With the football season six weeks gone and a month to go before baseball starts out the homestead gets real quiet on Sunday afternoons. I tend to cocoon with a book or the computer and SWMBO grabs the remote and goes on a reality marathon. She's become addicted to "Real Housewives of Somewhere" which comes in a half-dozen flavors of regional floozies. You've got New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Orange County and I don't know where else.
What's obvious immediately is they aren't real, they aren't housewives and their chronological age is well beyond their psychological maturity. They are rich, surgically enhanced, spoiled and bitchy.
Which makes this new TV production a natural:
Filming Of Congressional Reality Show Disrupts Committee Meeting
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Hoist on His Own Petard
Five days ago it was NY Congressman Eric Massa under pressure about inappropriate actions with a staffer. Then it was a spontanous resignation for a sequence of reasons ranging from the pressure, some cancer issues, healthcare strong-arming and a conspiracy by the Bamster's legions. It peaked with a radio talk show interview that titillated with the images of a naked man confrontation in the Capital gym shower-room.
Maybe there was something there. Yesterday Glen Beck brought Massa to his show for a full hour. I watched a lot of it. It was amazing. The former congressman is delusional at best and incoherent at worst. The evidence once again points to the question of whether the American electorate is really intelligent enough to be making choices in a democracy.
Here's the Washington Post take on it. It reads pretty much like I saw it, or maybe even soft-pedals the melt-down a bit.
Talking in Circles, Reveling in Adolescence, Grasping at Straws
Maybe the most remarkable statement was Beck's last words. These were uttered at the close of the show while he sat across the table from Massa. I wonder what the man thought at the end of his performance.
The show's over folks. Move along. Nothng to see here.
Maybe there was something there. Yesterday Glen Beck brought Massa to his show for a full hour. I watched a lot of it. It was amazing. The former congressman is delusional at best and incoherent at worst. The evidence once again points to the question of whether the American electorate is really intelligent enough to be making choices in a democracy.
Here's the Washington Post take on it. It reads pretty much like I saw it, or maybe even soft-pedals the melt-down a bit.
Talking in Circles, Reveling in Adolescence, Grasping at Straws
Maybe the most remarkable statement was Beck's last words. These were uttered at the close of the show while he sat across the table from Massa. I wonder what the man thought at the end of his performance.
In the show's waning minutes, Beck surrendered. "America, I've got to shoot straight with you," he said, looking into the camera. "I think I've wasted your time. I think this is the first time I have wasted an hour of your time, and I apologize for that."
The show's over folks. Move along. Nothng to see here.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
We Few...
Iowahawk paraphrases Henry V on the eve before the battle.
The Band of Brothers Is Very Different Now
When his muse visits he has an incredible talent. Enjoy.
The Band of Brothers Is Very Different Now
When his muse visits he has an incredible talent. Enjoy.
Little League Hoplophobes
The idiocy of schools suspending six-year olds for pointing fingers at other students as a "gun" has become commonplace. If those school boards and wussified principals had been in Wilson Park when I was growing up they would have soiled their bloomers and collapsed in a quaking mass of jelly. Six-guns and Lugers, rifles and home-built simulations of "machine guns" abounded as we chose to play cowboys or war or super-heroes on a rampage in the grass and bushes. Lots of pointing, "bang-banging", ricochet whistles and of course overly dramatic dying followed by click-click bandaging and "you're all better, now."
Today we've got generations conditioned to fear blue steel and brass. We would rather succomb than resist.
But, how do you explain this:
Little League Says No Thanks to Sponsor
OK, that's their privilege I guess if they are going to be pristine about whose logo gets displayed on a team t-shirt. But if Constitution Arms is controversial wouldn't a chicken joint named "Cluck U" be a bit of a double entendre for nine-year-olds? Or having your fifth grader take the field promoting Joe's Wine and Spirits?
Just asking.
Today we've got generations conditioned to fear blue steel and brass. We would rather succomb than resist.
But, how do you explain this:
Little League Says No Thanks to Sponsor
OK, that's their privilege I guess if they are going to be pristine about whose logo gets displayed on a team t-shirt. But if Constitution Arms is controversial wouldn't a chicken joint named "Cluck U" be a bit of a double entendre for nine-year-olds? Or having your fifth grader take the field promoting Joe's Wine and Spirits?
Just asking.
Much Ado About Nothing
You've heard about it already, I'm sure. Dan Rather, no friend of Republicans or the right in America on Chris Matthews show, no friend of Republicans...but I digress:
Is there a limit in a nation which supposedly has speech and political expression protected by the First Amendment to what will be proscribed as a racist slur?
Two days ago it was felony charges against two university morons who sprinkled cotton balls on the quadrangle lawn at the University of Missouri. You see cotton balls recall slaves working in the fields of the rebellious South and picking cotton. Can't put cotton in front of an African-American.
Maybe it has been the deep offense of displaying a rope before a minority student because that was the tool of lynch mobs a hundred years ago. Can't have ropes and blacks in the same room.
