The Germans are Restless

When I turned off the news last night before going to sleep, the Greek unions were rioting in the streets over new austerity measures forced by EU banks as a condition of another bailout of Greece's collapsing economy. Nothing new there. But this morning I read that a German newspaper had been polling Germans about the situation and 68% thought it was a waste of time to help Greece and a whopping 71% thought the Euro was a goner - bring back the Deutschmark and the heck with the rest of the losers. Hmm.

I have previously posted (9/13/10, 11/17/10) about Germany starting to pull away from the embrace of the EU and go its own way. This poll does nothing to undercut that view. What will be interesting to see, though, is if German politicians start acting on the polls. If another European country's banking system tanks - and there are several in the on-deck circle - then we may get to see this happen sooner than we think.

www.express.co.uk/posts/view/255228/Mark-set-for-comeback-as-German-euro-crisis-deepens

TSA - The Adventure Continues

Anybody who has flown during the last 10 years has experienced the joys of dealing with the TSA. They are now doing pat-downs of 6-year olds, nude screenings of the rest of us and always with such a polite and passenger-friendly attitude. And now they are unionized! That's right - the American Federation of Government Employees will be representing all 50,000 TSA'ers. Now we can look forward to things like mandatory breaks for all screeners when the line for early morning flights is at its longest, non-firings of TSA employees who get a little too frisky patting down kids or well-endowed blondes, five employees looking at the screen on the luggage belt instead of one, etc., etc. But we will be protected from those darn Swedish, grandmother, and kiddy terrorists!

www.airportbusiness.com/web/online/Top-News-Headlines/Big-Labor-Captures-Airport-Screeners/1$45665

Whee! Whee!

One of Salem's car dealers just picked up a new car line - Wheego. Gesundheit! What kind of a name is "Wheego"? Certainly not one that inspires me to think about paying the asking price of $33K for the little two-seat electric flivver. And that's without air conditioning.  But courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer, all buyers do get a $7,500 tax credit. Whee! Whee!

wheego.net/more/

The Beginning of the End for Ethanol?

Last week the Senate voted to kill ethanol subsidies. Hooray for sanity! The U.S. has been simultaneously driving up food prices, decreasing car mileage, and spending $6 billion/year in handouts to agribusiness interests - a truly great public policy. The EPA is still mandating ethanol as an additive to gasoline, but if the Senate sticks to its guns we may see the end of this white elephant. It can't come a moment too soon.

townhall.com/columnists/luritadoan/2011/06/20/confronting_wasteful_spending_the_senate_vote_on_ethanol

I Knew It Was Soggy!

According to the National Climatic Data Center this was the second wettest spring in 117 years! I knew there was a reason that our moss was growing moss. C'mon sunshine!

www.oregonlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2011/06/oregon_endures_wettest_spring.html

An Epic Adventure with Scientific Merit

When I was in 5th or 6th grade my parents gave me a book by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, Kon Tiki. I loved it. Heyerdahl noticed that the statues on Easter Island were similar to statues found in Bolivia and his thesis was that Polynesia was settled by South Americans and not Asians as commonly believed. To demonstrate that this was possible, he built a balsa wood (commonly available in South America) raft and set out on a 101-day journey to Polynesia which he and his crew successfully completed. Despite this success, he was widely ignored by the scientific community. Not so fast there buckos!

 New DNA evidence taken from residents of Easter Island confirms that although Asian genes are plentiful, genes that could only come from indigenous residents of the Americas were also present. While it is possible that Polynesians could have sailed to South America and had children with locals, the perils of the long return voyage and the fact that prevailing ocean currents are westbound make it much more likely that it was the South Americans who were the traveling team. Well done Heyerdahl! You might give Kon Tiki a read - it is still a book worth reading today as much as it was way back when.

www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8582150/Kon-Tiki-explorer-was-partly-right-Polynesians-had-South-American-roots.html

A Man of God

Bill Watson was one of the best things about our time in the Episcopal Church. He died this week after a long illness. Bill was a kind and gentle man who loved God and his family, friends, and parishioners. In many ways he reminded me of a country priest, the kind who quietly goes about his priestly duties as he runs into people around town, taking the time to visit about how they and their family are doing and ministering to them when he hears they have hit a rough spot. Two of our kids were baptized by Fr. Bill and when our son Matt went through a very long weekend with a life-threatening medical issue, it was Bill who came down to the hospital several times to pray for him and for us in his calm and faithful way. We appreciated his life and we will miss him. We also look forward to seeing him again some day and sharing stories about family and friends when we have all the time in the world.

