BUT THEIR LIVES GOT SO MUCH BETTER DURING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
Thursday, April 7, 2016
America's First Sophomoric President
Sophomore literally means wise fool. The second year student thinks he knows more than everyone else. A little bit of knowledge has gone to his head. He greatly overestimates his insights and judgments and of course he is dismissive of other viewpoints.
Sophomore is perhaps the most concise word in the English language. Germans have precise words but English always leaves its users searching for the right description. At first glance wise fool is an oxymoron. Then an example is displayed and no other word or phrase can be substituted.
Barack Obama's toxic personality was smartly obscured for a long time. We might have objected to his policies but even his most ardent critics had no idea what a smug--um what is the word? Oh yes, the smug sophomore in all of his smug sense of superiority.
KNOW-IT-ALL-IN-CHIEF
Sophomore is perhaps the most concise word in the English language. Germans have precise words but English always leaves its users searching for the right description. At first glance wise fool is an oxymoron. Then an example is displayed and no other word or phrase can be substituted.
Barack Obama's toxic personality was smartly obscured for a long time. We might have objected to his policies but even his most ardent critics had no idea what a smug--um what is the word? Oh yes, the smug sophomore in all of his smug sense of superiority.
KNOW-IT-ALL-IN-CHIEF
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
A Fatwa From Google: Would This Be An Issue If The Gory Pictures Did Not Portray Victims Of Jihad?
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Mar 29 (7 days ago)
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Hello,This is a warning message to alert you that there is action required to bring your AdSense account into compliance with our AdSense program policies. We’ve provided additional details below, along with the actions to be taken on your part.
Affected website: obotomy.blogspot.kr
Example page where violation occurred: http://obotomy.blogspot.kr/
Action required: Please make changes immediately to your site to follow AdSense program policies.
Current account status: Active
Violation explanation
VIOLENCE/GORE: As stated in our program policies, AdSense publishers are not permitted to place Google ads on pages with violent or disturbing content, including sites with gory text or images. More information about this policy can be found in our help center (https://support.google.com/
How to resolve:
Additionally, please be aware that the URL above is just an example and that the same violations may exist on other pages of this website or other sites that you own. To reduce the likelihood of future warnings from us, we suggest that you review all your sites for compliance. Here are some useful resources you might be interested in.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team
Affected website: obotomy.blogspot.kr
Example page where violation occurred: http://obotomy.blogspot.kr/
Action required: Please make changes immediately to your site to follow AdSense program policies.
Current account status: Active
Violation explanation
VIOLENCE/GORE: As stated in our program policies, AdSense publishers are not permitted to place Google ads on pages with violent or disturbing content, including sites with gory text or images. More information about this policy can be found in our help center (https://support.google.com/
How to resolve:
- If you received a notification in regard to page content, we request that you immediately remove Google ads from the violating pages. If you are unable to, or unsure of how to remove the ads from these pages, or would like to continue monetizing the page with Google ads, please modify or remove the violating content to meet our AdSense policies.
- If you received a notification in regards to the way ads are implemented on your site, please make the necessary changes to your implementation.
Additionally, please be aware that the URL above is just an example and that the same violations may exist on other pages of this website or other sites that you own. To reduce the likelihood of future warnings from us, we suggest that you review all your sites for compliance. Here are some useful resources you might be interested in.
- AdSense policy FAQs
- Using site: search to find violations
- Recommended solutions for policing your content
- Content filtering
We thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Why Are The Merits Of Free Trade So Hard To Grasp?
I do not identify as a Conservative even though I am conservative in a lot of respects and I vote conservative and I trust conservative people further than the Grubers and Sunsteins and Reichs. But I do believe that most large C Conservatives are either hypocrites are just plain stupid.
The Conservative impulse to toss free trade overboard scares me and puzzles me. Do they really believe in the premise of economic freedom? Largely, they do not. The new Economic Nationalists are frightening. They not only see the glass as half empty, they are not above dumping the contents to win the audience.
Sarah Palin said in effect that the net result of outsourcing manufacturing is that we save a penny at Walmart. Recently radio host Jim Bohannon said to his guest, Club of Growth president David McIntosh, that the net result of of offshoring is that we save eleven cents on brooms. Boston's WRKO replaced Rush Limbaugh with an idiot named Jeff Kuhner (which is another story for another time) who makes ridiculous statements about the evils of free trade in a latter day Pat Buchanan sort of way.
