Yes, I really did.
Now, it’s not quite as Liberal as it sounds… I was an ABC voter. Anyone But Clinton.
In California, then, an “Independent” could not vote in the Republican party primary, but could vote for a Democrat.
So, as a registered Independent ( I had been “Reform Party” but it imploded when the Republicans threw their trash into “our” party… so when it went away, I ended up ‘independent’ and could not chose “one of 2″…) so…
I had a choice of No Vote, Madam Hillary, or Obama-Hope_and_Change so I liked Hope for Some Change and got YetAnotherLeftist…
But the reality is that I DID vote for Obama in the Primaries. Yes, to some extent, “It’s my fault”.
I really did have hope that he would be different. That “The One” would act “for the people” and not “for the politically connected”. And I was wrong. I’m sorry.
Of Race
How can I say this….
Frankly, I have an attraction to “women of color”. Hey, so did my idol, Thomas Jefferson… Now, I’ve never actually acted on it, but I’ve ‘flirted’ with some over the years. As a “donor”, I’ve likely got some offspring of “mixed” genetics. ( In reality, I know I do… and I love them all. FWIW, 22 all told, in several countries of several races, religions, and ethnicities. You are all loved. )
But the point: As a “lily white guy” I have kids of several colors and several nationalities and a few language groups and a variety of religions. How can I possibly say any of them is “wrong”?
( One of his kids, a young male “black slave”, faced with a British soldier saying he would be killed if he did not say where Jefferson was, stood fast and said “I do not know”, when he knew damn well that Dad had headed out the back door and was on a horse riding away. Sarah/Sally Jefferson, you raised a hell of a kid…)
At least one is in Israel, a few are in colleges in the USA ( I’ve had contact with at least 4 who are pursuing academic paths at the graduate level ) and then my two with my spouse who are “cum laude” of various sorts. My one “regret” is that I am so bound by convention that I can not “cheat” on my spouse and act on interest. (She knew of my “donations” as I had to “abstain” for at least 3 days for each, and we were dating then… Leads to interesting conversations… and more than once I had to cancel an “appointment” when she asserted her “priority”…)
The Point Of All This
So why mention all this?
I am occasionally accused of being a “republican”. I’m sorry, but no. At best I’m a Libertarian who thinks folks can decide for themselves what is right. I have genetic offspring of several racial mixes, in several religious types, in several continents. More than a few of “Two Mommies”… Am I conservative? Um, not quite… Am I a “liberal”? Only in the classical sense (British i.e. American Libertarian) and not at all in the USA “neo-socialist” sense.
Do I love women? Well, yes. They are far more rational and pleasant than the typical guy… (Sorry guys, but most of you are a bit daft, smelly, and prone to violence. Frankly, I wonder how/why women put up with us…) but…
Simply put: I, like just about everyone else, hope we could elect folks who could just stop the rape and screwage of everyone else. Yes, all you politicians in government who are sociopaths / psychopaths who are in positions of power and authority: We do know who you are and we really do wish you would just go away. Maybe one day we will figure out how to do you in. For now, yes, you run the Government and have a nice retirement plan. But… Do you have 22 kids? Are they at liberty to do whatever they think is right? Are they Mensa class intellects? (I am and they are…) Do you sleep well at night?…
So Now I’m Outed
I have 22 total “offspring”, only 2 of which are with my spouse. (Yes, she knew before we married. And yes, I’ve told my 2 children by her … who mostly had a ‘why are you telling me this?’ reaction ;-)
Many will likely be very American Liberal ( i.e. not classical liberal but Progressive i.e. socialist) due to their ‘Two Mommies’. And I’m very OK with that. (My apologies to all who thought me a Republican…) They have their own lives, their own agencies, and their own POV on existence… and I respect that. But hey, what do you expect from a guy who voted for Obama ;-)
Musings from the Chiefio 
First, I am like you. I thought that ABC was the best. In this state, you can vote in either primary (but only one) and Party affiliation is not asked nor recorded (just which primary you voted in). SO yes, I voted for the pretender in Chief.
Second, I am sorry to say, but you are not like your idol (mine as well, BTW). You MAY be, but the evidence is against it (and a good reason to never use Wiki as it is garbage). To wit, I bring your attention to these sources:
http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/the-myth-of-thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings/article_3c88372c-6b3e-5bbd-8756-36d29f13b58f.html
I am unsure of the link limit, so am breaking this down to several posts. Next up, http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304211804577500870076728362
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/commentary-the-sally-hemings-myth/article_e4dd850b-83f1-5099-93dd-0692298629e3.html
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n1p41_Weber.html
E.M. Smith, you bring reason and hope to all you touch — except this one issue. Anyone who did a lick of research would have found that Obama was an affirmative action do-nothing who had been raised both a Marxist and an islamist and hated everything this country stands for. He was a member of the communist party and an avid, avid anti-gun crusader and a crusader for dumbing down (only “community” and “social justice” – no subject matter) all school systems. I tried to help people read what was so easy to find. Blind, blind, blind. I cannot understand this particular, unbelievable idealization. Read the essays by his purported father (a la “dreams of”) and you will find someone who wanted the perfect storm of pure Marxism and pure Islamism. Obama the father was turned out of his Kenyan party and ended his life drunken with many wives whom he beat, given their testimony. Read the poetry of the communist pederast mentor, Frank Davis, etc., etc.
There is not one single reason Obama should have even run for state senator much less anything else. He didn’t even lawyer. However, he won his (and his handlers’– including Saudiis) usual way, the Chicago way, by destroying the opposition with supposedly confidential information. And here he is, blithely, “evilly” trying to destroy our country. Even Hillary, as abominable as she is/was had more creds. Anyone who voted for the mindless evil one should hang their heads in shame — but I forgive you. You really could not do any damage anyway; it was California FCS. I hope you take these comments a bit tongue-in-cheek. I have never been a Republican either and have to hold my nose at most of “it”. Best wishes for a wonderful, healthy, and prosperous New Year.
Great (or weak) minds think alike. I also voted for Obama once. I was glad to have the opportunity to help elect a black president.
Today, I realize Obama didn’t have a chance. This country was sunk from the day frightened world leaders agreed to form the United Nations on 24 OCT 1945 and to hide from the public the source of energy that destroyed Hiroshima on 6 AUG 1945!
Click to access WHY.pdf
Both political parties supported this deception, but truth turns out to be a far more formidable opponent than frightened world leaders could hide.
2020 years ago King Herod was willing to kill all newborn males to retain his delusion of power. Climategate has revealed a similar selfishness in world leaders today, . . .
and the outcome will be the same as it was before.
OMG! The guy that researches things to death bought into the “Hope & Change” bs of the Great Deceiver.
You must have been listening to that Fox News pinhead O’Reilly, that kept insisting Obama was a pragmatic Chicago middle roader.
I often am accused of being a Republican but have been a Democrat all my life. Jimmy Carter was the last politician I bought into sight unseen. Oh well, I forgive you ;-) GOD brought this guy up to destroy the validity of the socialist Liberal Progressive concept of government. A lot of supposed intelligent people bought into the aspirational rhetoric of the man with the golden tongue.
He has lost all popular political support and will now attempt to rule by decree. This next year will be a major turning point in the affairs of the Republic. Buy lots of popcorn. We live in interesting times. pg
@Philjourdan:
I think I set the link limit up to something like 8 as I got tired of needing to approve things with 4 or more to get them out of moderation….
I’ve seen assertions that Jefferson and Sally / Sarah were an “Item” from many places other than the wiki. Even a picture of the Black side of the family (in a TV documentary) with the assertion that genetic testing had been done to confirm the relationship. I’ve not personally “gone down that rabbit hole” to prove one side over the other (as I’d thought that had already been done and came up in the ‘related’ group). Maybe I ought to.
