The Presidential Laugh Track Is Doing Fine

After four years of being caricatured as a closet socialist who distrusts private enterprise and never met a government program he didn't like, President Obama finally steps out of the closet.

In trying to prod Congress to act on his jobs programs, Obama made the same point repeatedly in a press conference yesterday - the private sector is "doing fine" and it is job losses in the public sector that are holding back the recovery.

Here we go:

And the most important thing I think we can do is make sure that we continue to have a strong, robust recovery.  So the steps that I've outlined are the ones that are needed.  We've got a couple of sectors in our economy that are still weak.  Overall, the private sector has been doing a good job creating jobs.  We've seen record profits in the corporate sector. 

The big challenge we have in our economy right now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction.  You've seen teacher layoffs, police officers, cops, firefighters being laid off.  And the other sector that's still weak has been the construction industry.  Those two areas we've directly addressed with our jobs plan.  The problem is that it requires Congress to take action, and we're going to keep pushing them to see if they can move in that direction.

Let's note that the construction industry would be a mix of public and private building. And again:

The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we’ve created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone.  The private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government -- oftentimes, cuts initiated by governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don’t have the same kind of flexibility as the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in.  And so, if Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is, how do we help state and local governments and how do we help the construction industry.

And can we score a trifecta?

Keep in mind that the private sector has been hiring at a solid pace over the last 27 months.  But one of the biggest weaknesses has been state and local governments, which have laid off 450,000 Americans.  These are teachers and cops and firefighters.  Congress should pass a bill putting them back to work right now, giving help to the states so that those layoffs are not occurring.

In addition, since the housing bubble burst, we’ve got more than a million construction workers out of work.  There’s nothing fiscally responsible about waiting to fix your roof until it caves in.  We've got a lot of deferred maintenance in this country.  We could be putting a lot of people back to work rebuilding our roads, our bridges, some of our schools.  There's work to be done; there are workers to do it.  Let’s put them back to work right now.

Rebuilding bridges, roads and schools would be public sector employment.

Obama's meaning is clear. Three days after the voters of Wisconsin repudiated their public sector unions and affirmed Gov. Walker's attempts to rein them in, Obama is insistent that the real problem facing the American economy is a shrinking public sector. Good luck with that message.

The WSJ mentions some measure of health for the private sector and looks at the real problem in the public sector - rising pension and health bills.

CHANNELING MY INNER JPOD:

Let's cut to the real John Podhoretz:

Obama’s explanation for the slowdown in economic growth is that the public sector is hurting, and that’s where Washington must step in and act.

“Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. Oftentimes, cuts initiated by, you know, governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government,” he said. “And so, you know, if Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is how do we help state and local governments.”

The president seriously wants to go before the American people and argue in an election year that the wildly unpopular $860 billion stimulus of 2009 needs to be supplemented this year by more direct federal support of state and local government workers?

I’m trying very hard to think of a way this argument is not politically insane for Obama in his quest to win over independent voters who will make the difference in November.

WALKBACK OR WALK-AROUND? Ann Althouse does not think Obama walked back his remarks in a subsequent 'clarification'.

HE'S NOT USING THE WORD 'SOCIALIST', BUT... Mickey Kaus also worries that Obama wasn't gaffeing, he was telling us what he really thinks about the public sector.

Comments

[Captain Hate]

Mark, right now the upside of the Thunder is just incredible. In winning four games in a row against the Spurs, they beat a team who hadn't lost in over a month and were loaded with veteran championship level talent. In Durant, Harden and Westbrook they have 3 young players who can create their shots at any time and are almost in their range as soon as they cross halfcourt. They have an insane shot blocker in Ibaka and have added some veteran guile in Fisher and Perkins. The only thing that can hurt them is Westbrook's play can still be erratic. Plus they're incredibly fun to watch and their fans might be the most enthusiastic in the league.

[Clarice]

narciso, apparently in political consulting, nothing succeeds like failure.

I have always said we'll know there's gender equality when women as untalented and stupid as top male campaign consultants are hired to run campaigns.

[GMax]

Notice Double Douche does not mention the EPA, or the TSA or the IRS in his little strawman argument. Police Fire and Teachers, all local employees and the most popular government positions except maybe the military. But whoever said it upthread said it right, the crazies smeared dung all over the teachers union in Wisconsin with their tactics and antics and somehow Mahlon whats his name, firefighter got nowhere in the LT Gov recall. HMMMM

[Captain Hate]

Rob I agree with everything you said.

