Sleepless in Midland

A Grimm season ending cliff hanger - if only we could talk back to them

The season for the TV show Grimm ended recently. That's one of the shows I watch while I ride my stationary bike -- enough action to keep the adrenalin up but not compelling enough to want to rewind to catch missed dialog.

So the season ended the other day on a cliff hanger with this cute message: "To be continued..." Then the next frame was even cuter with these additional words, "Oh come on. You knew that was coming."

Screen shots.

If only we could talk back. Many viewers might be tempted to say, "No, I didn't know you would end with a cliff hanger rather than wrapping up the series with a satisfactory closing. Instead, you've given away a clue that you are aware that the writing is too weak on its own to bring viewers back."

But, we may be back next season, who knows? It depends on what else is on.

That said, there was a relationship developing toward the end between Rosalee (a Fuchsbau) and Monroe (a Blutbad) which was rather touching.

Eye on Midland -- Fire trucks at fire stations

There was a big brouhaha about the Midland, Texas, Fire Chief's decision to post a squad (pickup) truck at Fire Station #5 to replace a fire engine. Since 90% or more of the calls to the fire department are for something other than fires, that made sense.

But a fire a few blocks away from Station 5 demolished a house, so a small group of citizens took it upon themselves to draw attention to the fact that the station had no fire engine with which to respond to a real fire.

The Chief tried to explain that the 5:25 minutes it took for a fire engine to get there was a typical response time. However, the Chief eventually relented and put the engine back at the station.

There were three things missing from the public discussion.

First, the Chief put together a slide show a while back to show that there was a small part of the community where response times were a little bit slower than elsewhere, and that called for a new fire station to be built. I don't have a copy of the slide show, but if I recall, the response times that justified the new station were about the same as the response time at the fire in question. So why weren't the response times in that slide show used by either side of this dispute to bolster their case?

Second, another goal of the Fire Chief is to demolish Station 5 and rebuild it from the ground up. The excuse was that the new fire trucks the department wants are too tall to fit through the garage door. So to say that Station 5 doesn't need a fire engine would be saying the station structure is just fine the way it is.

But, the demolition/rebuild is already in the plan, and if the momentum to spend the money is there, then no department head is going to turn it down. Perhaps that had something to do with the decision to put the engine back at the station.

Third, fire prevention is the most important aspect of fire fighting. If you're old enough, you'll remember Smokey's admonition about who can prevent forest fires. The fire in question was supposed to have started in the garage. But what started it and how could it have been prevented? Whatever the cause, it has been kept a secret from the public.

Eye on Midland -- parade/train collisions dropped 100% since the new law

Parade permits -

Looks like the Midland, Texas, city council is going to "OK" the Juneteenth parade this year, a parade that has taken place along the same route for many, many years, perhaps decades. But this time is different.

Last year a train hit a different parade, and the shifting into high gear of the city council's instinct to exert control follows tragedy like a caboose follows a train. There just had to be a new law. Now no parade can cross the tracks unless city council grants an exception. But to their credit, train/parade collisions have dropped 100% since they passed the new law. Never mind that the one collision was a once in a millennium event, you can't argue with statistics.

So along came the Juneteenth organizers following the new rules and seeking the council's permission to cross the railroad tracks. All but one of the council members said "OK," which leaves us to speculate that the one dissenter must think the trains are hiding in the weeds, waiting for some unsuspecting parade to cross the track or that parade participants are incapable of stopping on their own. Maybe that's a good example of the bigotry of low expectations.

Typically, city police officers man the parade route, so one has to assume that one of them will be posted at the RR crossing to watch for trains. The officer could stop the parade if a train comes along. But the city council had the opportunity to make an imprint, and so they did.

Previously on these pages: New parade permit rule - minorities hit hardest.

End farm subsidies

Veronique de Rugy in Farming Tax Dollars:

The most recent version of the near $1 trillion farm bill is on the move again after being held up for a few months in the House at the end of last year. It has now passed out of the House and Senate agriculture committees. The Senate is supposed to take up the bill next week, and it could then be brought to the floor in June. So now is a good time to remind everyone of a few reasons why we should end all farm subsidies once and for all.

Via Newmarksdoor.com.

He goes on to tell us that it "will cost almost $1 trillion over ten years with roughly 20 percent in the form of farm subsidies for special interests and high-income farmers," in spite of claims that it will save money.

Furthermore, crop insurance is the program through which farmers get insured against small drops in revenue, however, 2/3rds of the farmers' crop insurance premiums are paid by taxpayers.

