Next Big Future: The Biggest Economic Bootstrap Ever

Next Big Future: The Biggest Economic Bootstrap Ever: Quartz looked at the value of 10 meter asteroids of pure metal Pure 10 meter Platinum Asteroid would be worth $12 billion The density of ...


Yeah, that's what I saw after reading John Lewis' book Mining the Sky.

Tesla Model S production reaches 400 cars a week capacity

autobloggreen

In the third quarter of 2012, Tesla lost $110.8 million on $50.1 million in revenue. With production humming along, Tesla should finally be able to realize its first quarterly profit this year, Musk told Automotive News. Of course, Musk didn't say which quarter.

As I wrote last week when the computer trouble started, I meant to research Tesla Motors.  Let's get to it, shall we?

One thing that I suspected is that it would weigh too much.  Or, if it didn't, he found a way to reduce the weight of the car so that it wouldn't be too heavy.  The Model S ( base pic ) is designed to compete with the BMW 5 series ( specs ).  So, I compared the weight of the two and the Model S ( specs ) does weigh several hundred pounds more.  But that's not too, too bad.

He is using aluminum rather liberally.  That can cut the weight, but aluminum probably costs more than steel.  I think the drive train was built with weight minimization in mind.  For example, the motor seemed to be light weight in comparison with other electric motors.  This may also add to costs while reducing weight.

As far as other design concerns that I have, such as the lithium-ion battery's tendency to catch fire, the only thing I know is what I read several years ago.  That he had some sort of system designed to keep the battery from getting overheated.

Elon Musk is quite ambitious with plans to make an entry level car as well as a pickup truck.  Is his ambition justified?  There are several problems that have to be solved.  Has Tesla solved at least one of them?  That would be the range problem.   Until they can compete with conventional vehicles, electric cars will be a hard sell.

Musk has a strategy to do this, which is ironic as hell with respect to the name for the strategy.  It is called trickle down.  Very funny, that.  Trickle down in this instance means the rich will help the poor improve their lot in life.  Yet, the concept of trickle down economics is frowned upon in certain circles.  ( ahem )

Bluestar may work after all is said and done.  If it does, that another triumph for Elon Musk.  But, before we know the outcome of that, it will take a few more years.  But Musk has a real plan and a lot of credibility.

I still think a fuel cell is a better idea.  But  that idea has no champions like Elon Musk.

Update:

I've added a few links without changing the text of the post.  It may be worth it to you to click through the links, if you've got the time.

Considering smartphone

After the internet outage this past week, it became obvious that I needed something as a backup.

The smartphones these days are so capable that one could replace the netbook that I use a lot.

The netbook itself is small, as far as computers go, but the smartphones are tiny in comparison.  As a consequence, it may be possible to keep the phone with me while I work, but I'm worried about misplacing it or having it fall and hit the ground, which may not do it a whole lot of good.

I've watched a lot of YouTube videos which have reviewed various models.  I haven't decided on one yet, but I'm getting close.

If there's a beef about these reviews is that they use too much tech jargon, and go too fast.  It seems like they presume that everybody knows as much as they do.  Maybe you should have a tech review for dummies or something.  It may be helpful to go through it slowly, because there's a first time for everybody.

What is truth?

When I was in junior high school, called a "middle school" these days, the science teacher gave the definition of scientist.  A scientist is a seeker of truth, he said.

The truth is a slippery thing, I've written.  I accept that definition for myself.  A seeker of truth.  Since truth is slippery, maybe I have it, maybe I don't.  Maybe I'm like Pilate who asked Jesus, "what is truth?"

Conservatism is an illusion

For the moment at least, I cannot decide upon the title for this post.  That's because my thoughts are wandering all over the place.

Let's start with something that struck me last night as I was driving home from my last delivery.  It was to the Southwest part of town, which is where I used to work back in the seventies.  What struck me is how much the area has changed over the years.  It bears little resemblance to what it used to be.

So many changes, and the changes aren't good.  You see, this was once a pretty conservative town.  The last election, Houston was blue.  The whole of Harris County was blue.  I would not have expected this.  Goes to show you that things are changing and the changes are catching up to us.  It's not good because these changes are due to people from other cultures.  These people do not understand nor appreciate what made this country what it is.  The very thing that attracted them here is being destroyed by their very presence.  All this may seem intolerant of me.  But the Roman Empire fell for the same reasons.  Too few Romans to defend the realm, so they invite foreigners in, who eventually take over.  No more Roman Empire.  The same will happen to us.

