Stimulate the Economy

Obama stimulus plan faces changes in Senate – Yahoo! News:

“WASHINGTON – A top Republican called for more mortgage relief and additional tax cuts in President Barack Obama’s massive economic stimulus package as Democrats conceded privately they will drop items that have drawn bipartisan criticism.”

(Via Yahoo! News.)

Finally, some sense from the Congress. I’ve been suspicious of them since the TARP fiasco. Whatever happened to good governance? Apparently, once you are in power, it fades into the background. I’ve seen tortured logic trying to justify “pork” projects that don’t stimulate the economy. These projects are to vary degrees laudable and worthy of legislation all on their own, but let’s get real here. Tax cuts and government spending that creates jobs is what is needed. Condoms are not stimulative in the proper sense!

And Forgive Us Our Debts

Saw a documentary today on Ted Haggard, the disgraced pastor. I thought I’d see Christian hypocrisy at its height, and I did. I just didn’t expect from whom. There’s a great quote from Haggard:

If they were playing chess instead of checkers they’d know the church’s business was me, the sinner.

Word. As self-serving as that statement might be, it’s spot on. These evangelical types really demonstrate the reality that our faith is almost defined by hypocrisy in our modern culture from their position on homosexuality to its treatment of the sinner. As a Christian, I was very angered by what I saw. It demonstrated, yet again, how we Christians fail God on the basics:
Jesus taught us to pray this way

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:9-13

He goes on to say, “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” That’s just basic to our faith: forgive the sinner. And yet so quickly forgotten.

Word to the Wise

Under Obama, `war on terror’ catchphrase fading – Yahoo! News:

“The ‘War on Terror’ is losing the war of words. The catchphrase burned into the American lexicon hours after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is fading away, slowly if not deliberately being replaced by a new administration bent on repairing the U.S. image among Muslim nations.”

(Via Yahoo! News.)

Nuance continues to reign.

The Audacity of Nope

Colbertnation | The Colbert Report Official Site | Comedy Central:

(Via The Colbert Nation.)

Genius critique on the House vote.

If the Shoe Fits

Monument to Bush shoe-throwing shines at Iraqi orphanage – CNN.com:

“For the war-beaten orphans of the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, this big old shoe fits.
A monument to a shoe thrown at former President Bush is unveiled at the Tikrit Orphanage complex.
A huge sculpture of the footwear hurled at President Bush in December during a trip to Iraq has been unveiled in a ceremony at the Tikrit Orphanage complex.
Assisted by children at the home, sculptor Laith al-Amiri erected a brown replica of one of the shoes hurled at Bush and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by journalist Muntadhir al-Zaidi during a press conference in Baghdad.”

(Via CNN.)

My favorite part of this article was the last line. “By tradition, throwing a shoe is the most insulting act in the Arab world.”

My Webhosting Service Killed Some Spammers

Major Source of Online Scams and Spams Knocked Offline – Security Fix:

“Two hours later, I heard from Benny Ng, director of marketing for Hurricane Electric, the Fremont, Calif., company that was the other major Internet provider for McColo.
Hurricane Electric took a much stronger public stance: ‘We shut them down,’ Ng said.”

(Via Security Fix.)

Hurricane Electric is a great service provider. Plenty of power. No frills. The dark side I guess is this is a spammer’s dream.

Mad Men

The Word – Mad Men | Wednesday November 19 | ColbertNation.com:

“”

(Via The Colbert Nation.)

Steve brings the moneytheism gospel.

The Word – Pity Party | Wednesday November 12 | ColbertNation.com

The Word – Pity Party | Wednesday November 12 | ColbertNation.com:

“”

(Via The Colbert Nation.)

Classic conservatism? Victims whenever they lose?

The Messiah Myth – TIME

The Messiah Myth – TIME:

“It pains me to deliver this sobering news to those who think Obama will wave his hand and erase whole ghettos: Barack Obama is a black President, not black Jesus.”

(Via Time Magazine.)

PREACH!

Op-Ed Columnist – How to Fix a Flat – NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist – How to Fix a Flat – NYTimes.com:

“‘In return for any direct government aid,’ he wrote, ‘the board and the management [of G.M.] should go. Shareholders should lose their paltry remaining equity. And a government-appointed receiver — someone hard-nosed and nonpolitical — should have broad power to revamp G.M. with a viable business plan and return it to a private operation as soon as possible.”

(Via NY Times.)

Amen. Been saying this for all government bailouts. Incompetence should not be rewarded and put in charge of fixing itself.