[Danube of Thought]

Remember, Obama himself said that in his very brief foray into the private sector he felt he was "behind enemy lines."

[fdcol63]

I hope Americans learn from this experience.

Lefty academics and Chicago community organizers should remain cloistered in academia and urban Chicago communities.

[Rick Ballard]

"You think that anyone supporting public education, police forces, fire departments, and the national highway system is a socialist?"

Heavens no. I believe that someone would have to be listed on the rolls of an actual socialist party, like the New Party in Illinois, before I would ever consider them to be socialist. The President would have to have enrolled himself in a socialist party quite some time ago to actually earn the socialist label.

The Kendonesian commie President, like you, is much too smart to have done so.

[Jim,MtnView,Ca,USA]

BS removal tool. From PoliPundit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=201pgTaEseQ

[fdcol63]

Or avoid the whole BS Removal Tool with VELCRO BS(TM)! LOL

[Captain Hate]

There's definitely a laugh track here. But I'm pretty sure everyone is laughing at you.

Is it as funny as when Zsa Zsa sold out to AOL and the contributors didn't get a dime? Because I'm still laughing about that.

[Neo]

Eric Holder claims he was unaware that photo ID was required to enter the FBI, DOJ and federal courthouses.

At a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing Thursday, Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) asked Holder about the practice, which has been standard procedure at most, if not all, federal courthouses for the last decade or so.

"If I were to go to the federal courthouse here in D.C., either as a party or as an attorney, wouldn’t I have to show a government-issued photo ID?" Lungren asked.

"That’s not been my experience, here in DC. I don’t--you know," Holder replied.

"Some federal courts—are you aware that’s required in some federal courts in this land?" Lungren said.

"I don’t know," Holder replied.

"Is your Justice Department investigating the discriminatory effect of those laws?" Lungren asked, after citing other places where one is told to show ID, like the airport and even when visiting the Justice Department itself.

Cue Hall and Oates
Dance on your knees !!

[jwest]

Rob, Captain Hate, Although Ace and I have had our disagreements; I’ve got to stick up for him as one of the most talented bloggers on the internet.

This current Kimberlin deal is as serious as a heart attack. I don’t blame Ace for trying to get everyone educated and excited about this very real threat.

[Neo]

Notice Double Douche does not mention the EPA, or the TSA or the IRS in his little strawman argument.

You’ve got to keep those union members employed so they can pay dues that go to Democratic efforts in November.

[henry]

Running themes at DemFest WI:

It was the evil money (Koch, NRA, etc)

Work harder (not smarter)

Union fat cats = middle class

Republicans are too partisan

[Captain Hate]

jwest, I give ace credit for his alerts against Kimberlin, as you said, and his willingness to let the moron horde generally have the run of the place and swallowing his ego and stating that Breitbart never read the posts but went right to the comments. Just because I have issues with him doesn't mean I don't appreciate what he does.

[matt]

Union/OWS Stalkers for Obama? That could be the next gold mine for the campaign. "We crapped on your police cars. We trashed your parks. We occupied your state houses. We groped your naughty bits (TSA). And We're comin' to Gitcha."

I think that will resonate well with the American people. That; the suddenly ubiquitous drone programs everyone is so eager for, and the incredibly invasive data mining.

Which party is running the current administration?

[gus]

WeeWeeDouchebagDavey, is going to "shyte" his pants when we shit can Opie Obama in November. Maybe DouchebagDave will blow his own head off in anger.
Sucks to be you DouchebagDave. You're a loser.

[Danube of Thought]

Obama's huge mistake here was expecting Americans to understand that government needs to exist.

Utter nonsense. Every American understands that government at all levels needs to exist. The sensible among them know that the amount of government at every level should be what those who are taxed at that level to provide it are willing to pay. It is quite insane to believe that taxpayers in South Carolina should subsidize the utterly absurd excesses the California legislature has bestowed upon its public employees. And it is even more insane to suppose, as Obama evidently does, that the number of government employees should be increased, not by reason of any need for more of them, but to give people jobs.

The right-wing fairy tale is that the answer to the question "How much government do we need?" is always "Less," which is also the answer to the question "What's the proper level of taxation?"

Depends on where and when you ask the question. The answer is clearly "yes" to both in California, New York and Illlinois, which is why taxpayers are fleeing; probably not so in Oklahoma or Nevada, where my guess is that both are just about right.

