A critical creative look at issues of Economics, Politics and Finding a Purpose in Life - Let's talk about it. I try to leave the woodpile higher than I found it.
Saturday, June 02, 2012
When is the OBAMANATION
WHEN - he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan, Muramar Kaddafi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - it was pointed out that he was a total newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - his voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he refused to wear a flag lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he surrounded himself in the White House with advisors who were pro-gun control, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual marriage and wanting to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he said he favors sex education in kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - his personal background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezco - a man of questionable character and who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home - people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he started appointing White House Czars that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist /Communists, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he stood before the Nation and told us that his intentions were to "fundamentally transform this Nation" into something else, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he appointed cabinet members and several advisers who were tax cheats and socialists, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he appointed a Science Czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he appointed Cass Sunstein as Regulatory Czar who believes in "Explicit Consent," harvesting human organs without family consent and allowing animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual and organizer of a group called Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network as Safe School Czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he appointed Mark Lloyd as Diversity Czar who believes in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth, who supports Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - Valerie Jarrett, an avowed Socialist, was selected as Obama's Senior White House Advisor, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director, said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he appointed Carol Browner, a well known socialist as Global Warming Czar working on Cap and Trade as the nation's largest tax, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as Green Energy Czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for Health and Human Services Secretary could not be confirmed because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - as President of the United States , he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn't matter..
WHEN - he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - his actions concerning the Middle East seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time ally, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops early-on when the Field Commanders said they were necessary to win, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions, and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc., people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he claimed he was a Christian during the election and tapes were later made public that showed Obama speaking to a Muslim group and 'stating' that he was raised a Muslim, was educated as a Muslim, and is still a Muslim, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn't matter.
WHEN - he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State , people woke up--- but it was too late. Add these up one by one and you get a phenomenal score that points to the fact that Barrack Hussein Obama is determined to turn America into a Marxist-Socialist society. All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily. Before you disavow this do an Internet search. The last paragraph alone is not yet cast in stone. You and I will write that paragraph.
Will it read as above or will it be a more happy ending for most of America ?
Don't just belittle the opposition. Search for the truth. We all need to pull together or watch the demise of a free democratic society. Pray for Americans to seek the truth and take action for it will keep us FREE. Our biggest enemy is not China, Russia, North Korea or Iran. Our biggest enemy is a contingent of politicians in Washington, DC . The government will not help, so we need to do it ourselves.
The Green Energy Bubble Is Bursting Fast Everywhere
The Green Energy Bubble Is Bursting Fast Everywhere | Power Line
Jobs Report | A grim jobs report for America
But it hasn’t happened.
The Keynesian government-spending model has proven a complete failure. It’s the Obama model. And it has produced such an anemic recovery that frankly, at 2 percent growth, we’re back on the front end of a potential recession. If anything goes wrong — like another blow-up in Europe — there’s no safety margin to stop a new recession.
And that brings us to the grim May employment report; the economy added only 69,000 nonfarm jobs last month. It’s the third consecutive subpar tally, replete with downward revisions for the two prior months. It’s a devastating number for the American economy, and a catastrophic number for Obama’s re-election hopes. All momentum on jobs and the economy has evaporated.
Inside the May report, the data is just as bad. The unemployment rate rose slightly from 8.1 to 8.2 percent. The so-called U6 unemployment rate, tracking the marginally employed or completely discouraged, increased to 14.8 percent from 14.5 percent. And labor earnings are barely rising at 1.7 percent over the past year, almost in line with the inflation rate. In fact, through April, after-tax, after-inflation income is scarcely rising at 0.6 percent for the past year.
Jobs Report | A grim jobs report for America | The Daily Caller
The Latest Leftist Smear of Patriots and Constitutionalists by Thomas DiLorenzo
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a far-left hate group whose modus operandi is to attempt to censor criticisms of big government in America by calling people names.
The Latest Leftist Smear of Patriots and Constitutionalists by Thomas DiLorenzo
Old Man Smell is a Myth and a Bad Book
At least according to this study. And I'm sticking to it.
