Saturday, June 13, 2009
Sidekicks
The late-night TV shows have been in the news lately, what with Conan taking over from Jay, and Dave making crude jokes about Palin's kids. I started thinking about these shows in general, comparing them with their radio ancestors, and noticed something.
Nearly all the radio variety shows in the '30s and '40s were husband-wife teams. Fibber & Molly, Jack Benny & Mary Livingston, George & Gracie, Fred Allen & Portland Hoffa. Their on-air characters weren't always married, but the real people were. And those shows pivoted on the bond of man and woman. Wouldn't have worked without it.
All the modern TV variety shows are ALL-MALE. It's been that way since the start of TV. No female sidekicks at all. The shows pivot on a male-male connection, which often takes on a homosexual flavor.
And the same happens in talk radio. The sidekick isn't always well-defined -- some shows have a set of anonymous assistants -- but in each case where you can name a single sidekick, he's male.
Think about the influence on the host. When your wife is part of the act, you're less likely to tell crude locker-room jokes. And think about the influence on the audience. Modern entertainment gives us no illustrations, no role models, of healthy and humorous conversation between man and woman. ¶ 7:53 AM
Nearly all the radio variety shows in the '30s and '40s were husband-wife teams. Fibber & Molly, Jack Benny & Mary Livingston, George & Gracie, Fred Allen & Portland Hoffa. Their on-air characters weren't always married, but the real people were. And those shows pivoted on the bond of man and woman. Wouldn't have worked without it.
All the modern TV variety shows are ALL-MALE. It's been that way since the start of TV. No female sidekicks at all. The shows pivot on a male-male connection, which often takes on a homosexual flavor.
And the same happens in talk radio. The sidekick isn't always well-defined -- some shows have a set of anonymous assistants -- but in each case where you can name a single sidekick, he's male.
Think about the influence on the host. When your wife is part of the act, you're less likely to tell crude locker-room jokes. And think about the influence on the audience. Modern entertainment gives us no illustrations, no role models, of healthy and humorous conversation between man and woman. ¶ 7:53 AM
Same old edushit
Obama's Education Secretary gave a brief interview on CNN just now. Supposedly the interview was a sort of progress report on how the stimulus money is helping education. Pretty good idea for a news piece, but that isn't how it went. The interview actually went like this:
Interviewer: Do we need to pay teachers more?
Duncan: Oh yes, we need to pay teachers much more.
Interviewer: How much more?
Duncan: Oh, lots and lots and lots.
Interviewer: Six figures?
Duncan: Oh yes, six figures. Especially the math and science teachers.
[Rinse and repeat 5 times]
= = = = =
Okay, so I'm stretching it a little. Still, the CNN guy never asked any meaningful questions and Duncan never gave any meaningful answers. Nothing about charter schools, nothing about changing the curriculum or teaching methods. Nothing about giving teachers more authority and less fear of lawsuits. Nothing about relieving federal special-ed requirements that completely distort the whole system. Nope, just the same old shit about more more more more more more money money money money.
The statistics have been obvious for 30 years. Money makes education worse. It's that simple. Admittedly there was a time, say before 1970, when improving school buildings and increasing teacher pay actually helped the kids learn better. But since that minimum threshold was reached, more money just adds more administrators, who then make more idiotic rules, requiring more money to work around the idiotic rules.
Interviewer: Do we need to pay teachers more?
Duncan: Oh yes, we need to pay teachers much more.
Interviewer: How much more?
Duncan: Oh, lots and lots and lots.
Interviewer: Six figures?
Duncan: Oh yes, six figures. Especially the math and science teachers.
[Rinse and repeat 5 times]
= = = = =
Okay, so I'm stretching it a little. Still, the CNN guy never asked any meaningful questions and Duncan never gave any meaningful answers. Nothing about charter schools, nothing about changing the curriculum or teaching methods. Nothing about giving teachers more authority and less fear of lawsuits. Nothing about relieving federal special-ed requirements that completely distort the whole system. Nope, just the same old shit about more more more more more more money money money money.
The statistics have been obvious for 30 years. Money makes education worse. It's that simple. Admittedly there was a time, say before 1970, when improving school buildings and increasing teacher pay actually helped the kids learn better. But since that minimum threshold was reached, more money just adds more administrators, who then make more idiotic rules, requiring more money to work around the idiotic rules.
Labels: Experiential education
¶ 6:29 AM
Friday, June 12, 2009
Mousavi
Watch this VOA story on the main opposition candidate in Persia's election. Listen to the list of Mousavi's sharp and well-reasoned differences with current policy. Then try to remember McCain's sharp and well-reasoned differences with Obama. (Other than the phony question of abortion, which Republicans always talk against but never do anything about, I can't remember even one real difference.)
Then ask yourself: How in the hell do we justify lecturing these people on the benefits of democracy? And: When in the hell are we going to get the benefits of democracy?
= = = = =
Update 6/12: Well, I take it back. Persia's "democracy" is identical to ours. Election results are determined in advance, and the "voters" are allowed to make cute little marks on "ballots" which are then discarded. So neither country is in any position to lecture the other. ¶ 8:58 AM
Then ask yourself: How in the hell do we justify lecturing these people on the benefits of democracy? And: When in the hell are we going to get the benefits of democracy?
= = = = =
Update 6/12: Well, I take it back. Persia's "democracy" is identical to ours. Election results are determined in advance, and the "voters" are allowed to make cute little marks on "ballots" which are then discarded. So neither country is in any position to lecture the other. ¶ 8:58 AM
Wrong arguments
Polistra often wonders why both of our alleged political "parties" are thoroughly inept at basic communication. Obama is a huge exception to this rule, but his assistants and the Dems in Congress are emphatically not exceptions.
Yesterday's hearings on single-payer medical care show the problem. There is a clear way to argue for nationalized health: simply describe how it works in France and argue for adoption of the French system. Nope, they can't do that for some idiotic reason. The Dems have to re-invent a clumsily compromised wheel when the good wheel stands right there waiting to be copied.
= = = = =
Another missed selling point:
Public transportation gives FREEDOM to poor people.
(And to disabled, elderly and youngsters.)
This has always been true, and Americans explicitly understood this point 100 years ago. Towns of all sizes eagerly built streetcar systems in order to provide opportunity for everyone to work and buy things. Good public transit was a point of pride.
And the argument is even stronger now, because maintaining a car has become an expensive proposition. Not so much the cost of gas; except for brief bursts caused by criminal speculation, gas prices now are about the same as they were in the '20s or '30s. The real problem is maintenance and insurance. Before 1980 you could fix a car yourself or find a competent friend to do the job, and you could afford most replacement parts. Now, thanks to the state-sponsored terrorist organization EPA, repairs must be done by licensed professionals and parts are wildly expensive.
So why don't we hear this appealing argument for freedom and opportunity? Traditionally this should have been the Democrat argument for public transport, while the Republicans daintily clutched their perfumed lace handkerchiefs and sniffed haughtily at the downtrodden hoi polloi.
The only argument we hear now is the Green Lie, which both parties suicidally agree on. "We must bear the awful burden of public transportation because cars emit carbon." Even if the premise were true, the statistics aren't very good; buses are not much more efficient than cars per passenger-mile. So public transit is hard to justify by raw mathematics, but easy to justify on a quality-of-life basis. ¶ 7:49 AM
Yesterday's hearings on single-payer medical care show the problem. There is a clear way to argue for nationalized health: simply describe how it works in France and argue for adoption of the French system. Nope, they can't do that for some idiotic reason. The Dems have to re-invent a clumsily compromised wheel when the good wheel stands right there waiting to be copied.
= = = = =
Another missed selling point:
Public transportation gives FREEDOM to poor people.
(And to disabled, elderly and youngsters.)
This has always been true, and Americans explicitly understood this point 100 years ago. Towns of all sizes eagerly built streetcar systems in order to provide opportunity for everyone to work and buy things. Good public transit was a point of pride.
And the argument is even stronger now, because maintaining a car has become an expensive proposition. Not so much the cost of gas; except for brief bursts caused by criminal speculation, gas prices now are about the same as they were in the '20s or '30s. The real problem is maintenance and insurance. Before 1980 you could fix a car yourself or find a competent friend to do the job, and you could afford most replacement parts. Now, thanks to the state-sponsored terrorist organization EPA, repairs must be done by licensed professionals and parts are wildly expensive.
So why don't we hear this appealing argument for freedom and opportunity? Traditionally this should have been the Democrat argument for public transport, while the Republicans daintily clutched their perfumed lace handkerchiefs and sniffed haughtily at the downtrodden hoi polloi.
The only argument we hear now is the Green Lie, which both parties suicidally agree on. "We must bear the awful burden of public transportation because cars emit carbon." Even if the premise were true, the statistics aren't very good; buses are not much more efficient than cars per passenger-mile. So public transit is hard to justify by raw mathematics, but easy to justify on a quality-of-life basis. ¶ 7:49 AM
The whole tape and nothing but the tape
Our enemy-controlled media have made a typically sensational splash with the 72-year-old lady getting tasered by a cop. As always our enemy-controlled media have carefully cut the tape to make the cop look evil, and as always the full tape shows that the cop was absolutely justified in using force.
The subject came up on one of the graphics forums I visit daily, and the discussion was highly illuminating. Nearly all of the commenters saw the TV tape first, and thought the cop was horribly abusive; nearly all of the commenters then found a longer version of the tape, and came back to reverse their comments. "Edit: The cop was fully justified."
Proof (not that we needed it) that our enemy-controlled media know EXACTLY what they're destroying. ¶ 7:28 AM
The subject came up on one of the graphics forums I visit daily, and the discussion was highly illuminating. Nearly all of the commenters saw the TV tape first, and thought the cop was horribly abusive; nearly all of the commenters then found a longer version of the tape, and came back to reverse their comments. "Edit: The cop was fully justified."
Proof (not that we needed it) that our enemy-controlled media know EXACTLY what they're destroying. ¶ 7:28 AM
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A new self-explanatory sentence.
First a clarifying note on the title, because I'm getting a whole lot of links lately via the term "explanatory sentence". When Professor Polistra lists self-explanatory sentences, this is a special and distinct category that has nothing to do with the ordinary meanings of "explanatory sentence". A self-explanatory sentence sums up an entire life or worldview in a few words, usually without conscious intent. Thus the sentence is a "self-explainer".
With that out of the way, here's a new one.
Israelis are offended by a photo of Obama talking to Netanyahu on the phone. Obama has his feet up on the desk, with shoes facing the camera. In America it's a normal executive pose, with no meaning except "My feet are tired." But in the Middle East where everything and anything can start a war, it's an insult.
From the AOL article about this silly kerfuffle:
And that's the new SES. It may be a mistranslation or a misquote, but still it encapsulates the Obama administration so far.
Actually it's not all that different from the Bush foreign policy, except that Obama has smartly omitted Bush's stupid emphasis on Democracy as the key ingredient of the changed world.
Shoes or no shoes, both Israelis and Arabs have good reason to feel threatened by this constant American Utopianism-Imperialism. Changing the world is truly impossible, but we keep trying. And we keep asking the "changees" to please stand aside while we destroy our own country in a fruitless attempt to change theirs. ¶ 10:48 AM
With that out of the way, here's a new one.
Israelis are offended by a photo of Obama talking to Netanyahu on the phone. Obama has his feet up on the desk, with shoes facing the camera. In America it's a normal executive pose, with no meaning except "My feet are tired." But in the Middle East where everything and anything can start a war, it's an insult.
From the AOL article about this silly kerfuffle:
Netanyahu was told Tuesday by an "American official" in Jerusalem that, "We are going to change the world. Please, don't interfere."
And that's the new SES. It may be a mistranslation or a misquote, but still it encapsulates the Obama administration so far.
Actually it's not all that different from the Bush foreign policy, except that Obama has smartly omitted Bush's stupid emphasis on Democracy as the key ingredient of the changed world.
Shoes or no shoes, both Israelis and Arabs have good reason to feel threatened by this constant American Utopianism-Imperialism. Changing the world is truly impossible, but we keep trying. And we keep asking the "changees" to please stand aside while we destroy our own country in a fruitless attempt to change theirs. ¶ 10:48 AM
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Good legislation on energy
Rep McMorris from Spokane has been advocating for hydropower, which is the cleanest available source of electric power. Several years ago the Gaians (with no opposition from Sultan Bush) defined hydropower as dirty and "non-renewable", because it makes life more difficult for the fucking fish.
McMorris has fixed this, and helped to fix some other things. From her press release today:
This is part of a larger positive pattern. Earlier this year HR 146 was passed and signed, making it easier to prevent fires in national forests by cutting and using excess timber. During the Bush years this process was hopelessly tied up in litigation, leading to total waste of wood and unnecessary deaths.
I'm not sure why these (comparatively!) good laws are finally being passed under a supposedly Green Democrat administration. It may be influenced by those pro-American western Democrats who were brought in by Howard Dean. Or it may be that Bush talked a good pro-American game but really didn't give a flying fuck about Americans, while Obama actually understands the purpose of his job. ¶ 11:33 AM
McMorris has fixed this, and helped to fix some other things. From her press release today:
In light of a Portland judge’s recent ruling threatening our dams, we must do everything we can to protect them. Classifying hydropower as renewable is a step in the right direction. I recently wrote about that judge's decision in this Spokesman-Review column.
I am working to promote the important role of hydropower in meeting our national renewable energy goals. Right now, hydropower represents 75% of our country’s current renewable energy production. Hydropower currently produces 6% of our nation’s electricity. We could double our use of this clean, renewable resource without building a new dam.
In addition to promoting clean, renewable sources of energy like hydropower and nuclear energy, the American Energy Act:
* Allows for the responsible exploration of energy on the Outer Continental Shelf, the Arctic Coastal Plain and in areas where oil shale exists
* Streamlines the legal process for developing new energy sources and new refineries
* Encourages homeowners and businesses through tax credits to improve energy efficiency and offers a $500 million prize for the first U.S. carmaker that sells 50,000 vehicles that get 100 miles per gallon
This is part of a larger positive pattern. Earlier this year HR 146 was passed and signed, making it easier to prevent fires in national forests by cutting and using excess timber. During the Bush years this process was hopelessly tied up in litigation, leading to total waste of wood and unnecessary deaths.
I'm not sure why these (comparatively!) good laws are finally being passed under a supposedly Green Democrat administration. It may be influenced by those pro-American western Democrats who were brought in by Howard Dean. Or it may be that Bush talked a good pro-American game but really didn't give a flying fuck about Americans, while Obama actually understands the purpose of his job. ¶ 11:33 AM
Ecclesiastes
Perusing a Korean church website, ran across this quote.
= = = = =
내 가 또 본즉 사람이 모든 수고와 여러 가지 교묘한 일로 인하여 이웃에게 시기를 받으니 이것도 헛되어 바람을 잡으려는 것이로다 우매자는 손을 거두고 자기 살을 먹느니라 한 손에만 가득하고 평온함이 두 손에 가득하고 수고하며 바람을 잡으려는 것보다 나으니라 (전도서 4:4-6)
And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. The fool folds his hands and ruins himself. Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 4:4-6, NIV)
Wisdom proved by 5000 years of experience, and Americans still refuse to catch on.
