This'n'That; February 27th[Stats;CRAP;Fairness;Nationalization;Investing;

"Fluff Alert"..."FLUFF ALERT" Ya know that thirteen bucks you're supposed to get in your paycheck, starting in a couple of months?? Well, Nerobama has spread the ultimate in FLUFF!! THE TAX CODES HAVE NOT BEEN CHANGED TO REFLECT THAT!!! This is nothing more than a stealth wealth transfer scam!!! IT'S NOT A TAX CUT-Tax Year 2009, you're going to pay taxes on this ADDED INCOME!!! So, plan now to pay tax then!! [Still not convinced of the abounding socialism?!?!?!]

Startling Rochester N.Y. Statistics!

***39% high school graduation rate.

***57% of adults read at 6th grade level or below.

***38% child poverty rate, the highest in the state.

***a population decrease from 332,000 in the 50s to 208,000 today.

***a 41% drop in manufacturing jobs in recent decades.

I found these while I was casting about the internet looking for an email address for Rochester's Mayor Bob Duffy. There's a situation on our street that I wanted to make him aware of with a couple of photos [Photo, top]. I had called the Neighborhood Service Center and reported this condition. The house across the street is now for sale. Apparently the former tenets just walked away from it. Someone cleaned it out and put all kin'sa CRAP at the curb for trash pick-up. There are 16 large trash bags full and lotsa other CRAP that's not bagged. In the City of Rochester, residents can't put trash out until the evening before scheduled pick-up. Our scheduled pick-up day is Wednesday; this CRAP was put out yesterday, Thursday-that's SIX DAYS before pick-up!! Already the ragpickers have started going through the bags, strewing CRAP all over "Hell's Half-Acre!!" The winds are coming up so whatever the ghetto-dwellers don't take, the wind will!!

UPDATE: An inspector from the Neighborhood Service Center came to the scene this afternoon, took photos and assured me that the trash would be picked up and the homeowner would be assessed a $400.00 fee!!

...And I Thought I Was The ONLY Opponent!!

The Senate voted Thursday in favor of an amendment to the District of Columbia voting-rights bill that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which critics say would decimate conservative talk radio.The Senate passed the measure 87-11. Republicans have introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act in the House as well, but Democrats are not expected to allow a vote on the bill. The FCC first implemented the doctrine in the late 1940s to balance the political content of broadcasters, requiring them to give equal time to liberal and conservative viewpoints. The agency scrapped the regulation in the mid-'80s after determining that it was no longer necessary because the public had a wide array of political news sources from which to choose. Since then Congress has tried twice to re-implement the Fairness Doctrine but failed because of vetoes by former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The amendment, sponsored by Senate Republican Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Senate Republican Conference Vice Chairman John Thune (S.D.), would block the FCC from reviving equal-time requirements by enacting the Broadcaster Freedom Act. Specifically, it would prohibit the agency from forcing broadcasters to present opposing viewpoints on “controversial issues of public importance.”Conservatives fear that forcing stations to make equal time for liberal talk radio would slash profits and pressure radio executives to scale back on conservative programming to avoid escalating costs and interference from government regulators. Opponents of the Fairness Doctrine argue that liberal talk radio has not proven popular or profitable. For example, "Air America," liberals’ answer to “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” filed for bankruptcy in October 2006.The FCC discarded the policy in 1985 after deciding that it restricted journalistic freedom and “actually inhibit[ed] the presentation of controversial issues of public importance to the detriment of the public and in degradation of the editorial prerogative of broadcast journalists,” according to a Congressional Research Service report.

It's Still Nationalization!

The federal government has an 80% stake in the insurance giant, AIG. They're about to take a 40% stake in Citibank-making the government the largest single shareholder. I hope you aren't one of the shareholders; your investment just lost considerable value!! When the government takes that large a stake in ANYTHING, that organization has become NATIONALIZED!! Nerobama is a devout socialist, tho' not a confessed one!! He can offer all the fluff he wants about this being a bailout.... BullShit!!! Anyone in his or her right mind, cannot believe that nationalization of the entire banking sector IS NOT IN THE OFFING!! Now that Nerobama has started on the insurance and banking sectors, is the auto industry far behind?? Will we have "Obamalet, or Obamord, or a PT Obama??

A Sidebar: To quote Mohamed El-Erain, CEO of PIMCO [mutual funds], when asked the following question: You're buying the bonds issued by the banks, but not the stock. Why? "Because the stocks get diluted every time the government comes in. This speaks to a very big issue, which is that the balance between private and public ownership is changing fundamentally. A mistake a lot of people make is to say, 'Here's a company so important the government is going to give it money to keep it going, so I'm going to buy its stock.' " [This is from Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, 03/009]

Til Nex'Time....