Sowell's Words Of Warning

Some words of wisdom and warning from Thomas Sowell in his book Basic Economics:

A society in which only members of a hereditary aristocracy, a military junta, or a ruling political party can make major decisions is a society that has thrown away much of the knowledge, insights, and talents of most of its people.

No economic system can depend on the continuing wisdom of its current leaders. A price-coordinated economy with competition in the marketplace doesn't have to, because those leaders can be forced to change course – or be replaced – whether because of red ink, irate stockholders, outside investors ready to take over, or because of bankruptcy. Given such economic pressures, it is hardly surprising that economies under the thumbs of kings or commissars have seldom matched the track record of capitalist economies.

This is a lesson the Obama Administration and the Democrats in Congress must take to heed. Otherwise, should they decide they have the means and the knowledge to “control' the economy, they will instead cripple it, maybe to a point where it won't recover for decades.

Do you think it won't happen? Then how do you explain efforts by Congress and the President to control the pay of executives in the financial industry? Do you think they'll really stop there? I don't.

I figure at some point they'll try to set salaries and compensations across the board. That ought to put a crimp in recruiting efforts to find and retain qualified personnel.

As the old saying goes, to err is human, to really screw up takes the government.

A War On Work

While this was linked over on Maggie's Farm over a week ago, I just now got around to watching it.

Anyone that has watched Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs or History Channel's Deadliest Catch will recognize Mike Rowe. He gets involved with some of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs out there in America. The two shows he's involved with give him an insight to work that very few people will ever have. In the video below he talks about what he's learned from doing all those jobs and how, as he puts it, “There's been a war on work.” His 20 minute talk is well worth the time to watch.



As the grandson, nephew, cousin, and brother/son-in-law of machinists, I can attest to the veracity of Mike Rowe's observations. As the father of a farm worker (yes, he's only 14 years old, but he works hard when he's on the job), I can attest that Mike Rowe's are correct. As an engineer in the telecommunications industry, I can tell you first hand that hard work, dirty jobs or clean, is how we came to be the nation we are and the only way we can remain that way. Mike's got it right on all accounts.

History Shows Us The Outcome Of Obama's Grand Plans

While many of us in the moderate and conservative blogosphere have been decrying President Obama's plans, others have been looking at history to see if the situation where we now find ourselves – meaning the profligate spending and taxes proposed by Obama, expansion of labor union power, and rapid growth of the government bureaucracies – have existed before. It turns out there are two shining examples, one from the mid 20th Century and the other of a more recent vintage, that illustrate quite well the outcome of Obama's plans.

First, we only need to look at Argentina's past and see how it went from an economic power house to a basket case in a very short time. It had nothing to do with world economic conditions and everything to do with those running the country and their incompetence in doing so.

The disastrous path on which America is currently embarked was tried in another country - in the Western Hemisphere: Juan Peron's Argentina. During the 1940s until a 1955 coup ousted him from power, Peron presided over a fascist state.

What is not commonly known about Argentina is that prior to World War II, it was an economic powerhouse. Beginning in the 1880s and continuing through the 1920s and 1930s, it was regarded as one of the most prosperous and advanced nations in the world.

Argentina had a strong industrial base, thriving agricultural exports and a broad and expanding middle class. Like America, it served as a magnet for immigrants from all over the world, especially Italians. Within 15 years, however, Argentina went from being one of the richest to one of the poorest countries.

This was due largely to Peronist policies. Upon coming to office, Peron, along with his popular wife, Eva, established a corporatist state characterized by lavish social spending, elaborate welfare programs, protectionism, confiscatory taxation and runaway deficits.

Peron used strident class warfare rhetoric, attacking big business, the banks, corporations and the propertied class. He greatly strengthened labor unions, making them pivotal allies of his regime.

Peronism transformed the Argentine state. The bloated bureaucracy and massive government intervention fostered widespread corruption. Central economic planning destroyed productivity and growth. Investment capital fled. Inflation and interest rates soared. The middle class was wiped out. The independent judiciary was undermined and eventually smashed. The fawning media class became co-opted by Peron's allies. His -and Eva's - cult of personality fostered a climate of violence and political persecution of the regime's enemies. Argentina degenerated into the Latin American basket case that it is today.

The failure of Peronism should serve as a warning: Socialism and a sky-rocketing national debt can permanently impoverish even the wealthiest nations. America is not immune from the laws of economics. Prosperous republics - ancient Rome, the Italian city-states, Argentina - have seen their wealth squandered, never to recover.

Mr. Obama is taking the first dangerous steps toward an American version of Peronism. His followers see him as a political messiah, a revolutionary change agent who will foster national cohesion and unity. He and the Democrats are plundering the state, using it as a vehicle to reward supporters (and punish foes). He is our Dear Leader, whose image is everywhere from magazine covers to T-shirts to baseball caps. His wife, Michelle, is the Eva Peron of our time - glamorous, chic, a fashion trend-setter who is beloved by the media.

Most ominously, Mr. Obama is repeating the statist populism that didn't work in Argentina, and will not work in America. Professor Philip Jenkins wryly observes that the United States of America risks becoming "the United States of Argentina." He is right. Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

Everything laid out above is exactly what President Obama is proposing for America, though he uses more obscure rhetoric to describe what he's doing and why. What's worse is the leftists in Congress are willing to follow him on his quest to impoverish the nation all in the name of “fairness”. We've seen this before, though as laid out in fiction in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Rand borrowed heavily from the situation in the old Soviet Union as well as what had happened in Argentina to lay out the folly and dangers of socialism, much like what we're seeing being foisted upon us now.

