Writing for National Journal, Charlie Cook wanders through the indicators that might give some hint as to the outcomes of the 2014 midterm elections. He finds indicators that favor the GOP, and others that favor the Dems.
Cook covers himself both ways and ends up saying, in effect, "It's anybody's guess" or "It's too soon to tell," maybe both. He is supposed to be one of the savvy national political analysts but my summary of his column is that he doesn't know what will happen; he believes the auguries are mixed.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Arctic Mosquitos
Here's a Yahoo News article about lots of mosquitos in the Arctic - treating 'em like they are a new phenomenon which they're not. I was there in the late 1980s and there were total swarms of the nasty little rats, flying in your ears, up your nose, and biting you everywhere.
The big ones have stripes around the body like hornets, but are slow and easy to hit; the little ones are quick and more likely to bite you. Different sizes come out at slightly different times.
The author's not exaggerating about the density of mosquitos, they are thick. What's really nasty is the loud whine they make in your ears, particularly in the dark when you're trying to sleep.
The worst I ever experienced were at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, on Hudson Bay. We'd gotten off the train and were taking a tour to the mouth of the Churchill River which empties into the bay just west of the town. There was so much "flying protein" in the air one could have almost made a meal off the mosquitos, as martins and swifts do, just open your mouth and bite down.
In the bay were beluga whales, looking like over-sized albino porpoises. Once we slathered on some 100% DEET, courtesy of a nice Canadian lady, we could appreciate the whales. Being white they really showed up.
The big ones have stripes around the body like hornets, but are slow and easy to hit; the little ones are quick and more likely to bite you. Different sizes come out at slightly different times.
The author's not exaggerating about the density of mosquitos, they are thick. What's really nasty is the loud whine they make in your ears, particularly in the dark when you're trying to sleep.
The worst I ever experienced were at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, on Hudson Bay. We'd gotten off the train and were taking a tour to the mouth of the Churchill River which empties into the bay just west of the town. There was so much "flying protein" in the air one could have almost made a meal off the mosquitos, as martins and swifts do, just open your mouth and bite down.
In the bay were beluga whales, looking like over-sized albino porpoises. Once we slathered on some 100% DEET, courtesy of a nice Canadian lady, we could appreciate the whales. Being white they really showed up.
They Hate Your Cars
Have you traveled in Europe? Have you noted how European housing is clustered around public transportation lines, how suburbs as we know them are seldom seen?
The DrsC have seen it repeatedly. Europe is a nice place to visit occasionally but we wouldn't want to live there.
You have heard criticism of Obama's drive to make the U.S. more like Europe. Force yourself to read this rather dry National Review article by Stanley Kurtz about the Obama HUD department pushing zoning plans of "regions" in a clearly European direction.
This is what happens when you let urban planners design your life. Urban planners hate your cars. Their ideas are ugly stuff - very anti-American and pro-European.
The DrsC have seen it repeatedly. Europe is a nice place to visit occasionally but we wouldn't want to live there.
You have heard criticism of Obama's drive to make the U.S. more like Europe. Force yourself to read this rather dry National Review article by Stanley Kurtz about the Obama HUD department pushing zoning plans of "regions" in a clearly European direction.
This is what happens when you let urban planners design your life. Urban planners hate your cars. Their ideas are ugly stuff - very anti-American and pro-European.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Lone Star Wisdom
Bryan Preston, writing for PJ Media, about the impact of Texas on the U.S.:
My east Texas students, writing about their life goals, would very often indicate becoming more involved in church and more prayerful were among their major aims. I have to believe they were sincere.
Washington needs Texas a whole lot more than Texas needs Washington.As the article says, east Texans are crazy for religion. They don't understand the "separation of church and state" concept at all.
My east Texas students, writing about their life goals, would very often indicate becoming more involved in church and more prayerful were among their major aims. I have to believe they were sincere.
2014 - 30 = 1984
Do you remember reading George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 decades ago in your youth? I do and it still gives me the willies.
Victor Davis Hanson has written for PJ Media a column in which he describes modern American life in terms which make it recognizable as that horrifying book. Damn, it is a spooky endeavor, very well done, Vic. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.
