Many are blaming the “Common Core” teaching curriculum for the subject of this post but GorT might point at a more broad problem with our approach to education in this country. Plainly put, GorT thinks that teachers should be paid … Continue reading →
Retired Spook writes in: Your Czarishness; Apropos our previous discussion on the pending financial disaster coming from Beijing, a recent Telegraph article contains a number of amusing (for given values of “amusing”) observations. It appears that Professor Reynolds is correct, … Continue reading →
What’s awesome for all of us is when a good debate begins between two of our loyal readers. You will recall a letter from Island Dweller, in which he supported US Navy ADM Mike Mullen for suggesting a mandatory national … Continue reading →
The Czar assumes by now you know of allegations—pretty convincing ones, really—that very senior members New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s staff were involved in a brutal form of political punishment, in which it said they ordered the pointless shutdown of … Continue reading →
Meesa hand ovah the keys to the Republic for free healthcare for Gungans, okieday? Gentle Readers, In all of the headlines about the miserable failure that is the Healthcare.gov website, no one is asking this simple question:Why do people have … Continue reading →
The UK has been running a publicly-funded healthcare system since 1948 imaginatively named the National Health Service (NHS). As GorT was trolling his tech sites this morning – yes, tech sites – he came across a discussion pointing at a … Continue reading →
The shutdown is proving to be utterly disastrous as far as the Main Stream Media can tell by glancing out their Starbucks windows. A quick roundup of the shutdown in pictures. Wild packs of dogs are roving the Mall, and … Continue reading →
Island Dweller plops down next to the Czar at the Castle Lobby Bar and lets the Czar have it about the unfair treatment government employees are getting from the private public. The good news is that the Czar remembered it … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Dr. J. saw this meme and had to post it, breaking radio silence 4 hours earlier than planned. It nicely summarizes The Czar’s excellent ~1021 word polemic in one picture and 21 words. Back to your regularly scheduled … Continue reading →
Conservatives like you tend to understand little of any substance, and as a result, you may be confused over why this shutdown is such a terrible thing. In your ignorance, you blissfully think that that life goes on without the … Continue reading →
So Island Dweller is a bit hot under the collar. And why not? Your immenseness The news just keeps rolling in, providing more information that should be dissected – and disseminated – via your site. I humbly refer to a … Continue reading →
‘Puter and Czar frequently rail against government backed student loans, bitching loudly and lengthily at all who will listen. Czar posted about the issue three days ago, and ‘Puter presciently posted on student loans nearly three years ago, on December … Continue reading →
Guess what else you are paying for? The feds have decided that despite raging unemployment, a collapsing foreign policy that has weakened America around the world, a new healthcare law about to tank the economy, and a failure of its … Continue reading →
Many of you will remember back in 1999 when the Y2K bug was all the rage. Suddenly, all these retired COBOL programmers were brought back as high-paid consultants to turn -00 into 1900. Reportedly, some programmers made more in 1999 … Continue reading →
ScottO, distinguished comptroller of time and space, nudges the Czar at the Castle lobby lounge bar and asks: O Dread Czar, I started reading Island Dweller’s missive regarding the subject at hand, and came across the acronym SES. Now, never … Continue reading →
The Island Dweller—who cunningly adopts that name because he dwells on an island—writes the Czar to object: O most magnificent Satrap of the Steppes: Fish don’t realize they swim; they think they can fly. I have retired fairly recently after … Continue reading →
Today, it’s nothing less than a book review: The End Is Near and It’s Going to Be Awesome: How Going Broke Will Leave America Richer, Happier, and More Secure, by Kevin D. Williamson, landed in the Czar’s mailbox a couple … Continue reading →
President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did. No President – not me or any of my predecessors could have repaired all the damage in just four years. Also sprach Bill Clinton to the nation at the … Continue reading →
The Czar raises an interesting problem but missed dropping a few nuggets of information. Keep in mind, that GorT isn’t a government conspiracy theorist who believes that the government is out to collect all this information about us and manipulate … Continue reading →
In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society which I assure you will last for ten thousand years… Obamacare rears its ugly head in the headlines this week. Papa John’s, along with … Continue reading →
GorT works 20-25 miles away from home and as today is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics, I surfed around on MassTimes.org and found a couple local parishes that had mid-day Masses. I chose one and arrived 5 minutes … Continue reading →
