About as Suprising as Finding Out That Fish Can Swim.

Just killing some time before a community meeting this evening, so I’m poking around the web and I find these miscellaneous gems. No rhyme or reason, just things that made me want to slap my head, so I thought I share:

From Fox News Woman at Center of Eminent Domain Case in New London, Connecticut Sends Angry Holiday ‘Greeting’. Susette Kelo, the woman of Supreme Court’s Kelo decision infamy. The one who’s house was confiscated by New London Connecticut so they could build condominiums, office space and a park. Well it looks like she is still a tad upset. She sent Christmas cards with a un-merry message. The following quotes are what caught my attention.

“It’s amazing anyone could be so vindictive when they’ve made so much money,” said Gail Schwenker-Mayer, a development supporter who received one of the cards.

We twist the constitution to throw you our of your home because we want to give it to someone else. You held out and we ended up paying you something that may be closer to the value of the land to us, and you’re still upset? The nerve.

And

“I still feel bad for Susette,” Burdick said. “The sorry part of this is that the things she’s angry about were not done to be mean-spirited toward her personally.”

No Susette, don’t take it personally, we have complete disregard for everyone. The Constitution is not really a set of rules, just more of a guideline. You really have no rights, just privileges that we chose to grant as long as we feel like it.

Another one from Fox News (Behar Goes Easy on Hillary Clinton Following Rumsfeld-Like-Hitler ‘Faux Pas’) You mean the show where Rosie O’Donnell said “radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America“, and just last week Joy Behar, when speaking of Time Magazines Person of the Year said:

“You have to put, like, a Hitler type [on the cover],” Behar said in response to a question about whether Time’s selection of “You” was appropriate.

“Like, you put Donald Rumsfeld there, or something,” she said.

So, this crack team representing the liberal chattering class were soft on Hilliary Clinton? I guess they thought that carrying Hilliary onto the set riding on plush velvet cushions and throwing rose petals at the porter’s feet might not have been perceived as objective. I’m sure they we full of hard hitting questions like: “As the smartest woman in the world ™, how can you even stand to be in the same room with a Republican.”

And finally, from the British Government – UK Government Study: Freedom for Robots? we get this:

“Correctly managed, there is a very real possibility for increased labor output and greater intelligence to be provided by robots that will ultimate lead to greater human prosperity and an improvement of the human condition,” it said.

However, it warned that robots could sue for their rights if these were denied to them.

Should they prove successful, the paper said, “states will be obligated to provide full social benefits to them including income support, housing and possibly robo-healthcare to fix the machines over time.”

I guess that anyone that owns a Roomba had better make sure that they file the proper paperwork and pay start paying Social Security taxes now to avoid penalties, just in case.

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Laying the Groundwork for Tax Increases, Part 2.

From the Baltimore Sun, Spending plan tops revenue

Despite projections of a looming fiscal crisis, a bipartisan committee of legislators recommended one of the largest state government spending increases of the past decade Tuesday, saying the money is needed to pay for a landmark education funding program.

The Spending Affordability Committee’s mission is to suggest limits on increases to the state budget to prevent it from outpacing growth in the economy. But lawmakers conceded Tuesday that the 7.9 percent increase they authorized for the fiscal year that begins in July is unsustainable over the long run, given that personal income growth in the state is expected to be about 5 percent or less in the foreseeable future.

Okay, we have a “looming” spending crisis. So, let’s increase spending this year by more than we have in the last decade. Apologies to Guinness, but Brilliant.

Leaving the name aside, maybe the problem is with the Spending Affordability Committee’s mission – to suggest limits on increases to the state budget. Any thoughts on freezing or even cutting spending? 29 Billion dollars and climbing – all spent in the most efficient way possible?

The recommendation comes at a time when legislative leaders are calling for an overhaul of the state’s tax structure to make the system more reflective of the modern Maryland economy. Over the next several years, lawmakers will likely consider increases in some taxes and cuts to others — with an overall rise in how much citizens and businesses pay for government.

overall rise in how much citizens and businesses pay for government – That is tax increases. So, how do we sell this this?