Watermelon is a fruit and a refreshing treat in the summer. It isn't racist. Fried chicken is a marginally unhealthy American favorite saturated in breading and fat, nothing more. The word "niggardly" means parsimonious or cheap. It isn't a racist slur.
Nothing seems to be too absurd to still be capable of providing racist offense. How about discounting toys which aren't selling as fast as similar models in a different color?
Is Black Barbie Really Worth Less?
Sometimes, as Freud pointed out, a cigar is just a cigar...ooops, inadvertent anti-Clinton joke. Sorry. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Rather quite accurately points out that the President's articulate skills do not translate into observable mangerial competence. To call a failure a failure and to illustrate your language with a metaphor, even a rural one, isn't racist. It is simply accurate.
Is there a limit in a nation which supposedly has speech and political expression protected by the First Amendment to what will be proscribed as a racist slur?
Two days ago it was felony charges against two university morons who sprinkled cotton balls on the quadrangle lawn at the University of Missouri. You see cotton balls recall slaves working in the fields of the rebellious South and picking cotton. Can't put cotton in front of an African-American.
Maybe it has been the deep offense of displaying a rope before a minority student because that was the tool of lynch mobs a hundred years ago. Can't have ropes and blacks in the same room.
Watermelon is a fruit and a refreshing treat in the summer. It isn't racist. Fried chicken is a marginally unhealthy American favorite saturated in breading and fat, nothing more. The word "niggardly" means parsimonious or cheap. It isn't a racist slur.
Nothing seems to be too absurd to still be capable of providing racist offense. How about discounting toys which aren't selling as fast as similar models in a different color?
Is Black Barbie Really Worth Less?
Sometimes, as Freud pointed out, a cigar is just a cigar...ooops, inadvertent anti-Clinton joke. Sorry. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Rather quite accurately points out that the President's articulate skills do not translate into observable mangerial competence. To call a failure a failure and to illustrate your language with a metaphor, even a rural one, isn't racist. It is simply accurate.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Heroes
Aristotle wrote that war ennobles man. The modern position is that war debases us. That’s so much easier to defend and it serves the purpose of excusing us from sacrifice, patriotism or even inconvenience. But an honest person will have to acknowledge that we live in a Hobbesian world and there are forces which would do us great harm. We depend upon special people to emerge to deal with that threat. We call them heroes.
A hero doesn’t plan to be a hero. He doesn’t seek out heroic opportunities usually but neither does he avoid them. He seldom will tell you he is a hero either before or after the events. America has been fortunate to have many heroes over the life of our republic. It may be time to wonder whether we’ve used up our supply or whether heroism is still possible in a confusing world.
There are no typical heroes. Some live heroic lives and some have but one opportunity to make that transcendental leap into the pages of history. It takes doing something beyond oneself. It takes courage and capability. Heroes often exhibit leadership even when they aren’t responsible for leading at that moment. When a leader is also a hero you’ve got something special.
America seems in need of heroes now or possibly we are in need of revising our thinking to once again value heroes. You can’t detach “Support Our Troops” from supporting our mission or our war. If you wish to remain a free nation, you need to be prepared to go beyond diplomacy when the challenge arises and then you will want those special individuals that somehow emerge to become heroic.
Robin Olds is a stellar example of leader and hero. He didn’t seek out heroic opportunities but rather welcomed the test of his skills against an adversary in defending his country. Known most prominently for his leadership during the bombing campaign against North Vietnam, he could easily have been acknowledged as a hero without ever having been to southeast Asia.
He was an All-American football player at West Point and is enshrined in the National Collegiate Football Hall of Fame. Noteworthy but not classically heroic.
He became a P-38 fighter pilot upon graduation from the Academy and got to Europe a few weeks before D-Day. In nine short months he rose from new Lt. wingman in his squadron to squadron commander with 12.5 air-to-air victories. That would be heroic by most standards.
At war’s end he entered the first US jet fighter squadron and became part of the first jet demonstration team that fostered the Thunderbirds. Along the way he set speed records and was runner-up in the Thompson Trophy Race. In a twist befitting a war hero and dashing jet pilot, he met and fell in love with movie star Ella Raines. That tumultuous union would challenge him for the next 25 years.
When the air war in Vietnam was blundering along with severe losses from inexperience and lack of coherent direction, Robin grabbed the reins of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing in Thailand and demonstrated that leaders get out in front to set the example for their troops. In the process he established the traditions of the fighter force that cause young pilots today to don a small tab on their flight suits, usually on a Friday afternoon that simply says WWRD. It’s a play on the religious theme, but it reflects a standard of skill, leadership and behavior for their future.
Those few achievements merely scratch the surface of what the man did during his lifetime. He wasn’t the only hero of the period and he would be quick to point out exaggerations to the record when he would hear people recounting “Robin stories.” He was hardly humble but he was never arrogant. It was a thrill for a younger pilot to have Robin throw his arm over your shoulder, embrace you and simply say, “Warrior!” You knew you had arrived.
