Baby boomer humor’s big lie: “Ghostbusters” and “Caddyshack” really liberated Reagan and Wall Street - Salon.com:
I'm not going to quote you a lot out of this, you need to read it. Thomas Frank is very well respected in liberal circles, and this is not on Salon's humor page.
Certainly a conservative or libertarian is going to read this and be very tempted to just laugh completely out loud. Go ahead and do this, but then realize for a moment that this guy is SERIOUS! He is pretty pissed that someone is willing and ABLE to make movies that he sees as espousing "the common man" standing up and most of all SNEERING at his BETTERS! Frank strongly believes he is one of those betters! He sees himself as "Dean Wermer", "The EPA Guy", Ted Knight (Mary Tyler Moore) as the judge in Caddyshack.
OK, so I pretty much agree with him on that ... short laugh break here.
BUT. Consider Orwell's pigs; "some are more equal than others". Frank is absolutely certain that HE is "more equal".
Frank utterly forgets the hundreds (thousands?) of movies, rock songs, books, TV shows, plays, etc, etc that provide a myriad of extremely negative portrayals of business, wall street, the rich that earned their money, etc. He also forgets that this small bevy of movies was very clearly HUMOR, and it is HIGHLY unlikely that they had any sort of effect even REMOTELY strong enough to counteract the 12-20 years of hard left wing education forced indoctrination, the MSM, the entire media culture, and the effects of constant left wing economic disincentives ... why not just stay on your parents healthcare until 26 and maybe live off the government dime for a while like the "kids" (formerly adults) in Europe?
No, Frank's lefty thought utopia is very safe until it crashes into the evil abutment of reality -- which even BO can't decree to cease and desist. But why is he so pissed?
Because Frank's universe must be PURE! His world doesn't allow for someone "flipping him the bird" ... especially if that someone might be armed! Frank wants them on the ground, cuffed, and thrown into the Gulag where he can INSURE that they "get their mind right". Fealty is INSUFFICIENT! It has to be GENUINE you swine!!
Naturally the idea of Frank walking over and accosting any red blooded American over flipping him the bird in reality an extremely funny thought. One doesn't need a weapon to have guys like Frank wetting themselves in the real world, but there is the rub.
Frank has no intent or predilection to a "fair fight". He HATES real merit, he hates real strength, he obviously even hates real humor. His anger at those things forces him to show his true colors -- just a bit, and just to his friends at Salon, but due to the internet, perhaps a glimpse can get out??
There is NO DOUBT that his goal ... and the unstated goal of MANY on the left is CONTROL at a level that would stamp out the kind of "subversion" of the Ramis movies evening HINTING at targets like "government". Subversion would still be very much encouraged in that world -- against business, family, church, wealth, etc, but NEVER against government.
So Mr Frank, even when you walk by me in my cell, you are right! There ARE those of us willing to flip you the bird (even though only an extreme paranoid thinks it has anything to do with Harold Ramis movies)! Even WORSE, it is just fine that we live in a country that is free enough so that others can flip me off (although I may walk over and have a nice chat with them). That is their RIGHT, and I CELEBRATE IT!
'via Blog this'
Thursday, March 06, 2014
Ocean Rise Threatens Lady Liberty
Sea-level rise threatens to drown Statue of Liberty | Science Recorder:
Plus, it is from the "Institute of Physics" ... noted climatologists that they are!
It showed up under "science" under my Google News, so it is popular enough to make that cut.
'via Blog this'
Sea-level rise threatens UNESCO World Heritage sites, including such internationally famous sites as the Statue of Liberty in New York City,according to a report from the Institute of Physics. The Statue of Liberty is just one of many sites that could be compromised if current global warming trends are maintained over the next two millennia. MILLENNIA! Got that? This is a "science news" item for TWO THOUSAND years from now!
Plus, it is from the "Institute of Physics" ... noted climatologists that they are!
It showed up under "science" under my Google News, so it is popular enough to make that cut.
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Endless War
Paul Ryan wages war on the War on Poverty - CNN.com:
The Democrats have been at war with poverty for 50 years, and by every measure, it seems that poverty is winning. Right now there are 44M people (men women and children) living in poverty and we are spending $800B a year on them, or about $18K each. If one assumes that MOST of these are "families" of some sort ... mother with one or more kids in most cases, if we just mailed them a check they would have $36K for a family of two and up from there.
Of course the $800B has to support a vast "poverty infrastructure". Lots of departments, programs, bureaucrats, secretaries and undersecretaries of this and that. All good solid Democrat voters though, as are at least 90% of the 44M that they can get to go out to vote (or count as having voted by some means). Why would a Democrat NOT want to keep $800B flowing into their constituency? It's close to 1/4 of the budget for goodness sakes ... and the % of people in poverty in '09 was basically the same as the day that LBJ declared war!
Ah yes, $800B in graft that has not moved the ball in 50 years!
