Sunday, October 07, 2012

NYC Folk Are Just Clueless

OMG, what to do?  WHAT to DO????

A turf battle of sorts is taking place in some neighborhoods.

Raccoons are invading.

They’re getting into garbage cans, backyards and even breaking into homes. And what’s more, these resourceful raccoons are outsmarting the most determined of trappers, CBS 2’s Dave Carlin reported.
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn resident Susan DeBrango snapped pictures of the suspects, their faces masked, trying to get inside her home.

.....DeBrango said she is organizing a public meeting on Oct. 17, calling it a “Raccoon Summit,” with neighbors, local politicians and raccoon experts. That’s because fighting foes this resourceful means securing trash can lids, bringing cat, dog and bird food inside, and making house repairs to cut them off from cozy places to sleep.

Just clueless.  No wonder NYC votes Democrat.

Passing Strange Contribution Numbers

Strikes one as rather odd, no?

The [Obama] campaign said that just over 1.8 million people made donations to the campaign last month. According to the campaign, over 500k of these were brand-new donors, having neither given in 2008 nor 2012. 98% of contributions were under the reporting threshold of $250. Of these, the average contribution was $53.

Last time around, Obozo's campaign was collecting huge numbers of donations from overseas.

Musta worked real well, because they're playing the same game again:

According to the sources, a taxpayer watchdog group conducted a nine-month investigation into presidential and congressional fundraising and has uncovered thousands of cases of credit card solicitations and donations to Obama and Capitol Hill, allegedly from unsecure accounts, and many from overseas

How many debit cards does George Soros have, anyway?? 

Saturday, October 06, 2012

If Only It Were Just "Taxes"

RenMan cites the really scary part (speaking of Leviathan)....

A Competitive Enterprise Institute working paper, “Tip of the Costberg: On the Invalidity of All Cost of Regulation Estimates and the Need to Compile Them Anyway,” assembles total federal regulatory costs of $1.8 trillion — equivalent to half the federal budget (tenthousandcommandments.com). Guarding against overregulation without representation could help bring that figure down. It is long past time we did so.  --quoting WaTimes

That's just Federal costs.  It's likely that State and Muni reg-costs are at least as much. Taxes are a mere pittance in comparison.

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad, State?

When Patrick Deneen writes, read it!

Before the [rise of the State], memberships in various social settings were overlapping and varied, ranging from families, neighborhoods, townships, boroughs, regions, guilds, Church (parish and Catholic), nation, even empire. 

...No one was more influential in the definition of the modern state than Thomas Hobbes, who through the conceit of the “state of nature,” portrayed humans as naturally autonomous and individual, with a shared membership solely through one institution—the State.

(We might add that that 'autonomy' and 'individuality' was lauded by R W Emerson, along with many other New England innnerlekshuls.  This point was made by Kirk, who described those folks as '[statist] tinkerers.'  Think GHW Bush, or the Kennedys.)

 Deneen quotes W. Cavanagh:

For Hobbes, the individual was not oppressed but liberated by Leviathan. In his view, the State is not enacted to realize a common good or a common telos, but rather to liberate the individual to pursue his or her own ends without fear of interference from other individuals. In the peculiar new space created by the state, the individual members do not depend on one another; rather, they are connected only through the sovereign—as spokes to the hub of a wheel

And this leads to a key point we haven't discussed here:

Thus, Robert Nisbet wrote in his classic work The Quest for Community, “The real conflict in modern political history has not been, as is so often stated, between State and individual, but between State and social group.

This is not merely a complaint about Democrats, by the way:

Austrian legal theorist Eugene Ehrlich perceptively observed, “After the associations into which individuals have been placed as members of society have been dissolved and destroyed, the only connecting links that remain between the individual and society are ownership, contract, and the State.”

(....a lot of self-described "conservatives" love them those 'ownership and contract' things.  Maybe they love them too well, and ignore that "state" part.)

..This ambition has informed Obama’s candidacy from its first days to its recently concluded convention....This picture of a radically individuated human being gave rise to the observation during the Democratic National Convention that “government is the only thing we all belong to” [sic].

Thus, the "Mandate."

Note the conceit: Employees at Catholic (or other similarly informed religious institutions) are “coerced” by not having free contraceptives provided as part of their health plans. The state, through the threat of punitive fines ..., acts as the liberator of these oppressed people. This narrative seems plausible to many, because we have been deeply shaped and trained to associate the word “liberty” with the freedom of individuals “to pursue their own ends”—requiring, among other things, the liberation of recreational sex from any consequences—and not the rights, privileges, immunities and liberties of groups, societies, associations, even a corpus mysticum like the Church. In such a view we find Leviathan run rampant

Deneen correctly categorizes this Statism as part of a troika including Communism and Fascism.

And it's here.

Friday, October 05, 2012

Cartels Still Alive and Kicking in Wisconsin

Had lunch with a pal today who gave me the news that the Labor/Management/Municipal cartels are hard at work.

