My Hero!!!

Demonstrating once again that he possesses very little insight into the world of profit-driven business or for that matter simple reality, the Messiah is going to fix the problem through executive order and regulatory fiat.

Bamster Orders FDA to Eliminate Shortage

How does that work?

How does a company know six months in advance that demand is going to outstrip supply?

Does he believe that a company seeking to maximize profit during the period of patent protection for a necessary pharmaceutical would intentionally allow their production and therefore their profits to lag?

In their own words:

The FDA says major causes of drug shortages are quality or manufacturing problems, or delays in receiving components from suppliers. Drug makers also discontinue certain drugs in favor of newer medications that are more profitable. The FDA does not have authority to force drug makers to continue production of a drug.

So, by simply ordering it to be so, the FDA will somehow raise quality, correct manufacturing problems and erase delays from suppliers? In the process they will further mandate that drug companies continue production of unprofitable lines and discourage use of newer and therefore more effective drugs.

What genius!

 

Ignoring the Obvious

How can you be the resident of the White House, gallivanting around the country in your own personal 757 while hubby has a 747 for his jaunts and still denounce racism in America? How can you decry lack of opportunity and oppression when you have been the recipient of all that the world has to offer in a nation that provided you those opportunities? Well, the conflict in that doesn't seem to bother Ms Obama:

Attack Dog on the Trail

Why do I sometimes get an image of Hitler exhorting the German people against the Jews?

Reserved For Front Runners

It seems that the easiest way to identify those who frighten the Lefties is to see whom they target with allegation and innuendo. There may indeed be something there or it may be a case of slinging mud against the wall to see if any sticks. If there is truth, then I would certainly like it to be disclosed. We wouldn't want it to be an unsupported allegation of running a gay escort operation out of his Washington apartment such as plagued poor innocent Barney Frank...oh, he did? Well let's just say we'd like to know if there is substance.

Accusations of Harassment for Herman

Let's start with a stipulation that we live in a litigious society. Everyone seems offended by something and anyone with deep pockets or a high-viz persona is going to be the defendant. Settlement is not acknowledgment of guilt but it is often the economic solution to incredible legal defense costs. Acceptance of a settlement does not net justice for the injured party but it certainly satisfies the lust for a pay-off. But, how do we square this item:

The women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable, the sources said, and they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts to leave the association. The agreements also included language that bars the women from talking about their departures

Don't you just hate it when you are made to feel "uncomfortable"? How many thousands of dollars does it take to repair that tort? Do the women have to return the settlement now that they are publicly talking about their departures? 

These incidents include conversations allegedly filled with innuendo or personal questions of a sexually suggestive nature, taking place at hotels during conferences, at other officially sanctioned restaurant association events and at the association’s offices. There were also descriptions of physical gestures that were not overtly sexual but that made women who experienced or witnessed them uncomfortable and that they regarded as improper in a professional relationship

What is a "gesture" that is "not overtly sexual"? How does one know before making such a gesture that an adult woman in the vicinity will find her psyche shattered?

Innuendo is a part of our language. It can be very conscious or inadvertent. How many of us have innocently uttered a double entendre without realizing it?

Maybe this is a smoking gun for Cain. If so then it is good that it comes early before the GOP has plunked their eggs in a broken basket.

But if it isn't such a situation then it highlights how low the political rhetoric in this nation has sunk.

Low Voltage

Calling a rose by another name would never make it a Chevy Volt. I never liked it from day one. I wrote several items here pointing out the impracticality of building a $40,000 car to compete with a $20,000 car that offers more amenities and better performance. Putting a lawn mower engine in tandem with a ton of batteries to produce an average fuel economy less than fifteen miles per gallon better than a typical econo-box is not going to attract people with an IQ higher than the temperature of luke-warm soup.

But here is a more detailed and less emotional analysis than mine:

Volt One Year Later

Forcing tax dollars to subsidize a product which nobody wants except a few hundred enviro-whackos and a megalomaniac President is eventually going to attract attention.

Getting In a Halloween Mood

YGBSM!

I had to check the calendar. This is the last week-end of October, not the first of April. But if you read this and don't come away wondering if it an April Fool's Day satire, you are a better person than I:

Pristine Leadership Sets the Tone

There is no way I can take that seriously.

Saturday Morning Rocker

Yesterday Charlie celebrated his 75th birthday.

Death By a Thousand Cuts

Read this piece slowly and carefully. It is a classic example of highlighting the inane and demanding a conclusion based on innuendo. Stay objective and analyze what you are reading:

Cain Aide Linked to Darth Vader

Can you trust a man who is a smoker? A large number of folks seem to have done so with the Messiah, but that doesn't matter apparently.

Can you seek support of an interest group when you are running a re-election campaign for a state judge? Well, who would you expect to offer support if not concerned interest groups that are convinced that an individual will be better for their interest than the opponents?

Can you vilify a campaign robo-call that has been litigated as perfectly within legal limits?

Can you find fault with an individual who drank, got arrested, has quite drinking and freely admits it?

Can you really rationalize not challenging a voter at the polls who has an address at which mail is undeliverable? Next thing you know we will want potential voters to actually identify themselves like when they want to get on an airline or cash a check.

Through the Looking Glass

The name should have given them a clue but apparently it didn't.

Mulims Feel Discriminated at Catholic University

This is one where the poor Muslims need to be directed to the nearest exit. Give them a "W" or "I" for all currently enrolled classes, refund the proportional amount of their tuition for the remains of the semester. Then propel them through the gate with a firm apostolic boot to the ass.

