Saturday, August 25, 2012

Did Thoreau Have It Right?

robert ringer.com

The story of Richard W. Sonnenfeldt, author of Witness to Nuremburg, is one that every person who is concerned about tyranny should read.

Sonnenfeldt fled his German homeland for England at age fifteen when it became clear that Jews were increasingly at risk under the new Nazi regime. After some stranger-than-life twists and turns, he settled in Baltimore, Maryland, at age twenty and became a U.S. citizen.

Sonnenfeldt ultimately ended up in the Army and, at the end of World War II, was one of the soldiers who marched into the Nazi’s Dachau concentration camp. When U.S. troops arrived there, the guard towers were empty, abandoned by Nazi guards who fled when they realized the end was at hand.

Sonnenfeldt could not believe what he saw — unburied corpses piled one on top of another … thousands of emaciated human beings who were barely alive … prisoners beating a German shepherd dog to death in retribution for the way prison-camp dogs had terrorized them. As he stared at the horrors before him, he thought to himself that he was one of the luckiest people in the world to have escaped the fate of the millions who were brutalized.

Following the war, Sonnenfeldt went on to become Chief Interpreter for the OSS group that evolved into the American prosecution team at the 1945 Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. He later wrote about his revealing conversations with Hermann Goering and other principal Nazi war criminals in his autobiography Mehr als ein Leben.

Sonnenfeldt’s story reminded me once again that genocide is woven into the fabric of human history, usually carried out by power-addicted tyrants who are masters at lying and demonizing a targeted group. In the case of Adolf Hitler, he preached that the Jews were the cause of all of Germany’s problems, and his baseless assertion ultimately became accepted by the masses.

Early on, of course, few people took Hitler seriously, and many laughed at his maniacal speeches. But those who believed he was just some clueless kook soon found out differently. Hitler understood exactly what he was doing, as evidenced by his words in Mein Kampf: “The German has no idea how much the people must be misled if the support of the masses is required.”

He clearly understood that in order for dogma to become entrenched, it must find its way into mainstream print. And, in this vein, an essential step in the transformation of an insidious lie into fact is to make certain it appears in children’s textbooks.

Through his character Winston in 1984, George Orwell said: “If all records told the same tale ─ then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’”

In other words, given enough repetition and time, a fable like the Holocaust denial could someday pass into the history books as fact. That’s why General Eisenhower ordered pictures taken of the Nazi prison camps, because he was afraid, even at that time, that there would be a movement to deny it ever happened.

But things are different in 21st century America, right? Indeed they are. It’s much easier to spread a preposterous lie in today’s world than it was in the World War II era. Collectivist cheerleaders on the Internet and television have round-the-clock access to the masses, and they understand the power of repetition.

As a result, in today’s lie-a-minute, twenty-four-hour news cycle, separating illusion from fact is not an easy task, even for the most alert and rational among us. It takes a great deal of conscious effort. And when too many people choose not to make that effort, a holocaust — actual or metaphoric — may be just over the horizon.

In Rights of Man, Thomas Paine said:

“Ignorance is of a peculiar nature; once dispelled, it is impossible to re‑establish it. It is not originally a thing of itself, but is only the absence of knowledge; and though man may be kept ignorant, he cannot be made ignorant (my emphasis). … It has never yet been discovered how to make a man unknow his knowledge.”

True, to be sure. But what Paine did not tell us is how to motivate people to become knowledgeable in the first place.  [emphasis added]

As I watch Obama and his army of lying thugs frantically spewing out the most preposterous lies imaginable, I am reminded of Eric Hoffer’s warning that the louder the drums of deceit, the more vigilant one has to be about learning the facts. And therein lies the problem. A significant portion of the populace is totally uninformed, and it comprises the very people who decide the winner of every election!

Is it just me, or is there something fundamentally wrong with our system of electing public servants? Repeat, servants. The reality is that the winner of virtually every election is the candidate who convinces a majority of voters that he can do more good things for them than his opponent.

