Parade Rest

With my grandchildren romping about me this morn, I turned on the TV to see the preparations for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Suddenly I was transported back in time 35 years or so to when I used to take my children to vintage versions of this same procession.  We were living in Stuyvesant Town on the lower east side of Manhattan and, after breakfast, we would bundle our children up and I would walk them over to Broadway in the low twenties to get a front row spot for watching this extravaganza.

The parade always consisted of many marching bands, floats, and huge helium balloons held down by phalanxes of Macy employees dressed to match the theme of their balloon.  The balloons I remember most were Underdog, the Sesame Street characters, and Rocky and Bullwinkle.  Usually there were also lots of clowns and unicyclists handing out candy and trinkets to the children.  It was all right out of Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street ... but without Margaret O'Brien.

And I remember that it was almost always bitingly cold ... so getting the kids to stay for the finale was generally a bit dicey.  But we usually did and when Santa Claus went by waving and Ho Ho Ho-ing we knew that we could then trudge back home and thaw out.  Entering our apartment, we were greeted with the wondrous smells of pumpkin pies cooling and the Thanksgiving  turkey cooking in the oven.  I would then generally have a cup of hot coffee and settle in to TV-watch some college football with Christmas music wafting out of the stereo.  What bliss it was!

Tebow Bows

Tim Tebow, the charismatic quarterback for the Denver Broncos, constantly and visibly thanks Jesus for his successes on the football field (see: Plummer Complains).  Now, there is a growing backlash among his team mates and some media personalities (in particular, Jim Braude and Margery Eagan here in Boston) for this religious "ostentation."  I do remember that one of Christ's teachings in the New Testament was that his followers should not wear their religion on their sleeves ... so there is some rationale for this Tebow dissing.  However, let's be frank, Tebow's critics would not think of criticizing Hasidic Jews for their sideburn curls (payos) or fur hats (kolpiks), or Rastas for their dreadlocks, or yarmulke-wearing Jews, or Sikhs for their turbans, or even Muslims for the public prostrations to Mecca.

So my advice to Jim and Marjery and other Tebow critics ... until you are ready to be consistent in your protestations ... chill out.

Giving Thanks

This Thursday's trenchermen (trencherpersons?) would never sit still at our Thanksgiving table for me to enumerate all the things I am thankful for at this difficult time in our history ... so I will burden you, poor reader, with my list:

- a populous awakening in this country to many of the things that seem seriously awry ... as demonstrated by the Tea Party and, yes, even in their perversity, by the Occupiers

- all my beautiful grandchildren ... and the hope that I have for their bright and healthy futures (much of which I will probably never witness)

- all my children and their spouses who have produced these wonderful grandchildren and who are so carefully molding their lives within a creative and moral  template

- my wife, Jeanette, who has been such a great mother, grandmother, and life partner.  She has tirelessly toiled to create for me a wonderful home and make me a better person than I otherwise would have been

- the legacy that previous generations of Americans have left to us (in particular those who have given their lives) so that we can experience our national uniqueness and the best standard of living in history

- those (very) few politicians who had put their country ahead of their personal interests ... Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman, in particular, come to mind

- a leftover turkey sandwich bulging with stuffing, cranberry sauce, and lots of Hellmann's mayonnaise

Super Duper ...

Pooper Scooper

The Congressional supercommittee is coming up empty in its attempt to reduce this nation's deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years.  See: Coming up Empty.  The 12 "bipartisan" members of this committee have come to predictable loggerheads over tax increases versus entitlement reform.  Expectations were low for this political artifice that had been created when the debt ceiling was raised this past summer.  This committee, however they did it, has managed to disappoint even this expectational nadir.  Our nation's $15 trillion debt has come about to cover a growing cradle-to-grave government that has being constructed by administrations of both parties over the last decade.  Apparently this suicide pact will continue for at least another year.

Now the blame game starts in earnest ... with the hope that such bicameral besmirching will affect the results of next year's elections.  Who knows if this mud-slinging will work ... but what I do know is that Washington, DC statesmanship is clearly dead and this augers poorly for the future of our "lazy" United States of America.  Perhaps the Occupiers will fix things?

Norman Rockwell Had It Right

For now, the Brookline, Massachusetts Town Meeting has kept the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom.  But 76 chuckleheads in this meeting voted to ban this patriotic statement from sullying the lips of their children ... and 9 wimped out ... afraid to take a stand lest they be ostracized by their Marxist neighbors in this uber-liberal Boston suburb.  See: Small Win.  What is it that compels such lamebrains to campaign against such a simple oath?  One strained rationale put forward is that the children of non-citizens may be forced to pledge loyalty to a foreign country.  Such children (if and where they exist) can simply opt out of this recitation.  But my guess is that these tykes may be even more fervent in their love of their adopted country.  It is those 76 disaffected nihilists in Brookline who have inculcated their children with their spittle-sprayed hatred of this country ... and want to insure that their skulls-full-of-tofu keep their toes to the party line. 

It was not to happen this year. but eventually these poltroons will win ... and Norman Rockwell's vision of what patriotism means will be banished from one community after another in Massachusetts ... and then possibly in other states ... all in the name of respecting the diversity of ideas.  Can we instead call this the entropy of  devotion?  Then this country will no longer be a melting pot ... but, to use an appropriate metaphor ... it will be instead a fruitcake.  How sad it is!

Leaning Right

I was surprised to see that both lefties, Chris Matthews and Katrina Vanden Heuvel, this morning on Morning Joe appeared to be moving away from supporting President Obama and towards backing Mitt Romney in the next Presidential sweepstakes. (Mika Brzezinski is still a solid rump-swab for The Barry.)  And these are not the only paleo-turncoats I've noticed among Democrats.  Increasingly, Obama's support appears to be slipping within his previously-solid base.  This is surprising, even shocking, to me ... and the question is why?

