Hmmmmm.
President Barack Obama was greeted with fleeting applause and extended periods of silence as he offered profuse praise to soldiers and their families during an Aug. 31 speech in Fort Bliss, Texas.
His praise for the soldiers — and for his own national-security policies — won cheers from only a small proportion of the soldiers and families in the cavernous aircraft-hanger.
The audience remains quiet even when the commander-in-chief thanked the soldiers’ families, and cited the 198 deaths of their comrades in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The audience’s reaction was so flat that the president tried twice to elicit a reaction from the crowd.
“Hey, I hear you,” he said amid silence.
The selected soldiers who were arrayed behind the president sat quietly throughout the speech.
That wasn't the worst part. This is:
CNN and MSNBC ended their coverage of the speech before it was half-over.
Maybe he'll have better luck in New Orleans, now that he's found it necessary to show up there.
HT: Belvedere
Friday, August 31, 2012
Sullivan, Wiggy, and What's Not Said
The wonderful Wiggy notes that the Sullivan report has (at least) one problem.
...While the Sullivan report recognizes that Wisconsin has a problem, it misdiagnoses what the problem is.
"One way to remove this stigma is to reduce our reliance on personal income taxes and property taxes by shifting the burden to consumption tax."
It's not just a "stigma," and what Wisconsin needs to do is reduce the overall tax burden - not merely shift the burden to the sales tax....
So....what's missing?
You can read Wiggy's editorial twice, thrice, or any multiple of times and never find "CUT SPENDING" anywhere. I didn't read the Sullivan report, but since Wiggy didn't mention it specifically, I'll go out on a limb and guess that the Sullivan roadmap didn't use those words, cojoined, either.
Egads.
...While the Sullivan report recognizes that Wisconsin has a problem, it misdiagnoses what the problem is.
"One way to remove this stigma is to reduce our reliance on personal income taxes and property taxes by shifting the burden to consumption tax."
It's not just a "stigma," and what Wisconsin needs to do is reduce the overall tax burden - not merely shift the burden to the sales tax....
So....what's missing?
You can read Wiggy's editorial twice, thrice, or any multiple of times and never find "CUT SPENDING" anywhere. I didn't read the Sullivan report, but since Wiggy didn't mention it specifically, I'll go out on a limb and guess that the Sullivan roadmap didn't use those words, cojoined, either.
Egads.
Nobody Home in Milwaukee!
Given what we know--and what we suspect--this is really not a surprise.
Sixty percent of Milwaukee’s black voters have disappeared.
Democrats have feared for years that one of the particular challenges of running campaigns in 2012 would be simply locating their voters. The party’s constituencies (young people, immigrants, minorities) tend to be among the most mobile demographic groups. And as NPR speculated this week in an analysis of battleground-state foreclosure figures, the housing crisis will likely only have made things more difficult for Democrats looking for their supporters.
...the New Organizing Institute, a Washington-based best-practices lab for lefty field operations, extrapolated that nearly 160,000 African-American voters in Milwaukee were no longer reachable at their last documented address — representing 41 percent of the city’s 2008 electorate.
The author assumes that they were actually there in the first place--which is a mighty big assumption.
Sixty percent of Milwaukee’s black voters have disappeared.
Democrats have feared for years that one of the particular challenges of running campaigns in 2012 would be simply locating their voters. The party’s constituencies (young people, immigrants, minorities) tend to be among the most mobile demographic groups. And as NPR speculated this week in an analysis of battleground-state foreclosure figures, the housing crisis will likely only have made things more difficult for Democrats looking for their supporters.
...the New Organizing Institute, a Washington-based best-practices lab for lefty field operations, extrapolated that nearly 160,000 African-American voters in Milwaukee were no longer reachable at their last documented address — representing 41 percent of the city’s 2008 electorate.
The author assumes that they were actually there in the first place--which is a mighty big assumption.
Petty, and Proud of It!
Hard to believe that Priebus tacitly condones this crap.
...With the Rules meeting itself, the first problem was attendance. Many, many of our supporters simply didn’t make it there do to buses that were up to an hour late to pick them up, (Morton Blackwell of Virginia had this problem). Many of them who didn’tmake it would have been additional signatures to our petition. But they started the meeting anyway, introducing a motion to ratify the final report of last Friday with the exception of the rule 16 compromise language...
...As the meeting was going on, we were circulating our minority report petition. At one point, the male delegate from Massachusetts snatched it out of the hands of the lady from North Dakota, refusing to give it back after repeated demands, resulting in a shoving match...
(We saw this crap at an Elmbrook School Board meeting. At that time, the Petty Dictator/Document Grabber was the Superintendent, whowas canned 'retired' and replaced by Matt Gibson.)
...After the final vote was over, according to party rules, we had one hour to file our minority reports, and, according to Rules, they have to be filed with either the committee chair, secretary, or convention secretary. Of course, after the meeting, they were no where to be found....
Kinda like watching seventh grade all over again.
HT: Malkin
...With the Rules meeting itself, the first problem was attendance. Many, many of our supporters simply didn’t make it there do to buses that were up to an hour late to pick them up, (Morton Blackwell of Virginia had this problem). Many of them who didn’tmake it would have been additional signatures to our petition. But they started the meeting anyway, introducing a motion to ratify the final report of last Friday with the exception of the rule 16 compromise language...
...As the meeting was going on, we were circulating our minority report petition. At one point, the male delegate from Massachusetts snatched it out of the hands of the lady from North Dakota, refusing to give it back after repeated demands, resulting in a shoving match...
(We saw this crap at an Elmbrook School Board meeting. At that time, the Petty Dictator/Document Grabber was the Superintendent, who
...After the final vote was over, according to party rules, we had one hour to file our minority reports, and, according to Rules, they have to be filed with either the committee chair, secretary, or convention secretary. Of course, after the meeting, they were no where to be found....
Kinda like watching seventh grade all over again.
HT: Malkin
The Gossamer Promise in Janesville
The media DNC has a problem understanding plain English. So the following timeline won't mean much to them--but it does to ex-GM/Janesville employees. All you really need to know is red-highlighted.
1. On February 13, 2008 Obama said in Janesville : “I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years.”
2. In June 2008 GM announced that the Janesville plant would stop production of medium-duty trucks by the end of 2009, and stop production of large SUVs in 2010 or sooner.
3. In October 2008 Obama doubled down on his promise to keep Janesville plant open: “As president, I will lead an effort to retool plants like the GM facility in Janesville so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and all across America.”
4. In December 2008 GM idled production of GM SUVs at the Janesville plant. Medium-duty truck assembly continued.
5. In April 2009, four months after Obama was inaugurated, GM idled production of medium-duty trucks.
6. In September 2011, more than two years after Obama was inaugurated, GM reiterates that Janesville plant is on “stand by status.”
We have yet to see or hear about Tool One going into the Janesville plant, and I'm not obliquely referring to the Smile With No Brain.
1. On February 13, 2008 Obama said in Janesville : “I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years.”
2. In June 2008 GM announced that the Janesville plant would stop production of medium-duty trucks by the end of 2009, and stop production of large SUVs in 2010 or sooner.
3. In October 2008 Obama doubled down on his promise to keep Janesville plant open: “As president, I will lead an effort to retool plants like the GM facility in Janesville so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and all across America.”
4. In December 2008 GM idled production of GM SUVs at the Janesville plant. Medium-duty truck assembly continued.
5. In April 2009, four months after Obama was inaugurated, GM idled production of medium-duty trucks.
6. In September 2011, more than two years after Obama was inaugurated, GM reiterates that Janesville plant is on “stand by status.”
We have yet to see or hear about Tool One going into the Janesville plant, and I'm not obliquely referring to the Smile With No Brain.
Eastwood Was Very Good, Indeed
The Beltway Class (both Left and Right) didn't like it, and it had a few rough spots.
But that's improv, and it was funny, not to mention loaded with zingers.
He made my day.
HT: Ticker and Trog
The Right Question; the Only Question
Paul Ryan:
“So here’s the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?"
It's no wonder that the Left wants to talk about racism.
HT: Owens
“So here’s the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?"
It's no wonder that the Left wants to talk about racism.
HT: Owens
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Taking Down Juan Williams
Juan Williams, who seems to be a nice guy, is apparently competing for the Biden Chair of Stupidosity.
Planet Moron demonstrates:
“Those stories she told about struggles, it’s hard for me to believe.” --WIlliams
We agree. Multiple sclerosis? Pffft. Sure, it’s an incurable disease, but you call that struggle? Breast cancer? What kind of a struggle is that? You want struggle?
Try paying for your own birth control. Now that’s a “woman’s issue.” We bet Anne Romney has never been faced with the prospect of having to choose between a $14 pack of spermicidal jelly and the $40,000-a-year tuition at Georgetown University.
Those are the choices “real” women have to make every day. Not choosing which difficult MS treatment might best allow you to see your children grow up and marry.
Williams called Biden to ask for more advice.
Planet Moron demonstrates:
“Those stories she told about struggles, it’s hard for me to believe.” --WIlliams
We agree. Multiple sclerosis? Pffft. Sure, it’s an incurable disease, but you call that struggle? Breast cancer? What kind of a struggle is that? You want struggle?
Try paying for your own birth control. Now that’s a “woman’s issue.” We bet Anne Romney has never been faced with the prospect of having to choose between a $14 pack of spermicidal jelly and the $40,000-a-year tuition at Georgetown University.
Those are the choices “real” women have to make every day. Not choosing which difficult MS treatment might best allow you to see your children grow up and marry.
Williams called Biden to ask for more advice.
Think You Can Read? Try Reading THIS!
The Warrior presents this for your entertainment:
The move from a structuralist account in which capital is understood to structure social relations in relatively homologous ways to a view of hegemony in which power relations are subject to repetition, convergence, and rearticulation brought the question of temporality into the thinking of structure, and marked a shift from a form of Althusserian theory that takes structural totalities as theoretical objects to one in which the insights into the contingent possibility of structure inaugurate a renewed conception of hegemony as bound up with the contingent sites and strategies of the rearticulation of power. --Judith Butler, a Guggenheim Fellowship-winning professor of rhetoric and comparative literature at the University of California at Berkeley
Wait, wait!! There's more!!!
Ms. Butler is also admired as perhaps “one of the ten smartest people on the planet,”...
I thought all the Smartest People on the Planet were elected Democrats or their appointees. How did they overlook this gift from God?
The move from a structuralist account in which capital is understood to structure social relations in relatively homologous ways to a view of hegemony in which power relations are subject to repetition, convergence, and rearticulation brought the question of temporality into the thinking of structure, and marked a shift from a form of Althusserian theory that takes structural totalities as theoretical objects to one in which the insights into the contingent possibility of structure inaugurate a renewed conception of hegemony as bound up with the contingent sites and strategies of the rearticulation of power. --Judith Butler, a Guggenheim Fellowship-winning professor of rhetoric and comparative literature at the University of California at Berkeley
Wait, wait!! There's more!!!
Ms. Butler is also admired as perhaps “one of the ten smartest people on the planet,”...
I thought all the Smartest People on the Planet were elected Democrats or their appointees. How did they overlook this gift from God?
Pick a Number, Any Number
Biden bumbles. Obozo just makes it up as he goes along.
....on Aug. 14, he told a crowd in Waterloo, Iowa: "I'll make sure government still does its part to reduce our debt and our deficits. We've cut out already a trillion dollars' worth of spending we don't need."
On June 22, in Tampa, Fla., he said: "We're going to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion. I have a detailed plan. We'll cut spending we can't afford."
