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In The Weekly Standard, Noemie Emery tells a story of the Rule by Experts theory of government, from it’s conception in the 1820’s to it’s latest failure, The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.  

 They had a dream. For almost a hundred years now, the famed academic-artistic-and-punditry industrial complex has dreamed of a government run by their kind of people (i.e., nature’s noblemen), whose intelligence, wit, and refined sensibilities would bring us a heaven on earth. Their keen intellects would cut through the clutter as mere mortals’ couldn’t. They would lift up the wretched, oppressed by cruel forces. Above all, they would counter the greed of the merchants, the limited views of the business community, and the ignorance of the conformist and dim middle class.”

In 2008 with the election of Barack Obama and the installation of America’s first leftist faculty lounge administration, they saw their chance of a lifetime to make vast changes to our way of life and government.  After all, this was what Obama campaingned on and promised – to fundamentally change America.  They set their sights on the perfect junction of American life and government regulation – healthcare.  And once they embarked on that particular journey, virtually everything they believed about their crown jewel would turn out to be exactly wrong.  From the very beginning, Obama and the democrats in congress thought their plan would be popular when in fact the public resented the fact that the administration’s focus was taken off economic recovery and put on healthcare.  The majority of Americans were satisfied with their healthcare arrangements but worried about the economy and the proposed plan was viewed as expensive and risky.  It only got worse from there. 

“Historians will see this health care bill as a masterfully crafted piece of legislation,” wrote Jonathan Chait… “The new law untangles the dysfunctionalities of the individual insurance market while fulfilling the political imperative of leaving the employer-provided system in place. .  .  . They put into place numerous reforms to force efficiency into a wasteful system. They found hundreds of billions of dollars in payment offsets, a monumental task in itself. And they will bring economic and financial security to tens of millions of Americans who would otherwise risk seeing their lives torn apart.”

It did none of these things. It did not fix the dysfunctions of the individual market; it destroyed it. It did not save money; it squandered billions. It did not bring peace and security to tens of millions of people; it took it away from them. The best and the brightest had made their predictions. They were wrong.

Liberal Pundits proclaimed the genius of the plan while knowing none of the details…we were told details didn’t matter.  Promises were made to the public by the highest memebers of the administration, most notably the President himself.  Promises that turned out to be nothing short of lies – it was known that the bill as being drafted would not allow many people to keep their plans or doctors.  But since that change was what most of the public feared the lies were integral to the passage of the act.

These people are (allegedly) the best and brightest among us…this was their moment in the sun.  And they failed…spectacularly.  There is a reason why cliches are cliches – because they’re true.  So when someone says they’re from the government and here to help, brace yourself – you’re about to get it good.

It hurts me to say we have a ruling class, but we do.  There are some elected and appointed officials, some members of Academia who advise them and unfortunately many journalists and members of the news media who believe that due to their superior ivy league educations, intellect and experience (however limited it may be) in government, education or journalism they are best suited to occupy the positions of power that shape and control life in America.  They believe in theory over reality and bureaucracy over democracy.  The sturdy bubble they dwell in keeps them well insulated from reality and reason.

They believe they are better than you.  They know better than you how you should live.  They know better than you what you should eat.  They know better than you where (or if) you should work, what you should drive and whether you can be trusted to defend yourself.  And…they are wrong.  About everything.

The middle class is their enemy.  Why?  Because the middle class are sufficiently comfortable to accept the status quo while having enough education and common sense to reject the blue sky promises and  ludicrous attempts at utopia building of their “betters”.  Plus they don’t need or want anyone to take care of them – they want ot be left alone which is a do gooders worst nightmare.  Your efforts to get ahead, improve your lot or provide for your family are viewed as greed or crass consumerism.  If you succeed they view that as an injustice that requires rectification.  Of course, they are entitled to their compensations.  No inequality concerns there.

While they speak in terms of social justice, income disparity and equality, in reality they are the worst kind of bigots – they think no one can get along without them.  And they are arrogant enough to believe that they can change human nature or the laws of economics with the stroke of a pen.  They think they are smarter than you and I but they lack the intelligence and common sense to know that they don’t and can’t know everything.  And that a person has the right to live their life as they see fit, fairness or not.  You see, life isn’t fair.

They want to create change, and as all good community organizers know, before people will demand radical change you have to get them good and riled up.  I think it’s working.  But I think they change they are going to get isn’t the change they were expecting.  At least I hope it isn’t.

Let me start by saying I am sick of bullsh*t.  What bullsh*t, you ask?  All this bullsh*t *waves hands around*.  It’s knee deep these days and getting worse.  So I am going to start calling people out on their bullsh*t.  Or call bullsh*t out on it’s bullsh*t or whatever…I’ll point out bullsh*t.

