Friday, December 11, 2009

Hockey Stick Shenanigans

Hockey stick observed in NOAA ice core data
Hockey stick observed in NOAA ice core data

My previous post contains details that show weather data has been "altered" to fit the need of those seeking money, power, and control over virtually every aspect of life on the planet. My gosh, these people have powerful government agencies working to that end. Take as an example the EPA which has, in all its wisdom, decided that the air we breath (all air breathing creatures) is a pollutant! My granddaddy used to wonder when the government would figure out a way of taxing the very air we breath... Well Baba, if you can hear me, they have..... it's called Cap and Trade.

The link above displays the famous "hockey stick" data that scientists hang their hat on, as proof that we are indeed in a warming period, never-mind the alternative, which is a cooling period - read Ice Age - because the weather NEVER stays the same for long. Click on the link, it's an easy short read with some very interesting graphs - including the vaunted Hockey Stick. It's an eye-opener and explains why the Jim Rogers of the world are busy buying-up prime agriculture properties in the subtropical regions of the world..... they are betting big on a broken Hockey Stick!

Cheers, Mel Shapiro









Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Greatest Hoax On Earth...EVER!

If, after reading this link,  you have any faith left in science, you are the personification of the "cockeyed optimist!" "EXPOSED" is what the headline of the New York Times should read, but strangely, it's quiet on this hugely important story. The entire world's wealth hinges on what governments do in regard to "carbon footprint," "Cap and Trade," oil exploration, electricity development and distribution, food production, jobs and ultimately world prosperity.

Shoot the Messenger, Control the World!

Instead, to the Times and others, it's: Shoot The Messenger! This, after Global Warming is exposed as a gigantic, perhaps the world's greatest, hoax! It's a HOAX, but Obama and company will push further in a headlong rush to destroy all that makes America, America! This crew and their minions are not interested in the fable of "alternative energy," they want NO energy. They talk about "Clean Coal," an oxymoron. They talk about wind and solar energy, terribly inefficient. What they are after is the total CONTROL of all energy. Control of energy is the ultimate control of humanity. The weather, or Climate Change, or Global Warming, has been the fear tool used thus far. If you are in the camp that wants to live in the TV Series, "The Prisoner," or the English movie, "Brazil," or Orwell's "1984" or "Animal Farm," stop reading.

Prosperity Now!

What the USA should be doing right now is seeking prosperity. Forget the rest of the world because when the USA is prosperous, the rest of the world is prosperous too. Instead, our dear leaders are offering tax increases upon the country's very job creation engine: small business! Instead our dear leaders are hiring bureaucrats to regulate (sort of, like they did the Banks? or the Insurance Companies? or Wall Street?) or should I say to sit and knit, take home a check and look to purchase a new car with taxpayers money or buy a house with taxpayers money?

Not one of these government jobs, "saved or created," produces a single widget. No economic multiplier effect, unless the laws of physics have been part of the "Change" in Washington D.C.

It's EASY!

There is an easy way to get the engine of prosperity chugging again. I'll get to that, but first a little history. What made America great was: 1) a vast country of what appeared to be unlimited energy resources, and 2) a population free to exploit it. It's that simple. Two World Wars quickly depleted America's easy to get oil, converting that vital resource into freedom for Asia and Europe, but still America  moved forward because we were still far richer in these vital resources than all the other developed nations.

Energy = Wealth

As oil's cost increased, America's wealth waned. When oil reached nearly $150 a barrel last year, the US economy ground to a near halt. The world's engine of prosperity was literally choked-off. Greedy fraudsters,  selling bogus nonsensical products like "Carbon Offsets," aided and abetted by government "leaders," and a fraudulent scientific community, contributed mightily to the near demise of the greatest economy, while personally obtaining grants, some getting rich, others false fame, with little or no regard for the greater good.

Vast energy is still within our reach, as is full employment. Here's what we can do right now: 1) Instead of programs like "Cash for Clunkers," that actually exacerbate our problems, the government should offer tax credits for motor vehicle conversions to allow cars and trucks to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). America has huge natural gas reserves, often compared to the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. 2) Build 1000 pocket-sized nuclear power plants.... in everyones backyard. Want electricity? Live with a nuclear power plant! This would apply to the Kennedy's and Bill Koch. This simple axiom has worked well for the French where 75% of electrical production comes from nuclear fission.

Jobs right NOW!

Imagine the jobs created by these two "programs!" Millions of good high-tech jobs, that not only employ men and women right now, but jobs that create infrastructure that goes on paying back for generations. America, once again, would lead the world to greater prosperity. The cost of oil would plummet; The use of electric vehicles would soar on the fuel of cheap electricity; CNG and electric "fill-up" stations in every business and home garage. The most expensive part of this energy distribution system is already, literally, in the ground. Every home and business has electricity and millions of home and businesses have natural gas lines.

Time will run-out....

It's long past time to get off the dime and get moving toward growth and prosperity again. This should be done before America falls further into the stultifying slumber of our forefathers homeland: England. Here's the other bright-side to this equation: Laurie David, the The Satchsquatch of Carbon Foot Print, could, without guilt, enjoy her 26 foot long bar-b-que and her 24,000 square foot house on Martha's Vineyard. She would also be free of the title: Hypocrite Queen.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Tempus Fugit


This year I've experienced a couple of firsts having to do with my age: 


On the 4th of July, while at a large birthday party, I had occasion to look around and notice that there wasn't another soul in the room my age. The closest was Rebecca; born in 1943, she is nearly 3 years younger. I was, by at least - not counting Rebecca - a half decade or more older than the next oldest person present. 


A couple days ago, I had need for some advice from an Apple Store tech regarding my computer. Having no appointment, I went to the "Genius Bar" and awaited my turn in line with the others that had no appointment. Soon it was my turn next. But just as I was about to be called an attractive young lady stepped in front of me - to the front of the line. I (gently) tapped her on the shoulder and mentioned that we - I and all those behind me - were waiting our turn in line and that I was next! "Well." she said, "I have an 11:15 appointment, and it's 11:15 now. Do you have an appointment?" Well no I stammered, and dropped the subject. A moment later the techie behind the bar motioned to the next in line, where upon the young woman stepped-up with, "I have an 11:15 appointment." The techie, a young man, perhaps 35, looked at her with a smile and then, much to my surprise, said, "Do you mind if I take this gentleman next? After all age before beauty." I was floored.


While walking Skipper this morning, a fellow, perhaps in his late forties, riding a golf cart slowed to a stop in front of us and said, "There's no sight more serene than watching an old man walk his dog in the morning."


I'm going to have to turn on some bright lights and take a closer look in the mirror, because, really, I don't see that old guy!


Cheers, Mel

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Love Lost

An open Dear John Letter to Levi-Strauss, an old love affair.


Dear John, (oh I know your real name is Levi-Strauss 501 but bear with me) there's someone new in my life. I have loved you since I was a small boy. I have never cheated on you, never dated another, never gone without many of your clones in my closet. I love'd you. When I was a kid I'd pick you up at the store, take you home, get together with you (at first you were as stiff as a board and really blue) - but we, together, would climb into my hot-tub of soapy water and get to really know one another. In that tub we'd get to know one another is such intimate ways that I knew you would always be MINE!  

The first time you disappointed me was when I discovered that you had changed your name! Well, not really your name, but the way you signed it, and your stationary was no longer... leather..... but cardboard?! What a loss! But I adapted, I toughed it out and we stayed together. Actually I loved your pre-washed/preshrunk idea and took you home too. Recently, in need of yet another dose of your particular brand of love, I headed off for the Mall. 

