Master Bedroom Project

My poor wife has had to live with half of a 3x4' "pseudo walk in" closet since we moved into our current home. While our old house had none at all, the daily clothes decision for a woman in management is a difficult one that takes much more space than that. The "master" bedroom and both bathrooms next to it are still original mid '70s trim doors and fixtures and similarly small to to the closet. The change is under way.

The new plan involves an 18x24' addition that extends out over our deck that will allow a walk-in of 8x14' (much more "decision space"), improvements on both bathrooms including a steam shower for my sinuses, an air tub and a fireplace in the bedroom. Needless to say we are looking forward to completion, but in the process our son will come home from college and the 4 of us will have to live with one bath and a lot more restricted sleeping space. There are usually a few problems involved with improvement of any type.

I'll try to do some picture updates out here "weekly" during the project.

Small Smalley Tax Difficulty?

Al Franken Pays $70K in Back Taxes

Gee, seems like Franken not only doesn't pay workers comp, he also fails to pay taxes. One of the reasons that Democrats are so excited about raising taxes, even the ones that make millions of dollars, is simply because they don't pay them. Usually they have all sorts of complicated foundations and other schemes like the Kennedy's, Kerry's and such, but as good old Al shows us, there is simply "not paying them". That apparently works unless you are running for Senate and the evil Republicans look into it. I'm sure that Al thought good thoughts while not paying his own taxes, and his commitment to OTHERS paying through the nose never wavered!

Note, the media wasn't very curious about this, the Republicans had to dredge up the whole deal. Not much of that old Dan Rather "can do spirit even if we have to forge the documents" when it comes to Stuart Smalley in the MSM!

Ice Age?

I wasn't going to post anything on this at all, because I no more believe in the coming ice age than I do in Global Warming (GW) ... which means I don't DISbelieve in either one either, I'm an agnostic. I don't think we have nearly enough data to reach a conclusion given glaciation cycles that take order 10's of thousands of years. What is more, our understanding of star behavior is really jaded by our close proximity to a sample of precisely ONE.

In terms of "sensational" though, the idea of rapid expansion of the polar caps and most of the northern hemisphere under continental ice sheets ought to make it. No doubt food production would drop off precipitously as growing seasons became shorter and shorter and eventually were gone over much of our current major food growing areas. Do I believe that is likely? No, it is just what one might want to consider if they were to be close to as alarmist about another set of data than what the GW folks have had their undies in a bundle over for a long while.

Ice Age Data Article

Something a little closer to my own heart as we close to less than two weeks from the MN fishing opener. Note that the latest Mille Lacs had ice out was May 6th, which would be a week from tomorrow. It is still 100% ice covered. (lake cam here). Worse, we are making ice tonight, and the 10 day forcast for Garrison (NW corner of Mille Lacs) is all 50's by day and 30's by night until May 7th when they are supposed to hit a blistering 62. The all-time record is in danger

Here is some data from a couple of MN lakes, just to show the potential for getting the wrong impression from shorter term data. One MIGHT think that there was a BIG warm-up from '96 to 2000 ... and even do some other extrapolation and decide "it is obvious we are warming up". If one looked at over 100 years of data however, they would see that 1878 was WAY earlier (meaning warmer) and 1856 was not much cooler than '96, which would give the impression that at least on that data we had COOLED since the late 1800s. Of course 100 years of data in a data set of 10's of thousands for just ONE glacial cycle, with 10's and 100s of MILLIONS of years of data for multiple cycles is about as close to completely useless as one can get. It is "just data". Any sort of trend projected from it is just like reading the farmers almanac.

