tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327461362024-03-13T23:42:41.562-07:00The City SquareTechnology and Current Events.<br> Follow me on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/johncitysq">@JohnCitySq</a>Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.comBlogger1987125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-25788483936889563282016-04-03T22:26:00.000-07:002016-04-03T22:26:49.865-07:00The meaning of "right wing": Europe vs. America<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6L7yV6ZVCpikH0BSgpcz6m5L437oYwReuGoXVBKyVEk4bMi17iTNQWucebRuA1pIGTjSadEkDHQKYlsYnD-rXDB2wqQak44PV8oANdxg1Ja502do4xEk6FnGDj8AFuDjZjY9pA/s1600/Frauke+Petry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6L7yV6ZVCpikH0BSgpcz6m5L437oYwReuGoXVBKyVEk4bMi17iTNQWucebRuA1pIGTjSadEkDHQKYlsYnD-rXDB2wqQak44PV8oANdxg1Ja502do4xEk6FnGDj8AFuDjZjY9pA/s200/Frauke+Petry.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a class="_Epb irc_tas i3598" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwjGwbvwmvTLAhVkuIMKHbdTBL0QjhwIBQ" href="http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/frauke-petry-afd-politikerin-meldet-insolvenz-an/10058520.html" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="background-color: #f1f1f1; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;" tabindex="0" target="_blank"><span class="irc_pt" dir="ltr" style="color: #d6d6d6; unicode-bidi: isolate;">Frauke Petry</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Frauke Petry, head of the populist Alternative for Germany, gets interviewed by an aggressively ignorant reporter for Der Speigel:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>SPIEGEL</b>: Ms. Petry, in an interview with the right-wing populist weekly Junge Freiheit, you once said: "Many voters want to avoid one thing above all: being associated with the 'right-wing'." Now, though, your party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), is a pretty far to the right, to put it politely.<br />
<br />
<b>Petry</b>: You are beginning this interview with an insinuation, not a question. That's too bad! The AfD is a liberal-conservative party. Furthermore, I think it's wrong to see the political battle between left and right as a fight between good and evil. <b>In Germany, the right is associated with xenophobia and the politics of the Nazi regime. In America, the liberal economic policy of Milton Friedman is seen as right-wing. So it depends on the definition.</b> [Emphasis added]</blockquote>
<br />
The point that Ms. Petry makes is important: "right-wing" means something different in the US than it does in Europe. Historically, the "right" wing in Europe were monarchists while the left wing opposed the monarch. By contrast, in the US, the right wing descended from the founding fathers and the philosophy of natural rights and individual liberty and the consequent desire for small limited government. Thus, these two versions of right wing often have little in common.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoY8YLYtr66p0F5b4auejkPm8KwHj7CxcGd7mbrnHO72d6xMquV_C4dWSSDzZFlVMltfVvf-A-cHxclioJ1fFddRfbkYwyLS_FDXqOiK8Oyisbf-pmGIpDL1yaUDLxF2M_nnRArA/s1600/Chamberlain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoY8YLYtr66p0F5b4auejkPm8KwHj7CxcGd7mbrnHO72d6xMquV_C4dWSSDzZFlVMltfVvf-A-cHxclioJ1fFddRfbkYwyLS_FDXqOiK8Oyisbf-pmGIpDL1yaUDLxF2M_nnRArA/s200/Chamberlain.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neville Chamberlain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain illustrate this point. In the US, Churchill's foreign policy realism is identified as right-wing while Chamberlain's faith in negotiated treaties, as written on paper, is Obama-esque and decidedly left-wing. Both, however, were in the "conservative" party. Clearly "conservative" means something different there.<br />
<br />
The difference between Euro-right and American right is clear to us in America. It is clear to Ms. Petry in Germany. The news media, whether the MSM in America or Der Speigel in Germany, has its own reasons for not wanting to recognize the obvious difference.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-28212152284713267662015-07-27T19:59:00.000-07:002015-07-27T19:59:25.253-07:00While Citizens May Face $10,000 Fines, Can California Governments Can Waste Water With Impunity?Gov. Jerry Brown has called for <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/29/jerry-brown-water-wasters-10000/26559955/">$10,000 fines</a> for residents and
businesses that waste water in California amid mandatory conservation targets. But, will the liberals who run California care if the governments waste water? Shown below, water from a San Francisco pipe flows out of a manhole and streams over cable-car tracks:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfopCP1h2DG9XPiu06XVT7DxquTJvER_TBVdlGDbJnARg6G0X0p34zdMEq_EZtIXhQZi_lAqABOwIijxMMWz_d4irp4pvvoEdfmlQ_0u5obaFuBnbpESqkq9dDiifwL0FmUim-Q/s1600/IMG_1522-water-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfopCP1h2DG9XPiu06XVT7DxquTJvER_TBVdlGDbJnARg6G0X0p34zdMEq_EZtIXhQZi_lAqABOwIijxMMWz_d4irp4pvvoEdfmlQ_0u5obaFuBnbpESqkq9dDiifwL0FmUim-Q/s640/IMG_1522-water-2.JPG" width="588" /></a></div>
<br />Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-64476148995824168282015-07-27T19:17:00.000-07:002015-07-27T19:17:09.824-07:00In San Francisco, Support for Kate Steinle, Opposition Sanctuary Cities<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPA2MYPtSkf3KKLxMn7GyNRBL6qjoyZp1TTqJVRKMITj1mVmmAgYGjn-M7UrSXe5GsVtHOG2JqMnbHEExRzgvFnQQz8oKRAtw2BuY4mSW3UTWJ6w-qNXV95lcWkf01Fhyuq2SWhQ/s1600/KateS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPA2MYPtSkf3KKLxMn7GyNRBL6qjoyZp1TTqJVRKMITj1mVmmAgYGjn-M7UrSXe5GsVtHOG2JqMnbHEExRzgvFnQQz8oKRAtw2BuY4mSW3UTWJ6w-qNXV95lcWkf01Fhyuq2SWhQ/s200/KateS.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate Steinle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Francisco Sanchez, an illegal alien with
seven felony convictions and five previous deportations,
was attracted to San Francisco because, as a sanctuary city, he felt
safe there. San Francisco, however, is not as safe for law-abiding citizens such as Kate Steinle who was callously shot to death earlier this month on SF's Pier 14. Sanchez has been charged with her murder.<br />
<br />
Today, concerned citizens held a press conference on Pier 14 to call for an end to "sanctuary city" policies in San
Francisco and across the nation:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH886wXFO0Cg_x4qH29fXHanDW64PoC_LDbRZBWIL-WPUTzokyBbBCm9h6OAj5ZeBBxhr2EGgY09shtXcnbLeOxIYouCn2VXIzW7xkdR4sthtzyJLsXSAIihVWQO7_rUMhBDPS3g/s1600/10_IMG_1467-spkr-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH886wXFO0Cg_x4qH29fXHanDW64PoC_LDbRZBWIL-WPUTzokyBbBCm9h6OAj5ZeBBxhr2EGgY09shtXcnbLeOxIYouCn2VXIzW7xkdR4sthtzyJLsXSAIihVWQO7_rUMhBDPS3g/s640/10_IMG_1467-spkr-2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Debbie Bacigalupi, who ran in 2012 as the Republican nominee for California's 14th congressional district, is shown below speaking for the cause: <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f8uyebf1qAZVv3et4qU8TDeEaLmQmzl0pgmmQu3K3fXDC6OYojfbDgP1HxtoSYuPeuY6ThkBj1YF5KHeWJFBCRPLYBtAdQbroHZAURkzgoZLmKRIbg7DJf-XsOmiT_XGzDeZbg/s1600/20_IMG_1453-db-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f8uyebf1qAZVv3et4qU8TDeEaLmQmzl0pgmmQu3K3fXDC6OYojfbDgP1HxtoSYuPeuY6ThkBj1YF5KHeWJFBCRPLYBtAdQbroHZAURkzgoZLmKRIbg7DJf-XsOmiT_XGzDeZbg/s400/20_IMG_1453-db-2.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
