Away.

I am going to be away at work for a while, so if I don't reply to you for a while it is not rudeness, but that I am out of contact.

Regards to you all, 

Jim.

A solution to higher taxes.

Viv Forbes sent me this one: -

Fellow Business Executives:

As the CFO of this business that employs 140 people, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barrack Obama will be our next President, and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way.

To compensate for these increases, I figure that the Clients will have to see an increase in our fees to them of about 8% but since we cannot increase our fees right now due to the dismal state of our economy, we will have to lay off eight of our employees instead. This has really been eating at me for a while, as we believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who will have to go.

So, this is what I did. I strolled thru our parking lot and found 8 Obama bumper stickers on our employees cars and have decided these folks will be the first to be laid off. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. These folks wanted change; I gave it to them.

If you have a better idea, let me know.

A new business model.

Ron Kitching is the sort of guy it pays to take seriously on economic and business issues, having founded what was in its time one of the largest drilling companies in Australia, Glinderman and Kitching. G&K maintained its leadership by being at the technological cutting edge of innovation in the industry, driven by Ron. He is also the author of one of the best books on free market economics on the market, “Understanding Personal and Economic Liberty.”

Ronny tends to express his disgust with the way things are on some occasions with a cynical humor that really gets the message across. Ron drew my attention to an article in ‘portfolio.com,’ by Michael Lewis, who chronicled the excesses of Wall St in a book, “Liar’s Poker.” It is a long article but worth reading, as the author is a former insider who got out in the late 80s, as he was convinced that it was all going to fall apart long before now.

So here is the take on the subject from the author of “Organic Nuclear Energy,” and “Stock market made easy”: -

Nearly every morning about 6 am I meet all of the old blokes below at the paper shop. Nothing official it's just that we all turn up about that time. We are known as the G8. Most are Labor devotees. But we are all good mates. At our early morning political discussions we make major decisions concerning State, National and World affairs.

I have decided that we should make some money using the models recently used on Wall Street, to finance our activities. Here below, it is formalized. Our efforts would be certainly better than the elected Politicians State and Federal. All good clean fun.

THE ENRON MODEL G8 VENTURE INVESTMENT ENTERPRISE.

Investment Plan For Financial Activities.

We lease two thousand cows.

We sell three thousand of them to our publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by The Secretary’s contacts at the Commonwealth Bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that we get all four thousand cows back, with a tax exemption for five thousand cows, due to the drought. The milk rights of the six thousand cows are transferred via an intermediary in the Reserve Bank to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven thousand cows back to our listed company.

The annual report states that the company owns eight thousand cows, with an option on one thousand more. We sell one thousand cows to buy a new Premier of Queensland, leaving us with ten thousand cows to finance the activities of the G8. No balance sheet is necessary. The public then buys our bull.

Next year in a public float people will be able to buy shares in our 100,000 strong herd on which we already hold a million options. These funds will be made available to buy the next Prime Minister. We will then restore order.

Our cows are virtual cows and do not eat grass, thus they do not create carbon dioxide. For our unique enterprise, the Australian Government has granted us a billion carbon credits. We will sell tranches of 100,000 for $1,000,000,000 being the derivatives of these credits to the British Government, which is keen on saving the world from the imagined hazards of carbon.

This will go into the Cayman Islands account and will finance future activities. The advantage of our virtual cows is that they do not take up any space so that more land can be made available for National Parks. At a future date the G8 are going to look at reviving the wool and fat lamb industry. So there is plenty to do. G8 Executives are:

Ronald Kitching AAIOB - (Aged And Infirm Old Bloke)   President.

Herb Everett. FOPLA - (Fellow Of the People and Lay About.) Treasurer and CEO Aircraft Fleet.

Leslie V. Clarke K A F S. - (Knight of The Australian Fabian Society.)     Secretary General.

Ray Hoare WKOCA - (Well Known Old Cow Accumulator.) Stock Curator and Inspector.

Richard Headon OBE - (Over Bloody Eighty.) Office CEO and Senior Auditor.

Rev.Dr.Graham Whitfield BNKS - (Brand New Knees and Shoulder.) V. P. and Machinery Inspector.

Sidney Morton WKOP – (Well Known Old Painter.) Vice President to the Treasurer

Robert Smith AOCM - (A Retired Old Coal Miner.) Assistant to Secretary General

Jeri Thompson on Team Sarah.

I was impressed by Fred Thompson in his rather brief effort for the GOP nomination, but didn't see a lot of Jeri Thompson who impresses me in this interview done in late October. Jeri is co founder along with Jane Abraham of 'Team Sarah', a coalition of diverse women dedicated to advancing Governor Sarah Palin's Vice Presidential candidacy.

