Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Bob Owens: My daughter’s neighborhood Girl Scout troop causes more of a disruption going for ice cream.
An attempt to occupy a mall food court in Raleigh, NC, is pathetic.
Of course, it could be written “An attempt to occupy [insert anything here] is pathetic.”
Via Instapundit.
Oh, Look…It’s another leftist lying about his military service: Army records at odds with Occupy veteran’s claims
The claims of a dedicated member of the Occupy Buffalo movement that he saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are not supported by Army records.
Christopher M. Simmance has told several media outlets, including The Buffalo News, that he served as many as three tours of duty in those war zones and that he was severely injured in Afghanistan.
Service records obtained from the Army, however, show he was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., for three years and he left the active-duty Army in January 2001 — before the 9/11 terror attacks.
Liar Christopher M Simmance, dedicated member of the Occupy movement
Simmance says his records are “incomplete” and that he “stands by” his claims of serving in the Special Forces, of being wounded in an RPG attack in Afghanistan, of also serving in Gaza, and of only having ten years to live due to his injuries.
Oh, and he claims to have served in “The Valley of Elah.”
Hahahahahahahaha.
We all know that the military has been known to screw up records once or twice before, but Murdoc’s not holding his breath that this guy is genuine. First of all, some people claiming to know him say that he’s “exaggerated” his service record. Second of all, many of the places he says he’s served seem to come from movies. Finally, the guy’s own mother “doesn’t believe any of it.”
Debunking, uncovering, and just plain mocking the Occupier movement could be a full-time job, but some things just stand out:
Occupy Wall Street protesters stay at $700-a-night hotel
The $700-per-night W Hotel Downtown last week hosted both Peter Dutro, one of a select few OWS members on the powerful finance committee, and Brad Spitzer, a California-based analyst who not only secretly took part in protests during a week-long business trip but offered shelter to protesters in his swanky platinum-card room.
“Tents are not for me,” he confessed…
Dutro, 35, one of only a handful of OWS leaders in charge of the movement’s $500,000 in donations, checked in on Wednesday, the night after police emptied Zuccotti Park…
“I knew everything was going to be a clusterf–k in the morning,” he told The Post, alluding to Occupy’s own disruption plans. “How would I get over the bridge when they were shutting it down?”
Oink oink, piggy piggy.
Via Jammie Wearing Fool via Instapundit, who writes
It really is getting more and more like Animal Farm all the time, isn’t it?
Animal Farm
I really thought that once all the kids hoping to get their college loans paid for with tax dollars went home, enough serious people would be left to form a valid political movement, sort of Left-leaning cousin to the Tea Party. But it looks like most of the serious people (well, besides the serious Marxists and anarchists) went home, too.
Wisconsin DNC is apparently organizing the effort to canvas local cemeteries for signatures on their petition to force a recall vote for Governor Scott Walker. What losers.
I think that starting in 2012, Wisconsin voters will be required to show ID before voting. To Murdoc, it seems insane that it was ever possible to vote WITHOUT showing ID, but whatever. It’s the law now.
That will probably hurt their chances at the polls, but it won’t stop dead people from showing up on the petition to get the issue on the ballot in the first place.
Murdoc hopes this is a hoax. He thinks it probably isn’t.
Until Team Obama occupied the White House, the longest string of months during which the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was greater than 8.5% was 22, from January 1982 until October 1983. We’re now at 32 months and counting. If the Fed’s prediction above is correct, the streak will be at 44 on Election Day next year, doubling the previous record.
Plus three econo-myths. Via Instapundit.
Though in his later years he seemed to have more or less lost it completely, Murdoc would be remiss if he didn’t acknowledge the passing of Andy Rooney. Rooney’s segment on 60 Minutes and especially his book A FEW MINUTES WITH ANDY ROONEY had a great and lasting impact on young Murdoc.
Even back then, as a neophyte on political topics and life in general, I could see that there were many things in the world that could benefit from a good dose of old-fashioned common sense and that mockery was a valid form of communication when discussing politics with many.
Also, I realized early on that I didn’t always agree with Rooney on everything, and that he often seemed inconsistent in his reasoning from one topic to the next. I think that I probably learned more than a bit about how it’s the issue that matters the most, not who’s arguing for or against it or how they’re going about it. And I learned that sometimes people just see things, even basic, fundamental things, differently than you do. Just because I liked Rooney immensely and agreed with him strongly on many issues didn’t meant that I thought he was always right about everything.
So, despite the differences Murdoc has had with many things he has said and written over the years, he’d like to offer an honest “thank-you” to Andy Rooney. Godspeed.
Farmers cry foul over proposed new rules for young workers
The US Department of Labor has proposed new rules that would eliminate a large chunk of what kids under 16 years of age can do on a farm:
- The changes would:
- Exempt children working on farms owned 100 percent by their parents from most of the new rules.
- Strengthen rules for working with animals, pesticides, timber operations, manure pits and storage bins.
- Prohibit workers under 16 from operating almost all power-driven equipment.
- Prohibit youth in both agricultural and nonagricultural employment from using cell phones, walkie-talkies, etc. while operating power-driven equipment.
- Prohibit farmworkers under 16 from participating in cultivation, harvesting and curing of tobacco.
John Deere 4630
No Kids Allowed
Here is an important point regarding #1:
Partnerships between parents and children or siblings would mean their children would not be exempt.
To Murdoc, this seems like a pretty major exemption for the exemption. I don’t have any overall numbers, but many of the “family farms” run by people I know are partnerships between family members. If two brothers are partners on a family farm, neither brother’s kids would be eligible to drive a tractor.
