Can You Answer From Memory?

Today we celebrate the anniversary of the American Red Cross. My point is, you should know the name of its first president, who organized the association.

Can you do so, without looking the answer up on the interwebs?

The Science Is Settled

Most of us refer to the statement "...the science is settled..." as being a dogmatic statement from environmental activists that anyone, who, for whatever reason, disagrees with the assessment of the environmental Left, that unless we drastically reduce carbon emissions, that we're facing self-imposed destruction... Good morning! Did you have a nice sleep? There are a lot of people who have invested in positions of belief, or faith, that remind one of building a castle on the beach at low tide.



As the tide rises, castles fall.

One of the more egregious examples of this "science is settled" is the Keynesian belief that government expenditures increase the national weal.

One needs only ask one, simple question; how do you define the national product?

The National Product. Sometimes referred to as GNP, or GDP, or Gross National Income or Gross Domestic Income, whatever, there are summations of economic activity that attempts to aggregate the economic activity of the nation, in order to determine whether or not we're making more shit, or less shit.

It doesn't matter what the shit is. If people will buy your shit, you're contributing to the national product.

Prollem is, there is only one definitive expression of GDP, NNP (net national product...see? There are more ways economists choose to refer to a nation's productivity!) and that is C + I + G = GDP, or NNP, or Net Domestic Product (another one!) or whatever.

There are either creators of wealth, or leakages of wealth. Private enterprise creates wealth. Government destroys wealth. There are no two ways of it.

The advantage that government has is, government expenditures are helping those who can't help themselves.

Laudatory. Hoo-rah! We are a country were helping those who can't help themselves makes us better as people!

I want to be a better person!

Let's go!

 

If only we could destroy Farmer Ben. The world would be better for bunnies.

Keynesian economics follows the path of bunny advocates. It's easy to hate Farmer Ben. We can't hate little bunnies. And during the next few weeks, you're going to be hearing a lot about bunnies, Farmer Ben, and how important it is that we help those who need our help, even as our economy continues to falter.

The science is not settled. Or, the science is settled, it's just not what the Left wants you to know.

During the last couple of weeks, those of us who monitor the progress of the Lefty Agenda On Environment know that "the settled Science" is all but gone. Lefties around the globe are agreeing, that the agenda of the Left is more destructive of local economies than thought, and that the assumptions of the Environmental Left, as regards the immediacy of the environmental crisis, were over-stated, and possibly, simply, wrong.

That a movement, with the degree of scrutiny as the Environmental Left is willing, or beginning to be willing, to discard the AlGoreBearManPig view of immediate destruction is heartening. Even radical Lefties will, under pressure, accept that their lies don't work. That there is no utility in adhering to the beliefs advanced by the movement.

That most of their shit is simply shit.

Wait for the economists of the Left to decamp from their current course; increased regulation and the socialisation of medicine will lead to a renaissance of economic activity. Doctors I talk to know that there's a train wreck ahead. Businessmen I talk to know that there's a train wreck ahead. Small business owners are letting full-time employees go. They're hiring part-time employees.

And yet, starting your own business, becoming an entrepreneur, is more difficult now, than at any time in our state's or our nation's history. Going out to ones own garage and building the next mouse trap is criminal in most communities. We don't want innovation.

Oh, sure. We want Government Innovation Councils.

What twat.

When was the last time government innovated? (Godwin's Law.)

The Science is not settled. Science, is never settled. It can't be. Otherwise, it isn't really science.

Keynesian economics has never passed any test ex posteriori. The data has never suggested that the conclusions of Keynesian economics have ever been actualized. The entire idea of a "multiplier effect" is based upon another economic concept, the marginal propensity to consume, that most of you have never heard of before. Just because most people have never heard of a thing, doesn't diminish the importance of that thing.

Take "firing pin" as an example.

Most of what is being taught in our public schools falls into the category of popularly accepted beliefs. Nothing of truth. Nothing of science. Nothing of choice. Just normative values, such as investing in solar power is better that investing in petroleum production because solar power is "non-polluting."

Try to make a polymer voltaic film without polluting. Can't be done.

It can be taught.

Just can't be done.

And on that, the science is settled.

Saturday Music Post

Have fun. And have faith that the government, your government, is here to help you.

That's all.

Help.

You.

You're welcome.




Now, go back to work.

h/t Tina

Good Stuff

There's a lot about this picture that makes me smile.

First, the kid's blind and he just won a bunch of stuff for running.

