Where is your charitable giving going to go?

Hugh Hewitt gives us a little clearer picture of what Obama's budget means for the rest of us.

theMK

The Goopy Mess in Zimbabwe

It seems that there is some progress in Zimbabwe, albeit controversial and very much less than perfect or desired.  In accordance with SADC's decision on 27 January to push through the Global Political Agreement, the Zimbabwe parliament has passed constitutional amendment 19 which makes way for a power-sharing government. 

While dictators & thugs march in lockstep with Mugabe (see the Chinese xinhuanet.com where they give Mugabe a stage he doesn't deserve...

"Our condemnation, our isolation is because my
government took the necessary measures to create conditions for equal
opportunities, for de-colonization, for creating conditions in which our people
could regain their lost resources," he added.

and the ever-encouraging Al-Jezeera

Mugabe will remain the head of state and Zanu-PF and the MDC will share the cabinet posts.  "It has been a long, frustrating, quarrelsome journey characterized by animosity and name-calling, but notwithstanding this, what is important is we have reached this path," Patrick Chinamasa, Mugabe's lead negotiator, said.")

there are at least some who still oppose this pretender to the throne.

The Anglican church stood up for what's right.  Botswana, who has remained the most stalwart regional opponent of the Mugabe regime, also spoke out this week.  You can also see the Zimbabwe diaspora's response to the SADC declaration from last week.  Look in the comments.

It frys me that the Chinese and Al-Jezeera are claiming that "Mugabe will remain the head of state."  That's either gross ignorance of the deal, piss-poor reporting, or more likely blatant complicity with a fellow thug. 

Time will soon tell if this progress will be maintained...if you can call it progress.  Tsvangarai should be sworn in next Thursday.  We'll see if it happens.

theMK

You, Mr. American, are silly

The Dems are just flummoxed because of the outcry against lawbreakers being Presidential nominees.  John Kerry says:

"We're getting silly here," he said when asked what the withdrawal meant for Obama. "I think people ought to step back and just measure these things against the larger picture."

And Craig Holman says:

Obama deserves credit for trying to set new standards for ethics in Washington. 

and

"The administration is trying to change the way things are done on Capitol Hill."

Gosh, the hope for change I feel is just overwhelming.

theMK

Barack turns his back on Africa

I knew it would happen.  In the midst of the post-election euphoria people would grin at me and say "USA? Obama!"  And that was in Africa!  You should have seen the headlines.  They all rejoiced that America had finally overcome it's inherent racism (gag me!) and looked forward to a US administration that would shower support and international leadership on the continent of Obama's ancestors.

Two weeks into it, the people of Zimbabwe can now see the kind of support and international leadership that he's willing to give.

The Obama administration has toned down U.S. rhetoric against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, dropping for now a public demand the veteran African leader step down, said U.S. officials on Monday.['Cause we don't want that!]

The goal...was to give southern African nations breathing space in dealing with Mugabe [because they've been so effective so far] who has agreed on a power-sharing arrangement with Zimbabwe's opposition.

"What Robert Mugabe needs to do, is to do what's best for the people of Zimbabwe [he's already demonstrated a desire for this, obviously] -- and an effective power-sharing arrangement [it's been so effective so far with Mugabe just rolling over and conceding his power] ... that's what needs to happen," Wood said.

With friends like Obama, who needs enemies.

theMK

Just when you thought the African Union couldn't be more inept or ineffective.

And why don't we add our own shovelful to the pile...

"We are going to continue to work with the AU," spokesman Robert Wood told reporters. "It's a critical institution in terms of our dealing with the continent."

theMK

Penetrating

theMK

Imates running the Asylum

Living in a community who's economy is driven by one of the largest, most secure prisons in California (Pelican Bay State Prison, a SuperMax facility), this article jumped out and slapped me in the face.  That CDCR bureaucrats have the audacity to request $8 billion to provide a "holistic environment" for health care for inmates just makes me livid. 

His Receivership [Clark Kelso] wants to spend $8 billion to build seven new
hospitals, each the size of 10 Wal-Marts, which would create "a
holistic environment," with "music therapy, art therapy and other
recreation therapy functions," a music room, stress-reduction room,
game room and "therapy kitchen," with lots of natural light and high
ceilings. A gymnasium would feature a "full-size high school playing
court with basketball hoops and built-in edge seating up to four rows
deep. Various floor striping allows for other games, such as
volleyball, etc. Other sport activities include handball courts,
exercise, and (a) workout room."

I almost choked on my own tongue when I read these figures:

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation estimates
the annual cost of operating these facilities to be between $170,000
and $230,000 per inmate.

and...

In the meantime, health care spending per inmate rose from $7,601 per
inmate in 2005-06 to $13,778 per inmate in 2007-08 -- an 81 percent
increase and far above the average of $4,600 spent on health care per
Californian.

On top of that...

Henderson's [US District Court Judge Thelton E. Henderson] remedies, however, have had their problems, as well.
The first receiver, Robert Sillen, once threatened to "back up the
Brinks truck" to the state's treasury to bankroll better inmate care --
and he clearly meant it. Sillen was paid $775,790 in the 15 months,
ending in June 2007. An audit found no fraud, but it found that Sillen
authorized $218,790 in overpayments to staff members for such benefits
as health insurance and retirement that they already had received.

Henderson fired Sillen and then hired Kelso, who set his own
annual salary at $224,000 -- plus a possible bonus. The
Schwarzenegger-Brown motion complains that Kelso's "large staff and $74
million in administrative expenses" are duplicative and amount to a
full-scale takeover of the state prison health care system.

Talk about government corruption & pork!

For a little perspective, California AG Jerry Brown has this to say:

California is spending "almost three times what the federal government
is spending, more than two times what the average Californian gets.
When is enough enough?"

And this as the state still does not have an operating budget.  We average Californians (it is still with some pain that I call myself that) are looking at receiving IOU's instead of cash for tax reimbursements.  At least that's the scuttlebut that we're hearing.  I know a lot of Correctional Officer's (CO's) who are looking at taking pay cuts and also possibly facing receiving IOU's instead of paychecks.  Don't laugh...that's actually happened before.

I know the rank and file doesn't agree with this kind of spending.  They have to deal with it every day, walking a fine line between high-risk prisoners who know how to play the system like a Stradivarius and the moral imperitive to penalize these men for the crimes they've commited against society.  CO's watch as these men receive better care than they can afford for their own families.  And then the pointy-headed intellectual management descend from their ivory-towers and dictate that "these people are not animals" and decide they need to spend even more money on them.

Here's an idea: how about we figure out how to continue to pay our CO's for the thankless job of putting up with this scum instead of building the scum seven new 1,020,000 square foot hospitals (equivialent to 10x the average Wal-Mart store)...how about that, hmmm?

theMK