Then there's the sugar industry. The sugar quotas in place kept in place by the USDA cause Americans to pay twice as much as the world price for sugar. So poor Americans have to seek help through the food stamp programs which is also part of the Farm Bill. We would be laughing at this irony if it were some socialist nation doing it, but the joke's on us.

As Mr. de Rugy says, "It is time to put an end to farm subsidies, all of them, once and for all." Unfortunately, the political system is in place to perpetuate this sort of thing. So it will take diligence and perseverance to get it changed.

Stealth cop cars

Last weekend we noted an intersection here in Midland, Texas, which is where a lot of traffic accidents occur. In fact, depending on the time frame, it's either number one or near number one in terms of accidents. Our simple suggestion was to paint lane markers to help drivers stay in the correct lane while turning left.

The city has come up with its own solution: *stealth cop cars to catch law breakers.

While I have my own opinion, I'll leave it to the experts to tell us whether high visible or stealth police presence does a better job of encouraging traffic law obedience.

However, since no one has been able to see one of those stealth police cars with the naked eye, we have to speculate. Perhaps they look like the one in this photo.

Photo source.

*From the news release: While citizens can expect to continue seeing a strong police presence keeping our roads safe, officers have plans to deploy less visible techniques to catch habitual offenders. One example is a plan to implement ghost lettering on traffic units, which will help officers blend in with other cars on the road while remaining clearly marked for identification purposes.

IRS similar to FBI under J. Edgar Hoover?

I'm reading this great book by Tim Weiner titled Enemies, a History of the FBI in which Weiner sets out what he learned about the FBI from numerous interviews, publicly available sources, and J. Edgar Hoover's own secret files. The files were obtained by a Washington lawyer through a FOIA request for a writer who was no longer interested when the files finally arrived 26 years later. The lawyer offered them to Weiner who snapped them up and wrote a very interesting history of the FBI.

These days the top political news story is the Tea Party non-profit applicants for exemption and how the IRS agent's delaying actions may have affected the outcome of the 2012 election. Weiner's book gives the reader a good reminder that government employees can sometimes see their mission as so important that laws don't apply to them.

There doesn't seem to be a bureaucrat around today with quite the power of J. Edgar Hoover who was so intent on ferreting out Communists and terrorists that he ordered his agents to perform all sorts of illegal bug planting and black bag operations. Stop violence before it happened -- that was a guiding principle. Sometimes he acted at the behest of presidents, and sometimes he did it on his own. The result was that FBI agents did things that could have landed them in jail if they had gotten caught.

This brings us to the IRS scandal. The agents who actually committed the acts, or in some cases simply failed to act, may very well have been doing it on their own. But it was all done in an environment where management either encouraged that sort of behavior or looked the other way.

And then there's Barack Obama. He's the J. Edgar Hoover in this picture. He simply lets it be known how much of a threat he thinks certain classes of people are, and the underlings do the dirty work. Just don't leave a paper trail that would lead to the top.

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Too busy to read Weiner's book? Watch an hour long Q&A with him on C-SPAN. Too busy for that, here's a shorter interview on Fresh Air.

Give Lois Lerner a break -- don't subject her to the cruel and intrusive treatment she inflicted on others

Lois Lerner took the Fifth while she was in the hot seat in front of an inquisitive House committee. They were looking into irregularities of the IRS in its aggressive treatment of Tea Party groups, and no doubt they would have subjected her to some very severe questioning.

Now some are trying to say she waived her right to take the Fifth. Well, I say let her take it. To subject her to the intrusive and belittling interrogation is exactly what she did to the Tea Party groups. The President wants us to believe she acted on her own. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. But subjecting her to the same sort of treatment she dished out to the Tea Party applicants is such a harsh measure that no one should have to endure that.

Sure, what she did was despicable. And to inflict that on anyone is abhorrent in a free society. But we do not tolerate eye-for-an-eye retaliation. Cruel and unusual punishment is prohibited. And to subject her to the same treatment is like saying we should waterboard the waterboarders.

So fire her, send her to jail, whatever. But for heaven's sake, don't perform on her the same torture she performed on her victims. That's not who we are.

Who says you can't outrun a tornado?

Let's do a little myth busting here. An old wives' tale held that you couldn't outrun a tornado, so don't even try -- it would be too dangerous. The tornado would grab your car and shake you out like salt from a salt shaker.

The tornado that hit Newcastle and Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013, was big, powerful, and dangerous. The destruction in its wake was horrible with lives lost and whole city blocks destroyed. The National Weather Service declared that it was an *EF5 tornado which means the best way to survive would have been to go underground or get out of its way.

