Fiscally Responsible Government? Riiiight!

Excuse me? The U.S. Government paid $2.5 million for this extremely stupid Super Bowl ad?

My tax dollars paid for this piece of dreck. So did yours. Why can’t the Census Bureau be fiscally responsible and create a memorable commercial for under a grand? Like, say something which only cost about $200.

I want my money back.

Stoutcat

Justice is Served

…Mostly, anyway.

John Perry Ryan was sentenced today to 7 ½ years in jail for spreading pornographic images of children online.

District Court Judge William Sessions said of the crimes, “”Truly heinous… It’s one of the most egregious child pornography cases I’ve ever seen…  The descriptions in chat rooms are just abhorrent, just beyond belief.”

But his advocates see it differently.

Ryan, a former gay rights activist, received a strong show of support from officials in Provincetown, MA, his former home. His backers included a former Superintendent of Schools, a former town director of Public Health and Human Services, and a former town selectman.

Did anyone notice that these are people who are charged with the safety of Provincetown’s children, heath, and general population? Supporting a self-admitted child pornography trafficker?

What the hell is wrong with these people?

WCAX reports that several of his backers spoke up for Ryan before the sentencing:

Nine longtime friends and neighbors spoke on Ryan’s behalf, pleading with the court to only give a sentence of home confinement, and calling their loved one “harmless.” They described him as a warm, kind, and influential leader for a variety of human rights causes in his previous home on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Harmless? With over 20,000 images and nearly 150 videos of child porn on his computer? I think not.

The prosecution had requested a 10-year sentence and then a lifetime of monitoring; the judge handed down a term of 7 ½ years in jail and then five years of supervision. He will also have to register as a sex offender.

If it were up to me, I’d toss the man in jail and leave him there for the rest of his life.

Stoutcat

H/T: Commenter Melanie

Doctor Zero’s Answer to Socialism

Doctor Zero has published another tour de force today, entitled “The Answer to Socialism.” With the nation’s financial systems teetering on the brink of collapse (as we have written about again and again), the good Doctor believes that we can weather this crisis and begin to turn things around in relatively short order.

In his article, Doc Zero not only eviscerates the concept of socialism as a beneficial force while enumerating its many sins, he also proposes the antidote for it, in the form of unbridled capitalism in all its glory, along with a dramatic transfer of power from federal to state level, and a drastic dose of belt-tightening, especially of social programs so beloved by liberals, such as PBS and NPR, in order to get through the rest of this financial crisis and put America back on her proper path. He also attempts to remove the rose-colored glasses from the eyes of those who see socialism as the achievement of great dreams:

Socialism is an object of romance from its devotees. It invites them to join an epic tale of mighty statesmen solving the problems of society with noble laws, and encourages them to turn their back on the small-minded pursuit of filthy money. The Left loves to talk about the pursuit of dreams as the highest human aspiration… and since everything it proposes is presented as a dream, how can any high-minded person raise grubby practical objections? In matters affecting the millions of lives, and the disposition of trillions of dollars, we cannot afford romantic notions. Only hard, cold logic is acceptable.

He goes on to enumerate why hard, cold logic (in the form of our keeping our own hard, cold cash) is actually a good thing (in case you didn’t already know):

The truth is that money is not an evil toxic sludge, whose stain the Left works to scour from our souls. Money is the mechanism that allows you to spend your time doing what you’re best at – which produces wealth, the same way a lever amplifies muscle to move great weights. You spend the money you earn each day on a range of products you couldn’t possibly create for yourself. You probably couldn’t create a decent pair of shoes in the hours it takes you to earn enough money to purchase them. You definitely couldn’t cobble a computer system together from nothing but raw materials, in the time it takes you to earn a thousand dollars and buy one. This is the genesis of wealth: the freedom enjoyed by people when the value of their time can be measured and traded through currency…

…Industries the government has painfully failed at running, such as Amtrak, should be handed off to private-sector businessmen who can make them work – or put them out of their misery. Ridiculous extravagances like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose services were already privatized years ago, should be eliminated at once. Sorry, liberals, but if we need to rack up a $14 trillion national debt, we certainly can’t afford to fund NPR and PBS any more. A government characterized by uncontrolled deficit spending has lost all moral and reasoned claims to run any business that could be tackled by the private sector. It shouldn’t be allowed to pour tax dollars into statist live-action role playing games like Americorps, either. Privatization is the only way to prevent the collapse of the unsustainable Social Security and Medicare entitlements.

