"The left needs two things to survive. It needs mediocrity, and it needs dependence. It nurtures mediocrity in the public schools and the universities. It nurtures dependence through its empire of government programs. A nation that embraces mediocrity and dependence betrays itself, and can only fade away, wondering all the time what might have been."
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
An eternal truth about those who are almost always part of the problem
-- William Katz, at Urgent Agenda
Living with the terrorism of Hamas
Here's some lessons learned from Sderot under siege.
"The reason why Israelis have not found a solution to the Qassams is simple: they’re Israelis. Jews care about what others think and they’re moral to a fault—a very big fault. But there is nothing moral about the depraved state in which the launching of almost 6,000 rockets can pass without an overwhelming retaliation.
There is nothing sane about restraint in the face of a vicious war waged upon you. A bumper sticker on a beat-up maroon-colored car in Sderot reads 'A Time to Love.' But this is not a time to love. It is a time to hate; it is a time to war; it is a time to win. In other words, it is a time to be American.
If 6,000 rockets were launched at San Diego from Tijuana , rest assured that the residents of Tijuana would have little trouble finding parking because their city would be flattened. There would be no talk of ceasefires. America would wage war, it would win, and the rocket fire would cease."
...and:
"The siege of Sderot is about much more than one community. It is about the moral clarity of a people; it is about the courage of a nation; it is about the indifference and double-standard of the world.
But Israel remains the most responsible party, apart from the terrorists themselves, for this unbearable situation. It has prized immediate quiet over total victory and thus indefinitely delayed lasting peace. Its obsession with the 'peace process,' a euphemism for empowering dictators, has distorted its faith in justice and liberty. But victory will only come about through the unwavering recognition that Israeli democracy is infinitely mightier—morally and martially—than authoritarianism and Islamism.
Israel’s actions in Gaza should be the beginning of the beginning. Hamas must be annihilated and Gazans very faith in their way of life must perish in the agony of their total defeat, to paraphrase MacArthur. Only then may the people who elected the region’s most vicious terrorist group undergo the spiritual reformation so critical of a defeated people to reject militarism and violence and embrace civility and restraint."
Our government schools: 'Indoctrinate U', 'Social Justice', and the Ayers/Obama agenda
Indoctrinate U:
"Learning how to think straight, as opposed to what values and opinions to hold, is the crucial part of education. Part of that learning is to be able to understand the distinction between subjective statements, for which there are no commonly accepted standards of proof, and positive statements for which there are."
This is opposed to learning how to think Left, which is the standard commonly accepted at most levels of education in this nation, a standard that doesn't adhere to the academic and intellectual integrity Professor Williams endorses.
Social Justice:
"Learning how to think straight, as opposed to what values and opinions to hold, is the crucial part of education. Part of that learning is to be able to understand the distinction between subjective statements, for which there are no commonly accepted standards of proof, and positive statements for which there are."
This is opposed to learning how to think Left, which is the standard commonly accepted at most levels of education in this nation, a standard that doesn't adhere to the academic and intellectual integrity Professor Williams endorses.
Social Justice:
"This 'social justice' curriculum results in a heavy cost in time not spent on the basics. Young Americans who are exposed to Ayers' radical left-wing ideas generally have little background information to help them evaluate bias and errors.
Barack Obama's selection for secretary of education is his crony Arne Duncan, who most recently made news by recommending the creation of a Chicago Social Justice High School-Pride Campus, where half the students would be homosexuals and the other half straight.
Somehow that school was canceled just about the time that Obama announced Duncan's appointment."
Imagine that!
Analyzing this week's edition of 'It's All Israel's Fault'
The "Blame Israel First" crowd (first cousins to the "Blame Bush First" team) is at it again in their never-ending campaign of hero worship for the thugs and terrorists of various Islamicidal cults, as exemplified by Hamas and Hezbollah.
Noteworthy, from the incredibly wrong-headed nonsense posted at Huff 'n Puff:
James Robbins has some excellent analysis that provides a clear understanding of the terrorists' aggression against Israel.
Excerpt:
"...what is a proportional response to Hamas’s policy of firing rockets and mortars into populated areas? Should Israel respond in kind, killing civilians purposefully (as is clearly the intent of the Hamas offensive) and gaining no military benefit? Those who object to Israel’s target list should be required to suggest which Hamas installations should be left standing — and why.
Also, even if proportionality is the standard, there is proportionality in objectives: Hamas seeks to destroy Israel, and Israel’s current offensive (as explained by several of the country's leading officials) is designed to destroy Hamas. If the war is back on, it makes sense for Israel to fight to win. The Hamas leadership should have considered that possibility before deciding not to renew the ceasefire."
NRO's editors add the proper perspective:
"Israel has been extremely dilatory in responding to the aggression of Hamas, but nobody doubted that the day of reckoning would come. Hamas is never going to change its belief that it has a God-given mission to destroy Israel, and the capacity to do so.......
... In Cairo, Damascus, or Tehran, many evidently think it right and proper and normal for Hamas to keep up a barrage of missiles and rockets while Israelis are supposed to accept the punishment, while measures of self-defense on the part of Israel are to be considered criminal."
This false equivalence is also in wide circulation among terror enabling Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" everywhere.
Noteworthy, from the incredibly wrong-headed nonsense posted at Huff 'n Puff:
"Israel, you are better than this. You are not just typical. You have the wisdom of the universe in your borders. You have profound knowledge of why death doesn't fix a problem. You have the USA to help you.
Please, put the gun down. Move away from the gun.
Just. Stop."
And I'm sure those angelic terrorists will reciprocate of their own free will, right?James Robbins has some excellent analysis that provides a clear understanding of the terrorists' aggression against Israel.
Excerpt:
"...what is a proportional response to Hamas’s policy of firing rockets and mortars into populated areas? Should Israel respond in kind, killing civilians purposefully (as is clearly the intent of the Hamas offensive) and gaining no military benefit? Those who object to Israel’s target list should be required to suggest which Hamas installations should be left standing — and why.
Also, even if proportionality is the standard, there is proportionality in objectives: Hamas seeks to destroy Israel, and Israel’s current offensive (as explained by several of the country's leading officials) is designed to destroy Hamas. If the war is back on, it makes sense for Israel to fight to win. The Hamas leadership should have considered that possibility before deciding not to renew the ceasefire."
NRO's editors add the proper perspective:
"Israel has been extremely dilatory in responding to the aggression of Hamas, but nobody doubted that the day of reckoning would come. Hamas is never going to change its belief that it has a God-given mission to destroy Israel, and the capacity to do so.......
... In Cairo, Damascus, or Tehran, many evidently think it right and proper and normal for Hamas to keep up a barrage of missiles and rockets while Israelis are supposed to accept the punishment, while measures of self-defense on the part of Israel are to be considered criminal."
This false equivalence is also in wide circulation among terror enabling Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" everywhere.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Recapping the diastrous year for the 'Scientific Consensus' Peanut Gallery
Let's hope the True Believers' Bad Year/Everyone Else's Good Year repeats in 09.
From Ace of Spades:
"Easily one of the most important stories of 2008 has been all the evidence suggesting that this may be looked back on as the year when there was a turning point in the great worldwide panic over man-made global warming. Just when politicians in Europe and America have been adopting the most costly and damaging measures politicians have ever proposed, to combat this supposed menace, the tide has turned in three significant respects.
From Ace of Spades:
"Easily one of the most important stories of 2008 has been all the evidence suggesting that this may be looked back on as the year when there was a turning point in the great worldwide panic over man-made global warming. Just when politicians in Europe and America have been adopting the most costly and damaging measures politicians have ever proposed, to combat this supposed menace, the tide has turned in three significant respects.
First, all over the world, temperatures have been dropping in a way wholly unpredicted by all those computer models which have been used as the main drivers of the scare. ...
Secondly, 2008 was the year when any pretense that there was a 'scientific consensus' in favour of man-made global warming collapsed. ...
Thirdly, as banks collapsed and the global economy plunged into its worst recession for decades, harsh reality at last began to break in on those self-deluding dreams which have for so long possessed almost every politician in the western world. ..."
...and from Power Line, quoting William Katz:
"It is obvious that anthropogenic global warming is not science at all, because a scientific theory makes non-obvious predictions which are then compared with observations that the average person can check for himself. As we both know from our own observations, AGW theory has spectacularly failed to do this. The theory has predicted steadily increasing global temperatures, and this has been refuted by experience.
NOW the global warmers claim that the Earth will enter a cooling period. In other words, whether the ice caps melt, or expand --- whatever happens --- the AGW theorists claim it confirms their theory. A perfect example of a pseudo-science like astrology."
It's time for True Believers of all stripes disavow the lies, manipulation, and drum-beating over their nonsensical and unsupportable agenda item, and concentrate their energy elsewhere, preferably in an area which does not involve massive wealth transfer schemes, and fraudulent "science".
