Appalling Error of Thought on "Poor"

The Appalling Stance of Rand Paul - NYTimes.com:

Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said Sunday on Fox News: “I do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they’re paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers.” 

This statement strikes at the heart — were a heart to exist — of the divide between conservatives and liberals about whether the social safety net provides temporary help for those who hit hard times or functions as a kind of glue to keep them stuck there.

The whole column is covered right there ... although it drones on.

The error is that Rand Paul is commenting on ALL HUMANS ... himself, Charles Blow, me, you, EVERYONE ... NOT on "the poor".  Conservatives have met the poor and they is us (to paraphrase Pogo)  ... we are ALL poor in one or more ways. Poor in spirit, poor in intelligence, poor in knowledge, poor in motivation, poor in wisdom ... the list is endless.

The world we live in provides us various motivations, some of them relatively gentle, some of them very harsh. A moment of inattention on the wrong road in the wrong conditions can be fatal ... without a 26 week recovery period, nor any chance for a do-over. Many things can impact our lives which make our road infinitely harder ... Charles Krauthammer is paralyzed and in a wheelchair, yet he is independent because while he is "poor in physical capability", he is strong in mind and motivation.

Blow (author of column) compounds his error of thought by name calling. Conservatives can have no heart if they disagree on the best methods for the motivation of ALL.

Humans ALL need the threat of the "lump of coal" to provide us with motivational assist from time to time, lest we become a "poor nation" as opposed to a "nation with some poor".




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Would You Die for a Couple Million?

Why Most Rich 1 Percenters Would Give Anything To Be Among The 99% - Forbes:

Modern man has a lot of trouble with the obvious. The 99% would rarely be willing to change position with the vast majority of the 1%, but the vast majority of the 1% would exchange places with the 99% in a heartbeat.

Why? The 1% are mostly at advanced age, and most of the 99% are young.

What is youth worth? As for all of history, far far more than the young will realize until it is FAR too late for them as well!

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The Passive Agressive Presidency

Charles Krauthammer: Obama the oblivious - The Washington Post:

Good one by Charles. BO is only oblivious to things that are not about HIM!

He gets VERY excited whenever he "pivots" to a new running "squirrel" (new topic), just like your family pet. Then the squirrel runs up a tree, or like Garfield, he delegates catching the squirrel to "Odie" ... then forgets all about it.

He will return later to blame others for things not coming out as everyone wanted them to, or as he promised them to ... but of course that will not be HIS fault in the least!

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W Disses Mandela

He Didn’t Bow!! | Power Line:

Please just consider for a second or two W taking a laughing smiling  "selfie" with a blonde at Mandela's funeral. (never mind she is the leader of Denmark, this was NOT a "state action"!)

First it is is a great disservice to a solid President and decent man to even SUGGEST the idea of W behaving like BO! It would NEVER happen!!

In an alternative universe where something like that did happen with W, the media would be completely APOCALYPTIC!!! Oh, the embarrassment to the nation! Oh the RACISM! Oh the horror of our "appointed president" showing his incompetence, immaturity, selfishness, lack of respect, lack of decorum ..." and the list would go on.

In a lot of other situations I would cut a president some slack ... out at a sporting or other event, on the golf course, etc, but this was a STATE FUNERAL for God's sake. How could he POSSIBLY think that was appropriate behavior. But of course, we know ... he is a narcissist, and what he wants to do is what counts!

Naturally, the next time such a thing happens in a supposedly completely off-camera setting and is captured by the MSM, it will be a significant news story. Because as Cronkite used to say "and that's the way it is".

Now that you have your imagination warmed up, just think of what China, North Korea, Putin, Arab leaders ... and on and on think when they see this. The international stage, like nature, abhors a vacuum!! China is landing on the moon and flexing it's muscles over the contested islands. We have just handed the Ukraine to Putin. We have just capitulation in Syria and Iran. This is the greatest opportunity for our enemies to give us a large and unpleasant surprise, and the leaders of the formerly great powers,  the UK and the US are behaving like poorly raised teenagers!! What a Christmas present to the bad guys!

Seeing something like that is so unbelievable that in makes me wonder if I'm really still sane or just imagining it!

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The Big Lie, Benghazi Edition

FITTON: A closer look at the Benghazi lie - Washington Times:

You can read through it if you want the sordid details, but the punchline is there is a lot of stuff they are STILL withholding. Keeping a nation apathetic is an important factor on the road to serfdom, so BO and the MSM do their best, and in a nation mostly bent on personal gratification, it isn't all that hard.

"The Big Lie" has been useful Statist Propaganda forever, but it is especially rich that the specific definition is from that Poster Child for Statists , Adolf himself!

