Francis Peak

Speak oft and carry a big shtick

2010-04-06T17:03:00.004-07:00

Obama loves the meaningless pronouncement. For instance, his hollow executive order to “prevent” federal funding of abortion, in a word, won’t – but it was cover enough to excuse holdouts to vote for ObamaCare. Thank goodness he doesn’t alter the status quo with his announcement not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear nations. The NYT fails to see it that way and thinks words are stronger than sticks:

It eliminates much of the ambiguity that has deliberately existed in American nuclear policy since the opening days of the Cold War. For the first time, the United States is explicitly committing not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, even if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons, or launched a crippling cyberattack.

Really? Our nukes aren’t going away. It’s only Obama’s word that prevents us to use nukes in specific contingencies. As Mary Poppins says, that’s a pie crust promise ‘easily made and easily broken’. That should be ambiguous enough for our enemies. After all, he's my president and I don’t trust him. Furthermore, this promise expires when he is replaced as president – unless Obama finds it convenient to move up the expiration date.

This isn’t a sop for our enemies – they’re not stupid. There is someone else Obama is trying to cover; perhaps Stupak’s buddies in Congress beholden to lefty constituents. Those constituents will see through this every bit as much as Stupak’s right to life constituents saw through Obama’s executive order. From the WSJ:
To many arms-control advocates, the review is likely to be a
disappointment. "It's a status quo document, I think, in virtually every
respect," said Bruce Blair, president of World Security Institute and
co-coordinator of Global Zero, a disarmament group.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

If they cheat, maybe their cause isn't just

2010-04-05T21:55:00.002-07:00

Greenpeace has become an oxymoron:

The politicians have failed. Now it's up to us. We must break the law to make the laws we need: laws that are supposed to protect society, and protect our future. Until our laws do that, screw being climate lobbyists. Screw being climate activists. It's not working. We need an army of climate outlaws

This green warrior is a little late calling forth the eco-outlaws. Activists have long been spiking trees, bid tampering land lease auctions, committing arson to name a few eco-crimes in vogue. Or does he fit the definition of someone who keeps doing the same thing but expecting different results?

What is new is the rash of law breaking designed to perpetuate the religion of environmentalism or cash in on the eco-duped. For instance Phil Jones, former director of the East Angilia Climate Unit would be facing charges for violating freedom of information laws (ed.: if not for the statute of limitations). He was trying to hide information that didn't support the eco-theology. The EU is embroiled in fraudulent carbon credits. Every day it seems, a new eco-fraud story appears:

It might sound like common sense. But the misspelling of an expert’s name in a multibillion-dollar environmental lawsuit filed against Chevron is what tipped off Chevron’s lawyers to the fact that the reports may have been fudged, a fact that has now been conceded by the expert himself...

The disclosure comes in the midst of a huge lawsuit accusing Chevron of causing widespread environmental damage in the Ecuadorean rain forest. In 2004, the plaintiffs hired an American biologist named Charles Calmbacher to help oversee soil and water tests in Ecuador.

Reports signed by Calmbacher showed high levels of toxins at two sites and estimated the contamination would cost more than $40 million to clean up at these sites alone.

But in a sworn deposition last week, Calmbacher said he didn’t write the reports submitted over his signature, which said the sites were highly polluted and needed remediation.

“I concluded that I did not see significant contamination that posed immediate threat to the environment or to humans or wildlife around it,” Calmbacher said, according to a transcript provided by Chevron.

Eco-fraud is certainly run by "Green" outlaws - perhaps not the types Mr. Green Warrier is enlisting, but he ignores them at his peril. The politicians at Copenhagen did fail to enact his agenda - but I submit they were in fact influenced a great deal by the unraveling of outlaw eco-huckster schemes.

Update: Rewrote the post to better express my point.

Update II: Here it is April 6, and I woke up to 12 inches of white global warming. I know it's only weather when it snows and Global Warming when it doesn't but just saying...

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

While you were occupied by ObamaCare...

2010-03-31T22:05:00.002-07:00

The Democrats destroyed the free-flow of private capital from the U.S:

On March 18, with very little pomp and circumstance, president Obama passed the most recent stimulus act, the $17.5 billion Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (H.R. 2487), brilliantly goalseeked by the administration's millionaire cronies to abbreviate as HIRE. As it was merely the latest in an endless stream of acts destined to expand the government payroll to infinity, nobody cared about it, or actually read it. Because if anyone had read it, the act would have been known as the Capital Controls Act, as one of the lesser, but infinitely more important provisions on page 27, known as Offset Provisions - Subtitle A—Foreign Account Tax Compliance, institutes just that. In brief, the Provision requires that foreign banks not only withhold 30% of all outgoing capital flows (likely remitting the collection promptly back to the US Treasury) but also disclose the full details of non-exempt account-holders to the US and the IRS. And should this provision be deemed illegal by a given foreign nation's domestic laws (think Switzerland), well the foreign financial institution is required to close the account. It's the law. If you thought you could move your capital to the non-sequestration safety of non-US financial institutions, sorry you lose - the law now says so.

So be prepared to prepared to lose 30% of your capital if you want to invest it overseas. The Dems have to get someone to buy those T-bills to extend the debt.

This is a big deal, because your government effectively gets to control your foreign investments. One more thing - It's highly likely you first read about this takeover in a blog. The legacy media continues to cover for our DemoMarxists.

H/T SDA

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Constitution means whatever liberals say it means

2010-03-26T18:59:00.002-07:00

Interestingly Charles Lane becomes a strict constructionalist when it comes to interpreting the constitutionality of healthcare:

On the merits of the issue, I agree with health reform’s supporters that one’s decision not to buy health insurance has economic ripple effects. Basically, it turns you into a free-rider and that imposes costs on everyone else in the risk pool. As Prof. Erwin Chemerinsky recently put it: “There is no constitutionally protected freedom to be able to refuse to be insured or to avoid paying for the benefits provided.”

Do you think Charles would be consistent and conclude that there is no constitutionally protected freedom to be able to have an abortion?

I didn't think so.

But, Chemerinsky is right - there is no constitutionally protected freedom to be able to refuse to be insured or to avoid paying for the benefits provided - if you think in terms of enumerated rights. It wasn't necessary when the constitution was written and first ratified. The constitution doesn't grant rights. It puts limits on Government's intrusion on our rights. From the text it is clear that making a citizen buy health insurance isn't in the purview of Congress's power. Professor Chemerinsky begs to differ, citing the commerce clause and the potential impact if "society" winds up picking up a future tab for an uninsured (where is it written that we must pay?) The commerce clause argument is a stretch when we are dealing with someone who refuses to participate in commerce. And what about the significant chunk of folks who are self insured; the ones who don't have insurance because they will pay their own way? Chemerinsky's argument is only vaild in terms of the modern court's willingness to stretch the constitution to acheive liberal ends. It will be interesting to see how the courts rule this time.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS:
Lane's and Chemerinsky's argument to compel people to purchase insurance hinges on covering the individual liability they potentially pose. For young people, that would normally result in a low premium. With Obamacare, however, a massive amount of a young person's premium is just wealth transfer to pay for someone else's healthcare. Wouldn't the term "free-rider" apply here? But wait, isn't this why Lane and Chemerinsky say it isn't fair for someone not to buy insurance?
Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Repeal Obamacare

2010-03-25T00:35:00.001-07:00

You might have a winning campaign issue when 55 percent of the people support it.Let's develop this.

Cross-posted in Anatreptic

Trouble for Bennett

2010-03-23T22:33:00.001-07:00

Utah Republicans held their caucus tonight. If the turnout at other precincts was anything like the one I attended, then Republican Senator Bob Bennett has cause to worry - but that depends on whether Bennett's opposition is better organized than the ones who showed up at my precinct. Mick fills you in on the details of Bennett's problems here.

At my precinct, we had nearly four times as many people show up than in 2008 - and that was a presidental election year. The extra folks showed up to vote against Bob Bennett - or vote for delegates that will vote against Bob Bennett. They were not organized, however, and ironically they managed to dilute their votes so that the two delegates we did elect will be Bennett supporters. This happened because our precinct chose to elect the two nominees that came in first and second in vote count out of a slate of nominees voted on simultaneously. About eight candidates were nominated - only two were supporters of Bob Bennett. If you supported Bob Bennett (I did for the same reasons Mick noted), you only had two choices. The opposition had six choices and thus they managed to get Bob Bennett two delegates.

Bennett opponents could have easily insisted on majority rule but they didn't. Thus these anti-Bennett folks became a case study for Mick's point about operating on anger:

...there are plenty of places on the Internet, cable television and radio that you can go to hear people rant and rave about this. I don't want to--I want to win. Winning takes a clear strategy, extensive planning and a disciplined execution.

At this precinct, none of the anti-Bennett nominees for delegate knew anything about the other candidates running against Bennett. Not one could name an alternative candidate who they would vote for instead of Bennett. With the exception of Merrill Cook, who doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hades of being taken seriously again, all of the other declared candidates are political novices. That shouldn't necessarily be a disqualifier but it should give one pause considering how the novices at my precinct managed to elect delegates opposed to their view.

Bob Bennett got lucky in my precinct but the numbers were against him. If his oppostion in other precincts was not as disarrayed, he may be sitting out the primary.

UPDATE:
More bad news for Bennett from Dave Kirkham:

My Tea Party buddies texted me all night from their own precincts as Bennett supporters fell. EVERYWHERE, Bennett was toxic. In our straw poll, Bennett came in 3rd. Maybe there is hope after all.

I attended the Tea Party rally Kirkham organized last April at the Salt Lake Federal Building. Bennett was loudly boo'ed then - almost a year ago. Something to consider for those politicians who think that dissatisfaction was a one time flash in the pan.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

What hath Congress wrought?

2010-03-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

The health care bill, now passed by both House and Senate democrats, will end the health care debate just like the Missouri compromise ended the debate on slavery. Pelosi and company think they have passed a bill, soon to be law, that will be irrevocable. Before the election of Scott Brown, I may have conceded, but now the democrats have willfully voted against the majority interest of this nation. In so doing, they have set the themes for the 2010 and 2012 campaigns. In their haste the democrats have:
1) Established 50% plus 1 rule. They have killed the need for a super majority in the Senate. What they have built with 50% +1 support can be undone by the same.
2) In their effort to lie about the health care costs, they enacted economy killing taxes that will be implemented years before "benefits" will be seen. Unlike Social Security and Medicare, the democrats have not built a constituency to support Obamacare, instead they have placed the burr of disatisfaction under the saddle they have just laid on the middle class.
3) They have succeded in energizing an opposition who will use points 1 and 2 above.

