Ron's blog

As most of you know, my mom has had some serious health issues since August. She had her gallbladder out a couple of weeks ago, recovered in a nursing home for two weeks, and is now very happy to be home. She hated the food in the nursing home so she really enjoyed the Chinese food we brought her tonight.

We talked about the HC summit, Obama, the HC bill, and the takeover of the DNC by the far left. Since my mom has been in very poor health and in and out of hospitals and nursing homes for nearly 7 months, there's a lot she's unaware of but she did see the summit. Her take on things is the opposite of mine but her bias is based on a fundamental lack of knowledge. She thinks the Washington Post is the same as it was prior to 1999 and that the Democratic party is still the bastion of Kennedy-era liberals. She doesn't know what a progressive is. She doesn't understand why the HC bill is bad or that the majority of the country is against it. Tonight, my wife and I did our best to bring her up to speed.

When the Continental Congress of 1787 concluded in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was seen exiting Independence Hall. A woman asked, "Well, Doctor, what have we got—a republic or a monarchy?" He answered, "A republic, if you can keep it." We are privileged to have such a rare and precious government but it's something that we, the people, need to preserve. We can't rely on judges or elected officials to maintain it. It's our responsibility to educate ourselves so that we can make the right choices on election day.

Unfortunately, it's far too easy for us to be led astray by lying politicians who say they have our best interests at heart when they really only have theirs. We need to forget about labels like left or right, Democrat or Republican, progressive or conservative. What we really need to look out for are the things that will lead to more or less government which equates to less or more freedom.

There's an inverse relationship between the amount of government and freedom, as shown in this little graphic I made:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Despite the weather, this is a great time to treat yourself and your loved ones

It's the middle of February and the middle of winter. Days are short and there isn't much sunshine. Some people suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) but that can be fixed with light and a good diet. This is the time of year when you hear about the benefits of chocolate but they usually don't tell you that only dark chocolate has what you need.

We finally got out today after paying some guys to dig us out of the snowdrifts. Our friendly neighborhood Safeway was mostly fully stocked. We called first just to make sure. We even got flowers and a balloon for Valentine's Day and to help us celebrate the anniversary of meeting each other for the first time at a free university class in 1971. Here's how our front yard looked this morning.

Pictured in the center is my wife's car. The little black spot is her side-view mirror.

Some items gathered from around the Web today:

Snow dalek attacks! Boing Boing

Yesterday was Glenn Beck's birthday and today is Sarah Palin's (2/11). Happy Birthday to them!

President Obama calls this Snowmaggedon. Whatever it's called, it's the biggest snow to hit DC in history but maybe not according to the airport figures. It's still snowing and we have about 30 inches on the ground. I'm very lucky to have power because over 200,000 homes are without power in the region, mostly in the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia, and 5,000 in DC. Some major roads in the area are blocked by fallen trees due to heavy snow and wind. A private jet hangar at Dulles airport had the roof collapse and a small old wooden church collapsed under the weight of the snow.

Here are a couple of iPhone photos I took earlier today looking out my front and rear upstairs windows:

So many things going on right now and so many things about to happen. First, let's go back to a 1943 Disney cartoon called Chicken Little.

That was a little parable about the threat of Communism, a threat we still face today. Sure, there's no more Soviet Union and no more Mao. China has adopted a sort of state-sponsored capitalism. The threat isn't from without, it's from within. The DNC was taken over by leftists* in 2007 and the first thing they did was change the rules that governed them. They changed them again at the RBC meeting on May 31, 2008, thus ensuring that Obama would win the Democratic primary. The sky fell and we ended up with president Obama.

This is a blog. You're reading it on a computer of some sort. Maybe it's a desktop or a portable, a Mac or a PC. Maybe it's an iPhone or an iPod touch or a Blackberry or a Droid. The size of your screen could be anywhere from 3.5-inches on up. You're connected to the Internet somehow. Maybe you have a wired or wireless connection to DSL, cable or dialup or maybe you're using a cellular data network. The bottom line is, you're reading a blog for information on a screen that's tied to the Internet. That way, you're getting that information quicker and in a more interactive format. You can comment on what you read and get a response. Blogs are changing the nature of politics and the way you can access a blog is about to change.