This allows me to segue into something that I've written about before.  Back in the sixties, before Ted Kennedy got hold on it, the immigration policy was much different.  When his brother was president, the old immigration laws were effective- too effective for Ted.  One thing that they did in those days was to require aliens to register with the government.  Can you imagine such a thing today?  Not hardly.  Today, they are encouraging illegal aliens to come here.  These same immigrants will overturn the entire society in due time.  It is subversive, and it is too late to stop it.  The evidence is on the street.  The evidence is in the White House.  You could say that Ted Kennedy made Barak Obama possible.  Barak Obama will make possible some changes that will topple this country in due time.

"Tolerance" and "diversity" are the liberal buzzwords applicable here.  I wonder how many liberals would be in favor of these buzzwords if they really knew what was going on and what it meant?  A lot of the old timers moved out and the illegals moved in.  The liberals in the white enclaves probably think their world hasn't changed that much.  A good many of them probably think- or allowed themselves to be persuaded to think- that these changes are for the good.  What it means is their liberal world will be undone just as the rest is being undone by their foolishness.  The foolishness is in the lack of appreciation and understanding of their own culture.  Or it can be said to be Oikophobia.  Well, whatever you call it, it is cultural suicide.

Too many people are living in a Alice in Wonderland type bubble.  The left makes sure that you stay in your little bubble.  Kinda like the Matrix.  None of this stuff is real.  It is an image being presented to you in order to get you to accept what you wouldn't accept if you knew the truth.

The untruth of everything is pervasive, just like the Matrix.  If you want to know the truth, are you willing to swallow that pill like the one Morpheus offered Neo?  As Morpheus said in the movie, all I have to offer you is the truth.  In the end, the pervasive untruth can be uncovered like that pill.  The blue pill allows you to stay in the bubble, which is the comfortable illusion that currently exists, and the red one will be painful, but it show you the truth.  Which would you prefer?  The sad truth of the matter is that people probably prefer the lie.  They will prefer the bubble because the reality of everything will require them to act, and to think, which is the last thing that anybody wants to do.

If conservatives really want to oppose liberalism, they'd stop their own attempts to keep people in the bubble.  The most recent way to pop that bubble was that trillion dollar coin.  The liberals were just about foolish enough to do it.  But what saved them from their own foolishness was the conservatives who came out against it.  Why should conservatives be willing to prop up a false system?  The trillion dollar coin idea was said to be so bad because it would have caused a crisis of confidence in the dollar-the magic bubble words.  It is the dollar-and its illusion of value- which is the biggest illusion being presented today.  It props up the leftist socialist state.  The liberals can print all the money they need to subjugate us with the printing press.  How is striking a ridiculous trillion dollar coin any different?  Well, it shatters the illusion, the myth, that the dollar is worth something.  This was admitted openly.  You might have expected that admission to be revolutionary in itself, but it goes by unremarked.  Such is the depth of the illusion.  The right rejected the red pill of truth which was the trillion dollar coin.  Too painful to accept the truth, I gather.

The conservatives can't fight the liberals unless they are willing to swallow that red pill and accept the truth.  Otherwise, they are helping the liberals trap us into accepting our slavery.  They may make all kinds of efforts at the appearance of resistance, but without truth behind it, they are only helping the liberals maintain that unreal bubble that prevents an effective resistance.  Conservatives are just as much a part of that bubble as Mr. Smith was to the Matrix.

Could Oikophobia explain why solutions aren't wanted?

First, the term "oikophobia" has to be defined, which can be found here and here.

Basically, that's what I've been writing about.  Oikophobia is the hatred of the familiar which, in the case of the nation, it is the hatred of one's own people.

So, why wouldn't an "oik" try to sabotage any effort at truly improving a situation?  Why not do the opposite and try to destabilize and destroy the current order since you hate it?

By "current order", I mean the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  By "current order", I mean capitalism.  By "current order", I mean the very things that have brought us our wealth and prosperity.  By "current order", I mean Western Civilization.  The right to self-defense and so on and so forth.

