COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, November 07, 2008

Chine Lectures on the Environment


From a country that cannot keep melamine out of children's milk, which has killed hundreds in Central American with toxic toothpaste, purveys adulterated medicine to the unsuspecting and is a national toxic generating machine:

China continues climate change call to action

By China correspondent Stephen McDonell
Australia Broadcast Corp


China has stepped up its rhetoric on climate change, calling on Western countries to do more to tackle the problem.

China's Premier Wen Jiabao says people in countries like Australia, can not go on living the way they are if the world's environment is going to be saved.

Speaking at a meeting with representatives of 76 countries Premier Wen said: "The developed countries have a responsibility and an obligation to respond to global climate change by altering their unsustainable way of life."

The meeting in Beijing is discussing how new technologies can tackle climate change.

United Nations climate official Yvo de Boer has told the same meeting that much of the "clean" technology which wealthy nations promised the developing world in the Kyoto Protocol has simply not arrived.


165 comments:

  1. China's Premier Wen Jiabao says people in countries like Australia, can not go on living the way they are if the world's environment is going to be saved.

    Wow, already the election of Obama is paying dividends. Australia is now the leading non-socialist economy, so the United States no longer rates a mention when the greenies attack. Whoo hoo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Screw China...

    Oh we just did...

    We elected the "ONE" who will depress the USA's economy..

    and thus...

    screwing China...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I guess Australia will have to quit selling all that coal to China, huh?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Orwell was a piker compared to reality 2008.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bennet read this in response to the protests and lawsuits in California Over Prop 8, defining Marriage, and election 2000 and it's aftermath, compared to our response to election 2008.
    (no protests, no lawsuits, no whining on Ophra, Letterman, the View, etc)
    ---
    Mediocrity as a national ideal
    Walker Percy

    ...in all these years I've been assuming that between us, words mean the same thing...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Does a good job of explaining why I hate (activist) gays, T.

    (and every other activist that comes to mind)

    ...all the Pathetic MoFos since the sixties that never even heard of Alinsky or Cloward-Pivens, but, being useful Idiots, did what they were told to do just the same.

    PATHETIC.

    Carrying out the Communist Nightmare while being ignorant/unconscious of what they were doing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gosh, dear host, I was sooooooo looking forward to another nigger thread. Yesterday's was a treat.

    If I declare this Ash Friday, maybe cut and paste some Perrin or Wolcott, can I get another one going?

    C'mon, bob. Bring the Coors Lite girl and Bible Spice with you. We'll have a nigger thread *party*.

    ReplyDelete
  8. let's give Obama (sic) his chance to destroy our country...

    the upside? without OUR $$$$$$ the world will not be able to suck off our tit...

    remember our recession is the world's depression

    the the good times roll...

    fuck opec & china

    ReplyDelete
  9. It seems to be a consistent property of life at the bar Trish - da nigga's isda problem. if'n it wernt fer da dang niggas all would be peachy keen...and bright as a fresh spring day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mwbtion the fact that there are real problems in the black community and you're a racist.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. ash said...
    It seems to be a consistent property of life at the bar Trish - da nigga's isda problem. if'n it wernt fer da dang niggas all would be peachy keen...and bright as a fresh spring day.

    ash you ignorant slut....

    (not to tarnish sluts)

    No the theme is not "n" the theme is the fact that a man, who sat in the pews of a hate filled, son of a bitch for 22 years, friends with a WHITE terrorist is now POTUS...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nouriel Roubini has something to say about China today at forbes.com (avail at RCP).

    Also: Kathleen Parker cops to getting teary-eyed not once, but twice. She, Chris Buckley, Charles Krauthammer and I are getting together later and going bowling. After Fun With Bob.




    Oh, we swing wildy, ash, between the threats of dhimmitude, commitude, and niggitude.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Gosh, dear host, I was sooooooo looking forward to another nigger thread. Yesterday's was a treat.
    ==

    How about another Trish talking out of her ass treat? I'm sure there will hundreds other that Trish will want to forget.


    November 7, 2008
    Georgia Claims on Russia War Called Into Question
    By C. J. CHIVERS and ELLEN BARRY

    TBILISI, Georgia — Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the longstanding Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggression.

    Instead, the accounts suggest that Georgia's inexperienced military attacked the isolated separatist capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 7 with indiscriminate artillery and rocket fire, exposing civilians, Russian peacekeepers and unarmed monitors to harm.
    .
    .
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/world/europe/07georgia.html

    ReplyDelete
  15. Okay, let's put the racist bullshit away. There's fun things to do, and serious things to do. Race-hating just doesn't "fit in."

    ReplyDelete
  16. But Bob is partially right, Rufus. Blacks have had whites hold their hand for a long long time. Not just in America, but in Africa as well. Blacks really need to change that culture. Blacks need to commit themselves to academia and higher intellectual pursuit than scamming the welfare state.

    ReplyDelete
  17. If having a black President makes the black crime rate fall, and causes pappa to stay home with momma and raise the kids, then I'm all for it. I don't think it will work that way though. Instead we'll see a sell out of Israel and more wealth transfers. Just sayin....

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ts































    Those BASTARDS, mat.

    Welp, no NATO membership for *them.*

    ReplyDelete
  19. Those BASTARDS, mat.

    Welp, no NATO membership for *them.*
    ==

    That's not the point. And we've already tracked over that ground.

    ReplyDelete
  20. There's all kinds of skinhead bars where people are obsessed with "culture," Bob. This bar's never been about that.

    All that race shit makes my stomach hurt. Ruins the enjoyment of the beer, if you will.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Yes, we HAVE tracked over that ground, haven't we?

    ReplyDelete
  22. For all our sakes, I wish Obama well, though I'm already convinced he is a total charlatan.

    We've been had.

    Black crime isn't my fault. The fact that 70 percent or so of black kids grow up without a father around, that isn't my fault.

    I'm not going to be intimidated into pointing some obvious stuff out, now we have a black President.

    Let them clean up their own neighborhoods, so my wife can walk through without fear, like they can do here.

    It isn't racist to say that, and I'm as far from a skinhead as you are ever going to get.

    It's simply the truth. There are no go areas in the country, for people like my wife and I.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Blacks need to commit themselves to academia and higher intellectual pursuit than scamming the welfare state.