Will there ever be another Robin Olds? It’s harder to be heroic today. We’ve become too politically correct, too reluctant to simply say that our goal is victory. We benefit from the technology that reduces the risk of flying combat and increases the effectiveness of our weaponry. We seldom face an enemy that comes to the arena to challenge us in battle. Today the battle is waged by terrorist acts and propaganda. We criminalize and demean the heroes and simultaneously enable the miscreants who seek to destroy us. We may never see another Robin Olds.
Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus compilation of memories and writings of Robin Olds will be released on April 13, 2010. “Fighter Pilot: Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds” from St. Martin’s Press, New York NY, 2010.
A hero doesn’t plan to be a hero. He doesn’t seek out heroic opportunities usually but neither does he avoid them. He seldom will tell you he is a hero either before or after the events. America has been fortunate to have many heroes over the life of our republic. It may be time to wonder whether we’ve used up our supply or whether heroism is still possible in a confusing world.
There are no typical heroes. Some live heroic lives and some have but one opportunity to make that transcendental leap into the pages of history. It takes doing something beyond oneself. It takes courage and capability. Heroes often exhibit leadership even when they aren’t responsible for leading at that moment. When a leader is also a hero you’ve got something special.
America seems in need of heroes now or possibly we are in need of revising our thinking to once again value heroes. You can’t detach “Support Our Troops” from supporting our mission or our war. If you wish to remain a free nation, you need to be prepared to go beyond diplomacy when the challenge arises and then you will want those special individuals that somehow emerge to become heroic.
Robin Olds is a stellar example of leader and hero. He didn’t seek out heroic opportunities but rather welcomed the test of his skills against an adversary in defending his country. Known most prominently for his leadership during the bombing campaign against North Vietnam, he could easily have been acknowledged as a hero without ever having been to southeast Asia.
He was an All-American football player at West Point and is enshrined in the National Collegiate Football Hall of Fame. Noteworthy but not classically heroic.
He became a P-38 fighter pilot upon graduation from the Academy and got to Europe a few weeks before D-Day. In nine short months he rose from new Lt. wingman in his squadron to squadron commander with 12.5 air-to-air victories. That would be heroic by most standards.
At war’s end he entered the first US jet fighter squadron and became part of the first jet demonstration team that fostered the Thunderbirds. Along the way he set speed records and was runner-up in the Thompson Trophy Race. In a twist befitting a war hero and dashing jet pilot, he met and fell in love with movie star Ella Raines. That tumultuous union would challenge him for the next 25 years.
When the air war in Vietnam was blundering along with severe losses from inexperience and lack of coherent direction, Robin grabbed the reins of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing in Thailand and demonstrated that leaders get out in front to set the example for their troops. In the process he established the traditions of the fighter force that cause young pilots today to don a small tab on their flight suits, usually on a Friday afternoon that simply says WWRD. It’s a play on the religious theme, but it reflects a standard of skill, leadership and behavior for their future.
Those few achievements merely scratch the surface of what the man did during his lifetime. He wasn’t the only hero of the period and he would be quick to point out exaggerations to the record when he would hear people recounting “Robin stories.” He was hardly humble but he was never arrogant. It was a thrill for a younger pilot to have Robin throw his arm over your shoulder, embrace you and simply say, “Warrior!” You knew you had arrived.
Will there ever be another Robin Olds? It’s harder to be heroic today. We’ve become too politically correct, too reluctant to simply say that our goal is victory. We benefit from the technology that reduces the risk of flying combat and increases the effectiveness of our weaponry. We seldom face an enemy that comes to the arena to challenge us in battle. Today the battle is waged by terrorist acts and propaganda. We criminalize and demean the heroes and simultaneously enable the miscreants who seek to destroy us. We may never see another Robin Olds.
Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus compilation of memories and writings of Robin Olds will be released on April 13, 2010. “Fighter Pilot: Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds” from St. Martin’s Press, New York NY, 2010.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Rocket Science 101
Apparently the powers of reason have been sucked from the brains of the St. Petersburg FL police department. Either that or the news story has failed to report the obvious:
Gun Handling Basics or Did Quick Draw McGraw Have This Problem?
Anybody who has ever been to a cowboy movie knows that you twirl single action revolvers if you are emulating the Ringo Kid. You don't twirl semi-autos.
But, if you do and you shoot your buddy then the police would have to note that if you are on probation for a "drug possession charge" the terms of that probation would preclude firearm possession, particularly if you are seventeen years old. It wouldn't be an unrelated charge.
And accepting the line that "I just found this .40" from a juvenile on probation for drug possession probably is a very weak cover for a burglarly or theft.
Gun Handling Basics or Did Quick Draw McGraw Have This Problem?
Anybody who has ever been to a cowboy movie knows that you twirl single action revolvers if you are emulating the Ringo Kid. You don't twirl semi-autos.
But, if you do and you shoot your buddy then the police would have to note that if you are on probation for a "drug possession charge" the terms of that probation would preclude firearm possession, particularly if you are seventeen years old. It wouldn't be an unrelated charge.
And accepting the line that "I just found this .40" from a juvenile on probation for drug possession probably is a very weak cover for a burglarly or theft.
Your Future
Those who will not learn the lessons of history are destined to repeat them...