To the left side of the political spectrum, America is bad, and must be changed.  But changed how and in what manner?  To destroy those things described above as the "current order"?

To the right side, the left is only misguided and not evil.  Therefore, at least some on the right will not engage the left and fight them.  If you prefer not to fight, might you try some other way?

I've offered my thoughts on the subject of Oikophobia.  I suggested finding common ground on which an environment could be fostered so that solutions to problems could be found.  But what if the common ground is studiously being avoided?  What if the common ground is being avoided for the purposes of furthering the attitude of Oikophobia itself?  Perhaps the clang and discord is what is desired and not the clang of hammers which are the sounds of building the new ways and means that will solve our problems.

How far does this phenomenon of Oikophobia go?  Some of those on the right presume that it is only the left that has this problem.  But if you don't actually seek solutions to problems that your adversary claims to exist, perhaps you would prefer the noise that accompanies the opposition?  The noise that confirms you in your disgust with your own people?

Let's not hate people, let's hate bad thinking.

Piers Morgan Accuses GOP of 'Misogyny,' 'Political Grandstanding' at Clinton Hearing | Media Research Center

mrc.org

"I've been listening to the Republicans getting on their high horse about this for a long time. Now I've thought a lot of today's criticism was political grandstanding in many ways," said the CNN host who has done plenty of grandstanding of his own from his high horse on gun control.

Remember when Hillary Clinton went berserk about the right to dissent against the policies of the Bush Administration?  It was claimed that dissent was the highest form of patriotism.  I guess it is all different now that a Democrat is in the White House and the dissent is coming from Republicans.

Nobel Prize Nominee: “The new litmus test of leadership in the military is if they will fire on US citizens or not.”

Examiner.com

This comes on the heels of Sunday's report in the Washington Free Beacon (WFB) that the head of Central Command, Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis is being dismissed by Obama and will leave his post in March.

This government sees the people as their enemy and is acting accordingly.

Question:  Do people understand this?  If not, could it be because it is being done in the dark so that you won't be alarmed?

Obama and the left are at war with America.

D.C. Man Uses Gun to Save Kid from Pit Bull Attack May Be Charged

Newsbusters

Andrea Noble of the Washington Times noted yesterday that a D.C. man could face numerous gun charges related to his discharge of his gun on Sunday to save an 11-year-old boy from being mauled to death by three pit bulls...The District may elect to not press charges, but given their past track record of harassing otherwise law-abiding citizens, it's not likely

I discern a pattern here.  Correlate this case with

•  Trayvon Martin shooting, in which Zimmerman claims self-defense---doctrine of self-defense under attack
• Benghazi, in which no aid was given despite the fact that it was available---the government's attitude of allowing only "low-profile" military missions in areas in which the risk of being outgunned and outmanned is high
• Gun-control measures like gun-free zones, which are not enforced---which means that nobody can defend against an attack from even one gunman

The pattern is that the government will not defend the people nor will it allow people to defend themselves.  What's the use of a government if it doesn't defend the people?  Why have a government at all if the government won't provide security and will punish any attempts to obtain it?

A controversial theory explains why gold is no longer rising

Gonzalo Lira

• What if the price of gold is drifting not because the markets don’t trust the world’s reserve currencies to continue to devalue, but because the market doesn’t trust gold?
• Remember CDS’s?
• Credit default swaps were the insurance—the hedge—against exactly what happened in 2008
• CDS’s stopped rising in value just when the markets collectively realized that the counterparties to those CDS contracts might not be able to pay up.
• price discovery of the CDS’s was impossible while the crisis was raging.
• So why would gold—which is an actual, physical commodity—be acting like credit default swaps did right before the 2008 crisis?
• most gold markets are paper markets, not bullion markets.
• There is only one market in gold, not two. There is no way to segregate gold bullion holders from gold certificate holders, and thus create two markets, one for the real thing, one for the paper thing.
• In the long run, assuming that central banks don’t manage to raise rates in time to prevent high- or hyperinflation, gold prices will go parabolic. But between now and then, gold prices will continue to drift, because the markets don’t really know whose gold is real, and whose is worthless paper.

Basically, it all boils down to manipulation.  As long as the government remains credible, the currency should hold up due to the manipulation.  But once the government loses credibility, hyperinflation could come quickly.

