Friday, October 31. 2008
A friend told me that he was going out on Halloween night with his kids dressed as a white, middle-aged, married, Christian, somewhat prosperous Republican father of three to scare the Obamamaniacs. This toon via Makiw: 
A hearty wave of the fat Capitalist cigar, as Mr. Free Market would say, to our friend Tigerhawk, who is annoyed enough with Obama's insulting him to use the f-bomb on his family-oriented site. I suspect that he is already into the brandy. Ditto, Tiger, on all counts. And burn 'em while you can afford 'em.
Who remembers that the USA has a Department of Energy? Who knows what they do? This came in over the transom: Absolutely The Funniest Joke Ever !
. . . ON US
Does anybody out there have any memory of the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY during the Carter Administration? Anybody? Anything? No?
Didn't think so.
Bottom line . . we've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember.
Ready? It was very simple, and at the time everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted 8-04-1977 TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL. HEY, PRETTY EFFICIENT, HUH?
AND NOW IT'S 2008, 31 YEARS LATER, AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS NECESSARY DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR, THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE!
THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY 'WHAT WAS I THINKING?'
Ah yes, good ole bureaucracy. And now we are going to turn the Banking system over to them? God Help us.
What do Obama's crowds mean? WSJ. Bill Clinton implies that Obama's not too smart. No, but he is clever and ruthless. Obama, the Red Diaper Baby. Voter fraud chic at The Gap. Michelle. Groovy. Barack's aunt finally found. I think he wants me to take care of her. If CO2 is classified as a dangerous pollutant... Yeah, and we'll all be taxed for breathing and farting. Tax beans! Farting should be taxed, come to think of it, to discourage it. Nice grouchy rant. Alphecca. Government isn't charity. NRO. No, it is not. Money at gunpoint doesn't count as charity. Finally, an LAT protest. Power to the people! Checks on Joe more extensive than realized. Imagine if Repubs did that. We'd be hearing about fascist police state tactics. I do not understand why banks are being forced to take bailout funds if they don't need it. From Babalu, via Driscoll: By placing their hopes and aspirations in the hands of Obama, they have in effect transferred the individual faith they have in themselves to another person. A person who has promised to make their dreams come true for them. No longer will they have to fight, or struggle, or even work to achieve their dreams; Obama promises to do it all for them. But sooner, rather than later, they will realize that Obama can never deliver on this impossible promise. It is then when they will experience a pain much greater than they can imagine; the pain of realizing that you gave up not only your most sacred dreams and hopes to someone else, but that you gave up hope on yourself so that someone else can do it for you.
From Dr. Bob: Let the culture go where it may; we must be a true light. It is time to abandon the delusion that we may change the hopeless by becoming more like them — we must instead become a shining city on a hill, a stark contrast to the darkness which surrounds us. If what we believe is true — and it is — then those who run from truth may well see in us an answer to their failed and fruitless pursuits, to the shallow shell of a life lived in self-gratification and the pursuit of pleasure and power. We will be misunderstood, hated, ridiculed, rejected. So be it — our strength will lie in one another, and in Him who calls us to holiness.
Amen! A reminder that Halloween is the eve of All Hallow's Day, ie All Saint's Day. Like so many Christian holy days, it was moved from May to overlap with an existing pagan festival in the 700s. Here's a painting by Daniel Maclise of a Halloween party he attended in Blarney in 1832: 
Thursday, October 30. 2008
Behold, the Magni autogyro:
Consider it the large-scale industrial version of a hummingbird. Full rundown here.
Think: "Chistmas wish list."