What a disappointment! You are, finally and definitely, no longer you! 501s are no longer 501s, you've changed -- again! First I noticed that you are weird looking. Your warp or weave or something, gave your look a "vertical" line running through you. Next your basic fabric seemed, oh, I don't know, maybe I could describe it as "weak." I went ahead though and took you home again - the "original" dark blue color.  

Now it has to be said, one of the reasons I love'd you is that I could do virtually anything while with you..... work on my car or go out for dinner and a movie. Anything. But this time you weren't "right." Your color came off in copious amounts in areas of any abrasion, like the knees, (which is usual but not like this!) and in other less appropriate areas where almost any rubbing removed color and left whitish blotches, and the vertical lines in your fabric are more apparent.  

This past week, having lost a little weight, I decided to revisit you again, so I headed off for Macys. But what a let-down! I found you but your watch pocket was on crooked! I tried another pair and your seam ran down one leg crooked! Yet another pair.... but those I couldn't even button because the button holes were too small! And you all, even your not 501 brethren, all had that ugly "vertical" weave or warp or whatever to the material. I was so bummed.... I'd reached the end of my very long love affair, Acceptance/Tolerance. Love has its limits. I was no longer in love!  

On a trip to Costco I spotted the Kirkland brand jeans. Wow! Only 13 bucks AND made of the genuine article denim I loved. Now they are cut a trifle differently and no button fly, but hey, whats my choice? I bought 2 pair, they fit great and felt good too, Today I'm gonna get two more pair before they too become a cheap date. 
 
So John, this is good bye. I loved you unstintingly for over 60, yes, sixty! years. But I have a new love in my life. Good bye and good luck.


Cheers, Mel


The following is Levi's response:


From: Levi-MBXLevis <levistrauss@levi.com>
To: melvinshapiro@yahoo.com
Sent: Fri, November 13, 2009 2:03:26 PM
Subject: RE: Your Comment/Question





Hi Melvin,

Celina here from Levi's(r).  Thanks for checking in with us.

We are sorry to hear about your experience.  We take great pride in our company, our products and the loyalty of our consumers.  We take your feedback very seriously and assure you that your comments will be passed along to the appropriate management.

If there's anything else we can help you with, just email us back or give us a call at 
1-800-USA-LEVI.  We're available Monday - Friday, 6:00am - 4:30pm Pacific Time.

Thanks again,

Celina
Levi Strauss & Co.
Consumer Relations
celher3531634


Thursday, September 17, 2009

Health Care Solution

Change the Way you Think

In spite of what one thinks, there may be a solution to the health-care "problem." Unfortunately, the solution means thinking about and doing things differently than the way we currently are. The thinking part of the two is the bigger hurdle. 

Tort Reform

Every aspect of life in America is affected by Tort Law. Every time you turn around, there's mean ol'  Mr.Tort looking at you. In your own home, to the car and street that gets you to work and to the store, even the kids Saturday ball game is ruled by Mr. Tort. From the grocer's shiny floor, to every product we use, including the cart you push, to even the structure of the building, to even the discourse between customers, all aspects of life in America are ruled by Mr.Tort. And he is a nasty and expensive guy. 

In 1978 Piper Aircraft employed  in excess of 8,000 men and women and sold over 5000 airplanes. By 1987 half of all their revenues went to cover Liability Insurance; by 1991 the company went bankrupt. This same scenario was playing itself out at all US based General Aviation (GA) plants. While some of our citizens had Sued Their Way to Wealth others had been sued to death. In 1994 the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 put a lid on Tort Law as it related to GA; that piece of legislation had a singular effect on GA manufacturing in America: in 1997 GA manufacturers logged a record $4.7 billion in sales soaring over the previous years sales by a whopping 66%! More details regarding the Act are here

I mention GARA simply to highlight the difference a day can make. GA was going broke, down the tubes of litigation hell, but was saved by tort reform. Today the entire Health Industry, something like 20% of the economy, is going down those same tubes, bankrupting not a handful of airplane makers but the whole country. Our political parties and elected officials are in the firm grip of the trial lawyers who are literally suing their way to wealth while breaking the backs of American middle class earners. Big pharma, hospitals, virtually all health-care providers, pay huge liability insurance premiums just to stay alive. Of course all costs are borne by the final user and in this case that's John Q. Public; in the form of expensive service, high insurance premiums and a dwindling supply of providers. The Health Care System, if it is to survive to provide service to the entire citizenry, must have Tort Reform.... NOW.

Ownership

Insurance is something we can all relate to. Most of us have car and home insurance, we pay for it ourselves and we are covered by it from coast to coast. We purchase and "own" our insurance. Most States require drivers to have insurance, yet we aren't screaming for government provided home and auto insurance. We shop around for it and try to get the best deal we can. Some buy more extensive coverage than others but a basic policy is required to own and drive car. But when it comes to health insurance, most of us do not "own" our policies but enjoy the coverage that is mostly provided by insurance that is "owned" by our employers. We don't even think about it, other than we want it and employers provide it. Employers purchase insurance and it covers their employees. The insurance company can not pick and choose which employees are covered... it's a package deal. Unfortunately when a worker quits or is fired or simply takes a work "break," the insurance coverage (eventually) is lost. Once one is on ones own the rules change. When an individual applies for coverage, pesky items like preexisting conditions, age and other health related issues come into play determining the cost and quality or even the availability of coverage. This should change.

Mandated

People buy cell phones and cell phone plans, they purchase flat screen TVs and Xboxes; they buy beer and cigarettes and chips and gadgets of every ilk... but they won't buy health insurance, if not covered by work many just chance it. What this really means is that someone else will pick-up the expense through ER service or failure to pay the providing doctor or hospital. We all pay through more costly services. Because, again, the final user pays all the expenses. This has to change, personal responsibility has to play a role, even if it is mandated.

Clinics

Everyone must be required to carry health insurance. The whole idea of insurance dissolves if only those that incur losses are covered. If that were the case premiums would be all but unaffordable. The insurance pool must include everyone, the young, the old, the healthy the sick... everyone must pay into the pool. That's the way insurance works. All health insurance should be available nationally, not restricted by State borders,  and all policies should be "owned" and paid for by the individual. Employers, relieved of insurance premiums would be required to pass on the insurance savings to employees. Employers would gladly relinquish this onerous responsibility and other savings, beyond the cost of premiums, would accrue to the employer. A basic health insurance policy, perhaps along the lines of "major-med" should be required of all citizens/residents. A "proof of coverage" can be easily devised, but everyone must be insured. Some individuals will fall through the cracks, as do some drivers. They would have to be insured by the state, and provided with the minimum coverage, service delivered by State supported public clinics. This service would be available to all those that fall below the poverty line, which would be adjusted to include the cost of medical insurance.

That leaves the illegals. As long as we allow them to enter the country, to stay, to work, and to raise families, we have no choice but to include them in State provided policies. This is just the practicality of the situation. We will not deny medical service to anyone. That's not who we are.

Private Sector

All the above should be provided by the private sector. We know from experience that the government cannot provide cost effecient and competitive service. With-out the profit motive and the efficiencies of the competitive market there are no savings, there is no efficiency... these things are the opposite of all that is embodied in the phrase, "government bureaucracy."


