NoCo Surrounds Them - We Will Not Fall: March 2011

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

COTD: Skunked

"Skunked": Bill Gross On How "The U.S. Will Likely Default On Its Debt" | zero hedge: "by FreedomGuy
on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 21:09
#1119763

Nice point. It's all tax money. Also, the 'social contract' is no contract, or its a contract with no performance clauses. One of the prime reasons you never ever want government to provide any service is because you don't get a contract. In essence, the government unlike any private entity can change the deal at any time for any reason...at will. If you have an annuity or some other form of investment, you have a contract. It cannot be changed without your consent or without legal penalties. We are all suckers in Social Security. I don't blame the first generation or two as the U.S. and world were experimenting with socialism. However, for most all of my life we have know of the impending insolvency of SS. We know it is a true ponzi scheme, yet the only fix has been to raise taxes. It's still there, still insolvent, still has a ponzi structure, still untouched by politicians who only have the collosally stupid ideas of raising retirement age and maybe means testing or uncapping the tax. All stupid ideas from stupid politicians to an unsuspecting public.

Never ever let government do anything for you or the general population you can do for yourself...ever. You give up your own autonomy and you get a crappy product."

And then scroll up to read Bill Gross channel Pepe Le Pew...

An Electric Shocka

Power Line - I sing the Government Electric: "At a recent conference, I was talking with a colleague I am acquainted with from GE. I mentioned the ARPA-E, primarily because I was curious. He told me that originally their proposal was turned down (i.e., it did not make it through the peer-review process and thus it was deemed by the reviewers as 'not worthy of support'). He then told me the funding was awarded by the ARPA-E director, at his prerogative.

Since I am a faithful Power Line reader, I could easily connect the dots between the government's 'favored' treatment of GE and this funding. I doubt that this will be the last, as the Department of Energy will have many opportunities to direct funding to GE. Just another example of Obama directing my tax dollars to his favorite places, and a way for GE to 'create jobs' and help their bottom line.
Our reader passes along this TMR story on the GE grant and comments: 'Mr. Hatch raises similar questions and summarizes everything quite well.'"

Is your hair standing on end yet? If they changed their name to Hamilton Electric there would be truth in advertising.

Of course, the population would have to have two brain cells to rub together for it to help...

Stop Messing Around And Donate NOW

Instapundit » Blog Archive » PROFESSOR JACOBSON: Don’t Just Talk: Help Get This Ad On The Air In Wisconsin….: "PROFESSOR JACOBSON: Don’t Just Talk: Help Get This Ad On The Air In Wisconsin.

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 11:58 am"

Donate now. Here's the direct link. I just did.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Whoops! Wrong sign!

Bombshell conclusion – new peer reviewed analysis: “worldwide-temperature increase has not produced acceleration of global sea level over the past 100 years” | Watts Up With That?: "J. R. Houston† and R. G. Dean‡ †Director Emeritus, Engineer Research and Development Center, Corps of Engineers, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180, U.S.A. james.r.houston@usace.army.mil

‡Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil and Coastal Civil Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, U.S.A. dean@coastal.ufl.edu

Without sea-level acceleration, the 20th-century sea-level trend of 1.7 mm/y would produce a rise of only approximately 0.15 m from 2010 to 2100; therefore, sea-level acceleration is a critical component of projected sea-level rise. To determine this acceleration, we analyze monthly-averaged records for 57 U.S. tide gauges in the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) data base that have lengths of 60–156 years. Least-squares quadratic analysis of each of the 57 records are performed to quantify accelerations, and 25 gauge records having data spanning from 1930 to 2010 are analyzed. In both cases we obtain small average sea-level decelerations."

Has it ever occurred to these emotional basket cases that raising the average temperature of the Antarctic from -50C to -45C -- even if it were to be accomplished which ain't happening folks -- is more than just a few marbles shy of a melt-o-rama?

Little Leonids Living LePetomaine Syndrome

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MICHAEL WALSH: Barbarians Within: Why Brit-Style Riots Could Spread To The U.S.We’ve already seen …: "This is no way to run a democracy. Peaceful protests are one thing, but massed force and ominous warnings about dire consequences are another. Throw into the mix the free-floating anarchists who routinely show up at such events — most recently at the G-20 summit last year in Toronto — and you have a prescription for serious trouble.

Yet, all too often, any attempt to open a civil discussion about the future is met with the same dreary charges that “hateful” conservatives want to kill old people and steal candy from babies.

For some on the left, too much is never enough — because, by definition, it can’t be. They operate on a modified version of the old Brezhnev Doctrine, which stated that once a country went communist, it could never go back: Once a government program is in place, it can never be cut or rescinded, only fattened. It doesn’t even matter whether it’s effective. The self-interested and the self-deluded have too much to lose to give up the fantasy of the perfect nanny state.
It’s LePetomaine Syndrome."

Explained here.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Consensus

Well, which is it? | Watts Up With That?: "Andrew Bolt (via his reader John Coochey) of the Herald Sun notes an astonishing incongruity with expert claims on CO2 warming retention times made about 24 hours apart on radio programs in Australia.

Climate scientist and warmist Andy Pitman on Thursday:
If we could stop emissions tomorrow we would still have 20 to 30 years of warming ahead of us because of inertia of the system.

Climate Commissioner and warmist Tim Flannery on Friday:
If the world as a whole cut all emissions tomorrow the average temperature of the planet is not going to drop in several hundred years, perhaps as much as a thousand years"

Or so they tell us...

In The Closet

"Staffers with Vice President Joe Biden confined an Orlando Sentinel reporter in a closet this week to keep him from mingling with high-powered guests gathered for a Democratic fundraiser.

Reporter Scott Powers was the designated 'pool reporter' for the vice president's Wednesday visit to the massive Winter Park, Fla., home of developer and philanthropist Alan Ginsburg. The veep hadn't arrived yet but most of the 150 guests (minimum $500 donation) had. They were busy noshing on caprese crostini with oven-dried mozzarella and basil, rosemary flatbread with grapes honey and gorgonzola cheese and bacon deviled eggs, before a lunch of grilled chicken Caesar and garden vegetable wraps.

Not so for Powers. A 'low-level staffer' put Powers in a storage closet and then stood guard outside the door, Powers told the DRUDGE REPORT. 'When I'd stick my head out, they'd say, 'Not yet. We'll let you know when you can come out.''"

Neither Do I

Video: Obama demands openness on military action … « Hot Air: "Obama will speak to the nation on Monday, ten days after he consulted with only a few “Washington insiders” and then launched a war that the Constitutional scholar argued was illegal when he was just a candidate for the presidency. Think Obama will try to explain these earlier statements and square them with his own actions this month? Neither do I."

Red Alert

Literally in London.

Are You Part O The "Useful Direction"?

The Mystery of Fascism by David Ramsay Steele: "A general trend throughout revolutionary socialism from 1890 to 1914 was that the most revolutionary elements laid an increasing stress upon leadership, and downplayed the autonomous role of the toiling masses. This elitism was a natural outcome of the revolutionaries' ardent wish to have revolution and the stubborn disinclination of the working class to become revolutionary. (27) Workers were instinctive reformists: they wanted a fair shake within capitalism and nothing more. Since the workers did not look as if they would ever desire a revolution, the small group of conscious revolutionaries would have to play a more decisive role than Marx had imagined. That was the conclusion of Lenin in 1902. (28) It was the conclusion of Sorel. And it was the conclusion of the syndicalist Giuseppe Prezzolini whose works in the century's first decade Mussolini reviewed admiringly. (29)

The leadership theme was reinforced by the theoretical writings of, Mosca, Pareto, and Michels, especially Pareto's theory of the Circulation of Elites. All these arguments emphasized the vital role of active minorities and the futility of expecting that the masses would ever, left to themselves, accomplish anything. Further corroboration came from Le Bon's sensational best-seller of 1895--it would remain perpetually in print in a dozen languages--The Psychology of Crowds, which analyzed the "irrational" behavior of humans in groups and drew attention to the group's proclivity to place itself in the hands of a strong leader, who could control the group as long as he appealed to certain primitive or basic beliefs. (30)

The initiators of Fascism saw anti-rationalism as high-tech. It went with their fast cars and airplanes. Fascist anti-rationalism, like psychoanalysis, conceives of itself as a practical science which can channel elemental human drives in a useful direction."

