Archive for January, 2011

Listening to Joe Scarborough and company prophesying defeat in Afghanistan after reports of US Casualties Let’s imagine Morning Joe as it reports on US wars throughout the ages:

Nov 1776: There is no polite way to say it: The Continental Army is in full retreat despite the heroic efforts of Washington and his troops

Dec 1780: There is no polite way to say it: The British are in full control of the south despite the heroic efforts of Continental troops

Oct 1803: There is no polite way to say it: The pirates of Tripoli have captured the USS Philadelphia and there is no way we can suppress them despite the heroic efforts of Commodore Preble

Aug 17, 1812: There’s no polite way to say it: the USS Nautilus has been captured and the USS Constitution has barely escaped a British Fleet, there is no way we can compete with the British Navy despite the heroic efforts of our sailors

Aug 1814: There’s no polite way to say it: The British have burned Washington and despite the heroic efforts of Mrs. Madison to save national treasures.

March 1836: There is no polite way to say it: The Alamo and the Goliard forces have fallen to a man and Sam Houston is in full retreat despite the heroic efforts of the Texans who fell.

July 1862: There is no polite way to say it: Our armies are in full retreat before General Lee despite the heroic efforts of the troops in the peninsula.

Sept 1863: There is no polite way to say it: Despite the heroic efforts of General Thomas the south has driven and besieged our forces in Chattanooga and we have to rethink if we can win this war.

June 1864: There’s no polite way to say it: with 40,000 more casualties Grant is no closer to Richmond that McClellan was two years ago despite heroic efforts on the part of the Army of the Potomac

June 1876: There’s no polite way to say this: The Sioux have destroyed General Custer’s command despite the heroic efforts of the 7th cavalry.

Dec 1917: There’s no polite way to say this: With the Russian surrender the war has turned despite the heroic efforts of the AEF

Aug 1942: There’s no polite way to say this: After Salvo Island we just don’t have the ability to cope with the Japanese fleet at Guadalcanal, despite heroic efforts of the Navy and Marines

Feb 1943: There’s no polite way to say this: Kasserine pass show there is no way for us to defeat the Desert Fox despite the heroic efforts of US troops.

Sept 12 1950: There’s no polite way to say this: The North Koreans and their allies have us in a pocket and our troops are exhausted after World War 2 despite heroic efforts of our men.

and could you imagine them after Thermopylae? There’s no polite way to say this but the Greek city states can’t cope with the Persians despite the heroic efforts of the 300 Spartans

I haven’t bothered mentioning Iraq because it’s recent enough that you can actually see the media from Leslie Stahl telling General Powell we can’t get our supplies and our rear is exposed. and Harry Reid saying (with Pelosi standing beside him) the war is lost.

It’s the old “we love our troops but they can’t win.” meme of the left.

If only he could talk to an expert on military history like Victor Davis Hanson to give them some perspective that is if Jeffery Sacks can give him permission to have an extremist like him on the show.

…to all of you who voted for her in the Savvy Magazine Modeling contest. With your effort and votes she finished 6th overall qualifying for the photo spread that may or may not start her on the way to a successful modeling career.

It is important to note that for her and for all the other young ladies who managed to make the top 10 (and consider the difference between 10th and 11th was only 43 votes) this represents only a foot in the door so to speak. It will be up to each one of them to work hard, avoid pitfalls and temptations, and turn this start into a successful future in modeling or media.

But those hurdles are ahead of them, for now it is a time to smile and celebrate. So Hallie, congratulations! May this be just the start of a fantastic year for you and yours.

(and thanks for your kind words).

Ignorance of the Tax law is no excuse

Posted: January 2, 2011 by datechguy in economy, opinion/news
Tags: ,

After recovering from the biggest Christmas open house ever I called my brother who had missed the party and inadvertently found out that I have some work to do ASAP.

Back when I owned a business decades ago I paid what was called quarterly wages, basically estimated tax payments.

Well I don’t remember how it came up (then again after a party that started at 2 p.m. and ended at 4 a.m. anything I remember today is a big bonus) but this also applies to individuals, that is: if you haven’t paid the vast majority of tax due the previous year by Jan 15th or so you pay an additional penalty.

Given the California IOU’s business (and just being broke) I suspect a lot of people didn’t have taxes deducted from unemployment. Given the massive amount of unemployment in the country, there are likely going to be millions upon millions of people getting a nasty tax penalty at the time they can least afford it.

For those who considered their unemployment “fun-employment” the party is about to end.

…in Ezra Klein’s sort of Mea Culpa:

Ezra Klein made the biggest mistake that can be made by a liberal — progressive — socialist — communist — no labelist — whatever the heck they call themselves on the 31st of the month.

He was being honest.

He does not believe in the Constitution.

He is cynical about it and he projects that same cynicism onto those who disagree with him.

That’s a pretty serious charge but he backs it up:

In reality, the tea party — like most everyone else (emphasis mine) — is less interested in living by the Constitution than in deciding what it means to live by the Constitution. When the constitutional disclaimers at the bottom of bills suit them, they’ll respect them. When they don’t — as we’ve seen in the case of the individual mandate — they won’t.

What a telling statement in that last paragraph is.

What Ezra Klein means by “most everyone else” is Ezra Klein.

And so the sentence means that Ezra Klein is not interested in living by the Constitution but rather, Ezra Klein wants to decide what the Constitution means.

That is his point of view.

Such a belief would explain why the Left was so upset about Gitmo — shredding the Constitution — under Bush but now could not care less about Gitmo.

When a document means whatever people want it to mean then it means nothing. The Constitution is a contract and a contract means what is says. How would you like us to redefine what the deed to your house means? The contract you work under, The rules of blackjack when you are winning? Or as Don puts it:

Well, when you are taught — as Al Gore said it — that “the Constitution is a living and breathing document” you really miss the entire point of having a Constitution.

Bingo!