And, just to weigh the argument objectively, consider whether a turn-around at Mecca School of Camel Husbandry and Munitions Delivery would work? "I want a small altar and services on Sunday morning without the presence of a mullah, please."

Quick-cut MTV Politics in America

I couldn't put a finger on when it started but we all know how the American attention span has been obliterated. Was it the 500 channel TV remote that somehow compels you to flip through the channels continually fearful that you might miss something? Was it the first-person shooter video game that forces finger twitching button manipulation without concern for collateral damage? Was it the stream of MTV music videos that artistically sliced and diced scenes into two second or less image flashes lest we watch too long and get bored? Was it the modern American textbook that feels obligated to array every page with color graphics, kaleidoscopic charts, fold-outs, foot-notes and sidebars? Was it Twitter and Facebook that deluge you with hundreds of snippets none of which have context or duration? Was it the TV news show with the crawl, the side-bar, the split-screen  and the breaking news headline scroll?

Regardless of where the cause was, we now find ourselves choosing our leadership in that mode. And we can all agree that it doesn't work very well. Dan Henninger at the WSJ describes it all too well and offers some possible alternative approaches:

Jello Wrestling in a Brooks Brothers Suit

Sense Comes Out of OWS

One of the great things about the people coming together is that eventually when you bring enough of them into the mix they come to the right conclusion:

Stand Aside and Let Smart People Work

"You won't hear a single word out of us, we swear," said Chicago real-estate broker Paul Linder, mentioning that smart people can have all the time and resources they need to make the necessary repairs to society. "We're going to keep our attention where it's best suited by watching some T.V., surfing the Internet, or maybe trying to mend that fence of mine that's been falling down for so long. That kind of thing is really more our speed."

"Although, actually, if you guys could help out with the fence, that would be great," Linder added.

The First Poem I Ever Liked

1.Half a league, half a league,  Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death  Rode the six hundred. "Forward, the Light Brigade! "Charge for the guns!" he said: Into the valley of Death  Rode the six hundred. 2."Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew  Someone had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death  Rode the six hundred. 3.Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them  Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell  Rode the six hundred. 4.Flash'd all their sabres bare, Flash'd as they turn'd in air, Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while  All the world wonder'd: Plunged in the battery-smoke Right thro' the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reel'd from the sabre stroke  Shatter'd and sunder'd. Then they rode back, but not  Not the six hundred. 5.Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them  Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came thro' the jaws of Death Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them,  Left of six hundred. 6.When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!  All the world wondered. Honor the charge they made, Honor the Light Brigade,  Noble six hundred.

Bat Bird Lives

My sincerest thanks to Chris Rios for his beautiful artwork depicting 62-4334, the "Bat Bird" and me, over North Vietnam. Received my signed artist proof this week and it is beautiful.

The completed prints are 16" x 22" and feature a recreation of the 421st TFS Fighting Cavaliers patch on the lower left and the Bat Bird nose-art on the lower right. A brief statement about the jet, the mission and the young man in the cockpit describes it. 

If you've got a blank wall that needs a neat airplane picture, drop Chris a line. Limited edition, numbered prints are offered. 

Shameless

It is a bit of a tradition in politics for a ward-heeler to make the rounds of the neighborhoods and buy a round of drinks. You don't go so often as to be conspicuous but you show up often enough that like Cheers, "everybody knows your name." When election day comes around a bit of loyalty is inevitable and your guy wins again. That's simply a way of life in old city politics, but it shouldn't be a national policy.

We've been exposed for the last three years to a binge of hand-outs and redistribution the likes of which we've never seen. This is a long way from Keynesian pump-priming. It is much more akin to putting a double-sawbuck in the hands of a street-corner wino and taking him to the polling place with a check-list.

There was some semblance of governmental response when the pay-offs to loyal unions and state/local government supporters was cloaked in "stimulus" garb and linked to magnificent restorations of infrastructure. Then it began to erode as we learned that "shovel-ready" was more related to a dirty barn than the rebuilding of a nation.

Healthcare became a bloated bundle of exemptions, carve-outs, unsustainable gift boxes and a very apparent seizure of an otherwise satisfactory industry.

All semblance of justification has now been abandoned as this week we see a frantic President desperate for re-election criss-crossing the country to buy votes. The Constitution is suspended for the duration. Legislation is no longer given even a nod. It is government by fiat with executive orders replacing democracy.

We got into economic trouble because we promised people with no credit and no income a "right" to home-ownership. Reasonable businesses were forced to comply with federal laws mandating suspension of due diligence. Governmental gas pumped an inflation in property values that kept the air in the sinking financial boat. Then someone cried out that the emperor was indeed unclothed and mortgage based derivatives insured by a magic and mirrors government duo of agencies collapsed.

The solution was to pump gas faster. We got TARP and Stimulus I. We got Government Motors. We got Quantitative Easing I and II, pending QE III. We've got more QEs than Cunard. Surprisingly, through it all, the American masses assumed that government was the source of money and that it was limitless. The "right" of everyone to everything right now is clearly manifest in the OWS movement.

This week we got a threat, not a proposal, for a Presidential order to mandate mortgage refinancing with further suspension of underwriting rules. Your house is currently mortgaged at 130% of assessed value? That's OK. We'll now mandate that you can refinance at a lower rate for even more. And good ol' Bamster will "insure" the mortgage lenders. Wanna buy a bridge in Brooklyn?

Here's a new one:

Exclusive Government Student Loans Now Lessen Repayment Obligation

You see, buried in Stim I we had the end of privately financed student loans. You can't shop for a student loan anymore. That's way too free market. It is solely under the control of the federal government.

