I'm Back, Tanned, Rested, and Ready...

...to take another blog-cation. My birthday was nice, had many well-wishes from friends, played a good gig that evening and it took three whole days to recover.

My liver is glad it's over.

Anywho, my posts will be a bit less frequent, as I have a lot to do around the hacienda cleaning up for the holidays. I know I've said that before, but this time I mean it. Familial duties and all that.

So, here's a few tidbits until I can find my muse once more. I know I put it somewhere...

I was watching the ESPN talking heads yesterday before Tim Tebow's first NFL start as quarterback for the Denver Broncos against the Miami Dolphins and the hostility towards him was palpable for reasons I've yet to fathom. Petty and nitpicking is what it really was. There was even a segue from a commercial that went, "Tim Tebow, love him or hate him..."

That got me thinking: exactly what did Tebow do to cause anyone to hate him? Did he beat up his wife? Did he get in a fight in a bar? Has he shot anyone in a fight in a bar? Caused any dogs to die?

Did I miss something? Or are the sportsheads just a wee bit jealous and maybe scared that Tebow's a better man than they are?

RIP Dan Wheldon. Prayers go out to your wife, children, and family.

The OWSers are getting more and more repugnant as time goes by. Arrests, garbage everywhere, no sanitary facilities, no permits. And they compare themselves to Tea Partiers? I want the GOP to hang these infantile protesters around the neck of every Democrat who embraces them, just to provide a real contrast with the rest of America.

Dumb, stupid and ignorant is no way to go through life. They know less than nothing about how the world works, how capitalism should work, nor how much of anything works. I'm reminded of the scene in Talladega Nights where Texas Ranger points a gushing garden hose inside the neighbors' open window while yelling, "Anarchy, anarchy! I don't know what it means, but I like it!"

Oh, I guess I should put a link to something in here somewhere. This is encouraging, World Power Swings Back to America. They need to give us another year before that happens in earnest, so we can rid ourselves of the Socialists, Marxists and Progressives that have infested the left and Washington. Many politicians have to be defeated in November of 2012, like Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Dianne Fienstein, Olympia Snowe, and their RINO squish enablers like Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell. Even then, we'll need some time to repeal everything that Obama has done. That'll take a while, but do it we much.

I've laid out my plan, albeit in bits and pieces here over the years, but it's imperative that we undo everything that the left has instituted in Washington before we can start to think about leading the world again. And by leading, I mean by example. We should retrench and rebuild our nation, which has been gradually destroyed from within by our enemies, and let the rest of the world do as it pleases. We have enough natural resources to become truly self-sufficient.

We should do it as soon as possible. Our very survival may depend on it,

I'm Taking a Blog-cation Until Monday

I haven't done this in a while, but I'll be taking the rest of the week off. I'm following in the footsteps of my reluctant mentor, Ace, who just returned from his vacation. Besides, tomorrow is my birthday, so if past celebrations are any indicator, I'll need all that time to sober up, raise bail money, begin rehab, recharge my batteries, so to speak.

So, in my absence, please feel free to poke around in the archives. Or submit ideas for a post in the comments. Or, as some of you geeks have done, post some more info on LightSquared's Grand Debacle. Either way, I want all 11 of you to hang out and enjoy yourselves.

Try not to trash the place, 'k?

In the mean time, I'll leave y'all with one link that comes courtesy of one of the Moron Horde, Vic, who's battling cancer as we speak. As you guys know, I recently lost one of my bestest musician buddies to liver cancer, so my thoughts and prayers are with him, even though we only know each other through our keyboards.

Here's the link: Primary Sources. It's from the Heritage Foundation to some of the Founding Fathers' original writings on government. It should be required reading in schools, but we all know that our precious little ones really only need to know why Heather has two Mommies instead, don't we?

Snark I much.

Anyway, y'all have fun and hoist one for me this fine weekend. In fact, I have a gig tomorrow at a local bedroom community down here that throws a street party on the second Thursday of the month, every month. How nice of them to shut down the town and have a party for my birthday. They really shouldn't have.

Y'all be good and I'll see you on Monday.

A Couple of Radical, Far-Right Protest Songs

...and by "radical, far-right," I mean average Americans as seen through the lens of the decidedly leftist media and their Washington enablers.

I suppose if the "Teat Party" can do it, so can we.

These protests are becoming rather tedious. I suppose there will always be a certain sector of America that just doesn't have a clue about how the real world works. Having been indoctrinated throughout their lives to leftist thought in schools and being forced to watch such drivel as AlGore's An Inconvenient Truth and the Story of Stuff in class, they can no longer think for themselves. It sure doesn't help when their parents don't have critical thinking skills, either.

I'll carbon-date myself once again to say that there was once a time when one outgrew such infantilities. Things like having a job and raising a family did much to teach a young adult the way of the world. But since we've entered The Fallacious Period of man, this seems lost.

I am most definitely in the wrong line of work. I should become a Professional Protester. It pays much more than I'm making now, but from what I've read, the working conditions are somewhat less than ideal. (h/t to Ace) Whoa, maybe that's not such a good idea after all. It seems that the Axelturfers call for a "living wage," but won't pay their stooges that much? (h/t Insty) It seems like there's an Alinsky Rule for that. Number 4, I believe.

OK, time's getting short, so here are the songs I promised.

Hank Williams Jr. tells ESPN and Fox and Friends to take this job and shove it, kinda sorta.



And this would be a great counter-protest song, too. Ignore the video part, as it seems to have nothing at all to do with the song itself, plus it's NSFW.



Do the protesters get a bonus for crapping on a police car? If not, why not?

The Fallacious Period of Man

If you or I were anthropologists, we might be tempted to look at this particular age with a jaundiced eye. Everywhere there are false claims, exaggerations, wild theories, misinformation and other evidence that something is missing. While that’s certainly nothing new, technology is enabling bullshit to be more widespread than ever.

I call this Man’s Fallacious Period. I’ve mentioned it before.

It’s not like we’re stupid or anything. Certainly there are and always have been intelligent people. The American Twentieth Century is an example of the world’s best and brightest people doing what they did best: dreaming of a better world and then bringing those dreams to fruition, thus raising the living standard of not only America but the world to levels never before thought possible, creating wealth for themselves and others in the process.

The most recent example of this was the late Steve Jobs.

But intermingled with all this was fallacy. In a way, Mr. Jobs helped to promote this, which is not to diminish his considerable contributions. He could be likened to the first person who harnessed fire. What you do with it after that is up to you.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the political arena. As candidates jockey for power, they say a great many things, some true, some not.

It’s along about here that I draw the analogy between facts and fire, and present, in no particular order, a few of these fallacies.

1. Capitalism is unfair.

2. Mankind is killing the planet.

3. The Tea Party is racist.

4. President Obama knows what he’s doing.

5. America is the world’s Bad Guy.

6. Lady Gaga is a shy, retiring, fashion maven.

I may have made that last one up.

Anyway, you get my point. We’re presented with a great many ideas, some good, some not so good. The question then becomes, “How do I tell the difference?”

In my experience, you need some sort of inner GPS system in order to navigate the seas of fallacies that crash across your bow and threaten to wash you overboard. It’s essential that you remove your emotional reaction from any decision. To quote that great philosopher/warrior Obi Wan Kenobi, your thoughts can deceive you, being as they are so closely linked to emotion. That’s the first thing.

Once free from the ravages of emotion, you can remain calm and take your time exploring as many sides of an issue as possible, testing them against your own experience and those of others. As I used to tell BackwardsBoy’sBoy, some mistakes are so big, you don’t need to make them yourself, you can watch what happens when someone else screws up to see the results. Sometimes, all you need to do is wait for the correct answer to come to you, as it inevitably will. Patience really is a virtue.

We’re currently having our beliefs tested against reality. What works? What fails? Even more importantly, am I seeing things accurately and truthfully?

I sure hope so.

And I hope the same thing for you.

Friday Bits of Tid - Occupation Edition

"What do we want?"

"A Friday Bits of Tid post!"

"When do we want it?"

"Now!"

Do you feel all occupied? I know I do.

