I've got a few minutes and thought I'd check in. The world looks like it's going to hell in a handbasket, so I better write something before it does.....
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I can't help but laugh at the Europeans. Twice last century Germany almost destroyed Europe and now everybody over there is claiming that only the Germans can save it. The whole European Union and "euro" idea was ridiculous in the first place. It's sad in one sense. The Europeans produced some of the greatest geniuses in history--before the 20th century. But then they turned to socialism and have done nothing right since. And this is the direction Obama and the Democrats is taking America. This is stupidity gone to seed. I mean, you don't even need to know history--this European mess is right before their eyes, and yet the Democrats insist on following the same course. History in the making...
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Barney Frank announced that he is not going to seek re-election next year. This is good news for America, of course. Few people have done more to destory the morals and economy of America than Barney Frank. Make no mistake about it--the current recession lies heavily upon the Clinton administration, Chris Dodd, and Barney Frank, with a dose of Republican gutlessness tossed in. And, of course, it's been exacerbated by the Obama administration. Massachusetts has given America the Kennedys and Barney Frank. That state, which led the Revolution, has, in a great sense, led another one--a counter-revolution against the very principles they started. It's almost strange how a collective can go from one extreme to another, but it's fairly common in history.
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Newt Gingrich is the current flavor-of-the-month in the Republican presidential primary race. A Washington Post blogger is asking for people to send him any dirt they know of on Newt Gingrich. I don't know how long Newt will survive. He actually may have a chance at the nomination, though I still think Romney will get it (but anything is possible in politics). Gingrich's three marriages won't hurt him. Hard for the Democrats to use that against him when their elder statesmen, whom they all idolize, is Bill Clinton. As long as Gingrich stays clean morally, his marriage past shouldn't be an obstacle. He's done--and said--a lot of stupid things in the past, but he's also the smartest of the candidates and he'd make mincemeat of Obama in a debate. The Democrats know it--that's why they are begging for dirt on him. Romney is still the choice of the "establishment"--Republicans and Democrats.
Interestingly, some Democrats are running scared and telling Obama to drop out and turn the party over to Hillary Clinton. Forget it.
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So, in summation:
--the Euro is about to collapse (but it won't because the Germans will save it);
--Iran is about to have the bomb, and only Israel seems to care (Obama doesn't);
--the Pakistanis are in a tizzy because of a NATO air strike (the Pakistanis admit they fired first; they are burning Obama in effigy, which might be the best thing that's happened to him recently);
--the KGB (Vladimir Putin) is fixing to be in power in Russia again;
--the lice-infested "Occupy" movements have begun to be an embarrassment to the Democrats so the media isn't covering them much any more;
--and a man was arrested for viewing child porn on a cross-country air flight from Salt Lake City to Boston. It turns out he was a college professor who bought the computer with a government grant (i.e., taxpayer money). Government money for education--right there absent from Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, along with 99% of the rest of what the Founders didn't give Congress the power to do, but upon which it wastes the money of its constituents. South, rise again, please...
Fashion
A student came up to me after class this morning to ask a question about an upcoming exam. I looked at her curiously and noticed that the glasses she wore didn't have any lenses. I stuck my finger through the frame and asked her, "Why do your glasses not have any lenses?"
She kinda giggled and a friend of hers standing by replied, "Fashion." I just shook my head.
Fifty years ago their grandparents were starving to death and now Chinese youth are worried about fashion...
She kinda giggled and a friend of hers standing by replied, "Fashion." I just shook my head.
Fifty years ago their grandparents were starving to death and now Chinese youth are worried about fashion...
"And You Think You Can Run a Country This Way?"
If you can spare a few minutes, go to the following link:
The whole speech is good, but if you only listen to the first minute and a half, you'll hear more common sense than what has come out of the Obama administration or Democratic Party in the last generation. But if you have 10 minutes to spare, watch the entire video.