'The Outrage Threshold on the Left'
From Captain Ed:
"Let’s get this straight. The Left shrugged at Obama’s twenty years of alliance with a minister who spouted an infamous “God Damn America”. They sniffed when Jeremiah Wright called 9/11 “America’s chickens coming home to roost”. They may have even nodded their heads in agreement when the pastor to whom Obama gave over $20,000 in 2006 accused the US government of creating the HIV virus and AIDS as a genocidal tool against people of color.
However, Rick Warren offers public support for a California proposition that keeps marriage defined as his faith prescribes, and suddenly Obama has betrayed their trust. Really? They see a one-time association over a 60-second invocation as a betrayal of their values, when Obama’s twenty years with, and significant material support for, a raving anti-American demagogue like Wright didn’t disturb them in the least?
At least we know where their values lie."
Haven't we always known?
Was there ever a question about their true values?
Friday, December 26, 2008
'Racist anger' against Obama?
It's obviously all Sarah Palin's fault.
Key point:
Key point:
"It was the Obama campaign, not the Secret Service, which suggested a connection between the 'frenzied atmosphere' around Palin and the threats. Obama himself appeared to believe there was such a connection, raising it in his final debate with John McCain.
That accusation evidently stemmed from an Oct. 14 newspaper report that an audience member at a Palin rally in Scranton, Pa., shouted "kill him" when Obama's name was mentioned. The Secret Service investigated but was unable to corroborate that account, as Newsweek subsequently reported, and yet the alleged threat has entered the colloquial what-everybody-knows version of the campaign.
All this fits within a narrative arc that Democrats and their media allies are constructing around Palin, portraying her as an uncouth rabble-rouser leading an angry (and perhaps dangerous) populist opposition to Obama."
This sort of nonsense was on display locally after the Palin rally at Elon.
The babble, dribble, drool, and spew from our local "progressives" was predictably out of control.
I like to think of it as the "Joe Killian Syndrome", particularly after Killian's non response to questions posed to him by Jerry Bledsoe regarding his experiences at the afore mentioned rally.
All the nonsense just reinforces the fear our Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" pals have about Sarah Palin, and the danger she poses to them politically.
Let's get our 17 billion auto bailout money back
The unctuous UAW schmucks lied to us.
Noteworthy:
"Just days before Christmas, the UAW let it be known it'll fight any concessions on wages and benefits. 'An undue tax on the workers' is how union boss Ron Gettelfinger described it as the UAW reneged on the deal almost before the ink was dry.
This will go down as one of the most cynical acts of political manipulation ever. The UAW agreed to one thing with President Bush, knowing full well President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats were big recipients of union largesse and would let them slide. They read the situation correctly."
An "undue tax on the workers"!
Yeah, sure.
And the "Hope 'n Change" gang will enable "business as usual" for their trusty pals in Big Labor Inc.
Noteworthy:
"Just days before Christmas, the UAW let it be known it'll fight any concessions on wages and benefits. 'An undue tax on the workers' is how union boss Ron Gettelfinger described it as the UAW reneged on the deal almost before the ink was dry.
This will go down as one of the most cynical acts of political manipulation ever. The UAW agreed to one thing with President Bush, knowing full well President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats were big recipients of union largesse and would let them slide. They read the situation correctly."
An "undue tax on the workers"!
Yeah, sure.
And the "Hope 'n Change" gang will enable "business as usual" for their trusty pals in Big Labor Inc.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas around the world
John Hinderaker takes us on tour.
Noteworthy:
"Going to services on Christmas Eve, I was struck once again by the vitality of religious faith here in the U.S. The church was packed, and positively teeming with children. Not just children, but babies--at one point a guy in front of me turned to his wife and said, 'There's a baby boom going on here.' These remain the two most fundamental respects in which we are distinguished from our European cousins, and the two main reasons why our future is so much brighter--the persistence of religious faith, and the belief that children are assets, not just liabilities."
I was struck by the exact same thought upon attending Christmas Eve services yesterday at Lawndale Baptist Church.
During the corporate services on Sundays, most of the younger kids are downstairs at Lawndale's excellent children's ministries program, and are not immediately noticeable unless you enter and exit the church from the children's downstairs wing. For the Christmas Eve candlelight service, they were together with their families in the worship center, and the visual impression of family was unmistakable.
Hinderaker is right.....our children ARE assets.
The secularists and "progressives" know that too. That's why the struggle to neutralize the political , social, and economic indoctrination children receive through government social services and government schools is so important.
Noteworthy:
"Going to services on Christmas Eve, I was struck once again by the vitality of religious faith here in the U.S. The church was packed, and positively teeming with children. Not just children, but babies--at one point a guy in front of me turned to his wife and said, 'There's a baby boom going on here.' These remain the two most fundamental respects in which we are distinguished from our European cousins, and the two main reasons why our future is so much brighter--the persistence of religious faith, and the belief that children are assets, not just liabilities."
I was struck by the exact same thought upon attending Christmas Eve services yesterday at Lawndale Baptist Church.
During the corporate services on Sundays, most of the younger kids are downstairs at Lawndale's excellent children's ministries program, and are not immediately noticeable unless you enter and exit the church from the children's downstairs wing. For the Christmas Eve candlelight service, they were together with their families in the worship center, and the visual impression of family was unmistakable.
Hinderaker is right.....our children ARE assets.
The secularists and "progressives" know that too. That's why the struggle to neutralize the political , social, and economic indoctrination children receive through government social services and government schools is so important.
'Be Not Afraid': The story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The lessons learned from his and from others' faith in the face of hideous oppression serves us well to this day. It's particularly appropriate to remember him and the others on Christmas Day.
Noteworthy:
"At Christmas time in 1942 Bonhoeffer had circulated a long letter to his closest colleagues assessing a decade of resistance, later reprinted as the essay 'After Ten Years.' In it he asks the question, 'Who stands firm?'
Today, there are Christians who quietly stand up to tyranny. On the morning of December 25, they will acknowledge the day’s significance.
In Beijing, a husband will wish his wife 'Merry Christmas.'
In Havana, a family will exchange gifts.
A minister in Riyadh will read the Gospel.
A priest in Pyongyang will silently say Mass.
These men and women, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, resist without fear. They grasp a fundamental fact about the intersection of freedom and faith, as true for Christians as it is for men and women of all religions. They understand that to be human is to know God; to be human and free is to know God fully."
And those of us here in America, while not oppressed and directly threatened as our brethren listed above, must continue to fight the battle against the insidious attacks on and repression of our beliefs by those of a certain worldview..
Noteworthy:
"At Christmas time in 1942 Bonhoeffer had circulated a long letter to his closest colleagues assessing a decade of resistance, later reprinted as the essay 'After Ten Years.' In it he asks the question, 'Who stands firm?'
Today, there are Christians who quietly stand up to tyranny. On the morning of December 25, they will acknowledge the day’s significance.
In Beijing, a husband will wish his wife 'Merry Christmas.'
In Havana, a family will exchange gifts.
A minister in Riyadh will read the Gospel.
A priest in Pyongyang will silently say Mass.
These men and women, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, resist without fear. They grasp a fundamental fact about the intersection of freedom and faith, as true for Christians as it is for men and women of all religions. They understand that to be human is to know God; to be human and free is to know God fully."
And those of us here in America, while not oppressed and directly threatened as our brethren listed above, must continue to fight the battle against the insidious attacks on and repression of our beliefs by those of a certain worldview..
Their first American Christmas
Golly Gee Whiz!
This story goes against the "We Americans are so selfish and mean to 'undocumented immigrants'" theme that's so popular in certain "progressive" mindsets these days.
Noteworthy:
"As one whose family was almost suffocated by them, I'm here to say that the arms of those 'gun and religion-clinging folks' with a vicious 'antipathy for those unlike them' opened damn wide for these foreigners. And the embrace from Hollywood's favorite caricature of 'intolerance' and 'xenophobia' and 'hate' on these weird octopus-eating strangers was plenty tight and plenty warm."
However, you can be sure that some of our lefty/moderate friends will respond to these stories with their typical "Yeah, but....." responses.
This story goes against the "We Americans are so selfish and mean to 'undocumented immigrants'" theme that's so popular in certain "progressive" mindsets these days.
Noteworthy:
"As one whose family was almost suffocated by them, I'm here to say that the arms of those 'gun and religion-clinging folks' with a vicious 'antipathy for those unlike them' opened damn wide for these foreigners. And the embrace from Hollywood's favorite caricature of 'intolerance' and 'xenophobia' and 'hate' on these weird octopus-eating strangers was plenty tight and plenty warm."