Hanson says we go through our days forced to allege in public as true things we know to be false. We do this because to do otherwise is to be in danger of one or another kind of public banning, career disaster, or worse.
I know Hanson is correct; I write here things I would not have dared write as a faculty member of a state university. I spent thirty years self-censoring my lectures, and luckily was good at doing it.
Still today I self-censor this blog so as not to seem too extreme, too radical, too "wing-nut." My stale joke to liberals: "I'm conservative, but no Nazi."
Victor Davis Hanson has written for PJ Media a column in which he describes modern American life in terms which make it recognizable as that horrifying book. Damn, it is a spooky endeavor, very well done, Vic. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.
Hanson says we go through our days forced to allege in public as true things we know to be false. We do this because to do otherwise is to be in danger of one or another kind of public banning, career disaster, or worse.
An example Hanson doesn't include in his column: we publicly say Islam is a "religion of peace" when we all know differently. It is today the major "ism" in whose name acts of terror are carried out on this planet - another truth we cannot speak.
I know Hanson is correct; I write here things I would not have dared write as a faculty member of a state university. I spent thirty years self-censoring my lectures, and luckily was good at doing it.
Still today I self-censor this blog so as not to seem too extreme, too radical, too "wing-nut." My stale joke to liberals: "I'm conservative, but no Nazi."
Monday, July 29, 2013
Political Imagery
Some talented folks can paint pictures with words, read a truly scary sentence:
The always readable Mark Steyn piquantly describes for the Orange County Register how what caused Detroit's problems isn't unique:
The malignant cancer cells oozing from the petri dish of progressive policy known as the City of Detroit are soon to metastasize throughout the body politic.That flat-out gives me the shivers. I wish I could write like that ... maybe in the next life. That is Jay Zawatsky, writing in The National Interest. Way to go, Jay.
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The always readable Mark Steyn piquantly describes for the Orange County Register how what caused Detroit's problems isn't unique:
The same malign alliance between a corrupt political class, rapacious public sector unions and an ever more swollen army of welfare dependents has been adopted in the formerly Golden State of California.I'm sad for the state of my birth. Unfortunately, "A corrupt political class, rapacious public sector unions, and an ever more swollen army of welfare dependents" is exactly the evil coalition we face at the national level, as well.
Not Our Argument
Every U.S. president of my memory, which unfortunately reaches back several decades, has tried to reconcile the Israelis and Palestinians. Has tried to get the two to agree upon a two-state solution.
Every president has tried to get the parties to share the otherwise unremarkable Holy Land which is prized by at least three major world religions. Three or more religions depending upon whether you recognize the various sects of each as separate faiths.
For the longest time I took this presidential behavior for granted. I assumed it was simply one of the duties of the office. No longer.
Now I actively resist the idea that the U.S. must mediate in this long-standing conflict. Other than supporting Israel against external and internal aggression, why must we be involved?
Recent fracking developments have made the U.S. substantially more independent with respect to petroleum supplies. What happens in the Middle East is of less immediate economic interest to the U.S. than was once the case.
Perhaps the parties might be more willing to compromise if they didn't believe we would be there to twist their enemy's arm.
Every president has tried to get the parties to share the otherwise unremarkable Holy Land which is prized by at least three major world religions. Three or more religions depending upon whether you recognize the various sects of each as separate faiths.
For the longest time I took this presidential behavior for granted. I assumed it was simply one of the duties of the office. No longer.
Now I actively resist the idea that the U.S. must mediate in this long-standing conflict. Other than supporting Israel against external and internal aggression, why must we be involved?
Recent fracking developments have made the U.S. substantially more independent with respect to petroleum supplies. What happens in the Middle East is of less immediate economic interest to the U.S. than was once the case.
Perhaps the parties might be more willing to compromise if they didn't believe we would be there to twist their enemy's arm.
Quote of the Day
Richard A. Baehr, writes for PJ Media. See his conclusion about the President's current public posture:
Obama has been a failure at his job (the foreign policy track record may be even worse than the domestic trifecta of high unemployment, huge debts, and the miserably designed Obamacare), but no one should underestimate the president’s skill at politics.Baehr's analysis of Obama rousing his base of "victim" groups is also excellent.
