Nevada Unemployment Rate Increases to 14.3% … Harry Reid Still on the Job

Thank you Harry Reid … The jobless unemployment rate in Nevada increases to 14.3%. Maybe the folks of Nevada would like to explain themselves as to how they reelected Harry Reid back to the US Senate. Do they have no one but themselves to blame for their predicament? One really has to question how a state can have an unemployment rate that is so far above national unemployment rate, coupled with record home foreclosures and bankruptcies and still keep the same people in political power.

One would think that of all the jobd lost in Nevada, Harry Reid’s would have been one of them.

The recession has wiped out 15 years’ worth of economic growth in some corners of Nevada’s economy, and experts say some of that lost commercial activity could be gone for good.

Nevada has taken an employment beating.

• For the first time since 1995, construction employment in Nevada has dipped below 60,000 jobs. 
• Leisure and hospitality market: Jobs base has fallen to its lowest level since October 2001, following aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001.
• Factory jobs in Nevada have fallen 26.3% 

Gallup Poll: Conservatives Continue to Outnumber Moderates and Libs … Moderates on the Decline

According to a recent Gallup poll, Conservatives continue to outnumber both moderates and liberals as moderates decline to a new low. 40% consider them self conservatives, 35% moderates and 21% liberals. In both cases, over the years Republicans and Democrats are no longer calling them self moderates.

The political composition of U.S. adults held fairly steady in 2010 compared with 2009. Conservatives remained the largest group, followed by moderates and then liberals. At 35%, the percentage of moderates has declined to a new low, highlighting the increased political polarization that has occurred over the past decade.

Fewer people in all three party groups call themselves moderate today than did so in 2002, but the decline is particularly steep among Republicans. The percentage of Republicans calling themselves moderate fell from 31% in 2002 to 27% by 2006, and now stands at 23%. There has been a commensurate increase in the percentage of Republicans calling themselves conservative, now at a record-high 72%.

 The Moderate Voice asks, Is there a futurefor moderates with the Democrats? Although the opinion is more from the moderate LEFT voice. Let’s face it, following the 2010 midterm elections and the devastating loses by Democrats, the majority of losses were moderates like the so-called “Blue Dog” democrats. The Democrats that remain in the House and Senate are more liberal than those ousted. Since when did “moderates” have a say in the Nancy Pelosi House?  To make matters worse, the Leftists in the House, even after the shellacking of 2010, elect Pelosi minority leader. Oh yea, moderates are alive and well in the Democrat party.

President Barack Obama Signs Tax Cut Extension into Law at WH Ceremoy … Pelosi, Reid & Boehner No Show

President Barack Obama has his George H.W. Bush moment … “Read My Lips, No New Tax Cuts for the Rich”

Yesterday, Barack Obama signed the Bush era tax extensions and called it compromise. However, noticeably absent from the tax cut extension signing ceremonies were Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat Speaker of the lame duck House Nancy Pelosi and Republican Speaker of the House elect John Boehner. In the end, the tax extension bill was one that no one liked, that’s the definition of compromise for Obama.

In essesnce, Obama extends the Bush era tax cuts … didn’t Obama run on doing just the opposite?

President Barack Obama celebrated the spirit of compromise Friday as he signed a controversial $858 billion tax cut and unemployment insurance extension into law — but warned that bipartisan comity could be fleeting.

The bill, the result of a deal Obama cut with Senate Republicans over the objections of many Democrats, was a major victory for a White House that spent much of the past two years battling a unified GOP on the stimulus and health care reform.

“We are here with some good news for the American people this holiday season,” Obama told about 150 people, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), gathered in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Noticeably absent were Speaker-to-be John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who were all cut out of initial negotiations between Obama’s staff and McConnell.

