Stop me if you've heard this one before

News item: Da Mare says we are "a country of whiners"
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we must fix the economy in time to secure the gains made by our Noble Plutocrats

Workers reap few benefits as U.S. productivity grows

Since the 2001 recession, the American work force has contributed to a robust 20 percent growth in productivity, as measured by the gross national product.

Yet seven years into this economic cycle, most middle-class American households (aka, the WHINERS... Ed.) have less inflation-adjusted income than they had when it started...

Particularly notable about the stagnant pay is that it affected not just the lowest-paid or least-skilled, but college-degreed, professional workers as well.

The exception in compensation gains was for the top 1 percent of earners, who have considerably widened the pay gap between themselves and other workers. (YAY! Ed.)

Damned Taxers & Spenders!

Huh? Homeowners blindsided by taxes

Fung's property tax bill was 50% higher than last years. 50%? And WTF am I getting 4 dat? Anyone? Better schools? Parks-Museum/Aquarium Bond? WTF is dat? Though Sarge would gladly pay anything that keeps Shedd going. I better find out where this line to protest is at.

I got the revaluation thing last year. I had NO clue what it meant. It didn't tell me what my new taxes would be. It was just a buncha numbers. Now Fung thinks he's as smart as any cookie out there, but he was just lost. Lost in those figgers. Now he's gotta pay 50% more. For the same ol' $#!+.

Listen to Fung complain. And it's not like he can't afford this increase. I just wonder how those who can't are coping. Because I can tell you I didn't budget for this. You can't budget for a 50% increase. And it sounds like others had even higher increases.

good morning haters (cont'd), or, Sarah Palin isn't not not dis-un-lying about not being a global warming non-denier

"A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. ... I'm not one, though, who would attribute it to being man-made." ("Why? Because I am a fucking moron, that's why."--ed.)

"When a species' habitat (in this case, sea ice) is declining due to climate change, but there are no discrete human activities that can be regulated or modified to effect change, what do you do?" (Stick your pea-brained head in the ground?--ed.)

"I'm not an Al Gore, doom-and-gloom environmentalist blaming the changes in our climate on human activity." (Hey, he's just trying to make a buck, and isn't that The American Way?--ed.)

"Show me where I have ever said that there's absolute proof that nothing that man has ever conducted or engaged in has had any effect or no effect on climate change... I have not said that."(Well, she's never lied before...--ed.)

That's So America (cont)

League bans 9-year-old pitcher because he's too good

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player — too good, it turns out.The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more.

"He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport.

"Noble acknowledged that Jericho had not beaned any batters in the co-ed league of 8- to 10-year-olds, but say parents expressed safety concerns.

"Facing that kind of speed" is frightening for beginning players, Noble said.

Now, Fung remembers back in the day when he first started playing cricket. Or Rugby. Or any other damned sport. Everybody was bigger than me. Sometimes you played someone and that ball came whizzing thru way faster than the guys we played last week. Or they were so much bigger that they just crushed you. Now, did we quit? No! We strove to make ourselves better. We didn't go and ask them to take that guy out coz he bowled too fast or crushed the phokk out of the ball.

This is why everybody's just gonna blow by us. This is why we are in decline. This is why we need to move to New Zealand.

whiners in the news

A lot of people are are focusing on stuff like interest rates and commodity costs... you know, I'm a big believer in G.U.T.S.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday in Congress that inflation was a mounting concern, particularly given the escalation in prices for crude oil, basic food items and other commodities.

But growth has also ebbed, and Bernanke yesterday deemed it a "significant challenge" balancing between steps that might support growth -- such as lowering interest rates -- and those that might control rising prices.

"The June uptick in the core rate provides an early indication that the tidal surge in energy and other commodity costs are trickling through to consumer prices at large," Kenneth Beauchemin, U.S. economist for Global Insight, said in a research note today.

The inflation trend as well as the outlook for economic growth means that the Fed will likely not hike interest rates until 2009, he said. "Indeed, the remote chance for financial disaster in the coming months keeps a rate cut on the table," Beauchemin said.

i dunno, but it's certainly the most whining i've ever heard...

Is this the worst economy in our lifetime?
For many Americans this feels like the worst economic crisis since at least the 1970s, and some leading investors are starting to say they may be right. “It is the most serious financial crisis of our lifetime,” says billionaire investor (tarrist-lovin', pinko-commie--ed.) George Soros.

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