The news is coming so fast that I can hardly keep up with everything that I want to comment on. Today's jobless numbers have caught the media off guard again. Maybe its just me but aren't you tired of hearing about 'unexpected' increases in first time jobless claims? Even though the recession is supposedly over the unemployment rate remains high and this morning's newscasts have revealed that inflation is beginning to tick upward. We may be looking at another bout of stagflation just as we faced in the Carter administration. Unlike the Carter years, people have a much higher debt load which could be disastrous if interest rates rise like they did in the 1970s. Equally bad this time around is the fact that the nation's debt is a larger part of the GNP.
The B-HO continues with his lie that the current economic situation is George Bush's fault. If you know anything about economics you will know that this assertion is patently false. No president can be solely responsible for an economy even though they get both the blame and praise for economic circumstances. The American economy was in overdrive for much of the last decade and only began to show signs of trouble in 2008 - a year AFTER the Democrats came to power in the House and Senate. 'Compassionate conservatism' combined with liberal/progressive economics equals economic doom. For the sake of politics Hobama also ignores the fact that recessions follow oil shocks (something George Bush could not control) and have an inverse relationship.
Like a Cocker Spaniel, Meghan McCain is kind of cute but really stupid. Waxing ineloquent on ABC's The View last week Meghan woofed out some absurdity about how 'revolutions are started by young people not 65 year olds'. The self-described 'progressive' Republican (which is the same as saying liberal) is right about one thing: in the modern age, young people generally do begin revolutions. What Meghan isn't smart enough to realize (nor would she learn it from her Republican in Name Only father) is that youth movements and revolutions are almost always Fascist in nature. The other dirty secret of youth movements is that they are generally manipulated behind the scenes by older radicals who know how to attract young, revolutionary, and useful idiots like...Meghan McCain.
You may want to look to Greece for a peek at our potential near future. The EU stripped Greece of a vote on its own economic future on Tuesday (which should raise the paranoia rate in Whitehall to the roof) making them economic vassals to the whims of Germany and France. The Greek economy is in full collapse with unemployment rates estimated near 25%. There are riots in the streets on a near daily basis that receive absolutely zero coverage in the American MSM. I doubt that the threat of EU commissioners taking over economic sovereignty of their nation will make the highly patriotic Greeks less likely to take to the streets. Adding to Europe's problems is a collapse in the value of the Euro which is at its lowest level versus the dollar almost since introduction. Spain's economy is folding nearly as fast as Greece's and they may face similar sanctions before summer. Britain is not insulated as inflation is now outpacing interest rates making their savings worth less over time. However they have one consolation - the decision to keep the Pound Sterling provides them some insurance should the Euro collapse entirely.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Yo-Bama, Good Job - Sort of - Or Not
Unfortunately I was awake today in plenty of time to see the B-HO defending the pork-ulus bill one year later. While he searches for relevance in a world that no longer wants him and never really needed him I suppose I should say something nice about him. As with any nice thing you can say about Obama it will come with massive amounts of conditions. There are two items where I believe Hobama is on the right track but, like a government reliant 'community organizer', he is doing them for the wrong reasons and with the wrong money.
As oil becomes more volatile and scarce high-speed intercity rail will become more important and supposedly there are projects going on in 31 states thanks to the pork-ulus bill. Unfortunately this is something that should not be a government initiative. Amtrak proves that government running a business is a money pit. At this point in history if high-speed intercity rail was a profitable business someone in the private sector would be pursuing it already. You might argue that by the time we need it, it will already be too late and that is a distinct possibility but that is a risk you take in the free market economy. Besides this isn't about the government being prescient its largely because the B-HO and his thug-ocrats want us to be more 'European'. Well first, we aren't Europe and if you want to copy them then move there. Second high-speed intercity rail works in Europe because most European nations are little bigger than Washington state with populations approaching 100 million people. That difference is monumental when it comes to expensive mass transit.
The other thing Barry boy has taken up that I would like to acknowledge is his idea of building two new nuclear plants - the first in America in thirty years. But here come those silly qualifications. This same man closed the Yucca Mountain waste facility which demonstrates he isn't genuine about making nuclear power a relevant energy source for the future. Knowing that how can this be anything but a cynical political ploy? If that doesn't convince you Obama MUST know that his own EPA, his own enviro-wacko wing, and countless grassroots 'NIMBY' (not in my back yard) groups will rally to block a nuclear plant from one Portland to the other. In the end I doubt a single shovel of dirt will ever be turned for another American nuclear plant.
The Final Nail?
