US Wage Stagnation, Not Enough Government

The main reason the U.S. economy isn't doing better - CBS News:

In my years at IBM I observed that most all of our problems were caused by a lack of Vice Presidents -- tongue firmly in cheek. Except for Gerstner taking over in '93, most "solutions" at IBM involved minting a bunch more VPs or other high level management positions. Most of history's progress has been accomplished by large committees of black women (just ask Oprah), corporate middle management, or of course, Government. Just ask the right folks, they know it to be true!

CBS News, noted economists, business folks and document creators (W Bush fake National Guard documents) that they are,  is convinced that the problem with US wage growth is:

1. Not enough minimum wage
2. Not enough government 
3. Not enough progressive taxation. 

Certainly since the late '70s we have been horribly short on all of those things.

I'm thinking their crack research division might be able to avail themselves of a Google search, which would quickly show them that in constant 2013 dollars our minimum wage is historically high. Shockingly, the last time it was this high was in the 1970's ... I'm sure there is no correlation that the economy sucked then as well!

I'm not going to bother to go find the charts that show that the top 10% of US income earners are paying record levels of income tax and the percentage spent by the US Federal Government are at all time highs comparable with the 1930's and WWII. Turns out I'm actually correct, but since CBS News doesn't bother to look anything up, why should I?

So why does CBS News think these things are solutions? For the same reasons IBM is always a few short of a load of VPs and 1700's Doctors always felt a little more blood letting would do the trick -- that is what they ALWAYS think! The "solution" is 100% independent of any facts whatsoever.

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Chimps Unequal, Conservatives to Blame!

Why some chimps are smarter than others | Fox News:

One of my overarching theories of why civilizations fail is that "The in crowd", "The class officers", "The guy that gets the girls and the girls the guy wants to get",  take over the asylum.

When the world is recognized to be a dangerous place because of famine, war, disease, death and myriad other items beyond human control, people realize that some portion of "leadership" has to be actually "common get it done sense/smarts", and it can't all be just "looks good, reads from the teleprompter well, says what we want to hear".

The people that understand history (boring), actual hard science (not "whose chimp is smarter" -- hard, often arcane), actual success / failure of various technical and social nostrums (eg. warming, government healthcare, economics, etc) ... are often painful for "the popular and progressive", because what they do is not what "the in crowd" WANTS to be successful. Real common sense folks like Ronald Reagan or hard driving successful CEOs  have a horrible tendency to work themselves out of a job because things go well and the "in crowd" takes credit and takes over to wreck it all again.

The "real common sense doers" are as a group a bit hard to follow, often not as attractive or smooth talking, sometimes intimidating to the pretty folk, frustrating -- "why can't they just get with the view that EVERYONE KNOWS is true!" ... so when they get things working quite well, the more attractive folks step in to work on what they see has the REALLY important stuff -- color of the drapes, everyone "feeling good", "fairness" and the all important "cool factor".

The prettier, smoother talking, more artistic and more social have a natural tendency to be the "media", political leadership, entertainment, arts, and the top of the "in crowd". High School is the pinnacle of an environment where this group flourishes -- "social merit" is the only coin of the realm. Everyone has the same locker so to speak and the maturity level of the mass is "minimal", so natural human tendency reigns supreme. It is much similar to a Democratic Party convention.

Back to the linked article. To those with a minimal practical human brain that could survive for a week in the wilderness or a couple of hours in a seedy bar -- or for that matter even an above average chimp, there is no reason to do such an "experiment" at all. The answer is obvious and known, and what is important is that such knowledge is KNOWN AND INNATE. It is what our founders called "Natural Law". At a basic level, even the "In crowd" knows it -- they just don't like it much, and if given the chance they will make sure that every one plays by their rules rather than the Natural Law.

"Behaviorism" was one such grand experiment -- that told parents it was bad to cuddle babies for example. Note that this disaster held sway for 85 years in the West ... "Global Warming" is far from the first "scientific" disaster to be foisted on the human community by those more adept in the politics of science and academia -- but wrong in the apprehension of reality.