Exit Question: Will Barack Obama’s endless campaign promise to Democrats and his base that he will end tax cuts for the rich come back to bite him like George H.W. Bush’s promise of “read my lips no new taxes” did? Obama consistently railed on tax cuts for the rich and played class warfare. Ending tax cuts for the rich was a major element of his 2008 Presidential campaign. How betrayed does his base feel today? How will this affect the 2012 elections and might there be a primary battle from the LEFT?

No family making under $250,000 will see any form of tax increases

Of course Obama claimed he was against earmarks and said nothing when the $1.3trillion Omnibus bill was presented, prior to Reid pulling it due to outrage from We the People.

Crystal Mangum, the Woman Who Falsely Accused 3 Duke University LAX Players of Rape Found Guilty of Child Abuse

Crystal Mangum is back in the news, what you don’t remember the name? What goes around comes around …

32 year old Crystal Mangum, the woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape in March 2006 has been found guilty by a North Carolina jury of 3 counts of child abuse, injury to personal property, and resisting arrest. According to reports, Crystal Mangum put her boyfriend’s clothing into a bathtub and set it on fire while her three children. There were also two police officers were inside the apartment as well.

A woman who authorities said falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape four years ago has been found guilty by a North Carolina jury of misdemeanor child abuse and damaging property.

A Durham County jury on Friday convicted 32-year-old Crystal Mangum of contributing to child abuse or neglect, injury to personal property, and resisting a public officer stemming from a February confrontation with her live-in boyfriend. Mangum was sentenced to time already served before she was released on bail earlier this year.

The jury deadlocked 9-3 on a felony arson charge, and Superior Court Judge Abraham Jones declared a mistrial.

What are the chances that this woman’s name would ever be referenced again after the saga that was the Duke Lacrosse rape scandal?

Daily Commentary – Friday, December 17th, 2010 – On Psychiatric Services

Daily Commentary – Friday, December 17th, 2010 – On Psychiatric Services [1:35m]:  | Download

Philadelphia Eagle QB & Convicted Dog Killer Mike Vick Says He Would Like to Own a Dog

File this one under, “he said what”!

Awe, ain’t that special, Mikey wants a dog.

Philadelphia Eagle QB and convicted dog killer Mike Vick said that he  misses being a dog owner and would like to have one as a pet someday. Yes, the same Mike Vick who was sent to prison and convicted on dog fightinng charges.  However, Michael Vick was banned by the judge who sentenced him on dogfighting charges from owning another dog while on probation. How special, there is a lucky dog just waiting to be gotten the second that Vick is off probation.

The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, interviewed by NBC News and the website TheGrio.com, said he and his family miss having a dog. He said he wants to show people that he can be a responsible pet owner and that he would not take the opportunity for granted.

“I would love to get another dog in the future. I think it would be a big step for me in the rehabilitation process,” Vick said, according to NBC News and TheGrio.com. The full interview was scheduled to be shown on TheGrio.com on Wednesday.

The last thing that Vick should ever be commenting on is the owning of a dog. Vick should count his lucky stars that the NFL gave him a second chance to even earn an income. However, in an industry where it is more important what you do on the field to earn a buck for NFL owners than what you do in your home to your spouse, children and pets. How inappropriate is it that a convicted dog killer say that he looks forward to one day owning a dog?

What a bunch of lip service and a disservice that sports entertainment (ESPN), BS’d homer Philly fans and the Humane Society is doing for dogs. Just curious, why should any one give Vick the benefit of the doubt? I am sure there are a lot of convicted pedophile teachers that look forward to one day teachingchildren again. So should they be allowed back in the classroom to as long as they apologize and do some community service? Has every one forgot just what Michael Vick did and the heinous nature of dog fighting? His PR team certainly has done a great job to blind people. We are supposed to believe that after being one way all his life, Vick has done a total reversal.

A note to Mike Vick, why don’t you try first with a gold fish or a turtle and try not to turn them into a fish fry and soup.

