Here’s a stimulus success story: In Arizona’s 9th Congressional District, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that’s what the website set up by the Obama Administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.
There’s one problem, though: There is no 9th Congressional District in Arizona; the state has only eight Congressional Districts.
There’s no 86th Congressional District in Arizona either, but the government’s recovery.gov Web site says $34 million in stimulus money has been spent there.
In fact, Recovery.gov lists hundreds of millions spent and hundreds of jobs created in Congressional districts that don’t exist.
In Oklahoma, for example, the site lists more than $19 million in spending—and 15 jobs created—on Congressional districts that don’t exist. In Iowa, it shows $10.6 million spent – and 39 jobs created—in non-existent districts.
In Connecticut’s 42nd District (which also does not exist), the website claims 25 jobs created with zero stimulus dollars. ...
Paint Visitor Center, Campground Comfort Stations, Ranger Station and Maintenance Facilities
* Project Number: 120124
* Bureau: National Park Service
* Unit: Organ Pipe Cactus
* State: AZ
* Congressional District: 9
* Type of Project: Deferred Maintenance
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Just a head’s up as I hammer out the details…
I’m working on putting together our Christmas troop support endeavor.... it involves SSG Chris Rudzinki’s squad over in Afghanistan and I have been told they really appreciate those hand warmers in the plastic packages. Costco has boxes of 40 for @ $15. I’m waiting to hear back from a contact to see what he might be able to do to help us get them over there.
Regardless, I’ll be hitting you all up real soon to get this started. I am not going to make it complicated....we’ll raise the funds, buy what we can and get them over there by Christmas.
I’ll let you know real soon......
A DEADLY plague could sweep across Europe, doctors fear, after an outbreak of a virus in Ukraine plunged the country and its neighbours into a state of panic.
A cocktail of three flu viruses are reported to have mutated into a single pneumonic plague, which it is believed may be far more dangerous than swine flu. The death toll has reached 189 and more than 1 million people have been infected, most of them in the nine regions of Western Ukraine.
President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko has called in the World Health Organisation and a team of nine specialists are carrying out tests in Kiev and Lviv to identify the virus. Samples have been sent to London for analysis.
President Yushchenko said: “People are dying. The epidemic is killing doctors. This is absolutely inconceivable in the 21st Century.”
In a TV interview, the President added: “Unlike similar epidemics in other countries, three causes of serious viral infections came together simultaneously in Ukraine – two seasonal flus and the Californian flu
“Virologists conclude that this combination of infections may produce an even more aggressive new virus as a result of mutation.”
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been touring hospitals where victims are being treated and presidential elections in January could be cancelled ...
I just spent a sleepless sweaty nightmarey night after reaching page 318 of Oryx and Crake. Just sayin’.
MitchM
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday the “enemies” of his country’s nuclear programme had been defeated ahead of the release of the latest UN report on the atomic drive.
International attention focused on the report as US President Barack Obama said “time is running out” for Iran to respond to a UN plan aiming to ease international fears that the Islamic Republic is working on a nuclear bomb.
Ahmadinejad said
“OOOOOOooo, I’m SOOOOOOO SCAAAAAARED”the West would have to come to terms with Iran’s nuclear progress
OK, so they don’t fear the US. That’s to be expected, I mean look at the guy in charge. But the petty little dictator dares not stand against the awesome power of the INTERNATIONAL SUPERFRIENDS!
The IAEA sent its new report, having stated several times that Iran is not cooperating with UN Security Council demands, backed by three rounds of sanctions, that it halt uranium enrichment.
...shit.
Meet Michele Bachmann, a Republican congresswoman from Minnesota who is being hailed as a new and increasingly powerful voice in American politics.
[...]
She is part of an increasingly visible “female brand” of conservatism that is rising in America in the wake of the election of Obama. They include notable syndicated commentators such as Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter, whose dislike for liberals has grown ever more shrill in recent months. And, of course, Palin herself.
[...]
All these women express a mood of conservative discontent that is becoming increasingly vocal and, some experts warn, extreme. The Republicans have been kicked out of power in the White House and Congress. The party is becoming more white and southern at the same time as national demographic changes give power to other regions and minorities. Many Americans are also suffering in the recession. That is a grim picture but one that also makes many voters vulnerable to a talented rabble-rouser.
IS THAT SUBTLE ENOUGH FOR YA, YOU RABBLE OF EASILY-LED SOUTHERN RACIST SHEEP?
I, for one, welcome our new estrogen overlords.
That’s what happens when you lack backbone.
wee-bidoo-wee-bidoo-wee-bidoo…
NYT 1994
It wasn’t a bow, exactly. But Mr. Clinton came close. He inclined his head and shoulders forward, he pressed his hands together. It lasted no longer than a snapshot, but the image on the South Lawn was indelible: an obsequent President, and the Emperor of Japan.
