Neel Kashkari

This is Neel Kashkari, the 35 year-old financial whiz who was handpicked by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to manage the distribution of the $700 Billion bailout package.

Billions of people around the world are counting on this gentleman to fix the economy. I wish him the very best.

On a humorous note though, I wish they'd distribute a different photo of him. This one, with his eyes so large, keeps making me think of Mike Myers Dr. Evil character. Let's hope that Kashkari has a more successful tenure!

The REAL Reasons For the Current Financial Crisis

For anyone who cares about facts, here's a careful dissection of the current U.S. financial problems - how they started and who is primarily to blame.

An Important PSA for Both Americans and Canadians

It's important for all voters to pay close attention to how much all spending promises of politicians will cost. Remember, they won't be using their own money!

Dear Mr. Obama: Who Are You?

Judith Warner: Typical Liberal Elitist?

I came across this critique of a New York Times blogger named Judith Warner. I'd never heard of her before and decided to check out her blog and read a few of her postings. Her writing seems very disjointed but I stuck with it.

Her September 4th posting seems very passive-aggressive, somewhat akin to the now infamous hate piece of CBC "journalist", Heather Mallick.

Her tone seemed to change dramatically in her September 11th posting. At least I *think* it did. Read at face value, it sounded like she came to a McCain-Palin rally mostly to mock Republicans but perhaps walked away with a bit more humility. In the process she offered up some gems that might baffle even Woody Allen's therapist:

We talked about the moral vacuity of modern parenting. “I see extreme spoiling, self-absorption,” she said. “Constant bringing the kids up to love themselves without reflecting on how they affect others.” We talked about the disastrous lack of respect that children now show adults and institutions, and about the ways this lack of respect translates into a very ugly sort of lack of decorum and a lack of basic manners: “This 10-year-old, my daughter’s friend, she comes over and throws down a magazine with John McCain on the cover. ‘Here’s friggin John McCain,’ she says. ‘Let’s see what lies he’s going to tell now.’” She continued: “These 10-year-olds think they’re better than me. That they don’t have to say hello. That they think I’m beneath them.”

"You go girl", I was thinking, in so many words, until the talk turned back to politics: “So often these kids that are so incredibly full of themselves, I find their parents are Democrats. The Democrats, they hate ‘us,’ the United States, but they love ‘me,’ that is, themselves,” she said.

I heard a lot more talk that day about the need for respect – and about arrogance and selfishness and about Democrats and liberals who think way too highly of themselves.

Is this news to anyone? Is there any adult in North America who doesn't think many children are overindulged these days? Was this the first time Judith Warner had ever heard such things? Was it also the first time she had ever heard that most average people think extreme liberals are arrogant and selfish?

She eventually continued on with this:

No, it wasn’t funny, my morning with the hockey and the soccer moms, the homeschooling moms and the book club moms, the joyful moms who brought their children to see history in the making and spun them on the lawn, dancing, when music played. It was sobering. It was serious. It was an education.
Once again, taken at face value, it sounds like this is the first time she had ever encountered such women. How is that possible? Is this a crystal clear example of the great political divide in North America today?

She continues:

“Palin Power” isn’t just about making hockey moms feel important. It’s not just about giving abortion rights opponents their due. It’s also, in obscure ways, about making yearnings come true — deep, inchoate desires about respect and service, hierarchy and family that have somehow been successfully projected onto the figure of this unlikely woman and have stuck.

For those of us who can’t tap into those yearnings, it seems the Palin faithful are blind – to the contradictions between her stated positions and the truth of the policies she espouses, to the contradictions between her ideology and their interests.
Remove the "Palin" bits and a puzzle floats to the surface: Why can't Warner "tap into" yearnings like respect, service, hierarchy, and family? Are these things really unimportant to most liberals?

Furthermore, how can anyone accept this as true - "it seems the Palin faithful are blind – to the contradictions between her stated positions and the truth of the policies she espouses" - and support Barack Obama without being a complete hypocrite?

She concludes her posting with this:

[Jonathan Haidt, a moral psychologist], has conducted research in which liberals and conservatives were asked to project themselves into the minds of their opponents and answer questions about their moral reasoning. Conservatives, he said, prove quite adept at thinking like liberals, but liberals are consistently incapable of understanding the conservative point of view. “Liberals feel contempt for the conservative moral view, and that is very, very angering. Republicans are good at exploiting that anger,” he told me in a phone interview.

Perhaps that’s why the conservatives can so successfully get under liberals’ skin. And why liberals need to start working harder at breaking through the empathy barrier.

Ms. Warner, let the truth set you free!

Be sure to check out the comments to her posting. The first few are priceless.

Ronald Reagan, John McCain, and Sarah Palin

Dear Mr. Obama

Personal message from an Iraq Veteran:

Two-For-One Smear: The Alberta Oil Industry and Sarah Palin!

