Friday, December 16, 2011

Dead Bear Cubs, Oh Noes!

The Global Warming scare mongers are at it again. 

They are using the spectre of cuddly polar bear cubs being devoured by cannibalistic adult male bears as a sign that Global Warming is upon us.

Aren't they the cutest!?!?!


The 'science' site Live Science (http://www.livescience.com/17500-global-warming-driving-polar-bears-cannibalism.html) recently asked the question

"Is Global Warming Driving Polar Bears to Cannibalism?"


Of course, the question begs the answer.  Of course it is, and how sad for the cuddly little polar cubs.


Well, maybe not.

The article starts out with the usual unsupported assertions and anecdotes:

A new article in the journal Arctic suggests that polar bear cannibalism — typically the predation of small bears or cubs by much larger adult males — is either much more commonplace than previously thought, or has lately become more common. In the paper, leading polar bear biologist Ian Stirling and nature photographer Jenny Ross detail three recent instances of the behavior among polar bears in Norway's Svalbard Archipelago, each of which was photographed from the decks of ecotourism and research boats anchored a few hundred yards away.

The evidence here is pretty slim: a few tourist boats took some pictures and this proves Global Warming.   By that standard topless women on spring break must also be caused by Global Warming. (Finally! A global warming theory I can get on board with!)

Serious science demands that there be more evidence than a few random pictures to draw a valid conclusion.  This fact is acknowledged in the article:

The scientists are asking: are polar bears more often resorting to cannibalism because of increased hunger and desperation, or are we simply more frequently observing a behavior that has always existed? They say it's an important question to answer, because it will reveal whether or not the Svalbard polar bear population has started to feel the heat from climate change.


In other words: is it simply random chance that we took a few pictures of dead polar bear cubs, or is it evidence of massive and deadly global warming.

Luckily for us, the article goes on to provide the answer to that very question.  After explaining that AGW leads to lack of food, and that lack of food leads to thinner bears, they note:

"However, the bears [in this study] were all in pretty good body condition. A fat bear wouldn't be very motivated to risk attacking another polar bear just for food. So, we should certainly be cautious in interpreting these observations and remain open to other explanations."

So there we have it.  Fat bears are eating baby bears and scaring the tourists.  But this has NOTHING to do with Global Warming.  These observations are anecdotal at best and they are the opposite of what theory says they should be.

Once again we see that AGW "science" is not science at all.  It is crude propaganda designed to tug on the hearts stings of gullible Americans.



This article should more properly be titled:


"Fat Polar Bears Eat Cubs and Make Tourists Cry"









Thursday, December 15, 2011

Romney the Inevitable...defeat


Mitt the Unelectable

I used to think that Barack Obama would be the death of this country.  But now I know better.

Mitt Romney will be the death of us.

Let's start with some basics.

Barack Obama has been a (predictably) a disaster is every dimension that you can measure.  The economy is in shambles, health care has been nationalized, the auto industry is owned by the government and churning out cars that are not selling, tax payer loans are being made to bankrupt 'green' companies that immediately go belly up, there are protesters in the streets, countries around the world are falling under the influence of our enemies (Islamist fanatics and the Chinese), the list goes on and on.

I assumed that the cumulative weight of all this failure and misguided policy would be the ruin of this country.  But, as Adam Smith noted, there is a great deal of ruin in a country.

It will take Obama more than a single term to destroy us.  If he can be unseated, then we have a chance to reverse some of the damage.  If he gets a second term, we are finished. And since the United States is the last best chance for mankind, as we go, so goes the rest of the world.

This election is the most important election in our history.  Nothing less than the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

And it appears we are about to nominate the ONE CANDIDATE that cannot beat Obama.

There are several reasons why Mitt will not win:

  • Mitt is not a conservative: his credentials are, at best, moderate.  Moderates do not win elections for Republicans.  The Republican base will not be energized, the message will be socialism lite, there will be no compelling difference between the candidates.  Low turnout and an apathetic base will sink Mitt.

