Brick Oven

Education Chart

2010-12-22T06:34:00.001-08:00

2-3-4-5

2010-07-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

The number ‘2’, Pythagoras understood, denoted a Dyad = line = 2 dimensions = diversity = the number of excess and defect. The first feminine number.

The number ‘3’ denoted Triad = plane = a restoration of harmony. The second masculine number.
…

Those who would rule Us seek Two Classes of human beings. The first being Them, and the second being Us.

The Founders established Three Classes of human beings. The first being men actively participating in the economy (voters), the second being men passively participating in the economy, and women (free non-voters), and the third being slaves.
…

A structure with two supports is unstable. Consider humans, who require millions of years of evolutionary development, as well as constant energy input, to stand upright. Consider also a bicycle rider who, without forward momentum, tips over.

A chair with three legs is solid. Each of the three legs makes full contact with the floor, regardless of imperfections of the carpenter. In contrast, the carpenter must be without flaw if each of the legs of a four-legged chair is to make full contact with the floor. Nobody would buy a chair that had only two legs.
…

George Orwell teaches us through Emmanuel Goldstein:

Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic Age, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle, and the Low. They have been subdivided in many ways, they have borne countless different names, and their relative numbers, as well as their attitude towards one another, have varied from age to age: but the essential structure of society has never altered. Even after enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will always return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way or the other.

The aims of these groups are entirely irreconcilable.

…
In Orwell’s 1984, the Outer and Inner Party consisted of 15% of the population. The Number 3 times the Number 5 equals fifteen. A 3-4-5 triangle demonstrates the Pythagoran Theorem. Fifteen is also the rough percentage of Americans who were politically empowered at the Founding.

Religion.

2010-04-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

Silenced for this. Quote:

Global Warming Theory is simple.

1. There are increasing percentages of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere (0.028% and rising). This much is observable, and true.
2. These increasing percentages of Carbon Dioxide were the cause of the temperature rise we observed in the 1980s and 1990s. This much is speculation.

And some person came up with a hockey puck and a theory. Here is where the Mathematics become slightly more complex, but a reasonable person is not in need of a computer to comprehend them.

1. The observable rise in Carbon Dioxide levels is roughly a linear function, or a rate.
2. The theoretical rise in temperatures would be an acceleration, as rising levels of Carbon Dioxide would increasingly insulate the earth.

As temperatures peaked around ten years ago, and temperatures are trending down, Global Warming Theory has been shaken to its roots, if not completely disproven.

Do not forget that Generations Investment, LLP (Limited Liability Partnership), was founded by Al Gore, in partnership with David Blood, Goldman Sachs.

Teabaggers are not easily led.

Endquote.

And now I may no longer contribute, not even about pizza. This is the modern Left.

Banished Again

2010-01-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

For this:

Here, Matt Stoller, reportedly a funder of Left-wing blogs, orders Kung Fu Quip . to ‘stay classy’. Where have we heard this phrase before? Matt also uses the word ‘teh’, which I have yet to figure out.

After getting punched, Matt seems to have gone to his dad:

"My family is freaked out and upset."

Matt went to Harvard.

It is not cool to shove a curling iron up anyone’s butt. But the curling iron comment came about because Coakley let a guy out on with zero bail, who did actually shove a curling iron up someone’s butt, in this case a twenty three month old girl.

So the curling iron may be more a matter of substance, than classiness.

John, you want no part of this guy Matt.

Banished for This

2009-12-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

During a 'liberal' debate mocking Creationism...

I am by no means a ‘white supremacist’ SGEW. There has been 30,000 years of evolutionary energy that has gone into each and every one of us. We are simply optimized for the environment in which we evolved. If you deny this than you are the same as a Creationist.

Note that the ‘supreme’ NFL defensive linemen evolved in an environment in which bodily strength would have had the highest value in gene propagation.

Orientals have higher IQ scores than Europeans. Check out who is winning spelling bees these days. But Europeans have beer.

The seven dehydrogenase enzymes most surely evolved in man in the European-Western Asian environment. An effective food storage process for the winter was to convert the starches from grains into alcohol. This alcohol combated the bacteria that otherwise would spoil food, providing calories (sustaining energy) in the winter.

Thus beer was liquid bread in man’s struggle for survival, in some environments.

I have worked on Indian reservations and there is truth that there is a problem with alcoholism in these populations. This is likely rooted in lesser evolutionary development of the seven dehydrogenase enzymes during the formative years of man in North America.

“If the variants of these genes encode slower metabolizing forms of ADH2 and ADH3, there is increased risk of alcoholism.”

Pizza!

2009-12-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

Winter 2009

2009-12-16T11:27:00.000-08:00

The well has thawed and I am clean. The car is fixed. The driveway is now passable. The water-reserves have been replenished. Now it is just kind of peaceful.

Tomorrow is a day off and I think I’ll make pizza.

It Is Really Cold

2009-12-09T21:36:00.000-08:00

It is minus 8 degrees F at the present time. This is not an exaggeration. Note the improvised extension cord from the house to my well. Those are Christmas lights finalizing the connection between the electrical grid and a 75W light lit in the excavation for the well system’s tank, to prevent it from freezing and blowing out.

It has not been this cold in my memory. Currently, the house’s water system is frozen, and I am unshowered. I am trying to keep my water system from exploding.

Yesterday, my car died because of snow stuffing the engine compartment, blowing out the alternator’s drive belt.

Food Insecurity

2009-11-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

Reportedly, 50 million or so people don’t get enough food. I recommend that they buy potatoes. Here are twenty-seven potatoes that I just purchased for 99 cents. At 110 calories per potato, this works out to around 3000 calories, or a day and a half worth of food.

Behold five potatoes being boiled:

Now mash them, mash those potatoes:

It Would Sure Be Nice If That Carbon Dioxide Was to Kick In Soon

2009-11-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

In the meantime, there is nothing like a warm fire.

NCM2

2009-11-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

The Globe reports that Barack Obama went to a hissy fit with his staff, and caused Michelle to cry. Barack reported yelled ‘they hate me’. The Globe attributes this to:

The Olympics;
Criticism over his Nobel Prize; and
Glenn Beck.

While the Globe does not have the gravitas of the Financial Times, and this screaming fit cannot be independently confirmed, the account does seem credible. If this was in fact true, this event is assigned ‘NCM2’, or the second Nicholas Cage moment.

NCMs are similar to tremors before an earthquake. NCM1 occurred when Barack yelled ‘Enough!’ at the press when they were asking him uncomfortable questions just as McCain had taken the lead in the polls last September.

Brick Oven’s theory is that the power structure noted this loss of discipline as well, and shortly thereafter removed $500 billion from the money markets, allowed Lehman to fail, and crashed the economy. This put in place Barack, Geithner, and the Goldman Sachs team in the Treasury.

Hedge Funds are not required to disclose their short positions. Soros made a lot of money during the crash. Dots. Connect. The.

NCMs are precursors to JNMs, or Jack Nicholson Moments, which refer to the movie, ‘The Shining’, with Jack running around with an axe yelling and screaming. We have previously predicted that Obama will go after Axlerod and Emmanuel as a part of this JNM, as Reverend Wright is anti-Semitic, and this is probably where Obama’s emotions lie as well.

Sorry Sheila

2009-10-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

I take back the bad things I have said about Sheila Bair.

But after [Geithner] completed his testimony, significant parts of the plan were challenged by Sheila C. Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. She raised numerous objections about the structure of a proposed council of regulators, and said that it would fall short of its goal of protecting the system from the shock of a large failure.

“The oversight council described in the proposal currently lacks sufficient authority to effectively address systemic risks,” Ms. Bair said.

Returning to the above August post, Sheila was warning about certain unnamed investors shorting the market, this was right before the withdrawal of $500 billion from the money markets, and the general crash in September.

Hedge funds are not currently required to disclose their short positions, which should be made criminal, as concentrated wealth can destroy value, and make a profit. See George Soros.

Is Sheila on to these guys?

This is why it is usually good to have someone from Kansas around, even if she probably can’t cook well.

Health Care Reform

2009-10-28T03:42:00.000-07:00

USA Today: "I fear that reparations would be an excuse for some to say we've paid our debt and then avoid the much harder work."
-Barack Obama, 2004

Plato had four Understandings, here is #4: Mathematics is thought, and therefore is eternal, and can be known by all.

We understand that the median black working family earns 60% of the income of the median white working family.

We understand that there is a progressive tax system and 47% of working Americans pay no income tax.

We know that the government reports one hundred and eighty million Americans who are not workers, although they do not break this number down by race, in the manner that the government breaks unemployment rates and most other social statistics down by race. But we have seen images of New Orleans, and Detroit. The picture above was snapped of a new Somali immigrant in Maine.

Here is a picture of a Somali family sitting in a park on a Tuesday afternoon, there are lots of these families, wandering around, viewable by all:

Here, we observe a Somali going in for existing health care services at the fancy new government building, the nicest building in town:

Therefore, I conclude that the single payer health care plan is a racist scheme, devised by a man with a chip on his shoulder, whose family was never enslaved. Which kind of pisses me off personally, as my family never owned slaves, and all I am trying to do is earn a living.

Do Not Make This Observation

2009-10-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

After much thought, I believe that the typical gay person has elevated levels of testosterone. This would explain Hilter’s SA, the behavior of the Castro gangs, and the fact that the only group willing to stand up to Ahmedinejad at Columbia was the gay movement.

This is not an insult, just an observation. There is nothing wrong with elevated levels of testosterone.

But gays should stay away from the marriage issue. Just enjoy the physical release and the absence of the need to deal with a woman’s crap in order to achieve it.

Some friendly advice meant to maintain harmony in our communities.

A Prediction

2009-10-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

"If we get a Jew person, then what I'm wondering is, I mean, what is this movement for, you know? Does it have anything to do with the failed peace talks ... So I think we need to be very suspicious of any kind of partnerships between the Jews at that kind of level because we know that their interest primarily has to do with money and these kind of things."

-Lee Alcorn, Dallas NAACP President, on Joe Lieberman

“The Jew is using The Black as muscle against you.”

-The Illinois Nazis

Obama was told ‘no’ for the first time in his life in Copenhagen. His plan to revive the economy does not make sense. And the spending will continue to weaken the dollar, causing inflation and hardship.

It is clear to me that Obama is not his own man. But he nonetheless holds the office, and the power Constitutionally belongs to him. My prediction is that as things continue to deteriorate, the President will become increasingly agitated, exercise the power of the Office of the President as an independent man, and lash out against his Jewish advisors, Goldman Sachs, and Israel.

My New Song

2009-10-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

mmm mmm mm, Brick Oven Bill
mmm mmm mm, Brick Oven Bill

The Founding Fathers got it right
Glenn Beck guides us back towards light.

