WUI (Writing under the influence)

Young and stupid

2012-01-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

I tried to cancel my Twitter account -- not sure why I even bothered signing up -- but I couldn't find the option to do it.

I tired to do it mostly because I find this new media rather stupid but I was prompted by this article from AP:

Twitter, a tool of choice for dissidents and activists around the world, found itself the target of global outrage Friday after unveiling plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws.

Local laws in some countries -- some Muslim countries come to mind -- include stoning of women who were raped, for example. So if a woman gets stoned and somebody wants to twit about it, it will not go through now? Nice! Not knowing about all these problems around the world will make my consciousness even cleaner.

How about this? Can we block Obama's twits about millioners and billioners eating poor children for breakfast?

Why we need universal healthcare

2012-01-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

To take care of these people. So what will happen to them when we go bankrupt? Oh, wait.....

Happier New Year

2012-01-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

We can only hope. I'm amused by all those which-Republican-is-just-too-extreme stories while we are being ruled by the most extreme administration since FDR.

I often wonder why Democrats -- especially those so called Progressives -- want to tell me how to live my life. And the answer is always the same: they simply hate individual freedom.

This story makes me laugh and cry at the same time.

Idaho Power plans to cut off electricity on Tuesday to plant in Pocatello, Idaho, that makes material for solar energy, because the factory owes $1.9 million in unpaid utility bills. The dispute is with Honolulu-based Hoku Scientific, Inc., which is backed by Chinese financing and enjoys federal and state incentives.

Our wise politicians and other elitists in Forest Grove can't wait to spend billions of money we don't have to connect our town to the rest of civilized Portland metro with a light-rail line. The story above should reminded them of two things. One, the electricity for those trains has to be produced by something else than solar panels. Two, as it often happens, when the train fails, buses are used to haul passengers; somehow, these racket scientists can't figure out that maybe buses is the only thing we need in the first place.

why do they hate him?

2011-12-11T22:50:00.000-08:00

Tim Tebow would be much better than Obama because at least he knows what his limits are and he plays accordingly. And he cares about his team (country) more than he cares about his career.

That's why so many hate him.

That's why I want him to do well.

I blame Obama

2011-12-06T14:05:00.000-08:00

Why not? Bush would have --and he probably is -- been blamed for this.

Once you tell people in Oregon they can buy anything they want in 7/11 with the Oregon Trail card, obviously there will be some people somewhere who will feel cheated if a more sane state says no to them.

I1183

2011-10-31T22:37:00.001-07:00

Freedom

Restless professors

2011-09-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

The recent news is not good for progressives. First, the progressive "economics" -- as if it were not known and indeed proven since 1930s -- seems not to work at all. In fact, after wasted trillions of dollars the situation seems even worse than it was when the whole idea was conceived.

The worse news is that, as everybody should have known sine 1930s, Democrats are simply thieves. Solandra or Solyndra or whatever it is was called before it collapsed had managed to transfer $500M from our pockets to Democrat contributors' pockets.

So some Pacific University professors -- especially one who ironically teaches peace studies -- are lashing out on various online fora calling their adversaries the usual names.

It is indeed a pleasure watching them.

You should be glad I'm not the President...

2011-09-11T13:38:00.001-07:00

...mother fuckers.

WUI (Writing under the influence): Progressivism in a nutshell

2011-08-31T22:41:00.001-07:00

WUI (Writing under the influence): Progressivism in a nutshell

2011-08-31T22:41:00.000-07:00

WUI (Writing under the influence): Progressivism in a nutshell

WUI (Writing under the influence): Stupid trains

2011-08-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

WUI (Writing under the influence): Stupid trains

WUI (Writing under the influence): Would you risk your business to make a point?

2011-08-31T22:39:00.000-07:00

WUI (Writing under the influence): Would you risk your business to make a point?

Obama ruins

2011-08-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've just crossed over to the other side and bought my wife an iPad 2 for our 19-th anniversary. This will be the first app I will buy for "her."

