DISPUTATION OF DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER
ON THE POWER AND EFFICACY OF
INDULGENCES 

While we love our Catholic brothers and sisters we Protestants owe a great debt to Martin Luther and his courage on this day. My oldest daughter (12) just finished a fairly extensive study of him in school so she got excited when she saw I was posting this. At the time we had a good conversation about the Biblical teachings concerning salvation and Martin Luther’s emphasis on faith over works (though faith without works is dead) which we continue to abide by to this day as practicing,  Bible-believing Protestant Christians. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and breadth of her knowledge and understanding of the subject. As the son of the Protestant version of a priest I guess I should be thankful of the abandonment of celibacy by the Protestant clergy through the example of Luther himself otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here to enlighten, entertain and enrage.

OCTOBER 31, 1517

Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light,
the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg,
under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther,
Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in
Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that
those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us,
may do so by letter.

In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Read the rest of this entry »

This reads like something from the Onion. The great leader who gives us hope and change is apparently out of ideas. What’s even funnier is that I have heard reports today of people standing out with signs reading “grab a mop.” Stop it you are killing me. Talk about drinking the kool-aid.

Anyway, feel free to stop by and get your free blame Bush for everything “Grab A Mop” bumper sticker.

The title incorporates a few of my favorite things. Fishing, punk rock, and beer. I saw these guys wih Goldfinger way back when. What a great show. Lot of fun.

  Obama signs ‘hate-crimes’ bill into law

‘It’s a very sad day for America and for religious liberties‘

Opponents point to cases in Canada and Sweden, where Christians have faced criminal prosecution for preaching that homosexual behavior is a sin.

“ADF has clearly seen the evidence of where ‘hate crimes’ legislation leads when it has been tried around the world: It paves the way for the criminalization of speech that is not deemed ‘politically correct,’” Stanley explained. “‘Hate crimes’ laws fly in the face of the underlying purpose of the First Amendment, which was designed specifically to protect unpopular speech.”

Just another step down the road of speech and thought control. And a dangerous step towards limiting the free expression of religious beliefs. In a few short years stating that homosexuality is wrong, an abomination and a sin against both God and nature will quickly send you in front of your local ‘human rights commission’ at which you will be asked to atone for your sin of “intolerance and hate” or face severe punishment and public sancton.Those days are coming, mark my words. And by the way, no crime is worse than another because of some peculiar characteristic of the victim. All crime towards an individual is a ‘hate crime’.

Obama signs Unconstitutional ‘Hate’ Bill into law

The bill is unconstitutional because it violates the 10th Amendment by granting the Federal Government authority over local and state government in prosecuting hate crimes. It violates the 14th Amendment by granting certain groups special protected status, as well the double jeopardy clause of the 5th amendment. This Bill does not provide equal protection to all Americans and is therefore unconstitutional. It grants special rights to certain groups while making the rest of us 2nd class citizens.

 

Nice, pink meat on him (this fish is male) - looks a lot like Salmon.

Via Mail Online:

A ‘monster’ great white shark measuring up to 20 ft long is on the prowl off a popular Queensland beach, according to officials.

Swimmers were warned to stay out of the water off Stradbroke Island after the shark mauled another smaller great white which had been hooked on a baited drum line.

The 10-foot great white was almost bitten in half.

The fictional shark at the centre of the Steven Spielberg blockbuster Jaws was estimated to be just five feet longer.

For comparison purposes, here’s 2 pictures of a 20.3 footer caught off Prince Edward Isle, Canada in 1988:

What's up, Fox?

The White House assault against FOX news gave us our second bipartisan moment of the month. The first came early in October when the Nobel Committee announced they’d selected Barack Obama for their Peace Prize, prompting both sides of the political spectrum to scratch their head in bafflement. There was near universal agreement that Obama had done nothing to earn it and didn’t really deserve it.

Now our thin-skinned President has taken it upon himself to declare what he thinks a legitimate news organization should be and has called for the other “real” news outfits to ignore the fake one. And pundits are back at their scalps again, wondering what he was thinking when he unleashed the hounds on this particular fox and how he expected it to work out in any way other than bad.

Read the rest of this entry »

A little pallet cleanse after this weekends wuss rock.

You can listen to Atmos Trio  albums for free or download them from here.