The old anti-W sticker back when Democrats cared about "war" was "Endless War". How many Trillions down the "War on Poverty" rat hole in that 50 years? No doubt more than enough to have moved the US GDP a NUMBER of TRILLIONS up had they not been squandered keeping a set of Democrats on the poverty plantation!
'via Blog this'
The Democrats have been at war with poverty for 50 years, and by every measure, it seems that poverty is winning. Right now there are 44M people (men women and children) living in poverty and we are spending $800B a year on them, or about $18K each. If one assumes that MOST of these are "families" of some sort ... mother with one or more kids in most cases, if we just mailed them a check they would have $36K for a family of two and up from there.
Of course the $800B has to support a vast "poverty infrastructure". Lots of departments, programs, bureaucrats, secretaries and undersecretaries of this and that. All good solid Democrat voters though, as are at least 90% of the 44M that they can get to go out to vote (or count as having voted by some means). Why would a Democrat NOT want to keep $800B flowing into their constituency? It's close to 1/4 of the budget for goodness sakes ... and the % of people in poverty in '09 was basically the same as the day that LBJ declared war!
Ah yes, $800B in graft that has not moved the ball in 50 years!
The old anti-W sticker back when Democrats cared about "war" was "Endless War". How many Trillions down the "War on Poverty" rat hole in that 50 years? No doubt more than enough to have moved the US GDP a NUMBER of TRILLIONS up had they not been squandered keeping a set of Democrats on the poverty plantation!
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
The 58th? State
Putin's Cynical Choice | RealClearPolitics:
Back when BO claimed he had been in 57 states with one more to go (not including Alaska and Hawaii, which his staff didn't let him go to), the few of us aware of his statement pretty much assumed it was just a gaffe. You know, the kind of thing that would have been on every comedy show for 8 years if W had made it.
I think we were wrong. Apparently in the alternate universe of the left, Iraq became a US state after W's "war of aggression" ... because it is completely legitimate to compare the removal of Saddam Hussein with the US action in Iraq, Not only that, but Afghanistan, Panama and Grenada.
When I went through the Panama Canal a couple years back, I failed to see any US flags flying. They normally stand out, red white and blue being somewhat bright and contrasting colors, but I must have missed them since apparently we acquired Panama as a state.
I guess the acquisition of all those new states by the US pretty much makes it unreasonable for us to question Putin.
One really can't legitimately criticize a person unless one travels a few parsecs in their universe!
via Blog this'
Back when BO claimed he had been in 57 states with one more to go (not including Alaska and Hawaii, which his staff didn't let him go to), the few of us aware of his statement pretty much assumed it was just a gaffe. You know, the kind of thing that would have been on every comedy show for 8 years if W had made it.
I think we were wrong. Apparently in the alternate universe of the left, Iraq became a US state after W's "war of aggression" ... because it is completely legitimate to compare the removal of Saddam Hussein with the US action in Iraq, Not only that, but Afghanistan, Panama and Grenada.
When I went through the Panama Canal a couple years back, I failed to see any US flags flying. They normally stand out, red white and blue being somewhat bright and contrasting colors, but I must have missed them since apparently we acquired Panama as a state.
I guess the acquisition of all those new states by the US pretty much makes it unreasonable for us to question Putin.
One really can't legitimately criticize a person unless one travels a few parsecs in their universe!
via Blog this'
Monday, March 03, 2014
End of Days Preview
Scale of suffering at Syrian refugee camp is revealed by photo of huge queue for food | World news | theguardian.com:
There has not been a lot of coverage of this picture in the US, but some pictures are worth many thousands of words.
Can you even imagine what our news would look like now if W had done a proud "reset" on Russian relations after Slick, Gore, Lieberman, Kerry or Edwards had mentioned that "Russia was a likely adversary" and been smugly derided by W. Remember, Putin "bailed out" BO and Kerry on the "red line" in Syria!
The surrealism just marches on and on ... and then at some point you find yourself in a queue like one pictured and your realize that while BO, socialism, "settled science", "you can keep your healthcare", "it is good that less people have to work", etc etc were all lies, but lies that have a very real effect on the lives of real people!
'via Blog this'
There has not been a lot of coverage of this picture in the US, but some pictures are worth many thousands of words.
Can you even imagine what our news would look like now if W had done a proud "reset" on Russian relations after Slick, Gore, Lieberman, Kerry or Edwards had mentioned that "Russia was a likely adversary" and been smugly derided by W. Remember, Putin "bailed out" BO and Kerry on the "red line" in Syria!
The surrealism just marches on and on ... and then at some point you find yourself in a queue like one pictured and your realize that while BO, socialism, "settled science", "you can keep your healthcare", "it is good that less people have to work", etc etc were all lies, but lies that have a very real effect on the lives of real people!
'via Blog this'
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Bill Clinton, Racist Extremist!