Paper demand is on the decline. Newspapers and magazines are going out of business. Have you noticed how much thinner they've been getting over the years? Traditional publishing is dying. Apple and Adobe invented desktop publishing. Now, Apple is about to reinvent publishing.

As I'm writing this, Happy New Year, Charlie Brown is on ABC right now here on the east coast.

One of my pet peeves: 2010 is the last year of the first decade of the 21st century. We count 123456789 and 10, not 0 to 9. The first year of the first millennium CE was 1, not 0. The year 2000 was the last year of the 20th century and the year the century was named after. It sure wasn't the 19.99th century. It seems people back 110 years ago were smarter because they celebrated the dawn of the 20th century at 12 AM January 1, 1901.

Anyone have any resolutions for the new year? New year's wishes? My wish for the new year is a brand new Congress! Why the Democrats will lose the House in 2010 | Analysis & Opinion | Reuters

May you live long and prosper.

The Kennedy Center Honors is on as I write this. I got an email from the office of George Stevens, Jr., the producer, alerting me that it was on tonight. I had done some work for him at his office in the Kennedy Center when I was a consultant. Caroline Kennedy came on, making me ill, and then a scene of Obama & wife. The people being honored, though, make this worth watching. Loving the tribute to de Niro. Dave Brubeck next. I used to hang out with his far left niece who is now living in Norway.

There's something happening in Iran. I wrote to a friend recently about it, suggesting it might be at a tipping point. We had been discussing the possibility of an attack on Iran in the new year unless something happened to change the equation on the ground. Well, maybe it's happening. THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: ***UPDATED*** Dealing In Terms of Days Until the Mullahs Fall

Also, see: Iran Ayatollah: 'The Regime Will Collapse'

Wow, loved the tribute to Mel Brooks!

Let's hope the new year brings hope for better relations with Iran if the leadership can be overthrown. Otherwise, there's no choice but the military option.

I love Christmas. Sure, I'm a bacon-eating atheist cultural Jew but Christmas is a wonderful holiday. I love Christmas movies, decorations, and snow. For once, we're going to have a white Christmas around here. My wife just came upstairs but before opening the door to the bedroom, she asked me to shut my eyes and hold out my hand. She placed something cold and wet in my hand. I opened my eyes and gasped as I beheld the foot-long icicle I was holding from the base wrapped in a paper towel. Earlier, she was out doing more shoveling and I made popcorn and hot chocolate with marshmallows. We sat in the living room facing the fireplace, munching popcorn and sipping cocoa while listening to wonderful Christmas music on my iPod hooked up to the stereo.

Several of the old classic songs were written by Jews but it seems Garrison Keillor has a problem with that. Garrison Keillor: 'Lousy Holiday Songs By Jews Trash Up Malls' | NewsBusters.org

Here's the list of objectionable Christmas tunes and the Empire State Building lit for Hanukah:

This is one for the history books. Never before have we had so much snow in the month of December in the DC area, AFAIK. I wasn't here for the Blizzard of '66 that happened just before Christmas that year because I was in Vietnam. I just went out onto my front stoop and took these pictures:

Yep, that lump in the snow in this first picture is my car parked in the driveway. The next one is my wife's car parked on the street.

A lot has been going on in the world lately and I've been wanting to write about it. A blank word processing document has been open on my desktop for days now, residing behind Safari pages, but only now do I feel compelled to write something. The topics of interest have been jobs, the stock market, and the economy; Iran, Afghanistan; Obama, Congress, and ClimateGate. This is a busy time of year so it's hard to keep up. To keep things simple, I'd just like to list the topics with a brief comment on each.

Jobs, Market, Economy

The new unemployment numbers came out today and they were much better than expected. Only 11,000 jobs were lost in November and the unemployment rate declined to 10%, down from 10.2% in October. Job losses for a couple of preceding months were revised downward. The trend is certainly encouraging but it'll be a while before we're out of the woods.

We're having Thanksgiving at my mom's this year. She's doing better. We took her out to dinner Sunday and it was great to see her out and about. I'm doing all the cooking so dinner should be good.