However, you can be sure that some of our lefty/moderate friends will respond to these stories with their typical "Yeah, but....." responses.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
'Christmas Poem'
If All Were Now as It Was When
If all were now as it was when
Christ came to save us all,
And Christmas Day were Christmas Day,
Not some day we recall;
If all were now as it was when
Christ came to save us all,
And Christmas Day were Christmas Day,
Not some day we recall;
And in the East we saw a star
Exceptionally bright,
And wondered what was going on
That ordinary night;
If God were walking in our midst,
Saying what He said,
And we were not His followers,
But trod where He would tread;
And we were witness to His word
And looked Him in the eye,
And found His message interesting
But too bizarre to buy;
If we were in Jerusalem
And watched Him bear the cross,
And suffered with His suffering
But feared to share His loss;
And saw Him die in agony,
And wondered at it all,
And this were something we ourselves,
Not printed books, recall:
What would be the difference,
Had we known Him that way,
Between the faith we feared to feel
And what we fear today?
"I hope your answer to the poem above, to the question 'What would be the difference, Had we known Him that way?' is: There would be no difference. Christian Faith is belief in someone that we cannot see or touch in the physical way.
Christianity claims not to be distinguished by its faith, but by the object of its faith. Faith is essentially an act of trust or reliance on God. Rather than being passive, this leads to an active life of obedience to the one being trusted. Faith causes questions and seeks answers from God and transforms, it sees the mystery of God and his grace and seeks to know and become obedient to God. Faith is not static but causes one to learn more of God and grow, faith causes change as it seeks a greater understanding of God." (more)
Indeed, it is so.It could be worse, Obamamaniacs
At least it's not a stained blue dress.
And he hasn't lied to a grand jury.
Yet.
Abortion Inc wants a bailout too!
Here's the probable rationale from Abortion Inc Murder Inc Pro "Choice" Inc:
"But it's only one and a half billion, and it's for a good cause!"
"But it's only one and a half billion, and it's for a good cause!"
Libthink is a mysterious and wonderful process when it comes to vote recounts, isn't it?
We have seen many examples of this particular phenomonen in elections over the past decade or two, but this one from the Minnesota Senate election theft vote recount defies belief.
Excerpt:
"It appears that the vote was challenged by the Franken campaign due to possible duplicate ballot issues, which would potentially be a reason for the board to throw out the vote for Coleman, but they didn't throw it out - they counted it as a vote for Franken. "
Libthink at it's finest........
Excerpt:
"It appears that the vote was challenged by the Franken campaign due to possible duplicate ballot issues, which would potentially be a reason for the board to throw out the vote for Coleman, but they didn't throw it out - they counted it as a vote for Franken. "
Libthink at it's finest........
Team Obama clears Team Obama of any wrong doing in Blago meltdown
Imagine that!
Plus, I guess that the "nobody from the campaign talked with Governor Greed" statement issued previously is now "inoperable", right?
Plus, I guess that the "nobody from the campaign talked with Governor Greed" statement issued previously is now "inoperable", right?
Monday, December 22, 2008
Certifying Andrew Sullivan's delusions
Remember how certain overwrought Idiot Child Sullivan was over Trig Palin being daughter Bristol's child, rather than Mom Sarah's offspring ?
Here's the latest news for Wonder Boy: Bristol's delivery is imminent, approximately eight months after Trig's birth.
Noteworthy:
"Andrew Sullivan is furiously crunching numbers on his Texas Instruments calculator and punching out big Excel spreadsheets showing that this all could have happened just the way he claimed. His numbers work out if he's allowed a single premise -- somewhere in the Palin household is a free-range 'emergency uterus.'"
A little perspective on Mr. Truther, from his very own blog, no less:
"Will, a loyal Dish reader, writes:
Here's the latest news for Wonder Boy: Bristol's delivery is imminent, approximately eight months after Trig's birth.
Noteworthy:
"Andrew Sullivan is furiously crunching numbers on his Texas Instruments calculator and punching out big Excel spreadsheets showing that this all could have happened just the way he claimed. His numbers work out if he's allowed a single premise -- somewhere in the Palin household is a free-range 'emergency uterus.'"
A little perspective on Mr. Truther, from his very own blog, no less:
"Will, a loyal Dish reader, writes:
I agree. While signing off, Andrew mentioned the months long argument he and I have had with regard to Sarah Palin's fifth child. I am the only other person who has read all the obstetrician interviews, the interview with a reporter at the scene, and all the primary sources. I strongly believe that there is nothing to this story."Andrew Sullivan’s latest on Trig Palin’s maternity is uncomfortable reading. After wading through the muck, I’m left wondering why he feels the need to badger the poor woman over the circumstances of her son’s birth. Even if everything he says is true - the pregnancy was staged to protect her daughter; the entire story is fraudulent; the press is silently complicit - I still have no idea why we should care. If Palin is lying to protect her daughter, I have nothing but sympathy for the poor woman and her family.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Gee whiz! Does this mean we WILL have to work on paying our mortgages and putting gas in our cars...
...despite what we were promised in the recent campaign for "Hope 'n Change"?
Michael Barone speculates on how "Hope 'n Change" will actually turn into "business as usual".
Noteworthy:
"Obama does make reference to history, especially to distant figures like Abraham Lincoln and FDR. But like Tony Blair, he is given to rhetoric that suggests history begins anew with his installation in office.
'This was the moment,' Obama said on June 3, after the last primaries, 'when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.' He is promising more than King Canute."
Which, of course, he WILL NOT deliver.
This begs the question: Will the under 30 crowd, who Obama actually put under the spell long enough to elect him President, ever figure out just how badly they've been duped? Will they even care?
And just how silly will Obama's campaign fluff sound some six months into the "New Era in politics"?
Hubris will be difficult for the Anointed One to accept.
On the other hand, the odds are pretty good that he will end up being a figurehead anyway.
Michael Barone speculates on how "Hope 'n Change" will actually turn into "business as usual".
Noteworthy:
"Obama does make reference to history, especially to distant figures like Abraham Lincoln and FDR. But like Tony Blair, he is given to rhetoric that suggests history begins anew with his installation in office.
'This was the moment,' Obama said on June 3, after the last primaries, 'when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.' He is promising more than King Canute."
Which, of course, he WILL NOT deliver.
This begs the question: Will the under 30 crowd, who Obama actually put under the spell long enough to elect him President, ever figure out just how badly they've been duped? Will they even care?
And just how silly will Obama's campaign fluff sound some six months into the "New Era in politics"?
Hubris will be difficult for the Anointed One to accept.
On the other hand, the odds are pretty good that he will end up being a figurehead anyway.
Yet ANOTHER bad cabinet post choice by Obama
He's tapped Hilda Solis to be Secretary of Labor. Here are just a few of the many reasons this would be a disaster in the making for America.
Noteworthy previous quote from the presumptive nominee regarding illegal immigrants:
"We are all Americans, whether you are legalized or not."
The incredible lie and arrogance contained in that quote is all that needs to be known to strongly oppose this person's ascent to actual executive power in an Obama administration.
Here's more reasons.
Solis was a co-sponsor of H.R. 1645 (The STRIVE Act), whose provisions would have created a new H-2C guest worker visa, adding between 400,000 and 600,000 new foreign guest workers, and allowed employers to layoff American workers in order to hire H-2C workers.
Other positions she backed include allowing illegal aliens to collect Social Security benefits, opposition to REAL ID Act necessary to prevent illegal aliens from using fake IDs to gain employment, opposition to a measure to increase funding for E-Verify program, and allowing illegals to obtain drivers' licenses.
Noteworthy previous quote from the presumptive nominee regarding illegal immigrants:
"We are all Americans, whether you are legalized or not."
The incredible lie and arrogance contained in that quote is all that needs to be known to strongly oppose this person's ascent to actual executive power in an Obama administration.
Here's more reasons.
Solis was a co-sponsor of H.R. 1645 (The STRIVE Act), whose provisions would have created a new H-2C guest worker visa, adding between 400,000 and 600,000 new foreign guest workers, and allowed employers to layoff American workers in order to hire H-2C workers.
Other positions she backed include allowing illegal aliens to collect Social Security benefits, opposition to REAL ID Act necessary to prevent illegal aliens from using fake IDs to gain employment, opposition to a measure to increase funding for E-Verify program, and allowing illegals to obtain drivers' licenses.
Friday, December 19, 2008
'If Caroline's last name was Palin'
We know how that would be played out in the media and among Dems/Lefties/"Progressives", would we not?
Noteworthy:
"The left is just plain giddy with excitement over a return to Camelot and the New York press corps, the most selectively tough in the business, is following suit. One this is certain: if Kennedy’s last name were Palin she wouldn’t be anointed."
...and:
"We always knew the Democrats had a double standard. They nominated the most inexperienced candidate in nearly a century to run for president, while they sought to destroy the Republican nominee for vice president because she wasn’t elitist or experienced enough. What they need to learn is that stature is not a substitute for substance, even in New York. But apparently, qualifications don’t matter to the left as long as you don’t hunt moose."
Noteworthy:
"The left is just plain giddy with excitement over a return to Camelot and the New York press corps, the most selectively tough in the business, is following suit. One this is certain: if Kennedy’s last name were Palin she wouldn’t be anointed."
