Not that one. George Obama. The candidate's long lost [no, that's not right, Barry has met him twice and knows where to find him] brother George is living on a dollar a month in the slums of Nairobi.
If someone knows how to reach him and capitalize on this embarrassment, I would donate a dollar or three.
Texas Ad
To meet George
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
As Constant As the Dollar
These are five of the six kinds of currency in circulation prior to FDR*. Although readily interchangeable for each other, each one really was different. Two of them were anchored in value, because they backed by a coin or block of metal of similar value. In truth, they were a receipt for ownership of that coin or hunk of metal. Therefore it was a "Certificate" of ownership. It was easier to carry and readily transfer the receipt than it was the metal itself. The other bills were promises. "We don't have it right now, it is tied up in other things - i.e. loans or property, but we can get you some metal. Hence it was a promissory note - a United States Note, or a Federal Reserve Note. The last is National Currency. This is a place-holder -- i.e. "We not only don't have it in metal right now, but we don't even have it on loan right now. We will get you some eventually". The purpose is to keep commerce moving. Since "A" will work for "B" and "B" will sell to "C" who will sell to "A" all we need is a barter ticket to keep track of the motion.It self-proclaims that it is exchangeable for "Lawful Money". Ipso Ergo, it is "Unlawful Money".
They were all interchangeable, as was the silver dollar that was really a measured amount of silver (until C. Douglas Dillon, President Lyndon B. Johnson's Secretary of the Treasury ceased redemption in March 1964). Gradually, these bills all have been removed from use, leaving only the Federal Reserve Note in circulation.
To quote the U.S. Department of the Treasury web site, "the [Federal Reserve] notes have no value for themselves, but for what they will buy. In another sense, because they are legal tender, Federal Reserve notes are "backed" by all the goods and services in the economy." Because that is neither a fixed amount nor relationship, the value is free-wheeling.
But do note that that full faith and credit never seem to work in the public's favor. That 10 cent Pepsi, now a dollar-thirty-nine
-- it wasn't the Pepsi that changed.
*The sixth was the National Bank note or "hometown note" issued by national banks (First National Bank of [Your-town here]) under authority of the Federal Reserve system.
They were all interchangeable, as was the silver dollar that was really a measured amount of silver (until C. Douglas Dillon, President Lyndon B. Johnson's Secretary of the Treasury ceased redemption in March 1964). Gradually, these bills all have been removed from use, leaving only the Federal Reserve Note in circulation.
To quote the U.S. Department of the Treasury web site, "the [Federal Reserve] notes have no value for themselves, but for what they will buy. In another sense, because they are legal tender, Federal Reserve notes are "backed" by all the goods and services in the economy." Because that is neither a fixed amount nor relationship, the value is free-wheeling.
But do note that that full faith and credit never seem to work in the public's favor. That 10 cent Pepsi, now a dollar-thirty-nine
-- it wasn't the Pepsi that changed.
*The sixth was the National Bank note or "hometown note" issued by national banks (First National Bank of [Your-town here]) under authority of the Federal Reserve system.
Obama's Friends
The (then) young guy on the left is William Ayers, springboard to Obama's political career and on the other end, the pretty young thing is Bernardine Dohrn, who babysat Obama's kids. They were famous and unrepentant terrorists in the late 1960s and early 1970s and personal friends of Barack Obama. On 9/11/2001 Ayers, now a Professor of Education ("Its all for the kids") published how he regretted that he had not done more (bombing). Dohrn served (some - a year) of her time for involvement in the activities of the Weather Underground. She is now a Professor of Law, although she was never admitted to the bar because she would not say she was sorry for her previous violent activities. The thing they all have in common is a contempt for our way of life.
They were and are Marxists (Even having illegally gone to Cuba to meet with Castro and the North vietnamese); and Obama is the most socialist Senator ever. But they never talked Politics. Right.
