STAY TUNED ...

I will post the videos from the DC Tea Party on April 15, but right now my laptop is refusing to install the antivirus software - and I do have a day job.

CHRYSLER REJECTS MORE GOVERNMENT AID

Via Fox News:

The Washington Post reported on its Web site Monday that Chrysler Financial turned down $750 million in aid on top of $1.5 billion it already has received.

Chrysler Financial ... issued a statement saying it has enough private capital to meet its short-term needs of lending money to dealers and customers, and it doesn't need more money now from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

The light is dawning. “I’m from the Government and I’m here to help you” is an oxymoron.

ON SOCIALISM – OR IS IT FASCISM?

In a comment thread about the lack of media attention to the attendance at the national “tea parties” on Wednesday, Tim notes (scroll down):

When the net “takers” outnumber the net “contributors” in our society ... [s]ocialism will rule. Clearly the agenda in Washington is to maximize the number of “takers” that can be created. The flaw in their design (as there always will be one) is that eventually they will eliminate all the contributors.

I’m certainly sympathetic to the thought, but based on the Webster’s Dictionary definitions, I lean a little more toward a fascist interpretation of the Obama admininstration philosophy – (a) centralized government control of private enterprise and (b) suppression of any opposition.

I’ll blame Obama for the first; the mainstream media seems to be doing its best to achieve the second.

SO WHO’S WORSE?

Brown University, for renaming the Columbus Day holiday as "Fall Weekend?"

Or Notre Dame, for covering up religious symbols for President Obama's speech?

Political Correctness run amok.

A LITTLE LATE, BUT STILL ...

THEY DID IT FOR YOU. NOW DO IT FOR THEM.

These men [our Founding Fathers] signed a document knowing that was their death sentence, should their ramshackle collection of farmers and brewers and smiths fail to prevail against the most powerful military force the world had ever seen. A death sentence. They did that, not because they craved money, or social position, or political power – as with all revolutions before or since. Most of them had that in abundance. This was a risk they took not to gain everything, but to lose it.

They did it because they believed that men should be free: free from the petty tyrannies of other people telling you what to do for your own good.

If you couldn’t be there in person, there will be more.

And think about this (from the comments): “I’m going to the one in Washington D.C. I’m doing it for my children. I want them to know that I didn’t sit back while my generation passed on massive debt to theirs.”

My thoughts exactly.

SMALL CARS AREN’T SAFE?

Who’d’ve thunk it?

In crash tests released Tuesday, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that drivers of 2009 versions of the Smart "fortwo," Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris could face significant leg and head injuries in severe front-end crashes with larger, mid-size vehicles.

The institute has raised questions about whether stricter gas mileage rules, which are being developed by the government, might lead to smaller, lighter vehicles that could be less safe.

Well, of course they’re less “safe” -- higher mileage implies smaller and lighter, and smaller and lighter don’t do well against bigger and heavier. Why do you think there are weight classes in almost every one-on-one sport? Why are women’s sports separate from men’s sports? Where is common sense? Oh, never mind ....

The real question is when (if) the Nanny-State Liberals will realize that there is always a trade-off between benefit and risk. To put it bluntly, to get the benefit of increased mileage, one is going to have to accept the additional risk of getting creamed in a crash.

Face it, folks – semi-trailers, box trucks, buses, delivery vans, concrete barriers, and trees aren’t going to vanish in the forseeable future, and to misuse an analogy, it really doesn’t matter if the hammer hits the light bulb or the light bulb hits the hammer, it’s the light bulb that’s going to take the beating every time.

Frankly, the best way to solve the safety “issue” is to immediately disable all the safety equipment on every car in America – no seat belts, no air bags, nothing – and issue a stern warning to every driver that his/her survival is wholly dependent on two things: (a) driving skill, and (b) undivided attention to the road.

ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT – PART TWO

Let’s see, now. The Thursday Washington Times [print edition] reported on Wednesday’s tea parties on the front page, above the fold, with three pictures. A second article was inside the first section, on page A15. Both articles were national in scope.