One of the many uses of this technique is the BO "The most transparent administration in history". Which along with many of his other statements was never even remotely intended. ("If you like your health insurance you can keep it.")

So the photos that have been wrested from the State Department plainly show what we all know, BO and Hilly-Billy were completely lying about the "mobs all excited by YouTube". The maker of that film never the less remains incarcerated. Welcome to the Gulag.



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Barry Sleeps on the Couch

Barack's 'Selfie' At The Mandela Funeral Makes Michelle The Angriest You've Ever Seen | Independent Journal Review:

Michelle may be liberal on SOME issues!

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Coldest In 18 Years

Earliest Subzero Temps Since ’95; More Bitter Cold And Snow Coming « CBS Chicago:

As I'll say over and over, 18 years isn't "Climate", neither is 40 or 50. One certainly has to be over 100 years to talk about Climate vs weather and weather patterns. It was cold (and hot, it was very extreme) in the 1930s. The 60's and 70's were pretty cold winters at least in the upper midwest ... the snowmobile craze really took off and we had some of our deepest snows and coldest winters.

In WI, the coldest temperature recorded was -55 in Feb in '96. This link shows the coldest temperatures recorded by state.

Historically, "the weather" was the safest most non-controversial topic one could talk about. It is a strong sign of the politicization and coarseness of our culture that even the weather has now become a controversial political topic that various media outlets will align their reporting of hot temps or cold temps around!

Enjoy the cold! Go ahead and mention that it is cold and say Merry Christmas! Our society needs to ratchet it's Political Correctness fussiness down a WHOLE BUNCH of notches!

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Coldest In 18 Years

Earliest Subzero Temps Since ’95; More Bitter Cold And Snow Coming « CBS Chicago:

As I'll say over and over, 18 years isn't "Climate", neither is 40 or 50. One certainly has to be over 100 years to talk about Climate vs weather and weather patterns. It was cold (and hot, it was very extreme) in the 1930s. The 60's and 70's were pretty cold winters at least in the upper midwest ... the snowmobile craze really took off and we had some of our deepest snows and coldest winters.

In WI, the coldest temperature recorded was -55 in Feb in '96. This link shows the coldest temperatures recorded by state.

Historically, "the weather" was the safest most non-controversial topic one could talk about. It is a strong sign of the politicization and coarseness of our culture that even the weather has now become a controversial political topic that various media outlets will align their reporting of hot temps or cold temps around!

Enjoy the cold! Go ahead and mention that it is cold and say Merry Christmas! Our society needs to ratchet it's Political Correctness fussiness down a WHOLE BUNCH of notches!

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God Loves BOcare

In Government We Trust: The Progressive Religion - Derek Hunter - Page 1:

Nothing new here to longer term MooseTracks readers, just a new case of the same old "Liberalism as Religion".

Ed Schultz and Chris "Kneepad" Mathews channeling God and "morality" on BOcare is especially rich. Suddenly the man upstairs has decided to embrace Democrats, turn a blink eye to 10's of millions of aborted babies crying out in pain, to wholly embrace the outsource of human care and charity to Big Government. I'm sure God was and is equally thrilled with the Godless USSR, Nazi Germany, China, Cuba, etc.

Pretty decent article, a teaser:

In nearly every way government has replaced religion in the progressive sphere. It is the grantor of rights, the arbiter of morality, the moderator of justice, the compass of true north. Government is the religion, and the agenda is God.

Any act done in service to the agenda is justified; the end is what matters, the means are irrelevant. That’s how you rationalize selling big lies, known lies, to a public wanting to believe your snake oil is the cure for what ails them.

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Amazing Helicopter Pilot!

This Helicopter Pilot Is Masterful At His Job - Digg:

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Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded

Coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth in Antarctica: -94.7C (-135.8F) | World news | theguardian.com:

135F ... enough to make one say Brrrrrr!

Does it mean that the planet is cooling, warming, or staying the same?

None of the above, it is DATA, data is how we LEARN ... provided that our minds aren't so clouded by some belief. ("Settled Science" is NEVER science, and always belief)

Those with the belief of Global Warming however will try to minimize the fact of this data while they have and will heavily publicize every warm temperature recorded to the maximum extent they can.

Ignoring one set of data and focusing on another is propaganda, and when it creeps into what was formerly science, it is a good "Canary in the Coal Mine" warning of the road to tyranny. (See Lysenko, Mengele)

Those names should justifiably make you feel even colder, as should the very idea of Science being used in the service of propaganda.


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The Myth of the Independent Press

America's economic mobility myth - Dec. 9, 2013:

One of the things that was formerly unique about America was that we had an independent press. When a Republican is in the WH we still do! But clearly not with BO, so much like Pravda in the days of the old USSR, when our "Dear Leader" decides to "pivot" to "income inequality", our lapdog MSM tries to help him as much as they can.

