Waiver Mania! HHS Awards Over 200 Obamacare Waivers Including High-End Businesses in Congresswoman Pelosi's District, Entire State of Nevada

Pelosi getting pointers on governing from Bashr Al Assad, circa 2007

Still taking what's been described by some as a 'victory lap in a clown car' over the successful raid on Bin Laden's Pakistani compound, the Administration quietly announced on Friday that the Department of Health & Human Services had granted more than 200 additional waivers for HR 3590, also known as Obamacare.

The Obama administration approved 204 new waivers to Democrats’ healthcare reform law over the past month, bringing the total to 1,372.

The waivers are temporary and only apply to one provision of the law, which requires health plans to offer at least $750,000 worth of annual medical benefits before leaving patients to fend for themselves. Still, Republicans have assailed the waivers as a sign of both favoritism and of major problems with the law.

“The fact that over 1,000 waivers have been granted is a tacit admission that the healthcare law is fundamentally flawed,” Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said in March. Upton is one of three House committee chairmen who has used new oversight powers to investigate the annual limit waivers.

Of the 204 new waivers issued by HHS, at least 38 went to upscale San Francisco resturants, hotels and nightclubs in Congresswoman Pelosi's disctrict. According to the Daily Caller, this is in addition to 27 new waivers for healthcare or drug companies and 31 waivers for unions in San Francisco.

Also given a partial waiver from 0bamacare- the entire state of Nevada after it appeared as though implementation would force insurance companies doing business in the Silver State to pull up stakes and leave.

Interestingly, while Harry Reid was an ardent backer of 0bamacare in the US Senate, his son Rory Reid was running for governor of Nevada last year. Rory had claimed that the healthcare legislation could end up hurting Nevada during a gubernatorial debate in October 2010.

Sports Chowdah Update for May 16- Bronx Bummers For Yanks as Sox Sweep; Lightning Strikes Thrice- Take Game 1 of Eastern Conf. Finals; C ya Later

A-Rod: D'OH!

MLB: After their horrendous 0-6 start last month, the Red Sox have finally reached the .500 mark on Sunday night after comleting a 3-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the Bronx.

Friday night's game was something of a cliffhanger, with the Sox fending off a late Yankees rally to close out a 5-4 win. The following day, the Red Sox scored late and scored often in a 6-0 rout that pitted Josh Beckett against CC Sabathia. However, that gem was apparently overshadowed by the controversey surrounding Yankkes cathcer-turned-DH (and batting .165) Jorge Posada taking himself out of the game after it was announced he'd be hitting 9th in the lineup.

Sunday night's affair in the Bronx had Jon Lester on the mound against Freddy Garcia. The Yankees got to Lester pretty early, starting off with a Mark Teixeria RBI single in the first and giving up home runs to Andruw Jones and Curtis Granderson in the bottom of the 2nd to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead. However, the very next inning, Kevin Youkilis belted a 3 run homer to tie the game up at 4-4 while Big Papi hit a solo shot to right in the 5th to give the Red Sox a 1-run lead.

Of course, given the potent Yankees offense, a 1-run cushion didn't feel like it was enough but the Sox were able to add to that when Pedroia went home an a fielding error by Alex Rodriguez to make it 6-4.

The Yankees would get one back in the bottom of the 7th, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia cranked a solo homer to right field in the top of the 8th to make it 7-5, and Papelbon would come on in relief of Bard to close out the game, giving Boston not only the win, but a sweep of the weekend series at the Bronx and putting them at .500 for the first time this season.

Even though Daisuke Matsuzaka had an off night on Monday, the Red Sox came from behind and won on 1B Adrian Gonzalez's 1-out 2 RBI walk off double in the bottom of the 9th at Fenway to put the Sox over .500 for the first time this season. Meanwhile, the Yankees woes continued with a 6-5 loss against Tampa Bay on Monday night. The loss puts them a game under .500.

