Tag Archive for DFL

Merry Christmas from Secret Laboratory

by John T. Schmitz • December 24, 2011 • 0 Comments

I have to admit that I’m surprised. The way Congress has been behaving for the last year, I thought for sure that they would just go ahead and let the payroll tax cut expire—but apparently John Boehner decided that he didn’t want to see his approval rating slip from an already dismal 9% into negative…

by John T. Schmitz • December 21, 2011 • 0 Comments

Rick Perry prayed for guidance before his latest campaign event. Answering an audience member’s question regarding the role that prayer plays in his life, the candidate said, “Well, I prayed right before I walked over here that I wouldn’t make any mistakes that my friends in the media would be able to put on television.”…

by John T. Schmitz • December 3, 2011 • 0 Comments

I’ve always enjoyed Adam Carolla’s brand of humor—especially when he was hosting Love Line with Dr. Drew Pinsky—but his opinion regarding the Occupy Wall Street protests is repugnantly small minded. He has called them “fucking self-entitled monsters” and “self-entitled pricks who think the world owes them a living.” Mr. Carolla is referring to the Millenial…

by John T. Schmitz • December 2, 2011 • 2 Comments

Massachusetts’ Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed suit against Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and GMAC, charging that they foreclosed illegally on homes in the state and used deceptive loan servicing practices, including robo-signing. According to an article on MSNBC’s website: “The 50 state attorneys general had been trying to negotiate a settlement with mortgage…

by John T. Schmitz • November 21, 2011 • 4 Comments

I’ve all but given up on my local papers—I stack the print editions next to my toilet and then throw them away once a week or so—and television is a waste of time, except for MSNBC, perhaps. Today, I get most of my news from YouTube and the Occupy Wall Street website, preferring to go…

by John T. Schmitz • November 11, 2011 • 0 Comments

Most people don’t understand the importance of today; they think of it as Veterans’ Day—which is a fine thing, I suppose—but it’s not quite the same thing as Armistice Day. What’s worse, is the people who are celebrating tonight simply because the date lines up like so: 11-11-11. Well … so what? Last year it…

by John T. Schmitz • November 5, 2011 • 0 Comments

Barack Obama is at it again, making grand speeches and promises that he can’t keep. The president’s remarks at the G-20 summit were laughable at best; at worst, they were dishonest and cruel. It’s time for politicians to stop trying to maintain the status quo—folks just aren’t buying it anymore. All the world leaders have…

by John T. Schmitz • November 3, 2011 • 0 Comments

First of all, I’d like to apologize for neglecting my column for the last week. I’d like to think that there are plenty of people out there who have missed me; whether or not that’s true remains to be seen. As I said on October 29, this site is undergoing a transformation of sorts. This…

by John T. Schmitz • October 22, 2011 • 0 Comments

It’s Saturday afternoon—a beautiful fall day. Now that I’m done working (and am still a couple of hours away from any major chores), I thought that I’d drink a couple of these Samuel Adams Octoberfest beers and crank out some wisdom. Not a hell of a lot has changed since last night. I’ve watched a…

by John T. Schmitz • October 21, 2011 • 0 Comments

Herman Cain has adjusted his 9-9-9 plan so it would be slightly more palatable to … well … to anyone. Republicans and Democrats alike have called it ludicrous ever since he stole the ill-conceived proposal from a video game; in fact, the only people who thought that it was a good idea were those too…

by John T. Schmitz • October 15, 2011 • 0 Comments

Well, the world is tearing itself apart today, as tens of thousands of protesters demonstrate and riot in the streets. October 15 marks a global uprising in almost 1,000 cities spanning 82 countries. For the most part, these occupations have remained peaceful; however, Rome is on fire and has been flooded with tear gas. There…

by John T. Schmitz • October 14, 2011 • 0 Comments

I’m not writing the column tonight that I thought I would; specifically, I’m not writing about mass arrests in New York City and the eviction of protesters from Zuccotti Park. One of the main reasons for this revolution is the number of people who have been made victims of predatory lending and subsequently forced out…

by John T. Schmitz • October 11, 2011 • 2 Comments

Peace officers all over the country continue to show who they “protect & serve”—and it isn’t the people of this fine nation; rather, it is the 1% grifter class. Last night, at least 100 protesters were arrested in Boston for simply refusing to disperse when night fell. Perhaps the Boston PD doesn’t realize what an…