Mmm mmm mm, Brick Oven Bill

Equal outcomes are not OK
equal smarts for equal pay.

Mmm mmm mm, Brick Oven Bill

Beer tastes best not from a can
he can bake great pizza man.

Mmm mmm mm, Brick Oven Bill

Nothing wrong with girls of girth
just prove to them his place of birth.

Mmm mmm mm, Brick Oven Bill

Mmm mmm mm, Brick Oven Bill

On Patriarchal Governance

2009-10-01T06:25:00.001-07:00

Here is Thomas Jefferson on the Native American model of governance:

“There is an error into which most of the speculators on government have fallen, and which the well-known state of society of our Indians ought, before now, to have corrected. In their hypothesis of the origin of government, they suppose it to have commenced in the patriarchal or monarchical form.”

Here is the Obama song by the Harvard-educated woman who also wrote the book ‘I Am Barack Obama’.

He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm mmm mm Barack Hussein Obama (repeat multiple times)

The key to understanding modern sociology is to consider the importance of metal to the evolution and development of men. As Thomas Jefferson explains in this remarkable letter, gunpowder knocked bodily strength from the top of the Natural Aristocracy of Men pyramid, replacing bodily strength with:

1. Virtue; and
2. Talents

Thousands of years before the advent of missile death by gunpowder, metals reduced to a lesser extent the importance of bodily strength in some, but not all societies.

The reason Native Americans hypothesized a patriarchal or monarchical form of government is because bodily strength remained #1 in the absence of metal or gunpowder. Jefferson seemingly did not consider this in his analysis.

Introducing the BOL Principle

2009-09-21T04:50:00.000-07:00

The Brick Oven Law, AKA ‘BOL Principle’, is applicable to discussions involving publically-funded agencies, universities receiving government funds, Believing university graduates, or either of the two main political parties.

As a discussion on the subject of sociology or public policy progresses, should the sciences of biology or evolutionary theory be honestly introduced, the odds of the person introducing said sciences being banished from the discussion approaches inevitability, if within the power of the discussion moderator.

Copyright 2009.

Banished Again, Sigh

2009-09-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

On the topic of racial friction and potential violence, brought up on a Progressive web-site, this comment was presented:

Race-based violence is not white in nature, although everybody likes to blame them for it. It is probably Reagan’s fault for granting amnesty in these people’s minds.

Gangs are essentially the units of force used to project power in non-metallic founded societies. In metal based societies, the units used to project force have historically been organized military units answering to accountable leaders. Race-based power projection is readily seen in inner cities for those with the strength to look.

If you look at government gang statistics, 48% of gangs are black, 43% are Hispanic, and 9% are either Asian or white, although the government does not break this number down between these two races.

My guess is the majority of this 9% is Asian, for an example see the movie Grand Torino. Whites typically only resort to gang behavior when confronted with other race-based gangs. Excellent examples of this are the California prison system and St. Louis school buses.

Attorney General Eric Holder has accused this country of being too cowardly to have an honest discussion on race. This cowardice is part of the Progressive Movement. There is nothing hateful or wrong in my comment. It is honest and accurate.

Race, Income, and Academic Scoring Gaps

2009-08-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

2008 SAT Data: Income; White Score; Black Score; Gap

<$20,000; 978; 798; 180
$20k-$40k; 995; 836; 159
$40k-$60k; 1017; 864; 153
$60k-$80k; 1032; 889; 143
$80k-$100k; 1052; 908; 144
$100k-$120k; 1066; 922; 144
$120k-$140k; 1073; 926; 147
$140k-$160k; 1087; 942; 145
$160k-$200k; 1091; 943; 148
>$200,000k; 1130; 981; 149

Source: College Board via The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education

Cultural bias is blamed for large and growing racial gap on Advanced Placement math test scores.

More Pizza

2009-08-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

2009-08-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

So I say to myself, self, the old job just ain’t there no more, and it ain’t comin’ back so you better figure out some way to pay for your kids, short of becoming some whore taking a paycheck from a college or government.

And the natural answer is pizza. Or oil shale, but that comes after a big fight straightens the gyroscope.

This I have been working on for years, and I share this evening’s best ever with the Internet:

500g/300g flour/water; 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 tbsp melted butter; 1 tbsp sugar; 1 tbsp Sams Club Yeast (accept no substitutes)
---
6” pie pan
---
1.5 cups crushed tomatoes
3/4 oz basil by volume
1 oz oregano by volume
1 oz crushed garlic by volume
¼ cup olive oil
---
3 oz pepperoni
8 oz cheese
---
Bottom Crust: 225 g dough
Top crust: 125 g dough
---
Pepperoni then cheese then 2/3 sauce; then top crust; then the rest of the sauce.

20 minutes at 550F. Excellent.

America’s soon to be best pizza revealed. This particular recipe is a little too spicy for me, but hey. Cut down on the basil and oregano. This is really good pizza.

Larry the Lizard

2009-07-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Just after three gulps of beer.

Ten minutes later, lounging on a rock.

More Patio Pictures

2009-07-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

Music.

Fireworks!

My New Flag

2009-07-12T18:30:00.001-07:00

That star spangled banner yet wave…

Sunrise

2009-06-09T05:42:00.000-07:00

Electric Storm

2009-06-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

Western Sunrise

2009-06-06T06:25:00.000-07:00

Global Warming Update

2009-05-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

As carbon dioxide makes up 0.028% of the earth’s atmosphere, 95% of carbon dioxide is generated by sources other than man, and at most we might be able to decrease our generation of this gas by perhaps 5%, all of this man-made Global Warming is about 0.00007% of the earth’s atmosphere.

I could tell that the heating of the earth is now accelerating, in accordance with Global Warming theory, as I drove through a snow storm yesterday. Wait, do you mean that the data actually shows that the earth is cooling? OK, let’s call it ‘Climate Change’. Or better yet:

CLIMATE CHAOS. I would like my grant money now please.

Set PPI = $1.53

2009-04-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

5 lb Part Skim Mozzarella: $9.03 (a)
102 oz tomatoes: $2.63 (b)
25 lb flour: $9.78 (c)
720 Slice of Pepperoni: $8.32 (d)

Enter the PPI equation:

PPI = $0.01 + (a)/10 + ((b)/24)(2) + (c)/50 + (d)/40; or

PPI = $0.01 + $0.90 + $0.22 + $0.20 + $0.21; thus

Set PPI = $1.53, up from $1.52.

This is an all-time high since the PPI was established, but still lower than it was last summer. This data does not support the reports that prices dropped in March. In fact, it indicates the opposite. History:

07FEB: $1.52
13FEB: $1.47
02MAR: $1.45
14APR: $1.52

Set PPI = $1.52

2009-04-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

5 lb Part Skim Mozzarella: $8.86 (a)
102 oz tomatoes: $2.63 (b)
25 lb flour: $9.78 (c)
720 Slice of Pepperoni: $8.32 (d)

Enter the PPI equation:

PPI = $0.01 + (a)/10 + ((b)/24)(2) + (c)/50 + (d)/40; or

PPI = $0.01 + $0.89 + $0.22 + $0.20 + $0.21; thus

Set PPI = $1.52, up from $1.45.

The PPI has returned to the level it was at when tracking first began, and is up 5% in a little over a month. History:

07FEB: $1.52
13FEB: $1.47
02MAR: $1.45

How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away?

2009-03-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

Submitted for the record: The Obama Scan Index (OSI) hit an all time high of 23 today as he talked about the banks. This means that he could be either nervous or angry. I don’t think that anybody has told the President that Geithner oversaw AIG for years.

Re: Nobody here supervised AIG, uhh, except for, uh, my choice for Treasury Secretary, standing to my right.
…

In other news:

New World Order. Check.
NAFTA Superhighway. Check.
Gun Control. Check.
Igor Panarin. Check.
Universal Volunteers. Check.
Immigrants Taking Jobs. Check.
Birth Certificate. Check.
Ron Paul. Check.
Federal Reserve. Check.
Establish Neighborhood Watch in Coordination with Local Officials after Economic Collapse. Check.
Don’t Tread on Me flag. Check.

Guidelines obtained from Homeland Security? Because I express political opinions, and honor the principles of the Founding, I am an ‘Extremist’?

What?

Think Globally, Act Locally

2009-03-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

Brick Oven has been my evening therapy for going on two years now. I have gotten a lot out of writing these nightly posts. They allow me to organize my thoughts, compel me to research things which I would otherwise not research, and interact with a small, but very sharp group of people who correct me when I am wrong.

And if I ever do write that book, we have developed a pretty good chronology of the crooks who have brought us to this point.

I have recently been drawn to local interactions, loosely aligned with Glenn Beck’s initiative, and, for now, this is where my focus lies. I recommend Meetup.com for those who want to get involved. For $72/6 months, you can set up your own meeting group, and preach away. People sign up and listen, they even show up to your house I hear. So I am shifting away from my think globally phase to my act locally phase.

I will still sign back in to document what I think is worthy to record, but my nightly rants will be posted elsewhere. I truly am thankful to those who have chosen to contribute to the content of Brick Oven. Keep checking back periodically for the calling all cars post. If we get there, it will come.

I will not provide an electronic link to my new forum, because I want to leave Brick Oven up, and because of the current PC climate. If anyone wants to hear me blather away on a regular basis, you should be able to find me.

Twenty Year Olds

2009-03-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

I came across two 20-year old males today. The family went to see one fly into town this afternoon. His plane was an hour late and we milled around with his family and probably seventy other people. As word that his plane landed came, we all formed two lines, and people raised their flags. I didn’t bring a flag, just a thank you note and a small gift.

Someone said, ‘there he is’, and there he was in dress uniform, at the top of the escalator. As he came down, the airport erupted with applause. He seemed taken aback and awkwardly clapped along. Then he was received by his family. His uniform was inspection ready, he had perfect posture, and he was a very powerful man. He was seriously injured and had spent the last nine months in the hospital.

As I gave him our letter, I noticed a very new tattoo on his neck, which seemed odd for such a clean-cut man. I do not know what this was for but suspect that it was a memorial. His eyes were blue and appeared dilated. He had the thousand yard stare, and told me thank you in a very professional voice.

The other one has adopted a feminine voice and is giggling with some girls behind me.

Glenn Beck

2009-03-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

I went to a Glenn Beck gathering tonight, and highly recommend being a part of the effort. There was a probably 1000 s.f. room set aside from the bar, and it filled up. They moved us into the concert hall next door. I met a contractor, a Marine, a retired Marine, and some other guys who I don’t know what they do. There was a cross-section of young and old.

There were probably 50% women, which surprised me. Many of them were attractive, which is a good sign for any political movement. I thought Glenn’s show was OK, but many there were very taken by it. I am now part of a large email group, which I am looking forward to working with, educating, and expanding.