People don't usually talk about animal intelligence, but rather animal learning or cognition. American psychologists John Watson and B.F. Skinner developed the notion of behaviorism in the early 20th century, which said that scientists should study only the behavior of animals, not their mental processes. This was the dominant approach until about 1985.

So our founders developed the Constitution and  created a Republic rather than a Democracy (the Electoral College and having Senators appointed by the State ... we already screwed up the Senate part and are hard at work destroying the electoral college. Let's face it, the "in crowd" doesn't want  guys like Winston Churchill in charge unless they absolutely have to have them!

"Natural Law smart folks" -- the kind that understand that "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom" ... from history long ago figured out that man desperately needed religion, aristocracy, the "ancient regime",  to counteract the tyranny of the masses and ultimately the tyrants. The "in crowd" is just always intent to make sure the masses forget it!

Guys like Hitler, Stalin and Mao are examples of sort of the "Bad Girls" kind of manipulative leader that are ruthless about the rise to power, convert or kill any rivals for the peoples affections, and then make absolutely certain that everyone either loves them or is dead.

So as we continue our US slide to the abyss of tyranny, you can at least be aware of the mechanisms that drive the decline of successful civilizations.

God, Gold, Guns Gardening ... and perhaps a good Bourbon (not everything good starts with G) ... certainly we need to do all we can to warn and even reverse the decline if at all possible, but in general, the best that is likely attainable for those of with the "unpopular beliefs" is to make our seats to observe the fire as comfortable as possible.

As the title says -- when it all falls in, it will be our fault no matter what we do!

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Tear Down This Wall!

In an update of Reagan's prophetic 1987 speech at the Brandenburg Gate, we have our current caricature of an American, BO! Only he thinks the US is the "Evil Empire".

W Cuts In Line At Franklin's, Banned for Life

Obama Cuts In Line At Franklin Barbecue, Makes Up For It By Paying It Forward:

Ex President George W Bush cut in line at the famous Fanklin's BBQ in Austin this past week, then in typical noblesse oblige silver spoon 1%er audacity, thought he would "make it all better" with his stolen from the rest of us bankroll!

National outrage was justifiably extensive at the bumbling plutocrat, and the local Austin eatery has banned the unpopular ex-president, responsible for 9-11, hurricane Katrina, the great recession, income inequality, political deadlock, unrest in the mideast as well as being completely incompetent and unable to achieve anything in office.

St Obama could not be reached for comment, he was golfing.

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We Spy So They Love Us?

Berlin tells CIA station chief to leave in spy scandal | Reuters:

One of the things we were endlessly told when W was in office was that the rest of the world -- not just Arabs, but especially Europe absolutely hated us because of W. The contrast when his worshipfulness BO was coronated was gargantuan -- going to the horror of W to the super-stardom of BO was giddy experience for the press and many of the Sheeple.

So what the hell is BO up to here? It isn't just Germany, there has been Brazil and least and I think a couple of others? I'm a bit mystified -- I don't buy into his stupidity and incompetence as many on the right -- I think he is a legitimately capable anti-colonialist.

So is this "ops research" on the 2nd tier of "great nations"? Perhaps BO has larger plans for bringing a good number of folks down beyond just the US. He DID absolutely declare in his book that HE IS LUO! His identity is as a Kenyan tribesman! Not an American, Harvard grad, Christian, etc -- AFAIK, not even "President". He does seem pretty tired of that job.

He is a smart guy. A plan for the "just rulers of the world", the Luo Tribe of Kenya to take over the planet with BO himself at the head?

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Democrats Spend 3 Trillion to Hold Senate

Democrats Face a Tough Fight to Hold the Senate - NYTimes.com:

NYTs  is giving column space here to rally the faithful. What kind of spending does that count as? Here is how the column concludes:

But Democrats can’t lean on a single demographic. The corporatists, oligarchs and plutocrats are working in concert. Liberals must marshal all their constituent groups to do the same. Everyone must vote.