On June 12, in Philadelphia, he said: "And I've already signed $2 trillion of cuts into law already and have proposed $2 trillion in additional deficit reduction."
Math is hard, Mr. President.
....on Aug. 14, he told a crowd in Waterloo, Iowa: "I'll make sure government still does its part to reduce our debt and our deficits. We've cut out already a trillion dollars' worth of spending we don't need."
On June 22, in Tampa, Fla., he said: "We're going to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion. I have a detailed plan. We'll cut spending we can't afford."
On June 12, in Philadelphia, he said: "And I've already signed $2 trillion of cuts into law already and have proposed $2 trillion in additional deficit reduction."
Math is hard, Mr. President.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
HRC Will Be "Out of Town That Weekend"
The ship is listing badly (to port). So badly that the lifeboats are in the water, at full throttle.
Not only will [Shrillary] be out of state. Not only will she be out of the country. She’s going to out of the hemisphere visiting the Cook Islands, off the coast of New Zealand. For the record, the Cook Islands are not historically known as an international power player.
Prolly no cellphone service, either.
HT: Insurrection
Not only will [Shrillary] be out of state. Not only will she be out of the country. She’s going to out of the hemisphere visiting the Cook Islands, off the coast of New Zealand. For the record, the Cook Islands are not historically known as an international power player.
Prolly no cellphone service, either.
HT: Insurrection
Seal: Presidents Don't Bow to Anyone
Slam, Bang.
It wasn't just some Arab, either; the Japanese Emperor also got that treatment from Obozo.
It wasn't just some Arab, either; the Japanese Emperor also got that treatment from Obozo.
The New Liturgy's Biggest Problem
The progressives yammer endlessly that the new liturgy is born of Vatican II.
Not really.
I must emphasise that the form of the post-conciliar liturgy with all its distortions, is not attributable to the Council or to the Liturgy Constitution established during Vatican II which by the way has not really been implemented even to this day. The indiscriminate removal of Latin and Gregorian Chants from liturgical celebrations and the erection of numerous altars were absolutely not acts prescribed by the Council.
With the benefit of hindsight, let us cast our minds back in particular to the lack of sensitivity shown in terms of care for the faithful and in the pastoral carelessness shown in the liturgical form. One need only think of the Church’s excesses, reminiscent of the [Iconoclastic crisis] which occurred in the [8th] century. Excesses which catapulted numerous faithful into total chaos, leaving many fumbling around in the dark.
Just about anything and everything has been said on this subject. Meanwhile, the liturgy has come to be seen as a mirror image of Church life, subject to an organic historical evolution which cannot - as did indeed happen - suddenly be changed by decree par ordre de mufti. And we are still paying the price today. --Cdl. Brandmueller, quoted at NLM
Fortunately, the progressives are succumbing to Nature's Final Call, and the youth--when shown the alternative of Beauty--are rejecting the silliness.
Not really.
I must emphasise that the form of the post-conciliar liturgy with all its distortions, is not attributable to the Council or to the Liturgy Constitution established during Vatican II which by the way has not really been implemented even to this day. The indiscriminate removal of Latin and Gregorian Chants from liturgical celebrations and the erection of numerous altars were absolutely not acts prescribed by the Council.
With the benefit of hindsight, let us cast our minds back in particular to the lack of sensitivity shown in terms of care for the faithful and in the pastoral carelessness shown in the liturgical form. One need only think of the Church’s excesses, reminiscent of the [Iconoclastic crisis] which occurred in the [8th] century. Excesses which catapulted numerous faithful into total chaos, leaving many fumbling around in the dark.
Just about anything and everything has been said on this subject. Meanwhile, the liturgy has come to be seen as a mirror image of Church life, subject to an organic historical evolution which cannot - as did indeed happen - suddenly be changed by decree par ordre de mufti. And we are still paying the price today. --Cdl. Brandmueller, quoted at NLM
Fortunately, the progressives are succumbing to Nature's Final Call, and the youth--when shown the alternative of Beauty--are rejecting the silliness.
Establishment Pubbies "Fix" Rules 12 and 15
It appears that the Usual Suspects--Boehner as leader--have crunched the Actual Conservatives on a couple of rules changes. I say "appears" because there's no second source yet.
...First, Maine delegates were replaced with Romney people. Then, rules chairman John Sununu and GOP Speaker of the House John Boehner stood on stage at the RNC to rule on the compromise rules report. No minority report was mentioned. When asked for yeas and nays on the report, the room seemed equally divided. Boehner forged ahead and approved the report over loud boos and calls of “point of order” from activists on the floor.
No vote on the minority report.
The important language is in red.
Hmmmmmm. More here. As Vox implies, there seems to be a lack of integrity. Ron Paul is not getting the nomination--so why the blackout on how many votes he got?
...First, Maine delegates were replaced with Romney people. Then, rules chairman John Sununu and GOP Speaker of the House John Boehner stood on stage at the RNC to rule on the compromise rules report. No minority report was mentioned. When asked for yeas and nays on the report, the room seemed equally divided. Boehner forged ahead and approved the report over loud boos and calls of “point of order” from activists on the floor.
The important language is in red.
Hmmmmmm. More here. As Vox implies, there seems to be a lack of integrity. Ron Paul is not getting the nomination--so why the blackout on how many votes he got?
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The Party's Over in Madistan
This took far too long to happen.
Protesting is one thing. Being an obnoxious P.O.S. is another thing entirely. Screw 'em.
The new Capitol police chief is poised to get tough on a handful of disruptive protesters under the rotunda and enforce more controversial permitting rules for the rest, raising the possibility of a lawsuit from civil liberties groups.
Just a month into his tenure, Capitol Police Chief Dave Erwin is installing panic buttons in some lawmakers' offices, changing the look of his officers' uniforms and raising some eyebrows with a suggestion to female legislative aides that they be prepared to hit demonstrators if they feel threatened and cornered.
For a year and a half, demonstrators have gathered daily at the Statehouse to protest Gov. Scott Walker's agenda, but Erwin said that soon they will no longer be allowed to scream at, curse at or intimidate other people in the building. When civil tickets are issued to them, he said, the Department of Justice will handle the cases rather than Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne
Protesting is one thing. Being an obnoxious P.O.S. is another thing entirely. Screw 'em.
GE, ALEC, and Sprint
This story is interesting for two reasons.
General Electric [...] and Sprint Nextel [..] joined the exodus of companies from the American Legislative Exchange Council following the group’s support of voter-identification and self-defense laws.
Spokesmen for both companies said yesterday they are ending their membership with the Washington-based public policy organization, which charged corporations as much as $25,000 and allowed them to help write bills that some lawmakers then tried to enact in their home states.
Reason #1 that it's interesting? Well, didja ever try walking into the annual shareholders' meeting at GE and voting shares without actually HAVING those shares (or the proxies?) Try it sometime. See how that works for you. GE believes in voter ID for GE, but not for thee....
Reason #2?
In other words, GE and Sprint/Nextel would "help" legislators keep competitors out of the way.
So is this good news or bad news?
General Electric [...] and Sprint Nextel [..] joined the exodus of companies from the American Legislative Exchange Council following the group’s support of voter-identification and self-defense laws.
Reason #1 that it's interesting? Well, didja ever try walking into the annual shareholders' meeting at GE and voting shares without actually HAVING those shares (or the proxies?) Try it sometime. See how that works for you. GE believes in voter ID for GE, but not for thee....
Reason #2?
"......allowed them to help write bills that [might be] enacted...."
In other words, GE and Sprint/Nextel would "help" legislators keep competitors out of the way.
So is this good news or bad news?
Monday, August 27, 2012
A Very Good Question for Gov. Romney
Seems that Gov. Romney hasn't had anything to say about this.
...Former U.S. presidents seldom publicly criticize the current occupants of the White House. It is even more unusual for them to criticize a sitting president who belongs to their own party. But this did not prevent Jimmy Carter from criticizing Barack Obama’s policy asserting the president’s right to murder Americans at will without due process in an article he wrote for the New York Times....
As we all know, that "right", in Obozo's mind, is very broad indeed.
...Obama’s assertion of a presidential right to assassinate Americans was also publicly criticized by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a senior editor at The Atlantic. Despite being an Obama supporter, he astutely observed that “from this point forward the presidency means the right to unilaterally declare American citizens to be American enemies, and then kill them.”...
By the way, the entire process can be stamped "Top Secret" so that nobody knows what happened to Citizen X, Y, or Z.
So:
...despite their claims to be defenders of the U.S. Constitution, neither Mitt Romney nor Paul Ryan has, to the best of my knowledge, said a single word to protest this incredible violation of the U.S. Constitution, due process of law and basic human rights.
It is insanity to hold that only 'good guys in white hats' will occupy the Oval Office. Both LBJ and Tricky Dick were slimeballs, ya' know. This is why I've never supported the "Patriot" Act (which, you note, has not "sunsetted").
Let us not allow Lord Acton to be proven correct, again. It's time for RomRyan to denounce this crap.
...Former U.S. presidents seldom publicly criticize the current occupants of the White House. It is even more unusual for them to criticize a sitting president who belongs to their own party. But this did not prevent Jimmy Carter from criticizing Barack Obama’s policy asserting the president’s right to murder Americans at will without due process in an article he wrote for the New York Times....
As we all know, that "right", in Obozo's mind, is very broad indeed.
...Obama’s assertion of a presidential right to assassinate Americans was also publicly criticized by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a senior editor at The Atlantic. Despite being an Obama supporter, he astutely observed that “from this point forward the presidency means the right to unilaterally declare American citizens to be American enemies, and then kill them.”...
By the way, the entire process can be stamped "Top Secret" so that nobody knows what happened to Citizen X, Y, or Z.
So:
...despite their claims to be defenders of the U.S. Constitution, neither Mitt Romney nor Paul Ryan has, to the best of my knowledge, said a single word to protest this incredible violation of the U.S. Constitution, due process of law and basic human rights.
It is insanity to hold that only 'good guys in white hats' will occupy the Oval Office. Both LBJ and Tricky Dick were slimeballs, ya' know. This is why I've never supported the "Patriot" Act (which, you note, has not "sunsetted").
Let us not allow Lord Acton to be proven correct, again. It's time for RomRyan to denounce this crap.
Another Bi-Partisan Fleecing of the Taxpayers
Bi-partisan agreements usually mean that the taxpayer is getting fleeced.
...the U.S. Treasury last year cut a $17.7 million check to the Committee on Arrangements for the 2012 Republican National Convention, and a check for an identical amount to the 2012 Democratic National Convention Committee. That’s $35.4 million taxpayers are paying for things like balloons, speech prep, liquor, newspaper subscriptions, hotel rooms...
How nice of you!!
Here's a report from the (R) convention which will tell you a bit about what you're paying for. Not to worry; the (D) folks will get the same treatment.
...the U.S. Treasury last year cut a $17.7 million check to the Committee on Arrangements for the 2012 Republican National Convention, and a check for an identical amount to the 2012 Democratic National Convention Committee. That’s $35.4 million taxpayers are paying for things like balloons, speech prep, liquor, newspaper subscriptions, hotel rooms...
How nice of you!!
Here's a report from the (R) convention which will tell you a bit about what you're paying for. Not to worry; the (D) folks will get the same treatment.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Three Pillars of Natural Law
There are but three pillars of natural law:
Man can pervert them. Men do commit suicide; men do hate; men do fail to grow intellectually. The perversion provides further proof of the naturalness of these three great and basic drives within man. What we have written so far can be confirmed by any man. He need merely look within himself. Does he not fear death? Does he not want to love and be loved? Why is he reading this study except that he wants to know?