First – some of my own bullsh*t.  I have several favorite phrases that I use when confronted with and perplexed by various bullsh*t scenarios.  I like to exclaim “it’s all bullshit!” when someone makes an inexplicably bad and/or illogical decision that goes against my interests.  Sometimes I say “Dees ees boolsheet, man!”  in the voice of Ren from Ren & Stimpy which is what I often say when confronted with an unpleasant and unexpected surprise.  Or there is “Dat’s some bullshit right there” said a la Eddie Murphy (emphasis on the Bull) which is beautifully suited to any situation.  And finally the simple exclamation “BULLSHIT!” , used like a verbal rubber stamp, as if stamping the bullsh*t label on the offending transgression.  This is done quickly and loudly as if trying to win the bullsh*t game where you must be the first to buzz in with the response.

Our quest for deciphering bullsh*t may take us on  strange paths and across some unexpected reveleations up to and including multi-level bullsh*t which is bullsh*t built upon a foundation of more bullsh*t;  6 degrees of separation bullsh*t, where you will be surprised to find out that two apparaenlty separate instances of bulllsh*t are actually part of the same larger pool of bullsh*t;  and what is referred to as “unbelievalbe bullsh*t” which is something that is such total bullsh*t that it is…well… unbelievable.

Bullsh*t slingers beware!  You have been warned!

So close!  We’re nearly there!  Just a few more things to ban, then a few more things to mandate!  We can do it!

In its first test since a deal brought formerly opposed lawmakers on board, a bill banning single-use plastic bags in California passed the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday. – SacBee.com

Apparently since I am over 50, I am a dinosaur as are most of my family and acquaintances.  I know this is true because when I tell people I know to read my blog, they say “what’s a blog?”  I am so screwed – since I don’t write about Beyonce or Justin Bieber no one under thirty will ever read this and no one over thirty knows what a blog is.  So let me tell you a little bit about how I found out about blogs, became a reader of blogs and then went on to blogging.

I have never thought of myself as an early adopter of technology but I have been using the internet since the early 1990’s.  Thinking about it now, it was the dawn of time.  My chosen portal: AOL, now just a footnote to history.  I started out reading what they called “newsgroups” which were kind of like discussion boards where someone would post an article or website adress, people would read and discuss.  Usually I would “lurk” in these newsgroups, a term that means to look in, read the article and discussion but not participate – if you don’t speak up, no one knows you’re there.  This evolved into general web surfing and a few sites helped fuel that, mainly The Drudge Report (which started out mainly as movie industry news and gossip) with it’s many links to news stories.  Another was Lucianne.com founded by Jonah Goldberg’s mother, Lucianne Goldberg.  It’s still around.  Finally, sometime in the early 2000’s a Radio Talk Show host I listen to named Hugh Hewitt began talking about this new thing on the internet with a funny name.  Blobs?  No, that can’t be it.  BLOG!  That’s it – internet lingo shorthand for weblog.  Weblog = weBLOG = BLOG.  He wrote a book about it.  Anyway, the amount of information and perspectives on information available to me online took a quantum leap with that revelation.  There are blogs about everything you can think of.  I zeroed in on politcal blogs mostly, but also branched out into Law, and Science as well as general interest.  Many bloggers write about other subjects in addition to their area of expertise if they have one.  When 9/11 happened, I started reading the military blogs or MILblogs.  Yes, the blogosphere has covered the War on Terror.  Over the course of years, I came to admire some of these bloggers (whom I have never met, nor communicated with) and at some point decided that imitation would be the best form of flattery.  On the sidebar to the right you will see a heading that says “Some Blogs I Like”:  Click on any of those, they are worth your time.

The subtitle of Hewitt’s book sums up the what Blogging is to me and why I decided to become a participant instead of just an observer:  “Why You Must Know How The Blogosphere Is Smashing The Old Media Monopoly And Giving Individuals Power In The Marketplace Of Ideas”.  I have decided to exercise my power and transform my exploration of life into a creative exercise – and to invite you along.  If you are lurking here, your journey has already begun.  Step into the light, introduce yourself and we can all continue our journey together.

I write about anything that happens to be of interest to me, and the subject matter is varied.  The posts are  in chronological order, the newest at the top – you can keep scrolling down to the bottom of the page and keep going back to view older  posts, all the way back to the beginning of time…err.. when I started this blog in February of 2014.  If you like what I write about some subjects but don’t care for others, look on the sidebar to the right.  You will see “categories”.  All my posts fit into one or more of these categories.  Click on the category you are most interested in, and you will see only posts in that category.  Simple.  Within my posts I often link to additional information and/or another blog or article that inspired the post.  When you see a word in red text, that is a link to additional information.  Click on it and the link will open in a new tab.  Any pictures within a post can usually be viewed in a larger version by simply clicking on the picture.

