what if?

Auld Lang Syne

  

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin’ auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin’ auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gies a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie-waught,
for auld lang syne.

Comment of the Day

To the private sector a half a billion dollars is enough to start a whole new industry. To the federal government it is a rounding error.

How many new industries will be lost due to a wasteful spending of a totally dysfunctional federal government?

Madoff: The Piker

He's got nothing on the U.S. government.

Enough!

2010 may well be remembered as the year that voters saw how liberalism had morphed - and then said, "enough!"

The liberal wing of the Democratic Party had been waiting since the 1960s for its next great political opening, as we warned in an October 17, 2008 editorial, "A Liberal Supermajority." Critics and some of our readers scored us at the time for exaggerating, but in retrospect we understated the willful nature of that majority.

Democrats achieved 60 Senate votes by an historical accident of prosecutorial abuse (Ted Stevens), a stolen election (Al Franken) and a betrayal (Arlen Specter). They then attempted to do nearly everything we expected, regardless of public opinion, and they only stopped because the clock ran out.

The real story of 2010 is that the voters were finally able to see and judge this liberal agenda in its unvarnished form. For once, there was no Republican President to muddle the message or divide the accountability. The public was able to compare the promise of 8% unemployment if the government spent $812 billion on "stimulus" with the 9.8% jobless result. They stood athwart liberal history in the making and said, "Stop."

Don't Touch My Junk!

A scientific analysis.

 

Uncommon Criminals

When we think of "criminals," we think of those who break into homes and steal, who rob on the street, or who attack and rape.  I don't know about you - but - I do not think of snow removal workers as criminals!

Yet, if you read this story, it seems one cannot reach any other conclusion.

The snitches "didn't want to be identified because they were afraid of retaliation," Halloran said. "They were told [by supervisors] to take off routes [and] not do the plowing of some of the major arteries in a timely manner. They were told to make the mayor pay for the layoffs, the reductions in rank for the supervisors, shrinking the rolls of the rank-and-file."

New York's Strongest used a variety of tactics to drag out the plowing process -- and pad overtime checks -- which included keeping plows slightly higher than the roadways and skipping over streets along their routes, the sources said.

The snow-removal snitches said they were told to keep their plows off most streets and to wait for orders before attacking the accumulating piles of snow.

People died because the streets were not cleared.  Medical assistance could not reach a baby born in an apartment, a woman who needed help.  People could not reach their doctors.

Although I am not anti-union in theory, in practice, this is clear.  Some of these people have become law breakers.  Threatening - or worse, causing - the death of people so you can pump up your income is a crime.  It is time to stop making excuses for these unions and time to stand up to them. 

Ed Morrissey of Hot Air weighs in.

Screwed

If you make your living by selling houses, this does not give you a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Housing guru Robert Shiller says the decline in October's Case-Shiller house-price index was much worse than expected (over 10% annualized). 

He also says that if house prices keep falling this fast, the economy will face "serious reasons to worry" (which, for Professor Shiller, is an apocalyptic statement).

Ah, well.  I suppose I can always change careers.  Perhaps I'd like to rearrange sets at Carnegie Hall?

At Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, the average stagehand salary and benefits package is $290,000 a year.

To repeat, that is the average compensation of all the workers who move musicians' chairs into place and hang lights, not the pay of the top five.

Across the plaza at the Metropolitan Opera, a spokesman said stagehands rarely broke into the top-five category. But a couple of years ago, one did. The props master, James Blumenfeld, got $334,000 at that time, including some vacation back pay.

Ahern also notes that the top paid stagehand at Carnegie Hall makes $422,599 a year in salary, plus $107,445 in benefits and deferred compensation.

 

Privatizing Social Security

What happens if you privatize social security?

This.

Thirty years on, Pinera's plan, adapted from the ideas of Milton Friedman, is, along with free trade, one of the two pillars of Chile's success story, surpassing all predictions.

Pinera's proposal began with scrapping the payroll tax on the country's social security system and inviting all workers to take the money they were contributing and move it into a private pension.

Workers would be free to choose the fund, how much to put in, and at what age they would retire, with a minimal safety net built into the design. Past contributions would be refunded to workers by government bond. And anyone who didn't like the idea was free to remain with the system as it was. It was a huge success: 95% of Chile's workers chose the private system.

Pinera told the public to expect a compounded 4% rate of return under the private plan. But as of 2010, the average annual rate of return was 9.23%, far higher than promised.

By contrast, the U.S. social security system, which today accounts for a quarter of the U.S. government budget, is slated to give retiring workers in the next decade a 1% to 2% rate of return. And those entering the system today will see a negative return.

Chile's implicit pension debt fell to just 6% of GNP — compared with 100% in the U.S., 300% in France and 450% in Italy, leaving Chile with no net debt.

The U.S. could have similar result if it had started on Chile's path 30 years ago, with no debt and a phenomenal rate of growth.

In other words - the "security" in "social security" actually exists.  Perhaps we should say, "better late than never?"

A Mockery of Our Language

And of logic and science.

