Friday, November 20, 2009

A $2 Whore



The $100 Million Health Care Vote:

On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.”

The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.”

I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate
Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.

In other words, the bill spends two pages describing would could be written with a single world: Louisiana. (This may also help explain why the bill is long.)

Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu.

How much does it cost?

According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.



Now, the health care bill is a $1 trillion prospect.

Sen. Landrieu tells us she is only worth 0.0001% of that prospect.

They don't come cheaper than that.

Update: Apparently, Senator Landrieu is not such a cheap whore. It seems she was able to talk the john up to $300 million in order to fuck the country.

Solving America's Obesity Problem

Under the direction of the Obama administration, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department is in talks with South American medical specialists on a new weight loss therapy for overweight Americans. Details of the new program can be found on page 1,789 of the Senate version of proposed health care legislation. It is one of the few instances in the bill where market forces are leveraged to solve a huge national problem.

This article describes it fairly succinctly:

Peruvian Police: Gang Killed People for Their Fat
Peruvian police says gang killed people for their fat,allegedly for use in cosmetics
By ANDREW WHALEN Associated Press Writer
LIMA, Peru November 20, 2009 (AP)

Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists.

Three suspects confessed to killing five people, but the gang may have been involved in dozens more, said Col. Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police. He said one suspect claimed the gang wasn't the only one doing such killings.

Mejia said two of the suspects were arrested carrying bottles of liquid human fat and told police it was worth $60,000 a gallon ($15,000 a liter). The fat was sold to intermediaries in Peru's capital, Lima, and police suspect it was then sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, Mejia said Thursday, but he could not confirm any sales.

You Can't Win

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Only One Man Is Capable of Filling the Spot

Newsflash:

Tony Blair Reportedly Exits Race to Become First EU Minister

Tony Blair is out of the race to become the first President of the EU Council, Sky News reported.

Sky's political editor Adam Boulton said Gordon Brown had decided that support for the ex-PM was insufficient for him to back him at a meeting of EU leaders to decide the appointment this evening.

Brown will of course seek the appointment of U.S. President Barack Obama to be the first EU President.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Winter Provisions, Part I



Well, Christmas is only 37 days away, so Sydney Brillo Duodenum is putting together his winter provisions list. Staying sated and tipsy is crucial during this time and requires very specific comestibles. Today, SBD is focusing on beer and spirits capable of carrying him well into the new year. In later posts, we shall examine foodstuffs - meats, fishes, cheeses and dips - and a post devoted to tobaccos. Let's begin.

On the beer list, we have:
The Dogfish Head Burton Baton – as the brewery notes: vanilla, oak, Brandied fruitcake, raisiney, citrusy. Now, that’s what the holidays should taste like.

Guinness – because an Irishman is going to cry during the holidays when he’s alone in his den at 11 pm and the tree's lights are the only thing shining truth upon his wicked, short pathetic existence

Sam Adams Holiday Porter - anti-Catholic bigots and merry church sexcapade pranksters they may be, but forgiveness being a partial holiday theme, they still make some of the best beer in the country. This porter will be a nice accompaniment to the snow covered, body littered London streets of Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3) unless Santa brings him Resistance 2.

Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic – because every holiday needs a bit of sourness. It can’t all be cherubs, sparkly lights, candycanes and evergreen.

On the spirits list:
Knob Creek Bourbon – because there is in the cabinet an unfinished bottle from last year preventing the purchase of new stuff this year.

Jim Beam Red Stag – infused with black cherry flavors - could taste like crap but it sounds holidayish so it’s on the list.

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey – because it never fucking snows in the Nation’s capital for Christmas and some lucky bastard is sitting in his snow-buried Rocky Mountain chalet. With every sip, we wish an avalanche upon his head.

On the Scotch list:

The Dalmore Oculus – because SBD still believes in Santa Claus, and the Dalmore is at the top of his list and Santa wouldn’t disappoint SBD again after disappointing him for so many years. Right, Santa?

