Thursday Morning Hazardous Condition

Thursday, finally... Here's a little danger on the road... Just look at that patchwork!

Drive safely!

Vice President Cheney's Sober Warning

Former Vice President Dick Cheney sat down with Politico yesterday for his first interview post office. In it, he offered quite the sobering assessment of what he sees after two weeks of Hope and Change...

Some quotables...

When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry,”

Ouch. That one hurts. Sadly, he is right.

Protecting the country’s security is “a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business. These are evil people. And we’re not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek.”

Darn right. Not going to happen.

"The United States needs to be not so much loved as it needs to be respected. Sometimes, that requires us to take actions that generate controversy. I’m not at all sure that that’s what the Obama administration believes.”

He's right. I am sure that at some point in the future, a US President will be forced to make an extremely controversial decision for the sake of national security... Our popularity among the 'Global Community' should not really be the forefront of our decision-making process.

Don't Like Your Job, Neither Does The One...

Things have been very turbulent for young President Obama in his first 2 weeks in office. Between tax cheats, pork-laden spending bills and controversial Executive Orders, things are rough for the unqualified One.

Well, yesterday, he and wife Michelle headed out to a school in DC. Upon arriving, he said, "We were just tired of being in the White House..."

Come again? Tired of being in the White House? I can't imagine what the media reaction would be if George W. Bush had uttered those words...

I guess running for President is a lot differed than actually ACTING like the President... I told ya' so...

Hump Day Snow Scenes

Good Wednesday morning... Here are some pics from yesterday's snowfall here in the NY area.

Enjoy!

The scene from my front door...

Scene from the Forest Ave. Station.

The MTA's property... Why bother to shovel today? Uber classy!

BREAKING: Daschle Out for HHS

Former Senator Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services today, after it was revealed in recent days that he has also not paid up on his taxes...

This is a good thing, as Sen. Daschle is a huge proponent of government run socialized medicine. That is the last thing we need when we are spending ourselves silly.

In addition, the amount of tax cheats being nominated and vetted by the Obama Administration, what the heck is going on?

Government Spending-Fest to Grow?

Today's Wall Street Journal notes that Washington lobbyists (you know, the ones who are supposed to have ZERO access to the Obama Administration) are working their Senate contacts to actually ADD proposals to the Government Pork and Spending Festival...

Eh, why the hell not... If we're going to go broke, why not go all the way...

Florida citrus growers, California wine growers and a range of agricultural interests are pushing a tiny change that would allow farmers to more quickly depreciate new fields. High-tech and pharmaceutical companies want to save billions in taxes by including a plan that would allow them to bring overseas profits back home at lower tax rates. Labor unions are pressing Congress to make sure that new government funding for green technology results in jobs with good pay and benefits for workers.

Tuesday Morning Sunrise

A good morning to you all... Here's a sunny sunrise to start your day...

Quote of the Day...

“Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws
to the letter. ”

Sen. Tom Daschle, Congressional Record, May 7, 1998, p. S4507

It's kind of like the ol Steve Martin bit, 'You Can Be a Millionaire and Never Pay Taxes'...

'First, get a million dollars.
Then, when the IRS audits you and comes by and asks why you have not paid
your taxes, you answer...

'I forgot'

Apparently, it gets you into the President's Cabinet.

Why We Love The Groundhog...

There is always this curiosity surrounding Groundhog Day. I don't know why... The groundhog either 'predicts' 6 more weeks of Winter or an early Spring...

Well, this morning, Punxatauney Phil, fresh off celebrating the Steelers 27-23 last-minute Super Bowl win last night, actually saw his shadow and predicts 6 more weeks of Winter.

Here in New York, Staten Island Chuck, did not see his shadow and predicts an early Spring... The great thing is, one of them is actually right... More effective than The Weather Channel? Perhaps...

Maybe SI Chuck is a Global Warming advocate...

Morning in the Citi

Monday morning. Hope you had a good weekend. The Pittsburgh Steelers are Champions of the NFL.

Have a Ball This Weekend...

Well, off for the weekend!

Here's a pic of the Times Square Ball (now there all the time, year round)...

BREAKING: RNC ELECTS STEELE AS CHAIR

The Republican National Committee today, after a long day of balloting, elected Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor and Senate Candidate Michael Steele as Chairman.

Now THIS is Change You Can Believe In! Let's hope it marks the return of True Conservatism to the GOP.

Bloomberg's Doomsday Budget UPDATE WITH DETAILS

3:30 PM UPDATE:
Here are some additional nuggets from today's presentation...

Job cuts will begin July 1 (which coincides with the start of FY 2010)

Wall St. Losses Could Top $47 Billion in 2008.

