Thursday, December 29, 2011

Change is Constant

Even the Warmists Don't Believe In Global Warming - Forbes:

Good little summary of the weakness of the warmist position. The most damning to me is that the group would blatantly oppose technology that allowed carbon to be sequestered, even though it may be vastly more effect. Pretty clear that their agenda is "control of fossil fuel use" ... or just "control". Climate related outcomes would be incidental.

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Some Americans Still Moral?

Kickbacks Don’t Always Work | Power Line:

Good little PL post. Democrats are sure that everyone can be bought. Maybe there are still some people with a little more moral fibre than that left in America??

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Physics = Faith

The accidental universe: Science's crisis of faith—By Alan P. Lightman (Harper's Magazine)

Man lives by faith -- we can't even really choose our faith. We can reject God, in which case Satan helps us believe we have no faith at all. Oh, but we do -- we are all play the eternal faith game at the price of our immortal souls.

As I've commented in other blogs, it has become quite well accepted in theoretical physicists that our goldilocks universe is WAY too precise to be anything but directly "created for us", or a happenstance in something like 10 to the 500th universes. So you get to have faith that our universe was the random accident in a huge number of existing universes, and then you believe that over billions of years with no intelligent selection, we happened to evolve here with consciousness, a built in desire to know our origins and a randomly selected meme to postulate an infinite God. You can either believe in that, or you can believe in God ... either way, you have faith in what you believe.

That same uncertainty disturbs many physicists who are adjusting to the idea of the multiverse. Not only must we accept that basic properties of our universe are accidental and uncalculable. In addition, we must believe in the existence of many other universes. But we have no conceivable way of observing these other universes and cannot prove their existence. Thus, to explain what we see in the world and in our mental deductions, we must believe in what we cannot prove.

We're Doomed

The GOP’s Payroll-tax Debacle - Charles Krauthammer - National Review Online

Good coverage of the way politics has trumped any sense of intelligent policy or propriety in the interest of pure politics. Certainly a two month extension makes no sense at all -- but that is the beauty of it-- if all you care about is political theatre and raw political power. Republicans just never quite understand Machiavelli !!! It makes NO DIFFERENCE how foolish, damaging, inconsistent, evil, counterproductive, or any other negative something is. If it wins politically, IT WINS!!

The fact that Charles feels the House Republicans are like the Animal House band shows that in his heart of hearts, he would rather be politically savvy and thus "a winner", than right. I'd like to think that I would stand for the right and allow my self to be fed to the lions as the early Christians did while the Romans laughed and hooted, but I don't know -- the pain of being torn to shreds vs the joy of at least imagined intellectual superiority?? It isn't hard at all to follow the arrow of human nature on that one.

The thing that needs to be remembered is always the longer run. In the long run we are ALL "torn to shreds" (dead) ... and if we continue to follow the kind of behavior of BO, the Democrats, and now capitulated by the House Republicans, we are dead as a nation -- if not already, very very soon.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

"Coarseness"??

Newt Gingrich Called 'F-cking A--hole' By Man At Campaign Stop

Nah, Gingerich is as Republican!!! You can call them whatever you want -- er as long as it isn't positive, the MSM tries to avoid publishing that.

BO??? He says he thinks he is the 4th greatest President in US History during a CBS 60 min interview, and they CUT IT!!! How often does the MSM tell us that Gingerich is arrogant??

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, we're not done yet. I've got five more years of stuff to do. But not only saving this country from a great depression. Not only saving the auto industry. But putting in place a system in which we're gonna start lowering health care costs and you're never gonna go bankrupt because you get sick or somebody in your family gets sick. Making sure that we have reformed the financial system, so we never again have taxpayer-funded bailouts, and the system is more stable and secure. Making sure that we've got millions of kids out here who are able to go to college because we've expanded student loans and made college more affordable. Ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Decimating al Qaeda, including Bin Laden being taken off the field. Restoring America's respect around the world.

The issue here is not gonna be a list of accomplishments. As you said yourself, Steve, you know, I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president -- with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln -- just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do. And we're gonna keep on at it


Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/pj-gladnick/2011/12/16/60-minutes-broadcast-edits-out-laughable-obama-claim-4th-greatest-presi#ixzz1hBJMuYAw

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Modernizing Conservatism

Breakthrough Journal: Issue 2 : MODERNIZING CONSERVATISM

Generally well written but longish.

Three major points I tend to agree with:

1), "Victory" in an ideological sense is impossible in the US given our political structures

2), Liberals and Conservatives have fundamentally different world views -- we will not "finally get educated and all get along"

3). Entitlements are not going away -- so we better figure out how to reform, restructure, innovate, etc on them


I worry about #1 the most ... with the MSM, the SCOTUS and legal system in general being basically liberal, the education system being liberal, the ever increasing number of government workers both liberal and unionized, and the "minority" birth and legal/illegal immigration rate turning those "minorities" into future majorities, it seems that the Statist Re-Distributionist movement MAY have a shot to "win" at some point.

Lie of the Year

"Lie of the year": Dem take on GOP Medicare vote - CBS News

Wow, the generally left-leaning "politifact" has picked the constant Democrat claim that Republicans "voted to end Medicare" as the lie of the year.

I love the runner up, Michelle Bachman saying "A woman came up to me and said .." ... the "LIE" is not that "no woman came up to her" ... it is that the woman's claim about a vaccine causing retardation is wrong.

Lovely. I suspect we ALL know one or more people that believe that some vaccines cause illness. Do they? Well, almost certainly not nearly as often as people claim, but in some cases it is admitted that the vaccines CAN cause disease. Much like "plane crashes do happen" ... but we worry about them far more than is warranted. I have a VERY tough time calling this a "lie" in the same way as the winner. If we make politicians responsible for the correctness of what they pass on when "a guy on the campaign trail told me ..." they will need to be a lot quieter.