All I can come up with is that, even though such people would prefer to have the U.S. become a Socialist (or even a Communist) country, they, nevertheless, still want to have a country.

Afterward: See Further Proof 

Tattoo Taboo

The National Basketball Association's season is close to being cancelled ... see NBA Hiatus?  If all these NBA players end up on picket lines ... what are tattoo parlors around the country going to do for business?

(I realize that this entry is a little snarky, but I couldn't help myself.)

Crony Capitalism Redux

Halliburton* ... That's a name that, to most Liberals, typifies crony capitalism.  Dick Cheney was its CEO from 1995 to 2000 and the working assumption was that he directed unsolicited government business to it so that his stock would go up and he would unfairly prosper.  This may or may not be true, but what is true is that Halliburton is a large company that, because of its expertise, has received many federal contracts under both Republican and Democrat administrations.  It would be difficult to unravel whether there was any undue favoritism sent its way when Cheney was Vice President under George W. Bush ... but, so far, there has not been any creditable exposé.

However, the story under The Barry's watch is quite different.  I have previously written about crony capitalism instances here (see: Crony Capitalism.)  Now, below are four more examples of what government largess (crony capitalism) is directed to companies connected to our current administration:

- Siga Technologies, Inc, a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) connected company, has received a $443 million no-bid contract from the Obama administration for an experimental smallpox drug (see: Seedy Details).  Smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1978.

- Fisker Automotive, a Finnish electric-car company connected with former Vice President, Al Gore, has received a $529 million loan guarantee from this administration's Energy Department to create zero jobs in the United States (see: Annoying Details). 

- Silver Spring Network, another administration butt-buddy, has had its connected utility companies recently given $560 million in grants ... again by the Energy Department (see: More Money to Friends).

- SolarReserve, a Nancy Pelosi-connected green-energy company, has been given a $737 million loan guarantee, once again by the Energy Department (see: Princess Nancy's Silk Purse).

And for even more, see John Stossel's comments on the Obama-friendly window company, Serious Materials (see: Stossel Spills the Beans).  And I'm reasonably sure that some more of this sewage will turn up before next year's election.

* Halliburton is not an oil company.  It is a project management and oil-well service company ...  it provides many services to oil companies (like putting out oil-well fires) and to many other entities ... such as the federal government.  Its biggest competitor is the French conglomerate, Schlumberger.

Afterward:  I was just listening to Senator Dan Coats on CSPAN about a $730 million Energy Dept. conditional loan to Severstal, a subsidiary of a Russian company, OAO, to produce high-strength steel for autos.  The problem, according to Sen. Coats, is that most of the rationales used by the Energy Dept. to justify this loan are fallacious.  I urge you to read the story on this loan at The Indiana Economic Digest.  The only thing missing from this analysis is ... exactly who is the administration's crony in this transaction.  But, given the looseness of the facts asserted by the Energy Dept., I'm reasonably sure that there is one.  Stay tuned.

Also $1.6 billion from the DOE to BrightSource Energy (a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. company) ... see: Another Biggie and $564 million of DOE money into a variety of biorefineiries including $25 million to Amyris ... see: DOE Honeypot  (major source: Throw Them All Out)

Long afterthought: Here is another link to a listing of Green Energy pork: Michelle Malkin

And: Another One Bites the Dust

6 Questions …

For Liberals:

1) For what reason(s) do you oppose a balanced budget admendment to the Constitution?

2) What, beyond expressing economic malaise, is there to recommend the Occupiers?

3) Has Obamacare reduced your cost of medical care as promised?

4) Do you favor giving more billions to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

5) Why should Israel go back to its 1948 borders and give up Jeruslem?

6) Are you better off today than you were in 2008?

Candy Cain

What is my take on Herman Cain?  I'm really still up in the air.  I thought he was quite forthright in his press conference yesterday.  Whereas I was turned off by the fact that Gloria Allred's upcoming vacation in Bali (Sharon Bialek) had to read her own press-conference sleazy accusations of sexual misfeasance against Cain.  I don't want to get caught in the weeds of this possible scandal ... nor do I want to gnash my teeth over the double standard that seems to permeate such stories.  But I do want to complement Herman Cain, guilty or not, on his aplomb in the face of a possible career-ending press-lynching (to use a shibboleth).  His body language was confident.  He read very little of his apparently-prepared statement.  His voice didn't quaver.  He didn't use his wife as a prop.  And he easily answered all the questions poised.

I'm not endorsing Herman Cain for President here, but I do hope that he makes it through this media gauntlet without too many bruises.

Why I'll Vote for Mitt ...

The RedState blog has a current entry that castigates Mitt Romney as presaging the end to the Conservative movement after he loses to The Barry next year (see: Red State Blog.)  Mitt Romney seems to have legions of detractors within the Republican party: Rush Limbaugh, Erick Erickson (of the RedState blog), Howie Carr, Michael Graham, etc.  There even is a movement called  "Anyone But Mitt".  Most of this distaste arises from serious doubts about his Conservative credentials.  He was for abortions before he was against them; he ushered Romneycare into Massachusetts as a precursor to Obamacare;  etc.  However valid these doubts are, there is one reason, I'll vote for Romney -- he has the best chance of fixing this country's economic malaise.  And I believe that he will assemble around him the kind of people who understand how our economic engine is assembled and what it takes to bring about its overhaul. All else is, for the nonce, unimportant.

