In This Dimension

Powerline Blog Prize Winner

Powerline held a contest for multimedia examples of how bad our debt is, how it got here, how to explain it to people, etc.

The winner is here.

There’s another - better from my view - here (also YouTube).

Enjoy! And send it around!

They have posted runners-up on their site, and all can be found at YouTube.

CAN “Lost Jobs” really come back? Do policy-makers realize the Industrial Age is over in the Developed World? Are you sure?

In all of the discussion about lost jobs, I find the below to be strangely lacking; perhaps I have just missed it?

It seems that one of the largest issues with job losses is this: Relatively fewer people exist. For us to continue to grow our economy – to create jobs – presupposes a continued growth in employable human beings, right? But as the Boom retires and the Echo ages, there are millions and millions fewer people. Anecdotal: Five years ago in my town we had three Little League leagues… and six elementary schools. We now have two LL leagues and[…]

… and the Planet … Tomorrow…?

Mark Steyn: ‘Life on this planet’ about to change

By MARK STEYN

That thoughtful observer of the passing parade, Nancy Pelosi, weighed in on the “debt ceiling” negotiations the other day: “What we’re trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget. We’re trying to save life on this planet as we know it today.”

It’s always good to have things explained in terms we simpletons can understand. After a while, all the stuff about debt-to-GDP ratio and CBO alternative baseline scenarios starts to give you a bit of a headache, so we should be grateful to the House Minority Leader[…]

… and California … today

This is an article from  Victor Davis Hansen, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute at StanfordUniversity  (Emphasis added by Mr. Hansen)

******************************************************

The last three weeks I have traveled about,  taking the pulse of the more forgotten areas of  central California. I wanted to witness, even if  superficially, what is happening to a state that  has the highest sales and income taxes, the most  lavish entitlements, the near-worst public  schools (based on federal test scores), and the  largest number of illegal aliens in the nation,  along with an overregulated private sector, a stagnant and shrinking manufacturing base, and  an elite environmental[…]

Thanksgiving, circa 2024?

This was sent by a very good friend, one who has spent more time on this earth, and lived through more history - including WW2 in England as a child - than have I. On first glance it seemed just one of those internet things that presents a dismal future but somehow acquires a life of its own. But  as I read it I realized that, if I were to hand it to a Progressive, they’d more than likely ask, “what wrong with that?” as they read the same piece normal adults found discouraging.

Read it and see what you think.[…]

Viewpoint of a columnist in the LA Times

This was sent to me by a friend. The sentiments, of course, match mine.

California REPRESENTATIVES

“Frankly, I don’t know what it is about California, but we seem to have a strange urge to elect really obnoxious women to high office. I’m not bragging, you understand, but no other state, including Maine, even comes close. When it comes to sending left-wing dingbats to Washington, we’re number one. There’s no getting around the fact that the last time anyone saw the likes of Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Maxine Waters, and Nancy Pelosi, they were stirring a cauldron when the curtain went up on[…]

A Debt Compromise this Tea Party voter can live with

The House passed a bill to cut spending. It’s more than clear that the House was elected in overwhelming (e.g. “blowout”) fashion specifically to do just that.

But … because the GOP has, throughout my entire adult life (I’m 56), had the worst imaginable PR flacks, the President and his ilk continue to be allowed to get-away with saying that “the American people want us to compromise.”

This is absurd.

Maybe the House, having done what it was elected to do, should just go on their August recess (ever consider how apt a name that is for Congress? “Recess”? Perfect…) and leave it[…]

In Case you were Wondering… Economy under HRH Obama

January 2009 economy vs July 2011:

Energy:  Gasoline was $1.67 a gallon then.  It’s now $3.79.

Food:  Average cost of a gallon of milk was about $2.65.  It’s about $3.50 today.

Housing:  The median cost of a home was $229,600.  Today it’s $217,900.

Budget deficit:  We fell $438 billion short of balancing the federal budget in 2008.  We missed it by $1.4 trillion this year—nearly four times higher. (And this was AFTER 2 years of a Pelosi/Reid Congress, that included HRH Obama, who voted for the debt he inherited as president…)

U.S. debt:  Total federal debt was $10.7 trillion then. It’s $14.5 trillion now—nearly 50%[…]

In Case You Missed It: WI Schools now Providing Better Education Experience after Union Collective Bargaining limited to Salary

Easy to summarize: If you want better education at the same teacher salaries and general education funding, fewer kids / teacher, and manageable budgets, follow WI’s lead:

The Kaukauna School District, in the Fox River Valley of Wisconsin near Appleton, has about 4,200 students and about 400 employees. It has struggled in recent times and this year faced a deficit of $400,000. But after the law went into effect, at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, school officials put in place new policies they estimate will turn that $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. And it’s all because of the very provisions that[…]

The muslims Aren’t Happy!

They’re not happy in Gaza. They’re not happy in Egypt. They’re not happy in Tunisia. They’re not happy in Libya. They’re not happy in Morocco. They’re not happy in Iran. They’re not happy in Iraq. They’re not happy in Yemen. They’re not happy in Afghanistan. They’re not happy in Pakistan. They’re not happy in Syria. They’re not happy in Lebanon.

So where are they happy?

They’re happy in England. They’re happy in France. They’re happy in Italy. They’re happy in Germany. They’re happy in Sweden. They’re happy in the USA. They’re happy in Australia. They’re happy in Norway.

They’re happy in every country that is NOT Muslim.

And whom do they blame?

Not Islam. Not their leadership. Not themselves.

THEY BLAME THE COUNTRIES IN WHICH THEY[…]