Tuesday, July 04, 2017

The Socialist Precariat



Not a particularly good article, but I like it's introduction of the "precariat" -- part time conditional workers.

I grew up on a dairy farm where there were plenty of security concerns. My father tended to talk about the security of "union jobs" as the gold standard, however IBM in '78 was a place that seemed VERY secure to me and one didn't even have to put up with a union -- the idea of "seniority"  vs pay for performance was always one of the things I hated most about the unions.

The fact is that even our next breath is ALWAYS precarious and not in our control. While we are all masters of rationalization, ANY idea of "security" outside of God is and always has been a fools errand. For tens of thousands of years, it was understood that the family, the church,  and the immediate community were the closest thing possible to "security" in this life.

This of course does not fit well with state power and control. The state always seeks to become "god" -- either via a state religion, or by making the godless state to BE the religion as in BOistan. Today we have a criminal state over $20 trillion in debt with $130 trillion of unfunded liabilities on top of it that prints vast sums of money and tells us "there is no inflation". Sure, fake news and climate change are near gospel compared to that crock.

Never the less, for youth that have never experienced even the 20% stagflation of the late '70s, or even heard much first hand description of the last depression, the government "seems secure"? Why not just have the government guarentee us "everything" ... food, shelter, clothing, medical care, education ... possibly even enough guaranteed income for a little entertainment. Then we will all be "set with no worries" -- simple.

Here is the introduction to the "precariat".

"The “Bernie Bros” who made Sanders such a sudden and unlikely political force in 2016 were disproportionately young white voters who swelled the ranks of the precariat -- part-time, conditional workers. The numbers of such people is destined to grow with the emerging “gig economy” and the digitization of retail, which could cost millions of working-class jobs. Even university lecturers in Britain, notes the Guardian, fear that their jobs will be “Uber-ised,” a phenomena also seen at American universities. 
For most Americans, the once promising “New Economy” has meant a descent, as one MIT economist recently put it, towards a precarious position usually associated with Third World countries. Even Silicon Valley has gone from one of the most egalitarian locales in the country to a highly unequal place where the working and middle class have, if anything, done worse (in terms of income) than before the tech boom."


The idea that the government can't fail is just one more of those wishful human dreams -- and so we are in a government bubble, and naturally, as in all bubbles, the biggest answer is MORE MORE MORE! (government in this case, however it could be stocks, tulip bulbs, houses, land, gold claims, etc ... bubbles are as much a part of human nature as the illusion we are "in control")

Government intervention has already drastically slowed the economy, raised the prices of everything  (especially medical car), reduced the value of work, and come close to destroying the family, the church and the community. So it makes perfect sense that until the bubble bursts, more government is the obvious answer to EVERY problem!

'via Blog this'

Monday, July 03, 2017

Billy Moyers Left Hand Clapping

The sort of sanctimony that Moyers exhudes is very special ... it reminds me of Garrison Keillor, or the most extreme of the sanctimonious in my far fundamental Baptist youth. Certainly the Scribes and the Pharisees had nothing on Billy M. It is **ALL** the fault of "the other side" ... in his view "the right". The following is a great summary paragraph of the view:

"This unenlightened, know-it-all mindset, completely impervious to conflicting facts and theories, is just not the stuff of rationality, progress and constitutional democracy. It is, rather, the stuff of superstition, cults and fascism. Fortunately, the brainwashed right constitute a minority — only 35 to 40 percent — of the American population. This is why Republicans have to cheat to win local, state and national elections. Because they can’t be honest about their self-serving, oligarchical motives, they have to resort instead to the most ruthless, unscrupulous, anti-democratic tactics: voter suppression (including voter purges), unconstitutional gerrymandering and dissemination of fake news."
Simmering just below his righteous angry surface is the horror that people believe in GOD! The genesis of "superstition, cults and fascism". "Only" 35 - 40% of our population has been "brainwashed" -- Moyers has to feel pretty good about THAT!

Billy obviously really hates Newt ... and Trump, and Reagan, and God, and well ... it's a long list. When one is completely rational, it rather strangely seems that hate and anger smoulder to the top. How strange.

No question that Moyers is WELL past his expiration date -- he used to be semi-known, but these days is more of your crank in the wilderness vs your crank on Public Television (ok, that is the widerness too, but he is deeper in the wilderness now). How the unhinged have fallen.

