Is It Just Me?

No Photo?

Is it just me or did others wonder why there is no photo of this community organizer who has had five prior run-ins with the police, with the charges including, assault, and weapons possession? No photo. 

The privileged daughter of a prominent city doctor, and her boyfriend — a Harvard grad and Occupy Wall Street activist — have been busted for allegedly having a cache of weapons and a bombmaking explosive in their Greenwich Village apartment.

A detective discovered a plastic container with seven grams of a white chemical powder called HMTD, which is so powerful, cops evacuated several nearby buildings.

Police also found a flare launcher, which is a commercial replica of a grenade launcher; a modified 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun; ammo; and nine high-capacity rifle magazines, the sources said.

Cops also allegedly uncovered papers about creating homemade booby traps, improvised submachine guns, and various handwritten notebooks containing chemical formulas.

Also, this is the city that the mayor says has the strictest gun laws in the nation. When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

Wrong Number?

Is it just me or do others wonder how one mistakenly knows a "telephone sex" phone number? According to NBC 6, South Florida: Florida Gov. Rick Scott mistakenly gave out the number for an adult phone line when he tried to provide the number for the toll-free meningitis hotline at a news conference Tuesday. [The best comment: I thought meningitis made your neck stiff.]

Google Satellite View

Is it just me or do the Google satellite views look better: more detail, sharper images?

Stimulus Money Has Run Out

Was it just me or did everyone else know that the stimulus money to prop up state and local governments would just postpone the inevitable?

Mortgage Defaults

Was is just me or did others predict that home loan modifications would make little difference? The news is in: the majority of home loan modifications end up in default ... again.

And again, July 20, 2010: more than 40 percent leave Obama's mortgage-aid program. November 2, 2010: And now President Obama changes course on mortgages; does he have any economic compass?

DKRW and North American Natural Gas Shortage

Is it just me or do others find this opening statement by DKRW confusing, or a blatant non-truth:

"The most conservative estimates of North American natural gas supply demonstrate a serious shortfall in production for the foreseeable future. With short supply driving prices higher, we are now seeing some of the highest natural gas prices in the world here in the Southwestern United States ..."

Everything I read suggests just the opposite, specifically: North America is swimming in natural gas; and, the price of natural gas continues to deteriorate.

It should be noted that DKRW is a "clean energy" play and has a huge interest in GE-delivered wind turbines for their wind energy projects.

Global  Warming

Is it just me or have others noted there has been no mainstream media coverage of the fact that Lake Erie is nearly completely frozen over, the first time in fourteen (14) years? Had it not been for Fox News and the Drudge Report I would have missed it. I guess global warming is everywhere but the United States, and the United States is to blame for it.

Obama's Secret War in Pakistan

Is it just me or do others remember the secret war that Richard Nixon was accused of promulgating during the Vietnam War when he launched raids on "safe areas" just across the border in neighboring countries? The US mainstream media is not reporting that our current president is doing the same thing in Afghanistan as he triples the Predator strikes in Pakistan. But our friends in England are getting the story out.  I don't recall that Nixon was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; Barack Obama was.

President Obama's Budget

Is it just me or do others recall the language used when President Bush sent his budget to a Democratically-controlled congress:  DOA?  For President Obama, same result, but paragraphs to explain it in mainstream media. 

Arms Sale to Taiwan

Is it just me or do others find it strange that the Nobel Peace Prize winner has announced plans for more than $6 billion in arms sales to Taiwan just when things seemed so quiet in that part of the world? And in the very same weekend that deal is announced, the administration raises the stakes by sending a missile shield (thanks to previous administrations that we even have the shield) to the Mideast, further antagonizing Iran. The "peace president" is also increasing nuclear weapons budget to research smaller nuclear weapons. 

Angry Young Man

Is it just me or is the president coming across as an angry young man? His public display of dissing the Supreme Court, who sat directly in front of him, encouraging the packed room to stand up as one body and clap, with the judges remaining sitting -- how embarrassing -- was probably the most impolite moment of any State of the Union address I can remember. I wonder what his mother would have thought? Or even his wife? He just seems to immature and angry. How does one "reach across the aisle" with that kind of grandstanding? The swing vote was a moderate (liberal by some definitions); I can hardly imagine the Court being all that friendly when the administration argues its next case.

From my perspective, this is his short list of enemies: the coal industry ("the industry will go bankrupt"); the Olympic committee; the environmentalists (no White House action in his first year); the military ("don't ask, don't tell" policy); the bankers; Wall Street ("fat cats"); the police (for acting "stupidly"); New York City (bringing the terrorist trial to Manhattan); the oil industry; the Supreme Court; China; Fox Television; talk radio; France; and, Queen Elizabeth.

Except for the unions working at General Motors who were bailed out, I think the president has managed to insult everyone in his first year in office. It just may be me, but positive comments might be a whole lot more helpful.

