New World Record Muskie

Just in case the world doesn't end tomorrow with the sequester, I have been planning some fishing trips for the year and this article caught my eye. A new world record muskie was landed in Michigan. This beast was 58" long and weighed in at 58 pounds. The angler who caught it was using 8# line and fishing for smallmouth when it hit, which makes this an amazing catch. I doubt I will catch anything even close this year, but it certainly gets the juices flowing!

www.in-fisherman.com/2013/02/20/new-world-record-muskie/?utm_source=ENL
http://www.in-fisherman.com/2013/02/20/new-world-record-muskie/?utm_source=ENL-IF&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily+Newsletters&utm_term=02-28-13

The End of the World Doesn't Have to be a Drag!

That's right - we take our job seriously as your all purpose information blog and in that vein we have a great theme party suggestion for you! As we all know, the civilized world ends tomorrow for the U.S. when the sequester kicks in so how about an End of the World Sequester Party! You can have fallen souffles to celebrate the crashing economy, wear helmets to protect yourself agains the jolt, black armbands to memorialize what is irretrievably broken and don't forget to bring your pistols and plenty of ammunition to deal with the post-apocalyptic future! Enjoy, but check your six! It's been real. 

Cue the Jaws' Music

Here is what all the fuss is about. The top line is Federal spending without the big scary sequester. The bottom line is Federal spending after the sequester. BOOGA BOOGA! Are you scared yet? Is the sky falling? Oh for heaven's sake, let the cuts begin. 

Dumb and Dumber

The Global Hawk has been our premier strategic intelligence drone. It has been widely used all over the world to conduct long range strategic and tactical missions and it has done it well. Now budget woes and the Air Force not being particularly interested in supporting the Army are apparently combining to de-fund the most recent variant.

As Aviation Week notes, after 9/11 the Air Force belatedly realized that it needed recon capability of all kinds and liberally requested RFPs and demos. Northrop Grumman responded and the Global Hawk was pressed into service. Typically a successful program in the military soon experiences mission creep and the particular service begins piling on all kinds of wish lists for the technology which, BTW, they want yesterday. Usually this can be done but at a cost, as the vendor is essentially delivering custom applications rather than a standardized product and the price goes up. Enter cost overruns. Thus it was with the Global Hawk. There is also the Army.

The Air Force doesn't like to support the grunts mucking about down below. It much prefers to fly sleek jets fast and high overhead. The A-10 Thunderbolt (aka "Warthog") is a classic case in point. Designed after the Vietnam War, it was meant to fulfill the critical task of killing enemy tanks and providing close-air support to ground troops and it performed magnificently in Gulf War I and in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite this, the Air Force has tried to kill the airplane several times because it is ugly and slow. The Army offered to take over responsibility for close-air support and fly the Hogs, but the thought of the Army having its own air wing was a bridge too far for the boys in blue. Now the same scenario is occurring again with the Global Hawk. 

Of course the Obama Administration just wants to get rid of the armed forces pretty much altogether and has neither the knowledge, foresight, or interest to think ahead strategically to U.S. defense needs in the next 10-20 years, so it will not get involved in refereeing this dispute.  Hence, its back to the  future with our eyes firmly closed and letting our military capability rot away. I'm sure that when China sees this it will do the same. 

www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_02_25_2013_p22-550617.xml

Thanks Joe!

You can always count on Joe Biden for sage advice. Take his recommendation that a woman doesn't need a lousy "assault rifle" to handle a bad guy - just take a double barrel shotgun and fire a few blasts into the air. No, I mean take it! You have got to watch this video.

weaselzippers.us/2013/02/25/video-women-take-joe-bidens-shotgun-advice-hilarity-ensues/

(Tip o' the hat to Al and Nate Lyons for this one)

Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt

Feel like you have been working hard and getting nowhere? There's a reason for that -

"According to Pew Research, if you’re an American 35 or older, your assets have plummeted 22 percent since 2007.