My guess would be yes unless you click through and read "The Mystery of Fascism" -- and "Hitler Was A Socialist" -- periodically to remind yourself.

And no, I haven't misspelled the title -- you can figure it out. O is a religion, isn't he? Actually, a sect within a larger religion; here's another one of its sects:
And while I'm at it, if you haven't read Crichton's "Aliens Cause Global Warming" you have no idea what you're missing. Read it and cry...

UPDATE: What's that? You say O isn't a religion? Au contraire mon frere:

Smaller

Why Obama’s Libya war coalition is the smallest in decades | The Cable: "President Barack Obama has touted his emphasis on multilateralism in the U.S. military intervention in Libya, but, for political, operational, and legal reasons, Obama's 'coalition of the willing' is smaller than any major multilateral operation since the end of the Cold War.

The Cable compiled a chart listing all the countries that contributed at least some military assets to the five major military operations in which the United States participated in a coalition during the last 20 years: the 1991 Gulf War (32 countries participating), the 1995 Bosnia mission (24 countries), the 1999 Kosovo mission (19 countries), the 2002 invasion of Afghanistan (48 countries), and the 2003 invasion of Iraq (40 countries), at the height of the size of each coalition. As of today, only 15 countries, including the United States, have committed to providing a military contribution to the Libya war."

The Fascist?

American Thinker: Will Conservatives Defend Atlas Shrugged This Time Around?: "We were prepared for negative reviews. We weren't prepared for what seemed like an outpouring of hatred and of distortions and lies about the book.

I mean, to hear a woman - whose main political idea was that no man may initiate the use of force -- to hear her be called a fascist . . . we almost couldn't get it into our head that this was possible."

The movie finally comes out this tax day. The lies against it will continue unabated...

Earth To Sensitive People

American Thinker: Social Security Isn't Broken?: "The hole in the government finances, the utter mess of ObamaCare, the coming Medicare maelstrom: how did we get in this mess? The short answer is that it all started in about 1850 when sensitive people started worrying about the poor suffering workers. Oh no, they cried. We have to do something. They were sensitive, those people, but they were not smart. Their 'do something' always ended up as some centralized administrative government program, with government taking money from its least favorite citizens and giving it to its most favored citizens, and calling the result compassion.

Earth to sensitive people."

This is a RTWT. But you can't be allowed to miss the ending so here it is:

No, Social Security isn't broke. It's worse than that. Social Security is a bottle on a shelf of social narcotics that kill the social instinct and poison people with an addictive sense of entitlement to the fruits of other peoples' labor.

In the life after liberalism, when liberal power has collapsed, we'll reconstruct all the social ties that liberals have so energetically broken up. Today, as we live through the decline and fall of the liberal empire, and endure the truculence of its leaders and its rank and file, it's the time to think, to organize, and to plan.

Cancelled

Instapundit » Blog Archive » SO IS THIS THE HOPE, OR THE CHANGE? Massachusetts job fair canceled because of lack of jobs. “A Ma…: "SO IS THIS THE HOPE, OR THE CHANGE? Massachusetts job fair canceled because of lack of jobs. “A Massachusetts employment organization has canceled its annual job fair because not enough companies have come forward to offer jobs. Richard Shafer, chairman of the Taunton Employment Task Force, says 20 to 25 employers are needed for the fair scheduled for April 6, but just 10 tables had been reserved. One table was reserved by a nonprofit that offers human services to job seekers, and three by temporary employment agencies.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 8:40 am"

But he's focused like a laser on the economy I tell ya'!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

I Want To Be A Postmodernist When I Grow Up ...

... because of course when you're a postmodernist words and intentions mean absolutely everything. And of course, as evidenced by this headline, absolutely nothing.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Sabotage: The Coming Boot In The Wheel

Moonbattery: Steve Lerner Reveals Plan to Further Destabilize US Economy: "If Obama's economic policy makes no sense to you at all, try listening to Steve Lerner — at least until recently of the SEIU and a frequent visitor to the White House. Here Lerner discusses plans to deliberately destabilize the American economy, creating untold havoc and misery to pave the way for totalitarian collectivism:"

There's actually a small amount of "stopped clock watch" in this: Lots of the bankers -- along with the politicians they have bought and the Federal Reserve -- really should be in jail. The problem for Lerner and his communist friends is that if the public ever looked up from American Idol they might find that one of those politicians is O Duce himself. Note that his new chief of staff -- in addition to being yet another corrupt Chicago pol -- just came from the same J.P. Morgan Lerner wants to target! LOL

Of course, the idea that we need even lower interest rates is crazy -- the monopolistic central planning of interest rates by the Fed is one of the largest factors in how we have this crazy debt-based, boom and bust nightmare that the ignorant maroon masses now call a "free market". I recommend looking up the real Thomas Jefferson if you believe that's a good thing.

And of course, what Lerner proposes is just the next wave of Cloward and Piven chaos that would be spotlighted as looming treason by any sane and truly freedom-loving U.S. Government. But that's never going to happen with Lerner visiting O Duce's White House at least four times now is it?

Only To Become All They Said They Hated

Instapundit » Blog Archive » THE ANCHORESS LOOKS AT OBAMA’S BUSH-LIKE APPROACH TO LIBYA AND COMMENTS: “I guess what I’m wonder…: "THE ANCHORESS LOOKS AT OBAMA’S BUSH-LIKE APPROACH TO LIBYA AND COMMENTS: “I guess what I’m wondering is, how much further along would the Iraq government’s stabilization be — how much further along would the quest for democratic governance be, in the Middle East (and how much less reluctant would tyrants be to try to stop it by killing their own people), if only the Democrats hadn’t wasted 6 years politicizing our efforts and another two years bowing and scraping and restarting and gasbagging and doing everything they could to say, ‘we’re not Bush,’ only to become all they said they hated?”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 10:24 pm"

Of course with the memory capacity of fruit flies, they're blissfully incapable of grokking this point...

By The Way...

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MARK STEYN: “By the way, I always love the way the west gets blamed in the Middle East for supporti…: "MARK STEYN: “By the way, I always love the way the west gets blamed in the Middle East for supporting despots and thugs. C’mon, all you Arab ‘intellectuals’: Who else is there? Where’s your Havel or your Corazon Aquino? Amr Moussa, a shifty devious suck-up to dictators his entire life, has hopes of becoming the president of the ‘new’ Egypt. Great: a ‘Facebook Revolution’ with the same two-faced faces.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 8:57 am"

Oh, and by the way, I have sympathy for what a hard decision it was for O Duce to go to war or not. Let's see: His pastor's pal Daffy Duck with American blood on his hands for sure? Or rebels with at least an Al Qaida faction that may have American blood on their hands? How to pick which is more treasonous?

Meet The Boss

Federal pay ahead of private industry - USATODAY.com: "Federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data finds.
Accountants, nurses, chemists, surveyors, cooks, clerks and janitors are among the wide range of jobs that get paid more on average in the federal government than in the private sector.

Overall, federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations that exist both in government and the private sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 in 2008, the most recent data available.

