LaLaLanditis, She has it

Allegedly this is Palin’s explanation for tucking her tail firmly between her legs and running from the flack that chases governors.

 

Happy 4th of July from Alaska!

On this Independence Day, I am so very proud of all those who have chosen to serve our great nation and I honor their selflessness and the sacrifices of their families, too.

If I may, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the last 24 hours and share my thoughts with you.

First, I want to thank you for your support and hard work on the values we share. Those values led me to the decision my family and I made. Yesterday, my family and I announced a decision that is in Alaska’s best interest and it always feels good to do what is right. We have accomplished more during this one term than most governors do in two – and I am proud of the great team that helped to build these wonderful successes. Energy independence and national security, fiscal restraint, smaller government, and local control have been my priorities and will remain my priorities.

For months now, I have consulted with friends and family, and with the Lieutenant Governor, about what is best for our wonderful state. I even made a few administrative changes over that course in time in preparation for yesterday. We have accomplished so much and there’s much more to do, but my family and I determined after prayerful consideration that sacrificing my title helps Alaska most. And once I decided not to run for re-election, my decision was that much easier – I’ve never been one to waste time or resources. Those who know me know this is the right decision and obvious decision at that, including Senator John McCain. I thank him for his kind, insightful comments.

The response in the main stream media has been most predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the “politics of personal destruction”. How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it’s about country. And though it’s honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. But every American understands what it takes to make a decision because it’s right for all, including your family.

I shared with you yesterday my heartfelt and candid reasons for this change; I’ve never thought I needed a title before one’s name to forge progress in America. I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint. I hope you will join me. Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness!

God bless you! And I look forward to making a difference – with you!

Sarah

I think this lady has become a victim of her own advertising.

Technology for the poor

In my own search to decrease my monthly expenses, I’ve come across several technologies that appear to have substantial potential to help the poor.

1. Google Voice

Google has been running this free service for some time and recently announced plans to open it to the public. It’s marketed as a way to simply the way people get in touch with other people by allowing contacts to call a single telephone number, provided by Google, which is then routed to a home, cell, or work phone as directed by user settings. It also offers a free voice mail service that automatically transcribes voice messages and, it seems, will even leave a text-to-speech computerized voice mail in response.

Currently, welfare recipients have many difficulties obtaining and keeping telephone service. In my area, we have some of the highest phone rates in the country. A land line starts at about $30 per month, and cell phone service starts at $45 per month. Welfare pays only $40 per month for all expenses beyond rent, health care, and food. Consequently, many welfare recipients are forced to use pay-as-you-go phone plans, or they often lose their telephone service. As a result, many welfare recipients change telephone numbers frequently, or may not be able to afford enough minutes each month to have adequate time to speak with potential employers (as well as attorneys, family, friends, children, school officials, etc.) In fact, the problem is so severe that the inability of welfare to account for telephone costs was a large part of the basis for a recent lawsuit filed by a legal services organization in my area to get benefit levels raised. Payment rates have not had annual cost of living adjustments, so their buying power has decreased each year for decades.

A Google voice account will allow welfare recipients to retain the same telephone number and to have a permanent voice mailbox. This way, when an employer calls, they can be sure to get the message, thereby removing an impediment to competing in the job market.

2. Skype and Skype phones

In addition to a Google Voice account, Skype could also be an excellent tool for the poor. Skype is an internet based phone utility. For about $60 per year, customers get their own telephone number, which anyone can call from any telephone, and which can be used to place outbound calls to others, even long distance. There are wireless phones available for a little more than $100 that are pre-programmed with Skype that can place calls over any wifi connection, even without a computer. This means that for $160 per year, a welfare recipient could make unlimited calls and receive unlimited calls.

This will save taxpayer money, since welfare recipients are currently paying for traditional phone options, which are far more expensive.

Has anyone else come across technology that could help the poor?

Lies, Damn Lies and Health Insurance (Statistics)

Following some links on health care last night, I found an interesting libertarian, I think, blog. One of the authors had a post up on private vs. public health care costs.  Here follows the written part of the post. Please see the chart above.

“…since 2000, so the administration has stated we absolutely must increase the government’s role in providing coverage to our citizens. Simply study this comparison of the effective cost controls of Medicare vs. private health insurance, and I’m sure that you’ll be forced to agree (from Table 13):”

Having made the error of not looking at the raw data closely enough, or forgetting where I saw the raw data and posting only a graph or chart, I went to look at the numbers. You can find the Table 13 the author cites here.  Looking at the graph, it appears that government spending on health care has gone up faster than private spending. First, let me say, that it is totally inappropriate to compare such disparate groups. There are way too many variables. When one does studies, it is important to try to compare groups that are as similar as possible. That aside, let us look at the raw numbers.