Our royal archivist, MBernadetteE, came up from the Castle basement the Friday morning, which was a source of great relief because nobody has seen her for three weeks. If you didn’t know, she has been diligently archiving, indexing, and filing … Continue reading →
Shut up and eat your food. Or no more SmartBoards. In 1946, the Truman administration—as part of the Progressive Health, Education, and Welfare trifecta— began the national school lunch program (NSLP). In 1966, LBJ extended that to include breakfasts as … Continue reading →
[Note: the Czar reprints this email in its entirety, with one exception: attached was a PDF of the original news article. We can’t yet attach PDFs (thanks, GorT), so take our word for it: JAB isn’t making this up. The … Continue reading →
Over at the sunnier climes of Professor Mondo, the great professor was highlighting how the President’s speech on Friday has been offending just about everybody given that it was a blatant ripoff of the already debunked and derided Professor Warren … Continue reading →
Property tax hikes make puppies cry…and when puppies cry, The Czar gets angry(er than usual). Gentle Readers, Thanks to 32 of 40 city councilmen, the citizens of New Atlantis are the proud recipients of a brand new 13% property tax … Continue reading →
Well, if you need any more evidence that Leftists want to take over every aspect of your life, here is yet one more that indicates utter cluelessness: America’s obesity epidemic is so deeply rooted that it will take dramatic and … Continue reading →
President Obama’s latest silly little campaign trope is the life of Julia. Like the composite girlfriend in his autobiography, Julia represents a composite of the sheeple he would like to see suckling at the teat of government dependence. Much has … Continue reading →
Yes…yes, of course we had everything to do with it! And so says JAB: Dear Your Czarness: Dang, you fellers in the Castle do work most swiftly! I don’t know if a time-traveling trick or a mind-control-ray was deployed, or … Continue reading →
This urgent message arrived by exhausted courier, who raced it to the Castle in a combination of on-foot, by-auto, par avion, and sure-footed camel, where its lime green color indicated most-critical status. Our revivified Egyptian mummy major-domo, Inetef-Te-Henqet, accepted it … Continue reading →
Apparently the Obama administration wishes to revise child labor regs such that children under 18 are restricted as to what activities they may participate in on their parents’ farms. That being said, a couple of blog posts by Rachel Campos-Duffy … Continue reading →
BG writes a short essay so perfect that the Czar presents it in its entirety. Great Axe-Wielding Czar – You state, “Obamacare provides nothing that the majority of Americans want; it provides—at great cost—a handful of dark and unpleasant items … Continue reading →
There is some good news out there. This is a really bad couple of weeks coming up for Obamacare. As you know by now, the SCOTUS is expected to deliver a series of death-blows to it (although the voting will … Continue reading →
In 2011, the government launched a $10M award termed the “L Prize” to be awarded to any manufacturer that could create a “green” and affordable light bulb. Affordable was defined as costing $22 or less the first year, $15 the … Continue reading →
When you have readers such as the ones we have, it does make our work a bit easier. Operative BG writes in with the following after toweling off having been slimed by the slippery lies: Last year, President Obama spoke … Continue reading →
A quick followup to the brilliant essay by Dr. J on how well a person can eat for $22 per week. This is the first case the Czar knows of where someone documented these findings; however, the Czar has reason … Continue reading →
Answering the mail call, that is. The Czar has four unread messages. First up is Operative FJR, who etched this onto a small grain of rice and slipped it into the Czar’s Burmese Beef: I do a lot of outdoor … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin almost choked – and it wasn’t on a balloon – when he read this article discussing the new EU toy safety directive being implemented across Europe. As your Mandarin read through the article he had to go back … Continue reading →
More mail on taxes. Merlin carefully engraved this on a single grain of rice (which was easily the second biggest grain of rice the Czar has seen, as it weighed in around twelve pounds): Oh Great And Mighty Czar, I … Continue reading →
The President says we have to raise taxes on the smart and successful because, he says, it’s all there in the math. Since you brought it up, Mr. President, we would very much like to see your math. Ours says … Continue reading →
Dr. J. has finally gotten around to this news item that is near and hear to his heart (no pun intended), an item which just goes to show, you can’t predict the logic (or lack thereof) of the FDA. You … Continue reading →
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York predicts riots in the streets if the economy doesn’t create more jobs. Oh nos 111!!!!!!eleventy!!!!!11@!!!! Mayor Bloomberg is warning all who will listen that these riots are in our future unless Washington gets serious … Continue reading →
The Progressive movement has always sought to place the “state” at the center of all human existence and your Mandarin has found a prime example of that in this article. There is an old saying that you can choose your … Continue reading →