Glenfiddich 21 - because it's on sale at the Montgomery County Liquor and Wine stores and one must take advantage of the sales at Christmastime.


On the corrupted wines list:
Osborne Pedro Jimenez 1827 - you can't eat a nice blue cheese all by itself

Any 20 year old port - because it makes you feel grand and spoiled and that's a nice feeling on a cold winter's night

SBD invites his rare, random readers to share their must have liquid pacifiers in the comments section.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Dangerously Stupid

This little gem appeared in the New York Times Letters to the Editor page:

To the Editor:

The Obama administration is to be commended for its decision to try the alleged 9/11 plotters in federal court — an approach that should be followed with respect to all terrorism suspects, however, including the U.S.S. Cole suspects.

And it is troubling that administration officials “also suggested that they could continue to detain anyone deemed to be a ‘combatant’ under Congress’s authorization to use military force” — thereby indicating an intention to continue to hold the suspects regardless of the outcome of the trial.

I have not been professionally involved in these deliberations, and I am expressing my personal opinion based solely on the public record. But unless the United States is prepared to release these men if they are acquitted — or in the perhaps more likely event that the charges against them are dismissed on due-process grounds, because they have been subjected to procedures that “shock the conscience” — it is arguably merely conducting a show trial. The government cannot have it both ways.

John S. Koppel

Bethesda, Md., Nov. 14, 2009
The writer is a career appellate attorney with the Justice Department.


SBD would bet his bottom dollar that Mr. Koppel and his thousands of sympathetic clones throughout the Washington bureaucracy can't hardly wait for KSM and friends to be acquitted and let go. But Mr. Koppel is being entirely disingenuous. The entire purpose behind the Obama administration sending these admitted mass murderers to New York is to conduct a show trial - a show trial where the Bush administration, specifically, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, are in the defendant's seat. Obama would love to see KSM acquitted as it would be the final indictment of the War on Terror and the methods used by the Bush administration to protect this country. And Mr. Koppel just loves the drama this presents. It's a Watergate and Iran Contra Hearings redux wet dream; the hearings those pussy Dems in Congress wouldn't pursue because they knew Americans with torches and pitchforks would drive them into the Potomac. Mr. Koppel, after living in the shadows for eight horrible years under the Bush hunta, now crawls from under his laminated government-issued desk and cries "J'Accuse!" on the pages of his heroic chronicle of the oppressed and abused. It's rare to see a career government attorney put himself out this way, even on the letters page of the hallowed NYT, and it's clear message to Obama that his leftist base isn't yet convinced he is their savior. For the Mr. Koppels of this country, only when the perpetrators of 9/11 are freed into the world will the United States have adequately paid the price for not turning the other cheek on September 12, 2001.

If on some sad, outrageous day, KSM and friends are to be released, then they should be released to their freedom at the building site of the WTC at noon or so when all the hardhats are standing around the lunch wagons.

But SBD doesn't believe that day will come. He thinks KSM will be found guilty by a New York jury. He thinks he will be sentenced to death. He thinks the Supreme Court will eventually overturn his execution order on the grounds that he was "tortured." He will then be sent to ADX Florence for the rest of his life and be interviewed every ten years by Geraldo Rivera.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A Certain Madness

Here's an interesting item in the local Montgomery County, MD newspaper The Gazette.

Headline:
Area Americans Hope For Best But Prepare For Worst
Many fear hate crimes after Fort Hood shooting

The opening graphs read:
At the quiet Community Center in Silver Spring [MD] where even the local ping pong ace is said to avoid unncessary attention, community center regulars say they are facing constant news trucks at the front gates and a fear of retaliation against Americans in a post-9/11 world.

