Scary Sentence of the Day...

In a piece by Alex Hern, writing in the New Statesman:

Now, redistribution is already, prima facie, one of the absolute best things a government can do.

The term “redistribution”, here, means “take money from some people, and give it to others”. 

That sentence is not being taken out of context – go read the article if you doubt me.

This is a very baldly stated version of a central tenet of Progressivism (and many other flavors of socialism): that the state should take money from some people, and give that money to others.

It's bad enough to know that a significant fraction of our body politic believes that stealing from the wealthy and handing that money over to the less wealthy is a justifiable – and even good – thing to do.  Note that this “redistribution” really isn't from the rich to the poor, as many Progressives would style it.  Not unless you consider people making $75k a year to be rich, and anyone making less than $40k a year to be poor – because, roughly speaking, that's how our current redistribution system (primarily income taxes and earned income tax credits) is set up.  But to call such as system one of the “absolute best” things that government can do...now that's scary.

Reading things like that causes me to hear those drums again.  Those drums of doom...

For Real...

Radicalized Islamic youths run through the streets, vandalizing dozens of cars, burning some of them.  The municipal police, operating under of policy of non-confrontation driven by multicultural precepts, stand by doing nothing.  The parking police then ticket the destroyed cars.

Sounds like something from the Onion, no?  But it's for real...

If the Progressives in America keep gaining power, you can look forward to this coming to an American city someday soon...

I Shouldn't Be Surprised...

California's current political context, with Democratic super-majorities in both Houses and a leftist, progressive (Democratic, of course) governor, means that it's possible for California to advance outrageously crazy bills and get them signed by the governor.  For some reason, I keep getting surprised when they do so.

Here's another one in the works – it hasn't passed yet, but the oracles are predicting that it will.

The problem his new bill is addressing is one of those features of ObamaCare with supposedly unforeseen consequences – that were actually completely foreseen by many critics: the “employer mandate” that requires any employer of more than 50 full-time workers.  Many employers in the service sector (restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, etc.) will simply move as many employees as possible from full time to part time.  If you're running a business, this is an obvious tactic to avoid the (large) additional expenses of ObamaCare.  Of course they're going to move those workers to part time – and they should, in order to keep their prices low and competitive.  Any business that didn't would instantly become less efficient and less competitive than it should be.

So imagine you're a California legislator.  What do you do in the face of this?  Well, of course what you do is outlaw moving workers to part time!  Make it illegal for a business to run efficiently, or to compete effectively – yeah, that's the ticket!

The drums of doom beat ever closer.  Especially in California...

Climate Change Causes Prostitution...

I'll bet you didn't know that!  But several CongressCritters have said so, therefore it must be true.  Right?

Well, wait a second.  First, all thirteen of the CongressCritters making this assertion happen to be Democrats.  That's either a pattern or a one-in-8192 coincidence.  I'm going with pattern.

Then the sponsor is Representative Barbara Lee.  That certainly sets off the alarm bells, as Ms. Lee is a veritable poster child for radical progressivism in the U.S.  You'll not be surprised to hear that she's represented a San Francisco Bay district for the past 15 years.

So let's tote this up:
– bill is sponsored by Barbara Lee
– Barbara Lee is from California, San Francisco Bay area
– bill is supported by 13 Democrats
– bill blames climate change

I think we could make an a priori case for the premise being false.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that climate change does not cause prostitution.

I'm having trouble laughing about this.  Crying seems more appropriate...

Rustic, Do-It-Yourself Vibe...

An excellent satire on how the left thinks about guns...

Flying Pig Moment...

Generally speaking, you can count on pablum from the “tame conservative” David Brooks in his commentary published by the progressive podium afforded by the New York Times.  But check out this lead:

There is a statue outside the Federal Trade Commission of a powerful, rambunctious horse being reined in by an extremely muscular man. This used to be a metaphor for liberalism. The horse was capitalism. The man was government, which was needed sometimes to restrain capitalism’s excesses.

Today, liberalism seems to have changed. Today, many progressives seem to believe that government is the horse, the source of growth, job creation and prosperity. Capitalism is just a feeding trough that government can use to fuel its expansion.

...and then go read the whole thing.  Definitely a flying pig moment!  I expect poor Mr. Brooks may be fired at any moment...

Two Government-Dependent Progressives on an Escalator...

Our Future, on Display in the U.K...

Danny and Gina articulate the reasons why it makes no sense for them to work – and makes great sense for them to  stay on welfare.  They're young (21 and 18, respectively) and have a kid.  They live in a nice apartment, they have a big TV, they can afford their main vice (smoking), and they feel no guilt about sponging off the taxpayers (check out their reasoning).  If they were to take a job (which they admit would be easy for them to do, even though neither of them has any notable skills), their take-home income would actually go down (because their income would be taxed and their eligibility for welfare reduced).  Their reasoning is impeccable.  They are absolutely correct – they're better off on welfare than working.

Now of course they could undertake to get the education required to get a better job, and then go compete in the marketplace.  Many people (hopefully, most people) would do exactly that.  But that's all such a terribly large effort, fraught with the possibility of failure.  If, instead, they can just sit at home and rake in the welfare checks – that's ever so much less work and has no risk to themselves at all.