We've already got a default rate on existing loans which is well beyond the fiscally tolerable level. But the whining class represented by Occupy Elm Street, et. al. has pleaded for loan forgiveness. Seriously, they took money, graduated from college, and without having learned the most basic concept of loan and payback they now find they can't get a job using their Master's degree in Trans-gendered Environmental Pacifist Studies. Therefore it is the government's job to make those greedy people who gave them money in the first place forgive them their debts. It's sort of the Lord's Prayer in the financial markets.

The scary part is that the mouth-breathing segment of the population inhales this stuff like high-quality Columbian through a rolled up Benjamin.

Classic Example

Conservatives tend to bring up the argument about the proper role of government in discussion of policy. If we start with an acceptance that there are some public goods which the market would not provide then we begin to get what government should be involved in appropriately. Some obvious ones are security through police at the local/domestic level and defense at the international level. Roads aren't generally a profit-making activity but are critical to an economy. As you go on, however, you begin to find serious issues with what government should be regulating.

A traditional sticking point in Bible Belt states has been alcohol. I still tell the story about my first experiences in Texas. Realizing I was in a dry county was a bit of a shock. Experiencing the first kabuki dance of a restaurant which offered a "Family Room" and a "Club Room" was worse. The club, of course, was a section that required membership. Membership was free. One free membership authorizes unlimited guests. The club required jackets for men. Oh, no jackets? Well we've got a closet full for you to wear right here.

The good news was that with few bars or night clubs around the natural gathering place for all of the local young ladies with any sense was the bar at the AFB Officer's Club. Ahh, the good ol' days.

But there is always the question of protection of society. The ravages of drunken driving, alcohol abuse, control of accessibility by age, licensing of facilities all have mandated some form of state alcohol regulation.

Here we come face to face with the truism of any regulatory power offering the inevitable potential for abuse. Few agencies are so routinely abused as state Alcoholic Beverage Commissions. When I lived in Alabama I first encountered the state-run liquor store. The only place to legally buy alcoholic beverages was the Alabama ABC store. What did they carry? A few standard brands were on the shelves surrounded by an array of the most unusual liquor bottle labels I'd ever encountered. This was rot-gut masquerading as quality booze. Why was it there? The state beverage commission was charged with determining "the taste of the people of Alabama."

Apparently the taste of Alabamans was determined by which liquor distributor was willing to kick back the biggest bag of money to the ABC.

Then there was New Mexico. The trick there was that the total number of liquor licenses in the state was limited by law. The only way to open a liquor outlet was to find a license-holder going out of business. The licenses were transferable and the supply-limited market meant the prices soared. All approvals for transfer flowed through the state ABC.

Last week I posted the emerging crackdown on personal shipments of decent wine into Texas. There is no doubt possible that this is driven by local wholesalers leveraging the ABC against competition.

Now take a look at this for an example of micro-regulation without rationale:

Micro-Brewer Fights Name-Calling and Restriction

Seriously? What societal benefit derives from keeping Joe Bagadonutz Beer from calling itself Ale rather than Lager? What justification can there be for keeping a butcher, a baker or a craft-beer-maker from selling his product on his premises in a responsible manner?

Somewhere there has to be a line drawn against government regulation and the corollary of kickbacks and political pay-offs.

Go Where Ya Wanna Go

There are apparently some organizational essentials which have not been embraced by a segment of our society. They seem pretty obvious but now we know that they are not.




An articulate young man who says clearly what they want. A world without leaders. Everyone is an autonomous entity. No one represents you. There is just you and 7 billion other individuals each doing, apparently, what they want to do. There is no state. (Memo to articulate young man: if no state then who is going to give you all of the things which you apparently want?)

I guess he's just going immediately to perfect Marxist communism where we all self-actualize and whatever we see laying around is ours for the taking until some other self-actualized individual decides he wants it. Clearly without leader or organizers we wouldn't have running water, flush toilets, manufacturing, public safety, healthcare research, environmental controls, or any of the benefits of society. The state is withered away from day one of his utopia. Why am I flashing on Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm already?

There would be no capitalism in this solipsistic paradise. Why would anyone invest something he had when there would be no possibility of success or reward? Since he does away with a hierarchic leadership structure you don't even have a centrally planned economy.

One can only conclude he longs for primitiveness in a grand scale.

She Didn't Get Her $$ Worth

This explains it all in terms even an NBA player could understand:

For Your Consideration

This story has a lot of underlying currents:

AF "Vet" Objects to Pledge Policy

Jumping right out at you is the core principle that teaching respect for the heritage, history and symbols of your county has value. Not getting that indicates a generational failure in our educational system.

Then consider the rest of the scenario. She is advertised as a USAF veteran. That would logically lead to an oath of office to defend and protect this nation. It would inevitably mean salutes to that flag she wants her daughter shielded from. It would mean many situations showing respect for the flag and the other symbols. It would mean her casket would have been covered by that very flag had she died in service. It means she was willing to take the King's schilling.

Her "partner" similarly signed up to protect and defend that flag. He must have had similar requirements for symbolic respect to the symbols of the nation. He also took the paycheck and did so despite being an immigrant who sought citizenship.

The daughter is shown a school with a state law that is ignored as a matter of individual school policy. Somehow that sort of selective adoption of rules is not part of any reasonable education I could recommend.

I don't think highly of military veterans that burst into tears over their child being asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. And I can't follow the rationale that this relates in any way to her dead partner's demise after achieving citizenship. She is irrational.

Magic & Mirrors

What do you do when your legislative proposals are stone-walled by even your own party in the Congress? I guess it is time to rule by fiat. Just do what you want to do to pander for votes. Spend the money that isn't there. Rewrite the basic rules of economics and sensible underwriting.

