Hasty Ruminations

Boy, it’s a good thing that Obama read his old Harvard Law notes over the weekend. Especially the part about “company tanking => fire CEO”. So Sunday, before he lost his place in the notes, he called Rick Waggoner at GM and fired him. Actually, he probably said “no new money for GM unless you’re history”. Yeah, he fired him.

So Rick quit.

No dummy, Rick. No new money = no pension for Ricky.

Today, they added it up. He’s gonna get $23,000,000 for being a total screw-up.

Oh please, oh please, let Obama call me next!

Help Wanted: Obama Admin seeks experienced emergency response manager for pleasant, though damp, midwestern site.

Experience: Katrina or similar disasters.

Main skills: Get everyone working together, and coordinate the press.

Other: FEMA jacket labeled “Brownie” has been dry cleaned for you.

Looks like Congress will pass an Obama administration plan that could create mandatory public service for all American youth, because he made a campaign promise.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92902

The bill, HR 1388: The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, otherwise known as the “GIVE Act,” has already passed the House.

Get that? Mandatory volunteerism?

Obama’s gang thinks this will encourage America’s youth to participate in voluntary community service. The public has heard little or nothing about it, and as usual Congress is out to lunch.

We commoners get criticized for carping without suggesting, so, Mr. Emanuel, here’s my idea:

GEAR SHIFT
Goofy Earmarks Against Reason:
Subsidizing Half-assed Ideas For Teens

Every teenager must work in Iraq or Afghanistan for three years. As a civilian, as a soldier, or as a prisoner. Whatever.

Those who return to the U.S. will be allowed to take a shower and eat one Happy Meal at McDonalds.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone reads this stuff.

Here’s a way to tell:

Last Tuesday, as President Obama got off Marine One in front of the White House, he was carrying a baby piglet under each arm.

The squared away Marine guard snapped to attention, saluted and said: “Nice pigs, sir.”

The President replied “These are not pigs…these are authentic Arkansas Razorback Hogs. I got one for Hillary Clinton and I got the other one for Nancy Pelosi.”

The squared away Marine again snapped to attention and said, “Excellent trade, sir!”

I read this too fast:

“Has Motherhood Hurt Julia Roberts’ Career?”, and it came out “Julia Childs” in my mind.

That gave pause.

Then, I got it right… and could only come up with the image of overgrown armpit hair.

I may give up reading for a while.

The AIG mess has illustrated that the new administration has boundaries, beyond which they are simply incompetent. No surprise; every administration has limits.

There is the poorly considered and poorly executed $182.5 billion federal bailout of AIG.  Then, AIG paid $165 million in bonuses to employees of the division that triggered the rescue.

The administration, and Andrew Cuomo, wring their hands and wonder why oh why did AIG pay the bonuses? The people in that division lost $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter alone.

Well, isn’t the job of those employees to make money for AIG? Didn’t they get 182,500,000,000 free dollars for the company? From the government?

Corporate types will tell you: Clearly, that’s exceeding expectations!

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23664399-details/article.do?ito=newsnow&

Buildings were evacuated, a street was roped off and a bomb disposal team called in after workmen spotted a suspicious object. But the dangerous-looking weapon turned out to be the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, made famous in the 1975 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

Police and a fire crew were first on the scene in Shoreditch, east London, when water company workers found a copy of the film prop under a fire hydrant cover.

But when the bomb squad arrived, they quickly established there was no danger and the street was declared safe. In the film, the grenade was used to slaughter a killer rabbit. Python actor Eric Idle had filmgoers in stitches as he said: “Oh Lord. Bless this hand grenade, that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.”

The Navy ran an expensive cruiser aground near Pearl Harbor. It will cost about $40,000,000 to fix it. [They now say $25,000,000; got a discount.]

Yesterday, a Navy nuclear submarine and a Navy amphibious ship collided in the Straits of Hormuz near Saudi Arabia. 40,000 gallons of oil were spilled, and 15 sailors were injured.

C’mon, Navy. We don’t have half as many ships as we did in the recent past. We can’t waste them playing bumper cars.

While firing the Captain is a good tactic in these cases, it also takes 20 years to make a good Captain, and we are obviously running short of them, too.

It’s good that the technocrat politician, Donald Winter, has finally left the SECNAV job. Let’s put someone good in there before it’s too late.

I think that it would be proper and generous of people to cut the President some slack over his “bowling score Special Olympics” comment.

It was made on late night TV, in a self deprecating manner, without much thought.

He’s only been doing this for two months (although he’s been living it since the election), and it’s somewhat subtle, this change of context he cannot escape. There is no exit, nor respite. It wasn’t mean, or callous, or insensitive, and it wasn’t about the special olympians at all.

I think that we should cut him some slack.

USS O’Kane Sailors Celebrate Women’s History Month
Release Date: 3/18/2009 5:15:00 PM

By Blair Martin, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) — This month marks the 22nd annual observance of Women’s History Month during which a grateful nation celebrates the many notable contributions made by women.

The female Sailors of the USS O’Kane (DDG 77) are among the many dedicated Sailors not only committed to their work, but also to serving their country.

Cmdr. Timothy Steadman, O’Kane commanding officer, took this opportunity to expressed his gratitude for the daily contributions of women as part of O’Kane’s crew.

“They are just fantastic,” he said. “This ship wouldn’t be where it is right now without them. They are in every single division, every department, and they are all excellent Sailors doing a great job for us,” he added.

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Please watch this space. We’re trying to come up with History Months for other genders.