The ongoings of a Suburban Greenthumb

The Television to Internet Transition: social decentralization

2011-12-17T18:02:00.000-08:00

When the television/radio culture was introduced, people were at the mercy of local programming. We all watched the same shows. We all heard the same news. At first there were just a few tv/radio channels, so the effects were greatly pronounced. We were unified around the content provided by a few people. If they did not say it, we did not know it.. unless we we read it in a book or were taught it in a school.

Then cable came and had a thousand channels. It did not change things too much, because so much of the cable programming is just fluff and the real meat stayed very near the staple networks (ABC, NBC, CBS). 24/7 news networks are the real exception to the fluff that cable offers. Anyways... I am going off on a tangent.

With the invention of the internet, we are decentralizing from the television model, where we must consume whatever we are fed. With the internet, we create our own content. The power is of the many, not of the few. We are more aware and connected to our loved ones via social networking like Facebook. There are still some high-traffic hubs and centralized information powerhouses, but we now choose what stories we are aware of, what news we consume. We can find and form our own little cultural niches.

In many ways we are returning to the social model of old, where we knew the ongoings of our families, and towns, but not much outside of that besides what little news made it to town via newsletter or messenger, but instead of actual 'little towns' we create cultural niches that we are interested in and pay attention to.

For example, I tend to check my email and Facebook each morning when I wake up. I am much more aware of my family and friends. Then after that I only am exposed to the sites that I am directly interested in. If you ask me what is going on in the world of 24/7 prayer movement I could talk your ear off. On the other hand, if you asked me about the latest music trends, I would be completely clueless. This is largely because of our cultural gravitation away from television to the internet, which allows us much more specialized self-directed information sources.

There are ups and downs to this. I admit, when I watch television, I have much less control what I am exposed to, but I get a much more well-rounded picture of American culture. On the internet, if I am not interested, I don't click on it. On TV I have to complain and muscle through it 'til the next segment.

That all said, with the internet, we can shape our world. We control what we see and pay attention to. The result is less uniformity over the population, and greater tendency toward extremes due to isolation in our own little self-controlled worlds, and a much greater diversity of opinion and debate. That is the often viewed as the downside. The upside is much greater exposure of truth.

During the days of ABC, NBC, CBS power only, if they did not cover it, we did not know it. Now if I uncover something, I can insert it into the public arena with a few clicks. We tend to think that there is much greater corruption in our nation due to all the information that is now revealed, but I would argue that it is just that we know about it!

If you are frustrated with media bias, that they are not covering your favorite news story, just remind yourself that the only reason you know about the news story in the first place is due to the decentralization of media power. Before the internet, we would not even be aware of the news that is being ignored and glossed over. Anyways... this is way too long. Good night!

~Dani

The Priveledge of Parenting

2011-07-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

Lately I have come to realize the importance of parenting and how this idea of parenting as a great privilege and responsibility is all but gone in our society.

I recently came across a book that declared that religious people will soon dominate the world, through reproduction. Reproduction seems so innocent, natural, harmless, powerless, but it is the beginning of everything.

I hate to sound so cliche, but 'children are our future'. Seem obvious, but we rarely think about the implication of this.

As Christians, we hold up our pastors, preachers and evangelists on a pedestal, and they are important... but they are powerless without the parents. Everyone they reach has been raised by someone, talking to them every day, instilling their values daily into their young minds. Discipling them to be whatever type of person they are and care to be. The majority of preachers are 'preaching to the choir', to use another cliche, but the only reason they have a choir to preach to and like-minded people to influence is because the parents have raised them that way. We hear of miraculous conversions all the time, but these are a very minor portion of any religion's population. Most accept their idea of God that they were raised with, no matter the religion.

Christ said to care for the orphans. Could you imagine the peaceful worldwide revolution of love that would exist if we all tried with all our hearts, all our souls and all our strength model Christ everyday? To shepherd our children in love, kindness and generosity and to adopt all the unwanted children and raise them to do the same? To take responsibility for our schools and take it upon ourselves to tutor the struggling children? Oh man that would be cool! I need more hours in a day! Maybe once my own children grow a bit! That would be really cool!

Parenting is the #1 method of discipleship throughout history and throughout the world! We need to lift up and promote the importance of parenting, foster-parenting and adoption! A world wide movement of love, adoption, and foster care = revolution!!!

Behaving as a Christian Universalist

2011-06-09T13:04:00.001-07:00

I am one of those people who read Rob Bell's book "Love Wins" that has caused the theological controversy about hell and salvation theology. I saw the theological errors and spoke against them, but my lifestyle says otherwise. I am definitely not behaving in a way that shows the urgency of letting every one know about God's love and salvation. I kinda just live as if everything is okay. I have a serious problem getting the motivation to make 'On Earth as it is in Heaven' a reality. I have to gain the motivation and education necessary to live according to God's will rather than go along with the ways and concerns of the world. It's just to deceivingly comfortable going with the flow!!!

That said, I am glad to see some big names setting the theology straight on this. I have seen many testimonies of people who claim to have been shown heaven, hell, etc... but not one of them has ever said "Don't worry about it... everyone gets in!"

Twisted Morals

2011-05-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've been making some observations lately that I find very odd. It concerns the morals of the world. Lately the ultimate moral good is peace and tolerance, and the ultimate evil is violence and death. Death bad, peace good. Sounds good on the surface, but what happens when tolerance of evil and peace at all costs is touted as good? What about the death of Osama Bin Laden when our ultimate evil is death?

I would pose another point of view... peace with evil is unrighteousness. Tolerance of injustice in the name of peace is itself evil. Death of an evil doer is not sad or evil. It is the life choices that the evil person made that strikes me as a much greater evil. When it comes to Osama Bin Laden, his death is not something that I rejoice over, but I do rejoice at the end of his evil influence.

Neither do I find his death sad in the least, but his life choices are the ultimate sadness and it grieves my heart to see one person choose to perpetrate so much evil. You gotta hand it to him though, he definitely was productive... not lazy, not a procrastinator. If only the righteous could be that productive and purposeful then we could turn around this world for the better.

Peace is not our ultimate good, it is our goal, but true righteousness needs to involve the intolerance of evil, and sometimes to the extent of death.. as in the case of the execution of someone such as Osama Bin Laden.

This extends to the Mid-East peace goal in general. That speech yesterday... was that approval number suicide yesterday or what? Someone needs to tell that guy that approval numbers are not like golf, lower is not better. That speech seemed like he was shooting himself in the foot at every turn. Israel? Screw 'em! Debt ceiling? What debt ceiling?

Peace in the middle east is not a noble goal if it means upholding the evils of those who wish the death and extermination of Jews and siding against the only stable nation in the entire middle east.. the only one that even comes close to having a good human rights record. The only one where women and religious rights are treated with respect, not to mention the only stable nation in the entire region and the only one that is not hostile towards the US. Peace to the extent of tolerating evil is not righteousness.

I Love Perennial Edibles!!!

2011-04-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

I am loving my perennial edibles this year!!! My greenhouse collapsed and I have not started the seeds of the tomatoes, peppers, etc early like I had planned, but what I do have growing are my perennial edibles!!! I have little tiny asparagus, sorrel, lovage, salsify, garlic, kale, rhubarb, horse radish, raspberries, fruit trees, all well on their way. If only I could get the fence in the ground in time for the deer not to get to them first!!!

By the way, our neighbor hood deer herd has multiplied from 5 last year to 12 this year, all does and probably pregnant right now!!! I seriously have to do something about that, and calling the DNR does not work. I tried!!!

Furious Love Event: Shampa Rice

2011-04-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

Bokaro Children's Home from Wanderlust Productions on Vimeo.

We went to the Furious Love Event this week. Wednseday to Saturday. One of the speakers there is Shampa Rice. She is an Indian Christian who grew up across the street from Mother Teresa. She was amazing. She has absolutely zero internet presence, so I thought I would share this video with you.

For Kara

2011-03-21T20:09:00.001-07:00

Kara, you are one amazing lady!
I love you and thank you for being my friend.

Bible lessons... from a chicken?!

2011-02-19T21:16:00.001-08:00

I have recently noticed that the bright brown chicken with the fuzzy feet, Honey, has been alone lately. The other three chickens all stick together, but Honey is always by herself.

The other day I went out to say hello, and check for some eggs. When I opened the egg door they all gather around, and one of the black chickens pecked at Honey and made it very clear that Honey was not welcome. Now, this immediately tainted my view of that black chicken.

When I bought chickens I chose them for their egg laying abilities and chose breeds that were known for their friendliness. Out of all of my chickens, the two black chickens are the most productive and the most friendly. They are always the first to come say hello when I visit the coop. They do everything right, except for one thing... they treat Honey like dirt.

Since I have noticed this I have made a special mission to take Honey under my wing. Since she is neglected by her peers, I will treat her as a pet. Today the kids were thrilled when I came into the house with a chicken in my arms, especially Juneau, who did not want to say goodbye.

Honey is beautiful, she is somewhat friendly and loving, but nothing spectacular. Not compared to the lovingness of the black chickens, but she is being mistreated. I do not even know if she is a very good egg producer. Except for those stinkin' adorable fuzzy feet, there is not much that would set her apart as a favorite, as far as the things that I wanted in a chicken.

Tonight when I went into Bear's room to say goodnight, I saw his bible on his table and picked it up. I opened to Luke 11: 39-42. I read trying to glean what I was supposed to learn. It did not hit me until I was in the kitchen thinking about chickens.

In Luke 11:39-42 Jesus is hassling some Pharisees. The pharisees are being scolded for "cleaning the outside of the cup and dish", but inside being "full of greed and wickedness." Jesus advises them to "be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you."

⁴² “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone."

So I think I have finally found names for my black chickens, I think I will call them the Pharisees. There are two of them, and I never had names for them. I think one of them is named Michelle, an inside joke of Bear's.

These two black chickens have done everything right on the outside, but on the inside they lack love for their fellow chicken, Honey.

There is also another layer to this story, a girl I know is also named Honey, and God is working on me with that one. If she were a chicken, she would not be a very good egg layer. She would not even be one of the friendlier chickens, but she would probably be a loner and she is hurting right now. Even if she had adorable fuzzy feet it would make things a tad easier, but alas... God beckons, and now He know I know it is Him, and there is no getting out of it now.

We are Laodicea

2011-01-31T12:27:00.000-08:00

Have you ever read the letters to the seven churches? We are Laodicea!

(We) say,"I am rich. I've become wealthy and don't need anything." But (we) don't realize how pitiful and miserable we have become. (We) are poor, blind and naked (spiritually). -Rev.3:17

We are a nation that knows the word of God and believes the Word of God, but does not feast on the Word of God. We eat spiritual crumbs. We have fire insurance. We know we are going to Heaven through belief in Jesus Christ, and have stopped there in large part. There are exceptions, of course. There are many who I know that have a wonderful relationship with Jesus, and relish in growing closer to God. I know of many miracles and testimonies in our close circle, and that is the way it is meant to be! God's treasures are in Heaven, but they are meant to be enjoyed on earth as well.."On Earth as it is in Heaven!!"

I just got done reading a book by Heidi Baker, a missionary in Mozambique. Her stories are amazing. One of the stories that starts off the book, Compelled by Love, is a vision she had concerning the Western Church. She had a vision where she looked out at the well-fed comfortable audiences of the western church, and super imposed over them were images of the starving, bloated bellies and emaciated faces of her Mozambican children. God told her to love the spiritually starving in the western church. May we all yearn to become closer to God and may we all become spiritually rich! May we fall head over heals in love with Jesus, just as he already is with us!!!

Our goal is to become so in love with Jesus that His love fills us to overflowing. When we are overflowing with Jesus' love, it overflows onto everything we do, everyone we meet. We will find that we desire to help the poor, desire to spread the happiness that Jesus has created in us! May we gain such an enthusiastic faith that we can't help but share it with others! That is what we are meant to be, and everything else pales in comparison.

Fear Not... the Truth shall make you Free!!

2011-01-30T15:39:00.000-08:00

Do you know what command is seen most frequently in the Bible? .... Fear Not!

It the most frequent command from our Lord! The ONLY thing to fear is the Lord, our God!!! He is the only one worthy of our fear!

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This week I received a whole new understanding of the verse, "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (John 8:32)"

What is truth? "...Your Word is Truth!!! (John 17:17)"

I have realized the importance of knowing the Truth of Scripture to be able to stand against the lies of the enemy, and the truth has made me free!!!

I have found lately, especially when struggling with fear, when I hold to the truth... in this case, that only the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of my fear and my worship, I can reject the lie that is fear of everything else.

I found a great anti-fear verse yesterday... it talks about the antidote to fear, LOVE!

I love truth and love! They are the polar opposite to fear.

So, 1 John 4:16-19
"We have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; for we are as He is in this world. There is no fear in love; instead perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He loved us first!"

This paragraph is so often quoted that almost everyone is familiar with portions of it, but I had never heard taught what I am about to point out...

The antidote to fear: "The one who fears has not reached perfection in love". Why have I not heard this more strongly emphasized? I have been fearful for so long, and it has all been centered on lies, and the truth has set me free.. but now I know what to do if I ever find myself becoming fearful again, it is probably because I am believing some lie, or because I have not reached perfection in love. So, if we find ourselves fearful, LOVE MORE! Draw near to God and concentrate on His love and your love for Him. His promises to be your shelter, the fact that "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world". The fact that God is "in your midst" and "near", that He is our "dwelling place" and our "strong fortress".

Do a concordance search on "God is". That guy is nothing short of absolutely amazing! He is cooler that Superman! When I read the results of that concordance search, it gave me greater insight into the true nature of God! God is Love!

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Article

Biblical Answers to Negative Emotions: Fear

New year, New project...

2011-01-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading through the New Testament, and while doing so have gotten a couple of big ideas. I tend to give more credence to ideas that pop up while reading the Bible or praying, especially ideas that seem especially uncharacteristic of my own thinking. And that is why I am going ahead with the 'Local Charity Art Auction at the Grand Ledge Opera House' idea.

I have no experience with gathering donations or organizing charity auctions, but hey... why not! Sounds like fun!! (and a bit intimidating, but we'll ignore that part for now) So, it begins!!

Here is the general premise, I went to bed a couple weeks ago all excited about getting rid of all my stuff and selling it off to charity. Total Luke 12:33. I went to bed dreaming of all the things I can sell, and than woke up realizing I don't have a stinking clue how to do it! So, fast forward a couple weeks and I was reading and this full blown idea popped into my head. A Local Charity Art Auction at the Grand Ledge Opera House with proceeds going to a local food bank. It should be a good time, getting to know all the local artists and getting affiliated with the local charity community. A night at the opera house surrounded by cool people and art from local artists doesn't sound half bad... So, now I just have to figure out how.

What the heck is Net Neutrality?!

2010-12-22T06:25:00.000-08:00

John and I were talking over dinner last night and realized, we both have very vague ideas about what the heck net neutrality is and does, and why we need it in the first place... we both hit all the main points and understood what the bill is meant to do, but had different feelings about the whole thing. We both felt fairly "neutral" about the whole thing, it seems to be a fairly harmless bill to prevent a non-existent problem, so whats the big fuss?!

Here is the basic arguments for net neutrality (from the ACLU), It's the "We must prevent future problems that may or may not happen, because so far the internet is awesome and we do not want that to change!!" argument. I totally agree. The internet is awesome and we would like to keep it that way, so lets keep things going with the free market solutions that have kept it that way so far, and worry about correcting market failures if there ever is actually evidence that the market has failed us and our freedoms.

It's not like people's lives are at stake if some bastard company slows a customer's connection speed or blocks a website, but rather an area that has been successfully been kept in check by the free market of the internet up to this point. If the things that the net neutrality proponents actually do start to happen, then we can talk, but for now I think we are alright with our regulation-free wild, wild west environment of the internet and it seems to suit us just fine. One thing that both sides of the 'net neutrality' argument seem to agree on is... the internet is freaking awesome and we would like to keep it that way!

