Scorcher!!!!! 
It is still sweltering and the Sesquicentennial is going full blast. Mr. Howler had to go up to Prince William Hospital and he said this evening there was a fleet of ambulances bringing in the war wounded…from the heat. Many of the friends are in period dress. I asked him if Robert E. Lee was up there and he said, no, he wasn’t at first Manassas. Geez! So much for my attempt at humor.
JEB, Jackson and Mosby are all asleep still and enjoying the AC.
The Black velvet master is implying to his minions that it was he is who wrote the Prince William immigrant resolution. There are more authors for that thing than the Declaration of Independence. Move over Stirrup, Duecaster, Hethmon! Black Velvet is here. Didn’t he just slap Marty around for watering it down?
So which is it, Black Velvet Master?
Maybe he wasn’t talking about the illegal immigration resolution. Maybe he was talking about other policy initiatives that we don’t know anything about.
We have 30 bottles of water frozen for tomorrow. I can’t begin to imagine how those reenactors must feel in this heat. I feel like we’ve been in battle fighting this heat.
There will be a live blog of the reenactment. Thanks to Cindy for sharing this link.
http://www.northernvirginiamag.com/game-plan/2011/07/22/live-blog-battle-of-bull-run-reenactment/
Love that shot from the parade. Good choice, Moon.
I have a lot of respect for any re-enactor that showed up. Wool in this heat? Wow….
Beating the heat…..in a unique way….
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/07/beating-the-heat-st-louis-man-rides-motorcycle-in-mankini-to-keep-cool-video/
All I could think of was…”Dear God….watch out for loose gravel….”
@Lafayette
Thanks! May the force be with you.
Rumor has it that it was on the table for medicare to not kick in until age 67. Now who would get the political blame for that? Republicans or Obama? I think I smell a huge rat.
When would that have kicked in?
I believe the Medicare age would have phased in to age 67 – like SS has already done – over time – those close to 65 would not be affected.
sarcasm alert –
So, when they are short cash come August 2 (or sooner, or later) – what should not get paid. I vote for non-military FAA (a government agency that mostly helps private companies), non-military NOAA activities, non-military GPS. NPS – no reason to go to a federal park.
what about VA beneficiaries – staffing at VA Hospitals, VA Benefit check cutters, etc.
I would hope that the SS employees would be working to cut the checks.
A good area would be Medicare reimbursement folks, the Hospitals can still provide services, just not get reimbursed – almost painless.
Off sarcasm.
Ahhhh….NOAA during hurricane season!!! Makes perfect sense, Pat….oh oh sarcasm…snicker.
For real, let’s not pay the defense contractors. Let’s see how they like it. I know of too many employed there who wear a 3 corner hat. Plus they make big bucks. Let’s see how fast they protect their precious millionaires.
“My gut tells me that we’ll need a weekend of drama-
maybe a weekend of the government not paying its bills-
politicians now need drama to make something happen.
As soon as social security checks don’t go out, the politics
will change and the House will act.”
Judd Gregg
(Former Republican US Senator from NH)
MH, Check your 401K this weekend on the net — it will be the high water
mark for a long time no matter what happens now. The Tea Party zealots,
in their demand to protect extra tax breaks for the ultra rich, have
badly damaged the life savings of millions of average Americans.
Big Dog, I have written down amounts. I have a nice excel spreadsheet even. Race ya to the bottom???
I am furious. Here we go again. It is zealotry. And the debt ceiling has nothing to do with the actual budget. they are holding us all hostage.
“The default or down grade of our debt is a tax increase
on every American, and it means immediate higher cost.”
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)
Excellent find, Big Dog. Mark Warner is right on the mark, as usual.
That’s right. Blame the Tea Party for the damage to the markets. Don’t listen to the actual market people that state increased spending and more taxes are dragging down the economy. Don’t listen to the businessmen now coming out stating that Obama’s policies are the reason that business is waiting until he’s out of office to hire and grow. And these are businessmen that voted for Obama.
But you go ahead and believe that its the Tea Party thats doing it. That we want to protect the rich. Oh, I’m sorry, now its the ULTRA rich. Of course, all of the tax increases being presented are going to affect everyone. Like phasing out the home interest tax deduction. Like raising the SS age. etc, etc.
But go ahead. Live in you dream world. Ignore the fact that nothing the Democrats have done has had ANY positive effect.
And again, who gets paid is up to the executive branch. If the SS checks don’t go out…..its Obama’s fault.
Speakers and authors all day today and tomorrow at the Center for the Arts in Old Town. Inside. Air conditioned. Aaah.
http://media.center-for-the-arts.org/events/viewevent.aspx?id=7151
Cargo – Boehner voted for much of the spending – now he does not want to pay for the very spending he voted for – why should Obama take the blame for that?
