Semper Fi!

On November 10, the Marine Corps will celebrate their 236th Birthday.  Here's the video produced by the Commandant and the Master Sergeant of the Marine Corps:

Mob Rule

What happened at the Occupy Atlanta gathering last week is worth a second look.  This takes about ten minutes, but to absorb, but it is worth it.  They were copying the "people's mike" technique developed at Zuccotti Park in New York...but didn't understand that the reason they do it in NYC is because of a sound ordinance.  These idiots just do it to happily sound like robots.

So John Lewis, icon of the civil rights movement, and somewhat mentally imbalanced Congressman, shows up to visit with his constituency...hilarity ensues:



If THAT is 99% of the country, I'm moving to Switzerland.

It is a shame they didn't let him speak - he could have regaled them with tales of how sharks in the Atlantic still follow the routes of the slave ships or how people were denied the right to vote because of their nationality.  Sometimes letting liberals speak is half the fun.

Stuff the Ice Chest - Republican Candidates

These guys at Bad Lip Reading are very clever:

Nine Thoughts on 9-9-9

Herman Cain is getting a lot of traction on his 9-9-9 Plan as he should.  He is the only candidate that is actively tackling the invasive, abusive, corrupt and ineffective tax system that has metastasized upon the American people and her industry.  A 9% flat corporate tax, 9% income tax and 9% sales tax IS a bold proposal...here are 9 thoughts to consider...good and bad:

1. YAY! No one knows - except those who profit in this system what is in the Federal Tax Code - there are over 75,000 pages of scribble in the code and even way back in 2005, it was estimated that 6 BILLION hours are spent by individuals, corporations and non-profits to make sure they comply.  This thing is SIMPLE.

2. BOO! States, such as Tennessee that have no personal state income tax would suffer, or would be forced to implement an income tax.  9% on top of the 9.5% we already pay in Nashville would be devastating.

3. YAY! Reducing corporate tax rates while eliminating the capital gains tax is a huge win for American competitiveness.

4. BOO! Introducing a national sales tax as a new piggy bank for Washington is pretty scary.  It may start out at 9%, but without some serious checks, it WILL go up.  Any time those junkies in DC need a revenue hit, they'll bump the sales tax.

5. YAY! This plan eliminates the death tax - no more double taxation!

6. BOO! The 9% sales tax and the 9% business tax are arguable the same thing and could result in a run-up in costs of goods sold.  Couple that with the exclusion of the 9% sales tax on raw goods for those that are U.S. in origen, and you are potentially threatening trade retaliation.

7. YAY! The plan is simple, streamlined and easy to understand.  It should dramatically reduce the cost of governance, enforcement and compliance...just feel the productivity surge!

8. BOO! The economic centerpiece of the Cain campaign focuses on the revenue side of the equation.  He has got to start talking about the spending and where he will cut.

9. YAY! A serious candidate has put forth a daring new plan for how we can improve our economy.  I don't like this plan as much as a flat or a fair tax, but I like the fact that someone is willing to take the heat and ignite the debate on this issue.  I also like the fact that it gets every American to put skin in the game.  For the 47% that pay no Federal taxes, that's a bummer...but then maybe you will be more conscious of the spending and become a conservative!

Rumble on!

The Donkey Whisperer

The Democrats want this ad pulled - wonder why?



Tip o' the Hat: MGH

Islamofascism In the White House

Tarek Fatah names names:

Watch live streaming video from ideacity at livestream.com

The Iranians are Coming, The Iranians are Coming!

There have been several references to the Iranian Navy's announcement that they will send a "fleet" off our shore to demonstrate their Naval prowess.  They even "leaked" the route the ships would take:

Let's see...if I were going to travel by sea from the Straits of Hormuz to the shores of America, that's pretty much the shortest route there...and as a former Navigator on a U.S. Navy destroyer, that's almost exactly the route we took one time.  We didn't end up in Cuba though and more on that anon.

Now before everyone hyperventilates about this, consider that a "fleet" is a corvette and a supply ship.  The corvette is the Alvand.  She is a Vosper class corvette, displacing about 1500 tons fully loaded...about 310 feet long.  To put that in perspective, your typical Arleigh Burke class destroyer, a centerpiece of the U.S. line of battle is 505' long and displaces 9000 tons.  This is what the Alvand looks like:

Alvand transiting Suez Canal

This is what her sister ship, the Sahand looked like after a brief encounter with the United States Navy in 1988:

This is when some Iranian gun boats went out and seized an oil drilling platform then fired on some U.S. warships that came to take a look.  All in all, I am reminded a little bit of the wonderful movie with Alan Arkin, "The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!"