    Fri Nov 07, 10:48:00 AM EST

    NOT A GOOD IDEA. They'll get caught up in the GOP's future purge of the bourgeoisie and intelligentsia. Safer where they are, those that are.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Something like 70 percent of black kids grow up without a dad around, these days. That's a real problem, and it's not racist to point it out. I feel for them, actually. But how are you going to fix it? With another welfare check? I don't think it's going to work. Something else is needed, and I don't know what it is.

    Hollywood could change their movies, make heros out of good black guys, quit making movies with nauseating themes, make heros out of real black men, that would be a start.

    I blame a lot of our cultural demise on white Hollywood.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Trish, I luv ya, but your last statement didn't make any sense at all.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Yes, we HAVE tracked over that ground, haven't we?
    ==

    Yes we have. And you were busy sniffing your own pee trails.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The purge of anything not associated with the rural/semi-rural heartland, bob. With Real America.

    You know. Arkansas. And its outposts.

    ReplyDelete
  28. My daughter's godmother Linda has a beautiful house there in Columbus, Ohio. Actually a palace, and she has poured money into it. But blacks are moving into the neighborhood, and the whites are moving out. And now she wants out too. But, she can't find a buyer.

    It is not racist to point that out.

    It's just reality.

    People don't want to buy where they fear they will be mugged.

    It's the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Ask any real estate agent. They are not racists. They just want to make a sale.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Bob,

    Linda should get her new neighbors to build a new synagogue. That will raise her property value by 50%. I kid you not.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Enough, Bob. I'm sure the KKK has a blog, somewhere. You should take it over there.

    We knew you were, basically, a good guy who was upset, so we were patient. BUT, it's time to pee on the fire and call in the dogs on that one.

    Hate is just no way to fill up a day.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Doug: Does a good job of explaining why I hate (activist) gays, T.

    On all the dyke blogs they were so happy to see that Get Out The Vote Drive usher in Obama, with exit polls showing 97% of black voters went for the big O. Then gay marriage was shot down in several places all over the country and there was a big howl. It turns out that whites voted for Prop 8 in California 51-49 and about the same in Florida, and it turns out that African-Americans voted for Prop 8 70-30 and about the same in Florida. So we sure did get out the vote to put Obama in the White House, but we also have the law of unintended consequences raising its ugly head.

    I voted the Libertarian ticket because (among many other things) Obama is not woman-centered, woman-friendly, and assuredly not on board two womenfolk getting hitched.

    But what happened when I brought this up? They said *I* was playing the race card. Bitches. This was a newspaper article, not a deck of cards.


    California’s black and Latino voters, who turned out in droves for Barack Obama, also provided key support in favor of the state’s same-sex marriage ban. Seven in 10 black voters backed a successful ballot measure to overturn the California Supreme Court’s May decision allowing same-sex marriage, according to exit polls for The Associated Press.

    More than half of Latino voters supported Proposition 8, while whites were split. Religious groups led the tightly organized campaign for the measure, and religious voters were decisive in getting it passed. Of the seven in 10 voters who described themselves as Christian, two-thirds backed the initiative. Married voters and voters with children strongly supported Proposition 8. Unmarried voters were heavily opposed.

    ReplyDelete
  33. It's not hate, Rufus, and I'm not a racist.

    It's just the simple truth.

    Just look at the crime statistics.

    The truth is as an investor, I would not buy godmother Linda's house myself.

    I'm gonna take my tack, and hold the blacks to account for how they live their lives, just like we whites should be held to account.

    It is not racist to do that.

    ReplyDelete
  34. It's time the blacks be held to account. No more excuses.

    And no more Affirmitive Action.

    Let them all compete equally.

    All the races.

    Equally.

    ReplyDelete
  35. It's not going to stop, rufus. And it's not just bob.

    ReplyDelete
  36. People all over the country have houses they can't sell, Bob. In all kinds of neighborhoods. Look, you may be right; but, quite honestly, I don't care to spend my day hearing about it.

    GM's within a hair of bankruptcy, and I think that's a heck of a lot more important to me than your sister's real estate/race problem.

    Again, there are places for that type of discussion. Why not "spare" us?

    ReplyDelete
  37. I don't like being called a racist.

    My family brought the law to the wild, wild west here.

    I am not a racist.

    I love my native American friends.

    But, before we came, it was just the survival of the fittest, no law to be damned.

    That is the way it was.

    humptilliepsts came back from a trip to the south, with a necklace of scalps around his neck.

    You can read about it in the Journals of Lewis and Clark.

    You have picked the wrong man to call a racist.

    But now we have a black President, I fell free to point some stuff out.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Well, it won't be around me, Trish. I don't intend to spend what's left of my life being a part of it.

    Times are changing, and there are "Great" Opportunities out there awaiting us. I will not spend my time wallowing in a morass of misery, and despair.

    ReplyDelete
  39. I'm not wallowing in despair. I'm with you, Rufus. Let's get some stuff done.

    I'm finished with my rhetoric.

    We're all in it together, let's go forward.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I don't care if we have a Purple, and pink polka-dotted President, Bob; I don't feel like listening to you bitching about "black families." If you don't like'em, don't join'em. But, keep me out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  41. That's the spirit, Bob. Barkeep, give this man a "cold" one.

    ReplyDelete
  42. "Well, it won't be around me, Trish. I don't intend to spend what's left of my life being a part of it."

    Me either, rufus.

    Me either.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Good points everyone. This will get real stale, real fast. I do not want that to happen and neither do you.

    Here is it as I see it:

    1. We had a good go at trying to hold the line,decimated by our esteemed GWB, and lost. It was probably a fool's errand, but the results are in. We lost.

    2. Barack Obama is a bright ambitious guy. He is extraordinarily influential, but he now has to start buying back what he sold, because he cannot deliver. No one could.

    3. The American Public are going to have to diet on some dreary gruel. Obama has all the levers of command at his disposal. They include the media, Congress, academia, intelligencia, and the entire liberal establishment. What can they do? Not that much. That means he will have to take full responsibility for the outcome.

    4. The reason why is simple, Obama sold self- esteem and undefined hope. None of that will help. There is a substantial reckoning taking place in the world economic system. Obama has no idea on how to do that. He is gathering new idea guys like Paul Volker, Warren Buffett and Rom Emanuel....Please.

    Anyway, this place will get very very boring if we just keep hammering on about the past. Let's let them have their try.

    We will focus on all areas that should be of interest to us. For my part, I will try and keep an open mind as to the future.

    ReplyDelete
  44. GM's within a hair of bankruptcy
    ==

    So? They still don't have a single car model that anyone wants to buy. In 2011 electric cars will flood the market, and GM will still be pushing its Cadillac SUVs.

