Thursday, December 17, 2009

Obama Utilizes Presidential Fear Marketing

President Obama will utilize ABC’s airwaves tonight in a fear marketing campaign to sell Americans DeathCare.

President Obama told ABC News’ Charles Gibson in an interview that if Congress does not pass health care legislation that will bring down costs, the federal government “will go bankrupt.”

What a shoddy way for an alleged leader to instill confidence in the American people.

President Obama: Federal Government ‘Will Go Bankrupt’ if Health Care Costs Are Not Reined In

Posted by John Venlet on 12/17 at 01:16 PM
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Quote on Truth

I enjoy the aphoristic writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson.  One can almost randomly pluck a sentence from Emerson’s writings and display its beauty alone.  Here’s one on truth.

I recommend phlegm and truth: let all the truth that is spoken or done be at the zero of indifferency, or truth itself will be folly.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life, Considerations By The Way, pg. 237, Concord Edition Deluxe, John D. Morris & Company, 1906

Posted by John Venlet on 12/17 at 09:46 AM
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The U.S. Government is Not Your Friend

Most Americans desire to believe that the state is their friend, protector and benefactor.  That the state would not willingly attempt to wrong them through intimidation, obfuscation and simple lying.  Well, think again, rather than believing.

To illustrate my statement, above, consider Broadcom’s experience in dealing with the state, the federal government, in regards to an alleged stock options backdating case, which was dismissed yesterday, due to misconduct by the federal government, and is reported on in the Wall Street Journal under the headline Judge Tosses Charges In Broadcom Case.

The WSJ’s article regarding this case notes some “missteps” by the federal government, without supplying specifics.  Let’s take a look at a just a small portion of the the ruling, courtesy of Tom Palmer.

The case was titled United States of America, Plaintiff, vs. William J. Ruehle, Defendant - NO. SACR 08-00139-CJC.  Honorable Cormac J. Carney was the presiding judge.  From the ruling.

BASED ON THE COMPLETE RECORD NOW BEFORE ME, I FIND THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS INTIMIDATED AND IMPROPERLY INFLUENCED THE THREE WITNESSES CRITICAL TO MR. RUEHLE’S DEFENSE. THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF THAT MISCONDUCT HAS DISTORTED THE TRUTH-FINDING PROCESS AND COMPROMISED THE INTEGRITY OF THE TRIAL.

TO SUBMIT THIS CASE TO THE JURY WOULD MAKE A MOCKERY OF MR. RUEHLE’S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO COMPULSORY PROCESS AND A FAIR TRIAL. THE SIXTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION GUARANTEES THE ACCUSED THE RIGHT TO COMPULSORY PROCESS FOR WITNESSES IN ITS DEFENSE. FOR THIS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO HAVE TRUE MEANING, THE GOVERNMENT MUST NOT DO ANYTHING TO INTIMIDATE OR IMPROPERLY INFLUENCE WITNESSES. SADLY, GOVERNMENT DID SO IN THIS CASE…

There is plenty more in the remainder of the ruling, which runs nineteen (19) pages, double spaced in a pdf format, and it should be read by everyone.  Tom Palmer’s website is hosting the ruling United States of America, Plaintiff vs. William J. Ruehle, Defendant - No. SACR 08-00139-CJC.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/17 at 08:56 AM
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

His Gun is For Fun

In the movie Full Metal Jacket, the DI is not pleased when recruits call their rifle a gun, and to correct this aberration the DI instructs the recruits to recite in cadence the following.

This is my rifle!  This is my gun!  This is for fighting!  This is for fun!

I wonder if Russell Vanderwerf, who is the Director of Industry Operations for the Houston field office of the ATF was thinking about his gun and fun when he was arrrested in New Orleans last week.

Russell Vanderwerf, 44, of Houston was booked Dec. 1 with simple criminal damage valued at $500 to $5,000 and interfering with fire prevention after staffers at the Residence Inn, 3 Galleria Blvd., began investigating a malfunctioning fire alarm system, the arrest report said.

Here’s the gun and fun part of the story.

