PN:
Joe’s Comment – Has there ever been a language as versatile and multi-faceted as English? I stared at this cartoon for “a few whiles” (an expression coined by my son Donald) before I realized that the potato behind the steering wheel is baked. You know, cooked, with chives and butter and maybe “twice-baked“. WTF? Then it congealed in my little pea brain – “baked” is also an expression used to describe a seriously stoned/disfunctional pothead. It took me a moment to connect the dots. Very clever cleaver of words!
The cartoonist is Lorie Ransom.
Here’s another of hers that made me look twice, think, snort and grin. What a mischievious mind she has! –
Another witty Lorie Ransom play on words –
It could be the case that other languages enable (indeed, encourage) humor and multiple meanings and tomfoolery to the nth more than English.
If there are, which are they?
For some reason I can’t think this is possible in German…..
Thomas J. DiLorenzo
Joe and I found Professor DiLorenzo’s 2016 book “The Problem With Socialism” an excellent primer on the switch-and-bait obfuscation incorporated by advocates of “equality” as a political platform objective: egalitarian means socialism which means taking from some to give to others by means of force, by coercion.
Not to say Joe and I are heartless curmudgeons.
The statistics of “wealth distribution” in a society (the West or any other political manifestation of government) are clear: there is an heirarchy.
Heirarchy is a natural phenomenon; no two snowflakes are identical.
Joe and I equate a large portion of success to IQ or G Factor or smarts or moxie or whatever you might call the superiority of some over others in brainpower.
The Bell Curve of IQ is an unfortunate reality: some are not equipped to prosper.
In North America Joe estimates that number to be approaching 60 million souls.
Add to that the unpredictable lottery of birth into varied circumstance; poverty or wealth, privilege or discrimination, wellness or illness, freedom or bondage (take your pick of antonyms at the link).
However much you pretend this isn’t a heartbreaking reality, however much you wish for a political solution, however much you want the problem to go away, there it is.
As Mongo said, “Mongo only pawn in game of life”:
Joe says there are a lot of pawns out there. If you are a believer in “Identity Politics”, there is no question that EVERYONE is a pawn. What balderdash…..
Joe asks the question: what humane policy can be implemented to aleviate the suffering of the less fortunate? A policy whose good intention does NOT destroy the more fortunate in its attempt at solving the egalitarian knot; it is the nature of life.
There, but for the grace of doG, walks us: smart enough to know you’re damned if you do and damned if ya don’t.
We don’t have a certain solution, but we believe that socialist policies is the worst possible remedy to the fact that human life is tragic; inequality cannot be fixed by force. Inequality is a fundamental of life.
This video is a recent Thomas DiLorenzo presentation from July 17th, 2019 at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, titled “Ten Things You Should Know About Socialism”.
He gives an overview of the ideology, the theory, the implementation, and the result of a century of political experimentation:
Homage to Adam Smith
Often referred to as the “Father of Economics” or the “Father of Capitalism”, his writings in “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” (1776) and “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” (1759) foretold the growth of wealthy nations of people when unfettered by excessive government oversight or restriction, creating and trading in what he called a “free market economy”.
This video presented by the Free To Choose Network is titled “The Real Adam Smith: Ideas That Changed the World”:
Kevin O’Leary
A Canadian businessman who has dabbled in politics and entertainment (Shark Tank) explains who Donald Trump is and why he has been successful.
Here he is being interviewed by Nick Gillespie of Reason.com.
Joe thinks Nick is a prick.
Joe thinks Kevin is one sharp businessman who left Canada physically and financially due to the incompetance of Chief Rainbow Socks and his Merry Band of Pranksters.
A twofer.
Joe and I should have spent more time thinking about $$$ and less about whatever the hell we thought about. Then we’d have a better understanding of what the man is talking about:
Daniel Crenshaw
This well-spoken ex-Seal recently elected to Congress has true horsepower. Joe figures any country whose government can attract people of this caliber will be the envy of the world.
Joe and I watched all of the WCS 2019 presentations found on the Centenial Institute YoubeTube channel. Michelle Malkin, David Horowitz, Brigitte Gabriel, Larry Elder, Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump Jr., are some of the featured speakers.
Time well spent.
Learned Feudalism
Joe and I stumbled over a discussion of “learned feudalism” while browsing the Internet. The document was written in 2010, a transcription of a speech, and appeared on the website The Smallest Minority. The actual presentation was a speech by George Will, given at the Milton Friedman Prize Dinner Keynote Address, May 17th, 2010 at the Cato Institute. You can listen to Mr. Will’s speech here. Well worth the time to listen.
(Joe and I have taken to including redundant descriptions for many links that we post/embed, for the simple reason that links come and go, especially those about “hot button” topics especially especially those with political overtones. The extra descriptors can help a person find the information via a different search. That’s our theory, take it or not.)
A couple of noteworthy concepts and quotes struck Joe and me as foundational. An example regarding the nature of debt –
“The feast on the flesh of the future is what debt is. To get a sense of the size of our debt, in 1916, midway in Woodrow Wilson’s first term, the richest man in America John D. Rockefeller could have written a personal check and retired the National Debt. Today the richest man in America, Bill Gates, could write a personal check for all his worth and not pay two months interest on the National Debt. Five years from now interest debt service will consume half of all income taxes. Ten years from now the three main entitlements, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security plus interest will consume 93% of all federal revenues. Twenty years from now debt service interest will be the largest item in the federal budget.”
We have never heard a more apt and deserving definition of debt. Sometimes debt is considered necessary and can be justified. Debt incurred specifically and wholy for political gain is a form of abuse – abuse of children, often yet not born. A “a gluttonous feast on the flesh of the future” is precisely that.