In 2007, assets for those 35 and older were estimated at an average of $293,968, but by 2010 that number had dropped to $230,018. That decrease in value is attributed to consistently high unemployment, the drop in the housing market, and Barack Obama’s inability to fix the American economy. The 1.22 debt-to-income ratio of those 35 and older is now higher than it has been for thirty years."

www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/24/Americans-35-Have-Lost-22-Percent-Of-Their-Assets

Something Worth Recording

The History Channel is starting a new 10-part series on the Bible on March 3 which is getting excellent advance write-ups. Award-winning producer Mark Burnett, who has produced numerous television shows, is co-producing the series with his wife, Roma (Touched by an Angel) Downey. This one may be worth setting the DVR to record. 

www.history.com/shows/the-bible/videos/the-bible#the-bible

Well, Ya

KGW breathlessly reports that the sequester cuts could hurt Oregon and Washington. Well, ya. We have been living beyond our means as a nation for so long that there will be some pain as we start to scale back to a more reasonable and sustainable level of spending. Do people think that eventually going bankrupt and doing the Greece routine is really better? That's the alternative.

www.kgw.com/news/national/Sequester-to-have-big-impacts-on-Oregon--192920321.html

An Interesting Perspective

Gov. Kitzhaber wants to discuss (again) abolishing the death penalty in Oregon and so the Oregon Legislature will take up the issue this week. Let me get this straight - killing babies is fine because it's the mother's choice and besides, too many of them strain the state's budget. And there's not enough money to go around for medical care so we need death panels to make sure that undeserving seniors take the big step because most won't do it voluntarily. But when it comes to cold-blooded killers, we're going to keep them around for their whole lives with all the amenities at public expense. Kill the innocent; keep the killers. Interesting paradigm for looking at the value of life. 

www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20130224/NEWS/302240045/Is-time-abolish-death-penalty-?nclick_check=1

The Sequester: Smoke and Mirrors

Here is the salient fact about the awful, the stupendously terrible, the APOCALYPTIC sequester: it is not a real cut at all but a mere slowing down of the increased spending already planned for the current fiscal year. That's right, we are overspending way past our income but under the dreaded sequester we would overspend just a little bit less. This is the Federal version of what local politicians do when the city budget is threatened with cuts - no fire, no police, schools will close - WE ARE DOOMED!!!! Bull. If the Feds can't manage a slowdown in spending with intelligent cuts, then trying to balance the budget in the long haul is a lost cause and let's just go the way of Greece right now. What happened to the United States that won WWII and the Cold War? That beat the Brits in the Revolutionary War? That defeated slavery in the Civil War? Get a grip and get going! We have become a bunch of wimps.

Category: Self-Inflicted Wounds

During the recent Presidential election campaign, Obama and his minions steadfastly denied that Medicare was going to take a $700+ billion hit to fund Obamacare as Romney claimed. Well, the non-existent cuts went into effect yesterday, primarily in the popular Medicare Advantage program. The issue is funding and who decides on medical care. Under Medicare Advantage private health insurance carriers make the decisions, heaven forbid! Thus there is a double reason to get rid of them. Way to go all you seniors who voted to re-elect Obama! Don't whine when your treatment request is denied.

www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/20/With-Election-Over-Obama-Announces-Medicare-Cuts-To-Fund-ObamaCare

Clancy as Prophet

Tom Clancy's new book out Threat Vector focuses on a Red Chinese cyberwar group that not only hacks the U.S. for commercial and military secrets, but can and does go on the offense and take over those assets in advance of Chinese military operations. Clancy has always had a good pipeline into the U.S. military and black ops community and now comes an article that reads like the story line from his book. 

The C/net article reports that a Chinese Army backed unit of hackers in a 12-story building in Shanghai is the origin for most of the high level hacking and cyberwar efforts in the world today. Everything from industrial secrets to building nuclear warheads has been hacked and this is probably the mothership for all of these high-level hacks. More importantly, you may remember when a number of regional power systems were hacked a few years ago. At the time, this was said to be the work of "criminals." Perhaps, but a better guess on the identity of the perps might be  the folks in Shanghai. www.pcworld.com/article/141564/article.html

The U.S. is ramping up its effort in the cyber defense area, which is a good thing if a little late - better late than never. This will be the nature of a modern Pearl Harbor if things get really ugly between us and the Chinese. 

news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57569983-83/chinese-army-linked-to-hacks-of-u.s-companies-agencies/