It's good to know that all the protesters in the Occupy Wall Street demonstration have completely shunned any and all contact with the corporate world they claim to despise. I'm certain that they won't be using their iPhones or iPods or iPads, or using the greedy, corporate bathrooms at places like McDonalds. Or wearing any of those hip clothes, or shoes, or hoodies decorated with greedy, corporate logos made with slave child labor in China.

And they certainly wouldn't try anything as nefarious as Photoshopping Google pictures to make the protest crowd appear to be much larger than it is. They would never do that.

OK, let's occupy this blog, shall we?

At least our protests haven't gone to the dogs, like they have in Greece.

Fido has his own bed, food dish and now, his very own commercial, complete with a high-frequency sound that we humans can't hear.

Capitalism is alive and well, thank you, as evidenced by this new line of Hallmark layoff greeting cards. "Welcome to Funemployment!"

Remember Russian premier Vladimir Putin's scuba dive where he discovered some ancient Greek artifacts? It was faked. Color me surprised.

If they had brains, they wouldn't be thieves. This guy and this guy miraculously managed to snap their own mug shot with smartphones they stole. Now, if they turned on the GPS location feature, it'd be a simple matter for the police to find them.

Being a "double threat" in football usually means playing on both offense and defense. Here's a new wrinkle: place kicker and homecoming queen.

And finally, I can understand having a stereo on a motorcycle, but this takes it to a whole 'nother level.



Ride Rock on, dudes.

RIP, Steve Jobs

Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs, passed away from cancer yesterday.

His bio is here, and pretty much everywhere else you care to click. Even if you're not a Mac user, you can't deny his impact on the personal computer industry.

He was an innovator, businessman, geek, visionary, and American.

Rest in Peace, Steve. You will be missed.

We're Already Losing the Trade War Unecessarily

Short post today. I'm still reeling over this LightSquared story. Maybe I can find a tie-in, who knows?

I find it interesting that we're in a grand and glorious new age of global commerce. It could be a time of economic renewal for us as a nation, but there are a couple of things that are missing. Like the spirit of competition and a willingness not only to keep up with your competitition, but to do better and excel.

We're being told that we must be a player in this new world order. But, how can we compete if our own government is determined to tie our hands with regulations that are designed to make sure we can't?

All eleven of you know that I'm a firm believer in capitalism and the unfettered free market. But what we have today is anything but. I've outlined the tsunami of regulations that spewed from the 111th Pelosi- and Reid-led Congress. It may be gone, but the damage remains. In fact, we don't have a handle on the actual amount of economic havoc wreaked by this administration, as the regulations are still being written. It's the main driver behind the uncertainty that bedevils our economy.

Now, there's a bill winding its way through the current Congress that aims to put some pressure on China to allow their currency value to float like every other country. Needless to say, the Chineses aren't very happy with this, as they're now threatening a trade war with us.

How nice.

The fact is that we're already losing the trade war, as evidenced by our global trade imbalance. Billions and billions of our dollars are going out of the country and into the coffers of our trade enemies. All this is perfectly justifiable to this administration who sees the US as the bad guy who, because of our success, needs to pay reparations to the rest of the world.

In a sane world where everything wasn't backwards, other countries would be imitating our success instead of robbing us. They'd be reforming themselves instead of us. They would be upping their game, not tearing ours down.

Another thing that I've proposed is to withdraw from this whole idea of a global economy and concentrate on ourselves first. We have the natural resources and the business saavy to do it, just not the political will.

We could drill for our own oil, which we have in abundance, curiously, thanks to the Big Green Movement that has made it essentially forbidden to use. We could be constructing new nuclear plants and oil refineries today. We could stop using food for fuel, ending this outrageously idiotic notion of "American Ethanol" as the cure for our energy woes.

We could regain our manufacturing ability, which we destroyed through NAFTA and GATT. We could reduce the role of government in our economy. We could stop companies from interfering with our own technology, as in LightSquared, where we're shooting ourselves in the foot with a plan to seriously hamper our GPS system (see, I knew I'd find a tie-in).

In short, there's so much we could be doing for ourselves, but aren't.

It's all about the numbers, which so many in Washington either cannot or will not understand. We have met the enemy, and it is us.

One last thingy. I posted a chart by the Moron John E on Monday about numbers. Thanks to LauraW's hump, there's a better version making the rounds of teh Interwebs. This one features dancing girls with fans, champagne bubbles and a big band.

Well, not really.



You may now return to your life.

How Did LightSquared Get This Far Despite Bad Test Results?

I've been doing some of that exhaustive Interwebs research into LightSquared and the results are, well, I'll let you decide. I already made up my mind.

The original idea for LS is a good one, namely to provide broadband service without cables. As many in the wireless world will attest, it's far easier and cheaper to construct a cellular tower than to run cables to individual homes. But, in execution, the radio frequency that LS will use to bypass those cables gets perilously close to the band that our Global Positioning System uses, interfering in what has been called a "quiet neighborhood." This interference has some pretty nasty side effects.

LightSquared's plan would have the necessary towers located on the ground, and testing proved that these towers would prevent GPS signals from reaching users. While that might sound like a minor inconvenience, I doubt if you would think it was very minor if you called 911 in the middle of a heart attack and the first responders suddenly lost their ability to find you. Or if the airplane you were flying in was on approach to the runway and discovered it didn't know where it was.

And this administration thinks that won't be a problem.

In fact, the Federal Communications Commission issued a special waiver for just for LS so it could operate even after it was pretty much proven that their towers would interfere with ground reception of the GPS signal.

This is beyond incompetence and enters the realm I consider to be dangerous.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted this link to an FAA paper (thanks to a fellow Moron over at Ace's Place) that outlines the negative effect of LightSquared's interference with ground reception. It wasn't the only test.

Here's an overview of their plan from Computerworld.com.

The LightSquared interference debate is among the most heated in recent years in the U.S., pitting the critical and widely used GPS service against a new mobile data entrant with a new technology and business model.

Here's what Congress was told.

LightSquared’s intended deployment of their high-power terrestrial broadband system should not be allowed to commence commercial operations until the identified problems are resolved,” said Anthony Russo, director of the federal National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing.

The FCC was informed.

The document describing the testing states that the Lightsquared initiative “will have a severe impact on the GPS band” and “will create a disastrous interference problem for GPS receiver operation to the point where GPS receivers will cease to operate (complete loss of fix) when in the vicinity of these transmitters.”

The Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association had this to say...

Subsequent testing confirmed concerns of aviation and other GPS users that low-powered GPS signals are overwhelmed by the strong signals from LightSquared’s ground transmitters.

Feel safe yet? Feel like the federal government is acting in your best interests and that of the public?

Michelle Malkin digs a bit deeper.

Despite industry-wide protests, the firm somehow received fast-track approval for a special FCC waiver that grants LightSquared the right to use wireless spectrum to build out a national 4G wireless network on the cheap. Ken Boehm, of the conservative watchdog National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) in Washington, D.C., summed up the deal earlier this year: “LightSquared will get the spectrum for a song, while its competitors (e.g., AT&T and Verizon) have to spend billions.”



The current “fix” LightSquared proposes to address the interference problems is a costly, conceptual pipe dream that could require massive retrofitting of millions of handheld GPS devices. GPS expert Eric Gakstatter scoffs: “I’ve been pretty open-minded about LightSquared proposing a solution, but this really insults our intelligence. (A)s we’ve seen previously with LightSquared, it’s not about finding a practical solution for the GPS user community; it’s all about selling an idea to the FCC. The problem is that the FCC doesn’t have to live with LightSquared’s half-baked ‘solution’; we do.”

So, how did this happen? President Obama was an early investor.

And you'll never guess in a million years who else is involved in this danger to the public safety. None other than your fiend and mine, the anti-Christ, George Soros.

As Republican lawmakers begin to dig into the White House's cozy relationship with a startup wireless company and the wealthy Democratic donor who owns it, a new character has appeared on the story's edges: liberal superdonor, conservative bete noire and controversial investor George Soros.



Soros reportedly invested in the telecom company LightSquared through a hedge fund, and many of the nonprofits he finances have backed LightSquared in regulatory and policy disputes.

I propose one more test for LightSquared and it's a very simple one: how long will it take for everyone responsible for this to rot in a jail cell?

