If the economy is improving....

Here's Michelle Obama, speaking to some mannequins, clothes-horses and talking heads in Hollywood:

First Lady Michelle Obama cited "remarkable progress" on the economy during a speech for a small crowd of high-profile Hollywood names in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening.

"In the last three years, we've worked hard to get out of this mess and we've made some remarkable progress," the first lady told a group of about 135 supporters at a private campaign event for her husband. She listed President Obama's accomplishments on healthcare reform, the removal of troops from Iraq and the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" among other items on the list of "promises kept" touted by Obama's reelection campaign.

This is from the ever-cheerful Economic Collapse Blog, via a link from Instapundit:

When they try to convince you that the economy is getting better, ask them these questions....

If the economy is getting better, then why did new home sales in the United States hit a brand new all-time record low during 2011?

If the economy is getting better, then why are there 6 million less jobs in America today than there were before the recession started?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the average duration of unemployment in this country close to an all-time record high?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of homeless female veterans more than doubled?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of Americans on food stamps increased by 3 million since this time last year and by more than 14 million since Barack Obama entered the White House?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of children living in poverty in America risen for four years in a row?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the percentage of Americans living in "extreme poverty" at an all-time high?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the Federal Housing Administration on the verge of a financial collapse?

If the economy is getting better, then why do only 23 percent of American companies plan to hire more employees in 2012?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of self-employed Americans fallen by more than 2 million since 2006?

If the economy is getting better, then why did an all-time record low percentage of U.S. teens have a job last summer?

If the economy is getting better, then why does median household income keep declining? Overall, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8% since December 2007 once you account for inflation.

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of Americans living below the poverty line increased by 10 million since 2006?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the average age of a vehicle in America now sitting at an all-time high?

If the economy is getting better, then why are 18 percent of all homes in the state of Florida currently sitting vacant?

If the economy is getting better, then why are 19 percent of all American men between the ages of 25 and 34 living with their parents?

If the economy is getting better, then why does the number of "long-term unemployed workers" stay so high?

When Barack Obama first took office, the number of "long-term unemployed workers" in the United States was approximately 2.6 million. Today, that number is sitting at 5.6 million.

But there is some good news.

When Barack Obama first took office, an ounce of gold was going for about $850. Today, the price of an ounce of gold is over $1700.

The era of great prosperity that America has enjoyed for so long is coming to an end.

In fact, our long-term economic decline is about to accelerate.

So enjoy this "bubble of hope" while you can, because it won't last long.

Lrdy, that was depressing.  Go to the Economic collapse blog to read their recommendations for your money, your business, and your stuff.

Here's a compilation of the world's funniest dog videos. I wouldn't want to send you out of here without some kind of mood stabilizer. 



 

A C Minor Chord Walks Into A Bar....

Some knowledge of music theory is required on this one....

C, E-flat, and G go into a bar.
 
The bartender says, "Sorry, but we don't serve minors."
 
So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them.
 
After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished, and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. D comes in and heads for the bathroom, saying, "Excuse me; I'll just be a second."
 
Then A comes in, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.
 
Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and says, "Get out! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight."
 
E-flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says, "You're looking sharp tonight. Come on in, this could be a major development." S
 
Sure enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and everything else, and is au natural.
 
Eventually C sobers up and realizes in horror that he's under a rest.
 
C is brought to trial, found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of D.S. without Coda at an upscale correctional facility

The Trinity River Flood Control Wakeboard Park and Flood Control Bar-B-Que Joint

I've given up on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for coverage of anything remotely controversial.  I don't think they want to irritate the one little old lady who still puts her garage sale notices in their classifieds.

Sports scores?  The betting line on the Super Bowl?  If my cell phone can't pick up Google, I'll buy a Star-Telegram for that info. 
Here's where I've been finding myself going for local news lately:  The Star-Telegraph. 

For instance....If you live in Fort Worth, you're probably aware that JD Granger and his Mama are trying to fleece the taxpayers via a multi-billion dollar "flood control" project. 

Here's what The Star-Telegraph had to say about the Flood Control Wakeboard Park after our recent heavy rains.  (And I can't find a word in the Star-Telegram about this):

The Cowtown Wakeboard park, part of the Trinity River Vision "flood" control project in Fort Worth, failed to save anyone from flooding today.  Apparently, it couldn't even save itself.

The Trinity River took back the wakeboard park.  And left a sign of just how clean the river is.  Remember that when they invite you to Tube the Trinity during the Rockin' the River events brought to you by the Trinity River Vision Authority and the Tarrant Regional Water District.

