No Christmas like a Florida Christmas...
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Hey Big Three! Why Can't We Get This....
The new Ford Fiesta:
(Picture from Federal Review.com)
65 miles per gallon on the highway.
Where to find this car? YOU HAVE TO GO TO EUROPE! They only sell the stylish models there. HERE in America, we get this crap:
(Picture from Federal Review.com)
Same Car, but uglier and 35 miles per gallon on the highway--on a good day.
Or this showroom "beauty":
(Picture from Ford.com)
Five more miles to the gallon, but you pay for it by having to drive a box on wheels.
Ford insists they cannot sell the stylish diesel-powered Fiesta in the US because they don't have the $350 million necessary to buld a facility capable of manufacturing the engine. (Just like they can't sell us any cars without the stupid 3-grill design).
However, they do apparently have no trouble spending $1 billion a month of their reserves to keep churning out the same old crap with ridiculously low gas mileage.
After all, Americans don't want fuel-efficiency. WE want ugly box vehicles capable of stopping a Gdamned airplane!!!:
(Picture from 3.bp.blogspot.com)
For years, the Big 3 insisted on building Huge, Ugly, Gas-Guzzling vehicles while laughing at American's growing concern for high gas prices and global warming. Even after crisis mode they still built giant SUVs and Hummers while their European and Asian competitors built stylish, fuel efficient cars that are currently kicking their collective butt.
Breaking: NOW that you have just received the 17 BILLION from us taxpayers for NOT buying your cars--maybe you can rethink that factory?
(Picture from Federal Review.com)
65 miles per gallon on the highway.
Where to find this car? YOU HAVE TO GO TO EUROPE! They only sell the stylish models there. HERE in America, we get this crap:
(Picture from Federal Review.com)
Same Car, but uglier and 35 miles per gallon on the highway--on a good day.
Or this showroom "beauty":
(Picture from Ford.com)
Five more miles to the gallon, but you pay for it by having to drive a box on wheels.
Ford insists they cannot sell the stylish diesel-powered Fiesta in the US because they don't have the $350 million necessary to buld a facility capable of manufacturing the engine. (Just like they can't sell us any cars without the stupid 3-grill design).
However, they do apparently have no trouble spending $1 billion a month of their reserves to keep churning out the same old crap with ridiculously low gas mileage.
After all, Americans don't want fuel-efficiency. WE want ugly box vehicles capable of stopping a Gdamned airplane!!!:
(Picture from 3.bp.blogspot.com)
For years, the Big 3 insisted on building Huge, Ugly, Gas-Guzzling vehicles while laughing at American's growing concern for high gas prices and global warming. Even after crisis mode they still built giant SUVs and Hummers while their European and Asian competitors built stylish, fuel efficient cars that are currently kicking their collective butt.
Breaking: NOW that you have just received the 17 BILLION from us taxpayers for NOT buying your cars--maybe you can rethink that factory?
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Florida is Number ONE! Take THAT Illinois!
Florida is the most corrupt state in the union according to the Department of Justice if you go by the number of federal convictions of public officials in all 50 states and territories.
Despite a record of having a governor going to jail on average of once every 10 years, Illinois could only muster 7th place. Pathetic.
Of course, some would argue that going by number of convictions is unfair. After all, we are a big state. All of the big states were in the top five.
DOJ got you covered. They also tallied the number per capita. In that case, Florida falls out of the top ten, but still comes in at a respectable fourteenth.
DC comes in number ONE--which is also slightly unfair. That tiny district has the highest concentration of public officials. North Dakota is the top state in this arrangement, which is surprising. The next one, Alaska--not so much:
Despite a record of having a governor going to jail on average of once every 10 years, Illinois could only muster 7th place. Pathetic.
There are so many people to thank. I'd like to thank JEB Bush and his cronies...And let's give it up for whole city of Miami! You know you put us over the top! I'd also like to acknowledge Tom Feeney and all the other corrupt sleazeballs who were never convicted but were with us in spirit...
Of course, some would argue that going by number of convictions is unfair. After all, we are a big state. All of the big states were in the top five.
DOJ got you covered. They also tallied the number per capita. In that case, Florida falls out of the top ten, but still comes in at a respectable fourteenth.
DC comes in number ONE--which is also slightly unfair. That tiny district has the highest concentration of public officials. North Dakota is the top state in this arrangement, which is surprising. The next one, Alaska--not so much:
Saturday, December 13, 2008
JEB was a failure. Make sure he stays gone!
Do you guys really want to be the national joke again?
The nation resoundly rejected a continuation of the Bush policies by overwhelmingly rejecting John McCain--and he did his best to run AWAY from the Bush name. If George W. Bush had been able to run, I think you would have seen an election reminiscent of Mondale's 1984 shellacking (just without Minnesota and DC).
