Quote of the Day

Andrew C. McCarthy, writing for National Review, about impediments to Turkey being admitted to the European Union:

It is an unremitting fact that mainstream Middle Eastern Islam is totalitarianism packaged as “religion.”

Not big on freedom of speech, either. McCarthy doesn't pull his punches, does he?

Jobless Rate Continues Up

Bloomberg reports the likelihood of a continued rise in unemployment in September, after a rise in August, from 8.1% to 8.2%. In spite of this economic misery, the MSM continues to predict an Obama reelection.

If it turns out to be an accurate prediction, political scientists will need to come up with some new theories to explain this illogical outcome. I can imagine two: perhaps Mitt Romney was a poor candidate choice. Many believe this to be true.

Alternatively, perhaps our electorate has experienced a high unemployment rate for so long that they've become accustomed to it. The electorates of several major European nations feel this way, having tolerated unemployment rates of 10% or more for decades.

Large numbers of our former workers have supposedly become "discouraged and no longer seek work." What if many of these people have found a way to survive without working and like not working?

Maybe they aren't discouraged but are instead in one way or another "retired." Perhaps they now draw disability payments or early retirement benefits.

Chavez Prefers Barack

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is an avowed enemy of the United States. The Associated Press reports that Chavez says if he were an American he'd vote for President Obama. He calls Obama "a good guy."

It doesn't take a huge leap of logic to conclude that Barack Obama is an enemy of the United States. If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, it follows that my enemy's friend is also my enemy.

Quote of the Day

Steven Hayward, a major contributor to PowerLineBlog, writing about the Obama administration's anti-energy policies:

It is axiomatic that if the federal government had realized five or six years ago that the technological advances in directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing that have set off the current domestic oil and natural gas boom were coming, they surely would have done something to stop it.

Maybe not Hayward's "five or six years," but I'd certainly accept "four years." BTW, directional drilling isn't new - has existed for decades - but perhaps has been improved in recent years.

Lack of Political Will

The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research has issued a report analyzing the outmigration from California. I particularly like the concluding paragraph of the Executive Summary:

Population change, along with the migration patterns that shape it, are important indicators of fiscal and political health. Migration choices reveal an important truth: some states understand how to get richer, while others seem to have lost the touch. California is a state in the latter group, but it can be put back on track. All it takes is the political will.

Today, California exhibits none of that political will. The Brown administration and Democratic majorities in both houses of the State legislature in Sacramento are very much part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

Musing

We've gotten to the point where Republicans and Democrats simply hate each other, no other word is strong enough. I have to believe the dislike is stronger than it was when I was younger. Why are we so angry with each other?

Netanyahu UN Speech Text Link

Go here to read the full text of Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the United Nations, on The Weekly Standard website. In it he explains how a nation goes about making a nuclear weapon and how far along Iran is toward that goal.

Netanyahu also quotes Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis on Iran's view of the mutual nuclear destruction of Iran and Israel:

For the Ayatollahs of Iran, mutually assured destruction is not a deterrent, it's an inducement.

Quote of the Day

Jay Leno, cited on NewsBusters, from his opening monologue Thursday:

We waste seven minutes in line every time we go to get coffee, 28 minutes getting through airport security, four years waiting for Obama to do something about the economy.

I can't imagine Letterman saying that line.

Travel Blogging XIX

Western Wyoming: This really big trip is over, it has been a good one. Yesterday morning we got into New York harbor early. We didn't see the "sail in" as it happened about 5 a.m. However we arose early and watched the sun come up over New York harbor, a very nice sight.

We had to vacate our cabin by 8 a.m., so we took our carry-on luggage with us to breakfast. We got great seats alongside floor-to-ceiling windows up on the 15th deck (the buffet) so we kept them until it was time for our "going ashore" station. NY harbor is a very busy waterway, lots to see.

We've been on ships where the disembarkation process was a mess, this one was smooth. We found our luggage without difficulty and headed for our bus, each towing two pieces of wheeled luggage: a big one and a carry-on.