Please comment! To the left of the title you will see a box with the date and below it a box that says comments.  Click there and a dialogue box will open where you will be able to write comments on the article. This is how I know you’re reading and I welcome all feedback on my writing. You will be asked for your name and e-mail adress but don’t worry!  You can use an alias if you don’t want to disclose your name and your e-mail adress will not be displayed, nor will I spam you.  I moderate all the comments so I will see your comment.

Thanks! and Enjoy!

A normal person suggested I post more recipes on this blog.  Up til now I have only posted one recipe and that was for the perfect Manhattan.  So let me think…hmmm… I don’t think  it’s a good idea to turn this into a cooking blog since I can only “man cook”.  But I will post a recipe this time as a personal favor.  You owe me now!  Note that this is not my recipe – if it were my recipe it would likely be inedible.  And actually it’s not a recipe at all – it’s a link to a quiche recipe from a celebrity chef.  I won’t tell you who it is but I will give you a hint – he is f*cking famous.  Plus I liked the name: Rocket, Mushroom and Bacon Quiche.

That’s a quiche?

You’re Welcome!

It’s more Latin!  This phrase meaning literally “to infinity” or loosely “without end”.  In conversation and writing it is used to describe a process that continues without a foreseeable conclusion or resolution, not to describe a person physically moving toward infinity.  If one were moving toward infinity what would that mean?

Ad Infinitum…Et Ultra!

Since infinity is not a physical object, one could never reach infinity much less move past it.  Even if given all of eternity (I assume).  Infinity is defined as the quality of being infinite, or without end or limit; or a space, amount or period of time that is without limit or end.  Well, that clears things up…not!  One thing is known – this post will not go on ad infinitum.  The End.

Dinoasurs like me who have an affinity for muscular cars powered soley by our long deceased dinosaur cousins will have to get used to the fact that the sports cars of the future are going to be driven at least partially by electrons.  Of course, those electrons are still produced by our long deceased dinosaur cousins.  But I digress…

Now BMW has unveiled it’s new plug-in hybrid sports coupe for 2015, the i8.  Gone are the days when a BMW’s model number would tell you the specifics about the car – engine displacement, body style, etc. – apparently this one was named after an Interstate Highway?  No matter.  Autoblog gives us a complete and thorough road test of the $130,000 plus coupe which is powered by a 129 horsepower 96 Kw electric motor up front and a 231 horsepower turbocharged 1.5 liter 3 cylinder gasoline engine in the rear.  My guess is they took the venerable 3 liter six and lopped it in half.  A computer decides whether you get gas powered rear wheel drive or electric powered front wheel drive (or a combination of both) based on settings chosen by the driver and the heaviness of the driver’s right foot.  The tandem power plants deliver a combined 362 horsepower and 420 pounds feet of torque which will propel the i8 from 0-60 in a non-hybrid like 4.3 seconds.  This is due in large part to the coupe’s miniscule curb weight of 3,285 lbs. which translates into a horsepower to weight ratio of a shade more that 220 hp/ton.  Not bad.  And looks – wow!  Like a concept car.  I keep asking where are the flying cars that futurists of the sixties promised us – this one doesn’t fly, but looks like it could (or should).

Impressive design, impressive engineering and impressive performance.  I would expect no less from BMW.  However… as deep as it is in design, engineering and performance, it comes up short in convenience and practicality.  There are no cupholders for the occupants of the front seats (!) and with an engine in the front and the back, there is no trunk for your junk.  BMW has yet to release economy figures.  $130K + seems like a stretch unless you’re just trying to out status the neighbors.  I still think for the money I’d have an Audi R-8.  Screw the environment.

Cross posted at the blog: Men Out Of Work

Or what makes a human “human” and an animal “not human”?  Well, it’s not physical charactersitics because there are animals that share our physical characteristics.  Humans have a soul and animals do not?  There is no physical proof of the presence or absence of a soul in humans or animals for that matter.  These questions and rebuttals can proceed ad infinitum.  Eventually the question is begged: Do Animals Have Rights?

I don’t think this stuff up on my own.  Usually someone a lot smarter and more articulate than I am writes something that get me thinking.  And this time it’s no different.  Via Althouse I found this article:  http://althouse.blogspot.com/2014/04/in-his-animal-law-classes-wise-told-me.html

Which in turn led me to this NYT article: “Should a Chimp Be Able To Sue It’s Owner?”

Both of these articles look at the question more from the perspective of “in the eyes of the law, what makes a human different from an animal?”  For one thing a human can communicate with his/her attorney or the court.  If the client can’t then someone is given power of attorney and the right to speak for the one who can’t.    Well that could be done for an animal as well, right?  Hmmm…  One thing seems for certain – humans are unique among the other animals of the earth and I don’t make that statement simply from the arrogance of being the Apex Predator.  And since we are unique, there is something that makes us so.  But exactly what is it?  Up for debate – ad infinitum.

And it will only get more complicated…

What about Robot Animals?