Frustrating Journalists

The New York Times is my windmill.  I am your Don Quixote.  They drive me mad!

Not really, but they are a source of vexation.

The most recent example was a photo that accompanied a story about labeling those serving in the military as "heroes".  It was an interesting story with a few decent points.

The photo was insulting.  The link for the original photo is here.  I have saved the image and stored it on Google's Picasa...just in case.






You may find this military awards information and this US Army uniform information from Wikipedia to be useful for the ensuing discussion.

The first problem is where should I begin?

First, the US Army has two different service uniforms.  The old, out-dated service uniform is green. It is typically worn with a light green dress shirt.  The new service uniform is blue.  It is typically worn with a white shirt.  The green uniform hasn't been issued since 2009 and will be obsolete in 2014.

The model in the photo above is wearing a white shirt with a green blouse.

Then take a look at the rank insignia.  I cannot recall when the US Army last put the rank insignia on the lapels of the blouse.  To add insult to injury, the insignia is just slapped on the lapels in an uneven and non-symmetric fashion.  If the rank insignia did belong on the blouse lapels, they would be worn so that they were pointed along the bisector of the lapel.

And I fully realize that the illustration in that last link is from the US Marine Corps.  It was the best illustration that I could quickly locate.

Now look at the right side of the uniform.  That would be the left side of the photo.  See that badge?  Care to guess what it signifies?

That badge signifies that Corporal Schmuckatelli here is also a bonafide Naval Aviator.  Think "Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun'. "

Now can you imagine the set of circumstances that would have permitted the good Corporal to fall from the heights of a commissioned US naval officer and Naval Aviator to lowly US Army Corporal?  Nor can I.

Finally, look at the left side of the uniform.  It is important to know that ribbons are worn in a specific manner and in a specific order.  Ribbons are typically mounted using a ribbon bar.  They look like this.

Ribbons are worn in a very particular order.  The most common ribbons are organized with personal decorations on the top row and towards the right of the person wearing the ribbons.  That would be left as you are looking at the photo.

Next would come unit awards, followed by campaign awards and service awards.

Beginning at the top/inboard position, we have

• Vietnam Service Medal, with 2 stars indicating 3 awards
• Navy/Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation, with 1 star indicating 2 awards
• National Defense Service Medal
• Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal
• Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal
• Navy Unit Commendation
• Armed Forces Reserve Medal
• Soldier's Medal
• Distinguished Service Medal (Army) (typically awarded to senior officers for unusual and extraordinary service, not NCOs)

An awful lot of Navy medals for a Corporal in the US Army, no?  Methinks that grandpa's old uniforms got raided for this photo.

In the correct order:

• Distinguished Service Medal (Army) (odd that the most significant one was placed last, no?)
• Soldier's Medal
• Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal
• Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal
• Navy & Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
• Navy Unit Commendation
• National Defense Service Medal
• Vietnam Service Medal
• Armed Forces Reserve Medal

I think the obvious conclusion is that some photographer slapped together something that looked "military-ish" and took a picture.  They had probably watched too much Star Trek with Captain Kirk's splatter of oddments, buttons, and colored wig-wags to understand that, 300 years before the voyages of the the good Captain and his crew, the tradition was to wear one's awards in a specific order and arrangement.

Quite frankly, the photographer didn't care.  They didn't think the proper display of a US military uniform was important enough to warrant their time and attention.

While that is disappointing, it is certainly forgivable.

What is unforgivable is for the New York friggin' Times to use such obviously poor photography as an illustration with any story associated with their name.  Do they think that our military and military veterans do not read their work?  Do they not understand that their "brand" is already suspect because of some the stereotypes that they create and/or propagate?  Do they not have military veterans on their writing and photography staff?

Do they not care?

While they obviously do not care enough to get it right the first time, I do have to acknowledge that they changed the image associated with the story.  They even included a correction.  The old image was still on their server.  No harm in an unused image.

That is a reasonable course of events if we were talking about the Quad City Times.  Not quite so reasonable if we are talking about American's America's self professed "newspaper of record".  The worst part is that while I would not think it unreasonable for the Quad City Times to make such a mistake, I also expect that the QC Times would care enough about this issue to get put extra effort into getting it right the first time.  The NY Times has the resources to get it right the first time without extra effort, and the bungled it.

We Learned Something New

It is no large secret that I am a skeptic regarding the theory that human activity is the sole/primary/major force behind the changes in our climate over the last 150 years. 

Any fool looking at the data can see that things have gotten warmer over that time frame.  What few elect to recall is that a miniature ice age that correlates with the Maunder Minimum ended about 150 years ago.  In reality, we have been warming from an unusually cold condition back towards a more usual climate.

In any case, one of the primary reasons for my skepticism is the non-scientific manner used to express theories concerning the influence of human activity in that general warming trend.  The science of those theories has been "settled".  Or so they tell us.

But that isn't science.  Scientific theories take not just decades, but often centuries before we know enough to call them anything close to "settled".

Albert Einstein presented his general theory of relativity in 1916.  Since then there have been many discoveries and refinements.  There continue to be hypotheses about exceptions to Mr. Einstein's theory that have yet to be proved or disproved.  It may take a while before we know all we can know about the implications of the theory of relativity.

Sir Isaac Newton presented his theory of gravity in Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica which was published in 1687.  It wasn't until 350 years later that we began to understand that gravity throughout the universe was not constant.  And it took almost another 50 years before that understanding was fully developed.

So what is new in the field of climatology?  We have a report from CERN regarding the link between cosmic rays emanating from the sun being closely tied with the formation of clouds in the atmosphere.

Another source of my skepticism is the rather simplistic manner in which some individuals have presumed a direct, primary, causal relationship between CO₂ and climate change to the near total exclusion of other reasonable factors.  It is my opinion that solar forcings have been understated in climate models in favor of anthropogenicy.  The one true fact is that we do not know what we know.  We do not know what we do not know either.  We do not fully understand all of the intricacies associated with how the climate changes over time.

We have learned a few things over the years.  And we are developing a better understanding of the various factors involved in our climate.  Responsible scientists qualify their remarks to point out the wide range of predicted future temperatures.  They also suggest that there are significant factors beyond human activity that are at work.

As we move forward, I am confident that our understanding will be revised and refined again and again.  My opinion is that along with learning more about our climate, we will probably discover that we have an over-sized collective ego.  The earth has been around for a very long time.  While humanity is able to affect significant micro-scale changes, our impact on something as massive and complicated as the atmosphere is less significant than some alarmist pseudo-scientists would have us believe.

The Decline of American Manufacturing

I found this story about Amazon and their utter inability to manufacture the Kindle on this side of the Pacific to be most depressing.

Jazz It Up, Golden Smog!

On of my favorite episodes of The Flintstones.  The music faaaannntastic!

Check out the second half. Skiddly-wah-wah-wah.....CONTACT!

A Hysterical Return?

After my modestly extended absence from blogging, I can think of no more pleasurable method of celebrating my return than to offer my esteemed and valued readership a smile.

Some more than others...apparently.

In Which I Agree With Barney Frank.

It doesn't happen very often. Mr. Frank is someone that I generally hold in low regard. But from time-to-time, he is right. A stopped clock and all that.

The senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee says the biggest reason the United States is seeing its credit downgraded is that it spends too much money being "the military policemen of the world."

...

The liberal Massachusetts Democrat says $200 billion could be saved "without in any way endangering our security" by dialing back U.S. military involvement in the world, including operations in Western Europe.

Anyone that has taken a serious look at our spending issues will tell you that are defense spending is going to need to be cut to some extent. A much smaller force is really needed to "guard" Europe. There are other obvious cuts to be made as well.