Friday, June 01, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Metropolis: The Robot Maria and Barack Obama
The "Nature" of the Female Cyborg:
Evidence of Will in the Mechanical Woman
"To my knowledge, the motif of the machine-woman in Metropolis has never been analyzed in any depth." -- Andreas Huyssen
by Francesca MymanStrange scribbles on a map look almost like a schematic for a body. A rounded belly-like form indicates a cavern.
The dark spider-like shadow of the robot shimmies up a shadow ladder with inhuman speed.
The robot of Fritz Lang's Metropolis exposes the problematic nature of men's obsession with the femme fatale as sex object. She seems undeniably only surface and image, a metal collage. The robot Maria is constructed by a collage of cinematic images. As such, she presumably cannot experience feelings, exultation in her actions, or free will. Although her face mimics these emotions and her actions at times appear autonomous, by that token they must be a travesty of real human feeling. It is impossible to excuse men's fascination with her by qualifying it with: "Well, she is a real woman -- it's not the ideal or phantasm monster figure that is pursued, but a true human being." The attribution of an invisible but palpable soul is difficult. Even her sexuality must be soulless and mechanical. "She spreads her veils, exhibits her almost naked body, and begins to dance. . . Intensely, totally absorbed in voyeurism, the audience is all eyes, all stares. . . a repeated frame shows a series of huge eyes, a mosaic of fascinated stares, of eyes popping out of heads. . ." (Dadoun 145-146) Her "almost naked body" is literally an exhibit, a novelty approximating womanhood and capable of performing ritual acts, such as the Salome-esque "spreading of the veils". This waxwork woman is capable of reducing men to body parts and hypnotizing their souls, as represented by the image of the eye. However, it is difficult to determine whether or not this metal husk has a soul.
It can be argued that the robot is in fact given a "breath of life". She is surprisingly similar to her flesh and blood femme fatale sisters. Initially, the robot appears as an uncomplicated example of an unwilled, appearance-oriented object:
The robot, as we have seen, is a kind of image of that automatized, hollowed- out, modern self -- an image that underscores a degree to which we have become mechanized, programmed beings, bodies detached from all spirit. It is a detachment, though, that might help us to know ourselves once more, to discern our humanity, and thus to reconstruct our sense of self: The robot's inspirational capacity, its ability, in one sense or another, to take life represents nothing less than the indelible imprint of its original, the ghost of man that inhabits the machine. It thus images a possibility for subversion, individuality, and self-realization by suggesting that the schizophrenia this world seems to foster, the imaginary it constructs, might eventually be turned against it to free up the self. (Telotte 22)The blank metal mask of the robot seems especially well-designed to represent a purely mechanical being, separate from intimations of human spirit. Although meaning can be extrapolated from her appearance, this interpretation of the robot as an icon of modern soullessness is the result of the gaze of the human observer. The robot in this scenario is ultimately sexless, an "it" which cannot truly occupy gender roles. It is a "copy". Only a ghost, a reminder, of the human spirit, can inhabit its metal body, and that only by the association with its original creators. Its human form, constructed by Rotwang, can merely evoke comparison with an original human template, which may create incidental meaning. In this view, although the robot has potential for subversion, this quality is not inherent. At the same time, the idea of the "ghost of man" inhabiting the machine reaches towards the attribution of a displaced soul. Although "imaginary", the robot may "turn on its creators." However, this action is presented as merely self-reflexive, occurring within the viewer.
Metropolis: The Robot Maria
10 Rules for Starting a Small Business
An employee at a large corporation can afford to be mediocre--you can't. Every job you do for a client has to be the best job you could ever do; every widget you make has to be the best widget you could ever make. If you are excellent at what you do, and every job you do for a client is a masterpiece, word will spread. Self-employment is a meritocracy.
Presenting Slate readers' 10 best nuggets of entrepreneurship advice. By Will Oremus - 10 Rules for Starting a Small Business - Slate Hive
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Why Relational Discipleship Has Become My Priority
Why Relational Discipleship Has Become My Priority
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Does anyone remember this?
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet is a 1971 composition by Gavin Bryars. It is formed on a loop of an unknown homeless man singing a brief stanza. Rich harmonies, comprising string and brass, are gradually overlaid over the stanza. The piece was first recorded for use in a documentary which chronicles street life in and around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo, in London. When later listening to the recordings, Bryars noticed the clip was in tune with his piano and that it conveniently looped into 13 bars.[2] For the first LP recording, Bryars was limited to a duration of 25 minutes; with the invention of the cassette tape, Bryars was able to complete a 60-minute version of the piece; and later, with the advent of the CD, a 74-minute version.