Cross-posted in Anatreptic

Matheson still undecided?

2010-03-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

I called congressman Jim Matheson's office yesterday afternoon. Actually I called three offices before I could get through to the one in St. George. His staffer said he still hadn't declared how he would vote on the health care bill. He isn't my congressman but the lady asked me how I wanted him to vote anyway. She recorded my opposition and my home town. I only live twenty-five minutes from his Salt Lake office. He votes yes at the peril of people like me swarming his district as volunteers for his opponent - not to mention the influence we will already exert on friends and family living in the district.

I expect Matheson will vote no. He voted no last time and the bill hasn't improved. I speculate Nancy Pelosi already knows he is a firm no and has asked he keep mum so the margin of votes in play seems larger.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

APropaganda

2010-03-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the AP reported a CBO finding that the Senate health care bill would actually reduce the deficit:

In a bit of bookkeeping, the Congressional Budget Office on Thursday released its final cost estimates for the bill the Senate passed on Christmas Eve. That 10-year, $875 billion plan would reduce the federal deficit and cover 31 million people who'd otherwise be uninsured. The Senate bill is the foundation of the proposal that Obama wants Congress to pass in the next few weeks. But the numbers will change yet again with the new version.

The AP failed to mention the fantastical ground rules the CBO was operating with to arrive at such happy news. Somehow though the public opinion is being informed despite the perfidy of the AP:

Two-out-of-three voters (66%) also believe the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats is likely to increase the federal deficit. That's up six points from late November and comparable to findings just after the contentious August congressional recess. Ten percent (10%) say the plan is more likely to reduce the deficit and 14% say it will have no impact on the deficit.

Underlying this concern is a lack of trust in the government numbers. Eighty-one percent (81%) believe it is at least somewhat likely that the health care reform plan will cost more than official estimates. That number includes 66% who say it is very likely that the official projections understate the true cost of the plan.

AP - All Propaganda. Just another reason why the legacy media is being bypassed.

Cross-posted in Anatreptic

Why Don't Ask Don't Tell Won't Change

2010-02-10T22:29:00.002-07:00

This photograph was taken during the time President Clinton was wrangling with Senator Sam Nunn about homosexuals serving in the military. Senator Nunn was chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The photo was on the front page of my local paper - it probably made the front page of most papers in the nation. It devasted Clinton's efforts to allow gays to openly serve in the military. What was once just a military policy, that could have been overturned by the president, became the law of the land.

The reason the law won't be overturned anytime soon has nothing to do with what the Generals or Admirals think (there are probably enough now who would support overturning the ban, if not for the law, just to curry favor with a liberal president). The reason the law will remain in place is parents don't want their eighteen year old sons and daughters sleeping next to a homosexual. Those parents vote. Incidentally, I'm with the parents on this one.

Cross-posted in Anatreptic

Ignorance of the Journalists

2010-02-07T23:30:00.002-07:00

“I tell you I have been in the editorial business going on fourteen years, and it is the first time I ever heard of a man's having to know anything in order to edit a newspaper.”
- Mark Twain, How I Edited an Agricultural Paper Once

Last week the Guardian broke a story that had been in the blogosphere for at least two years:

A Guardian investigation of thousands of emails and documents apparently hacked from the University of East Anglia's climatic research unit has found evidence that a series of measurements from Chinese weather stations were seriously flawed and that documents relating to them could not be produced

It is interesting that the “evidence” the Guardian relies on is the email discussion by CRU scientists that the non-CRU researcher responsible for the data “screwed up”. The actual argument for the screw up is in this 2007 paper written by Douglas Keenan. Sans Keenan’s paper, the email exchange is meaningless. But the Guardian didn’t give any credence to Keenan’s thesis until the “establishment” scientists were shown, via the climategate emails, to have done so. Keenan’s paper speaks for itself, but the Guardian journalists do not exhibit any ability to make their own independent judgment. Now that they can’t trust the establishment, where will the Guardian go for critical analysis?

RELATED:

The march of the poodles. Steyn notes the failure of journalism in the climate debate. The point I'm trying to make above is that failure is largely due to the ignorance of the J-school types who must rely on others for their critical thinking. Considering the liberal bent of their training, it is not surprising these journalist tend to trust the views of their liberal ("establishment") climate scientists - especially when opposing views are labeled heretical by the same establishment.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Behind the Scenes

2010-01-18T07:16:00.002-07:00

While there is no doubt that voter anger and disgust over Obama's leftist agenda is fueling support for Scott Brown's senate campaign, I thought this was interesting:

Largely overlooked in assessing Brown’s prospects: the hidden hand of Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor headlined at a fundraiser for Brown last October. And Romney has helped Brown raise money outside the state as well. “I know Scott and how determined he is to win. I've campaigned for him, raised money on his behalf, and we're doing all we can to help him over the finish line,” Romney wrote supporters last Monday. Brown, 50, raised $1.3 million that day.

But lest anyone accuse Romney of being a Johnny-come-lately—stepping up only as Brown has vaulted from sacrificial lamb to serious threat—the 2008 presidential hopeful has lent crucial support behind the scenes from the start of Brown’s campaign. Ever since he entered the race to succeed the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Brown has been counseled by members of the Shawmut Group, a Boston-based consulting firm that acts as the Romney political brain trust in exile. Among the many Romney disciples running Brown’s campaign are Beth Myers, the campaign manager of Romney’s presidential run; Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney’s chief spokesman; Peter Flaherty, Romney’s “go-to-guy for conservatives”; and Rob Cole, Romney’s 2008 deputy chairman manager. Beth Lindstrom, another player in Romney World, is working as Brown’s campaign manager. Lindstrom’s ties to Romney go back years; she started working with him in the Massachusetts State House as director of consumer affairs.

It also doesn't hurt that the former Massachusetts governor cut his political teeth running for the same seat directly against Kennedy.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

What can Brown do for you?

2010-01-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

Michael Graham, of the Boston Herald,tallys the upside.

Scott Brown, the Republican candidate running for the Massachusetts senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy, is making the Democratics earn the seat this time. He even has a shot at winning. If the Democrats didn't think Obamacare motivates opposition, they need to mull over yesterday's campaign moneybomb. The Brown campaign sought to raise $500K in a one day drive - they more than doubled their goal at $1.3M.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T00:15:00.001-07:00

Earth could plunge into sudden ice age

2009-12-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

And it's still your fault:

In the film, "The Day After Tomorrow," the world gets gripped in ice within the span of just a few weeks. Now research now suggests an eerily similar event might indeed have occurred in the past.

Looking ahead to the future, there is no reason why such a freeze shouldn't happen again — and in ironic fashion it could be precipitated if ongoing changes in climate force the Greenland ice sheet to suddenly melt, scientists say. Starting roughly 12,800 years ago, the Northern Hemisphere was gripped by a chill that lasted some 1,300 years. Known by scientists as the Younger Dryas and nicknamed the"Big Freeze," geological evidence suggests it was brought on when a vast pulse of fresh water — a greater volume than all of North America's Great Lakes combined — poured into the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

This abrupt influx, caused when the glacial Lake Agassiz in North America burst its banks, diluted the circulation of warmer water in the North Atlantic, bringing this "conveyer belt" to a halt. Without this warming influence, evidence shows that temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere plummeted.

...This kind of scenario would not discount evidence pointing toward global warming — after all, it leans on the Greenland ice sheet melting.

"We could say that global warming could lead to a dramatic cooling," Patterson told LiveScience. "This should serve as a further warning rather than a pass."

A pass on what? Kyoto, "Cap and Trade", Copenhagen?. If only cavemen had climate scientists they could have been warned about the dangers of cooking meat.

What a racket. Our modern soothsayers have now predicted our SUV's will lead to Global Cooling or Global Warming - whichever comes first. Send more money and remember, when the future happens - they predicted it.

Addendum: If you are worried about the ice sheets of Greenland melting, read this to see what passes for science among the Anthropormorphic Global Warming crowd.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

HHS Death Panels

2009-11-17T23:30:00.004-07:00

Who ya gonna believe?

... The Department of Health and Human Services recommended women not get mammograms until age 50, and then only every two years.

It's a stunning reversal and a break with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position. What's more, the panel said breast self-exams do no good, and women shouldn't be taught to do them.

Dr. Brett Parkinson, the medical director of the Breast Cancer Center at IMC, says, "I think the important thing women can do is to look to the organizations that have proven trustworthy." At Intermountain Medical Center, 20 percent of their breast cancer patients are between the ages of 40 and 49; that's the age the new guidelines discourages from getting mammograms. That's the big reason why the medical director of the Breast Cancer Center at IMC does not agree the new recommendations.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government panel of doctors and scientists is getting swift pushback:

The recommendations were based on commissioned studies, but Parkinson says, "not one breast cancer expert was on the panel. Nobody in the imaging world, the people who work with mammography, was involved in this project.

...For most of the past two decades, the American Cancer Society has been recommending annual mammograms beginning at 40, and it reiterated that position on Monday.

...Susan G. Komen organization and the American College of Radiology agree with the American Cancer Society.

With government controlled healthcare on the horizon, one won't be sure if a government recommendation is for your health or their budget. But hey, everyone else is doing it:

The panel's new recommendations are more in line with international guidelines, which call for screening to start at age 50; the World Health Organization recommends the test every two years, and Britain says every three years.

How's that working for Britain?

Politically this has got to be a bonehead move on the part of HHS. Didn't anyone tell them that the boss is trying to get socialized medicine through Congress. Ixnay on anything that smacks of death panels until it's a lock.

UPDATE: HHS's Sebelius finally gets the memo.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

The Non-Combatant Status of Major Nidal Malik Hasan

2009-11-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

After the Fort Hood massacre, one of my friends was surprised to learn our military bases are actually gun free zones. Another irony of military life. Chances are, if Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire off post, there might have been a concealed weapon available. In 1991, a gunman did open fire in a Luby's cafeteria in Killeen - the town outside Fort Hood - and killled 23 people. Suzzanna Hupp, a patron who lost both her parents in that massacre, had left her gun in her car because she did not have a concealed carry permit. As a result of the Luby massacre, Texas reduced the restrictions for concealed carry permits.

Another thing that non-military experienced folks might not be aware of is that as a medical officer, Major Hasan is considered a non-combatant. Despite the image of Frank Burns brandishing a firearm, medical personnel may not use arms against enemy forces acting in conformity with the law of armed conflict. Of course there is that caveat "acting in conformity with the law of armed conflict" - since when has America had an enemy oblige? Nonetheless, the U.S. conforms to the law. Speculation that Major Hasan was conflicted about fighing Muslims is baseless. He wouldn't have been permitted to even if he desired.