When Obama becomes our next president; and he has his friends and advisers in the White House with him; and a Democrat House and Senate; Will we traditional Americans be the outsiders? Will that make the "Weather Underground" mainstream America? Will that make us the "Anti-Americans"? Is this the "Change" he speaks of, but never defines?
Is there any coming back?
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sometimes I out profound myself ...
I was reading my previous post about Liberal ideas and city dwellers, and I realized that most of their issues that seem to prefer the side of death over life must fit in that category too -- i.e. Beneficial in densely crowded habitats. Abortion, of course, but euthanasia, siding with criminals ahead of victims in all cases, at the very least, would differ because of their compact and condensed lifestyle. Forty years ago, there was an experiment where homosexuality in rats was a result of overly dense living conditions.OK, the death penalty for anything other than hate speech might be an exception. But not if you might likely be the recipient. I wonder what else I could find if I actually had the time?
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Why is the Map Blue, Daddy?
A few days ago, I posted a (poor) copy of the famous Red and Blue Map of America. If you looked hard, you saw that this one was by counties and not by states. In most states, a one vote majority of votes is enough to make the entire state red or blue. But note how small the actual blue areas are even though the whole state went Democrat. Well, if we broke it down to precincts, an even smaller area would be blue. What those blue areas do have is population density -- high population density. It is an area where Liberal concepts not only may actually work, but where they may actually be necessary. But that does not translate to them being the correct answer for the rest of the country. Public transportation, for one, works exceedingly well in many of those blue counties (at least the ones where it was designed to fit traffic rather than political patterns). Look at any Red County and try to imagine replacing personal transportation with public.
There is a diversity between the needs and the product of Red and Blue areas. Those things that we actually need for life come from the Red areas -- Food. Energy. Water. Building materials. Fresh Air. All Sine qua non.
Then what is the product of the Blue Area? The parts of our world we use for entertainment and diversion. Television. Video games. Middle men. Big law firms and class action suits. Huge banks that hostile take over local banks. Large Hospitals. Ghettos. Welfare babies. Plots for Law and Order and episodes of Bad Boys. Truthfully, aside from the large specialty hospitals, there is nothing we can't live without and little we would not be better off without. No, the salsa with New York City on the label is not grown in New York City despite the ad.
In short, the people who are dependent of the efforts of others for their survival want to make sure the others must play their part in assuring not just in that survival, but in their prospering.
Ironically, their population density makes them the most effective targets for attacks with weapons of mass destruction; so when our enemies do finally attack this country, the blue areas will be their targets of choice despite their pacifism. And on a related note, despite their politically pacifist nature, the blue area homicide rate is far higher than the red areas. So I guess while they won't fight for personal freedom or economic freedom (open sale of oil); they will fight for being dissed or to wear a red bandanna.
And I still think they have Red and Blue reversed. Red has long been self-associated with communism and socialism. The color association on the election result map can be nothing but a deliberate manipulation on the part of USA Today and CNN at the time of the 2000 elections).
There is a diversity between the needs and the product of Red and Blue areas. Those things that we actually need for life come from the Red areas -- Food. Energy. Water. Building materials. Fresh Air. All Sine qua non.
Then what is the product of the Blue Area? The parts of our world we use for entertainment and diversion. Television. Video games. Middle men. Big law firms and class action suits. Huge banks that hostile take over local banks. Large Hospitals. Ghettos. Welfare babies. Plots for Law and Order and episodes of Bad Boys. Truthfully, aside from the large specialty hospitals, there is nothing we can't live without and little we would not be better off without. No, the salsa with New York City on the label is not grown in New York City despite the ad.
In short, the people who are dependent of the efforts of others for their survival want to make sure the others must play their part in assuring not just in that survival, but in their prospering.
Ironically, their population density makes them the most effective targets for attacks with weapons of mass destruction; so when our enemies do finally attack this country, the blue areas will be their targets of choice despite their pacifism. And on a related note, despite their politically pacifist nature, the blue area homicide rate is far higher than the red areas. So I guess while they won't fight for personal freedom or economic freedom (open sale of oil); they will fight for being dissed or to wear a red bandanna.