How about Eric Holder testifying he had no knowledge of Fast and Furious, then sending a memo with the same statement, then having to withdraw both because it came to light he had been briefed on it multiple times?

How about the constant claims about "The Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy", when by BO's own definition, "the wealthy" are people that make $250K or more, and over 10 years they got $700B and the rest of the income levels got $3T out of the Bush cuts.

For extra credit, when the DEMOCRATS failed to even try to raise taxes in 07-08 when they had both houses of congress, then proceeded to not bring it up in 09-10 when they had both houses, 59-60 votes in the Senate, plus the WH they never took action until they were lame ducks at the end of 10, and then THEY EXTENDED THEM!!!! Could there POSSIBLY be any bigger lie then to still complain about the cuts "for the wealthy"????

Monday, December 19, 2011

The Right to Rise

Jeb Bush: Capitalism and the Right to Rise - WSJ.com

Very well done. The choice between the false hope of the "straight line of Statist progress" that is really a FLAT LINE, and the very statistically real, but never certain hope of "the jagged line of market progress".

In short, we must choose between the straight line promised by the statists and the jagged line of economic freedom. The straight line of gradual and controlled growth is what the statists promise but can never deliver. The jagged line offers no guarantees but has a powerful record of delivering the most prosperity and the most opportunity to the most people. We cannot possibly know in advance what freedom promises for 312 million individuals. But unless we are willing to explore the jagged line of freedom, we will be stuck with the straight line. And the straight line, it turns out, is a flat line.


Thursday, December 15, 2011

Jon Stewart and Muslims

Kabulvision - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 12/13/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central:

Jon Stewart is a very intelligent and very smug guy.

It is so strange that Muslims hold virtually all the social beliefs that Stewart would normally hate, only on steroids -- young earth, need for wives to be submissive (even covered), very anti-gay, anti any sort of nudity, no extra-marital sex, no booze, no drugs, no respect for the snotty elite, etc. In fact, they hold these beliefs SO strongly that under Shariah law, many of these offenses are punishable by death. Fornication and homosexuality for example. While these "American Muslims" may not hold to a death penalty for those offenses HERE, it is nearly certain that they would STRONGLY support the right of Saudi Arabia (location of Mecca) to continue hold to strict Sharia Law that the holy sites not be defiled by the infidels.

An equivalent analogy to what Steward is laughing at here would be a world in which Mel Gibson, a Fundamentalist Catholic,  supported the right of Italy to put Jews, Homosexuals, Muslims, Fornicators, etc to death, since Rome is the center of the Catholic Church and can't be defiled! In the analogy, Mel would have a show on how normal he and Fundamentalist Catholics were -- but said nothing about what was happening in Italy.

Since Saudi Arabia -- location of Mecca, DOES do those things today, I'm really not joking.  The folks he feels are "ok" ... laudable even, support that, but he is A-OK with that!! It is nice they don't directly do or support terrorism, but in the Mel case, I don't think Jon would be so sanguine even if none of the analogized fundamentalist Catholics in the US blew things up.

In comparison to a current "Moderate Muslim", a current "Fundamentalist Christian" is as cosmopolitan as Stewart believes himself to be in comparison to those backward hick Christians doing the boycott.  

Where Jon would normally feel hatred of "ignorance, closed mindedness, lack of respect" toward a Christian he feels very different toward a Muslim. Why??

Some thoughts:

- Ignorance. He may just not know. We are ALL ignorant, just about different things.

- He sees Muslims as a "minority" vs Christians, or "the underdog", so he naturally feels he wants to support them.

- He just really hates Christians -- so someone that is generally an enemy of Christians is his "friend". It is Christians that bug him, not Muslims -- it matters not to him that Muslims hold most of what he would see as the "bad" views of Christians -- only much more so. His hatred of Christians makes him blind.

- Nobody says "Muhammad H. Prophet!!", or "Buddha Damn" -- the Judaeo -- Christian deities really ARE special. Cleave onto that which the "wise" spit upon!!! Man is a servant --- of either God or Satan. Rejecting God makes your choice for you. Are you more free in God's church yard or on Satan's leash?

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Liberals and "Lying"

A Fast & Furious state of mind | Power Line:

From Eric Holder's Fast and Furious testimony this week:
That the recently withdrawn letter from the Justice Department to Congress denying federal responsibility for the program was not a lie, “because it all has to do with your state of mind and whether or not you had the requisite intent to come up with something that would be considered perjury or a lie.”
Remember Slick Willie? "That depends on what your definition of is is".

Remember W? He "lied" because we didn't find the WMDs that essentially everyone in the world was certain that Iraq had -- including all the prominent Democrats of the day. Both Clintons, Gore, Kerry, Pelosi, Reid, etc, etc.

Remember Scooter Libby? He "lied" because he recalled a date which he talked to Tim Russert about Valerie Plame wrong. He was NOT responsible for the actual leak, that was determined to be Richard Armitage, and since he wasn't close to Cheney or Karl Rove, nobody cared. Scooter was CONVICTED of "perjury" for giving the wrong date even when he wasn't the leaker!!!

