If a Donk's lost Huffington....

From the Huffington Post. Moneyquote:

The Democratic brand has thus suffered more (down 39%) under Obama than the Republican brand suffered under either of George W. Bush's two terms (-16%, then -31%). Though George W. Bush did major harm to the Republican brand, Barack Obama is out-doing him, hurting even steeper the Democratic brand, which historically (until now) has always been higher-valued than the Republican brand, not just in these pre-convention polls, but for decades in Party-allegiance.

Kulaks raising their banners high

Yikes!  I approve of the concept; however, Dr Jacobsen, "The banners high" rings a really horrible 20th century bell!  N.B., "Die fahne hoch!" has been translated as both "The flag on high" and "The banner high."
Kulaks raising their banners high

“Criminalization” of Mariners Is Worrying Trend

from the August MM&P magazine. Wisdom from a very experience Maritime Lawyer: don't talk to the Coast Guard until you've talked to an attorney. Note how the Coast Guard has effectively squandered their reputation as waterfront professionals. “

Criminalization” of Mariners Is Worrying Trend Twenty-four percent of ship masters have faced criminal charges for incidents involving their work, according to a survey conducted by Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI), a legal research group. The results were reported in the most recent edition of Nautilus Telegraph, the magazine of the UK-Dutch officers’ union. “That’s almost one in four, and it’s probably one of the highest rates of criminalization in any profession,” Nautilus says. SRI based its findings on a survey of almost 3,500 seafarers of 68 nationalities. “Criminalization of the maritime profession is not just an incidental issue, as evidenced by these survey results,” Nautilus points out. “It is a problem on an immense scale throughout the world, and it is on the rise.” Among unlicensed seafarers, almost 10 percent said they had faced criminal charges related to their jobs. Of that number, 90 percent reported that they had not been provided with legal representation by the authorities. Ninety-one percent said they had not been given needed interpretation services. What’s more, 89 percent of the original 10 percent said that no one had explained their rights to them, which might explain why 46 percent said they would be reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement officials in the future for fear of self-incrimination. Eighty percent of seafarers who faced criminal charges said they had been intimidated or threatened. Overall, more than four out of five seafarers who faced criminal charges said they felt that they had not been treated fairly. SRI conducted additional research to put the results into perspective, reviewing the reports of all criminal charges against professional mariners as published in Lloyd’s List, TradeWinds and Fairplay for the 12-year period from 2000 to 2011. The analysis showed that the criminalization trend is on the rise. There were 415 reports of “crimes” involving 1,580 seafarers during this period. The number of incidents deemed by authorities to be “crimes,” as well as the number of seafarers detained, increased every year during the period surveyed. Nautilus is calling on world governments to take action. “We hope that the results of this survey will provide momentum for increased efforts to ensure fair treatment of seafarers, whether innocent or guilty of a criminal charge,” said SRI Executive Director Deirdre Fitzpatrick, “and that from this survey, the faces and voices of the seafarers will be seen clearly and heard loudly.” – Article by Ashley Morrow, MM&P Communications Department

American Flagship Project Challenges Obama Administration | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

Title 11, for them what're fortunate enough not to know, provides U.S.-taxpayer backing for maritime-related construction, usually ships.   If the ship makes money, the money is never expended.  If the ship (or company) goes bankrupt, the U.S. taxpayer loses money. It is the same concept as a VA mortgage guarantee. In both cases, the projects are those which private lenders deem too risky.
Query: why should the taxpayer, making something like $50k/year, be underwriting a loan which the finance professionals won't touch?
American Flagship Project Challenges Obama Administration | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

And I'd be enthusiastically cheering this decision if this was an indication that POTUS44 was trying to lead the US out of these dunderheaded concepts.  Unfortunately, this just means the administration doesn't like this particular concept; not the whole idea.

Interesting side-note: these jobs would almost certainly be unionized, so you'd think the administration would be anxious to play to an important part of its base.  But nah...

Leadership to change at Masters, Mates & Pilots

Courtesy of the SUP newsletter. I can remember the "Tim Brown Newsletter" circulating around the MMP-contracted fleet back in the late 70s. Fair winds, Captain Brown!

Captain Tim Brown, President of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P) since 1991, announced in July that he had decided not to run for a seventh term. Prior to being elected to lead MM&P, Brown was a skipper with SeaLand Service Inc. Brown brought stability to a badly fractured Union and was a leader of maritime labor. Nominated and unopposed to succeed Brown is Don Marcus, the current MM&P Secretary-Treasurer. Other MM&P candidates are Steve Werse, Secretary-Treasurer; Don Josberger, Atlantic Ports Vice President; Wayne Farthing and Michael Welch, Gulf Ports Vice President; Dave Boatner, Pacific Ports, Vice President; George Quick, Pilots Group, Vice President; Mike Murray, Vice President United Inland Group; and Randall Rockwood, Federal Employees Vice President. The Masters, Mates & Pilots 90-day balloting will be mailed to members on September 14, and counted on December 13. The new administration will take office January 1, 2013.

