This is good news?

It's good to hear that only 1% more of the US workforce got laid off last month. Apparently, not sucking as badly at the month before means that we are in recovery. At any rate, that is the spin that the politicians are putting on this.

If a guy is bleeding to death on the recovery table, and he has already lost a huge quantity of blood, and the bleeding rate slows to 1 liter per minute from 3 liters per minute, this is still not cause for rejoicing. The guy is going to die very soon unless the bleeding STOPS.

That is the situation for these economic numbers. Losing over half a million jobs in a month is horrendously bad. If you had thought is was going to be 620,000 jobs lost instead, you still don't have cause for rejoicing. Something really awful is going on.

Keep this in mind if you see anyone smiling too much and saying "What we are doing is working!" No, the panic button should still be firmly pushed down.

Shareholder Proposals en Masse

Who are Kenneth Steiner, William Steiner, Chris Rossi, Nick Rossi, and Emil Rossi?

The Steiners are both in New York, and William is apparently a millionaire in some kind of business or other. Kenneth is a close relative of his?

The Rossis are all in California, and I haven't found anything that they do.

They have become of interest to me, because I find their names on shareholder proposals in practically every company in which I have to vote proxy shares. And they are all proposals which would make the companies less profitable, and cause LESS reason for responsible management, even though they say they are going to create MORE responsible management.

Who are these people who (1) have so much time on their hands that they can write thousands and thousands of shareholder proposals, and (2) seem so opposed to the profits of their fellow shareholders, and (3) weren't even on the radar before this year? My guess is that they are all lawyers who work for unions like the AFL-CIO or the mob or both. But I am suspicious that way.

Any ideas?

Score!

I love stories with happy endings. Happy for everyone except the pirates, that is.

The ship which had been hijacked by pirates is freed after the crew fought back and threw the pirates into shark-infested waters. The captain, who was being held hostage in a separate boat, is now free, after Navy snipers shot all of his kidnappers simultaneously. That's awesome! :)

Seriously, pirates ought to be hanged at the yardarm without benefit of a trial. That has been the traditional punishment for them for the past two thousand years, and it is a good tradition. Merchant vessels, which currently sail unarmed due to US maritime law (and what idiot passed that law in the first place?), should be permitted to carry arms again. For heavens sake, handguns would help more than what sailors are currently permitted to carry!

Christus Surrectus Est!

Indeed He is risen!

Hallelujah! Happy Easter! May the year ahead be blessed for all, and may all our lives be renewed. :)

I love Easter...

Harold and Kumar Go to White House

I mean, in an administration that is already a joke, what is one more dope-smoking idiot in the mix? At least this one is funny.

But here you have it: Harold and Kumar Go to The White House.

I continue to be impressed by Mr. Obama's choices to fill the most important positions in this nation with those best qualified to do the job.

Lasers in the Jungle Somewhere.

This sort of thing makes me happy. Why? Because men like to blow stuff up. Or burn through them rapidly with really big lasers...

Presenting: the first REALLY BIG LASER!!!

Disarming Pilots?

So there is this story in the Washington Times about how the current administration is hampering the program where airline pilots can carry weapons. The program is a good one: pilots must take a gun safety training course so that they KNOW what they are doing if they need to use the gun inside an airplane; also, it provides a last line of defense in case of a hijacking of the airplane by some wacko.

There are a lot of wackos in this country, many of whom aren't Islamic terrorists. I'd still rather not have them hijack my airplane. Let us imagine the scenario: a paranoid schizophrenic manages to conceal a razor blade in his luggage. He kills the stewardess, there is no air marshal, and he breaks into the cockpit. Does it sound like it would be a good thing if he were able to kill the pilot and take over the controls of the plane? It doesn't sound good to me.

And what was the worry about the pilot? That he was going to use the gun to kill someone on the plane? The pilot is flying a multi-ton machine filled with highly flammable liquid 45,000 feet above the ground. If he wants to kill everyone on that plane, he can. The gun would be quite incidental.

What a stupid policy decision by this administration, one among many.