Monthly Archives: May 2010

PHOTOGRAPHY FROM ICELAND

Posted on May 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

Click here “Island-Vulkan-2” to start a short but fascinating Power Point presentation with some extraordinary photography from Iceland. If you get an “Open with…” window just click the OK button.

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PRESIDENTIAL COMMENCEMENT SPEECHES

Posted on May 13, 2010 | 1 comment

There is really but one outline for commencement speeches, – Congratulations. You have worked hard. New challenges are ahead. But the world is your oyster, so go get ‘em tiger! Now and then a speaker ignores the outline, sometimes for better, sometimes otherwise. The two Obama’s gave commencement speeches as Presidents and First Ladies are wont to do. Neither one of them stuck to the outline. Both introduced elements of race.

Ladies first. Michelle chose to speak at The University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, a historically black school. She extended her congratulations and spoke of the challenges ahead. Then she spoke of Martin Luther King’s fight for equality but did not mention his dream of a color blind nation. She spoke of her husband and how he had to overcome special adversity. She spoke of injustices and of marches and blood that was shed. She spoke of civil rights activist Dr. Dorothy Height, quoting her statement regarding black activism that “This is my life’s work. It is not a job.”

Martin Luther King’s dream was of a color blind America. Michelle’s message did not help to further the realization of that dream.

Barack chose to speak at Hampton University in Virginia, also a historically black school. He too spoke of Dr. Dorothy Height and how she was denied her dignity as a black woman. He noted the disparity in educational achievement between blacks and other racial groups in America, the implied cause being social injustice.

The periods of slavery and segregation should not be forgotten, and they will not be forgotten. That is why we celebrate Martin Luther King Day. However, I am concerned that our first family may be gently stoking the ashes of resentment that Dr. King worked so hard to bury.

Bob B

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Posted in Opinion, Political philosophy

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GREEK CRISIS, U.S. PARALLELS

Posted on May 12, 2010 | Leave a comment

Regarding the Greek crisis today in the New York Times we read,

“…the basic problem is the same. Both countries have a bigger government than they’re paying for.”
And,

“We have not figured out the kind of government we want. We’re in favor of Medicare, Social Security, good schools, wide highways, a strong military — and low taxes. Dealing with this disconnect will be the central economic issue of the next decade, in Europe, Japan and this country.

Many people, including some who claim to be outraged by the deficit, still haven’t acknowledged the disconnect.”

One begins to wonder if it is really the New York Times one is reading. The paper of record continues, “…politicians, spendthrift as some may be, are not the main source of the problem. We, the people, are.” First mention on the list of those responsible for governmental overspending goes to Tea Party members. All doubts are removed; it is indeed the New York Times.

The article characterizes Obama’s promise of no tax increase for those earning less than 250,000 as unrealistic. That’s kind of them. The Chief Economist at Treasury is quoted, “It’s not a matter of whether we have the resources to solve our problems, it’s a matter of political will.” and the NYT adds their own comment “For now at least, our elected officials are hardly the only ones who lack that will.”

Can’t blame Bush, he’s gone. Can’t blame the current administration, that’s against newspaper policy. Can’t blame politicians while the Democrats are in control. That leaves the public. My fellow American’s, pleased be advised, you and I are the problem, not Washington.

Bob B

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Posted in Political polemics

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CAMERON. BRITAIN AND OBAMA

Posted on May 12, 2010 | 5 comments

Cameron the Conservative won the British elections. Gordon Brown, the Labour Party leader resigned after a little less than three years in office. The far right and the far left each garnered more votes than his more traditionally left Labour Party. Brown assumed full responsibility for the defeat. A gracious act by the Prime Minister, but it is not that simple.

Britain, like the rest of Europe, has gotten itself into quite a mess in recent years. The Labour Party has been in charge for the last 13 years. The electorate are holding them responsible. and they want change. A move to the right would be change. However, conservatism is unthinkable to a liberal believer so what are they to do? They move further to the left, feelings deepen and debate becomes more strident as the gap between the two basic ideologies widens.

Long, long ago, some wise man said, a camel is a race horse that was designed by a committee. Americans tend to view coalition governments in the same light. Sparks are going to fly.

Obama has been quick to invite Cameron the Conservative to the White House and has applauded the special relationship that has always existed between Great Britain and the United States. What’s up? This is a 180 degree reversal from recent behavior. Let us be thankful but wary as we wait to see what follows.

Bob B

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Posted in News, Political philosophy

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WHAT ABOUT IDAHO ?

Posted on May 11, 2010 | Leave a comment

Elena Kagan, from Manhattan to the Supreme Court
The President has put forth his nominee to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. She is Elena Kagan and would be the third woman appointed to the Court. That’s okay. But they are all from New York City.

Now, citizens of a city do not see the world in the same manner as rural folk. And citizens of New York City in particular don’t believe there is any intelligent life more than forty or fifty miles from Times Square. In fact Times Square itself is not held in very high regard; it’s mostly tourists from fly-over country and Japan. That is not to say that there is anything wrong with tourists, but one does not want to mingle with them, does one?

The New York Times building is still there and so is the Broadway theatre. Were it not for these redeeming features it would just be another of those places about which Yogi Berra would say, “Nobody goes there any more. It’s too crowded.”

The Supreme Court needs more diversity. What about Idaho, Iowa or Oklahoma? They must have some judges who would like the job. Perhaps Obama could not find one willing to move to Washington. That would be understandable. Or perhaps he just wanted to give someone a chance to be a judge who had never been one. Ms. Elena qualifies on that count.