The NWS goes on to say that it touched down at 2:45 PM CDT, left a 17 mile path which was 1.3 miles wide, and ended at 3:35 PM CDT. So 17 miles in 50 minutes gives it a traveling speed of slightly over 20 MPH.

Granted, few of us could run a 3 minute mile on foot, even with a tornado on our trail. And someone trapped in a school or other building might be in trouble. But look at some of the video samples here and here. Anyone in an automobile should have been able to get away from it, even those fool hardy storm chasers in that second video. The traffic wasn't that bad.

So anyone wondering whether to hide in the hallway or jump in a car and skedaddle has the answer.

*EF5 means that three-second gusts estimated at the point of damage were over 200 MPH. See Enhanced Fujita scale.

True the Vote's letter from the IRS

Finally the public gets a chance to see for themselves just how intrusive the IRS's requests to the Tea Party applicants were with True the Vote's court filing. Here's a link to the complaint in True the Vote, Inc. v. IRS, et al, cause 1:13-cv-00734 in the U.S. District Court of DC.

See the letter the IRS sent to True the Vote with all the questions here. The information requirements go on for eight pages and include this one:

13. Provide the following information for all the events you will conduct for 2012 and 2013:
a) The time, location, and content schedule of each event
b) Identify handouts you provided to the audience
c) Identify workshop materials that instructors will use
d) The names and credentials of the instructors
e) If speeches or forums will be conducted in the event, provide detailed contents of the speeches or forums, names of the speakers or panels, and their credentials. If any speakers or panel members will be paid, provide the amount will be paid for each person. If not, please indicate they volunteered to conduct the event.
f) The names of persons from your organization and the amount of time they will spend on the event. Indicate the name and amount of time they will spend on the event. Indicate the name and amount of compensation that will be paid to each person. If no one will be paid, indicate this event will be conducted by volunteers to each person.
g) Indicate the percentage of time and resources you will spend on these activities in relation to 100% of all your activities.

The letter was dated February 8, 2012, so question #13 required speculation about the future, under penalty of perjury, of course. But the election was in November of 2012, so why did they include 2013? Was this supposed to provide the IRS with plausible deniability?

Today Lois Lerner famously invoked the Fifth Amendment at a House committee hearing. The above letter was signed by Janine L. Estes with cc to Cleta Mitchell, Esq. and Richard F. Riley, Esq. So if the House needs more witnesses to question, there's a good place to look.

Post script. Many of the published IRS forms have a posted estimate of the completion time. Gathering all of the information they required here could take weeks. It's no wonder many of the Tea Party groups simply gave up.

How I learned to stop worrying about the bomb and start worry about natural human extinction instead

Tired of hearing about the IRS, State Department, and DOJ encroaching on our freedoms? Well, forget that, we're going to become extinct anyway, at least according to one alarmist author.

Annalee Newitz gives us an article titled 7 Signs We Are Heading for a Mass Extinction in which she tells us, "There have been five mass extinctions on Earth over the past 540 million years ...". She goes on to list seven early warning signs, which include a mix of signs, threats and theories, as follows (the order is hers):

7. Earth Is Bubbling with Super Volcanoes,
6. Invasive Species Are Everywhere,
5. Climate Change,
4. Ocean Acidification,
3. Extinctions Are Happening At A Higher Than Average Rate,
2. All the Megafauna Are Dead (that would be giant mammals), and
1. Amphibians (frogs) Are Dying Out.

Her recommendations:

We can curb fossil fuel emissions to prevent climate change from getting worse, and we can preserve biodiversity by maintaining natural areas where animals won't be edged out by human settlements.

Aw, wouldn't you know. We're bringing this extinction on ourselves. Drive electric cars, shut down factories, and move into compact urban areas, and we'll save the planet for another generation of humans.

Sorry for the sarcastic tone, but I'm more of the Julian Simon school of thought, especially when a little bit of clicking reveals that the rumors of frog extinction were a bit premature.

Besides, if humans do it to themselves it will come rather suddenly with something like nuclear bombs.

[So we're back to worrying about the bomb again are we? - Robo-ed.  Well, no, but a tornado shelter might be nice. - Sleepless.]

A welcome home surprise for Army man -- wife lost 100 pounds!

Now this a feel good story!

We've all seen videos of returning soldiers hugging a wife who looks like she spent the time he was away nibbling bonbons and watching TV soaps. This is the flip side.

The 250 pound wife lost 100 pounds during the year he was in Afghanistan. But she kept it a secret and surprised him when he returned. Click to read the whole story. Meanwhile, here's an excerpt:

Misty, 24, had kept her weight loss largely a secret, telling her husband that she was trying to lose only a few pounds and sending him photos of herself from the shoulders up so he wouldn’t suspect the dramatic transformation. "There were so many times when I was dying to send him cute photos but I held back because I really wanted it to be a surprise," Misty told Yahoo! Shine. "He's never seen me this thin."