Refinance More Than Current Value For Lower Rate

How can we forget that policy like that is what got us here? The Community Reinvestment Act back in 1995 mandated that mortgages be given to folks with lousy credit ratings and little or no proof of income. The feds would guarantee the paper through insurance from Fannie and Freddie. Jack up values of loans beyond value of the home then fuel a market for unaffordable McMansions. As long as homes appreciated we ignored the realities of risk.

Bundle the bad paper, re-emphasize that the Feds insured it, and you keep the whole mess going until one day an accountant at Countrywide says OMG!

So what is the Bamster's solution? Let's do it again, only bigger!

A Cause I Can Protest

But sometimes there are things which should be fought for vigorously. This looks like an impending battleground for me. The TX ABC is not acting in my best interest by cutting off my commerce with the other states, particularly the ones that offer fine products at reasonable prices which I could not find withing sixty miles of my residence.

ABC, Fedex and UPS Combine to Protect Local Distribution Outlets

There needs to be a better way.

To the Bastille. Bring Reidel and a corkscrew!

Permits? We Don' Need No Steenkin' Permits

Protesting for redistributionist policies in one of the most "progressive" and corrupted cities in the nation seems mis-guided to me. The breeding ground of pacification of the masses and source of the Bamster's rise to political prominence is hardly an enemy fortress for the Occupy Nut-Cases. But, there they are:

Rahm Should Have Made An Exception For Us

It is almost impossible to read that report and keep a straight face. I chuckled at the protester who moved from Texas to Chicago. Couldn't help it. Seems like he sought paradise only to find oppression and an impending cold wind off the lake.

I laughed at the broken field midnight runner who escaped the cordon for a couple of pizzas then had to call the old Statue of Liberty play to get them to the hungry bros.

I guffawed at "Sugar," the 33 year old marketing student (!) who needs to "hold this space" so she can work for "social and economic justice." Gotta really love that. Seize property for your own use in violation of existing ordinances to further those classic liberal cliche goals.

This is satire. It must be.

How The Media Works

Accusations of political bias against the mainstream media are common. It isn't hard to fault Chris Matthews for  "tingles up his leg" reportage of the presidential candidate he favored. It doesn't take a lot of prejudice to notice ludicrous hit pieces on Sarah Palin. Charlie Gibson's imitation of an aristocratic William F. Buckley when he interviewed her in 2008 was classic. Legs crossed, academic cardigan, glasses perched on elevated nose and proper air of superiority while addressing a bumpkin.

So, what about the Washington Post revelations this week about FL Senator Marco Rubio? Who was the crack reporter who broke that story?

Manuel Roig-Franzia is a reporter for the Washington Post who once got punched by his 70 year old editor, Henry Allen, for writing “the second worst story [Allen had] seen in Style in 43 years.” That’s right, Roig-Franzia wrote a horrible piece in the Style section. His 70 year old editor did not like it. Roig-Franzia reportedly called his 70 year old editor and Marine a “c**ksucker”, and the Marine punched him.

Not only is his background not political reporting, but he shows remarkable stupidity calling his boss and a Marine such a thing. Beyond that he appears to be a bit foppish when he gets punched out by a 70 year old man.

Here are the details of the issue:

No Supporting Quotes Found or Even Offered 

Poor Manuel! Makes you wonder if Roig was his maiden name that he hyphenated when he acquired a male bride. Simply a pathetic individual but it is the WaPo that pays his salary, isn't it?

A Laugh For Saturday

And maybe it will keep a smile on your face all week long:

Looking To 2016

Gotta love him!

Saturday Morning Rocker

Been Waiting?

In case you've been waiting to fill out your trilogy of my books in ebook format, your wait is over.

You can now get Palace Cobra in either Kindle edition or iBook from the iTunes story. I assume you've already got When Thunder Rolled and Fighter Pilot on your eReader.

Occupation Means Working

Well, at least it used to mean working. Now it means the political act of protesting the "establishment" which is taken to mean anyone who is self-supporting with a job.

Dumping on Da Neighborhood

Of course, the Canadian version is not quite as sophisticated as your Manhattan slob:

MMMMmmmmmm Is That Nike You've Been Wearing?

At least the Mayor of New York is being positive about his dealing with the situation or at least he promises to be positive at some point in the future as soon as a bit more polling data comes in.

Bloomberg Getting Tougher or More Understanding Soon

Personally, I've contacted a lawyer to bring suit against OWS for defamation of character and slander. I'm clearly not within the wealthiest one percent of Americans and they are implying that I am part of their 99% be default. Of course it's possible that there may be more than 100% in their alternative universe.

Cold War Over

Hat tip to Sippican Cottage for turning me on to this group:

Why We Are In Debt

Want to know why we are in debt in this country?

Adult Baby Sucks On Public Teat

This guy is nuts. He no more has PTSD, ADHD, heart disease and a disability than any other lazy slug who doesn't want to go to work. He threatens to off himself if we cut his Social Security payments.

Makes you want to challenge his resolve doesn't it?

Uniform

When something is uniform, it has the same characteristics as all of the items possessing uniformity. If a group of things are uniformly blue, then you can assume that the blueness of them is all the same. There are not some items that are sky blue and some aquamarine blue and some deep Navy blue.

So also with the concept of clothing for our military services. That is pretty basic isn't it? We call the outfit a uniform because of its uniformity. All the people in uniform are dressed the same. If black shoes are required you don't get to wear brown cowboy boots.