Another striking concept which Joe and I have experienced up close and personal is how to limit the power and/or overstep of government. James Madison, a Founding Father, alluded to the effort invested by the Constitution authors to define the limit of government. The quote from the speech –
“We are going to come now to a time when America’s going to have to revisit Madison’s Federalist Paper 45, and his statement “the powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.”
Few and defined.
The cost of not facing this fact of not enforcing the doctrine in some sense of enumerated powers, is that big government inevitably breeds bigger government. James Q. Wilson, one of the great social scientists in American history, put it this way: “Once politics was about only a few things. Today it is about nearly everything. Once the legitimacy barrier has fallen, political conflict takes a very different form. New programs need not await the advent of a crisis of extraordinary majority, because no program is any longer new. It is seen rather as an extension, a modification or an enlargement of something the government is already doing. Since there is virtually nothing the government has not tried to do, there is little that it cannot be asked to do.”
And so we have today’s death spiral of the welfare state: an ever-larger government resting on an ever-smaller tax base. Government impeding the creation of wealth in order to enforce the redistribution of it. We’re not fooling, however, the American people. The Wall Street Journal this morning announced with a sort of breathless surprise that about 80% of the American people disapprove of congress. Raising a fascinating question: who are the 20%?”
Heady concepts.
Spoken in 2010.
Like many events in life, simply speaking about an issue does NOT make it so, or make it happen. At best it can inform then inspire then lead to comprehensive change.
Is change going to be possible without violence?
Joe is not optimistic.
Brazil
Joe and I have always kept Brazil as a fantasy destination in our “what if” fantasy mind. Maybe it’s Christ the Redeemer blessing the city of Rio de Janerio that attracts our interest –
or the Hollywood romances of the ’30’s and ’40’s, or that fantastic song “Brazil (Return I will to Old)” which tickles our fancy. Here’s one of our favorite renditions by The Real Tuesday Weld:
Perhaps a Frank Sinatra version (he released it several times over many decades) with that irresistible big band sound:
Or maybe the version from the Terry Gilliam directed movie “Brazil”, which blew our 1985 mind to little fragments. So wistful, so haunting, so melancholy, so dark:
Well Sparky, that dream is dead.
Brazil is a hell hole.
A woman is killed every 2 hours in Brazil, and assaulted every 15 seconds (return I will NOT).
A three year old summary from Bloomberg about the Brazil problems.
Things may be turning about.
Gun laws have been relaxed.
Gun crime is (slowly) dropping.
Brazil has a huge death by firearm problem. Here is a report which suggests that allowing citizens to own firearms for self defence will be affective:
This seems to be the result of electing Jair Bolsonaro president. He has been called the “Donald Trump of the tropics”.
Here’s a report that states guns are saving lives in Brazil. Seems like guns have a purpose after all. For example (one of thousands):
The question is: how would you defend your life, your family, or your property against an armed hostile criminal force? A force that was larger than you and yours?
Joe says it is a no brainer for most people to cipher.
Especially females, who are (generally) smaller and weaker, and more beautiful (that last point is arguable). From Slow Facts website, “Gun Control Puts Women at Risk“.
An interesting analysis of the geography of Brazil, and the unique challenges faced by 200 million Brazilians:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ2jmrz_xgU
Joe comments that Brazil has an average national IQ of 87. The U.S. military will not accept an enlistee with an IQ lower than approximately 83. That seems to be the cut-off where value in is greater than value out.
Just sayin’.
Joe says let’s play that The Real Tuesday Weld version again…..
The Meaning of Life (manly man edition)
Joe says this is NOT a Monty Python sketch, movie, or episode.
This is vital information about how to motivate men.
Joe and I saw a movie or read an article or heard a speech some time somewhere, an idea from which stuck in our head.
The idea goes something like this:
“People want love. If they don’t find love, they want purpose. Lacking purpose, they just want something to do“.
We found this very compelling. Very fatalistic and depressing, too.
Along comes Dr. Jordan Peterson with an excellent primer to energize the search for meaning; for purpose:
Joe’s Garage
Sutton Hoo Treasure
Our rambling stumbling surfing of the Internet occasionally turns up treasures for the mind and the eye which we weren’t particularly seeking.
Joe says that is a win-win.
Or in our case, a win-win-win.
The following video presents what is known and what is speculated about one of the British Museum’s most treasured collections – the artifacts from the burial mound at Sutton Hoo, estimated to be from the mid-seventh century.
A story of kings and wealth and dynasty:
Lord Christopher Monckton
A British hero who has been fighting the good fight against the IPCC for decades.
He fights them with data, science, and their own documents.
It is no wonder they try to exclude him from their cozy U.N. supported love-fests whose goal is global governance and “wealth distribution”, i.e., the destruction of Western economies.
He is akin to the Energizer Bunny (he never stops).
This is his presentation at the ICCC13 (13th International Conference on Climate Change) from July 2019.
Other presenters/presentions here:
POLITICS, POLITICIANS, WACKJOBBERY, HUMOROUS, STUPID
SUNDAY SERMON
This week’s sermon is a Ronald Regan Library forum with Victor Davis Hanson, discussing his new book “The Case for Trump”, and current political themes; prescient in vision and validity. The presentation was in March of 2019:
WEATHER (OR NOT)
All of Joe and my votes are in.
Best week this summer.
Some say hot.
We differ; 35 degrees C is getting hot.
Joe says if it broke 30 it wasn’t for long.
No complaints.
This is our weather.
Viva le soleil!
Joe (happy) Mekanic
p.s. Just in time Ramirez –
