All posts by Chief

Constitution Watch, Obamunism

Gov’t Threatens Rights? SHOCKING!

CNN Poll: Majority says government a threat to citizens’ rights

A majority of Americans think the federal government poses a threat to rights of Americans, according to a new national poll.

Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government’s become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. Forty-four percent of those polled disagree. [emphasis added]

Apparently all that change isn’t quite what was hoped for!

According to CNN poll numbers released Sunday, Americans overwhelmingly think that the U.S. government is broken – though the public overwhelmingly holds out hope that what’s broken can be fixed

…like, in November!

Glowbull Warming

Glowbull Warming Reaches Pierre, SD Blogosphere

There is just too much discussion going on worthy of reply about this to let it go without additional comment.

The starting reference point is HC1009, labeled: A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Calling for balanced teaching of global warming in the public schools of South Dakota.

The Chief has taught HS sciences for a quarter century…and the prevailing orthodoxy on AGW (anthropogenic global warming: you know, man made!) is junk science at best, and at worst is totally bogus intellectual fraud. After formally studying a number of relevant scientific disciplines, IMHO AlGore and the glowbull warming advocates are claiming far, far more than is supported by the VALID evidence…which looks better and better with every successive debunking of junk “evidence” that has been used by the IPCC, and other agencies like the UK Meteorological Office, East Anglia University Climate Unit, etc.

The US science teaching establishment to a large extent has drunk the AlGore Kool Aid…and has little bashfulness about promoting what IMHO is a grossly distorted pseudoscientific dogma in the classroom.

This is the backstory on HC1009…which is well intentioned, but is in need of some important correction to be credible. Some of these corrections have been noted several places in the blogosphere. Badlands Blue and Madville Times both have erupted on this to some degree at least…CAH seems to be a bit more sensible in his comments, but admittedly both have properly noted some real problems, which were also noted with a bit more specificity in a posting from SD Politics.

Overall, the Chief concurs with the latter of these, not so much with the former commenters. The references in the bill to “astrology(!)”, “thermography”, and “interrelativity” (which suggests some sort of warp drive travel or something) obviously (at least to me!) need to be cleaned up.

There is one additional wording change that I would heartily suggest. The passage in the bill that states “That global warming is a scientific theory rather than a proven fact;” is also incorrect in this context.

The Chief continually stressed to his students that a “scientific theory” is NOT a guess about something…it is rather a unified explanation that is able to account for a large body of related proven scientific phenomena. The idea a man-made glowbull warming is IMHO a LONG way from reaching the level of established theory. A more appropriate statement in the bill at that point would be “That global warming is a scientific hypothesis rather than a proven fact”.

In science, a hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a scientific question. The validity or non-validity of the explanation may be established by the process of experimentation. To be supported, a hypothesis must be demonstrated REPEATEDLY by experiments (or data) that are clearly and concisely defined, and are available to anyone else interested in the topic, who then is able to also demonstrate the same conclusion. If the conclusion can not be logically and unambiguously supported from a number of independent sources then if cannot be considered as being scientifically valid.

That is the current state of the hypothesis of AGW today, and as more and more cases of shoddy research, flawed and/or missing critical data, and evident “rigging” of the scientific review process comes to light, it becomes less and less likely that AlGore and others of his enviromental ilk are correct in their assertions of “estab;lished science”.

So, what’s to get exercised about concerning the scientific Waterloo being defended by the orthodox “warmists”?  It is neatly summarized in Ken’s concluding paragraph in his above- noted and linked post at SD Politics:

Climate change alarmism is in a crisis right now, for good reason. Cap and Trade legislation, a very costly proposal based on very dubious quasi-scientific ideas, is something the State of South Dakota ought to be concerned about. It is easy to make mistakes when putting a resolution together, but if we are going to weigh in on this we need to be rather more careful in our choice of words.

Hear, hear!

Obamunism

B.O. Tax Plans Revisited

The CHief commented on Baraq Hussein’s concession that he is abandoning his sacred campaign promises to avoid any middle class tax increases. This extends that discussion

Obama Begins His Assault on Your Life Savings

The welfare state and your life savings are two cars heading down a one-lane road in opposite directions. One must yield, or there will be a crash.

For Americans who believe in the old-fashioned virtues of hard work, self reliance and respect for private property, the solution is obvious. The welfare state must yield.

For politicians who believe in the welfare state and redistributing wealth, the solution is equally obvious. Your savings must yield.

Barack Obama is of the latter group. In the new health care proposal he outlined this week, he suggested a series of unprecedented tax increases that would extend the greedy hands of government into the life savings of hard-working Americans.

Think this won’t have much effect here in SD?

More of the gory details are described in the article…the conclusion, referring to some of the planned revisions, caught the eye:
The new taxes Obama wants to impose on interest, dividends, annuities and rents to pay for his health care plan are in fact taxes on the life savings of the net payers — on their 401(k)s, savings accounts, paid-off mortgages and life insurance policies — to cover benefits for the net recipients. The redistributionists would ultimately need $435,000 from every full-time worker to cover the welfare state’s unfunded liabilities — even if Obama’s health care plan were never enacted.