So there it is, by the numbers, five parts to a better system: 
  • 1) TORT Reform
  • 2) Ownership
  • 3) Mandated
  • 4) Clinics
  • 5) Private Sector


Cheers, Mel

Friday, August 28, 2009

Asleep

Cash for Conversion...

The Federal Government should encourage and subsidise the conversion of trucks and automobiles to run on CNG. As proposed by T. Boone Pickens, converting our rolling stock to run on CNG (compressed natural gas) would reach throughout the economy and stimulate industry from the ground up: from the gas fields to the service stations to all the vehicles we drive. Machine shops, fittings, hoses, tanks, contractors and construction equipment would all be employed creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Think about it..... a lot of the infrastructure is already in place. Every community that offers natural gas to homes and businesses already has the pipelines in the ground. All that would be needed would be compressors, pumps and storage facilities. Mini stations "in a box" could be built and sold or leased for installation wherever a gas pipe lays, even in one's home garage! And, during it all and forever after it would all pay-back in real terms. Jobs, new industries, and savings of every kind. Money would be created and saved as would oil. The cost of oil would dramatically fall too. Profits would soar and the cost of living would fall.

Cheap Energy

Combined with the creation of 1000 nuclear power plants coast to coast, and the effect of the above would be a thousand fold and the pay-off would last hundreds of years. Millions of real jobs created. REAL JOBS! America would be flooded with cheap energy. Cheap energy is the key to the good life. It is the reason America has achieved the highest standards of living on Earth; standards that America alone has endeavored to spread around the world. All this AND a real step towards genuine energy independence!

Fixing the Economy is not the goal!

It won't happen. Many Americans are suffering from a fundamental misunderstanding of what's going on in this economy, in this presidential administration. In my previous posting I used The Peter Principle to define America's current leadership. But I was wrong, these folks are not incompetent. They know exactly what they are doing and they are achieving their long sought goals. Put simply, this administration does not want a solution to the economic condition we now find ourselves in. Any solution that brings us back to the America I grew-up in, any EVOLUTIONARY SOLUTION is unacceptable. That would be antithetical to the whole movement now represented by Washington D.C. They, our elected and appointed leaders, AS OBAMA HIMSELF HAS OPENLY STATED and upon which he based his campaign, want "Fundamental Transformation of America!" "CHANGE!" That means American -- What?; Obama Styled -- Revolution! This revolution has been in the works from the ground-up for forty years, way before Obama came on the scene. This revolution has at its heart the destruction of everything American. Starting with that icon of America, GM. Done!

Forty Years in the works....

It blossomed in the 60's with SDS, Weather Underground, Black Panthers, ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, and others. It has insidiously spread its tentacles, preaching "Fundamental Change" throughout the country with systematic attacks on the likes of the Boy Scouts of America, the YMCA, the Church, the Family. ALL values have been turned on their head. It spread its ideology to the PTA, public schools, teachers; all co-opted, as were the Universities, the Courts and Judges, and Legislatures from the town and county council to the State to Washington D.C. One of the prime targets was the School of Journalism, in every major university in the country... from whence the message and the movement was carried into the media: to the Papers, to TV, to the News, to Radio, to Magazines. They... these revolutionaries, now own these voices from the NY Times to NBC and to nearly every organ in between! Solid old line conservative icons of the American press have been "fundamentally changed." From there it has seeped into the consciousness of the citizen. It's been like prostate cancer.... slow moving, painless... until the victim is impotent. It was not a grand plan... it just evolved through slow but steady organized pressure. Its like "The Body Snatchers," fall asleep and you're gone. We've been asleep, we Americans, making a living and trusting to our elected officials and to those guiding our institutions all that we held sacred. We were deep, deep, asleep.

Wake-up!

We are awakening now, but unfortunately we awaken to the realization that a significant number among us have been "snatched." This number has embraced the seduction of the concept of sharing the wealth... of others. Seeing and hearing the vehemence of each side in this now boiling take-over attempt, I fear another civil war..... just as bloody as the first one...... which was the bloodiest war America has ever known. More deadly than all the losses combined, that Americans have suffered in every war since we've been a country. We - YOU and I ARE the new Indians or the new Southerners, we are the new "slave holders" that have to be destroyed. WE are the ones that have to be.... WIPED-OUT, so that the New Dream of a Brighter Tomorrow can emerge.

This is an extreme view... a terrible nightmare. And it can be avoided... through acquiescence..... or it can be averted by taking back, through the polls, our government. Our institutions must be examined. Our children's teachers must have a fundamental understanding of what makes America tick, what makes America unique. When I hear our teachers speak I am appalled. We can no longer sleep. Too much is at stake. Or we can just lay our heads down to sleep and to dream.... A new Dream of Change..... of a new tomorrow, coming soon to a theater near you.....

Cheers, Mel

Monday, August 17, 2009

Peter's Principle at Work

Well, here's a government "solution!" Real estate Redux!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204908604574334662183078806.html

Peters in Charge!

Apparently our elected officials, right up to the top, and most that head-up our major public institutions are incompetents. The Peter Principle in full bloom (The Peter Principle is the principle that "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence." It was formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in the book The Peter Principle). It wasn't so bad when the biggest Government business was the Post Office, but now it's banking, lending, financing, auto making, insurance, and next, "Feeeed MEEEE," the health care industry, and energy!

This morning I sold my meager remaining stock market positions. My anger with AARP, which does not represent the very people who are their customers, Seniors, reached a boiling point last week when I realized that it too has been co-opted by POTUS. I canceled my Supplemental Coverage with them and placed it with another agent, one not so cozy with POTUS. To think that nationalized health care for all, with end of life measures and rationed care based upon one's future economic contribution, will be of benefit to seniors is ludicrous. Let's get real.... nationalized health care is all about finding a way of shifting union/employer health care and ongoing associated legacy costs to the pocketbook of John Q. Public; and seizing for redistribution, the entire health care industry's gross profit. The Health Care Industry represents one fifth of the entire American economy.

The Federal Government now owns and or manages: The World's Largest Automaker... GM; The World's Largest Bank... Citi; The Worlds Largest Insurance Company... AIG. Now they want the Health Care Industry... in toto. What will be left? The Energy Industry; Cap and Trade will take care of that! Once these last two industries have been subsumed by Uncle Sam, the only "industry" left will be the mom and pop corner store.

"Hit Back Twice as Hard!"

This was the message sent by POTUS to political party operatives when Seniors recently heated-up townhall meetings. In Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, the protagonist, John Galt, led a group of "rebels" to overthrow the government via a brain and will strike; a strike by the Captains of Industry. The thought was that without those special few that really make it all happen, the government would eventually fail. American Captains are at this moment either being fired, ignored, co-opted, or actively managed by a POTUS Czar. Populism at work... they are an easy target, like a tottering automaker or failing bank is, or like the Jews of Germany were. Once the profit from all major industry has been seized, where is the last remaining storehouse of wealth? America's oldsters, the Seniors. Representative government, where local concerns are taken to Washington has been turned on its head. Representatives in charge now "represent" POTUS ideology, not the People Of The United States. Representative government has failed.

Strike Back!

Now we need another kind of "Strike." We have evolved since Ayn's treatise from a manufacturing based economy to an empty "consumer" based economy. The real "Captains of Industry" are now Chinese. The emptiness of our economy is obvious as China picks up the world's manufacturing mantel. We need a new kind of strike.... a strike by "consumers." Consumers who Care. Those consumers, the ones that buy the big ticket items are the ones that fuel the "consumer" economy. Those purchases have slowed way down already: autos, homes. A solid Strike of further purchases, where one buys only the essentials..... no discretionary spending, no Big Ticket expenditures, will shut the place down. America needs a real energy plan, as discussed previously. America needs TORT reform. America needs honest health insurance reform. Nationalization will not save the day. Wind mills will not power American factories, solar power will not charge-up an electric car. Outsourcing manufacturing will not create good jobs.

