Worst Economic Predictions of 2008

Here are some of the worst predictions that were made about 2008. Savor them -- a crop like this doesn't come along every year, from Business Week/Yahoo.com.

1. "A very powerful and durable rally is in the works. But it may need another couple of days to lift off. Hold the fort and keep the faith!" -- Richard Band, editor, Profitable Investing Letter, Mar. 27, 2008

At the time of the prediction, the Dow Jones industrial average was at 12,300. By late December it was at 8,500.

2. AIG (NYSE:AIG - News) "could have huge gains in the second quarter." -- Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008

AIG wound up losing $5 billion in that quarter and $25 billion in the next. It was taken over in September by the U.S. government, which will spend or lend $150 billion to keep it afloat.

3. "I think this is a case where Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News) and Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM - News) are fundamentally sound. They're not in danger of going under I think they are in good shape going forward." -- Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee chairman, July 14, 2008

Two months later, the government forced the mortgage giants into conservatorships and pledged to invest up to $100 billion in each.

4. "I'm not an economist but I do believe that we're growing." —President George W. Bush, in a July 15, 2008 press conference

Nope. Gross domestic product shrank at a 0.5% annual rate in the July-September quarter. On Dec. 1, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared that a recession had begun in December 2007.

5. "I think Bob Steel's the one guy I trust to turn this bank around, which is why I've told you on weakness to buy Wachovia." —Jim Cramer, CNBC commentator, Mar. 11, 2008

Two weeks later, Wachovia came within hours of failure as depositors fled. Steel eventually agreed to a takeover by Wells Fargo. Wachovia shares lost half their value from Sept. 15 to Dec. 29.

6. "Existing-Home Sales to Trend Up in 2008" -- Headline of a National Association of Realtors press release, Dec. 9, 2007

On Dec. 23, 2008, the group said November sales were running at an annual rate of 4.5 million -- down 11% from a year earlier -- in the worst housing slump since the Depression.

7. "I think you'll see (oil prices at) $150 a barrel by the end of the year" -- T. Boone Pickens, June 20, 2008

Oil was then around $135 a barrel. By late December it was below $40.

8. "I expect there will be some failures. I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system." -- Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, Feb. 28, 2008

In September, Washington Mutual became the largest financial institution in U.S. history to fail. Citigroup (NYSE:C - News) needed an even bigger rescue in November.

9. "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." -- Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007

About a year later, Madoff -- who once headed the Nasdaq Stock Market -- told investigators he had cost his investors $50 billion in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

10. "There's growing evidence that parts of the debt markets…are coming back to life." —Peter Coy and Mara Der Hovanesian, BusinessWeek, Oct. 1, 2007.

Oops.

UPDATE: Once again Business 2.0 magazine issues its annual feature, "101 Dumbest Moments in Business."

End of an Era for Denver Broncos

After a dismal end to the 2008 football season, the Denver Broncos canned veteran coach Mike Shanahan, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports.

"After giving this careful consideration, I have concluded that a change in our football operations is in the best interests of the Denver Broncos," [Pat] Bowlen said in a statement. "This is certainly a difficult decision, but one that I feel must be made and which will ultimately be in the best interests of all concerned.

"I appreciate the 21 years that Mike Shanahan has given to the organization as an assistant and head coach, and the two Super Bowl wins in that time. His contributions hold a special place in Broncos history."

How Could I Have Overlooked These Words of Wisdom?

Right Wing News quoted Bret Stephens earlier this year (part of a compilation of 12 favorite quotes for 2008):

"There is great virtue in the American way, which expects CEOs to perform on a quarterly basis, presidents and Congresses to reinvent politics in 100 days, generals to wipe out opponents in 100 hours without taking significant casualties, doctors to save life and limb every time, search engines to yield a million results in less than a second, and so on. There is also great virtue in the belief that what is bad can be made good, and that what is good can be made great, and that what is fractionally less than great is downright awful.

But these virtues can spawn vices. One is impatience. Another is a culture of chronic complaint. A third is the belief that every problem has a solution, that trial is possible without error, that risks must always be zero, that every inconvenience is an outrage, every setback a disaster and every mishap a plausible basis for a lawsuit."

This Hudna Didn't Quite Last a Decade

Another round of fighting has broken out between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and once again the hudna (truce) was used by the terrorists to rearm. They fired off artillery and rocket rounds at Israel, which quickly retaliated with massive air strikes.

WorldNetDaily reports this curious flip-flop by the Palestinian Authority:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his office today slammed as "barbaric" and "unnecessary" Israel's air strikes in Gaza, but according to top diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, Abbas for months now has been petitioning Israel to launch a massive military raid against his Hamas rivals in Gaza. The sources, speaking to WND on condition of anonymity, said Abbas and his top representatives have waged a quiet campaign for months asking the Israeli government to target Hamas in Gaza just before his term in office is scheduled to expire on Jan. 9.

Free Republic has links to articles, pictures, and YouTube videos of this breaking story.

Thank You, Secret Santa!

One of the most heart-warming Christmas stories this year took place in Burnsville, Minnesota, where a fire destroyed 64 units of the Burncliff apartment complex Monday. In addition to the usual contributions of food and clothing from the public, an anonymous donor put up $1,000,000 to help the victims buy new furniture and other necesary items as they relocate. Other generous cash contributors included John Goodman, chairman of The Goodman Group, who gave $50,000, and Nasser Kazeminy of NJK Holdings Corp, who gave another $50,000.

Cool News Items, Just in Time for Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And for our Jewish readers, Happy Hanukkah!

Newspaper misprint

NORAD's 50-year tradition of tracking Father Christmas goes back to a misprint in a Colorado newspaper advertisement in 1955.

A local child wanting to know Santa's whereabouts dialled the phone number printed, which connected to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD).

As more mistaken calls came in, the commander on the other end of the phone answered the queries and the tradition continued in 1958 when CONAD became NORAD.

The effort spread to the internet in 1998 and in 2007 NORAD's Santa tracking site saw more than 10m visitors from 212 countries.

Volunteers fielded nearly 95,000 phone calls and 140,000 e-mails.

This year when Santa takes flight from the North Pole, more than 1,000 volunteers will be on hand to help out.

NORAD's Santa Tracker: http://www.noradsanta.org/

Some cool pictures of ice sculptures at the 25th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival.

MSNBC ran this story about ordinary citizens making sacrifices to give to their favorite charities and help people less fortunate than themselves.

In "God's Gifts," Michelle Malkin relates three stories of forgiveness, determination, dedication, and sheer nobility: Dong Yun Yoon, the man who forgave the fighter pilot whose plane wiped out four members of his family in San Diego three weeks ago; Haleigh Poutre, the 11-year-old girl who fought her way back to life after nearly being beaten to death by a brutal stepfather; and Master Sgt. Anthony Davis, who laid down his life while delivering humanitarian supplies in Biaj, Iraq.

BEFORE YOU SCREAM "ANIMAL CRUELTY..."