When Maj. Nidal M. Hassan, a Muslim Army psychiatrist, allegedly opened fire on a crowd of people at Fort Hood in Texas Nov. 5, killing 13 people, Americans at community centers, theaters, malls, waiting lines at the DMV, pumpkin stands, grocery check out lines, bus stops, Home Depot parking lots, town squares, farmers' markets, ball fields, playgrounds, street fairs, block parties, marathons, restaurants, business conferences, gas station pumps, Disney World, tailgates, camp grounds, stopped at red lights, monuments, and in their homes have been once again thrown into the spotlight as they try to understand the violence behind Hasan's outburst.

Of course that's not really what the article says. Here's what it really says:

Headline:

Area Muslims Hope for Best but Prepare for Worst
Many Fear Hate Crimes After Fort Hood Shooting

At the quiet Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring [MD]where even the holy leader is said to avoid unncessary attention, worshippers say they are facing constant news trucks at the front gates and a fear of retaliation against Muslims in a post-9/11 world.

When Maj. Nidal M. Hassan, a Muslim Army psychiatrist, allegedly opened fire on a crowd of people at Fort Hood in Texas Nov. 5, killing 13 people, Islam had been been once again thrown into the spotlight as Americans try to understand the violence behind Hasan's outburst.

"I don't think it's right to relate it to his religion, because people do crazy things regardless of their religion, whether they're Christian, Jewish, whatever," said Imam Mohamed Abdullahi, the center's holy leader.

"Why is it that whenever Muslims are involved in a crime, it's because of religion?" asked Arshad Qureshi, chairman of the center's board of trustees. "It's a double standard."

Now, here's where it gets crazy:

It's a double standard that center members are quick to dismiss, with worshippers such as center member Abdoulah Oyola bringing up other crimes, such as the recent discovery of 10 bodies and a human skull at a Cleveland sex offender's home. These crimes aren't linked to religion, he said.

Some members questioned how Hasan could even commit such an act, saying they question the reported accounts of what happened.

"To this day, I'm still not convinced this man did it," Oyola said. "I can't fathom it. I [used to] see this man every day." He questioned how Hasan could have fired so many shots during the attack without stopping to reload.


Whew, that is a deep, profound uncrossable river of denial.

But the concern of the article is the oppression committed daily upon the Muslim community following these non-religious-oriented attacks by what must be serial rapist-killers whose Jihadism, communications with extremist imams and Al Queda, and powerpoint slides on the proper decapitation of infidels are minor contrivances of a nationally hostile to Muslims mainstream media.
But the fear of vandalism, threats and other hate crimes lingers at the center and among many Muslims in the county.

Yes, and it lingers among Americans at community centers, theaters, malls, waiting lines at the DMV, pumpkin stands, grocery check out lines, bus stops, Home Depot parking lots, town squares, farmers' markets, ball fields, playgrounds, street fairs, block parties, marathons, restaurants, business conferences, gas station pumps, Disney World, tailgates, camp grounds, stopped at red lights, monuments, and in their homes.
At the center's regular Friday services, Abdullahi spoke out against hate crimes, saying he had heard from one person who received a threatening phone call. Non-Muslim Debbie Shankman, who regularly attends services at the Muslim Community Center, said one of her friends at the center told her she would not go to service Friday because she and her husband were scared.

Well, the evidence is incontrovertable - an annecdote about a person receiving a threatening phone call but without any detail as to the actual threat. Was it Comcast calling about a late payment? And a further annecdote, provided by, for lack of a better term, a groupie, about a couple running scared and being prevented from worshipping. Where's the Justice Department when you need it?!? Fortunately, according to the article:
Immediate statements from the Islamic Center of Washington and other Islamic groups were sent out, denouncing [Hasan's] purported attacks. The Muslim community learned to be more involved in the community and proactive about speaking out against violence.

Well, just going by the first quotes in the article, Mission Accomplished!! Muslims are speaking out about imagined violence against Muslims following a mass murder by a serial-rapist killer murderer who just happens to be a Muslim but is probably not the killer because questions linger as to how one person, particularly someone in the Army, could handle two semi-automatic handguns without apparently reloading while in a room full of unarmed men and women.
Officials from the Islamic Center of Maryland in Gaithersburg released a statement cautioning Muslims to be careful when visiting religious facilities or wearing clothing associated with Islam. The center also recommended that parents discuss the shooting with their children and what to do if they experience harassment at school.