And I still think they have Red and Blue reversed. Red has long been self-associated with communism and socialism. The color association on the election result map can be nothing but a deliberate manipulation on the part of USA Today and CNN at the time of the 2000 elections).
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A Canadian Man
Less than two weeks until the Coronation of the Big O. A six-day postmortem corpse is found in a relatively nice hotel (been there) in downtown Denver with a bottle of Sodium Cyanide. The wire services proceed to tell us that he is a just a Canadian, and that the incident is not terror related.
Wanna bet? The man's name is Saleman Abdirahman Dirie. Saleman? Doesn't that ring a bell with anyone? The name does not indicate that he is a devout Christian.
He is a Somali Muslim and an author on the use of deadly poisons to kill people.
Nah, nothing here, move along.
Wanna bet? The man's name is Saleman Abdirahman Dirie. Saleman? Doesn't that ring a bell with anyone? The name does not indicate that he is a devout Christian.
He is a Somali Muslim and an author on the use of deadly poisons to kill people.
Nah, nothing here, move along.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Why Do We Need an Electrical College Anyway?
{Note:Title pun IS deliberate}
What prompted this was a friend of mine who is generally very sharp, and a constitutionalist conservative sent me a little test on the United States Constitution. I sent it back to her to get the following response:
> And had you, of all people, not done so splendidly...I would have been
> seriously disappointed.. I have to admit to really hurting my brain on
> some, but possibly having helped my one grandson study for his
> Constitution test last Spring helped. I just still do not 'get' this electoral
> vote crap. Appears to be just another way for the government to
> manipulate on their behalf. Just let the people vote and be done with it.
No, no,and NO!
The Electoral College is more important now than ever. There is a reason
this country was named "The United States of America". Prior to the Seventeenth Amendment¹, Senators represented the interests of the State Government, not the People of the state. In the same way, the Electors are a way to make sure that the people and the Government of all the states were represented² in the process of electing the our Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief.
Now in the twenty first century, there are several great enclaves of people, the Great Megalopolises that could easily control the entire country if plurality was all that was necessary to win. With the Electoral College, every state (even Rhode Island and Idaho) has at least three votes - one for each Senator and one for each Representative in their state. No state is truly powerless even if they are weak. And [a small area of]California, while important, cannot single-handedly overwhelm the entire election.
Now look again to the famous Red State/Blue State map of the 2000 election (or any recent election) and visualize why the Socialists want to have a simple majority win. They wouldn't even need to cheat to win any longer. "Consent of the Governed" would be a thing of the past.
Leave the Electoral College alone. It serves to protect the rest of the United States. And Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment. Turn this back to the United States of America and away from being the Peoples Republic of America. Coincidentally, this was one of the first two "Progressive" changes³ to the US Constitution.
¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution.
²Not equally nor proportionally, but a measured combination of equal and proportional
³The other was the graduated income tax.
What prompted this was a friend of mine who is generally very sharp, and a constitutionalist conservative sent me a little test on the United States Constitution. I sent it back to her to get the following response:
> And had you, of all people, not done so splendidly...I would have been
> seriously disappointed.. I have to admit to really hurting my brain on
> some, but possibly having helped my one grandson study for his
> Constitution test last Spring helped. I just still do not 'get' this electoral
> vote crap. Appears to be just another way for the government to
> manipulate on their behalf. Just let the people vote and be done with it.
No, no,and NO!
The Electoral College is more important now than ever. There is a reason
this country was named "The United States of America". Prior to the Seventeenth Amendment¹, Senators represented the interests of the State Government, not the People of the state. In the same way, the Electors are a way to make sure that the people and the Government of all the states were represented² in the process of electing the our Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief.
