My Way News - Despite layoffs, federal work force is growing

"WASHINGTON (AP) - Companies are cutting jobs by the tens of thousands. State and local governments are penny-pinching, too. So what about Uncle Sam? Tough times for him as well?

Not exactly.

In fact the number of federal workers is on the rise.

That might seem strange to the 11 million people in the U.S. who are out of work - and the millions more who fear they soon will be. Shouldn't Washington pare down too?"

Political Punch: Bumps in the Road: Obama's HHS Secretary Nominee Faces Tax Questions Over Car and Driver

"(Mr. Daschle reimbursed the IRS $31,462 in taxes and interest for tax year 2005; $35,546 for 2006; and $34,935, a Daschle spokesperson said, adding that Daschle had asked his accountant to look into the tax implications of the car and driver five months before Mr. Obama won the presidency.)"

Cringely’s Mortgage Blog � Wall Street Can’t Count

Very interesting.

The Amazing Story Behind the Global Warming Scam | KUSI - News, Weather and Sports - San Diego, CA | Coleman's Corner

What happened next is amazing. The global warming frenzy was becoming the cause celeb of the media. After all the media is mostly liberal, loves Al Gore, loves to warn us of impending disasters and tell us "the sky is falling, the sky is falling". The politicians and the environmentalist loved it, too.

But the tide was turning with Roger Revelle. He was forced out at Harvard at 65 and returned to California and a semi retirement position at UCSD. There he had time to rethink Carbon Dioxide and the greenhouse effect. The man who had inspired Al Gore and given the UN the basic research it needed to launch its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was having second thoughts. In 1988 he wrote two cautionary letters to members of Congress. He wrote, "My own personal belief is that we should wait another 10 or 20 years to really be convinced that the greenhouse effect is going to be important for human beings, in both positive and negative ways." He added, "…we should be careful not to arouse too much alarm until the rate and amount of warming becomes clearer."

Not safe for work: If you can't say anything nice, kill yourself, says Paul Carr | Technology | guardian.co.uk

"If you've ever considered spitting on someone because you don't like something they've said online, kill yourself. Seriously. Do it now. The world will be a better place without you."

Dana Milbank - With Al Due Respect, We're Doomed

"Mostly, however, the lawmakers took turns asking the Goracle for advice, as if playing with a Magic 8 Ball."

I picked only my favorite line from this laugh riot (emphasis mine).

The Most Underrated Part of the Inauguration - HUMAN EVENTS

"The Lord's Prayer is, in reality, the most invasive and subversive prayer to human selfishness that one can say. It's able to break down strongholds within us, within others and even within political structures. As Warren again said, praying the Lord's Prayer is ideal 'when your circumstances are uncontrollable, when people around you won't change (they're unchangeable), and when problems are unexplainable.'"

George F. Will - How the GOP Should Measure the Stimulus - washingtonpost.com

"Long ago -- a year ago -- Russell Roberts, an economics professor at George Mason University, deplored terms that suggest that economics is a science akin to medicine. With a 'stimulus,' of a sort that makes the legs of a dead frog twitch, the government will 'inject' money as a doctor gives a blood transfusion. Or as a life-reviving 'jolt' from a defibrillator."

U.S. retrieves MP3 player with military files | U.S. | Reuters

"Chris Ogle, 29, bought the $10 MP3 at a thrift shop in Oklahoma but when he plugged it in discovered it contained 60 U.S. military files, said New Zealand television program One News which broke the story."

Parties: Why Skipping Davos Is This Year's True Status Symbol

"The World Economic Forum, known as Davos for the Swiss mountain resort where it's held, is more notable for who's not going to the glitzy, star-studded affair. Only the organizers pretend that the purpose of the event is to hold lofty sessions about global economics, the intellectual fig leaf which covers the schmoozing and boozing."

Senate Passes Bill to Delay Transition to Digital Television - washingtonpost.com

Hey, whatever happened to that whole metric thing anyway?

Obama faces tough choice on Cape Cod wind farm

No hypocrisy here eh?

Report On Water Quality Withheld - washingtonpost.com

"A report that shows a decline in quality in northern Montgomery County waterways has been held from public release for months by county officials who have delayed the gloomy news while they hunt for new methods to allow more development but keep streams healthy.

The unpublished data on the county's four 'special protection areas' show that water quality in northern Montgomery is worse than in previous years and suggest that much of the decline comes from soil disturbed by rapid development in and around Clarksburg, according to several people familiar with the findings. The data suggest that sediment control systems used by builders and required by the county are not working well enough."

Google plans to make PCs history | Technology | The Observer

Good news if that means simply PCs as now defined (Windows boxes).

I question the accuracy of this article though. There have been far too many counter indicators in Google's existing product offerings.

Obama Is “Failure” At Google & “Miserable Failure” At Yahoo

"I told you so. Or I told anyone who cared. I even tried to reach the Obama administration in four or five different ways. Do a search on Yahoo right now for miserable failure, and you’ll find President Barack Obama’s page ranking either in the top spot or the second spot. Given a redirect that Obama’s web team has put into place, he should solidify into that number one spot over time. Eventually, Microsoft’s Live Search should reflect that, as well. And over at Google, Obama will likely gain a top page listing for a search on failure.

I know. There are bigger issues Obama has to deal with. But then again, this is supposed to be the tech-savvy presidency. It should be search engine optimization savvy, as well."

I may have linked this before.

But clearly Google deserves some sort of special payback from the new administration.

They now say they have a special utility they can run to fix their database. They have now run the utility so as not to label Obama a miserable failure.

Only they've known about this since 2005, so presumably they simply didn't mind having Bush labeled as such.

It's good to have friends in high places. Things haven't changed and it's not what you know, but who you know that really counts.