Cross-posted in Anatreptic

Nothing to do with Islam

2009-11-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

One day after the Fort Hood massacre, my local TV station, KSL, is telling us nothing to see here, move on:

Reaction from Utah's Muslim community to Thursday's deadly shootings at Fort Hood is one of sadness and regret that the gunman is of their faith. Their leaders are anxious for people of other faiths to understand what he did has nothing to do with Islam.
(emphasis added)

Many devout Muslims are horrified about the Fort Hood massacre, but the idea that violence has "nothing to do with Islam" is fiction. Just in 2009, the world has endured at least 1673 incidents of terrorism, honor killings, and religious executions - all in the name of Islam.

7,869 deaths and 15,394 injuries. This year.

Ignoring Iraq and Afghanistan still leaves 4,046 murders in 36 countries. The level of violence associated with Islam dwarfs that associated with the world's other leading religions. Despite KSL's report, there are many adherents who do find violence an acceptable expression of Islam. To state or imply otherwise is misleading.

Cross-posted in Anatreptic

Sure Iran can't be trusted

2009-10-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

A reader at Instapundent comments about Iranian duplicity with the Obama administration:

Now we know why Obama turned his back on Iranian protesters. Note that the secret negotiations began in June. What else went on in June in Iran? Oh yeah… those pesky election results protests.

Basically, he turned his back on the Iranian people because that whole free election fight of theirs wasn’t nearly as important as the nuclear deal he was working out with Iran’s regime. Too bad the regime couldn’t be trusted to actually live up to its end of the bargain. Big surprise there, that you can’t trust political leaders who believe in silencing their own people…

Maybe that should serve as an object lesson to us about Obama…

Object lesson noted, however, when the President is willing to mislead Americans (deficit neutral health care comes to mind) and renege on allies (Eastern Europeon missile protection anyone?) why would Iranian leadership be expected to trust Mr. Obama?

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Europe's "Free" Healthcare

2009-10-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

A letter to the WSJ editor illustrating Europe's "free" health care:

Regarding "Mrs. Pelosi's VAT" (Review & Outlook, Oct. 8): Several years ago when our children were very young, my wife and I hosted a different European au pair each year for six years. During the course of their stay in America, each au pair proudly commented that in their respective European country medical care was free.

When their time with us came to an end, each au pair went to the Mall of America and purchased several pairs of jeans, as well as other clothes, before returning home. At the time, jeans cost between $15 and $30 each. I asked these young women why they were buying so many jeans before returning to their country. With some astonishment at my lack of understanding, they explained that the same jeans in their country retailed for between $80 and $100. The price differential, of course, was due to the value-added tax and the higher costs of doing business in European welfare states.

I thought to myself, "Ah, but your medical care is "free."

Mark Douglass

Minneapolis

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Why are we all Catholic and Speaking Spanish?

2009-08-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

Mexican little tykes won't find the answer at school:

A new sixth-grade world history textbook is causing a stir in Mexico because it leaves out any mention of the Spanish Conquest.

Few events have shaped Mexico's culture, ethnicity and history more than the 1521 conquest.

But it doesn't appear in the government-published world history text, which ends in the age of exploration with a reference to the rising world powers of Spain and Portugal.

Assistant Education Secretary Fernando Gonzalez told the Mexican newspaper El Universal on Monday there was no intention of covering up the Spain's brutal conquest of indigenous societies.

File this with the Japanese kids wondering why the United States declared war on their country.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Life imitates snark

2009-08-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

Another day, another Dem talking point discredited.

Lisa Benson channels an AARP townhall meeting. Meanwhile footage below shows a busload of seniors, paid by the insurance industry... or is that AARP paid by the insurance industry?

___________________________________________________________________

h/t Redstate

cross-posted at Anatreptic

Ministry of Truth

2009-08-06T06:30:00.002-07:00

I bet the Whitehouse would think "Ministry of Truth" would be a catchy name for this:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

They want something fishy on health reform? Send them this link.

Originally posted at Anatreptic

The Strawmen are getting less effective

2009-07-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

President Obama has built enough strawmen to feed a cattle ranch for a month. His latest incarnation was the evil doctor giving out unneeded tonsillectomies or whatever just because the doctor could get paid more. Do you feel you have such a doctor? I didn't think so, because if you did he wouldn't be your doc anymore.

When we first moved to Utah, we had to get a new dentist. We found one but after a few visits we noticed that he was detecting at least two cavities per family member per visit. This hadn't been our past experience, so after we got suspicious, we visited another dentist. Lo and behold no cavities. We switched dentists.

Maybe the President forgot that the ability to change providers in our current system serves as a deterent to the strawman he proposed. I doubt his system will allow such choices, afterall as an ex-military guy I know something about government provided healthcare.

Originally posted at Anatreptic

To Quote an Expert

2009-06-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

Reporting on the Government's inadvertant release of confidential civilian nuclear programs, the New York Times hilariously interviews an expert in the field of mishandling Government secrets:

“These screw-ups happen,” said John M. Deutch, a former Director of Central Intelligence and deputy secretary of defense who is now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It’s going further than I would have gone but doesn’t look like a serious breach.” (emphasis added)

William Broad's piece, however, failed to mention John Deutch's credentials:

The Defense Department secrets that John M. Deutch, the former Pentagon official and director of central intelligence, kept on his unsecured home computer apparently did not fall into the wrong hands, the government said in a review made public today.

Of course to Mr. Deutch, his willful violation of National Security Laws is only a screw-up (that - 'whew' - doesn't go further than the release of civilian nuclear secrets). Lower ranking people in the Defense Department would have been prosecuted; Deutch got one of Bill Clinton's pre-emptive pardens.

Will the NYT next seek Sandy Berger's opinion on protecting secrets?

Originally posted at Anatreptic

The Message Sells Itself

2009-04-29T22:30:00.001-07:00

This effective chart, used repeatedly by Glenn Reynolds, succinctly explains a major driver behind the tea party movement. It also puts the lie to any talk by the President that he is interested in cutting the deficit. With over a quarter of a million tea party attendees, surely we can post this graph or something similar on billboards across the nation.

Heck, if the Republican party was worth two cents, they'd kick in some funding too. Of course they would have to address their "democrat light" deficits of the past seven years.

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Another Crisis not to Waste

2009-04-27T20:44:00.002-07:00

Keep Rahm Emanuel's words in mind as your government provides "solutions" to this year's Swine Flu crisis.

As a side note, I remember the 1976 swine flu scare, though I was living outside the country at the time. Below is President Gerald Ford setting the example by getting a swine flu innoculation:

Turns out in '76 only one person died from the Swine flu but 30 people died from the vaccinations. 40 million people were innoculated before the program was shut down within three months of its inception.

(While I point out the above, note I'm not against immunizations - I get a flu shot annually - I just have developed a sceptical disposition towards taking any government pronouncement at face value.)

Crossposted in Anatreptic.

Utah Tea Parties

2009-04-11T08:03:00.001-07:00

Unlike the President's tax cheating cabinent picks, I pay my taxes without the threat of Senate hearings. This tax day, however, after completing my patriotic duty the Feds will hear from me. I'm heading down to the Tea Party being held at the Salt Lake City Federal Building. Look for me under the banner "Term Limits for Congress" or "Term limits = Sane Spending" (yes Orrin "Tim Geithner's too important" Hatch - you're one of my inspirations).

Are we going to have much of an impact other than to blow off steam? I dunno, but it is amusing to see two Congressmen and Utah's Attorney General are planning to crash the party as well.

If you are in Utah, join us:

April 15, 2009 Noon-2PM
Federal Building, 125 S State St., Salt Lake City

There will be a second protest from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm for those of you still intent on making more taxible income that day.

Other Tax Day Utah Tea Party Protests:

Provo
5-7 pm
US Post Office Provo (East Bay), 210 East 900 South

St George
5-7 pm
Vernon Worthen Park Gazebo (300 S 300 E, St. George)

Cache Valley
4-6 pm
Free Speech Zone
Approximately 241 North Main, directly south of City Hall/Logan Library (Grassy Area to the West of the Sidewalk).

Vernal
5-7 pm
Courthouse lawn at 150 E. Main St

Crossposted at Anatreptic

Beware some who feign to lead

2009-03-29T19:51:00.002-07:00

There is not much difference between a lynching mob and those in Congress who worked themselves into a frenzy to vote AIG bonuses into oblivion last week. Congress (and the President) showed they are willing to push us into an ochlocracy.

And now up and coming "conservative" darling Congressman Paul Ryan regrets running with the mob because others have stated the measure may be unconstitutional? Well yes... but if Ryan can't tell the difference between plain wrong and "merely" unconstitutional (and without help at that) then I think conservatives just learned something disturbing about Ryan's character.

Addendum - While Tom Maguire says the jury is still out on constitutional/unconstitutional (remember abrogating political speech was ruled constitutional too) the verdict is in on "gutless".

Cross-posted at Anatreptic

Inversion

2009-01-19T22:11:00.003-07:00

The Oquirrh Mountains rise above the inversion over Salt Lake Valley.

WWOD

2008-10-03T19:29:00.002-07:00

James Taranto links to this testimony where a convert declares "Obama as my Personal Jesus"

Then I began to realize I wasn't the only one trying to buy a WWOD bracelet and spending my weekends scouring CNN.com. The rock star-type love for Obama wasn't just because he was pretty and in the media. Others too, had seen him as a shining light, heard that mythical voice boom out over the mountaintops; people were wearing the t-shirt because they would rather wear something representing a politician than a pop star. People everywhere, young and old, were caring again. So what's the problem here?

Parody? Perhaps. But Obama praise and worship sessions are already breaking out (but for some reason the video has now been "disappeared"...).

But what would an Obama sabbath school lesson be like?:

Class, I'm going to provide you with ethical dilemmas and you will ask "What Would Obama Do" to help you decide your actions:

- You move to a new town and find a new church. Soon you learn the pastor preaches racist hate and wants God to damn America. What Would Obama Do?

- You're introduced to a neighbor who once tried to kill members of the military, bombed the capital, and advocated children kill their parents. To this day, this "neighbor" is proud of what he did and will even say he didn't do enough? What Would Obama Do?

- You state your campaign will participate in the Federal matching fund program and abide by the limits set. You also challenge your opponent to do the same. Then you see you have an opportunity to collect more money? What Would Obama Do?