Shouldn’t We Fear Global Cooling More Than Warming?

This Monday, I thought I’d spare you the economic gloom and doom that I normally bestow upon you on this first day of the workweek.

Well, not really, here’s a chart you should see: The Obama Presidency by the Numbers.

No, today I want to explore a point that one of my fellow Morons made a couple of weeks ago in a thread over at Ace’s Place and mentioned in the title. Maybe we’re being told the wrong thing in this whole “global warming” debate.

Snark I much.

There’s no doubt in my mind, and in the minds of others who doubt the entire notion of mankind’s ability to change the global climate, that we’re being lied to in order to be manipulated politically and to act against our own best interests. You need not be a climate scientist to understand what’s going on, all you need is a healthy dose of skepticism and your own common sense.

Let’s set aside the fact that some in government are relying on a group of people who haven’t the slightest idea what the weather will be one month from today to tell us what the climate will be in one hundred years, like a certain governor from a state whose name rhymes with New Jersey, one Chris Christie. He seems perfectly content to abdicate his personal responsibility to question this subject. If he were the kind of politician we need, he’d be reaching his own conclusions based on his own knowledge and intuition.

We’re being preached at, normally on a beautiful, picture-postcard, Chamber of Commerce endorsed day that the Earth is in “crisis” and we’re to blame. Every action we innocently take as we go about our daily life is causing irreparable harm to the planet and we need to revert to some past technological time and forego our modern lives in order to stop it.

But what if “global warming” actually served to work in favor of mankind? Bear with me for a moment.

Wouldn’t a warmer global temperature be better suited for growing crops? Wouldn’t that help us feed a growing world population by increasing the amount of productive land?

I’m just asking here.

What are we so scared of? Al Gore seems to be the political equivalent of Chicken Little, upon whose head an acorn fell, causing said youthful chick to fear something for no reason. Except in Gore’s case, he wanted to make a lot of money from it through his very dubious carbon exchange program, which has since proven (thankfully) to be a bust.

Another thing that these global scaremongers seem to forget is man’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances. While we could adapt to cold, we’d still find ourselves at the mercy of the elements whichever way the climate went, warmer or colder. But wouldn’t we be better off if the Earth did get just a little bit warmer? Personally, I think more farmland and more favorable growing conditions would be a good thing for everybody.

It’s rather difficult to plow frozen land from what I understand.

Friday Bits of Tid - USS Nautilus Edition

You're probably wondering why I called you all here. It's Friday, that's reason enough.

On this day in 1954, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was commissioned. This was a technological and tactical triumph for America that greatly enhanced our national security. In addition, it was a slap in the face to Russia, our Cold War adversary, as it was designed by U. S. Navy Captain Hyman Rickover, a Russian. This machine was the state of the maritime art and was celebrated as such in the media, much like the Space Shuttle.

It's worth noting that today's nuclear submarines are more technologically advanced than the Shuttle, which was, at the time of its launch, the most complex machine ever designed and constructed. One can only speculate how many future geeks and geekettes were inspired to join the Navy by the simple existence of the Nautilus.

OK, boys and girls, let's get to tidding.

Yesterday was National Coffee Day, which I missed because I hadn't had enough coffee yet.

And nothing would go better with a cup of the Elixir of Life than a $16 muffin. Did I hear someone ask for a recipe? Here you go.

Out here in the real world, this statement would be called the truth. Inside the DC Beltway, it's considered a gaffe. Since it came from Vice President Biden, it's a big, effin' gaffe...

"Right now, understandably — totally legitimate — this is a referendum on Obama and Biden and the nature of the state of the economy,”

You don't say...

Life imitates art, or more specifically a Pink Floyd album cover. A pig flies over London. I'll wait while you explain to your kids what an album is.

If you only watch one French Star Wars disco ballet today, make it this one. I coulda swore I saw a very young Jodi Foster at the end, for a femtosecond or two.

And finally, there's a stunning revelation from the good people over at the CERN supercollider. It seems that there just may be a subatomic particle that can travel faster than the speed of light. If true, it pokes a black hole in Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

And, seemingly on cue, comes this joke: And the bartender says, "You'll have to leave. We don't allow faster-than-light particles in here." A neutrino walks into a bar. (h/t to the Moron Horde over at Ace's Place)

Also on cue in a cosmic way, since this song from Klaatu was recorded back in the '70's, Little Neutrino. If you have some good ear buds, or even those antique headphone thingys, plug 'em in for this one.



That's it for now. I'll be back yesterday.

Suspend Elections? Pardon Me, Democrats, but Your Mask is Slipping

Well, this is interesting.

Not one but two relatively prominent Democrats have come out in the past few days to suggest that we should violate our own Constitutional law by suspending elections the name of "progress," North Carolina's Governor Bev Perdue and Peter Orszag, President Obama's first Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

To them, government is the wise arbiter of modern American life, always there with a rule or regulation that you must obey for your own good. You're just a bit too stupid to make your own decisions.

As I've mentioned before, there is a psychological flaw in humans that makes them want to control each other, and this is merely the latest example of it. This flaw is the foundation of the political left in America. When you take a look around, you won't find very much of modern American life that doesn't fall under some law or another.

As Andy over at Ace's place succinctly observes, there is a massive push from Washington and this administration to control virtually everything you do.

This control fetish comes through in almost everything they support. Take, for example, mass transit, which involves moving herds of people from point A to point B on a fixed schedule. Meanwhile, with a car I'm free to go where I want when I want. Mass transit = control; automobiles = freedom.



The left has gone so far as to subvert the scientific method to try to scare you into believing your car is destroying the planet to get you to commit untold billions of dollars to mass transit schemes (among other stupidity). It's not about the planet; it's about control.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. In fact, if you looked at it that way, the whole of human history is a battle between those who want to control others and those who simply wish to be left alone to live their lives peacefully as they see fit.

These control freaks cannot grasp the simple concept that there are people who have their own, built-in self-control. These increasingly rare people don't need laws to tell them what's right and what's wrong. They just know it instinctively and live it every day. The thought of killing, or robbing, or doing anything to anyone else they wouldn't want done to themselves is abhorrent to them.

To the radical left (which is all that remains of the Democrat party these days), these intelligent, self-reliant, morally centered people just don't exist. Everyone is a savage-in-waiting.

Everyone except them, of course.

These control freaks seem like good people. They all hide behind a mask of respectability. From a distance, they look normal enough. But, give them just a whiff of power, and the mask comes off.

At least, now we know who two of them are.

Was Herman Cain's Straw Poll Victory in Florida a "Protest Vote?"

There's a new leader of the pack in the Republican Presidential race: Herman Cain.

As you may know, he won the straw vote held in Florida over the weekend and then came in first in a national Zogby poll. There has been some speculation by political pundits as to how and why he emerged as the front-runner, with many saying it is a result of Texas Governor Rick Perry's poor performance in the most recent debate.

The Fox News All Star Panel had this to say,



In my humble opinion, Cain's rise to the top is a bit more than a reaction to Perry, it's a warning shot across the bow of the entire field that real, live conservatism is what will win this election.

As the country struggles under the Obama administrations' boot of higher taxes, a tsunami of new and crushing regulation, class warfare that upends the American Dream and pits citizens against each other (commonly known as "organizing"), the country is ready for some relief. It's my hope that those who voted for Obama so they could assuage some artificially created white guilt will begin to realize that they've been set up. As I've pointed out in this space before, race was part and parcel of the foundation of radicalism that began back in the  '60's, and it continues to be a cudgel with which to beat anyone who dares to criticize this administration.

Cain's rise is a testament to the Tea Party and its increasing influence on the Republican Party, something that scares the GOP establishment. Rush Limbaugh pointed out the main difference between the Tea Party and the Republican establishment the other day when he said the GOP has little interest in reducing the size of government, it merely wants to run it.

That's an important distinction.

Cain's rise is a signal that the GOP establishment would do well to fully embrace conservatism if it wants to win the White House in 2012. That's something that they've proven unwilling to do, as evidenced by John McCain's selection in '08. He was supposed to be the great compromiser, the guy who reaches across the aisle to Democrats. Instead, he folded in the presidential debates and famously said that the country need not fear Barack Obama in the Oval Office.