Chuck Norris’ wife brought up walking on Washington, which was dumb. But I do think that Glenn’s strategy is very good. He wrapped himself in the military. The military’s code of honor is very similar to Glenn’s manifesto. The other thing Glenn accomplished tonight is that the government can no longer silence him, without a revolt.

Well done Glenn Beck.

Banned Again, Sigh

2009-03-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

A blog that I enjoy had a new posting titled “The Dumbest Man In America Is Glenn Beck”. The link then mocked Glenn Beck for pointing out that people become disenfranchised when they are not allowed to speak freely because of the constraints of ‘Political Correctness’.

I also enjoy Glenn Beck and decided to defend him by posting this:

I submit for the record that I believe that equal amounts of evolutionary energy have gone into each and every person on this planet. But I believe that the environment in which people’s ancestors evolved helped shape their physical traits and cognitive abilities.

This is why kickers’ ancestors come from a part of the world where reflection helped (organized agriculture), while wide receivers’ ancestors come from a part of the world where speed and sensation helped (hunter-gatherer). This is my belief and it runs counter to the dogma of higher education.

Hilzoy banished me for saying ‘Monkey Butler’, but I really believe she banished me not because I said ‘Monkey Butler’, but because of my willingness to state my belief that the Almighty Creator did not Wave His Mighty Wand and Create All of Us with Identical Plastic Brains upon which Cultures Make Marks. This is the no-kidding higher education theory.

Fortunately, I am confident enough in myself and my belief systems to take the hits and not wig out. I just sit here watching the world go round and round. Glenn Beck can speak articulately without a teleprompter, so I think he is not the dumbest.

I will be granted posting priviledges again in a week, so I've got that going for me.

Introducing the Obama Scan Index (OSI)

2009-03-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

The OSI is introduced to help track of the mood of the President. As he does not appear to be voicing his own words, the OSI may be a valuable metric to determine if he is happy, angry, excited, or sad. Should any government agency deem this to be worthy of stimulus funding, feel free to contact us by leaving a comment below.

The OSI is determined by counting the number of teleprompter shifts (‘teleshifts’), between teleprompters, by a speaker. The index is unitless, and determined by the number of teleshifts in one minute. The OSI shall not consider time expended during applause. This time can be disposed of as deemed appropriate by the analyst.

This is an OSI analysis of today’s talk at the Defense University

Minute 1:30 is not included as it is fractional: 11
1:31; 17
1:32; 14
1:33; 15
1:34; 16
1:35; 15
1:36; 13A*
1:37; 16
1:38; 20
1:39; 17
Minute 1:40 is not included as it is fractional: 12

* ‘A’ denotes applause

Analysis: Minute 1:36 is ignored as the length of the applause length is unknown. OSI averaged 16.25, with a standard deviation of:

((0.75 + 2.25 + 1.25 + 0.25 + 1.25 + 0.25 + 3.75 + 0.75)/8)^0.5 = 1.15

Observation: Obama appeared unemotional throughout the speech. He introduced a new term, the ‘Enlisted Civilian’, which was not explained, but could perhaps refer to his Universal Volunteer program.

He made reference to Lincoln embracing equality, and we have to call him on this, reference section 315 specifically and the document as a whole in general. We do not understand Obama’s obsession with Abraham Lincoln.

The White House

2009-03-12T05:25:00.001-07:00

Hey, Tim, Uhhhhhh, I know, uh, I know you are, pretty busy, uh, with none of your sixteen, uhhhhhh, helpers in, uh, place, but, uh, I’m going to need you to , uh, be at Room 138 at 1, uhh, because there is good news. I, uh, have appointed you, uhhhh, to be on the, uh White House Council on Women and Girls. Congratulations.
…

The White House web-site is 3 weeks out of date.

Gun Violence

2009-03-11T07:06:00.001-07:00

12 Shot in Alabama

15 Shot in Germany

508 Shot in Chicago

Two of these three made the news. The victims of the one that did not make the news were all schoolchildren. One schoolchild each day.

And Again

2009-03-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Mr. Geithner was a key decision maker last September when the government let Lehman Brothers fail and then, two days later, bailed out the insurer American International Group for $85 billion.

Those decisions proved cataclysmic. The markets and the economy have yet to recover from Lehman’s failure.

- 15DEC08 NY Times

Oops. Sorry George. My Bad.

More Conspiracy Theory

2009-03-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

Obama led in the polls all summer. Then, in mid-September McCain was surging and led the race for a solid week. Here is the Rasmussen data. The last day McCain held a lead was the 17th of September. From this point on Obama walked away with the election.

Let us look at what happened the week that McCain held the lead:

14SEP (McCain +3); Federal Reserve declines to bail out Lehman Brothers and they file for bankruptcy.

15 SEP (McCain +2); Stocks drop sharply.

15 SEP (McCain +2); Electronic run on the banks.

16SEP (McCain +1); AIG declares liquidity crisis.

17SEP (McCain +1); 18SEP (even); 19SEP (even); 20SEP (Obama +1); and it went from there.

This could all be a coincidence. Or it could be something else. The conspiracy theory side of me says that Philip Berg has a solid case, and that the President may be compromised. If this is the case, the Wall Street power structure would have had access to the Columbia Records that could sink the Presidency.

Did the Wall Street power structure use their influence to tank the economy, and get their bought and paid for man into the White House?

So we ask two questions:

(1) Who withdrew the $550 billion from the money markets on 15SEP? Was it a sovereign nation, an innocent bump in the system, or a group of individuals?

(2) Who is the TARP money flowing to and what is their relation to the answer to question 1, if any?

I do not know what to think of this theory, but would discount it out of hand if President Obama was willing to produce a physical birth certificate. I do note that Hillary is maintaining a very low profile these days. If they do have the goods on Obama, there will come a time when he is no longer useful.

Harvard Math

2009-03-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

The bracket taxable income for those in the 35% bracket is $733.3 billion. Here is the government data.

4.6% of $733.3 billion is only $33 billion.

We just spent $400 billion on Fannie-Freddie in the first six weeks of the year that Orszag testified in writing would probably cost us nothing. Raising the top marginal rate to 39.6% does not address anything. Ten years of this tax increase would not fund what they just spent, even assuming no Galt effect. It is just more deception from the Obama Administration.

Obama does not speak without a teleprompter any more. Who is writing his words? What is their agenda?

The Birth Certificate

2009-03-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

Why I Suspect the Birth Certificate May Be Fake

1. Caucasian was to Europe as Negro was to Africa in Hawaii 1961. The father’s race was ‘African’ on the suspect birth certificate. The term ‘Negro’ was replaced with ‘Colored’ in the early 1960s, which then became ‘Black’ in the late 1960s. ‘African’ became a race in the 1980s. It would be good for someone to do a search of Hawaiian public records from the era to check into this.

2. The Serial Number is blacked out and the certificate states that any alteration renders the document invalid.

3. There is no name of a hospital.

4. The defense is that some Hawaiian official has observed a certificate and deemed it valid. But this official did not describe what he observed.

5. The ‘Fight the Smears’ website defense is that ‘this is not about that piece of paper’. But, yes it is about that sheet of paper, because it is a Constitutional requirement.

6. Why are the Columbia records sealed?

7. Philip Berg makes a strong case here; and most damning of all

If the President was really born in Hawaii, he could produce the certificate and put this all behind him for $38. One theory being floated is that Obama is setting a trap to ensnarl Republicans, and then make them look bad. If this is the case, it is childish.

Americans deserve to know if their President is compromised and he has a responsibility to come clean on this, either way. Is this why Robert Rubin’s team (CITIbank) has taken over the Treasury?

Pizza Dough

2009-03-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

Pizza dough can be stored in the refrigerator. At the franchise where I learned many things, they considered 3-day old dough to be optimum. This picture was my lunch, which was very good, with 4-day old dough. This pizza cost less than a small order of french fries at McDonalds.

Testing

2009-03-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

ceramic apes like iced rodents

Judge James Robertson

2009-03-07T20:13:00.001-08:00

Judge James Robertson is apparently the President of Southern Africa Legal Services. This is a $7,190,692.00 (2007) non-profit corporation that operates on taxpayer money. They spent $234,520.00 in 2007 while their income was $1,320,794.00 . Here is their IRS 501 C3 paperwork (pdf).

The United States government likely provides some funding for the Judge’s corporation, although we were not able to determine individual funding sources from the IRS documents. Much of their income was from investments.

Judge James Robertson is the Judge that just threw out Berg’s law suit challenging Obama’s birth certificate. We question if the Judge’s role as the President of Southern Africa Legal Services has biased him on the issue, as our President has promised increased levels of international aid, which his corporation would possibly benefit from. We would like to know the process by which Judge Robertson was selected for this particular case.

Here is the AP write-up, which could have come out of the Soviet Union, in my opinion. The press never announces where these law suits are filed, only when they are dismissed. The whole article is presented:

A federal judge on Thursday threw out a lawsuit questioning President Barack Obama's citizenship, lambasting the case as a waste of the court's time and suggesting the plaintiff's attorney may have to compensate the president's lawyer.

In an argument popular on the Internet and taken seriously practically nowhere else, Obama's critics argue he is ineligible to be president because he is not a "natural-born citizen" as the Constitution requires.

In response last summer, Obama's campaign posted his Hawaiian birth certificate on its Web site. But the lawsuit argues it is a fake and that Obama was actually born in his father's homeland of Kenya, even though Hawaiian officials have said the document is authentic.

"This case, if it were allowed to proceed, would deserve mention in one of those books that seek to prove that the law is foolish or that America has too many lawyers with not enough to do," U.S. District Judge James Robertson said in his written opinion.

The lawsuit didn't even use Obama's legal name but called him "Barry Soetoro," the name he went by while attending elementary school in Indonesia. It's one of many that has been filed claiming Obama is ineligible to serve as president.

Robertson ordered plaintiff's attorney John Hemenway of Colorado Springs, Colo., to show why he hasn't violated court rules barring frivolous and harassing cases and shouldn't have to pay Obama's attorney, Bob Bauer, for his time arguing that the case should be thrown out.

If Obama was born in Hawaii, he would have presented a birth certificate and put this all behind him, in my opinion. It makes no sense to me that he would hide it from public review if his birth certificate was legitimate.

If the President is compromised, he would be subject to extreme levels of extortion. And as he is our Chief Executive, this means that we Citizens are possibly subject to extreme levels of extortion. The Judiciary should be ordering the President to produce a valid birth certificate. Instead the Judiciary, and the press, are sheltering him.

Am I Being Cased?

2009-03-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

There is a police car parked outside my house, it sat there for an hour, and I approached the officers and asked if there was a problem in the neighborhood. There were three men in the car, two with uniforms, the third with a North Face jacket.