The level of smug "certainty" on the left is always trotted out so proudly -- and then, at the first hint of an actual discussion, they melt like the Wicked Witch into a steaming puddle of anger forced to be contained because their emotions have overcome them, they can not longer talk, and realize that any attempt at the violence seething out of them would only result in them getting their ass kicked.

I suppose it is some consolation that they can slink off to stew in their bile completely certain that it is "someone elses fault". There is always that. (see Hillary)

'via Blog this'

The Left Notices the Farther Left


When you are the dominant political strain, you tend to spend the bulk of your time focused on those evil unwashed masses that hail from "the right" ... that strange set of morons that believe in God, freedom, families, hard work, personal responsibility, and trash like that. As William Buckly used to say of NPR, they were even handed -- they tended to cover both the left and the far left views with great detail.

Given US propoganda since 1950, it continues to mystify our media, educational institutions, entertainment industry and the vast state and federal bureaucracy that there STILL exist people out there in Red State flyover country that are not "of the body", better known as "The Party", TP-D. Why, it is almost like there is actually a God, and that people somewhere live in a reality with actual work and some divine grace bringing forth crops and energy to keep the lefties alive!

This article is a bit different -- it takes notice of the fact that there is a leftward fever swamp, and has been for a very long time. MoveOn.org, Daily Kos, Huffpo, Slate, etc. How odd for them to be bringing this up post Dan Rather letting the Fake News cat completely put of the bag back in '04, and just in the last couple of weeks, CNN giving 3 "star journalists" the heave ho over shall we say "imaginative reporting" on Trump / Russia.

The HuffPo was nice enough to take down the following ...
Just this month, editors were forced to delete a contributor post that began, “Impeachment and removal from office are only the first steps; for America to be redeemed, Donald Trump must be prosecuted for treason and — if convicted in a court of law — executed.”
Come on folks, we have seen the severed head, we certainly know that the left has wanted those that think differently executed since the French Revolution! Are we to think this is "new"?

It is WAY too long, and WAY too much navel gazing ... I got a good chuckle out of this:
Before we go on, let me try to quiet the cries of “False equivalence!” before they begin: No, these personalities and publications do not yet wield the same influence in the Democratic Party that their counterparts do in the GOP. But ignoring them would be a mistake.
Yes, those Democrats are might selective on their news sources -- I know they never stooped to Dan Rather in the past or CNN more recently. The big left wing fiction is that the NY Times is anything "better"  that the left wing poltical believer version of "AM Coast to Coast!"

The tinfoil hat on a pink background WAS a very nice touch for the lead though -- gotta give them credit for that degree of self awareness!

'via Blog this'

Christie Pics Show CNN Has Stopped Caring



Can it be any more obvious? This is the HEADLINE on the news today. Does ANYONE nationally, certainly not anyone that is not a hyperpartisn lefty really care if the Governor of New Jersy is overweight and wants to sit on a beach the weekend before the 4th? How many things are regularly closed down so the president can tavel or attend?  Happens all the time -- who cares. Even being governor has it's occasional perks, though obviously not enough to get any privacy.

Is it possible that the Fake News Network has lost it's sense of caring to such a degree that they fail to see the self reference here? I assume they realize that Cristie is not the only one beyond caring.

It is easy to find examples of beaches closing for BO ... But naturallly BO was a great guy, so no meme there!

Sunday, July 02, 2017

The State Taketh Life, Liberty and Happiness

Charlie Gard Court-Ordered Killing Defies Parents’ Wishes | National Review:



The state can't give life, it can only take it away -- however, it KNOWS when it is best for you to die. The more power you give it, the more  of EVERYTHING it takes from you -- until there is no freedom,  no happiness, and no life save a state sancioned simulcrum of bureaucratically approved existence.



Orwell understood all of this in 1950.



'via Blog this'

Ye Shall Judge Them By How They Vote

A Muslim Comes to Rural Minnesota | Power Line:



A good article of how a Muslim Dr comes to a small MN town with family and everyone is wonderful. Small town votes for Trump, Dr is outraged, everyone is still wonderful.` Dr and WaPo however know that  only racist bigoted idiots vote for Trump -- so clearly, the goodness before and after is all an act.



In an Islamic or National / Democratic Socialist state, we would not have this problem -- no need to vote. Allah be praised.,



"Morality" on the left is simple -- you vote for "The Party" (TP-D), you are moral. You don't vote for TP? You are as they say "deploreable".



Simple.