Bryars says:
In 1971, when I lived in London, I was working with a friend, Alan Power, on a film about people living rough in the area around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Station. In the course of being filmed, some people broke into drunken song - sometimes bits of opera, sometimes sentimental ballads - and one, who in fact did not drink, sang a religious song "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet". This was not ultimately used in the film and I was given all the unused sections of tape, including this one.
When I played it at home, I found that his singing was in tune with my piano, and I improvised a simple accompaniment. I noticed, too, that the first section of the song - 13 bars in length - formed an effective loop which repeated in a slightly unpredictable way. I took the tape loop to Leicester, where I was working in the Fine Art Department, and copied the loop onto a continuous reel of tape, thinking about perhaps adding an orchestrated accompaniment to this. The door of the recording room opened on to one of the large painting studios and I left the tape copying, with the door open, while I went to have a cup of coffee. When I came back I found the normally lively room unnaturally subdued. People were moving about much more slowly than usual and a few were sitting alone, quietly weeping.
I was puzzled until I realised that the tape was still playing and that they had been overcome by the old man's singing. This convinced me of the emotional power of the music and of the possibilities offered by adding a simple, though gradually evolving, orchestral accompaniment that respected the tramp's nobility and simple faith. Although he died before he could hear what I had done with his singing, the piece remains as an eloquent, but understated testimony to his spirit and optimism."
This is only for listening "pleasure", those who like this song probably have it, I uploaded it because there was no full version of it on youtube yet, I didn't put any visuals, because the audio is the most important here.
Saw this headline this morning:
10 Dead, 41 Hurt in Violent Chicago Weekend
Walter Williams is asking the right question
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Violent-Chicago-Weekend-155317885.html#ixzz1wGgtKRzN
Each year, roughly 7,000 blacks are murdered. Ninety-four percent of the time, the murderer is another black person. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 1976 and 2011, there were 279,384 black murder victims. Using the 94 percent figure means that 262,621 were murdered by other
10 Dead, 41 Hurt in Violent Chicago Weekend
Walter Williams is asking the right question
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/
Dr Williams is very pessimistic... He agrees with Ben Franklin who said, "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
There is one suggestion that seems to have traction: “TRUST ME, BABY, THIS TIME IT’LL BE DIFFERENT”
This is what is happening, if it's a little girl, abort. AND the birth rate for African Americans is dropping. Margaret Sangers plan to eliminate people of Color in the USA is working perfectly. Planned Parenthood is a tool of the Devil and perpetuated by people who vote against their own best self interest. Next time you vote, think about who what you are voting for, not just WHO.
I am not dying, I am living
I am not diminishing, I am increasing
I am not shrinking, I am growing
I am not weakening, I am strengthening
I am not failing, I am succeeding
I am not struggling, I am possessing
I am not trailing, I am leading
I am not whining, I am rejoicing
I am not complaining, I am inspiring
I am not hiding, I am shining
I am not hating, I am loving
Whoever believes without a shadow of a doubt that the things that they say shall come to pass, shall indeed have whatever they say!! (Mark 11:23) WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN SAYING?
Getting off Cable TV
The NPD Group put out a survey on Tuesday that suggested monthly pay-TV rates could reach $200 by 2020, up from the current average rate of $86. The analysts at NPD credit rising content-licensing fees and the average 6 percent rate increase that cable companies jam down users’ throats each year.This is where the dis-aggregation of cable into 1) network provider (one amongst many) and 2) content provider becomes important.
I recently bought my parents a ROKU 2S box. The box is amazingly small, about the size of a mobile phone and a bit thicker. We plugged it in to an HDMI port on their TV and I connected it up to their wireless network (they have cable) and the software updated and the Roku box was working. In the picture below you can barely make out the small box to the right of the front channel speaker.