The Sox will close out their quickie two game series against Baltimore on Tuesday when they face rookie southpaw Zach Britton (5-2; 2.42 ERA). Tim Wakefield (0-1; 5.40 ERA) is expected to fill in as starter for Tuesday's game.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS: John Lackey, who was the scheduled starter for Tuesday's game against Baltimore, has been placed on the 15-Day DL with a right elbow strain. Although the team recalled Scott Atchison from AAA Pawtucket, it is expected that knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will get that start on Tuesday.

OTHER MLB NEWS: Hall of Famer and Minnesota Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew announced over the weekend that he will no longer treat his esophageal cancer and has entered hospice care. The 74 year old announced back in December that he was battling cancer. Killebrew's major league career spanned 21 years with the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals, with 13 of those seasons being spent in the Twin Cities.

Killebrew had a career batting average of .256 with 573 home runs and 1584 career RBI and was named to the baseball hall of fame in 1984.

NHL: All that time off for the Bruins led to some concerns about 'rust' and it showed on Saturday night when the Bruins gave up 3 even strnegth goals in less than 90 seconds (Sean Bergenheim, Brett Clark and Teddy Purcell) in the first period.

Altho' Tyler Seguin would score late in the 1st, Tampa would get some insurance in the 3rd and skate to a pretty easy 5-2 win for Game 1 of the Eastern conference finals.

Game 2 gets underway on Tuesday night at 8PM ET at the Garden and will be televised on Versus

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: Although head coach Claude Julien declined comment on his availability for Game 2, Patrice Bergeron returned for his first full practice since sustaining a concussion on May 6.

NBA: And just like that, it's over. Despite Rajon Rondo's gritty performace with a dislocated elbow in Game 3 and forcing overtime in Game 4, the Celtics season is over after the Miami Heat cruised to a 97-87 win on May 11 to win the series 3 games to 1.

The Heat now face the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals (and now trail 0-1 after Sunday night). Out west, the matchup will feature the Dallas Mavericks against the Oklahoma City Thunder in what I'm sure some columnist or blogger will call the I-35 series.

UPDATED 5/15: US Army Corps of Engineers Opens Up Massive Floodgates Along Mississippi River

UPDATE 5/15: Although residing in a part of Louisiana relatively unaffected by the Morganza floodwall being opened up, blogger Pat Austin of And So it Goes in Shreveport has been updating frequently througout the weekend.

Louisiana reigonal news aggregator The Dead Pelican also came reccomended by a trusted source during the Deepwater Horizon spill last year and should have ample links to local coverage around Baton Rouge and the Morganza floodway.


For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Army Corps of Engineers opened up the first of the 125 massive floodgates of the Morganza spillway to relive pressure on a number of older downriver flood control structures protecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans from a swollen Mississippi River.


The decision to open up the spillway to protect New Orleans and Baton Rouge means that towns throughout the Atchafalaya Basin west of Baton Rouge are bracing for rising floodwaters, with some communities and businesses getting ready to evacuate or erect levees of their own. Elsewhere in the basin, farmers have been working around the clock to harvest their wheat crop before the rising waters from the Morganza Flood wall. There are an estimated 15,256 acres of farmland throughout the basin and another 2,853 acres located in the fore bay area between the floodwall and Mississippi River.

While farmers would be able to harvest some of the wheat, other crops in the basin such as corn, soybeans, sugarcane and rice would be considered a complete writeoff in the floods.

For the past two weeks, the Mississppi River had crested past flood levels as two major storm systems dumped considerable rainfall on the Mississippi and Missouri River headwaters in addition to the melting snow.

Earlier this month, the Army Corps of Engineers blew up an earthen levee in Sikeston, MO to prevent further damage to the town of Cairo, IL. Since then, floodwaters have struck western Kentucky and Tennessee (including Memphis) and Mississippi, surpassing record flood levels set back during 1937.

Happy 63rd Birthday, Israel!

