Red Blooded American Boy

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All of the statists who thought the government stimulus passed earlier this year was going to create jobs and lower unemployment must be scrambling to rewrite the reality presented to them. Unemployment is higher and will continue to grow. How do I know this? Common Sense.

As an example, North Carolina’s unemployment has gone up. It is currently at 11%. The Tarheel state received stimulus money. Why is umemployment still up, up and away? A careful examination of the stimulus money bunny trail shows the answer.

In the example below you can see the number of jobs “created or saved” column [Figure 1] has lots of ZEROs. Millions of dollars are being poured out into programs and the total jobs created equals ZERO. That also means ZERO productivity. If millions were poured into a business with ZERO productivity, the business would not survive.

The biggest amount of jobs “saved or created” in this list of grants for the Raleigh-Garner-Smithfield area is for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund-Education Fund. The number of jobs resulting from the $778 million payout is 8917. On the surface this seems great. A scan of the fine print [Figure 2] reveals:

The State of North Carolina acknowledges that the majority of the grant funds were used to support salaries in the first quarter fo the award period; therefore, the number of positions saved or created is likely to decline in future reporting periods.

Such is the nature of government. It consumes and does not create.

But, all of this will not matter for liberals. They live in a cartoon of their own imagination not based on reality. To them, climate change is real – despite the data to the contrary. For them, a rise in unemployment is creation of jobs. The dead resulting from government healthcare are the living. Right is wrong, wrong is right.

Only thieves, liars and cheaters could live in the emesis of their own imagination like this. Such is the nature of a statist.

Figure 1:

Figure 2 :

Technorati : ARRA, economic stimulus, government stimulus, unemployment
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In my great highly taxed state of North Carolina, a Conservative themed kiosk was not given a renewal of its lease. The “Free Market Warrior” in the Concord Mills Mall in Concord sold merchandise critical of Obama. The management of the mall received complaints about the trinket stand. Letters to a local newspaper was also a strong influence on the managements decision, citing that the material sold was not “Neutral” enough. The owner of the kiosk complained that there was plenty of pro-Obama merchandise for sale.

To the management of the Simon Property Group, the owners of Concord Mills, neutral means whatever will sell without conflict. There may also be some power-hungry Liberals and spineless moderates in the Simon Property Group that have chosen to silence opposition. Either way, eventually they will change their minds. When the economy does not recover and Concord Mills becomes the local soup kitchen, they may realize just how well change does for them. But, before the mall becomes a soup kitchen,anti-Obama merchandise will become popular. This time it may be the Simon Property Group who opens up their own Conservative kiosk. Capitalism is a great cure for socialistic tendencies.

A letter to the editor in the Charlotte Observer. The author was a recent college graduate:

“Free Market Warrior, a kiosk located adjacent to Bass Pro Shops, specializes in memorabilia embellished with pro-confederacy statements as well as those opposing both the government and President Obama. In addition, these products support ideas such as racisms, sexism, and even slavery. While freedom of speech is a Constitutional right it’s difficult not to believe that something just isn’t quite right here.

“I find it appalling that Concord Mills, North Carolina’s #1 visitor attraction, would condone such a message to be portrayed by their vendors and can’t imagine how the outside visitors’ perceptions of North Carolinians have been skewed by such an establishment.

“It’s hard to stay open-minded when such uncivilized and outdated ideas are endorsed on a daily basis. It’s 2009; please, let’s at least try to put this type of bigotry to an end.”

Technorati : Concord, Concord Mills, Conservative Kiosk, Free Market Warrior, North Carolina, Simon Property Group, conservative merchandise
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This week’s announcement that 680 WPTF will lose Rush Limbaugh in its syndication is a death-blow to the radio station.  It is no secret that Rush created the revival of the AM format back in the late 80’s and 90’s.  For Raleigh, AM radio is going back into the 70’s – hardly ever listened to.  If WPTF does not create some new Conservative talk show hosts, then they will most certainly be adding to the unemployment figures of the state.

Considering that they still have Tom Kearney on the radio nightly does not make me confident WPTF can do anything but let the ship go down gracefully.  I am sure Tom Kearney is the sweetest thing since a Hershey bar, but that is some of the worst AM radio I have ever heard.

