The Loathsome-Left Explained

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Related source » The Intelligent Person's Guide to Socialism and Anti-Semitism
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“I prefer the company of those who are proud of their country, and proud of their religion — the African Americans have it right, the American Liberal Jews are wrong; there is neither beauty, utility nor safety in identification with one's oppressors. Liberalism is a religion. Its tenets cannot be proved, its capacity for waste and destruction demonstrated. But it affords a feeling of spiritual rectitude at little or no cost. Central to this religion is the assertion that evil does not exist, all conflict being attributed to a lack of understanding between the opposed. […]

It is fine for the uninvolved to say of everything, "The truth must lie somewhere in between," but who on the Left says so, for example, of Abortion? The Israelis would like to live in peace within their borders; the Arabs would like to kill them all. I do not see where there is a middle ground. […]

The Liberal attitude to our war with Radical Islam is a preference for that action which would end the conflict immediately, and without rancor. That action, unfortunately, is surrender. American Liberals do not wish to surrender their particular country, but many wish Israel to surrender hers; they wish to have someone else (the Israelis) pick up the cost of their own psychological upset: Note #40{What is the Liberal's dilemma? That he is forced to choose — to weigh rationally two positions, and base his choice upon an honest assessment of his own probable actions under similar circumstances. He is asked, finally, to be moral — the cost, however, of such action, is too high. It is his exclusion from the Group.} …

The essence of socialism is for Party A to get Party B to give something to Party C. The Liberal West would like the citizens of Israel to take the only course which would bring about the end of the disturbing "cycle of violence" which they hear of in the Liberal press. That course is abandoning their homes and country, leaving, with their lives, if possible, but leaving in any case.

Is this desire anti-Semitism? You bet your life it is.”

— David Mamet, The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture, Chapter 15

---

If you want to understand whence comes your loathing of the Liberal Left, read David Mamet's The Secret Knowledge. Be advised that understanding will likely effect more intense loathing.

Post 1,667 The Loathsome-Left Explained

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Nature's Follies

"Irascible" I'madinnerjacket

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It only hurts when I laugh …

Related source » Putting Two and Two Together
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be the first space tourist. I’m just putting two and two together here. […] Irascible. I love that. Grumpy old men are “irascible”. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is floridly insane.”
— Secular Apostate, June 29th, 2011 (secularapostate.net)

---

"God does not play dice with the universe." — Albert Einstein
"Stop telling God what to do with his dice." — Niels Bohr
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." — Big Al
"I'm just messin' with ya." — TheBigAnonymous in the Sky

It's a joke. The whole thing is horseshit. Every time humanity reaches the point at which there is a glimmer of hope that we are on to something good, TheBigGuy-in-the-Sky throws a wrench or some idiot-monkey into the mix. And then the shiite hits the fan. TheBigGuy is f*ckin' with us; but it only hurts when we laugh ...

If it's not a wrench or an irascible monkey, it's some moron-leftist (OK, so I'm into tautology; so sue me), of which, alas, there are so many to choose from. Take The Obama Himself. Please. Or bat-shit crazy Pelosi. Or Bawney Hot-dog, the Banking Queen. Or Tiny Weiner, the pervert. Or any number of other ass-holes slithering through the halls of power in Washington, DC.

To coin a phrase, truth is stranger than fiction. You just can't make this shite up. It takes the power of nature to throw-down some dice (or irascible monkeys) to stir things up; just when you thought it was finally safe to get back in the water. For example, after the best laid plans of august white-men to keep the sport of gentlemen lily-white, along comes a tiger of color who takes the field by storm. Uh-oh, gots to put an end to dat. And so the world's greatest golfer is revealed to be just another jock who can put it in a hole but can't keep his jock on. What a jock-off ...

Then you got Californicatia. Jockpot! Take a big slice of Eden. Put it down where "the sun shines most the time, and the feeling is 'lay back' ... L.A.'s fine, but it ain't home. New York's home, but it ain't mine no more." "Doobie, doobie, do ..."

Smoke some dope and smoke some more; pray for hope and hope for morons to run the show. Showtime! Import a governator from LA, via Austria (where, according to The Obama, the people speak Austrian). Showtime! Fly-in (on a broomstick) some bat-shite to spice-up the mix. And then what d'you got? D'you got a whole movie-lot of horseshit goin' on, that's what d'you got.

I could go on, but it hurts too much. Hopey-dopey, mofo ...