OK Sarah, I still love you but cheap Asian labor saves us more than a penny per item. Go to the local Dollar Tree and tell me how much each item would cost if it was made in America. I will go out on a limb and say more than $1.01. Using Bohannon's more liberal estimate, the broom--and presumably everything else--would then cost $1.11.
Both Jimbo and Sarah are guilty of hyperbole to the point of silliness. Tariff is the new mantra and it's not the Sanders mob doing the chanting. Then again, they are so abysmally stupid none of them can spell the word, much less define it. By killing NAFTA we can permanently eliminate the proposed Keystone Pipeline whereas Barack Obama only delayed it.
Before we get too high off the tariff fumes let us remind ourselves of a few basic facts.
1. Importers do not ultimately pay tariffs, consumers do.
2. A key factor in America's economic development was an early Supreme Court decision striking down interstate tariffs. (I forget which decision that was but I learned that in high school history at a time when schools still did a little bit of teaching.) Had the Supremes not spoken so forcefully we might now have county and municipal tariffs as well.
3. Domestic producers will often raise their own prices after foreign producers have their products artificially inflated. The consumer loses once more. Oh, and by the way, China did not take ALL of our jobs. That word seems to enter the conversation almost as frequently as the PENNY savings.
Yes, there are trade-offs and unforeseen consequences and some sectors are hit harder by change than are others. But let us not throw out the baby with the bathwater. International free trade is for the most part, mutually beneficial. Do Americans want to endure an overnight hike in the Consumer Price Index of say, 400 per cent? I don't think they do.
Maybe in 2016 conscious Conservatism is no match for visceral populism. Maybe conscious Conservatism was just a fad. More likely, the Cons only paid lip service to free trade because that was the way the wind was blowing. But if Walmart jeans are set to go from $10 to $40 and even knock-off Droids rise in price by a couple hundred dollars, then Hillary might not be the worst of all worlds.
The Conservative impulse to toss free trade overboard scares me and puzzles me. Do they really believe in the premise of economic freedom? Largely, they do not. The new Economic Nationalists are frightening. They not only see the glass as half empty, they are not above dumping the contents to win the audience.
Sarah Palin said in effect that the net result of outsourcing manufacturing is that we save a penny at Walmart. Recently radio host Jim Bohannon said to his guest, Club of Growth president David McIntosh, that the net result of of offshoring is that we save eleven cents on brooms. Boston's WRKO replaced Rush Limbaugh with an idiot named Jeff Kuhner (which is another story for another time) who makes ridiculous statements about the evils of free trade in a latter day Pat Buchanan sort of way.
OK Sarah, I still love you but cheap Asian labor saves us more than a penny per item. Go to the local Dollar Tree and tell me how much each item would cost if it was made in America. I will go out on a limb and say more than $1.01. Using Bohannon's more liberal estimate, the broom--and presumably everything else--would then cost $1.11.
Both Jimbo and Sarah are guilty of hyperbole to the point of silliness. Tariff is the new mantra and it's not the Sanders mob doing the chanting. Then again, they are so abysmally stupid none of them can spell the word, much less define it. By killing NAFTA we can permanently eliminate the proposed Keystone Pipeline whereas Barack Obama only delayed it.
Before we get too high off the tariff fumes let us remind ourselves of a few basic facts.
1. Importers do not ultimately pay tariffs, consumers do.
2. A key factor in America's economic development was an early Supreme Court decision striking down interstate tariffs. (I forget which decision that was but I learned that in high school history at a time when schools still did a little bit of teaching.) Had the Supremes not spoken so forcefully we might now have county and municipal tariffs as well.
3. Domestic producers will often raise their own prices after foreign producers have their products artificially inflated. The consumer loses once more. Oh, and by the way, China did not take ALL of our jobs. That word seems to enter the conversation almost as frequently as the PENNY savings.
Yes, there are trade-offs and unforeseen consequences and some sectors are hit harder by change than are others. But let us not throw out the baby with the bathwater. International free trade is for the most part, mutually beneficial. Do Americans want to endure an overnight hike in the Consumer Price Index of say, 400 per cent? I don't think they do.
Maybe in 2016 conscious Conservatism is no match for visceral populism. Maybe conscious Conservatism was just a fad. More likely, the Cons only paid lip service to free trade because that was the way the wind was blowing. But if Walmart jeans are set to go from $10 to $40 and even knock-off Droids rise in price by a couple hundred dollars, then Hillary might not be the worst of all worlds.