Yes, there will be fusillades of opposition TV ads attacking Romney next year (assuming he gets the nomination) about his vacillating on these issues, his Wall Street ties, and many Latter-Day-Saints innuendos.  After all, how will The Barry spend his billion dollar political war chest?  (A friend in the know has even suggested that Romney may have trouble buying TV spots leading up to the election ... since Obama, with all his campaign funds, will have reserved all the premium TV-spot buys.)  But, I have not, nor will I give up on Romney as I think, if he is elected, he will do what it takes to fix things ... like he did with the 2002 Winter Olympics.  Interestingly, David Brooks likes him too for President (see: David Brooks Endorsement) ... perhaps it's, once again, the crease in his pants?  And I also kind of doubt that there will be a Romney bimbo eruption eleven months hence.

By the bye, has anyone noticed the juxtaposition possibilities between Mitt Romney and Stephen Colbert?  Put a pair of rimless glasses on Romney and he could host the Colber(t) Repor(t).

What did he say?!?

Mark Shields was doing his regular end-of-show commentary gig on the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer last Friday ... along with David Brooks.  They were opining on the Herman Cain sexual assault innuendo scandal ... and comparing it with Bill Clinton's similar travails before the 1994 elections.  Mark Shields then actually said that, back then, Clinton "was smart enough to lie" about his peccadilloes with Monika Lewinsky.  David Brooks did not blanch.  Jim Lehrer, in disbelief, did not ask for Shields to repeat himself.  This was all on a nationally televised, presumably well-respected, news program (partially paid for by U.S. taxpayers.)

I guess this vignette, as much as anything, typifies the degree of moral degeneration to which this country has sunk.  What comes next ... Caligula?

The Grimacing Reaper

Upon the death of my friend, Sambo.

Death hangs onto my shoulder,
Like a younger sibling.
He has been with me forever.
I cannot shake him,
Although, so far, he has let me be.
He has scythed many family and friends,
But why has he not harvested me?
Perhaps he has a sense of humor …

Occam's Razor

The tenet of Occam's Razor states that the simplest solution is always the best solution.  We are now mired in a world full of financial complexity that threatens to bring us all down.  As an example, please read and try to understand what happened to MF Global that caused it to go belly-up recently, see  Corzine's Monumental Flub and Another Take.  So, what is the simplest solution?  I believe we need to return to the basic accounting rules that have been established over the millennia where an asset really is an asset and a credit really is a credit. 

For a number of years the MBA geniuses in the financial community have been standing these accounting rules on their heads with a lot of hugger mugger that conceals and distorts the financial well-being of institutions.  Jon Corzine, when he was at Goldman Sachs, himself helped Enron turn liabilities into assets and consequently bring down this erstwhile staid firm. And even our own Federal Reserve Bank is now playing in this sullied sand box, see: Finger on the Scale.

How did this happen?  I blame the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the big accounting firms, and the accounting community in general ... who have earned their Street creds by dreaming up new ways of subverting our tried and true accounting principles.  And they have created financial instruments of greater and greater complexity (see the MF Global reference above) whereby even their creators don't fully understand all the possible consequences of a rapidly changing environment.

We need to return to accounting basics and strip out all the FASB rules that permit these financial shenanigans by creating reporting exceptions to reporting exceptions to reporting exceptions ... and permit multitudinous off-balance sheet transactions and fiscal slight-of-hand.  And Congress needs to pass stringent laws that disallow any financial instrument to be created and traded for which Joe Biden cannot comprehend and explain in one sentence.

As Expected ...

Herman Cain has now been predictably accused of sexual harassment ... see: Politico.  I wonder if this has anything to do with a pubic hair on a Coke can?

(For those of you too young to understand this reference, here is the connection: Anita Hill's Accusation.)

Population Bomb

The United Nations Population Fund has stated that the population of the world will hit seven billion people this coming week, see: U.N. Prediction.  Now this seems like a bodacious number and, I'm sure, will bring many Malthusians out of the woodwork with their hair on fire ... predicting the end of everything.  May I suggest that you, dear readers, follow the Clintonians' advice and "step back and take a deep breath." 

This is really not as many people as one might think.  There has been some analyses that put this number into more rational perspectives.  See a little older analysis: Overpopulation.com and a much better newer one: Detailed Analysis.  Both these studies indicate that the world's population could relatively easily reside inside Texas with enough room to move around (not counting food production and water availability.)  I have also heard two other comparisons that I have not yet found detailed on the Internet, but I believe to be somewhat factual: 1) all the world's population could be crowded (ala a New York subway car) onto the area the size of Cape Cod and Nantucket, and 2) this same population, if stacked like cord wood would fill something like a mile of the Grand Canyon.

I think that these images place this seven-billion-person world population figure into a less frenetic perspective.  More interestingly, one can also think of this "population bomb" in terms of "biomass" (see: Biomass Definition).  It is estimated that the total human biomass is 250 to 450 million tons (see: Democratic Underground and Google Reference).  This is maybe less than one percent of the total biomass of the world (an estimated 44 billion tons) ... whereas termites, by themselves, represent about an astounding 17% of the world's biomass!

I hope that these numbers will allow you worrywarts out there to now rest easier.

ADDENDA: Read what some countries have done to control their populations: Powerline Part1 and Part 2

The Flea Party

Rhymes with "Tea Party."  I think that this appellation is attributed to Ann Coulter.  She is referring to the "Occupiers" of course.

"Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble"

There are a variety of gripes being voiced by the "Occupiers" of Wall Street and other cities ... from "millionaires are evil" to "legalize pot now."  However, there is one complaint that has merit and deserves some focus: "I owe $50,000 [or much more] on my college loans and I can't find a job to begin paying it back."  It is estimated that there are now close to one trillion dollars of college loans outstanding.  This is a particularly onerous burden for such graduates who majored in gender of other hyphenated studies and are all vying for the only jobs they are realistically qualified for -- that of teaching gender and other hyphenated studies courses.  And the entity that they owe this money to is (drum roll please) the federal government ... since The Barry has nationalized almost the entire student-loan industry.  Therefore, a good many of these demonstrators unknowingly hate the very one they love.