Post 1,666 Nature's Follies

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Wildfire Nears Los Alamos

   Shades of “Cerro Grande” in 2000

Las Conchas wildfire nears Los Alamos
LA Medical Center in foreground (June 27, 2011)

Related source » Fire destroys 30 structures as it nears Los Alamos nuke lab
Mandatory evacuations for town; first atomic bomb was built at complex
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“SANTA FE, N.M. — A raging wildfire spread to within one mile of the nation's preeminent nuclear weapons facility on Monday after destroying 30 structures, including some homes, overnight. Officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory scrambled to make sure that radioactive and hazardous material were protected from the wind-driven fire that has forced the installation to close. By Monday afternoon, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for the town of Los Alamos, population 12,000, after residents had earlier been advised to leave. […] The fire was eerily similar to one of the most destructive fires in New Mexico history. That fire, the Cerro Grande, burned some 47,000 acres — 73 square miles — in May 2000 and caused more than $1 billion in property damage. About 400 homes and 100 buildings on lab property were destroyed in that fire. That blaze also raised concerns about toxic runoff and radioactive smoke, although Roark said no contaminants were released in the Cerro Grande fire.”
— Weather - msnbc.com

---

I was there (in the flesh, so to speak) for the so-called "Cerro Grande" fire/evacuation in May of 2000. All of us living in Los Alamos and White Rock at that time became refugees in either Santa Fe or Albuquerque for about 10 days or so. My own home was spared any noticeable damage, but some people lost everything (if it wasn't insured). I, personally, don't know of anyone, however, who didn't carry insurance.

As I recall, the insurance companies responded admirably. I don't recall hearing any horror stories about dealing with them (but that doesn't necessarily mean they didn't occur). The Lab did not experience any critical damage (no pun intended), at least not to my knowledge.

The current fire sounds at least as bad as the one in May of 2000. I hope the Town, the Laboratory, and, most of all, the people make it through this potential calamity with minimal casualty.

---

     UPDATE: July 1, 2011

Omega Bridge, Los Alamos (27 June 2011)
Some rights reserved by LANL

Related source » Los Alamos Officials Plan for Return of Residents
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – As firefighters held their ground Friday on the flank of a massive wildfire that burned near the nation's premier nuclear weapons laboratory, officials at the lab and in the surrounding town began planning for the return of thousands of residents and employees who fled the area earlier this week.
Officials didn't give a timetable for when they would lift the five-day-old evacuation order for the northern New Mexico town of Los Alamos, normally home to 12,000 residents. But some county workers were back Friday to prepare for the eventual rush of utility service calls, as well as possible flooding from surrounding mountainsides denuded by the wildfire.
With the fire burning several miles upslope from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, officials were confident the blaze no longer posed an immediate threat to the lab, where experiments on two supercomputers and studies on extending the life of 1960s-era B61 nuclear bombs have been put on hold.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/01/crews-battle-nm-fire-which-pushes-into-canyon/#ixzz1Qy1PTyqA”
— Published July 01, 2011 | Associated Press (foxnews.com)

---

     UPDATE 2: July 21, 2011

A house in Los Alamos burns during Cerro Grande fire
Image via Wikimedia Commons

Related source » The 25 Worst Mistakes In History
New Mexico loses control of a controlled burn in the Cerro Grande

 [This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“Loss in 2000: $1 billion in property damage
Inflation-adjusted: $1.3 billion
The Cerro Grande fire in New Mexico in 2000 started as a prescribed fire which spread due to high winds and drought conditions.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/worst-mistakes-in-history-2011-4?op=1#ixzz1Slq4xI3v”
— Leah Goldman and Gus Lubin | Apr. 26, 2011 (businessinsider.com)

---

Post 1,665 Wildfire Nears Los Alamos

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If I were a Liberal …

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If I were a rich man and

totally self-absorbed  …

Related source » The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture [Kindle Edition]
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“The mastery of skills is, more basically, essential, as inculcating the practical approach to problems: that is, "What am I trying to accomplish, is it worthwhile, what are its probable costs, where might I go for guidance, what tools do I require, how may I judge my progress?" These tools are the necessary precondition of any success in the world, whether in changing a tire or in supporting a family. As obvious as it is to state, the test, "How will I know when I am done?" seems to have escaped the voters on the Left. "When," they might be asked, "will there be enough 'Social Justice'? When will there be enough redistributing of wealth? When will there be enough 'equality'?" This inability, in the electorate, to frame actual, practicable goals is exploited, first by the demagogue, and then by the dictator he may become or who replaces him; for, in the totalitarian state, nothing is enough, and, so the "Programs" must always continue.”
— David Mamet, The Secret Knowledge (Footnote #8)

---

As I mention in these pages from time to time, I used to be a Liberal, largely because I come from the long-standing Liberal-tradition of most American Ashkenazi-Jews (i.e., descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany). And not unlike David Mamet himself, I have figured out that some traditions are best discarded after a person is able to reflect upon, analyze, and comprehend what motivates the rich and powerful on the Left, particularly those who aspire to such self-serving positions.

