Obambulating Obama...

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Obama,  "a restoration of honesty and decency and lawfulness in our government" (snigger) clearly part of the problem; most definitely NOT part of the solution. Clearly his horrendously rabble-rousing comments - apart from being part of the permanent protest - are intended to try to spark the stalling Democrats for the congressional mid-term elections in November but he has just put a massive target on his back. Oh, can I say that? Or is it still racist (last paragraph), despite being what anyone could say about anyone, when it's directed at Obama it must be racist.

Obambulating Obama...

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Obama,  "a restoration of honesty and decency and lawfulness in our government" (snigger) clearly part of the problem; most definitely NOT part of the solution. Clearly his horrendously rabble-rousing comments - apart from being part of the permanent protest - are intended to try to spark the stalling Democrats for the congressional mid-term elections in November but he has just put a massive target on his back. Oh, can I say that? Or is it still racist (last paragraph), despite being what anyone could say about anyone, when it's directed at Obama it must be racist.

Ozokerite or oozing oil...

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Bloodlands...

"Amid the hysterical counter claims from the ‘interim government’ in Kiev supported by $5bn dollars of American money which chased the duly democratically elected government out of town and now condemns as ‘criminal’ the people of Eastern Ukraine holding a referendum to democratically decide their future – there is a three letter word which is conspicuous by its absence. Can you guess what it is yet?" So writes Anna Raccoon with another excellent blog-post about The bitter legacy of the Western Ukraine and a dark sticky liquid oozing out over the plains: not blood but it could be given the history of the Bloodlands.

"Oh – and the responsibility of deciding which way to send the oil oozing from the ground – east to Russia, or west to Europe?"

The comments and the links in the comments are worth a read too: The Strangelove effect with Obama seeking a greater budget for nuclear weapons than during the Cold War and the sinister expansionism of the European Council. Have we been here before? East vs. West? Hopefully not; indeed who could imagine a repeat of the Worst of the Madness in a "region that experienced the worst of both Stalin’s and Hitler’s ideological madness" and "the site of most of the politically motivated killing in Europe... ...between 1933 and 1945, fourteen million people died there, not in combat but because someone made a deliberate decision to murder them."

Ozokerite or oozing oil...

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Bloodlands...

"Amid the hysterical counter claims from the ‘interim government’ in Kiev supported by $5bn dollars of American money which chased the duly democratically elected government out of town and now condemns as ‘criminal’ the people of Eastern Ukraine holding a referendum to democratically decide their future – there is a three letter word which is conspicuous by its absence. Can you guess what it is yet?" So writes Anna Raccoon with another excellent blog-post about The bitter legacy of the Western Ukraine and a dark sticky liquid oozing out over the plains: not blood but it could be given the history of the Bloodlands.

"Oh – and the responsibility of deciding which way to send the oil oozing from the ground – east to Russia, or west to Europe?"

The comments and the links in the comments are worth a read too: The Strangelove effect with Obama seeking a greater budget for nuclear weapons than during the Cold War and the sinister expansionism of the European Council. Have we been here before? East vs. West? Hopefully not; indeed who could imagine a repeat of the Worst of the Madness in a "region that experienced the worst of both Stalin’s and Hitler’s ideological madness" and "the site of most of the politically motivated killing in Europe... ...between 1933 and 1945, fourteen million people died there, not in combat but because someone made a deliberate decision to murder them."

Obama omnishambles II...

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Well, really it's part 600, or DC in Roman numerals. When it rains it pours: the scandal ridden remains of hope and change takes another dive. The BLS, (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) instead of being known as the Bureau Of Lies And Subterfuge will soon just be BS...and stinking to high heaven. The October 2012 pre-POTUS election jobs figures - roundly questioned at the time (but the 'conspiracy theorists' were shouted down) - was 'faked'.

"The decline - from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September - might not have been all it seemed. The numbers, according to a reliable source, were manipulated...And the Census Bureau, which does the unemployment survey, knew it."

[source NYP, hat-tip: Zero Hedge] The image, click to enlarge, 'The Strangest Number' (the data-set showing employment of workers in the 20-24 yrs old) was just one of the indicators back then that something was amiss.



Update 1:50 pm: of course back then there were one or two things that the electorate needed distracting from and lying about the recovery was a sure way to do that.

Obama omnishambles II...

---

Well, really it's part 600, or DC in Roman numerals. When it rains it pours: the scandal ridden remains of hope and change takes another dive. The BLS, (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) instead of being known as the Bureau Of Lies And Subterfuge will soon just be BS...and stinking to high heaven. The October 2012 pre-POTUS election jobs figures - roundly questioned at the time (but the 'conspiracy theorists' were shouted down) - was 'faked'.