[Danube of Thought]

It's also a gaffe to say that government workers are paid in American dollars just like private-sector workers, and that they spend these American dollars at private-sector stores, so if we pay them, they use the money to help stimulate the same economy that's stimulated by the spending of private-sector workers.

Why ask them to work, then? All that counts is that we give them money so that they can stimulate the economy, right?.

The difference, of course, is that the private sector worker gets money to spend because the market values what he does sufficiently to pay him for it. The government worker gets paid because politicians appropriate other people's money and give it to him, regardless of the value of his work.

We're tired of it. If you doubt that, see Wisconsin. See San Diego. See San Jose.

[Jane]

"That won't last much longer. Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe will soon force a vote on S. J. Res. 37

Just how does someone force a vote in this senate? Attach it to something the democrats want?

[Danube of Thought]

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy:

Tallahassee, Florida - 10 News has learned of allegations of homosexual affairs, a governor trying to kiss another man, and drunken escapades by former Governor Charlie Crist.

These allegations come in the form of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement Investigative Report in the Republican Party Chair Jim Greer saga.

Jim Greer is facing criminal charges and is set to go to trial on July 30 for allegedly paying himself to raise money for the Republican Party of Florida. Greer maintains that former Governor Charlie Crist approved the deal.

Now, discovery documents released point to allegations that as Governor, Crist paid two men to leave the state to hide his homosexuality and that he was a drunk and a liar.

[maryrose]

We now have proof from Obama's membership in a Socialist organization that he is in a socialist. All we need to do now is get the word out there. If someone asks Romney if Obama is a socialist he should answer in the affirmative. If he is asked if Obama is a Muslim he should give Hillary's answer and let Obama try and prove it by going to church again.

[centralcal]

Wow, DoT!

[maryrose]

Why am I not surprised about Charlie{let's give Obama a hug when he visits Florida} Crist's orientation. Birds of a feather...

[Rick Ballard]

"...see Wisconsin. See San Diego. See San Jose."

And just wait until you see the 2012 electoral map, preferably at CD or county level resolution. The remaining Blue Hell pusspockets will still exist and still be represented, they just won't have the political power to suck more money into their political sewers.

[peter]

Steven W., I knew that about Bush 41, just for brevity left it out. The MSM driven meme was that he was "out of touch."

[Captain Hate]

But but but wasn't Cheeto Crist supposed to be the next big candidate for the donks to take on Scott. I think that was something the Bard of Pitzer C & P'd in a recent verbiage vomit.

[Rick Ballard]

"If someone asks Romney if Obama is a socialist he should answer in the affirmative."

No. The appropriate response is; "That is a question for the President to answer. I have no idea whether he has renounced his membership in the New Party."

[Clarice]

Exactly, CH--What are the odds the donks were hlding on to this info until after Crist got the nomination?

[Clarice]

*anging on to this information*

[Danube of Thought]

I await the evidence that we do not have enough cops, teachers or firefighters.

And where, exactly, are their numbers too low? In, say, Moline, Illinois? Should people in Sarasota, FL, having been taxed to provide for an adequate police force, pay further taxes because the people of Moline have not done so? Please explain.

[Neo]

“I shouldn’t make fun of the blacks,” [Don] Rickles said, and then proceeded to do just that: “President Obama is a personal friend of mine. He was over to the house yesterday, but the mop broke.”

[Captain Hate]

My God Rick; I have confidence in Romney to give the first sentence if queried and that would be good. But if he added the second sentence the Pinhead Troika may as well pour salt on each other and prepare to shrivel into nothingness.

[Captain Hate]

Crist is like Arlen Specter without any of the positive early years. Yes I believe he's one of a certain "architect's" type of Republican.

[Danube of Thought]

Who will be the first Watchdog of the Fourth Estate to ask Carney, "has the president directed the WH staff not to invoke the 5th Amendment in the course of the leak investigation?"

[AliceH]

From 1900 to 2010, government receipts per capita increased 79 times, and decreased 31 times.

The obvious question to sentient beings is how much is enough to fund necessary government operations, and how much is unnecessary or inappropriate redistribution of private wealth?

A Conservative who answers "less" can argue their position with facts because we have a long history of effective government that managed on less than this.

The numbers below come from this site.