If you read nothing else this entire week, read this piece and share it with everyone you know. If we want to get America back on track and prevent future generations from inheriting a staggering and untenable burden of debt, here is the call to action, and the roadmap to success.

Stoutcat

Dave Carroll: Changing Things One Song At A Time

If you’re a regular reader here at Grand Rants, you know that we’ve followed the adventures of our Canadian friend, singer/songwriter Dave Carroll this past year. Carroll used his considerable singing and songwriting talent along with humor and a bit of well-deserved sarcasm as he told the story (through music videos posted on YouTube) of how United Airlines damaged his $3,500 Taylor Guitar, then stonewalled him for a year, refusing to pay for the repairs. For those of you who are not aware of the story, please click here and here for our previous coverage and a look at the first two videos. It’s definitely worth the view.

The videos struck a chord with the public, went viral and resulted in United’s stock plummeting by 10% ($180 Million).

Carroll promised three videos and is about to release the third and final song in the trilogy.

I’m pleased to announce that Dave has agreed to an exclusive interview with Grand Rants and that interview will be posted on the day the third video is posted on Youtube. Currently, that is expected to be  March 1. Check back at Grand Rants for any changes on this.

In the meantime, Dave has been a busy fellow. In addition to launching his own solo career apart from Sons of Maxwell (the group he co-fronts with his brother Don), Dave has also started “Big Break Enterprises” which offers a complete line of services in the area of keynote speaking, developing compelling advertising or promotional campaigns, creating custom, inspiring songs for events and a complete line of support services for any and all of the aforementioned.  If you want to learn more about this effort, contact Big Break Enterprises.

And from the “Proof that God does, in fact, have a sense of humor” Department: Several months ago, Dave appeared at a conference on Customer Service held in Denver Colorado held by Right Now Technologies. The only flight available to get Dave there from his location in Canada was on United.

You guessed it: They lost his luggage. Fortunately, he brought his guitar as carry-on luggage and was able to perform, but had to wear the clothes he had on. United still apparently has a way to go.

Meanwhile, Dave has joined forces with Canadian TV stations who have been short-changed (literally) by the cable companies.  Enjoy this latest video from Dave as we count down the days until the final song of the United Trilogy is released along with the exclusive interview here on Grand Rants.

Gerry Ashley

Shades of Roman Polanski

So it’s not just Hollywood.

It seems that a celebrated Provincetown resident is going to jail for child pornography. And P-Town residents are up in arms about it.

John Perry Ryan is scheduled to be sentenced in Braintree, VT, on Monday on three counts of transporting child pornography. In June of last year he plea bargained six counts down to three, while admitting guilt to emailing a variety of explicit child porn photos to several people.

The Cape Cod Times reports:

Prosecutors want Ryan to go to prison for 10 years and pay fines, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, according to court records. Prosecutors called him a “prolific” collector and trader of child pornography on whose home computer were found 24,000 images and nearly 150 videos. [emphasis mine] Ryan traded the images with the user name of “baitor.” The vast majority of the images and videos depict [if you really want to know go read the entire story, but I won't publish it here], the records indicated…

“Defendant is an untreated sex offender,” said U.S. Attorney Tristram J. Coffin in court records. “He has minimized his conduct and offered little to no remorse for his crime.”