In a nut-shell, they aspire to positions of wealth and power that will last them a lifetime, particularly their own. And the devil take what follows. It is the modern version of Louis XV's, “Après moi, le déluge” (“After me, the deluge”). As The Obama Himself is fond of repeating, "Let me be perfectly clear": After Bill Clinton, Al Gore, The Obama Himself, and many others of their ilk have had their orgies of decadent affluence, they don't give a flying f*ck what happens next. They say such pablum as, "The individual at some point, must be able to say, 'I have enough money'", but they view themselves to be far above such individuals. They view the latter as individual schmucks (suckers).

Well, I am not rich; nor am I powerful. And, for some reason that I haven't quite figured out yet, I give a damn what happens after I am gone. Perhaps I believe that my own afterlife will exist in the memories of my loved ones. I want my loved ones who survive me to have the luxury of some leisure time to experience fond memories. I don't want them to be entirely absorbed by a day-to-day struggle to stay alive for another day of struggling, in a world deluged by a tsunami of hurt unleashed by the likes of Obama and their accursed policies of destruction.

Post 1,664 If I were a Liberal …

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War Between the Branches

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Congress • President • Supreme Court

Related source » Who takes us to war?
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“Is the Libya war legal? Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, it is not. President Obama has exceeded the 90-day period to receive retroactive authorization from Congress. But things are not so simple. No president should accept — and no president from Nixon on has accepted — the constitutionality of the WPR, passed unilaterally by Congress over a presidential veto. On the other hand, every president should have the constitutional decency to get some congressional approval when he takes the country to war. […] On Libya, Obama did nothing of the sort. He claimed exemption from the WPR on the grounds that America in Libya is not really engaged in “hostilities.” To deploy an excuse so transparently ridiculous isn’t just a show of contempt for Congress and for the intelligence of the American people. It manages additionally to undermine the presidency’s own war-making prerogatives by implicitly conceding that if the Libya war really did involve hostilities, the president would indeed be subject to the WPR. The worst of all possible worlds: Insult Congress, weaken the presidency. A neat trick. […] Moreover, the judiciary, which under our system is the ultimate arbiter of constitutionality, has consistently refused to adjudicate this “political question” (to quote one appellate court judge) and thus resolve with finality the separation-of-powers dispute between the other two co-equal branches.”
— By Charles Krauthammer, Published: June 23, 2011 (washingtonpost.com)

---

My fellow Americans, what we have here is — failure to adjudicate. We have had for decades, since the Korean War began, a contested Constitutional issue of the first magnitude. It concerns what is arguably the most important function of our Federal Government — to protect the Nation's security interests. Moreover, the issue involves all three Branches of our Federal Government: Executive; Legislative; and Judicial.

The last major war that the United States Congress declared, as is still prescribed by our Constitution, was World War II, which ended in 1945. Since then, we have engaged in a half dozen major wars and numerous minor wars, none of which were declared by Congress. The gentlemanly declaration of war has outgrown its intended purpose, as the whole world has completely abandoned the oxymoronic concept of a gentleman's war. To coin a phrase, war is hell, and hell is no place for gentlemen or ladies.

Modern warfare involves surprise attack, stealth, disregard for relatively humane treatment of non-combatants, and among the enemies of Western civilization the intention to eradicate it. The Geneva Conventions might as well be subsumed by the American Contract Bridge League. When Stalin was informed that Hitler had committed suicide while the Russian Armies were in the process of demolishing Berlin, he probably remarked, "Next time, no more Mr. Nice Guy!" But, I digress ...

The Constitution has been Amended (portions of the 20th Amendment and the 25th Amendment) when the original provisions for Presidential succession were deemed inadequate to the task. Similarly, the Constitution's war-making provisions, anti-war sentiments not withstanding, must be clarified after our more than two centuries of existence and our involvement in many wars that were necessitated by ever expanding exigencies of the world we share with billions of people in other nation states.

The time has come for a Constitutional Amendment to enable us to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the people obliged to live by the rule of law that derives from it.