What part of that didn't she get here:

Suffering Distress Without Her Hijab

You see, young lady, that the name of the organization of which you chose to become a member was Reserve Officer Training Corps. That means, even in the junior flavor, that the membership is in training to potentially become an officer in the United States military. If you were to follow through on the training you would be expected to be a leader, a role model, and a proper example for the people under your command to follow.

It isn't religious discrimination. It doesn't pick you out because of your faith. It is simply the requirement of the  profession.

So take the bloody thing off, wear the uniform proudly and march with the group. Or sit down, wear your hijab and STFU.

Can You Guess?

Who would say this? What party? To whom are they indebted? Is it believable?

"The massive layoffs we have had in America today, of course, are rooted in the last administration, and it is very clear that private sector jobs are doing just fine. It's the public sector jobs where we have lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation is all about," he said.

Is it any wonder we are where we are? The whole pathetic story is here:

Grow Government Now 

The private sector is where tax revenues are generated. That is where regulation stifles growth. That is what pays the bills when profits are made. It isn't government. It isn't SEIU. It isn't NEA or AFT.

And, by the way, why don't you drop in with VP Biden for that federalism refresher. The federal government pays less than 10% of public school funding in America and that isn't in the form of teacher's salaries.

The line about the problems being rooted in the last administration is pretty well worn out as well. Time to man up, Harry. Take responsibility and stop pandering.

On The Road Again

What's all this talk about a national debt? How could we have national budgetary concerns if we can do this:

Official Business Trips Add Up

Clearly there isn't very much going on in the world so the President is able to get out and conduct oval office business in these non-partisan policy discussions around the country.

It must be nice.

Federalism Refresher

Apparently the very strange person who occupies the vice-presidency of the United States does not understand the basic concept of federalism.

Jobs Bill Stops Flint Crime Wave?

Dear Joe:

Municipal police departments are not a federal responsibility. Federal tax dollars from Texas are not destined to pay city wages in Flint Michigan. If the people of Flint have a crime problem then they handle it locally. They are the ones who get taxed by the municipality.

Sincerely,

The People of the United States.

The Endarkenment

You know the drill...ooops, bad choice of word there...You know the liturgy. It is oil which is evil. The hydrocarbon fuel we run the economy on and which despite our abundant reserves we create scarcity by importation must be replaced. The key words are "renewable" and "environmentally friendly."

No nukes, no coal, no gas, no oil is our goal. We shall exist on wind and solar. It will take time but it is the direction in which we must proceed. There is a slight problem though.

It seems that we really need a lot of electricity at night when solar panels are at less than optimum efficiency. That's what makes windmills so attractive. Well, they aren't really attractive, are they? They are a blot on the landscape of America. Where we once could look across the prairies and see the far horizons now we look and see farms of these horrendous rotating white abominations. You don't notice them on John Kerry's Cape Cod coastline, but here in the heartland you can't miss them.

We're fighting against a slurry pipeline from Canada to Texas refineries right now. It will be underground and brand new with the best technology available, but the enviros are against it. It might leak. Go with windmills.

There have been complaints about birds being killed by windmills, but that's been ignored. A bald eagle here, a golden condor there is a small price to pay for ending global climate change, isn't it?

Now this:

Bat Brings Generation to a Halt

Got that? Someone is at work running around searching under these windmills to see if a bat is getting hurt. God forbid that an endangered specie bat should bite the big one on a brutal blade. The solution? We'll cage the windmills at night...which as I recall is the time of maximum darkness and therefore greatest need for electrical generation.

Turn out the lights, the party's over!

It Is Spreading

It started simply as Occupy Wall Street, but it has grown and it seems like the Occupy Someplace movement might run into a snag if this segment grows:

XXX Stop It B XXX

Here's a man speaking to the President in language he can understand:



Oh, did I mention you might want to turn the volume down if you're catching this post on your iPad at church?

Survived Another One

For those who may have wondered what happened since Thursday, the answer is simple and should have been first thought of regular readers. It was another reunion gathering. Spent Friday on the road to Fredericksburg TX and the Hangar Hotel. 

Checkin and gathering at the "Officer's Club":

For those unfamiliar, the Hangar Hotel is at the F'burg airport and built in a renovated WW II era hangar. It is a favorite stopping place for general aviation pilots and features a 1940's era aviation them throughout. The hotel bar is called the Officer's Club and as you can tell, it is a very comfortable hang-out. When filled with a bunch of F-105 pilots, it becomes a wonderful place.

Dinner just across the highway from the airport at the Cabernet Grill, a bed-and-breakfast with some great atmosphere and a pretty fine restaurant featuring all Texas wines. The food was upscale local fare and the dinner on the patio beside a small waterfall and koi pond was a long way from WW II standards.

Saturday was reunion of the 421st Tac Fighter Squadron at the Old Church in Willow City TX. Don't look for much in the way of facilities if you visit Willow City. It is little more than a very small ghost town with a few single-wides, a parking garage for some state DOT trucks and the historic old church. It sits at an intersection of a road called the Willow City Loop which offers about 20 miles of some of the most beautiful wild flowers and Hill Country scenario you can find.

BBQ, music, some vintage aircraft fly-overs and a lot of telling of war stories which we've all told before but usually we've forgotten that so we tell them again. They get better over the years. We get taller and braver. The targets get tougher and the defenses more accurate. And we all nod appreciatively because we know that every word is true.

Evening spent back the O'Club watching the projection TV as the Texas Rangers annihilated the Detroit Tigers to clinch their World Series berth. A wee dram of MacCallan's 12-year old single-malt to finish the day was consumed.

On the road Sunday and now things will get back to normal for a while.