The problem with Mr. Frank is that he is attempting to divert attention from the larger problem of ever expanding social spending. We are currently experiencing deficits to the tune of $1.4 trillion annually with future projected deficits to dip briefly towards $1 trillion before expanding ever upwards. That trend is being driven by Social Security and Medicare.

While $200 billion in spending cuts is a good start, where does Mr. Frank plan on finding the other $1.2 trillion? I have a few suggestions that would "break the mold" as well.

Dog Bites Shark!

Here in the US, someone would be placing a panicked call to the ASPCA over this episode.

Not Guilty Is Not Necessarily Innocent

Courtesy of Day by Day Cartoon comes this appropriate observation.

As others have pointed out, the difficulty of having a witness of poor character is the difficulty in presenting a credible case.  It does not mean that she wasn't raped in the first place.

The law can indeed be a bitch.  So can karma.  At the very least, it seems to me that karma paid a timely call on Mr. Strauss-Kahn.

Great Song - Great Video

From a band that really understands what it means to serve in the American military.  Watch the whole thing.

Are You Kidding Me?

A couple of caveats before we proceed. 

First, I am overweight.  I'm working on it, but things are what they are.  If this story makes me a hypocrite, then so be it.

Second, I ride a motorcycle....with all of the additional risks that entails.  I always wear a helmet even though I support efforts to repeal our helmet laws so that others can make a different choice.

Third, I generally believe in leaving people alone to make decisions about how to run their lives.  I'd prefer not to be judged incapable of running my own life, so I try not to judge the capacity of others to run their lives.

Fourth, I long for the day when robotic implants are as common as candy corn.  If that was the case today, then my 1080p HD eyeball camera could have taken a snap shot of this guy that was travelling in the opposite direction across a bridge.  And you would be able to see what I saw.  I probably would have uploaded the picture to Facebook while waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

This one is hard to believe.

There I was riding my bike across a two lane bridge today.  Traffic was backed up and I was stopped in the middle of the span.  But traffic was moving well in the other direction.

Along comes this guy headed in the other direction.  For the moment, why don't we call him "Guy".

Guy weighs an easy 300 lbs.  He may weigh closer to 350, but it was hard to know.  And it was pretty obvious that he didn't get that heavy going to the gym.

Guy was riding the sort of little scooter that has become popular due to recent gas price increases.  I'm pretty sure that he weighed more than his scooter.

Here in Michigan, scooter riders are not required to wear a helmet.  So he wasn't.  He also only had a thin, Hawaiian style shirt.  No coat.  He did have some awesome glasses, so at least his eyes were covered.

Guy has trouble breathing.  At least, I suspect that he carries some sort of air/oxygen tank with him.  He had one of those flexible plastic tubes running from between his legs, up over each ear, and around to his nose.  So this isn't a wild inference on my part.

Assuming he was connected to his tank, one might reasonably wonder about the consequences of his tank sliding out from between his feet while he is motoring along.  Alternatively, the tank might have been tied tightly to the scooter which opens up the question of what happens if he gets into an accident where is bike goes one direction and his body goes another.

The cherry on top of this modest vignette?

The cigarette dangling from his lips as his scooter went putt-putting on by!!

Why Economic Freedom Matters

And yes...I did see who sponsored the video.  That does nothing to undermine the argument being made.

Police Have Got The Choke-Hold....

Even worse, judges have it too!  Maybe.

Megan McArdle has the latest on that little tempest in a teapot.

Liberals are probably going to be disposed to believe that Abrahamson and Bradley are pursuing a legitimate grievance against Prosser, a self-admitted hothead who called Abrahamson a "bitch" and threatened to destroy her, and that the conservative justices are covering up for their abusive colleague.  Conservatives will be likely to take the view that Bradley is a vengeful self-dramatist who inflates petty conflicts into savage attacks for political purposes.

...

Frankly, whatever way you look at it, someone has behaved in behavior so extraordinarily unbecoming a justice that I find it difficult to believe either way.

Albert Gore Jr. - Hypocrite

Questionable science aside, my first objection to proposed carbon emission limitations, and other "global warming" associated policies is the behavior of those that stridently urge those policy changes.

But you cannot be a leading environmentalist who hopes to lead the general public into a long and difficult struggle for sacrifice and fundamental change if your own conduct is so flagrantly inconsistent with the green gospel you profess.  If the heart of your message is that the peril of climate change is so imminent and so overwhelming that the entire political and social system of the world must change, now, you cannot fly on private jets.  You cannot own multiple mansions.  You cannot even become enormously rich investing in companies that will profit if the policies you advocate are put into place.

It is not enough to buy carbon offsets (aka “indulgences”) with your vast wealth, not enough to power your luxurious mansions with exotic low impact energy sources the average person could not afford, not enough to argue that you only needed the jet so that you could promote your earth-saving film.

You are asking billions of people, the overwhelming majority of whom lack many of the basic life amenities you take for granted, people who can’t afford Whole Foods environmentalism, to slash their meager living standards.  You may well be right, and those changes may be necessary — the more shame on you that with your superior insight and knowledge you refuse to live a modest life.  There’s a gospel hymn some people in Tennessee still sing that makes the point:  “You can’t be a beacon if your light don’t shine.”

St. Francis of Assisi understood the point well.  Taken by the Pope on a tour to see the treasures of the Vatican, St. Francis was notably unimpressed.  “Peter can no longer say, ‘silver and gold have I none,’” smiled the Pontiff, referring to the story in the Book of Acts that recounts what St. Peter said to a crippled beggar asking him for alms.

“Neither can he say, ‘rise up and walk.’” replied St. Francis — quoting what St. Peter said as he miraculously cured the beggar of his affliction.

You can sit on ivory chairs with kings in their halls of gold, participating in the world of politics as usual, or you can live with the prophets and visionaries in the wilderness, voices of a greater truth and higher meaning that challenge the smug certainties and false assumptions of the comfortable, business as usual elites.  You cannot do both.

Al Gore cannot say “silver and gold have I none and no excess carbon do I spew,” and neither can he say to the paralyzed global green movement “rise up and walk.”  He speaks, he writes, he speaks again, and the movement lies on the ground, crippled and inert.

...

What this tells the skeptics is that Vice President Gore doesn’t really believe the gospel he proclaims.  That profits from his environmental advocacy enable his affluent lifestyle only deepens their skepticism of the messenger and therefore of the message.  And when they see that the rest of the environmental movement accepts this flagrant contradiction, they conclude, naturally enough, that the other green leaders aren’t as worried as they claim to be.  Al Gore’s lifestyle is a test case for the credibility of his gospel — and it fails. The tolerance of Al Gore’s lifestyle by the environmental leadership is a further test — and that test, too, the greens fail.

The average citizen is all too likely to conclude that if Mr. Gore can keep his lifestyle, the average American family can keep its SUV and incandescent bulbs.  If Gore can take a charter flight, I don’t have to take the bus.  If Gore can have many mansions, I can use the old fashioned kind of shower heads that actually clean and toilets that actually flush.  Al Gore looks to the average American the way American greens look to poor people in the third world: hypocritically demanding that others accept permanently lower standards of living than those the activists propose for themselves.

 It's way past time for Mr. Gore to get religion.

Michelle Bachmann

If you don't know much about her....or have consumed a few too many of the main stream Palinesque profiles...then this article may be of some use.

I'm not prepared to throw my meager support behind her candidacy.  She seems far too comfortable with religious opinion being enforced by the strength of government.

At the same time, she seems prepared to come to a federal government trimming party bearing the proper equipment; a chainsaw rather than tweezers.

What Is the Fracking Difference?

Some facts to keep in mind as the controversy over fracking for oil and natural gas continues.

Today?

I wish.

Talent

We have a new budding star in my little corner of the world.  Enjoy!

It's A Doooaaaaat

"Oopsie.  My bad!"