We are on ground that no philosopher or philosophy can challenge and no pretended revelation can call into doubt.
Much, much more here.
Every man has the urge to live, to love, and to know.
Man can pervert them. Men do commit suicide; men do hate; men do fail to grow intellectually. The perversion provides further proof of the naturalness of these three great and basic drives within man. What we have written so far can be confirmed by any man. He need merely look within himself. Does he not fear death? Does he not want to love and be loved? Why is he reading this study except that he wants to know?
We are on ground that no philosopher or philosophy can challenge and no pretended revelation can call into doubt.
Much, much more here.
How About Real Education?
We've expressed some reservations about the "education" being promoted by the Utilitarian/Industrialists. It has its place, of course, as does carpentry, plumbing, or any other craft. These can be taught (or caught) as secondary curricula.
But what "education" is primary? That is, what must one know to succeed as a human being, not just as a neatly-stamped-out laborer or bureaucratic drone?
....the great tradition of Western civilization—defined humane learning in terms of what became known as the “Liberal Arts.” As described by St Augustine and others, these consisted of seven fields of study, grouped as three arts of language, and three cosmological arts. The first group or Trivium consisted of Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric; the second, the Quadrivium, of Arithmetic, Geometry, Music and Astronomy. Both sets of arts were intended to be preparatory to the higher studies of Philosophy and Theology—that is, the love of Wisdom (philo-sophia) and the knowledge of God (theo-logos). The Liberal Arts constituted the core curriculum at the heart of the classical and medieval educational system....
The terms do not mean what you think they mean.
...Grammar is not just the rules of language, but the first gift of humanity, the connection to our Origin through memory, language, and tradition...
As to the Quad:
Each member of the Quadrivium involves the study of patterns in space or time, leading to knowledge of the underlying Wisdom of the Creator expressed in the creation. This, of course, is the origin of the scientific enterprise, but it is equally the origin of art. Both are ways of discerning the Logos. Art exercises the imagination, and so in another way does science, where every major discovery has involved a creative leap. The artist searches for beauty, and so do the scientist and mathematician.
We would need far fewer "UW System" locations if grade- and high-schools matriculated students who actually knew the tri- and quad-.
But what "education" is primary? That is, what must one know to succeed as a human being, not just as a neatly-stamped-out laborer or bureaucratic drone?
....the great tradition of Western civilization—defined humane learning in terms of what became known as the “Liberal Arts.” As described by St Augustine and others, these consisted of seven fields of study, grouped as three arts of language, and three cosmological arts. The first group or Trivium consisted of Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric; the second, the Quadrivium, of Arithmetic, Geometry, Music and Astronomy. Both sets of arts were intended to be preparatory to the higher studies of Philosophy and Theology—that is, the love of Wisdom (philo-sophia) and the knowledge of God (theo-logos). The Liberal Arts constituted the core curriculum at the heart of the classical and medieval educational system....
The terms do not mean what you think they mean.
...Grammar is not just the rules of language, but the first gift of humanity, the connection to our Origin through memory, language, and tradition...
...With Dialectic we move from Mythos to Logos, consciously searching for the reason of things. This is the art of discerning and uncovering the truth, of distinguishing between imagination and reality.
...Rhetoric, has to do the movement from Mythos and Logos to Ethos. Far from being concerned just with the rules of eloquence, it is about the communication of souls at the level of the heart (“heart speaks to heart”), and so with the creation of community
These four subjects are not merely “mathematical” studies in contrast to the “literary” ones. If they were, we would merely be replicating the modern divorce of science from the humanities. They are about the continued search, on the basis just established, for the Logos or Intelligibility of things.
We would need far fewer "UW System" locations if grade- and high-schools matriculated students who actually knew the tri- and quad-.
No, You Don't Have to "Accept" Altar-Girls
Interesting question and answer.
...the PCED is clarifying that those who want the older form of Mass do NOT have to admit that practices such as Communion in the hand, or altar girls, or EMHCs, etc., are good. They might be legal, but they might also be abominations in the sight of God … depending on your point of view.
Heh.
...the PCED is clarifying that those who want the older form of Mass do NOT have to admit that practices such as Communion in the hand, or altar girls, or EMHCs, etc., are good. They might be legal, but they might also be abominations in the sight of God … depending on your point of view.
Heh.
R.I.P. Nellie Gray
Nellie Gray founded the world's largest anti-abortion protest. Noteworthy:
Nellie Gray's Funeral mass will be a Traditional Requiem. The choir will sing Tomas Luis de Victoria: Missa Pro Defunctis.
In paradisum deducant te angeli....
Euge serve bone, et fidelis, … intra in gaudium domini tui.
Nellie Gray's Funeral mass will be a Traditional Requiem. The choir will sing Tomas Luis de Victoria: Missa Pro Defunctis.
In paradisum deducant te angeli....
Euge serve bone, et fidelis, … intra in gaudium domini tui.
Reduce Wisconsin Spending? Here's One Target.
Governor Walker and the Legislature should be looking--hard--at reducing State spending.
One good place to look? The UW system. Recall that this system was assembled with "bi-partisan" support in Madistan. There's a reason for that, as you'll see below. But first: what to cut? Of the thirteen UW four-year colleges, one stands out.
Specifically, UW-Superior.
This bite-size "University" has 2800 students, making it slightly larger than St Norbert's (around 2200) or Mount Mary (1700). But the State spends a lot of money there: $77 million in capital projects in the last 10 years. That's above and beyond the faculty and staff expenses.
Another 6700 students are at UW-River Falls; another 9300 are at Stout in Menomonie--and UW-Eau Claire is also nearby. The NW corner of Wisconsin is over-served with UW locations--or under-served with students--take your choice.
It's not difficult to understand why politicians love UW campuses: they spend a lot of money on construction and faculty. Still don't get it? Follow the money: colleges present a great balance between (R) and (D) fundraising, brought to you by "bi-partisan" cooperation in fleecing the taxpayer.
We're not holding our breath on this one, by the way. The usual ululation about "high-tech" and "educated workforce" from full-throated harpies will commence (at the very same time that Mr. Sullivan's 'workforce commission' will be yammering about finding more welders from Mexico, or someplace.)
The UW System will spend $30,319.00/student this year. Less than half of that will come from student-paid tuition; the rest is largely from State and Federal taxpayers. At that rate, UW Superior will cost taxpayers around $30 million, just this year.
Bipartisan!!! Does that make you feeeeeeeeeeeeeel better?
One good place to look? The UW system. Recall that this system was assembled with "bi-partisan" support in Madistan. There's a reason for that, as you'll see below. But first: what to cut? Of the thirteen UW four-year colleges, one stands out.
Specifically, UW-Superior.
This bite-size "University" has 2800 students, making it slightly larger than St Norbert's (around 2200) or Mount Mary (1700). But the State spends a lot of money there: $77 million in capital projects in the last 10 years. That's above and beyond the faculty and staff expenses.
Another 6700 students are at UW-River Falls; another 9300 are at Stout in Menomonie--and UW-Eau Claire is also nearby. The NW corner of Wisconsin is over-served with UW locations--or under-served with students--take your choice.
It's not difficult to understand why politicians love UW campuses: they spend a lot of money on construction and faculty. Still don't get it? Follow the money: colleges present a great balance between (R) and (D) fundraising, brought to you by "bi-partisan" cooperation in fleecing the taxpayer.
We're not holding our breath on this one, by the way. The usual ululation about "high-tech" and "educated workforce" from full-throated harpies will commence (at the very same time that Mr. Sullivan's 'workforce commission' will be yammering about finding more welders from Mexico, or someplace.)
The UW System will spend $30,319.00/student this year. Less than half of that will come from student-paid tuition; the rest is largely from State and Federal taxpayers. At that rate, UW Superior will cost taxpayers around $30 million, just this year.
Bipartisan!!! Does that make you feeeeeeeeeeeeeel better?
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Electioneering in Europe
To Obozo, re-election is everything.
....American officials are understood to be worried that if they decide Greece has not done enough to meet its deficit targets and withhold the money, it would automatically trigger Greece's exit from the eurozone weeks before the Presidential election on 6 November.They are urging eurozone Governments to hold off from taking any drastic action before then – fearing that the resulting market destabilisation could damage President Obama's re-election prospects.
Oh...I dunno. What's left to "damage"?
The Obama administration will pressure European governments not to let Greece fall out of the eurozone before November's Presidential elections, British Government sources have suggested.
Oh...I dunno. What's left to "damage"?
Friday, August 24, 2012
Meet Ezekiel Bulver, Today's Democrat!
C. S. Lewis foresaw the modern (D) slime-machine. Rush Limbaugh picked up on Lewis' thought several years ago.
...You must show that a man is wrong before you start explaining why he is wrong. The modern method is to assume without discussion that he is wrong and then distract his attention from this (the only real issue) by busily explaining how he became so silly. In the course of the last fifteen years I have found this vice so common that I have had to invent a name for it. I call it “Bulverism.” Some day I am going to write the biography of its imaginary inventor, Ezekiel Bulver, whose destiny was determined at the age of five when he heard his mother say to his father—who had been maintaining that two sides of a triangle were together greater than a third—“Oh you say that because you are a man.” “At that moment,” E. Bulver assures us, “there flashed across my opening mind the great truth that refutation is no necessary part of argument. Assume that your opponent is wrong, and explain his error, and the world will be at your feet. Attempt to prove that he is wrong or (worse still) try to find out whether he is wrong or right, and the national dynamism of our age will thrust you to the wall.” That is how Bulver became one of the makers of the Twentieth Century. --quoted at FirstThings
The (D) machine utilizes "...because you are a man" and has enhanced the Bulverism by utilizing "racist" or "sexist" or "homophobe" to the mix.
Bet you never thought that Limbaugh read C. S. Lewis, eh?
...You must show that a man is wrong before you start explaining why he is wrong. The modern method is to assume without discussion that he is wrong and then distract his attention from this (the only real issue) by busily explaining how he became so silly. In the course of the last fifteen years I have found this vice so common that I have had to invent a name for it. I call it “Bulverism.” Some day I am going to write the biography of its imaginary inventor, Ezekiel Bulver, whose destiny was determined at the age of five when he heard his mother say to his father—who had been maintaining that two sides of a triangle were together greater than a third—“Oh you say that because you are a man.” “At that moment,” E. Bulver assures us, “there flashed across my opening mind the great truth that refutation is no necessary part of argument. Assume that your opponent is wrong, and explain his error, and the world will be at your feet. Attempt to prove that he is wrong or (worse still) try to find out whether he is wrong or right, and the national dynamism of our age will thrust you to the wall.” That is how Bulver became one of the makers of the Twentieth Century. --quoted at FirstThings
The (D) machine utilizes "...because you are a man" and has enhanced the Bulverism by utilizing "racist" or "sexist" or "homophobe" to the mix.
Bet you never thought that Limbaugh read C. S. Lewis, eh?
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Dodd-Frank Ruins More Than Banks
Curiously, the Dodd-Frank abomination gives Obozo another crack at the petroleum industry.
...The new regulation, Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank bill, would require American companies to release information detailing expenditures on foreign operations. That proprietary information would immediately be available to foreign and domestic competitors alike, and would be used to undercut whatever advantages American companies have achieved as a result of their own hard work.
Well, they didn't build it anyway, right?
