"That's interesting. I hadn't heard that."

When President George was taking questions today regarding U.S. economic woes (ones his administration are primarily responsible for) and asked about the prospect of $4 a gallon gas prices, he uttered with typical Dubya wisdom, "That's interesting. I hadn't heard that."

This coming from the same intellectual dwarf, who defies even his own personally appointed Chairman of the Fed, in viewing an impending recession with all prevailing indices at his disposal. Bush’s theory of economics states, “we’re only going through a slow down.” As akin to a skydiver whose tangled chute is slowed down, Mr. Prez?

I myself subscribe to the Rip Van Winkle theory of economics..I’ll just fall asleep and wake up 20 years from now when this whole Bush fiasco is but a bad dream.

Hey Brother, Can You Spare a Rupee?

The Bush administration’s dismal economic policies have reached a new low. How low? Well let’s just say that when the mighty Indian rupee has more respect than the US dollar, our respect in the monetary world is swiftly swirling down the toilet.

For those who haven’t heard this latest gem, India's tourism minister, Ambika Soni, said Thursday that U.S. dollars will no longer be accepted at the country's heritage tourist sites, like the famed Taj Mahal.

For years the dollar was worth about 50 rupees and tourists visiting most sites in India were charged either $5 or 250 rupees. But with the dollar at a nine-year low against the rupee — falling 11 percent in 2007 alone and now hovering at around 39 rupees — that deal has become a losing proposition for the tourism industry.

According to the minister, the decision was only in part a reaction to the currency's plunging value. "Before the dollar lost its value, there was a demand to have (admission tickets) just in rupees," Soni said that charging only rupees would not only be more practical, but would save money because "the dollar was weaker against the rupee."

How do you say, “bullshit” in Hindi? This is but a glossed over attempt by the minister to politely say, “take your puny dollar and shove it!”

The Taj Mahal, India's famed white marble monument to love, which had charged tourists $15 or 750 rupees, has been refusing to accept dollars since November. The move makes visits pricier for American tourists, who now have to shell out nearly $20. And it's likely to get worse.

While the mighty buck has fallen against most major currencies, it has lost ground against the rupee due to an influx of foreign capital into India. "We expect a slight appreciation of the rupee to continue, although it won't be as dramatic as last year," said Agam Gupta, head of foreign exchange trading at Standard Chartered Bank in India.

Don’t know about you, but I am feeling a wee bit embarrassed about this. It was not too long ago that a pocket full of America dollars in any foreign country was cause for envy. Now we have to glance out the corners of both eyes before reaching into our pockets and purses to pull out a few greenbacks. It almost feels dirty.

Thanks Bush. Again you have proved you aren’t worth a falling dollar.

See No Evil

http://illuminated1.blogspot.com/

Most Admired??

I just read a CNN article showing the results of the latest Gallup poll of the "Most Admired" man and woman. According to the author, "Sitting presidents usually top Gallup's list of the country's most admired man, and this year is no exception: President Bush leads, as the choice of 10 percent of those polled. "

My immediate thought upon reading the piece was, "Are you friggin kidding me?" Are we talking about the same Bush whose approval numbers have been hovering at or below the freezing level on the Fahrenheit scale since longer than the citizen's of this country care to remember? Is this the same Bush whose administration has been embroiled in one fibbing fiasco after another since the day he was "elected" into office, and everyone is sick to death of being lied to?

My second thought was, "Just who are those Gallup folks polling anyway? There is not one soul I know (and I'm no hermit) who would come forward and proclaim that Dubbya is the most admired man in their book. I am 100 percent positive that if I went out to the mall today (not that I'm foolish enough to risk my life in a mall the day after Christmas with all those crazed sale seekers attacking the marked down merchandise like hungry piranhas) and "polled" 100 people at random, it would be a aberration if just 1 of them mentioned Bush as their most admired. As a matter of fact, I'd almost bet on it!

Imagine this scenerio if you can; "The Brain" covertly calls the Gallup camp and whispers into the head pollster's ear, "I have an idea for your latest most admired poll," Rove says, sneering into the phone like Butthead. "Why don't you poll 3 random places such as . . . hmm let me think . . . how about, Kennebunkport, that's in Maine you know? And then somewhere in the south, . . . like let's say . . . Crawford, that's in Texas. And to round things out there is a large residence on Pennsylvania Avenue, that's DC. Thanks for your cooperation. We owe you one."

Sound a little outlandish? OK, I'll admit I might have gotten a bit carried away there. How about this scenario? The Gallup poll inadvertently makes calls from a data list of hearing impaired people, and they think the question asked is; "Who do you think is the most mired - as in doo doo - person in the country," and they all quickly answered, "George Bush!"

To support this scenario, the poll listed Hillary as the "most admired woman."

Total No-Recall

Here we go again...seems the CIA has destroyed critical video evidence regarding the current hot topic of torture. The spy agency's director, Michael Hayden, told CIA employees Thursday that the recordings were destroyed out of fear the tapes would leak and reveal the identities of interrogators. He said the sessions were videotaped to provide an added layer of legal protection for interrogators using new, harsh methods authorized by President Bush as a way to break down the defenses of recalcitrant prisoners.

Like always, the White House has total non-recall about the destroyed evidence.

Somehow I recall hearing the "I have no recollection.." defense lately. Oh yeah! It was another one of those Bush administration cronies, the ex-top lawyer in the country, Alberto Gonzalez who seemed to be suffering from a convenient case of amnesia during the Congressional hearings.

Now it looks like the condition must be going around because the big piece of dung on top of the heap conveniently has "has no recollection" of hearing about either the tapes' existence or their destruction before being briefed about it Thursday morning, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said. But wait a second..perhaps it was Bush who passed the bug to the AG!

Have no fear Congress, the condition is nothing a little water-boarding can't cure.