Copy Cat

David Nabhan, author of “Earthquake Predictions: Answers in Plain Sight," believes that he can predict earthquakes.  The next ones he expects to occur between 4:45 and 7:55 AM or PM on July 12^th and September 9^th of this year (pretty specific, huh?) Although this may sound a bit loopy, the rationale for these predictions has to do with the combined effect of the sun’s and the moon’s gravitational pull on our land masses … just as they can and do affect our ocean’s tides … see: Pittsburgh CBS Story.

I happen to agree with Mr. Nabhan about the influence of the moon's and sun's gravity on earthquakes. To me this makes perfect sense … just as over three years ago I had this exact same thought when the Earth was experiencing a series of devastating earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand during a period coincident with when our moon was particularly close to Earth in its orbit (in a well-known 18-year cycle) … see: Shine on ...  But I would need more hard evidence before I concur with his time-of-day predictions.

Science can sometimes assemble remarkable insights when one observes one’s circumstances fully unencumbered by political orthodoxies.

reddit Gallery CLXVIII

Another excursion into the world of reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Do yourself a favor and click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

1914 Alfa Romeo Aerodynamica

Dracula Orchid

Huge Solar Flare

Ferrofluid

Underwater Waterfall

The Obama Doctrine

President Obama gave the graduation address at West Point yesterday and once again tried to enunciate the Obama Doctrine. And today on “Morning Joe" (MSNBC), Joe Scarborough asked his assembled lefties to say what this Doctrine actually was. None did a very good job defining it. But by carefully reading our fearless leader’s commencement address text, I think I might be able to codify this Doctrine. Here goes my elevator capsule:

America will never again send our armed forces into battle except under extreme duress and actual threat to our homeland. We will deal with any and all other foreign aggression which does not meet these criteria with “soft power” which is defined as moral suasion, diplomacy, and, if necessary, sanctions … but will never include the implicit or explicit threat to use our military might or atomic weapons. As a consequence the United States will allow our armed forces and armaments to depreciate to a level appropriate to this new foreign-policy stance.

Read the subtle and circuitous route through Obama’s commencement address at West Point (including that which lies between the lines) and see if you don’t concur with my above assessment … see: The New York Times' Transcript  In this speech, Obama does decry our slipping back into our pre-WW2 isolationism.  However, if my statement of the Obama Doctrine is accurate, that is exactly what we are doing ... and I've said this before, see: The World Map. I could be wrong, but I really don’t believe that this is the zeitgeist that now pervades America … despite our foreign policy mistakes under George W. Bush.

I honestly don't think that the American people are ready to step back and concede the rest of the world to the Dark Side.

Afterward: And apparently the New York Times editorial board somewhat agrees with my slant ... see: NY Times Editorial.

Maya Angelou

Mark Steyn somehow has an encyclopedic knowledge of almost anything.  Yesterday he regurgitated his all in tribute to Maya Angelou on the occasion of her demise. Although he proffers a few zingers, in general he treats her reasonably kindly … with lots of gritty life details (it’s worth a read) … see: Steyn Online.

Swimming in all this interesting flotsam about Ms. Angelou’s life however, somehow Mr. Steyn missed what I remember most about this lady. That was the doggerel part of the poem she read at Bill Clinton’s first inaugural … see: Professor Althouse's Blog.

William F, Buckley Jr., also now deceased, when commenting on this poetry performance by Ms, Angelou famously said, “We were both at a loss for words.”

RIP, Maya

In the Weeds

The yield on the 10-year U.S. government bond went below 2.5% this morning! Given that the Federal Reserve Bank is now paring back its monthly purchases of government and mortgage debt (its “quantitative easing” or “QE” … see: CNBC Story), this is so counter-intuitive that I feel compelled to explore why this might be occurring. I realize that such an excursion is, to many, a romp in the weeds, but this development is of such vital importance to the future well-being of our economy, that I must get out the ole Weed Wacker.

First the obvious … the yields on government securities are going down (and prices are going up) because there is an increasing demand for this debt … despite the fact that the Fed is buying less of it.  And also, as indicated in the above referenced article, there is also a reduced supply of new government bond issuances due to our shrinking federal deficit.  But, importantly, this effect is just at the margin, it does not diminish the enormous supply of existing U.S. government debt ($17.5 trillion and still growing). In fact, this YTD reduced new federal debt issuances can just about match the decrease in Fed QE purchases (minus $177 billion vs. an estimated minus $150 billion). Therefore this current lower bond yield anomaly appears to be very much more an increased demand phenomenon.