The real reason that there is this financial dislocation is that colleges and universities have, for years, been increasing tuitions and fees far beyond the rate of inflation.  And the reason that they have been able to do this is that the federal government has insinuated itself into the economics of this industry with numerous grants, student loan guarantees, and a drumbeat about the importance of a college education.  (Ignoring the fact that neither Bill Gates nor Steve Jobs completed college.)  Somehow, like in the health care industry, whenever the federal government meddles in things, inflation rates there go haywire.

And what have these higher-education institutions been doing with all this largess?  The have bloated up their administrations with Deans of Diversity (kind of like the job Michelle Obama had in Chicago), Directors of Sustainability, etc. ... and their pampered staffs ... as well as numerous professors of gender and other hyphenated studies.  In my opinion, this is the next bubble that is about to be pricked by the exigencies of today's economic situation.  It is difficult to imagine that all the brilliant minds in almost all of these pedagogical institutions don't realize the precariousness of their situation  ... and start shedding administrative and hyphenated professorial staffs so that they might freeze or even reduce tuitions (Princeton possibly being the small exception.)

And, when this bubble does burst, may I make a prediction?  Instead of stepping out of the way and allowing an educational-industry normalcy to get re-established, the federal government will insert itself even further to prop up this silly situation ... with something like TARP II.  Will we never learn that capitalism has its own self-healing mechanisms?

Arabs Spring

Last night on TV, I watched a Youtube video of Egyptian military vehicles turning into crowds and purposely running over Coptic Christians who, two days ago, were demonstrating in the streets of Cairo (see: Telegraph Article and Youtube Video).  These reportedly peaceful demonstrations had been organized to object to the Egyptian government's autistic response to the numerous burnings of Egyptian Christian churches by Islamic extremists.  Reports indicate that as many as 25 Coptics were therein killed by this and related Egyptian army savagery.  Indicating the seriousness of these events, Egypt's Deputy Prime Minister has resigned in protest (see: NY Times Article.)

Equally outraged, The Barry requested and went on prime-time television last night to denounce in very strong terms the purposeful martyring of these Coptic Christians.  Oops, he didn't?  Never mind ...

Juxtaposition XXIX

Wall Street Protest

Tea Party Rally

See 13 Demands and Mark Steyn's Comments

Yuan for the Money, Two for the Show ...

The conventional thinking is that free trade is good and protectionism, through higher imposed tariffs, is bad.  It was the Smoot-Hawley protectionist-trade bill that is thought to have contributed the Great Depression in 1930 as trade wars then became the order of the day and economic growth slowed around the world (see: The Economist Article).
 
Now the United States is contemplating imposing tariffs on certain Chinese goods in retaliation for China not allowing its currency, the yuan, to float (allowing world currency markets to determine its value as opposed to China itself pegging an artificially low yuan-to-dollar rate.)  It is thought that China keeps its currency at 20-30% below fair market value in order to subsidize its exports and discourage imports.  In other words, such manipulation amounts to a virtual tariff and many politicians in the United States now believe that it is time to bring things back into balance with selective U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.  A bipartisan Senate bill that so does should be voted on today ... see: Expected Senate Vote.  China has threatened to retaliate (see: China's Threat) and this has caused some politicians, particularly John Boehner in the House, to speak out against taking such an protectionist action.  President Obama is noticeably absent in this kerfuffle (see: Wall Street Journal Article) since staking a claim on either side doesn't seem to help his reelection chances.

Whatever the results of this action against China in the U.S. Congress may be (my prediction, it will eventually pass), I believe that China's bark will be worse than its bite.  One has to only look at the recent trade numbers (see:  Trade Balances with China) to see that, if a full-fledged trade war does break out, China would be far worse off than the United States in terms of its balance of payments.  Yes, U.S. domestic economic activity may turn down in the short term, but, longer-term, there should be much benefit to be gained for U.S. industries.  However, since the United States is the major buyer of China-made goods, an industrial production  turn-down there would likely cause great social unrest ... a situation that Chinese leadership might find difficult to damp down.  Already, there are predictions of such Chinese economic dislocations independent of protectionism actions on the part of the U.S. Congress ... see CNBC Comments.

Possible investment consequences might well be: a further deflation in world-wide commodity prices, an inflation in consumer goods prices in the U.S., and an increase in interest rates on U.S. government securities (if China starts dumping its holdings).  Also, holding onto the stocks of Walmart, Best Buy, etc. might not be a great idea.

Fetid

How can we have an Attorney General who lies to Congress?  See: Fast and Furious.

Or an Energy Secretary who gives billions of unvetted dollars to the Administration's friends?

Or, for that matter, how can we have a Treasury Secretary who cheats on his income taxes?

(You fill in the other blanks ...)

The Barry's cabinet is as fetid as a Calcutta garbage dump.

(And who knows what all those czars are up to?)

Underdog to the Rescue

"There's no need to fear ...  Underdog is here!"  See: The ABC Interview.

Apparently, an Obama transmogrification is the order of the day.  Things are so far down, they look like up. Admit that re-election prospects suck, you've screwed up big time, and play for the sympathy vote in the 2012 election.  It just might work ... considering that the weepy females in this country helped elect Obama in 2008.  Such a strategy blunts the ability of his opponent to attack him in the debates next year.  He can just play the rope-a-dope and look put-upon to counter such obvious rhetorical parries ... kind of like what Hillary Clinton did when she ran for Senator.  Remember when Rick Lazio confronted her on the debate stage?  Many think this Lazio aggression is what won it for her.

