Can Manufacturing Survive the 21st Century?

The Beer: I tried "fining" again with the Cherry Wheat. We'll see how that goes.

The Bicycle: I'm still on the DL, but a trip to the minors for a rehab assignment might help.

The VRWC: How does manufacturing survive in the US? the President seems to think that increasing Union membership is the key. It's not. I'm heavily involved in looking at what the next generation of factory worker is going to look like. IMHO, that worker is going to need more education than high school or less. The highly skilled worker with math skills, computer skills and the ability to think on his or her feet will be highly sought. The ability to learn new skills and "turn on a dime" flexibility is going to be extraordinarily important. The new reality is high-tech (I hate that term), flexible, computerized manufacturing. If unions can adapt to this new reality, great. I see pockets that have and can. Those that do will survive. Those that don't can only hope the government keeps them afloat.

Apology Demanded

This time there was something really wrong. We should all have the courage and knowledge of this guy.

The Question That Need Not Be Asked

Really? I mean, has this guy not heard and seen all that has gone on when government controls? Maybe this administration is fairly benign (it's not). But what about the next? or the next? Or the one after that? Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Amin, Castro, Kim? All had (or have) complete power. Did he not read "The Prince"? What do we have to fear from government? How about everything.

Now to the meat of the story.

Investor's Business Daily (IBD) says Medicare ain't so great. And they lay out the evidence pretty well. Zelizer cites polling data, while IBD points to the hard economic data. Opinion (especially of those on Medicare) is going to have bias. Numbers don't lie. This should be the overriding economic concern:

Medicare has also become an enormously expensive part of the federal budget, requiring significant increases in payroll taxes while squeezing discretionary spending for other policies.

So Zelizer is OK with this? If Medicare, which, by Zelizer's count, services 40 million and is out-of-cost control, what's going to happen when 8 times that number are covered? Medicare is going broke. Do we want that for the rest of the budget?

And let's add to it that nothing in any federal scheme addresses any of the rootcauses of the high cost of healthcare.

Zelizer is living on a different planet.

Something Missing?

Any guesses what's missing in this poll?

• No comment regarding whether or not the Hispanics polled are here legally.
• No comment regarding whether or not the individual has chosen to forgo health insurance.

Not good polling.

Obama as Supporter of Socialism and Thuggery

H/T: Gateway Pundit.

Amateur hour at the White House....again.

To recap, Zelaya has been legally removed as the leader of Honduras. He is trying to illegally restore himself with the help of Castro, Ortega, Chavez....and Obama.

Obama's administration has condemned the coup, cut $16.5 million in military aid and threatened to slash economic aid.

The first thing we have to get past is that this is a "coup". It's not. Zelaya was legally removed by the Honduran Supreme Court with the support of the Honduran Legislature in accordance with the Honduran Constitution. It has popular support.

Several thousand supporters of the interim government, installed after the army toppled Zelaya and sent him into exile on June 28, marched peacefully in the capital Tegucigalpa.

Zelaya does not.

Around 500 Zelaya supporters staged their own a march on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa to demand his return.

Slashing military and economic aid to our friends is a sure route to disaster. It opens up Honduras to the invasion from unfriendlies that I mentioned here and slashing economic aid only hurts the population.

I miss Reagan. Hell, at this point, I'm starting to miss that disaster Jimmy Carter. No, probably not. But we should be standing with our friends. And I certainly miss "W".

Has CNN Lost the Obamalove?

Here's a little "Truth to Power". The really interesting part is that it comes from CNN. It's pretty clear that we are being handed a big fat lie by the President and the Democrats. They fully intend to socialize healthcare. There is no way you get to keep what you currently have.

I'll reiterate that none of this addresses the root causes of high healthcare costs. But instead of paying it to insurance companies, it's paid to the government. No waste or fraud there. Really. They take such great care of your tax dollars.

Let me ask the Lefties this: Would you have wanted the Bush administration making your healthcare decisions for you? The why is it ok with the Obama administration?

Swine Flu Redux

The Beer: Cherry Wheat. Due to hit the carboy later today and be bottled sometime in the next week.

The Bicycle: I may be headed for Injured Reserve. I've been struggling with medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow - and I haven't golfed for quite some time) all season and finally stopped riding to try and clear it up. Two weeks hasn't helped. We'll see. Knees are a problem, too. There's always next season.

The VRWC: Swine Flu. We continue to get hammered with this story. But how many times are we going to be told such a thing is going to happen, only to have it not? I get the concern. But it's so easy to turn it off when we heard how AIDS was going to explode in the hetero community, then it was SARS, then Bird Flu. We were all going to die. Now we hear the same thing about Swine Flu. I suspect we are so skeptical that if it really happens, we're in real trouble. But will it?