I just don't understand how allowing the government to enter into regulation of the internet helps to keep it the same as it always has been, rather it seems to open the door for some huge changes. I would like to keep the political pressures of lobbyists and special interests away from my internet, thank you very much!!!

As far as I can tell, this is a regulatory measure that seems relatively harmless and does pretty much nothing. It is just the government kicking the door open to further regulation and claiming its territory over the internet. It's kind of like an animal marking it's territory... it is relatively harmless other than the fact that it tells you that the animal is planning on coming back again.

Five great things about the green movement... from a skeptic.

2010-12-16T05:51:00.000-08:00

So, I don't think it's any secret that I am not a huge supporter of the green-movement inspired legislation of carbon trading, cap and trade.. I don't believe in the catastrophic predictions of human-caused global warming. I am not even all that sold on recycling, even though I do recycle metal cans, plastic and glass. (There are high enough efficiencies in recycling these materials, especially the cans, that warrant my efforts. It really bugs me to picture people working in mines to obtain metal for the cans that I would just throw away. I don't know how they do it!) That said, I think there are some great things that have come from the green movement that has resulted from the alarmist warnings of global calamity...

First, Reusable bags. You don't have to think that humans are destroying the world to appreciate garbage minimization. I LOVE my Envirosax!! They go everywhere with me. Now I can shop at Aldi/Save-a-lot without worrying about the bags (They are super cheap grocery stores that do not have bags unless you purchase them. Also, you have to insert a quarter to unlock a cart, so they do not have to hire people to gather carts form the parking lot at night. The parking lot stays clean with everyone returning their carts to save their quarters!) I save so much money shopping there because my Envirosax make it so convenient! Last week I spent $67 on groceries for a family of five!

Second, alternative energy sources in the home. Because of the green movement there are many homes that now have energy when the power goes out due to installations of wind turbines and solar panels. I love being self-reliant... I am not yet, but some people are, and that is awesome! (My wood stove is sitting in the garage, not hooked up in the least, but it is on my 'to do' list on my chalk board in the kitchen.)

Solar shingles

Third, greater energy efficiency. Due to the whole global warming thing, people have become self-motivated to insulate their houses, get better windows, etc. Even though I am not worried about carbon emissions in the least, I am a cheapskate who likes to keep warm, and people will stay warmer for less effort and money with better insulated houses.

Fourth, I think the bike thing is kinda cool, as long as it is not enforced legislatively. I love riding bikes, I like the new bike paths and do not mind community tax dollars (as long as they are coming from that specific community) to pay for these paths. It is just fun! Even though you are still zipping past everything at a good pace, it makes life seem so much more real than when I stare at it out of a car window. I still have not ridden to Kroger with the kids. It is right down the street, but bikes have very little space for groceries. I need an SUV bicycle.

Fifthly, if that's even a word...Gardening is cool again!!! There are many people that now know how to garden that did not know how in recent years. This is awesome! I love gardens and gardening. I think it is good for the soul. I don't know why. Also, if the world does go to crap and things get too expensive for any reason, maybe the green movement will have helped us to be more self-reliant and not totally lost, starving and dying of hunger if things get a little rocky.

With our bikes, wood stoves, gardens, envirosax and solar-shingles, we should be good to go!!! Even though I freakin' hate the legislation and alarmism that has come from global warming theorists, I do like the self-reliant spirit that it has inspired in many. It has helped wake up the survivalist in all of us and instill a sense of responsibility to keep our environment clean, which I think we all agree on.

Too much stuff!!! ...and yet I still want more.

2010-12-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

"Frugality is good, if liberality be joined with it. The first is leaving off superfluous expenses; the last bestowing them to the benefit of others that need. The first without the last begets covetousness; the last without the first begets prodigality. Both together make an excellent temper. Happy the place where that is found."
-William Penn

"We make ourselves rich by making our wants few."
-Henry David Thoreau

"In a consumer society, there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy."
-Ivan Illich

"Be not made a beggar by banqueting upon borrowing."
-Ecclesiaticus 18:33 (Apocrypha)

"Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed by them."
-Henry David Thoreau

Wanna ride?

2010-12-08T05:49:00.000-08:00

Found this gem at a local park. Oh man, that's creepy!

Economics: Not just money

2010-12-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

John had a professor at CMU back in the day, who was the best Economics professor ever, from the sounds of it. He pointed out that economics is not just about money. Wealth is not the only motivator that enters into people's decision-making processes!

His list of motivators were Truth, Wealth and Honor. I have to get in touch with this guy at some point and have him lay it out for me. This is a much more complete list than the usual monetary view of economics.

Economics is the mechanics of the world. It is the science behind why we do the things we do, and the fools try to pretend that they can create some math equation to explain it. It encompasses psychology, finance, land usage, etc.. The reality is, people are way more complicated than a math equation. Economic planning is futile! You would think after the equations fail for so long and the prediction so far off each month, that they would ditch the equations after a time, but they just keep juggling, modifying and recycling their equations and hoping it will work the next time around! Isn't this the definition of insanity?

The best planning a planning commission can do stops after they release the chains. The rest will be taken care of with laws of morality, and are not to be lifted even for the most elite of citizens. That is our greatest problem, the laws do not apply equally to all. Then when one of the 'exempt' gets caught, the rest of us get slapped with more laws that the 'exempt' will navigate around anyways.

Oh man, I totally took this one on a ranting tangent... I am very susceptible to tangents!
As F.A.Hayek has said, "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design."

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Articles

Economics Is Not Just About Money - Economics Is About Resources Of All Types

There is a common public misconception that Economics is about money and finance. This is absolutely not true. While there are certainly monetary elements present amid Economic Study, the discipline of Economics is about the best possible uses of resources of all types, whether they be land, labor, capital, time, technology, equipment, natural resources, or anything else. The terms supply and demand are familiar to us all.

**(While this is true, this article does not hit upon the totality of economics. It still is limited to efficiency as the major motivator of decision-making. Often times the dynamics of human relationships, religion and morality overrule a person's motivation to be efficient or financially better off, and play a much larger role in their decision-making process.)

Cheapskates Unite!! Let's hit those sales!

2010-11-22T05:17:00.000-08:00

Cotton, corn and oil prices are going through the roof, but the prices have not yet hit the sales shelves!!! The rising prices are a result of our weakening dollar, and they are only going to get worse from here. They have only just begun, and on everything! Can you think of ANYTHING that does NOT involve cotton, corn or oil in some way? (Hint: everything must be driven to your local store, and most animals eat corn.)

You have probably heard of all the "quantitative easing" (aka money printing!!) that the fed is doing these days. These two events are not unrelated. Quantitative easing weakens the dollar (prints money, increasing the amount of dollars in the market, and decreases the value of each dollar) and results in higher prices. In other words, inflation.

So, what do we do when we know prices are going up? Stock up now!!

Here is the fun part... everything you buy now is effectively on sale!! Especially this week, since it is the week of Thanksgiving, everything is literally on sale!

You don't want to take these truths and stock up on purses and perfume. You want this information so you can stock up on the essentials! I am talking food and clothes. If there is anything you know you will need in the future, buy it now! If it is non-perishable,it is in your best interest to go grocery shopping for the entire year and buy kids clothes for them to grow into.. coats, shoes, basics. It's all cheaper now than when you are going to actually need it. So hit those sales and go get those black Friday specials, and try to stay away from that half-off big screen that is screaming your name, because stuff is about to get really expensive out there, you are going to need that cash!

Guilty Pleasure of the Week: Ron Paul

2010-11-20T05:15:00.000-08:00

Article

Bernanke's worst nightmare: Ron Paul

Ben Bernanke has had his hands full since his first day on the job as Federal Reserve chairman nearly five years ago. It's about to get even tougher.

His harshest critic on Capitol Hill, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, is about to become one of his overseers.

Paul, who would like to abolish the Fed and the nation's current monetary system, will become the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy.

f you've never heard of the committee before, you're not alone. But Paul promises you'll be hearing a lot more from it.

"It's basically been a committee that's dealt with commemorative coins. I'm going to deal with monetary policy," he said.

To this I throw my head back, grab my belly and exclaim, "Bwahahahahahaha!!!!"

We're doing it!!

2010-11-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

I just registered for the Robby Dawkins Conference at the Vineyard Church of North Grands Rapids!! I am pretty excited about this!! We were shown this clip at church a couple months ago and I am really excited about what simple Love looks like when put into action. Unfortunately many churches portray a bit of condemnation rather than follow the biggest commandment we were given, love!!

Last night that fact kinda hit me. A friend of mine was telling me how her son has always felt the desire to be a youth pastor, and after a youth pastor internship he was turned off by the legalism and condemnation he felt. He has been wandering ever since. I realized how many people have turned from God and His church due to the concentration on legalism and condemnation that many churches portray, and how complicated it is sometimes to keep simple. Jesus came to remove condemnation and for the forgiveness of our sins, and we just keep insisting on concentrating on sinfulness and condemning people.

God's message to Robby was, "Keep it simple, love them, and let Me change them!" We always think it is our job to change the sinners, but it is not! We do not have to praise the sin, but others sin is not an excuse to turn them away from God or think that they are a lost cause. God is not deterred by our sin or unbelief, He knows how to handle it!

Love is the greatest commandment we have been given, and we have a hard time keeping it that simple. Our human nature is drawn to rules. Tell us what to do! Tell us what not to do! Give us something to do! ...And all we are told to do is believe the gospel and love! The simplicity leaves us scrambling and confused, and God keeps having to drag us back! Keep it simple!

Thank you to the Nelsons for watching the kids while we are away! It's an overnighter!

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Also, we are going to a Ben Folds Concert this weekend with our dear friends, the Shavers. Thank you Pasqualis for watching the kids for Saturday night! Wow! Two weekends in a row! Luxurious!!!

Toddler Survives!!!

2010-11-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

Dude, this is so the best story of the day!!!

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Toddler survives seven-floor fall in France

– Tue Nov 2, 2:56 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – An 18-month-old boy survived after falling seven floors and bouncing off a Paris cafe awning into the arms of a passer-by, witnesses said Tuesday.

"My son saw a little boy on a balcony. He had gone right outside the railing... I said to myself I mustn't miss him," the toddler's saviour, local doctor Philippe Bensignor, told AFP, recounting Monday's drama.

"I had time to move from side to side to get in the right position," he added. "The little boy was fine. He cried a little bit but calmed down straightaway."

An official involved in investigating the incident said the boy had been left alone in the family apartment in northern Paris with his sister by their parents, who were taken into custody afterwards.

"It's a real miracle," said the cafe's barman, who gave his name as Gaby, pointing to a small tear in the awning where the toddler bounced off.

"We were closed yesterday but the mechanical device for closing the awning wasn't working."

Attack ads circa 1800

2010-11-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

A hilarious look at our rich American history of attack ads...
you "Hatchet-faced nutmeg dealer!"

What's up with depopulation?

2010-10-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

I have been hearing a lot about depopulation in recent years... from influential supporters to the last DVD of my Discovery Earth DVD set. Yeah, I couldn't watch the last one. The rest were great, but the last one was all about agenda, and part of that agenda was depopulation.

I am always surprised at the support for this sort of idea.

The "No!!! Not you too!!" List...

“In order to stabilize world population, we must eliminate 350,000 people per day. It is a horrible thing to say, but it is just as bad not to say it.”

- Jacques Cousteau, 1991 explorer and UNESCO courier

“I believe that human overpopulation is the fundamental problem on Earth Today” [and] “We humans have become a disease, the Humanpox.”

- Dave Foreman, Sierra Club, co founder of Earth First!

“We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.”

- Margaret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood/ abortionist)

“Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind”

- Theodore Roosevelt

“If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels.”

- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, leader of the World Wildlife Fund

“A total population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal”

- Ted Turner, founder of CNN.

“The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”

- Margaret Sanger

“Eugenic sterilization is an urgent need … We must prevent multiplication of this bad stock.”

- Margaret Sanger

“Eugenics is… the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems.”

- Margaret Sanger

“I wish very much that the wrong people could be prevented entirely from breeding”

- Theodore Roosevelt

Surprising consequences of Minimum Wage

2010-10-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

It is tempting to think that the minimum wage is a wonderful thing. It increases the size of our paychecks and helps alleviate poverty, right?! But, just because we say it is so, does it make it so? Proponents of the minimum wage often acknowledge the power of the market when it comes to price determination of products, but many fail to realize that the market powers are just as real when it comes to the price of labor... and when you artificially manipulate markets, there are always unintended consequences.

Many economic planners think they can solve a problem by legislating it away. People's paychecks too small? Minimum wage! Lack of health insurance? Make it illegal to be uninsured! Now Timothy Geithner has a problem with our huge trade deficit, and he is planning to go to the G-20 and legislate it away! All of this legislation is implemented with a fundamental misunderstanding of why the problems exist in the first place!

Tim Giethner seeks to set world 'guidelines' to achieve more 'balanced global growth'. He is worried about our 'unsustainable' trade deficit. To think that you can just declare what a nation's trade deficit is going to be through new magic guidelines is a fundamental misunderstanding of economics, and is protectionism at its worst. A trade deficit is a result of transactions and marketplace decisions. It is a symptom, not a cause. If you want to effect trade deficits, you do not mandate trade deficits. You looks at the policies that cause those trade deficits.... minimum wage rate anyone?!

Nations do not trade, people trade. The deficit or surplus is a snapshot of the aggregate of those transactions. If you want to lower our trade deficit and allow us to be more globally competitive, lower our minimum wage!! Reduce our subsidies, tariffs, welfare, unemployment... All of these are effecting our international trade. Now, before you call me absolutely heartless, hear me out!

As a result of global competition, businesses now have access to cheaper labor worldwide. As a result, the market value of the wage rate worldwide is reduced. Due to our minimum wage rate laws, our market is not able to adjust to these changes. When our wage markets cannot adjust to the market rates due to legislation, businesses move the jobs overseas, where the wages are less.

Do not worry... global competition does not mean that wages will fall forever, just until they reach a market equilibrium. The perks of free trade and globalization is that the prices of goods also fall. In America, we readily accept the lower priced goods, but resist the fall in wages. We have been fortunate to have created many higher wage jobs, mostly in the service sector that need local employees. We may have hit a wall in this direction as more people cut back on the luxuries of the service sector. You can only avoid reality for so long.

Our current minimum wage rate law is moving our jobs overseas, and therefore moving our production overseas. Since everything is produced overseas, the manufacturing industry here is dying. When industry moves over seas, everything is produced overseas. Because of this we have to import all our goods, resulting in a huge trade deficit. It is really that simple.

As long as we have people willing to work in these jobs, at the lower wages, which is debatable, the manufacturing in America would thrive. But our markets have not been given a chance. It may be the case that the jobs and industry would have left anyways, due to the American labor market not willing to supply their labor at lower market rates, but we will never know. This opportunity has been made illegal due to minimum wage legislation.

Two of the government market manipulations that create an unwillingness to work in these lower wage positions are unemployment benefits and welfare. These policies create an effective minimum wage, without actually having to create one. As long as people can receive a paycheck without working, it will be an option that will enter into their cost-benefit analysis before accepting a job. Example, if I know that I could make $200 a week on welfare or unemployment benefits, that would be a strong incentive not to take the job that would pay me $250 a week to make Levi's jean. I may be willing to give up that extra $50 for 40 hours of my time.

Another area effecting trade, which is much more obvious, are tariffs and national trade policy. Protectionist policies are very tempting in a recession, and I fear that this is where Geithner is tempted to go.

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Article

Geithner's Goal: Rebalanced World Economy

Mr. Geithner said the world sorely needs to agree on guidelines for exchange-rate policy. "Right now, there is no established sense of what's fair," he said.

He also said the U.S. is pressing the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations to adopt numerical gauges to judge whether individual trade surpluses or deficits are "sustainable," a way to measure progress towards the goal of more balanced global growth.

