Point:Counterpoint:Repoint, Part 3

 

Continuing where we left off Wednesday, here is the final response of this discussion series.

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 I’m reminded of a speech Patton delivered to his men on the eve of a big battle. Basically, he told them that some would die, but not all. Better to just be honest.

America is like the Titanic in the last hours: Beginning to slip beneath the waves bow down, but it hasn’t snapped in two yet.

[I] thought the slight shake up in Dubai was interesting [the other day]. Piddly little country couldn’t pay its tiny $60 billion debt, and the global marketplace shuddered. The Dow lost 160 points. What happens when we can’t print enough money, and no one will loan us anymore? What happens when the U.S. $100 trillion debt collapses? Well, to put it in perspective, $60 billion is roughly 1/1,600th of $100 trillion; or put another way, $60 billion is roughly .06% of $100 trillion. And of course, when we go, Japan goes.

How could this happen? And why is it that only folks like Walker, Dobbs, Laffer, Payne, Beck, and a few others are screaming their heads off? Here’s how and why via analogy.

In the early 1970s Eastern Airlines flight 401 suffered a slight mechanical failure in its landing lights. For four arduous minutes, the flight crew screwed around with the lights not noticing that the auto pilot had been inadvertently turned off. They ignored audible warnings and falling gauges. In the last ten seconds, they finally realized that the alarms were going off and sat in disbelief.

If the captain or co-pilot had grabbed the yoke and applied full power, they might have made it. But instead they sat stunned in the face of all their instruments, of all their warning signs. Here’s the FAA YouTube recreation for all to see and learn from:

This country has sub-consciously known this financial disaster was coming since the 1970s. My brother used to warn me about it when I was a teenager. The alarms have been going off for decades and we’ve been busy dicking around with disco and pro wrestling. Well, now we’re in those last ten seconds, and we simply cannot believe our eyes. We’re unable to grab the yoke; we’re unable to apply full power.

I just don’t know what’s going to happen, and I don’t think turning to the readers will do a damned bit of good. I’d say go quietly, build a good survival kit, a decent .22 and a bunch of bullets, and invest in silver.

Some of Patton’s men did survive. Some of the people on the Titanic did survive. Some of the folks on flight 401 did survive. I’m not saying all is lost, but I am saying that it looks like excruciating days are getting closer.

Like I said, I don’t know what to write. But I don’t think writing “Barney Frank Started This Whole Mess” will do any good.

Besides, I already wrote that.

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 Hope you enjoyed this series as much as I did. The two correspondents occasionally have exchanges like this via email, so if you liked this, let me know, and I’ll see if I can get permission to publish the next time they chew the fat online.

Stoutcat

Misery Loves Company, North Korea-Style

 

It’s not enough that there is no freedom, no commerce, no electricity, and that millions in North Korea are slowly starving to death. No, to add to all that, Kim Jong Il and the gang of thugs who run the North Korean “government” have just frozen all cash transactions as its currency is de-valued at a ratio of 1 to 100.

The Times Online reports:

Shops and markets in North Korea have been closed and all cash transactions frozen after the Government’s shock announcement of a devaluation of its currency in an effort to crack down on the country’s burgeoning free-market economy…

There were reports of public outrage and confusion after the announcement of the measure, which requires North Koreans to swap existing won notes for new ones at an exchange rate of one to 100 — effectively knocking two zeroes off their value. Because of a cap of 100,000 won per family (£475 at the official exchange rate), anyone with significant holdings of cash will have their savings wiped out.

“Loud sounds of weeping in every house have not ceased since the news was released,” a South Korean website quoted an inhabitant of Sinuiju, a city on the border with China, as saying.

I’m sure that weeping was the very least of it.

The announcement was made on Monday via a closed-cable broadcasting system that is piped into all North Korean homes.

Eric Blair was nearly spot on in his presecient depiction, but was wrong in one small detail; it’s not Big Brother in North Korea, it’s “Dear Leader.” Dear God, what a travesty! Dear Leader is allowing his subjects to die in misery, squalor, hunger, and darkness.

“One of the worries our North Korean staff have is whether they will have enough food to get through to next week,” the manager of a foreign organisation in Pyongyang said. “Our employees have access to foreign currency but most people don’t and they could be in trouble.”

Perhaps President Obama could peddle some of his trademarked “Hope” and “Change” to the citizens of North Korea. If anyone could use it, they certainly can.