  • Mitt is a Mormon: Once Mitt is the Republican nominee the media will suddenly be very interested in the 'Mormon Cult'.  You will see lots of special interest stories about the magic underwear, the chauvinism, and other oddities.  This will all be done in a manner to seem innocuous, but it will persuade many voters that Mormons cannot be trusted with the highest office.

  • Mitt invented Obamacare:  Obamacare is one of the least popular Obama programs, and it will provide a great deal of leverage for the Republicans to highlight the socialist policies of Obama.  Mitt is the ONLY candidate that cannot (and refuses to) denounce Obamacare.

  • Mitt is a manager, not a leader:  Mitt is great consultant, a good corporate leader.  He is not Ronald Reagan.  He cannot formulate and communicate the 'shining city on a hill' message that Reagan used to transform the world.  His message is more "better accounting methods in every pot"

So it seems that we are at a crossroads in history, and we will be choosing a Mormon Micro Manager to lead the charge against Chicago Jesus.

Obama will win handily.





Monday, November 21, 2011

Tea Party and OWS

I am sure you have seen the media trying to make the Occupy protests seem just like the Tea Party protests. They keep pointing out the common ground, namely the anger over government bailouts and crony capitalism.

There is even a handy chart floating around showing the overlap between the movements. But this chart is missing some key information, namely, what other things each of the two groups are all about.

Here is an updated version!




Friday, November 11, 2011

Bring Out Your Dead!!!!


Monty Python and the Holy Grail contains the classic scene of the medieval village: mud, squalor, pestilence, disease, and the cart piled high with the bodies of plague victims being collected.

Bring out your dead!


The Occupy protesters seem to be well on their way to re-creating the dark ages in downtown Manhattan.

In Zuccotti Park there are hundreds of people living in primitive conditions.  No running water, no sanitation, no shelter, no heat.  The protesters are filthy, infested with lice and other diseases. In many ways, the living conditions here are worse than in the Third World.

It is no surprise then, that we are seeing a rise in serious disease and illness.  Occupy locations across the country have seen outbreaks of tuberculosis.  In New York they are calling the vile stew of bacterial and viral infections 'Zuccotti Lung'. 

(NBC NY) — With wintry weather poised to swoop into the cramped outdoor quarters of Occupy Wall Street protesters, it may not be long before more campers catch what’s being called “Zuccotti lung.”
That’s what demonstrators have dubbed the sickness that seems to be spreading among them at an unpleasantly high rate these days: “It’s a real thing,” Willie Carey, 28, told the New York Times.
With little sleep in cold conditions, cigarettes and drinks being passed from mouth to mouth, and few opportunities to wash hands, Zuccotti Park may now just be the best place to catch respiratory viruses, norovirus (also known as the winter vomiting virus) and tuberculosis, according to one doctor.
The damp clothing and cardboard signs wet with rain are also breeding grounds for mold. Some protesters are urinating in bottles and leaving food trash discarded throughout the campground, providing further opportunities for nastiness.
“Pretty much everything here is a good way to get sick,” Salvatore Cipolla, 23, from Long Island, told the Times. “It’ll definitely thin the herd.”
The Left is anti-civilization.  They oppose just about everything that allows humans to live and thrive in comfort and peace.  So when they create their own micro-society, they dispose of all the 'oppressive trappings' of Western Civilization.

As noted here earlier, they are quickly learning that the rules of civilization exist for a reason. These 'oppressive' rules allow us to live in comfort, freedom, and prosperity.

So while the Leftist wingnuts are busy hypocritically re-discovering Western civilization (denouncing the police and creating their own security force, calling for the end of property rights and scrambling to preserve their own cell phones and laptops, calling for the criminalization of banking and opening a deposit account at Wells Fargo...) they are also learning some hard lessons about sanitation and disease.  Lessons that the Romans understood well, and the people of London had to re-learn during the outbreaks of the plague 800 years ago.

It will be interesting to see what happens here.  Will 'Gaia' being about the end of this nonsense through the immutable laws of nature?  Or will the protesters cry uncle and crawl back in to the warm bosom of the modern civilization they so despise?