A lady was telling her neighbor that she saw a man driving a truck down the interstate, and a dog was hanging onto the tailgate for dear life!
She said if the pick-up truck driver hadn't been going so fast in the other direction, she would have tried to stop him.

A few weeks later, her neighbor saw this truck at the Bass Pro shop in Daphne, Alabama!



The pick-up truck driver is a local taxidermist with a great sense of humor!

Can you just imagine how many people try and stop this guy???

More News Stories Overlooked by the Legacy Media

Journalists faithfully follow the story of how burglars broke into Paris Hilton's home, stealing millions of dollars' worth of jewelry, but we have not forgotten about the real treasure that belongs to all of us: Soldiers who serve our country in Iraq and Afghanistan (see picture, left).

Count on the Washington Times and FOXNews to cover President Bush's compassion towards service members who were killed or wounded in the Global War on Terror. A couple of excerpts:

"The Times notes that people familiar with Bush's routine say he has written letters personally to every one of the families of the more than 4,000 troops who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. The task has taken a toll, and Bush has relied on his wife, Laura, for emotional support, he said....

"Bush has met with more than 500 families of troops killed in action and with more than 950 wounded veterans, often during private sessions, White House spokesman Carlton Carroll told the newspaper."

Shoes Thrown at President Bush Becomes a Hot Item

After a slow-news week we have the following news story reported in Free Republic:


Turkish company sees boom in sales of 'George W. Bush attack shoes'
News.Com.Au

Posted on Friday, December 19, 2008 2:53:15 PM by Sub-Driver

Turkish company sees boom in sales of 'George W. Bush attack shoes'

Agence France-Presse

December 19, 2008 10:41pm

THE Turkish shoe company [Baydan Shoes of Istanbul] making the brand of footwear used by an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush has seen a surge in orders. Ramazan Baydan, owner of the shoe factory in Istanbul of the same name, told DPA that he had received orders in the past week for some 300,000 pairs of the model that was thrown at the US president.

"Someone even came from America seeking distribution rights," Baydan said.

The entrepreneur wants to rename the model, a brown leather shoe with a thick sole, as the "Bye Bye Bush shoes"....

See YouTube video here.

Reuters reports that an Egyptian offered his daughter in marriage to journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, and that she approves of this idea.

Is Gov. Blagojevich's Hair an Indicator of Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

Wonkette has the following hot news item about Gov. Blagojevich's hair:

...If you’re going to be a little sad crybaby, whatever, just never go to Scott Ambers:

Gov. Blagojevich’s glossy locks — perfectly sculpted in rain or snow — may be an indication of a sickness beneath his scalp, said one local psychologist.

“It’s all part of managing his image, managing his image of being without a blemish, without a flaw,” said Scott Ambers, who has practiced clinical psychology in the city for more than two decades.

Several psychologists interviewed one day after the governor’s arrest agreed that he might be suffering from an affliction known as narcissistic personality disorder.

“This grandiose sense of self . . . doesn’t carry the implication that [Blagojevich] is a raving lunatic, crazy and out of touch with reality, but it does suggest he has a really overinflated view of his own importance,” Ambers said.

NOTE: For the benefit of readers who have to have everything explained to them, we believe that the above article was intended to be satirical. However, our position is that the crime for which Rod Blogojevich should be thrown into prison is the shamelessly luxuriant head of hair that he flaunts every day, especially to the follically challenged!!!

Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Buy State Bonds...

Goldman Sachs Bets Against State Bonds It Sold
Source: Subprimelosses.com

After raking in millions of dollars in underwriting fees for municipal bonds, Goldman Sachs turned around and told another group of investors that they could make big profits by buying insurance from the investment bank because those bonds could be headed for default. Goldman’s strategy is known as “shorting municipal credit,” and while technically not illegal, the actions reek of conflict of interest and questionable business conduct.

For years, traders have been able to make money short-selling stock, but shorting municipal bonds via credit default swaps is a relatively new phenomenon. Goldman Sachs is both a leading dealer of municipal credit default swaps, as well as a major underwriter of municipal securities.

This summer, Goldman collected $1 million in fees for helping the state of New Jersey sell $345 million in highway improvement bonds to investors. The fees are among some $15 million that the investment firm has earned since 2002 for selling hundreds of millions of dollars in New Jersey debt to investors, according to a Nov. 23 article in the Newark Star-Ledger.

In California, Goldman reportedly has earned about $25 million over the past five years in underwriting fees from bond issues.

In September, several news reports say Goldman began ramping up its strategy of shorting municipal credit, outlining plans in a 58-page report obtained by ProPublica, a New York-based not-for-profit group. According to the report, Goldman advised certain investors that states like New Jersey and five others might not be able to make their bond payments as planned because of pending budget shortfalls. As a result, investors buying default insurance stood to make big profits from their demise.

As for Goldman Sachs, it bit the hand of at least one client that fed it and profited all around. The investment firm not only collected millions of dollars in fees from the states where it sold bonds and found buyers, but also made money when it sold credit default swaps to investors and thereby bet those same states would be unable to make their scheduled payments....

NOTE: The anxiety level for the states that dealt with Goldman Sachs is going through the roof, as they don't want the value of their bonds to decline and the cost of borrowing money to increase at the same time.

Auto Bailout Put on Ice for the Time Being

A blog called The Conglomerate has this progress report:

The Auto Bailout Fails ... For Now
Posted by David Zaring

We've seen quickly crumbling Republican recalcitrance before, but this time it is the Senate, rather than the House, that is holding up a big bailout. And it is doing so in the face of lobbying in favor by Dick Cheney himself. If there is time to consider something else (Politico thinks it is unlikely), here's Bob Corker's proposal, Corker being the senator from Tennessee, which, entirely coincidentally, houses the headquarters and principal operations of Nissan North America:

The alternate plan offered by Mr. Corker calls for giving the holders of bonds issued by the auto companies 30 cents on the dollar to ease the companies’ debt burden; immediately bringing workers’ wages in line with foreign companies like Nissan and Volkswagen; and forcing the United Automobile Workers to eliminate payments to workers after their jobs have been eliminated.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Senate Majority Leader Reid was right in saying that there were not enough votes in the Senate to pass the bailout. We are opposed to simply handing billions of dollars of the people's money to the Big Three automakers without strict conditions, as that would be wasteful and tempt them to come back for more. Sacrifices have to be made, and it is a leadership function on their part to determine what they will be.

UPDATE: MSNBC supplied this update of a last-ditch bailout extended to General Motors and Chrysler. Unless this involves fundamental changes and sacrifices on the part of the United Auto Workers, the Big Three will come back begging for more after Barack Obama is inaugurated as our next President.

More Dangerous than Iraq?

It is quite strange that our news media has not paid much attention to the undeclared civil war in Mexico. Here's an excerpt from the Houston Chronicle:

CULIACAN, Mexico — A shootout between rival gangs killed 10 people in the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, home of the powerful cartel of the same name, Mexican police said Thursday.