Kirsten Powers Demagogues on Religious Liberty, Again:
Another little marker on how far we have "progressed" as a nation. When Clinton signed a similar bill in '93, there was no outcry. Many states already have very similar laws on the books and nothing like the shrill howlers would indicate "might happen" has happened.
So if you are a Christian you MUST photographs at a gay "wedding" if you are in the photography business, or a baker must do the cake ... etc, etc. I think we all know that a Muslim, or likely any other person or church that refused their facilities or whatever will get a pass. We don't call things ANTI-Christian in the MSM **YET**!
The simplest idea would be "private businesses can serve whatever customers they decide to serve for whatever reason" ... you see these signs all the time "we reserve the right to refuse service for any reason". Perhaps the potential customer is filthy stinking dirty, perhaps they are loud mouthed and obscene, perhaps they don't meet some standard of attire. The operative situation in a country that supported personal liberty would be that the business owner is forgoing a customer, and if he cuts out certain groups of customers that reduces his potential market, thus costing HIS bottom line!
There used to be a country called the United States of America that held this view.
I'd argue the situation is EXACTLY the same for smokers! I happen not to smoke, and I very much like the fact that I'm not bothered by smoke, however I firmly believe "today they came for the smokers, but I was quiet because I was not a smoker". I believe that the cornerstone of the nation that was once America was that we respected the rights of others to hold views THAT WE DIDN'T AGREE WITH!
We clearly are no longer that nation. So much so that in '93, Slick Willie himself would have been a "racist extremist"!
Now I'm sure that the Slickster has fully "evolved" to whatever way "progress" is blowing today, so the only thing he would stand up for is whatever is in the best interest of he or his "wife" (political partner) getting the most money and power. For the rest of us though, the very few remaining that want to believe that our lives have more value than the excrement that the flies seem to be buzzing to today, we need to at least give the facts as to how fast we are sliding a look!
'via Blog this'
Another little marker on how far we have "progressed" as a nation. When Clinton signed a similar bill in '93, there was no outcry. Many states already have very similar laws on the books and nothing like the shrill howlers would indicate "might happen" has happened.
So if you are a Christian you MUST photographs at a gay "wedding" if you are in the photography business, or a baker must do the cake ... etc, etc. I think we all know that a Muslim, or likely any other person or church that refused their facilities or whatever will get a pass. We don't call things ANTI-Christian in the MSM **YET**!
The simplest idea would be "private businesses can serve whatever customers they decide to serve for whatever reason" ... you see these signs all the time "we reserve the right to refuse service for any reason". Perhaps the potential customer is filthy stinking dirty, perhaps they are loud mouthed and obscene, perhaps they don't meet some standard of attire. The operative situation in a country that supported personal liberty would be that the business owner is forgoing a customer, and if he cuts out certain groups of customers that reduces his potential market, thus costing HIS bottom line!
There used to be a country called the United States of America that held this view.
I'd argue the situation is EXACTLY the same for smokers! I happen not to smoke, and I very much like the fact that I'm not bothered by smoke, however I firmly believe "today they came for the smokers, but I was quiet because I was not a smoker". I believe that the cornerstone of the nation that was once America was that we respected the rights of others to hold views THAT WE DIDN'T AGREE WITH!
We clearly are no longer that nation. So much so that in '93, Slick Willie himself would have been a "racist extremist"!
Now I'm sure that the Slickster has fully "evolved" to whatever way "progress" is blowing today, so the only thing he would stand up for is whatever is in the best interest of he or his "wife" (political partner) getting the most money and power. For the rest of us though, the very few remaining that want to believe that our lives have more value than the excrement that the flies seem to be buzzing to today, we need to at least give the facts as to how fast we are sliding a look!
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Keeping the Communist Faith
Hearken to Harkin | Power Line:
One of the things I loved about NPR in the '80s was their breathless reporting of the joys of life in Cuba or the USSR. From their descriptions, it is hard to imagine how any USSR residents would ever think of taking down the wall.
In the linked articles we have a US Senator espousing the results of healthcare in Cuba as stated by THEIR figures! Why, what could go wrong? When a Socialist tells you "If you like your healthcare, you can keep it", why would one not believe them??
Here is an pictoral example with N Korea in the Tyrannical role:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-korea-shrouded-in-darkness-in-stunning-new-photo-from-space-station/
Does a visual do it?
I find China to be the most chilling modern state -- sort of totalitarianism with a curtsey to Communism, taking the competitive parts of Capitalism, and leaving out most of the Nanny State aspects of Socialism and Communism. It remains to be seen if they have arrived at the economic and political stew that works in the 21st century. Right now it would appear so!
There is a broad set of the electorate and the elected that will pine away for the great dream of Socialism and Communism no matter how the disastrous results pile up. True leftist faith is never swayed by the deaths of 100's of millions of people or anything else.
'via Blog this'
One of the things I loved about NPR in the '80s was their breathless reporting of the joys of life in Cuba or the USSR. From their descriptions, it is hard to imagine how any USSR residents would ever think of taking down the wall.