Fruit Profits For Sale
I wasn't overly busy today, so I decided to head down to a nearby mall I had briefly visited a few weeks ago and wanted to see more of. So I made the five-minute walk to the bus stop and paid the c. 15 cent fare for the 15 minute ride (it's about 15 cents to go anywhere, by bus, in this city of 4+ million people, though one will be lucky to get a seat). I was a little hungry when I got to the mall, so I first stopped at KFC and had something to eat. I paid a little less than $5 for a combo meal--two pieces of chicken, medium fries and coke, and a small ice cream cone afterwards. I thought the price was a little high. But I chose KFC over McDonald's or Subway, mainly because the latter was inexplicably closed. Well, and I didn't see Mr. Pizza in time. Anyway, after eating I ambled through the four-story structure, which was every bit as modern as any mall one would see in America. And, like in the U.S., it was full of mostly women's clothing stores. Not so many shoe stores and not too many electronics places; those are elsewhere. However, when I took the escalator to the 2nd floor, the first shop I saw was "Crocs"--and yes, it sold...Crocs. It was right around the corner from the Calvin Klein store, which wasn't too far from the Lee shop. No GAP (thank goodness). The sporting goods store had a nice picture of Kobe Bryant, wearing number 24 for some reason. Canon and Sony had nice places, though rather small; again, there weren't a lot of electronics items on display. The only place I saw any traditional Chinese clothing was in a wedding shop--a wedding dress. Nobody here wears the traditional clothing any more, at least nobody I've seen in Dalian. Nor do they any longer wear the little blue Mao suits and hats. But anyway, it was quite a display, this mall in China, and all rather ho-hum now to the students at the college, many of whom tell me, "No, I don't especially like going shopping." And it's the girls telling me that.
The one thing they haven't quite got a handle on yet, though, is English. I saw one refreshment type restaurant (named "Aloha") that advertised on its banner "coffee, ice cream, meals, fruit profits." Uh...I think you meant "fruit parfait", guys...
Or maybe they DID have it right....
The one thing they haven't quite got a handle on yet, though, is English. I saw one refreshment type restaurant (named "Aloha") that advertised on its banner "coffee, ice cream, meals, fruit profits." Uh...I think you meant "fruit parfait", guys...
Or maybe they DID have it right....
Astros to the American League
The Associated Press is finally reporting what everybody already knew, i.e,. that Major League Baseball will only approve of the sale of the Astros to businessman Jim Crane if he agrees to move the club to the American League. In other words, blackmail. The deal is supposed to be announced in the next day or so.
It is what it is.
It is what it is.
Newt at the Top
There's a poll or two out there that now has Newt Gingrich leading the Republican race. Watch now. The media will start trying to destroy him. In fact, they already are. They simply got after him before I had time to write this post...
Current Event Ramblings, November 12
It's been a busy week so I've been limited in posting time, but I thought I'd check in this morning with a note or two....
The scandal at Penn State University is horrendous and toppled one of the finest football coaches ever, Joe Paterno. It's a shame this kind of stuff happens, but given the putrid slop that Hollywood pours out daily and the exaltation of politicians like Bill Clinton, Teddy Kennedy, and Barney Frank, I'm not the least bit surprised. You sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind. America has become a sex-saturated society, we never hear our leaders condemn it or urge the people to virtue and self-control, so we get what we deserve. Yesterday in my classes here, I showed my students some videos of early 20th century American films, mainly Charlie Chaplin and The Three Stooges. Nothing even remotely risque, just pure fun and comedy and the students loved it. But democracy means appealing to the lowest common denominator in a society so that no one will feel left out. Thus, trash becomes an acceptable form of entertainment. And little boys get raped. And then the leading lights express horror that such a thing could happen. Tragic, but not surprising.
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The Herman Cain saga continues. He's been hurt by the accusations, but he hasn't been destroyed yet, and that has the liberal media beside itself. As noted, a successful black conservative is the most dangerous political creature alive to liberalism because it's a denial of their whole racial philosophy. Plus, if Cain becomes the nominee and gets even 20% of the black vote, Obama would be in serious trouble (he got 96%, I believe, in 2008). So Cain has to go and the media will hound him till he's out.
In one sense, it doesn't matter because I never thought Cain had a chance of getting the nomination in the first place (and I still don't think he does). The Republican establishment doesn't want him, every bit as badly as the liberal media. The one who has benefited most from Cain's problems is Newt Gingrich, who is now 2nd or 3rd in the polls, depending upon which one you look at. Gingrich is far and away the most intelligent of the Republican candidates; he can say or do something incredibly stupid sometimes, but that doesn't detract from the fact that his ideas are the most insightful of all the candidates. His being an historian doesn't hurt; a President should be a good historian so that he can consult the past for what works and what doesn't (another failing of liberalism). Our Founders were brilliant historians and that's why they were able to set up the best government that man had ever devised. And it's been destroyed by ignoramuses.
