Yes, today will be one of those days where I talk about what I don’t talk about, and then talk about it.
Huh? yeah, I confused myself with that one.
Before talking about what I am not talking about, awhile ago David Letterman was about to interview Bill O’Reilly. Before O’Reilly came out, Letterman told Paul Schaffer that he was not sure he could the interview. Paul asked him what the problem was. Dave replied as only he does.
“Well I don’t think he knows what he is talking about. Yet I know that I don’t know what I am talking about. So if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and I don’t know what I am talking about, what do we talk about?”
The bottom line is I freely admit to knowing nothing about virtually everything. I know a few things, and I know them cold, with much of life being a mystery to me.
It is for this reason that I deliberately avoid certain topics on my blog. I simply have nothing new in terms of information or fresh perspective to add to the discussion.
Therefore, I will give several stories short shrift.
I have said nothing about the whole Bernie Madoff thing. I feel the way many people do. He is a horrible man. Jews do not believe in hell, but if we did, there would be a special place there for him. He might be the most hated prisoner since Jeffrey Dahmer. Whatever bad things happen to Madoff, I will not lose sleep. I hope his wife and sons are held accountable.
As a Jew I am disgusted. Yet I am also relieved that most of his victims were Jews. Had he defrauded Christians or Muslims, I would be witnessing more stories abut greedy merchants, bankers, and moneylenders, aka attacks on Jews. I hope this does not lead to physical violence against Jews.
As a financial services professional I reject the notion that every stockbroker is a crook. I am an honest man who leads a clean life. I believe that Wall Street can be a force for good, and that a good financial professional can be as valuable to a person as their medical, legal accounting, and clergy person. With Wall Street under the gun, guys like Madoff are made out to be the rule and not the exception.
Lastly, people who say that Madoff did more to hurt the Jews than Hitler need to knock it off. No, he did not. Madoff did terrible things, and caused immense suffering. Hitler was far worse, and the hyperbole is insulting to people who faced the Holocaust.
Shifting gears in a most maladroit manner, Bristol Palin is now single.
If she and I are both single in five years, I will absolutely make an attempt, unless her mother Sarah is also single, at which point I will hit on them both, mom first.
Lustiness aside, the breakup of any relationship is tragic. Bristol Palin seems like a kind human being, and her pain should not be trivialized. Also, she is not a politician. She is a private citizen, and the media cruelty towards her is disgusting, and another example of ideological bigotry. The media was right to leave the son of Al Gore alone when he got drunk and drove a car into a tree. They were right to leave Joe Biden’s offspring alone. Bristol Palin is not a public figure, and her harshest critics should be violated by elephants.
I stayed far away from the Chas Freeman story. His final screed after withdrawing his name from a sensitive intelligence post was to blame the Jews. Yes, this guy is an anti-Semite. While I still maintain that President Obama is not an anti-Semite, his decency as a human being is being compromised by doing a terrible job vetting people.
Yes, the man is busy. Yes, some things have to be delegated. However, the buck stops with him. He needs to go to the people that nominated Mr. Freeman, and yell at them until paint peels off of the wall. Maybe he is already doing that. Nevertheless, men like Chas Freeman cannot be noninated for anything.
Even liberal Jews opposed him. Granted they did it quietly behind the scenes, but for once they sides with Republican Jews over their liberal friends that repeatedly throw them under the bus. As I said before, if it was not for Republican Jews doing the heavy lifting, liberal Jews would not be free to laugh and smile with their fake leftist brethren.
One story I have not covered ata ll is Chesney “Sully” Sullenberger. I will sometime soon, but every time I hear him tell his story, I get choked up. Thank God for this man. As awful as Bernie Madoff is, Sully Sullenberger is that far the polar opposite. To save a life is to save the world. I will have more down the line.
Switching to sports, I am not covering March Madness. I can’t stand Dick Vitale, and even when I pick the team that wins it, I lose anyway. I now refuse to join pools. Also, any school that does not tell me what state the school is in by their name should be banned. I know where Georgia Tech and Mississippi State are. Where the heck is Valparaiso? I am sure that is a made up school.
