Kiss the NNSA good bye

MoonHowler

 

 

From Wikipedia:

The United States National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is part of the United States Department of Energy. It works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy. The NNSA also maintains and improves the safety, reliability, and performance of the United States nuclear weapons stockpile, including the ability to design, produce, and test, in order to meet national security requirements.

Basically these are the guys that go in to countries and obtain the most dangerous material in the world. The Peace SEALS, as it were.

The National Nuclear Security Administrations was created by Congressional action in 1999,[2] in the wake of the Wen Ho Lee spy scandal and other allegations that lax administration by the Department of Energy had resulted in the loss of U.S. nuclear secrets to China.[3] Originally proposed to be an independent agency, NNSA gained the reluctant support of the Clinton Administration only after it was instead chartered as a sub-agency within the Department of Energy, to be headed by an Administrator reporting to the Secretary of Energy.[4] The first NNSA Administrator appointed was Air Force General (and CIA Deputy Directory) John A. Gordon.[5]

NNSA has four missions with regard to National Security:

  • To manage the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.
  • To reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction and to promote international nuclear safety and nonproliferation.
  • To provide the United States Navy with safe, militarily effective nuclear propulsion plants and to ensure the safe and reliable operation of those plants.
  • To support United States leadership in science and technology

Read More

Christine O’Donnell acts the ‘Troublemaker’ on Piers Morgan

MoonHowler

Christine O’Donnell acted  the “Troublemaker” during her short interview on the Piers Morgan Show Wednesday night..  The interview was short because O’Donnell refused to answer his questions and ended the interview, stating that he was rude and that she wanted to talk about what she wanted to talk about.

The topic Christine O’Donnell didn’t want to discuss was about gay marriage.  Piers Morgan said that the topic was in her book and was obviously taken aback when she accused him of being rude. 

Read More

Open Thread……………………………………..Wednesday, August 17

MoonHowler

 

The last sounds and sights of summer are almost on us.  There is almost something bittersweet about  the end of yet another summer.  On the other hand, kids will be back in school, air conditioning bills will drift back to normal, and there is still another month of fresh vegetables.  Anything new at the farmers’ market these days?  The City has been quiet since the Sesquicentennial.  Are you guys still over there?  Updates?  Big Dog?  Cindy?  Steve? Andy?

Tea Partiers accost president

MoonHowler

This dude’s name is Ryan Rhodes. He’s lucky he didn’t find himself face down on the hay bale, sucking straw, with a secret service officer on either side.

He was rude. There is a protocol for speaking to the president. It is based on years of tradition and custom. The woman on Ryan’s left was just as bad. Real patriots honor our traditions.

Additionally, they were stretching the truth. Saying that someone took something hostage is not calling them a terrorist. There is too much of that illogical thinking going around these days. Vice President Biden was not the offending party. Bottom line, it was wrong. It was the equivalent of the reporter throwing the shoe at President Bush. Totally unacceptable.  This might be 15 minutes of fame he does not want.

Michele Bachmann Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog with the facts

MoonHowler

Poor Michele. She tries so hard and is “All Shook Up.”  She needs to fire her fact checking staff. She is living proof that “Fools Rush In.” Elvis’s birthday was January 8, 1935. He died August 16, 1977. Oh Michele, “Don’t Be Cruel! ”  You just confused the first hello with ” The Last Farewell.”  This was definitely not the day to wish The King a happy birthday. 

It’s better to make these gaffes after the primary. Then only one set of political enemies make fun of you. Now both Democrats and Republicans will have a field day at Bachmann’s expense.  I expect that Michele will want to “Make the World Go Away” after the ribbing she will get from this one.  She and her Blue Suede Shoes had better stay out of the south. 

So poor Elvis is the Honky Tonk Angel rather than the birthday boy.  Better luck next time, Michele.  And fire your fact checkers.  You will thank me later.

Rick Perry speaks ill of the Fed

MoonHowler

Rick Perry arrives in Iowa and immediately stepped in it by speaking ill of the Fed, an independent, non-political agency.  He continued his offensiveness by suggesting that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke would be treasonous if he printed more money.  He furthered his comments by saying:

“If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y’all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treasonous in my opinion.”

Eeeewwwwwww….Rick Perry.  Just swagger that smart-ass mouth right on back down to Texas.  He must have had one too many corn dogs once he got off the plane to start up talk like that.   Mr. Shock Jock himself needs to learn that stuff doesn’t fly once he leaves Texas. 

Perry didn’t stop there.  He went on to say he’s running to restore military ‘respect’ for the presidency.  He should know better, as a veteran, that one doesn’t speak ill of the commander in chief while uniform.  There are clear rules about that sort of thing, speaking of treason. 

Stewart claims Ron Paul treated like 13th floor in a hotel

MoonHowler

Jon Stewart blasts the media for leaving out #2 guy in the straw poll–Ron Paul.  He got just a couple hundred votes less than Michele Bachmann who has dominated the media attention. 

Stewart says he is being treated like the 13th floor in a hotel.  According to Stewart, Ron Paul is the real deal and he is being ignored.  Watch as Jon Stewart proves his point.

Amoeba infection caused boy’s death

MoonHowler

A nine year old boy has died of  an infection caused by amoebas    according to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Her [Dr. Keri Hall]  department received results from an autopsy Friday that confirmed the cause of death as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, which is caused by Naegleria fowleri. She said the amoebas, which swim up the nose and enter the brain, live in freshwater bodies around the world.

Hall’s department has not tested area lakes, ponds and rivers where Christian spent time with a fishing camp the week before his death. Her department will “probably” do testing at various ponds and lakes in the region, but she said she doesn’t know when the tests will be conducted and doesn’t expect the sampling to be “particularly helpful.”