He Shares My Pain

Yesterday was roll-out day for iOS 5, the long-anticipated major operating system upgrade for all things "i'. In preparation I had dutifully upgraded my iTunes installation to the required ver. 10.5. Through the day I periodically launched iTunes and plugged my iPad or iPhone in. A check for version updates indicated it was still iOS 4.3. Finally about three in the afternoon, I got the long-awaited "A new operating system upgrade is available. Do you want to upgrade to iOS 5?"

After a warning the back-up, upgrade and restore could take as much as an hour, I clicked on the go-button. I watched the progress as first a massive download took place then a system restore of all my apps and settings and then finally about forty minutes into it, "Upgrade failed".

Whoa! What now? I read the detailed error message. It asks if I've got iTunes 10.5. I have. It cautions that my security software could interfere. I turn off my firewall. I try again. Same result. Failure.

Now I'm in retrench territory. I click on the "Restore" option to go back to where I was. System grinds away for about twenty minutes and then "Restore Failed. Error 3200."

So I get out the trusty customer support web-page for Apple. You fill out a short problem form, enter your product ID code and iTunes account then choose whether you want an immediate phone call, a call at a future time, or an email contact. I chose immediate call-back. The phone rang within a few seconds.

I describe my problem to the clearly American tech support person, obviously not in a phone bank in Bangladesh with a phrase book. He listens and then says, "The same thing happened to me when I tried to upgrade. I don't know the answer. I plan to try again tomorrow." Well, at least I know my problem is not isolated. We converse and finally agree that it might be that Apple servers are over-loaded. I suggest they might tell you that earlier in the time investment process or more clearly in the error message. He agrees. We commiserate for a few minutes and then hang-up.

Try again about twenty minutes later and upgrade goes smoothly. I thought I should call the tech support guy and maybe help him out.

Bipartisan Action in Congress

This is something which has been way too long in coming. Why our government didn't realize the need for this legislation simply confounds me. My close friend of Siberian/Finnish extraction is thrilled that his needs are being finally met by Washington. Without this, the only time he ever is properly attired is after a visit to the spa. Now I will have to insure that he is outfitted at all times:

Schumer and Pence Find Agreement on "Cute"

We are a greater nation today because of this.

Pushing the Stimulus Envelope

This is yet another example of your federal tax dollars going to a "shovel-ready" project in a Bamster supportive community. Everyone needs a nice new regional airport, don't they:

A Bridge Not Far Enough

It isn't like Jet Bridges are new technology. It isn't like the airlines suddenly adopted entire fleets of  unfamiliar jets. It isn't like the parameters of distance and elevation aren't clearly established world wide.

It IS like massive incompetence.

Bring It On...

This is essentially what it is all about. This is the statement of truth they don't put on the main-stream coverage. This is Trotsky/Lenin redux. This is Madame Defarge and her knitting by the side of the guillotine. This is Mao's Great Leap Forward which required the re-education camps and which only delayed the inevitable collapse of the Communist central-planning economic model. This is fools without a clue seeking something for nothing and being so impetuous as to threaten to take it by violence.



You may find a receptive audience in LA, my immigrant friend, but you will get a much different reception when you venture into the heartland. It will be much different. I'm waiting.

If I...

If I owned one of those great new updated J-3 Cubs I'd have to have this on the tail:

What Do You Think?

I'm not at all certain that this is authentic. But, it is possible:

Intel For Occupy Wall St

They are occupying Wall Street and also occupying Main Street America. They have surfaced in Washington, Phillie, Boston and we've even got a share of loonies in Dallas. But, I'm not sure they are getting the job done.

My two classes today seemed like a good opportunity to get some representative college kids to discuss the movement and what they might identify as the goals. The brisk discussion I had hoped for died aborning. In one section only two of the fifteen students had heard of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In the other section of twenty-four students not a single one was aware of the protests.

So, number one for the OWS folks is to understand that most of America doesn't really care about them. Their movement has failed, at least in Texoma. But, that may not be too critical in the grand scheme of things. There isn't very much that these kids seem to notice.

Here, however, is a bit of intel which the protesters should consider important.

Bamster Job Creators Divvying the Loot They've Earned

That's right, boys and girls, the political hero that you voted for to dismantle the corporate stranglehold that is keeping you poor and benighted is funded by a list of CEOs and tall dogs that you thought were totally Republican pawns.

These plunderers of your potential largess are driving the policy machine that is going to take all of those welfare dollars which you deserve and aim them right at the selected group of Messiah minions who need a pay-back for their effort.

Read who is on the President's commission. Know what they are supposed to be doing. Review how that effort worked with Stimulus I. Now acknowledge that life isn't fair and the Bamster is not your friend.

Furiously Fast

Where Has the Love Gone?

What do you do when the last hurrah has been shouted? What happens when your grand Utopian vision founders over the obvious impracticality of itself? Who do you trust when your own party won't follow your leads?

It can be sad when your fantasy world crumbles of its own weight.

The Man Walks Alone Without a Friend

There is little reason to doubt the accuracy of that column. Certainly it is written by a member of his opposition, but it relates impressions gathered from a broadly cast net. I can't feel sympathetic though.

Harvey Golub, former chairman of American Express, called the “jobs” bill an incoherent mess. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, he said that among other flaws, the bill includes an unheard of retroactive tax hike on the holders of municipal bonds.

“Many of us have suspected that economic illiterates were setting the economic policy of this administration,” Golub wrote, adding that the bill “reveals a depth of cluelessness that boggles the mind.”

Increasingly it appears that there is no longer a rabbit to be pulled out of his political hat. The real challenge now is to keep the viable Republican challengers from self-destructing along the path to victory.