Car-Killing Bunnies of the Plains

It's been awhile since my last post, so let's get started again with a hard-hitting piece - KILLER RABBITS! Yes, bunnies at Denver International Airport are eating the wiring out of cars parked in outlying parking lots at DIA. Spraying coyote urine on the engine apparently wards off these maniac rabbits, but I personally can't imagine driving down the street with a hot engine smelling like coyote pee. Pick your poison, I guess. These bunnies are undoubtedly cousins of the ones that attacked President Carter in 1977 while he was canoeing in his pond. 

hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_BUNNY_BLOCKERS?SITE=KGW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=ENTERTAINMENT.html

Speaking Truth to Power

Dr. Ben Carson is the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University. He came from extreme poverty and was raised by a single mother who would not give up on him. There is an excellent documentary about his story: Gifted Hands; The Ben Carson Story. 

Dr. Carson recently spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast and his comments are well worth hearing. Surrounded by politicians of all stripes, including President Obama, he spoke truth directly and in a gentle manner that all Americans need to hear. I hope you will take the time to listen.

townhall.com/tipsheet/danieldoherty/2013/02/10/wsj-ben-carson-for-president-n1509059

Blue Angels Grounded

The sequester cuts hitting the Defense Department as a result of the inability of Congress and the White House to make intelligent spending cuts are starting to bite. The Navy is pulling out one of two carrier battle groups in the Indian Ocean due to the cuts. That's a nice peaceful part of the world, so no problem there. One that really blows, though, is the decision to ground the Blue Angels for the rest of the 2013 season. That's right, we have to cut out the Blue Angels (and carrier battle groups) to build bridges to nowhere, subsidize pork to everybody and their mothers, and all sorts of other giveaways to buy votes. Idiots!

www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/5/navy-clip-blue-angels-wings-if-sequester-hits/

Bill Gates and Polio

I am not a Microsoft guy and Bill Gates can sometimes be irritating in his public pronouncements, but let's give credit where credit is due. The world is on the verge of eradicating polio and Gates and his wife Melinda have pumped more than $1 billion of their own money into the effort. In 1988 over 350,000 children were paralyzed or died worldwide from the disease; last year it was down to 620. The medical people think that complete eradication of the dread disease is not far off. That is a testament to be proud of and an excellent example of the right use of wealth. Well done Mr. and Mrs. Gates!

www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/01/12/bill-gates-and-polio-victory-not-conspiracy/  

(Tip o' the hat to Clover Stein)

Random Thoughts

As Katie Pavlich notes, the NRA and others have been roasted for suggesting that armed guards in schools are the way to protect our school kids. After all, we have armed guards in our banks, jewelry stores, the White House - why don't are kids rate? The school shooting in Atlanta yesterday was stopped by a - yup, you guessed it - armed guard. Think about it.
townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/02/01/armed-police-officer-stops-shooting-in-georgia-n1502907

• The unemployment rate is up to 7.9% again. At this rate, we will all be working for the government in a year or two. Come to think of it, that may be Obama's strategy.

www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-january-unemployment-jobs-20130201,0,5056680.story

• What's in store economically for Oregon? Why more of the same, of course! Here is what Oregon's Department of Economic Analysis is projecting for 2013:

"Expectations call for growth in the coming few months to look like the growth we have been
experiencing: slow. Although the fundamentals underlying economic growth remain strong,
uncertainty continues to weigh on both businesses and households. Given weakness among our leading trading partners, and an uncertain federal policy environment, many firms are reluctant to take the risk of expanding their operations despite ample resources and profits. Similarly, households remain reluctant to make large purchases until their future job prospects become more certain."

www.oregon.gov/DAS/OEA/docs/economic/press1212.pdf

• Since the economy is doing so well, President Obama disbanded his Jobs Council (President's  Council on Jobs and Competitiveness). It was created in 2011 as a forum for business leaders to have input to the President on things like strengthening the economy, job creation, and enhancing America's competitive position in the world. Sure glad that's all been accomplished!

blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2013/01/stockman-says-obama-abolished-white-house-jobs-council-so-he-wont-be-distracted-by-the-economy/

Enough of this - seize the weekend and enjoy the Super Bowl. This will all be here on Monday.