Needs to learn more history?

In a recent interview, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton was apparently quoted as suggesting that President Obama needs to learn more history before he conducts foreign policy--saying in effect that his dangerous naivete results from a lack of knowledge.

Sorry, but I cannot believe that the son of a Ph.D. with two Ivy League degrees of his own (married to a woman with two more Ivy League sheepskins) suffers from a lack of knowledge of history. Rather I'd have to suggest that he knows, but just doesn't care about the consequences, because it's him eating the wagyu beef in the White House. Let's not forget for a minute that the man has been driving through Chicago's South Side for two decades without figuring out that all that government "help" isn't exactly helping the recipients.

He's simply bringing that willful blindness to a far greater arena, and we can only pray that he wakes up to the consequences before it's too late for too many Americans--and the rest of the world as well.

Sorry, Spartans fans

It wasn't my fault. I was walking out of the local recreation center after swimming with my daughters and the game was on. In my defense, they were already down 20 when I saw a minute of the game, and they closed by a few points while I watched.

But again, I'm sorry, and well done, Tar Heels.

Even more bummer news; the traditional post-loss riots in East Lansing once again failed to burn down Superfund site Cedar Village. Maybe next time, and thanks for a great year, Mr. Izzo.

Now this is encouraging....

Apparently, the White House is actively discouraging banks from repaying TARP money, and has at the very least failed to congratulate smaller banks which have returned it already. If the sources (anonymous, sigh) are accurate, I can hardly disagree with the idea that former ACORN lawyer Barack Blagojevich Obama is trying to conform the nation's banks to his will in the same way that he's done to (already too subservient) General Motors.

And while I cannot blame Mr. Varney's source for being reticent about being named, one can only wonder what might happen if he (or she) were brave enough to go public with the allegations. It might only take a few people doing so to cripple the Obama socialism machine.

A day well spent

I spent last Friday at the annual MACHE Homeschool Conference in the RiverCentre in Pig's Eye Landing, starting with a five hour (oh my legs, shoulders, and back!) stint working security at the entrance to the exhibition hall with two other people. It was a pleasure--except for standing for five hours, of course.

They asked that I wear a tie, so I wore a blue suit--and as I drove there, I reflected on the fact that I looked somewhat like a Secret Service agent. True to the look (though my suit isn't THAT nice), I got a lot of comments about looking intimidating, and even one "you look like you need a gun."

I didn't tell her that in fact, no, I didn't need a gun.

One of the coolest things about the day, apart from keeping order (it wasn't hard) at the conference, was that we were securing the entrance used by the Wild's players. Of course, we let them by when they mentioned this was their entrance, and we had a lot of fun telling the head of security that we let about 20 of the meanest, toughest looking guys we'd ever seen go right by. They aren't that big, but you can tell they're as tough as nails, and...their jaws are a dental surgeon's dream, if you catch my drift.

(and yes, we also joked about not exactly desiring to get in a confrontation with a hockey player)

Also very cool; I didn't have to avert my eyes from homeschooled children or their parents to prevent violating Job's contract with his eyes very often. Homeschoolers do seem to, by and large, have a well developed sense of modesty, and it's quite refreshing.

Here's a howler

In comments about this article by Liz Sidoti of the AP, James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal lays this one out:

How far does America still have to go to bridge its centuries-old racial divide? Liz Sidoti answers the question:

Even in 2009, a black man cannot become president of the United States without some knuckleheads sending stupid emails about him.

To be sure, America has made some racial progress. But the dream of equality will not be truly and fully realized until President Obama's political detractors treat him with the same respect George W. Bush's detractors showed him.

With the same "respect" Bush's detractors showed him? You mean calling him "Chimpy McHalliburton" and "Bushitler", and that sort of thing?

Personally, I have the hope that, as much as I despise Obama's politics, Obama's detractors will treat him with a LOT more respect than Daily Kos and Huffington Post treated President Bush.