Full disclosure: Murdoc grew up on a farm in Minnesota. Murdoc operated all sorts of heavy equipment at a young age. He also learned important safety tips like “Stay the ‘F’ away from that P.T.O. shaft!” (Although Murdoc’s dad, uncles, and grandfather would never have used that ‘F’ word, he’s pretty sure they meant it anyway, more or less…)
More from the article:
Alto farmers Bob and Jami Goble are the sole owners of their farm where they have about 175 beef cattle, so their children are not affected. But they won’t be hiring anymore high school students, Jami Goble said.
“I find it ridiculous that this is even something they’re trying to pass,” she said. “Most farm kids are very well-rounded individuals and I have a hard time imagining that someone wants to end that.”
Mrs. Goble, Murdoc is pretty sure that ending the existence of “very well-rounded individuals” is exactly what a lot of people want.
Even restricting the use of cell phones and walkie-talkies while driving a tractor or farm truck, which might seem like a reasonable move at first glance to non-farmers, would be a hardship. This is the 21st century. Many of the things that keep our farmers able to feed people are due to technological advances. It’s not at all the same situation as cell phone use while driving a car on a public roadway. Suddenly Uncle Jim can’t call Bobby and have him bring the trailer to the back field.
One day in the early 80s, young Murdoc was driving a John Deere 4630 in the field out back, pulling a trailer for his dad, uncle, and older cousin who were picking up (or maybe putting down) a pipeline for an irrigation system. Murdoc certainly had the best job out there that day, as what was being pumped through those pipes was NOT cool, clean water, and the pipes stank to high heaven. Anyway, my dad had to run back and forth from where they were working to tell me where to take the tractor next. At some point while I sat idle, I zoned out a bit and my dad couldn’t get my attention. So he threw a clod of dirt at the tractor so I would get it in gear again. The whole morning probably took twice as long as it needed to due to all the running back and forth and delays due to inability to communicate easily.
The Department of Labor wants farmers to stop using 21st century communications devices and go back to using clods of dirt.
Of course, as our “family farm” was not 100% owned by my father, I wouldn’t have been driving that tractor in the first place under these new rules. We would have had to use an adult employee all morning to sit in a tractor and do what nearly any 9-year-old could do.
Never mind the effect these new restrictions would have on kids, and Murdoc thinks the effects would be significantly damaging. The impact on farmers would be noticeable. Which would create a noticeable impact on food prices. Which would create a noticeable impact on the economy. Which would lead, of course, to additional government meddling to help all the poor people who can barely get by.
It’s almost like there’s a plan, or something.
Here’s an interesting story about twin sisters who don’t quite see things the same:
Now with the Occupy Wall Street movement more than a month old, the recent Ivy League graduates have found themselves on Wall Street but on opposing sides.
Nicole Carty, who works for a television station, spends her free time in Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street’s headquarters, organizing general assembly meetings for the demonstrators.
Jill Carty works for a company that assists financial service clients. She said although she agreed with some of the protesters’ sentiments, she did not support more government regulations and intervention.
One of them has a degree in sociology and the other has degrees in international business and studies. Guess which one said this:
“[She] lacks a fundamental understanding of structural oppression that is inexcusable and immature,” she said. “She just really trusts capitalism and doesn’t recognize that capitalism is kind of responsible for a lot of the injustices we have in the world.”
Blah blah blah. Look at how the rich keep us oppressed! And you’re, like, so immature, you poopy-head!
Was that degree in “sociology” or “socialism”?
Bacteria Fighting Mom Banned From McDonald’s
An Arizona mom who has been banned from eight McDonald’s restaurants because she kept swabbing their play areas in a search for bacteria says she won’t let it keep her from her anti-bacteria campaign.
Erin Carr-Jordan, a university professor specializing in adolescent development, received a hand-delivered letter from a lawyer on Monday listing eight McDonald’s locations where she is no longer welcome. “It doesn’t mean much to me personally,” Carr-Jordan told ABCNews.com. “I’ve gotten positive responses from parents who said, ‘Hey, I’m not banned, give me swabs!’”
Videos she took of general nastiness in some Playland areas got nationwide attention. She’s campaigning for state and federal regulations to require places keep their play areas clean.
Murdoc doesn’t think regulations should be needed. All we should need are a few people with cameras and few more people to help spread the word. It’s not like nasty play areas are defensible. Shame them into keeping them clean.
More and more lunatics seem to be coming out of the woodwork with the Occupy movement. When asked how things would work when many of “the rich” stopped producing after the Occupiers’ dreams of massive taxation was implemented:
(Edited only to turn textalk into real writing.)
While many of the occupiers are just kids hoping to get their student loans erased, and others are people who really want to see an end to “corporate greed” and want to buy the world a Coke and blah blah blah, there is a small minority which is intent on socialism and the destruction of the American way of life at any cost. This small group seems to be the only one with any sort of real focus and they are the ones doing more and more of the talking. The vague and nebulous movement doesn’t really have much in the way of organization or leadership, and these revolutionaries are stepping in to fill the vacuum.
A lot of the protesters can go on and on about how guys like this are just fringe outliers, but as this drags on the fringe elements are getting more and more attention and pretty much wrecking any good that the movement hoped to stand for.
Whatever the majority of the protesters think they stand for, they need to shut these goons down fast if they want any hope of not being lumped in with the lunatics.
Via Robb.