...and:
"We always knew the Democrats had a double standard. They nominated the most inexperienced candidate in nearly a century to run for president, while they sought to destroy the Republican nominee for vice president because she wasn’t elitist or experienced enough. What they need to learn is that stature is not a substitute for substance, even in New York. But apparently, qualifications don’t matter to the left as long as you don’t hunt moose."
Thursday, December 18, 2008
What would have been the response by our local special interest group movers and shakers if this incident had occured in Greensboro?
Blame it on the economy?
Blame it on poverty?
Blame it on a poor education system?
Blame it upon intolerable racism?
Blame it on David Wray? (Yes, I know......that's redundant.)
Urge everyone to move along, so that Business as Usual could proceed without further distraction?
(hat tip: Hot Air)
Blame it on poverty?
Blame it on a poor education system?
Blame it upon intolerable racism?
Blame it on David Wray? (Yes, I know......that's redundant.)
Urge everyone to move along, so that Business as Usual could proceed without further distraction?
(hat tip: Hot Air)
So how does our nation now stand?
Herb London:
"The America of now is one where Orwellian logic rules. Redistribution of wealth is fairness. Taxes are patriotic. The free market should be a regulated market. Big government is good for you. Politicians know what kind of health care is best for you. Choice should be limited, except when it comes to abortion. Power comes from being powerless. Progressive education is designed to promote progress toward socialism. Race doesn't count unless a person of color tells you it counts. Higher education gets lower each year. Those who create our problems should be asked to solve them. Religion should be a private matter that does not inform public morality. Liberal is radical. Free speech is selective speech. Courage is impetuousness."
Read more at Power Line.
"The America of now is one where Orwellian logic rules. Redistribution of wealth is fairness. Taxes are patriotic. The free market should be a regulated market. Big government is good for you. Politicians know what kind of health care is best for you. Choice should be limited, except when it comes to abortion. Power comes from being powerless. Progressive education is designed to promote progress toward socialism. Race doesn't count unless a person of color tells you it counts. Higher education gets lower each year. Those who create our problems should be asked to solve them. Religion should be a private matter that does not inform public morality. Liberal is radical. Free speech is selective speech. Courage is impetuousness."
Read more at Power Line.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Indoctrinate U wants to get them even earlier
Our AFT/NEA/Government Schools/Libthink Indoctrination Centers must be feeling threatened.
They want to start the brainwashing at three years old now.
Noteworthy:
"Former Assistant Education Secretary Susan Neuman said she thinks most parents will have no choice but to see their young children educated away from home.
'The reality is that most of our children need child care, regardless,' she said. 'Many parents are lucky enough to be home for the day. But more often than not they will need child care.'
Neuman added: 'What we’re talking about is how to create a quality environment for those children. It’s not enough just to have access. We need quality.'"
....so says yet another one of George Bush's bad appointments.
"Quality", indeed.
It never stops, does it?
"However, Colleen Holmes, executive director of the conservative Eagle Forum, disagrees with (Randi) Weingarten’s age-specific referral of children for public education.
'I just think it’s a concern that education professionals seem to be targeting a specific age, especially the very young age of three, at which they would like to see children in state-sponsored daycare,' Holmes told CNSNews.com.
Holmes added that some parents do have a need for others to educate their young children. However, she said, it is important for young children to be, if not with their parents, attending 'parent-chosen caregiving settings,' such as churches or smaller daycares, where parents have an influence on their children’s values.
'It’s also very insulting to parents,' Holmes said of the arguments for earlier public education of children. 'I don’t know any parent who isn’t concerned about what their children are learning.'
'The child and society is best served when the parents are empowered rather than it being mandated that the child goes into state-sponsored schools,' she concluded."
(hat tip: The Locker Room)
They want to start the brainwashing at three years old now.
Noteworthy:
"Former Assistant Education Secretary Susan Neuman said she thinks most parents will have no choice but to see their young children educated away from home.
'The reality is that most of our children need child care, regardless,' she said. 'Many parents are lucky enough to be home for the day. But more often than not they will need child care.'
Neuman added: 'What we’re talking about is how to create a quality environment for those children. It’s not enough just to have access. We need quality.'"
....so says yet another one of George Bush's bad appointments.
"Quality", indeed.
It never stops, does it?
"However, Colleen Holmes, executive director of the conservative Eagle Forum, disagrees with (Randi) Weingarten’s age-specific referral of children for public education.
'I just think it’s a concern that education professionals seem to be targeting a specific age, especially the very young age of three, at which they would like to see children in state-sponsored daycare,' Holmes told CNSNews.com.
Holmes added that some parents do have a need for others to educate their young children. However, she said, it is important for young children to be, if not with their parents, attending 'parent-chosen caregiving settings,' such as churches or smaller daycares, where parents have an influence on their children’s values.
'It’s also very insulting to parents,' Holmes said of the arguments for earlier public education of children. 'I don’t know any parent who isn’t concerned about what their children are learning.'
'The child and society is best served when the parents are empowered rather than it being mandated that the child goes into state-sponsored schools,' she concluded."
(hat tip: The Locker Room)
Increasing the state's Medicaid funding 'expands access to medical care'?
Don't make me laugh.
Brian Balfour sets the record straight.
Key point:
"... over the last seven years North Carolina has seen a 28 percent increase in Medicaid recipients, while experiencing a 61 percent decline in Hospitals treating Medicaid patients and a 23 percent decrease in physicians accepting Medicaid patients. In other words, a lot more people chasing after fewer and fewer providers.
Brian Balfour sets the record straight.
Key point:
"... over the last seven years North Carolina has seen a 28 percent increase in Medicaid recipients, while experiencing a 61 percent decline in Hospitals treating Medicaid patients and a 23 percent decrease in physicians accepting Medicaid patients. In other words, a lot more people chasing after fewer and fewer providers.
By cramming more people into the Medicaid system, we will not be guaranteeing them 'access to medical care,' rather we will be piling more people into a bureaucratic nightmare where long wait times and endless searches for a doctor to treat your sick child is the norm."
That's just a preview of what's in store for us if the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" succeed in their fond wish to provide mediocre health care in America, under the guise of "fairness for all", via some form or the other of "universal health care".
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Red Meat for Nutroots near and far
Cheney extols the merits of the Nutroots' favorite "torture" topic.
Gateway Pundit has details.
I hope VPOTUS has much more to offer the Nutroots before he leaves office next month. I think it's more than fitting that he contribute to keeping their little minds and big mouths otherwise occupied and out of trouble for a while.
Gateway Pundit has details.
I hope VPOTUS has much more to offer the Nutroots before he leaves office next month. I think it's more than fitting that he contribute to keeping their little minds and big mouths otherwise occupied and out of trouble for a while.
'Bankruptcy is the Perfect Remedy for Detroit'
Chapter 11 makes perfect sense for the diseased carcass of the once great American automotive cabal, but the forces of the status quo, which include the manufacturers, the UAW, and the regressive "progressives" in Congress and elsewhere, don't like it one bit.
To sum it up:
"In short, Detroit and the public have little to fear from a bankruptcy filing, but much to fear from the corrupt bargain that is emerging among incumbent management, the UAW and Capitol Hill to spend our money to avoid their reality check."
All of these blowhards who support the status quo of an automotive "bailout" need to be unceremoniously tossed out on the street.
Don Boudreaux has more:
To sum it up:
"In short, Detroit and the public have little to fear from a bankruptcy filing, but much to fear from the corrupt bargain that is emerging among incumbent management, the UAW and Capitol Hill to spend our money to avoid their reality check."
All of these blowhards who support the status quo of an automotive "bailout" need to be unceremoniously tossed out on the street.
Don Boudreaux has more:
"Chances are excellent that some (probably scaled-down) versions of GM, Ford and Chrysler -- perhaps merged together or with another auto producer -- would be viable if restructured. The Big Three, after all, still together supply nearly one-half of all new automobiles sold and leased in the United States. It's highly unlikely that none of the productive capacity in these firms would be competitive with the likes of Toyota and Hyundai.
The trouble is that now any productive efficiencies that the Big Three possess are masked by these firms' huge debt obligations.
So, far from solving this problem, any 'bridge loans' from Uncle Sam to the Big Three will only delay the inevitable need to restructure. Bailout money would force taxpayers to foot the bill for Detroit's irresponsible past promises while it protects these firms from having to do the hard work of correcting this real source of their unprofitability. (Of course, bailout money would also protect overpaid and over-pensioned UAW members from having their pay and pensions scaled back to reasonable levels.)
With the symptoms of this serious ailment socialized for however long the bailout funds last -- that is, with nothing done to cure the ailment -- GM, Ford and Chrysler will be no better able to operate profitably after they run through the bailout funds than they're able to do now."
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Save the Planet! Stop 'Climate Change'! Tax the Cow Owners!