Data from MN DNR:
Mille Lacs - Avg April 24, Earliest April 2, 2000, Latest May 6,1996 (42 years of data)
Minnetonka - Avg April 11, Earliest March 11, 1878, latest May 8, 1856 (129 years of data)

There are NOT enough facts to make a decision here, but we know that the best data we have says that the planet has a N hemisphere ice age bias in this land mass configuration. "On average", most of the US is under a sheet of ice, as is Europe for the last 40 million years or so. We are actually IN an "ice age" because there are polar caps. Supposedly the previous case with ice caps was 430-460 years ago, so there was something like 400 million years of "global warming" prior to our current "ice age". This may indicate that it is possible for the planet to warm and cool on it's own, but you can draw your own conclusions about human intervention 400 or even 40 million years ago. Suffice to say we have no tracking data on Mille Lacs from those times, and I have no idea what the fishing regulations were even a mere 40 million years ago.

Range Time SP100 First Outing

It hit 50 yesterday so I went out to the range mostly to test out the new Ruger SP100 pistol. The pics above are of my personally customized little 35 year old Ruger 10/22 however. I mounted a Nikon 2-7x scope that I was thinking of using for deer last fall on it and a custom folding pistol grip stock from Midway. I spent a little time dialing it in and then did a 25 yard fairly rapid fire at the bulls eye with 25 rounds in a magazine. Not a lot of center left, really fun little gun. Sort of a "mini assault rifle".

I don't have any targets that impressive with the SP100, but I throughly enjoyed putting 150 rounds of mixed .38, .38+P and .357 Mag through it. I feel as confident as the .9mm XD right out of the box with it, and I'm having the same "low side of target" shooting problem with the SP100 as I do with the XD, so it seems certain that we are talking "operator error". I'm anticipating the shot. Both .38 and +P are a joy to shoot with the heft of the gun and the grip size, and while .357 isn't a "joy", it certainly can be done without much pain, although I suspect that it will be more of a novelty unless I decide to pack it along on a hike in black bear / mountain lion country. It seems like .38+p is one heck of a solid self defense round.

No buyers remorse whatsoever, one simply MUST have at least one revolver, and .357 mag with all the versatility of rounds available seems the obvious choice. Having shot the GP100 with a 6" barrel vs my 2" barrel, it is clear that for accuracy on targets the 6" is a big advantage, but the ability to easily carry concealed with the SP100 seems worth the trade-off to me. Great little gun.

OH ... Bama, Musically

Pretty creative and fun to watch. Since it seems that a lot of the "creative class" has a liberal bent, the vast majority of weeknight comedy shtick, music and other "popular arts" tend to be far over to the left, increasing that view that to be "smart and hip" is to be liberal.

The vast majority is still there, but the web lets the "2nd string" get involved as well.

MSM Does It's Job with McCain

I've often said that if the MSM treated Democrats the same as Republicans, they would be doing a great job. McCain has supported campaign finance measures that I believe are completely wrong headed in the first place and at least ought to be unconstitutional. Of course, the press loved McCain and Feingold being "bi-partisan" on Campaign Finance Reform (CFR).

While it is impossible for a Democrat to by a hypocrite in the MSMs eyes though, the same is not true of a Republican. The NYT goes out of their way to point out McCain actions that are against the "spirit" of reforms that he supported. Should he be held to a higher standard after getting the accolades of supporting CFR? Sure--how about Al Gore on the environment, Bill Clinton on sexual harrassment, and virtually every wealthy Democrat in office relative to taxation? Most DEFINITELY!! As it is, McCain will pay the price for his relatively minor hypocracy, while BO and Hillary will blather about all sorts of "taxing the rich" while they hold and add to their millions and avoid those taxes via clever loopholes, and the MSM and it's millions of sheep won't even be the least bit cognizant of the double standard.


CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time - Blogs from CNN.com

Financial Franken Questions

Hey, the Strib is at least CARRYING some of the information.

He is a quote from his campaign manager that I love:

"Al spent the week doing an economy tour of the state," Barr said,
adding "We're not hearing about this except from the Republican Party.
..."

Golly, the MSM doesn't seem willing to go out and do any digging on a Democrat Senate candidate, that is certainly something unique! Obama attended an anti-American anti-white church for 20 years and nobody in the MSM thought that was a news story during his Senate race - If Hillary hadn't brought it up it STILL wouldn't be news. It is only for Republicans they are willing to really go the extra mile and forge documents to try to defeat them.