Yet, for all his intelligence and knowledge, Newt has serious marriage baggage that will make it very difficult for him to win the nomination or the Presidency; in some ways, he makes Bill Clinton look virtuous. Of course, adultery and harrassment doesn't matter to a Democrat--unless it's a Republican doing it. Barney Frank can run a queer whorehouse out of his basement, Teddy Kennedy can harrass every woman in Washington, Bill Clinton can cheat on his wife and lie to a grand jury and it's no big deal. But they'll try to fry a Republican if a woman even hints that one made her uncomfortable by the way he looked at her. If Gingrich continues to rise in the polls, he'll be the next media target. They've gone after Bachmann when she showed some promise, they blasted Perry when he was at the top of the polls, they've tried to atomize Herman Cain...Gingrich is next. Because, you see, Romney must be the candidate. Why? Because he's the least frightening, he's John McCain II, and Obama can beat him. And that's what it's all about.
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This is amusing. A communist Chinese Sovereign Wealth Fund spokesman -- a communist commenting on Europe -- said, "I think if you look at the troubles which happened in European countries, this is purely because of the accumulated troubles of their worn out welfare societies...I think the labor laws are outdated -- the labor laws induce sloth, indolence rather than hard working. The incentive system is totally out of whack." The Commies get it and the socialists in Europe don't. Actually, "communism" as any kind of economic or social system is totally defunct in China. This society is more capitalistic right now than America. The government is still a little too oppressive, but they've pretty well turned their people loose economically and it's showing. Europe is in serious trouble and Obama and the Democrats seemed determined to take the United States down that road. But it's all part of the moral degredation of America. Some people are adulterers; some people are lazy parasites. And the Democratic Party attracts them all with its "progressivism." "Progressive." What a hoot. Calling a manure pile a rose doesn't make it one.
The scandal at Penn State University is horrendous and toppled one of the finest football coaches ever, Joe Paterno. It's a shame this kind of stuff happens, but given the putrid slop that Hollywood pours out daily and the exaltation of politicians like Bill Clinton, Teddy Kennedy, and Barney Frank, I'm not the least bit surprised. You sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind. America has become a sex-saturated society, we never hear our leaders condemn it or urge the people to virtue and self-control, so we get what we deserve. Yesterday in my classes here, I showed my students some videos of early 20th century American films, mainly Charlie Chaplin and The Three Stooges. Nothing even remotely risque, just pure fun and comedy and the students loved it. But democracy means appealing to the lowest common denominator in a society so that no one will feel left out. Thus, trash becomes an acceptable form of entertainment. And little boys get raped. And then the leading lights express horror that such a thing could happen. Tragic, but not surprising.
**********
The Herman Cain saga continues. He's been hurt by the accusations, but he hasn't been destroyed yet, and that has the liberal media beside itself. As noted, a successful black conservative is the most dangerous political creature alive to liberalism because it's a denial of their whole racial philosophy. Plus, if Cain becomes the nominee and gets even 20% of the black vote, Obama would be in serious trouble (he got 96%, I believe, in 2008). So Cain has to go and the media will hound him till he's out.
In one sense, it doesn't matter because I never thought Cain had a chance of getting the nomination in the first place (and I still don't think he does). The Republican establishment doesn't want him, every bit as badly as the liberal media. The one who has benefited most from Cain's problems is Newt Gingrich, who is now 2nd or 3rd in the polls, depending upon which one you look at. Gingrich is far and away the most intelligent of the Republican candidates; he can say or do something incredibly stupid sometimes, but that doesn't detract from the fact that his ideas are the most insightful of all the candidates. His being an historian doesn't hurt; a President should be a good historian so that he can consult the past for what works and what doesn't (another failing of liberalism). Our Founders were brilliant historians and that's why they were able to set up the best government that man had ever devised. And it's been destroyed by ignoramuses.
