revenue Service has paid out more than a half-billion dollars in homebuyer tax credits to people who probably didn't qualify, a government investigator said Friday.

Most of the money - about $326 million - went to more than 47,000 taxpayers who didn't qualify as first-time homebuyers because there was evidence they had already owned homes, said the report by J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. Other credits went to prison inmates, taxpayers who bought homes before the credit was enacted and people who did not actually buy homes.

They are taking steps.... Yeah, sure.

Learn from China - slow the high-speed trains

Obama, listen to your leader: slow the high-speed trains. China is doing it.

UPI News

China's new railway minister says the country's much-acclaimed high-speed trains will run a little slower to help reduce costs for passengers.

Sheng Guangzu, successor to Liu Zhijun, who was ousted by China's anti-corruption watchdog, told the Communist Party's People's Daily the high-speed trains would run at 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph) beginning July 1, instead of 350 kmph (217 mph) as planned.

The minister said only the four east-west and four north-south artery lines of the high-speed rail network would run trains at 186 mph, while inter-city lines would operate at speeds between 200 kmph (124 mph) and 250 kmph (155 mph). In other changes, most trains in central and western China would run slower than 124 mph.

Incredible video of whole town being washed away by Japan tsunami

For the first few minutes the destruction is several hundred yards away behind a 20-foot-high railroad on a berm (fill). But it keeps coming and coming... Over the railroad... Houses washed over the railroad... People fleeing... Some get up the hill where the photographer is... Incredible.

Adelaide Now

Tax Day Tea Parties

If you like President Obama's "This time I am serious; we have to raise taxes" then go about your normal business Friday. But if you agree that high taxes stunt our economy and there are other ways to lessen our economic fix, then go to a Tax Day party on Friday April 15:

Bellevue, WA: 11:00 to 1:15 at City Hall. Some Excellent speakers

More info: Song of Truth

The big one - Olympia, WA: 2:00 to 4:00 at Capitol Buidling North steps with speakers and some Legislators.

More info: Push Forward

And there are a lot more all across the state. See the listing at Tea Party Patriots, scroll down.

Watch Internet censorship bill COICA

Watch the Internet censorship bill known as COICA. Oregon US Senator Ron Wyden has been watching these issues. So says TechDirt.com.

It treats intellectual property the same as physical counterfeiting. But the law on IP is not settled even tho that for counterfeiting is.

Sen. Widen requested data on the seizures done with the current law. But Obama's admin has stiffed him. Note that in IP seizure is done by blocking access.

Tech Dirt

My bridge - now open

The City of Lake Forest Park is building a bridge for me!

When I walk to our neighborhood mall - and our gem Third Place Books - I have to walk next to Bothell Way/Highway 522 on a narrow sidewalk then walk in the street at an intersection that is 10 feet from 522. This requires care because 522 is one of the busiest highways in the state and the speed limit is 45 mph.

Our little city is building a pedestrian bridge that will keep me away from that intersection. It took them a couple of months to building the concrete footings for the bridge. Then they dropped in a prebuilt steel bridge last week. So it should be ready for pedestrians within a week. The sidewalk part of the route stays, but it is short.

My bridge? I use it regularly, but not many others do.

Update 4/15: It is now open.


The photos: The bridge [new photo]. The intersection; silver car is on 522. Click to enlarge.

EPA is cornered

Between four votes in the Senate last week 64 senators voted against EPA. Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif. said that he and other Demos see EPA as a "rogue agency."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/04/epas-days-rogue-agency-are-numbered

Article author says its days are numbered.

Boehner wins - left and right agree

NRO Andrew Stiles

... Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) didn’t want to cut anything at first. But bowing to political reality, eventually ponied up about $4.7 billion in cuts. He ended up with $33.8 billion less spending than he wanted. And he called it an “historic” accomplishment. (Not surprisingly, the left is appalled).

House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), on the other hand, initially proposed $32 billion in spending cuts. House Republicans, led by an undaunted freshman class, bumped that number up to $61 billion ($100 billion off the president’s budget), before settling on $38.5 billion. That’s $6.5 billion more than Boehner asked for to begin with, and $5.5 billion more than the $33 billion that Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats claimed had been agreed to less than two weeks ago.