The only thing is ... unlike Underdog's alter ego, Shoeshine Boy, I don't think The Barry ever stooped to that level ... but maybe that's next.

The Rock

When I was much younger, there was a law in Virginia against sodomy.  In so many words, this law stated that "sodomy is a crime so heinous that it can not be described."  I often humorously imagined what would happen in a courtroom where someone was being tried for this crime.  What evidence could be produced?  How would the defendant counter such a nebulous charge?  What would the judge's instructions to the jury contain?  And how would such a convicted defendant feel spending years in the slammer without any specifics ever having been given at trial? 

I was reminded of this enigma this morning watching Morning Joe where there was an allusion to a word on a rock at the entry leading in to a Texan hunting lodge that Rick Perry had used/rented/owned.  No one on this TV show would describe what was on this rock except to decry it and, in hushed tones, say that it could not be specified.  So I had to wait until I read the Powerline blog later in the AM.  Here's where I found what I couldn't hear on Morning Joe -- The Rock.  I'm not writing this blog entry to defend Rick Perry.  You will have to judge this for yourself after reading all the various spins on this "indescribable incident" ... but rather to indicate how amused I am by the lexical temerity of those who are usually so outspoken on Morning Joe.

Breaking Wind

Billions for green energy, not one cent for nuclear ...  Here is a recent Op Ed from the New York Times revealing what the tree huggers are doing to the trees in Vermont ... all to reduce our nation's "carbon footprint" by a teeny weeny fraction of one percent. See: Green Mountaineering.  It's one thing to see huge wind farms on the barren highway passes between LA and Las Vegas, but on an entire ridgeline in Vermont?  Ouch!  And how do these hugely-expensive politically-correct projects get funded?  You guessed it ... mainly by that kindly old man with the billy-goat beard, striped pants, and a cut-away coat.

Have we learned nothing from the failure of the green energy initiatives in Spain? (See: No Gain in Spain.)  Please also read this link that describes an Obama $61 billion slush fund called the Federal Financing Bank ... see: Secret Government Bank.  This revealing reference was given to me by a contributor who also seems worried about how our current government is squandering billions upon billions of dollars on questionable green-energy projects ... none of which so far involves the splitting of an atom.

Afterthought: Here is a list of wind turbine manufactures: Wind Turbines.  Is all this green energy B.S. adding or subtracting from our balance of payments and employment levels?

A Snipe Hunt

Recently I blogged a piece about the International Monetary Fund and, in it, referenced its incredible lack of transparency (see:  I.M.F...ing).  Since then I have spent time on the IMF site (see: IMF Site) trying to find out exactly how much money the United States contributes and has contributed to this fund ... and into all the various slush-fund pockets it seems to have?  Ditto for China. Ditto for Russia. Ditto for Germany and France.  Etc.  And I would also like to find out who is lent (given?) this money on a year by year basis from these various slush funds?  And how much of this money has been paid back historically?  And how much has never been paid back?  What interest rates are charged? 

How much does the IMF spend annually for operating expenses?  (The former IMF head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn spent $3,000 per night for the hotel room where he was caught in his peccadilloes.) Specific salaries (I found on the NY Times how much Strauss Kahn was paid.  He made $442,000 per annum with a $79,120 expense account ... see: NY Times Article)?  What does the IMF income statement look like?  How about its balance sheet?  A cash flow statement?  Who has contributed gold to the IMF reserves?  Has much of this gold has been sold or otherwise disposed of?

If any reader out there has a week or so to devote to this snipe hunt on the above referenced web site, I welcome your travails and answers.  Like the U.N. (see: The U.N.) and the World Bank (see: The World Bank), I suspect  that the real meaningful numbers are locked up in New York or Geneva or Washington somewhere where prying eyes such as mine will never find them.  (I just hope that the Congress has access to this data.)  The only thing that these international (unelected) agencies allow us schnooks to see is the mountains of  gibberish and spin provided on their web sites.  They are self-perpetuating bureaucratic mazes whose major function seems to be politically correct arm waving and spending someone else's moolah.  If any U.S. corporation were as opaque as these international organizations, its entire management team would be peeking out from behind bars.

If I Only Had a Brain ...

Does he know the difference ...
Corps vs. Corpse
2008 vs. 2011.
Transcontinental vs. Intercontinental
Breathalyzer vs. Inhalator vs. Inhaler.
Jews vs. Janitors
57 states vs. 50 states
(See: Michelle Malkin)

And a heart ... (See: Jane Sturm)

And some courage ...
“We watch a president who once talked about the courage of his convictions, but still has yet found the courage to lead,” Christie said.  (see: Chris Christie)

The Wizard of Ozama

Purloined Powerline

The Powerline blog (see: Powerline) ran an entry this week on "things I don't care about" which idea I found so compelling I have decided to "borrow" it.  (I've also borrowed their above graphic.)  So here are the things that cause me to switch channels, turn off the radio, or start daydreaming about a zesty Bloody Mary:

- The Miss America contest
- The very latest Apple Inc. Iphone®
- Saltine® crackers
- Time magazine (or Newsweek, etc.)
- Sting (or Bono or Paul McCartney, etc.)
- Doonesbury (I borrowed this one from Powerline too)
- James Sokolove TV ads
- Thomas Friedman's solutions to the world's problems
- Robo telephone calls (no matter from whom)
- The Emmy's
- Falling-to-earth space junk
- Pasteurized apple cider
- Chrysler® cars
- Debby Wasserman Schultz
- Anyone living on the fictional Wisteria Lane
- Pizza from nationally-franchised companies
- Wagnerian operas
- Lists of things people don't care about (just kidding)

International Monetary F...ing

Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), now estimates that, in order to fully protect the European Economic Community (EEC) from cascading debt default, it will cost the IMF €3 trillion (see Lagarde Unloads).  The IMF now has about €300 billion in available funds which means that it is €2.7 trillion short of this needed bailout reserve.  The question then becomes ... what will it cost the United States to put this gigantic finger in the financial dike?  Well the Wall Street Journal states the our additional share of this shortfall would be at least 17.1% to 19% ... or even possibly more (read the: WSJ Article).