I fully expect to see the hypocrisy continue.  They will demand access to modern medicines provided by Abbott, Pfizer, and Baxter while holding signs denouncing corporations.  They will create such an unholy mess that city governments will finally be forced to close the encampments in the name of disease and pest control.

Which, come to think of it, is exactly what they should have done months ago.



Wednesday, November 2, 2011

That Didn't Take Long

A few days ago I pointed out that the OWS nincompoops were advocating the destruction of Western Civilization, all while re-creating the same rules and structures within their slovenly encampment.



It seems that they have come a long way in just a few days.

They have filed for a Trademark on the words Occupy Wall Street, and are planning to design, manufacture, and sell t-shirts and other branded merchandise. 

Brilliant!

Now we will be treated to the spectacle of a T-shirt that reads "Abolish Property Rights!  (c)OWS 2011, All Rights Reserved!

Panel says wild weather worsens, or not....





In an effort to spread fear and panic, the recent early snow storm on the east coast is being blamed on Global Warming....except the article itself plainly states that the "The snow-bearing Nor'easter cannot be blamed on climate change ".

Notice that the headline and the first paragraph -- global warming caused the early snow -- are NOT supported by the article that follows.  This is pure proaganda designed to suck in the gulible and propagate the myth of AGW.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Freakish weather disasters — from the sudden October snowstorm in the Northeast U.S. to the record floods in Thailand — are striking more often. And global warming is likely to spawn more similar weather extremes at a huge cost, says a draft summary of an international climate report obtained by The Associated Press.
.....
 The snow-bearing Nor'easter cannot be blamed on climate change and probably isn't the type of storm that will increase with global warming, four meteorologists and climate scientists said. They agree more study is needed.


Note that the article contradicts itself with a few paragraphs.  And, of course, the phrase "more study is needed" translates to 'give us more money'.

The next paragraph gives the game away:

This marks a change in climate science from focusing on subtle changes in daily average temperatures to concentrating on the harder-to-analyze freak events that grab headlines, cause economic damage and kill people.

They are admitting here that they are engaging is sensationalism.  "Harder-to-analyze" means 'unrelated to global warming, and "grab headlines" means 'allows us to sucker in the stupid and gulible with sensational headlines'.  So the 'science' phase of AGW is over, and the 'propaganda and panic mongering' phase begins.

But experts on extreme storms have focused more closely on the increasing numbers of super-heavy rainstorms, not snow, NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt said.

The opposite kind of disaster — the drought in Texas and the Southwest U.S. — is also the type of event scientists are saying will happen more often as the world warms, said Schmidt and Meehl, who reviewed part of the climate panel report. No studies have specifically tied global warming to the drought, but it is consistent with computer models that indicate current climate trends will worsen existing droughts, Meehl said.

See?  Global warming causes everything.  Rain and Not Rain!  It is magic!

And again we see blatant contradiction in the same paragraph.  Drought is caused by global warming, but "No studies have specifically tied global warming to the drought".  Which is it?  Droughts are caused by AGW or not??

In fact, the report says that "for some climate extremes in many regions, the main driver for future increases in losses will be socioeconomic in nature" rather than greenhouse gases.
...

The driver for increased losses will be 'socioeconomic'? Oh, I see.  In the future there will be more people and more stuff to be destroyed, so when a storm hits, the losses will be higher solely because of that, and not the much ballyhooed 'greenhouse effect.  In other words, AGW is hogwash, but everytime a storm hits the warmists will shout 'record losses!' and 'record deaths', conveniently forgetting to mention that more people live in the way of the storms.

The report does say scientists are "virtually certain" — 99 percent — that the world will have more extreme spells of heat and fewer of cold. Heat waves could peak as much as 5 degrees hotter by mid-century and even 9 degrees hotter by the end of the century.

Oh, really?  99 percent certain?  Then these fine folks will surely resign in disgrace when this does not happen, just like every other predicition they have made over the past 30 years?? Notice, by the way, that they have stopped making 20-30 year predictions of doom, since the keep on getting disproven every 20-30 years.  Now the planning horizon is 50-100 years.  This way they can all be safely dead before the enbarrassing facts become known.