Kissinger Wisdom
Dr. Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State, makes a comparison of presidents Nixon and Obama, on the occasion of the funeral of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. Kissinger was speaking to the deceased's widow:
Nixon liked to have big personalities around him. Obama does not.My source for this quote is a salty review of the Mark Leibovich book This Town, written for The New York Times by Christopher Buckley.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Quote of the Day
The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan, answering a George Stephanopoulos ABC News' This Week question about the President's long speech on the economy:
Every president in the intense media environment we have now, certainly every two-term president, gets to a point where the American people stop listening, stop leaning forward hungrily for information. I think this president got there earlier than most presidents. And I think he's in that time now.Oh, joy ... we get to ignore Obama speeches for the next 3+ years. My source for the quote is Noel Sheppard of NewsBusters.
Misleading ...
This Associated Press story is an example of misleading reporting. I'll bet most of what it says is technically accurate. That is, technically accurate but highly misleading.
I'm thinking of two middle aged guys I know, both in IT. Each has been laid off in recent years, drew unemployment, possibly applied for food stamps, the whole nine yards. Then each found his next job which, like his last job, paid in excess of $100K a year.
In the study on which AP was reporting, they would have been among the nearly 80% who had experienced "poverty" at some point in their lives. In other words, the study is conflating two different things to produce a misleading whole.
One of those things is that employment is less life-long than formerly. Firms have little loyalty to employees, and thus people are laid off when no longer needed.
They often take months, perhaps more than a year, to find their next job. By the same token, people have less loyalty to employers and will, in good times, leave one employer for another. Laid off individuals appear in the sample as people who have experienced poverty during their working lives, albeit briefly.
The sample also contains people who have difficulty finding work at all, and are paid less-than-living-wage when working. They also experience poverty during much, perhaps most, of their working lives.
These are two very different groups, one of which makes very good money when employed, and is employed most of their productive years. The other group is only intermittently employed and is poor during much of their lives. Lump them together and you get a spurious "80%" combining, as we say, apples and oranges, two things which should not be lumped together.
One group will arguably need government assistance during much of their lives, the other might conceivably do without it entirely and rely on their savings during their periods of unemployment.
I'm thinking of two middle aged guys I know, both in IT. Each has been laid off in recent years, drew unemployment, possibly applied for food stamps, the whole nine yards. Then each found his next job which, like his last job, paid in excess of $100K a year.
In the study on which AP was reporting, they would have been among the nearly 80% who had experienced "poverty" at some point in their lives. In other words, the study is conflating two different things to produce a misleading whole.
One of those things is that employment is less life-long than formerly. Firms have little loyalty to employees, and thus people are laid off when no longer needed.
They often take months, perhaps more than a year, to find their next job. By the same token, people have less loyalty to employers and will, in good times, leave one employer for another. Laid off individuals appear in the sample as people who have experienced poverty during their working lives, albeit briefly.
The sample also contains people who have difficulty finding work at all, and are paid less-than-living-wage when working. They also experience poverty during much, perhaps most, of their working lives.
These are two very different groups, one of which makes very good money when employed, and is employed most of their productive years. The other group is only intermittently employed and is poor during much of their lives. Lump them together and you get a spurious "80%" combining, as we say, apples and oranges, two things which should not be lumped together.
One group will arguably need government assistance during much of their lives, the other might conceivably do without it entirely and rely on their savings during their periods of unemployment.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Public View of Journalists Declines
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has just released poll results which show that of the groups surveyed, the public's estimation of journalists dropped more than any other occupation. In the last four years, the public's estimation of journalists' contribution to society's well-being dropped 10%, from 38% to 28%.
Do you suppose this drop in approval is related to mainstream media "coming out" as the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party? I think so. A Breitbart Big Journalism article based on this study indicates that even Democrats have dropped their evaluation of journalists:
Do you suppose this drop in approval is related to mainstream media "coming out" as the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party? I think so. A Breitbart Big Journalism article based on this study indicates that even Democrats have dropped their evaluation of journalists:
The plummeting approval for journalists is bi-partisan; Republicans/leaning Republicans are down eight percent and Democrats/leaning Democrats are down 10 percent.Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.