BTW, I only did it (buy the iPad) because we don't own real cell phones -- we use Trackfones for emergencies only -- and on during our last vacation we stayed in certain places where the only way to communicate with the world was to have a real cell phone. So I bought "her" (ok, "her" means us, really) an iPad with Verizon's 3G so we could buy access to the internet whenever we need it when we travel. Otherwise, I have to admit it is a nice device notwithstanding that it has mostly cult following; though, I'm glad I waited long enough to just go to a store and buy it without waiting for it as I used to wait for may things in my old (communist/progressive/liberal/what's-the-difference?) country. Nothing is worth standing in line for. Nothing.

OK, maybe I'd stay in line to marry my wife again....

Tolerant and peaceful left

2011-08-29T23:41:00.000-07:00

I'm sure the "peace" professor from the Pacific University would agree with these signs.

Would you risk your business to make a point?

2011-08-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

As this guy just did?

Brad Martin is the owner of a glass/windows store in Cornelius, Oregon.

I know him only a little. He lives a block from my house. He shares his main store in Cornelius with an Airsoft business. Because a truck with Airsoft advertisements parks next to his house, I have to assume it is partially run/owned by him.

I've done some business with him in the past. I know his son has been deployed to Iraq; I don't know how many times. I know he wrote a letter to our paper saying that a Walmart in Cornelius may actually be a good thing for the small business int he community while many people were opposing it. I know he had a sign that said "Mission accomplished. Bring the troops home" a day after Bin Laden was killed.

I only hope this new sign and my post will not cause him too much trouble. For some reason, I think he knows what he's doing; or at least he doesn't care.

I need a couple windows in my old house. I've wanted to replace them myself to save money as I did in my new poker room. But maybe this time I should ask an expert for some help...

Would you risk your business to make a point?

2011-08-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

Stupid trains

2011-08-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Maybe I understand why progressives want trains everywhere: light rail, street cars and bullet trains. They would be operated by more and more government, unionized employees, of course, who would pay their dues that would pay for progressives' electoral campaigns. I get it. But what happens when those employees strike? Like it happens in France, Italy and now even in Poland.

And even when a rail company becomes partially privatized, like USPS, their employees' demands eventually exceed what the company can possibly make and the government ends up subsidizing it. Forever.

Progressivism in a nutshell

2011-08-16T17:30:00.000-07:00

Seattle's 'green jobs' program a bust

Of course, there are excuses and plenty of them. Because, you know, it was a bad timing, the economy was bad (but that was an excuse for the program!!!), people didn't cooperate (they never do), etc.

But the best part of this is the jobs that have been created as usual:
But more than a year later, Seattle's numbers are lackluster. As of last week, only three homes had been retrofitted and just 14 new jobs have emerged from the program. Many of the jobs are administrative, and not the entry-level pathways once dreamed of for low-income workers. Some people wonder if the original goals are now achievable.

No, they are not achievable. Progressivism doesn't work. It hasn't worked in any place or time it was tried. Just look at broken Europe. It's a complete bust. Whom will you blame for it? Bush?

These programs create only pencil pushers, very expensive pencil pushers. I bet all of them will vote for Obama next year...

Extra BD gift

2011-08-16T14:50:00.001-07:00

I just realized that the next presidential election is on Nov 6th. That's my birthday. So if it's not close I may get one more gift that night.

Were there riots during the Great Depression?

2011-08-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

So people are rioting because governments are broke and have to start cutting?

But people were much poorer and didn't riot. So what's the difference?

And why are governments so afraid of squashing the riots down?

Arthur Herman has a good theory:

Liberal social policy has stripped away their moral autonomy and identity, in addition to leaving the rest of us helpless to forthrightly protect ourselves.

Inflation

2011-08-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

Do you know how to tell that QE1 and QE2 have already deflated the dollar? It's not only gas prices. It's elections. The unions spent $30 million in WI and only managed to win two out of six WI senator seats.

Even a dog catcher can do it

2011-08-10T18:55:00.001-07:00

There are some rumors that Palin will resume her bus tour. I have to say at this point that any Republican, no mater how extreme -- and you know I like those -- can win against Obama. (BTW, Jimmy Carter must be so happy that somebody has finally taken his place of the worst president in the US history.) So run, Sarah, run! And if I were you, I'd struck a deal with Backmann: whoever wins the primary takes the other as the vice.

