Liberty Trail: A Resource

English: Norton Covert The Liberty Trail rises steeply up through Norton Covert. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I want to pass this along to you all because, well, because here and at many of our sites we are well off in the weeds, we tend to presume a knowledge of history and politics that many don’t have. I suspect many of the folks that wander in looking for information read a bit and go-what on earth is he talking about?

References to Henry II, and Burke, and Franklin, and Coolidge, and all. I just want to know what the darned government is doing to me NOW. Kathy does a great job of explaining it for them. We were all there sometime, last year, or last decade, or when we were kids; we all started sometime, and I’ll bet it was because somebody took the time to explain it to us.

Kathy does that, send them to her, or they’ll go back to sleep. I’ve tried to do it, and I wander off into the weeds all over again. Jess does it better here than I ever do but, she too assumes a certain level of knowledge. Liberty Trail doesn’t. It’s a valuable reference for us all

When I started writing this blog, my stated purpose was to reach out to a large sub-set of the group we have come to refer to (lovingly) as Low Information Voters.  These are Americans who realized a long time ago that their elected leaders were lying to them, the people who work for those leaders were lying to them and the media was lying to them.

These LIVs are good, decent people who love America and used to believe in the promise it offered to all of us.  But they have families to care for and bills to pay.  They have lives to live.  They don’t have the time or desire to watch every move made by every crooked politician.  Ask them what they think of the people running the country and most will tell you they are dirty, rotten scoundrels.

They certainly got that part right, didn’t they?

I talked to one of these people over the weekend – a dear friend who is not afraid to admit she falls into this group.  She told me that years ago she became so disenchanted with the lies and deceit that she simply tuned out.  She said it was just so hard to figure out who was representing her best interest and not their own.

Now, she says there are times when she would like to jump back in, but she feels that she’s so far behind that she doesn’t know how to catch up and where to turn for some truth.  And I don’t think she’s alone.  I think there are millions of Americans just like her.  I also believe that this is part of the grand plan – make it too difficult for the average citizen to follow their government and they will eventually give up.

Continue reading Changes At Liberty Trail.

This is where I send busy LIVs, you should too.

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Another Bad Week For King Barack I

American Black Vulture Coragyps atratus, one of the species covered under the treaty. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Well, last week was pretty interesting, wasn’t it? What with Benghazi, the IRS and DOJ v AP, it was not a stellar week for the administration, when the MSM starts talking about Watergate, a Democratic president might want to think rather carefully about the road forward.

Or maybe it’s too late for that, already. Now that the big three are out there, people are starting to talk about other problems, and we all know that “Bad Good things come in threes” or is it “The third time’s the charm”.

Here’s the next three scandals coming up via Marita Noon

[...]

EPA Favors Friendlies

We see favoritism in the EPAs treatment of friendly groups vs. a “concerted campaign to make life more difficult for those deemed unfriendly.” A few days ago, the Washington Examiner reported on the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) review of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to see how equally the agency applies its fee waiver policy. The results are shocking.

Chris Horner, Senior Fellow at CEI, told me: “The IRS and EPA revelations are near-identical uses of the state to enable allies and disadvantage opponents. Granting or denying tax-exempt status can make or break a group. The same is true with FOIA fee waivers being tossed like Mardi Gras beads at greens, and denied to opponents of a bigger regulatory state. Fees for FOIA document productions can run into the six-figures.” [...]

Wind farms get a pass

We see the same “startling disparity in treatment” in the way the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act is applied. Under both acts, the death of a single bird—without a permit—is illegal. On May 14, the AP reported on an investigation that showed that nearly 600,000 birds are killed each year by wind farms, including an average of about one golden eagle a month in Converse County, WY—which the AP calls: “one of the deadliest places in the country of its kind.” California’s Altamont Pass wind farms “kill more than 60 per year”—making it the “industry’s deadliest location.”

Yet, “so far, the companies operating industrial-sized turbines here and elsewhere that are killing eagles and other protected birds have yet to be fined or prosecuted—even though every death is a criminal violation. The Obama administration has charged oil companies for drowning birds in their waste pits, and power companies for electrocuting birds on power lines. But the administration has never fined or prosecuted a wind-energy company, even those that flout the law repeatedly.” [...]

Propping up green energy

We see similar favoritism across the bigger energy spectrum. Despite President Obama’s frequent touting of increased domestic oil and gas production, “federal government policies are suppressing development,” says Kathleen Sgamma, Vice-President of Government and Public Affairs for the Western Energy Alliance (WEA). “Unfortunately, the federal government is standing in the way of increasing production of valuable energy resources that could spur further job creation, economic growth, and energy security.” To support her comments, the WEA press release offers the following numbers: “From FY2008 to FY2011 the Bureau of Land Management offered 81% less acreage, which has resulted in a 44% drop in leasing revenue, down from $356 million to $201 million. Nationwide, royalty and leasing revenue have declined 12% from $4.2 billion to $3.7 billion.” Meanwhile production and revenue on private lands increased.