Why DOES "The Party" (Democrat) even need ANY contributions when the national "paper of record" (completely unbiased, TOTALLY unlike evil "biased" outlets like "Fox") is providing column space for 100% TP voter encouragement with a little negative advertising against the Rs thrown in at no charge ???

The article is loaded with the usual harsh warnings of those demons the Koch Brothers! But how exactly WOULD one total up CNN, NBC, CBS, NPR, NYT, WaPO, Salon and the vast majority of "news" outlets in the country save for Fox and talk radio?

How about the vote buying power of all the "free stuff" from public assistance, BOcare, Medicare, housing aid, education aid plus untold social programs and "grants" available if you "qualify"?

How about the entire education system of the US? Grade school through college and post graduate dedicated to convincing the impressionable young that ever larger government is the key to a "better life" (all be it a much more dependent one)!

Add to this millions of federal and state workers in AFSCME plus the still very significant number of non-public union members that are adjunct financial and foot soldier contributors to TP???

Our budget is nearing 4 Trillion, of which fulling 75% is transferring money from the pockets of the "makers" to the "takers" -- say 3 Trillion. Assume that isn't ALL buying votes, but calculate in the value of the entire MSM shilling for TP, the education system and all the government and union workers!

Three Trillion is not a horrible estimate -- but hey, maybe it is half that. Compare that with:

Lauren Windsor reported last month in The Nation that Charles and David Koch held their annual summer seminar for “a gang of the world’s richest people,” and, according to a source who attended the conference, “the explicit goal was to raise $500 million to take the Senate in the 2014 midterms and another $500 million ‘to make sure Hillary Clinton is never president.’”

Let's assume that the Kochs and their "gang" meet their goals of $500 MILLION ... there are definitely 100s of BILLIONS being spent to hold TP in power!

Our nations entire GDP is in the $16T neighborhood per year ... of which 1/4th is being spent by the FEDERAL government! Add in state and local government and we are talking 40%+ being spent by government!! We have found the "oligarchs and plutocrats" and they are heavily concentrated in Washington DC!



Not to mention their propaganda arm of which the linked article is a great example.

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One Party Fixes Nixon

Opinion: How Nixon's scandal still hurts America - CNN.com:

The reason that Americans don't trust government is Nixon!

 Other government scandals of MUCH larger import (Teapot Dome under FDR comes to mind) don't count.  The salient fact of Watergate was that a REPUBLICAN president was turned out of office. America took a large step in the right direction, but then, somehow, we lost "the lesson" which was SUPPOSED to be learned. REPUBLICANS CAN'T BE TRUSTED!!!

  A "cover-up"? Well, that isn't even remotely wrong if it is done by a Democrat -- the Watergate break-in was about ANTI-Democrat politics. One of the worst crimes (THE worst?) that can be committed! Oh sure, Nixon was attempting to "use the IRS to attack his political enemies" -- and that too was REALLY BAD. His "political enemies" were the good people of the left, not REAL enemies like the Tea Party or people that believe in marriage between a man and woman!

"Iran Contra" was a scandal that hung on from '87-'92 when HW Bush lost. There were indictments 2 weeks before the election -- but there was no problem at all with THAT scandal if you worked for CNN. I suppose if they had managed to get something on Reagan or HW to get them out of office that would have been another of "the right kind of scandal" -- that shows REPUBLICANS can't be trusted?

See, using the IRS for political purposes and losing all the evidence if you are a DEMOCRAT ought to be completely ignored. CNN will help you with that. How do we "fix" this problem?

To really banish the memories of Watergate and set the government on a better course, reforming politics is the most important solution.
Improving our campaign finance system by curbing the influence of private money and imposing stronger restrictions on lobbying, such as the revolving door between the government and lobbying groups, is an essential first start.
Until we take those kinds of steps, voters will always be seeing the shadow of Richard Nixon when they look at their elected leaders.

Got that? Get "private money" (read, "other side money") out of politics, and make sure that nobody can go back into business or "lobby" for business after being in government!

I suppose that he didn't just want to come out and say what he REALLY wants. One party rule! Why, there certainly would be no "Watergate" if there were only one party! In fact, there would be no "scandal" at all! End of story, goal achieved!