Sidenote: Bach had something to say about this. ¶ 9:43 AM
= = = = =
내 가 또 본즉 사람이 모든 수고와 여러 가지 교묘한 일로 인하여 이웃에게 시기를 받으니 이것도 헛되어 바람을 잡으려는 것이로다 우매자는 손을 거두고 자기 살을 먹느니라 한 손에만 가득하고 평온함이 두 손에 가득하고 수고하며 바람을 잡으려는 것보다 나으니라 (전도서 4:4-6)
And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. The fool folds his hands and ruins himself. Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 4:4-6, NIV)
Wisdom proved by 5000 years of experience, and Americans still refuse to catch on.
Sidenote: Bach had something to say about this. ¶ 9:43 AM
New approach
Barbara Kay in Canada's National Post provides an nicely objective and original approach to the abortion question.
And nobody doubts that premature births pose a significant risk to the child, often leading to various forms of brain damage.
Frankly, I'm not sure that this new approach would make a difference, since the US "legal" system is sworn to uphold, preserve and defend the Gaian Sacrament of abortion above all other considerations in the universe. Nothing may ever interfere with the Sacrament of Death.
If our elites don't care about the survival of children, they aren't likely to care about permanent damage to children ... except for the large medical and educational costs involved with a brain-damaged child. And that's where a political wedge might be applied. Consider the medical cost arguments made for anti-smoking laws, motorcycle helmet laws, etc.
Well, at any rate, Tiller is gone and his clinic is closed. Many other abortionists are still operating, but very few perform the late-term and partial birth killings that Tiller specialized in. So we can assume that some lives have already been saved by the removal of Tiller, and more will be saved in the future. That is absolutely good, no matter what our "legal" system says about it, and no matter how many squeamish qualifications we hear from allegedly pro-life commentators. ¶ 8:03 AM
There's a third side to the debate that gets short media shrift: emerging knowledge about medical risks surrounding induced abortion. Throughout 40 years of highly publicized ideological squabbling, researchers in the field of human reproduction have been quietly beavering away on mounting epidemiological data around induced abortion and its link to preterm birth in a future pregnancy. Recent findings in their research remind us of a "right" generally observed in the breach: the right of women seeking safe abortions to informed consent.
Approximately 100,000 abortions are performed annually in Canada (30 per 100 live births), about a million in the U. S. and some 14 million worldwide, a significant percentage of them repeats (in the U. S. 46%).
...
In 2007 Dr. Greg Alexander of the U. S. Institutes of Medicine (a branch of the National Academy of Sciences) identified a "prior first trimester induced abortion" as an "immutable medical risk factor associated with [a later] preterm birth."
And nobody doubts that premature births pose a significant risk to the child, often leading to various forms of brain damage.
In a 2007 article in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, Dr. Byron Calhoun et al estimated there were 1,096 annual excess cases of Cerebral Palsy in US newborns under 3.5 lbs that can be directly traced to a prior induced abortion.
Frankly, I'm not sure that this new approach would make a difference, since the US "legal" system is sworn to uphold, preserve and defend the Gaian Sacrament of abortion above all other considerations in the universe. Nothing may ever interfere with the Sacrament of Death.
If our elites don't care about the survival of children, they aren't likely to care about permanent damage to children ... except for the large medical and educational costs involved with a brain-damaged child. And that's where a political wedge might be applied. Consider the medical cost arguments made for anti-smoking laws, motorcycle helmet laws, etc.
Well, at any rate, Tiller is gone and his clinic is closed. Many other abortionists are still operating, but very few perform the late-term and partial birth killings that Tiller specialized in. So we can assume that some lives have already been saved by the removal of Tiller, and more will be saved in the future. That is absolutely good, no matter what our "legal" system says about it, and no matter how many squeamish qualifications we hear from allegedly pro-life commentators. ¶ 8:03 AM
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Ginger-ich
Newt continues to say sensible and necessary things, even when he's speaking to an audience with the intelligence of termites. (i.e. Congressmen.)
With apologies to the late great Gary Larson......
=================================================================
Newt says:
They hear:
=================================================================
Newt says:
They hear:
=================================================================
Newt says:
They hear:
=================================================================
¶ 7:41 PM
With apologies to the late great Gary Larson......
=================================================================
Newt says:
They hear:
=================================================================
Newt says:
They hear:
=================================================================
Newt says:
They hear:
=================================================================
¶ 7:41 PM
Monday, June 08, 2009
Dumb criminal
From the Spokesman-Review:
A Spokane man got some good news and some bad news this weekend from police.¶ 6:30 PM
The good news: Ziggy’s employees found the item he apparently lost while shopping at the building supply store Sunday.
The bad news: It was a baggie of methamphetamine, and Ziggy’s called Spokane police.
Christopher C. Wilson, 34, gave employees his name and number after asking about a lost item. That information helped police arrest him after employees checked video footage and saw him dropping the bag by the counter. They found it just minutes before Wilson returned.
Tough titties
The media are all atwitter (or is that atwatter?) about the two Al Gore employees who invaded North Korea and now are "unjustly" sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Too fucking bad. Everyone knows that North Korea is a closed totalitarian country with inch-by-inch surveillance. Everyone knows what will happen when you walk into a place like that with the intention of gathering information. No surprises whatsoever.
Not everyone knows, but it's generally understood, that CIA agents often use journalism as a cover, and CIA sometimes uses the services of real journalists. (As in "we'll help you get in if you'll brief us afterward.")
So the charge of spying is not unreasonable and might even be true.
Quit whining, assholes.
= = = = =
Actually I'm more worried by our failure to capture the two Americans who have been spying for Cuba for 30 years. Sounds like they were sloppy and incautious; should have been fairly easy to detect their shortwave transmissions. (Going out on a limb: I wouldn't be surprised if some nearby ham operators did detect and report the transmissions, but the gov't wasn't interested.)
Capturing people who may be enemy spies is healthy and normal behavior for a nation. Failing to capture apparent enemy spies (for 30 years!!) is unhealthy and self-destructive.
= = = = =
Later and less grumpy note... It's interesting that the Cuban spies were finally picked up under Obama. We can safely assume that FBI had some degree of info about them for a while, and there doesn't appear to be any imminent or sudden threat.
The talking point heads on both sides want us to believe that Obama is pro-Cuban, and his rhetoric has certainly been softer than Bush's rhetoric. But it's Obama who finally pulled the chain on these spies.
My conclusion is that Obama is setting policy, paying attention, holding the reins. The Bushes, Sr and Jr, never tried to control the bureaucracy, always allowed it to run rogue. So the FBI was content to follow its natural urges, which include bombing Christians and keeping foreign agents under surveillance forever.
Obama is different. He has a policy in mind and intends to use the bureaucrats as tools to implement the policy. What's the policy? Something like: "Speak softly and carry a big carrot and a big stick." ¶ 11:53 AM
Too fucking bad. Everyone knows that North Korea is a closed totalitarian country with inch-by-inch surveillance. Everyone knows what will happen when you walk into a place like that with the intention of gathering information. No surprises whatsoever.
Not everyone knows, but it's generally understood, that CIA agents often use journalism as a cover, and CIA sometimes uses the services of real journalists. (As in "we'll help you get in if you'll brief us afterward.")
So the charge of spying is not unreasonable and might even be true.
Quit whining, assholes.
= = = = =
Actually I'm more worried by our failure to capture the two Americans who have been spying for Cuba for 30 years. Sounds like they were sloppy and incautious; should have been fairly easy to detect their shortwave transmissions. (Going out on a limb: I wouldn't be surprised if some nearby ham operators did detect and report the transmissions, but the gov't wasn't interested.)
Capturing people who may be enemy spies is healthy and normal behavior for a nation. Failing to capture apparent enemy spies (for 30 years!!) is unhealthy and self-destructive.
= = = = =
Later and less grumpy note... It's interesting that the Cuban spies were finally picked up under Obama. We can safely assume that FBI had some degree of info about them for a while, and there doesn't appear to be any imminent or sudden threat.
The talking point heads on both sides want us to believe that Obama is pro-Cuban, and his rhetoric has certainly been softer than Bush's rhetoric. But it's Obama who finally pulled the chain on these spies.
My conclusion is that Obama is setting policy, paying attention, holding the reins. The Bushes, Sr and Jr, never tried to control the bureaucracy, always allowed it to run rogue. So the FBI was content to follow its natural urges, which include bombing Christians and keeping foreign agents under surveillance forever.
Obama is different. He has a policy in mind and intends to use the bureaucrats as tools to implement the policy. What's the policy? Something like: "Speak softly and carry a big carrot and a big stick." ¶ 11:53 AM
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Bravo Bernero
Kudos to CNN for giving frequent airtime to Virg Bernero, mayor of Lansing. While both so-called parties, all so-called economists, and all so-called journalists, work day and night to rip America from its roots and hand the goodies to China, Bernero wants to defend what little we have left.
In yesterday morning's segment, he smacked down the opposing economist so convincingly that even the moderator seemed dazed. ¶ 8:27 AM
In yesterday morning's segment, he smacked down the opposing economist so convincingly that even the moderator seemed dazed. ¶ 8:27 AM
Friday, June 05, 2009
That's more like it.
Polistra sees Roger Penske's purchase of GM's Saturn division as a major turning point. Finally a real car man is getting involved.
What makes this a truly historical moment is that an American capitalist is creating the first independent American car company since AMC faded in 1983.
Calling a spinoff 'independent' might seem wrong, but in fact all successful American car companies since 1914 began this way. Pick up a failing or bankrupt firm for a song, restart with new ideas and new money. So this arrangement is quite typical.
Who knows, maybe other American capitalists will look at Penske and try to figure out what he's doing? Nah, that's too much to expect. Making things that people can buy?????? Too weird and radical. Incomprehensible and alien. Leave all that dubious stuff to the Chinese. We'll just stick to our good old basic homespun American business methods: options on puts on bets on futures on derivatives on indexes on credit default swaps on packages of computer models based inversely on naked short calls. Much easier to understand. ¶ 8:10 AM
Polistra sees Roger Penske's purchase of GM's Saturn division as a major turning point. Finally a real car man is getting involved.
What makes this a truly historical moment is that an American capitalist is creating the first independent American car company since AMC faded in 1983.
Calling a spinoff 'independent' might seem wrong, but in fact all successful American car companies since 1914 began this way. Pick up a failing or bankrupt firm for a song, restart with new ideas and new money. So this arrangement is quite typical.
Who knows, maybe other American capitalists will look at Penske and try to figure out what he's doing? Nah, that's too much to expect. Making things that people can buy?????? Too weird and radical. Incomprehensible and alien. Leave all that dubious stuff to the Chinese. We'll just stick to our good old basic homespun American business methods: options on puts on bets on futures on derivatives on indexes on credit default swaps on packages of computer models based inversely on naked short calls. Much easier to understand. ¶ 8:10 AM
Strange shakeup
KHQ, Spokane's NBC affiliate, is pulling a classically stupid TV move, probably following the orders of some expensive "format consultant". They fired the most competent weathercaster in town, Brian Albrecht, and hired the least competent one from another station. The least competent one is a pretty blonde, which presumably gives her the ratings advantage. Trouble is, she can't read the radars and teleprompters correctly let alone predict anything. She literally can't tell north from south.
Meanwhile, Albrecht seems to be thoroughly disgusted with broadcasting in general; instead of moving to another station as usually happens in these cases, he's become an assistant pastor at a Lutheran church!
So we're going to be stuck with the Weather Bureau's halfassed predictions. They do well enough on the slow-moving changes, but they never catch the surprises. ¶ 7:01 AM
Meanwhile, Albrecht seems to be thoroughly disgusted with broadcasting in general; instead of moving to another station as usually happens in these cases, he's become an assistant pastor at a Lutheran church!
So we're going to be stuck with the Weather Bureau's halfassed predictions. They do well enough on the slow-moving changes, but they never catch the surprises. ¶ 7:01 AM
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Language update
Professor Polistra has accumulated another set of overused or new phrases.......
Company / Country: During the TARP crime, newscasters were having a lot of trouble with these two words, switching them both ways. Nice Freudian indication that criminal syndicates such as AIG are more countries than companies, and territorial entities such as USA are more companies than countries.
Piracy / Privacy: During the Mærsk Alabama story, piracy turned into privacy more often than not. Nothing Freudian here; just a very rare word sliding over into a very common word of similar sound. (Possibly influenced by the arcane and literary word privateer, which means roughly the same as pirate?) A more annoying and less justifiable error was pronouncing Mærsk as Mursk and referring to the ship as the Mursk. Mærsk is a huge company that owns many ships, one of which is the Mærsk Alabama. This shouldn't be a hard concept to grasp. Calling the ship "the Mursk" is like living at 412 Grandview Terrace and giving your address as simply "The Turrace".
Whole host: Obama's favorite phrase, spreading through a whole host of his acolytes in the media.
Anecdata: Nice new portmanteau word for anecdotal data.
Infodemic: Wonderful coinage by Peter Greenberg, for the spread of idiotic panic (eg Mexican Flu) through the media.
Turbine: British pronunciation (rhyming with turpentine) has taken over. No reason for this, except to sound British. Might make sense if we needed to distinguish turbine from turban, but the latter is so rare that a separate pronunciation is unnecessary.
Somehow: Introducing somehow into a sentence tells us that you are a cool Progressive who knows the truth, unlike those uncool Fascists. Examples: "The conservatives somehow believe that the Constitution somehow has a literal meaning which judges can somehow read and somehow apply." "Yeah, right, like somehow a fetus is somehow a baby or something." "These deniers think the sun somehow influences the climate on our Planet."
Unvirtuous circle: When a new thing or idea comes along, it needs an extra adjective to describe it. After the new thing replaces the old, we use the plain default word for the new, and we have to add something extra to describe the old. Common examples of retronyms: acoustic guitar, film camera, biological parent, covenant marriage, landline phone. In this case, the old term for a positive feedback loop is vicious circle. This is accurate and appropriate because positive feedback (each increase triggers even more increase) is always bad. Negative feedback (each increase is countered by an opposite compensation) is always good. When your car is going too fast, hitting the gas pedal is positive feedback and hitting the brake is negative feedback. In recent years the bubble mentality, the assumption of infinite increase, became so pervasive that we insanely declared positive feedback to be a virtuous circle. Now that the party is over, a few sobered-up commentators are trying to recover the old accurate idea, but they've lost the term vicious circle, requiring the invention of the weird semi-retronym unvirtuous circle.
Professor Polistra has accumulated another set of overused or new phrases.......
Company / Country: During the TARP crime, newscasters were having a lot of trouble with these two words, switching them both ways. Nice Freudian indication that criminal syndicates such as AIG are more countries than companies, and territorial entities such as USA are more companies than countries.
Piracy / Privacy: During the Mærsk Alabama story, piracy turned into privacy more often than not. Nothing Freudian here; just a very rare word sliding over into a very common word of similar sound. (Possibly influenced by the arcane and literary word privateer, which means roughly the same as pirate?) A more annoying and less justifiable error was pronouncing Mærsk as Mursk and referring to the ship as the Mursk. Mærsk is a huge company that owns many ships, one of which is the Mærsk Alabama. This shouldn't be a hard concept to grasp. Calling the ship "the Mursk" is like living at 412 Grandview Terrace and giving your address as simply "The Turrace".
Whole host: Obama's favorite phrase, spreading through a whole host of his acolytes in the media.
Anecdata: Nice new portmanteau word for anecdotal data.
Infodemic: Wonderful coinage by Peter Greenberg, for the spread of idiotic panic (eg Mexican Flu) through the media.
Turbine: British pronunciation (rhyming with turpentine) has taken over. No reason for this, except to sound British. Might make sense if we needed to distinguish turbine from turban, but the latter is so rare that a separate pronunciation is unnecessary.