But the staffers and a deputy sheriff also discovered that someone had removed the bedroom door from its hinges and replaced it with a 5-by-4-foot piece of plywood affixed to the frame and the drywall with hinges and screws, the arrest report said. The door had two locks attached from the bedroom side and a circular hole padded with duct tape. The deputy noted in the arrest report that the hole appeared to be used “in some sort of sexual act.”

A front-desk staffer told authorities that she’d received a complaint from a hotel guest who said the door to that room had been propped open on the night of Nov. 30 and that she noticed several “young men” entering and exiting. The guest also complained of hearing “sex noises” coming from the room, the arrest report said.

At ease, citizens, only the best serve in our country’s places of authority.

Federal gun regulator accused of damaging Metairie hotel room

Via RicketyClick.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/16 at 08:59 AM
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Did Ya Hear That?

My hearing is still pretty good, I’d say, considering my ears have been in use for almost half a century, now.  I especially rely on my hearing when I flyfish at night in the summer months, listening for the rise of a respectable trout sipping a mayfly and then aurally judging the distance I must cast my fly to entice said trout.

I’m rather proficient at this, but my aural acumen is pitiable compared to an Ohio cop’s who claimed that his auditory abilities were so exceptional they enabled him to determine that an individual was speeding, doing 42 mph in a 35 mph zone, without even the use of a radar gun.

“As it approached I could hear the vehicle on the roadway which based on my training and experience it is consistent with a vehicle that was in excess of the posted speed limit,”...

The ticketed individual challenged this officer’s amazing auditory abilities in court, and though the individual had to take the case up to the Ohio Court of Appeals, the ticket was finally thrown out with the opinion of the court noting

...It is simply incredible, in the absence of reliable scientific, technical, or other specialized information, to believe that one could hear an unidentified vehicle ‘speeding’ without being able to determine the actual speed of the vehicle.”

Ohio Appeals Court: No Speeding Tickets for Fast Sounding Cars

Via The Northern Muckraker.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/16 at 08:02 AM
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Presidential Sleazy Selling

So, today Obama opines, as part of his pitch to Congress to pass some type of tax break legislation for homeowners who invest in such improvements, that upgrading your windows, or caulking, or insulating older homes is “sexy” because it can save homeowners money.  I’m all for saving money, preferably gold or silver out of sight of the government if I can during these times, but the savings Obama touts as oh so sexy,

It saves consumers money, perhaps hundreds of dollars off their utility bills each year. (bold by ed.)

are oh so “perhaps.”

Here are a couple of illustrations of just how perhaps those savings would be.  First, from the site Ask the Builder - Old Windows.

To make an informed decision about investing in new windows, you need to put a pencil to paper. There are many things you need to consider, including current heating and cooling costs, projected maintenance of the existing windows and future price increases on fuels that you use to heat and cool. It’s not easy to do all of this math, and that’s why many people cave in replacing their windows hoping they save money. Well, in some instances the people never save any money at all. Always remember that you never begin saving money until such time as you have recaptured the money you spent on the improvement plus any and all interest that money could have generated in your savings account.

Get copies of the utility bills for the past two years for this home. You can often separate the heating cost by looking at the bills for the summer vs. the winter. If the fuel source is natural gas or propane, you can see the dramatic rise between fall and spring. Do the math to calculate the approximate cost of heating the home. You may be surprised to discover that the cost is less than $1,500 per heating season if this is a smaller home.

Let’s assume that even with new windows installed you could save as much as 30 percent. I’m not saying you will, but let’s make that assumption. This means that you’ll only reduce your heating cost per year by $450.00. For now, let’s assume the cost of the fuel will rise 4 percent per year. This means that in ten years, you would save approximately $5,397.00. That’s not bad, but imagine if you had spent $10,000 or more replacing the old windows with new ones! It would take another eight or nine years of energy savings just to break even, not counting the lost interest on the money. If you finance the new windows, the payback period is even longer because of the interest you pay on the loan.

Tax credits, rebates and incentives from utility companies and other programs can impact the payback period. All of these need to be considered. But beware of fast-talking salespeople who promise you instant savings. That’s simply not the case. (bold by ed.)

Next, from a posting at the website ServiceMagic.com titled The Truth About Thermal Replacement Windows, regarding purchasing replacement windows at a home improvement store.