But Masters said the basics of the report seem to be proven true by what's happening every day. "In the U.S., this has been the weirdest weather year we've had for my 30 years, hands down. Certainly this October snowstorm fits in with it."

There is zero evidence for this claim.  What is the definition of 'weirder weather'? Other than this unsupported assertion, are there any actual facts here??  And again, this claim that "this October snowstorm fits in with it" is FALSE, it having been clearly stated at the start of the whole article that "The snow-bearing Nor'easter cannot be blamed on climate change ".

It seems like we are flogging a dead unicorn here, but Global Warming is NOT REAL.  Get over it.






And global warming isn't the sole villain in future climate disasters, the climate report says. An even bigger problem will be the number of people — especially the poor — who live in harm's way.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Alchemy: the Power Behind OWS

The Occupy people have discovered a new source of power that will enable them to get back at the Right:

 Alchemy.

No, you didn't read that wrong.  Alchemy.


Tim Franzen is the spokesperson and leader of the Occupy Atlanta squatters.  This from http://www.punditpress.com/:




Tim Franzen, Occupy Atlanta
The reporter that tracked Franzen down asked him what some of his plans were for the movement. Franzen started off with a tirade against the Koch brothers. His anger has risen to the point where he has actually contracted people to 'get back' at the Koches:

"We've been having a team of alchemists and faith healers and doctors of physics working together to develop a mathematical formula to levitate the building," he stated.



Faith Healers?  Alchemists? Ummm, what is this, the 14th century?  And what the heck is a 'doctors of physics', anyway??

Once again we see that the people in this 'movement' are deranged.  Or deluded.  Or psychotic. 

Or some combination of the above.

They have a very tenuous grasp on the real world.  This is why they believe in all the 'love and Unicorns' ideas of the Left -- because they have trouble grasping reality.





Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Down with Property Rights!!! Hey, who stole my iPhone!?!?

As the OWS three ring circus rolls on, the irony machine is working full force.

From the trust fund baby melting down on camera about how bad things are for him, to the Nazi Party endorsing the deeply anti-Semitic views of the leftist protesters, the irony is incredible.

But today's news is rich.

Apparently, someone has been stealing from the OWS darlings, and they don't like it. 

It seems that thieves have been pinching iPhones, iPads, watches, and other assorted valuables.   This has caused much distress among the OWS squatters.

They have appealed to the police and the public to track down the theives that are taking their property.

And they are making this appeal while holding a sign that says "Abolish Private Property" or a similar 'redistribute the wealth' theme. 

So it seems that they are all about wealth redistribution in theory, but when it happens to them they quickly lose their revolutionary fervor.


Thursday, October 13, 2011

OWS Signs I would like to see...

Here are a few signs that I would like to see at the Occupy protests.
                                                                                                                                                                          

We demand
sweeping, unspecified Change!

                                                                                                                                                                          

You will know that
Capitalism
Has
FAILED
When people start swimming from Miami to Cuba!

                                                                                                                                                                          

Screw you
Mr. CEO!

(Unless you are hiring…)



                                                                                                                                                                          


I feel like I owe a great
debt to society. 
And I’ll pay it off
with your money.


                                                                                                                                                                          



I racked up
$100k in loans
for my Art History Degree. 
I am a Victim
of my own stupidity


                                                                                                                                                                          

Make it so
Socialism Works
So I don’t have to



                                                                                                                                                                          

Corporations
Kill
Unicorns


                                                                                                                                                                          
 

I want a
PONY!!





                                                                                                                                                                          
 
Support the Campaign to
END Corporate GREED!

(All Major Credit Card
     Donations accepted)


                                                                                                                                                                          



Thinking about
Evil CORPORATIONS AND BIG PHARMA

Makes me want a
Xanax and a Latte


                                                                                                                                                                          


$100/hr
Minimum Wage!!!

(Heck, Why Stop at $7.25
when we are making
unrealistic demands???)


                                                                                                                                                                          


Make My Daddy
LOVE ME
Please….


                                                                                                                                                                          


Dear Santa,
Forgive all Debt!!
This is not about me… but, It is not my fault
I spent 7 years in college for no apparent reason~!!!