Stoutcat

Tiger Discovers That Some “Lies” Are Just Not Playable

As our civilization rattles and gasps its way towards the apocalypse, we look for signs, omens, anything to give us hope. But one by one, the ugly truths are revealed:

• There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch
• No, you haven’t already won a million dollars from Publisher’s Clearinghouse
• There’s no Santa Clause
• Nope… No Easter Bunny either (did you really think a Bunny laid all those Easter eggs?)
• Bill Inhaled
• Tooth Fairy? Don’t make me laugh!
• Global Warming – A scam designed to create a market to sell certificates called Carbon Credits
• Change and Hope?  Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!  Gotcha!

But this? I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but here they are: The last of the “Good-guy” pro-sports figures has turned out to be just another dirtbag who cheats on his wife like so many others. Let the denial begin:

When the Tiger Woods story broke the other night, I admit it was shocking, but I was perfectly willing to ignore it. Denial? Perhaps, but couples have fights from time to time and just because this event happened at 2:30 in the morning and involved Tiger apparently making a run for it in his SUV while  his wife, Supermodel Elin Nordegren appeared to be choosing from the many windows in the Escalade in an attempt to put a hole in one…

There could be a thousand explanations, right? He was snoring too loudly. She kept stealing all the blankets onto her side of the bed.  Someone had a  problem with gas. It happens… I’ve been married and have been guilty of… well never mind. Tiger is innocent until proven guilty like anyone else, right? And he has certainly earned the benefit of the doubt.

So I was willing to let it all sort itself out. Surely a class act like Tiger wouldn’t be involved in anything as salacious as… Well, I mean, certainly, as soon as Tiger spoke to the police, everything would make sense.

But, then it was: “Uh… Officer? Sorry, but Tiger’s asleep. Try again tomorrow… yeah, that’s the ticket!” As several days went by, his  continued refusal to speak to the police, while not criminal, was certainly starting to take on the appearance that what we had here was not a wayward patch of ice on the driveway of his Orlando area home, but ice in the relationship.

But we at Grand Rants have steadfastly refused to  lower ourselves to the gossip column level, where speculation runs rampant. Nope, that’s not us. That’s National Enquirer. That’s Star Magazine. Thats… the Mainstream Media these days.

Well, sadly, there’s no need for us to change our policy. All speculation of Wood’s private life went tumbling  into the sewer with Wednesday’s statement from Tiger on his web site, admitting he had disgraced his family. I was asking myself, “Why now? Why is he choosing to admit anything at all? Certainly, if he stonewalled it, the majority of people would continue to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I mean, it’s worked for Obama for so long now…

Ah, but then came the voicemail. And text messages. All saved by one of his paramours:

And how many more bimbos will now step forward to collect the big paycheck from the rabid media? Wow, Tiger… a cocktail waitress and hotel hostess? Was it worth the hundreds of millions you stand to lose in endorsements? More important: Was it worth potentially breaking up your family?

All that’s left is the inevitable Saturday Night Live sketch. Get ready to TIVO Leno, Letterman and the also-rans. The jokes will easily write themselves:

“He may have had Turkey for Thanksgiving, but he’ll be eating cooked goose for the forseeable future…” [rimshot]

As predicted, Leno wasted no time in jumping on topic:

“Tiger has just been named the winner of the prestigeous “Ride-Her” (Rider) Cup. But Nike has announced they’re standing by Tiger. Well, sure they are! I mean, their motto is ‘Just Do It!’” 

I’m betting Letterman will go a bit lighter due to him having been in a similar position not so long ago. Unless, of course,  Tiger had been cheating with Sara Palin.

And so Tiger has gone from golfing icon to punch-line overnight.

“Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?  Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you…”

No, seriously.

Gerry Ashley

Point:Counterpoint:Repoint, Part 2

 

In yesterday’s post, the writer posited that economic disaster, both in the United States and globally, is not just a possibility, it is unavoidable; and that dealing with the “micro” view—the finger-pointing, partisan politics, etc., is useless at this point. Instead he suggest dealing more with the “macro” view, the big picture in the hopes of salvaging anything that can be salvaged.

Today we have the response.

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You write:

“I don’t know what to write anymore.  America is ignorant, hubristic, in denial, agenda pissed, and agenda blind all at the same time.” 