    ReplyDelete
  45. A guerilla fighter knows when to disengage. We got hammered. We should let them do what they will, because there is not much we do to stop it. The whole nonsense about bi-partisanship has already been scrapped. Consider this.:


    Politico

    President-elect Barack Obama’s selection of Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) as his White House chief of staff is the latest demonstration of a quality Obama showed repeatedly over the course of his campaign:

    He’s willing to do what it takes to win.

    If his goal had been to create a cordial bipartisan tone in Washington — much less a calm, profanity-free West Wing — Obama would have looked elsewhere.

    The selection of Emanuel, one of the Democratic Party’s most effective operatives over the past two decades, was a powerful signal of Obama’s determination to be effective under the existing rules of the Washington game.

    “He’s from the Lombardi wing of the party — he’s a guy who wants to win at any cost and will do whatever it takes,” said John Lapp, a former top Emanuel aide at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Lapp called Emanuel “the best possible pick — a perfectionist and fighter who loves the president[-elect] like a brother.”

    ReplyDelete
  46. I just got back from St Johns. I had to rent a car while I was there and tried a Chrysler. I have no future plans to buy one.

    ReplyDelete
  47. And a word of caution on pundits. What a difference a year makes:

    Analyst upgrades: GM, AYI, PPS, MAN and IMAX
    Posted Oct 30th 2007 10:50AM by Eric Buscemi

    MOST NOTEWORTHY: General Motors... were today's noteworthy upgrades:

    UBS upgraded General Motors (NYSE: GM) to Buy from Sell citing a potential $3B in cost savings from the "transformational contract" with the UAW.

    ReplyDelete
  48. What I know for an absolute certainty is, they will try their best to get my money.

    That I have worked hard for.

    That's the way it is.

    ReplyDelete
  49. mətušélaḥ said...
    Bob,

    Linda should get her new neighbors to build a new synagogue. That will raise her property value by 50%. I kid you not.

    Sadly in Columbus Ohio, Bob is not incorrect...

    The LARGEST Conservative synagogue (i'm a member) in columbus is surrounded on all sides now with ONCE amazing homes that are crumbling..

    At one time the areas homes WERE palaces...

    Then people moved to GET OUT of COLUMBUS schools and that's what we have...

    In Columbus HOMES values are based on SCHOOL system

    ReplyDelete
  50. :)

    I'm thinking of putting in an e-mail to my Jewish lawyer, to see what he thinks of all this stuff.

    But, I better consider carefully, because he is a truly great guy, of lawyers the very best, and, like lots of Jewish lawyers, mostly a democrat.

    So, cause I love the guy, I am considering this carefully....

    ReplyDelete
  51. They're not quite that bad, Mat. They have the largest line of flexfuel cars, out there; and they, now, have four, or five "hybrid" models.

    The "Volt" is a "breakthrough" car. Toyota, and Honda said it "wouldn't work."

    Their "Legacy," healthcare, and labor costs are just too high. Also, it takes a year, or so, to cycle out of the SUVS, and Big Pick-ups that everyone wanted last yeat to the smaller vehicles that "We Think" the consumer will want next year.

    It's looking tough. They have enough "Cash" for about 3, or 4 more months, and then . . . . . . . .

    ReplyDelete
  52. My Jewish lawyer loaned me around $300,000 thousand dollars when I needed it. And, because he thought I was right. And, we finally won. And, I paid him back every dime.

    I love that guy.

    ReplyDelete
  53. They're not quite that bad, Mat. They have the largest line of flexfuel cars
    ==

    So, for installing a $5 gadget and receiving $500 in return for it from the gov, all is forgiven? C'mon Rufus.

    ReplyDelete
  54. The issue of race is now on the plate...

    and it's proper...

    The usage of the term NIGGER is not...

    One of the most wonderful things to come out of this shitcan called "Obama" is now the excuse that the MAN is holding us back is gone...

    This is the beginning of the END of Affirmative Action..

    From here on out, it is time for ALL Americans to be judged by the content of their character or their skills NOT their race..

    This will be a shocker to many in the minority camps...

    the free ride is over...

    It is interesting as a PRO-Choice Democrat (who HATES Obama) the concept of bastard children in the black community is about 70% of all births... AND that Planned Parenthood has locations in every Ghetto!

    This is not racist to point that out...

    With Power comes accountability!

    Now let's focus on other nations of the world...

    When will a White man become President or Prime Minister of an African Nation? When will Jews be allowed to OWN property in the Arab World? When will France elect Muslim from Algeria to Lead them? When will the Queen of England step down and abolish their Monarchy and allow full and democratic rights to all of the citizens?

    When will China allow Tibet to be free?

    Change is coming...















































    Nickels, Dimes and Pennies that is.......




    Time for MORE AYN RAND, Less REV WRIGHT

    ReplyDelete
  55. No black is going to do that for me.

    I like who I like.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Pappa was a lawyer. And, he backed Andy for judge. Cause he was the best one.

    Andy remembered that.

    And, later, helped me out big time.

    I will always remember that.

    Long Live Israel!

    ReplyDelete
  57. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  58. GM is important for more than the cars it builds.
    ==

    Yes, is it also important for the cities it created. Detroit being an example.

    ReplyDelete
  59. The way it has always been, bob.
    Nothing new happened.

    We've merely switched from Connecticut Cowboys to Chi-town Shysters.

    No big deal.

    From Haliburton to General Dynamics

    Fall back, regroup around a set of core values. Whatever they are ...
    Or turn out to be

    GM is important for more than the cars it builds. It is America, don't you know. At least from a lot of folks perspective it is.

    America - a coat of many colors.
    One size fits all

    So love it or leave it

    When you're running down his idea of a country, you're walkin' on the fightin' side of Merle.

    Hope the Iraq security forces have been well trained. The real success of the US Military's mission in Iraq will be known.

    If the Iraqi Army holds, then the US Military did a good job. If Iraq's Security Forces break into factions and militias, the US Military will have failed, in its' six year mission to Stand Them UP!

    Because, amigos, we'll be standing down.

    ReplyDelete
  60. DR: Because, amigos, we'll be standing down.


    Yes are already are....

    And PLEASE SHOW me ONE other Nation on this PLANET that EVER went to WAR...

    WON & Spends Trillions IN REBUILDING their ENEMY?

    America SHOULD be PROUD of what we have tried to do in Iraq....

    If Iraq fails? we tried...

    If Iraq Succeeds? It's to our credit...

