Ignorance is Bliss

Did you know that Portland Mayor Sam Adams had no idea that the FBI was going to take down the would-be Christmas tree bomber? True story. Portland is the only city in the U.S. that pulled out of the Federal Joint Terrorist Task Force (JTTF) that shares information about terrorist activities in this country, so PDX wasn't notified of the plot or the upcoming bust. Sam now assures his nervous citizenry that he's on top of it and they have nothing to fear. Oh thank goodness Sudden Sam is on on it! We have nothing to fear. Of course, several hundred people could have died last Friday if this plot had not been discovered and he wouldn't have had a clue - at Portland's own election. Ignorance, after all, is bliss but they can feel righteous.

www.kgw.com/news/Mayor-Adams-portland-terror-polt-pioneer-square-mohamud-111087504.html

Happy Thanksgiving!

Banko!

California is insolvent from an accounting perspective. Illinois is pretty much there and New York isn't far behind. How do we avoid a massive Federal bailout of these spendthrift states? According to law professor David Skeel, we have Congress pass a new chapter of the Bankruptcy Code that allows states to pull the plug. Since the 1930s there has been a chapter that lets cities do so and now it's time to let states do likewise. He may well be right. Strange times we live in.
 
www.weeklystandard.com/articles/give-states-way-go-bankrupt_518378.html

Never Mind!

 Like the Church Lady, Al Gore has just uttered "Never mind!" when it comes to his endorsement of ethanol added to gasoline. He says that he was running for President and basically needed farm votes, so he pushed ethanol. There is only so much land for corn production and it seems that corn grown for ethanol is competing with eating corn and food prices are going up as a consequence. It also makes a crappy fuel that decreases mileage and eats engine components. Obviously, all this was completely unpredictable, right? Well, no, but it's OK because Al was running for President. Sort of makes you wonder what else he has gotten wrong because he has some vested interest but hasn't yet told us. Let's see - I'm thinking melting glaciers, rising sea levels -  wait, wait, it'll come to me!

news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20023671-54.html?tag=cnetRiver

Kindly Remove All Your Clothes and Stay to the Right

Verum Serum is an interesting site that Al Lyons put me on to. Here is a video from that site of Germans disrobing at the airport security line to protest the overly intrusive searches in their country. Jeez - they should be in the U.S.A. now where even little kids are getting the proctological treatment! Come to think of it, this is pretty much like standing in the TSA line at any major American airport. Heaven forbid that we should P-R-O-F-I-L-E based on what we know about the sorts of people who target airliners. Hint: it's not Swedes, grandmothers, or 3-year olds. In the meantime, you've got to hand it to the Germans for an effective protest.

 www.verumserum.com/?p=19156

A Friend Indeed

Just over a week ago I posted on events surrounding the heart surgery of my friend, Al Wipf.  I closed by saying that God is in charge, regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. This is still true, but the circumstances are unexpectedly sadder. Al died Thursday night after improving steadily following his surgery and his family and friends are devastated, me included.

Experts say that we are fortunate to have five good friends in our lifetime. Men typically only have 2 or 3. Al was one of those friends.  My father died of cancer when I was 14. Al sat in for him as I grew older. We went to lunch and we talked about kids, Jesus, the church, baseball, and politics – lots of politics - and just lots of "guy" things. We enjoyed the kind of conversations that I did not get to have with my dad and these talks shaped me for the better. We didn’t always agree (although most often we did) but we enjoyed our time together and kept coming back for more.  It was a ritual that I looked forward to and a friendship that we shared for 40 years this year.  It is a friendship that, despite this momentary interruption, we will share again when we both have more time, an eternity in fact.

Psalm 23 says that we pass through the valley of the shadow of death.  A shadow lacks substance and requires light beyond it to exist at all. Al has walked through the shadow and now knows only light. Praise God from whom all blessings flow and praise Him for the life of my friend, Al Wipf. I will miss him greatly.

You're Gonna Get Me Killed!

There's a great line in Die Hard 3 where Samuel Jackson tells Bruce Willis, "I don't like you 'cause you're gonna get me killed!" My sentiments exactly about the current Administration. Check this out.

Obama's Interior Department is declaring 532 square miles (miles!) along the New Mexico/Mexico border as "Wilderness." What this means is that the Border Patrol cannot patrol the border in this massive area because it might offend the jack rabbits, cacti,  or who knows what. I am sure that terrorists and major drug smugglers will just as scrupulously obey the rules in this area. Unbelievable! I don't like these guys 'cause they're gonna get me - and all of us - killed!

frontpagemag.com/2010/11/18/expanding-cracks-in-the-border/

The New Look of the Democrat Party

Old Look











New Look

Why mess with success?

Look Who Crashed the Party!