Cargosquid,
Governing in the abstract is easy – making hard specific decisions
is the challenging part. The Tea Party thought they could finesse
the debt limit crisis to champion “cuts” while
sticking Obama with the task of picking what specific areas to actually
decrease. They appease their base, turn Obama’s against him,
and dance into the 2012 election. Despite the President moving
towards playing the role they assigned to him, the TP’s proved to be
far more interested in being zealots than pragmatic leaders
and blew up the deal.
Most recent polls show most Americans know who is at fault
— Tea Party Republicans.
( And the AARP will make damn sure seniors and families know who
pulled the plug on SS checks — Tea Party Republicans)
At Big Dog, Agreed. Your description pretty much describes the situation. And you are right about AARP.
Even the Fox News polls show that 47% of those responding blame the R’s. 30-something % blame the prez.
This situation is very damaging to the country both in reality and perception.
Let me add one more nail into the TP coffin. Many of them gave big fiscal conservative BS–when all awhile many of them were just the culture warrior crew in new clothing or perhaps I should say sheep’s clothing. They swooped in on people’s fears following the crash and fooled people who were scared or who perhaps were uneasy with the current administration for whatever reason. (we just won’t go there.)
Did he seem aroused when he said that?
OF COURSE the Tea Party is being blamed. Even when the President kills a deal because HE changes it at the last minute. You don’t think that his allies in the press are going to blame him, do you?
Of course, I’ve yet to see the any talk about the Gang of Six’s plan to raise taxes. The media has been silent about those details. So far, its only the Republicans willing to do their jobs. Where’s the Senate budget? Where’s Obama’s input?
Oh, that’s right….Democrats are afraid of actually spelling out their priorities. They can only criticize ours.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/07/christian-fundamentalist-charged-death-toll-norway-soar-past-90/40321/
A horrible nightmare.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families.
First reports that it was a muslim gang appear to be wrong.
Another lesson for us in not jumping to conclusions.
It’s a 32 year old Norwegian farmer. Supposedly a rightwing Christian.
Check BBC for real news. Ch. 107 on Verizon.
All this death in Norway and Amy Winehouse’s death is front page news on the radio? Feel for the girl and the addictions she wasn’t able to overcome, but really? Norway’s losses are huge.
I hope these guys big-ass at each other all weekend long and the market takes a header Monday morning. Lots of good stuff will be on sale if that happens. Remember folks, be greedy when others are fearful.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2084835,00.html
A Norwegian Timothy McViegh?
“The suspected killer behind Norway’s deadliest massacre since WWII
is a Norwegian gun enthusiast with a history of voicing
anti-immigration views.”
WSJ – 7-23-2011
Guy seemed to be a little confused. If you look at what he did and did not support, he was somewhat incoherent. An example….Norwegian hyper-nationalists are not often fond of Christianity. They typically regard Christians the same way they regard foreigners. He wasn’t totally whacked out like the Arizona nut-job, but his ideologies were not terrible cohesive.
No one wants the market to take a header. Most people aren’t in the position to have that happen, least of all the 401K people.
Rather than focusing on his idealogy or religion here’s some helpful information for my blogging friends brought to you by DHS/FEMA.
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is907.asp
IS-907 – Active Shooter: What You Can Do
It’s tragic that so many people – young ones at that – had to lose their life because of a nut job. It’s also tragic that in a country that “allows” for civilian gun ownership that not one victim was armed to engage the active shooter and try to take him out.
It really is tragic. All those teenagers running for their lives. It makes you want to lock your kids away. I am not sure we want to arm teenagers, marin. One of their attributes is being hot-headed if they are normal.
The ringmasters persuaded them that it was better to pull down the tent than compromise and now all the clowns that followed orders stand there watching the tent collapse on their heads as the ringmasters ride away with the till and the clowns contemplate why their pants are around their ankles. Except for the other religious extremest group the Taliban I’ve never seen such a premium on ignorance and faith.
Political blame might get tossed around on all sides….pushing SS and Medicare up in age is that long standing trend of the about the last 15 to 20 years to push retirement age up to 70. If you think back, much hallaballoo in the past about doing that – so concept has been do it in increments. Really grew out of the outgrow of “fixing” Medicare and payments since about 1990 when Congress started letting the issue just slide, and passed bills extending the status quo (but has come home to roost). Hence, add two years as an increment instead of five years. Nothing really new, just a point being hammered in the current debate.
Kicker of it is, right now in the given economy, both the young worker 18-25 demographic and the “older worker” (ages 50+ in the various studies) are the ones having trouble with employment. So talk of “retirement age” is kinda sorta goofy.