    After all look at the mess the Turks, Arabs, Persians, French & English gave us in Iraq....

    ReplyDelete
  61. Well, mat, as to all those folk in Detroit, they are Americans, one and all.

    Even folk in northern Micigan or country's home in Nashville, hell, even those down in sweet home Alamaba qualify.

    Even you, amigo, qualify as an American, living on the continent.

    ReplyDelete
  62. I can tell you what a good lawyer is.

    He is a man that knows his history, and knows how good it is to live in America.

    He is a real man, a good man, that appreciates that Swedes like me are open minded.

    He is a man that knows the law, as we have made it to be, open to all.

    He is a man that understands that the LAW IS--for all of us.

    He is a truly great guy, like my Jewish lawyer, who my dad and Andy, they got along wonderfully, from the gitgo.

    That is what a great lawyer is.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Bob, sounds like you married the wrong gal. :)

    ReplyDelete
  64. If I make this next sale, you're on the hook for taking me to Israel.

    Think about that, my smart ass Mat, my friend!

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  65. And, the truth is, I think I have a sale going.

    So don't be so damned certain you will never met ol' Bob.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Bob, I would love to introduce you our niggers. :) Just for the privilege of being near these beautiful people, it's worth it to be an Israeli. That's why I say it's a matter culture.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Mat, I like you, even if we may disagee on energy policies!

    Build nuclear reactors now!

    Fire up the country!

    And, I'm NOT riding that bike DOWNHILL!

    ReplyDelete
  68. LOL!

    Not to worry, we'll take the train. Powered on Israeli solar.

    ReplyDelete
  69. A monumental event is going to take place in this election cycle. Obama is going to have a live press conference. The subject will be about specific plans for the US economy and dealing with the financial crisis.

    He will be speaking as the President elect.

    His words will move markets.

    Platitudes and theory will not cut it.

    The press will have to be tough on him now.

    ReplyDelete
  70. My guess is that he will try and punt.

    ReplyDelete
  71. GM is an example. it is inconceivable that the government can let GM fail. GM is much more than a car manufacturer. It has financial tentacles throughout the world financial community.

    GM has a union problem. It makes crappy cars because they have crappy work rules and workers who probably should not be there.

    Where is that solution?

    ReplyDelete
  72. Where is that solution?
    ==

    Tesla Motors.

    ReplyDelete
  73. As for me, I'm just going back to basics.

    Rely on myself, that sort of thing.

    Which has always worked, in the past.

    If I can make another sale, I'm callin' Mat.

    ReplyDelete
  74. The idea that Obama has to be making this press conference and not the dumb SOB who we are paying to do the job speaks volumes.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Bob, I am pleased that you are relaxing.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Tesla Motors. Electric trains. Electric bikes. More walkable cities. Less urban sprawl.

    ReplyDelete
  77. End Affirmative Action Now.

    For the good of all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  78. There's an interesting dynamic with G.M. and Obama/crats.

    GM's problem is, basically, Unions. Healthcare/Pensions too extravagant, work rules AFU. You can throw money at GM, Ford, and Chrysler till the cows come home, but until you fix the union mess you haven't "fixed" anything.

    Now comes the Democrats, and their plans to "Strengthen" Unions. Cardcheck, etc.

    Let GM fail? Not an option. Let them ditch the unions? Not an option. The only "Fix" is the "Nonfix." How sweet is that?

    ReplyDelete
  79. Let GM fail?
    ==

    Let GM fail? They've been failing for over 30 years. Enough with that. Time to let someone else have a go.

    ReplyDelete
  80. GM is a real tar baby for Obama. Rufus states it well. I would not let GM fail, but it will never change with current union rules. GM should probably be broken up.

    Obama did well on the press conference. He was appropriately cautious, but spoke with decisiveness. He emphasized small business and focused on jobs.
    He did not back down on his tax plans, but he sounded pragmatic.

    Not a bad performance.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Not a bad performance.

    Market seems to agree.

    Stocks Ramp Higher In Late Trade

    BY VINCENT MAO

    Posted 11/7/2008

    After consolidating morning gains, the major stock indexes ramped up in late trade. The Dow hit a new intraday high, and the other averages were on the verge of doing the same.

    At 2:47 p.m. EST, the NYSE composite was up 3.1%, Dow 2.8%, S&P 500 2.7% and Nasdaq 2.4%.

    Volume continued to track sharply lower across the board, mitigating the gains...
    _IBD

    The bottom may have been reached. Time will tell. How many lickings can we absorb and still keep on ticking? Walmart continues to thrive.

    ReplyDelete
  82. He is a real man, a good man, that appreciates that Swedes like me are open minded.

    I grew up among the Swedes, Bob. Maybe they weren't all like you.

    LOL

    No offense intended toward you or your good Jewish lawyer.

    ReplyDelete
  83. LOL!

    Medvedev hails U.S.-Russia ties at new GM plant

    Sell GM to Russia!

    ReplyDelete
  84. "Chine Lectures on the Environment"
    ==


    A little Copy & Paste:

    .
    .
    China's "fuel efficiency standards for cars are 40% higher than those in the US."

    China leads the world in low carbon transport - 21 million electric bicycles and 1.64 million energy efficient compact cars were sold in 2007 - and its fuel efficiency standards for cars are 40% higher than those in the US. Already the world’s third largest ethanol producer, China plans to grow 12 million tonnes of low carbon fuel per year by 2020;

    China is already the world's leading renewable energy producer with 152 Gigawatts of installed renewable capacity in 2007, and has the largest hydro-electric fleet and fifth largest wind power fleet in the world. It plans to double the proportion of renewable energy to 15% by 2020. China has seen investment of USD$12 billion in renewable energy - more than any other country except Germany;

    China is second only to Japan in manufacturing solar photo-voltaic technology with 820 megawatts of production by the end of 2007. Output of solar panels has doubled in each of the last four years. By 2009, it will be the world’s leading exporter of wind turbines. It is also taking the lead in solar water heaters, energy efficient home appliances, and rechargeable batteries;

    China has targeted a 20% reduction in energy intensity by 2010, on 2005 levels. Using high efficiency, super critical technology to replace small, inefficient coal plants, China has avoided CO2 emissions of approximately 37.6 million tonnes a year (since 2007). It has set energy efficiency targets for its 1000 largest energy consuming companies, and has developed comprehensive regulations covering almost all of its economy including fuel economy, mandatory efficiency and labelling standards for home appliances, green car taxes, building efficiency design codes, and renewable subsidies;

    A low carbon wave has created some of China’s most successful business leaders. China’s six largest solar PV manufacturers had a market value of over USD$15 billion in July 2008; the market for solar water heaters is worth over USD$2 billion a year and is growing at 20%; and the market for electric bicycles (e-bikes) is around USD$6 billion;.