Turn-off the Suspension of Disbelief Machine

We have to pull the plug of the fantasy movie-projector. We need to wake-up America. The economy has to get real again. We have to stop the Suspension of Disbelief, cheer-led by the "news" media receiving Marching Orders from above. A serious consumers strike can stop this fantasy science-fiction "C" movie projected by Washington D.C. The federal government, cannot turn a profit, even with a monopoly. Without income taxes generated by real purchases creating real profits from solid goods to fuel federal coffers, government can't stand; Soviets. Manufacturing has all but vanished.... we can only rub one-another's backs for so long..... someone has to "add value" to the mix. We can't all live off the heat of the "rubbing." We can't all be the prostitute, someone has to bring real money to the party.


Cheers, Mel

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Loss of Inheritance

What a mess we're headed for.

The problem is the schizophrenic state of mind we Americans now find ourselves in. 2009. 233 years ago our freedom was won. America's Federal Election 2008 marks the end of the Rugged Individual as exemplified by Ayn Rand’s John Galt, and the beginning of the Universal Citizen, living in the United Nanny States of America. Election ‘08 marks the end of the American Revolution and the end of the American Ideal. Election ‘08 marks the beginning of a not so new system, but new to the American scene. The experiment in America of, what… I fear to say it… Socialism ... or is it Fascism?

The Dream....

Yet the desire to be the rugged individualists our forefathers were continues in some of our imaginations; the men and women attracted by the freedom and opportunity afforded in this then new country, without the stultifying social caste system that limited one's potential. We admire the mythical Marshal Will Kane of High Noon. A straight shooting cop whose sense of duty and honor prevailed over the easier route… to run. At the same time we want to be the social do-gooder, the "rights" advocate, to be the rich fixer of wrongs, Batman. Or we strive to be the stand-up middle-class white collar guy, Mr. Deeds, the societal fixer. We each want to be all of these characters. Bruce Wayne was good, but took the law into his own hands, a regular one man vigilante team. The way to create the change for this “good” society, within the frame-work of our Constitution and within the spirit of the American way remains blurry. Fictional characters and settings are easy. Real life is very tough, change is of necessity very risky. Our founding fathers literally “found” themselves in a changed position and had but little choice but to accept the risk presented. And they did a wonderful job. Nothing like it had ever existed, it was all like a dream, a utopia in comparison with governments the world over.

Today it‘s different. Change with desired outcome, as in a dream, may seem possible and rational. Right now we are in a sort of dream, a surreal world. In this world everyone has or should have, a nice house. Everyone is well and has the best health care. Everyone is well-fed, no one ever misses a meal. Everyone is educated. Home-life and upbringing are wonderful and the playing field of daily-life defies human behavior; at the end of the day each and everyone gets a golden trophy. In our dream there is plenty of cheap clean energy. In that dream we can even control the weather! But now we are awakening and in the cold hard light of day, the impossible in our dream is truly impossible. Our dreams, as amazing and laudable as they were, were only completely rational while we stayed asleep… and remained in the dream.

Becomes a Nightmare...

Is it possible to create a political system that allows all individuals, from the John J. Astors to the Martin Luther Kings of the world to succeed side by side? The answer is, Yes. Is it possible to build a society of 3 or 4 hundred million souls, make them all fat, rich and happy? Sorry, No.

Our forefathers had a dream. They dreamt of a country where opportunity and freedom reigned supreme - a place where one might try for the brass ring, to succeed at any human endeavor …or to fail, but then free to try again, without the hand of government on their shoulder or in their pocket. Today modern politicians seek to use political power in an attempt to achieve their dream, a different dream, as a reality. This is the most dangerous use of political power; to conjure-up an impossible world, not a chance for success…. That path crushes all in its zeal to achieve social justice through “equality.” Not equality of freedom and opportunity, but equal in the way animals in a herd or fish in a school are. To the outsider they all look alike. To use political power to create Nirvana, is not possible; the equality promised under that system leaves out the very essence of what is uniquely human: the desire to achieve happiness via individual effort and the expression of individual talent. To even attempt to create this dream world is not even reasonable. It's been tried. It does not work. Being a human being means being lots of different things, it is our individual lust for life, it is also our burden as we try to be "fair" to others, but the bottom line will always be: life is not for sissies. We are people, the most difficult animal, but as Americans, at least we are free to fail or to succeed individually. We can live the dream of our founding fathers; can we live the dream embodied in that fateful Election of ‘08?

Too Big To..... Succeed!

I think that the country has grown, not too big to fail... but too big to succeed. Local commonalities that once defined local communities, towns, cities and even our states, and ultimately America have vanished. The result? The American that made America “America” is nearly lost. The idea of an American, as envisioned by the likes of Jefferson and Franklin, is an endangered species. Federalism, Socialism, Fascism can't work here without the destruction of those basic American ideals; those ideals that allow us to identify ourselves, individually and to further identify ourselves as a group. We are stripped of each of our "American" ideals and handed in their place a script written in gobbledygook.

Where's the VALUE?

Years ago I read a book titled Something of Value by Robert Ruark. Ruark depicted a world torn apart by conflicting ideals; those of the Mau Maus' clashed with those of the British. The Western ideal could not supplant the Mau Mau one... for it lacked value recognizable to the Mau Mau, but was clearly recognizable to the colonists. Federalism attempts to replace those original old American values with those of the “International Citizen” but these ideals may not be recognizable to the individual citizen as "something of value." Not when he’s asked to give up what has thus far been the most successful human experience!

One of the cornerstones of our founding father's government was representation. Today, as many as 640,000 citizen/residents have only a single US Representative. Only two US Senators represent over 30,000,000 folks (California). Think about that for a minute.... how many "ideals" do you think two-thirds of a million people, for the most part unrelated, of every: culture, race, religion and nationality, and sexual orientation on earth, share? What kind of representation is that? 545 men and women, Congress, President, and Supreme Court, are too few to rule so many people, when fascism is the rule of the land and if fair representation is the goal. What this thin representation allows is essentially a free-hand to the elected Federal politician who has finally become a kind of Feudal Master, rich, above the laws he has made himself exempt from. This new master and his special interest cronies, have finally brought us to the brink. Thin representation at the Federal level can work; only when the power of that government is limited to original Constitutional Power. That power extended to international trade and national defense. 545 people, whose sole job was the defense of the Constitution. 545 Rulers of… our daily lives…..

It's Broken...

The Federal government is broken in so many ways. Morally, Financially. The tax base shrunken. The Federal Government has set aside the Constitution and now seeks to rule, as opposed to protect. The “new dream,” that not of our fathers’ but of our rulers can not work… that dream is doomed to be a nightmare. There is not enough wealth to accomplish the dreamer’s goal. America’s rich but weak class is in the dreamers’ sights. Watch the dreamers attempt to steal the accumulated wealth of the "Greatest Generation" and their offspring.... today’s Senior Citizen. First by grabbing the half trillion dollars in the Medicare Trust Fund. Then by shrinking paid-for benefits, next by squeezing that population of its hard earned wealth. Watch the dreamers seize more of Corporate America… not possible? The dreamers have our banks, our largest manufacturer, GM, our largest Insurance Co., AIG and now the Federal Reserve. Cap and Trade… and The Entire Energy Industry is on the agenda…. And right now, 20% of the entire economy... The Health Care Industry.