Sorry, but that’s not a politician’s job. His only function is to protect our lives and property — not intrude in our lives and take our property in order to gain our neighbors’ votes.

Sometimes I think Thoreau had it exactly right. That cabin in the woods sounds awfully good right now to those of us who just want to be left alone to live our lives as we please.

You have permission to reprint this article so long as you place the following wording at the end of the article:

Copyright © 2012 Robert Ringer
ROBERT RINGER is a New York Times #1 bestselling author and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. He has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, The Tonight Show, Today, The Dennis Miller Show, Good Morning America, The Lars Larson Show, ABC Nightline, and The Charlie Rose Show, and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.

Republicans' Gold Rhetoric: Another SCAM???

market-ticker.org

The gold standard has returned to mainstream US politics for the first time in 30 years, with a “gold commission” set to become part of official Republican party policy.

Drafts of the party platform, which it will adopt at a convention in Tampa Bay, Florida, next week, call for an audit of Federal Reserve monetary policy and a commission to look at restoring the link between the dollar and gold.

I think that it is a start.  But the pressure needs to be kept on to reduce spending, or it won't matter.

It is a bit discouraging to see so much cynicism from people out there.  If things are so hopeless, why not just crawl into a corner and start sucking your thumb?

It is rather pointless to even try if you are just going to give up like this.

obama demands race-based school discipline

americanthinker.com


The order charges his new racial justice team, in part, with "promoting a positive school climate that does not rely on methods that result in disparate use of disciplinary tools." In plain English, that means that if different races have different incidences of disciplinary action, those of a favored race who act worse will be punished less, or those of a disfavored race who act better will be punished more, or both.

It ought to be clear by now that this administration is barking mad.  Anyone who votes for this is also barking mad.

Never Listen To A Feminist’s Opinion About Helping Boys

June 25, 2012 by Heartiste via Parapundit

  • as you find out fast how easily Bloom slips into, in so many words, the phonyfuck talk of “what boys need is more feminism and de-masculinizing reprogramming”.
  • Lie number one. The US is third among countries for amount spent per pupil.
  • about Title IX causing the closure of many men’s sports programs to cater to girls who have less inclination to play sports.
  • Boy stuff bad. Girl stuff good. Let’s make our boys deferential betas, emotional sissies, well-read critics of feminist lit and THUPER THENTHITIVE Iron Johns.
  • Lie number two. I’m going to call Bloom out for this even though I’m too lazy to scour for the relevant data. I bet if you break out incarceration rates by race, you’ll find again that the rate for white Americans compares favorably with Europeans.
  • Lie number three. Not everyone is cognitively capable of succeeding at college.
  • Female economic empowerment has rendered large swaths of working class men unattractive to women who can support themselves.
  • Lie number four. Sex differences are real, hard-wired, and exist from the moment of birth.
  • Lie number five. Women really are worse drivers than men. And where men suffer more traffic fatalities, women get into more nonfatal crashes. “As we shall see”, indeed.
  • Even the serial killers who get tons of love letters from admiring women?[ that ought to set you bolt upright in your chair--- so this is what women admire?  We are going to put our society into their hands?]
This is how Akin and the Republicans should respond to the Democrats' obsessing on Akin's ignorant remark. This silly ass leftist womanish shit is one of the things that is destroying this country.  The Republicans should stand up for men, dammit.  And stop tearing down your own people, dammit.

The above comment on admiring convicts shows where women really gravitate towards.  Strength, or appearance of strength.  If you let them walk on you, you are fucking up, bro.


Friday, August 24, 2012

How to turn a small problem into a bigger one


Obama may have inherited a weak economy, but his recovery is no great shakes.


Household income is down sharply since the recession ended three years ago, according to a report released Thursday, providing another sign of the stubborn weakness of the economic recovery.

From June 2009 to June 2012, inflation-adjusted median household income fell 4.8 percent, to $50,964, according to a report by Sentier Research, a firm headed by two former Census Bureau officials.