I don't believe it is possible for a liberal to either lie or tell the truth, except accidentally. Their world seems to be completely ideologically based so that truth/falsehood, right/wrong, and many other concepts are completely fluid depending on ideology.
  • Public unions spending vast amounts of money are no issue whatsoever -- but corporations spending even much less money is a horror beyond horrors. 
  • George Soros spending millions on MoveOn.org and many other left causes is a complete non-issue. The Koch brothers spending any money at all on politics??? Major league problem!!
  • Following Campaign Finance limits and rules? Completely critical until Obama thumbed his nose and spent 100's of millions more than ever before, and then no issue at all. 
  • Deficits that maxed at $400B and smallest was $165B under Bush were a HORROR. Deficits a TRILLION higher (and more) PER YEAR as far as the eye can see under Obama? They aren't high enough!!!
  • Gitmo under Bush? A stain on the nation, critical to be closed IMMEDIATELY, etc, etc. Under Obama? Still open, no problem. 
Why are our politics sharply divided? Because one side has completely moved to thinking in terms of ideology vs reality. The difference between reality and an ideologically conjured universe are always larger than the differences that would be found if we were all in the real world!!

Hope To Resentment

Obama’s Campaign for Class Resentment - Charles Krauthammer - National Review Online:

A great one by Charles.

How often it is the case that people (especially the young) set out aflame with hope -- yes, hope for some largely unstated "change" that indeed can be "believed in" because it is so non-specific.

And then -- specific reality meets imagined hopes, wishes, and beliefs, and not only is it a disappointment, there is a tremendous sense of loss. Where did that wonderful feeling that we all shared together go?? How could it happen?

Well, it is GOING to happen when you hire a "leader" that accepts responsibility for NOTHING!! To be young and foolish is somewhat expected. To be supposed leader of the former greatest nation on earth and have no more sense of responsibility than a baby dirtying it's diaper is simply unconscionable!!
In Kansas, Obama lamented that millions “are now forced to take their children to food banks.” You have to admire the audacity. That’s the kind of damning observation the opposition brings up when you’ve been in office three years. Yet Obama summoned it to make the case for his reelection!

Canada formally pulls out of Kyoto Protocol on climate change - The Washington Post

Canada formally pulls out of Kyoto Protocol on climate change - The Washington Post:
"“It allows us to continue to create jobs and growth in Canada,” Kent said."
Dear me, choosing jobs and growth today over future worries over Warming / Change / Nasty Weather , or some sort of future branding of Doom?? Where is their sense of pessimism?

I doubt this will make much of a splash in the news, because even though Slick Willie never put the Kyoto treaty up for a vote, he never said he wouldn't -- which W did, therefore he was evil. Canada dropping out likely won't meet the rigorous standards for MSM "news".

Of course HAD we signed, we would have ended up where Canada has, only quicker.
“To meet the targets under Kyoto for 2012 would be the equivalent of either removing every car, truck, ATV, tractor, ambulance, police car and vehicle of every kind from Canadian roads or closing down the entire farming and agriculture sector and cutting heat to every home, office, hospital, factory and building in Canada,” Kent said.
So given the choice between stopping all vehicle traffic, stopping all agriculture or cutting off all heat, the Canadians have chosen to leave the Kyoto treaty.

How selfish and short sighted. The evil W should have gotten it signed! I'm sure BO would be happy to shut down whatever was required rather than make the terrible choice that Canada has now made.

Oh, the shame.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Tim Tebow, "Mystery"?

Chuck Klosterman on Tim Tebow - Grantland:

This guy seems smart, but one has to wonder about all these words.

My explanation for this is:

1). Hatred of Christians isn't particularly new. Christ was crucified, Christians were used as living (for a bit) torches and fed to wild animals for entertainment by the Romans, killed or sent to the Gulag in the USSR, and persecuted openly or not so openly in the Muslim world around the globe today. Hating the Christian faithful is not new at all!

2). All sorts of prognosticators had made their determination on Tebow prior to him ever suiting up with the Broncos. He can't throw, he throws wrong, he can't make decisions, he isn't tough, etc, etc. Lots of people in the press and out of it believe the press -- the press is often wrong, never uncertain. The press also doesn't like someone obviously proving them wrong -- especially someone that they don't like (see #1). He is a rookie -- he throws a lot better than a lot of QBs that have done not so horrible in the NFL (Trent Dilfer comes to mind ... but the list is long, even of just NFC N QBs). Beside that, he is big, quick, and athletic. There are claims about his IQ, but I'd bet he bests Favre or Bradshaw in that dept, and both of them did all right.

3). So far, Tebow goes against the media approved view of faithful Christians in that he is actually bubbling over as all Christians really ought to be. I'm pretty certain he (like Aaron Rogers) has some flaw / sin / defect / etc. Christ didn't die for the perfect -- and while he definitely aids in constant improvement for Christians that allow his work to go on, there is usually a challenge, flaw, tendency, etc that will break out at a really bad time, and the media will have TOTAL joy in the maximum exposure of that flaw. Then Tebow will be a "hypocrite" -- as all people with any sort of standards always are to some degree. They may like him better then, because they will feel that his witness has been destroyed.

The Heartbreak of Newt

Heartbreak Awaits Republicans Who Love Gingrich: Ramesh Ponnuru - Bloomberg:

I don't particularly like reading this -- I don't trust Romney, and I generally like the quick wit and willingness to think outside the box that is Newt. Sadly though, Ramesh has a point. I'm starting to think in terms of how wonderful a cruise ship is to be on, but how if the ship were to sink, one would not turn down any piece that was floating -- even a primitive rubber raft would be "luxury" compared to drowning in the ocean at night. Yes, I know, that is unfair to drowning, BO is much worse than that, but it is a start.