Yet, for all his intelligence and knowledge, Newt has serious marriage baggage that will make it very difficult for him to win the nomination or the Presidency; in some ways, he makes Bill Clinton look virtuous. Of course, adultery and harrassment doesn't matter to a Democrat--unless it's a Republican doing it. Barney Frank can run a queer whorehouse out of his basement, Teddy Kennedy can harrass every woman in Washington, Bill Clinton can cheat on his wife and lie to a grand jury and it's no big deal. But they'll try to fry a Republican if a woman even hints that one made her uncomfortable by the way he looked at her. If Gingrich continues to rise in the polls, he'll be the next media target. They've gone after Bachmann when she showed some promise, they blasted Perry when he was at the top of the polls, they've tried to atomize Herman Cain...Gingrich is next. Because, you see, Romney must be the candidate. Why? Because he's the least frightening, he's John McCain II, and Obama can beat him. And that's what it's all about.
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This is amusing. A communist Chinese Sovereign Wealth Fund spokesman -- a communist commenting on Europe -- said, "I think if you look at the troubles which happened in European countries, this is purely because of the accumulated troubles of their worn out welfare societies...I think the labor laws are outdated -- the labor laws induce sloth, indolence rather than hard working. The incentive system is totally out of whack." The Commies get it and the socialists in Europe don't. Actually, "communism" as any kind of economic or social system is totally defunct in China. This society is more capitalistic right now than America. The government is still a little too oppressive, but they've pretty well turned their people loose economically and it's showing. Europe is in serious trouble and Obama and the Democrats seemed determined to take the United States down that road. But it's all part of the moral degredation of America. Some people are adulterers; some people are lazy parasites. And the Democratic Party attracts them all with its "progressivism." "Progressive." What a hoot. Calling a manure pile a rose doesn't make it one.
Cain and Sowell
Ha. I told you, in my last post, that the media would ratchet up their attempts to destroy Herman Cain. They've found a couple of bimbos who claim Cain "harrassed" them sexually so it's feast time against one of the biggest dangers to liberalism--a smart, successful, self-made, black, conservative Republican. By his very presence, Herman Cain is a denial of everything the Democratic Party and liberalism believes about race. Cain MUST be destroyed, and keep watching, the liberal media and Democrats are going to do everything they can to do just that.
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Thomas Sowell hits the nail on the head again in his most recent article, "Democracy Versus Mob Rule." I share it with you below:
In various cities across the country, mobs of mostly young, mostly incoherent, often noisy and sometimes violent demonstrators are making themselves a major nuisance.
Meanwhile, many in the media are practically gushing over these "protesters," and giving them the free publicity they crave for themselves and their cause — whatever that is, beyond venting their emotions on television.
Members of the mobs apparently believe that other people, who are working while they are out trashing the streets, should be forced to subsidize their college education — and apparently the President of the United States thinks so too.
But if these loud mouths' inability to put together a coherent line of thought is any indication of their education, the taxpayers should demand their money back for having that money wasted on them for years in the public schools.
Sloppy words and sloppy thinking often go together, both in the mobs and in the media that are covering them. It is common, for example, to hear in the media how some "protesters" were arrested. But anyone who reads this column regularly knows that I protest against all sorts of things — and don't get arrested.
The difference is that I don't block traffic, join mobs sleeping overnight in parks or urinate in the street. If the media cannot distinguish between protesting and disturbing the peace, then their education may also have wasted a lot of taxpayers' money.
Among the favorite sloppy words used by the shrill mobs in the streets is "Wall Street greed." But even if you think people in Wall Street, or anywhere else, are making more money than they deserve, "greed" is no explanation whatever.
"Greed" says how much you want. But you can become the greediest person on earth and that will not increase your pay in the slightest. It is what other people pay you that increases your income.
If the government has been sending too much of the taxpayers' money to people in Wall Street — or anywhere else — then the irresponsibility or corruption of politicians is the problem. "Occupy Wall Street" hooligans should be occupying Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.
Maybe some of the bankers or financiers should have turned down the millions and billions that politicians were offering them. But sainthood is no more common in Wall Street than on Pennsylvania Avenue — or in the media or academia, for that matter.
Actually, some banks did try to refuse the government bailout money, to avoid the interference with their business that they knew would come with it. But the feds insisted — and federal regulators' power to create big financial problems for banks made it hard to say no. The feds made them an offer they couldn't refuse.