The problems with Section 1504 go beyond the "competitive disadvantage" to which it puts American energy companies. When implemented, Section 1504 will also place American companies in conflict with foreign countries which prohibit the very same disclosures that 1504 mandates. As a result, American companies might well be forced to cease operations in nations where they have already invested tens of billions of dollars in order to avoid running afoul of the law.
Right!!!
In fact, it appears that the SEC has proceeded in the most intrusive manner possible, though it need not have done so. Dodd-Frank allowed the agency broad leeway to interpret transparency rules in a manner that would not have materially harmed American companies. It appears that, under Obama's direction, the agency has gone out of its way to punish American companies. Yet nothing in Section 1504 applies to foreign state-run competitors that are not listed on U.S. markets
That theme--anti-American-Companies--resonates, doesn't it? Kinda like a "pattern", ain'a?
...The new regulation, Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank bill, would require American companies to release information detailing expenditures on foreign operations. That proprietary information would immediately be available to foreign and domestic competitors alike, and would be used to undercut whatever advantages American companies have achieved as a result of their own hard work.
Well, they didn't build it anyway, right?
The problems with Section 1504 go beyond the "competitive disadvantage" to which it puts American energy companies. When implemented, Section 1504 will also place American companies in conflict with foreign countries which prohibit the very same disclosures that 1504 mandates. As a result, American companies might well be forced to cease operations in nations where they have already invested tens of billions of dollars in order to avoid running afoul of the law.
As one study pointed out, there are also serious security implications involved in implementing Section 1504.
American companies working in dangerous environments overseas may be placing their employees at risk if they fully disclose the locations, funding, and status of their operations. The safety of American workers and their local employees overseas should be a paramount concern, but the SEC ruling does not appear to address this concern.
Well, the Dodd-Frank Abomination must have SOME benefits, right?
Right!!!
In addition to the risk of violence, Section 1504 exposes American companies to the risk of greater shareholder litigation. Like all complex securities regulation, Section 1504 is a boon for trial lawyers, but not for American workers or consumers, who will end up paying the costs of litigation.
That theme--anti-American-Companies--resonates, doesn't it? Kinda like a "pattern", ain'a?
Unicorns and Obozo Jobs
Some Obozo spokescritter claims that Obozo 'created' more jobs than Reagan 'created'.
Umnnnnhhhh......no.
...When Obama was sworn into office, there were 111 million private sector jobs. At the bottom of this recession, private employment fell to 106.7 million. Today, the U.S. economy supports 111.3 million jobs. So, from bottom to top, the Reagan recovery created 6.1 million private sector jobs while the Obama recovery has only created 4.5 million jobs. And from inauguration to August of reelection, Reagan created 4.2 million private sector jobs to Obama’s 312,000.
The total jobs numbers are even worse for Obama. When he was sworn into office, the U.S. economy supported 133.5 million jobs overall. Today, it only supports 133.2 million.
Look! Look! SQUIRREL!!!! UNICORN!!!!!!
Umnnnnhhhh......no.
...When Obama was sworn into office, there were 111 million private sector jobs. At the bottom of this recession, private employment fell to 106.7 million. Today, the U.S. economy supports 111.3 million jobs. So, from bottom to top, the Reagan recovery created 6.1 million private sector jobs while the Obama recovery has only created 4.5 million jobs. And from inauguration to August of reelection, Reagan created 4.2 million private sector jobs to Obama’s 312,000.
Look! Look! SQUIRREL!!!! UNICORN!!!!!!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
At Least Romney Hasn't Declared War on Religion
Sure, Romney has launched a trainwreck with his 'kill only some babies' asininity.
But (so far) he hasn't declared war on religion, as has the TinPot Obozo.
And the list in the cited article is NOT comprehensive.
But (so far) he hasn't declared war on religion, as has the TinPot Obozo.
And the list in the cited article is NOT comprehensive.
Dickens on Republican Fake-Conservatives
The man Dickens was ahead of his time. Or maybe Gummint drones have always been thus. In any case, we now have the Irony of the Week.
...It is true that How not to do it was the great study and object of all public departments and professional politicians all round the Circumlocution Office. It is true that every new premier and every new government, coming in because they had upheld a certain thing as necessary to be done, were no sooner come in than they applied their utmost faculties to discovering How not to do it. It is true that from the moment when a general election was over, every returned man who had been raving on hustings because it hadn’t been done, and who had been asking the friends of the honourable gentleman in the opposite interest on pain of impeachment to tell him why it hadn’t been done, and who had been asserting that it must be done, and who had been pledging himself that it should be done, began to devise, How it was not to be done…. All this is true, but the Circumlocution Office went beyond it. --PJMedia quoting Dickens
The irony?
The author uses the quote to flog Akin rather than the "pro-life" Ken Doll, Romney.
...It is true that How not to do it was the great study and object of all public departments and professional politicians all round the Circumlocution Office. It is true that every new premier and every new government, coming in because they had upheld a certain thing as necessary to be done, were no sooner come in than they applied their utmost faculties to discovering How not to do it. It is true that from the moment when a general election was over, every returned man who had been raving on hustings because it hadn’t been done, and who had been asking the friends of the honourable gentleman in the opposite interest on pain of impeachment to tell him why it hadn’t been done, and who had been asserting that it must be done, and who had been pledging himself that it should be done, began to devise, How it was not to be done…. All this is true, but the Circumlocution Office went beyond it. --PJMedia quoting Dickens
The irony?
The author uses the quote to flog Akin rather than the "pro-life" Ken Doll, Romney.
Texas Wins v. Planned Parenthood!
Oh, there's more court action to follow, I'm sure; but the 10A remains operative in the 5th Circuit.
You can bet that Barbara Bush's blood boileth over.
Tough cookies, Barb.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday lifted a temporary injunction and ruled that Texas can remove Planned Parenthood from the Women's Health Program.
...[Texas Governor] Perry, in an emailed statement, lauded the court's ruling as affirmation "that Texas’ Women’s Health Program has no obligation to fund organizations that promote abortion — including Planned Parenthood. The 5th Circuit’s decision is a win for Texas women, our rule of law and our state’s priority to protect life."
You can bet that Barbara Bush's blood boileth over.
Tough cookies, Barb.
Van Hollen Has a Pulse!!
For quite some time, it wasn't clear that JB Van Hollen was actually in his office doing stuff.
His hibernation may be over with--for the time being.
Still and all...a full-time salary for this guy?
His hibernation may be over with--for the time being.
Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is calling on the state Supreme Court to reinstate the photo ID requirement in time for the November election.
Still and all...a full-time salary for this guy?
Fetid Swamp: "Catholic" Relief Services
We await Cdl. Dolan's order to disband this outfit. (Waiting for action from +Timothy is a familiar routine for Milwaukee Catholics, by the way.)
As Catholic Relief Services responds to criticisms over its partnerships with pro-abortion anti-poverty groups, LifeSiteNews has discovered that the aid organization also has a history of hiring employees with strong ties to pro-abortion and pro-contraception organizations.
Several people are mentioned in the article, including one who ran down a pro-life demonstrator with her car.
CRS needs the treatment that Abp Dolan gave the local swamp (a/k/a St Francis Major Seminary). Close the joint, fire the perps, and start all over again.
Maybe after the Al Smith dinner?
As Catholic Relief Services responds to criticisms over its partnerships with pro-abortion anti-poverty groups, LifeSiteNews has discovered that the aid organization also has a history of hiring employees with strong ties to pro-abortion and pro-contraception organizations.
Several people are mentioned in the article, including one who ran down a pro-life demonstrator with her car.
CRS needs the treatment that Abp Dolan gave the local swamp (a/k/a St Francis Major Seminary). Close the joint, fire the perps, and start all over again.
Maybe after the Al Smith dinner?
Consumer Financial "Protection" Bureau. Really?
The reality is that "consumers" are being raped by this bunch.
Judicial Watch has been auditing the CFPB’s finances. Among the “questionable expenses” they have discovered are $479,354 for sign language translation services, $4,500 to send top attorneys to a “banking law fundamentals” class, and starting salaries as high as $173,000 per year.
The sign-language services are for TWO employees.
The "top lawyers" evidently didn't know squat about banking--from which they're going to 'protect' consumers.
And those salaries?
...Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY) observed in congressional hearings that starting salaries at the agency exceeded Office of Personnel Management standards by up to 90 percent. Judicial Watch adds that “a dozen new hires take home more than $225,000 a year, while a student intern was paid $51,620 ‘through completion of education & study.’”
Whose nephew or niece gets $1,000/week to be an intern until they finish college?
Judicial Watch has been auditing the CFPB’s finances. Among the “questionable expenses” they have discovered are $479,354 for sign language translation services, $4,500 to send top attorneys to a “banking law fundamentals” class, and starting salaries as high as $173,000 per year.
The sign-language services are for TWO employees.
The "top lawyers" evidently didn't know squat about banking--from which they're going to 'protect' consumers.
And those salaries?
...Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY) observed in congressional hearings that starting salaries at the agency exceeded Office of Personnel Management standards by up to 90 percent. Judicial Watch adds that “a dozen new hires take home more than $225,000 a year, while a student intern was paid $51,620 ‘through completion of education & study.’”
Whose nephew or niece gets $1,000/week to be an intern until they finish college?
The Romney Train-Wreck
If you've paid attention, you noted that I was very skeptical about Romney from the git-go. Evidently Paul Ryan isn't a devotee of this blog, or he might have chosen a better course.
Terry Jeffrey makes it plain in looking at the Romney "campaign site."
A good place to find the basic premises for conducting that analysis is on the website of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. It includes a statement explaining Romney's position on abortion.
"Mitt Romney is pro-life," says the first sentence of this statement. "Mitt believes that life begins at conception and wishes that the laws of our nation reflected that view," it further says. "Because the good heart of America knows no boundaries, a commitment to protecting life should not stop at the water's edge. Taking innocent life is always wrong and always tragic, wherever it happens," it also says.
"Americans have a moral duty to uphold the sanctity of life and protect the weakest, most vulnerable and most innocent among us," it concludes. "As president, Mitt will ensure that American laws reflect America's values of preserving life at home and abroad."
Bullshit, Mitt.
...what would be the logical position for Romney to take on whether American law should permit the taking of an innocent human life conceived through a rape?
"Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg told multiple news organizations on Monday.
"Some animals are more equal than other animals". Just say it, Mitt. It's what you actually believe.
Ryan knows better--or at least he used to, until yesterday.
There are a multitude of very serious issues facing the country in this November's election. None of them are "more important" than the rape-incest-abortion question--but on balance, the Statist/Socialist March of the Tinpot Obozo must be stopped.
Having said that, the Romney-ite bullshit: "I'm pro-life" should be taken down from his website. Clearly, he doesn't mean a word of it.
Terry Jeffrey makes it plain in looking at the Romney "campaign site."
A good place to find the basic premises for conducting that analysis is on the website of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. It includes a statement explaining Romney's position on abortion.
"Mitt Romney is pro-life," says the first sentence of this statement. "Mitt believes that life begins at conception and wishes that the laws of our nation reflected that view," it further says. "Because the good heart of America knows no boundaries, a commitment to protecting life should not stop at the water's edge. Taking innocent life is always wrong and always tragic, wherever it happens," it also says.
"Americans have a moral duty to uphold the sanctity of life and protect the weakest, most vulnerable and most innocent among us," it concludes. "As president, Mitt will ensure that American laws reflect America's values of preserving life at home and abroad."
Bullshit, Mitt.
...what would be the logical position for Romney to take on whether American law should permit the taking of an innocent human life conceived through a rape?
"Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg told multiple news organizations on Monday.