Drudge today at 9:51AM:

20" in Central Park, 24" in Brooklyn, 24.2" in Newark, 16.5" in Boston, 31.8" in Elizabeth, NJ... MORE...
Blizzard Paralyzes NYC, Boston...
'Horrendous'...
Wreaks Havoc on Travel...
Subway stalled for 7 hours in snow drifts...
Hundreds Of Buses Stranded...
Newspaper reporter files from A train...
WATCHES/WARNINGS...
19 Inches In New Jersey...
RADAR...
Latest Details...

And - this is supposed to be because of global warming??! 

Please, people.  Give us a break!

 

The Cost of an Education

Part of why educating a child costs so very much today.  Try hard not to upchuck while reading.....

Hot Air

 
Some still believe in the "science" of global warming.  Yet, when something cannot be falsified by any evidence - which seems to be the case with those who still cling to the tenets of global warming - it becomes faith, and not science.

A good column about "warm-mongers" - and why you and I should not join them.

Karl Popper, the late, great philosopher of science, noted that for something to be called scientific, it must be, as he put it, "falsifiable." That is, for something to be scientifically true, you must be able to test it to see if it's false. That's what scientific experimentation and observation do. That's the essence of the scientific method.

Unfortunately, the prophets of climate doom violate this idea. No matter what happens, it always confirms their basic premise that the world is getting hotter. The weather turns cold and wet? It's global warming, they say. Weather turns hot? Global warming. No change? Global warming. More hurricanes? Global warming. No hurricanes? You guessed it.

Nothing can disprove their thesis. Not even the extraordinarily frigid weather now creating havoc across most of the Northern Hemisphere. The Los Angeles Times, in a piece on the region's strangely wet and cold weather, paraphrases Jet Propulsion Laboratory climatologist Bill Patzert as saying, "In general, as the globe warms, weather conditions tend to be more extreme and volatile."

Got that? No matter what the weather, it's all due to warming. This isn't science; it's a kind of faith. Scientists go along and even stifle dissent because, frankly, hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants are at stake. But for the believers, global warming is the god that failed.

My thanks to fellow Realtor Christopher Fountain for this bit of "hot air."

Apocalyptic

Tom Coburn.

"Apocalyptic pain" from an out-of-control debt could cause 18 percent unemployment and a massive contraction in the economy that would destroy the middle class, a leading Republican deficit hawk said in an interview that aired Sunday.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who recently issued a report on government waste, warned that the U.S. only has about three or four years to get its fiscal house in order or it could find itself facing austerity measures seen in Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and earlier in Japan.

"The history of republics is they average 200 years of life. And they all fail in the history over fiscal matters. They rot from within before they collapse or are attacked," Coburn told "Fox News Sunday." 

"The problem that faces our country today, the last 30 years we have lived off the future, and the bill is coming due," he added. 

The senator, who was recently elected to a second -- and he pledges -- final term in Congress, said he's not trying to scare anyone, but eliminating waste in the federal government's ledgers is imperative not just to prevent default but a massive implosion that he defined in catastrophic terms.

I believe him.

Something Else to Celebrate

A number of my conservative friends have deep concerns about the repeal of DADT.  I hope that this story will help to reduce or remove most of their fears.

How should we view the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell"? I no longer believe it's something we should fear.

One view I've heard from my fellow veterans is that openly serving gays and lesbians will disrupt the order and discipline of the armed forces. It's true that unrestrained sexual conduct can be disruptive. I know this because in the course of my service, I saw many heterosexuals whose lifestyles were extremely disruptive to good order and conduct. But this is a matter of character, not of sexuality. In the military, disciplined self-control is essential to mission success. All who serve -- gay or straight -- should be judged by the same high standards.

In the simplest of terms, service in the U.S. armed forces is about drawing a weapon and standing a post. The work isn't often glorious, but it is essential to the survival of our nation.

The Kosher Christmas

 
I read this column about a Jew enjoying Christmas music, and could not help but be reminded of the many Christmases of my youth.  We were not a Jewish family who ignored Christmas; we were a family who celebrated 24 hours of that merry holiday.

Ours was not a religious observance.  Nevertheless, our family and friends' get together surely feted the spirit of the season.  We would start out by trekking over to my dad's sister's home in nearby suburban Wilmette, outside of Chicago, on Christmas Eve day.  Laden with gifts that Dad had spent literally hours upon hours wrapping exquisitely, we'd arrange them around Aunty Phyllis' Christmas tree.  Then, as more guests arrived, a long evening of visiting and massive amounts of food, followed by hours of the Christmas music Michael Rosen so loves ensued.

My family would have a "sleep over" at Aunty Phyllis and Uncle Jerry's home, along with "Gagee and Heff", my dad's mom and dad respectively.  Falling asleep was never easy, pumped up with adrenaline from sugary treats and anticipation about the bounty of gifts waiting downstairs.  I also contemplated sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night.  Was Santa "real"?  Could I catch him as he slithered down the chimney?  (Of course, that was why spending Christmas in Wilmette was a necessity.  Our house didn't have the requisite fireplace!)