CHART: Federal salaries compared to private-sector
These salary figures do not include the value of health, pension and other benefits, which averaged $40,785 per federal employee in 2008 vs. $9,882 per private worker, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis."

Let me do the math for you: Federal employee average wage and benefit package is $67,691 + $40,785 = $108,476 versus private employees at $60,046 + $9,882 = $69,928. That makes the average total pay package for Federal employees 55% higher than for private employees.

And did I forget to mention that the AVERAGE total compensation package for those poor Milwaukee teachers Scott Walker is oppressing so is $101,000? Hardly seems a surprise after the forgoing does it?

Monday, March 21, 2011

Allen West: The American People Are Not Going Away

That's funny. Where's the teleprompter? Heh.

Bracket Creep

iowahawk: Your Bracket Awaits, Mr. President: "Your Bracket Awaits, Mr. President"

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The "Policies" Of Panicked Pre-school Politicians

Panic as Policy « Commentary Magazine: "Hysteria on the largest scale possible has become the default official response to all crises. A lay public furnished with near-instantaneous media coverage can be counted on to demand immediate and absolute measures so that the crisis can be scrubbed from consciousness, however crudely or illogically. And over-monitored leaders will be sure to comply. Today a politician can lose his job if he doesn’t swiftly change historical precedent to fit the frenzied misinterpretation of a still-breaking news story. This will continue to yield atrocious consequences.

We have become accustomed to seeing collective shock elevated to the realm of policy. In fact, it’s what we expect of responsible leadership. There’s an oil spill? Ban drilling. A shooting? Forbid even speaking in martial metaphors. A nuclear accident? Kill nuclear energy. This crude emotionalism is actually liberalism at warp speed. It demands that governments alleviate the immediate discomfort of the onlooker without regard for accuracy or consequence. It will produce many more historic disasters than it can manage."

We seem pretty much there already, no?

Unless The U.N. Or Arab League Authorize It???

Althouse: "‎The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.": "'‎The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.'
Said Senator Barack Obama, Dec. 20, 2007.

Posted by Ann Althouse at 3:01 PM"

And the Arab League is predictably backing out already. Pwned is pronounced with an "O" and he just was...

Candles

Candles Kill Many More Than Nuclear Power: "Indeed many things are far more dangerous than nuclear power plants, at least they have caused far more deaths and mayhem. Here are some annual death statistics from the USA that cause many more deaths, taken from here and here. Why don’t we ban all of these menacing products?

Nuclear power plants – 0 deaths per year
Candles  - 126
Bicycles 1995  - 800
Agriculture  - 1,300
Motorcycles – 2,500
Car Phones 2002   - 2,500
Alcohol – 100,000
Tobacco – 500,000

Candles kill 126 – in just a single year and in a single country! Having a reliable supply of electricity would mean less use of candles, and so lives would be saved. As far as I know, all of the above killer items are being sold without protest."

Barack O-BOMB-A

Instapundit » Blog Archive » BARACK O-BOMB-A: U.S. Cruise Missiles Rain Down: Pentagon: 112 Missiles Fired at More Than 20 Targ…: "BARACK O-BOMB-A: U.S. Cruise Missiles Rain Down: Pentagon: 112 Missiles Fired at More Than 20 Targets Inside Libya."

You can't make this stuff up...

Liberal Witch-Burning

A plea for a return to science on the nuclear power issue | Watts Up With That?: "There were times in history when ignorance and cowardice overshadowed human life. It was a time when our ancestors were forced to lead a life filled with superstition and fear because it was forbidden to use creativity and fantasy. Religious dogma, like the earth being the centre of the universe, or creationism, forbade people to question. The forbiddance of opening a human body and examining it prevented questions from being answered. Today these medieval rules appear backwards and close-minded. We simply cannot imagine this way of thinking could have any acceptance.

But over the recent days I have grown concerned that we are headed again for such dark times. Hysterical and sensationalist media reporting, paired with a remarkably stark display of ignorance of technical and scientific interrelations, and the attempt by a vast majority of journalists to fan the public’s angst and opposition to nuclear energy – pure witch-burning disguised as modernity."

Welcome to the once and future past.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

COTD #2: 29-3

Instapundit » Blog Archive » BLOG COMMENT OF THE DAY: What I Like About Obama. Obviously, the biggest problem with Bush was s…: "* ignoring our generals – the decision to go to war was made by political hacks who had never worn a uniform
* inflaming the Arab Street – despite some touchy-feely talk about Islam, it was impossible for the Muslim world not to notice how the President made repeated, insistent proclamations of his Christianity, how he only ever used the military against Muslim targets, and how at the time the war started he’d kept the concentration camp at Guantanamo open for over a year
* wasting money – it was completely irresponsible to commit the military to an expensive mission when the President’s fiscal mismanagement had resulted in a budget deficit of over $150 billion in 2002

But anyway, what I really like about Obama is that he’s gone 29-3 in his bracket picks over the first two days. You have to spend a lot of time watching college basketball to be that good.
I couldn’t do that well.

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 11:42 pm"

With What?

Power Line - More Jobs Americans Won't Do. Unfortunately.: "In particular, with the new oil finds off Brazil, President Rousseff has said that Brazil wants to be a major supplier of new stable sources of energy, and I've told her that the United States wants to be a major customer, which would be a win-win for both our countries.
Under Obama's new, post-industrial order, petroleum engineering and exploration, drilling and refining are more jobs Americans won't do. Instead, others create wealth and we pay them for it. With what? doesn't seem to be a question that occurs to our President."

COTD: The Repressed And Guilty Sheep

Unfortunately, we cannot look to the "educated" of any flavor to save us:

An Open Letter to Google | Watts Up With That?: "I live in Silicon Valley and virtually all of my friends have advanced degrees — so they’re not uneducated. And yet I don’t have words to explain to those who not familiar with the SF Bay Area how truly confused people here are about many things, climate being only one. Folks here do not understand political history or economics. A horrible combination.

They are driven by what seems to me are two deeply rooted impulses: (1) repressed guilt from the wealth they have amassed and (2) a belief that their “humanistic” values are truly redemptive and all must acknowledge that.

What they do not and cannot understand are:
— (2) will not expiate the sins of (1)
— (2) is fascist at its core and so self-contradictory as to be morally bankupt
— (1) can be remedied if it is only acknowledged (but it cannot be acknowledged because they cannot face the existential ramification)

It’s so sad a whole generation has grown up (mine) with so much potential to do so much good, and in its misguided efforts to do so is wreaking such havoc on our civilization."

We can only rely on those who retain their common sense and are willing to question the orthodoxy. All seven of us.

Understanding Radiation

One of the best layman's overviews of the Japanese nuclear plant situation and radiation effects and potential that I've yet seen is here. Well worth going through the slides. It points out some of the media mistakes about rates vs dosages.

This whole thing is pretty much a non issue health-wise for the U.S. But as I've pointed out, the economic and supply chain impacts are much more concerning unless Japan gets over the panic quickly and back to work. (And nothing further unforeseen happens at the nuclear plants -- that Japanese earthquake map I posted a while back was pretty eye-opening, no?)

And yes, my heart continues to go out to the Japanese on their losses from the earthquake and tsunami as well as the nuclear workers at the plants.

A Special Brand Of Stupid

Instapundit » Blog Archive » JIM TREACHER: What’s With All The Death Threat, Libs? My theory is that they’re all about displace…: "JIM TREACHER: What’s With All The Death Threat, Libs? My theory is that they’re all about displaced anger at Obama. He’s been a failure, but they can’t bring themselves to hate him, yet. So they turn the hatred elsewhere.