'via Blog this'

The Mouse Theory Of Moose Hearing Aid Loss

Some of you are aware that a week ago this past Friday, I was CERTAIN that I had took my two hearing aids out before going to bed at our Iowa cabin, and put them on our counter having forgotten  my little case back in Rochester, but being unconcerned since it was only my wife and I at the cabin with no pets.

In the AM, they were BOTH gone! For those of you with hearing aids, you realize this was an over $4k loss, so the relatively easy to search cabin was TORN APART with no result. Naturally, my recollection of having put the devices on the counter was universally questioned by all including me. When did I REALLY have them on last? Do I sleepwalk? Was I drinking? Do I commonly misplace and misrecollect like this?

Even though I had 100% clear recollection of almost going to bed, realizing the hearing aids were still in my ears, and then putting them next to my charging cell phone on the counter, the fact of their abscence in the AM was MUCH more clear!

Within the first couple of hours, the "mouse theory" developed, but was discounted given the questions of BOTH of them? Seriously? I'm NOT a statistician, but I'm pretty sure you can't calculate the probability of a given mouse taking a given hearing aid -- it is a "unique event". I'm also pretty sure that if said mouse takes one hearing aid, the odds of them taking the second are VASTLY higher.

I present the following evidence obtained from under the dishwasher at the cabin.




My contention is that moose senility may or may not be setting in, but this particular incident is not evidence for such a case.

For anyone else who has hearing aids or other small items show up "impossibly missing from where you put them", I would further submit that the mouse theory ought not be discounted out of hand! Especially among those of us "around 60", the loss of self confidence might even be worse than the loss of the money. I must say, I'm not nearly as worried about the other one turning up, nor if they can/will fix this one than I was of WHERE THE HELL DID I REALLY PUT THEM!

I certainly preach the value of humility -- can anyone be sure of anything in this world? I also now have a personal lesson in the terrible feeling of near total loss of confidence in oneself in at least one instance. Having some confidence in our recollections is definitely a blessing not to be squandered lightly!

** UPDATE ** 2nd hearing aid was discovered on TOP of dishwasher when it was finally pulled out.



Friday, June 30, 2017

A Worthy Ammo Grrrll, Voter Fraud

Thoughts from the ammo line | Power Line:

"Ammo Grrrl" is a weekly feature on Power Line ... this weeks is worth reading as she talks of a foolish college age foray into S Chicago as a "Poll Watcher"  ... it is informational and entertaining, just read it.

She mentions a study on 5.7 million illegals voting in 2008, here is the article on it if you are interested.

Very hard to even imagine "facts" on this topic -- it is like estimating how many rats you have around if you see one running. According to Pew Research, there are like 11 million illegals in the US as of 2015. Also according to Pew, 56% of eligible voters vote in the US. So illegals would be a little less likely to vote. I suppose that it would also mean that ACTUAL legal US voters are even less likely to vote, because like 5 or 6 million of those supposed "voters" are actually illegal votes.

It sounds like over 20 states have already indicated that they refuse to send data in for the federal investigation of voter fraud ... if one used the same logic used by the media every time Trump refuses to show some information; "if he doesn't want to share it, he must be guilty", then I guess that would be "proof" of some guilty states.

My view is that without picture voter ID, there is no way at all to even begin to imagine the level of fraud. The US is one of the few developed countries not requiring voter ID -- both Canada and Mexico do. This "Poltifact" is a rather funny demonstration of how left these "fact checkers" really are. If "Politifact" claims that BO is only "half right", it means that he is lying through his teeth as usual.

The fact that Democrats fight voter ID tells me all I need to know about voter fraud -- it is massive and VERY important to Democrats!

Southern Poverty Hate Center


For regular listeners of Public Radio, "The Souther Poverty Law Center" (SPLC) is a purveyor of holy writ on "hate groups". As the article covers, The Family Research Council, a prominent Christian non-profit has been labled a hate group since 2010 because they have failed to cheer for gay "marriage" and 57 fluid genders. There are a lot of prominent racists and nazis in this country according to the SPLC. For example:

The SPLC has included Senator Rand Paul and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson among the neo-Nazis and white supremacists on its extremists lists
The hate label is a powerful weapon used by the left, and the SPLC is pretty much supreme court of handing out the hate label. "Thou must be suitibly "progressive" or thou shall be branded with a scarlet H and cast into outer darkness".

Good column ... founded by a direct marketer, 250 staffers, big fancy building, $200 million endowment ... being "moral" pays well on the left. Naturally the group is a 501c3 and unabashedly attacks anything conservative. Well, I guess that is just one more thing they have in common with NPR.