Christmas morning, Heff officiated as Santa - a role that Dad took over as time passed.  Every gift was ooohed and aaahed over.  My cousins' family, being more "challenged" than ours in the gift wrapping department, weighed decorations, to see if they were worth recycling one more year for future gifts.  After the scores of presents were finally unwrapped and admired, Aunty Phyllis delivered an enormous Christmas Day brunch.

One day, the inevitable happened.  We all grew up.  Children scattered to different cities and married.  Our grandparents died. 

This Christmas, my day will start with a visit to the family of dear friends, then a movie and Chinese food with another.  Giant meals, scads of presents - and an evening of Christmas carols - are now but part of my distant past.

Still, the memories are clear, strong and beautiful.  I well remember the bountiful dinners, alive and warm with Dad's entire family and many friends.  I can see the glowing fire, leaping higher as tissue paper was tossed upon the logs.  I can hear the music of Christmas Eve; a Mozart minuet by Karen, sonorous tones on the cello from Arnie, and exquisite Chopin sonatas from Tony.  Then, Phyllis would pound on the piano, as we all gathered 'round.  Silent Night, Oh Come, All Ye Faithful, Deck the Halls - and many more.

We were Jews.  Christmas was not a religious holiday for us.  But a spiritual one - one filled with camraderie, giving, love and friendship?  That it was.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

 

The Season of Giving

 

Here is a tale that will touch your heart.

Promises, Promises

What happens when a government makes financial commitments it cannot keep?

This.

This struggling small city on the outskirts of Mobile was warned for years that if it did nothing, its pension fund would run out of money by 2009. Right on schedule, its fund ran dry.

Then Prichard did something that pension experts say they have never seen before: it stopped sending monthly pension checks to its 150 retired workers, breaking a state law requiring it to pay its promised retirement benefits in full.

Since then, Nettie Banks, 68, a retired Prichard police and fire dispatcher, has filed for bankruptcy. Alfred Arnold, a 66-year-old retired fire captain, has gone back to work as a shopping mall security guard to try to keep his house. Eddie Ragland, 59, a retired police captain, accepted help from colleagues, bake sales and collection jars after he was shot by a robber, leaving him badly wounded and unable to get to his new job as a police officer at the regional airport.

Far worse was the retired fire marshal who died in June. Like many of the others, he was too young to collect Social Security. “When they found him, he had no electricity and no running water in his house,” said David Anders, 58, a retired district fire chief. “He was a proud enough man that he wouldn’t accept help.”

The situation in Prichard is extremely unusual — the city has sought bankruptcy protection twice — but it proves that the unthinkable can, in fact, sometimes happen. And it stands as a warning to cities like Philadelphia and states like Illinois, whose pension funds are under great strain: if nothing changes, the money eventually does run out, and when that happens, misery and turmoil follow.

Free Speech in America

Or, perhaps the headline should be:  "Not-So Free Speech in America."

An airline pilot is being disciplined by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for posting video on YouTube pointing out what he believes are serious flaws in airport security.

The 50-year-old pilot, who lives outside Sacramento, asked that neither he nor his airline be identified. He has worked for the airline for more than a decade and was deputized by the TSA to carry a gun in the cockpit.

He is also a helicopter test pilot in the Army Reserve and flew missions for the United Nations in Macedonia.

Three days after he posted a series of six video clips recorded with a cell phone camera at San Francisco International Airport, four federal air marshals and two sheriff's deputies arrived at his house to confiscate his federally-issued firearm. The pilot recorded that event as well and provided all the video to News10.

At the same time as the federal marshals took the pilot's gun, a deputy sheriff asked him to surrender his state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Bubble, Bubble

Toil and trouble.

Is there another bubble on the horizon, born of some politician's ingenius tax subsidy?  Sadly, the answer is probably:  yes.

Congressmen say our government should "support and strengthen family-based agriculture."

Abstractly, supporting family-based agriculture sounds good. Government policies often harm small farms by favoring corporate agribusinesses. Government could help family farms by ending the subsidies that mostly go to the big guys. But that doesn't interest the politicians. They prefer to do things like creating tax breaks to encourage livestock breeding.

The tax breaks have led to a boom in alpaca breeding. Twenty-five years ago, there were 150 alpacas in America. Now, there are 150,000.

One website even advertises: "Have Uncle Sam Help You Buy Your Alpacas."

Rose Mogerman raises alpacas in New Jersey, the most densely populated state. "I fell in love with them," she said.

But she fell in love with the tax break first.

"Yes. I have to be honest," she said. "I might have had two. I wouldn't have had 100. ... I was looking for a tax shelter."

"Free Press"

Did you think that there were difficulties with the Internet?  Yeah, I didn't either.

Yesterday, however, the FCC, by a 3-2 vote, passed "net neutrality" rules.  This is supposed to add new regulation to "fix" something that few outside far left groups thought needed any fixing.

How did these groups do an end run around the people and the representatives that were elected by them?  John Fund explains.