Hiatus

Friends and Readers,
As you have already noticed, I have not blogged in a while and was getting pretty inconsistent. I find that my heart isn't into blogging of late and the guilt I feel over not blogging only makes me feel worse. Additionally, this administration is proving far more rotten and vile than I had imagined, thank you George Bush for setting this up, and my anger and outrage can only last so long before it exhausts me. Finally, I have taken on some personal responsibilities that I find challenging.

As a consequence, I am going to give blogging a break. If and when I feel ready to start again, I will ask KT and Dean to let you know via their blogs. Thank you to those who have been reading and commenting, I hope my attitude improves soon.

B-Daddy

Weekend Music Chill

For no particular reason, other than I have been listening to exceptionally "smooth" music lately, I wanted to put up Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music doing "More Than This." And hey, who doesn't like 80's music, except Pops of course. If anybody understands the Christian iconography at the start of the video, please comment.

Saving Newspapers

Dean has been commenting about the demise of newspapers here and here. I must admit, I share Dean's fondness for them. It's easier to read them while eating breakfast (and less sloppy) than sitting in front of my computer or scrolling the Blackberry. Government cash is only going to kill the newspaper industry, so I thought I would present a different business model, so they can be saved.

Newspapers have some strengths they should play to. First, they have an unparalleled knowledge of the local community. Second, if they haven't squandered it, they have a reputation for even-handedness in reporting. Finally, and much overlooked, they have a low cost distribution network.

So what's to be done? First, to cut costs, they need to jettison the foreign bureaus and anything else where they can't be be number one or two. Second, they can't compete with the free ads offered by Craigslist and The Reader online, so don't try. Instead they should offer their ads for free on line.

I know what you're thinking, where does the money come from? First, if classified advertisers also want their ad in print, then they get charged, but it is going to be the same ad as offered on line to keep costs down. Second, their traditional source of print ads from businesses will remain, but probably continue to decline. But the key to further revenue streams is to emulate Google and Facebook.

I think that newspapers can successfully compete with Craigslist because Craigslist has failed to monetize their operation, so a monetized operation can probably deliver a better product. Craigslist only charges for a few categories of ads. Newspapers could offer targeted ads based on viewer searches and page views of other ads, advertising on top of advertising, but it already works. Just like Google delivers ads targeted based on user search so can the newspapers. They will probably even want to outsource the technology provisioning to Google, at least initially. Although I would be personally wary of Google's business practices, their failure to prevent click fraud being my chief concern.

Next, subscribers would get online accounts, to go with home delivery, that will allow them to receive coupons or other bargains they can't get anywhere else, to incentivize on line use. Developing a knowledge of consumer preferences from the subscriber base will allow the newspapers to deliver targeted free samples or coupons to their readership. This is intended to emulate the way Facebook delivers ads based on your interests and seems to make good money doing so. This is also something no else can do as cheaply as newspapers and plays to one of their strengths, in distribution. To my knowledge, the only targeted physical advertising today goes through the mail system. Seems like competing with post office shouldn't be too tough, especially with more in depth customer knowledge.

This plan is just a broad outline, and as simple as it appears, I doubt that most newspapers will do anything about it. For some reason, practitioners in dying industries tend to stop innovating and circle the wagons. I hope for a better outcome, so that's my two cents.

More Spending, More Debt

The Senate passed Obama's budget 55-43 today. After eight years of spending excess under Bush, the Democrats are going piling in for seconds thirds and fourths. This will certainly solve our long term problems:

The Obama budget would borrow an estimated $9.3 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, doubling the public debt as a share of the nation's output from 41 percent to 82 percent. The budget calls for nearly $4 trillion in deficits over the next five years.

So where will all this cash come from? KT has been all over this. There are really only two sources left, the Chinese and printing it. The Chinese have indicated they aren't happy with us debasing their investment, so count them out.

As America's biggest creditor, Beijing is now worried about its over-investment in U.S. Treasury debts. "We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S.," Premier Wen Jiabao said last month. "Of course, we are concerned about the safety of our assets." He called on the Obama administration to "maintain its good credit, honor its promises and guarantee the safety of China's assets."

Stand by for inflation, hopefully sooner than later, so we can turn out Obama like a one term Carter type Presidency that we deserved for electing such an unprepared fool.