At the site of this press conference, flowers and a photograph mark the spot where Kate Steinle died:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbIgBbwVhgFvcRJsOkv2oA7Rid_rSPD8cjDq8GvQhWxDkTuXSh2uXV0tBNoQjMjUPvIxUgRX3SfHk33h8vGmK7eA0wC0Cgl_SYkufUJ_l9uvbpm6dn3Loq5_X_fiHZ_NKjQ4KNQ/s1600/30_IMG_1420-kathryn-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbIgBbwVhgFvcRJsOkv2oA7Rid_rSPD8cjDq8GvQhWxDkTuXSh2uXV0tBNoQjMjUPvIxUgRX3SfHk33h8vGmK7eA0wC0Cgl_SYkufUJ_l9uvbpm6dn3Loq5_X_fiHZ_NKjQ4KNQ/s320/30_IMG_1420-kathryn-1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Kate Steinle had every reason to feel safe: her murder occurred in a tourist section of San Francisco. As you can see below, Pier 14 has a view of the Transamerica Pyramid (shown below, near center) and the pier is within a block of the SF Ferry Building which, newly renovated, attracts both tourists and locals to upscale and gourmet food shops (the Ferry Building's famed Clock Tower is visible below on the right).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWgtqfwRZMVaynuXj7M-WeNmlmMYmpFzLCZqLvaPOMqOpBNzLptD3X28vdyiVPgjzPDBqnHlwcJFoaaFPQBRjyjK4xABk8ud77TD1DZhlu-u4potoqjIdL3SZMBMRmKvWAAgG0A/s1600/70_IMG_1482-view-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWgtqfwRZMVaynuXj7M-WeNmlmMYmpFzLCZqLvaPOMqOpBNzLptD3X28vdyiVPgjzPDBqnHlwcJFoaaFPQBRjyjK4xABk8ud77TD1DZhlu-u4potoqjIdL3SZMBMRmKvWAAgG0A/s400/70_IMG_1482-view-1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Looking the other way, visitors to Pier 14 have a view of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfRJ-mZVr91uEhABSmP21BT0lwkXfEkXtRlXZpA4ocjgeEffJ4g1zJ3gQm-8U5d51Kce9q8B1I4dc5zwjy3mLK8EPqiKjfGfI4iGdhcZgFe-Pajykrk67jDlqom_FRI6t1lZ4Pw/s1600/80_IMG_1395-3citizens-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfRJ-mZVr91uEhABSmP21BT0lwkXfEkXtRlXZpA4ocjgeEffJ4g1zJ3gQm-8U5d51Kce9q8B1I4dc5zwjy3mLK8EPqiKjfGfI4iGdhcZgFe-Pajykrk67jDlqom_FRI6t1lZ4Pw/s400/80_IMG_1395-3citizens-1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Another view of the crowd attending the press conference:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65cnoD4bawJwo_Dov2JnLg0wzNPbPhfiHFUYROfwO_0wJNw2OFoUHgM_gH6PZb2lWfNbiKLoHlGu471ukD7lQmNqXOZ6f9uM8P-9PJAu04EPLoISAQCRoIWErTWnRHUwmNizKNg/s1600/90_IMG_1504-crowd-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65cnoD4bawJwo_Dov2JnLg0wzNPbPhfiHFUYROfwO_0wJNw2OFoUHgM_gH6PZb2lWfNbiKLoHlGu471ukD7lQmNqXOZ6f9uM8P-9PJAu04EPLoISAQCRoIWErTWnRHUwmNizKNg/s400/90_IMG_1504-crowd-1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Kate Steinle is not alone. There have been <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/15/121-murders-attributed-illegal-immigrants-released/?page=1">121 murders</a> attributed to illegals released by the Obama administration. <a href="http://www.theremembranceproject.org/">The Remembrance Project</a> was created to raise awareness of <a href="http://www.theremembranceproject.org/stolen-lives">these tragedies</a> and stop the policies which allow these needless murders.<br />
<br />
San Francisco's politicians undoubtedly think that they are being kind-hearted by providing safe harbor to those who violate US immigration laws. That such policies naturally attract violent criminals to the city seems not to be their concern. As long as the left has "sympathy" for illegals, their 'rights' will trump those of mere US citizens.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-45938193955557161022014-12-09T23:25:00.000-08:002014-12-09T23:30:02.574-08:00GOP Fail: The Gruber Testimony<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XTVlwgjDF5DOUY0DuULajOHzX3UkLUG8C9vAEPFRS9yiI0KNOek0PxvzxaWZ5CpEMx98Cdr4aiPaoLnZ_Vpaj2zhti1dDny1uRvjTq60UqBcQVz0pkJQNIOJFinhgCBiESa3-A/s1600/Gruber-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XTVlwgjDF5DOUY0DuULajOHzX3UkLUG8C9vAEPFRS9yiI0KNOek0PxvzxaWZ5CpEMx98Cdr4aiPaoLnZ_Vpaj2zhti1dDny1uRvjTq60UqBcQVz0pkJQNIOJFinhgCBiESa3-A/s1600/Gruber-1.jpg" height="116" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonathan Gruber</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sometimes opportunity knocks and no one answers. Jonathan Gruber's testimony today was one of those times. Gruber was a central player in the scam that is Obamacare and yet the focus of the questions and the coverage was on irrelevancies.<br />
<br />
I watched some Fox News and they were shocked Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber would call voters "stupid." Other news stories were similar, highlighting issues like <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/09/369606794/obamacare-expert-apologizes-for-remarks-on-laws-creation">Gruber's apologies</a> or his <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/9/jonathan-gruber-apologizes-congress-inexcusable-po/">refusal to disclose his pay</a>. None of those issues, though, really matter to the average voter. They have never heard of Gruber and little care whether he apologizes for dumb statements.<br />
<br />
The average voter does care intensely about his family's health care. Gruber's videos revealthat the administration knew that average Americans would be harmed by Obamacare. In particular, they reveal that:<br />
<ul>
<li>Obamacare was designed to make <a href="http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/11/10/obamacare-architect-yeah-we-lied-to-the-stupid-american-people-n1916605">the average (healthy) American pay more</a>. The $2,500 cut was never real. If Americans knew this, Gruber explained, "it would not have passed."</li>
<li>Obamacare does raise taxes. To avoid admitting that, the "bill was written in a tortured way."</li>
<li>Despite the promise Obama made 37 times, <a href="http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/12/gruber-i-knew-obama-would-break-his-obamacare-keep-your-plan-pledge-video/">Gruber knew</a> from the beginning that there would be people who would loose the plans.</li>
</ul>
In sum, the foundational promises of Obamacare were false and, worse, were known to be false from the beginning.<br />
<br />
The true Gruber scandal is not that an obscure technocrat insulted voters. The true scandal is that the whole of Obamacare was dishonest from the start: prices have gone up and people have lost their plans and their doctors and the Democrats knew from the beginning that this would happen. For the GOP, this should have been today's focus.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-47430371828332726682014-11-05T10:01:00.001-08:002014-11-05T10:02:24.600-08:00Celebrate, Celebrate<a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/392074/democrats-sink-pre-great-depression-levels-state-legislatures-john-fund">Democrats at their weakest since 1920s...</a>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kXI6CdTVJ-0?start=88" width="420"></iframe>Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-79345590251870169072014-08-30T17:16:00.000-07:002014-08-30T17:23:04.578-07:00Women, children sacrificed to political correctness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HhwpGGQqKTYpg6OAB0tMTNnMyqXYKhTXzmsmq8RLfu4C3kjWm5L3CGjCHuySouedxTdND9k3-DCvU0v216gx0i8QHAf8_LS1O_Yivj2BhNxHR_T8db0dBK2sJJ15BN3fzl3alQ/s1600/Image_Mohsln_Khan_Rag_Out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HhwpGGQqKTYpg6OAB0tMTNnMyqXYKhTXzmsmq8RLfu4C3kjWm5L3CGjCHuySouedxTdND9k3-DCvU0v216gx0i8QHAf8_LS1O_Yivj2BhNxHR_T8db0dBK2sJJ15BN3fzl3alQ/s1600/Image_Mohsln_Khan_Rag_Out.jpg" height="184" width="200" /></a></div>
Regarding the Rotherham horror, Allison Pearson <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11059138/Rotherham-In-the-face-of-such-evil-who-is-the-racist-now.html">asks</a>:
<br />
<blockquote>
If South Yorkshire Police can mount a raid on Sir
Cliff Richard’s home in pursuit of evidence linked to a single allegation of
child sex abuse 30 years ago, why were South Yorkshire Police incapable of
pursuing multiple allegations against multiple men who raped 1,400 children
over 16 years?