New York Maritime College's Inaugural STEM Academy - with Baltimore & NYC Maritime Focused High Schools | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

BZ, Admiral Carpenter, Dr Hoffman, and Captain Fink!
SUNY Maritime College's Inaugural STEM Academy - with Baltimore & NYC Maritime Focused High Schools | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

After the Storm

After the Storm

Jon Kaskin Retiring

From Maritime Memos:

Anybody who's been involved with T-ships over the past 30-something years knows Jon Kaskin, the Navy's Director of Strategic Mobility and Combat Logistics, who retires tomorrow. The picture at the right shows him getting the Distinguished Civilian Service Award yesterday from Under-Secretary Bob Work. Read the story in the Bangor Daily News here. Jon understood both the technical issues and the business issues, knew how to handle politicians, admirals and shipbuilders, and never seemed to lose his cool. This is a rare opportunity to say "He'll be missed" and mean it. The Navy could use a few more like him. June 28, 2012.

Jon is one of those extraordinarily rare individuals who never spoke behind others' backs. Consequently, he well and truly pissed off virtually everyone. Those that got mad at him rarely acknowledged that the Navy -- hell, all of the bluidy flippin' government needs someone to say: "OK, we need to buy this; can we buy it cheaper? Do we need this number?

USNS Guam Towed Out

On Saturday, MSC towed the USNS Guam, (ex-Huakai) from its lay-berth in Norfolk. Towed? She won't operate on her own power? What does that mean? They are taking her to Detyens, in Charleston, to modify her for service with III MEF in the Western Pacific. July 2, 2012. P.S.: Apparently the Navy had to tow her to Charleston because our incompetent MARitime ADministration had allowed her documentation to expire. Detyens' primary task is to renew her USCG and ABS paperwork: the mods for her operation with the Marine Corps come later. July 6, 2012.

Althouse: "The latest survey on the Supreme Court was conduc...

Althouse: "The latest survey on the Supreme Court was conduc...: "Overall, there were few differences in the topline results between the two nights. However, there were sizable partisan shifts. On Wednesda...

From Iraq to Beaumont: the Ocean Crescent brings the last cargo home, prepares for its next mission - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

From Iraq to Beaumont: the Ocean Crescent brings the last cargo home, prepares for its next mission - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

DAWN OF THE CONTAINER REVOLUTION

On 26 April 1956, the [Tankship] Ideal-X left the Port of Newark, New Jersey, bound for Houston, Texas. She carried 58 35-foot containers, along with her liquid cargo. This ship was converted under the initiative of Malcolm McLean, a trucking magnate who saw the tremendous potential of containerization. In 1960, McLean founded SeaLand, a major container shipping line, which was purchased by Maersk in 1999. The Ideal X carried containers until 1965, when she was scrapped.

Will the maritime unions stay?

Money quote:

The maritime unions, on the other hand, have a lot to think about. And, their leadership has a lot to explain to their membership should they decide to endorse the current administration for a second term. Would a pro-business GOP crew treat them any better?

everyone remember when the unions tried to rally the troops in 1980?

Santorum’s lost message - TheHill.com

There is still a place for a straightforward fiscal conservative.  Santorum's not it. 
Quoth the Maven, "Said Brooks to the Honorable Rick"Money quote:
        Santorum’s lost message - TheHill.com

"Combined with his push for fewer business regulations and less taxation, Santorum’s message on ObamaCare was all he needed to win over enough Romney voters to close the gap and beat him. It was the key to his appeal to independent voters, and to those voters focused more on the economy than the social issues Santorum has built a reputation championing.

"But he strayed, and lost Ohio by 1 percentage point. Then he strayed again, decrying the dangers of porn, claiming the Obama administration “seems to favor pornographers over children and families” because it has “refused to enforce obscenity laws.” So this week he lost Illinois by more than 11 points. He won’t recover."

NOAA Prepares To Phase Out Navigation Response Teams | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

I can make the case that this is an old trick of the Bureaucracy known as closing the Washington Monument.  Some years ago, the National Park Service's budget was threatened with a cut.  NPS announced the cut would force them to close the Washington Monument to the public.  To the surprise of no one -- probably including the legislators who directed the budget cut -- the funds were restored.

This is a cut in one of NOAA's more popular programs.  Stand by.
NOAA Prepares To Phase Out Navigation Response Teams | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

Maritime Week in Washington D.C., May 7-9, 2012 | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

Maritime Week in Washington D.C., May 7-9, 2012 | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

Nooze youze can youze: A Guide to the Presidential Candidates’ Proposals to Cut Spending – Tenth Amendment Center Blog

Money quote:

There are multiple ways to skin this cat, but I decided to put together a comparison table based solely on the content found on each candidate’s campaign website. I did not consider past statements or votes, the televised debates, or outside sources (unless linked to by a campaign’s website). The idea is that statements on each candidate’s website should offer the clearest indication of their intentions should they become president.

A Guide to the Presidential Candidates’ Proposals to Cut Spending – Tenth Amendment Center Blog

Sea Shepherd Activists Using Drones to Track Japanese Whalers | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

I, personally, am somewhat curious about Bayshore Recycling's ownership of long-range drones!

As tensions rise between Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in the recent lawsuit brought by the Japanese, Sea Shepherd has a new ally on their hands: drone aircrafts.

