A Bit of Economic Reality

33 Shocking Facts Which Show How Badly The Economy Has Tanked Under Obama | Zero Hedge News:

Being in the ranks of the unemployed, I'll give you another. When we have a patent issue from IBM they send us a $100 check --- er, well a $61 check. After Federal, State and FICA are removed, that is what is left. In MN, if you wanted to go out and spend it on something that gets sales tax, that would take another 6.875% off locally.

Let's face it, half for the government, half for you. Oh, AND "taxes are STILL too LOW" according to our current regime.

I'm really not in a money making hurry!

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Swedes Outwork US Workers

Sweden Surpasses the U.S. in Hours Worked Per Working Age Adult | National Review Online:

The US continues it's decline as a nation that DOESN'T work -- literally and figuratively.

Among the 21 OECD countries with available data regarding hours worked per working age adult, the top five countries are Switzerland, Iceland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

So to add insult to injury, not Sweden doesn't even make the top five!

It appears that taxing what you want less of (work) and subsidizing what you want more of (indolence), is very effective!

This government policy stuff isn't that hard after all. Perhaps we will figure out that spending way more than you earn year after year causes bankruptcy next!


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Do You Favor "Stand Your Ground" Laws??

If Barack Obama Had a Son, Would He Look Like Chris Lane? | Power Line:

Read to the end of this and then honestly say that you believe that somebody ought to be forced to turn their back on these folks and run. Hell, he was running already!

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Jackson and Sharpton Rush to OK

Shooting of Australian Christopher Lane sparks calls for U.S. boycott - CNN.com:

oops, never mind -- perps black, victim white, not their narrative! Expect to see very little of this one in the MSM, except maybe a tiny bit of obligatory hand wringing about "gun control".

What is wrong with our country when a "white Hispanic" being pounded into the sidewalk is allowed to use self defense? It is certainly horrible. How about when a group of black teens pops an Aussie in the back because they are bored? No real reason to think about that very much is there?

Let's be honest. Nobody beyond the family and friends that knew and loved him cared one whit about Trayvon Martin. He furthered their agenda, so they faked some big crocodile tears. NOBODY is actually concerned about the plight of young black men, LEAST of all BO, Jackson or Sharpton. If they were, "stop and frisk" would be mandatory in Chicago, New York, LA, Detroit, DC, etc, because it works, and we have NO PROBLEM targeting other groups (eg IRS conservatives, smokers, obese, gun owners, Christians, etc) ESPECIALLY "for their own good".

We can pull over anyone we want to see if they are wearing a seatbelt for their own protection. I happen to wear one and agree it is a good idea to wear it, but MANDATORY?? Oh, if you don't want to be "targeted", don't drive a car. Sure, great idea.

Other than a few crazies in Free Fire Zones ("Gun Free" zones), our "gun violence problem" is 90% young black men shooting each other with a few innocents caught in the crossfire or "boredom zone". Gee, young black male unemployment is over 50%,  a black family with a father at home is as rare as white folks shooting blacks, and what are we doing to improve things? Maybe legalizing weed ... that ought to encourage our black youth to get out and find a nonexistent  job!

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Let Me Take Umbrage

White Is the New White | The Nation:

Ho hum. Some Woman of Color thinks that some show that I've never heard of "Orange is the New Black" is "racist". What is worse, a lot of her Black Sisters have the gall to LIKE the show. It only goes to show how those racist whites keep the black ladies messed up!

What is a Sister to do? Well, thankfully the "Creepy Crackers" that run "The Nation" thankfully provide such an offended woman a place to have a really good whine. They may be racists, but at least they are accommodating racists!

It is great that Gun Owners, Businessmen, Fat People, Christians, Conservatives, and host of others are ALWAYS portrayed in such a flattering light in mass media!

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Wisconsin 5th in Beer!!! ND First!

Video - Five U.S. States Where People Drink the Most Beer - WSJ.com:

Say it isn't so! Wisconsin FIFTH by a wide margin and North Dakota first????

Color me shocked and dismayed!

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Rodeo Clown?

Michelle Malkin | 10 images mocking George W. Bush that were far worse than a harmless rodeo clown «:

This one almost slipped by me. I've been riding the Wing much I've missed my MPR diet, CNN on the web is only barely readable with near constant headlines of grisly murders / kidnappings / sex crimes and "news" that is basically a random list of "stuff".

