Don Singleton

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Money Versus Wealth

Doctor Zero blogged one of the fatal flaws in socialist economic policy [is] the confusion between money and wealth. Money is easy to create. Obama has already stolen a trillion dollars of it from the future.

Stolen from our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, just to give Obama power today.

All that was required was printing up a few more stacks of bills, and adding a few more zeroes to various federal balance sheets. Last night, like every other day of his presidency, Obama spoke about how much money he plans to “invest” in various government programs.

You invest in something that offers a Rate of Return. What is the RoI on Obama's investments, other than more power for him today.

Liberals in general, and the news media in particular, use the amount of money thrown at any given problem as the sole important method of measuring how much we “care” about it.

They show they "care" by spending other people's money. Conservatives show they care by donating more than liberals do to charity.

Wealth is a far more elusive, and important, part of the economy than money. Wealth is what people do with their money… and even more to the point, it’s what people could do with their money.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Workout tips for jihadists

Telegraph reported Complete with photographs of men in white robes with scarves covering their faces

Are they worried fat might see them and attach itself to their bodies

performing a variety of squats and sit-ups, it advises supporters to keep in shape so that they can "strike hard" against their enemies.

But don't listen to the music, or look at the semi-naked women, or use the weights.

There is also a warning against visiting "un-Islamic" western gyms including LA Fitness with their "music, semi-naked women, free mixing and the danger of showing off".

I bet that free ad for LA Fitness brings them a lot of business from jihadists wanting to see the semi-naked women.

And there is advice against using weights because of their unavailability on the front line in places such as Afghanistan.

So don't use them now???

Pirate Arrives in U.S.

NYTimes reported A Somali teenager arrived to face what are believed to be the first piracy charges in the United States in more than a century, smiling

He is very happy. Even if sent to prison here, it is better than living where he lived, and he may be freed in the US by some stupid judge.

but saying nothing as he was led into a federal building under heavy guard. The teenager was flown from Africa to a New York airport on the same day that his mother appealed to President Barack Obama for his release. She said her son was coaxed into piracy by ''gangsters with money.''

Her poor little baby. He took the AK47 willingly, didn't he?

''I appeal to President Obama to pardon my teenager; I request him to release my son or at least allow me to see him and be with him during the trial,''

She wants a free trip to the US too.

Adar Abdirahman Hassan said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from her home in Galkayo town in Somalia. The boy's father, Abdiqadir Muse, said the pirates lied to his son, telling him they were going to get money.

And they tried. They got a bullet to the brain instead.

The family is penniless, he said. ''He just went with them without knowing what he was getting into,''

Did youraise him to know that it was wrong to take a gun and hold someone for ransom?

Muse said in a separate telephone interview with the AP through an interpreter. He also said it was his son's first outing with the pirates

What difference does that make? If he had shot the captain he would have been just as dead as if the pirate had more experience.

after having been taken from his home about a week and a half before he surrendered at sea to U.S. officials. The young pirate's age and real name remained unclear.

Which is why he should not have been brought here.

Court documents list his name as Abduhl Wali-i-Musi, which the boy's parents have said is incorrect. His parents said he is only 16; law enforcement said he is at least 18, meaning prosecutors will not have to take extra legal steps to try him in a U.S. court.

''What we have is a confused teenager, overnight thrown into the highest level of the criminal justice system in the United States out of a country where there's no law at all,'' Jamal said.

Ron Kuby, a New York-based civil rights lawyer, said he has been in discussions about forming a legal team to represent the Somali suspect. ''I think in this particular case, there's a grave question as to whether America was in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas,'' said Kuby. ''This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate.

While his three buddies were treatening to kill the captain if they did not get $2 million.

He was then captured. There is a question whether he is lawfully in American custody

Would he have prefered a bullet to the brain like his three buddies got.

and serious questions as to whether he can be prosecuted because of his age.''

He never should have been brought to the US in the first place. He should have been given a choice between hanging and walking the plank.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Twitter icons

Inspired Magazine published The Social Bird icon set of icons for website's Twitter widgets.

Ann Althouse noticed Muffbird

but I liked Skate Eagle

Eager to Repay TARP

Bloomberg.com reported JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who today reported first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ expectations, said his firm could repay U.S. government rescue funds “tomorrow.”

But will Obama let him do so, and lose the government's ability tom control that segment of the banking industry.

Dimon, calling money received through the Troubled Asset Relief Program “a scarlet letter” and “the TARP baby,”

Better back of from that language, they are apt to say it is racist, rather than just a cute play on words.

said on a conference call today that the New York-based bank is awaiting guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department. “We could pay it back tomorrow,” he said.