Although she barely exercised, Misty lost the weight by eating smaller portions, drinking lots of water, not eating three to four hours before bedtime and avoiding her biggest craving—potato chips. It also helped that her husband, who usually did the cooking, wasn't there to tempt her. “Misty has always struggled with her weight and my ice cream and large home-cooked meals probably contributed to that,” said Larry. “With me gone, she was able to make smaller, lighter portions. Now we compromise: A few times a week I’ll make what I want if I agree to try her healthier food.”

His unconditional support was also key. "He's never asked me to lose weight and always said he'd love me no matter what I looked like," said Misty.

Keep it up, Misty! Or rather, keep it off!

"Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"

This quote has been tossed around lately in regard to President Obama's claims that he didn't know that IRS agents were discriminating against non-profit applicants which used the names "Tea Party," "Patriot," or "9/12."

According to this Wikipedia page, King Henry II and Thomas Becket were feuding, and the king made a remark in the presence of some knights that got Becket killed. The quote above is actually incorrect, according to said Wikipedia page, and a more accurate version is supposed to be this:

What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and promoted in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born clerk!

Dutifully shamed, four knights took it upon themselves to go to Canterbury on December 29, 1170, and assassinate Becket.

And likewise the IRS agents, inflamed by the hostile rhetoric coming from the President about his political opponents, knew that they could make a difference. Since those Tea Party people were racist hicks anyway, it was all OK. It was for the greater good. Who could let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by such low-born provincials?

Unfortunately for the IRS agents, Obama will use them as human shields to protect himself. If any heads roll, it will be theirs.

An easy fix - just paint lane markers in the intersections

The city of Midland, Texas, is experiencing some growing pains, and among those pains is an increase in the number of traffic accidents. Instead of wringing our hands while waiting for the city to come up with something, let's point out a common sense thing that could help without the need for an expensive consultant. Paint the lane markers.

The photo spread below is the same photo spliced together. The intersection is Midland Drive and Andrews Highway which, depending on the time period under review, is either the worst or near the worst intersection in terms of traffic accidents. One obvious problem is that a driver can turn left from two lanes, but once the driver enters the intersection, it's no-man's-land in terms of lane separation. And drivers in either lane, whether they realize it or not, tend to change lanes in the middle of the intersection. A little bit of white paint would cure that and maybe reduce the number of accidents.

The photo shows the intersection on the left as it appeared Saturday morning with lane markings barely visible due to wear and tear from heavy traffic. The same photo on the right contains some photoshopped lane markings to show what it should look like.

This problem is obvious to anyone who has entered that intersection, but it may take a high priced consultant to get the attention of the decision makers.

Barack Obama, wow, isn't he great? -- Tips for addressing your IRS auditor

With so many people and entities being audited these days one needs to remember that there's more to it than simply documenting income and expenses. There's a political element. The hearing this past week in which Acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller got grilled by Congress about how the IRS targeted Obama's political opponents in order to help with the re-election drove that home. But the IRS is still standing, and they’re doing business as usual.

So if you get audited, herewith are some things you might think about saying to endear you to your auditor:

That Barack Obama, wow, isn't he great?

Did you see Michelle's outfit? She certainly does have good taste!

I wonder which of the two Obama children will be President first.

I'll be glad when Obamacare gets fully implemented so that responsible people like you can take over our medical information.

Historians will say Barack Obama is the greatest president ever!

I didn't like Obama at first, but after hearing him speak, I saw the light.

He sure showed that bin Laden, huh?

When Hillary takes office she'll be the greatest president ever! Aw, silly me, ha ha! She'll be the 2nd greatest president ever!

Just tying to be helpful.

Sure, Bush appointed IRS Commissioner Shulman, so what?

Anyone who watched any of Acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller's testimony today probably came away with a righteous indignation about how the IRS targeted conservative groups for abusive treatment. Poor old Mr. Miller looked like a scolded hound as both Republicans and Democrats went after him. But other than having to sit through a few hours of tough grilling, he'll pay no price. It was the underlings who did all those bad things, you see. Miller will land on his feet, and as a tax lawyer with first hand experience with the IRS, he'll likely land a very, very high paying job. Check out his CV.

Anyway, some Democrats are trying to make a big deal out of the fact that the acting IRS Commissioner who was in charge when the shenanigans started, Douglas H. Shulman, was appointed by George W. Bush.