In the linked articles we have a US Senator espousing the results of healthcare in Cuba as stated by THEIR figures! Why, what could go wrong? When a Socialist tells you "If you like your healthcare, you can keep it", why would one not believe them??
Here is an pictoral example with N Korea in the Tyrannical role:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-korea-shrouded-in-darkness-in-stunning-new-photo-from-space-station/
Does a visual do it?
I find China to be the most chilling modern state -- sort of totalitarianism with a curtsey to Communism, taking the competitive parts of Capitalism, and leaving out most of the Nanny State aspects of Socialism and Communism. It remains to be seen if they have arrived at the economic and political stew that works in the 21st century. Right now it would appear so!
There is a broad set of the electorate and the elected that will pine away for the great dream of Socialism and Communism no matter how the disastrous results pile up. True leftist faith is never swayed by the deaths of 100's of millions of people or anything else.
'via Blog this'
5 Ways Socialism Destroys Societies - John Hawkins
5 Ways Socialism Destroys Societies - John Hawkins - Page full:
Short, sweet, excellent and correct!
'via Blog this'
Short, sweet, excellent and correct!
'via Blog this'
Weimar Amerika
Articles: Our Weimar Republic:
Just because comparisons with Nazi Germany are often wrong doesn't mean they are ALWAYS wrong!
'via Blog this'
"As Weimar Germany slid to Nazi Germany, another disturbing trend was the reduction of the national legislature to irrelevance. In the last years of Weimar Germany, President Hindenburg began ruling Germany by emergency decree. On the pretext that the Reichstag could not operate, the executive branch of Weimar Germany simply began acting without legislative consent."Excellent article. Just because you are not paranoid doesn't mean everyone ISN'T out to get you!
Just because comparisons with Nazi Germany are often wrong doesn't mean they are ALWAYS wrong!
'via Blog this'
Mammograms Not Settled Science
Charles Krauthammer: The myth of ‘settled science’ - The Washington Post:
The proud claim of science was once that it was not, nor could be "settled". The settled was the domain of religion, which held claims on that which is eternal, vs science which was confined to the physical, the temporal, that in which change is certain and "there is nothing new under the sun". (or at least REALLY new ... each generation and each new fad is SURE that what they have found is "new")
On mammograms, our haste to "do something" is entirely understandable -- we all have at least a mother who we love dearly, and breast cancer is a very real risk. We WANT to be able to do SOMETHING to feel more secure, and if cancer does come to call, we want to be able to say "we did all we could".
Is that motivation the same with climate? "Well, we HAVE to do SOMETHING!"??
I don't believe so, I believe it is more the case that having a religion is critical to man, and post 60's, a lot of younger folks have been looking for a "new one", so in Charles words, they have gone "whoring after new gods".
"Now we learn from a massive randomized study — 90,000 women followed for 25 years — that mammograms may have no effect on breast cancer deaths. Indeed, one out of five of those diagnosed by mammogram receives unnecessary radiation, chemo or surgery."The news that mammograms may not really help isn't all that shocking for anyone that has been around for a few turns of the earth. We have seen coffee, wine, various fats, grains and a host of other food items shift back and forth from being identified as near certain causes of early demise to being proverbial fountains of youth. If your product is on the outs, just wait around, it may be an elixir soon ... or vice versa.
The proud claim of science was once that it was not, nor could be "settled". The settled was the domain of religion, which held claims on that which is eternal, vs science which was confined to the physical, the temporal, that in which change is certain and "there is nothing new under the sun". (or at least REALLY new ... each generation and each new fad is SURE that what they have found is "new")
On mammograms, our haste to "do something" is entirely understandable -- we all have at least a mother who we love dearly, and breast cancer is a very real risk. We WANT to be able to do SOMETHING to feel more secure, and if cancer does come to call, we want to be able to say "we did all we could".
Is that motivation the same with climate? "Well, we HAVE to do SOMETHING!"??
I don't believe so, I believe it is more the case that having a religion is critical to man, and post 60's, a lot of younger folks have been looking for a "new one", so in Charles words, they have gone "whoring after new gods".
But whoring is whoring, and the gods must be appeased. So if California burns, you send your high priest (in carbon -belching Air Force One, but never mind) to the bone-dry land to offer up, on behalf of the repentant congregation, a $1 billion burnt offering called a “climate resilience fund.”'via Blog this'
Reality Wrong Again
The 'Fairness' Fraud - Thomas Sowell - Page 2:
"Who is to blame" may be similar for the "progressive".
Sowell covers "fairness" yet again in his inimitable style. "Progressives" assume that they know how things SHOULD be, so when reality doesn't meet their preconceptions it MUST be somebody elses fault.
"It's not my fault" is another classic liberal line. In fact, one pretty much just needs to listen to a pre-school playground to understand liberal thought:
-- "It's not fair"!
-- "I'm going to tell"!