Hence, no trillion dollar coin.  If the government was to do something to expose itself as the emperor with no clothes on, it loses its credibility.  It won't expose itself, so the exposure will have to come from the outside--- like the little boy who noticed it and said so out loud.

Will Texas ever turn blue?

Another diversion: Democrats launch plan to turn Texas blue

National Democrats are taking steps to create a large-scale independent group aimed at turning traditionally conservative Texas into a prime electoral battleground, crafting a new initiative to identify and mobilize progressive voters in the rapidly-changing state, strategists familiar with the plans told POLITICO.

Here are some quick arguments pro and con about the political future of Texas---Blue or Red.

Pro

1. Demographics--- the left gets its traditional voters in Texas like it does everywhere else.  Their models work for them.
2. Wealth tends to corrupt and Texas' prosperity will corrupt the state eventually.
3. Federal politics may be getting more left wing and could put a lot of pressure on Texas to change.  This may be too much of challenge for Texas and it could be forced to change in order to get along with the national politicians.

Con

1. Texas was a country before becoming a state---it was recognized by USA, England, and France.  It was admitted into the Union under unique circumstances.  If push came to shove, Texas could leave the Union more easily than any other state.  It may be wise for the left to tread softy in Texas.
2. You must learn some Texas history in Texas schools.  This is significant because it counters the victimology the left likes to use in order to get the Hispanics and other groups riled up against Whitey.
3. The benefit of experience may give the Texans some models of what not to do--- such as unionizing state employees as California has done.
4. The Federal Courts are not as friendly towards the left in Texas as in the West.  Conservative ruling after ruling got knocked down by the Federal Circuit court in California, but that won't be so easy here in Texas. 

The arguments above don't show it, but I think history has shown that they tend to get their way eventually.  So, eventually Texas will turn blue.  The only thing that might change this is if the rest of the country collapses before this can happen.

Gun-free zones

This may getting to be old news, but here goes anyway.  Governments can enforce gun-free zones if they wish.  If they don't enforce gun-free zones, it must be because they don't want to.

As for enforcement of gun-free zones, look at airport security.  Look at government buildings.  Those have metal detectors and guards.  Was there any metal detector or guard at Sandy Hook?  No.  Why not?

If they aren't going to enforce a gun-free zone with a guard and the necessary equipment, then the gun-free zone should not be valid.  Those who fail to enforce their own security have to accept the consequences of their failure.

But instead of that, we get an occasion to advocate gun-control as if it were some of great emergency.  There was gun-control out the wazoo in that blue state.  Their gun-control failed, so that is an excuse for more of the same?  The only emergency is how to get the most political mileage out of death that can be managed before the bodies get cold and laid to rest.


Update:

As long as this is WTF time, I'll add this update:

Senators, Hillary Miss The Point At Hearing

Dick Morris

Obama got away with a massive cover-up pure and simple and his escape was evident in the pathetic questioning and evasive answers in the Hillary Clinton testimony.

Do you think that ol' Dickie boy is starting to get suspicious about something?

Look, if the presidential candidate Romney wouldn't press Obama on Benghazi, why would these chuckleheads?  It is all a big dog-and-pony show which was designed to satisfy the public that "everything is being done" which is a complete lie.  Nothing is being done and nothing is going to be done.  DC is utterly lost and without foundation in both truth and integrity.

Still around, in case you wondered

This has been an aggravating week with these computer problems.  It has put a crimp in my style.  But I'm not going anywhere.  This problem is going to get solved one way or another.  Then things can get back to a normal schedule.  That is, unless I go apeshit and start smashing things.  ( that's a joke, you have to be careful these days, people may misunderstand, you know )

Update:

Customer service at AT and T sucks.  A computer answers the phone number they give you and the wait to talk to a real live person was 45 minutes last night.  Now that I've got my service back, I found this:

Nice to know I'm not the only one having a problem.  It may be a "limited" number of customers, but when you are one of them, it seems pretty damned significant.  In addition, when it has been going on for several days, one's patience gets worn a bit thin.

AT & T Uverse problems

The thing went out yet again this morning.  This crap is getting old fast.

I just now googled, now that I have some service, to see if anyone else is having problems.