They tell me it is nothing. So I ask them why they are here. The driver laughs and says they are watching a house. Their car is parked in a location where my house would be the logical one they would be watching. I ask them are you watching my house? And they say no, if we were watching your house we wouldn’t tell you. We all laughed.

And then they left. And now there is another black sedan parked behind a snow bank.

For the paranoid record, let me again restate that this is a blog that I am using to track events, as I see and experience them, which I intend to use to write a future book, when this phase of human history settles itself out.

I mean to incite nothing. If there are any offensive or inciteful posts or posts that are judged to be in violation of any rule or law, as interpreted by anyone, let me know and I will withdraw, and or clarify, said post. If I have left an inappropriate comment elsewhere, please let me know and I will petition the other host to remove said comment.

I really hope those policemen are watching someone else’s house.

A Trip to Sam's Club

2009-03-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

As the family worked its way into the shopping cart, two soldiers in camouflage walked in, and smiled at the kids. This made me feel very good.

These guys were sharp. I believe that the unworkable rules of engagement, and the prosecutions of soldiers for doing what soldiers are trained to do, is an attempt to break the morale of the military, because the power structure sees the military as the biggest threat to their agenda.

These pressures have not affected these two. They were standing tall, in stride, and smiling. I had intended to have the oldest say ‘thank you’ to them, but these guys were in and out before we could maneuver our gang to the middle of the store.

I purchased some pizza ingredients and we had family pizza night. It was very good.

Politics, My Car, and March Global Warming

2009-03-03T14:59:00.001-08:00

My first Presidential vote was for a Democrat, I attribute this to being very young and in college at the time. My second Presidential vote was for a Republican, I attribute this to being young and in the military at the time.

The branch of the military I was in was very rigid, and my reaction was to turn to music, and taking pride in my tie-dye tee shirt in the off-hours, bringing myself to the left.

Then I started my business, and found myself busting my butt, paying more dollars in taxes than Ted Kennedy did one year, bringing myself to the right. This cumulated with sending $25 to President Bush, and attending a stump speech.

Then, by 2007, I had become disillusioned, and built a brick oven, learned to grow potatoes, and joined some local groups. During the process I discovered that man, or at least me, is a political animal, and withdrawal is not a healthy option. This is when I started reading about the Founding.

Thus bringing myself to this point in my political travels, where I will align myself with Glenn Beck’s project. I will join a group and watch whatever he has to offer on Friday, March 13th.

Set PPI = $1.45

2009-03-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

5 lb Part Skim Mozzarella: $8.52 (a)
102 oz tomatoes: $2.43 (b)
25 lb flour: $9.78 (c)
720 Slice of Pepperoni: $7.76 (d)

Enter the PPI equation:

PPI = $0.01 + (a)/10 + ((b)/24)(2) + (c)/50 + (d)/40; or

PPI = $0.01 + $0.85 + $0.20 + $0.20 + $0.19; thus

Set PPI = $1.45, down from $1.47.

Brick Oven attributes this drop to our merciful President, and not to people putting less cheese on their macaroni. We have pledged to start graphing the PPI vs. time, but do not know how to pull this off at of the time of this post. We predict that our President’s mercy will run out in approximately twelve months, and the PPI will begin to rise.

?

2009-02-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

"I realize that passing this budget won't be easy," Obama said. "Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington."
...

"The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long, but I don't. I work for the American people," Obama said.

"I didn't come here to do the same thing we've been doing or to take small steps forward, I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November."

Part of me thinks he has no clue what he is talking about. This side of me is the side of me that is giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Images

2009-02-27T08:48:00.000-08:00

As the economy gets worse, and our government moves further and further from the principles of the Founders, this picture will become more relevant. It probably isn’t fair, but in the age of images, they can be your enemy too.

Late Winter

2009-02-25T07:51:00.000-08:00

The pine limb is a casualty of an ice storm. I will burn it in the spring. The ornament at the top of the stairway has absorbed solar energy and melted the snow that was touching it.

I had put out crackers for the squirrels yesterday, which were not eaten at the time. The crackers are now gone.

Adventures With Bill

2009-02-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning, alone. I hope I haven’t pissed her off too bad. She had cut out a coupon for a free sausage biscuit with the purchase of a large beverage at Tim Horton’s for me. It is on the table and I decide to use it.

I get to Tim Horton’s and can’t find the coupon that I had intended to use. So I buy a medium cup of coffee, and no food. But the idea of a morning sandwich is stuck in my head, and I know McDonald’s has a two Sausage McMuffins with Egg for $3 deal.

To the local McDonald’s. My mother used to sneak raw eggs into my morning milk-shakes, which I was informed of later, and there must be some neurological after effect that makes me like ‘folded’ eggs and not the standard eggs on the McDonalds McMuffin. So I ask for folded eggs on my two McMuffins. The man says that there are no substitutions on the two for three dollars deal.

I say, ‘thank you anyways’, and drive six mile to the next McDonalds, where they sell me two McMuffins for three dollars with folded eggs. These were very heavy and I wish that had only eaten the one sandwich at Tim Horton’s.

My Paper, by Peter Orszag

2009-02-23T19:59:00.000-08:00

Hello Mr. Congressman, I have come up with this paper. I am not allowed to give opinions on legislation, so read nothing into my estimate that the federal government can likely take over Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s financial obligations at no cost to the taxpayer. So here we go:

On July 14, 2008, the Administration released a proposal that would temporarily authorize the Department of the Treasury to purchase obligations and securities of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that deal with housing finance—the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the Federal Home Loan Banks.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that there is a significant chance—probably better than 50 percent—that the proposed new Treasury authority would not be used before it expired at the end of December 2009. If the proposal is enacted, private markets might be sufficiently reassured to provide the GSEs with adequate capital to continue operations without any infusion of funds from the Treasury; during that time, it is possible that expectations about the duration and depth of the housing market downturn may brighten. Under that scenario, the temporary authority would not be used and thus would involve no budgetary cost.

So, you see Mr. Congressman, a betting man says that having the taxpayer take over Freddie-Fannie’s financial obligations will have…… NO COST!

In CBO’s view, however, that scenario is far from the only possible result. Indeed, many analysts and traders believe that there is a significant likelihood that conditions in the housing and financial markets could deteriorate more than already reflected on the GSEs’ balance sheets, and such continuing problems would increase the probability that this new authority would have to be used. Taking into account the probability of various possible outcomes, CBO estimates that the expected value of the federal budgetary cost from enacting this proposal would be $25 billion over fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

$25 billion over two years isn’t that much, Mr. Congressman. Have a heart, people are losing their houses. OK, now here are my weasel-words:

CBO’s estimate reflects the current budgetary treatment and existing scorekeeping conventions for federal credit assistance and equity purchases and does not necessarily measure the underlying change in the federal government’s financial condition as a result of this legislation. On the one hand, the acquisition of financial assets like equities is recorded as an outlay in the budget even though such purchases may not change the government’s underlying financial condition. On the other hand, even if enacting this legislation would not result in outlays over the near term, it might effectively strengthen the linkages between the GSEs and the federal government and thereby increase the government’s underlying exposure to the risks associated with the GSEs’ activities.

The results of CBO’s analysis and its methodology are described in the attachment. In keeping with the agency’s mandate to provide impartial analysis, this report makes no recommendations.

I hope that you find the analysis useful. If you have any questions about it, please contact me at (202) 226-2700.

Sincerely,
Peter R. Orszag

p.s., just in case this thing costs $400 billion in the first six weeks of 2009, instead of the unlikely case of ‘up to $25 billion in two years’, don’t blame me, or even ask questions. Just promote me. Thanks- Pete
...

Peter Orszag was nominated by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the Senate to Head the Office of Management and Budget on the 22nd of January.

Nothing Good Can Come From This

2009-02-22T15:28:00.001-08:00

This one makes you wonder:

The Carroll National Guard unit will train on urban military missions by holding a four-day exercise at Arcadia.

The purpose of the April 2-5 drill will be to gather intelligence, then search for and apprehend a suspected weapons dealer, according to Sgt. Mike Kots, readiness NCO for Alpha Company.
…

Correct me if I am wrong, but there are lots and lots of fully legal weapons dealers. They operate in the open, last time I checked.

"One of the techniques we use in today's political environment is cordon and knock," Kots explained. "We ask for the head of the household, get permission to search, then have them open doors and cupboards. The homeowner maintains control. We peer over their shoulder, and the soldier uses the homeowner's body language and position to protect him."
…

I don't personally like the idea of armed soldiers coming into my home, and peering over my shoulder as I am directed to empty my belongings. This kind of seems like an 'unreasonable search', in the absense of a court order.

The unit will use a Blackhawk helicopter for overhead command and control, and to simulate medevacs.

The drill will culminate in the apprehension of the suspected arms dealer.

Giving this exercise the benefit of the doubt, the lessons learned will do this military unit absolutely no good in Dar al-Islam. Hopefully this is just a really bad Public Affairs Officer.

t/p: RivrDog

Economics Post

2009-02-21T22:28:00.000-08:00

As I am in a shitty mood, it is time for an economics post.

This is well-written paper about world economics. American politicians, and the electorate, are abusing the greatness that has been handed to them by previous generations. They are able to do this because people believe that ten dollars today will be worth ten dollars in six months, or at worst eight or nine dollars in six months. So Tim keeps printin' it and Barry keeps writin' checks.

This makes other nations angry with us, because we get to print money and create value without doing work as things currently stand, and they have to watch their dollar reserves shrink in value. So it is natural that other world political systems will move towards barter and alternative currencies. This is why Putin was pushing for an energy-based currency at Davos, which makes sense, as the paper explains.

It is clear to me that Putin sees President Obama and Geithner as children, or perhaps puppets of the New World Order types. Putin still hates the West for what we did to him in Afghanistan, and will take down our dollar without mercy, if given a chance. And I think he’ll get it.

So I am personally ready to offer up all of America’s lawyers and bankers as a tribute to Vladmir Putin.

Problems in the Caribbean?

2009-02-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

Guadeloupe, a French Possession, has problems. Six policemen have been injured on the small island in clashes with the population over food prices. A union boss has been shot dead. The airport is now shut down.

The mayor of Pointe-a-Pitre said gunfire rang out all night. "No one can go out onto the streets," Jacques Bangou told Europe 1 radio. "For the past 48 hours, the streets have been in the hands of groups of young people, completely out of control."

The friendly French muslim population back in Europe always seems to be looking for something to complain about. Sarkozy has recently released 2.65 billion Euros for new social programs in the mainland in an effort to prevent unrest from spreading to France.

Update: Problem policed as of yesterday. Four units of French Gendarmes have been flown in from Europe, and 33 protestors have been arrested.

Update #2: There were also bribes. Workers now get an additional $10/day from the French government, probably doubling their wages. Guadeloupe has an interesting history.