As for baseball season, unless the players go on strike, I remain bored. They should double the salaries of NFL players and have two seasons every year. Give them a month off, and let them do it again. I liked the USFL, and rooted for the Oakland Invaders and Oklahoma Outlaws. Had the USFL stayed playing in the Spring, they may have made it. It has been a long 25 years since.
Tiger Woods is back playing golf. Golf makes baseball seems interesting. That concludes my golf report.
In music news, the golden age of rock music was from 1986-1992. There has been music since then. I may have even heard it. Outside of those 80s bands still putting out new music, I remain oblivious. I recently learned of the Jonas brothers, but have no idea who or what they are. I only mentioned them to drive blog traffic, although I am sure they are nice boys worthy of the mention.
For the same reason, Chris Brown and Rihanna are mentioned this one time. As comedian Nick Dipaolo points out, guys named Brown are just trouble. Between James Brown, Jackson Brown, Bobby Brown, and now Chris Brown, not to mention various bad deeds caused by players on the Cleveland Browns (I threw that last one in), this was to be expected.
I am a dinosaur. I do not Google or Twitter myself, even in private. It just sounds inappropriate, especially for a Republican. Granted a Senator named Vitter got in trouble last year, and Vitter rhymes with Twitter, but even that does not change the fact that I officially typed myself into a corner.
Lastly, in awful news, Fox News has been attacking Spring Break as dangerous. As somebody who will be partying in Miami soon enough, I really wish they would stop. In this economy, the last thing I need is people discouraged from going on Spring Break.
This concludes my avoidance issues. I am grateful I have a platform to talk about what I don’t talk about.
eric
My Week In Review.
In honor of Jim Cramer, I am going to dedicate this next video to President Barack Obama. Barack Obama, doesn’t care about Rich People! GRIN!
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/03/tgif-circus-life-chinese-fire-drill.html
Since I haven’t had my morning bagel and cream cheese, (never with lox caus that’s too fattening), or perhaps swiss, or tuna or friend egg), I’ll keep this short, and perhaps comment later.
To the point of this post, I can comment more on taxes than the economy,
since I sometimes answer on another board, having knowledge.
The two are linked in a sort of way, taxes, the economy, you know!
Eric admits to not knowing everything, who does?
The Internet allows anyone to reveal how sophisticated or unsophisticated
he (she) really is. Something it’s hard to tell however.
Last night I watched one of the most dismaying interviews I’ve
seen in a long time from someone who MUST KNOW!
Charlie Rose, your typical P*BS liberal, interviewed Admiral Charlis
Mullen, Chief of Staff.
Admiral Mullen is my kind of American..a true hero, on the same
level as the airline pilot AND John McCain. (I’d like to see Madoff
interviewed to give his side of the horrible story and try to explain
away what he did to all of US, both Jew and gentile). What made him
continue KNOWING he was stealing?
My disappointment with Mullen is simple, he admitted NOT knowing
much about either Iran or China’s intentions.
You could see the sweat on his brow, trying his darndest to answer
Mr. Rose’s very salient questions.
Do not know about Iran? Really!
I frankly couldn’t believe that, considering the almost daily statements
coming out of that country for years.
Mullen said that by 2015, they will have “the bomb”, but could have
it by 2010. What is it Admiral Mullen? The Israelis say they have reached
the threshold with their 5,000 centrifuges, constantly spinning gax.
I believe Israeli scientists. after all, not for us, we would all be speaking
Japanese and or German now and not just when buying cars.
I know what Iran’s intentions are…they will nuke Israel ASA possible,
using hundreds of missiles, combined with an attack by Syria and joined
in by Hezbollah and Hamas.
They fully expect that one bomb will go through, despite Israel’s defenses.
One day, not too far into the future, I will wake up, to check Eric’s latest, go to a news link, and find out that my prediction was true, Tel Aviv
is no longer.
Few believed that the madman Hitler would wipe out the Jews, and gypies
and other undesirables…he almost did.
I say to Mullen…what are we waiting for, the return or first coming of
the Messiah?
Heres one that flew under the radar this week only because its such a stupid idea it would never fly.