This translates into a $618 billion to $687 billion reach into the (empty) U.S. piggy bank to bail out Europe!  Wow! This is more than five times the 2008-inflation-adjusted cost of the post-World-War-II Marshall plan (see: Bailout Costs).

The operational idea behind the IMF seems to be -- "from each according to its ability, to each according to its need."  Hmmm, what does this sound like?  (By the bye, the world's second largest economy, China's current related IMF assessment percentage is ... I think ... below 4% ... and it may be 0% ... the IMF is not very transparent about these things.)

Juxtaposition XXVIII

Congress




 











Circular Firing Squad

Harry Reid: "Ready, aim, FIRE!" 

Crony Capitalism

The Barry is sagging under the weight of two crony capitalism disclosures -- Solyndra Corp. (see: Reuters Article) and LightSquared (see: LightSquared).  Now we hear that Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric and a clear Obama crony, has just been thrown a $230 million bone from OGX, the Brazilian oil company, to supply them with off-shore drilling technology (see: Surprise GE Contract).  Now, clearly coincidentally, when Obama was in Brazil earlier this year, he announced a $2 billion U.S. loan to help Brazil develop its huge off-shore oil discovery (see: Forbes Take on the Loan ) ... despite the fact that he has effectively stopped oil exploration off our own shores.  He punctuated this largess by another of his arm-waving grand gestures ... saying that the United States is looking forward to importing this new Brazilian oil (see: Drill Brazil Drill).

Is anyone surprised that Obama will raise $1 billion to fund his re-election campaign?

Long afterthought:  Here is another link to a listing of Green Energy pork: Michelle Malkin

Bail? ... Bananas!

I've complained before about the fiction of Iran releasing a female American prisoner "on bail."  Iran is ready to release the last two Americans captured after straying across the Iraq border over two years ago ...  after a payment of $1 million ... called "bail" (see: $1 million Bail Payment). How can people who have been convicted of spying and sentenced be released on bail?  Let's face it, this is ransom money ... and the American media plays along with this silly narrative ... and helps to paint Iran as being less depraved than they truly are.  Bananas!! What happened to America's backbone?  Remember, "Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute" (generally attribute to Thomas Jefferson when refusing to pay ransom to the Barbary pirates in order to free American sailors).  Please, media monkeys, let's be realistic with your language for a change ...

The UNdoing of Israel

This week there will be a series of arm-waving speeches at the UN headquarters in New York City regarding an attempt by the Palestine Authority to establish itself as a full voting member of the General Assembly ... as opposed to its current PLO observer status.  Were this to happen, this will mean that the UN will de facto recognize Palestine as a legitimate state.  This obviously cannot happen as then there will be zero leverage for Israel in its negotiations with the Palestinians toward mutual state recognitions ... and this 65-year old conflict, in turn, would continue to be an open sore for a long, long time.  Therefore, the United States may be forced to issue a veto of this resolution in the Security Council and further paint itself as an anti-Arab force in world politics.

The Barry has brought this embarrassing situation upon himself (and us) with his misguided rhetoric and misunderstanding (hopefully) of the consequences of same (see: Obama's Axle Wrap).  See my thoughts on this Obama-boner here.  According to John Bolton, our UN Ambassador under Bush 43, in previous similar situations, the United States has gone to the UN member states to whom we give foreign aid and threatened to withdraw this aid if a vote for Palestinian General Assembly membership were to occur.  This kept this genie in a bottle for the last twenty years.  Now, with his chin high and a wave of his hand, President Obama has given up this leverage. Was the naivete or purposefulness on his part? 

You decide ...

No Moral Compass?

The Barry's recent spending cuts proposal has been analyzed by Jeff Sessions in the Senate and ... surprise, surprise ... it contains no net cuts to actual federal spending.  Under Obama's proposal, the federal deficit would balloon back above $1 trillion in fiscal 2012.  It is all accounting legerdemain (see: Powerline Reprise) clearly designed to raise taxes and fool the gullible public.  How can a President continue to try to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people?  Has he no feelings for the fate of his fellow countrymen?  Has he no moral compass?  Is he after all just a cynical Chicago thug politician who will try to take advantage of every crisis to further his own political agenda ... even though it might help ruin his own country?

The very sad fact is ...  it appears so.

The President's Chimera

"Pass this jobs bill now!"
"We need to pass this jobs bill right now!"
"If you love me, you will help me pass this jobs bill now!"
"Now is the time to pass this jobs bill!"

What jobs bill?  The Barry really must believe that the American people are naive ... or stupid ... or worse.  He urgently wants us to pass a jobs bill that hasn't been filed yet in Congress.  And if it hasn't been filed, it can't be voted on.  And obviously it can't then be passed.  It can't be scored by the Congressional Budget Office to see if it really will create [and save?] the jobs he claims ... or that it will only cost $447 billion of taxpayer money.  And it's not clear when it will be filed.  If you don't believe me, read this surprisingly frank artcle in the L.A.Times.

What kind of rhetorical charade is Obama engaged in?  Has this bill really even been written?  Or is it still evolving in focus groups and in the friendly editorial rooms of the main stream print media and network television.  In a way, this is a scary situation.  The President is representing a reality that doesn't exist so that he can attack the Republican members of Congress.  And yet the fact that this bill hasn't been filed isn't generally known to the cheering crowds he is appealing to ... or to the overall American public for that matter.  We are being fed a feast of ephemeria ... right out of George Orwell.  I am nervous that we now have a President who is so detatched from the truth ... and that he believes that he can turn this chimera into a living, breathing beast with his teleprompter skills.
 