Good citizens, how is it that Jeb Bush, a man who, like his brother, squandered a huge surplus from a previous Democratic administration with a massive $6.6 billion in tax cuts that only benefited Florida's wealthiest residents, is a serious contender for Mel Martinez' Senate seat?
Now our state is in such a fiscal crisis that the GOP legislature is now making huge cuts to our public schools and healh care facilities--and more are coming. JEB did to our state what Bush did to our country--which is why I can't understand why anyone would reward that man.
What makes the situation worse is that while JEB shared his brother's priority to help those who need it the least while hurting those who need it most, he was simultaneously lying about the severity of the state budget.
(What do you expect. The man lies about his own damn name. It's not even JEB--he hicked it up for the yokels. His real name is John Ellis Bush for crying out loud.)
Being responsible for the state's fiscal crisis should be enough to discourage anyone from reliving the Bush years. But, as it goes with the Bush legacy, there are many more reasons. People tend to look at the past with rose-colored glasses, so let me give a few more examples of live under JEB:
JEB is the one responsible for dropping legitimate voters who had been illegally purged by him and his Secretary of State, Katherine Harris. Even after the 2000 debacle, he had a "solution" for "those people" by instituting a complicated process that had the purged voters reapply for their own rights that never should have been taken away to begin with. In 2004, he hired a company that kicked off thousands of African-Americans, but surprisingly, less than 80 Cuban-Americans (who tend to vote GOP). Even JEB couldn't explain that one and, under intense pressure, finally backed off.
JEB turned critical state services over to private corporations. He shifted the job of providing for the poor to faith-based organizations while making huge cuts to spending programs to Medicare and health care programs for the elderly and disabled. The underfunded Department of Children and Families, which had few caseworkers, took 15 months to discover that 5-year-old Rilya Wilson was missing from her foster home. JEB, like his forever blameless brother, blamed the caseworkers.
JEB said he had "Devious PLANS" to kill the classroom-size amendment that voters demanded. Sen. Kendrick Meek called Bush's proposal to kill the classroom size amendment & threats of more cuts to much needed social services "a premeditated abuse of the highest office in Florida to circumvent the will of the people.''
JEB fought like hell to force a brain-dead woman, Terry Schiavo, to be force-fed because he claimed he was "pro-life". Yet he was unmoved by this letter to the St. Petersburg Times on 04/15/2003 by another citizen who desperately wanted to live: "I am just one of the 26,000 who received the letter from the Department of Children and Families last week, informing us that Gov. Jeb Bush and our elected public servants have given me until May 1 to continue my chemo. Then I must prepare to die in half the time I would live with chemo."
I could go on with the corruption, the failed Medicaid Reform Plan, or a host of other reasons that I have written about in previous blogs during his reign. But the truth of the matter is, its the Florida Democrats who are the reason JEB is now a serious contender. I talked about all the issues I have just mentioned and more, and how the FlaDems were giving JEB a free pass in this blog post back in December 2006. I warned that this meant he could return at a later date--but I thought at the time it would be as either VEEP or a presidential contender. (Even I didn't see how quickly the Bush family and their principles would fall out of favor).
But in this strange bubble we live in called Florida, JEB is poised to become a serious contender for Senate--bringing back what we have all fought so hard to overcome.
This time, we can't afford to roll over.
The nation resoundly rejected a continuation of the Bush policies by overwhelmingly rejecting John McCain--and he did his best to run AWAY from the Bush name. If George W. Bush had been able to run, I think you would have seen an election reminiscent of Mondale's 1984 shellacking (just without Minnesota and DC).
Good citizens, how is it that Jeb Bush, a man who, like his brother, squandered a huge surplus from a previous Democratic administration with a massive $6.6 billion in tax cuts that only benefited Florida's wealthiest residents, is a serious contender for Mel Martinez' Senate seat?
Now our state is in such a fiscal crisis that the GOP legislature is now making huge cuts to our public schools and healh care facilities--and more are coming. JEB did to our state what Bush did to our country--which is why I can't understand why anyone would reward that man.
What makes the situation worse is that while JEB shared his brother's priority to help those who need it the least while hurting those who need it most, he was simultaneously lying about the severity of the state budget.
(What do you expect. The man lies about his own damn name. It's not even JEB--he hicked it up for the yokels. His real name is John Ellis Bush for crying out loud.)
Being responsible for the state's fiscal crisis should be enough to discourage anyone from reliving the Bush years. But, as it goes with the Bush legacy, there are many more reasons. People tend to look at the past with rose-colored glasses, so let me give a few more examples of live under JEB:
JEB is the one responsible for dropping legitimate voters who had been illegally purged by him and his Secretary of State, Katherine Harris. Even after the 2000 debacle, he had a "solution" for "those people" by instituting a complicated process that had the purged voters reapply for their own rights that never should have been taken away to begin with. In 2004, he hired a company that kicked off thousands of African-Americans, but surprisingly, less than 80 Cuban-Americans (who tend to vote GOP). Even JEB couldn't explain that one and, under intense pressure, finally backed off.
