Thursday, April 30. 2009
"Talented" pols never let the facts get in their way. On the current path, everybody is headed for some hefty tax increases which will begin to ramp up in 2011 and no doubt for years thereafter unless the tide changes.
 A new, better invisibility cloak
Conservatives live in different moral universes. It's true.
The ballerina and the Narwhals
Krauthammer begins:
I think it hasn't been the most important 100 days. I think it has been the most revealing 100 days in our lifetime. After all, this man when he was elected was one of the great mysteries of American politics. He was the most unknown, untested, untried, and really un-figured-out man ever to ascend to the office.
Via Ace:
Dennis Miller: We're Living In Odd Times When Miss California Gets Tougher Questions Than the President
BBC: Basra progress "staggering"
Precautionary principle gone wild: The flu. Related from Lewis in Am Thinker, who begins:
The Mexican swine flu pandemic? Oh, that's soooo yesterday. Global Warming? All those confident "scientific" predictions are falling apart around the world, even as greedy politicians still try to squeeze the last little drops of power and money out of them. Human flesh-eating bacteria? SARS? Ozone holes? Mad Cow? The Curse of the Killer Tomatoes? Water torture? CO2? Bee Colony Collapse? It never ends. As long as scare stories sell, as long as millions of indoctrinated suckers fall for them they will never end. They've got you on a rat-running wheel, running scared every day, like rats scrambling to get away from electrical shocks that never actually come.
Is the bipolar child a purely American phenomenon?
Solzhenitsyn on free medical care
From Insty:
DOES G.M. NOW STAND FOR Gettelfinger Motors? Actually, I like the idea of the unions owning the car companies — or I would, if they then had to stand on their own instead of getting still more bailout cash. I’m afraid we’re in for a decade of politically propped-up zombie carmakers, a sort of American Leyland.
UPDATE: Mickey Kaus is taking a positive view: “Let the UAW, as new owner of GM, pay the price for the overgrown work rules of its locals. Let the UAW demand above-market raises from itself. Let the UAW try to raise money from new lenders after the previous round of lenders has been royally screwed (thanks, in part, to the UAW). And then let the UAW try to sell the cars that result.” So long as friendly politicians don’t protect them from the consequences of their actions with other people’s money.
 I was working at home today, and took a stroll at lunchtime up the driveway for a quiet smoke and to give the horses some carrots. A new black F-150 pulls in. A well-muscled and well-tattoed guy leans out and says "Got a FedEx for ya." He rummages under the Lear top to find my package.
"Where's your truck?" I ask. "In the shop today." "Why all the plumbing tools back there?" I ask. "I'm a plumber." He pulls out his card for me.
I'm always interested in stories like this. Jimmy R. bought this FedEx route: he owns it. Three trucks, three drivers. His real job is plumbing contractor, but he helps the drivers on his route when a problem comes up. He started out as an apprentice plumber after getting out of the Corps. The man is a double entrepreneur, and Jimmy is a part of the America the libs neither know nor comprehend. He is also the part of America that the Dems are determined to damage.
"You need a plumber, you call me" he instructs as he leaves. Stickers on the back windshield of the Lear top: "Mossberg," an image of a leaping stag, and the US Marine Corp logo.
Man, I thought, I love this country just the way it is.
Megan addresses the issue of primary care docs. Fact is, internists are sort of our routine GPs now. It's not possible to be an old-time GP any more, doing obstetrics, pediatrics, minor surgery, cardiology, cancer, neurology, psychiatry. You couldn't keep up, for one thing - and no insuror would cover you. The closest things we have to real GPs today are ER docs.
The comments on her post are interesting.
Quote from the WSJ:
Free enterprise is culturally mainstream, for the moment. Asked in a Rasmussen poll conducted this month to choose the better system between capitalism and socialism, 13% of respondents over 40 chose socialism. For those under 30, this percentage rose to 33%. (Republicans were 11 times more likely to prefer capitalism than socialism; Democrats were almost evenly split between the two systems.)
The government has been abetting this trend for years by exempting an increasing number of Americans from federal taxation. My colleague Adam Lerrick showed in these pages last year that the percentage of American adults who have no federal income-tax liability will rise to 49% from 40% under Mr. Obama's tax plan. Another 11% will pay less than 5% of their income in federal income taxes and less than $1,000 in total.
To put a modern twist on the old axiom, a man who is not a socialist at 20 has no heart; a man who is still a socialist at 40 either has no head, or pays no taxes. Social Democrats are working to create a society where the majority are net recipients of the "sharing economy." They are fighting a culture war of attrition with economic tools. Defenders of capitalism risk getting caught flat-footed with increasingly antiquated arguments that free enterprise is a Main Street pocketbook issue. Progressives are working relentlessly to see that it is not.