In case you get tired of the Czar taking credit for everything and would rather just count the number of times he winds up being right for yourself, here is another. Back in August of 2009, the Czar predicted that … Continue reading →
If you’re not familiar with Emily Grace, who basically runs our PR department these days, you should be. On her own site, she compares Americans to the rioters in the UK and makes some astonishing points. She states she is … Continue reading →
You know, the Czar was around for the French Revolution. And when he reads Arthur Herman draw some eerie parallels like this: Some people compare our current political turn, including the growth of the Tea Party, to the American Revolution. … Continue reading →
The Czar was caught off guard by a commercial last night, in which a group of people begin to decry government waste such as funding dog poetry, treadmills for shrimp, and so on. Seems a bit early for a GOP … Continue reading →
ŒV, Remember when HHS said that they have better things to do: “Instead, we will pursue other initiatives that build on our efforts to increase access to health care providers nationwide.” They’re going to be going more in-depth in studing … Continue reading →
President Obama at his press conference today on taxes and the debt ceiling again has called for an increase in taxes for the “wealthy”. The example that he used to justify why those evil rich people need to pay more … Continue reading →
The Associated Press is reporting that the State of Illinois may have a plan that will alleviate the states crushing debt burden. And you are asking, “Oh menacing and maniacal Mandarin, what is this brilliant plan that will throw of … Continue reading →
If you are like the Czar, you have already used The White House’s online tax receipt calculator to see where your money allegedly goes. Actually, if you’re like the Czar, you already suspect the IRS is gleefully monitoring every number … Continue reading →
Two seemingly unrelated events reveal much about the state of the union. The real state of the union, that is, and not the light rail and unicorn fart speech President Obama gave exactly one hundred years ago, back before Egypt. … Continue reading →
Herr ‘Puterkrank writes: JS asks ‘Puter (and the other Gormogons—hint, hint) to opine as to what budget cuts he recommends. The Czar has no idea what budget cuts JS recommends. But the Czar will comment on his own royal thoughts. … Continue reading →
Bob Ewing has a piece up at BigGovernment.com promoting an organization called the Institute for Justice. Within it, he tells a horrible tale about an Oregon barber named Dale Smith, who had his barbershop closed down by the local government … Continue reading →
There is an article in the Tech section of the WaPo yesterday that points out that only 4-11% of the federal government allocated R&D funds are being applied towards individual agencies’ R&D efforts. This is yet another prime example of … Continue reading →
Janet Daley at The Telegraph has an outstanding essay on the Western world’s acknowledgment that socialist government programs and democracy do not mix: [T]here is now a broad understanding that the social democratic project itself is unsustainable: that it has … Continue reading →
The Czar wonders if he is seeing a third phase in the Tea Party movement. The first phase, of course, was to be recognized. And that they were. From a loose collection of small protests called the TEA Party to … Continue reading →
Oddly, ‘Puter finds a lot to like about Mayor Bloomberg’s jihad against food stamp recipients using taxpayer dollars to purchase soda. To be fair, ‘Puter first heard about this from Nanny State Advocate Number One Mika Brzezinski over at Morning … Continue reading →
And so Murkowski conceded the election yesterday, as she really should have done. Miller will be the candidate going forward. Does it seem to you that the conservative media is making too much of this, when the liberal media isn’t … Continue reading →
Just before the recess, Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and John Kerry (D-RIMA) put forth a bill called the Automatic IRA Act of 2010 (S.3760). Here’s how it is supposed to work. If you work in a company that has more … Continue reading →
State and local borrowing, once thought of as a way to finance essential infrastructure, has mutated into a source of constant abuse. Like homeowners before the housing bubble burst, states and cities have gorged on debt, extended repayment times, and … Continue reading →
So we have already discussed the increasing encroachment of government into our daily lives: from the ObamaCare bill, to declaring carbon dioxide to be a dangerous substance (quick, stop exhaling), to regulating salt in our diets to a brand new … Continue reading →
Have you ever been asked how long it would take you do complete a task you’ve never done before? You might have familiarity with the general approach or of some of the steps required, but in general it comes down … Continue reading →
The White House and democrats are poised to start crowing about the success of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 with data showing 650,000 jobs “created or saved”. This number represents about $150 billion of the $339 billion … Continue reading →
The federal government is huge and inefficient so why would anyone believe that a government-run health care option would do better than private industry? Maybe I’m jumping the gun with the first part of that statement, so let me give … Continue reading →