It is fiscally irresponsible to believe that you can continue to gain re-election by the simple mechanism of handing out money and benefits to a greedy welfare-entitlement society. You might be successful at first but eventually you will be discovered and even the worthless of our society will notice.
So far the awareness has been accelerating slowly. But, consider these numbers for a moment:
Doubled Debt in Less Than a Year, Seeking Exponential Increase in Future
There is nothing inherently wrong with debt. We all enter debt to buy cars or homes or finance a child's education. Debt is a tool. But debt becomes toxic when the service of that debt exceeds our ability to pay and simultaneously meet our daily living obligations. If you can't pay the utility bill anymore or buy clothing, you've got too much debt.
Money is simply paper these days, a contract which we accept as a medium of exchange for goods and services. There is no limited quantity asset which backs it as there was when we had a gold standard. That means at some point the solution to oppressive and overwhelming debt is to print your way out of it.
Running the presses overtime devalues your currency, destroys your savings, decimates the value of your labor and demolishes your national credibility. We apparently are reaching a point in the process at which failure to modify behavior will place us inexorably on the path of Weimar Germany. Hyperinflation, economic collapse and then, who knows. We can read the history of Germany to get one possible path and it isn't a pretty one.
Throw another shovel full of money on the fire, dear, I feel a chill in the air.
It is fiscally irresponsible to believe that you can continue to gain re-election by the simple mechanism of handing out money and benefits to a greedy welfare-entitlement society. You might be successful at first but eventually you will be discovered and even the worthless of our society will notice.
So far the awareness has been accelerating slowly. But, consider these numbers for a moment:
Doubled Debt in Less Than a Year, Seeking Exponential Increase in Future
There is nothing inherently wrong with debt. We all enter debt to buy cars or homes or finance a child's education. Debt is a tool. But debt becomes toxic when the service of that debt exceeds our ability to pay and simultaneously meet our daily living obligations. If you can't pay the utility bill anymore or buy clothing, you've got too much debt.
Money is simply paper these days, a contract which we accept as a medium of exchange for goods and services. There is no limited quantity asset which backs it as there was when we had a gold standard. That means at some point the solution to oppressive and overwhelming debt is to print your way out of it.
Running the presses overtime devalues your currency, destroys your savings, decimates the value of your labor and demolishes your national credibility. We apparently are reaching a point in the process at which failure to modify behavior will place us inexorably on the path of Weimar Germany. Hyperinflation, economic collapse and then, who knows. We can read the history of Germany to get one possible path and it isn't a pretty one.
Throw another shovel full of money on the fire, dear, I feel a chill in the air.
Saturday Morning Classic Rocker
It was the spring of 1966 and I was still at Nellis AFB having the time of my life learning how to drive the F-105 Thunderchief. Las Vegas was growing, but I-15 still hadn't been cut and the "Strip" had empty spaces between the hotels. There was a lot of amazing entertainment in the lounge bars and even the major productions were only ten bucks which included two drinks.
The Sands hotel had the Ike and Tina Turner Review and it was a mandatory stop around midnight on a week-end. She was introduced as "the hardest working woman in show business" and she well could have been. The band was tight and the funniest part was the single, short white guy with shoulder length hair standing in the brass line with a baritone sax as big as he was. I wondered what it was like traveling with that group.
She didn't do the "nice and rough" spiel in those days, but she did the song just like this:
The Sands hotel had the Ike and Tina Turner Review and it was a mandatory stop around midnight on a week-end. She was introduced as "the hardest working woman in show business" and she well could have been. The band was tight and the funniest part was the single, short white guy with shoulder length hair standing in the brass line with a baritone sax as big as he was. I wondered what it was like traveling with that group.
She didn't do the "nice and rough" spiel in those days, but she did the song just like this:
Friday, March 05, 2010
Tips of Icebergs
I heard about it this morning when I walked past the telly and Fox News was reporting an investigation that two US Navy ships raced each other on the high seas. Well, duh, was my first reaction. You've got warships which are designed for maneuvering and hopefully bursts of speed. You've got virtually unlimited space in the Pacific for a little drag race for bragging rights. It doesn't seem like something to get worked up about unless we're back to political correctness 101 and someone trying to make points against the military. Boys will be boys.
Guided Missile Cruiser Races Destroyer, Winner Not Revealed
But, I stumbled when I read the brief news piece. The cruiser was skippered by a female. Nothing wrong with that in today's military. If she can do the job. But, I had to do a quick search on the Captain's name, Holly Graf when the item also said she was relieved of command last month. There's more to the story.
It seems that Capt. Holly is spoiled little sis of Rear Admiral Robin Graf and that there's a certain Queeg aura about her:
Spitting, Tantrums, Death Threats and Life at Sea
I would like to know if the itinerary for the Cowpens was including stops at Tahiti to pick up some breadfruit. Rum, the lash and sodomy are so passe in the US Navy, but that doesn't mean blatant abuse isn't still available for the chosen few.