Well, riddle me this, Batman: Imagine people on board a jet airliner doing 550mph at 53,000 feet. There’s a series of bumps and jolts, and the pilot comes on and announces, “We’re experiencing some turbulance. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts. Nothing to worry about folks.”
 
Question: Is there any reason for the passengers to think otherwise? They entrust their lives to the pilots. Now the pilots may be in the cockpit phoning their wives to say goodbye for all the passengers know. More than likely, they are adjusting flight plans to exit from the turbulance. Still, do you think the message would have been different if they knew they were doomed? Might they think it’s better if they don’t know what’s coming. No point in having mass panic at 55,000 feet. Because if we can get through this, we don’t want to have caused panic that could take the plane down on its own.
 
If America is ignorant, it’s because we were kept from the facts by those who were entusted to stand watch over us (Congress) . They failed in their task of balancing the budget (along with the Presidents), but we also failed in ours as responsible individuals by not keeping a closer eye on them. We let our own greed and hubris get in our way. They (Congress) fed off our ignorance to embolden themselves and build a fortress to separate them from us. And if they were aware of the pending crisis, chose not to say anything to us because, after all, if they can find a way through this mess, they don’t want to have already freaked us out. Might hurt their chances for re-election if they knew we know.
 
It’s no wonder the public doesn’t have a clue what’s coming.
 
Let’s not be the ones to shut the door to the cockpit. I think it’s our job to continue to lay the facts out on the table in layman’s terms as we come across them. Then, perhaps, come up with some suggestions on how to prepare for the impact. 
 
I think an even better idea: Let’s throw the challenge to our readers: Solicit their ideas on how to prepare. Make it a contest to see who can come up with the best ideas for dealing with this tsunami as it gets closer. 

Once the challenge is given, it may impel the readers to do a little research and maybe they’ll discover for themselves the gravity of the situation. We can give them links to videos, the debt clock, things like that.

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Grand Rants readers, are you up to the challenge? If we are facing global financial disaster, how should we deal with it—how would you deal with it? Build a bunker? Gold, guns, groceries? Let us know.

Beware The Pendulum…

… It Swings Both Ways

A scant 12 months ago, Barack (“It’s ok to use my middle name, now that I’m elected”) Hussein Obama was basking in the glow of a victory in the Presidential election. He had a mandate (or so he thought) and announced that he was about to “fundamentally change America.” Crowds cheered. Women fainted. The sick grew well again. The afflicted healed.  A warm  tingling ran up Chris Matthews’ legs while a warm trickle of drool ran down Keith Olbermann’s chin. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers even won a couple of football games. “The Chosen One” had arrived. At least in the minds of his supporters.

But as the weeks turned into months, and Obama’s dreams turned into nightmares, a huge portion of the American public woke to the reality: ”The One” had lied to them. He’d had them in his spell but the spell was wearing off to the reality of what his intentions really are for this country:

• A strong-arm push towards socialism
• ACORN
• Chicago-style thug politics
• Key positions in an adminstration that promised to keep lobbyists out, filled by lobbyists
• Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the pork projects he promised to prevent
• A Democratic congress that literally locked out all Republicans from any participation in key legislative meetings (after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had promised “the most ethical, honest and accountable Congress in History”
• An attempt to hijack the country’s Census so Obama could reapportioned the political map in his favor, compliments of ACORN
• Traveling world-wide to apologize to our enemies and insult our allies
• Embarrassing errors in protocol

Barack Almighty whined about the trillion dollar deficit left behind by the Bush administration (when the truth is, much of that debt was incurred by a Democratic Congress, but hey, what do the facts have to do with anything where Obama is concerned?)  Then, Obama took that trillion dollar deficit and tripled it.  He gave us assurances the unemployment rate would not go above 8.5% if we would only support his pork-stuffed stimulus package that he didn’t have time to share with us via the Internet (as he had promised).

 Obama’s approval ratings went down faster than Keith Olbermann’s viewership, until the ratings could be located just below the potato peelings in the dumpster.  We all know how the story goes… but do we know how the story ends?

It would behoove talk radio show hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Mark Levin not to spend too much time patting themselves on the back. The same goes for all of us. The pendulum has swung back mighty fast to the conservative side since Obama took office… or has it? Perhaps it wasn’t swinging so much toward us as it was away from Obama’s regime. There’s a difference and we had better be aware of it. Here’s why:

There’s another year before the 2010 elections. A lot can happen in a year. Just ask President “Hope & Change.”