Total Fed State Local Revenue Inflation Adjusted PER CAPITA:

1900: $ 181 per capita
1925: $ 866
1945: $ 4,304
1965: $ 5,809
1985: $ 9,218
2005: $14,360

2005: $14,360
2006: $15,260
2007: $16,186
2008: $14,191
2009: $10,978
2010: $14,087

[Extraneus]

How about for every new cop, firefighter or teacher hired, we lay off a government employee in a different job, such that there's no net increase in the payroll?

Wouldn't that be a win-win?

You think that anyone supporting public education, police forces, fire departments, and the national highway system is a socialist?

No, but I'm betting that you are.

[Rick Ballard]

Why shouldn't the lights be turned off in a gangrenous pustule of a Blue Hell such as Detroit? Any surviving producers, after being raped by the UAW and plundered by AFSCME, have fled.

Does anyone expect parasites to pay the light bill? Aside from Pitzer College graduates indoctrinated by Dana Gilbert Ward, obviously.

[Clarice]

I've said it before..we should turn Detroit into a national park to industrial unions. Let whoever stays there move into a small enclave to serve the tourists..Have guided tours of the large crumbling industrial edifices..let the wolves, deer , buffalos , coyotes and bobcats replenish the place. It's right on the border with Canada; on Lake Michigan--plenty of room for hunting and fishing camp concessions.

[fdcol63]

Speaking of Detroit:

The pre-WW2 and post-WW2 photo montages of Detroit comparing it to Berlin and Hiroshima/Nagasaki are striking.

Tells you exactly which is more destructive between battle damage and failed liberal socialist policies.

[narciso]

I noticed in Massie's new tome on Catherine, that the 'Potemkin Village' is debunked, as in Winik, pg 490, pointing out there were several significant observers, but then as now, it seems 'print the legend' bury the truth' is the Watchword.

Speaking of carving sacred cows, Moyar does that very skillfully in his review of both Klaidman and Sanger's new books in the Journal. He notices for example, there are few on the record intelligence and military
officials, for the more controversial sources

[Neo]

“You murderer!”

“You deserve to die!”

By Day 2 he figured out what was going on: T-Mobile had given him the phone number formerly used by George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who fatally shot Trayvon Martin in February.

[Clarice]

Let's call it the Walter Reuther-Edsel Ford national Park.

[narciso]

Ah Fallows, the fellow who missed the Japanese property bubble as totally as Krugman with the fake Enron trading desk,
the Atlantic, where basic incomprehension is key to higher advancement,

[Extraneus]

Btw, why should teachers be public employees?

If every school-age child's parents was given $10K/yr to pay for that child's eduction at a school of their choice, a huge new industry would blossom, with competition driving quality and continual improvement. Failing schools would be replaced by new, better ones, and the average kid would get a better education than he or she does in the public school system.

Another win-win!

[Captain Hate]

narc, to employ a Poppin' dodge, in fairness it begged incredulity that the Ukraine and the entire Caucasus could be developed so quickly at the end of the 18th century. Subsequently Stalin decided to take corrective measures.

[Janet]

How about for every new cop, firefighter or teacher hired, we lay off a government employee in a different job, such that there's no net increase in the payroll?

That is a great idea!

[Threadkiller]

No real update on my daughter. She continues to be sick every morning. E-coli has been ruled out because of no fever. I am super busy today so I will check back this evening, but I want to express my opinion that socialized medicine is here.

The pediatrician and the ER both said to see a GI specialist. So my 2nd appointment with the pediatrician was canceled and I called the specialist, at Children's Hospital. After pressing "2" for English, I was treated to a multilingual menu. (Maybe the dummies at the crosswalks have it right; just keep pressing the button so you have something to do while you wait for the signal.)

I would like to say the receptionist was multilingual, but I can't. She did not seem to know the English language. "net poinmen July settenteeth."

"Is my daughter supposed to vomit every morning for over a month?"

"July settenteeth, you wan oh no?"

"I seem to have fallen into a Joe Isuzu commercial, and I can't get out."

"OK, you go mergency, they help now."

[Click]

I will be going back to the pediatrician on Monday. It is crazy.

In a related story:

"Unknown to most consumers, many hospitals and physicians offer steep discounts for cash-paying patients regardless of income. But there's a catch: Typically you can get the lowest price only if you don't use your health insurance.

That disparity in pricing is coming under fire from people like Snyder, who say it's unfair for patients who pay hefty insurance premiums and deductibles to be penalized with higher rates for treatment.