My favorite paragraph is the following:
Conservatives who dislike George W. Bush’s compassionate conservatism have Gingrich to thank for it. After Gingrich lost the budget battles with President Bill Clinton, it took 15 years for any politician to take up the cause of limited-government conservatism that he had discredited.
Newt very much lost the hearts and minds on smaller government. Being a Republican is means you deal with the burden of the liberal MSM -- so it is VERY hard, but it is a task that comes with Republican leadership. Newt let the discussion go to where the Republicans took all the blame for the "cuts" (reducing the rate of growth) in spending, and Slick took all the glory for the very short lived internet bubble capital gains "surplus". 100% as illusionary as the W '07 $165B housing bubble deficit number.

My heart still pines for Newt, but next to drowning in the icy cesspool of BO II, Romney is starting to look like at least a piece of driftwood -- if not a nascent rubber raft.

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

REPORTED Income Inequality

Alan Reynolds: Tax Rates, Inequality and the 1% - WSJ.com:

The drunk who lost his keys up the street, but is looking under the street lamp because the light is better there comes to mind. There is a human propensity to look at what we measure and forget all the impact that our actions may have had on changing measured values. We changed tax rates since '79, and we famously lowered them again in '01 -- surprise, the REPORTED income equality went up in each case. 

One way of looking at REPORTED inequality is that when tax rates on the wealthy are "favorable", they will actually report the income and pay the tax. When the rates aren't, the business will buy another truck, retain the earnings, etc, or the person will take some of the income in stock, insurance, invest in tax free bonds vs stock, etc.

Being rich, like being heathy, presents one with more options. In my mind, by definition, if you are rich, you don't HAVE to work -- but if the taxes are reasonable enough, you may decide to do so. 
The larger truth is that recessions always destroy wealth and small business incomes at the top. Perhaps those who obsess over income shares should welcome stock market crashes and deep recessions because such calamities invariably reduce "inequality." Of course, the same recessions also increase poverty and unemployment.



Sunday, December 04, 2011

Eastern Europe Gets It

Georgia On My Mind | Power Line:

When many of the lefties were talking about leaving the US when W was re-elected, but then few (any?) of them did, one wondered where they might go??

In case BO is re-elected and the flame that was liberty in America actually sputters out, it appears that Reagan successfully sowed a better understanding of the facts of freedom than is generally left here in the US. Sad, but also in a strange way gratifying.

It is always nice to see the flame of freedom passed on to new vistas.

'via Blog this'

Friday, December 02, 2011

Charles on Newt and Mitt

Mitt vs. Newt - The Washington Post:

The eternal question of the heart vs the head. Charles is an optimist -- he believes that America can return from BO's FIRST term. I'm not so sure, but it is what it is now. He is certainly right that a second would be both unconscionable and unsurviveable.

So the adult answer is Mitt. Ah, but the heart yearns for the fire, the comebacks, the "in your face", the "risk factor" of Newt.

There can really only be one acceptable answer. Damn that heart!!!

"If Obama wins, he will take the country to a place from which it will not be able to return (which is precisely his own objective for a second term).

Every conservative has thus to ask himself two questions: Who is more likely to prevent that second term? And who, if elected, is less likely to unpleasantly surprise?"


'via Blog this'

Friday, November 25, 2011

FOX Calls Michelle Obama "Lyin Ass Bitch"

NBC apologizes to Bachmann over song - CNN.com

Oh, OOPs!! It was Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Michelle Bachman, and just the song ... sorry. Oh, and they apologized!

No story here, move along ... and I'm sure if it had been FOX and Michelle, the an apology would be just fine as well.

We live in a civil and reasonable country after all.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Liberal Land

RealClearPolitics - Alice in Liberal Land:

He left out what I notice most about liberal land -- if you actually want to do anything, you have to run twice as fast due to all the regulations and taxes.

"The history of the 20th century is a painful lesson on what happens when collective choices replace individual choices. Even leaving aside the chilling history of totalitarianism in the 20th century, the history of economic central planning shows it to have been such a widely recognized disaster that even communist and socialist governments were abandoning it as the century ended.

"

'via Blog this'

Monday, November 21, 2011

Is $1.6 Million Warm?

James Hansen and the Corruption of Science | Power Line:

Oops, James Hansen, one of the big Warmists "forgot" to report $1.6 Million in income. I'm sure he is a Democrat, so at least it isn't "illegal" -- as near as I can tell, if you are a good enough Democrat, taxes are at best "optional" ... Tom Daschle, Tim Geitner, Warren Buffett, and many many more just over the past few years.

The thing is, is it even POSSIBLE that a Warmists views could be influenced by cash?

Nah, never mind. No story here ... let's move along and talk about the evil of the Koch Brothers!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

BO On Spending

Kicking our spending habit - Opinion - The Boston Globe:

Here is BO talking of spending ... and the article covers what he has done. Biggest spender in history, and HOW would one ever trust him???

"We cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next administration, or the next generation,’’ Obama told a White House summit on fiscal responsibility . “You don’t spend what you don’t have.’"

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Malice or Incompetence?

Obama’s Job-Destroying Machine Grinds On | Power Line:

The rule is never pick malice unless incompetence has been disproven ... but 100's of thousands of jobs and tremendous economic potential are being at least delayed if not destroyed under BO. In the final analysis does it make any real difference if the US economy was killed by incompetence or malice??

'via Blog this'

Friday, November 18, 2011

Politics Over Jobs

The Pipeline Sellout - Charles Krauthammer - National Review Online:

Must read column. There is no need to listen to any more BO rhetoric about "Republicans playing politics" after this. This helps NOTHING environmentally ... it just means that the oil goes to China rather than our refineries. It probably HURTS it because I doubt if China's refineries or cars are as "green" as ours. Killing jobs for NOTHING ... except votes, and we know that is ALL that really matters to a politician.

"Sure, the pipeline would have produced thousands of truly shovel-ready jobs. Sure, delay could forfeit to China a supremely important strategic asset — a nearby, highly reliable source of energy. But approval was calculated to be a political loss for the president. Easy choice.