If they let us.

Covered Over Name of Jesus to Comply With White House Request

CNSNews reported Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”--symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols there.

Can't have a "maybe" muslim / "maybe" black theological "christian" associated with the name of Jesus. This is worse than the pro-abortion Obama speaking at a Catholic University in opposition to the beliefs of the Catholic Church.

... “Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.”

Certainly. The would not want the Obamamessiah's name shown with the real Messiah.

Why no Tea Parties under Bush

CNN.com reported SANCHEZ: Why didn't we see these during the Bush administration, who, by the way, has been accused, by the right and the left, of being a bit of a spendthrift himself?

It is a function of degrees. The past several presidents, from both parties, have seemed to try to outspend the previous guy, but none have done it as obscenely as Obama.

PHILLIPS: Well, let me tell you, in 2006, I was in these very studios as part of Americans for Prosperity's Ending Earmark Express. We went to the site of the 50 most outrageous earmarks in the country.

This is a lot more than just some obscene earmarks.

We went to more Republican districts than Democrat districts.

Because Republicans were in control, prior to 2006.

And it's similar, because it's overspending and wasteful spending.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Navy Seal Sniper Teams

Michelle Malkin has praise for the Navy Seal Sniper Teams that freed Captain Richard Phillips from the pirates.

How do we stop piracy?

Hot Air reported If the crew members themselves aren’t qualified to carry weapons — and there’s no reason they can’t be qualified — the shipping companies should hire security forces for ships passing by the Horn of Africa.

Absolutely. And make sure each ship has a yardarm to hang pirates from, or a plank they can be made to walk.

... Our next step after killing the pirates on the lifeboat is torpedoing their ships in their home ports without inspections or even warnings.

And step three is bombing their bases.

Somalia’s failed state can’t impose order on these areas, but if the pirates become a liability rather than an asset to these facilities, they’ll get the heave-ho soon enough.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

U.S. Captain Held by Pirates Is Rescued

NYTimes.com reported United States Navy personnel rescued the captain of an American cargo ship on Sunday by killing three Somali pirates who had been holding him hostage for four days, government and shipping officials said.

Congratulations to the US Navy. One pirate is in custody. He should immediately be given a choice: would he rather hang from the yardarm, or walk the plank. In either case, his death should be filmed, and copies delivered to others in the pirate's base on land.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Somali Pirates

U.S. Negotiations With Somali Pirates Continue

There should be no negotiation until all hostages are freed, and then ask them whether they would prefer to be hung or walk the plank.

washingtonpost.com reported A tense standoff continued in the Indian Ocean Friday between a U.S. Navy destroyer and Somali pirates holding an American container-ship captain hostage on a lifeboat, after the captain tried to escape but was quickly recaptured.... The ship's 20-member American crew subsequently overpowered one of the pirates, but the remaining attackers took Phillips aboard one of the Maersk Alabama's lifeboats. The Americans turned over their captive, but the pirates reneged on a deal to give back the captain in exchange.

You can't trust them.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Navy Tracking Pirates and Their U.S. Hostage

NYTimes.com reported A U.S. Navy destroyer kept close watch Thursday on a lifeboat holding four Somali pirates and their hostage — an American ship captain — one day after the pirates briefly seized a United States-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Africa. As Washington awoke to a second day of the crisis, the Navy summoned the FBI for advice on how to rescue the hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips, of Underhill, Vermont.

Doesn't the Navy, with a great big destroyer, know how to deal with a little lifeboat? You point guns at it and say surrender or you will be shot. You want to protect the life of the hostage, but if the lifeboat eludes you, his life is definitely at risk. If you must, you can promise to just hang the leader, and let the rest spend time in prison, rather than hanging all of them, as you should do.

U.S. May Enlist Small Investors in Bank Bailout

NYTimes.com reported During World War I, Americans were exhorted to buy Liberty Bonds to help their soldiers on the front.

That was because we were at war, not because we had an idiot in the White House wasting the country's money.

Now, it seems, they will be asked to come to the aid of their banks — with the added inducement of possibly making some money for themselves.

It would be a foolish investment, which is why big investors are not touching it. They have seen Congress trying to control Banks and others. If they buy toxic assets, Congress is liable to then tell them they can't sell the properties, but must let people rent them at a price Congress determines.

As part of its sweeping plan to purge banks of troublesome assets, the Obama administration is encouraging several large investment companies to create the financial-crisis equivalent of war bonds: bailout funds.

