"SCILLY"-NESS

From Best of the Web (scroll down):

"A world-first experiment to try and reduce energy use for the day on the Isles of Scilly was foiled after a turn in the weather caused participants to use more electricity," London's Daily Telegraph reports.

In the day-long experiment, Scilly people were asked to follow "a series of guidelines including switching off unnecessary lights and TVs when not in use and only filling kettles with the exact amount of water required." Result: Energy use dropped, but by only 1%.

The reason: "Organiser Dr Matt Prescott said the experiment was undermined by bad weather--which saw people using more power than usual." The experiment might well have been a success had it been conducted a day earlier, when it was sunny and warm.

Which leads us to a thought. What if there were a way of changing the climate so that the weather was warmer all over the world? We realize this is probably unrealistic, but if it could be done, it would be a great way to save energy.

The link is here.

HELL IS DOWNWARD MOBILITY

Robert J. Samuelson thinks health care spending will threaten our children’s future living standards by squeezing their disposable income: “The road to downward mobility is paved with good intentions. The health debate has focused on insuring the uninsured and de-emphasized controlling runaway spending, much of which is ineffective.”

Hmm. Haven’t I seen this somewhere before?



Why, yes. Yes, I have.

A HINT OF FALL

Some pictures from the neighborhood ....








.... taken 12 October 2009

TIME FOR A REMINDER

First, federal spending:


Source: TaxProf.

Second, unemployment rate:


Source: Don Surber.

Third, projected deficit:


Source: Heritage Foundation.

Need more be said?

IRAQ DECLINES OBAMANOMICS

"The overall level of violence in the country continues to decline, despite the occasional terrorist bombing. This has led to continued economic growth, and more Iraqis are using their freedom of movement, and action, to protest government incompetence."

"I guess that's why our own government is trying to stifle entrepeneurship — to get rid of that embarrassing contrast . . . ."

PROBATION, FINE, FINANCIAL RUIN

The penalty for not committing a crime:

Accidentally over billing the Federal Gummint: $22
Prosecuting a clerical error: $450,000
Abusing your power for a political agenda: Priceless.

For all the things you want to destroy, there's the grandstanding US Attorney's Office.

ANOTHER REASON TO FEAR BIG GOVERNMENT

It could never happen here, of course.

From the comments: “And this is the wonderful “service” the morons in Congress (congressmorons) want to deliver to all of us via ObamaCouldCareLess. If that POS passes, I hope every congressmoron that voted for it breaks his or her back in a waterpark in England.”

CENSUS 2010

"With such a tight grip on the Census by the Obama administration and its allies, one wonders what the end result will be and if it can be trusted."

Via Instapundit: “This is looking like a train wreck.”

OBAMA'S UTOPIA

Baghdad, Iraq - 2006.

TUCSON'S LAST STAND

About 6,000 people attended the Tucson Tea Party event, billed as Tucson’s Last Stand, today.

Pictures here and here.

SOME STATES ARE MORE EQUAL

How good is Sen. Max Baucus's health reform bill? So good that Democrats have made sure some of the most costly provisions don't apply to their own states.

Some interesting comments (edited slightly):

[1] Yes Mr. Reid ... from each (state) according to its ability ... to each (state) according to its need. Well done, sir.

It’s more akin to “my state because I need to be re-elected” but the thought is a close cousin.

[2] Hmmm ... their logic opens some interesting possibilities. If they can essentially graduate the level at which the tax on benefits kicks in based upon the cost of benefits in given states, it seems to follow we should lobby for differentiating the federal income tax brackets by cost of living in a given state.

Jeez, I wouldn’t give them ideas.

[3] The desire to help other people is admirable. The insistence on doing it with other people's money is less so. The willingness to carve out special exemptions for you and yours, at the expense of everyone else, is despicable.

Which is phrasing it politely.

[4] [U]nfortunately, the Republicans have shown themselves to be lesser versions of evil than the Democrats. While going to hell slowly is better ..., the destination is the same.

Yes. This reminds me of the quote attributed to Mark Twain: "A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on." It’s always a choice between the lesser of two evils; good never seems to get in the race.

POETIC JUSTICE

Without health insurance in Massachusetts.

Another liberal mugged by reality.

WEBSTER’S UPDATE

Old definition: affordable - able to bear the cost of

New definition: affordable - taxpayer-subsidized (cf. affordable housing; affordable health care)

OBAMACARE OPTIMISM

Mr. President, the public option for healthcare has been tried.

Despite these state-level failures, President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are pushing forward a slate of similar reforms. Unlike most high-school science fair participants, they seem unaware that the point of doing experiments is to identify what actually works. Instead, they've identified what doesn't—and decided to do it again.

It’s the classic definition of liberalism: doing the same thing over and over again, each time with the expectation that the outcome will be different.

RUBE GOLDBERG GOVERNMENT

Megan McArdle explains why single payer healthcare won’t work in the United States:

“[T]his ridiculous hodgepodge, this hypertrophied Rube Goldberg apparatus, is not some startling aberration of the political process, induced by some Republican dark magic. This is the kind of thing the American political system produces. This is why all of our programs have a substantial element of the inexplicable and bizarre.”

And she is absolutely right. The only way to significantly reduce the cost of healthcare in the U.S. is to significantly reduce government’s role in healthcare.

It’s true across the board, by the way. Reduce the role of government in the development and production of almost any commodity and you’ll reduce its cost. [You may not want to, but that’s a different question.]

THIEVES AND LIARS

”[E]co-conscious ‘green consumers’ are ‘more likely to steal and lie’ ....”

I’m inclined to disagree with the comment at the bottom of the post. For all its faults (read the announcement and study), and there are many, it seems to me that the research captures the essential nature of the eco-warrior mind: the unalterable certainty that the correctness of their views entitles them to not be bound to the standards required of their lessers (cf. Al Gore).

A DREAM CRASHES:

Via Instapundit: “The state of New York has cut off unemployment benefits for a 2008 law grad after she reported collecting $1.30 a day in advertising income from her blog.”

Hopefully, social security isn't next.

CHAVEZ TAKES SWING AT GOLF

[Venezuela] President Hugo Chávez has disparaged the sport as an elitist endeavor with few friends in his populist government.

I’ll bet his handicap is nothing to get excited about ....

DOES THE POST GET IT?

Headline in today’s print edition of the Washington Post:

Nobel Peace Prize is Given to Obama

“Given” as opposed to “Awarded” – a subtle swipe at the President, or just the Post’s usual sloppy reporting? I’d like to believe the former, but smart money is on the latter.

THE JOKE’S ON US

Is Obama becoming a joke? Undoubtedly.

If we only had a parlimentary system of government, he could be laughed out of office. But we don’t, and he can’t, so it’s going to be three very long, very dangerous years before he can be removed.

Vote wisely in the 2010 mid-term elections.