They have a computer answering the damned phone.  What's the freaking deal here?

I have to go to work, there's no time to do anything on the internet now.  If the damn thing isn't working, the anti-virus takes up all the computer's processor.

There must be a master plan to stop access to the internet.  Really.  Who could stop it if there was such a plan?

Update ( 1/24/13, 3:50 am) :

Groan.  More problems.  Tried to use a new wireless card, but it wouldn't install on any of my computers.

After another day of headaches, I'm considering massive changes.

Potpourri of WTF, Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013

I like this home cooking so much, I'm going to make it a habit.  More of this whacko stuff out there for your amusement or whatever turns you on and off.

• According to this guy, I'm a plague on the Earth.  I resent that remark.  By the way, so are you, unless you're a polar bear or dolphin.  Here's somebody with a different point of view.
• Obama Brings God Into the Climate-Change Fight...We've got to do something, Slate says.  Raise taxes seems to be the only answer that these folks believe in---first and foremost, that's the only thing they believe in.  If there's a will, there's a way to raise taxes, by God.  Raise taxes until Attenborough gets his way and we go extinct.  When that happens, Mother Earth can recover from the plague that we have visited upon her.
• AP says "President Barack Obama's lofty ideals from his inaugural address ran smack into reality"---Ideals?  They think this guy is about ideals?  I tell you, these people are deranged.  Obama's nose is so far up in the air, his only ideal is himself.  Bush may have had a smirk, Obama has a sneer.  He's sneering at us, as his ideals are so high and lofty.
• Boeing Dreamliner fires spark new doubts about a green energy technology... It ain't sustainable if it can't fly.  They use lithium-ion batteries on that plane?!---WTF?  Quote: "The problem, according to the MIT Technology Review, is that 'because the electrolyte materials used are flammable, no lithium-ion batteries are completely safe.'"  Yet, there's another battery technology that is better than lithium-ion, but nobody wants that.  Probably because it works.
• Obama’s Progressive Vision: A World Without Political Opposition.  Maybe it's a world without any people in it.  Less pollution and more polar bears and dolphins.  Yay!
• The Economist Gives Up On Global Climate Treaties.  Why use treaties when countries can raise taxes on meat, like Sweden is considering.  They haven't given up, they'll just switch tactics.  If there'w a will, there's a way to tax.  WTF.

Computer difficulties continued

Looks like this is becoming something of a problem.  It was okay for awhile, then it messed up last night, and early this morning.  As of 3:30 am local time, I am back.  Who knows for how long.

This will make me consider doing something different for internet service.  I use AT and T.  How many other folks have had this problem?

I called for service, but got a computer which told me it was a network problem.  If it is a network problem, it means more than just little old me.  Not everybody in the neighborhood is having the same troubles I'm having, so I wonder what the deal is.  Maybe Big Brother is watching me and is mighty displeased with what I've had to say about him.  ( lol)

Quick thoughts before busy day

This post is as much a note to myself as a blog post.

• I want to study the Tesla roadster and his newest model.  I get the impression that his car has been designed with minimized weight in mind.  This improves range of the batteries because less weight needs less power to move it around.
  
• If the government is implicated in insider trading, then that gives them the motive to hide the crime.  In order to hide the crime, the government needs to control the sources of information ( read media ), and to shut down all other interpersonal communications--- such as the internet and world wide web.  Also, they'd want to seize all guns just in case the victims got wise and decided to fight back.
• Can the fuel cell technology I'm wriing about help avert economic disaster?
  
  Fertile Prospects for Natural Gas – Can Ammonia Soak Up Bakken Gas Surplus?
  

Computer difficulties

My internet service went out last night and was still out as of this morning.  It has just now come back on and I can post stuff again.  Unfortunately, there is little time to post. 

Perhaps things can get back to some sort of normalcy soon.

Articles: Obama's Zero-Sum Game and the Coming Redistribution Bubble

Michael Bargo, Jr., American Thinker

Here's what Kyle Bass was warning about with respect to Japan:

One aspect of this bubble is the increased service of the national debt, which will result when interest rates return to their historical average of 5.4%. At that point, the payment on the debt will increase from the $360 billion it is today to one trillion dollars. This loss of funds will mean less for redistribution goals.