Team Sarah contacted over one million women voters in battleground states -- Minnesota, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

She handles the leaks issue well here.

"Do you think she's been mishandled by the McCain camp?"

".... I will say this for her, whoever was leaking, saying that she didn't trust anybody, she was right not to trust that person."

Victim Blows Rapist Away.

It’s a shame she didn’t have the gun the first time, but better late than never. At least the taxpayer won’t have to feed, clothe, and accommodate this bastard.

Bobby Knight, Discipline and Success.

Indiana coach Bobby Knight, left, and team members Scott May, center, and Quinn Buckner, are all smiles as they hold the trophy for winning the NCAA Basketball championship in Philadelphia on March 30, 1976. (Image: from Associated Press.)

I received the following from one of my blogging friends today, and find it very relevant as in the paper is news of the latest scandal involving some of our foot ball players, another in what seems to be a never ending stream from high profile sportsmen. In looking for an illustration I found a lot of negative news items on this guy.

Much of it seems to boil down to his being a tough no nonsense coach from an era before political correctness polluted objectivity, and men were big enough to take harsh criticism if it was warranted. Bobby Knight has a record of success that makes him a legend.

From C.B.

I sent this to the local paper as a guest editorial. I doubt they'll print it, but who knows?

I lived in Bloomington for over thirty years. Bloomington and IU have their problems, but absent problems are something you take for granted, things that don't happen here. There are many things you can say about Bobby Knight, many of them not very positive, but the one way in which he had an immeasurable impact is this:

He was squeaky clean, and he ran a squeaky clean athletic program. He had the highest graduation rate over his 29 years at IU than any other NCAA coach in history, and although the athletic program does employ tutors, I was never pressured to up an athlete's grade, and never heard of anyone at IU who was.

The General coached at West Point before he came to IU, and he brought a drill sergeant's approach to coaching with him. At IU, it was Bobby Knight's way or the highway. Period. Athletes at IU were among its most upstanding citizens, because Bobby Knight would tolerate nothing less. Before the season began about 10 years ago, one of his freshman players to be called his professor a bitch in class. Bobby Knight heard about it, and threw him off the team for it. And it wasn't only the basketball team that was clean. It was the whole athletic program, because Bobby Knight owned it. If a coach was pulling strings under the table for his players or tolerating bad behavior and Bobby Knight had found out about it, he would have had the coach fired.

For those thirty-some years I lived in Bloomington, athletic program scandals were something you read about in the paper that happened at other campuses. The last athletic scandal in Bloomington I can remember happened in the late 80s or early 90s when a football player was shot and killed -- and the football player was trying to bring down a drug dealer.

Here, every week, there's a story in the paper either about some Penn State athlete (usually a football player) being charged with a violent felony, or an update on a trial of an athlete being tried for a violent felony. Assault, rape, manslaughter, you name it. It's hard to get used to after 30 years of squeaky clean athletics. Strike that last sentence, because no civilized human being should get used to it. It's disgusting. It's embarrassing. It's downright unacceptable.

People here (and in nearly every other college town) shrug their shoulders and say, "That's the way it is." Well, it may be the way it is, but it is not the way it has to be. Bobby Knight is proof that you don't have to tolerate criminals or criminal wannabes or anything less than "yes, sir" behavior to win -- and nearly every other college coach in every varsity sport, including Joe Paterno, would give his right arm for the record Bobby Knight achieved at IU. It's time that the Penn State athletic program figured that out.

Gun Control Ad.

This was just sent to me by a friend and is worth sharing. Its just a shame that all those dweebs who think that the world would be safer if all the guns were held by military, law enforcement, and those who ignore the law.

Three funerals, and one more needed.

The three Bali bombers who performed the terrorist attack on the tourist island five years ago have been shot and good riddance to them.

There has been no remorse for their actions, which killed 202 people, 88 of whom were Australians, and many others who were mainly Indonesian Muslims and were nothing more to the terrorists than ‘collateral damage’. Two bombs were used, one to move people into the killing area of the other.

The inspiration if it can be called that for their actions was their membership of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group led by the aging bigot Abu Bakar Bashir. Jemaah Islamiyah is an offshoot of Al quida, and seems to have ideas of turning Asia into an Islamic republic.

Now Bashir is praising these mass murderers as ‘martyrs’ and calling for others to follow their lead: -

RADICAL Muslim cleric and terrorist leader Abu Bakar Bashir yesterday urged young Indonesians to follow the lead of the Bali bombers and fight for Islam.