"Some animals are more equal than other animals". Just say it, Mitt. It's what you actually believe.
Ryan knows better--or at least he used to, until yesterday.
There are a multitude of very serious issues facing the country in this November's election. None of them are "more important" than the rape-incest-abortion question--but on balance, the Statist/Socialist March of the Tinpot Obozo must be stopped.
Having said that, the Romney-ite bullshit: "I'm pro-life" should be taken down from his website. Clearly, he doesn't mean a word of it.
Think "Less Gummint" Is Easy?
Interesting turn of events here.
Initially, he was among those who apparently underestimated what it took to do the job.
The job was made full-time by its previous occupant, a Lefty who needed something to do.
...For the past few months, Decker and the Executive Committee have been considering revisions to the board chairman's job description. On Monday, the committee voted 6-1 to adopt a written listing of expectations. In her motion, Supervisor Pat Haukohl said the chairman's job should continue as is currently defined.
As most folks know, the definition of job duties and responsibilities has a lot of impact. So what are the "duties" which take up so much time?
...Decker said he's had to travel to many meetings representing Waukesha County throughout the state.
"If Waukesha County is not represented there, it can impact negatively," he said.
Let's leave aside Decker's manifest problems with standard English.
The County employs a full-time Executive, who has full-time assistants. Are they unable to 'travel throughout the State....representing the County's interests'? Is there no email? Skype? Snail-mail? Telephone service? And precisely what "interests" does the County have in Green Bay, or Rhinelander, or ...wherever....aside from Madistan or the Walking-Bankrupt-to-the-East?
So. The Board defined a position which requires a full-time "interest representer" who will be traveling all over the State. What else?
...Decker also said the legislative branch, which he represents, must be ready to respond when something is proposed from the administrative or executive's branch.
Decker said he's spent more time than expected on behind-the-scenes communications with supervisors about constituent concerns, something that's "hard to quantify," he said.
Uh-huh. Vrakas could do.......what, exactly.......without a Chairman to "respond"? Close the jail? Shut off the electricity? And this "behind the scenes" stuff: what in Hell does that mean? Are other Board members unable to discuss 'constituent concerns' without Decker's counsel? Are they that incompetent?
The big picture here is this: there is too much Gummint stuffed into every corner of life in Wisconsin, and that fact--alone--is what creates more Gummint jobs. Decker's a good guy who found out that Gummint will now swallow his life, just as it is swallowing the lives of taxpayers.
It's a State-wide (and nation-wide) problem. Too bad that Waukesha County taxpayers have to live with it.
Waukesha County Board Chairman Paul Decker and other members of the board's Executive Committee on Monday put to rest any notion that the chairman's job should be part time.
"We know it takes more to being in the chairman's position than a lot of people recognize," Decker said in explaining how his time has been occupied since taking over the chairman's job in April.
The job was made full-time by its previous occupant, a Lefty who needed something to do.
...For the past few months, Decker and the Executive Committee have been considering revisions to the board chairman's job description. On Monday, the committee voted 6-1 to adopt a written listing of expectations. In her motion, Supervisor Pat Haukohl said the chairman's job should continue as is currently defined.
As most folks know, the definition of job duties and responsibilities has a lot of impact. So what are the "duties" which take up so much time?
...Decker said he's had to travel to many meetings representing Waukesha County throughout the state.
"If Waukesha County is not represented there, it can impact negatively," he said.
Let's leave aside Decker's manifest problems with standard English.
The County employs a full-time Executive, who has full-time assistants. Are they unable to 'travel throughout the State....representing the County's interests'? Is there no email? Skype? Snail-mail? Telephone service? And precisely what "interests" does the County have in Green Bay, or Rhinelander, or ...wherever....aside from Madistan or the Walking-Bankrupt-to-the-East?
So. The Board defined a position which requires a full-time "interest representer" who will be traveling all over the State. What else?
...Decker also said the legislative branch, which he represents, must be ready to respond when something is proposed from the administrative or executive's branch.
Uh-huh. Vrakas could do.......what, exactly.......without a Chairman to "respond"? Close the jail? Shut off the electricity? And this "behind the scenes" stuff: what in Hell does that mean? Are other Board members unable to discuss 'constituent concerns' without Decker's counsel? Are they that incompetent?
The big picture here is this: there is too much Gummint stuffed into every corner of life in Wisconsin, and that fact--alone--is what creates more Gummint jobs. Decker's a good guy who found out that Gummint will now swallow his life, just as it is swallowing the lives of taxpayers.
It's a State-wide (and nation-wide) problem. Too bad that Waukesha County taxpayers have to live with it.
DC Circuit: "No, You Can't Kill Electric Power"
One part of the Obozo Agenda is temporarily thwarted.
Amidst Obama’s inexorable war on American energy, consumers, jobs, and prosperity, his EPA is in the process of promulgating 4 new pollution rules that will bury the coal industry and “necessarily” raise the price of electricity on American households. They are the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for Utilities (MACT), the Cooling Water Intake Structures regulation, and the Disposal of Coal Combustion residuals. The former two have already been finalized while the latter two are close behind. Today, the D.C. Circuit Court struck down the EPA’s authority to implement the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.
Three to go.
Amidst Obama’s inexorable war on American energy, consumers, jobs, and prosperity, his EPA is in the process of promulgating 4 new pollution rules that will bury the coal industry and “necessarily” raise the price of electricity on American households. They are the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for Utilities (MACT), the Cooling Water Intake Structures regulation, and the Disposal of Coal Combustion residuals. The former two have already been finalized while the latter two are close behind. Today, the D.C. Circuit Court struck down the EPA’s authority to implement the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.
Three to go.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Hobbes the "Rights" Guy, the "Wrongs" Guy
Nothing like a clear breakdown of the stuff.
Well, yah, that produces a problem:
...Much of the recent natural law literature in Catholic circles is, in fact, devoted to an attempt to reconcile natural law and natural rights. However carefully this reconciliation may have been, it has made hardly any dent on the popular notion that “rights” are what we define them to be in positive law. Thus they bear the same voluntary mutability as positive law itself.
In some countries, including our own, written constitutions were established as positive, fundamental law in an effort to control and limit the vagaries of what human legislators, judges, and politicians can do. Beyond the constitution, stood the natural law, which was the rule of reason that grounded any human law or constitution.
What's a "right" on Tuesday could be "not a right" on Wednesday, you see. That's how the Mad Hatter would 'splain it; and that's where we are.
...the natural law principles and logic that identify abortion for what it is, the deliberate killing of a human person, are irrefutable – even if few will acknowledge them. The only real alternative to valid natural law, as many clearly see, is to deny any reason or order in things so that we be free to establish whatever we want by will alone.
The primary intellectual tool that has facilitated this transformation is, ironically, the notion of “human rights.” The spiritual father to this transformation is Hobbes, who gave us the “right” to whatever we judge is necessary for our individual preservation and well-being. The state became the final power to define and enforce these natural “rights.”
Well, yah, that produces a problem:
...Much of the recent natural law literature in Catholic circles is, in fact, devoted to an attempt to reconcile natural law and natural rights. However carefully this reconciliation may have been, it has made hardly any dent on the popular notion that “rights” are what we define them to be in positive law. Thus they bear the same voluntary mutability as positive law itself.
What's a "right" on Tuesday could be "not a right" on Wednesday, you see. That's how the Mad Hatter would 'splain it; and that's where we are.
Obozo's Tin Pot
Sowell, quoted at Cold Fury:
If laws passed by the elected representatives of the people can be simply over-ruled unilaterally by whoever is in the White House, then we are no longer a free people, choosing what laws we want to live under.
His EO and 1,500,000,000 rounds of ammo at DHS makes him King?
I don't think so.
No President of the United States is authorized to repeal parts of legislation passed by Congress. He may veto the whole legislation, but then Congress can override his veto if they have enough votes. Nevertheless, every President takes an oath to faithfully execute the laws that have been passed and sustained — not just the ones he happens to agree with.
His EO and 1,500,000,000 rounds of ammo at DHS makes him King?
I don't think so.
Homeland "Security" for Whom?
Interesting numbers here.
...In the war in Iraq, our military forces expended approximately 70 million rounds per year. In March DHS ordered 750 million rounds of hollow point ammunition. It then turned around and ordered an additional 750 million rounds of miscellaneous bullets including some that are capable of penetrating walls. This is enough ammunition to empty five rounds into the body of every living American citizen. Is this something we and the Congress should be concerned about?
Department of Homeland Security? You mean the airport granny-grabbers plus INS plus Border Patrol? The Department of Napolitano?
...In the war in Iraq, our military forces expended approximately 70 million rounds per year. In March DHS ordered 750 million rounds of hollow point ammunition. It then turned around and ordered an additional 750 million rounds of miscellaneous bullets including some that are capable of penetrating walls. This is enough ammunition to empty five rounds into the body of every living American citizen. Is this something we and the Congress should be concerned about?
Department of Homeland Security? You mean the airport granny-grabbers plus INS plus Border Patrol? The Department of Napolitano?
Buy. More. Ammo.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Romney: "Kill the Innocent for the Sin of Their Father? OK by Us!"
I seriously doubt that Ryan had any input into this crap:
The Romney-Ryan campaign had a statement last night on Rep. Akin's idiotic rape comment: "Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape."--quoted at AOSHQ
While Akin bumbled badly (and has since clarified), the Romney campaign has taken bumbling to new orders of magnitude with that utterance. They approach Bidenism.
Does Romney REALLY mean to say that he will not oppose 'killing a child because of his father's sin'?
REALLY?
Now watch: the RomneyBozos will yammer that it's "....not a Federal issue anyway." (which it isn't, unless you believe Griswold and Roe are rightly decided--which they most assuredly are not.)
The Romney-Ryan campaign had a statement last night on Rep. Akin's idiotic rape comment: "Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape."--quoted at AOSHQ
While Akin bumbled badly (and has since clarified), the Romney campaign has taken bumbling to new orders of magnitude with that utterance. They approach Bidenism.
Does Romney REALLY mean to say that he will not oppose 'killing a child because of his father's sin'?
REALLY?
Now watch: the RomneyBozos will yammer that it's "....not a Federal issue anyway." (which it isn't, unless you believe Griswold and Roe are rightly decided--which they most assuredly are not.)
Atomization, Indeed
Just a touch more pertaining to the Coleridge prophesy of the Benthamite atomization:
Throughout his life, Kirk emphasized the lessons of the ancients, that the ends of education are wisdom and virtue, and knowledge of a body of truth. The aims of the new curriculum, the aims of progressivism (personal advancement, technical training, social mobility, certification, et al.), were not the means of ordering the soul or the commonwealth, and in fact, were rather the means of confusion.
Yes, indeed. Of course, we have Benthamites today, such as Sullivan (ex-Bucyrus) and his Industrialist/Utilitarian disciples, which include such as Charlie Sykes and Belling.
Of all people, Sykes should know better.
Throughout his life, Kirk emphasized the lessons of the ancients, that the ends of education are wisdom and virtue, and knowledge of a body of truth. The aims of the new curriculum, the aims of progressivism (personal advancement, technical training, social mobility, certification, et al.), were not the means of ordering the soul or the commonwealth, and in fact, were rather the means of confusion.
Yes, indeed. Of course, we have Benthamites today, such as Sullivan (ex-Bucyrus) and his Industrialist/Utilitarian disciples, which include such as Charlie Sykes and Belling.
Of all people, Sykes should know better.
One More Time: McCarthy Was Right
Contra such 'luminaries' as Krauthammer, Will, Lowry, and Fred Thompson, McCarthy DID have a list, and he was right.