But for me, it’s only a minor interest how Jefferson lived his life. Also, for me, I know that one of the “recipients” was a mixed race couple who wanted the child to look like both of them. (Don’t know anything beyond that – while I’m an “Identity Release” donor, if nobody contacts me, I don’t get to know anything. There were a couple of times that someone would give me a bit of clue, but not much. Like the one in Israel – I found out mostly as the recipient had come to the USA expecting to take a few months, and got to go home very soon saving her a lot of money.)
So if you don’t like the Jefferson analogy, use most any mixed couple. The point is simply that I’m very “liberal” on the issue. Who loves whom is entirely a personal affair, IMHO.
@Pyromancer76:
Yes, I made that mistake. (That was sort of the whole point of the posting…) I didn’t do the digging, and bought into the hype and hope. Per “how he was raised”, I’d figured that like most kids he was not that likely to believe what his parents told him…
In my defense, the choice was Hillary, ABC, or nothing. Nothing wasn’t very interesting (due to the way I’d ended up as an Independent, I was not affiliated with ANY party – as mine had ‘gone away’). Madam Hillary was a ‘shoe in’ by all popular accounts, and I was dead tired of the Bush / Clinton oscillation of dynasties. I mostly saw it as a protest vote in a race that would not matter. Little did I know… but I’d long ago given up caring about voting in California. Substantially never was I in the majority, so it was always only a ‘protest vote’…
I could not bring “reason and hope” to that choice. It was set for me as “no hope” in any case, and “no reason” can be applied. It was “shut up and be irrelevant and without hope”, vs “vote for the machine – and shut up”, or “hope for hope, or at least protest the machine”. I’d have rather voted for someone who did not have the Clinton / Obama belief set, but in California, then, the Democrats would let me vote for folks in the primary, but other parties would not. And I could not bring myself to register Republican (remember Aaarnold was their guy in California – he of the ‘kid with the maid’ while being awfully RINO and not fixing anything… Republican In Name Only… so that too was a ‘broken choice’). After a while in The Land Of Fruits and Nuts it grinds you down. Not very hopeful, and not much reasonable about it. But it is what it is.
In that context, it wasn’t a very good use of my time to look into the actual record of the candidates. The State would overwhelm my vote in any case. Best I could hope for was a small dent in the Dynastic Political Machine, or give up and do nothing. I’m not good at giving up…
@Omanuel:
Welcome to the club ;-)
FWIW, I saw a reference somewhere (that I unfortunately didn’t save… I think it was a comment on a solar thread at WUWT) to a claim that a person could see the “surface of the sun” as material from solar flares and such fell back and splashed on it. Seemed like that might be a useful line of investigation into showing support for your ideas of an iron sun. Was planning to look into it some more, be it was only yesterday… so nothing has happened yet. One would need to show that the falling material behaved differently than expected from a ‘dense ball of plasma’ density than from a ‘solid iron’ surface; and I’m not sure how to do that. I think it would require showing a more linear density change for the ‘ball of plasma gas’ than for the ‘solid surface transition’ and how the difference had an effect on the “splash”…
@P.G.:
See the above comments about “digging here” being a waste of my time there and then…
Yes, I was listening to O’Reilly some then; but also to CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, and more. Didn’t really believe any of them were “right”.
Mostly it was a “hope for hope and change” vote. And “it doesn’t matter anyway, so at least I can stir the pot a little and let folks know we want change, any kind of change…”
I also didn’t think the Republicans would put up such a weak bench either. Yet Another Milktoast… In some ways the worst of the Republican Stereotype mixed with a Democrat Lite reality. Not a thing there for the “shrink government and return liberty” blue collar types (which is where I see myself – just another Joe Sixpack when it comes to political things). I did hold my nose and vote Republican in the presidential race, not that it mattered in California. In many ways that, too, was just Yet Another Protest Vote… As a ‘winner take all’ electoral college State, it’s a 100% lock for the Democrat in presidential races unless something very exceptional happens… and Romney was not very exceptional…
Yes, lots of ‘popcorn’…
But it really would be nice to have a choice of “less government and more liberty” instead of:
“More Government with less liberty and conservative crony capitalists” vs
“More Government with less liberty and Progressive cronies”…
There’s gotta be a way…
A good friend says that the Republicans want to control what he does with what’s in the front of his pants while the Democrats want to control what he does with the wallet in the back of his pants; and he just wants them both out of his pants. I think that sums it up fairly well.
So what am I? I’m most likely a “Kennedy Democrat”. He was for lower tax rates (and it worked) and generally was interested in an efficient government. I’m also most likely a “Reagan Republican” who also lowered taxes and wanted things to run efficiently. Both worked with “the other side”. As of now, Kennedy would be rejected by the Democrats who have moved on to being flat out Socialist Progressives and Reagan would be rejected by the Republicans as too radical… Oh Well.
Since becoming a citizen in 1993 I voted in every election until 2014. I won’t be voting in the 2016 presidential election unless there is a candidate I like. What would it take to get me to vote?
I voted for Obama in the General election. The alternative was Alan Keyes. Better the communist than the tradcon was my thinking.
@M. Simon:
I almost didn’t vote then (Obama General Election) as the choices were not attractive. I didn’t vote in the last election (as my registration in Florida was rejected since I didn’t have an address they liked – since mail sent to a non-street address causes their ‘voter fraud’ folks to think I’m a visitor and not a resident). But, oddly, here in Florida my vote didn’t really matter either as the folks I would have voted for won anyway ;-) Though I didn’t get to vote for the M.J. initiative and it failed. Though by more than 1 vote…
I’m not sure which I dislike more, the socialists or the ‘traditional conservatives’. One wants to take my money and spend it ‘for me’, the other wants to control my body, what I put in it, and who I can share it with. Nether is an attractive option to me… With Progressive Socialists now pushing to adjust the market prices of things (not catching clue that a market can not be managed and remain a market…) to achieve their goals and drive energy prices sky high and regulate the economy into death; I’m a little less happy with them than with the ‘traditional’ folks… but I’d really like “leave me alone I’m middle of the bird” as a choice. Less of all of it.
At least you have the choice of not voting. In Australia we have ‘compulsory’ voting, which means you have to turn up at the voting station, take the vote papers and put them in the box (filling them in is optional but rarely chosen). The parties involved then get money from the public purse (purse-ha! dump master is more accurate) for each vote. It can be profitable to run but lose.
The result is that the 2 major parties, Dweedledees and Dweedledumbs, chase “the swinging voter” (those susceptible to handouts) in marginal seats and ignore those who vote for them anyway. Those who despise the major parties (~25% and increasing) can vote for the Greens or a myriad of minor parties (the Smokers, the Shooters and Motorists, the Family First, the Palmer United Party [prone to splits], the Pauline Hanson Australia First Party, No Immigration Party (the Duck Hunters?) or the Xenophon group etc. – I’m not joking) who get to hold the balance in the Senate. This means a ballot paper big enough to keep a homeless person warm.
Supposedly the local branches of the major parties choose their local candidate, except when it is fixed by the machine (very, very common) so all too often you have a choice an idiot or a ratbag (I hope that translates into your dialect). You do get a small percentage of competent people into Parliament, but the media, especially the national public broadcaster, make sure they rarely appear in the News.
What I meant to say is that I don’t care who you fathered so long as it wasn’t Obama, the rest is merely a whining sound.
In 2008 I changed my voter registration from Independent to Democrat so I could vote in the primaries (in my state, only those registered with a party can vote in the primaries, a poor system IMO). I must confess I voted for Hillary, being of the “anyone but Obama” camp because I did some research on then, Senator Obama, and did not like what I saw. I changed my registration to Republican in 2012 so I could vote in the primary and am now again registered as an Independent.