 Florida Cubans: Obama is communismo
Whats the real difference between pro- and anti-Palin conservatives? Non-profit, non-partisan ACORN is part of the Obama campaign. I do not think that is legal. Hidin' Biden Why do anti-capitalists always love money so much? I wonder about that often. Sarkozy: Obama utterly immature on Iran More trust McCain than Obama on the economy. That's a change. Snow blankets London for global warming debate. Snow wins the debate? Guardian tut-tutting about James Bond. Too masculine. No, it's not intended as satire. How much is the govt willing to pay to soak the rich? McArdle Khalidi update: His appointment at Columbia University. His entry at Discover the Networks. Rick is as hopeless as most of the polls
Wednesday, October 29. 2008
It's not hopeless by any means. Tough, but not impossible.
It's like doing the Limbo Rock:  The Dem definition of "rich" drops daily The world is drowning in oil again. Bloomberg Oregon: Got cancer? Try a death pill. Central bankers and recent history. Kling. More on the subject from McCardle The Sarah Party Embarassed to call himself a reporter. These confessions accumulate daily. Obama and rural voters in Ohio. Obama wants to turn this country into a nation of beggers. Also, why Virginia is in play this year. More on the Khalidi tape. Gateway. Believe me, the LAT does not want to piss off Obama. Bad consequences. Amazing: the CSM quits its print edition. h/t, Insty Dick Morris: The election is a referendum on Obama Thomas Sowell explains how higher taxes damage everyone Looking back on Obama's first year as Pres. Wizbang Will Dems let Charlie Rangel skate? Nobody wants to piss off Rangel. Bad consequences. How "critical race theory" molded Obama It's the courts, stupid. I agree Dr. Sanity's Quote of the Year, from Mark Levin A tough Megyn Kelly takes on Obama's Bill Burton:
Tuesday, October 28. 2008
From Mark Steyn's The Dog is about to Catch the Car: Peggy Noonan thinks a President Obama will be like the dog who chases the car and finally catches it: Now what? I think Obama will be content to be King Barack the Benign, Spreader of Wealth and Healer of Planets. His rise is, in many ways, testament to the persistence of the monarchical urge even in a two-century old republic. So the "Now what?" questions will be answered by others, beginning with the liberal supermajority in Congress. And as he has done all his life he will take the path of least resistance. An Obama administration will pitch America toward EU domestic policy and U.N. foreign policy. Thomas Sowell is right: It would be a "point of no return," the most explicit repudiation of the animating principles of America. For a vigilant republic of limited government and self-reliant citizens, it would be a Declaration of Dependence. If a majority of Americans want that, we holdouts must respect their choice. But, if you don't want it, vote accordingly.
Yes, it's an appeal to our weakest, most cowardly and pitiful instincts.
 Despite all the other headwinds he is fighting against (recession, the MSM, his age, his skin color), one major problem McCain faces is well-described in the Villainous piece we linked yesterday. McCain is not a visionary type, and he is not an ideologue. He is a solid, practical, trustworthy and remarkably strong fellow. He is running against a youthful (Socialist) visionary who promises to make your life easy and beautiful, but McCain is characterologically unable to present a competing vision. Like Bush 41, he probably thinks "the vision thing" is BS and unmanly, and cannot or will not fake it.
My problem with that is that McCain does have a vision, but he takes his vision of America so much for granted that he doesn't see it. It's the vision of freedom through strength, economic opportunity for all, holding the line with Federal power, and fiscal prudence. It's not Pie in the Sky, but it's an important and fundamentally American vision which deserved better "marketing" in this election, and people would rather vote for somebody than against somebody. My vote will be a bit of both. Selling visions requires sales and marketing skills, just like selling cars: you have to make them feel that the new car will make them happier. Reagan knew how to sell freedom, and he knew what Obama knows: mass market politics is sales and marketing (including packaging). I think that notion is beneath a man like McCain's dignity. To his credit, he is not "a natural politician." (Sarah Palin is, which is why they want to destroy her.) Now to my morning links: Can you imagine if this were an Obama effigy? (I thought the current theory is that nooses were racist.) What the Weather Underground had in mind. Insane sociopaths. Dean Barnett: A real writer whose outlet was blogging. What's wrong with the idea of energy independence? 2008 Economics: The two middle classes Why Obama's health plan would make businesses sick New book by James Kalb: The Tyranny of Liberalism: Understanding and Overcoming Administered Freedom, Inquisitorial Tolerance, and Equality by Command (h/t, Vanderleun) The interbank markets are recovering. That is good news.