Obama is pointing them down the road where they will find it.

Hmmmm. The Chief is a semi-retired public school teacher. Sound like one of those rich folks? (Surely you jest!)

We are living on a quarter-section that has been in the family for over a century — not eactly a land baron. Not being a professional farmer, the cropland on our homestead is rented out to a neighboring pro agriculturalist.

TA-DA! Now, according to B.O.’s reasoning, I am now suddenly by definition a wealthy plutocratic land-owner with “unearned” rental income that becomes worthy of paying extra taxes…and THIS is after already experiencing two successive years of actual tax increases due to IRS “tweaking” the rules.

With no apologies to ANYONE, the Chief has NO HESITATION to state unequivocally that anyone stating that B.O. is not going after the middle class for tax increases under the guise of the Obamacare is either (1) a total partisan hack kool-aid drinker, (2) incapable of rational analysis, (3) someone out for the extension of governmental domination as their primary policy goal, (4) a well-intentioned fool with a lack of situational awareness, or (5) some combination of the above.

Sorry folks, the proof of the puddin’ is in the outgoing increased payment checks to the I.R.S. — at the same time that income has significantly decreased!

How’s all that HOPE and CHANGE working out for YOU?

Obamunism

What a concept!?

Prez’s newest idea: Simply outlaw reality

Included in President Oba ma’s latest stab at health-care reform released yesterday is one of the more astonishing admissions of political deception in recent memory.

After months of swearing that his health legislation would lower the skyrocketing costs of insurance premiums, Obama finally acknowledged that actually it would not.

So, instead, he has included a new provision that can simply outlaw premium increases his administration deems “unreasonable and unjustified.”

This, in lieu of literally years of promises and proclamations about transforming the American hospital-industrial complex in a way that would drastically lower the cost of medicine in this country and leave insurance companies scrambling to lower the premiums they charge customers.

During his campaign, Obama flatly promised to lower families’ health-insurance premiums by $2,500 every year.

Then, after he ascended to the throne, Obama repeatedly insisted without any reservations that all the health-care alchemy inspired by him would magically lower those premiums.

Even in the face of congressional accountants who repeatedly raised doubts about those promises, Obama insisted.

Now the comes the truth.

There are more gory details in the original article…

Hmmmm. Isn’t there an account of an ancient Brit king named Knut (later Anglicized to Canute) who tried to change reality by proclamation?   I seem to recall it didn’t work very well .

Obamunism

B.O.’s Latest Lie

Read His Lips: Obama Calls for Increasing Payroll Taxes on ‘Households’ Earning Less Than $250,000 Per Year

Anyone who believed that middle class taxes would NOT be raised needs to do some work on something called “situational awareness”.

THEN:

In a Sept. 12, 2008 campaign speech in Dover, N.H, Obama said: “And I can make a firm pledge: Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase—not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your  taxes.”

NOW:

President Obama presented a new health care plan on Monday that calls for raising the Medicare payroll tax on some households earning less than $250,000, an apparent breach of his campaign pledge not to raise taxes on families earning less than that amount. The president’s plan also calls for increasing taxes on interest, dividends, annuities, royalties and rents.

OK already! I’m converted! I now am hoping for a change…away from Baraq Hussein & his “progressive” ilk.

Uncategorized

South Dakota Humor

H/T to an e-mail correspondent:

This was at the pull off at Hwy 385 and Sheridan Lake Rd. in the Black Hills west of Rapid City.

A deer was hit there. The couch was dumped there previously.

Day two the deer was on the couch.

Day three the end table and lamp showed up.

Day four the TV and TV stand, and the sign showed up.

Note the sign in front of the deer on the couch: “Sorry Hunters, Obama ruined healthcare. We can’t afford to have injured hunters on our conscience – Stayin home, sorry – the Deer.”

deer at home

The SDHP Troopers had to call Pennington County DOT because of all the people stopping to take pictures.

Uncategorized

Recovery or Not: Truth or Consequences

One always has the choice of accepting hard truth, or not. One does not have the option of evading the consequences of that decision.

Economic Depression: A Better Definition

“How can you keep talking about a depression,” asks a Dear Reader, “when the economy is clearly recovering just as it should be.”

Ah ha! We’ll explain in a minute.

First, the latest from Wall Street: The Dow fell 18 points yesterday. We’re still not sure whether the final, fading phase of the bear market has begun or not. This bounce took the Dow back to 10,725 on January 19th. It hasn’t seen that level since. Was that it? Was that as high as it’s going to get? Is it down from here on out…until the Dow finally bottoms out somewhere south of 5,000?

We don’t know. We’ll just have to wait to find out…along with everyone else.

Now…back to that ‘recovery’….

It’s true that there are some signs of “stabilization.” The unemployment rate is not getting badder as fast as it was a few months ago. And house prices seem to have stopped falling – for the moment. It’s also true that the economy managed to register positive ‘growth’ in the last quarter…mostly thanks to government spending and inventory restocking.