That's irrelevant. Barack Obama changed the atmosphere when he became president. There was constant bad mouthing about Republicans from the highest levels, and when the Tea Parties came along, there was a new boogie man for Democrats to smear. And smear they did.

Those low level IRS employees didn't need specific instructions. They simply used their passive aggressive ways to do what they thought was right to achieve the progressive America Obama wanted by slowing down these hillbillies with their come-and-take-it flags. The bosses just looked the other way, pretending not to see. The entire atmosphere at the IRS and probably all government agencies was polluted with anti conservative vitriol.

Maybe this will be the final straw that will lead to some real tax reform. A flat tax would be the perfect solution. But perfect solutions seldom come from government.

Post script. For some reason I was reminded of a conversation I had over a decade ago with a government lawyer. He was an impassioned Democrat who hated Republicans and at the time was angry over the possibility that George W. Bush might become president. While he admitted that often the Republican government appointees were better administrators than the Democrat appointees, he said that there are countless ways the employees could make the guy/gal at the top of the agency look bad.

How do you distract low information from all the scandals? Hey look, new apps to help with boycotts!

Punish conservatives, baby!  New apps to help you boycott Koch brothers, boycott Monsanto!

How Dem talking points get dispensed to the loyals

Thanks to Instapundit for these two links which direct us to Erik Wemple's article titled: Media Matters denies involvement in Justice-AP talking points. There, Mr. Wemple tells us that David Brock is in charge of both Media Matters for America, which is basically an attack dog website targeting anyone who is publicly critical of Democrats, and its partner, Media Action Network, which dispenses attacks and responses for Democrats to use.

The screen shot is Media Action Network's one pager for May 14, 2013 to preserve it in case it goes away.

But here's the good part. In the event anyone is wondering why the highly political Media Matters has remained silent about the issue of the IRS denying non-profit exemptions to Tea Party groups, look no further than their "about" page:

Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.

Yep, it's a not-for-profit organization with the coveted IRS exemption denied to Tea Party groups. That phoney watchdog didn't bark about that issue. Oh the irony. Exemption for me but not for thee.

Burger King -- have it your way, but hold the phlegm

Have it your way was once a popular refrain in a Burger King ad. But in this case a deputy sheriff named Edward Bylsma in Vancouver, Washington, didn't get the burger he expected. Some miscreant behind the counter spit in it before handing it to him. Gross.

But the deputy sheriff didn't eat it. Instead, he opened the bun, discovered the spittle, sent it off for a DNA test, and identified the culprit. The spitting punk pleaded guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to 90 days in the slammer.

But here's where the story turns nasty. The deputy sheriff was so traumatized by the sight of the spittle that he suffered emotional distress. At least that's what he claimed in his lawsuit against Burger King and the franchisee under the state's product liability law. The lower court threw it out because he suffered no physical injury. But on appeal the state supreme court ruled in January, 2013, that emotional distress without physical injury was sufficient to make a claim.

So unless it gets settled, the deputy sheriff will have his day in court. Via Reasonably Disgusting.

And that raises another question. What if Bylsma is such a good story teller that jurors are so traumatized by his testimony that they, too, suffer the same emotional distress he suffered? Could they collect, too?

They probably could in one of those Judicial Hellholes. Washington only got an dishonorable mention, but they're trying to move up.

Which agencies has Obama NOT used for political gain?

The news two days ago was all about how the IRS used suppressive tactics on tea party groups.

The news yesterday was all about how the Department of Justice spied on the Associate Press. That one upsets the newsies because it affects them.

The news today is about how the Department of Justice will investigate the first item, above. Fox, can you find you own way to the hen house?

The Obama administration has left a trail of stories about how one agency or another did something to further Obama's political agenda, promote its constituents over others, or punish someone. For example, there was the time the NLRB sued to block Boeing from moving a factory from Washington, a forced union membership state, to South Carolina, a right to work state.

In the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico environmental groups pressured the Fish and Wildlife Service to hamper the energy industry by trying to classify a lizzard and a prairie chicken as protected species. This is especially ironic given the vast open spaces in Texas and New Mexico and the relatively tiny areas actually used for oil and gas extraction.

There are probably stories like this coming from every red state. So the question is obvious. Which agencies has Obama NOT used to punish the people who do not support him?

Amnesty for Americans of European descent

In an extraordinary act of magnanimity, Professor Walter E. Williams has granted an amnesty and pardon to Americans of European descent.

And it's in the form of a printable certificate!

Click to enlarge.

Thanks Dr. Williams. I'll print two -- one to put on the wall and one to keep with my voter ID.

Via Carpe Diem.