I’m more of a Libertarian and as such, I believe in letting people live their lives as long as they do not infringe on other people’s rights to live their lives as they see fit. As an Econ major from an Ivy (I am appalled and embarrassed most of the time now, to even admit that I went to an Ivy) I feel that government spending is a black hole sucking capital from private industry with its higher ROI into a bureaucracy that exists almost solely to perpetuate its own existence. And that $18 Trillion deficit and US Government unfunded liabilities? God help us when interest rates rise to historical levels again.
@p.g. Sharrow – I never heard O’Reilly claim that, but I do not listen to him often, I did think that Obama would moderate his positions. And yes, I was dead wrong, I am not sure he is worse than Clinton, but he is by far the worst to ever win.
I am hoping for good old American populist (of the people) rage, this time from the depths of both old and new Americans of all colors and ethnic backgrounds, against the many scams of the elites. Will Americans wake up to the kinds of (emotional/social) controls put in place by Google, Apple, Face Book, Microsoft as gatekeepers, along with leftist elite ownership of the media and academia? Will Americans wake up to “racism” used as a scam by elites, using the envy of leftist haters (including our President) as a front guard for bringing down all that is good and true. It does take faith and leadership, e.g., The Great Awakening, etc.
As a professor, I thought the leftist mind control attempts — “critical studies” — only infected my (all the) arts institute because of its original faculty. I tried my best to give students — destined to become tops in their fields and opinion makers — an alternative perspective. I educated them in American representative democracy and the amazing inclusiveness of our democratic processes, most spectacularly the civil rights movement (from the 19th century). The steady inclusion of all “out groups” beginning with the Irish (Catholics) and moving through all European ethnicities, Jews, then women’s right to vote, then African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Native Americans. An absolutely amazing accomplishment — never happened before in history to the best of my knowledge. Then, as I worked to show them, something went terribly wrong, beginning in the 1970s. We attempted to explore the causes — one of which was the “narcissism” (Christopher Nash) that infected the Baby Boomers. “Make love, not war” was so imbecilic for those whose parents had sacrificed so much. Then, shortly afterwards, “make government” rather personal resilience. What a waste.
The long and the short of it is that both parties are on the narcissistic take these days. Old American traditions must find young minds and new paths. I have hope and faith and try to do my part. I am grateful for E.M. Smith and commenters on Chiefio. We seem to be of a similar mind.
I did not vote for Obama. Ever. My reason will sound shallow. I felt like he was being puffed too much by the media. Even though i avoid national news American media like the plague. I still got that impression. Since i have spent a fair amount of time rubbing elbows with actors and marketers, I seem to have developed a heightened sensitivity to flagrant bogus-ness. I also saw some fascinating stories on British media. Stuff the American media never happened to mention.
@E.M. – It is not a question of liking it, nor do i think if the myth were true would it detract from Jefferson’s accomplishments. But as I have said before, i hate being wrong, more than I love being right, so I do look into such things – if only to set the record straight.
Nor am I concerned about “mixed race” families as my extended family (which would include first cousins) have every race on the planet. I had never researched the Jefferson/Hemmings relationship on Wiki (living in the Old Dominion, the topic is always around in other sources), but was disappointed to see their treatment of it. But then I do not attach much weight to Wiki, so should not have been. I offered the links as I know you are also a lover of accuracy, not to detract from your general points. Which as usual, are enlightening and worthy of the read.
Also, thanks for the link clarification. I did not want to cause a comment to go to moderation that would require your attention, but will remember the limit. I doubt I will need more than 4 or 5 in any response.
I never bought into the Obama craze, the reasons were many. I also have flirted with an anyone but the above vote in the past and knew that those were almost always wasted votes as they usually guarantee that the wrong person wins by plurality, and the protest vote never gets a significant enough fraction to be taken seriously.
I was most of all concerned about his sterilized background. Nobody who has actually worked as an attorney, law professor, or elected representative would have that shallow of a resume of actual work product to examine. Attorneys and professors live to get published in one form or another. A Lawyer cannot go to trial or do legal work without leaving a paper trail, because his entire work product is done on paper or in open court and documented in a transcript.
To have a black hole of previous work sounded alarm bells, that and the hyper sensitivity to anyone who asked any sort of question trying to vet him, and trying to label them as some sort of crank or extremist, made those bells ring louder. “Me thinks they protest too much”!
Perhaps it is a legacy of working in a classified environment in the past, but one of the things you learn to do is to not so much listen to what people say, but to notice what they “don’t say” and how they say it. If you look carefully at someones remarks you will see phrases which are over qualified, or a bit too specific for normal communication. Like “lawyereese” in documents, that sort of over specific verbiage tends to be a method to hide something in plain sight.
I have sponsored more laws on xyz (on Tuesday) than any other candidate running for this office.
That sort of out of place over specific exclusion language is often used in politics and legal environments to carefully tailor the message so it is technically accurate or at least defensible as accurate, but leaves a different impression than a plain and open statement would. It often is an open invitation for some other person to simplify it and in the process build a widely accepted meme which is untrue but widely believe to be fact. Sort of like the Obama is the smartest guy in the room fiction when there is absolutely no concrete evidence that he is above average in any respect other than as a well rehearsed public speaker.
One of Obama’s specific skills as an orator is to tailor words and presentations so that the listener reads meaning into them that where never specifically stated. That allows them years later to say “I never said that”! after some common impression has taken root in the public perception which is different from the facts, and they conveniently avoided correcting that impression creating a lie of omission.
One way to minimize that is to read his speeches in text rather than watching them live. By stripping away the visual and audio misdirections and seeing only the clear text, it is much easier to see the slight of hand involved in the construct of the speech or the fact that the speech really has very little content beyond feel good pat you on the head statements that build images in the heads of the audience without really saying much of substance.
THEN you go back and watch the presentation and check to see if the body language, gestures and facial expressions etc. actually match up with the verbal cadence and emphasis of the live speech delivery and the real content of the speech. In doing so you often see mismatches where the verbal emphasis and cadence is structured to make a meaningless statement sound grand and important or the lack of emotional expression in the face betrays a lack of intention on the speaker that he really means what he is saying.
Once you get past all that, then I got concerned by the one way door of the media and how they sterilized commentary on speeches, reports for the candidate Obama were always glowing and wonderful and commentary on his opponents were always the polar opposite with nothing but nit picking, and over critical and dismissive coverage. It reminded me of the old press from the Pravada era and how they presented the party line vs the position of the opponents. A monotone media is a powerful propaganda tool even if it is accidental rather than intentionally created. It was clear that the media were in love with Obama and that colored all of their coverage, and still does to a large extent. It is heresy to say something even slightly negative about Obama in all the major media.
The last straw that made me pull back were the crowds. I called it the “crazy eyes” syndrome. I saw pictures of his crowds at his campaign speeches and they were absolutely in rapture and had wild eyes like girls in love with the beetles in the 1960’s and looks of absolute adoration not respect or agreement but the look of mesmerized followers of a cult leader. They reminded me of pictures of other world leaders who gained a reputation as cult heros and blind approval that resulted in horrific results.
Last but not least was his legacy of coming out of Chicago machine politics. I knew how politics was run in Chicago, many years ago has a relative that lived in Chicago and without the slightest hint of a smile would comment about vote early vote often and other cliche’s of a thoroughly corrupt brass knuckle, machine style political structure. I was sure that this would lead to exactly what we are seeing from the Lame duck president now in his “I dare you to impeach me” approach to governance with total disregard for historical limits on the President’s office and separation of powers.
I was never much impressed by his opponent, but I could not bring myself to vote for some one who struck me as a false persona and media creation, and opted for the better known mediocre opponent than the completely unknown media star which struck me as shallow, and managed rather than real.