"The decline - from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September - might not have been all it seemed. The numbers, according to a reliable source, were manipulated...And the Census Bureau, which does the unemployment survey, knew it."

[source NYP, hat-tip: Zero Hedge] The image, click to enlarge, 'The Strangest Number' (the data-set showing employment of workers in the 20-24 yrs old) was just one of the indicators back then that something was amiss.

Update 1:50 pm: of course back then there were one or two things that the electorate needed distracting from and lying about the recovery was a sure way to do that.

Oncoming obrogation II...

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Obama may be finally apologising (he'll be doing a whole lot more of that soon) for lies about medical insurance and the train-wreck that has been the 'Obamacare' roll-out but I think he may soon have more to worry about: Zero hedge has a post by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog with some startling facts and figures (all sourced) all about the gap between rich and poor, wealth imbalance etc in the US. Of course in the UK and elsewhere I am guessing similar things can be said but in the USA, as always, things seem so much more exacerbated.



Here is a couple that made me sit up:

• Nearly 40 percent of all American workers make less than $20,000 a year (before tax!). [US SSA]


• One out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or less. [Economist's View]

Now looking at the graph (left: click to enlarge) you'll see the UK, Canada, Ireland and Germany all with one out of every five workers in the low-wage bracket but you'll know - at least in the UK - our lower wage bracket (worked in relation to median wage) is higher: the US figure is 25% of all workers on the equivalent of our minimum wage (currently £6.31/hour).



Update: also yesterday: "Senate Democrats, hoping to move beyond the disastrous rollout of the new health care law, plan to pivot to legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage by nearly $3, to over $10 an hour."

Oncoming obrogation II...

---

Obama may be finally apologising (he'll be doing a whole lot more of that soon) for lies about medical insurance and the train-wreck that has been the 'Obamacare' roll-out but I think he may soon have more to worry about: Zero hedge has a post by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog with some startling facts and figures (all sourced) all about the gap between rich and poor, wealth imbalance etc in the US. Of course in the UK and elsewhere I am guessing similar things can be said but in the USA, as always, things seem so much more exacerbated.

Here is a couple that made me sit up:

• Nearly 40 percent of all American workers make less than $20,000 a year (before tax!). [US SSA]
• One out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or less. [Economist's View]

Now looking at the graph (left: click to enlarge) you'll see the UK, Canada, Ireland and Germany all with one out of every five workers in the low-wage bracket but you'll know - at least in the UK - our lower wage bracket (worked in relation to median wage) is higher: the US figure is 25% of all workers on the equivalent of our minimum wage (currently £6.31/hour).

Update: also yesterday: "Senate Democrats, hoping to move beyond the disastrous rollout of the new health care law, plan to pivot to legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage by nearly $3, to over $10 an hour."

Obama obdormition...

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My failure to know what's good for me had me watching the news again yesterday, only to start - within 30 seconds - shouting at the TV. As Cranmer so aptly puts it of Obama's Berlin speech: "Ich bin eine Katastrophe". Obama has form though (Jan, Feb); the more people say what a good speaker he is the more I cannot stand what he says or how he says it. Previously I've called it cringe-worthy pap and banal piffle, convinced his speech-writers are taking the piss; Nile Gardiner calls it "pure mush, another clichéd “citizens of the world” polemic with little substance." Most of the German press weren't much more impressed (scroll down to "German commentators on Thursday, however, seemed largely immune to the charm offensive".

Obama obdormition...

---

My failure to know what's good for me had me watching the news again yesterday, only to start - within 30 seconds - shouting at the TV. As Cranmer so aptly puts it of Obama's Berlin speech: "Ich bin eine Katastrophe". Obama has form though (Jan, Feb); the more people say what a good speaker he is the more I cannot stand what he says or how he says it. Previously I've called it cringe-worthy pap and banal piffle, convinced his speech-writers are taking the piss; Nile Gardiner calls it "pure mush, another clichéd “citizens of the world” polemic with little substance." Most of the German press weren't much more impressed (scroll down to "German commentators on Thursday, however, seemed largely immune to the charm offensive".

Obama obdormition...

---

My failure to know what's good for me had me watching the news again yesterday, only to start - within 30 seconds - shouting at the TV. As Cranmer so aptly puts it of Obama's Berlin speech: "Ich bin eine Katastrophe". Obama has form though (Jan, Feb); the more people say what a good speaker he is the more I cannot stand what he says or how he says it. Previously I've called it cringe-worthy pap and banal piffle, convinced his speech-writers are taking the piss; Nile Gardiner calls it "pure mush, another clichéd “citizens of the world” polemic with little substance." Most of the German press weren't much more impressed (scroll down to "German commentators on Thursday, however, seemed largely immune to the charm offensive".