A more recent example of how Obama's plans will heavily damage, if not destroy, the American economy is Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.

Venezuela had a thriving economy and an open and free society. The socialist strong man Chavez was elected, he having made many of the same promises we're hearing from Obama. Once in office, he implemented his ideas and plans. In a very short time the economy started contracting and eventually collapsed as Chavez tightened control over it, instituting price controls that bankrupted farmers and business owners, created shortages that could not be filled, crippled the country's petroleum industry, eliminated most of the civil rights, turned the justice system and the media into puppets that followed his wishes, allowed vital infrastructure to fall into disrepair, and creating many new social programs that stripped wealth away from the producers, leaving him with no way to fund them.

Venezuela is an economic basket case, no longer able to meet the needs of its citizens. None of it was due to economic conditions in the world. It was all Chavez's doing, despite his claims to the contrary. He still blames outside forces, meaning the US, for all of Venezuela's ills. But every bit of Venezuela's fall comes back to the cult of personality that is Hugo Chavez. He has only himself to blame for his country's problems.

And so it will be for Barack Obama, should he successfully lead us down the path of economic destruction he's created for us. He has chosen to ignore history, chosen to make the same mistakes even though the outcome will be no different this time.

By my definition, that makes him insane. (My definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting the results to be different this time.)

Boston Globe To Close?

A long standing icon in Boston stands on the brink.

The New York Times Company, owner of the Boston Globe, has announced that unless the Globe can find a way to trim an additional $20 million from its expenses in 30 days, it will close the newspaper.

The newspaper industry, which had already been struggling as readers and advertisers moved to the Internet, has been hard hit by the recession, and the Globe is no exception. The newspaper's advertising revenues have declined sharply in recent years; once robustly profitable, it is now losing money.

Several major newspaper companies have filed for bankruptcy in recent months, and several have threatened to shut down operations unless they got major concessions from workers. Hearst Corp. of New York in February threatened to shut or sell the San Francisco Chronicle if it could not cut costs. Hearst recently shut down the Seattle Post-Intelligencer after it failed to find a buyer, and Scripps Co. shuttered the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.

Earlier this week, the Globe newsroom completed cutting the equivalent of 50 full-time jobs. But the deteriorating economy has made the paper's financial outlook much worse. Management told union leaders Thursday that the Globe will lose $85 million in 2009, unless serious cutbacks are made, according to a Globe employee briefed on the discussions. Last year the paper lost an estimated $50 million, the employee said.

Not that the New York Times itself is in much better financial shape. It is struggling with dropping ad revenues, as well as a string of scandalous incidents that tainted the Times reputation.

Ironically, some other newspapers are hanging in there, including the Manchester, New Hampshire Union Leader, a conservative publication that is seen by many as the antithesis of the New York Times and Boston Globe.

The Union Leader recently announced measures to ensure it remains profitable, including a change in its distribution system and a larger online presence. In other words, it is being proactive to make sure it doesn't suffer the fate of so many other newspapers.

Obama - Voting "Present"

I thought this would be obvious to everyone, even the leftist Democrats:

Obama is the one who needs to realize he is President now. He is still acting like a candidate running a race against George Bush (who is, after all, who he ran against, not McCain).

That's one of his biggest problems.

Between acting like he's still on the campaign trail and wasting time compiling his 'enemies' list, he doesn't really seem to understand he's actually the President now.

He's been sucking up to our enemies, pissing off our allies, making poor choices in regards to protocol when meeting with foreign heads of state, and basically showing the world he's a weak leader. He's also showing the American people he's a spendthrift with little understanding of economics, handing over much of the spending bills to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and a believer that more government is the only answer to all problems that may come our way. In other words, he's a dyed-in-the-wool socialist that's in over his head, with a narcissistic streak a mile wide, and a child's view of politics.

"In the words of Scripture," Barack Obama announced at his inauguration, "the time has come to set aside childish things."

So why does the President of the United States embrace the most childish interpretation of political discourse ever put forward on a national stage?

Could it be he doesn't want to make the hard choices, choices that are his because it's his job as our President? Could this be his way of voting “present” as he has all throughout his time in political office? Unfortunately, I believe the answer is yes.

Zero Tolerance For Zero Tolerance Policies

One thing I've always believed is that “zero tolerance” policies in schools are a crutch, used by those administrators too lazy or too scared to make a judgment call when some kind incident takes place in the school. Far too often such policies backfire, becoming yet another example of the Law of Unintended Consequences. Lawsuits are filed and school officials end up looking like jerks.

Probably one of the more infamous zero tolerance incidents involved a student suspended from school because he had a pen with the word “Glock” silk-screened on its side.

The school policy about guns was loosely interpreted by the school administrators to include even the word on a pen.

Now schools are taking zero tolerance policies to the point of farce by implementing “no touching” policies in an effort to curb incidents involving physical bullying or displays of affection or any of that other icky stuff. In many cases things as simple as hugs, hand shakes, or high-fives are banned. As one 13-year old student at a middle school in Fairfax County, Virginia found out, even giving his girlfriend a hug could get him suspended.