We did a month at sea with that amount of luggage, obviously wearing things more than once. When you've traveled as much as we have, you learn how to pack. The other DrC favors packing cubes, made of mesh. I don't need them, but don't knock them either.

This trip did fox us a little, we expected more cold and rain. Our umbrellas were never unfurled and most of the time a long-sleeved shirt worn over a tee or polo shirt was plenty. I carried my umbrella some to ward off rain - but left it on the bus as it wasn't needed.

The bus ride to La Guardia airport took us under one end of the famous Brooklyn bridge, a good view. We also saw a fair number of residential streets with mature trees growing along them - frankly I was surprised. It wasn't as grim as I'd expected.

I'd been having some foot trouble so the other DrC arranged for wheelchairs for me in NYC, Detroit, Salt Lake City, and Jackson. It costs some tip money but we really got whisked through security, boarding, and all the airport hassles.

We traveled this trip (both directions) on Delta, whereas we normally go on United or Lufthansa. Delta's equipment wasn't new, we actually flew one leg on a MD-88, a later version of the old DC-9. I thought they'd all been sold to third world countries. On the other hand Delta's people were very nice - the southern touch.

Weird DNA Science

Having a male child can leave long-term male DNA traces in the mother's brain. In other words, the DNA transfer is not only one way: mother-to-child. Apparently there is some child-to-mother transfer as well. See the Los Angeles Times article for details.

CA Loses More Jobs

Campbell Soup Co. is closing its oldest soup plant, located in Sacramento. In this CBS Sacramento article, the key sentence is the following:

The company says the Sacramento plant, built in 1947, is the oldest in its network and has the highest production costs on a per-case basis.

Notice the words "highest production costs on a per-case basis." The article then quotes the president of Campbell North America on the reasons for this move.

We expect the steps we’re announcing today to improve our competitiveness and performance by increasing our asset utilization, lowering our total delivered costs and enhancing the flexibility of our manufacturing network.

In other words, avoid the high costs of operating this plant in California. The production is being moved to Texas, North Carolina, and Ohio.

The article also discusses the closure of three Comcast call centers in Northern California, also for cost reasons. California continues to lose jobs to states with lower operating costs and fewer regulations.

Chavez Meddles in Paraguay

Paraguayan President Federico Franco alleges that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has meddled in the internal affairs of Paraguay. Franco says Chavez has provided support to a criminal gang with the grandiose name of the Popular Army of Paraguay, initials in Spanish EPP.

The gang is accused of murders, kidnappings, and arson. See the MercoPress article for details, link by Lucianne.com.

Note to the geographically challenged: Paraguay and Venezuela do not share a border.

About Polling

The editor-in-chief of Gallup polls has written an article looking at some of the current whining about polls and their samples. If anybody knows what sampling means, he's the expert.

He explains what Gallup does with their sampling. If this issue is of interest to you, read the article. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.

The Wrong Question

This RealClearWorld article asks the question "Is the U.S. at war with Islam?" It then wanders off into the fever swamps of Boykinism.

The article asks the wrong question. The correct question is whether or not some significant portion of Islam considers itself to be at war with us? The evidence suggests the answer is yes.

The second question is whether that "warlike portion of Islam" is small enough that we can afford to ignore it? Obviously, many in our government would like to ignore it as much as possible, to marginalize it.

A Misunderstanding

People with college degrees make more money than people without them? True. Therefore, if everyone had a college degree, everyone would make more money? In spite of what the politicians tell you, this is false.

As long as a minority of people have college degrees, the degrees serve as a quick-and-dirty sorting tool to select out those with more intelligence, social skills, and upper-middle-class values. Not to mention superior ability to read, write, and manage numerical data. Do they always get you the "shiny penny?" No, but often enough.

Now suppose everybody, or nearly so, gets a college degree. Then its power as a selection device disappears. Presto, change-o, a college degree no longer means a higher income when everybody has one. Then it will be the minimum standard to get a truck-driving job, or a food-service job.

