Curtis Dahlgren
"Got change"? Surviving "post-partisan" America
By Curtis Dahlgren
"He may live without hope, — what is hope but deceiving?" — Owen Meredith (Earl of Lytton; 1831-1891)
"Genius does what it must, and talent does what it can . . .
There is no sin except stupidity." — Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)
"Myths which are believed tend to become true." — Orwell
IN THE U.P. OF MICHIGAN, WE'RE CUTTING WOOD FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR. I was cutting wood in my long johns this week. I had the heater on in my truck yesterday. The top is off of it, I admit, but still — it is the first of July, isn't it?
The farmers are praying for global warming, even as Congress "works" on raising the price of the fuel everyone has to buy whether we want to or not. We're so busy cutting wood up here that it's hard to find time to call our Senators. But we'd better all do that this weekend, before they cut our phone lines too. Congressional staffers are already reluctant to pick up the phones.
In this era of "post-partisan politics," the opinions of the People don't really matter. The really important thing is "following orders" from Congressional leaders whose #1 priority is their patronage-promoting scams. AND GLOBAL WARMING IS A SCAM.
The EPA is now unofficially the EPR: The Environmental "Protection-Racket"! As Orwell warned us, myths tend to be accepted as true when they are believed without challenge!
However, "faith" in man's ability to "control the climate" is dropping like a rock, given the amount of real scientific information readily available on the "Information Superhighway." A scientist working for the EPA was "reassigned" because his conclusions didn't agree with the Party Line (the "patronage line" being used to HOOK us into Big Brother's nets). The facts are starting to filter down to the "little people," even into local weekly newspapers such as the Menominee County Journal (6-25-09).
"Local meterologist challenges global warming" (reprinted from Munising NEWS):
"At the risk of being labeled anti-environmentalist, which he is not, Chief Meteorologist Karl Bohnak challenges the idea of human-induced global warming. Citing decades of weather studies, and showing charts lacking correlation between rising CO2 levels and warmer global temperatures, Bohnak asks, 'Where's the evidence?'
"The catalyst for Bohnak's recent public stand on the issue is a bill introduced to the U.S. Congress titled The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 . . . The [cap-and-trade] plan would cost the average family more than $1,500 per year in associated costs . . . 'Even President Obama admits this legislation would cause energy costs to skyrocket.'"
THE H0USE, normally more responsive to the People and common sense, punted this deceptively-named bill along to the Senate. WHY THE "RUSH"?
I'm so old I was conceived before Pearl Harbor, and in all my days I've never witnessed such a desperate Congress. They don't even "debate" anymore on Capitol Hill. "The debate is over," they say. Oh yeah?
If the debate really WERE over, taking an extra week or two to "talk" wouldn't bother the Liberals. If the debate were "over," they'd still win, wouldn't they? But no! They fully realize that if they allowed "debate," they would surely lose the argument — and possibly the vote — on "cap-and-trade" (which really ought to be entitled the "Surrender on Trade" bill because of all the industries that would move out of the country if it were to pass)!
AS IF OUR COUNTRY'S ECONOMY WEREN'T IN ENOUGH TROUBLE ALREADY!
The Detroit area has lost 8 percent of its jobs since 12 monts ago. Milwaukee has lost 5 percent of the jobs existing at the same time a year ago. One reason is that up here in the upper Midwest, it costs a lot of money (and energy) to heat our buildings and run the factories (not to mention unrealistic labor costs). And here's an item that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (6/16/09):
"Gasoline prices rose nationally Monday for the 48th straight day, matching a record going back to at least the 1970s, with prices now up nearly two-thirds since the beginning of the year even as demand from motorists remains weak." [my emphasis]
It's a supply problem, stupid. One "debate" that's going on inside our heads is whether — despite his soothing gaze and silver tongue — President Obama is a naive utopianist or whether he's doing dastardly deeds on purpose. If "it's the economy, stupid" — then DO NO HARM, first of all. Are we trying to build a permanent dynasty here (power for power's sake), or honestly working for the greater good? It's going to take a lot more than P.R. to pull us out of the death-spiral in which we find ourselves.
That news item about record gas price rises was buried in section D of the paper, while a week later, the USA TODAY ran a page 1 "poll news" story with the headline:
"Despite everything . . . More Americans see sunny skies ahead"
A story buried in section B was headlined: "Anxiety surges as stocks relapse; Investors fear recovery won't be as robust as they thought." [same day, June 23]
I hate to have to be the one to point out the obvious, but whether or not polls show sunny skies ahead won't matter much, if the investors don't see the same hallucinatory mirage. The Great Depression lasted a decade because of under-investment, not a lack of change.
And in the 1930s we weren't dependent upon foreign investments. Now we are!
"Foreign demand for U.S. financial assets falls" [Journal-Sentinel, 6/16/09]:
"Foreign demand for long-term U.S. financial assets fell in April as both China and Japan trimmed their holdings of Treasury securities. The Treasury Department said Monday that":
Purchases of stocks, notes and bonds obtained by foreigners, which were $55.4 billion in March (the second month of the Obama era), fell to $11.2 billion in April (the third full month of Camelot II).