Also, they’re idiots: “Sending somebody a death threat is dumb to begin with, but doing so via a Twitter account with your name and location on it? That takes a special brand of stupid.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 10:51 am"

These are the same genius people who support the nut-job Arabs like the Brotherhood and Hamas. And the Arabs they support are the same people who claim the Israelis dine on Arab children's brains for breakfast. You know, the same ones who cheered the attack on Israel in 1973 when Israel was already a nuclear state and reportedly had a dozen warheads armed and ready to go if things went badly.

So which is it? Babies brains? Or 5 million sane people struggling for survival in the midst of a sea of lunatics? Our genius "betters"? Or children in adult bodies? A rhetorical question I know...

A Puff Of Smoke

Of course, a puff of smoke is actually what emanates from the teleologists when they finally exhale:

Wanting and Doing « Hot Air: "For a teleologist, expressing your desire is how you bring about the event. If enough people say that Qaddafi “must go”, he will vanish in a puff of smoke. That’s why you work for a world consensus, for it is that consensus which alters reality.

(A slightly less implausible way to put it is that if there is strong enough international disapproval, Qaddafi will bow to peer pressure and voluntarily go into exile. But clearly that isn’t going to work with him.)

To a teleologist, it isn’t necessary, and it is obviously wrong, to use military force to depose a corrupt and brutal dictator. Soft power is obviously better.

Except for the minor fact that it isn’t very effective. But as mentioned, to teleologists, empirical results are not persuasive."

But in the case of Libya I'm not at all convinced that O Duce wants Daffy Duck to go -- after all he's best buds with O Duce's best buds Wright and Farrakan.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Bracket Fever

Gingrich On Libya: Thankfully, French Not Distracted By Brackets | TPMDC: "Newt Gingrich told reporters today that the Libyan rebels have France's lack of bracket fever to thank for the no-fly zone that will soon protect them from aerial attacks by embattled dictator Muammar Qaddafi.

Asked about the U.N. Resolution authorizing military intervention in Libya -- something Gingrich has been pushing for a while now -- Gingrich ripped President Obama for not acting sooner, and again mocked him for his March Madness bracket.

'I was, frankly, very disappointed that [Nicolas] Sarkozy did not share with us his Final Four picks,' Gingrich said, referring to the French president, who's nation has led the push for military intervention in Libya. 'And i think it's his failure to understand the Final Four that allowed him to focus on Libya"

I'm not a big Gingrich fan but he's certainly got this right...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Nothing They Could Do About It?

Instapundit » Blog Archive » FASCISM IN AMERICA: Union Thugs Destroy Recall Petitions. “This video was shot minutes after a uni…: "FASCISM IN AMERICA: Union Thugs Destroy Recall Petitions. “This video was shot minutes after a union advocate destroyed several petitions at a recall Jim Holperin Rally in Merill, WI. The event was moved to the court house grounds because the private location originally slated to host the event was threatened with arson. It should be noted that police were present when the protestor destroyed these recall petitions, but stated to us that there was nothing they could do about it.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 10:22 pm"

W. T. F? Here's the video:

The Mask Slips

You need to just go over to Laura's post at AoSHQ and stare 1984 in the face. I have put an image of the post here as I'm unable to process the horror of it with words at this time.

Above The Cloud

S. Weasel: "It’s a metaphor for world events at large, of course. I don’t expect Obama to put on breathing apparatuses and go charging into Fukushima Daiichi his own self.

I do expect the Leader of the Free World™ to act like he gives a shit about anything going on in the big wide. Anything beyond his golf game and his basketball picks.

Dude isn’t even playing president on TV any more."

Enough of the hopey changy already and back to reality. Well, at least he seems to think it's reality... Heaven help us.

You Could Probably Stand Some Good News About Now...

... and here's some that's absolutely stunning:

A World Without America

Power Line - Scenes of a Disaster: "The Daily Mail quotes an associate professor at Chiba University, who is in Ishinomaki with the Japan Emergency Team:
'I think the death toll is going to be closer to 100,000 than 10,000.' ... He said the Prime Minister was 'a wonderful man in many ways' but indecisive as a leader: 'In yesterday's press conference on the nuclear reactor, he looked like he was going to cry, like a man having a nervous breakdown.

'Where is the sense of urgency? We need somebody to take charge. We've had an earthquake followed by fire, then a tsunami, then radiation, and now snow. It's everything.

'There is nothing left. The world needs to step in. Where are the Americans? The Japanese are too proud to ask, but we need help and we need it now.'
Where are the Americans? I sincerely hope that this lament is unwarranted, but it is a cry we are hearing around the world. In Libya, Qaddafi reportedly is on the verge of dealing a death blow to the insurrection."

I continue to bet that everyone in America is too busy watching Charlie Sheen to notice they're being missed...

The Squeeze

Power Line - The Deadly Squeeze: "Michael Ramirez sums up the plight of the taxpayer, squeezed by the unholy alliance of public sector unions and self-serving politicians. Click to enlarge:"

Labor Skeptics?

Power Line - The Progressive Dilemma: "Sooner or later it was inevitable that it would start to occur to liberals/'progressives' that the exploding cost of over-generous public employee compensation and pensions would start to crimp social programs themselves. California, New York, and other states are seeing large cuts to education, Medicaid, and other social service programs, even as pension costs continue to skyrocket. In other words, the very programs that comprise the central purpose of liberalism are victims of the corrupt bargain liberals make with unions to keep them in power. But what's the good of having power if you can't do much good with it?

Mickey Kaus, who has been on to the problem of Democratic Party union dependency for years, brings our attention to a handful of California Democrats who are becoming 'labor-skeptic Democrats.' Of course, 'labor skeptics' will be about as welcome as climate skeptics among Democrats, but it is possible this caucus will grow. And if they ever do join in taming public sector unions, maybe they'll start to re-examine trial lawyers next."

Good luck with that.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Remedial Math For Innumerate Loons

RTWT:

iowahawk: Feed Your Family on $10 Billion a Day: "12:01 AM, January 1
Let's start the year out right by going after some evil corporations and their obscene profits. And who is more evil than those twin spawns of Lucifer himself, Exxon Mobil and Walmart? Together these two largest American industrial behemoths raked in, between them, $34 billion in 2010 global profits. Let's teach 'em both a lesson and confiscate it for the public good. This will get us through...

9:52 AM January 4
Okay, maybe I underestimated our take. But we shouldn't let Exxon and Walmart distract us from all those other corporate profiteers out there worth shaking down. In fact, why don't we grab every cent of 2010 profit made by the other 498 members of the Fortune 500? That will net us another, let's see, $357 billion! Enough to get us to...

2:00 AM February 9"

Of course the whole lesson is a complete waste of time 1) because they never learned math in the first place and are incapable of learning it and 2) I'm a racist.

Broke (Part 86,493)

The Latest Fiscal Denialist: E.J. Dionne - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine: "The headline on Dionne's fantasy is 'What if we're not broke?' Which is a lot like saying, 'What if there was a million-dollar bill in my pants?' Only it's much worse–the consequences of this dream not coming true are truly terrible, at least as bad as Bernanke outlines above. And the defiant can-kicking by Democratic dead-enders is only tacking a premium onto our future pain."

COTD: The Surgeon Doofus

Conflicting Iodide Message | NBC Bay Area: "ANONYMOUS
As a doctor, I find the surgeon general's comments utterly irresponsible and potentially dangerous.

Potassium iodide (KI) is not a general purpose treatment for radiation exposure. No one should take potassium iodide without being instructed to do so. Allergic reactions are possible.

Further, there are a limited number of KI tablets available and those tablets should be provided only to those who are most likely to be exposed to highly elevated levels of radiation. Otherwise many who might benefit will not have access to KI while many who are nowhere near being exposed have the tablets.

