RedStateEclectic

A Ship with the Engine Off

Notes Steven Kates, author of the best introduction to economics there is:

If even Chris Matthews is done with Obama, who’s left? You can even watch the video here but this is the text:

‘What part of the presidency does Obama like? He doesn’t like dealing with other politicians — that means his own cabinet, that means members of the congress, either party. He doesn’t particularly like the press…. He likes to write the speeches, likes to rewrite what Favreau and the others wrote for the first draft,’ Matthews said.

‘So what part does he like? He likes going on the road, campaigning, visiting businesses like he does every couple days somewhere in Ohio or somewhere,’ Matthews continued. ‘But what part does he like? He doesn’t like lobbying for the bills he cares about. He doesn’t like selling to the press. He doesn’t like giving orders or giving somebody the power to give orders. He doesn’t seem to like being an executive.’

On Tuesday’s program, Matthews similarly called Obama ‘a ship with the engine off.’

“A ship with the engine off.” He’s actually much worse than that and far more destructive but it will do for now.

The source.

Compare this with what Richard Epstein has to say (in the first 2 minutes of the below video) about his former colleague.

 

Against Political Biology

Lysenko, one of the masters of political biology.

Following up on my Scientists Not Interested in Science, find below a level-headed reminder of some facts of basic, depoliticised biology.

In his summary, Luboš Motl writes:

The basic theme of the [below] article is simple and most of us learned it as fifth-graders: CO₂ is primarily the plant food while its other implications for nature are negligible in comparison. Humanitarian organizations should work hard to help the mankind to increase the CO₂ concentration and it's surprising that virtually all of them are failing to do so.

Thus, ex-moonwalker Harrison Schmitt and physics professor Will Happer of Princeton argue:

Of all of the world's chemical compounds, none has a worse reputation than carbon dioxide. Thanks to the single-minded demonization of this natural and essential atmospheric gas by advocates of government control of energy production, the conventional wisdom about carbon dioxide is that it is a dangerous pollutant. That's simply not the case. Contrary to what some would have us believe, increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will benefit the increasing population on the planet by increasing agricultural productivity.

The entire brief article.

A Perspective on Europe

Niall Ferguson on the European Union - see also my Another Medal for the EUSSR:

I’m absolutely certain that Lord Mandelson and Daniel Cohn-Bendit will tell you that the European experiment has succeeded because there has been peace in Europe since it began in the 1950s. Can we just knock that on the head? European integration has had absolutely nothing to do with peace in Europe since World War II; that has been the achievement of NATO [the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation]. The creation of the European Union was not about war and peace, otherwise there would have been a European Defence Community, and that was vetoed by the French National Assembly in 1954.

[...]

Europe has to be judged in economic terms, since its own terms have always been economic. And how did it do? In the 1950s the economy of integrated Europe grew at 4 per cent. In the 1960s, it was about the same. In the 1970s, growth was 2.8 per cent; in the 1980s, it slid to 2.1 per cent; in the 1990s, it was only 1.7 per cent: and so on, down to zero.

As European integration has proceeded, its growth has declined. The share of Europe in global GDP has fallen since 1980 from 31 per cent to just 19 per cent. Since 1980 the EU has grown faster than the United States in only nine out of 32 years. Never has its unemployment rate been lower than the US unemployment rate.

Are any of you investors? What were the worst equity markets of the last 10 years? They were Greece, Ireland, Italy, Finland, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Belgium — the worst in the world. And on top of all of this, we have monetary union — the ultimate experiment gone wrong.

We warned them, ladies and gentlemen. We said, if you have a monetary union without labour market integration and without any fiscal federalism, it will blow up. I predicted that in 2000. It is happening in real time, in a chemistry lab, on the other side of the Atlantic.

But this was also a political experiment gone wrong. Do you know what that experiment was? The experiment was to see if Europeans could be forced into an even closer union — despite their wishes — by economic means because the political means failed.

[...]

And when the European peoples voted against further integration, their respective governments were told to try again. It happened to the Danes in 1992, and to the Irish twice: in 2001 and again in 2008. Their citizens gave the wrong answer in the referendum, so the governments just held another one. This tells you something about why this experiment has failed — it has failed because it has lost political legitimacy. And we see this not only in Greece but in government after government across Europe. Thirteen have fallen since this crisis began two years ago, and more will follow in the months to come.