Having Something In Common

While reading a bit about the more recent Roger Ebert kerfuffle, I came across this brief essay on a recently uncovered E.E. Cummings poem.  At the time it was being suggested that the use in the poem of one of the coarsest words in the English language would naturally result in the undoing of E.E. Cummings' reputation as an important writer and poet.

I had more than a passing fascination with the re

markable

mind bending acts of linguistic

ɯsıuoıʇɹoʇuoɔ that were the hallmarks

of E.E. Cummings.

While Mr. Ebert's thoughts have ceased to be relevant to me, I was pleasantly surprised to find him an aficionado of Mr. Cummings' work.  His thoughtful defense of the "troublesome" poem in question was marred only by the repetition of the assertion that poems are not supposed to have meaning; they are simply supposed to exist.

Hogwash.

Regardless, I find that I share an enthusiasm with Mr. Ebert.  And perhaps it is better to focus more on that which we share in common with one another than to focus on our disagreements.

At least from time

to

t
i
m
e.

[link to the essay updated 1/10/2022]

Short Of Biblical Proportions....

In some parts of the world, a lack of water is a serious problem.  In others, the reverse is true.

"One of the biggest problems we'll experience with this is that it is far and above and beyond any previous experience as far as cfs," remarked Schlag. "Rating curves just don't apply anymore. A person is left to their own devices to come up with numbers."

Mad Magazine Government - Gun Control Edition

Why you should never, ever, ever, ever trust the government.

Ever.

This operation could not have taken place without the cooperation of the Department of Homeland Security — DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano should bear responsibility for her agency’s actions. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has apparently lied to Congress about when he knew of Gunwalker, and considering the scope of the operation it is implausible that he was not involved in its implementation.

Eric Holder is destined to become the first U.S. Attorney General since John Mitchell to go prison due to his serial crimes committed while in office.  At least, if there is any justice in the world, then prison would be Mr. Holder's next "duty station".

Presidential Positions On Government Interference

“The proposition that the government is always right is manifested either in corruption or benefits to ‘preferred’ companies,” he said.  “My choice is different. The… economy ought to be dominated by private businesses and private investors. The government must protect the choice and property of those who willingly risk their money and reputation.”
…
[He] said that the country must begin to attack the problem immediately to avoid “the point of no return from the (economic) models that are moving the country backwards.”
“Corruption, hostility to investment, excessive government role in the economy and the excessive centralization of power are the taxes on the future that we must and will scrap,” he said.

The only way this news could be better is if it were Mr. Obama speaking...instead of it being the President of Russia.

News From Muslim Lands

War?  Infidels?  Beating up women for driving cars?

Nope.

This time the news, via the WaPo's Jennifer Rubin, is of a proposal from the King of Morocco that his country adopt a new constitution.  One that would grant far greater authority to elected officeholders, create a judiciary, enshrine rights for women and minorities, and establish the King of Morocco as the guarantor of the right of people of all faiths to worship freely.

On Friday Bashar al-Assad was slaughtering his own people. Iran continued to hold two Americans in prison. Moammar Gaddafi remained in power while the House of Representatives and President Obama bickered about the War Powers Act. And in Morocco a new “landmark” constitution guaranteeing equality for women, empowering an elected parliament and chief executive, and mandating an independent judiciary was rolled out. It’s a measure of just how much the squeaky wheel dominates the media and the U.S. government that there was virtually no U.S. coverage of the historic event, and that as of Sunday night the State Department had not issued a statement.

...

The constitution and the speech explode several myths: diversity isn’t possible in a Muslim country; tribal and ethnic divisions make a nation state problematic if not ungovernable; Islam and the secular rule of law are incompatible; and human rights will inevitably be sacrificed if democratic reforms expand in a Muslim country.

 Why our nation's leaders have not seen fit to recognize this historic proposal is a mystery.

Why "Too Big To Fail"...Ensures Failure

Why is an excess of government a bad idea?  Because it fosters failure and stifles progress.

That would be the lesson learned by the leader of the Tea Party while he visited Poland.

Read the whole thing.

Why Hiding The Truth Hurts

James Taranto makes the the point in a recent "Best of the Web" column that the media does us a grave disservice when they hide facts from the public that do not fit the media's narrative. 

The case in point is the story of the US Marine Corps reservist that was found near Arlington Cemetery with a backpack carrying explosive components.  It doesn't appear that he had a finished device, but he did have a laptop that contained words that were at the least suggestive of his mal-intent.

This particular Marine was born in Ethiopia and apparently is muslim.

The problem with the reporting is that only one media outlet deemed this Marine's faith to be worthy of reporting.  All of the other media sources either didn't know, or didn't think it was relevant.

The media source that revealed his faith?  FoxNews.

Those that didn't?  Everyone else.

The obvious harm is that by withholding certain types of information, the media encourages speculation regarding other crimes where that information is irrelevant.  One example would be the mass shooting in Orlando a while back.  People were speculating that the killer was muslim when in fact the killer was a disgruntled former employee.  His faith had nothing to do with motivating his crimes.

Everything relevant to a crime must be reported.  A black kid beats up a white kid while shouting racist epithets?  Then the race and the epithets had better be reported.  Reverse the races?  The same information needs to be reported.

In failing to do their job, the media harms us all.

A Case For Gun Control

At least, a gun in the hand of a New York Times editor seems like a dangerous thing given his propensity for aiming his mouth in one direction and shooting himself in the foot as a result.

What Bill Keller doesn't know, apparently, could fill up an entire op-ed piece. Or a newsroom.

The NYT editorial that inspired the above is here.  I still think it would be good for Mr. Keller to get out of New York and see how the rest of the country lives for a while.  Perhaps his inventory of persons of hay is too large to justify such an adventure.

Google Reader - Update

I am in love with Google Reader. I've cut my blog reading time by at least a third because of it.

Right now I am following (12) data sources with the Reader. Four of them are blogs that you see to the right. (Ronnie, Sherwood, Ruth, and Mike) I also follow the rec.arts.comics.strips newsgroup using the reader. I never ever miss a single post. On top of that I follow Al Jazeera's English feed, Instapundit, Drudge, Classical Values, Black Five, Megan McArdle, and Memeorandum.

And I never miss any of their posts. If it sounds interesting, I can "star" it for later reading. If I find something not on one of those lists, I can add it to the Reader's saved items for later review and blog activity.

I've got tons of stuff saved and it only too moments!

Don't y'all feel lucky!??!

I Always Thought Ducks Were A Little Weird

Down The Grammatic Sewer - I Say Sorry

A pet peeve of mine was recently irritated by a series of stories regarding the fake "lesbian" blogger from Syria.

Misogyny?  Nope.  I'm not in favor of it, but that ain't it.

The spectre of anti-homosexuality?  Again...nope.  I'm not in favor of gay bashing...quite the opposite actually....but that ain't it either.

My peeve?  "Say sorry".

News stories about the fake "lesbian blogger" use some variant of "Blogger says sorry" either as a title or within the body of the story.

Ladies and gentlemen.  Boys and girls.  Friends, Romans, Countrypersons!  Hear me!  The English language has developed a single word that covers this action.  One need not ever use the phrase "say sorry" again.

That word is "apologize".

"I apologize."

"He apologized."

"She offered an apology."

"You should apologize."

not....

"You should 'say sorry'."

What Media Bias?

LA Times Won’t Release Obama-Khalidi Tape But Posts 24,000 Sarah Palin Emails | The Gateway Pundit

Update: From Glenn Reynolds:  "Will we ever get to see that tape, and if so, how best to shake it loose?” Er, convince ‘em it would be bad for Sarah Palin?"