Seems that the new proposal being pushed Statewide is to require licenses for low-voltage wire-stringers.  That category happens to include ANYONE who strings telephone wires, computer cables, or sound-system wire.

The municipals are happy, because it means more license-revenues.

The Managements are happy because licensing will reduce competition.  (Think "barber" license.)

And Labor is happy because of BOTH reasons above.

Of course, the consumer--unaware of the Major Safety Hazard of computer cable, sound cable, and telephone wire--will pay for it.

Feel safer now?

California Gas Facts the MSM Doesn't Mention

Since the news about $5.00++ gas prices in California came out, I've thought that Obozo could lose that State.  Turns out that there's something to that.

...California has its own special blend of gasoline for environmental reasons that are now largely obsolete.  This means that California can’t use the gasoline blends sold in Oregon, Nevada, or Arizona, which means that a refinery shortage here can’t be remedied by the usual means of bringing in more supply from somewhere else. 

But President Obama could order the EPA to waive the gasoline regulations, and allow out-of-state gasoline to be transported and sold in California, delivering at least 10 to 20 cents a gallon of price relief, and perhaps much more.

The Smartest President Evaaaahhhhh!  hasn't figured this out yet?

HT:  PowerLine

"Hold Muh' Beer While...."

Yes, it is funny. 

HT:  Arms/Law

Why Kill Big Bird?

At the rate the economy's going (and it ain't great), many Americans NEED to put food on the table.

Given the size of Big Bird, he'd feed several families for a week or so.

Just sayin'....

BinLaden Dead, AlQuaeda Very Much Alive!

From this report, it seems that the foreign-policy debate should be very interesting, indeed.

Intelligence held back from senior officials and the public includes numerous classified reports revealing clear Iranian support for jihadists throughout the tumultuous North Africa and Middle East region, as well as notably widespread al Qaeda penetration into Egypt and Libya in the months before the deadly Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi…

Officials with access to intelligence reports, based on both technical spying and human agents, said specific reporting revealed an alarming surge in clandestine al Qaeda activity months before the attack in Benghazi

The Obama Administration is afraid to admit al Qaeda is running rampant throughout the region because it would expose the truth instead of what President Obama so pompously spouted during the Democratic Convention” said the official.  --quoted by HotAir

"Truth?  What is 'Truth'"?  All we're missing is a wife with nightmares...

The "$5 Trillion" Lie

It's reported today (Friday) that SCOAMF repeated his "$5 Trillion" lie at some college someplace.

Too bad that his own spox agrees:  it's a lie.

Resonance in Capital Letters

Ace says it best:

@benhowe notes the silly stunt by the babbling, incoherent old man Clint Eastwood seems to have... resonated in the public consciousness precisely as he intended it to.

Almost as if a celebrated story-teller and "movie tradesman" knew something about visuals and metaphor and narrative or something!

Sometime, not long from now, serious students of the movies will be discussing the genius of Eastwood.  They will be discussing "less is more" rather vigorously--or perhaps "noble simplicity."

Jack Welch Oughta Know About Numbers Manipulation

Anyone who paid attention to GE's financials during the Welch regime noticed that all the numbers were on a smooth upward curve.  Almost no 'hitches' or 'woopsies'.

Some suspected that perhaps, just perhaps, those numbers were carefully managed.

So when Welch says that perhaps, just perhaps, the DOL unemployment numbers were managed, we should pay attention.

It is hard to believe that the U-rate dropped by that much in a month.  On the other hand, it is what it is.

What IS noteworthy--and what is problematic--is this:

The labor force participation rate, which reflects those working as well as looking for work, edged higher to 63.6 percent but remained around 30-year lows. 

The level of part-time workers reported the largest jump for the month, gaining 582,000.

That's the Christmas retail rush, just beginning.  And that's not exactly Great News.  Good, maybe.  Great?

Nope.

More:

...The fact remains that one year ago when we had 9% unemployment, we actually had 2,680,000 more Americans in the labor force.  Essentially, that means that over 2.5 million workers have given up looking for work since last year.  If we break it down by gender, that’s 711,000 men who have exited the workforce and, amazingly, over 1.9 million women who have exited the workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics....

It's called 'the numerator-drop' for you math-challenged types.




Microsoft v. US Workers

More of the same, from Matloff, as usual.

Microsoft recently made a dramatic full-court PR press for expanding the H-1B program, proposing a $10K user fee per visa, on top of current fees, to fund educational measure to remedy a supposed labor shortage in
the computer area.


That presentation was made at the Brookings Institution.

1.  There is no labor shortage in the computer field.

2.  Microsoft could fill many, if not all, of its openings with highly-qualified Americans.

3.  Microsoft has once again misrepresented their salary structure.

4.  It's time that the press started questioning the role of Brookings in the H-1B/green card issue.


Other than that, the presentation was just fine.

Oh, yah--Brookings.