In Defense of Public Community Colleges
Writing for RealClearPolitics, Michael Barone picks apart the President's "pivot to the economy" speech in Galesburg, Ill. Reading along, I agree with almost all of his points except one - a slur against community colleges - which I believe Barone has dramatically wrong.
Actually, public community colleges do well at training people for real jobs - that is their true focus. As a service, they also provide for transfer students the first two years of a baccalaureate program. All of this at dramatically lower tuition cost, and typically students live at home.
A public community college I live near when in CA has a police academy, a fire academy, trains heavy equipment operators, welders, farmers, wine makers, and many different medical specialties, up to the level of RN. That's only what I've seen and heard about without delving into their curriculum; I'm sure they do much more.
A third mission of so-called junior or community colleges is to enable adults who were teen screw-offs to have a second chance to learn basic skills. A fair number of public school dropouts discover - later in life - the motivation they lacked as teens. Learning to read or balance a checkbook in ones 20s or 30s is far better than never.
I expect I'm preaching to the choir, COTTonLINE readers probably know all of this. Nevertheless I had to get it off my chest.
Actually, public community colleges do well at training people for real jobs - that is their true focus. As a service, they also provide for transfer students the first two years of a baccalaureate program. All of this at dramatically lower tuition cost, and typically students live at home.
A public community college I live near when in CA has a police academy, a fire academy, trains heavy equipment operators, welders, farmers, wine makers, and many different medical specialties, up to the level of RN. That's only what I've seen and heard about without delving into their curriculum; I'm sure they do much more.
A third mission of so-called junior or community colleges is to enable adults who were teen screw-offs to have a second chance to learn basic skills. A fair number of public school dropouts discover - later in life - the motivation they lacked as teens. Learning to read or balance a checkbook in ones 20s or 30s is far better than never.
I expect I'm preaching to the choir, COTTonLINE readers probably know all of this. Nevertheless I had to get it off my chest.
House-trained Republicans
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) talking with radio host Sean Hannity, as quoted on Breitbart's Big Journalism website by Tony Lee:
There are a lot of Democrats and folks in the media who like their Republicans timid and house-trained to just sit quietly in the corner, to accept losing, and to stand for nothing.Hannity replied that Cruz was not one of those "house-trained" Republicans; I'd agree. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Widespread Agreement
There are darned few topics upon which it can reasonably be said that wide agreement exists. Agreement between young and old, liberals and conservatives, whites and non-whites, men and women.
A Marist poll for McClatchy (scroll down) - released yesterday - found one such topic: requiring identification to vote. At least two-thirds of every group favors an ID requirement, even liberals.
It is time for government and most media to catch up with public opinion on this subject, both are opposed. Also see this John Nolte article in Breitbart Big Journalism for an interpretation. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.
A Marist poll for McClatchy (scroll down) - released yesterday - found one such topic: requiring identification to vote. At least two-thirds of every group favors an ID requirement, even liberals.
It is time for government and most media to catch up with public opinion on this subject, both are opposed. Also see this John Nolte article in Breitbart Big Journalism for an interpretation. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.
McDonaldization
Two decades ago, I would lecture about the hiring trend I called "McDonaldization" of the workforce. That is, conversion of formerly full-time career jobs into part-time non-career jobs. I gave it that name because fast food restaurants were pioneers in part-time staffing.
Once sales clerks in our department stores worked forty or perhaps forty-eight hour weeks. They earned sick leave and vacation time, accrued pensions, and retired after forty years with Sears or Penneys, getting the proverbial gold watch.
That sounds preposterous today; now only management have full-time jobs in retail. The same is largely true among hospitality employers: restaurants, bars, hotels and motels, resorts.
I told my students that reducing other jobs to less-than-full-time - everything from bank teller to programmer - was only a matter of time. Few believed me; sadly, I've been proven correct, indeed prescient. See a RealClearPolitics article by the Washington Post's Robert Samuelson on the topic.