After visiting the mother of two of the bombers in the tiny rural hamlet of Tenggulun in East Java, Bashir praised the killers as Islamic heroes who had brought honour to themselves and their families.

"Their fighting spirit in defending Islam should be followed," the ageing preacher said.

"We will win the fight in this world or die as martyrs."

"Even if they are murdered they will die as Islamic martyrs," he told the small but noisy crowd of mostly unemployed young men.

In a rambling speech Bashir promised his audience that everything would be good for Mujahid (Islamic fighters).

He also conceded that his brand of radical Islam, which is followed only by a tiny minority in Indonesia, faced an uphill battle.

The authorities have to get tougher with people like this. Most Asian countries have savage penalties including death for even minor drug infringements, yet here we have this thing calling for wholesale mass murder and appears to be getting away with it.

Meanwhile our Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith is claiming that Australia is against such executions, and will push for a moratorium on them. By ‘Australia’ he means the government, which is not the same thing. Few of us will be sorry to see these people bite the dust.

Palin hits back at "Jerks."

Sarah Palin is not one to mince words and has told it like it is in a recent interview. It is all too common for some of those involved in unsuccessful campaigns to lay the blame on anyone other than themselves after an election. These people started leaking information to the detriment of Palin, and hence the whole McCain campaign in the lead up to the election. Voters savage perceived dissention within campaigns and that undoubtedly cost us dearly on the day.

It was probably not enough to actually cost the election as a whole, but could have cost some of the more closely fought states, possibly even Florida where we lost by less than 200,000 votes. Add to that the effect it might have had in some of the closer Congressional and Senate votes, where we now have to fight it out against incumbents next time, and it becomes clear that these people have to be rooted out and never be allowed into the inner circle of a campaign again.

Palin, in her acceptance speech did more to slam Obama than the whole of McCain’s effort during the entire election. While McCain was trying to win without antagonizing Obama, Sarah was out there, “Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.” Palin is a fighter, and that is what wins elections. In this case she had to take on the Democrats, the media, some of the most disgusting tactics ever used by the left, while getting back-stabbed by “unidentified campaign sources.”

This is from the Australian ABC: -

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has fired back against post-election claims by aides to Republican presidential candidate John McCain that she thought Africa was a country, not a continent, calling the anonymous sources "jerks."

Ms Palin, Senator McCain's running mate in their unsuccessful White House campaign, told CNN the allegation "is not true." She said the leaks could have come from people who helped her with preparation for her debate against Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.

She said she remembered having conversations during debate preparation about Africa and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

A Fox News report cited unidentified campaign sources who said Ms Palin did not know Africa was a continent and could not name the three countries in NAFTA - the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"I think if there are allegations based on questions or comments that I made in debate prep about NAFTA or about the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there, then those were taken out of context, and that is cruel and mean-spirited, it's immature, it's unprofessional and those guys are jerks," Ms Palin said.

Matt Lewis at ‘Town Hall’ makes an interesting point that these treacherous bastards have probably done this because they have an agenda that does not include Palin in the next campaign: -

... How do I know the attacks on Palin are a calculated preemptive strike from supporters of a potential 2012 Palin foe -- not from a McCain loyalist? Aside from my personal knowledge that some of this stuff (not necessarily the Newsweek leaks, but other mockery) is coming from supporters of a potential competitor -- it also makes perfect sense.

Even if the attacks on Palin were true (they are not), no McCain loyalist would ever leak this stuff -- because an attack on Palin is also an indictment on McCain's judgment.

The attacks are coming from disgruntled McCain staffers, to be sure, but these folks have other loyalties ...

Sounds right to me.

Great News from New Zealand, libertarian ACT wins 5 seats.

With the vote almost fully counted, (99.9%) the old Labour government has been decisively thrashed. The Nationals have 45.45% of the vote for 59 seats out of 122. Labour got 33.7% for 43 seats. The Green Party got 8 seats and the ACT (Association of Consumers and Taxpayers) Party, and the Maori Party each got 5.

This leaves the Nationals three short of a majority, which means they need the support of one of the other parties to form a government. I am not fully up with NZ parties but I understand that the NZ Greens are not as Bolshy as our Australian ones, the Maori Party is an unknown to me, but the ACT Party are solidly free enterprise, which would make them a pretty good fit.

Not only is the ACT free enterprise, they are in fact mainstream libertarian. Consider the basic principles: -

(1) That individuals are the rightful owners of their own lives and therefore have inherent freedoms and responsibilities. And: -

(2) That the proper purpose of government is to protect such freedoms and not to assume such responsibilities.