[Update: his meeting with the Republicans three days later confirms his "anger-based" ideology. The AP reports that he went to the Republican strategy off-site to look at ways for all parties to work together, but after a few conciliatory remarks, the president once again showed his anger and frustration.]

 Who's Smarter Than a Sixth Grader?

Is it just me or am I missing something?

President Obama needs a teleprompter when talking to 6th graders.

In addition, a Secret Service operative stood ready to protect the president against any 12-y/o throwing a shoe.

But again, I must be missing something.

The Nightmare Continues

Is it just me or am I missing something? At a time when banks are failing at record numbers, the administration (excepting the Treasury) wants to make it even tougher for banks to survive.  

AP reports, January 22, 2010: "Regulators shut down banks Friday in Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, bringing to nine the number of bank failures so far in 2010, following 140 closures last year in the toughest economic environment since the Great Depression."

On Dithering

Is it just me or am I missing something with regard to Obama's most recent push to concentrate on banking reform?

Was this the conversation in the oval office on his one-year anniversary in the White House: "Now that we've spent a year getting nowhere with health care reform, let's spend the next year on bank reform. Even my staunchest supporters, Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd tell me even if supported, it won't pass for four or five years."

Meanwhile, according to CNBC, on January 22, 2010, the day President Obama declares war on the banking industry, unemployment rose in 43 states with New York and New Jersey setting new multi-year highs. And then we have statistics like these: "Michigan shed 15,700 jobs, but 31,000 people left the labor force. That caused the state's jobless rate to fall slightly, to 14.6 percent from 14.7 percent. Michigan has the nation's highest unemployment rate." That's right: Michigan's unemployment rate, the highest in the nation, drops 0.1 percent because 31,000 people left the labor force. The only way to explain this: President Obama wants New York and New Jersey to feel Michigan's pain. By regulating the banks, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City says jobs will be lost in his city and his state. By the way, North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate of 4.4 percent.

On Smoking Guns

Is it just me or is there something I'm missing when the administration says there was no smoking gun with regard to the 23-year-old Nigerian who almost blew up a Delta/NWA airliner -- a 23 y/o Nigerian who a) the CIA had identified as a threat; b) who trained in Yemen; c) whose father alerted authorities; d) who bought a one-way ticket to the US with cash; e) who had an expired visa and denied a British visa; f) who traveled halfway around the world with no luggage; g) who needed help boarding a plane because his papers were not in order?  I suppose the administration was correct; there was no one smoking gun; there were not less than eight. Oh, well. Yemen. Delta/NWA. Dec 2009.

On Clemency

Is is just me or is there something wrong with our system when a governor can grant clemency for a man sentenced to a 95-year prison term who (the perp, not the governor) then goes out and kills four cops in cold blood? Folks are not sentenced for 95 years for jay walking. Governor Huckabee; cop killer, Washington state, Nov 2009.

On Terrorism

Homeland Security/TSA personnel treat 90-y/o grandmothers like potential terrorists before boarding a plane, and yet the FBI dropped their inquiry into the US Army Muslim psychiatrist at Fort Hood after he exchanged e-mails with a radical cleric in Yemen. Is it just me, or is Homeland Security/FBI bureaucratic bumblers? Fort Hood. Yemen. Dec 2009.

On Terrorism

Is it just me, or do others have the same question: why is it called terrorism when an Islamist cries "Allāhu Akbar" ( "God is Great") and then flies an airplane into a building, but "we're asked not to jump to conclusions when that same Islamist cries "Allāhu Akbar"  ("God is Great") and then shoots and kills/wounds 43 innocent Americans?

By the way, as long as we're asking questions, would this qualify as a "hate crime"? November 7, 2009.

For those who say he did not have ties with al-Qaeda, not so fast. There is now evidence of attempts to contact al-Qaeda electronically. Fort Hood. Yemen. November 9, 2009.

On Unemployment

Is it just me, or does it seem the only thing the government is currently working on is health care reform (now 1,990 pages thick)?

I hear very little about any plan for Afghanistan despite mounting losses. I hear very little about Iraq despite huge blasts near the "green zone," the safe part of Baghdad. I hear very little about the $1.4 trillion deficit, except that we will add to it with health care "reform," now estimated to cost $1.055 trillion. Yes, trillion. I hear very little about the incredible lack of H1N1 flu vaccine (promised 150 million doses; we have about 20 million).

But, come drought or high water, and despite 65% of Americans against a 1,990-page health care reform, "they" are determined to force it down our throats.

Oh, that other pesky little problem: 10.2% unemployment, including 15% unemployment in Michigan, 13% in California.

Update: President Obama has not put off indefinitely any decision on Afghanistan. This suggests a president who is in over his head; unable to make a decision. Posted November 3, 2009. Updated November 24, 2009.