Middle school student Hal Beaulieu hopped up from his lunch table one day a few months ago, sat next to his girlfriend and slipped his arm around her shoulder. That landed him a trip to the school office.

Among his crimes: hugging.

All touching -- not only fighting or inappropriate touching -- is against the rules at Kilmer Middle School in Vienna. Hand-holding, handshakes and high-fives? Banned. The rule has been conveyed to students this way: "NO PHYSICAL CONTACT!!!!!"

How far will schools take such policies? If this keeps up the school handbooks in the future will be the size of the Manhattan phone book in order to list everything that's banned and the terms of punishment/suspension for violating them.

As more of these policies come into existence, schools will end up being run more like prisons rather than institutions of learning. What is this going to teach our children?

If schools want to maintain discipline and control of the students, then perhaps they should borrow a page from prisons and put each and every student in solitary, with each cell having a desk, computer, camera, toilet and sink. Lunches will be delivered to each cell by guards..uh...school employees. That way there will be little possibility of any student doing anything against school policies. (Sounds ridiculous, right? That's probably why some school district somewhere will do exactly that.)

Zero tolerance policies always have a way of becoming an embarrassment to the schools implementing them. Students end up getting caught up in them, usually with consequences that go far beyond the original offense. The punishment usually doesn't fit the “crime”.

How stupid is that?

FDIC Punishes Success

Considering the times we find ourselves in and the present occupant of the White House, why doesn't his surprise me in the least?

Boston area bank in trouble with FDIC for being “too successful.”

East Bridgewater Savings Bank has stood out from the current swirl of chaos in the banking industry. While other banks have been failing, this bank, with $135 million in assets, has not a single delinquent loan or foreclosure on its books. It is not just breaking even, it is making profits.

The bank's secret to success? The Boston Business Journal reports that it has only made loans to credit worthy borrowers. Shocking strategy, right?

So how have government regulators responded? They penalized the bank with a "need to improve" rating under the Community Reinvestment Act. Out of five possible scores, that is the second worst rating. "There are no apparent financial or legal impediments that would limit the bank's ability to help meet the credit needs of its assessment area," the FDIC claimed in evaluating the bank.

How stupid is that?

A bank shows fiscal restraint, being careful to give out loans to people and businesses that can actually pay them back, and they get slammed by the federal government for taking care of their depositor's money. Isn't that what a bank is supposed to do?

If it hadn't been for the Community Reinvestment Act, a lot of other banks would be as healthy as East Bridgewater Savings Bank.

Checking on a few of the banks local to us here at Weekend Pundit, it appears they may be next on the FDIC's hit list. While they aren't entirely without defaulted loans or foreclosures, their rates of such problems are very low. They have excellent liquidity and are still lending, though maybe not as much as the Feds might want. But then they're also pretty conservative with their depositor's money, just as they should be. Are they next in line for punishment by the FDIC?

Just remember, folks: These are your tax dollars at work!

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

ODS? Or Something Closer To The Truth?

First, the question arises whether President Barack Obama is a narcissist. Frankly, just about every politician has some narcissism. It comes with being a politician. But there are some that look upon Obama as the epitome of narcissism, and they're probably right. I mentioned that in my Sunday post and linked to a rather extensive examination of Obama as narcissist, called Understanding Obama: The Making of a [Fuhrer].

It's a frightening look at a side of President Obama few are willing to look at, particularly those that have come to see him as some kind of messiah. After all, they can't have a Dear Leader who is as human and as fallible as the rest of us, if not more so. But Obama displays all the classic signs of a major league narcissist, to whit:

He can create a cult of Personality by associating himself with the idea of change. He convinces everyone that things are terrible and a drastic change is needed. He then casts himself as the only person who can deliver this revolutionary transformation that everyone is waiting for. He portrays himself as a benevolent guide; the only one who cares about people and their needs and can pull them out of their alleged misery. In reality, they have no clue about how to address the problem - have no experience, no track record. But they are convincing because they are self assured.

Sound familiar? Obama made broad, sweeping promises during his campaign that he would fix the problems, but never went into any kind of detail about exactly how he would 'fix' them. Now that he's in office, his cure for what he claims ails is far worse than the ailment, doing exactly the same things he claimed his predecessor, his foe, has done, but doing them on a much grander scale, but with little oversight from the Fourth Estate. He calls it progress to a new future. But all many of us see is a dark future of massive debt that can never be paid off, economic malaise, confiscatory taxes at all levels, a cult of personality that will surround him not unlike that of other narcissists in history, and an outcome not unlike that as foretold by Ayn Rand.

What has Obama ever accomplished that would lead people to believe he's capable of running a country? As far as I can recall all he's managed to do is bury portions of his past, campaign, raise money, and get elected. He's very good at getting elected. But beyond that he has little talent in actually getting things done.

Over at Maggie's Farm there's a similar thread dealing with narcissism. In the comments I linked to the same article as above, and another commenter posted a link to an article on Front Page magazine about Obama Derangement Syndrome, as if the past eight years of BDS can compare to a single article about our present President's narcissism and his need to destroy those daring to contradict him or speak out against him.

BDS was a raw, emotional phenomenon that attributed every little event or occurrence that did not fit the Progressive point of view to some dark conspiracy by George W. Bush and his cronies. It was pathological, hysterical, and permeated the belief system of far too many of the leftists/socialists in the Democratic Party. It was an illness that still exists, particularly within Washington.