The question then is why is the demand increasing for U.S. government debt. One reason may be that investors were expecting a punky stock market this year (after a booming stock market in 2013) and therefore swung to bonds. According to the above article, “around $85.52 billion has flowed into bond funds so far this year, outpacing the $45.98 billion that flowed into equities over the same period.” Also both the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan have gone to school on Ben Bernanke’s monetary strategy … and are now out-easing the United States. The result is bond yields in these countries are falling to new lows … see: Business Week Story. This, of course, makes “safer” U.S debt more attractive on an arbitrage basis … and off-shore money is also now flooding into the U.S. bond market.

However be warned, if anyone buying 10-year U.S. government securities expects to hold them to maturity and then get their money back in full, you might be better off smoking another type of weed.

reddit Gallery CLXVII

Another excursion into the world of reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Do yourself a favor and click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Lion and Warthog  Death Match

Zeppelin under Construction, ca. 1935

Natural Tunnel

65 Million Year-old Nest of Therizinosaurus Eggs

Red-sided Garter Snake

Memorial Day

(from reddit)

The price we pay ...

Why is ...

... a cowboy hat like a case of hemorrhoids?


Scroll down for the answer ...





Answer:  Every asshole gets one eventually.

reddit Gallery CLXVI

Another excursion into the world of reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Do yourself a favor and click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Traffic Lights

Mercedes Benz Gray Ghost

Hummingbird

Milky Way over Grand Canyon

Moon Bridge (form not following function)

The Enforcer

Senator Schumer

Upchuck Schumer has just issued a Putin-like threat ... if Congress doesn't pass immigration reform by the end of July, then President Obama will act unilaterally to implement his own reform package ... see: The Hill Story. I suspect (and hope) that this bit of Gestapo-like extortion may be just New York bluster.

But what if it isn't?

If it isn't, then the Democrats will have trashed our 240-year old Republic for the sake of perpetual Democrat governance.  I sincerely doubt that this would be tolerated by the American voters.

 But then again ...  this slime-ball enforcer's calculus might be that this outrage could well be, alas, too late to be rectified.

Afterward: Despite the fact that he was once a college lecturer on the Constitution, he apparently has even more problems with our great document than its separation of powers language. He now avers that Congress was ill-constructed by our founding fathers ... see: Washington Times article.

Drought Data

As a follow-up to my blog a few days back … see: Climate Disruptions where I pointed out that the number of serious weather events over the last 110 years do not seem to be clustered in recent years. (Thus, once again, debunking the wild-eyed climate-disruption hysteria of our sinister climate charlatans.)  I have received criticism from one of this blog’s perpetual nemesis … harping that loss of life was not a good measure of the gravity of these climate events. Sooo, I recently found some hard physical data about the trends in global droughts over the last thirty years … see: Watts Up With That.

Clearly, viewing the very-well sourced chart therein, not only have droughts around the world not increased over this time period, but, to my eye, they actually seem to be declining.

Is this reduction in global droughts now to be defined as a “climate disruption?”

You know the answer as well as I do.

Afterward: And here is a contribution by a reader who is also a doubter (and proud of it) ... see: News Busters Piece.

In Defense of Climate Charlatans

Hollywood is closing ranks around its climate charlatans after that liberal punker James O’Keefe (remember his Project Veritas' ACORN videos?) laid them bare in a filmed expose of their two-faced eco-hypocrisy. Red-faced and defensive, Ed Begley Jr., Josh/Rebecca Tickell, and Mariel Hemungway are now threatening to sue and asking for FBI and local law enforcement intervention to punish this secret filming and recording of their perfidy. After you have read all the gorilla dust in this article (see: Hollywood Reporter Story) then please view the video at its end that actually shows these VIPs’ two-facedness. It’s a little long, but it is worth seeing how all this dreck goes down.

Faux Anger

I don’t think I need to reiterate all of President Obama’s management miscues surrounding the Veterans Administration (VA) fiasco. Even some die-hard Democrats are beginning to realize how inept our fearless leader has been in his handling of the corruption, incompetence and cover-ups that seems to have permeate this agency ... six years after he swore to fix things … let alone his numerous other scandals that have arisen due to his terms of lassitude and inattention. Sooo, Obama again reluctantly came out today to put his “I’m mad as hell” lid on his latest administration scandal ... see: Breitbart Story.