</blockquote>
The answer is one of those defining moments of left-liberalism: the left would prefer that 1,400 children get raped rather than risk offending the "Asians" (read Muslims) who were raping them. For example, as the Telegraph <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11065878/Labour-MPs-Left-ignored-sex-abuse.html">explains</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Ann Cryer, an MP from 1997 until 2010, told The Sunday Telegraph how she had
feared being called “racist” when, in 2002, she exposed a sex-abuse scandal
involving Pakistani men in her constituency of Keighley, West Yorkshire.
</blockquote>
And, also:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Simon Danczuk, the Labour MP for Rochdale, revealed that
even now some of his colleagues disapproved of his efforts to uncover child
abuse, because some were “obsessing about multiculturalism”.
</blockquote>
As George Orwell explained, one of the basic principles of Communism is that:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"All
animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."</blockquote>
In the left-liberal world of political correctness, women are equal but Islam is 'more equal.'Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-12948479059573347442014-08-30T16:38:00.000-07:002014-08-30T16:38:42.214-07:00In 50 years, liberals have not changedReagan warned us about Obama:<br>br><center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P3hY1eagq88" width="560"></iframe></center>
Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-87516633988544808662014-07-31T16:55:00.000-07:002014-07-31T16:55:17.039-07:00Mass transit: when liberalism meets reality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukUm5qzj0mHjV7hfp0QyA_f59KZ5JN8ENL953-qSa-MRbVmhUiEmgmpHV5lGNycA3UrEwH6dxgQ-kTP4uztg00B-MFcHnBWjZQeRrWfD7hRLbmdjLKvsIIL8IUwc6WCBrHG5SZQ/s1600/broken-down-bus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukUm5qzj0mHjV7hfp0QyA_f59KZ5JN8ENL953-qSa-MRbVmhUiEmgmpHV5lGNycA3UrEwH6dxgQ-kTP4uztg00B-MFcHnBWjZQeRrWfD7hRLbmdjLKvsIIL8IUwc6WCBrHG5SZQ/s1600/broken-down-bus.jpg" height="158" width="200" /></a></div>
Despite the mountains of subsidies they receive, buses account for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_the_United_States#Passenger">a mere 3% of passenger-miles traveled</a>. They get those subsidies because Democrats love <i>the idea</i> of mass transit. The <i>reality</i> is something else. <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/15/streetcarnage-readers-share-tales-of-anguish-riding-ttc-streetcars/?__federated=1#More">In the (Toronto) National Post</a>, for example, one liberal discusses his awakening:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I used to be a big supporter of the streetcar until I started riding
it every day,” said Steve Tartaglia, who regularly rides the streetcar
from Liberty Village to King and Adelaide. He called his commute an “absolute circus.”</blockquote>
Illustrating the problems, other riders quoted in the article mentioned "rude drivers, overcrowding, frequent short turns, breakdowns, blockages, bunching and extra-long wait times" as well as human feces in the seats.<br />
<br />
No amount of government funding will make this system work well.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-57671348788169120162014-07-17T22:49:00.000-07:002014-07-17T23:07:32.262-07:00US Judge decides that California's death penalty serves no "purpose"<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxXJQFxgarDoYp85WCAY5VDBZ2O730-qsyzMRU9h5n60OZGT2HLnoQRcLb-V4c0IvzbaJNK4b8yWWSwwiGkMLFcxG5Li7iIrFQ9DyytpZefKd5Koc8cJDzkd5Y1pm4BEWusYMng/s1600/Judge-Carney-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxXJQFxgarDoYp85WCAY5VDBZ2O730-qsyzMRU9h5n60OZGT2HLnoQRcLb-V4c0IvzbaJNK4b8yWWSwwiGkMLFcxG5Li7iIrFQ9DyytpZefKd5Koc8cJDzkd5Y1pm4BEWusYMng/s1600/Judge-Carney-.jpg" height="200" width="144" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judge Carney</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
US District Judge Cormac J. Carney has <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-death-penalty-20140717-story.html#page=1">ruled</a> that California's death penalty is unconstitutionally in violation of "the Eighth
Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment." In <a href="http://www.hcrc.ca.gov/Jones%20v.%20Chappell,%20Order.pdf">his opinion [PDF]</a>, he writes:
<br />
<blockquote>
Since 1978, when the current death penalty
system was adopted by California voters, over 900 people have been sentenced to death
for their crimes. Of them, only 13 have been executed. For the rest, the dysfunctional
administration of California's death penalty system has resulted, and will continue to
result, in an inordinate and unpredictable period of delay preceding their actual execution.
Indeed, for most, systemic delay has made their execution so unlikely that the death
sentence carefully and deliberately imposed by the jury has been quietly transformed into
one no rational jury or legislature could ever impose: life in prison, with the remote
possibility of death. As for the random few for whom execution does become a reality,
they will have languished for so long on Death Row that their execution will serve no
retributive or deterrent purpose and will be arbitrary.
</blockquote>
While judges should rule on the basis of law, he veers far away from that when he decides that California's death penalty serves "no retributive or deterrent purpose." Deciding what is retributive and what is deterrent are policies issues, and policies issues are for the legislature, not the judiciary, to decide.<br />
<br />
Notice also that the judge is declaring that the results of the judicial process are "unpredictable" and "random." He seems unaware that his decision could be considered an example of just that.<br />
<br />
So far, Carney's decision applies to just to the case of one Ernest Dewayne Jones who <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1995-04-06/news/mn-51562_1_murder-trials">raped and murdered his girlfriend's mother</a>. One can expect, however, that death penalty opponents will attempt to apply the same reasoning to the cases of the rest of the state's convicted murderers.<br />
<br />
Judge Carney, like Chief Justice Roberts who approved Obamacare, was appointed by Pres. Geo. W. Bush. Bush may have been strong on the war on terror but he wasn't strong on much else.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-19793178247580805222014-07-17T21:59:00.000-07:002014-07-17T22:05:04.726-07:00Compare and contrastPres. Obama speaks on the attack on the Malaysian airliner flying over Ukraine:<br />
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qLcC6NAeUFc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
<br />
Pres. Reagan speaks on the Soviet attack on Korean Airliner KAL 007:<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9VA4W1wDMAk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
<br />
We celebrate Reagan for having won the Cold War. Obama has no idea that he is blundering into a new one.<br />
<br />
Hat tip: Greg.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-16781801329239779992014-04-21T14:22:00.002-07:002014-04-21T14:22:57.453-07:00Today's Drudgetaposition<span style="font-family: ARIAL,VERDANA,HELVETICA;"><span><tt><b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/michelle-obama-splurging-key-life-171642985--politics.html;_ylt=AwrBJSB0YVVTkxEAjGnQtDMD">MICHELLE O: 'SPLURGING IS KEY TO LIFE'...</a>
</b></tt></span></span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: ARIAL,VERDANA,HELVETICA;"><span><tt><b>
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-adults-in-parents-home-20140421,0,2293806.story#ixzz2zXcacB4r">Moving in with parents becomes more common -- for middle-aged...</a></b></tt></span></span>Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-20750392566255949842014-04-20T14:49:00.000-07:002014-04-20T14:49:19.596-07:00Philosophy: deconstructionism explained and deconstructed.Deconstructionism is academically–trendy but its meaning can be hard to pin down because its proponents avoid precise definitions. The basic idea seems to be that words don't mean as much as we think they do. Here is how the Stanford University Philosophy Department <a href="http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/derrida/rorty.html">explains</a> it:
<br />
<blockquote>
[L]anguage is, as Saussure says, nothing but differences.