ODS is the merely in the minds of those same leftists who use it as an excuse to ignore the questions brought up by conservatives and moderates about their leader. Even legitimate questions that bear answering. Or perhaps ODS should be defined this way: The irrational belief that Barack Obama can do no wrong, that he is the Anointed One, and anyone questioning his competence, his motives, or even his choice in attire must be ignored, marginalized, or silenced.

That seems like a more rational definition of Obama Derangement Syndrome.

They Should Understand The Law Before Enforcing It

Glenn Beck brought up an interesting point when he was grilling Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal about his actions, investigating the AIG bonuses and those receiving them.

Blumenthal claimed the AIG executives were "undeserving" of the bonuses. Blumenthal also pointed out the bonuses paid out were to increase next year. However, Beck pressed Blumenthal on the legality of that and Blumenthal came up blank in this exchange:

BECK: Is that against the law?

BLUMENTHAL: Well, it is against public policy. And it is unsanctioned by law.

BECK: Is that against the law?

BLUMENTHAL: It should be against the law.

BECK: Is it against the law?

BLUMENTHAL: It's against the public policy and against the taxpayer...In my view it is unrequired by law.

BECK: It is a yes or no question. Counselor, it is a yes or no question. Is it against the law?

BLUMENTHAL: It is not against the law and I have never said that it is against the law, and I have never said that we would bring an action.

BECK: Then you know what you should do? You should enforce the law. You shouldn't use your bully pulpit to gain popularity.

And that's the crux of the matter. What AIG did was not against the law. Therefore, there is nothing for Blumenthal or fellow Attorney General Anthony Cuomo of New York to investigate. It's all political posturing for their own gain. Neither can cite any law AIG has broken in regards to the bonuses paid out, bonuses they were obligated to pay out under contracts they had with those receiving them. AIG followed the law, paying out those bonuses, bonuses OK'd by Secretary of the Treasury Geithner (before he became the head of the Treasury).

Apparently these gentlemen have a difficult time understanding what is the law from what they'd like the law to be. Perhaps they need to go back to law school to refresh their memories before they waste any more of the taxpayer's money “investigating” actions that have broken no laws.

Hating What's Right

Though this appeared on Ace of Spades a couple of weeks ago, I felt it's still fresh and something conservatives and moderates should watch. If nothing else it delineates why the liberal/leftists Democrats see nothing good about America and do everything they can to tear it down.

Evan Sayet breaks it down to concepts even liberals can understand.



One point Evan brings up is the one sub-group each in the world of celebrities and academia that aren't automatically liberal Democrats, but Republicans: professional athletes and those in the hard sciences, respectively. His explanation: they both deal with objective truth, something that can't be explained away or excused via ideology or rhetoric. Professional athletes can't explain their performance (or lack of it) as a matter of politics or some kind of subjective BS, nor can someone like a physicist attribute the success or failure of an experiment to prejudice or affirmative action.

Thoughts On A Sunday

There was a gathering of the WP clan at The Manse last evening. It was for the purpose of celebrating my oldest sister's upcoming birthday (she being born on April 1st). The younger WP Sis couldn't make it up, but the rest of us were here.

It couldn't have been a better day for the gathering, with sunny and warm weather.

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The bob houses are all gone from the big lake and the ice is starting to look soft. In my trip along the southern shore of Lake Winnipesaukee yesterday afternoon I got the chance to see a broad expanse of the lake. While there didn't appear to be any ice breaking up yet, open water has been appearing along the shoreline. Alton Bay showed a lot of open water around the M/S Mount Washington dock and where the river empties into the bay.

My original prediction of Ice Out – when the M/S Mount Washington can make all five of its ports of call around Lake Winnipesaukee – may have been too pessimistic. I was thinking ice Out would be declared on April 21st, but now I'm thinking maybe April 15th. The snows have been melting away so quickly that I have no doubt the lake ice will follow the same pattern.

Only time will tell.

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It was 50 years ago today that Laconia, NH switched over from the old manual telephone switchboards to dial phones. On that day the phrase “Number, please?” disappeared from people's lives here in this part of the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.

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My favorite political cartoonists, Cox & Forkum, have a new (and rare) cartoon post, along with links to commentary about the disaster-in-making that is Barack Obama's stimulus and budget plans.

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It looks like Obama will use ACORN to form his brigades of Obama Jugend. I figure it's just a matter of time before ACORN becomes an official branch of the Executive Branch of the US government. Maybe a new version of the Sturm Abteilung or worse, the Geheim Staats Polizei?

If this doesn't scare the hell out of you, then you have no idea what's going on and/or have forgotten your history. Obama's presidency is quickly expanding the cult of personality that is Obama, and is starting to resemble a similar cult of personality in a certain country in Europe during the mid to late 1930's.

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Mark Steyn has the right of it.

As President Reagan said, we are a nation that has a government, not the other way round. The nation pays for the government, not the other way round. I pay for Congressman Frank and Senator Dodd, not the other way round. I would appreciate it if they'd take up a less destructive pastime, perhaps joining Senator Kerry in windsurfing off the Irish coast in buttock-hugging yellow Lycra. If you have even a modest asset — a small house, a sluggish savings account, or pension provision — these people are making you poorer. Good luck digging yourself out from under.