Post 1,663 War Between the Branches

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Yeah, Me Neither ... Pass It On

(h/t UNDIEPUNDIT)

Post 1,662 Yeah, Me Neither ... Pass It On

This Week's Best of Rule 5

Image via theospark.net

Post 1,661 This Week's Best of Rule 5

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Gag Me with a Burger

"It's not easy being green." — Kermit da Frog

Eat shit and diet!      (h/t Malcolm)

Related source » POOP BURGER: Japanese Researchers Create Artificial Meat From Human Feces
[I shit you not! TBH]
[This related source is recommended in its entirety]

“Some hardcore carnivores have a hard time finding meat alternatives such as soy protein or tofu burgers to be palatable. But non-meat eaters may lose their appetite along with their carnivorous friends over this one – a meat alternative made from HUMAN EXCREMENT. Yep, you heard me correctly — Japanese scientist Mitsuyuki Ikeda has developed a “burger” made from soya, steak sauce essence, and protein extracted from human feces.”

Read more: POOP BURGER: Japanese Researchers Create Artificial Meat From Human Feces | Inhabitat — Green Design Will Save the World
— by Lori Zimmer, 06/16/11 (inhabitat.com)

---

Had enough? I leave you with this classic:

So 3 guys go on a camping trip. They agree to take turns every night to cook and clean-up. But, if either of the other guys complains about the food prepared, the complainer has to clean up instead of the cook. They all hate cleaning up.

The first guy loads up on the salt (natch), but neither of the other two complains. The second guy, of course, loads up on salt and pepper. Not a peep.

The third guy decides to put shit in the food. One of the others blurts out:

"This tastes like shit — but it's good!"

Stay thirsty, my friends ...

Post 1,660 Gag Me with a Burger

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On Pledges and Oaths

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Joe Biden: 'This is a big f*cking deal!'

Related source » The union-owned Democrats
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“'Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected,' observed President Obama this week, enjoying a nice chuckle about the unhappy fate of his near-$1 trillion stimulus. […] When the Republicans tried to do as promised, Democrats, lacking the votes, tried to block it by every extra-parliamentary maneuver short of arson. State Senate Democrats fled Wisconsin to prevent a quorum. Demonstrators filled the statehouse for days and nights on end. And when the bill finally passed nonetheless, Dane County’s Democratic district attorney went to court to have it thrown out on procedural grounds. They found a pliant judge to invalidate the law. A famous victory, but short-lived. On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the ruling, upbraiding the judge for having 'usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin Constitution grants exclusively to the legislature.' The law is reinstated. […] The Wisconsin maneuver ultimately failed, as likely will the assault on Boeing. In the interim, however, there is collateral damage — to U.S. exports, to the larger economy, to bankruptcy law, to free trade, to a constitutional system wherein the legislatures make the laws, rather than willful judges and partisan regulators.”
— Charles Krauthammer, June 16, 2011 (washingtonpost.com)

---

As Winston Churchill famously quipped, "Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried." Nevertheless, it wasn't then, nor is it now, perfect. And, to my way of thinking, among the worst offenders is partisan politics. And the reason partisan politics represents the fly in the ointment of our Republic is that people lose sight of their allegiance hierarchy.

Consciously or not, everyone in the civilized world pledges allegiance to an organizational hierarchy, at whose pinnacle they usually place themselves. As the Sage Hillel stated, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?" Below the pinnacle, there are numerous organizations to which people acquire membership through birth or some form of naturalization procedure.

Some of the most obvious societal organizations are: family; ethnicity; race; religion; citizenship; state of residence; place of employment. Among the many optional memberships available to American citizens of legal age and a proven ability to read and write English is the electorate of the United States. And a subordinate option is the choice of a political party affiliation.

After one has convinced himself that he owes primary allegiance to his own life, one's remaining affiliations assume a hierarchical position beneath that pinnacle. Not everyone's pyramid is structured the same way. But I would argue that certain allegiances take precedence over certain others. For example, my allegiance to the Republic, for which the Flag of the United States of America stands, has always taken precedence over any allegiance I could have to any political party, especially since I have never chosen to join any party that would have me as its member.

This is as it should be. Sadly, when partisan animosity rages as it has in the past decade or so, many people would rather see the Republic as a whole suffer the consequences of their purely partisan actions, rather than recognize the superior position of their political opponents. And none more so than the partisan hack who swore the Presidential Oath of Office to protect the Constitution of the United States.

Post 1,659 On Pledges and Oaths

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Useful, Dangerous, Funny, and Hopeless

Useful Idiots: Dangerous yes. But funny too!