The whale activists have been locked in a heated and exponentially worsening battle with the Japanese whalers, and in light of the situation, Bayshore Recycling Corp. of New Jersey has donated two long-range drones equipped with detection capabilities and cameras which help to scan hundreds more miles of ocean for whaling ships. The drones have been outfitted on two Sea Shepherd vessels, the Steve Irwin and Bob Barker, and it has already yielded success.

Capt. Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd’s ship, Steve Irwin, said that these drones have proven to be “valuable assets” to the mission and that one drone already located Japanese ship, Nisshin Maru, off the coast of Western Australia this past Saturday.

Read the rest here.

Oath Keepers

they make a good point:

I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God

Your Oath NEVER expires!

Oath Keepers » Oath Keepers – Guardians of the Republic

what makes te poor, poor?

Ye money quote from Megan McArdle

“it’s all too common for well-meaning middle class people to think that if the poor just had the same stuff we do, they wouldn’t be poor any more (where ‘stuff’ includes anything from a college education to a marriage license to a home).

Note, however, that a high-school education, waiting until age 25 to have children and a two-parent home ARE statistically significant co-incidences.

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MEGAN MCARDLE: “it’s all too common for well-meaning middle class people to think that if the poor …

This has been addressed for most of a century now. probably longer. Heck, Daniel P Moynihan damn near got drummed out of the right-thinking crew on his issue.

Debt Without and With Sequestration | Mercatus

Can't say this often enough:

"sequestration increases spending by $1.65 trillion between 2012-2021"

Sequestration in Perspective: Debt Without and With Sequestration | Mercatus

Former Democratic Pollsters: Obama Should Abandon Run for Second Term

Oookkkaaayyyy.

Let's see... there hasn't been a Donk POTUS who would have been elected since LBJ. So...

1. If Obama bails, is there any chance the Black vote will be as enthusiastic as they were in 2008?
2. Can a D be elected w/o the black vote
3. Are the comments about voting for Romney (note the assumption)just to show the Ds not to assume the Black vote actually reflecting a significant number?

Russian Freighter Disappears in White Sea, 11 Missing - UPDATE | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

Marie Celeste, white courtesy phone.

Instapundit » THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D SEE MASS DEPORTATIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. AND THEY…

Actually, I didn't vote for McCain, but Reynolds makes a good point anyway.

MQ: Oh, who am I kidding? Nobody told me that would happen if I voted for McCain . . . .

Teacher penalizes students for saying "bless you" | abc30.com

And here I thought university education departments were making an effort to remove mouth-breathers from their student body!
Teacher penalizes students for saying "bless you" | abc30.com

Twitter / @krauthammer: Earthquake, hurricane, Oba ...

Twitter / @krauthammer: Earthquake, hurricane, Oba ...">Earthquake, hurricane, Obamacare. When does it stop? Seven more and I vote we let the Israelites go.

China Says Aircraft Carrier Only for Research, Training | gCaptain

Did you know... that a war college journal in the People's Republic called for the ability to defeat the U.S. by 2029? This sparked off a big debate over signals: were the authors stating PRC policy, rattlin' the US' cage, lobbying their own government, trying to freak out Taiwan and Japan (they succeeded), or a combination of the above? What does this have to do with the above? Just this: the PRC will produce a lot more qualified pilots with a training/research carrier than they would with a fleet unit. Just sayin'
China Says Aircraft Carrier Only for Research, Training | gCaptain

US Investigators Delay Report On Deepwater Horizon Spill | gCaptain

Hmmmm. Looks like there's a bureaucratic disagreement and no one wants to say so:

"To ensure that all evidence is properly weighed and considered, the [investigation team] is taking additional time to finalize the report,” bureau spokeswoman Eileen Angelico said.

US Investigators Delay Report On Deepwater Horizon Spill | gCaptain

Safety4Sea | 20 seamen stranded with little food for over a month

Twenty seamen on a cargo vessel have been abandoned at sea for over a month without food or water.

Safety4Sea | 20 seamen stranded with little food for over a month

Balancing the budget is hard; try it yourself. -- Government Computer News

Money quote: "The game starts you off with a look at the budget in the year 2021, should our government’s current policies stand as they are without any changes. Things look pretty bleak; some of the buildings representing the various sections of the budget are literally sky-high. The game predicts that, if no changes are made, our budget will go bust in 2031, at which point our debt will equal 100 percent of our GDP. That’s pretty sobering."

2031 isn't set in concrete. Nota Bene!
Balancing the budget is hard, so try it yourself. -- Government Computer News

Human IED threat elicits DHS warning -- Government Computer News

From Government computer news (GCN).
There is something rather strange about this. Earlier this year, there was an assassination attempt on the King of Saudi Arabia. The suicide bomber carried the bomb internally, but it wasn't surgically implanted. I'll leave you to fill in the blanks.