What might make more sense is to tax all the hot air blather from True Believers, who are probably the cause of the majority of the "anthropogenic" carbon dioxide "problem".
A policy like that should raise enough revenue to bailout every business in America, erase the deficit,completely fund a zero premium-no-deductible-no co pay complete Medicare program for the next millenia, and ensure every Social Security recipien's check would multiply by a factor of 10.
Obama, Emanuel, Blago, and the discussion about the sale of the now vacant Illinois Senate seat
Sizing up the ever shifting plausible denial that is the official Obama line on this scandal.
Excerpt:
"The conversations are on tape so we will learn precisely what Emanuel said, whether he was horse-trading or simply issuing the 'approved list', and whether he was confronted with any demands that did — or should have — sent him scurrying to the authorities. But the pretense that the transition team was removed from the Senate seat determination is, not surprisingly, gone."
We're still some 38 days away from thecoronation inauguration.
How many more screw-ups, lies, and historical revisions will we experience by that date from Mr. Hope 'n Change We Can Believe In, and his Not Ready For Prime Time Staff?
Excerpt:
"The conversations are on tape so we will learn precisely what Emanuel said, whether he was horse-trading or simply issuing the 'approved list', and whether he was confronted with any demands that did — or should have — sent him scurrying to the authorities. But the pretense that the transition team was removed from the Senate seat determination is, not surprisingly, gone."
We're still some 38 days away from the
How many more screw-ups, lies, and historical revisions will we experience by that date from Mr. Hope 'n Change We Can Believe In, and his Not Ready For Prime Time Staff?
'Racism in the Public Schools'
No, it's not the sort of racism that the News and Record, the Pulpit Forum, and certain members of the Guilford County Board of Education see around every corner, whether its there or not.
It's administrative and economic racism, the "bigotry of low expectations", as dramaticized by the current holder of the Office of President- Elect's plan for his daughters' education while in residence of our nation's capital.
Noteworthy:
"The public schools were segregated by race when I grew up in Washington. They're segregated just as rigidly today by economic class, as schools are in many cities, and the result is all but the same -- public schools for blacks, private schools for whites.
I once took my son out of a public school because his American history teacher was absent more days than she was on the job; in one conversation, she couldn't identify the fourth president of the United States without consulting her lesson plan, and was not embarrassed for it. She was protected, as incompetent teachers are protected today, by union-backed tenure."
It's administrative and economic racism, the "bigotry of low expectations", as dramaticized by the current holder of the Office of President- Elect's plan for his daughters' education while in residence of our nation's capital.
Noteworthy:
"The public schools were segregated by race when I grew up in Washington. They're segregated just as rigidly today by economic class, as schools are in many cities, and the result is all but the same -- public schools for blacks, private schools for whites.
I once took my son out of a public school because his American history teacher was absent more days than she was on the job; in one conversation, she couldn't identify the fourth president of the United States without consulting her lesson plan, and was not embarrassed for it. She was protected, as incompetent teachers are protected today, by union-backed tenure."
Revisiting the 'credit crunch'
Most of what you've been told about this "crunch" by various government officials, talking heads, fatuous print media types, and opportunistic self-styled blahgosphere doom and gloom "experts" is WRONG.
Excerpt:
Excerpt:
"'It's just stabbing in the dark with trillions of dollars,' Octavio Marenzi, report author and head of Celent, told Reuters in a telephone interview where he questioned the depth of the analysis that preceded numerous fiscal stimulus packages.
The report, much of which is based on U.S. Federal Reserve data, challenges a long list of assumptions one by one, arguing that there is indeed a financial crisis but that, on aggregate, the problems of a few are by no means those of the many when it comes to obtaining credit.
'It is startling that many of (Federal Reserve) Chairman (Ben) Bernanke and (Treasury) Secretary (Henry) Paulson's remarks are not supported or are flatly contradicted by the data provided by the very organizations they lead,' said the report.
Perhaps the U.S. central bank and treasury department, and authorities in other countries by extension, know something they are not telling anyone and which is far more worrying than the public data shows, the report says.
Or, more plausibly, they were generalizing erroneously from the bad experience of a limited number of big banks and companies that are in any case in difficulty.
'I don't think they're fabricating stuff but what I think they are doing is taking the situation of a handful of institutions and generalizing that to the market as a whole, incorrectly,' said Marenzi."
(hat tip: Red Clay Citizen)
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This "crisis" is mainly one of (lack of) confidence in a number of important key segments, brought into being in no small measure by the nattering nabobs of the Doom-and-Gloom society, many of whom were keen in talking the economy down and pandering to base fear levels in order to pump up a manufactured presidential candidacy of Hope 'n Change We Can Believe In, and to achieve a cherished agenda item of establishing more control over financial elements of our society.
The Pump worked too well, and got out of control, leaving us with an empty suited "progressive" president-elect of little experience and substance fitted to manage the task ahead of righting the damage done by the arrogant know-it-alls-who-know-nothing.
Let's pray to God that his cabinet and economic advisers rise above their putative "leader", and are able to correct the damage already done while preventing the infliction of further damage to our economy.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Sound economic advice for Obama
Greg Mankiw:
"My advice to Team Obama: Do not be intellectually bound by the textbook Keynesian model. Be prepared to recognize that the world is vastly more complicated than the one we describe in ec 10. In particular, empirical studies that do not impose the restrictions of Keynesian theory suggest that you might get more bang for the buck with tax cuts than spending hikes."
Is he smart enough to figure it out?
Perhaps more important, are his economic advisers strong enough to educate Obama on that salient point?
We shall find out soon enough
"My advice to Team Obama: Do not be intellectually bound by the textbook Keynesian model. Be prepared to recognize that the world is vastly more complicated than the one we describe in ec 10. In particular, empirical studies that do not impose the restrictions of Keynesian theory suggest that you might get more bang for the buck with tax cuts than spending hikes."
Is he smart enough to figure it out?
Perhaps more important, are his economic advisers strong enough to educate Obama on that salient point?
We shall find out soon enough
News flash: Christmas is going to be OK!
It's in line to get it's own bailout!
Noteworthy:
Noteworthy:
"Several years ago, according to a participant who requested anonymity, some of Santa's elves were contacted by representatives from Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, who persuaded the elves of the benefits of an elaborate scheme of Christmas-list securitization.
As outlined to the elves, the idea worked like this. Brokers would break each item on the Christmas lists into separate pieces and repackage the requests as securities, using a formula known as a 'benevolence diffusion algorithm.' This would guarantee happiness for everybody in the world on Christmas morning. No one would lose."
Wow!
That plan can't fail, can it?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The Obama-Blago meeting
Here is a cached snapshot, no longer available on Google. The original had previously disappeared from the KHQA site.
What does this piece say in the third paragraph?
Why the hasty back peddle from the station?
Why did they attempt to make this story disappear?
Read it all at American Digest.
Increased endowments lead to more political correctness at institutions of higher education
The largesse of donors in the recent past has led to the entrenchment of Libthink political/social/economic agenda items and talking points at colleges and universities, mostly at the expense of actual academic work, which is likely to suffer further when cutbacks imposed by decreased giving in these times of economic downturn.
Noteworthy:
"This observer, relying more on observation and hunch than outright cynicism, is willing to bet that the teaching side of the academy will suffer more than the in loco parentis administrative side. Assistant vice-deans of student life specializing in sensitivity training will likely outlast the professor of European history or the instructor in Chinese, Arabic, or other critical languages."
...and:
Noteworthy:
"This observer, relying more on observation and hunch than outright cynicism, is willing to bet that the teaching side of the academy will suffer more than the in loco parentis administrative side. Assistant vice-deans of student life specializing in sensitivity training will likely outlast the professor of European history or the instructor in Chinese, Arabic, or other critical languages."
...and:
"Consider some of the administrative offices created in recent years at various educational institutions around the country that seek to micro-manage every aspect of student life and to cater to one or another gender, race, sexual identity, or other such interest group into which intrusive administrators divide up their students. A "Guideline for Classroom Discussion," which required students to "acknowlege that racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, and other institutionalized forms of oppression exist," was mandated for one course, in 2004, at the University of South Carolina. The University of Delaware, in 2007, instituted a mandatory "residence life education program" that attempted to push onto students a number of university-approved views on topics from race to sexuality. (It was eliminated after The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and FIRE-induced media reports exposed the fundamental violations embodied by the "treatment" program.)
After recent allegations of racist slurs on a North Carolina State University 'Free Expression Tunnel,' the school's Chancellor appointed a Campus Climate Task Force. In other words, if there's a problem of censorship on a campus of higher education, the administrative solution is to create a body to study the problem, rather than to simply remove the obstacle to academic freedom.
No serious person can really argue that a student body needs such bureaucracy to participate in the civilized life of the university, much less in order to become an educated person. We are not talking, after all, about some war zone replete with carnage, rape and pillage, and genocide.