What will the new standard of excellence be? Probably a graduate degree, or a professional degree, or both. We last wrote about this issue on June 29, 2011, search term is GI Bill.

When politicians equate getting a college degree with getting a higher income, remember that it's only true if most people don't get degrees. So far, that is true.

Travel Blogging XVIII

Enroute to New York City: Cruising southwest along the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, on our way to New York City. Supposedly we will sail into New York harbor tomorrow morning.

The DrsC want to experience that historic entry with its view of the Statue of Liberty, a view so many immigrants have cherished. Actually, at least some of our own immigrant ancestors entered via Boston harbor, oh well….

The ocean is almost as smooth as we’ve ever seen it. We expected rough water, but we’re not disappointed to have missed it. The North Atlantic smooth in early autumn, go figure.

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At lunch today we had a liberal couple from Madison, WI, sitting next to a conservative couple from Delaware. Politics talk broke out, the vibes were not mellow. The other DrC tried to squelch it in the interest of comity, no luck.

The Madisonians were the people Peggy Noonan has been writing about, those who seriously depend on gov’t. support to survive, part of Mitt’s 47%. They genuinely see their livelihood going poof if Romney-Ryan are elected, they particularly don’t like Ryan.

I have to wonder how people who ‘depend’ on government handouts can afford this cruise? Maybe the handouts make the cruise possible? If so, should we taxpayers be subsidizing their upscale cruising?

Travel Blogging XVII

Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada: This town owes some of its serious beginnings to the American Revolution. More than 10,000 Tories or “loyalists,” Americans who maintained allegiance to Britain, migrated here after the revolution to escape persecution.

Probably the thing for which St. John is best known is it’s location on the Bay of Fundy which has some of the highest tides on the planet. We’ve been tied up alongside here for roughly five hours during which the tide has risen about eight feet. I know this because my cabin window was a couple of feet below dock level when we arrived and is now about 6 feet above dock level.

I generally understand tides as being related to the pull of the moon on the oceans, I don’t understand why they’re so dramatic here on the Bay of Fundy and almost imperceptible in the Baltic Sea. Explanations for these differences exist, I don’t remember them.

New Brunswick is the Canadian province with the second highest prevalence of French speakers, after Quebec where they are an overwhelming majority. Francophones are not a majority in New Brunswick but a large enough minority to have political clout.

If you’re wondering why there are all these Francophones in Canada, it is because they were here first, before the English, though of course not before the "first peoples" as the Canadians call the Indians and Eskimos . Later they were defeated by the English, turning this region into a British colony from which it evolved into the bilingual nation of Canada.

There are still political stirrings in Quebec to move toward independence from English-speaking Canada. Will it happen? Maybe someday, not anytime soon. The complications of such a separation would be immense.

Travel Blogging XVI

Enroute to St. John, New Brunswick, Canada: St. John, New Brunswick is somewhere we’ve already been, albeit some years ago. I think it was probably the first time we came to the Maritime Provinces – the summer of 1975.

We drove here all the way from Northern California in a little class C motorhome, overall length maybe twenty feet and eight feet wide. The first three full summers we owned that RV we did cross country trips of 10,000 miles or more. Of course as teachers we had the summers off.

Summer 1973 we did the southern U.S., down to Key West, Florida, and back across the middle on I-80. Summer 1974 we did the middle of the U.S., east thru Oklahoma City and back along I-90. Summer 1975 we did the north going east thru Denver and coming back thru Canada. Each trip we spent time in both Washington, D.C. and in the Yellowstone/Grand Tetons area. These were amazing trips.

Driving back and forth across the great middle of this country gave me the clear impression that the country is NOT crowded. East of the Mississippi River any land that isn’t paved or plowed reverts to forest within a few years without human aid.