There is, in other words, not very good reason to assume that 'sensitivity from recent surgery' will accomplish much.
Human IED threat elicits DHS warning -- Government Computer News

Safety4Sea | STCW 2010 Amendments : What you need to know

Here's a pretty good summary from -- of course -- our Atlantic allies of what IMO inflicted on us in Manila.
Safety4Sea | STCW 2010 Amendments : What you need to know

Welcome to Our Future, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

So, back in 1983, a recently, not to say soundly, defeated candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates opined that the powers-that-be would change the rules for IRAs (originally, Chilluns, anyone who earned more than $2,000/year could contribute to an IRA), AND would eventually announce that "it's time the fortunate helped the less fortunate" and started to tax private pensions.

Well, the IRA rules changed some time ago, and (h/t Dr Kling)the Irish Republic has taken a step toward the second.

Y'all need to listen up; just because you're not interested in politics doesn't mean politics isn't interested in ...well, you know.
Welcome to Our Future, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

US Naval Update: CVN 65 Enterprise Abandons Libya, Reinforces CVN 70 Vinson In Straits Of Hormuz | zero hedge

Man, I hope...
Please tell me this isn't...
They couldn't be dumb enough...
US Naval Update: CVN 65 Enterprise Abandons Libya, Reinforces CVN 70 Vinson In Straits Of Hormuz | zero hedge

Should Holocaust Deniers Be Heard? | The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy

Emphasis mine:

Some courses that are supposed to teach critical thinking amount to nothing more than severe criticism by professors of ideas they dislike. Students don’t learn how to think. Instead of learning to exercise careful judgment, they learn to mimic their professors’ opinions.

Second, critical thinking ought to mean thinking that reflects the Western rationalistic tradition. Unfortunately, that tradition is incommensurable with other prevalent academic orthodoxies, such as social constructivism, multiculturalism, and postmodernism. The philosopher John Searle has asserted that critical thinking is founded on epistemological assumptions that enable us to build a framework for determining whether a conclusion is legitimate or not. Those assumptions are basic and easy to understand, for example, that “reality exists independently of our representations of it” and that “knowledge is objective.”

“IT IS EASY TO PROPOSE IMPOSSIBLE REMEDIES.”

Belling the Cat. Aesop. 1909-14. Fables. The Harvard Classics

You don't have to be a Vet, nor do you have to ride a motorcycle

Home

CMA CGM offers cruises on giant containerships

The ONLY way to go. FYI the Euro trades at ~1.4:1.0 to the dollar.

Money quote: "They may not look like cruise ships from the outside, but CMA CGM, the world's third largest container shipping group, is offering cruises on board the largest vessels in its fleet, its 13,800 TEU containerships. It says that last year 690 people chose to experience "cruising another way" by traveling on a containership."
CMA CGM offers cruises on giant containerships

AP: Browner leaving as Obama energy adviser - USATODAY.com

Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
AP: Browner leaving as Obama energy adviser - USATODAY.com

Across America, Latino Community Sighs With Relief : NPR

Safe to say that being Hispanic is the most important thing about this gal:

I wasn't the only person on Saturday who rushed to her Android when news came of the Tucson shooting. I wasn't looking however to read about what had happened. My auntie had already filled me in — "Someone tried to murder una representante. People have been killed," she'd reported. What I wanted to know was the killer's surname.

My eyes scanned the mobile papers. I held my breath. Finally, I saw it: Jared Loughner. Not a Ramirez, Gonzalez or Garcia.
Across America, Latino Community Sighs With Relief : NPR

U.S. on the Way toward Losing AAA Credit Rating - By Kevin D. Williamson - The Corner - National Review Online

I todja so, I todja so. Hah hah hah, I todja so!
From the Wall Street Journal:

Moody’s said the U.S., Germany, France and the U.K. still have debt metrics, including the debt affordability, compatible with their triple-A ratings at Moody’s. But all four countries must bring the future costs arising from pension and healthcare subsidies under control if they “are to maintain long-term stability in their debt burden credit metrics,” Moody’s said in its regular triple-A Sovereign Monitor report.

Moody’s noted that measures were recommended by the U.S. National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, appointed by President Obama, to achieve a balanced primary budget by 2015, but that there was insufficient support to trigger consideration of those recommendations by the full Congress.

U.S. on the Way toward Losing AAA Credit Rating - By Kevin D. Williamson - The Corner - National Review Online

Harry Potter Muslim Actress Beaten By Brother; Flees Home After Family Threatens to Kill Her For Dating Hindu Boy | The Gateway Pundit

And, as the Gateway Pundit so eloquently puts it: Look at this pig.
EXCEPT, there's TWO of 'em; therefore, look at these pigs.
Harry Potter Muslim Actress Beaten By Brother; Flees Home After Family Threatens to Kill Her For Dating Hindu Boy | The Gateway Pundit

Samuelson - Cheating Our Children (Again)

It is cheating with the passive connivance of the cheatees. Actions like bailing out the states & cities, the sanctity of social insecurity, etc, poll as being very popular among the young (18-35).
that said, there's no excuse, baby boomers
What states and localities can do about this is limited. Pension promises to existing employees are probably legally inviolate. Retiree health benefits are apparently less so and should be reduced or eliminated to limit incentives for early retirement. Even if politicians manage this arduous feat, past decisions will burden the future. Along with an unwillingness to curb Social Security and Medicare costs, America's leaders have created another way to cheat their children.
RealClearPolitics - Cheating Our Children (Again)

Home Labs Rise With Smarter and Cheaper Devices - NYTimes.com

Home Labs Rise With Smarter and Cheaper Devices - NYTimes.com

Welcome to My Hypersensitivity Training Workshop, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Welcome to My Hypersensitivity Training Workshop, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

New Advice for Nuclear Strike - Don’t Flee, Get Inside - NYTimes.com

This isn't new. Once upon a time a government official got made the subject of a lot of PC & late-night humor for suggesting a variation of getting under cover.