Somehow: Introducing somehow into a sentence tells us that you are a cool Progressive who knows the truth, unlike those uncool Fascists. Examples: "The conservatives somehow believe that the Constitution somehow has a literal meaning which judges can somehow read and somehow apply." "Yeah, right, like somehow a fetus is somehow a baby or something." "These deniers think the sun somehow influences the climate on our Planet."
Unvirtuous circle: When a new thing or idea comes along, it needs an extra adjective to describe it. After the new thing replaces the old, we use the plain default word for the new, and we have to add something extra to describe the old. Common examples of retronyms: acoustic guitar, film camera, biological parent, covenant marriage, landline phone. In this case, the old term for a positive feedback loop is vicious circle. This is accurate and appropriate because positive feedback (each increase triggers even more increase) is always bad. Negative feedback (each increase is countered by an opposite compensation) is always good. When your car is going too fast, hitting the gas pedal is positive feedback and hitting the brake is negative feedback. In recent years the bubble mentality, the assumption of infinite increase, became so pervasive that we insanely declared positive feedback to be a virtuous circle. Now that the party is over, a few sobered-up commentators are trying to recover the old accurate idea, but they've lost the term vicious circle, requiring the invention of the weird semi-retronym unvirtuous circle.
Labels: Language update
¶ 7:39 AM
Monday, June 01, 2009
Sometimes ...
The rosebush that was flattened by winter-hell started blooming today.
(A cynic might attribute this more to the power of pruning than the power of miracles, but I'm not a cynic at the moment.) ¶ 6:54 PM
The rosebush that was flattened by winter-hell started blooming today.
(A cynic might attribute this more to the power of pruning than the power of miracles, but I'm not a cynic at the moment.) ¶ 6:54 PM
GM down
Polistra has said before that a well-organized bankruptcy would be a good thing for GM. Remains to be seen whether this particular bankruptcy will be more like Studebaker (competent car men took over, company thrived) or more like Willys (idiot bean-counters took over, company failed).
One big question remains: If the bankruptcy was going to happen anyway, why did we pour 20 Billion into a black hole? Wouldn't the same 20 Bil have done more good in the form of a "defense contract" to build high-speed rail equipment? ¶ 7:11 AM
Polistra has said before that a well-organized bankruptcy would be a good thing for GM. Remains to be seen whether this particular bankruptcy will be more like Studebaker (competent car men took over, company thrived) or more like Willys (idiot bean-counters took over, company failed).
One big question remains: If the bankruptcy was going to happen anyway, why did we pour 20 Billion into a black hole? Wouldn't the same 20 Bil have done more good in the form of a "defense contract" to build high-speed rail equipment? ¶ 7:11 AM
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Ineffective, isn't it?
The Voice of Russia (formerly Radio Moscow) has a much more interesting web presence than Voice of America. It's personal, inviting and interactive, just as R. Moskva had been in its shortwave heyday. I wrote to R. Moskva twice in the early '60s, trying out my self-taught Russian. They replied pleasantly, correcting my grammar and answering my questions.
On the new web version, a feature on Darwin's 200th anniversary reveals a surprisingly positive fact about human resiliency in the face of anti-Christian totalitarians.
According to this Pew article, Americans feel the same as Russians about Darwin in general, but our position on school curriculum seems to be more nuanced or uncertain. The closest version of the question is this one: "I'm going to read some areas of instruction that high schools might offer. Please say whether you think each one should be required instruction, could be offered as an elective, or should not be taught at all." Evolution gets 28% for required and 49% for elective; creationism gets 25% for required and 56% for elective. So roughly half of Americans think both views should be presented, which is slightly higher than the Russian 43%.
Overall, this means that anti-Christian schools and culture aren't nearly as effective as the elites would like. Russia had 70 years of anti-Christian schooling (1920 to 1990) and America has suffered 40 years of anti-Christian schools (1962 to present). Despite all that effort and money by Communist elites in both countries, only a quarter of the population firmly adheres to the establishment's "settled science."
This also decisively kills the idiotic notion propounded by Super-Idiot Lawrence Krauss, that ignorance of science leads to totalitarianism. Both USSR and USA taught ONLY EVOLUTION for several generations, and during that time USSR moved away from totalitarianism while USA moved toward it. So we have tested your theory with a controlled experiment, Super-Idiot Krauss.
Same treatment + opposite results = No causation.
= = = = =
Happy sidenote: Russia has not merely ended anti-Christian public schooling; it's now moving into church-school partnership!
On the new web version, a feature on Darwin's 200th anniversary reveals a surprisingly positive fact about human resiliency in the face of anti-Christian totalitarians.
As for Russia, half of my countrymen believe that the human beings were created by God and a quarter think that humans were parented by apes. The rest – a quarter of those surveyed – offered “hard to say” for an answer. Russian sociologists asked also this question: “What subject should be taught at school – Darwin’s theory of evolution, the Divine creation idea, both of them, or nothing at all? Only 20% advocated for Darwin’s theory as a school subject. 13% were in favor of the Divine creation as the only school subject. But the majority – 43% believed that both concepts should be offered to school kids. It will be a mission impossible for school teachers. One out of ten thinks that nothing should be taught on this controversial point.
According to this Pew article, Americans feel the same as Russians about Darwin in general, but our position on school curriculum seems to be more nuanced or uncertain. The closest version of the question is this one: "I'm going to read some areas of instruction that high schools might offer. Please say whether you think each one should be required instruction, could be offered as an elective, or should not be taught at all." Evolution gets 28% for required and 49% for elective; creationism gets 25% for required and 56% for elective. So roughly half of Americans think both views should be presented, which is slightly higher than the Russian 43%.
Overall, this means that anti-Christian schools and culture aren't nearly as effective as the elites would like. Russia had 70 years of anti-Christian schooling (1920 to 1990) and America has suffered 40 years of anti-Christian schools (1962 to present). Despite all that effort and money by Communist elites in both countries, only a quarter of the population firmly adheres to the establishment's "settled science."
This also decisively kills the idiotic notion propounded by Super-Idiot Lawrence Krauss, that ignorance of science leads to totalitarianism. Both USSR and USA taught ONLY EVOLUTION for several generations, and during that time USSR moved away from totalitarianism while USA moved toward it. So we have tested your theory with a controlled experiment, Super-Idiot Krauss.
Same treatment + opposite results = No causation.
= = = = =
Happy sidenote: Russia has not merely ended anti-Christian public schooling; it's now moving into church-school partnership!
The official paper on cooperation between the Orthodox Church and the Education Ministry was signed at the end of last year. Both the church and the school want the youngsters to learn moral principles. “We’re removing the 100-year gap between the Russian Orthodox Church and school education, — acting Education and Science Minister Vasily Kostyukevich says. – Russian literature and culture is impossible to perceive without Orthodox tradition”.
Labels: Experiential education, Krauss
¶ 6:19 AM
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Іван Берёзов Общество
Polistra has discussed the distinction between sane and crazy paranoia, as illustrated by the downfall of the John Birchers. After correctly identifying Soviet subversion in the 1950's (sane paranoia), the JBS was penetrated and neutered in the 1970's, now practicing a crazy and complex paranoia that blames everything on the Council for Foreign Relations.
And what happened to the original Birch viewpoint? Where can you find a solid and accurate criticism of the long-running Communist destruction of America? Why, you can find it in Pravda. Of course.
The article begins by calling Americans "sheeple", a trademark Birch word.
Then:
The part about pop culture in schools is inaccurate: our education system is certainly dumbed down, but not because it replaces learning with pop culture. Rather, it replaces learning with flat-out falsehoods. (Oddly enough, this author missed a truly scathing and perfectly ironic comparison. Russian science and math education is based on discovery, experimentation and discussion. Typical American methods are authoritarian and top-down. The Russian method works. The American method does not.)
But the rest of the criticism is spot on, and echoes Polistra's thoughts exactly. ¶ 9:10 AM
Polistra has discussed the distinction between sane and crazy paranoia, as illustrated by the downfall of the John Birchers. After correctly identifying Soviet subversion in the 1950's (sane paranoia), the JBS was penetrated and neutered in the 1970's, now practicing a crazy and complex paranoia that blames everything on the Council for Foreign Relations.
And what happened to the original Birch viewpoint? Where can you find a solid and accurate criticism of the long-running Communist destruction of America? Why, you can find it in Pravda. Of course.
The article begins by calling Americans "sheeple", a trademark Birch word.
Then:
First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us [Russians] about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish.
Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.
These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, losses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more than ordinary street thugs, in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the sheer volumes. Should we congratulate them?
The part about pop culture in schools is inaccurate: our education system is certainly dumbed down, but not because it replaces learning with pop culture. Rather, it replaces learning with flat-out falsehoods. (Oddly enough, this author missed a truly scathing and perfectly ironic comparison. Russian science and math education is based on discovery, experimentation and discussion. Typical American methods are authoritarian and top-down. The Russian method works. The American method does not.)
But the rest of the criticism is spot on, and echoes Polistra's thoughts exactly. ¶ 9:10 AM
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Thousand words
A few weeks ago Polistra wrote a long piece on the decline of small towns.
This picture on Shorpy.com illustrates the point perfectly. Yes, we still have county fairs, and we still have County Demonstration Agents or Extension Agents. But they don't matter now.
These Vigo County girls mattered, and their preserves were worth the effort of displaying artistically. (And undoubtedly worth the effort of eating reverently. Yum!) And Miriam Retherford mattered. Her artistic calligraphy and artistic arrangement helped to preserve the whole event for posterity.
In a globalized and televised world there are no small ponds. Your efforts don't matter unless you can make a big enough splash to move the ocean. Quality, slapdash, all the same. No point in preserving, no point in artistry, because your job will be handed to a fucking Chinaman tomorrow. ¶ 9:04 PM
This picture on Shorpy.com illustrates the point perfectly. Yes, we still have county fairs, and we still have County Demonstration Agents or Extension Agents. But they don't matter now.
These Vigo County girls mattered, and their preserves were worth the effort of displaying artistically. (And undoubtedly worth the effort of eating reverently. Yum!) And Miriam Retherford mattered. Her artistic calligraphy and artistic arrangement helped to preserve the whole event for posterity.
In a globalized and televised world there are no small ponds. Your efforts don't matter unless you can make a big enough splash to move the ocean. Quality, slapdash, all the same. No point in preserving, no point in artistry, because your job will be handed to a fucking Chinaman tomorrow. ¶ 9:04 PM
Effective, isn't it?
Interesting to watch the standard Stalinist smashdown of Newt. His comment about Sotomayor is simply and obviously true: anyone who claims that an old white man would "reach a better decision" than other racial or sexual combinations, would be banished. He not only couldn't get confirmed for a judgeship, he wouldn't be able to find any sort of respectable job. He would be a Man Without A Country.
For a moment I wished ... Someone should directly face down these media assholes who are calling Newt crazy. Someone should point out the factual nature of the comment by citing an example. Find a politician or judge who actually said something like that, and show what happened to him.
Unfortunately this isn't even possible, because America's censorship regime is so airtight and absolute that no white politician would come within a thousand miles of such a statement. Whites know their place.
There is precisely one example in recent years, but it's not a politician, not really a public figure. James Watson, discoverer of DNA, made some plainly and provably true comments (understated comments, in fact) about the racial distribution of intelligence, and was instantly fired and banished from public life. ¶ 10:12 AM
For a moment I wished ... Someone should directly face down these media assholes who are calling Newt crazy. Someone should point out the factual nature of the comment by citing an example. Find a politician or judge who actually said something like that, and show what happened to him.
Unfortunately this isn't even possible, because America's censorship regime is so airtight and absolute that no white politician would come within a thousand miles of such a statement. Whites know their place.
There is precisely one example in recent years, but it's not a politician, not really a public figure. James Watson, discoverer of DNA, made some plainly and provably true comments (understated comments, in fact) about the racial distribution of intelligence, and was instantly fired and banished from public life. ¶ 10:12 AM
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Hispanic isn't white?
Listening to the CNN coverage of Sotomayor choice ... Comrade Toobin says "This is a new day for America, with an African-American president appointing a female Hispanic. America's ruling class is no longer all white men." Other commentators echo the same theme, treating "Hispanic" as a special category.
Why? Scalia and Alito are both from Italian immigrant stock, which is culturally similar to Hispanic. Yet they count as plain old white, while a Hispanic from "Buerdo Rrrrrrrico" counts as non-white.
If we're really thinking about proportional representation of American groups, we should be more worried that Sotomayor would become the SIXTH Catholic on the court. Breyer and Comrade Ginsburg are Jewish; the only remaining Protestant would be Comrade Stevens, who lists himself as merely "Protestant", indicating that religion isn't exactly a major factor in his life. ¶ 8:15 AM
Why? Scalia and Alito are both from Italian immigrant stock, which is culturally similar to Hispanic. Yet they count as plain old white, while a Hispanic from "Buerdo Rrrrrrrico" counts as non-white.
If we're really thinking about proportional representation of American groups, we should be more worried that Sotomayor would become the SIXTH Catholic on the court. Breyer and Comrade Ginsburg are Jewish; the only remaining Protestant would be Comrade Stevens, who lists himself as merely "Protestant", indicating that religion isn't exactly a major factor in his life. ¶ 8:15 AM
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Paradise Express
A great 1937 movie about the battle between "economic efficiency" and human-sized capitalism. Small railroad is taken over by a bankruptcy receiver... I won't spoil the ending.
¶ 2:08 PM
Friday, May 22, 2009
Reich's college loan idea
Robert Reich proposes a new way to finance college. Strikes me as an excellent idea.
Even when they do find jobs, college grads have no choice but to take the job that pays the most. They can't afford to do what they might really want to do -- become, say, a social worker or writer or legal services attorney.¶ 1:29 PM
This problem won't go away when the economy recovers. College debt burdens have been rising for years.... So here's my proposal: Any college student can get full funding from the government, with only one string attached. Once they've graduated and are in the work force, they pay 10 percent of their incomes for the first 10 years of full-time work into the same government fund they drew on to finance their college education.
Now maybe that formula will need to be adjusted up or down to cover all the costs. ... Linking repayment to a fixed percent of subsequent wages for a limited number of years enables all graduates to follow their dreams into whatever work they want, without worrying about earning enough to repay a loan. Those who end up in relatively high-paying jobs subsidize those who end up in relatively low-paying ones.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Time to save
Shorpy is one of my daily web stops. The moderator selects high-quality old photos, mainly from WPA work. Sometimes the moderator is working a theme or a relation to today's news, sometimes he's just showing eye candy. Sometimes the picture reminds us of good things that are forever lost, sometimes the exact opposite. It's always a useful perspective point.
Today's pic clearly illustrates the problem with modern banks. The bank in this 1922 picture advertises saving, not borrowing. The Christmas Club, a one-year savings account, offered 3% interest. And the bank is quite obviously profitable. ¶ 2:19 PM
Today's pic clearly illustrates the problem with modern banks. The bank in this 1922 picture advertises saving, not borrowing. The Christmas Club, a one-year savings account, offered 3% interest. And the bank is quite obviously profitable. ¶ 2:19 PM
NY jihad sting
Hasn't been one of these in a while. The news coverage is interestingly mixed. Cable networks are following the usual leftist rules, protecting nobility. These particular would-be terrorists are both black and Mohammedan, therefore doubly noble. So the news must treat them as innocent victims, shield their true identity, avoid naming their purpose. Other news sources, including ABC, are more refreshingly candid, starting the article with police commissioner Ray Kelly's statement that these four "wanted to commit jihad."