The gunbattle occurred in front of a state police station in the town of El Rosario, said Juan de Dios Beltran, an agent with Mexico's federal attorney general's office.

Two vehicles, nine assault rifles, several handguns and about 200 shells were found in the area after the shootout late Wednesday, he said. There were no arrests....

Many Mexicans are conflicted these days: they are tempted to emigrate to Norteamerica for their own safety, but word is out on the streets that jobs have dried up north of the border. The gun battles, beheadings, kidnappings, and other violent incidents, one would think, have reached a crisis level in that country.

Gov. Blagojevich Caught Trying to Sell Barack Obama's Senate Seat!

The hot story since yesterday has been the arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich for trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Obama, of course, has been trying to distance himself from any involvement in this sordid deal, knowing he will be in deep trouble if prosecutors find a connection between him and a governor who is now in risk of losing both his job and his freedom. A good summary to day can be found at the Wall Street Journal. As of today, Obama called for Blagojevich to resign, but the governor refused.

Dean Kamen Redeems Himself after Inventing the Segway

The man who inflicted the Segway on an unsuspecting public has come up with a bionic arm that promises to benefit combat veterans and other amputees. Called the "Luke Arm" (after Luke Skywalker), it is lightweight, self-contained, and capable of picking up small objects, empty bottles, even electric drills.

"Kamen says the Department of Defense approached him and his company, DEKA, in 2005 about the project, not the other way around....

"The Luke Arm has four fingers and an opposable thumb, and was designed to be controlled by muscular movement in the wearer's remaining limbs.

"But thanks to neurological advances in "targeted renervation" by Dr. Todd Kuiken of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the Luke Arm can now connect directly to motor nerves, meaning it can be controlled purely by thought alone."

To see the Newsweek article, which has more information, click here.

A YouTube video with a demonstration of the "Luke Arm."

Here We Go Again! Chinese Dissidents Being Shipped Off to Mental Hospitals

It's not often I use this source, but this New York Times article has credibility in that the same tactic has been used by the Communist government in the former Soviet Union:

BEIJING — Local officials in Shandong Province have apparently found a cost-effective way to deal with gadflies, whistle-blowers and all manner of muckraking citizens who dare to challenge the authorities: dispatch them to the local psychiatric hospital.

In an investigative report published Monday by a state-owned newspaper, public security officials in the city of Xintai in Shandong Province were said to have been institutionalizing residents who persist in their personal campaigns to expose corruption or the unfair seizure of their property. Some people said they were committed for up to two years, and several of those interviewed said they were forcibly medicated.

The article, in The Beijing News, said most inmates were released after they agreed to give up their causes....

In a related story, Wang Wanxing was released after serving 13 years in a state-run mental asylum for "staging a brief demonstration on the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square."

Bill Cosby Still on Message

The 71-year-old actor-turned motivational speaker offered some blunt comments about the need to teach children about the dangers of having sex - and maybe more of his comments were directed at young women than young men - but despite his language, the message appeared to be well taken by parents, teachers, and teens alike.

" There is no woman who has ever died because they didn't have sex," Cosby said. "And there is no boy who has ever died or had a bad orgasm from wearing a rubber."

Cosby also said that young women aren't getting "pregnant." Rather, he said, "they're getting knocked up..."

For the rest of the article, see ctnewsjunkie.com. It's too bad common sense ain't so common anymore.

Another Reason for Routing Your Flight Through IAH

This just in from the Houston Chronicle:

Karaoke has landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, just in time for the holiday season. Now you can clear security, step up to the microphone and belt out your travel frustrations by singing the Beatles' Nowhere Man or Help! Or, if you're not such a Grinch, you can croon Home for the Holidays or Sentimental Journey.

For the first time, the Houston Airport System is adding karaoke to its menu of holiday music entertainment. The first session is this afternoon, behind security between Terminals D and E.

"During the holidays we have a lot of our novice travelers," such as large families and older couples, [Caroline] Schneider said. "We thought while they are waiting, they can just sing a song."

Aspiring vocalists can choose from hundreds of song titles, Schneider said. Small prizes will be given to the singers.

Jeb Bush "Thinking" About Running for Senate

The following NewsMax article raises the possibility of a Senate run for the seat about to be vacated by Mel Martinez of Florida:

"Still popular in Florida, former Gov. [John Ellis] "Jeb" Bush said Wednesday that he's interested in the seat Sen. Mel Martinez is giving up, and the field of possible candidates could quickly narrow to make way for the president's younger brother...."

Reality check: Jeb is not at all like his brother, President George W. Bush, and could very well follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Sen. Prescott Bush.

From the Dept. of the Blindingly Obvious

The fact that new postings have dropped off since the election does not mean that I have lost interest in the blog. Whenever something noteworthy comes along, you will read about it, especially if it has any connection with political/toilet humor.

We wish the incoming administration well (sound of pride being swallowed), since if Obama fails, we all lose. We will take the revolutionary position of supporting him whenever he makes the right decision, but if he makes a decision that is not good for the people, you will read about it on this blog!

A Most Curious Terrorist Incident in Mumbai (Bombay), India

We here at "Bloodthirsty Warmonger" have been waiting for some of the dust to settle before writing about this latest terrorist strike in India. It appears that most of the people involved in this operation were home-grown insurgents (they were overheard speaking Hindi), but one participant who was captured alive, Azam Amir Kasav, hails from Pakistan. At least seven of the gunmen held British passports. The well-planned, coordinated nature of the attack is an al-Qaeda signature, while the fact that these terrorists were well-armed indicates that they had access to a generous supply of money, possibly from Iran or one of the oil-rich Arab states. It is most noteworthy that they should have targeted Jews in this operation.

Our hats go off to the plucky inhabitants of Mumbai, who are trying to restore normal activity, even before all the terrorists had been killed or captured, and to the "Black Cat" commandos, who came to the rescue of 200 hostages at the Taj Mahal hotel.

Mark Steyn, once again, has this insightful take on the incident:

But we're in danger of missing the forest for the trees. The forest is the ideology. It's the ideology that determines whether you can find enough young hotshot guys in the neighborhood willing to strap on a suicide belt or (rather more promising as a long-term career) at least grab an AK-47 and shoot up a hotel lobby. Or, if active terrorists are a bit thin on the ground, whether you can count at least on some degree of broader support on the ground. You're sitting in some distant foreign capital but you're of a mind to pull off a Mumbai-style operation in, say, Amsterdam or Manchester or Toronto. Where would you start? Easy. You know the radical mosques, and the other ideological front organizations. You've already made landfall.