Read the full article here.

Despicable Optimists

For German intellectuals, optimism is a sort of American mental illness.

Read more in this post at NoTricksZone, the blog of an admirable American living in Germany.

Why is Google Telling People That James O'Keefe is an Identity Thief?

I subscribe to a myriad of email lists from lots of different political organizations, including Project Veritas from James O'Keefe.  You might remember him as the activist filmmaker who created a series of undercover videos that forced ACORN out of business to change their name.

These emails routinely end up routed to the spam bucket, probably the result of people who either didn't realize they signed up or got tired of seeing them and clicked "spam" instead of "Unsubscribe." That action sends a message back to Google's e-brain, essentially telling the system that because lots of people seem to think this is spam, it probably is.

I check my Spam folder every few days and add the misdirected newsletters' email adddresses to my address book, which seems to route things to my inbox .

I've seen lots and lots of misdirected mail. From eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, MoveOn.org, The GOP, The DNC my dentist, my eye doctor...the list goes on and on.  But what I haven't seen on them is this:

A message from Google, implying that O'Keefe had used previous communications to scam recipients.

I'm not big on conspiracy theories, but like I said, I've pulled plenty of list-type messages from my spam folder, and I've never seen any of them with this red warning emblazened across it.  

In fact, just this morning, Michelle Malkin's newsletter was also in my spam box. Not surprising, because I just signed up for it, and her email wasn't in my inbox.  But it didn't have a big red scary warning splashed across it. (Yet?)

And just to clarify -  I have seen this red message before but only on emails from real scammers. You know the type - the ones that claim to be from Paypal, your bank, or a Nigerian prince asking for your account number and password. 

So, I had to ask: Why is Google now telling people that James O'Keefe is an identity thief?

 

**************

I want to follow you on Twitter! Follow me, and I'll follow back.

Related articles

James O'Keefe calls out Mother Jones over secret taping hypocrisy

Online Sales Tax Collection Bill Passes Cloture In Senate

The Democrats Bug Mitch McConnell. No, Really. Like, As In, Watergate.

James O'Keefe vs. Piers Morgan

Savings and Consumption

Following up on Angela's Stimulating the Economy With Food Stamps, here's a neat little video on what really matters:

 

Stimulating the Economy With Food Stamps

Today, the Washington Post ran a story about a woman who gets paid to sign up people for food stamps. Surprisingly enough, it isn't a federal job - the state of Florida pays her, the logic being that the money taken from the federal government and spent in Florida stimulates the Florida economy.

Dean L over at Left Coast Rebel said almost everything I was thinking. And he's got a cool chart too. 

The only thing I would add is this: Can you imagine the liberal outcry if WalMart hired people to do just that? Seriously, what if the greeters started asking if customers would be interested in signing up for government assistance, and even passing out a couple of free things to stimulate interest? 

Related articles

States Hire Food Stamp Recruiters to Grab Federal Bucks

THE LIFE OF A FOOD-STAMP RECRUITER: "In fact, it is Nerios's job to enroll at least 150 seniors f...

Shorter Bill Daley: Screw Your Constituents - You Owe Me!

Meanwhile, Over In Cyprus.....

Shorter Bill Daley: Screw Your Constituents - You Owe Me!

Snicker.  Former Obama Chief Staff and possible future Illinois governor has written a piece for the Washington Post, in which he openly sobs about giving a candidate money but not getting a vote he wanted. 

I have had a long career in government and politics, but I don’t donate heavily to political campaigns. When I contribute, it’s because I know the candidate well or am really impressed with the person. Heidi Heitkamp was one of the latter: She struck me as strong-willed, principled and an independent thinker.

Apparently he didn't think that "independent thinker" thing through, because Heitkamp didn't vote with her party when she voted no on the gun control bill cloture. 

And here's the best part:

Here in Chicago, we know how serious a problem gun violence is.

Did you get that? No, not the fact that guns are illegal in Chicago - the other thing! He doesn't live in her district! Nowhere near it.  But her vote, which likely coincides the odds of her getting reelected, was a betrayal to him, because he paid for it.