And yet. Letters of support for Ryan are pouring in from Provincetown: According to his supporters, he is “…a person who has dedicated his adult life to improving the lot of the least fortunate,”a man who is “fighting for people who had no voice,” and someone who “took extraordinary care of his mother.”

Please. That’s what Roman Polanski’s pals said, too. About Ryan, a supporter offered:

“I think the law in this area is a mess,” Wunsch said yesterday. “He may have done something wrong. But I don’t think this man would hurt anyone, let alone a child. Even if technically he violated the law, I think it’s the biggest waste of taxpayer money to imprison someone like this.”

Sounds suspiciously like Whoopi Goldberg’s ridiculous defense of Polanski, that “it wasn’t rape rape.”

What is the matter with these people? John Perry Ryan admitted to emailing explicit photos. He had over 20,000 child porn images and 150 videos on his home computer. I don’t care if he took care of his mother. This scumbag belongs in jail for a long long time.

I’d like to make sure that the notoriously bleeding heart state of Vermont hands down an appropriate sentence to Mr. Ryan instead of a slap on the wrist, which is what his supporters are clamoring for. Please make everyone aware of this story–let’s not allow a kiddie porn collector and distributor get away with it.

Stoutcat

What The Fly Heard At 1600 Pennsylavania Ave.

Episode One – Biden’s Revenge

Gerry Ashley

I Was Wrong About Obama

 

I confess. I was utterly wrong. I listened to those around me and believed them. Everyone said President Obama was an intelligent man. So smart. So savvy. Harvard-educated. I believed them, and I was wrong. I really hate to say this, but our president is an idiot.

At this morning’s National Prayer Breakfast, the president spoke, and after giving shout-outs to the various guests using questionable grammar, he launched into a talk that began beautifully: eloquent, soaring, euphonious. But it all came clattering and clanking down after the first few minutes. See if you can find the gaffes:

Navy corpse-man? Corpse-man? Is this man a moron? Did nobody listen to him rehearse? Did he rehearse at all? This was obviously not a slip of the tongue. He says “corpse-man” twice during this clip; he goes on to say it once again a minute or so later. (Full audio of speech here.)

Also, what is the name of this virtuous corpsman? Is it Christian? Or is it Christopher? Perhaps Obama should have left it at “Chris”. That was it for me. I’m sure it was a very good speech, but I just couldn’t take any more of it.

I really thought Obama was an intelligent man. I was wrong. The President is an idiot.

Stoutcat

H/T: RightOnline at FR

Obama Minus Teleprompter: Making Joe Biden Sound Good

  

We’ve all seen it before: Take away Barack Obama’s teleprompter and it’s not long before Joe Biden starts sounding pretty impressive as a public speaker. 

Another such moment occurred earlier this week at a town meeting in Nashua, NH. But the real story is not so much in what he said, but the supreme irony of how POTUS managed to stuff so many feet into his mouth at once. 

Supreme Irony 

Obama was trying to convince those in attendance that in tough economic times, it’s important to cut back on wasteful spending.  As he spoke those words, I couldn’t help but wonder how many in the crowd appreciated the supreme irony and utter hubris: the American taxpayers, backbone of the United States (and source of all money being wasted by the federal government) were being lectured about wasteful spending by the man: 

• Who just submitted a federal budget that is the highest in history – at a time when America can least afford increases in government spending
• Who signed the most pork-filled and irresponsible stimulus package legislation without even bothering to read it — or allow us, the taxpayers, time to read it  — before  he signed it
• Who is bound and determined to pass an equally mysterious health care reform bill that will, in all likelihood, put the final nail into the coffin of our economy (while killing what has been the world’s premiere medical system including research for breakthroughs in numerous diseases)

The hubris was staggering… but wait! 

As embarrassingly bad as that was, it was about to get a lot worse. Obama stopped just long enough to switch feet in his mouth. 