With all the flooding footage today, WHY did you not see any of the wakeboard park? 
Ask.
While you're at it, ask what it cost YOU and what it's going to cost YOU to repair it.  After all, it's YOUR money.

Here's another for instance.... We've also been burdened with a Flood Control Bar-B-Que Joint. 
Was there open bidding between restaurants for this prime real estate?  Did the city give notice that some Flood Control Restaurants could open on the banks of the Trinity? 
Hell to the No. 

Here's DFW.COM on the sweetheart deal that celebrity chef Tim Love got for his new restaurant, The Wood Shed:

Love and the Trinity River Vision Authority have taken some heat because the TRVA signed a 10-year lease with Love without open bidding. But Love says he hopes the restaurant, located just west of University Drive not far from Hoffbrau Steaks, will help open the door for other restaurants along the river.


"I've gotten beat up a little bit in the last couple of months," he continues. "But I'm trying to make [the river area] better. When I did the lease, I said, 'I want to do something for the river.' Somehow that backfired on me. I thought people would be excited about the fact that they could come here and drink a beer and 6 percent of it goes back to the [district]. I mean, that's pretty cool."

I could spend the rest of the morning dissecting that quote, but work beckons.  "I want to do something for the river????"  Good Lord in heaven, Tim, they spent $970,000.00 in public money to build your Bar-B-Que joint !!!!! 

"Ask not what you can do for your river.  Ask why I'm having to build your freakin' restaurant for you." - not John F. Kennedy 

Here's something from the Trinity River Partnership on the sweetheart deal:

After behind-the-scenes negotiations, without public input or competitive bidding, the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) has spent $970,000 of public money to build a restaurant near a popular trail head along the Trinity River. Along the way, the Water District signed a 10-year lease with celebrity chef Tim Love to run it, without a competitive bidding process.....

Instead of paying rent on the building, the Woodshed will pay a percentage of its total sales to the TRVA. According to the lease, the Woodshed would pay the Water District 6 percent on its first $500,000 of sales, 5 percent on the next $500,000 and 4 percent on sales of more than $1,000,001. Love is also responsible for utilities, maintenance and upkeep of the building.


The lease was drafted and approved by Ken Brummett, the water district’s general counsel, but not voted on by the district’s board.....

Board member Jim Lane denies there’s anything untoward about the deal.


“People say there’s no transparency but there is plenty of transparency,” he said. “Other restaurateurs were contacted and no one had any interest until Tim Love stepped up. I’m sorry other restaurateurs feel, now, that they didn’t get a chance to be part of that. But we’ve been discussing this for a long time.”

Other restauranteurs were contacted?  Did Jim Lane decide which ones would be contacted?  The Massion on Turtle Creek?  Tavern on The Green?  Whose clientele is so high-toned that they would turn down something like this? 
That's not the way it is supposed to work.  Was there a public notice that a restaurant spot was going to be available?  Can you imagine the feeding frenzy that would have erupted with legit businesses competing for that site? 

The Fort Worth Stock show didn't produce this much bullshit. 

If you live in Fort Worth, you GAVE Tim Love a restaurant. 
If you live in Fort Worth, you're giving the Grangers a billion dollar boondoggle. 
It really is that simple. 

A blog and a freebie mag are the only ones to criticize the travesty. 

Fort Worth Star-Telegram - R.I.P. 

Time to purge the photo files again

I'm having to work late, waiting on a contractor. 
It's time to make use of all the extra photos that I've saved from Facebook, emails, and Libertarian Reddit. 
Enjoy. 
Please keep sending them to dapfortworth at aol dot com 

Here's something from Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize World Tour:

I don't know why we don't just go ahead and nuke everybody in the places we don't like.  It would be cheaper, and with the same results:

From the little-known film "Field of Redundant Blood-Sucking Leeches"....

Here's Barack Obama giving zillionaire Warren Buffett the Medal of Freedom.  Buffett has been advocating higher taxes for lots of other people, but not for himself.  His NetJets company was recently involved in a $643 million lawsuit against the IRS in an effort to avoid paying $643 million to the IRS. 

I don't care who you are, this is funny !!

Ya think slipping these into every bag of toy soldiers might have an impact?  

Here's an excellent military spending chart:



Words to live by.

I generally don't like this kind of shirt, as a lot of my friends are hard-working Democrats who supported Obama.  Then again, they generally work for the government, the military-industrial complex, or some other boondoggle.  So my apologies.  But not really. 

