UPDATE: This was the video of Derek Fenton, the NJ Transit employee who was fired from his job after he chose to exercise his right to free speech. On September 11, 2010, he burned pages of the Koran while strolling around Ground Zero. You remember where that is.
The crowd he drew had a pretty big dash of fool in their composition and heaped far more insults and threats on him than blessings or bouquets. Mr. Fenton is a hero in his own way.

It also said the panel had emphasized the negative impacts of climate change and made “substantive findings” based on little proof….

It’s been a difficult Summer for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, as rampaging forest fires hurt his government’s standing and made him look impotent.  But not for long. On Wednesday, harpoon in hand, Putin did a bit of non-lethal whale hunting in Kamchatka and made sure the photographers weren’t far away.

]]> http://lwdewhirst.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/its-ten-oclock-do-you-know-where-your-propaganda-is/feed/ 0 lwdewhirst wheeeee! take the picture now http://lwdewhirst.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/when-someone-builds-a-house/ http://lwdewhirst.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/when-someone-builds-a-house/#comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:50:36 +0000 lwdewhirst http://lwdewhirst.wordpress.com/?p=2653 ]]> When someone wants  to build a house, they buy a lot to build it on.  This means new business for a land seller, a real estate broker, a surveyor, a real estate agent, a title company,  a title insurance company,  a liability underwriter, a real estate attorney, an accountant, and a bank or other financial institution.  All of whom pay federal, state and local taxes, unemployment taxes, medicare taxes, social security taxes, employee health care premiums, and match contributions to individual retirement accounts. In addition, both the state and the city or county having jurisdiction over the lot derive tax revenue from the transaction.

When small businesses are profitable, it means new business for advertisers.

When small businesses make contributions to retirement accounts, it means new business for investment brokers.

When someone wants to build a house, they need plans to build from. This means new business for an architect, an interior designer, a civil engineer, a structural engineer, a mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer, a plumbing engineer, a landscape architect, and possibly a consulting engineer (if, for example, the house is to be built in a coastal location and requires  approval by a state environmental authority).  All of whom pay federal, state and local taxes, self employment taxes, unemployment taxes, medicare taxes, social security taxes. They pay for their employees’  health care premiums and for professional liability insurance; they match contributions to individual retirement accounts, are liable for continuing education, pay state and local license fees and annual dues to professional organizations. They retain the services of attorneys and accountants. They borrow funds from banks upon which they pay interest. They buy office supplies, computers, and software;  pay rent for office space and internet access;  lease automobiles, have commercial credit cards used for frequent travel and lodging;  and probably donate funds to their churches, universities, favorite charities, and local causes.

When someone wants to build a house, they need a building permit. This means the local government receives permit application fees and construction impact fees which fund the salaries of municipal employees, road construction, school construction, parks and recreation construction, water and sewer construction, utility construction, civil improvements, and other items critical to managing the growth of the local infrastructure.

When someone wants to build a house, they need construction financing.  This means more business for a bank, an attorney, the local tax collector, and an insurance underwriter.

When someone wants to build a house, they need someone to execute the work.  This means business for a general contractor who is insured, has a credit line at a bank, and pays federal, state and local taxes, self employment taxes, unemployment taxes, medicare taxes, workers’ compensation premiums, and social security taxes. The contractor pays for the services of attorneys and accountants.  The contractor borrows funds from banks on which he pays interest. The contractor pays his employees’  health care premiums and  his company’s liability insurance premiums.   He matches his employees’ contributions to their individual retirement accounts.  He pays state and local license fees, annual dues to professional organizations, is liable for continuing education, buys office supplies, computers, and software.  He rents his office space, pays for internet access, places orders for building materials, leases cars and heavy construction equipment, and probably donates funds to his church, university, favorite charities, and local causes.

To build the house, the contractor  signs a contract with the owner based on a specific schedule of values which comprises the construction budget and then contracts with a team of subcontractors from whom he has received proposals to complete the work.  He has agreements with subcontractors for the clearing, grading, and site preparation;  the foundation work, the structural frame, the masonry, the rough carpentry, the electrical work, the plumbing work, the heating, air conditioning and ventilation work, the insulation, the interior sheathing, the exterior sheathing, the interior painting, the exterior painting, the specialties such as solar, music, security, video, fire alarm, and data systems, the finish carpentry, the cabinetry, the plumbing fixtures, the lighting fixtures, the roofing, the kitchen and household appliances,  the interior finishes, the furnishings, the swimming pool and equipment;  the landscape planting, final grading, irrigation system, exterior  lighting,  mail box, ongoing cleaning, waste removal, and the final survey.  All these subcontractors pay federal, state and local taxes, unemployment taxes, medicare taxes, social security taxes, employee health care premiums, and match contributions to individual retirement accounts. They pay for the services of attorneys and accountants. They pay liability insurance premiums, pay workers’ compensation premiums, and borrow funds from banks on which they pay interest. They pay state and local license fees, annual dues to professional organizations, are liable for continuing education, place orders for building materials, buy office supplies, computers, and software.  They rent their office spaces, pay for internet access, buy trucks and construction equipment, and probably donate funds to their churches, universities, favorite charities, and local causes.