Seems like Reagan had a stock market crash, and it didn't even lead to a recession, much less a depression. Comparatively, it looks like for all of Obama's efforts, he can't even get back to where he was when he began- with a stock market crash.

But he's more interested in expanding government than in creating jobs.

More than 2,200 hospitals face penalties under ObamaCare rules

By Jonathan Serrie Published August 23, 2012 FoxNews.com

Well, that sucks.




Financial and War Crisis Ahead - John Xenakis - [wepollock]

More scary stuff.

Our aircraft carriers are more vulnerable now-- bad stuff.

Dems’ Medicare Lie Why granny should be afraid

By: Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and author of  The Obama Health Law: What It Says and How to Overturn It.



  • President Obama is criss-crossing the country, warning that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would “end Medicare as we know it.” Attention, New York’s 3 million seniors: Don’t be fooled. It’s the Obama health law that destroyed Medicare, though the impact will not be felt for another year or more.
  • ObamaCare cuts future funding for Medicare by over half a trillion dollars in the next 10 years. Most cuts are made by slashing what hospitals, physicians, hospice care and dialysis centers will be paid.
  • Last year, Richard Foster, chief actuary for Medicare, warned Congress that seniors will have difficulty finding doctors and institutions to accept Medicare.
  • Cutting hospital payment rates has been tried before, with deadly results. 
  • When partisans for ObamaCare say cutting hospital payments will not impact care, don’t believe it.
  • The election should not turn on the lie that Obama will protect Medicare as we’ve known it. Unless the Obama health law is repealed, seniors will have difficulty getting the care they need, and some will die sooner.
I found out about this webpage from listening to the Mark Levin show.  Thank goodness for that.

Just think of it.  The big lie is being used to expand upon the Democrats power.  They will step all over anybody on the way towards their goal.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

NASDAQ Delisting Threat Jeopardizes Chinese Rescue of A123 Systems

NLPC



A123 makes batteries for the Chevy Volt. China has to rescue a battery maker for a car that this administration is touting. What could be more revealing about the failure of this administration? Yet, they are still a serious about voting for this guy?

At this point most Americans (those who are paying attention, anyway) would be happy to see A123 go – anywhere else – if the money from taxpayers was returned. The company has committed repeated blunders with battery recalls and explosions, an investor class action lawsuit, and management cronyism with the Obama administration, while it also found ways to enhance executives’ severance should the company change ownership. To emphasize the incompetence, A123 reported an $83-million loss in the second quarter, which followed losses of $85.8 million in 2009, $152.6 million in 2010, and $257.7 million last year.

GM has come roaring back, says Obama.  Yeah, right.

Ann Barnhardt on Health Care

americandigest

Just pure common sense, which is totally missing from our politics and culture today.

She explains that insurance has been corrupted and expected to do what shouldn't be expected from insurance, which is nothing more than risk pooling and risk management.  Something I said recently, I might add.




part 2


She complains about having to do this herself, but if the media was worth a damn, they'd be doing it.

The media is absolutely worthless.


Wind Energy Generating A Lot of Mud

Forbes

  • But GOP-hopeful Mitt Romney is hitting on a different angle, also one that the American people support: Giving away billions in taxpayer dollars to industries that would not otherwise be competitive, all at a time when the federal debt is the highest it has ever been.
  • skeptics are also saying that wind energy is an intermittent fuel that must always be backed up by a power source that can begin generating when the wind dies down, making it expensive to operate.
  • Romney is saying that the monies given to wind and solar are providing a low-overall return in terms of job creation and economic productivity.
  • Either one would “raise the average cost of generating electricity … because, in the absence of the standard, regulators and generators would generally choose the lowest-cost method of producing electricity.” [ what a mind boggling statement.  Of course you choose the lowest-cost method.  Duh!]
  • Finding an acceptable compromise is therefore the only path forward.
No. There can be no compromise.  No More Subsidies for anybody.

What kind of jackasses do we have in power anyway?  This article is written up in Forbes of all places.

We in heap big doo doo kemosabe.