I was watching Giada on the Food Channel and she mentioned chicken stock. My wife was at the store and I had forgotten to mention to get stock so I called her. Whew! That was a close one. Gotta have some stock on hand to make stuffing. We're bringing a friend who is out of work at the moment. There will be plenty of leftovers for everyone. We're bringing rotisserie chickens slow roasted over charcoal.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Though it may not seem like it, we're living in a golden age that's about to come to an end. This is the Golden Age of healthcare, the best in the world. Maybe the longest recession since WWII is coming to an end but it'll take years to get back to where we once were in terms of jobs and personal wealth.

This is indeed a great golden age in many respects but only in comparison with the future in store for us, thanks to this president and this Congress. During the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Obama said, "America is the greatest country in the world and together, we can change it!" Now, we have a clear idea what he meant.

The current House and Senate healthcare reform bills now before Congress amount to massive tax increases and do nothing to reduce costs. The main reason the public ever wanted healthcare reform was lower costs. Why, then, is any effort to reduce costs blocked by the Democrats? These bills are the opposite of what the people want because they actually would cause an increase in costs and deficits, according to the CBO. There would a great shortage of doctors, there would be rationing of care, and a big increase in inconvenience. Healthcare as we know it today would devolve, resulting in higher death rates and misery.

(h/t: Count Us Out)

I could hardly believe what I was hearing as Lou Dobbs announced he is leaving CNN, effective tonight. The NYT reports that Dobbs met with Fox's Roger Ailes in September but a spokesperson said today, “We have not had any discussions with Lou Dobbs for Fox News or Fox Business.”

Update: Lou Dobbs to Quit CNN - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

They say Dobbs is anti-immigration but that's inaccurate. Dobbs, along with most of America, is anti-illegal immigration. CNN is way too in-the-tank with Obama and they have miserable ratings as a result. Fox News Channel is tops in the ratings by a very wide margin.

Let's hope we get to hear more from Lou Dobbs in the very near future. He'll still be on the radio.

Uh oh, this isn't good. Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu flew to Washington with some staff members to meet with the president Monday night but the usual photo op didn't happen. The meeting was held behind closed doors and the usual post-meeting news conference didn't happen. Something is up and it isn't good. Only two subjects were on the agenda: the peace process and Iran. Obama wants to give Iran more time to respond to the idea of shipping enriched uranium to Russia for further processing. So far, Iran has flatly rejected the idea. This isn't a new idea, either. It was first mentioned several years ago as a way to keep Iran from making progress on its covert crash nuclear weapons development program.

All major leaders of the free world have stated that Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. Germany PM Angela Merkel made a similar statement to a joint session of Congress recently. Sunni Arab states have been urging the US and Israel to deal with the issue and soon. Time is running out but it seems Obama and Netanyahu can't come to terms. Israel may be forced to act on her own if our dithering president can't take decisive action.

During the first quarter of next year, either Iran will have to yield to efforts to curtail their nuclear weapons program or suffer an attack. An ultimatum is fast approaching.

It's time to gaze into my shiny new high definition crystal ball to see what lies ahead. Mind you, these are the shadows of what might be, not necessarily what will be. For entertainment only, no guarantee expressed or implied.

The Hefty House Harebrained Healthcare Horror won't be voted on over the weekend but will come up for a vote next week (Oops, it was voted on Saturday night and passed by 3 votes, one of which was a Republican. It seems 39 Democrats voted against it, including Kucinich.) if enough paws of blue-dogs are twisted and if there's enough bribery and threats. Obama has vowed to lend a hand. No torture for terrorists, just for disloyal Dems. Whatever the form the asinine bill takes, the Senate will tear it apart but not until next year. Some pundits will say that because 2010 is a big midterm election year, maybe healthcare reform is dead for now. The thing is, enough Dems will claim it's more important to pass some sort of legislative concoction so they can claim some sort of success, despite the fact that the main goals of healthcare reform won't be met. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Election day is fast approaching, a year after the last presidential contest. We get to vote for a new governor here in Virginia and I was wondering if my political pigeon-hole has moved to a new spot. Here's a test you can take to find yours: The Political Compass.

I ended up scoring just to the right of Kucinich. Here's my chart:

Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: -1.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.87

Kucinich:

Economic: -2.3

Social: -2

It'd bee good to know where Obama scores on this scale. My guess is farther to the left and somewhat into the Authoritarian realm. Hmm, found the chart and I was wrong about the left/right part:

Where are you on this scale?

