Some civil servants are just like my loved ones.
The Mets finished a surprising collapse with a lackluster performance in a loss to the Florida Marlins that eliminated them from postseason contention.
What’s most interesting about the Mets’ collapse is that it places the Phillies in front. Most interesting about that is the fact that the Phillies were the last team to melt down in such a manner 43 years ago.
Before you fall victim to the latest scare-mongering from the usual suspects in the mainstream media, you owe it to yourself to check out this pictorial of workers in Chinese toy factories. Yes, some of these pictures are truly odd, but remember this: what is not shown is the alternative.
These workers are well dressed, healthy and well employed. What is the alternative? A dramatically lower standard of living in the rural areas of China, or worse.
These jobs are a dream come true for many of these workers. Remember the riots and gangs outside the so called “Economic Free Zones” of China in the early 1980’s?
No, these workers do not have lives equal to doctors in the US. But they, in their own way, are living the dream. Never let the perfect be the enemy of the better.
And that means it is time for the most noble and dignified creature on the planet to endure the most rotten punishment man can invent:
Anyone think that a new citizenship test should also apply to native-borns?
Would-be citizens no longer have to know who said, “Give me liberty or give me death,” or who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.” But they do have to know what Susan B. Anthony did and who the speaker of the House of Representatives is.
If you’re going to deny citizenship to people who’ve jumped through all these regulatory hoops, why not give the test to Cletus? What share of Americans know the answer to even one of these questions?
The true test of an American (immigrant or native born) is the ability to cut through byzantine bureaucracy to get what you want and need. Anyone on the verge of U.S. citizenship has already passed that test.
The Milken Foundation delivered the bad news:
Kentucky cities’ showing has slipped in this year’s “Best Performing Cities” index.
The index measures which cities are the most successful at job creation and retention and demonstrate the best overall economic performance.
It is compiled by The Milken Institute, an independent economic think tank, and Greenstreet Real Estate Partners, an investment and asset management company.
It ranks cities based on measures such as job growth, wage growth, high-tech output and population growth.
In the large city category, Louisville ranked No. 169 out of 200 cities. The city’s ranking in the last index, in 2005, was No. 151. Louisville’s best performance was in one-year job growth, ranking No. 107, and its worst was in high-tech output, ranking No. 169.
Lexington fell to No. 129 this year from No. 97 in 2005.
In the small city category, which ranked 179 cities, Bowling Green fell to No. 46 from No. 36 two years ago.
Owensboro fell to No. 153 this year from No. 126 in 2005.
The best-performing large city was Ocala, Fla., which owes its position to a robust housing market and consistent growth rankings in categories such as wages, job creation and high-tech output, according to the study.
The best-performing small city was Bend, Ore., which has experienced a 23.4 percent population increase during the past five years, outpacing the rest of the nation.
I don’t generally like rankings, but when you’re the 50th largest city and you rank near the bottom of a list of 200 cities for job creation and retention, there is something wrong.
Intra-blog discussions are always the best fodder.
I’m pulling for Milwaukee. No, it is not just because I spend 6 years living there as a member of the most hallowed and esteemed workforce they employ. (I was a bartender.) It’s because I adore the Cubbies.
I adore the Cubbies losing record. I love their perennial losing records. I love their fans, who show up at my hallowed home of Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark with annoying regularity anytime the Cubs are above .500. The Cubs are the only lovable losers left in American baseball.
For months now, the Cubs have been playing well and my erstwhile but well-meaning girlfriend has pointed this out to me. I maintain my original conviction: “They’ll blow it.”
They ALWAYS blow it. It’s part of their charm. At least Red Sox fans were merry and cheerful before they finally won the series. Cubs fans seem bitter, disappointed and constantly angry.
I admit it. I revel in seeing their hopes dashed. To me, that’s part of baseball. Long live baseball tradition.
But having been to six straight Brewers opening day celebrations in the parking lot of County Stadium and then Miller Park, I have to cheer on the other lovable losers, the brew crew. They aren’t just a team with a “cheese-brat buried so far up their asses,” they’re the ones that are going to send the Cubs home… again.
Who can forget thirteen years ago when Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey and other fellow Republicans heralded a “revolution” that would bring about a much needed fiscal conservatism. During the Clinton years, there was no longer a federal deficit, but rather a federal surplus.
Since George W. Bush entered office these federal surpluses have turned into enormous deficits. Bush has spared the veto pen when Congress passed huge entitlement bills such as the Farm Bill and Medicare Part D. Bills that liberal Democrats such as Lyndon B. Johnson would heartily approve of if they were still around today.
Now, today, comes this scary news:
With the U.S. government fast approaching its current $8.965 trillion credit limit, the Senate on Thursday gave final congressional approval of an $850 billion increase in U.S. borrowing authority.
The Senate voted 53-42 to raise the debt ceiling to $9.815 trillion, the fifth increase in the U.S. credit limit since President George W. Bush took office in January 2001. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the higher debt limit earlier this year as part of the overall budget resolution and the legislation now goes to Bush for his signature.
“We have no choice but to approve it. If we fail to raise the debt ceiling soon, the U.S. Treasury will default for the first time in its history,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus.
“Plainly, especially in this credit crisis, we cannot let that happen,” the Montana Democrat added.
The U.S. Treasury Department has been pressing Congress to pass the debt increase quickly. Last week Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the government would hit its current $8.965 trillion debt limit on Oct. 1.
Somebody’s (the taxpayers) going to have to pay for all of this the sometime. And it ain’t going to be pretty.