An aircraft carrier is one of the crown jewels of American power. Guess who showed up in the middle of a U.S. fleet exercise in the Pacific within torpedo range of the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk?  Why none other than a Chinese diesel-powered sub that should not have been within 200 miles of the flotilla. It surfaced, said hello to the embarrassed American sailors, and then got out of Dodge before it pushed its luck too far.

Lesson: The Chinese are not screwing around in the western Pacific and we had better get our game on too - they make more than consumer items for Wal Mart.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-492804/The-uninvited-guest-Chinese-sub-pops-middle-U-S-Navy-exercise-leaving-military-chiefs-red-faced.html

Deutschland Unter Alles?

It looks like Ireland has jumped to the front of the bread line as its banking system goes into cardiac arrest. Another EU bailout is being discussed. And Germany's position on this? Germany has done all the things that the U.S. has not in dealing with this recession - cut spending, lowered taxes, etc. As a result, its economy is decent, if not sparkling. Other European nations have not been as disciplined. The German public was not happy with bailing out Greece, so you can be pretty sure that Ireland will get an even worse reception. And BTW, Portugal's fall is being openly discussed now too. Et tu, Allemagne?

Music Discovered

My long-time friend Al Wipf is in the hospital this week for a heart valve replacement. His daughter, Lisa, has been keeping us apprised of his condition, which thankfully is very good. On the first evening, though, when things weren't quite so clear, she penned this note:

'The orchestra that God is directing is sometimes beautiful sometimes painful sometimes miraculous. Sometimes we are given a show/performance that is amazing.

God allowed me to be off this day, I took off long ago. There were two nurses that knew Tobi from high school, a patient of mine and dads is the head floor nurse and took care to over see us. A friend of mine Shannon was here for her husbands surgery: comfort  A friend of mothers was volunteering at the front desk. All were orchestrated to be here today; at this time.  At this place. Whether good happens or bad we have blessed by these people; our friends that have surrounded us.

It's eight. They want to take the tube out but he refuses to breath deep enough. But his colour is good and temp good. They really think he's doing well.   This is the last email for the night. Tonight All is well with the world."

All is still well with the world; God is in charge, regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves.There is a symphony being played that occasionally we are allowed to hear. I'm glad that Lisa had such a moment and shared it with the rest of us. Remember the music.

We Salute You

It's Veterans Day and time to say thank you to those of you currently serving or who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Land of the Free; Courtesy of the Brave." I agree. Thank you for your service: Ben Cameron. Taylor Rieff, Brent Gillaspie, Jake Miller, Chris Staley, Nate Lyons, Tony Dix, Ed Cameron, Bill Brooks, Dave Williams, Bill Lewis, Al Wipf, George McGreer, Gary Edelbrock, George Jagodnik, Connie Stein, John Whitehead, Bill Watson, Harry Andersen, and Janey Wiles. I hope you will use the "Comments" button below to add the names of those you know who deserve our thanks.

He Iss Alive!

This is the  classic line from Frankenstein movies. My personal favorite is Young Frankenstein with Marty Feldman and Gene Wilder, but I digress, as my point when I started this sentence was to apply it to the Oregon economy.

The UO Index of Economic Indicators showed a blip up in September of 0.2% after falling 6.4% over a six-month period. Although the headline banners the improvement, the actual text focuses on why the economists are projecting an "echo recession" with weak employment until well into 2011, even including further job losses.

Governor-elect (again) Kitzhaber says Oregon's problems are "green." Not so - they are "red" as in red ink from bloated state budgets. The patient has no more blood to give; he iss alive, if just barely. You are a doctor, so start cutting already and not just with manicure scissors!


www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/11/oregon_economic_indicators_tur.html

The Lindsay Lohan of the States?

Gosh I wish this piece had been out when I posted the other day on California's problems. This writer from the WSJ says it so much better - and funnier. Lindsay Lohan of the states - what a hoot!






online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703506904575592612400443370.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

Thar She Blows!

Newberry Crater south of Bend is still a hottie! Little did we know when we drove around the enormous crater a couple of years ago that this volcano is on the list of the top 3 highest risk volcanoes in Oregon. The cinder cone in the picture is just a small part of the caldera - the ridge in the background is actually the edge of the volcano and it extends around the caldera for miles. Although the chances aren't great that it will blow in our lifetime, they are still high enough that scientists are placing 8 seismic sensors to give some advance notice if she decides to act out. This is an interesting state geologically and after Mt. St. Helens, better to be safe than sorry.

www.kgw.com/news/Geologists-Volcano-near-Bend-still-a-threat-106713578.html

Progress Against Type 2 Diabetes

Researchers at Oregon State have discovered that a high-fat diet suppresses an enzyme (elongase-five) that process sugars normally. When they changed the diet of lab mice to a very low-fat diet, the enzyme kicked back in and the mice were diabetes-free within 5 days and their triglyceride levels also dropped substantially. The researchers are now researching how this process works and hope to develop a drug that will produce the same result in people.

www.kgw.com/lifestyle/health/Are-we-closer-to-a-cure-for-type-2-diabetes-106527278.html

Phew! A Bullet Dodged

I don't know if you caught this one in the aftermath of Tuesday's election news, but the move to change Detroit, Oregon to "Detroit Lake" was crushed 47-37. The Red Tide of conservatism rolls on. I will sleep well tonight.

 www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110307255.html

Own It!