The important elements of this situation are already in place in the U.S., most especially in our large cities.  The progressive agenda keeps putting more pieces in place (Obamacare is a huge example).  During Clinton's administration significant welfare reform took a big step in the right direction, but the Obama administration and the predominantly Democratic administrations of most of our large cities are rapidly undoing those changes.  On our current trajectory, I'd estimate that the U.K. is only 5 to 10 years ahead of us.  So we can look forward to our own millions of Danny and Gina, whom the rest of us will support by having the fruits of our own labor stolen from us by “progressive” politicians.

Oh, goody.

Doom...

The Right Point...

Why would a train (carrying biofuel) cross the U.S.-Canada border 24 times without unloading?  Why, because they could make millions of dollars that way, of course!  Read about it here. 

The author makes exactly the right point: this only happened because of central economic planning.  In a free market, this wouldn't have made any sense at all.  With the unintended (I'm willing to presume) consequences of central planning, these sorts of outcomes are almost inevitable.  Given the opportunity, people will game the system.  It's in our selfish genes...

When Even a Liberal Can See It Isn't Working...

...then maybe we can all agree that welfare still needs reforming.

What am I thinking?  The progressives will never see reality...

A Parable...

Via my mom:

JESUS AND THE DEMOCRAT

A Republican, in a wheelchair, entered a restaurant one afternoon and asked the waitress for a cup of coffee. The Republican looked across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus sitting over there?"

The waitress nodded "yes," so the Republican requested that she give Jesus a cup of coffee, on him.

The next patron to come in was a Libertarian, with a hunched back. He shuffled over to a booth, painfully sat down, and asked the waitress for a cup of hot tea. He also glanced across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus, over there?"

The waitress nodded, so the Libertarian asked her to give Jesus a cup of hot tea, "My treat."

The third patron to come into the restaurant was a Democrat on crutches. He hobbled over to a booth, sat down, and hollered, "Hey there honey! How's about getting me a cold mug of Miller Light?" He too looked across the restaurant and asked, "Isn't that God's boy over there?"

The waitress nodded, so the Democrat directed her to give Jesus a cold beer. "On my bill," he said loudly.

As Jesus got up to leave, he passed by the Republican, touched him, and said, "For your kindness, you are healed." The Republican felt the strength come back into his legs, got up, and danced a jig out the door.

Jesus passed by the Libertarian, touched him, and said, "For your kindness, you are healed." The Libertarian felt his back straightening up, and he raised his hands, praised the Lord, and did a series of back flips out the door.

Then, Jesus walked towards the Democrat, just smiling.

The Democrat jumped up and yelled, "Don't touch me ... I'm on disability."

Stacy Dash's Tweet...

I'm sure you've heard about this: Stacy Dash (an actress I'd never heard of before) recently tweeted her support for Mitt Romney.  From the response of our tolerant, peace-loving Progressives, you'd think she'd declared nuclear war on Big Bird, single-handedly clubbed every Harp Seal cub born this year, and personally sprayed DDT into every bird nest in North America.  The reason?  She's black.  According to the Progressive narrative, authentic blacks are Democrats, period, full stop.  Can't have them wandering off the plantation now, can we?

Listen to her reaction.  I cheered.

The Day the Progressive Narrative Died?

It's too soon to declare that happy day, but here's a development that is at least quite interesting, and possibly an indicator of a sea change.  Lara Logan is a reporter for CBS News (a conventionally biased charter member of the lamestream media), and has evinced a decidedly Progressive viewpoint in the past.  Here, Logan is being reported on by Laura Washington of the Chicago Sun-Times – itself a cherished member of the lamestream media:

Logan stepped way out of the “objective,” journalistic role. The audience was riveted as she told of plowing through reams of documents, and interviewing John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan; Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and a Taliban commander trained by al-Qaida. The Taliban and al-Qaida are teaming up and recruiting new terrorists to do us deadly harm, she reports.

She made a passionate case that our government is downplaying the strength of our enemies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as a rationale of getting us out of the longest war. We have been lulled into believing that the perils are in the past: “You’re not listening to what the people who are fighting you say about this fight. In your arrogance, you think you write the script.”

Our enemies are writing the story, she suggests, and there’s no happy ending for us.

As a journalist, I was queasy. Reporters should tell the story, not be the story. As an American, I was frightened.

Logan even called for retribution for the recent terrorist killings of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other officials. The event is a harbinger of our vulnerability, she said. Logan hopes that America will “exact revenge and let the world know that the United States will not be attacked on its own soil. That its ambassadors will not be murdered, and that the United States will not stand by and do nothing about it.”

In the “good old days,” reporters did not advocate, crusade or call for revenge.

In these “new” days in a post-9/11 world, perhaps we need more reporters who are willing to break the rules.

What fascinates me the most about this story is that in two major media outlets, two reporters are drifting way off the Progressive narrative.  This is something not often seen.  Let's hope it's just the beginning...

The New York Times Offers a Solution...