Q. I’ve seen some pretty good deals on windows at a local home center store. Is that a good way to get windows?

A. Sometimes you can get a good price at a home center, but there are several pitfalls to watch for. First of all, the best prices are typically for “bargain” windows that may not be built well and may not last long. Second, it is difficult to get a pro to install windows you buy from a home center.

Most pros realize that if something goes wrong and it is due to a shortcoming in the window, they will likely shoulder the blame. That means either you or a handyman will have to do the installation. If thermal windows are not installed exactly plumb and square, with all the appropriate insulation, you may get little or no energy savings. (bold by ed.)

And last, but far from least, direct from the U.S. Department of Energy’s website, their input on the savings new thermal windows may generate.

Installing, high-performance windows will improve your home’s energy performance. While it may take many years for new windows to pay off in energy savings, the benefits of added comfort and improved aesthetics and functionality may make the investment worth it to you. Many window technologies are available that are worth considering. (bold by ed.)

These upgrades are not so sexy now, perhaps, are they?

Obama says retrofitting houses is ‘sexy’

Posted by John Venlet on 12/15 at 12:56 PM
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Personal Secession

Don Emmerich posts an excerpt from Hans-Herman Hoppes’ Democracy: The God that Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order, dealing with personal secession which is well worth reading.  The opening excerpt as posted by Emmerich.

“In order to strip government of its powers and repair it to the status of a voluntary membership organization (as before 1861), it is not necessary to take it over, to engage in violent battle against it, or even to lay hands on one’s rulers. In fact, to do so would only reaffirm the principle of compulsion and aggressive violence underlying the current system and inevitably lead to the replacement of one government or tyrant by another. To the contrary, it is only necessary that one decide to withdraw from the compulsory union and reassume one’s right to self protection. Indeed, it is essential that one proceed in no other way than by peaceful secession and noncooperation.

I am non-cooperating, to the best of my abilities, and striving to improve.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/15 at 07:42 AM
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Monday, December 14, 2009

“Taxpayer Largesse” My A$$

I am never surprised by the use of superlatives in the mainstream media, by I do take umbrage at their use, and cast a jaundiced eye when I read them, as should you.

Consider the following from an article, penned by Jim Puzzanghera for the Los Angeles Times, regarding Obama’s whipping post meeting today with some of the nation’s largest banks’ CEOs titled Obama tells nation’s top bankers of their duty to taxpayers, economy.

Reporting from Washington - Even as another major bank announced it was repaying its bailout money, President Obama today told executives from the nation’s largest financial institutions to return the taxpayer’s largesse in an additional way—increase lending to small businesses to help the economy create more jobs. (bold by ed.)

Merriam-Webster defines largesse as follows:

1 : liberal giving (as of money) to or as if to an inferior; also : something so given

The secondary definition, according to Merriam-Webster, is generosity.

There is no doubt that the monies handed out to the nation’s banks by the United States government as part of TARP were liberally given.  And I am fairly certain that the professsional jobholders in Washington D.C. indeed felt that they were giving billions of dollars to their inferiors, but I doubt very much that the American taxpayers were pleased, in the spirit of generosity, that billions of dollars, billions of tax dollars, were given to the banks considering how deep the United States government is already reaching into their pockets, and their children’s and grandchildren’s pockets.

It’s very convenient to call any taxpayer subsidy largesse when you’re the one holding the gun.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/14 at 04:06 PM
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Sunday, December 13, 2009

Low Interest Rates Are Not a Panacea

In today’s New York Times business section there is an article headlined Interest Rates Are Low, but Banks Balk at Refinancing.  A headline which intimates that banking institutions are simply being obtuse with would be mortgage borrowers.

I suppose that individuals who are inclined to live their lives as if they are bit players in the fantasy depicted in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life will read the NYT piece and feel that the writer has justifiably condemned banks for not handing out low interest rate money left and right, with no consideration for actual mortgage lending risk, just as was going on prior to the collapse of the subprime lending industry, neglecting the lessons to be learned from such foolish mortgage lending practices.