Now in the twenty first century, there are several great enclaves of people, the Great Megalopolises that could easily control the entire country if plurality was all that was necessary to win. With the Electoral College, every state (even Rhode Island and Idaho) has at least three votes - one for each Senator and one for each Representative in their state. No state is truly powerless even if they are weak. And [a small area of]California, while important, cannot single-handedly overwhelm the entire election.
Now look again to the famous Red State/Blue State map of the 2000 election (or any recent election) and visualize why the Socialists want to have a simple majority win. They wouldn't even need to cheat to win any longer. "Consent of the Governed" would be a thing of the past.
Leave the Electoral College alone. It serves to protect the rest of the United States. And Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment. Turn this back to the United States of America and away from being the Peoples Republic of America. Coincidentally, this was one of the first two "Progressive" changes³ to the US Constitution.
¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution.
²Not equally nor proportionally, but a measured combination of equal and proportional
³The other was the graduated income tax.
The Recession That Wasn't
For the last two years, the conventional media has been trying to convince us that there was a recession going on. There purpose was and is to influence the outcome of the 2008 Presidential elections. They have no concern who is hurt by any result of this; in true Marxist spirit, the end is more important that the means.
Also in true Marxist spirit, words mean only what they want them to mean. The truth is, that a recession actually has a definition -- two quarters with negative economic growth. We never actually had one quarter despite the New York Times' best efforts, constantly announcing the dismal forecasts even before they became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now we are up 3 percent for this last quarter. There is a strange quiet in the Times and the alphabet networks.
There is no way to measure the damage that has been done to us mere ordinary people's lives and futures by this political ploy. One can only hope that their retirement funds are as adversely affected as the rest of us great unwashed Americans.
Also in true Marxist spirit, words mean only what they want them to mean. The truth is, that a recession actually has a definition -- two quarters with negative economic growth. We never actually had one quarter despite the New York Times' best efforts, constantly announcing the dismal forecasts even before they became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now we are up 3 percent for this last quarter. There is a strange quiet in the Times and the alphabet networks.
There is no way to measure the damage that has been done to us mere ordinary people's lives and futures by this political ploy. One can only hope that their retirement funds are as adversely affected as the rest of us great unwashed Americans.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Argentium
Please note that each one of these is still worth more than than the four gallons of gasoline that it or the paper dollar that it was exchangable for were worth in 1964*. Can your greenback say the same?
*Bullion value only -- has been hovering at more than five times a gallon of gasoline during July, 2008.
*Bullion value only -- has been hovering at more than five times a gallon of gasoline during July, 2008.
A Reminder ...
... of a time,
When the fruits of our labor belonged to us;
When our Government worked for us, not the other way around;
and, When this country still taught its children in school that this country derived its just powers from the consent of the governed.
Remember this while they tell you what you are still allowed to do, and how you are allowed to do it.
When the fruits of our labor belonged to us;
When our Government worked for us, not the other way around;
and, When this country still taught its children in school that this country derived its just powers from the consent of the governed.
Remember this while they tell you what you are still allowed to do, and how you are allowed to do it.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Mr. Obama, some of us already watch our tire pressure.
Candidate Obama says that merely properly inflating our tires will save as much fuel as we would get drilling off our seacoasts.
But those who, like me, already watch our tire pressure will not get an additional 3%. So you can't count us toward your energy plan.
Back to the drawing board.
But those who, like me, already watch our tire pressure will not get an additional 3%. So you can't count us toward your energy plan.
Back to the drawing board.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
I've been Robbed!
On Saturday George Bush signed the bill our Congress passed to bail out people's bad mortgages.
I made the mistake of buying only the amount of house I could afford and no more.
I made the mistake of borrowing a mortgage that had a fixed rate of interest.
I made the mistake of arranging payments that I could pay and paying them on time.
I made the mistake of paying off my home.
As usual our Government prefers those citizens who do not honor their obligations over those that do.
