Proofreading the Media

As an ever-aspiring professional writer, the quality of writing found on the web–written, mind you, by “professionals”–too often has me shaking my head in disbelief.  Too common are the instances of homonym misuse: your/you’re, too/to, etc.  And God help the writer should I find they’ve used “loose” when they meant “lose.” 

I would expect this loose grammatical practice from blogs written by nonprofessionals, but MSNBC? 

U.S. officials told NBC News that the Quran is not specific about burials, as long as the body of the diseased is cleansed quickly. There is no single authoritative Islamic text on burial, they said.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the bastard’s gone, however I’m fairly certain the writer meant “deceased,” not “diseased.”  Unless MSNBC meant to impugn those who need dialysis.  /snark

Sucking Us Dry

From Reuters:

The U.S. Congress should consider cutting multibillion-dollar subsidies to oil companies amid rising concern over skyrocketing gas prices, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Monday.

“It’s certainly something we should be looking at,” Boehner said in an ABC News interview. “We’re in a time when the federal government’s short on revenues. They ought to be paying their fair share.”

*blinks*

Well praise Jesus, we have a convert. Okay, not really. We all know it’s just lip-service. “Fair share” is nicely suggestive of a Robin Hood mentality but it’s really just clever-speak. After all, the Republican party does not generally endorse making the oil companies pay for anything. Remember, under the Bush giveaways,

From the same Reuters article:

The attempt to end the subsidies has has been strongly condemned by oil and gas companies, which argue that abolishing the tax breaks would reduce domestic drilling, cost jobs and increase U.S. reliance on foreign energy suppliers.

You know what else would reduce domestic drilling? Sending you greedy fuckers a bill for the oil you’ve been taking from public American land and not paying the taxpayers for. You lease the land and suck up billions in oil, then have the gall to sell it back to us, then threaten to reduce the drilling if we expect a cut of what belongs rightfully to the American people anyway?

I can just imagine the colorful sexual metaphor QJ has for that–probably something about spitting on a whore’s back after you pillage her and take what money she had when you found her.

So where was I? Oh yeah, the robber baron oil companies. What is their solution to the rising price of oil & gas? TA-DA:

2. End altogether subsidies for all “green energy” (i.e. wind turbines, solar panels, ethanol, bio-diesel, etc.). . .

If these “clean” energy technologies can be made efficient and profitable, so be it. But the government should not be subsidizing them to artificially prop them up.

While “clean” energy subsidies should be “ended altogether,” however, other subsidies should be gradually “phased out”:

3. Phase out all tax credits for oil, natural gas and coal companies while simultaneously phasing out oppressive regulatory structures. These are all well established industries. Without subsidies propping up the “green” energies these industries should be able to be profitable, without tax credits from the government, if unnecessary and cumbersome regulations are removed.

Well, consider this dummy educated. I had NO idea that the poor little oil companies weren’t yet profitable and needed alternative research wiped off the map “altogether” in order to help them.  /sarcasm

Most people are already aware that Oil Companies in general are making quarter after quarter of record profits.  The American people aren’t rallying for less taxes on the oil companies, they aren’t taking the sides of the big banks that almost crippled our entire economy (and are still raking in profits hand over fist.)  Yet here, in a nutshell, is the “conservative” argument again taxing Big Oil:

“So what?” you ask? Well, the more you tax “Big Oil,” the less return investors will get on money plowed into oil production. The less return on investment, the less investment there will be. Less investment equals less production, and less production equals higher prices.

Really?  You think people are ever going to stop investing in OIL?  Exxon-Mobil made $10.9 Billion in the first quarter alone.   And just who are the major shareholders of Exxon-Mobil?  Don’t be surprised to find the top institutional shareholders are . . . . *drumroll please* . . . the Banks.

I know I’ve heard this song somewhere before.  

I’d like to take Boehner at his word.  Really, I would.  I wonder if he still has stock in all of the oil companies he had stock in last year.

Social Security is NOT Bankrupt

I’ve mentioned before how Social Security itself has plenty of money for years to come, and that the popular propaganda that it’s broke is just that–propaganda.  Check out this video from Crooks&Liars:

http://embed.crooksandliars.com/v/MjAzNTItNDU3MzA?color=C93033

You want to ensure fiscal responsibility?

Get rid of offshore corporation tax shelters.  No tax “rebates” for corporations like GE that got a 3.2 BILLION dollar rebate.  And don’t place the blame solely on the corporations either.  As Chuck says:

The problem is not GE, it is the tax code. The government continues to create tax deductions, credits and loopholes for every special interest they can find. (Both major parties do it, and fairly equally). . .

Next time you pay your taxes, or stare at the withholdings on your pay stub, remember GE. And think about how much your tax share would decrease if taxes were based on ability to pay, and not on ability to hire accountants and tax lawyers.

No Sympathy for the Devils

Via Crooks&Liars comes this story of Georgia inmates staging a “strike” and demanding ”getting paid for their work, better nutrition, better medical care and more educational opportunities.”

While I’m certainly against “cruel & unusual punishment,” taking away their cigarettes and not paying union dues for laundry labor is a far cry from having to pound rocks on the chain gang 18 hours a day.  These are not the cream of society, they are people convicted of crimes against society.  Prison is supposed to be punishment, not a model for a new society. 

OT: The commenters on the C&L article really need to get a grip on their comparisons to “Slave Labor.”  Slaves have no rights, if you recall, and could be murdered by their masters without recourse, without cause.  These prisoners made a choice at one time or another that earned them the title of criminal.  These prisoners committed crimes (cause) and have been through the trial process (their path to recourse, should they be innocent).  If they were slaves they’d be hung or shot or worse simply for being “uppity.”  Slaves never had a choice, or a chance to redeem themselves through conduct, free education, training, etc. 

Taking away cigarettes isn’t cruel & unusual.  Burning the name of your crime onto your forehead with lit cigarettes, like a permanent “Scarlet Letter,” now that would be more like it.

So is the questions no balls or no brains?

Today the House Republicans voted against tax cuts for the majority of Americans. If the Democrats have either balls or brains, they’ll not allow another tax cut bill to come to a vote. Yes, MY taxes would go up too, but the fault lies with the Repubs for not passing the tax cut they have the chance to.

I didn’t know “Change” meant “Caving.” Lesson learned.