It's obvious that Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and President Obama are working hard to make us all wards of the state. After all, they believe they know better than we do what we need...even though they don't.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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George Will believes the stimulus bill is unconstitutional. It cedes legislative authority to members of the Executive Branch of the government, violating the separation of powers as defined in the US Constitution.

I agree. Here's why:

The Supreme Court has said: "That Congress cannot delegate legislative power to the president is a principle universally recognized as vital to the integrity and maintenance of the system of government ordained by the Constitution." And the court has said that properly delegated discretion must come with "an intelligible principle" and must "clearly delineate" a policy that limits the discretion. [The stimulus bill] flunks that test.

To paraphrase an old saying, “Legislate in haste, repent at leisure.”

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As I mentioned above, Obama has created a cult of personality, not unlike Hugo Chavez and Adolph Hitler before him. Do you think I'm exaggerating? Then take a look at Ali Sina's Understanding Obama: The Making Of A [Führer].

When cheering for someone turns into adulation, something is wrong. Excessive adulation is indicative of a personality cult. The cult of personality is often created when the general population is discontent. A charismatic leader can seize the opportunity and project himself as an agent of change and a revolutionary leader. Often, people, tired of the status quo, do not have the patience to examine the nature of the proposed change.

He can create a cult of Personality by associating himself with the idea of change. He convinces everyone that things are terrible and a drastic change is needed. He then casts himself as the only person who can deliver this revolutionary transformation that everyone is waiting for. He portrays himself as a benevolent guide; the only one who cares about people and their needs and can pull them out of their alleged misery. In reality, they have no clue about how to address the problem - have no experience, no track record. But they are convincing because they are self assured.

These revolutionary leaders need foes. They exaggerate the problems. They make everything look gloomy. They lie, cheat and slander their opponents while casting themselves as the saviors of the nation. Hitler chose the Jews to blame for everything that was wrong in Germany. Khomeini made the Shah and his westernization plans his scapegoats. Obama has chosen President George W. Bush to smear.

A cult of personality is excessive adulation, admiration and exaltation of a charismatic leader, often with unproven merits or achievements. It is similar to hero worship except that it is created specifically for political leaders.

It certainly sounds exactly like what is happening and what Obama is promoting. He'll need that cult to keep him in office after he fails to keep his promises and strips the US economy of its energy and wealth. (All we need to do is look to Venezuela to see where our economy is headed should Obama succeed.)

(H/T Townhall.com)

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One thing hampering the recovery is the mixed messages banks are receiving from regulators, “prodding them to lend more to get the economy pumping while examiners order unwarranted clampdowns on loans.”

Yet another example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

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Bill Whittle comments on AIG, bonuses, and the faux outrage being expressed by Congress about the whole thing.

Make note that Bill Whittle has moved his blog over to Pajamasmedia!

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It turns out that the five questioners publicly identified at Obama's online Town Hall meeting Q&A session weren't just ordinary members of the public chosen at randomk, but supporters that helped him during his election campaign.

They included: a member of the pro-Obama Service Employees International Union, a member of the Democratic National Committee who campaigned for Obama among Hispanics during the primary; a former Democratic candidate for Virginia state delegate who endorsed Obama last fall in an op-ed in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star; and a Virginia businessman who was a donor to Obama's campaign in 2008.

That doesn't sound so random to me.

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Has the nuclear power renaissance finally arrived in the US, or will the leftist envirowackos yet again kill off another form of power generation that might actually provide power to the people?

It seems that no matter what kind of power technology is developed, they find something to dislike about it and work hard to prevent its general deployment, be it nuclear, wind, solar, hydro, tidal, or any other kind of technology.

Of course once the lights go out they'll be the first to make sure they get power while the rest of us go back to living in the 18th Century, or if they had their way, in caves. After all, they'll need power to keep an eye on the rest of us to make sure we don't try to use any “forbidden” technology.

Of course they're real wish is to see the human race wiped off the face of the Earth in order to “protect” it.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the ice is rapidly melting, open water is appearing, and maple sugaring is still going strong.

Obama's "Smart Diplomacy" Isn't All That Smart

It appears President Obama's efforts at foreign relations through “smart” diplomacy isn't so smart after all.

America's enemies smell blood and it's type "O."

All new administrations stumble a bit as they seek their footing. But President Obama's foreign-policy botches have set new records for instant incompetence.

Contrary to left-wing myths, I wasn't a fan of the Bush administration. But fair's fair. Despite his many faults, Bush sought to do good. Obama just wants to look good.

Vice President Dick Cheney was arrogant. Vice President Joe Biden is arrogant and stupid.

Don't worry about the new administration's ideology. Worry about its terrifying naivete.

This isn't giving me the warm and fuzzies by any means.

They truly believe that if we can just talk to our enemies that we can convince them to change. But if history is any judge the only way to change them is to defeat them, not negotiate how they're going to kill us. The one big weakness the Obama Administration has in regards to foreign policy is their unwillingness (or incapability) to believe there are indeed evil effin' people out there that do nothing but plot how to kill as many Americans as they can, to turn America into just another Third World Caliphate, or if they can't do that, to turn America into a lifeless wasteland.

It doesn't help that Obama's so-called Smart Diplomacy efforts have also insulted our friends and allies, like the UK and France. That's not smart by any definition.

This is just one more example of the Obama Administration's incompetence.