Apparently a lot of the reason that Al is in favor of high taxes and a lot of business regulation is because even though he makes a lot of money and is a small businessman, he just doesn't bother to pay the taxes or follow the regulations. Why should he? He knows he is a nice guy, and those taxes and regulations are there to keep the evil Republicans in line, not to bother a great guy like Al!

April Flurries, Warming Worries?

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/04/020387.php

We are suffering a cold weekend here in MN. There was snow in the air here in SE MN, but not the sticking stuff. The combination of a lot of wind and temps in the lower 40s felt plenty cold though.

The Powerline link above is a good one, but I think it also shows the general futility of trying to offset the MSM/sheep connection. Most people simply want to have the POPULAR VIEW. Yes, they may feel some "cognitive dissonance" while they see the snow fall in April, but they will see no news articles on how this might mean that GW isn't as certain as sometimes reported. When we have our next good warm spell, reporting of GW will be back. We have gone two years with no hurricanes hitting the US when it was predicted that GW would cause MANY more and each would be more severe. BUT, there was no reporting that those predictions not being true in the last couple years to cast any doubt on the predictions.

I find it tiresome to listen to discussion of GW or to engage in it myself. My personal belief is that temps in decades or even multiple decades can flucuate up or down and not mean anything that we can understand. BUT, I'm not a climatologist (and neither is Al Gore). The fact that GW is such a big story and political issue for the left, and the degree to which the MSM can get the sheep to follow is really the main story in my view.

I believe the longer term climate record supports my "it fluctuates" view.

Bitterly Clinging

Slightly in honor of BO (but mostly in honor of the $100 off a $500 purchase to Cabella's credit card holders), I journeyed to Cabella's this evening and purchased a new Ruger SP 101 .357 Mag, stainless 5 shot revolver with a 2" barrel. I have a fairly wide hand, so a lot of the smaller pistols don't fit my hand, and I can't "bitterly cling" as securely as I would like. This little number lets me get a good hold so that BO will have to work some to pry my cold dead fingers off the 2nd amendment. Hopefully I'll be reporting on how it shoots this weekend.



While I'm at my reporting, I picked up a folding composite stock for my 35+ year old Ruger 10/22 that has 1000s of rounds fired through it, and at least in my youth, not always the BEST of care. I pulled the Nikon 2-7X scope off a slug gun, picked up a few 30-round mags, and wala, a pretty cool little plinking gun. My wife has already laughed at it, but a few folks have walked over at the range to indicate appreciation and questions of "what is that"?

The guy that sold the pistol to me at Cabella's was a 2-tour to Iraq Marine. He didn't seem all that bitter about the Iraq war, but I'm sure he was just hiding it well! BO, Hillary and the whole MSM can't possibly be wrong that it is a hopeless waste of lives based on lies -- because we know that they would CERTAINLY be taking the views of ex-Marines that served as a very high indicator of the truth. Right? I mean, to even question Kerry the war hero of Vietnam in '04 was the HEIGHT of "unpatriotic", so we know that a guy that has been back less than a year (as opposed to 30+) would have pretty good recollections of anything "seared into his brain".

NYT Beats Up Hillary

This little NYT editorial is a great opportunity to see how the left thinks and how narrow their view really is. Some points:

• "inconclusive"? Do they believe in votes anymore? A 10% margin is "inconclusive"? I assume there is only one answer that they will call "conclusive"-Obama wins, but can they state their bias any more blatantly?
  
• Hillary is the candidate that they endorsed!! THEY picked her, not "Karl Rove". She is the Senator from NEW YORK, which they endorsed for that position as well. She and Bill used far worse tactics against Republicans for 8+ years, and the NYT stood and applauded!!
  
• "Right from Karl Rove's playbook". Is Rove actually Lucifer? Let's see, did John Kerry ever talk about "Osama Bin Ladin is still at large"? Have we really arrived at the point that NOBODY, not even another Democrat can point out FACTS if they don't cast the MSMs current favorite in the best possible light?
  