Related source » "Obama vs. Obama" Blogtoon
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

— Posted by Ronny, June 17, 2011 (ibdst.blogspot.com)

---

Run that by me again? Oh, yeah; Obama is awesome. It's incomprehensible how awesome He is. I am truly awed by His awesome awesomeness ...

Gag me with a spoon. I just threw up a little bit; in my mouth.

Image by SS&SS via Flickr:

Obama in 2012? Yes, Marge. They're Just That Stupid

Post 1,658 Useful, Dangerous, Funny, and Hopeless

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Leading from His Behind

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

DonkeyDopey — smarter than the average bear donkey

Related source » Our Reactionary President
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“Barack Obama is the most reactionary president in the recent history of the United States. Obama seems intent on turning back the clock to the good old days of the 1960s and 1970s, when rigid political orthodoxy, not an open mind, once guided government. Take the economy. [Please! TBH] The 1980s implosion of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union proved that state control of the means of production guaranteed poverty and worse. The current insolvent and fragmenting European Union, and the stagnant economics of the exploding Middle East, remind us that state socialism does not work. Why, then, would Obama, in horse-and-buggy fashion, go back to such fossilized concepts as absorbing the nation's health care system, increasing the federal government's role in the economy by taking over automobile corporations, borrowing $5 trillion to spend on new entitlements, or proposing an array of much higher taxes -- all in a vain effort to ensure an equality of result? Almost every key indicator of the current economy -- unemployment, deficits, housing, energy -- argues that Obama's reactionary all-powerful statist approach has only made things far worse. […] "Hope and change" turned out not to be a liberal call to consider new ways of solving problems. It was not even a conservative slogan to keep all that has worked well in the past. Instead, Barack Obama proved to be an old-fashioned reactionary. He hoped to change things back to the politically correct 1960s and 1970s way of doing things -- whether it ever worked or not.” [emphasis added] [interjected by TBH]
— Victor Davis Hanson, 6/16/2011 (townhall.com)

---

The big news in the media today concerns Weiner pulling out, albeit far from prematurely (come to think of it, his father should have). Not surprising, really. It distracts for a few more precious moments from Obama's disastrous administration, if you'll pardon the expression.

The whole news-cycle scenario is reminiscent of the elaborate ghoulish spectacles in the Roman Colosseum as the barbarians were storming the gates. Or, for a more recent analogy, refer to the Wizard of Oz's, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain". Move along; nothing to see here.

Well, go ahead. Enjoy the spectacle of Weiner letting it all hang out on the "reality is weirder than fiction" stage. The economic string of dominoes is about to chain-react in Greece ... Premonitions of what is to come may be seen in last night's riots in Vancouver and Toronto, over a hockey championship, no less! And, lest you forget, that happened in pseudo-European Canada, not in (supposedly) much less sophisticated real America.

Are we really going to allow the abomination to continue through 2016? Really?

Post 1,657 Leading from His Behind

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This Week's Best of Rule 5

Image via theospark.net

Post 1,656 This Week's Best of Rule 5

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Delicacies for the Soul

 Blake, Body of Abel Found by Adam and Eve 
Image via tate.org.uk

Timshel

   “Thou mayest rule over sin, Lee. That's it. I do not believe all men are destroyed. I can name you a dozen who were not, and they are the ones the world lives by. It is true of the spirit as it is true of battles — only the winners are remembered. Surely most men are destroyed, but there are others who like pillars of fire guide frightened men through the darkness. 'Thou mayest, Thou mayest!' What glory! It is true that we are weak and sick and quarrelsome, but if that is all we ever were, we would, millenniums ago, have disappeared from the face of the earth. […] But the choice, Lee, the choice of winning! I had never understood it or accepted it before. Do you see now why I told Adam tonight? I exercised the choice. Maybe I was wrong, but by telling him I also forced him to live or get off the pot. What is that word, Lee?”
   “Timshel”, said Lee.
— John Steinbeck, East of Eden

---

I had read Steinbeck's great novel more than once before, in my youth as well as in my middle years. Each reading seemed to give me insights that helped me get on with my life.

Based as it is on the the principal themes of the "Cain and Abel" story in the Book of Genesis, as well as on biographical portions of Steinbeck's own maternal grandfather, Samuel Hamilton (who's character is quoted in the above excerpt), I decided that it was time for another re-reading. It is a wonderful read for anyone who needs refreshment from the frenetic and frequently mindless lifestyles of today's world.

