Category: Uncategorized

Health or family?

One wonders which of these two reasons will serve as an excuse for Obama to abandon a run for a second term:

On December 15, 2011, Defendant, President Barack Obama, moved for dismissal of Plaintiffs’ challenge to his qualifications for office. The Court has jurisdiction to hear this contested case pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the “Georgia Administrative Procedure Act.”

For the reasons indicated below, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is DENIED…. Accordingly, this Court finds that Defendant is a candidate for federal office who has been certified by the state executive committee of a political party, and therefore must, under Code Section 21-2-5, meet the constitutional and statutory qualifications for holding the office being sought.

Obama has always been dependent upon the courts preventing these sorts of legal challenges from being heard, which he has successfully prevented to date. But once the cat of his ineligibility is out of the bag – and we already know that he released a fake birth certificate and has a fake social security number – the Democratic pressure for him to step aside in favor of Hillary should be irresistible.

His illegal “recess” appointments when the Senate is not in recess are unlikely to help his cause.

Adios, crazy eyes

I know we will all miss that weirdly intense stare and staunch defense of AmericanIsraeli borders:

Rep. Michele Bachmann will “suspend her campaign” a senior campaign officials tells ABC News, just hours after placing last in the Iowa caucuses and vowing to continue in South Carolina. Bachmann finished sixth in Tuesday’s Iowa caucus.

It’s a pity Gingrich and Perry didn’t decide to do the same… yet. And what is Huntsman up to anyhow? I think he got fewer votes in Iowa than I did.

The time capsule

I was catching up with my old bandmates after writing the first two posts about the band’s history, and I learned, to my delight, that Mike not only saved all the old demos, but had even converted the old cassettes to digital as well. The quality is pretty low, but you’re interested in unreleased 21-year old music, you can find a download link to an MP3 of Sex Me Up, the song mentioned in the second part of the True and Obscure History, at Alpha Game along with a Game-related take on it. It was on our three-song demo and was very popular with the crowd at The Perimeter, but didn’t end up making the album since we’d moved too far into techno-rave and too far away from rock during the recording process, so it was never released and I hadn’t heard it since 1994.

I’m particularly excited about Mike’s little trove because there was one song that I didn’t have on tape and thought was lost forever. Fortunately, Mike saved it too, and it’s even more awesome than I remembered. But more about that in the next installment.

Iowa Republicans prefer the status quo

30,015 Mitt Romney
30,007 Rick Santorum
26,219 Ron Paul

While it is disappointing that nearly 80 percent of Iowa Republicans support the status quo, it is not at all surprising and the strength of Ron Paul’s showing indicates there is a growing understanding among the electorate that the present political structure, dominated as it is by the two factions of the Bank Party, is going to fail. This is why Ron Paul must run as a third-party candidate in the general election, to give Americans the genuine choice between the national interest and the Bank Party they will be otherwise denied. Rand Paul’s assessment is completely wrong, as the Tea Party will remain toothless so long as it remains in the Republican Party and is subject to being used by the Red Party faction. The continued increase in federal spending and federal debt despite more than 100 new Republican House members, the majority of whom voted to increase the debt limit, suffices to prove that.

Unlike most Americans, Iowans were given a genuine choice. They decided to support the status quo. So, shed no tears for them when they suffer the consequences of their decision. Have no sympathy whatsoever for anyone who supports the likes of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, or Barack Obama, then complains about losing their job, not keeping up with the interest payments on their debts, having their house foreclosed, losing their pension, or being victimized by an immigrant. All of those things are the predictable result of the continuation of the status quo, which they materially support.

That may sound bitter, but it’s truly not. I pronounced the casting of the die several years ago I certainly didn’t expect Ron Paul to win enough caucus support to reach double digits. But barring some extraordinary events in the next three months causing a great awakening among primary-voting Republicans, it is too little, too late, for the nation.

The best of Stupefying Stories

The Original Cyberpunk provides a complete list and asks for everyone’s favorites from the first three issues:

During 2011, STUPEFYING STORIES published twenty-seven stories and two poems. Which were your favorites, and why? Considering the contents of our first three issues, are there any contributors from whom you would particularly like to see a return appearance?

Speaking only for myself, I would have to say that the two best stories were “The King of Ash and Bones” by Rebecca Roland and “The Window” by David Yener Goodman. But then, I haven’t read the third issue yet; it is next on my list after I finish the Brandon Sanderson novel I am currently reading.