The left's major fallacy is that the economy is a zero-sum game.  Thus, my gains come at your expense and vice versa.  If you examine closely the ideology of the left, it must mean war.  War within a nation and, ultimately war with other nations.  If you can only prosper at someone else's expense, you must be prepared for what must ultimately come when others object to being thus enslaved.

The left is a menace, yet they believe that they are saviors.  Classic projection.

Japan flirts with hyperinflation

Revolutionary Japan is suddenly the centre of world affairs writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the Telegraph.  But not in a good way, I suspect.  Remember Kyle Bass?  He was warning of this risk, only briefly alluded to in this piece:

Premier Shinzo Abe has vowed an all-out assault on deflation, going for broke on multiple fronts with fiscal, monetary, and exchange stimulus...This is a near copy of the remarkable experiment in the early 1930s under Korekiyo Takahasi...Takahasi was the first of his era to tear up rule book completely. He took Japan off gold in December 1931. He ran "Keynesian" budget deficits deliberately...He compelled the Bank of Japan to monetise debt until the economy was back on its feet...He devalued the yen by 60pc against the dollar, and 40pc on a trade-weighted basis..Takahasi was assassinated by army officers in 1936 when he tried to tighten by cutting military costs. Policy degenerated. Japan later lurched into hyperinflation.[emphasis added]

It will end as it did in the 30's.  A race to the bottom in a currency trade war will bring economic retaliation followed by a real war.

These fools think that it won't happen again.

DiCaprio wants to save environment

Correction: He wants to be seen as saving the environment.  Just being seen doesn't actually do anything useful.  If he actually wanted to do something, he could "raise awareness" of some possible solutions to cut carbon emissions.  Like those that I write about on this here blog.

Not that this really matters that much to him or other liberals.  They want the credit for caring about the environment, but not actually doing anything about it.

Besides, it could help the US economy by finding a market for our natural gas and improve our balance of trade at the same time.  But that would actually help the US, which is what liberals really hate to do.  What liberals love to do is to punish Americans.

But that is really "violent" of me to write such mean things.

Combating Terrorism Center must think this blog is violent

Well, that's a bit of a stretch.  I'm sure that not that concerned about little 'ol me.  The thing that struck me was this

[The Center’s report] says anti-federalists “espouse strong convictions regarding the federal government, believing it to be corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude on individuals’ civil and constitutional rights. Finally, they support civil activism, individual freedoms, and self government. Extremists in the anti-federalist movement direct most their violence against the federal government and its proxies in law enforcement.”[ emphasis added]

Comment:

What violence?  What violence has been given as an example?  There hasn't been any.  The Center's report is about terrorism.  Yes, the far right is more a threat than al Qaeda, at least according to this government report.

Otherwise, what was said in the quote is true, but the attempt to smear the opinions as being violent is way over the top.

The left is getting a bit paranoid.  The projection is a bit startling to behold sometimes.

 h/t Free Republic

Oil and gas boom is transforming the US

So says German spy agency.

Quote:

Natural gas production in the US already exceeds demand, and the glut last year forced prices down into the realm of maximum pain. So the US could become a major exporter of natural gas—pending approval by the government and construction of LNG export terminals. [emphasis added]

Comment:

Or the use of natural gas to make ammonia for fuel cell cars.  This would reduce dependence on oil and help find a demand for the increased supply.

Obama Could Not Pass a Background Check

minutemennews.com

During the 2008 campaign, it was known that:

His official, long form birth records were SEALED.
His Occidental College records were SEALED.
His Columbia College records were SEALED.
His Harvard College records were SEALED.
His College thesis – SEALED.
His Harvard Law Review articles – SEALED.
His Indonesian adoption records – SEALED.
His passport file – SEALED.
His medical records – Unavailable
His baptism records – Unavailable
His papers from his service in the Illinois legislature – Unavailable
His Illinois State Bar Association records – UnavailableThe birth certificate that the White House released is reputed by document experts to be false.

So what?  Does the public know this and do they care?