Medicare and social security have not jived for a few years. That ceiling is going to have to be incremental. There also should be options to buy in at a higher cost if one retires early.
The FDA wants to save the world. So asthmatic kids are going to die. Those inhalers put out SO MUCH pollution. I thought Obama wanted CHEAPER medicine. He even mentioned asthmatics specifically.
http://biggovernment.com/chorner/2011/07/22/breathless-fda-bans-asthma-medication/
Here’s three discussions on the debt/budget problem.
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/07/06/yes-virginia-there-is-a-revenue-problem/
http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2011/07/06/we-have-a-regulation-problem-not-a-revenue-problem/
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/07/07/do-we-really-have-a-revenue-problem/
@Moon-howler
I think it’d be more appropriate to say that the camp counselors and/or other parental supervision could’ve been armed OR as in the training link provided.. If enough people committed to taking the down the shooter (Arizona as an example) victims without firearms could’ve taken the shooter down.
Such a bad day for Norway. Just tragic and senseless. We can all do the after action but it’s just so sad.
Many of us don’t want to live our lives thinking like that, Marin. Norway has little violence. If you don’t live around violence, why would they even think that way?
..because thinking that a world doesn’t containe rapists, murderers, kid touchers, or senseless killers doesn’t get us it. We all need to be mentally and physically prepared to keep ourselves safe until help can arrive.
It’s really no different than saying, “Be prepared.”
I’d love to say we could live in a community where we don’t need to lock our doors or worry about walking to our cars at night. We don’t.
@marin, and most of us would reply that there is a happy medium. I also don’t want to have to walk around toting an AK-47 to ensure my safety. If I have to do that, then I probably need to move. It isn’t normal to have to be that obsessed with safety. No one is saying to stop being aware of your surroundings. However, there are just some things that one cannot prepare for.
Something like that could happen here…re island attack. I expect that help would arrive much faster than 90 minutes. However, again, the Norwegians aren’t used to violence. How do you prepare for a meteor to strike?
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/293833
“Virginia receives more federal spending per capita than any
other state except Alaska.”
A fact to remember.
http://www.vaco.org/LegislativeNews/LetterGovBudgetCuts71511.pdf
“There is simply no reason for the state to continue to rely on
local government to fund state mandates and responsibilities.”
Much of Virginia’s “surplus” state folks are applauding themselves for
comes from sticking it to localities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBoYYc1APr8
Manassas reenactments on a couple of morning TV shows today.
These reenactors are the same dorks who show up at conventions dressed as Batman or Darth Vader.
@Starry,
Actually they are living historians. Most of them know more about the Civil War than most history books. Most of them know every inch of a battlefield–even ones they have never visited.
Batman and Darth Vader are fiction. The Civil War wasn’t. I would consider it living out a hobby. Regardless, they certainly put their money where their mouth is this weekend in all this heat. They are keeping alive the history of this nation.
@Starryflights
You are off your rocker, dude! It’s hardly the same thing and you know it. Luckily, I have too much respect for the moderator to tell you what I’d really like to. What squirrel you are.
Yet another pearl of wisdom from the left.
@Slowpoke, actually, your comment is equally offensive as his is.
Only you would boil down reenactment to current politics.
Here, here, Moon! They would let you pick up anything they had if you wanted a picture of it, and they are indeed keeping our history alive. They are far better teachers of Civil War history than ANY teacher I ever had. I truly appreciate all that the reenactors do. They don’t just show up at a reeanactment and say let play soldier for a day. They practice and drill the same as any other military unit would.
Shame on you, Starry!
Most reenactors want to ‘sell’ their love of the subject, whether they are WWII reenactors (we don’t see too many of them around here.) or Civil War.
Most American history teachers try to get one in to talk to the class. It got less fun once the zero tolerance for weapons rules hit. Most reenactors just didn’t want to bother with the clearances one had to get to bring a weapon on school property. Most administrators didn’t either.
I think it is wonderful that people are willing to keep history alive. The Renaissance reenactors do a similar service.
@Moon-howler
Yet another pearl of wisdom from the xxxxx drive-by squirrel.
There. Fixed for him.
@Moon-howler
Are there WWII reenactors? Here? In Europe? In Japan?
As for bringing weapons to teach history – well, that’s going a bit too far.
It would be exciting, though, to have a tin-hatted WWI soldier with a
bayonetted rifle coming into a classroom.
Matter of fact – I don’t quite understand the fascination with the Civil War that killed
such a high number of men. How many died at Manassas, for example?