Please read the whole thing, because he gets to the heart of the issue.
Our readers are already clued in to the Met Live in HD which, at least around here, is rapidly growing in popularity. The theaters sell out.
Now the Met has something even newer: Met Player. 200 Met performances in HD and state of the art sound. From May 1 - May 3, unlimited use of Met Player will be offered as a free trial. Sounds like a no-brainer.
No opera glasses needed.
 My first thought about our Theo photo this morning is that it looked like the Adirondacks. Wasn't that your first thought too?
No race bake sale at Bucknell. We support freedom of baking.
Was this a real Hobbitt?
Update me: Am I not allowed to say "pig" any more?
Advice for ladies in the workplace
Can gummint and a union run a car company?
Dick Morris says Obama will damage himself
"It is devolutional." Surber
"You're a Professor, really?"
The vast Obama-media conspiracy. A masterful job of seducing the press. Still, O is the second most reviled Pres in 40 years
Sir Michael:
"The Government has taken tax up to 50 per cent, and if it goes to 51 I will be back in America," he said at the weekend. "We've got 3.5 million layabouts on benefits, and I'm 76, getting up at 6am to go to work to keep them. Let's get everybody back to work so we can save a couple of billion and cut tax, not keep sticking it up."
What does the future hold for First Things?
Free Enterprise's 100 day death march. Key quote:
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson told NPR’s Michelle Norris yesterday: “The President has said, and I couldn’t agree more, that what this country needs is a one single national road map that tells automakers who are trying to become solvent again what kind of car it is they need to be designing and building for the American people.” Norris then asked: “Is that the role of Government though? That doesn’t sound like free enterprise.” Jackson responded: “Well it is free enterprise in a way.”
Blakeman at Politico:
The Dems were able to get by defection something they may have never have gotten at the Ballot Box, a closure needed, debated ending 60 votes. The Dems will come to regret taking Arlen in. He knows how important his votes are to them. If you think dealing with Somalia Pirates is bad, try working with Blackbeard Spector. There is not much the GOP can do if the Dems have 60 votes. They need to stay united in opposition and work like hell for mid-term gains. Obama will put the pedal to the metal and steam roll as much legislation through as is possible while he enjoys his "dictatorship".
Related, the O says he is remaking America. Good grief.
Related, at Reason:
...he will reveal himself to be that least inspiring of all political characters: a leader beholden first and foremost to special interests and ultra-conventional voting blocs. This at a time when the electorate is becoming increasingly unaffiliated with either the Democrats or Republicans, conservatives or liberals.
That's our second truck load of it. This black stuff looks best, and only costs a little bit more for your garden beds. A 6" layer does the job.
Wednesday, April 29. 2009
Exams, contests, competitions, elections, business. Pollyanna-ish as it may sound, losing or doing poorly in these things offers learning opportunities. People tend not to learn much from winning: they tend to just keep doing the same thing until it stops working. That's when people are forced to re-think.
I have never watched Dr. Phil, but I am told that one of his favorite comments is "And how is that working for you?" It sounds like one of those great AA aphorisms.
Rick Moran has a very thoughtful and, I believe, realistic piece Moderates? Who needs 'em, about whither conservatism. It surely rings true up here in New England, where we lost our last R congressman, Chris Shays, in the last election. One quote:
“Changing historical circumstances” and the recognition that although our principles may be immutable, how they are interpreted is up to each generation. My interpretation of First Principles differs broadly from most of you reading this. Does this mean we can’t be allies in the struggle to bring those principles to the job of governing a great nation? Chasing away those who agree with you in principle but differ with you on interpretation will only lead to permanent minority status for conservatives. I have to think we’re too smart to allow that to happen.
Read the whole thing. Of course Conservatives need appealing, inspiring and articulate spokesmen but, to remain a national force, Conservatism, as a subsection of the GOP, has to recognize regional realities. You just cannot say "Good riddance" to every Chris Shays.
Gotta remember that "All politics is local," and that every voting lever pulled is done by an individual person in a certain place at a certain time with varying emotions, information, and environment. Most voters have no real political philosophy. If they did, we'd probably have a national Libertarian party.
From the NYT article:
Honeybees can tell their sisters how far away the food is up to a distance of about 15 kilometers. For good measure, they can also allow for the fact that the sun moves relative to the hive by about 15 degrees an hour and correct for this when they pass on the information. In other words, they have their own built-in global positioning system and a language that enables them to refer to objects and events that are distant in space or time.
Photos from the NYT piece.