Do you still think that today, Mr. McCain?

Many of you will recall that Cain was my early pick. His message of solutions and recognition of the importance of principle when it comes to governing is what got my attention. As Stephen Hayes points out in the video above, Cain doesn't speak pol. He talks like everyone else outside of Washington does. I suppose his straw poll win could be interpreted as a "protest vote" against Perry and particularly Romney, but I think it's a bit more than that. It's a message to the entire field to stop sniping at each other and focus on the policies of the Obama administration that are wreaking much havoc on the country, by design.

The GOP establishment still has a lot to learn, something that it can't quite seem to grasp: Americans are seeing, first-hand, up close and personally, the damage that big government can do. It's everywhere you look. The solution is not to merely slow it down, but reverse it. Everything the Obama administration has done needs to be undone for the sake of the nation. This "fundamental transformation" has gone on long enough for us to see where it's heading now, and the destination is incompatible with the vision of the Founders. It's the corrupt Chicago way writ large in Washington.

I sincerely hope Cain remains the front runner for a while. He has a good message, one that deserves to be heard, particularly by the rest of the field: Embrace conservatism and win.

Now is the time.

Things President Obama Should Worry About, But Strangely Doesn't

"May you live in interesting times."

I'm sure you've heard that toast before. I've heard that it's a subtle curse.

Doubtless we live in interesting times, times we have inflicted upon ourselves. We wanted to be cool, hip, cosmopolitan, equal to the rest of the world who looks down on America, if you believe the press. So we hired an inexperienced freshman senator who had never held a private sector postition of any kind to the highest office in the land, the Leader of the Free World.

Do we still feel hip? Cosmopolitan? Cool? You tell me.

I'm fairly certain the President feels all cool and hip. He sure struts his way to the teleprompter like he feels that way. I guess it's a power thing, I wouldn't know.

Amidst the greatest downturn in our economic history, our president seems far more focused on his reelection. It's almost like the worse things get, the more he starts blaming others. His latest foil is Congress. They're now the bad guys for not passing his latest "jobs bill." They're more concerned, he says, with rigid ideology than doing what's good for the country. Talk about psychological projection, that right there's a real doozy.

Naturally, he's referring to the Republican controlled House of Representatives. He wants to paint them as the villain, as the ones who are blocking any real progress, namely his bills. Let's forget for a moment that you can't sign a piece of legislation and create jobs in the private sector. That has been tried before with the Stimulus Bill. If I remember correctly, it didn't do a whole lot to help.

So, according to our esteemed President, it's Congress that's standing in the way of prosperity. But is it really the "do nothing," partisan-driven body he says it is? A look at the statistics shows otherwise. In a post over at NRO, Deroy Murdock gives us a peek at what's really going on in Congress. It seems that the evil Republicans in the House have voted a mere 711 times, while the Democrat-controlled Senate has voted, hold onto your hats, a whopping 137 times.

So, um, who's stalling here, really? In a sane world where everything wasn't backwards, who would be called the real obstructionists? It surely looks like it would be Harry Reid and his Senate.

This has some consequences, believe it or not. There are two polls that show Americans are pretty fed up with Obama's shenanigans. One from Gallup shows an historic low of people who are satisfied with the government. But that's not the most important question that was asked. The real kicker is this: "Do think the federal government poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens, or not." Take a guess at how many Americans think so. Go on, take a guess. Nope, it's higher than that. Try again. If you said half the country, you'd be right.

Let that sink in for a moment. Half the country thinks its own government is a threat to freedom.

And it gets even worse. Another poll from Rasmussen shows that only 17% of Americans think that the current government has the consent of the governed.

This is in addition to the 9.1% unemployment rate, the 10% inflation rate, the record number of Americans living in poverty and on food stamps, the record number of people who aren't in the workforce, the record high national deficit, the unrest in the Middle East that threatens Israel, the economic implosion of Europe, the recent revelation of new evidence that the Fast and Furious plan to supply guns to Mexican drug cartels was not only known, but paid for with your tax dollars, the list goes on.

We're sinking as a direct result of the policies of Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi's 111th Congress. It's as plain as daylight.

Mr. President, how do you sleep at night?

One Christian Value I’d Like to See in Government

If you frequent political sites on these here Interwebs as I do, you read a lot of comments from others. Some of them make sense, some don’t.

If you try to be an informed voter, you occasionally venture into hostile territory to read what’s going on. If you’re a conservative, this means bravely venturing to sites like Daily Kos and Huffington Post to find out what the extreme left wing pundits have to say about political life in these United States.

It’s also an intellectual exercise to compare your beliefs against others. A testing, if you will, between what you know is right in your heart and the latest in leftist ideology.

I try to be as objective as possible, as I’m sure you do. I like being accurate in any personal assessment of an issue. Truth is what I’m looking for.

That’s why one comment I ran across the other day tends to stick with me. Since I do read quite a bit, I can’t remember where it was that I saw this comment. They all become one big blur after a few hours.

Anyway, that comment went something like this: “Republicans are evil because they want to impose a Christian theocracy on America. They want a preacher or a policeman on permanent duty in your bedroom to make sure you only do sex their way. They want America to become some Puritanical Utopia with them in charge, all the laws would be thrown out and replaced with Biblical law, women would all be barefooted, pregnant slaves of their husbands and children would all be mind-numbed robots lumbering in a trance to the Christian school/gulag where they would receive the latest lesson in how to hate everyone who’s not exactly like them, just like it says in the Bible.”

Really?

It’s a sad day when anyone in America thinks that way about their fellow countrymen and neighbors. I’d like to think that the commenter was merely using high snark, but I’m afraid I know better. I’ve seen far too many comments of this nature to think that’s the case.

The biggest problem with that isn’t the commenter’s apparent lack of knowledge of the Faith. It’s the fact that, like many Americans, they’ve been bamboozled into believing what someone else has told them instead of using their own experience. They’ve bought into a false image that someone else has concocted in order to elicit that exact response.

It’s the same thing that the leftist-controlled media has done with Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney and the Tea Party. We had a name for this tactic of making people believe things that aren’t true back when we had a common, identifiable, very real and present enemy named Russia: propaganda.

Propaganda was something we considered ourselves incapable of here in America. “That can’t happen here,” was the common belief thanks to our sense of national unity. However, that was then, this is now. As the line between opinion and reportage has been blurred over the past twenty years or so, it’s become more difficult to separate fact from fiction.

You really need to examine the validity of anything you read or hear for yourself. This requires an inner foundation of Truth, a standard separate from your emotions, that tells you the difference between bullshit and not-bullshit.

But, I’m digressing. Sorry.

You see where I’m going with this. You’re expected to swallow everything your betters in Washington and their lapdog media tell you without examining the truth of what they say. And if you disbelieve them, well, then there must be something wrong with you. After all, who doesn’t want to fit in with all the really cool people?

So, where was I? Oh yeah, Christian values in government.

There is one Christian tenet I would like to see those in Washington use: The Golden Rule. You know, the one that says to treat others the way you want to be treated.

I’d really like to see our elected officials use this just a bit more than they do, especially when it comes to my tax dollars. I don’t like to see my money wasted on things that have already proven to fail, like “green energy.” Or societal engineering. Or fundamentally transforming the country. Thanks, but I liked it just the way it was, especially when we had a good economy, full employment, cheap energy and groceries, sorta like we had just a few years ago.

I’d like to know how Warren Buffett would feel if I were to take a percentage of his money from him and use it in a way I knew he wouldn’t like, wastefully.

Simply because I could.

Friday Bits of Tid - Satellite Catching Edition

Good Morning! It's another Friday, and if you watched the Republican Presidential Candidate Debate properly last night, you doubtless have a severe hangover from the drinking games.

To you I say, GOOD MORNING!

Who's up for some exercise today? We could all go outside and try to catch the satellite that's due to enter the atmosphere sometime today. Whoever catches it will win the Grand Prize: a free, one-year subscription to Everything is Backwards. (Pictures will be required for verification purposes.)

I missed the debate last night, as I had some musical-type business to attend to. BackwardsGirl was kind enough to record it, though. As a result, I couldn't tell you who the winner was, but as usual, you can leave your impressions in the comments.