Arguably Steinbeck's greatest opus, though The Grapes of Wrath is more famous, it has stood the test of time, when so many others have been forgotten during its own more than half-century in "print". The reason, I think, is that its themes are universal and timeless; its writing is Nobel-worthy; its story is fascinating; and, its philosophical insights, revealed by the supporting protagonists Samuel Hamilton and Adam Trask's Chinese manservant, Lee, are delicacies for the soul.

Post 1,655 Delicacies for the Soul

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Addiction Nation

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The fix is in …

Related source » The Parallel Between Drug Addiction And The Reliance On Economic Stimulus Is Just Too Strong To Ignore
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“And as with drug addition, an economy builds up a tolerance. Each time the government successively stimulates with printed money or deficit spending, ever larger doses are needed to achieve the same result. […] This time around, the stimulus-fueled recovery is so mild that the economy is already relapsing into recession before the Fed has even begun to tighten.”
— Peter Schiff, JUNE 14, 2011 (peterschiffblog.blogspot.com)

---

Back when I was earning a salary, I had a whiteboard in my office, which was usually filled with multicolored markings that made some sense to me and several of my colleagues. These equations and crude diagrams were frequently modified, as my thoughts and discussions with colleagues progressed (and regressed) from day to day. But one block-printed marking was never erased — "NEEDS MORE WORK".

Similarly, it would seem, our government's fiscal and economic gurus are surrounded by semi-permanent post-it reminders with the words "Needs More Stimulus" printed on them. As if they needed reminding of our Nation's long-standing addiction.

Goosing the economy by periodic injection of printed money, in the hopes that such artificial stimulation will gain a momentum that will carry the economy past the inevitable withdrawal of the fix-induced frenzy of spending, is the addled mind-set of drug addiction. Such continued application of cyclical frenzy can only lead to increasing amplitudes of fluctuation and correspondingly diminishing returns on investment of wealth, energy, and precious time.

I don't pretend to know what the correct solution for our Nation's economy is. As my economics professor is fond of repeating, "Macro is hard". Moreover, it certainly is not my area of expertise; I'm just a novice. But I am confident of this: continued application of massive stimulus ain't it.

Post 1,654 Addiction Nation

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Neither fish nor fowl …

Related source » Clarity
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“[T]he rumble over the Greek economic crisis continues. At village level, […] , the general idea that Merkel is the new Hitler (and the glee at the fact that the Germans poisoned themselves with their own bean sprouts, rather than with something grown by one of those recalcitrant Mediterranean types, is palpable), some pretty crude racism, whilst on the news, protesters chant about the politicians being thieves. All have one thing in common, the sense that the cause of the crisis is a moral, rather than a systemic failure. One of Adam Smith's most notable insights was his much misread notion that the strength of a modern, industrial society does not rest on the virtue of its citizens. Instead, small petty desires and self-interest drive economies and sustain civilisation. The target of Smith's writing was the same one that seems to animate popular debate today and thus leads us away from the major questions about the failures in the Eurozone. And, even if moral failure was a key factor, any system that has to rely entirely on the prevalence of human virtue has a major design fault anyway.”
— Peter Ryley, JUNE 12, 2011 (fatmanonakeyboard.blogspot.com)

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Nolan Chart
(Image via conservapedia.com)

Peter Riley, whose nom de keyboard is "The Plump", is a Brit who spends much of his time in Greece. Hence his personal concern about the Greek economic crisis. But it is clear that some of his observations are also applicable to our own economy, which is in seemingly inexorable decline.


While the two major American political parties, Democrat and Republican, keep slugging away at each other in the guise of their "liberal" and "conservative" principles, respectively, it is important to realize that political philosophies are greatly clarified when viewed on a Nolan Chart, which recognizes that political action can be divided into two general categories: economic and personal.

Thus, many, if not most people are better served if a distinction is made between the specific flavors of their liberal or conservative leanings. Though, as a generic "conservative" who generally favors the Republican candidates over the Democrats, I am, in fact, a conservative on the economy but more of a liberal on many personal issues. This places me center/right on the American political spectrum (where the American-electorate peaks), and squarely in the area consigned to libertarianism on the Nolan Chart.

Our most contentious political differences stem from our major disagreement on the size of the Federal government and its role in restricting our individual freedoms. Hence, right of center means less government involvement (more freedom) on both economic and personal issues (i.e., trending libertarian); left of center is the opposite (i.e., labeled populist/totalitarian on the Nolan Chart). Consequently, extreme left-wing actually supports maximum personal but minimum economic freedom, whereas extreme right-wing is the opposite, namely maximum economic but minimum personal freedom.