That is, words have meaning only because of contrast-effects with other
words. 'Red' means what it does only by contrast with 'blue', 'green',
etc. 'Being' also means nothing except by contrast, not only with
'beings' but with 'Nature', 'God', 'Humanity', and indeed <i>every</i>
other word in the language. No word can acquire meaning in the way in
which philosophers from Aristotle to Bertrand Russell have hoped it
might -- by being the unmediated expression of something non-linguistic
(e.g., an emotion, a sense-datum, a physical object, an idea, a Platonic
Form).</blockquote>
Let's focus on "<i>[W]ords have meaning only because of contrast-effects with other
words. 'Red' means what it does only by contrast with 'blue', 'green',
etc.</i>" That, of course, is wrong. 'Red' refers to the range of electromagnetic wavelengths that excite one of the three sets of cones in the human eye. The response of these cones can be quantitatively measured and <a href="http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/colcon.html">looks like</a>:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiArnPnR39_aRNqVGT666NaJrv1nY9stivUPrqWpfIYLm0TFgXsjPFee6ZN-3j81SaC7yB0mwkbuZFggt0KzehF3k_q23yPN-9VmYHznh1UlF5ssSo9K1q5wNn00DREmXNpgYNww/s1600/optical-response-of-cones-in-the-human-eye.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiArnPnR39_aRNqVGT666NaJrv1nY9stivUPrqWpfIYLm0TFgXsjPFee6ZN-3j81SaC7yB0mwkbuZFggt0KzehF3k_q23yPN-9VmYHznh1UlF5ssSo9K1q5wNn00DREmXNpgYNww/s1600/optical-response-of-cones-in-the-human-eye.png" height="203" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
'Red', 'green', and 'blue' are not social constructs whose meaning may vary depending upon cultural influences. They are definable with scientific precision.<br />
<br />
It seems clear that deconstructivists avoid specifics because, once the specifics are exposed, their philosophy is reduced to foolishness. Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-57070213637325955492014-04-10T23:37:00.000-07:002014-04-11T02:53:56.917-07:00Hillary visits San Jose; Tea Party breaks outAfter <a href="http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/04/shock-video-protester-throws-shoe-at-hillary-clinton/">ducking a shoe</a> earlier today in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton traveled to San Jose State University to speak tonight. A tea party broke out outside the Event Center where Hillary was speaking (click on any image to enlarge): <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zR4JwM95D3IlojhXXJjQrEsJYPgBWIFkXv2xSwPWjXyAPBSrWnVLF0Vfjm7DLwIjTKGfH70d4xJ79Cuu6QNr8QQPPCAayLffPXkiqXZYE27mqkIwzB2Nu4-P5sMYPtn48ruQ4w/s1600/img_1114-crowd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zR4JwM95D3IlojhXXJjQrEsJYPgBWIFkXv2xSwPWjXyAPBSrWnVLF0Vfjm7DLwIjTKGfH70d4xJ79Cuu6QNr8QQPPCAayLffPXkiqXZYE27mqkIwzB2Nu4-P5sMYPtn48ruQ4w/s1600/img_1114-crowd.jpg" height="148" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8KVKQgY166fiBEsQayh1CM0lnBXeb3adCxKN8lQ6DC0NkQjahmmii1kYS4Ks-kf1b_6wkWkIT1LgBM-6xt3ehqPZjGxmdOhQnM3bymUX5BZIlz9m7xCfTdTLAtvBpBuPJCSAYug/s1600/img_1144-crowd--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8KVKQgY166fiBEsQayh1CM0lnBXeb3adCxKN8lQ6DC0NkQjahmmii1kYS4Ks-kf1b_6wkWkIT1LgBM-6xt3ehqPZjGxmdOhQnM3bymUX5BZIlz9m7xCfTdTLAtvBpBuPJCSAYug/s1600/img_1144-crowd--.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Channel 2 News showed up and interviewed tea partiers:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWS5iOj1viB7iP-vuTFN5Rdg-lcwkvZwmtCLSDRPilYUC1gbOAsqkuP9MYNVrbO1c3ktypHrPj92RmjiHOflOg10SWnG3_ZunQyzTL3Z-bvKegPNLCPkBLV5FIvahJ-Ac7SniURQ/s1600/17_img_1172-cowards-lied--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWS5iOj1viB7iP-vuTFN5Rdg-lcwkvZwmtCLSDRPilYUC1gbOAsqkuP9MYNVrbO1c3ktypHrPj92RmjiHOflOg10SWnG3_ZunQyzTL3Z-bvKegPNLCPkBLV5FIvahJ-Ac7SniURQ/s1600/17_img_1172-cowards-lied--.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In addition to the Tea Party, the San Jose State University's chapter of CollegeGOP was there:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvo-WnuKG4E6r2Ms61h__ENKCsk4OoaT8FZCNQD1FA5ixZrRcmDXrskbcS2NbfIVBnG4ABjoTaLWGN_-5CGc-9NRIdR6EuzzoiLCo3XQFfxZVM2jSWA86RHFLmWoOnRFyDBX3CMg/s1600/20_img_1152-collegegop--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvo-WnuKG4E6r2Ms61h__ENKCsk4OoaT8FZCNQD1FA5ixZrRcmDXrskbcS2NbfIVBnG4ABjoTaLWGN_-5CGc-9NRIdR6EuzzoiLCo3XQFfxZVM2jSWA86RHFLmWoOnRFyDBX3CMg/s1600/20_img_1152-collegegop--.jpg" height="400" width="287" /></a></div>
The student on the left is the chapter's vice president.<br />
<br />
The woman below had an answer to Hillary's question: "what difference does it make"? The difference depends on whose casket it is:<br />
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While many signs focused on Benghazi, the next election is not likely to turn on the issue. At lunch, my waitress was asked if she knew about Benghazi. She replied, "of course, he was a famous 1960s TV actor." Yes, young people know about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Gazzara">Ben Gazzara</a>.<br />
<br />
Other signs walked through other famous moments in Hillary's career. Remember "reset":<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyztr8juEIcYpvgvzZuBiih7WOx1a5Z4HgLG5bCGxM4YsXS54XkAduHL2dLhs7Mu1z_3AR2trEGiBdUxd63afz51c4p0PMRsURi_L7yE4uvYeprO7fxv0fSZodNLYQ2EggHBAlGg/s1600/20_img_1067-reset--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyztr8juEIcYpvgvzZuBiih7WOx1a5Z4HgLG5bCGxM4YsXS54XkAduHL2dLhs7Mu1z_3AR2trEGiBdUxd63afz51c4p0PMRsURi_L7yE4uvYeprO7fxv0fSZodNLYQ2EggHBAlGg/s1600/20_img_1067-reset--.jpg" height="305" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<br />
Remember Hillary's role in the Vince Foster episode:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2dLncsGeZM-q0FAkIkYGosehcsKYtUKRGqLRXAfrzaHHk-yPIc9tqm9NSgC-2OCcDsZABRz5jqvNatGuqEe8AmePWBlesBMA6qUBAky_3gvGWlczf41ajvez0PaTAZSMV5j8cA/s1600/50_img_1155-vincefoster--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2dLncsGeZM-q0FAkIkYGosehcsKYtUKRGqLRXAfrzaHHk-yPIc9tqm9NSgC-2OCcDsZABRz5jqvNatGuqEe8AmePWBlesBMA6qUBAky_3gvGWlczf41ajvez0PaTAZSMV5j8cA/s1600/50_img_1155-vincefoster--.jpg" height="320" width="261" /></a></div>
While talking with this woman, a liberal came up to us and asked "do you know which country Benghazi is in?" I said "Libya." She replied "I am not talking to you" and then asked my friend above a couple more geography questions which she answered. The liberal then asked what Benghazi's latitude and longitude were. We didn't have any numbers for her and that was her opportunity: she declared that we didn't know enough about Benghazi to be protesting it and left in a huff. I suppose that no history professor would ever try to teach World War II without first requiring the students to memorize the latitude and longitude of Berlin.<br />