Without Comment

HPV Redux!

New World Education

Remember all the griping about No Child Left Behind? In a nutshell, the concept was that advancement in schools should depend upon ability to meet a standard for grade-level work. The federal government asked states to prepare a list of what those standards should be then conduct an evaluation to insure that students achieved the standards. It was the state's responsibility to set approved standards, design an approved evaluation method and submit evidence of standard achievement rates.

Low performing institutions were monitored to insure progress toward acceptable performance. Penalties could be invoked after a reasonable period of failure to improve.

That sort of a program is simply too realistic for the Brave New World. It damages the self-esteem of the lazy and worthless. It stresses productive academic achievement at the expense of feel-good courses about the environment and the evil racist history of Amerika. You don't get to reward "the arts" and the study of counter-cultural extremist positions until you can add/subtract, read/write, and recall the major lessons of history. Clearly that is not what we want in this country.

Therefore we must stop "teaching to the test" and convert to passing students through school and out into the non-productive segments of society so that they can Occupy Wall Street or whatever town they can find their way to city center in.

Here's a novel approach in New York City:

Failed? NO! Lower the Standards and Raise the Grades!

And when you implement a program like that what happens? Why you get a big stipend from the Federal Department of Education, of course.

Back at the Asylum

I've taught classes on revolution. It is a political process and one which has had a place in history. It is a means for the governed to withdraw their consent from the government. It is what people do when they are oppressed. They do so in a meaningful way and usually with clearly articulated arguments. That is what our Declaration of Independence is about. It is what John Locke wrote about.

But there are other revolutions which were not so disciplined nor were they as well thought out. Occasionally revolutionaries are mindless drones whipped into a froth and acting without reason or even justification. They have surrendered their intellect and in the process they also have turned over their freedoms.

Watch this exercise for as long as you can tolerate it. Are these the great minds which will reshape the nation for global leadership in the future? Then consider the achievements of the individual who is being denied the right to address the group. He is as far to the left in American political thought and as devoted to redistributive economics and racial preferences as any individual in Washington, yet he doesn't meet their criteria:



We are...We are...in a heap...in a heap...of serious...of serious...trouble...trouble!

Where There's Smoke...

The WaPo is apparently doing some serious journalism:

Link, Link, Link to Solyndra Hanky-Panky

The simplest question one can ask about this business would be, "If I were an investor with substantial funds to manage, where would my due diligence take me in these circumstances?"

Then consider what occurred and ask yourself if it is really those greedy capitalists on Wall Street or those benevolent souls in charge of our government taking care of us which is the problem the protests should be looking at.

The Future & The Past

My second tour in the Vietnam War started with a disappointment about three and a half months after I arrived. A squadron which had a rich combat history written in blood and fully chromed in courage was summarily de-activated and mothballed. The memorabilia were packed in wooden boxes and shipped to a warehouse in St. Louis. So much for heritage and heroes.

Thirty-eight years later the squadron was re-activated at Sheppard AFB training future fighter pilots in the truly whiz-bang retro-fit of the venerable Talon, the T-38C. I spent the day with the 469th Fighting Bulls and have seen a bright future for the free world's fighter force. These people from top to bottom, from Wing King to entry-level nugget, are simply motivated, intelligent, dedicated, patriotic and competent.

It was my honor to be among them.

And lest I forget, I got to fly the simulator and the upgrade to C model is absolutely incredible. The info available at your fingertips is awesome. They've got it all from GPS nav to ring-laser kwik-align INS. They've got a lead-computing sight with weapons parameter cues for air-air training. They don't carry a SUU-21 bomb dispenser anymore. They've got it all programmed and with a weapon selected, they deliver with a video mark based on their parameters and pipper placement. It's all transportable back to the debrief with either front or rear cockpit views. 

Ohhhh to be 22 years old again and with a flying future in front of me. 

The Table is Set

Well, I got what I was hoping for last night. It's going to be Rangers vs Detroit in the ALCS. The Rangers come in rested and ready, the Tigers worn and exhausted. Will that be enough?

Regular season match-ups might be inconclusive. Detroit bested Texas 6 out of 9 meetings. But through most of that period Cruz and Beltre were sidelined with injuries and pitching had slumped badly during the dog-days of Texas summer where even night games are played at 100 degrees.

Now the team looks sharp. Pitching is strong after some late season shakeups. The lineup has no "pitch-around" places for an easy end to an inning and the catching tandem of Napoli and Torrealba is working like magic.

This is going to be a good series.

Tear It Down

Once the goal of young Americans was to build the nation up. Now apparently the youth movement's ambition is to tear it down. With little understanding of issues, no clear purpose, and inability to articulate what might satisfy them, they take to the streets.

With incredible clarity one man speaks the truth. It isn't "truth to power" but rather truth to counter ignorance. It won't work, of course, but it certainly is worth saying.

"Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself. It is not someone's fault if they succeeded, it is someone's fault if they failed," 

That's Herman Cain speaking. Read it all here:

Businessman Speaks to Occupiers

Maybe someone will take the time to read it to those illiterate fools in the streets.

Recovery?

As the President bounces back and forth across the country trying to reinvigorate his base he has taken a new approach. It is one which is creative and novel. It has never been done before. It is most definitely thinking outside the box. It may not even acknowledge that a box exists. It is visionary and revolutionary. Wait a second, strike "revolutionary". That word has too much negative context when applied to Obama policies.

Ronald Reagan won an election against an incumbent President with a cogent question, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" The incumbent had successfully ceded the Panama Canal to another nation, allowed our strongest Middle-East ally to be overthrown and our embassy staff to be taken hostage, and managed the economy into 21% inflation and 18% prime interest rates. The election was a landslide.