Update:

I remembered a Ronald Reagan quote that works very well with this post:
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

That sums up Obamanomics perfectly, and why IT DOESN"T WORK.



GM Goes From Bad to Worse Despite Obama Bailout

Barone

  • GM has been selling cars in the U.S. at deep discount and, while it's making money in China -- and is outsourcing operations there and elsewhere -- it's bleeding losses in Europe.
  • It botched the launch of its new Chevrolet Malibu by starting with the green-friendly Eco version, which pleased its government shareholders, but which got lousy reviews.
  • "GM is going from bad to worse," reads the headline on Automotive News Editor in Chief Keith Crain's analysis.
  • Obama administration permitted GM to continue to deduct previous losses from current profits, even though such deductions are ordinarily wiped out in bankruptcy proceedings.
  • Rattner himself admitted late last year, in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club: "We should have asked the UAW (the United Auto Workers union) to do a bit more. We did not ask any UAW member to take a cut in their pay." Non-union employees of GM spinoff Delphi lost their pensions. UAW members didn't.

    The UAW got their political payoff.
If the media was neutral, it would examine Obama's claims critically.  But it doesn't.  The bailout wasn't as successful as the public is being led to believe.  As a consequence, it gets good poll numbers that it doesn't deserve.

CNN on Romney: Obama wants to 'substitute' freedom

CNN's Ashley Killough

 Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement. "This isn't a recipe for strength; it's the same failed formula that crashed the economy and devastated the middle class in the first place."

Err.  You have to wonder about the neutrality of this post when the author copies it uncritically.

What's wrong with that statement?
  1. There were more Americans working after 8 years of the Bush Administration than before. Despite the recessions, one in which he inherited, their policies created jobs.  Obama cannot make the same claim, even though he inherited a recession, fewer Americans are working since he began office.
  2. No mention of the blocked Keystone Pipeline, which would have created jobs.
  3. No mention of his war against fossil fuels, which is destroying jobs.
  4. No mention of his ObamaCare, which will drive the insurance business out of business.
Another Obama groupie regurgitating Obama campaign propaganda.  Not exactly what you would call journalism.

Journo-Tools for Obama

Journo-Tools for Obama

Republicans don't fight back?  A rigged game, perhaps?

Articles: Obama's Oil and Gas Folly

Articles: Obama's Oil and Gas Folly

Consider these excerpts:
  • It appears that, under Obama's direction, the agency has gone out of its way to punish American companies.
  • It is another manifestation of the left's obsession with creating a carbon-free future that fails to take into account economic impact or even basic feasibility.
  • Obama has been consistently hostile to fossil fuel development.
  • In other words, Obama's oil and gas policy has been nothing less than an assault on fossil fuels.
With these thoughts in mind, could one conclude that this isn't folly?  It is well-crafted strategy to create and strengthen another Democrat constituency, the radical environmentalists and trial attorneys, so that they can dominate American politics for decades to come.

What was the point of ObamaCare but to do the same thing?  The point of ObamaCare was to create dependency upon another entitlement, and to create legions of new public employees who will pay union dues to strengthen the Democrat party.  It is meant to drive private insurers out of business, just like the oil companies.

What was the point of the General Motors bailout, but to help the unions?  This came at the expense of bondholders.

Obama is waging war against his opponents, and on America in general.  How could it be otherwise?  The media is covering this up, because they know that if the public knew this, Obama would fail.




EPA “War on Coal” May Prove Administration Swing State Loser

Morris Beschloss  via Instapundit

Ever since the Environmental Protection Agency’s top lieutenant called for “bankrupting the coal industry,” earlier this year, the EPA has tightened regulations on coal usage.

People are concerned about the economy and jobs, but the media wants to focus on Akin's gaffe.  That shows where the media's priorities are, and where this administration's priorities are.  They'd rather talk about anything but what the people are concerned about.