'via Blog this'

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Fake Media Navel Gazing, CNN Firings

OPINION: Will the media learn from CNN's mistakes? Prepare to be disappointed | TheHill:

It isn't everyday that the Fake Media (FM) admits that they are fake. CNN pulled one of their especially fake stories under threat of being sued and fired 3 reporters to boot. Probably the most direct admission of fake news since Gunga Dan Rather got the axe for using fake documents to attempt to smear W before his SECOND election. Birther accusations of Kenyan BO may have been "bad", but at least they weren't being pushed by an anchor on a major network!

The funniest part of the birther allegations is that when BO first put out his "Dreams" book, where he proudly delcares his identiy as "Luao Tribesman", **HE** indicated he was born in Kenya and raised in Hawaii, since it made him seem more "exotic". Hey ... "truth"? I think we have figured out that is all a VERY relative concept at this point!

The general media is just another ham handed propaganda branch of "The Party" (TP-D) ... Russia did it ... REALLY, you can trust us!!


'via Blog this'

HCA, More Zero From B Zero

Obamacare Probably Didn’t Save Any Lives | National Review:

If BO had been an R, "B Zero" would likely be one of the common names used to denigrate him. Actually, "Zero" is WAY too kind! $10 T in new federal debt, 600 B every year in cost of new reguations, plus the hugely costly and ineffective BOcare.

The linked NR article is well worth reading -- some fairly solid figures about a topic that the MSM likes to blow only smoke at. Under BO and BOcare, life expectancy in the US **DROPPED** for the first time in 22 years. Life expectancy dropped, suicide deaths rose, overdose deaths rose -- the BO age of hopelessness and no change in pockets in BOistan certainly COST lives.The idea that BOcare "helped" is pure instanity -- it "helped" destroy the US insurance and healthcare industry, thus prepping more people for the idea that "Single Payer" ( everyone pays, people that can afford real healthcare pay for the public system and then pay to use the private system to get actual healthcare) is the "only way to go".

The litte video in this article is well worth the watch.

People will DIE!

Monday, June 26, 2017

Younger Women, Faster Airplanes, Bigger Crocodiles

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2017/04/30/new-york-times-columnist-david-brooks-weds-his-former-researcher-anne-snyder/?utm_term=.8e17b4f7b555

David Brooks, the supposed "conservative" has a new book out called "The Road to Character". Since he just dumped his old wife and 3 kids for a woman 23 years his junior, the arduoous path to "character" must lead through the arduous challenge of marrying younger women. Among the wealthy and powerful male, this path is well trod.

I really think David picked the wrong title -- so I helped him out with the blog title, which was the motto of the creator of Nautilus equipment, Arthur Jones. If Jones was to write a book, it would be aobut BEING a "character" -- as in having a runway that you can land a 747 on at your compound, lots of crocodiles, elephants and snakes, and of course 6 wives, all married when  they were aged between 16 and 20. Arthur definitely practiced what he preached!

There will be no rush to buy Brooks current book, however I'm not saying "never". Both King David and Solomon had "many women", King David famously resorting to murder to satisfy his sexual desire.

While the left has suddenly found "virtue" to be very important in leadership, and finds Trump wanting, the scolds seem to have a hard time setting themselves up as paragons.

Times, Logs, Specks; And the Left Will Become Right


Matt 7:5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
All humans who have any standards are hypocites, this author hopefully included. To be a Christian is to have standards, while I certainly want to limit my hypocrisy, I am happy to have it rather than no standards.

The Times believes that protesting from the right is a sign of "thin skin". Apparently they have missed stories of Berkley, Middlebury and nearly every college campus in the country relative to "safe spaces", etc.

In the world of gender and race bending, why can't we call communism "right wing"?

Communism’s failure of humor is the subject of Milan Kundera’s first novel, “The Joke.” For writing the words “Optimism is the opium of mankind! A healthy spirit stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!” on the back of a postcard to a girlfriend, Ludvik Jahn is expelled from the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and sent to work in the mines.The more monocratic the regime, the less it can bear criticism. And of all criticism, satire — with its single ambition of ridiculing vanity and delusion — is the most potent.

"The more monocratic the regime"? Last I checked, the Deep State was in full attack mode against Trump. While "The Party" (TP-D) hasn't done that swimmingly in elections of late, it seems to be very willing and able to execute maximum obstruction in Congress, through the court system, through the media, and through the judiciary. We were a LOT closer to "moncratic" with BO in the WH, even with both lapdog houses of Congress in scaredy R hands!