by John T. Schmitz • October 6, 2011 • 0 Comments

I realize that it was somewhat of a shock when Chris Christie said once again that he’s not running for president, goddamnit, and why do you people keep hounding me?—but I was positively floored to learn that Sarah Palin isn’t going to throw her hat into the ring. No, that’s a lie. I’ve been saying…

by John T. Schmitz • September 25, 2011 • 0 Comments

Congress passed a bill on Friday that would cripple the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the name of good business and profits; it will undoubtedly be defeated in the Senate—and barring that, the White House has threatened to veto it. I would like to say that the president vowed to stomp all over this bill…

by John T. Schmitz • September 18, 2011 • 0 Comments

The Vikings fooled us again: they were ahead until the bitter end—and then in the last minute of the final quarter, they were beaten stupid by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, losing 24 – 20. So, I changed the channel and checked on the Twins, who were leading the Cleveland Indians 3 – 1. I told…

by John T. Schmitz • September 18, 2011 • 2 Comments

It’s 4:30 on Saturday afternoon and I’ve just now sat down at this machine to crank out some wisdom. I was awake until five o’clock in the morning, back up at ten, spent four hours cleaning the house, took a shower, and then fought to unclog the bathroom sink. The kids are tired and cranky,…

by John T. Schmitz • September 15, 2011 • 0 Comments

Well, the Republicans pulled off the seemingly impossible feat of winning special election seats in Nevada and New York on Tuesday. Anthony Weiner’s vacancy went to Republican political novice Bob Turner, while Republican Mark Amodei won in Nevada. Many view this as a preview of the calamity that is looking more and more likely next…

by John T. Schmitz • September 8, 2011 • 5 Comments

Once again, many thanks to one of my readers, Mr. Brent Kyle, who turned me onto a wonderful website—http://www.chrismartenson.com. So far, I have not had much time to explore the site; instead, I’ve devoted a bit of time to watching his Crash Course 20-part series. Each part ranges from 3 – 20 minutes and is…

by John T. Schmitz • September 5, 2011 • 2 Comments

I don’t normally bother to write my column on the weekends—I don’t get much writing done at all—but I have a few spare minutes this evening while my wife and daughter shop for school supplies and a hot chicken dinner. My son is wearing his new coat and shoes while he watches Spongebob; I have…

by John T. Schmitz • August 31, 2011 • 7 Comments

Republicans and Democrats are arguing over spending once again, this time about what to do with the mess on the East Coast in the wake of Hurricane Irene. You see, FEMA is just about out of money and the Republicans don’t want to give them any more unless it can be offset by cutting spending…

by John T. Schmitz • August 26, 2011 • 0 Comments

The biggest news by far is the arrival of Hurricane Irene, which is scheduled to batter the East Coast over the weekend before fizzling out and sparing the Canadians sometime around Tuesday. Those poor buggers out East just can’t catch a break—first they were “startled” and “unnerved” by that earthquake and now they’re all going…

by John T. Schmitz • August 22, 2011 • 0 Comments

Saturday started innocently enough: Billy and I replaced a tie rod on my car. The part only cost twenty dollars, yet I’ve been putting it off for some time now. “That thing’s gonna break when you’re on the freeway and you’re gonna die,” he insisted. So we fixed it. Sunday was going to be spent…

by John T. Schmitz • August 10, 2011 • 0 Comments

The Democrats in Wisconsin got stomped yesterday, only winning two out of six Senate seats that were up for recall—and two of their own seats will be up for recall next week. They only needed three to regain the majority; after next week, it’s conceivable that they will be worse off than when they started.…

by John T. Schmitz • August 6, 2011 • 0 Comments

I thought that I had weaned myself off of YouTube, but then one of my readers, Brent Kyle, shared a video in the comments section of my last column and I got sucked right back in. The film, Money as Debt, by Paul Grignon, is an animated explanation of where money comes from, who controls…

by John T. Schmitz • June 15, 2011 • 0 Comments

For me, today is the first real day of summer. My daughter’s last day of school was yesterday, so today is it; if classes are still being held, it can’t really be “summer.” It seems like they go later and later every year—June is half over. But she’s enjoying it; when I left this afternoon…