Stings are always dubious. They pick up the sort of would-be criminal who hasn't quite made up his mind, and encourage him to make up his mind. More serious and determined jihadis (home-grown or otherwise) don't wait for the nicely created opportunity in a sting; they just go ahead and bomb stadiums or shoot up Jewish Community Centers. We don't catch the serious ones until it's too late.
I wonder: was the recent buzzing of NY by Air Force One part of the sting operation? Maybe the stinger was gaining street cred with the criminals by demonstrating his inside knowledge, as in "Watch this! I can tell you when the President's plane will be flying over New York, so you can shoot it down with those missiles I'm going to sell you. Pretty neat, huh?" It sure as hell wasn't a photo-op. ¶ 6:47 AM
Stings are always dubious. They pick up the sort of would-be criminal who hasn't quite made up his mind, and encourage him to make up his mind. More serious and determined jihadis (home-grown or otherwise) don't wait for the nicely created opportunity in a sting; they just go ahead and bomb stadiums or shoot up Jewish Community Centers. We don't catch the serious ones until it's too late.
I wonder: was the recent buzzing of NY by Air Force One part of the sting operation? Maybe the stinger was gaining street cred with the criminals by demonstrating his inside knowledge, as in "Watch this! I can tell you when the President's plane will be flying over New York, so you can shoot it down with those missiles I'm going to sell you. Pretty neat, huh?" It sure as hell wasn't a photo-op. ¶ 6:47 AM
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Getting close to a real question
Up till now, the discussion of "torture" in our Communist media has been nothing more than an extended session of left-handed masturbation. You can hear it in Comrade Rachel Maddow and Comrade Shep Smith, the same unfaked orgasm: Oh! Oh! Oh god! Bad Republican! Spank the bad Republican! More pictures! Show me more! Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh! Oh gooooooood! Oh Yeeeeeessssssss!
All of this juicy fingerwork is based on a completely irrelevant set of events, involving our application of minor discomfort (like the least painful aspects of a dental appointment) to some actual bad guys. Most Americans, including even one member of the Communist media (Chris Mathews) don't share the orgasm; most Americans think it's fine to use any methods necessary to get important information from an actual enemy.
Today CNN finally got down to the real question. Are these detainees really worth questioning at all? Are they worth the trouble of even a friendly interview? Are they actual enemy soldiers who could tell us something about an imminent attack? This story describes the application of real torture, not inconvenience, to a man who couldn't have given us any useful information. ¶ 8:32 AM
All of this juicy fingerwork is based on a completely irrelevant set of events, involving our application of minor discomfort (like the least painful aspects of a dental appointment) to some actual bad guys. Most Americans, including even one member of the Communist media (Chris Mathews) don't share the orgasm; most Americans think it's fine to use any methods necessary to get important information from an actual enemy.
Today CNN finally got down to the real question. Are these detainees really worth questioning at all? Are they worth the trouble of even a friendly interview? Are they actual enemy soldiers who could tell us something about an imminent attack? This story describes the application of real torture, not inconvenience, to a man who couldn't have given us any useful information. ¶ 8:32 AM
Monday, May 18, 2009
Adam needed one of these
Lately I've been listening to good music on the local NPR station. Much better for the blood pressure and the brain than crappy cable TV.
I used to enjoy listening to college-based public stations ... the semi-literate college kids struggled with foreign words, coming up with classical boners like:
Dvorak ---> DeBorbik
Vivaldi ---> Vivialivi
Johann Bach ---> John Hann Batch
I Solisti di Zagreb ---> The One Soul-sty dye Zarjub
Concerto in A Major ---> Conquer-toe in a major
Fugue ---> Fuggó
Spokane's station, KPBX, is a professional operation, and their main classical announcer, Vern Windham, is a serious musician himself. So he doesn't make that kind of mistake. Still, this afternoon he muffed a line, sending me into a laughing fit. I probably needed a good laugh, and it's probably not all that funny out of context. Nevertheless:
"The previous hour was underwritten by Dr Jason Weinstein, Eve Consultant. Oh, excuse me, that's Eye Consultant." ¶ 3:32 PM
I used to enjoy listening to college-based public stations ... the semi-literate college kids struggled with foreign words, coming up with classical boners like:
Dvorak ---> DeBorbik
Vivaldi ---> Vivialivi
Johann Bach ---> John Hann Batch
I Solisti di Zagreb ---> The One Soul-sty dye Zarjub
Concerto in A Major ---> Conquer-toe in a major
Fugue ---> Fuggó
Spokane's station, KPBX, is a professional operation, and their main classical announcer, Vern Windham, is a serious musician himself. So he doesn't make that kind of mistake. Still, this afternoon he muffed a line, sending me into a laughing fit. I probably needed a good laugh, and it's probably not all that funny out of context. Nevertheless:
"The previous hour was underwritten by Dr Jason Weinstein, Eve Consultant. Oh, excuse me, that's Eye Consultant." ¶ 3:32 PM
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The chief's daughter
Polistra is reading p. 291 of the WPA Guide to Oklahoma:
Right from Pawhuska on an unimproved dirt road is the CHIEF SAUCY CHIEF HOMESTEAD.
Nellie, the daughter of the chief, was the first Osage to be given Christian burial. She contracted pneumonia in 1885 at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania and was sent home, where she died. Major Laban J. Miles, the Osage Agent at that time, persuaded her parents to conduct the Christian rites rather than their customary procedure of burying the dead in a sitting posture on the summit of a hill. However, the Indians kept their own mourning customs, the chief wearing only a white sheet, moccasins and breechclout for a three-and-a-half-month period, despite the snow-covered ground. In preparation for the three-day dance which was to end the mourning observance, the funeral party rode out solemnly to capture the scalp of a town merchant who had ingratiatingly decided to submit himself to a mock scalping; he allowed the Indians to cut off his forelock minus the traditional accompaniment of skin. Major Miles was accorded the honor of leading the group, much to the amazement of Pawhuska citizens who saw him riding into town holding the scalp-pole with the hair flying from its top. After Saucy Chief had been bathed and dressed in warm blankets, the dance began.
Nellie's death had been properly observed, and her spirit sent on its journey with the blessing of both the white and red man's ritual. ¶ 7:37 PM
Polistra is reading p. 291 of the WPA Guide to Oklahoma:
Right from Pawhuska on an unimproved dirt road is the CHIEF SAUCY CHIEF HOMESTEAD.
Nellie, the daughter of the chief, was the first Osage to be given Christian burial. She contracted pneumonia in 1885 at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania and was sent home, where she died. Major Laban J. Miles, the Osage Agent at that time, persuaded her parents to conduct the Christian rites rather than their customary procedure of burying the dead in a sitting posture on the summit of a hill. However, the Indians kept their own mourning customs, the chief wearing only a white sheet, moccasins and breechclout for a three-and-a-half-month period, despite the snow-covered ground. In preparation for the three-day dance which was to end the mourning observance, the funeral party rode out solemnly to capture the scalp of a town merchant who had ingratiatingly decided to submit himself to a mock scalping; he allowed the Indians to cut off his forelock minus the traditional accompaniment of skin. Major Miles was accorded the honor of leading the group, much to the amazement of Pawhuska citizens who saw him riding into town holding the scalp-pole with the hair flying from its top. After Saucy Chief had been bathed and dressed in warm blankets, the dance began.
Nellie's death had been properly observed, and her spirit sent on its journey with the blessing of both the white and red man's ritual. ¶ 7:37 PM
Small hooty
I've long been dubious about the constant references to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff as a major contributor to the 1930's depression. Intuitively the causation seemed wrong, and the analogy to today's situation seemed even more wrong. But I didn't have enough data to settle the question one way or the other.
Found an article that verifies my intuition with a rigorous economical analysis. The author says Canada was the only country that retaliated with its own counter-tariffs, but since Canada's economy was tanking along with everyone else, the cross-border trade was decreasing dramatically anyway. So the tariff caused real political friction with Canada, but its economic effect (if any) was swamped by the overall drop.
Thus the modern free-traders are wrong when they use historical precedent to warn us against a "trade war". And the analogy to modern times doesn't work either; as Polistra noted last year, and even the New York Times acknowledged more recently, today's most successful manufacturing countries have strong import protections. This tells us that even if import tariffs may have been harmful in the conditions that prevailed 70 years ago, they are not harmful today. Japan, Korea, China and India are smart countries with a strong focus on growth and production. If they found that tariffs damaged their own manufacturers, they would drop the tariffs in a heartbeat.
Obviously the US operates on a different principle. Our official goal for the last 25 years has been to destroy our own manufacturers and impoverish our own citizens, in order to maximize global economic efficiency. ¶ 10:23 AM
Found an article that verifies my intuition with a rigorous economical analysis. The author says Canada was the only country that retaliated with its own counter-tariffs, but since Canada's economy was tanking along with everyone else, the cross-border trade was decreasing dramatically anyway. So the tariff caused real political friction with Canada, but its economic effect (if any) was swamped by the overall drop.
Thus the modern free-traders are wrong when they use historical precedent to warn us against a "trade war". And the analogy to modern times doesn't work either; as Polistra noted last year, and even the New York Times acknowledged more recently, today's most successful manufacturing countries have strong import protections. This tells us that even if import tariffs may have been harmful in the conditions that prevailed 70 years ago, they are not harmful today. Japan, Korea, China and India are smart countries with a strong focus on growth and production. If they found that tariffs damaged their own manufacturers, they would drop the tariffs in a heartbeat.
Obviously the US operates on a different principle. Our official goal for the last 25 years has been to destroy our own manufacturers and impoverish our own citizens, in order to maximize global economic efficiency. ¶ 10:23 AM
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Shorelines
Steve Sailer has been dissecting the demographics and politics of location, partly in connection with the subprime real estate bubble.
One of Sailer's main points is the link between location, politics and income: the closer you get to an ocean beach, the more expensive the land, and the more leftish the population.
This led me to wonder: is there an innate connection here? When you have the genetic combination that pulls you toward beaches, do you also have the natural equipment for material success, and the natural tendency toward leftist politics?
The latter two are certainly connected and innate. No mystery there. Top dogs are aristocrats, and the modern Western expression of aristocracy is leftist politics.
But what about the drive to be near an ocean? Natural or learned?
One quick test shows it to be a learned status symbol manufactured through advertising and peer pressure, like the taste for diamonds or caviar. If the basic sensory inputs (seeing and hearing waves, an infinite horizon, fishy smells) were linked to the talents that yield success, then lakeshores would be just as valuable as ocean shores. Lake Erie should be just as unattainable as Malibu. But it ain't.
Example: Luna Pier, Michigan, just north of Toledo. I visited there a few times when I lived in Bowling Green. It's a beautiful place, with charming cottages, lapping waves and an infinite horizon. Is it wildly expensive? Not at all. The real estate prices look similar to any solid but nothing-special Midwestern city: house by house, the same prices you'd find in Enid or Topeka.
While examining the prices, this house grabbed my attention. Showing a picture instead of a link, because I suspect the listing won't be there very long....
One block from the infinite horizon, a clean and cute place for $18k. I could afford that myself, and I'm many light-years down from Malibu-rich. (Tempted? Yes.)
I'll bet this was originally an Aladdin house; many of the 1920's seaside and lakeside cottages were built from prefab kits.
Specifically, I'll bet it's a modified version of this Aladdin model:
¶ 5:38 PM
One of Sailer's main points is the link between location, politics and income: the closer you get to an ocean beach, the more expensive the land, and the more leftish the population.
This led me to wonder: is there an innate connection here? When you have the genetic combination that pulls you toward beaches, do you also have the natural equipment for material success, and the natural tendency toward leftist politics?
The latter two are certainly connected and innate. No mystery there. Top dogs are aristocrats, and the modern Western expression of aristocracy is leftist politics.
But what about the drive to be near an ocean? Natural or learned?
One quick test shows it to be a learned status symbol manufactured through advertising and peer pressure, like the taste for diamonds or caviar. If the basic sensory inputs (seeing and hearing waves, an infinite horizon, fishy smells) were linked to the talents that yield success, then lakeshores would be just as valuable as ocean shores. Lake Erie should be just as unattainable as Malibu. But it ain't.
Example: Luna Pier, Michigan, just north of Toledo. I visited there a few times when I lived in Bowling Green. It's a beautiful place, with charming cottages, lapping waves and an infinite horizon. Is it wildly expensive? Not at all. The real estate prices look similar to any solid but nothing-special Midwestern city: house by house, the same prices you'd find in Enid or Topeka.
While examining the prices, this house grabbed my attention. Showing a picture instead of a link, because I suspect the listing won't be there very long....
One block from the infinite horizon, a clean and cute place for $18k. I could afford that myself, and I'm many light-years down from Malibu-rich. (Tempted? Yes.)
I'll bet this was originally an Aladdin house; many of the 1920's seaside and lakeside cottages were built from prefab kits.
Specifically, I'll bet it's a modified version of this Aladdin model:
¶ 5:38 PM
Friday, May 15, 2009
Obama vs Notre Dame
The kerfuffle about Obama speaking at Notre Dame is rather odd when you see it in a larger perspective. In plain fact, Obama agrees with modern Catholic teaching on nearly all important questions.
On the broad goals of economics and government, he drives the Roman road all the way. Look at this excerpt from JP2's 1991 encyclical 'Centesimus Annus':
Pretty good recipe, and Obama's speeches sound nearly the same. (For instance, his excellent ASU speech this week on the 'poverty of ambition.') On these subjects both Obama and Rome are correct.
On the treatment of enemy prisoners, Obama agrees with Rome, and both are wrong.
On capital punishment, Obama agrees with Rome, and both are wrong.
Both Obama and Rome worship the idolatrous false goddess Gaia, and both are wrong.
The only big question where Obama departs from Rome is abortion; on this one Rome is correct and Obama is wrong.
Seriously, why do American Catholics put so much heat on this one disagreement, when Obama is the first President in many years who agrees with Rome on everything else? ¶ 1:40 PM
On the broad goals of economics and government, he drives the Roman road all the way. Look at this excerpt from JP2's 1991 encyclical 'Centesimus Annus':
Following the destruction caused by [WW2], we see in some countries and under certain aspects a positive effort to rebuild a democratic society inspired by social justice, so as to deprive Communism of the revolutionary potential represented by masses of people subjected to exploitation and oppression. In general, such attempts endeavour to preserve free market mechanisms, ensuring, by means of a stable currency and the harmony of social relations, the conditions for steady and healthy economic growth in which people through their own work can build a better future for themselves and their families. At the same time, these attempts try to avoid making market mechanisms the only point of reference for social life, and they tend to subject them to public control which upholds the principle of the common destination of material goods. In this context, an abundance of work opportunities, a solid system of social security and professional training, the freedom to join trade unions and the effective action of unions, the assistance provided in cases of unemployment, the opportunities for democratic participation in the life of society — all these are meant to deliver work from the mere condition of "a commodity", and to guarantee its dignity.
Pretty good recipe, and Obama's speeches sound nearly the same. (For instance, his excellent ASU speech this week on the 'poverty of ambition.') On these subjects both Obama and Rome are correct.
On the treatment of enemy prisoners, Obama agrees with Rome, and both are wrong.
On capital punishment, Obama agrees with Rome, and both are wrong.
Both Obama and Rome worship the idolatrous false goddess Gaia, and both are wrong.
The only big question where Obama departs from Rome is abortion; on this one Rome is correct and Obama is wrong.