Now throw in a dose of this. Who knows what to believe. Knowing that much of the American Left comes from the "We need to reduce the population" school, why wouldn't this be reasonable. OTOH, at what point has any bureaucracy been able to keep a secret?

Cincinnatus on Healthcare

I stopped by Cincinnatus this morning and responded to a post with this:

While Andrea makes the occasional good point in her post, the high cost of healthcare is less due to the hands-off philosophy than the regulatory environment, the propensity of Americans to use tort to sooth their hurt feelings and our desire to get a pill for whatever ails us. We are, at least in some regards a nation of hypochondriacs, unwilling to deal with minor illnesses, aches and pains. Further, how many of us have a “dog in the fight”? We never see the real cost of our own healthcare. Obamacare never addresses any of those issues. Since, IMHO those are the underlying problems with cost, the only other way to control them is through artificially rationing care. Unless the underlying causes of high healthcare costs are addressed (and there is no political will to do so), Obamacare will be a disaster.

Stop by his blog and see the whole article.

Jets in Oostburg?

I just hope this doesn't fall in the category of "too good to be true". A quick Googling looks pretty legit. OTOH, starting an aircraft company in this economy takes some serious you-know-what.

Either way, I wish this endeavor much success. Wisconsin needs it.

Give Me Healthcare.......

and make someone else pay for it. This Gallup survey is really discouraging. That 56% of Americans polled even think the government should intervene in the healthcare system is a bad sign. An even worse sign is here:

When asked about six proposals being considered as possible ways to pay for the plan, Americans are most likely to favor a fine on employers who do not offer health insurance to their employees, and increasing income taxes on upper-income Americans.

The public shows more support than opposition for a new tax on soft drinks high in sugar, and reductions in the income-tax deductions upper-income Americans can take for home mortgages and charitable contributions.

At what point will we recognize that 1) the money made by the "rich" is their property, not ours, and 2) the "rich" do not have unlimited resources. What gives the populace the right to take anothers' property? At what point will the mob come for yours?

The poll finds that Americans think it is very important to have a wide choice of doctors, treatment options, and health plans, but also want to keep insurance affordable and guarantee access to it regardless of job or medical status. They favor many of the proposals being offered to help pay for reform, but not necessarily by very large majorities.

I think we can now say the public has lost their collective minds.

Deekawife 3.0 on Cronkite

I had the pleasure of meeting Walter Cronkite in the summer of 1997. I was sitting in the bar of the Plaza Hotel in N.Y. He was walking to the bar area and stopped to ask me if I had been shopping since I had put my bags on the floor. I told him I had. He asked me what I was drinking. I told him it was a martini. He said it looked good. He sat at the table next to me with a business woman he came in the bar with. She never said a word and actually appeared bored. The waitress came over with a martini glass filled with lobster salad. When Walter Cronkite got up to leave he stopped again to ask me how the salad was. I told him the lobster salad was delicious and I would highly recommend it. I said "Mr. Cronkite, I used to watch you on the news and never in my lifetime did I think I would get the opportunity to meet an icon." He smiled and asked my name. I extended my hand and told him my name. He asked where I was from and I told him Wisconsin. He then said, "I hope people in N.Y. are as gracious to you as you have been to me."

I wish more in today's media were like him. It is a sad statement that they are (mostly) not.

Where Art thou Obamalove?

Walter Cronkite - RIP

Deekawife 3.0 met him several years ago in NY. She may have some things to say here tomorrow.

I Saw This Coming

Anyone who didn't wasn't paying attention.

This has to be stopped. Call your Congressperson and Senator. DO NOT EMAIL. They don't read it. Stop Obamacare. The future of your country and freedoms are at stake.

Holy Crap, We're Doomed

I continue to be awed by what this President is willing to do and say.

MPB put it best when he told me: "The problem is, he has no idea what he’s doing. Really. He’s lived in an academic thought cocoon, where none of these liberal theories translate into the harsh realities of the real world."

And in order to kiss the collective ass of our real enemies he is willing to undermine the historical record of his political enemies.

Wrong on Nuclear

Jim Draeger and Peace Action Wisconsin are just flat wrong on nuclear power. He continues to repeat the mantra that nuclear is "dangerous". It's not. Nuclear has, without question the best safety record of any industry. He is happy to throw out the "cost of nuclear" card without bothering to tell us that incessant and frivolous lawsuits by groups like Peace Action Wisconsin are the cause of high construction costs for nuclear plants. Many were delayed to over 20 years by these lawsuits. As I recall, the first nuclear plants required but 5-or-so years to build and bring to operation.

The Yucca Mountain repository was cancelled for political reasons, not technological. Further, as I claim here, the Administration plans to throw a bone to the anti-nuclear Leftys by a de facto prohibition on nuclear fuel reprocessing. Again, no technical basis. Pure politics.

Draeger fails to be specific about what is dangerous about nuclear power. Reason? He doesn't know. I venture he has no clue about the technology, the safety features and "inherent stability". He would rather shill for the wind and solar technolgies that will never work and can never work.