Watch the Chavez model as it speeds toward America.

Inherit.... The Wind!

We are a country all about inheritance. We have inherited our freedom. We have inherited our land. We have inherited our values. Inheritance…. Dreamt of and Invented by the risk and hard work of the founder, enjoyed by the son, squandered by the grandson…. Is this where America is?

Cheers, Mel

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Finally! The Protection We Need

Thank God... the Nirvana we've been hoping and praying for, for so long, is finally arriving.

First Bank Protection. We, us, Citizens, finally own the largest Bank in the World. And we have our guys... the guys that wear the white hats, the Democrats... running it. We never have to lose another minute's sleep wandering and worrying if the Bank will still be there when we awake in the morning. That is now assured! We've had Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for some time, but this is the Jewel in the Crown... Citi Bank is finally ours. And just to put some honey on that Ice Cream, our own government employees are running it!

Next... the World's Largest Insurance Company. No more Fat Cats with their corporate jets and fancy yachts.... AIG is ours. We can do with it as we please... we own it lock, stock and both smoking barrels! Hurray, hurray! Now we can put it to good use. We can sell those derivatives and insure them to boot. No more derivative failures to concern Wall Street... No more rich bastards at the till... our own men in D.C. the Dems, are on top of it.

Thirdly... we are finally the proud possessors of the World's Largest Auto-maker, the dastardly anti-American destroyers of the planet.... GM. "What's Good for General Motors is good for America," finally has true meaning. We no longer have to look at those huge ugly Hummers, those stupid "no haggling" Saturns, and the muscle car icon, Pontiac. And now, once and for all, we can get rid of that single object of affluence and waste... the hated SUV! Thank goodness they they are all history! I for one am looking forward to the day when we can each have our own honest to goodness deluxe huge green golf cart with all the conveniences we'll need. For example, just take refueling...when I want or need a fill-up I can just plug'er in. No more gas stations. No more gas taxes. No more motors that need, ugh.. OIL. Again, a Win for the White Hats... yes, we have our own Car Czar who, at the direct direction of Mr. Obama, is running the place the way a car company should be run!

Fourth, Comprehensive Health Care. Now this is a biggie. Finally, with taxes on soda and Twinkies, I will no longer sweat diabetes. With taxes on Trans-fats I will no longer sweat obesity. With taxes on the Fat Cats, I will no longer sweat the insurance coverage that 50,000,000 plus citizens, and non citizens alike, don't have. These poor bastards have been left out in the cold to fend for themselves for too long. But no more. Our guys in the white hats have got them covered. In addition, and this is a big plus for me, my insurance costs, and all my medical costs for that matter, will go down to..... ZERO! I'll get to choose my own doctor and get all the medical care this wonderful country has to offer... for free! FREE! It's my right and to sweeten the deal, the people at the DMV are at this very moment being interviewed for the prime positions in the management of it!

And now number Five... the BIG DADDY... We are at last protected, by those good souls in Washington D.C., from.... da dah.... The Weather! That's right! We no longer have to fear the weather, i.e. Global Warming, or more popularly, Climate Change. Now the weather will no longer be allowed to change. I don't have the overarching fear, each time I breath in, that the air is going to kill me. That the oceans are going to rise and destroy the inhabited world. That the polar bear will no longer have a home. That hurricanes are going to blow me away. That I'm going to fry! And it was all done with stroke of a pen through the magic of... Taxation! Cap and Trade, just a breath away (for give the pun) from final passage in the God Blessed, filibuster-proof Senate, will tax those S.O.B's that are making our planet unlivable by making stuff! Forget the fact that the weather man can't tell me what the weather will be like for my birthday golf outing a couple months downstream, or even what it'll be like next weekend... but I can now rest assured that it will be good... for my yet unborn great grand kids. AND, it means lifetime employment for Big Al Gore and his G.I.M. Corp.

Hallelujah... we are saved saved, saved at last.

Six.... Now, and I am holding my breath for this one... no pun... I am once again hoping and praying. This time for Energy Independence. I think that it is high time that we go after the Big Oil companies. They and the speculators that are their money grubbing buddies. It is time that we take a page from Saudi Arabia's book, from Hugo Chavez's book, from Iran's book, from North Korea's book... it is time to nationalize Big Oil. Think about it... with just the stroke of that almighty pen, we can own our own oil! The oil put beneath our feet by God. The oil that rightfully belongs to each and everyone of us. Exxon did not invent oil... they just pump it and then charge us an exorbitant fee for the privilege of burning it. Is that fair? I think not. Another benefit... the price of home heating oil, the price of gasoline, the price of everything energetic, will at last be stable. Why? No More Speculators! With Big Oil owned by us, we Citizens, we will be able to plan on the costs of heating our home, and until we get the new Government Motors Chevy Volt, the cost of getting back and forth to work! Of course I'm assuming that Work will still be there.... I HOPE it is, unemployment is not the CHANGE I voted for.

Go Obama... get those S.O.B's while the gettin' is good! Yahoo! Go America!

Cheers, Mel

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Sarah Beats 'em Again


She's Crazy!

Sarah Palin is crazy, like a fox! Early last week I wrote Governor Palin to tell her that I am not a Republican, did not vote for John McCain, but voted for her. I went on to ask her to represent voters like myself and to form a new party.... The New Party. Several days later I was gratified to hear her resignation as Governor of Alaska. Both the Democrats and Republicans are terrified of her, her popularity, her connection with the voter. But more than that they are terrified of her lack of respect for the powers that be.

She Has No Respect!

Sarah Palin knows how these people in positions of power feel about her, she saw it during McCain's run for the Presidency. In preparation for her Biden Debate, the McCain Team actually steered her away from help in attacking Obama! This was ludicrous! Who did they think McCain was running against? Joe Biden? Even at the risk of losing the election, some in the Republican hierarchy were so frightened of her they thought nothing of the potential total loss their utterings might bring about. What could scare them so? Sarah Palin's sense of morality? Her ideas of right and wrong? Or was it, to borrow a phrase from Obama, her clinging to her guns and religion? Both the Democrats and the newly amoral Republicans are afraid of her positions on energy, climate, and America's place in this world. They are afraid of her position on abortion. They are afraid of her family values. They are afraid, above all, of her loyalty to the common man and woman. Or is it her potential to cut her own party, to hurt even fellow Republicans, if principles were put on the chopping block, as they were in Wasilla? As they were in Juneau.

She Confounds!

By stepping down Sarah confounds these detractors. It is without question that her opponents understand her appeal, and see in her something they certainly should fear. As she defeated similar interests in Alaska, first as Mayor and then as Governor, she was on track to present troubles downstream. Sarah could spend the next year gaining national attention, Governorship presents immediate access to the media, and slowly build her case for a run in 2012 appealing to whats left of the true Americans, Conservatives of every stripe, Conservative family values, fiscal Conservatives, international Conservatives. People that do believe that there truly exists good and evil, right and wrong, moral and immoral. These true Americans live all over this country, but are more and more turned-off by the morality of the huge coastal cities.

Upon returning to Alaska she quickly discovered there were people after her. Law suits and false charges were to keep her cornered and bottled-up for the duration of her term in office. By the time Sarah's term had expired they would have drained her of energy, money and would have succeeded in turning her into damaged goods. But now they are left without a handle. How to get hold of her now?