...McCarthy had the list in his possession when he set forth some 70-plus security cases on the floor of the Senate in February 1950. Subsequently he provided their names in writing to the Senate committee that looked into the matter, plus a supplementary list of 2-dozen other suspects for a total of more than 100 names presented to the Senate.
Granted, these lists would mysteriously vanish from the committee archives (along with a lot of other relevant data on the suspects), but that wasn’t the doing of McCarthy. However, I happen to have copies of the lists in my possession, as fortunately they survived in other places. George Will and the others could have them also if they cared to, since the lists are photographically reproduced in their entirety in a book I brought out a few years ago examining McCarthy’s cases.
As to the disappearance of the records, try this hint: the Democrats controlled the Senate at that time.
To the point:
...The Wheeling argument mainly concerned the number of cases he claimed to have, his opponents saying he claimed 205, McCarthy responding that he in fact claimed 57 (as noted, a number that would grow substantially by the time he addressed the Senate roughly ten days later). Without getting too far into the weeds on this, the Democratic Senate sent staffers up to Wheeling to dig out the facts about the issue, as part of an investigation aimed at throwing McCarthy out of Congress. When the staffers came back, they filed a 40-page report that in essence said McCarthy was right about the numbers and his critics were mistaken
Oh, by the way:
....the[ staff's] report would be buried and also vanish from the public record, while a perjury charge against McCarthy for lying about the numbers would be quietly dropped from the discussion
Just co-incidence, of course.
Will, K-hammer, et al could read the book, or read the Venona papers; but it's so much easier to parrot lies, I suppose.
...McCarthy had the list in his possession when he set forth some 70-plus security cases on the floor of the Senate in February 1950. Subsequently he provided their names in writing to the Senate committee that looked into the matter, plus a supplementary list of 2-dozen other suspects for a total of more than 100 names presented to the Senate.
As to the disappearance of the records, try this hint: the Democrats controlled the Senate at that time.
To the point:
...The Wheeling argument mainly concerned the number of cases he claimed to have, his opponents saying he claimed 205, McCarthy responding that he in fact claimed 57 (as noted, a number that would grow substantially by the time he addressed the Senate roughly ten days later). Without getting too far into the weeds on this, the Democratic Senate sent staffers up to Wheeling to dig out the facts about the issue, as part of an investigation aimed at throwing McCarthy out of Congress. When the staffers came back, they filed a 40-page report that in essence said McCarthy was right about the numbers and his critics were mistaken
Oh, by the way:
....the[ staff's] report would be buried and also vanish from the public record, while a perjury charge against McCarthy for lying about the numbers would be quietly dropped from the discussion
Just co-incidence, of course.
Will, K-hammer, et al could read the book, or read the Venona papers; but it's so much easier to parrot lies, I suppose.
The Evil of "Tolerance", and Coleridge's Foresight: The Era of Prigs
Worth repeating a thousand times:
We need to remember that tolerance is not a Christian virtue. Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty — these are Christian virtues. And obviously, in a diverse community, tolerance is an important working principle. But it’s never an end itself. In fact, tolerating grave evil within a society is itself a form of serious evil. Likewise, democratic pluralism does not mean that Catholics should be quiet in public about serious moral issues because of some misguided sense of good manners. A healthy democracy requires vigorous moral debate to survive. --Cdl Chaput, quoted at RedState
There's something else that's important here:
"Tolerance applies only to persons, never to principles. Intolerance applies only to principles, never to persons." --Bp Fulton J. Sheen, quoted at BadgerCath.
Back to RedState:
We see that more and more in society and as culture is upstream from politics, we are seeing an increasing intolerance for moral virtue creeping downstream into our politics.
No surprise here. Coleridge, the poet/philosopher/Conservative predicted as much.
He attacked the atomic individualism and statistical materialism of the Benthamites because he knew that if the Utilitarians should succeed in discrediting the religious consecration of the State, they would efface the idea of order; and if they should succeed in convincing men that we are only bundles of associated sensations, they would blind humanity to its supernatural and eternal hopes and ends. [See, e.g., Justice Kennedy's Casey language: "the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." ] The pure democrat is the practical atheist: ignoring the divine nature of law and the divine establishment of spiritual hierarchy, he is the unconscious instrument of diabolic powers for the undoing of mankind. Reduce the solemn mystery and infinite variety of human life to the pseudo-mathematical principle of 'the greatest happiness for the greatest number,' and you establish a tyranny of prigs in this world, a hell of loneliness in the world of spirit. --Kirk, The Conservative Mind
'The tyranny of prigs' is in its Second Coming. The Priggish 'Prohibition' failed--as it was bound to do--but the New Prigs are more cunning. See the Anti-Gun Prigs, the Anti-Sweets Prigs, the Anti-Smoking Prigs, the P.C. Prigs----the list grows. It grows because it thin-slices its opponents and, so far, successfully, uses the language of "tolerance" to achieve its victories.
We need to remember that tolerance is not a Christian virtue. Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty — these are Christian virtues. And obviously, in a diverse community, tolerance is an important working principle. But it’s never an end itself. In fact, tolerating grave evil within a society is itself a form of serious evil. Likewise, democratic pluralism does not mean that Catholics should be quiet in public about serious moral issues because of some misguided sense of good manners. A healthy democracy requires vigorous moral debate to survive. --Cdl Chaput, quoted at RedState
There's something else that's important here:
"Tolerance applies only to persons, never to principles. Intolerance applies only to principles, never to persons." --Bp Fulton J. Sheen, quoted at BadgerCath.
Back to RedState:
We see that more and more in society and as culture is upstream from politics, we are seeing an increasing intolerance for moral virtue creeping downstream into our politics.
No surprise here. Coleridge, the poet/philosopher/Conservative predicted as much.
He attacked the atomic individualism and statistical materialism of the Benthamites because he knew that if the Utilitarians should succeed in discrediting the religious consecration of the State, they would efface the idea of order; and if they should succeed in convincing men that we are only bundles of associated sensations, they would blind humanity to its supernatural and eternal hopes and ends. [See, e.g., Justice Kennedy's Casey language: "the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." ] The pure democrat is the practical atheist: ignoring the divine nature of law and the divine establishment of spiritual hierarchy, he is the unconscious instrument of diabolic powers for the undoing of mankind. Reduce the solemn mystery and infinite variety of human life to the pseudo-mathematical principle of 'the greatest happiness for the greatest number,' and you establish a tyranny of prigs in this world, a hell of loneliness in the world of spirit. --Kirk, The Conservative Mind
'The tyranny of prigs' is in its Second Coming. The Priggish 'Prohibition' failed--as it was bound to do--but the New Prigs are more cunning. See the Anti-Gun Prigs, the Anti-Sweets Prigs, the Anti-Smoking Prigs, the P.C. Prigs----the list grows. It grows because it thin-slices its opponents and, so far, successfully, uses the language of "tolerance" to achieve its victories.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Egads! He Went Heretic!
This is a shocker
Verhasselt was placed on leave from St. Catherine's after a lengthy church investigation found him guilty of indirectly violating the seal of confession.
Verhasselt will now pastor a startup church in Ashippun within the Evangelical Catholic Church's northwest diocese, which is not under papal mandate.
The Evangelical Catholic Church (ECC) offers several pastoral reforms [female pastors, contraception, Mary's perpetual virginity, etc] on hot-button societal issues that have long been matters of contention for many within the Roman Catholic Church. --quoted at BadgerCatholic
Aquinas: (II-II:11:1) defines heresy: "a species of infidelity in men who, having professed the faith of Christ, corrupt its dogmas".
The article describes him as "popular," without using the term 'tickling the ears...'
The Rev. David Verhasselt, the former pastor of St. Catherine of Alexander Catholic Church has found a new pastoral role outside the realm of the Roman Catholic Church.
Verhasselt was placed on leave from St. Catherine's after a lengthy church investigation found him guilty of indirectly violating the seal of confession.
Verhasselt will now pastor a startup church in Ashippun within the Evangelical Catholic Church's northwest diocese, which is not under papal mandate.
The Evangelical Catholic Church (ECC) offers several pastoral reforms [female pastors, contraception, Mary's perpetual virginity, etc] on hot-button societal issues that have long been matters of contention for many within the Roman Catholic Church. --quoted at BadgerCatholic
Aquinas: (II-II:11:1) defines heresy: "a species of infidelity in men who, having professed the faith of Christ, corrupt its dogmas".
The article describes him as "popular," without using the term 'tickling the ears...'
In Very Few Words, the Death of Obamism
McCain caught this:
Yup.
Iowahawk’s observation — “Paul Ryan represents Obama’s most horrifying nightmare: math”
Yup.
A Memo From Paul Ryan's Bishop
As usual, Bp. Morlino has it nailed down.
...the formation of conscience regarding particular policy issues is different depending on how fundamental to the ecology of human nature or the Catholic faith a particular issue is. Some of the most fundamental issues for the formation of a Catholic conscience are as follows: sacredness of human life from conception to natural death, marriage, religious freedom and freedom of conscience, and a right to private property.
Violations of the above involve intrinsic evil — that is, an evil which cannot be justified by any circumstances whatsoever. These evils are examples of direct pollution of the ecology of human nature and can be discerned as such by human reason alone. Thus, all people of good will who wish to follow human reason should deplore any and all violations in the above areas, without exception. The violations would be: abortion, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, same-sex marriage, government-coerced secularism, and socialism.
That's the 101 course. Application here:
...Nor may a conscience well-formed by reason or the Catholic faith ever choose to vote for someone who clearly, consistently, persistently promotes that which is intrinsically evil...
Such as Tammy Baldwin, for example.
...a conscience well-formed according to reason or the Catholic faith, must also make choices where intrinsic evil is not involved. How best to care for the poor is probably the finest current example of this, though another would be how best to create jobs at a time when so many are suffering from the ravages of unemployment. In matters such as these, where intrinsic evil is not involved, the rational principles of solidarity and subsidiarity come into play. The principle of solidarity, simply stated, means that every human being on the face of the earth is my brother and my sister, my “neighbor” in the biblical sense. At the same time, the time-tested best way for assisting our neighbors throughout the world should follow the principle of subsidiarity. That means the problem at hand should be addressed at the lowest level possible — that is, the level closest to the people in need. That again, is simply the law of human reason.
It's impossible to tease out "FedGov" when using "lowest level possible." It's almost as difficult to tease out "StateGov", by the way.
...As one looks at issues such as the two mentioned above and seeks to apply the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, Catholics and others of good will can arrive at different conclusions. These are conclusions about the best means to promote the preferential option for the poor, or the best means to reach a lower percentage of unemployment throughout our country...
Yup.
....Making decisions as to the best political strategies, the best policy means, to achieve a goal, is the mission of lay people, not bishops or priests. As Pope Benedict himself has said, a just society and a just state is the achievement of politics, not the Church. And therefore Catholic laymen and women who are familiar with the principles dictated by human reason and the ecology of human nature, or non-Catholics who are also bound by these same principles, are in a position to arrive at differing conclusions as to what the best means are for the implementation of these principles — that is, “lay mission” for Catholics.
Thus, it is not up to me or any bishop or priest to approve of Congressman Ryan’s specific budget prescription to address the best means we spoke of. Where intrinsic evils are not involved, specific policy choices and political strategies are the province of Catholic lay mission. But, as I’ve said, Vice Presidential Candidate Ryan is aware of Catholic Social Teaching and is very careful to fashion and form his conclusions in accord with the principles mentioned above. Of that I have no doubt. (I mention this matter in obedience to Church Law regarding one’s right to a good reputation.)