<br />
Hillary's life also offers important lessons on feminism and women's rights. To aid in discussion of these issues with the young women on the campus, this Tea Partier brought a show-and-tell item: a blue dress.<br />
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<br />
Off to the side of the protest was a woman with Hillary-in-a-box:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBF805es2NBQCztq09qcISbTzhRpksJNLMIaL2fwVfsqObIwVy-0gG2EGsz0g9EHO2v-jsoFoYgJv5yF4S1W6TPriSX9ZCKZIZlNZf9yYlnGRWyqHe9MTLkkOykYhFnqeqyI3kPg/s1600/80_img_1099-hillary-in-box--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBF805es2NBQCztq09qcISbTzhRpksJNLMIaL2fwVfsqObIwVy-0gG2EGsz0g9EHO2v-jsoFoYgJv5yF4S1W6TPriSX9ZCKZIZlNZf9yYlnGRWyqHe9MTLkkOykYhFnqeqyI3kPg/s1600/80_img_1099-hillary-in-box--.jpg" height="200" width="176" /></a></div>
I thought the toy might have been cruelly designed to scare children, but I was wrong. She was a Hillary supporter and also a local artist. She designed and built the Hillary-in-a-box herself. Standing with her was another Hillary supporter, also equipped with a Hillary-in-a-box:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7BDtvmxDLEbgsnpqUpn-uWHiE6TEAVPVU-6uzmrCIBbHJHCNJ6y5aDGUwyOm1G557EqMUoh8-v_dpfOSMjAEpKTfABdCAu8MbpQg8IKe1ovNDQU-3FLFHHC78kgLSpwmqiXIlg/s1600/82_img_1098-supporters--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7BDtvmxDLEbgsnpqUpn-uWHiE6TEAVPVU-6uzmrCIBbHJHCNJ6y5aDGUwyOm1G557EqMUoh8-v_dpfOSMjAEpKTfABdCAu8MbpQg8IKe1ovNDQU-3FLFHHC78kgLSpwmqiXIlg/s1600/82_img_1098-supporters--.jpg" height="200" width="156" /></a></div>
Remember his outfit the next time someone claims that Tea Partiers wear silly costumes.<br />
<br />
Further away, there was this man in the black hat gathering signatures for <a href="https://movetoamend.org/">MoveToAmend</a> which aims to end corporate personhood:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qcrxfAmV_Zx0dk9buyohkKwpyDP9bRluqUheT6CM3wYxKnjNqSdoImCzWj6FMhjb5azsjnxsxUELBrBSRRSNTjd9ktWdk93U4S82jSYzaV8eHE9lHSwg6xHrU259SxaEHoQ8-g/s1600/70_img_1158-personhood--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qcrxfAmV_Zx0dk9buyohkKwpyDP9bRluqUheT6CM3wYxKnjNqSdoImCzWj6FMhjb5azsjnxsxUELBrBSRRSNTjd9ktWdk93U4S82jSYzaV8eHE9lHSwg6xHrU259SxaEHoQ8-g/s1600/70_img_1158-personhood--.jpg" height="243" width="320" /></a></div>
He explained to me that the constitution nowhere mentions corporations and the bill of rights applies only to individuals. I asked if that meant that the the New York Times lacked the right to freedom of speech? He explained that the Times is actually covered by freedom of the press which is an exception to the constitution not mentioning corporations.<br />
<br />
Speaking of things that upset liberals, take a look at this man:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9-rAwT_XCIqnZgFz0ylgS5ASqiOCL9_H7Qfr6MIb4awPsZt54O8bhejc-hmprwtRl4J5f90xmvDDBuhyphenhyphen2AfE3KUEH2khVWwkVljR3dJOtBnbTqe6ck84KFo_gpZndRGACIRanw/s1600/90_img_1182-tread-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9-rAwT_XCIqnZgFz0ylgS5ASqiOCL9_H7Qfr6MIb4awPsZt54O8bhejc-hmprwtRl4J5f90xmvDDBuhyphenhyphen2AfE3KUEH2khVWwkVljR3dJOtBnbTqe6ck84KFo_gpZndRGACIRanw/s1600/90_img_1182-tread-.jpg" height="320" width="310" /></a></div>
He is wearing a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molon_labe">Molon Labe</a> sweatshirt which depicts an 'assault' rifle while also holding a "don't tread on me" flag. <br />
<br />
Here is another answer to the question of "what difference does it make"?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUI5KK5FS911_oVsCIGMIUNzgSf21M1Wams2QWZUbdWfrYK16GQfUUbYn7BcyRBh3glXY8KeKsC60uikkfNkajtNn8wFQafj-xsff0SP_gv00Tp4TueTdL8iGHrCWotDzj3KlM1A/s1600/90_img_1166-disqualify--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUI5KK5FS911_oVsCIGMIUNzgSf21M1Wams2QWZUbdWfrYK16GQfUUbYn7BcyRBh3glXY8KeKsC60uikkfNkajtNn8wFQafj-xsff0SP_gv00Tp4TueTdL8iGHrCWotDzj3KlM1A/s1600/90_img_1166-disqualify--.jpg" height="320" width="259" /></a></div>
The overwhelming incompetence that Hillary displayed in that episode really should disqualify her from the presidency. It won't , of course: most people like Ben Gazzara.<br />
<br />
As the protest continued on into the evening, there was also this sign on the war-on-women:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZfxS0RsG_sewOdplLS30vsIQZODI1m4jdYm22vyoW7QU8TxW9w1uEIaD9q8hXH-MvgSjS1CAd8IDmpDwAT0dl1tZcjA7x4i57HyEq7ASXZpNJh9rky7CAr0igYWs_FngiDVTMA/s1600/95_img_1225-real--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZfxS0RsG_sewOdplLS30vsIQZODI1m4jdYm22vyoW7QU8TxW9w1uEIaD9q8hXH-MvgSjS1CAd8IDmpDwAT0dl1tZcjA7x4i57HyEq7ASXZpNJh9rky7CAr0igYWs_FngiDVTMA/s1600/95_img_1225-real--.jpg" height="320" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />
This Tea Party was organized by the <a href="http://www.meetup.com/Gilroy-Morgan-Hill-Patriots/">Gilroy-Morgan Hill Patriots</a>, with help from <a href="http://teapartypatriotsofsiliconvalley.ning.com/">Tea Party Patriots of Silicon Valley</a>, the S<a href="http://www.meetup.com/SiliconValley912Project/">ilicon Valley 9-12 Project</a>, and the <a href="http://www.sanfranciscoteaparty.org/">Bay Area Patriots/SF Tea Party</a>. <br />
<br />
Tonight's event is part of four-day three-state speaking tour. ABC News <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/04/hillary-clintons-speaking-frenzy-4-days-3-states-and/">reports</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Clinton’s tour kicks off Tuesday in California where she’ll deliver a keynote at a large <a href="http://www.marketo.com/about/news/press-releases/former-secretary-of-state-hillary-rodham-clinton-to-deliver-keynote-address-at-marketos-marketing-nation-summit-2014.php">marketing summit</a> in
San Francisco. Later that day, she’ll pop up to Portland, Ore., to
headline the World Affairs Council of Oregon’s annual International <a href="http://worldoregon.org/programs/international-speaker-series">Speaker series</a>.<br />
<br />
