Great the F-35 is a Piece of Crap: That sound you heard was the Ruskies and Red Chinese licking their Chops

It might be another case of the Sherman tank vs. the Tiger tank.

We’ve heard of significant shortcomings before with the fighter jet that’s supposed to be America’s future, but this is just as bad as it gets. The F-35 performed so dismally in a dogfight, that the test pilot remarked that the it had pretty much no place fighting other aircraft within visual range.

And it’s even worse than a mere maneuverability issue. At one point, the pilot’s helmet was so big he couldn’t even turn his head inside the cockpit.

Wait, What? Red Chinese Might Come to Greek Aid? #grexit

I guess Red China could just buy the whole of their debt and annex it if they wanted to.

Premier Li Keqiang, in Europe on a day when financial markets took fright that Greece might leave the euro, said China and the world wanted to see Athens remain in the currency area and that China would continue to buy euro zone debt.

Following his first summit with top EU officials, Li declined to say whether Beijing could come to Greece's aid with loans, but commented: "China is ready to play a constructive role." 

They could pretty much monetize all of the Greece's debt and make them Far Western China with their walking-around money if they wanted to. It still boggles my mind that all this capital destruction of the past few days is over several billion in bailout money. I mean Apple could conceivably bail out Greece if they wanted to with just a small hit to their cash hoard.

Trump Losing Friends Fast Because of his Immigrant Bashing: NBC Runs Away as fast as possible #DumpTrump

Well I'm glad people are running away from this idiot.

NBC is ending its long relationship with Donald Trump in the wake of the presidential hopeful’s recent comments about Mexican immigrants.

NBC said it will no longer carry the Trump-produced Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. Nor will he return to host “Celebrity Apprentice.”

“Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump,” NBC said in a statement. “’Celebrity Apprentice’ is licensed from Mark Burnett’s United Artists Media Group and that relationship will continue.”

Yeah calling people coming over the border rapists can do that for someone. I'm glad his bombastic comments are finally coming back to haunt him. I think running for President is going to be quite a big mistake for the Donald. 

Sarah Palin out at Fox News: Maybe our Long National Nightmare has Finally Come to an End

Maybe she will be relegated to the dust bin of history at long last.

Fox News, which helped the polarizing former Alaska governor remain in the spotlight as a regular contributor after Sen. John McCain's (and his running mate's) defeat in the 2008 presidential election, did not renew Mrs. Palin's contract, Politico's Mike Allen first reported. Her exit brings an end to a cable staple conservatives have loved and liberals have loved to hate.

I'm just glad her annoying voice will not have a place to spout off about nonsense anymore. Whenever I saw her on Fox News I immediately changed the channel. Now she will still hang around at conservative forums and such because she is still a draw for whatever reason. However, she will reduced to a sound bite which will be fine with me.

New Term: Social Media Speed; the Confederate Flag Ban Version

Now this is change that is strait-up stunning.

Prominent U.S. flag makers said on Tuesday they will stop manufacturing and selling Confederate battle flags in the wake of last week's attack on worshipers at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Reggie VandenBosch, vice president of sales at the privately owned Valley Forge Flag, said the Pennsylvania-based company came to the decision as pressure grew on South Carolina to remove the banner from outside the State House in Columbia. 

You add to this the fact that Amazon, Sears, Wal-Mart, and EBay have taken all their confederate flag merchandise off the shelves at once. The S. Carolina legislature will probably end up sending the flag to a museum soon and other legislatures will probably be pressured into it. This all happened in 5 days. 

You have to hand all of this to Twitter and Facebook. The gap between event and action has moved at lightning speed. What is bad though is that the next event will turn everyone's heads and nothing long term will be done. You can ban the Stars-and-bars as a feel good measure but mental health as not been addressed. Even a background check might not have caught this latest psycho-killer. In any case change happens so fast nowadays it really is a marvel to watch.

KFC Tender Not a Rat just Weird Piece of Chicken

I figured it wasn't a rat.