But there is hope. There is always hope. Because it turns out that depiste the fear and self-pitying and basically made up bullshit about Americans driving Muslims underground . . .
As much as Muslim communities say they fear for the worst, many say they are overwhelmed by the support they have received over the past week.

Obligatory Emily Litella insertion - Nevermind!
"I think the media, the government and our military were very positive about this, " Abdullahi said. The center hasn't received any threats, he added, "But you have to understand, after 9/11, everybody is scared."

Oh, indeed, Mr. Abdullahi, indeed.
"There have actually been more expressions of support in the past rather than these isolated incidents [of hate crimes]," Ahmad said of the Islamic Center of Maryland. "The problem is that one incident can cause a lot of harm."

Ah, if it were only just one incident.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Monday, November 9, 2009

Read the Names

Peter Fechter, Age 18, Shot Dead, Berlin Wall, Aug. 17, 1962


Chris Gueffroy, Age 20, Shot Dead, Berlin Wall, Feb. 6, 1989

In the years between the murders of these two men, hundreds, some say thousands of others - no one is really sure how many - joined them. Their one quest - reach freedom on the other side of a barrier.

On one side of the barrier, an act of heroism. On the other side, an act of treason.

Today, U2 will play a concert; pols will make speeches; artists will use government funds on installations teaching us what it's really all about; the putative leader of the free world will not show up; idiots will think everything was better before; and American high school students will ask, "What wall?"

Read some of the Names. Just read the Names.

