Came across this little waste of tax money: Derek the Abstinence Clown. Yes...you read that right. Derek Dye was paid as part of the Abstinence Only program to promote abstinence. Here is a video of Derek at work:

Now, this guy is just awful. And on many blogs he gets a lot of crap for how bad he is. But I am cutting him some slack. His performance (no pun intended) isn't what I am going to rant about. I don't even know if he writes his own material. It sounds like something written by a committee. He may just be a well-meaning schlamiel trying to make a buck and probably sincerely trying to do right by kids. Probably this was the best he could do with what is pretty much lousy material.  read more »

In 2008 there was a massive shift in the electoral map and a rejection of failed Republican ideology. But it seems New York "Democrats" didn't get the memo. New York Democrats seem to be wetting themselves over the man who was the biggest individual donor to Tom DeLay's right wing extremist PAC: Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg may not be an insane right winger like Bush, but he WAS a major donor to the Bush Republicans and advocates a very similar "privatization" scheme that favors donors and sacrifices actual effective government. Closing down firehouses while showering developers with money, outsourcing pre-K enrollment to an inept company, creating a crisis for many parents, illegally imprisoning Democrats protesting the Republican Convention...the list of Bloomberg BS goes on. And for some reason we are seeing Democrats glom their lips on Bloomberg's posterior, almost fighting eachother to get in the wettest kiss.  read more »

Where is Osama bin Laden SEVEN YEARS after his 9/11 attack on my city? Same place he was seven years ago only stronger than ever.

Seven years.

Mr. Bush...what part of "Osama bin Laden determined to attack the US" didn't you understand?

And why haven't you stopped al-Qaeda and caught bin Laden? Seven years after Pearl Harbor we had decisively won the war and rebuilt and gotten our economy booming. Seven years after Pearl Harbor Hitler was dead and many of those responsible for atrocities brought to justice in an international court of law. Seven years after 9/11, where is Osama bin Laden?

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Are you better off than you were 8 years ago?

Unless you are CEO of Exxon/Mobil, Shell Oil or Halliburton, the answer is almost certainly a resounding "no!"

America is worse off than 8 years ago. We have the worst deficit in American history. We are experiencing inflation and stagnation. Prices are through the roof. Oil is at an all time high. Wheat is at an all time high. Don't know about you, but where I live even things like tomato sauce and cheese are sharply more expensive than I have ever seen them. In my neighborhood stores and restaurants close every day, hit by a double whammy of high real estate prices and sagging business. Hate crimes are up. Incomes are down. Job growth has been flat. Bankruptcies and defaults are becoming epidemic. Our infrastructure is failing.

America is worse off than it was 8 years ago. It is dramatically worse off.  read more »

Location

I used to love flying. I used to love airports. Well, the cost and increasing inconvenience have taken the fun out of flying in America. Only when flying overseas does my former love of flying come out because overseas the security is more sensible, the flights more comfortable, and the personnel more friendly.

What are we getting for our inconvenience and increasing costs? Supposedly increased security, but does it really make sense to force parents to pour out their child's milk or juice or to prevent parents from taking aquafor onto planes? Does this really make us safer?

A friend of mine in California flew back from a trip to Europe recently. She flew from her European destination through Paris, to a stopover in America and then home to Los Angeles. In her carryon was an unopened jar of Nutella. For those who don't know about this, it is a hazelnut spread that some Europeans love on toast. Obviously a threat to our national security.  read more »