One fellow on the DailyKos has attacked the entire Alberta oil industry and Sarah Palin all in one massive shot across the bow. He condemns them both profoundly, along with the Alaska Pipeline Project. He believes that the Alberta oil industry should be shut down. Here's the executive summary of his argument:

Sarah Palin's Pipeline should be a major issue in this campaign. It is a disaster and a major scandal unfolding in real time. Here are three things that Voters should know about Sarah Palin's Pipeline deal:

1. It will cost US Tax Payers Billions of dollars.
2. It does not guarantee delivery of natural gas to US markets.
3. It will Accelerate Climate Change and the destruction of the planet.
   

Let's look more closely at what he's saying:

#1 - "It will cost US Tax Payers Billions of dollars."

Yes indeed, building infrastructure costs money. The writer knows this, of course, but wants to shock people with the "B" word. The estimated cost is $26 Billion. Here's something he neglected to mention though, taken from Page 17 of the project's executive summary:

Over the first 25 years after the pipeline is up & running, the project is expected to yield the following revenue:

• $207 billion to the Alaska Shippers after taxes and royalties;
• $131 billion to the State of Alaska;
• $52 billion to the United States federal government; and
• $17 billion to TransCanada in equity return

#2 - "It does not guarantee delivery of natural gas to US markets."

This is a downright lie. The pipeline will connect into the existing Alberta natural gas pipeline infrastructure, which itself is connected to the lower 48 states in 2 places. Stating that it will not guarantee delivery to the bulk of of the U.S. States is like saying that the electricity generated in Canadian provinces is "not guaranteed" to reach the U.S.

For endless decades there has a been a massive net import of electricity from Canada by the U.S.:
The interconnection of natural gas pipelines, including this new one from Alaska work in a very similar fashion.


#3 - "It will Accelerate Climate Change and the destruction of the planet."

In this case, he has concluded that man-made Global Warming is an undeniable fact, simply parroting talking points from the Al Gore prayer book. The statement that it's undeniable is completely false. The subject is very much an unresolved issue. The DailyKos writer didn't even bother citing any references to support his unfounded claim. I guess he figures why should one bother when denying global warming is similar in nature to being a Holocaust Denier (at least in his mind).

Any reference he did want to provide can be countered with many others that absolutely dispute this unsubstantiated claim. For starters, feel free to click here and here.

As I've stated publicly before, to assume you are absolutely correct about controversial scientific issues is the height of arrogance. To think you can intelligently debate them when you don't remotely understand the science, computer models, and mathematics behind them is the height of ignorance.

---

Should this fellow get his wish, let's look at the repercussions of what such a decision would actually mean:

1. Hundreds of thousands of families throughout Alberta would no longer have any income.
2. The economy of Alberta would instantly go into a massive depression.
3. The economy of Canada would be dramatically hurt, certainly hurting millions of families beyond just those who work directly in the oil industry.
4. The price of gasoline would skyrocket all across North America. Some facts: In 2006, the province of Alberta exported 1.08 million barrels per day of crude oil to the United States, which accounted for 13 percent of U.S. crude oil imports. Alberta also supplied the U.S. with 62 percent of its natural gas imports.
5. The cost for people to heat their homes would also skyrocket.
6. The U.S. would then have to depend even more on nations that are openly hostile toward it.

Is this really what the American people want? Does Barack Obama agree with this? I wonder how Canadian politicians, now vying for votes in a federal election, feel about this?

Palin-Jindal in 2012 or 2016?

From the moment I heard about Bobby Jindal, I've loved this guy. He is the epitome of competence. Hurricane Gustav will certainly be an extreme test but I believe that he will pull through with flying colours. For the sake of all the people in Louisiana, let's hope so!
An amazing Republican ticket in 2012 or 2016 (John McCain's choice which) would be Sarah Palin for President and Bobby Jindal as her VP. The future's looking bright!

God Bless the Diversity of America!!!

McCain's VP Choice: Sarah Palin

Surprising most everyone, John McCain has chosen Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, as his running mate.

Now watch the Mainstream Media twist & turn to find ways to attack her. Before, all we heard was that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were "historic" but now somehow Sarah Palin is not. Right off the bat she's being attacked for her lack of experience, but yet she has tons more than Obama. The next 2 months will provide textbook proof of extreme hypocrisy and liberal bias.

Extreme Arrogance or Ignorance?

I don't usually republish comments made on this blog but there's a portion of one that is too priceless to be kept hidden in just the comments section.

A fellow who goes under the anonymous moniker of "Floating Abstraction" has been challenging me on my general support of the U.S. and condemnation of Russia's actions in Georgia. Fine, great, super, challenge away. That's what an open discussion/debate is all about.

But included in his recent rant was this gem:

"One needs to view macro-geopolitics with complete impartial objectivity that is free of bias in order to see the whole picture accurately. In doing so, it makes it easier to try to view events from multiple points of view so that one can try to understand the motivations behind the actions taking place."

He then goes on to assert that because he, the righteous, all knowing one, is free of bias, his opinions trump all others.