I'm astounded that surgeon general, especially a Naval doctor, would be so unthinkingly irresponsible as to indicate that everyone in CA should get the tablets. She should be relieved of duty and a replacement found that is responsible, knowledgeable and understands the gravity of the situation.

Just digusting."

Why should we be surprised that her competence level is no different than anyone else in the administration? That is, she doesn't have any competence.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Boreholes And Deck Chairs

Armed and Dangerous » Blog Archive » Politics as usual is over: "Insolvency is no longer a sporadic problem, it’s become pervasive at all levels of government everywhere. This is why the recent brouhaha in Wisconsin was so surreal. The public-employee unions weren’t just rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic, they were fighting to preserve their right to bore more holes in the hull.

When these are the objective conditions, what point is there in arguing that the whole system is corrupt and that middle-class entitlements have to go on the scrap-heap along with every other big-government program? It’s going to happen anyway soon enough. A year ago the U.S. government was only taking in a third of what it needed to cover annual outlays; today it’s so much worse that individual monthly deficits are larger than the entire Bush administration’s. The money’s all gone. Our options are closing down to default or hyperinflation."

COTD: The Bernank

As Treasury Cash Drops To Just $14.2 Billion, And No Bond Auctions Until Next Week, Is America About To Run Out Of Cash? | zero hedge: "by TwoShortPlanks
on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 18:34
#1052409

NEWS HEADLINE: US Government commences the construction of large shipping vessles for live [white] human slave exports to China. The US Treasury expects to generate enough money to keep Congress in a lifestyle they have previously become accustom to. The first vessel under construction is 'The Bernank', Captain Blythe is reported to have said, 'We've already nicknamed The Bernank to 'The Mudguard', because like the real Bernank, it has a shiny top, with shit underneath'. US Government official say this is the first ever 100% environmentally friendly ocean-going craft, stating that because it is human powered, it runs on body fat rather than valuable Fossil Fuels."

Seems plausible to me...

An Interesting Japanese Quake History Map

AGU Blogosphere | Mountain Beltway | Japan M8.9 quake + tsunami: "So, for the record: The focal mechanism is a classic “center segment compression” which suggests reverse faulting, which is what we would expect at a subduction zone most of the time.

The map of historical seismicity in the area shows that today’s quake took place in an area where there have historically been many other shallow (<35 km) foci, but also deeper quakes (between 35 and 70 km depth), and some that are even deeper than that:"

OPM: We Have Run Out

There Aren’t Enough Millionaires - Kevin D. Williamson - National Review Online: "Repealing all of those Bush tax cuts, for rich and middle class alike, gets you about $3 trillion — over ten years. The deficit is running from a third to almost half that every year. Will not balance. Does not compute.
Just as supply-siders are naïve to think that tax cuts are going to magically empower us to grow our way out of this mess, progressives are naïve to think that there is some magically delicious pot of Lucky Charms at the end of the IRS rainbow that is going to get us out of this in some kind of obvious or straightforward fashion. No, tax cuts do not pay for themselves, but supply-side effects are real things, and jacking up tax rates to the level necessary to sustain current levels of government spending is going to have real economic consequences, some of which could in aggregate mean that you don’t collect the taxes you thought you were going to collect. This is doubly true when you already have the second-highest business-tax rate in the developed world"

No Limits?

This is horrific:

Iran 'using child soldiers' to suppress Tehran protests | World news | The Observer: "Iran's Islamic regime is using 'child soldiers' to suppress anti-government demonstrations, a tactic that could breach international law forbidding the use of underage combatants, human rights activists have told the Observer.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran says troops aged between 14 and 16 have been armed with batons, clubs and air guns and ordered to attack demonstrators who have tried to gather in Tehran. The youths – apparently recruited from rural areas – are being deployed in regular riot police roles and comprise up to one-third of the total force, according to witnesses.

One middle-aged woman, who said she was attacked by the youths, reported that some were as young as 12 and were possibly prepubescent. They had rural accents, which indicated they had been brought in from villages far from Tehran, she said."

And this is what their American blood brothers are now doing:

The radical left held a rally last night outside a Scott Walker fundraiser in Washburn. They rambled incoherently to reporters about the rich corporations taking their last pennies. The usual commie stuff…
The leftists even videotaped the license plates of donors at the Scott Walker fundraiser.

You might think it's hyperbole to call leftists blood brothers of the Iranian goons. You probably have not read this and this then.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Did I Forget To Mention 25 Million?

Moonbattery: New Death Threats Against Republicans Uncovered Daily: "Those who believe in coercion — the word that summarizes left-wing politics — inevitably believe in violence. Our psychotic enemy within already controls the executive branch of the federal government. If these vermin manage to consolidate power, they will do to patriotic Americans exactly what their Russian equivalents did to 'counter-revolutionaries' and 'rich peasants.' If you doubt it, hear the testimony of Larry Grathwohl, the FBI agent who went undercover among Obama's old Weather Underground friends:"

Hitting The Great Wall

Obama's China admission reveals unfitness - NYPOST.com: "A beleaguered Presi dent Obama has told aides it would be so much easier to be the president of China, The New York Times reports.

There are two ways to read the remark, which is attributed to anonymous aides. One is that Obama resents the burden of global leadership that comes with the American presidency. The other is that he longs for an authoritarian system, where he need tolerate no dissent.

Under either or both interpretations, his confession carries a dose of self-pity that means Obama has hit a wall."

Take another toke, Barry. I'm sure everything will be just fine...

Saturday, March 12, 2011

We Will Not Submit

Moonbattery: We Will Not Submit: "Joe Dan Gorman has outdone himself with this video for his new countermoonbat anthem, including a cameo by Yours Truly:"

Friday, March 11, 2011

We Are Running Out Of Fools

nO idea

Obama no leader and would prefer "easier" job as president of China: "However, to the larger point. I agree with Peters completely when he says “Obama loves the idea of President, but he can’t make a decision”. I might have said it a little differently. Obama loves the idea of being President and the trappings and perks. What he doesn’t like is the job.

I think that should be abundantly clear to anyone who has closely observed the man and taken a look at his background. I always remember the words of the managing editor of the Harvard Law Review who said that Obama loved the title of Editor of the Law Review, but he didn’t want to do the work. The managing editor said he rarely saw him except when it was to glad hand or take credit (and praise) for what was being done. Additionally, Obama never wrote a thing for the review during his tenure, something almost unheard of.

In all cases, his problem is a leadership problem – a familiar topic for regular readers here. He’s simply not a leader. He has no idea how to be a leader. But that doesn’t keep him from wanting leadership roles that offer him prestige, perks and pleasure derived from simply from being in the position. "

Today's Long nOse

Power Line - Obama's Long Nose On Energy: "With respect to energy, Barack Obama is a fraud. In reality, he is a tool of the environmentalist, anti-growth, anti-wealth Left. But he cannot go before the American people and try to defend policies that are deliberately designed to make us all poorer, so he has to pose as a sort of Sarah Palin in drag. All the while, he is doing everything he can to prevent America from developing its own energy resources, employing many thousands of people in high-paying jobs, boosting our economy, and ending our reliance on the Saudis. If the Obama administration were not a disaster on so many fronts, its energy policies alone would dictate that it be replaced in November 2012."

President Of Where?

President of China? | The Weekly Standard: "“Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, ‘No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.’”

“Obama Seeks a Course of Pragmatism in the Middle East,” The New York Times, March 11, 2011.

Mr. Obama is right.

If you’re president of China, people around the world who are fighting for freedom don’t really expect you to help. If you’re president of China, you don’t have to put up with annoying off-year congressional elections, and then negotiate your budget with a bunch of gun-and-religion-clinging congressmen and senators. If you’re president of China, you can fund your national public radio to your heart’s content. And if you’re president of China, when you host a conference on bullying in schools, people take you seriously.

