Coming soon to a country near you

Desperate governments do desperate things. Some of those things qualify as theft if you or I do them. This is one of those things.

The Irish government plans to institute a tax on private pensions to drive jobs growth, according to its jobs program strategy, delivered today.

Without the ability sell debt due to soaring interest rates, and with severe spending rules in place due to its EU-IMF bailout, Ireland has few ways of spending to stimulate the economy. Today’s jobs program includes specific tax increases, including the tax on pensions, aimed at keeping government jobs spending from adding to the national debt.

Yeah. Call it a tax. “Theft” is such an ugly word.

The article contains a link to a slide show of 17 countries that appear poised to use this same tactic. Surprisingly, the USA wasn’t one of them. Il Duce must be slipping.

South Korea was #4 on the list: someone warn bingbing!

Coming in at #1 was — drumroll, please — Japan, a country with an aging population and two decades of economic stagflation under its belt.

But don’t worry if your country wasn’t on the list of those ready to pounce on your hard-earned retirement nest egg. They’ll get to you soon enough.

Tweet of the Day

O, Canada!

Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste: Earthquake? Tsunami? Global Warming!!!

We all knew this was going to happen – it was just a matter of “when”.  As it turns out, it didn’t take very long at all.

Hours after a massive earthquake rattled Japan, environmental advocates connected the natural disaster to global warming.  The president of the European Economic and Social Committee, Staffan Nilsson, issued a statement calling for solidarity in tackling the global warming problem.

“Some islands affected by climate change have been hit,” said Nilsson. “Has not the time come to demonstrate on solidarity – not least solidarity in combating and adapting to climate change and global warming?”

“Mother Nature has again given us a sign that that is what we need to do,” he added.

Lee Doren of the Competitive Enterprise Institute has been collecting some of the highlights – er, lowlights – via Twitter.  See them here at The Daily Caller.

UPDATE:  “Global warming alarmists are to natural disasters what the Westboro Baptist Church is to military funerals.” Just so.

UPDATE 2:  Tim Blair on Anthropogenic Tectonic Warming®.  You know it makes sense!

h/t @LDoren, @JTlol, @DailyCaller

O-bow-ma

Oh for fuck’s sake.

Of course, the Chinese are calling him, Oba Mao.

It’s not the first time he’s done this, either.

Jesus Christ. I’m glad General of the Armies Douglas MacArthur isn’t around to see this.

Mac’s Thought Bubble: “Fuck me, a leftard shit-head president.”

Obama Says Iran has a Right to go Nuclear: Good Luck New York

So, our president – who, as is becoming increasingly clear, lives in a fantasy world – says Iran has a right to have nuclear reactors.

“LONDON — President Barack Obama reiterated that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it takes steps to prove its aspirations are peaceful…

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. But the U.S. and other Western governments accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons.

“Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations. On the other hand, the international community has a very real interest in preventing a nuclear arms race in the region,” Obama said.”

Yo, Obi-One, no nation that has leaders who proclaim that they want to wipe Israel off the map, and that also has ICBM’s that can reach New York City, has any right to anything nuclear. In fact, sanctions forever are all Iran deserves.

Hey New Yorkers, how does this make you feel? If you thought 09/11 was bad, imagine what NYC would look like today if 09/11 had been a nuclear attack instead of just a couple of airliners laden with jet fuel. It’s not hard.

Good night. Sleep tight.

Russia Backs Return to Gold Standard

It’s sort of a modified, limited hang-out, but Russia is promoting at least a partial return to the gold standard for international currencies.

“Arkady Dvorkevich, the Kremlin’s chief economic adviser, said Russia would favour the inclusion of gold bullion in the basket-weighting of a new world currency based on Special Drawing Rights issued by the International Monetary Fund.

Chinese and Russian leaders both plan to open debate on an SDR-based reserve currency as an alternative to the US dollar at the G20 summit in London this week, although the world may not yet be ready for such a radical proposal.”