Long time readers know that periodically I rail on about the sorry state of math and science education in the U.S.  One of my oft-expressed worries is the rather evident superiority of the schooling of so many kids from other countries.  I have personal experience in this regard with the kids from Estonian and Russian school systems.

Now the New York Times (in the person of Andrew Hacker, an emeritus professor of Political Science at Queen's College, and frequently quoted by the same crowd that quotes Noam Chomsky – in other words, he's a far-left “Progressive”) offers us a simple solution: get rid of algebra.  In other words, if a subject is “too hard” for American students, the answer is to get rid of the subject.  To quote the good professor:

Instead of investing so much of our academic energy in a subject that blocks further attainment for much of our population, I propose that we start thinking about alternatives. Thus mathematics teachers at every level could create exciting courses in what I call “citizen statistics.” This would not be a backdoor version of algebra, as in the Advanced Placement syllabus. Nor would it focus on equations used by scholars when they write for one another. Instead, it would familiarize students with the kinds of numbers that describe and delineate our personal and public lives.

It could, for example, teach students how the Consumer Price Index is computed, what is included and how each item in the index is weighted — and include discussion about which items should be included and what weights they should be given.

So instead of teaching them one of the most basic mathematics skills, we should instead teach them how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide (the only arithmetic necessary to understand the CPI).

It's illuminating to see the liberal mind at work.  Depressing, but illuminating...

George Lakoff...

“You didn't build that!” has been much in the news recently.  But where did Obama's idea actually come from?  James Taranto, writing at the Wall Street Journal, tracked down this text, which may well have started the whole thing:

There is no such thing as a self-made man. Every businessman has used the vast American infrastructure, which the taxpayers paid for, to make his money. He did not make his money alone. He used taxpayer infrastructure. He got rich on what other taxpayers had paid for: the banking system, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury and Commerce Departments, and the judicial system, where nine-tenths of cases involve corporate law. These taxpayer investments support companies and wealthy investors. There are no self-made men! The wealthy have gotten rich using what previous taxpayers have paid for. They owe the taxpayers of this country a great deal and should be paying it back.

Those words were written by George Lakoff. Read about Mr. Lakoff, and then enjoy the spectacle of Mr. Taranto ripping him to shreds...

Time to Leave...

Debbie and I finished up a project today: we put trim around the interior side of the new patio door we installed a few weeks ago.  We used three pieces of nice milled trim (vaguely Southwestern in style), joined at the top left and right corners by little corner pieces like the one at right.  It's just a piece of pine about 3 inches square, milled with a simple little pattern.  What could be more innocent – and more harmless – than this little piece of pine?

Well, take a look at what the State of California is now requiring lumber stores to do:

Bird Feeders and Progressivism...

Classic “Maxine” wisdom, via my mom – who's not exactly a raving Progressive, but who loves birds:

I bought a bird feeder. I hung
It on my back porch and filled
It with seed. What a beauty of
A bird feeder it was, as I filled it
Lovingly with seed.
Within a week we had hundreds of birds
Taking advantage of the
Continuous flow of free and
Easily accessible food.

But then the birds started
Building nests in the boards
Of the patio, above the table,
And next to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was
Everywhere: on the patio tile,
The chairs, the table ..
Everywhere!

Then some of the birds
Turned mean. They would
Dive bomb me and try to
Peck me even though I had
Fed them out of my own
Pocket.

And others birds were
Boisterous and loud. They
Sat on the feeder and
Squawked and screamed at
All hours of the day and night
And demanded that I fill it
When it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even
Sit on my own back porch
Anymore. So I took down the
Bird feeder and in three days
The birds were gone. I cleaned
Up their mess and took down
The many nests they had built
All over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like
It used to be ..... Quiet, serene....
And no one demanding their
Rights to a free meal.

Now let's see.
Our government gives out
Free food, subsidized housing,
Free medical care and free
Education, and allows anyone
Born here to be an automatic Citizen.

Then the illegal's came by the
Tens of thousands. Suddenly
Our taxes went up to pay for
Free services; small apartments
Are housing 5 families; you
Have to wait 6 hours to be seen
By an emergency room doctor;
Your child's second grade class is
Behind other schools because
Over half the class doesn't speak English.

Corn Flakes now come in a
Bilingual box; I have to
'press one ' to hear my bank
Talk to me in English, and
People waving flags other
Than 'Old Glory' are
Squawking and screaming
In the streets, demanding
More rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe
it's time for the government
To take down the bird feeder.

If you agree, pass it on; if not,
Just continue cleaning up the poop!

Charlottesville, Virginia: Epicenter of Greekness...

The University of Virginia is currently dealing with it's own version of the economic crisis facing Greece.  On the one side, fiscal sanity and a modicum of rationality – and unattractive squareness.  On the other side, a belief in magic, a second helping of irrationality – and media-friendly progressivism.  Who will win?  The Wall Street Journal describes the mess...

Flight From California...

Debbie and I will likely be amongst the droves of people leaving California – once the most coveted destination state of all.  This article does a good job of summarizing why so many have left California, and why so many more – like us – are considering doing so...

Corporate Cronyism...

Note the little Ds (for Democrats) and Rs (for Republicans).  See a trend?  As always, click to enlarge...