Excerpts from the Harry Reid 2009 Blame Calendar

January. Stimulus Package Failure – Republicans

February. Stimulus Package Passage – Republicans

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Shepard Fairey’s true colors

By Charlotte Allen

The Echo Park artist has built his career on a combination of vandalism and expropriation of other people’s images.

Lang’s overlay put the lie to Fairey’s claim, but it took the artist months to concede that he had used, as the AP had maintained from the beginning, the close-up. Even now, he insists that expropriating the image was “fair use.”

So why wasn’t the jig up as soon as Lang posted his evidence? Because Fairey was “one of us” in the eyes of the fiercely liberal cultural and intellectual elite.

Fairey, by his own description, is a man of the left. His work, as his gallery put it in a 2007 news release, critiques the “underpinnings of the capitalist machine.” Fairey first became the darling of political liberals with a poster in which he depicted then-President George W. Bush as a vampire, complete with fangs and blood dripping down his chin. After the Obama campaign officially incorporated Fairey’s “Hope” poster series into its electoral efforts, Obama sent the artist a letter, included in an exhibit of his work at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, saying, “I am privileged to be a part of your art work and proud to have your support.”

Privileged? Proud?

Fairey has built his artistic career on a combination of vandalism, via graffiti-like hit-and-run art, and an expropriation of other people’s images. While he insists he uses the art of others only as “reference points,” his critics have termed his work outright plagiarism. Since the mid-1980s, he has stenciled on big-city buildings and small-town sidewalks his trademark anti-capitalist image “Obey Giant” (lifted from an image of a well-known wrestler whose trademark-holders threatened Fairey with a lawsuit in 1993). The New Yorker’s art critic, Peter Schjeldahl, wrote reverently of the works, calling them “epic poetry in an everyday tongue” in an article in February.

Isn’t he sooooo special? I wonder if Wes has Fairey’s Bush as the vampire poster on the wall? What is next? Is Obama  going to sue Larry and Andy Wachowski for basing the character Neo on the president’s life without attribution? I have it on good authority (Dave), that Neo is the name used on Obama’s “real” birth certificate.

Let the Showdown begin!

Post your favorite 80’s pussy song.  But post only one song per weekend.  Voting begins Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. EST and ends Monday morning at 2:00 a.m. EST.  You may not vote for your own pussy song.  Contributors add to this post and commenters may submit to the thread.  Person with the most votes gets the satisfaction of having posted the most deliciously queer song of the week. Trash talking encouraged and posted songs are no indication of the posters’ like or dislike of the song.  In fact, it may be a guilty pleasure that gets the volume turned up on posters car radio. Read the rest of this entry »

Christina Romer gave a t-shirt to Michelle’s husband, Barry, which reads:

I spent $787 billion and all I got was a 10% unemployment rate!

Brings back memories of wasting my youth playing Tony Hawk. Enjoy

Bands want to know if their music was used on Gitmo detainees

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/22/musicians.guantanamo/index.html

Courtesy CNN.com

At risk of incurring some cut & paste backlash I couldn’t figure another way of doing this.

Yes once again those unsing heros (celebrities) are here to lend their razor sharp insight into the political spectrum. A group of musicians lead by REM and Pearl Jam petitioned via the freedom of information act to find out if they’re music was being used to torture those poor, misunderstood freedom fighters currently being held in Guantanamo Bay. The band REM released a statement saying in part

“We have spent the past 30 years supporting causes related to peace and justice. To now learn that some of our friends’ music may have been used as part of the torture tactics without their consent or knowledge is horrific”

Read the rest of this entry »

Great video from my friends at Nice Fish Films, who documented a day at the recent Blogworld expo in Las Vegas. As bloggers, we are at the forefront of this change and should adopt many of these strategies to promote and circulate our ideas.   Chris Brogan, author of the great book Trust Agents refers to  social media as “the new dial tone”.

“Who we  thought were disrupters  are now becoming mainstream”

What? I thought this was settled.

Let’s just start with the fact that it is patently absurd to compare Mother Teresa, who dedicated her life to helping the most unfortunate of God’s children, to a man who slaughtered nearly a million dissidents and starved out tens of millions of others. It is, in fact, rather a tragic contrast between a woman who struggled to feed the poor and a man who starved his own people.