I meet people like this all the time. You start having a discussion with them, often about politics, and when they realize that they're losing and/or realize you're never going to agree with them, they pull out their "credentials card". It's usually their academic credentials but is sometimes a magazine article they've read or a Michael Moore documentary they've watched. One time a British guy I met in Europe pointed out that he had 3 sets of letters after his name. He insisted that whenever I wrote him a letter that I include those letters when I addressed him. Needless to say, I chose otherwise.

In this particular case, Mr. Abstraction had been making some good points. He's clearly well read and well informed on the subject of Georgia. But the moment a person crosses that tipping point and convinces themselves that they, and they alone, know THE TRUTH is the moment the discussion must end because any further debate is pointless.

Traditionally such knowers of THE TRUTH have been religious zealots. In North America, they're often Fundamentalist Christians. In other parts of the world they're Fundamentalist Muslims. But in recent years there are new strains of this same narrow-minded mindset:

• Liberal Extremists
  
• Environmental Extremists

Examples include Al Gore and David Suzuki, who both declared the debate on global warming to be over and then labeled anyone who disagreed with them as "deniers". Not only are both of them wrong about the debate being over (science doesn't work that way) but they both owe 6 Million Jews and other Nazi Concentration Camp victims a HUGE apology.

Another example is something locally here in Vancouver, where I live. There's an ongoing debate about the pros and cons about the Insite supervised drug injection clinic. Most of the powers at be keep telling us it's a great thing. I disagree. Why? Because I've carefully listened to David Berner, a man with an accomplished track record on drug addiction treatment. I've also listened carefully to what recovered drug addicts have told me. They all think that Insite is a horrific initiative that is only propagating the misery these poor drug addicts are experiencing. But rather than actually debate anyone, the supporters of Insite have taken the same arrogant approach as Mr. Abstraction: "We know THE TRUTH and anyone who disagrees with us is therefore ignorant of THE TRUTH." It's an effective trick to silence all debate. But it's a sadly pathetic trick.

One of the few truths that all mature adults realize is that everyone views the world in a different way. A wise old saying that more people should pay attention to is "not to judge another person until you've walked a mile in their moccasins." Feel free to convince others of your views but the moment you espouse that you are free of bias and thus know THE TRUTH is the moment that you need to go into the corner and take a serious time-out.

Joe Biden: Democrat VP Nominee

Barack Obama has picked Senator Joe Biden as his vice-presidential nominee. 36 years in the Senate and a core part of an institution that currently has a 14% Approval rating with Americans.

Now that's Hope and Change if I've ever seen it!!!

Interesting Discussion on the U.S. Federal Reserve

If you're as confused as me about what on earth is going with the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then do yourself a favour and listen to an interesting interview between John Batchelor and Jim Rogers. Tune to: 1:11:50.

According to Rogers, this is a blatant example of corporate welfare, protecting the riches of a tiny few, at the risk of hurting all the rest of us.

July 4, 1826

182 years ago today something very strange occurred. Not only was it the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, but two men, pivotal to that declaration, both passed away within hours of each other!

These two men were none other than:

• John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States of America
• Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President

Jefferson died first and then Adams. You can read about this fascinating coincidence here.

America's Youth

Such atrocious behaviour isn't limited to the U.S. though. I see similar things all the time here in Canada. It always centers around two things:

1. I'm entitled.
2. If you question me, I'm a victim.
   

Absolutely pathetic!

Dennis Miller at his Finest

Mr. Miller analyzes the recent Democrat presidential campaign:
P.S. I keep telling my friend, Mike, that his sense of humour is sooooo similar to Miller. Maybe this video will show him why!

The View from The Washington Times

On Monday morning, here's what people in Washington, DC will be reading about Vancouver's justice system.

Dr. Anne Wortham

Here's a brilliant African-American woman who believes strongly in the teachings of Ayn Rand. Very fascinating is how she describes that liberal colleges will not hire her because she refuses to tow the line of teaching Black students to be victims. Instead she believes in teaching them to be independent and pull themselves up from their bootstraps.

How incredibly sad it is that people like her are ostracized, yet Permanent Victm preachers like Barack Obama and Al Sharpton are held up to high esteem. How incredibly sad indeed.

---

This video has been removed from YouTube but if you're at the University of Maryland then you can watch it here.

2008-Q1: Canadian Economy Worse Than in U.S.

The smugness of Canadians may ease off a bit after hearing the news that the Canadian economy shrank in the first quarter of 2008, while the American economy grew by 3 times this same amount. This doesn't quite fit into the ongoing socialist narrative, does it?

De-nial is more than a river in Egypt!

Battle Hymn of the Republic for Pope Benedict

Both the United States and the Roman Catholic Church are easy prey to criticism by many in the world, especially professional victims in Canada and the U.S. it seems. But there is still greatness in both and this is but one simple example:
The reception for Pope Benedict was reportedly the largest one ever held for any visitor to the White House.