In an attempt to explain the need for fiscal conservatism (something that Obama clearly knows nothing about), he decided to forgo TOTUS and test the waters of Ad-lib Bay… only to get sucked out to sea by the undertow of Stubris as he pontificated: 

“When times are tough, you tighten your belts,” said Obama . “You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.” 

The president’s comments come nearly a year after he criticized companies that received federal money for taking corporate junkets to Las Vegas. His comment back then: 

“You can’t go take that trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on taxpayers’ dime.” 

Keep those words in mind for a moment. We’ll get right back to them. 

Las Vegas business leaders said Nevada tourism suffered last year in part because companies canceled trips to Las Vegas in the wake of the president’s comments. The sting had only started to fade, but Las Vegas continues to suffer more than most cities in this recession. 

Let The Bashing Begin 

The backlash from Harry Reid’s state was instantaneous. From the AP: 

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said during a hastily called news conference that Obama is no friend to Las Vegas and would not be welcomed here if he visits. 

“I’ll do everything I can to give him the boot,” Goodman said. “This president is a real slow learner.”… 

Nevada’s tourism has been hit hard during the past two years as consumers everywhere tighten leisure spending and companies spend less on meetings and conventions. 

Reid, one of Obama’s closest allies, issued a statement headlined “Reid to Obama: ‘Lay off Las Vegas”‘ and was unusually blunt in his reaction. 

“The President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn’t be spending their money,” Reid said. “I would much rather tourists and business travelers spend their money in Las Vegas than spend it overseas.” 

Perhaps… just perhaps… if we could all take a step back and look at the big picture, we could see that this is also what Obama is doing to the entire United States economy… not just Las Vegas. It is unfortunate that the city was singled out, but Obama’s words and actions since taking office are doing to the US economy what his latest hoof-in-mouth disease incident has done directly to Vegas for a second time. 

In response to the all the outrage, Obama dutifully dashed off a letter of pseudo-apology to Harry Reid: 

Click to read President's Apology

From Stubris back to Hubris 

Nowhere in this letter will you find an actual apology,  for to do so would be an acknowledgement of having made a mistake. And Obama still believes he is never wrong. 

And back to Stubris Once More 

What he should be doing is writing a much longer apology to the citizens of the United States for the way he is trashing what is left of our economy with his reckless spending. But the chances of that are… well, you don’t need the boys in Vegas to give you the odds on that. 

Read the President’s letter and he implies he’s looking forward to his “next visit to Las Vegas in about two weeks.  Wanna bet he  takes that trip to Las Vegas or goes down to the Super Bowl on taxpayers’ dime?” 

After this latest verbal gaffe-cum-teaching opportunity, you just know that somewhere Dan Quayle and Joe Biden are having a toast, shouting out, “We’re finally off the hook!” 

Gerry Ashley

Humble Reasoning

 

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.
                                                                                               Galileo

“Le GIEC est mort, vive le débat!” (Le Monde)

Global warming science is as dead as the dodo. The last nail in its coffin came this week from reports that embattled former CRU director Phil Jones covered up the fact that data from Chinese weather stations was flawed and that the original data documentation was nowhere to be found. (The dog ate it?)

Jones and a collaborator have been accused by a climate change sceptic and researcher of scientific fraud for attempting to suppress data that could cast doubt on a key 1990 study on the effect of cities on warming – a hotly contested issue.

Today the Guardian reveals how Jones withheld the information requested under freedom of information laws. Subsequently a senior colleague told him he feared that Jones’s collaborator, Wei-­Chyung Wang of the University at Albany, had “screwed up”…

Wang was cleared of scientific fraud by his university, but new information brought to light today indicates at least one senior colleague had serious concerns about the affair.

It also emerges that documents which Wang claimed would exonerate him and Jones did not exist.

This may be the blow that brings the whole “climate science” scam down. With AmazonGate, GlacierGate, and the entire CRU leaked email scandal, I can’t think of a single mitigating circumstance that would make me confident that any single piece of data in any report from NOAA, GISS, CRU, or the IPCC was true and verifiable. Or that any report produced as a result of that data should be relied on to enact legislation that would dramatically affect the economy and emissions of any nation.