Let’s forget for a moment that Mao killed upwards of 70 million people. Even though that’s kind of a big deal. Anita Dunn calls Mao “one of her favorite political philosiphers.” So let’s focus solely on his political philosophy. HE WAS A f$!#ING COMMUNIST! What she fails to realise is that communism is the enemy of free society. Has been since its inception. Got that Michael Moore? Communism doesn’t allow for you to make your own choices or find your own way as she suggests the new graduates do in her speech. The government makes your choices and chooses your path for you. It subjugates it ctizenry into faceless masses which discourage creative thought.

Everybody looks upon Hitler and Pol Pot as evil and brutal dictators which no doubt they were but how about Stalin? Mao? Lenin? All of these men killed innocent people so how is it that the communist leaders are looked upon with mixed feelings and occasionally even reverence?

Oh wait she was just kidding. Seriously? Did it SOUND like she was kidding? Do you think that lame  excuse would fly if Mitt Romney called Hitler one of his favorite political philosophers? Somehow I doubt it.

These impressive graphs show indisputable proof of what has happened and continues to happen on the global warming front.  I won’t bother quoting the sources or even waste time detailing the pages upon pages of credentials the individual(s) who put these together have, though I will include helpful and impressive looking links for you to explore for yourself.  Really it’s because the AP and Reuters want me to keep it short and simple.  It is  after all on the internet, so deep down you know it’s true.

From 1998 through a projected 2012 (when the world ends), there is a clear correlation between and obvious progression to the data points on this chart.  The unexplained spike in 2008 is well, unexplained, but we are working on a few theories – most having to do with the election in the US, but that has yet to be proven with an impressive chart on the internet.  Skeptics and critics might say that the data elements on the chart below are conflicting – or worse yet that they represent various and differing things, such as percentages, temperature, number of people, or worse yet – a small renegade group of Republicans.  To those skeptics I would say “Your skepticism is unfounded and an outrage.  This information is on the internet, you can go and look for yourself.  It is undeniable, and this is simply another attempt to hold on to the status quo.  It is unacceptable, and your time is over.”

Notice the huge dip in 2012.  That’s because the world is scheduled to come to an end.  It’s true.  I read it on the internet and besides there is a movie coming out that has actors and actresses in it.  There is so much truth to this that I suspect you just can’t handle the truth.

Sure, while the average temp of the earth, the surrounding air, the oceans, the rivers, the lakes, the streams, the faucet have been declining over the past decade, you cannot escape the evidence presented here in the clearest fashion.  It’s so clear a Geico marketing executive could read it.  The chart below CLEARLY shows that in 2011 and 2012 (when the world ends) the temperature is going to skyrocket and the earth is going to melt in on itself.

You MUST act now.  IN the very near future we will be offering official Constitution Club Light Bulbs that you MUST buy in order to save the planet.  They are $69.99 each – less than the cost of a cup of coffee a day based on a tall caramel latte at Starbucks.

Ok maybe not, but if this gets picked up by Reuters I am going to enjoy it immensely.  Wait till you see the graphs I have on Health Care.  They will make you sick – and that will be bad. Especially if you don’t have health care.

Does anybody know? And if they find out will they let Al Gore know?

What Happened to Global Warming?

Consider it a cataclysmic event: Mainstream news organizations have begun reporting on scientific research that suggests that global warming may not be caused by man and may not be as dire and eminent as alarmists suggest.

Indeed, as the BBC’s climate correspondent Paul Hudson reported, the warmest year recorded globally “was not in 2008 or 2007, but 1998.” It’s true, he continued, “For the last 11 years, we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.”

  Obama to skip anniversary of the Fall of Communism

I’m surprised that we haven’t had anyone on here chime in on the Fox News snub by all things Obama.  Like our own DFV the Scribe, Obama and Co. have had a hard time distinguishing between the actual news shows (Special Report and their evening news)  and the prime time opinion shows (Beck, O’Reilley and Hannity).  And because the opinion shows don’t fawn over Obama, Democrats are threatening to abandon the network.  When Obama does the media tour, appearing on five Sunday shows in September to push health care, but snubs Chris Wallace, he demonstrates his willingness and ability to lash out at anyone that doesn’t ‘get with the program.’  And when the President of the United States lashes out at networks or media, we creep ever closer to the Sedition Acts of John Adams’ days. 