Upon reading the announcement, I became rather angry and shocked all at the same time.  How could 680 WPTF give up its bread-and-butter?  The article does not reveal where Rush will be going.  I wonder if Triangle Business Journal was told by Curtis Media not to tell that part of the story?  Curtis Media must have the testicles of Triangle Business Journal in a lock box.

Rather, it took some digging to find out that he and other Conservative talk show hosts such as Hannity and Glen Beck will be arriving on the FM dial, instead of the AM dial.  The Godfather of Radio will be arriving on WRDU 106.1 at the start of the New Year. 

From a format perspective, this is a brilliant move.  The current grass routes uprising against the increased imprisonment of Government is getting larger everyday.  The FM dial offers easier access to the committed listeners and possible new listeners.  Younger folks listen to FM radio more than AM radio.  So, the bored channel surfing young people of Raleigh may find the talk very stimulating and relative to their own ambitions.  Since IPODs and other MP3 players have FM radio receivers built in, this makes the ease of changing from music to talk easier than ever.  Just flip the switch from MP3 to talk format in a flash. 

Sounds like more Rush Babies will be born out there.

Tags: Raleigh,+North+Carolina,+WPTF,+Rush+Limbaugh,+680+WPTF

Wearing clean underwear has never been so important in Raleigh.  This is especially true if you do a lot of walking.  Raleigh has the honor of giving its residents the sixth highest chance of being smeared into the sidewalk in the US.  For some reason, I thought we only kept the deer population in check ‘round here.  That statistic must be tucked away in an animal rights website somewhere.  At least for today we are more worried about humans being road kill.

Initial research may indicate that skinny streets, blind spots and traffic confusion are factors in this high number of fatalities.  But, I am not so sure.  North Carolina State University’s primary color is red.  NC State is the main college in Raleigh.  Therefore, students of NC State and other innocent adoring fans are walking about the city with huge red garments that appear as targets on the street. 

You understand the temptation, right?  A mountain stands before you and the desire to climb it erupts.  A person on the roads of Raleigh walking around with a large red shirt, jacket or hat on them, and you can’t help but take one out.

Someone needs to investigate whether the drivers are from the blue side of central North Carolina.  Those Tarheels and Duke fans can play some mean ball.  Maybe they are carrying the game beyond the courts and fields?  Looks like NC State just keeps getting their butt kicked, on and off the field.  NC State fans should stay inside just in case…

Don’t count on Kay Hagan to fight for us in North Carolina. She does not even have the guts to face real North Carolinians in an open town hall meeting.

Kay Hagan: Like Colonel Sanders - Chicken! Yes, that is Obama posing as Dark Helmet.

This is surprising since she could easily stack the crowd to her favor if done right.  For instance, she could set up a town hall meeting in Chapel Hill – at John Edward’s house.  We know there is nothing going on at the Edward’s place these days.  If John was busy with his new baby, then the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill should be open.

She could have dug up Obama voters in Durham and staged a supportive rally at Duke University Medical Center.  I think Mike Nifong’s place is open, too.  There is not much going on there, either.

If push comes to shove, she can setup at John Umstead Hospital in Butner, NC.  That state psychiatric facility has been a sanctuary for patients exported from the bowels of Dorthea Dix Hospital in Raleigh.  While she is in Butner, she can visit Bernie Madoff to ask advice on how to pay for a government-run healthcare system.

Hagan’s state is full of some of the top hospitals in the nation.  From the coast to the mountains, North Carolina is famous for the quality of heathcare given to its citizens.  Locally to her office in Raleigh, she has a smorgasbord of options for healthcare.  There is WakeMed, Rex Healthcare, Duke Raleigh, UNC, Duke and the VA Medical Center in Durham.  This does not include the smaller local hospitals that affiliate with these larger hospital systems.  The quality of these facilities is a source of pride for many of us who work or have worked in these health systems.

Come to think of it, Hagan should keep hiding.  The state-run examples of North Carolina state-run healthcare are not very good.  An example of this is Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro.  Compared to the private healthcare industries in this state, the state’s ability to render care is child’s play.  I think Kay Hagan knows that she would face tough criticism for even thinking our community wants government-run healthcare.

Hagan was not an intellectual heavy-weight during the campaign of 2008.  So, I would expect her to stay away from debate on legislation, anyway.