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The Soulless Animal

By Mr. Curmudgeon

The next time you fire up your iPad, iPhone, Kindle reader, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Sony Wii, you should remember they were made by “animals.”

At least, that’s the opinion of Foxconn’s CEO Terry Gou. Foxconn is China’s largest exporter of manufactured goods, with 13 factories employing over one million souls.

While at a party with his 12 senior managers, Gou introduced them to a zookeeper. He told his senior execs the animal keeper could provide valuable insights to help them better herd their workers. “To manage on million animals,” said Gou, “gives me a headache.”

When the remark went public, it naturally generated a lot of criticism. After all, Foxconn is famous for its harsh working conditions, with some labeling...

Gingrich Beats his Chief Rival … Oh, and Romney

By Mr. Curmudgeon

Well, well. It looks like the Republican nomination for president isn’t quite in the bag for Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich won 40.3% to Gov. Romney’s 27.9% in South Carolina’s Republican primary. Whom does Gingrich have to thank for this dramatic turnaround? The media, that’s who – ABC and CNN to be specific.

In an interview with ABC News, Marianne Gingrich, Speaker Gingrich’s ex-wife, alleged that her ex-husband asked for an open marriage. During the GOP presidential debate hosted by CNN last Friday, moderator John King asked Gingrich, “Would you like to take some time to respond to that?”

“Every person in here knows personal pain,” responded Gingrich. “Every person in here has had someone close to them...

In Search of the Perfect Politician

By Mr. Curmudgeon

The New York Times raises an interesting point in a lead editorial. “When a political party decides that moralizing about personal conduct is as important as public policy, it inevitably makes some of its leaders vulnerable to the worst charges of hypocrisy.” The Times, of course, is speaking of the infidelities and multiple marriages of GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. It’s a startling acknowledgement by the Old Grey Lady, the so-called official newspaper of the nation, that we live in a moral universe.

Notice that the Times’ divides personal conduct from political action – or “public policy.” It infers that our most capable rulers are those unburdened by the heavy baggage of moral pretense. That building...

Romney Connects with Taxpayers

By Mr. Curmudgeon

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney seemed destined for greatness after primary wins in Iowa and New Hampshire. After successfully defending himself against charges by GOP rivals the he engaged in crony capitalism and corporate raiding, things took a decided turn for the worse after it was learned Romney paid a mere 15% of his annual income in taxes. Newt Gingrich quipped that he didn’t mind Romney’s low tax bite, if only he would offer a tax plan that extended this rate to everyday working Americans, which on average surrender 36% of their paychecks to government. Gingrich also took the opportunity to mention that he paid 31% of his income in taxes – just like the typical working stiff.

“I can tell you we follow the tax laws,” said...

Jobs Council to Obama: You’re Fired!

By Mr. Curmudgeon

The Jobs Council assembled at the Obama White House before issuing their third report on “actionable” measures the administration must take to increase American Jobs. “This has not been a show council,” insisted President Obama, “This has been a work council.”

And in some ways they certainly are. According to the report, of the more than 60 Council recommendations sent to their hard working boss, Obama gets credit for taking 14“actions” on a whopping 4 proposals.

Worse yet, at the very time the president is gearing up his re-election campaign, a central theme of which will be “income inequality,” the Council recommends lowering the corporate tax rate to spur private-sector expansion and therefore … jobs. And, horror of horrors,...

“I think the Tea Party is dying out”: Harry Reid

By Mr. Curmudgeon

Senate Majority Leader Harry “The Crypt-Keeper” Reid engaged in a little wishful thinking during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. “I hope that the Tea Party doesn’t have an influence in this next year that they had in the previous year, because it has been really bad for this country.”

Harry was speaking of the big stink that arose during the debt ceiling debate. Harry fondly remembered the good old days when he and establishment Republicans engaged in “the art of working together, building consensus, compromise.” You know – the kind of collegial cooperation that gave us a financial collapse, bailouts, stimulus and high unemployment. Good times … good times …

And Harry fondly recalled the days when little things like,...

The UN’s Peace Keeping Disease

By Mr. Curmudgeon

When the fifteen delegates of the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1542 in June of 2004, they unwittingly signed the death warrants of 7,000 suffering people – and damaged the health of more than 500,000. And so, the Western Hemisphere was introduced to one of Asia’s more merciless killers – a virulent strain of cholera simply called the “super bug.”

According to the Latin American Herald Tribune, Dr. Renaud Piarroux, a French cholera expert, delivered the results of his exhaustive study into Haiti’s deadly cholera outbreak to UN headquarters in New York City early last December. According to Dr. Piarroux, the culprits responsible for the outbreak were UN Peace Keepers from Nepal sent to the Caribbean nation to maintain...

S&P’s European Downgrade

By Mr. Curmudgeon

Late Thursday, the credit-rating wing of Standard & Poor’s downgraded the creditworthiness of 9 eurozone nations. The move was seen as the credit agency’s subtle way of spurring the 17-nation European Union to hurry a bailout plan for Greece ahead of a debt default sometime in March. “European politicians, in turn, criticized S.&P.’s downgrade plans as providing no meaningful new information to investors but simply stoking a sense of crisis,” the New York Times reported.

Sounding a more realistic note, the London Daily Telegraph said, “Just as markets had started to believe that the eurozone crisis was in retreat, along comes the credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, to remind everyone that the crisis hasn’t...

Supreme Court Upholds Religious Freedom

By Mr. Curmudgeon

The United States Supreme Court delivered a decisive blow to secular encroachments on America’s religious institutions, denying Big Government regulatory authority over them. As Justice Clarence Thomas put it, the high court shot down the federal government’s contention that “a religious group … conform its beliefs and practices regarding ‘ministers’ to the prevailing secular understanding.’”

And Big Government’s “secular understanding” is simple: there is no god greater than government.

The case in question is Hosanna-Tabor Church v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The case centered on Lutheran elementary school teacher Cheryl Perich, who took a leave of absence from her job after developing the sleeping...

The Doddering Dingus Defeatist

By Mr. Curmudgeon

Secret truths seem to make their way to the surface in unguarded moments, whether helped along by too much alcohol or too little sleep. “I am confident, with the leadership and the backing of the American people, President Obama will turn this country around,” said the 2008 Republican candidate for president, Sen. John McCain, in a speech meant to endorse Mitt Romney. After the crowd laughed, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley corrected the doddering dingus, McCain recovered slightly, “Excuse me … excuse me … President Romney, President Romney!”

Less than 24 hours thereafter, McCain told another South Carolina crowd, “He [Romney] will rebuild the moral of America and he will restore America. I guarantee you he will not lead from behind...