From my email

I just found your pro/con minimum wage arguments... love it!

I have one more for the pro side:

Trade deficit reduction- minimum wage laws cause jobs to move over seas seeking cheaper labor and causing the death of the manufacturing industry in the USA. Result: We do not produce anything in the states anymore and we must import most of our goods, resulting in a steep trade deficit. Global competition is driving down the dollar value of manufacturing jobs and the minimum wage laws are limiting how our employment market can respond to these changes.
[Article: The U.S. Trade deficit: are we trading away our future?]

A good book

2010-10-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

I just finished a really good book. It is about a four year old little boy with a bum appendix. He had to undergo surgery and almost (did?) died. While he was in surgery he saw some amazing things. In the months and years following his hospital visit, he reveals to his family (in bits and pieces) that he had seen heaven. It is so charming and strange to read of the testimonies of this little child and realize the reality of heaven, and that it is a real place with real people we will see some day.

One of the sweetest things was little Colton (the four year old boy) meeting his sister in heaven he did not know he had. (His family had a miscarriage before he was born)

Oh, and he has become a bit of a critic of Jesus artworks. There is not a picture or painting of Jesus that has satisfied him, until he saw the painting by Akaine Kramarik, another little child who says she has been given visions of heaven. When he saw this painting, his parents asked him, "Ok Colton.. what's wrong with this one?" Colton replied, "Dad, that one's right."

Detroit

2010-10-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

Has money corrupted science?

2010-10-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

US physics professor: 'Global warming is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life' (link to letter)

(excerpt)...Some have held that the physicists of today are not as smart as they used to be, but I don't think that is an issue. I think it is the money, exactly what Eisenhower warned about a half-century ago. There are indeed trillions of dollars involved, to say nothing of the fame and glory (and frequent trips to exotic islands) that go with being a member of the club. Your own Physics Department (of which you are chairman) would lose millions a year if the global warming bubble burst...

Exemptions vs. Equality under the law

2010-10-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

As in most legislation, there are intended consequences. When you manipulate the marketplace, it is hard to predict what the ripples will effect, but the ripples that the new health care bill has created are already staring to reveal themselves, and were not a surprise to many detractors that were sounding the alarms during the debates.

McDonald's announced in late September that it was going to drop health coverage for it's workers due to increased costs created by the new health care regulations. Since then, they have received an exemption from the law, as well as 29 other businesses and teacher unions .

Instead of acknowledging the failures of a policy, legislators provide exemptions to the law. A law is very rarely repealed when it does not work as planned, instead of repeal, the legislators choose to create new legislation to address each of the unintended consequences, resulting in a very complicated and viscous cycle of legislation.

Our Governor, Jennifer Granholm does the same in Michigan when she is forced to face the reality of the unintended consequences of her policies. She never repeals those policies, instead she provides exemptions.

Exemptions fly in the face of equal justice and create an environment in which each individual is subject to different laws. She acknowledges that businesses are drawn to Michigan when their taxes are lowered, but has a huge spending habit and a distaste for across the board tax cuts. Instead of lowering taxes, she approaches each individual company and offers them each their own tax bribe. This results in a few businesses choosing Michigan, only after she incurs a huge monetary cost and time investment to seduce these companies into our state.

Why create the need for individual deals, exemptions and negotiations rather than repealing the cause of our economic illness? Why does our government insist on treating the symptom rather than cure the disease? I argue it is pure pride and human nature... People do not like to admit failure!! Instead they seek to make it illegal and immoral to react to the marketplace incentives they create, or they carve out personal exemptions.

Jennifer Granholm also views each of these tax credits, ironically, as lost revenue, when in reality, each dollar she receives is greater than the zero amount she would get if they were not here at all, which would be the reality if the bribes were not offered or accepted. Instead of gratitude and appreciation, the reward these businesses receive for creating jobs in Michigan is constant threat from our state government that their negotiated tax 'deals' will be taken away.

If she were to create an environment that was equally attractive for all business, then businesses would flood into the state without the time and money she needs to travel and set up meeting with each business's board of directors, etc. They would "magically" appear all on their own.

------------------------

Businesses are often demonized for completely legal responses to market incentives, one of the most common is moving jobs overseas. Jobs moving overseas are just a symptom of market incentives created by legislation. So, who is the bad guy? Who needs correcting? The businesses or the laws, or both? This concept will be further discussed in a post regarding the unintended consequences of the minimum wage.

-------------------------
Also, here is an article that is completely off-topic

Demystifying Deflation

Before you hail the Fed and Uncle Sam as our economic saviors, there are two things you should understand about the wrenching deflation we face: 1) The conditions which make us ripe for a severe deflation were caused by the very institutions that now propose to save us from it, and 2) it is the lesser of two evils.

Reason Magazine: October 2010

2010-10-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

Articles

Austerity Agonistes

Why left-wing economists’ warnings against austerity programs are wrong

...surveying the data of 44 large fiscal adjustments across the globe since 1975, concluded in a 2010 report that cutting annual spending by 1 percent triggers a net 0.6 percent in economic growth. As we will see below, this is a good deal compared to the $1.10 reduction in GDP we get for each $1 spent by the government to stimulate the economy.

...in the best-case scenario, a dollar of government spending produces much less than a dollar in economic growth—between 40 and 70 cents.

...for every $1 in tax-financed spending, the economy actually shrinks by $1.10. In other words, greater spending financed by tax increases damages the economy.

...the total number of jobs the government attributed to stimulus spending as of April was 682,000. Factoring in stimulus dollars spent up to that point, the average cost of these jobs was $282,000. That’s a lot of money. Worse, four-fifths of these jobs were in the public sector. This outcome is far afield from the administration’s original promise that the stimulus would create 3.5 million jobs over two years, 90 percent of them in the private sector.

...on average, the creation of 100 public jobs eliminated about 150 private-sector jobs, decreased by a slight margin overall labor market participation, and increased by about 33 the number of unemployed workers. Their explanation was that public employment crowds out private employment and increases overall unemployment by offering comparatively attractive working conditions. Basically, public jobs, especially ones that also exist in the private sector in fields such as transportation and education, offer higher wages and benefits, require low effort, and therefore crowd out many private jobs. When these new employees are paid with taxes it negatively impacts the economy.

-------------------------------------------------

Got an Environmental Catastrophe?

Blame the government.

The first question you should ask when you see environmental misbehavior is: What is the government doing that encourages people to act that way?

Quantitative Easing?!.... don't call it inflation!!

2010-10-08T04:47:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up to NPR morning edition talking about quantitative easing. So, what is quantitative easing? Long definition short, printing money.

As NPR pointed out, this has not really been tried much before and no one knows if it works, but this is the only option the government has left to try. Stimulus was very lack luster, the interest rates are already at zero percent, and that's not working. So the only thing left to do is print money! Monetize the debt! Buy treasuries from banks and pay for them with money printed out of thin air (...and, of course, a little paper and linen... and a lot of pixie dust). To NPR's credit, they laid out two options, they either try quantitative easing, or do nothing (praying..."please do nothing, please do nothing!!) This is the only thing government can do (actually the Fed) without consulting the congress or the public. We or our representatives have absolutely no say in this! (That's not shady at all!)

Does this result in a back door bailout for banks? Yes!! The banks get a ton of debt taken off of their records.

Does this result in lower national debt? No, the debt is just transferred to the fed!

Does this increase the money supply? Absolutely!! It is a fancy term for INFLATION!!! This is the one term I was waiting for in NPR's reporting, but they never said it. This is the dirty word of the day that the Feds do not want you to say! Inflation, inflation, inflation!!!

There is no proof that increasing the money supply increases wealth, what it does is devalue the currency! The only thing this helps is debt burden. Sure, your cost of living will go up. Inflationary policy rewards those with massive debt burdens lighten the burden of their debt, but punishes savings by devaluing each dollar saved. In short, if you are financially responsible you are screwed.. this rewards the irresponsible big spenders. The biggest and most irresponsible being our government (and financial sector).

Our government is under serious pressure to decrease our debt burden. The world market is threatening to abandon the dollar as the world currency due to our irresponsible national debt. What would happen if they abandon the dollar? Well, basic supply-demand tells us that it would result in inflation! It would result in a plummet of demand, dollars flooding the market as everyone unloads their currency, and a glut in supply. The value of the dollar plummets and inflation in prices soar.... (this might be a good time to trade in your US currency for some Canadian dollars. Later you can cash them in after the storm.)

So how do we ward off the world abandoning the dollar and inflation at home? Cut spending, cut spending, cut spending!!! There is some truth that this would result in further pain, but it is short term pain for long term gain. This would result in deflation. This is true. But deflation would be healthy at this point, and there are thing you can do to shorten the pain of deflation and kick start the economy. Our government is telling us they are out of options, but the real solutions lie in the options they are not willing to try!

To lessen the effects of deflation (which is the direction the markets want to go and is why government intervention is not working, they are fighting against the market) you can cut regulation, release the chains, cut government spending, and cut taxes when and where we can... but tax cuts may not be possible, as we have a large debt hole to dig ourselves out of. These methods are all very popular among the public right now, but getting government to listen is a whole other story. Government, just as individual citizens, do not like to give up money or power once they have had a taste of it, and this would put more money and power back into the hands of the citizens!!

------------------------
Articles

QE Won’t Work; Markets Won’t Care

“The bank sector remains weak,” he goes on, “and unable to increase lending to companies. There are dangers that further QE could lead to major new problems rather than leading to economic recovery.”

Then there are the curmudgeons at Capital Economics. They’re resolutely refusing to touch the QE Kool-Aid too.

“Quantitative easing provides commercial banks with an opportunity to lend more money. But it does not guarantee that they will. Banks may lack capital or be worried about the financial health of prospective borrowers. Or nobody may want to borrow money, even when interest rates are close to zero.”

Private vs. Federal Government Saving

Quantitative easing: The uncomfortable truths

Nearly 30 years ago, Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volker had to raise U.S. interest rates to 20% to combat inflation of 13.5%, following the stagflation of the 1970s.

What do we do with all those "Climate Deniers"?

2010-10-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

Article

NASA’s James Hansen has called for trials of climate skeptics in 2008 for “high crimes against humanity.” Environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lashed out at skeptics of 2007 declaring “This is treason. And we need to start treating them as traitors”In 2009, RFK, Jr. also called coal companies “criminal enterprises” and declared CEO‘s ’should be in jail… for all of eternity.”

In June 2009, former Clinton Administration official Joe Romm defended a comment on his Climate Progress website warning skeptics would be strangled in their beds. “An entire generation will soon be ready to strangle you and your kind while you sleep in your beds,” stated the remarks, which Romm defended by calling them “not a threat, but a prediction.”

In 2006, the eco-magazine Grist called for Nuremberg-Style trials for skeptics. In 2008, Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki called for government leaders skeptical of global warming to be thrown “into jail.” In 2007, The Weather Channel’s climate expert called for withholding certification of skeptical meteorologists.

A 2008 report found that ‘climate blasphemy’ is replacing traditional religious blasphemy. In addition, a July 2007 Senate reportdetailed how skeptical scientists have faced threats and intimidation.

In 2007, then EPA Chief Vowed to Probe E-mail Threatening to ‘Destroy’ Career of Climate Skeptic and dissenters of warming fears have been called ‘Climate Criminals’ who are committing ‘Terracide’ (killing of Planet Earth) (July 25, 2007) In addition, in May 2009, Climate Depot Was Banned in Louisiana! See: State official sought to ‘shut down’ climate skeptic’s testimony at hearing.

Indonesia goes "John Galt"

2010-10-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Tired of the fiat national rupiah always losing value through inflation, some Indonesians are going "John Galt"! They are unhitching from the system and creating their own free market money. They have created the Gold Dinar and the Silver Dirham, and they seem pretty happy about it!

The dangers of disconnecting financial capitalism from the marketplace of reality.

When the dollar and the financial marketplace was based on the gold standard, it was backed by actual wealth and amount of gold in existence. Now that we have disconnected from the backing of gold, we can and have invented an unlimited source of currency, material and electronic, that is not backed by reality. We do not have a healthy version of financial capitalism, and the structure of the marketplace that our government has created has removed the natural checks that the marketplace usually uses to keep itself in a healthy balance.

Pick Your Poison...

2010-10-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

"Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people; it is wholly inadequate for any other." -John Adams

"The less restraint shown from within the more must imposed from without." -Edmund Burke

I have long wondered... what the heck is fascism? I always pictured it pretty much like communism with a frowny face and wearing a military uniform.

(Post still in progress... busy reading about fascism)

Ok, I read a bit about fascism and apparently I am not the only one that has a problem placing it on the political spectrum. Rather than a particular world-view, the main similarity of fascist governments are their methods- creating national unity rallied behind a common enemy in response to a perceived threat to society, such as moral degradation by whatever means necessary, and totalitarian control... The ends justify the means! And the ends seems to be whatever the particular dictator thinks is the perfect society. For arguments sake, let's just consider it a right wing phenomenon, since that is usually where it is placed.

Anyway, the reason I was looking this up was not just some freak curiosity, but rather to help explain left -right politics a little bit and the dangers of big government on either side.

In our political parties today, we often see two big-government proponents arguing amongst themselves. Usually they spend most of their time ripping each other to shreds, and often these are the only times that they are telling the truth... One thing both the Nazis and Communists had right back in the 30's is that the other one sucked!!

There are extreme dangers of big government, whether left or right- civil liberties lost on the right, economic liberties lost on the left. Both our current administration and the previous one have taken away a little bit of both! They do not really seem to care which side of the political spectrum they grow on, as long as the direction is up!! (using the triangle graph above.)

Bush is infamous for the Patriot act and the wire taps, but also Medicare Part D and rampant spending and regulations!! Obama is infamous for Health care reform, big regulation, but also making the Patriot act permanent, continuing the wire taps and also passing the financial regulation bill will allow government access to your bank accounts.

Just as fascism, I have a hard time placing either of these political leaders on the left-right political spectrum.

I know Bush has always been characterized as extreme right, but I have a hard time placing him there based on the evidence. The only thing that could possibly place him on the right is his war-prone tendencies. Defense is about the only thing he was right-wing on at all, well... that and tax cuts. He was pro-amnesty for illegal immigrants, created medicare part D, and his daughter came out recently in support of the new health care bill and his wife is pro-gay marriage and abortion rights! He was a centrist big-government guy.

Now Obama, his friends seem to be leftist, but his policies just seem big all over the place. Big secrecy, big social programs, big business subsidies!

There are significant dangers of big government on either side of the political spectrum. The pressures we need to apply to our elected representatives these days is down, smaller is better. Whether left or right, we are far to close to the top of the triangle for comfort. We need to bring it back down, but the only way for our government to be able to scale down is for our society to become more self-sufficient.

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Articles

Religious Freedom and the First Amendment

... I, as an individual, choose to live by the teachings of Christianity and submit myself to the authority of God as the recognized Higher Authority... Now, if we, as a family, live in a community in which every individual and family has done as we have done, then a civil governance structure exists in which each chooses to live by the same moral and religious creed, respecting the rights of self and all others.

Under such a structure in which I choose to live by a moral and religious creed acceptable to the community, a limited form of government is all that is required as I, as an individual, and every other individual in the community, as well, have chosen to accept the responsibility of governing self according to a universally accepted moral and religious creed.

Now continue to build that structure from the community to the highest form of government and you have a nation of people, all living by the same moral and religious creed, establishing self-governance at every level, requiring a limited form of government to secure order, justice and liberty.

This is what John Adams referred to when he stated: "Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people; it is wholly inadequate for any other."

Green peace?!

2010-10-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

Now, as you are very likely well aware of, there is a huge debate going on over climate change/ Global warming/ Global climate disruption...etc. Not everyone is convinced of the scientific proof behind these theories or the severity of their predictions.