Too funny: Having money backed by real value is “radical.” No, it isn’t, it’s moral… but you can be sure the Russians and Chinese are not proposing this for positive moral ends, rather they have designs on taking advantage of the US mountain of debt that Obi-One has buried us under to weaken us economically. Still, I’m glad they brought this up, because it will strike fear into a lot of arrogant hearts, or it ought to.

If some countries return to the gold standard, international financiers and financial institutions will flock to those currencies and the US dollar and other unbacked fiat currencies will plummet into worthlessness. If that doesn’t worry you, it should. The US, GB, Australia and other western nations are in no position to return to the gold standard: Too much money in circulation and nowhere near enough gold to hitch to it.

Still, at some point this is going to happen, even if it takes a total global financial meltdown to achieve it… and it just might.

The choices will come down to this…

…or this.

Oh great: North Korean nuclear news

Old news but being reiterated today; North Korea has between five and eight nuclear warheads. This is according to Daniel Pinkston, of the International Crisis Group, who quotes un-named agencies (but probably the US). The missiles can be loaded onto Rodong missiles capable of reaching Japan. If true, Japan may go nuclear, too.

(H/T). US Congressional report here (16-page PDF).

Is this one of the international crises Biden was referring to?

One query: the first link in this post is from 2006, and quotes US sources. The second link quotes un-named sources. Anything to declare, President Obama?

White Day

“What is White Day?” you may ask. Na, it’s not a racist rethuglican sheepletard thing. It’s a Korean (Japanese?) thing and was celebrated yesterday. The deal is this: on Valentine’s Day, only the women are meant to give a romantic gift to the men which is reciprocated the following month (i.e. yesterday). Next month will be Black Day for all those singles out there (BTW, jjajangmyun is pretty yummy but not yummy enough for Sunday brunch). Somehow I get the feeling the bloke below will be celebrating Black Day. Probably best to put it below the fold, though…

McCain’s Perfect Choice for a Running Mate: Governor Sarah Palin

While most of the pedantic, two-dimensional, inside-the-box-thinking, conservative political hacks are touting Tom Ridge for the slot (Not a bad guy, but…), David Freddoso notes a far superior choice has been proposed: The Republican Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin.

I believe this is a truly inspired idea. Gov. Palin ran as an anti-corruption outsider, and handily defeated a corrupt and entrenched Republican political machine. Plus, at 44, she would almost totally wipe the “age issue” McCain has off the slate, and since Obama is only two years her senior, there is no way they could attack her for her youth and inexperience: She has much more executive experience than Senator Obama has.

Not to mention the fact that, she’s a gorgeous woman who exudes mass quantities of charisma…

and has a super-solid family life.

Dibs on the eldest daughter! LOL!

This inspired choice would allow McCain to actually capitalize on his “maverick” persona, as Gov. Palin shook Alaska politics to the core: She’s a charming, charismatic woman, but she can also play with the big boys and kick ass.

What say ye?

UPDATE: Things are looking optimistic!

UPDATE II: Welcome to all 4500 8000 40,000 in the past few hours (so far!) people visiting us from Google. We’re a fairly opinionated right-wing blog, and you might like to take a look at our “About” page. You might also be interested in our other coverage of Sarah Palin and whether she becomes a prospective Vice President of the United States. You can find this coverage here and here. Personally, I hope she does, but you can feel free to debate the idea in comments below. All first comments are moderated, but unless you either insult or use severe profanity (and I mean severe by my standards, which generally only means the C U Next Tuesday word or the implication that someone has had a rather enjoyable erotic experience with someone who has borne a child), however if you come up with a new one, I may simply delete your comment. I, and all other contributors to this blog are more than fair in what we permit.

UPDATE III: Nayr Drahcir, don’t bother even trying. You will not be published.

UPDATE IV: A lot of people must like Palin.