In 2000, the average Federal civilian wage was 33 percent more than the average private industry wage. By 2008, that gap was 59 percent. Reports John Lott. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. gormogons.com
Continue reading →No idea who these guys are, but this is really good. Any billionaires out there want to do a media buy and put this stuff on radio and TV? GorT, is this one of your side projects you’re funding with … Continue reading →
Did anyone else here see Wall*E, the movie? I went along with the kids and aside from some nice animation was rather unenthralled by it. However, one of the main themes in the movie is how humans become reliant upon … Continue reading →
The Pew Foundation’s Project for Excellence in Journalism conducted a recent research effort looking at about a month’s worth of front pages of The Washington Post and found that 72 percent of the stories related to health-care were about politics, … Continue reading →
….. That might be the sound of your favorite website at some point in the future. It appears that the democrats are enjoying this business of having the government control everything. CNET News obtained a draft copy of a bill … Continue reading →
It seems just like yesterday that the liberals were all up in arms regarding the Patriot Act and how it would turn this country into a fascist state where neighbor would be spying on neighbor. Now we get a report … Continue reading →
I am not shocked or surprised by the recent events surrounding the F-22 program and the subsequent news about the status of the F-35 program. I’ve written about the problems in federal contracting before, others have echoed the sentiments and … Continue reading →
How many times have you heard a child, maybe even yours, claim that they were bored or hungry, and then when you offer to play a game with them, or make them a peanut butter & jelly sandwich they complain … Continue reading →
Vice President Joe Biden in a speech given to an AARP town hall meeting stated that, “We have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt.” This quote was in the greater context of a speech on the need … Continue reading →
In these days of instant gratification, the general public is led about by the nose by a twisted pairing of professions. On one side we have the media, starved for ratings and competing for attention in the 24-hour news cycles … Continue reading →
That Obamacare is estimated to hit the taxpayer for over $1 Trillion over the next 10 years according to the CBO and some estimates peg it as high as $4 Trillion. Many of you probably don’t have time to read … Continue reading →
Deep breaths…has anyone read the “cap and trade” bill a/k/a the Waxman-Markley bill? Maybe it was a little hard given that the democrats dropped a 300-page amendment on the floor at 3 a.m. Want some nice reading material – go … Continue reading →
Writes Mark Steyn. The real bubble is a consequence of big government. The more the citizenry expect from the state, the more our political class will depend on ever more swollen Gulf Emir-size retinues of staffers hovering at the elbow … Continue reading →
The Spanish professor is puzzled. Why, Gabriel Calzada wonders, is the U.S. president recommending that America emulate the Spanish model for creating “green jobs” in “alternative energy” even though Spain’s unemployment rate is 18.1 percent — more than double the … Continue reading →
What fresh government Hell is this? President Obama is creating an Orwellian sounding White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers. And that silver-tongued orator Vice President Biden will be rolling it out in Ohio today. Here’s a tip for … Continue reading →
After Gormogon University is done teaching the media about World War II and giving the current crop of government leaders a civics lesson, we plan on hosting a seminar on something called “Organizational Conflict of Interest” (OCI, for short) for … Continue reading →
According to this article , the Obama administration will be appointing a new “Special Master for Compensation” that will dictate the salaries of employees at firms taking government bailout money. While your Mandarin agrees that if a company is going … Continue reading →
Here is a fascinating article regarding the Romanian automobile industry under the rule of Nicolae Ceausescu. This would be a funny look back at the past if not for the fact that this could very well be our future. The … Continue reading →
Happy May Day to all our readers from the Gormogons, past and present. With the State now owning more interests in banking and manufacturing, the latter in conjunction with organized labor, we look forward to the boon time of endless … Continue reading →
The title is a term in the federal contracting world for the apparent and inexplicable practice of the federal government repeatedly awarding contracts to certain large, federal contractors after the contractors repeatedly fail. To be honest, I’m sure my employer … Continue reading →
If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve probably read or heard about the various “cyber attacks” or intrusions in the news lately. The latest being the front page of the WSJ today. As referenced in the article, the … Continue reading →
So we’ve all bought in on CFL’s (compact fluorescent lightbulbs), right? Maybe we’re like the Zuerchers in San Francisco (amazingly reported in the NY Times). See, they listened to Al Gore’s movie, bought into the Big Environment movement and replaced … Continue reading →