I Am Not a Coward

2009-02-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

I agree that we should have an honest discussion on race. I have the perspective of a man who has worked in both the US and a country in Central America. In Central America, human biodiversity is openly acknowledged, and people seem to get along together much better than they do in the US.

In the US, the current political premise seems to be that Jefferson meant that all men were created biologically equal. This is not what Jefferson meant. Jefferson was talking about positions of royalty. In his other writings, Jefferson was very clear about human biodiversity.

In my opinion, equal amounts of evolutionary energy has been invested in all of us. But this energy was applied in different environments, leading to different biological outcomes. In my opinion, NFL kickers are from Europe because kicking requires reflection, a trait associated with civil society. NFL wide receivers are from Africa because running and catching are traits associated with hunting and gathering.

The environment in the US is currently one of organizations and machines. This gives and advantage those whose ancestors evolved in Europe and Asia. The New York GDP numbers seem to be representative of the numbers across the nation. Black GDP per capita income is $31,364, while whites earn $48,186.

This is not due to ‘hate’, it is due to biology, in my opinion. I also suspect that the reason Eric Holder is so obsessed with race, is that he has a self-awareness issue about his own mixed-race heritage.

Israel

2009-02-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

I believe that, on balance, the Jewish presence is a strong net positive for America. The media over-representation bothers me, and I think may become an issue if the fairness doctrine push is made during bad economic times. But the contributions of Hyman Rickover, Albert Einstein, and dozens of American Jews I have worked alongside have been very positive for the country.

I have a theory on some in Israel, and the ACLU-types. Most Gentile Europeans’ ancestors made their living in an agricultural setting. These Europeans’ bodies contain the lactase necessary to process dairy energy. Their livelihoods were tied directly to the land they stood upon, and evolved to have an innate sense to protect their ‘homeland’.

Lactose intolerance is far more prevalent in Jews. This, I suspect, is due to a more urban existence of their ancestors. These people’s livelihoods were dependent upon banking and other professional skills, which were transferrable. So there is less of an innate sense to defend a piece of property.

I suspect this is why Tzipi Livni is willing to surrender additional Israeli territory. This woman is delusional and does not understand the texts of Islam. The Bible says that two thirds of the Jews of Jerusalem will be killed, and then the last third will rise up and defeat all of Israel’s enemies. It also talks about female leadership. This could be a self-fulfilling prophecy, in the case that it is not divine.

The Mugabe School of Economics

2009-02-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

There is the Austrian School of Economics, which advocates limited government involvement in the economy. And there is the Keynesian School of Economics, which advocates taxing the population, so that the central government can guide the economy. Personally, I subscribe to the Austrian School.

I have to congratulate the new Administration on developing a whole new method, the Mugabe School of Economics. In this school of economics, you establish a fiat currency, and then print lots of it. You are then able to buy lots and lots of stuff and favors.

Smart guy, this Geithner. Him and his boss.

I get the feeling that the power structure intends a smooth transition from the Mugabe School of Economics to whatever they have envisioned to come next.

Eye On Mexico

2009-02-15T08:43:00.001-08:00

Although I cannot find the data on the Internet, 40% of Mexico’s public funding was reportedly provided by oil exports in 2007. Cantrell is the world’s second largest oil field, after Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar deposits. Cantrell peaked at 2,100,000 MBD in 2003. In July, 2007 the oil output was 1,526,000 BPD. In July, 2008 the oil output was 973,668 BPD. In December, 2008, Cantrell put out 811,000 BPD.

Mexico seems to survive on oil, drugs, tourism, and cheap exported labor. The drug industry seems to be doing well, and other than that, the other three pillars of the Mexican economy seem to be in trouble.

Here is the best information I can find, from Bloomberg, who seems to be out of touch with reality. Mexico banished Gringos from their oil business, and Bloomberg believes that allowing Gringos to help will magically make more oil.

The end result of this will likely be a sudden flood of humanity across the border as anarchy sets in. The question will be the reaction north of the border.

A Job Interview

2009-02-13T12:03:00.001-08:00

I started out as a little fish in a big pond, and then I was a big fish in a little pond, and now find myself as a minnow in the Pacific Ocean on a new project of mine. And I will continue to flap my little minnow tail, and push forward on what I believe to be a very worthy cause.

There are positive aspects about being your own boss, but there are negative aspects as well. One of these is that you do not get a regular paycheck. Another is that, if you do not regularly interact with grown-ups, and live in the presence of children’s television, there is a statistically significant chance that you will go crazy. This blog is Exhibit A.

So this morning I went to a job interview for what could be a nice year-long contract job. Fancy hotel. I am there early and note that the only people in this fancy hotel, other than the employees, are the two ladies who will be interviewing me, and they are eating breakfast in the fancy restaurant. This appears to be a DBE staffing company, as the job involves a large federal project. I enjoyed the interview in any case.

Then more people came through the hotel. It was a school group. The hotel manager told the school group that he hired a particular employee because he was always smiling. This is the opposite of my experience. I do not trust men who are always smiling.

Set PPI = $1.47

2009-02-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

5 lb Part Skim Mozzarella: $8.67 (a)
102 oz tomatoes: $2.43 (b)
25 lb flour: $9.78 (c)
720 Slice of Pepperoni: $7.76 (d)

Enter the PPI equation:

PPI = $0.01 + (a)/10 + ((b)/24)(2) + (c)/50 + (d)/40; or

PPI = $0.01 + $0.87 + $0.20 + $0.20 + $0.19

Which gives us a 13FEB09 PPI of $1.47. This is an additional 3% drop in 10 days, indicating pizza deflation is real. We are now down 7% in a little over two weeks. We will collect one more data point, and then begin to graph our findings.

I predict that the PPI will continue to drop, for approximately one year, as cash-strapped consumers eat less cheese and more grains. And then the prices for all components of the pizza will begin to rise with inflation.

If I Can, Make It There, I’ll Make It, Anywhere

2009-02-10T08:15:00.001-08:00

Half Sigma and Roissy write very good blogs from Manhattan and Washington DC. My first job was in Washington DC and I was very excited about it. I met my two roommates from Ohio at our apartment to be, and we decided to drive around to see our new city.

We all hopped in the used Ford Ranger and were off. Then the tank was almost empty and we needed to get gas, but we could tell we were in a bad area. We were getting worried, and finally saw a policeman at a gas station, and decided this was the place to gas up.

The policeman was standing over a corpse with fluids coming out of its head.

I kind of made the decision there that I was fine with the rural lifestyle. Half Sigma and Roissy write in their links above that they too are thinking about moving. I believe that this will be a trend among taxable urban individuals.

Sell: Urban real estate. Buy: Farmland.

A Solution for Student Loan Defaults

2009-02-08T12:53:00.001-08:00

The answer to high rates of student loan defaults is to cure lactose intolerance. One can easily correlate lactose intolerance with inability to pay back student loans.

Think of the alienation that lactose intolerant students feel when, after drinking their carton of milk at lunch, their lactase-starved bodies convert lactose into flatulence, instead of afternoon energy.

Brick Oven declares itself the world’s authority on the study of lactose intolerance as it relates to poor performance in school, and later the workplace. As a center of excellence in this field, we offer our services to the Obama Administration. We would like one of those 95% government guaranteed Small Business Administration loans. One million dollars should do it.

As Brick Oven is a lactose-tolerant organization, the odds of payback are excellent.

Tractors and Bankers Gone Wild

2009-02-08T07:05:00.001-08:00

The way I see it, the Great Depression was caused by the introduction of the tractor in the 1910s and 20s. A tractor, fueled by stored solar power in the form of gasoline, gave the simple farmer the power of two hundred horses.

The unleashing of this kind of power, all across North America, caused productivity to jump. These productivity jumps, everybody assumed, would, of course continue for ever and ever. So the projections were made, and financial instruments were leveraged, and the productivity leveled off, and the system crashed.

Then Nixon took us off of the gold standard to fund overseas adventures, and intended not to abuse the fiat currency. And time went by and the power shifted. Then we were increasing the money supply by $300 billion every year to fund social experiments gone bad.

Then came the IOUs and government guarantees, because, you know, the government is good for it.

So, the way I see it, the ‘Great Depression’ was a correction based on a bad farming assumption. What we are facing now is a correction based on greed, gross conceptual errors concerning human nature, and the impending failure of worldwide currencies. So this round will likely be uncivil. These are dangerous games.

Set PPI = $1.52

2009-02-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

5 lb Part Skim Mozzarella: $9.18 (a)
102 oz tomatoes: $2.43 (b)
25 lb flour: $9.78 (c)
720 Slice of Pepperoni: $7.76 (d)

Enter the PPI equation:

PPI = $0.01 + (a)/10 + ((b)/24)(2) + (c)/50 + (d)/40; or

PPI = $0.01 + $0.92 + $0.20 + $0.20 + $0.19

Which gives us a 07FEB09 PPI of $1.52. This is a 5% drop in 10 days, due to a 6% drop in the price of cheese. There are three theories as to the reason for the drop in the price of cheese:

1) Lower fuel prices are working their way through the dairy industry;
2) Consumers are hurting and putting less cheese on their mac, reducing cheese demand and price;
3) Intervention by the most merciful President Obama.

Electric Railroad

2009-02-06T08:45:00.001-08:00

In a different forum, I have argued that a real economic stimulus package would be to electrify the nation’s railroads. I believe that this is a good plan because:

1. It would reduce the nation’s consumption of liquid fuel, which is a finite resource.

2. A blanket design and permitting program could make this ‘shovel ready’ in approximately two days.

3. This would put workers immediately to work throughout the Country.

4. Global warming is BS, in my opinion, but if you are a believer, electric railroads would reduce greenhouse emissions, if/when nuclear generation capacity is expanded.

5. Right-of-way issues, that would take years or decades to resolve on standard land transmission lines, have already been solved along railroad lines.

6. The design would be standardized, and work could begin immediately, in all fifty states. This is the best use of ‘stimulus’ money, in my opinion.

7. The Northeast corridor is already electrified, and works fine, last time I checked.

8. The American locomotive fleet could simply be outfitted to replace the diesel generator with an electrical connection.

9. Once the railroads are electrified, overall thermal efficiency would rise from the low twenties to the high thirties.

I, Bill, hereby offer my design services to the federal government. My price is $12 million. The design will be correct.

President Obama Is In Trouble

2009-02-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

The stimulus legislation is not President Obama’s. It was developed by Pelosi and Reid. This stimulus legislation sucks. But President Obama, like a green 2nd Lieutenant, charged ahead as its champion, making it his own. And the Legislature pulled the rug out from under his feet, remaining silent.

And on the Eastern front, Maureen Dowd, the woman who was instructed to not mention ears, has turned against the President. Maureen Dowd’s observations sound eerily like mine . President Obama is 47 years old. Has he not learned that you do not tell women like Maureen Dowd what to do? You simply stay away from them.