I noticed that Gary Johnson was present for this one. I really would've liked to have heard Thad McCotter, but he dropped out of the race a few days too soon. With his poll numbers (or lack thereof), I kinda doubt he would've been invited anyway.

With an eye toward the sky, let's get to it. The bitting, that is.

Hey, I have an idea to reduce government spending. Howzabout we set a strict limit on the amount of money anyone in Washington can spend on muffins? $16 apiece sounds just a little high to me. But then again, we're dealing with a class of people who have no problem spending other peoples' money. I'd mention that it would really be nice if these folks would follow the Golden Rule, but that would probably just make me a racist or something...

Supporters of Gibson Guitars are holding a rally concert. Details at the link. If you're in the area and can attend, please do so. If I was, I would.

On a related subject, here are 40 Noises that Built Pop.

The growing problem of Amish militancy.

What do German men do between Oktoberfests? Why, grow beards, of course. And then enter them into competitions. (Spoiler Alert: the guy with the reindeer beard wins.)

Um, Mr. President, this isn't the kind of American exceptionalism we're talking about.

Governor Gary Johnsons' neighbors' dogs, doing the job Obama won't do.

When fabric softener is outlawed, only outlaws will have fabric softener. Man breaks into house to do laundry.

NY assistant prosecutor moonlights as dominatrix. Talk about taking your work home with you...

And finally, I was reminded of something during the Rams/Giants game the other night. Watch at the 0:37 point...



It was this...



Y'all have a good weekend, y'all.

LightSquared is a National Defense Disaster for the US

If you havent gotten up to speed on this issue yet, I have some very disturbing news for you. I really don't know any other way to put it: if LightSquared is allowed to implement its plans for wireless broadband service, it will disrupt our GPS system.

Disruption of our GPS system of navigation would be very bad for our country.

I'm not going to get into the political implications of this issue, there are other folks who can cover that aspect, probably better than I can. It appears this issue, at first glance, has much in common with Solyndra.

Where it differs is the technological damage it would cause to the nation. There would be an awful lot of it.

While I was over at Ace's place yesterday (my favorite Interwebs hangout, as you all know), one of the commenters posted this link to a PDF from the Federal Aviation Authority entitled LightSquared Aviation Impacts. The document is a reply to a body of GPS experts that helps coordinate the nations GPS system.  I only had time to read the first few pages, but what it contains should concern you greatly.

I'll spare you a lot of geek-speak and just say that this plan, while it may sound good, would be devastating to commercial and military aviation that depends on our GPS system for safe navigation.

The effects of LightSquared deployment would be far-reaching and potentially devastating to aviation. Proposed LightSquared operations would severely impact the efficiency and modernization of the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. LightSquared operations would bring numerous curent and planned safety, efficiency, environmental improvements to a halt- jeopardizing U.S. leadership in the modemization of the global airspace system.

 

Our current GPS system is to be the foundation for an upgrade in navigation technology, something that the LightSquared plan would jeopardize in a big way.

I strongly recommend you pour yourself a shot of something very strong before you read the FAA letter. The ramifications of this plan would have a devastating effect on our GPS capabilities while costing us billions in unnecessary expense. Even worse, it would put the traveling public in real danger from crashes.

There's much more research to do. Here's the Wikipedia link, which is where I'll be spending my weekend reading.

It appears that the White House is supporting this project. I find it unusual that there would be the highest support for a plan that would harm the nation in so many ways. It's expensive, it's dangerous, and it never should have been considered unless there was another way to implement it in another frequency range that was safely away from the frequency range where GPS operates. This is beyond incompetance, this is a blatant disregard for the safety and security not only of the flying public, but the military too. It will make us very vulnerable to attack and greatly reduce our military advantage in that event. It is a national security issue of the highest order.

I'm still struggling to find the words to describe my feelings about that. The one word that keeps coming to mind, I'm rather reluctant to type, as you might understand.

Treason.

The Solyndra Slip - Kaiser Admits His Greed

Well, things are certainly beginning to heat up in the "green energy" sector of our economy.

If you've been keeping track of this glorious experiment in command and control economics, certainly you're aware of the story of Solyndra, the solar-panel manufacturer that recently became financially insolvent after squandering over $500 Billion of your tax dollars. Now that there is a Congressional investigation, the facts behind this debacle are emerging at a furious pace, and none of them look very good for the Obama administration.

What we have here is a failure to understand how our free market is supposed to work, among other things, like political corruption in the White House, crony capitalism, favoritism, and a whole bunch of other things that the government shouldn't be doing.

Again.

In case you didn't already know, this administration, through the failed Stimulus Act, has funnelled billions of your tax dollars into companies that wouldn't normally have received startup capital through traditional means, namely presenting a viable business plan to investors. They're lining up at the door to the White House for a handout from Uncle Sam.

What has occurred in reality is that an awful lot of your money has gone to Obama's political cronies and money bundlers. What it adds up to is theft. Hope and Change indeed.

Without going too deeply into the sordid details, the government has decided that it will attempt to create a whole new sector of our economy. The only problem with that is, this sector has existed for over a generation and has yet to prove itself in the free market.

Normally, any sector must be able to sustain itself by generating wealth. The fact that this isn't happening in the green energy sector hasn't stopped many well-intentioned people in Washington from pumping money into it. The problem is that it isn't their money, it's yours, and mine. Funny, but I don't remember telling anyone I voted for to do this. How about you?

Ever since this whole "mankind is killing the earth" hoax began, a few brave souls have tried, with the best of intentions, to make some money from it. Nothing wrong with that, but ask yourself if, after more than thirty years of failure, it deserves to be propped up with your money instead of doing what other businesses do, namely, sustain themselves or go out of business, all on their own, without government subsidies. All the time.

It's a good thing that there are folks in Washington who now want to take a closer look at the distorted way this sector is being funded. To my knowledge, there is no other segment of the economy that "works" the way green energy works. What we're discovering, as the curtain gets pulled back on the process, is the Chicago Way of Corrupt Politics, transplanted to Washington by the current inhabitant of the White House.

There's only one thing to remember in all of this: if these "green energy" companies had a really good idea, it would have already worked in the free market. The simple fact that these companies depend upon government subsidies to start up and operate is evidence that they aren't viable.

It's along about this time that bring in somebody named Bill Clinton to share with us his expert economic analysis of the burgeoning green energy sector.

"This has to work economically," he said. "You have to come up with the money on the front end."

Um, Bill, that's not how it works, not out here in the real world, anyway. If it was a good idea, it wouldn't need tax monies. It would create its own.

Just so you know there, Bill.

I ran across this little video of one of Solyndra's principles, George Kaiser, openly boasting of his goal to secure as much of our money as possible from the Stimulus. (h/t Weasel Zippers and Ace)



Verun Serum, who posted this story initially, has this to say:

Frankly I can think of no better condemnation of the corruption and utter futility of the Obama stimulus then the fact that here you have one of the wealthiest philanthropists in America, a man with nearly $10 billion in personal assets, openly stating his intention to grab as much stimulus money as he possibly could, like every other pig at the trough. Is this the proper role of government, to take hard-earned dollars from tax payers (and their children and grandchildren) to fund the vanity projects of multi-billionaires, well-intentioned or not, who just so happen to have the right political connections? The $500 million to Solyndra is only the tip of the iceberg, I’d bet. How many other stimulus deals were greased by Kaiser and others like him?

I’m not the first to notice, but Obama is a bit of a fraud. Not exactly sure how he reconciles his tax the rich rhetoric with his Administration’s track record of deals like this. If you really believe the rich aren’t paying their fair share you might start by not forking over taxpayer dollars to your billionaire donors.

It gets better, much better. NRO points out this little nugget of legal information -

While Solyndra’s failure is an embarrassment for both parties, Kaiser’s foundation still stands to recoup a large chunk of its investment in the company, whereas taxpayers will recoup very little, if any, of the $535 million investment the White House made on our behalf. That’s because once Solyndra’s financial troubles became too obvious to ignore, the DOE negotiated a loan restructuring that gave priority status to private investors over taxpayers with respect to the first $75 million recovered in the event of Solyndra’s collapse. As Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations pointed out last week, this appears to be a blatant violation of federal law.