    Massive investment opportunities will be created around China’s low carbon development. Returns on energy efficiency improvements often exceed 50% per year, equivalent to a pay-back period of only two years. China is the second largest recipient of sustainable energy investment (USD$12 billion) of any other country in the world except Germany, and has already become the largest supplier of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) credits in the world which is now funding billions of dollars worth of carbon reductions. It is estimated that China will require a further USD $398 billion (USD$33 billion per year) to meet its 2020 renewable energy goals.
    .
    .

    ReplyDelete
  85. In 1908 the model T averaged 25 MPG. In 2008 the Cadillac Escalade averages about half that.

    ReplyDelete
  86. 1908 Model T wieghed in at 1199 lb
    Cost $850 with a price ruduction in 1912 to $575

    2008 Cadillac DTS ...
    Curb Weight: 4009 lbs.
    MSRP: $43,175

    More than simple differences 'tween the two.

    ReplyDelete
  87. 71 cents a pound for a Model T

    $10.77 per pound, for a Caddie.

    ReplyDelete
  88. $10.77 per pound, for a Caddie.
    ==

    And $14 million per year for our aptly named Dick Wagoner. What does that come out to per pound?

    ReplyDelete
  89. The Model T saga at wiki is quite long, informative as well.

    By 1914, the assembly process for the Model T had been so streamlined it took only 93 minutes to assemble a car. That year Ford produced more cars than all other automakers combined. The Model T was a great commercial success, and by the time Henry made his 10 millionth car, 9 out of 10 of all cars in the entire world were Fords. In fact, it was so successful that Ford did not purchase any advertising between 1917 and 1923; in total, more than 15 million Model Ts were manufactured, more than any other model of automobile for almost a century.

    Henry Ford's eccentric approach to research and development meant few changes to the vehicle were made over its lifetime;
    he believed the Model T was all the car a person would, or could, ever need.

    ReplyDelete
  90. he believed the Model T was all the car a person would, or could, ever need.
    ==

    How did he and Hitler ever get along?

    ReplyDelete
  91. bobal wrote:

    "You have picked the wrong man to call a racist."

    Naw Bobal YOU ARE a racist but it is sad that you are so ignorant of it. Take a look at how you characterize your lawyer. What the heck does his Jewishness have to do with his skills as a lawyer? Why is it pertinant for you to write "jewish lawyer" as opposed to just "lawyer"? Answer: the race of someone means a lot to you.

    ReplyDelete
  92. Google:
    ford hitler

    The reasons seems clear enough.

    They both were against the same folk. so their negatives brought them together.

    A George Soros of his day, was Henry. At least Lester Crown keeps his primary political interests domestic.

    ReplyDelete
  93. It was all about who they were against, not what they were for.

    A dangerous course to chart, in politics.

    ReplyDelete
  94. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  95. It was all about who they were against, not what they were for.
    ==

    Nah, I think they were pretty much only for themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  96. Jewishness
    ==

    Hey, Ashley, how come you're such an expert on Racism? And when did Jewishness become a race?

    ReplyDelete
  97. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  98. Never met either of them.

    Based upon the pre-election infomercial, Ford help to create the problems of the ObamaNation.

    Because Ford set a standard of providing two generations of workers security and a reasonable wage, now that standard has evaporated for the TN Ford worker.

    The legacy costs of these old manufacturing companies cannot be maintained by those companies, in the face of new competition that is not burdened by those costs.

    ObamaNation will nationalize those legacy costs for the "Big Three", just watch.

    ReplyDelete
  99. The legacy costs of these old manufacturing companies cannot be maintained by those companies, in the face of new competition that is not burdened by those costs.
    ==

    BS.

    ReplyDelete
  100. oh aren't you being coy Mat. How does one become a Jew? Who's your momma?

    Now I'll grant you that being Jewish does sometimes denote simply a religion of choice but it also denotes race as you well know.

    boy, if Bobal subbed in the term Jew instead of black it sure would be interesting watch the fireworks explode from you and WiO

    ReplyDelete
  101. That is not BS, at all.

    That is the ObamaNation version of reality.

    Those pensions and healthcare costs for the retirees. As well as the existing employees.

    Which Toyota, amongst others, operating in IN, KY, etc do not have to book similar expenses.
    The International Herald Tribune reports:

    UAW membership has fallen in the past two decades as General Motors, Ford Motor and DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler unit closed plants across the United States. That has raised pressure on the union to organize one of the dozens of U.S. assembly, engine and parts factories operated by Toyota, Honda Motor, Nissan Motor and Hyundai Motor.

    These imported manufacturers do not carry generations of legacy costs. Drink another of trish's cocktails, if you want BS.

    ReplyDelete
  102. oh aren't you being coy Mat.
    ==

    Not at all. Are Polaks a race? Are Egyptoons are race?

    ReplyDelete
  103. "The UAW has been trying to organize this plant for 20 years, so it's not surprising they are trying again," said Dan Sieger, a spokesman for Toyota's North American manufacturing unit in Erlanger, Kentucky, near Georgetown.

    Employees at the plant earn on average $70,000 a year, one of the highest industrial wages in Kentucky, Sieger said.

    ReplyDelete
  104. Funding health care and pension costs cannot be simply written off with a BS. Countries that have national health care greatly reduce the burden of private corporations that promise similar coverage.

    I do find it ironic that so many in the US live in fear of a national health care system yet believe that the employer should provide them with health care. These legacy costs are a significant per car cost for the big three.

    It is also easy for an exec. with a firm like GM who, when engaged in negotiations with a labor force, promises a generous pension and decent health care benefits instead of a big wage hike because the wage hike would effect the bottom line immediately and all that other stuff only later (minus regulated captila set asides). Gee, bonus gets calculated on the short term profit picture. It would be hard not to take the bag of money and leave those tougher issues for later.

    ReplyDelete
  105. Those pensions and healthcare costs for the retirees.
    ==

    Yeah. And that's the reason for GM's duplicate brands and multi dozen models of the same shit that nobody wants to buy.

    ReplyDelete
  106. We've had this discussion before mat and in its earlier incarnation you were less inclined to treat Jewishness as religion but rather as race. I'll grant you that there are fuzzy edges on that question.