She’ll stop by Las Vegas Thursday where she will give closing remarks at a scrap metal recycling <a href="http://isriconvention.org/docs/ISRI_2014ConventionProgram.pdf">expo</a> (and also likely draw attention from politicos taking note of her first appearance in an early primary state this year).</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/us/politics/hillary-clinton-hits-the-lucrative-speechmaking-trail.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">According</a> to the New York Times, Hillary charges $200,000 per speech. So, ABC <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/04/hillary-clintons-speaking-frenzy-4-days-3-states-and/">speculates</a> that she might be paid $1 million over these four days. Standing by her man has paid off.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-29072316956785915832014-03-18T16:59:00.001-07:002014-03-18T16:59:37.362-07:00Obama explains his policy on national borders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4_YHgOHAfHWqXLDXMEDBr3Kb5dVnO2l6Gz7HRgBcDUosr1hpFpkDLmGz_8Ta693Q9qGZWndHVCa4K1cUDrqf4Da24PXMP3hTy0I0su_Qva0RK51lDGD5xWdoSDde5rm_mO6fwA/s1600/Obama-explains-borders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4_YHgOHAfHWqXLDXMEDBr3Kb5dVnO2l6Gz7HRgBcDUosr1hpFpkDLmGz_8Ta693Q9qGZWndHVCa4K1cUDrqf4Da24PXMP3hTy0I0su_Qva0RK51lDGD5xWdoSDde5rm_mO6fwA/s1600/Obama-explains-borders.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-42873190536131325482014-03-02T00:29:00.002-08:002014-03-02T00:30:46.426-08:00Paradox: Venezuela failing "despite" government having absolute control<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjylFJutgxJNoh6vWyFo-nnqUddW3Umr_8WF7ya-AVwk5qmmqvWPZm8lvjfSyUlZYpy3_jlLZA3XxILo0joKfmD9wXQKLwK3V8MBQC9yKcmUPnuMGOhS-KUDh1jsqHE2ylOgYAggg/s1600/a+world+is+possible+if+socialist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjylFJutgxJNoh6vWyFo-nnqUddW3Umr_8WF7ya-AVwk5qmmqvWPZm8lvjfSyUlZYpy3_jlLZA3XxILo0joKfmD9wXQKLwK3V8MBQC9yKcmUPnuMGOhS-KUDh1jsqHE2ylOgYAggg/s1600/a+world+is+possible+if+socialist.jpg" height="142" width="200" /></a></div>
T<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/02/the-tragedy-of-venezuela/284062/">he Atlantic analyzes Venezuela</a> and is puzzled by Hugo Chavez's disastrous legacy:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Venezuela is now the world champion of inflation,
homicide, insecurity, and shortages of essential goods—from milk for
children to insulin for diabetics and all kinds of indispensable
products. All this despite having the greatest oil reserves in the world
and a government with absolute control of all state institutions and
levers of power. </blockquote>
So, Venezuela is a disaster "<i>despite</i>" having "a government with absolute control"?<br />
<br />
PREVIOUSLY on the paradoxes that vex the minds of liberals/journalists:<br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2013/02/paradox-those-most-knowledgable-about.html">Paradox: Those most knowledgeable about science are least likely to believe climate alarmists</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2013/09/its-paradox-supporters-of-obamacare-are.html">Paradox: Those who support Obamacare don't understand it</a> <br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2013/01/paradox-rather-than-work-people-accept.html">Paradox: Rather than work, people accept free money! </a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-paradox-higher-taxes-yield-less.html">Paradox: Higher taxes yield less revenue</a>
<br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-paradox.html">Paradox: Price high despite shortage; Also: despite homeowners protecting themselves, crime is down.</a> <br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2012/11/its-paradox-homelessness-in-san.html">Paradox:
"Despite" having the most generous benefits for homelessness, homeless flock to San Francisco</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2012/03/it-paradox.html">Paradox: Gun sales up despite politicians' threats to ban gun sales</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2011/09/it-paradox-education-edition.html">Paradox: Student test scores improve despite school funding decrease</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-paradox-guns-sales-edition.html">News report: Gun crime down "despite" increase in gun sales</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2010/09/its-paradox-congress-unpopular-despite.html">It's a paradox: Congress unpopular "despite record"</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2008/06/conservatives-and-their-children-are.html">"Ironically," conservatives and their children are happier </a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2008/04/it-paradox.html">It's a paradox!: Crime down when criminals are in jail.</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2007/05/can-you-solve-this.html">Paradox: Crime is down <i>despite</i> criminals being in prison</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2007/12/it-paradox.html">Paradox: Few fraudulent voters if voters are required to have IDs</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1F21etECD-DMhOnJKfAgHUmGVCfbeoGZw-UiP4QB8aOGD1DkA_nC2wf9tMAG2EioIwJNbei8JIFXJNQyyE-_C549K5asvddiI4my7xcN79WVviTA52XsUi0dDHZcr49weM3ocmA/s1600/socialism-vs-capitalism001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1F21etECD-DMhOnJKfAgHUmGVCfbeoGZw-UiP4QB8aOGD1DkA_nC2wf9tMAG2EioIwJNbei8JIFXJNQyyE-_C549K5asvddiI4my7xcN79WVviTA52XsUi0dDHZcr49weM3ocmA/s1600/socialism-vs-capitalism001.jpg" /></a></div>
Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-56339836810916103682014-02-14T15:03:00.001-08:002014-02-14T15:03:36.410-08:00Is Obama an evil genius?The Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-ambassador-nominees-prompt-an-uproar-with-bungled-answers-lack-of-ties/2014/02/14/20fb0fe4-94b2-11e3-83b9-1f024193bb84_story.html">reviews the competence</a> of recent Obama diplomatic appointments:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The nominee for ambassador to Norway, for example, prompted outrage in
Oslo by characterizing one of the nation’s ruling parties as extremist. A
soap-opera producer slated for Hungary appeared to have little
knowledge of the country she would be living in. A <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/10/this-very-telling-map-shows-which-u-s-ambassadors-were-campaign-bundlers/?utm_source=Daily+Media+Digest&utm_campaign=790cb48669-AFSA_Media_Digest_2_11_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e87ea75dce-790cb48669-215169225">prominent Obama bundler</a> <b>nominated to be ambassador to Argentina acknowledged that he had never set foot in the country and doesn’t speak Spanish.</b><br />
<br />
Even former senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the new U.S. ambassador in
Beijing, managed to raise eyebrows during his confirmation hearing by
acknowledging, “<a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2014/01/31/presumptive-ambassador-to-china-baucus-im-no-real-expert-on-china/">I’m no real expert on China</a>.” . . . .
<br />
<br />
The troubles began last month, when million-dollar bundler and Chartwell Hotels chief executive <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-ambassador-nominees-are-a-disservice-to-diplomacy/2014/02/06/2273ef9e-8e86-11e3-b227-12a45d109e03_story.html">George Tsunis</a>
testified at his confirmation hearing to be ambassador to Norway.
