Union officers’ pension plans are significantly better funded than the plans they negotiate for their rank-and-file counterparts, raising questions about whether union members have been manipulated by those they trust to bargain for them.
The average union staff plan is funded at over 95 percent, while the average funding percentage of a rank-and-file member’s pension plan is 79 percent, according to a September study by the Hudson Institute. None of the staff pensions is on the Department of Labor’s list of critically underfunded pension plans, while more than half of rank-and-file pension plans are endangered. (A pension is considered “endangered” by the government when it contains less than 80 percent of the assets needed to cover its liabilities.)
Archive for the ‘Interesting’ Category
Unions pay themselves first, rank-and-file second (and less)
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010Next SuBo on Taiwan show | The Sun |News
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010Chubby Lin Yu Chun blew away a panel of judges on Taiwanese singing competition Super Star Avenue with this rousing rendition of Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’.
Obama’s halo blinds Democrats to trouble ahead
Thursday, March 25th, 2010Magical thinking has returned to Obamaland and Democrats are lining up for their unicorn rides.
Listening to the analysis of Democrats and the swooning press corps suggests that between Sunday night and Tuesday afternoon all of the realities of American politics had been wiped away.
Passing an unaffordable health bill over strong public objections on a straight party-line vote: a political masterstroke.
via Obama’s halo blinds Democrats to trouble ahead | Washington Examiner.
YouTube – Amazing Technology….
Thursday, March 18th, 2010The Twilight of the Elites – 10 Ideas for the Next 10 Years
Saturday, March 13th, 2010In the past decade, nearly every pillar institution in American society — whether it’s General Motors, Congress, Wall Street, Major League Baseball, the Catholic Church or the mainstream media — has revealed itself to be corrupt, incompetent or both. And at the root of these failures are the people who run these institutions, the bright and industrious minds who occupy the commanding heights of our meritocratic order. In exchange for their power, status and remuneration, they are supposed to make sure everything operates smoothly. But after a cascade of scandals and catastrophes, that implicit social contract lies in ruins, replaced by mass skepticism, contempt and disillusionment.
via The Twilight of the Elites – 10 Ideas for the Next 10 Years – TIME.
Child Directed Traffic at N.Y.’s JFK Airport
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010An air traffic controller at New York’s Kennedy Airport was suspended for allowing his young son to radio instructions to several pilots.
The few quick exchanges between the elementary-school-aged child and jets waiting to take off from JFK, one of the nation’s busiest airports, appeared to delight pilots at the time.
Missile Defense Agency, Obama Campaign Logos Cause Internet Stir
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010The Internet is abuzz with comparisons of the “strikingly similar” logos of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the ubiquitous Obama 2008 campaign.
The Missile Defense Agency, which is part of the Defense Department, now features a circular red, white and blue logo on its Web site that has been characterized in some reports as “scarily” similar to President Obama’s former campaign symbol. Others have noted that it has a crescent and star design, evoking a common symbol for Islam.
via FOXNews.com – Missile Defense Agency, Obama Campaign Logos Cause Internet Stir.
Frustrated Owner Bulldozes Home Ahead Of Foreclosure
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Like many people, Terry Hoskins has had troubles with his bank. But his solution to foreclosure might be unique.
Hoskins said he’s been in a struggle with RiverHills Bank over his Clermont County home for nearly a decade, a struggle that was coming to an end as the bank began foreclosure proceedings on his $350,000 home.
“When I see I owe $160,000 on a home valued at $350,000, and someone decides they want to take it – no, I wasn’t going to stand for that, so I took it down,” Hoskins said.
via Frustrated Owner Bulldozes Home Ahead Of Foreclosure – Cincinnati News Story – WLWT Cincinnati.
Instapundit » A NEW WORLD
Saturday, February 20th, 2010So yesterday afternoon I wondered if my new camera had come from Amazon. Did I go out and check the garage? No, I clicked on Amazon, where it said “Delivered — Garage.” Then I went out to the garage . . . . Yes, it’s the 21st Century.
I have done the same thing on several occasions. Nice to know I am not the only one.
What is really crazy, I call home from work to tell Jeanette to get the package from the front door.
Barack Obama statue removed from Jakarta park
Monday, February 15th, 2010JAKARTA, Indonesia – Authorities removed a statue of Barack Obama from a park in the Indonesian capital due to a public backlash and moved it Monday to a nearby elementary school that the U.S. president attended as a child.
via Barack Obama statue removed from Jakarta park – Yahoo! News.
OK Go – This Too Shall Pass
Saturday, February 13th, 2010Absolutely amazing video.
New World Trade Center 9/11 aerial images from ABC News | Mail Online
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010We have seen the Twin Towers collapse hundreds of times on TV. The steel and glass skyscrapers exploding like a bag of flour, the dust and smoke pluming out across Manhattan. But never like this, from above.
via New World Trade Center 9/11 aerial images from ABC News | Mail Online.
Move Over “Articulate,” The New Racist Code Word is “Professor”
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010I never have to worry about anyone calling me professor.
All American Blogger » Move Over “Articulate,” The New Racist Code Word is “Professor”.
Drink that beer ladies, it’s good for your bones?
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010Everyone knows the role that calcium plays in healthy bones, but many may be surprised to learn that silicon also is crucial. Studies by the National Institutes of Health have suggested that dietary silicon may be important for the growth of bone and connective tissue, and some studies have suggested that beer in moderation may be a good dietary source of the element. Silicon is present in beer in the form of soluble orthosilicic acid, which is about 50% bioavailable — that is, about half of it can be absorbed and used by the body. But which beers are best?
via Drink that beer ladies, it’s good for your bones? | Booster Shots | Los Angeles Times.
‘Miss Me Yet?’ Billboard With Photo Of Bush Is Real
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010There is a billboard along I-35 near Wyoming, Minn., with a huge photo of former president George W. Bush and this question: “Miss Me Yet?”
Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Sue My Shop? – Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
Friday, February 5th, 2010A legal angle on the Super Bowl: The National Football League has claimed ownership of the phrase “Who Dat.”
via Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Sue My Shop? – Hit & Run : Reason Magazine.
Struck Down: Feds Refuse to Explain How Agent Injured Daily Caller Writer | The Daily Caller – Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment
Thursday, February 4th, 2010The State Department has refused to answer basic questions about an accident that took place in Washington on Wednesday night, in which a U.S. Diplomatic Security Service vehicle struck Daily Caller employee Sean Medlock as he was crossing the street.
Russian Oil Magnate Launches $490 Million Luxury Yacht – International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News – FOXNews.com
Monday, June 15th, 2009XML: Ten Years On
Monday, February 18th, 2008I only wish I had known more about it 10 years ago.
XML is ten years old today. It feels like yesterday, or a lifetime. I wrote this that year (1998). It’s really long.
The title was originally Good Luck and Internet Plumbing but the filename was “XML-People” and I decided I liked that better. I never got around to publishing it, so why not now?
Remember, it’s ten years old; some of the people and companies are in different places now.
Fossil Ahmadinejad
Monday, December 3rd, 2007I found this photo mixed in with a bunch of photos on Yahoo about dinosaurs and other fossils. I guess the reason it was there was because of the caption.
In this file photo Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves as he leaves the presidential palace in La Paz September 27, 2007. Ahmadinejad is visiting Bolivia to tighten diplomatic ties and sign energy and industrial aid agreements. Ahmadinejad said on Saturday he believed the market price of fossil energy, which includes oil, was still below its ‘real price’, Iranian media reported. (David Mercado/Reuters)
I think it more appropriate that he showed up because he and his Muslim extremists are fossils in the living world of today.
Embryonic-Destructive Stem-Cell Research
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007President Bush will probably never get credit for pushing science to the point of finding alternatives to embryonic-destructive stem-cell research, but he certainly has done that with his determination not to have it funded with federal tax dollars.
Instapundit vs Sullivan
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007Well it seems that Andrew Sullivan is continuing his spat with Instapundit’s Glenn Reynolds.
I think Andrew Sullivan does it just to get the massive traffic from Instapundit. It certainly isn’t because he’s on the right side of the spat. He never will as long as he takes out of context, beliefs and ideas and misquotes what has been stated clearly in black and white pixels.