The difference in price can be stunning. Los Alamitos Medical Center, for instance, lists a CT scan of the abdomen on a state website for $4,423. Blue Shield says its negotiated rate at the hospital is about $2,400.

When The Times called for a cash price, the hospital said it was $250"
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/27/business/la-fi-medical-prices-20120527

Read the whole article.

[Extraneus]

Ah, the old class-size excuse. I love that one. Kids were only half as well educated decades ago, when class sizes were double what they are today. What? That's b.s.?

[Rick Ballard]

Big Dog Not Barking

Has anyone seen leftists twaddle regarding the success of the EUtopian Model recently? There was a time when scarcely a day passed without some credentialed moron spouting off about it but recently there has been a dearth of propaganda.

What happened? And where is Zapatero?

[Neo]

How about for every new cop, firefighter or teacher hired, we lay off a EPA employee, such that there's no net increase in the payroll?

[Clarice]

I'm sorry to hear that TK. It's curious that the pain is only in the morning on rising. It's hard to imagine why that would be the case if it is due to some blockage or to appendicitis.

[Disgruntled Californian]

Dublin Dave, I've had more than a few school teachers in my family--two aunts, a sister, some cousins who are teacher's aides. Several of my high school classmates went on to be teachers--all of this here in California.

But--California is either at the top or nearly at the top of all states (just 50--not 57--but nevertheless all states). And our education results are maybe 49th out of the nation. Hellfire, either Alabama or Mississippi ranks in front of California!

Paying a lot of money for teachers doesn't seem to produce results.

We like results. If theCalifornia public schools were say a law or accounting firm, we'd fire the firm and go get another, better provider of services.

So don't tell me we need MORE of something that is simply not working.

[Disgruntled Californian]

Oops--product of a California education;
I meant to say that California spends more on its public education--on a cost per pupil basis--than nearly every other state in the union--and its results are at the bottom of the heap.

[narciso]

I think the anecdote of the Stone Fleet, that Clarice discovered is more apt, than Potemkin
Village.

[narciso]

This is the review I was referring to;

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303753904577450703378905774.html?mod=WSJ_Books_LS_Books_8

[Clarice]

Actually, I think DC's per pupil costs are greater.but that only underscores Disgruntled's point.

TK, Have you considered a food allergy?
If so, doctors normally recommend a lamb and rice diet because no one is allergic to those foods. If that should work , after a few days you can begin adding other foods one by one to pin down what she's allergic to.

[JAO]

Does anyone know what Ron Paul got from Romney?

I hear he's gonna make Herman Cain, Secretary of Pizza.

[centralcal]

TK: Have you tried having her sleep with her head and torso a little elevated (prop her up at night with a couple of pillows) to see if it might be acid reflux related?

Sorry you got the run-around with the GI appointment, but I admit I had to laugh at your recap of your conversation with the receptionist. I know I have talked to one of her relatives on the phone before. lol.

[Captain Hate]

Rick, the EUtopian model was doomed from the outset; even the pages of the New York Review of Books, which lefties like to cite as a "middle of the road" gazette, noted the seeds of problems. It required willful ignorance of their reporting that in the beginning the financial houses of all the member countries didn't adhere to the minimum standards for inclusion; yet the bureaucrats gleefully took them anyway. What could go wrong?

[narciso]

July 17th, what is she crazy, even June 17th, is too far along, I wish I had some advice to give,

[Rick Ballard]

"--and its results are at the bottom of the heap."

Well, sure, if you're going to use outdated metrics regarding ability to perform so called cognitive tasks. Wake up - the true measure of success is the one approved by Pitzer College. Every one of its graduates feels as if he possesses superior special knowledge, unavailable to those who waste their time on mundane tasks such as reading or writing or addition or subtraction.

If you don't believe me, ask them, just remember to pass them a feather when you do. They are uniformly unable to speak without a feather in their hand.

[Captain Hate]

Thanks for linking that review, narc; like Nooner's parakeet liner, it shows up a day earlier online than in the dead tree.

[Threadkiller]

Clarice, we really feel that the problem is allergy related. There is confirmed celiac with my older brother. My dad may have suffered from celiac also, but he was never diagnosed prior to his passing. My mom tailored meals that were less upsetting to his stomach. A Sicilian cooking "wheat free?" Talk about true love!