Why aren't there more conspiracy theories about Benghazi?

"Conspiracy theory" is an overused phrase favored by lefties when they try to disparage the opposition. (Alinski's Rule #5). A cursory search with the words Benghazi, conspiracy and theory give us nothing but lefties proclaiming that everything out of sync with the party line about Benghazi is a conspiracy theory. Here's an example from Chuck Todd:

“For this conspiracy theory that some people believe is out there — that the White House was trying to downplay a terrorist attack because of the election — then they did a really poor job of it.” he said. “Because within three or *four days, it was pretty clear to the entire world this was a terrorist attack from a group that had some sort of extremist Al Qaeda ties.”

Well, if it was so clear then one has to wonder why the administration and its media lackeys kept up the charade for so long. The hearing last week in which Gregory Hicks and others gave some very compelling testimony about what happened in Benghazi was sobering. And the testimony should have opened the eyes of everyone who isn't a committed member of the Barack Obama fan club. But now the club members are in defense mode trying to discredit Darrel Issa.

That aside, the unanswered question now is why President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been so insistent on their version of events in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. If they can't fess up then maybe they are even more narcissist than we thought. On the other hand, maybe there's something even bigger that they're trying to cover up. What could that be? Maybe they were water boarding Al Qaeda prisoners from Guantanamo or Coptic Christians from Egypt in that facility in Benghazi or something so embarrassing and hypocritical that even the lowest of the low information voters would eventually learn about it.

We need a conspiracy theory now more than ever.

*[Fact check: Susan Rice's infamous five show lie fest took place five days after the attack.]

Ad council needs remedial education

A local radio station plays when my radio alarm comes on in the mornings, and maybe it's the time of day, but after a few minutes it's almost guaranteed that some Ad Council advertising will play.

None of them are very good, but one is outstanding in that department. You have to listen until the end to find out it's a collaboration between everyoneon.org and the Ad Council. It's about how to find a job online and has two actors, one portraying an instructor and the other a job seeker.

So the instructor tells the guy what to type in the blanks on the screen. And the job seeker reads his lines as if he's typing, "E-lec-tri-cian." Then he's amazed at the job offers he found online.

Here's the thing. Electrician is a highly skilled occupation, and at least in Texas, it's a licensed occupation. The idea that someone who has the wits to learn the skill and pass the test but didn't have enough smarts to go online to look for a job is ludicrous. That's an electrician you don't want to hire.

Another ad extolls the virtues of the mandated light bulbs. This one is from the U.S. Department of Energy and that same Ad Council. They are trying to sell us on the idea that we should like the new light bulbs which by government decree will replace the old bulbs which we already like but shouldn't. The reason we shouldn't like the old ones is because they are old. They were invented so very long ago. They're old fashioned. The ad spokesman tries to tell us that comparing the old bulbs with the new ones is like comparing carrier pigeons with texting.

That's an obvious appeal to the low-information voter, and these days those are the people who put candidates in office, so I guess they've hit on the right demographic.

But since the new bulb mandate was based on a flawed prophecy of global warming, a better comparison might be between the Toyota Camry, a reliable and popular car, and the Fisker, another government money waster.

Citizen traffic cops

The police information service in the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has a blog called Cops & Bloggers -- tagged Saskatoon Police Service Blog -- which contains some interesting articles. A case in point is one written by Kelsie Fraser, the Social Media / Media Relations Specialist at Saskatoon Police Service, titled They did WHAT behind the wheel?!.

In that post Ms. Fraser advises readers in Saskatoon of a power available to them to report traffic law infractions they see. Excerpt:

The horror stories that we hear about behind the wheel and witness on a daily basis cause us to shake our heads too. The only difference is that we’re equipped with a ticket book, and we have the authority to use it. I know I’ve seen plenty of people on social media who wish they were equipped with the same book and had the same authority on their morning and afternoon commutes.

Well, I’m here to tell you that while you may not have the ticket book, I’ve found many people don’t know they have DO ability to report traffic infractions the same as they have the ability to report a break and enter, an assault, or a robbery. ...

All you need to do is come to the Service Centre at Police Headquarters and leave a written witness statement for us to get started.

**Note that a license plate is imperative to an investigation as a starting point.

It's easy to foresee a potential problem. Assume a citizen files the witness statement, a ticket is issued, but the witness failed to show up at court to testify. In that case everyone's time was wasted. The citizen should then be eligible for an arrest warrant for making a false report.

But another more frustrating problem would be for the citizen to file the witness statement with all the necessary information, then nothing happens. That's when the witness's ire shifts from the original traffic law breaker to the police. It would be interesting to know what percentage of citizen reports in Saskatoon actually resulted in traffic tickets.