The trouble is, all of these things are consistent with a depression – especially a depression that the feds are fighting every inch of the way. In the 1930s, there were several years of growth…and there were great years for the stock market too. Then, things fell apart again. The nation ended the ’30s not one penny richer than it had been when it began them.

And Japan has seen some good years and some bad years, too, since its depression began in 1990. Oddly, Japan’s population is falling…so in per capita terms, Japan’s downturn hasn’t really been so bad. Per person, the Japanese got richer over the last 10 years.

It’s also true that here at The Daily Reckoning, we use the term ‘depression’ a bit differently than most economists. Most economists believe GDP growth represents increasing prosperity. They think a depression is merely a recession, with negative GDP growth, that lasts longer and goes more deeply than normal.
Our definitions are better:

A recession is a pause during a period of growth. A depression marks the end of the period of growth…giving the economy a chance to make adjustments so that a new period of growth may begin.

THAT makes real sense, especially compared to “Hope and Change”.  Of course one can also continue to partake of the “H & C” Koolaid.  It’s your call, but don’t come ’round looking for a bail-out!

The rest of the piece has more development and illustration of this principle…it’s well worth taking a look.

Constitution Watch, Uncategorized

Not Exactly Revolutionary…but…

Only 21% Say U.S. Government Has Consent of the Governed

The founding document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, states that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Today, however, just 21% of voters nationwide believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 61% disagree and say the government does not have the necessary consent. Eighteen percent (18%) of voters are not sure.

By way of comparison, at the time of the American Revolution, it has been estimated that approximately 1/3 of the people were in favor of the revolution, and 1/3 were loyal to the British crown.

However, 63% of the Political Class think the government has the consent of the governed, but only six percent (6%) of those with Mainstream views agree.

The phrase “poor situational awareness” comes to mind for the case of our government “leaders”.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of all voters now view the federal government as a special interest group, and 70% believe that the government and big business typically work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors. [emphases added]

So much for change we can believe in!

Culture Wars

Signers: Conservative manifesto is call to action

Leaders of major conservative groups on Wednesday signed a manifesto vowing to push the country to return to constitutional principles, saying they’ve grown tired of having to accept government expansion at the hands of liberals.

“It’s our turn. We’ve had about enough of you. We’re going to take you on, and it’s time to defeat you,” said Mark Levin, a talk-radio host and president of the Landmark Legal Foundation.

Hoo-rah!

…the manifesto – labeled “the Mount Vernon Statement” because it was signed near the first president’s home – is designed to update a 1960 declaration issued by conservatives that heralded the rise of 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater and, eventually, President Reagan.

The new statement, signed by dozens of leaders of conservative lobby groups, is more a declaration of battle than a list of ideas. It says the ideas of the Founding Fathers are under attack and must be defended, and says calls for change are “an empty promise or even a dangerous deception.”

For the full text of the statement itself, go here.

DISCLOSURE: The Chief has already signed on via the web site.

It is the first major statement of conservatives’ goals since 1960, when conservative intellectuals gathered in Sharon, Conn., at the home of William F. Buckley Jr. to write down the principles that became the founding document of Young Americans for Freedom. That effort provided the seed that led to the conservative movements twin peaks of political success: the Barry Goldwater factions overthrow of the liberal Republican establishment in the early 1960s and Ronald Reagans political triumphs of the 1980s.

Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican, said he would sign the statement and said politicians who can’t agree to the basic precepts “are part of the problem and should be replaced.”

One would presume that fellow-Carolinian Lindsey Grahamnesty and the rest of the McCainiac wing of the GOP is not exactly enthused by this. Oh well.

Culture Wars

Counter-intuitive Copy Policies

Doing business The Grateful Dead way

The Grateful Dead was famous for letting their fans tape their live shows….

The Dead recognized that allowing fans to record for free widened their audience and the band became one of the most profitable groups in history. The band’s lyricist, John Perry Barlow, went on to become an Internet guru.

Barlow wrote in Wired in 1994 that in the information economy, “the best way to raise demand for your product is to give it away.” He explained to Joshua Green of the Atlantic: “What people today are beginning to realize is what became obvious to us back then–the important correlation is the one between familiarity and value, not scarcity and value. Adam Smith taught that the scarcer you make something, the more valuable it becomes. In the physical world, that works beautifully. But we couldn’t regulate [taping at] our shows, and you can’t online. The Internet doesn’t behave that way. But here’s the thing: if I give my song away to 20 people, and they give it to 20 people, pretty soon everybody knows me, and my value as a creator is dramatically enhanced. That was the value proposition with the Dead.”

The Chief has always liked the Grateful Dead from the time of his first acquaintance with them at the time he first entered active Naval service at the (then) Treasure Island Naval Station in the middle of the ‘Frisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1967. This is one more reason to appreciate how they operated.