Friday, April 1, 2016
White House Censors President Hollande
Original transcript starting at 1:20.
“We are also making sure that between Europe and the United States there can be a very high level coordination. But we’re also well aware that the roots of terrorism,
Thursday, March 31, 2016
In Defense Of Cheap Asian Labor. Part I
Were it not for cheap Asian labor you probably would not own a cell phone. If an Iphone were manufactured in the US it would probably retail at about $2K/unit. At that price, few people would own phones and we would probably not hit the critical mass needed to construct coast to coast networks. The Trumps can bitch and moan all they want but without China, we would all be poorer.
Blue jeans, flatware, microwave ovens to name but a few items are now cheaper in absolute dollars (and a fraction of the price in real dollars) than they were in 1970. We can credit Moore's Law for computational deflation but textiles, hardware, kitchen goods and just about everything else? Thank a Chinese peasant whose standard of living has tripled since 2001.
Blue jeans, flatware, microwave ovens to name but a few items are now cheaper in absolute dollars (and a fraction of the price in real dollars) than they were in 1970. We can credit Moore's Law for computational deflation but textiles, hardware, kitchen goods and just about everything else? Thank a Chinese peasant whose standard of living has tripled since 2001.
Americans are protected from a shrinking dollar and Asians triple their income in a decade in half. Sounds like a win-win situation doesn't it? It does unless you are a demagogue or con artist or political opportunist, in which case you will employ selective statistics, selective narratives, half-truths and even falsehoods to cultivate phantom grievances.
Free trade is good but unfortunately it is not fluffy. Thus, free trade will never be embraced by fluffy minds.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Only Trump Can Stop Trump But Don't Underestimate The Guy
Trump is a loose cannon. Yes, he will probably get the nomination and he could have waltzed through the general election but...he is Donald Trump.
Trump needs more than half of the GOP votes to win the presidency. He could have offered Cruz a Supreme Court nomination. He says he wants an insider as VP so he could have gotten Rubio or Kasich aboard. He managed to antagonize all three. More importantly, he antagonized his rivals' supporters instead of winning their patronage.
Some Cruz people will never forgive Trump for calling their man a liar. It might not matter in the primaries but it could matter in November. This is not the same as calling Jeb a low energy guy. It is a vicious lie directed against a good man who is lived by his people. Then he orchestrated the lothario rumors. If that wasn't low enough, he attacked Heidi Cruz. You might rethink that one next autumn, smart guy.
Some men see merit in staying with their wives through thick and thin and all of her bad moods. Not every man believes in trading up for a new model every few years. I am told that some women are against the practice. My position is that discretion is the better part of everything. If a man trades up, he should not compare his new toy to the wife of a man who stayed with his bride.
The ever-irascible Ann Coulter seems to agree: From The Washington Examiner:
For Coulter, Trump's attacks on Cruz's wife may have crossed a line, and she wished he, "would be a teensy bit less low-brow."
"This is the worst thing that he has done," she said as her host laughed. "Everything else I could probably defend."
Newt Gingrich called Trump's vicious attack on Heidi Cruz as "Trump's wake-up call." The jawbone and Twitter account of an ass might yet claim another victim.
Trump needs more than half of the GOP votes to win the presidency. He could have offered Cruz a Supreme Court nomination. He says he wants an insider as VP so he could have gotten Rubio or Kasich aboard. He managed to antagonize all three. More importantly, he antagonized his rivals' supporters instead of winning their patronage.
Some Cruz people will never forgive Trump for calling their man a liar. It might not matter in the primaries but it could matter in November. This is not the same as calling Jeb a low energy guy. It is a vicious lie directed against a good man who is lived by his people. Then he orchestrated the lothario rumors. If that wasn't low enough, he attacked Heidi Cruz. You might rethink that one next autumn, smart guy.
Some men see merit in staying with their wives through thick and thin and all of her bad moods. Not every man believes in trading up for a new model every few years. I am told that some women are against the practice. My position is that discretion is the better part of everything. If a man trades up, he should not compare his new toy to the wife of a man who stayed with his bride.
The ever-irascible Ann Coulter seems to agree: From The Washington Examiner:
For Coulter, Trump's attacks on Cruz's wife may have crossed a line, and she wished he, "would be a teensy bit less low-brow."
Newt Gingrich called Trump's vicious attack on Heidi Cruz as "Trump's wake-up call." The jawbone and Twitter account of an ass might yet claim another victim.
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