Guided Missile Cruiser Races Destroyer, Winner Not Revealed
But, I stumbled when I read the brief news piece. The cruiser was skippered by a female. Nothing wrong with that in today's military. If she can do the job. But, I had to do a quick search on the Captain's name, Holly Graf when the item also said she was relieved of command last month. There's more to the story.
It seems that Capt. Holly is spoiled little sis of Rear Admiral Robin Graf and that there's a certain Queeg aura about her:
Spitting, Tantrums, Death Threats and Life at Sea
I would like to know if the itinerary for the Cowpens was including stops at Tahiti to pick up some breadfruit. Rum, the lash and sodomy are so passe in the US Navy, but that doesn't mean blatant abuse isn't still available for the chosen few.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
An Inadvertent Truth
Often in politics an individual's core beliefs may not benefit their position if exposed to the light of day. It is unfortunate but true. If they told us what they really intend for our future we would not tolerate them. Occasionally however their core is so ingrained that they blurt it out without realizing.
Read this from former Dallas mayor, now Obama minion, Ron Kirk:
Texas Secession Not Funny
It was several months ago, but apparently it is now Kirk's job to refresh our memory since Gov. Rick Perry swept the ill-advised candidacy of Sen. Kay Hutchison into the dustbin of history Tuesday. Kirk is supposed to caution us about a nut-job. Perry, in a stump speech, pointed out that Texas was doing better than most states in the recession and we might benefit from invoking the secession clause of our original agreement on admission to the union. An independent state of Texas has a certain resonance, doesn't it.
Did you catch the Kirk stumble?
The appeal to racism might be standard fare from the administration, but that isn't it. There's nothing racist about TX independence.
The comment about joblessness is specious. The nation's unemployment rate is hovering at 10% and Texas is roughly two percentage points lower and has been throughout. That's a false hood, but it isn't the underlying philosophy which drives him.
The education canard is one that I examine in my State & Local Government class regularly. Spending doesn't equate with quality education and comparisions of state per capita spending don't compensate for vast differences in cost-of-living between regions. More talking point drivel.
No, the real slip up is the admission that the Washington goal is a culture of dependence. Washington will provide and we will be under their control. All good things come from the benevolence of our federal government. They dole it out and we are thankful in return.
Mr. Kirk seems to ignore the reality however.
If Texas were to secede we would then have 24 million people who did not have to bear the burden of federal taxation, regulation and restriction. We could use Texas money to fund our schools, our roads and our Medicare. We would not have to beg Washington. Our state taxes would rise but we would no longer have federal taxes. We would be in control and I've got to believe we could administer the situation more efficiently.
We could use our money to build our businesses, grow our economy, conduct our trade and market our products. We could use our own funds to build our roads when and where we need them. We could drill for our own oil, recover our own natural gas, refine our own fuel and generate our own power without restrictions from California eco-freaks.
Mr. Kirk forgets that the money which Washington supplies to Texas comes from Texans in the first place. That is the inadvertent truth which he has let slip. We don't want or need dependence upon his largesse.
Read this from former Dallas mayor, now Obama minion, Ron Kirk:
Texas Secession Not Funny
It was several months ago, but apparently it is now Kirk's job to refresh our memory since Gov. Rick Perry swept the ill-advised candidacy of Sen. Kay Hutchison into the dustbin of history Tuesday. Kirk is supposed to caution us about a nut-job. Perry, in a stump speech, pointed out that Texas was doing better than most states in the recession and we might benefit from invoking the secession clause of our original agreement on admission to the union. An independent state of Texas has a certain resonance, doesn't it.
Did you catch the Kirk stumble?
The appeal to racism might be standard fare from the administration, but that isn't it. There's nothing racist about TX independence.
The comment about joblessness is specious. The nation's unemployment rate is hovering at 10% and Texas is roughly two percentage points lower and has been throughout. That's a false hood, but it isn't the underlying philosophy which drives him.
"I wish those of you in the press would then ask, even though it's tongue in cheek, so what does this mean then, for a state that unfortunately ranks in the bottom, investment in education and health care for our kids, leads the nation in the number of people of unemployed, and you want to pull out of the country?" he said.
The education canard is one that I examine in my State & Local Government class regularly. Spending doesn't equate with quality education and comparisions of state per capita spending don't compensate for vast differences in cost-of-living between regions. More talking point drivel.
No, the real slip up is the admission that the Washington goal is a culture of dependence. Washington will provide and we will be under their control. All good things come from the benevolence of our federal government. They dole it out and we are thankful in return.
Mr. Kirk seems to ignore the reality however.
If Texas were to secede we would then have 24 million people who did not have to bear the burden of federal taxation, regulation and restriction. We could use Texas money to fund our schools, our roads and our Medicare. We would not have to beg Washington. Our state taxes would rise but we would no longer have federal taxes. We would be in control and I've got to believe we could administer the situation more efficiently.
We could use our money to build our businesses, grow our economy, conduct our trade and market our products. We could use our own funds to build our roads when and where we need them. We could drill for our own oil, recover our own natural gas, refine our own fuel and generate our own power without restrictions from California eco-freaks.