Having lived in Chicago for a while, I actually understand why he feels that way. People from outside don't get it, but it's just the way business is done in Illinois.  If you want something, you grease the hand of the local politician. It is really so entrenched the people there don't even consider it wrong - it's just the system.

It's the same system that put 3 of their last 4 governors in prison, too.  And it looks like buying politicians apparently isn't the way they do it in North Dakota.

At least, so far.

via Memeorandum

 

Related articles

Bill Daley: Heitkamp gun vote a 'betrayal'

Gun votes carry big risks for Dems in rural states

Daley vs Madigan: It goes way back

Be The Helpers - Boston's Jeff Bauman Needs Money

Flat Stanley Has A Government Job!

If you are American and you have kids, you probably know who Flat Stanley is. He is the subject of a 1964 book, and here in the USA elementary school kids usually have a class segment built around him. They cut him out, put him on a stick, and then take him places while photographing and writing about his adventures.  He turns up in all sorts of fun places with cool friends.

But he should have a tux in the crayon box next time.

Or a political shirt. 

While his politics look sound, he needs to be careful. Sometimes there's an unsavory element to his crowd:

 

But as bad as that is, it gets worse.   

Yes it is too possible!

 

 

Flat Stanley has a new government job.  (Judging by that second entry, It appears that some of their work is classified, but if I see Flat Stanley at a TEA Party rally and he tries to convince me to set something on fire, I'm going to be very suspicious.)  

He also has a new black sister.  How politically correct!  

And I totally want to have a contest to finish that first description. "Children and their parents can build their own FEMA...." camps? fusion centers? flood insurance packages?  

Hey kids, look!!! Flat Stanley isn't the only whimsical character providing government edutainment!  

They need a slogan. How about: "The fun never stops....until the Muslim bombs drop!"

Or maybe they're only light duty. I can see where we might need totally need Muppets to come bail us out when that Flat Stanley flood hits. 

Note we don't even get the smart Muppet, Kermit.  Animal could at least probably kill something and feed us. No, we're getting blue Muppets.  Blue! We won't even be able to tell if they stop breathing when we're strangling them to shut them up.

I'm sorry, but this sort of stuff is creepy.  Taking children's entertainment, and using it to give the kids an illusion of a warm fuzzy  Homeland Security blanket is nothing more than old school propaganda.  

 

 

Hat tip to my older son who pointed this out to me. He called it creepy, too.

Because The Internet Can Never Have Enough DMV Stories

When my driver's license was set to expire last July, I was, for once, actually on top of getting it renewed. And to add to this rarely seen personal efficiency, I realized that since the hubby's birthday was a month after mine he should come along and renew his too.

Mine went off without a hitch.  30 minute wait? Check. Old license? Check.  Eye Test? Check.  Fake smile photo? Check. Hurrah - I was told I could expect my shiny new government papers in the mail within 2 weeks.

The hubby? His story didn't end so well.  When he got to the desk,he was told he couldn't renew his license because he had an outstanding traffic ticket.  

Note that I have not had a traffic ticket since I was 17 years old, and that one was a crock.  No speeding tickets, no accidents, no parking tickets, no missed tolls, nothing.  If you think that's awesome, you're not married to me.  I have little to no patience with Dear Hubby in that regard, and I thought his lead foot had been curbed years ago.  So when I heard "unpaid traffic ticket," I think we all saw my eyes get pret-ty narrow.

But then DMV man continued with, "from Indiana."  Seriously?  There's a outstanding traffic from a state we left 10 - 11 years ago?   

We figured we were pretty lucky that we had gone in a month early, because this would clearly take a little research. Yep, in July, that's what we thought.

When we got home, we looked up his record up on-line, and fortunately for him the last ticket he got was the last ticket I remembered - July, 1998.  I remember it because I was pregnant, which made me doubly mad. Did I mention I've never had a ticket? Well, a ticket that I deserved?

Plus, because I have a story for practically everything, I even remembered the day he paid it...

He chose to take it to court because he said it was not possible for his old car to be going that fast.  

I was secretly skeptical about DH's defensive strategy. But when I saw the weather that day, I thought maybe we were going to catch a break.   A late summer storm was knocking over trees and flooding low lying areas....I'm no lawyer, but I've heard if the cop doesn't appear, the ticket gets tossed. 