It’s hard to think of a more clear-cut case of putting politics over nation. This from a president whose central campaign theme is that Republicans put party over nation, sacrificing country to crass political ends."


'via Blog this'

America's Criminal Class

Sarah Palin: How Congress Occupied Wall Street - WSJ.com:

Good article, no matter how much you love or hate Sarah. After awhile one would think that Americans would get sick of serial mashers like Slick Willie going to Washington as the dirty poor and coming out as the dirty rich.

The Washington Pols make Wall Street "insider trading" look like "whispering in class" by comparison to the Washington methods, which have a lot more in common with the Mafia than anything in civil society.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Why We Need Common Sense

Why We Need Occupy Wall Street:

Warren Buffet, richest man in the US and tax dodger is STILL lamenting how much money he made (note, he isn't giving any to the US government, NOR is he going to given them any when he dies -- he is putting it into a FOUNDATION, NOT into inheritance taxes!!). That is one reason we need OWS?? Oh, the other is because the President of the Reserve Bank in Dallas called for breaking up some of America's big banks. That, and the fact that Republicans are still fighting the idea of raising taxes in a recession.

One "good" thing that OWS has done is increased the number of articles on Inequality! Super. When the brokest nation on earth just keeps getting broker, with NOTHING to show in real spending cuts after the 2010 landslide for Republicans, unemployment still hovers at 9%, public unions are still winning votes in OH and BO recently shot us in the forehead by delaying the Keystone Pipeline -- but SUPER, we have more articles on "inequality".

It is the INCOME part that we ought to be worried about ... as in we need LOTS more of it and all our actions -- including trying to "spread the wealth" are very likely to get us less of it as a nation. One can't re-distribute what they don't have!!!

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Christian Hate Speech?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Paul Krugman is rewriting history now that the eurozone, beloved by US liberals, is going down in flames – Telegraph Blogs

Paul Krugman is rewriting history now that the eurozone, beloved by US liberals, is going down in flames – Telegraph Blogs:

I often think that the reason liberals get so angry about "Fox News", the "GW Deniers", "Conservatives Re-writing History", "Framing", "Corporations / Money in Politics" is because they have been doing all of them so successfully, and live in fear of a facts based discussion eventually showing through. Biased reporting is old hat, it was just supposed to be one sided; using pseudo science to drive policy, making sure their folks had both the first (MSM) and last (university) drafts if history, the Madison Ave view of issues as the liberal and ONLY frame, and most of all Unions, "Non-Partison" organizations like the Sierra Club, and people like Soros pouring unlimited funds into politics for their side.

The linked article is a good rebuttal of a Krugman article that attempts to get an almost laughable rewrite of very recent history into the mix, so there is AT LEAST "questions about what happened". Here is a rebuttal of the Sweden comments -- the fact that Sweden has made a relatively hard right turn is virtually a "state secret" to the US media.

Krugman cites Sweden as an example of a social welfare success in Europe, but fails to mention two important points. Firstly, in recent years, Sweden has begun rolling back the welfare system and government expenditure while adopting important free market reforms. Secondly, Sweden decided to stay out of the eurozone, another key reason why it has so far kept out of the financial mess engulfing southern Europe. As Johnny Munkhammar, a Swedish member of parliament noted in a piece for The Wall Street Journal in January, Sweden owes its success not to welfare statism but to reforms that have increased economic freedom, including greater competitiveness in the provision of health care and other public services:

The following paragraph is why Krugman and the left really have no other choice but to try to confuse people. The system that they have espoused for DECADES is clearly imploding, and that fact just becomes more starkly obvious each and every day.

The reality that Krugman refuses to accept is that Europe offers a glimpse of America’s future if it continues down the path of European-style big government. The root of Europe’s financial crisis lies in decades of over-spending and over-borrowing, largely to pay for overgrown and bloated welfare systems, vast public sectors, and incredibly generous pension plans. Europe has a huge entitlements disaster heading its way, with graying electorates unable to sustain the status quo. Added to this has been the disastrous euro experiment, which has created a one-size fits all approach for 17 EU countries, with varying levels of economic advancement. It has been a huge leap into the dark, without a shred of democratic accountability.

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Open Mike

Sarkozy, Obama bemoan Netanyahu over open mic - CNN.com:


The old "open mike" is a lot more fun with Republican Presidents.

There was a Bush and or Cheney referring to someone as a "Major league A**hole" that was picked up and gladly and widely reported with no qualms at all. Reagan had some "Bombing starts in 10 min" that was clearly just testing a mike, but was good for a lot of weeping and nashing of teeth about being "scary".

It just doesn't get much coverage if BO is involved.

He has already made it pretty clear that he hates Netanyahu and given what church he went to, likely all things Jewish, anyway. Guess it really isn't "news" to anybody when he says it.

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

The Liberal "Open Mind"

Think Again: Dowd, Not Coulter, ‘Falters’:

"As with the late, unlamented Sen. Joe McCarthy—of whom Coulter remains an unapologetic cheerleader—she corrupts us merely by our association with her species and coarsens our culture by her very presence in it. Shame on Maureen Dowd for enabling her to do so with the imprimatur of The New York Times."

In a place like "American Progress", "progressives" can be honest. Their objective has never really changed from 1900 through Wilson, through Hitler, through Stalin, through FDR, to now. Put your opposition in concentration camps, kill them if you can get away with it. Make them non-human, their own "species". Those execrable people that deign to have different views from your "progressive openness" simply deserve to die, and be forgotten. The nation is "corrupted" by the very presence of those that refuse to bow to the "progressive" mantra.