London

2011-08-09T23:35:00.001-07:00

What's happening in London is a good case for the 2nd amendment. Armed society is a polite society.

Britain’s gun laws are among the most draconian in the world, yet the nation has some of the highest levels of violent crime and burglary in the West, and there is no shortage of gun crime in major cities such as London and Manchester. While criminal gangs are often able to acquire firearms on the black market, ordinary law-abiding British citizens are barred from owning guns for self-defence.

Let's also hope that armed society also is more respected by its government.

I'm laughing but I should be crying

2011-08-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

This is actually very clever: if a theory lacks falsifiability, it is false.

But the comparison between Keynesian economics and global warmism is on target. Both are liberal dogmas disguised, increasingly thinly, as science. Both are supported by circular logic, and thus lack falsifiability, a necessary characteristic of a scientific theory. If the weather gets warmer, that's because of global warming; if it gets colder, that's "climate change" and proves the theory too. Had unemployment stayed below 8%, as the Obama administration promised it would, that would have proved the "stimulus" worked; since it peaked at 10% and has held steady above 9%, that proves the stimulus wasn't big enough. Heads I win, tails you lose.

This is funny. I like making fun of "progressives" although in this case, once you realize we have spent countless trillions since FDR on stupid, laughable theories and our children will have to pay it all back, you feel slightly depressed.

And there is this:

It takes an authoritarian mindset to look at a failed leader and fault the people for failing to follow him. This is not just an ideological authoritarianism, although it does have that element, as evidenced by Weisberg's peremptory dismissal of opposing viewpoints. But he treats Obama not as what he actually is--a human being and a politician--but as a sort of religious figure--a potential savior in 2008, a martyr in 2011.

I know some people -- especially some local professors -- who think like this: it's not our ideas, it's the stupid people who don't get them. But the opposite is true: we get your ideas and we know they are stupid! And Obama is not God so he can't change the laws of nature no matter how hard you wish he would.
And this makes you mad. You have so invested yourself in your failed ideas that you can't admit you are wrong. And when somebody uses arguments you can't discredit, you discredit the person.

Obama refuses to accept personal responsibility, and Cult of Obama die-hards like Weisberg refuse to assign it to him. Too much of their own identity is bound up with their idealized vision of him, so they lash out at those who are not part of the cult. They lash out at you. But try not to take it personally. Anger is depression turned outward.

Liberalism at work

2011-08-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

A progressive is surprised that his city is going bankrupt:

The smallest city in the smallest U.S. state made the filing as it grappled with an $80 million unfunded pension and retiree health benefit liability that is nearly quadruple its annual budget of $17 million.

Of course, unions and Democrats making unsustainable promises.
But this is the best quote:

"It's too bad, because Central Falls has always been a progressive city," said Ortiz. He added that he hoped the city would not be absorbed by one of its neighbors. "We've been here for more than a century," he said.

Yes, too bad indeed.

Warren Buffett may be a great investor but he still has problems with facts. Just as any Democrat:

IRS data for 2008, for example, show that households in the top 10% of earners (above about $114,000) paid 19% of their income to the feds. Those in the top 1% (above $380,000) paid 23.3%. The top 0.1% of earners, with incomes of $2 million or more, end up paying a slightly lower tax of 22.7%, because they get more of their income from investments (more about this below).

So what about the rest of us? According to IRS data, a median-income household ($35,000) in 2008 paid about 4% of its income in federal income tax.

Mr. Buffett may have been referring to all federal taxes, not just income taxes, when he said the rich pay less than others. His secretary and most workers in America do pay a lot in Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, but even accounting for them the federal system is highly progressive.

Indeed, the US has the most "progressive" tax system. And the "progressives" want even more. Over my dead body. I'd rather quit working than pay more.

