General BetrayUs, Round 2?

This from Instapundit:

MCCHRYSTAL FIRED, Petraeus asked to take over. Will MoveOn and Keith Olbermann reprise their “General BetrayUs” routine?

Many more juicy tangents contained in our top link reference. For the mouse-phobic, read the whole schmear here.

PS: Glenn Reynolds concludes:

FINALLY: MoveOn Scrubs “General Betray Us” Page From Website. Have you noticed how these people are always airbrushing? It’s kind of an admission that their stuff won’t sell if they tell the truth. . . 

My comment:

Heh.

Pelosi's Crocodile Tears

This just in from The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:

In a fundraising letter for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Pelosi says if Republicans take back the House, they'll initiate "endless investigations against President Obama" and "bring back the days of Ken Starr and the politics of personal destruction."

"Remember a Republican-controlled Congress that devoted more time to subpoenas and investigations than to solving our country's problems?" Pelosi asks. "There is far too much at stake for our country now to allow it to happen again."

Boo-hoo. You mean like the "endless investigations" of American business that Pelosi-crats have been waging against American employers from Day One of this administration? Or the "endless investigations" of the Abu Ghraib incident during the Bush administration?

Or for that matter, the Democrats' 24/7 slander and smear campaigns against Bush, Sarah Palin, and anyone else who gets in their way?

Cry me a river, Nancy.

Obamacare for the Gulf

Apropos my previous post:

A picture is indeed worth 1000 words. Hat tip to TobyToons. It appears this guy's solution to the Gulf Oil Issue is to extort money for the government in order to further its thus far useless response. Remember the big Katrina flap ("Heck of a job, Brownie") when the Bushies were in power? Where's the MSM outrage now? Disgusting. But what else is new these days? However, this president is indeed accomplishing the seemingly impossible: He's making Jimmy Carter look competent.

Diverted by Diverticulitis

Well, just when I was ready to get blogging again, I ended up in the emergency room this weekend with an attack of acute diverticulitis. Never a clue I had that problem. A couple of IV bags of antibiotics and I'm back home again and not feeling all that well. But this incident made me wonder. I was in to Reston Hospital Center circa 3 AM, checked in without even being hassled about insurance (which I have), saw a doc by 3:30, was sent up for a CAT scan around 5 (after ingesting a liter of "dye"), was wheeled back to the emergency suite by 5:30, had the IVs inserted by 6 and left the hospital about 8:15, complete with appropriate prescriptions.

And what I'm wondering about is--if the Feds were in charge of this (which they intend to be), would I be dead now? Something to think about this November.

Guess it's also time to get on the ball and get that colonoscopy done. (Shudder.)

Wall Street: Video Game or Market of Stocks

Hint: Got a joystick handy? Flash Crash may be here to stay.

I'm going to be commenting from time to time on a phenomenon that's really got me bothered. The recent gyrations and volatility of the market--while certainly caused at least in part by the equally volatile international economy--have been wildly exaggerated. And here in the US, they've also occurred with remarkably low volume on the exchanges.

The already-legendary "flash crash" last month was perhaps the warning shot that finally alerted people to the underlying problem. But they don't understand what that underlying problem is. I do. The stock market has ceased to become a market of investors. It has, in fact, become the playground, the toy of a bunch of video gamers. Using sophisticated algorithms and high speed computing systems, these so-called "high frequency traders" execute hundreds, perhaps thousands of trades in seemingly nanoseconds, profiting by scoring a penny here and there which, given the volume of their trades, makes them a tidy living. 

Problem is, this completely distorts the market mechanism making it difficult for folks like you and I to make money the old-fashioned way: by INVESTING.

The Federal government, which allegedly regulates financial activities, is asleep at the switch. I'll have more to say in successive posts.

Back From Unscheduled Hiatus

Just a quick note to let you know I'm back from an unexpected hiatus. Three of my real estate investments went temporarily terminal and I had to attend to them. One's being completely reno'd. One needs help. And one needs to get cleaned up and rented back out again when the current tenant moves on. Things hit all at once, and there's no point in blogging if you let yourself go Chapter 11, right??

So I'll be back again with pretty much daily posts until vacation time happens in mid-July. Lots of stuff to catch up on, too, including the BP mess and other fun things that actually aren't so much fun.

Stay tuned.

Obama Oil Blame Game -- Get the Target Right, Mr. President

The President has spent a lot of rhetorical energy (what other kind is available in the White House?) on how the GOP's deregulatory changes are at the roots of the Gulf oil disaster.

Wrong, sir!

BP is a British company and not subject to American regulations. The disaster occurred in international waters, where United States law and regulations do not apply.

If you're going to blame someone, start with the right country of origin and location, Mr. President.

The last three major offshore disasters, off Nova Scotia in the 70s, and off Scotland in the 80s, and this one, were all BP. Better talk to the Labor Party's leaders, or to the current British PM. No American rig has been involved in a disaster since Santa Barbara in 1969.