SciFi publishing house Baen Books has gone in the same direction, with a “free library” on many titles available for free download in Mobipocket and other handy e-book formats, with no DRM or restriction on free distribution. On their site they explain their reasoning which runs much the same as Barlows. They also noted that after they put books by an author into the free download library, there was inevitably an distinct increase in sales for that author. They also have very reasonable prices on titles for paid download ($5-$6 typical), especially compared to other sources of e-titles. The Chief uses them on his PDA…who needs a Kindle?

Constitution Watch

Nullification Redivivus

The idea of nullification – states exercising their sovereignty to “opt out” of subjection to what they consider to be inappropriate, usurpatory, or improper acts or programs of the federal government – has been around since the late 1790’s (see: the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions).

The laws in Montana and Utah exempting intrastate manufacture, sale, and use of firearms from federal regulations, as well as the state authorizations for “medical” marijuana in contradiction to federal drug laws are current examples of the same principle being applied today.

59% Favor Letting States Opt Out of Federal Programs

Voters strongly believe that a state should have the right to avoid federal programs it doesn’t like, but they draw the line at states seceding from the union.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 59% of likely voters say states should have the right to opt out of federal government programs they don’t agree with. Just 25% disagree, while another 15% are not sure.

Looks like a good part of the concern deals with the considerable financial burden that many federal programs shift to the states through imposition of administrative regulations and program requirements.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters also think states should have the right to opt out of federally mandated programs if the federal government doesn’t help pay for them. Seventeen percent (17%) say states should not have the right to opt out of federally mandated programs.

In this, there is a distinct partisan bias that pits a Republican and independent majority in support of the right to opt-out against a Democrat minority:

Seventy-six percent (76%) of Republicans and 67% of voters not affiliated with either major party say states should have the right to opt out of federal programs with which they don’t agree. Just 37% of Democrats agree.

The 10th Amendment is still alive: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Uncategorized

More Cell Phone Hazards?

No, this does NOT have to do with texting behind the wheel!

Warning: Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Ever worry that that gadget you spend hours holding next to your head might be damaging your brain? Well, the evidence is starting to pour in, and it’s not pretty. So why isn’t anyone in America doing anything about it?

Gue$$ why not?

This is a somewhat lengthy article, and unfortunately the science looks to be pretty reasonable, and gives something to think about.

This IS worth some thought – read the article for yourself.

Personally, I DO use a cell phone, and will continue to do so…but it is not heavy use by any standard, and at this point that may be all to the good, so I can preserve a few more surviving veteran brain cells that made it through the 60’s and early 70’s.

Glowbull Warming

Climategate Professor Loses Data…Mind Gone Absent Too?

The words of classic comedian Oliver Hardy: “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into” could be Dr. Phil Jones’s lament to himself, as he fires another torpedo into the listing hulk of Glowbull Warming.  The Chief will always refer to Dr. Phil Jones, or Dr. P.J., not just “Dr. Jones”, to avoid demeaning the original “Dr. Jones” (Indiana Jones)

Climategate U-turn as scientist at centre of row admits: There has been no global warming since 1995

The bullet point highlights:
* Data for vital ‘hockey stick graph’ has gone missing
* There has been no global warming since 1995
* Warming periods have happened before – but NOT due to man-made changes

The academic at the centre of the ‘Climategate’ affair, whose raw data is crucial to the theory of climate change, has admitted that he has trouble ‘keeping track’ of the information.

Dr. P.J. should note that it’s easier to do this when telling the truth…that way one only has to remember the ACTUAL facts, not the always more complex web of phony “facts”.

Colleagues say that the reason Professor Phil Jones has refused Freedom of Information requests is that he may have actually lost the relevant papers.

This must be the upper academic version of the traditional “My dog ate my homework!” excuse

Professor Jones told the BBC yesterday there was truth in the observations of colleagues that he lacked organisational skills, that his office was swamped with piles of paper and that his record keeping is ‘not as good as it should be’.

But…he can pull together “data”, supposedly going back thousands of years in some cases, and use it to project global climate patterns for hundreds of years into the future…but we can’t accurately predict climatic conditions for this year or the next.

The data is crucial to the famous ‘hockey stick graph’ used by climate change advocates to support the theory.

The Glowbull Warmists need to use that hockey stick to make like a goalie and “Get the puck out!”

Professor Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon.

Wonder what his first clue was…no doubt the discovery that medieval times was deficient in SUV’s.

And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming.

This gives a whole new perspective on the term “junk science”!.
Of course the boneheads in the Baraq Hussein administration are still genuflecting at the Great Gaean Altar, and proclaiming their determination to pursue “cap and tax” by hook or by crook.

Glowbull Warming

More (or Perhaps Less) on Glowbull Warming

1 Comment

This is from the Times of London, not exactly noted as being a wild-eyed stronghold of the VWRC (Vast Right Wing Conspiracy).

World may not be warming, say scientists

The United Nations climate panel faces a new challenge with scientists casting doubt on its claim that global temperatures are rising inexorably because of human pollution.