Additionally, despite numerous reports regarding the positive economic impacts and environmental safety of the Keystone pipeline it has been continuously delayed—now for more than 1700 days. On Thursday, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee passed a bill that, according to theWSJ, “effectively pushes through approval of the 875-mile pipeline by eliminating the need for Mr. Obama to issue a special permit for it.” Transportation committee chair Rep. Bill Shuster said: “After more than four years of bureaucratic delays, this bill will finally allow construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This project has been studied more than any other project of its kind.”

While federal policies are suppressing traditional energy that is effective, efficient and economical, they are propping up projects that have been repeatedly found to be failures—but that benefit Democratic donors.

Read more on each of these at No Better for Obama Next Week, Either – Marita Noon – Townhall Finance Conservative Columnists and Financial Commentary.

As you can imagine, these scandals are not the big headline makers like messing with the AP. I would argue though, in a country that has the worst employment situation in the last 40+ years, they are at least as important.

The skewing of information publicly has obvious impact on the decision-making process, especially for the public-there’s no reason we should have to commission our own research when it’s already be done. But getting it out of the government costing more in fees than the research is worth is just stupid, especially when the cronies can get it for free.

It’s always amazing how the environmental lobby shuts up when one of its pet projects impacts another, isn’t it? Either the eagles are endangered or they’re not. If the are, the windmills owners and operators need to be prosecuted, like anybody else would be. Or they’re not, in which case they need to be removed from the endangered species act. When these stories come up, it always amazes me how twisted these laws have become since they were proposed by hunters (yes, they were) to make sure there would always be game. And further the energy generated by windmills is of very marginal utility anyway, it can’t be used (almost ever) for base power because the wind is just too undependable.

I don’t have much to add to this, “Unfortunately, the federal government is standing in the way of increasing production of valuable energy resources that could spur further job creation, economic growth, and energy security.” except that the last time I gassed up, I paid $4.09 a gallon, and America only works well with cheap energy.

Still another bad week coming for Obama’s anti-American agenda

 

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Accountability

The Wall Street Journal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A short but important post for today. This is from a 1952 editorial in the Wall Street Journal, and comes to us with a hattip to Villainous Company

On the sea there is a tradition older even than the traditions of the country itself and wiser in its age than this new custom. It is the tradition that with responsibility goes authority and with them both goes accountability.”"This accountability is not for the intentions but for the deed. The captain of a ship, like the captain of a state, is given honor and privileges and trust beyond other men. But let him set the wrong course, let him touch ground, let him bring disaster to his ship or to his men, and he must answer for what he has done. He cannot escape….”

“It is cruel, this accountability of good and well-intentioned men. But the choice is that or an end of responsibility and finally as the cruel scene has taught, an end to the confidence and trust in the men who lead, for men will not long trust leaders who feel themselves beyond accountability for what they do.”

“And when men lose confidence and trust in those who lead, order disintegrates into chaos and purposeful ships into uncontrollable derelicts.”

 

From a 1952 editorial in the Wall Street Journal.

 

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Performance Reviews & other Bulls**t

Official warning: This article contains the words that Americans that do real work use. If the F word and variants of the S word offend you, you are excused to go back to whatever padded cell you escaped from. Everybody else: Enjoy

Now that the requisite human resource warning is out of the way, let’s talk a bit about the real world. Does anybody in the whole wide world believe that the nonsense paperwork we do for human resources, OSHA, DOT, FERC, FEMA and the rest of the alphabet soup ever get read? Yeah, exactly. It’s there so that if something goes wrong the blame can be shoved down the ladder to someone who’s not important. The fact that he’s probably the only one who knows how to do the job is irrelevant.

After all, he might embarrass you at the country club. The fact that he and the millions of others like him are what keeps this country going is unimportant. Or so you think. Because I’ve got a clue for you, the people who do stuff are getting very fed up with your nonsense, not to mention that we’re getting older, and your touchy-feely education system that doesn’t bother educating kids to do anything but rut like animals ain’t going to produce another generation that even understands lefty-loosey: righty-tighty.

But, you know, another twenty or so years of your politically correct society (not to mention your health care nonsystem) will have killed enough of the productive members of society off that you can live in the world you’ve created. Don’t forget your matches, cause I don’t think you’re smart enough to use flint and steel, and when the electricity doesn’t work anymore, it get a bit chilly in winter.