Suppose the unthinkable happened, and terrorists struck New York or another big city with an atom bomb. What should people there do? The government has a surprising new message: Do not flee. Get inside any stable building and don’t come out till officials say it’s safe

Interesting fact from the article (emphasis mine):

Even staying in a car, the studies show, would reduce casualties by more than 50 percent; hunkering down in a basement would be better by far.

Mao's Great Leap to Famine - NYTimes.com

Borrowing a quote from the Instapundit:

As I reminded my conservative blogger friends who were applauding the latter – 'When the communists show up to protest the Nazis, you’re supposed to pray for an asteroid, not pick a favourite.'

Mao's Great Leap to Famine - NYTimes.com

Marginal Tax Rates, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Marginal Tax Rates, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
A very good point from Arnold Kling.
And a related point frrom Greg Mankiw:
http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/11/poverty-trap.html
Pay really close attention to the left-hand side of the chart, boysengurls, not that the trend goes DOWN between $19K and 39K.

Vote Coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes!

Vote Coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes!

Random Act of Culture - Hallelujah chorus in Macy's • videosift.com

Wow. Just. Wow.
Random Act of Culture - Hallelujah chorus in Macy's • videosift.com

Vote Coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes!

Fort Schuyler's first perfect season.
Vote Coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes!

2200 miles across the pond: Prepare for a new American revolution - Telegraph

Hat tip: Chris Johnson

And this anger – again, contrary to the general understanding in Britain – is not new: it goes all the way back to the Bush presidency. It was widely known in Europe that the American Left hated George Bush (and even more, Dick Cheney) because of his military adventurism. What was less understood was that the Right disliked him almost as much for selling the pass over government spending, bailing out the banks, and failing to keep faith with the fundamental Republican principle of containing the power of central government.

A Warning to the Phants

Money shot:

Either act like adults charged with the responsible management of this country, instead of drunken teenagers with mom’s credit card, or we will un-elect you at the first opportunity.

I am Simon Jester » Blog Archive » A Warning

On being out, proud and conservative | Tammy Bruce | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Money shot:

Having made my point, I trust, I'll now slip out of my snark suit and share a little secret with you. The real story of bigotry and intolerance is the fact that it lives and thrives on the left. As a gay woman who spent most of her adult life pushing the cart for liberal causes with liberal friends in a liberal city, I found that sexism, racism and homophobia are staples in the liberal world. The huge irony is liberals spend every ounce of energy promoting the notion that they are the banner carriers of individualism and personal freedom, yet the hammer comes down on anyone who dares not to conform to, or who dissents even in part from, the liberal agenda.

On being out, proud and conservative | Tammy Bruce | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Baby Fever

Baby Fever, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: The secret of a longer life

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: The secret of a longer life

Cato Unbound, Self-Recommending Edition, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Cato Unbound, Self-Recommending Edition, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Marginal Revolution: Economic Misconceptions

The database Dr Goffe's assembling has a home page here

When asked by how much has income per person in the United States changed since 1950 (after adjusting for inflation) the median student said an increase of 25%. Actual rate an increase of about 248%, thus the median student was off by a factor of 10.

Read the rest Marginal Revolution: Economic Misconceptions">here

Gallup Finds U.S. Unemployment at 10.1% in September

A note to the 44th Prez: there's a reason why the elections of 1972 and 1980 were disasters for the Donks!
Gallup Finds U.S. Unemployment at 10.1% in September

DGQ of the day: Could GOP be playing into Dem hands? - Yahoo! News

Analysis: Could GOP be playing into Dem hands? - Yahoo! News

When seconds count, remember...

Help is only minutes away.
Shocking testimony reveals police inaction in Conn. \
horror home invasion - NYPOST.com

Ship Owners Cooperative Program Meets in September

@ MITAGS, which makes it agood enough reason to go
The Maritime Executive Magazine :: Ship Owners Cooperative Program Meets in September

Are There More Girl Geniuses? — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

Christina Hoff Summers of AEI. Money quote:

Pre-kindergarten boys with mental abilities three or four standard deviations above the mean have astonishing talents. But as Terry Neu, an expert on gifted boys, told me, sitting still for an extended period of time is not one of them.

Are There More Girl Geniuses? — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

Instapundit » FEAR THE LAME DUCK! Or, better yet, encourage the lame ducks to fear you….

Well, yah, Mr Reynolds, but ya gotta consider the source. Politico has a vested interest in the big D agenda; to the extent that such articles make libertarians and conservatives and independents relax, it fits the agenda. So the best part of advice is "Make the lame ducks fear you."