My punishment will be to pay the mortgages of those who through ignorance or dishonesty procured mortgages they could not pay for houses that neither they nor I could afford.
I made the mistake of buying only the amount of house I could afford and no more.
I made the mistake of borrowing a mortgage that had a fixed rate of interest.
I made the mistake of arranging payments that I could pay and paying them on time.
I made the mistake of paying off my home.
As usual our Government prefers those citizens who do not honor their obligations over those that do.
My punishment will be to pay the mortgages of those who through ignorance or dishonesty procured mortgages they could not pay for houses that neither they nor I could afford.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
I'm Tired
I'm tired of people in limousines and Lear jets telling me I drive too much.
I'm tired of people with armed guards telling my that I shouldn't be allowed to protect myself.
And most important, I am tired of Millionaire actors and politicians, and Billionaires like Ted Turner telling me I make too much money.
I'm tired of people with armed guards telling my that I shouldn't be allowed to protect myself.
And most important, I am tired of Millionaire actors and politicians, and Billionaires like Ted Turner telling me I make too much money.
There Really Are Two Americas
There really are two Americas, they just aren't the two the press thinks they are.
Thirty-two years ago, the New Yorker magazine did a famous cover showing how New York views the rest of the country.
(http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/newyorker2.jpg)
San Francisco is just the West Coast New York, and they view the rest of us the same way, just facing East. There is nothing of any importance between the two coasts; and there is no intelligence to be found outside of the great megalopolises. And the people who live in those horrid places in the middle need to be told how to live.
Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi demonstrated her elite contempt for the ordinary American People once again. Nancy, who represents San Francisco, who is chauferred everywhere in a limo or private jet, who knows that the answer to the petroleum crisis is simply public transportation, personally bottled up any chance of our country breaking free of our dependence on importing oil by shutting down the session of the United States House of Representatives without allowing a direct vote on lifting the ban on offshore drilling -- even though it is favored by 75% of both the population and the Representatives, both Republican and Democrat. Let them use public transportation. Got any cable cars up there in rural Wisconsin?
But more than that, she is counting on her perception of the stupidity of the American populace. She wants us to blame the President once again for the actions of Congress, or more particularly those of Nancy Pelosi. Will she be right?
Thirty-two years ago, the New Yorker magazine did a famous cover showing how New York views the rest of the country.
(http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/newyorker2.jpg)
San Francisco is just the West Coast New York, and they view the rest of us the same way, just facing East. There is nothing of any importance between the two coasts; and there is no intelligence to be found outside of the great megalopolises. And the people who live in those horrid places in the middle need to be told how to live.
Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi demonstrated her elite contempt for the ordinary American People once again. Nancy, who represents San Francisco, who is chauferred everywhere in a limo or private jet, who knows that the answer to the petroleum crisis is simply public transportation, personally bottled up any chance of our country breaking free of our dependence on importing oil by shutting down the session of the United States House of Representatives without allowing a direct vote on lifting the ban on offshore drilling -- even though it is favored by 75% of both the population and the Representatives, both Republican and Democrat. Let them use public transportation. Got any cable cars up there in rural Wisconsin?
But more than that, she is counting on her perception of the stupidity of the American populace. She wants us to blame the President once again for the actions of Congress, or more particularly those of Nancy Pelosi. Will she be right?
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Hello Dolly
Every year on TV we are shown pictures of people nailing plywood over their windows in preparation for a coming hurricane. Tonight is no exception. It immediately is followed by someone bemoaning how high the price of plywood has become in the buildup in preparation for the arrival of the storm by those exploitive profiteers at Home Depot.
It is their plywood after all, Lady, not yours. Why didn't you buy your plywood earlier? Better yet, What did you do with last year's plywood? Or, how about shutters -- the real ones, not the decorative ones that you already have on your house.
