Thursday, August 30, 2012

KVI will return to talk

After 20 months of oldies programming (not really sure what they have been doing) KVI AM-570 will return to conservative talk on Tuesday September 4.

Long-time Seattle leader John Carlson will be on week days from 5 to 9 am. Also Laura Ingraham and Lars Larsen of Vancouver, WA-Portland, Oregon. To the shame of all, Michael Savage will be on every night.

That makes three local conservative talk stations. KTTH, AM 770, has the king Rush Limbaugh, local host David Boze and locally based national host Michael Medved; and some people listen to Sean Hannity and Glen Beck. AM 1590 has excellent national shows - William Bennett, Dennis Prager, Dennis Miller, Hugh Hewitt, Lars Larsen (apparently moving) and Mark Levin. It's great to have John Carlson back; I knew he was around, but whatever station he was on didn't get on my radio presets.

Seattle PI blog

Via OrbusMax

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Obama takes 2 days off to campaign during hurricane

Obama has his priorities, priority, that is - himself. He has a few minutes to say a few words of his magnificent compassion about the hurricane about to hit Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. But then he will take off work to campaign for two days.

Washington Post

Obama made brief remarks about the storm just before departing on a two-day campaign trip to Iowa, Colorado and Virginia.

Poverty returns to Europe

Oh! Greece so overextended their economy on cheap borrowed Euros that jobs are devastated and poverty is returning. Spain also.

No politician wants to talk about it. But the marketers are.

I don't find any joy in this at all. But there was every sign to the leaders of these countries what they were getting into.

Telegraph (UK)

… Greece mired in recession for the past five years and Spain with the highest unemployment rate in the industrialised world.

"Poverty is returning to Europe," Jan Zijderveld, the head of Unilever's European business told the Financial Times Deutschland in an interview. "If a consumer in Spain only spends €17 when they go shopping, then I'm not going to be able to sell them washing powder for half of their budget."

Unilever has already started to change the way it sells some of its products. In Spain, the company sells Surf detergent in packages for as few as five washes, while in Greece, it now offers mashed potatoes and mayonnaise in small packages, and has created a low-cost brand for basic goods such as tea and olive oil.

"In Indonesia, we sell individual packs of shampoo 2 to 3 cents and still make decent money," said Mr Zijderveld. "We know how to do that, but in Europe we have forgotten in the years before the crisis."

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Carney claims Obama didn't reject Keystone XL pipeline

Obama spokesman Jay Carney claimed August 24 that Obama didn't reject Keystone XL pipeline. CNS News:

White House Spokesman Jay Carney said that the Obama administration had not “rejected” the Keystone pipeline

But Obama DID reject it. The Republicans in Congress forced him to make a decision in January, 2012.

Here is what he said when he rejected it:

“As the State Department made clear last month, the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment.

“As a result, the Secretary of State has recommended that the application be denied. And after reviewing the State Department’s report, I agree,” Obama said on Jan. 18.

He was "perfectly clear."

Monday, August 20, 2012

Race your ostrich in New Orleans

For "something completely different," two weeks of quarter horse racing included a race of ostriches and one of camels.

NY Daily News

These "racehorses" really stuck their necks out. Ostriches took center stage during the fifth annual Quarter Horse Race at the New Orleans Fair Grounds on Saturday.

Photo from NY Daily News.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Obama's rallies are small. That's what HE wants

Romney and Ryan are getting big crowds. Obama is getting small ones and sent Slow Joe Biden home to Delaware to rest. But don't let that make you think The One is less popular. No. His people say they are intentionally scheduling small crowds.

If you believe that I have a bridge you will be interested in.

Washington Times

“We have plenty of time for big rallies,” a campaign spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said between the rallies on Thursday. “Our focus right now is on exciting our supporters and winning over undecided voters and the smaller and medium-size events are the best venue to accomplish that because the president can closely engage with the crowd.