In fact, many scientists who acknowledge the theory that man can effect climate change strongly disagree on the alarmist predictions and destructiveness of that change. But, alarmist predictions get a lot more attention and a stronger reaction from the public. Some are even led to believe that the world as they know it will end if they do not seek immediate action, and it is leading to lots of anger. When people think that their life is at stake and they are not winning the debate for legislative action, how will they react? How far are they willing to go when they feel that their life in on the line? Apparently all the way...

Do not watch with kids!! Hint: they blow the "deniers" up!!

Top video created by the 10.10.10 movement, and the bottom created by Greenpeace.

Diversity of skin good, diversity of minds bad. Got it!

Libertarians like to repeatedly inform others that laws are always enforced at the point of a gun. If you refuse to follow the law, eventually the law must be enforced at the point of a gun. They like to say this to make you realize that when you make silly laws like "Do not sleep in your bathtub" (Detroit) you are advocating the arrest of anyone who falls asleep in their bathtub. Apparently the green movement is completely fine with this. They realize that laws are enforced at gunpoint, and they are not deterred by this fact.

As far as the global warming debate goes, silencing facts and arguments is not the way to go! There are too many questions and data-corruption behind this theory to ignore. The debate is going on, whether climate alarmist like it or not, and they are losing the debate. They are becoming defensive. They think their planet is at stake and some are becoming dangerously defensive!

Why do so many leftist movements end in death when the masses refuse to be "educated"? I thought they were proponents of "peace"!!

Freedom from Responsibility

2010-10-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

In FDR's 1944 State of the Union Address, he laid out a Second Bill of Rights. It was essentially a bill of rights to free you from your responsibilities. Sounds good, right?!...

"The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education."

Each one of these "rights" requires another to provide you your "right" through his or her labor. This redefines rights as something another MUST provide for you! What about the doctor? Teacher? Job provider? Not to mention the market forces that determine your wage rate and ability to provide you your paycheck. This was also called an "Economic Bill of Rights", but in this list, your rights are another mans chains! This this is so economically nonsensical, yet it's proponents have not gone away.

We have heard that "Health care is a Right" in the last health care bill debates, but this ignores the fact that one man's health care is another man's labor! Do you have the "right" to force another to work for you?! Is he subject to whatever you are willing or able to pay him? Do we still have the right to withhold our labor unless we agree to the monetary compensation we feel we are worth? ...Employment is just another free-market transaction, as long as we are economically free. It is a trade of products, labor for money.

If we decide that we need a car, do we have the "right" to a car or do we have the responsibility to obtain the finances to purchase that car? There are some who say we do have the right to that car, because cars are so central to our lifestyles. But think of the economic slavery this entails.

Many would be willing to trade the burden of their responsibilities for the economic security of slavery. Sometimes our responsibilities can be a large burden to bare, but we must think of the alternative. And doesn't it come down to the golden rule?.. "Treat others as you would want to be treated." Would you like to be told what you are going to be paid and be forced to accept, or what customers you must serve and who you cannot? If so, maybe economic slavery is the way to go!

Glenn Beck actually had a pretty good segment on this topic....

But remember, as in actual historical examples of slavery, you may not have to worry whether you will eat or where you will sleep, but neither will you have much choice in the matter. ("Beggars can't be choosers!") And as always, slaves are subject to the kindness of their captors... And when your captor (and provider) is the government, who are you going to sue?

If you do not like my terminology, you may couch them in better language if you like... maybe instead of "economic slavery", you would rather call them "economic rights". It sounds much better!

--------------------------------------
Speaking of the Bill of Rights...

Did you know that the Tenth Amendment is extreme?!..Oy

Ironically, the crowd that thinks we need a second bill of rights, seemingly to give us more rights, do not want us to exercise the rights given to us by the first one!

Economic Liberty... too old fashioned?!

2010-09-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

"A point that a lot of liberals tend to ignore... is that the people who need constitutional protection for economic liberty the most are the poor and members of minority groups. It's not rich white guys who are driving taxi cabs. Unfortunately just about all the Supreme Court Justices are hostile to the idea of economic liberty,with the possible exception of Clarence Thomas."

-----------------------------
On another note...

I was just talking to John and found myself smiling at the thought of going into restaurants with my kids sans the old fashioned cloud of smoke hanging in the air. (Michigan just instituted a smoking ban in bars and restaurants last spring)

Apparently I am a very wish-washy Libertarian, because I do not think it is good idea to burn tires or cigarettes inside. Even if there were no health implications, both smell like sh*t.

I find it strange that it ever became socially acceptable to smoke indoors. Could you imagine being allowed to bring small tire shavings, or even incense, into a restaurant and set it on fire? ...even if it was in a nice little bowl? I am sure the owner would come over and put a stop to it promptly!... but that would be the owner of the property, not the government, setting the standard.

Restaurant owners were coming around and becoming smoke-free voluntarily, but the law definitely sped things up. Both the free market trend of smoke-free restaurants and the no-smoking law were responses to the opinion of the public at large. It often takes a movement among the people to create free-market or government responses.

Republicans deregulate?! ...Really?!

2010-09-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Graph from kick butt Reason article

And we wonder why the Bush tax cuts did not result in more job creation?! It was counter-acted by a regulatory spree!!! Sure, you can keep your money... but you can't do anything with it! ...Would you like some chains with your tax cut? That on top of huge spending that will result in the necessity of huge tax burdens in the future.

It pays to be a lobbyist!!

2010-09-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

(one of the strongest unintentional arguments for term limits)

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Article

The Market for ‘Pull’ on Capitol Hill

Posted by Walter Olson

Economists can actually measure the value of insider connections:

[L]obbyists connected to US Senators suffer an average 24% drop in generated revenue when their previous employer leaves the Senate. The decrease in revenue is out of line with pre-existing trends, it is discontinuous around the period in which the connected Senator exits Congress and it persists in the long-term. … Measured in terms of median revenues per ex-staffer turned lobbyist, this estimate indicates that the exit of a Senator leads to approximately a $177,000 per year fall in revenues for each affiliated lobbyist.

The fall is steeper, the researchers find, when the departing member of Congress sat on a powerful committee such as Appropriations, Senate Finance, or (on the House side) Ways and Means. Lobbyists who are ex-staffers are also more likely to quit the lobbying business once “their” member departs office. Incidentally, actual per-lobbyist revenue is lower than you might assume from the above figures, because many lobbying contracts are shared out among several participants with each individual getting only a portion of the proceeds. (Jordi Blanes i Vidal, Mirko Draca, and Christian Fons-Rosen, “Revolving Door Lobbyists,” via Alex Tabarrok).

If you needed another reason to vote against that unsatisfactory incumbent this fall, reflect that by doing so you’ll also be dimming the stars of his or her unsatisfactory ex-staffers.

481 degrees in Escanaba?!

2010-09-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

What's up with that?!... That's funny! I don't remember it being 481 degrees this fourth of July!!!

The web pages at the center of this latest climate storm were created by NOAA in partnership with Michigan State University.

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Articles

Boiling Great Lakesgate
Killer Global Warming Causes Temperatures of 315 Degrees Celcius

Official records have been confirmed as evidence that a handful of temperature records for the Great Lakes region have been hiked up by literally hundreds of degrees to substantially inflate the average temperature range for the northeastern United States.

US Government in Massive New Global Warming Scandal
NOAA Disgraced

The tax-payer funded National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has become mired in fresh global warming data scandal involving numbers for the Great Lakes region that substantially ramp up averages.

Massive New Global Warming Scandal NOAA

A beleaguered federal agency appears to be implicated in the most blatant and extreme case of climate data fraud yet seen. Official records have been confirmed as evidence that a handful of temperature records for the Great Lakes region have been hiked up by literally hundreds of degrees to substantially inflate the average temperature range for the northeastern United States.

Consumer Reports vs the FDA

2010-09-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

If Consumer Reports (a free market watchdog for product safety and quality) had the track record of the FDA, they would have been out of business a long time ago!!!!

The FDA is not subject to the market forces of public opinion because it is a government instituted monopoly. If it were a private free-market venture, it's terrible reputation and track record on public safety would have destroyed it a long time ago.

Many cases of corruption have been documented, and their inspectors proven less than competent (recent egg recall). Special interests hired and put on the payroll, creating a conflict of interests that endanger the health of every American. Non-fermented Soy and Canola oil are only two examples of failures of the FDA, causing the safety of our food supply and pharmaceutical products to fall well behind that of other nations.

Also, the FDA is becoming known for restricting products from the market for reasons far removed from product safety, but rather special interest pandering or consistently enforcing the government agenda of the day .

By contrast, Consumer Reports protects its reputation by strict adherence to truth in product testing and is largely immune from special interests and corruption because they rely on the purity of their reputation for their entire existence. If it had the reputation of the FDA, it would not exist.

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Articles

Consumer Reports Slams FDA

Consumer Reports today slammed the FDA's decision to allow the risky diabetes drug Avandia to remain on the market.

The agency "falls short of its counterpart across the ocean, the European Medicines Agency, which decided Avandia was too risky" to remain available, a Consumer Reports editor wrote in a blog post.

Breaking the FDA Monopoly

Many readers might consider my proposal to be quite radical, but it simply returns us to the FDA’s role prior to 1962: certifying that a drug is safe.

Best catch phrase ever!!!

2010-09-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

"Tu Ne Cede Malis"
(Do not give in to evil)

I have been researching Austrian Economics lately, which I happened upon after wanting to know more about F.A.Hayek, author of Road to Serfdom and subject of EconStory's awesome rap battle video between Hayek and J.M. Keynes.. who is a discredited jerk.

Ludwig von Mises was Hayek's teacher and is the gentleman on the coin above with the kick-a** catch phrase "Do not give in to evil".

The most well-known Austrian Economist today is Ron Paul, a US Congressman from Texas.

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I follow the blog of Greg Mankiw, an Economics professor at Harvard, and wondered what he thought of Austrian Economics, being a respected scholar in the field. I emailed him yesterday with that simple question and he wrote me back within five minutes and directed me to his 2006 blog post on the topic.

In short, he read Road to Serfdom and liked it,and to his credit, assigned it to his students to read, but otherwise does not know anything about it. ("First, most economists at research universities focus their attention on recent work. Things written more than twenty or thirty years ago are usually assumed to be irrelevant, out-dated, or incorporated into more recent work... for the same reason that physicists don't read Newton in the original.")

I would really hope that both economists and physicists would read the original historical texts, if for no other reason than to know why the texts are so respected. Newton, for example wrote most of his works over 300 years ago and they are still largely relevant today! By contrast, the textbooks and studies of today's scholars will largely be irrelevant, admittedly, within 20-30 years. I would hope that professors and textbook authors would be educated in the timeless truths of original sources, in addition to the constantly shifting truths of today.

Now, Mankiw writes textbooks. I would like to think that if one considers themselves literate in their field to the extent that they feel compelled to write a textbook, they would have read and comprehended all the theories within their field and the works of historical and timeless authorities, to merit their ability and authority to speak of it. But, Mankiw admits that he is only knowledgeable of current economic works, and discards anything older than 30 years old. This causes his thinking to be mere echoes of others around him, rather than rooted in economic history, theory and timeless truths. When you only concentrate on the narrow window of the present, you ignore all of history and are doomed to repeat it. You become a mere pawn of those who do know history and use their knowledge to achieve their desired future results.

I argue that Mankiw's academic method places too much faith in the current experts of our time and assumes them to be far more literate in their field than reality merits. To be a true authority I would expect a good knowledge of all theories within the field and their historical results. I am extremely disappointed that he saw and acknowledged this weakness in 2006, and when asked again in 2010 he has not yet amended it.

That said, his blog is pretty interesting, well stated and over-all, fairly sensible... though it is reflecting current popular economic thought, rightly or wrongly, which I guess should be of no surprise.

$100,000,000,000,000

2010-09-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

An amazing example of the dangers of inflation. You know how pennies aren't worth anything anymore?... Yeah, they used to be!!! In Zimbabwe they leave hundred dollar bills laying on the ground!

I do not think we are headed for a Zimbabwe-type situation, but is an interesting historical example none-the-less.

1,000 Trillion Dollars (Zimbabwe)

10 uncirculated 100Trillion dollar Zimbabwe notes. Show an authentic example of a failed Central Bank to your family and friends!

The Racist History of the Minimum Wage

2010-09-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the minimum wage laws were originally instituted to protect the job of high wage whites and crowd out the market for "negro labor"? ...Yeah, it was new to me too.

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Articles

Here's a bit of history on our first minimum wage law:
the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 .

Ok, which is more "humane", "fair", and "just"? Hiring four people for $25.00 an hour to complete a job? Or hiring five people for $20.00 an hour? Hiring 10 people for $10.00 an hour? Or if you really want to help the little guy, why not hire 20 people at $5.00 an hour?

The rational response to that question is.... All of the above. It depends on the situation. But if you mandate that the starting wage must be $25.00 an hour???? Who is going to get hired first? The homeless guy, who would ordinarily be willing to work for $5.00 ? Or the already privileged white guy with the college degree?

If you need a lot of low-skilled work done, and you're in a high wage area? Tough luck. Send it to China.

The Davis-Bacon Act:
Let's Bring Jim Crow to an End

The Davis-Bacon Act, which requires that federal construction contractors pay their workers "prevailing wages," was passed by Congress in 1931 with the intent of favoring white workers who belonged to white-only unions over non-unionized black workers. The act continues to have discriminatory effects today by favoring disproportionately white, skilled and unionized construction workers over disproportionately black, unskilled and non-unionized construction workers. Because Davis-Bacon was passed with discriminatory intent and continues to have discriminatory effects, its enforcement violates the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection of the law.

News Alert: We have finished the chicken coop !!!

2010-09-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

Picture update!!! This is our coop!
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We have finally finished the chicken coop!!! After many trips to the store and using our few available weekends, the chickens are now in their new home. This is not our personal picture, but it's pretty spot on. (We followed this building plan) It is too dark to take a good pic right now, maybe tomorrow!

I really thought it would be done sooner and I would have completely fenced the yard by now, but both money and time are far scarcer than I care to acknowledge. I am often an unrealistic optimist when it comes to projects. I think I forget that my days are usually pretty full and my time accounted for sans projects. I am sure I will forget this lesson by next spring!

Greed is good: Money Never Sleeps

2010-09-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

"Exploitation is not exclusively capitalist, but wealth creation is." -Joyce Appleby

Inflation, Deflation and Hyperinflation....

2010-09-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

Articles about this great economic debate from people who are actually smart...

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Rothbard's argument for Deflation
William Anderson

Rothbard nerd apparel available here

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Will We Have Inflation, Deflation, or Hyperinflation?

Crucial Error... Correction

2010-09-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

In the last post I said, "Stimulus was our attempt to try to dig ourselves out of this debt hole by transferring the debt from the private sector to the public sector" and that the interests rates were "set low, ironically to encourage lending, debt, leveraging".

Stimulus was not an attempt to "dig ourselves out of this debt" nor "transferring the debt from the private sector to the public sector". Stimulus is our government's best attempt to keep this unstable bubble of an economy from popping. They do not want public sector debt to decrease, it would counteract their actions. They want banks to lend... for us to borrow more!.. but that is how we got into the mess we are in today!! It is not "ironic" that the government is setting interest rates historically low... they want us to keep that bubble inflated!!

So, we used the analogy before that "we are living in the equivalent of a $450,000 house with $100,000 ability to pay"... this is true. Our American lifestyles are fueled by debt, and thus are an illusion. Our debt is unsustainable and our economy shaky at best. The bubble wants to pop. People have seen the instability of debt personally and are unloading debt like the plague. Responsibility, frugality and savings are seeing a resurgence, and healthily deflating the bubble, but through stimulus and increasing the money supply the feds trying to reinflate it.

The stimulus and the TARP bailouts were our best attempt to keep he bubble inflated, keep our economy inflated, keep our currency inflated. In the last post we evaluated why we hear so much about gold and it's benefits, hopefully the gold investors are wrong. The only way inflation happens is if we incur more debt/ create more money than we are paying down. That is not healthy and will lead to another crash. If we want to recover and have a stable economy, we must let the economy reset itself. Deleverage. Otherwise this crap is going to keep on happening.