- You state you would support a "born alive" bill to save infants accidently delivered during botched abortions, only if the legislation provides the same federal language preventing a roll-back. The legislation before you now has been amended to include such language. What Would Obama Do?

- You hear that some people oppose your views and they are going to the airways and publishing houses to make their opinion known. What Would Obama Do?

- You decide to run for State senator. You find you have an opportunity to eliminate opponents - including the incumbent from the ballot. What Would Obam Do?

Oh my!...class your answers...

Maybe the right question should be: What WILL a President Obama do?

Out of touch by the numbers

2008-10-03T19:20:00.002-07:00

This week my 10 year old told me the U.S bought Alaska for $700. When I asked if that figure was more like $7 Million she said nope "$700 - a penny an acre". I ascertain the concept of an acre doesn't hold much meaning for 10 year olds.

Likewise, other numbers shed light on how some understand the world:

Cynthia McKinney uses the number 5000 to show she now exists only to provide comic relief:

I had a woman--in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I had a woman--I have never really said this in public, out loud, in front of a lot of cameras, and there's a lot in this room now. But I had a mother to call me because her son had a very gruesome task. Her son's charge by the Department of Defense was to process 5,000 bodies that had received a single bullet wound to the head, and these were mostly males. And her son was afraid to talk because he had signed a silence agreement, so he only complained to his mother. But the data about these individuals was entered into a Pentagon computer, and then reportedly the bodies were dumped in a swamp in Louisiana. This is as a result of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

According to McKinney, New Orleans is so inconsequential 5,000 citizens can disappear off the face of the earth but no one bothered calling the missing persons department.

Last year Obama let the number 10,000 clue us that he has no feel for natural disasters in the U.S.

We smirk because such statements reveal the speaker has no clue what they are talking about. That's why James Taranto teases McKinney about another of her assertions:

There is a huge hole in the story, though: McKinney merely "suspects" that the 5,000 victims of the single bullet were prisoners. It seems to us they could well have been consenting adults, and the story would have made every bit as much sense.

In the case of Obama's 10,000 dead he made a mistake - but by 3 orders of magnitude. I might be off on how much gas my car's fuel tank holds but I wouldn't spout off 20,000 gallons.

Hence I was intrigued by this related Obama observation:

I noticed this in Obama's books as well, especially the second. He'll often discuss an issue, apparently showing a great range of empathy for both sides and state a real objection, and then he'll ignore that and go on to state his position.

That may work for issues such as his position on abortion, but economics is a matter of hard parameters. Obama doesn't seem able or willing to comprehend that, or do the hard work to assemble any reasonable policy position. I don't think he's able to do this.

The next president - any conceivable president - will have a very hard time of it. Pretty much all the wiggle room is gone. After last night, I literally believe that Obama isn't capable of understanding it. Maybe he's not very bright. Maybe he just dislikes quantitative thinking. But for whatever reason, his current stated policies are an exercise in fantasy.

Next year's priorities need to run along the lines of making sure that poor people in the US have enough to eat. To be babbling about expanding early childhood education?

McCain did not impress me, but he appeared to understand that we have our butts in a tight crack and are going to be facing some very rough circumstances.

Anyone who watched last night's debate and can still consider voting for Obama loses my respect. There's a limit to how far one can defy reality and live. That man is currently outside the parameters of the land of the living. It's probably due to inexperience.

h/t

Rainbow over Francis Peak

2008-09-20T17:19:00.003-07:00

Rainbow over Francis Peak after a brief shower. The domed structures are FAA radars.

Wall Lake in the Uintas

2008-09-13T20:50:00.005-07:00

Reid's Peak and Bald Mountain

The "Wall" at Wall Lake

View of Wall Lake with Notch Mountain in the background.

The Scarlet "T" of Inexperience

2008-09-03T05:58:00.000-07:00

Splengler, whoever he/she is, succinctly sums up the McCain selection of Palin:

The young Alaskan governor, to be sure, hasn't any business running for vice president of the United States with her thin resume. McCain and his people know this perfectly well, and that is precisely why they put her on the ticket. If Palin is unqualified to be vice president, all the less so is Obama qualified to be president.

McCain’s pick couldn’t have highlighted Obama’s inexperience more than if he branded a scarlet "I" on the Chosen one’s forehead.

Ironically, picking a far more experienced executive for VP, such as Mitt Romney, wouldn't have had the same effect to highlight Obama's inadequacy. This is because the media had so far refused to make that living room elephant an issue; they were smart enough to not say anything when the differences were obvious. But then John McCain put out that juicy Palin bait and the liberals and their media compatriots couldn't help themselves. Seeing red meat they were drawn out and trapped long before they knew what happened. Now Mr Obama is forced to tout running a campaign as experience to be president. By that standard Ralph Nadar has more experience than Obama.

"I am a gullible dork"

2008-09-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

The left may have hit rock bottom with the "Sarah Palin faked baby birth bit" but don't worry, they're breaking out the pick axes and continuing to dig. Curt at Flopping Aces links to a farcical video purporting to be a 34 year old Todd Palin having a manhood crisis about his wife's election as mayor of Wasilla, AK. Curt also links to a nutroot Rogers Cadenhead, an Alan Colmes source, who swallowed this hook, line, and sinker before he followed-up on his second thoughts and came to the conclusion he was a gullible dork.

The left is so spooked they are literally grasping anything that gives them hope to derail the impact of Sarah Pallin as the Republican VP nominee. The only thing leaving the tracks, however, is any semblence of rational thought the left may have had. McCain's VP choice appears politically shrewd on several levels, but no one could have anticipated the utter unraveling we are witnessing on the left.

The Reverend Made Me Do It

2008-09-02T17:33:00.003-07:00

Maybe former DNC Chairman Don Fowler really is sorry for making gleeful comments about a potential devasting hurricane, but his apology makes a case he was sorrier for being caught:

One doesn't anticipate that one's private conversation will be surreptitiously taped by some right-wing nutcase

One does hate to always be guarded, but Fowler also is willing to reveal character flaws when he knows the tapes are running. In private we found he delights in the misfortune of innocents if it furthers his cause. In public, however, we've learned he is a buck passer when he blames a dead man as the genesis for his comments:

Fowler sought to contrast his religious views with those expressed by the late Rev. Falwell before his death.

"I believe in a benevolent God," said Fowler. "I'm a religious person. It was a facetious statement, some might even say satirical, play off of what Falwell said."

Obama Pulls a Page from the Thomas Hearings

2008-08-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama and I are only six months apart in age and I figure he, like me, got his first detailed impressions of Senator Joe Biden through the widely aired confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas as a Supreme Court Justice. Biden was the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee responsible for the ~~farce~~ hearings. I suspect Obama looks at Biden’s experience as a character assasin as an asset.

I recall at one point Biden allowing a committee member to berate Thomas for not keeping an open mind about his accuser, Anita Hill, and her accusations of alleged sexual harassment perpetrated by Thomas. What an asinine comment - of all people, certainly Thomas knew whether the charge was true or false. The rest of us needed an open mind, but as Kathryn Jean Lopez notes – Biden’s was closed for the season.

During the hearings, Juan Williams wrote of the Judiciary’s behind the scenes attempts to smear Thomas. Perhaps Obama wants more of the same from Biden (change anyone?), but I think he will be handicapped in this “You-tube” age. It’s one thing to make bone-headed attacks in pre-Google times, but hard to do in an era of an “army” of fact checkers.

Biden detractors, on the other hand, are going to have a field day. For instance here is Biden on Thomas:

I think that the only reason Clarence Thomas is on the Court is because he is black. I don't believe he could have won had he been white. And the reason is, I think it was a cynical ploy by President Bush.

Couple the above (and Thomas had a resume), with Biden’s Obama is inexperienced declaration that Mark dug up and should we surmise Biden thinks Obama is a cynical ploy by the Democrat Party?

If he had any self respect, the next two months should be hell for Biden. Fortunately for him, he is a Democrat.

Dowd still using a Hand Press?

2008-08-19T05:42:00.001-07:00

The "Bush vacations while Rome burns" schtick didn't have much traction seven years ago. Apparently only those stuck setting type in the New York Times missed out on the fact that the President of the U.S. pretty much takes his office on the road. This week Maureen Dowd sounds downright anachronistic as she pulls the typesetting duty in today's internet age:

America’s back in the cold war and W.’s back on vacation...

..He has spent 469 days of his presidency kicking back at his ranch, and 450 days cavorting at Camp David. And there’s still time to mountain-bike through another historic disaster.

I guess Maureen does all her writing on a typewriter chained to a desk in the New York Times building. The rest of us understand the concept of the mobile office. In the words of Rush Limbaugh - "It doesn't matter where here is."

For three years I worked out of my home office. My customers didn't know that and it didn't matter. Now I have a downtown office but I still do some work from home - usually after hours. It is all transparent to my customers and out of state boss. If the New York Times used laptops and cell phones they would know what I mean. And yes, the laptop and phone are with me on vacation - for the occasional urgent matter.

So Dowd might not identify with the capabilities technology affords the President, but the rest of us do.

Crossposted at UNCoRRELATED

Now we know why Europeans don't like Root Beer...

2008-07-09T05:42:00.001-07:00

So much for those bumper stickers stating "Nobody's born racist":

Toddlers who say "yuck" when given flavorful foreign food may be exhibiting racist behavior, a British government-sponsored organization says.

The London-based National Children's Bureau released a 366-page guide counseling adults on recognizing racist behavior in young children, The Telegraph reported Monday.

366 page guide? Let Mikey read it.

H/T Small Dead Animals

Crossposted at UNCoRRELATED

Kaysville 4th of July Parade

2008-07-04T12:14:00.004-07:00

Power Sweepers

2008-06-23T19:51:00.001-07:00

David Stout, New York Times reportatorialist, rues Supreme Court decisions aiding and abetting the

Bush administration’s drive, at least for now, for sweeping executive powers in the post-9/11 world

Those sweeping powers?

...In one case, the court refused to stop the administration from bypassing environmental reviews in building a security fence along the border between the United States and Mexico. In the other, it agreed to hear the administration’s appeal of a lower court decision that, on environmental grounds, restricted the Navy’s use of powerful sonar off the Southern California coast.

Stout has the sweeping powers schtick bass ackwards. The only powers running amok here are those using environmental lawsuits to carry out a sweeping range of the leftist agenda - such as preventing the Navy to search for enemy submarines and preventing the border patrol from stopping illegal alliens.

Crossposted at UNCoRRELATED

It was either clean the garage or go hiking

2008-06-21T21:01:00.006-07:00

Baer Canyon Trail overlooking the Great Salt Lake.