From VA Tech, via Shibley at Pajamas:
We, the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Diversity Committee, use the term “diversity” to mean the desirability and value of many kinds of individual differences while at the same time acknowledging and respecting that socially constructed differences based on certain characteristics exist within systems of power that create and sustain inequality, hierarchy, and privilege.* The College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences is determined to eliminate these forms of inequality, hierarchy, and privilege in our programs and practices. In this sense, diversity is to be actively advanced because it fosters excellence in learning, discovery, and engagement.
* These characteristics include, but are not limited to ability, age, body size and condition, class, color, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, geographical and cultural background, health status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, and veteran status. [Asterisk in original.]
Perhaps it was aiming for satire, but overshot the mark.
That's his griz. I'd rather see her bare. Story here.
Does aptitude matter at all? Does ability matter? Does anything matter, except skin tone diversity? As far as I can tell, the anti-test movement in edn is all about skin tone.
Tests are designed to discern and to objectively measure ability and knowledge, to - and here's the word - discriminate the competent from the less so. Crazy thing is that the SAT was introduced precisely to provide objective measures to eliminate favoritism and to reward merit.
 Via Driscoll:
On “CNN Newsroom” on April 28, Sanchez interviewed Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., about the departure of Sen. Arlen Specter, Pa., from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. He asked the senator from South Carolina if Specter was correct in his analysis that the conservative wing of the Republican Party was squeezing out a segment of the electorate.
“You’re shrinking the electorate to an extreme - to a point where a regular Republican can’t win,” Sanchez said, paraphrasing Specter. “What do you make of that argument?”
DeMint explained it was which ideology was best suited to give Americans the freedom to choose in their daily lives that propagated a more prosperous society - both economically and culturally.
“That’s quite the opposite,” DeMint said. “We’re seeing across the country right now that the biggest tent of all is the tent of freedom and what we need to do as Republicans is convince Americans that freedom can work in all areas of their life - for every American, whether it’s education, or health care or creating jobs.”
However, with that response, Sanchez had his Jim Mora moment - when Mora, the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts went into his “playoffs” rant after a 40-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 25, 2001.
“What the hell does that mean?” Sanchez said. “I mean, the biggest tent is freedom? Freedom? I mean you got to do better than that!”
It may be hard to believe, but that is what we're up against, friends. There are Americans who have no clue about why this nation exists.
Why schools of education are a joke. Sol Stern in City Journal. It is literally a conspiracy to keep the kids poor and stupid.
About beauty and kitsch and Scruton's new book on Beauty. One quote:
...if nearly everyone likes it, how bad can it be? "Kitsch is the daily art of our time, as the vase or the hymn was for earlier generations," said Harold Rosenberg, the great art critic. Milan Kundera argued, "No matter how much we scorn it, kitsch is an integral part of the human condition." And they were writing before the appearance of "reality" television, which repackages kitschy old conventions of popular drama as public competition, bringing to "real" people the humiliation and cruelty traditionally endured by imaginary losers in mass-culture fiction.
Photo: Flamingo decoys are still available, here.
In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute.
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 100 days at Jules begins thus:
Joyous event of the 100 days of the Obama Idea happily celebrated by cheering workers of the liberated United States Peoples Democratic Republic with inspiring song and deep reflection of gratitude!
There's no such thing as 'capitalism'; Marx made that up. It's just another way of saying 'freedom'.
Commenter "Ahem" at Maggie's Farm
 Quoted in a piece at Villainous:
In the 1970s, it took $46,870 to add a year to the life expectancy of 65-year-olds. By the 1990s, it cost $145,000.
Does gummint support for R&D do any good?
Quoted at Ace:
Isn't it fabulous how Obama has reconciled with our enemies and put fear into the hearts of Americans? Does any image illustrate so neatly the wrongheadedness of the Obama administration than Americans scrambling in terror from Air Force One?
Protein begins:
Obama is running the banking, housing and automobile industry out of the White House (along with letting Rahm play with the US Census) so why not be in charge of Science, too?
The politicization of GM. Quite discouraging and distressing, but that's what happens when you mix politics with real life. Everything becomes politicized and part of the spoils system.
Fair and balanced rules cable
Carville: Dems will rule for 40 years
The end of Capitalism? McArdle.
But not the end of Capitalism for Al Gore. He got rich quick.
I would say the Catholics win this round.
Tuesday, April 28. 2009
A friend emails this note:
I just finished reading Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich. He has an awesome born again story. If any of the guys in your Bible study like sports, it’s a good biography of a miserable superstar athlete who found his ultimate freedom and happiness in Christ at the end of his short life—and was able to pass it on to his father.
http://www.amazon.com/Pistol-Life-Maravich-Mark-Kriegel/dp/0743284976.
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