The Bamster likes to compare his leadership to other Presidents and surprisingly they are often Republicans. We've heard him raise the Lincoln legacy as being similar to what he is doing. Somehow that one never quite has the ring of authenticity but in a society with little historic knowledge, he gets away with it.

He's used a Reagan comparison before as well. That is even more ludicrous. The believer in American exceptionalism and free market success was not the slightest bit like the current incumbent. So maybe the new Reagan linkage is going to be the ticket for the Bamster to ride.

He doesn't ask the question that Reagan asked. He answers it. He's begun to tell people they are worse off than they were four years ago and that's why you should give him another four years in the job. He just hasn't been able to get enough stimulus dollars to his base and he hasn't really driven the successful into poverty yet. If we give him more time, he can finish the job.

Bleeding Jobs Increases Pace

Someone needs to point out to Ben Bernanke that the recovery isn't in danger of faltering, as he testified before Congress yesterday. There has been no bloody recovering in the first place. Throwing money into government make-work projects and continual threats to regulate businesses out of profitability are not productive policies.

Promising tax cuts to people who pay no taxes and proposing massive punitive taxation on those who actually hire workers is not effective either.

Understanding the Food Chain

Government Business

Don't you have to be a government official to conduct government business? I mean like elected or something?

And don't you have to be employed with a W-2 at the end of the year to be "Senior Staff"?

Half A Mill to Jet to Botswana

Well at least they filed some reports about the success or failure of the business they conducted for us, didn't they?

Waxahachie Chemical Plant Fire

Some amazing video here of the fire about thirty miles south of Dallas. Watch the fire chase the firefighters along their hose and then watch a hugely expensive aerial ladder firetruck get engulfed:



More news and additional video here:

Chemical Plant Fire Rages Along I-35

The Fox News report indicates apparently there is no loss of life at this point. Hard to believe that is possible.

Graduate Level Political Correctness

The circumlocutions around certain words always amaze me. If I've replaced a politically incorrect word with a third-grade talk-around have I still told you what the word was? If I say "N-word" do you have any question what the word is? Then why do supposedly mature adults go through all of that Kabuki?

The scandal du jour is that Herman Cain, whom I thought was not going to get into this sort of thing, is outraged that Rick Perry's father had a hunting lease for many years which apparently had a stone on the property with the name attributed to the place, "Niggerhead". Clearly a throw-back to a cruder time, but we all recognize that sort of language was common in many sections of the country and is no longer acceptable in polite society.

The word was painted over at some point but exactly when was unclear. It is also unclear whether Perry pere et fils were property owners or merely participating in what is called a hunting lease. Hunting leases are the virtually universal method of gaining land access throughout Texas for hunting of both wild-fowl and game animals. You pay a fee and get to hunt, but you are not involved with title or ownership and except in very limited circumstances aren't involved in property maintenance or modification.

Regardless, the stone had a name, the name got painted over, the turmoil in that teapot is largely insignificant. Sticks and stones may break bones, etc.

Here's the laughable part of the brouhaha:

But You Can Say It Your Way and You Can't Say It Yours

You see it is a really bad word. And they are really good and considerate people. And nobody should ever use that word, which everyone knows what it is. But when you say it, even though you shouldn't say it, it is OK with me. And if you say it, even though you are referring to when she said it which was OK, it is not OK anymore.

Seriously? These are real adults getting paid real money for talking about events on a real TV show? Seriously?

Playing at Third World

The mindless nature of the modern college student is something which never ceases to amaze me. We've just witnessed an Arab Spring and a Euro-Zone economic meltdown. In the former we saw nations of oppressed, poverty-stricken people take to the streets to oust brutal and oppressive dictators. In the latter we learned that when nations with significant disparity in their economic situations surrender a critical aspect of their sovereignty, i.e. the ability to control their own currency, severe consequences will ensue.

Both of those events offer opportunity for serious education. There are lessons for students to learn if only there were faculty to teach them.

Instead we get this:

Occupy Wall Street Movement Grows

Students have always been a fertile population for fomenting protest. They don't examine issues very deeply and they are both idealistic and emotional. They dream of a perfect world in which all mankind lives in harmony, where all needs are met, where cannabis grows in gardens and work is done by 'droids.

Plant the seed of class warfare and it grows like a weed without much water and responsive to fertilization with only a bit more steer droppings applied. I spotted the pernicious meme about eighteen months ago and pointed out that the dichotomy suggested is false. The idea of an oppositional Wall Street and Main Street is ludicrous.

Main Street is where Americans live and work and save to invest in businesses which thrive, succeed, create profits and are traded on Wall Street. They are symbiotic entities.

The unwashed, bearded, and outraged protesters seem blissfully unaware of that.

Inspired For Action

Yes, they want "action"! I guess that's the latest iteration of "hope and change"!

"Everyone has this problem," he said, "White, black. Rich or poor. Where you live. Everyone has a financial inequity oppressing them."

See how simple it is to understand that? You've got a financial inequity oppressing you. If we could simply eliminate financial inequity then we'd all be happy. You have more than me? Then to be fair I must get some of yours. I must bring everyone down to my level if they have more. I must raise everyone up to my level if I am successful even if I don't know them or particularly care for them.

Who could possibly be so wise? Who will decide who should have how much of my stuff?  Even Solomon knew that the baby would never be cut in half. My property will be cut in half over my dead body and only then.

Wait a sec! I know who can handle this redistribution for us. Yes folks, it looks like a job for the Bamster.

Without Comment

Tipped Off Target  Photo-Op?