It Takes a Village

2008-06-21T12:35:00.002-07:00

Whether you like it or not:

A Gatineau judge's bizarre attempt to undermine a father's authority sends a frightening message to all parents: When it comes to raising children, the state knows best.

Madam Justice Suzanne Tessier of the Quebec Superior Court sided with a 12-year-old girl who challenged, in court, her father's decision to ground her.

Doesn't seem like real Canadian courts are better than their "kangaroo" wanna-be's.

Crossposted at Uncorrelated

Time for a Texas CPS raid

2008-06-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

From another compound:

As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies...

...All it took was a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED 20 Jun, 2008

The Chicago Way

2008-06-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

Want to become a state senator the easy way? Hire a bunch of lawyers to disqualify your opponents' petitions to put their names on the ballot - including the incumbent. Barack Obama, the great community organizer who helped register 100,000 new voters, ensured he ran unopposed in 1996 - that's something Mugabe has failed to do so far. Amazingly, this is a CNN story:

via Flying Debris

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED 18 Jun, 2008

It's the Economically Stupid

2008-06-17T21:21:00.002-07:00

The 1992 campaign gave us "It's the economy stupid". In 2008 it's the economically stupid.

Senator McCain wants to punish oil speculators. On the other hand he also wants to bail out other speculators.

Senator Obama wants to tax "windfall" oil profits. If that's good for oil, shouldn't it be good for any commodity?

Suffice it to say I won't be watching any presidential debates centered on the economy.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED 17 Jun, 2008

McCain should have been shot down over Illinois

2008-06-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

After following an Instapundit link to gawk at McCain's household credit card debt, I stuck around to compare pension plans:

In addition to his Senate salary, McCain received an annual pension from the U.S. Navy that is worth more than $58,000.

...Obama reported between $50,001 and $100,000 in pensions from his work as an Illinois state legislator

So 20 years in the military, including six as a POW in North Vietnam, gets you $58,000.

But seven and a half years suffering in the Illinois legislature gets you somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000. Maybe that will make up for those missed dinners with the wife.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED 13 Jun, 2008

“This makes it very difficult for the rest of us to do our jobs”

2008-06-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

Newsweek columist Eric Alter has his knickers in a bunch after blogger Mayhill Fowler scooped the legacy media on Obama's thoughts of gun-totin', God fearin' country bumpkins and Bill Clinton's opinion of Vanity Fair writers.

"If you don’t have trust, you don’t get good stories. If someone comes along and uses deception to shatter that trust, she has hurt the very cause of a free flow of public information.”

Ironically Fowler gets two pretty "good stories" that Alter implies he would have spiked. I guess "a free flow of public information" means different things between Alter and me. Seems he uses the word "trust" to mean Obama and Clinton should be able to trust a reporter not to report their candid but negative sides (think Alter would consider this rule for President Bush? - yeah right.)

Alter espouses the Eason Jordan style of journalism. Ensure constant access with your subject by only reporting favorable stories. Alter fools himself, however, if he seriously thinks this leads to a "free flow of public information."

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED 11 Jun, 2008

Priorities

2008-06-06T21:47:00.001-07:00

Three times a year, Air Force major commanders meet to coordinate priorities. Defense Secretary Gates, however, set the priority at yesterday’s Corona gathering by firing both the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff. Gates stated his actions were “based entirely” on a report critical of the Air Force’s handling of nuclear weapons.

Juxtapose the above story with this one and I can understand Secretary Gates anger:

E-mails reproduced in the report showed that Hornburg’s successor at ACC, now-retired Gen. Ronald E. Keys, told Moseley that ACC could not spare $50 million for a video show at a time when, due to budget contraints, it could only fund 75 percent of its base operating support needs. Keys wrote, "I cannot support burning that kind of money to fix something that isn’t broken when I am not buying fixes to things that are broken." Keys noted that the $50 million could fund many important projects.

ACC – or Air Combat Command – is the command responsible for nuclear bombers.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED 6 Jun, 2008

Al Quada's image falters - except in America

2008-05-31T14:53:00.002-07:00

Good to read killer elephants are being named after Osama Bin Laden. No small wonder he is held in disdain in India - they have suffered 10 Jihadist terror attacks killing 81 people this year alone.

But Al Qaeda's image is suffering in Muslim countries too. Deborah Haynes reports of young Iraqis who want to look like American Soldiers:

Elbow or knee pads strapped deliberately to ankles and goggles worn back to front over helmets, some Iraqi soldiers have a unique sense of style. Efforts to mimic their American mentors or simply spruce up and re-enforce their regular army gear result in a variety of different outfits whenever the troops are on patrol. Sejad Mehdi, 21, said that he habitually fixes a pair of goggles to the back of his American helmet – bought at a Baghdad market for 50,000 Iraqi dinar (21 pounds) – because he saw US troops wearing them that way rather than because he uses the mask in his job.

Richard Fernandez dubs this phenomenon the Ray-ban theory of History noting the similarity of Filipinos wearing MacArthur style sunglasses after World War II:

In the years after the Second World War the hot fashion item in war-ravaged Manila were Ray Ban aviator sunglasses. Not because people had any Hellcats to fly, but because everyone wanted to look like a "winner".

While Richard notes "In short, winning against al-Qaeda has been largely achieved by winning", I believe an element of foreign respect is also atributable to the way the American military conduct themselves overall.

Interestingly, Richard, like Anne, see the left replacing their Che Guevara caps with the keffiyeh:

It is significant that some members of the Western elite want to wear a keffiyeh at precisely the time when young Muslim men in Baghdad are saving to buy Wiley-X's

The common denominator underlying opposing style choices, however, appears to be America. One side wants to emulate it, the other wants to scorn it.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED May 31, 2000

Carter fails to lead again

2008-05-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

Does Jimmy Carter think superdelegates will ultimately give the nod to Obama or is he just hoping?

"I'm a superdelegate, having been president before, and I think that a lot of us superdelegates will make a decision ... quite rapidly, after the final primary on June 3," Carter told Sky News. "I think at that point it will be time for her to give it up."

So why does superdelegate Carter continue to hedge his bet by not making a commitment now?

Ironically, it was President Carter's landslide loss to Ronald Reagan that resulted in the present Democrat superdelegate system. Gee, is it any wonder the process is flawed when you make superdelegates out of the people you wouldn't want to be your nominee?

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED May 26, 2000

You talk'n about my Momma?

2008-05-26T15:07:00.001-07:00

For a guy who ran around with the unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers, it doesn't seem particularly smart to remind everyone you're also the terrorist appeasing fool George Bush is talking about. Obama's like the hapless kid in Bill Cosby's high school shop class who put a bullet in the furnance. After it exploded, the shop teacher tried to find out who did it. When no one claimed responsibility, the teacher remarked how such an act looked poorly on the mother of the boy who did it. That's when the perpetrater couldn't help himself defend his momma.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED May 14, 2000

Tough to do from Okinawa

2008-05-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

The surge is more than putting more troops on the ground:

"One month ago, the patrols are back, and they are walking, not in Humvees. Different soldiers from the soldiers in the first patrols, but behaving like them – very courteous, very watchful.

"When the patrol knocks on my door, I say, 'Please come in – I would like some lubricant for my pistol.' The patrol leader looks at me with a funny look, then he smiles, then they all come in and drink tea and I draw a map of where the Wahabi are..."

h/t SDA

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED May 14, 2000

Do You Have a Better System?

2008-05-26T14:56:00.003-07:00

Edward Cropper located these salient remarks on capitalism from the master economist, Milton Friedman, who points out the term "self-interest" is a better term then "greed". After all, everyone has self-interest, but only "other" people exhibit greed. "The world runs on individuals pursuing their self interest".

This self-interest operates regardless of the capitalist, communist, or socialist society in place, however:

"In the only cases the masses have escaped from the grinding poverty you are talking about - the only cases in recorded history - are where they've had capitalism and largely free trade..."

In a capitalist society, self-interest has a way of producing fair results. My wife's American history professor demonstrated how self interest could lead to equitable results. He provided a student ten one dollar bills and told the student he could divide the money in two piles to split between another student. The second student, however, got to choose which pile to select. The first student invariably would ensure the ten dollars were split evenly.

Obama wants to raise taxes to make them "fair" (whatever that means) - even if the over all revenue to the treasury goes down. Clinton wants to tax "excess" oil company profits - does that mean she is willing to confiscate "excess" profits of other industries with higher margins? These aren't new concepts. There are plenty of examples to see how they don't work. For example unemployed luxury yacht and plane workers can tell you what happens when the self interest of boat and plane buyers kick in.

Where the economic policies of Senators Obama and Clinton depart from capitalism, society will be the worse for it.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED May 8, 2008

Statistical Oddity

2008-05-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

If Obama wins the presidency, I'm going to pine for the days when Hillary was first lady.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED May 6, 2008

SUV vs F-16

2008-05-26T14:48:00.001-07:00

A friend sent me this photo of the rental SUV attacked by an F-16 in the Utah desert. Wrong target, but as James Edwards would say "That's a good shot though..."

Fortunately the military occupants were not killed, but they were injured while escaping the vehicle. The F-16 fires 20mm rounds. This will make one interesting insurance claim.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 30, 2008

Hillary Goes for Broke

2008-05-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

A year ago she was boycotting Fox, but Senator Clinton's face-off with Bill O'Reilly on the O'Reilly factor was a shrewd move for a number of reasons:

1. O'Reilly is no softball pitcher. If you can face him, you pretty much can face anyone. The not so subtle message to the Democrat super delegates is she can face down John McCain and any media onslaught. The other not so subtle message: "Did you see Obama fold during the last debate?"

2. The interview highlights Senator Obama's cowardice to debate her mano el mano, and she did it by taking on someone tougher than Obama. Did I mention his glass jaw at the last debate?

3. Next to Obama, Hillary comes across as a Republican (John McCain variety). O'Reilly, however, comes from the right which frames Hillary as a leftist. Good for the democrat image when you still got democrat primaries to win.

I only saw a few moments of O'Reilly's interview, but in that part Clinton held her own. The supers got to be wondering, can Obama do that?

By the way, this really irks the far left. But then again, if you don't support her she doesn't owe you a thing.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 30, 2008

Fear the Left More

2008-05-26T14:41:00.001-07:00

I agree completely with Frank Cagle's column:

At the recent Associated Press convention, presidential candidates showed up to kiss the collective butts of America’s newspaper managers. They promised to enact a federal shield law. This is the Holy Grail of corporate newspaper financial officers everywhere, who really dislike spending money defending the First Amendment.