It's missing the point to get into debates about whether this is the "Deccan Mujahideen" or the ISI or al-Qaida or Lashkar-e-Taiba. That's a reductive argument. It could be all or none of them. The ideology has been so successfully seeded around the world that nobody needs a memo from corporate HQ to act: There are so many of these subgroups and individuals that they intersect across the planet in a million different ways. It's not the Cold War, with a small network of deep sleepers being directly controlled by Moscow. There are no membership cards, only an ideology. That's what has radicalized hitherto moderate Muslim communities from Indonesia to the central Asian 'stans to Yorkshire, and co-opted what started out as more or less conventional nationalist struggles in the Caucasus and the Balkans into mere tentacles of the global jihad.

No Mercy for Sports Teams That Occupy the Cellar

Wow! Looks Almost Good Enough to Eat!!

The Daily Mail (U.K.) has a luscious set of landscapes by Carl Warner, of which I give just 2 examples.


Field of dreams: The countryside landscape has broccoli for trees, potatoes for rocks and basil and herbs for the grass. The path is made from nuts, while the basket is bread with a mushroom wheel. The balloons were crafted out of apple, mango, a strawberry, bananas, garlic, lemons and a lime.



Secret cave: Cauliflowers, spiky kiwano fruits, broccoli and snails can all be seen underwater, while rice and truffle pasta form the reeds. In the cave, carrots stand in for stalactites hanging off a bread rock.

Obama Singlehandedly Boosts Gun Sales

While other industries have been worrying about declining sales, makers of guns & ammunition don't have that problem at this time - all reports indicate that business is booming.

News You Can Use: 25 Best Cities to Find a Job

This CNN-CareerBuilder listing uses statistics provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

1. Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Unemployment rate: 2.4 percent

Last year: 2.3 percent

Job growth: 2.1 percent

2. Rapid City, South Dakota

Unemployment rate: 2.5 percent

Last year: 2.6 percent

Job growth: 1 percent

3. Idaho Falls, Idaho

Unemployment rate: 2.5 percent

Last year: 1.6 percent

Job growth: N/A

4. Bismarck, North Dakota

Unemployment rate: 2.6 percent

Last year: 2.5 percent

Job growth: 2.2 percent

5. Houma, Louisiana

Unemployment rate: 2.7 percent

Last year: 2.9 percent

Job growth: 1.1 percent

6. Morgantown, West Virginia

Unemployment rate: 2.8 percent

Last year: 3.4 percent

Job growth: 1.8 percent

7. Logan, Utah

Unemployment rate: 2.8 percent

Last year: 2.3 percent

Job growth: N/A

8. Fargo, North Dakota

Unemployment rate: 2.9 percent

Last year: 2.6 percent

Job growth: 1.6 percent

9. Casper, Wyoming

Unemployment rate: 2.9 percent

Last year: 2.7 percent

Job growth: N/A

10. Billings, Montana

Unemployment rate: 3.0 percent

Last year: 2.3 percent

Job growth: 2.9 percent

11. Ames, Iowa

Unemployment rate: 3.1 percent

Last year: 2.8 percent

Job growth: N/A

12. Lafayette, Louisiana

Unemployment rate: 3.1 percent

Last year: 3.1 percent

Job growth: 2.8 percent

13. Midland, Texas

Unemployment rate: 3.1 percent

Last year: 3.2 percent

Job growth: 2.4 percent

14. Iowa City, Iowa

Unemployment rate: 3.2 percent

Last year: 2.8 percent

Job growth: 0.7 percent

15. Lincoln, Nebraska

Unemployment rate: 3.3 percent

Last year: 3.2 percent

Job growth: 1.4 percent

16. Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Unemployment rate: 3.3 percent

Last year: 3.1 percent

Job growth: 2.8 percent

17. Great Falls, Montana

Unemployment rate: 3.4 percent

Last year: 2.7 percent

Job growth: N/A

18. Charlestown, West Virginia

Unemployment rate: 3.4 percent

Last year: 4.1 percent

Job growth: 1 percent

19. Des Moines, Iowa

Unemployment rate: 3.5 percent

Last year: 3.1 percent

Job growth: 1.2 percent

20. Missoula, Montana

Unemployment rate: 3.5 percent

Last year: 2.6 percent

Job growth: -0.3 percent

21. Salt Lake City, Utah

Unemployment rate: 3.5 percent

Last year: 2.7 percent

Job growth: 2.2 percent

22. Provo, Utah

Unemployment rate: 3.6 percent

Last year: 2.8 percent

Job growth: 1.2 percent

23. Odessa, Texas

Unemployment rate: 3.7 percent

Last year: 3.8 percent

Job growth: 4.4 percent

24. Pocatello, Idaho

Unemployment rate: 3.7 percent

Last year: 2.4 percent

Job growth: N/A

25. Sioux City, Iowa

Unemployment rate: 3.7 percent

Last year: 3.6 percent

Job growth: -1.9 percent

*Preliminary unemployment rate for July 2008, according to the BLS.
** Unemployment rate for July 2007, according to the BLS.
*** Job growth based on numbers from April 2008.

Billboard Provides Food for Thought

As a courtesy to fellow blogger Col. Riley of Independent Patriots for America, we are running a picture of this billboard, which is making the rounds of the Internet.

12-Year-Old Arrested for Passing Gas!

Another sign that the end of the world is near: "A 12-year-old Florida student was arrested earlier this month after he 'deliberately passed gas to disrupt the class,' according to police. The child, who was also accused of shutting off the computers of classmates at Stuart's Spectrum Jr./Sr. High School [in Martin County], was busted November 4 for disruption of a school function." The Smoking Gun has the perp's mugshot.

19 November Is World Toilet Day

Best. Toilet. Ever.

Did you know there's such a thing as a World Toilet Summit? At its most recent meeting in Macau, World Toilet Organisation founder Jack Sims said the concept of the flushing toilet was unsustainable.

Mr Sims said a culture where people flushed their loos but disregarded the thousands of litres of wasted drinking water each year was one of sanitation's greatest challenges.

"This 'flush and forget' attitude creates a new problem which we have to revisit," he said.

Toilet facts:

The average person spends three years of their life on the “john”.
The average person flushes a toilet about 2500 times a year, while using about eight sheets of toilet paper per day.
An estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide do not have access to proper toilet facilities, particularly in rural areas of China and India.
Lack of suitable toilets and sanitation kills approximately 1.8 million people a year, many of them children.
According to Jack Sims, a further 500 million toilets are needed to bridge the gap in sanitation.
The first flushing toilet was invented in 1596 by Sir John Harrington, a British noble and godson to Queen Elizabeth I. He only invented one, as he was ridiculed by his peers, but he still used it for himself.
Most toilets flush in the key of E flat.
On average, a person will use 22 litres of drinkable water every day flushing a toilet.

Source: News.com.au [Australia]

Visual Commentary: The Direction of the Republican Party

An Opportunity and a Challenge

The biggest challenge facing the incoming administration is making a radical shift from sabotage mode to reconstruction. So far, the Democrats have done everything in their power to destroy the Republicans, regardless of cost - it will be much more difficult to repair the damage to the nation, and there is no guarantee that they can make the change from being part of the problem to part of the solution.