Chris Matthews' Arrogant Display

Matthews: Weiner in Trouble Because His Behavior Offends 'Culturally Backward' Christian Conservatives | NewsBusters.org: "They never get the Speakership back because the people in the rural areas of this country who are Christian conservative culturally - you can say backward if you want - but they don't like this kind of stuff at all. They're not part of that 56 percent in Brooklyn and Queens who say, 'okay, we can live with this guy.'" - Chris Matthews

But 56% of Brooklyn and Queens doesn't even come close to being a significant minority of the entire country. Life exists well beyond the five boroughs.

Maybe Chris ought to try getting out of the city for a while.

It Backfired

I was reading an article a couple days ago by a guy that decided to de-Google his life.  He is a tech writer, so he's a pretty tech savvy guy.   Part of his reasoning in making the change is that he didn't want one company to have so much data about him.  Another part of his reasoning was to test his ability to recover his data from Google without a lot of hassles.

The process worked mostly well for him.  The important stuff [Gmail, Google Docs, etc.] were exported almost effortlessly.  Some of Google's more obscure services required more hoop jumpery.

In reading the article, I was inspired....

....to try yet another Google service/feature.  This time I engaged the Google Reader service.  Reader is a service that allows you to follow RSS feeds from a variety of sources.  It is incredibly handy for blogs that don't get a lot of updates [ahem  MIKE!!!!!!!!       SHERWOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!] as I no longer have to visit those sites to see when they have posted something new.  It will just show up as an unread post in the Reader.

It is also handy for higher volume sites such as Instapundit and The Drudge Report.  I can flip through the new entries in a few seconds, mark any that might be interesting for later reading, and move on with my day.

The ability to mark articles is handy for blogging as well.  Previously, I had emailed from one Hotmail account to another Hotmail account whenever I found an article worth blogging about.  The list is long.  My email account is filled to the brim with fascinating stuff.  Most of which you never see.

Be thankful.

Now I can simply make a list in one place throughout the day and use...or more likely ignore...that information later on.

I am still new to the Reader, so I'm not sure if there is a way to link directly from Reader into Blogger or not.  If so, then perhaps y'all are doomed.

Reader also lets you follow RSS feeds from Usenet groups in the same way that you follow blogs and other sites with an RSS feed.  It is a handy tool for keeping up with all the RACSals.  You know who you are.

In any case, my brief experience with Google's Reader service has been quite enjoyable.  If you don't mind surrendering another piece of your digital life to the leviathan that is Google, then I heartily recommend Reader as a tool worth your time.

Jaw Droppingly Stupid.

I infrequently engage in partisan phrases like "Smart Diplomacy!" and "The country is in the very best of hands!".  That sort of thing feels good, but it isn't really the sort of substantive criticism that I prefer to offer.

The last time I checked, most people prefer ice cream and cake to brussel sprouts and liver pate.

In this case, both bits are partisan fluff seem most appropriate.  The Obama administration has supported a call by the OAS for Britain to engage in discussions with Argentina regarding the sovereignty dispute over the Falklands.

Again!

For the people of the Falklands, there is no dispute.  They are British.  For the UK, there is no dispute.  The Falklands are British and have been British for roughly 178 years.  The Falklands have been British for longer than Argentina has had its current constitution.

In adopting this position, Mr. Obama's administration is siding with anti-American dictators like Hugo Chavez along with other anti-American leaders such as Daniel Ortega.  Obviously, his administration is also siding against our long and close ally, Great Britain.  Somehow this is the sort of 'smart diplomacy' that we were promised during the campaign?

From the comments comes the non-sequitur that sums this fiasco up most appropriately:

The next president is going to have to engage in a serious apology tour.

The mind, it boggles.

And Then Some...

 Facts don't matter.....

Like a number of famous faux gaffes in American politics, the facts of the situation no longer really matter.

The initial impression was eagerly grabbed by so many, starting with the reporter and millions of others gleefully sharing the story that reinforced their beliefs and/or desires.

It Is The Little Things That Count

I maintain that the American media is biased towards the political left.  Given a choice, they will always choose to be less aggressive towards a politician that is left of center.

The most recent example comes via my close personal friend^[1], Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame.

It seems that Mr. Obama recently made a visit to Rudy's Hot Dog in Toledo.  While there he sampled the local cuisine.  And by "sampled" I mean that he stuffed two chili dogs down his pie hole.

That is what chili dogs were made for, so I hope he enjoyed them without any post-meal difficulties.  Us older dudes gotta stick together when it comes to chili dogs.  That is especially true when it comes to the women in our lives constantly telling us what we should or shouldn't eat.

Which brings us to Mr. Obama's lovely wife Michelle.  It seems that she unveiled new dietary guidelines for America within the last few days.  I haven't read them all, but thus far I cannot find "two huge chili dogs in one meal" anywhere in them.

Which brings us to the British media.  They promptly pointed out the apparent hypocrisy of Presidential consumption of two chili dogs given the recent national dietary hectoring provided by the First Lady.  With photos of said consumption.

Which brings us to the American media who said in a tersely worded statement, "Who us?"  The New York Times omitted all mention of the deeeelicious dogs.  The Washington Post mentioned the dogs, but offered no photographic evidence.  Nor did they mention the recently issued dietary guidelines.

A quick search via Google's News feature suggests that only a few obscure media outlets and non-leftist polemicists, such as yerz truly, have mentioned this crucial issue.

A Bing search includes a full blown USA Today story on the event, with photos, without mention of the dietary guidelines.

How might we rekindle the sort of carefree and open reporting practiced overseas?  Elect someone named George W. Bush?

[1] Not really.  But when one longs for an Instalanche, one does what one must.

Glenn Reynolds For President!

It was recently suggested that UT law professor and blogger Glenn Reynolds be drafted as a candidate for President of the United States.  His qualifications?  Well the whole use of two "nn's" thing is weirdly attractive to me in a candidate.

But as Stacy McCain pointed out, the fact that he doesn't crave all that power is a second point in his favor.  Those that do crave such power?

Outside of politics, we recognize that a desire to run other peoples’ lives — to boss them around — is the manifestation of a sadistic personality. Nobody likes a bully in real life and yet, in politics, we see how people acquire power by proclaiming that the rest of us are not competent to run our own lives and therefore need government to tell us what to do for our own good.

Sadly, the Blogfather has indicated his unwillingness to serve.  What a pity.

At least, I can't imagine him doing any worse than the last guy we elected President that had a stint teaching college law classes on his resume.

Experience - The Greatest Teacher

Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal Constitution talks about being wrong about the Voting Rights Act of 1982.

Unfortunately — like so many measures designed to provide redress for historic wrongs — those racially gerrymandered districts also come with a significant downside: They discourage moderation. Politicians seeking office in majority-black or –brown districts found that they could indulge in crude racial gamesmanship and left-wing histrionics.

I think what she is reaching for [are] the positive benefits of assimilation.

What We Do....

link

Would You Take A Flag To A Pawn Shop?

link

The Dogs Of War

From Liberty At All Costs

h/t to Blackfive for the image.

Remember to honor those that served our nation so well, and the price they paid for our liberty.  This day and all year long.

Baiting The Hook With Stars

A few years ago, Sherwood treated us to a spectacular image of the Milky Way.

I would like to return the favor.  While this video is supposed to be a time lapse of four telescopes in operation, your eye will be continually drawn to the passing astral scene in the back ground.  This is the coolest thing you will see today.

Watching the telescopes is fun as well.  I demonstrated a fair amount of ignorance in my now defunct blog over the use of lasers to aid in viewing stars.  The time lapse shows one of the telescopes using that technology on several occasions.  Also, you will see the doors open and close, panels will be raised and lowered in the open doorways, and other ports/windows/doors will open and close as well.

Quite the interesting display!

The Trouble With Socialists

Yup.

Actually I’d say it’s fairly typical. The more they talk about equality, the more they implement aristocracy.