Mr. Kirk forgets that the money which Washington supplies to Texas comes from Texans in the first place. That is the inadvertent truth which he has let slip. We don't want or need dependence upon his largesse.
The Chicago Way
The nagging question is: would it be corruption if it were right out in front and not done in the backroom or under the table? Is it still corruption if it is blatant and in your face?
Your Bro Would Make A Great Judge If You Vote Right
Quid pro quo is a political fact of life. Support for your measure will come at a cost of support for mine. That's not all that bad if it is done without compromise to principles of either party. If I'm ambivalent about your proposal and you're on the fence about mine, we harm no one if we help each other out.
But if it comes to an envelope of cash for a change in your position then we can all agree that is corruption. We also know that if there is a contract in the future that will make your company bushels of money in return for your vote that would be corruption. We realize that if your support is in return for a lucrative job for your wife and worthless step-son, that would be corruption.
Now, we've got a recalcitrant Democratic representative being wooed to vote for healthcare and coincidentally, his brother is getting a Presidential nomination to a federal judgeship. Maybe the brother is the best man for the job, but only the most biased observer would say that it doesn't have an odor about the transaction. It is unseemly at best and blatantly corrupt at the core.
Your Bro Would Make A Great Judge If You Vote Right
Quid pro quo is a political fact of life. Support for your measure will come at a cost of support for mine. That's not all that bad if it is done without compromise to principles of either party. If I'm ambivalent about your proposal and you're on the fence about mine, we harm no one if we help each other out.
But if it comes to an envelope of cash for a change in your position then we can all agree that is corruption. We also know that if there is a contract in the future that will make your company bushels of money in return for your vote that would be corruption. We realize that if your support is in return for a lucrative job for your wife and worthless step-son, that would be corruption.
Now, we've got a recalcitrant Democratic representative being wooed to vote for healthcare and coincidentally, his brother is getting a Presidential nomination to a federal judgeship. Maybe the brother is the best man for the job, but only the most biased observer would say that it doesn't have an odor about the transaction. It is unseemly at best and blatantly corrupt at the core.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Hoping For Change
The mind of the committed liberal is a terrible thing to watch. I would be very happy to waste those particular minds. That wouldn't be terrible at all. It could be quite beneficial to my standard of living if their minds were allowed to go dormant and stop thinking up ludicrous plans like this:
Taxing Transportation 'til It Stops
Yes, that comes out of Harvard which you may recall is within the tiny town that is going to single-handedly nudge America down the path toward green energy leadership. See, if only our 300 million people would bring our wheels to a halt then the other 6 billion folks in the world wouldn't matter.
We've already done a magnificent job of screwing up free market principles for our gasoline by refusing to exploit our own natural resources of oil and by denying permits to build new refineries to produce motor fuel. We top it off with a huge dollop of eco-friendly additives, compounds and bio-fuel gimmickry to raise prices higher. Then garnish with federal and state taxes to fund road construction but steal that money for other purposes when it shows up in the treasury.
Now, let's make driving punitive entirely. When no one can drive, that should decisively deal with unemployment because no one will be able to get to work. But that won't matter because we won't have money to buy products which would have been made by those former workers who drove good old American iron to their jobs.
Yes, we've got taxes now being proposed not as the means of providing essential government services. They are now recognized as the perfect means of compelling behavior of the lemmings. This way lies distopia.
Taxing Transportation 'til It Stops
Yes, that comes out of Harvard which you may recall is within the tiny town that is going to single-handedly nudge America down the path toward green energy leadership. See, if only our 300 million people would bring our wheels to a halt then the other 6 billion folks in the world wouldn't matter.
We've already done a magnificent job of screwing up free market principles for our gasoline by refusing to exploit our own natural resources of oil and by denying permits to build new refineries to produce motor fuel. We top it off with a huge dollop of eco-friendly additives, compounds and bio-fuel gimmickry to raise prices higher. Then garnish with federal and state taxes to fund road construction but steal that money for other purposes when it shows up in the treasury.
Now, let's make driving punitive entirely. When no one can drive, that should decisively deal with unemployment because no one will be able to get to work. But that won't matter because we won't have money to buy products which would have been made by those former workers who drove good old American iron to their jobs.
Yes, we've got taxes now being proposed not as the means of providing essential government services. They are now recognized as the perfect means of compelling behavior of the lemmings. This way lies distopia.
Of Course He Means What He Says
When you are in the public eye it is possible to maybe misspeak. It happens to the best of them. But, if over the years you state a position clearly and unequivocally, then the people must believe that you mean what you are saying. Doesn't it?
Which of course leads me to reprise this wonderful piece of music:
Which of course leads me to reprise this wonderful piece of music:
Wisdom in a Nutshell
Great thinking can often be characterized by its ability to by synthesized into a brief, pithy phrase that when pondered reveals all.
The originally ratified Constitution recognized that and consequently only the House of Representatives was popularly elected and that electorate was only white, educated men. We were shield from the ignorance of the mass by appointment of Senators by state legislatures, appointment of an Electoral College with no mention of a popular election to choose our President, and the combination of Presidential appointment and Senatorial ratification of federal judges for our judiciary. We've thrown away those shields in the intervening 220 years.