The City project 300,000 job losses by 2010.

ORIGINAL POST:
We all know that the budget situation here in NYC is in deep doo doo. Today at high Noon, Mayor Mike Bloomberg will announce his FY 2010 budget for the City. It's loving being referred to as a 'Doomsday Budget'. Wonderful

NY1 has the gory details.

Highlights?
23,000 job cuts (a large number of teachers)
Raising our sales tax from 8.375% to 8.75%

I'm sure there are service reductions and additional tax increases as well... Just what needs to be done when the economy stinks, raise taxes

BRILLIANT!

Friday Morning Profiles in Crapiness

Good Friday morning all!

So, this is part of the loveliness that comes from waiting for the bus in the morning... Busy intersection, lots of crap...

Brought to you by the ever-meticulous NYC Department of Transportation and their compadres at the MTA (Going Your Way?).

Morning Foreign Language

Ahhh, the joys of discovering new languages. Caught this today on the Walgreen's sign in Middle Village...

It's amazing the languages you see as you ride to work... You just never know who is moving into the area...

Stimulus-Insanity Continuuuuuuuuues...

Via Drudge. Great to see the Economic Stimulus bill takes other items of 'stimulus' into account. What the hell is going on America?

Democrats may have eliminated provisions on birth control and sod for the National Mall in the "job stimulus" -- but buried on page 147 of the bill is stimulation for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases!The House Democrats' bill includes $335 million for sexually transmitted disease education and prevention programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

In the past, the CDC has used STD education funding for programs that many Members of Congress find objectionable and arguably unrelated to a mission of economic stimulus [such as funding events called 'Booty Call' and 'Great Sex' put on by an organization that received $698,000 in government funds.] "Whether this funding has merit is not the question; the point is it has no business in an economic plan supposedly focused on job creation," says a stimulated Hill source.

A Slushy, Mushy, NY Morning

So, we had a little bit of snow here in NYC this morning, causing mass chaos far and wide. We had about 4 inches before it turned to sleet/rain...

Here are some of the lovely winter scenes...

Here, we have a pic of the slushy mess underfoot when crossing the streets... Why?

Well, because the NYC Department of Sanitation did not get out there and plow the streets. Here is a major intersection in Ridgewood/Middle Village, Queens. Yummy streets...

Here is a terrific example of neighborhood goodwill. The excellent shoveling job performed. (In all honesty, this site is owned by the MTA and they do nothing...)

Here is a plow. Notice it is in the 'up' position. That doesn't do much good when the street are snow covered... Oh well, I guess they know something I don't know...

US Airways Passengers - We Want More $$

Not that being grateful for having a pilot who was able to miraculously land a plane perfectly in the middle of the Hudson River with no engines, the passengers of the US Airway Airbus A320 have each been offered $5,000 from the airline.

However, according to USA Today, some of the passengers feel that $5,000 is just not enough.

So here we go once again. People who should be very lucky to be alive feel they are entitled to additional compensation. Ironically, according to the article, airlines are only technically liable for $3,300 per passenger for incidents where luggage and personal belongings are lost.

It's sad that people are now motivated by the $$ and not happy enough that they still have their lives to lead.

BREAKING NEWS: Iranian Nuke in 2009!

Coming soon to a rogue Middle Eastern cesspool near you... Iranian Nukes!

Yes, according to the UK's Sky News, Iran will have enough enriched Uranium to develop a nuclear weapon by later this year...

What does this mean?

Well, for our allies in Israel, it means they have to make a clear choice here. Do they listen to the Obama foreign policy team and 'open dialogue' with the regime in Tehran, or will they aggressively lead an attack to harm the Iranian nuclear infrastructure?

Time will tell. Although if I were the Israelis I would seriously consider the aggressive approach. It worked in Iraq in 1981 and in Syria in 2007.

Change You Can Believe In...Unless You're Unborn

Matt Drudge has a flash story this morning. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Fransicko) was questioned about the millions of dollars in the economic 'stimulus' bill for contraception... What? How does that 'stimulate' the economy?

Apparently the Democratic Party believes that babies are burdensome to the economy. So does Communist China. I guess this affirms when President Obama said that he would hope that his daughters would not get pregnant while single so they would not have to deal with the burden of a baby... Culture of death...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi boldly defended a move to add birth control funding to the new economic "stimulus" package, claiming "contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government." Pelosi, the mother of 5 children and 6 grandchildren, who once said, "Nothing in my life will ever, ever compare to being a mom," seemed to imply babies are somehow a burden on the treasury.

The revelation came during an exchange Sunday morning on ABC's THIS WEEK. STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus? PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that? PELOSI: No apologies. No. we have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.