The [Manassas VA] News & Messenger reported on Wednesday’s tea party in Woodbridge, Virginia, on the front page, again above the fold, with two photos from the protest. It did not mention other tea party protests.

The Washington Post [print edition] coverage was a mostly negative article, with a single protest photo, in the B [Metro] section. There was no mention of other protests until the eighth paragraph, on page B2 inside. Nothing to see here, folks. Nope. Nothing. Just move along now.

[Update] Oops. I missed Dana Milbank's snark on page B2.

NO BIAS HERE, JUST MOVE ON

Hey, robots, use your brain instead of blindly protesting

I don't blame the folks at Fox News for being the promotional engine behind the Tax Day Tea Party protests today.

Fox has been laughable for years, and this is just another low-level stunt for ratings.

So Fox doesn't surprise me. But what does surprise me are the robotic, non-thinking lemmings who will still take their marching orders from Fox, and other stations' hosts.

What still surprises me – to the extent anything in the “mainstream” media can surprise me – is the extent to which “journalists” can’t perform even a simple Google search. If this Gary Stein had done so, he might have discovered that the first tax protest occurred before Rick Santelli’s (of CNBC, not Fox)famous tea party rant.

Fox News may be jumping on,but they certainly aren't leading the bandwagon.

And Gary Stein is going to be thrown under it.

via Don Surber.

A NEW CABINET DEPARTMENT

The Administration response to tea parties.

TAX DAY TEA PARTY IN DC

Here are some initial pictures and impressions from the protest.

It was wet, cold, and raining throughout the day. Even with coats and an umbrella, we left cold, tired, and soaked to the skin. Despite the weather, I'd guess the total attendance was at least 2000, perhaps as high as 3000 at the peak.

It was so closely packed at the outset that we couldn't get close enough to hear the speakers despite the fact that there was a loudspeaker system. This photo gives some idea of the density near the speaker’s stage. It was taken at least 50 feet back from the fence surrounding the stage.



The sign in the center reads:

Constitution – 4400 words
Declaration of Independence – 1328 words
2009 Tax Code – 3.7 million words
JUST WORDS?

The audience was very well behaved -- no clown suits, that sort of thing. There was a large number of families in attendance, and I spotted a fair number of suits & ties in attendance, especially over the lunch hour.


The number of posters and signs, was a little sparser than I expected. Because of the rain, unprotected posters didn’t fare that well. Here’s one on a “pirate” theme. I suppose Senator Harry Reid wasn’t considered important enough to make the list.



And the hiring freeze.



“The 111th Congress could be replaced with a button marked THEFT.” True enough.



But my personal favorite, is this one:



“HOCUS POTUS” You can’t say it better than that.

Please stay tuned. Thoughts to come on the police activity (trivial); the counter-protest (laughable); audience (laudable); and some video clips.

TEA PARTY TIME

“It’s for the children.”

Yours and mine -- they’re the ones who are going to pay off this monstrous debt.

Join in.

TWEEDLEBUM AND TWEEDLEVIL

“The bulk of politicians of both parties are corrupt -- if not criminally then at least intellectually -- and the parties wholly captured by a cabal of special interests. Congressional elections consistently offer us no better choice than between Tweedlebum and Tweedlevil.”


Which is why there are Tea Parties. Find one near you.

THIS IS NEWS?

Blind-sided by the obvious: safety exposes us to risk.

In the middle of the last century, an aerospace engineer working for Volvo developed the modern, three-point seat belt. Yet even today the safety device’s benefits are not clear-cut, William Ecenbarger http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Presence-of-Mind-Buckle-Up-And-Behave.html writes in Smithsonian magazine. That’s because of people’s tendency toward “risk compensation” — actively taking more risks because they feel more secure.

Good Lord, I wrote about this back in nineteen eighty-something when Texas was debating a mandatory seat-belt law. It was obvious to me back then that drivers wearing seat belts were driving faster, weaving through traffic more, tailgating, and challenging yellow lights more than their unbelted counterparts.

Does anyone (beside me) remember the “Baby on Board” signs that were so popular about that time? Coincidence? Or reaction?