That being said, what kind of public face should the Republicans present in the years to come? John Hawkins of Right Wing News wrote "Fifteen Questions For People Who Say the GOP Should Become More Moderate," cautioning the party to avoid making the same mistakes that caused us to lose both houses of Congress and the presidency. The bottom line is, there is simply not enough popular support for these failed policies, and really no justification, since why should the public vote for a wannabe Democrat when they can vote for the real thing? We are anxious to revive the once-great Republican Party, rather than watch helplessly as it joins the bleached bones of the Whig, Know-Nothing, and other dead parties. Whether they agree or not, the Democrats need the competition, since the prospects of preserving democracy in a one-party state are slim to none.

Former Radio News Director Speaks Out Against Conservative Talk Show Hosts - After He's a Safe Distance Away!

Mark my words, this article by Dan Shelley, published in Milwaukee Magazine, could influence the Obama Administration's policy on conservative talk radio:

"...talk show hosts such as Charlie Sykes – one of the best in the business – are popular and powerful because they appeal to a segment of the population that feels disenfranchised and even victimized by the media. These people believe the media are predominantly staffed by and consistently reflect the views of social liberals. This view is by now so long-held and deep-rooted, it has evolved into part of virtually every conservative’s DNA.

"To succeed, a talk show host must perpetuate the notion that his or her listeners are victims, and the host is the vehicle by which they can become empowered. The host frames virtually every issue in us-versus-them terms. There has to be a bad guy against whom the host will emphatically defend those loyal listeners."

Following these criticisms is this insight into the foundation of a talk show host's power and influence:

"The stereotyped liberal view of the talk radio audience is that it’s a lot of angry, uneducated white men. In fact, the audience is far more diverse. Many are businesspeople, doctors, lawyers, academics, clergy, or soccer moms and dads. Talk show fans are not stupid. They will detect an obvious phony. The best hosts sincerely believe everything they say. Their passion is real. Their arguments have been carefully crafted in a manner they know will be meaningful to the audience, and that validates the views these folks were already thinking."

UPDATE: McCain Lifts a Finger for Sarah Palin

Townhall.com reports that John McCain issued the following statement on Jay Leno's "Tonight" show:

"I'm so proud of her and I'm very grateful she agreed to run with me. She inspired people, she still does," McCain told Jay Leno during a "Tonight Show" interview taped for broadcast Tuesday night. "I couldn't be happier with Sarah Palin."

What Did Sarah Palin Do to Be Awarded the Order of the Purple Shaft?

Dr. Melissa Clouthier wonders out loud about the way the loser of the 2008 presidential campaign has not helped out his running mate, who is under attack by his own staffers. Here's an excerpt:

"The silence from John McCain regarding his own campaign members savaging Sarah Palin deafens. What rock is Senator McCain hiding under and why can’t he extricate himself for a moment to defend his running-mate?

"Welcome to being a friend of John McCain, Sarah. Don’t worry, the stab wounds will heal....

"And his latest mountain of contempt is heaped upon Sarah Palin, but this one is going to bite him in the rear. Sarah Palin did everything in her power to get John McCain elected. That the election was even close was a testament to her connection with the voters despite the press treatment...."

Cross-posted at Right Wing News.

Bill Whittle, Once Again, Says It Eloquently

The closer [Gen. Philip] Sheridan came to the battle [Cedar Creek, 19 October 1864], the more cheerful and animated his defeated men became. Encountering a small group of them, Little Phil would stand in the saddle, and give a jaunty salute — as if to congratulate them on a great victory, rather than another humiliating defeat.

The result was electric, if not universal. Amid the cheering, one infantry colonel — whose descendants perhaps would go on to become campaign advisors — stood in Sheridan’s path and begged him not to go on.

“The army’s whipped!” he cried.

“You are, but the army isn’t,” growled Sheridan, who then put the spurs to a horse who’s back was taller than he was and rode to the scene of the disaster, shouting, “About face, boys! We are going back to our camps! We are going to lick them out of their boots!”

His men were not beaten. They just needed leadership.

“We are going to get a twist on those fellows, men!” he shouted, pounding down the pike. “We are going to lick them out of their boots!”

And that’s what he did, too. He and his routed army went back to that field and licked those Rebels right out of their boots.

Rank-and-file Republicans can ponder the rest of Bill Whittle's article here, as they lick their wounds in the aftermath of this week's election.

Cartoonists Recognize Obama Victory

Now It's Our Turn to Cry

It's no secret that we have mixed feelings about the outcome of yesterday's election. On the one hand, I can tell my multi-racial relations that for them the sky's the limit. On the other hand, I feel compassion for my brothers and sisters who are currently in the military, since an Obama administration will be sure to put them on short rations, just as Carter and Clinton did before him. But I don't want for our first African-American President to fail, because if that happens, we all fail.

Republicans, we can rationalize all day about how the Democrats have been running against a Bush administration that will soon be history, but we have to take responsibility for putting up with uninspired leadership, for not being more inclusive, and for the hypocrisy of Republican politicians who allowed themselves to be corrupted when they had the power. Such evil seeds always yield bitter fruit, and we have no choice but to eat our mistakes until we plant something better.

Going Beyond Hate Speech - Now the Libtards Want Blood!

This just in from NewsBusters.com:

Lib Radio Host Karel Calls For Joe Wurzelbacher's Death In On-Air Obscenity Laced Tirade
By Kerry Picket
November 2, 2008 - 19:53 ET

H/T [hat tip] to Radio Equalizer’s Brian Maloney who picked up this on-air obscenity laced diatribe from San Francisco KGO radio host Karel, who called for the “death” of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, AKA “Joe the Plumber.”
“F__G__D__Joe the G__D__M__F__plumber! I want M__F Joe the plumber dead.”

Maloney notes some interesting background information on the San Francisco radio host:

Karel, also known as Charles Karel Bouley, is an evening and weekend host at KGO radio in San Francisco.

Based in Los Angeles, Karel is a gay activist who also writes for the Huffington Post website.

This latest incident caps a weekend of unhinged behavior by Obama's supporters, including a call for the death of Mormons campaigning on behalf of Proposition 8 in California and the push for an investigation into the "leak" that Obama's aunt was an illegal alien facing deportation.

Don’t expect the mainstream media to tell Barack Obama to rein in his supporters, as they still are still looking for the imaginary McCain supporter who yelled out “terrorist” to Obama’s name at a McCain rally.

Anonymous Pre-Election Poem Spreads Like Wildfire

'Twas the night before the election
And all through the town
Tempers were flaring
Emotions all up and down!

I, in my bathrobe
With a cat in my lap
Had cut off the TV
Tired of political crap.

When all of a sudden
There arose such a noise
I peered out of my window
Saw Obama and his boys

They had come for my wallet
They wanted my pay
To give to the others
Who had not worked a day!

He snatched up my money
And quick as a wink
Jumped back on his bandwagon
As I gagged from the political stink

He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!

'On Fannie, on Freddie,
On Biden and Ayers!
On Acorn, On Pelosi,
He screamed at the pairs!

They took off for his cause
And as he flew out of sight
I heard him laugh at the nation
Who wouldn't stand up and fight!

So I leave you to think
On this one final note –
If you don't want socialism,
GET OUT AND VOTE!!

Trite but True: Every Vote Counts

"The Barnyard" blog says in "If It's Not Close They Can't Cheat: Update," that ..."the title of a book Hugh Hewitt wrote a few years ago...rings ever truer today as the liberal community organizing group with very close ties to Barack Obama, ACORN, is facing charges of voter fraud in several states with new ones coming out in Detroit Michigan. They are already under investigation for fraudulent voter registrations in Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. They were busted for the largest case of voter fraud in Washington state a few years ago. Obama's campaign has paid them more than $800,000 and tried to cover it up for front work for his campaign and get out the vote efforts which for them means voting while dead, illegal or multiple times. Michelle Malkin has been watching them closely for a while now and has the latest from Michigan and much more."

Our advice to you is to disregard the propaganda telling you that next week's election is a done deal, especially for the presidency. The choice is clear, and the difference between the major-party candidates is smaller than most pollsters care to admit.

UPDATE: This just in, a cartoon that illustrates how ACORN will spread Chicago politics into every state it operates in.

Good for a Laugh: CBS Claims Obama Has 11-Point Advantage in Poll

CBS claims "Obama Maintains Comfortable lead."
Posted in Free Republic on Thursday, October 30, 2008 7:59:29 PM by MAD-AS-HELL

(CBS) With less than one week until Election Day, Barack Obama maintains a clear lead over John McCain in the presidential race, a new CBS News/New York Times poll suggests. The Democratic nominee now leads his Republican rival by 11 percentage points, 52 percent to 41 percent, among likely voters nationwide.



EDITORIAL NOTE: This is yet another nail in the coffin for both the New York Times and CBS. We believe that McCain & Obama are running neck-and-neck nationwide, and that Sen. McCain is showing last-minute gains in key states such as Pennsylvania. There is no guarantee that Democrats can deliver Colorado, Ohio, or Virginia to Obama if the elections in those states were conducted fairly and honestly.

Grimaldi Offers $150,000 Reward for Obama Tape!

Click on letter to enlarge

Aston Grimaldi II, chief investment officer of Dune Capital Holdings and believed to be related to the royal family of Monaco, boldly issued a letter offering $150,000 to anyone who can produce the video of Sen. Barack Obama at a 2003 banquet praising Palestinian scholar Rashid Khalidi (this event became a ready excuse for Jew-bashing). Dirty Harry's Place, a conservative blog, mentioned that anonymous donors offered an additional $50,000 for the same tape for a total of $200,000. The L.A. Times is in possession of this video, but refuses to release it.

Rush Limbaugh is on top of this hot topic, and has links to a variety of sources.

UPDATE: Little Green Footballs has reader comments that raise doubts as to the authenticity of the Grimaldi letter; nevertheless, stonewalling on the part of the L.A. Times sounds quite suspicious, and McCain should offer a much larger reward for anyone who can produce that video.

No-Brainer

Why Can't They Keep Promises Like These?

We all know how empty these "threats" recorded in the LA Times Blog can be:

Oh, no! Seal and Heidi Klum join the list of celebrities threatening to leave the U.S. if John McCain wins Tuesday.

So far, potential celeb expats include Susan Sarandon, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Stipe. Tina Fey says she's leaving Earth, fer crying out loud.

This is getting serious, people. There may not be any celebrities left if the Republicans keep control of the White House.

Whose lives will we have to obsess about? More important, whom will I have to write about? Other than die-hard Republican creepy fame-mongers Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt and Elisabeth Hasselbeck?

Seal told this month's Vanity Fair: "If McCain is elected and America staggers on further towards the abyss, then we will leave the country. That is not a problem for us.”

The British singer, who can’t vote in the election, says of Barack Obama, “There is no doubt that he is a great man, and I would put a cross next to his name immediately, if I could. ...”

YouTube Video: Gun Sales On Rise In FL On Fear Of An Obama Presidency

If you're one of those bitter Americans, clinging to your guns and your religion, consider the case of Florida, where the prospect of an Obama presidency has prompted many to buy guns now before the politician identified as a gun-grabber by the NRA confiscates or taxes them to the max. A.W.R. Hawkins sums up where he stands on gun issues in Human Events.

All Hail Barack, Our Savior!

by Bill Curtiss

I came upon a college kid,
Whose eyes were wide with glee,
He said Barack Obama,
Was sent to set us free!

All hail Barack, our savior,
Disciples faint and cry,
While listening to his rhetoric,
Rising to the sky.

Yes give us Hope, and give us Change,
And give us much much more,
Barack has said we are the ones,
That we've been waiting for!

All hail the god of government,
Give me my daily bread,
While robbing me of dignity,
My soul will soon be dead.

For you and your utopia,
Beware what history's said,
Toil, tears and tyranny,
One hundred million dead.

We smile now for the crisis,
To our economy,
And count the blessings of a crash,
To finally set us free!

The market's broke, there's too much greed,
It's plain for all to see,
That's why Barack says now we need,
A NEW philosophy!

All hail the god of government,
Give me my daily bread,
While robbing me of dignity,
My soul will soon be dead.

For you and your utopia,
Beware what history's said,
Toil, tears and tyranny,
One hundred million dead.

We all must look to government,
Barack says, "Look to ME!
Because I have the answer, it's,
Economic equality!"

From each by their ability,
To each to fill their need,
Barack will guide us in this way,
To purge us of our greed.

All hail the god of government,
Give me my daily bread,
While robbing me of dignity,
My soul will soon be dead.

For you and your utopia,
Beware what history's said,
Toil, tears and tyranny,
One hundred million dead.

Barack, he went to Harvard,
His friends all went to Yale,
So THEY know how to run your life,
Or you can go to jail.

All hail our big computers,
Run by men from MIT
Their brains replace the marketplace,
With government, you'll see!

All hail the god of government,
Give me my daily bread,
While robbing me of dignity,
My soul will soon be dead.

For you and your utopia,
Beware what history's said,
Toil, tears and tyranny,
One hundred million dead.

And you there clinging to your guns,
Religion, property,
Hear his words, check out his smile,
And let him set you free!

Our plans require your patience,
A moment, you will see,
How great things get when we shut up,
Limbaugh and Hannity

They May Not Say It Out Loud, but They're Worried

For fear of being labeled racists, Wall Street executives have been notably reticent about criticizing Obama's economic schemes. In a time of instability in the markets, they only dare question his attraction to socialistic policies, inclination to raise taxes, protectionism, increased government spending, and granting more power to regulators in hushed tones. Since we at "Bloodthirsty Warmonger" have nothing to lose, we will come out and say that all of these proposals are exactly the wrong things to do to restore stability and prosperity.