So CNN proudly tells us that US mobility is a "Myth". Meanwhile, the NYTs says "Location Matters" 

The Times article gives one a lot more ability to do some figuring on your own. A few elements seem to jump out ... the deep south is worse for mobility, some parts of the US are just as good or better than even the supposed leader ... Denmark. In looking at the map and areas like North Dakota, it seems that exploiting natural resources is very helpful ... which likely goes a long way to explaining Canada.

One can quickly figure out it is quite complicated if the US and Britain share poor numbers, since Britain is more socialist than the US, yet their numbers are WORSE!  Broken homes, certainly are a factor, but how about "once great nations in decline"? Britain and the US certainly fit that, Denmark never was great. France probably BELIEVES they are still both "great and exceptional", but .41 isn't really much better than the US and England.

So CNN does the BO "public service" by declaring mobility a "myth", but look a little closer at the NYTs article. They set the bar REALLY high ... from the BOTTOM 5th to the TOP 5th! That truly is the old Horatio Alger "Rags to Riches" story ... an AMAZING 35% chance to clear that HIGH bar if you happen to come from Williston or Dickinson ND!!

We really have no clue where CNN's "class mobility" is at. Bottom 5th to top would certainly cover that, but I'd think that just moving out of the bottom 5th would as well.

A look at the map in the NYTs article gives the lie to the CNN basic assertion that "a lot more redistribution, especially to education will fix this". I'm certain BO and his patron teachers union whole heartedly agree, but does anyone really believe that schools in Williston or Dickinson ND are THAT much better? Let alone that ND has the kind a redistributive tax policy that makes this kind of success happen????

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Making Gun "News" Via Fabrication

The real tragedy of America's gun violence – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs:

No unusual shootings going on, SO, let's MAKE some negative gun "news" as a "public service" BANNER HEADLINE:

Naturally, since the facts don't fit the narrative of our anti gun story, let's make some up!

And we do have an actual experiment. In the aftermath of its own Newtown-like massacre, Australia changed its gun laws. The result? Homicides and suicides plummeted in the decade that followed. Of course, like all real world problems, the link between guns and violence is a complex issue. But one rarely has so much evidence pointing in the same direction.

Only a couple of tiny problems here:

1. One would have THOUGHT they would have stated "GUN homicides and suicides plummeted" ... because of course homicides and suicides were unaffected. People just used other means! 
2. However, they are STILL WRONG, not even GUN RELATED HOMICIDES and SUICIDES DROPPED! Here we have that from the noted right wing media outlet Time Magazine ... Stating in the headline "Australia's Gun Laws: Little Effect"

So in fact the entire article is nothing but a lie!! But there is MORE! We make the gratuitous snarky claim that "does ANYONE think that we have 12x the psychologically troubled people"?

America's per capita gun homicide rate in 2009 was 12 times higher than the average of Canada, Germany, Australia and Spain. Does anyone think that we have 12 times as many psychologically troubled people as they do in these countries?

Note the persistence of their use of GUN HOMICIDE as opposed to HOMICIDE. Unfortunately for the news MAKERS at CNN the Time article gives us an answer:

Firearm homicides in Australia were declining before 1996 and the decline has simply continued at the same rate since, McPhedran says. (In 2002-3, Australia's rate of 0.27 gun-related homicides per 100,000 people was one fifteenth that of the U.S. rate.)

So PRIOR to the great leap forward of Australia gun confiscation, the rate was 15X in the Aussies sane advantage, but AFTER it was only 12x!! So what is "anyone" to think? Rounding up the guns caused 3 points MORE psychosis relative to US?? It CERTAINLY wasn't guns, right?? They were confiscated! But the Aussies got WORSE by 3 pts relative to the US.

In a world where sane people held sane discussions, there are LOTS of "reasonable thoughts" here:

1. There may just not be enough statistical Australian data to provide accuracy at the level that comparisons are being made. (invalid statistical set)
2. It IS possible that mental health policy in Australia is different than the US. Prior to us deciding that being "free" was a "right" even if you were insane, and having the mental institutions patients released in droves to be the "Homeless" of the Reagan years, a lot of these shooters were in institutions. It IS actually very possible that the Aussies kept 3.38 more people per 100K institutionalized! (.27 person per 100K and 4.05 person per 100K ( 4.05 is .27x15) is 3.88 people per 100K)
3. While we are at it, is it REALLY "impossible" that there are 3.88 more crazy people per 100K WALKING AROUND in the US than in Australia? There are 33 obese people per 100 (ONE HUNDRED) people in Mississippi vs 21 per 100 in Colorado, or a difference in obesity of 12% between two states in the US. A difference of 3.88 out of 100K on the other hand is .00388 % !!! 