Unfortunately for him and us, Barack Obama is president of the United States. That job brings with it certain special responsibilities. It’s a tough job—maybe tougher than being president of China. But Barack Obama ran for president of the United States. Maybe he should start behaving as one."

And you wonder why I call him O Duce? BTW, all you leftists with a failed education need to read this. (Shorter version here.) Maybe some day you'll crawl out of your Mother's basements and into the real world -- but I'm not holding my breath...

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Worse Than Spain

‘The Most Predictable Economic Crisis in History’ - By Andrew Stiles - The Corner - National Review Online: "One of those “money guys” Simpson was referring to is Bill Gross, who runs the world’s biggest mutual fund at Pacific Investment Management Co. ($237 billion in holdings). Gross announced today that he has purged that fund of all United States Treasury notes. Apparently he doesn’t think buying any more U.S. debt — $15 trillion and counting — is such a great investment, and has found more reliable places to put his money:

“We’ve moved into Brazil and Mexico and moved money, yes, at the margin into Spain, which has a better balance sheet than the United States,” Gross told CNBC. [emphasis added]

Yes, Spain. The same country that even Paul Krugman admits is “on the edge of a debt crisis.”

Even Warren Buffett — Obama’s favorite rich guy — doesn’t have enough confidence in the president’s economic stewardship to invest in long-term U.S. bonds any more."

Because If We Don't, They'll Hurt Us

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

What Happens When You Elect A Terrorist-In-Chief

Ace of Spades HQ: "You know, when the Senate passed this tonight, I did wonder: Why wait until tomorrow for the Assembly vote? Maybe there's some rule about this but I kind of doubt it.

So, via Instapundit, the unions have taken the building and apparently intend to hold it hostage.

At Hot Air, video of the chaos.

Ominous warning from Ann Althouse's husband, who's at the building, and telling people to stay away:

“ANYBODY CAN GET IN AND ANYBODY CAN BRING ANYTHING IN. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SECURITY WHATEVER.”
They've already broken doors and windows. Next up will be the actual deaths, or burning the building down.

Michael Moore has declared 'war' so, as Instapundit says, the era of 'civility' is officially over, in case you were unsure.

Our peaceful protests -- consisting of, at worse, jeering and hooting officials -- were deemed terroristic threats and their actual violent hijackings of public buildings and calls for 'war' are, what?

One more point borrowed from Mr. Althouse:

“Barack Obama paid for, organized, and is putting on this riot.”

Community organizer in chief."

Just remember, us Tea Party sympathizers are the violent and unreasonable ones...

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Real Union Busters

Power Line - I Sent One of My Stooges to Boston, and All I Got Was This Lousy Video!: "For the more than 600 Guild members at The Globe, whose pay has already been frozen for several years, the price of survival is steep, as described by several people briefed on the possible deal....

[T]he people briefed on the deal said the package included a pay cut of at least 8 percent -- as much as 8.5 percent by some accounts -- and an unpaid, one-week furlough this year, equivalent to an additional 2 percent pay cut. Company contributions to retirement plans would be eliminated, with limited exceptions for older employees.

Perhaps more important to the company -- and to a potential buyer -- the Guild would agree to end lifetime job guarantees for employees who started working at The Globe before 1992, in return for improved severance packages for those workers. That would make it easier to lay people off. Union leaders have said the company has made it clear that more layoffs are on the way.
Eight percent pay cuts! Unpaid furloughs! Zero employer contributions to retirement plans! And with all that, more layoffs on the way. Quick, someone tell Scott Walker! He needs to learn a lesson from people who really know how to bust a union: the New York Times and the Boston Globe."

Heh.

Monday, March 7, 2011

The Welfare Ponzi

RealClearMarkets - Why Social Security Is Welfare: "We don't call Social Security 'welfare' because it's a pejorative term, and politicians don't want to offend. So their rhetoric classifies Social Security as something else when it isn't. Here is how I define a welfare program: First, it taxes one group to support another group, meaning it's pay-as-you-go and not a contributory scheme where people's own savings pay their later benefits. And second, Congress can constantly alter benefits, reflecting changing needs, economic conditions and politics. Social Security qualifies on both counts."

Of course, it's actually also a Ponzi scheme where the last ones in are simply ripped off due to the "pyrimidal" demographics. In a Ponzi scheme it's pay-as-you-go and the "Ponzi administrator" can vary the benefits depending on how things are going -- that is to keep the game going as long as possible -- of course.

The only possible way for Social Security and Medicare not to suffer the fate of Ponzi would be under conditions of massive and unending demographic growth. Good luck with that in the non-Muslim world...

No Mas

Charles Biderman On How The Fed Continues To Rig The Market And Why There Will Be A QE 3...And 4 | zero hedge: "'In December of 2009 received a lot of ridicule for saying that the Fed is rigging the market which as everybody is well aware.' As for the 'sustainable economic recovery' i.e., what happens to Quantitative Easing: 'They probably will end for a while, we think there is going to be a QE3 and 4, or until the market says: 'No Mas - we are not going to believe this game the Fed is playing... The Fed is printing over $100 billion a month to buy other assets and pay bills, and economic growth is picking up at a $200 billion annual rate. This is very inefficient method of boosting the economy, and then how do we repay these trillions that have been created out of thing air in the future.'"

Sunday, March 6, 2011

The Power Of No Myrons

Belmont Club » The Motorcycle Drones On: "But it is not Che the executioner, or Che the incompetent commander who will be remembered, but Che the “Guerillero Heroico”. It is an image based on nothing more than Alberto Korda’s famous photograph of the 31-year old Guevara, which the Maryland Institute of Art called the “world’s most famous photo”. It is not based on Che’s life or his combat record, both of which are shameful affairs. But the Photo and the Motorcycle Diaries, both fantasies, will survive for far longer than reality because on some level it is better to have a glamorous name like “Che Guevara” than it is to have one like “Alan Gross”. Really. If “Che” had been called Myron and had bad teeth, would he even be remembered today?

The Citizen Renegade argues that the key advantage of the Left is that it understands that “framing” an argument is far more important the argumentation itself. “Frame the debate, win the hearts and minds. Take a page from the Alinsky school for radical revolution: the best defense is a good offense.”"

And as a special bonus, we have the COTD:

2. hdgreene
The Citizen Renegade argues that the key advantage of the Left is that it understands that “framing” an argument is far more important the argumentation itself.

A few decades back I noticed the Left focuses on “winning the argument” rather than “solving the problem.” And neither the arguments nor the problems are what they appear because they are mere proxies.

The left won the argument about closing Gitmo and against using drones for assassination of our enemies. A few years after they took command Gitmo is still open and using drones for assassinations is now essential and quite common. We were told we needed to provide insurance to x-number of uninsured (the number varied wildly depending on what was needed to win the argument) but we ended up with a law that will force young people with little income to pay much more for insurance in order to subsidize the insurance cost of middle aged people with much higher incomes (it called “community rating”). Meanwhile everyone’s health care cost will explode because of the costly overheads the law imposes on providers. None of this matters as long as The Left gets what it covets.

So the argument is never about any particular problem but about the only problem: The Left needs more power because The Left does not have enough power. So every problem, real or imagined (global warming, teaching Johnny to read about global warming) has the exact same solution: Give the Left more power.

Ever notice how prognosticators on the Left can consistently gets things wrong and still be considered experts? That is because they always get the “one big thing” right: The Left needs more power. (Thomas Friedman holding up China as the model for the US is an example — along with most of his other suggestions.)

March 5, 2011 - 6:36 pm Link to this Comment

Hard to top that one isn't it?