That carefully honed thought might be the agenda of the Tea Party Movement. It describes the problem, indicts the behavior, and predicts the outcome all in brief.
That could well have been the argument that could have scuttled the bestowal of the franchise on eighteen year olds. Or, in the future we could simply review the 2008 election.
At last, I've found the reason I got beaten so badly when I ran for state representative in Colorado and for Colorado Springs City council.
The credo of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, Dick Durbin, Steny Hoyer, Charlie Rangel, Chuck Shumer, Barney Frank, et. al. has yet to be disproven.
The number of those folks seems to be growing like the Black Plague at a rat breeding festival.
The total rationale of Democratic Party ideology in a single sentence.
Now we know where Rahm Emmanuel learned it.
Unfortunately that isn't the completion of the Obama agenda, it is only the starting point.
Ain't that the truth.
Know who said these things? Just one man. He died in 1956. He defined curmudgeon and was predictably disliked by many. Still, he's worth reading.
Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.
The originally ratified Constitution recognized that and consequently only the House of Representatives was popularly elected and that electorate was only white, educated men. We were shield from the ignorance of the mass by appointment of Senators by state legislatures, appointment of an Electoral College with no mention of a popular election to choose our President, and the combination of Presidential appointment and Senatorial ratification of federal judges for our judiciary. We've thrown away those shields in the intervening 220 years.
Each party steals so many articles of faith from the other, and the candidates spend so much time making each other's speeches, that by the time election day is past there is nothing much to do save turn the sitting rascals out and let a new gang in.
That carefully honed thought might be the agenda of the Tea Party Movement. It describes the problem, indicts the behavior, and predicts the outcome all in brief.
Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.
That could well have been the argument that could have scuttled the bestowal of the franchise on eighteen year olds. Or, in the future we could simply review the 2008 election.
It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
At last, I've found the reason I got beaten so badly when I ran for state representative in Colorado and for Colorado Springs City council.
No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.
The credo of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, Dick Durbin, Steny Hoyer, Charlie Rangel, Chuck Shumer, Barney Frank, et. al. has yet to be disproven.
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.
The number of those folks seems to be growing like the Black Plague at a rat breeding festival.
The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil.
The total rationale of Democratic Party ideology in a single sentence.
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
Now we know where Rahm Emmanuel learned it.
Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages.
Unfortunately that isn't the completion of the Obama agenda, it is only the starting point.
When a new source of taxation is found it never means, in practice, that the old source is abandoned. It merely means that the politicians have two ways of milking the taxpayer where they had one before.
Ain't that the truth.
Know who said these things? Just one man. He died in 1956. He defined curmudgeon and was predictably disliked by many. Still, he's worth reading.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Flashback
Roberta X found Wookie Hole when doing a bit of surfing on Roman construction during the days of empire. That caused me to flashback on one of the most remarkable things I saw in Europe. About an hour and a half out of Madrid was the medieval town of Segovia. The attraction was Meson Candido, a legendary restaurant specializing in roast suckling pig and roast baby lamb. What more does one need to trigger a Sunday afternoon excursion?
The Meson was right there at the corner, under the two thousand year old aqueduct. The chubby owner had just pulled up in a Citroen 2CV wagon filled with small wooden crates containing the stars of the days dinner, a dozen baby piglets destined for the oven. Fortunately their demise had already been secured so there was no opportunity to establish an emotional attachment.
They did not die in vain. The meal was incredible, the tinto was tolerable and the post-prandial flan was a delight.
After the repast we drove to the top of the hill to work off some of the calories and toured the castle. It was the model supposedly for the Disneyland fantasy edifice but it was real world. Within there were displays of Spanish armor and you could not help but be amazed at the tiny stature of the warriors who wore such gear into battle. Most were in the range of five feet tall.
A narrow winding stairway within one of the turrets took you to the top of the ramparts where you could overlook the whole town but always the gaze was back to the aqueduct.
Before leaving we stopped at a cafe in the plaza outside the cathedral for a cold drink and a bit of people-watching during the Sunday afternoon strolling. The cathedral exterior was built to impress and the musty interior reflected six hundred years or more of worship and effort in the dozens of chapels and altars festooned with medieval craftsmanship.
The weekend was the bi-centennial of the Declaration of American Independence. I could not help but ponder what new-comers we were to the world stage.
Marginal Mistakes Add Up
The true believer will continue on faith long after all reasonable justification for the belief has been washed away. Never has that been more obvious than with the scrambling of the global warming alarmists. Yet, we don't really see a lot of the erosion in the American media. They have bought into the plans. We've got to look to the British press which apparently is considerably more skeptical that the New York Times:
The Iconic Issues Iced Up
There's just been a few minor mistakes but otherwise the "science is settled" apparently:
Just those little assertions were false. Nothing much there.
Well, there's also that pesky period that was so much warmer during the Middle Ages, but we'll just overlook that for the greater good:
See, the important thing is to spend a few trillion dollars hobbling the world economy so that Gore-istas can reap billions of profit out of their "green" industries:
Now, let's get to the healthcare reform destruction and November elections.