...why has Brookings been holding so many conferences on H-1B and employer-sponsored green cards, all with a pro-industry bent?  Why in particular have Microsoft speakers featured prominently in the last two
of these events?  See http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/BrookingsGeo.txt

Here is the likely answer, an article titled "The fine print: Brookings study on Google-DoubleClick deal funded by Microsoft," at
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/the-fine-print-brookings-study-on-google-doubleclick-deal-funded-by-microsoft/755


All just coincidence, of course.

Liturgical Common Sense Returning

Interesting:

In response to a request from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the USCCB Administrative Committee adopted a change on September 12, 2012 to the U.S. Bishops’ 2007 guidelines on liturgical music, Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship. Number 188 of the document has been altered to remove any further permission for the use of Christological tropes or other adaptations to the text of the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).  --cited at GSGP

It had become an endless "cover-music" during a similarly endless assemblage/distribution routine made mandatory by having flocks of extraordinary ministers.

That's all it was.  And now it ends.

HT:  MSForum

Thursday, October 04, 2012

More Taxes? Tammy's Your Gal!

Ferociously PROUD of her agenda (except this part, which is not on her campaign-web site...)

...in both 2008 and in 2009, Rep. Baldwin proudly sponsored the Greenhouse Gas Registry Act that would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force businesses and industries to track and report their greenhouse gas usage to the federal government. Rep. Baldwin said “Our legislation gives us the foundation on which we can build a successful cap and trade program.”

But numbers from the Obama administration show that cap and trade legislation could cost families up to $1,761.00 per year. According to an Associated Press report, “The Obama administration has privately concluded that a cap and trade law would cost American taxpayers up to $200 billion a year, the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15 percent.

Maybe she "forgot" about her sponsorship of regulatory-tax schemes?

UW: "Pay Thirty Grand, Get Less!"

We all know why the SCOAMF-in-Chief wants to appear at UW-Madistan.

What we don't know is why UW-Madistan officials rolled over for him.

...The university's lawyers have reached an agreement with the Obama campaign to rent part of the campus for the president's rally and may charge additional costs after the event for services such as electricity and Internet lines, university spokesman Dennis Chaptman said.

The 'base price' for renting the lawn is $15K, which will just about offset the cost of setup/teardown of the podium-stand and other stage-sets.

But if you paid tuition--and room and board--you're getting the short end of the ObozoStick:

The visit is leading the university to close six academic buildings around Bascom Mall for security reasons, and as a result classes and exams in those buildings have to be moved, rescheduled or canceled, said Vince Sweeney, UW-Madison's vice chancellor for university relations. The decision on what to do was left up to individual instructors, he said.

University employees in those buildings will be working with their supervisors to decide whether to work in a different location, shift their work schedule or take a vacation day, Sweeney said.

 The UW also allowed Obama's campaign to harvest name/phone/email addresses of ALL attendees at the event.

So.  Fuggedabout class, lose privacy rights, shut up and pay your tuition!

The ONLY Obama Accomplishment

Outside of scaring Boehner and McConnell into abject servility, Obama has one accomplishment:

The federal government added $93,245,605,914.16 to its debt on Oct. 1, the first day of fiscal 2013. That was more than all the debt the federal government accumulated between July 4, 1776 when the United States declared independence from England and sometime in October 1942, which was ten months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor...

That's it, folks!

The Smartest People on Earth? Really??

As you recall, both Hildebeeste Clinton and B Hussein Obama were promoted as 'the smartest people on Earth' because.......well........just because.

When one is that intellectually gifted, it's not necessary to worry about 'normal' stuff.

So they don't.

More than three weeks after attacks in this city killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, sensitive documents remained only loosely secured in the remains of the U.S. mission here on Wednesday, offering visitors easy access to delicate details about American operations in Libya.

Documents detailing weapons collection efforts, emergency evacuation protocols, the full internal itinerary of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens’s trip and the personnel records of Libyans who were contracted to secure the mission were among the items scattered across the floors of the looted compound when a Washington Post reporter and a translator visited Wednesday.  --RedState quoting WaPo

When you're Sooooooo Smart, only little people (like those Libyans who secured the mission) get killed, or hurt.  When you're Sooooooo Smart, your report on the incident doesn't happen until AFTER the election.

I'll grant you that B Hussein and Hildebeeste are smarter than the MSM.  But that's about all.


Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Even MORE Lying From Obozo

Not only did he lie about Stafford Act waivers vis-a-vis New Orleans, the lying liar ......

 Neo-neocon points out that Obama was one of 14 Senators who voted against the waiver of the Stafford Act. So not only was Obama’s complaint false, it was one he would have lacked standing to raise, given his vote on the issue.

If he weren't the President, he wouldn't qualify as a pissant.

HT:  PowerLine

Five Questions Lehrer Will NOT Ask

We don't expect Lehrer to ask Romney if he's really a racist/elitist moonbat.

And we don't expect Lehrer to ask Obozo any of the questions posed in this brilliant, concise, and utterly damning column, either.

The column is well worth reading--and storing someplace so your grandchildren can read it, too.  File it under "The Death of Liberty in America."