Political Media Survey

Being done by one of Glenn Reynold's colleagues.  It takes about 15 minutes to complete.

If you have the time, I'm sure they would be glad to have your answers.

Hypersonic Railgun

Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of this one....

Burn That Qu'ran - Iranian Edition

I think I could come to like these guys. 

The biggest difference between these guys and the nutjob in Florida that did the same thing?  The nutjob lives in a free country where free speech is prized more highly than religious sensitivities.  As a result, the likelihood that he will ever pay anything more than a modest "price" for his "offense is quite low.

Conversely, the two guys in the video face a variety of pretty horrific deaths if their identities ever become know.  They are courageous heroes in every sense.

The Saving Grace Of Technology

It is always "too soon to tell"  whenever the cutting edge of science and engineering momentarily intrudes on our world.  However, with petroleum headed upwards from $100 a barrel and petro-dollars fueling terrorism around the globe, the development of a new, high-efficiency engine couldn't be more timely.

Michigan State University Professor Norbert Mueller has been working on the design of a new method for converting gasoline into energy.  His engine is called the "Wave Disc Generator". 

As I understand his explanation, the WDG spins to compress gasoline mixed with air.  The mixture is ignited at high pressures which in turn unleashes the energy stored in the gasoline.  What makes this approach remarkable is that it couples an inexpensive to build motor with very high efficiency.  Current piston styled engines use 15 percent of the fuel they consume for propulsion.  The rest of the fuel's energy is spent as heat.  The WDG uses 60 percent of the fuel for propulsion.  The result is an engine that is 3.5 times as efficient.

As an added benefit, the WDG design also reduces pollutants by as much as 90 percent.

The WDG design is perfect for our currently evolving hybrid vehicles.  The WDG engine operates most efficiently at one particular speed.  Connecting the engine to a generator would provide a highly efficient means of recharging batteries in a hybrid vehicle.

With hybrids reaching 40 mpg, converting those existing designs to use the Wave Disc Generator should result in fuel efficiencies in the 120 to 140 mpg range.

Norbert Mueller and his Wave Disc Generator engine:

The Death Penalty From A Lawyer's Perspective

David Dow is a law professor.  He is also a lawyer that devotes most of his non-teaching time to defending death row inmates.  Terry Gross' interview of Mr. Dow was recently replayed on NPR.  The page on NPR's site includes a brief passage from his book "The Autobiography Of An Execution".

The audio should be up in the evening of April 8, 2011.  I have no idea when this post will be published at this point.

At one point, Ms. Gross demonstrates why I dislike her show.  Rather than asking Mr. Dow what sort of people he imagined meeting on death row and how did reality square with his preconceptions, she fills in the blanks so that the only thing he has left to say is "yes".  I was really more interested in hearing his thoughts rather than having her spoon feed him during the interview.

An anachronism reared its' ugly head while reading the excerpt from his book.  He writes:

Maybe, I said, we had called something by the wrong name. You might think that when a life is at stake, formal legal rules would not matter so much, but you would be wrong. People die when their lawyers neglect to dot the i's or cross the t's. I decided we would refile what we had already filed, and just call it something different. Because I couldn't think of any other explanation, I convinced myself the problem was with the title. Necessity's eldest child is invention; her second-born is rationalization. Gary's the fastest typist. I asked him to get started working on it.

Yet during the interview, he revealed how judges become sloppy in their execution of the law when it comes to the prosecution of irredeemable defendants.  He perceives that those judges decide that issues regarding the administration of our laws (i.e. evidentiary rules, due process, etc.) simply matter less when someone who is clearly a person of malintent stands before them in court.

Considering that a life hangs in the balance, shouldn't our courts ensure that every lawyer is dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's?  Not just the lawyers for the defendant?  For the one act of punishment that cannot be undone, shouldn't our courts be particularly cautious instead of being more cavalier?

Not unlike other issues, I am conflicted when it comes to the death penalty.  There are some murders where we know that the accused is truly guilty.  In many of those cases, it seems to me that taking the life of the murderer is a just and appropriate punishment.

At the same time, it seems to me that we have too low a standard for prosecutorial conduct when it comes to pursuing the death penalty.  And apparently we have too low of a standard for judicial conduct in such cases as well.  Perhaps their lives should hang in the balance as well.

I do not want to preclude the imposition of justice on the truly worthy.  The death of Timothy McVeigh comes quickly to mind when thinking of the truly worthy.  At the same time, I do not want to see the innocent die, nor do I want to see mitigating circumstances, evidentiary rules, and rules of judicial conduct ignored in a head long rush towards the unjust imposition of capital punishment.

The interview with Mr. Dow is indeed enlightening and interesting.  I hope you will enjoy listening to it.

Global Temperature Data

Ran across this item:

March 2011 ended up as the coolest March globally since March of 1994. The actual global temperature anomaly for the lower troposphere last month was negative 0.026 C.

This is also the first month since June of 2008 that the global temperature anomaly was in the negative.

Which seems important in that last year we started kayaking in early March and this year we haven't yet gotten our boats wet.

Gabriel Iglesias - Fluffy!!

Love that GPS!!  Uh-huh!  Oh yeah!

Gabriel Iglesias - A Racist???!!??

 I hate laughing that hard when I know I'm not supposed to laughing at all.

Education By Sound Reasoning.....Or Politics?

I bet you thought that President Obama's education policies were going to be based on fact, science, efficacy, a similar high minded ideals.  Ummmm......nope.

Fiscal Analogy

Most analogies fail at some point.  But sometimes they are quite useful.

As a country, we have a problem with debt and with deficits.  We are in a fiscal hole. Call it a 100 yard deep hole.

Wisconsin's Paul Ryan has presented a plan that is the fiscal equivalent of 80 yards of sturdy rope.

Harry Reid and the Democrats are offering the fiscal equivalent of 30 yards of light twine.  You couldn't start building a sturdy rope with it.

John Boehner are is negotiating for 60 yards of light twine.

You are at the bottom of that 100 yard deep hole.  Which option do you want coming to the rescue?

Death And Taxes.....Well Just Taxes This Time

My highly esteemed and well read visitors will no doubt have heard the big news in corporate taxation.  General Electric paid $0 in taxes last year!  In fact, they got billions of dollars back!!

!!!!!

At least, so says the ever questionable New York Times.

Megan McArdle has a piece about how the Times reporters screwed things up.  Fortunately this isn't a case of the reporters maliciously misrepresenting the facts.  Instead, it is a case where reporters assigned to report on matters of corporate and tax accounting should have known that those are two very different types of accounting that almost always result in two very different answers.

Ms. McArdle also makes the persuasive case....again....for total elimination of corporate income taxes.

Let's face facts.  Corporations do not pay a single penny in corporate income taxes.  People do.  Investors pay by getting lower returns.  Employees and managers pay by getting less in salary and/or benefits.  Customers pay by paying higher prices.

Given that the corporate income tax only generates a few hundred billion dollars ($191 billion in 2010) in revenue, is it really the most effective method for collecting taxes?  No.

Particularly when so many businesses, including GE, spend so much money on accountants to keep track of the taxes owed, and spend so much time and money getting Congress to tweek the tax code to their advantage. Ever hear of tax credits for wind power?  Care to guess what business (among many) GE is in?

Ms. McArdle's stuff is always a great read.

The Purpose Of A Dog

A friend sent this along via email.  We're having some issues here at the ranch and they are puppy related.

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa , and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the  family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for  the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane
Might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting  the old dog for the last time, that I wondered  if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. 
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ''I know why.''

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me.  I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.  It has changed the way I try and live.

He said, ''People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?''
The Six-year-old continued, Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.''

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

• When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
  
• Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
  
• Allow  the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
  
• Take  naps.
  