Toilet, meet my money. Money, toilet.

Land for Peace? What Happened to Being "Citizens of the World?"

I don't often delve into foreign affairs, seeing as how we have enough problems here at home to solve. But something dawned on me yesterday.

The Palestinians will go before that august body of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism, the United Nations, to declare war on Israel demand statehood. Their claim is over land.

I find it curious that, in this era of non-citizenship, we're all supposed to be good global citizens, think globally and act locally and all that. It's the reason why those on the left believe that the idea of being a patriotic American is an archaic, outdated one.

In order to be terminally hip, you're not supposed to be nationalistic in any way, shape, or form. The land upon which you live isn't supposed to be any better or any worse than where anyone else lives. All cultures are equal and all are equally good, isn't that the basic premise of multiculturalism? Aren't we supposed to be one, big, happy, global family?

Why, then, are one select group exempted from this New World Order? Why do the Palestinians get to demand that their land is superior to the land of the Israelis? Shouldn't that notion be, you know, outdated?

American schoolchildren aren't exposed to anything that resembles accurate American history, as far as I can see. One child was prohibited recently from bringing an American flag to his school in the name of safety. That dangerous stick thingy that holds the flag could be used as a weapon, donchaknow. It's not like a pencil, whose sharp, pointy end could be (and has been) used as a real weapon (on me). Any excuse will do, as long as it works to foster the notion of America as the world's bad guy.

But the Palestinians can demand that they live in Israel? Let's forget for a moment that their governing body is aligned with a terrorist organization that has pledged to wipe Israel off the map. Let's also forget that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and has the booming economy to prove it. Do you think there would be more prosperity in the Mideast if the surrounding countries were truly free?

Can you say, "double standard?" I knew that you could.

Economics ala Obama - What Private Sector?

Good Monday mornin', y'all.

Economics has been referred to as "the dismal art." As it's being practiced by the Obama administration these days, that description hardly begins to describe it. Dismal is what we're seeing, hearing and feeling with every new economic report.

Every economic indicator that should be up is down, and vice-versa. There are record numbers of Americans living in poverty and on food stamps, record numbers of Americans out of work or working in jobs outside their chosen field for far less money than a few years ago. Inflation is way up, led by energy prices. One big reason for the high cost of groceries has to do with energy: we're using foodstuffs, primarily corn, for fuel.

The Obama administration concocted the Cash for Clunkers program that, while nice in theory, was a disaster in practice. Recently constructed vehicles were destroyed by the program, skewing the price of used vehicles and putting a reasonably priced used car out of reach for many Americans.

These are but two examples of the many wrong economic notions that this administration has glommed onto. It seems that Obama and his economic team have a penchant for pursuing all the wrong policies in trying to control our economy and get it back on its feet.

In short, Mr. President, you're doing it wrong.

It's not just the practices and false theories. There are plenty of those to go around. We're getting many lessons in what not to do. Destroying perfectly good vehicles isn't a good idea in any economy. Neither is using food for fuel, especially when we have vast reserves of oil and natural gas that we aren't allowed to harvest.

I fear is that, as we watch more and more questionable economic policies and theories being employed by Obama, we're in danger of forgetting how it's really done. We have some recent history to guide us in making sound economic decisions, but no one inside the Beltway seems to understand it.

This administration is teaching a valuable lesson to the nation. It's doing everything in its considerable power to alter our traditionally free market. These economic gurus and guru-ettes have studied every sort of cockamamie economic theory except the one that works. And the one thing that would work would be removing the shackles of government from the market.

Capitalism is being strangled to death. And the very same ones doing the strangling are more than happy to say that capitalism doesn't work. Indeed, how can it when the Obama administration is busy churning out more and more regulations by the day? It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I get queasy when I see what the White House is doing. I'm past the idea that this is the cause of incompetence. After nearly three years, these people know what they're doing. They're trying to permanently alter our economic system so it will never again function as intended. "Fundamental transformation" is the term they use, if I remember correctly.

I'm not alone in my assessment. This link from Hot Air says it all: The vast majority of Americans believe business and consumers are over-regulated. And this post from Fox News.com puts it into perspective...

From financial services to farming, plumbing to computer repair, business owners say new regulations have them so bogged down in compliance that it is hindering their ability to plan and expand for the coming years.

Even though President Obama recently acknowledged the need to minimize regulations, the number appears to be growing. Obama administration regulations on new business rose to 3,573 final rules in 2010, up from 3,503 in 2009 -- the equivalent of about 10 per week.




Indeed, the 2010 volume of the Federal Register, the "newspaper" of regulatory agencies, stands at an all-time record-high 81,405 pages composed of final rules, proposed rules, meeting notices and regulatory studies.


"There is something like 180 million words of binding federal law and regulation. It would take a lifetime just to read it," said Philip K Howard, founder of Common Good.

But this is only one mistake this administration is making. Of course, I'm assuming they really want the economy to perk up. It would seem that after nearly three years of wrong decisions and using flawed and erroneous economic theories, they would change course and embrace the free market.

Instead, they act as though the private sector doesn't even exist when it comes to creating jobs.

I just hope we don't forget completely how it's done, reviving the economy, that is. Ace had this story from NRO in the sidebar the other day. It's long, but well worth your time to read - Houston, we have a solution. It's an economic Tale of Two Cities. And speaking of Michigan, here's a stat I've never seen before, the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. (Warning: the comments are NSFW, being as how they're Morons and all.)

And if you don't read anything else today, read this, also from Ace's sidebar - The Progressive and the Pencil.

At least there are a few people who remember how free market capitalistic economics is supposed to work.

We need to remind ourselves that what's currently happening to our economy need not happen. If we had the right people in the right places in Washington, we wouldn't be in the mess we find ourselves in today.

There is a right way to get our economy going again, to create jobs and wealth and tax revenue and everything else we need.

This administration refuses to do it.

Friday Bits of Tid - The Mayflower Edition

Yo, yo, yo, y'all. It's Friday again!

Yay?

On this day in 1620, The Mayflower departed England and set sail for the New World. 66 days later and 500 miles off course, she landed at present-day Provincetown, Massachusetts. The Mayflower Compact was drawn up and ratified en route, paving the way for the first ever lawsuit in New England.

Even the Pilgrims had priorities.

If you watched the Republican Presidential Candidate Debate last Monday, you know that Texas Governor Rick Perry caught a lot of flack from the other candidates for his attempt to require teenaged girls to get vaccinations against cervical cancer. Some of that criticism was deserved, that's part of the reason why the debates are held, to more fully explore the candidates' records.

It was Michelle Bachmann who led the most damaging attack Monday. The subject came up early, and Perry admitted to his mistake. Immediately after Perry's apology, Bachmann tore into him in what I considered a tasteless attempt to salvage her campaign. She later recounted to Greta Van Susteren the story of a tearful woman who had approached her afterwards, claiming her daughter had suffered mental retardation as a result of the vaccination, something that has yet to be verified.

Perry remained tight-lipped, and took his criticism like a man, but there's more to this story. It seems that the governor made a friend during that time, a young woman named Heather Burcham who was dying of cervical cancer.




Perry never mentioned this story during the debate. The fact that he didn't speaks volumes about his character, all of it good. By not playing this up, we got a good lesson in personal politics and insight into the man whom I'd like to see elected as President.

Let us tid.

This is encouraging. A Nobel Prize winning physicist has resigned from the American Physical Society over its' official position that man is causing "climate change," or whatever they're calling it this week.
There seems to be a large and growing rift between "climate scientists" and physicists over the issue. Hey, AlGore, is that science really settled, as you continue to claim? Doesn't appear so, does it? To quote the BlogFather, I'll start believing all these warmists dire prediction when they start acting like like their predictions are dire.

Is that a snake in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? No, it's a snake.

"Hello, 911? There's a drunk moose in my tree."

Road dog cat.

Presisent Obama's very most favorite bazillionaire, Warren Buffett, you know, they guy who wants us all to pay more taxes, despite not setting the example by writing his own check to Washington to set an example, owes over $1Billion in back taxes himself.