Punkin' Europe

The fabulous (or not) sculpture, titled Entropa, pictured at right was commissioned by the Czech Republic to commemorate the occasion of taking over the rotating Presidency of the EU. Since my readership is probably not comprised of trendy hipsters of the art scene, this requires some explanation. The sculptor, David Černý, created this 8 ton masterpiece as a sort of unassembled model kit, with each piece representing a member state of the EU. He purportedly brought together 27 artists, one from each member state, to assemble this erection, unveiled in January of this year.

Some of my favorite representations:
The Netherlands - submerged in the sea, with minarets poking up out of the water.
France - with a sign that tranlates "strike" (GRÈVE) is blank because "as a result of the global and local politicial, economic and cultural situation" the artist is on strike.
Romania is a Dracula style theme park.
Bulgaria is depicted as a Turkish style toilet.
And for Dean, Sweden is a large Ikea style furniture self assembly box containing Gripen fighter planes.

Later, Černý admitted that there were no other artists and returned the $50,000 commission he had received. He also covered up the Turkish toilet.

H/T Reason magazine.

Anti-Capitalist Protesters at G20 Summit?

The headline from the Daily Mail reads "Protesters storm RBS office as thousands of anti-capitalists ransack the City in G20 riot." My question: What makes them so sure? And I mean both the protesters and The Mail. I defy you to show me a capitalist at the G20 summit. So what are these a**hats protesting?

On the subject of who is the capitalist, see the G20 web site for membership and let me know if you find a capitalist country listed.

I'd much prefer to hang with protesters with a sense of humor. At least those guys know they are anti-socialist. Which begs the question, if anti-socialist and anti-capitalist protesters have the same object of their ire, who is right?

Bumper Sticker of the Day

I couldn't find a picture of the bumper sticker, except on this T-shirt. You can buy great products like this at zazzle.com.

Regretting It

Headline from WSJ: Government Forces Out Wagoner at GM. Betcha he's REALLY regretting that private jet trip to DC to beg for stimulus pork. He would have been better off filing for bankruptcy, at least he might still have a job. The look on his face says it all.

Meanwhile, we have to ask, "How do Obama's early economic moves differ in any significant way from the way Hugo Chavez started his regime?"

On the bright side, I just don't see many more execs running to DC to beg for a bail out. Could be wrong, will keep you posted.

Unsung Hero - T.R.M. Howard

In the fight against tyranny and injustice, there are scores of unsung heroes. I would like to introduce my readers to one of them, Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a doctor and entrepreneur who preceded Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the struggle for civil rights in America. Hat tip to Damon W. Root and Reason magazine for reviewing his recently published biography, book cover at right. (I have not read the book, but I recommend you at least read the full review.) Unlike the communists who were infiltrating the civil rights movement of the era, Dr. Howard believed in economic empowerment and political equality as the way ahead for black Americans. After founding the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL), he became nationally famous for his efforts to find the killers of a black man who allegedly had the temerity to whistle at a white women. After the discovery of Emmet Till's body, he promised there would be "hell to pay in Mississippi." From his Wikipedia entry:

Howard moved into the national limelight as never before after the murder of Emmett Till in August 1955 and the trial of his killers, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant in September. He was heavily involved in the search for evidence and gave over his home to be a “black command center” for witnesses and journalists.

Unfortunately, the white jury acquitted the killers, thinking that the black man. From the book:

Quite simply, [the jury] regarded killing a black male for insulting a white woman as not serious enough to merit the prescribed punishment.

But because of the publicity generated by Dr. Howard, the Till case helped launch the civil rights movement. Further, Dr. Howard understood the connection between economic rights and personal liberty.

In 1954, when segregationists started pressuring banks and retailers to freeze civil rights activists’ credit, Howard convinced the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as well as various black churches and other affected groups, to deposit their money in the black-owned Tri-State Bank of Memphis (where Howard was a board member), allowing African Americans to flex some of their growing economic muscle in the fight against Jim Crow.

Howard also understood the relationship between tyranny and gun control and kept his household protected from white supremacists with a submachine gun and a pistol in his waistband. The first gun control laws in America were actually imposed in the post-Reconstruction South, where they were tied to rolling back the rights that blacks had been granted as an outcome of the Civil War and the 14th and 15th amendments. (As an aside, many odious pieces of the liberal orthodoxy; gun control, prevailing wage laws and discriminatory policies towards private schools, for examples, have their origins in racist and bigoted motives.)