“Bullshit” Is One Word, “Performance Review” Two 
by Larry McCoy

I had just arrived in the newsroom for my shift as a copy editor when a manager came over to my desk and declared, “We need to discuss your goals.” I was 66 years old – past retirement age, damn near old enough to be his father – and he wants to discuss my “goals.”

“Go away,” I told him. Preparing to take over the main desk was always an extremely hectic part of the day. I was “reading in,” as journalists call it, looking at all the stories that had been edited that day by the main desk. It was impossible to read every story from start to finish, so you skimmed some, skipped some and made sure you thoroughly read the big ones you knew would be changing once you took over the desk.

Floyd, the name we’ll give the manager, wasn’t attuned to the idea of a right time and place to do things. Like a squirrel digging for nuts, Floyd kept at it. “We have to discuss your goals sometime. It’s part of your Performance Review.”

“Well, we’re not doing it now. Go away!”

Floyd was both dense and tone deaf. He wouldn’t go away. If only Floyd were as dogged in fleshing out a good story. The Performance Review had to be done, he said. I wasn’t going to budge either. It was a crock – something dreamed up by the morons in Human Resources who had nothing to do and, worst of all, absolutely no experience in newsrooms. They all ought to be fired, I said, several times in several ways. This back and forth continued, with the volume of each exchange rising, until the magic words came out.

“Go f–k yourself,” I said.

Do continue reading Performance Review, if you are smarter than a box of Special K you’ll enjoy it a lot. If you don’t, well,

“Who is John Galt”

Leviathan: Unguided and Out of Control

English: Barack Obama delivers a speech at the University of Southern California (Video of the speech) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m going to cut Barack Obama a bit of slack here. Surprised? Don’t be, he’s not going to thank me for it. You see Obama reminds me of every person I’ve ever known who got a job he hadn’t earned and had no conception of how to do it. Combine that with a kid that never had to take responsibility for anything and you have our empty suit of a president.

Who’s running the puppet? I don’t know, there are lots of candidates. It’s essentially a waste of time to worry about it. I don’t think Obama is a socialist, or a fascist, or anything else, except a profoundly lazy man who got lucky. I think he retired on 20 January 2009. He likes to campaign and raise money because he gets lots of love from the crowd, just like all presidents do because, they have the fancy jet, the bodyguard, the Limo, and people come see them.

Undoubtedly there is somebody in the White House who thinks their name is Rasputin, if I had to guess, I’d say Valerie Jarrett, but I don’t have any evidence at all. And there is no doubt at all that most of the political people in this administration vary between left-wing through fascist to communist, with maybe some courtiers to King Barack I and simple corrupt Chicago politicians thrown in.

In today’s news we have

1. Benghazi, not only do we have 4 dead Americans, one of them the official representative of America who under international law is essentially required to be kept safe by everybody. we also have a turf war between subordinates, obvious lies made to the press (and people, not that anybody in Washington cares about that), and a stand down that has besmirched the honor of the military that most Americans all but idolize. That’s quite a mess just to keep the anti-war vote.
2. Not to mention that it appears that you were arming al Qaeda at the time and that might be why our ambassador was there in a country that you decided to overthrow a somewhat pro-western regime in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood.
3. Gun Control, not even able to control his own party in the Senate, he managed to look like a (big) loser on this, and he doesn’t seem to have enough sense to shut up and treat his bruises either.
4. The IRS getting caught playing favorites in granting non-profit status, granted it probably happens in every administration to some extent, but this was very blatant, and they admitted it, and is there anybody outside the White House who believes a low-level bureaucrat in Cleveland dreamed this up. Bureaucrats behave like bureaucrats; been to the DMV lately.
5. You do remember that the IRS will have a lot of responsibility for your health care going forward under Obamacare, don’t you? That should give you a real warm and fuzzy feeling.
6. The wannabe venture capitalist administration, just how many failed boondoggles does it take to figure out that Democratic bunglers bundlers, don’t have a clue about how to start or run a for-profit business, and it looks really bad when you essentially flush trillions of dollars down the toilet. Even old-fashioned payola smelled better than this cess-pool.
7. Your Secretary of HHS, is out shaking down insurance and other players in health care to make your fancy Obamacare work? See number 5, and corrupt practices acts
8. Finally the press starts noticing your misfeasance/malfeasance/nonfeasance, so you let the fact slip that you’ve tapped their phones. Why, don’t you trust them to put out your talking points verbatim, any more?
9. Your laser focus on jobs has led to the lowest number of employed people in this country since the early 70s, make me so glad you’re paying attention.
10. And you’re trying to build a government that has the control of minutiae of Stalin’s Russia in a country that trusts it’s government less than the colonists trusted King George III. This country wouldn’t trust a libertarian government with an army the size of the Reichwehr at this point.

