Choose a job you love,
and you will never work a day in your life.
Confucius
'Obama Quote of the Day
Maybe I should just pack up and go home. - #44
[Yes, please; need any help?]
Chart of the Day: Entrepreneurship Under Obama
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| Courtesy of James Pethokoukis |
Obama Charges His Yuppie Tax Giveaway To Future Taxpayers But Crony Automakers/Suppliers Could Not Discharge Their Debts
(HT Gary North). Recall Obama, in one his grandiose environmental agenda industrial policy goals set in a 2011 address, promised to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Well, it's halftime, America, and let's see how Obama is doing towards his goal, even with all-but-bankrupt America and the all-but-bankrupt People's Republic of California throwing thousands in subsidies (up to $7500 or more on vehicles priced upwards of $40K for base models) at well-paid yuppies (whom do not need a subsidy), loan guarantees at suppliers, etc: 87,000. Yeah, in this listless Obama recovery, where we can barely accommodate labor force growth, never mind millions unemployed or underemployed, with up to 41% of new college grads having to settle for work not requiring a college degree while graduating with hefty loans, does anyone really believe that sales are going to explode to more than quintuple over each of the next 2 years?
From Bloomberg:
The Los Angeles-based company, whose Coda Automotive unit also sought court protection, listed assets of as much as $50 million and debt of as much as $100 million today in the Chapter 11 filing in Wilmington, Delaware. The company said it intends to sell its assets within 45 days.
Coda’s bankruptcy is at least the third by an electric vehicle-related company in just over a year. A123 Systems Inc. (AONEQ), a battery supplier to Fisker Automotive Inc., another California-based maker of electric cars, filed for bankruptcy in October. Ener1 Inc., also a maker of batteries for electric cars, entered bankruptcy in January 2012.
While A123 and an Ener1 unit received U.S. government funds, Coda didn’t. The company applied for a $334 million loan in May 2010 and withdrew the request in April 2012.I know what you're thinking: Obama must be singing the classic Meatloaf hit: "Two out of 3 ain't bad"...
Stossel on the Best President of the Twentieth Century
Revisiting the Boston Terror Manhunt:
Yet Another Government Failure
Never underestimate the collective idiocy of the public. For example, how many people have looked the other way, saying "whatever it takes" as bureaucratic rule makers dream up even more demeaning ways to invade our privacy. Never mind that never once in the history of domestic passenger air flights have we seen elderly passenger, babies, business executives, families on vacation, etc. ever try to bring down a jet by an in-flight suicide? Do we really feel any safer by watching a TSA employee pretend that he knows what he is doing by poking a baby's diaper? It's all a Kabuki dance meant to show supervisors and passengers that they are exercising "due diligence".
There is a cost for all this, of course We don't have a lot of statistics on how many "terrorists" have been caught by TSA agents groping passengers, etc The thing they are good at--intimidating passengers... I've mentioned in past posts how I once had to undergo a second screening at a gate. (Long lines and a lottery screening delayed my getting to the gate during boarding; the boarding agent noticed that TSA "forgot" to stamp I had been screened. I had to wait while they paged TSA to the gate; the agent arrived with her screening wand and all the dispatch of a root canal patient. At the same time some standby passengers were begging for the desk agent to reassign my seat to them. When I objected to a second, public screening (I reasoned surely one of the TSA agents at the front must have processed some entry I had been screened for their own record-keeping), she threatened the alternative of having me escorted back to security and missing my flight for sure.) This had nothing to do with public safety; it had to do with asserting their petty authority, rules for the sake of rules:
But here's the point: it's not only that TSA focuses too much time and resources on unproductive, often humiliating and unreasonable searches, but it doesn't do a very good job at its core mission, lending a false sense of security to those "whatever-it-takes" gullible Americans, all too eager to surrender everyone's liberty whenever opportunistic, manipulative fear-mongerers pull their strings. Here are some anecdotal observations to make the point:
- According to one report, undercover TSA agents testing security at a Newark airport terminal on one day in 2006 found that TSA screeners failed to detect concealed bombs and guns 20 out of 22 times. A 2007 government audit leaked to USA Today revealed that undercover agents were successful slipping simulated explosives and bomb parts through Los Angeles's LAX airport in 50 out of 70 attempts, and at Chicago's O'Hare airport agents made 75 attempts and succeeded in getting through undetected 45 times.
- Last fall [2009], as he had done hundreds of times, Iranian-American businessman Farid Seif passed through security at a Houston airport and boarded an international flight. He didn't realize he had forgotten to remove the loaded snub nose "baby" Glock pistol from his computer bagWhen he got to his hotel after the three-hour flight, he was shocked to discover the gun traveled unnoticed from Houston.
- This past February, an undercover TSA undercover agent was able to make it through security, including a pat-down, with a fake IED device. Four undercover TSA agents tried four different methods of sneaking a fake bomb on board a flight. Of those four, only one was caught by screeners. They found the fake bomb in a rather obvious looking doll with wires sticking out of it.
- In March: "Port Authority police arrested an accused rapist at New York’s JFK Airport just as he was getting ready to board his flight to London.They found a stun gun in his carry-on luggage, which he somehow managed to get past the intrepid TSA agents at the security screening checkpoint. This was a 3800-watt stun gun that the accused is alleged to have used to subdue his girlfriend before repeatedly raping her the day prior to his arrest."