<b>Tsunis admitted he had never been to the Scandinavian country and
suggested, among other things, that the nation’s Progress Party was part
of a discounted “fringe.”</b> It is actually part of Norway’s center-right
ruling coalition.<br />
<br />
Mamet was asked during his own confirmation
hearing this month if he had ever been to Argentina, where he would be
ambassador. “I haven’t had the opportunity yet to be there,” said Mamet,
who raised more than $500,000 for Obama’s reelection.<br />
<br />
During the
same hearing, Robert C. Barber, who raised more than $1.6 million for
Obama in 2012 and has been <b>nominated to serve as ambassador to Iceland,
said he had never visited the Nordic nation.</b><br />
<br />
Then there is Colleen
Bell, the nominee for ambassador to Hungary and the Hollywood producer
behind “The Bold and The Beautiful” soap opera, who raised or
contributed about $800,000 to Obama in the last election. She <b>stammered
her way through testimony about U.S. strategic interests in the country,</b>
which is the focus of growing international alarm over its far-right
government’s treatment of Jews and other minorities. [Emph. added]</blockquote>
Add to these examples, such Obama cabinet appointments as John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, and one has a distinct pattern of incompetence: Obama surrounds himself with fools. This is not something that smart people do. As Sir Arthur Conan Doyle <a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/arthurcona125358.html" title="view quote">observed</a>:
<br />
<blockquote>
Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.</blockquote>
Obama is mediocrity. He may do evil (forcing people into Obamacare, enabling Iranian nukes, etc) but these are the acts of a fool, not a genius.<br />
<br />
<b>ASIDE:</b> Note that the wide variation in the cost of ambassadorships. Mamet raised a mere $500,000 while getting Argentina while Barber raised over $1.6 million and merely got Iceland. Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-54683087555447834282014-02-12T15:24:00.001-08:002014-02-12T15:24:18.412-08:00How much does it cost to buy a mayor?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjus8C7zM_uDKHp2y4Cc66OjuF_Lm7Q2mudCjaAHmVqxp2mnq50X7ITtpeGPFY7rofrImOeTOnS8ifuk567h_To88r9rftA3_C6ZZlN0xYzh0jzeFPlWGXQ4-f88Rpfu1KlmNk11Q/s1600/Mayor-Ray-Nagin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjus8C7zM_uDKHp2y4Cc66OjuF_Lm7Q2mudCjaAHmVqxp2mnq50X7ITtpeGPFY7rofrImOeTOnS8ifuk567h_To88r9rftA3_C6ZZlN0xYzh0jzeFPlWGXQ4-f88Rpfu1KlmNk11Q/s1600/Mayor-Ray-Nagin.jpg" height="146" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ray Nagin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A jury has found former New Orleans mayor Ray "school bus" Nagin guilty of 20 counts of corruption. CNN <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/12/justice/louisiana-nagin-convicted/index.html">reports</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A January 2013 indictment detailed more than $200,000 in bribes to the
mayor, and his family members allegedly received a vacation in Hawaii;
first-class airfare to Jamaica; private jet travel and a limousine for
New York City; and cellular phone service. In exchange, businesses that
coughed up for Nagin and his family won more than $5 million in city
contracts, according to the January 2013 indictment.</blockquote>
$200,00 in bribes generated over $5 million in contracts: that is a 25-to-1 return on investment.<br />
<br />
Mayor Nagin is also well known for his open racism, <a href="http://www.volokh.com/posts/chain_1137509183.shtml">having declared that</a> he wanted New Orleans to be a "chocolate" city:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild a New
Orleans, the one that should be, a chocolate New Orleans. And I don't
care what people are saying uptown or wherever they are. This city will
be chocolate at the end of the day.</blockquote>
<br />
PREVIOUSLY on the cost of buying government:<br />•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2012/01/become-government-official-get-rich.html">Kickbacks and the LA Coliseum</a><br />•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-buy-congressman.html">How to buy a congressman </a><br />•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-to-buy-judge.html">How to buy a judge <br />•</a><a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2007/05/culture-of-corruption-update.html">Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Feinstein: how their husbands benefit from government contracts </a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-buy-vote.html">How to buy a vote (they're cheap: $10) </a>Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-28854504781705874542014-01-12T22:51:00.001-08:002014-01-12T22:51:31.880-08:00The decline of American collegesCollege students today work half as hard as students used to, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-upward-mobility-has-become-tougher-to-achieve/2013/06/19/90365d52-d83b-11e2-a016-92547bf094cc_story.html">according to George Will</a> who was citing a study by Brink Lindsay of Cato Institute: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lindsey reported that in 1961, full-time college students reported
studying 25 hours a week on average; by 2003, average studying time had
fallen to 13 hours. Half of today’s students take no courses requiring
more than 20 pages of writing in a semester. Given the role of practice
in developing expertise, “the conclusion that college students are
learning less than they used to seems unavoidable.” Small wonder those
with college degrees occupying <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://centerforcollegeaffordability.org/uploads/Underemployed%20Report%202.pdf" target="_blank">jobs that do not require a high school diploma</a> include 1.4 million retail salespeople and cashiers, half a million waiters, bartenders and janitors, and many more.</blockquote>
While students are learning less and benefitting less, college costs (green line) have been rising faster than inflation (blue) , even faster than medical costs (red):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2f2f4GBq9D2_4goi9n9cBcvDdoAAjyzD9JNNWzAfM-znnaMeoe6ek-OReVWjy2kefp7MYMaQ869q2-JW5MWaGLiW7CCZzVeCD7YW4qcHDK-Gt_km8O_l7vsgKabChzllozYazA/s1600/college-medical-vs-inflation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2f2f4GBq9D2_4goi9n9cBcvDdoAAjyzD9JNNWzAfM-znnaMeoe6ek-OReVWjy2kefp7MYMaQ869q2-JW5MWaGLiW7CCZzVeCD7YW4qcHDK-Gt_km8O_l7vsgKabChzllozYazA/s400/college-medical-vs-inflation.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Colleges may be dominated by left-wing radicals, but that doesn't mean that they aren't in it for the money, as evidenced by the over 42 college presidents make <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/15/private-college-presidents-salary-harvard_n_4433229.html">over a million dollars a year.</a><br />
<br />
PREVIOUSLY on the subject of education:<br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2013/08/why-public-education-is-overrated.html">University history prof, specializing in Reagan, has no clue</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-failing-school-substitutes-liberal.html">A failing school substitutes liberal indoctrination in place of teaching</a>
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2013/02/does-government-really-need-all-money.html">Prioritizing gimmicks over education</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2012/02/are-public-schools-succeeding.html">Are public schools succeeding? </a>
<br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2011/09/it-paradox-education-edition.html">Paradox: student test scores improve after school budgets are cut</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2012/01/ivy-league-education.html">The great minds of the Ivy League</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2011/08/study-teacher-unions-are-bad-for.html">Study: teacher's unions are bad for education</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2010/01/study-sexist-women-teachers-stunt.html">Study: sexist women teachers stunt learning of girl students</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2009/12/black-students-harassed-for-white-get.html">Black students, harassed for "acting white," get $150,000</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2009/06/teaching-self-esteem-backfires.html">Teaching self-esteem backfires</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2007/04/self-esteem-and-education.html">Education in Korea vs. the US: does "self-esteem" backfire?</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2009/05/money-for-nothing-your-government-at.html">LA pays teachers not to teach</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-johnny-can-read.html">What teachers learn in teacher's ed.</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2008/12/money-and-education.html">Obama promises to throw money at schools</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-education-system-works.html">How to get a job teaching in California even if you are illiterate</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2012/01/affirmative-action-backfire.html">Affirmative action backfire </a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2012/01/california-offers-student-tutoring-but.html">Californi</a><a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2012/01/california-offers-student-tutoring-but.html">a offers student tutoring but only for students belonging to the right races</a><br />