This week marks the 63rd anniversary of Israel's independence. What can I say about Israel that far more swift, competent and knowledgeable bloggers haven't already said about the Holy Land?

Israel being surrounded by hostile nations and the sea has meant that she has had to be on guard for constantly changing and evolving threats throughout her existence.

But even with the proverbial sword of Damocles hanging over it's head, Israel has managed to develop a robust economy centering for the most part around the defense technology, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and tourism sectors.

The discovery of considerable natural gas deposits in the offshore Leviathan and Tamar basins earlier this year also is poised to put Israel at an advantage as far as energy is concerned, possibly making her a net exporter of energy for the first time in its history.

But there is so much more to Israel than thousands of years of history and a robust military industrial complex, there's also attractive young women in peak physical condition in snug olive-drab uniforms.

The Israeli military, known as the IDF, is the 11th largest in the world according to some sources. While some of the women depicted above would be ideal for IDF recruiting posters, it would actually be a wasted effort as the IDF has near-universal conscription for both men and women.

Yet the camera seems to love them nonetheless, and from the looks of it this is a relationship that so many of us can enjoy the fringe benefits from.

Detroit Area Postal Employees Charged With Accepting Cash, Lap Dances, Prostitutes in Bribery Probe

Five employees of the US Postal service have been indicted for accepting cash, cars, tickets to major sporting events, drinks and lap dances at a strip club, home improvements and trysts with $300 prostitutes in exchange for steering maintenance work on government vehicles towards garages owned by an unnamed contractor.

Much of the vehicle work was done in southeastern Michigan, although the government says the corruption stretched to Akron, Ohio, where one of the workers was transferred in 2007 to become manager of vehicle maintenance.

The contractor billed the Postal Service more than $13 million to fix vehicles over a seven-year period. There is no allegation that costs were inflated, said Scott Balfour, an agent with the Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

"The work was actually performed, from body work to engine work, anything that a normal garage would do," Balfour said. "This contractor influenced these people to direct work to the contractor. … They're not supposed to accept bribes."

The indictment says Bruce Plumb, 61, of Brownstown Township, Mich., accepted a variety of bribes, from drinks and lap dances at a strip club to a $3,000 brick patio at his home.

Balfour said the investigation began with tips from postal employees. He declined to say whether the contractor was cooperating with agents.

The Detroit Free Press detailed some of the allegations against Plumb and 4 others.

• Plumb accepted thousands of dollars in drinks and lap dances at a local strip club, got a $3,000 paver patio installed in his backyard and the contractor treated Plumb to visits from a prostitute and erectile dysfunction pills. He also got more than $8,000 in work done on a grandson's truck.

• Adams got more than $60,000 in cash, a 1997 Chevrolet Malibu; thousands of dollars in car parts and service; a $40,000 loan for the purchase of a condominium; tickets to Lions, Tigers, Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers games; golf outings, and a $4,000 heating and cooling unit for his home.

• Robinson took more than $65,000 in cash, thousands of dollars in work on cars, a 2001 Chrysler minivan and a custom-modified, high-performance Ford Pinto.

• Holmes got more than $6,000 in cash.

• Gorski took $2,000 in cash; a 1999 Pontiac minivan; Pistons, Lions, and University of Michigan football tickets; and thousands of dollars in gift cards.

The indictments come around the same time as the Postal Service announced estimated losses exceeding $2.2 billion for the 2nd quarter of FY 2011. That's more than the $1.6 billion in losses for the same time during FY 2010 reported last year.

[Hat tip: Friends of Ours]

BREAKING: White House Situation Room Photos Indicate Bin Laden Raid Took Place Much Earlier Than Announced, Situation Room Photos Doctored

The successful raid of Osama Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan had since been followed up by a number of contradictory statements from the White House and allegations that the situation room photo released by the White House was in fact staged.

Now a leaked photo from White House sources has not only called the Administration's timeline of events into question, but even the veracity of the situation room photo that was released by the Administration.