-- "Gimme" !
-- "She/he is cheating"!
-- "I can't"!
Perhaps understanding "liberals" is much easier than it sometimes seems?
'via Blog this'
"In other words, the fact that reality does not match the preconceptions of the intelligentsia shows that there is something wrong with reality, for which somebody must be blamed. Apparently their preconceptions cannot be wrong.""First, do no harm" is a good short conservative maxim.
"Who is to blame" may be similar for the "progressive".
Sowell covers "fairness" yet again in his inimitable style. "Progressives" assume that they know how things SHOULD be, so when reality doesn't meet their preconceptions it MUST be somebody elses fault.
"It's not my fault" is another classic liberal line. In fact, one pretty much just needs to listen to a pre-school playground to understand liberal thought:
-- "It's not fair"!
-- "I'm going to tell"!
-- "Gimme" !
-- "She/he is cheating"!
-- "I can't"!
Perhaps understanding "liberals" is much easier than it sometimes seems?
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
How Leftists Fly
GOP Crocodile Tears Over Jobs | RealClearPolitics:
Since natural laws don't apply on the left, they simply grab their bootstraps and pull ... and then they fly! If you don't believe they fly, you are obviously a "denier" and should perhaps have your taxes audited!
See, the Republicans are complaining that the CBO says that raising the minimum wage will cost 500K jobs. They believe in the old time economics where each person employed has to bring in enough money to cover their wages, government mandated taxes, possible government mandated benefits or fines like BOcare, PLUS add enough profit to the bottom line to make it worthwhile to hire them.
In the modern Democrat universe however that is "foolish". Even though we have been following their policies since '09, and really '07 when they took over congress, we have 8 million LESS people employed than we did in '07!!!
But here is how they propose to "improve the economy" via the bootstraps from here:
If only Democrats would become so convinced of their wisdom that they would jump off a cliff tugging on their bootstraps one by one until somebody had a "learning moment"!
'via Blog this'
Since natural laws don't apply on the left, they simply grab their bootstraps and pull ... and then they fly! If you don't believe they fly, you are obviously a "denier" and should perhaps have your taxes audited!
See, the Republicans are complaining that the CBO says that raising the minimum wage will cost 500K jobs. They believe in the old time economics where each person employed has to bring in enough money to cover their wages, government mandated taxes, possible government mandated benefits or fines like BOcare, PLUS add enough profit to the bottom line to make it worthwhile to hire them.
In the modern Democrat universe however that is "foolish". Even though we have been following their policies since '09, and really '07 when they took over congress, we have 8 million LESS people employed than we did in '07!!!
But here is how they propose to "improve the economy" via the bootstraps from here:
The first thing to do is extend the long-term unemployment benefits that expired at the end of last year. According to the CBO -- whose word, apparently, is now holy writ among Republicans -- this simple measure would add 200,000 jobs, perhaps as many as 300,000.Then ...
The CBO has estimated that canceling the across-the-board reductions in federal spending known as "sequestration" would preserve 900,000 jobs a year.and top it all off ...
That gives us more than 1 million jobs to replace the 500,000 lost from hiking the minimum wage. But Republicans wouldn't want to stop there. To maximize employment, putting as many people to work as possible, the GOP should obviously begin designing a new economic stimulus package, much like the stimulus Obama convinced Congress to approve five years ago.
According to the CBO, the $800 billion stimulus -- much maligned by Republicans as a waste of money -- created or saved an average of 1.6 million jobs per year from 2009 through 2012. Now that most of the money is spent and the impact of the stimulus is waning, clearly it's time to give job-creation another boost.Got that??? We have EIGHT MILLION LESS people employed than we did at the top of the last cycle, with millions more americans in the workforce, at least partially due to the policies that Democrats think are "helpful", and the way to get more jobs is to just spend more and more government money! You CAN fly by pulling on your bootstraps!!
If only Democrats would become so convinced of their wisdom that they would jump off a cliff tugging on their bootstraps one by one until somebody had a "learning moment"!
'via Blog this'
Chutzpah and Economic Numbers
US Constitution, Article 1, Section 7:1
"All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills."
I've seen a few "facts" floating about about how great a job BO is doing! All sorts of numbers about deficit reduction, economic improvement including jobs, etc. It reminds me of how he has the chutzpah to take credit for oil production going up on his watch. In the real world, our increased oil production is 100% the result of hydraulic fracking in shale which BO has much to do with as I do. Actually less, since he has tried to stop it, regulate it, and has stopped the Keystone pipeline.
If you have been listening a little too credulously to MSM outlets (it is easy to do, we ALL soak in it!), you may need to refresh your memory. Bill Clinton for example DID NOT "balance the budget". A short perusal of the Constitution plus a slight remembrance of the howling as Republicans "cut" (reduced the rate of GROWTH) in Medicare, plus took other "mean, hard hearted and cynical" actions on the budget that overall SLIGHTLY reduced the rate of GROWTH in government spending, PLUS (and most importantly) releasing the productivity of the American people and creating growth in the economy. One of the things I loved about Reagan was that he constantly reminded us that the engine of all good things is economic growth, not government!