What difference does it make, Hillary?

The testimony at the Benghazi hearings is jaw dropping. It's looking more and more like Hillary Clinton and President Obama dropped the ball big time.

But the way the main stream media have treated the whole scandal drives home the theory that if President Richard Nixon had been a Democrat then the public would have never heard about Watergate.

So Hillary asks "What difference does it make?" The answer depends on whether there was a Republican or a Democrat in charge. Since the Democrats were in charge, it makes no difference.

Charles Ramsey - an American hero, and not even politically correct

Charles Ramsey is the fellow who heard Amanda Berry's calls for help and got the police to come to the three kidnapped girls' aid. Here's a quote from Charles Ramsey: Ohio "hero" and Internet sensation.

"Bro, I knew something was wrong when a little, pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway," Ramsey said about the rescue in an interview with WEWS-TV.

Kudos to this American hero for spotting that girl and bringing about their rescue. But did you catch the racial remark? Not very PC, but so what?

Contrast that with lefties who get their thrills baiting people with suspicious looking mixed race situations to get them to call police. There's an Austin blogger who has done it at least twice, and leftie bloggers go bananas each time. See Police Chief Goes on the Offensive - Acevedo called Henson a "liar" to the Statesman for a flavor of how it goes when a leftie, instead of cooperating, goes all self righteous when an officer tries to respond to a call.

The best part: "Henson corrected his original post and has noted that it wasn't a lie, but a trick of memory in a stressful situation." Yeah, you gotta watch out for those tricks of memory.

So what did we learn from this? Ignore the race baiting lefties. If you see something, say something.

Lyle Rossiter on the liberal mind

We don't hear much these days about how conservatives are mentally disturbed or perhaps just dumb. That line of assault seems to have dissipated somewhat, perhaps because the target has shifted to fiscal conservatism as an ideology.

Nevertheless, turnabout is fair play, and it's refreshing to read an interview with Lyle Rossiter on the liberal mind. He's the clinical and forensic psychiatrist who wrote "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness." The interview can be read at Part 1 and Part 2, and it's worth reading if you're frustrated with the path down which Democrats have taken the country and perhaps questioning why so many people find that desirable.

Liberals might find his words offensive, but sometimes the truth hurts. Here are some excerpts. To explain the appeal of liberalism, he says:

The left trades on a villain/victim/hero paradigm, on envy, on injustice collecting, on indulgence of primitive appetites for dependency and revenge, and on childlike longings to be excused from personal responsibility. The left appeals to the needy and potentially spoiled child in all of us, but not to the potentially competent adult in all of us.

The left thus incentivizes all of the wrong goals for a successful society, such as self-indulgence and moral and financial irresponsibility, and fails to incentivize the autonomy, initiative, industry, integrity and mutuality essential to a good life.

As for the root cause, he says this:

Yes, the radical liberal is an angry, envious, needy and spiteful person who acts out his neurosis in the theaters of global politics. He has these problems because he was deprived, neglected or abused as a child, or in some cases indoctrinated by collectivist parents or caretakers, a form of abuse in itself.

The radical liberal rejects freedom because lack of control over others frightens him.

Oh man, that rings so true. I've often speculated in private that many of today's liberals are lashing out at the people they see as the extended versions of the kids in school who out scored them, bullied them, or who otherwise enjoyed more of the social rewards that that our future liberal did not have the skills to get.

Heritage Foundation estimates the cost to taxpayers of illegal immigrants

The Heritage Foundation released a study showing that illegal immigrants are a net drain on government resources when four types of government benefits are considered. Those four are direct benefits, means tested welfare benefits, public education and population-based services (roads, cops, firefighters, parks, etc.)

Download the PDF at The Fiscal Cost of Unlawful Immigrants and Amnesty to the U.S. Taxpayer and/or read the executive summary.

They conclude that the value of the services illegal immigrants consume over their lifetimes exceeds the money they pay as taxes. And it would get worse after amnesty. The chart on the right was lifted off the PDF and purports to show the after-amnesty lifetime cost.

But the reason for that, at least at the federal level, is the highly progressive income tax system in place whereby the people making the most money account for must of the tax revenue. As a result, the top 50% of earners pay over 97% of the taxes. (See this neat interactive chart, also at Heritage.org.

So while Heritage points to a legitimate problem of illegal immigrants most likely being in the lower tiers of the income brackets and thereby driving up the deficit by consuming more than they pay, the real problem is the progressive income tax.

