Winter is Coming

"Boomers - Winter is Coming"

I gave the article a quick read, and honestly, some of it made my stomach turn.

But seriously, he's on to something with this bit;

"Anyone who is being honest recognizes the country is on a path towards a major calamity. We have been living beyond our means for decades and the fiscal mismanagement of the country will come to a dramatic climax in the next decade. What many deny is that this crisis was pre-ordained based upon a predictable timeline of generational forces repeating over and over again throughout history. The elites are continuously stunned that every 20 to 25 years a fresh mood engulfs the country and new generations act differently than the generations who proceeded them. The privileged are astounded because they don’t want to accept the fact that progress is not linear and that society will undergo highs and lows over the course of a century."

The tone of the rest of it is that there is a cyclical nature to the course of human history (largely true, I think) and that because of certain factors (some of which are dubious) we are at the cusp of a radical change in not only demographics (boomers are on their way OUT in this power structure), but in raw numbers do to probable civil war, and the real possibilities of complete global destabilization.

He might be right.

Belated H/T to Kevin.

Last of the Mohicans,

er, domestic automakers, I mean.

Recent discussions with the Krauter regarding our current stable of vehicles has revolved around getting rid of my aging but utilitarian Nissan pickup (which, like the Energizer Bunny, keeps going and going), and replacing it with...something bigger.

It's odd that she's become rather enamoured with something so...American, the idea of acquiring a full-size pickup (being that she's a Krauter and grew up in Euroland), and she's not settling for anything less than a true hauler. No sport cabs and short bed 1/2 tons for her. She's wanting something with four full-sized doors and a long bed. Long ago, we broached the subject of brand, and I assured her that when it comes to pickups, Ford was the only brand worth considering, for any number of reasons.

Add one to that list, and it appears from that Rasmussen survey that I'm not alone.

When the bailout scheme was coming around, I figured that only Ford would even attempt to avoid the entanglements associated with letting the Gummint get its dirty fingers in on the deal, knowing that they were the only domestic brand that either wasn't in dire enough straights (GM), or had been down this path before (Chrysler). I was proven correct on this, and my feelings of the situation have only been solidified in the face of the overt theft and corruption in the industry that ensued.

So, assuming that I still have a job at the end of the week, my truck will soon be getting a replacement in our fleet, with the new truck doing family and grocery duty while the Subie wagon (the current family hauler) gets put into daily-driver mode. The kicker is that we are going to be substituting a truck that is 14 years old with 200k miles, getting 25 mpg with a much larger, newer pickup that won't get more than about 18mpg on flat stretches of highway at 60mph. I have no guilt about it at all, either.

I can hear the Eco-Phreaks whining already.

Biding your time,

so that you can kill them in their sleep?

I dunno. First thing that came to mind.

Personally, I'm wanting them standing in front of me, wide-awake when I do them. I'm in the serious minority regarding that, I'm sure, but seeing the shock on their faces is entirely worth the extra effort.

I'm rather looking forward to it.

The presumptuousness of the arrogant bastard is appalling

Headline:

Obama says health care status quo is 'unacceptable'

Barry, here's a bit of free advice; you haven't the authority to do anything of the sort.

What you are effectively stating is that YOU are sole arbitor of the decisions to be made about MY health care choices, whether you admit to it or not. That is the FACT. What is unacceptable is ANY interference from YOU, or Congress, by any fucking means, at all.

Go fuck yourself. You and those crony motherfuckers in Congress.

Shocking? Not really

What don't these dolts understand about the effects of governmental bureaucracies?

History should be enough, but not for those whose sight is blinded by ignorance, it seems.

Fuck 'em. Hope they all rot in Hell for this.

Why let reality stand in the way of a God complex

Beyond the obvious ethical concerns regarding the outright theft of others' production to supposedly "pay" for this corpulent, filthy waste, what's it gonna take for these people to wake up and smell the fucking coffee about the reality of sums involved?

"The Senate can still pass a health- care overhaul with some Republican support by August even with the “wacky” cost estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, Senator Charles Schumer said."

With talk like that, it's really only a matter of time before all the wheels of this thing come completely off.

Of course not, she has an agenda to attend to

The stupid cunt is not going to answer your question, Senator Coburn, because to do so truthfully would give away her predisposed intent at gutting the Bill of Rights as she's fit.