More Political Cartoons

Before you say "*#$% it" to McCain, take a moment to reflect why Obama is loved by Planned Parenthood and other organizations advocating unrestricted abortion-on-demand.


Sad but true: Thousands of elected officials are banking on the fact that the typical voter has a short memory.


We in the alternative media have been following Sen. Biden's comment about how Obama will be "tested" in the early part of his first term, and do not regard it as a gaffe, but as an insight to be taken seriously. You have been forewarned.


The greatest single threat to the Obama presidential campaign has been identified and is being dealt with (slimed beyond recognition) even as we speak. It is none other than Joe Wurzelbacher, known to the public as "Joe the Plumber."

A Rare Opportunity for Center-Right Journalists

Matthew Sheffield of NewsBusters wrote: "Part of the reason that liberal bias in the elite media exists is that not enough conservatives and libertarians decide to get involved in journalism, especially straight news reporting.

"One of the best organizations on the right trying to combat this is the Phillips Foundation which has a program that pays generous amounts of money to encourage people to get involved in producing high-quality journalism that can really make a difference."

Here are some examples of projects bankrolled by Phillips Foundation fellowships:

Full-time

David Donadio for “The Free Press in the Free Market: A Study of How the Internet is Transforming the Newspaper Business;”
Travis Kavulla for “Africa’s New Christianity and the Future of American Influence;”
Emily Krone for “Unchartered Territory: Can Entrepreneurial Charter Schools Achieve the Scale and Sustain the Quality to Transform the American Public School System?;”
Lygia Navarro for “Civil Society and Democracy in Latin America.”

Part-time

Cheryl Chumley for “National Heritage Areas: A Blot against Property Rights or a Boon for the Nation?;”
Matthew Continetti for “The Single Society: The Social Transformation Changing American Business, Politics and Culture;”
J. Peter Freire for “The University Shakedown: How Universities Take Donations but Refuse Input from Donors Based on the Myth of Academic Freedom;”
Jonathan Last for “The Fertility Rate and America’s Future

Not News: McCain Dominates Military Poll

A Military Times poll indicates landslide support for John McCain, who captures 68 percent of the military vote to Barack Obama's 23 percent.

UPDATE: Another blindingly obvious observation: "Coverage of McCain Much More Negative Than That of Obama."
UPDATE2: Investor's Business Daily has a day-by-day tracking poll that shows how changeable these statistics are. The difference between Sen. McCain & Sen. Obama has been as little as 1.1 points, with some biased polls giving Obama as much as a 10-point advantage. We believe this will be a close election, almost as much of a cliffhanger as Bush43-Gore.

Jazzed Up

In spite of all the negative propaganda you've been hearing about Gov. Sarah Palin, she still has enough star power to attract about 10,000 loyal Republicans to Security Service Field in Colorado Springs this morning, (estimate by KXRM-TV), the first of three stops in our state today. Before her appearance, we heard from Rep. Doug Lamborn, senatorial candidate Bob Schaffer - and country music star Hank Williams, Jr. Excessive echo made her difficult to hear, but she did draw an enthusiastic response with statements such as, "It's not mean spirited, not negative campaigning when someone is called out on their record, on their plans and on their associates."

The most recent photo of myself, at the Palin rally

Truth in advertising: Meanwhile, Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden raised more than a few eyebrows by announcing that if elected, Barack Obama will be tested within the first six months of his administration. How interesting, opined Rush Limbaugh.

General Powell Endorses Barack Obama!

According to the Wall Street Journal, former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced on "Meet the Press" today that he is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama.

"I strongly believe that at this point in America's history we need a president that will not just continue … the policies that we have been following in recent years," the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. "We need a transformational figure."

Gen. Powell said he had found that Sen. McCain "was a little unsure as to how to deal with the economic problems we've been having. … That concerned me."

An Ugly Fruit of Hate Speech

When I went down to the Republican headquarters in downtown Colorado Springs to pick up a ticket for Gov. Sarah Palin's next campaign appearance in our city (Monday, 20 October, at Security Service Field, home of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox baseball team), I was astonished to see a two-block segment of Tejon St. blocked off by police cars! The Republicans set up a temporary ticket distribution point outdoors, while the bomb squad dealt with a phoned-in bomb threat. I admired their determination to keep up with the demand for tickets in spite of these interruptions.

UPDATE: It turns out that the mystery box contained a supply of pro-Obama literature left on the ground by a Democratic campaign worker. But the Colorado Springs police were anxious to avoid taking any chances, since they would be under condemnation if the box were actually booby-trapped.

The Final Presidential Debate

OPINION: Exactly as we expected, neither major-party candidate finished off the other. John McCain got credit in conservative circles by coming out swinging, but Obama did some quick side-stepping and foot-shuffling (perfectly acceptable in certain styles of fighting). I do not accept the claim that the Democrat has a double-digit lead, but am inclined to believe that every vote counts, and the undecided voters at this late stage could make a big difference.

Where Will You Be When They Come for You?

Original poem by Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.
Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

Translation:
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Do you think those days are over? Talk show host Roger Hedgecock in "They Came for Jessica, and I Will Not Be Silent" doesn't think so as he describes what an Obama volunteer did to Jessica Hughes of Lufkin, TX.

Snopes.com says that the status of this news report is undetermined, but the Lufkin Daily News accepts the veracity of her story, and has a lively collection of reader comments, including this one:

By RayJay
Oct 15, 2008 1:37 PM

...Having been a federal agent and participating in numerous Secret Service details (as well as working with numerous Secret Service Agents), its apparent to me that the credibility rests with Mrs. Hughes. IF there were any credibility to the complaint, Mrs. Hughes would NOT have been interviewed at her home, the agents would have completely identified themselves, there would have been a search warrant executed for her premises and subpoenas issued for her communications records (emails, phone records, etc.). It's obvious to me that the agents were there under pressure to keep the "lid on" escalating allegations by the Obama campaign. The Secret Service already has their hands full with REAL threats. Unfortunately for them, even the most spurious allegations MUST be investigated. This means, at a minimum, a contact. The agents obviously let their personal frustration with the situation show through when Mrs. Hughes was told to "go along with it" and not be "rude". Guess what? If I get a call from the Obama campaign, I'll be just as "rude", meaning I'll speak my mind. If folks can't deal with that, it sucks to be them!

Political Mud-Slinging, an Old American Tradition

This may come as a shock to you, but hurling insults at political opponents is as old as our Republic itself. Libby Copeland of the Washington Post gives some choice examples in "Stuck in the Muck."

Thomas Jefferson was attacked by ministers who accused him of being an "infidel" and an "unbeliever." A Federalist cartoon depicted him as a drunken anarchist, and the president of Yale warned that if Jefferson came to power, "we may see our wives and daughters the victims of legal prostitution." A Connecticut newspaper warned that his election would mean "murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest will openly be taught and practiced" -- though the paper, which is now the Hartford Courant, did apologize some years later. In 1993. "You turned out to be a good influence on America," the editors wrote. Whoops! Never mind.