My highly confidential and trustworthy White House sources have hinted that the SEAL raid on Bin Laden's hideout actually took place earlier and coincided with another event that had generated much international interest; the Royal Wedding at Westminster Abbey.

However, the raid also overlapped with the official White House Royal Wedding viewing party, and guests actually watched both events unfold in real-time on multiple screens in the situation room.

The above photo, believed by many anonymous insiders to be the original and unmodified situation room photo, seems to confirm this version of events and it's likely the White House waited nearly 48 hours to make the announcement in order to disseminate the doctored photos showing White House Staff, Pentagon brass and Administation officials.


When reached for comment on how the Obama Administration and Pentagon officials were able to get so many copies of her now-infamous hat in advance, a spokeswoman for Princess Beatrice of York had no comment about the hat, but pointed out that the 23 year old daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson had lost some weight, was the first Royal to run in the London marathon and looks 'positively smashing' in a bikini these days.
Well- who am I to argue?

Back After Some Technical Difficulties That I Had No Part in Either Creating (or Solving)

Seems as though there was some sort of technical problems with Blogger the other day where one could view the pages on any given blogger or blogspot page, but visitors could not post comments and blogmasters couldn't log in to update, edit or add new posts. After some independent tinkering, I think I managed to isolate the source of the recent problems with Blogger, as shown here:
Still, reliable sources who also maintained their blogs on blogger were telling me that posts were disappearing and they had been unable to log in since yesterday afternoon.

But what better way to offset my cluelessness than to throw down some vintage eye candy featuring a girl who looks like she knows what she's doing.

This one comes from the late George Petty and was part of the Ridge tool company's (aka Rigid) 1956 calendar. According to the Pin Up Files, one critic opined 'When you touch the wrist of a Petty girl, you almost expect to feel a pulse'.

Wrenches and lugnits are one thing, but imagine being the artist comissioned to draw up similar ads for software or IT services.

Yeah....tough sell.

Crane Operators Rake in $400,000 Salaries on Ground Zero No-Show Jobs

A recent report by a major New York developer's group claims that a slew of phantom no-show or no-work jobs on construction sites around Ground Zero is costing taxpayers nearly $100 million dollars.

The Real Estate Board of New York claims that rules dating back to when the International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 14 and 15 were controlled by the Colombo and Genovese crime families in the last decade. Among the affected projects are the Freedom Tower, the nearby transit hub, the 9/11 memorial and surrounding streetwork.

Contractor and union sources confirmed that the eight tower cranes at the WTC site guarantee a bonanza for Local 14 operating engineers and the Local 15 specialists who fix them.

On one day in mid-March, for example, contractors said 56 of 204 Local 14 and Local 15 employees on site held no-work jobs.

The board compiled the statistics in the runup to contract talks with the operating engineers and all the city's construction unions, which start next month.

Many of the jobs are vestiges of an era in which the Colombo and Genovese crime families controlled Locals 14 and 15. Local 14 has been under a federal monitor since 2009.

One example is the full-time Local 14 "master mechanics" the contractor must hire whenever five pieces of heavy equipment or three tower cranes are in use.

With a $135,000 base salary, a master mechanic can make a staggering $405,000 a year with overtime that's guaranteed by six-day, 12- to 16-hour-a-day schedules. Welfare benefits, insurance and other costs hike the annual bill to $700,000 for that one mechanic.

It's a ridiculous requirement, REBNY says, because the manufacturer or crane owner does the repairs, not the contractor's master mechanics.

Instead, they are glorified shop stewards, a part-time job in most unions. With three required on site a day, that should cost about $6.3 million through 2013, the board says.

Master mechanic Carl Carrara Sr., identified as a Genovese associate, was charged in a 2003 racketeering conspiracy as the mob's point man in a no-show scam at the Museum of Modern Art.

He and six other master mechanics pleaded guilty that year in two cases that put much of Local 14 and 15's leadership behind bars.