In its last assessment the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the evidence that the world was warming was “unequivocal”. It warned that greenhouse gases had already heated the world by 0.7C and that there could be 5C-6C more warming by 2100, with devastating impacts on humanity and wildlife.

That was then, this is now:

However, new research, including work by British scientists, is casting doubt on such claims. Some even suggest the world may not be warming much at all.

“The temperature records cannot be relied on as indicators of global change,” said John Christy, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a former lead author on the IPCC.

The doubts of Christy and a number of other researchers focus on the thousands of weather stations around the world, which have been used to collect temperature data over the past 150 years. These stations, they believe, have been seriously compromised by factors such as urbanisation, changes in land use and, in many cases, being moved from site to site.

DUH – d’ya think, maybe?

Christy has published research papers looking at these effects in three different regions: east Africa, and the American states of California and Alabama. “The story is the same for each one,” he said. “The popular data sets show a lot of warming but the apparent temperature rise was actually caused by local factors affecting the weather stations, such as land development.”

This article goes on to detail problematic temperature monitoring sites; things like location next to air-conditioner exhaust vents, trash incinerators, and in the path of jet-blast from airport runways.

Unbelievable! Check it out for yourself.

Uncategorized

TJ and the Revo

5 Comments

TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE – A Declaration

This is one of the neatest videos I have seen in a LONG time: U.S. History meets MTV!

Lyrics:

Halfway across the globe
And we’re standing on new ground
Screaming ‘cross the waves
You can’t hear a sound
There’s no fair trials, no trade, no liberties
No tea
We’ve colonized America; we won’t stand for tyranny,
Oh king

And it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late

We’ve paid your foolish tax, read the acts
And they just won’t do
We want to make it clear, we believe this much is true
All men were created with certain

Unalienable rights
Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit
Of happiness

And it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said It’s too late to apologize
It’s too late

It’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said it’s too late apologize
It’s too late

I said it’s too late to apologize, yeah
It’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize, yeah

Halfway across the globe
And we’re standing on new ground

H/T to E3 Gazette

Glowbull Warming, Junk Science

Glowbull Warmist Update

More sloppy data used by IPCC. The information in question doesn’t directly affect the climate-change claims, but it DOES illustrate, yet another case of a shoddy and careless lack of scientific rigor in the collection and use of data.

U.N. climate panel admits Dutch sea level flaw

The U.N. panel of climate experts overstated how much of the Netherlands is below sea level, according to a preliminary report on Saturday, admitting yet another flaw after a row last month over Himalayan glacier melt.

A background note by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said a 2007 report wrongly stated that 55 percent of the country was below sea level since the figure included areas above sea level, prone to flooding along rivers.

Maybe someday the IPCC will reach the level of a competent H.S. science fair project. By recent evidence, they’ve still got a way to go.

Obamunism

WV Senator Wakes Up, Smells Coffee

Dem Sen. Rockefeller On Obama: “He’s Beginning To Be Not Believable To Me”
Amazing event captured on video! Another Donkey Party pol discovers reality!

“He says ‘I’m for clean coal,’ and then he says it in his speeches, but he doesn’t say it in here,” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia. “And he doesn’t say it in the minds of my own people. And he’s beginning to not be believable to me.”

Welcome to daylight, Senator!

Defense Matters!

Reagan “Star Wars” Chickens Come Home to Roost!

3 Comments

Development programs for this started as part of the original Reagan Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed “Star Wars”. In spite of rabid criticism from the usual claque of progressive scientific and political activists who declared the task to be an impossibility, the results are bearing fruit: A prototype airborne battle laser system that shoots down ICBM’s? You betcha!

U.S. successfully tests airborne laser on missile

A U.S. high-powered airborne laser weapon shot down a ballistic missile in the first successful test of a futuristic directed energy weapon, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Friday.

The agency said in a statement the test took place at 8:44 p.m. PST (11:44 p.m. EST) on Thursday /0444 GMT on Friday) at Point Mugu’s Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off Ventura in central California.

“The Missile Defense Agency demonstrated the potential use of directed energy to defend against ballistic missiles when the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile” the agency said.

What does this system actually do?

The airborne laser weapon is aimed at deterring enemy missile attacks and providing the U.S. military with the ability to engage all classes of ballistic missiles at the speed of light while they are in the boost phase of flight.

“The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers (miles), and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies,” the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said.

Nothing succeeds like success!

Culture Wars

“We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us”

That old observation from the Pogo comic strip comes to mind.

Slobs and the American Civilization

Had George Washington joined me outside a Chili’s at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport recently, he would have shuddered at the sight. There, a nation of slobs paraded through the crossroads of America. Frayed denim hems swept the filthy floor. Cleavage poured out of T-shirts bearing vulgar messages. Big bellies flowed over the waists of jeans. Mature women waddled in stained sweat suits. Some passersby stuffed their mouths with pizza as they walked.

Another quote from a Warren Zevon lyric also fits quite well: “It ain’t that pretty at all!”