KFC tells ABC News that last week “the customer’s attorney turned over the product in question for testing at an independent lab, and the results officially confirmed what KFC knew all along — the product was chicken and not a rat as he claimed.”

Well at least they guy turned it over so it could be tested. KFC had a tough time trying to get any kind of statement from the guy earlier.

Wait de Blasio is Sending Cops with Desk Jobs into the the Worst Precincts? Could it be Revenge for Turning their backs on Him?

Wow, this guy needs some referendum and recall directed toward him.

Many of the All Out cops have been working desk jobs for a decade or more, so everyone underwent a two-day refresher course to get them familiar with the violence – and crime – plagued neighborhoods they have to patrol.

The crash course wasn’t nearly enough to prepare the cops for the dangers of facing down perps emboldened by de Blasio’s crackdown on stop-and-frisk and his anti-police rhetoric, sources said.

So de Blasio ramps up the criminal element by disrespecting the cops and shutting down stop-and-frisk then he sends guys that have earned a desk job right to the wolves? I mean these desk job cops worked a beat when they were young men and have earned the desk job and easier time of things. Instead they are pushed onto the streets because I guess there is a shortage of cops or something.

I guess this must be de Blasio's way of revenge for turning their backs on him at public funerals and such. Someone needs to match up a list of the back-turners and a list of the desk job cops being put onto the street. They might match up.

Hmm Lester Holt at Nightly News Might Be Something Worth Watching

I kind of like the emphasis on technology and the new media.

As audiences change habits to accommodate the rise of streaming video and mobile devices, Holt sees opportunity to try new things and experiment with ways to deliver information. He has taken to Facebook to interview correspondents, and experimented with Periscope, the live-streaming video app, on set. “We are still feeling it out,” he said. “I want people to know me a little more in ways that I can’t always express in a half-hour broadcast. That’s the direction I think we are all going in.” He also expects “NBC Nightly News” to emphasize coverage of technology and Silicon Valley, and wants to make regular trips to anchor the broadcast from California.

Sounds like a way to make the news more contemporary like Jimmy Fallon does for the Tonight Show. I'll see how it goes.

I Like Ran Pauls Tax Plan. You mean lower income Americans will Pay Zero Taxes?

This plan needs to be seriously looked into.

So taxpayers at the bottom would already pay much less than 14.5%. But because Paul would repeal the payroll tax, keep the earned income tax credit and grant an income tax exemption Gleckman calls generous, bottom-rung taxpayers “would pay an average effective federal tax rate of close to zero, or perhaps even below zero,” Gleckman writes. 

Sounds good. That amounts to a raise for every American if they repeal the payroll tax. Most people will get like a $1000 or more a year extra that they can spend on something productive.
This part is hilarious though

Paul’s plan would come at a cost — The Tax Foundation projects it would increase the deficit by between $1 trillion and $3 trillion over a decade.  

This of course ignores the growth from people spending more on something that they need instead of giving their money to Washington so that Capitol Hill fat cats can waste it. I never understood the idea that people freak out when the Government gets less tax money. That means that people are keeping more of their pay and that should be a good thing. Especially if those people are lower income because they spend a larger percentage of their take-home pay.

The Clippers New Logo: Hmm, I kind of Like It.

It seems the logo is being taken apart in social media.


It does look a little like a logo for a tech firm or something but I kind of like it. The red and blue have a nice contrast to one another and you can see it clearly. I like the block letters and the red and blue lines as well. The whole effect seems pretty modern and clean. 

Brian Williams Demoted to MSNBC: Maybe they Should Give him a Bill O'reilly-Like Show before Maddow

It seems that Brian Williams will be tossed to MSNBC.

Williams, who served as the anchor of NBC’s flagship evening news program from 2004 to February of 2015 before being suspended for reporting exaggerations, will contribute across MSNBC programming covering breaking news, adding to the network’s hard news pivot over the last year away from pure opinion programming.