The significance of Iowa

As we all know, the result of the Iowa caucuses will either be seen as a conclusive expression of the voice of the people – if Romney wins – or a totally meaningless manipulation of a minor and outdated aspect of the nomination process that really needs to be changed – if Paul wins. I shall be very surprised if all the belated conservative drum-banging on Santorum’s behalf has any impact, but then, it appears to be his turn at the Romney-alternative-who-is-not-Ron-Paul wheel.

But it will be illuminating to see how many Iowans understand that their choice is between the Bank Party and the American Party. The Bank Party, which includes both Democratic and Republican factions, is fundamentally globalist at its core and has no real concern for American interests. Romney, Gingrich, Obama, Santorum, Perry, Santorum, Cain, and even Bachmann are all representatives of the Bank Party. As Ron Paul himself correctly pointed out: “The others represent the status quo, variation of the status quo.”

Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate who actually represents America in its traditional and Constitutional form, which of course is why he is being attacked from the mainstream “left” and “right” alike. And if Iowans decide that they are more inclined to support the Bank Party, so be it. They will receive the government they have chosen, which is to say more war, more government spending, more government expansion, and more rule on behalf of the big banks. If you want the status quo, then by all means, vote for Romney, or Gingrich, or Santorum, or Obama.

As Americans, we are fortunate to actually have been presented with this choice, as most people throughout history have not been given one. Of course, the fact that we have a choice doesn’t meant that we won’t make the correct one.

If you’re a reader of this blog and you are in Iowa, I would strongly encourage you to show up at your local caucus and cast a vote for Ron Paul’s nomination. I recommend this because I suspect you may well regret knowing that you did not do so when you had the chance to give the rest of your fellow Americans the same opportunity to make a choice between America and the Bank Party.

So much for the democratic revolution

I find it amusing that the very democratic revolutionaries who support the open immigration of Muslims and other third-worlders to the USA as well as the forcible imposition of democracy throughout the world expect us to be shocked and horrified when democracy actually triumphs:

Mindful of its lopsided electoral triumph in Egypt, which has been so enthusiastically welcomed by the Obama administration and top Democratic emissary John Kerry, the Muslim Brotherhood has announced plans to submit the Camp David Accords — the treaty that has kept the peace between Egypt and Israel for over 30 years — to a popular vote.

The amazing thing is that Egypt is objectively more democratic, and its Muslim Brotherhood government is objectively more legitimate, than most of the governments in the European Union. If the world democratic revolutionaries were genuinely more committed to democracy than to their bizarre Israel Uber Alles policy, they would be celebrating the fact that Egypt’s government is proving itself to be more democratic and more respectful of the will of its people than the former European democracies, or even, in some cases, the United States itself.

But, of course, they’re not, and we always knew they weren’t from the start.

2011 predictions reviewed

1. U-3 unemployment will climb above 10 percent. The real unemployment rate will be much higher, but it will be masked by a decline in the Labor Force Participation rate below 64 percent. The employment-population ratio will fall below 58 percent for the first time since 1984.

Incorrect.  A close miss, but still a miss. The U3 unemployment rate peaked at 9.8 percent in 2011.  It was, as expected, masked by a decline in the Labor Force Participation rate to 63.9 percent.  Even so, the employment-population rate only fell to 58.1 percent in July before recovering to 58.5 percent in November.

2. Real GDP growth for 2011 will fall short of the 3.4 percent predicted by Goldman Sachs. It will remain positive in initial reports throughout the year, but the final quarter will eventually be revised down into negative territory. The legitimacy of GDP as a valid metric for economic growth will increasingly be called into question as the positive numbers are belied by actual conditions.

Correct.  The first three quarters of 2011 were all below 2%, so this one can be called even though the initial Q4 report isn’t out yet.

3. The 2011 federal deficit will exceed the projected $1.27 trillion despite the Republican House majority. This will likely be the result of emergency spending required for an economic or military crisis.

Correct.  The deficit in the fiscal year of 2011 was $1,295 billion.  And the only reason it is that close was the delay in bumping up the debt ceiling, which has already been reached again.  So much for the oft-heard assumption that a Tea Party-inspired Republican House would solve the spending problem.