Harry Reid take on the the great issue of our day: bike paths. The country's in the very best of hands.

And finally, the Obama reelection campaign's new site, Attack Watch.com, has become an overnight sensation. What you're supposed to do is go there to report any "distortions" published anywhere about our Dear Leader. What happened instead is the stuff of Internet legend. In less that 48 hours, it became a laughingstock, generating more jokes and snark than in any prior period in history. Here's a small sample:

...Both were met with comment after comment from readers offering the type of "attacks" they were going to report to the Obama re-election site. The #attackwatch Twitter page was immediately spammed with tweet after tweet heavy on sarcasm regarding the president's stimulus and jobs creation plans.


"hey #AttackWatch I heard the only good 'Cash For Clunkers' did was get all the obama stickers off the roads, thank you," tweeted @speedyjerry.


"Hey #attackwatch, I saw 6 ATM's in an alley, killing a Job. It looked like a hate crime!" wrote @thorninaz.

And this video parody...



I save the best for last. Hitler discovers the grim truth...



What, you haven't reported this site yet? What are you waiting for?

Y'all have a good weekend.

What's Love Got to Do With It?

Yesterday, President Obama gave a speech. Someone in the crowd shouted, "We love you." Obama's response was this.



Love? I don't think that word applies here.

You have tried this before. The Stimulus Bill didn't work. In fact, it worked in reverse. We're much worse off as a result of it. And now you want to try it again?

Mr. President, you can't wave your sceptre and create jobs. Jobs are the natural result of a free market economy. You seem insistent upon remaking our economy into something that's not an economy. You contend that the Republican controlled Congress wants to deny you a political victory.

Here's the truth: A victory for you is a loss for the nation. You got virtually everything you wanted with the willing help of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid for the first two years of your presidency. And the nation is suffering mightily as a result.

It's not that we don't love you as a person: we don't love what you're doing. That is the important difference.

You have criticized the overwhelming majority of the country. You have criticized conservatives, Tea Partiers, Republicans, doctors, corporate jet owners, businesspeople, and average Americans, whom you called "bitter clingers." You have called us "the enemy" more than once. And your actions have proven it more than once. Every action, every regulation, every mandate you have approved is doing nothing but crippling our country in every way imaginable.

And now you want us to love you, when you clearly don't love us? You should understand that this "love" thingy works both ways.

Mr. President, it appears that, judging by your words and actions, you don't love America.

Some Good News and Some Bad News

Good mornin', y'all.

OK, I'll get the bad news out of the way first. There are more Americans living in poverty than ever.

The ranks of America's poor swelled to almost 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment left millions of Americans struggling and out of work. The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the biggest in more than two decades.

More bad news: this was from last year. 2010. Is there any doubt that it's gotten worse since then?

Obama's jobs bill is just more of the same old failed Keynesian bullshit belief that the government can create jobs. It can, but only for the government. I'm hopeful that the country is about to discover that it's really the private sector that is the generator of jobs. As we all should know by now, as exemplified by the Solyndra debacle, that any direct stimulus of jobs is temporary, and that the jobs disappear when the subsidies dry up.

And speaking of Solyndra, Obama is under the microscope, as more details come out about this failed attempt to construct our economy around another failed idea. (Via Drudge.)

You'd think that after some thirty years of trying to compete in the free market, and meeting with, shall we say, something less than success, somebody in Washington would've figured out that there are better places to put the peoples' money. But when your a Crony Capitalist like Obama, what's a few hundred million between political friends and bundlers? It's not like it's their own money or anything.

Now the good news. The special election for disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner's seat in New York has a winner, Republican Bob Turner. That seat hasn't been in Republican hands since the 1920's.

Talk about a sea change, this is going to leave a mark for sure. It's as much a rebuke of Obama and the Democrats as anything we've seen so far. Oh, the White House will try to spin this, but there's no escaping the fact that the country is awake to the damaging horrors of leftism and is ready to change course dramatically. We're getting a big lesson in what not to do when it comes to politicians and their governing philosophies. We got dragged way to the left, and we're just now finding out how and why big government cannot work.

When we get a larger government, we get more restrictions placed on our economy. How's that working out? It's a simple rule, almost too simple for anyone inside the Beltway to comprehend. What we need (and I firmly believe we'll demand in 2012) is for government to be drastically reduced in size and influence. We've progressed to the point where something that was seemingly unthinkable only a few years ago is gaining widespread acceptance, namely the elimination of entire sectors of the federal government. I doubt seriously if anyone would miss the EPA, or the Department of Education, or the National Endowment for the Arts.

If this notion is fully embraced, it signals a bright future for the nation. There is so much pent up demand in the private sector, when it's unleashed, the world will see just how well capitalism can work for the people. We truly have an opportunity to lift ourselves and the rest of the world out of the economic mess we've inflicted upon ourselves by electing the wrong people into power.

I can't wait.

It's coming, this American Renewal. The spirit is there, patiently waiting to be rediscovered.

We truly are different than the rest of the world, and we're about to prove it in a good way.

Some Impressions from the Second GOP Candidate Debate

CNN and the Tea Party, together at last? Shirley, it's a sign of the apocalypse.

Perry got pounded on his cancer-virus immunization program, even after he admitted he made a mistake. Bachmann's continued attacks just made her look petty. Perry appeared unfazed, but there was more criticism to come for his promotion of in-state college tuitions for illegals. That's two strikes against him.

Newt continues to surprise me. He did very well in the first debate, especially when he confronted the bias of the moderators. He appeared to be the peacemaker then, last night, not quite so much. After his early self-inflicted wounds, he's rebounding nicely. He still has a way to go to get my vote, though.

Herman Cain is impressive as well. He is more focused on specifics such as his 9-9-9 plan to revamp our tax code. He's upbeat, intelligent, informed and would make a great Commerce Secretary.

Bachmann got some applause early, especially every time she mentioned the Constitution. As I mentioned earlier, her continued attacks on Perry were petty, considering the timing. She would make a good VP though, with her experience in Congress.

Romney tried, but continues to appear to flail about, trying to keep up with the pace of the moderation. One minute replies don't seem to work well for him, but even if you give him more time, he doesn't elaborate very much. This is a detail-oriented time for the country, vague platitudes and overall statements aren't going to suffice. Voters want specifics, and Mitt seems reluctant to be forthcoming with his. He continues to tout RomneyCare, the biggest strike against him.

Santorum appears out of his league, struggling to keep up as well. He's not very good at tooting his own horn, which he did a lot of last night.

To Huntsman I say, dude, just give up. You aren't doing yourself or the country any favors by continuing your quest. If he's in the next debate, I'll be surprised, although the thought of Harley 1 being in the Secret Service's garage is nice.

And now to Paul, the GOP's crazy uncle. On domestic issues, he's not terrible. But when it comes to foreign policy, he's absolutely batshit crazy, as the country found out last night. He would have us abandon Israel and withdraw all our troops from everywhere in the world. Although there is a strong undercurrent in the nation that wants us to no longer be the world's policeman, he's doing it wrong. And his irresponsible, immature statement that the US is "occupying" other countries should pretty much disqualify him from serious consideration for president. Ronnie, we aren't "occupying" any country, as we are there with the full cooperation of their governments. What was amazing to me is how no one else called him out on that. But, I guess that's what crazy uncles are supposed to do, while everyone else rolls their eyes. At least they make Thanksgiving dinner, shall we say, interesting?

Overall, in my opinion, Perry lost just a bit of luster, Romney sorta held his ground in second place, Newt's making his way forward, Cain continues to say a lot of what needs saying, Bachmann's losing ground, and the rest should just go ahead and withdraw.

At least Wolf Blitzer tried to contain his bias more so than Brian Williams did last week. The Fox-sponsored debate is on the 22nd, if I recall. Hopefully, they'll be a bit better and show the other sponsors how to do it correctly.

What say you?

Krugman Kraps on 9/11

Good Monday morning, y'all.

Maybe you read this yesterday, but the New York Times "economist" Paul Krugman, former Enron financial advisor, was nice enough to get up early on the tenth anniversary of the worst attack on American soil to type this little screed: The Years of Shame. Click at your peril, as it contains the very worst of Krugman's leftie pomposity.