What bugged the crap out of me is that someone even cosidered such an idiotic proposal and just went to show how cruel and stupid some can be towards our troops along with having their economic priorities up their a$$es.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/10/veterans.health.insurance/index.html
“WASHINGTON (CNN) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.”
There’s yet another new football leagure starting – the UFL. But it’s season’s timing couldn’t be worse (October? What the …???).
http://www.ufl-football.com/
There are rumors floating around that Michael Vick may wind up there, but I think that would be a HUGE mistake. I’m not watching ANY football league that allows that *&^%$#@!*& to play.
I think it’s probably for the best that Bristol Palin will remain single. She’s still just a kid with her whole life ahead of her. She should be worrying about shcool and her future and such, not settling down and getting married to some other kid wit hthe same issues. I’m sure Momma Palin will be there for her, after all, if you’re pro-life you have to to be pro-living. Just the same, it’s their personal business and I noticed the news cycle was pretty short on it, so I think this will not be much more of a problem for them.
It would be a shame to blame all Judaism on what Madoff did. Plenty of gentiles have pulled off scaams before. The only reason this one got so big is that the SEC was sleeping on the job. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for regulators to get on the ball!
As for Chas Freeman, he comes from the old Kissinger diplomatic school known as “Realism.” There’s no room for those guys anymore. Modern diplomatic political correctness disallows realism. You can’t call things as they are anymore. You have to use the new allowable PC vernacular. Freeman is not an anti-semite. To think otherwise is just plain goofy. It’s just that nowadays there’s no place left left old diplomatic dinosaurs like him.
As for that pilot, that is some story. I’d like to see a bio about him, culminating with that amazing landing. He sounds like a facinating character. I don’t know if we’ll see that, though, because among his greatest virtues, apparently, is his modesty. Ya’ just don’t see many people like him these days – on the other hand, maybe they’re out there but we just don’t see them because they’re so modest! Now my head hurts.
JMJ
Mick,
I read the article you referred to and this is very disturbing. As a Vet with service connected disability I depend on the V.A. for medical services. I paid for group insurance until I retired. The V.A. used my insurance for my medical needs but when I retired the insurance premiums doubled and I can not afford the premiums while on S.S. So I dropped the med insurance, It wasn’t that good any way. Please keep an eye and ear out for any attempts by the Dems to take Veteran benefits. By damn we have earned our way in this country and this move by the Dems just proves my belief that they fear and hate us (Veterans and Military)!!
Toma
Toma
I wasnt going to leave the link where I reamed the supporters of this idea a new one. Some would say they’re too stupid to bother with, I agree, but I cant let such complete ignorance and cruelty fly without a good slap upside the noggin.
If you’d like to give some of these supporters a piece of your mind they’re right here.
http://blatheringsblog.com/?p=1530#comments
I doubt this idea will get very far, its the thinking that disturbs me
Thanks Mick I will give them a slap or two.
Toma
I concur on Bristol Palin, although I’d much rather date Meghan McCain or Barbara Bush (the twin not the grandmother).
No official plan has been released by the administartion as of yet to make vets pay for service-related medical care with private insurance. The administrations proposed spending on the VA this year represents the largest spending increase ever put forth by any administration. Period. The proposal Shinseki said the administration is considering has to do with funneling premiums ALREADY PAID into private plans that vets have to cover some of the costs of service-related heathcare costs. It’s sort of like a means-testing for vets who already have good coverage that they’re not using anyway because they have the VA to cover them. It doesn’t matter anyway, as beither party willl accept such a change in funding, so the “issue” would be DOA even if the administration did formally propose it. Once again, the cons are making up non-issues to rile up the rabble.
JMJ
“Once again, the cons are making up non-issues to rile up the rabble.”
Jersey, you’re either incompetent or missed the point.
I myself said that it probably wont happen, its the thinking that bothers me.
As far as your cheap disengenuous cherry picking goes, the article also went on to say”
“Asked about the proposal, Shinseki said it was under “consideration.”
“A final decision hasn’t been made yet,” he said.”
Wise up.
Nothing of any part of a vets personal finances should be used to contribute to his care resulting from service injuries.