Life In The Great Midwest: Cable and Roku
Homes Prices Drop 2% to Post-Crisis Lows: Case-Shiller
Homes Prices Drop 2% to Post-Crisis Lows: Case-Shiller
Homes Prices Drop 2% to Post-Crisis Lows: Case-Shiller - US Business News - CNBC
Why Housing Is Actually Not Affordable - The drop in Real Estate is not quite over YET
The problem with the index is that it assumes two things: 1) that a family with the median income (roughly $55,000) can QUALIFY for a mortgage of a median priced home; and 2) that they have SAVED the required 20% down. In today's credit constrained environment due to the financial crisis which has left the major banks saddled with millions of homes that are delinquent or in foreclosure, there is little reason to lend money to borrowers who can't meet very stringent qualification requirements.
This is what the Housing Affordability Index misses entirely. The issue isn't whether or not individuals want to buy a home - the reality is that they simply can not afford it. This realization that debt to income ratios for the average American are at levels that strain budgetary capabilities; the reality of home affordability begins to set in.
The ability for a potential buyer to qualify for a mortgage in today's post bubble environment is exceedingly difficult. While lending standards have tightened significantly over the past couple of years; the real issue is the level of current indebtedness that is keeping buyers from qualifying for loans. If we take the level of household debt and divide it between every single American over the age of 16 it comes to $96,229 per person. This versus income of $54,110 before taxes. With a debt to income ratio of 177.8% on average just making ends meet becomes more difficult - much less qualifying for a mortgage.
Secondly, assuming that the median sales price of a home is currently $214,000 (according to the Census Bureau) then a 20% down payment of $42,800 would be required. The problem is that with a personal savings rate of currently 3.5% it would take an individual roughly 20 years to save up for the down payment on a home. This is why the last housing boom required a rash of programs that required no money down, few credit checks and a lot of "hope". The majority of loans were made to individuals that really couldn't afford the home in the first place.
However, with little or no money down, 2nd liens and lax lending standards the seeds to the financial crisis were sown. Today, the reality is that houses are NOT affordable by the average American and will not be for quite some time until the debt to income ratios come back to realistic and manageable levels.
With "real" unemployment still very high, incomes stagnant and costs of living rising, the inherent pressures on disposable income continue to rise. With a low savings rate and little money in the bank for most Americans, the allure of low interest rates and lower home prices won't solve the problem of affordability.That is going to just take a lot more time.
Why Housing Is Actually Not Affordable | Forexpros
A long read, but worth while...why we are dooming ourselves by not having children
We still need to have children so that we can enjoy a secure old age. Modern societies have disguised the old bargain by socializing it. They maintain expensive government programs to assist the elderly, financed by successive generations. The children still take care of the elderly when they grow up, but now it’s all the children providing for all the elderly, collectively.
In some ways this arrangement may represent an advance for civilization. Most people seem to think so. But it has a little-appreciated drawback: It imposes a heavy, if hidden, burden on parents, especially those with several children, and societies that adopt it therefore tend to have fewer children. For both moral and practical reasons, it is time to revise the generational bargain again.
Read the whole thing, it's worth it
The Empty Playground and the Welfare State - National Review Online
A face from my Generation to Remember, this bravery exists still
The courageous and selfless Milton Olive III, a youth of only eighteen from Chicago, who threw his body over a live grenade in the jungles of Viet Nam, taking the full force of the explosion to save his platoon. He was not even old enough to be called a man, not old enough to vote, not old enough to buy a beer, but he was old enough to die.
Milton Olive III
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Socialists then and now...
Can we call him a socialist now???
Barack Obama headlined a Democrat Socialists of America town hall meeting in Chicago in 1996. Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a democratic socialist and social-democratic organization in the United States formed in 1982 by leftist groups and former members of socialist and communist parties of the Old Left.
Buzzfeed reported:
Barack Obama pushed wealth redistribution in his speech at the socialist’s meeting.
Trevor Loudon dug up this Chicago DSA report on the socialist town hall event.
Are You a Workaholic? Here's How You'll Know - Guilty as Charged
- You think of how you can free up more time to work.
- You spend much more time working than initially intended.
- You work in order to reduce feelings of guilt, anxiety, helplessness and depression.
- You have been told by others to cut down on work without listening to them.
- You become stressed if you are prohibited from working.
- You deprioritize hobbies, leisure activities and exercise because of your work.
- You work so much that it has negatively influenced your health.
Are You a Workaholic? Here's How You'll Know | Fox Small Business Center