• "after 7 years of George Bush's failed with us or against us presidency". Ok, we know the position of the NYT, but that is old news. To them, every Republican President is a failure--before they even take the oath. We may or may not be in a recession--Clinton's presidency ended in a recession, was he a failure? He also had a stock market crash in March of 2K, so I guess his presidency was a BIG failure. In fact, 9-11 happened 8 months after he left office and he failed to nab Bin Ladin--oh, but he was a Democrat, so I guess he had a "successful presidency" ... at least if you are the NYT.
• So the NYT and rest of the MSM believes that whomever their "anointed one" is deserves nothing but "positive dialog on the issues"? Meanwhile, questions of 30 year old guard records, DWIs, spelling of words, "a smirk", "leaks", etc, etc are all completely legitimate to be used against a Republican? No double standards there!!
• I would assume that about 50% of the Dems and hopefully even more can see the blatant bias of the media now. Maybe even some of the BO supporters can be a LITTLE open minded since it is "good old Hillary" that is being beaten up now -- one of their own WONDERFUL Clintons! The very flower of humanity--why if it wasn't for how much MORE lovely BO is, and how much more he has promised their greedy little hearts, they would be in a swoon over how great SHE was!!!
  

The Low Road to Victory (New York Times)

Published: April 23, 2008

The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, morre vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead.

On the eve of this crucial primary, Mrs. Clinton became the first Democratic candidate to wave the bloody shirt of 9/11. A Clinton television ad — torn right from Karl Rove’s playbook — evoked the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war and the 9/11 attacks, complete with video of Osama bin Laden. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” the narrator intoned.

If that was supposed to bolster Mrs. Clinton’s argument that she is the better prepared to be president in a dangerous world, she sent the opposite message on Tuesday morning by declaring in an interview on ABC News that if Iran attacked Israel while she were president: “We would be able to totally obliterate them.”

By staying on the attack and not engaging Mr. Obama on the substance of issues like terrorism, the economy and how to organize an orderly exit from Iraq, Mrs. Clinton does more than just turn off voters who don’t like negative campaigning. She undercuts the rationale for her candidacy that led this page and others to support her: that she is more qualified, right now, to be president than Mr. Obama.

Mr. Obama is not blameless when it comes to the negative and vapid nature of this campaign. He is increasingly rising to Mrs. Clinton’s bait, undercutting his own claims that he is offering a higher more inclusive form of politics. When she criticized his comments about “bitter” voters, Mr. Obama mocked her as an Annie Oakley wannabe. All that does is remind Americans who are on the fence about his relative youth and inexperience.

No matter what the high-priced political operatives (from both camps) may think, it is not a disadvantage that Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton share many of the same essential values and sensible policy prescriptions. It is their strength, and they are doing their best to make voters forget it. And if they think that only Democrats are paying attention to this spectacle, they’re wrong.

After seven years of George W. Bush’s failed with-us-or-against-us presidency, all American voters deserve to hear a nuanced debate — right now and through the general campaign — about how each candidate will combat terrorism, protect civil liberties, address the housing crisis and end the war in Iraq.

It is getting to be time for the superdelegates to do what the Democrats had in mind when they created superdelegates: settle a bloody race that cannot be won at the ballot box. Mrs. Clinton once had a big lead among the party elders, but has been steadily losing it, in large part because of her negative campaign. If she is ever to have a hope of persuading these most loyal of Democrats to come back to her side, let alone win over the larger body of voters, she has to call off the dogs.

Hilly Wins! (MSM Mourns)

But the NYT Isn't very happy about it. Golly, the "hometown paper" of the "Jr Senator from NY" that endorsed her candidacy for President and in a state where she won the primary handily is worried about how "negative" her campaign has been.

"The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it," the board writes.

So I thought Hillary WON the Pennsylvania primary by a double digit margin? The NYT considers that "inconclusive"? I've never seen the NYT concerned about the Clinton's, some other Democrat or the paper itself saying anything "negative" about any Republican, even if it had WAY less factual or informational content than Hilly's pillow fight with poor defenseless BO.