    ReplyDelete
  107. We've had this discussion before mat
    ==

    Answer the question.

    ReplyDelete
  108. mat convinced me that there is a Jooish race, asthe Russian converts were not "real" Jews.

    There are other challenges at GM, to be sure. But a major piece of the Government rescue package will be about the legacy costs.
    There has already been an infusion of Nationalization cash to motivate electric and hybrid development.

    ReplyDelete
  109. bobal. hate to see you going against your nature. you're a good american, stay patriotic and back the new pres. fuggit, lets make the best of it. But no slack!

    ReplyDelete
  110. The future president of the United States spent 20 years in a race-based church. And probably not simply for it's political expediency judging by his prior, shall we say, literature.

    Perhaps it's the wave of the future. Back to the future.

    ReplyDelete
  111. ash said...

    boy, if Bobal subbed in the term Jew instead of black it sure would be interesting watch the fireworks explode from you and WiO


    actually ash, you ignorant slut, (no offense to good sluts) I have on each topic that bob had his rants, I have asked strongly he stop it.

    Correct me if i am wrong, but I responded quickly to his usage of the term "nigger". A term I do not use, nor think should be used...

    What I did not do is keep drawing attention to it, rather attempted to redirect the topic to the actual points rather than a racial slur..

    ash, dont be ignorant... be a slut.. you will garner more respect for the honesty of your actions...

    ReplyDelete
  112. Nonsense like that being the work of our self-styled, pseudo-"intelligentsia".

    ReplyDelete
  113. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  114. mat convinced me that there is a Jooish race, asthe Russian converts were not "real" Jews.
    ==

    LOL! But that's the thing, dRat, they are not converts. And fake papers to milk the Israeli social safety net, don't make them Jewish or Israeli.

    ReplyDelete
  115. So Ashley, are Egyptoons a race? Why is that taking for you so long to answer?

    ReplyDelete
  116. Jewishness
    ==

    Hey, Ashley, how come you're such an expert on Racism? And when did Jewishness become a race?

    Mat, most gentiles cannot our group...

    We are originally a middle eastern tribe.... we do allow new people into the tribe and getting thrown out is possible but a rare thing to happen...

    what boggles them is how can we be jews of different skin colors and hues and thus be connected..

    it's beyond them

    The ash's & DR of the world cannot fathom the concept that we do not seek converts to join our strange band of people and at the SAME TIME DO NOT CURSE or CONDEMN them for not JOINING us...

    that somehow jews share a way of thinking and shared history that spans for over 3 thousand years...

    the connections that jews share is not measurable to them...

    they are blind...

    we cannot make them understand what is undefinable....

    so to you Mat I say,

    shabbat shalom....

    to dr & ash...

    dont try to think to hard, you may hurt yourself... go get a beer and some fried chicken and maybe if your lucky get laid....

    ReplyDelete
  117. shabbat shalom
    ==

    Erev tov ve'shabbat shalom, WiO. But Israel is a nation, not a tribe. ;)

    Jewishness = land religion language culture ethnicity, and a recorded lineage traced back to Priestess Sarah.

    ReplyDelete
  118. Does not even get my feet wet, let alone be something I'd try to fathom, the religion of other folk.

    Be it Obama or wi"o". Seeking converts or not, as you all wish.

    I never thought religion as a race, until you claimed it so, mat, in regards the Jooish of the world.
    I really do not know nor care beyond that.

    Except as a spectator to a Lester Crown Oval Office. Even then, the fact that Lester is Jooish, to me, just another pivot point.

    Like Sumner and Shari Redstone are the controlling interests at CBS.
    Another factoid to be weighed, on occassion.

    ReplyDelete
  119. I never thought religion as a race, until you claimed it so, mat, in regards the Jooish of the world.
    ==

    Jewishness is not just a Religion. It's a national cultural ethnic geographic historic identity. It's all these things interwoven into one.

    ReplyDelete
  120. That you all claim a mutual connection, an association, fine by me.

    ReplyDelete
  121. That's why when Jews come to Israel they come alive. Because all these elements come together.

    ReplyDelete
  122. Looks like Ashley ran away to consult with her Imam.

    ReplyDelete
  123. Drink another of trish's cocktails, if you want BS.

    Fri Nov 07, 06:38:00 PM EST

    Pity I never got to serve my casserole. The tree of liberty must be refreshed every now and again with a good casserole. I think Laurie Colwin said that.

    ReplyDelete
  124. Thoreau at Unqualified Offerings:

    In explaining why Detroit must be bailed out yet again, Obama says:

    The news coming out of the auto industry this week reminds us of the hardship it faces, hardship that goes far beyond individual auto companies to the countless suppliers, small businesses and communities throughout our nation who depend on a vibrant American auto industry.

    The auto industry is the backbone of American manufacturing and a critical part of our attempt to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

    I would like to see the administration do everything it can to accelerate the retooling assistance that Congress has already enacted.

    In addition, I have made it a high priority for my transition team to work on additional policy options to help the auto industry adjust, weather the financial crisis, and succeed in producing fuel-efficient cars here in the United States of America.

    You know, for all the decades of talk about fuel efficiency, alternative energy, and energy independence, the most fuel efficient personal vehicles on our roads are primarily foreign brands. So why, pray tell, should bailing out inefficient Detroit automakers be the top priority if our goal is energy efficiency?

    Posted by Thoreau @ 7:50 pm, Filed under: Main

    ReplyDelete
  125. Responses to Thoreau:

    #

    Comment by tom —
    November 7, 2008 @ 8:45 pm

    My father worked at Ford for 44 years (1948-1992). He died a couple of years ago. No small part of my mother’s income comes from the pension benefit she gets as a retiree’s widow.

    I have no idea what a Ford bankruptcy could do to her income, but my guess is, nothing good. A GM bankruptcy will have a very negative impact on my income as well since my primary client right now is a GM supplier. Of course, I am working hard to acquire non-automotive clients.

    While allowing mismanaged companies to collapse sounds like good policy in the abstract, it is absolute hell on the people involved.
    #

    Comment by Mike Kozlowski —
    November 7, 2008 @ 8:47 pm

    Because the alternative is turning southeastern Michigan into a devastated wasteland, with 90% unemployment and property values dropping to zero.

    If you don’t live here, it’s almost impossible to understand how absolutely and completely dependent this entire area is on the auto industry.
    #

    Comment by tom —
    November 7, 2008 @ 8:52 pm

    And not just southeaster Michigan, but also large swathes of northern Indiana, parts of Ohio and Illinois (which is probably why Obama is so focused on this issue), and large parts of southern Ontario.