What scares me most is that the Congress is not bright enough to realize that they are becoming irrelevant due to their unwillingness to defend separation of powers and at least making a token show of following the enumerated powers in our Constitution. If you give up power long enough you no longer have it. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi think it is cool that they are getting things done using every devious trick in the book (to find out what is in it you have to pass it) but they are not bright enough or imaginative enough to realize that some day they will be the victims of exactly the same types of behavior from the other side of the isle. They have singlehandedly destroyed the Congress as a deliberative body, and unless this is turned around very soon they will go down in history as the people who broke our Republic.
@E. M. – in 2008, I voted 3rd party. But I disagree with your label of “traditional conservative”. They are fundamentalist conservatives and do have a voice (small one). However both they and the “liberals” seek to control your body, just different aspects of it. Liberals want to determine who, what when, where, and how you get medical service. They want to control what you do with your body (smoking, fats, sugar, etc.) and how you do it. And of course the fundamentalist want to restrict your ability to have abortions. Which is not really to do with your body, but we will forgo that debate.
My choices in life have been minimally impacted by conservative law makers. They have been majorally impacted by liberal ones. So I find your comparison to be funny. And not representative of my own experience.
Dr. Pierre-Marie Robitaille is a proponent of the Sun as Condensed Matter.
Paper:
Click to access Sun.evidence.1.pdf
Video:
@E.M. Oh you do make me smile. I will go to bed happier tonight with the thought of your having enriched the world with 22 offspring ;-)
In this Libertarian household on the other side of the pond, we watch in horror the Obama train wreck, and those closer to home.
@Chuck L – you are more prescient than I, but I would not go so far as you did, and fortunately my state does not require it. In 2008 I did vote in the democrat primary, but in 2012, I voted in the republican. And I did not have to change any registration.
@ E.M.Smith
I do not regret voting for Obama in 2008. Frankly, I was very dense and could not imagine that my own government would purposely deceive the public until after I observed official responses to the Climategate emails that surfaced in late Nov 2009.
There is no longer any doubt that both political parties joined Stalin’s plans to save the world from nuclear annihilation by:
1. Eliminating national governments and Uniting the Nations on 24 Oct 1945
2. Forbidding public knowledge of energy that destroyed Hiroshima on 6 Aug 1945
Click to access WHY.pdf
The scientific revolution began in 1543 with Copernicus’ report of a fountain of energy at the core of the solar system and ended in 1945 with Stalin’s decision to forbid public knowledge of that source of energy: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10640850/Solar_Energy.pdf
When I lived in North Carolina (controlled by Democrats for 150 years) I fought against “Tax & Spend Democrats”
Now I live in Florida…………….controlled by Republicans. If I had any fight left in me I would fight “Tax & Spend Republicans”.
This is still the greatest country on earth if you have a decent job (as I do at age 77). I plan to retire two years from now if my boss does not fire me first. After that I won’t be able to afford to live here so I will move to Llano Grande (near Medellin, Colombia) or Estapona (Costa del Sol, Spain).
When I retire, climate will be a major concern. It will be great to live where the humidity is lower than Florida in the summer. This is an example of “Adaptation” being preferable to “Mitigation”.
Oliver,
It is a widely held opinion that Einstein’s premise that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light makes inter-stellar travel impossible. For example, the center of the Milky Way galaxy is 27,000 light years from Earth. So how long would it take to get there?
If you have a motor like the “Proton Annihilation Rocket” it would take less than eleven years. Most likely you don’t buy the idea of proton annihilation any more than I do but given our primitive understanding of nuclear physics something like that may be possible:
Oliver,
From the perspective of a Brit such as this camel the most momentus event of 1945 was the election of Clement Attlee over Winston Churchill.
Altlee promised an end to Churchill’s “Blood, Tears,Toil and Sweat”. With socialists in charge everyone would be cared for regardless of their efforts (or lack thereof). Years later I hired a a physicist from Tito’s “Yugoslavia” who convinced me that the UK was more socialist than his homeland.
British socialism with its “Welfare State” ruined our manufacturing dominance by undermining the will to work and thereby our ability to compete with Korea and Japan. Today the only significant British company that manufactures automobiles is Roll Royce. Our steel industry is dominated by Tata, an Indian company.
The USA would have been wise to avoid following the British example. Instead we implemented regulations and tax policy that force manufacturing industries to relocate “Off Shore”. The result is stagnating incomes for the middle class and high levels of unemployment.
Larry Ledwick analysis is pretty much how I looked at Obama without as much depth. The guy had ZERO work experience! Comunity Organizer?!? Give me a break that is just another name for ‘protestor’ And as Larry commented the MSM was in love with him and covered up for him. Since by 2008 I had already researched the MSM, I was not at all comfortable with the guy the Banksters were pushing. On the other hand I also could not stomach McCain so I Voted Ron Paul and tossed my vote in the sewer. The second time I held my nose and voted Obama lite aka Romney the Corporate Raider.
And I agree with everyone else. I want the government out of my pockets and out of my life.
Oh, and E.M. This from Mark Stoval. Seems those with Celtic blood come by their libertarian/anarchist mindset honestly.
A bit of an eyebrow raiser for those who may have dismissed the Anarchist as looney…. HMMmmm The MSM as the propaganda arm of the elite probably brainwashes us into rejecting Anarchy as a governing method.
On Celts and Anarchy:
On Anarchy:
@gallopingcamel – England has a long history of socialism. Socialism is merely a monarchy where instead of blood, brains are used to pick the leader (in theory). But the end is the same. The rulers know what is best for the people and the people should worship the rulers. That is why it is so easy for Europe to fall into socialism. Monarchism was the rule, not the exception. The people are BORN to think of the state taking care of them.
America was born of a different mother, so it is still an anathema here (although it is catching on, just not in name as Americans would reject it outright if there was truth in politics).
Gail, you are featured on WUWT. Congratulations!
E.M. Smith,
I am convinced world leaders know Stalin won WWII and formed the UN to “save the world” from nuclear annihilation by recruiting geophysicists to build a “Matrix of Deceit” that would block public knowledge of energy in the Earth-Sun system.
Regretfully, they do not know how to escape the “Matrix” themselves without being punished for having betrayed the public.
That is where we need to concentrate our efforts now: Identifying a win-win solution to a problem that now threatens the very survival of humanity.
Thanks Phil,
I loved, Adam from Kansas. Why ever does someone think they have to regulate how many times a day I use the toilet and how many times I am allowed to flush. (I am sure there is a California bureaucrat contemplating writing up just that type of regulation.)
I mean really. One death a year when we have 88,000 alcohol related deaths a year and 92 people killed on the U.S. roadways a day.
OH, and in looking up the stats I came across this goodie:
American Gun Deaths to Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 2015
Must have rolled in all the deaths from armed conflicts overseas, along with cop killing suicides and everything else. After the stunts CDC pulled to get the Food Safety Modernization Act passed, I wouldn’t trust them to count the crayons in a new box.
subtract about 19,000 from that number to account for suicide by firearm
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/05/24/suicides-account-for-most-gun-deaths/
Notice the plot for over all firearm deaths in that link has been flat for 16 years since about 1998.
So much for the so called rising trend of gun violence. This in spite of the daily slaughter of gang members by gang members in Chicago which is responsible for a large fraction of the homicide numbers with about 500 deaths a year by homicide in Chicago.
Gail,for you: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/12/28/regulation-gone-wild-christmas-lights-are-the-next-target-of-nanny-state-thinking#comment-1823585
@ Gail Combs “A bit of an eyebrow raiser for those who may have dismissed the Anarchist as looney…. HMMmmm The MSM as the propaganda arm of the elite probably brainwashes us into rejecting Anarchy as a governing method.”