                                                                                                                                                                          



War is not
the Answer*

* Unless the question is “how do you stop Communists, Nazis, or Islamofacists from killing you”


                                                                                                                                                                          

Smoke
a ton of
Pot!
Then our demands
 will start making more sense!


                                                                                                                                                                          

Making this sign is the most
Work
 I have done in years!



                                                                                                                                                                          

Friday, October 7, 2011

OWS: Animal Torture

The Occupy Wall St dregs have enlisted Bill Ayers, Marxist terrorist, to explain then complete nonsense that they have been spouting for the last few days as they squat on the public streets in New York.

Point 2 is:

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.

This really confused me.  Banks are torturing animals?  But I guess they are talking about corporations in general. In this case, I am assuming the Pharma companies are the target of this rant.

It seems that the grievance here is that in the process of creating life-saving drugs, we test them on animals first in order to ensure efficacy and safety.

This would be a really compelling point if the protesters would swear off the use of any products tested on animals.  No more antibiotics.  No more ointments, pain killers, or other medicine. 

I am not sure about the 'actively hiding them' accusation.  The left has been complaining about these practices for years, so the public is fully aware of how animal testing is conducted.  The drug companies do have to hide their labs, but they are not hidden from the public.  They are hidden from the left wing lunatics that will destroy the labs and set the research back many years.

Let us not forget that most of the testing is require in response to government regulations.  The very rules and regulations that are demanded by the Left in order to protect people from greedy corporations.

So here we have the spectacle of the Left demanding extensive testing to protect people, and then complaining about the testing as cruel to animals.

It seems that they value animal life more than they value human life.




OWS: Mortgages

The Marxist screed that Bill Ayers published as the manifesto of the Occupy Wall St. protests includes the following as the first indictment of the system:

"They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage."

Not being steeped in the memes of the revolution, I am not 100% sure what they are claiming here, but is sounds like they are opposed to the securitization of mortgages, and the subsequent foreclosure on people who do not make the payments on theirs.

Let's look at each of these assertions:

through an illegal foreclosure process -- It does not become an 'illegal process' just because you don't like the results.  If you fail to make the payments, they come and take the home back.  That is the deal.  The home is the collateral you used to get the loan in the first place, and the mortgage is the lien on the home that helps the lender recoup his money.  There are exactly zero examples of banks foreclosing on properties that are not in default on the loans.  The banks have enough problems with non-performing loans.  They are not foreclosing on performing loans.  This is a lie.

despite not having the original mortgage -- This is irrelevant.  The mortgage document is quite clear.  The right to collect the money due under the loan agreement is transferable.  Assignable.  Look it up.  It is in there.  So the fact that the bank that is foreclosing is different than the bank that made the loan is not relevant.  This is completely legal.

It appears then that the primary complaint here is that someone did not read the mortgage agreement before they signed it, and then failed to make the payments they agreed to make.

Morons.









Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Left: Jew Hating Morons

The lunatics that are squatting on the streets of NYC have been incoherent and increasingly anti-semitic.


 With their signs, chants, and Marxist trappings, they have finally inspired terrorist Bill Ayers to release the following manifesto to clear up the confusion over what the heck they are protesting:

What follows is the first official, collective statement of the protesters in Zuccotti Park:
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
  • They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
  • They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
  • They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
  • They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
  • They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
  • They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
  • They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
  • They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
  • They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
  • They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
  • They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
  • They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
  • They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
  • They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
  • They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
  • They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
  • They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
  • They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
  • They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
  • They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
  • They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
  • They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
  • They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*
To the people of the world, We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!

Frankly, I have no idea what most of this means.  "They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt."  What???

The ones that I think I understand are sheer nonsense: "They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization"  Poisoned the food supply????  We have more and better food than any other place or time in history.  What the heck are they talking about?

Several of them are non sequitors.  "They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them" is not only poor grammar, but has no point. The money that they have donated is within the legal limits, and it is not the companies fault that politicians have overstepped their constitutional authority to regulate every aspect of American life.

While most of the signs mention Jews as the root of all evil, here the culprits are called "they" without any clear statement of who or what is being discussed.