Similarly it is not up to 'any bishop of priest' to DIS-approve. But there are plenty of useful idiots, anyway. Some are Educated Beyond Their Intelligence and teach at Georgetown, too.
HT: HotAir
...the formation of conscience regarding particular policy issues is different depending on how fundamental to the ecology of human nature or the Catholic faith a particular issue is. Some of the most fundamental issues for the formation of a Catholic conscience are as follows: sacredness of human life from conception to natural death, marriage, religious freedom and freedom of conscience, and a right to private property.
That's the 101 course. Application here:
...Nor may a conscience well-formed by reason or the Catholic faith ever choose to vote for someone who clearly, consistently, persistently promotes that which is intrinsically evil...
Such as Tammy Baldwin, for example.
...a conscience well-formed according to reason or the Catholic faith, must also make choices where intrinsic evil is not involved. How best to care for the poor is probably the finest current example of this, though another would be how best to create jobs at a time when so many are suffering from the ravages of unemployment. In matters such as these, where intrinsic evil is not involved, the rational principles of solidarity and subsidiarity come into play. The principle of solidarity, simply stated, means that every human being on the face of the earth is my brother and my sister, my “neighbor” in the biblical sense. At the same time, the time-tested best way for assisting our neighbors throughout the world should follow the principle of subsidiarity. That means the problem at hand should be addressed at the lowest level possible — that is, the level closest to the people in need. That again, is simply the law of human reason.
It's impossible to tease out "FedGov" when using "lowest level possible." It's almost as difficult to tease out "StateGov", by the way.
...As one looks at issues such as the two mentioned above and seeks to apply the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, Catholics and others of good will can arrive at different conclusions. These are conclusions about the best means to promote the preferential option for the poor, or the best means to reach a lower percentage of unemployment throughout our country...
Yup.
....Making decisions as to the best political strategies, the best policy means, to achieve a goal, is the mission of lay people, not bishops or priests. As Pope Benedict himself has said, a just society and a just state is the achievement of politics, not the Church. And therefore Catholic laymen and women who are familiar with the principles dictated by human reason and the ecology of human nature, or non-Catholics who are also bound by these same principles, are in a position to arrive at differing conclusions as to what the best means are for the implementation of these principles — that is, “lay mission” for Catholics.
Thus, it is not up to me or any bishop or priest to approve of Congressman Ryan’s specific budget prescription to address the best means we spoke of. Where intrinsic evils are not involved, specific policy choices and political strategies are the province of Catholic lay mission. But, as I’ve said, Vice Presidential Candidate Ryan is aware of Catholic Social Teaching and is very careful to fashion and form his conclusions in accord with the principles mentioned above. Of that I have no doubt. (I mention this matter in obedience to Church Law regarding one’s right to a good reputation.)
Similarly it is not up to 'any bishop of priest' to DIS-approve. But there are plenty of useful idiots, anyway. Some are Educated Beyond Their Intelligence and teach at Georgetown, too.
HT: HotAir
Slowly Sinking in the West
This will be interesting to watch.
The state has avoided default by temporarily borrowing from state trust funds, but those accounts will soon need their cash back to continue operating. Today California quickly began trying to sell $10 billion in municipal bonds to fund the record $28 billion they need to keep the lights on. With tax revenue plummeting and the state already the second lowest rated credit in the country, if the independent credit rating agencies downgrade the state to “junk bond", California will be short up to $18 billion and default.
We could start a pool: Illinois or California first?
HT: AOSHQ
California’s July sales tax revenue was down 33.5% from the budget approved in late June. Even more ominously, the state’s $9.6 billion cash deficit that was rolled over from the June 30th fiscal year has catapulted to $18 billion last month.
We could start a pool: Illinois or California first?
HT: AOSHQ
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Think You're in Hell Now? Wait a Year
The (current) President has all sorts of wonderful surprises in store for you--should he remain in office.
...Sen. Rob Portman shows that we are also headed over a steep “regulatory cliff” that could compound the damage.
For example, says Portman, EPA is sitting on a mega-rule that would impose a limit on ozone so strict that up to 85 percent of U.S. counties monitored by that Agency would be in violation.
And that's only the beginning!
EPA’s to-do list also includes a new rule that would increase energy costs by up to $4.5 billion. The rule targets equipment used by power plants to draw in water to prevent over-heating, a process that, according to Portman, is not harmful to human health or water quality. EPA’s own original estimate said that this rule would cost one dollar for every three cents saved.
Gotta save........FISH!! That's it!!! FISH!!! God only knows we're running out of them!!
...Department of Transportation is poised to issue a rule that will increase the costs of new cars and trucks by mandating expensive new technology. This rule would require that all cars and trucks be equipped with a rear-view camera and video display on the dashboard. Currently, this technology is available to consumers who desire it, and Portman says that 40 percent of new cars have it.
That will be around $300.00/copy.
...Sen. Rob Portman shows that we are also headed over a steep “regulatory cliff” that could compound the damage.
The Obama administration already has been quite aggressive on the regulatory front. However, with the presidential election looming, it is holding back on imposing several multi-billion dollar regulatory burdens. As Portman shows, these regs, coupled with more than 130 unfinished mandates under Dodd-Frank, could significantly increase the regulatory drag on our economy.
And that's only the beginning!
EPA’s to-do list also includes a new rule that would increase energy costs by up to $4.5 billion. The rule targets equipment used by power plants to draw in water to prevent over-heating, a process that, according to Portman, is not harmful to human health or water quality. EPA’s own original estimate said that this rule would cost one dollar for every three cents saved.
Gotta save........FISH!! That's it!!! FISH!!! God only knows we're running out of them!!
...Department of Transportation is poised to issue a rule that will increase the costs of new cars and trucks by mandating expensive new technology. This rule would require that all cars and trucks be equipped with a rear-view camera and video display on the dashboard. Currently, this technology is available to consumers who desire it, and Portman says that 40 percent of new cars have it.
That will be around $300.00/copy.
Buy. More. Ammo.
This Will Have Consequences
EPA's 15% corn-liquor rule may stand, said a Fed appeals court.
...E15 causes serious problems. The same people who manufacture the engines which have to burn these modified fuels have told us that as many as 5 million cars from 2001 and beyond could have their engines damaged by the hotter running fuel.
[That is to say, cars manufactured in 2001 and before].
The AVERAGE car on US roads today is slightly over 10 years old--built in 2002 or so.
EPA will place 5 million vehicles which are serviceable and serving, but not showpieces, at risk of melted-engine syndrome.
Did the EPA order a few hundred thousand rounds of .357 like Social Security did?
They may need it.
...E15 causes serious problems. The same people who manufacture the engines which have to burn these modified fuels have told us that as many as 5 million cars from 2001 and beyond could have their engines damaged by the hotter running fuel.
[That is to say, cars manufactured in 2001 and before].
The AVERAGE car on US roads today is slightly over 10 years old--built in 2002 or so.
EPA will place 5 million vehicles which are serviceable and serving, but not showpieces, at risk of melted-engine syndrome.
Did the EPA order a few hundred thousand rounds of .357 like Social Security did?
They may need it.
Shove It Where the Sun Don't Shine, Statist Slime
Ooooohhhhh....
Somebody is pissed off!
And not only that, but we did it with the albatross of a predatory, corrupt and overbearing government hanging around our necks at every juncture.
He's not done yet!
...Even though I didn't take a paycheck for the first year of the business and later skipped other paychecks to meet payroll or to pay taxes I am somehow at fault for the fact that all of these people sitting on their asses or working their cushy government jobs with the large pensions funded by armies of tax collectors and regulators may have to go without.
Well, I already went without so they can bloody well shut the fuck up and take their turn in the barrel!
OOOOOOOOOOOOORah!
HT: AOSHQ
Somebody is pissed off!
As a small business owner all I can say is that I think the current sentiment in the small business community is that we didn't sign up for this shit. Y'all can vote for whatever the hell you want but we are not going to be a part of it.
I have seen more owners get out of the business or retire in the past couple of years than ever before and with the ACA on the horizon the jobs these businesses produced will not be replaced. The economics no longer work. This is why unemployment is always so high in socialist countries. What you have to go through to have employees is just brutal.
But here's the thing about what Obama said --- he has it exactly backwards. The government didn't build any of that shit he is talking about --- we built it. We are the ones who paid for it. Not only did we build our businesses we built the schools and the roads and everything else he thinks was generated out of thin air. If you want to get technical about it the businesses and taxpayers that came along before we did built it all and now we are building what comes next.
He's not done yet!
...Even though I didn't take a paycheck for the first year of the business and later skipped other paychecks to meet payroll or to pay taxes I am somehow at fault for the fact that all of these people sitting on their asses or working their cushy government jobs with the large pensions funded by armies of tax collectors and regulators may have to go without.
OOOOOOOOOOOOORah!
HT: AOSHQ
Whose John Doe Probe IS This, Anyway?
A strange--if not wierd--turn of events.
...a Milwaukee County assistant DA’s seemingly private request for public records in the Gov. Scott Walker-related John Doe investigation was “rather unusual” and “odd.”
That information isn’t apparent until some 15 paragraphs into the story, but it does report that Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney David Robles made the open records request on June 18 without using official DA office letterhead. Robles also did not provide his job title, the story noted.
So it's a PERSONAL fishing expedition.
Jason Stein, [a JS reporter] add[ed] that Robles repeatedly refused to comment on the matter.
Yah, well, what's he going to say? "I was nosey!" Or maybe "I had nothing else to do this week!"
We may find out soon:
That should be interesting.
...a Milwaukee County assistant DA’s seemingly private request for public records in the Gov. Scott Walker-related John Doe investigation was “rather unusual” and “odd.”
In a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story this week reporting that the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s super-secret investigation, the piece notes the prosecutor sought state records apparently using his private email account.
So it's a PERSONAL fishing expedition.
Jason Stein, [a JS reporter] add[ed] that Robles repeatedly refused to comment on the matter.
Yah, well, what's he going to say? "I was nosey!" Or maybe "I had nothing else to do this week!"
We may find out soon:
Wisconsin Reporter has an open records request filed with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office seeking all information related to the probe.
That should be interesting.
Sloppy Thinking, Silly Results
A couple of locals suffer from Terminal Confusion Syndrome (TCS).
I experienced the "Catholic" identity as part of a greater whole, and this greater Body was anointed to bring"glad tidings to the poor."
Yes. That's the charge given to the Church. Not the Gummint.
...I believe that Representative Ryan's budget proposal is immoral. However, a deeper examination of its consequences makes me believe it is not just immoral but un-American. Why? Because it ensures liberty for some--those already financially secure--at the expense of justice for all,...
Someday, the priest might look up the word "justice" in a dictionary. Until then, he can not be taken seriously.
HT: CMR
I experienced the "Catholic" identity as part of a greater whole, and this greater Body was anointed to bring"glad tidings to the poor."
Yes. That's the charge given to the Church. Not the Gummint.
...I believe that Representative Ryan's budget proposal is immoral. However, a deeper examination of its consequences makes me believe it is not just immoral but un-American. Why? Because it ensures liberty for some--those already financially secure--at the expense of justice for all,...
Someday, the priest might look up the word "justice" in a dictionary. Until then, he can not be taken seriously.
HT: CMR
"Our Plan....Worked!!"--Part 3
"Our Plan Worked!!" said the Nincompoop-in-Chief. So the question: what IS your real plan??
Because if THAT is 'the plan'.........