Tapper: Media Failing Country

Tapper: Media Failing Country

No shit sherlock.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Of Thee I Sigh: Baby Boomers Bust

worldaffairsjournal via Instapundit

Speaking of which, there’s our space program, which has basically ceased to exist. We have a NASA that might as well have been dreamed up by Alger Hiss. In order for Americans to get to the International Space Station, they have to go to Russia.

Baby boomers--- how the hell did I get into this generation?

The End of Days

Lots of very grim stuff out there.

Economic collapse, crises, wars.

What's to come in the near future?

You get the feeling that these are the good old days, and that you'd better enjoy it while it is still here, because it won't last.

Here's Ann Barnhardt on the subject--- enough to get you totally depressed.

Democrats use hot summer temps to reignite global warming hysteria

By: Sen. James Inhofe

Now that the global warming movement has completely collapsed, President Barack Obama never dares to mention it. It must be very hard for my friends on the left to watch the president who promised he would slow the rise of the oceans posing in front of pipelines in my home state of Oklahoma pretending to support oil and gas.

What you've got with this hysteria is a self-serving attempt to grab power.   You have to think of the Democrats as the little critter depicted in the movie Gremlins.  Whatever you do, don't feed them.  If you make that mistake, they will turn into little monsters.





Guest Post (Zero Hedge) : The Death Of Jobs

Submitted by Nicholas Bucheleres of NJBDeflator blog,

Dang!  This reads a bit like my machines post.  We are being replaced by freaking machines.

the likes make strides in surgery, defense, manufacturing, and everything in between, jobs that were once outsourced overseas will come back to the US and be completed robotically. This is all the same for the dislocated US employee, because the job will not be returning to him/her, but we will see more "Made in America" stickers on products that we consume. Do not be fooled, though; very few Americans were actually involved in the production of said good.

People could become obsolete.  Yikes.

It's all about ideas

By George Gilder--- Mr. Gilder is the author of 15 books, a venture investor, and a co-founder of the Discovery Institute. This article is adapted from the prologue to his Wealth and Poverty: A New Edition for the Twenty-First Century(Regnery).

A discussion about wealth, what it is, and how it is created.  Why socialism is a futile endeavor, doomed to failure.

  • Capitalism is the supreme expression of human creativity and freedom
  • All progress comes from the creative minority
  • Entrepreneurship is the launching of surprises
  • wealth is nearly as difficult to maintain as it is to create
  • The reason capitalism works is that the creators of wealth are granted the right and the burden of reinvesting it.
  • The reason lower marginal tax rates produce more revenues than higher ones is that the lower rates release the creativity of employers, allowing them to garner more information.
  • Capitalist economies grow because they award wealth to its creators, who have already proven that they can increase it. 
We are on the wrong track because the Democrats are hostile to these ideas.  If they prevail in the coming election, we will go the way of the rest of the Third World and become a Third World country ourselves.  We owe our success to capitalism--- socialism is ruin.


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Aiken Controversy

There are calls for Aiken to leave based upon something he said.  Without knowing more details, it is hard to comment upon it in depth.  But what I've seen is not encouraging.

With respect to the "niceness" issue that was brought up earlier, it seems that Republicans are so, so intent on keeping that image, that they are sacrificing another image.  They are appearing weak.  All it takes is some controversy and these people go into panic mode.  Unless it is particularly egregious, I'd say they are grossly over-reacting.  If I can find what he said, I might change that tune a little, but at the moment, the Republicans are just too damned soft.  It doesn't take much to upset their applecart, that's for sure.

It is not reassuring to see all of the leadership voices calling for Aiken to quit.  I dissent.

Now I've found the words.  I repeat.  THIS IS WEAK.  If they get huffy about it, you can't win anyway.

All he said was something that he may be wrong about and foolish to say it, but it isn't in my opinion something that should disqualify him for Christ's sake.  It isn't that big of a deal.  If the left wants to make a big deal out of it, I say LET THEM.

Soft, soft, soft.  They are getting rolled again.  And this is what we've got to go against this juggernaut.

I have to call bullshit on this one. Replacing Aiken solves nothing, and probably makes the problem worse.