When MoveOn encourages all Democrats to abandon Fox News, one can easily laugh it off.  After all, the horses asses that brought us “General Betray Us” deserve about as much respect as the clowns that staged the balloon boy incident.  But be wary if the anti-Fox chorus continues to grow.  Jacob Weisberg of Newsweek thinks exactly the way MoveOn does.  In his most recent column, Weisberg tells his readers  that “respectable journalists” like Mara Liasson should stop appearing on Fox News.  He whines that Fox News is too slanted and argues that the only elixer to the problem is for Dems to stop appearing on Fox News.  Apparently Wiesberg wants Fox to be more slanted! 

The irony to all this is that when Democrats are not the party in power, they seek more dialogue.  They love to espouse bi-partisanship and have a knack for getting out the message through the ‘grass roots.’  But now that they are in power, they want to paint the opposition as factually wrong.  They challenge credibility.  They launch assaults on those that are not loyal.  They desire equal time-all the time.  And they seek to destroy those that won’t act as the administration mouthpiece.  But if you give Obama an hour long special on health care or let him appear on your network’s late night variety show, you’re golden. 

I don’t have a problem with Obama and the left using the bully pulpit to abandon Fox News.  They have ended up looking small and thin-skinned.  But can we at least not pretend that the other networks are bastions of objective reporting? 

Top 100 Funniest Sport Photos.

I don’t know why, but for me this summed up my feelings on the current state of health care reform.

Remember, history is calling – and voice mail is not an option.

Apparently there are limits to multiculturalism on campus:

Note the sour pusses on the sisters to the right.

From the WaPo:

HAMPTON, Va. — Nikole Churchill, a tall, thin woman with long, dark hair, was named homecoming queen at historically black Hampton University last week. The next day, she appeared with her court at the football game against Howard University, another historically black school.

All this would be unremarkable except that Churchill is the first homecoming queen at Hampton who is not black. That apparently did not sit well with a handful of people at the game, who heckled the senior nursing major.

This bit of unpleasantness, along with similar comments online, might have passed unnoticed except for what Churchill did next. She posted a public letter to President Obama on a Web site asking him to visit the campus and help with her predicament.

“I feel as though you could relate to my situation,” wrote Churchill, 22, who grew up in Hawaii and performed a hula as her beauty pageant talent. “I am hoping that perhaps you would be able to make an appearance to my campus, Hampton University, so that my fellow Hamptonians can stop focusing so much on the color of my skin and doubting my abilities to represent” the school.

Obama hasn’t responded, but the school, established in 1868 to educate freed slaves, has become embroiled in a discussion about race, the role of historically black colleges and alternatives to mainstream definitions of beauty.

Obama won’t commit to Afghanistan, why do they think he’ll come to the rescue of this one college chick?

Hey groovy guys and gals! Remember all those sticky sentimental wussy tunes your girlfriend forced you to pretend to listen to so you could get her into the mood just enough to wheedle your hand up under her skirt?

Or maybe you were just some preteen dickwad surfing the hormonal tides and mooning over the radio.

Or maybe you were just gay. It doesn’t matter – that was a long time ago.

Where was I…

Oh yeah! Sunday night is nostalgia night! Time to dredge some sediments up off the bottom of the well of time.

Are you ready to ROCK!!!!

Then you won’t like this crap one bit!

Read the rest of this entry »

Ditto. This is for you but not – you know – for you.

But only because the Beast couldn’t find any Hall & Oates without Oates.

Okay so it’s not really ‘to: PG  from: E.’ It’s more like this song is to PG from E.  No, no, no. . .  It’s not from E in the real sense, it’s more of an ethereal thing. .  .  I mean, I’m not really giving you a Kasey Kasem long distance dedication, I’m just throwing this song out there to you because it’s not ZZ Top.  So PG,  here’s your song. 

But it isn’t really from me.  Even though it sort of is. 

The second quarter was sheer agony. The Patriots scored two touchdowns 50 seconds apart against Tennessee. Tom Brady with 5 touchdowns in one quarter – is that a record?

This is too sad to even make a joke about it – at the two minute warning the announcers said “This is the biggest blowout we’ve ever seen.”.

