Road Apples, #107

Blogging Units...I have to publicly apologize to Tom Borthwick for not posting as much as I probably should at NEPArtisan.  I blame my lack of productivity two things:

1. I simply have a lot of "stuff" going on, mainly in the professional arena (but there are a few personal irons in the fire as well).
2. I am shooting for quality over quantity, so I have to be somewhat more selective about that which I opine.

Rumor has it that NEPA's favorite blogger is now in Paris, so I wish him well.  Enjoy good food and socialism at it's very best.

Speaking of Socialism...I read an interesting statistic the other day:  many of the "socialist" and/or western nations with strong social safety-nets actually have LOWER public debt as a percentage of GDP than the United States.  Here's how it shakes out (figures for 2010, source is HERE):

• "Not" Socialist United States = 58.9%
• Socialist Sweden = 40.8%
• Socialist Canada (with that crazy public health care system) = 34.0%

On the higher side we have:

• Japan = 225.8% (I believe though that private debt in Japan is very low)
• Greece = 144.0%
• Italy = 118.1%
• Ireland = 94.2%

Maybe the moral of the story is that things are bad, but not as bad as some would have you believe.  Also, some countries, such as Sweden and Canada, aren't busy being "policemen to the world", which no doubt helps in the debt management department.  File this one under the "food for thought" department.


Ciav and Con...Anyone know what is going on with the sentencing for NEPA's most notorious judges?  Apparently at least one member of the dynamic duo has learned a new trade (see HERE).

Ohio State....had to vacate all of its wins last year due to flagrant violations of NCAA rules...and basic stupidity on the part of players.  Cry me a river.  I say kill the program entirely and turn the stadium into the world's largest outdoor flea market.

Speaking of Crying...Convicted former Lackawanna County Commissioner A.J. Munchak has been told "No Dice" (sorry, I had to slip in a gambling reference...Mr Munchak was apparently a big-time gambler...get it?) by the U.S. Attorney's office in his bid for a new trial.  As the Baretta would say "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time".  As I've noted in the past, I personally think Mr Munchak is basically a good guy who got caught up in some bad stuff.  But I have no doubt he did get caught up in it.

Debt Talks...Revenues will have to be raised, preferably by eliminating nonsensical tax breaks.  Can we just agree to this and move on already?  It seems that most liberals have already acquiesced to the reality that social programs will be cut...it's time now for conservatives to see the painful truth they want to avoid.  Oh, and military spending must be on the table as well, as it's about damn time we stop funding wars that only benefit others.