Instapundit » Blog Archive » FEAR THE LAME DUCK! Or, better yet, encourage the lame ducks to fear you….

The Gift of Shale Gas

You ignore Samuelson at your peril.
The Gift of Shale Gas

21 Things Hiring Managers Wish You Knew - US News & World Report

We actually want you to be honest.: 21 Things Hiring Managers Wish You Knew - US News & World Report

Mullen reiterates his concern over China’s military buildup - News - Stripes

2000 PRC war college pub comes up with a goal of being able to engage the US militarily by 2029
2001 RGMCF mentions this to MMR conference, notes that this goal requires a blue water ability and this goal will be recognizable if PRC's high-end blue water fleet starts growing.
2010: CJCS finds out about this too.

I'm being disingenuous. ADM Mullen has been paying close attention since he was a two-star (and probably earlier, but that's the first time I met him).
Mullen reiterates his concern over China’s military buildup - News - Stripes

Unfunded Entitlements ‘r’ Us

Note that doubling the payroll tax covers the shortfall forever IF the increases in the cost of the medical programs stops.

I know! Everybody hold your breath until you turn blue, that'll do it!
Unfunded Entitlements ‘r’ UsUnfunded Entitlements ‘r’ Us

Historians locate King Arthur's Round Table - Telegraph

Arturus!
Rex quondam
Rex futurus!
Historians locate King Arthur's Round Table - Telegraph

What Growing Cancer Epidemic? - Update - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

New cancer trend statistics being released today are heartening. Eurekalert headline announcing the new cancer stats reads: "Cancer Deaths Continue to Drop." Which is happily quite true, but actually misses the even more amazing fact that "Cancer Incidence Rates Continue to Drop."

What Growing Cancer Epidemic? - Update - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

Let there be higher wages

Money quote:

"If Mr. Obama follows Dean Edley’s advice, low-skilled workers’ wages will indeed change – specifically, the wages for many of these workers will fall from their current levels (say, $7.25 per hour) to $0 per hour. Firms seeking government contracts will replace low-skilled workers with machines; hire fewer such workers and work them harder; or use a smaller number of higher-skilled workers to perform tasks previously performed by a larger number of low-skilled workers."

Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge

removal_of_mariner_exam_questions.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Money shot:

"Coast Guard will no longer post actual mariner examination questions on the NMC website. Effective July 12, 2010, the full set of deck and engineering questions and answers will be removed from the NMC Website"

Not for the record, the questions were released under a court order. This will be interesting.

removal_of_mariner_exam_questions.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Pournelle on Berwick

Money quote:

Berwick is certainly qualified to head a national health care system (for a pro-Berwick piece see the Washington Post). He's also a realist about what that implies. A few years ago he said that sick people tend to be poorer, and poor people tend to be sicker, and if you want an excellent, humane, and rational health care system it is going to be redistributive. It has to be. An excellent national health care system requires redistributing the wealth.

Of course that's true. It's also the last thing Obama wants debated this summer and fall.

Current View

We Must Stop the Avalanche of Low-Quality Research - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Hat tip: Dr Peter Boettke!
Consider the post-investigation of the so-called "Climategate". A internationally recognized scientist asserted that many are reluctant to release their research because they worked so hard to obtain it.

However, high-quality research must be able to be duplicated. No one should accept, "This is the result we found and we're right."
- I'm minded of the cold-fusion issue of the last century.
- I'm minded of the hockey-stick of climate change; shown to be a tricky mathematical process that was all-but-guaranteed to produce hockey sticks.
- I'm minded of Dr Jerry Pournelle:

"I'll believe it's an emergency when people who say it's an emergency start acting like it's an emergency."

We Must Stop the Avalanche of Low-Quality Research - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Gulf of Mexico response | Oil spill | BP

Gulf of Mexico response | Oil spill | BP

Avertible catastrophe

To err is human. To really f...oul things up takes regulation

Why does neither the U.S. government nor U.S. energy companies have on hand the cleanup technology available in Europe? Ironically, the superior European technology runs afoul of U.S. environmental rules. The voracious Dutch vessels, for example, continuously suck up vast quantities of oily water, extract most of the oil and then spit overboard vast quantities of nearly oil-free water. Nearly oil-free isn't good enough for the U.S. regulators, who have a standard of 15 parts per million -- if water isn't at least 99.9985% pure, it may not be returned to the Gulf of Mexico.

Read the rest: Avertible catastrophe

End Them, Don't Mend Them

PJ O'Rourke on sadistical relationships
End Them, Don't Mend Them

Gates Recommends Next Marine Commandant

DoD Secretary Robert Gates announced June 21 that he recommended that President Obama nominate Gen. James F. Amos, an Iraq war veteran with an aviation background, to become the next commandant of the Marine Corps. Amos would replace Gen. James Conway, who is scheduled to retire later this year, according to DoD.

If confirmed, Amos would be the first aviator to head the Marine Corps, DoD said. Gates also recommended that Obama nominate Lt. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford to succeed Amos as deputy commandant.