The combination of the MSM controlling the story line, and the general poor memory and natural desire to believe the current narrative allows 90% of the population to live in an MSM wonderland where Slick Willie or BO fights valiantly against the evil Republican forces trying to CUT TO THE BONE (reduce the rate of GROWTH) in spending on Medicare, Military benefits, Food Stamps, Head Start for wonderful innocent little children, all because of their inherent evil and the fact that they are beholden to awful profit seeking business!
Then, when nothing bad happens because of the "cuts", "sequester", "shutdown", etc, and the economy starts to show signs of life, who pops up like a Jack-in-the-box saying "I did it, I did it!!" but the President. Naturally, if the president has a "D" next to his name, the media gets all gushy about HIS success!
If it is an "R" however, they have usually already been pushing hard on an economic and tax agenda that the media found "draconian", so when the economy improves, "it just happened" ... which in BOTH cases is more true than not, since the best thing government can generally do is get the hell out of the way!
Both Slick Willie and BO ought to be INCREDIBLY grateful for their Republican Congress. Without it, Slick would never have had what he and the MSM trumpets as his singular achievement -- BJs with pizza in the Oval Office, oh wait, I meant "his" balanced budget!
BO would not have had the impressive feat (for him) of seeing the unemployment number below 7%!! WOW!! (it was under 5% in '07). Of course we are not talking about the labor participation rate that is the worst now that it has been since the '70s!
Don't expect the MSM (or BO) to be applauding the results of the Republicans feeble attempts to slow the rate of growth in the federal spending juggernaut anytime soon.
"All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills."
I've seen a few "facts" floating about about how great a job BO is doing! All sorts of numbers about deficit reduction, economic improvement including jobs, etc. It reminds me of how he has the chutzpah to take credit for oil production going up on his watch. In the real world, our increased oil production is 100% the result of hydraulic fracking in shale which BO has much to do with as I do. Actually less, since he has tried to stop it, regulate it, and has stopped the Keystone pipeline.
If you have been listening a little too credulously to MSM outlets (it is easy to do, we ALL soak in it!), you may need to refresh your memory. Bill Clinton for example DID NOT "balance the budget". A short perusal of the Constitution plus a slight remembrance of the howling as Republicans "cut" (reduced the rate of GROWTH) in Medicare, plus took other "mean, hard hearted and cynical" actions on the budget that overall SLIGHTLY reduced the rate of GROWTH in government spending, PLUS (and most importantly) releasing the productivity of the American people and creating growth in the economy. One of the things I loved about Reagan was that he constantly reminded us that the engine of all good things is economic growth, not government!
The combination of the MSM controlling the story line, and the general poor memory and natural desire to believe the current narrative allows 90% of the population to live in an MSM wonderland where Slick Willie or BO fights valiantly against the evil Republican forces trying to CUT TO THE BONE (reduce the rate of GROWTH) in spending on Medicare, Military benefits, Food Stamps, Head Start for wonderful innocent little children, all because of their inherent evil and the fact that they are beholden to awful profit seeking business!
Then, when nothing bad happens because of the "cuts", "sequester", "shutdown", etc, and the economy starts to show signs of life, who pops up like a Jack-in-the-box saying "I did it, I did it!!" but the President. Naturally, if the president has a "D" next to his name, the media gets all gushy about HIS success!
If it is an "R" however, they have usually already been pushing hard on an economic and tax agenda that the media found "draconian", so when the economy improves, "it just happened" ... which in BOTH cases is more true than not, since the best thing government can generally do is get the hell out of the way!
Both Slick Willie and BO ought to be INCREDIBLY grateful for their Republican Congress. Without it, Slick would never have had what he and the MSM trumpets as his singular achievement -- BJs with pizza in the Oval Office, oh wait, I meant "his" balanced budget!
BO would not have had the impressive feat (for him) of seeing the unemployment number below 7%!! WOW!! (it was under 5% in '07). Of course we are not talking about the labor participation rate that is the worst now that it has been since the '70s!
Don't expect the MSM (or BO) to be applauding the results of the Republicans feeble attempts to slow the rate of growth in the federal spending juggernaut anytime soon.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Florida 2014, Carnival Paradise Cruise
FL 2014 - Photo Stream:
Sitting on our balcony at the Lani Kai in Fort Meyers Beach Florida trying to capture a bit of our 2014 "spring break".
We left Rochester and West Bend last Friday, Feb 14 with Marla's mother Evie along. I had a rough day driving through sketchy road conditions with a Buick with not so good summer tires. We saw a semi and a number of cars and trucks in the ditch or worse, but we made it through to about 70mi N of St Louis where Marla took over on better roads. We made it to Cape Girardeau Missouri. When we got up in the AM it was 16 degrees, and we still saw some snow until about 70 miles N of Memphis.