President Obama is in over his head. This will end poorly.

Mexico

2009-02-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

Glenn Beck is hitting his stride. I can relate with Glenn Beck. He talked about Mexico on the radio show today, and I didn’t really listen too closely. This post introduces my thoughts on the subject he brought up.

I’ve been to Mexico four times; once with a church group at an orphanage, twice as a cheesy tourist on a cruise ship, and once when I was stationed for a week at Camp Pendleton, making the run to Tijuana, where I saw my first bottle show (Why is this beer so expensive? Oh, I see.). I opted not to see the donkey show.

In a more recent experience, a friend of a friend got into an argument with a group of Mexican ‘youth’ about music styles, and they shot him. He is OK but the bullet is still lodged in his back. A former engineer, who I know of, was walking on mine tailings in Honduras, and was shot dead. I have a Honduran friend who warned me against going to Honduras.

Mexico is in trouble. Paul Chefurka has an excellent analysis of the oil side of the equation. Mexico has passed Peak Oil, tourism is drying up because of the security concerns, and the Western Union money transfers are drying up also.

Mexico will likely collapse. If it does, a flood of refugees will head north. This flood of refugees will encounter an American population that is suffering from severe economic problems, and is already weary from their failing hospitals, and state governments, and pension plans, that were not failing before 1986. This will test my First Theory of Multiculturalism, which goes as follows:

Diversity + Proximity – Resources = Problem

If there is a problem, the Commander in Chief, by the time it happens, will likely be a bitter man. This would be a volatile situation. I will credit Glenn Beck here and then adopt this term without further attribution: Global Katrina.

p.s. Testing: For some reason I am not able to link to Paul's web-site. The link does not work on my computer, perhaps it will work on yours. I hope I am not being blocked based on political differences because I respect Paul's work. You can cut and paste the address below the automatic link if the automatic link doesn't work for you.

excellent analysis

http://www.paulchefurka.ca/Mexico%20and%20the%20Problematique.html

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2009-02-04T12:21:00.000-08:00

I am a technical guy and have come up with a design which I think is pretty good. I’m in the fund-raising mode and the banker-guy recommended that I partner with a good school. So today I decided to contact MIT.

Google: [MIT Engineering Department]. The Google search result page introduces us to MIT:

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Women’s Initiative Program seeks to increase the number of women enrolled in engineering majors by educating ...

Sigh.

So I call MIT, and some lady picks up the phone. She will put me in touch with the appropriate department, click, wait, robogreeter. Robogreeter gives me options and then says to stay on the line to speak to a representative. Who isn’t there.

More calls. And I get a person, who refers me to a Professor, and gives me a phone number. I call this person, who answers with some unintelligible greeting. I introduce myself as a private sector engineer. The man seems to be somewhat condescending. He tells me that he does not actually work at MIT anymore. And refers me to some non-Ivy-League schools who are actually doing research on energy independence.

I called an engineering program at one of these schools, and an intelligent person picked up the phone.

Comments

2009-02-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

There are not many commenters at Brick Oven, as we are an ‘elite’ community, is I think how Spinal Tap put it. But it is fun when someone comments on my thoughts and I’ve been meaning to figure out why I have to approve comments when they are made. I’ve finally figured it out and comments should now show up immediately, in theory.

Thanks to those who have shared their thoughts, hopefully removing this filter makes this a less stuffy format.

A Trip to School

2009-02-03T18:44:00.001-08:00

The President has not been told ‘no’ many times in his life, and the trip to school was a defense mechanism. The President fielded questions from seven year olds. This is somewhat understandable because today was a pretty bad day for him.

But it has been only two weeks. It took the President’s friend Deval two months. The Presidency is a very, very tough job. It is much harder to be the President than it is to be a Governor. Governors can hide.

The first lady’s statement: "We got out! They let us out!", was telling, but wrong. “They” don’t go away. And they are not seven years old.

There are excerpts in case the link goes down:

The governor ‘‘will work a flexible schedule for the next few weeks in order to spend more time with her and his family,’’ according to a statement.

Aides to Patrick declined to say whether Diane Patrick had been hospitalized, or had suffered from depression or exhaustion in the past.

‘‘The family asks for the prayers and understanding of the public,’’ the statement read. ‘‘We also ask respect for the family’s privacy at this difficult time.’’

A partner at the Boston law firm Ropes & Gray, Diane Patrick, 55, said when her husband was elected last November that she intended to be more prominent publicly than previous gubernatorial spouses. But she acknowledged she was unsure how to balance the new demands with her legal career.

t/p: DevalPatrickWatch.com

A Trip to Circuit City

2009-02-01T21:29:00.001-08:00

Comment left at the Becker-Posner-Blog. This happened to me today as I was trying to figure out my new computer.
…

One.

I went to Circuit City today. When I walked in the door, the people had a look in their eyes that I had not seen in a long time. There was a very large man at the cash register with two terrified children. His wife was twelve feet away, begging him to calm down. There was a slightly smaller, but nonetheless physically strong Circuit City manager, walking past me, away from the cash register.

The large man with the terrified children bellowed ‘If you are going to wear a Patriots jersey, wear it like a man.’ Then the manager directed an employee to call the police if the gentleman at the cash register said anything else. An Oriental employee from behind another counter straightened and yelled at the very large man, telling him that all of the Circuit City employees were losing their jobs too.

I sensed danger and could feel the after effects of high levels of adrenalin as I drove home. It aches.

Two.

The value of labor on the world-wide market is $3/day.

Three.

In the 1930s, the United States was the world’s largest EXPORTER. And, because of this, a trade war probably hurt the United States’ export-based economy. England was an importer, and during the entirety of the Great Depression, I believe that their economy only shrunk 5%. Today, the United States is the world’s largest IMPORTER. I doubt that foreign countries will stop buying our food, but if they did, it would lower prices at the supermarket.

Four.

I, for one, would not object if my government chose to drop out of, or deeply renegotiate international trade agreements. I say return tariffs to historical levels of 30-40% to protect domestic industries.

Deborah Solomon

2009-02-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

Deborah Solomon (NY Times): Europeans have historically defined themselves through inherited traits and titles, but isn't America a country where we are supposed to define ourselves through acts of will?

Charles Murray: I wonder if there is a single, solitary, real-live public-school teacher who agrees with the proposition that it's all a matter of will. To me, the fact that ability varies — and varies in ways that are impossible to change — is a fact that we learn in first grade.

Deborah Solomon: I believe that given the opportunity, most people could do most anything.

Charles Murray: You're out of touch with reality in that regard.

Per Wikipedia, Deborah Solomon was ‘born at yale’, and then educated at Cornell. Her master’s degree is from Columbia University. She majored in Journalism.

Part 2: “And Why I Don’t Really Fear This”

2009-01-31T12:58:00.000-08:00

I’m an ROTC graduate and spent time in the military as a junior officer. There is something that happens to officers when they achieve the rank of O-5 (Army Lt Colonel, Navy Commander). It was commonly referred to as the ‘O-5’ lobotomy in the circles I operated in.

My theory on this is that these officers ‘chop’ to a different superior at this rank. Junior officers are judged by the performance of their units and their bias is thus towards their units, in the hopes of maximizing unit performance.

In the United States, the military reports to civilian leadership so, to advance past O-5, a different set of people need to be impressed. For the better part of two decades at least, civilian leadership has been more concerned with military politics than it has military efficiency. I had drinks with several O-6s a couple of years ago, and these guys are wired tight.

So, in the theoretical situation* where Obama wanted to win over the hearts and minds of the enlisted men and junior officers to overtake military leadership, dispose of the ‘deeply flawed’ Constitution, and bring on an era of glorious communism, he has it all wrong. The guys he needs to watch out for are the O-1 to O-4 types, and I would also add the front-line enlisted men.

And these guys, in my experience, are far closer to Ron Paul than they are to Barack Obama.

*I repeat that this is nothing more than speculation from a speech which I probably misheard.

Geithner

2009-01-30T06:12:00.000-08:00

Geithner’s best man at his wedding was his dad.

Geithner’s new Chief of Staff is a lobbyist from Goldman Sachs.

Geithner received $435,668 on the way out of the Federal Reserve, this was not a ‘bonus’, this was a ‘severance’.

Introducing the PPI @ $1.57

2009-01-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

The PPI is the Pizza Price Index, referring to this post from earlier in the month. It is indexed to the prices at my local Sam’s Club. Previous work was based on my cost estimates of the various elements of pizza which were:

Can of Crushed Tomatoes: $2.50
Five Pounds of Cheese: $12
720 Slices of Pepperoni: $8.86
Bulk Flour: $0.40/lb

Using these entering arguments, we came up with a pizza cost of $1.81. The wife sent me to Sam’s today to get more cheese, and I noted something startling: the price of cheese has gone down. I attribute this to the election of Barack Obama.

Part-skim was cheaper than whole milk, which I never have seen before. 5 pounds were $9.72 (a). This caused me to take a greater interest in the exact prices of the other ingredients, so here we go:

102 oz tomatoes: $2.43 (b)
25 lb flour: $9.78 (c)
720 Slice of Pepperoni: $7.76 (d) (this is also down from earlier this month, as I remember it. Must be the President)

Enter the PPI equation:

PPI = $0.01 + (a)/10 + ((b)/24)(2) + (c)/50 + (d)/40; or

PPI = $0.01 + $0.97 + $0.20 + $0.20 + $0.19

Which gives us a 29JAN09 PPI of $1.57. This is a more accurate, but definitely lower PPI than we had earlier in the month. We will track the PPI with time.

Adventures With Bill

2009-01-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

So there I was, sleeping. The toddler ripped my left lens out of my glasses, bent the frame, and hid the lens. We looked for that thing for a week as I endured old contact lenses and bloodshot eyes.

Mom does not like having the pacifier hit the floor, so attached it to some clamp thing that attaches the pacifier to the little outfits with a lanyard. The kid holds the pacifier end and starts swinging the lanyard, blindsiding me in the left eyeball with the clamp thing. Pain. Blood red. Wife cannot look at me without turning away in horror.

Four days later to the eye doctor to get a new prescription for glasses. There the doctor informs me that my eye, in fact did close, and was rolling up into my head as the blow was landed. No permanent damage. The human body is amazing to me.

Then to Sears, without the wife, because I do not want input on which glasses I want. I want two pairs because I kind of think that I’d like to have a spare pair around the house, say, in case civilization breaks down in the next few years. I pick out a pair of frames that I like and hand them to the lady behind the counter, saying I want two sets.

She responds that if I am getting two pairs of glasses, it makes no sense to get two of the same style. You can’t get away from this crap. So I spend the money for two new sets of glasses.

And then the kid brings back the original lens. Now I have three pairs of glasses.