Neither Democrat nor Republican candidates can satisfy the philosophical needs of the broad segment of our political spectrum in the center, where most independent voters live. And this is why it behooves a voter to consider what each individual candidate brings to the table, regardless of his or her party affiliation.

Post 1,653 Neither fish nor fowl …

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This Week's Best of Rule 5

Image via Русское фотосообщество №1

Post 1,652 This Week's Best of Rule 5

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It's the econom-ics, stupid!

 How to turn shit into potable water!

Image via spectator.org

Related source » The Economics of Settlement
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“The root cause of Middle Eastern turmoil, according to a broad consensus of the international media and the considered cerebrations of the deepest-thinking movie stars, is Israeli settlers in what are described as the "occupied territories" on the West Bank of the Jordan River. Even such celebrated and fervent supporters of Israel as Alan Dershowitz and Bernard-Henri Lévy put the settlers beyond the pale of their Zionist sympathies. Remove the settlers, according to these sage analyses of the scene, and the problems of the region become remediable at last. […] Israelis now purify and recycle some 95 percent of the nation's sewage, including imports of sewage from the West Bank and Gaza -- "They sell us sewage and we give them potable water," said one Israeli official. Israel is pioneering ever more efficient forms of drip irrigation and gains some 50 percent of its water from world-leading desalinization plants. With an array of new hydrological innovations, Israel provides the crucial answers to the acute water crisis that afflicts the Middle East and much of the rest of the world. Just as the Israeli settlers enabled the emergence of an economy in Palestine, so they offer the prospect of saving the entire region from water exhaustion and poverty after the oil boom ends. […] Meanwhile, contrary to all the floods of mendacious propaganda purveyed by an ever-gullible mainstream media, Netanyahu's bold economic and humanitarian policies in the West Bank and Gaza have succeeded in fostering a brisk economic revival in the territories, with a recovery rate of near 10 percent in Gaza alone. As George Will acerbically noted in a particularly brilliant column, "Turkey was claiming to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, a land with higher incomes and longevity than Turkey itself." Israel's unparalleled achievements in industry and intellect have fanned the familiar anti-Semitic frenzies among all the economically and morally failed societies of the socialist and Islamist Third World from Iran to Venezuela. They all imagine that by delegitimizing, demoralizing, defeating, and, ultimately, destroying Israel, they will take an enormous step toward bringing down the entire capitalist West.” [emphasis added]
— By George Gilder, 2011/06/08 (spectator.org)

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I am a retired physicist, and I am proud, justly I think, of the contributions made by physicists the world over, down through the ages, to the general knowledge and welfare of humanity. Nevertheless, it is my firm belief that economists, who developed their theories, specifically free market capitalism, in and for the advancement of the Western human condition, are owed a special debt of gratitude by the entire world.

If anything is to turn things around for the human condition that is in a seemingly inexorable decline, it will not, repeat not, be through the misguided advocacy of ignoramuses like Barack Obama, his millions of economics-challenged supporters, as well as his ridiculously inept advisers.

It is probably hopeless to expect a timely awakening of sane policy-making at this late date. Economics literacy doesn't grow on trees. It is not pretty; and, in fact, it tends to be messy, even counter-intuitive on occasion. But it is essential to know and understand if the world is to extract itself from a hit-or-miss (historically overwhelmingly "miss") approach to solving its most intractable problems.

Post 1,651 It's the econom-ics, stupid!

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It's Official: Men Are Idiots

 So, you think Weiner's a dumbass?

Image via Wikipedia

Related source » Murder Plot Revealed as Facebook Friend Turns Out to Be Indiana Man's Wife
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Indiana woman Angela Voelkert wanted a little dirt on her husband as she prepared for a messy divorce, so she posed online as a teen to trick him into dishing some damaging details, the New York Post reported Thursday. And what she learned was astounding -- he was plotting to kill her and run off with their kids, law-enforcement authorities believe. […] David Voelkert soon allegedly confessed to his new friend that he had secretly placed a GPS tracking device in his wife's van and was using it to locate her when he was allegedly ready to have her whacked. He even allegedly asked the "girl" to find a "gang-banger" at her school who would be willing to do the job for $10,000. […] David Voelkert, a video and audio-equipment salesman in South Bend, Ind., was arrested Friday and charged in federal court with illegally installing the GPS device. Officials said he could face more serious charges. The dopey dad went on to spell out his plan to kill the mother of his children, never once suspecting that the incriminating messages were going straight to her, officials said. […] David Voelkert asked the "teen" to run away with him after his wife was out of the picture, before signing off the email with a smiley face.”
— Published June 09, 2011 | NewsCore (foxnews.com)

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You can't make this stuff up.

