The date in this Bloomberg article is telling: U.S. Economy Shrank 6.2% Last Quarter, Most Since ’82. Why? It definitely sets up a competition between ideologies, between President Reagan, and his vision for America, and President Obama’s vision for America. Both Presidents faced similar issues — a horrible, deep recession and contraction. Their approach to dealing with it from a federal level couldn’t be more different. One used supply side economics to cut the heck out of taxes and cut non-defense spending fairly deeply, and the other is increasing taxes on the upper class, not cutting taxes anywhere else, and massively increasing spending in non-defense areas of the budget. In Reagan’s case, the economy recovered strongly fairly quickly, and went on to grow for 25 years with only two mild recessions.
We won’t know how our current President’s plan affects things in the economy for years to come, unfortunately. Will it be like the effects of President Johnson’s Great Society, ushering in a decade of pain and economic hardship? That’s my bet, but there are so many factors and variables that cannot be compared to any American era, that it’s only a guess. The thing to remember, of course, is that no matter how smart your leaders sound about their predictions of the future and how program X will have effect Y over time span Z, they don’t know either. Budget predictions four years in the future have never been correct. Ever.
Two out of the four pieces of mail received tonight:
[Ed: Wow, that's unfortunate. That was posted from my iPhone, and didn't realize that the photo would be on it's side like that. You get the point, though, right?]
I just finished reading Michael Totten’s account of a little scuff up in the streets of Beirut. It’s a pretty good read, and even outside of politics, it’s a good reminder to:
1. Be willing to deal with the consequences of your actions, and,
2. Realize that there are places in the world that aren’t as safe as say, Tigard, Oregon.
Our assailant identified himself to the policeman, and the officer took three steps back as though he did not want any trouble. He could have unholstered his weapon and stopped the attack on the spot, but even Lebanon’s armed men of the law fear the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
Read the whole thing. These are basically western journalists versus Lebanese/Syrian Nazis. Excellent. Nazis, unlike communists, are pretty much universally despised in the western world. The ultimate villains. Part of me is kind of envious (a very small part). I’d like to think that I would act with conviction in a situation like that, but I don’t think you really know until you’re in it.
I wish someone had a solution to the Lebanese “problem”, but I have a feeling that the best you can hope for in that part of the world is short periods of relative calm. It’s incredibly telling that the policeman didn’t want to get involved.
The “State of the Union” speech last night from the President wasn’t anything unexpected. Those that have been paying attention could have probably written the speech. I was much more interested in seeing Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana. I’ve read about him in the National Review, but I’d never actually heard him speak. Verdict: fairly impressive. His speech was a bit clipped and he looked to be a bit nervous, but all in all, impressive. This guy is only 37 years old, remember. The content wasn’t anything surprising either, but was upbeat and made no bones about it: we’re the loyal opposition, and we’re going to call you on things when we see ‘em. Here’s the video:
I read from various sources that Governor Jindal is usually much more impressive than he was last night, though. I watched this morning’s appearance on the Today Show, and I agree.
Here’s the video: wow. This might be the Great Young Hope for the Republican Party. Way, way too early to tell either way, but I like the little I’ve seen. I’m going to keep my eyes on this guy over the next few years, and cross my fingers.
The “State of the Union” speech last night from the President wasn’t anything unexpected. Those that have been paying attention could have probably written the speech. I was much more interested in seeing Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana. I’ve read about him in the National Review, but I’d never actually heard him speak. Verdict: fairly impressive. His speech was a bit clipped and he looked to be a bit nervous, but all in all, impressive. This guy is only 37 years old, remember. The content wasn’t anything surprising either, but was upbeat and made no bones about it: we’re the loyal opposition, and we’re going to call you on things when we see ‘em.
I read from various sources that Governor Jindal is usually much more impressive than he was last night, though. I watched this morning’s appearance on the Today Show, and I agree.
Wow. This might be the Great Young Hope for the Republican Party. Way, way too early to tell either way, but I like the little I’ve seen. I’m going to keep my eyes on this guy over the next few years, and cross my fingers.
If you aren’t a health nut, you need to go to the This is Why You’re Fat site. My favorite is the “Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf With A Layer Of Mac And Cheese”, which I will make. My last attempt at wrapping bacon around meatloaf was a disaster, but I learn from my lessons, and I’m almost ready to jump in the bacon grease pool again. Hint: never, ever underestimate how much grease bacon puts off when cooked. It’s amazing. It may taste good, but it’ll stop your meatloaf from setting up.
For foodies, seriously, subscribe to the Al Dente blog at Amazon. They work (not so) hard tracking down some of the more, uhm, interesting food news on the ‘net.
This is just too obvious and easy. The New York Post published a cartoon that some inferred constituted calling President Obama a chimp. Immediately, black leaders, such as Rev. Sharpton, flipped out with calls of racism. No where in the CNN article about this row (isn’t that a British term?) does it mention that it was common for President Bush to be called a chimp by the Angry Left when he was in office. That, of course, wasn’t racist, since Bush is white.
Does this make any sort of sense? Take a step back and think about it. So, what can the Angry Right call the new president without being labeled as racist? I think there needs to be a term that indicates a below level IQ, but does not draw attention to his skin color, all things being equal. Let’s see: how about a dog? Oh, that’s insulting to Muslims. Neanderthal? On the right track.
By the way, I don’t think that Obama has a below average IQ — and neither does Bush. To really, honestly think either one of those is honestly, well, crazy.
A quickie post by Mark Steyn on the National Review’s blog The Corner caught my eye this late insomniac evening, in reference to an English middle schooler that may be a father at age 13. A reader had pointed out something pretty telling in the original source material on the Telegraph:
Britain has the highest underage pregnancy rate in western Europe, despite channelling substantial resources into sex education for children as young as five.
One of Steyn’s readers points out: “On this side of the pond we would say “because of” or “due to;” perhaps you could explain this alternate British meaning of “despite” to your American readers?” Yeah, bingo. Now, to me (as well as the reader and, presumably, Mark Steyn) this is common sense. Starting sex education for preschoolers is a problem in this situation, and not the solution. What I think is interesting is that this is an opinion blog. The Telegraph is straight news, and yet to that staff journalist, it’s common sense that sex education for preschoolers would obviously lower teen pregnancies. Obviously.
No, not “Jon”, but “John”, as in the famous composer of movie themes. I know I’m kind of wimping out posting links to YouTube twice in a row, but time’s a hard thing to capture, and I’m glad I found as much as I did. Really, though, this is fantastic. This must have been a bear to put together:
If you’re a Mac geek, this should be part of your daily WWW multivitamin. As for iPhoto ’09, I’m still waiting on Apple to hurry up and get the new iMac released before I can play with it. I am not spending tons of money on technology as old as the current iMac. Hurry up Apple!
