New Newspeak

Sometimes I, like George Orwell, believe that liberal brains are mis-wired and they are “unable to process.” It seems that they have an uncanny way of offering up arguments that, by their mystical quality, sound possible ... but fall apart upon closer inspection. The following is a comment on a recent blog post here that has Swiss cheese holes all through it:

“People yearn for simple ways to describe complex issues. In the political realm, unlike science, the simplest solution is too often a short term fix, which fails in the long run due to those pesky unintended consequences.

This is Trump's appeal: He offers simple solutions. A Wall to stem illegal immigration, Tariffs to punish China, Hydroxychloriquine, cancelling Treaties, on and on. The ramifications of his actions are beyond his ability to process. It will take a long tome to fix the mess he has created.”

 A few observations:

- William of Ocean did not say the his “razor” only applied to science. He obviously meant that the simpler solution applied across the board.

- How does this commenter know that Trump’s solutions will fail in the long run ...  does he have a Magic 8 Ball? And does his observation imply that they are working at least in the short term? The wall and Trump’s standing up to China are seminal events that, I predict, will make the history books.

- Trump’s jettisoning of the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran Nuclear Deal was legit because they were NOT treaties since they had never been ratified by Congress. The remake of NAFTA WAS ratified by Congress.

- Are these Biden solutions also short-term: the Green New Deal, huge tax increases, open borders, eliminate cash bail, defund the police, no fracking, Medicaid for All (including illegals), more regulations, gut our armed forces, eliminate prisons, rewrite our history, more regulations, voting from prison, scuttle tariffs, Socialism, etc.?


Bottom line: With many of these cockamamie Democrat proposals, there is no long-term ...


STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Thanksgiving

When we are gathered around the turkey and cranberry sauce soon, we all should give thanks:

- That Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has decided she doesn’t want to have any children

- For the cold winters in Boston that keeps this city from becoming another Los Angeles for those defecating homeless

- For those Hong Kong protesters who are teaching our American youth the meaning of freedom

- That a political consultant convinced Hillary that she didn’t have to campaign in Wisconsin

- For the Army Corps of Engineers who are building that beautiful Mexican wall

- For that Belgian shepard dog, Conan, which convinced Al-Baghdadi to blow himself up

- That Elizabeth Warren has called for Medicare for All and a wealth tax to pay for it

- That Beto O’Rourke and Bill De Blasio quickly hit the upper limits of their competence

- For President Trump’s internal fortitude

- For America’s crude oil fracking industry that has made us energy independent

Perversity

Who wants free healthcare for illegal aliens?

This blog has pointed out before that one major benefit of Trumpism is a rebellion against the elite establishment ... which has brought benefits, both economical and social (see: Obvious Truth). As a result, some think that upsetting the Apple cart (pun intended) can bring political rewards. So what do we find? We find that Democrats are falling all over each other to be the biggest rebel. Confiscated guns! Free healthcare for illegal aliens! A wealth tax! Let prisoners vote! Ban fracking! Medicare for all! Free money ($1000 per month) for everyone! And on and on and on ...

The more outlandish these proposals, the more each proposer stands out ... trying to be like Trump was in 2016 ... and ascend to the presidency. But, like many charlatans, these bozos have forgotten that rebellious ideas need to make sense. They ignore that benefiting a few of us is not benefiting all of us. And rebellion for rebellion’s sake is hollow. No, it’s not just hollow, it’s perverse.

Frack OPEC

A funny thing happened on the way to world economic dominance by that oil cartel, OPEC. And that is capitalism and the innovation that this "greed" begets has reared it ugly head and is sending many of these OPEC members squeeling for cover. Saudi Arabia, the elephant in the OPEC room, suddenly realized that oil-well fracking in the United States had become a strategic threat to its dominant hold on the energy markets and so decided to flood the world with oil (at least not cut production during a period of oil oversupply) in order to upset the shale-oil economics ... see the very insightful: UK Telegraph Article.