The Iconic Issues Iced Up
There's just been a few minor mistakes but otherwise the "science is settled" apparently:
OK, they say, it might have been wrong to predict that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035; that global warming was about to destroy 40 per cent of the Amazon rainforest and cut African crop yields by 50 per cent; that sea levels were rising dangerously; that hurricanes, droughts and other "extreme weather events" were getting worse. These were a handful of isolated errors in a massive report
Just those little assertions were false. Nothing much there.
Well, there's also that pesky period that was so much warmer during the Middle Ages, but we'll just overlook that for the greater good:
Almost as revealing as the leaked documents themselves, however, was the recent interview given to the BBC by the CRU's suspended director, Dr Phil Jones, who has played a central role in the global warming scare for 20 years, not least as custodian of the most prestigious of the four global temperature records relied on by the IPCC. In his interview Jones seemed to be chucking overboard one key prop of warmest faith after another, as he admitted that the world might have been hotter during the Medieval Warm Period 1,000 years ago than it is today, that before any rise in CO2 levels temperatures rose faster between 1860 and 1880 than they have done in the past 30 years, and that in the past decade their trend has been falling rather than rising.
See, the important thing is to spend a few trillion dollars hobbling the world economy so that Gore-istas can reap billions of profit out of their "green" industries:
In other words, in crucial respects the IPCC's 2007 report was no more than reckless propaganda, designed to panic the world's politicians into agreeing at Copenhagen in 2009 that we should all pay by far the largest single bill ever presented to the human race, amounting to tens of trillions of dollars.
Now, let's get to the healthcare reform destruction and November elections.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thrift Blamed
Remember growing up with adages like, "A penny saved is a penny earned" and "Waste not, want not." Apparently that way lies madness in the brave new world.
Over the last fifty years there has been a momentum in Europe for a federalist contintent modeled surprisingly on the assembly of thirteen independent American colonies into a structure like the reviled United States. It started with a European Coal and Steel Community, an organization to build the industries in the decade after the mass destruction of WW II. Then there was the European Common Market, a dropping of customs duties and restrictive tariffs in favor of improved commerce across the continent. That morphed into the European Union which was sort of like a regional United Nations but with less effectiveness than even that bunch of nationalistic misfits.
The crowning achievement was the adoption of the universal currency. Living in Europe you soon realized that you lost money every time you crossed a border. Currency exchange meant you paid more for a format than you could sell it back for and you were always left with a pocket full of effectively unusable money after a trip. A single currency seemed a boon to the populace.
There's no free lunch and no silver lining to a common currency. It is a huge loss of national sovereignty and a drastic reduction of a nation's ability to manage its own economy. When you've got a national monetary standard you are motivated to be cautious with the value of that resource. When your money is buoyed up by the prudent nations you easily slip into bad habits.
That's why Greece is in a state of economic collapse and apparently Portugal and Spain are already on the slide into the same pit.
Don't Change Your Behavior, Get the Others to Be Equally Profligate
The run-away spending and easy credit that fueled the collapse of Greece isn't the problem you see. It's those Germans who value their money, take care of their resources and live within their means. Europe needs Germans to start burning 100 Euro notes for fuel so that they can be in the same boat.
Can we see a similar situation in the US? Haven't we been told repeatedly that we need to distribute "stimulus" money and not use it to pay off our debts or bolster our savings. We need to spend, spend, spend. And then all will be well with the world.
Over the last fifty years there has been a momentum in Europe for a federalist contintent modeled surprisingly on the assembly of thirteen independent American colonies into a structure like the reviled United States. It started with a European Coal and Steel Community, an organization to build the industries in the decade after the mass destruction of WW II. Then there was the European Common Market, a dropping of customs duties and restrictive tariffs in favor of improved commerce across the continent. That morphed into the European Union which was sort of like a regional United Nations but with less effectiveness than even that bunch of nationalistic misfits.
The crowning achievement was the adoption of the universal currency. Living in Europe you soon realized that you lost money every time you crossed a border. Currency exchange meant you paid more for a format than you could sell it back for and you were always left with a pocket full of effectively unusable money after a trip. A single currency seemed a boon to the populace.
There's no free lunch and no silver lining to a common currency. It is a huge loss of national sovereignty and a drastic reduction of a nation's ability to manage its own economy. When you've got a national monetary standard you are motivated to be cautious with the value of that resource. When your money is buoyed up by the prudent nations you easily slip into bad habits.
That's why Greece is in a state of economic collapse and apparently Portugal and Spain are already on the slide into the same pit.
Don't Change Your Behavior, Get the Others to Be Equally Profligate
The run-away spending and easy credit that fueled the collapse of Greece isn't the problem you see. It's those Germans who value their money, take care of their resources and live within their means. Europe needs Germans to start burning 100 Euro notes for fuel so that they can be in the same boat.
Can we see a similar situation in the US? Haven't we been told repeatedly that we need to distribute "stimulus" money and not use it to pay off our debts or bolster our savings. We need to spend, spend, spend. And then all will be well with the world.
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