How will the government know to whom it will grant this federal shield? It will be necessary for the federal government to define “journalists.” It is, in effect, a federal license to practice the First Amendment. Won’t it be a comfort when your license to practice journalism is granted by the likes of John Ashcroft or Alberto Gonzales?

While I don't want any attorney general "licensing" journalists, I would expect a John Ashcroft or Alberto Gonzales to be more restrained than a Janet Reno. For some reason those on the left never seem to consider boogymen other then conservatives even when the vast amount of censorship in this country is conducted by left leaning Universities. One need go no further than our northern border to see where leftist political hate speech codes will take us.

h/t Instapundit

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 24, 2008

If You Can't Win, Beat Em!

2008-05-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

My high school hockey team's unofficial motto above fits the temperment of some in Congress who would overturn the Air Force decision to award an air refueling tanker contract to Northrop and the European consortium EADS:

"We're going to try to eliminate the funding," said Washington state Democratic Rep. Norm Dicks, a member of the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. "We're going to try to make a fight on the funding of this in the regular bill."

The comments were made at an outdoor rally on Capitol Hill attended by union leaders and lawmakers representing Washington and Kansas, where Boeing has a significant presence. Some attendees held signs reading "U.S. Workers -- Protect U.S. Military" and "Tax $$ for U.S.A. -- Not France!"

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 22, 2008

The Difference Between Waiting and Seeking Opportunity

2008-05-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Is this a problem, much less a President's problem?:

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

After all, we'll never lack for small towns where the jobs have gone for years. Or millennia. There will always be remnants of blighted industrys for a campaign backdrop.

Am I heartless? Well, I have put people from small towns in Pennsylvania and New York to work. In Utah.

What's wrong with moving to pursue better opportunities? I've done it, Barack Obama's done it, and so has Hillary Clinton.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 21, 2008

Maybe He was Held Up by a Bitter, Religious, Gunman

2008-05-26T14:28:00.002-07:00

Sheldon Alberts searches for Obama's bitter people in Rocky Balboa's old neighborhood, but forgets the Senator's thesis that bitter people are supposed to turn to guns or religion, not Belgian Beer:

When Obama said recently that blue-collar voters are "bitter" and cling to guns and religion for solace, the message resonated for Steve Reeder, 50, a Fishtown college teacher.

Three weeks ago, Reeder was held up at gunpoint near a Kensington 'el' train station.

"I am bitter. I don't go for guns or religion, but I'll go down to a bar and knock down some Belgian beers. That's my form of bitterness," says Reeder.
(emphasis added)

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 21, 2008

As a Matter of Fact...

2008-05-26T14:23:00.001-07:00

Don't tell Jesse!

H/T SDA

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 14, 2008

For the Children

2008-05-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

Fifteen years ago this month the Federal Government under the auspicies of "saving the children" launched an assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco Texas. 76 people including 21 children died in the ensuing fire set by the Branch Davidians. While I hold the adult men in the compound responsible for those deaths, Janet Reno's claim of being motivated to save the children appeared more an excuse to cover the ineptness of her department.

Fifteen Aprils later, it's the state of Texas making the child rescue claim while seeking sex-offending men. But after 10 days some 419 children are the only people in custody. It appears the same level of ineptness is in play.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 14, 2008

Friendly Fire, not Just for Iraq Anymore

2008-05-26T14:16:00.001-07:00

Training on the Utah Test and Training Range got a little dicey as two soldiers were injured by a strafing F-16. Reminded me of the New Jersey School strafed by an F-16 a couple of years ago.

Not to be outdone, the Army is lobbing artillery at homes in New Jersey. Reminded me of the Utah home shelled a couple of years ago.

Code Pink will be calling for troop withdrawals from Utah and New Jersey.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 14, 2008

Obama Spikes Manchurian Jihadi Image

2008-05-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

Until a week ago, Clinton staffers could circulate email implying Senator Barack Hussein Obama is a closet Jihadist. Obama, however, sets our minds at ease with this carefully crafted statement projecting how he really feels about those who take religion seriously:

...they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Not really the viewpoint of an Islamic warrior. With luck, Obama may get credit for not actually believing what Jeremiah Wright taught; unfortunately it’s just the Christian parts.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 14, 2008

Nothing to Lose But His Honor

2008-05-26T14:05:00.001-07:00

Recalling a deal sealed by your handshake is usually done to demonstrate your honor:

Mike Flagler, says he was hired on a handshake in the 1970s to help produce the events Wal-Mart holds each year for managers and shareholders, including entertainment portions of its annual meeting and important sales meetings. He filmed them as well.

Flagler cites his handshake, however, to prove nothing else stands between him and big bucks:

In recent months, Flagler has opened its trove of some 15,000 Wal-Mart tapes to the outside world, with an eye toward selling clips. The material is proving irresistible to everyone from business historians and documentary filmmakers to plaintiffs lawyers and union organizers.

…The best part, maintains plaintiffs lawyer Gene P. Graham Jr., is that "Wal-Mart has no control over this stuff."

With lawyers circling over 30 years of candid moments, Wal-Mart now stands in the market square with pants wrapped securely around the ankles. But for the grace of the candid camera and the lack of deep pockets, there go we. Though Wal-Mart was foolish not to secure the tapes when they had the chance, I still find the lack of honor, on the part of Mike Flagler and his handshake, the more troubling aspect of this story.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 10, 2008

Big Blue a Little Bluer

2008-05-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

The EPA is allowing IBM to do business with the Feds after a week suspension. While I opined a short suspension; the allegations against IBM employees appear serious. In an interim agreement between IBM and the EPA that paved the way for lifting the suspension, IBM acknowledged:

Information available to IBM indicates that one or more IBM employees appear to have obtained and used source selection information in apparent violation of the Procurement Integrity Act

The evidence of foul play must be strong since IBM agreed to suspend five employees pending investigations by the Government and IBM. Big Blue also agreed to forgo its protest of the award and pay the Government's investigation costs - included those incurred by the General Accounting Office investigating IBM's protest.

Interestingly, despite having inside information, IBM still lost the original award. On one hand the competitor could have had an unbeatable award, on the other hand the EPA itself may have been biased towards the competitor. Unfortunately, the reported year long GAO investigation tends to imply EPA bias. A meritless protest usually is wrapped up in a hundred days. The EPA may have dodged a bullet due to IBM malfeasance.

No word on the fate of the EPA employee who provided the illegal information to IBM.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 8, 2008

Looking to North Korea for Guidance

2008-05-26T13:58:00.001-07:00

Harvey Goldberg, Canadian Human Rights ~~Commisar~~ Commissioner:

.. a justifiable infringement of the right to free expression, is "actually the predominant view among most of the states of the world. The view in the United States [that the right to free speech is near-absolute] is really a minority view.

Mind you, Goldberg is speaking to a reporter questioning Canadian Human Rights investigators posting racist rants from unprotected wireless networks owned by unsuspecting individuals.

While many still see the values of the United States as a beacon, the Harvey Goldberg's of the world call them a "minority view" (read "undemocratic"); of course he must be refering to Government's views - not the people they govern.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 8, 2008

Huckabee's "Mitts"

2008-05-26T13:55:00.001-07:00

A few of the first twenty-five signers of the No Mitt for VP petition have someone in common:

Grace Tate

Mark West

Micah Lankford

Marion and Gwen Eddy

Mark Johnson

Beth Sheets

Regina Brown

Brenda D. Turner

James West

Ted Baehr

Ann E. Ritterbush

Regarding a related ad, Muckety notes "The political action committee, Government Is Not God, has paid for an advertisement warning GOP presumptive nominee John McCain not to select Mitt Romney as his Vice President for the 2008 election." Muckety then digs deeper:

A look at the political donations by the PAC via FEC watch at OpenSecrets.org shows that during the 2008 election cycle they gave money to three presidential candidates who are no longer in the race…

$3,500 to Mike Huckabee
$1,500 to Tom Tancredo
$1,000 to Sam Brownback
There were no contributions to McCain or Romney on the report which was last update 12/31/2007. Maybe they should donate some money to McCain’s campaign before threatening to not support him.

Huckabee always did run a low budget campaign.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 1, 2008

HillaryCare 2008

2008-05-26T13:52:00.001-07:00

So Hillary stiffs insurance companies $292,000. Image the bath they'll take if she becomes President.

h/t Surber

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 1, 2008

IBM Suspended From Government Work

2008-05-26T13:50:00.001-07:00

Suspending a large company from Federal work is unusual:

IBM Corp. was apparently blindsided by the Environmental Protection Agency’s move to suspend the company from pursuing new government work.

I don't expect the EPA's decision to stand, especially since the dispute seems to involve a contract IBM did not win:

The suspension apparently involves an $84 million EPA contract won in February 2007 by the CGI Group to modernize the agency’s financial management system. IBM filed a protest of the award, which stopped work on the project, according to market research firm Input Inc. The Government Accountability Office still has the protest under review, according to Input.

Whatever IBM's sins in this area, it would seem strange that other unassociated divisions of this company would be penalized. I expect the EPA will recieve blowback from other Government agencies. It will be interesting to see what is going on here.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Apr 1, 2008

Mostly Dead...

2008-05-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

... means you're somewhat alive. McCain was mostly dead once.

While pundits write off Clinton's chances for winning the nomination, apparently there are enough super delegates who aren't sure. If they thought otherwise, they would declare their support for Obama and end the handwringing. They don't, which is why she remains somewhat alive.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 31, 2008

Stone Cold Sober

2008-05-26T13:45:00.001-07:00

As a BYU grad, I don't take offense that the University of Texas at San Antonio lifted parts of their honor code from BYU's. The question is, did UTSA copy the right parts:

Any consumption of alcohol, in any form, is a breach of the Honor Code. The following are examples of serious noncompliant behavior related to alcohol use:

- Being present where alcohol is being consumed by others

- Personal consumption of alcohol socially or as a consequence of alcoholism

- Furnishing alcohol to others

- Having alcohol in one's apartment

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 31, 2008

Boeing Pounds the Table

2008-05-26T13:36:00.004-07:00

Since most source selection details are still sealed, we have little insight to the merits of Boeing's protest to the General Accounting Office over an Air Force aerial refueling tanker contract to competitor Nothrop/EADs. Boeing's PR offensive, including a full-page Wall Street Journal ad, indicates however, the merits are pretty slim. As the lawyers say, if the facts are on your side pound the facts; if not pound the table.

