Nobody’s listening, George… give it up.
President Bush, trying to keep pressure on Iran, called on Tehran Wednesday to “come clean” about the scope of its nuclear activities or else face diplomatic isolation.
Category: Politics, Religion & Money
“Look, Iraq Iran is dangerous”
Bush isn’t even the boy who cried wolf, because unlike the children’s story it turns out there’s no wolf.
Bush said the new conclusion — contradicting earlier U.S. assessments — would not prompt him to take off the table the possibility of pre-emptive military action against Iran.
“Look, Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”
Bush was wrong about stem cells, tax cuts for the rich, Iraq, Terry Schiavo, and Social Security. So I’m sure as heck not going to start thinking he’s got it right this time.
Mallard Fillmore Gets It Wrong Again
One of the worst comic strips I know of is Mallard Fillmore, by Bruce Tinsley. The Mallard character is like Howard the Duck, except he’s a neo-con. Mallard Fillmore is amusing to me only when Tinsley says something so inanely misinformed or misleading that I laugh at his idiocy. An excellent example is the installment from a few days ago, about Stephen Colbert.
I saw Stephen Colbert last week in New York, and he certainly had no difficulty being funny and entertaining, entirely on his own. Colbert is as much a writer as he is a performer, with improvisation and ad-libbing being what he does best! I don’t know if Tinsley doesn’t know this, or if he’s deliberately trying to create a false impression, but once again he has proven himself to be a cartoonist with no other point than the one at the tip of his pen.
Stephen Colbert, Up Close and Personal!
THAT’S ME AND STEPHEN COLBERT!
Stephen spoke for 90 minutes to a packed auditorium, 370 strong, of Colbert Nation fans Friday night at The Times Center in mid-town Manhattan. My buddy Dennis and I were among them! What a wonderfully memorable evening, and it was not without suspense, because Dennis and I were the last two people on the waiting list who managed to get in. Colbert had already started speaking by the time we got inside, but fortunately we didn’t miss much. On the audio player you can hear a passable recording with a few minutes spliced together of Colbert commenting on his show, his real fear of bears, and the true story behind his broken wrist.
You can watch the video of Colbert falling and breaking his wrist at this link. After the talk there was a book signing, and because I’d already asked Santa for I Am America (And So Can You!) I bought the new DVD, The Best of The Colbert Report. Dennis’ camera makes me look gigantic compared to Colbert, but I think we’re actually about the same height. Something I would like to emphasize is that when Colbert is out of character he positively exudes sincerity and appreciation of your being there to see him, with the BS meter reading flat at zero.
Hyannis Homeys
At the beginning of the year, the news was this:
Tax Cuts Offer Most for Very Rich, Study Says
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: January 8, 2007WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 — Families earning more than $1 million a year saw their federal tax rates drop more sharply than any group in the country as a result of President Bush’s tax cuts, according to a new Congressional study.
.
.
.
Families in the middle fifth of annual earnings, who had average incomes of $56,200 in 2004, saw their average effective tax rate edge down to 2.9 percent in 2004 from 5 percent in 2000. That translated to an average tax cut of $1,180 per household, but the tax rate actually increased slightly from 2003.Tax cuts were much deeper, and affected far more money, for families in the highest income categories. Households in the top 1 percent of earnings, which had an average income of $1.25 million, saw their effective individual tax rates drop to 19.6 percent in 2004 from 24.2 percent in 2000. The rate cut was twice as deep as for middle-income families, and it translated to an average tax cut of almost $58,000.
And today the news is this:
Buffett Says Estate-Tax Repeal Would Benefit RichestBy Alison Fitzgerald and Ryan J. Donmoyer
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) — Warren Buffett called on Congress to maintain the estate tax, saying that plans to repeal the levy would benefit a handful of the richest American families and widen U.S. income disparity.
Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., told the Senate Finance Committee that advocates of repeal were “dead wrong” to call the levy a “death tax.”
It would be more appropriate to call it a “death present,” said Buffett, 77, who is the third-richest person in the world, according to Forbes Magazine. “A meaningful estate tax is needed to prevent our democracy from becoming a dynastic plutocracy.” Heirs to vast fortunes, he said, have already won the “ovarian lottery” and shouldn’t be further rewarded by the tax system.
But enough reading. Let’s watch a video!
[flv:/Video/NOV07/Smirnoff.flv 400 300]
Cadets, Veterans And Casualites
In honor of American military veterans, here is a excerpt of the Glee Club of the USMA at West Point singing ‘America’. A DVD is available at Stand Ye Ready.
[flv:/Video/NOV07/USMA.flv 400 300]
Veterans Day is intended for the living, but during a time of armed conflict it is sadly also a memorial day. I compared the list of glee club singers against a list of Army fatalities in Iraq, and found these two matches.
| 09/14/04 | Brown, Tyler Hall | 1st BN, 9th INF REG, 2nd Infantry Division | Camp Hovey, Korea |
| 10/31/03 | Bryant, Todd J. | 1st BN, 34th Armor REG, 1st Infantry Division | Fort Riley, KS |
May they rest in peace.