The funny part about this faux anger is that Obama can’t seem to get beyond his practiced, glib delivery style. His outrage seems as convincing as his Obamacare promises. He once told Harry Reid that his ability to read from a teleprompter was “a gift.” And for many years it was … it actually got him elected. But his inability to differentiate with his emotions between 40 veterans dying due to VA uselessness … and his pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkey … has turned this “gift” into an oozing leper’s sore. I can only imagine that these hollow words he spoke today in this news conference were but his down payment on another golf game … see: ABC Story

Instead of steam coming out of Obama’s ears, his sad performance today appeared more like a Three Stooges pantomime. Our maimed and infirmed veterans really do deserve better that this cynical charade we were offered..

reddit Gallery CLXV

Another excursion into the world of reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Do yourself a favor and click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Olive Vendor

Rare Green Flash

Froggie Back

Tampa Bay Waterspout

Tiny Tunnel

reddit Gallery CLXIV

Another excursion into the world of reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Do yourself a favor and click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

1930 Henderson Streamliner

Hawaii Lave Flow

Super Cell over Wyoming

Naked Sea Butterfly

Dressy Scatology

The Race Card

Let me see … the United States freed the slaves about 150 years ago and, in the process, sacrificed over 600,000 of our young men. It also stopped school segregation and Jim Crow laws about 60 years ago. And, as an act of atonement, it has long encouraged racial preferences to be used in employment and education. It has had two black Supreme Court justices, two black Secretaries of State, one black Attorney General and multiple black Presidential cabinet secretaries and top-level advisers, many black Senators, Representatives, state Governors and city Mayors, and numerous black corporate CEOs, university Presidents, sports personalities, movie/music stars, TV poobahs, and other millionaire glitterati … and now the U.S. has a black in the highest office in the land … its President … all elected, appointed or appreciated by a population which is, by its majority, not black.

One would think that these many enlightened accomplishments might begin to remove the stain of slavery from the American psyche (our original sin as so aptly described by Condoleezza Rice.)  But no … we are still racists. Not only are whites racists, but we are often compared to the Klu Klux Klan … itching to scare the black man into submission with a burning cross. We are an unrecoverable and vile form of humanity who cannot be reformed or forgiven for the sins of our forebearers … even beyond the seventh generation (the seeming Biblical limit of sin’s legacy.)

Recently, Michelle Obama, in a high-school graduation address, told her starry-eyed audience that they still hold secret prejudice against the likes of her … see: here. And Attorney General, Eric Holder has let go with both barrels. First saying that anyone who opposes President Obama’s policies is guilty of “quiet prejudice” … see: here. And then, paradoxically suggested that colorblindness is not the way to end discrimination … see: here.

I guess playing the race card in politics has become second nature to many on the left … particularly when your pile of accomplishment chips is so diminished. But, I for one am more than ready to call the left's bluff.

Continued winning at political poker requires a lot more than just bluster … and a race card.

Inflation

The New York Times recently published an article which included a very interesting 9-year comparison of the rates of inflation in various sectors of the U.S economy. It is very revealing as seen below (click on image to enlarge it):

If you wish to read the source article , go to: New York Times Story.  Now, it doesn't take anyone too clever to notice something in this chart ... the primary inflation drivers in our economy are higher education, health care, and child day-care. All other items are nearly flat or declining. And, surprise ... surprise, these three items are all subsidized by the federal government ... either through entitlements, tax credits, or student loans.  These other better-behaving sectors are all under the control of the private sector.

So, dear reader, what does this tell us as the tentacle's of our ever expanding government as it is reaching further and further into our private lives? (And our fearless leader said that Obamacare was going to bend the health-care cost curve down.) You guessed it ... we will be hosed ... and good ... by more Democrat governance. Please remember this lesson when you vote this coming November.

Tip of the hat to Joe Asche from Dartblog.

Climate Disruptions

As previously noted the latest buzzword from the climate charlatans is "climate disruptions." Jerry Brown is blaming the current drought in California on "climate deniers" such as myself ... see: Breitbart Story . (Actually, I don't understand how anyone can deny such a thing as "climate.") Anyhow, to see how many climate disruptions that we have had in the 20th century, I went to Google and found the following table of natural disasters ranked by loss of life ... see: Natural Disasters of the 20th Century.  Peruse this table as you wish, but I will briefly summarize it here:

Droughts           26                (virtually all in Africa)
Earthquakes     25                (last one in 1990 in Iran)
Epidemics         17                (not assumed to be climate related)
Floods                 12                (none after 1959)
Typhoons           12                (last one in 1991 in Bangladesh)
Famines               4                (worst one purposely caused by Stalin)
Volcanoes           2                (Martinique, 1902 and Columbia, 1985)
Landslide             1                (Russia, 1939)
Storm                    1                (China, 1930)

(Please note that there are no hurricanes or tornadoes listed in these top 100.)