This is a Rick Perry action figure.  Google it.  It is for real. 

Where your taxes go. 

I've been to China 5 times for up to 5 weeks per trip.  I've never seen this on the menu. 

Here's a modified campaign poster for the despicable f*** who recently signed the Indefinite Detention Bill. 

Here's a poster produced by another candidate, welcoming us to the Indefinite Detention Club:

I don't remember how I got this one, but I'll post the heck out of it several times when the Cowboys fail to win a playoff game again NEXT year. 

It illustrates how Jerry Jones, eminent domain thief, has won fewer playoff games in the last decade and a half than powerhouses like Miami, San Diego, Oakland, Chicago, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay (snicker).

Here's the intersection of The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street.  The Tea Party wants to have a smaller government but the Social Security and Medicare guarantees of a larger government.  The Occupy people want a bigger government, but with the bans against giveways usually found in smaller governments.  I think. 

Here's a nice illustration of what our debt looks like, in $100 bills.  Your portion is probably around the statue's knees.  Somewhere around the statue's belly-button is the part that will have to be paid by the grandchildren of the sperm now residing in unborn zygotes. 

Hah !  (The science is backwards, but you get the joke.)

Marathon Man !

If you didn't think this was funny, you need to read more. 

Obama don't like no medical marijuana.  Or any other marijuana.  Obama likes them jails full !  One million more government jobs created in the prison industry since the 1970's !! 

Contrast that poster with this one, featuring two imaginary quotes....

Here's a Who's Who on the Keystone Pipeline farce:

No commentary necessary:

My favorite marriage poster:

A quote from noted isolationist Smedley Butler:

"Spreading The Wealth Around"

A chart showing the failures of Capitalism....

Occupy Wall Street wants to protest inequality.  But not when it comes to the distribution of "their" groceries. 



Dawn Of The Fed !!

A warning from Barry Goldwater, on letting preachers into your party. 

A bumpersticker about the Gunwalker/Operation Fast and Furious mess:

A bumpersticker about the Obama economic policy mess:

A bumpersticker about the Ben Bernanke counterfeiting mess:

A poster illustrating the rich variety and diversity of what we now call "Biblical Marriage":

That's all I've got for now.  Gonna go home.  Will probably post some more tomorrow. 

Who would build the Toads in a Libertarian society?

I found this link on Libertarian Reddit:

A $600,000 frog sculpture that lights up, gurgles "sounds of nature" and carries a 10-foot fairy girl on its back could soon be greeting Defense Department employees who plan to start working at the $700 million Mark Center in Alexandria, Va. this fall. That is unless a new controversy over the price tag of the public art doesn't torpedo the idea.

Decried as wasteful spending that will be seen by just a couple thousand of daily workers who arrive on bus shuttles, foes have tried to delay the decision, expected tomorrow, April 1. But in an E-mail, an Army Corps of Engineers official said that the decision can't be held up because it would impact completion of the huge project.


The City of Alexandria just announced that there are four works of art being considered and that a final decision needs to be made fast. The artwork was put on display for public comment from March 24 to today. The Alexandria News first reported the hasty announcement to decide a winner.

....The four art proposals for the bus terminal include works for a wall and sculpture. But the one drawing most attention is the fairy and frog from artist Cheryl Foster. Her proposals describes the sculpture this way: "A 10-foot fairy, using an American Toad as 'transportation,' scurries to the entrance of the station. The interior of the toad is illuminated and the sounds of nature emanate from his throat." She said that nature inspired her.


While there are Philistines among us who would complain about a $600,000.00 statue of a fairy riding a toad, we must first ask ourselves "How do you really put a price on something like this?  C'mon people, it lights up and sounds of nature emanates from the frog's throat !!" 

John Jay Myers on the Iranian threat to Israel

From the Facebook page of my buddy John Jay Myers:

CNN just stated that Iran has threatened to destroy Israel, so the war drums continue.  Iran, however, has never said that. Iran's nuclear capability is the "Weapons of Mass destruction" lie continued needed for us to continue war, and give oil rights to our masters.


Iran would never drop a nuclear weapon on Israel....

Reason 1: Because we would flatten them like a pancake.

Reason 2:  Because they claim to want Israel (the land), so why would they nuke it? 

Reason 3:  Because millions of Palestinians live in Israel, so I am pretty sure nuking them would come across as an act of bad faith.

Reason 4:  Nuclear bombs are no small affair, Nuking Israel would also be nuking Syria, Turkey, Egypt etc. I believe that would cause them all to have to ask... whose side are these guys on?