The amoebas are particularly prevalent in shallow, still water during warm weather. But since Christian died, temperatures have dropped, and the amoeba population likely has fallen off as a result, Hall said.

The parents said that the child had attended a fishing camp for children.  The Virginia Health Department might not ever learn where the child picked up the fatal amoeba.  The department advises against swimming in ponds and lakes or anywhere the water is not moving. 

Read More

Greg Letiecq distorts the truth again and spreads misinformation

Elena

 

In a failed attempt to paint me as a liberal open borders advocate, Greg Letiecq, blog owner of BVBL.net, has made quite a laundry list of incendiary charges against me in order to deflect voter attention away from    the important issues of the upcoming primary on August 23.   His ad hominem  attack  on me attempted  to turn the focus off the importance of signing the Rural Crescent pledge and on to other issues. 

 This deflection becomes obvious  when one realizes his candidate of choice,  Peter Candland, did not sign the pledge and is one of only two candidates in the Gainesville Magisterial District who did not commit to the tenants of the comprehensive plan.   Letiecq’s weak efforts  to  intimidate those candidates who did sign the commitment to guard the Rural Crescent will not go unchallenged.  Greg also wants  to down-play the fact that Chairman Corey Stewart not only signed the pledge in the past but also violated it.  Therefore he was intentionally excluded from an opporunity to reaffirm his commitment. 

Please allow me to provide background information on Advocates for the Rural Crescent.   Advocates for the Rural Crescent  (ARC) was started in a small community in Haymarket.  Dominion Valley subdivision had proposed to put their water tank in the Rural Crescent rather than on their property.   Thunder Oak community fought the water tank proposal because  the water tank was intended to serve Dominion Valley    and not any homes  in the Rural Crescent.    Irving Spitzberg, the founder of ARC, asked if I would be willing to take over the leadership role of the organization.  I happily said yes because I felt it was one of the most important issues I could support as a resident of PWC.  

Read More

Warren Buffett: Stop Coddling the Super Rich

MoonHowler

 

New York Times

Op Ed

OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.

While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

Read More

Teenager killed by Mexican vampire bat

MoonHowler

  • WARNING:  Video is very graphic.

    Huffingtonpost.com:

    U.S. health authorities have announced the first death by a vampire bat in the United States.

    According to the AFP, on July 15, 2010, a 19-year-old man was bitten by a vampire bat in Michoacan, Mexico. Ten days later, the migrant farm worker left for the U.S. to pick sugar cane at a Louisiana plantation. He fell sick, presenting symptoms of fatigue, shoulder pain, numbness in his left hand and a drooping left eye.

    Tests later confirmed that the teenager had rabies.  There is no cure for rabies and the youth died within days after his family took him off life support.  The only time rabies can be stopped is before the onset of symptos.  This is the first human death from vampire bat rabies in the United States.  To date, no vampire bats exist in the United States. According to the CDC:

     “Although vampire bats currently are found only in Latin America, research suggests that the range of these bats might be expanding as a result of changes in climate. Expansion of vampire bats into the United States likely would lead to increased bat exposures to both humans and animals (including domestic livestock and wildlife species) and substantially alter rabies virus dynamics and ecology in the southern United States.”

    Read More

    • Bachmann: Straw Poll Queen

    MoonHowler

    It’s official.    Michele Bachmann has won the straw poll by a landslide.  That should make her the Republican candidate to take on the  Prez, right?  No.  There are miles to go before Republicans can sleep.  The Iowa dust up is but one of many. 

    New faces will emerge on the scene.  Governor Rick Perry of Texas announced his candidacy Saturday afternoon.  Sarah Palin is still teasing her audiences.  Some of the folks in Iowa didn’t participate in the straw vote. 

    Then there is the question of Bachmann as a mainstream candidate in a general election.  Could enough Republicans get behind Michele “Default is Ok” Bachmann to carry the standard for her party?  I can’t see the business Republicans  thinking her notions about default and the economy are valid for any candidate. 

    The one thing I will defend Bachmann on, even though I think she is weird, is that she works hard and has done her homework.  People like Perry and maybe Palin will try to jump in line without doing all the work that Bachmann has done.  No one likes a line cutter.  Hopefully Bachmann will renounce those who haven’t put in the time, energy and hard work she has if they try to cut in front of her. 

    “Morning Joe” Scarborough goes on a rant

    MoonHowler

    “Morning Joe” Scarborough went on a rant over Michele Bachmann on Friday morning.  The panel, which included guest Michael Steele were discussing the debate.  Finally Joe just let it all hang out and unleashed an angry monologue  which was quoted in Huffingtonpost.com:

    “Michele Bachmann’s first answer was, I wish the federal government had defaulted. Had defaulted! A week after Americans lost–some of them perhaps lost half of their pensions. Lost half of their 401ks. When trillions of dollars went down the drain with Americans suffering, she said that and got applause, and if anybody thinks that guys like my dad are going to be voting that way…they are out of their mind and they are too stupid not only to prognosticate, they are too stupid to run Slurpee machines in Des Moines…Michele Bachmann is a joke. She is a joke. Her answer is a joke. Her candidacy is a joke…Iowa, if you let her win, you prove your irrelevance once again.”

    “Tell us how you really feel,” panelist Michael Steele joked.

    Scarborough went on to explain his rage:

    Bachmann, he said, was symbolic of a kind of “conspiracy” that always happens in the early stages of presidential elections, where the base of the party pushes “somebody that is never going to win.” This, he said, allows the media to “run articles on these people on the far right and point for a year about ‘look how whacked out the Republican party is.'”

    Read More