Hey Gail! OK, I suspect that you are correct. The Powers That Be are more frightened by the prospect of anarchy than by any other philosophy. And by “anarchy” I mean, of course, political anarchy, the idea that a society can be run with rules, but no rulers. No kings, no El Presidentes, no Glorious Leaders — no one with a legal mandate to initiate force, fraud or aggression. The Powers That Be can stay in positions of power no matter what form of government is instituted. Communist, Democratic, Republic, etc., it does not matter — but an anarchy is another matter. I think that is why the word “anarchy” has been spun by MSM to automatically provoke the phrase “bomb throwing anarchist.”
I guess this is confession time… I have been a Jeffersonian min-archist for pretty much all my life, but for the last fifteen years or so I have been fighting a losing internal philosophical battle with the anarchists. The web site “Strike The Root” (strike-the-root.com) is perhaps one of the most popular pro-anarchy sites, and when I started engaging in their discussion board (which was open to non-members many years ago, not sure what its status is now) I was immediately struck by how universally polite and ethical they all were. Not a bomb thrower in the bunch. One of the most concise phrasings I heard from them was “If Jefferson is correct that ‘that government is best which governs least’, then the logical endpoint is ‘that government is even better which governs not at all.'” I am still holding (barely) to min-archy, but as time goes by, their arguments sound better and better…
Which brings me to E.M. First, I am ever so happy that you have so many Smithlet offsprings! You are an extraordinary person (in a GOOD way!) and I am pleased that your blueprint has been widely passed around.
As for the Obama vote — what does it say about the system when someone who is of good ethical and intellectual standing is driven by circumstance to vote for a candidate who is (at best) an unknown quantity? The sad fact is, the system is broken. B-r-o-k-e-n. It is no longer possible to place good people into office by voting. The system weeds out good people before they reach any sort of national standing. Personally, the best that I have been able to do is to not vote. More accurately, to not vote and to then tell my friends WHY I did not vote. My reasoning is this. Regardless of how you vote, a sociopath ends up in office. The ONLY thing that lends their actions authority is that they can then say “Regardless of how you may disapprove of my actions, I am who the people of the US chose. You are just a sore loser!” If enough people don’t vote — and tell their friends why they did not vote — the elected sociopaths can no longer claim to speak for a majority. Anytime a friend complains about some new idiocy being promulgated from Washington, you can say, “you picked ’em! Not me!” Even if they voted for the other party, they still picked ’em. After all, they agreed to go along with whoever got the most votes. Eventually, people will recognize that the criminals in power do NOT represent them. It will only be when the nation reaches the point of withdrawing respect and authority that we might be able to change things. Additionally, take the time you would have spent voting and do something productive. Wash the dishes. Weed the garden. Give the wife a backrub. She deserves it and has done a heck of a lot more for creating a good world than either Hillary or Hopey-changey.
Oh, one more thing. Happy New Year to all!
Just a couple of observations that I have been “pondering in my heart” for, oh, about 6 years.
During the first campaign, one never saw Obama in the news without his famous 100-watt smile. After he won, however, I noticed he stopped smiling.
After all, what does a community organizer (a/k/a protestor) do when he wins the election?
The other thing I have been pondering is the inaction of the opposition to his flagrant disregard for the Constitution. Since a person does not rise to such high levels in the government unless a lot of powerful people want him/her to, is it possible that the opposition relishes the eventual outcome that they may also exercise the same disregard for the Constitution when they return to power?
Also, is it possible that the opposition realizes that if they were to get rid of Obama, by hook or by crook, that it will make him a glorious martyr for his hair-trigger followers?
I think you touched on part of the problem. The reason he is impeachment proof is that like Clinton it would be a call to arms to everyone on the left to get mobilized. It would also in their twisted view of the world be seen as undeniable proof that the conservative right are racists.
It would not matter what constitutional grounds were given for the impeachment effort, it would be twisted by the liberal media and the PAC’s as a simple case of racial hatred.
That would deny the Republicans and Libertarians access to a huge fraction of the minority community in the future. They would simply take it as proof positive that all the charges of racism are true.
It would be perhaps a short term tactical success if it succeeded but It would be a major strategic failure. That and who would want the village idiot to move up from Vice President to President? The only way to defuse these constant claims of racism in my view is for the Republicans to win loose or draw field a solid black candidate of their own like Ben Carson. Only after they run a serious campaign with a black or other minority candidate will they beat these gratuitous racism charges.
For example a ticket of Ben Carson for President and Bobby Jindal for VP would be hard to beat for that purpose. Both are solid candidates with major life time accomplishments and could not be dismissed as “token” candidates.
E. M. Smith,
I do not understand economics, but I have a vague sensation that the price of gasoline correlates strongly with the confidence world leaders feel in their ability to continue totalitarian rule of the world.
Am I the only one that expects the New Year to bring us images of Putin, Obama and their pseudo-scientific geophysicist advisors teaching the public how to properly pray to the Creator, Destroyer and Sustainer of every atom, life and world in the solar system?
I have a strange premonition the world power structure will change.
@Gail Combs,
I did not vote for Obama in 2008. Nor did I vote for McCain (Obama Lite). I decided to support whichever major candidate came out against the “Bail Outs”. Sadly none of them did so I voted for a write in candidate called Boris Johnson. Boris was born in the USA but became Lord Mayor of London by replacing the abominable Ken Livingstone:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Livingstone
My wife voted for Salvadore Uribe, a fine gentleman from Colombia.
In the 2012 election we simply did not show up to vote and we won’t vote for a presidential candidate in 2016 except in the highly unlikely event that there is a conservative on the ballot. I sent money to Herman Cain’s campaign but never got a chance to vote for him. Most likely I won’t have the opportunity to vote for Ben Carson either. As I live in Florida there are not many presidential candidates left by the time the primaries roll around. Even so I am not about to move to New Hampshire on account of the awful weather.
We have been in a period of transition for some time. Social Progressives ( communists ), Muslims, And Oligarchs ( Elitists) all know of this and plan on being in total control in the next age. This can not and will not happen. GOD will not allow it. The period of Warlords is coming to an end. We don’t need them.
The World Wide Web gives the people the ability to communicate without the tollgate of information controllers. Machinations can no longer be hidden from view of the general population when there is a free flow of information. The Internet never forgets.
This is a good essay on the subject:
http://scottishsceptic.co.uk/2014/12/30/the-climate-wars-toward-a-washup-review/
I have been commenting on various sites for several years and from time to time find my words quoted to me as someone makes their point. ;-) So someone out there actually reads post comments. Hundreds read for every one that comments. Media opinion makers read blogs such as this one to get a feel of popular opinion as well as Ideas for their own writings. It is much easier to get ideas accepted if you don’t care who takes credit. Just make it entertaining so people actually look forward to reading your stuff.
So you can now make a difference on this “Net That Covers the World”, the whole World is listening! The Internet is the Key that unlocks the information tollgate that the Elitists have used for over 6000 years to control the general population with ignorance of the realities of their hidden agendas. pg
@ p.g.sharrow “I have been commenting on various sites for several years and from time to time find my words quoted to me as someone makes their point. ;-) …. It is much easier to get ideas accepted if you don’t care who takes credit.”
Very true. We are living in the time of Gutenberg V2.0, and decentralization of information makes me optimistic about the future. Large scale and long term, the future looks good! Local and near term might be a little darker… but light will prevail!
Thanks, p.g., and all the nameless others, for your part in it. :)
Jason, p.g.
You are both correct. Now we have to guard against censorship. I ran into what might be censorship when I posted similar comments on Steve Goddard’s and Jo Nova’s that included a link. I had to finally insert (*) to get the comment accepted. Neither Tony nor Jo found the wiped comments in the spam buckets.
I also posted another comment at Steve’s 12 times over three hours and it was ‘vanished’ each time until I removed a specific link. This only happened within the last couple of weeks.
what were the URL’s for the links? Just curious where the links were going.