She is just a nasty mean girl I guess and if she doesn't stop beating up on poor BO the Times is going to have to continue to throw hissy fits! I would imagine that his "ryhemsake" Osama will be much "kinder and gentler" that bad girl Hilly.

One would have thought that the Dems had the election on a silver platter, but I keep forgetting that the Democrats and the MSM really ARE liberals-things like dealing with reality, taking responsibility, getting something done or (horror of horrors) "making a DECISION!!!" are against their very nature.

Jimmuh Diplomacy

Power Line: Nice Going, Jimmuh

PL has a nice title. Ah yes, the rabbit killer. As President he thought the Soviets could be trusted and made nice with them, so they invaded Afghanistan and he punished the US farmers and atheletes with grain embargo and the olympic boycott. Planner of The Jimmy Carter Desert Classic", the perfect Democrat military operation where only Americans died and nothing at all was accomplished. As the vaunted ex-President he "negotiated" a "deal" with the N Koreans where we gave them a bunch of stuff and they promised to not build nukes -- which of course they didn't honor.

The lefties generally love Jimmuh, he is their kind of guy. Complains a lot, incompetent, probably pretty "book smart" but extremely sure he is way better than reality says he is. Like a true lefty, he is unfazed by the lack of success or even damage that his actions cause, he is SURE that "his heart is in the right place".

2 Timothy 2
5 Treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

He is pro-abortion and pro gay "marriage" ... so the "form of godliness" is weak these days. 

The Hand-Wringing Rolls On

"Swift Boating" has apparently now been extended from "a release of potentially negative facts about a Democrat by someone on the right" to "any release of damaging information about a Democrat (or potentially the new level only applies to BO)". Naturally the official MSM view is that anything negative about a Democrat that they like is by definition either false, unimportant or both. For Slick Willie, charges of rape were both unimportant and obviously false with no investigation required at all. For Bush, 30 year old charges about his Gaurd record that turned out to be false were worthy of hour long prime-time specials.

Good to see the major MSM outlets like Newsweek hot on making sure that BO only has a GOOD side!


Can Obama Repel 'Swift Boat'-Style Attacks? | Newsweek Periscope | Newsweek.com

Consider a Conservative BO

Quoted from Powerline, nothing much to add other than this is EXACTLY the seeds of true fascism. The suppression of any questioning of "the supreme leader". We get some hints in BOs answers how much he dislikes having his omnicience questioned--why should a mere media person have any right whatsoever to question "his supreme excellency BO"?

Consider this thought experiment: Assume that a conservative candidate for the GOP nomination spent two decades at a church whose senior pastor was a white supremacist who uttered ugly racial (as well as anti-American) epithets from the pulpit. Assume, too, that this minister wasn’t just the candidate’s pastor but also a close friend, the man who married the candidate and his wife, baptized his two daughters, and inspired the title of his best-selling book.

In addition, assume that this GOP candidate, in preparing for his entry into politics, attended an early organizing meeting at the home of a man who, years before, was involved in blowing up multiple abortion clinics and today was unrepentant, stating his wish that he had bombed even more clinics. And let’s say that the GOP candidate’s press spokesman described the relationship between the two men as “friendly.”

Do you think that if those moderating a debate asked the GOP candidate about these relationships for the first time, after 22 previous debates had been held, that other journalists would become apoplectic at the moderators for merely asking about the relationships? Not only would there be a near-universal consensus that those questions should be asked; there would be a moral urgency in pressing for answers. We would, I predict, be seeing an unprecedented media “feeding frenzy.”

The truth is that a close relationship with a white supremacist pastor and a friendly relationship with an abortion clinic bomber would, by themselves, torpedo a conservative candidate running for president. There is an enormous double standard at play here, one rooted in the fawning regard many journalists have for Barack Obama. They have a deep, even emotional, investment in his candidacy. And, as we are seeing, they will turn on anyone, even their colleagues, who dare raise appropriate and searching questions–the kind journalists are supposed to ask. The reaction to Stephanopoulos and Gibson is a revealing and depressing glimpse into the state of modern journalism.