And it's time for us all to be nervous.

Stupid Republicans

Stupid Republican

The Republicans have for years called the Democrats the "tax and spend party."  Obviously they have had it wrong.  The savvy Democrats are clearly the "spend and then tax party" ... see: $1.5 Trillion in New Taxes and Coming Obamacare Taxes.  This most assuredly will get the economy going ...

Savvy Democrat

Energy Slaves

Buckminister Fuller and his Geodesic Dome

Many, many years ago (around 1971 as I remember) I had a chance to have a sit-down with the great Buckminster Fuller (see: Wikipedia Entry). I was demonstrating for him a piece of software that I had architected called MUSE®. MUSE, among many other things, had a mechanism for resolving units calculations such as BTUs to calories ... and all the more complex physics conversions. Mr. Fuller was quite impressed with this capability until I showed him that it also handled monetary units conversions (such as drachmas to dollars) at which point he bristled. Apparently he, being an outside-the-box thinker, felt that mixing the metaphysical (monetary units) with the physical units was anathema.

He then revealed to me his far-sighted solution to this dilemma – all national currencies should be based upon the cost of producing a quantity of work. He called this monetary unit an “energy slave” (see: Calculations) on the basis that it would be the same the world around and would not be susceptible to the political vagaries of national bank shenanigans and/or a particular country’s trade policies. And, if one thinks about it, the amount of energy that our world possesses is constantly being augmented by that grand and universal mint, the sun.  Therefore our global money supply would expand at a fairly predictable rate.

Upon reflection and given the current ultra-fluid nature of world currency markets, I hearken back to Mr. Fuller’s idea. Were we to adopt this notion for an international monetary base, China would not be able to artificially devalue its currency, the yuan, to capture world manufacturing; countries would not be able to inflate their way out of their profligate spending and borrowing ways; and gold might not be the Silas-Marner investment haven it has become. And, very possibly, this country might adopt more rational policies toward the development of our own energy resources. Wouldn’t that be special?

Pass This Jobs Bill Now!

President Obama (The Barry) has proposed new taxes to pay for his proposed $447 billion "jobs" program (see: The NY Times Agrees).  I suspect this tax proposal is as much to play politics as it is to pay for his dog's breakfast of "new" jobs proposals.  That is ... The Barry knows that the Republicans will not go along with any tax increases now and therefore he can call them out during next year's campaign and blame them for what surely will be high unemployment rates then.  In other words, it is a bald-faced set up to try to keep his job rather than grow new jobs for the rest of Americans.

However, surprisingly, I agree with a few of the bullet points in this new taxes proposal ... independent of whether his jobs proposals will or will not help the economy ... and so I will list these points as outlined by the NY Times editorial and indicate my feelings about each:

1) Capping the value of itemized deductions and other tax breaks at 28% (of adjusted gross income?).  I AGREE  This, in effect would be an extension of the alternative minimum tax in the current tax code ... a step that I have already proposed (see: Taxing Ideas).

2) Ending tax breaks for oil and gas companies.  I DISAGREE  If we are going to become energy indipendent then we cannot punish the very companies that would make this happen.  I have opined on this in more detail in the past (see: Oily Decision).

3) Not letting hedge-fund managers pay taxes on most earnings at the capital gains rate.  I AGREE  This has been an egregious loophole through which the wealthest on Wall Street have avoided paying their fair share of our government's cost.

4) Curbing tax breaks for corporate jets.  I DISAGREE  This is pure two-faced silliness by a man who flies, at taxpayer expense, in the most expensive flotilla of jets of any other American entity.  Is he bound and determined to kill the private-jet building business?  Even Warren Buffet has disagreed with this proposal.

5) Ending the lower tax rates installed by George W. Bush.  I DISAGREE  If The Barry's proposal to cap tax deductions (see #1 above) comes about, then there will be no need to scrap the Bush tax cuts as I strongly suspect that government receipts will grow anyway.

The Democrats, as of this hour, have not yet filed The Barry's "pass this jobs bill now." bill.  What's up?

Is this just political theater afterall?

Re: Cursive

I recently received a note from a fraternity brother of mine written in a beautiful cursive script.  Now, I am a tutor in a MetroWest school system outside of Boston.  I have taught many students in Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, History, English, Physics, Biology, and Chemistry.  To my shock and disappointment none of my students has been able to write in longhand.  They all print ... usually very slowly and often so illegibly that they cannot read their own notes.  A few say that they did learn cursive writing early on in school but can no longer perform it due to lack of practice and pedagogical focus.

Can I be a little dogmatic?  I think that this failing on the part of our nation's schools is a main reason for our educational degeneration.  The simple ability of students to take notes quickly and efficiently while in class or on the computer is a big step forward in their learning process.  Too, too many of today's students cannot do this and therefore have lost a tempo in what was once the traditional educational experience.  And learning script writing was a second- and third-grade rote exercise that I also believe helped reinforce our children's  hand-eye coordination, hand-eye-mind connection and, even more importantly, non-oral communications skills.

How about it Arne Duncan, our Secretary of Education, can you spend a few billions of your huge yearly budget to re-introduce serious cursive writing practice into our children's early educational experience? I can even suggest a slogan for this effort: "Writing is also fundamental!"

Added thought: I did not mention that, if a student cannot decipher his/her own printing, how is his/her teacher supposed to understand and/or fairly grade such student's essays, exams, and other written communications?

Roosting Chickens

The above picture represents the gift that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright sent to the Ground Zero 9/11 ceremony yesterday in New York City to commemorate the comments he made shortly after the terrorist attack in 2001 (See: About Half Way Down).