Average Annual Change by Period –Medicare– Private Insurance
1970-2007– ————————- 9.2———-10.4
1970-1993——– ——————- 11.0———12.8
1993-1997——– ——————– 7.3———-4.4
1997-1999– ————————– -0.3———-5.8
1992-2002- ————————— 6.4———-9.7
2002-2007—————————– 8.4 ———-6.9

Looking at the graph it looks as though medicare spending is going up faster than private. Looking at the raw numbers, that is not is what we see. Notice in our first line that Medicare spending over the last 27 years is 9.2% vs. private of 10.4%. Ok, the author has decided to only graph those numbers from 1990 on, which is his prerogative, but having this data available, he should have indicated why he chose this period. If one looks at the raw numbers in Table 13, one sees that between 1990 and 2007 Medicare increased by a factor of 3.06 while private insurance increased by a factor of 3.15. What gives? Looking more closely at the graph, it becomes more clear that Medicare is starting at a much higher baseline. This fools the eye into thinking that Medicare is increasing faster.

A few other items of note. As I have been worrying over the recent 26% increase in insurance costs proposed by our carrier, I realized I missed an obvious point. Insurance companies, like banks, make much of their money by investing their premiums. Like many of the rest of us, insurance companies have taken a hit in their portfolios. This suggests that as the data comes in for 2009, we should see private premiums go up even more than they have been. Lastly, as I was thinking about this (presumably) young man’s post, it occurred to me that one of the easiest ways to confirm his idea, would be to find out what a private carrier would want to insure someone over 64. I intend to ask our carrier this question on Monday. I hope to report back the results here soon.

Global Voices on #iranelection Tweets

Hamid Tehrani at Global Voices has an interesting analysis of Iran: Myth and reality about Twitter.

Palin is It in 2016

I will limit myself to one post on Palin and her retirement. In doing so I will cite Jonah Goldberg. Key quotes………

“President Bush had the same problem you do, which is why there’s a hunger for Republicans who can effectively articulate and sell our policies and philosophy. That’s why the wonks have the upper hand. Mitt Romney, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, and other hands-on types are what the party wants and, frankly, needs.

Here’s the good news: You have time. Here’s the better news: You have something no one else in the party has — charisma. And I don’t mean you have the most charisma like it’s a consolation prize for not being elected prom queen. If money could buy what you have, Romney would have bought it all by now. Good politicians can learn how to win over audiences, but the great ones are born with the ability. Reagan had it. Clinton had it. Obama has it. You have it. You are the “It Girl” of the GOP.

What you lack, you can learn. If knowing how to describe the situation in Pakistan or explain the “doughnut hole” in health-care coverage was all you needed to get elected, an intern with a subscription to The Economist could be president.

So here’s my advice. Stay home and do your job and your homework. You’ll still be a national figure come the primaries. But if you can’t surprise your detractors with your grasp of policy when you re-emerge on the national stage, you won’t win the nomination. More important, you won’t deserve to.”

My first thought was that Goldberg must have had this ghost written. He has been more snarky cheerleader and attack dog than thoughtful, positive contributor to the greater cause. This time though, he nails it pretty well. Palin had the resume and the presence to be a viable national candidate. What she lacked was any depth of understanding of our major national issues. Given her youth and the relative isolation of Alaska, that is not surprising. However, she could have readily developed the deeper knowledge she needed.

Ronald Reagan is the current Republican Party icon. He was an actor, not exactly the background to develop one’s foreign policy chops. Reagan, to his credit, did the necessary reading. He wrote his own speeches and traveled around the country to give them. He debated many times before becoming president. In other words, he prepared himself on national issues to become a national candidate. Let us presume Palin knows Alaskan politics well. It is a small (population) state which depends heavily on oil revenues. Not exactly the national model. When she came on the national stage, it was painfully obvious to those not already committed to her team, that she could not speak convincingly on national issues. There was no knowledge base.

The left overreacted, of course. The best thing they could have done is to keep quiet and try to get her into as many interviews as possible. It still boggles the mind that her supporters think she was beat up on by Katie Couric. Couric is no towering intellect. She is a cream puff on interviews. Can one imagine how it would have gone with a Murrow? At any rate, Goldberg is correct. Americans have a short memory and a tendency to forgive. If Palin spends a few years learning the issues, she will be a formidable candidate. Romney wants her charisma. Palin should want Romney’s level of knowledge.

Signal and noise

So I was wondering whether if you dream your children are dying, does a part of you want that? Isn’t that what dreams are: the manifestation of your unconscious onto the canvas of your sleeping mind?

Is it even meaningful at all? Sometimes I think that the hardest thing in this life is to distinguish signal from noise; or, in darker hours, I think that there is only noise, and the signal, if we feel there is one, is created from whole cloth.