Much work we cannot ship overseas to be done in third world sweatshops is being done by part-timers, temporaries, and contract workers. People like the now-infamous Edward Snowden who worked for the U.S. National Security Agency via the subcontractor Booz Allen Hamilton, with catastrophic results.
The uncertainty facing employers from Obamacare requirements has further exacerbated the staffing trend, when it hasn't kept firms from hiring altogether.
Once sales clerks in our department stores worked forty or perhaps forty-eight hour weeks. They earned sick leave and vacation time, accrued pensions, and retired after forty years with Sears or Penneys, getting the proverbial gold watch.
That sounds preposterous today; now only management have full-time jobs in retail. The same is largely true among hospitality employers: restaurants, bars, hotels and motels, resorts.
I told my students that reducing other jobs to less-than-full-time - everything from bank teller to programmer - was only a matter of time. Few believed me; sadly, I've been proven correct, indeed prescient. See a RealClearPolitics article by the Washington Post's Robert Samuelson on the topic.
Much work we cannot ship overseas to be done in third world sweatshops is being done by part-timers, temporaries, and contract workers. People like the now-infamous Edward Snowden who worked for the U.S. National Security Agency via the subcontractor Booz Allen Hamilton, with catastrophic results.
The uncertainty facing employers from Obamacare requirements has further exacerbated the staffing trend, when it hasn't kept firms from hiring altogether.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
More on Japan
Yesterday we wrote about Prime Minister Abe's newly aggressive defense posture for Japan; here is a Reuters article which elaborates that discussion. The most attention-grabbing line in the article is the idea of Japan developing "a pre-emptive strike capability."
As the article points out, both nations at which such a capability might be aimed - China and North Korea - have nuclear weapons. Japan does not have nuclear weapons but could quickly develop them if the need arose.
As the article points out, both nations at which such a capability might be aimed - China and North Korea - have nuclear weapons. Japan does not have nuclear weapons but could quickly develop them if the need arose.
It's Been a Deer Day
We often have deer in our yard in WY but they're mostly does, today was different. Today we had a spotted fawn and two multi-point bucks. One buck appeared to be caring for the fawn, unusual behavior for a buck. Fawns are normally with their mothers.
Go to the other DrC's blog to see photos thereof; you can find her blog at cruztalkingtwo.blogspot.com. And no, hunters, I won't tell you where our house is. We'd like to see those bucks again next summer.
Our local friends prefer to hunt elk. Elk tastes better, provides more meat per kill, and rarely frequents our place in summer. Winter could be another story.
Go to the other DrC's blog to see photos thereof; you can find her blog at cruztalkingtwo.blogspot.com. And no, hunters, I won't tell you where our house is. We'd like to see those bucks again next summer.
Our local friends prefer to hunt elk. Elk tastes better, provides more meat per kill, and rarely frequents our place in summer. Winter could be another story.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Wise Words
Ezra Klein, writing for the Washington Post about statistician/modeler Nate Silver who is leaving The New York Times and joining ESPN and its parent ABC News:
Lots of people can run the numbers. But Silver can use those numbers to tell readers an engaging, fast-paced and constantly changing story about subjects they care about. That’s a rare talent.It is that.
A Look at Modern Japan
Read this CBC News article for an update on what's happening in Japan, politically and otherwise. It would appear that Japan may be about to renounce pacifism and develop a real military. This will not be popular with Japan's neighbors, particularly China and South Korea.
Countries which Japan occupied before and during World War II tend to have quite negative views of Japanese militarism. Japan left few friends behind in places like the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Guam, as well as China and Korea.
Oddly, one previously occupied place where Japan is somewhat well regarded today is Taiwan. Perhaps they treated the Taiwanese better than other members of their "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere."
Countries which Japan occupied before and during World War II tend to have quite negative views of Japanese militarism. Japan left few friends behind in places like the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Guam, as well as China and Korea.
Oddly, one previously occupied place where Japan is somewhat well regarded today is Taiwan. Perhaps they treated the Taiwanese better than other members of their "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere."
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