We stopped in Memphis for some killer BBQ at Tom's ... ribs, brisket, pork, the works. Very solid, featured on DDD. We made it all the way to Tallahassee Sat night and I was glad we didn't have to do the trip down in 2 days. Had a nice seafood meal at Barnacle Bills.
Made the easy run to Tampa Sunday. Had a great PM meal at Bahama Breeze sitting on the deck in 72+ degrees -- third time I've eaten there. Business to Verizon at Temple Terrace, stayed across the road on a previous winter retreat. I love their plantain.
Hopped on the Paradise Monday and had an easy and fun ride to Grand Cayman ... mostly 80s, sunny, just soaking it up. Picked up some Glenrothes scotch for $45 a bottle ... $90+ in Rochester. We ended up getting 4 liters of alcohol on the trip, declared it (along with a cuban cigar), but customs just put the declaration on a spindle and said "Welcome Home". We must not have that smuggler look!
We did a tour of the Mayan ruins in Cozumel with a driver that made Mexico sound like a socialist paradise while we were driving through neighborhoods that reminded me of the Bronx in the early '80s ... they looked like there was a war and Mexico lost. Guess there was. The Socialists won!! He also had an infinite respect for the Mayans -- did his best to make human sacrifice and killing any kids born that were less than perfect as "culturally advanced". Perhaps Hillary will bring him in to head HEW.
Marla then let me retire to the "Owl Sanctuary" (Hooters) since even she was put off by getting accosted by the hawkers at the Mexican restaurants nearby. The girls didn't speak english very well, but they seemed to have sort of a universal communication capability -- plus free wi fi, which for old guys is about as important as anything. Marla stopped by a couple times to dump more items, and when the table collapsed it was time to head for the ship.
Nice run back to Tampa, slow port entry due to fog in the AM, but no big deal since we were not catching a plane. Picked up the rental and headed down here to our Lani Kai.
The hotel is sort of stuck in the 1950s ... not fancy at all, but reasonably clean. 40 yds to the beach on sand that is like talcum powder. The sun can beat on it but your feet don't burn. $2.50 Bloodys from 8 - noon, killer rum runners for $5 during happy hour 4-6. Great wings, shrimp, crab omlet, etc up on the swinging hammock dining deck on the 6th floor. Lots of laid back live and XM oldies rock and Jimmy Buffet ... with a little Chili Peppers, Cheryl Crow, etc thrown in.
Marla is working this week ... and I'm DEFINITELY NOT! One of the benefits of IBM remote work these days.
Three more days in Paradise and then it is back to the reality of sub-zero nights. Oh well, we DO miss the kitties, and no doubt there will be some level of excitement to get back home!
'via Blog this'
Sitting on our balcony at the Lani Kai in Fort Meyers Beach Florida trying to capture a bit of our 2014 "spring break".
We left Rochester and West Bend last Friday, Feb 14 with Marla's mother Evie along. I had a rough day driving through sketchy road conditions with a Buick with not so good summer tires. We saw a semi and a number of cars and trucks in the ditch or worse, but we made it through to about 70mi N of St Louis where Marla took over on better roads. We made it to Cape Girardeau Missouri. When we got up in the AM it was 16 degrees, and we still saw some snow until about 70 miles N of Memphis.
We stopped in Memphis for some killer BBQ at Tom's ... ribs, brisket, pork, the works. Very solid, featured on DDD. We made it all the way to Tallahassee Sat night and I was glad we didn't have to do the trip down in 2 days. Had a nice seafood meal at Barnacle Bills.
Made the easy run to Tampa Sunday. Had a great PM meal at Bahama Breeze sitting on the deck in 72+ degrees -- third time I've eaten there. Business to Verizon at Temple Terrace, stayed across the road on a previous winter retreat. I love their plantain.
Hopped on the Paradise Monday and had an easy and fun ride to Grand Cayman ... mostly 80s, sunny, just soaking it up. Picked up some Glenrothes scotch for $45 a bottle ... $90+ in Rochester. We ended up getting 4 liters of alcohol on the trip, declared it (along with a cuban cigar), but customs just put the declaration on a spindle and said "Welcome Home". We must not have that smuggler look!
We did a tour of the Mayan ruins in Cozumel with a driver that made Mexico sound like a socialist paradise while we were driving through neighborhoods that reminded me of the Bronx in the early '80s ... they looked like there was a war and Mexico lost. Guess there was. The Socialists won!! He also had an infinite respect for the Mayans -- did his best to make human sacrifice and killing any kids born that were less than perfect as "culturally advanced". Perhaps Hillary will bring him in to head HEW.