The fact that Boeing's ad and talking points primarily takes issue with Air Force requirements suggests they have a weak case; afterall those requirements were known over a year ago and the time for dispute was then. That's what the Northrop/EADs team did when the deck was stacked in Boeing's favor. All the GAO can do now is pretty much rule whether the source selection was conducted fairly.

Boeing's complaint that requirements were changed to "unfairly [skew] the results against Boeing" can easily be restated: the Air Force modified requirements to inject competition into the process. When Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas, they became the only domestic company that had boom capable tankers (booms allow high speed fuel transfers). Six years ago Boeing almost pulled off a sole-source tanker deal that Senator John McCain disrupted. Revelations that Boeing offered a job to the top AF acquisition official during those negotiations resulted in a black eye for the Air Force. New Air Force leadership probably realized replacing a 500 plane tanker fleet with only one source wasn't going to bode well for the pocket book. Northrop/EADs, however, wasn't content to be a patsy to offer a pretense of competition. If they were going to play the Air Force needed to have requirements that gave them a viable chance of winning.

Boeing is now posturing for Congress, who can always pull funds for the tanker deal. Indeed the Illinois based company already has Obama (Illinois Senator) and Clinton onboard; ostensibly for the American jobs being exported to Europe (though Northrop/EADs will assemble planes in Mobile Alabama). No doubt the democrat presidential contenders see this as an opportunity to attack John McCain as anti-U.S. worker.

While the next step will be the GAO decision, it won't be the final act.

UPDATE: Boeing ad here.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 27, 2008

I'll Pass on Boycotting the Olympics

2008-05-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

If you wanted me to back a boycott of the Chinese Olympics, you should of talked to me when I was an idealistic teen. Back then I thought it was an appropriate response to Moscow when they invaded Afghanistan. I've since learned that this was a better response:

The massed deployment of the FIM-92A Stinger in Afghanistan tipped the scales in favour of the Mujahedeen insurgents who shot down large and medium transports, helicopters and significantly, tactical aircraft. This forced the Soviets to change their weapon delivery profiles much to the detriment of bombing accuracy.This in turn rendered Soviet air superiority meaningless, as the low density point targets typical of such warfare cannot be accurately hit from altitude with dumb weapons. The Soviets lost their greatest tactical advantage in the campaign and the result is evident in this year's reluctant withdrawal.

So maybe this was really an attempt to get the Chinese' attention.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 26, 2008

Mark Observes and McCain Delivers

2008-05-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

Mark's observation is apparently picked up by McCain's staff!

H/T Instapundit

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 25, 2008

Super Delegates

2008-05-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

This evening, I and 22 others attended the local Republican precinct caucus. I'm told there are 800 registered Republicans in the precinct, making ours the fourth most Republican precinct in Utah. (The town I live in has only 4000 people but four Republican precincts. It's actually a friendly place for Democrats - we know both of them by their first name.)

Despite our 3% caucus turnout, our precinct is allotted five county and three state Republican convention delegates because nearly 80% of the precinct Republicans vote on Election Day.

In Utah, however, Election Day is the wrong day to make a difference. In the most Republican state in the union, the State Republican convention in May and the Republican primary in June usually determine the final slate of State officers.

Super delegates indeed.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 25, 2008

Three for the Price of One

2008-05-26T13:01:00.002-07:00

Akhil Reed Amar proposes Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton share the presidency because, well... its do-able. It certainly would save the Democrats a lot of grief over picking a nominee. Democrats would get credit for another black president and the first women president (but wait there's more! Hillary could throw in the first black president as co-co president to seal the deal). A perfect application of the 25th amendment and the elastic constitution:

...By creatively using the constitutional rules created by this amendment, the Democrats can, if they are so inclined, present the voters in November with a new kind of balanced ticket.

...that the person heading the Democratic ticket would, if elected, take office in January 2009 but would serve as president for only the first three years of the four-year term. In January 2012, the teammates would use the 25th Amendment to switch places, and the person elected vice president would assume the presidency for the final year of the term. There is nothing magical about these dates. Almost any date would do.

While Amar gets goose bumps about the possibilities of packing the White House he forgets to consider whether such an arrangement would actually be good for the country.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 20, 2008

Agenda Journalism?

2008-05-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

Minneapolis Star-Tribune crack investigative reporting:

Reader inquiry: Are you a woman in the military whose marriage has ended?

Are you a woman in the military whose marriage has ended?

We'd like to talk to you for a possible story.

Please call reporter Pam Louwagie at 612-673-7102 or e-mail plouwagie@startribune.com.

Please leave your name and a telephone number where you can be reached.

h/t Small Dead Animals

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 20, 2008

Another Rovian Plot

2008-05-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

Karl Rove offers free advice, probably because he knows the Democrats are too bone-headed to take it:

One out of five is not a majority. Democrats should keep that simple fact of political life in mind as they pursue the White House.

For a party whose presidential candidates pledge they'll remove U.S. troops from Iraq immediately upon taking office -- without regard to conditions on the ground or the consequences to America's security -- a late February Gallup Poll was bad news. The Obama/Clinton vow to pull out of Iraq immediately appears to be the position of less than one-fifth of the voters.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 20, 2008

Jesse Jackson: A Typical White Person

2008-05-26T12:52:00.000-07:00

Obama has hit rock bottom but is now brandishing a pick ax:

"... .. The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person who, uh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know there's a reaction that's been been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it. ... .." - Senator Barack Obama

Jesse and Grandma Obama must live in the same neighborhood:

I hate to admit it, but I have reached a stage in my life that if I am walking down a dark street late at night and I see that the person behind me is white, I subconsciously feel relieved.
- Jesse Jackson

UPDATE:

Can we declare China Syndrome yet? The Obama Campaign is now passing out photos of Bill Clinton shaking hands with the newly radioactive Jerimiah Wright. I guess in Obama's morally equivalent universe the first black president was also a closet Black Liberationist. The only thing that can make this more hilarious is if Hillary actually jumps into Obama's ever deeping hole and responds. Surber is gonna need more popcorn.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 20, 2008

Korean War Grinds Into its Sixth Decade

2008-05-26T12:46:00.003-07:00

In case you were wondering what happens when we don't leave.

I've posted this before but it bears repeating as the media focuses on protesters during the fifth anniversary of the Iraq combat operations. Here Donald Rumsfeld provides perspective on Iraq by pointing to the Korean experience.

Many of you may be aware that I keep a photograph on my desk under glass. It's a satellite image taken at night of the Korean peninsula. And I think they're going to put one up, if they have one. It's powerful. I often give it to foreign dignitaries when they visit my office. It's evidence of Bob Bartley's vision.
And as you can see, in the south, below the Demilitarized Zone, the land is bright with energy and life. In the north, that one pinprick of light is the capital -- of Pyongyang in North Korea. The same people in the north and south, the same resources in the North and the South -- no difference. The difference is that in the south, they have a free political system and a free economic system -- and that that freedom has unleashed the power of human ingenuity to the great benefit of the South Korean people.

In the North, with a repressive dictatorship, a command economy, the people suffer starvation. They are taking people into the North Korean military that are four feet, 10 inches high and less than a hundred pounds because of malnutrition in that country.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 20, 2008

More Obamanation

2008-05-26T12:41:00.002-07:00

Obama on Imus:

"I understand MSNBC has suspended Mr. Imus. But I would also say that there's nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group. And I would hope that NBC ends up having that same attitude. ... He didn't just cross the line. He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America. The notions that as young African-American women — who I hope will be athletes — that that somehow makes them less beautiful or less important. It was a degrading comment. It's one that I'm not interested in supporting." (October 2007) emphasis added

I guess Obama's trepidation about stereotypes took Sundays off:

Jeremiah was a bullfrog,
He was a good friend of mine,
I never understood a single word he said,
But I helped him drink his wine.

It's not the age of Aquarius that is dawning on America.

H/T Don Surber and Alexis' comment for the "Joy to the World" reminder.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 19, 2008

Super Mess

2008-05-26T12:36:00.002-07:00

Michael Goldfarb surveys a potential train wreck

What if I told you in 2004 that the Democratic party would run an African American candidate for president in 2008? I tell you National Journal will officially label this candidate the most liberal member of the United States Senate. This candidate will also have served less than three years in that Senate, with no executive, foreign policy, or military experience. Then I tell you that this candidate will lose the party's primaries in Texas, California, New York, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Oh, and his minister sounds like Louis Farrakhan, and actually pals around and gives awards to Farrakhan.

...Obama has been fatally wounded, and yet the Democratic party superdelegates, who exist solely to prevent such a catastrophe in a close primary battle, can do nothing about it. If they hand the nomination to Clinton, the party loses the black vote, and Clinton cannot win without those votes.

I figure we'll learn a lot from the super delegate tally. If they think it will be a lost cause, they'll vote for Obama - losing the election will be on his shoulders. On the other hand, if they think Hillary has a fighting chance even with the loss of the black vote, we'll see her as the nominee. Once again race panderers have managed to marginalize the black vote.

Early Canary: ~~Jack~~ John Murtha, always looking out for the interests of others, cast his lot with Clinton. Who knew she had a 26% Pennsylvania margin...

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 19, 2008

The Audacity of Navel Gazing

2008-05-26T12:32:00.001-07:00

Want to see the races working together? Join the military. They train, work, play and fight together. Their kids go to school together. They live in the same neighborhoods, shop in the same stores, and get seen by the same doctors. There are black, white, and brown generals - none of whom skipped a rank or started from the top. This is the life I know – I grew up in an Air Force family, and later raised my own Air Force family. You won’t see a more integrated community, working together, than a military base or post. Somehow this worked without whites, blacks, and browns having to prostrate themselves to the insecurities of each other; maybe that’s why I reject the propositions of those who think we do.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 19, 2008

It's the Culture Not the Race

2008-05-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Clinton camp has been trying hard to get the nation to notice that Senator Obama is black. The problem for the Clintons, however, is it's not race but the Sister Souljahs that most Americans find objectionable. Or as my wife noted to me it's not about the race, its about the culture - the one typified by the race baiting Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons. Obama's repudiation of those two early in his campaign seemed to bolster hopes that Obama wasn't part of that divisive, racist, crowd. Hence the hits he took for not being "black" enough or in other words a purveyor of the Jackson/Sharpton hate culture. That cultivated image has been shattered as Obama's "spiritual advisor" of twenty years turns out to be cut from the same cloth as Jackson/Sharpton.