Update:

Looks like the Democrats wanted Aiken to run against.  I don't know if they somehow arranged it, but this gaffe works in their favor.  This may be the only reason to go along with the idea of replacing Aiken, but  allowing Aiken on the ballot in the first place raises other issues.


WND: WHEN ISRAEL STRIKES IRAN IN OCTOBER

Free Republic

Israel is in a political and security quandary.

Officials are convinced it’s only a matter of time before Iran uses its nuclear capability against the Jewish state, living up to the dire threats its leaders have been making for years now.

But Israeli leaders also fear they will lose the window of opportunity to deal a devastating military blow to Iran’s nuclear development if such a strike is not conducted by October of this year.

I'm tempted to do a speculative post on the subject.  But I see that others are already doing that.

Articles: Will Obama Keep Power 'by Any Means Necessary'?

Articles: Will Obama Keep Power 'by Any Means Necessary'?

Now, I'm truly sorry to raise such disgusting, un-American, crazy-sounding questions, but, alas, they're not crazy, and I've got a disquieting amount of evidence. The Democrats have already accused Romney of murdering a woman with cancer, financial felonies, and not filing taxes for ten years -- the last charge delivered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the Senate floor, on the basis of absolutely no evidence whatsoever.

By Democrat standards, I've got enough proof to put away Obama, et al. for life without parole.

If there's some true guilt in there, then this can become dangerous.

Former union boss at Occupy event: Our goal is to ‘overthrow the capitalist system and build communism’ [VIDEO]

dailycaller

“Progressive labor is a revolutionary communist organization,” Golash said during an Occupy DC “People’s Assembly” on August 19.

“Its objective,” he added, “is to make revolution in the United States, overthrow the capitalist system and build communism.”

This is what public employees are saying, and what we are funding with our tax dollars.  If they want their revolution, let them pay for it themselves.

On the use of language

Something about that last video that I want to discuss briefly.  Barnhardt mentioned the abuse of language as a problem in our culture.  The meanings of words have been twisted into something which does not inform, but does the opposite.  I had a post on that subject over a year ago which corresponds nicely with that.  Notice the use of the word nice in that context.  Nice is a good thing.  It expresses approval.  It may not correspond exactly with the historical derivation of the word as Barnhardt described, but that is its common usage today in the language.

So, the word "nice" may have been twisted a little from its original meaning.  Now, the word that is opposite in meaning from "nice" is "mean".  But I looked up that word yesterday and it wasn't there.  Therefore, that word must have fallen into infrequent usage.  English can be that way.  Words can come and go and take on different meanings, such as the word "mean".  Anyone using the English language will know what you mean what you say that someone is mean.  At least, those here in the United States will understand.  That word is still used in many circles, I would imagine.  It means the opposite of "nice".  It means disagreeable and unpleasant.  It can even mean cruel and unjust.  A good example is the way in which Soledad O'Brien conducted herself during that interview of Joel Pollack.  She was dishonest and unjust during that interview.  I would say that she seemed downright mean.

But I think I know what  Barnhardt was really intending with her video.  It was not to be passively acquiescent in submitting to injustice.  That wouldn't be "nice", that would be foolish and cowardly. In that regard, Pollack acted perfectly well.  O'Brien's behavior was atrocious, but he conducted himself with honor and dignity.  Liberals may want to bully and intimidate-- that isn't nice.  It also isn't nice to submit to bullying and intimidation --- it is appropriately dignified and honorable to object to abusive treatment in a proper and dignified way.  Of course, liberals may sneer at this.  But that is only because they are unnaturally mean.

So, being nice is okay.  Being foolish and cowardly is not.  Being mean is not okay, and it isn't mean to point out that one is being an asshole and should straighten the hell up.  I would suggest that to any conservative in the future who might be inclined to go onto one of these shows and attempt to talk with one of these liberal assholes to point out in uncertain terms at how they are being assholes.  Because that is what O'Brien was in that interview.  A geniune and pure D asshole.  Pollack managed to do that with class and honor, which was obviously missing with that panel.  It wouldn't be too much of a stretch that they need a bit of an attitude adjustment as we say in Texas.  Now that would be nice.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Being nice is overrated

Western Civilization is being destroyed because of "niceness".  The cardinal human virtue is not being nice.