My sense of "the reality cover-up" with the long list of economic, foreign policy and just plain pathetic government woes is becoming very hard to ignore.

But making ado about a RODEO CLOWN, demanding apologies, people resigning and "banning for life"?? I always thought it was North Korea that had the "Dear Leader" that could not be spoken ill of, let alone mocked.

The Malkin column has a tiny bit of perspective, but it BARELY scratches the surface. Good grief, when a Republican is in the WH, 24x7 mockery and psuedo death threats is the media and left wing public rule! "Less brains than a chimp", "he ought to be assassinated (or in Reagan's case, I wish the guys aim was better", "I'd like to see him get AIDs, cancer, have his kid killed in military action, etc" ... it's endless and constant when there is an "R" in the office, and while maybe some COUNTRY group might offend their fans if they go too far, the usual is just total MSM and left wing disrespect for an R President

People used "DubYa" and "Ronnie" and "Tricky Dick" all the time, but even though Obama himself has enough sense of humor to name his dog "Bo", and makes a big deal out of not using the "Hussein" middle name, the obvious BO is generally off limits.

How is it that a country goes down the "Dear Leader" path again?

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Moose an Indian?

Took a test drive of the new Indian "Chieftain" bagger up in St Paul today and was very impressed. I ride a Honda GW '06 1800 and my wife has a 2013 Harley Street Glide that I've had out a few times. Here are my thoughts: 

• FANTASTIC TORQUE! Beats the Harley easily, maybe beats the Wing. 3rd gear is like "auto" in town and 5th is the same at hwy speeds. Roll on the throttle when you KNOW you are WAY too slow for that gear and it just responds. Amazing!
• Even compared to the Street Glide it seems like a MUCH smaller bike than it is in low speed handling. Better and LOWER balance. Right off the start complete confidence in slow speed handling!
• SUPERB application of technology,. SUPER to be able to see what gear you are in when you jump on a new bike, and with this much torque it will take some time before you never look down at the indicator -- or maybe makes no difference. Wrong gear? Who the hell cares? It just pulls anyway!! I was on the Chieftain however -- gotta love the electrical adjustable windshield!
• Sound -- the Harley guys were complaining about the"missing long stroke lope". Well, maybe ... as a Winger, it sounded freaking fabulous! Mine had the louder option and it had that " I make THUNDER, so respect me"! sound of POWER. But then, we Wing guys have a bit of an inferiority complex in that department. With the Wing, I know I will be beat up at the next stop ... with the Indian I felt like I could stand tall and sturdy, gazing down on the puny masses, knowing that they would KNOW and keep their place! 

I spent the trip back to Rochester enjoying the Wing and imagining what it would be like to  no longer have a Wing. it is going to be DAMNED tough to ever give up the big SMOOTH bike that just EATS miles like they don't even exist.

BUT ... the Indian puts a SMILE on the face as soon as it fires up! One doesn't even need to eat mile one and it is already very very cool ... ah, the problems of life! 

Election and Halloween

The total cost of our last election was over $6 Billion.

In 2012 we spent $8 Billion on Halloween.

It still remains a Henny Youngman world ( "How is your wife? ... Compared to what???") When one is talking about quantities -- it always depends on the context / comparison, because quantities, especially money, are RELATIVE.

I personally believe that ethics and morals are NOT relative -- but a lot of our current culture has this relationship reversed. ANY amount of money spent by Republicans is HUGE, while one might think that poor Democrats spent no money at all. Those people often wring their hands about the HORRIBLE amount of money spent in politics! ... and I'm quite certain they would be absolutely fine with a single party that could spend no money at all campaigning -- although possibly a few dollars on bullets to silence political criminals like myself.

Savannah on the Gulf?

Did You Catch the President’s U.S. Geography Fail on Leno Tuesday? | Video | TheBlaze.com:

So BO thinks that the eastern seaboard is on the Gulf of Mexico. Ho Hum ... HE IS A DEMOCRAT!!! Little things like this are just "little things" unless one is part of the Stupid Party (Republican) in which they are knee slapping howlers, proof of dangerous levels of stupidity and universal derision.