They could make it a mix of late breaking news and opinion followed by celebrity interviews. Maybe Williams can ask some of the celebs about the news of the day. It would be interesting to watch Ben Affleck one day and then Angela Merkel the next. I would actually watch such a show as my "echo-chamber breaker" now that Jon Stewart is leaving the Daily Show.

Obama Again Thought he Could get the Trade Deal Done by Just Showing Up on Capital Hill

He really think he is some godlike figure to the Dems or something.

It appears that Friday’s visit from Obama — when he talked to House Democrats for about 45 minutes, taking no questions and telling members who opposed the trade deal (which clearly was a majority of them) that they were wrong — was the last straw. Pelosi took to the floor to say she would vote against Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), a top party priority, in order to prevent the larger deal from going through. The Senate, led by Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, had paired the TAA bill with the more controversial fast-track trade legislation in order to gain Democratic votes. With Pelosi’s announcement, the whole tenuous deal fell apart. 

He has such an ego on him. He actually thought that a 45 minute visit to talk with people that have opposed a trade deal for years could get them to change their minds. I mean he didn't even take any questions or try to sooth their concerns. It is strange that LBJ (the consummate Congress bending President) and this guy are from the same party.

Facebook Comments on McKinney, Texas Pool Party Claims yet Another Job #DeleteYourFacebook

Well that didn't take long for another person to lose their job over comments on what happened at that now infamous pool party.

Yesterday, a teacher from McKinney got axed from her position for posting a racially inflammatory rant about Officer Eric Casebolt’s resignation on her personal Facebook page — hotly defending his actions and referring to African-Americans as “having no education” and “the ones causing the problem” when it comes to racial tension.

“This makes me ANGRY! This officer should not have to resign,” wrote Karen Fitzgibbons, formerly a fourth-grade teacher at Bennett Elementary School in McKinney, on her Facebook page on Tuesday, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. The page has since been deleted.

She worked there for 16 years and after one Facebook post she was fired. What she said was incendiary but you figure that the school board would go to bat for her after she apologized. Instead she was fired without any further ado.  One post and she will probably never teach again.

I have to say if you are a school teacher, a principal, or professor delete your Facebook right now or it might be used against you in the court of public opinion. Maybe in the same vein it would be a good idea to totally ignore anything about race and keep your head down.

Oh Woe is Ted Cruz, Maybe he Should Drop out of the Race and Do Something Else #CruzisanIdiot

Poor Ted Cruz maybe the he just isn't cut out to be President. This is what is happening to him according to his shill for money missive.

Time with my family “Spending almost every day on the campaign trail or fighting on the Senate floor means precious little time spent with my wife, Heidi, and my daughters -- the very family that gives me the motivation and drive to fight.”

Health and sleep: “My runoff campaign for the Senate in 2012 took a toll, but now I'm sacrificing even more sleep with long nights and constant travel. And the pizza diet is a staple on the campaign trail.”

Finances: “The cost of campaigning back and forth across the country for president is increasingly expensive, but Heidi and I are willing to invest our livelihoods into this sacrifice.

Personal time: “You think of this the least, but as a candidate, my days are no longer my own. Days start before dawn and many times don't end until early the next morning. There is almost no personal time when you run for president.”

“I've chosen to sacrifice part of mine and my families (sic) lives to run for President -- but I think you will agree with me that the sacrifice is well worth it.”

I don't think it is. I think he should abandon the race so he has more personal time, doesn't have to get up at dawn, and can spend time with the wife and kids. He ran the good fight in the three months he has been a nominee. I mean it can only get worse from here. Imagine how little personal time he will have when by some disaster he becomes President? That is like a full time job.

Contrary to author Lee Siegel It is a Terrible Idea to Default on your Federal Student Loans

According to this article it sounds awful if you decide to default on your loans.

According to Jarvis, if you decide one day to stop paying your federal student loans, after 270 days the loan will default, at which point the government will start garnishing your wages, seizing tax refunds, and intercepting government benefits (like social security) without a court order. The government may also sue if they think it will give them access to your assets.