“I am convinced that Gen. Amos and Lt. Gen. Dunford are the right team to lead the U.S. Marine Corps at this time,” Gates said, “especially as it balances the capabilities needed to support current operations, its unique maritime heritage and its future role defending America.”

48% See Government Today As A Threat to Individual Rights

Nanny state
nanny state
O nanny nanny nanny
Nanny state
nanny state
O nanny nanny nanny
NANNY STATE!
Ba-dum-bum-bum

Great Scott! - WSJ.com

Worth reading just for this paragraph:

"There's actually nothing in the story to justify the Times headline writer's claim that Palmetto State Republicans had "biases" to "buck" in order to nominate Haley and Scott, but unbucked biases are not exactly uncommon on major newspaper staffs."

Insert 'bucking around' pun here.

Obama’s 2012 Power Play

I'm not sure this is true, but it's real entertaining:

Barack Obama, who has in recent days turned haplessness into an art form, played a masterstroke today, making perhaps the canniest, wiliest, even wisest decision of his generally rudderless presidency. I refer, of course, to his appointment of David Petraeus to the Afghan war command, in place of the Rolling-Stoned Stanley McChrystal. In doing so, Obama has, at a stroke, taken Petraeus out of the 2012 presidential race.

Don’t Fear Inflation, if It Comes - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

Clearly our government has promised a lot of public medical care, as well as much spending on pensions both for future Social Security recipients and for retired public employees. Few elected officials want to crusade for higher taxes. But our aging population and public medical spending that grows faster than the rest of the economy are nothing new to 2010.

What happened in Paris... -- By Peter Feaver | Shadow Government

Some stuff I hadn't known about the McChrystal Debacle (emphasis mine):

I think I have figured it out. If you read the Rolling Stone article carefully, you can see that the reporter, Michael Hastings, has woven three stories together. One story is the story of General McChrystal trying to keep up morale in a tough war with his troops thinking he is too worried about civilian casualties and he is forcing them to accept too many risks as consequence. This is also the story of McChrystal feeling under time pressure from Washington. I bet this is the story Hastings pitched to McChrystal's staff and the story McChrystal thought was being reported. It is, indeed, sprinkled throughout the Rolling Stone article, and in this thread McChyrstal is pretty careful about what he says and generally comes off pretty well.

The second story is Hastings's rather tendentious reporting on what McChrystal's enemies and critics say against him -- their complaints, and their doubts about the war. While assessing reporter's motivations is always a dodgy business, I suspect that this is the story Hastings pitched to his editor. The whole thing has the feel of a hungry guy hoping to hunt a big trophy kill: taking down a four-star hero and showing that his war plan (note how Hastings describes the strategy as McChrystal's, not the president's) is fatally flawed and doomed to failure.

If those were the only two stories in the article, people would only be talking about the Rolling Stone cover. The problem for McChrystal is that there is a third story woven through the article. This is the story of McChrystal and his staff on an unexpected layover in Paris when a plane is grounded because of the volcano. This part of the story has a "weekend in Vegas" feel to it. The staff get drunk. The French get dissed. Holbrooke gets dissed. McChrystal and his staff joke about how they would answer a tough question about Vice President Biden's theories about the war. Without having access to Hastings' notes, I can't be sure, but I am willing to wager that 95 percent of the really objectionable material comes from that layover.

This third story was an accident - serendipity for the reporter and a train-wreck for McChrystal. The underlying facts are not surprising or accidental at all. Anyone who has interacted with the military, especially the special ops community from which McChrystal hails, will recognize the swagger. More to the point, we have known for over a year that Obama's national security team is plagued with serious internal bickering and that many of the principals, and especially the staffs, do not like each other. In short, it is not surprising that they talked this way. The only surprising bit is that McChrystal and his staff talked this way in front of a reporter, though less surprising when you factor in the "sailors on unexpected shore leave" aspect.

Now, of course, none of this excuses McChrystal's behavior, nor the more egregious behavior and comments of his staff. There is no "what happens in Paris, stays in Paris exception" to civil-military relations. Clearly, he allowed an unhealthy command climate to percolate and then bubble to the surface in unguarded moments. And it was reckless in the extreme to talk this way in front of a reporter who clearly was on a scalp-hunt...

A reporter on a scalp-hunt. Whatta surprise.

Information Dissemination: Navigating the Interagency Morass

1. The degree of success usually realized in IA coordination is directly proportionate to the distance from the Beltway.
2. Consensus building is overrated. Successful interagency coordination requires a lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way approach.
3. Personalities trump bureaucracies and formal chains of command. If your initiative isn't progressing due to a certain personality, go around, over, or through them.
4. When an agency rep asks "why is DoD doing that?" it really means -- stay off our turf because you are embarrassing my agency, even though we aren't competent or willing to do what we were chartered/authorized/funded to do.
5. Never forget that DoD is always the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Always.