We did not “MAKE UP ” a damn thing !
it was you adminsitrations idea, we didnt jusy fabricate this out of thin air.
Nice try, but lame as usual
The V.A. uses any insurance that Vets have. The V.A. used the insurance that I had until I had to drop it. Any plan to charge Vets for medical services is wrong and the consideration of any plan is what riles this rabble if that is what you think I am, “rabble”.
Toma.
This proposal will never see the light of day, I wouldnt worry about it at all.
What concerned me was those at the blog in support of it were using some of the most insulting justifications I’ve ever heard coming from the party that says they care so much about about the troops.
Many of them did not read the article in its completion and went with the impression that our troops were going to be asked to pay all of their injury expenses…
AND THEY WERE ALRIGHT WITH THAT !!!
Your are right Mick. The propsal is DOA. It just demonstrates the mind set and true heart of the Dems and their supporters. They hate and fear the military. In fact they are as dangerous if not more dangerous than Jihad. They know how to control about half of the voting public. But they have not yet figured out how to control the military and the other half. But rest assured they are working on it. Be vigilant.
Toma
Toma, I think it should be obvious to anyone that those affected by these benefits plans are not the “rabble” to whom I’m referring. The “rabble” are the people who get caught up in these strawman arguments designed to obfuscate the real underlying issue at hand. In this case, what this is really about is the conflicts that arise when you have both socialized and private healthcare overlapping. Britian is going through a similar mess as we speak. It’s similar to the problem we have with socialized retirement and private retirement plans. The political question here is whether we should should means-test recipients of socialized benefits if they are already receiving enough benefits on their own, regardless of whether they paid for it. It’s a tough argument, and I’m bnot going to pretend I have the answer. There is, though, a simple problem here that even conservatives should agree with – the taxes used to pay for things that people can already afford seem like a waste of government spending. So, if you have full coverage, and you already paid into it, tehn why not use that money to pay for things instead of using taxpayor dollars? You’d think conservatives would be on board with this, but since it happens to be an entitlement they happen to like, they don’t complain. It’s like when most conservatives complain about the pittance that is public welfare but don’t complain about the vast expenditures going out for corporate welfare. It’s hypocritical. But as soon as you start waving that flag and those uniforms and stripes and “patriotism” and “heros” around, all rationality and commcon sense goes out the window.
JMJ
JMJ,
We are talking about two different things. You are talking about policy and I’m talking about attitudes. The only time I was on the Federal payroll was when I was on active duty. The Army paid me $76.00 per month plus room and board clothing allowance and medical care. But I still paid taxes and offered, with no strings attached, every thing I had including my life.
I’ve paid my way all my life. Veteran benefits are not benefits they are a debt that congress has promised to pay. Every Veteran offered what I offered, no strings attached. We did so willingly and that is what some of the bloggers that I read don’t understand. I was addressing their attitude nothing more. You need to read some of the statements these people made especially “Mo”. Unfortunately these people are supporters of the Democratic Party whose leadership has caused this debate.
Toma
“taxes used to pay for things that people can already afford seem like a waste of government spending. So, if you have full coverage, and you already paid into it, tehn why not use that money to pay for things instead of using taxpayor dollars? ”
Because they are our soldiers !
I dont care if they’re freaking billionaires with the best private coverage in the world its incumbent upon this country to take care of them.
” but since it happens to be an entitlement they happen to like, they don’t complain.”
Its not an “entitlement” for our soldiers who’ve lost body parts to be taken care of you %%$#$% a$$hole !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They earned it !
Get it ???
Probably not. Because as its been mentioned twice now by me, this proposal will probably go nowhere.
And yet you keep debating the policy and not the mindset who thinks on the premise that soldiers should pay their own.
So its you whos either really thick or the one obfuscating again to avoid the real issue here.
And that is the thinking out there that actually thinks this is a proposal to have vets pay for “ALL” their own care and they’re all right with that.
It makes me sick to my gut that theres a group out there, you included which you’ve made obvious, that actually thinks that our troops need to cover the cost of their own injuries in some form or manner.
You all can give a bunch of crap away to a ton of people who dont deserve it at all, push the lie that its a pittance and then turn around and expect our troops to pay for what they’ve earned with their lives and limbs ?