Phil Jones of the East Anglia University Climate Research Unit admitted to the BBC last week that the books on Human caused Global Warming were cooked; a revelation that could be the final nail in the coffin of the whole concept. Most of the dismissed skeptics knew that a long time ago but were shouted down by the Earth Cult that grew up around the concept of AGW. Jones also admitted that the Earth has been slightly cooling since 1995 adding three years to the estimates of non-biased climatologists. Furthermore he revealed that the science was never 'settled' practically damning Algore and that the now infamous 'hockey-stick' graph showing that global temperatures remained fairly even for millenia before spiking after the industrial revolution is a complete fraud. The Medieval warm period was indeed warmer than now. The 'Little Ice Age' that ran from the 14th-19th centuries really was colder and the 20th century saw us finally coming out of that. So, does all of that absolve us of responsibility for the earth? Certainly not. Just because AGW is dead doesn't mean we have license to destroy willy-nilly. The Chiahoga River catching fire in the 1970s was real. Acid rain was real. Boston Harbor's pollution was real. But these were localized conditions created from ignorance or deliberate abuse of natural resources. We have done a great deal toward removing these conditions. Filters in industrial stacks have all but eliminated acid rain, rivers and harbors have been cleaned up, mines clean up behind their activities. Global warming is real. But it is a complex cycle dependent on hundreds of variables including conditions on the sun; which we cannot control. The end of AGW will crush the enviro-cultists. Many of them will have to go through the five stages of grief before coming back to reality (some never will). But we all may be tearful over the death of human caused global warming as paleo-climatologists warn that we are overdue for an ice age. Frogurt anyone?
As oil becomes more volatile and scarce high-speed intercity rail will become more important and supposedly there are projects going on in 31 states thanks to the pork-ulus bill. Unfortunately this is something that should not be a government initiative. Amtrak proves that government running a business is a money pit. At this point in history if high-speed intercity rail was a profitable business someone in the private sector would be pursuing it already. You might argue that by the time we need it, it will already be too late and that is a distinct possibility but that is a risk you take in the free market economy. Besides this isn't about the government being prescient its largely because the B-HO and his thug-ocrats want us to be more 'European'. Well first, we aren't Europe and if you want to copy them then move there. Second high-speed intercity rail works in Europe because most European nations are little bigger than Washington state with populations approaching 100 million people. That difference is monumental when it comes to expensive mass transit.
The other thing Barry boy has taken up that I would like to acknowledge is his idea of building two new nuclear plants - the first in America in thirty years. But here come those silly qualifications. This same man closed the Yucca Mountain waste facility which demonstrates he isn't genuine about making nuclear power a relevant energy source for the future. Knowing that how can this be anything but a cynical political ploy? If that doesn't convince you Obama MUST know that his own EPA, his own enviro-wacko wing, and countless grassroots 'NIMBY' (not in my back yard) groups will rally to block a nuclear plant from one Portland to the other. In the end I doubt a single shovel of dirt will ever be turned for another American nuclear plant.
The Final Nail?
Phil Jones of the East Anglia University Climate Research Unit admitted to the BBC last week that the books on Human caused Global Warming were cooked; a revelation that could be the final nail in the coffin of the whole concept. Most of the dismissed skeptics knew that a long time ago but were shouted down by the Earth Cult that grew up around the concept of AGW. Jones also admitted that the Earth has been slightly cooling since 1995 adding three years to the estimates of non-biased climatologists. Furthermore he revealed that the science was never 'settled' practically damning Algore and that the now infamous 'hockey-stick' graph showing that global temperatures remained fairly even for millenia before spiking after the industrial revolution is a complete fraud. The Medieval warm period was indeed warmer than now. The 'Little Ice Age' that ran from the 14th-19th centuries really was colder and the 20th century saw us finally coming out of that. So, does all of that absolve us of responsibility for the earth? Certainly not. Just because AGW is dead doesn't mean we have license to destroy willy-nilly. The Chiahoga River catching fire in the 1970s was real. Acid rain was real. Boston Harbor's pollution was real. But these were localized conditions created from ignorance or deliberate abuse of natural resources. We have done a great deal toward removing these conditions. Filters in industrial stacks have all but eliminated acid rain, rivers and harbors have been cleaned up, mines clean up behind their activities. Global warming is real. But it is a complex cycle dependent on hundreds of variables including conditions on the sun; which we cannot control. The end of AGW will crush the enviro-cultists. Many of them will have to go through the five stages of grief before coming back to reality (some never will). But we all may be tearful over the death of human caused global warming as paleo-climatologists warn that we are overdue for an ice age. Frogurt anyone?
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