She says that it weakens true virtues so that only an empty dry husk remains-- otherwise known as "nice people".

What does niceness mean?  People are too often fooled because of the twisting of language.  Example "Islam is Peace", "Healthcare is a right.", "you have to be nice".  Nice comes from Middle English meaning "foolish".  Other roots of this word are similarly unflattering.  Until recently, a "nice person" was not considered worthy of respect.  We have been taught that being an ignorant fool is a cardinal virtue.  This puts our culture at risk.

No more going along to get along.  When someone says something that is false, we need to stand and call it out as untrue.

In Addition to Its Many other Flaws, Obamacare Is Becoming a Racket for Overpaid Government Bureaucrats

August 19, 2012 by Dan Mitchell

Cui bono?  It's not gonna be you, comrade.




'Top Gun' director Tony Scott dead after jumping off bridge

Free Republic

He was a brother to Ridley Scott, who is also a movie director.  Ridley Scott has made such films as Bladerunner and Gladiator.  As for Tony Scott, the deceased, his other films included Beverly Hills Cop II and Enemy of the State.

Tony Scott jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles.  Witnesses say he climbed the 10 foot tall fence and jumped without hesitating.  Apparently, he left a suicide note in his car.  There doesn't appear to be any information about his motivation from the LA Times story, though.

It's a shame, what else can you say?

I've seen the movie, can't say that I remember much of it.









Dan Morain: Will jobs be lost with cap and trade?

Sacramento Bee

  • California is scheduled to begin auctioning carbon credits, or allowances, in November under its cap and trade program, which was set up to help achieve the state's landmark legislation to combat climate change.
  • Homer Perez, head boiler mechanic at Pacific Coast Producers' tomato cannery off East Main Street in Woodland, might use a word that is more familiar to the rest of us: "layoff."
  • In the world's richest tomato-growing region, at the height of harvest, Perez's job is secure for now. But that's subject to change. Or leakage. In air board parlance, leakage refers to the possibility that a job or business might leave the state.
  • Sen. Roderick Wright, a Los Angeles-area Democrat, held a hearing last week on leakage, and left no doubt that he thinks California will leak jobs as the air board leads us on the bold new adventure. Cap and trade will add costs and complications, and business will close or cut production. He has seen it before. In his youth, Southern California factories produced tires, cars, jets and steel. Little remains.[emphasis added]
  • Growers use far less diesel fuel to truck tomatoes from a Yolo County field to the Woodland cannery than if the packing plant were across a state line in, say, Nevada. And imagine the amount of fuel used to ship tomatoes across the Pacific Ocean from China, a growing presence in the processed tomato business.[ emphasis added]
  • He sees the need to reduce air pollution. What parent doesn't? But he's also concerned about jobs. Having been without one, he understands the hard meaning of "layoff." Or, as an economist with a theory might say, leakage.[emphasis added]
Is there any doubt where our real problems are?  If Obama wins, the USA will become like California.  Leaking jobs.  Unable to pay for all the promises made to various constituencies.  In other words, totally bankrupt.

California is a one party state.  Nothing can be done about it, other than to leave.  But if the USA becomes like California, where will anybody be able to go?

America's Demographic Cliff: The Real Issue In The Coming, And All Future Presidential Elections