The largest margin by a team since 1976 (tied with the 76 Rams who beat Atlanta 59-0).

Copying from the graphic:

• 45 points in 1st half & 35 in 2nd QTR (Both Franchise records)
• Tom Brady: 5 TD passes in 2nd QTR (most in NFL in QTR since 1950)
• Tom Brady: 345 pass yards in 1st half (Career High)
• 45 points halftime lead (largest in NFL ALL-TIME)
• 59 total points & 622 total yards (BOTH franchise records)

It is no secret that I love live music.   Today I was scanning youtube for some live music when I ran across the eaglerocktv channel, which is full of classic live performance videos from many genres.  A set that really stood out for me was from ZZ Top and their 1980 release Double Down Live.  Notice that this is the *real* ZZ, not just the animatronic version touring today.

ZZ Top- LaGrange

Balloon boy case a hoax, charges coming: Colorado sheriff

The “balloon boy” case that sparked international media news attention Thursday was a hoax that will result in criminal charges against the boy’s parents, Larimer County, Colo., Sheriff Jim Alderden said Sunday.

I freely admit that the recently arrested terror suspect, who has not been waterboarded (yet), Najibullah Zazi lives in mt neighborhood. I am not related to him though, well not to my knowledge. I need to know if any of you Northern Colorado Clubbers are related to the Balloon Family.

There is no truth to the rumor that the father, a meteorologist, is a leading spokesperson for the UN on climate thingy theory.

The Beast found this  in the politics forum at Surf Chat – he thought it was funny in a silly sort of way.

Where To Put President Obama’s Picture?

One Dollar bill: George Washington, our nation’s first president and leader of the American Revolution!

Five Dollar bill: Abe Lincoln, honorable leader pulled our nation through its darkest time!

Ten Dollar bill: Alexander Hamilton, founding father, first secretary of the treasure and leader of the constitutional convention!

Twenty Dollar bill: Andrew Jackson, “Old Hickory ” fought the British in New Orleans !

Fifty Dollar bill: Ulysses Grant, Union army general, lead the North through the Civil War!

One Hundred Dollar bill:Ben Franklin, Genius inventor, political theorist and leading author of the constitution.

And Obama?

Read the rest of this entry »

In Lewistown, Mont., A Creek Runs Under Main Street : NPR.

Mapping Main Street is a collaborative documentary media project that creates a new map of the country through stories, photos and videos recorded on actual Main Streets. The goal is to document all of the more than 10,000 streets named Main in the United States. We invite you to capture the stories and images of the country today. Go out, look around, talk to people and contribute to this re-mapping of the United States at mappingmainstreet.org

Click on the mappingmainstreet link to see a slideshow of pictures taken on Main Street in my hometown of Lewistown, MT.    While watching the slides, listen to JCM seeing about small towns.

Like the other ConClubbers, the Beast was impressed with Andre’s “fisking” of a column written by conservative blogger Kevin Jackson on the Rush/NFL controversy of the past week, as referenced by fellow blogger Mo in her post Kevin Jackson – The Black Sphere. What impressed the Beast most were not any of the actual points made in Andre’s comment, but the sheer volume of it combined with its reliance on the usual shopworn grab bag of rhetorical tricks so common in this blogosphere of ours. This is a world in which mockery and mischaracterization substitutes for reasoned rebuttal.

The Beast also agrees with Dave’s comment on Andre’s comment:

If a comment is over four or maybe five paragraphs it should probably be a stand alone post. Too many times ‘good stuff’ is buried in the comments section of someone elses post. Reference the other original post but create your own. Not a hard and fast rule, but a general guideline that one should follow.

Good point, Dave – so let’s implement it.

Having coopted the high moral ground, the Beast will now abandon the dizzying heights (with a fancy Latin title, even) and descend into the slimy depths to indulge in exactly what he just condemned!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Damen und Herren, Mesdames and Messieurs, the Beast is proud to present:

Andre’s Fisking Redux!

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I finally get to see the bastards in concert edition!

 ”The Sick Bed Of Cúchulaínn”

The Pogues are one of my favorite bands of all time, and I have never been able to see them live.  The lead singer, Shane MacGowan, was long ago kicked out of the Irish punk band he founded for his heavy drinking.  Just think about that for a second.  A little known fact is that Joe Strummer took his place for one tour, and from the videos I’ve seen, he was a great fit (of course, he would be almost anywhere good music is involved).