H/T SCSU Scholars

Book review: "You Can Farm," by Joel Salatin

I have been blessed to borrow a copy of You Can Farm, Joel Salatin's book telling prospective farm entrepreneurs how to make it work--and also how they can make a new business fail very quickly. The book as a whole is a mix of commentary on modern agribusiness (very good for dieting if you're eating their products), small scale farming, and entrepreneurship in general. He makes the case that you've got to count the cost, start small (generally without buying land), and keep the customer--and marketing--in mind. It's long, but a fairly easy read, and it goes into great detail why the chicken you buy at the store generally loses a lot of volume when you cook it.

Answer; up to 10% of the weight of the bird you buy at the store is liquid absorbed from the tank in which the bird carcasses are chilled. By the way, did you know that in 1994, poultry producers were fighting requirements that visible manure be removed from carcasses?

Mmmm....poop soup poultry! That might be why the broth from commercial birds is grey...

The book also makes the case that if you want good meat, you can do little better than to raise it on grass. To that effect, I did an experiment; I took 2 lbs of my father-in-law's pasture raised hamburger and 1 lb of 80/20 supermarket hamburger. I weighed both before and after cooking. The result?

Both packages lost about six ounces of weight in cooking, and the grain-fed supermarket beef was noticeably more fatty and noticeably less tasty. One could also tell that the pasture-fed beef was visibly more nutritious; it was a deep red, not pink.

The upshot; if supermarket hamburger (80/20) is worth $3/pound, the pasture fed beef is worth about $4/pound when you consider what you actually get to eat. It's not as expensive as one would think--in many ways, it's actually cheaper than what one can get at the supermarket.

(and then you can figure out what all that saturated fat in corn-fed beef is doing to your arteries and pancreas)

In a similar way, check out Mark's link to how to store eggs. Not surprisingly, homestead-grown eggs performed better than those raised in a poultry facility. Apparently, you can also store eggs for months in your fridge. Good to know for when those sales come around.

A company to keep, and one to let go

First, the one to keep: St. Peter Woolen Mill manufactures wonderful woolen comforters. If you want to be comfortable (blissful really) with an adjustable thermostat, they've got a product that is as nice as down. They also do tours, if you're in the area.

One to let go: freecreditreport.com. Why so? Because to get your report, you've got to give them $15, which will be refunded if you manage to call their number. In other words, it's designed to fleece $15 or more from those who think they're getting a free credit report--as mandated by law.

Nice scam, but you can go to www.annualcreditreport.com for free. It's also a great way to combat illegal immigration; to work in the United States, many "piggyback" on unsuspecting credit records. This not only frustrates border enforcement, but also can create nasty problems with the IRS and employers. If you haven't checked your credit reports (I plan on checking one of mine every four months to get a full picture) recently, I highly recommend that you do so.

Congress vs. physics, part 5,234 this year

Johnny Roosh writes about a "brilliant" move of Congress a year or so back to ban the incandescent light bulb. As a result, people are learning (the hard way, as I did) that putting a compact flourescent bulb in a enclosed area is just asking for trouble, and they're wondering how long it's going to take for the problem to be resolved.

Answer: quite a while, as the reason that these bulbs burn out so quickly is a simple process called electromigration. When you put current through an aluminium wire at a certain temperature, the atoms move, eventually breaking the wire. The same thing pretty much ends the life of your incandescent bulb.

So no matter what you do, when you run a piece of silicon power circuitry in a hot place, it will die pretty quickly. That goes for compact flourescents and diode bulbs..

...but not incandescents. Why not?

Simple; the resistance of a filament goes up with heat, which limits the temperature an incandescent bulb can attain. Hence, it lasts pretty well in a closed fixture.

Don't count on Congress figuring this out, of course. They've got better things to do, like applaud as talented men are forced out of their positions by those who can't even make a decent appointment to the Treasury Department.

More reasons to homeschool

The state of Michigan responds to a problem with poor writing scores on their educational assessment by....canceling the writing test. I'm told that they're dealing with urban blight in Flint and Detroit by handing out blindfolds to drivers on I-69 and I-94 as well.

