Former President Bill Clinton went to the hospital today after suffering chest discomfort. After being checked out by his cardiologist he had a pair of stents put into one of his coronary arteries. I know precisely what he’s going through because that’s exactly what I went through almost a year ago. (I only got 1 stent but, otherwise, it was the same.)
I don’t wish this on anyone and I know the fear that no doubt gripped him. It’s not funny and it’s not something serious people smirk at to score political points, something I see happen over on the left side of the aisle all too often. I would urge any of my fellow conservatives to avoid making the mistake. Do the decent thing and wish the former Pres a speedy recovery and his family God’s peace of mind.
Get well soon, Mr. Clinton.
February 11th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
Politics |
2 comments
So, the federal stimulus dollars that are supposed to be going toward, you know, creating or saving jobs should be going toward actually making jobs, wouldn’t you think? And not, for example, buying iPods to give away to people for fulling out an on-line survey:
The school district is using the device to reward parents of children with disabilities who fill out a 10-minute online survey. The district wants to know how well it’s connecting with the parents and how to get parents involved in their children’s education.
The district is spending about $350,000 in federal stimulus money for the iPods.
Considering that school districts are already public entities that don’t actually generate revenue, why are school districts getting stimulus funds to begin with? Shouldn’t that be going toward things that actually stimulate job creation?
In any case, the only company being stimulated by the purchase of $35K in iPods is Apple and, frankly, they don’t need the help. The school district should be required to return that money.
February 11th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
Economy, Politics |
no comments
If this doesn’t tell you the Dems have their priorities screwed up, not much else is going to make an impression:
Two weeks ago, on a near party line vote, a huge Democratic majority in the House agreed to spend $50 million to buy the former cotton plantation on the island of St. Croix.
“This is a beautiful and important natural and cultural resource that is in danger of being lost forever,” Virgin Island delegate, Donna Christiansen, told House colleagues in January.
“The site to be designated as the Castle Nugent National Historic Park continues to be heralded as one of the last pristine areas in the region.”
The mixture of dry forest and rangeland offers picturesque views of the Caribbean Sea, but good luck getting there. Critics in Congress say the purchase is wasteful and irresponsible, especially with unemployment at 10 percent and the nation in debt.
“Now is not the time to spend up to $50 million dollars of the taxpayers’ money to buy nearly 3,000 acres of beachfront property on a Caribbean Island,” said Rep. Doc Hastings, (R-Wash.), ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee. “We can’t afford a price tag for a new park in St Croix, just as many Americans will never be able to afford a visit there.”
Democrats approved the purchase, even though the National Park Service has yet to complete a study on the purchase.
“We don’t have the money to do this,” said Rep Jason Chaffetz, (R – Utah). “Currently the National Park Service has an estimated $9 billion in backlog maintenance on existing parks. Why should the people of Iowa, Rhode Island or California or Utah have to continue to pay and supplement the people there on St Croix for this property?”
Emphasis mine. Now let me get this right: a cotton plantation is a “beautiful and important natural and cultural resource”? Why? We have dozens of former cotton plantations right here in the US, quite accessible to the American people without plopping down $400 per person for the airfare. (And that’s a fairly advance purchase, I might add. Want to go quickly? Double that.) As far as a natural resource goes, I have no doubts it’s beautiful. It’s on St. Croix, for cryin’ out loud. But aside from it being on a Caribbean island what’s so special about the environment? It’s dry forest and rangeland. We’ve got thousands of square miles of that, again, right here.
The most critical point of all of this is the simple one: we don’t have the money. We don’t have the money, apparently, to take care of the parks we already have, hence the $9 billion backlog in park maintenance. It is absolutely irresponsible to pay out tens of millions of dollars to add to that burden and most especially for “parkland” the vast, vast majority of Americans will never have a chance to see. The article speaks of the current owners’ desire to sell the land to the government to keep it from being developed. Hey, no one is forcing them to develop their land. They can stop that right now and permanently simply by saying “no” to anyone who comes to their door with the plans for a new resort.
The Democrats who voted for this are the same people now telling you that they need to have more of your money and are busily raising their own credit limits. They tell you they’re the people that should be entrusted with stewardship of the country’s financial systems, production systems, energy systems, and health care systems. But then they pull stunts like this one. They’re teenagers let loose in the shopping mall with credit cards and they’re buying any shiny bauble that catches their eyes. Fortunately, the Senate isn’t under their complete control any more so there’s a chance this boondoggle with meet a swift end.
February 11th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
Economy, Politics |
5 comments
Well, yesterday’s accumulation made it official: the winter of 2009-2010 is the current holder of record regarding the most snowfall in a season for the DC area, from Dulles Airport through DC and up to Baltimore.
The National Weather Service Baltimore set a new record, with 79.9 inches at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. That’s the most since record-keeping began in Baltimore in 1893. The previous record, from 1995-96, was 62.5 inches.
Meanwhile, Washington also reached a seasonal snowfall record on Wednesday. Ten more inches fell at Reagan National, putting the total at 55.9 inches. That’s one 1.5 inches more than the previous record from the 1898-99 season.
Washington Dulles International Airport, broke its seasonal snowfall record on Tuesday, with 75 inches. The previous record of 61.9 inches was set in the 1995-96 season.
And being that I’m closer to Dulles than to any of the other locations mentioned, you can correctly assume that the snowfalls at Le Chateau HoodaThunk? are coming in closer to the 75 inch mark than to DC’s 56 inches. Of course, we must also keep in mind that winter ain’t over yet. The long-range weather forecasts are calling for “snow showers” on Monday. That’s usually snowfall of a much lesser magnitude than what we’ve experienced this week but we’re all a little jumpy at the moment. For now, I’m going to enjoy the sunshine coming down and hope that it helps melt off some of the stuff on the house and driveway.
And the roads, please. Definitely the roads.
Update: BY the way, the folks over at WTOP News’ weather desk thought it would be interesting to see how our winter totals are stacking up to some other cities’ totals for this winter and picked a selection of places considered snowier than the norm. Here’s what they found:
- Chicago: 45.1”
- Detroit: 27.5”
- Minneapolis: 38.1″
- Boston: 30.1”
- Bangor 5.5”
- Fargo, ND: 46.0”
Putting it bluntly: we’re kickin’ their asses. Of course, this is a competition I’d love to be losing…
February 11th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
Environment, Human Interest |
one comment
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