Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Scamming

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had a crisis that has caused the need for a large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US.  If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Franklin Raines, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January.  You may know him as the Chief Economic Advisor for Senator Obama's presidential campaign, and the former head of Fannie Mae from 1999 to 2006.

Let me assure you that this transaction is 100% safe.  Mr. Raines is completely trustworthy with your money.  His record speaks for itself.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of friend so the funds can be transferred.  Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully

Henry "Hank" Paulson

Minister of Treasury

Monday, September 22, 2008

The Big Lie of Being Nice

Outside the Beltway
"It’s quite possible, though, that we’ve simply created a culture that values sparing hurt feelings over individual freedom of expression."

More Big lie - the False Patriot

Stop the ACLU
"but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak of self-interest.”

Sunday, September 21, 2008

More Big Lie Perspective

Ross Douthat
Even among Christians, there were disparities. While 36% of those belonging to the United Church of Christ, Sen. Barack Obama's former denomination, expressed strong beliefs in the paranormal, only 14% of those belonging to the Assemblies of God, Sarah Palin's former denomination, did. In fact, the more traditional and evangelical the respondent, the less likely he was to believe in, for instance, the possibility of communicating with people who are dead.

Isn't it interesting that those who tend to believe in the paranormal are also those who tend to believe the big lie of the liberal left?


The Marxist Drumbeat of the Left

Brutally Honest
The drumbeat - the phenomenon of the big lie. 
It's the drumbeat of the left. It is political, philosophical, theological, and social. It pervades every activity. It is post-structural, post-modern, post-everything in the parlance of the day. It is tolerant, diverse, non-judgmental, non-discriminatory, egalitarian, politically correct, multicultural, globalist, and collectivist. It insists that there are no rights and wrongs, no moral absolutes. It turns everything upside down in its looking glass world. It denies the correctness of all that produced what our culture revered before the deconstruction of the world in accordance with the tenets of cultural Marxism.
I often wonder why, what I consider to be the rational and logical arguments of conservatism, don't fare well against the drumbeat.  This author posits that man's nature is selfish and arrogant.
The power-hungry arrogance of human beings seems to be the force that underlies the events carrying us forward to the final chapter.
Dennis Prager talks about man's need for security.  I have heard him say that but I am unable to cite a reference.

If you believe the polls and most recent elections, we are split 50/50.  Half of us believe the big lie, half of us not.
Western culture, culminating in the great American experiment, has been perverted.

...
Generally, these perversions are manifested in bigger government, more laws, more bureaucracy, more regulations, more taxes, and government controlled redistribution of wealth, more collectivism, less individualism, and less freedom. We all hear it constantly from leftist politicians as they add their part to the drumbeat:  government must do more to ensure Americans avoid the consequences of their choices.  We all know the song, sung to the cheers of the unthinking throngs who would give up their very humanity for the promise of a free lunch. These are the joys of cultural Marxism.
Unthinking throngs - I love the word sheeple

How did this great experiment get to a 50/50 split?



Saturday, September 20, 2008

Consumers get credit for their part in the debacle

Washington Post
This is not good news for consumers.  Reminds me of Phil Gramm's "whiners" comment. 
"Wall Street has lived beyond its means, but so has Washington. Both did so, in part, because consumers and voters on Main Street wanted it that way. They craved cheap credit to spend on imported goods, and they resisted tough tax and spending decisions. That, too, must change, lest this generation's costly excesses end up crushing opportunities for its children and grandchildren."

Friday, September 19, 2008

Against all of that stand these two.

Instapundit
Bill Whittle talks about McCain and Palin and their stand against a Legion of Narcissists and a Confederacy of Despair - the Liberal Left.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

More Electoral College Prediction

CEO's as Pirates

Vox Popoli
The executive class is not, for the most part, capitalist, it can be more accurately understood as a sort of pirates union that is loosely allied in common cause against the capitalists who actually own the companies that they are systematically pillaging under the guise of "managing" them. Until this distinction between executives and owners is properly understood by the American people, the irresponsible rape-and-pillage will continue to the detriment of the shareholders, the employees, the economy and even the government.

Interesting view of the executive class.  Seems they are about as useless as the current political class.  Easy access to Other People's Money (I heard Sarah Palin call it OPM the other night on Hannity) is at the root of both the executive and political failings.