The government hopes that the debt bubble will suddenly become stable and then inflate it more!! More false growth!

So, how did this happen?

We have all heard of the "community reinvestment act" and the ways the government encouraged the banks to make "sub-prime loans". That is part of the picture, and definitely the main trigger that started the recession, but it is only a small part of the whole. Many cite "deregulation" of the financial sector or untethering the dollar from the gold standard (which both coincided with the rise of the financial sector as we see it today... causing income inequalities and overleveraging. )

There are many reasons and policies that led to irresponsible financial practices, the primary one being arrogance and taking affluence for granted. As Americans we often take for granted that everything is going to be great, without knowing what made us and keeps us great in the first place. We have been living off of our former glory and cashing in its good credit for all the debt it could leverage...(thanks John Maynard Keynes... that guy is such a jerk!) well we have finally reached the end of our credit line. Our cards are all maxed out. It is time to build up that credit again, one step at a time.

I know that economies and economics can be intimidating, but it works just like your household economy does. When you overspend at home do you cure it with more spending? Do you transfer it to another card? .. or do you stop going to the mall and stick to the essentials for a while?

I think this calls for a music video... our current status is the "hang over" part.

(BTW.. I am a super nerd and happen to love this video and think it rocks! ) If you felt like watching the video and memorizing the words I wouldn't not recommend it. It's actually very educational.

We have a long way to go if we are going to create a more stable economy, but if you just want to keep that bubble afloat, I don' t know what to tell ya.. but so far it's not working so well.

This all has to do with "Inflation vs. Deflation" argument among economists...

In economics there is a huge debate between inflation and deflation, and why printing money currently is not causing more inflation. Well... leveraging, printing money out of thin air through the financial sector, has the same effects as printing money. Illusionary dollars created by debt act the same as real printed dollars by the fed. Our "bunkering down" during the recession by increased savings rates and paying down our private debt (deleveraging) is countering the inflationary forces of money printing (monetization).

If we were to stop printing money at the same time as deleveraging and increasing our savings rate, we would be reducing the amount of dollars in circulation by taking from society the illusion of dollars created by debt... this would result in deflation. Deflation strengthens the purchasing power of each dollar, which is good for you... but if it happens too quickly your wage would may be reduced so your boss could still afford to pay you, since his products would be sold at a reduced price. Now all that would even out if you did not have any debt. The worst part about deflation is that your debt burden (mortgage) would become heavier. You would be paying the same bills with less dollars.

Inflation vs. Deflation is a very controversial economic topic, and for the last 100 years the inflationary side has been winning, but inflationary economics creates the bubbles that we see today.

Deflation is not a fun process, but it may be the price that we must pay to recover from our lavish years of debt. When people tell you to get out of the stock market and pay down you debts, this is what they are not saying. They feel that deflation may be on its way. If we are to have a real and permanent economic recovery, your debt may prove to be a vulnerability. Those without debt will be much more likely to ride the wave.

If you want to hear the pro-deflationary argument, here is an informative audio book on the subject...

Why Gold? ... Econ 101

2010-09-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

We hear a lot of talk about gold and gold investment... why? What's so great about gold?

Well, as we have evaluated in previous posts, our economy is over-leveraged, in other words... our wealth and our assets are an illusion. Between our private and our public debt we are living in the equivalent of a $450,000 house with $100,000 ability to pay. That is a debt bubble. Is a person rich because they live in a big house or does a man become any richer by moving into a bigger house? The answer is no. The best example of this is a commercial from a few years back...

As we have experienced recently, stimulus is having lack luster results and we are running out of options. Stimulus was our attempt to try to dig ourselves out of this debt hole by transferring the debt from the private sector to the public sector because we thought the government was big enough to handle the burden... but it is stretched to its limits.

People are not willing to lend us any more money, the feds cannot set the interests rates any lower (set low, ironically to encourage lending/ debt/ leveraging.. hello!!! Can any one say future problems?), our national credit rating is at risk, and we are being forced into buying our own debt to continue this method.

Why does the government not go bankrupt like we do when we cannot pay for our own debt? They can print their own money they will never go bankrupt (but they can become weakened and collapse... like the Soviet Union).

How do we buy our own debt? ...We have to print new money to buy it.

What happens when we print money? ...The supply of dollars goes up and each individual dollar is worth less in relation to actual value and purchasing power.

So, we are in a recession because we could no longer handle our debt burden... we were over-leveraged. How do we get rid of our debt? We could let the irresponsible default on their debt and live frugally and pay down our own debt to get back on stable economic feet, or we could transfer our debt to the federal level and inflate our way out.

Inflate our way out?... What the hell is that? Well, if you print more dollars each dollar is worth less than it used to be, dollars of debt as well as dollars in hand. So, if you want to lessen the debt burden and do not like living frugally...print money!! (Which is what they began doing this summer)

But doesn't this effectively lower our actual wealth? Our salaries? Our housing values? ...Yes!!! Every dollar you earn will be worth less. Your wages and housing prices reflect their "bubble" values, so we will devalue them to their natural levels through inflation. (Do not expect wage levels to rise the next few years)

So, what does this have to do with gold? The value of gold, not paper gold but actual physical gold, is not tied to the value of dollars. It will hold a steady value no matter the value of currencies. So, the intention of gold investors today is to to buy gold with today's relatively 'valuable' dollars so they can retain their wealth and cash it in for many more of tomorrow's dollars at a later date. Their wealth and asset values will not be inflated away because gold holds it's value. The gold investors are betting on inflation, which historically is a pretty good bet.

You know how we hear stories about how cheap everything used to be? Candy was a penny, and a penny used to actually be worth something! Well, it takes the same amount of gold to buy candy whether it is 100 years ago or today. Well, maybe not candy, because we have gotten a lot more efficient at making candy... but you get my point, right? Gold 100 years ago has the same value today. A dollar 100 years ago, worth a lot less. I do not know if I explained it very well, but that is my crash course on gold.

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On this note, what we are actually doing is not only transferring the private debt to the federal level, but also creating new debt through new programs and spending unrelated to lessening the private debt burdens.

We would be much better to just let the bubble pop and and recover on solid footing. Let the irresponsible and debt-laden reap the harvest of their own irresponsibility, rather than spread it out among all of us and then we can grow from there.

One of the unintended consequences of bailouts and stimulus is the masking of irresponsibility. It leaves the irresponsible unpunished and in place to run us into the same ditch again in the future, in fact it incentivizes them to do so. They know they can just get bailed out again.

Just know that the value of every government dollar spent irresponsibly is going to take away from the value of your dollars, because we will have to print more cash to pay for the government debt, which devalues your earnings and your assets.

Rather than debt, real economic fuel is made of savings, investment, productivity and optimism. Optimism to strive to the best of our abilities and increase our productivity, all while saving, investing and spending responsibly.

Thomas Sowell on health care reform

2010-09-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

In an interview Thomas Sowell was asked to name one 'piece of nonsense' that he did not cover in his book 'Economic Facts and Fallacies', his response... "The notion that what we cannot afford in terms of medical care as 300 million Americans paying directly, we can somehow afford sending the same money through the government and paying for a government bureaucracy on top of all other costs of medical care."

Creating Uncertainty... Great Depression Parallels

2010-09-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

"Instead of creating this uncertainty, which all this intervention does... it created tremendous certainty... When you intervene, it' s not just the question of the merit of the particular intervention, it's that nobody knows when you're going to intervene again.... nobody knows what gonna happen next" -Thomas Sowell

People are freaked out right now and do not know what to do with their money, where to put it, where to invest. In 2009 the personal savings rate shot up due to people deleveraging (paying off debt) and stashing away cash for the rainy day that was upon them. With the "transformation of America" well under way and thousands of pages of "emergency" legislation, people do not know what to do, so they are bunkering down. Not necessarily what you want for short-term immediate recovery, but might be healthy for the long haul.

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Articles

Wartime Prosperity? A Reassessment of the U.S. Economy in the 1940s

In the long decade of the 1930s, especially its latter half, many people had come to believe that the economic machine was irreparably broken. The frenetic activity of war production—never mind that it was just a lot of guns and ammunition—dispelled the hopelessness. People began to think: if we can produce all these planes, ships, and bombs, we can also turn out prodigious quantities of cars and refrigerators.When the controls began to come off and the war ended more quickly than anticipated in 1945, consumers and producers launched eagerly into carrying out plans based on rosy forecasts and, by so doing, made their expectations a reality. Of course, the ability to draw on the accumulations of financial assets built up by “forced saving” (notice the spike in the graph) during the war was important, especially in conjunction with the Federal Reserve's continued support of bond prices. But the liquidation of those assets alone could not have turned the trick—if such tricks were possible, a government could produce prosperity simply by cranking the money presses.

...certain events of the war years—the buildup of financial wealth and especially the transformation of expectations—justify an interpretation that views the war as an event that recreated the possibility of genuine economic recovery. As the war ended, real prosperity returned.

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Where are the New Jobs?
John Stossel

The problem today is that the economy is not being left alone. Instead, it is haunted by uncertainty on a hundred fronts.

It's all related...

2010-09-21T05:33:00.000-07:00

Below are graphs showing a strong correlation between financial deregulation, the increase of the credit market, lowered savings rates, income inequality and increasing wages.

Graph of Income Inequality

Graph of American Savings Rate

Graph of Financial Deregulation correlating with Wages in the US

Graph showing rates of Debt relative to GDP

These correlations make a strong argument for good regulation of the financial sector, if only our leaders had the sense to weed out the bad. We must regulate with our eyes open, because not only was there and is there a bubble of housing market and financial sector, but as seen above.. wages. There will be pain as we deleverage to a more stable normalcy, but we have been in a bubble for too long. I am usually not a huge fan of regulation, because usually they are very poorly conceived and sloppily executed... but the financial sector is unique in that, it creates money out of thin air!!!

My current thoughts... stop spending beyond your means, citizen and government!!! In the words of Rick Santelli... "Stop spending! Stop spending! Stop spending!"

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Articles

De-leveraging...It's All About the Debt

How bad is it going to be? Well, just keep your eye on that total debt versus GDP number. It usually runs around 150%, and at present it's at 350%. The fact is, most of the assets which secure that debt are themselves inflated by the bubble, to the extent that nobody knows what they're really worth. But if you imagine the debt bubble deflating to its historical value, then you're looking at a fall of more than 50% in asset values blown up in the bubble... And because the market for debt-based securities is global, the excesses of the U.S. credit market will afflict financial institutions worldwide.

At the root of every financial bubble is leverage: ...debt.

United States of Inequality

Article 8: The Stinking Rich and the Great Divergence

Who are the Stinking Rich? Their average annual income is about $7 million. Most of them likely work in finance, a sector of the U.S. economy that saw its share of corporate profits rise from less than 10 percent in 1979 to more than 40 percent in the aughts... An explanation of how finance came to take over the U.S. economy would require its own Slate series. But Saez, Hacker, and Pierson argue plausibly that the industry's deregulation (and the protection it received from a few well-placed Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York) played a large role.

Two Very important articles in one PDF

This post began as an evaluation of the importance of uncertainty in the marketplace... to touch on this subject (which will probably be taken up in a future blog post) is the article, "Uncertainty bedevils the best system". That is the article that led me to this PDF.

...but the article above it better relates to today's topic and is a great evaluation of the issues. "Cutting back financial capitalism is America's big test". (A common qualm of mine, I hate the title... I think it is abuse of the word "capitalism"... but maybe not. This may have been an irresponsible practice of capitalism.)

Wiki-Education: Poverty and Consumption

2010-09-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

"In 2008, the “poorest” one fifth of Americans households spent on average $12,955 per person for goods and services (other than taxes), the second quintile spent $14,168, the third $16,255, the fourth $19,695, while the “richest” fifth spent $26,644."

I often feel that I waste money on unnecessary luxuries and am always seeking to use our funds more efficiently and would like to give a larger portion away. I just read the book "Radical" and a book on Mother Teresa. (Both really great books!!! ) They both emphasize efficient use of money, and moderate living. (Why when I concentrate on doing something my behavior often is contradictory?... I went to TJ Maxx this weekend and got a pair of leather boots, and in Barnes and Noble I succumbed to their buy 2 get 1 classic books... they are so cool!! ) That said, after tax we do not even take in $12,955 per person per year, and I am a bit surprised about the above statistics.

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Absolute poverty vs. relative poverty

A measure of absolute poverty quantifies the number of people below an income level necessary to afford minimal standards of food, clothing, health care and shelter.

A measure of relative poverty defines poverty as being below some relative poverty threshold. For example, if everyone's real income in an economy increases, but the income distribution stays the same, then the rate of relative poverty will also stay the same. Measures of relative poverty are almost the same as measuring income inequality: If a society gets a more equal income distribution, relative poverty will fall. Relative poverty describes how income relates to the median income, and does not imply that the person is lacking anything.

"In developed economies, poverty is more likely to be relative than absolute, in that basic needs are met even for the poor. In less developed countries, poverty is also likely to be absolute. Lack of adequate nutrition, housing, and health care are primary concerns, especially lack of food. Adequate food, health, and basic education have all been consistently demonstrated to be important foundations for economic development."

"United States of Inequality".. continued

2010-09-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

That dude over at Slate keeps cranking these articles out, and I just keep reading them. He has 10 articles out in this series (United States of Inequality) so far, and frankly I hope it is complete, because each of these articles are monsters... but I can't stop reading them. They have an obvious political slant that is contrary to my own, which, for some self-torturing reason is why I can't stop reading.

In the 7th article, he hit upon what I wanted to know... "Income inequality did increase through the aughts (2000-10), but that was because incomes soared at the tippy top of the income-distribution scale. It didn't increase because less-skilled workers got squeezed—or rather, it didn't increase because less-skilled workers got squeezed any more than they did during the previous two decades. At the very bottom, incomes actually edged up slightly."

Shoot, if the poor are not getting poorer, it seems to me that it is more an academic curiosity than an actual problem. Of course, it is always worthwhile to strive for greater wealth for all, and seek to institute policies to encourage this.

I still want to know what happens to the incomes during the "Great Compression" and other times of greater income equality. If the times of income equality coincide with overall increased incomes, then I am all for it... but if those times only show less wealth for the upper tiers, then I think striving for them is a waste of time. We have been studying the time of inequality, but I think a look at the times of equality would be equally useful. Pushing the high end down for equality's sake is a poor and dishonest replacement for pushing the lower incomes up for equality's sake... which is a much more difficult task.

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The 9th article has a statement at the end that will be the fuel for a future blog post..."In a broad sense, then, we all created the Great Divergence, because in a democracy, the government is us."

I could not agree less with this statement. There are so many wrongs in this statement that are so common that it needs to be addressed. I have seen this statement circulated a lot lately the last couple of months....Firstly, we are not a freaking democracy!!! We are a representative republic. It is so important that we all understand the difference... and the government is not us, especially when they vote for crap that a large majority of the people disapprove of!! Did you send $800,000 to teach Africans how to wash their genitals? I know I didn't!! That was the government, not me. I did not vote for that. There is a difference!!

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Pol 242

Also, I found a syllabus online for a political science course that looks really interesting. I do not know how I happened upon it, but most of the the readings and videos are available online, so I am following this course from home, minus the exams. So far it is pretty fun and interesting. Just finished week one...

9/2: What is science? What is political science?
READING: Bearak, “Why People Still Starve,” New York Times Magazine.
READING: Haber, North, and Weingast. 2002. “The Poverty Trap.”
FILM: “The Mind’s Big Bang”

I do not really know why the video is included in the curriculum and seems a bit unrelated, but is very good. It is very much like a NOVA episode, if you like crap like that... which we do. I found out last night that the syllabus is from Hope College, which is not all that far away. I thought that kinda funny! If it is particularly good, maybe I can drive over and meet the professor.Also, found a very interesting BBC documentary in the YouTube sidebar while watching "The Mind's Big Bang", it is called "Dangerous Knowledge". It is about four genius mathematicians that drove themselves insane. (Should be very uplifting) So far it's pretty sweet, I am learning about Georg Cantor and his search for Infinity.