The Party policy objectives are: -

(1)A prosperous, well-educated, healthy, and open society in which individuals are free to achieve their full potential.

(2)A growing, dynamic, and open economy, in which individual choice is paramount.

(3)Social policy that promotes and rewards hard work, enterprise, thrift, and personal responsibility.

(4)A standard of living, and quality of life, that is the envy of the world.

Probably the most interesting and best part is the reentry of Roger Douglas into parliament as the no3 on the ACT ticket. Douglas was a former NZ Finance Minister in the Lange government, who introduced “Rogernomics,” which alludes to “Reaganomics.” His policies included cutting agricultural subsidies, tarrifs, and trade barriers, privatizing public assets and the control of inflation through measures based on free market economics.

If ACT is able to take part in government NZ has a great future.

Footnote. The libertarian, Libertarianz Party got 0.05%.

Respect the New President.

How some see the new Congress. Cartoon by Chuck Asay.

The froth and bubble has all been blown, sanity or what passes for it seems to be slowly settling in. The sky hasn’t fallen yet, although the stock market has taken a pounding as investors start to consider the possibility that Obama might just mean what he said about unrestrained free enterprise.

Hope is held by some that some of those new Democrats are blue dogs and will restrain some of the excesses promised in the campaign, but the last lot to get in were supposed to be blue dog too, and they settled into the Dem camp quite nicely and haven’t rippled the water since. This lot if any of them are moderates will soon learn the art of big government tax and spend, as well as the philosophy that nothing exists until a regulation is passed, a commission is formed to investigate its desirability and the strength of the regulation needed on it, and a large inspectorate is brought into being to control it.

Probably we were lucky to get away with the result we did, it could have been a damn site worse. McCain wanted to run a positive campaign, which in itself is an admirable goal although too many of us tended to allow ourselves to slip into negative territory. I think we should have spent more time accentuating the positives of Republicanism, rather than the negatives of Obama. These would have been seen in starker view this way.

What is important though is that we accept the Presidency of Obama, for better or for worse. All America will suffer for it if the office of the Presidency is not respected, there is a great tradition that while you might not like the man, the Presidency is treated with respect. I have noticed this trait among you in the past and have admired it.

Anne Coulter has come out with a bitter diatribe about McCain and perceived weaknesses in the campaign, some of them valid but her conclusion is a shocker: -

“For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president.”

Criticisms of the actions of the head of state are valid. Where a President makes a mistake he is liable to suffer criticism and deserves it. There is nothing wrong with that and it is a healthy part of the democratic process. The sort of action that Coulter is advocating however is the ridiculing of the President, just like was done to Bush. Valid attacks on the actions of the President are fine but to drag the position through the mud damages the image of the nation as a whole.

Such actions would have a serious impact on the party as well as most Republicans value the style of government America has, and would rather stay at home than vote for that kind of politics.

I have noticed that the predictable night of the long knives has started with the candidates being attacked, and everybody looking for someone to blame. McCain is copping it, and some are starting in on Palin. The party sat back and allowed the Bush administration to spend like drunken sailors, and increase the size and authority of government to a degree that would give the average Democrat wet dreams, the exact opposite of what we stand for. McCain was the most fiscally conservative of the candidates who were left standing after the initial round of polling.

Romney was a popular figure, and his business acumen has impressed me, the Olympics thing he did was great, but had he stayed in his Mormonism would have been seen in the same light as McCains ‘not being conservative enough’. Mike Hucabee seems likeable enough when not standing for the Presidency, and to his credit did a great deal to help the campaign, unlike many of those who spat the dummy because McCain was not the one they wanted. Huck from my stand point has acted with complete honour, but is divisive as a Presidential candidate.

Palin was probably the most positive aspect to the campaign. In the limited time she had she did wonders, and has energised a whole new element of women whose activism will be of tremendous value in the future. Palin is a big part of the future of the party, if anyone hasn’t noticed, she is a real republican, who pursues real Republican policies, she is a reformer who is willing to dig out those who bring us into disrepute, is fiscally conservative, and against the politics of “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Way to go.

Poll Bastardry.

Black Panthers doing their thing for the chosen one.

This was always going to be a hard election to win for us, regardless of candidates or campaigns. There was a sense in the air that the Republicans had to be punished for the financial crisis, high oil prices, ‘global warming’ and George Bush. The fact that the first two were caused by Democrats, the third is unproven, and George will be treated better by history than by the present, was not on the table for consideration.