That's the way I would have worded the facts, for clarity's sake. It sounds like foreign investors are "slashing" their purchases of U.S. assets, not "trimming" them. If I were the editor, I would have entitled the story "U.S. TREASURY ASSETS DUMPED, and put it on page one above the center fold.
As with any other addiction, a recovery from our spending binges is impossible until we admit we have a problem — "a major malfunction, Houston."
The "October Surprise" last year shouldn't have come as any shock. The Journal-Sentinel business section ran an article (10/12/08 entitled "U.S. rescue relies on other nations; China, Japan, Saudi Arabia among countries taking on America's debt."
The writer John Schmid's story began: "As fear turned to panic on Wall Street, the federal government rushed out a string of programs to prop up the nation's financial system — at an eye-popping combined cost of more than $1 trillion.
"The bankers who will underwrite the rescue effort, however, are nowhere near Wall Street. They are in Japan and China, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia."
William Holahan, UW-M economics department chairman, says that the bad news is that "we have to pay that [debt] back some day." NO KIDDING, EH?
CONCLUSIONS?
More and more people are coming to realize that we are living in "biblical times." We are reliving some of the House of Israel's and the House of Judah's worst nightmares from Old Testament times. Instead of giving "glory, laud, and honor" to our heavenly King, we buy trinkets made in China, and spend, spend, spend.
In Moses' farewell addresses to his people, he said of foreign "investors": "He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail."
Now that we begin to see we have a problem, we put all our hopes in one earthy king? In the "international" financial system, or WHAT? One of Moses' conclusions at the end of his life was:
"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you AND YOUR SEED may live!"
As we approach the 233rd birthday of the Declaration of Independence, let it be written, and let it be said:
"When it comes to choosing between life and death, you can't vote PRESENT."
P.S. That goes for U.S. Senators as well as state senators.
PPS: For believers only:
Pray for our nation and its leaders as we approach the 4th. As my daily prayer book says for JULY FIRST:
"Father (Abba Father), The best of thy children the world over see Thee only as in a mirror darkly. Therefore, save us from any pride of spiritual aristocracy, and help us to help each other toward the light. Thou hast compelled no one to acknowledge Thee, but by Thy good providences you are drawing [some of us to know] you. My we, Thy children, go and do likewise, compelling no man, by sneer or fear, but winning by love and sincerity."
© Curtis Dahlgren
July 1, 2009
"He may live without hope, — what is hope but deceiving?" — Owen Meredith (Earl of Lytton; 1831-1891)
"Genius does what it must, and talent does what it can . . .
There is no sin except stupidity." — Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)
"Myths which are believed tend to become true." — Orwell
IN THE U.P. OF MICHIGAN, WE'RE CUTTING WOOD FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR. I was cutting wood in my long johns this week. I had the heater on in my truck yesterday. The top is off of it, I admit, but still — it is the first of July, isn't it?
The farmers are praying for global warming, even as Congress "works" on raising the price of the fuel everyone has to buy whether we want to or not. We're so busy cutting wood up here that it's hard to find time to call our Senators. But we'd better all do that this weekend, before they cut our phone lines too. Congressional staffers are already reluctant to pick up the phones.
In this era of "post-partisan politics," the opinions of the People don't really matter. The really important thing is "following orders" from Congressional leaders whose #1 priority is their patronage-promoting scams. AND GLOBAL WARMING IS A SCAM.
The EPA is now unofficially the EPR: The Environmental "Protection-Racket"! As Orwell warned us, myths tend to be accepted as true when they are believed without challenge!
However, "faith" in man's ability to "control the climate" is dropping like a rock, given the amount of real scientific information readily available on the "Information Superhighway." A scientist working for the EPA was "reassigned" because his conclusions didn't agree with the Party Line (the "patronage line" being used to HOOK us into Big Brother's nets). The facts are starting to filter down to the "little people," even into local weekly newspapers such as the Menominee County Journal (6-25-09).
"Local meterologist challenges global warming" (reprinted from Munising NEWS):
"At the risk of being labeled anti-environmentalist, which he is not, Chief Meteorologist Karl Bohnak challenges the idea of human-induced global warming. Citing decades of weather studies, and showing charts lacking correlation between rising CO2 levels and warmer global temperatures, Bohnak asks, 'Where's the evidence?'
"The catalyst for Bohnak's recent public stand on the issue is a bill introduced to the U.S. Congress titled The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 . . . The [cap-and-trade] plan would cost the average family more than $1,500 per year in associated costs . . . 'Even President Obama admits this legislation would cause energy costs to skyrocket.'"
THE H0USE, normally more responsive to the People and common sense, punted this deceptively-named bill along to the Senate. WHY THE "RUSH"?