Monday, November 07, 2011

Turn It Up To 11

Turning up the volume on federal spending - San Antonio Express-News

Interesting and slightly different perspective on BO spending. I kind of like the idea of Nigel Tufnel day ... 11-11-11.
Where does it all end? In the real world, when you push spending, deficits and debt to record levels — 11, 11, 11, right across the board — the national fuses blow and the music of prosperity ends. When it does, you're left with a country in fiscal crisis that looks a lot like Greece does today. But, as Nigel might say, “That's just nitpicking, isn't it?”

With any luck, by 2013, "Puppet Show" could get top billing over Barack Obama!

Thursday, November 03, 2011

Moyers Powell Memo

How Wall Street Occupied America | The Nation:

Bill Moyers is left of left. Not that surprising, he is a multi-millionaire author, producer and PTV personality.

This column is quite interesting to read, especially when contrasted with the actual memo it attempts to frame http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=view&d=5971

The infamous on the left "Powell Memo", sent to the US Chamber of Commerce shortly before Powell was appointed to the Supreme Court is a cause celeb on the left, exceeding things like "Rules for Radical" and "Cloward Piven Strategy" for conservatives. From the POV of folks like Moyers, it is the beginning of evil.

Much as we see in the memo itself, Moyers seems to feel that conservatives, business, corporations, etc should not be allowed a voice. To allow them such is to "deny the people". One wonders who it was that elected his worshipfullness Obummer in '08? Oh wait, "The One" himself is not far enough to the left for Moyers. While the "radical", Powell, found the idea of class warfare to be a danger to the nation, Moyers relishes it ... much like Robespierre, he believes that "equality of outcome" must be obtained at all costs, including blood in the streets -- a common cost for the "utopians".

The noxious Moyers is enough to make one understand why the Islamists cut off people's heads! 

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Killer Apps or Collapse

Niall Ferguson: How American Civilization Can Avoid Collapse - The Daily Beast

A MUST READ!!!

Essentially, either we reboot out killer apps or we collapse WAY faster than anyone is thinking.

Remember how stupid the left thought Reagan was when he talked about the USSR and "the Ash Heap of History"??

It can happen VERY VERY fast!!!!

Here is the list of "Killer Apps", but READ IT!



Western Civilization's Killer Apps
COMPETITION
Western societies divided into competing factions, leading to progressive improvements.
THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
Breakthroughs in mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology.
THE RULE OF LAW
Representative government based on private-property rights and democratic elections.
MODERN MEDICINE
19th- and 20th-century advances in germ theory, antibiotics, and anesthesia.
THE CONSUMER SOCIETY
Leaps in productivity combined with widespread demand for more, better, and cheaper goods.
THE WORK ETHIC
Combination of intensive labor with higher savings rates, permitting sustained capital accumulation.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Liberal War

Frank Rich on Occupy Wall Street and Class Warfare -- New York Magazine:

A long and rambling column, not worth reading. The bottom line ... if there is any, "Hooray for class warfare"!

Anybody remember when the Tea Party was "scary"?? Was there ever ONE person arrested at any sort of Tea Party rally, demonstration, etc??? What would the total number of arrests on OWS be now? A grand?

Oh, that is a GOOD thing! At least now ... with the Tea Party, ANY ... even made up, thought of racism, violence, etc was tantamount to time to call out the guard. Now? Anti-semitic? No, they just don't like "Jewish Bankers" ... hmm.

'via Blog this'

Ten Drinkers and Taxes


The following "myth, parable, story, tale, joke, etc" has made many rounds of the net. It has been considered "debunked", because the AUTHORSHIP attributed is often wrong. Truth doesn't need an attrbuted author, and it certainly is not "improved" by being alledgedly sent from a PHD or journalist, or whatever.

The point is to look at the numbers and realize how foolish it is to continue to abuse the top for being successful. It would be FAR better for the rest of us to do some thinking, education and most of all DOING in order to improve out own rate. Perhaps we can pay our own bar tab someday

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our income taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1. (1% of the bill)

The sixth would pay $3. (3%)

The seventh would pay $7. (7%)

The eighth would pay $12. (12%)

The ninth would pay $18. (28%)

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. (59% of the bill)

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers", he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20". Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share?"

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings on his previous tax payment for 5th man)

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!" "That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.


'via Blog this'

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Weather is Not Climate

Early snowstorm hits Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, crimps travel - CNN.com:

Weather is not climate ... so neither this or heat records in TX last summer counts as "climate change".

"Strange or chaotic weather" is not proof of climate change, and certainly not proof a causal relationship with humans. Whatever the old record was in 1869 was "chaotic weather" as well -- happening over 100 years ago. Our lifespans are short, 100 or 200 years is a very short span for "climate". Climate is something that DOES change in large and small ways ... eg. ice ages, medieval warming period, little ice age. It always has, and it probably always will ... however it will be 10s of thousands of years before we have observed at least on cycle from warm to cold (ice age), back to warm again. Note however that ONE is not necessarily a pattern.

Political ideology tends to be "reality independent". The left, those oriented toward government control are ALWAYS going to see conditions, both real and imagined, as reasons to increase their "benevolent" control on the rest of the recalcitrant human race.
"Lesser, albeit still significant amounts were measured in other locales around the northeast, including 1.3 inches of snow in New York's Central Park as of 2 p.m. -- the most ever for this date since record-keeping began in 1869. And snow continued to fall Saturday evening, as the system moved over New England."

Friday, October 28, 2011

Why BOnomics Sucks

Allan H. Meltzer: Four Reasons Keynesians Keep Getting It Wrong - WSJ.com:

Short and sweet ... here is my REALLY short and sweet version, but his is a bit more "educational". Why or why do so many people not understand this????