While some have said “Hey, they've only been in office two months so give 'em a chance!”, I have the belief that incompetence is not something that takes a long time to show, particularly when it's gross incompetence. And that's what this is.

Smarter Than Congress

You know things are bad when my 14-year old son understands the how the economy works better than the cretins in Congress and the White House. Maybe it's because even at 14 he's already worked, earning his own money and coming to understand how much a dollar is really worth. He has no illusions, doesn't like the idea of buy now and pay later, and really hates seeing all those taxes taken out of the pay he's earned. (Yes, I know he'll get all his income taxes back, but he's still paying FICA and Medicare taxes. It's the principle of the thing.)

One question he asked me is one everyone should be asking:

“How the heck is the government going to pay for all that spending? Where's the money going to come from?”

Not even Obama can answer that question. The Chinese have already told the President they won't be lending us any more money. Neither will the Saudis. If they get all that money from the taxpayers, the taxpayers won't have any money left to spend on anything but the necessities, which won't help spur the economy to recovery. Neither will placing a heavy tax burden on businesses, which Congress appears to be ready to do.

Congress seems more than willing to do what they can to punish businesses these days merely because they exist and, horror upon horrors, feel threatened if they have the gall to make a profit. After all, aren't businesses the root of all our problems? The Democrats in Congress certainly seem to think so.

There has always been tension between the Democratic Party and the private sector. That tension is over. With its vote in the House of Representatives to punish corporate bonus payments, the national Democratic Party has disconnected itself entirely from the private sector.

The public bear-baiting of AIG's Ed Liddy, and then passage of the bonus bill, gave the nation a good look at the modern Democratic Party freed of constraints.

The current version of the party has largely broken free of any understanding whatsoever of the private sector -- how it works or what it needs to function.

The biggest problem I see with the Dems in Congress is that very few of them have ever had to worry about making a payroll, paying their suppliers, planning for expansion, convincing a bank to make a loan, or trying to figure out how the latest regulations and laws handed down from on high are going to impact their livelihood. They give little thought about the actual effect the bills they pass will have on businesses large and small. That's because they really don't care. Businesses are seen as nothing but a source of revenue, despite protestations to the contrary. The people that own them are seen as greedy capitalists stealing the bread from the mouths of starving children. The people working for them are seen as victims incapable of making their own way and needing the guiding hand of the benevolent dictatorship that is the government. And anyone saying different is seen as an enemy of the (socialist) state under the sway of the the greedy capitalists.

Another problem with the Democrats controlling Congress is they believe that wealth is a zero sum game, and if one person got rich it's because they made someone else poor. (In the case of Congress it's likely true. After all, how many representatives in Congress end up becoming wealthy while impoverishing hard working business owners by burying them under increasingly burdensome regulations and hiking their taxes, putting an even bigger strain on them? Far too many.)

But a lot of it can be broken down to this:

Try One More Decimal Place To The Left

To quote a less well known line from the movie Real Genius, “I think we used too much!”

Anyone that watches Mythbusters on Discovery Channel knows that Adam and Jamie like to blow stuff up. It's a given that every so often they will come up with an excuse to use an explosion to test one myth or another. This time was no different, but it appears they miscalculated the amount of explosives they'd need for this particular episode. And by miscalculate, I'm talking about by a whole bunch.

Obama Spending Plan A Disaster In The Making

After a rather vigorous discussion with a co-worker about the upcoming budget, I asked the one question I thought might settle the question about the outrageous deficit Obama's proposed budget would incur: “How can the President possibly justify such a large deficit when just about everyone that understands economics knows there's no way we'll ever be able to pay off the debt?”

My co-worker's response was disheartening, proving to me they had absolutely no understanding of how the economy actually works.

“It won't be a problem. There will be plenty of money to pay the debt. It won't be like the Bush years, with the huge deficits he ran because of the war in Iraq.”

That's when I realized that, like Obama and far too many members of his administration, as well as Congress, believe that money will appear like magic. They don't understand that money has to be made, to be earned. Just turning on the printing presses doesn't fix the problem. Clinging to Bush Derangement Syndrome is not a solution.

Of course my co-worker was dead wrong. As I informed them, the budget deficit for Obama;s budget for the upcoming fiscal year will be as big as the deficits of George Bush's budgets combined.


How anyone can think spending, borrowing, and taxing to the level that will be required to pay for all the spending and borrowing will in any way benefit any of us is beyond me. Frankly, we will have little to show for all that spending except massive debt, an even larger, more bloated government incapable of doing anything for anyone, a seriously crippled economy, and a decline in our standard of living to that of sometime around 1900. What's worse is that none of it is necessary. The kind of intervention Obama insists we need is just so much neo-marxist BS. But with the Marxist-In-Chief (barely) running the show, the chances of us not taking a major hit to our wallets over the next four years are two – slim and none.

(H/T Instapundit)

Cold Fusion Proven

First Pons and Fleischmann announce cold fusion back in 1989, but no one can recreate their results.

Now in 2009 U.S. Navy researchers say Pons and Fleischmann were right. The problem, according to those Navy researchers, was that no one had the right instrumentation to accurately measure neutrons released by the cold fusion reaction.

U.S. Navy researchers claimed to have experimentally confirmed cold fusion in a presentation at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting.