Marla then let me retire to the "Owl Sanctuary" (Hooters) since even she was put off by getting accosted by the hawkers at the Mexican restaurants nearby. The girls didn't speak english very well, but they seemed to have sort of a universal communication capability -- plus free wi fi, which for old guys is about as important as anything. Marla stopped by a couple times to dump more items, and when the table collapsed it was time to head for the ship.
Nice run back to Tampa, slow port entry due to fog in the AM, but no big deal since we were not catching a plane. Picked up the rental and headed down here to our Lani Kai.
The hotel is sort of stuck in the 1950s ... not fancy at all, but reasonably clean. 40 yds to the beach on sand that is like talcum powder. The sun can beat on it but your feet don't burn. $2.50 Bloodys from 8 - noon, killer rum runners for $5 during happy hour 4-6. Great wings, shrimp, crab omlet, etc up on the swinging hammock dining deck on the 6th floor. Lots of laid back live and XM oldies rock and Jimmy Buffet ... with a little Chili Peppers, Cheryl Crow, etc thrown in.
Marla is working this week ... and I'm DEFINITELY NOT! One of the benefits of IBM remote work these days.
Three more days in Paradise and then it is back to the reality of sub-zero nights. Oh well, we DO miss the kitties, and no doubt there will be some level of excitement to get back home!
'via Blog this'
Ice Age Preview
Stunning Ice-Covered Great Lakes Seen from Space (Photo) | LiveScience:
The picture in the linked article gives a nice visual of one of the reasons why ice over most of the planet is the standard earth climate (it's white), and the last 7-10K years is a somewhat unusual warm period relative to the last 500K and likely last 3.5 million years.
This link gives a bigger picture with the salient image being:
Note that in this NOAA graph:
Certainly my biases are affected by looking at such data in the 70's, when "90% of the scientists" thought were WERE at that point, but it wasn't nearly so politicized.
What we have seen the past couple of years COULD be a harbinger of that slip. The record late spring snow, shivering the last weekend in July with a high failing to reach 60, ice building at both poles, and now cruising toward a record number of below zero nights here in N America with massive snow cover.
The solar cycle is heading down, and it appears that every 100K years it goes especially low. The amount of white in the N hemisphere goes up (as the Great Lakes picture shows) and as that article mentions, that has wider effects -- later spring, cooler summer.
It tends to build on itself, and since our natural climate is NOT "1951-1980", but rather those squiggles you see on the chart between the yellow band anomalies, it is a fairly quick move to cold. We could well be strongly into it in the 30ish years a lucky me would have to still be around.
But I could well be wrong. That chart is just "more data". Even if my theory is correct, we could well be a few thousand years away, since even though the yellow bands are pretty regular, a lot of that ice core data only goes back 500K years, which means THAT yellow band must have been warmer and longer. Data is a cruel thing -- our human perspective and our time perspective in particular is so inappropriate to many aspects of our world, that humility is the primary element of scientific wisdom.
Perhaps "97% of scientists" need a bit of a cool down to recall that overarching fact?
'via Blog this'
The picture in the linked article gives a nice visual of one of the reasons why ice over most of the planet is the standard earth climate (it's white), and the last 7-10K years is a somewhat unusual warm period relative to the last 500K and likely last 3.5 million years.
This link gives a bigger picture with the salient image being:
Note that in this NOAA graph:
- The cyclical nature of solar impact on the N hemisphere is shown. Note what is happening to it now.
- The cyclical nature of one of our best proxies for global temp (antarctic ice cores) shows that about 130K years ago the globe was likely close to where we have been in the last 10K years on the warm side. With like 100K years of relatively cold between, being our "normal climate".
- The chart shows that increase in CO2 in roughly 100K cycles is also normal, so we are appear to be where one would expect the next cold cycle to begin.
Certainly my biases are affected by looking at such data in the 70's, when "90% of the scientists" thought were WERE at that point, but it wasn't nearly so politicized.
What we have seen the past couple of years COULD be a harbinger of that slip. The record late spring snow, shivering the last weekend in July with a high failing to reach 60, ice building at both poles, and now cruising toward a record number of below zero nights here in N America with massive snow cover.
The solar cycle is heading down, and it appears that every 100K years it goes especially low. The amount of white in the N hemisphere goes up (as the Great Lakes picture shows) and as that article mentions, that has wider effects -- later spring, cooler summer.
It tends to build on itself, and since our natural climate is NOT "1951-1980", but rather those squiggles you see on the chart between the yellow band anomalies, it is a fairly quick move to cold. We could well be strongly into it in the 30ish years a lucky me would have to still be around.
But I could well be wrong. That chart is just "more data". Even if my theory is correct, we could well be a few thousand years away, since even though the yellow bands are pretty regular, a lot of that ice core data only goes back 500K years, which means THAT yellow band must have been warmer and longer. Data is a cruel thing -- our human perspective and our time perspective in particular is so inappropriate to many aspects of our world, that humility is the primary element of scientific wisdom.
Perhaps "97% of scientists" need a bit of a cool down to recall that overarching fact?
'via Blog this'
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