Zero Hedge, Tyler Durden

  • The problem in a nutshell: the first wave of Baby Boomers, born between the years of 1946 and 1964, officially reached retirement age in 2011. There are a whole lot of Baby Boomers - just under 76 million, to be exact - that will depend on new money flowing into the system to help keep the entitlements coming. According to the latest Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees 2012 Annual Reports Social Security now pays out more than it takes in, and is expected to do so for the next 75 years. 
  • It’s a pretty tough picture, to say the least; as the population ages, we’re looking at more and more money dedicated to retirement benefits with a smaller workforce to fund the spending.
  • Social Security and Medicare spending are projected to grow exponentially as healthcare costs explode and the biggest population wave in the history of the US starts to enter retirement. The Congressional Budget Office expects spending to increase by 150% over the next 25 years, which is hardly sustainable with barely 2 workers for every retired person in 2035... there’s a storm a comin’
The Adminstration and the rest of the Democrats have no solution for this except confiscatory tax rates.  That is what is in store for France.  But what will happen in France?  The rich will leave and take their money with them.  How does this help a nation pay for these promises that the politicians have made?  It can't.

All the Democrats seem to know how to do is to make a bad situation much worse.


Book: Obamacare law designed to unionize 21 million health care workers

dailycaller

  • In a book set for publication Tuesday, a politics and government professor at The Citadel claims President Obama’s 2009 health care reform law was, in part, a union-driven effort to organize 21 million health care workers.
  • “It is clear that Big Labor is banking on the probability that all healthcare workers eventually become federal, state, and municipal healthcare employees,” Loos told Factor. That, he said, would make them eligible for involuntary unionization through public-sector unions like AFSCME and the SEIU.
  • “For every million additional health care workers unionized in the 27 non-right-to-work states,” he told TheDC, “the unions stand to earn $1 billion in dues.”
Obamacare looks to be politically motivated to help Democrats become a permanent majority party.  But how does it help anybody else?

The government can't pay for its promises as it is.  This doesn't help.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Barofsky: 'Geithner Admitted To Us Privately That Obama's Housing Policy Was DESIGNED To Sacrifice Homeowners In Order To "FOAM THE RUNWAY" For The Banks'

The Daily Bail

More embarrassing secrets revealed about Geithner's penchant for protecting Wall Street, from a July 24 appearance by Neil Barofsky on MSNBC's Morning Joe that left the panel stunned in disbelief. It's a safe assumption that Tim Geithner now regrets threatening Barofsky back in 2010. Here's the truth from Geithner's omnipresent media nemesis:

Don't forget that the HAMP bait-and-switch Geithner organized destroyed actual lives
Keep this in mind while Obama prattles on about his undying support for the middle class.
 
 

Dinesh D'Souza: How I became George Obama's 'brother'

A couple of years ago, George teamed up with a British journalist Damien Lewis and the two of them published George’s story in a book called "Homeland." Yet according to Lewis, shortly before the book’s publication in America, the publisher Simon & Schuster decided to shred the entire print run, more than 20,000 copies. Lewis tried unsuccessfully to get an explanation from Simon & Schuster but to no avail. He now suspects that the White House convinced Simon & Schuster that George’s story might prove embarrassing to the president.
So what’s the real story here? Where’s George Obama’s “fair share”? George’s tragic situation exposes President Obama as a hypocrite. Here is a man who demands that others pay higher taxes to help the poor—even poor people who are not related to them—while Obama himself refuses to help a close relative like George.  

The President won't help his own brother, and he's more likable than Romney, who gave away his inheritance

Soledad O'Brien Embarrasses Herself

A news program is promoting and defending Obama. She claims to be nonpartisan. Yeah, right.




Tammy Bruce breaks this down:

Mark Levin educates a few libs

This guy is tough.

If enough people listened to this guy, a lot of our problems would vanish.

I'd like to see Levin v. Lawrence O'Donnell--- that'd be a war.


part 1


part 2

Q: Have they EVER been right?

Q: Have they EVER been right?

Forty years after “The Limits to Growth” imparted momentum to environmentalism, that impulse now is often reduced to children indoctrinated to “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” Lomborg calls recycling “a feel-good gesture that provides little environmental benefit at a significant cost.” He says that “we pay tribute to the pagan god of token environmentalism by spending countless hours sorting, storing and collecting used paper, which, when combined with government subsidies, yields slightly lower-quality paper in order to secure a resource” — forests — “that was never threatened in the first place.”

I recall Bronowski's Warning---  The West has given up.