We are talking instead about communities of higher learning where students have lived, worked, and studied together for centuries, long before the advent of the modern armies of administrators seeking to keep the peace and enable different groups of students to survive the often-bruising ego-assaults that are a normal part not only of growing up, but of exposure to the world of sometimes disturbing ideas.
As Alan Charles Kors and I noted in our 1998 book, The Shadow University, 'most students respect disagreement and difference, and they do not bring charges of harassment against those whose opinions or expressions "offend"' them. Yet today, we observe, 'the universities themselves... encourage such charges to be brought.' Surely massive administrative bureaucracies of student life must be maintained if universities are going to enforce the increasingly ubiquitous - in academia - 'right' not to be offended."
So Obama hasn't talked to Blago since the election, right?
Really?
Is that a fact?
No, there was no discussion about "Candidate #1", from Barry O, Rahm, or anyone else on the Big O's staff, was there?
I suppose that radio station might have gotten their facts wrong twice. We all know a certain local newspaper that does that sort of thing on a regular basis, don't we?
There's more......
It looks like Je$$e Jackson Jr. is in the mix, too.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall........
Stay tuned.
Is that a fact?
No, there was no discussion about "Candidate #1", from Barry O, Rahm, or anyone else on the Big O's staff, was there?
I suppose that radio station might have gotten their facts wrong twice. We all know a certain local newspaper that does that sort of thing on a regular basis, don't we?
There's more......
It looks like Je$$e Jackson Jr. is in the mix, too.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall........
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Blagojevich is busted big time. Is Obama next?
Among other bad things Blago stands of pulling, attempting to sell a Senate seat to the highest bidder is a big time no-no, even for a member of the Vast Democrat Culture of Corruption, Illinois version.
Excerpt:
Excerpt:
"At a news conference late this morning, (Patrick) Fitzgerald said Blagojevich 'has taken us to a truly new low' and went on 'a political corruption crime spree. We acted to stop that crime spree.'
Fitzgerald also accused Blagojevich of attempting 'to sell the U.S. Senate seat' that President-elect Barack Obama vacated.Robert Grant, FBI special agent in charge of the Chicago office, said the arrest of Blagojevich should serve as notice that 'business as usual will no longer be tolerated. That selling your office for personal gain is a thing of the past.'"
And what does the current occupant of the "office of President-elect" have to say?
"Obama told reporters he was 'saddened and sobered' by Blagojevich's arrest.
'I was not aware of what was happening,' Obama said. 'I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening.'"
"No contact".
Really?
Meanwhile, Tony Rezko's name resurfaced yet again. I wonder what just might become of that?
Noteworthy excerpt for context:
"1) Blagojevich is not a political neophyte, and he didn’t get to be the Illinois State governor by virtue of being a saint. If nothing else, his experience in the Governor’s mansion, and his path to the Governor’s mansion have given him a pretty good idea as to who is on sale in Illinois politics and who isn’t.
2) It always takes two to tango, Blagojevich would not have spoken to his closest aides about a “pay for play” scheme involving Barack Obama, if there wasn’t a possibility of a 'pay for play' scheme involving Barack Obama. Blagogevich knew Obama had a price, but his frustration was borne out of the fact that he could not afford it, or that Obama wasn’t a willing seller in this instance.
3) Similar to point #2, the fact that Barack Obama did not agree to play, is what led Blagojevich to get pissed off, probably because in the past Obama has played, and played extensively for that matter.
4) Though Fitzpatrick said there are no 'allegations' about Barack Obama or 'his conduct', in the letter referenced at the beginning of this post, Tony Rezko indicates that the Feds have been pressuring him to squeal on not only Rod Blagojevic, but also Barack Obama. So either Tony Rezko threw in Obama’s name for gravitas (unlikely), or Patrick Fitzgerald is not saying everything he knows (highly likely)."
Noteworthy scenario excerpts:
"So let’s see, the way it has been so far, Rezko squealed on Blagojevich (and maybe) Barack Obama to reduce his sentence. If given the chance to squal (and he shall be), who could Blagojevich possibly squal on? Hmmmmm
Anyway, after all is said and done, there are four possible scenarios:
1) Barack Obama shall be indicted before January 20th
2) Barack Obama shall be indicted after January 20th, and impeached and possibly removed
3) Barack Obama shall not be indicted, but shall be impeached and possibly removed
4) Barack Obama shall carry on like nothing happened, for nothing shall happen
With the passage of time, 1 or 2 seem to have a higher probability of happening than 3 or 4…"
"Fitzmas" just might have a new meaning this year.
7:54 PM UPDATE:
The pushback and revisionism has already begun:
"Obama senior adviser David Axelrod had said on November 23 in an interview with Fox News Chicago that Obama had 'talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.'
Axelrod issued a brief written statement on Tuesday saying he had been wrong.
'I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the president-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject,"' Axelrod said."
Of course you were wrong, Mr. Axelrod. Of course they did not discuss the subject. I would expect to hear nothing else from you and your charge.
Let's see what Fitzgerald gets you and Obama to say in front of a grand jury.
8:16 PM UPDATE:
Hey, kids! What time is it?
It's time to play NAME THAT PARTY!
Monday, December 08, 2008
'The Birth of Climate Pork'
The unholy alliance between Algore and Barry O.
Noteworthy:
"But the former veep is perfectly in sync with Mr. Obama. Energy taxes popular with the left but unpopular with voters will soon be off the table to preserve his second-term hopes. But that doesn't mean an end to 'climate policy, ' which can still be used to foster a network of trade groups willing to kick back some of their taxpayer subsidies to maintain Democrats in power. This will do nothing for climate change (and indeed nothing proposed or entertained in Washington would make a difference to climate). But it will help cement Democratic ascendancy over Washington's iron triangle of interest groups, politicians and the bureaucracy.
Indeed, Mr. Gore, as an investor and promoter of several green energy funds himself, is a walking conflict of interest here -- one whose bogus credibility Mr. Obama will happily make use of. Alinsky would be proud."
What a deal!
Al the Hypocrite continues to amass wealth on the back of carbon demonization, and Barry O entrenches himself in the Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" Business as Usual cabal.
Hope 'n Change, indeed!
Noteworthy:
"But the former veep is perfectly in sync with Mr. Obama. Energy taxes popular with the left but unpopular with voters will soon be off the table to preserve his second-term hopes. But that doesn't mean an end to 'climate policy, ' which can still be used to foster a network of trade groups willing to kick back some of their taxpayer subsidies to maintain Democrats in power. This will do nothing for climate change (and indeed nothing proposed or entertained in Washington would make a difference to climate). But it will help cement Democratic ascendancy over Washington's iron triangle of interest groups, politicians and the bureaucracy.
Indeed, Mr. Gore, as an investor and promoter of several green energy funds himself, is a walking conflict of interest here -- one whose bogus credibility Mr. Obama will happily make use of. Alinsky would be proud."
What a deal!
Al the Hypocrite continues to amass wealth on the back of carbon demonization, and Barry O entrenches himself in the Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" Business as Usual cabal.
Hope 'n Change, indeed!
Brian Wesbury's economic advice to Obama
Eliminate "mark to market", lower personal income taxes and eliminate corporate income taxes.
"There are many positive alternatives (including these)
that are not being formally discussed. This is a mistake.
And more to the point, the last time the government tried
to bail out the economy with drastic action, we ended up
in the Great Depression.
I've said it before, and I will continue to say it as often as it needs repeating.
This "crisis" and "recession" is artificially pumped up and has been influenced by the various alarmist talk of the past year, which was designed in part to promote the "hope 'n change" mantra of a certain presidential candidate, and promote the growth of government control over the economy.
Such a campaign erodes confidence unnecessarily, causing the intensity of the downturn to degenerate to the level of crisis.
It didn't have to be this way, and those who talked us out of consumer, investor, and lender confidence bear a large amount of the responsibility for the depth of the current situation, whether they like it or not.
that are not being formally discussed. This is a mistake.
And more to the point, the last time the government tried
to bail out the economy with drastic action, we ended up
in the Great Depression.
If we really want to 'change'
the way government and the private sector interact, why is
the way government and the private sector interact, why is
the US government still trying the same old policies that
failed in the past? Tax cuts have worked before, so if
deficits don’t matter, why not try a different kind of surge
– a private-sector, incentive-creating one?"
failed in the past? Tax cuts have worked before, so if
deficits don’t matter, why not try a different kind of surge
– a private-sector, incentive-creating one?"
I've said it before, and I will continue to say it as often as it needs repeating.
This "crisis" and "recession" is artificially pumped up and has been influenced by the various alarmist talk of the past year, which was designed in part to promote the "hope 'n change" mantra of a certain presidential candidate, and promote the growth of government control over the economy.
Such a campaign erodes confidence unnecessarily, causing the intensity of the downturn to degenerate to the level of crisis.