So, maybe the cop that wrote the ticket would be working overtime handling traffic! Or maybe just staying home where it was cozy and dry! Any wonderfully heroic important cop things related to the storm would be awesome.  

But not only did he show, he brought friends. The technician who calibrates the radar was there, as was a witness to the calibration. Heh. DH's "my car doesn't go that fast!" plan was destroyed in less than 30 seconds. And the taxpayers paid 3 guys overtime to do it.

So yeah - we both remember paying it, with chagrin as well as a check.  But could he prove he paid it? Uh, no.  

Bear in mind that in the 14 years since that ticket was issued, he had renewed his Indiana license, traded it for an Illinois license, and then traded that for a Michigan license.  And none of these states, including Indiana, had noticed that he had an unpaid ticket. Because, and I think you already know this, government is efficient like that.

His first call to the city it was issued in was not helpful.  The next call, to Michigan, was. They told him that there is a 10 year statute of limitations. They also told him they showed the ticket was issued in late 2003, but if he could prove the ticket was actually over 10 years old, they would give him his license.  But simply seeing it on the Indiana website we found it on wasn't adequate, because clicking the link gave a "Copy Not Available" message. They needed a real photocopy, because that's what they needed.

But at least we had a firm objective, so  he called the originating city again. He was told the ticket had gone to collections in late 2003. Aha! That explained the date the Michigan records were showing. Another piece of the puzzle fell in place.  This would work sort itself out in no time, right?

Uh, no. Things went pretty much nowhere after that.

He asked the collection agency for a copy of the ticket.  That was a mistake. Not only did they not have one, he awakened them to chance that the debt might get paid, and they started calling us frequently. Like, every Saturday morning at 9:00 sharp, plus at random times during the daytime all week long. Since July.

He called the city again, and they referred him to the court.   The court referred him to the city.  They both swore they'd get together and figure it all out. They didn't.

Count how many things you can find wrong with the following paragraph:

He kept calling. At some point, DH he found out that the reason this ticket had not shown up when it was relatively current. Get this: While cleaning out an empty office in the old court building one day, a clerk found an errant box of tickets.  Because nobody could determine if they had been paid or not, they decided to treat them all as outstanding. (Actually, she said they "had" to treat them all as outstanding. DH didn't ask why they "had" to, because he's much better at not openly mocking the people officials he still needs help from than I am.)

Where that box ended up is still a mystery, because nobody could find a copy of the ticket. I immediately suggested he recommend they build another new court building and then clean their offices again but again - he's better at being incredibly patient than I am.

He went the boring route. I joined him. He called the mayor, he called the traffic court judge, he emailed, I wrote real letters and signed his name to he signed them, we both offered to drive over. After a while, everybody just stopped responding. Well, everybody except the collection agency, who informed us several times in menacing tones every week that the $150 ticket was now going to cost us just under $600. 

The sad part? In another phase of our life, we probably would have just paid it and moved on.  But that's just not an option for us right now.  So, for the past 8 months, I've been the only driver in the house, which has led to some unique situations, like sometimes hoping simultaneously that various job prospects both will and won't pan out.  It's one thing to consider driving an hour to and from a job each day.  It's another to consider driving two hours every morning, and two hours back, which is what I would have needed to do if any of the Ann Arbor interviews had panned out for him.

Thanks, government, for keeping us safe and helping us when we need it the most. 

Yesterday afternoon, desperation inspiration struck. He called our local state representative and told the whole sad story to her staffer. You know what?   This morning, DH got his license. It was easy! Her assistant called Indiana and talked to the judge who wouldn't acknowledge our correspondences, the Mayor's office who wouldn't return our calls,the clerk who couldn't find the ticket and then the DMV in Michigan, and voila. 

We should have done that! Oh wait...

It appears that even the local ruling elite don't even pretend to answer to us anymore. Thank heavens our party dues were paid up, I guess.

Of course, we still had to pay the $7 late renewal fee. They "had" to charge us that.  And something else I learned - our insurance might go from $50 a month to $300 a month for 6 months to penalize us.  After all, he was uninsured all that time.  Meaning, of course, that it would have been cheaper to pay the ticket. In July.

SIgh. At least I'm really looking forward to my 9:00 Saturday morning phone call.