This is What Leaders are Made Of.

There's a group of ladies in the  Dallas  area who make and stuff neck  pillows for soldiers coming through  Dallas Fort Worth airport.  They go to the airport and meet the incoming planes every week and greet the soldiers coming back for a few weeks R&R, give them a pillow, tell them they pray for them, and thank them for their service.  The lady who took the pictures said everyone was so surprised to see George and Laura Bush recently just standing quietly in the waiting area with others who come to meet the troop planes.  She said it was amazing to watch the faces of the soldiers light up in recognition when they spotted them and that many came over to speak and shake hands. I'm not surprised. This is what leaders are made of.

O Canada!

The Vancouver Canucks lose the Stanley Cup and the city riots! In Canada??!! The land of afternoon tea and people who say "Eh?" alot??!! Let's have some of that stiff upper lip stuff! I mean you don't want to ape Detroit or Cleveland do you? No salute for you!

Blessing or Curse?

A friend of mine has become addicted to painkillers as a result of a severe injury. It is not fun to watch when he runs low, or thinks he is going to run low, on his meds. The new SAIF magazine has an article on opioid painkillers (Vicodin, Oxycontin) and it is very sobering. Consider:

•   The U.S. consumes 80% of all opioids produced and 99% of the oxycodone.
•   More people die from opioids than heroin.
•   In Oregon in 2008, 53% of all prescription drug deaths were from opioids.
•   Nationally 38,000 people died from opioids in 2007, the last year records are available.  

These are scary numbers and they have gotten worse each year since 1996. Pain is not a great thing, but there has to be a better way to address it than using this stuff on a long term basis.     

Giant Science Experiment

The lead researcher at England's National Solar Observatory says that the sun is heading into a quiet period which may last for years or even decades. He predicted sharply declining temperatures and called it a "wonderful experiment" to determine if the sun has "any effect on global warming." Why would anyone think that? I mean c'mon - just because the last 3 times that this has happened in recorded history the earth plunged into a mini- ice age doesn't mean it has any predictive value. Think I will move up my order on a new winter jacket from LL Bean.

www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2003824/Earth-facing-mini-Ice-Age-years-rare-drop-sunspot-activity.html

A Doctor in the Family

Graduations are great and the one we attended yesterday definitely fit that description with a capital "G"! After five years of hard work our son-in-law, Mark Samples, was hooded at the University of Oregon and became Dr. Mark Samples. A rainy morning turned into a beautiful afternoon and in Bell Hall at the Music Department of UO, Mark and six other Ph.D candidates received their doctorates amid much pomp and circumstance. It was a fitting finale where parents and family looked proudly on as the degree was conferred. Mark and Jenny worked exceptionally hard to reach this goal and we salute both Dr. and Mrs. Mark Samples for a stellar job!

Air Mobile

The U.S. is ferrying troops and material all over the world chasing bad guys. The trans oceanic routes are flown by C-5s, a model that first came into service in the late 1960s, and C-17s. The latter entered service in 1995. In-theater work is handled by the venerable Lockheed C-130 Hercules which first flew for the Air Force in 1956. It has finally occurred to someone in the Pentagon that we may need  heavy lift replacement aircraft sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, it is not even opening the formal specification process until 2014 and doesn't expect to actually buy aircraft until 2024. Even at that it only anticipates buying 250 birds. The Air Force, of course, doesn't know what it wants in capabilities, so the artist's conception shown here may or may not bear some resemblance to the final product. You can be sure, though, that it will be both delayed and considerably more expensive than promised. We need the planes, but this is the type of procurement process that recently retired Secretary Gates has warned needs to be reformed. Given this start to the process, I won't be holding my breath.