Ah, you say ... but what about the 21st century.  So I went back to Google and found the following: Top 10 Natural Disasters of the 21st Century ... which again does not include any hurricanes or tornadoes ... but does include two heat waves ... one in Europe in 2003 and one in Russia in 2010 which would have ranked 57th and 61st in the list of 20th century "disruptions.".  Is this enough evidence to scare the wits out of our children, try to starve plants of their sustenance (CO2), and turn our economies up-side down?

 I am still a doubter.

Rush to Judgement

Much as I admire Rush Limbaugh for his many accurate insights and push-backs against our current political miasma ... let's be frank, he, like our President, is a egomaniacal blowhard. Sometimes his self-aggrandizement seems to have no bounds. Clearly, humility is not his middle name. So, we must suffer this obvious fault if we want to enjoy his frequent choice words of wisdom.

This dichotomy of style is now repeated in his latest commercial effort ... his award-winning children's books, Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims and Rush Revere and the First Patriots. These books (and there will be more) have the noble purpose of teaching American youngsters about the historic underpinnings of our country and why our nation is unique ... something that is clearly being abandoned by many of our schools. However, Limbaugh being Limbaugh, he still must overlay his name and visage into this process. Rush Revere? Pleeease ...

To me, this is kinda like hiding a bitter pill inside a sweet treat for one's pet ... or, maybe even, visa versa.

Chaff

I am suffering from indignation fatigue due to a overabundance of national outrages … gender pay inequality, the Benghazi scandal, the Koch brothers’ political donations, the IRS’s Tea Party targeting scandal, climate change, the Fast and Furious government gun-running, the release of illegal-immigrant criminals, our botched foreign policy vis-à-vis Russia, the looming federal carbon tax, Obamacare disruptions to our health-care system, the return of school segregation, NSA eavesdropping, President Obama’s selective enforcement of our laws, Iran’s rush to atomic weaponry, the need to increase the minimum wage, Syria’s continued use of chemical weapons, extending unemployment benefits, continued lethargic national employment and economic growth, our refusal to approve the Keystone pipeline … and so on ad infinitum.

Perspicacious readers might have noticed that the above list contains numerous serious scandals of both commission and omission on the part of our current “government.” But every other outrage listed  is, in my opinion, chaff. Just like fighter planes release metallic chaff to confuse the tracking of enemy radar, the Obama administration and their henchmen are working overtime to manufacture news stories of little real consequence in order to crowd out their numerous serious failings. As a result, the public finds it difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff … and Obama, Pelosi, Reid, etc. are doing their level best to skate through the governmental carnage they have created.

Now, dear reader, you might take some notice of the placement of such chaff on the evening TV news and in our biased print media … and ignore it. We have many too many serious scandals that are being conveniently buried by all this mostly-manufactured filler.

The Cat's Meow

Tara -- Hero Cat (pic from reddit)

For the few of you who have not seen the video of the heroic cat which saved its master from being mauled by a mean old dog ... you really need to view this video ... see:  Powerline Reference.

reddit Gallery CLXIII

Another excursion into the world of reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Do yourself a favor and click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Baroque Pipe Organ

Saturn Near the Moon

Kingfisher Scoring

Lumber Magnet's Home in Eureka, CA

Underseas Cable Cross-Section

What Are We to Think?

Angelina Jolie recently exited a limo with her husband Brad Pitt … and she had white powder all over her face … see more pictures and some cutsie journalism here: UK Telegraph Story. There is an obvious conclusion for all to jump to … even though the Telegraph won’t take us there.

I have in the past railed against the U.S. (particularly, the Hollywood) drug culture that is self-absorbed and seemingly without boundaries … see: Makes the World Go Around,  Hollywood Navel Gazing, Glitz, and The Wages of Sin. If this white powder was, as I suspect, cocaine, how many Mexicans died in cartel violence to feed this addiction? How many drug mules are in prison because they went for these fast bucks? How many East L.A. gangs thrive on such glitterati self indulgences? Do these A-list people every think of the havoc that they are causing as a result of their few moments of euphoria?

Yet most of these morons have no compunctions about lecturing the rest of us about how to live our lives …

Isn’t It Funny …

that conservatives, who are generally painted by the mainstream media as racists, actually are the ones who are the pro-lifers? Whereas, liberals are generally the ones who are “pro-choice” … which translates into avid supporters of the abortion industry (see: Fox News Story) which “eliminates” roughly 450,000 Afro-African babies a year (see: Operation Rescue Statistics).

Is it racist then to cause the deaths of almost half a million black babies a year? Apparently not … whereas those who are fighting to save these very same innocent Afro-American lives are so castigated.

Isn’t it funny?

Vapid Vituperation