We know this answer folks. This BANNER HEADLINE ARTICLE is 100% false anti-gun PROPAGANDA foisted on unsuspecting people who largely buy it hook line and sinker by a media bent on removing their rights under the Constitution.

In case there is any doubt of that, they point that out at the end of the article ... the 2nd Amendment doesn't mean what it says! So there!

Why is it we can't all get along? Because given the elites and the MSM, there are a large set of people playing with their own "facts", and they want to use those fabricated facts to take away basic human rights like the right of self defense!

OZ (BO) Admits He Is Humbug!

Review & Outlook: The ObamaCare Buck Finally Stops - WSJ.com:

As a nation loses more and more of it's will to think independently, one of the BIG warning signs is the loss of irony. If you are confident you understand irony and why it is important to humans, you can just skip to the bold below.

Since our education today is so minimal and our meaningful social interactions even less (meaning CIVIL social discussion on critical issues), I'm including a link to this SHORT and I think well executed definition of irony.

The usage called out by the linked article is essentially BO stepping into the puddle that he just criticized others for falling into ... the criticism of government.

Why is loss of the ability to detect or use irony a warning sign?

1. The use of the Socratic method is indispensable to teaching the art of critical thought. Indoctrination can't work via that method because an intelligent and clear thinking student will often turn the tables on an arrogant and self important teacher trying to indoctrinate under the cloak of authority. So today, rote learning of the desired responses is the order of what we call "education". 
2. There is no computerized test for irony. It is HUMAN ... and therefore related to DIVINE since man is created in Gods image. As with all human activity that is not God directed, the outcome tends toward the opposite of the stated objective.
   
   In the case of "secular humanism", things like the Socratic Method, irony, theology, and true philosophy have to be replaced by rote learning, name calling, anger, exclusion and similar tactics. "Uncomfortable" (for humanists) viewpoints like Christianity have to be removed from education and the public square. Viewpoints other than those proffered by the humanist need to be marginalized and eventually named "hate speech".
   
   Other examples of "humanism" creating the opposite (See Orwell to better understand):
   
   "Freedom" -- Becomes "Democracy", then Mob Rule, then Tyranny
   
   "Welfare" -- Becomes Dependency, Destruction of family, complete spiritual and physical destruction of person.
   
   "Liberal" -- Becomes Political Correctness, Totalitarian control of all of life and thought from birth to death by "experts" blocking out all thought which disagrees with current Statist objectives. (See "Road to Serfdom") 

So BO comes out and says:

"The challenge, I think, that we have going forward is not so much my personal management style or particular issues around White House organization," he said. "It actually has to do with what I referred to earlier, which is we have these big agencies, some of which are outdated, some of which are not designed properly. . . . The White House is just a tiny part of what is a huge, widespread organization with increasingly complex tasks in a complex world."

GOT THAT????? Big government is the problem! The Government has gotten too big and too complex for the poor little White House, and by extension the Great and Powerful BO himself (Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!) to execute the socialization of 1/7th of the US economy!

Had our press and people not lost the ability to understand irony and what it means for our existence, this would be FRONT PAGE NEWS!!! ... and perhaps the Great and Powerful OZ (BO) would have to come out from behind the curtain and admit even more explicitly to poor little Dorothy and Toto (the American People) that he is indeed a Humbug, a traveling nostrum salesman with no great powers whatsoever.

But we are no longer enough of a nation to even understand how exposed that man behind the curtain is, so the huge smoking, belching and thundering of our MSM and Elites will keep mesmerizing the masses even after the curtain of BO's extreme smallness and incapacity being lifted by his own hand.

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Superpowers Return to Moon, Get Web Site Working

China launches its first moon rover mission:

While the declining US is busy trying to get a web site up to help deepen our multi-trillion deficits*  via a new health care "benefit",  China is attempting a soft landing on the moon with a rover this weekend.

China's plans include exploiting the moon for solar energy, mining and manufacturing.

They are spending 10's of billions on space including a manned program (they have their own manned space station). They seem to believe that there is some future beyond paying off debts and caring for a declining and dying elderly population.

Crazy fools. The intelligent folks are sitting around freezing here in the US worrying about Global Warming and anxiously awaiting new reports on our exciting new web site!

Ah, Irony. I used to love the US space program. Now I'm just bursting with pride that it looks like we my be making progress with an actual working web site!! ... at least BO says so, and if you like that, it must be true!  What a country!

*counting what the Fed is printing to buy bonds for nothing
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