Glenn Reynolds has thoughts as well.

What happened to common sense? Oh, never mind.

ON THE PROPER USE OF ENGLISH

“So far as I’m concerned, the only term [the Obama administration] have come up with that I approve of is ‘man-made disaster,’ which was invented by Janet Napolitano. Understand, I don’t sanction her using it as a euphemism for 9/11. The only reason I like it is because I think it so perfectly defines the Obama presidency.”

COMMON SENSE

Is becoming such a rare quality that it should be renamed “uncommon sense.”

OBAMA’s FIRST TEST?

[President Obama] commands overwhelming firepower in the form of a growing flotilla of U.S. warships, but he doesn't want to use it.

"Piracy may be a centuries-old problem, but we are working to bring an appropriate 21st-century response," [Secretary of State] Clinton said.

Yeah, TOTUS is preparing an apology ...

[UPDATE] Three pirates dead; one captured; Capt. Phillips rescued. Good job!

PRESIDENT PANTYWAIST

Mr. Obama isn't looking good in the UK:

Watch out, France and Co, there is a new surrender monkey on the block and, over the next four years, he will spectacularly sell out the interests of the West with every kind of liberal-delusionist initiative on nuclear disarmament and sitting down to negotiate with any power freak who wants to buy time to get a good ICBM fix on San Francisco, or wherever. If you thought the world was a tad unsafe with Dubya around, just wait until President Pantywaist gets into his stride.

From the comments: "Obama is Jimmy Carter on stilts."

SOMETIMES IT DOESN'T WORK

A metaphor for Obama, perhaps?

NO BIAS HERE

Found in the Washington Times Show section (4/10-11/2009): "It's tempting to attribute critical neglect of the late author-filmmaker [Michael Crichton] to contemporary biases - against his global warming denialism and all that."

Crichton was an intelligent, articulate, informed critic, yes. But denialist?

No bias here. None. Nope. Move along, now.

ELECTRIC (CAR) UTILITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

“So I’m reading this Wall Street Journal article on surplus cars in storage and the thought occurs to me: If only these cars were all electric they could be used for grid load balancing while they were waiting to be sold. All those batteries could shift electric power from night to day.”

And in response to a reader question on how grid balancing would pay her for her personal auto, Joe Cresko, an AAAS Science Policy Fellow in the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy wrote:

[I]t is based on the simple concept of peak (day) and off-peak (night) electricity rates. Charging the battery at night, when rates are lower, and feeding back to the electricity grid during the day would help utility companies by leveling demand. This type of rate structure is common in the power industry, and with the advent of a "smart grid" (an electricity distribution system based on more-advanced metering and communications technologies), residential customers would be able to benefit through significant efficiency increases.

Let's use Ms. Ivancic's own example (let's say 10 units at 10 cents per unit for $1), but consider connecting to the smart grid when at work to supply two units back to the utility. This would be of value to the utility (let's say at 15 cents per unit), since it would not need to increase power generation as much during the day to meet the increased electricity demand. In this example, charging at lower off-peak rates would reduce the daily cost of the work commute by 10 cents.

Hmm. That’s all well and good, except for a couple of minor points.

One. It assumes a 50% differential between on-peak and off-peak power generation. I’m not an engineering economist (that was 40 years ago), but that number seems a bit high.

Two. There is an energy conversion loss on both ends of the transaction. It isn’t much (a percent or so), but it’s there.

Three. There is no discussion of the infrastructure requirement at both ends of the transaction to perform the energy conversion. That isn’t cheap, especially since it has to exist for every car that is used. Who pays?

Four. Every battery has a limited lifetime (charge/discharge cycles) and must eventually be replaced. Will that ten-cent daily saving pay for the early replacement cost of the electric automobile’s battery?

Five. What are the chances that anyone would willingly give up 20% of their car’s capacity just prior to their commute home? Especially if the commute is a long one?

It’s a pleasant idea, but practical? I doubt it.

With apologies to the New Mexico State University Electric Utilities Management Program for the title.