The abdominal pain is the kicker. Half an hour after the vomiting she is pain free. Not a hint.

CCal, we have tried to elevate the head of her bed. She has always been a restless sleeper. Sleeping properly lasts no more than an hour before she becomes all twisted.

[Ignatz]

--Total Fed State Local Revenue Inflation Adjusted PER CAPITA:--

Would have been more helpful were it also adjusted for rising income.

[Captain Hate]

TK, your experience and the similarity it bears to my younger Hatette's mysterious shoulder pains (and its resolution by having her curtail her dairy consumption) lead me to believe that medicine is as much an art as a science.

[Clarice]

Look up elimination diet while waiting for further tests,TK. You might try it. Apparently you can also add apple and pear so it's not terribly onerous. If it turns out to be celiac disease, the stores are now full of foods you can switch to that are wheat free.

[Ignatz]

Have you talked to an allergist/immunologist, TK?

[Captain Hate]

TK, I haven't followed all your posts but is there any existence of Crohn's syndrome in your family?

[Clarice]

CH, He said his brother had coeliac problems and his dad might also..that certainly suggests a problem with gluten.

[Captain Hate]

Some quote worthy stuff in that link, narc.

[Rick Ballard]

AliceH,

Thanks for the revenue summary. It would be amusing to do data table presentations in rebuttal of the dimwitted assertions made regarding public service employment.

For instance - three strikes sentencing increased the need for prison guards but the outcome reduced the need for police officers yet police employment to population ratios haven't fallen. Why not?

Or - the number of teachers required is a function of the K-12 population with tons of research showing minimal benefit to reducing class size below 22-25. Is the K-12 population growing or shrinking and does enrollment at teaching colleges reflect in any way the demographic reality which should govern appropriate levels?

Or - Changes made in building codes over the past thirty-five years have reduced fire losses substantially. Has fire department staffing been reduced to reflect the declining need?

Data is readily available for all three situations. In fact, the education area has a surfeit of data available and none of it points to a need for "more" of anything. It points to "less" and not a little less, a lot less.

[Threadkiller]

No history of Crohn's, that we know of CH.

The whole week seemed to be a waste of time. The probiotic has lessened the severity of the episodes, leading us to believe we are on the right track.

No other specialist have been contacted, Ig. We were hoping to have a better diagnosis from the "professionals" that we have already talked to.

I am reminded of an old trade joke.

What is the difference between a doctor, a lawyer, and a mechanic?

A doctor practices medicine, a lawyer practices law, and a mechanic isn't allowed to practice anything. He has to get it right the first time.

Try practicing a brake job. "OK Sister Mary, if that doesn't help your bus come to a complete stop, just schedule another appointment and we will 'try' something else (for an additional charge)."

[narciso]

I have found as per Charles Stross's Lovecraftian satire, that IT is some dark art,
somewhat like alchemy.

[Captain Hate]

Don't be too rough on them TK. The wonders of genetic diversity produce many diagnostic problems.

[Clarice]

Well, tk, the problem is that most illnesses start out with the same or similar symptoms and therefore most doctors start with an assumption that the symptoms are of the most usual cause. It often takes a while to sort out whether that's the case.

[Danube of Thought]

"it should concern everyone that right now – all across America – tens of thousands of teachers are getting laid off. In Pennsylvania alone, there are 9,000 fewer educators in our schools today than just a year ago. In Ohio, the number is close to 7,000."

It certainly doesn't concern me. Teachers are getting laid off because, with the elaborate benefit packages they have been granted by legislatures in return for union contributions, they cost more than the various states are willing to pay them. To use "federal money""--that is, money taken from people in other states--to keep the gravy train rolling is immoral.

The day of reckoning is here: live within your means. And stop whining....

[Extraneus]

I'm sorry, I know you mentioned this. Where exactly is the abdominal pain?

[henry]

LOL Narciso. If we could get rid of those pesky end users IT would be quite logical. ; )

[henry]

PA, no labor reform, OH labor reform rolled back by Dem sponsored referendum. CA, NY, IL no hope of labor reform. Once is circumstance, twice coincidence, three plus is enemy action -- the enemy of the teachers is the union/ Dems.

[narciso]

Don't forget the Role of the Duke and Dukers in Ohio, and probably Pennsylvania too, henry.

[henry]

Plus WI until recently Narciso.

[narciso]

Who took 500 billion out of Medicare again, please remind me?