Democrats Pledge "No New Taxes"

No Whining About the Media - Campaign Stops - 2008 Elections - Opinion - New York Times Blog

This is by David Brooks, the long time token "conservative" on the NYT editorial board. I happened to hear the part of the debate on the "no new taxes", and I was somewhat surprised, but I completely disagree with David. The only reason Bush Senior's "No New Taxes" pledge hurt him is because he is a REPUBLICAN. The idea that Brooks thinks for a SECOND that either Clinton or BO are going to stand by their pledges to not "raise taxes of any kind" on INDIVIDUALS making less than $250K a year is complete hocum and everyone ought to know it. It is "rhetoric to get elected".

Part of the reason one has to try to parse the "nuance" of what Democrats say is because "nuance" is AT BEST all one is going to get. There is no question that their statements on taxes are bold faced lies - only by trying to "read through the entrails" of things like their books, web-sites and off the cuff remarks on things like "bitterness" and race can one hope to get a glimpse behind the packaged creation that the MSM and Democrats provide as a candidate. I think his estimate of "$40 billion" on taxing "the rich" is quite high, those are the people that have the MOST freedom to move income around (including off shore), forgoing income and leaving investments in other assets, etc. They aren't the sitting ducks that people like us tax slaves are.

It gives one pause to realize that the NYT's CONSERVATIVE is lamenting that "It’s impossible to fund a health care plan, let alone anything else, with that kind of money." Brooks thinks that tax increases are going to be the way to increase revenue - apparently at the NYT, even the "conservatives" are fixed economy sized liberals. If the economy is $1000 and taxes are 10% you get $100 in tax. If it a static economy, raising taxes 1% gives an extra $10. However if the economy is growing at 5% a year, NO NEW TAXES will give you a $1050 total economy next year with tax revenue of $105, $1,102.5 the following year with taxes of $110.25, or a .25 premium for NOT raising taxes, AND, the economic growth picture just gets better and better.

Fortunately for the tax cutter and UNfortunately for the tax increaser, the economy is FAR from static. Time and time again raising taxes either slows or stops growth, and raising taxes in the face of a slowing economy is an excellent way to induce, prolong and deepen recessions. As Reagan proved, when the upper income people stop working, the whole train slows rapidly--the lead actor fails to take that extra picture this year because "it isn't worth it", and all the supporting actors, the studio, the stage hands, the wardrobe people, etc are out of job and the economy slows. By millions and billions of "little" decisions like that across the economy, the earning potential of all is removed.

This problem is as old as "The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg". There are no limits on the appetite for gold, especially OTHERS gold, and the true "greedy" are those that think that their lives benifit by sucking more funds away from those who earn them. In the end, they "kill the goose", and it is those with the greatest need that suffer the worst. The rational and the productive slow their work output, take extra training, move their dollars to areas where the government is not penalizing their productivity and the overall tax revenues and the economy slow.

We have WAY better data on how this operates than Global Warming, and human beings are FAR more in control of the economy than the environment (the economy is human created). The left just refuses to accept how economics works, so they persist in taking steps that "kill the goose". Like moths to the fire, they just can't seem to get it through their heads that they MUST have the most productive people working at very close to peak efficiency if they want to keep growth going. There is no difference between their plans and putting "ankle weights" (or maybe both wrist and ankle weights) on the best atheletes in baseball, basketball, football, etc and then see how entertaining the game is.

The lefties are always braying about "diversity", but the REAL diversity that matters is diversity of talent, intelligence, drive, personality, innovation, risk taking, have different thoughts, different spiritual and emotional responses. Skin color, gender, sexual preferences and all the other "lefty diversity" are quite boring in comparison. The constant attempts to gain "equality of result", or "more civility" are really just attempts to REMOVE the true myriad of diversities that make human life and spirit wonderful gifts from the infinite.