Thoughts about Canada’s Maritime Provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland-Labrador. The first time we drove across New Brunswick to reach Nova Scotia it seemed like a long, boring drive. The second time we were dreading it but it wasn’t bad at all – maybe better roads the second time?

Driving the perimeter of Nova Scotia we saw many Acadian French names; not all of the “Cajuns” went south to Louisiana. Cape Breton Island is an amazing place, particularly the national park on the eastern tip. There was a bakery in Cheticamp that made the best bread, I wonder if it’s still there?

Prince Edward Island looks like one gigantic farm, except for Anne’s Green Gables. There are amazing fortifications on Nova Scotia, martello towers, and forts that look positively European. Alexander Graham Bell had a summer place on Cape Breton Island overlooking Bras d’Or Lake.

The Maritimes have historically been an economic drain on the rest of Canada, requiring support. Newfoundland-Labrador may now be an exception with their oil, and perhaps PEI was always an exception, I’m not certain.

Travel Blogging XV

St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada: Today the DrsC completed their set of Canadian provinces, we’ve now visited all of the provinces, if not necessarily seen all of each province. We’ve also visited one of the three territories: the Yukon. We make the brag that we’ve visited more of Canada than most Canadians, I expect it's true, too.

Newfoundland is a very large island, nearly the size of California. It was not a part of the original compact that formed Canada; it was the first Crown Colony and joined Canada later. The capital, St. John’s, has one of the world’s true natural harbors, if not one of the largest. It is easy to imagine how excited early explorers were when they found the harbor.

We enjoyed watching the careful Y-turn our monster ship made to leave St. John’s harbor. They cantilevered the stern away from the pier, backed up maybe half a mile, pivoted to bring the bow in line with the quite narrow exit, and headed out of the channel just over dead slow. I’m not sure we could have done it if there had been strong winds.

This afternoon we took what could charitably be called “the booze tour” of St. John’s. We began with the place where Newman’s aged port wine. Port wine would be shipped from Oporto, Portugal, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where it was aged for at least one winter, after which it was bottled and shipped to England for sale and consumption. This process improved the port. We sampled Newman’s port and it was nice.

From Newman’s we drove to a tiny fishing village named Quidi Vidi, on a tiny harbor, to visit a brewery also named Quidi Vidi (both village and brewery are pronounced “kiddy viddy”). The brewery does the best tasting tour ever, lots of different beers and ales to taste, and then they gave us each a bottle of our favorite. This and salty snacks too. Quidi Vidi, the village, is very picturesque as well.

Next we went to the top of Signal Hill for an overall panoramic view of the St. John’s harbor and surrounding region – a great view. On the way back to the ship we were treated to a shot of rum, called Newfoundland rum but produced in Jamaica.

In less than four hours we sampled wine, several beers, and 100 proof rum; then stopped at a liquor store on the way to the ship in case anyone was inspired to take the local product with them – most were. We returned to the ship a happy crew.

St. John’s may sit half way to Europe but it begins to look North American, whatever that is. There are tall buildings, and it feels more like the western hemisphere somehow. It claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in North America, perhaps it is even true.

Newfoundland has had its own cycles of boom and bust: bust when the cod fishing was shut down to prevent destruction of the Grand Banks fishing grounds, followed by boom after oil was discovered. The oil has brought in lots of money, and the problems that follow oil production – crime and drugs.

Cost: Obama Approval Too Low

The Weekly Standard's Jay Cost does an analysis of Gallup polling data going back about 60 years and finds that incumbents with approval ratings as low as Obama's don't get reelected. You cannot argue with his data, only with his conclusions. He concludes:

"Historically speaking, this president is in weaker shape than any postwar incumbent who went on to victory, with the possible exception of Harry Truman."

It may turn out that Obama will win reelection with the lowest approval rating yet. Or it may turn out that the polls showing Obama ahead reflect the "Bradley effect," saying you'll vote for a black candidate when you plan to do no such thing. This is something some percentage of people do lest they be perceived by the pollster as "racist."