But who cares if the kids can't write a coherent sentence? They've got a team (my alma mater) in the Final Four! I'm doing my part to support the Spartans by not watching. They do better that way, it seems. :^)

When cometh the overseer?

In response to Gabrielle's question on when the national mandatory "volunteer" program will get going, WorldNetDaily and Michelle Malkin tell us that...it's pretty much through Congress, and that (yikes!) many Republicans and "blue dogs" apparently voted for it, too.

Even worse; many of those who opposed opposed it because it would be "ineffective," not because it does violence to the 13th Amendment. Forget Bastiat; I'll dream that someday politicians will simply read and understand the Constitution.

I won't be holding my breath, if these DOJ filings in a case about an anti-Clinton film are any indication. If they can't understand the 1st Amendment, why would we expect them to understand the 13th?

15 reasons to homeschool

Barbara, Celarent, Darii, Ferio, Camestres, Cesare, Baroko, Festino, Datisi, Disamis, Ferison, Bokardo, Camenes, Dimaris, Fresison.

What are they? They're 15 names that most people today, including many (most?) newly minted Ph.D.s, do not recognize(except for "Barbara," the former President's mum, of course); the 15 valid syllogisms of logic. If you homeschool, you can assure your children a chance at learning them. If you don't, well......

If you're curious; no, these terms won't be terribly helpful at analyzing politics today. Why so?

The ugly fact is that most political "arguments" can be defused simply by pointing out that the speaker is obfuscating his terms or employing ad hominem fallacies. That's how badly debate has devolved in our land, sad to say.

Global Warming Update

Courtesy of the brothers Bayly. Apparently, yet another polar expedition to demonstrate the "reality" of global warming has been stranded by extreme cold. If you love your fellow man, please, please, PLEASE make your way out to the Suburban and run it all night, or at least turn the heat up to 80 or so in your house. It could save their lives!

The plan goes forward. Sigh.

What plan, you ask? Barack Obama's plan to repeal the 13th Amendment, of course.

One would think that the current President, or at least his wife, would have enough historical memory to put the kibosh on this one, but apparently not.

And a further assault on the Constitution; Congress is evidently trying to put a targeted tax hike on financial people earning more than a specific amount in order to get $165 million back from AIG executives. Apparently they never learned about the phrases "bill of attainder" and "ex post facto" law in their social studies classes.

Chicago delenda est!

(at least the political machine there)

Washington "thinking"

Apparently, Treasury Department advisors think that GM and Chrysler might need more than the $21.6 billion that has apparently been allotted for their preservation. Let's think about this a bit; imagine that they come up with a "plan" to "save" General Motors with another $20 billion or so in debt--say at a "good" interest rate of 5% or so.

The annual interest, of course, is a cool billion dollars, or (given very generous market share assumptions) about $500/car on top of the UAW tax already paid by GM. What does it do? It delays Chapter 11 bankruptcy by a year or two, and risks placing the automaker into Chapter 7 (dissolution of the company).

In contrast, Chapter 11 bankruptcy would allow GM (and Chrysler or Ford) to shed the UAW tax, making them about $1000/vehicle more competitive immediately. This illustrates exactly whom is being bailed out.

The UAW, of course. President Khalidi Jackson Daley Blagojevich Wright Pfleger Ayers Obama is outdoing himself in his quid pro quo arrangements with his benefactors, I dare say.

News you can't use

If I were tempted to start a really ugly rumor, I'd say that this:

Dubai (AP). Sources in Dubai City indicate that at the tender age of 50, Michael Jackson's voice is changing, and his future plans are to join the Oak Ridge Boys, replacing Richard Sterban.

Or this

Washington, DC (AP) Sources indicate that Congressional Democrats have agreed to read Bastiat's commentaries on economics, and make appropriate policy changes.

I'll believe the first one first, I think. For that matter, I'll believe the first before I believe most Republicans in Congress are ready to take Bastiat seriously.

Giddy-up...