1). Current high deficits promise higher taxes or inflation in the future (if you run up your credit card, you have to pay it + interest in the future)
2). Redistribution to non-workers is a less optimum asset allocation than distribution to workers so you have less overall. ( if you drink your beer from a lawn sprinkler vs a can, you get less)
3). Regulations are painful ... and uncertainty about them is painful too. ( Making you walk on broken glass today is painful, promising to nail your feet to the floor in the future doesn't make it any better)
4). Short term fixes are short term fixes ... Going out for an expensive dinner and getting drunk if I lose my job may make me feel better tonight ... but in the AM, not so much.

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

I Am The 53%

The 53%: Occupy Wall Street backlash - Oct. 26, 2011:

NOTE, if it is really really true that 53% still pay Federal Income taxes, we need to get this tide turned RIGHT NOW!!! (I thought we already were less than 50%).

We need to get it to like 90% that pay Income taxes ... "taking part" is very very important. It is really hard for any adult to believe that this is "their country" when they are paying nothing in income tax.

Once you are taking part in paying, the situation gets to be a lot more relative to "the 1%" as the rest of the Packers are to Aaron Rodgers. Yes, he is ONE GUY, but he is the QB ... negatively affect his performance and your season takes a turn for the worse.

When you are taking part, paying taxes, and "on the US Team", you have a whole different attitude about your income producing star performers!


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Bad Money, Good Money

Our Money = Good, Their Money = Bad | Power Line:


Good coverage of how Mark Dayton's ex-wife, a Rockefeller heiress, is a heroine for spending millions on liberal causes, including explicitly targeting Republicans in the MN legislature so that her ex can have a friendly legislature to deal with in the 2nd part of his term.

Isn't all that hard to contrast that with the treatment of say, the Koch brothers in the very same media outlets.

Of course, they aren't biased, it is just a matter of business / conservative views being bad, and liberal anti-business views being good!

Simple, no bias here, move along.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Too Cynical for NYTs?

Occupy Wall Street and Hollywood - NYTimes.com:

Wow, what's a mother to do? The Times is having trouble with the hypocrisy and cynicism of 1%s with Hollywood connections hanging out with the OWS movement? Wassup wid dat???

The rap mogul Russell Simmons and the rapper Kanye West meandered over to Occupy Wall Street’s cradle, Zuccotti Park. By all accounts West was wearing more bling, though Simmons has bigger bucks: his net worth has been estimated as being between $100 million and $340 million. West’s is below that, and he made only $16 million or so last year.

I mean, come on! The Kennedy's have been friends of the "little man" forever while they lived in their estates and trust funds. Our own MN governor is filthy rich with his money stored out of state to avoid even the current taxes which he feels are way short of hard enough on "the rich". Buffet and Gates talk a great game --- yet they propose to give their billions to charity through foundations on their own terms, not have it confiscated by the government through estate taxes.

The hypocrisy of the wealthy left has been obvious to even a casual observer for decades --- it is just that the NYTimes isn't usually one of those places that takes any note of it at all.

All that said, this is TWICE in the last couple weeks that I've been surprised by the perspective of the Times as being somewhat rational!!!

Maybe there IS a chance after all.

'via Blog this'

How Curious

What Do Samuel Alito Sr. and Mario Rubio Have In Common? | Power Line:

Still, it is good to know that America’s reporters haven’t completely forgotten how to do research. Given the lack of interest they have shown in Barack Obama’s early life–that is, his life before 2004–to say nothing of his father’s history–and the studiousness with which they avoided learning anything at all about John Edwards, I thought maybe they had given up researching presidential candidates altogether.

It nothing short of incredible how incurious the US press was and is about the background of BO, let alone his father and family. The contrast with how massively interested they are in Rubio, Palin, Bachman, Perry, etc.

The MSM tells us that isn't do to bias, so it must be that Republicans have inherently more interesting lives than Democrats.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Honesty From NYTimes!

The Ugliness All Started With Bork - NYTimes.com

I'm not sure it really "all started", but there is no doubt that relative to any sense of comity in the Senate, Bork was "Pear Harbor".

The frequency of completely partisan take-downs is much greater than the column suggests -- the destruction of Dan Quayle, the attack on Clarence Thomas, the complete fabrication of the need for investigation of the alleged Scooter Libby leak.

Yes, yes, it happens on both sides, but it happens FAR more often from the left, because while the left might actually own up to things (a tiny bit), 24 years after the fact, when they circle their wagons, the NYTimes, NPR, CBS, etc are not doing any talking out of turn. Maybe a quarter of a century after the fact ... but really, so what??

Will we have to hit bottom before we realize that a reasoned discussion on the constitution would be far more beneficial to our nation than a hyperpartisan personal takedown or a learned, intelligent public servant??

I seriously don't know ... but a quarter century is better than never for someone to admit the facts, and it ought to be applauded.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Google Self-Driving Car

How Google's Self-Driving Car Works - IEEE Spectrum

Well worth the read. We are very close to having the technology, how will we deal with the legal repercussions?? We lose 10's of thousands of people on the road now. Say we lost "100's" each year due to errors / failures in this technology. Could Google (or anyone) survive the law suits from the "few hundred" that die because of "automated systems failure"??

It could likely save more energy than everything BO has even proposed to date (smoothness, efficiency, less need to hurry on the drive since you are working / on the net anyway, drafting on the highway, etc).