Jonah Goldberg at NY Post

This "end Medicare as we know it" line -- and many like it ("end Medicaid as we know it," "end carbon-based life as we know it," etc.) -- is the lead-off talking point for the entire Democratic Party in response to Rep. Paul Ryan's just-released budget proposal, "The Path to Prosperity."

Here's the thing: Of course he wants to end Medicare as we know it. You know why? Because the way we know it right now, the program is barreling toward insolvency.

Personally, if I were on a plane that had one engine out and was belching smoke, I would certainly hope somebody with some judgment and competence might calmly remove his oxygen mask long enough to suggest "ending this flight as we know it."

-----------------

On the left Ezra Klein says so in Wash Post:

If you were just tuning in, you might’ve thought Boehner had been arguing for moderation, while both Obama and Reid sought to cut deeper. You would never have known that Democrats had spent months resisting these “historic” cuts, warning that they’d cost jobs and slow the recovery.

Boehner, of course, could afford to speak plainly. He’d not just won the negotiation but had proven himself in his first major test as speaker of the House. He managed to get more from the Democrats than anyone had expected, sell his members on voting for a deal that wasn’t what many of them wanted and avert a shutdown. There is good reason to think that Boehner will be a much more formidable opponent for Obama than Gingrich was for Clinton.

So why were Reid and Obama so eager to celebrate Boehner’s compromise with his conservative members? The Democrats believe it’s good to look like a winner, even if you’ve lost. But they’re sacrificing more than they let on. By celebrating spending cuts, they’ve opened the door to further austerity measures at a moment when the recovery remains fragile. Claiming political victory now opens the door to further policy defeats later.

And policy defeats are what will matter...

----------------

On the left Jonathan Chait at The New Republic

----------------

NRO's KLo

... when in our contemporary history has a Speaker of the House made the sanctity of human life such a priority as this one has?

Planned Parenthood and D.C. abortion funding are both spending issues, but also the most fundamental of conscience issues.

The House got an agreement out of Harry Reid and the White House to prohibit taxpayer funding for abortions in the District of Columbia, and to allow a vote in the Senate over Planned Parenthood funding (and Obamacare). ...

Honorable Harry Reid promised? Don't bet a nickel on his word.

How did Caroline like "The Kennedys" series?

You will have the chance to ask Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg in person. Why did she want History Channel to kill The Kennedys series that it spent $30 million on? LA Times How did she succeed to get such a huge investment thrown away?

The Kennedys is showing this week on Reelz Channel. She wanted it killed because it showed too much truth. The series shows that President Kennedy had very bad health. Both he and Jacqueline were on "feel good" drugs. Joe Kennedy, her grandfather, got the mafia to help steal votes in Illinois. And that's just in Thursday's fifth episode. I expect all eight have embarrassing truth.

Ask her: She will be at Third Place Books

Monday, April 11, 7 pm.

Senator Cantwell failed

My Senator Maria Cantwell failed to do her job. The budget battle this week is about fiscal year 2011 which started October 1 - over six months ago. Among Cantwell's few duties is to build and pass a budget.

She failed to do her job. If she were a college student she would have been sent home in shame.

Don't let her blame the Republicans for the government shutting down. She caused it.

More - It's my instinct to say: what an easy job. Be a VIP in DC and go to fund raisers instead of the hard work of your own job. BUT it surely is painful to watch Honorable Harry Reid on TV and say "he is speaking for me." Tough job to endure that.

Indian giver Apple

Apple reached into My IPhone during an update and gave me a book. A color edition of Winnie the Pooh. Nice.

Then took it away. The next time I synched phone to my Mac the book was deleted with a message "not authorized." Well, Apple I am not stealing your book. You put it there.

I think their intention was to encourage use of their IBooks app and purchase of books from Apple. But now I have no use for iBooks and will delete it. Goodby, iBooks.

Obama protects US public - blames Republicans

Atty General Holder announced Monday that 9//1 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad will not be tried for his crimes in downtown New York City, but at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. So? If he were tried in civilian court much evidence against him could not be introduced. First, because it would do great damage to our intelligence collecting. And the rules for evidence would prevent much of it to be introduced. Hello, Mr. Holder!?

