Friday, August 29, 2008
SARAH PALIN
Thoughts from Lexington Green, and a discussion thread, at Chicago Boyz.
9:48 AM
Thursday, August 28, 2008
DOG LANGUAGE AND POLITICAL LANGUAGE
(I've posted this before--it is, unfortunately, always appropriate during election seasons)
When you talk to a dog, you don't have to worry a lot about using syllogisms, complete sentences, good analogies, or crisply-argued chains of logic. What he's looking for is keywords...particular words and short phrases...like "nice doggie" or "here" or, especially, "dinner."
It strikes me that, increasingly, the way in which politicians address the American people is very similar. It's enough to say the words that are supposed to elicit the conditioned responses..."jobs" or "health care" or "education." There is increasingly litle effort to specifcy exactly what cause-and-effect relationship will cause these good things to come to pass, and why one approach might be better than alternative approaches. This behavior is most noticeable among Democrats, but is by no means totally absent among Republicans.
6:43 AM
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
OBSERVATION
What I’ve heard of the Democratic convention reminds me of some lines from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado:
Sent to hear sermons by mystical Germans
Who preach from ten till four
Unfortunately, the Republican convention will probably come across the same way.
(cross-posted at Chicago Boyz)
7:53 PM
Monday, August 25, 2008
JUST UNBELIEVABLE
Nancy Pelosi seems to be unaware of the fact that natural gas is a fossil fuel. If you find this level of ignorance difficlt to believe, the complete transcript is here.
Pelosi's spokesman later said that she does indeed know that natural gas is a fossil fuel--however, the discussion between Pelosi and Brokaw implies pretty strongly that she was either unaware of this fact, or didn't want to admit it. Her comments also suggest that she doesn't at all understand the nature of the drilling activities required for natural gas production, which aren't all that different from those required for oil production.
6:35 PM
Friday, August 22, 2008
SHOOTING DOWN MISSILE DEFENSE
What if Barack Obama, rather than Neville Chamberlain, had been Prime Minister of Britain in the late 1930s?
See my post at Chicago Boyz.
2:51 PM
Monday, August 18, 2008
MOVIE vs REALITY
Neptunus Lex answers some question's for his daughter's friend. (Both kids about 14..."the Kat"=Lex's daughter, TKF="the Kat's friend," YC="your correspondent" (Lex).
TKF: So, (the Kat) tells me you were in TOPGUN?
YC: (Brightening) Yes, I was!
TKF: Did you have any lines?
YC: (Momentarily confused) Lines?
TKF: You know, a speaking part?
YC: (Understanding, finally) No, I wasn’t in the movie. I was in the squadron that the movie was made about.
TKF: (Disappointed) Oh.
Oh.
Sic transit gloria.
Read the whole thing.
11:31 AM
Sunday, August 17, 2008
WALL STREET, PRO WRESTLING, AND SEVENTH GRADE
At Chicago Boyz.
8:48 PM
MAKIN' IT IN WOODINVILLE
Here's a company that thought seriously about moving its production to China, but decided to keep making its products (cabinets) in Woodinville, WA (near Seattle.) It's worked out well for them.
Previously: Makin' It In Manitowoc.
12:24 PM
Thursday, August 14, 2008
SUPPRESSING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT AMERICAN OIL RESOURCES
An editorial in Investor’s Business Daily (8/11) contains the following passage:
In 2005, (Barack Obama) voted to kill legislation that would have measured our offshore (oil and gas) reserves.
That effort failed and a preliminary inventory report was produced in February 2006.
But those estimates of what lay beneath the 1.76 billion-acre continental shelf were based on old data obtained from surveys using old exploratory technology.
The Interior Department report stated: “Resource estimates are highly dependent on the current knowledge base, which has not been updated in 20 to 40 years for areas under congressional moratorium . . .”
The reason is that while requiring regular inventory assessments Congress provides no funding to conduct new surveys.
Now Obama is sponsoring S.115, which he calls the “Oil SENSE Act,” which would repeal the 2005 Energy Policy Act’s authorization of these inventories.
His bill would prohibit the expanded use of 3-D seismic techniques to search for and measure undersea oil deposits.
This seemed so unbelievable, even give what I knew about Obama’s ideas on energy, that I had to check for myself to see if it was true.
Continued at Chicago Boyz.
6:43 PM
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Regarding the events in Georgia, Neptunus Lex has some questions:
Millions marched in San Francisco, Rome, Barcelona and London when a US-led coalition of democracies prepared to depose a murderous tyrant - where are they now, when a tyrant seeks to depose a democratically elected government?
Millions more protested when a wretchedly afflicted people attempted to shake off the chains of 30 year’s oppression, tribalism and superstition to create for themselves and their children a sense of security and a representative government, answerable to the people - where are they now, that a free people has been reacquainted with the rod and beaten back to the yoke?
Others protested in Florence and Glocestershire when NATO bombers intervened to stop a genocide in Kosovo - where are they now, when bombers and helicopter gunships rain death upon innocents?
Read the whole thing.
Cross-posted at Chicago Boyz.
12:40 PM
A TALE OF TWO OFFICES
McCain's office and Obama's office.
Bookworm suggests that one candidate is a mensch, the other is a product.
7:03 AM
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
CULTURE CLASH
American schools are hiring large numbers of foreign teachers, especially for hard-to-fill jobs in science and math teaching. Many of these teachers seem to be extraordinarily dedicated--and many of them are pretty appalled at the climate of disrespect that exists in so many American public schools.
At Joanne Jacobs.
6:08 AM
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
A SCARY RATIO
Barrons(7/14) contains the following sentence:
Even more impressive is the value of the oil reserves of petroleum-exporting countries, which now total an estimated $140 trillion, nearly three times the size of global equity markets, which have a combined market value of around $50 trillion. (emphasis added)
Continued at Chicago Boyz.
8:54 AM
READING SOLZHENITSYN AT THE U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY
Neptunus Lex remembers.
6:31 AM
Monday, August 04, 2008
WORTH PONDERING
When the mouse laughs at the cat, there’s a hole nearby
--Nigerian proverb (via LGF)
Previous Worth Pondering
12:51 PM
SECRET REPUBLICANS
Don’t call me again. I’m going to vote Republican, but I can’t let anybody know. It’s got to stay a secret.
and
I’m conservative too, but don’t let anyone know. I also have two friends here. I’ll point them out to you. They’re also secret conservatives.
...read the whole thing at Bookworm Room.
When "progressives" dominate institutions/professions/geographical areas...Hollywood, most universities...they have demonstrated a tendency to intimidate those of differing political views, and to suppress, to the extent that they can, the expression of these views.
What will it be like if these people manage to obtain control of the entire Federal government--executive branch as well as both houses of Congress?
I'd rather not find out.
UPDATE: More on this at Neo-Neocon.
12:27 PM
Saturday, August 02, 2008
DEFLATOR MOUSE
Rich Karlgaard, who is publisher of Forbes, has an idea for a modernized version of Die Fledermaus.
8:20 AM
Friday, August 01, 2008
BLAM! SOCK! POW!
A response to the professors who are trying to prevent creation of a Milton Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago, from UC professor John Cochrane. At Chicago Boyz.
7:10 AM
IMPORTANT READING
Political Prisms, on the growing divisions in perception of reality within American society.
Maggie's Farm links this article as A Domestic Cold War?
5:46 AM
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