New Better Armor
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007The guys over at Big Lizards are talking about stuff that is Greek to me, doing stuff that is really cool.
It is way over my head as most stuff is, but if it protects just one American life, I am all for it.
Nukes Oops
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007Seems someone made an shipping error for the cargo of a B-52 bomber and ended up giving some nukes a ride around town.
Maybe the pilot should check his load next time before taking off.
2006 Democrat Contract With Al Qaeda
Monday, February 6th, 2006I can be read in full here.
h/t: Power Line Blog
Palestinians Elect Terrorists
Thursday, January 26th, 2006From AP: Palestinian
PM, Cabinet Resigns After Hamas Victory
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and his Cabinet
ministers submitted their resignations Thursday as the Islamic militant group Hamas
appeared to have captured a large majority of seats in the Palestinian elections —
a shocking upset sure to throw Mideast peacemaking into turmoil.“This is the choice of the people. It should be respected,” Qureia said. “If it’s
true (the results), then the president should ask Hamas to form a new government.
For me, personally, I sent my resignation.”Under the law, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas must ask the largest party in
the new parliament — presumably Hamas — to form the next government. Abbas was elected
separately a year ago and remains president.
With this terrorist outfit in power now in Palestine, how could anything go wrong.
This seems like the perfect example of the insane in charge of the insane asylum.
William Blum: Endorsed By Osama bin Laden
Sunday, January 22nd, 2006 From Reuters: Author’s
sales jump after Osama mentions book
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An unexpected endorsement from al Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden has resulted in a huge jump in sales for a book by a critic of U.S.
foreign policy.William Blum’s “Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower” was ranked
209,000 on Amazon.com’s sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released
on Thursday. By Friday, the book was No. 30 on the Amazon.com list.Bin Laden said al Qaeda group was preparing more attacks in the United States
but also told Americans, “It is useful for you to read the book ‘The Rogue State.’”“I was quite surprised and even shocked and amused when I found out what he’d
said,” Blum said on Friday in an interview with Reuters Television in his Washington
apartment.“I was glad. I knew it would help the book’s sales and I was not bothered by who
it was coming from.
I would imagine it would be embarrassing to receive support from a terrorist. For
this guy, not so much. He seems OK with it.
The Cow That Got Away
Thursday, January 12th, 2006From Reuters: When good things happen to good cows.
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – A cow that escaped last week from a Montana slaughterhouse, leading workers and police on a six-hour chase, will be spared following a wave of popular support, officials said on Tuesday.
Del Morris, manager of Mickey’s Packing Plant in Great Falls, said he decided to let the cow live the instant he saw it cross the Missouri River through Great Falls.
That’ll do cow, that’ll do.
Girls Valet Parking
Friday, January 6th, 2006From Reuters: Baby, you can park my car..
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Take a few leggy California blondes, throw in a passion for luxury cars, plenty of parties, and a distaste for parking your own car.What have you got? A multimillion-dollar, female valet parking business, where struggling models and actresses dressed in bikinis, miniskirts or lingerie and Santa hats park the cars of the rich and famous in the Los Angeles area.
Beverly Hills, California-based Girls Valet Parking opened for business less than six months ago. This week, it took over its rival, Valet Girls, and announced plans to expand to San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix.
Nice, another reward for Capitalism.
Spam or Ham – You Decide
Monday, December 26th, 2005 From Reuters: Fla. attorney
general says his e-mails aren’t spam
MIAMI (Reuters) – Florida’s attorney general has spearheaded an aggressive campaign
against unsolicited e-mails, or spam. But as a candidate for governor, he appears
to be generating some unwanted Internet clutter himself.Charlie Crist was a staunch defender of a tough anti-spam law passed by the state
legislature last year, under which violators can be fined up to $500 for every e-mail
they send.But a report in Thursday’s St. Petersburg Times said Crist, a Republican gubernatorial
candidate, had annoyed some residents of the state by sending them unwanted e-mails
promoting his candidacy and soliciting campaign donations.
Do as I say, not blah, blah, blah….


