Friday, September 16, 2011

Hitler and AttackWatch


This is seriously funny!



submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

"Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Guess who's coming to dinner?


Pass the bread, Mahmoud.

Columbia University students may get the unique chance this month to dine with madman Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he visits New York, according to the school's student newspaper.

In an email sent to members of the Columbia International Relations Council and Association, students are invited to a private dinner Sept. 21 in Midtown with the man whom University President Lee Bollinger introduced as “a petty and cruel dictator” when he spoke on campus in 2007.

Members of the group were notified earlier this summer that they would have a chance to bring 15 students to the dinner, The Columbia Spectator reported Saturday.
Link

One can but hope the students will be as tough on him as they have been on Palin.

submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

"Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

It had to come to this!

Is this Harry Saxon?


AttackWatch

The question is this. What happens after the report is made.

Who filters the complaints?

Can you say "chilling effect" boys and girls?

You're right Harry, I should be more careful.



submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

"Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson

Security breach or just having to go??


In another incident Sunday, a pair of fighter jets were scrambled to escort an American Airlines jet into New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport after the pilot became spooked by passengers' frequent trips to and from the restroom, ABC News reported.

The precaution turned out to be unnecessary as federal air marshals aboard American Flight 34 from Los Angeles to JFK were able to resolve the situation when the passengers complied with their instructions, police officials told ABC. The pilot then radioed that the situation was under control and the plane landed safely. Three male passengers were questioned upon arrival, but no charges were filed against them, authorities said.

Guess the pilots have never heard of an enlarged prostate.

Maybe the airlines could demand a doctor's excuse.

"To whom it may concern:

This guy will require 6 visits to the john for every 1 beer that he drinks."

Of course the airlines could stop selling beer. Nah, ain't gonna happen.

We had Relief Tubes in the military aircraft back in my youth. You held the tube, fired away and prayed that the line had not become frozen after previous use.

Hat Tip to TalkLeft

submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

"Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson

Monday, September 12, 2011

Spell Checker


I halve a spell checker,
It came with my pea see.
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I dew knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait aweigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the era rite
Its rarely ever wrong.

I've scent this massage threw it,
And I'm shore your pleased too no
Its letter prefect in every weigh;
My checker tolled me sew.


Hat tip to Mike L!


submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

"Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson

Sunday, September 11, 2011

I remember 9/11 and I will not forget

Moussaoui Arrives at Supermax

I had forgotten about this.... don't know why I thought about it. I wrote it sometime ago..


Not all of those who died on that terrible day,
Lie peacefully in the ground.
Some burned to a crisp and floated away,
Their bodies never found.

The first to die,
In that terrible sky,
Were luckier than the last.
They were gone in a blink,
They had no time to think,
Of what could have been in the not so distance past.

No war was declared, no charges made,
By those who did this terrible deed.
A terrorist's desire, a terror raid,
By those who claim a most peaceful creed.

Little Eichmans, some say, were there in the tower,
And it is right they burn and cower.
Some jumped as the smoke was blowing,
Their sin was they exist,
In peaceful bliss,
Just living, just humans at work, unknowing.

"God is great!" came the cry from the sky,
And the dying sent their loved ones a last kiss.
We've caught a few, but more must die,
And when they complain, we rush to explain.

They have rights! They have rights! And will not pay,
The full price for that terrible day.
For one is unpunished for the lost lives.
He now lives in a cell,
When he should be screaming in Hell,
For the lost husbands, children and wives.

When he paces his cell, let him walk for the lost.
He should know that this is so, he will never be let go,
And he will never be able to pay the full cost.
For he walks in remembrance of the dead.


Man choosing to jump to his death rather than be burned to death on 9/11/01. There were hundreds of these.



A slight different version was published on Sat 5/13/2006 in Talk Left.. thread "Moussaoui Arrives at Supermax in Florence Colorado," at 12:59PM on 5/1/06


submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

"Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson

Saturday, September 10, 2011

How we killed the economy and how we can fix it


One of the solutions to our economic probles that the Left loves is "rebuild the infrastructure." The claim is it will employ people and it will boost the economy.

The problem with the "construction" industry solution is this.

The construction of private homes is not the same as building bridges, roads, etc. The materials required is different. The equipment is largely different. The planning is entirely different. The number of workers is vastly different. And the skill set is vastly different. A rough framing carpenter is useless in bridge building as is a finished carpenter. Plus you have very little need for plumbers and electricians.

And the number of workers needed for home building is much greater than what you need for road building.

Would it employ people. Yes. But not enough to jump start the economy and at a cost we can't afford.

So what you have is another Leftie central planning solution that won't work.

Now, what caused the housing bubble?

Greed. Greed of people wanting more than they could afford and greed of politicians wanting to give them a reason to vote for them.

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders

snip

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''

snip


Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, does not lend money directly to consumers. Instead, it purchases loans that banks make on what is called the secondary market. By expanding the type of loans that it will buy, Fannie Mae is hoping to spur banks to make more loans to people with less-than-stellar credit ratings.


Fannie Mae officials stress that the new mortgages will be extended to all potential borrowers who can qualify for a mortgage. But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites.

NYTimes

In case you don't know, the above was published 9/30/1999 and the President was Clinton.

Now Wallison was right. And in 2003 the Bush administration tried to get control.

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

But Barney Frank and Chris Dodd stopped it.

Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

Link

That Franks didn't know his rear end from first base is obvious. That he was doing this purely for political reasons doesn't need to be stated.

And the result was as expected. A overheated market. Greed by buyers wanting to speculate. Greed by sellers wanting to sell. Greed by banks who knew that whatever they did they could sell it to, among others, Fannie and Freddie and that the government wouldn't let them fail.

They were right. Read "The Big Short," by Michael Lewis.

Yet as the market imploded the Feds tried to ease the crisis by lowering rates. The economy remained strong and the end of April 2008 the situation, while not good, was somewhat under control.

Then the other shoe dropped. Oil went from around $85 a barrel in May to $145 a barrel by mid July and the economy collapsed. This was driven by speculators who were convinced, wrongly, that an oil shortage existed and that the Democrats would limit drilling. On the latter they were right. The Demos, in control of the House and the Senate blocked all attempts by the Repubs to increase drilling.

Finally Bush acted and issued an EO removing prohibitions. The oil bubble collapsed and the Demos, fearful of being left out, joined in.

By the time Obama was sworn in gasoline was $1.81 a gallon.

What did Obama do? Within days:

Facing gas prices near $4 a gallon and a pivotal national election, congressional Democrats allowed a ban on offshore drilling to lapse in September

But times change, and on Tuesday, the Obama administration - with gas prices roughly half what they were and many Democrats’ having been swept into office - blocked offshore drilling plans put in place at the last minute by the Bush administration, including plans to open the national outer continental shelf for drilling.

Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar also announced last week that his agency would block drilling on public lands in Utah, criticizing the Bush administration for releasing its offshore drilling plan just days before leaving office.

Link

And gasoline prices have since climbed steadily to a high of around $4.50 before falling back to the current $3.66.

And the economy is approaching depression levels.

How to fix it?

Start drilling for oil. Get rid of those regulations.

No charge for the education.



submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

"Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson