I'm Back...Let Me Vent

So the headline on Drudge a few minutes ago was : "ROMNEY: PALESTINIANS HAVE NO INTEREST IN PEACE."  It's another one of his "off the cuff" remarks from a fundraising dinner that someone filmed with a cell phone camera.  It follows closely on the heels (from the same tape) of the other remark that the Leftards are hyper-ventilating about - that 47% of Americans view themselves as victims.  More on that anon, but let's deal with this first headline.  Take a look at this picture:

There is no other way you can describe this other than "SICK."  This little mugwump is being trained by his parents to grow up and scale embassy walls in the name of Allah - or better yet - enter a crowded cafe and splatter himself all over the walls taking out a few people that don't believe in this twisted "religion."  

So explain to me what the hell we are apologizing for?  Some idiot posts a You Tube video that is dumber than the worst possible Japanese sci-fi film from the 1950's and we (our government) has to say "we're sorry, please don't hurt us?"  Is that what the foreign policy of O has brought us to?  Worse, our standing has decayed to the point that we have become the Rodney Dangerfield of super powers - we don't get no respect.  

But really folks...are you buying into the notion that a big bad video tape turned all these people into rabid America haters?  If you are, let's talk - I have some real estate I would like to discuss with you.  A simple review of the facts:

a. These people hated us long before the video tape came out - they hate everyone - they even hate their own kids...see photo above.

b. What day was last Tuesday?  Hmm..September the Eleventh...9/11.  Something else happened on that day a few years back - remember this:

I realize that these are Palestinians - not Egyptians or Libyans - but what do they have in common?  A love for people that hate the United States.  The big chant at the protest in Cairo was "Obama, we are all Osamas now." That saying has spread across the Muslim world - visually depicted at a protest in Kashmir:

Golda Meir had it right so many years ago: Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us. And Mitt Romney has it absolutely right when he says that the Palestinians have no interest in peace.  They want to bully their way into an independent state that would push Israel into the Mediterranean.  AND Obama has it dead wrong.  We are seeing the fruits of appeasement - who was that preacher that said "America's chickens were coming home to roost?"  Take a look at this chart and see how many of Obama's chickens you can count:

This is Pew Research's latest study.  Note that even under the dreaded, evil, torturing Boosh, the Muslims liked us more than they do under the apologizing America bashing Bamster...he's lost us 10 points of favorability in three years.  At this pace, if he's reelected, we'll actually be negative in four more years.

Now the press can try to spin this any way they like...and they will, but this fracas was not caused by a stupid movie trailer.  It was caused by two things.  First, the ongoing, seething rage against the United States fomented by Islamist governments who blame our success as the cause of their misery.  Second, despite all of Obama's bowing and shuffling to Islam and the tyrants of the Middle East, what is the ONE accomplishment he takes credit for repeatedly on the campaign trail? "I killed Osama bin Laden."  He takes credit for GM too though that's a funny one considering the US taxpayers are going to lose some $25 billion on that "investment." These people idolize bin Laden because he took on the Great Satan and punished us by dropping the Twin Towers...and Obama runs around bragging about snuffing him out and we are supposed to believe there is no connection.

Here's the irony: if Obama had continued to show strength and steadiness towards the tinpots of the Middle East, they would have tolerated the Osama football spiking a lot better - they might not have liked it, but they would realize that there are unpleasant consequences to taking on the United States.  That fear has evaporated.

Now the other hack job the media is trying to do on Romney is the vituperative repetition that Romney hates poor people - most demonstrably shown by the "shocking" videotape wherein Mitt says of the 47% who don't pay income taxes: "My job is not to worry about those people."  OMG!!! Hyperventilate!!! What an awful person!!!  Unwad your panties liberals and try - just try- to think.  What he was saying was that vote is gone - he can't worry about them because they are addicted to the government tit.  Again...HE's RIGHT.  Take a stroll through the charts on this Business Insider piece and you will realize that dependency is a growth business under the Obama regime.  This is the fundamental difference between these two parties in this election: a culture of dependence ("We all belong to the government" - DNC Convention video) or a culture of independence ("We own it" - Clint Eastwood referring to the gov'ment at GOP Convention).