Does it mean there is something wrong with me? What does that even mean? I feel entirely wrong. I often stop and think, I want to be someone else. I can’t distinguish the thought from thinking that I want to be me. A real me, as though such a thing even exists. Does it?

This is the question that I have asked myself often in the past few years, which have not been good for me. Is this me? Or is there, as I feel there is, a “real” me waiting to spring from beneath this beleaguered shell, like a butterfly from a cocoon of shit?

Do others feel like that, like they have a beautiful core that has accreted grit, dirt and shit and if only…

(I know that the cure for if only is to just do it. I’m not stupid. I sometimes feel that I am acting stupidly because I have multitudes within me and different parts get to drive the car from time to time, and some of them don’t have a licence. Or know how to steer. Or what the pedals do.)

Can’t you just wake up and be who you are? Isn’t that what everyone else does? Isn’t that what I am doing?

I’m afraid that it is. I actually fear that this man that I see when I look in the mirror really is me, is the summation of what I could have been, what I put in and took out.

God, I need a drink. I need a god too. I do admire some of those who have one’s ability not to fear life. The teaching aide in my twins’ prep class is a hardcore Christian. I imagine her bouncing out of bed in the morning, delighted that there is a new day for her, that her god has blessed her with health, vitality, joy.

I think I understand envy. I do not want what others have. I do not have any lack of material things. But I envy those who are who they are and even if it meant cutting myself to ribbons and pasting those ribbons into a whole new pattern, I think I want that more than anything, but do not know how.

I do not want them to die. My son has been asking his mother about dying and she does not know what to tell him. I do not know either because it is the only thing I regret about my children: that I have condemned them to be and not to be. Perhaps they will find joy and mind not being less than I do.

I was thinking, I have to tell you to wrap this up, I was dreaming, I mean, but daydreaming, about the hummingbird I saw at Eungella. It was perfectly poised, motionless but for its flickering wings, on a warm afternoon, high above the log it used to perch on, motionless but for the ceaseless motion that created its lack of motion. And I don’t know what that means, but I haven’t forgotten it, and so much else you just forget. It seems to mean something, but what? What if the reason you cannot tell the signal from the noise is simply that you do not understand the signal at all?

Palin Quitting and the Lefts’s Hypocrisy

Woody at GM’s Place.Com posts about Sarah Palin resigning as governor of Alaska. Interesting reading, but a response he made in the comments really caught my eye.

What If George W. Bush had …

…made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent “Austrian language,” would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current on their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to “Cinco de Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the Fifth of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had misspelled the word advice would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potato as “proof” of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on “Earth Day”, would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush’s administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually “get” what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how he is inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can’t think of anything? Don’t worry. He’s done all this in 10 weeks — so you’ll have three years and nine-and-a-half months to come up with an answer.

What if?

Of course, the left and the MSM will fail to see their monumental hypocrisy.

Wal-Mart: “To cure you, they must kill you”

There’s a Lou Reed quote for you, DSL. 

I finally got around to reading this earlier today, and wow. Wal-mart  is now officially pushing for large companies to cover employees’ health care. You’ll never guess who’s holding hands with the Empire of Evil. The SEIU, that’s who. (The Service Workers are the largest labor union for those of you who don’t revel in reading captivating labor statistics.) 

As someone who has supported unionization within the Wal-mart distribution facilities, etc., and is well-versed in what a sad mess Sam Walton’s heirs have made out of his respectable business model, I feel a little doomy and gloomy over this bizarre collaboration. On the other hand, I’m excited albeit shocked by the we-agree-with-the-union message the company is sending to its employees. For sure, there is some kind of crazy rabbit Wal-mart is about to pull out of its top hat, especially since one of the biggest problems with Wal-mart is its terrible “coverage”.

They care now? Nah. 

You could watch the whole thing, but for the sake of relevance, least skip to marker 2:13.

Glenn Beck had his own take, naturally. I could be wrong, but I would wager quite a bet that Glenn is not one of the millions of uninsured Americans. Nonetheless, he classifies Wal-mart as a “naive” corporation and chastises it for getting into “bed with the devil” over this health care debate. Glenn Beck has a way of turning everything into Christmas morning, doesn’t he? 

For the record, I totally agree with the field reporter’s assessment regarding Target’s less expensive health plan being a driving force behind this Wal-mart change in heart.

Here is Wal-mart’s reaction:

At Walmart, we believe in shared responsibility and support an employer mandate that is broad and fair. We believe the mandate should cover as many businesses as possible, and cover part-time as well as full-time employees. Any alternative to an employer mandate should not create barriers or disincentives to hiring workers with disabilities, entry level employees, or people from low income families.

I can’t wait to see what happens with this one. 

Thoughts on this, health care peeps and Alexandrians? Confusion is mine!