You’re outta your mind, stark raving sick, mad and disgusting.
Make me wanna puke.
Something interesting I found out yesterday.
McCain had a proposal at one time for for soldiers to pay out of pocket for basic medical with their own insurance but would later be reimbursed by the VA.
Obama ripped him a new one for that cliaming it was unpatriotic and bla bla bla and then turns around and has his staff whip up this turd of an idea ?
Toma, I’m sorry, but in my opinion being in the military, or for that matter being a cop or a fireman or a politician, doesn’t make you a better person who deserves more from society than everyone else. In fact, I find it selfish of certain members of these groups who demand what society “owes” them. Society needs all sorts of people – teachers, dishwashers, doctors, garbage men, investors, lawncare workers, etc. When you join the military, you should be doing it out of selfless love of your country – not to get something for it. Now, of course, if you are injured in the line of duty, as with any job-related injury, you should be compensated and cared for. But this whole ‘free medicine for the vets and the heck with everyone else’ is just a sleazy, hypocritical abuse of one’s country for self-gain and entitlement and I find it ABHORANT. Either you’re for socialized medicine or not. Make up your minds.
I know this may be hard to hear, but I think it needs to be said. Nothing against vets (I tried to join myself, but was rejected), but I smell hypocrisy here. Like I said, those that are hurt, be it physically or mentally, should be compensated, but simply serving shouldn’t be a automatic rise to special citizenship.
On the other hand, if we ALL had the benefits of the vets, THAT I would find fair, resaonable, just, and smart. We should all get more help with school, medicine, and housing – it would make us more competitive around the world, stop the cannibalizing drain on ourselves and overall economy, and bring a fairness to the status of citizenship for all.
Micky, as it stans, I don’t personally agree with the Shinseki proposal, so you have no argument with me on that. Like I said, I think we should just ditch the whole system and socialize ALL medicine.
JMJ
Well, folks, expanding on my previous comment about things important to US, and I’m sure Eric, Charles Freeman, the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia ( extorts over 350b year thanks to their abundance of natural gas and oil-G-d given ) and our reliance on foreign oil.
Now Mohammad Freeman is blaming the “Zionist lobby” in the US for pressure put on him by prominent politicians (Nancy Pelosi, Charles
Schumer, etc.) to resign, which he has done. Bless my G-d Hashem, whichis also the Christian G-d. IS PELOSI JEWISH, COULD HAVE FOOLED ME!
The concern over his appointment to an important US intelligence committee was his often expressed bias towards China and the Palestinians while ambassador, as well as other pro-Arab interests.
This is a real victory for US, Israel, the West, and a defeat against
the radical and rich Arabs and their Sharia law ( beheadings galore
no eye for an eye..it’s a head for an eye ).
We finally got smart and are now requiring Hamas to recognize Israel’s right to exist..oh hum, before giving them 900 m. Hez is a lost cause, with their 42,000 long range rockets all with Israeli targets (Arab, Jew and Christian).
On the other dangerous and volitile front, the UN condemned Iran for
violating the ban on Iranian weaponry sales.
Apparently a ship loaded with thousands of barrels of gun powder, shells,
componants for morters, ( headed for Syria, then on to Hamas in what
was Israel until it’s foolish “disengagement”), was stopped..and boarded.
At the same time, the head of the IAEA is warning Arab countries in the region against allowing Iran to possess nukes (some say Iran will
bundle nuclear warheads in quantities of 50, THEN test one. The time frame for the test will be by the end of 2010. Now when this Egyptian warns his buddies, you know something is going on.
I find it most interesting that Obama has given a timeline for a total withdrawal of our troops by the end of 2010. Coincidence?
In the meantime, Obama has no remedy for the problems in Somalia…
or Afghanistan, Pakistan or No. Korea.
Japan says it might shoot down any No. Korean missile ( long range ).
While, like Eric, I have the greatest respect for our President’s intelligence
and unflappable demeanor, I question strongly his judgement now and thorugh his campaign. Isn’t he really a socialist?