As of this writing, Romney has not backed away from either of these comments...and I pray he does not.  The path of independence with dignity in work is one that will lead this country back to fiscal health and ultimately to the respect we have frittered away.  Obama's campaign slogan may be "Forward"  - Romney's response should be "Freedom."

Required Rumbler Reading

Sharing some goodies from my never ending stack-o-stuff:

Barbarians on the Thames: The always eloquent Theodore Dalrymple dispenses with the silliness of attempts at liberal explanations (income inequality!) for the rioting in England this past summer...a lot of these lessons can be applied here.

Mid-summer stroll in olde London towne.

I am generally not a fan of 60 Minutes - but if you missed this episode, you missed a sad but critical piece of our problems in Washington:



A lot of that material came from this book:

I am working through it right now - have to keep the blood pressure meds up, so I'll get back to you.

Illinois: State of Embarrassment - Joel Kotkin's analysis of the underlying problem with Barack Obama...it's the culture of Chicago politics.  This short piece lays it out in excruciating detail.  But hey, at least Blogo got sentenced!

The Dangers of Democracy: An excellent piece to hand to those who want to gush about the "Arab spring."  Bottom line - we got it way wrong in Iran 30 years ago...we almost certainly have it wrong in Egypt, Libya, Yemen....

Democracy for Mohammed and a few of his friends...

Enough to keep you busy...

Rumble on!

Dividing America

I am on the mailing list for an entertaining morning read from the investment advisors over at Penserra Securities called "The Marginal Prophet."  A couple of weeks ago, in his "From the Cheap Seats" section,  the author posited this:

While commenting on the veracity of the Occupy Anything movement, Robo asked the question, “When did our society become so polarized?”I can point to the exact moment; Monday; October 29^th, 2007. Though I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday, that moment in time is still burned into my memory banks. I was five months into my second retirement, and I was Occupying “Flippers,” a local greasy spoon. The Dow Jones was a shade under 14,000, the value of my home had two commas in it, and I was about to wolf down a fiendishly delicious cheeseburger and fries. Life was not just good. It was very, very good. Just as I picked up my sloppy three-quarter pounder, I was interrupted by a unique ringtone from my iPhone; a barking dog. It was Robo. “Hey there, Little Brother, XYZ (the name of the company is withheld to protect the innocent) is trading at $19,” he gushed. “We can do this!” I gave my meal a brief pardon and replied, “That’s right, Little Brother (we call each other ‘little brother’- don’t ask). Let’s always remember this feeling, because it will never get better than this.”Little did I know how right I would be. In October 2007, a tea party was what old women threw to amuse themselves. People occupied jobs instead of parks. Debates between a black male presidential candidate and a white female presidential candidate seemed downright civil. So long as asset prices kept going up, tempers kept going down. American society was on a roll.Here’s a snapshot of where we are four years later. Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on where the sun sets. The Federal Reserve is out of bullets. Billionaires stare down millionaires in the NBA. Tea Party advocates go to work everyday ready to eviscerate unemployed college graduates who Occupy their way. People don’t work for paychecks: they intern for the opportunity to get a paycheck. Obama seems impotant, and shooting pepper spray seems the best way for people from campus police to Black Friday shoppers to communicate their differences.When did everybody get so mad? It's painful out there, for sure, and there are plenty of issues to be upset about. But when did compromise become a four-letter word? Sports experts like to say that winning covers a lit of ills. So too does a rising stock market. And a rising housing market. And a job market where asking your boss for a raise isn’t met a scowl and a pink slip. A rising tide may lift all boats, but a falling tide reveals what really lies underneath the water.C’mon America. We’re better than this.

I don't disagree that being civil is a whole lot easier when the Dow is rocketing through 14,000, Europe looks stable  and the Chinese are content with making cheap goods instead of hemispheric domination BUT, I do think there's more to incivility than a rising stock market.  I was not alone.  Another reader of the Marginal Prophet sent him this response, which he published the next day:

I think your date of October 27, 2007, pinpointing when our society became sopolarized, was the tipping point.  However, it took two decades to build to thatpoint, and I give equal, if not greater weight, to the following dates: (1) July 1, 1987, when Ted Kennedy took to the floor of the US Senate and trashedRobert Bork, who just minutes earlier was nominated for the Supreme Court by RonaldReagan.  Kennedy knew his tirade was BS, as did his fellow Democrats, but they stuckto that story and forever changed the "process" to nominate and approve SupremeCourt justices.  Facts and truth no longer matter to the process, just innuendo andsmears. (2) December 19, 1998, the day the U.S. House of Representatives impeached BillClinton.  Although Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction ofjustice, it will be forever linked in the public mind that he was railroaded over aprivate encounter. (3) November 8, 2000, the day George W. Bush was elected president, and it wascontested by Al Gore. To me, the contested Florida recount in Bush/Gore marks the turning point for whenthe America I knew ended.  Before that election, the supporters of the losing sidealways threw their support behind the presidency (not necessarily the man), nomatter how nasty or brutish the campaign.  They may have preferred a differentoutcome, but there was still some respect for the office.  After Florida, theliberals/progressives never accepted Bush as "legitimate'" and set out to destroyhim personally, and did great damage to the office of the presidency in the process.The Republicans have returned the favor with Obama.

An interesting counterpoint and I don't disagree with the dates.  I would add that what happened to Robert Bork was repeated with Clarence Thomas and others.   We have reached the point in the selection process of Supreme Court nominees that it's best to put ups someone that is plain vanilla with no track record than to nominate a serious juris doctor.  Nevertheless, I submit there are dates even further back that began the journey to the hanging chads of Florida.  Allow me to posit a few:

1. May 4, 1970: The Kent State Shootings.  The Ohio National Guard fired 67 live rounds into a crowd of students killing four American citizens.  Sure, there had been rioting in the town, a lot of threats had been issued about burning down the ROTC building and the like - but you DON'T fire on your own citizens!  This galvanized the anti-Vietnam war movement and gave them moral superiority.  The backlash was taken out on American GI's returning from the war.  It was inexcusable, but I submit,  it was the beginning of our polarization.

2. December 13, 1974: North Vietnam resumed combat with South Vietnam ignoring the Paris Peace Accords.  President Gerald Ford asked the Democrat controlled Congress for funds to support the South Vietnamese and they refused.  This ultimately led to the fall of Saigon and the humiliating American exit from Southeast Asia. Democrats became linked forever to weak defense;  the military - an institution which reports to the civilian government - would never fully trust Washington again.

3. April 19, 1993: Attack on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.  OK, David Koresh was a certifiably kooky and creepy religious nut with a lot of guns.  (This country was founded by religious nuts with guns.) But what gave Bill Clinton and Janet Reno the right to use tanks - TANKS! - against a bunch of American citizens...well, some 20 odd were Brits - but overall 76 people were incinerated.  For what? Because they thought Koresh was the new messiah?  By that logic, the Justice Department should have attacked the Democrat Convention in Denver when they nominated the current occupier of the White House.  This attack, along with other suspect incursions by an over-zealous DoJ like Ruby Ridge, led to a growing paranoia on the Right.  As soon as the White House changed hands, the paranoia shifted to the Left.  Regardless, if we can't feel that we can trust our government, we will come apart at the seams.

4. March 21, 2010: Passage of Obamacare.  This single act of partisanship - ramming an unpopular piece of legislation down the throats of the American people with barely a nominal majority is probably the most divisive act of the last thirty years and it will take many years to undo and overcome.  "We'll have to pass the bill to see what's in it." Will go down as the most irresponsible act of (non) governance in the history of the Republic.  Brute force has become the standard of governance.

If you have any suggested dates, pass them along for consideration!

Rumble on!

Required Rumbler Reading

Haven't done an R Cubed column in a bit, but over Thanksgiving I worked through my "Read it Later List" and thought I would share a few gems with you.

1. Should the Rich Be Condemned? I grow weary of Obama's constant class warfare and the idiocy it has spawned in the streets. But Walter Williams nails it in this piece. "Class warfare thrives on ignorance of the sources of income," Williams observes.  Sadly, ignorance begets tyranny.  I can't think of any demagogue from Huey Long to Adolf Hitler that hasn't used the meme that "someone else is getting theirs unfairly" that has improved the situation.  The usual outcome is pretty grim.

2. U.S. Job Market Looking More Like Europe's:  This Wall Street Journal piece takes a hard look at the results of Obanomics and what it has done to the core job numbers.  It is a sobering prediction that if we don't change the regulatory environment and get the American economy focused on growth instead of "fairness," we're all screwed.

3. Speaking of the rich...what if we took EVERYTHING they had?  Bill Whittle did a short video on this that is highly instructive - I shared this before, but it really is worth another look:

4. FATCA: A Ticking Time Bomb for the Economy:  Is that intro missing a "T" at the end?  I had not heard about this, but it actually stands for "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act," bred from the FBAR. No, my military veteran friends not "F***** Up Beyond All Repair,"  FBAR is actually the "Foreign Bank Accounting Report.  FATCA gives IRS the authority to find out the bank balances of U.S. citizens living abroad and to require the institutions holding those funds to report the information. This is truly scary stuff and will result in a complete abandonment of US financial markets by foreign investors.

5. Thomas Jefferson's Free Market Economics: as a student of the history of Mr. Jefferson, I was well aware of his love for Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations."  This short piece pushed Jefferson squarely into the economic libertarian camp.  It might be a bit of an overstatement - just as when Jefferson said "the tree of liberty must from time to time be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants."  He didn't really mean there needed to be regular violent revolution...it was a calculated overstatement to drive home the point that liberty requires vigilance.  This is a good piece, nevertheless, worth the read!

That's enough for now...

Rumble on!

Jobs (and not the Steve kind)

Ramirez's sentiment over at Investor's Business Daily really nails it.  Liberals in Washington (and all over the fruited plain) are lambasting the same corporations that their allies in the OWS movement vilify for not creating jobs. The OWSers lament, through their wafts of body odor,  that it is the corporations that are ruining America.  You mean the oil companies that can't drill?  Or perhaps you mean the food and beverage companies that are being regulated out of existence?  Maybe you mean the tobacco companies that can no longer advertise?  Perhaps you are talking about the evil pharmaceutical companies that can't get FDA approval for the product they spent billions of research dollars on?  Wait, wait, you must be speaking of the horrifying financial services companies that can no longer lend thanks to the shackles of the Dodd-Frank Bill?

As we have discussed on these pages before, some regulation is necessary to maintain order in the system.  But once the government has gotten in the business of picking winners and losers in the free market, we are finished.  How about a Solyndra powered Chevy Volt with a battery that catches fire and burns all the shareholders' interests (except the ones that contributed to the Obama campaign)?

Leaves one pining for a little blues - how about Joe Cocker's "Unchain my Heart?"

Rumble on!

How's That "Reset" Thingie Workin' For Ya?

Remember the famous Hillary "reset" button:

Of course the idiots didn't check their Russian-English dictionary wherein they would have learned that "peregruzka" actually means "overcharged."  But let's not get in the way of symbolism.  Back in those heady days when the oceans were going to recede and peace would be heralded throughout the world with vuvuzelas at the very image of our gifted young God  President...oh how the mighty have fallen.

Take a look at this Russian newscasters quite public opinion of Msr. Obama:



Man if the Russian media doesn't feel the love, you know you have fallen to a new low!

Just checking...

Yup - still resembling that famous Ross Perot line about giant sounds.

Rumble on!

Just In Time for Black Friday!

Don't go to the Mall!  You can get all you need for your loved ones at the "Gifts for Conservatives" e-store!  Get your special loved one that Ronald Reagan "Miss Me Yet?" T-Shirt.  How about Mark Levin's latest book on the evolution of modern America?  It's all here and we will be adding products daily!

Click on the image to go to the store.

Benetton Gets in Right

Are they sure this is photo-shopped?

From the Occu-Cootie Front

Meanwhile, the RAPES pile up.  Head and body LICE are popping up. Theft is rampant.  There have been at least two deaths reported from drug overdoses.  Millions of dollars in damages and police overtime costs are being borne by the communities where these idiots are camping out...and best of all, most still have no idea why they are there...



The Chicago Board of Trade dealers are at least doing something about it - they dumped McDonald's applications at Occupy Chicago.

Rumble on!

Our Pious Pompous Congressman Cooper

Oops!  Mr. Dudley Do-Right, Mr. "Blue-Dog Democrat," (but voted FOR Obamacare AND for Cap and  Trade AND for anything else Ms. Pelosi ran up when she were in power) done got caught.  Jim Cooper likes to present himself as a cerebral even-handed policy wonk.  He is none of the above.  He is just like the rest of the ruling class that enjoy the benefits of the good life in Washington.  In this instance, he has not been caught with his hand in the taxpayer cookie jar, but rather proving himself to be the beneficiary of the largess of folks interested in his vote.  According to the always reliable Tennessean (cough cough), Msr. Cooper was numero uno in the Congress for taking trips on someone else's nickel.  I don't resent anyone traveling to learn about a particular problem, show the flag et al.  I do resent boondoggles and blatant transfers of funds that can't count as "campaign contributions."  Let's take a look at one particular trip.

Mr. Cooper travelled to Barcelona, Spain, we are told - and mind you, the Tennessean has made it official policy to defend this gentleman, cost $18,487.  Now I have travelled to a lot of places in the world and stayed in some pretty superlative hotels...I couldn't figure out how to spend money like that.  But some exploration is warranted.  The trip was for Mr. Cooper to speak on "policy changes in the Muslim world."  Hmm, OK. he represents the 5th District of Tennessee - makes sense that he would be an expert on Muslim affairs...  Well, let's go to Barcelona!

First we have to fly there...

Looks like $2,500 ought to cover a round trip from here to Barcelona.

Let's assume we are going to stay there a week and we HAVE to stay in a 5-star hotel.  A quick search of Zagat's get's us this:

Nothing like the Gran Hotel La Florida overlooking the city.  They're quoting $216.27 a night, but I want the Congressional Special - let's assume $350 per day - for six nights, that would be $2100.  We are up to $4,600.  But of course we have to eat!

Let's assume we are going to eat at a 5-star restaurant for six suppers...a little investigation reveals this jewel:

This is "Alikimia," pretty hot spot.  If I total up the top prices for the "starters," "main courses" and "desserts," we get in Euros - 30+33+10 or 73Euros - throw in another 20 for drinks and tips and you get to 93 Euro.  That translates into about $115 per meal.  Heck, let's eat there for lunch too and we get six dinners and seven lunches: $1,495...we're now up to $6,095.

Jeez - let's thrown in some limos and breakfast above and beyond what the posh hotel offers...another $3,000.  I am only up to HALF of what he was paid.  Where did the money go?  I'll wait...

Friends, an awful lot of Congressmen go up to DC from humble to middle class backgrounds and yet, they return multi-millionaires.  This is just one teensy example of how corrupt the political class has become.  The useful idiots at Occupy Wall Street ought to understand that they are camping out in the wrong town.

Rumble on!

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!