Hey Jim: you should have studied in physics class.

I hate supplying a link to PAW. Now I have to disinfect my computer.

Honduran Constitutionality

Both the author and commenters make a huge mistake here. The Honduran Constitution is neither American nor German. It is by the Hondurans. The arguments made based on the American and German view of Constitutionalism (is there such a word) is just flat wrong. The implied notion that there can only be those two views is ludicrous.

Incidentally, had TCO come down on the side of the Honduran Constitution, Conservatives would have applauded.

Crazy

We on the Right of the political spectrum are crazy. It must be true. How could we possibly reject the idea that government can take care of all our needs. The Chosen One is benevolent and kind. He would never harm us. After all...this is America. Having complete control over our lives can't possibly go bad, can it? I mean, it's for the best. Really. All hazards are removed from our lives. All needs are taken care of. All bad decisions are made right. Right?

We must be nuts.

Stand With the Honduran Constitution

Not with Chavez, Castro and Ortega.

The comments at this article are worse than concerning. Particularly those that indicate the ouster of Zelaya is a CIA or Right-Wing plot. Those who believe the Honduran action to be a coup d'etat do not know the facts or have chosen to ignore them.

Everything I read indicates this action was not only legal and Constitutional, but necessary (your Spanish will have to be good to read links from this page). Of course, I'm not including reading from the OSM (Obama-Stream Media).

I fully expect Honduras to be invaded by Nicaragua, Cuba and/or Venezuela at any time. The "Last Best Hope for Mankind" will do nothing. I fear President Obama wants so much to be liked by our enemies that he will sacrifice Honduran Democracy.

Mr. President: Stand with the Honduran Constitution, not with Ortega, Castro and Chavez.

Update: From Gateway Pundit. (Should have read first, written second.)

Tea Party

I attended the Tea Party in Germantown today. Very interesting. I spoke twice, never mentioning that I blog. Many people spoke, in fact. Most were concerned about the direction of the country they love and how quickly we are getting there. Many are concerned about how the mounting federal debt will affect their children and grandchildren. Many were concerned about the loss of jobs both state-and nation-wide. There was the occasional "off-topic guy", but on the whloe, people were of one mind.

It started off small, but by the time we left, I'd estimate 200 or so.

Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor.

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

More "Killa"

Huh...no teleprompter. Imagine that. So she spoke that well without one. Huh.

Obama has no clothes. Shes' much more the leader than he ever thought of being. She's not afraid to speak from her heart. We need more of that.

United States

I've been getting regular "hits" here from "United States". Should I expect a knock on the door at midnight?

The Killa From Wasilla

I think she's done...for now. I hope I'm wrong.

They attacked her children. They have done everything they could to destroy her. I'd have said "enough", too.

Shame on the GOP as well.

Edit 1926: This is also evidence politicians have no soul.

What? No concern for habitat here? I've drawn my own conclusions. You draw yours.

Salazar said the bureau was already considering environmental reviews for two projects in Nevada. The NextLight Silver State South would have a solar array producing 267 megawatts, and NextLight Silver State North would produce about 140 megawatts.

Salazar said the two plants combined would produce more electricity than a "mid-sized" coal-fired plant that can produce 350 megawatts.

Here's a math problem for you: If the sun shines on the Earth at (about) 1 kw per square foot at noon at the equator at the equinox on a perfectly clear day, how much habitat is necessary to produce 350 megawatts (average over 24 hours) of solar energy, assuming a 15% conversion rate and the reduced solar energy at 35 degrees north latitude (the location of the Mojave Desert). You may also assume summer solstice.

Can The Tide Be Turned?

I'm seeing more articles like this, this and this in the MSM. Now that the reality of Cap and Tax is upon us, people are beginning to see the (alleged) AGW dogma for what it is.

I have long commented on the propaganda of (alleged) AGW. The lack of scientific debate and the silencing of dissent has always been a red flag to me. It doesn't pass the smell test. The essence of the scientific method is to develop a theory, then try to disprove it. (Alleged) AGW has always been the opposite. "The science is settled". No, it's not. And in the end, the US may be the only country to continue to drink the (alleged) AGW Kool-Aid. India and China have already clearly stated they will not be playing.

Interesting that Heidi Cullen is gone from The Weather Channel, as is the whole "green" thing (maybe I just missed it, but I watch A LOT of TWC).

I'm a big fan of "doing the right thing", of being a good steward, of having clean air and water. I have my own vegetable garden. I'd like the ground to be untainted and fertile. But I also want my children to grow up free and prosperous. I still believe in American Exceptionalism and rather than the United States being the worst, as some would have us believe, I believe it to be the best. I don't want to live in, "just another country".

Say What?!?!?!

OK...this is just weird. And way over the top.