”Big rallies are expensive, especially given the logistical and security challenges for a president as opposed to a mere United States senator. And Obama campaign operatives, both at the Chicago headquarters and in swing states where Mr. Obama recently has stumped, say the campaign intentionally limits crowds by restricting tickets. The reason is to allow the president to better connect with supporters, aides say.

Via Jammie Wearing Fool

To better connect with people, by telling them they didn’t build that, or that they’re racist. Easier with a tiny crowd, we suppose. Four years ago a football stadium could hardly contain the awesome crows, Greek columns and his massive ego. Now he’s discovered frugality and intimacy.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Visiting Raychel in Morogoro, Tanzania

Gord and Debbie are visiting Raychel with their friends Bob and Kris - in Tanzania, Africa.

Bob and Kris's Travel Blog entry on visiting Morogoro, the town where Raychel is living and working for two years.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Highway 522 blocked in Lake Forest Park

One of the busiest highways in the state cuts thru our neighborhood. A tree fell across it so it is closed. From 3 am until who knows when?
(The power was out 4 hours before that due to transformer fire. Related?)

Seattle Times

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Put Biden in chains

VP Joe Biden set a new record for low political discourse. Tuesday morning he said that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to put people back in chains. Washington Times

That is an absurd falsehood. Does President Obama agree? His spokesperson would not back off. Stephanie Cutter ran out a list of complaints about Republican policies. But she accepted "back in chains." and she speaks for President Obama.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Pants on Fire = Harry Reid

Even the Washington Post's "claim checker" says Harry Reid has no credibility in claiming Mitt Romney did not pay income tax for ten years. They give him the Pants on Fire award, as in "liar, liar, pants on fire."
Washington Post
Reid has said Romney paid no taxes for 10 years. It was no slip of the tongue. He repeated the claim on at least two more occasions, at one point saying that "the word is out" when in fact it was only Reid who put that "word" out.
Reid has produced no evidence to back up his claim other than attribution to a shadowy anonymous source. Romney has denied the claim, and tax experts back him up, saying that the nature of Romney's investments in Bain make it highly unlikely he would have been able to avoid paying taxes altogether -- especially for 10 years.
Reid has made an extreme claim with nothing solid to back it up. Pants on Fire!
AND far-left Mother Jones magazine gives Distinguished Senator Reid no credit - none at all
Take a deep breath, folks. This is contemptible stuff and it's not just business as usual. We've spent too many years berating the tea partiers for getting on bandwagons like this to get sucked into it ourselves the first time it's convenient. It's time to quit cheering on Reid and get off this particular bus.
The graphic: animated gif from Washington Post

Monday, August 06, 2012

Even Old Gray Lady says Harry went too far

Distinguished Senator Harry Reid, better known as Dingy Harry, thinks he can force Mitt Romney to show every detail of his life by throwing charges he has no evidence of. If the charge is serious then it doesn't matter that Harry has no evidence at all. He claims "someone told him" that Romney paid zero taxes for ten years.

This is the US Senate version of I played music, but you didn't dance. That is, I told you to lie on the ground and lick my shoes, but you didn't.

Even the New York Times is noticing.

Senator Harry Reid’s decision this week to hurl a taunting, unsubstantiated accusation at Mitt Romney is hardly out of character for the cantankerous Democratic leader of the Senate

… Instead, Mr. Reid appears to be once again reprising a rhetorical technique he has mastered over 25 years in the Senate: repeatedly needling his Republican adversaries in ways that often push the boundaries of political propriety.

… [Harry's spokesman] “He’s not making this up,” Mr. Jentleson said. “This is what he believed to be true based on the conversation he had.”

It's one thing for Harry to believe it, but another to have evidence. Who is following this guy?

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Bush saved lives in Africa

President G W Bush undertook an aggressive program in 2003 to fight Hiv/Aids in Africa. Before Bush's initiative 50,000 people were taking the effective drug cocktail; now 4 million are. He saved lives.

But who gives him credit? With a huge global conference in DC this week even Eugene RobinsonWashington Post confessed.