Who could argue with that? Well, usually shortly after one party, NOBODY -- at least nobody that isn't in jail or worse!


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Choosing our Way, Schadenfreude for Satan

Who Do We Think We Are? - NYTimes.com:

This column from terminal lefty Maureen Dowd might just as well be recycled from '78 - '80. Back then it would be Nixon that was to blame for destroying "Camelot", the "hope of the '60s", McGovern and the "If we can put a man on the moon, we ought to be able to ...." can-do American spirit. "The devils" beyond lefty Lucifer himself -- Nixon, were "Arab Oil Sheiks", "Japan" and of course Wall Street / Big Business.

There is a certain resonance that really goes back to the '30s, the first time the "progressives" solidly ran aground on the awful spectre of reality. "Big Business" as a constant villain. Ever more leviathan government is the saviour knight in shining armor -- tilting with billions, then trillions of dollars at every potential ill windmill. "Education" of an unknown and unspecifiable sort, but probably technocratic, "150 zillion easy steps" to a better whatsit or thingamajig of social, psychological, electronic, computerized brave new world sure to break us from this "malaise / depression / fear / identify crisis", etc.

"Progressives" live on "progress" -- to a "better world". One that is "fair", "sustainable", "just" -- but if you look a little deeper than the technical manuals of their progroms, nostrums, devices, etc, the "why", the "meaning", the "there / there" -- "at what cost", etc is sadly, awfully, terminally missing.

They have their "Great Men" ... FDR, BO ... even Jimmuh when elected was "plain spoken, caring, a man of virtue". When you have the media, you get such a good opening. FDR was saved by WWII, had it not happened it seems all but certain that the "New Deal" would have been fully seen through and dumped harder than Jimmuh was, but such was not the path that events dictated -- so the snake oil got a reprieve.

A reprieve -- but reality is a persistent thing. Like the Grim Reaper, it is never far away from the door.

I was only slightly surprised by this little nugget -- showing my all too human susceptibility to piper of the MSM juggernaut. The month after BO was inaugurated didn't make the list? But if one listened to the news it was as if the almighty himself had deigned to lead our wondrous nation, the Nobel Peace Prize winning "Citizen of the World" himself.

Andrew Kohut, who has polled for Gallup and the Pew Research Center for over four decades, calls the mood “chronic disillusionment.” He said that in this century we have had only three brief moments when a majority of Americans said they were satisfied with the way things were going: the month W took office, right after the 9/11 attacks, and the month we invaded Iraq.

But no, we were unified only after the evil W's inauguration, pulling together for a brief instant after 9-11, and on the invasion of Iraq (proof that Democracy is a bad idea?). 

"Progressives" can't believe that one would want to  "turn back the clock" ... to Ike, to Reagan. Why, that would be going back to "the old" -- which is INHERENTLY bad.  Things like hard work, equality of OPPORTUNITY rather than outcome, actual tolerance of other ideas and opinions, and yes, the most horrible of all,  foundational ideas like "the fear of God being the beginning of WISDOM", rather than the hubris that generates certain horror, "man as the measure of all things". 

The idea that the universe, and as part of that universe, human civilization, is based on completely solid truths, so easy to discern that they are in fact "self evident", written in our very hearts as Natural Law remains a truth simply impossible to believe for Lucifer and his minions of the left.

Oh, how "judgemental" and oh so "closed minded" those of the left will say. "Did he really say that you could not eat of any tree in the garden?". "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

I understand that "mammon" is now often translated as "money" which I find to be a VERY bad translation of "that which is counted". I would say that "this world" would be a better translation, and "man" a close runner up. "Money" lets us off the hook too easy -- just point to someone wealthier than you and those wonderful feelings "I'm OK" come flowing in.

"Judgement" doesn't come from me -- it comes from the same place that Natural Law that the left is so loathe to notice, even though it is written plainly on their very souls. They KNOW what the problem is, but they absolutely refuse to see it -- they do however still smell the inevitable stench of the rot. Even Maureen Dowd can't fully shut out reality!