Post 1,650 It's Official: Men Are Idiots

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A Beast of Burden and a Democrat

Both "of weight"   …

Hoist with his own burden  (Image via malcolmpollack.com)

Hoist with his own petard    (Image via gothamist.com)

Post 1,649 A Beast of Burden and a Democrat

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Land of the Free Lunch and Home of the Bravado Bunch

 AKA the failed state of California

Related source » SCOTUS Makes It Official: California A Failed State
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“The controversial US Supreme Court decision (pdf) that could ultimately force California to release tens of thousands of prison inmates is more than a shockingly broad exercise of judicial power. It is also an official declaration by the highest constitutional authority in the land that California meets the strict test of state failure: it can no longer enforce the law within its frontiers. […] Northern California is more like Washington and Oregon than like anything farther south. The neighborhood of San Francisco Bay has its own history, character and interests that set it off from the rest of the state. Greater Los Angeles, the Central Valley and the Far South centered on San Diego also have what it takes to be successful and happily governed states on their own. […] California is a region, not a state, and until we adopt the political institutions that match this reality, the state will continue to fail — our very own Sudan by the sea. California isn’t the only state with this problem, by the way. New York, Florida, Texas and Illinois are obvious candidates for break up; figuring out how to decentralize and localize state government is an important part of making America work in the 21st century.”
— WALTER RUSSELL MEAD, May 27, 2011 (the-american-interest.com)

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Don't get me wrong, I love California. But some of the people — not so much. Prof. Mead is right, of course: California is a region, very much like an oblast of the former Soviet Union (in more ways than one, I might add). As Mead points out, "you can’t run the 8th biggest economy in the world with an institutional mix designed for much smaller, more homogenous units in a much simpler time". Nevertheless, breaking-up this mega-failed-state into five separate states seems like a virtual impossibility. These people can't decide if trees have the same rights as humans, for god's sake (which, BTW, they do, at least in bat-shit crazy Pelosi-land).

Clearly, breaking-up is hard to do. But, how about subdividing? I propose that Mead's plan be reinterpreted as an introduction of five "sub-state" administrative regions, as illustrated in the above map. These sub-states would comprise the existing counties within their proposed borders, and the five collections of counties would in turn become the super-counties of the present State of California.

Such a reconstruction of our giant states (in area as well as in population) makes sense for all the reasons listed by Mead. But by preserving all the inner structure that the state already has, and just introducing an intermediate administrative layer would eliminate much of the bewildering and debilitating quarreling that would be prohibitive for a multi-state solution.

As for those counties on the proposed borders of the super-counties, each such county could vote to either accept its initial allocation or choose to "cross the border", so to speak. It's win/win.

Post 1,648 Land of the Free Lunch and Home of the Bravado Bunch

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D-Day, June 6, 1944

 Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Related source » Actionable
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

— Day by Day®, 2011/06/06 (daybydaycartoon.com)

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U.S. Army troops wade ashore on Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, 6 June 1944      (Image via Wikipedia)

“Soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force. You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.”
— General Dwight D. Eisenhower, D-Day (June 6, 1944)

Post 1,647 D-Day, June 6, 1944

Finally, the sensible solution!

Image via Wikipedia

Even the Arabs will love it (as if)!

Related source » Klavan's One-State Solution: Give the Middle East to the Jews
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

h/t Secular Apostate

"PJTV's Andrew Klavan has a better idea."


— Andrew Klavan, Jun 2, 2011 (youtube.com)

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If you are a Jew-hater and/or a self-loathing Jew, move along. There is nothing of interest here for you.

Post 1,646 Finally, the sensible solution!

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Whining About Tiny's Weiner

Tiny's Weiner Musters Envy from Barney's Frank and Schmuck's Chuer

Related source » Weinergate In A Nutshell
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]


— Posted by Ronny, June 3, 2011 (ibdst.blogspot.com)

Rack 'em Up

The battle of the (Tiny) bulge ain't over till the fat lady rolls on the floor laughing her bass off!

Post 1,645 Whining About Tiny's Weiner

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QE3? How About Titanic II?

Image via Wikipedia

We're from the gummint.

We're here to gum things up.

Big time!

Related source » Markets swoon on double dip fears
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]


— Schiiff Report Video Blog, June 1st 2011 (youtube.com)

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If you believe in central planning, and if you believe big government is your friend, then move along. There is nothing here of interest for you.

Post 1,644 QE3? How About Titanic II?

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