Hmmm, I am unfamiliar with the Lord Mayor. However, in the general election, I voted for Bob Barr. NOt perfect by any sense, but at least a choice.
what were the URL’s for the links?
This is the one that did not work at Steve’s
http://theinconvenientskeptic.com/2012/04/norway-experiencing-greatest-glacial-activity-in-the-past-1000-year/
This is the one that did not work at Steve’s or Jo’s (It is Russian)
http://sputniknews.com/asia/20141207/1015580225.html
Larry Ledwick says:
what were the URL’s for the links? Just curious where the links were going.
………
Well the links do not work here either HMMmmm
Did not work at Steve’s
http://theinconvenientskeptic.com/2012/04/norway-experiencing-greatest-glacial-activity-in-the-past-1000-year/
Did not work at Steve’s or Jo’s
h t t p : // s*p*u*tniknews.com/asia/20141207/1015580225.html
So the last link does not work at Steve’s or Jo’s or ChiefIO’s
The skeptic link just did not work at Steve’s. Interesting.
@ p.g.sharrow:
Happy New Year !
I share your conviction that GOD will not allow selfish fools to destroy the beautiful, benevolent, bountiful space created on a water-covered planet 1AU (astronomical units) from the pulsar-centered Sun.
The delusion of totalitarian human control over planet Earth is as false as the imagined conflict between science and spirituality.
Both delusions of grandeur will vanish when powerful force fields from the Sun’s pulsar core are accepted as the same spiritual forces our ancestors worshipped at the dawning of each new day!
See: “Solar energy,” Advances in Astronomy (submitted 1 Sept 2014) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10640850/Solar_Energy.pdf
@Oliver Manuel; And a pleasant prosperous New Year to you and yours, my friend.
Physics and psychics arise from the same stuff. The ancient peoples understood the connection of physical and spiritual worlds. A truth that is become accepted in the dawning age. pg
@p.g.sharrow
We will finally accept the truth when we have absolutely no other choice!
Strange how man’s intellect keeps him enslaved by other human tyrants!
Hey Gail! Let me try posting that same link.
http://sputniknews.com/asia/20141207/1015580225.htm
Obviously, if you are reading this, the post went through.
Does wordpress check links for validity before posting? Was the site offline yesterday?
Jason, it came through ok.
Now I am having trouble posing over at Steve’s again. So I will try it here and see if it is me who is being ‘censored’
(I will do it in a different comment window)
Add in the UN’s Common Core, the DNA testing of every child born in USA and UK hospitals. The Progressive/Fabian love of Eugenics** and Obamacare and it is hard not to think the Elite might just be planning to ‘modify’ humanity to meet their requirements. After all the Elite consider us chattel (cattle) and humans have been modifying cattle to suit their purposes since they started domesticating aurochs, a type of large wild cattle that went extinct in 1627. “The analysis of bovine DNA has revealed that all the taurine cattle (Bos taurus) alive today descend from a population of only 80 aurochs.”
Concerns Associated with Expanding DNA Databases Hastings Sci. & Tech. Law Journal 267
‘Brave New World of Infant DNA Data-Basing’
(wwwDOT)independentpoliticalreport.com/2009/07/bob-barr-brave-new-world-of-infant-dna-data-basing/
Arrested in O.C.? A DNA sample could buy Freedom “Guilty or not, people arrested can avoid the hassle of court if they give their DNA sample to the district attorney.”
articles(DOT)latimes.com/2009/sep/17/local/me-oc-dna17
Cuomo’s DNA Databank: Adultery, Being Loud In Church and Fortune Telling Now Crimes That Give the State the Right To Your DNA in New York…. Now we know why the Blacks are throwing hissy fits over NYC cops going after turn style jumpers and want De Blaiso to order the police to not arrest minor law breakers. Get caught spray painting nasty words on a building and your DNA just might tie you to the murder you committed five years ago – OH NOES!
Now why else would anyone want to collect DNA samples of alleged petty criminals?
RRRRIIIIIGHT, like we would believe the BBC/ scientist would actually tell us the truth.
In the USA – Newborn DNA Banking
UK –DNA test for every baby
** Royal Society hosted a Pro-Eugenics Conference in 2004 so it is not dead.
OK, it did post here but went into moderation although it only contained 2 live links.
In the other cases it just vanished completely never to be seen on my screen or on the board or in the spam bucket.
Curiouser and Curiouser…
The problem started just after I outed a very persistent troll who has followed me from WUWT to Steves. He had been calling me deluded, crazy… for years (and never got censored.) He was bad enough Richard Courtney, finally slammed him one but good.
The problem so far has been over hours and a dosen repeat postings at one website.
Over a week in three different websites – posting the same link you just did and posting at each website on different days.
And now a third posting getting ‘eaten’ at Steves (Just as the troll showed again)
I shut down and restarted between posting at Steves and then posting at Jos and here.
Now I will try the shutdown and restart again and try posting at Steves again.
I tried again before restarting and this time it posted at Steves.
Well, I voted for him in the primary and campaigned for him in 2008, voted for him in 2008 and 2012.
Goldwater mad me nervous in 1964 and I couldn’t bring myself to vote for Johnson, so i sat that one out. I voted for Clinton in 1992 but otherwise until Obama always voted Republican. it was especially easy in 2000. I detested Gore, even then. And I detest Hillary.
How could this have happened? You can bet I’ve spent plenty of time worrying about it. FWIW, I’m not particularly enchanted by Obama objections from people who would never vote Democratic no matter how shaky the Republican, although there is little doubt that many of their concerns about him were accurate.
Like Larry Ledwick, I was nervous about Obama’s ability to transfix large crowds – stuff of 20th century dictators. Most of them had written books with their plans should they come to power. Think Mein Kampf. Obama’s two books were pretty benign and one had a line about a “deeply troubling fish mold salad” that I thought really funny. I thought the guy very bright. I still think so.
I used to tell people concerned by his lack of experience that he likely had a good grasp of his weaknesses and could staff his way past them. I would point to his 2008 campaign as an example of astonishing organizational skill. As things have turned out, those skeptical of his management prowess were right to be. It then occurred to me that his candidacy didn’t originate with him. I suspect the Plouffe and Rahm Emmanuel and some others saw his pitch at the 2004 convention and realized that he was the embodiment of a very electable idea – a highly intelligent, attractive black man with a clean record. It was time. I think they drafted him. And they, not he, conceived and managed his 2008 campaign.
I’ve come to think that someone with little management experience is unlikely to recognize incompetents when they are offered him, think Sibelius, Napolitano, Bill Daley, recent heads of Secret Service, and others whose shortcomings most here would agree on. A non-manager is unlikely to hire effective managers. From a management standpoint, his regime has been an ongoing disaster.
There’s more, but this is probably enough.
HAPPY NEW YEAR !
The central fact in my life today is an absolute certainty that the Creator, Destroyer and Sustainer of every atom, life and world in the Solar System today [1] is inconsistent with SSSM*, SSNM* and Metc* that geophysicists created for Stalin and other frightened world leaders in 1945 to “save the world” from nuclear annihilation by elevating these frightened cowards to the position of rulers of the world.
–
*Stalin’s Standard Solar Model
*Stalin’s Standard Nuclear Model
*Model of Earth’s Terrestrial Climate
–
1. “Solar energy,” Advances in Astronomy (submitted 1 Sept 2014) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10640850/Solar_Energy.pdf
Powerful, but invisible, force fields from the Sun’s pulsar core have been historically worshipped by ancestors as spiritual forces at the dawning of each new day.
That’s interesting. Gail, both of your links work today. [Main computer died suddenly and catastrophically. I am on a pieced together backup. I bought a new main board but that did not revive it. I’m on a pension and had to overextend myself helping family, so the new processor has been put on hold. The system is very weak and unstable, so I’ve been away from most of my blog haunts.]