"We have compelling evidence that fusion reactions are occurring" at room temperature, said Pamela Mosier-Boss, a scientist with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (San Diego). The results are "the first scientific report of highly energetic neutrons from low-energy nuclear reactions," she added.

...the Naval researchers claim that the problem was instrumentation, which was not up to the task of detecting such small numbers of neutrons. To sense such small quantities, Mosier-Boss used a special plastic detector called CR-39. Using co-deposition with nickel and gold wire electrodes, which were inserted into a mixture of palladium chloride and deuterium, the detector was able to capture and track the high-energy neutrons.

In case you're wondering what CR-39 is, it's no special super-secret formulation. It's quite common. In fact, if you wear glasses made with plastic lenses, those lenses are likely made from CR-39.

Who knew your eyeglasses would make such great neutron detectors?

If this breakthrough proves true, and so far a number of other groups have provided evidence of cold fusion, yet another path to cheap and plentiful power could be just around the corner.

One of the other fusion projects showing great promise is polywell fusion, a project started by the late Robert Bussard. Bussard's program has continued past his death, with some researchers from Los Alamos taking a leave of absence to continue Bussard's work at Emc2 Fusion Development Corporation.

Not Watching

No, I haven't been watching the President's “press” conference. I figure I can read the carefully packaged and pre-edited transcript after the fact. It will take me less time and I can watch Reaper on the DVR.

Frankly, I'll get more from the latter rather than the former.

Some More Words Of Wisdom From Rand

For those of you who have never had the opportunity or haven't made the time to read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, it is a perfect descriptor of why socialism is a dismal failure, as history has shown us time and time again. It gets to the root of why socialism is such a bad economic model, particularly when it comes to the denigration of those in society actually producing the wealth (it's not just the rich, but anyone that works creating things everyone needs and uses). The government then confiscates that wealth “for the good of society”. The government, at the urging of the non-producers, also punishes those creating the wealth, calling them greedy, evil, and selfish. In other words, in a socialist society success is punished and sloth is rewarded. This is why socialism always fails.

Why bring this up now? In light of the AIG bonus flap (one of Congress' making), it seemed that some words of caution be used to explain why Congress has got it all wrong. Though bonuses paid out by AIG may not have been the smartest or most ethical thing they could have done, it was legal and justifiable. But that's beside the point.

What it comes down to is you don't punish the innocent along with the guilty. Not that it seems to matter to Congress, the MSM, and the aggrieved taxpayers. All they talk about is how corporate greed by AIG caused this problem.

They are totally wrong.

For one thing, the employment contracts required that bonuses be paid. No one, not even Congress, can get away with breaking a legally binding contract without consequence. AIG, and perhaps Congress, would have been dragged into court for breach of contract by those employees that had nothing to do with the failure of AIG's division handling the default credit swaps that put them $120 billion in the hole. AIG's other divisions are still bringing in billions, performing well despite the meltdown in the housing market and the resulting mortgage defaults, but executives in those divisions are being targeted as well.

The purpose of this tax is a work around to the contracts that were legally binding and also approved by Congress and the President. However, it targets a extremely small, politically despised, group of people and takes away their money that they were legally entitled to. Is this not the same as Congress finding them guilty without the benefit of a jury trial and simply instituting a fine on their earnings, albeit called a “tax”. A rose by any other name and all of that…

This sound eerily familiar, doesn't it? Oh, wait! Of course! It comes back to Atlas Shrugged...again.

Some quotes from Atlas Shrugged illustrates just how wrong Congress, the MSM, and many of the less understanding or less informed taxpayers are when it comes to pay, bonuses, and compensation for one's hard work. The excerpts below are from Francisco D'Anconia's speech about money and its worth.

"Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions--and you'll learn that man's mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.”

"But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? Money is made--before it can be looted or mooched--made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced.”

"But money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. It will give you the means for the satisfaction of your desires, but it will not provide you with desires. Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality--the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind.”

"Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.”

"Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another--their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun.”

“Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion--when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing--when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors--when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you--when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice--you may know that your society is doomed.”

Are we to that point yet? No, but we're close to reaching it. If we let Congress and President Obama carry through with their plans for the economy, including tightly regulating the creation and legal transfers of wealth for goods and services, then we as a nation are doomed to servitude and privation.

Thoughts On A Sunday

Spring-like weather has been the rule over the past week, doing a serious job melting the snow cover around the lake. The snowmobile trails are showing a lot of bare ground, so that particular sport has ended in this part of New Hampshire.

With the warm weather a lot of the ice fishermen have moved their bob houses off the ice in anticipation of the ice melting and breaking up. All bob houses must be off the ice by April 1st. There are more than a few procrastinators that like to wait until the last minute to pull theirs off the ice. The problem is that sometimes they can't reach them due to open water between them and their bob houses or they can't drive their vehicles out on the ice to tow them off because the ice is too thin.

It's been warm enough to eschew firing up the Official Weekend Pundit Woodstove over the past few days, though we'll need to fire it up later today as colder weather moves in this afternoon.

Last winter we used almost 7 cords of wood to heat The Manse. This winter we'll use just under 4 cords. I don't know if it was because we sealed up the house in a smarter fashion (we sealed the sliders and only a couple of the windows as compared to sealing all the windows last winter) or whether it was not as cold as last winter. Maybe it was a combination of both. We did use more propane this winter, but not a whole lot more. (It helped that propane was a lot cheaper this winter as compared to last year.)

