Saturday, September 07, 2013

Will Australia emerge from down under?

Heard that Tony Abbott will be Prime Minister of Australia!  Now I have to go read Tim Blair.  Haven't read him  in a while.  Excusable, since who wants to read about Julia Gilliard or Kevin Rudd?  Nobody sane.

Go check it out.

Friday, September 06, 2013

Jobs numbers - an incompetent delusion

I love the first Friday of each month, because hen we can delude ouselves anew that government job numbers have any meaning except as a cryptogram encoding some demonic prediction of the end of the world.  Well, then at least we'd know what the future held.  I especially like the people asking themselves, "Gee, I wonder what the real numbers are?" As though there are real numbers out there.  Reminds me of people opposing global warming who think there really is some number corresponding to the "Temperature of the entire surface of the world".

Thursday, September 05, 2013

Money for blood and iron

So now the Administration says its ok to go into Syria because the Arabs will pay for it!?   In what universe is that a policy  for a major power?  I always ask myself, "what would Bismarck say?"  In this case the explosion of German cursewords, from a Godly man, would be difficult to believe.  "You do not have a nation," he would say once he had calmed down.  "You have a force of mercenaries serving a bankrupt butt of international ridicule."   And what could we reply?

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Still waiting on Syria

It seems like weeks now since Zero got all excited about going into Syria, or at least bombing it with a stern expression.  Will he ever figure out whether he's going to do anything or not?  Oh, and then he'll have to figure out what to do.  Could be a while.  I bet he just votes "present" with his thumb in his mouth!

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Aaron Clarey

I like Aaron Clarey's blog, Captain Capitalism.  (http.captaincapitalism.blogspot.com)

I even like his podcast, though I do object to his overuse of expletives.  I favor civil language at all times, maybe with an exception for the presence of idiot liberals (but I repeat myself).

I am "enjoying the decline" (the name of Clarey's book) although I am hoping the decline may hit bottom and come back up, perhaps while in the mean time moving the clock back a couple of hundred years.

He is certainly right about the proliferation of useless college degrees (Worthless, another one of  his books).  Still some good ones out there, though.  Everyone's looking for that golden ticket.

Monday, September 02, 2013

Minimum wages and strikes and robots

Lots of stories lately about fast food workers striking for higher wages.  For flipping burgers?
I also found a story about the new robots being developed to drive trucks, and flip burgers!  Now what could influence McDonald's to buy a few million dollar robots who (which?) will work all night instead of paying ten workers $15 an hour who get sick, show up late and give surly customer service?  I know, how about a strike?  Where will all the truck drivers and burger flippers go?  What will they do to keep entertained?  Time to move out of any conurbation?  Now!

Sunday, September 01, 2013

Syria and Schleswig-Holstein

I cannot help but be struck by the contrast between the diplomacy of Bismarck in the 1860s and our so-called administration today.
Bismarck always had a goal and always realized where he was in the progress toward the goal.  That is why he was always so nervous in the middle of military action.  He knew very well how important military success was.  He also knew he could do nothing to assure military success.  His painstaking and highly ingenious diplomatic preparations depended entirely on the luck of battle.  This often caused him much anxiety, notwithstanding his run of astonishing success.

By contrast the pathetic mess in Washington - one can hardly call it an administration, since it refuses to administer anything, much less the medicine this poor country, sunk in debt and hopelessness, needs.  John Kerry?  Hillary Clinton?  Please.  One won't even mention Buraq the White (!) Stallion of Mohammed!