defensetech.org/2010/10/25/so-the-air-force-wants-a-c-130-replacement-by-2024/

Imagine

... you are sitting in an airplane that crashes on take off.  You slide off the end of the runway and gradually come to a stop with the fuselage intact. Just when you are saying an ecstatic "We made it!" one of the fuel tanks ruptures and the fuel ignites from a torn electrical connection. Your life flashes before your eyes and... you sit and watch as the fire trucks arrive, perfectly comfortable and completely safe from the inferno outside the window, waiting for the emergency crews to put the fire out. That's what Starlite, an amazing plastic, can do. Too bad it has been sitting around for 23 years while government agencies and big corporations wrangle over ownership rights.

The London Daily Telegraph has the full story, replete with an eccentric English inventor, a test showing the material can deflect the heat of a nuclear blast, and the above said agencies and corporations scheming to "license" the material and then reverse engineer it so they can then produce it themselves. It's an interesting story, one that makes one wonder how many more life-changing inventions have sunk into the same morass.

www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/5158972/Starlite-the-nuclear-blast-defying-plastic-that-could-change-the-world.html

Mostly Cloudy with Some Afternoon Sun

What is the economic situation in Oregon? The answer is better than a year ago, although only marginally so. Unemployment as of April 2011 was down to 9.5% from about 12% in March a year ago. www.google.com/publicdata?ds=usunemployment&met_y=unemployment_rate&idim=state:ST410000&dl=en&hl=en&q=oregon%27s+unemployment+rate There is some hiring in the private sector. Daimler Benz in Portland, for example, is adding 155 workers due to higher demand for its Freightliner and Western Star trucks. www.kgw.com/news/business/Daimler-adding-jobs-in-Portland-123618869.html This is offset, though, by public employee layoffs such as the recent round by the Salem-Keizer School District. Federal stimulus dollars floated the public sector for an extra year but when they ran out, so did the public jobs. Oregon agricultural exports were up 25% last year and 2011 is projected to be even better. It appears that Oregon's economy is like our Spring weather this year - there are some rays of sunshine peeking through the clouds, but the cold gray clouds just won't disappear. Let's hope summer arrives soon.

Living in the Barracks

That's an odd title for a blog piece, but it is probably where an increasing number of Americans will end up if Obama finishes off the housing market as planned. New mortgage qualification rules are being rolled out that would arbitrarily eliminate 60% of Americans from home ownership. You have to hand it to the Feds - when they screw up they don't mess around! First they created a housing bubble when they decreed that pretty much everybody should get a home loan. (Ed. note - thanks Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd!) Now they are going to the opposite extreme and nobody will get a home loan. Our kids who don't own a home already can probably kiss off the chance to do so if these rules go into effect. The rest of us who already own homes can plan to stay put because there will be no one to buy them. Federal housing policy would be my Exhibit 1 against the command control economy so beloved by Democrats.

 townhall.com/columnists/lindachavez/2011/06/10/killing_the_housing_market

That About Clinches It

President Obama said today that there is "no chance" of a double-dip recession. In view of his track record with pronouncements about the economy, it's probably time to batten down the hatches to get ready for Recession II - The Sequel!

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110607/ap_on_re_us/us_us_germany_merkel

Career Dissapation Light Flashing

Good luck Anthony! I think that's Nancy Pelosi in the background.

Mea Culpa

Like Congressman Weiner, I hang my head in shame. Well, not for doing what he did, but I did miss the front page story in the Statesman Journal this morning on D-Day. My muse failed. I was caffeine deficient at the time and thought the picture was turtles on the beach, but no excuses - I apologize and will read more carefully next time.