Yep, today is my birthday and it's a big milestone. I can finally collect Social Security. Oh, it won't be much because I was self-employed since the age of 30 but I did start working at the age of 15. It isn't even too wise since men should delay collecting SS at least until the age of 65. Women, OTOH, should collect right away. I decided to take the women's POV.

Anyway, I've applied and one of these days, I'll get a check. Can't wait for that happy day. Of course, I'll never see the check due to direct deposit.

Let's see, what do I want to do on my birthday. Hmm, maybe start out with bagels and lox. We went to a bakery yesterday and got some fresh sesame bagels and a little hazelnut cake. Add a few candles and I'll be happy. I'll carve the pumpkin we got at a market stand on the way back from the beach and finish decorating the house for fall. I finished getting the outside ready last night. Nothing fancy, just some lights.

BTW, the Internet turned 40 yesterday. Internet turns 40 with birthday party

Some cartoons:

Just happened to find this on newsrealblog and it reminded me of the animals around here. A female squirrel runs up to us whenever she sees us, expecting peanuts. Thursday evening when I was putting up Halloween lights, she came right up to me. i got some nuts and tossed them to her. Today, when my wife opened the front door, she came up to the glass storm door and put her paws on the glass. A chipmunk was behind her, waiting for the nuts.

From the March low, the S&P 500 is up 65%. Unemployment has risen to 9.8% and is expected to top 10% in the months ahead. That's quite a disconnect. Many of the jobs lost are never coming back because so many businesses are closing their doors for good. The unemployment rate is going to take a long time to improve. You can get an idea where we're headed from this chart (click for full size):

Incomes are declining, putting deflationary pressure on the economy. At the same time, the Fed is taking steps that could lead to inflation but that may not happen. There are already indications that quantitative easing is slowing and will be reversed in the first half of next year. Interest rates could start heading up by June. The easing, the printing of money, makes the dollar weaker but when it's reversed, it'll get stronger in the second half of 2010. At the same time, the stock market could weaken.

I tell ya, these days it's hard to come up with good news but I'll try. After days of clouds, cool temperatures, and lots of rain, it's finally sunny here in the east. Time for me to put up my Halloween decorations this week. It'll remain sunny and warm for the next few days. I have some new orange lights and some candy corn lights. It's always nice to put a leaf garland with lights on the mantle this time of year and it can stay up through Thanksgiving.

It's great that Pakistan is finally going on the offensive agains al Qaeda. About time. Hope they make some headway.

The WH is at war with Fox, as I'm sure you know. Fox is the only network that actually reports the news anymore and O can't stand that. Too bad. Shades of Nixon's war with the Washington Post.

It's Friday night. Good Jews are supposed to light Shabbos (sabbath) candles at sundown and do no work on Saturday. My stove even has a sabbath feature but I don't use it because I'm not a good Jew. Paula Abdul is, though, and she lights Shabbos candles.

Well, maybe I'll be a good Jew and lie around and do nothing on Saturday. We're supposed to get a lot of rain and there's plenty of food in the fridge.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Update:

One of the things going on in the world that I haven't commented on is the Goldstone report because it's so detestable, it makes me too angry for words. It's a UNHRC report on the Gaza conflict that took place in December and January. It found that both Hamas and Israel committed war crimes. It committed the sin of moral equivalence where none existed. Israel was defending herself from rocket attacks on civilian populations that had been going on for a long time. Hamas purposely targeted civilians and used their own people as human shields, both war crimes. Israel showed incredible restraint. Don't take it from me, listen to this military expert:

Update 2:

Last Saturday night, we were at our rented beachfront condo getting ready to go home Sunday morning. I got out of the shower just after 11:30 PM and a few minutes later, my iPhone rings. You don't want to get a call late at night because it's never anything good. You especially don't want to hear from your aging mom's attending physician.

With a foreign accent that's a little difficult to understand, "Your mom is OK but a test gave us some concern so we're sending her to the emergency room for closer monitoring of her heart." One of the heart enzymes was a little elevated, suggesting the possibility of an arterial blockage. It meant she had to be moved across the street from a rehab center to an adjacent hospital.