•<a href="http://thecitysquare.blogspot.com/2006/10/affirmative-racism.html">High school implements race-based punishments for misbehavior</a>Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-33494657108743341422014-01-09T14:42:00.000-08:002014-01-09T15:23:12.370-08:00Dept of Justice investigation of IRS scandal exposed as phony<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9s7vwpFLwlbkxYK-47HD3MjQudtraYju3cS6da0_SNoDHcNULhrXqqg20v8b0gB7-f7NRoQQh8tr3z6DB9Z_3lYMFbhPCV01Vw8AyXuLPIqCqyZgK7mQbt_fo-JlS0jq2sRFyMw/s1600/IRS_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9s7vwpFLwlbkxYK-47HD3MjQudtraYju3cS6da0_SNoDHcNULhrXqqg20v8b0gB7-f7NRoQQh8tr3z6DB9Z_3lYMFbhPCV01Vw8AyXuLPIqCqyZgK7mQbt_fo-JlS0jq2sRFyMw/s200/IRS_logo.png" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/8/feds-pick-obama-supporter-lead-irs-tea-party-probe/">From the Washington Times</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Justice Department selected an avowed political supporter of President Obama to lead the criminal probe into the IRS
targeting of tea party groups, according to top Republicans who said
Wednesday that the move has ruined the entire investigation.</blockquote>
<br />
Not surprisingly, <a href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2014/01/09/outrage-obama-donor-picked-head-irs-scandal-investigation-big-thre">the MSM is ignoring this</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So far ABC, CBS and NBC have yet to mention what Darrell Issa called “a
startling conflict of interest.” In fact the Big Three networks have
almost completely stopped covering the IRS scandal investigation
altogether.</blockquote>
<a href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2014/01/09/there-s-already-17-times-more-coverage-christie-scandal-last-six-mon">For comparison</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In less than 24 hours, the big three networks have devoted 17 times more
coverage to a traffic scandal involving Chris Christie than they've
allowed in the last six months to Barack Obama's Internal Revenue
Service controversy</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9DqkqCXRjdTc6B2at83q39hqzcQGwGhYrA9DFHf0wEwDi5zRLEOuHc98hfHulTGtaxvkzc6JwTUOlZ4w0i6bdre25jz7izqv4e88mia5v6ShzQHBBdwHariBV8R6vVyQCNVkgiA/s1600/Obama-Christie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9DqkqCXRjdTc6B2at83q39hqzcQGwGhYrA9DFHf0wEwDi5zRLEOuHc98hfHulTGtaxvkzc6JwTUOlZ4w0i6bdre25jz7izqv4e88mia5v6ShzQHBBdwHariBV8R6vVyQCNVkgiA/s1600/Obama-Christie.jpg" /></a></div>
Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-58259905908651363062013-12-24T15:06:00.001-08:002013-12-24T15:06:23.949-08:00Liberal prophesies in reviewDemocrats are perpetually outraged at how some conservative policy will inevitably lead to disaster. So, it is occasionally useful to review their predictions as Steven Hayward has done <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenhayward/2013/12/23/the-next-ronald-reagan-is-the-leader-who-rediscovers-something-very-basic/">here</a> regarding Reagan's decontrol of oil prices in 1981:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Liberals reacted with horror, predicting the price of gasoline—then
about $1.40 a gallon—would soar. Sen. Don Riegle of Michigan said that
“It will hurt our people within a matter of days.” Sen. Dale Bumpers of
Arkansas predicted that “without rationing, gasoline will soon go to $3 a
gallon.” Congressman (now Senator) Ed Markey said “I believe that
decontrol as a cure will prove to be worse than the disease of oil
addiction.” Sen. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/george-mitchell/">George Mitchell</a>
said “Every citizen and every family will find their living standards
reduced by this decision.” What actually happened? Sure enough, oil
prices started falling immediately, with gasoline drifting down to 89
cents a gallon by 1986. The liberal prophecies disappeared down a memory
hole.</blockquote>
Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-56128122926332523262013-12-13T14:20:00.000-08:002013-12-13T14:20:10.504-08:00Obama thinks you're a foolThis is the latest email from the Orwellian-named "truth team" at BarackObama.com:
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Here's an Obamacare number that's hard to argue with:<br />
<br />
1.2 million. <br />
<br />
That's how many Americans have signed up for coverage so far since October, according to new data released this week. <br />
<br />
This is exactly why people like us fought so hard for reform for so long
-- to actually help people get better, more affordable care. These are
results worth writing home, or at least on Facebook and Twitter, about. <br />
<br />
<b>Share this number far and wide today....</b><br />
<br />
The anti-Obamacare crowd might have more money than our side does, but
they don't have numbers like this. This is great news, and shows we're
definitely moving in the right direction -- but we're not done yet. So
while they keep running their messaging wars with deception and scare
tactics, there's nothing better than fighting back with facts like this.
<br />
<br />
Share the news about these 1.2 million Americans with your friends and family on Facebook....</blockquote>
They don't mention that 5 million people have lost their health insurance (and millions more in the future) because of Obamacare. Yet only, even if we unwisely accept their number at face value, 1.2M have "signed up." That is a net loss, so far, of 3.8 million insurance policies.<br />
<br />Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-2179201284400116362013-12-13T14:01:00.003-08:002013-12-13T14:03:33.607-08:00Who buys "designer" brands?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvicps3uo7lOWFVA_hBC7KYxbnum396XJFVvxMog_ejBodwdxDDWKfXQCgvXG_25fpDwnB1V2W3zgVhAugyUpxZ1xXFZaiWncZ9eFh2Bt9ZQHzDGDlg4h_9Q_pmdhu6e4fk_Kpg/s1600/brands2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvicps3uo7lOWFVA_hBC7KYxbnum396XJFVvxMog_ejBodwdxDDWKfXQCgvXG_25fpDwnB1V2W3zgVhAugyUpxZ1xXFZaiWncZ9eFh2Bt9ZQHzDGDlg4h_9Q_pmdhu6e4fk_Kpg/s1600/brands2.jpg" height="124" width="200" /></a></div>
According to a marketing consultant, it is the insecure who overpay for status:
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“There is a direct correlation between lack of self-esteem and the
brands you buy," says marketing consultant Martin Lindstrom. "The less
self-esteem, the more brands you wrap yourself in.”</blockquote>
For more, see <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-26/why-spending-a-thousand-bucks-can-make-you-feel-like-a-million.html">the full article on Bloomberg.com</a>.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-41476524033941922242013-11-28T00:00:00.001-08:002013-11-28T00:00:16.028-08:00The president has a planFrom <a href="http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=214544">IOwnTheWorld</a>:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsuH-3EZEeUp2INhCoYfpzMrmtPmbp2S5fHhEBhmPOW_W1HH0_DNzAPw3O58wKedZ20Hrgr-9BWD7zh_PMX08H3W6fFNfgiCVWVzQcWgib2nQnTf4Cm97oAKeP05mFXIfe8-qLLA/s1600/32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsuH-3EZEeUp2INhCoYfpzMrmtPmbp2S5fHhEBhmPOW_W1HH0_DNzAPw3O58wKedZ20Hrgr-9BWD7zh_PMX08H3W6fFNfgiCVWVzQcWgib2nQnTf4Cm97oAKeP05mFXIfe8-qLLA/s1600/32.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-22325008345591446642013-11-27T23:57:00.000-08:002013-11-27T23:57:40.730-08:00This year's turkeyFrom <a href="http://www.dispatch.com/content/sections/opinion/beeler-cartoons/index.html">Nate Beeler</a>:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspQNYI-cNqYO9Q4t476HnPi0PYMzvFEphR_v5baT9auYSlYIMjlY8nDcsQJqpD9kXymk_vZ-dewRFKKb5-8elsY-RFlAXXcJyOfT-Y5ZPJ5YGSIv7CkngkTeOvTemuu9yEDP3nQ/s1600/2013-11-28-XCLHQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspQNYI-cNqYO9Q4t476HnPi0PYMzvFEphR_v5baT9auYSlYIMjlY8nDcsQJqpD9kXymk_vZ-dewRFKKb5-8elsY-RFlAXXcJyOfT-Y5ZPJ5YGSIv7CkngkTeOvTemuu9yEDP3nQ/s1600/2013-11-28-XCLHQ.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32746136.post-45894370302829987902013-11-22T13:26:00.000-08:002013-11-22T13:35:11.047-08:00 A DrudgetapositionAs I write, the top three headlines on Drudge are:<tt><b><br />
</b></tt><br />
<blockquote>
<tt><b><tt><b>
<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/191086-harkin-calls-for-more-rule-changes">Harkin calls for more rule changes...</a><br />
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelan-president-tries-emergency-powers-071959194.html">Venezuelan president tries out new emergency powers...</a><br />
<a href="http://mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/21/209352/white-house-blocks-access-to-obama.html">White House blocks press access to more Obama events...</a>
</b></tt></b></tt></blockquote>
His message is clear.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08208611715477756747noreply@blogger.com0