Here are couple of examples from the article which are supposed to highlight the tightfisted, callous bankers.  First, the caption under the photo which accompanies the article, one reads the following.

Mark Belvedere says his bank has refused to refinance his condo outside San Francisco, citing the property’s lost value.

Further into the article we learn more in regards to why the bad ol’ bank will not refinance Mr. Belvedere’s current mortgage.

Mark Belvedere bought a condominium in a San Francisco suburb in early 2004 and refinanced it in 2005. He now owes $235,000 on a property that would sell for barely half that today.

Mr. Belvedere said he would be willing to live with all that lost equity if he could refinance his loan from a variable rate, which could eventually go as high as 12 percent, into a 30-year fixed term.

Mr. Belvedere complains that this “makes no sense.”  I suppose, if one believes that lending money is a charitable enterprise, rather than a business enterprise, lending someone $235,000.00 on a property that is worth maybe $117,000.00; a mortgage with no collateral as recourse for the bank if the borrower defaults which is exactly what was going on in the subprime lending industry; the bank’s refusal to refinance Mr. Belvedere would not make sense.  But mortgage lending does have risks, which must be considered, whether interests rates are low, or high, and mortgage lending is NOT a charitable enterprise.

A Mr. Guy Cecala, who publishes a magazine titled Inside Mortgage Finance, and who should know better than to berate banks for not handing out mortgage money willy nilly just because interest rates are low, joins the mob, cudgel in hand, with the following insights.

“In those days, a refinance was like a free weekend in Vegas,” said Mr. Cecala of Inside Mortgage Finance. “Now it’s between an Army physical and a root canal — and that’s if you’re successful.”...“Now lenders are paranoid about every loan unless it is guaranteed to be the safest deal on earth.”

Comments which suggest that Mr. Cecala pines for the vapidity of the subprime lending hey days, dire consequences be damned.

Individuals who desire to argue that banks should be lending mortgage money left and right, simply because rates are low, other mortgage lending risks be damned, are arguing for the return of the foolishness of subprime lending.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/13 at 10:47 AM
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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Individuals, Not the Collective

The renewal of civilization has nothing to do with movements which bear the character of experiences of the crowd; these are never anything but reactions to external happenings. But civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind independent of the one prevalent among the crowd and in opposition to it, a tone of mind which will gradually win influence over the collective one, and in the end determine its character is only an ethical movement which can rescue us from the slough of barbarism, and the ethical comes into existence only in individuals.

The above was penned by Albert Schweitzer in his work The Philosophy of Civilization: Part I, the Decay and the Restoration of Civilization, which I lifted from a post at the Mises Economics Blog  titled Timeless Wisdom from Hans Sennholz.

The above reminded me of a comment I dropped at Radley Balko’s site, The Agitator, back in November 2003, which was titled Meso-Libertarianism and which is relevant to Schweitzer’s comment quoted above.

Why is there such a confounded need to label yourself or align yourself within a group? Can we not just be men with like minded ideas of liberty and sovereign individuality? Even if some of your political ideologies differ in regards to the size of government, as compared to other labeled individuals, does the group label offer you any kind of safety, or is it just a need to belong that is being fulfilled by the label? The group mentality, in most instances, only provides a bludgeon to use against other groups.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/12 at 11:02 AM
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Friday, December 11, 2009

Gun Law Good News or Simply Window Dressing?

An AP article posted at Yahoo! News is headlined Gun laws are getting looser across much of US and lists a number of loosening gun restrictions across the United States.

The last two paragraphs of the piece read as follows.

The flood of legislative victories in Tennessee after many years of frustration now has some gun backers aiming for a whole new level of freedom: No permits at all.

The permit laws “are an extra burden on people to exercise essentially a constitutional right,” said John Harris, executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association.

A whole new level of freedom?  No permits at all?

A more principled individual, Billy Beck, stated the following, which pertains to the quote above, some time ago in a post titled “Why Do I Fight For 2A Rights?”