Reason 5:  See Reason 1, the only reason that matters.

Now, why would they want one (a nuke)?  Because we seem to have this habit of taking over countries who don't (have nukes) and respecting the rights of those that do.
 
John Jay Myers.  Always short, sweet, and straight to the point.  Plus, he makes good gumbo. 
 

An Inconvenient Cooling

I've sworn off of this topic dozens of times, but in the words of Al Pacino in that 2nd Godfather movie, JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OUT....THEY PULL ME BACK IN. 

Here's something from The Mail (UK).  (I apologize in advance for illustrating this piece with Global Cooling Panic magazine covers from the 1970's.) 

The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years.


The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century.

Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.

Meanwhile, leading climate scientists yesterday told The Mail on Sunday that, after emitting unusually high levels of energy throughout the 20th Century, the sun is now heading towards a ‘grand minimum’ in its output, threatening cold summers, bitter winters and a shortening of the season available for growing food.


Solar output goes through 11-year cycles, with high numbers of sunspots seen at their peak.

We are now at what should be the peak of what scientists call ‘Cycle 24’ – which is why last week’s solar storm resulted in sightings of the aurora borealis further south than usual. But sunspot numbers are running at less than half those seen during cycle peaks in the 20th Century.

Analysis by experts at NASA and the University of Arizona – derived from magnetic-field measurements 120,000 miles beneath the sun’s surface – suggest that Cycle 25, whose peak is due in 2022, will be a great deal weaker still.

We must fight this.  Let's put a subsidy on Hummers and SUV's and a hellish tax on electric cars. 

Or maybe we should simply go back to calling it "weather" and admit that Al Gore, The U.N., the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit, and NASA have no idea what future weather is going to be like, and that attempts to change the weather are pointless, but profitable for insiders.   

I don't care who you are, this is funny

Gary Johnson on ending Prohibition

Our border with Mexico is looking like our border with Canada during the alcohol Prohibition Era.

No one travels across the border without fear, the bodies are piling up (40,000 Mexicans drug war deaths in the last five years), politicians are offered daily corruption opportunities, gangsters are making fortunes, and despite fences, naval patrols,  and indignant speeches about "sealing the border", the border still leaks like, well, something that leaks a lot. 

Alcohol prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933. 

I'm writing this post at the Barnes and Noble near Northeast Mall in Fort Worth.  I looked for the companion volume to the recent Ken Burns TV series on Prohibition, but couldn't find it. 

Instead, I found this one: "Prohibition - Thirteen years that changed America". 

I'm not going to quote from it, or try to summarize the book.  Just look at the cover, from top left to bottom right. 

You have a picture of a vice officer taking an axe to a keg of beer, a picture of Al Capone, a girl with a leg flask in a speakeasy, a prohibition protest sign, a beer advertisement, and a group of well-to-do folks either violating the prohibition laws or celebrating their end.  

Just from the cover, one gets the impression that alcohol prohibition was a disaster. 

The other title I found was "The Lawless Decade: Bullets, Broads and Bathtub Gin"

Famed bootlegger/gangster Al Capone is not on the front cover of this one.  His picture is only on the back cover. 
I won't summarize this book, or try to pull some quotes from it.  But Paul Sann has written a book on the Prohibition Era called "The Lawless Decade". 

We legalized alcohol and the violence slowly ended.  Here's John D. Rockefeller Jr. on the failed experiment:

When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.

Here's a brief excerpt from an interview with Gary Johnson, potential Libertarian candidate for President of the U.S.

Interviewer: Your many opponents believe that legalization would exacerbate the problem. First, they say more people would do drugs if they were legal.

Johnson: Kids who have been surveyed say it's easier to get illegal drugs than beer. The evidence shows that more people won't do drugs if they're legal. Holland, where marijuana is decriminalized and controlled, has 60% of the drug use--both hard drugs and marijuana--the US has. They have a quarter the crime rate, a quarter the homicide rate, a quarter the violent crime rate and a tenth the incarceration rate. It suggests that more people don't do drugs because they're legal. But let's just say that the number of users would go up: I still would say it was worthwhile. Look at the trade-off.


Interviewer: What trade-off?


Johnson: Half of all crime is drug-related. Half. Half of what we spend--on law enforcement, on the courts, on prisons--is drug-related. If we legalized drugs, we would destroy the environment that allows and even encourages all those crimes.

*********

These moments make me question the wisdom of teaching history. 
Have we ever learned anything from it?