Data Drives Out Speculation

The Barry took off the gloves last night and pretty much gave the speech that two days ago I predicted he would make (see: Laser-like Focus).  He kicked off his 2012 campaign with the proposal to "spend" $447 billion of money our government doesn't have to create jobs.  But as one can see from the above chart I "borrowed" from the Powerline blog (see: Powerline) there appears to be a clear inverse relationship between such Keynesian economics and job creation.  I even think Obama's proposal to continue the cuts in the FICA tax is more a political move than an economic one.  Can one seriously say that the extra few dollars a week in everyone's paycheck is going to cure our economic malaise?  Or will the long-term damage that this does to the Social Security System negate any short-term "stimulus effect." And, for that matter, has the FICA tax cut last December helped one bit in creating jobs?  I don't see any evidence to support this notion.

The more I reflect on the United States jobs problem, the more I am convinced it is a policy issue and not a process issue.  Our current government unfortunately has continually exhibited an anti-business bias in its day-to-day actions -- from trying to stop Boeing from building the Superliner in South Carolina ... to its recent rapping of Gibson Guitar's knuckles in Tennessee over the wood that it uses ... to the stopping of oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.  And, if one takes a serious look at the tax increases that The Barry has or plans to impose on U.S. businesses (if you doubt me, please take a gander at: Obama Tax Hikes), one can understand their reticence to invest in the future and thus grow jobs.

I'm sorry President Obama, even though you "hope" it will get you re-elected, more of the same just doesn't cut it in my book.

Further Thought:  One might add to the list of Obama's anti-business actions ... the recently-passed health care law.  Again, to see exactly how this act works against U.S. companies, refer back to the link above referring to Obama Tax Hikes and see how oppressive this unilateral action has/will become to capitalism.

Kitchen Cabinet

Last night, while watching the Republican debate from the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, I was impressed with this lineup of Presidential hopefuls. I also felt it was a shame that only one of them could take the fight to The Barry next fall. I realize that this idea cuts across the grain of the current media narrative -- that the Republicans offer a weak slate of candidate hopefuls. But, to me, each of these potentials is better than what we got now … and each has significant strengths that he/she could bring to the next administration. Since only one could be our next President, the next fanciful step then was to imagine how each of them would fit into a Republican administration. I do realize that this would never happen, but I did have this chimera and let me here share it with you:

Mitt Romney – President
Newt Gingrich – Vice President (if I can’t have Marco Rubio)
Jon Huntsman – Secretary of State
Ron Paul – Surgeon General
Rick Perry – Secretary of Defense
Michele Bachmann – Attorney General
Rick Santorum – Secretary of  Treasury (if I can’t have Paul Ryan)
Herman Cain – Secretary of Commerce

I can dream can't I?

Thursday’s Laser-like Focus

[My prediction ... to be straight from the Teleprompter-in-Chief]

"My fellow Americans. I am here today to focus like a laser on jobs. I have suffered almost three years of stagnent job growth in this nation, primarily brought about by the severe recession that I inherited from my predicessor. I have stopped the bleeding but the patient is not cured. I believe that, if we as a nation can come together and focus on providing jobs to those unfortunate among us who have no gainful employment, then I, with your help, can start to grow our economy once again. This is my mission and my only mission for the next 15 moths of my current administration. My mission is to get America and Americans back to work. I may not be able to complete this mission before 2013, but I think this mission is so big that it may take even more time to complete my vision for America. … and this is why I insist that we must come together."

"And when I say come together, I mean that the obstructionists among us need to step back and let their fellow Americans get back to work. I have had to get our economic car out of the ditch in which I found it … and, in doing so, I have had to deal with many of you I see sitting in front of me now who want to see this car stay in the ditch … so that their party can grab the reins of power back. I can only do so much.  If I do not get your cooperation then I will see continued stagnation as a nation and the car will be driven back into the ditch. I cannot tolerate this and I cannot let the obstructionists among us here try to destroy this nation. And so I plead with you to stop this partisan bickering and follow my lead into a better economy."

"I believe we are a great nation that needs to get back to what has made us great and to this end I want to propose the following twenty-seven steps that I guarantee will bring jobs back to our nations’ factories and service sectors:

1) I urge you to create an infrastructure bank that will focus on investing in the rebuilding the crumbling roads, bridges, and schools in our country.

2) I would propose that you provide major government-funding for re-education programs that will enable the long-term unemployed to refresh their job skills so that they can reassimililate themselves into our new high-tech economy.

3) I think that there should be created a twenty-first century equivalent of the Civilian Conservation Corps so our government can reconstruct our national parks, seashores, and wilderness areas while at the same time providing jobs to hundreds of thousands of young Americans.

4) I blah, green jobs blah, me blah, my blah …"

Solar Flare

Once again we learn the painful lesson that the federal government is seldom a savvy investor.  It seems that The Barry has thrown $535 million of taxpayer money down a rat hole to show how sensitive he is to growing "green jobs" (see: Solyndra Shuts Down). 

As it turns out, these 1,100 jobs at Solyndra Corp. in Fremont, CA lasted only a little over one year and now the only green left there is the envy that these erstwhile environmentalists feel for their neighbors who are still gainfully employed.  To be perfectly fair, one has to mention that $600 million of private venture capital had also been frittered away on this cadre of tree-huggers (see: The Green Wombat).  And this also parallels an even more foolish investment of something like $20 billion of federal funds in 1979 by Jimmy Carter on the pie-in-the-sky Synthetic Fuels Corp. (see: Synfuel Sin).

Now, Thursday next in his "jobs, jobs, jobs" pep rally, when The Barry calls for our government to "invest" in more green jobs, please also invest a healthy amount of scepticism on your own at his pom-pom waving.