4. More than 230 banks will fail or be seized by the FDIC. This will represent around 1.2% of total deposits. Bank of America will be effectively nationalized to prevent it from failing.

Incorrect.  Not even close.  Only 92 banks failed this year, none of them giants.  Bank of America’s stock took a hit, but it is still staggering around, hemorrhaging red ink.  I suspect the flat stock market prevented this from getting out of hand.

5. TOTLL will decline below $6.3 trillion on an unadjusted basis. (Below $5.9 trillion adjusted.)

Incorrect again.   The Fed managed to keep bank lending propped up; TOTLL is still holding tight at $6.9 trillion, although it is still below peak.

6. The two government sectors will not be able to maintain their present rate of debt expansion which presently averages around $450 billion per quarter. As the financial and household sectors continue to decline, all sectors credit market debt outstanding, (Z1), will fall below $50 trillion for the first time since 2007.

Incorrect, unless Federal debt falls more than $762 billion in Q4.  Although its rate of growth did slow down considerably during the first two quarters, federal debt outstanding leaped 4 percent in the third quarter alone and exceeded $10 trillion for the first time thanks to the debt ceiling hike.  The state and local sector is a bit of a mess, since some serious revisions in the last Z1 report suddenly show that a sector which has been showing flat for three years growing 23.8 percent in from Q2 to Q3.  Z1 itself showed $1.3 trillion in growth from Q2, but most of that was historical revisions and is now at $53.8 trillion.  The numbers look increasingly sketchy, but regardless, my prediction of a sub-50 all sectors Z1 was wrong.

7. The national median existing-home price will fall below 160k from the present 170,600.

Correct.  Home prices fell to 156,100 in February.  As of the November report, they presently stand at 164,200

8. There will be a serious Euro crisis, most likely brought about by a sovereign default or a nation announcing it will be leaving the Euro. Italy is the most likely candidate.

Correct.  Greece has technically defaulted even though it’s being spun as a “restructuring”, and although no nation has announced that it is leaving the Euro yet, there is definitely a serious Euro crisis taking place, as the IMF-led overthrow of the governments of Greece and Italy demonstrates.

9. One U.S. state and at least three major cities (100k population plus) will attempt to file for bankruptcy or federal bailout. (It’s unclear if states can file for bankruptcy and public employee unions will oppose the city filings.)

Incorrect.  One big county and one state capital too small to count as major aren’t enough.

Bonus: Sitemeter-recorded visits to the blog will increase from 2,370,028 visitors in 2010, (197,502 per month) to 2,750,000.
Correct.  2,828,490 visitors in 2011 exceeded projections, especially considering that this doesn’t count the 305,835 visitors to the new Alpha Game blog.  Combined, that shows an increase in blog readership somewhere between 19 and 32 percent over the course of the year.  Combined pageviews for 2011 were 4,600,960; since it’s an election year in 2012, there would appear to be a reasonable chance to exceed 5 million on VP alone.

Overall, the score is 4-4, with the bonus tipping the balance in my favor, 5-4.  Not very good, and I’m disappointed with the Z1 revisions rendering the historical statistics potentially useless now.  That was a little worse than last year’s 5-3 scorecard.  In light of another mediocre performance, I’ll have to think about whether I’m going to bother making any quantifiable predictions for 2012, other than to say that I expect it to be more chaotic and contractionary than 2011 was.

WND column

2012: An important year

In history, there are certain years that bear special significance. Every educated individual understands the importance of 1066, of 1776 and of 1913. And while the Mayan calendar-based eschatology has garnered an amount of media interest and Mexican tourism, there are some reasons to suspect that 2012 will be more historically momentous than the mere fact of it being a presidential election year would tend to indicate.

The reason for this is that a number of recognizable, large-scale historical patterns that have been playing out for years all appear to be coming to a head at approximately the same time. There are four of these distinct trends, which, although inextricably intertwined to some degree, can nevertheless be identified as the economic, political, geo-strategic and demographic patterns.

Jared Allen is a monster!

The Vikings season may be over, but they’re not quitting. Allen has three sacks already and there’s still four minutes left in the third quarter… he only needs one more to break Strahan’s Favre-assisted NFL record. And Dan Marino could take some lessons from Chris Doleman, the former Vikings record-holder. I always liked Doleman back in his day and he looked downright delighted to see Allen bringing down McCoy.