We know all that. However, why do we need to deepen ports? Aren't the oceans RISING? of is there something special about GW induced ocean level increase that doesn't "lift all boats".

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Amazon Beats MN!

Amazon drops blogger affiliates in Minnesota to avoid sales tax | Star Tribune:

I just did an Amazon order and paid attention to the fact that no sales tax was collected on it. I can remember the big discussion prior to July 2 as to the potential for Amazon to have to collect MN Sales taxes.

Apparently they just "fired" anyone in MN that was directing revenue to their site and were thus able to bypass.

Kudos to Amazon ... they dropped one of the many reasons for residents to move to a another state off the LONG list of reasons to leave MN. MN ought to send them a check!

I'll give you another ... we are in the early (we believe) phases of looking at a potential move to IA.

Our property taxes in Rochester MN, $4,500 (and rising rapidly). Property tax on a similar property in rural IA? < $1K.

$3,500 a year savings there alone!

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Government as God

Keith Ellison Confesses His Kleptomania | Power Line:

If only it were just Keith Ellison. As government abandons it's primary purpose, which is the protection of property, and begins on the project of leveling of results, which corrupts it's primary charter, it is only a tiny step to government replacing God.

To Ellison and most of the left, "all is justly the government property" -- the "problem" is just the mere mechanism of exactly how they manage to collect it all!

God indeed provides all, and demands a 10% "Flat Tax" in return. If only earthly tyrants could learn from the Sovereign of Ages the reasonableness of ALL paying a flat rate. Tall and short, fat and slim, rich and poor, ALL are equal relative to God -- earthly measures being just that, earthly measures, and none of which are of much import relative to eternity and a Sovereign God.

Man creates government to protect property, and government becomes the chief criminal usurper of private property. Ah, humanity!

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"War on Terror" Over -- We Lost

Source: al Qaeda leader urged affiliate to 'do something' – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs:

Last summer and fall there was a lot of gloating about "Obama killed Osama". Then there was the firm declaration  by BO that "All wars come to an end, and so it is with the War on Terror". Apparently the other side didn't get the memo.

Back when W was in office, any increased "terror threat level" was an attempt to "make Americans afraid". I can only assume that the assumption relative to the BO administration is that nobody is listening anyway.

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Whatever Rush

Opinion: At 25, Limbaugh show still rules GOP - CNN.com:

Granderson obviously hates Rush Limbaugh -- he includes his "personal" connection with him since Rush apparently dissed him by claiming to have "never heard of him", when he apparently had mentioned him before! Devastating!

He hates the GOP as well, because they are "the opposition" ... they don't support all that King BO decrees ... and neither does Rush. They fit well together.

So I guess if you are the kind of person that reads Granderson articles regularly, that is just fine.

At one time in history, if you were a "News" outlet like CNN, you might not want to have a columnist acting like Rush, Jon Stewart, or Steven Colbert.

That time is past. News? Entertainment? Facts? Opinion? Propaganda?

"Whatever", the all purpose value judgement of the the Whatever Century.

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Rule of Joe

Scarborough: "No Defense" For Shooting Young Black Man "Armed With Skittles" | RealClearPolitics:

At one time Joe occasionally made sense, but it appears that he is now firmly in the Mobocracy

The ENTIRE ISSUE is the question of self defense!

Was there evidence that Zimmerman could REASONABLY believe that he was in "immediate threat of death or great bodily harm" and that "escape was impossible" ... and "no lesser threat would do". That is the case the defense relied on and proved to a jury. Honoring that verdict would be a sign that America is still a nation of SOME laws rather than pure mob.

If we were a Rule of Law nation Zimmerman would never have been charged -- but we KNOW that we are mostly mob rule, it is now just a question of degree.

Joe has clearly left the Rule of Law nation ... it remains to be seen how much the rest of us have left against our will depending on what Holder or BO or the Black Panthers or the NAACP or some other group can come up with against Zimmerman.

Very true that all sorts of people, now including Joe,  are running around talking about skin color, age, drugs, hoodies, skittles, "stand your ground", iced tea, etc, etc. for whatever their reasons. Ratings, axes to grind, desire to make use of the tragedy, too much time (or air time) on their hands, etc.

We once were a great nation.
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