Yes Maureen, reality is still reality, God is still God, and America has turned to "the other side" -- YOUR SIDE, yet again with the inevitable results which you now smell. Like the Israelites in the Bible, we have seen directly the blessings of God over and over, yet we persist in choosing our "own way". 

Satan cackles with special schadenfreude  at our stupid sense of "freedom" in choosing his way!

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Barbara, David, Monica, Crime

Barbara Walters, David Letterman have a fascinating conversation about Monica Lewinsky:

It is touching to see that Letterman has a little very late guilt about hammering away on a 21yr old woman taken advantage of at the workplace by a very powerful man. Maybe the "most powerful" --- he walked the halls of power with his pants around his knees. It is quite touching, 15 years or so after the fact to see this "sudden" soul searching.

We live in a nation where "harassment" or "racism" or "homophobia" or "bullying"  can easily destroy careers and even lives IF YOU ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE! If you are Slick Willie or others that "have their hearts in the right place", you skate.

These new "crimes" often leave no marks and require no "evidence" beyond the sworn feelings of the "victim".  "He called me a *****". "He touched me". "He made a remark about ****** and I was "offended / shocked / embarrassed / ?????". "I felt bullied". The "crimes have a few wonderful characteristics that "The Party" (Democrat) loves -- expect that there will be more of them.

• They are 100% in the eye of the beholder. Is Aunt Jemimah racially offensive? Sure could be -- but the products are still on the market. Is a Hooters shirt sexual harassment? Sure could be, but we do know that Owl Preserves still exist. The list is endless -- the "crimes" make a complete mockery of any semblance of "equal protection". The N-word being a great example -- well, what color was the person that said it? What political party? As when Bob Dole was asked "Boxers or briefs"? ... "Depends". 
• "Enforcement" is 100% optional -- Slick Willie is a great example, but there are thousands s of others every day. A  black man in good standing with TP making an awkward advance on a white woman? Certainly nothing to be done about that. A homosexual making an even more over the line on a heterosexual -- maybe even one far younger? Nothing required there! 
• All the "bad people" are guilty, and none of the "good" (see previous).  Mitt Romney was accused of "being a bully in HS". Herman Cain's campaign was destroyed by evidence of previous philandering -- had he been on the side of TP, it is quite likely that even the old accusations would never have been made/tallied,  but clearly they would have all been "old news, no story here" in a TP political setting. 
• They train the masses. Monica is a great example of "getting it wrong". Sure, as a woman you have the right to declare "harassment" AGAINST THE PROPER GROUPS!!! Clearly, the leader of TP is NOT the right group! Be silent, clean your dress and get on with your life. There are obvious targets that you need never have even been alone with that sexual harassment is a slam dunk! White or ESPECIALLY Black (the left has a word for this) Christian Republican heterosexual males are totally open season -- we know they are hypocrites, we know they are guilty -- all that is needed is an accuser! The left can barely contain it's disgust at the idea of a Black Republican -- who knows what sexual perversions go along with such unnatural political affiliation! 

The thought control involved in these sorts of "crimes" are as close as it comes to "core values" from the left. Hand a loaded weapon to be used against "oppressors" to the masses and show them how to use it. PLUS, it engenders the kind of combination  victim=entitlement=empowered  thinking that encourages people toward exactly the attitude that breeds tyrants. Personally, anything short of complete happiness and ease in your life means that you are a VICTIM! Joy of joys, that means that you are ENTITLED and even EMPOWERED to strike back against those that are "oppressing" you, or if you are not so bold, at least cheer on and revel in the "success" of other "victims" as they bring down the "oppressors".


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The Divine Right of Administrators

Is administrative law unlawful? A word from the author | Power Line:

A nice synopsis of a book that I would like to read.

An even briefer summary:

1. Much of our lives today are ruled by "Administrative Law" -- all the permits, paperwork, etc that accretes around government is one example. 
2. Administrative Law is in no way "modern or new", it is OLD and nasty, it has been used forever by rulers to gain as much power as possible. 
3. It is EXPLICITLY Unconstitutional 
4. It grows like a weed because any administrative organization becomes rent-seeking and wants to perpetuate and expand it's power. 