Seriously, why do American Catholics put so much heat on this one disagreement, when Obama is the first President in many years who agrees with Rome on everything else? ¶ 1:40 PM
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Silliest statement of the year
In connection with torture, Pelosi, etc:
One of the "strategists" on a cable discussion program supports the "need" to have criminal investigations of previous wartime decisions:
"If we don't expose these things to the light, we won't learn how to do it differently."
Utter nonsense. Republican and Democrat presidents do the same bad things. Some of the bad things are unquestionably necessary, others seem necessary at the time, others are purely irrational. We always expose the bad actions when a Republican does them, and we never expose the bad actions when a Democrat does them. We never learn anything from any of this ratshit. The only effect of the exposures is to make intelligence agencies more timid, more secretive, less willing to step outside the bounds when necessary. And this is irrelevant anyway because the CIA has failed to give us any meaningful intelligence since 1948. It was useless before the Church Commission of 1976, it was even more useless thereafter, and it will be evener morer uselesser (if that's grammatically or physically possible) after the current firestorm is over. Nevertheless we will continue to fund it, and we will continue to rely on its universally wrong "information".
Come to think of it, we do the same with public schools. Every "reform" makes them worse, every funding increase makes their "learning" even more negative, makes every year wasted inside the schools more viciously destructive of brainpower. We know this. The facts are openly available and indisputable. And yet we continue to "reform" the schools, continue to increase their funding, thus doing more harm to our students every year. ¶ 8:27 AM
One of the "strategists" on a cable discussion program supports the "need" to have criminal investigations of previous wartime decisions:
"If we don't expose these things to the light, we won't learn how to do it differently."
Utter nonsense. Republican and Democrat presidents do the same bad things. Some of the bad things are unquestionably necessary, others seem necessary at the time, others are purely irrational. We always expose the bad actions when a Republican does them, and we never expose the bad actions when a Democrat does them. We never learn anything from any of this ratshit. The only effect of the exposures is to make intelligence agencies more timid, more secretive, less willing to step outside the bounds when necessary. And this is irrelevant anyway because the CIA has failed to give us any meaningful intelligence since 1948. It was useless before the Church Commission of 1976, it was even more useless thereafter, and it will be evener morer uselesser (if that's grammatically or physically possible) after the current firestorm is over. Nevertheless we will continue to fund it, and we will continue to rely on its universally wrong "information".
Come to think of it, we do the same with public schools. Every "reform" makes them worse, every funding increase makes their "learning" even more negative, makes every year wasted inside the schools more viciously destructive of brainpower. We know this. The facts are openly available and indisputable. And yet we continue to "reform" the schools, continue to increase their funding, thus doing more harm to our students every year. ¶ 8:27 AM
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
TARP documents
The docs released under a FOI request from Judicial Watch are somewhat interesting but still don't answer the important questions.
The one useful piece of information: These criminal syndicates, in return for their gargantuan Hanukkah gifts, promised in writing to start lending and to help consumers modify mortgages.
The promise:
= = = = =
In support of the US financial system and the broader US economy, the [fill in name here] agrees to:
Issue Preferred Shares in the amount of 10 billion to the US Treasury under the terms and conditions of the TARP Capital Purchase Program announced today.
Participate in the FDIC .... (unimportant)
Expand the flow of credit to US consumers and businesses on competitive terms to promote the sustained growth and vitality of the US economy.
Continue to work diligently, under existing programs, to modify the terms of residential mortgages ....
= = = = =
One big question from the start of this crime was why the gov't didn't simply ORDER the criminal syndicates to resume lending. This document APPEARS to be an order to resume lending, but the gangs have NOT resumed lending, and the gov't has NOT punished them for violating this written contract.
Syllogism: These monstrous gifts were exchanged for [what looks like] a written promise. We know that the feds are perfectly capable of enforcing any decision or promise when they want to. When they get really irritated, they bring out the tanks, bombs and snipers. The feds are not irritated at all, therefore these documents were not really promises at all.
The rest is still a mystery. Was there a real promise, a real quid pro quo, outside of these documents? The banks have certainly kept silent about the entire deal, so perhaps silence was the real exchange. Or was the whole "flooding with liquidity" bit just a magician's cape to distract us from a larger crime?
= = = = =
Later: Radio talker Jerry Doyle interviewed Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch. Doyle, who has been almost alone in asking the important questions about the greatest theft in history, asked Fitton: Why was this giant transfer of money so urgently needed at that particular time? And Fitton slipped away from the question. He muttered something about "assuming good faith on Paulson's part" and then skated over into a standard pre-recorded brand-R rap about Obama The Socialist. ¶ 9:32 AM
The one useful piece of information: These criminal syndicates, in return for their gargantuan Hanukkah gifts, promised in writing to start lending and to help consumers modify mortgages.
The promise:
= = = = =
In support of the US financial system and the broader US economy, the [fill in name here] agrees to:
Issue Preferred Shares in the amount of 10 billion to the US Treasury under the terms and conditions of the TARP Capital Purchase Program announced today.
Participate in the FDIC .... (unimportant)
Expand the flow of credit to US consumers and businesses on competitive terms to promote the sustained growth and vitality of the US economy.
Continue to work diligently, under existing programs, to modify the terms of residential mortgages ....
= = = = =
One big question from the start of this crime was why the gov't didn't simply ORDER the criminal syndicates to resume lending. This document APPEARS to be an order to resume lending, but the gangs have NOT resumed lending, and the gov't has NOT punished them for violating this written contract.
Syllogism: These monstrous gifts were exchanged for [what looks like] a written promise. We know that the feds are perfectly capable of enforcing any decision or promise when they want to. When they get really irritated, they bring out the tanks, bombs and snipers. The feds are not irritated at all, therefore these documents were not really promises at all.
The rest is still a mystery. Was there a real promise, a real quid pro quo, outside of these documents? The banks have certainly kept silent about the entire deal, so perhaps silence was the real exchange. Or was the whole "flooding with liquidity" bit just a magician's cape to distract us from a larger crime?
= = = = =
Later: Radio talker Jerry Doyle interviewed Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch. Doyle, who has been almost alone in asking the important questions about the greatest theft in history, asked Fitton: Why was this giant transfer of money so urgently needed at that particular time? And Fitton slipped away from the question. He muttered something about "assuming good faith on Paulson's part" and then skated over into a standard pre-recorded brand-R rap about Obama The Socialist. ¶ 9:32 AM
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Maybe it's important after all
I've never been much interested in the question of homosexual marriage. My attitude has been dismissive: If you really want to strengthen marriage, take steps to make marriage an attractive option for men. Eliminate no-fault divorce, restore industrial jobs and bring back the middle class. Eliminate the idiotic assumption that males and females are identical, and reshape the culture and laws to respect the unbreakably different purposes of males and females. When all these things are done, then you can worry about irrelevant matters like a few males living together.
After watching this tyrannical display of Gay Stalinism red in tooth and claw, I've changed my mind. If Stalin and Torquemada are for "gay marriage", then I'm solidly against it.
Bravo to Prejean for continuing to stick to her guns, and bravo to Donald Trump for continuing to support her. Trump undoubtedly knows that the majority of Americans are with him, and he knows that "any publicity is good publicity" ... but even so, it's hard to stand against the roaring screeching Red Queens of the aristocracy. ¶ 9:31 AM
After watching this tyrannical display of Gay Stalinism red in tooth and claw, I've changed my mind. If Stalin and Torquemada are for "gay marriage", then I'm solidly against it.
Bravo to Prejean for continuing to stick to her guns, and bravo to Donald Trump for continuing to support her. Trump undoubtedly knows that the majority of Americans are with him, and he knows that "any publicity is good publicity" ... but even so, it's hard to stand against the roaring screeching Red Queens of the aristocracy. ¶ 9:31 AM
Friday, May 08, 2009
Fallaci on LSD?
One of the strangest and most prolific Youtube contributors is Refbatch aka Anna. She's a Russian Orthodox Christian who puts out two or three clips each day, all visually similar and all with exceedingly weird but somehow compelling English texts.
I can't decide if she is a Russian version of Orianna Fallaci documenting the evils of Mohammedanism, the tragic decline of Christendom and the tyranny of Putin ... or just a strange creature running on delusion. The English text would lead to the latter conclusion, but sometimes she also writes in Russian where she makes complete sense.
In either case, I find her fascinating and (let's be honest) rather sexy.
An example of her English text, from one of today's clips on the anniversary of V-E Day:
= = = = =
now,americans you can lauph at russia.
they do not hav vctory day.
they sold it to chechens dagetaneans and to arabs advicing ther same to you.
arabs drive hee and fobide to ex-russians as easter as their victory day-
switch on declarative all provocatons and abusement
for only t forbide to meet tis.
so usa can bomb russia easy.
we will not wm next war.
you even do not need to bomd it.
we do not exiss.
if theshop asaki of chechen nationality culd forbide me to meet vitory day of russian folk.
= = = = = ¶ 6:59 PM
I can't decide if she is a Russian version of Orianna Fallaci documenting the evils of Mohammedanism, the tragic decline of Christendom and the tyranny of Putin ... or just a strange creature running on delusion. The English text would lead to the latter conclusion, but sometimes she also writes in Russian where she makes complete sense.
In either case, I find her fascinating and (let's be honest) rather sexy.
An example of her English text, from one of today's clips on the anniversary of V-E Day:
= = = = =
now,americans you can lauph at russia.
they do not hav vctory day.
they sold it to chechens dagetaneans and to arabs advicing ther same to you.
arabs drive hee and fobide to ex-russians as easter as their victory day-
switch on declarative all provocatons and abusement
for only t forbide to meet tis.
so usa can bomb russia easy.
we will not wm next war.
you even do not need to bomd it.
we do not exiss.
if theshop asaki of chechen nationality culd forbide me to meet vitory day of russian folk.
= = = = = ¶ 6:59 PM
Clarity
A nice sharp article by Keith Pavlischek, unraveling some of the confusion around the question of "torture".
I'd mention one more layer of confusion, maybe the worst of all. The moral hand-wringers are confusing personal morality with national morality, which is clearly an improper mix. The New Testament provides guidance for the individual, and the hand-wringers are correctly following those rules. But the New Testament also states that the government and the individual are different entities with different purposes. If you think the main goal of a nation is to provide a moral exemplar, you're missing Christ's point and you're also destroying the nation's real purpose.
A country isn't supposed to determine the morality of the entire world. It's supposed to protect the lives and property of its own citizens so that they can practice their own versions of morality within its borders. The hand-wringers, who seem to include nearly all leftists and many 'conservatives', believe that the entire country should operate under their own personal exquisite sensitivity, even if it means allowing the enemy to destroy all of us.
Got news for you: if the entire country is destroyed or overtaken by an enemy force, it sure as hell won't be showing your version of sensitivity toward anyone. Not to enemies, not to women, not to Christians, not to you. ¶ 2:53 PM
I'd mention one more layer of confusion, maybe the worst of all. The moral hand-wringers are confusing personal morality with national morality, which is clearly an improper mix. The New Testament provides guidance for the individual, and the hand-wringers are correctly following those rules. But the New Testament also states that the government and the individual are different entities with different purposes. If you think the main goal of a nation is to provide a moral exemplar, you're missing Christ's point and you're also destroying the nation's real purpose.
A country isn't supposed to determine the morality of the entire world. It's supposed to protect the lives and property of its own citizens so that they can practice their own versions of morality within its borders. The hand-wringers, who seem to include nearly all leftists and many 'conservatives', believe that the entire country should operate under their own personal exquisite sensitivity, even if it means allowing the enemy to destroy all of us.
Got news for you: if the entire country is destroyed or overtaken by an enemy force, it sure as hell won't be showing your version of sensitivity toward anyone. Not to enemies, not to women, not to Christians, not to you. ¶ 2:53 PM
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Every now and then...
Every now and then a Federal court does something more or less right. In this case a Fed district court ruled against a public school teacher who was treating Christianity and creationism with disdain.
Full story here.
I said "more or less right" because ideally schools shouldn't be universal and mandatory. In an open school system, the religious opinions of a teacher would be naturally rewarded or punished by the parents. A school that caters to atheist students would hire an obnoxious atheist like Corbett, and a school that caters to normal Christian Americans would hire normal Christian teachers. But since we do have mandatory conscription-style schools, it's imperative to keep the teachers neutral. Most Federal decisions explicitly favor atheist idiots like Corbett, so given the overall context, a pro-neutrality decision is worth a little celebration.
A federal judge has ruled that a California public high school teacher who made denigrating remarks about religion and Christianity violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment when he called creationism "superstitious nonsense."
James Corbett, an Advanced Placement European history teacher at Capistrano Valley High School, also said "when you put on your Jesus glasses, you can't see the truth." He compared prayers for divine intervention to hopes that the "spaghetti monster" will "help you get what you want." Corbett, who has taught for 20 years, also said "Conservatives don't want women to avoid pregnancies — that's interfering with God's work."
However, U.S. District Judge James Selna ruled that only Corbett's comment calling creationism "religious, superstitious nonsense" violated the constitutional rights of former student Chad Farnan.
Full story here.
I said "more or less right" because ideally schools shouldn't be universal and mandatory. In an open school system, the religious opinions of a teacher would be naturally rewarded or punished by the parents. A school that caters to atheist students would hire an obnoxious atheist like Corbett, and a school that caters to normal Christian Americans would hire normal Christian teachers. But since we do have mandatory conscription-style schools, it's imperative to keep the teachers neutral. Most Federal decisions explicitly favor atheist idiots like Corbett, so given the overall context, a pro-neutrality decision is worth a little celebration.
Labels: Experiential education
¶ 7:28 PM
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Why small towns fail........
I haven't been writing much here ... just sort of uninspired and dull lately.
Have been commenting often at FrontPorchRepublic.com, the first truly populist 'big blog'. One article today stirred me to thinking again, so I'll copy and expand my comment here for future reference if nothing else. Maybe it will refocus my mind.
The article at FPR was discussing the decline of midwestern small towns, proposing meritocracy as a prime cause: the best brains leave to work in brainy places like New York or San Francisco.
Earlier, I disputed the basic Charles Murray premise that academic achievement, the quality tested by IQ, is the primary determinant of national success. The same applies here. More IQ isn't the main cause of success for a nation or a town, and losing high-IQ people isn't the main cause of failure for a nation or a town. Especially a small town.
Midwestern towns have always lost a certain type of kid to New York or Hollywood. The loss didn't matter much, because those New-Yorkish types didn't steal any of the skills that really mattered to a small town. They may have removed a brain capable of high abstraction, but abstraction doesn't fix a car or settle a dispute between neighbors or put out a fire.
The main problem is that the anchors of small towns, the pins that held them on the map, have been ripped out. The ripping is partly natural, but mainly a result of Federal policies since 1962.
Picking 1940 as a baseline, what were the pins that held a town in place and kept its people from flying off?
In semi-historical order: (1) the railroad depot; (2) the church; (3) the family; (4) the school; (5) civic organizations like lodges; (6) unmovable businesses like mining, specialized farming or logging; (7) the local newspaper and radio station.
(1) Federal policy intentionally weakened the railroads to the advantage of trucking. This yanked out the fixed centerpoint for business and travel, which was the sole raison d'etre for many small towns.
(2) Leftist penetration of mainline churches weakened their appeal while Federal policy disconnected churches from education. Then non-local televangelists gave a new outlet for the Christian passion that was no longer welcome at First Presbyterian.
