Back in the pre-Internet days, when all we had were Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), users would get together from time to time and have a MUPT (Modem Users Pizza Thingie), pronounced “Muppet.”
Well, today bloggers have Blogger Bashes. And there is going to be one in Memphis tomorrow night. You can get the full details here at Half-Bakered.
If you’re a Memphis Blogger, we look forward to seeing you. If you’re not, consider starting your own Bloggers Bash tradition.

I thought news was supposed to be objective, but then again when 95% of reporters are Liberal, that just can’t happen. Case in point: Only One Side Told in Bush Soc. Sec. Pitch.
Here’s the opening shots:

Bush explained in detail how, under his proposal, younger workers would be able to divert some of their Social Security payroll taxes into private accounts “so you can build a nest egg for your own future.”
Nowhere in his State of the Union speech did he give the other side of the equation – that Social Security benefits for those workers would be reduced as a result. He stated “your account will provide money for retirement over and above the check you will receive from Social Security,” without explaining that check would be smaller.
Moreover, he seemed to issue a guaranteed return on investment for people putting some of their retirement money in the market, saying: “Your money will grow, over time, at a greater rate than anything the current system can deliver.”

Let’s put it this way. The Social Security checks will be getting smaller no matter what happens. Whether anything is done now or not, the checks will substantially decrease come 2040 or so.
As far as a “guaranteed investment,” the stock market has averaged 12% growth a year since the Great Depression. Will it keep up that growth? No one knows, but it’s got a great track record so far. And it beats the 1-2% growth you’re “getting” “investing” your money in Social Security.
It’s cold, hard numbers. Invest $100 a month from age 20 to 65, average 12% a year and you’ll end up with $2,145,469.30. You could live off the interest for the rest of your life at $210,000 a year, which would be about $90,000 a year in todays dollars. That’s still twice the national median income.
I’ll tell you right now, you ain’t gonna get no $90k a year from Social Security.
And what happens if there is a stock market collapse? Then you’re going to starve on Social Security anyway, because the government can’t take in enough tax dollars and spend enough deficit dollars to keep inflation under control and prevent the dollar from becoming a fiat currency.

Declaring Social Security will go broke if nothing is done, Bush said that by 2042, “the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt.”
In fact, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecasts Social Security as it is would be able to pay 73 percent of benefits in 2042 and stay solvent for 10 years beyond that.

And what about after that? President Bush is trying to save Social Security by restructuring it so it will be around a lot longer than 2052, at a sustainable level. It is better to make a small course correction now rather than a drastic one later.
And the article goes on, slamming the President for everything, as usual. Sure he created jobs, but he didn’t create enough of them. He will never be able to create enough jobs, since the government doesn’t create jobs in the first place. All the President can do is create the conditions so that is favorable to create new jobs.
I’m sorry, the idiocy in the rest of the article is making me ill. You’ll have to read the rest yourself to see who stupid and biased AP has become.

Well, Mr. Ward Churchill has really stepped in it this time. He is under review for termination for his writings. Dismissal Process Begun for 9/11 Slur Prof.
Considering he is a tenured professor, the process to fire him itself means that he has performs a most egregious action.
But let me say this: Freedom of Speech is never free. As with all things, there are consequences to ones actions or words. You can have an opinion, no one is disallowing you that. But when you hang it out for all to see, then you better be prepared to duck some rotten eggs. And it doesn’t matter what opinion you have, someone will be upset with you. It’s just a question of how many people you piss off.
I myself have been lucky to date. I have only had 2 or 3 negative strafes of this blog, where some anonymous idiot blasts me for my opinion without objective fact and never returns. I like to think that most people agree with me and my opinions, by and large. Or maybe I just haven’t met the right people yet.