"They can and do — literally do — pursue debtors to their graves," Jarvis said.

Jarvis says defaulting on your student loans can also affect your credit and hurt your chances of qualifying for mortgages and loans down the road. She does note that the government cannot put you in jail for owing debt. 

In other words the Feds can blow up your financial profile if you default on this debt. What is especially galling is that they are charging above market interest rates on student loans and reaping billions in profit. For a masters degree the Feds charge 5.84% interest while the bank charges 4.12% for a 30 year fixed mortgage. Plus with the low interest rate policy it is very difficult to make 5.84% on your money in anything but stocks. You add this to the incredibly low yearly income gain and you have a recipe for student loans following people to their graves.

Obama Done in By Democrats on "Fast-Track" Trade Deals

It seems that Obama cannot win even when it comes to his own party.

In a 126-302 vote Friday, Democrats helped reject a displaced workers’ aid program they usually support that was needed to proceed to a final vote on fast-track authority. The House quickly passed, 219-211, the fast-track bill though it won’t go to Obama’s desk unless the worker aid bill also passes.

This looked to be low hanging fruit that could go a long way toward some kind of legacy. It seems that Pelosi just doesn't want that to happen. I guess he still has the idea of a nuclear Iran to push forward instead.

Yet Another Reason to Not Have Facebook: School Principal Fired Over Supporting Texas police officer that Bodyslammed Girl

This is yet another reason to get rid of social media if you have any sort of prominent position.

The Miami Herald newspaper on Wednesday reported that Iber had posted a comment on an article published on its website supportive of McKinney, Texas police Corporal Eric Casebolt.

"He did nothing wrong," Iber wrote in a comment that displayed his Facebook picture, name, school and title, according to the newspaper. "He was afraid for his life. I commend him for his actions."

Casebolt, who is white, resigned on Tuesday after being seen in a video responding to a disturbance at a pool party last Friday where he appeared to target black youths, an incident that has added to a national outcry against racial bias in U.S. policing.

So he lost his job over two sentences written on Facebook? I think he should consult a lawyer and see if he can get some money out of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. 

Police Shut Down Girls Lemonaide Stand but they Get Around it Via Loophole

First of all this is such a joke that 8 and 7 year old girls had their lemonade stand shut down.

Andria Green, 8, and her sister Zoey, 7, set up the lemonade stand to raise the $105 they needed for tickets to the Texas waterpark Splash Kingdom. They were selling lemonade for 50 cents and kettle corn for one dollar on their street in the town of Overton, but about an hour after opening, police showed up and told the girls they needed a permit to sell the lemonade. Police agreed to waive the fee of the permit, which normally would cost $150. “The officer told them they had to go to city hall to get a permit,” Overton Police Chief Clyde Carter tells Yahoo Parenting. “Then the city told them they had to check with the health department, which they didn’t do.” 

I thought Texas was all about getting rid of red tape and layers of bureaucracy. However these girls have entrepreneur written all over them.

Instead of pursuing the permit, the girls will set up a new stand this Saturday, according to KLTV: Free lemonade, donations welcome.  

Maybe get a corporate sponsor and this is the makings of a very smart end-around for regulations and red tape.

Mark Cuban Says Ted Cruz is Hated: Yeah Pretty Much #CruzisanIdiot

Talk about stating the obvious.

Cuban said that whenever he's in Washington DC, he hears bad stuff about Cruz. It's all secondhand, but it's pretty brutal.

"The one thing I hear about Ted Cruz, and I don't know the guy, is that he's a jerk, and everybody hates him. This is all secondhand; everybody I talk to that knows anybody that works for him, they've all quit or been fired and the turnover is enormous ...

"I've heard it time in and time out, again and again and again and again..."

Cruz just seems like the kind of person that runs his staffers out and is just a general asshole. I would vote for Communist Bernie Sanders twice before I would vote for Cruz. In fact Cruz represents everything that sucks about politics and the GOP.