The flat tax has a definite appeal to those of us who seek fairness, and although it might not cure the problem identified by Heritage.org, it certainly couldn't hurt. Meanwhile, the deficit just keeps growing. And the people who elect our presidents turn a blind eye to it.

Ammo shortages are panic driven

Who's buying up all the ammo? Score another economic win for gun salesman of the year, Barack Obama. He's also ammo salesman of the year.

Every time the President or Vice President talk about gun control it creates an anxiety among gun owners. And panicky shooters head for the store to stock up in case they are about to get hit by some new law or executive order on guns and/or ammo. They've emptied the retail shelves of the most popular brands and calibers of ammunition. Factories have been running at full capacity, yet they can't keep up with the demand.

Then shortages create more anxiety, and the demand is insatiable. Bullet making would be a good business to be in right about now.

Here's a good article on the topic at DailyCaller.com: Ammo maker: Ammo shortage fueled by ‘rumors and conjecture’ which cites a statement from Hornady Manufacturing Company which pleads for patience.

We are producing as much as we can; much more than last year, which was a lot more than the year before, etc. No one wants to ship more during this time than we do.

We appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience. We don’t know when the situation will improve, so please bear with us a little longer. And remember, when it comes to Hornady Manufacturing, if you don’t hear it from us, please don’t believe it.

So then we have James Carville talking about gun control this morning on ABC's Sunday talk show, "That's just going to happen. And the democrats are going to make it happen because they've got a 90% issue here. And they're not going to give it up."

Hmm, 90%. I'm not so sure about that, but Carville's pulse is pumping in tune with the mainline Democrats, so he's probably right that they'll keep trying. And the ammo customers will keep the shelves empty for a long time.

Interview with Jonathan Winters

Jonathan Winters' comedic talent didn't have universal appeal, but he did have fans. However, he was out of the limelight for a long time, and now that he's gone -- well, there goes the comeback.

Sometimes knowing a performer's background provides a little insight into the shaping of the character we saw. And Winters had a background that makes an interesting story.

The way he tells it, his parents didn't like him, and both parents were eager to sign the paper work to get him in the Marines at the age of 17. There he served as one of 75 Marines on board the Navy carrier USS Bonhomme Richard to guard the magazine in case the Admiral went berserk and the Marines had to take over the ship.  They didn't have to.

He got his start doing stand-up comedy while in high school in Springfield, Ohio. He did five and ten minute bits in bars for food. But his real standup started while he was serving on the Bonhomme Richard. He was 19 and known to be a cut-up, and a Naval officer asked him to put on a show for the 2,000 sailors. So he did some sound effects and impersonations, the audience enjoyed it, and something clicked. He realized that maybe he had a talent that could actually lead to something.

Anyway, all this is from a podcast in which Marc Maron interviewed Winters. And there's much more. Click here to go to the download site. Love him or not, it's an interesting story.

Don't rush to judgment about Jamestown cannibals

Last night on the PBS News Hour a short segment had an anthropologist named William Kelso tell us that the Jamestown settlers were cannibals. His evidence consisted of cut marks on a female's excavated skull and leg bones, and that was proof enough for him.

So it's refreshing to see some healthy skepticism in the words of Myers Mermel at DailyCaller.com. See The Jamestown Hack Job in which he raises a bunch of unanswered questions:

Do we have any other bones of hers that show cutting marks consistent with attempts to remove flesh?
Do the animal bones next to her remains in the pit show marks of butchering?
Are there any other skeletons in addition to hers discovered with cut marks?
Could she have been a victim of domestic violence?
Could she have been attacked by Indians and her corpse dragged back to the pit to be disposed?
Why was she in a trash pit in the first place?
Was she the hidden victim of a colonial “Silence of the Lambs” killer?

But there's another bigger question. What's so wrong with cannibalism if it's the only means of survival?

To kill someone for food is a definite no-no. However, there have been numerous incidents of humans eating the bodies of the dead after all other food sources were exhausted. The survivors of the plane crash in the Andes lived for months on nothing but melted snow and human meat. There were the members of the Donner Party who, penned in by a blizzard and having eaten all their livestock, ate their dead companions. The survivors of the whaleship Essex ate their dead shipmates as they drifted in their lifeboats around the Pacific Ocean.

Paging Dr. Lector. Paging Dr. Lector. -- Robo-ed.

All I'm saying is that there's an instinct for survival in all living creatures. So in an era in which obesity is much more prevalent than starvation, let's not be too judgmental.

Links:
Jamestown's 'Jane' Reflects Grim Reality of Early Settlers;
The Jamestown Hack Job;
The Andes Accident;
The Donner Party Tragedy ; and
In the Heart of the Sea, The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.