It would have been a repeat of the debacle last year. Last November Ahmed Ghailani was acquitted of the murder of 224 innocent people including Americans at the 1996 American embassy bombings in Kenya. There were 284 charges against Ghailani; he got off on 283; was convicted of one tiny charge.

President Obama did not brag that Monday's move was best for our country. No, his mouthpiece Holder blamed Congress - the Republicans. Well... some of the opposition was bipartisan. Democrats don't want dangerous international criminals held in their districts either. Funny thing, Americans want to be safe!

Were the people of Manhattan greatly disappointed? No. They cheered! According to Lucianne Goldberg who lives and works there. The city had been complaining that security for the American-killers would cost $200 million that the city would have to bear. And there would have been huge opportunity cost in lost business and tourism. NY Post

Correction: the cost to NYC of increased security would be $416 million. An unfunded mandate. Huff Post NY

Demos defend spending on illegal immigrants

Seattle Times

Speaking for the Democrats: "Senate Ways and Means Chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said he'll oppose any efforts to target services used by illegal residents."

And "Fatima Morales, with the Washington Community Action network, said proposals that target illegal immigrants — aside from ignoring the fact that they do pay taxes — are immoral."

What's her basis for determining what is moral vs. immoral? We know, whatever she likes.

Demos can't let the public see the proposed budget

Misuse of power: Rep. Frank Chopp of Seattle is afraid to let you and me see his proposed state budget. So he is violated House rules to delay its release - to cut short the required 5-day waiting period before action.

Washington Policy Center

At long last the House will propose its 2011-13 budget. If you are lucky you may even have time to read it before the House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to take executive action on it and any pending amendments on April 6. You definitely won't have time to read it before the public hearing scheduled this Monday (April 4) at 3:30 unless you are the most accomplished of speed readers.

This should not be the case for this session's most important bill, the budget, and proves once again the Legislature's rules requiring 5-day notice for public hearings are insufficient to ensure to the public has an opportunity to participate in a meaningful way.

And how do we know Chopp is playing games? Because his minions know it. Olympia Business Watch

"Regarding when the House will unveil its budget, Hunter said it probably will not occur on a Friday because that would give potential critics a whole weekend to pick it apart. It will probably be released on a Monday or Tuesday and acted on the same week, he said."

Chopp can't allow us to see it! You told us about how you would be transparent, etc., but now we see your actions, Democrats.

ObamaCare cut out AARP's competitors - Reichert

Why did AARP - the retirement group known for discounts - favor passage of ObamaCare when it would cut $500 billion in Medicare benefits? Surprise, ObamaCare cut their competitors' plans while preserving those of AARP.

Remember "Let me be very clear about this: if you like the insurance you now have you will be able to keep it." Seven million seniors will lose their Medicare Advantage plans.

Congressman Dave Reichert and two other congressmen issued a report Thursday about the conflicts of interest of AARP. Behind the Veil: The AARP American Doesn't Know

Seattle Times

... Titled "Behind the Veil: The AARP America Doesn't Know," the report takes aim at possibly stripping AARP of tax-exempt status. The organization was one of the most vocal supporters of the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans are attempting to repeal.

... Reichert and other Republicans have previously criticized AARP's insurance ventures, under which commercial carriers sell Medicare Advantage, Medigap and other insurance products with AARP's imprimatur in exchange for royalties.

The new 34-page report purports to document how AARP stands to reap "a financial windfall" of more than $1 billion over the next decade as a result of the new health-care law.

For instance, according to the report, UnitedHealthcare has nearly 10 million members in its AARP-branded medigap, Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans. That ranks UnitedHealthcare [AARP] as the largest player in the Medicare insurance market, ahead of Humana and WellPoint.

AARP President Lee Hammond said profit had nothing to do with their position and they were disappointed by the report. But the article mentions no dispute with the facts by AARP.

I have a friend who joined another senior outfit, not over differences with AARP's big-government-for-every-problem policies, but over its complete lack of "member" involvement. He says most of AARP's directors work for or have strong ties to insurance companies.