When the house is finished, the construction loan is converted to permanent financing.  This means more  business for the title company, the title insurance company, the bank, the local tax collector, and  the attorney.  It means new business for the flood insurance company, the home insurance company, the mortgagor, the possible second mortgagor, and a new perpetual flow of property taxes to the municipality.

When someone doesn’t build a house it’s called  Recovery Summer …We need a recovery from Recovery Summer.

COMING SOON: Next World Immigration Mexican Style

“The process of settlement is a ‘Civilization-Jihadist Process’ with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of Grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”

Quotation from:   An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America;  Mohamed Akram, 1991

“In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic” – Karl Marx, 1845. 

Ummm, okay….according to Marx,  instead of doing something, we will pretend we can do everything while getting nothing done.

“We must beware of trying to build a society in which nobody counts for anything except a politician or an official, a society where enterprise gains no reward and thrift no privileges.”  -Churchill

[Russian jokes] depended on was the inherent absurdity of the official Soviet doctrine, rhetoric and propaganda – not just because it was absurd, but because it was official (in a way that no capitalist doctrine could be)…..

‘What is the difference between communism and capitalism?’ ‘Capitalism is the exploitation of man by man; communism is the exact opposite.’

‘Capitalism stands on the brink of the abyss. It will soon be overtaken by communism.’

‘Is it true that Marxism-Leninism is scientific?’ ‘No, surely not. If it were, they would have tested it on animals first.’

Judging from the quotes assembled from recent media coverage, we are now faced with a JetBlue Rashomon.   It’s an opera waiting to be written….”JUST CHUTE ME!” Picture the set design…giant inflatable escape slide…Wow.  Imagine the hysterical libretto of the profane PA system aria delivered from a burning microphone….goose bumps…”I’M GOING DOWN AND IT’S YOUR FAULT…ALL OF YOU, YOU MEANIES!  Duets intensified by the call and response of  conflicting passions…”Pull your seat up, pull your seat up, pull yourrrrrrr seeeeeeeeat up….it’s not reclined, it’s not reclined, it’s not recliiiiiiiiiiiiined!”

The Rashomonic testimony of some passengers, the pilot, an attorney, and a corporate representative…….

“He did hit the back of my seat and said, ‘Pull your seat up. It can’t be reclined.’ It was not reclining and I indicating it to him and then he says, ‘Pull your seat up.’ I said I didn’t recline the seat and he leaned over, hit the button to try to pull it up himself. He hit the back of the seat, but it didn’t move.”

“One of the times he passed by me he was carrying what could either have been a drink for himself, and that was a little bit of the impression I got, as he was kind of waving it about like it was his own cocktail.”

“They were shoving their  bags around attempting to get it in. Steven came over to assist and either the bag or the overhang hit him on the head.”

“It makes me so mad, because he’s not a hero. He was rude.”

“The only thing I heard was some guy a few rows behind me I think opened his compartment early when they were taxiing to the gate.”

“I saw the male steward get up and say, ‘please sit down and wait,’ and then the female stewardess said ‘please wait, please wait until the light has turned off.”

“He was instructing them, something like: ‘You can’t move that.’ Then I thought I heard an ‘ow.”

“As we were getting off I overheard the captain saying that the attendant had been hurt at the beginning of the flight and just lost his mind for a second there.”

“I didn’t think she was rude in the least.  It really blew my mind. It was so inappropriate.”

Travelers say Slater cursed at passengers over the public address system after several odd run-ins with them during the 90-minute flight from Pittsburgh.

“He looked disturbed at that point.”

Ms. Dominijanni, of Pittsburgh, said that when she pointed to the spilled coffee, Mr. Slater barked, “No! Maybe when we get in the air! I need to take care of myself first, honey!” She said he was pointing to the gash on his head.

Ms. Dominijanni said Mr. Slater never returned with wipes to clean up the spilled coffee. She said he spent much of the 90-minute flight slamming overhead bins and refrigerator doors.

“It wasn’t normal and he shouldn’t have been acting that way.  I felt so uncomfortable on that flight.”

“It wasn’t anything totally strange, just a little off.”

“I didn’t even know anything happened until I got home and my mom saw it on the news.”

“We are participating and cooperating fully in the investigation.”

Briskin said the seemingly normal conversation turned unexpectedly nasty when Slater blurted out an expletive to the passenger.

[Slater's attorney] said Slater “hopes to return to the aviation field” — even saying his client wanted to return to JetBlue.