(3) No-fault divorce laws, feminism, and feral capitalism conspired to ruin the family. Feminism started the trend, using Stalin's classic disruptive gambit. Robber barons soon realized that they could pay half as much to each worker when both husband and wife were expected to work. Now that it's no longer possible for an ordinary man to support a wife and kids on one income, neither sex has any particular reason to stay married, thus no particular reason to stay in one place and raise kids.
(4) Federal special ed and non-discrimination mandates require each school district to have a large bureaucracy and a team of lawyers, which you simply can't manage with a small town's resources.
(5) Non-discrimination laws, social security and welfare entitlements removed the concrete purposes of civic organizations and lodges, which formerly maintained some forms of medical insurance and old-age homes. Only the social aspect remains, which isn't enough to keep people linked in mutual responsibility.
(6) Federal environmental laws make it hard to run resource-extraction businesses like logging and mining. Only the biggest ones can afford the army of lawyers to fight off the Sierra Club.
(7) In 1940, local newspapers and radio stations provided an outlet for local talent which could be read and enjoyed by local people. If you were a good writer, a good singer, a better-than-average pianist, you could exercise your gifts for pay without having to face the harsh competition of New York or Hollywood. Both of these outlets were weakened by television, then delocalized and deracinated by monopolies.
(8) More generally, as others have said, unfettered globalization and monopolies make life difficult for every small manufacturer. Even if you were doing a good enough business in the local pond, you're now forced to compete with slave labor in China and Burma. Nobody except the slavemasters can succeed for long in these conditions.
= = = = =
Later: We tend to think of gov't-caused problems as overregulation, but with one exception, all of the Federal changes that uprooted the small town were deregulation or supposed advances of "rights". The only exception is the environmental laws that made mining and logging hard; those are actual increases in strictness. Everything else is an increase in permissiveness. (1) Railroads were weakened by the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which had kept trucks and trains in balance, and had forced railroads to serve small towns. (2) Churches were removed from civic life when the black-robed saboteurs granted special "rights" to Atheist Commissar Madelyn Murray O'Hair, may she share an acid-soaked bed of nails in Hell with Betty Friedan. (3) No-fault divorce was a loosening of divorce laws, and feminism is advertised as advancing the "rights" of females. (4) Special-ed laws grant special and very expensive "rights" to stupid kids and bad kids, making it much harder to teach normal kids. (5) Because lodges were generally for one ethnic group or for men, they were killed by non-discrimination laws. Again more "rights" for females and a lower quality of life for everyone. (6) Environmental laws, the exception. (7) Specific decisions by the FCC and other agencies have "opened" the airwaves and newspapers to monopolistic ownership. Knight-Ridder and Clear Channel don't give a flying fuck about local concerns or local talent, they only care about increasing their share price.
Have been commenting often at FrontPorchRepublic.com, the first truly populist 'big blog'. One article today stirred me to thinking again, so I'll copy and expand my comment here for future reference if nothing else. Maybe it will refocus my mind.
The article at FPR was discussing the decline of midwestern small towns, proposing meritocracy as a prime cause: the best brains leave to work in brainy places like New York or San Francisco.
Earlier, I disputed the basic Charles Murray premise that academic achievement, the quality tested by IQ, is the primary determinant of national success. The same applies here. More IQ isn't the main cause of success for a nation or a town, and losing high-IQ people isn't the main cause of failure for a nation or a town. Especially a small town.
Midwestern towns have always lost a certain type of kid to New York or Hollywood. The loss didn't matter much, because those New-Yorkish types didn't steal any of the skills that really mattered to a small town. They may have removed a brain capable of high abstraction, but abstraction doesn't fix a car or settle a dispute between neighbors or put out a fire.
The main problem is that the anchors of small towns, the pins that held them on the map, have been ripped out. The ripping is partly natural, but mainly a result of Federal policies since 1962.
Picking 1940 as a baseline, what were the pins that held a town in place and kept its people from flying off?
In semi-historical order: (1) the railroad depot; (2) the church; (3) the family; (4) the school; (5) civic organizations like lodges; (6) unmovable businesses like mining, specialized farming or logging; (7) the local newspaper and radio station.
(1) Federal policy intentionally weakened the railroads to the advantage of trucking. This yanked out the fixed centerpoint for business and travel, which was the sole raison d'etre for many small towns.
(2) Leftist penetration of mainline churches weakened their appeal while Federal policy disconnected churches from education. Then non-local televangelists gave a new outlet for the Christian passion that was no longer welcome at First Presbyterian.
(3) No-fault divorce laws, feminism, and feral capitalism conspired to ruin the family. Feminism started the trend, using Stalin's classic disruptive gambit. Robber barons soon realized that they could pay half as much to each worker when both husband and wife were expected to work. Now that it's no longer possible for an ordinary man to support a wife and kids on one income, neither sex has any particular reason to stay married, thus no particular reason to stay in one place and raise kids.
(4) Federal special ed and non-discrimination mandates require each school district to have a large bureaucracy and a team of lawyers, which you simply can't manage with a small town's resources.
(5) Non-discrimination laws, social security and welfare entitlements removed the concrete purposes of civic organizations and lodges, which formerly maintained some forms of medical insurance and old-age homes. Only the social aspect remains, which isn't enough to keep people linked in mutual responsibility.
(6) Federal environmental laws make it hard to run resource-extraction businesses like logging and mining. Only the biggest ones can afford the army of lawyers to fight off the Sierra Club.
(7) In 1940, local newspapers and radio stations provided an outlet for local talent which could be read and enjoyed by local people. If you were a good writer, a good singer, a better-than-average pianist, you could exercise your gifts for pay without having to face the harsh competition of New York or Hollywood. Both of these outlets were weakened by television, then delocalized and deracinated by monopolies.
(8) More generally, as others have said, unfettered globalization and monopolies make life difficult for every small manufacturer. Even if you were doing a good enough business in the local pond, you're now forced to compete with slave labor in China and Burma. Nobody except the slavemasters can succeed for long in these conditions.
= = = = =
Later: We tend to think of gov't-caused problems as overregulation, but with one exception, all of the Federal changes that uprooted the small town were deregulation or supposed advances of "rights". The only exception is the environmental laws that made mining and logging hard; those are actual increases in strictness. Everything else is an increase in permissiveness. (1) Railroads were weakened by the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which had kept trucks and trains in balance, and had forced railroads to serve small towns. (2) Churches were removed from civic life when the black-robed saboteurs granted special "rights" to Atheist Commissar Madelyn Murray O'Hair, may she share an acid-soaked bed of nails in Hell with Betty Friedan. (3) No-fault divorce was a loosening of divorce laws, and feminism is advertised as advancing the "rights" of females. (4) Special-ed laws grant special and very expensive "rights" to stupid kids and bad kids, making it much harder to teach normal kids. (5) Because lodges were generally for one ethnic group or for men, they were killed by non-discrimination laws. Again more "rights" for females and a lower quality of life for everyone. (6) Environmental laws, the exception. (7) Specific decisions by the FCC and other agencies have "opened" the airwaves and newspapers to monopolistic ownership. Knight-Ridder and Clear Channel don't give a flying fuck about local concerns or local talent, they only care about increasing their share price.
Labels: the broken circle
¶ 8:58 PM
Still unasked
Our alleged "news" "media" are mentioning this morning that no photos will be available from the buzzing of New York by the substitute Air Force One; and that the admin says it won't replace the original photos anyway.
This adds yet another obvious problem to the obvious problems I listed before.
1. Why in the hell would the gov't want this picture? How in the hell would a 9/11-style picture contribute to your media publicity packet? What would the caption be? "Lookie here! We're still vulnerable! You can get away with another 9/11 easily!"
2. If it was just a photo-op, why was the fighter jet apparently trying to intercept the airliner? From what I've seen, the fighter looked fairly serious. I can't imagine the Air Force risking its aircraft and pilots on a just-for-fun gag shot.
And now 3. Since the original photos were OK, since the admin itself says that photos weren't needed, doesn't that stir your curiosity just a tiny microsmidgen? Doesn't that seem to disagree just the eeeeeentsiest little bit with the whole idea that photographs were the purpose of the event?
A normal sane human would realize by now that the event was not a fucking photo-op in the first fucking place, and would then ask what the whole fucking thing was really about.
Oh, pardon me, I ended a sentence with a preposition, which makes the sentence unreadable by conservatives. Translating it into conservatese for convenience: A normal sane human would realize by now that the event was not a fucking photo-op in the first fucking place, and would then ask really about what the whole fucking thing was.
= = = = =
And another important question remains unasked and unanswered. Exactly what happened in September that supposedly placed the entire world economy in danger? We have a partial and unverified answer by Rep Kanjorski: Someone was withdrawing huge sums from money market funds, essentially a classic "run on the banks" in that sector. This sounds plausible but we still don't know if it's true, or if it was the major cause for the panic; and if true, we still don't know who was making the withdrawals. Speculators? Foreign governments? Terrorists? Teenage hackers?
This is the economic equivalent of fighting WW2 without ever asking "Oh, by the way, who were those pilots who attacked Pearl Harbor?" ... Well no, it's worse than that. It's more like fighting WW2 without even asking how most of our Navy's ships mysteriously disappeared below the surface of the sea while docked in Hawaii. We'd just accept the government's claim that the mysterious disappearance required us to make war against Japan.
Now we are asked to sacrifice the future of the country to protect against a completely unnamed and unspecified alleged threat. ¶ 6:18 AM
This adds yet another obvious problem to the obvious problems I listed before.
1. Why in the hell would the gov't want this picture? How in the hell would a 9/11-style picture contribute to your media publicity packet? What would the caption be? "Lookie here! We're still vulnerable! You can get away with another 9/11 easily!"
2. If it was just a photo-op, why was the fighter jet apparently trying to intercept the airliner? From what I've seen, the fighter looked fairly serious. I can't imagine the Air Force risking its aircraft and pilots on a just-for-fun gag shot.
And now 3. Since the original photos were OK, since the admin itself says that photos weren't needed, doesn't that stir your curiosity just a tiny microsmidgen? Doesn't that seem to disagree just the eeeeeentsiest little bit with the whole idea that photographs were the purpose of the event?
A normal sane human would realize by now that the event was not a fucking photo-op in the first fucking place, and would then ask what the whole fucking thing was really about.
Oh, pardon me, I ended a sentence with a preposition, which makes the sentence unreadable by conservatives. Translating it into conservatese for convenience: A normal sane human would realize by now that the event was not a fucking photo-op in the first fucking place, and would then ask really about what the whole fucking thing was.
= = = = =
And another important question remains unasked and unanswered. Exactly what happened in September that supposedly placed the entire world economy in danger? We have a partial and unverified answer by Rep Kanjorski: Someone was withdrawing huge sums from money market funds, essentially a classic "run on the banks" in that sector. This sounds plausible but we still don't know if it's true, or if it was the major cause for the panic; and if true, we still don't know who was making the withdrawals. Speculators? Foreign governments? Terrorists? Teenage hackers?
This is the economic equivalent of fighting WW2 without ever asking "Oh, by the way, who were those pilots who attacked Pearl Harbor?" ... Well no, it's worse than that. It's more like fighting WW2 without even asking how most of our Navy's ships mysteriously disappeared below the surface of the sea while docked in Hawaii. We'd just accept the government's claim that the mysterious disappearance required us to make war against Japan.
Now we are asked to sacrifice the future of the country to protect against a completely unnamed and unspecified alleged threat. ¶ 6:18 AM
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Lesson?
Leaving aside the usual insane counter-contribution of the media, and thinking solely of the rational public-health response to the Mexican flu...
Seems like a strong argument for fully networked electronic medical records, covering every place that has modern hospitals.
The initial information from Mexico, based largely on rumor and anecdote, led CDC and WHO to switch into high-alert mode, which was proper at that moment. After a few days, it became clear that the high death rate in Mexico did not indicate a deadly serious virus, but rather a combination of other illnesses with a typical death rate from a large number of flu cases.
Now the CDC is trying to back away from the red alert without ruining its credibility, but the credibility is already trash.
If the correct information had been instantly available from Mexican and Texas hospitals, CDC and WHO could have given a more moderate response at the start. ¶ 3:14 PM
Seems like a strong argument for fully networked electronic medical records, covering every place that has modern hospitals.
The initial information from Mexico, based largely on rumor and anecdote, led CDC and WHO to switch into high-alert mode, which was proper at that moment. After a few days, it became clear that the high death rate in Mexico did not indicate a deadly serious virus, but rather a combination of other illnesses with a typical death rate from a large number of flu cases.
Now the CDC is trying to back away from the red alert without ruining its credibility, but the credibility is already trash.
If the correct information had been instantly available from Mexican and Texas hospitals, CDC and WHO could have given a more moderate response at the start. ¶ 3:14 PM
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Spring at last
Last winter's hellish snowload mashed down most plants and hedges in Spokane.
The rosebush on the left side of my porch bounced back, but the one on the right didn't. Both of these plants were here long before I moved in; they may be 50 years old.
I was sad to see this plant finally conquered after surviving so many seasons; I cut it down close to the ground so it wouldn't look awful.
Last week, when warmth finally returned, the "dead" rosebush began sprouting new shoots from nearly all of its canes. It won't be as tall as before, but with a little attention it will bloom through another season.
Spring music...... ¶ 6:42 PM
Last winter's hellish snowload mashed down most plants and hedges in Spokane.
The rosebush on the left side of my porch bounced back, but the one on the right didn't. Both of these plants were here long before I moved in; they may be 50 years old.
I was sad to see this plant finally conquered after surviving so many seasons; I cut it down close to the ground so it wouldn't look awful.
Last week, when warmth finally returned, the "dead" rosebush began sprouting new shoots from nearly all of its canes. It won't be as tall as before, but with a little attention it will bloom through another season.
Spring music...... ¶ 6:42 PM
Galileo or Bruno
Carrie Prejean has done two unusual things for a public figure. First, she gave a heretical answer during the Miss USA pageant. Predictably, the Inquisitor Prince swore an Anathema against Carrie, and she lost the pageant.
At that point, if she had been obeying the modern Catechism, she would have gone on a national Penance Tour, bowing down to every available Prince and weeping in Eternal Contrition. After several hundred public recitations of the Self-Criticism Formula, and after a year in Career Purgatory, she would then be allowed to resume public life, but only as an Official Acolyte of the Feminist-Homosexualist Orthodoxy. That's the Galileo path.
Instead, Carrie did a second unusual thing. She took the Bruno path, the Luther path. Hier steh ich, und kann kein anders. Instead of humbly submitting to Recantation and Re-Education, she has emphatically repeated the Heresy, making it clear that her initial (somewhat garbled) answer wasn't an accident. And she has joined forces with a Heretical Organization.
It will be interesting to watch the result. Some religious/ideological tyrannies are unstoppable: resistance leads to death. Others turn out to be surprisingly fragile: when people start walking through Checkpoint Charlie, the regime implodes. ¶ 7:57 AM
At that point, if she had been obeying the modern Catechism, she would have gone on a national Penance Tour, bowing down to every available Prince and weeping in Eternal Contrition. After several hundred public recitations of the Self-Criticism Formula, and after a year in Career Purgatory, she would then be allowed to resume public life, but only as an Official Acolyte of the Feminist-Homosexualist Orthodoxy. That's the Galileo path.
Instead, Carrie did a second unusual thing. She took the Bruno path, the Luther path. Hier steh ich, und kann kein anders. Instead of humbly submitting to Recantation and Re-Education, she has emphatically repeated the Heresy, making it clear that her initial (somewhat garbled) answer wasn't an accident. And she has joined forces with a Heretical Organization.