Quitter!

She is not a quitter any more than the hunter that changes positions in order to remain the hunter..... so as not to become the hunted... is a quitter. Sarah's gun is loaded for bear, Alaskan Style. Washington.... she's coming for you.

True Grit!

Sarah Palin is the quintessential American with true grit. Sarah Palin is smart, Sarah Palin is an American to be proud of, she is an American to support as she confounds the nattering nabobs.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Is South America Moving North?


In 2006 41% and in 2008 49% of the households in America paid no Federal Income Taxes. In 2009 that number will exceed 50%! Think about that for a minute. It means that the rest of us are each paying for one additional household - one beyond our own. The way we are going... fees of every kind and a coming national sales tax that will collect money from virtually every aspect of life..... the States and the Feds will rely less and less on Income Taxes and will concentrate those taxes on those whom Obama pointed-out during his run for office..... those earning over $250 thousand a year. That's an important fact: The 'new' majority electorate will increasingly receive cash entitlements and will therefore continue to vote for the Democrats, leaving the other party with ever fewer voters. I say 'new' because this represents a new class of voter.... the class that pay no income taxes, mostly ardent supporters of Mr. Obama; the new majority voter.

If you've been following what has happened in Honduras you will realize why the above is so important. There, President Zelaya, a close 'friend' of Venezuela's President Chavez, attempted to alter the Honduran Constitutional provision that restricts Presidents to a single term. This was in order to get himself in a position to be elected President for Life. To do this he would have had to call for a Constitutional Convention and have a super majority agree to the alteration, a process that probably would have failed. By the way, this is similar to the method our own Constitution calls for in order to alter it or any of its Amendments.

Zelaya decided to do an 'end run' by having his supporters, a majority of the popular vote, cast a direct vote to alter or amend the Constitution. Since he currently has a situation similar to ours, in that he has a large body of disaffected and under privileged supporters he could probably, with little massaging, get the plurality he'd need to declare himself eligible for another term. This is similar to the move Chavez made. As a matter of fact, when Zelaya announced his intentions, they were met with resistance and he couldn't get the necessary ballots printed locally. Guess what? He was supplied with all the ballots he needed by Chavez! When he was arrested for attempting to subvert the Constitution, those ballots were confiscated by the army and he was escorted to the airport.

I thought it was wonderful that Zelaya failed in this bold move to seize more power and to mimic his prime supporter Chavez. I was dismayed when Mr. Obama apologized for America to the Europeans. I blanched when Mr. Obama bowed-down to the Saudi King. I was left speechless when he failed to condemn the Iraqis for the bloody response to a peaceful "soft" revolution there. I became frightened when Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton voiced support for Zelaya and urged his return to power! I fear that once Acorn has completely morphed into an official Federal Agency (it is already nearly totally funded by the Feds, to the tune of Billions), with its name changed into something akin to FDR's WPA (The Works Progress Administration was the largest New Deal agency, employing millions of people and affecting almost every locality in the United States), and dressed-up as a way for people to "serve" their country and in return receive a support entitlement, plus a sweetener like a free year of higher education for each year "served," Obama would have the cadre he'd need to attempt what Zelaya has failed at. All just paranoid musings? Let's hope so.

These be interesting times, Yikes!!

Cheers, Mel

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Unintended Consequences.... on the way

This past Friday the House of Representatives passed the Energy/Climate Bill, otherwise known as the Cap and Trade or Cap and Tax Bill. This bill attempts to deal with "Global Warming" and energy consumption. The bill hopes to alter behaviour by taxing fossil fuel energy, and subsidising "clean" or "green" or "alternate" sources of energy such as wind turbines and solar panels, amongst an array of other "energy saving" initiatives. The bill assumes that domestic jobs will be created, energy independence will be achieved, and planet warming will be stopped or at the very least the USA will set an example for the rest of the world to follow.

Here's a scenario that could result from this kind of economic and weather tinkering. The winds that wrap around the world in the higher latitudes, between 35 and 65 degrees and called Westerlies, blow, in the northern latitudes, from the southwest to the northeast, and in the southern latitudes from the northwest to the southeast. Wind dynamics are discussed at length here: http://userpages.umbc.edu/~tokay/chapter9.html . It is our society's desire to have energy without either fossil fuel pollution or the nuclear solution, hence windmills... and to a lesser degree solar panels.... will proliferate both the land and seascape. Imagine building millions and millions of wind turbines and installing them coast to coast as well as offshore. As an aside, most of them will be built in China.

Here, the Laws of Thermodynamics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_thermodynamics) tell us that the energy "created" by the windmills will simply be energy taken from the wind. In other words, the energy of the wind is less in the lee of the windmill than it is on the windward side. There is only so much wind on Earth and any alteration of wind energy, having been converted to electricity, will eventually be felt in areas we have no or limited understanding of. As the wind to windward passes by our windmill it is converted to heat and electricity, the wind to leeward the turbine is lessened by that same degree. Those winds normally blow obliquely toward the polar regions and carry with them heat picked-up from the warmer latitudes. It can be safely assumed that since it has been agreed, at least by those in the Human Caused Planet Warming Camp, that humanity's quest for power and earthly dominance has and is altering weather patterns, we must assume that those converted warming breezes will to some degree be lessened, thus causing polar regions to cool. Those Westerly winds also push ocean currents in the same direction, toward the poles, bringing with them warm mid-latitude water which further moderates polar cooling. All of that oceanic and atmospheric action will slow down and as it slows we will begin to enjoy even less energy conversion to each windmill. Since the wind will lessen as it moves across the planet, we will need ever more turbines just to stay even!

As we sleep, with our Government Motors Chevy Volts securely parked in our garages and plugged into our trickle chargers, a monster will be slowing growing .... at the Poles. Ice. As the wind and ocean heat is sapped, even ever so slightly, the Polar Regions will react in a directly portionate manner. Our heat, our cooling, our locomotion, our electricity, stolen from the wind, will be replaced by the cold from whence the heat was extracted, at the Poles! The great irony here is that in man's effort to control Planet Warming he will have created the worst of all climates..... a man induced Ice Age.

Now we're not yet finished with our little scenario, it has a way of affecting other vital interests. It is well known that wind farms have an associated bird kill quotient: The National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC) in a study of wind farm avian mortality http://www.nationalwind.org/publications/wildlife/avian_collisions.pdf concluded that "data collected outside California" (this last is important because the data did not include one of our largest wind farms, Altamont, which has a very much higher bird kill rate) http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/news/2005/10/69177 indicates an average bird kill of nearly 2 birds per turbine each year. Multiplication is easy: The USA uses some 5 Trillion kW, roughly half from coal alone. A state of the art turbine in a good turbine location will produce perhaps 1.5 Million kW. Millions of wind turbines will be needed to eliminate just coal powered homes and plants, not even mentioning powering-up all those Chevy Volts! You do the math. You tell me, what impact will the loss of millions of birds - the exponential loss due to the loss of breeding pairs - have on the planet? Similarly bats and insects are adversely impacted. Here is an article addressing Indiana bats and their problem with turbines: http://indianalawblog.com/archives/2009/06/environment_ind_37.html. With the birds, bats, insects, and cold, one can easily see the domino effect taking place.