HT: PowerLine
HT: PowerLine
Some "News" Questions for Obozo
Noted: Obozo doesn't like appearing at press conferences. He prefers 'local appearances' with radio or TV hosts.
Usually those 'local appearances' are utterly devoid of substance.
So McCain & Co. solicited more 'local appearance' questions for Obozo. Here are a few:
More at the link.
Usually those 'local appearances' are utterly devoid of substance.
So McCain & Co. solicited more 'local appearance' questions for Obozo. Here are a few:
If you had been there to make gutsy calls, could WWII have been finished in 2 years, or is 3 more realistic?
Does Ryan’s plan stab the elderly in the heart, or is it more of a diesmbowelment?
How much do you think the Koch brothers are really spending to destroy the election’s integrity with voter ID laws?
More at the link.
The Tenth Amendment Revolution Has Begun
Another Tenth Amendment action from Arizona.
In an executive order, Brewer said she was reaffirming the intent of current Arizona law denying taxpayer-funded public benefits and state identification to illegal immigrants. --Protein Wisdom quoting ABC15k HT: Belvedere
Kudos to Brewer.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday ordered state agencies to deny driver’s licenses and other public benefits to young illegal immigrants who obtain work authorizations under a new Obama administration policy. After the order was issued, supporters of the program and the DREAM Act took to the streets of Phoenix in protest. Video from Air15 showed the protesters carrying signs and walking down Central Avenue toward the State Capitol.
Kudos to Brewer.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Fear Big Gummint? You Bet Your Fortune!
AOSHQ has more of the story.
...Two weeks ago, Captain Yacubian filed the lawsuit that may well restore his money and his life after nearly 15 years of gut-wrenching bludgeoning by the NOAA.
Just another EPA. Lawyers, unlimited money from taxpayers, and a vendetta mentality.
...Two weeks ago, Captain Yacubian filed the lawsuit that may well restore his money and his life after nearly 15 years of gut-wrenching bludgeoning by the NOAA.
The Commerce Department's inspector general reviewed the NOAA's Asset Forfeiture Fund -- where Yacubian's $430,000 fine went -- and found that "these funds were used to purchase 'luxurious' undercover vessels, buy 202 vehicles for a staff of 172 enforcement personnel, and take trips around the world."
A special investigative judge concluded there is "credible evidence that money was NOAA's motivating objective in this case." There's also knowledgeable belief that the NOAA's purpose is to eradicate the fishing industry....Just another EPA. Lawyers, unlimited money from taxpayers, and a vendetta mentality.
SIlly Season at Forbes
There are plenty of valid concerns about the GM/Chrysler bailouts. I've always held that they should have been allowed to enter 'prepackaged' BK proceedings. But it is what it is.
Having said that, some guy at Forbes needs to take his meds.
...Now Forbes tells us GM is probably heading for bankruptcy again. Its stock price would have to more than double, to $53.00 per share, for taxpayers to recover their “investment.” Instead, stock values have declined by 39 percent in absolute terms, and 49 percent relative to the Dow average, since GM went public in 2010. Louis Woodhill of Forbes thinks political considerations would prompt Obama to “ride the stock down to zero” instead of cashing out at a massive loss to the public....
Woodhill bases his case on one car-mag's unfavorable review of one Chevrolet product (the Malibu ECO). That particular model is expected to be a small portion of overall Malibu sales. Weak tea.
But there's more. The author also mentions the growth of Volkswagen--without mentioning that VW has acquired a number of competitors whose sales dollars are wrapped into VW's numbers. He also blasts GM's CEO Akerson--which may be the most valid of his complaints--but Akerson is not long for the GM world anyhow.
Is GM a risk? Yes. But the same could be said of VW, Ford, Mazda (which has REAL trouble) and certainly Fiat/Chrysler. That's business. But Woodhill's "case" isn't serious.
Having said that, some guy at Forbes needs to take his meds.
...Now Forbes tells us GM is probably heading for bankruptcy again. Its stock price would have to more than double, to $53.00 per share, for taxpayers to recover their “investment.” Instead, stock values have declined by 39 percent in absolute terms, and 49 percent relative to the Dow average, since GM went public in 2010. Louis Woodhill of Forbes thinks political considerations would prompt Obama to “ride the stock down to zero” instead of cashing out at a massive loss to the public....
Woodhill bases his case on one car-mag's unfavorable review of one Chevrolet product (the Malibu ECO). That particular model is expected to be a small portion of overall Malibu sales. Weak tea.
But there's more. The author also mentions the growth of Volkswagen--without mentioning that VW has acquired a number of competitors whose sales dollars are wrapped into VW's numbers. He also blasts GM's CEO Akerson--which may be the most valid of his complaints--but Akerson is not long for the GM world anyhow.
Is GM a risk? Yes. But the same could be said of VW, Ford, Mazda (which has REAL trouble) and certainly Fiat/Chrysler. That's business. But Woodhill's "case" isn't serious.
'Take a Shotgun to the Boy Scouts'
Here's the real face of Leftist totalitarianism.
...The website of The Atlantic magazine today carries an article shocking in its use of incendiary and hateful rhetoric laden with violent imagery, all aimed at the Boys Scouts of America.
The article, by James Hamblin, a medical doctor and an editor for the magazine, attacks the BSA for its policy of not admitting gays as members or leaders.
So far, just the standard horsehockey. The "doctor" (an MD), evokes the movie 'Old Yeller,' and goes on:
...Perpetuating a culture where gay teenagers -- who are already commonly battling notions of inferiority and self-hatred -- can be openly and decidedly told they aren't welcome among a preeminent organization that purports to represent and define a standard of behavioral ideals, is dangerous. It's a decided step back in rejecting the culture of gay bullying. We will see more depression, and more suicide. We'll see more discrimination of every sort, and more hatred.
If the BSA won't change, then the burden falls on a just society to take them out behind the barn with whatever sort of shotgun revokes credibility."
Maybe that was the article that the FRC shooter had in mind, eh?
...The website of The Atlantic magazine today carries an article shocking in its use of incendiary and hateful rhetoric laden with violent imagery, all aimed at the Boys Scouts of America.
So far, just the standard horsehockey. The "doctor" (an MD), evokes the movie 'Old Yeller,' and goes on:
...Perpetuating a culture where gay teenagers -- who are already commonly battling notions of inferiority and self-hatred -- can be openly and decidedly told they aren't welcome among a preeminent organization that purports to represent and define a standard of behavioral ideals, is dangerous. It's a decided step back in rejecting the culture of gay bullying. We will see more depression, and more suicide. We'll see more discrimination of every sort, and more hatred.
Maybe that was the article that the FRC shooter had in mind, eh?
Thursday, August 16, 2012
The Hide-and-Seek of EPA; Next On the "Eliminate" List
You can read the top of the article for background.
Here's the nuts of it:
Not surprisingly, the EPA is stonewalling the request demanding that the costs of compiling the data be paid for by Americans for Limited Government in spite of the fact that the group has followed the exact procedures under the law which dictate that the information should be provided free of charge. Similar Americans for Limited Government FOIA requests have been delivered without fee by more than a dozen other federal government departments and agencies. Yet, the EPA objects.
EPA is way past providing useful services for the country. Too bad Romney doesn't have the cojones to simply dump this pile of slime down the sewer.
Here's the nuts of it:
The request simply asks for all communications between the EPA’s Offices, which entered into the legal agreement, and the eleven groups which sued the Agency including the Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Change Network and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
EPA is way past providing useful services for the country. Too bad Romney doesn't have the cojones to simply dump this pile of slime down the sewer.
America-Hating Obozo? Yup.
About 10 minutes of indictment in a 10-minute video.
If you still think Obozo is some sort of patriot, then you're beyond rescue.
If you still think Obozo is some sort of patriot, then you're beyond rescue.
What About the Spotted Garter Toads?
Who you know is MUCH more important than.....
...Several weeks ago in a remarkable but little-noticed policy directive, the Interior Department announced that it will allow construction permitting on 285,000 acres of public land in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah for solar energy projects. Even more remarkable, Interior said that energy firms can petition Interior to build solar installations “on approximately 19 million acres”—a larger land mass than Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont combined....
If they were talking about paving over California and D.C. with solar panels, that would be good.
...Several weeks ago in a remarkable but little-noticed policy directive, the Interior Department announced that it will allow construction permitting on 285,000 acres of public land in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah for solar energy projects. Even more remarkable, Interior said that energy firms can petition Interior to build solar installations “on approximately 19 million acres”—a larger land mass than Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont combined....
If they were talking about paving over California and D.C. with solar panels, that would be good.
As a Matter of Fact, Obozo.....
Interesting tidbit:
For all the bluster of Obama, pre- and post-2008, as well as that of Attorney General Eric Holder concerning the alleged criminal activities on Wall Street, there have been zero Wall Street prosecutions under Obama/Holder.
Unchained, indeed!
HT: Thinker
For all the bluster of Obama, pre- and post-2008, as well as that of Attorney General Eric Holder concerning the alleged criminal activities on Wall Street, there have been zero Wall Street prosecutions under Obama/Holder.
Unchained, indeed!
HT: Thinker
Connecting Dots
One graf of irony from a tale of leftward-marching (D) politics:
...Mandela Barnes, 25-year old community organizer for the left-wing interfaith organization MICAH, defeated incumbent Rep. Jason Fields in Assembly District 11. Fields was an ardent defender of the Milwaukee choice program and Barnes made an issue of the pro-voucher group American Federation of Children spending money in the race. Barnes won handily with 68% of the vote....
Milwaukee Inner City (Congregations) Allied for Hope. That would be the Alinsky outfit, no?
Are we to believe that "Hope" is the Publick Screwels of Milwaukee, rather than the Choice alternatives?
...Mandela Barnes, 25-year old community organizer for the left-wing interfaith organization MICAH, defeated incumbent Rep. Jason Fields in Assembly District 11. Fields was an ardent defender of the Milwaukee choice program and Barnes made an issue of the pro-voucher group American Federation of Children spending money in the race. Barnes won handily with 68% of the vote....
Milwaukee Inner City (Congregations) Allied for Hope. That would be the Alinsky outfit, no?
Are we to believe that "Hope" is the Publick Screwels of Milwaukee, rather than the Choice alternatives?
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
A New Obozo Death Panel?
Something's going on here.
A little too old, and collecting a lot? Not for long, SUCKA!!
First it was the Department of Homeland Security, then it was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and now the Social Security Administration is set to purchase 174,000 rounds of hollow point bullets that will be delivered to 41 locations across the country.
A solicitation posted by the SSA on the FedBizOpps website asks for contractors to supply 174,000 rounds of “.357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition.
A little too old, and collecting a lot? Not for long, SUCKA!!
Electable, Yah. Conservative? No.
Tommy wins.
Nice piece of work, getting a pollster to inquire about 'defeating Baldwin.'
And Margaret Farrow should be ashamed of herself for that 'Walker Loves Tommy' BS she ran with.
Oh, well. Amtrak is now a Protected Species, like any other dinosaur would be. And "Screw 'Em" reigns.
Hint: look at the Dane County (R) vote. You think that Dane County has "small gummint" Republicans? Think again.
Nice piece of work, getting a pollster to inquire about 'defeating Baldwin.'
And Margaret Farrow should be ashamed of herself for that 'Walker Loves Tommy' BS she ran with.
Oh, well. Amtrak is now a Protected Species, like any other dinosaur would be. And "Screw 'Em" reigns.
Hint: look at the Dane County (R) vote. You think that Dane County has "small gummint" Republicans? Think again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