That human rights are there, and inalienable, independent of being granted by something so arcane as government, isn't going to stand in her way.

She is intent upon redefining everything about whatever she can lay her filthy hands upon (she is convinced of the reach of the courts, and has admitted as much, openly), in an attempt at creating the whole of America as she wants it.

Individual rights mean NOTHING to her.

Do you all get that?

Chinese style population control...

...is now, apparently, on the table for discussion from your less-than-benevolent gummint.

Via Les Jones.

I thought this bit, excerpted from the list was just charming;

"...compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution..."

So, not only is forcible abortion, by direction of the government, now an option, it's supposedly legal.

All, again, supposedly, in an effort (framing the argument, again) to save the fucking planet.

Anyone else see where this "thinking" will be taking us?

Here's an open promise or threat, whichever one prefers: I've got a bullet for any governmentally appointed apparatchik who even dares cross that line with me, and I couldn't give two licks of a dead, wet rat's ass if all they are/were doing is covering some "theoretical ground", or some other non-sense.

Controlling the narrative

The headline on the Yahoo! frontpage reads this;

"Partisan bickering continues over Sotomayor's impartiality"

See, this is where my hatred of the fucking MSM is rooted. A far more appropriate title would have read something like this;

“A Latina woman will reach a better conclusion in a court case than some misogynistic cracker male, 'cuz, ya know, I've got a better perspective on, well, everything, being a woman, and a Latino,”

What a fucking crock of shit.

As if that weren't enough, there is yet another clip of her sticking her foot in her mouth over what the duty of courts are. She comes right out and says it, only to realize an instant later that she's said something erroneous and contemptible;

"...court of appeals is where policy is made,"

She needs to be run out of this country on a rail.

Maybe Dictator-for-life Chavez is looking for another useful idiot commie to add to his bench?

I'm not going to live by others' standards

I'm going to quote James Wesley Rawles, in its entirety, from today's Economics and Investing segment, from his excellent SurvivalBlog:

"New climate strategy: track the world's wealthiest. This is the sort of fallacious logic that foments envy, and inevitably class warfare. Yes, Americans do use a disproportionately large portion of the world's natural resources. But we also create correspondingly more with those resources. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the US is tremendous. Here is an illustration. (California, just by itself is the sixth largest economy in the world.) Consider this: Why does Kenya Airlines have Boeing 747s in their fleet? Because someone in America builds them. Could those planes be made in Kenya? No, because they have neither the expertise nor the manufacturing infrastructure. Is this situation somehow "exploitive"? No! As my old friend "Jeff Trasel" says: "Please don't tell me that I somehow magically 'owe the world' more because my 'carbon footprint' is larger. Well, so is my productivity!" I agree with Jeff. Carbon footprint calculations and swaps of carbon credits are nothing but voodoo economics and socialist scheming."

My emphasis at the end.

Another wheel comes off

Can't imagine that it will take much more of these kinds of shenanigans to get the revolt started;

"...an income tax surcharge on the highest-paid wage earners ..."

I suppose this is supposed to make the whole bit more palatable to the plebes, as it makes the whole thing look like a Robin Hood fairy tale or something.

Look at what they are trying to slide in too, knowing that they can't possibly pay for all of their socialistic dreams from the few who they deem "too rich";

"...key lawmakers are expected to call for a tax or fee equal to a percentage of a worker's salary on employers who do not offer health benefits."

What they are saying here is that if an employer doesn't offer health care benefits to their employees, a fee or tax will be assessed on a percentage basis of that employees wages.

What the Congressweasels doesn't realize is this; that tax, or penalty, as I'll call it, isn't going to come out of the pocket of the nasty, greedy, rich employer, but straight out of the pocket of the guy who is putting in the real work, the production, of the good or service being rendered by said company. And that dollar amount isn't going to actually cover anything even remotely close to healthcare coverage for that one particular person, and anyone who knows where taxes go should know this.

Additionally, there is still another fly shitting in my corn flakes in Max Baucus, insisting that there should be a tax imposed on any healthcare benefits being "received" by those who actually are insured! I'm sure I couldn't explain to him that though I am covered under the plan provided by my employer, I'm actually paying for all of it, straight out of my paycheck. Every last bit of it, sir. I'm not "receiving" anything for "free", you ignorant lout, so fuck off!