Washington was a stickler for good manners, and that included dignified dress. As a youth, he hand-copied a text called “Rules of Civility&Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.” They included: “Wear not your Cloths, foul … or Dusty but See they be Brush’d once every day at least and take heed that you approach not to any Uncleaness.”

At the cost of betraying age, the Chief recalls when he flew on airlines for the first time…in the mid 60’s. Wearing a “coat and tie” was considered de rigueur.

Some observers suspect that a collapse in grooming and attention to dress has contributed to the decline in civility on our streets and in our politics. People don’t care what they look like in public because they don’t care about the public. They have little notion of, or interest in, playing a supportive role in their civilization.

Attire, like anything else that humans do, can become an abusive obsession…whether carried to excess, or it’s opposite. But this certainly goes along with the premise that “The barbarians are through the gates.”

We must concede that this is a big country with different expectations for proper attire. One person’s ostentation may be another’s good manners. But a modicum of care in dress and grooming would seem a basic minimum just about everywhere — or it used to be. Cowboys might get muddy on the job, but they were clean and pressed for the Saturday night dance.

Constitution Watch, SD Politics

HB1277 / 1278 Statement sans Explanation

There has been a running discussion lately in the SD blogosphere relating to support or opposition to HB 1277 and HB 1278, which relate to “obtaining certain information from online content providers in slander and libel actions. ”

There have been thoughtful and thorough comments from various SD blogs. I particularly liked Ken’s comment on SD Politics hearkening back to the “ancient” (to borrow a descriptive designation from the SCOTUS decision bouncing McCain-Feingold) traditions of our early republic, and its lively, invective-filled, and often anonymous debates.

I started on a somewhat lengthy commentary from my own point of view…and finally decided that to address everything I thought about this idea, I would be writing a major thesis.  I have enough writing to do for the history master’s program I’m in, so have to pass on that one for now.

So, it’ll just have to be enough to say that these bills are NOT a good idea for a number of reasons, both technical and philosophical, many of which have been discussed elsewhere by others. The long and short of it is that I don’t see a benefit in extending the police power down to the levels that would be necessary to even attempt to enforce this.  Besides,  based on what I know of history, who would say that sometime in the future it might be considered libelous to criticise officeholders, etc.   This HAS already happened elsewhere, and elsewhen.

I know, “It can’t happen here!”  Wanna bet?  (I don’t!)

It may well be the proverbial cold day in hell since I agree with the ACLU …hmmm…the Saints won the Superbowl…maybe it really is cold down there!

Uncategorized

Iranian Surprise Coming?

OK.  This has caught my attention.  The Iranian “Twelvers” are crazy enough for most anything.

Khamenei: Iran Set to Deliver ‘Punch’ to Stun West on Anniversary

Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a “punch” that will stun world powers during this week’s 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, AFP reported.

“The Iranian nation, with its unity and God’s grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman, February 11, in a way that will leave them stunned,” Khamenei, who is also Iran’s commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel according to AFP.

This promise has somewhat more possibilities of being significant than does December 21, 2012…but the Chief wouldn’t bet the farm making predictions one way or the other on either “threatening” calendar date.

As always, time will tell.

Uncategorized

Gun Rights & Protest Rights

1 Comment

This reminds the Chief of a conversation with a group of Native American students about gun control laws. The discussion came to a screeching halt when I innocently asked them “How did things turn out after applying strict gun-control laws on the Reservations about 120 years ago or so?”

How the right to arms saved the non-violent civil rights protesters

Over at The Faculty Lounge, there are some pictures of sit-ins from the early 1960s. Regarding a 1963 sit-in in Jackson, Mississippi, TFL writes: “By one account, members of the all-White Jackson police force stood guard outside, while several FBI agents (the guys in back wearing shades) ‘observed’ from inside. That White guy at the counter, that’s Tougaloo professor and community activist Hunter Gray (John R. Salter) who helped organize the Jackson sit-ins. And that’s blood on his shirt. All of the protesters had been covered in slop, and some were beaten with brass knuckles and broken bottles.”

The non-violent Civil Rights protesters allowed themselves to be beaten in public while the media watched; the images helped win sympathy for the Civil Rights Movement in the North, and proved to be crucial in developing the political will for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In a limited sense, the media’s presence provided some protection for the protesters; there was never a case in which a civil rights protester was murdered in front of media cameras. At night, when everyone had gone home, things were very different. As Salter later explained:

I was beaten and arrested many times and hospitalized twice. This happened to many, many people in the movement. No one knows what kind of massive racist retaliation would have been directed against grassroots black people had the black community not had a healthy measure of firearms within it.

When the campus of Tougaloo College was fired on by KKK-type racial night-riders, my home was shot up and a bullet missed my infant daughter by inches. We received no help from the Justice Department and we guarded our campus — faculty and students together — on that and subsequent occasions. We let this be known. The racist attacks slackened considerably. Night-riders are cowardly people — in any time and place — and they take advantage of fear and weakness.