It didn't have to be this way, and those who talked us out of consumer, investor, and lender confidence bear a large amount of the responsibility for the depth of the current situation, whether they like it or not.
Rick Moran discussed it here:
"No one denies that there is a crisis. No one is underestimating the potential for catastrophe. My problem - our problem - is that in this, a time when honest appraisals of the situation are needed, we have little or no confidence that our newspapers, radio programs, or the cable newsnets are delivering what they are supposed to be giving us; the facts of the situation and not trying to scare us into buying their product or watching their programs by hyping the bad news."
Now Obama is talking about how "things will get worse before they get better".
Art Laffer has some thoughts about that:
"No one likes to see people lose their homes when housing prices fall and they can't afford to pay their mortgages; nor does any one of us enjoy watching banks go belly-up for making subprime loans without enough equity. But the taxpayers had nothing to do with either side of the mortgage transaction.
If you don't believe me, just watch how Congress and Barney Frank run the banks. If you thought they did a bad job running the post office, Amtrak, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the military, just wait till you see what they'll do with Wall Street."
Is it any wonder that investment money is out of the market, and the wild market swings continue unabated?
The facts tell a different story:
"Our analysis has raised questions about the claims made for the mechanism where by the financial crisis is affecting the overall economy. We emphasize that we do not dispute that the United States is undergoing a financial crisis and that the United States economy may currently be in a recession or may experience one in the near future, perhaps even a very deep one. We do not dispute that spreads between safe securities and risky securities have increased.
Our main point is that policymakers have not done the hard work of convincing the public or even academic economists of the precise nature of the market failure they see,of presenting hard evidence, not speculation, that differentiates their view of the data from other views, and the logic by which the particular intervention they are advocating will fix this market failure. We feel that a trillion dollar intervention warrants a bit more serious analysis than we have seen."
Be sure to look at the graphs presented at the end.
"No one denies that there is a crisis. No one is underestimating the potential for catastrophe. My problem - our problem - is that in this, a time when honest appraisals of the situation are needed, we have little or no confidence that our newspapers, radio programs, or the cable newsnets are delivering what they are supposed to be giving us; the facts of the situation and not trying to scare us into buying their product or watching their programs by hyping the bad news."
Now Obama is talking about how "things will get worse before they get better".
Art Laffer has some thoughts about that:
"No one likes to see people lose their homes when housing prices fall and they can't afford to pay their mortgages; nor does any one of us enjoy watching banks go belly-up for making subprime loans without enough equity. But the taxpayers had nothing to do with either side of the mortgage transaction.
But here's the rub. Now enter the government and the prospects of a kinder and gentler economy. To alleviate the obvious hardships to both homeowners and banks, the government commits to buy mortgages and inject capital into banks, which on the face of it seems like a very nice thing to do. But unfortunately in this world there is no tooth fairy. And the government doesn't create anything; it just redistributes.
Whenever the government bails someone out of trouble, they always put someone into trouble, plus of course a toll for the troll. Every $100 billion in bailout requires at least $130 billion in taxes, where the $30 billion extra is the cost of getting government involved.
Whenever the government bails someone out of trouble, they always put someone into trouble, plus of course a toll for the troll. Every $100 billion in bailout requires at least $130 billion in taxes, where the $30 billion extra is the cost of getting government involved.
If you don't believe me, just watch how Congress and Barney Frank run the banks. If you thought they did a bad job running the post office, Amtrak, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the military, just wait till you see what they'll do with Wall Street."
Is it any wonder that investment money is out of the market, and the wild market swings continue unabated?
The facts tell a different story:
"Our analysis has raised questions about the claims made for the mechanism where by the financial crisis is affecting the overall economy. We emphasize that we do not dispute that the United States is undergoing a financial crisis and that the United States economy may currently be in a recession or may experience one in the near future, perhaps even a very deep one. We do not dispute that spreads between safe securities and risky securities have increased.
Our main point is that policymakers have not done the hard work of convincing the public or even academic economists of the precise nature of the market failure they see,of presenting hard evidence, not speculation, that differentiates their view of the data from other views, and the logic by which the particular intervention they are advocating will fix this market failure. We feel that a trillion dollar intervention warrants a bit more serious analysis than we have seen."
Be sure to look at the graphs presented at the end.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Bill Ayers shrugs off his past as just "Extreme Vandalism"
"Me? A terrorist? Oh no, you've got it all wrong!"
Read "The Real Bill Ayers", and see the revisionist history of the so-called revolutionary in his own words.
Excerpt:
"But it was not terrorism; we were not engaged in a campaign to kill and injure people indiscriminately, spreading fear and suffering for political ends."
Really?
Stories like this, and this expose him for the scumbag liar he is.
"Extreme vandalism"!
Remember, this is the guy who helped launch Obama's political career from his home.
And the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" want the rest of us to give this thoroughly detestable criminal a pass, and "just get over it".
(hat tip: Allahpundit)
Local angle:
N&R LTTE writer Jason Barbour took to task a certain Ulrich Reitzug, who is apparently some sort of UNCG functionary, for his signature on the Ayers letter of support, signed by more than 4000 enablers of the execrable past and present terrorist. The response from numerous Dems/Lefties/"Progressives"/Usual Suspects , many of whom are Reitzug's past and present students, was predictable, as you can see.
Nowhere in all the apologia in support of Reitzug's unsupportable support of Ayers is any mention of the terror Ayers continues to inflict upon our American education system. I provided a sliver of information about Ayers' destructive effect in the institution on several comments on the thread.
"Rick" Reitzug enables such cretins as Bill Ayers to continue his destructive work. Even if Reitzug is a "good teacher", or a "good guy", he does not get a pass on his poor judgment.
Left unanswered is the larger question: Does "Rick" endorse Ayers' worldview on education?
Read "The Real Bill Ayers", and see the revisionist history of the so-called revolutionary in his own words.
Excerpt:
"But it was not terrorism; we were not engaged in a campaign to kill and injure people indiscriminately, spreading fear and suffering for political ends."
Really?
Stories like this, and this expose him for the scumbag liar he is.
"Extreme vandalism"!
Remember, this is the guy who helped launch Obama's political career from his home.
And the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" want the rest of us to give this thoroughly detestable criminal a pass, and "just get over it".
(hat tip: Allahpundit)
Local angle:
N&R LTTE writer Jason Barbour took to task a certain Ulrich Reitzug, who is apparently some sort of UNCG functionary, for his signature on the Ayers letter of support, signed by more than 4000 enablers of the execrable past and present terrorist. The response from numerous Dems/Lefties/"Progressives"/Usual Suspects , many of whom are Reitzug's past and present students, was predictable, as you can see.
Nowhere in all the apologia in support of Reitzug's unsupportable support of Ayers is any mention of the terror Ayers continues to inflict upon our American education system. I provided a sliver of information about Ayers' destructive effect in the institution on several comments on the thread.
"Rick" Reitzug enables such cretins as Bill Ayers to continue his destructive work. Even if Reitzug is a "good teacher", or a "good guy", he does not get a pass on his poor judgment.
Left unanswered is the larger question: Does "Rick" endorse Ayers' worldview on education?
Friday, December 05, 2008
Secular nihilism at Carolina
UNC-CH library Christmas trees will stay packed away this year.
You will notice in the link that the decision was made after consulting with counterparts at Duke and State, where such crass and offensive displays were banished sometime back. I guess that makes the decisionpolitically correct right, right?
Noteworthy nonsense:
You will notice in the link that the decision was made after consulting with counterparts at Duke and State, where such crass and offensive displays were banished sometime back. I guess that makes the decision
Noteworthy nonsense:
"Aside from the fact that a UNC Chapel Hill library is a public facility, Michalak said, libraries are places where information from all corners of the world and all belief systems is offered without judgment. Displaying one particular religion's symbols is antithetical to that philosophy, she said.
'We strive in our collection to have a wide variety of ideas,' she said. 'It doesn't seem right to celebrate one particular set of customs.'"
(long sigh)
You mean the Dems haven't figured out a way to rehabiltate Eliot Spitzer yet?
I mean, really......how long did it take to get Billy Boy back into action after the impeachment proceedings ended? A week? Two, at the most?
Here's a clue: Don't get a Reverse Carpetbagger this time.
So who SHOULD replace Hillary in the Senate?
Excerpt:
"Those of us in the Empire State who watched with dismay as our Senate seat was outsourced to the former first lady have been waiting quite some time to get that office back in the hands of a New Yorker. This may be the single, greatest motivating factor in my recent endorsement of Senator Clinton for her upcoming position in the State Department."
Here's a clue: Don't get a Reverse Carpetbagger this time.
So who SHOULD replace Hillary in the Senate?
Excerpt:
"Those of us in the Empire State who watched with dismay as our Senate seat was outsourced to the former first lady have been waiting quite some time to get that office back in the hands of a New Yorker. This may be the single, greatest motivating factor in my recent endorsement of Senator Clinton for her upcoming position in the State Department."