Canadians still bow to England’s Queen; so do Australians. Americans shake hands. If not to stand eye-to-eye with royalty, what else were 1776 and all that about? …
Guests invited to a white-tie state dinner at the White House (a Clinton Administration first) were instructed to address the Emperor as “Your Majesty,” not “Your Highness” or, worse, “King.” And in what one Administration aide called “some emperor thing,” an Army general was cautioned that he should not address the Emperor Akihito at all as he escorted him to the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.
But the “thou need not bow” commandment from the State Department’s protocol office maintained a constancy of more than 200 years. Administration officials scurried to insist that the eager-to-please President had not really done the unthinkable...
On Friday’s edition of Morning Meeting, host Dylan Ratigan featured fake photos of Sarah Palin during a mocking segment on why Americans are fascinated with the former vice presidential candidate. While listing the show’s top ten reasons, Ratigan showed a doctored photo of Palin’s head on the bikini-clad body of a woman holding a weapon.
The host never admitted or addressed the fact that his network was passing off counterfeit pictures to his viewers. Earlier in the segment, Ratigan displayed an image of Palin in a short, black mini-skirt. This photo is also not real. MSNBC should immediately apologize for presenting such false information.
It’s important to remember, several hosts on the network, including Chris Matthews, have mocked Fox News host Sean Hannity for taking video images from the 9/12 rally and then portraying the footage as from a more recent tea party event. After it was brought to his attention, Hannity apologized on Wednesday…
You know you’re really skating on thin ice when you resort to ”Nixon did it too”....
---JR
Emperor
In Going Rogue, Sarah Palin takes back her campaign criticism of Hillary Clinton, saying that she now realizes that Clinton was a victim of some sexist media bias. She goes on to write this:
“Should Secretary Clinton and I ever sit down over a cup of coffee, I know that we will fundamentally disagree on many issues, but my hat is off to her hard work on the 2008 campaign trail. …[A] lot of her supporters think she proved what Margaret Thatcher proclaimed: “If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.”
When I asked Clinton to respond, she laughed and quickly took up Palin’s suggestion:
“Well you know, I’ve never met her, and I’d look forward to sit down and talk with her. Obviously we’re going to hear a lot more from her in the upcoming week, with her book coming up and I would look forward to having a chance to get to meet her.”
Remember when that “intimidate people into silence with accusations of racism thing” used to work reliably?
Note to Omamunists: with the intertubes, there is no Memory Hole.
~ vid ~
Yeah, I know: “Not a new topic, there, Doug”;
but tell me this video wasn’t worth posting.
via Holger Awakens
… Lesbians are better at raising children than conventional couples, a senior member of the government’s parenting academy has said. ...
Israel dismally fails the requirements of a tolerant pluralistic society, according to a new report from the U.S. State Department.
Despite boasting religious freedom and protection of all holy sites, Israel falls short in tolerance toward minorities, equal treatment of ethnic groups, openness toward various streams within society, and respect for holy and other sites. ...
...The report makes it clear that practices that have become routine in Israel are considered unacceptable in enlightened countries and should be corrected…
We live in the least tolerant country in the world. Full of racists and bigots and discrimination and are guilty of all sorts of horrible human rights abuses…
Our government has no right to criticize anyone.
WE TORTURE PEOPLE FOR GAWDSSAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Federal charges have been filed against a former contractor for the county Department of Public Works who is accused of failing to inspect landfill gas emissions and then entering false data as though he did the work, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Friday.
Atticus Gee, 33, of Oceanside, was employed as a technician from 2004 to 2007 and was responsible for tracking gas emissions of closed landfills around the county, including ones in San Marcos, Carlsbad, Bonsall and Encinitas.
Prosecutors say instead of doing the inspections, Gee prepared false reports by copying data already in his computer database into the new reports…
...Methane is responsible for nearly as much global warming as all other non-CO2 greenhouse gases put together. Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2. While atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have risen by about 31% since pre-industrial times, methane concentrations have more than doubled....With methane emissions causing nearly half of the planet’s human-induced warming, methane reduction must be a priority....
...ad nauseate...
President Obama vs. The Rest of the World Greeting The Emperor of Japan (Photos)
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...the King of Morocco...the President of South Korea...the Prime Minister of India......
it is so refreshing to have a president that pays proper respect to different cultures and leaders. i am glad mr. obama bows before other world leaders, it shows he is humble and that we are no longer an arrogant, cowboy-like nation as so many viewed us the previous 8 years.
and breakfast....and snack....
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
* 1 cup canned pumpkin (I used fresh)
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 egg
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon milk
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)Directions
1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.