Now is not the time to sit back and celebrate anything. The fight goes on daily and you’d better believe a dog fights hardest when he’s cornered. And that’s precisely the position Congress and the President are in right now. We must not let up:

1. The Universal Health Care bill (no matter what they call it), is now being discussed in the Senate. If it passes, it will only hasten the collapse of this country financially. If that happens, well, I suggest you  read carefully the rant below this one entitled Point:Counterpoint:Repoint, Part 1. 
2. If you cannot commit to being part of the plan to save America’s Democracy, you’ve already enslaved yourself and yielded the right-of-way to Socialism and all its false promises. Don’t wait to discover for yourself the grand scam that is socialism.

Once again, an old adage has a contemporary application: “Now  is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” Perhaps another way to look at it: “Now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their country… to ensure there will BE a country you can be proud to pass on to your children and grandchildren.”

It won’t happen automatically. And don’t think for a moment that the liberals don’t have an equally enthusiastic group of supporters who have been organized by professionals to counter our efforts and diminish our chances of taking back what’s left of America.

“Beware the pendulum… It swings both ways.”

Gerry Ashley

Point:Counterpoint:Repoint, Part 1

I recently was included in an exchange of emails between two friends, and was so impressed by the insights contained and the ideas expressed that I immediately requested permission to publish the emails on Grand Rants. Permission from both authors having been received, I am pleased to present Part One of Point:CounterPoint:Repoint. Parts Two and Three will be posted tomorrow and Thursday. Enjoy!

Stoutcat

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Friday, Nov. 27, 2009

I’ve been thinking about this for some time now, and writing about it ad nauseum – U.S. and global economic disaster. I think it might be wise to rethink the approach to this issue.

I was watching an interview Beck did with Art Laffer, one of Reagan’s chief economic advisors, and it was absolutely chilling. Laffer spelled out the financial disaster that lies before us, and he says that at this point, it is inevitable. (Understand that Time Magazine called Dr. Laffer one of the 100 greatest minds in America in the 20th century.) The damage has been done, and all we can do now is stall the disaster. Combine Laffer with former U.S. comptroller David Walker in 2007, and the handwriting is on the wall. (Please, please, please watch this all the way through. And Mr. Walker’s timeline has been shortened lately.)

So, maybe it’s time to put down the flag and the agenda and take a deep breath. Maybe we should take a different tack from, “If only Obama lost…” and “GOP=good, liberals=bad”. This is for real and it’s coming at us at warp speed. According to Laffer, there’s nothing left to be done now.

Hey! Here’s a “bright” spot, our economy isn’t the closest to the brink amongst the industrialized nations – Japan’s is. The dark spot on the bright spot is that Japan holds more than one trillion dollars of our debt – when they fold, we fold, or vice versa. And if either of us folds, goodbye world economy! Add to that the aging of both countries and guess what? At least we can open our borders and let in all the young Mexicans – their work can literally hold back our fiscal crisis a little while.

My point being that so much of what we write about is micro-oriented. According to Laffer and Walker, micro doesn’t matter anymore. The iceberg “Macro” has slashed a tear into this ship of state, and throwing all the stuffed shirts in Washington into the gash won’t stop the sinking. Maybe we should just focus on dealing with the upcoming disaster.

I don’t know what is going to happen. No one does. The world simply has never seen something like this before.

It’s interesting to note that GW Bush gave China “Most Favored Nation” trading status; that the first place SecState Hillary went to was China; that Obama just got back from China; that the Chinese openly expressed concern about our debt… One thing is for certain: When all hell breaks loose—and it will—China and Russia will be calling the shots.

I don’t know what to write anymore. America is ignorant, hubristic, in denial, agenda pissed, and agenda blind all at the same time. But I do think we need to face the facts. We are sinking… Warm up, “Nearer My God to Thee”.

Gitmo Detainees: Soldiers or Weapons?

Hey, remember a few weeks ago, when we were all outraged at the Obama administration’s decision to try Gitmo detainees in New York courts, rather than holding military trials for the self-confessed 9/11 mastermind and his minions? Whatever happened to that? Why has it died out of the news?

In fact, why aren’t we seeing blog posts and articles and, well, videos like this one?

“The people held at Guantanamo Bay are not crewing the weapons in this war; they are the weapons in this war. They are independently operating, constantly evolving, high-level weapons systems that understand our weaknesses — like our civilian air traffic system — and they have dedicated their lives to killing as many of us as they possibly can.