Monday, October 27. 2008
 Biggest danger for hunters is heart attack. Maybe, but when it's your time to go, why not go while hunting or fishing? You really don't want to crap out while atop a wife or girlfriend and leave them unfulfilled, and with an unpleasant memory of your face turning grey-blue.
How the McCain health care plan would help everybody. Obama's advisors preferred McCain's plan. LAT refuses to release Obama video. The Khalidi video might damage him. "Might"? Watch the TED spread, not the Dow. The TED matters.(h/t, Viking) Indices matter. Why we suck. Jules on autism and other topics Palin's treatment by the press. Driscoll. I heard a 15 year-old girl this weekend say "Palin makes me barf." I prudently said nothing. Tired of "the Vietnam effect." Me too. Working for a non-profit. AVI Obama's inauguration speech is already in its first draft. Message: Don't bother voting, Repubs. Related: Why there is hope for a McCain victory. Another reason the press is going easy on Obama-Biden. Access. Obama: A celebrity the world will adore. Maybe, but who cares? World adoration is not the job description. That's for Elvis. A turn in the housing market. It will be slow, but it will happen eventually. David Thompson takes a look at redistribution in practice. Barone: Beware of the early exit polls Meteorological image from Theo
One quote from Obama on the Constitution: (It )"says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that.”
The community organizing? Are you joking? More at Surber. I do not think that he understands the concept of freedom at all. That concerns me. I think the Constitution is quite clear about the role, and mainly the limits of the Federal government. They knew all about power-seeking. It's one of the things that makes us unique.
Arthur Laffer: The Age of Properity is over. One quote: ...unfortunately in this world there is no tooth fairy. And the government doesn't create anything; it just redistributes. Whenever the government bails someone out of trouble, they always put someone into trouble, plus of course a toll for the troll. Every $100 billion in bailout requires at least $130 billion in taxes, where the $30 billion extra is the cost of getting government involved. If you don't believe me, just watch how Congress and Barney Frank run the banks. If you thought they did a bad job running the post office, Amtrak, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the military, just wait till you see what they'll do with Wall Street.
He concludes: Twenty-five years down the line, what this administration and Congress have done will be viewed in much the same light as what Herbert Hoover did in the years 1929 through 1932. Whenever people make decisions when they are panicked, the consequences are rarely pretty. We are now witnessing the end of prosperity.
Sunday, October 26. 2008
 Photo: A silver salesman, Lincoln, VT, 1940 (h/t, Dr X). I imagine that she's 54, with two kids in the army and one home helping with the farm, and that she wants this shiny junk because her life doesn't have much that shines except for Yankee persistence and love, and the effort that goes with it, but she knows she cannot afford this pretty stuff. She is going to look at it but plants her hands on her hips so she doesn't touch it, because touching is a step towards owning.
The San Diego Union-Trib takes on media bias. But that is just one MSM. Heck, even the Russian papers are reporting it. The Term Paper Artist. S,C&A David Warren on Messianic politics Ten years of physician-assisted suicide in Oregon. Now Washington State has the same thing on the ballot. Really, everybody should off themselves - for Gaia. Speaking of which, letters from Jonestown. The Paranoid State: The UK. It creates a State vs. Citizen model. Are they nuts? Europe to force airlines to buy emission permits. Are they nuts? Sherry with food? What vote fraud? LGF Biden loses it with tough questions. Related: Biden is a dumb-ass, but we're covering for him anyway. Yep. Nothing to see here. Look at moron Palin instead. Barney Frank vows Dems will cut Defense, raise taxes, and spend lots of money. Voters can't say they weren't warned. The Washington Times looks at VA, WVA and NC turning into blue. Related: How Wisconsin moved Left fast Ponnuru: Ideological Conservatism and operational Liberalism?