- And here is TSA last February taking away the stuffed animal of a 3-year-old sweetheart (to be patted down) in a wheelchair, on a trip to Disney World, and refusing to return Lamby to Lucy after it was screened (no doubt if she had candy....):
According to Reason, "a rough calculation suggests that in the last five years, your chances of being killed by a terrorist are about one in 20 million" vs.
- annual risk of dying in a car accident of 1 in 19,000;
- drowning in a bathtub at 1 in 800,000
- dying in a building fire at 1 in 99,000
- being struck by lightning at 1 in 5,500,000.
Here's another list:
- You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attac
- You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack
- You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane
- You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack
- You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack
- You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack
- You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack
- You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack
- You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack
- You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist
- You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack
- You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack
- 20 times more likely to be killed by a drunk driver then a terrorist.
- 27 times more likely to be murdered by a hand gun than by a terrorist.
- 11 times more likely to be killed in an occupational accident than by a terrorist
- 209 times more likely to be killed by a hospital than by a terrorist.
For other, more comprehensive lists see here and here. I will concede there are other effects (e.g., property damage, business operations, etc.) and acts of terror are hardly spontaneous or randomly occurring events.
This wasn't intended to be yet another TSA rant; I'm referring more about undue reliance on it; which the legislator responsible for its creation, Congessman Mica, admits is a failure and should be privatized. But I'm discussing more than the TSA. Let's once again talk about the manhunt in the Boston area following the terror bombings.
I've been reviewing reactions to Ron Paul's sharp criticism of the heavy-handed lockdown, which I recently praised (Paul, not the lockdown) in the blog--I have written similar criticisms, which got a typical eye-rolling "there he goes again" reaction, as if Paul is someone's crazy old uncle. We're being told the lockdown has been particularly positive, the proof in the pudding, the capture of terror suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
What is it about Tsatnaev's escaped SUV that required tanks in the area? Was the SUV the Batmobile? Did the Tsarnaev brothers drive their own tanks on Cape Cod on weekends? I suppose we should be happy to hear Michael Dukakis wasn't himself driving one of the tanks!
The claim that support was near unanimous was untrue; I found, for example, critical accounts from the area. In particular, I remember the reports of some residents, apparently with marijuana plants in their homes; they were worried that they would get incidentally arrested during the involuntary, unsanctioned searches. (They said the agents did notice the plants but told the residents they weren't going to arrest them (but would have to report what they found there).) I didn't choose to write about this and related stories at the time, because I didn't want the story to be confounded by discussion of marijuana decriminalization. (I think marijuana is a stupid abuse of one's body, but I'm even more worried about dysfunctional public policy.)
But let's get beyond this point: who was it that found the suspect hidden in a boat? Was it the thorough house-to-house search? No--the suspect was hidden on the property of a street bypassed for unknown reasons. (Understand now why I brought up the failed TSA tests?) Imagine how much sooner the suspect would have been found without such a statist overreaction to a solitary fugitive...
And what did the police do once they got the tip? They riddled the boat with bullets (that's how they thanked the boat owner, by needlessly damaging private property); the suspect was unarmed with preexisting wounds in the bottom of the boat, i.e., this was not a case where the suspect was shooting at the officers. Now I suspect there wouldn't have been a number of tears shed if the suspect had been killed, but paranoia is not an excuse for disregarding the rule of law. Not to mention if Tsarnaev had died, we would likely have lost whatever information he may have had on co-conspirators, other cells, planned attacks, etc. Tell me, what was it about the way this operation was carried out that inspires confidence?
Make no mistake: I mourn the casualties of this crime; people have died; others have lost limbs and will be physically challenged for the rest of their lives. The Tsarnaev brothers, innocent until proven guilty, seem to have violated the inalienable rights of others; under our system, the surviving brother is entitled to his day in court.
Do NOT let terrorists succeed in changing our republican ideals; do not let fear-mongers manipulate you into surrendering your inalienable rights to some unaccountable statists running their own hidden agenda.
Let's Have Federal Labor Reform: National Right to Work, End Monopoly Labor Union Privileges, Corrupt Collective Bargaining, Unsustainable Federal Pension Systems, etc.
Political Humor
Martha Stewart has signed up with Match.com, the dating thing. And she's been taking dating tips from the CEO of Match.com. And I thought, "Wait a minute. That's insider dating." - David Letterman
[She got a tip from management and called the loser to dump him.]
A new study reveals that up to 41 percent of college graduates are working in jobs that don't require a degree. By the way, I'm one of them. - Conan O'Brien
[We know Obama gives his Presidential performance a B+. But 59% on my grade scale earns an F.]
Political Cartoon
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and
[This has to do allowing admission to openly gay boys, but maintaining restrictions on adults in leadership position. When I was in Scouts, sexual politics wasn't a part of it; if anyone was discreetly gay, I didn't know or care. Of course, I was a military brat. I oppose Scouting getting caught up in the culture wars.]
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| Courtesy of Chuck Asay and Townhall |
Bruce Springsteen, "Pink Cadillac"