Second, he's holding ribbons in his right hand, and trusts that they're blue.

Third, as I brought my sons up, he's holding metal in his left hand. You compete for the metal.

"Seaside High student Holden Mallory was named the most outstanding male competitor at the Washington State School for the Blind's annual track and field meet in Vancouver, Washington, yesterday.

"Holden, a freshman, is visually impaired and receives services from Northwest Regional Education Service District Vision Program. He distinguished himself at the event by placing first in six events, and second in two others.

"The Vancouver school has held the meet every year since the late 1980s. This year, about 130 students from all over Washington and Oregon were there to compete alongside peers in traditional running events, shot put, long jump, and high jump."

Congratulations, kid. Now get out there and show the sponges that you can kick their asses.

Dude.

The Fiction of the Left

Let's take a brief look at the current hub bub.

Benghazi.

Who decided that "it's a video" was the talking point?

Think about it. What we know is, that Washington--the Administration--had requests for increased security for our personnel in Benghazi. Well before the events that killed four Americans. And then, the night of the event, military forces were told to "stand down."

The fictions of the Left.

Remember the gun running thingy? What was it called, "Fast and Furious?"

Think about it. What we know is, that Washington--the Administration--authorized gun dealers along the Mexican border to sell guns to people without the documentation to make those purchases, and then lost track of those weapons. And then warned us that we needed tighter gun laws, to prevent unauthorized buyers from gaining access to guns. I think they even suggested that most gun related deaths in Mexico were related to these illegal purchases.

That were a part of their authorized program.

The fictions of the Left.

This latest thing. The IRS. What is the fiction of the Left?

According to our Senators, Senator Merkley and Senator Wyden, the issue isn't that the IRS was dicking with conservatives. Nope, the issue is, how do you expect us to control the conservatives, the Christians, without programs that dick with conservatives?

The Left is not about making us worse. The Left is about making us better. It's why we can't drive with a cell phone to our ear. One of the stupid ones couldn't manage it without crashing into someone. So, make all of us pay for the one.

Texting.

I now text while driving, because I don't want to be pulled over for talking on my phone.

Did I want to text? No.

But I can't simply pick up my phone and call someone. And after raising two boys, let me tell you, there are more distracting things in life than talking on a phone.

The fictions of the Left. From little things to big things, the Left isn't about making us worse. The Left is about making us better.

Putting alcohol in our gasoline. Fiction of the Left. Making things better. Even though you increase the amount of pollution you create.

Man made global warming. Fiction of the Left. Making things better. Even though there is no evidence that the models that drew us to the conclusion are robust. That they predict anything. That they are the bomb. (In fact, they're definitively falsifiable, useless and grotesque. What the Left does, though, makes things better.)

The fictions of the Left include little things, like the value of life.

Killing feotuses isn't wrong. The Left is about making us better. It's why killing unborn children, when there are parents all over the world hoping to adopt, is better than allowing that child to live.

The fictions of the Left.

Why is it that the Left never addresses the truths of the Right?

They're making things better.

Wyden Steps Up, Enters the Void

That charming Jeff Merfkley can go to the Dark Side with his opinions on who should be able to exercise their Constitutional rights, finding that other darling of the Left, Senior Senator Ron Wyden. Publius Politica. Vox Humana.

Lefty.

Lefties are particular creatures. First off, they get offended if you say "no."

No is a swear word. Limits, you see.

No is a short version of reason. Reason tells us that Lefties believe the things they do because they were told that having an opinion was elegaic. And, then, let's run down the Church. We can haz religious beliefs, just not Christian beliefs. Opinions, bereft of any anchor. At least, any anchor within the tradition of Western Civilization.

Yesterday, Junior Merfkely announced his despair that there were no agencies in government to parse who was worthy of an opinion, and who was not. As an old guy in Oregon politics, none of this would have ever passed muster, even from such ground hogs as Potatoes Au Gratten. Voters were more responsive in the '70's. Mis-spending, the homosexual agenda, reined in one of the Boys From New Jersey. Even in Eugene--sell Bethel-Danebo and Santa Clara--having "normal" beliefs was important.

Freedom of speech were, it were told, sacred.

Had to be.

Being a Leftie meant saying things that were catamount to treason. How to break free of that old bugaboo of loyalty?

Freedom of Speech. And, more importantly, freedom of speech meant freedom from reprisal.

Not for Junior Merfkley.

And now, not for the Senior Lefty.