If this is the best that the Left has to offer, then not only are the morally bankrupt, but they are scraping the bottom of the intellectual barrel as well. .


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Does your lack of ID make me a racist?

There is a movement in the states to require ID before you vote.  Texas recently became the 12th state to require some form of identification before you can vote.

This has sparked outrage and indignation from the usual suspects.  They claim such things as:
  • Requiring ID is racist
  • ID's are hard to get
  • This won't help stop voter fraud
All of these objections are patent nonsense.  Worse, they are politically motivated FUD that is designed to scare people away from supporting commonsense ideas.


Voter ID is racist:  There are a number of prominent politicians and others that have taken this approach.  "Jim Crow, move over -- the Wisconsin Republicans have taken your place," charged Wisconsin Democratic State Sen. Bob Jauch, referring to his state's new voter ID law.

The objection is that fewer minorities (read: Black people) possess a government ID than the general population (read: white people).   Therefore, voter ID will have a disproportionate effect on minorities (read: democrat voters), and is therefore illegal.

Paradoxically, these are the same people that pass laws requiring you to show ID to buy cigarettes, alcohol, or otherwise function as an adult in society.

The reasoning is that voting is a an important Right, and therefore cannot be infringed by requiring you to have an ID.  (Wouldn't it be nice if the Democrats felt the same way about the Second Amendment!)

It seems logical, however, to conclude that voting is so important that we should take pains to ensure that only eligible voters are able to cast ballots.

It does not seem like obtaining a government issued ID is an unreasonable burden to place on the would-be voter.  And as we do for other cases where voter registration is in question, the ID-less voter can cast a provisional ballot.  This ballot can be accepted or rejected later once the voter establishes their identity.

The benefits would be huge.

It would make voter fraud much more difficult to execute.  Instead of busing homeless people from precinct to precinct, the fraudsters would be required to get matching fake ID's for each fake voter. 

I think we should actually take this a step further.  The government ID pictures should be attached to the actual voter registration rolls.

When I go to the health club, my ID card gets scanned and my picture pops up. Let's do the same for voting.

Here in Illinois, the state has my picture and it is linked to all of my other records.  How do I know?  Because my FOID card has the same picture as my driver's license.   If those two systems can share a picture, then the voter registration people can be linked in there as well.

I think that voter ID is critical to maintaining the integrity of the vote totals.  It will massively cut down on voter fraud, and the side that benefits the most from voter fraud knows this.

So naturally, they call it racist.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Nobody Gets Rich On Their Own!

Nobody gets rich on their own.....or so Senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren tells us.... 




Aside from the snarky socialist tone  ("You built a factory, good for you, God Bless..), she is wrong in her assertions that business owe more for the things they get from society.


Using the road to take your good to market: Trucking companies pay very high taxes on their trucks, plus the fuel they use is heavily taxed.  These 'use taxes' are just that: taxes you pay for the use of the roads.  Business do not get a free lunch here. In fact, given the overcrowding on the highways and the generally poor condition of the roads, you could argue that businesses and the public are getting shafted here, not getting a benefit.


Workers that the public educated: The factory owner pays the employees a salary.  He is not getting them for free.  And the more educated, the more he has to pay them.  The workers pay taxes, and the factory owner pays payroll taxes.  This is not a freebie.   And of course, given the abysmal state of the public education system, there is not much benefit to be derived.  Business routinely provide additional training, including remedial training that makes up for the lack of basic skills imparted by the 'free' education that was provided by the state.


Safe from marauding bands: The factory owner pays real estate taxes that pay for the police and courts.  He pays any number of federal tariffs, levies, and taxes that pay for the military.  This is not a freebie.


So we can see that the factory owner does in fact pay for all the things that 'enabled' him to get rich. 


Ironically, the most fearsome marauding bands that a factory owner must fear are the politicians themselves. 

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Irene Proves Global Warming.....is False!

As Hurricane Irene approached the East Coast, the Global Warming industry got itself whipped up into a Category 5 frenzy with predictions of  how this hurricane would be worse than usual due to AGW.  Finally!  Proof that Climate Change is real!!