A few years ago the band reunited, and they are coming to San Diego on Monday.  Needless to say I took Tuesday morning off.  For those of you in Denver, if you are feeling adventurous, they will be playing The Ogden next Friday, so you can experience some real FNP!

As is customary with The Pogues, lyrics below the fold for the uninitiated. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Climate change is the tool that the Left will use to finally break down the doors of privacy and liberty to control every aspect of your daily life. They have found the key and the excuse to get what they’ve been after for quite some time. It’s about power and control.  Don’t miss this video.

Climate Chains

I absolutely love being on Code Pink’s email list. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. It’s funny that even they basically admit Obama has done nothing deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize. Instead its a “call to action” that we all won.

Hurrah for me!

Now that the war in Iraq has basically been ‘won’ they are now turning their perpetual fits of pacifism on what the Left used to consider ‘the good war’ in Afghanistan. In nearly the same breath they attack a war that helped to liberate women from a deplorably cruel regime while trying to rally their pink clad followers to help Afghan women. The women of Code Pink can thank George Bush for them not having to wear Burkhas on their last visit to that perpetually problematic country or that little girls can attend school there at all. But that is apparently asking too much for their little minds to manage. The idiocy continues… don’t ya just love the random splashes of pink? Code Pink. Lots of pink words. Get it?

Read the rest of this entry »

“Is this bill all that I would want? Far from it. Is it all that it can be? No. But when history calls, history calls. And I happen to think that the consequences of inaction dictate the urgency of Congress to take every opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time.”

–Olympia Snowe

Hang up the phone, that may not be history calling. . .

So Congress is going to demonstrate it’s capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time by adopting a bill that is far from what is wanted, and far from what it can be.  Nice.

As for “consequences of inaction” – methinks that would be much better served as the name of a band, book or movie.

Y’all know how much I love AlfonZO Rachel. He’s been so popular that PJTV signed him up several months ago.
My new favorite conservative blogger who happens to be black is Kevin Jackson.

I totally agree with his take on this latest Rush Limbaugh – NFL smear.

Read the whole thing (not long)

Limbaugh represents all the things that the Left despises. First he is a Conservative and a Republican, so this by definition is a Capitalist. The Left hates Capitalists. You can further confirm that Limbaugh is a Capitalist, because he wants to BUY the Rams, and not have the government GIVE him the Rams, in the form of a bailout, reparations, or otherwise. He prefers to buy low and sell high, which implies improving the team.

A man who has built an empire, and arguably the most successful radio talk show network ever shows interest in your team, and the black players want to paint him as a racist—as if they could actually spot one. Limbaugh is a winner, pure and simple, and an Old School winner at that. Limbaugh has more in common with those black athletes than any owner for which they have played or the white racist Democrats who are always so ready to speak on behalf of blacks.

The black players in the league should take a page from The Dixie Chicks…shut up and play!

The Constitution Club is pleased to announce the newest member of our humble little blog. The all-powerful and all-knowing Grand Triune offered posting privileges to our frequent contributor “Sting the Away” and he has been kind enough to accept the offer. We have enjoyed his witty and humorous contributions and observations on the events of the day as a visitor and look forward to his wit and wisdom as a full-fledged member of Conclub.

Welcome aboard. You’re officially a blogger.

Now I am not Jenna Lee, or Rebecca Gomez-Dimond, and this guy isn’t either, but take a listen. It is very short. Sorry, I do not know how to embed it here.

U.S. dollar drop overrides official pleas for strength

Doubts about Washington’s sincerity, Fed’s low-rate regime offset rhetoric

That’s because the U.S. economy stands to gain, at least over the short term, when the greenback slides.

For one, a weaker U.S. dollar makes U.S. exports more attractive.

Increased public hand-wringing over the U.S. dollar’s drop — from finance officials in Tokyo to Brussels to Washington — has failed to lift the greenback as investors bet major central banks won’t back up their remarks by buying dollars.

Read the rest of this entry »

World at risk from China forex policy: Treasury

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — China’s foreign-exchange policy risks “unwinding” some of the progress made in reducing global trade imbalances during the financial crisis, the U.S. Treasury said Thursday in its latest report on foreign-exchange trading.