Well worth the read through the column if not the book.

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Hobby Lobby Crosshairs

Hobby Lobby ruling puts Green family in crosshairs - San Jose Mercury News:

http://gawker.com/5728545/shot-congresswoman-was-in-sarah-palins-crosshairs

When congresswoman Gabby Giffords was a the victim of a crazed shooter in Tuscon a few years back, the MSM initially went bererk on "The violent Tea Party rhetoric", of which exhibit A was "Sarah Palin's crosshairs".

Naturally, the reserved and civil left, noted for restraint and always non-violent is treating the HL decision with their usual even handedness by suggesting that Hobby Lobby stores should be burned down,

"Progressivism" deems itself to be the Robin Hood of "justice". "Take from the needy and give to the greedy" or maybe it is vice-versa, at least when it starts. Does that only work in a financial sense?

If a woman works at HL and doesn't like the ruling, she may:

• Work elsewhere
• Pay for her own do-over pill 
• Maybe even ask the involved male to help? 
• Go to a family planning clinic like Planned Parenthood and get it for at least close to nothing
• Potentially use birth control in advance? 
• Abstain ... oh, I ought to shoot myself! This is like asking an alcoholic to abstain, or someone that doesn't like to exercise to exercise, or a smoker to stop smoking ... we NEVER do that, it requires WAY too much self control. NOT POSSIBLE! 

Where HL could either comply or go out of business.

How about a "progressivism" that says that those with the most options ought to be willing to give up one or two rather than forcing those with less options to give up their last one?

I'm guessing that "progressives" are sure that "leveling bit" only applies to money.

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Charter, Linksys, IP, Nefarious Plot?

Is Charter Telling Customers Their Router Is Broken Just To Rent Them One? – Consumerist:

We have been having a lot of storms, so a couple power outages resulted. After one of them I had to do a router re-boot. Not THAT unusual, maybe "monthly" -- programs have memory leaks, intermittent wild pointers, loops, that sort of thing. I never did of course, but I know other programmers are not perfect ;-)

So yesterday PM, the internet is down, couple re-boots, nothing, figure "sleep on it, it often fixes itself overnight" ... which it does, probably Charter net resets or something cure the problem.

No dice this AM, so I get more serious. Hard reset the cable modem ( 30 sec reset button down, pull the power for 30 sec), take the  router off and plug in a PC. No dice, so do ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew from a DOS prompt. Wala ... back in action! Whew!

So I unplug the PC, confidently plug the router back in and ... and .... nada, go to router admin status, no IPV4 WAN connection ... for some reason, the modem is not giving my router an address. Fiddlesticks! Couple more re-boots, no joy.

So I hook up a cell phone based tether connection and find the linked note among a number of different forums with ticked people. AND, I find the following solution.

DISCONNECT THE CABLE FROM THE MODEM, then do disconnect the power, wait "45 seconds" (it varied, I gave it 5 min, what the hell, I'm retired). Power off the modem and the router, disconnect router from modem.

Then:

• reconnect the cable to the cable modem
• reconnect the power to the modem
• reconnect the power to the router
• make sure all the internet connect lights on the modem are up
• connect the cable modem to the router

WALA! It worked ...

I'm not ready to jump to the nefarious conclusion of Charter plot YET.

It may be that they changed some policy on "one MAC address ONLY" ... or inserted more MAC address checks in some code somewhere so that I just "got lucky" with the PC I used. There is also the factor that I ALWAYS use that PC when I need to do this, the last time having been like 6months or more ago, so that was the MAC they had stored when they went to "one MAC only" or just stated actually checking something they long planned on.

Anyway, I'm like "95% certain" that something changed on the Charter network, based on both my experience and the posts, so others MAY be going to experience the same thing if/when you change a router, or potentially just "out of the blue". Again, this is assuming that it is NOT a nefarious plot.