• Stretch before rising.
  
• Run, romp, and play daily.
  
• Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
  
• Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
  
• On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
  
• On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
  
• When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
  
• Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
  
• Be loyal.
  
• Never pretend to be something you're not.
  
• If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
  
• When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

Asha is 11+ years young.  Which is a pretty good run for a dog of his size.  We hope to have him around for a few years more because he is always just a joy to be with.

But we are also having to deal with how much we want him to have to deal with in terms of discomfort.  And then there's money.  Vets can almost make dogs live forever....as long as your pockets reach down to your socks.

But that little six year old had Asha just right.  He has known how to live from the moment he finally got those oversized paws steadily underneath him.

And he lives that way every day.

Perspective Part II

So how much plutonium have they found in Japan?

Not much.

Thus far.

Neal Stephenson Quotes

Courtesy of Instapundit comes this little historical gem:

The twentieth century was one in which limits on state power were removed in order to let the intellectuals run with the ball, and they screwed everything up and turned the century into an abattoir. . . . We Americans are the only ones who didn’t get creamed at some point during all of this. We are free and prosperous because we have inherited political and value systems fabricated by a particular set of eighteenth-century intellectuals who happened to get it right. But we have lost touch with those intellectuals.

There are folks that claim that anti-intellectualism is all the rage in America.  I think it sort of depends of what one is calling "intellectual" as there are some ideas that can be dressed up in as many pretty university degrees as you like and they still won't be more than the rhetorical equivalent of pig in poop.

Curiousity about Mr. Stephenson led to this quote:

"The difference between stupid and intelligent people -- and this is true whether or not they are well-educated -- is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. They are not baffled by ambigous or even contradictory situations -- in fact, they expect them and are apt to become suspicious when things seem overly straightforward."

Examples are left to the student as an exercise.....

Nuclear Perspective

Perspective - Nuclear Power

I linked on my Facebook page a few days ago to this graphic from XKCD that compared various levels of radioactivity.  Now I'm linking to this graphic that shows the relative number of deaths per kilowatt hour from nuclear, oil, and coal based power respectively. 

While we remain focused on the ongoing Japanese tragedy in the wake of the recent tsunami, I think it is worthwhile to maintain a bit of perspective.  While the NYTimes has done some outstanding reporting on this event, they have also done some miserable reporting.  One example was a story I read last week that referred to the "containment building" in a manner that would lead those without any knowledge about nuclear power to believe that the steel and concrete "containment vessel" had exploded.  Another example has been the casual use of terms like "meltdown" and "radioactivity" without providing any perspective on either topic.  A couple of their online features have provided an outstanding exploration of both nuclear power plant construction and the relative harm or non-harm of various radiation levels.

Similar reports abound, so I'm not just criticizing the NYTimes.  Of course, the dearth of information coming out of Japan has not helped.

A brief disclaimer - I love nuclear power.  I prepared a speech on nuclear power for a persuasive public speaking competition in high school.  Not only did I do a fair amount of reading, my research included interviews with nuclear engineers responsible for nuclear power plants here in Michigan.  This was a few years after the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island.  To this day I will almost automatically buy any science magazine that includes information on nuclear power plant innovations.

As a matter of perspective, it should be remembered that Three Mile Island did experience a partial core meltdown.  As a result, part of the fissionable materials ended up melting and pooling at the bottom of the steel and concrete containment vessel.  That liquid core material ended up melting 5/8 of an inch through the 3 inch thick steel bottom of the vessel.  There have been no measurable increases in deaths due to the Three Mile Island partial meltdown.

As a matter of perspective, the information available thus far suggests that the primary risk group in Japan are those that have been working to regain control of the facility.  Their efforts to cool the used rods as well as the active reactors are nothing short of heroic and some of them may very well pay with their lives. 

But beyond the power plant, radioactive exposure levels have been mostly minimal.  We can survive quite easily at low levels of continuous radiation as well as periodic exposure to modest levels of radiation.  Were it otherwise, we would not know the benefits of X-rays for broken bones, CT scans, and other modern medical marvels.  Nor would we know coast to coast air travel or living at high altitudes such as Denver, CO.

It also appears thus far than most of the radioactivity beyond the immediate area of the power plant is the result of materials that have reasonably short half-lives.  Those materials will be nothing but a bad memory after a month or two.

Of course, things could still get worse.  They could lose total control of the plant, the spent rods could overheat and spit and sputter radioactive materials hundreds of feet into the air.  They may have already.  We shouldn't confuse that condition with anything approaching normal.  Nor should we confuse it with the broad swath of contamination resulting from the openly burning Chernobyl disaster of a few years ago....or with the fission reactions that leveled Hiroshima.

As the graphic at the second link is meant to imply, things could be far worse.  Instead of nuclear power, the Japanese could have built an equivalent capacity in coal fired power plants.  The result would have been more people dead as a result of mining coal as well as from the byproducts of burning coal.

A proper sense of perspective would remind us that there is a significant difference between "none", "some but still safe", "risky", "not safe", "really not safe", "leveling a major city", and "the end of the world".  In my opinion, far too much reporting is of the breathless variety that implies that we are rapidly approaching "the end of the world" when the reality is far less dire.  By focusing to much on the significant challenges posed by the nuclear power plant, we end up ignoring the much larger tragedy caused by the tsunami.  As of today, the count of dead and missing people is rapidly approaching 30,000.  I am certain that the number of people killed by the power plant problems will be easily dwarfed by those killed by the ocean rising out of its rightful place to crash and destroy the people of Japan.

The people of Japan will continue to face a great many challenges in the weeks and months to come.  Those challenges will be compounded by potential risks associated with the meltdown at the nuclear power facility.  The spread of radioactive pollutants will remain a serious concern for the people of Japan and around the world.

But as a matter of perspective, we should recall that there are greater challenges in the world than those being posed by one nuclear power plant that was shaken by the earth and pummeled by an ocean.  And that has still managed to avoid broad scale contamination. 

Thus far. 

Lumberjack Commandos

From Liberty At All Costs

h/t to Blackfive for the image.  Check out their gallery of military motivational images.

Let Him Keep It - He's Finally Earned It

I've been hearing a rising chorus of voices urging....demanding....that Mr. Obama return his Nobel Peace Prize.

I think he should keep it.  He has finally earned it.

There was no peace for the Libyans that were being oppressed by Gaddafi's dictatorial regime.  When they sought to use their individual human right to protest their oppression, a right supposedly guaranteed by the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that regime took what little 'peace' those Libyans had when it took their lives.

By ordering the American armed forces to enter into that conflict, Mr. Obama has moved to secure peace for the defenseless and an opportunity for a better life for any Libyan that did not enjoy Col. Gaddafi's favor.  No person should ever be forced to seek succor via acts of obeisance and obedience to their government.

Yet that was the reality in Libya last week.  Who knows what next week will hold.

But this week Mr. Obama has led this nation to take a stand against oppression.

As we did at Normandy.

As we did at Osan.

As we did at Hue and in the Mekong.

As we did in El Salvador


As we did in Beirut.

As we did on Grenada.


As we did in Panama.

As we did in Kuwait.

As we did in Somalia

And...yes...as we did on the streets of Baghdad and Kabul.

While our tactics have been on rare occasions unworthy, our purpose remains clear.

Freedom for all that desire that opportunity.

Let Mr. Obama keep his Nobel.  And perhaps the Nobel committee could work on awarding one to Mr. Bush for his efforts to extend true peace to those who had none.

Snipers....Men Of Life

Not death.  At least if you are in need of their protection.

On one occasion they killed eight Taliban in two hours, ‘I wasn’t comfortable with it at first,’ said Osmond, ‘you start wondering is it really necessary?’ But the reaction of the locals soon persuaded him. ‘We had people coming up to us afterwards, not scared to talk to us. They felt they were being protected’.