The shortest history lesson of how "progressives" have ruined the country:

FDR began the entitlement era with the New Deal and Social Security, but for decades it remained relatively limited. Spending fell dramatically after the end of World War II and the U.S. debt burden fell rapidly from 100% of GDP. That changed in the mid-1960s with LBJ's Great Society and the dawn of the health-care state. Medicare and Medicaid were launched in 1965 with fairy tale estimates of future costs.

Medicare, the program for the elderly, was supposed to cost $12 billion by 1990 but instead spent $110 billion. The costs of Medicaid, the program for the poor, have exploded as politicians like California Democrat Henry Waxman expanded eligibility and coverage. In inflation-adjusted dollars, Medicaid cost $4 billion in 1966, $41 billion in 1986 and $243 billion last year. Rather than bending the cost curve down, the government as third-party payer led to a medical price spiral.

LBJ launched other welfare programs—public housing, food stamps and many more—that have also grown over time. Last year, the panoply of welfare programs spent about $20,000 for every man, woman and child in poverty, according to Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation.

Social Security's fiscal trouble began in earnest in 1972 with bills that increased benefits immediately by 20%, added an annual cost of living adjustment, and created a benefit escalator requiring payments to rise with wages, not inflation. This and other tweaks by Democrat Wilbur Mills added trillions of dollars to the program's unfunded liabilities. Believe it or not, these 1972 amendments were added to a debt-ceiling bill.

"Progressives" think that some of us have too many children. At the same time, they say to us to keep our hands off Madicare and Social Security. Well, it doesn't work that way. Russia is a good example.

"Progressives" never learn (or admit the truth.) Carter wasn't a bad president because he couldn't explain liberalism. He was bad because he was a liberal. The same is true about Obama. So isn't it time to admit that liberalism just doesn't work?

So what do liberals do when everything they touch turns into s**t? They blame everybody else. They call people terrorists, hostage takers, jihadists, etc. In fact, a local professor called the Tea Party People "TP (toilet paper?)" Very classy, professor, very classy. I still can't believe you teach.

Speaking of local professors, finally somebody else took the old Dondero to the woodshed:

During his tenure at Pacific University, I hope he encouraged diverse thinking in his classroom by promoting the free expression of all political points of view and a reasoned approach to resolving political differences.

I'm not sure why but I doubt it.

Life imitates...

2011-08-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

Actually, even the Onion would not come up with something like this:
Sao Paulo council calls for Heterosexual Pride Day
[...]
The city council of South America's biggest city has adopted legislation calling for a Heterosexual Pride Day to be celebrated on the third Sunday of each December.
[...]
"The celebration of heterosexual pride is inappropriate because it belittles the just cause of the LGBT community," the statement added. "Unlike homosexuals, heterosexuals are not discriminated against simply for being heterosexuals."

I don't even know what to say so I won't say anything.

This is like Spanish interpreters in American cities' councils' meetings.

Spanish in American schools

2011-07-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

Some time ago we had an incident when a group of Spanish speakers came to a FG city council meeting and spoke only Spanish. There was an interpreter who communicated whatever the group had to say to the councilors. I thought that the subject was something about the so called Hispanic community being ignored by the rest of us. "What the hell?" I though. You come to this country and you want to be treated in a special way?

In any case, now, somewhere in Nevada, a high school principal gives the commencement speech in Spanish.

So it's not enough that we already spend a tone of money on bilingual education. It's not enough we have to press a button on our phones to speak English. It's not enough that we have to tolerate bilingual masses in our churches. Now, we have to sit through already boring high-school graduation events that will last twice as long because we have to accommodate parents, many here illegally, who don't understand English.

So let me make it clear. I have four kids. I'm not willing to sit through these events and at this point in my life knowing already 3 languages I'm not willing to learn another one. And what would be the point? Listening to the same speech twice?

So, I hope that any speech and ceremony will be first done in English so we can leave shortly afterwards. It would be best to have one ceremony in English. Given how dreadful the political correctness is, the next best choice is to have two ceremonies. The worst thing that can happen that will for sure increase the already high resentment many -- especially "other" immigrants -- feel because of what seems like special treatment of Hispanic community receives is having one ceremony in both English and Spanish.

We are tolerant people but there are limits.