Rudolf Urban, age 47, August 19,1961 Injured while escaping, later died
Günter Litfin, 24, August 22, 1961 Shot swimming across Humboldt Harbor
Ida Siekmann, 58 August 22, 1961 Leaped from fourth-floor apartment
Unknown Male, August 29,1961 Shot swimming across Teltow Canal
Axel Brückner, 25, September 3, 1961 Shot
Olga Segler, 80, September 25, 1961 Died from injuries suffered after jumping to a rescue net from a third-floor apartment
Bernd Lünser, 22, October 4, 1961 Shot while trying to escape on a clothesline strung across the wall. Jumped to his death
Unknown Male, October 4, 1961 Beaten to death on roof, presumed to be accomplice of Bernd Lünser
Udo Düllick, 24, October 5,1961 Drowned after being shot while swimming across Spree River
Unknown Male, October 5, 1961 Shot trying to swim across Spree River
Unknown Male, October 13, 1961 Shot escaping on a freight train
Werner Probst, 25, October 14, 1961 Shot swimming across Spree River
Unknown Male, October 18, 1961 Shot escaping on a freight train
Unknown Male, October 27, 1961 Shot while crossing barbed wire
Unknown Male, October 31, 1961 Shot
Unknown Male, November 17, 1961 Drowned in Spree River
Lothar Lehmann, 20, November 17, 1961 Drowned in Havel River
Dieter Wohlfahrt, December 6, 1961 Shot
Ingo Krüger, 21, December 10, 1961 Drowned in Spree River
Dorit Schmiel, 20, February 19, 1962 Shot
Heinze Jercha, 27, March 27,1962 Shot while trying to help others escape by tunnel
Philipp Held, 20, April 11, 1962 Drowned in Spree River
Klaus Brüske, 23, April 18, 1962 Shot trying to escape in a truck
Peter Böhme, 19, April 18, 1962 Shot
Horst Frank, 20, April 29, 1962 Shot
Lutz Hablerland, 24, May 27, 1962 Shot
Axel Hannemann, 17, June 5, 1962 Shot while trying to swim across Spree River
Erna Kelm, 54, June 11, 1962 Drowned in Havel River
Unknown Male, June 22, 1962 Shot
Siegfried Noffke, 22, June 28, 1962 Shot in attempt to rescue his family by tunnel
Unknown Male, July 29, 1962 Shot
Peter Fechter, 18, August 17, 1962 Shot. Left to bleed to death by East German border guards
Hans-Dieter Wesa, 19, August 23, 1962 Shot
Ernst Mundt, 41, September 4, 1962 Shot while climbing over the wall
Unknown Male, October 8, 1962 Shot trying to cross Spree River
Ottfried Reck, 18, Late November, 1962 Shot
Unknown Male, Late November, 1962 Shot
Two Unknown Males, December 6, 1962 Shot and drowned after falling through the ice on Griebnitz Lake
Hans Raewal, 21, January 1, 1963 Shot and drowned swimming across Spree River
Horst Kutscher, 32, January 15, 1963 Shot
Peter Kreitloff, 20, January 23, 1963 Shot
Unknown Male, January, 1963 Shot by Soviet Military patrol
Wolf-Olaf Muszynski, 16, April 1, 1963 Found dead in Spree River
Unknown Male, April 16, 1963 Drowned trying to cross the Teltow Canal
Unknown Person, April 16, 1963 Drowned in Spree River
Unknown Male, April 26, 1963 Shot trying to cross Teltow Canal
Klaus Schroeter, 23, November 4, 1963 Shot swimming across Spree River
Dietmar Schutz, 24, November 26, 1963 Shot
Dieter Berger, 24, December 13, 1963 Shot
Paul Schultz, 18, December 25, 1963 Shot
Adolf Philipp, 20, May 5, 1964 Shot
Unknown Male, June 22, 1964 Shot
Hans-Joachim Wolf, 17, Nov. 26, 1964 Shot swimming across Britzer Zweig Canal
Unknown Male, January 19, 1965 Drowned in Spree River
Christian Buttkus, 21, March 4, 1965 Shot
Hermann Döbler, 42, June 15, 1965 Shot crossing Teltow Canal
Heinz Sokolowski, 47, November 25, 1965 Shot
Heinz Schöneberger, 27, Dec. 26, 1965 Shot when group attempt to escape by car failed. Three companions were arrested. Schöneberger was shot as he ran towards West Berlin. He made it but later died of his wounds
Willi Block, 32, February 7, 1966 Shot
Unknown Male, March 19, 1966 Shot
Michael Kollender, 21, April 25, 1966 Shot swimming Teltow Canal
Paul Stretz, 31, April 29, 1966 Shot
Heinz Schmidt, 46, April 29, 1966 Shot
Two Unknown Males, ages 10 & 14, 1966 Shot while attempting to escape. Due to the young ages East German authorities informed the parents one boy died of drowning and the other was struck by lightening. The bodies were then cremated. This dark secret was uncovered in 1997.
Max Willi Sahmland, 37, Jan. 27, 1967 Shot swimming Teltow Canal
Unknown Person. November 16, 1968 Killed in shoot-out while trying to escape
Werner Kuehl, 22, July 24, 1971 Shot
Horst Kullack, 23, January 1, 1972 Shot
Klaus Schulze, 19, March 7, 1972 Shot
Peter Kreitloff, 20, January 23, 1973 Shot
Manfred Gertzki, 30, April 27, 1973 Shot
Burkhard Niehring, 23, January 5, 1974 A border guard, Niehring was shot when he took another soldier hostage and tried to escape at Checkpoint Charlie
Marietta Jirkowski, 18, Nov 22, 1980 Shot
Lothar Freie, age unknown, June 4, 1982 Shot
Unknown Male, December 1, 1984 Shot
Name Withheld, November 21, 1986 Shot or killed in truck attempting to crash through border
Unknown Male, November 24, 1986 Shot
Lutz Schmidt, 28, February 12, 1987 Shot
Name Withheld, August 11, 1987 Shot (Death occurred in 1984 but was not made public for several years.)
Chris Gueffroy, 20, February 5, 1989 Shot
Winfried Freundenberg, 32, Mar. 3, 1989 Died in crash landing of homemade gas balloon