California Democrats own it. What a shame, no more Arnold to blame. Come what may, Governor Moonbeam and his Happy Merrymakers in the Legislature now own it. The budget deficit is $26 billion and the unfunded public pension liability is $500 billion (yep - a half Trillion big ones!) and yet Jerry Brown was taped during the campaign that if they can find some money, they're going to give that away too! Whatever else it may be, the "Look ma - no hands!" approach is amusing. Now that the U.S. House is firmly in Republican hands, I think that you will not see a bailout of the Golden State in the event it defaults on a bond issue or other financial obligation. Perhaps they can spray paint things gold to maintain the image. Good luck folks!

The Gloves are Off

I thought Krauthammer's hit on Obama was pretty good in my post the other day. The diminutive Peggy Noonan (who wrote the "1000 points of light" speech), however, drops one in the 10 megaton range in the Wall Street Journal:

"On to the aftermath of the election. On Wednesday, President Obama gave a news conference to share his thoughts. Viewers would have found it disappointing if there had been any viewers. The president is speaking, in effect, to an empty room. From my notes five minutes in: "This wet blanket, this occupier of the least interesting corner of the faculty lounge, this joy-free zone, this inert gas." By the end I was certain he will never produce a successful stimulus because he is a human depression.

Actually I thought the worst thing you can say about a president: He won't even make a good former president.

His detachment is so great, it is even from himself. As he spoke, he seemed to be narrating from a remove. It was like hearing the audiobook of Volume I of his presidential memoirs. "Obama was frustrated. He honestly didn't understand what the country was doing. It was as if they had compulsive hand-washing disorder. In '08 they washed off Bush. Now they're washing off Obama. There he is, swirling down the drain! It's all too dramatic, too polar. The morning after the election it occurred to him: maybe he should take strong action. Maybe he should fire America! They did well in 2008, but since then they've been slipping. They weren't giving him the followership he needed. But that wouldn't work, they'd only complain. He had to keep his cool. His aides kept telling him, 'Show humility.' But they never told him what humility looked like. What was he supposed to do, burst into tears and say hit me? Not knowing how to feel humility or therefore show humility he decided to announce humility: He found the election 'humbling,' he said."


online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703805704575594772776292394.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_BelowLEFTSecond

Those are elegant and devastatingly funny words - and humor is something that Obama can't stand because it deprives him of cool. It's going to be a very interesting two years.

Hail to the Chief

What We Have Heah is a Failure to Communicate!

This is a famous line from the movie Cool Hand Luke and Charles Krauthammer, in giving his take on the results of Tuesday's election, both warns Republicans and applies this line to our President. Take it away Charles:

"Nor should Republicans overinterpret their Tuesday mandate. They received none. They were merely rewarded for acting as the people's proxy in saying no to Obama's overreaching liberalism. The Republicans won by default. And their prize is nothing more than a two-year lease on the House.

The president, however, remains clueless. In his next-day news conference, he had the right demeanor — subdued, his closest approximation to humility — but was uncomprehending about what just happened. The "folks" are apparently just "frustrated" that "progress" is just too slow. Asked three times whether popular rejection of his policy agenda might have had something to do with the shellacking he took, he looked as if he'd been asked whether the sun had risen in the West. Why, no, he said."

www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20101105/OPINION/11050313/1049

The next two years should be very interesting.

The Bipolar Express

It's done! No more crummy campaign commercials, strange people calling you at all hours, or knocking on your door when you are sitting down to dinner. I am delighted with the national results. The brakes have been firmly put on by the American people (remember all revenue measures start in the House) and if the newly-elected Republicans don't wuss out, we will be on our way back to some level of sanity. On the other hand, I am down about the results in Oregon and the whole Left Coast. If these states were the captain of the Titanic, upon seeing the iceberg they would have turned directly toward it and ordered ramming speed. Unbelievable! Is it the rain? Perhaps the gray skies? The dope? Whatever it is, the mush level in all the Pacific coast states is clearly insurmountable for Republicans. Good job anyway Dudley, Bruun, Cornilles, and Robinson. If you move to Idaho where I am going, I'll gladly vote for you.