I'm sceptical that Obama will be able to disassociate himself from Jeremiah Wright. It is just not believable that the Senator did not know about the bigoted, hateful things Jeremiah Wright had been consistantly preaching. This same preacher was actively working on Obama's campaign till Friday.

Too bad; when Hillary Clinton strong arms the super delegates at the convention to beat Obama, maybe the black Democrats will care, but the rest of America won't.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 17, 2008

A Tax By Any Other Name

2008-05-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

My trip last week to Las Vegas and back entailed gasoline purchases of up to $3.50 a gallon. Two weeks ago I was paying around $2.85. I'm no economist but it seems to me Washington's propensity to save people from themselves amounts to a tax on the rest of us as our currency tanks. The WSJ seems inclined to agree:

Speculators are adding to this commodity boom, betting that the Fed has thrown price stability to the wind in order to ease U.S. housing and credit woes. The problem is that dollar weakness is making both of these problems worse. The flight from the dollar has made U.S.-based investments less attractive, at a time when the U.S. financial system urgently needs to raise capital. And the commodity boom is translating into higher food and energy prices that are robbing American consumers of discretionary income. In the name of avoiding a recession, reckless monetary policy has made one more likely.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 17, 2008

Email Campaigns

2008-05-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I made one $25 donation to Representative John Murtha's congressional opponent. Murtha still won, but now I've got a friend for life with the Pennsylvania Republican party. I figure they spent my wad, however, on postage to solicit more money from me. Now that they have run out of stamps they just email - daily. There are no links to unsubscribe. I might send $25 again, but leave John Murtha's email and address.

On the other hand, I take a certain amusement receiving the weekly kook fringe email from Democrats.com. They are on a tight deadline to get Congress to impeach Vice-President Cheney before his term expires. I figure a $25 donation to this group might inflict more damage on Murtha then the Pennslyvania GOP has managed.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 15, 2008

In Mesquite

2008-05-26T12:17:00.001-07:00

As Mark with a "K" notes, I'll pass on the drunk blogging. Being the designated driver has it's advantages.

I'm escaping the snow and cold in Mesquite Nevada. Earlier my wife and I drove to Las Vegas to see Bodies, the Exhibition, It's an amazing anatomical display of the human bodies and their inner workings. Water and fats are replaced with colored plastics to preserve the specimans. It's something my wife has wanted to see for a while. If you come to the exhibit in Las Vegas, be prepared to walk the casino gauntlet.

I'll try to post something a little later this evening.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 14, 2008

MSNBC Wishes

2008-05-26T12:11:00.003-07:00

Actually, with 34 percent saying they are better off and 21 percent experiencing no change, a majority of people don't think they're worse off than 4 years ago. Have we a headline writer that doesn't understand the word "plurality" or is MSNBC creating a myth hoping the public doesn't do the math?

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 13, 2008

Value of Dead Fugitives Halved in Eight Years

2008-05-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

In 2000 the FBI was still paying the asking price for a fugitive as a group of hunters claimed $150,000 for finding Alan ("Monty") Pilon. Last month the going price dropped to $75,000:

The FBI is defending itself against claims it shortchanged the man who found the skeletal remains of the last of the notorious Four Corners fugitives.

Eric Bayles, a Blanding cowboy, was given a $75,000 check by federal agents on Feb. 22 for finding the remains of Jason McVean. He stumbled upon the fugitives bones in the deserts of San Juan County last year.

The wanted poster for McVean originally advertised a $150,000 reward and Bayles feels cheated.

In a statement to the Deseret Morning News, the FBI's Salt Lake City office said it has paid out approximately $225,000 in reward money for the Four Corners fugitives. A group of 11 Navajo deer hunters collected approximately $13,600 each for discovering the remains of Alan Pilon in 2000. The third fugitive, Robert Mason, killed himself after shooting a San Juan County Sheriff's deputy back in 1998.

In 2001 Unsolved Mysteries still showed $300K in the reward kitty. While I agree with the FBI that finding a dead fugitive nine years after the crime is not as valuable as finding one earlier, how much would they have paid if McVean was still alive? Coughing up the additional $75K might be a small price to pay to avoid negative publicity - or is the reward on Osama's head only half as much as the $25 Million 2001 asking price?

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 11, 2008

Get Worked Up Over Real Injustice

2008-05-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

So a "liberal" judge denies a 17 year old's request to join the military - big deal. The kid is still a minor; that means someone else gets to make the call and in this case it's a judge. If the young man had "liberal" parents they'd probably make the same call and yet we woudn't be complaining to the papers. Heck, if he was my kid I wouldn't give him permission - and I'm a flaming classical liberal.

I'm glad the young man wants to join the military and saddened the judge has a poor attitude about the military. But neither opinion is relevant to a parent or guardian's right to make decisions regarding their charges.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 8, 2008

Clinton Launches a Hail Mary

2008-05-26T12:00:00.001-07:00

Hillary's definately going long on this play. It shows she knows she is behind, deep in opposition territory, and no time on the clock. Obviously the intended receivers are soccer moms whom she is hoping never heard of John McCain. One would think the ad has zero credibility with anyone else but I cease to be amazed.

Meanwhile, you don't have to be answering phones at 3 a.m. if your'e not keeping everyone on a short leash and you trust your military:

In 1981, his counselor Edwin Meese called a 3 a.m. staff meeting after learning that U.S. fighter jets had shot down a pair of Libyan planes earlier that night. They decided against calling Reagan in his Los Angeles hotel room.

Addendum: Of course giving your staff a free hand assumes you're working with competent and responsible people in the first place. I figure when Hillary gets a call at 3 a.m. one of her first thoughts is "Where is Bill and what's he up to?"

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 1, 2008

What Did His Great Great Grandfather Write?

2008-05-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

Ironically a Donner is worried about a lack of snow:

We asked friends to write letters about climate change to their great, great grandchildren. Here's what they said:

"I thought of you, the future Donners. Are you still shoveling snow off the lake and playing hockey at the cottage? Do you have to wait an extra month for the lake to freeze? Or does the lake not freeze at all?"

Dr. Simon Donner, Climate Scientist
Read Simon's letter, then write your own and send it to us!

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Feb 29, 2008

Conservatives with Time on Their Hands

2008-05-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately for Hillary the Republican primary stopped being fun for the vast right wing conspiracy :

As many as a tenth of the Texans voting in the Democratic contests could be Republicans, and overwhelmingly they favor Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, the polls show.

...a significant proportion say they are temporarily backing Obama for strategic reasons. They plan to vote Republican in November, but for now, their goal is to try to make sure Clinton cannot win.

This has probably been happening in all the primaries since McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee. Republican voters figure they can now make a bigger splash in the Democrat pool. Some want to be part of that stake being driven through the heart of the Clinton machine.

The strategery only pays off if Obama actually loses the general election. But that seems achievable. A significant number of Obama’s primary wins are red states that usually go Republican in the general elections. Furthermore, an Obama candidacy will ensure Iraq is front and center in the presidential debate and play into McCain's strength. I still think there are enough adults in America to want us to act responsibly in Iraq. If so, McCain can thank the conservatives he denigrates.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Feb 29, 2008

Utah Things

2008-05-26T11:50:00.001-07:00

A while back, I noticed quite a few trampolines in the neighborhood. When I mentioned to my wife that I didn't recall so many growing up she said it was a "Utah thing". Neither one of us grew up in Utah, so maybe she is right.

More Utah things?

Hang Gliding
Mountain Biking
Ski Jumping
ATVs
Rock Climbing
Deer Hunting
Backpacking
Dirt Bikes.

Safety? Nah! but helmets and broken bones make the survey.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Feb 27, 2008

Tough Love

2008-05-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

To avoid an "occupation of undetermined length" Obama's prescription for Iraq is a dose of tough love: "The best way to press Iraq’s leaders to take responsibility for their future is to make it clear that we are leaving."

That medicine cured South Vietnam into oblivion and resulted in death, re-education camps, or exodus for millions. For a man of hope, Mr Obama shows an amazing callousness for the tragedy his reversal of American policy will bring. Meanwhile, from a country in its 63rd year of an "occupation of undetermined length" eyes are beginning to open:

A quick withdrawal from Iraq? Sounds great. But the mistake of having started this war in the first place cannot be corrected by ending it in a mad rush to get out of Iraq. A rapid withdrawal of the US military would most likely be followed by a bloody civil war. Al-Qaida would manage to sink its teeth into Iraq once and for all. Iran would rejoice. And Osama bin Laden and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be the real winners of the 2008 American presidential election.

It seems Europeans may have second thoughts about the U.S. electing a man who thinks like them. America's willingness to protect them and their interests allowed Europe to atrophy her military might (and pump the savings into the social programs Obama envies). Obama's willingness to let Iraq sink or swim can easily be seen as a harbinger that Europe (and Japan and Korea) will be next to receive the opportunity "to take responsibility for their future" as Obama seeks options to pay for his social utopia.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Feb 25, 2008

Can Journalists live without Economics Knowledge?

2008-05-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

Journalism ethics Professor Ed Wasserman asks "Can journalism live without ads" and tries to convice us taxpayer subsidies are the way to go. The professor should ask instead "Can journalism live without writing compelling copy?". Wasserman writes:

In the United States the union dates from the advent of the penny press in the 1830s, when newspaper owners realized that by slashing what they charged readers they could send their circulations soaring and get rich off advertising sales. News found a durable source of funding, and manufacturers hitched a ride into the homes of the burgeoning masses of American consumers.
That era is now ending, not because the public no longer needs news or because people mistrust news any more than they always have -- but because new technologies are churning out better ways to reach customers who are shopping for cars, jobs or homes.

Seems Wasserman mistakes the symptom for the disease. Advertisers go where the people are. If the press can't draw an audience when the content is free what makes Wasserman think they'll want to pay for it. What's next, subsidies for buggy whip manufacturers?
Wouldn't it be ethical for a Journalism Ethics professor to visit his economics department for a few pointers?

H/T Surber

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Feb 20, 2008

Conservatives Already Staying Home?

2008-05-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Discussing the Virginia primary with my son, I opined I may have chosen to stay home once the Republican field narrowed to McCain and Huckabee. Without missing a beat my conservative teenager said he would have just voted for Obama. Maybe that's what some Virgina conservatives did.

John McCain won Virginia with less votes than he received in his 2000 loss; however, Barack Obama, received more votes than the total number of people voting in the entire Virgina Republican primary. While George Bush carried Virginia in the last two presidential elections, today's turnouts don't bode well for McCain's prospects in November. McCain can only hope there were a lot of Republican mischief makers in Obama's totals, but somehow I doubt it.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Feb 12, 2008