    ReplyDelete
  126. I know little of the Egptians as a people. I cannot answer as to their genetic background and whether they constitute a race.

    mat, are all black people of the same race? Please don't run from the question. Don't hesitate to answer.

    As to Jews, if you are born to a Jewish mother, are you not a Jew? Does this not introduce race into the equation?

    Even if you then accept that race is a factor in being a Jew, so what? Does it matter? How does it come in play with regards Bobal's love of his "jewish lawyer"?

    ReplyDelete
  127. NYT:

    Sales at the nation’s largest retailers fell off a cliff in October, casting fresh doubt on the survival of some chains and signaling that this will probably be the weakest Christmas shopping season in decades.

    The remarkable slowdown hit luxury chains that sell $5,000 designer dresses as badly as stores that offer $18 packs of underwear, suggesting that consumers at all income levels are snapping their wallets shut.

    Sales at Neiman Marcus, the luxury department store, dropped nearly 28 percent in October compared with the same month last year. Sales fell 20 percent at Abercrombie & Fitch, nearly 17 percent at Saks, 16 percent at Gap and nearly that much at Nordstrom.

    Of the more than two dozen major retailers that reported on Thursday, most had sales declines at stores open at least a year, the majority of the decreases in double digits. Deep discounters like Wal-Mart and BJ’s Wholesale Club reported gains...

    “October was every bit as bad we feared,” said John D. Morris, a retailing analyst with Wachovia. “Maybe worse. October’s numbers were so disappointing, particularly in the final week, which had to leave retailers in a state of high anxiety going into the holiday season.”

    Indeed, the situation for retailers is so dire that it is creating opportunity for any consumers in a mood to spend money. Seven weeks before Christmas, stores are offering eye-catching bargains as they struggle to move merchandise.

    “This is the year the consumer has been given a holiday gift beyond belief,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for NPD Group. “You can get anything, anywhere, at any price.”....

    Kohl’s will stay open until midnight this Friday and offer an array of doorbusters, such as $250 diamond earrings for $77.99. Kmart is offering “early Black Friday” deals on Sundays, such as a Sylvania 32-inch LCD television for $439.99, instead of the usual $549.99....

    Only a few months ago, retailers thought they were prepared for the economic slowdown. They cut inventories in anticipation of weak back-to-school sales. But to their shock, sales declines reached double-digits in September, only to get worse in October.

    The result? Retailers have too much fall merchandise still on their shelves, even as Christmas merchandise is starting to arrive.


    [...]

    ReplyDelete
  128. As to Jews, if you are born to a Jewish mother, are you not a Jew? Does this not introduce race into the equation?
    ==

    No. It introduces biological ethnicity to a cultural and national identity, that's all.

    ReplyDelete
  129. hmmm, things are getting bad. I'm guessing that ad spending is plummeting and we'll soon need to bail out the major newspapers and broadcast networks. Think of all the people who depend on their incomes from those jobs...

    ReplyDelete
  130. ummm, mat, that IS race, "biological ethnicity"

    ReplyDelete
  131. Anecdotally: My daughter works part time at a Victoria's Secret. A lot of these retail chains make money not off of sales, but off of store credit cards - which are an even harder sell than the merchandise itself. Double bind.

    ReplyDelete
  132. mat, are all black people of the same race? Please don't run from the question. Don't hesitate to answer.
    ==

    How can it, Ashley, when our Ethiopian Blacks and Indian Browns and Chinese Bellows belong to the Jewish race?

    ReplyDelete
  133. hmmm, all blacks are not the same, how enlightening.

    ReplyDelete
  134. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  135. ummm, mat, that IS race, "biological ethnicity"
    ==

    No, that's what ethnicity is.


    ethnic |ˈeθnik|
    adjective
    of or relating to a population subgroup (within a larger or dominant national or cultural group) with a common national or cultural tradition : leaders of ethnic communities.
    • of or relating to national and cultural origins : we recruit our employees regardless of ethnic origin.
    • denoting origin by birth or descent rather than by present nationality : ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
    • characteristic of or belonging to a non-Western cultural tradition : cheap ethnic dresses | folk and ethnic music.
    • archaic neither Christian nor Jewish; pagan or heathen.

    ReplyDelete
  136. hmmm, all blacks are not the same, how enlightening.
    ==

    LOL! Well you have to decide. If Jews are comprised of Ethiopian Blacks and Indian Browns and Chinese Yellows, and European Whites, and many others, is the Jewishness race?

    ReplyDelete
  137. ok, so you've got a definition for ethnicity. How about the biological part? Is not the racist argument based on the idea that genetics, race, determines cullture, that the two are interwoven and deterministic?

    ReplyDelete
  138. I'm saying the racist argument is a canard. It is silly and not pertinent to the questions we debate. It is folks like Bobal who think race is a factor, that it is determinative.

    ReplyDelete
  139. I don't know Mat. The notion that children born to a Jewish mother are therefore Jewish suggests that it is racially based. The fact that one can convert to Judaism suggests that it is not. In any case being Jewish does not, in my view, imply certain behaviors by a person who is Jewish.

    ReplyDelete
  140. How about the biological part?
    ==

    I think it's important. I think genetics plays an important role in who and what we are and who and what we turn out to be. And I don't think that it's racist to say so.

    ReplyDelete
  141. There are many documented cases where persons after generation of having forcibly lost their Jewish identity and memory of their ancient Jewish identity, in their heart feel that they are Jewish, and upon investigation it turned out to be case. If it's not biological, than what is it?

    ReplyDelete
  142. Marginalrevolution.com:

    Unemployment During the Great Depression
    Alex Tabarrok

    Regarding unemployment during the Great Depression, Andrew Wilson writing at the WSJ recently said:

    As late as 1938, after almost a decade of governmental "pump priming," almost one out of five workers remained unemployed.

    Historian Eric Rauchway says this is a lie, a lie spread by conservatives to besmirch the sainted FDR. Nonsense. In 1938 the unemployment rate was 19.1%, i.e. almost one out of five workers was unemployed, this is from the official Bureau of Census/Bureau of Labor Statistics data series for the 1930s. You can find the series in Historical Statistics of the United States here (big PDF) or a graph from Rauchway here. Rauchway knows this but wants to measure unemployment using an alternative series which shows a lower unemployment rate in 1938 (12.5%). Nothing wrong with that but there's no reason to call people who use the official series liars.