Go Blago Go Go Go, Blago Be Good, Part 2

2009-01-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

I find myself agreeing with Blago. The FBI should make available to him the recordings that they are holding. It is creepy that Blago’s name is written into Obama’s stimulus plan before any judgment.

If I feel this way, the odds of Blago getting a hung jury in Chicago are excellent. He might even be acquitted. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd actually accepted compensation.

Blago is angry about Obama’s stimulus plan including him by name. His will be a very good and lucrative book.

Go Blago Go Go Go. Blago Be Good.

2009-01-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

My first job outside the neighborhood was as a courier in the City of Chicago. I remember the first time a black person asked me for money. I said no and felt guilty about it for days. Eventually I got over my guilt and just kept walking when somebody asked me for a part of the sub-minimum wage which I was earning.

I am getting angry at all the smart people on the TV mocking Blago. Blago may very well be crazy, but his legal strategy is good, and based in the reality that is Chicago. The Chicago jury pool is 40% white, meaning that there will probably be seven non-white jurors. Of the remaining five jurors, two or three will be females.

The Blank Slate theory states that all human brains stopped evolving 30,000 years ago, and that our cultures then form our individual personalities and abilities. Under the Blank Slate theory, all injustices are then attributed to an oppressive culture, instead of biological differences. More than ten percent of the Chicago jury pool are big time believers in the Blank Slate theory.

I predict the Blago trial will end with a hung jury, and no jail time. Think I am being too tough of the jury pool? This is their elected representative . The Blago trial is a good example of why Abraham Lincoln judged that only productive males were qualified to sit on juries.

My preference would be for Blago to lose his job and then be acquitted. This way he would need money. The skankier his book, the more money the publisher will offer him for it. I hope his book is really, really skanky.

Housing

2009-01-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

We live in a very modest house and have a growing family. As far as I can tell, we are functional. I wouldn’t call myself happy, because I don’t trust men who seem to be outwardly happy, but they seem to be, and I am living an interesting life.

So the wife wants a bigger house and finds a McMansion on the Internet. I agree to look. It is a big, blocky house. It belongs to a recently divorced couple with four children. The two youngest daughters were in the kitchen cleaning things and are the only ones home. There is an empty look in their eyes.

I drink cheap beer. There are bottles of Samuel Adams on top of the granite kitchen island.

As we walk upstairs, the agent notes that there may need to be some patch-up work on the drywall. I note that the cracks extend from the corners of the doorways at 45 degree angles, indicating that the cracks are from settlement shifting the frame of the house. The point of the highest stress is at the corners of the doorways. I do not say anything.

The settlement could have been from poor compaction over granular soil, in which case it has probably stopped. Or the settlement could have been from an inadequate foundation on clay soils, in which case the settlement would continue. I ask the agent about the soils around the house for this and gardening purposes, and he does not know.

Then we go to the basement. In my home, we have a 250 gallon fuel oil tank. This house has 660 gallons of fuel oil storage.

Then back to the kitchen, where the teenage girls are still cleaning things. They talk about moving and I, trying to be social, ask them where they are moving to. They answered not with a place, but with a structure. They are moving to a duplex.

We are not buying that house. I feel very bad about those teenage girls.

FOX News

2009-01-25T12:34:00.000-08:00

Good God. They are reporting that there is no organic material in the US Airways engine, but that there is ‘soft body’ material in the engine. 'Organic material' is what living creatures are made of.

What I Fear

2009-01-24T12:26:00.000-08:00

"It is not only possible, but in fact the duty of everyone to state precisely what his knowledge and conscience compel him to say."
–Hyman Rickover

Part one of a four part series, the second part of which is ‘And Why I Don’t Really Fear This’, with the third part being ‘Why I Fear Something Scarier, So I Guess I'm Middle Class’, with the fourth and last part being ‘And Why I Don’t Really Fear That Either But Instead Believe That America Will Become a Hyperpower’.

This series is nothing other than speculation, and is intended to allow me to hone my predictive skills, using the ready access to information that the Internet provides. This series is for me and me alone, so please stop reading.

When presented with a speculative theory, I ask myself what the world would look like if this speculative theory were actually true. This is why I believe in Human Biodiversity. This is also why President Obama’s address to the Military Ball disturbed me.

So this particular speculative theory is that Obama surrounded himself by Marxists in college, they talked about belief systems that extended beyond what he expressed in his books, and that he would like to replace the United States Constitution with Communism.

He would recognize that there is an entrenched base of Americans, say 50 million, that would need to be suppressed or re-educated to pull this off. This base of Americans includes those who serve in the military. The military, and the oath they take, represents the biggest obstacle to the government entering a stage of Unconstitutional rule. Their oath is to the Constitution, not individuals.

This is why Obama’s address to the military ball disturbed me. It was the words, and the way they were spoken. Usually when the military is addressed, it is something like ‘I would like to thank the members of the military’, or ‘I would like to thank the officers and men of the military’, or something like that. Obama’s address was, paraphrasing from memory, something like:

‘I would like to thank the enlisted men, long pause, and junior officers.’

I hope I heard this wrong, or the audience contained only enlisted men and JOs and Obama was thinking only of the audience. Then I think back to the Bill Ayres ‘kill your parents’ line and a part of my mind wonders. I judge this intent to be too far-fetched to be true, but will be monitoring nonetheless.

Prophet of Doom?

2009-01-23T07:57:00.001-08:00

Our fellow traveler Park Dae-sung has just been indicted for spreading his economic observations through his computer. It turns out that his predictions have been, pretty good. Park has a two-year technical degree and was unemployed at the time of his arrest.

There are nine Freedom of Information Act exemptions. The last two are of interest to me:

(b)(8) EXEMPTION - Records of Financial Institutions
This exemption covers matters that are "contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions."

(b)(9) EXEMPTION - Geographical and Geophysical Information Concerning Wells
This exemption covers "geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells.

A little fairy in my head tells me that the (b)(9) Exemption has more to do with oil than water. Perhaps we can file Park’s arrest under the heading of “idle hands may be the devil’s playground, but can occasionally result in good journalism.”

Park calls himself the ‘Prophet of Doom’. This is pretty good, and ranks ahead of Professor Roubini, 'Dr. Doom', but still ranks behind me, your 'Messiah of Doom', who urges my fellow Americans to work to become independent by gardening.

Robert Reich on Construction

2009-01-22T14:45:00.001-08:00

The Stimulus: How to Create Jobs Without Them All Going to Skilled Professionals and White Male Construction Workers

The stimulus plan will create jobs repairing and upgrading the nation's roads, bridges, ports, levees, water and sewage system, public-transit systems, electricity grid, and schools. And it will kick-start alternative, non-fossil based sources of energy (wind, solar, geothermal, and so on); new health-care information systems; and universal broadband Internet access.

It's a two-fer: lots of new jobs, and investments in the nation's future productivity.

But if there aren't enough skilled professionals to do the jobs involving new technologies, the stimulus will just increase the wages of the professionals who already have the right skills rather than generate many new jobs in these fields. And if construction jobs go mainly to white males who already dominate the construction trades, many people who need jobs the most -- women, minorities, and the poor and long-term unemployed -- will be shut out…It continues (08JAN entry)
...

I have had a hard time keeping a job and am a recent construction industry graduate. Robert Reich teaches at Berkley, and if he would maybe look around, most of the construction labor in California is not white. Well there are the Russian crews, who we should really watch out for.

I have a story from my days building housing for American Indians. If I remember right, the Tribe charged rent of something like $20 per month per house. A pretty good deal. Anyway, I hung out at bars after work and became drinking buddies with a Tribal Chairman, who was huge. Those guys had limited ethics rules and I did lots of their work from there on out.

At another emporium of spirits that I frequented, I met another buddy. This one managed a government contracting outfit and had just landed a $10 million contract at a military base. There is, as I understand it, a 5% premium if you hire a certain percentage of targeted minorities, which would have worked out to $500,000. $500,000 buys a lot of beer. The job involved trucking.

So the light bulb goes off, and voila, we’ll show my Tribal Chairman friend how to set up a corporation. The contractor would arrange a truck lease and drivers. Everything was arranged and ready to go.

What a perfect plan. One of my friends would be a new independent entrepreneur, another would help our government achieve its dogma while making higher profits. And, the way I figured it, they would both buy me beer from there on out.

The Tribal Chairman was very excited about the plan. And never followed up despite the repeated, unanswered phonecalls. But Robert would probably like me anyway. I once hired a blonde, white, lesbian, female with big boobs.

Reich has been a member of the faculties of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and of Brandeis University. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College, his M.A. from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and his J.D. from Yale Law School.

Don’t Doubt Me for I Am the Messiah of Doom

2009-01-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

OK, this is starting to get weird. In the fall of 2007, we estimated that banking losses would be $3 trillion. The math is easy. $20 trillion in peak real estate valuation, half of which was owned by the bank. People with upside-down mortgages would walk away. Those who didn’t would be counteracted by processing costs. A 30% drop in real estate value equates to a $3 trillion banking loss. We later bumped the loss to 35%, or $3.5 trillion.

Back then, Roubini caused gasps when he mentioned the phrase “one trillion dollars”. Goldman Sachs was saying “three hundred billion dollars”.

On Christmas Day (gulp) Roubini uttered the word “two and one half trillion dollars”, and we said:

"We noted that half of the loss went to the banks, and half to home equity loss for homeowners, or a $3.5 trillion banking loss. Roubini will get here eventually. How do I get on TV?"

And today we come upon this:

“Roubini Predicts U.S. Losses May Reach $3.6 Trillion”

This, my friends, is why you should learn to grow potatoes.

Morning TV

2009-01-21T07:42:00.000-08:00

CNN Journalist to New Orleans child: “If you were President, what would you do?”

New Orleans child: “I would be very happy, and jump around.”

In other news, here is part of our latest national Benediction:

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right."

And one last one from this morning’s TV: Lincoln says:

“With malice towards none, with charity towards all.”

And just because I have been directed to embrace what is right, and saw a National Geographic special on Lincoln last night that misrepresented his worldview, here is some Lincoln from the Lincoln Douglas debates:

“But then I apprehend that in no society that ever did exist, or ever shall be formed, was or can the equality asserted among the members of the human race be practically enforced and carried out. There are portions, large portions, -- women, minors, Insane, culprits, transient sojourners, -- that will always probably remain subject to the government of another portion of the community.”

“Judge Douglas took his ground that negroes were not included in the Declaration of Independence. I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include all men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal in all respects. They did not mean to say that all men were equal in color, size, intellect, moral development, or social capacity.”

“Out of this, Judge Douglas builds up his beautiful fabrication -- of my purpose to introduce a perfect social and political equality between the white and the black races. His assertion that I made an "especial objection" (that is his exact language) to the decision on this account, is untrue in point of fact.”

Congratulations, but please do not try to change Abraham Lincoln’s message. This offends me. Lincoln took one for the team.

