In This Dimension

Texas A&M Graduation Address - 2008

Texas A&M Graduation Address - 2008 :  Worth the read

This Texas lawyer, himself recipient of an Honorary Degree, is obviously opinionated, but to say what he did, in a commencement address, in front of a class of Texas A & M graduates, and especially the faculty, is amazing.  I would have loved to have been there just to see the faculty reaction.

Commencement Address ( Texas  A&M). Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008    This should be considered must-reading for every adult in  North America.  It is extremely rare that anyone speaks the truth like this at any College or High School[…]

What is Socialism?

From Powerline:

Something to think about…

What is socialism, whether Bolshevik, Menshevik, national, Maoist, social democrat, liberal, or whatever flavor you can name?  A set of economic principles?  Political values?  An attitude?  Don’t head off to a dictionary or Google-land for this.

I commend to you Solzhenitsyn’s “Lenin In Zurich”, a book I read years ago.  It is fiction, yet invaluable to the understanding of the last century, and the next.  I am about to share with you a secret known to few: Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, Deng, Pol Pot, Castro, and Solzhenitsyn himself.  And me.  And now you.

Socialism does not exist[…]

The Obama Downgrade, Alphabetically

In the event you lack online access to the WSJ:

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The Obama Downgrade, Alphabetically

By BRET STEPHENS

Snapshots from President Obama’s efforts to improve America’s standing in the world, 923 days into his administration:

A is for the Arab world, and our standing in it: This year, Zogby International found that 5% of Egyptians had a favorable view of the U.S. In 2008, when George W. Bush was president, it was 9%.

B is for the federal budget deficit, which is estimated to come in at around 11% of GDP in 2011, up from about 3% in 2008.

C is for China’s military budget. For 2012,[…]

Debt Bill Reality

This is what the GOP has surrendered for. Just so you understand what really just happened.

August 1, 2011

We The Stupid

Ann Barnhardt

I stand here in abject stupefaction.  The so-called “right” or “Tea Party” in this republic is being so thoroughly rolled and defeated that I am struggling to come up with an adequate violent submission metaphor that does not involve prison rape . . . and they honesty think that they’re “winning.”  Really?  You call this winning?

• - Obama gets over $2 Trillion to spend before the 2012 election

• - There are no real spending cuts

• - There is a massive tax increase effective[…]

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)

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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[…]