It's a Miracle!

Filthy Filner, the sex-addled mayor of San Diego, has left in-patient treatment for sex addiction a week early. It is truly amazing what modern psychiatry and counseling can do! 

townhall.com/tipsheet/danieldoherty/2013/08/10/no-way-mayor-filner-leaves-rehab-early-n1660997

After You Gaston

The Obamacare bill provided that Congress and the Feds had to be covered the same way as the rest of America. As the effective date of this monstrosity approaches, Congress began to retch and took a shot at exempting themselves but scorching public opinion made them drop the attempt. But wait - it's Super Obama to the rescue! That's right, the Executive Branch has now announced that the U.S. Gubmint will subsidize premiums for  members of Congress, their families, and staff up to $11,000/year. Sweet! They are technically covered by Obamacare so don't have to take political abuse over that, but don't have to pay for it - the best of all political worlds! It is time to throw all the bums out in D.C. 

townhall.com/columnists/billmurchison/2013/08/06/get-the-hook-n1656918

The E-Post

Thus far, Amazon's purchase of the Washington Post has attracted some notice but not a lot of analysis. Perhaps it is taking pundits a while to digest the implications of this move, which in itself in interesting because I think this is the start of a major revolution in the news business. 

Print journalism has been stale for a long time. It has unable to deal with the internet and consequently has hemorrhaged readers and revenues. Jeff Bezos and Amazon know the internet, however, and I fully expect the Post to morph into a news delivery vehicle not seen before. 

To generate real news stories takes reporters digging into information around the world. You can't do this sitting at home in your pajamas and merely opining. Reporters cost money, as does the rapid turnover of polished website material. I suspect the final product will look more like a net-version of CNN but with no talking heads and much more in-depth reporting with advertising and tracking cookies woven into the fabric like Amazon does with its own site. We'll see - the public still has to buy it, but Amazon has done fairly well in the commercial end. If Amazon can't do it, then I am not sure anybody can. 

Isn't that Special!

This headline caught my eye in this morning's Oregon Live - "Improved Economy Leads to Pay Increase for Oregon Politicians, State Workers." Well isn't that special! I mean, why would they want to lessen the load on the private sector and cultivate an economy that is actually growing in a healthy way? Yessir, tax cuts are right up there with TB, hurricanes and nuclear war. Reward yourself first - that's the ticket!

www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/08/improved_economy_leads_to_pay.html#incart_m-rpt-2

A Whimper Not a Bang

It's sad watching Alex Rodriguez's career end the way it is. The years in Seattle when he, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Randy Johnson led the Mariners into league championships were the most exciting baseball years in the Northwest. They were all tremendous natural talents and it's sad when a player like A-Rod decides to hit the Juice when there is the least sign that his talent is starting to slip. Welcome to the world of Big Money and what it can buy - men's souls. 

CIA Applies the Squeeze

Remember Benghazi? That's okay, at least half of America doesn't either. President Obama has labelled it a "phony" crisis, which begs the question why is the CIA going to such extraordinary measures to muzzle its people from testifying to Congress? 

Jake Tapper, formerly of ABC News and now at CNN, is a good reporter - one of the few in the MSM - and he broke a story yesterday that the Agency is flat out intimidating the 35 or so CIA employees who were at the annex in Benghazi when Ambassador Stevens and his bodyguards were killed. Initially a number of these people wanted to be subpoenaed to testify but have they have suddenly "gone dark" as the squeeze is applied. 

This is anything but a phony scandal and we still don't have a clear picture of what the Administration is trying to hide, but with these tactics we can reasonably conclude that it is big. As one possibility, Libyan intelligence has reputedly directly connected deposed Egyptian President Morsi with financing and high-level guidance of the plot to assassinate Ambassador Stevens. Since the Obama Administration was trying to prop Morsi up, it is more than a little inconvenient to have it come to light that he was trying to kill our people in other countries. We'll have to wait and see, but the truth however sordid will come out if good reporters like Tapper keep doing their job. 

townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/08/02/report-cia-using-unprecedented-polygraphing-to-keep-benghazi-secrets-n1654411

An Argument That Would Fool Only a Lawyer

And a California one at that. The lawyer for San Diego Mayor Filthy Filner said that had his client received sexual harassment training from the city, his client's hitting on everyone of the XX gender that entered City Hall might not have happened. And also BTW it might mean liability to the city for claims by the women who were hit upon by his client. 

But wait, apparently FF had a rep for this in Congress too. Should Congress have had such a program? Where did this guy's parents go wrong? Keep your hand off others' stuff is a lesson normally learned in kindergarten. But wait - if only kindergarten ...

www.cnn.com/2013/07/31/us/california-filner-scandal/index.html