Set Up, Like a Bowling Pin

2009-01-20T14:02:00.000-08:00

First official words. Six minutes late and wrong.

First official act. Sit back down Mr. President, there are two more to sign. “Are we all done?”

600 private jets.

I think I’ll stick with my potatoes and Jerry Garcia.

Infrastructure Spending

2009-01-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

Comment left at the Posner side of the Becker-Posner-Blog:

People say that tariffs hurt the economy during the Great Depression, and they might have. But this is because we were the world’s largest EXPORTER back then. When the other countries retaliated, it hurt our export-based economy.

But now we are the world’s biggest IMPORTER. Imposing tariffs would create jobs for America by protecting our rapidly shrinking manufacturing base. Raise tariffs high enough, and we might end up growing a real economy. Something tells me that other countries will still buy our food.

Recommended infrastructure spending:
1. Pass legislation to expedite permitting; and then
2. Build nuclear power plants by the dozen; and
3. Electrify the railroads.

I am getting concerned about Professor Becker*. Professor Becker says:

Putting new infrastructure spending in depressed areas like Detroit might have a big stimulating effect since infrastructure building projects in these areas can utilize some of the considerable unemployed resources there.

I don’t think that the problem in Detroit is the unemployed ‘resources'. Remind me to say out of the academy. At the Becker-Posner-Blog, and elsewhere, I post under my alias, 'BO Bill'. I'm sure many think of body odor, others Barack Obama, but only the elite few now know the truth.

*I didn't want to take the cheap shot last night, but Becker posted twice. Those two posts are still up this morning.

FOIA Request

2009-01-17T11:09:00.000-08:00

I have read Federalist 46, and concur with those scholars who have read that document, and come to the conclusion that James Madison’s ‘militia’ consisted of all able-bodied men. Madison included the math, you see.

So it disturbs me to see even one of the gun blogs, that I have never witnessed go over the line, begin to censor old posts in advance of a new Attorney General. But I have worked closely with government, and have also witnessed government’s ability to twist law to meet their own personal agenda.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has nine exemptions. The one exemption that could be used to deny the following request, as I read it is #7a:

“Compiled for law enforcement purposes, the release of which could reasonably be expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings.”

But I do not see how #7a could be used against an individual, expressing his opinions from his living room, who has previously requested an opinion as to the legality of his speech, and has agreed to take down any offending words.

So, with that in mind, here is my formal FOIA request to any government person and/or agency that reads this:

Are any government funds, time, or resources of any kind being expended to monitor this blog? If so please inform me via a comment to this blog post.

I doubt that there is anybody reading this, and this thought goes out into the blogosphere, to encourage Citizens to continue to express their opinions freely.

Hyman Rickover

2009-01-16T22:24:00.000-08:00

An excerpt from Thoughts on Man’s Purpose in Life, a talk given by Hyman Rickover in 1977:

To create you must care. You must have the courage to speak out. The world's advances always have depended on the courage of its leaders. A certain measure of courage in the private citizen also is necessary to the good conduct of the State.

Otherwise men who have power through riches, intrigue, or office will administer the State at will, and ultimately to their private advantage. For the citizen, this courage means a frank exposition of a problem and a decrying of the excesses of power.

It takes courage to do this because in our polite society frank speech is discouraged. But when this attitude relates to questions involving the welfare or survival of the Nation, it is singularly unfitting to remain evasive.

It is not only possible, but in fact the duty of everyone to state precisely what his knowledge and conscience compel him to say.

Many of today's problems can be brought forward only by complete candor and frankness; deep respect for the facts, however unpleasant and uncomfortable; great efforts to know them where they are not readily available; and drawing conclusions guided only by rigorous logic.

Hello, My Government Friends

2009-01-16T21:28:00.000-08:00

Our fellow traveler Rivrdog has brought to our attention this. As a responsible Citizen, I have reviewed our content and performed an 18 US 2385 assessment, although this blog contains nothing other than delusional drunken rants, collected online for use in a future, fictional novel.

Anyway, the closest thing I could imagine could lead to perception of any advocacy of the desirability of overthrowing any branch of government is this. It is a comment about a recovery mechanism from anarchy, and returning this country to Constitutional rule, in the scenario of an economic ‘Strategic Shock’ as presented by the Army War College. It is one man’s opinion as to the best way for Uniformed Personnel to be true to their oaths in that scenario, and provides one potential answer to the author’s question.

I do not find that this advocates the overthrow of government, but, instead, is a logical continuity of government strategy. If you find that this, or anything elsewhere that does violate the standards, as you perceive them, or find any such items in the future, please inform me of the offending passages, and they will be removed in a very public fashion. In the absense of such notice, I will assume that this blog is in full compliance with 18 US 2385.

And I am very, very sorry for anything perceived as against the rules that I may have posted or perhaps will at some future time post in a different forum. In this case, please inform me, and I will petition the person who controls that message, also in a public manner. And if they refuse to take it down, you can go after them. Again, the absence of such notice shall be assumed to mean that we are acting in full compliance with the law.

I Guess I Should Probably Say Something Nice About Air Force Pilots

2009-01-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

That was an excellent job Mr. Sullenberger. The skill and poise you demonstrated when the SHTF saved the lives of 155 people. That was really, really good work.

So, with that out of the way, this next one is a no shitter, which means it is 100% true. So there was a Marine F/A-18B crew that had a similar problem and had to emergency land. The nearest airfield happened to be an air force base and the pilot took a bead on the runway.

As the plane approached, the hair on the back of the pilot’s neck began to stand up. All of these stories that he had heard about Air Force pilots were, in fact, false. And then the approach, and the crash landing. As the plane screeched to a halt just feet from the end of the runway, the NFO gasped; “These Air Force runways are really short……. but they sure are wide.”
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And, with that said, it is nice to see all of the civil servants taking credit for saving lives on TV during the bi-lingual press conference, when the credit belongs to a skilled pilot and crew, and a private ferry company that did not hesitate. I note also that they do not show the pilot’s picture at the NY Times. I’ll post it when I can find one.

Using Lincoln

2009-01-15T11:36:00.001-08:00

I reported to a black Marine Corps Captain during my education. As far as I can tell through hindsight, he is a better man than I am. I heard stories from Marines he served with in the field. This man, who was not particularly physically intimidating, was a leader, and I was fortunate to be influenced by him for two years. He had a wife, a daughter, and a son who he was fiercely loyal to. Any system of government that would not give this man a voice is not a system of government that I would support.

This puts me to the left of President Lincoln, another man who I respect. And just like I will defend the Captain, I will defend President Lincoln, whose image is being distorted and used by the incoming Administration, as well as President Bush. I will defend Lincoln and his ideas by comparing my theoretical system of government with Lincoln’s, as I understand it after studying the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Voter eligibility:

Me: Wage earners, paying a minimum $3,000/yr in federal taxes. Political empowerment should be tied to performance. This encourages productivity and a strong state.

Lincoln: All whites, no blacks as blacks are not biologically capable of being responsible voters. Blacks are not even to be Citizens.

Jury eligibility:

Same as voter eligibility.

Inter-racial marriage:

Me: Sexual libertarian, but tie welfare benefits to birth control.

Lincoln: No inter-racial sexual relations.

Morality:

We agree: All humans deserve dignity.

Schrenker Trial

2009-01-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

Prosecution: This man is accused of defrauding investors. He surrounded himself with shiny things that he could not afford. Posted cheesy videos of himself on the internet, indicating a goofy sense of self-importance. Was in the Air Force. Poor execution of planning. A man who lives in a $4 million dollar house should be able to afford enough fuel to get the plane into the Caribbean. Even an Air Force pilot should be able to plan this out.

Defense: In spite of choice of service branch, he served in the special forces. Landed a hot wife. And what a plan! Airplane crashes, motorcycles, motel rooms, cryptic emails. Tried and failed at business, but at least he worked hard and tried, which is better than most people.
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Verdict: Guilty. He has three kids and a public suicide attempt, even if faked, is going to scar them for the rest of their lives. This will affect his family for probably two generations. The honorable thing to do would have been to sit the family down and be honest with them. Go bankrupt and adopt an affordable lifestyle. If she can’t handle that, enjoy life as an alpha male bachelor.

Support Mark Palan

2009-01-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

Mark Palan has legal bills and a sporting goods store. Completely in violation of my rule about advising another man on how to run his business, I respectfully encourage Mark to think about mail order. I will not publish the phone number to his shop, but it is available online.

Adventures with Bill

2009-01-13T14:01:00.000-08:00

So there I was:

1. A visit to the local engineering shop. Exclusively white people. The people talking technical are men in their twenties and thirties. The receptionist is an attractive female. A grumpy looking man, probably in his fifties, walks by. It appears that he has worked in that line of business his whole life. My mentor told me that, if I was to ever really believe what I was saying, it was time to take a vacation. That was engineering. Imagine how bad it is in politics and non-profits.

2. A trip to the mall for two tacos, which cost me $2.12. I pulled exactly twelve cents out of my pocket, which impressed both the cashier and me. I have a fear of people doing things to my food and keep an eye on the man preparing my tacos. They appear to be properly prepared though. They tasted good at least. The mall is very quiet. There are many immigrant men who appear to have nothing better to be doing on Tuesday afternoon than to check out model cars or walk around with omega females. I estimate that just over one half of the people in the mall are descendents of Europe.

3. Then, as a sociological experiment, I decide to check out Cabelas, and contrast the demographics of the shoppers. 100% white at Cabelas, although it too was quiet. There were probably as many lookers as there were employees. There was a guy with an army jacket on who I thought might have had an Asian girlfriend. After another pass, and a clearer look, she too was white, with dyed black hair. There are 23 checkout stations and 1 is open, with a person buying a plastic container for fishing flies.

Beer

2009-01-12T21:29:00.001-08:00

I used to drink Miller products and have switched to Anheuser Busch products. The reason is because I can easily figure out how fresh the beer is. I buy the cheap ‘Natural’ line because, if you have fresh cheap beer, it always tastes better than costlier, older beer, and I am cheap.

Beer skunks because of 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol and trans-2-nonenal. 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol can be activated by exposure to sunlight and really is the same chemical in skunk spray. Trans-2-nonenal is generated with age and there is debate over the generation mechanism, but, in any case, it just shows up. I designed a brewery once, it was fun.

It is almost impossible for a small brewery to compete with the big guys unless you go for the expensive niche, or go the brew-pub route where you do not need to bottle the beer. There are large economies of scale.

So, anyway, there I was at the gas station, looking at a twelve pack of Natural Beer. There was the twelve-pack in front with an early November date on it. The twelve-pack in back was from December. I removed the November case from the cooler, reached around, and grabbed the December case, replacing the November case.

I do not know if this was an ethical maneuver. But the beer is good.