Crime Surges as Police Look the Other Way: It Makes Sense from the Police Point of View

It seems crime is starting to get out of control.

Leading criminologists believe the upsurge in crime is due to what Sam Dotson, the St Louis police chief, has described as the “Ferguson effect” — a reluctance by police officers to make arrests or confront criminals for fear of being prosecuted if they make an error.

One posting on a St Louis forum used by police officers stated: “I’ll continue to do my job, but that is all. I refuse to be a punching bag for the public and the press. Why should I do anything other than the bare minimum?

“If I make even the slightest mistake my career, my savings . . . and even my freedom are in jeopardy.”

So it makes sense that they just look the other way when they see someone loitering or running a red light or whatever. No sense getting out of their squad car and possibly having someone film them and possibly sending them to jail.

I mean this recent case of the cops breaking up that Texas pool party with too much force will probably result in criminal charges. The cops might as well have sat that one out and they would not be facing any possible jail time. They could have just watched from the patrol car and made sure a riot doesn't happen.

One moment of too much adrenaline pumping, an accident, or a suspect running at them can be enough to send them to jail and threaten their lives after the fact. Hell, even the President of the United States will be bad mouthing you. These cops can just look the other way and they can spare themselves the destruction that the media and their own prosecutors will bring down on their heads.

It is Official: Early Draft of Star Wars Says Han Shot First

Well, I could have told you this.

It is difficult to tell whether Han or Greedo got the first shot in, and several updated versions of the film haven't helped to settle the debate once and for all. For instance, in the 1997 version, the scene was slightly altered to make it look as if Han was acting in self-defense. 

"I'll tell you one thing, right now," Brown told CBC, "Based on the script, I can tell you 100 per cent, Han shot first."

Han shooting first makes him a badass smuggler. So when he becomes heroic later in the story his transformation is even better. Having Greedo shoot first (and miss at point blank range) was such a cop-out. That is what made the 1976 George Lucas a genius while the 1997 Lucas was just a hack resting on his laurels.

FIFA Bought Off Ireland so they Wouldn't Bring a Lawsuit on 2010 French Handball #CrookedFIFA

Now we will slowly get the info on more of this kind of thing happening.

The payment is reported to have been worth five million euros ($5.63 million), but when that figure was put to Delaney, he refused to confirm or deny it, saying he was "bound by confidentiality".

France qualified for the 2010 World Cup at Ireland's expense after Henry blatantly handled the ball as he set up William Gallas for the decisive goal in a play-off match in Paris in November 2009.

So France committed a handball that was missed for whatever reason and FIFA paid Ireland to look the other way instead of challenging them. I wonder how many more of these kick-backs are lurking out there that we haven't discovered yet?

More Americans describe Themselves as Socially Liberal: Welcome to the Party

I self-describe myself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal and it seems America is following the trend.

For the first time in at least 16 years, Americans are equally likely to describe themselves as socially liberal as they are to say they're social conservatives, a new Gallup poll finds.

Thirty-one percent of Americans say they're liberal on social issues, with another 31 percent calling themselves conservatives and the rest identifying as moderates.

This is exactly why stiff-necked GOP opposition to immigration, gay marriage, and legalizing pot might damage the GOP brand among younger people. I certainly wouldn't vote for a socially conservative nominee for President because the country has changed. They might not think it has changed for the better but you have to acknowledge things are different that 16 years ago.

Woman Loses School Lunch Job for Feeding Hungry Kids that Could Not Pay

Now this is a travesty of justice if I ever seen one.

In her position, Curry was often manning the cash register, so she would see students come through the line with a hot lunch and then learn that their accounts did not have enough credit on them. “The policy is to then take their food from them and throw it away, and give them the cheese sandwich,” she says. “I couldn’t do it. When I had money I would put it in for them, and if I did not have money, I gave them the food.”