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Bandwagon

Power Line - Are We All Neocons Now?: "But is the Obama administration really climbing on board the freedom train? That is far from clear to me. The administration did nothing to aid the rebels in Egypt, and has done nothing--nothing visible, anyway--to lend a hand in Libya. Obama's own pronouncements have consisted of stilted demands that Col. Qaddafi 'must' resign from power. Given that we once tried to assassinate Qaddafi, this is hardly going out on a limb. At every stage as the crisis has unfolded across the region, the administration has seemed to hedge its bets, waiting to be sure of the winning side before proclaiming its allegiance."

They All Need To Be In Jail. Every Last One. Both Parties.

RTWT:

Ace of Spades HQ: "Nice work, guys. So now you have to prove that Democrats are lying with this accounting method and all you have to do to prove that is admit you were lying too when you first utilized this manner of accounting.

Stupid, dishonest dicks. I mean the GOP. I didn't see this coming; I'm not that smart. But what I did see coming is that whatever cuts the GOP proposed, the Democrats would propose some kind of false 'compromise' that they'd sell as more 'moderate.' The GOP's drive to hoodwink its base has now cost miles of crucial bargaining position. We've conceded miles and miles of ground to the enemy and I don't see any good way to regain this territory.

Which will end up causing there to be even less in actual cuts than this smallball bumper-sticker-bait of $61 billion represented.

Which, I keep suspecting, is what a lot of the GOP wants in the first place: They want to be on record as supporting cuts to keep Tea Partiers voting for them; but they don't want there to be to much in actual cuts, to keep from having to defend tough votes in public."

Friday, March 4, 2011

We Need To Keep Collective Bargaining In Wisconsin Because ... $101,000 Just Isn't Enough!

Welcome to the new corruption, same as the old corruption:

Ace of Spades HQ: "It's hard to make ends meet on that.

There is always the cry that teachers have to buy 'supplies' for their students out of their own pockets. I can't help but think there's a reason for that -- that each year, a greater proportion of dollars earmarked for education goes to salaries, and is deducted from supplies.

$60,000 in actual money salary plus $41,000 per year in benefits package.

In a normal negotiation, management is a genuine adversary to the workers. Workers have a strong interest in getting the highest salaries possible, but management has a countervailing interest in keeping them lower.

This doesn't happen with the Government Worker Unions. In that situation, the money isn't even coming out of the hides of those negotiating with the workers -- the money comes from a third party, the taxpayer. So there's not a particularly strong incentive to negotiate vigorously on behalf of people who aren't even in the room.

Add to that the fact that a piece of every dollar granted the government workers is going to be paid back to those doing the "negotiating" and there's an actual incentive on the government side to increase salaries.

So both parties at the negotiation have incentives to increase salaries. The one party with an incentive to keep salaries down isn't in the room and is excluded from negotiations.

In business, if an agent of the business makes a deal which is bad for those he represents but benefits him personally via an under-the-table payment, we call this a kickback, and it's a crime of corruption.

In politics, though, it's not just legal but increasingly crucial to the Democrat Party's survival."

These numbers were for Milwaukee but Ace notes that there are some Wisconsin school districts where average compensation is even a bit higher! Yiminy H. Crickets!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Woodshed

Breaking: Vinson stays ruling on ObamaCare – but just for seven days « Hot Air: "Basically, this forces the Department of Justice to expedite the appeals process, which they were clearly hoping to avoid. The dilatory tactics that Vinson blasts in this ruling almost certainly won’t impress the appellate court, either. Furthermore, the order forces the Obama administration to fight on Vinson’s ruling first and now rather than wait for a more friendly set of rulings and hope to marginalize Vinson down the road.

The White House asked for a clarification. They got a trip to the woodshed instead, and a very short time frame to stop the halt to ObamaCare that Vinson’s ruling creates."

Heh.

The Real Story Of Guns To Mexico

Agent: I was ordered to let U.S. guns into Mexico - CBS Evening News - CBS News: "Dodson's bosses say that never happened. Now, he's risking his job to go public.

'I'm boots on the ground in Phoenix, telling you we've been doing it every day since I've been here,' he said. 'Here I am. Tell me I didn't do the things that I did. Tell me you didn't order me to do the things I did. Tell me it didn't happen. Now you have a name on it. You have a face to put with it. Here I am. Someone now, tell me it didn't happen.'

Agent Dodson and other sources say the gun walking strategy was approved all the way up to the Justice Department. The idea was to see where the guns ended up, build a big case and take down a cartel. And it was all kept secret from Mexico.

ATF named the case 'Fast and Furious.'

Surveillance video obtained by CBS News shows suspected drug cartel suppliers carrying boxes of weapons to their cars at a Phoenix gun shop. The long boxes shown in the video being loaded in were AK-47-type assault rifles.

So it turns out ATF not only allowed it - they videotaped it."

Jiminy Crismas.

Hobgoblins -- Brrrr, They Were Right The First Time

YouTube - Global Cooling: The Coming Ice Age: "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.

H. L. Mencken"

Rumsfeld On The Mushroom Growing Lunatic Dwarves

The Donald Rumsfeld Interview | Right Wing News: "If you look down on Earth from outer space you can see the countries that are doing well, where the people are doing well, are countries that have free political systems. My favorite photo is the photo of the Korean peninsula taken from a satellite. You have the same people in the north and the south, the same resources north and south, and at night the south is just booming with electricity. The South Korean people have something like the 13th largest economy on the face of the earth. Up in the north, they're starving. There's no light except for a pin prick of light in Pyongyang. They're taking people in the North Korean military who are around five feet tall and weigh 100 pounds because of starvation. So, the message is clear. This is not a country that we need to apologize for. Are we perfect? No. Do we make some mistakes from time to time? Sure. But, by golly we ought to be proud of what we are and not feel we have to apologize for it.

Mr. Rumsfeld, I really appreciate your time. "

You need to RTWT of course.

Dredging The NYeT Memory Hole: Teddy Roosevelt's "Super Socialism"

Power Line - Progressive Versus Progressive, Part 2: "Theodore Roosevelt has now thought out and matured his doctrine of Socialism. It is not the Marxian Socialism. . . Mr. Roosevelt achieves the redistribution of wealth in a simpler and easier way. He leaves the land, the mines, the factories, the railroads, the banks--all the instruments of production and exchange--in the hands of their individual owners, but of the profits of their operation he takes whatever share the people at any given time may choose to appropriate to the common use. The people are going to say, We care not who owns and milks the cow, so long as we get our fill of the milk and cream. Marx left Socialism in its infancy, a doctrine that stumbled and sprawled under the weight of its own inconsistencies. Mr. Roosevelt's doctrine is of no such complexity. It has all the simplicity of theft and much of its impudence.
At first glance, you might say, 'Well, the New York Times has certainly changed!' On the other hand, this much of the editorial could just was easily be written today about Obama, only with an approving tone."

All you can say is WOW, just WOW. That pretty much ends the argument about Teddy being a Republican in good standing. Of course, we already knew he was a eugenicist...

Sadly, Ace Got It Right

Remember this? No need to retract, here it is on the US News site:

Obama Says Race a Key Component in Tea Party Protests - US News and World Report: "But Obama, in his most candid moments, acknowledged that race was still a problem. In May 2010, he told guests at a private White House dinner that race was probably a key component in the rising opposition to his presidency from conservatives, especially right-wing activists in the anti-incumbent 'Tea Party' movement that was then surging across the country. Many middle-class and working-class whites felt aggrieved and resentful that the federal government was helping other groups, including bankers, automakers, irresponsible people who had defaulted on their mortgages, and the poor, but wasn't helping them nearly enough, he said.