Finally I leave you with two of my favorite quotes from the good doctor:

He wished “one bomb could be fashioned that would blow every Communist in America right back to Russia where they belong.”

“There is not a thing wrong with Mississippi today that real Jeffersonian democracy and the religion of Jesus Christ cannot solve.”

And the country for that matter. Amen to that doctor.

Blog Shame

One of my favorite authors John Eldredge, also has a blog. Like me, he is a little erratic in posting regularly. I was looking over his site today and found this:

I know I’m not the faithful blogger. Life sweeps in, sweeps me away, and I forget. Then, I have SO many flippin stories to tell of so many ways God is working I don’t know which one to share. My brain overloads. Two (or three) weeks go by and blog shame begins to set in, making it even harder to blog.

I don't know if that is exactly my problem, but I do know that blogging seems to emotionally exhausting at times and I just let it slide. My thanks to Dean, 'Dawg and KT for encouraging me to get posting again. Dean suggested that the Freedom Coalition Agenda needs an environmental plank. I agree. I was thinking of staring with the following quote: "...the largest polluter in the United States is: the United States government." Wouldn't mind hearing what you think.

Health Care Quandary

Fellow blogger and all around great guy, Dean, has quoted me in today's blog post about the coming Obamacare debacle we are facing. He further objects to Obama floating a proposal to reverse his position from the campaign and tax health care benefits from employers. Let there be no doubt, the signs are all around us that this administration intends to bring socialism into health care as perhaps its highest priority. One of the trial balloons being floated by Team Barry is to tax employer health plans to provide some of the funding to pave the way for the full government take over of the health care system. As much as I loathe any further government intrusion into health care, the economic purist in me sees the logic of taxing this benefit as follows.

Not taxing this benefit amounts to a subsidy of insurance plans. Further, the more gold plated the plan the greater the tax-subsidy. This was the thinking of the McCain team when they looked at the issue. From the NYT article:

They, like other proponents, cite evidence that tax-free benefits encourage what Mr. McCain called “gold-plated” policies, resulting in inefficient and costly demands for health care and pressure on employers to hold down workers’ pay as insurance expenses rise. And, they say, the policy discriminates against those — many of whom are low-income workers — who do not have employer-provided coverage.

Further, much of what ails the provisioning of health care stems from two related phenomena, third party payer and lack of tranparency. To solve these problems, Americans need to pay more for their health care out of pocket, so they have some "skin in the game." This will bring market pressure to bear to rate health care providers and cause them to bill in ways that real people, as opposed to insurance accountants can understand. I fully sympathize that people struggling to make ends meet would have a hard time with such a proposal. This is why I think that catastrophic caps should be encouraged. For example, the individual pays out of pocket until total expenses hit, say $3000, and then the insurance kicks in to pay the rest. Too help incenctivize such a system, the employee would keep the difference below $3000, but pay taxes on it.

Such a system will change behavior and cause people to shop around for health care. I guarantee it would drive down health care costs. Believe it or not, we already have such a system in place for part of the health care industry. Professor Perry, at Carpe Diem, has a fascinating article about how the cost of cosmetic surgery has fallen over time, even as procedures have improved.

BUT, and it's a big BUT, much like my own, as long as Obama is touting taxing health benefits to pay for socialized medicine, No Sale! Just like McCain proposed, but the media ignored, any such taxing of benefits must be offset by a reduction in the income tax so that government doesn't grow as a result.

Obama backs pet projects and signs spending bill

Yep, that's the headline from the AP story on the stimulus porkage. So Obama breaks another promise, this time to end earmarks, yawn. But he has the chutzpah to actually defend the whole thing. And, in his never ending quest to be seen as Bush III, Obama also issued a "signing statement." From the same AP article:

On another potentially controversial matter, the president also issued a "signing statement" with the bill, saying several of its provisions raised constitutional concerns and would be taken merely as suggestions. He has criticized President George W. Bush for often using such statements to claim the right to ignore portions of new laws, and on Monday he said his administration wouldn't follow those issued by Bush unless authorized by the new attorney general.

I need to take a quick break to see how this is playing over at Daily Kos, where vituperative criticisms of signing statements were logged during the Bush years.

