Thứ Năm, 29 tháng 12, 2011

Sounds sustainable: Philadelphia councilwoman will 'retire' for one day, collect $478K union pension, then return to work on Monday

Consider this Exhibit 5,394 in the ongoing saga of public sector unions and their Democrat toadies sucking the life out of the private sector.

Marion B. Tasco, who has been described as being “politically savvy,” will retire from her sixth term as councilwoman, collect $478,057, and then be sworn in on Monday to serve her seventh term, Catherine Lucy and Chris Brennan of the Philadelphia Daily News.

...Tasco, along with many of her fellow Council members, is enrolled in Philadelphia’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP)...

...DROP allows city workers to collect salary and build up pension money during the last four years of their employment, writes Aaron Kase of Philadelphia Weekly.

...Naturally, when DROP was originally introduced, it was touted as being “revenue neutral.” It’s been anything but that. SInce its introduction, Philadelphia’s DROP program has cost the city $258 million in extra pension costs over a decade, according to a 2010 Boston College study...

Gee, it's so odd and unpredictable that a "revenue neutral" pension program designed by Democrat-slash-union hacks could cost the city a quarter of a billion dollars in only 10 short years.

And greatly enrich the same strain of said Democrat-slash-union hacks at the expense of the taxpayers.


Larwyn's Linx: The Year in Obama Scandals — and Scandal Deniers

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

The Year in Obama Scandals — and Scandal Deniers: Malkin
Santorum Surge: RSM
With His Experience, Gingrich Could Get The Job Done: Sowell

Undocumented Immigrants, Real Crimes: Virtuous
The Justice Department's Identity Problem: Cal Thomas
Obama: taxpayer funds can be used to promote gun control: BreitTV

Economy

The Democratic Party's War on the Poor: AT
In Obama He Trusts: Why our president fails: Wolf
Pension Perks are Crushing Taxpayers: USA Today

Top 10 Worst Federal Rules of 2011: Foundry
Michelle sports $2,000 sun-dress: Naked DC
A Run On The Global Banking System - How Close Are We?: Lira

Repo Men: NRO
‘Your Tax Dollars at Work’ Update: Shrimp on a Treadmill: Malkin
Leo Gerard: The Most Powerful Man In America?: Ulsterman

Climate & Energy

MF Global chief missing $1.2B is financial adviser to EPA: Times
Aztecs Versus Our Warmies: Wolf Howling
EPA Rule May Cause Blackouts: Intelligencer

Media

Virginia Must Change Its Election System: Jeffrey
Gross: Former Dem Rep. Weiner Wanted Threesome . . . With Another Man…: WZ
AP Bemoans Retirement of 'Centrist' Ben Nelson, Who Voted for ObamaCare and Stimulus: NB

Voter ID: Holder Looks Through Race-Colored Glasses: IBD
After Only 2 Qualify for Presidential Primary, Virginia GOP Chair Says State Should Change Election Law: CNS
Breitbart: ‘Occupy The Caucus’ Is Part Of Organized Left’s Efforts To Re-Elect Obama: Breitbart

Conservatives Shouldn't Abandon Rick Santorum: Riehl
Ted Kennedy Prepared Barack Obama’s Attack Ads: RedState
99 Percent? Elizabeth Warren Was Third Highest Paid At Harvard In 1997: Glob

World

Texas Christmas Honor Killings: Mass Murderer Didn’t Want Daughter Dating Non-Muslim: GWP
Merry Christmas From Saudi Arabia: WSJ
Clerics clash in Bethlehem brawl at Jesus' birthplace: USA Today

The Paul Pot and the Paulestinians: Sultan Knish
The New Old Europe: Hanson
Bolton: If you’re thinking about Ron Paul, think again!: Scoop

Sci-Tech

Fallout from the Christmas Hack of Stratfor: Forbes
Detailed Analysis of Personal Information ‘Anonymous’ Attack on Stratfor: IdentityFinder
Avastin can stabilize tumors in ovarian cancer, studies find: LAT

The Next iPad Battery Will Be Awesome: Insider
Wi-Fi 'protected set-up' not so protected after all: CNet
Is China's New GPS System Better Than Ours?: Blaze

Cornucopia

Bumper Sticker of the Year Awards: LI
Doubling Down on Debt: It’s a Snow Job: MOTUS
No Car Will Escape This "Future Now" Speed Cam: Consumerist

Cheetah of 1930s Tarzan Movies Dies: WSJ
A fish that bites men's testicles? Yep, it's real: GlobalPost
White Castle considers alcohol sales: Cleveland

Image: "Iran Says U.S. Aircraft Carrier Has Entered Zone Near Key Oil Route"
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "I'm running a marathon of sorts on stories of crimes committed by illegal aliens.