People who cannot distinguish between democracy and mob rule may fall for the idea that the hooligans in the street represent the 99 percent who are protesting about the "greed" of the one percent. But these hooligans are less than one percent and they are grossly violating the rights of vastly larger numbers of people who have to put up with their trashing of the streets by day and their noise that keeps working people awake at night.
As for the "top one percent" in income that attract so much attention, angst and denunciation, there is always going to be a top one percent, unless everybody has the same income. That top one percent has no more monopoly on sainthood or villainy than people in any other bracket.
Moreover, that top one percent does not consist of the "millionaires and billionaires" that Barack Obama talks about. You don't even have to make half a million dollars to be in the top one percent.
Moreover, this is not an enduring class of people. Nor are people in other income brackets. Most of the people in the top one percent at any given time are there for only one year. Anyone who sells an average home in San Francisco can get into the top one percent in income — for that year. Other one-time spikes in income account for most of the people in that top one percent.
But such plain facts carry little weight amid the heady rhetoric and mindless emotions of the mob and the media.
**********
Thomas Sowell hits the nail on the head again in his most recent article, "Democracy Versus Mob Rule." I share it with you below:
In various cities across the country, mobs of mostly young, mostly incoherent, often noisy and sometimes violent demonstrators are making themselves a major nuisance.
Meanwhile, many in the media are practically gushing over these "protesters," and giving them the free publicity they crave for themselves and their cause — whatever that is, beyond venting their emotions on television.
Members of the mobs apparently believe that other people, who are working while they are out trashing the streets, should be forced to subsidize their college education — and apparently the President of the United States thinks so too.
But if these loud mouths' inability to put together a coherent line of thought is any indication of their education, the taxpayers should demand their money back for having that money wasted on them for years in the public schools.
Sloppy words and sloppy thinking often go together, both in the mobs and in the media that are covering them. It is common, for example, to hear in the media how some "protesters" were arrested. But anyone who reads this column regularly knows that I protest against all sorts of things — and don't get arrested.
The difference is that I don't block traffic, join mobs sleeping overnight in parks or urinate in the street. If the media cannot distinguish between protesting and disturbing the peace, then their education may also have wasted a lot of taxpayers' money.
Among the favorite sloppy words used by the shrill mobs in the streets is "Wall Street greed." But even if you think people in Wall Street, or anywhere else, are making more money than they deserve, "greed" is no explanation whatever.
"Greed" says how much you want. But you can become the greediest person on earth and that will not increase your pay in the slightest. It is what other people pay you that increases your income.
If the government has been sending too much of the taxpayers' money to people in Wall Street — or anywhere else — then the irresponsibility or corruption of politicians is the problem. "Occupy Wall Street" hooligans should be occupying Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.
Maybe some of the bankers or financiers should have turned down the millions and billions that politicians were offering them. But sainthood is no more common in Wall Street than on Pennsylvania Avenue — or in the media or academia, for that matter.
Actually, some banks did try to refuse the government bailout money, to avoid the interference with their business that they knew would come with it. But the feds insisted — and federal regulators' power to create big financial problems for banks made it hard to say no. The feds made them an offer they couldn't refuse.
People who cannot distinguish between democracy and mob rule may fall for the idea that the hooligans in the street represent the 99 percent who are protesting about the "greed" of the one percent. But these hooligans are less than one percent and they are grossly violating the rights of vastly larger numbers of people who have to put up with their trashing of the streets by day and their noise that keeps working people awake at night.
As for the "top one percent" in income that attract so much attention, angst and denunciation, there is always going to be a top one percent, unless everybody has the same income. That top one percent has no more monopoly on sainthood or villainy than people in any other bracket.
Moreover, that top one percent does not consist of the "millionaires and billionaires" that Barack Obama talks about. You don't even have to make half a million dollars to be in the top one percent.
Moreover, this is not an enduring class of people. Nor are people in other income brackets. Most of the people in the top one percent at any given time are there for only one year. Anyone who sells an average home in San Francisco can get into the top one percent in income — for that year. Other one-time spikes in income account for most of the people in that top one percent.
But such plain facts carry little weight amid the heady rhetoric and mindless emotions of the mob and the media.
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