In the grand scheme of things, this is really a shame. The humble reasoning of an individual should lead him to conclude that human society affects the planet and the climate. How much? Uncertain. But wouldn’t it be nice to know, for instance, whether humans have less effect on our climate than, say, the methane emissions of the tens of millions of buffalo that once roamed the Great Plains… or even the 1.5 billion domestic cattle that exist today? Because according the the United Nations as of four years ago, that truly is the greatest “global warming” threat:

A United Nations report has identified the world’s rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs.

The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, entitled Livestock’s Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world’s 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together. [emphasis mine]

On the other hand, if data coming out of the United Nations is suspect, why should we even believe this? I don’t know.

So we need to scrap all the data and start from scratch. Humanity should understand the effect we have on our home. So let’s begin again and gather the data in a transparent and scientifically sound way, base conclusions on fact, not opinion, and write reports that are not biased toward a certain conclusion.

Because right now, my humble reasoning leads me to believe that we’ve got bupkis.

Stoutcat

Louis Pepe: KSM Trial Should Be at Gitmo

 

Louis Pepe is advocating that New York City is no place to try the mastermind of September 11, 2001. Louis Pepe understands that terrorists do not belong in civilian courts, but should be tried in safe, protected, escape-proof military venues.

Louis Pepe knows whereof he speaks, and he is speaking out.

As a federal prison guard in November of 2000, Mr. Pepe was escorting Mamdouh Mahmud Salim back to his cell at at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. Salim’s cellmate was Khalfan Khamis Mohamed. Both prisoners were accused of bombing two embassies in Africa back in 1998. When Mr. Pepe and his charge arrived at the cell, here is what happened:

Somehow, they slipped out of their handcuffs.

They sprayed me with some kind of hot sauce. I couldn’t see. They pulled me into the cell and hit me — boom, boom. They hit me so much, I swear to God, like a hundred times.

I hit my radio. I thought help would come.

They wanted the keys for the other prisoners, but they couldn’t find them. They were in my front pocket. I used to be big, 300 pounds, and I was laying on them. I gave them my car keys.

About halfway through, they used a comb — thick and long, about 10 inches, with a handle. They’d taken the teeth out and sharpened it like a knife.

They put it in my left eye. It went three inches into my brain.

Mr. Pepe understands that terrorists like these, and like Khalid Sheik Mohammed, want us dead, dead, dead, and will go to great lengths to achieve this goal. A civilian trial–in any venue–allows for all sorts of “mishaps”. A show trial, as KSM’s is admitted to be, offers a mind-boggling array of things that can go wrong. Just of the top of my head I can think of the following scenarios:

• In collusion with his lawyers, KSM is able to get word to other terrorists to attack the courthouse where the trial is being held. Result: Many are killed and KSM disappears.
• Faithful followers mass and attack the trial venue. Result: see previous.
• With the spotlight on KSM, other prisoners are able to overpower or kill guards and escape. Result: see previous.
• Al Qaeda higher-ups following the trial on CNN are able to stage riots and diversions around the courthouse. Result: see previous.

Mr. Pepe nearly paid with his life for mistakes that were made before we understood just how dangerous these men are. We now know, and have known for nearly ten years, that they are lethal. Let’s treat them accordingly, and allow the professionals in our military to keep them and try them in a facility that we created for just such people. Otherwise:

Federal prison officials are still naive. They give these terrorists toothbrushes, squirt bottles, items that can be used as weapons. Caught up by political correctness, they let them out of handcuffs to pray, leaving guards unprotected.

It’s going to happen again — unless the trial gets moved to where it belongs, a military prison.

Please, let’s spare other civilian public servants the fate  Mr. Pepe had to suffer. And let’s spare our nation the possibility of a show trial turning into another terrorist attack.

Stoutcat