Local 15 demands a similar piece of the action via "®maintenance engineers." They're required on site full time when a master mechanic is there and three major pieces of equipment are operating in case any machines need fixing.

"There is nothing for these guys to do," a World Trade Center construction supervisor said. Eliminating that requirement would save $7.5 million over three years at Ground Zero, REBNY says.

Then there's the Local 15 position of "crane oiler," a relic from the days when equipment needed frequent lubrication. An oiler is required on site when any tower crane is in use.

Today, the oiler simply fires up the crane at the start of work. With overtime, he can earn more than $100,000 a year.

And there's Local 14's "stationary equipment operator," with one assigned to each compressor, welding machine and spray fireproofer in use. With overtime, they pull down about $110,000 a year, REBNY estimated.

A World Trade Center construction supervisor who asked not to be identified said technology has reduced the job to two simple functions: "They turn the machine on in the morning and turn it off at night," the supervisor said. "They are basically non-essential."

REBNY wants the city to loosen the union's influence over who gets licensed to operate heavy machinery.

Now, only operators with city licenses can work here, and applicants must train with city crane operators - virtually all union workers. That gives the two locals a stranglehold on major projects.

"Locals 14 and 15 have the hammer. They have the power to shut down a job," said Steven Spinola, president of REBNY, which wants to be able to hire nationally licensed crane operators.

This certainly is not the first time a union padded a contract with a number of set-aside no-show jobs in the New York area, but this has been the most contested piece of real estate within the 5 boroughs lately.

Lining their pockets with money scammed from taxpayers? Look for the Union Label!

[Hat Tip: Labor Union Report; Lonely Conservative]

Canada Elects Grown-Ups; Unemployment Rate Inexplicably Drops to 7.6% One Week Later

Barely a week after the federal elections in Canada that gave incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper a majority in Parliament, Statistics Canada announced that job growth had exceeded nearly three times beyond most economists forecasts for the month of April.

Employment rose by 58,300 after a March decline of 1,500, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. The jobless rate fell to 7.6 percent from 7.7 percent, as the labor force grew by 47,400. Economists forecast no change in unemployment and 20,000 new jobs in Bloomberg News surveys that had 24 and 25 estimates. The largest estimate was for 40,000 new jobs.

“While one can quibble with the underlying quality of the hiring, given that it was led by part time workers, the overall picture is one of an economy moving gradually back to full employment,” Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets in Toronto, wrote in a note to clients.

Most of Canada’s employment gains in April were concentrated in Ontario, the country’s most populous province, and Newfoundland, one of the smallest.

Newfoundland added 3,100 jobs in a province with a working- age population of 429,100, reducing the unemployment rate to 11.1 percent from 12.4 percent, the lowest since comparable records began in 1976.

“Firm crude oil prices and steady production levels are contributing to this impressive performance,” said Sonya Gulati, an economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank.

The province’s jobless rate has fallen 3.8 percentage points since July. The provincial government reported a C$59 million surplus for the fiscal year that ended March 31 as higher oil prices led royalty gains. Newfoundland had earlier forecast there would be a C$194 million deficit.

Ontario added 54,800 jobs in April, Statistics Canada said, and unemployment declined to 7.9 percent from 8.1 percent.

Contrast that with 'unexpected' high unemployment numbers and slow economic growth here in the USA that quite frankly, Stevie Wonder could've seen coming from a mile away.

The 30-year high for Canada's unemployment rate was in December of 1983 at 13.1% while the all time low was in September 2007 at 5.9% [1] - about a year and a half after Harper was sworn in as Prime Minister.

1- Trading Economics interactive chart

Mother's Milk Sports Chowdah Update- B's Sweep Philly; C's Feeling the Heat; Crawford Notches Another Walk-off Win

Seems as though I missed all the excitement vis a vis Terry Francona and Joe West as well as Rajon Rondo's gritty performance in Game 3- well....I caught some of it on the radio, but that doesn't always effectively convey the moment.