Vox Day argues this is not "a reflection of the free market" and that government intervention has allowed this.
Their power is the result of government interference in the free markets
I can see this as a micro argument but it seems to me that, at a macro view, this is the free market at work.  "They" will take what they can get away with - what the market will bear.  Government interference is part of what defines the current "market".  When the shareholders decide this is no longer acceptable, they will influence the market to change.



Monday, September 15, 2008

Whither the Rule of Low

The Strata Sphere
When governments allow unreasonable panic to set in and the mob rule to take over the rule of law - even in the slow motion case of a trial like this - they have lost control.

The rule of law is based on the fundamental premise of a jury of our peers and the theory of the rational man.  What happens when the propaganda of a big lie causes the rational man to become irrational?

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Wireless Power Transmission Making Progress

Impact Lab
"A new long-range energy transmission experiment opens the possibility of sending solar energy from space to earth."

Dilema of Modern Technology

Astute Bloggers
Who would have thought that Skype was a bad thing?
 "Taliban fighters targeting British troops in Afghanistan are using the latest ‘internet phones’ to evade detection by MI6, security sources said last night."

Eating Their Own

Stop the ACLU
"Dontcha ya hate it when Old Media outlets beat up on other Old Media outlets?"

Deafening Silence at Columbia

Say Anything
"A pretty sad commentary if you ask me."


Long Term Effects of "Chamberlain" Thinking

Commentary
"More complacency will only feed Russia’s ambitions."

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Earmark Battle Continues

Instapundit
"Senate Democrats promised more open government.  This is not it."

The Economic Message is Bad - Not the Economy

The Chronicles of the Conspiracy
"What does it say about our nation that it has become political suicide to state the good news that our economy is not in recession?"

Friday, September 12, 2008

Comprehensive Energy Policy Emerging

IBD
Perhaps we are making progress.

Talk about your free markets

neatorama
We live in a capitalist society," she tells us. "Why shouldn’t I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity?
Is this a hoax or just free markets?

A Journey from Left to Right

Redstate
"And I will love her despite her flaws, instead of hating her despite her greatness. It is the very least I owe to those who perished to wake up a foolish, foolish young man."

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Local Nuclear Power

Next Big Future
This looks pretty interesting.

Cowed by Liberal Rhetoric?

AmSpec News
The economy is not booming but it is sound and growing.  Emmet Tyrell says we are cowed by liberal rhetoric and can't get this economic message out.
Did I say growing? Yes I did, but the Republicans cannot talk about the growing economy because if they did it would sound as though they had no compassion for those who are not doing particularly well in this economy. This is a rhetorical trick that the Democrats have imposed on the Republicans. So effective has it been in cowing the Republicans that quite possibly never again will a sitting president be able to boast of a record of economic achievement.
Is this another case of the "big lie" gaining traction? 

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Urban Poverty

Wolf Howling
"Does anyone detect a pattern here?"

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Containing Russia - The Battle for Ukraine

Westhawk
Ukraine is the big prize and thus a dangerous flash point between Russia and the West. For the West, a firm alliance with Ukraine would anchor the containment of Russia. But for Russia, such an alliance would be a step too far. For Russia, winning Ukraine is vital. For the West, winning Ukraine would largely end its problems with Russia. It is for these reasons that the battle over Ukraine is both so tempting and so dangerous.

Fannie and Freddie Taken Over

Redstate
A good description of what just happened to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and some reasons why. This made me laugh.
"If we were in China, they’d probably have “committed suicide” with bullets inexplicably entering the backs of their heads. I’d certainly want to shoot them if I were a shareholder of either GSE. There are some things the Chinese do better than we do."

An Outside View of the State of Our Presidential Race

Caroline Glick via Ace of Spades
Caroline Glick is an astute observer of our political situation. She is based in Jerusalem.
"McCain's strategic grasp of the requirements for a successful presidential race provide an important lesson for policy-makers and political leaders."

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Countering the Words of the Prophet Muhammad

Jihad Watch
The point here is that for the first time that I know of, a university administrator has gone on record calling words of the prophet of Islam "despicable." This is an astounding departure from the political correctness that shackles our universities today, and opens the door for more pressure to be placed on Muslim groups in the United States to renounce, in deed as well as in word, the doctrines of jihad violence and Islamic supremacism.

This is welcome news. The experience of Europe, England and Canada show us what we can expect if we allow political correctness to stop us from challenging these Muslim beliefs.