Bob B

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EUROPE SAVES ITSELF

Posted on May 10, 2010 | Leave a comment

Fat finger Freddie freed from fault

All it took was a trillion dollars worth of Euros. We said it would happen…this time. It happened…this time. The bailout will likely bring about 10 years of relative peace, or call it 3 election cycles. During this period we will find out if the close call put the fear of God in the minds of European voters or if they will continue with their socialistically modified form of capitalism.

On May 7th we wrote regarding the market gyrations, “the word is, that someone at Citigroup placed an order to sell Proctor and Gamble and hit the B key instead of the M key”. Indeed, that was the word at the time. The fat finger theory has faded, to be replaced by a big question mark. Nobody knows, so let’s speculate.

It was an act of inhumanity. Once upon a time human beings decided which stocks to buy or sell and at what price. This is no longer the practice except by a few elderly people who probably don’t have cell phones yet either. Today humans set strategy, and then delegate the details to computers to carry out the strategy. To paraphrase a well known cliché, “computers do, or crash and die, but never reason why”. Computerization, which I am calling inhumanity, is rampant on both sides of the street as well as in the middle of the pavement itself. By that I mean the buying community, the selling community and the exchange are all programmed to leave it to an Intel processor to handle the actual trading.

There was a great deal of nervousness milling about, stocks had run up too fast, Greece was scaring everyone, etc. So the strategists drew lines in the sand and told their computers to take immediate action if the lines were crossed. Normal procedure, but this time there was more uniformity of opinion among the players as to where to put the line and it was a tight line. Triggers triggered triggers and down she went, faster than humans could figure out why.

That’s my speculation. It remains, as usual, for Congress to investigate and deliver the final word so that we need speculate no more.

Bob B

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PHOTOS FOR A SUNDAY

Posted on May 9, 2010 | Leave a comment

Click here for a selection of photographs that are just spectacular. It may take a little navigation to get the slide show started, nothing difficult. Make sure you view them full screen.

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Posted in Audio/Visual

WASHINGTON BY THE WEEK

Posted on May 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

In the future this feature will be titled LAST WEEK. The old title was a bit too restrictive.

Week ending May 7, 2010
Monday
Obama reveals the size of our nuclear stockpile to our enemies.
Obama, as our President, sits in for us in the world wide poker game played between sovereign nations. It is a game of life and death. Our leader chooses to show his hand for all the world to see. We need a new leader.

Bloomberg to Couric – Times Square bomber may have been Obamacare protester
We all know better now. Hizzoner should have known better then.

Tuesday
Schwarzenegger ends his support for offshore oil drilling
I told you. He isn’t a Republican.

Wednesday
Osama bin Laden is in Washington, D.C.
Ahmadinejad said so, and he ought to know. He was kidding, of course. (???)

Bob Woodward is doing Barack Obama
This one is guaranteed to be a best seller. Scheduled for September release.

Yahoo News reports “Congress makes too many vague laws.”
If Yahoo thinks that’s news, it explains why their name is Yahoo.

Thursday
Al Sharpton speaks for Karl Marx
“No Social Justice Until Everything ‘Equal in Everybody’s House’.”
I presume anyone owning two cars is going to have to give one of them to someone who has no car. It’s the only path to justice, especially of the other person won’t work and save to earn one.

Friday
Unemployment comes in at 9.9% or 17.1% depending on how you look at it
If Obama wants to replicate Franklin Roosevelt he has to get higher numbers than that. FDR got the official number up to 23.2% after being in office for two years. To be fair, he had a head start. They were 18% when he took office. But he did hold them up very well. Unemployment was still 17.4% at the end of his sixth year.

Bob B

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Posted in Political polemics, Satire

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CITIGROUP? PROCTOR & GAMBLE? OR GREECE?

Posted on May 7, 2010 | 2 comments

What caused the market crash of May 6th?


A thousand points a minute is 11 minutes to zero. Will Armageddon start tomorrow? At the end it was “only” down 365 points. At that rate it’s almost a month to zero, so there is time to plan.

At this hour the word is that someone at Citigroup placed an order to sell Proctor and Gamble and hit the B key instead of the M key. M is an awful lot of illions and a B is a thousand times an awful lot of illions. Supposedly this was not dollars; it was the number of shares ordered to be sold. In that case we have to multiply again, this time by 63 which was more or less the price of each share, more in the morning. less in the evening.

Proctor & Gamble is one of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones market index. When P&G got slaughtered the market index sunk faster than an oil rig and everybody yelled, it’s Greece! It’s Greece! Citigroup denies the trader story. Greece is too busy to address the issue.

In any event, market panic was the knee jerk (no hyphen) reaction. Relax; Greece is not coming to America. We have headed in that direction, to be sure, but even the biggest ships can be turned around. We are not going down, not this week, not ever without a fight. Fight we will, and win we will. It is 6 months to November.

Bob B

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AMERICAN FLAG BANNED AGAIN

Posted on May 6, 2010 | Leave a comment

Students wearing OLD NAVY brand T shirts were told to take them off or face suspension because there was an emblem of the American flag on the shirts, courtesy of Bay Area News.

It is Cinco de Mayo. A day that commemorates a battle in which Mexico defeated the French Army. Although the United States was not involved, the holiday has come to be equated with U.S. invasion that came 35 years later. At one time it was a day of celebration for both Mexico and America. It has morphed into a day of celebration by Mexicans mixed with a tinge of resentment over the U.S. invasion wherein we annexed Texas.

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