If it IS actually a plot ... or just a weird MAC corruption / checking issue at Charter, then I'm likely to have this problem again and I will set my router to the MAC address of my favorite troubleshooting computer using the MAC address clone feature of the router and will re-report. I'm pretty doubtful that it is a plot -- "never postulate malfeasance when standard incompetence can explain the situation".

It seems unlikely to me that the MAC address solution could fix it if it is anything other than a plot directed against MAC address ranges used by router manufacturers though. If I'm forced to do the cable out reset again and go to a PC MAC and have no problems that seems pretty damning relative to Charter.

A weak point in my mind is that I have no idea why the cable disconnect should work. Hardware out at the post where my cable runs to that detects an "open cable" and then does something? I'm pretty sure it is the modem that hands out the IP to my router, not something higher in Charters network, but I may of course be wrong. Maybe they did some sort of upgrade to prevent some sort of piracy of their internet connect service?

Well, it is working now ... that is all the thought I'm giving it unless it craps out again.

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W Iraq, '07, Don't Expect a Repeat

Voices: Why Awakening II won't save Iraq this time:



Good little column to read and remember when the next big terrorist attack hits. W was far from the perfect President, but he was and is PRO AMERICAN and did his best for what he saw as the best path to safety for our nation, and even the best path that could be obtained for the Iraqi people after escaping a brutal dictator.

Except it really was never about money. It is almost inconceivable Awakening II could get off the ground without Americans there to nurture it. This was not something that was cooked up in Washington, or even Baghdad.
In September 2007, Sattar got a chance to savor his victory. He was invited to meet President George W. Bush when the president visited Anbar province to talk to those who had help turn the province around.

By the fall of '07, The Party (Democrat) and it's media propaganda wing had destroyed the W Presidency using the twin levers of Katrina and Iraq. W however was determined to see Iraq through, so he was willing to listen to options that could make that happen. This was the time that HillBilly was talking about "General BETRAYus" and Harry Reid was saying we had "lost in Iraq". W had been shellacked in the previous years elections and his power to do anything constructive outside of military was close to nil. The nation was already effectively under TP Rule, but the budget for '07 was W's ... the deficit that year would be $165B, then the roof would cave in and America would enter it's existential BO crisis, which we are still suffering. 



Even Jimmuh Carter bowed to reality after inflation went through the roof,  the USSR went into Afghanistan, Iran took the hostages and the ill-conceived  "Jimmy Carter Desert Classic" left our hapless rescue team burning in the desert. The roof largely fell in during '79 and '80, and we were blessed from above with Reagan to restore America. We still had an electorate that was much more Makers than Takers, and they spoke loudly. 



We are now a nation where the outcry of the left after the SCOTUS rules that Christian businesses can't be forced to fund drug induced abortions of our unborn is deafening. "Gay marriage" is a major concern as it was during the death of the Roman Empire. "Income Inequality" is a big issue as the economy shrinks, less and less Americans work, while food and energy prices skyrocket. TP media and the population focuses on some guy that apparently purposely killed his child by leaving her locked in a car, various celebrity meltdowns and of course the latest branding of "Global Warming / Climate Change / Climate Disruption". 



We are more than "lost". By and large the populace is completely clueless and there isn't even a national leader visible with any suggestion of a vision forward. 



God, responsibility, hard work, sacrifice, rewards for success, acceptance that failures and yes, even "wasted effort" is part of growth and forward progress. Celebration of liberty that means "inequality of result", but the only small hope of a return to anything like the America that we were just throwing away seven short years ago. 



People, companies, sports teams, churches, and yes, even nations have a strong propensity to lose their way, often due to the very success they once worked so hard to achieve. It IS possible for them to see their errors and turn around, but right now it is very very hard to see that spirit coming to the fore in America. 



It is a great time to pray for America. 





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Pond Depression

Secrets of the Creative Brain - The Atlantic:

As of today it is two full weeks since my last productive day working on the pond. I've got in some very minor tweaking a few days, but no major progress. Thankfully last Saturday WAS a very nice day, but we are at Mindy's Miles in IA, a much better use of time.