Why We Loathe BIG Government

One of the most frustrating issues in my political life is the apparent lack of appreciation amongst my many leftish friends for the basis of my point of view.  I'm not looking for agreement.  Just an appreciation for why I believe the things I believe.

And "because yer nuts" doesn't count.

Krugman - Erroneous - But I Repeat Myself

In a recent column, Paul Krugman, the NYTimes' Nobel Laureate columnist, attempts to make the point that less government is a bad thing.  To illustrate his point, he suggests that Texas is in deep trouble as indicated by high school drop out rates and child poverty rates.

Mr. Krugman apparently lacks the nuance needed to evaluate exactly by Texas has a problem with childhood poverty as he neglects to discuss any factors beyond government spending...such as a porous border and a flood of illegal aliens...that might contribute to childhood poverty.

However, it is true that childhood poverty is a problem in Texas.

Trouble arises when one takes a closer look at the high school drop out data.  Bryan Preston of the PJ Tattler links to a couple of credible data sources to make the point that at least on the subject of high school drop outs, Texas isn't exactly in the worst of conditions.  Mr. Preston is careful to point out that the data is from adjacent years, so the comparison isn't perfect.

However, Mr. Krugman's argument is significantly undermined when you look at actual drop out rates and state spending per pupil.

Beer Pong - Championship Techniques

Courtesy of the Manswers show on the Spike network.

Ladies are involved.....

Some might even detect a hint of misogyny....

A NSFW warning is certainly appropriate....

Don't say I didn't warn you before you click here.

Begging For Equal Time

The Tea Party is allegedly a racist organization funded by billionaires.

What does that make these folks?

Someone wake me when that story hits the front pages of the NYTimes and Washington Post.  'Cause then I'll know that the world is about to be raptured!

The Other Side Of The World

Ever wonder where you would end up if you could tunnel directly down through the earth and out the other side?  If you are in most of the United States, the answer is "water".  Lots of it.  Specifically, the Indian Ocean.

There is one state that is opposite a land mass.  There is a second state that has a small area that is opposite part of another land mass.

You can find out more about it all - here.

They Told Me.....

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame has an ongoing series of "The told me if I voted Republican that....." over at his site.  You fill in the dots with some theoretically pernicious federal policy that some in the media and on the left....but I repeat myself....have expressed regarding voting for Republicans.  Of course, the policies that are mentioned are currently being enacted by Democrats and other presumably left of center organizations.

The most recent edition is about astronomer Martin Gaskell.  He has been denied the position of running the observatory for the University of Kentucky.  Because he is a Christian.

Glenn's observations are great, as always.  One that he bypassed was the concern expressed by the university that Mr. Gaskell might be "potentially evangelical".  Not that he was confirmed to be evangelical.  And no explanation of how being evangelical might make him unsuitable for the position in question.  They had a fear....an irrational and unfounded fear....and acted upon it.

Which is exactly what the left says about pretty much anyone that isn't on the left.  Someone's Freudian slip is showing......

I think diversity training is in order.

A Different Taste

My wife and I are fans of the Food Channel show "Chopped".  There isn't that much emphasis on drawing out the drama between the competitors.  Instead, the show's producers focus on the food prepared by the contestants.

This ain't Survivor.

We recently watch an episode that featured Joshua Stokes.  He has a blog that I found interesting, and thus I thought to share it with you.  Good eating to one and all.

How To Screw Up A Market In One Easy Lesson

Periodically, 'Diversity Lane' will knock one out of the park.  This be it.

Hell Just Froze Over

How do you know that the Devil needs a heater?  When Socialists favor budget cuts!!

Throw your Euro stereotypes out the window: Last weekend, a Greek government that has cut public-sector pay and lowered pensions won a clear victory in local elections. Despite strikes and violence, despite the fact that Greece's debt is still growing and more cuts are coming, there will be a Socialist mayor of Athens for the first time in 24 years. (And, yes, in Greece, the Socialists favor budget cuts, and the conservatives oppose them.)

More seriously, I have maintained for a long time that we have far more government than is healthy for any nation.  Most people here in "flyover" country feel much the same way.  It goes without saying that my idea of a "healthy" level of government is well below almost everyone else's.

The rest of the world has looked over the precipice.  They have seen where the trail of ever growing government leads.  And they are now moving steadily and determinedly back down that trail.

While we march ever forward towards predictable disaster.

We remain, of course, the greatest propagandists for liberty and free markets. Our politicians - even President Obama - can be eloquent in the defense of these ideals. But we haven't practiced what we preach for a long time, much longer than we generally recognize. Americans may be from Mars and Europeans from Venus, but would we re-elect a president who cut government wages in half? I find it hard to imagine.

Emphasis added.

It is the one course of action that might get Mr. Obama re-elected.  And not unlike Mr. Nixon's trip to China, Mr. Obama may be the only person that can sell austerity to an American public that is wary of politics as usual.

Beware The Nipple?

A new anti-jihadist initiative?

Topless Danish girls have come in between the Conservative and Danish People’s (DPP) parties following a DPP call for a new introductory film about Denmark for prospective immigrants to include pictures of bare female breasts.

The Conservative Integration Spokesman Naser Khader, however, says that pictures of topless girls on a Danish beach would hardly scare extremists away from applying to stay in Denmark.

Confused

I do not endorse the theatrics of the Westboro Baptist Church.

I do not endorse the slashing of tires on vehicles owned by WBC members while they are out protesting some soldier's funeral.

But this seems an opportune moment for schadenfreude.  I am so confused.

What A "Party Of No" Really Looks Like

Ross Douthat shares his thoughts on the various responses to President Obama's commission to address our serious budget deficits.  My reading on the right pretty well mirrors his observations that the most vocal conservative critics were single issue advocates, and entertainers.  Otherwise, the criticism has been minimal and usually tempered with an acknowledgment of the difficulties involved along with the need for compromise.

Last week’s media coverage sometimes made it sound as if Bowles and Simpson were taking the same amount of fire from left and right. But the reaction from Republican lawmakers and the conservative intelligentsia was muted, respectful and often favorable; the right-wing griping mostly came from single-issue activists and know-nothing television entertainers.

Leaders on the left simply said "no".

The liberal attacks, on the other hand, came fast and furious, from pundits and leading Democratic politicians alike — starting with the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who pronounced the recommendations “simply unacceptable” almost immediately after their release.


...


Needless to say, none of the liberal lawmakers attacking the Simpson-Bowles proposals offered alternative blueprints for restoring America’s solvency. The Democratic Party has plans for many things, but a balanced budget isn’t one of them.

One of the most frustrating habits of the media, leftish leaders, and leftish commentators,.....but I repeat myself....over the last two years has been their mantra that describes anyone to the right of Joe Lieberman as being part of the "Party of No".  This mis-characterization is intended to suggest that non-Democrats are simply unwilling to compromise on any issue.

Yet from my perspective, the right was very willing to compromise on any number of issues...including health care reform...in order to bring about productive change in our country.  What they were unwilling to do was to compromise where the proposed reforms would have been counter productive to the cause of advancing our nation.

The only rational response to a "progressive" agenda that does not create progress is the absolute refusal of cooperation.  Had the leftish leadership opted for a less leftist/"progressive" agenda over the last two years, I have no doubts that the right would have cooperated to some extent.  Extremists would not have been happy....in either party.

In a word, the leftish leadership committed the political sin of "over-reach" and those on the right were quite reasonable in their opposition to changes that [are] e'en now wracking and wrecking our nation.

Now we know exactly what a "Party of No" looks like.  It is the absolute refusal to evaluate the merits of much needed budgetary reforms that seek to balance those reforms, strengthen our economy, and generally address the many perspectives that exist.