"Let My People Go!!"

2010-09-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

We have left an important part of this sentence out... "Let my people go, that they may serve me" (Exodus 9:1).

We have conveniently left out the part demanding work from us!! We like the freedom part, the work.. well, let's leave that part out, that's not bumper-sticker friendly.

From several things I have come to understand lately, I think I have underestimated God's proclamation that, "I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God" (Exodus 20:5). The first four commandments He has given us concentrate on giving God His proper reverence in our lives.

This is a challenging idea. I do not quite know what properly serving God would look like. I know we are given a mission for this life... spreading the good news of Jesus and serving others around us... the poor, orphans, widows. I find myself falling far short, and find it far easier to spread human reasoning rather than the truth and love of Jesus... even really boring nerdy stuff. I acknowledge that is really lame of me and I am still working on how to do the word of God more help than harm.

Even this guy.. he is at least trying his best. I am not even doing that! Gotta give him credit, that takes guts!!!

"If you believe that there's a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell--or not getting eternal life or whatever--and you think that, well, it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward...How much do you have to hate somebody not to proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?" -Penn Jillete, from Penn and Teller (atheist)

Economic Illiteracy

2010-09-17T06:07:00.000-07:00

I found this website, Whatwilltheylearn.com, that rates colleges based on their academic requirements. They choose seven topics that they think are important for students to learn and grade colleges according to how many they require... Composition, Literature, Foreign Language, US History, Economics, Mathematics and Science.

Out of the 719 schools that they rated, only 25 required their students to learn economics!!!! To keep this in perspective, the next most neglected topics were U.S. History with 140 schools, and Literature with 159 schools.

Now, I am not saying that it isn't useful to be able to quote a Robert Frost poem once in a while or be able to pick out Shakespeare quotes from our favorite movies, but really?! Isn't economics slightly more useful in everyday life than literature?!

People often do not realize just how important economic literacy is. Perhaps if we had higher levels of economic literacy, this whole economic crash could have been avoided!!! Dare I say that having high levels of economic literacy is slightly more important for society than a good knowledge of Shakespeare... nothing against Shakespeare, but he has a very limited sphere of influence over the daily on-goings of our lives and the mechanics of our society.

John Maynard Keynes, the economist behind most of our politics for the last century, wrote, "The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence are usually the slaves of some defunct economist."

Disclaimer... please do not take my quoting John Maynard Keynes as an endorsement of his economic theories, because in truth, I think he's an asshole.

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Articles

Economic Illiteracy

Here is an article I came across while researching for this blog post, from my good friend John Stossel. I have seen him on TV, like, ten times. We're real tight....

The most interesting college by far I found on WhatWillTheyLearn.com is Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California. They do not use textbooks, but rather "Great Books". They do not lecture, but rather discuss. I want to go there!!! They require all seven subjects and are one of the few schools that received an 'A' rating.

We are all Keynesians Now

A look at the membership of the 111th Congress shows that out of 435 representatives and 100 senators, not one of them is an economist. None… but you have plenty of lawyers (168 in the House and 57 in the Senate.) That should give you an idea of their expertise on economic issues.

Bigger goverment = Less Morality?!

2010-09-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting perspective from Dennis Prager. Around the 1:40 min mark, he hits on an interesting idea... as the size of government increases, morality in society declines.

Policy makers often under-predict the elasticity of human behavior (sorry, econo-nerd terminology- behavioral elasticity: the tendency for people to change behavior in reaction to an incentive, whether it be intended or unintended). Government assumes that their assistance programs will be added on top of the existing levels of generosity in society, but usually fails to live up to expectations because of the elasticity of human behavior (and unexpected costs of bureaucracy)... hypothetical example, I no longer have to worry about feeding my neighbor because I can just sign him up for food stamps. (As programs increase, natural generosity goes down, resulting in less than predicted success of assistance programs.)

Anyways...Who is this Prager guy? He is all over the interweb today!

-----------------------------------

Ok, I just checked out this guys YouTube channel and found another shortie that hits upon, what I think, is a whole lotta truth... Gratefulness is the key to happiness. This is accepted as being truthful, if not thought of and stated often enough, but what I had not heard before is the flip-side... Ungratefulness is the key to unhappiness... it is a bit overgeneralized, but interesting none-the-less.

Economic Inequality: Scandinavia vs. the United States

2010-09-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here is and interesting snippet from "What can the United States learn from the Nordic Model", relating to my question about economic inequality. Since the United States is criticized for high levels of economic inequality, I was curious how our poverty stacks up against that of other nations? Here is an interesting insight:

"...defenders of the Nordic Model argue that the United States suffers from greater levels of income inequality... the poorest 10 percent of Americans have about the same level of income as the poorest 10% of Finns, Swedes, and Danes. Only in the oil-rich Norway is there a noticeable gap (data for Iceland not available). What differentiates America from the Nordic nations is the income of everyone else. The rich, the middle class, and the working class in the United States enjoy higher levels of income than their Nordic counterparts. "

This also raises a few questions relating to relative costs of living, taxes and social programs...

Is this adjusted for the lower costs of living in the US, giving people of equal incomes a higher standard of living in the United States?
Are the income levels adjusted to reflect tax burdens? Are these after/before tax incomes?.. as the article states, "Scandinavians are the poorest people in Western Europe once incomes are adjusted for taxes and the cost of living."
What about the welfare provisions of the Nordic nations? Would they give the poor of Scandinavia a higher standard of living than those in the US, or do they recieve relatively equal benefits as the poor here? (ex// medicaid, medicare, food stamps, bridge cards, wic, welfare checks, etc.)

...anyways, I thought that was interesting and helped to answer some of the questions I had, so I thought I would share. ~Dani

Our Economy has historically performed better under Democrat presidents...

2010-09-14T06:36:00.001-07:00

In the recent series of articles I have been reading, The United States of Inequality, the author, Tim Noah, pointed out that greater wealth creation of all economic classes has been achieved under Democratic administrations than those of Republicans. It was a bit counter-intuitive to everything I expected, so it started a bit of an exploration on my part.

I wondered what policies affected wealth creation, what was going on between 1948 and 2005?

This has resulted in econ-nerd central in my kitchen and self-laminated charts pasted all over my counter tops. Red and blue, and line graphs galore, really.. you should be ashamed you even know me. Seriously.

I charted Senate, House and Presidential party control from 1945 to 2010. Did you know that the democrats had control of the house from 1949 all the way to 1994? ( So that was why 1994 was such a big deal!) Up until 1994, both house and senate were largely controlled by Democrats, except for a blip from 1947 to 1948 under Truman and the senate in 1953-54 and 1981-86.

I think I assumed that the party platforms have always been similar to those of todays ruling parties, but apparently things have changed a bit over time. I assumed that Dems have always been huge spenders, and Reps tax cutting free-market types they claim to be today, but this was and is not true! As I should have known, it's not about the party, its about the policy!!!

A few surprises I have found so far in this far-from-complete search for the truth:

Truman (D)- In the 1940s, a young Senator Harry Truman toured the nation looking for wasteful and fraudulent spending - powered by the tips and leads from patriotic citizens who wanted to do the right thing. Together, Senator Truman and the American public shined a spotlight on waste and brought an unprecedented level of accountability to federal spending.
JFK (D)- was a tax cutter!!! “It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low, and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now… The purpose of cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit, but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy (italics mine) which can bring a budget surplus.” Kennedy understood how an expanding economy benefits everyone, poor and rich, stating, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”
Ronald Reagan (R)- big spender!!! "Republican President Ronald Reagan grew federal government spending to the highest level it had reached since World War II. He also 'saved Social Security' by raising payroll taxes.
Nixon (R)- wage and price controls!! "In 1971, Republican President Richard Nixon instituted wage and price controls. That made a group of free-market supporters so angry that they decided to form the Libertarian Party"
George H.W. Bush (R)- raised taxes!! (I knew about that one!)
Bob Dole (R)- Subsidies!!! "Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole was a huge supporter of taxpayer subsidies for corn and ethanol."
Ron Paul is probably the only Republican congressman willing to point out the huge cost of America's foreign wars and empire building. Other Republicans pretend that spending trillions on the military just doesn't count as big government. "With Social Security, Medicare, and military spending making up the vast majority of federal spending, you can't cut significantly without cutting those. But Republicans refuse to touch them. (hat tip link- The Whited Sepulchre)

So, what policies have resulted in the most wealth creation? I am sure I will never know the full truth, due to rooms and rooms full of regulatory paper work passed over the years, on top of the thousands of pages of legislation, but to the best of my ability I am working toward a general understanding.

So far, the free market is the best contender for success, but with a high possibility of over-leveraging as people begin to take good-times for granted (resulting in the crashes of 1929 and 2008!!) So, how do we reign in over leveraging? Moves have recently been taken to raise the cash reserve requirements of banks (necessarily resulting in less credit-availability), which is a move in the right direction, and a return to 20% down payment requirements for mortgages. A few smart regulations like these can go a long way toward protecting our society from over-leveraging (.. but the thousands of pages of regulations packed into today's bills do more harm than good!!!) Lessez-faire combined with intelligent regulation. That is my verdict so far... more to come!

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Articles

Less Taxes, More Revenue:

In recent American history three presidents, Republicans Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush—and Democrat icon John Fitzgerald Kennedy—all lowered taxes in response to economic recessions. In all three cases, more money flowed into federal coffers than expected, and all three recessions ended.

The High-Income Rate Reductions
The neglected Stepchild of the Bush Tax Cuts

Due to past mistakes, the outlook for the high-income rate reductions is bleak. If any of the reductions are to be salvaged, it is necessary to begin making the economic-growth case and abandon the misdirected arguments previously offered.

NYT: Defying Others, Germany Finds Economic Success

Germany has sparred with its European partners over how to respond to the financial crisis, argued with the United States over the benefits of stimulus versus austerity, and defiantly pursued its own vision of how to keep its economy strong.
Statistics released Friday buttress Germany’s view that it had the formula right all along.

The Parent Model

During the first half of this year, German and American political leaders engaged in an epic debate. American leaders argued that the economic crisis was so bad, governments should borrow billions to stimulate growth. German leaders argued that a little short-term stimulus was sensible, but anything more was near-sighted. What was needed was not more debt, but measures to balance budgets and restore confidence.

The Nordic Model

2010-09-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

The much admired economies and lifestyles of Scandinavia, as liberal economists and politicians often tell us, can teach much to the United States... but they often forget to mention the laissez-faire policies that drive the engine of their economies. For example....

Scandinavia has lower corporate tax rates than the US
Scandinavia has low-rate flat tax on capital income
some Scandinavian nations have privatized retirement systems
some Scandinavian nations have flat-rate income tax

The Nordic nations do not have the economic growth of the US, due to the large burden of their welfare states, but their citizens are provided with benefits that the citizens of the United States are not. Their public sector costs are over 48% GDP, as compared to under 37% in the US. For a mere 11% additional GDP they manage to provide health care and a bunch of other benefits to their citizens. To be fair to the US we must add the fact into the figures that if Scandinavia did not live under the military umbrella of the world's defender, the United States, their government costs would be much higher, so we do subsidize a portion of their economies. To learn more on this topic... the next paper I am reading is "What can the United States Learn from the Nordic Model?" Should be interesting.

Another interesting article:

The Safest National Debt In The World: And It’s Not From The US

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The last paper I read was "Thinking Clearly about Economic Inequality", and was very interesting. I am still researching the effects of political policy and cultural changes on economic inequality, which Scandinavia has less of, but there are some interesting questions about how much it matters. I am more interested in learning what policies create the most wealth for the most people, which is kinda the same.. but not necessarily. While seeking economic equality for all, it is much easier to become equally poor rather than equally rich. For instance, does economic inequality matter if the policies that create wealth for the rich also create wealth for the poor, but unequal portions of it? I am interested in finding policies that make us all better off.

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One more shortie, an interesting article from South Africa: Biblical Principles for Government. A look at why many of the world's governments, including our own, are structured the way they are, and the Biblical principles behind them.

I heart John Stossel

2010-09-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

A fun interview with John Stossel and his transition from a regulation hawk to a libertarian. This is just the kinda nerdy crap I like!

It's not governmental regulation, says investigative reporter John Stossel, but the competition of free markets | Marvin Olasky

Finger of God

2010-08-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

I was just watching this movie on YouTube. It is called "Finger of God". It is amazing! I am on part 6/10 right now, about an hour in. It is all about 'crazy' miracles God has been doing around the globe.

A quote from a Monk who was dead for three days, and then sat up in his casket, at his own funeral- "It's all a lie!!! I saw our ancestors burning and being tortured in some kind of fire! I also saw Buddha and many other Buddhist holy men. They were all in a sea of fire. We must listen to the Christians! They're the only ones who know the truth!"

Now, this may seem obvious to most Christians, as it is a widely held belief that you must believe in Jesus to get into heaven... but there was always that part of me that likes to believe that as long as one holds loyally to their idea of their God that it might be enough. I know that this sounds stupid, given the entire Old Testament, where idolatry is explicitly damned. For some reason I never quite make the correlation between 'all other religions' being the same as idolatry! Our God and Bible is definitely not pleased with individuals worshiping any God to the best of their ability, as I was tempted to believe. I think our culture encourages this type of theology, for the sake of religious tolerance, religious respect and for the sake of discouraging public evangelism. I was a sucker!

This is a huge wake up call for me. There goes my theology!!

Finger of God part one
Finger of God part two
Finger of God part three
Finger of God part four
Finger of God part five
Finger of God part six
Finger of God part seven
Finger of God part eight
Finger of God part nine
Finger of God part ten

2010-08-27T08:03:00.001-07:00

The Commerce clause vs. the freedom to grow your own food

2010-08-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

Are we free to grow a home veggie garden? Is this an area of our lives that is safe? I would think so... but in Wickard vs. Filburn, 1942- the Supreme Court ruled that a farmer does not have the freedom to grow and consume his own crops because of its effects on "commerce"... in other words, if everyone grew their own food, the food industry would suffer. Where in the Constitution does it allow the federal government to regulate backyard gardens? The Commerce Clause, of course!!!

As seen today, the Commerce Clause is used to allow the government to regulate just about anything. Are there any limits on the federal government? Does such an interpretation of the Commerce Clause completely nullify the 9th and 10th amendments in our Bill of rights?

I saw Tony Judt on PBS last night...

2010-08-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched an interview with Tony Judt on PBS. A few things peaked my interest so I looked him up this morning. He is "a universalist social democrat", former Marxist. He acknowledges the atrocities that have resulted throughout history when socialism is instituted, and does not admire the results... only the policies. He wants to untangle the perception of “over-powerful states” or "economic dictatorship" and the policies of social democrats. He is interesting and seems to be a smart guy, but fails to point out just how you institute these policies without “over-powerful states” or "economic dictatorship".

Interesting summary of his most recent book: Ill Fares the Land

He desires the European socialism over Nazi/Soviet/ Venezuelan/ Cuban socialism. To that I agree, but that does not mean that I like it... much to the contrary. So the question is, what separates the two results, if anything? Well, one major factor is money.

In the PBS interview Judt acknowledges that Europe has had to pay for very little of their own defense, due to the "nuclear umbrella" of the USA. He also notes,"I have never met a European, or indeed anyone else in the world, who says, "We don't want America in the United Nations. We don't want America contributing to the World Health Organization. We don't want America paying for, helping to pay for, the cost of refugees, for AIDS victims."

As opposed as the USA is to socialism, it has been subsidizing it for years... Do you like European health care systems? you subsidize it. Do you like European mass transport? You paid for it.