Saturday, October 25. 2008
We mistakenly posted the short version. Here's the full version. Dynamite. It's why Fred is an honorary Maggie's Farmer.
This brief talk by Fred is wonderful. I still think he would have been a great candidate in this election. He always speaks from basic American principles, which keeps his talks well-oriented, centered, thematic, and logically coherent. Unlike most pols.
 The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp lost 4.8 billion in the stock market last year. Why are they in the stock market anyway?
Did you know that Obama said this in a church: "I am confident we can create a Kingdom right here on earth"? That's the sign of a false prophet. Preventing a nuclear Chavez. WSJ Video If McCain loses, I will agree with this explanation. Where will Obama get the trillions he wants to spend? (h/t, View from 1776) Campaign fund-raising fraud. Journalism Rule #1: Obama gets a pass on everything. (Rule #2: Destroy Palin.) Stupidonomics at the NYT, with an ice cream shop "We have to do this for Ted." Ted Kennedy's socialized medicine will be bad for your health. Teaching tort law via John Edwards. Sheesh. The change the Dems have already brought to DC Is the race over? Not quite yet. Related: Dick Morris: Don't count McCain out yet Hedge fund manager: "Goodbye and f- you." Kurtz: ...get ready, any conservative or Republican who gains some notice for criticizing Democrats. They won't just debate you. They'll do their best to destroy you.
It's called "by all means necessary..."
Friday, October 24. 2008
Quoted from a Megan McArdle piece: This brings me to a pet peeve that has been increasingly irritating me as the crisis wears on: people with little or no understanding of markets confidently opining on the causes of the crisis. Funnily enough, the cause of the crisis is always exactly what they happened to be against before the crisis happened, and the solution is for the people they disagree with to be banned from polite society and exiled from the political process. What is most infuriating is that the people who know the least are the most confident about their appraisals. Anyone with any sort of expertise in the field knows that no one understands this crisis very well. Economists all over the ideological spectrum are rethinking the lessons we thought we had learned from the Great Depression and the Japanese experience. As it unfolds, we will no doubt be seriously rethinking our model of the relationship between the financial markets and the real economy. The problem is, ignorant people who have somehow gotten hold of one or two precious facts, and brandish those facts like a mighty Sword of Truth, are superficially convincing. They are convincing because they misunderstand the situation in, well, the way that ignorant people misunderstand it. The stories they concoct are therefore very convincing to the ignorant, except those who have an ideological predisposition to doubt their story. Those ignorant people are busy listening to some other huckster peddling financial snake oil. No one who did not know what a CDO was before the crisis should be opining as to the causes or the possible solutions. And anyone who tells you that they understand exactly why this happened, why we got this crisis instead of the dollar crisis we were expecting, and what kind of regulations will unquestionably fix it, is definitionally too ignorant to be opening their mouth.
This ad is not from the McCain campaign (h/t, Gateway, who thinks it needs to be sent around.) I pretty much agree with it. Yes, it is Christian - and so am I:
The Krautmeister explains why. I cannot remember when I've ever disagreed with him (meaning Krauthammer - not McCain).
From the WSJ, another bubble bursts. A good thing for all, but only in the long run. Nasty in the short run. If you want stocks to only go up and up and up, you should not buy them. (link fixed) The upside is that good things are relatively cheap, now. But the "Are you better off..." thing doesn't work right now politically, when bubbles are finally popping.
 John H at Powerline. To be fully accurate, I should say that Maggie's is not in the red, since we neither have nor want income from our enjoyable efforts here.
All we want are visitors to our humble yet elite boutique site. Please promote us with your friends and email lists, because we are not going out of business and I believe we do add a bit of unpredictable pleasure and unreported info to daily humdrum life. And the price is right.
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