But the department repeated its previous finding that China was not formally manipulating its currency.

The absence of a finding of manipulation is important. Under the legislation prompting the review, a finding of manipulation would set off a series of steps that might end in the U.S. imposing duties on Chinese imports.

The U.S. said it was not pleased with Chinese foreign-exchange policy.

 ”The rigidity of the renminbi and the reacceleration of reserve accumulation are serious concerns which should be corrected to help ensure a stronger, more balanced global economy,” the Treasury report said.

To outside analysts, China has clearly pegged the currency to the dollar.

Carl Weinberg, chief international economist at High Frequency Economics, said the People’s Bank of China has pegged the yuan at around 6.82 RMB to the dollar since July 2008.

That followed three years of steady yuan appreciation.

They keep buying dollars. All these countries posturing around FOREX and trade. Making threats and then professing friendship and the will to work together. I have to tell you it just amazes this hillbilly. Why have China, the USA and the world been trying to increase domestic consumption within China? China will have to deal with an aging population soon. Deficits run amuck. What are we gonna do? Oh the humanity! It is the end of Western Civilization! Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.

The best is below the fold…

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The Loonie is on par with the dollar. The Beast can use his Loonies in the slots on the reservations now I bet.

The dollar is at the same lows against the Euro as it was last year when Andre made an issue out of it. How is it working for you now ‘Dre?

California School Has a Montana and a Gretzky at Quarterback – NYTimes.com.

Quarterback Nick Montana is the son of Joe Montana, who led the San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowlvictories and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. His backup is Trevor Gretzky, whose father, Wayne, won four Stanley Cups and proceeded directly to the Hockey Hall of Fame after retiring as the N.H.L.’s career leading scorer.

One of Nick Montana’s favorite receivers is Trey Smith, a junior who is developing into a Division I prospect, Redell said. Trey’s father is the actor Will Smith, who has cleared his schedule so he can attend every game.

There is nothing worse than schools and districts that fail to use even the most base level of common sense.  Routinely, I post on the stupidity of administrators and teachers that haven’t the sense that God gave them.  Education should be about teaching kids proper decision making and yet schools and districts often respond by suspending kids that bring a G.I. Joe gun to school or expelling those that give their friend ibuprofen. 

So it is with great sadness that this teacher must once again expose how ignorant and stupid many of his contemporaries are.  Behold the case of the Cub Scout menace!

Zachary, an A student who sometimes wears a shirt and tie to school just because he likes to, told Vieira he put the tool in his pocket on Sept. 29 for a very simple reason: “To eat lunch with. I had absolutely no idea this was going to happen. I wasn’t thinking about this. I was thinking about having lunch with it.” 

But when the tool fell out of his pocket on the bus and he walked off the vehicle with it in his hand, a teacher intercepted him. “She said, ‘Can I have that?’ ” Zachary recalled.

What Zachary didn’t realize was that he had fallen afoul of the Christina School District’s zero-tolerance policy toward weapons in school, one of many such policies implemented in the wake of such incidents as the Columbine High School massacre. The policy does not allow teachers or administrators to take into account intentions or the character of the student; if a student has a knife, suspension and subsequent assignment to the district’s “alternative placement school” — aka reform school — is mandatory.

“The American people have not become less capable of entrepreneurship,” Summers, who heads Obama’s National Economic Council, said in last week’s interview. “They have not become less dedicated to hard work, and the productive potential of this economy has not declined.”

Lawrence Summers, President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser

Gore Wins Oscar, Nobel Peace Prize For Slide-Show Presentation

The slide show, which features approximately 80 full-color pictures of landforms and people, as well as a vast array of detailed line and bar graphs, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that a successful visual presentation must utilize both an application’s audio and graphic capabilities. Furthermore, Gore effectively silenced many of his critics by incorporating short videos.

“The Nobel Committee was deeply moved by Mr. Gore’s passion for making a clear, concise, easy-to-watch slide show,” Professor Geir Lundestad, director of the Nobel Institute, told reporters in late October. “[The slide show] truly displayed how well-placed transitions—be they dissolves, wipes, or splits—can really tie a presentation together.”

Added Lundestad: “Also, the slides with multi-image animation were cool.”