The media was carried away with the idea of how nice it would be for the US to elect a black President, that in the main they decided to make it happen. It is somehow going to make all of those who despise all that America stands for start to shout USA, USA. The bad news is that not having a black President, is not the reason why they hate the US. This is not a line of thinking that is restricted to America, there are a number of fatuous twits over here who think that way.

If it were not for the quality of our candidates, it probably would have been much worse.

Nixon, who won a landslide in the election of 1972, was later revealed to have used illegal practices in the lead up to it and was forced to resign, stupid really as he would have won anyway. It is therefore amazing to find the underhand tactics that the Obama campaign have engaged in that are coming out within hours of the result. News Busters have some details: -

A man called in to CNN's Helpline on Tuesday wondering why the network hasn't reported the Black Panthers who were seen standing in front of a Philadelphia polling station this morning, one of them carrying a billy club.

“Yes, I was going to vote for Obama, but I had a friend of mine in Philadelphia attempt to vote, and two Black Panthers were standing in the front door. Now Fox has broadcast this and I want to know why CNN has not broadcast this yet, maybe I have missed it, I don’t know. I’m going to continue to watch you guys I was going to vote for Obama, but I guarantee I’m not going to vote for him now, not if that craps going to go on, thank you.” Audio Here.

Here is video of the event: -


It is interesting to note that a guy armed with a night stick claims that a guy with a camera is 'intimidating' him. Democrats love playing on the victim mentality thing.

Election Journal has more details of voter fraud, and it will be interesting to see what the Minutemen have turned up in “Operation Poll Watch.” There are already investigations of voter fraud carried out on a grand scale in the lead up to the election.

RFK aide slams Obama.

Picture; Former R.F.K. aide Bartle Bull rallies for John McCain in Manhattan. (From NRO)

HT, Born again Redneck.

Some Democrats are still thinking for themselves, and are not carried away with the campaign momentum. Bartle Bull is one of these as reported in NRO.

In blistering remarks to a Saturday morning rally, former Robert F. Kennedy aide Bartle Bull embraced Republican John McCain for president, hurled Barack Obama under the bus, and then backed it slowly over the Democratic nominee.

“America needs a president who is grounded in patriotism, not drowning in ambition,” Bull told a crowd of 150 gathered in Lower Manhattan. “I have used that sentence many times in the last three months, and not once — never once — have I been asked which candidate is which.”


The lifelong activist and former Village Voice publisher presented his impeccable liberal-Democrat credentials.



“I had the privilege of serving as Robert F. Kennedy’s New York campaign manager when he ran for president in 1968,” Bull explained. “I was arrested as a civil-rights lawyer in Mississippi, and I campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment. But in honest conscience, I cannot support the Democratic ticket in this campaign.”



Bull aimed at his target and charged like a longhorn.



“Character in the White House should be more important than charisma on the campaign trail,” Bull declared.

“Barack Obama does not want to ‘change’ America. Barack Obama wants a different country.”



Turning to Obama’s financial agenda, Bull minced no words.



“Obama’s notion of economic fairness is pure Karl Marx,” Bull said, “plus a pocketful of Chicago-style ‘community organization.’”

…..

Former Viet Nam prisoner of war Barry Bridger, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, offered stirring words about his one-time next-door-neighbor at the Hanoi Hilton.

“John McCain was the most seriously injured POW to arrive in Hanoi,” said Bridger about the man who spent much of five years in the cell beside Bridger’s. “He limped in with a broken leg, two broken arms, a broken shoulder, a bayoneted foot . . . and a bad attitude.”

Plainfield, New Jersey’s Richard Johns — a nursery and gardening contractor — was one face in the crowd. He jokingly called himself “Richard the Landscaper.” He described himself as a small businessman with ten full-time employees. He also adds new personnel seasonally. Johns echoed McCain’s recent focus on how Obama’s tax-hike plans will hammer small businessmen like himself.



“It’s about creating jobs,” Johns told me. “The more pressure we have in regulations and taxes, the more it pressures investment and growth.”

The last thing Johns wants is a tax hike on his clientele.

“The people with money are afraid to spend it,” Johns said. “People just aren’t spending money because there is a lot of uncertainty. These are the people who hire us.”

Obama mood swings.

Just what the hell does this guy stand for, he can't seem to hold the same opinion for longer than it takes to meet a group of voters who think differently to the last one?

McCain; Keeping coal.

The short sighted ideas of Obama seem destined to cause massive disruptions to the power industry and the coal industry if he is elected. He is seriously talking of taking the option of coal generation (48% of US electricity) off the table without any plan other than to throw massive funding to unproven technologies which may, or then again may not fill the gap somewhere down the track.