Yeah that’ll work

This administration has gotten to be a lame duck so fast that I think somebody had drumsticks for lunch. I’ve seen some mismanagement in my day, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an organization fall apart this fast.

Way it looks right now, the only thing worse than being Barack Obama would be to be

Jay Carney

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Mother’s Day /Every Day

I really enjoyed hearing Jess talk a bit about her mother this morning, and decided it wouldn’t hurt if I did as well.

One of the things that brought Jess and I together originally is that our parents were older, her views of life are more like mine, and mine are more  like a pre-baby boomer than would be expected. And also like her, I have little left of my family, she has a half-sister and I have a brother-in-law (and we each have some nieces).

It is funny though, Jess (as usual) is correct, I can’t remember not knowing right from wrong, of course, I don’t remember learning to walk either, I must have learned them about the same time.

I idolized my dad, which is not unusual for a boy, I still do, really, In my 60 years on this earth, I’ve never met a better man, a few, like Jimmie Doolittle, have come close, but they were very similar, really.

If you’ve never dealt with us Scandinavians much, something you have to get used to is, most of us rarely yell, and storm around. if you anger us, we’re likely to just get quiet and withdraw, and decide that whoever or whatever angers us just isn’t worth messing with anymore. It’s not limited to strangers either. I can remember dad not speaking to one of his brothers (one of my favorite uncles) for about 15 years. And, yup, I inherited that too.

In junior high and high school, I worked summers for dad, at the company he ran, and at home we were restoring an old windmill that a neighbor had given us. Given that I was about 15 dad said a lot of stupid things, and we were working on it when he did it again. I dropped my hammer in disgust, it went clang. Dad looked at me and said, “If you don’t want to do it my way, just go in the house.” So I did. It was six weeks before we spoke again. And, yes, it was a bit awkward at work. Good thing was, the rest of the employees understood, they’d been there, as well, and respected me for standing up like a man.

But you know, who always got in the middle of these? Yep, Mom did. She was plenty strong-willed herself but she managed to mediate between all of us, and keep us all alive and reasonably healthy, when dad and I wouldn’t talk or when one sister cracked the other upside the head with a cast iron frying pan or whatever else. The mediator.

But that’s the thing, she was easily the equal of any of us. In an age when most schoolteachers had a year or so of college, she had a BA in English. In fact she commented one time that I spoke good English till I went to school. Her dad was a somewhat big wheel in the Minnesota DFL, and a highly respected man, all the brothers and sisters were successful by their standards, and often prizewinners from others as well.

But, unlike Jess, she detested housework, there were stories up in Minnesota about how good she was at grinding the valves on a Model T, and working on the farm in general, and I can easily remember how much she preferred mowing grass to cleaning house, or even making lunch. She was a good cook, of course, in the somewhat limited sense of a traditional Norwegian menu, of white food on a white plate. She made the only Lutefisk I could choke down.

After college I ended up living at home mostly because dad wouldn’t do much of anything if I wasn’t around, and obviously there were no real rules anymore that I had to follow (like curfews and such) but when I’d get home at night, she’d be sitting there, playing solitaire. She said, and meant it, the only reason she didn’t go to bed was that she wouldn’t go to sleep, there was no reproach if it was 2 am and I was half drunk. But you still got up about 6:30 and went to work! No slackers.

But you know the story I always wanted to know more about was how she and dad got together. You see every once in a while when they’d go back to Minnesota, they’d stop and see a very nice lady named Amy, I think I met her twice and liked her considerably. I found out later she’d been mom’s roommate at college. But the other thing is, mom met dad when Amy brought her date to the dorm! Good thing they didn’t hold grudges, but I still wish I knew how dad pulled that one off.

And it strikes me as significant that when dad was about the age I am now, I was paying a fair amount of attention to girls, and I commented a few times to him about some girl being pretty (or something similar), his comment was, “I didn’t notice.” I believed him, I don’ think he ever noticed another woman’s looks in his life. He (and she) had found everything they needed for better than 50 years in each other. How I wish I could say that some day.

Mom, like dad, passed over quite a few years ago now, and as I get older some of the memories fade but, you know, not very much, and like dad, although in a quieter sort of way, she’s always there in the back of my mind. I think with her love of English (reasonably well used) she’d like that I have come to do a fair amount of writing, and I hope in general that she’d be as proud of me I was and am of her. Thanks Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day