There’s more of this interesting history in the post. Go read it.

Defense Matters!

Illegal Pelosi Travel Documented

U.S. Military Serving as Chauffeurs, Babysitters for the Pelosi Kids: Receipts That Will Blow Your Mind

The documents included in this posting were all obtained through FOIA (Freedom of Information Act):

Update: Judicial Watch provided separate documents from an earlier FOIA request which show that “most, if not all” of the flights did indeed have the Speaker aboard. This is being researched and, until complete, corrections are noted below.

Update II: Commenters provide links to DOD 4515.12-R “DoD Support for Travel of Members and Employees of Congress and DOD 4515.13-R “Air Transportation Eligibility”, both of which indicate any travel by the Speaker’s adult — non-dependent — children and grandchildren is off-limits.

Update III: An article at Mudville Gazette offers additional useful information.

The mere posting of comments about SanFranNan Pelosi’s running abuse of military aircraft and crews for her personal and family gratification is one thing…actually viewing the paper work, reciepts, charge sheets, passenger lists, etc. gives an entirely different perspective on the situation. Don;t take the Chief’s word for it…check it out for yourself!

Meet the Pelosi family! Using Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Judicial Watch uncovered thousands of pages of travel documents related to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s use of military aircraft.

What hasn’t been revealed thus far is that military aircraft are being used to shuttle Pelosi’s kids and grandkids between DC and San Francisco time and time again, which appears to be a violation of the appropriate rules (see above). Put simply, the United States Air Force is serving as a multi-billion dollar chauffeur- and baby-sitting service for Nancy Pelosi’s kids and grandkids — presumably because commercial travel is beneath the families of the autocrats.

But this couldn’t be a waste of resources because the U.S. military really isn’t engaged in any other significant activities around the world.

Yeah, right.

Uncategorized

Now and Then…Too big to fail?

Geithner says deficits won’t hurt U.S. credit rating, Romulus Augustus says Rome will never fall

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is reassuring Americans that the huge deficits and spiralling nationa debt “will never” damage the country’s sterling credit rating because investors will continue to view the U.S. as a good investment.

And in other news, Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus reassured his citizens that they should not worry about those hordes of German barbarians gathering outside the city.

Rome is too big to fall, so they will never invade Rome,” the Emperor said. “Besides, if they were to sack Rome, where would they go for our fine entertainments, including the orgies, drama productions with real executions, and, let’ s not forget, our incomparable gladiatorial contests in the Coliseum.”

German barbarian leader Odoacer was asked for comment, but would only say through a spokesman that he would soon confer in person with the Emperor about his future status.

Obamunism

Backdoor taxes to hit middle class

This story was withdrawn by Reuters after complaints by the administration, but was still available on Yahoo…at least so for the time being…it may or may not continue to be so, but at any rate the cat’s out of the bag.

Advisory: Backdoor taxes to hit middle class
Reuters

The story Backdoor taxes to hit middle class has been withdrawn. A replacement story will run later in the week.

I guess they have to be sure to get the Official Party Line from  Presidential Press Secretary Voice of Sauron Gibbs.

Backdoor taxes to hit middle class

The Obama administration’s plan to cut more than $1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade relies heavily on so-called backdoor tax increases that will result in a bigger tax bill for middle-class families.

In the 2010 budget tabled by President Barack Obama on Monday, the White House wants to let billions of dollars in tax breaks expire by the end of the year — effectively a tax hike by stealth.

While the administration is focusing its proposal on eliminating tax breaks for individuals who earn $250,000 a year or more, middle-class families will face a slew of these backdoor increases.

You just KNEW that this was going to be happening.

Millions of middle-class households already may be facing higher taxes in 2010 because Congress has failed to extend tax breaks that expired on January 1, most notably a “patch” that limited the impact of the alternative minimum tax. The AMT, initially designed to prevent the very rich from avoiding income taxes, was never indexed for inflation. Now the tax is affecting millions of middle-income households, but lawmakers have been reluctant to repeal it because it has become a key source of revenue.

Without annual legislation to renew the patch this year, the AMT could affect an estimated 25 million taxpayers with incomes as low as $33,750 (or $45,000 for joint filers). Even if the patch is extended to last year’s levels, the tax will hit American families that can hardly be considered wealthy — the AMT exemption for 2009 was $46,700 for singles and $70,950 for married couples filing jointly.

Middle-class families also will find fewer tax breaks available to them in 2010 if other popular tax provisions are allowed to expire. Among them:
* Taxpayers who itemize will lose the option to deduct state sales-tax payments instead of state and local income taxes;
* The $250 teacher tax credit for classroom supplies;
* The tax deduction for up to $4,000 of college tuition and expenses;
* Individuals who don’t itemize will no longer be able to increase their standard deduction by up to $1,000 for property taxes paid;
* The first $2,400 of unemployment benefits are taxable, in 2009 that amount was tax-free.

So much for Baraq Hussein’s much ballyhooed middle-class tax cuts!

