Ok, so I was wrong

USDA.gov:

The references to "2 pound frozen ham sliced" are to the sizes of the packaging. Press reports suggesting that the Recovery Act spent $1.191 million to buy "2 pounds of ham" are wrong. In fact, the contract in question purchased 760,000 pounds of ham for $1.191 million, at a cost of approximately $1.50 per pound. In terms of the dairy purchase referenced, USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) purchased 837,936 pounds of mozzarella cheese and 4,039,200 pounds of processed cheese. The canned pork purchase was 8,424,000 pounds at a cost of $16,784,000, or approximately $1.99 per pound.

Whoops. My mistake.

Wow...just wow....

Recovery.gov:

Funding Amount $1,191,200

Description of Work/Service performed
2 POUND FROZEN HAM SLICED

I'm at a loss for words. This is honest government? This is a new era of hope and change? Not only have we not met any of the job growth statistics that Obama said the country would meet by now, but spending is out of control and taxes are about to go through the roof to pay for a healthcare system that probably won't work.

I really hope that you Democrats are feeling buyer's remorse. You deserve it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy my "Don't blame me, I voted for McCain" shirt.

Updates

So, Chase got his rights traded to Houston. That's especially funny in light of his past experience with a team from Houston:



In other news, John Kerry is a colossal jerkwad, but we already knew that, didn't we?

The Bay State Democrat was regaling a group of business and civic leaders invited to the Capitol on the bizarre disappearance of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who was said to be hiking the Appalachian Trail.

“Too bad,” Kerry said, “if a governor had to go missing it couldn’t have been the governor of Alaska. You know, Sarah Palin.”

Imagine if a Republican had said it. Think about it. The media outcry would have been much worse if this had happened:

“Too bad,” McCain said, “if a governor had to go missing it couldn’t have been the governor of Oregon. You know, Ted Kulongoski.”

Nothing against Governor Kulongoski, of course. I was just using him as an example. You can see the ridiculousness, though, right?

The honeymoon is over

Rassmussen reports that Obama's numbers are slipping:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 34% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-two percent (32%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +2 (see trends).

Thirty-six percent (36%) of women Strongly Approve along with 31% of men. At the same time, 35% of men Strongly Disapprove. That view is shared by 29% of women (see other recent demographic highlights).

...

Overall, 54% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance so far. That’s his lowest total approval rating to date. Forty-five percent (45%) disapprove. For more Presidential barometers, see Obama By the Numbers.

This isn't shocking in the least bit. Anyone who sees this as ZOMG~!~! PEOPLE HATE OBAMA has no idea what they're talking about when it comes to politics. Every President experiences high approval ratings at the beginning of their term. Every President loses those high ratings as the months pass. The ratings eventually average out. It's called the end of the honeymoon period. If you want to see whether people really dislike Obama or not, wait and see if the ratings keep slipping. Right now, it's impossible to tell.

"Durban II" = screwed

A little background, in case you’re unaware.

The UN wants to hold another Human Rights conference on racism, and a lot of people are getting concerned that the Arab League might just use it as another platform for their rampant anti-Semitism, like they did in 2001.

Turns out quite a lot of people would rather not attend the conference than see that happen.

US to boycott

Australia to boycott

Sweden to boycott

Netherlands to boycott

Germany to boycott

New Zealand to boycott

Furthermore, Canada, Italy and Israel will not attend.

You know there's a problem when Sweden and the Netherlands are refusing to attend.

Excuse me while I go puke

It's one thing to seriously negotiate with a psychotic dictator who openly calls for the destruction of our country. The President is expected to be a negotiator.

Barack Obama's meeting with Hugo Chavez was anything but serious.

Handout picture released by the Venezuelan Presidency press office showing the President of the US, Barack Obama (L), and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez (R) shaking hands before the opening of the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, on April 17, 2009.

Is anyone else completely sickened by this? Hugo Chavez is not the kind of person Obama is supposed to be buddy-buddy with. It's just one mistake after another with this guy. Unbelievable.

The Fry Mumia Chronicles

Good news:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mumia Abu-Jamal has lost his bid for a new trial in the killing of a Philadelphia police officer in 1981.

The Supreme Court said Monday it will not take up Abu-Jamal's claims that prosecutors improperly excluded blacks from the jury that convicted him of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld Abu-Jamal's conviction but held his death sentence invalid. The appeals court said it would not second-guess state court rulings rejecting Abu-Jamal's claims of bias in the composition of the jury.

So the title's a bit misleading and he's going to rot in jail for the rest of his life instead of getting the needle like he deserves. This whole cause célèbre thing is bullshit. The man killed a cop. The evidence is clear. He deserves to rot in jail.

I suggest reading this letter by Maureen Faulkner, widow of the police officer senselessly murdered by Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Furthermore, there's this quote by Mrs. Faulkner:

A jury of 12 convicted Mumia Abu-Jamal of murdering my husband, and for 25 years Abu-Jamal has been on death row acting as if he was a Hollywood superstar or political prisoner . . . He has a voice, and my late husband doesn’t.

All in all, this whole issue is trumped-up ridiculousness by a bunch of hack academia loonies who are trying to prove that the whole system is RACIST~!~!~!~! Now, I'm not going to deny that there are issues with racism in our legal system. The numbers cannot lie. However, in this single case, calling it racism is a straw man. He killed a cop and there's more than enough proof.

Yet another Obama nominee has tax problems

Via CBS:

Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama's nominee to become Health and Human Services secretary, said in a letter obtained by the Associated Press that she made "unintentional errors" on her taxes and has corrected her returns from three different years.

I honestly have to wonder whether Obama is intentionally seeking out nominees who have tax troubles. I've lost count of how many people have withdrawn their names from consideration. He really needs to strengthen his vetting process. As a point of comparison, I'm relatively certain that not nearly as many of President Bush's nominees withdrew like this.

Barney Frank pushes through more ridiculousness

Keep in mind that this is the same guy who was, in 2006, insisting that there was "nothing wrong" at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

He's now pushing for more salary regulations. However, he's not looking to regulate just top-earning executives' pays.

No. He wants more.

Via Byron York at the Washington Examiner:

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

Does anyone besides me find this to be little more than a power grab?