If Europe had to pay for their own defense and the USA did not shoulder the majority of the UN/ WHO burden, their social utopia would not have lasted for so long... because, as Margaret Thatcher so ingeniously noted, " The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money"... and as seen in Greece and the national debts in Europe... they are running out of other people's money. As we pursue more and more of these policies.. so are we... and that is when socialism turns ugly (AKA.. Soviet/ Cuba/ China/ Venezuela/ Nazi -kinda-ugly) The world needs the economic engine of our free market economy (all though it has not been truly free for years) to feed their social program machinery.

Luckily, some in Europe are showing a different path. The UK is acknowledging they are out of other people's money, and instead of turning ugly, they are decentralizing and reforming!!! They are even decentralizing their health care, as we are centralizing our own!! Greece is also trying to institute reforms, but are meeting with much opposition to those reforms from socialists and unions within their own ranks.

Brad is a sucker...

2010-08-23T05:33:00.000-07:00

(...you' re welcome!!)

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Article: Brad Pitt is 'willing to look at the death penalty' in bizarre rant against BP

Brad Pitt has been a sucker of unfortunate propaganda. He has allowed his love for the poor to be translated into hatred of the rich. His love of the environment to be perverted into the killing of another human being as a sacrificial atonement for environmental sin.This is just a symptom of a much larger problem.

The only way I could sympathize with Brad in this case is if BP purposefully plotted spilling millions of gallons of oil for the sake of mass death and the collapse of the US economy (neither of which happened), which I do not believe is the case. As for BP, there is a legitimate argument that this whole thing could have been prevented if they had not cut corners to save a few bucks... and against the government watchdogs that allowed them to, but Pitt's reaction is almost as if he expects them of plotting this whole thing on purpose, and would only be appropriate if this actually were the case. If this were the case, he would (more appropriately) be calling for the death penalty in response to the intended taking of human life, or mass treason due to plotting the destruction of the economy, but he is not.
This was also an unfortunate event for BP.. but I am not losing any sleep for them. It happened on their watch and it was their responsibility to step up to the plate and handle it like grown ups.

The Housing Crisis...

2010-08-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

....an interesting article on the housing/mortgage crisis

When Economic Policy Became Social Policy

Ayn Rand in hurting my brain..

2010-08-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

I am about 950 pages into Atlas Shrugged, little over 100 pages to go. The book has a strong tie into this weeks topic I had been dealing with about how best to serve the poor, and translating that into personal and political philosophies.

Ayn Rand is a picture of pure logic and would probably agree with her if I was an atheist, as she was.... but I am not. She comes off as viewing the poor as worthless, even though her frustration is rooted in a society that does not educate people to think and value achievement for themselves, and legislated hatred of the rich. When a desire to help the poor is instituted legislatively, it is often misdirected towards policies that punish the rich in the name of helping the poor.

You cannot put chains around the engine of society and then still expect it to run your economy and have enough left over for the care of poverty in your nation. What we are seeing today is the ugliest of socialistic practices... the crippling of our economy through poorly conceived regulations, coupled with the bankrupting of our economy through welfare programs. You cannot do both. I would argue that the former concept is the larger problem than the latter, but my brain is too overworked to think properly at this point.

We need an economically free country in order to create a nation with the lowest levels of poverty possible and the highest levels of prosperity in order to fund the needy in our nation, if we choose that to be a national [preferably state ;)] priority. I still have questions about the wisdom of charity through government and what its influences are as it regards the corruption of the human soul, but have no questions in my own mind about the necessity of a free economy.

I still prefer cheerful willing generosity to government handouts, but there is a legitimate argument whether there should be some sort of safety net to fill the gap. I definitely would like limits placed on such programs, for those other than widows, orphans and disabled... those legitimately unable to provide for themselves. As Milton Friedman points out in the video of the previous post, one of the largest problems that fuels the generational poverty in our nation has its root in the education of our youth. We need to put a higher value on the desire to think and question for ourselves. The best thing an education can do is create in a child the desire to learn and to strive.

All right, Ayn Rand... even though I already have way much food for thought to deal with this week.... I HAVE to know the ending!!!

Responsibility to the Poor

2010-08-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

I have been having a great conversation this week with my pastor on how best to create a society that best alleviates poverty.

This video I found to be a beautiful thing, coupled with the video in the top right, I find it to be inspirational...

"Approximately 75% of all monies allocated to fight poverty ends up feeding the huge bureaucracy set up to fight poverty. It isn't that the

U.S.

government hasn't spent enough money; it's that the money has been spent counter productively. Ronald Nash and Thomas Sowell insist that we could raise every poor person in the

U.S.

out of poverty in one week and reduce the budget for the programs by 75 percent simply by eliminating the huge bureaucracy that stands between the poor and the federal treasury."

So, how do we lessen the bureaucratic overhead and deliver more bang for the buck to help alleviate poverty in this society? I would argue, more reliance on tax credits and vouchers. It works wonderfully in school voucher programs in the areas where it is tried, but is not more broadly applied due to special interests, pressure from teachers unions. Similar programs could be used to encourage more generosity in society in other areas.

I think we might be confused....

2010-08-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Soviet Constitution: ARTICLE 124. In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in the U.S.S.R. is separated from the state, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of anti religious propaganda is recognized for all citizens. (notice: no freedom of pro religious propaganda)

VS.

US Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere along the way I think we may have gotten confused...... our current understanding of US religious freedom and separation of church and state seems to be much closer to that of the Soviet Constitution than that of our own. We have been taught that our freedom of religion stops when we exit the church and our freedom to pray stops at our front doors. It does not. We have been taught that separation of church and state is in our Constitution, it is not. It originated (in this nation) from a private letter written by Thomas Jefferson, where he was actually trying to reassure a citizen that the government would not interfere in her religious practices, not the other way around.
It was actually the congress that had the first English bibles printed in these United States for the use in schools!!! That does not sound like separation of church and state to me. Politicians still swear into office on a Bible! ...I am surprised that has not been attacked more strongly, given the current understanding of things. It is now being said that any prayer in public building is prohibited, even voluntary prayer, even though Sunday services used to be held IN the US Capitol buildings. People have been stopped from praying on the steps of the Supreme Court, children stopped from singing the National Anthem at the Lincoln Memorial!! Things are so twisted these days. Where has the freedom of religion gone?

I got it!!! .. oh wait, it's gone.

2010-08-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have a great idea, and then just when you want to verbalize it, it disappears? I do that all the time!
I am in the middle of reading Atlas Shrugged and found the perfect paragraph to express it, which I just had to share.

Page 351, Hank Rearden...
"Somewhere within him, he knew the thought she would not name, but he only knew it in that prenatal shape which has to find its words in the future. "

...that prenatal shape which has to find its word in the future.

Appropriately this is one of the truths in life that I had not yet found the right words for. In the last year or so, I have made a conscious effort to stop and try to mentally verbalize thoughts before trying to speak them, for the sake of having lost too many. Maybe I am a wierdo (maybe?!).

Survivalist blog post!!!

2010-07-30T06:35:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, check out my guest post at www.thesurvivalistblog.net!!

Why?

2010-07-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit late on this, but why is this the design for the United 93- 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania. This world is freakin' crazy!!! Apparently I missed this story in 2005, it is being built by our National Park Service, and the crash site is in the center. It is titled, "The Crescent of Embrace".

“What next–a holocaust memorial in the shape of a swastika?”- Bryan Preston

.................................

So, I just checked out the National park website and apparently, "The current design for the memorial is a modified version of the entry Crescent of Embrace by Paul and Milena Murdoch."
So, it has been modified a bit since 2005, but the design chosen from among many was still this one. How did they alter it? They just closed in the crescent a bit to be more of a circle and changed the name... oh that should be totally fine then.... Don'tcha think!?

Oh, and another insignificant bit of info... the first phase of construction is slated for completion on Sept. 11, 2011... the same day as the 13 story Ground Zero mosque in NYC.

Change

2010-07-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

These days it seems we all want some sort of change. I just got finished reading a manifesto yesterday written by the Weather Underground in the 1960's. They wanted change. (I wish I could say they were irrelevant now, but they are still hard at work, and have some pretty powerful connections.)

I was pondering the differences between their change and my change and realized a beautiful thing... the change I want does not have to be talked about in secret. It does not have to be manipulated to be sold to the public. It does not have to be plotted out for 100 years through progress so it will not seem abhorrent to the public. It can be talked about openly and be achieved through truth, because it is not abhorrent to those who discover it's truths. That has to be some sort of advantage, right?!

In the paper, they singled out women and emphasized the need to make them abandon their roles as wife-mother... to make them feel oppressed by their husbands and society. To break down morals, and family structure. They also singled out the youth and taught them that school was a prison, rather than a place of opportunity. They singled out blacks and told them that they were oppressed, and will always be oppressed unless they overthrew our capitalist system. They sowed discontent, for the sake of social unrest. Now we all feel a bit dissatisfied with our lives, and we wonder why. We've been fed lies for the last 50 years!

The wife-mothers are the bonds of society that hold the thing together. We are not oppressed, we have chosen to take on a beautiful God given responsibility of raising a family and providing a husband and children a place of order to call their home.

We can rejoice because to stand up for families, children, capitalism requires no dark corner.

Capitalism is an economy's natural state, to change it needs planning... and as example after example shows, we do not know enough about the workings of the subtleties and natural laws of economics to make a planned economy work. We are being sold a planned economy under the false name of capitalism, and being told capitalism is dead when their planning does not work. They are convincing us to abandon capitalism (economic freedom) willingly (because of course it has failed) and offering us a system of their planning... remember to say thank you!

Quotes that make a homemaker feel good...

2010-07-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

I was reading a book and found a quote that really makes a homemaker like me realize the importance of her work... This was written by a frenchman in the early 19th century, who came to greatly admire our young nation of America, Alexis de Tocqueville,

"There is certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is more respected than in America, or where conjugal happiness is more highly or worthily appreciated. in Europe almost all the disturbances of society arise from the irregularities of domestic life. To despise the natural bonds and legitimate pleasure of home is to contract a taste for excesses, a restless heart, and fluctuating desires. Agitated by the tumultuous passions that frequently disturb his dwelling, the European is galled by the obedience which the legislative powers of the state exact. But when the American retires from the turmoil of public life to the bosom of his family, he finds it in the image of order and peace. There his pleasures are simple and natural, his joys are innocent and calm; and as he finds that an orderly life is the surest path to happiness, he accustoms himself easily to moderate his opinions as well as his tastes. While the European endeavors to forget his domestic troubles by agitating society, the American derives from his own home that love of order which he afterwards carries with him into public affairs."

... in other words, marriage and family life is the basis and strength of any society. If the home starts to fall apart, the rest follows. It's always nice to know that your work is important.

.............................................

Things have changed a bit since the 1800's, and our current culture does attempt to produce "a restless heart" in the best of us, but to be reminded of the importance of our domestic life is reassuring.

Human nature will always remain the same, although the "Gods of the marketplace" tell us otherwise. There are some basic and eternal truths that do not change.

(Gods of the Marketplace a reference to the Kipling poem, "The Gods of the Copybook Headings". Copybooks were books that were full of blanks pages. On the top of each page was an eternal truth, the "headings", which the children would copy.)

Happy 234th Independence Day!!!

2010-07-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Declaration of Independence, 234 years ago today.

Chicken Update...

2010-06-30T06:24:00.001-07:00

This is the coop we have chosen to build for the four new hens we adopted at this year's Chickenstock 2010. We built the frame on Saturday and are now about half done stapling on the hardware cloth. John helped me toe nail the door after my weak attempt at making a door. I am terrible at toe nailing.

Here are our four feathered ladies. One Americauna (lays blue eggs/ dark brown), Two sex links (half barred rock, mixed with something else/ black), and a Cochin ( with fuzzy feet/ tan).

This is what the cochin will look like all grown up. Her name is Honey.

This is what the sex links will look like when all grown. We chose the sex links because the seller was very unsure about the genders of his chickens, and was sure that these two were girls. No roosters around here. Sex links are bred so you can tell the gender by their color alone. It is very hard to tell the gender of baby chickens, after the first couple of hours. I am still crossing my finger that none of then turn out to be roosters.

I had my heart set on Ameraucanas (easter eggers). They lay blue eggs, and I was told that this one will lay bright blue like her predecessors. This is what our Ameraucana will look like when grown.

I am building the coop during baby nap times and after the babies go to bed. I am hoping to finish up this weekend. John and I made a good dent in the progress this last Saturday. We still have to find names for three of the hens. Right now they are living in the dog kennel out back. They seem to be very happy, with a thick bedding of grass clippings and large helpings of greens from the yard everyday to compliment their usual feed. This is a fun little adventure. I almost "chickened out" the morning of chicken stock, after googling the cost of raising chickens, but I had a chat with a good friend that morning (just in time) to realize that this is not just about cheap eggs. This is all about the experience, my kids seeing the source of their food and finding an appreciation for life. I was raised with all kinds of animals, my favorite being rabbits. I have a feeling that the rabbits will make a return into our lives next spring, plus probably a couple more chickens.

The chickens are very fun, and the kids love to go out and "hug" a chicken. The coop does hold up to eight!

2010 Vanna Winners now posted Online!!!

2010-06-24T10:50:00.001-07:00

The Grand Prize Winner

http://vannaschoice.com/

People definitely stepped it up this year!!!

You think this is cute?!

2010-06-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

You're wrong!!!

This is not a cute picture. This is a picture of someone about to be sued for property damage! This is the jerk that ate my plum tree!! (Well not the actual jerk, a facsimile from my local Google image search) I am sure that this little guy will grow up to be at least as big of b@&$*^& a@#$%& f%@#%^!!!

So, you probably need some back story to understand the depth of my fury. Yesterday, June 19th, 7pm, I came home with cayenne pepper spray and sprayed the hostas, jerusalem artichoke and other deer- eaten plants in the yard. So, good news.. the hostas and jerusalem artichoke are safe, for a few days until it rains, bad news.... the $11 bottle of pepper spray is almost gone and so are all the lower leaves of our brand new plum tree, 75% of our potato foliage, and 65% of my french sorrel!!! I was saving that sorrel!! I totally wanted to eat that sorrel, but I was growing it so it would go to seed and multiply like crazy!!! (This is when I hold down the shift key and start pressing numbers) !@#$%^&*( *))*^%#!!!!!! That is how I feel about the deer eating my vegetables. I want my vegetation back, plus $1,000,000,0000.51 for emotional trauma and damages.

Garden Tour 2010

2010-06-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Etsy how to: Upholstery

2010-06-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

This video is great! These girls are just too adorable while working away. Makes me want to be an upholsterer.

Vanna Contest: Results

2010-06-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

June 7, 2010

RE: 2nd Annual Vanna’s Choice Contest

Dear Danielle,
I am excited to be able to share the good news that you have been selected as a Second Prize Winner in the Gifts & Crafts category in the 2nd Annual Vanna’s Choice contest.
Your entry, Crochet Reading Nook: Chair, Plant, and Taxidermy, was chosen from among thousands of creative and beautiful hand-crafted items made from Vanna’s Choice, Vanna’s Choice Baby, and/or Vanna’s Glamour yarns. On behalf of Michaels and the Lion Brand Yarn Company, I congratulate you on this exceptional achievement.

Your prize will be $500 USD. We will be sending your cash prize on or about August 1, 2010.
A photograph(s) of your entry will be posted to the contest website, VannasChioce.com. It may also be featured on the Michaels and Lion Brand websites, and in press releases about the contest. We hope you have enjoyed being involved in this contest as much as we have enjoyed seeing your work.