UPDATE V: More coverage of Governor Sarah Palin and a theme song here.

UPDATE VI: Funniest observation on the announcement yet: “Put Obama and Palin on a basketball court one on one. Winner takes all!”

UPDATE VII: [spot_the_dog] No, we do not have any pictures of “Sarah Palin + Naked,” nor do we have any of “Sarah Palin + Swimsuit.” In the past 24 hours, there have been 157 separate searches on this site for “Sarah Palin Swimsuit,” and 161 separate searches for “Sarah Palin Naked.” I repeat, we have no bathing suit, swim suit, bikini, or naked pictures of Sarah Palin. What kind of people do you think we are, anyway? 😉

UPDATE VIIa: [spot_the_dog] Ace has noticed a similar search phenomenon on his blog and has a theory…

UPDATE VIII: A well-rounded view of the selection of Sarah Palin for the Vice President Nomination can be found here.

UPDATE IX:  We got it!  YES!  Nude photo of Sarah Palin right here!  (C’mon.  You know you want to click.)

UPDATE X: Feel free to visit our main page and read the latest posts we’ve written.

Conundrum

There is perhaps no better example out there of such. Bush is making one last ditch effort to make some kind of progress on the North Korea conundrum before leaving office – mainly what to do about the North’s nuclear program. But let’s face it, not much will come of it. Here you have a country, total population perhaps hovering around the 23 million mark with a combined active and reserve military force of about nine million. And it would take their missiles just 12 minutes to reach downtown Seoul. The Seoul National Capital Area is the second largest metropolitan area in the world with a population of almost 25 million.

Best of luck with that chit chat, Obama.

(PS … and you wonder why I live in the deep south of the country next to an airport…)

PPS Here’s a documentary on North Korea. It’s a few years old but I highly recommend you watch it.

PPPS But are we, in a necessary yet still tragic cross-cultural irony, witnessing death by a 1000 cuts?

But what other ’solution’ is there?

What would China do?

Good News, Bad News…..Toyota to Make Prius in the U.S.

Bits:

DETROIT — Toyota acknowledged Thursday that, like its rival automakers in Detroit, it misjudged the drastic swing in the American market away from larger vehicles.

With sales of pickups and big S.U.V.’s tumbling, Toyota said it would shut down truck production at two United States plants for three months and consolidate its pickups into one factory next year.

The Japanese automaker also said it would begin making its Prius gas-electric hybrids in a new plant in Mississippi by late 2010 to meet demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

More than 4,000 employees will be affected, but the workers will be paid and attend training sessions during the shutdowns.

New York Times

Overall, this should be a plus, with the 4000 employees being paid and trained PLUS with sales of the Prius booming, jobs for those that WANT jobs should be booming soon, as well.

Japanese ‘cannibal killer’ executed in Tokyo

Bits:

Japan’s most reviled serial killer – a “cannibal nerd” who preyed on primary-school girls and drank their blood – has been executed in Tokyo.

A voracious sexual predator, he kidnapped girls aged between four and seven years old, molested and murdered them. In some cases he ate parts of their bodies, in others he slept next to their corpses.

During his trial, Miyazaki sketched cartoons and often talked nonsensically. He blamed the outrages of which he was accused on a “rat man” alter-ego of himself – a character he also drew in cartoon for the court. Miyazaki’s defence rested in the argument of his lawyers that he was not mentally fit to be held responsible for his crimes. Court-ordered psychiatric examinations reached no unified conclusions.

The Times UK

Way to go, Japan. In the U.S. we would have fed, housed and studied a evil person such as, forever. Why? I have no damn idea.

Japanese Whaling

Japanese whalers have released a video on YouTube describing Australians as ‘racist’, and needless to say, they found the worst possible footage, took it all completely out of context, and added subtitles.

The movie is below. I haven’t watched it all, but I’m working on the assumption that it’s quite disturbing, so watch it at your own discretion.