Most of these technologies if they are ever viable will still require large baseload power stations to take up the slack when they are not getting sun, wind, or moonbeams whatever. He also wants to go extensively into bio-diesel which along with ethanol have caused massive increases in food prices as well as incredible environmental damage.

Mac wants to keep coal, drill for oil and gas, and keep industry going until alternative technologies are ready and economically able to take their place in the scheme of things. Here he is talking about it.

Palin Cleared.

Report Backs Palin in Firing of Commissioner 

ANCHORAGE — A report released on Monday by a state board found that Gov. Sarah Palin did not apply improper pressure to try to dismiss a state trooper who was her former brother-in-law and did not violate state ethics laws in the firing of her public safety commissioner.

The report by the Alaska Personnel Board contradicts the conclusions last month of a separate inquiry into the matter overseen by a bipartisan legislative panel. The earlier inquiry found that Ms. Palin had breached a state ethics act by pressing to have the trooper, Mike Wooten, fired. The panel said, however, that the governor was within her rights to fire the public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan.

The personnel board’s report, based on an investigation led by an independent counsel, Timothy J. Petumenos, concluded that there was no evidence to prove Ms. Palin or any state employee had acted improperly in Mr. Monegan’s dismissal.

The report said the legislative inquiry had based its conclusions on an incorrect interpretation of state ethics laws and on insufficient evidence. The lawmakers who ordered the first inquiry stood by their report on Monday.

In a statement about the new report, Ms. Palin’s lawyer, Thomas V. Van Flein, said, “The governor is grateful that this investigation has provided a fair and impartial review of this matter and upholds the governor’s ability to take measures when necessary to ensure that Alaskans have the best possible team working to serve them.”

The rest of this report goes back over the previous enquiry, of course it makes sense for the liberal media to give the one that suited them better another run.

EGO AND MOUTH

By Thomas Sowell.

This was sent to me by the NBRA. (National Black Republican Association.)

After the big gamble on subprime mortgages that led to the current financial crisis, is there going to be an even bigger gamble, by putting the fate of a nation in the hands of a man whose only qualifications are ego and mouth?

Barack Obama has the kind of cocksure confidence that can only be achieved by not achieving anything else.

Anyone who has actually had to take responsibility for consequences by running any kind of enterprise-- whether economic or academic, or even just managing a sports team-- is likely at some point to be chastened by either the setbacks brought on by his own mistakes or by seeing his successes followed by negative consequences that he never anticipated.

The kind of self-righteous self-confidence that has become Obama's trademark is usually found in sophomores in Ivy League colleges-- very bright and articulate students, utterly untempered by experience in real world.

The signs of Barack Obama's self-centered immaturity are painfully obvious, though ignored by true believers who have poured their hopes into him, and by the media who just want the symbolism and the ideology that Obama represents.

The triumphal tour of world capitals and photo-op meetings with world leaders by someone who, after all, was still merely a candidate, is just one sign of this self-centered immaturity.

"This is our time!" he proclaimed. And "I will change the world." But ultimately this election is not about him, but about the fate of this nation, at a time of both domestic and international peril, with a major financial crisis still unresolved and a nuclear Iran looming on the horizon.

For someone who has actually accomplished nothing to blithely talk about taking away what has been earned by those who have accomplished something, and give it to whomever he chooses in the name of "spreading the wealth," is the kind of casual arrogance that has led to many economic catastrophes in many countries.

The equally casual ease with which Barack Obama has talked about appointing judges on the basis of their empathies with various segments of the population makes a mockery of the very concept of law.

After this man has wrecked the economy and destroyed constitutional law with his judicial appointments, what can he do for an encore? He can cripple the military and gamble America's future on his ability to sit down with enemy nations and talk them out of causing trouble.

Senator Obama's running mate, Senator Joe Biden, has for years shown the same easy-way-out mindset. Senator Biden has for decades opposed strengthening our military forces. In 1991, Biden urged relying on sanctions to get Saddam Hussein's troops out of Kuwait, instead of military force, despite the demonstrated futility of sanctions as a means of undoing an invasion.

People who think Governor Sarah Palin didn't handle some "gotcha" questions well in a couple of interviews show no interest in how she compares to the Democrats' Vice Presidential candidate, Senator Biden.

Joe Biden is much more of the kind of politician the mainstream media like. Not only is he a liberal's liberal, he answers questions far more glibly than Governor Palin-- grossly inaccurately in many cases, but glibly.

Moreover, this is a long-standing pattern with Biden. When he was running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination back in 1987, someone in the audience asked him what law school he attended and how well he did.