Where are we so far? Let's see....Ice, Birds, Bats, and Insects. What else is waiting in the wings of the Wind Turbine World of the Future.... coming to a theater near you! Here is a recent article describing the health impact of wind turbines on humans... not to mention farm animals, http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/16774 . I personally have tried to sleep with a nearby turbine operating.... forget it. And we have yet to consider the overall impact on food production. With a cooling planet farm production will fall. With encroaching ice arable acreage will shrink. With dying winds, dying birds and dying insects, plant pollination will lessen. To me, that all adds up to the ultimate solution to our problem, that being, no, not a lack of energy, but one of too many human beings. As we shift from a warm and windy place to a cold and still one we will simply die off too...... did I mention the fossil fuel and other natural resources required to manufacture all those turbines?

Cheers, Mel

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Who Died Today?

I think I need another TV channel...... The Death Channel. It would specialize in covering the lives of recently dead celebrities and those long boring rehashings of The Year that show-up around New Years. The Death Channel would allow me to continue to watch the shows I look forward to each day and week without fear of preemption just because a famous person has left us.

Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and today the famous huckster Billy Mays. With the number and age of celebrities around these days pretty soon ALL the regular channels will be nothing but death stories. We need a whole channel just for those folks, and their fans so the rest of us can enjoy our regular choice of entertainment and information.

It's just another push forward for the net.... where one can choose the info one needs/wants. Remember when Princess Di died? .... was it continuous coverage on every channel for what? a week? or was it a month? God help us when Obama goes, or even gets sick.... it'll be bedside 24/7 coverage and if he dies, oh my God! it'll be at least a month or a year? of 24/7 mausoleum coverage!


Cheers, Mel


P.S. Also today, "My Little Margie," Gale Storm Passed.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

A State of Fear and Loathing

This a Chart of Fear. It describes in stark graphics what happens to an economy when it's government is first gripped by fear, changes direction and concurrently has a desire to create social revolution reordering the laws of physics: Thermodyamics and Gravity. The government puts its citizens into a state of fear and its business leaders into a state of loathing.

The Chart speaks volumes. How did this happen and where are we going? It happened because the government has capriciously changed Contract Law, seized major businesses: private, publicly held, and quasi-public; and seized control of nearly every area of finance.

The result is that it is impossible to operate within this changing system with any certainty. It's like being at sea in a storm with both wind and waves rough and confused. The best tactic? Reef-down, lower sail, go slow and keep damage to a minimum. To survive that means: take no risk, make no unnecessary expense, hire no unnecessary employees, make no plans other than to await a sea state one can sail upon. Unemployment will continue to rise, businesses will continue to fail, homes will continue to fall into foreclosure. Nothing has been "fixed" by government leaders. Much of what got us into this mess is being rekindled by those very soles charged with fixing "it": government giveaways, easy credit to those least deserving and least likely to repay, The Fourth Estate in bed with the regulators, business people caught like deer in the headlights, the rest watching it all ravel and unravel like a comic horror show in which we are all playing a real-life role.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Dietrius From Around the Web

George Soros

Burt Prelutsky reports that George Soros' sorry behavior as a Jew in Hungary during WWII, as detailed on Wikipedia has been erased...

"....About a month ago, I looked up George Soros at Wikipedia and read about his helping the Nazis confiscate the property of his fellow Hungarian Jews when he was a teenager. At the same time and place, I read that in response to a Steve Croft question on “60 Minutes,” Soros claimed that he had never regretted doing it or felt any shame or remorse afterwards because, as he explained, if he hadn’t done it, someone else would have. The other day, I re-visited the site and the entire episode had vanished. There still remained the mention of his having been convicted by a French court of insider trading. I am now wondering if billionaire Soros will make certain that it, too, disappears..." Read the entire posting here: http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/05/06/a-matter-of-opinion/

Islam Day in Hawaii

This is a little strange in a State where the indigenous people are treated as 3rd Class Citizens, kept barefoot, pregnant and ignorant in order to provide the necessary lawn-mowers and bed-makers for the tourist industry. Just a cynical cloying ploy to attract wealthy sheiks? The desperation of recession?
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/Bills/HCR100_HD1_.HTM

Happy Talk

The Headline reads: "New jobless claims plunge, retail sales improve!" But the small type buried in the story reads: "But the total number of people receiving jobless benefits climbed to 6.35 million, a 14th straight record." When we get to the point that the last working person is finally laid-off will the headline read?: Hurray, we've turned the corner at last.... Only ONE person Laid-Off last Week!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090507/ap_on_bi_ge/us_economy;_ylt=Aqsh7XkrdJDYqlWBAjaW.tyyBhIF

Finally, a question.....

What has changed in the past 3 or 4 or 6 or 12 months? What has happened to: imploding mortgage market, chronic energy shortage, job creation, shovel ready projects, broken banks, non-competitive automakers, rapid transit, the war in Iraq, nukes in Iran and South Korea, the Taliban? To all the above... nothing. In the meantime... Texas and Oklahoma are heating-up over secession:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=67229

Are we having fun yet?

Monday, April 27, 2009

Obama's First 100 Days


100 Days, and counting….

“Mel, in regard to President Obama’s first 100 days, isn’t there anything you agree with?”

The short answer is no. The full answer is here:

- No, I do not agree with "transparency" of Top Secret documents during an ongoing war.
- No, I do not think it is smart to attack the previous administration‘s conduct safeguarding the U.S. in the middle of a war. Following 9/11, we all wanted to do what was required to restore safety to our country. Attacking the preceding administration sets a dangerous precedent. Show Trials were reserved for the Soviets in the 1950s! We watched them with amazement and amusement; now we'll watch them tear apart America.
- No, I do not agree with the greatest spending spree civilization has ever seen: http://www.safehaven.com/article-12175.htm .
- No, I do not believe the Feds should run the car companies -- even arrogantly appointing a "Car Czar" that knows nothing more about cars than that they should have a comfortable rear seat -- nor the Banks, nor the Brokerages, nor the Newspapers. If these outfits can't make it under the rules of capitalism let them fail. If they are "saved" their saving will be the destruction of their honest competition.
- No, the president should not aid the Unions -- Unions broke the railroads, then the steel mills, next the airlines, and now the auto industry, and along the way most of the rest of the industrial base of America, our bed-rock bottom line strength. The real story behind out-sourcing is an attempt of American industry to remain competitive and that means finding cheap labor. And now the unions have a stranglehold on State and Federal Government! France!
- No, the President should not bail-out the thieving bankers and stock brokerages, and struggling auto makers, newspapers or any other individual business. These companies should be allowed go bankrupt and not be refinanced by higher taxes, high inflation, and devaluation of our hard earned money!
- No, I do not believe that it is Obama's job to go around the world proclaiming what a terrible place America is and to apologise .... to our detractors! Who then, behind his back, laugh! The President represents Americans… his job is to Protect and Defend Americans.
- No, I am not in favor of ratcheting-up yet another war. Afghanistan this time. Afghanistan is not Iraq. Iraq at least had a central government and an organized society, more easily conquerable. Afghanistan is a piece of the earth more accurately defined by the borders of the countries that abut it than by it's own sense of self. The President of Afghanistan is no more than the mayor of Kabul, the only "city" there and whose limits define the ends of civilization. History in replete with the bones of those who have attempted to conquer Afghanistan, from Alexander the Great in AD 320's to the Russians who pulled-out, defeated, in AD 1989. That is precisely why Afghanistan is called "The Land of Bones." And now it will be our young men's and women's bones. This foray sounds just like Kennedy's into Vietnam. ....just 5000 advisers.... we all know what happened there. I'll predict right now... this is going to be the Democrats undoing. Afghanistan.