I grew up in a two-hundred-year-old house in Pennsylvania. Rarely, a hurricane would live out its final days running up the Delaware valley. But the houses in my neighborhood were prepared -- with real working shutters that could be closed over the windows with minimal effort. Not so in hurricane alley. There the working plan is to nail up plywood again and bitch because the mean old lumber yards expect to sell it to the highest bidder.
It is their plywood after all, Lady, not yours. Why didn't you buy your plywood earlier? Better yet, What did you do with last year's plywood? Or, how about shutters -- the real ones, not the decorative ones that you already have on your house.
I grew up in a two-hundred-year-old house in Pennsylvania. Rarely, a hurricane would live out its final days running up the Delaware valley. But the houses in my neighborhood were prepared -- with real working shutters that could be closed over the windows with minimal effort. Not so in hurricane alley. There the working plan is to nail up plywood again and bitch because the mean old lumber yards expect to sell it to the highest bidder.
I surprised myself
I have been saying this for a while, but it caught me again. Can it be anything but a conspiracy to keep us stupid?
Ask everyone you know. "Why is gas so expensive?" I have heard the usual litany - "Speculators". "Big oil". "The Arabs".
The answer is , of course, gasoline is cheaper than it was in 1964. Huh?
In nineteen-sixty-four, the Dollar was an instrument called a silver certificate. It equaled and was exchangeable for one silver dollar at any bank. It was also in nineteen-sixty-four that either dollar equaled and was also exchangeable for four gallons of gasoline.
A mere 100 days after the death of President John F. Kennedy President Lyndon Johnson accomplished a goal he had since he was an assistant to Senator Sam Rayburn in the early days of FDR. He demonitized silver and removed the requirement that there be an actual "dollar" for each certificate in circulation. In essence he made the bill the dollar.
Little-by-little, the currency inflated. Now, in 2008, we take those two dollars and see what they buy. The paper one now buys one quart of gasoline - one sixteenth the amount of gas that it bought in 1964. But what of the silver dollar? At today's spot fix for silver and the price I paid for gasoline this very afternoon, one silver dollar would have bought not four gallons of gas as in 1964, but five full gallons of gasoline.
So as you listen to people blame everyone in sight for the so-called high price of gasoline, remember, they are not blaming the groups really responsible for the slipping of our savings and decline of our real salaries, the bureaucracy of the Federal Government and our own Representatives. They are misdirecting us to see the dollar as a constant and gasoline as a variable. But seal up a jar with one gallon of gasoline, and one with a one dollar bill. Come back in ten years and see which one has lost its value.
Ask everyone you know. "Why is gas so expensive?" I have heard the usual litany - "Speculators". "Big oil". "The Arabs".
The answer is , of course, gasoline is cheaper than it was in 1964. Huh?
In nineteen-sixty-four, the Dollar was an instrument called a silver certificate. It equaled and was exchangeable for one silver dollar at any bank. It was also in nineteen-sixty-four that either dollar equaled and was also exchangeable for four gallons of gasoline.
A mere 100 days after the death of President John F. Kennedy President Lyndon Johnson accomplished a goal he had since he was an assistant to Senator Sam Rayburn in the early days of FDR. He demonitized silver and removed the requirement that there be an actual "dollar" for each certificate in circulation. In essence he made the bill the dollar.
Little-by-little, the currency inflated. Now, in 2008, we take those two dollars and see what they buy. The paper one now buys one quart of gasoline - one sixteenth the amount of gas that it bought in 1964. But what of the silver dollar? At today's spot fix for silver and the price I paid for gasoline this very afternoon, one silver dollar would have bought not four gallons of gas as in 1964, but five full gallons of gasoline.
So as you listen to people blame everyone in sight for the so-called high price of gasoline, remember, they are not blaming the groups really responsible for the slipping of our savings and decline of our real salaries, the bureaucracy of the Federal Government and our own Representatives. They are misdirecting us to see the dollar as a constant and gasoline as a variable. But seal up a jar with one gallon of gasoline, and one with a one dollar bill. Come back in ten years and see which one has lost its value.
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