On Friday, Curry was fired. “I will never say I was wrongfully terminated, because according to policy, I was not,” she says. “But it’s not right. No child should ever have to have that nutrition – it’s not nutrition – or that humiliation.”

What got me is she was supposed to snatch the food out of the kids hands and throw it away in front of them. Then give them the Gulag lunch? The literal version of "No soup for you." The worst part is this is in front of everyone so the kid gets a side order of humiliation with their Gulag meal.

Wait, What? Caitlyn Jenner won the Courage Award ESPY over Brain Cancer Victim Lauren Hill? #TravestyofJustice

Now this is just going beyond the pale.

Caitlyn is the new female identity of former Olympic gold-medal winner Bruce Jenner, which was revealed Monday.

But now some are crying foul over ESPN’s decision to choose Jenner, 65, instead of Mount St. Joseph basketball player Lauren Hill, who courageously battled brain cancer while staying on the university team. The 19-year-old lost her fight against cancer on April 10.

So a 65 year old millionaire gets surgery and we are supposed to honor that achievement? This girl was courageous enough to play basketball with blinding headaches from the cancer that would kill her. She did it with grace and humility and was quite inspirational. I think the media is losing its mind.

I Agree that Yellen Really Does not need to talk about Stock Valuations

I have to agree with this article.

At a recent International Monetary Fund event in Washington, D.C., Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen opined about the “potential dangers” posed by “quite high” stock market valuations. This was not her first market prognostication. In July 2014 she singled out biotech and social-media stocks as having “substantially stretched” valuations. Such comments are ill considered and are more likely to do harm than good.

What sucks is if you sold Biotechs when Yellen said they were "too high" you missed a 40% rally. You also missed an 8 point move on Facebook (but you dodged an 9 point drop in Twitter so there is that.) But I do have to agree that stocks seem stretched here and we might have a correction. I think we are overdue.

Hillary Reeling in Polls: Yeah I Don't Trust her Either after Server-gate

I guess all the bad press and question dodging seems to have hurt her brand.

The survey found 46 percent view Clinton favorably, down from 53 percent in March and 61 percent in May 2013.

Meanwhile, 57 percent of Americans say she is not honest and trustworthy (up from 49 percent in March), 47 percent feel she cares about people like them (down from 53 percent in July 2014) and 50 percent feel she does not inspire confidence (up from 42 percent in March 2014).

If the GOP field wasn't so un-electable at the moment I would like these numbers more. In any case it seems America is souring on her and its time for some other person to run forward on the Democrat side.

Blatter is Out: I Guess He is Afraid of Going to Canada so He Doesn't Get Extradited

Well I guess they ran that FIFA election for no reason.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is resigning as president of FIFA amid a growing corruption scandal, he announced on Tuesday at a surprise press conference.

"While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football — the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA," he said. "Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress."

There will be an congress of FIFA members and a new president will be elected, at which time he will step down the post he has held since 1998. This will take place sometime between December of 2015 and March of 2016, FIFA says.

In any case hopefully all of the dirty dealing will come to light and many more FIFA officials will be perp-walked going forward.

I Think the Saudi's Need to Enter Iraq to Go After ISIS #Gamechanger

Upon reading about how badly the Iraqi army is faring I think there need to be bold movement on this.

On June 10, 2014, Mosul, which is Iraq's second-largest city, fell to ISIS as the Iraqi army fled. Today, Iraq's national military is in even worse shape, and may have as few as 5,000 "effective troops" under its command, according to Politico. 

Despite over a decade's worth of US training and military support for the Baghdad government, along with 11 months of US-led coalition airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and the mobilization of Iranian-backed Shiite militias to fight the jihadist group, ISIS has continued to gain ground in the country. 

So it seems Iraq will have a difficult time dislodging ISIS so I think the Saudi's need to try something bold. They have a fairly powerful military and share a land border with Iraq. So a few tank armies could fight against ISIS and might send them back to Syria. They might even push into Syria as well.