Rejoice! Big Brother is going down!
Our challenge now is to:
1. Retain the benefits of, and
2. Eliminate the deception in
The Great Social Experiment of 1945-2015
We must not get side-tracked trying to punish those who used grant funds to deceive the public for the past seventy years.
@Graeme No.3:
A minor nit to harvest: I talk of offspring, not “fathering”, as someone else was the person who raised these kids. That is their Father, not me. I’ve fathered 2, the rest were gifts to others.
But that really is just a minor point for purposes of illustration (of my non-conservative side). It was via a Feminist center run by women for women where some significant portion of the folks were of the “Two Mommies” persuasion. And I’m fine with that. Hardly the position that would be taken by a stereotypical Bible Belt Republican. So when someone accuses me of being just that, I want to grab them and shout “what part of ‘my kids have two mommies’ was unclear?” but don’t, as that would be rude…
While I’m not keen on the notion of ‘gay marriage’ as that is yet another redefinition of words, and I’m generally not fond of folks changing language under me… I’m very much in favor of equal rights via some kind of different name. Be it “domestic partner” or “spousal relationship”. (The core of this reasoning being that for many folks “marriage” is a “3-way” with the man, woman, and God joining in a holy matrimony / communion of sorts so it is forcing them to accept a “sin” as part of that “holy” definition. Easier to just add on “Spousal Union” and move on than engage in the political cat fight… yet “easy” doesn’t seem to matter to the politically driven…)
Frankly, were it up to me, I’d just remove government from marriage altogether. No marriage licences, registration, whatever. If 2 guys and 3 gals want to make a family, that is for them to decide. ( I’m more Druid in that regard. They had different types of marriage available with terms of years, sharing of property in several ways, and more options. So you could get married for 5 years with no property sharing, or you could be married for a decade with the woman keeping her property separate, or… Seems to make a lot more sense to me. A woman who had inherited a large estate could pick up a ‘young guy’ for a few years without giving up everything to him, and with it going to her kids instead. Similarly for guys. Very symmetrical. They also were not particularly worried about which gender was with whom…) I just don’t see the need for government to be involved in personal decisions.
And yes, I’m fine with the Mormon old attitudes toward polygamy. Though why, having had one spouse, a person would want to double down on that bet… it escapes me ;-) But some landed lady wants to pick up a couple of guys to work the land with her, well, not my business… (Provided all are adults and it is by consent / agreement…)
Hardly the kind of attitudes of a Republican Core Voter… Though my fiscal attitudes are largely aligned with the Republicans (at least, the Reagan type) with less government being better.
Frankly, a Libertarian “leave me the hell alone” attitude just doesn’t fit well into either Republican or Democrat “our government slavery is different” parties…
@Chuck L:
The core problem is that there is about a 3% real improvement in economic performance based on new ideas and developments. That’s IT. All there is. No way to make more or faster. (Maybe some day, but not in any of history…) Yes, a badly mangled economy can have higher growth rates for a little while as they catch up to best practices, but then you hit the innovation wall of 3%.
This means that any government that wastes / squanders or consumes more than that 3% growth each year MUST put their economy into decline. There is only negative growth ‘left over’.
The Laffer Curve shows that at about 18% tax take, increases in rate result in lower take. That means that at about 21% the economy will stall and go into decline as the ‘take’ as invaded and consumed the growth available.
No real surprise that we find any government “participation” over about 25% causes stagnation and no country long survives a government “participation” over 50% of the economy (and then often only in special circumstances, such as being a country drowning in oil as the only real ‘product’, and where confiscation levels don’t do much to the general economy as there isn’t much general economy…)
So, to your point, that debt…
We are presently living a stagnant economic life based on borrowing about 1 $Trillion of production a year from China (via a variety of debt sources). We are expecting to borrow about $2 Trillion to $5 Trillion / year (depending on just what numbers you guess for all the ‘unfunded mandates’ and ‘unfunded obligations’ of various government levels) for the next 20 years or so as the Boomers retire. Yeah, right, like that’s going to happen…
Now The Fed can peg interest rates at “near zero” for a long time, but eventually even The Fed can not have an infinite balance sheet. Once others in the world stop buying US Debt, and The Fed is the only Lender Of Last Resort, well, that Fat Lady will be singing really loud… That point is likely soon, as Japan is looking to cash in their $Trillion of US Debt to pay for their retired folks (same baby boom issue) and as China is seeing themselves the ‘winner’ and not needing to fund our shipping all industry to China. (So start demanding payment in non-$US form…) Social Security is going to net outflows, so that source of “funding” via IOUs in the SS lock box ends and shifts to redemption “soon”. So who is left to loan those exploding $Trillions? Only The Fed who is already nearly at the wall.
It will just be one gigantic mess.
Now add in the EU going belly up a bit before the USA, and it’s a CF (“Corn Flake”…) of epic proportions…
We have a Ponzi Scheme of epic proportions, globally, and eventually the music stops.
@Pyromancer76:
From your lips to God’s ears…
From talking with my son, he is of the opinion that his cohort is pushing back toward sanity. I’ve seen evidence of their being aware of the games more than those in between us. Time will tell. I’ve also had some black friends who were upset at the race baiting and such. These were professional folks who were PO’d at the attempt to herd them back into the dependency cage. With success comes liberty, IMHO. More success to all is the best solution. (That might require a certain amount of reversal of the present push from the most elite to reduce the middle class…)
@PowerGrab:
Yeah, I saw some of that Sellers Puff. Figured it was just the usual “pump up the left agenda”. I ought to have actually done some homework on the guy. ( I admit that I did ZERO to find out about him. Just voted ABC! as a protest… and frankly loved the idea of someone doing some real change. He had the right patter, just the wrong follow through…)
Oh, and notice what happens to the smile of a dog once it sinks teeth into that tire doing 30 mph down the road… ( “wop wop whop WHOP”!) Obama found out that ‘debts to very powerful folks’ constrain him to getting ONE thing he wants. (He spent his card on Obummercare). Then he found out just how screwed everything is, and realized it was time to play golf for 6 more years… Just look at the Gray Hair Ratio of every president from election to leaving office. I’d not take the job if given it.
And yes, BOTH parties do nothing to rein in the excess power grabs of the other. They just wait for their turn to point at the precedent set. Part of why government always grows in power. Always.
@PhilJourdan:
I, too, would much rather be accurate than right. Per the Jefferson / Hemings thing:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v396/n6706/full/396027a0.html
I thought that settled it? That Eston was his kid?
Or was there something else going on with another Jefferson male “getting around”…
Frankly, I’d be very surprised if folks on a large plantation out in the middle of the woods were not all getting in each others pants. Any population anywhere in the world seems to do that to greater or lesser degree. So my expectation would be for an argument over ‘degree’ but not so much over ‘existence’….
Heck, even Orangutans have shown a propensity for humans and vice versa… (Do a web/literature search on your own… it’s bizarre… and makes the idea of Cro-Magnon / Neanderthal crosses nearly mandatory…)
We even had Aaarnold getting it on with his maid and hanging out with his kid at her family gatherings. And that with full 24 x 7 paparazzi dogging public figures like him the whole time…
@Larry Ledwick:
At the risk of damaging my own assertion (that my vote for Obama shows my non-Republican side…): Had I thought he would actually win the presidential election, I’d likely have voted differently. It was entirely a protest ABC vote for me, not any positive vote FOR him… though I did like the sound of Hope and Change… and the general upbeat tone as opposed to Shrill Hillary and Dour Dull Mitt…
Yes, Congress has run away from responsibility; being afraid of it. In the process, giving up power and having their teeth pulled. Then again, it doesn’t take teeth to suck on the Government Teat and take orders from the rich… Unfortunately, that is the path to an Emperor, and the doing in of the Senate that follows (in the Roman Empire tradition). I’d give it 50 years left at most to that point. More likely to accelerate, IMHO, with 20 to 30 years being more likely. (Subject to change if we see ANY movement at all to reduce Presidential Power and / or get some control back to the States).