Here's a taste...

Te atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.

Needless to say, Krugman's vile little piece of red journalism wasn't well received by about, oh, 98% of the public who were busy yesterday recalling the senseless murder of nearly 3000 innocent Americans and the countless acts of bravery by first responders and ordinary people who found themselves in the most extraordinary circumstance we've ever seen.

Um, Pauline, just what would you have had us do in response? Issue a sternly worded letter of condemnation, ala some weak, European, socialist country?

My boy, you're forgetting where you live.

Here's another little turd of "thought" from the link...

A lot of other people behaved badly.

Like the terrorists? How about them, Pauline? Did they not go out of their way to draw up their elaborate plans to kill as many Americans as possible, cripple both our economy and government, only to have their well-thought-out (to them) plans foiled by the passengers on Flight 93?

Oh, no, Pauline couldn't blame the actual perpetrators of the crimes that day. Tell me, you simpering little self-important idiot, how GW Bush, Mayor Guliani and Police Chief Kerik "cash in" on the tragedy? By penning a best-selling book six months later while the ruins of the World Trade buildings were still smoldering?

The little lefty ended with this...

The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.



I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.

Maybe to you the memory of 9/11 has been poisioned. The rest of the country, the patriotic 98%, the ones you look down your little nose at, certainly doesn't think that. No, Pauline, we are able to see the truth of that day.

Your cowardice is evidence of your intellectual and moral vapidity, which is foisted upon the nation weekly along with your failed economic theories. You are a despicable excuse for a man and undeserving of the title of American. You should be fired and shunned by the rest of the country. Your outdated, radically leftist opinions are the stuff of insanity.

I'd really like to hear you say the words you bravely typed to me in person, you little socialist wimp.

This is what you'd get, and would rightly deserve.



Have a nice day.

September 11, 2011

That we may never forget that infamous day...




(many thanks to The Jawa Report)

This is Really Thursday. Oh, and You're Getting Sleepy, Very Sleepy

Sorry about the absence. I haven't forgotten about you guys, I really haven't.

Bill Gates is nice enough to automatically update my computer every few weeks or so. Most of the time, I don't even notice them, but occasionally, I'll have some sort of trouble following an install. That's what happened this time.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Anywho, here's what I was going to post last Thursday.


When Did Making Money Become Wrong?


I’ve been wondering a few things lately, so today, I’ll be Mister Question Boy. Not to be confused with Dave Barry, who frequently becomes his alter ego, Mr. Answer Man.

The main question on my mind this morning is this: When did making money become wrong?

Granted, there have been some folks whose love for money has caused them to make it any way they could, without regard to how they would feel if they were on the receiving end of their own actions. That’s why we have laws, to *ahem* remind these unscrupulous people that we, as a society, don’t take kindly to their tactics.

No, that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about the current social undercurrent being promoted by, well, pretty much the entire political leftosphere. Every time I hear someone like Nancy Pelosi criticize “the rich,” I wonder who she means. After all, isn’t she worth several million dollars herself? What sense does it make for her to rail against rich people, the overwhelming majority of whom worked their tails off to get that way.

A casual observer would think that something was amiss. That’s a pretty big psychological inconsistency. Here’s this rich person constantly saying how bad rich people are for being rich.

If anyone can explain this, I’d be interested to hear it.

I’ll carbon-date myself again and say that I can remember a time when this wasn’t so. Making money the old-fashioned way (earning it) was a point of pride. It used to be that the business of America was business. Every American pretty much wanted to be successful, to have more money and the affluence that came along with it. There was nothing wrong with it as long as you did it legally. It was even better if you did it with good cheer and a recognition that you were helping your neighbor to have a better life.

But somewhere along the way, this notion has been turned around until today, even our own President goes against traditional American social convention to ridicule “corporate jet owners,” “fat-cat bankers,” and a few others that I haven’t heard of.

It’s unfortunate, but it doesn’t take much of this type of official rhetoric before the weak-minded begin to parrot it too. Without realizing it, they have allowed themselves to become psychologically and emotionally manipulated through an authority figure.

But, if you point this out, you’ll likely be told that “society has changed.” Which brings up another question: How and why did it change? OK, that’s really two questions, I know, but you get my drift.

Here’s one more: Has society changed for the better? Are we any better off as a result of this new and decidedly leftist passion to “punish the rich?” I heard Rush ask this question the other day while citing the statistic that American is losing millionaires at a rapid pace. Did anyone magically receive any of the hated rich’s money?

No?

I know I certainly didn’t. I bet you didn’t either.

An hour spent researching some world history will reveal that this idea of class warfare isn’t American. Not by any means. The entire philosophy of Marx, Engels, and many other “revolutionaries” was based on economics. They wanted to upend the free market system and create a workers utopia where everyone was "equal," with them overseeing the great new society they had created.

How did that work out? Did Mother Russia become a superpower as a result? Yes, for a time. Were their people happy? Was there plenty of food on the shelves in their grocery stores? Were their automobiles the worlds’ fastest or best?

Were their people more free or less free to innovate and bring new and exciting products to market to make our lives easier or give us more time to spend with our families?

Did it work?

No?

Hmmm…

Why Doesn't Anyone Understand the Free Market?

Whilst scouring the Interwebs this fine morning for grist for the blog, I noticed something, something rather disquieting.

It seems that no one understands how a free market economy works.

I noticed this primarily from the comments sections on a couple of news posts. Assuming that the Axeltrolls weren't out in force (something which can never be dismissed), a large part of our current problems are the result of a basic lack of knowledge about how things should be done economically.

When it comes to economics, we're dumber than a box of rocks.

We're doing it wrong.

I'll carbon-date myself once again and say I can remember when basic economics was taught in schools. Home economics was once a part of every school's curriculum, although it was concentrated mostly in the kitchen. But reading the comments in a few of the articles this morning really drove the point home. namely that we've a nation of economic morons.

We can't even look back at history and see what worked to boost our economy and duplicate it.

I'm still trying to figure out how people came to think that the federal government can directly create jobs. This is the primary fallacy that too many Americans are laboring under. All the government can do is create government and government jobs.

Once upon a time, the public knew the difference between the roles of the public and private sectors and the twain rarely, if ever, met in the free market. One sector created wealth and jobs, the other diverted those financial resources away from the market towards government. That's still true today, yet most folks don't understand it. If they did, perhaps they'd be a bit more discerning about who they elected to public office and would seek out people with a firm understanding of market forces and how government can only restrict them, not create them.

When the two started to merge is when we started our economic decline. The last time we had anything close to a free market was Reaganomics, which was strangely called "voodoo" by some at the time, despite the results. And the results were the largest peacetime expansion of the Americans economy ever.

We can't even recognize the benefits or results of sound economic policy anymore. At least, a lot of people can't. Most of them are politicians. Funny, that.

The problems with current economic theory (at least as it's practiced in Washington today) have nothing to do with economics. The biggest one is the concept of "fairness," whatever that means. Whoever proposes an economic playing field that's "fair," wasn't told one of life's largest truths: It Isn't Fair.

Life never was, it is not now, nor will it ever be fair.

That's just the way it is, and you can either accept that and work within that basic understanding, or you can try to make things fair. On a national level, this equates to a distortion of economics and an increase in regulations in order to "level the playing field." Ask yourself if, after a couple of generations of this kind of faulty thinking, the playing field is level today.

An outgrowth of this false theory of life is the misguided effort on the part of politicians to assure equality. A noble pursuit in one's personal life, but a disaster when it's part of an attempt to engineer a free society. This type of feel-good-ism is particularly evident today in children's organized sports, where everyone is a winner whether they are or not, all kids receive a trophy whether they excelled or not, and the score isn't even kept.

So, how's that working out? Is everyone happy yet?

That's what I thought.

I'd like to spend a bit more time exploring this subject, but work beckons. I think you all understand where I'm heading with this, though. It's not rocket science.

But then again, maybe it is. If a rocket is constructed the right way, in accordance with all the known laws of physics by folks with the proper knowledge, filled with fuel and pointed in the right direction, it will get to wherever it is that's it's pointed.

Is that what you see today?

If the fundamentals aren't sound, the rocket will never get off the ground.