It will be interesting to watch the result. Some religious/ideological tyrannies are unstoppable: resistance leads to death. Others turn out to be surprisingly fragile: when people start walking through Checkpoint Charlie, the regime implodes. ¶ 7:57 AM
Friday, May 01, 2009
One word
Peter Greenberg, identified as "Travel Expert", interviewed on CNN a moment ago, speaking about swine flu panic......
"We don't have an epidemic, we have an infodemic."
Says it all in one word. Perfect coinage. ¶ 10:50 AM
"We don't have an epidemic, we have an infodemic."
Says it all in one word. Perfect coinage. ¶ 10:50 AM
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Soooooeeeeeey bono?
Okay, now we see clearly that the Mexican flu thing was an artificial panic created by the media. Microbiologists who are actually studying the virus say that it should be less deadly than the usual flu. So far the death toll in Mexico is strictly in proportion to normal mortality stats, given the likely number of cases. No Americans have died; the only death within the US was a Mexican visitor.
The real victim in the US is our pork industry, which exports heavily to countries like China and Japan. They have already closed their borders to American pork.
So the only real question is: Who started the panic and why? Who paid the media and the government to create a panic? Was it the beef industry? Pharmaceuticals? It probably wasn't the gov't itself, since CDC tried without success to stop the name "swine flu". We'll never get the answer from the media, since they are the center of the game.
= = = = =
Update 5/1: CNN notes that the vast majority of the deaths in Mexico were from other infections. The flu virus may not have been present, or was at most a contributing factor. In other words, this virus is nothing special. ¶ 6:51 PM
The real victim in the US is our pork industry, which exports heavily to countries like China and Japan. They have already closed their borders to American pork.
So the only real question is: Who started the panic and why? Who paid the media and the government to create a panic? Was it the beef industry? Pharmaceuticals? It probably wasn't the gov't itself, since CDC tried without success to stop the name "swine flu". We'll never get the answer from the media, since they are the center of the game.
= = = = =
Update 5/1: CNN notes that the vast majority of the deaths in Mexico were from other infections. The flu virus may not have been present, or was at most a contributing factor. In other words, this virus is nothing special. ¶ 6:51 PM
Now that's more like it 2
Obama throws his weight into the Chrysler bankruptcy deal, and for the first time he throws solidly against the Wall Street criminals.
Finally showing some independence from the Mafia.
Good!
As I've pointed out before, bankruptcy doesn't necessarily destroy an auto maker. It all depends on how the reorganization works and who takes control. If smart "car men" take over, the odds are good. If bean counters are in charge, the odds are bad. ¶ 10:17 AM
Finally showing some independence from the Mafia.
Good!
As I've pointed out before, bankruptcy doesn't necessarily destroy an auto maker. It all depends on how the reorganization works and who takes control. If smart "car men" take over, the odds are good. If bean counters are in charge, the odds are bad. ¶ 10:17 AM
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
100 frustrating days
Listening to Obama's "100-day anniversary" speech, Polistra is frustrated. Obama's rhetoric is exactly what she has always wanted to hear from a leader. In fact, much of the material in his speeches could have been quoted from Polistra's own scribblings. You can't ask for better than that.
And some of Obama's actual policies are moving in the right direction.
Talking with Cuba, Persia and North Korea makes far more sense than isolating them. When a person or a country is already isolated, you won't get anywhere by increasing the isolation; the cure is to provide dignity and respect.
The push for high-speed railroads, computerized medical records, universal health care, and various infrastructure projects, is absolutely good. Jobs now and a better country later. This is pure FDR, but unfortunately it's a small part of overall spending. The original FDR put nearly all of his effort into permanent improvements (dams, buildings, electrification) and a very small amount into direct "stimulus". Production, not consumption.
The frustrating part: on the most critical points of economics, Obama's actions are opposed to his rhetoric. He says exactly the right things about moving away from bets and debts, moving toward making and saving. Yet he has done nothing to punish or even discourage the speculators and bettors, and he's still pouring money into criminal banks without requiring them to do anything in exchange. In short, he's still obeying the Wall Street Mafia.
= = = = =
One grand exception to this frustrating almost-there-ness: On global warming, every single word Obama says is absolutely, totally, completely, 100% false and destructive. He is a rabid adherent of the genocidal Carbon Cult.
Unfortunately we didn't have a choice here, because Manchurian Candidate McCain was even more wildly rabid, even more insanely determined to destroy the country, eliminate the human species, and purge our Planetary Sins with a grand orgy of suffocation. ¶ 8:44 AM
Listening to Obama's "100-day anniversary" speech, Polistra is frustrated. Obama's rhetoric is exactly what she has always wanted to hear from a leader. In fact, much of the material in his speeches could have been quoted from Polistra's own scribblings. You can't ask for better than that.
And some of Obama's actual policies are moving in the right direction.
Talking with Cuba, Persia and North Korea makes far more sense than isolating them. When a person or a country is already isolated, you won't get anywhere by increasing the isolation; the cure is to provide dignity and respect.
The push for high-speed railroads, computerized medical records, universal health care, and various infrastructure projects, is absolutely good. Jobs now and a better country later. This is pure FDR, but unfortunately it's a small part of overall spending. The original FDR put nearly all of his effort into permanent improvements (dams, buildings, electrification) and a very small amount into direct "stimulus". Production, not consumption.
The frustrating part: on the most critical points of economics, Obama's actions are opposed to his rhetoric. He says exactly the right things about moving away from bets and debts, moving toward making and saving. Yet he has done nothing to punish or even discourage the speculators and bettors, and he's still pouring money into criminal banks without requiring them to do anything in exchange. In short, he's still obeying the Wall Street Mafia.
= = = = =
One grand exception to this frustrating almost-there-ness: On global warming, every single word Obama says is absolutely, totally, completely, 100% false and destructive. He is a rabid adherent of the genocidal Carbon Cult.
Unfortunately we didn't have a choice here, because Manchurian Candidate McCain was even more wildly rabid, even more insanely determined to destroy the country, eliminate the human species, and purge our Planetary Sins with a grand orgy of suffocation. ¶ 8:44 AM
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Doesn't wash
The strange 'buzzing' of New York by the substitute Air Force One may have been a really, really dumb mistake, but I don't buy it.
In the first place, as everyone has noted, you don't need real planes to "update your photos". Anyone familiar with graphics could create this picture digitally in a few minutes, if you wanted this picture.
And that's the first question:
Why in the hell would the gov't want this picture? How in the hell would a 9/11-style picture be part of your media publicity packet? What would the caption be? "Lookie here! We're still vulnerable! You can get away with another 9/11 easily!"
The second question:
If it was just a photo-op, why was the fighter jet apparently trying to intercept the airliner? From what I've seen, the fighter looked fairly serious. I can't imagine the Air Force risking its aircraft and pilots on a just-for-fun gag shot.
This was either a real practice run (war game) or a real incident. Perhaps a pilot gone insane, rather than a real terrorist? ¶ 8:33 PM
In the first place, as everyone has noted, you don't need real planes to "update your photos". Anyone familiar with graphics could create this picture digitally in a few minutes, if you wanted this picture.
And that's the first question:
Why in the hell would the gov't want this picture? How in the hell would a 9/11-style picture be part of your media publicity packet? What would the caption be? "Lookie here! We're still vulnerable! You can get away with another 9/11 easily!"
The second question:
If it was just a photo-op, why was the fighter jet apparently trying to intercept the airliner? From what I've seen, the fighter looked fairly serious. I can't imagine the Air Force risking its aircraft and pilots on a just-for-fun gag shot.
This was either a real practice run (war game) or a real incident. Perhaps a pilot gone insane, rather than a real terrorist? ¶ 8:33 PM
Mexican flu puzzle
The CDC is trying hard to rename the swine flu, saying that the hog and corn industries are suffering from the bad advertising. Silly, but they may be right in a deeper sense. It seems that the cases in the US are not coming from people who have actually been around pigs and chickens, but rather from Mexican resort areas.
Another salient fact: Washington state has about 100,000 Mexican migrants working the apple crops, covering a large part of the state. These migrants are constantly traveling back and forth to Mexico, and they would presumably come from agricultural areas where they would work with livestock. Despite this, the state public health agencies have been watching carefully and have found no cases of flu at all.
So the basic assumption (spread from pigs) may be incorrect.
= = = = =
Later: the CDC's attempt to rename the virus isn't working. They want the media to call it the 2009 H1N1, which sounds like an expensive sports car. But the media, normally enslaved to the priestly verbiage of official "scientists", have decided to stick with plain old Swine Flu. It's nice to see this small rebellion against official "science", especially when the "science" is owned by Democrats.
Update 4/29: Gov Gregoire says there are now about 40 possible or suspicious cases in Wash, but still no confirmed infections.
¶ 1:44 PM
Another salient fact: Washington state has about 100,000 Mexican migrants working the apple crops, covering a large part of the state. These migrants are constantly traveling back and forth to Mexico, and they would presumably come from agricultural areas where they would work with livestock. Despite this, the state public health agencies have been watching carefully and have found no cases of flu at all.
So the basic assumption (spread from pigs) may be incorrect.
= = = = =
Later: the CDC's attempt to rename the virus isn't working. They want the media to call it the 2009 H1N1, which sounds like an expensive sports car. But the media, normally enslaved to the priestly verbiage of official "scientists", have decided to stick with plain old Swine Flu. It's nice to see this small rebellion against official "science", especially when the "science" is owned by Democrats.
Update 4/29: Gov Gregoire says there are now about 40 possible or suspicious cases in Wash, but still no confirmed infections.
¶ 1:44 PM
Monday, April 27, 2009
Banks?
Just a definitional thought...
I've written often about the basic difference between a bank and a casino. Last night I was pointlessly raising my blood pressure, imagining how I would question one of those Wall Street Mafia dons if I were somehow in a position to ask questions. "Sir, you claim to be running a bank. No, you're not. Let me explain something to you. A bank is a business that attracts depositors by paying them interest to hold their money, and then uses the deposits to make loans at a higher interest rate. We have quite a few actual banks in this country........"
... At that point I realized something.
No, we don't have any banks in this country.
Even the "real banks" get deposits without paying any interest, and make loans without charging any interest.
When inflation is 8%, the traditional interest rate should be about 12%, to make it worth your while to tie up your money for a few years.
Our "real banks" pay at most 2% interest, which is really NEGATIVE 6% after accounting for inflation. So they're not really paying depositors to rent their money; they are only taking advantage of price controls and securitization. They know that customers have no other safe choices. The Federal Reserve has basically eliminated genuine banks, channeling nearly all money into the Wall Street Casino, by placing price controls on interest for the last few decades. ¶ 4:47 PM
I've written often about the basic difference between a bank and a casino. Last night I was pointlessly raising my blood pressure, imagining how I would question one of those Wall Street Mafia dons if I were somehow in a position to ask questions. "Sir, you claim to be running a bank. No, you're not. Let me explain something to you. A bank is a business that attracts depositors by paying them interest to hold their money, and then uses the deposits to make loans at a higher interest rate. We have quite a few actual banks in this country........"
... At that point I realized something.
No, we don't have any banks in this country.
Even the "real banks" get deposits without paying any interest, and make loans without charging any interest.
When inflation is 8%, the traditional interest rate should be about 12%, to make it worth your while to tie up your money for a few years.
Our "real banks" pay at most 2% interest, which is really NEGATIVE 6% after accounting for inflation. So they're not really paying depositors to rent their money; they are only taking advantage of price controls and securitization. They know that customers have no other safe choices. The Federal Reserve has basically eliminated genuine banks, channeling nearly all money into the Wall Street Casino, by placing price controls on interest for the last few decades. ¶ 4:47 PM
The last outsource
Speaking of VOA, here's a new feature on the shutdown of Cannondale, the LAST mass producer of bicycles in the US. (Schwinn, Huffy, etc, have been Chinese for a long time.) A Canadian company (Dorel) bought Cannondale last year and now they are taking production to Taiwan. Obviously Dorel only wanted the brand name.
One question is unasked and unanswered. The Cannondale factory was profitable, which is why Dorel wanted to own the brand. So why hasn't an American capitalist bought the factory and its employees to restart under a new brand name? In other similar cases, a consortium of employees and local businesses restarted factories that were closed by criminal capitalists.
The new company obviously couldn't use Cannondale designs and patents, but I'll bet it could find equally good designs. Then the building, equipment and employees could resume making money. ¶ 9:08 AM
One question is unasked and unanswered. The Cannondale factory was profitable, which is why Dorel wanted to own the brand. So why hasn't an American capitalist bought the factory and its employees to restart under a new brand name? In other similar cases, a consortium of employees and local businesses restarted factories that were closed by criminal capitalists.
The new company obviously couldn't use Cannondale designs and patents, but I'll bet it could find equally good designs. Then the building, equipment and employees could resume making money. ¶ 9:08 AM
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Taking back vacant territory
From 1960 to 1990 I enjoyed listening to shortwave broadcasts, especially the Voice of America. VOA was openly described as American propaganda, but in fact it was more even-handed, truthful and complete than our internal TV and radio. Our internal media are pro-war when the war belongs to a Democrat, anti-war when the war belongs to a Republican. VOA tried to tell the good and bad parts of the war and the country, no matter which party owned which parts.
[Sidenote: We're about to witness another mass-media turnaround when Obama finds it "necessary" to invade Pakistan, To Prevent Weapons Of Mass Destruction From Falling Into The Wrong Hands And To Encourage A Young Democracy In The BroaderMiddleEast. This mirrored deja vu will be fun to watch.]
When I moved to Spokane in 1991 I found that shortwave listening was impractical, partly because of interference from a nearby power line, partly because the best stations simply didn't reach this part of the country. I especially missed VOA, but luckily the web came to life about then, filling the gap with access to unbiased news and non-trivial information.
Now many of the major SW stations have abandoned transmitting; some have switched to web podcasting or Youtube, some have simply closed down. The Voice of America has an especially good Youtube presence, with the same flavor as its original SW material. Still even-handed, still covering stories that the celebrity-dazzled mass media can't even see.
In our mad dash toward the allegedly modern, we've jumped out of perfectly good technology into a pile of fast-moving crap. In the process we've left the good tech relatively unused. Landline telephones and shortwave radio have definite limits, but within the limits they work faster and have better fidelity than cell phones and satellite transmission.
Shortwave also has one non-obvious advantage: it's off the grid and costless. You can communicate worldwide without depending on an ISP or a cell carrier. When those systems are down, overloaded or censored, SW still gets through.
Maybe it's time for smart pioneers to reclaim the abandoned territory, in the same way that 'urban homesteaders' are reclaiming old suburbs and small towns abandoned in the mad rush toward infinitely distant suburbs and infinitely large McMansions.
= = = = =
Update 1/20/11: Article at WUWT describes new research by Navy scientists looking into the behavior of the ionosphere in more detail. WUWT was probably thinking about the climate connection (sunspots affecting magnetic properties of ionosphere, modulating clouds) but the actual research is mainly about the radio-reflecting properties. I wonder if this indicates a new interest in reclaiming shortwave for naval communications?
From 1960 to 1990 I enjoyed listening to shortwave broadcasts, especially the Voice of America. VOA was openly described as American propaganda, but in fact it was more even-handed, truthful and complete than our internal TV and radio. Our internal media are pro-war when the war belongs to a Democrat, anti-war when the war belongs to a Republican. VOA tried to tell the good and bad parts of the war and the country, no matter which party owned which parts.