Ding Dong the 1,924 Page Omnibus Spending Bill Is Dead … Harry Reid Pulls Bill

V IS FOR VICTORY … VICTORY FOR WE THE PEOPLE!!!

America, tonight you just witnessed the power of the people and the aftermath of the political tsunami and avalanche of the 2010 midterm election. Elections have consequences. Democrats and those Republicans who did not quite get the message, finally did over the last couple days as WE THE PEOPLE made their outraged voices heard and along with Senators Jim DeMint, Mitch McConnell and John McCain … Reid’s bill is toast. As stated at NRO, ”this was to be the appropriators’ last hurrah. In the end, they couldn’t see it through, and it’s not going to get any better for them next year.”

 The 1924 page, $1.3 trillion pork laced, earmark Omnibus spending bill has been abandoned by Democrat Majority leader harry Reid. Obviously, Reid (D-NV) did not have the votes to pass the pork laden spending bill and was forced to pull the bill rather than seeing it go down to defeat in a US Senate vote.

The US Senate did not do their job during the year so the Democrat leadership thought they were going to do business as usual like last year and just pass an Omnibus spending bill full of pork to have Obama sign. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the pork-roast … WE THE PEOPLE said NO, we said, HELL NO!!!

Senate Democrats abruptly abandoned an omnibus budget bill for the coming year, pushing major spending decisions into the next Congress and giving Republicans immense new leverage to confront President Barack Obama priorities.

The decision Thursday night sweeps away months of bipartisan work by the Senate Appropriations Committee which had crafted the $1.1 trillion bill to meet spending targets embraced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R—Ky.) himself prior to the elections.

With the government lurching toward a funding cutoff Saturday night, Washington faces a genuine fiscal crisis — at once serious and rich in political farce.

Democrats have only themselves to blame for failing to pass any of the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the day-to-day operations of the government. At the same time, Republicans contributed mightily to this failure and are going through their own culture war — torn between the Senate’s old-bull pork-barrel ways and the more temperate fiscal gospel of their new tea party allies.

Harry Reid has caved on the Omnibus bill. For all his threats, bravado and attempted power play, Reid loses. It is obvious that not only did Reid lose and so-called GOP support, there were most likely many Democrats who were up for reelection in 2012 that did not want this vote to hang over them like Obamacare did the Dems that lost in 2010.

Read more

Barack Obama Hits 40% Job Approval in Latest Fox News Opinion Dynamics Poll … How Low Can He Go?

Barack Obama is nearing the 30% threshold … An early Christmas gift to America.

The 2010 midterms have come and gone and President Barack Obama’s job approval numbers are still falling. In the latest Fox News Opinion Dynamics poll, Obama has hit 40% job approval, while 51% now disapprove of the job that “The One” has done.  Obama has a 10% approval rating among Republicans, 37% with Independents and an amazing low 75% with Democrats. It continues to be a worrisome ride to the 2012 elections for Obama.

Overall, 40 percent of voters approve and 51 percent disapprove of the job Obama is doing. While that is close to his previous rating of 41 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval in late October, the new ratings are his lowest to date.

Obama’s approval rating among Democrats stands at 75 percent, and 70 percent among self-identified liberals — both are record lows.

 The full Fox News Opinion Dynamics poll can be seen HERE.

Other notable data from the Fox poll is that only 35% of voters believe that Obama deserves reelection; however, looking forward to 2012, 29% of voters predict Obama will be re-elected, down from 44% who thought so a year ago.

About a third of voters (35 percent) think Obama deserves to be re-elected. A slim 53 percent majority says the country would be better off with someone else.

Democrats are alone in thinking Obama deserves another term (67 percent). Most Republicans (84 percent) and half of independents (50 percent) disagree. And one in five Democrats (20 percent) think the country would be better off with someone else as president.

As seen at RCP, we know have two job approval polls in the low, low 40′s. We completely agree with Weasel Zippers, with so much bad in the news, this is the “feel good” story of the day.