When BO was first elected, even the entertainment media could not find a way to make fun of the pompous gasbag. Why, even getting a Nobel Prize for getting elected wasn't funny! Even as late as 2013, a Rodeo Clown with a BO mask was too much for the media! For Trump? Nothing is "too much" for the media to deride Trump.

The fact of human is that we find those who disagree with us far more worthy of being the butt of jokes than we find ourselves and those we agree with. We all know that to be true -- the fact you can get away with a column like this in a paper just says how far left that paper really is.

They are so far left that the old USSR seems "right" to them!

'via Blog this'

Friday, June 23, 2017

Eternal Basement

Zuckerberg’s Opiate for the Masses - WSJ:

Modern billionaires lack of understanding of both the human condition and economics is breathtaking. Automation keeps on happening -- let's just give everyone a guaranteed minimum income! Say $3K a month, that ought to make people happy! Let them eat cake.

Upon reflection, it isn't really that hard to understand though. Going back to the Reformation of 1517 (this year is the 500th anniversary), the English Revolution of 1688, our Revolution - Constitution of 1776-1789, and the French Revolution of 1789-1799, we see the shape of the discussions of government and the nature of man.

Where does the authority to rule come from? God, as in the divine right of kings? Inheretence as in family name for both monarch and aristocracy? Is there authority at all, or is pure chaos the best "government"? Does merit matter? Does it exist? Does being rich make you an authority on anything but money? (we know Zuckerbert's take on that).

There are a lot of very deep questions here, but I think the author of the article subtley told us how much thought current billionaires and socialists are putting into their thinking for the masses ...


We now know from plenty of time studying human behavior that people are NOT in general happy living in their parents basements and entertaining themselves. In fact, they are quite commonly suicidal.

We could put all the power lines ... and maybe trains for that matter,  under ground. We could explore space, or even the oceans -- there have only been four dives to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, like 35K feet deep, deepest ocean spot on earth. Hooking up the major cities of the earth with super high speed mag-lev or other tech speed units in say, vacum tunnels could take a bit of engineering and work ... the list is infinite.

Yes, for all these things there needs to be thought on how it becomes economically value producing -- however, compared to funding vido games and net surfing from basements, the bar is not very high!


'via Blog this'

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Can't They Both Lose?

Russian Interference Doesn’t Require Trump’s Involvement | National Review:

Football season is close.  When two NFC N teams that are not the Packers square off against each other, my typical hope is that they both lose.  I DON'T wish for them to both have a lot of injuries because I love football, I played football, and I was injured in football -- injuries are part of the game, but I can't bring myself to hope for them.

I can however applaud the Crips and the Bloods shooting each other -- it's pretty much guaranteed to reduce overall violence. If China and North Korea want to get into a shooting war, or China and Russia for that matter, worse things could happen. I STRONGLY suspect that the Rusians, like me and pretty much everyone else in the world -- including Trump and Hillary, assumed that Hillary was going to win.

That is why BO (and the entire MSM) was on record even in late October telling us that any concerns about the elections being manipulated or "rigged" were totally false! He assumed Hillary would win, Democrats would win or come close to winning the Senate, and he wanted to be sure that Hillaries likely "landslide" was duly noted by what he expected to be a much diminished opposition. Hey, the weekend before the elction, Ron Johnson was dead in WI according to polls -- he won by nearly 4 points and I doubt the Russians did it. Ooops.

I think the Russians similarly erred -- they assumed they would get a weakened Hillary, but one that could clearly be purchased as they had done with the N American urainium payoff to the Clinton Fund. Nobody is perfect -- however, damaging Americans faith in our own elections is definitely positive for Russia, no matter who wins. We really don't need any help destroying ourselves, but one can't blame the Russians for doing what they can.

Some Russia-watchers believe that the goal of the 2016 Russian campaign shenanigans was not to elect Trump but to damage Clinton before her election. That would make a certain kind of sense: Putin does not want a President Trump or a President Clinton — he wants an American president so hamstrung by political rancor, personal weakness, and petty venality that American leadership around the world is compromised. Mission accomplished.

Naturally, the Democrats and a whole lot of the Republican party as well as 99% of the folks inside the beltway in DC are more than happy to play into the Russians hands if they can ever IMAGINE it hurts Trump! They have a pretty darned good scam going, and keeping it going is their HIGHEST priority by a REALLY long shot!



'via Blog this'