We criminalize texting, but allow, if not encourage, a mass migration of people who we know exactly nothing about.

It is like, as a nation, we are suicidal." --The Machiavellian

Thứ Tư, 28 tháng 12, 2011

Chart o' the Week: The Obama Economic Record

I think this says it all:

Three years into Ronald Reagan's first term, I wonder how things were going?

For you drones: that's a rhetorical question.


Hat tip: @AACons.

Harbinger of Future Events: New York Times Emails Millions of Subscribers to Tell Them Their Subscriptions Are Cancelled

Paul Krugman hardest hit:

The New York Times mistakenly sent an e-mail on Wednesday to more than eight million people who had shared their information with the company, erroneously informing them that they had canceled home delivery of the newspaper.

The Times Company, which initially mischaracterized the mishap as spam, apologized for sending the e-mail. The people who received the message represented a cross section of readers who had given their e-mail addresses to the newspaper, said Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Times Company.

...The e-mail urged recipients to consider continuing their subscriptions to The Times at 50 percent off for 16 weeks. The message sent off a flood of Twitter reactions and calls to The Times...

...She said the e-mail had been sent by a Times employee and not Epsilon Interactive, a third-party service the company uses to communicate with subscribers.

I'm thinking this is just the first step in a self-fulfilling prophecy.


The 10 Funniest Passwords Exposed by the Stratfor Breach


10 ABC News: jonathan.d.greenberger@abc.com:stephanopoulos
 9 Goldman Sachs: joseph.aiken@gs.com:derivative
 8 MSNBC: gary.nease@msnbc.com:Seaweed1
 7 Goldman Sachs: amy.lee@gs.com:password
 6 New York Times: kewald@nytimes.com:9295
 5 Soros? david.steinberg@soros.com:secret
 4 Fred Burton, VP of Stratfor: burton@stratfor.com:stratfor
 3 Standard Bank: ravi.bhatia@standardbank.com:ravi
 2 Control Risks: jennifer.harbison@control-risks.com:research
 1 Goldman Sachs: muneer.satter@gs.com:bulls***

Bonus Banking Password UBS: paul.brewer@ubs.com:1234



Top 10 Gifts to Give a Liberal [Looking Spoon]

Via The Looking Spoon: yes, it may be a little late for Christmas, but it always feels good to give gifts like these to the progressives in your life.

Basic math skills and/or common sense would be some other good gift ideas.


Coming This Weekend: The 2011 Fabulous 50 Blog Awards...

Forget the Pulitzers! Flush those stinking Nobel Prizes! There's only one award worth winning and we all know what it is.

Every year at this time we are pleased to announce the winners of the Fabulous 50 Blog Awards™, recognizing the year's 50 most important blogs and websites in the conservative world. No debates. No voting. No nominations. Just facts. Immutable truths, chiseled in stone and then forged on Zeus' anvil for all of human history. No prize carries more panache, more prestige, and more sex appeal than a Fab 50 Award, save something you might find in a Crackerjacks box.

The talented illustrators at the peerless iOwnTheWorld have created a stunning set of award icons, suitable for framing, a pattern for your next tattoo, or even including on the templates of the award winners.

If you are a winner, click the award icon that you would like to use, then copy the text in the HTML block below to paste into your template:

300 x 400 Deluxe200 x 267 Midsize
180 x 241 Intermediate160 x 185 Mini160 x 185 LOSER


HTML to use in your template:

Related:
2010 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
2009 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners.

And be sure to press your browser's Reload button continuously from now until New Year's Eve to make sure you don't miss this immense event, suitable for an ESPN 8 ("The Ocho") reality show.