Knowing Mother Nature can be fickle, I am under no illusion that she won't throw another snowstorm or two our way before spring establishes itself in earnest. But for now we'll enjoy the weather we have.

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“Tea Party” protests are becoming more numerous and attracting larger crowds. The question is whether Congress and the President are paying attention. Of the former, I'd say more are taking notice. Of the latter, I doubt it's even on his radar.

When Tea Party protests are drawing far more participants than anti-business (AIG) protests, you know the public is getting fed up with the spend, spend, spend and tax, tax, tax plans of Congress and the President. What is really illuminating is the protesters comprise people from across the age spectrum and includes not just conservatives, but a growing number of moderates. Another sign: polls show Republicans have pulled even with Democrats , with the economy and Congress' mishandling of the situation being one of the main factors in this swing. As more taxpayers show their displeasure with the Democrat controlled Congress at the Tea Party protests, I have no doubt that even more will swing towards the GOP. This spells trouble for the Democrats.

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There's more fallout to be expected from Congress's drive to punish bonus recipients at AIG, including foreign banks looking to poach workers from AIG and other American financial institutions.

Congress's plan to use taxes as punishment is also hypocritical, particularly in light of Charles Rangel (D-NY) saying one thing yet doing just the opposite. (Is that really a surprise?)

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Another problem with the punitive tax on bonuses is how it will fall under sway of the Law of Unintended Consequences, particularly as it will apply to the rest of us. Never mind that it is clearly unconstitutional. That's never stopped Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid before.

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How embarrassing!

Researchers trying to prove Arctic ice is melting away and will soon disappear found themselves being frozen out by well below normal temperatures and rapidly thickening ice.

Ironically, US Army buoys monitoring ice flows and thickness in the Arctic have shown that average ice thickness has grown by half a meter since last March.

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This is just plain stupid.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Now Obama seems to think the Constitution allows him to regulate the pay of executives of financial institutions. How long before he tries to extend that regulation throughout the entire economy, for businesses large and small?

I give it six months.

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This is outright scary.

My answer to these Obama Jugend will be in two parts:

First, I will say I swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will not swear an oath of loyalty to become a member of the cult of personality that is President Obama.

Second, I will tell them to get the hell off my property and not return. While saying this I will let them see the firearm hanging at my side in its holster.

That's all the answer they will get from me.

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GraniteGrok reminds us of Obama's campaign and inaugural promises and how we've learned those promises come with an expiration date.

What's worse is that Obama isn't even sorry he's going back on his promises, particularly the ones dealing with bipartisanship, lobbyists, and open and transparent government.

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Like a number of other Republican governors, Governor Sarah Palin isn't drinking the stimulus kool aid.

She is accepting only those funds that are temporary and come with no federal strings.

"We will request federal stimulus funds for capital projects that will create new jobs and expand the economy. We won’t be bound by federal strings in exchange for dollars, nor will we dig ourselves a deeper hole in two years when these federal funds are gone. For instance, in order to accept what look like attractive energy funds, our local communities would be required to adopt uniform building codes. Government would then be required to police those codes. These types of funds are not sensible for Alaska.”

Frankly she sounds more sensible than the present occupant of the White House.

(H/T Granite Slate)

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The annual Ice Out guessing game has started again here at Lake Winnipesaukee.

Ice Out is defined as the date when the cruise ship M/S Mount Washington can make all five ports of call on Lake Winnipesaukee.

I'm shooting for April 21st.

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A question relevant to Obama's push for socialized medicine in the US: Did Canada's universal health care system kill Natasha Richardson?

According to Montreal's head trauma physician, the answer is most likely yes.

Do we really want to emulate the Canadian health care system? Not if this is an example of the quality of health care we can expect.

(H/T Bob Parks)

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Finally, ACORN is in the sights of a Congressional probe, looking at ACORN's illegal activities, from voter fraud and running a mob-style 'protection' racket. Ironically, the Congressman calling for the probe is Michigan Democrat John Conyers, Jr., Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Does this mean they may have to give back the $2 billion their mentor got for them through the stimulus bill?

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the ice is melting, the mud is forming, and summer can't get here soon enough.

Do We Really Want Government To Run Health Care?

Eric The Viking gives us a preview of what we'll be in for once the US Government takes over health care: bankruptcy.

It seems that the mandatory health insurance requirements in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is bankrupting the state, with higher than projected costs sucking tax dollars down the proverbial black hole. Despite claims to the contrary by the state government, costs are expected to continue their well above inflation rise. And if history is any guide, the quality and quantity of care will decline.

Other states have suffered the same fate. Just ask someone in Tennessee about Tenncare. Costs went up, the number of health care providers in the system went down, and fewer services were provided as the state tried to shed itself of the increasing costs. In the end Tenncare became nothing more than a shadow of what it was intended to be.

If you want a national viewpoint, just take a look at the National Health Service in the UK or health care in Canada. They've gone down the same road. Do we really want to do something like that here in the US?

As one of my co-workers stated (he being of a left-of-center viewpoint), “We have to do something about this mess!” I agreed, but disagreed that we need some kind of national health insurance. I asked him, “Why would we want to replace a system that is disjointed, expensive, but that works after a fashion with something we know doesn't work at all, will cost billions more than now, and will provide nothing more than access to a waiting list?”

He had no answer.

Neither does Congress or President Obama.