Personally, I’d like to see a mixed “Hispanic / Black” Republican slate and with at least one of them being a woman. Just to slam the point. Condy Rice as VP and one of the Hispanic guys as P candidate? Sorry, I don’t know the Rep. slate of potentials all that well… (Yes, I largely ignore machine politics and players from both sides…) The last thing I want to see is a “Warmed Over Mitt Again” and a second pasty face next to him…
@Omanuel:
The world power structure always changes (on decade scales) and yet the overall effect stays the same for decades to centuries at a time. It only advances with the death of the major players, with global wars, or with profound collapse of civilizations. Those with money and power want “stability” more than anything else as “change” can only cost them power and money. (Once you have all the chips, as a class, it can only be bad to have change…)
Per Economics:
It really isn’t all that hard. “Who, makes what, for whom?”. The rest is elaboration (though there is a lot of that…)
So, on oil, Saudi is pumping like crazy to drive the new supply out of production and ‘discipline’ the others in the market. Then they will put the price back up again. We’ve seen this movie a few times before… They just want to assure the world is dependent on them, and that the $Trillions of oil revenue keep on coming. That simple.
(What they then do with the money is less simple…)
The rest of the world is mostly just along for the ride, reacting to Saudi and OPEC moves. Our rulers make noises about energy independence, but do nothing to really get it. Likely due to largess of Saudi money both directly and indirectly. (Look at how many companies they own, and corporate campaign donations… when the presidents of Exxon and Citibank show up to talk about your campaign, well, …)
So take the model of you buying a hot dog from a cart. The Cart Guy is making a hot dog for you, and you trade something for it. Could be a beer (if you are his friend stopping by), or could be a bit of currency (in our present monetary system) that you got via some other trade. It could even be “protection” via a cop (or a hood…) and similarly transacted “in kind” or “in currency”.
At the core, it is all a matter of a barter of what you make for what someone else makes. Either directly, or via an intermediary “medium of exchange” like currency, metals – gold / silver, or computer bits – credit cards. If the hot dog is too expensive (compared to what you make) you do not buy. If cheap, you buy two…
A more complicated bit happens at the Macroeconomic level, with central banks printing currency and making loans and all, while governments spend money they speak into existence; but that’s a subject for a different day. Mostly just realize that when they consume real resources (however acquired – confiscation, tax take in kind, tax via money, tax via money printing and inflation) that resource leaves the general economy and is consumed. Everything else is just window dressing on the show of money flow.
Beyond that would require moving to another posting specifically on econ.
@GallopingCamel:
Maybe we need a standardized write in protest vote candidate…. A real person who qualifies, so if or when they get 20% of the vote, it must be reported…
I’m unlikely to vote any time soon as Florida didn’t like my POBox address and I’m in more or less temporary housing and do not want to use the physical address. Oh Well…
@P.G.:
I dearly hope you are correct. Sadly, I think it is apathy that will dominate. Near as I can tell, a very large percentage of folks just don’t give a damn. As long as the TV shows sports and Soaps, the beer is cold and the burgers are on the grill, they really don’t give a damn who is in charge or what they do.
Look at the recent near non-stop coverage of Inflation Gate. Several DAYS of coverage of a few footballs that might, or might not, have been all of 2 lbs/sq-in lite on pressure. And it was not some ‘elite plot’. It was what the Average Joe really cared about. WHO goes to the Superbowl and HOW they got there! Not Putin and Ukraine. Not oil and Saudi. Not Obama and the drift to Empire. Not the UN and efforts to enslave the world. Nope. They really cared about a football. (Eventually, after a few days, someone mentioned PV=nRT and that maybe inflating them in a hot room than taking them to a cold field might have mattered… but without the math part…)
It will get worse for the next few days / weeks as the seasonal mania fully develops.
Simply put: Most folks don’t want to think, and making them think against their will will have them angry at YOU, not at the evil you forced them to think about. I’ve learned this from repeated personal “experiments”. Even my Mensa friends don’t like it when I make them think against their will (and they wanted to talk about who has the best Mocha or who was going out with whom…) so it isn’t a question of ability or intelligence.
Just look at what ‘sells’ on YouTube and you can see that it isn’t “the Elite” control of the media that matters. “Gummy Bear” full length English version (out of dozens of languages) has over 1/2 BILLION hits last I looked. Fluffy kittens and sports. Groin hits. Exploding turds. That’s what gets watched. Things that require you to think? Things that are politically important? Don’t ever expect to make a living from the ad revenue…. Hits in the thousands, at most.
@Jason Calley:
Yes, it is a decentralized production now. Yet it is the consumption side that is the issue, IMHO.
@All:
This response is already very long. I’m going to hit ‘post’ and then come back for the rest. Especially the disappearing links issue. That may take a bit of investigation. There are ways around such filters (thus, the ‘dark nets’) but that is also more isolating. At any rate, coffee calls for a few minutes ;-)
@ E.M.Smith
Thanks for your replies. You think economics much better than I do.
Realization that Earth is located one astronomical unit (1 AU) from the pulsar that
1. Made our elements
2. Birthed the Solar System 5 Ga ago
3. Sustained the origin and evolution of life on Earth after 3.5 Ga ago, and
4. Still controls every atom, life and world in the Solar System today, . . .
a volume of space greater than the combined volumes of ten billion, billion (10^19) Earths . . .
may be a game changer (if Robert K. Wilcox is correct), returning our arrogant world leaders into humble worshippers of the Higher Power that controls the world.
That Higher Power can be any image of God they imagine using invisible force fields from a pulsar to control the world.
Robert K. Wilcox, well-known author of books on WWII, recently suggested that the 1945 decision to prohibit public knowledge of mankind’s total dependence on the source of energy that destroyed Hiroshima is “the greatest secret of the universe.”
Realization of that empirical fact will, in my opinion, offer mankind a chance to move up to the next evolutionary stage of knowledge, where spirituality and physical sciences are seen as separate paths to the same great reality.
@Gail:
Well, I just clicked on the two links and they worked for me. Not seeing what would make them politically sensitive. It’s just about snow. Watch out for misplaced angle brackets causing things to evaporate; and never forget that sometimes things are just bugs that get fixed…
Don’t know why you had them marked as “not working here” as they are here, now. IF they were in moderation for a while, I’d only note that WordPress can have nearly anything be marked as SPAM via strange and wondrous ways, and sometimes they get moved out of SPAM marking if enough folks haul them out of the bucket. All I can say is they are here, now.
The DNA stuff is a worry. A very big worry.
The shutdown /restart implies that maybe an IP change happened. IF someone sharing your ISP was flagged as “just trash them” via IP, and you got their number after you both restarted, then you get tossed until that rule exits, or until you restart. This especially is an issue for shared places like University sites and companies with NAT…
@J Ferguson:
My suspicion is that he was being designed and built as a trojan candidate from the start, with a deliberately empty resume (all form, no substance, but good ‘patter’) with the intent to be a “just after Hillary” but in his ‘trial run’ he beat her due to a large ABC feeling…. I, and many others, tired of the Bush / Clinton oscillator…
OK, off to a bit more R&R and back again, a bit later…
EMSmith:”designed and built as a trojan candidate from the start”
Exactly, several different groups have had a hand in this, each for their own designs. He has conned them all, just as was foretold.
His time is nearly over.
Soon we must discover “The Wise Old Man” . Now hidden for his protection, He will become known in the confusion after the Great Deceiver is cast out. He will need our drumbeat to drown out the GEBs. pg
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