D-Day Remembered

Today is the 67th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Festung Europa - Hitler's Third Reich. Thousands of valiant Americans, Brits, and Canadians hit the Normandy beaches and clawed their way inland against fierce Nazi resistance. It was the beginning of the end for the Nazis but there was nothing foreordained about the result - but for the bravery of these men we might be speaking German as our first language today. Yet looking at today's newspaper and numerous websites, I have yet to see a reference to this epoch-making event. Sad. How soon we forget. And those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Sad. Thank you D-Day vets, those few of you who are left. We owe you a terrific debt of gratitude.

Whose Side is He On?

I just read the article that we are buying Russian helicopters for the Afghan Army. Say what? So I decided just for the fun of it to list a number of Obama's foreign giveaways that have stuck in my craw. Consider:

• Brazil's oil company Petrobas gets $2 billion to finance its offshore oil development. Brazil has been playing footsie with China. online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346610120524166.html
• Colombia gets $2.84 billion to build a new oil refinery. www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/07/colombia-usa-refinery-idUSN0728653320110407
• Finally, the Pentagon just bought 10 Russian helicopters for the Afghan Army and has spent $648 million fixing other Russian helicopters for them! Still trying to hit the "re-set" button on relations with the Russkies. www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/19/reportedly-buying-russian-helicopters-afghan-air-corps/
• $900 million to the Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas runs Gaza as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and their sole goal in life appears to be to destroy Israel. The money was allegedly given to NGOs rather than the government, but cash has a funny way of ending up in the Swiss bank accounts of dictators or being invested in crates of armaments.  www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/washington/24gaza.html

Obama opposes offshore oil drilling here, he is against building oil refineries here, the U.S. builds helicopters second to none, and Hamas wants to annihilate our best ally in the Middle East. Do you see a pattern here?  The policy pattern that emerges does not favor the U.S. and these all come at a time when we are in the worst financial shape that we have been in since the 1930s. Real damage is being done to U.S. power, not the least of which is the fact that we are the laughingstock of the world - Charlie Brown to Lucy holding the football.

Idiots of the World Unite! Econ 101

Some idiots are after Apple because it doesn't pay its "fair share" of income taxes. Econ 101 - corporations don't pay income taxes. An income tax is a "cost" to a corporation, just like all the other costs that a corporation must deal with, and it passes them through to its customers by building the costs into the price of the goods or services that it sells. Thus, what these rocket scientists are really saying is "Tax us (the customers) some more!" Brilliant. They are either idiots for not knowing this, or knaves for understanding it perfectly well and just making a disguised grab for more taxes from the long-suffering populace.

www.macworld.com/article/160302/2011/06/apple_taxgroup.html

Another Weinergate?

"Thousands Duped by Frankfurter Diet as British Heart Foundation Says It's a Fake"--headline, Daily Mail (London), June 3

Best of the Web, WSJ, June 3, 2011

Chipping at Fossilized Bureaucracies

This is a companion piece to my May 29 post about U.S. defense needs per former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The needs are very real if we expect to be safe as a nation in the decades ahead. He has also said, however, that the Pentagon is its own worst enemy. Essentially, it has become so fossilized, so unresponsive that it cannot design and implement new weapon systems that work, on time and on budget. Many of the most successful weapon systems of the last 25 years have been produced by small contractors like General Atomics and the Predator drones or by closed shops with special rules like Lockheed's Skunk Works that produced the F-117 Nighthawk. Because of the drunken spending binge that politicians have been on, dollars are going to be scarce for a long time, even for critical projects. This is not necessarily a bad thing if it triggers substantial chipping (whacking!) away of fossilized bureaucracies and forces them to be lean and productive.

townhall.com/columnists/michaelbarone/2011/06/02/gates_verdict_pentagons_biggest_enemy_is_itself

Why We Are Going Broke - Take 25

Mayor Sam Adams wants the City of Portland to add sex change surgery to the list of covered items on the city's health insurance. Great. Is there a change in Sam's future? Is it any wonder the government is broke?
 www.kgw.com/news/business/Mayor-Adams--122919043.html