Here are some samples:

Irene’s got a middle name, and it’s Global Warming.

As she roars up the Eastern Seaboard, everyone is doing what they should—boarding windows, preparing rescue plans, stocking up on batteries. But a lot of people are also wondering: what’s a “tropical” storm doing heading for the snow belt?
Category 3 Storms have rarely hit Long Island since the 1800s; one was the great unnamed storm of 1938, which sent 15-foot storm waters surging through what are now multimillion-dollar seaside homes. Normally, says Jeff Masters of Weather Underground, it’s “difficult for a major Category 3 or stronger hurricane crossing north of North Carolina to maintain that intensity, because wind shear rapidly increases and ocean temperatures plunge below the 26°C (79°F) level that can support a hurricane.”  The high-altitude wind shear may help knock the storm down a little this year, but the ocean temperatures won’t. They’re bizarrely high—only last year did we ever record hotter water.

“Sea surface temperatures 1° to 3°F warmer than average extend along the East Coast from North Carolina to New York. Waters of at least 26°C extend all the way to southern New Jersey, which will make it easier for Irene to maintain its strength much farther to the north than a hurricane usually can,” says Masters

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/25/hurricane-irene-can-be-tied-to-global-warming-says-bill-mckibben.html

How Global Warming Will Make Hurricanes Like Irene Worse
I think the evidence is fairly compelling that we’re seeing a climate change signal in the Atlantic, ” said Kerry Emanuel,  a professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Citing other recent trends of extreme weather, including hailstorms and catastrophic tornadoes, “one begins to wonder,  if you add all those up,  maybe you are seeing a global warming effect.”

Hurricane Irene Worse Because Of Global Warming

http://www.alan.com/2011/08/26/hurricane-irene-worse-because-of-global-warming/


So the Global Warming crowd is all in agreement.  Irene will come ashore as a Category 3 or 4, drop unprecedented amounts of rain, and wreak havoc all the way up the East Coast, thus proving once and for all that Global Warming is real.

Well, it did not happen.   Irene was a dud.

Irene came ashore as a Category 1 Hurricane, and was quickly downgraded to a Tropical Storm.  What happened to all the fury driven by the warmer sea surface temperatures?  Where is the massive destruction wrought by Mother Nature as payment for the sins we have committed against her?

This entire storm was a non-event.  Many reporters were embarrassed as they stood in the rain describing the violence of the storm, only to have pedestrians casually stroll though the picture in the background. 

Yes, millions lost power.  Yes, there was some destruction.  But no where near the epic scale predicted by the Warmists.

So, if they were completely wrong about Irene, does that mean we can finally put a fork in the hoax that is Global Warming??








We are doomed when even the Republicans are in favor of Tyranny


This is the end.  After 50 years of public education and brain washing by the media, we are completely steeped in the morality of the collective.

Even the most ardent free market citizens are willing to dispense with freedom and free markets on the slightest personal whim.

Here is an example:

A friend of mine is a capitalist.  Literally.  He is a hedge fund manager that allocates investments.  He is moving capital around for a living, and therefore is literally a capitalist. He graduated from the University of Chicago, arguably the most free market business school in the country where the Austrian School looms large.  He hates Obama and all things Democrat. 

So you would think that this man was a friend of freedom, liberty, property rights, and free markets.

Not so!

Over a lunch, he professed a love for the mandatory calorie counts that must be posted on menus in New York.  He likes this information, and likes to have it posted on the menus, and therefore is supportive of laws requiring restaurateurs to comply with his wishes.




When I pointed out that this was an example of the vast over reach of the government into an area that was none of its business, he objected "But I like having that information".  I pointed out that he was forcing people at the point of a gun to comply with his most whimsical desires.  He has a free market option open to him, namely to not eat at restaurants that do not display calorie counts.  But instead, he chooses to pass laws that make his whims into law.

The one concept that he struggled with was that by giving his whims that force of law, he was claiming the power to have people that do not comply with his whims shot in the face by the police.  He failed to understand that all government power comes from the barrel of a gun; the ultimate recourse after fines and court orders and such fail to produce compliance is to send the police to seize the offender, and if the offender resists, to shoot them.

