Where’s OwlGore when you need him?

NOAA: Blizzard Rearranges Climate Change Announcement

As D.C. continued to dig out from Snowmageddon and is keeping an eye on another storm system, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was busy making a climate change announcement…

Turns out the release was planned prepared ahead of the snowstorm, which shut federal agencies today and forced its senders to hold a press conference by telephone instead of at the National Press Club.

Bwaahaaahaaaaaa!  Freakin’ Morons…

They’re like crack addicts…

Democrats Weigh New Tax on Investment Income

WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators are considering applying for the first time the Medicare payroll tax to investment income as part of a compromise to pay for a health overhaul.

Compromise?  Whose compromise is that?  Who, exactly, did they compromise with?  Certainly not the people whose earnings are going to be taxed.  And certainly not anyone who purports to be a representative of those folks.  They keep using that word "compromise."  I do not think it means what they think it means…

The extra Medicare tax would apply only to the wealthy and could allow congressional Democrats to reduce the sting of a tax on high-cost insurance plans, said Democratic aides and others briefed on the negotiations.

There’s that class warfare thing again.  Explain to me exactly why it is better to tax the wealthy at a more progressive rate?  And all you liberals who cry about wanting to make the world "fair" – this is the exact opposite of that.  Unless you base your decisions on feelings rather than facts.  Which you do. 

Labor leaders complained directly to President Barack Obama on Monday about the tax on high-value plans, which would hit some union members who have negotiated generous health benefits.

Ahhhh, there we have it.  But we all knew that the labor unions had teh iWon on a string – it’s how he got elected.  They will be protected at all costs – you know the very same unions that have negotiated extorted the current and retirement health benefits that have driven U.S. manufacturers into severely uncompetitive positions and in some cases – bankruptcy.

Currently, the Medicare tax applies only to wages, without any limits. The 2.9% tax is divided in half, with workers and employers each paying 1.45%. The health bill passed by the Senate would raise the worker contribution to 2.35% for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000 a year.

I got news for you morons – if you think a couple earning $250K a year is "wealthy" you are even stupider than I thought.  First, wealth is measured in accumulated assets, not current cash inflow.  A couple earning $250K in say, San Francisco, with two kids and a mortgage probably doesn’t have 2 damn nickels to rub together at the end of the year.

Second, a huge chunk of the "wealthy" couples earning $250K and above do so because their tax returns include the earnings from their small, family-owned business, at which they bust their asses 6 or 7 days a week, and through which they employ other wage-earning people.  The very people you claim you want to "help" with this monstrosity of a bill.  Go ahead and squeeze that golden goose you idiots.  Sooner or later the gold will stop flowing and the goose shit will start.

Under the proposal now being considered, people making more than those amounts would also pay the Medicare tax on dividends and other income from investments, the people familiar with the talks said. Income from pensions and retirement accounts, including 401(k) accounts, would be exempt.

But the amount of assets you are allowed to accumulate in a given year in those retirement accounts is limited by law.  Anything above that limit that you choose to invest outside of that retirement account will now have additional taxes imposed on it.  So, not only are you "rich" people going to pay a higher Medicare tax on all of your regular earnings than "non-rich" people, you will also now pay an additional tax on your investment income to which the "non-rich" won’t be subject.  Oh, and that is in addition to the "Alternative Minimum Tax" which is also only imposed on the "rich."  Only not, because the morons in Congress neglected to adjust the AMT for inflation, so now the AMT applies to someone earning something less than $70K a year.

It’s a beautiful scheme…because of the retirement account limitations, you can’t put those investment dollars into a 401(k) or similar tax-deferred retirement account, so the government will tax that income as soon as you earn it (at a higher rate than the "non-rich").

Then, when you invest those already-taxed dollars in say, Ford Motor Company, they’ll tax the dividends or interest you earn for as long as you own that investment (at a higher rate than the "non-rich").

Then, when you eventually sell that investment, they’ll tax any profit you make on the increase in it’s value (at a higher rate than the "non-rich").

Crack addicts.

 

What Could Go Wrong?

From Google News:

Iran anniversary ‘punch’ will stun West: Khamenei

TEHRAN — Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a "punch" that will stun world powers during this week’s 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

"The Iranian nation, with its unity and God’s grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran’s commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel.

Couple that with these comments from Sondra K’s place:

1. Achmadickhead is totally nuts
2. He is pursuing nukes
3. An EMP attack could send us back to 500AD
4. Iran just launched a satellite with a 220 pound payload (Anyone know if it is still in orbit?)
5. 220 pounds would be more than enough to carry an nuke capable of massive EMP
6. He has promised to attack us on Feb 11…………………

OK Folks, What can possibly go wrong here???

What?  It’s gotta happen sooner or later – you know it too.  Just not on the 11th.  I say he’s bluffin’.

Pilot…

 

 High Flight
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth.
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings,
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind swept heights with easy grace,
Where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
And, while with silent, lifting mind i’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
- John Gillespie Magee Jr.

 

Passed the Private Pilot practical exam today. Got my pilot’s license.  Yeah, baby…

Imagine that…

 

Short quiz, 10 questions – here.

Fox Hunting

Reader and fellow Jarhead Joe said he was sending me pictures of fox hunting…

Ooohhhhhhhh!  A fox hunting – now I get it!

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Happy Hump Day 02-03-10!

Makin’ bacon…

Must be Ohio…

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Happy Monday!

Here’s a little Stevie Ray to start your week…

Want!!!

Freakin’ Roman Chariot Racing!

 

Click the link for video!

via

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Wow – $200 per Second!

Would you pay $1,000 for a gun you could only use for 5 seconds?

From Robb Allen:

In response to someone who wrote him asking about barrel life, Robb wrote:

Maths are hard, but I did some basic calculations. Granted, muzzle velocity is not constant through a barrel, it’s kind of interesting to think of how long the bullet stays in contact with the metal.

Looking at standard .223 mv’s, considering a 20" barrel

3,200 fps = 38,400 inches per second. 20" of barrel contacts the metal for .00052083 seconds. 10,000 rounds = 5.2083 seconds.

I’m sure I forgot to carry the two somewhere, but that’s pretty damned interesting.

Never really looked at it that way…I guess that means I only have about 3 minutes worth of shooty goodness in my safe.  Kinda sad to think about…