A guest suggested that when Tea Party activists said they wanted to 'take back' their country, their real motivation was to stir up anger and anxiety at having a black president, and Obama didn't dispute the idea. He agreed that there was a 'subterranean agenda' in the anti-Obama movement—a racially biased one—that was unfortunate. But he sadly conceded that there was little he could do about it."

I've had enough of this twerp. This is a completely idiotic and personal insult to me as any of my friends and family will be able to explain.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

COTD: Ugliness Ahoy

Gonzalo Lira: The Dollar, and The Next Ten Days: "Anonymous said...

I have two family members in the US Armed Forces...they BOTH said the same thing this week...IF Saudi Arabia falls(and thats concern #1) then look out....its gonna get really ugly....really fast....EVERYWHERE....

March 2, 2011 9:51 PM"

Tinfoil Apocalypse Watch

Ace of Spades HQ: "Did I Say The Next War Will Be With Iran? I Meant Pakistan
And here's the thing: This is the sort of war that will become nuclear quickly. Hell, it will probably start nuclear: Our notice that we now have a war in Pakistan will be one of these maniacs detonating a nuke someplace.

The horrible thing is that we all see this coming, and we can only pray: I hope it's India that gets it and not us. And that's a horrible thing, eh?, wishing that the Pakistanis will nuke India, huh? But that's where we're headed, because they're going to nuke somebody, eventually. And there seems to be no plausible path to avoid this, which leaves me making hellish prayers that at least someone else will be the surprise first victim, and we'll just be the ones sending over relief packages.

And then, after the calamity, it will be gut-check time. What is the appropriate level of force in return? I know I'm not exactly a turn-the-other-cheek sort of guy so I can already imagine what my position will end up being.

A Christian minister was killed for opposing the blasphemy laws, and of course his death is celebrated by the jihadis, which is like, my guess, 70% of the country."

Stopped Clock Watch: Jimmah Edition

Ace of Spades HQ: "Allah thinks it's mostly about galvanizing the base, preparing the battlefield, for 2012, and while surely that's part of it, I think that overlooks the obvious in favor of the clever: No, this is really mostly about how absolutely critical government unions are to the Democrats. It's the only segment of union growth in America. And every raise given to a government union worker is just more money that flows directly into Democratic campaigns.

A good quote over there from a Republican Senator, Randy Hopper, who basically vows that if he's looking into his political grave -- he's ready to jump.

I continue not believing the polls showing 62% of the public opposing taking 'rights' to collective bargaining away from union members. For one thing -- that loaded word 'rights.' Rights that Obama's federal government workers do not have, thanks to noted right-winger Jimmy Carter, who realized that government workers should not be allowed to extort from their employers."

A Covariance Lesson

Whoops:

iowahawk: Longhorns 17, Badgers 1: "To recap: white students in Texas perform better than white students in Wisconsin, black students in Texas perform better than black students in Wisconsin, Hispanic students in Texas perform better than Hispanic students in Wisconsin. In 18 separate ethnicity-controlled comparisons, the only one where Wisconsin students performed better than their peers in Texas was 4th grade science for Hispanic students (statistically insignificant), and this was reversed by 8th grade. Further, Texas students exceeded the national average for their ethnic cohort in all 18 comparisons; Wisconsinites were below the national average in 8, above average in 8.

Perhaps the most striking thing in these numbers is the within-state gap between white and minority students. Not only did white Texas students outperform white Wisconsin students, the gap between white students and minority students in Texas was much less than the gap between white and minority students in Wisconsin. In other words, students are better off in Texas schools than in Wisconsin schools - especially minority students.

Conclusion: instead of chanting slogans in Madison, maybe it's time for Wisconsin teachers to take refresher lessons from their non-union counterparts in the Lone Star State."

Heh. So is Krugman an innumerate Nobel winner or a nasty child in a wrinkled body? I pick all of the above.

Irony And Conspiracy

Instapundit » Blog Archive » HMM: Stop Saving So Much for Retirement. “You get the concept of living it up in your 60s. But how…: "The irony of current retirement planning is that everything coming out of Washington is geared toward punishing savers.

Bernanke drove short-term interest rates to zero by lowering the fed funds target, and then he cut longer-term interest rates by buying most of the treasury bonds issued over the last few months.

Obama tried to increase taxes on dividends and capital gains, and will presumably try again…making stock ownership problematic.

No need to review Washington’s policy blunders in the housing market, which accounted for an enormous chunk of many folks’ net worth.

A conspiracy minded person would marvel at all these things converging just as the baby boomers start to retire."

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Counterfeit (Part 49,483)

Guest Post: The Counterfeit Economy | zero hedge: "The U.S. has a deeply counterfeit economy.

The predatory mortgages of the subprime era were presented as legitimate mortgages similiar to time-honored 30-years fixed notes with a few 'minor differences.' These were in effect counterfeit mortgages designed to fool the borrowers and buyers. They were mere simulacra of 'safe investments.'

Like the counterfeiter who plates the lead bar with a thin coating of gold, the ratings agencies coated the lead bar of toxic, high-risk mortgages with the gold veneer of a AAA rating.

The buyers of the securitized mortgages were promised gold but they were actually buying lead--and the sellers knew it. The trust engendered by the AAA rating and the veneer of authenticity issued by Wall Street was exploited in a vast counterfeiting scheme of breathtaking depth and range.

The budget of the U.S. government as presented by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is a counterfeit budget, inauthentic and riddled with blatantly false projections. As late as 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, the OMB was projecting surpluses in the Federal budget by 2012."

RTWT.

"Hired"

Belmont Club » “The pen is mightier than the sword”: "What happens when dictators with billions suddenly realize that bureaucrats in First World countries make mere hundreds of thousands of dollars? What can take place in a world where foreign dictators can hire ex-Presidents and heads of Central Banks as consultants, and who can then influence how information may flow in the modern market? What happens is that they can make Yakhont missiles seem like tinkertoys. Whatever one may think of the Freeman report, events in the Middle East have demonstrated the power of information to destabilize whole regimes. Nothing in principle suggests that the West is immune. If the Washington Times is correct, then neither intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, nor Treasury is interested in going inside that door. But the danger is always that maybe some individuals inside of these bureaucracies may be deeply interested, for reasons of their own."

Department Of Redundancy Department

Instapundit » Blog Archive » GAO REPORT UNCOVERS massive government bloat and waste. “A report from the nonpartisan GAO, to be r…: "GAO REPORT UNCOVERS massive government bloat and waste. “A report from the nonpartisan GAO, to be released Tuesday, compiles a list of redundant and potentially ineffective federal programs, and it could serve as a template for lawmakers in both parties as they move to cut federal spending and consolidate programs to reduce the deficit.” Can you balance the budget by cutting waste, fraud and abuse? No. But why should you try to balance the budget without cutting waste, fraud and abuse? Sure, it’s all somebody’s rice bowl, but . . . .

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 10:19 am"

Why?

Why should Democrats be funded by taxpayers? | Michael Barone | Beltway Confidential | Washington Examiner: "The most important factual problem with Dionne’s argument is that he doesn’t mention where the money public employee unions contribute to Democrats comes from. Let me refer him to these words from my Examiner column last Wednesday:
Taxpayers, present and future, . . . are the source of every penny of dues paid to public employee unions, who in turn spend much of that money on politics, almost all of it for Democrats. In effect, public employee unions are a mechanism by which every taxpayer is forced to fund the Democratic Party.
My question to E. J. Dionne: What’s the public policy argument for taxpayer funding of one of two major political parties?"

RTWT, it's short and does a good job of eviscerating the absurd Demolescent argument that business money all goes to Republicans. And I suspect we'll be waiting a very long time to hear an answer that isn't pure garbage.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

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