I have more principled reasons for my stand on owning firearms, and I don’t care one whit in the world for the Second Amendment. It means nothing to me. My rights have nothing to do with the U.S. Constitution, and when it dawns on people that it has finally been erased—the principal danger of all political premises posed as “social contracts”—my rights will still validly exist, even if I die defending them. I own firearms because I have a right to private property. That is the First Thing.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/11 at 05:48 PM
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The Internet is Simply a Device

Brad, in a post at WendyMcElroy.com titled “Radicalized By The Internet,” quotes Wendy’s response to CNN’s stating that Ramy Zamzam; one of five Americans recently arrested in Pakistan as possible terrorists; was “radicalized by the internet.”  Wendy’s response to CNN’s statement.

“We never spoke of people ‘radicalized by the printing press.’”

Brad then responds to Wendy’s comment with the following.

That’s it in a nutshell. “The Internet” doesn’t “radicalize” anyone. It’s just a means of communication. It’s possible that someone was inspired to radical or terrorist action by articles or news on the Internet, but those inflammatory ideas could equally well have been delivered by print media. Or television.

So when you hear someone blaming “the Internet” for something, substitute the phrase “printing press” and see if the comment still makes sense.

And it is not just CNN ascribing unique powers; by an inanimate device mind you; of radicalization to the internet.  The Wall Street Journal’s piece on the five Americans, titled Students Linked to al Qaeda, also is peddling this nonsense, as follows.

Some Americans are believed to have become radicalized via the Internet.

The internet is simply a device, a “means of communication” as Brad notes, and individuals who ascribe powers of radicalization to the internet are in all likelihood the same inidividuals who would spout off that guns kill people, rather than understanding that a gun is simply a device, an inanimate object, and that people kill people with a wide variety of devices.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/11 at 02:55 PM
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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Whores Have a Higher Sense of Decorum

In a Fashion & Style article in the New York Times titled Dinner Crashers Walked All Over Social Code, David Segal laments the Obama state dinner party crashers’, the Salahis, lack of respect for the “decorum and formality,” cough, cough, of relationships in Washington D.C.

Segal provides a number of laughable musings on the subject, some of which follow.

They also trampled countless protocols that are the social, business and networking bedrock of official Washington…

“Washington is a small ‘c’ conservative kind of society, in which people are aware of the traditions and boundaries of appropriate behavior,” said Wayne Berman, a Republican lobbyist. “It’s a city about rules, about conventions and if there’s no keg at the party, it doesn’t get crashed.”...

“When I worked for Al Gore, I didn’t call him ‘Al’ or even ‘Mr. Gore,’ ” says Chris Lehane, a former spokesman for the ex-vice president. “He was Mr. Vice President. Even now I call him Mr. Vice President. There’s an element of decorum and formality in Washington, that I think stems from the fact that these are elected officials. And I think the Salahi incident rattled that sense of decorum.”...

“At most parties in New York or Los Angeles, a bouncer will make a snap decision about whether to let you in depending on your looks or some shtick that that sets you apart,” says Juleanna Glover, a Washington hostess and a founder of the Ashcroft Group, a legal and consulting firm. “In Washington, there are no snap decisions. It’s a lifetime of wise decisions that make it so that you receive a state dinner invitation.”...

That Juleanna Glover is a hoot, blathering on about “no snap decisions” and “lifetime(s) of wise decisions” in Washington D.C.  Hilarious.

Segal also informs New York Times readers about the Salahis’ flouting of “power-wall etiquette.”  Your power wall, evidently, being photographic evidence, displayed on your office wall, which somehow conveys your ability to get things done.  Segal goes so far as to state,

...A lot of power walls emphasize quantity, but the true influence maestros in the city understand that the smaller your power wall, the more power it conveys…,

which lends powerful credence to the old saying “It’s not who you know, it’s who you blow.”

Whores have a higher sense of decorum than the professional jobholders in Washington D.C., and Segal’s lamenting over the Salahis’ audacity in trampling these alleged Washington D.C. conventions is akin to a child crying crocodile tears because his mom won’t allow a cookie before dinner.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/10 at 08:40 AM
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Wednesday, December 09, 2009

A Nation of Voyeurs

The most disgracelful aspect of the Tiger Woods affair, and the mountains of copy which it has generated, is the gluttonous feeding on the mountain of copy by the inane.

Jeebus, wipe your face.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/09 at 09:55 AM
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