Uncategorized

Canuck Pol Votes with Feet Against National Health Care

N.L. Premier Williams set to have heart surgery in U.S.

Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams will undergo heart surgery later this week in the United States.

Deputy premier Kathy Dunderdale confirmed the treatment at a news conference Tuesday, but would not reveal the location of the operation or how it would be paid for.

“He has gone to a renowned expert in the procedure that he needs to have done,” said Ms. Dunderdale, who will become acting premier while Mr. Williams is away for three to 12 weeks. “In consultation with his own doctors, he’s decided to go that route.”

Mr. Williams’ decision to leave Canada for the surgery has raised eyebrows over his apparent shunning of Canada’s health-care system.

APPARENT shunning…? It looks pretty definite to me!

“It was never an option offered to him to have this procedure done in this province,” said Ms. Dunderdale, refusing to answer whether the procedure could be done elsewhere in Canada.

Now THAT’S a statement to parse. Was it an option available but not offered, or one not offered due to beign not available in the province, or in the country for that matter?

In either case, there’s not exactly an impressive showcase for nationalized health care.

Uncategorized

Rez Still Fighting Off Ice Storm

Sioux reservation struggling after winter storms

Somehow I haven’t noticed much coverage of this in SD media, except for coverage posted yesterday in the R.C. Journal. There obviously has been coverage of other areas’ power problems…the utilities are doing yeoman’s work to get the system restored.

Sonny Brave Eagle and his family spent six days in the dark without a phone or working radio before law officers found them in their home after a fierce winter storm cut power across South Dakota’s impoverished Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

“We didn’t know what was going on,” said Brave Eagle, among hundreds of people on the sprawling reservation amid a second week without electricity as utility workers struggle to make repairs. The storm brought down power lines, iced roads and led to water outages.

Tribal Chairman Joseph Brings Plenty estimated that 1,500 to 1,700 homes were still without power Monday, and said it would take “better than three weeks” to get the reservation up and running again.

The tribe has spent “enormous amounts” of money on such needs as fuel and water, and an emergency fund that had $175,000 a few months ago has been drained, said tribal spokeswoman Natalie Stites.

…but there’s lots of attention and funds for Haiti! Not to diminish that tragic situation, one still could wonder what happened to the bit about “Charity begins at home”?

Glowbull Warming

Climategate Update

This note offers more information on the East Anglia Climate Research Unit data flap…and it doesn’t look good for the warmists!

It’s also worth noting that the U.K.’s Guardian is FAR from being any form of right-wing journal.

Leaked climate change emails scientist ‘hid’ data flaws
Exclusive: Key study by East Anglia professor Phil Jones was based on suspect figures

Phil Jones, the beleaguered British climate scientist at the centre of the leaked emails controversy, is facing fresh claims that he sought to hide problems in key temperature data on which some of his work was based.

A Guardian investigation of thousands of emails and documents apparently hacked from the University of East Anglia’s climatic research unit has found evidence that a series of measurements from Chinese weather stations were seriously flawed and that documents relating to them could not be produced.

Jones and a collaborator have been accused by a climate change sceptic and researcher of scientific fraud for attempting to suppress data that could cast doubt on a key 1990 study on the effect of cities on warming – a hotly contested issue.

Today the Guardian reveals how Jones withheld the information requested under freedom of information laws. Subsequently a senior colleague told him he feared that Jones’s collaborator, Wei-­Chyung Wang of the University at Albany, had “screwed up”.

OUCH!   Hard to state it any more clearly than that!

More details in the rest of the linked article, and here also…predictably there’s a continuing attempt to weasel out of the embarrassment, but the egg on the faces is clearly visible.

Defense Matters!

Mugged by Reality?

Obama seeks money for nuclear weapons work

President Barack Obama is seeking increased funding for nuclear weapons research and security programs next year, even as his administration promotes nonproliferation and has pledged to reduce the world’s stockpile of nuclear arms.

The administration on Monday asked Congress for more than $7 billion for activities related to nuclear weapons in the budget of the National Nuclear Security Administration, an increase of $624 million from the 2010 fiscal year.

Few except for hard-core anti-nuke peaceniks would seriously submit that the U.S. should totally abandon its nuclear weapons capability. Such being the case, this is essential to insure the capability to maintain a credible nuclear deterrence.

Like cans of food, thermonuclear devices have a shelf life…after a period of time they lose their effectiveness due to the effects of radioactive decay of tritium. They need to be remanufactured. At that point, it is also necessary to update the systems of the weapons using state-of-the-art-electronics, which also improves the command/control/security of the devices. It’s been some time since we did this, and the shelf life limits are approaching.

Obama, in spite of a presumed gut-level dislike for nuke weapons, (like who in their right mind would love them!) recognizes the reality of this necessary process. As noted also, the same techniques, equipment, and personnel are also required to do the job if further weapon reductions are negotiated with Russia and the ChiComs, so the peaceniks have at least that consolation.

At last…this is something that the Chief agrees with the administration on…if it actually is cleared through Congress and implemented.