    So why are there multiple series on unemployment for the 1930s? The reason is that the current sampling method of estimation was not developed until 1940, thus unemployment rates prior to this time have to be estimated and this leads to some judgment calls. The primary judgment call is what do about people on work relief. The official series counts these people as unemployed.

    Rauchway thinks that counting people on work-relief as unemployed is a right-wing plot. If so, it is a right-wing plot that exists to this day because people who are on workfare, the modern version of work relief, are also counted as unemployed. Now if Rauchway wants to lower all estimates of unemployment, including those under say George W. Bush, then at least that would be even-handed but lowering unemployment rates just under the Presidents you like hardly seems like fair play.

    Moreover, it's quite reasonable to count people on work-relief as unemployed. Notice that if we counted people on work-relief as employed then eliminating unemployment would be very easy - just require everyone on any kind of unemployment relief to lick stamps. Of course if we made this change, politicians would immediately conspire to hide as much unemployment as possible behind the fig leaf of workfare/work-relief.

    [...]




    Interesting are the forty-odd comments it garnered.

    In other news, Nouriel Roubini projects the top US unemployment of the current recession: 10%. IIRC.

    ReplyDelete
  143. ..turned out to be ^the case..

    ReplyDelete
  144. Because the alternative is turning southeastern Michigan into a devastated wasteland, with 90% unemployment and property values dropping to zero.
    ==

    The electric car is not going to help these people. Electric cars are very simple and very simple to build. Much of the present workforce will be redundant.

    ReplyDelete
  145. There, no Mr and Mrs Palin, no girl in a bikini, just a beautiful river. I can't even be called sexist.

    That's the Grand Ronde, a beauty. If you go upriver, you get into timber. It drains the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains and surroundings have just about every kind of critter you can think of.

    ReplyDelete
  146. Trish:
    So you think the GOP is about to purge who? Are you saying there is a purge coming?

    Who constitutes the bourgeois or the intelligentsia?

    There's no question of the party being in disarray. The question is whether small government, low tax, traditional values conservatives will be able to wrest it back from the moderate jack ass wannabees.

    ReplyDelete
  147. Bob,

    You and I, racists both. Ashley made her pronouncement, but when pressed on the logic behind that pronouncement, well, she proves there is no logic behind her pronouncement. Just another of her usual troll.

    ReplyDelete
  148. GM makes some very good vehicles. I've driven Cadillacs, Buicks and my trusty road cruising Tahoe which for its weight size and power gets satisfactory gas mileage. Mattie's animosity towards GM hints at some deep-seeded problem. Uggggggggggly...

    Also, to say that we're seeing the end of urban sprawl and suburbia indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the US economy and American people. I remember when the genius Al Gore first identified "urban sprawl" as public enemy number 1.

    ReplyDelete
  149. I believe I have said race is not pertinent. Culture is. I am a albino mutant from African stock.

    Our DNA is almost identical.

    It's culture that counts. Break up the black inner city culture, progress will be made.

    I hope.

    Because if it's not culture, but really is DNA, then it's hopeless.

    Because the facts can't be denied. Almost no black kids have dads around. It's not racist to say that. It's the beginning of the recognition of a problem.

    Bill Cosby said it before I did. In fact, I got it from him.

    ReplyDelete
  150. Mattie's animosity towards GM hints at some deep-seeded problem. Uggggggggggly...
    ==

    :)

    Whit, I'm actually at a loss for words. Heheh.

    ReplyDelete
  151. I don't know what the answer to our social problems are.

    I, basically, don't like big cities.

    I think it is best to have some connection to the land, but that seems to be dying out.

    Having a connection to the land has always been theraputic for me. To know where grandfather's old house--shack really--used to stand, and plow over it, to remember the history, and there isn't all that much of it here, to work with mother nature, the rain, the sun, it's theraputic.

    I would have an awful time living in one of these big cities we have going, myself.

    ReplyDelete
  152. I, basically, don't like big cities.
    ==

    Bob, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. It's a question of scale aesthetics community and intimacy. Unfortunately, with carburbia all these things go out the window.

    ReplyDelete
  153. Mostly, farming was just a battle to keep even. If I posted my income tax returns over my farming life for you to see, you'd be shocked. Not much profit, there. Mostly a battle to keep even. But worth it, I liked it. We need more young farmers coming up. It has gotten too big. Some of the old good feeling has gone out of it. But, I would still recommend it, if the situation were doable. It is a good way to live.

    I know three or four others whose families were here from the beginning of farming here--we bump into each other once a year or so. "How are things going, etc?" It's nice, you have neighbors, but hardly ever see them:)

    ReplyDelete
  154. Bob,

    http://www.webvisionitaly.com/

    ReplyDelete
  155. Bob, there is no question in my mind that you are not a racist. It is an absurd term misused to short circuit argument and thought and unequally applied. I realize that you use the term ironically. Those that do not know you may not see it that way.

    Don't over think it. Upward and forward.

    ReplyDelete
  156. I'm finished with it deuce.

    The one trip I had to Europe I didn't make it to Italy. Made Spain, England, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. And Germany. Just didn't have the time and money for Italy.

    One thing I noticed though, trying to find grandfathers old digs in Sweden, was, he came half way around the world, and chose the same kind of damn cold climate!

    Why not California, Claus?

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  157. Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival Coming Up!

    Lionel may have slept in my old bedroom. Dad sold the place on Indian Hills Drive to Mr/Mrs Vetrus, now deceased, and they welcomed Lionel to sleep over.

    Get your tickets now.

    Best thing going, in the deep of the winter!

    ReplyDelete
  158. Are you guys tracking on the national service plan that the incoming administration is planning? Check it out here.

    ReplyDelete
  159. Down with anything to do with a national service corps.

    Up with stuff like the Lionel Hampton Music Fest.

    Up with the local courts, and down with the Federal Government.

    ReplyDelete
  160. Except for defense, of course, which is their proper place.

    ReplyDelete
  161. We're gonna lose in Afghanistan, and in Iraq, too.

    Mark my words.

    We are gonna lose, now.

    Cause we eleccted the wrong guy.

    The Republicans would have stuck it out.

    The demcrats are going to turn tail.

    And run.

    All for nothing.

    Mark my words.

    It's true.

    All that blood and money...for absolutely nothing.

    We should have attacked Iran long ago.

    I blame Bush for that.

    It's up to the Israelis now.

    They are on their own.

    Long Live Israel!

    ReplyDelete