Information Dissemination: Navigating the Interagency Morass
Ain't it da troot.
Information Dissemination: Navigating the Interagency Morass

BBC News - Tea and coffee 'protect against heart disease'

BBC News - Tea and coffee 'protect against heart disease'

A wizard's words finally set free -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

A wizard's words finally set free -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

OpenSecrets | Cash Counter Widgets

OpenSecrets | Cash Counter Widgets

Center on Education and the Workforce -

"Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce reported this week that the number of jobs requiring an associates' degree or more will grow faster than the pool of qualified people, to the tune of a three-million-worker shortfall by 2018" Center on Education and the Workforce -

Conform or face the consequences, Archbishop says: The Church of England Newspaper, June 4, 2010 p 1 « Conger

Wow.
Money quote:

The Archbishop’s Pentecost letter is the public half of a campaign to rein in the Episcopal Church, The Church of England Newspaper has learned, and follows a private letter delivered to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori asking her to consider withdrawing from active participation on the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion.

Conform or face the consequences, Archbishop says: The Church of England Newspaper, June 4, 2010 p 1 « Conger

Unfortunatly old news: China threatens US

So... back in the last year of the last millennium, JFQ (Joint Forces Quarterly), the professional publication of the National Defense University noted that an article published in a People's Republic of China journal had called for China to be able to win a war against the US by 2029. There was a lot of intra-military discussion about this. Specifically: was the PRC putting the US on notice -- this is what we're going to do -- or were they just rattling the US' cage?

Well, by their actions ye shall know. For China to be able to defeat the US, there are ... things... that have to happen; for one thing, the People's Liberation Army Navy (yes, that's the correct title) will need a LOT more blue-water capability.

Well it appears that some of these ... things... have started to happen. Here's Gordon Chang by way of the Instapundit.

Sing it high, sing it low, let them know....

Helen Thomas Retires After Palestine Flap | NBC Washington
Perhaps the greatest journalist since Leni Riefenstahl turns in her papers.
Helen Thomas Retires After Palestine Flap | NBC Washington

Markets About to Turn Nasty, Buy Barbed Wire: Advisor - CNBC

Money shot: “I don’t want to scare anyone but I am considering investing in barbed wire and guns, things are not looking good and rates are heading higher,”
EU Debt Crisis - Markets About to Turn Nasty, Buy Barbed Wire: Advisor - CNBC
Comes from NBC

Political Memo - Democrats Skip Town Halls to Avoid Voter Rage - NYTimes.com

I suspect it's not just the Ds!
Political Memo - Democrats Skip Town Halls to Avoid Voter Rage - NYTimes.com

Peggy Noonan: The Big Alienation - WSJ.com

Peggy Noonan: The Big Alienation - WSJ.com

Released to Near Silence, the U.S. Treasury 2009 Financial Report Shows Dire Course

If you listen to certain politicians and talking heads you might get the impression that the federal fiscal sky is falling. Unfortunately, unlike Chicken Little, they may be right.

The Treasury Department recently issued the 2009 financial report of the United States government. Whereas there is lots of talk in Congress and in the press about the federal budget, the annual report was released to near silence. That’s too bad, not only because the annual report is untainted by creative accounting but also because its message is too important to ignore.

That message is that the sky is indeed falling.

Released to Near Silence, the U.S. Treasury 2009 Financial Report Shows Dire Course

Military asserts right to return cyber attacks - Yahoo! News

Military asserts right to return cyber attacks - Yahoo! News

Megan strikes again!

voters consistently say they'd rather cut spending than raise taxes to reduce the deficit. But when you ask them what they want to cut, the only program there is strong support for cutting is foreign aid . . . which is like trying to pay off your credit cards by slashing your chewing gum budget.

But wait a minute! We spend stomptillion bucks on foreign aid!
I bet we can make this balance if we cut earmarks!
Polling the Budget - Business - The Atlantic

National debt seen heading for crisis level

Ya think?

Economists Carmen Reinhart of the University of Maryland and Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University have recently shown that a 90 percent debt-to-GDP ratio usually touches off a crisis.

This year, the debt will reach 63 percent of GDP, a ratio that has ignited crises in smaller wealthy nations. Fiscal crises gripped Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Ireland when their debts were below where the United States is shortly headed.

National debt seen heading for crisis level

The article doesn't address the medicare/medicaid/Obamacare/social security/Bush-drug-for-elderly unfunded mandates (which are at least 50 TRILLION and realistically are closer to 100 Trillion.

Marginal Revolution: Do daughters make you more conservative?

Tyler Cowan's comment at marginalrevolution.com finishes with a great quote (i.e., one designed to make some people froth at the mouth:

By the way, I applaud the authors for their "stones" in writing the last paragraph of the paper, such as:

The conservative emphasis on family, traditional values and gender roles, and prolife anti-abortion sentiments all stress investment in children – for both men and women. Conservative policies mirror the genetic interests of women, writ large. They attempt to promote paternal investment in offspring. Further, they stress investment in conceived offspring – “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” In short, Conservative policies support the genetic fitness of women by capitalizing on each pregnancy, reducing male promiscuity, and increasing paternal investment in children. Such policies may impinge on the freedom of parents’ immediate offspring, but they increase the expected number of grandchildren via daughters.

I'm not sure that's true as stated, but it does deserve further debate.

Marginal Revolution: Do daughters make you more conservative?

So, whaddaya think? I figure most replies will fall into accident, tu quoque, or wishful thinking, but I'm willing to be proved wrong!