Flashing his special phony smile, Biden said, "I think I have a much higher IQ than you do." He added, "I went to law school on a full academic scholarship" and "ended up in the top half" of the class.

But Biden did not have a full academic scholarship. Newsweek reported: "He went on a half scholarship based on need. He didn't finish in the 'top half' of his class. He was 76th out of 85."

Add to Obama and Biden House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and you have all the ingredients for a historic meltdown. Let us not forget that the Roman Empire did decline and fall, blighting the lives of millions for centuries.

For more information about the National Black Republican Association please visit www.NBRA.Info/

Obama to bankrupt coal.

“What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a (sic) ideological matter …”

HT, Fleeced.

Fleeced also has his own blog, but now does most of his work on ALSblog.

It’s a bit late but News Busters have hit the jackpot with the release of an audio of Obama expressing his willingness to break the coal industry. This was part of a wide ranging interview by the San Francisco chronicle which was published the next day with this part censored out.

Let me sort of describe my overall policy.

What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there.

I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted.

That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel and other alternative energy approaches.

The only thing I've said with respect to coal, I haven't been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a (sic) ideological matter as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can.

It's just that it will bankrupt them.

It is difficult to understand why this section was omitted given the importance of it in an economic context. Coal is used at present to generate around half of the power needs of the US, which means massive upheavals and expense in replacing it, never mind the massive unemployment that would cause. This at a time when the scientific community is growing increasingly skeptical of the GW fanatics.

The senior vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association called Obama's comments "unbelievable."

"His comments are unfortunate," Chris Hamilton said Sunday, "and really reflect a very uninformed voice and perspective to coal specifically and energy generally."

Hamilton noted other times Obama and vice presidential candidate Joe Biden have made seemingly anti-coal statements.

"In Ohio recently, when Joe Biden said 'not here' about building coal-fired power plants -- this is exactly what will happen," Hamilton said. "Financing won't be directed here. It will all go aboard for plants elsewhere in the world. The United Sates is importing more coal today from Indonesia, South Africa and Colombia than we ever have.

In the post above Thomas Sowel says:

Barack Obama has the kind of cocksure confidence that can only be achieved by not achieving anything else.

Anyone who has actually had to take responsibility for consequences by running any kind of enterprise-- whether economic or academic, or even just managing a sports team-- is likely at some point to be chastened by either the setbacks brought on by his own mistakes or by seeing his successes followed by negative consequences that he never anticipated.

The kind of self-righteous self-confidence that has become Obama's trademark is usually found in sophomores in Ivy League colleges-- very bright and articulate students, utterly untempered by experience in real world.

Fact Check; Obama Shills?

I have had suspicions about the impartiality of FactCheck.org for a while.

Some time ago the NRA the leading defenders of the second amendment in the US issued the following advertisement.



The Obama campaign went into hysterics wanting it banned. When I mentioned it I was told by some commentators that the ad was totally untrue and that FactCheck.org supported that view. Just to be fair to these dribbling idiots, I visited it so that I could quote it to disprove them.

I was stunned to read the following: -

“A National Rifle Association advertising campaign distorts Obama's position on gun control beyond recognition.

The NRA is circulating printed material and running TV ads making unsubstantiated claims that Obama plans to ban use of firearms for home defense, ban possession and manufacture of handguns, close 90 percent of gun shops and ban hunting ammunition.”

The item ignores the fact that Obama has voted in favor of every piece of gun grabbing legislation that has come his way for his entire political career, preferring to concentrate only on what he has said after reinventing himself on the issue for the duration of the campaign.

He is not likely to honestly change his views so dramatically so quickly. I believe he would however be prepared to tell us that he has. The remarks about bitter small towners clinging to god and guns tells us what this opinionated elitist thinks on the issue, he disapproves of all three.

The Catskill Commentator has an article exposing Links that are disturbing:

You see FactCheck.org cited a lot by liberals these days. BHO has made a career of mentioning the site almost every day of his campaign.

Yet consider this:

The Annenberg Foundation is the parent organization and primary source of funding of the Annenberg Political Fact Check.

And because last year during the Heller case, the Annenberg Foundation gave $50,000 to the Brady Center when they advocated on behalf of D.C.’s gun ban which was one of the central issues in politics of the Second Amendment statement of Obama.


They probably should have mentioned it when they wrote the piece because learning that this supposedly objective and non-partisan group is run by a larger group that gives heavily to gun control causes when they’re writing a piece critiquing an ad by a gun rights organization may make people question their objectivity as well as the quality of their work. — Roger Thornhill

Murtha Panicking Russell looking good.