Why is Charlie Rangel not in jail?
Let's not even speak about why he's stilll in Congress.
Here's the latest on thiscrooked "ethically challenged" Dem.
Shocking revelation:
"Rangel insists these ethical lapses should not cause him to lose his position."
No, of course not, Charlie. It would just be another miscarriage of justice, like the verdict today in the O.J. Trial #2, right?
Here's the latest on this
Shocking revelation:
"Rangel insists these ethical lapses should not cause him to lose his position."
No, of course not, Charlie. It would just be another miscarriage of justice, like the verdict today in the O.J. Trial #2, right?
Lessons learned from Plutarch
.....as applied to parallel lives lived by today's politicos, and the disparate reactions to each of these lives,and based upon the different political orientations of the parties discussed.
Guess who always got the hypercritical reactions from the Tanksters, the Nutroots, and their Usual Suspect allies?
Professer Victor Davis Hanson provides the lesson.
Noteworthy:
"I could go on and on with these Plutarachean examples of Parallel Lives but you get the picture. Here, the contrast is not the respective virtues of Greece and Rome. Nor is there any regret whatsoever that liberals of good faith thankfully scrutinize the bad judgment and even criminal activity of wayward conservatives. The problem instead is why we continuously consider liberal transgressions as misdemeanors and their conservative counterparts as felonies.
If Plutarch once believed that action, not intention matters (otherwise, as Aristotle noted, we could all be moral in our sleep), we moderns believe the reverse — that proper thinking can often excuse improper acts."
Comparative moralities, or just agenda fulfilling rationalizations?
"Or maybe less cynically — in the minds of self-appointed liberal moralists concerned about the greater good — exalted ends at times necessarily entail regrettable means."
Guess who always got the hypercritical reactions from the Tanksters, the Nutroots, and their Usual Suspect allies?
Professer Victor Davis Hanson provides the lesson.
Noteworthy:
"I could go on and on with these Plutarachean examples of Parallel Lives but you get the picture. Here, the contrast is not the respective virtues of Greece and Rome. Nor is there any regret whatsoever that liberals of good faith thankfully scrutinize the bad judgment and even criminal activity of wayward conservatives. The problem instead is why we continuously consider liberal transgressions as misdemeanors and their conservative counterparts as felonies.
If Plutarch once believed that action, not intention matters (otherwise, as Aristotle noted, we could all be moral in our sleep), we moderns believe the reverse — that proper thinking can often excuse improper acts."
Comparative moralities, or just agenda fulfilling rationalizations?
"Or maybe less cynically — in the minds of self-appointed liberal moralists concerned about the greater good — exalted ends at times necessarily entail regrettable means."
Obama and the 'progressive' imagination
"To liberals a black president equals goodness and virtue. It's the ultimate in racial reductionism. Barack Obama has become his race. That's identity politics.
But then, the same people believe from the bottom of their capacious hearts that FDR saved the country from the Great Depression; that World War Two was the last Just War in history; that the Soviet Union was an idealistic experiment that almost worked; that Hitler was a conservative like Reagan; that Che was a humanitarian; that Eurosocialism is the perfected model for the United States; that the United Nations bears all of humanity's hopes for peace forever; that Global Warming is bound to fry our sinful carbon-puffing souls very soon; that free markets are the cause of war and ignorance; that dark-skinned folk are more virtuous than pale-faced ones; that Al Qaida truck-bombers are just poor and misunderstood; that toddlers have an intuitive grasp of higher morality; that forty million abortions do not pose a moral problem; that Saddam Hussein wasn't such a bad guy; that religious faith is evil; that intelligent people are liberal, and vice versa; that Bill Clinton only suffered from a few ethical lapses; that the media can ever be believed; that JFK was a great president; that Jesus was a community organizer; that John Edwards made a believable candidate; .... oh, yes, and that Barack Obama is Our Savior from Racial Hatred and Despair."
--James Lewis, at the American Thinker.
That sums it all up pretty nicely, wouldn't you say?
But then, the same people believe from the bottom of their capacious hearts that FDR saved the country from the Great Depression; that World War Two was the last Just War in history; that the Soviet Union was an idealistic experiment that almost worked; that Hitler was a conservative like Reagan; that Che was a humanitarian; that Eurosocialism is the perfected model for the United States; that the United Nations bears all of humanity's hopes for peace forever; that Global Warming is bound to fry our sinful carbon-puffing souls very soon; that free markets are the cause of war and ignorance; that dark-skinned folk are more virtuous than pale-faced ones; that Al Qaida truck-bombers are just poor and misunderstood; that toddlers have an intuitive grasp of higher morality; that forty million abortions do not pose a moral problem; that Saddam Hussein wasn't such a bad guy; that religious faith is evil; that intelligent people are liberal, and vice versa; that Bill Clinton only suffered from a few ethical lapses; that the media can ever be believed; that JFK was a great president; that Jesus was a community organizer; that John Edwards made a believable candidate; .... oh, yes, and that Barack Obama is Our Savior from Racial Hatred and Despair."
--James Lewis, at the American Thinker.
That sums it all up pretty nicely, wouldn't you say?
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Here's the latest example of 'global warming' fraudsters cooking the books
....in yet another example of the ends justifies the means that is generally used to support the completely unsupportable premise that is the "scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming climate change".
Roger Pielke, Jr.:
"Wow. When policy makers and experts shape an analysis to suit a political agenda some people have been known to throw around terms like a 'war on science'. Somehow I doubt that we’ll hear any concerns about a 'war on economics' being waged by the state of California.;-)
More seriously, what is going on here is that advocates for certain policies face temptations to present those policies in the best possible light in order to increase the chances that the proposed actions will be adopted. As we’ve argued here for a long time, such biased analyses can be found across issues and the political spectrum, even in the case of California’s carbon policy."
Roger Pielke, Jr.:
"Wow. When policy makers and experts shape an analysis to suit a political agenda some people have been known to throw around terms like a 'war on science'. Somehow I doubt that we’ll hear any concerns about a 'war on economics' being waged by the state of California.;-)
More seriously, what is going on here is that advocates for certain policies face temptations to present those policies in the best possible light in order to increase the chances that the proposed actions will be adopted. As we’ve argued here for a long time, such biased analyses can be found across issues and the political spectrum, even in the case of California’s carbon policy."
Monday, December 01, 2008
'The Mumbai massacre? it's all America's fault.'
Isn't it always so with the secularists/world citizens/libthinkers like this?
Key point:
"So unworthy is the U.S. -- an attitude solidly established in our media culture long before the war on terror -- that only it can be held responsible for the deranged fantasies cherished in large quarters of the Arab world. So natural does it feel, now, to hold such views that their expression has become second nature."
Always, and forever.
Really, if we could only get them to gather 'round the campfire, and join in a rousing chorus of "Kumbaya", or "Michael Row the Boat Ashore", or "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?", or "I'd Like To Buy The WorldSome A Coke"........
Key point:
"So unworthy is the U.S. -- an attitude solidly established in our media culture long before the war on terror -- that only it can be held responsible for the deranged fantasies cherished in large quarters of the Arab world. So natural does it feel, now, to hold such views that their expression has become second nature."
Always, and forever.
Really, if we could only get them to gather 'round the campfire, and join in a rousing chorus of "Kumbaya", or "Michael Row the Boat Ashore", or "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?", or "I'd Like To Buy The World
Can't decide what to give your pregnant wife/girlfriend this Christmas? How about a gift certificate for an abortion?
I mean, what the heck, with the economy being bad and all, why not give her something that's practical?
You can't make up things this outrageous.
Excerpt:
"These justifications (rationalizations from Planned Parenthood) are disingenuous. Women do not need Planned Parenthood for their basic health care. And the vouchers are not lifesaving, they are political instruments of the pro-choice movement. More importantly, contraception and abortion are not forms of 'health care': They are lifestyle choices with life-altering consequences."
You can't make up things this outrageous.
Excerpt:
"These justifications (rationalizations from Planned Parenthood) are disingenuous. Women do not need Planned Parenthood for their basic health care. And the vouchers are not lifesaving, they are political instruments of the pro-choice movement. More importantly, contraception and abortion are not forms of 'health care': They are lifestyle choices with life-altering consequences."
On bargaining away Israel's security
"...If the Muslim world were to disarm along its borders with Israel, nothing would happen except increased trade.
Let's see what the Obama administration does here.
Let's see if Hillary Clinton was lying during the campaign, when she expressed complete solidarity with Israel.
If Israel were to disarm along its borders with the Muslim world, there would be a bloodbath from one end of the country to the other.
Fools never even notice this point."
-- as posted by Tom Paine", in a comment here.Let's see what the Obama administration does here.
Let's see if Hillary Clinton was lying during the campaign, when she expressed complete solidarity with Israel.
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