Demobamas...


The no-nothings are in charge and will remain so ... even if we go bankrupt or succumb to totalitarian government. Here is why: take a look at Obama's supporters and you will see that his popularity is due solely to three things, none of which I consider qualifications for Presidency: his speaking style, his color and his appeal to base populist sentiment. This last is dangerous. Those pitchforks Obama threatened the financial/banking/brokerage industry with several weeks ago spring from populist rule. His popularity will remain in the 55% range for a very long time. Take a look at these numbers, they all add-up to a solid block of Demobamas: Hardcore Democrats = 35%, Jews = 1.5%, Muslims = 2%, Blacks = 12%, Hispanics 15%. This voting block represents more than 65% of the total vote. All Obama needs is 80% of these to maintain a plus popularity. By the way I'm not even counting the no-nothing youngsters that have the right to vote, nor the ACORN enrolled illiterate and dead, nor the 40+ million Hispanic family members that are waiting to flood into America once the existing 12 - 20 million illegals are granted citizenship.


Worry. Be very very worried.


My biggest three are inflation and devaluation, taxes, and loss of freedom, which will turn us into a much poorer nation. Print and pass-out $3,600,000,000,000.00 dollars and guess what... each one isn't going to be worth much. As the economy rebounds inflation is going to go nuts. The cost of everything will explode. The USA will owe most of those still wet new 3.6 trillion bucks to foreign governments like the Chinese and Japanese. Here’s our debt now, unbelievable: http://brillig.com/debt_clock/ . The Obama administration hopes to use this devalued inflated money to retire this crazy debt. Will the Chinese go along? I think they will take those dollars and use them to buy and stockpile natural resources. I'm betting on commodities!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Mexican Solution

I see that there is an outrage over the fact that the firefighters of California and Oregon are essentially non-english speaking Hispanics and that the job bosses are non-spanish speaking Americanos. Really, no American, at least not enough to fill the available job-slots, wants those jobs. No American: educated, fat and happy, and somewhat committed to home, wife, kids and that $250K mortgage, wants to handle a shovel in high temperatures with the risk of serious injury and loss of life for a double digit hourly salary without benefits. That leaves the slave population, read - Mexicans, to do the job. They are willing to leave their native digs, head-off to the fire fields of a foreign country and risk their necks for, what? 10 -12 bucks an hour? It's a shame really, but hey, it's the end result (same as obesity) of a rich society. Like the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Portuguese, Spanish, English (and others) of yore.

Here is the solution; it's called Manifest Destiny. We already believe in it, it has been tried successfully, we are ready to roll with it now, and the idea is protected by the Monroe Doctrine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_Destiny . This solution, at least, kicks-the-can of a myriad number of problems a hundred years down the road. We should: invade, conquer and colonize Mexico: 1) The Mexicans all become instant American citizens; something a large number seem to want. 2) Mexican territories are rich in natural resources and fertile soil. 3) The population is mostly subservient and will not, for the most part, resist; especially when the option is better than the current government. 4) They have no great ideological differences with America: they are Catholic and hard workers and have a built-in affinity with the American population which is already 15% Hispanic.

Additional benefits?: 1) The border "problem" is resolved instantly. 2) The Mexican drug problem would be taken-in-hand and the violence largely quelled. 3) The country is beautiful, with white-sand beaches and and towering mountains, and ripe for American style development. 4) Most of the current illegal population of the States would return to the State of Mexico to work and develop the country along the lines of America to the north. 5) 105,000,000 million new Americans that all want cars, trucks, homes, businesses, tractors, farms, credit, flat-screen TVs and Direct TV, AND are willing to work hard to get them. 6) Last but not least..... 105,000,000 new members to sign-up for the Ponzi scheme called Social Security; kicking that can down the road at least another 75 years! We have the men, women, and machines, the territory is very close-by and the current long list of problems beg for a solution.

Mel

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Warren's Dilemma


Warren Buffett supported Obama, but now with considerable financial blood in the street he seems to be backing-off, or is he just in a corner? He said that he does not support "cap and trade" nor the raising of taxes, nor the prohibition of private jets, nor "card-check." There are other "ideas" he does not support either, like the vilification of the "captains of business" and "caps on salaries." What parts of the administration's policy does he support?

Obama is clever and recognizes people's weaknesses - that is how his speeches are directed, how he has climbed the ladder of political success; one hears what one wants to hear. Truly charismatic and dangerous. He appeals to an ego like Buffett's and says, "I respect your success, would you be one of my advisers?" The “Messiah” gets the “Oracle” on board (a winning combination?!) and then ignores advise. Having publicly committed to Obama, Buffett now does not want to look foolish and remains - sort-of - committed.

Eventually (1), anyone with any money left will disclaim Obama. But his majority support will not diminish – it will actually grow. Obama has co-opted, through a cult of "believers" and "tax relief" promises, 50% of the voters, who will now receive either outright IRS welfare checks or minor income tax relief. He is rapidly creating more followers needing entitlements as a result of the destruction of the capitalistic system. Obama will continue to appeal to many voters: most Blacks, many Hispanics, traditionally liberal Jews, and rising Islamists, the very poor, and all those who can't bring themselves to vote for anyone without the (D) after their name. This absolute block, of perhaps 50% of voters, will be his... no matter what. A solid block. Classic Bolshevism. Read A Peoples Tragedy by Orland Figes. The conservative Democrat has vanished, as has the traditional Republican.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=a+peoples+tragedy&tag=googhydr-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=1500914441&ref=pd_sl_4yh92q1kjm_e

Eventually 2 (soon) taxes will have to be raised or the dollar will collapse. A country just can't print money forever! The so-called rich are really the nation's Income Class. These folks have cash flow, these citizens are the only ones left to pay, and are ripe taxable targets. This large middle class will have to pay nearly all required taxes. The truly rich, the Equity Class are already off-shore and pay few taxes. Corporations pass ALL taxes on to their customers and pay NO taxes themselves. Sticking with his pledge, Obama won't raise income tax brackets on any but the truly rich. Instead a broad range of tax collecting measures will be put into place: taxes on cell phone use and texting (just pennies); taxes on web access (just pennies); a national sales tax (sales tax or Value Added Tax, or Gross Excise Tax) which will tax every single transaction in America including transactions on the likes of eBay; fossil fuel tax; carbon foot-print tax; water use tax; interstate highway use tax; mileage driven tax; luxury taxes; etc. In LA a new tax - a super tax - is under discussion (perhaps passed by now) on those with houses larger than 3500 sq.ft. Could this sort of tax be re-modeled and applied nationally by the Feds?

Eventually (3) a huge underground black market will spring-up. This has happened in every economy where the population feels put upon. The taxpayer is not a stationary target, he/she can step aside....

One more note: Additional proof that the "catastrophe" is being allowed to continue and “not going to waste” (as stated by Obama illuminaries: Akelrod, Raahm and Clinton), is that there is no apparent rush in D.C. to fix the collapsing economy... if there was, a fully functioning Treasury would be in effect NOW!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/business/economy/09treasury.html?hp

Considering that the banking system began its sudden descent just before the election, and Obama started speaking to it then, before the election, and that he stated, immediately after the election that he and his team "were prepared to hit the ground running," to fix it, nothing has been done to staunch the decline in either stock market or real estate values, not even an uplifting speech.

There's trouble ahead...