JEB turned critical state services over to private corporations. He shifted the job of providing for the poor to faith-based organizations while making huge cuts to spending programs to Medicare and health care programs for the elderly and disabled. The underfunded Department of Children and Families, which had few caseworkers, took 15 months to discover that 5-year-old Rilya Wilson was missing from her foster home. JEB, like his forever blameless brother, blamed the caseworkers.
JEB said he had "Devious PLANS" to kill the classroom-size amendment that voters demanded. Sen. Kendrick Meek called Bush's proposal to kill the classroom size amendment & threats of more cuts to much needed social services "a premeditated abuse of the highest office in Florida to circumvent the will of the people.''
JEB fought like hell to force a brain-dead woman, Terry Schiavo, to be force-fed because he claimed he was "pro-life". Yet he was unmoved by this letter to the St. Petersburg Times on 04/15/2003 by another citizen who desperately wanted to live: "I am just one of the 26,000 who received the letter from the Department of Children and Families last week, informing us that Gov. Jeb Bush and our elected public servants have given me until May 1 to continue my chemo. Then I must prepare to die in half the time I would live with chemo."
I could go on with the corruption, the failed Medicaid Reform Plan, or a host of other reasons that I have written about in previous blogs during his reign. But the truth of the matter is, its the Florida Democrats who are the reason JEB is now a serious contender. I talked about all the issues I have just mentioned and more, and how the FlaDems were giving JEB a free pass in this blog post back in December 2006. I warned that this meant he could return at a later date--but I thought at the time it would be as either VEEP or a presidential contender. (Even I didn't see how quickly the Bush family and their principles would fall out of favor).
But in this strange bubble we live in called Florida, JEB is poised to become a serious contender for Senate--bringing back what we have all fought so hard to overcome.
This time, we can't afford to roll over.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Just one more...
I promised no more Bush bashing. It's over.
But damn it you don't make this easy for me, Mr. President. His exit interview with Chucky was priceless. My favorite quote:
ABC News' Charles Gibson: You're only 62. Is there one more thing you really want to achieve?
George W. Bush: Um, that's interesting question... Wouldn't it be interesting for baby boomers not to retire in, y'know, nice places, but to retire during their retirement to go, y'know, help people deal with malaria or AIDS? ... In other words, I'm not suggesting that is what I'm gonna do. It is the kind of thing that intrigues me.
Jon Stewart: That's like walking up to a homeless guy and going, "Hey, imagine if I just gave you thousands of dollars...I bet that would totally change your life! Intriguing to think about, isn’t it? Alright, See ya later!"
But damn it you don't make this easy for me, Mr. President. His exit interview with Chucky was priceless. My favorite quote:
ABC News' Charles Gibson: You're only 62. Is there one more thing you really want to achieve?
George W. Bush: Um, that's interesting question... Wouldn't it be interesting for baby boomers not to retire in, y'know, nice places, but to retire during their retirement to go, y'know, help people deal with malaria or AIDS? ... In other words, I'm not suggesting that is what I'm gonna do. It is the kind of thing that intrigues me.
Jon Stewart: That's like walking up to a homeless guy and going, "Hey, imagine if I just gave you thousands of dollars...I bet that would totally change your life! Intriguing to think about, isn’t it? Alright, See ya later!"
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Child: "Santa Doesn't Visit Me"
It tears my heart out to think of children who get nothing for Christmas, either because they are too poor or because they have no one. If you see a tree with cards or candy canes somewhere that has a child's name along with a toy wish--PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go ahead and get it.
I grabbed one where all the kid asked for was a coat. One stinking coat. I bought him a nice coat with a Transformer, packaged it, and put it under the tree. It will probably be the only gift he gets. It breaks my heart to see so many other wishes left. If I am ever wealthy, I'm buying every damn one of them something nice.
There is a tree at the Publix at the Winter Springs Shopping Center for the kids from House of Hope. If you know of other ones in the local area, please let me know so I can post them here.
Whether you are inside or outside Central Florida, if you run into one of these trees, please don't just walk by.
Merry Christmas and God Bless.
I grabbed one where all the kid asked for was a coat. One stinking coat. I bought him a nice coat with a Transformer, packaged it, and put it under the tree. It will probably be the only gift he gets. It breaks my heart to see so many other wishes left. If I am ever wealthy, I'm buying every damn one of them something nice.
There is a tree at the Publix at the Winter Springs Shopping Center for the kids from House of Hope. If you know of other ones in the local area, please let me know so I can post them here.
Whether you are inside or outside Central Florida, if you run into one of these trees, please don't just walk by.
Merry Christmas and God Bless.
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