Sincerely,
David Blumenthal
President and CEO
Lion Brand Yarn Company

Gardening 101

2010-06-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can plant the leeks from the grocery store and eat them too?! I did not know this until Friday, and promptly went to the store, bought some leeks, cut off the bottom two inches (with the roots attached), stuck it in some dirt and went away for the weekend. I came back this evening (Sunday) and those stinking things already grew 1 1/2"!!! I just chopped up the rest of the leeks, added some salt and potatoes and am making up some soup. I can plant my leeks and eat them too!
Plus, the icing on the cake.... leeks are perennial. They will multiply and come back in my garden year after year.I have been gardening for a while now, maybe about 5 years, and I still have so much to learn. I am reading a great book, "Gardening when it counts", by Steve Solomon, and am only on chapter two. I have already learned so much. I just got to the chapter about using the proper garden tools and learned that my garden hoe is for weeding. Who knew? (don't answer that).Also, the deer are being a stinkin' pain in the butt this year!! AND this afternoon we discovered one of the reasons why! We saw our freakin' neighbor (with no gardens) throwing them freakin' apples (while trying to aim a bebe gun at their apple-eating rear ends [which may technically illegal this time of year]) Just to be clear, the bebe gun will not hurt the deer, they are stinking huge, it will only (at best) scare them away and (theoretically) train them not to return to this location. When my son did aim and hit one in the butt cheek, that stinking adorable garden monster ran about ten feet, then stopped and stared at us like we were idiots. We had brought a bebe gun to a food fight. (as opposed to 'a knife to a gun fight'... I don't know.. it seemed funny at the time... never mind. )

Arhgh!!!!!

Our hosta garden looks like a stinkin' salad bar, our jerusalem artichokes are gnawed down to nubs, I saw them eating the apple tree BRANCHES!! I NEED MY FREAKIN' FENCE!! ( And new neighbors)

~love, Dani

Plant food

2010-05-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

So, the questions is, how do I get more Co2 into my greenhouse?

Current Co2 levels - 392 ppm

Robin Hood... it's good.

2010-05-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

Forget what you know of Robin Hood—that he steals from the rich to give to the poor—because this version sets the legend upright; he is an avenger for justice."

“Rise and rise again until lambs become lions.”

(a reference to Jesus, coming first as a Lamb, promised to return again someday as the Lion of Judah... never give up.)

Amid gallant rescues, blazing battles, and bolts of lightning cutting the gray sky in the distance, this is the civilized world in turmoil, with Robin Hood leading the nation toward liberty and enlightenment. He deals in contracts—neither having faith nor initiating force—and, when foreign invaders make their presence known, he steps up to speak out and call for a “charter of rights” establishing “liberty by law”. Neither a prince nor a thief; this Robin Hood is a man of reason.

Marion, his lady and his equal, when the government comes to steal her wealth, dictating that “no one should have 4,000 acres” Marion replies: “it's 5,000 acres.” No little woman depending on others to defend her property, she knows how, when, and why to use a weapon.

The power-lust of religion meets the power-lust of the state and, as England becomes a God-state, Robin Hood assumes his well-deserved role as outlaw, legend, hero to the oppressed. With strong characters, stunning conflicts, and Russell Crowe playing Robin Hood just right, getting there is half the fun.

Review: Robin Hood

by Scott Holleran

A book of Miracles and High Seas Adventures...

2010-05-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

I just finished this book, Jesus & Company, that I have been meaning to read for over a year. It was written by the founder of Friend Ships, a charitable Christian organization that delivers food to the poor in America and around the globe, mostly by the ship-load.
It is such a tale of adventurous faith. Miracle after miracle, mission after mission... we are totally going on one of their adventures one day. It is just such a wonderful tale showing how God provides against all odds, through us, when we follow in faith.
Carol and Dan, John and I especially think of you when we think of Friend Ship adventures. I am mailing you a copy of the original article that I found about these folks. Would you like to join us on high seas adventures one day?

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-10T06:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a wonderful mother's day. Met my mama and soon-to-be sister and her family out at Mario's pizza! Yum! It was wonderful, and my hubby and kiddos made a wonderful day of it! My little Willow was all decked out for Susu (my mom). She had hair extensions and all. She was a spunky little princess all day.

Also... check out the garden. My salad is almost complete!!! Bwahahaha!!! I have the Raspberry vinaigrette ready and waiting!!

Best Radio ever!!

2010-04-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

I got my emergency radio from Amazon the other day and it is the best!!! There is no way this thing is going to sit silent until the power goes out! It is solar powered and has a manual hand crank for night time battery power! I wonder how much my energy bill is going to go down now that I have my little solar radio! One step closer to my emergency preparation goals.... bwa ha ha ha ha!!!

Kikkerland Solar Radio

Oh man... the price dropped to $15!!

It is cute and little and green, my favorite color!! And it is cheap and works well! I had tried much more expensive larger radios before, thinking that cost and size would add to the reliability, but not so. This little cheapster (I bought for $18) performs all the functionality and more of one I previously tried for $50. Love it!!!

What's in the box?... and Gardens 2010

2010-04-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

I bet every judge in that Competition will see this package coming from a mile away!!! I have been blog-surfing and found some other finalist pics. I packed up a neat little package with my yoda hat and sent it off, but it took some engineering and tetris extpertise to pack up the crochet reading nook into thier two ginormous packages!!! (P.S. It's a chair...shhh!!!)

The tots got a swing set this spring!! They love it!!
Fruit trees are in full bloom!! I am crossing my fingers that we wont get a hard freeze, because I want these plums gosh darn it!! This is the first year that the plum trees look like they are going to produce some goods! Last year we got 4 plums from one of them, and I fought over them with the local squirrel!!!

I got my greenhouse set up in its final location, and planted seeds directly in the ground within in, with a paver walkway in the middle!!! I love it!!! Now I can get those watermelons to grow... and peppers, tomoates, eggplants, melons!!! All the hot-loving stuff that usually doesn't like it this far north. It'll be fabulous!!!

Vanna Choice called...

2010-04-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

So, you may remember that I entered a Yarn creation contest a while back. Well, I just recieved a phone call from Ben from Lion Brand Yarns today. I am a DOUBLE FINALIST in the 2nd annual Vanna's Choice Yarn Creation Contest!!! It's all a bit surreal, and now I am packing up the creations to ship off to New Jersey for final judgement. Oh my goodness, I think I am in shock. I am locating UPS locations as we speak. I do not know how to ship a chair, and a plant, and taxidermies. I have a good feeling that I am about to find out!!!

The crochet reading nook is a finalist in the crafts and gifts category, and the Yoda Hat is a finalist in the Babies and Kids category!!!

I fell for a computer scam!! -Security Tool

2010-04-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

It was totally legit-looking! It used all the same icons as windows vista (and even hijacked a couple), and then took over my computer. Do not fall for Security Tool!!!

It tells you your computer is infected... do not believe it!

I totally believed it. It would not let any programs operate besides the internet, and I had to wipe the slate clean. I used the recovery disk... luckily it would let me drag and drop files onto my camera, so I did not lose any pictures, this time. All the websites told me to stop the virus' operation using task manager, but the virus always killed the task manager first.

Frugal Shopping

2010-04-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

I know its possible. I see people on the news. Checking out at the grocery store and actually making money at the end of it all. It mine as well be a fairy tale, because I just don't roll that way, but I would like to.

Tonight I am trying to come up with some sort of plan to accomplish thousands of dollars worth of goals with hundreds of dollar worth of money. We'll just see about that...

http://usesupermarketcoupons.blogspot.com/

http://www.painlessfrugality.com/

http://www.betterbudgeting.com/frugalrecipelist.htm

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

Agog Arts...

2010-03-30T17:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am taking the kids to the zoo and the goods to the shop. A charming little shop in town wants to sell Pretty Peapod gear!!! Tomorrow we are off to check out Agog Arts!! I am looking forward to seeing the shop in person, the website gives me an impression that it is a pretty cool little shop! They feature a lot of quirky artsy stuff and local artists' work from around town. The tots will be in tow, so I hope they behave!! Tomorrow is gonna be 70 degrees!!

http://www.agogarts.com/

Friday... and a Swiss recap

2010-02-26T06:01:00.000-08:00

Each morning I wake up... to the sound of a toddler calling my name from downstairs. She is soon joined by the cries of her brother in the next room. Johnny and I stretch and reluctantly begin our morning, realizing that we need another hour in our cozy warm bed.
We come downstairs and release the beasts, often crying until their bellies are full and their cups are filled to the brim with whole milk.
Our oldest son is a morning saint, always anxious to start the day. The only thing we have to tell him is to be quiet with the doors and stay in bed until 7am. He is always up a bit before. If we would let him he would seize the day around 5. Soon he is off on the bus and Johnny is off to work. It is me, the littles, and a day ahead.I turn the radio to NPR and let it run in the background until I hurriedly change the station when the classical music takes over. Writhing in disgust, with an utter unappreciation for high culture, I have to get on with my day.
Today I choose to fuel my energy with a glass of Mt. Dew. Classy, I know... but it works. You wanna see some fast crochet? Feed me Mt. Dew. Seriously.
I just found out last night that I have slacked too long to submit my application for spring pottery. I am experiencing a bit of confusion how to feel about this, but still dismayed that next week will be the last week of pottery until at least mid-may. On the upside, a crap ton of crochet is gonna get done around here.
Also, obviously, yesterday I have returned to the interweb after a 3 week stint without. Oh man, I missed the interweb. It is surreal that it is back. I love the interweb. For a mom with tots, it lets me interact with society, stay connected to friends, stay up on current events, check the freakin' weather. Oh man. For the last 3 weeks the weather was a surprise everyday, because it takes a lot of patience and timeliness to catch the weather on the local news, of which I have neither.
On another note... a Swiss adventure summary is long overdue.

...................................................

Our Swiss adventure

It begins with bringing the kiddos to my parents, hugs goodbye and our oldest son waving in the window as we drove away... totally heart wrenching.Onto the plane, we're off. Did you know Delta has free beer and wine on cross-atlantic flights? unbelievable.We land in Amsterdam to catch our connection, which we almost missed, and sit panting on the connecting flight after sprinting to the gate while they call our names on the intercom. Johnny almost puked. We had to stop mid-run several times to catch our breathe.After a long day of travel, we land in France and are off to catch a taxi to Basel, Switzerland. We are thrown into a land of foreign language. Jumping from English, to French, to German , to Basel German (yes, totally different than German German) it took some adjustment and a good nap. We were very glad our taxi driver knew the name of our hotel. That was the extent of our communication. After studying our Rick Steve's language guide, we got pretty good real quick with basic communication skills. It is very handy that the common denominator between languages in Europe is English. So, basic English can get you pretty much everywhere. That said, I did make an effort to learn some German and French, which served me well. I was honored to be mistaken as a local by the end of the week. Huge honor.Basel has a great tram system. I mastered the heck out of that tram system. It took me everywhere and I got off wherever something caught my eye. John was there on business, so he worked during the day and I explored my new home for the week. I found an adorable yarn shop. So charming, and relatively cheap. Switzerland is very expensive. Restaurants start around 20-40 dollars a plate.I found some familiar sights. Burger King and Starbucks were across the street from our hotel, and I saw a few McDonalds along the way. GameStop, Mac Stores. Lots of voice over episodes of The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond, etc. The movies, all voice-over American flicks. The theater, American movies that have come and gone in the states, peppered with some French flicks. I love French movies. I recommend "Un Petite Nicholas", we watched it on the plane on the way home. Air France was an experience in itself. Was good enough with basic French to be mistaken as a French speaker, and resulted in my confused blank stare. It made me giggle a bit.In Switzerland, each day, I started with an early breakfast with the boys (Johnny and his traveling co-workers). They were off to work and I was back upstairs for a nap. There is nothing open at 8am, why not? Around 10 I would get up for a bath and just soaked in silence. (Talk about foreign. ) Get out, get dressed, and I was off for my daily adventure.Grab a snack at the local deli. I fell in love with the spinach quiche. So yummy!!! So good that when I got home I came up with a similar spinach pizza recipe, with feta....mmmm. (It sounds particularly good right now due to a strict, self-imposed, Lenten diet I am thinking about reformatting, although I know I should not.)I saw the Rhine River, old towns, stone churches, crossed in to Germany, crossed into France. Talked to locals. Joked with travelers. By the end of the week, some began to recognize me for my purple panda cap. I made a fun discovery. Purple panda caps make people smile. It translates.

Each evening I would meet Johnny and the boys back at the hotel for a cocktail and go out for dinner. So much fun.Johnny has had a Swiss birthday now, and we had a Swiss 9th wedding anniversary. They will prove hard to top for years to come. It truly was an adventure, and left us thirsty for more and made us realize that things we thought were a bit out of reach are totally possible, with a Mastercard.... that said, it's good to be home!!!My Dad

(It took me a couple days to confidently speak English again. It was a bit of a relief when my parents greeted us with a "Hi" and the cashier at the grocery dealt in Dollars. I can do this!)

Irresistable...

2010-02-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

Got it!

Jellyfish!!!

2010-01-31T14:25:00.000-08:00

I made a blue jellyfish!!
He turned out way cuter that I expected!!

Yarn organization..

2010-01-27T11:56:00.000-08:00

Johnny, rightfully, got fed up with a huge craft box sitting in the hallway and put it upstairs. The only problem that when my yarn is out of sight, it is out of mind. I totally got crafty-lazy for the last couple of days, so I had to find a way to integrate my supplies into our living space- out of reach of toddler hands. His main argument was the annoyance of babies running around with stolen balls of yarn while I was away. No more! There will be no more of that!!! The yarn is organized (for now).

Yes on Switzerland!!!

2010-01-26T13:20:00.000-08:00

OK, go I am officially the most indecisive, travel-resistant person I know. Johnny just called me and announced the price of the ticket and asked me "Yeah" or "Nay". [What, I have to decide right now?! Johnny- "Well, you DID have a couple of days to think about this!" Me- "Ok, give me a couple of minutes" ..(hang up phone)] I hang up the phone and ask God for a sign. I pray and then ask my two year old. She says "No" then "Yes". (Maybe I am not the MOST indecisive person I know) Then I think of the mail. I tell myself, if there is something in the mail that is TAX-related then I will say yes. (I was not in the traveling mood today, and I thought that tax-documents in the mail would be unlikely) The annual Church donation TAX records were in the mailbox... looks like we're going to Switzerland!!! And France!!! And Germany!!! Oh man... so excited and nervous at the same time!!!

Pondering Switzerland..

2010-01-25T11:24:00.001-08:00

...France and Germany.Basel, Switzerland

Basel, Switzerland is positioned in the Swiss border of both France and Germany, and looks gorgeous!!! Johnny is going there on business in a few weeks, and I am pondering tagging along. I just submitted my passport application, expedited, and the Postal Worker looked at me like I was nuts when she realized the trip was in a few weeks. She actually thought it was a week farther away than it actually is. We'll see!!! I have studied convo threads on the internet for the last 15 minutes, and if my sources can be trusted it'll get here in the next 10 days or so. We'll see!! It should be a ton of fun!! It would be pretty sweet to get to go visit multiple countries in the same trip!

...

Until then, we've got some work to do!!

The mid-winter urge of renewal is still thriving. My hair is cut, my daughter's hair is cut, and the baby also got his very first hair cut. We are lookin' pretty snazzy.
I just got my labels in the mail (Thanks MommieMadeIt.etsy.com!!!) and they are beautiful. Now I've got some sewing to do!!

...I have also organized the cleaning products, hallway cabinet, daughter's room, baby toys, and pantry. Living room redecoration still in the works.

I just ordered custom tags...

2010-01-19T08:02:00.000-08:00

It's about time lady!!! I know, I know. All those non-labeled products out there. Oh man. How unprofessional!!!

.................................................................................
MommieMadeIt is gonna fix things up She is printing me out some custom tags as we speak!! Thanks Mommie!!! After my latest sale, I decided to reinvest a few bucks. She really has some great deals!!!

My First Crochet Doll

2010-01-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

She'll be up in the shop later

Etsy Front Page!!!

2010-01-11T08:03:00.001-08:00

Holy Moly!!!The Red Light Sabers made it to the front page today

...and then were promptly Tweeted to 600+ people thanks to AlamodeStuff on Etsy!!! Thanks AlamodeStuff!!!