Rain has been a constant companion -- the garden is muddy, the lawn is long, and sitting out on the deck watching my salmon smoke a bit is steamy. The prediction is that this rain pattern will end tomorrow with a high of 67 and I have my fingers and toes crossed! I'm very very sick of humid, cloudy, rainy weather!

The linked article on creativity is quite interesting to me relative to how the brain works. I'm certainly not in the "high creativity class", but there are aspects in there that still strike a nerve (or neuron)-- having thought about and visualized the pond / stream setup for years and now being mired in the real world mess phase of DOING with the constant rain, I was especially struck by:

In the R&D business, we kind of lump people into two categories: inventors and engineers. The inventor is the kite kind of person. They have a zillion ideas and they come up with great first prototypes. But generally an inventor … is not a tidy person. He sees the big picture and … [is] constantly lashing something together that doesn’t really work. And then the engineers are the strings, the craftsmen [who pick out a good idea] and make it really practical. So, one is about a good idea, the other is about … making it practical.

It is a range of course, but I am not a "tidy person" and I certainly have my share of "jury rigged" and "half baked" projects and ideas.

I was completely unaware of The Writers Workshop at University of IA and especially the relationship with Kurt Vonnegut! The article also covers the sad relationship between creativity and depression, bi-polar, substance abuse, etc ... the "demons" behind the "daemon" that are all too well known in the world of creativity.

Little bit on the academic side, but I enjoyed it.

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Science Surprise! Disruption?

Today’s Climate Embarrassment [With Comments and Video By John] | Power Line:

I predict the 2nd rebranding of "Global Warming", now from "Climate Change" to "Climate Disruption" is going to get a lot more prevalent. Let's watch the relatively near future to see how well my prediction does.

Here are some predictions that a group of august scientists was able to make last year after a five year study!

A five-year study presented in April 2013 concluding that water levels in the lakes were likely to drop even further, in part because of  the lack of precipitation in recent years brought on by climate change

As the predicted warming has stopped for the last 20 years, the climate industry was forced to re-brand from "Warming" to "Change" -- so when areas that formerly had a certain amount of rain had less, well that was PROOF of Climate Change no matter what the temp did. So the dropping of the Great Lakes levels was seized upon as a particularly useful datum for presentation to the slower brained masses that were not completely convinced of the urgency of "warming" by Al Gore jetting about and making a couple 100 million dollars.

But after reaching historic lows in 2013, water levels in the Great Lakes are now abruptly on the rise, a development that has startled scientists and thrilled just about everybody with a stake in the waterfront, including owners of beach houses, retailers in tourist areas and dockmasters who run marinas on the lakeshore.
Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior are at least a foot higher than they were a year ago, and are expected to rise three more inches over the next month. Lake Ontario and Lake Erie are seven to nine inches higher than a year ago.

As PL remarks, perhaps it is not the scientists that were "startled", but rather the NYTs, but for the rationally oriented, the fact of a five year study resulting in predictions that were invalidated in a single year gives a very strong indicator that the predictive abilities of the "science" used in the 5 year study is shall we say "severely limited".

Yogi Berra was famously quoted as "Predictions are hard to make, especially about the future". He seems to be far wiser than modern "scientists" or "elite journalists". If your "science" fails to make correct predictions, it is WRONG, as Feynman made so clear:

If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong. In that simple statement, is the key to science. It doesn’t make any difference how beautiful your guess is, It doesn’t make any difference how smart you are, who made the guess, or what his name is. If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong. That’s all there is to it.”

It doesn't make any difference if you are a former or current Vice President or President of the US. It doesn't matter how much money has been invested in your "experiment/prediction". It doesn't even matter what percentage of some population -- educated, insightful or otherwise were "polled" and agreed with you. 

Science is about correct predictions. It can be "settled" that it is wrong, it can NEVER be "settled" that it is right, since the next test could falsify the theory, and it is adherence to that rule which defines science relative to politics, religion, philosophy, art, etc. 
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