I suggest a careful reading of the previous article for it clearly illustrates how the fat, dumb, and happy OPEC cartel ... plus Russia ... had thought that they had the rest of the world by the short hairs ... and could have their way with us. Oops! They forgot that the ingenuity of free men somehow has a way of dispatching tyranny (and even the oppressive energy policies of the President of the United States.) And, as a consequence, most OPEC members, having ignored the fundamental advantages of capitalism, now are suffering as much or more than the targets of the Saudi's actions, the U.S. oil frackers. Even Saudi Arabia itself will start hurting if it keeps on this pricing pressure for any lengthy period of time. Sob! Sob!

The Bow

It seems that the sleeping giant may have awoken. Saudi Arabia, seeing that the United States has surpassed it in oil production (see: Bloomberg News Story) has thrown down the gauntlet. The world is now awash in oil … with the result that crude oil prices are nearing four-year lows. Normally, Saudi Arabia would cut production in order to stabilize the price of crude on world markets. But this time Riyadh has decided to teach the United States and Canada a lesson. The Saudi’s are increasing their production to nearly 10 million barrels a day in order to hold onto market share.  

But the added benefit to the Saudi’s is that those considering investing in fracking for oil in the America will now think twice about sinking any new wells … given the prospect of even lower prices for crude … see: Live Trading News Story (a very revealing discussion.) This is because it obviously costs more to frack in the U.S. and Canadian shale than to drill in Saudi Arabia’s sandy lower quadrant … even after adding back the transportation costs.

Speaking of transportation costs … it also costs a whole lot more to ship Canadian oil to the refineries in Louisiana by tanker-train than it would by pipeline ... and it is more dangerous. So, in a very real way, the Obama administration is abetting this Saudi oil-war strategy by its refusal to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to go forward. 

Maybe this is why President Obama bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia some five years ago?

Afterward: Normally, since oil is traded in dollars, the price of oil is driven down by a strong dollar. But I'm wondering if the current situation might be the reverse ... because of these Saudi actions, the falling price of oil might be a big contributing factor to the strengthening dollar?

Old King Coal

The United States’ electricity supplied by solar power has increased 10-fold in the five years since Obama has become president … from 0.02% of national usage … to 0.2% (that’s 2 parts per thousand) … see: CNS News Story .  Wow!  I guess [tongue in cheek] that our President was prescient in pushing this sector of energy production as a way of eliminating carbon emissions?  Is this because we taxpayers “invested” over a half a billion dollars in Solyndra? … and billions more in other dead or dying solar companies? (See: Arizona Central Story, FoxNnews Story, and Green Energy.)

Meanwhile electricity produced from coal has declined in the U.S. during this same period from 48.2% to 37.4% of total usage.  So Obama’s vow to kill Old King Coal is producing results … but very little because of green energy.  (Solar energy would have to have increased by 500-fold to make up this gap). The decline has mostly been offset by increased natural gas production (from fracking) … and an overall decline in our electricity usage.  Unfortunately nuclear energy production has not contributed one additional kilowatt … and is still the ugly step-child of the Obama administration’s energy policy.

It’s funny how our President’s 2009 inaugural rhetoric (“We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.”) can create unachievable expectations and, when the real numbers arrive, they are still touted as though they are meaningful and a big f…ing deal.

2013 Predictions

- At least one country will leave the European Economic Comm.

- Oil and gas fracking will be outlawed by the E.P.A

- Jimmy Carter will attend Hugo Chavez’s funeral … or visa versa

- Massive student-loan meltdown ...  U.S. taxpayers foot the bill

- China will annex more territory … possibly part of Mongolia

- U.S. economy will fall into another recession

 - Iran and Egypt form a pan-Islamic alliance

- Hillary Clinton will not remember Benghazi in front of Congress

- Iran gets atom bomb … U.S. and Israel do nothing militarily

- It’s Denver vs. San Francisco in Super Bowl ... Denver wins

- Inflation finally bites … up 5%+

- At least one state will go bankrupt ... U.S. taxpayers foot the bill