The idea is that these investments, akin to mutual funds that buy stocks and bonds, would give ordinary Americans a chance to profit from the bailouts that are being financed by their tax dollars.

Mutual funds by stocks and bonds from companies that are good credit risks.

But there is another, deeply political motivation as well: to quiet accusations that all of these giant bailouts will benefit only Wall Street plutocrats.

No one should get bailouts. Prosecute the people that bundled the bad debt and sold it fraudently, prosecute the people that forced banks to make bad loans, and let the holders of the bad loans forclose on people that took loans they knew they could not pay off.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Tony Blair tells the Pope: you're wrong

Times Online reported Tony Blair has challenged the “entrenched” attitudes of the Pope on homosexuality, and argued that it is time for him to “rethink” his views.

Tony has been a Catholic for such a short time, and now he thinks he can tell the Pope he does not understand the tenets of the faith.

Speaking to the gay magazine Attitude, the former Prime Minister, himself now a Roman Catholic, said that he wanted to urge religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as metaphorical, not literal,

So we do not listen to what God thinks, we tell Him what H should think.

and suggested that in time this would make all religious groups accept gay people as equals.

We love the sinner; we hate the sin. Should we alto tell thieves and murderers it is ok what they do, because we want to treat them as equals.

Asked about the Pope’s stance, Mr Blair blamed generational differences and said: “We need an attitude of mind where rethinking and the concept of evolving attitudes becomes part of the discipline with which you approach your religious faith.”

In otherwords we should not let our faith teach us, we should decide what we want to do, and mold our faith to accept that. I want to eat chocolate cake. Can you convince God to let me do that and not put on weight?

.... In the interview Mr Blair spoke of a “quiet revolution in thinking” and implied that he believed the Pope to be out of step with the public.

There is a lot of violence in the world, and the Pope condem that too. Is he also out of step with the world in that area?

“There are many good and great things the Catholic Church does, and there are many fantastic things this Pope stands for, but I think what is interesting is that if you went into any Catholic Church, particularly a wellattended one, on any Sunday here and did a poll of the congregation, you’d be surprised at how liberal-minded people were.”

So faith is determined by polls. Can ou run a poll on chocolate cake? I bet it will win, especially with ice cream on it.

The faith of ordinary Catholics is rarely found “in those types of entrenched attitudes”, he said.

He also thought that in Islam there would eventually be a change of heart.

Not until they open the gates of ijtihad

“I believe that, ultimately, people will find their way to a sensible reformation of attitudes.”

If Britain does not wise up son, there will be a reformation of attitudes, and you will get a better understanding about how easily it is to change Sharia law.

.... He said: “When people quote the passages in Leviticus condemning homosexuality, I say to them — if you read the whole of the Old Testament and took everything that was there in a literal way, as being what God and religion is about, you’d have some pretty tough policies across the whole of the piece.”

True but God sent Jesus to clarify some of those tough policies, and acceptance of homosexuality was not one of the things Jesus taught.

Monday, April 06, 2009

How the Crash Will Reshape America

The Atlantic reported What’s the right spatial fix for the economy today, and how do we achieve it? The solution begins with the removal of homeownership from its long-privileged place at the center of the U.S. economy.

Stupidity. Housing bubble caused the problem, so penalize homeowners.

Substantial incentives for homeownership (from tax breaks to artificially low mortgage-interest rates) distort demand, encouraging people to buy bigger houses than they otherwise would.

No it was sub prime mortgages the did that.

.... If anything, our government policies should encourage renting, not buying. Homeownership occupies a central place in the American Dream primarily because decades of policy have put it there.

No it was because with home ownership, if you paid your nortgage for 20 or 30 years you would own your home, and have some place to stay when you got old.

A recent study by Grace Wong, an economist at the Wharton School of Business, shows that, controlling for income and demographics, homeowners are no happier than renters,

You can craft a study to show whatever yu want, expecially if you can fudge the numbers (i.e. controlling for ...)

nor do they report lower levels of stress or higher levels of self-esteem.

And while homeownership has some social benefits—a higher level of civic engagement is one—

And people take better care of property they own, rather than rent.

it is costly to the economy. The economist Andrew Oswald has demonstrated that in both the United States and Europe, those places with higher homeownership rates also suffer from higher unemployment.

That is stupid.

Homeownership, Oswald found, is a more important predictor of unemployment than rates of unionization or the generosity of welfare benefits. Too often, it ties people to declining or blighted locations, and forces them into work—if they can find it—that is a poor match for their interests and abilities.