But there is more.  The second ship that will transit with the Alvand is the Krang:

She's not much to look at, but the issue is what will she be carrying.  As a warship, she is not subject to search when transiting the Suez.  We know from last year that this ship gave the Israelis some heart burn when she transited the Suez and headed for Syria.  Best bet is she's rigged to carry a lot more than fuel.

The map indicates that these ships will head to Cuba - no surprise there.  My guess is they will head to Venezuela too and stop by to see Achmadinijad's fellow tyrant, Chavez.  The concern I would have is that the Iranians know we have a porous southern border and they could use this transit as an opportunity to insert operatives and equipment that could wreak havoc at the appropriate time.  So this will be worth keeping an eye on.  But as for a Naval threat from Iran...off our shore...I don't think so.

Rumble on!

Steve Jobs, RIP

For Your Consideration

A few things that have come across my desk need to be shared.

1. Obama by the Numbers - brilliant, fact based look at the Bamster and what he has wrought.




2. Cheer up: In my line of work, I spend a lot of time with entrepreneurs, bankers and finance types.  There is desperation out there right now, but also a sense that a new day will be dawning.  The feeling is if we can hold on till November, 2012, there will be a new day.  Victor Davis Hanson captures that feeling spot on:  "The Coming Post-Obama Renaissance."

3. Sinophobia Part Deaux:  I wrote about this yesterday - but here's another analysis on the new "China Syndrome:"  "Predictions of America's Demise are Greatly Exaggerated."

4.  What do they want??  You are going to have to promise me you will put the coffee cup down before clicking on the next link.  The silliness of the Occupy Wall Street crowd is finally spelled out in their "Manifesto:" Declaration of the Occupation of New York City.  It's all the usual Soros-fed communist clap-trap from "poisoning our food" to "torture" and "student loan enslavement." Quick private note to you OWS types:

Dear Maggot Infested Women's Studies Major, 

Instead of taking up sidewalk space with your stupid signs, iPhones and video cameras, how about picking up the phone and calling your parents to thank them for the fact that you were able to attend a college.  Instead of yelling at Wall Street types who are trying to create wealth so that you will actually have a job one day, how about heading to Washington and yelling at the real criminals - the Obama administration and the Democrats that got us in this mess.  You live in the freest, most wonderful country in the world and you want us to be like Cuba or the USSR in the 1970's?  You troglodytes are wasting the tax revenue of the city of New York with your insouciant childish behavior.  You fools really believe that in a communist state you would end up on top?  Hah!  You are what Lenin called  "useful idiots."  Grow up, go back to Mom's basement, get a shower and get a job. 

Lovingly,
Rumbler

5. History lesson: Here are a few images of our future if OWS type folks have their way:

Prisoners in Soviet Labor Camp

Killing fields of Cambodia under Khmer Rouge

Raw sewage flowing into Anyang River, China 2008

6. Why we'll be OK:

Tip of the hat to Don Surber

Rumble on!

Sinophobia

There's a great article over at New Geography titled "Are We Headed for China's Fat Years."  In it, the author, Joel Kotkin discusses the chilling novel "The Fat Years," that raises the spectre of a Chinese "1984" arising out of the ashes of a Euro-American collapse.  Kotkin sketches the plot line of the book which is scheduled for publication in the US the first of next year, and concludes that the fears are an unwarranted case of sinophobia.  We have scribed about this in these pages for some time and my thinking on the subject is largely driven by the demography of China which Kotkin touches upon:

• Ethnic splits between the Han Chinese and the polyglot of cultures that make up the balance of the country.
• A demographic nightmare in an aging population coupled with (courtesy of social engineering and abortion) a highly disproportionate number of young men to young women - one of the central problems in the Arab world.
• An enormous income disparity between the coasts and the interior.

Put all that together with a centralized control government and you get a grim future, not one that includes running the world.  China, in my opinion, will have one of two ways out...neither one of them pretty.  Option one is a collapse into a neutron star Maoist state of horrific control.  Option two some form of outward aggression to keep the populace busy and, more importantly, loyal.  

The option they are not going to take anytime soon, but which would truly save them in the long run, would be freedom.  Imagine the brain power that could be unleashed if a truly free-market economy were to emerge in China.  I would not just be afraid of such a future - I'd be willing to learn Chinese to become a part of it!  Sadly, I don't foresee that happening.  But that is about the only way the Chinese will overtake the United States.  A word of caution though - the policies of this administration continue to undermine our economy and reduce our competitiveness.  That might be the path down which China overtakes us; but it will only be if we allow our freedom to continue to be usurped.

Rumble on!