How Obama's Gun 'Order' will Backfire

wnd via Free Republic

Money quote:

Therefore, if the Centers for Disease Control at Obama's direction, actually conducts honest research- and that's a magnum-caliber "if"- it will arrive at the same conclusion as Jimmy Carter's research team.[emphasis added]

It is quite telling to me that Obama isn't trusted to be honest.  This elicits the questions of 1) Does the public see this administration the same way as the author? 2) if they do, Why don't they seem to care? 3) Why the discrepancy between the author and the public on the issue of Obama's honesty? and 4)  Is there something that the public doesn't know about Obama, or is it that the public is indifferent to honesty and integrity generally speaking?

Karl V. Kordesch: must remember that name

 There are no biographies of this man.  Curious thing, I'd say.  If his alkaline fuel-cell ever catches on in an electric vehicle, he may be remembered for more than just batteries.

From the obituary for Kordesch on The Plain Dealer ( cleveland.com)

Perhaps you've heard about his batteries:

In 1960, he shared a patent with P.A. Marsal and Lewis Urry for a new kind of alkaline dry cell 1.5-volt battery. Held together partly by powdered cement, it had fewer leaks, more current, and longer life than the competition.

The battery was sold as the Eveready brand and symbolized by a cat with a forked tail. It evolved into the Eveready Energizer, symbolized by the ubiquitous bunny.

From a brief biographical profile:

Karl Kordesch (18 March 1922 – 12 January 2011) was an Austrian chemist and inventor, most notable for jointly inventing the alkaline battery. Kordesch was born in Vienna. He studied chemistry and physics at the University of Vienna, and earned his doctoral degree in 1948. From 1948–53 he worked at the university's Chemical Institute. He was then recruited as a member of Operation Paperclip and moved to the United States, where from 1953–55 he was head of the Battery Division of the U.S. Signal Corps in Fort Monmouth 

This and fuel cells too.  The one I've been writing about may be one of his patented products.  Way ahead of his time.

Merle Haggard - Rainbow Stew

Just another way of saying that "nobody does the right thing".  Or as Napoleon said: "Men are more easily governed through the vices than their virtues."

Lyrics:

There's a big, brown cloud in the city,
And the countryside's a sin.
An' the price of life is too high to give up,
Gotta come down again.
When the world wide war is over and done,
And the dream of peace comes true.
We'll all be drinkin' free bubble-up,
Eatin' that rainbow stew.

Potpourri of WTF: 1/20/13

Today is inauguration day for this so-called president for this so-called republic.  Oh, well.  Let's get on with it.

• Kim Dotcom: the internet cult hero spoiling for a fight with US authorities  ...German-born former hacker says his eyes have been opened to US tactics after his Megaupload site was shut down last year
• Presenting The S&P500's 50 Point Surge Courtesy Of The Illegal "Geithner Leak"  ...Yesterday we broke the news of what is prima facie evidence...that then-NY Fed president and FOMC Vice Chairman Tim Geithner leaked material, non-public, and very much market moving information (the "Geithner Leak") to at least one banker
• There was no GOP entitlement-cutting plan  ... many conservatives were adamant: Republicans should reach an agreement with President Obama only in exchange for serious cuts in entitlement spending...But what has emerged...is that Republicans did not have an entitlement-cutting proposal to present to Obama in debt-ceiling talks
• Tony Lee: Palin Predicted Obama Using Health Care to Curb Second Amendment Rights...On August 1, 2009–just seven months into President Barack Obama’s first term–former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin predicted Obama would attempt to leverage health care to “take away” the Second Amendment rights of Americans...On Wednesday–more than three years after Palin’s warning–Obama did exactly what the former governor forecasted.
• New Book Claims Journalists 'Swooned' Over Obama During Off The Record Bar Visit Last Year...The behavior of the assembled press corps was telling. Everyone, myself included, swooned...This was nerd heaven, a politico’s paradise, the subject himself moving among us...Hastings reported...Against the wishes of the president...that the event took place without divulging the details.  The fear was that the White House would collectively punish all of us by revoking the already limited access or, worse, Obama might never come down and hang out with us again,” Hastings writes.

Update:

Oh, by the way.  A Congressman emailed me about his promise to fight gun control efforts.  He mentioned the Gun Free School Zones Act of 1991, which means a lawsuit for what happened at Sandy Hook would be a nonstarter.  Now, consider this:  the government in all its wisdom has banned guns near schools but won't require that a police officer be present to enforce it!  Besides, that didn't stop the massacres that have happened since.  So much for Gun Free zones.