AP Photo

NBA: After a game 2 in the Garden on Saturday that saw Rajon Rondo playing for 38 minutes with a dislocated elbow and was capped off with a 97-81 win against the Miami Heat, the series continued on Monday night.

Alas, while the C's led for much of the game there was no rallying point like Rondo's return in Game 3. With the clock counting down the final seconds of regulation and the game tied 86-86, Paul Perce attempted a jumper that ended up rimming out and forcing a rather anticlimatic overtime in which the Heat would go on a 12-4 run and win by the final of 98-90, putting the Celtics in a 3-1 hole [not the first time a Boston team has been in a 3-1 hole in the postseason, mind you, but an uphill climb nonetheless- NANESB!].

Rajon Rondo- unquestionably the hero of Game 3, was on the floor for 38 minutes and had 10 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Paul Pierce led in scoring with 27 points, followed by Ray Allen with 17. For the Heat, LeBron James had 35 points on the night followed by Dwayne Wade with 28 and Chris Bosh with 20.

Game 5- which is do or die for Boston- is set to take place Wednesday night at Miami starting at 7PM ET, 4PM Pacific and will be broadcast on TNT.

OTHER NBA NEWS: Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Lakers season ended abruptly after being swept in 4 games by the Dallas Mavericks. Even with the C's one game away from elimination, I still find myself smiling a little bit typing that above sentence.

NHL: Speaking of 4-game sweeps, the Bruins ensured that there wouldn't be a repeat of last year's epic collapse by eliminating the Philadelphia Flyers to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1992.

Boston got on the board late in the first with a power play goal from Milan Lucic and Philly would come right back to tie it in the 2nd with an even strength goal from Kris Versteeg.

Boston would re-take the lead early in the 3rd on a Johnny Boychuck tally, but given what happened against the Flyers last year, one could be forgiven for not being convinced that a 1-goal lead late in the 3rd period was sufficient insurance. However, Lucic was able to provide some of that insurance when he managed to find the back of the net at the 15 minute mark. This was followed up by empty netters from Brad Marchand and Daniel Paille to seal the game by a 5-1 final for the Bruins, and ending the Flyers season.

Tim Thomas stopped 22 of 23 shots faced (it seemed like the overwhelming majority of them came midway through the 3rd period) while Philly's Sergei Bobrovski stopped 22 of 25 faced.

The win means that the Bruins will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals. Tampa is coming off their own 4-game sweep of the underwhelming Washington Capitols. Game 1 won't get underway until Saturday evening, with both (presumably well-rested) teams facing off at the Garden starting at 8PM ET.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: Patrice Bergeron left Game 4 with what was diagnosed a 'mild' concussion after a hit from Claude Grioux and is expected to miss at least two games. Bergeron, who has a history of concussions, will be replaced by 1st round draft pick Tyler Seguin in the meantime.


RED SOX: After splitting the home series against the Angels and dropping the 1st game to Minnesota on Friday night, the Red Sox finished up their homestand with a 3-game win streak Monday night.

Monday night's game was a little closer than I would've liked and not exactly problem free, given that Papelbon blew his a save opportunity for the 1st time this season and the Sox stranded 11 baserunners.

Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI single, driving in Varitek to make it a 1-0 game and the Sox would tenuously cling to the lead heading into the top of the 8th. With Alfredo Aceves struggling, Jonathan Papelbon came on for a 4-out save, but gave up an RBI single to Jason Kubel, driving in the speedy Denard Span to tie the game at 1-1.

Hideki Okajima gave up two hits in two shaky but scoreless innings of work for the Sox, but Jim Hoey would come on and give up an RBI single to Carl Crawford, driving in pinch-runner Jose Iglesias, giving the struggling outfielder his second walk-off hit in nearly a week.

Boston will next travel to Toronto for a brief 2-game series before travelling to the Bronx to take on the Yankees over the weekend.