The top execs at Google are of course in the "1%" that OWS is targeting. Guess they are "evil" after all.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Spending Cut Myth

The Austerity Myth: Federal Spending Up 5% This Year - Investors.com
In fact, in the first nine months of this year, federal spending was $120 billion higher than in the same period in 2010, the data show. That's an increase of almost 5%. And deficits during this time were $23.5 billion higher.
So statements like the following from Biden's old adviser and Krugman are either extremely misinformed, or lies.

Jared Bernstein, former chief economic adviser to Vice President Biden, wrote over the summer that "government spending cutbacks have been a large drag on growth in recent quarters and have led to sharp losses in state and local employment."

Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argued in September that "the turn toward austerity (is) a major factor in our growth slowdown."

The MSM keeps convincing people that the evil Republicans have "cut spending", and that has "hurt the economy". The fact is that we are spending worse than ever, AT BEST, the RATE OF GROWTH may have been cut a bit.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Wisconsin Breaks Corrupt Cycle

Wisconsin schools buck union to cut health costs | Byron York | Politics | Washington Examiner

The big reason that the unions and the Democrats fought so hard in WI is that WEA Trust was sucking money out of the taxpayers that was being funneled into the coffers of the Democrat party!! Along with stopping the state from being the bagman for union dues, this is a huge hit at the standard union corruption that has been feeding the $$$ into state and national level Democrats.

The problem for Hartland-Lakeside was that WEA Trust was charging significantly higher rates than the school district could find on the open market. School officials knew that because they got a better deal from United HealthCare for coverage of nonunion employees. On more than one occasion, Superintendent Glenn Schilling asked WEA Trust why the rates were so high. "I could never get a definitive answer on that," says Schilling.



Four Fronts?

Obama orders U.S. troops to help chase down African 'army' leader - CNN.com

Can you even IMAGINE the MSM if this was Bush??

We are doing what? We are the brokest nation on earth and we are sending our boys to god forsaken Africa to chase some wacko leader??

Think of all the folks on the left that loved to say "what if it was YOUR son that was being sent" --- to Iraq, when no WMD was found. As if it was "meaningless" to serve your country if no WMD had been found. If YOUR son was killed running around in some forgotten jungle hell hole looking for an idiot that has absolutely NOTHING to do with US interests??

Oh wait, BO is a Democrat. It is OK to send US troops off for whatever reason as long as you are a Democrat!!

Concerned Democrat Billionaires

The Weekend Interview with Mortimer Zuckerman: The Exasperation of the Democratic Billionaire - WSJ.com:

Gee, even the billionaires for BO are having second thoughts. Mercy!

"His words struck a chord. When I visit Mr. Zuckerman this week in his midtown Manhattan office, he reports that three people approached him at dinner the previous evening to discuss his August op-ed. Among business executives who supported Barack Obama in 2008, he says, "there is enormously widespread anxiety over the political leadership of the country." Mr. Zuckerman reports that among Democrats, "The sense is that the policies of this government have failed. . . . What they say about [Mr. Obama] when he's not in the room, so to speak, is astonishing."

And this was before BO decided it was time to open another war front. Is 4 wars at once some sort of a record?


'via Blog this'

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Occupy Morality

Occupy Wall Street should be a moral, not political, movement - CNN.com:

"The time has come for men and women of conscience in this nation to stand up. It's vital that we elected individuals, regardless of party, who choose not to be an incestuous relationship with the rich in this country who are only about fattening their bottom lines while ignoring the plight of others.

There you have it. The time has come to stand up and TAKE what is ... er, "theirs". The time has come to abandon the rule of law and confiscate the wealth of "the 1%". The time has come for the masses to leave all sense of merit and propriety behind -- to "occupy" the nation formerly known as America.

America, the land of the unwashed squatter shitting in a public park and braying about not being handed enough, and being honored by a major news outlet as being "moral".

Elections have consequences, thanks BO.

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Occupy Wall Street Heaven

Articles: The Occupiers' World Awaits

What an opportunity! North Korea has already met the demands of our illustrious Wall Street Occupiers! Hope they all get a chance to enjoy a trip to that fabled land!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Learning From Steve Jobs

What I learned from Steve Jobs | Apple - CNET News:

Some very good insights would go a lot farther than marching on Wall Street to enrich all our lives at a lot of levels!

Saturday, October 08, 2011

BO 103K, Reagan 1100K

Review & Outlook: 103,000 vs. 1.1 Million - WSJ.com

Policies have consequences.

82-83 was a worse recession by every statistic, and it came on top the sick 70's, a decade where the US looked like dogmeat. September of '83 is the greatest month of job creation in US history, 1.1 Million -- Because of government being put on a leash and the private sector driving.

Government doesn't create jobs, BUSINESS creates jobs. If we can't get that right, nothing works.

We know how, JUST DO IT!!!

A Pyromaniac In a Field Of Straw Men

How George Will Misunderstands Both Elizabeth Warren And Liberalism | The New Republic:

The title is a very nice turn of phrase -- one applied by William F Buckley to John Kenneth Galbraith. It reminds me of how much I miss the Godfather of "WFB"s everywhere.

In this context it shows how the left tends to raise "not getting the point" to high pedantic art.

Nobody that I know is talking of NO TAXES on the wealthy, millionaires, private jet owners, or any other group. The Democrats current approach is to willy nilly tack $50K of new taxes on an income of a million, out of the blue.

Why all the long lectures on "nobody gets rich on their own"?? Nobody said they did -- the upper incomes are ALREADY paying around 70% of the income taxes!

As is often the case, Galston creates yet more straw men to do battle with rather than Will. The problem at hand is LIMITED government. Higher income people are already paying over 50% of their income when FICA, state, and local taxes are added in. When the government is already taking over half of your income and still wants more it seems very reasonable to talk about "limits", it is completely UNreasonable to discuss the straw man of "everybody ought to pay some taxes".