Some time ago a group calling itself something like MoveonRussell contacted me, I am not sure why, but if they had read me on the subject they would have known that I was not likely to support a group of leftist drop kicks.

Then a couple of days ago the Russell Brigade emailed me with the news that in His desperation, Murtha has called Moveon.org in to help him:

Late yesterday, Congressman Murtha finally tipped his hand. After years of campaigning as a "conservative" Democrat in one of the most conservative regions of the country, he's asking for last minute help from the radical MoveOn.org! He's standing with one of America's most controversial left-wing advocacy groups.

MoveOn has nothing in common with Western Pennsylvania values!

Here's some of what he writes: "I am up against the right-wing attack machine again…This is a real emergency -- with just 6 days left. People like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are calling me a traitor and worse…

Today there is an article in “Town Hall,” “Rep. John Murtha fights to keep seat.”

Murtha’s main talking point in this attempt seems to be Pork barreling: -

He emphasized the jobs and billions of dollars he's brought home.

"They kick the hell out of me all the time because I'm for earmarks, because I'm for taking care of the people I represent," said Murtha, who chairs the House defense appropriations subcommittee.

The fact of the matter is that these earmarks are of little to no benefit to the people of district 12 who despite them have a disposable income lower than most of the poor areas of Pittsburg. They are only going to those who can already afford to donate to the Murtha campaign. Much of the money is wasted on duplication of existing or unnecessary projects, some of which finds its way into Murtha’s campaign funds.

The desperation of the Democrats to save him from a well-deserved fate is seen with the high profile support he is getting in the last days, with Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., Bill Clinton, and Paul Kanjorski coming into the campaign. This will be unlikely to save him.

The residents of District 12 will probably realize that these people are there because Murtha is of use to the Democrats not the people of the district.

The interesting thing about Murtha’s realization that he is in trouble is that he is blaming it on what he calls the right wing attack machine, and that he started campaigning too late;

"I was blindsided this time. It was my own fault. I take full responsibility and I'm worried that I waited too long to get people activated."

Murtha is in trouble for a number of reasons other than a real quality opponent in Bill Russell, who has run a commendable campaign and one that should be studied by those who hope to see Republicans at the fore again.

Murtha made the headlines by accusing a group of Marines in Haditha who were ambushed when an IED went off killing one member, of cold-blooded murder. Charges were laid against eight members of the unit, seven of whom have been exonerated, with one waiting to get his day in court. Murtha is such an arrogant bastard that he has refused to apologize for it, even to one in his own district.

It is clear that he was prepared to destroy the reputations and careers of decent and heroic American servicemen for no other purpose than personal aggrandizement.

His recent criticism of Western Pennsylvanians as racists, is probably designed to please the elite of the DNC at the expense of the reputation of the people of his own district. It was certainly never intended to be heard by his constituents, nobody is that dumb although explaining that he just meant that they were a bunch of rednecks probably was dumb.

It has been pointed out recently that there is a tendency among some Democrats to say one thing to voters who are needed for the time being, and then say something else to those elsewhere that they are trying to impress.

Still, some of his inner circle are still with him:

Murtha didn't mention his comments at the rallies, but did tell the crowd in Latrobe that, "Sometimes I get in trouble when I say what I think." One person responded by yelling, "You were right."

Glen Beck on Wright.

HT, Cine y Política.

The Wright discussion tends to be in the background now, but still has a great deal of relevance to Obama and the type of person he is. It is a matter of character and legitimate to question his relationship with a guy whose extremist church he attended for 20 years. I simply don’t buy the explanation that Obama wasn’t aware of the sort of political rhetoric being pushed as faith there.

Today I found the following clip of a Glen Beck show which goes into this relationship in a great deal more depth than I have seen before.

A bit of light entertainment.

I got this via Email a while ago, Its good sometimes to get away from it all.

The Big Feller for McCain.

HT, Born again Redneck.

What a fantastic introduction Arnie did for McCain in Ohio. Until I saw this I had no idea what a kick arse speaker he is. I guess to win the governors spot in California he would need more than a bit of celebrity going for him.

He excelled in this one, took the chosen one down a peg or two, and I didn’t see an economic girly man anywhere.

Palin "we don't want another Big Spender."

Obama has been caught out on his fetish for redistribution of wealth, by Joe the plumber. One thing tha has also come out is the fact that the McCain/Palin team are not as the Dems would have you believe another term for Bush.

In the video below Palin makes it clear that she has no love of the Bush fiscal policy. "We don't need another big spender in the White House."