As homeownership rates have risen, our society has become less nimble: in the 1950s and 1960s, Americans were nearly twice as likely to move in a given year as they are today.

If they don't move as often, they can get to know their neighbors better.

Last year fewer Americans moved, as a percentage of the population, than in any year since the Census Bureau started tracking address changes, in the late 1940s. This sort of creeping rigidity in the labor market is a bad sign for the economy, particularly in a time when businesses, industries, and regions are rising and falling quickly.

The foreclosure crisis creates a real opportunity here. Instead of resisting foreclosures, the government should seek to facilitate them in ways that can minimize pain and disruption. Banks that take back homes, for instance, could be required to offer to rent each home to the previous homeowner,

Force banks into becoming landlords.

at market rates—which are typically lower than mortgage payments

That is because rental does not result in ownership.

—for some number of years. (At the end of that period, the former homeowner could be given the option to repurchase the home at the prevailing market price.)

Why should he want to purchase; you said rental was better.

A bigger, healthier rental market, with more choices, would make renting a more attractive option for many people; it would also make the economy as a whole more flexible and responsive.

You take away the investment incentives that makes individuals invest in renal properties and force banks to become landlords, something they are not qualified to do.

Not at war with Islam

AP reported Barack Obama, making his first visit to a Muslim nation as president, declared Monday the United States "is not and will never be at war with Islam."

That is what George Bush said, but despite the fact that 58% say Islam is a religion of peace, there are a significant number of Muslims that interpret the Koran as saying they have to be at war with us, and so they will continue to do everything they can to kill as many Christians, Jews, Hindus, and any other faith, as well as no faith at all, that they can.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Suspect in officers' shooting

Post Gazette reported Richard Andrew Poplawski was a young man convinced the nation was secretly controlled by a cabal

I would not call the Democratic Party a "cabal"

that would eradicate freedom of speech,

I am afraid he is right there.

take away his guns

And I am afraid he is right there too, and just gave them an excuse

and use the military to enslave the citizenry.

There I believe he is wrong, and if they attempt to do so, I suspect the military will either refuse, or turn on the would-be controllers.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Russia in NATO? Nyet!!!!

csmonitor.com reported "We need Russia for the resolution of European and global problems," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told journalists earlier this week. "That is why I think it would be good for Russia to join NATO," if it can meet membership requirements, he added.

That would be sheer stupidity.

Moscow's official response to Mr. Sikorski's suggestion, delivered by Russia's NATO ambassador, Dmitri Rogozin, was a study in ambivalence: "There is no such necessity at the moment [to join NATO], but we cannot rule out this opportunity in future," he said.

I certainly can. It is hard enough to get them to act in the Security Council, and we sometimes have to go to NATO instead.

Some Held at U.S. Base in Afghanistan Have Right to Habeas Corpus

NYTimes reported A federal judge ruled on Thursday that some prisoners held by the United States military in Afghanistan have a right to challenge their imprisonment,

Does the military also have to give some prisoners Miranda rights? And who decides who?

dealing a blow to government efforts to detain terrorism suspects for extended periods without court oversight. In a 53-page ruling that rejected a claim of unfettered executive power advanced by both the Bush and Obama administrations, United States District Judge John D. Bates said that three detainees at the United States’ Bagram Air Base had the same legal rights that the Supreme Court last year granted to prisoners held at the American naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

How is the military supposed to fight if a foreign battlefield is under the jurisdiction of US judges

Video of Taliban Flogging Rattles Pakistan

NYTimes.com reported The video shows a young girl held face down as a Taliban commander whips her repeatedly with a leather strap. “Leave me for the moment — you can beat me again later,”

This always made me wonder. In prison they will sentence someone to a huge number of lashes, in the hundreds, but administer them in pieces, as they heal from one lashing they get another installment

she screams, pleading for a reprieve and writhing in pain. Paying no heed, the commander orders the others to tighten their grip on her and continues the public flogging.

He was havong too much fun.

A large group of men quietly stands and watches in a circle around her.

Probably getting sexual stisfaction from the scene.

The girl in the video is a 17-year-old resident of Kabal in the restive Swat region in northwestern Pakistan. The images, which have been aired repeatedly by private television news networks in Pakistan, have caused outrage here and set off bitter condemnation by rights activists and politicians.

There must be some civilized people there.

It has also raised questions once again about the government’s decision to enter into a peace deal in February that effectively ceded Swat to the Taliban

Making a deal with the devil.

and allowed them to impose Islamic law.

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