[Sidenote: We're about to witness another mass-media turnaround when Obama finds it "necessary" to invade Pakistan, To Prevent Weapons Of Mass Destruction From Falling Into The Wrong Hands And To Encourage A Young Democracy In The BroaderMiddleEast. This mirrored deja vu will be fun to watch.]
When I moved to Spokane in 1991 I found that shortwave listening was impractical, partly because of interference from a nearby power line, partly because the best stations simply didn't reach this part of the country. I especially missed VOA, but luckily the web came to life about then, filling the gap with access to unbiased news and non-trivial information.
Now many of the major SW stations have abandoned transmitting; some have switched to web podcasting or Youtube, some have simply closed down. The Voice of America has an especially good Youtube presence, with the same flavor as its original SW material. Still even-handed, still covering stories that the celebrity-dazzled mass media can't even see.
In our mad dash toward the allegedly modern, we've jumped out of perfectly good technology into a pile of fast-moving crap. In the process we've left the good tech relatively unused. Landline telephones and shortwave radio have definite limits, but within the limits they work faster and have better fidelity than cell phones and satellite transmission.
Shortwave also has one non-obvious advantage: it's off the grid and costless. You can communicate worldwide without depending on an ISP or a cell carrier. When those systems are down, overloaded or censored, SW still gets through.
Maybe it's time for smart pioneers to reclaim the abandoned territory, in the same way that 'urban homesteaders' are reclaiming old suburbs and small towns abandoned in the mad rush toward infinitely distant suburbs and infinitely large McMansions.
= = = = =
Update 1/20/11: Article at WUWT describes new research by Navy scientists looking into the behavior of the ionosphere in more detail. WUWT was probably thinking about the climate connection (sunspots affecting magnetic properties of ionosphere, modulating clouds) but the actual research is mainly about the radio-reflecting properties. I wonder if this indicates a new interest in reclaiming shortwave for naval communications?
Labels: infill
¶ 6:30 PM
Mexican flu
Listening to news conf by Napolitano re the latest Swine Flu fake panic.
She said: "Every person coming from a zone of infection will be monitored...."
Needless to say, none of the "journalists" asked the relevant question:
Does that mean you can check everyone coming across the border from Mexico if you want to? If so, why haven't we been doing that for the last 20 years? If it doesn't mean that, then you aren't really monitoring anyone or anything, are you?
More broadly: in a sane country with a sane government, this epidemic would have been the last straw. It would have convinced us once and for all that "open borders" and "free trade" are deadly policies.
Update ... one of the "journalists" did ask "Why aren't we checking [air passengers] from Mexico?" ... which gets a little closer to the point. But there's still no reason to check airline passengers if you aren't closing the legal checkpoints in places like San Diego and El Paso, and if you aren't closing the illegal crossing points everywhere else.
¶ 9:53 AM
She said: "Every person coming from a zone of infection will be monitored...."
Needless to say, none of the "journalists" asked the relevant question:
Does that mean you can check everyone coming across the border from Mexico if you want to? If so, why haven't we been doing that for the last 20 years? If it doesn't mean that, then you aren't really monitoring anyone or anything, are you?
More broadly: in a sane country with a sane government, this epidemic would have been the last straw. It would have convinced us once and for all that "open borders" and "free trade" are deadly policies.
Update ... one of the "journalists" did ask "Why aren't we checking [air passengers] from Mexico?" ... which gets a little closer to the point. But there's still no reason to check airline passengers if you aren't closing the legal checkpoints in places like San Diego and El Paso, and if you aren't closing the illegal crossing points everywhere else.
¶ 9:53 AM
Friday, April 24, 2009
Now that's more like it.
Polistra has been dreaming about electric cars lately. Now Chrysler is getting ready to announce a truly appealing electric, which is made in America.
It's a bit uncanny how Polistra's thoughts were anticipating the reality. The Peapod has the same snazzy cuteness as the Bantam, translated to a modern idiom. And it has the same specifications as the electric cars of a century ago, for about 1/4 the inflation-adjusted price. It's intended and designed for pure in-town usage, just as the originals were.
By contrast, GM's approach to electrics takes two different wrong paths. The 'Volt' tries to be an all-purpose car and fails, and the new Segway monstrosity tries to be ... tries to be .... tries to be a totally goofy and useless toy and succeeds magnificently.
Comparing the Peapod's internals with the original Detroit Electric. Are the new engineers learning from the original? Certainly the same overall proportions, though Polistra still prefers the original's "rolling parlor" atmosphere. ¶ 2:26 PM
It's a bit uncanny how Polistra's thoughts were anticipating the reality. The Peapod has the same snazzy cuteness as the Bantam, translated to a modern idiom. And it has the same specifications as the electric cars of a century ago, for about 1/4 the inflation-adjusted price. It's intended and designed for pure in-town usage, just as the originals were.
By contrast, GM's approach to electrics takes two different wrong paths. The 'Volt' tries to be an all-purpose car and fails, and the new Segway monstrosity tries to be ... tries to be .... tries to be a totally goofy and useless toy and succeeds magnificently.
Comparing the Peapod's internals with the original Detroit Electric. Are the new engineers learning from the original? Certainly the same overall proportions, though Polistra still prefers the original's "rolling parlor" atmosphere. ¶ 2:26 PM
Dammit, man, you had your chance. Now shut up.
Cheney is objecting to the release of various documents on interrogation methods. He is also saying that the "rest of the story" will show that the interrogation worked. He is asking the Obama admin to give out the "rest of the story". Sorry, Dickie boy, you were in a position to tell the whole story for the last eight years. You chose not to tell the story, so you are not entitled to ask the new admin for any favors.
This has been THE BASIC PROBLEM with the Bush/Rove/Cheney approach from the very start. In fact it goes back to Bush Senior. They are always trying to play billiards with complicated five-corner bankshots, and it never works.
If the harsh interrogation gave us good information, the Bush admin had plenty of chances to tell the people exactly what happened. I was inclined to believe that it worked, but I can't go beyond "inclined" without more details.
When you refuse to give information, when you treat the American people like children or foreigners, you really shouldn't be surprised when the people stop believing anything you say.
When you start a war that may well be justified, and then you toss around all sorts of half-baked nonsensical "reasons" for the war, and then you fight the war in a halfhearted way that looks like you don't really want to win, you shouldn't be surprised that the people don't care if you win. You don't care, so why should we care? ¶ 1:20 PM
This has been THE BASIC PROBLEM with the Bush/Rove/Cheney approach from the very start. In fact it goes back to Bush Senior. They are always trying to play billiards with complicated five-corner bankshots, and it never works.
If the harsh interrogation gave us good information, the Bush admin had plenty of chances to tell the people exactly what happened. I was inclined to believe that it worked, but I can't go beyond "inclined" without more details.
When you refuse to give information, when you treat the American people like children or foreigners, you really shouldn't be surprised when the people stop believing anything you say.
When you start a war that may well be justified, and then you toss around all sorts of half-baked nonsensical "reasons" for the war, and then you fight the war in a halfhearted way that looks like you don't really want to win, you shouldn't be surprised that the people don't care if you win. You don't care, so why should we care? ¶ 1:20 PM
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Will this be a trend?
A nice story here about a Spokane-area tailor shop. Normally the shop specializes in adjusting bridal outfits, but fancy weddings have disappeared. Instead, she's getting more orders to repair ordinary clothes, and staying even busier than before.
If this turns into a trend, Americans may take up the weird radical idea of buying good solid clothing and making it last. And if that happens, the manufacture of clothes may come back from China.
We can hope, anyway.....
Polistra remembers her grandmother saying "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." Good advice then, good advice now. ¶ 9:15 PM
If this turns into a trend, Americans may take up the weird radical idea of buying good solid clothing and making it last. And if that happens, the manufacture of clothes may come back from China.
We can hope, anyway.....
Polistra remembers her grandmother saying "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." Good advice then, good advice now. ¶ 9:15 PM
Screech, screech, screech
There's something truly bizarre, weird and insane about the elites who insist loudly and screechily that "We do not torture", while happily going along with vastly worse violence.
Some of these approved forms of violence are good for the country, some are not; the point is that the elites don't complain about any of them while reserving a unique abhorrence for "torture", which seems to have a remarkably flexible definition.
I can't begin to understand, no, I can't begin to begin to begin to begin to begin to attempt to understand this attitude.
It's Martian to me.
The elites have no problem at all with allowing daily rapes and beatings in American jails, which house serious criminals, pot-smokers, the falsely accused, and poor folks who can't afford bail while waiting for trial.
They have no problem with abortion, including the recently acquitted Dr. Tiller's partial birth abortions.
They have no problem with gangs operating freely in every city, but they do have a problem with police attempting to control the gangs.
= = = = =
In attempting to understand this strange perversion, I can only hypothesize. It runs in the same track as the current Catholic disapproval of capital punishment, namely a total misunderstanding of the PURPOSE of morality combined with a suicidal ignorance of basic human nature and genetics.
The purpose of having moral rules, and laws and armies to assist the rules, is to maintain civilization, to carve out a place on earth where people can accomplish something higher than raw survival. Higher accomplishments require protection from brutality. Protection from brutality requires an accurate understanding of brutal people, and a firm hand in stopping brutal people. If you want calmness and peace, you must be willing to destroy those who destroy peace.
This was common sense, universally understood 100 years ago. And it's still understood in non-elite parts of America.
How did common sense disappear? Maybe I'm starting to understand as I think about it...... Look at the conjunction of two modern ideas: egalitarianism and individualism. If you believe all humans are identical, you can't bring yourself to say firmly "This one is bad. This one has spent his life destroying and harming others. We must destroy him for the sake of the rest." And if you can only think of the individual in isolation, you can't bring yourself to say "We must harm some individuals so that the vast majority of our citizens can live in peace." Only the individual counts, and every individual has the same value. (Which ends up being zero after the bad ones proceed to kill all the good ones without hindrance.)
Sidenote: Whenever you hear that peculiar screechy sound, the grinding of unlubricated mental gears, the Tourettish involuntary explosion of cuss words, you're hearing cognitive dissonance. Part of the screecher's mind still contains common sense, and it's crashing against the internally and externally contradictory elite ideology. ¶ 7:45 AM
Some of these approved forms of violence are good for the country, some are not; the point is that the elites don't complain about any of them while reserving a unique abhorrence for "torture", which seems to have a remarkably flexible definition.
I can't begin to understand, no, I can't begin to begin to begin to begin to begin to attempt to understand this attitude.
It's Martian to me.
The elites have no problem at all with allowing daily rapes and beatings in American jails, which house serious criminals, pot-smokers, the falsely accused, and poor folks who can't afford bail while waiting for trial.
They have no problem with abortion, including the recently acquitted Dr. Tiller's partial birth abortions.
They have no problem with gangs operating freely in every city, but they do have a problem with police attempting to control the gangs.
= = = = =
In attempting to understand this strange perversion, I can only hypothesize. It runs in the same track as the current Catholic disapproval of capital punishment, namely a total misunderstanding of the PURPOSE of morality combined with a suicidal ignorance of basic human nature and genetics.
The purpose of having moral rules, and laws and armies to assist the rules, is to maintain civilization, to carve out a place on earth where people can accomplish something higher than raw survival. Higher accomplishments require protection from brutality. Protection from brutality requires an accurate understanding of brutal people, and a firm hand in stopping brutal people. If you want calmness and peace, you must be willing to destroy those who destroy peace.
This was common sense, universally understood 100 years ago. And it's still understood in non-elite parts of America.
How did common sense disappear? Maybe I'm starting to understand as I think about it...... Look at the conjunction of two modern ideas: egalitarianism and individualism. If you believe all humans are identical, you can't bring yourself to say firmly "This one is bad. This one has spent his life destroying and harming others. We must destroy him for the sake of the rest." And if you can only think of the individual in isolation, you can't bring yourself to say "We must harm some individuals so that the vast majority of our citizens can live in peace." Only the individual counts, and every individual has the same value. (Which ends up being zero after the bad ones proceed to kill all the good ones without hindrance.)
Sidenote: Whenever you hear that peculiar screechy sound, the grinding of unlubricated mental gears, the Tourettish involuntary explosion of cuss words, you're hearing cognitive dissonance. Part of the screecher's mind still contains common sense, and it's crashing against the internally and externally contradictory elite ideology. ¶ 7:45 AM
Monday, April 20, 2009
Buzz buzz buzz again
Commercial beehives in this part of the country have recovered from the "Colony Collapse Disorder" that killed about half of them last year.
The "Disorder" spawned lots of speculation. Now the agronomists and entomologists have commonsensically decided that there wasn't a "Disorder" at all. There are various problems affecting domesticated bees in various places. Some have parasitic mites, some have pathogens, others were mishandled. None of the problems are new or unique, they just happened to peak together in the last few years.
The problem in this corner of the country was a sporidian microbe that infected the bee's intestinal tract. This year the bees appear to have gained an immunity, or perhaps the more susceptible types died off leaving the stronger ones. Darwin.
The "Disorder" spawned lots of speculation. Now the agronomists and entomologists have commonsensically decided that there wasn't a "Disorder" at all. There are various problems affecting domesticated bees in various places. Some have parasitic mites, some have pathogens, others were mishandled. None of the problems are new or unique, they just happened to peak together in the last few years.
The problem in this corner of the country was a sporidian microbe that infected the bee's intestinal tract. This year the bees appear to have gained an immunity, or perhaps the more susceptible types died off leaving the stronger ones. Darwin.
Labels: bee
¶ 8:49 PM
Sunday, April 19, 2009
One newspaper worth saving
Nearly all newspapers abundantly deserve their present dying condition.
One exception: My old hometown paper, the Enid News & Eagle. (There are undoubtedly several other exceptions among smaller papers, but none among the major and well-known rags.)
Last week a News&Eagle reporter ACTUALLY REPORTED a story instead of accepting the standard Communist or Wall Street nonsense. That is to say, she called some actual people who knew something about the subject, listened to what they said, comprehended what they said, and put the result together into a readable article.
Actual reporting is remarkable enough nowadays, but to write and print a newspaper article that tells the plain truth about the Global Warming hoax is nearly unique.
Here's the article.
I was especially heartened to find Gary England among the quoted authorities, showing a firm understanding of science and logic. Polistra has saluted England before ... he's a genuine hero among weathermen, spending his life educating citizens and governments about tornado safety. Hundreds of lives have been saved because Gary England showed cities and broadcasters how to give quick warnings and correct information. So I probably shouldn't have been surprised to find him on the side of truth; he's an Okie, after all, and Okies don't fool quite as easily as Yankees. ¶ 11:50 AM
One exception: My old hometown paper, the Enid News & Eagle. (There are undoubtedly several other exceptions among smaller papers, but none among the major and well-known rags.)
Last week a News&Eagle reporter ACTUALLY REPORTED a story instead of accepting the standard Communist or Wall Street nonsense. That is to say, she called some actual people who knew something about the subject, listened to what they said, comprehended what they said, and put the result together into a readable article.
Actual reporting is remarkable enough nowadays, but to write and print a newspaper article that tells the plain truth about the Global Warming hoax is nearly unique.
Here's the article.
I was especially heartened to find Gary England among the quoted authorities, showing a firm understanding of science and logic. Polistra has saluted England before ... he's a genuine hero among weathermen, spending his life educating citizens and governments about tornado safety. Hundreds of lives have been saved because Gary England showed cities and broadcasters how to give quick warnings and correct information. So I probably shouldn't have been surprised to find him on the side of truth; he's an Okie, after all, and Okies don't fool quite as easily as Yankees. ¶ 11:50 AM