So we had an interesting conversation:

"I want this information."

Then you should only eat at restaurants that provide it.

"Restaurants have no incentive to provide it, they only want to please their customers with good tasting food"

Restaurants need to attract customers in many ways, and if you only patronize restaurants that give you what you want, then restaurants will start offering this service in order to attract you.

"Not enough people want this to create a market..."

So, then, this is a personal whim that you are imposing on the rest of the world.  You are willing to have restaurant owners shot for the crime of not catering to your personal whims.

"Shot?!?  No!  I just it to be required by law. You know, fines and such."

Meaning what?  That a fine is imposed?  And if the fine is not paid? And when they show up to seize the restaurant and the owner for non-payment, what if he refuses to comply and resists?  At that point the police will call out the SWAT team and shoot that man.  They will shoot him in the face for the heinous crime of not complying with your whimsical desire to have calorie information displayed for you.

"I don't want him shot.  I just want the government to force him to post the information."

Have you ever skipped a meal, or walked across the street to another restaurant when you found out that the one you were in did not provide calorie information?

"No, I have not. Of course not!"

So then this personal whim of yours is important enough to you that you are willing to have other people shot in the face, but not important enough for you to walk across the street or even skip a meal? 

"You are making this sound crazy"

It is crazy.  You are like a modern day Caligula, imposing your whims and ordering the deaths of those who do not immediately comply... You are no different than the Islamofacists who kill people for not wearing the right clothing.  Your desires are paramount, no matter who has to die to satisfy you.

+++++++++++

And so we see that even the most ardent capitalists are willing to impose draconian solutions when they they want it.

When this is the case, we have lost our bearings as a society.  



Friday, August 19, 2011

Global Warming causes...... Alien invasion!

Global Warming causes...... Alien invasion! 

And not the run-of-the-mill Mexican type aliens.  They mean outer-space type aliens:

(Guardian) — It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim.


Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth’s atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control — and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.


This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by scientists at Nasa and Pennsylvania State University that, while considered unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at some point in the future.




So again we see that the Global Warming crowd has completely lost their collective minds.  In addition to all the bogus claims of terrestrial disaster, apparently now the threat comes from outer space.

Unless we stop Global Warming, aliens will invade us. 

This is absurd on its face, and is yet another indicator of just how desperate the AGW shysters are to remain in the new and remain relevant.

Seriously.  Who can write "reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim" with a straight face???

"Scientists" claim space aliens might attack!?!?

The fact this this is reported as news is an indication of just how much the traditional media have declined.  Just how stupid do they thing we are? 

Wait.  Don't answer that.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A Balanced Budget Amendment

A Balanced Budget Amendment




Spending is out of control, and some people are proposing a Constitutional amendment to force lawmakers to close the gap.  There is a lot of debate about the wisdom, legality, or efficacy of such an amendment, but in simple terms, they are a waste of time as currently proposed.

A Constitutional amendment will do no good as long as the incentives remain in place for lawmakers to spend more.  No matter how carefully crafted, the ingenious minds of the future will find ways to circumvent the rules.  It happens today with off balance sheet expenditures, moving expenses into previous fiscal years, monkeying with all sorts of devices to hide the true extent of the spending.

So the incentives must be removed.   Deficit spending must extract a large personal cost from the lawmakers, one that exceeds the vast benefits they get through spending like drunken sailors.

What do politicians seek by spending?  Power.  They wish to remain in power.

In order for them to have spending restraint, they must feel the pain  -- and that pain must be severe.

Therefore, I propose the following Amendment:

"All revenues and expenditures of the Federal Government will be included in the budget.  Congress shall not spend more in a fiscal year than has been received in revenue.  In the event of a national emergency, Congress may borrow funds and spend more than has been received. 30 days after borrowing is approved during a national emergency, The President and all members of Congress are removed from office and barred from re-election to any office until the debt incurred during the crisis is fully retired. The Vice President shall assume the office of the President, and a special election shall be held  for Congress." 


In this way we can allow the Federal Government to respond to real emergencies, but at a direct and personal cost to the politicians.