OK, I'm back and admit to being somewhat shocked. First, most of the Daily Kooks have chosen to ignore the whole "signing statement" imbroglio. However, I found two interesting articles. The first, pretty much lambastes Obama for a heap of constitutional violations including the signing statement. Pretty amazing, but of course that post is not popular with the readers. The second article, states that Obama's position on signing statements is different from Bush's. This article asserts that unlike Bush, Obama's signing statements only indicate the potential for a constitutional concern. However, no evidence is supplied that Bush issued statements for any different reason.

A little historical context on the whole thing is available at Wikipedia, of course. Key facts: Signing statements have been around since James Monroe. Their use has accelerated over the last generation. George Bush was not a pioneer in their use, but certainly engendered more controversy by the way he used them.

In B-Daddy's opinion, the practice undermines the constitution. If the President thinks a provision of a law is unconstitutional, he needs to veto the whole thing.

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Will that slow down the pace of legislation? You betcha. Is that a bad thing? No way!

And of course the left is generally hypocritical in their hysterical criticism of Bush over this and their silence or acquiesence when Obama does it.

Card Check - Again.

It's day 50 of the Obama administration and we're seeing a spate of socialist ideas put forward. The latest abomination is called Card Check. Tom Harkin called a press conference today to announce introduction of this odious piece of legislation designed to make it easier to intimidate workers into joining unions. For many years, the United States has been a leading proponent of freedom world wide, emphasizing that unions should be allowed secret ballots around the world. But for some reason that's not good enough for our home grown Stalinist wanna-bes like Harkin. From the linked article:

Democrats respond that secret ballots play into the hands of corporate anti-labor campaigns because secret-ballot elections cost more and are more time consuming for unions who must often compete with companies with deeper pockets.

Here's a pop quiz: What do you call a regime that changes the rules of elections until it gets the results it wants? A dictatorship. Essentially the Democrat argument is that since unions haven't been winning elections, the rules should be changed, and hey who needs elections anyway, when we know the result that we want. This move was certainly predictable and predicted.

Weekend Music Chill

Mrs. Daddy's Mom is an Australian war bride. She is a beautiful women, like her daughter, so I am naturally partial to things Australian. This weekend's featured band from "down under" showed the world that Christian music could rock with their immensely popular hit "Shine." So this weekend we bring you a little thunder from down under, with the Newsboys performing "He Reigns.

Obama to Congress: "Go Shopping"

Play the YouTube embed to hear Obama criticize Bush for telling Americans to go shopping after 9/11. Today we are faced with a crisis of our own making. But Obama is keeping up his theme of continuing the Bush policies by encouraging some shopping of his own. Unfortunately, Obama is telling congressional Democrats to do the shopping, so we're unlikely to pick up any swag that we might enjoy, like that ipod I shelled out five bucks trying to win from my nephew's school fund-raiser raffle. This from Maureen Dowd no less:

"In one of his disturbing spells of passivity, President Obama decided not to fight Congress and live up to his own no-earmark pledge from the campaign."

From the same article, here is a partial list of democrat goodies:

• $2.1 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in New York. “quick peel me a grape,” McCain twittered.

• $1.7 million for a honey bee factory in Weslaco, Tex.

• $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa.

• $1 million for Mormon cricket control in Utah. “Is that the species of cricket or a game played by the brits?” McCain tweeted.

• $819,000 for catfish genetics research in Alabama.

• $650,000 for beaver management in North Carolina and Mississippi.

For a second, I misread that last one as "beer management" and was wondering why the heck they needed to manage beers for those rednecks, they seemed to do fine on their own. But then I saw it was beaver management and it all made sense.

McCain let rip on tweeter over this pokulus and Obama breaking another promise; good for him. Turns out he can use technology after all.

Americans With No Abilities Act

Road Dawg, frequent commenter and overall loose canon alerted me to the following news article, which I am publishing totally without permission, so be careful what you send me.



President Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress are considering sweeping legislation that will provide new benefits for many Americans. The Americans With No Abilities Act (AWNAA) is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition.

"Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society," said California Senator Barbara Boxer. "We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing."

In a Capitol Hill press conference, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance. Approximately 74 percent of postal employees lack any job skills, making this agency the single largest U.S employer of Persons of Inability.

Private-sector industries with good records of non-discrimination against the Inept include retail sales (72%), the airline industry (68%), and home improvement 'warehouse' stores (65%). At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has an excellent record of hiring Persons of Inability (63%). Under The Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million "middle man" positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance.

Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given so as to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability into middle-management positions, and gives a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the AWNAA contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the non-abled, banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as, 'Do you have any skills or experience that relate to this job?'
'As a Non-abled person, I can't be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them,' said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint , Michigan , due to her inability to remember 'rightey tightey, lefty loosey.' 'This new law should be real good for people like me,' Gertz added. With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), "As a Senator with no abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her inadequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation and a good salary for doing so."

Of course it's all satire. I believe it was lifted from a 1999 article in The Onion, but updated with today's political names. Sadly, it seems even more likely to pass today.

At Least We Can Have Some Music

As you can see, I haven't posted in a while. Between my on line class, travel for work and family priorities there hasn't been much time. But I also admit that the trend line of the current administration has been very discouraging, and I haven't been able to muster the creativity to respond with wit. I think wit is important, because Obama's demeanor don't lend themselves to accusations of radicalism, even if that is what he is actually peddling. Consequently, we need humor and satire to make our points effectively. (This is one reason Iowahawk is on the feed at right.)

Additionally, I have wanted to be more original in my postings, and not just repeat the libertarian/conservative views you can read elsewhere. That has proved a challenge, but I promise to eventually get back at it.

In the meantime, we can at least have some music. I've posted an update on a tune Pops played from time to time. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of the "modern" version.

Weekend Music Chill

As a youngster, I pretty much flunked church. (I was also expelled from kindergarten, but that's a story for another day.) During services I would fidget, goof-off, fall asleep and say the liturgy with strange accents. I'm not proud of my shenanigans, but Lutheran services were pretty tough on youngsters. Now I love getting to church; part of the reason is that the music really speaks to my heart as well as helping me express my worship of God. So for my weekend music, here is Ron Kenoly with one of my favorite worship songs.

More Hate From the Green Movement

The young man pictured at left is Bakouma Kpatekatola, from the West African nation of Togo. Tragically he has died of malaria since this picture was taken. Togo is one of the African nations that has succumbed to environmental fanaticism and banned indoor residual spraying of DDT, an effective method of killing malaria carrying mosquitos. Iowahawk has the whole story here.

The Coming Carbon Thugocracy Update

During the campaign, I predicted that if Obama won, he would use the EPA to back door Congressional lawmaking and get the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide emmisions. From an October article in the WSJ:

In an interview last week with Bloomberg, Mr. Grumet said that come January the Environmental Protection Agency "would initiate those rulemakings" that classify carbon as a dangerous pollutant under current clean air laws. That move would impose new regulation and taxes across the entire economy, something that is usually the purview of Congress. Mr. Grumet warned that "in the absence of Congressional action" 18 months after Mr. Obama's inauguration, the EPA would move ahead with its own unilateral carbon crackdown anyway.

So guess what happened? From the NYT article today:

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to act for the first time to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that scientists blame for the warming of the planet, according to top Obama administration officials.

Unlike the earlier proposal, this effort does not seem to propose the blatantly unconstitutional proposal to have the EPA impose a tax on carbon emissions. The administration is trying not to tread on Congressional toes in other ways as well. Lisa P. Jackson is the new EPA administrator. From the same article:

The finding and proposed regulations would be issued in sequence, with ample opportunity for public comment and not in a sudden burst of regulatory muscle-flexing, Ms. Jackson said. The regulations would work in concert with any legislation and not supplant it, she added.

The article also points out the likelihood of lawsuits that would dramatically draw out the implementation. But I say, bring it on! I would love to see this case in front of the Supreme Court, with the AGW crowd (that's anthropogenic global warming) having to defend their pseudo-science. American Thinker has pointed to the total hysteria on the other side, with little proof that man is (a) causing global warming and (b) that global warming is actually harmful. I think this last bit is the trickiest part for the chicken-little crowd. Just because the earth heats up, life is not necessarily harmed. In fact, increased carbon dioxide and warmth might help biodiversity. If that could be shown, then the tree huggers should be encouraging us to by that Hummer.

But of course, it really isn't about saving the planet is it? It's about wresting control over the lives of individuals to establish a socialist utopia where the intellectuals rule and rid us of our benighted ways. But the dirty little secret of that dream is that thugs with guns always end up ruling, not the so-called enlightened intellectuals.

This is a threat to freedom. It is one more warning, as if we needed one, that Obama is on a crusade to secure socialism in America, just like someone else who just won an election.