Have a Scotch and turn off Faux/MSDNC. Here’s what I think is about to happen – a brutal, head-fake selloff followed by a rip to new highs above S&P 1400. Here’s why:
1.) Stocks have traded within a 7% range since the start of the 2nd quarter. S&P 500 companies had a 60% EPS beat rate and a 67% revenue beat in the first quarter. Crappy unemployment reports and GDP reductions have kept a lid on the market, otherwise we’d already be trading above 1400.
2.) As of Friday we heard reports from 143 of the S&P 500 companies and we’re running at a 75% beat rate – much better than the 1st quarter so earnings are getting better, not worse.
3.) There’s a tremendous amount of liquidity floating about and historically this leads to a multiple expansion, and we haven’t seen that yet.
4.) The bond market sucks and there’s no opportunity to make money there. 20% of the S&P 500 yields more than the ten year note.
5.) 22% of the big corporate bond issuers have CDS spreads smaller than the U.S. Government, which means that institutions think more of Coca-Cola bond than treasury notes. J.P. Morgan says that corporates are the new sovereigns, which means much less extreme reactions over sovereign defaults/restructurings.
6.) Markets are going to freak out over every press conference between now and August 2nd but when that date comes and goes and people figure out that the Apocalypse hasn’t taken place there will be a mad scramble to get money off the sidelines. There’s also a GDP estimate on Friday which will be God-awful but good earnings will prevent a panic sell event from becoming a wipeout.
7.) There is no Hindenburg Omen on the clock. The Hindenburg Omen is a series of new high/low price points which indicate extreme divergence, and what we have right now is uniformity and compression. The HO has appeared before every panic selling event of the last 22 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_omen
The technicals just don’t support the case for a crash. I hear a lot of chicken littles likening this situation to Lehman but that happened when we were already in an established bear market and close to capitulation anyway. Apples and oranges. Yes I expect some short term turbulence but I’ll be going long and throwing deep in the face of that fear, punching my ticket for the express train to the land of 1000 bull dances. All these BS clouds blowing from the general direction of Washington are going to produce a good buying opportunity.
@cato, you should have said all this before I wished for your demise.
I hope you are right if it does do a mini crash. I have a little cash ready for a bargain.
@Punchak, I want to say about 5000. 3000 were union. That is a lot of soldiers. No wonder people think these battlefields are haunted.
I expect some have been stirred up.
@Moon-howler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOFAnpb8I3E
@punchak
Actually there are WWII re-enactors. Many appear at Military through the Ages at Jamestown.
They usually bring authentic vehicles and weapons, though those weapons are either non-functioning or unloaded, dependent upon the venue.
The re-enactors at the Blogger Gun shoot that I went to, aka Bullet Fest had working weapons, including machine guns, and anti-tank gun, and a Stuart tank. And yes, the tank gun worked. It shot a bus.
The weapons are just part of history. It was fascination to fire weapons that had actually been in a war. My daughter and I fired a submachine gun from WWII, the MP-40, aka the burp gun. I fired other machine guns from WWI. And a cannon from the Civil War. That bus was toast…..
The Republic is SAVED!
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/07/harry-reid-to-introduce-2-5-trillion-all-cuts-spending-plan-no-tax-hikes/
Senator Reid finally got his marching orders. President Obama wants to be re-elected so Reid is offering a deal that pushes the debt limit up until 2013. That way Obama doesn’t have to deal with inconvenient questions about spending limits during the campaign.
What made him do this? I believe someone made him an offer that he can’t refuse.
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=578866&p=1
Wynn is a MAJOR donor to Senator Reid……and he explains why business isn’t growing.
However, the devil is in the details. My understanding is that this plan probably has future cuts in exchange for a debt limit raise now. My instincts say that this is the best deal we’ll get. I’d love for Boehner to tell Reid to come back when he is willing to make actual cuts, but, I think, this is what he should take. And then we’ll use the promise of cuts to hold over their head. Its a different world now. The internet never forgets. People will remember this promise of cuts and hold the Democrats to them. And the Republicans.
Of course, this doesn’t REALLY accomplish anything. The Democrats are willing to collapse the system to further their agenda. And when we start going into default because of the debt…well…… we’ll see.
Here’s a little more on Wynn, Senator Reid’s main man…..
http://seekingalpha.com/article/279999-wynn-resorts-ceo-discusses-q2-2011-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=qanda
You guy think PWC has problems…
Take a look at this local government…..
http://www.wallsofthecity.net/2011/07/8868.html#comments
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/the-chart-that-should-accompany-all-
discussions-of-the-debt-ceiling/242484/
Interesting.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/the-chart-that-should-accompany-all-discussions-of-the-debt-ceiling/242484/
One more try – the article is on today’s Atlantic Magazine web site.
That chart isn’t fun. The Republicans can’t point fingers at Obama and say he is ‘blaming George Bush.’
Sarcasm button on.