Links: Honduras, cap and trade, coming to terms with your shadow, and more

Alter Destiny has interesting coverage on Honduras. Via mattbastard on Twitter.

The Silent Alphabet

(contributions welcome)

A as in ?

B as in deBt

C as in indiCt

D as in WeDnesday

E as in icE

F as in ?

G as in liGht

H as in ligHt

I as in busIness

J as in ?

K as in ?

L as in waLk

M as in Mnemonic

N as in ?

P as in Pneumonia

Q as in ?

R as in ?

S as in horS d’oeuvres

T as in cloThes

U as in ?

V as in ?

W as in ?

X as in Grand PriX

Z as in ?

Jane Grey

Mothers and fathers, daughters and sons

Cumulative biographical anecdotes in Alexandria continue to reveal how the ideological content and posture of Authors may differ, often sharply, from that of their preceding or otherwise formative generations.

In honor of the great American holiday forthcoming, born of the Age of Reason, now celebrating both liberty and the backyard flame of truth, feel free in this open thread both to reflect and to grill yourselves as to what extents your current beliefs, perspectives and understandings have been arrived at solely through what you would regard as your own independent reason or irreason and to what extents you find them shaped through some reaction to those beliefs, perspectives and understandings within which you were or continue to be formed.

And, of course, a happy and safe Fourth of July to all concerned.

H. M. Stuart

Alexandria

Media Miracle

I got home a little earlier than usual yesterday. I was catching up on some reading and my wife had left the TV on downstairs in the area where I was reading. I tuned to the Lehrer Report as it occasionally has interesting guests and the chatter is less obnoxious than the cable people. The miracle? I did not hear one reference to Michael Jackson.

♫ Rookie Don’t Lose That Mugger ♫

NYPD rookie makes arrest moments after graduation

NEW YORK – A New York Police Department rookie just couldn’t wait to get started.

One of the NYPD’s newest officers made his first arrest Thursday just minutes after graduating from the Police Academy in a ceremony at Madison Square Garden.

Officer Dariel Firpo, 23 , was leaving the midtown Manhattan ceremony when he saw a 79-year-old man being robbed of his wallet and thrown to the ground by a mugger, police said. [more]

♫ You see a mugging – not OK…
He thought his little wild crime had just begun
I guess you kind of scared him off, he turn and run
But you’re a recruit just turned out

Chorus:

Rookie don’t lose that mugger
You don’t wanna nab nobody else
Haul him off in a credit to your force

Chorus:

Rookie don’t lose that mugger
He’s the first arrest you’ll own
You fight losers and you’ll feel better
When you get home

I see a thug downtown, he’s just your game
You can go down busting on his skid row
You could take a desk and donuts, I don’t know
And you’re a recruit just turned out

Chorus

You tell yourself you’re just a kid
But do you know what you just did
And you’re a recruit just turned out…

Chorus ♫

- after Steely Dan .

On being a Bible character

Father Stephen admonishes that You Are Not A Bible Character (hat tip to Rod Dreher, aka The Other Blog).

… The problem with such use of Biblical imagination is that it simply has no controlling story. Nothing tells us which story to use other than our own imagination (which is generally a deluded part of our mind). A governor gets to play King David, and, surprise, he should be forgiven and not resign his office. A group of white settlers get to play conquering Israelites and feel no compunction about murdering men, women and children. A priest, likely in need of therapy, plays the role of Jonah before a crowd who has no idea they are in a play. The gospel is not preached – souls are not saved – the Bible is simply brought into ridicule.

For all of us – Scripture is relevant. However, its relevance should not come as a personal revelation that tells us which character we are within its pages….

Story telling creatures that we are, it’s only natural that we sometimes see ourselves in one or another Bible character. That’s part of how stories work for us, and how we process their meaning. But the risk of being a Bible character is that you may think the analogy your Biblical imagination has drawn is somehow more Godly and good, because you’ve drawn it from the Bible, than if you’d analogized yourself to some other kind of character. And it isn’t. Seeing yourself as King David doesn’t necessarily send you in any better direction than seeing yourself as David the gay funeral director in Six Feet Under. In either case, your imagination might be steering you right, but it also might not.

Mobilizing the Bass

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive/But to be young was very Heaven. - Wordsworth.

♫ Rough Riders, 4×4 – YOU CAN TRY TO STOP ‘EM!!! ♫ - Deep-Bass-Voiceover Men’s Choir, US Children’s Afternoon Programming c. 1982.

♫ Air Jammer, Cycle Scrammer: Air Jammer, Cycle Scrammer (♫ It’s a cycle, runs on air: nothin’ else inside of there…♫)…Air Jammer, Cycle Scrah-hah-hah-merrrrrrr!! ♫

♫ Transformers – MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE; Transformers – ROBOTS IN DISGUISE!!! ♫