Perhaps the leadership on the left will next engage in bouts of holding their breath until the adults give in to their petulant refusal to compromise.

Too Bad To Be False

Sort of the reverse of "too good to be true".

At a recent candidate's debate/forum in Illinois, a representative of the organizer was offended by the audience.  They had the temerity to think that it was appropriate to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at a debate between candidates that were running for the U.S. Congress.

Sort of makes you wonder what league the League of Women Voters is really in.....

For your reading pleasure....if you can stand it.

Just About Right

 A Veteran's Day Cartoon Worth Noting

 

(click here to view)

Clay Bennett Chattanooga Times Free PressNov 11, 2010 EditorialCartoonists.com

     

European Design

I found these photos from the Berlin DMY design festival to be absolutely fascinating.  I hope you will is well.

A Different Pin-Up

You have never seen pin-up girls like this before.  Usually, this side isn't something they put on display.

Modest NSFW warning.  Anyone that gets excited by these photos is really weird.

End The Corporate Income Tax

Megan McArdle had a piece recently regarding the benefits of ending the corporate income tax.  The fact that we have one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the world aside, Mrs. McArdle-Suderman offers the following reasons for eliminating this onerous and wasteful burden.

You can't tax a corporation; you can only tax a person

Corporations simply pass along corporate taxes in the price of their products.  It is just that simple.

The incidence of "corporate" taxes is not necessarily progressive.

Big companies can afford armies of attorneys and accountants to help them avoid tax liabilities.  Smaller companies that earn far less do not have the benefit of those resources.

The corporate income tax encourages firms to use debt finance, rather than equity.

I know a fair bit about this.  Consider that Apple is one of the strongest companies in America.  I remember 10-15 years ago there were many people that thought Apple was done as a computer company.  Yet they are still in the business of making computers...and many other useful gadgets.

How did they survive?  They took the road less traveled and became an asset rich company.  They own most of their corporate facilities.  As a result, they have the flexibility to invest in future products.

Most other companies are in debt.  They borrow against their buildings.  They borrow against their office furniture.  They borrow against their inventory.  And when hard times come along, they end up doing what their lenders want instead of having the freedom to re-tool, re-design, and re-orient on new products, new markets, new customers, and new profits.

If we want more stable companies, then we need to get rid of incentives that make them less stable.

You can't eliminate all the loopholes

The corporate income tax encourages firms to waste resources on tax avoidance

The corporate income tax doesn't raise that much money

The above three justifications represent the careful dance that companies and tax inspectors do with one another.  Companies waste valuable resources so they pay the least tax possible.  Tax inspectors waste valuable resources looking for corporate malfeasance.

Eliminate the tax and companies will focus on earning a profit without the contortions and market distortions caused by the corporate income tax.  And tax inspectors can go do something productive...like picking up litter in Antarctica.

Without the corporate income tax, a lot of the incentive for lobbying would go away

If getting corporate America out of the political funding game is so important, you would think that more people would be racing to end the corporate income tax.

Megan has more details, but the above should be enough to pique your curiosity.  Have a read.

Most Lethal Drug - Alcohol

Courtesy of the WaPo comes word of a study of the impact of various drugs on our society.  The most dangerous substance?

Alcohol.

Yet we know that alcohol prohibition was an abysmal failure.  We should know that prohibition of other drugs has been a failure.

Why exactly are we conducting a War on Drugs?

On Our Knees

There was a photo that caused a stir recently.  In it a man nearly prostrated himself as Mr. Obama's motorcade passed by.  He assumed the position of the supplicant, begging for the scraps from the master's table.  The focus in this piece is on race.  The supplicant was black.  There are a few interesting thoughts for those that might be interested.

That image reminded me of a deep concern that I have that we are losing part of national identity.  We refer to the President and his paramour as our "First Couple".  The President's wife is called the "First Lady".

Those reference points harken back to the day when our nation's leader was considered to be "first among equals".  Presidents never thought to demand obeisance from a fellow American. 

This "first among equals" is revealed in other facets of our society.  One example is the union worker that expects to be considered the moral equal of the corporate officer.  He may earn less, and may not enjoy the same social circle, but his honest efforts are just as honorable as broader efforts of any captain of industry.

I am fortunate to know several people running companies that treat their employees as individuals first and employees second.  People that will shake someone's hand regardless of how manicured it may be, or how greasy it might be.  Suits can always be cleaned. 

It is this ideal that has driven our culture to expand our definitions of "person" and "equality" so that women are far closer to equality with men, minorities are far closer to equality with whites, and it does not require the greatest stretch of imagination to envision GLT folks as exercising the same rights as those of us with the more typical sexual orientations.

How might we lose this national identity that expects everyone to be considered morally equal?  Tribalism.   A clan-centric focus.  Placing a greater emphasis on smaller group identities and thereby denigrating our larger identity as "American".

When we start thinking that kneeling to an American President is an appropriate response to his passing in close proximity, we stop thinking of ourselves as being his....or perhaps her, someday....equal.  And in doing so we slowly lose part of what makes us Americans.

Why Mr. Obama Causes Worry

Victor Davis Hanson has a brief piece that is well worth the time.  In it he breaks down the real reason why Mr. Obama...and his team....are worry some to those that desire a vibrant and growing economy.

- Economics 101

Mr. Hanson asserts that one primary concern is the Mr. Obama...and friends...appear to be unaware that the panoply of human history points to one obvious conclusion.  That individuals with the ability to better their own economic condition will achieve that result.  People living under centrally planned economies will not.

- Texas or California?

The debate is not between a fully unfettered free market and a communist state but rather it is the narrower choice between Switzerland and Greece.  I would suggest that another comparison would be Germany and Ireland.  Mr. Hanson tosses in Texas and California for good measure.

There is a difference between having an appropriate level of regulation coupled with restrained public spending and an expansionist government fully confident in its ability to tax and regulate a nation's way into prosperity.

- Neither Baron nor Insect

Mr. Hanson suggests that it is counterproductive to demonize those that have earned their wealth by adding to the many options that we all enjoy in our lives.  People like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have contributed to our national well being by creating wealth.  It is this created wealth that permits us to fund government activities.

The wealth the public sector consumes must first be created.  Demonizing entrepreneurs is counterproductive to that creative process.

- Grows on Trees?

Mr. Obama....and friends....appear to have little direct experience with the process of creating wealth.  Instead they have lived parasitic lives....my description....in jobs funded largely by taxpayers.  Having never balanced a budget, or run a major company, Mr. Obama is now in a position where both skills would serve him in good stead.

Had he embraced the individual liberty that is the foundation of our country, he might have led a company as it grew and innovated.  And with that knowledge and experience, he would be better prepared to lead us out of our current economic doldrums. 

Instead, we find ourselves subjected to theories that are simultaneously "interesting" and unproven within human history.

Is it any wonder that people with money to invest are opting to keep it in their pockets?

Mr. Hanson is more eloquent than I.  Please take the time to read his thoughts.

Another Reason Not To Trust Government

They put you in handcuffs, stuff you in the back of a police car, and stick you in jail for committing the monstrous crime of.....

.....wait for it.....

.....barbery without the benefit of currently documented government imprimatur.

Cutting hair without a barber's license.

It would be laughable were it not so tragic. 

And Then Some

Just what were voters saying on election day?

A new IBD/TIPP poll on public attitudes suggests that Tuesday's event was less an election than an intervention: Stop what you are doing; you're hurting us all.

 The results of the poll suggest that the five most important priorities for voters were:

1) cutting the deficit by cutting spending
2) repeal or revise the new health care law
3) provide more protection against terrorism
4) reduce illegal immigration
5) pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by next year

Sadly, this message will probably sail right over the heads of the people that need to hear it most.