I'm so old I was conceived before Pearl Harbor, and in all my days I've never witnessed such a desperate Congress. They don't even "debate" anymore on Capitol Hill. "The debate is over," they say. Oh yeah?
If the debate really WERE over, taking an extra week or two to "talk" wouldn't bother the Liberals. If the debate were "over," they'd still win, wouldn't they? But no! They fully realize that if they allowed "debate," they would surely lose the argument — and possibly the vote — on "cap-and-trade" (which really ought to be entitled the "Surrender on Trade" bill because of all the industries that would move out of the country if it were to pass)!
AS IF OUR COUNTRY'S ECONOMY WEREN'T IN ENOUGH TROUBLE ALREADY!
The Detroit area has lost 8 percent of its jobs since 12 monts ago. Milwaukee has lost 5 percent of the jobs existing at the same time a year ago. One reason is that up here in the upper Midwest, it costs a lot of money (and energy) to heat our buildings and run the factories (not to mention unrealistic labor costs). And here's an item that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (6/16/09):
"Gasoline prices rose nationally Monday for the 48th straight day, matching a record going back to at least the 1970s, with prices now up nearly two-thirds since the beginning of the year even as demand from motorists remains weak." [my emphasis]
It's a supply problem, stupid. One "debate" that's going on inside our heads is whether — despite his soothing gaze and silver tongue — President Obama is a naive utopianist or whether he's doing dastardly deeds on purpose. If "it's the economy, stupid" — then DO NO HARM, first of all. Are we trying to build a permanent dynasty here (power for power's sake), or honestly working for the greater good? It's going to take a lot more than P.R. to pull us out of the death-spiral in which we find ourselves.
That news item about record gas price rises was buried in section D of the paper, while a week later, the USA TODAY ran a page 1 "poll news" story with the headline:
"Despite everything . . . More Americans see sunny skies ahead"
A story buried in section B was headlined: "Anxiety surges as stocks relapse; Investors fear recovery won't be as robust as they thought." [same day, June 23]
I hate to have to be the one to point out the obvious, but whether or not polls show sunny skies ahead won't matter much, if the investors don't see the same hallucinatory mirage. The Great Depression lasted a decade because of under-investment, not a lack of change.
And in the 1930s we weren't dependent upon foreign investments. Now we are!
"Foreign demand for U.S. financial assets falls" [Journal-Sentinel, 6/16/09]:
"Foreign demand for long-term U.S. financial assets fell in April as both China and Japan trimmed their holdings of Treasury securities. The Treasury Department said Monday that":
Purchases of stocks, notes and bonds obtained by foreigners, which were $55.4 billion in March (the second month of the Obama era), fell to $11.2 billion in April (the third full month of Camelot II).
That's the way I would have worded the facts, for clarity's sake. It sounds like foreign investors are "slashing" their purchases of U.S. assets, not "trimming" them. If I were the editor, I would have entitled the story "U.S. TREASURY ASSETS DUMPED, and put it on page one above the center fold.
As with any other addiction, a recovery from our spending binges is impossible until we admit we have a problem — "a major malfunction, Houston."
The "October Surprise" last year shouldn't have come as any shock. The Journal-Sentinel business section ran an article (10/12/08 entitled "U.S. rescue relies on other nations; China, Japan, Saudi Arabia among countries taking on America's debt."
The writer John Schmid's story began: "As fear turned to panic on Wall Street, the federal government rushed out a string of programs to prop up the nation's financial system — at an eye-popping combined cost of more than $1 trillion.
"The bankers who will underwrite the rescue effort, however, are nowhere near Wall Street. They are in Japan and China, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia."
William Holahan, UW-M economics department chairman, says that the bad news is that "we have to pay that [debt] back some day." NO KIDDING, EH?
CONCLUSIONS?
More and more people are coming to realize that we are living in "biblical times." We are reliving some of the House of Israel's and the House of Judah's worst nightmares from Old Testament times. Instead of giving "glory, laud, and honor" to our heavenly King, we buy trinkets made in China, and spend, spend, spend.
In Moses' farewell addresses to his people, he said of foreign "investors": "He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail."
Now that we begin to see we have a problem, we put all our hopes in one earthy king? In the "international" financial system, or WHAT? One of Moses' conclusions at the end of his life was:
"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you AND YOUR SEED may live!"
As we approach the 233rd birthday of the Declaration of Independence, let it be written, and let it be said:
"When it comes to choosing between life and death, you can't vote PRESENT."
P.S. That goes for U.S. Senators as well as state senators.
PPS: For believers only:
Pray for our nation and its leaders as we approach the 4th. As my daily prayer book says for JULY FIRST:
"Father (Abba Father), The best of thy children the world over see Thee only as in a mirror darkly. Therefore, save us from any pride of spiritual aristocracy, and help us to help each other toward the light. Thou hast compelled no one to acknowledge Thee, but by Thy good providences you are drawing [some of us to know] you. My we, Thy children, go and do likewise, compelling no man, by sneer or fear, but winning by love and sincerity."
© Curtis Dahlgren
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