“We have an obligation to understand everything we can about these weapons: where they come from; how they were made; who put them together; where they were aimed; how they were triggered; and most importantly, what are their weaknesses and blind spots, so that we can most effectively defend against them in the future.”

Thanks, Bill, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Stoutcat

What Nationalized Health Care Looks Like?

No matter how you slice it, this is just frightening.

I stumbled upon this diagram (from Great Britain’s National Health Service) on the BBC news site. Check the site out, please. Am I missing something? I read and re-read the article and could find no reference to the numbers – only those on the picture. And they certainly don’t jive with the numbered list below Mr. Skinned.

Point #1 clearly aligns with the #1 symptoms listed below the figure: whole body | high temperature, tiredness and lowered immunity. Point #2, ditto. #3 location is the stomach: this is where you get a sore throat? I don’t think so. And it just goes downhill from there.

So what am I missing?

If by some wild coincidence I’m not missing anything and the chart is messed up, what does that say about an industrialized country’s  nationalized system of medicine? (And yes, I know that the folks across the pond can differentiate between the throat and the stomach. And I also understand that they can count!) But my point holds… Who signed off on this? Who released it to the press? Was this a joke, or an act of complete and utter incompetence (and if the latter, what does that say about the NHS)?

As I said, it must be me. But then again, google on the following and read the first half-dozen hits: “great britain” NHS… Say no more. Say no more!

What in the world are we doing?

Alan Speakman

Uh Oh! Stoutcat Disagrees with Krauthammer

Well, only in one small part, actually. The vast majority of his superb column on NRO today is absolutely spot on. The current health reform bill is indeed “irredeemable” and…

“…it wildly compounds the complexity by adding hundreds of new provisions, regulations, mandates, committees, and other arbitrary bureaucratic inventions.

Worse, they are packed into a monstrous package without any regard to each other. The only thing linking these changes — such as the 118 new boards, commissions, and programs — is political expediency. Each must be able to garner just enough votes to pass. There is not even a pretense of a unifying vision or conceptual harmony.”

But: Mr. Krauthammer makes one small but very important statement with which I disagree. He begins the end of his column with this statement:

“Insuring the uninsured is a moral imperative.”

Is it? Why?

If insuring the uninsured is a moral imperative, why isn’t ensuring food for those who can’t afford it also a moral imperative? After all, people can die from starvation, whereas a cold, fever, or flu may bring you down for a while, but it generally won’t kill you.

What about homes? Homeless people die of exposure; why not make homes for all a moral imperative as well?

No, the moral imperative is to make sure that the uninsured have access to the healthcare they need. But mandating that for-profit insurance companies must cover them is akin to mandating that grocery stores must give away groceries for free to the hungry; or that banks must give home loans to those who cannot afford to pay mortgages. Oh wait, we all saw how well that worked out, didn’t we?

Making sure that those who cannot afford healthcare coverage have access to good healthcare may in fact be a moral imperative. Insuring the uninsured whether they want it or not, whether they can afford it or not, whether the insurance companies want to or not, is most decidedly not a moral imperative.

Sorry, Charles.

Stoutcat

Giving Thanks

Think about this: There is only one reason, one group, one entity that saves the image above from the scrap heap of the historically laughable and horrifically ridiculous. No matter what your religion or ethnicity, only one small slice of humanity saved your tail section, especially in America, from being on the endangered list. Given recent (and sometimes not so recent) history, virtually every ethnic, racial, political, and religious segment of the global village has found refuge in the silent arms of the United States Military. Doubt it? If the Nazis had had their way, all Jews, gays, blacks, Native Americans, and in general non-Aryan would be dead… Between the early and late 1900s (not to mention the Marshall Plan in between), Europe would probably still be a smoldering ruins. What would have happened to China if we acquiesced and gave the Japanese the petroleum they so desperately wanted to continue their vicious expansionism in 1941? What of South Korea? The Philippines? What of the USSR?

In short, where would this world be without the United States Marine Corp, the United States Army, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, and the United States Coast Guard?

Well, we wouldn’t be eating turkey.

So today whether you are with family or friends, eating a feast or serving a feast, please remember our servicemen and women as you give thanks for all the blessings this great country has bestowed upon us all.

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Mal 3:10

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Stoutcat