The Dana Pretzer Show On Scared Monkeys Radio – Thursday, December 16, 2010 – Special Guests: Marlin Marynick, Robin Sax, Mike Mcintyre & Blink from Blink on Crime

LISTEN TO THE DANA PRETZER SHOW ON SCARED MONKEYS RADIO

Tonight Dana welcomes special guests:

• Author Marlin Marynick discussing his new book  “Charles Manson Now “
• Mike Mcintyre  - True Crime Author, Crime Reporter and Radio Host discussing recent high profile cases like Robert Latimer, convicted of second degree murder in the death of his daughter Tracy is to receive full parole, and former hockey coach Graham James awaiting trial on sex-abuse charges of three  former players.
• Robin Sax - Former ADA, author, victims advocate and NBC Crime Analyst  discussing the Ronni Chasen murder and other high profile cases.
• Blink from Blink on Crime - Crime blogger discussing recent events in the Casey Anthony case in the death of Caylee Anthony.

 The Dana Pretzer Show On Scared Monkeys Radio – Thursday, December 16, 2010 – Special Guests: Marlin Marynick, Robin Sax, Mike Mcintyre & Blink from Blink on Crime [77:29m]:

Legendary Pink Panther, Comedy & Film Director Blake Edwards Dead at Age 88

Talk about the loss of one of the best writer/directors of comedies ever. An SOB, Cool Cat and 10 rolled all up into one …

Julie Andrews & Blake Edwards, 1973
Rest in Peace Blake Edwards: 1922 – 2010

Blake Edwards, the legendary Hollywood comedy director has passed away at age 88 from complications of pneumonia  at a hospital in Santa Monica, California with his wife and children at his bedside. Aside from his acclaimed directing, Blake Edwards might best be known for his 40 year marriage with Academy Award winning  English actress Julie Andrews. Oh how I have laughed at this man’s films over the years, they still crack me up like I just heard them for the first time … REST IN PEACE

Hear Blake Edwards discuss how he met Julie Andrews

Hat Tip: AOL News

Edwards not only directed comedy classic like The Pink Panther series, he also directed such classic films ‘Like Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and ‘Days of Wine and Roses’. Who could also forget the movie that put Bo Derek on the map and changed how we all rated woman, “10″, as well as other over the top moview like ‘SOB’ and ‘Victor/Victoria’.

His publicist, Gene Schwam, said the cause was complications of pneumonia. Mr. Edwards’s wife, the actress Julie Andrews, and other family members were at his side at St. John’s Health Center, Mr. Schwam said.

What the critic Pauline Kael once described as Mr. Edwards’s “love of free-for-all lunacy” was flaunted in good movies and bad ones …

Blake Edwards was born William Blake Crump on July 26, 1922, in Tulsa, Okla. He became Blake McEdwards when he was 4, after his mother, Lilian, had married Jack McEdwards, an assistant director and movie production manager. Having joined the Coast Guard after high school, Mr. Edwards was seriously injured when, after a night of alcohol-fueled partying, he drunkenly dived into a shallow swimming pool. He spent five months in traction at the Long Beach Naval Hospital.

From the UK Telegraph:

When he was three years old Blake’s family moved to California, and he was brought up in Los Angeles and educated at Beverly Hills High School. While there he worked as a child actor, appearing in numerous B-pictures, but claimed that he “never wanted to act seriously enough to make a career of it”. He left school in 1940 and continued to accept small roles — often as a soldier — in films such as Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942), Marine Raiders (1944) and A Wing and a Prayer (1944).

During the war he served in the US Coast Guard and was badly injured in a diving accident. After a lengthy recuperation he decided to try to re-enter the film industry, writing a low-budget Western with his friend John Champion and approaching Monogram for backing. When the company turned down the project, Edwards and Champion raised the money themselves, making their debuts as producers with Panhandle in 1948.

More great clips from Blake Edward’s The Pink Panther.