Friday, November 6, 2009

Government vs. Private Sector

Here's some tasty research:


Incentives and Creativity: Evidence from the Life Sciences

by Pierre Azoulay, Joshua Graff Zivin, and Gustavo Manzo

Despite its presumed role as an engine of economic growth, we know surprisingly little about the drivers of scientific creativity. In this paper, we exploit key differences across funding streams within the academic life sciences to estimate the impact of incentives on the rate and direction of scientific exploration. Specifically, we study the careers of investigators of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute HHMI), which tolerates early failure, rewards long-term success, and gives its appointees great freedom to experiment; and grantees from the National Institute of Health, which are subject to short review cycles, pre-defined deliverables, and renewal policies unforgiving of failure.

Using a combination of propensity-score weighting and difference-in-differences estimation strategies, we find that HHMI investigators produce high-impact papers at a much higher rate than two control groups of similarly-accomplished NIH-funded scientists. Moreover, the direction of their research changes in ways that suggest the program induces them to explore novel lines of inquiry.

So, the institution started by a mad man is more successful and productive than the institution run by mad men.

Quel surprise.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

About those elections . . .

Great!

Now listen Christie you fat fuck and McDonnel with your Bob Forehead Hair and you small pikers in those super wealthy NY counties and burgs: don't fuck it up by being all centrist and buddy-buddy with Democrats. They hate your fucking guts. And the voters that voted against you do too. So fuck them, too. And the independents who voted for you this time, fuck them as well. Govern by your principles. Conservatism is by definition unpopular and so you will barely break 50 percent by the end of your first terms. Why? Because you won't be handing out candy, right? You won't be glad handing special interest groups, right? You'll be cutting government operations and vetoing bills "for the children," right?

Repeat after SBD: limited constitutional government, smaller government operations, low taxes, law and order; veto every fucking nanny state transfat, anti-smoking, cellphone hating, eco-scolding piece of legislation that comes to your desk.

If you claim to be a conservative, then, goddamnit, act like one. Sign not one bill that raises one further penny for any government operation of any sort. Sign only bills repealing bureaucracy. Sign executive orders returning freedom to citizens to do what they please to build small kingdoms of entreprenuership for themselves and to maintain their happiness. Tell your citizens that they are responsible for themselves and you are going to help them get there by getting out of the way. Willy-nilly cut government employees 10 or 15 percent. Throw them into the street. Enforce the laws that matter, crush the gangs.

Stick to common sense and stay the fuck out of our lives.

Be the anti-Obamas.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Hey, it's Sunday, so the President must be golfing

On Capitalism

J.T. Young on capitalism:

Capitalism straddles today's globe. Every economic competitor has fallen before it - predecessors, feudalism and mercantilism, and would-be successors, communism and socialism. It is the greatest wealth generator in history, and it has done, or is doing, so on every continent and in every culture.

In the broad span of its ascendancy, the current economic crisis is barely a blip. Yet many on the left seek to advance the dubious argument that capitalism precipitated this crisis. Even more preposterous is their assumption that planned economies are devoid of crisis.

Those systems choosing planning overcapitalism exist in perpetual disequilibrium. They are distinguished not only by their reliance on the state, but in an inability to right themselves. As a result, they move to ever greater disequilibrium.

As with a body, the fundamental health of an economic system lies not in never getting sick, but in its response to contagion. The current financial crisis apparently has ended in less than two years. Compare that to the continuous degeneration of communist and socialist systems.

[...]

Communism's response to capitalism offers two versions of the same tale. In the late 1980s, communism imploded across Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The rot of communism sapped the economy, the state collapsed, and capitalism rushed in.

[...]

The West, having first received capitalism, now faces its own reckoning as its entitlement societies increase their tax and debt burdens and decrease their competitive advantages. The first nation to resolve this will reap an enormous advantage. Those that fail or that deny the necessity to resolve it need only look back to the history that is rapidly gaining on them.