The other stuff that is just as sickening is that the liars keep saying that they are "planning" to "pay" for part of this "insurance for all" scheme by cutting payments for Medicare and Medicaid. Did you see that specific in the verbiage? Planning. As in they are making a verbal promise, which will, no doubt, be completely reneged upon at their earliest convenience.

What I'm sure of is this; these dolts are going to do it. They simply have to. They can't resist the temptation of patting themselves on the back, and that's the only thing that really matters to them, the self-serving ego-stroke they get from passing this legislation. The feelgoodism is simply oozing out of them, and they have no idea what it is they are instigating by doing this.

None.

Quenching your thirst gets put to a vote

Australia goes one step further down the fucking shitter.

I'm really at a loss, here.

Benedict, now hear this:

Shut the fuck up, you stupid old man.

You haven't the slightest fucking CLUE what you are talking about, and the ends of your, "new world financial order guided by ethics and the search for the common good," will lead to nothing but increased poverty, servitude and depravity.

Then again, maybe that is what he's really looking for.

And that bit that keeps getting tossed around by the lackey MSM, you know the, "profit-at-all-cost mentality blamed for bringing about the global financial meltdown," is a conflation on an order that few could understand. Hear this now; greed and cook-the-books accounting are NOT the same thing as profiting at legitimate work! Get that through your pointy little fucking heads!

His calls for, "a true world political authority," and, "the most efficient use — not abuse — of natural resources, based on a realization that the notion of 'efficiency' is not value-free," are simply demanding that Big Brother step in to dictate terms to individuals and private companies, taking a cut of the production, in one way or another, slathering the whole with diktat and regulations, the whole agency being propped up by the theft of said production, and it still being expected to produce something of value should be enough for anyone to understand why we shouldn't even be discussing such things. It's been proven, time and again, to not work.

Of course, there are a majority of people these days who wouldn't know that, or ascribe to the philosophy of self interest. Instead, they are "true-believers" of the line of bullshit that this stupid fuck keeps throwing around. Everything has to be done altruistically.

Fuck that noise.

H/T to Billy.

Security Kabuki theatre continues

I have no comment.

Pay attention to the specifics

The focus I'm talking about is this bit;

"Ballistics tests showed Burris's gun matched the one that killed residents in and around Gaffney..."

So, how is it that someone who was a career criminal, a recent parolee, and having rap sheet 25 pages long, gets his mitts on a gun?

How?

Can't wait for the usual suspects to start their collective screeching about banning guns, and how that will supposedly solve everyone's problems.

Suppose we can just make it illegel for felons to possess guns. Oh, wait, we've already done that.

Well, then let's channel Spinal Tap, turn up the volume to eleven and just do it again, only harder. (/snark.)

Dipshits.

At least there is now one less psychopath to deal with.

He has nothing to contribute

How is it that bringing yet another bloated federal bureaucracy into this mess is going to make anything more efficient, or get the costs down?

Loved this bit;

"Obama said the best way to drive down health care costs is to persuade doctors and hospitals to emphasize quality of care over the quantity of procedures."

Stated as if it were fact, when no proof has been provided to affirm the position. His "persuasion" is only a thinly veiled threat, by the way, and more than hints at dictating to hospitals and doctors about amounts that can be charged for a procedure, effectively creating a price structure by fiat.

Also, there is a rather overwhelming suggestion that what's needed is "preventative care",

"...the nation's long-term needs require a greater emphasis on preventive care and "cost-effective care,"

which could be interpreted as something similar to Canada's system, where simple illnesses and stitches are easily and promptly treated (and if you believe the liars, free of charge too), but where the more serious and acute cases usually end up being treated in the U.S.

Putting the government in charge of anything is an invitation for disaster. They have NO HOPE of ever making anything cost effective, nor "fair" (a term that has been bandied about since...I don't know when). The Congress, the bureaucracies and the MSM are doing nothing except selling a lie to the American public (insofar as they are Americans, by birth), by promising something to all that they don't actually produce! That's criminal, no matter the label you'd care to apply to the scheme they are shelling out.

That last link deserves a hat tip to Kevin, at TSM.