"Everybody always assumes there was a golden age of presidential campaigning that occurred 20 years ago," says Gil Troy, an American history scholar at McGill University. "Almost from the start, American politics had its two sides -- it had its Sunday morning high church sermon side, and it had its Saturday night rough-and-tumble ugly side."

Abe Lincoln: According to an 1864 edition of Harper's Weekly, Lincoln was disparaged as a "Filthy Story-Teller," a "Buffoon," a "Usurper," a "Monster" and a "Land-Pirate," whatever that is. His enemies also described him as "A Long, Lean, Lank, Lantern-Jawed, High Cheeked-Boned Spavined Rail-Splitting Stallion," which actually makes Lincoln sound kind of hot, except for the "spavined" part. (We looked it up. It invokes horses with diseased joints, or more generally, decrepitude and decay.)

The article quotes even more examples, including a tract ghost-written for Davy Crockett with some choice words for Andrew Jackson's hand-picked successor, Martin Van Buren.

FactCheck.org documents some of the smears and counter-smears of the two leading presidential candidates.

State of the Economy, Summarized

This Clay Bennett cartoon sums up the world economy in October 2008. The Bob Gorrell cartoon below reminds us of how eagerly the Democrats have exploited the situation.

Voter Fraud Alert, Part 1

Just as surely as I know the sun will rise in the east tomorrow, there will be voter fraud in this election. What amazes me this year is that not all the complaints are about Democrats. One of the earliest "I see dead people voting" reports comes from Houston, Texas.

Covenant Nazi Strikes Again!!!

Here's a recent atrocity story from the Seattle Times:

Kennewick reservist faces threats over landscaping
Lt. Burke Jensen was called five months ago to serve his country in Kuwait. Now he is being told to get an irrigation system and landscaping on his property as soon as possible or face legal action from the Oak Hill Country Estates Homeowners' Association.

By John Trumbo

Tri-City Herald

KENNEWICK — Burke Jensen moved to Kennewick about a year ago, bought a nice house in the country south of the city and began to settle into a new job at Energy Northwest.

Then came the call five months ago to serve his country in Kuwait.

So Jensen, who says he is an involuntarily mobilized reservist, headed off, leaving behind a pregnant wife, a young son and a 2.5-acre lot with not a spot of landscaping.

Now, Lt. Jensen is being told to get an irrigation system and landscaping on his property as soon as possible or face legal action from the Oak Hill Country Estates Homeowners' Association.

"I really don't give a [expletive] where he is or what his problem is," said Chick Edwards, owner and developer of the 47-lot subdivision at the south end of Oak Street in Kennewick.

"It doesn't matter to me," said Edwards, who insists Jensen has violated terms of the homeowners-association covenants requiring that landscaping be completed within one year after an occupancy permit is issued for a home.

"[Jensen] doesn't have the right to walk away from his obligation," said Edwards, who as the developer is the only member of the homeowners association. "I have most of the property still, so I am the homeowners association," he said.

Jensen's situation is complicated by the fact his wife chose to return with her son to stay with family on the East Coast for the duration of her pregnancy, leaving the home unoccupied.

Jensen's attorney, Tony DeAlicante of Redmond, Ore., said Jensen had paid a landscaper thousands of dollars to design and install an irrigation system and hydroseed the large lot this summer.

But DeAlicante said it appears the landscaper may have abandoned the job with the irrigation system only partially completed and no seeding done.

DeAlicante said Jensen also would like to find a renter for his home, but Edwards said that would be a commercial use not allowed by the homeowners association.

"He's not going to rent it," said Edwards. He said an attorney who has reviewed the covenants agrees.

An e-mail on Friday from Jensen to DeAlicante, which was provided to the Herald, says several of Jensen's fellow employees at Energy Northwest are helping to clear the property of weeds and blow out sprinkler lines, if necessary, to make sure they will not freeze during the winter. It also says a neighbor used a tractor to mow weeds.

Rick Miller, whose home is in sight of Jensen's, said he's sympathetic to Jensen's situation. "Given the circumstances, it doesn't bother me," he said. "He can't control the circumstances."

DeAlicante said he has written Edwards to tell him the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act prevents any civil legal action from being taken against someone on active military duty overseas. He also maintains Edwards cannot legally prevent Jensen from renting his property.

But Edwards said he isn't backing down.

"This is a contract. I don't like the way his property looks. This clown gets to do what he wants, and I'm as mad as hell," he said.

Chick Edwards Ph. (509) 582-5679 32220 S Oak St, Kennewick, WA 99337

Meanwhile, true friends of Burke Jensen come out of the woodwork to make his yard presentable, while he's thousands of miles away, unable to deal with the jerk Chick Edwards. I don't recommend that you punch him in the face or do any physical harm, but YOU HAVE BEEN FOREWARNED that purchasing a home in Oak Hill Country Estates in Kennewick, WA puts you in his power.

Obama in Denial

This is all the Obama-bashing I'll do for today. :-)

UPDATE: I waited a day to post this link to James Lewis' article, "Sowing ACORNs to reap the biggest oak tree in Washington, DC."

AIG Execs Spend $440,00 of Taxpayers' Money to Destress!

From ABC News: "Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, Congressional investigators revealed today...."

Blindingly Obvious: New York Times in Decline!

New York Magazine/NewsBusters have just discovered what we have suspected for years:

NY Magazine: Sulzberger Stupidity Could Cause NY Times Collapse
NewsBusters | October 8, 2008 | P.J. Gladnick

Posted on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 6:56:47 AM by PJ-Comix

Although the New York Times circulation has been plummeting like a lot of other newspapers due to readers switching to the Internet for their news as well as being turned off by the extreme liberal bias at that newspaper, the ultimate failure of that periodical might be due to another reason according to an article in New York Magazine. Sulzberger stupidity. And based on what New York has to say, we aren't talking about the ordinary garden style variety stupidity here. Sulberger stupidity comes on a massive scale of unerringly poor judgement in almost every major business decision. The prime culprit of Sulzberger stupidity is the New York Times heir, Arthur Ochs ("Pinch") Sulzberger Jr. although it seems that lack of judgement is also a trademark with the other branches of the extended family, which includes the Goldens and the Cohens, to the extent that there is a good chance that the 27 members of the fifth generation of the Ochs-Sulzberger family (founded by Adoph Simon Ochs) could well be the last generation of that clan to profit from the New York Times....

One thing that would cause the fifth generation to take a sudden interest in the family business is a decrease in trust income. “Once that dividend is cut, then all hell will break loose,” says a former Times executive. “Because that’s what the family lives on. Then it’s over. It’s going to unravel. They’re going to be forced to look for external professional management to run that company....”