I mean, giving 1 trillion to banks to beef up their capitalization, banks
that gambled on poor mortgage backed securities…with our
hard earned taxpayer dollars, with no guarantees of recovery?
On to another subject, I haven’t heard anything from Obama’s whiz kids
about closing the tax GAP. This is the difference between taxes that should have been paid ( Federal ), and taxes paid to the IRS. In 2004 (see wetsite “Tax Gap”), it was about 300 billion dollars. The IRS collected
thanks to it’s efforts about 50billion ( of the 350 b original delinquency ).
Okay Obama, with all your intelligence and sophistication, what do
you intend to do about the “Tax Gap”? A suggestion, hows about
hiring a few thousands more IRSers..it’s the only agency that takes money, and NOT GIVES.
“Toma, I’m sorry”
Yea, I cant say what kinda “sorry” you are without it getting deleted.
“but in my opinion being in the military, or for that matter being a cop or a fireman or a politician, doesn’t make you a better person who deserves more from society than everyone else.”
Anyone who is willing to risk his life and pay the ultimate price (I fail to see how you got politicians in there) needs to know that he will not be cast aside no matter what.
“Society needs all sorts of people – teachers, dishwashers, doctors, garbage men, investors, lawncare workers, etc. ”
Are you serious ?
You’re going to compare people who stand little to no risk of being killed on the job to men dodging bullets ?
These are not the people that will keep murderers from attacking our country. They dont go to work knowing damn well someone right around the corner wants to kill them.
“I know this may be hard to hear, but I think it needs to be said. Nothing against vets (I tried to join myself, but was rejected), but I smell hypocrisy here. Like I said, those that are hurt, be it physically or mentally, should be compensated, but simply serving shouldn’t be a automatic rise to special citizenship.”
I dont what possesed you to bring that up, no one is asking for anything special, are they ? just to be compensated for their sacrifice
“But this whole ‘free medicine for the vets and the heck with everyone else’ is just a sleazy, hypocritical abuse of one’s country for self-gain and entitlement and I find it ABHORANT. Either you’re for socialized medicine or not. Make up your minds”
No one said that either, you’re full of sh*t and making false arguments.
Its not the countrys responsibility to give you health care.
veterans in who defend the country and are not able to work due to those unjuries should be paid for by everyone who reep the benefits of thier sacrifice.
Your lazy a$$ non contributingfriends never did a thing for this country.
“On the other hand, if we ALL had the benefits of the vets, THAT I would find fair, resaonable, just, and smart. ”
About as stupid as it gets. Reasonable if you’re a cheap lazy liberal.
I’ll pay for the guy whos risking his life for me anyday, but not someone who hasnt taken care of his own life, his whole life or thinks its a “right” to have medical.
“Micky, as it stans, I don’t personally agree with the Shinseki proposal, so you have no argument with me on that. Like I said, I think we should just ditch the whole system and socialize ALL medicine. ”
Then you agree with Shinseki (Kerrys little b*tch) in the sense that we all should be treated just as vets would be treated under his plan ?
Nice try.
I’m not even going to get into the idiocy that a plan like this or universal socialized medicine entails. Even the majority of dems think its a kick in the groin to our troops to suggest such a thing
Name one enterprise or system besides the congressional payroll that our government operates that works ?
And you want to subject our bravest and finest to a system that will be subjected to nothing but a bunch of beurocratic dysfuctional red tape.
Further proof that I was always right in saying you dont care about the troops.
I missed this one.
It was so obvious it got right past me.
“doesn’t make you a better person who deserves more from society than everyone else. In fact, I find it selfish of certain members of these groups who demand what society “owes” them. ”
Gee, if thats not the epitome of the Obama mentallity I dont know what is.
Does society owe them a job just because they’re gay, or a minority ?
Does society owe them medical because they wont work or live a hazardous life ?
Does society owe them a mortgage at a lower rate than anyone else just because their credit sucks and they’re poor or a minority?
You guys are constantly singling people out on a preferential basis and in the same breath say we should all be treated equaly, its you who should be making up your mind.
Our troops arent the ones doing the demanding Jersey.
Its you and your leech buddys who fit the profile you mention in thinking they’re entitled simply due to citizenship