[Ignatz]

--No other specialist have been contacted, Ig.--

Our daughter was having some type of problem at about that age, seems like it was sinus and bronchial, and I just remember the allergist poking her with about thirty little deals on her back to see if she had any allergic reactions. Fortunately she didn't.
If you've been through chemo TK you know just how much an art medicine can be as opposed to science.

[Captain Hate]

I have found as per Charles Stross's Lovecraftian satire, that IT is some dark art,
somewhat like alchemy.

A cottage industry existed a decade ago (most may have been bought out/absorbed by the leviathan; which may have been the end game all along)on snafus that could happen when installing Oracle's "corrective" patches, which a lot of internal DBAs refused to touch.

[Threadkiller]

The pain is at 8:00, as you look at her bellybutton, and about 3 in from the center of the bellybutton.

The joke isn't so much to trash doc, and lawyers, as it is to put a perspective of what we have gotten used to expecting from the people that fix our cars. A car is not so far off from a human body anymore. The multiple computers constantly adapt to the driver, the environment, and much more.

There is one major difference. The car can't say "it hurts here." Mechanics just hook up the "code reading thingy" and are expected to have the solution right out of the gate.

Did you know that a car uses less fuel, at a higher altitude, to maintain a proper air/fuel ratio? To accomplish that, a balancing act of information, from half a dozen sensors, is run through a logarithm. The logarithm is proprietary, so it has to be reverse engineered if you want to know what you are dealing with.

Replace the wrong sensor and the court, while practicing law, says you own the job because you were obligated to fix the car properly. No extra charges, for the most part, from there on out.

When all is said and done, Team News does an expose on how auto repair is a criminal enterprise. In the mean time AutoZone scans the car for free so the vehicle owner can replace the wrong part on their own.

Cars are either the largest, or second largest, investment in a persons lifetime, so nobody puts up with their car being a guinea pig.

Our bodies, on the other hand...

[narciso]

Is it like the tale of the Earwig, Captain, although with Windows Vista, something like
the facehuggers are involved,

[Captain Hate]

The version we used at the third rate bank, with ancient servers but mercifully running on the relatively stable Unix (when Vista was just an ill conceived future brain fart of Gates), was buggy as hell. Opening TARs to deal with specific problems was a Kafka refresher course.

[rse]

On Eutopia, have I ever disclosed that one of the primary EU architects also wrote the seminal 1990s UNESCO report on getting global education ready for the 21st century.

Learning to be. Learning to do. Communicate.

De dutiful to bureaucratic commands. Take subjugation well. Be a good cog and fit in where assigned.

DeLors.

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of buggy software; I think typhus has detected a disruption in the field by ace turning off the comments in pixy (and introducing Wordpress, which I'm not using, as an interim "solution") and is being particularly sluggish today.

[narciso]

OK, what is 'pixy' is it an actual program, or the nickname for one;

[Captain Hate]

Btw, speaking of the ewok, when I saw some regular posters ridiculing his reaction to Kimberlin I figured that wasn't a smart thing to do. Keep in mind that, while I think he displays a sensitivity to comments that at times borders on the practices of the bike riding ukulele player, he was perfectly justified in dropping the hammer imo.

[narciso]

When the rage virus, reaches Brookings;

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/elephantiasis_646405.html?nopager=1

[AliceH]

Pixy is Pixy Misa, nom de plume of the mu.nu webmaster/hosting platform. He (not she) is in Australia.

[narciso]

Maybe he's never voted in D.C.

http://moelane.com/2012/06/09/rsrh-ag-eric-holder-blissfully-unaware-of-justice-dept-id-requirements/

[narciso]

Thanks, Alice, Darnak at Tanagra. maybe that explains how Andrea Harris who used to live in Florida, was Tim Blair's webmaster or not.

[Jane]

I've got an idea! Let's stop paying all those teachers who sexually abused their students who sit in a room all day at full pay and use that to hire some teachers who don't sexually abuse their students. That should cure about a third of the problem - if there is one, which I doubt.

[centralcal]

I took a lot of pleasure in reading this at the WaPo of all places:

‘Uhhh,’ the president’s ‘uhhh’ press conference was ‘uhhh’ terrible

[Extraneus]

Right near the appendix. I'm sure they checked that, though. My son had abdominal pain at around 8 yrs of age, in that same spot, and he was in the operating room 20 minutes after they did a CAT scan.