Look, I know that Senator Wyden and I will rarely agree on anything. The time? Perhaps. Is it raining? I'd better double check.

But his latest effort to cover for the wrong-doings of the IRS is disgusting.

Under the guise of "disclosure," Senator Wyden is attempting to remove protections that have been in place for decades, in order to protect the contributors of unpopular causes from retaliation.

Here's a part of what Senator Wyden announced today:

"It's outrageous: The endless flow of anonymous campaign cash dominating our elections is undermining our democracy.

"It's time to do something about it. That's why I've introduced the Follow the Money Act, the Senate’s first bipartisan campaign finance reform package in more than a decade." (His bolding.)

But the law covering anonymous contributions to unpopular causes was created around the Socialist/Progressive/Marxist/Communist movement! Leftists, like Senator Wyden, want us to focus on Citizens United as a cause celebre. (Use your own italics.)

According to him, his Bill for Openess (and Godliness, from an heretic heathen) will:

The Follow the Money Act will: 

• Implement real-time disclosure of political spending;
• Require all groups, regardless of tax status, to disclose donors for political activity; 
• Increase enforcement so no one pulls the wool over regulator’s eyes;
• Expand "I approved this message" to include chiefs of corporations, unions, and anyone else that sponsors political advertising.

But Senator Wyden doesn't really care about speech. Free speech. If he did, he'd propose protection for speech like that we give to Communists and Socialists.

It is a part of our Constitution that we are free from intimidation for our political contributions. We cannot be required to reveal who our contributors are, especially when that exposure makes us subject to reprisal.

Both Senators know this. The Tea Party and Constitutional advocates are under pressure from the Left. We are only asking for the same protections that we gave to the Socialists, Marxists and Communists during the last fifty years.

Or is that simply too much for our Senators?

More here and here.

Senator Wyden's full statement here.

Examining Senator Merkley

One of the more irritating features of Democratic politicians, is their complete lack of any robustness in their thinking. No robustness in their argumentation, and no robustness in their proposals.

Take the latest utterance from Senator Merkley's press department.

“The IRS dropped the ball when it failed to create clear standards for the kinds of election activities tax-exempt groups can participate in."

Hmm. How depressing. 

It seems our junior Senator is having a problem recognizing the difference between respecting the law, and violating the law. The IRS dropped the ball when it failed to create...

Senator Merkley, the IRS doesn't create standards. The legislature does. Or, haven't you read anything about how Congress creates agencies through the legislative process? You, Mr. Senator, are responsible for setting the guidelines for the IRS to enforce through regulation. The IRS can't simply write regulations out of thin air. 

But you are a Democrat. And you are a junior senator. And you never really ever that smart, were you?

No. 

The big issue for Democrats? Letting ideas and voices that disagree with them gain an audience. Remember the drum circles from the Occupy thingy last summer? 

Not everyone is Holden Caulfield. Most of us watching the images of "Occupy" were rofling looking at this new, dufus class expressing themselves. 

Senator Merkley speaks for them.

Here is the complete press release from Senator Merkley's office:

Washington – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley issued the following statement after the release of an Inspector General report that the IRS was inappropriately targeting conservative groups for reviews of their tax-exempt status.

“What the IRS did was wrong. Targeting groups by their name or their ideology is absolutely unacceptable. The IRS has a lot of power and it is imperative that it be used evenhandedly. A full investigation should be conducted, responsible people should be punished, and action should be taken so that this inappropriate targeting doesn’t happen again.

“The IRS dropped the ball when it failed to create clear standards for the kinds of election activities tax-exempt groups can participate in. The IRS should have written clear rules and requirements for 501(c)(4)s years ago. There is no doubt we have political groups that are inappropriately masquerading as ‘social welfare organizations’ to claim tax-exempt status and keep their donors secret. We need criteria with clear bright lines laying out what groups with tax-exempt status are allowed to do and not do, regardless of the groups’ political views, so that decision isn’t left with IRS bureaucrats.”
Get it? The fault lies in the lack of "clear rules." We have "political groups that are inappropriately masquerading as ‘social welfare organizations’ to claim tax-exempt status..."

Senator Merkley's solution? Don't know. Wasn't expressed here. He just wants you to know that the violations of public trust committed by federal employees is understandable. We don't want Glenn Beck to have a voice, do we? And that Crazy Lady?

Do you want people to listen to her?

I mean, what newspapers does she read?

Senator Merkley doesn't understand the Constitution. Maybe someone should read him his rights.