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Convoluted Logic
eye95
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As a balloon expands...
eye95
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Miss Modesty, Mom on Duty, and To Do or No…
eye95
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Beyond Disgusted, and "A Friend"
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Grieving and Overlooked
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As a balloon expands...
Posted by eye95 (Editor-in-Chief) at Mar 14 2010, 01:29 PM. 0 comments
As a balloon expands, the same amount of elastic material has to cover increasingly large areas. This causes two things to happen. One, the material has to get thinner to allow the unchanging volume of material to cover that larger area. Two, the material becomes increasingly harder to stretch, requiring more and more air pressure that, of course, is straining to escape.
At some point in time the material stretches to only a few molecules thick. Cohesive forces between the molecules counteracts the pressure trying to push the molecules apart. Naturally, the whole surface of the balloon is not exactly the same thickness. At least one place on the balloon will be thinner than the rest of the places on the balloon. At that place the differential in the forces separating the molecules and the cohesive forces holding the molecules together get very close to zero. In the shortest of instances and the smallest of spaces, the force pulling the molecules apart will exceed the cohesive forces by the tiniest amount. The most microscopic of holes, many times smaller than the hole a pin might make, will form, just large enough for the smallest of molecules of the gasses inside the balloon to escape.
As these molecules escape, these gas molecules, propelled by the pressure, will pass rapidly by and between the molecules of the balloon material, forcing a few more molecules to lose their cohesiveness. More and more molecules of the balloon will lose their cohesiveness more and more rapidly, causing a larger and larger tear in the balloon, until sufficient gas has escaped to release all of the pressure trapped in balloon. All of this happens in a tiny fraction of a second. It happens so fast that some of the gasses escape faster than the speed of sound, creating the distinctive popping sound.
In an instant, during the inflation, it very loudly goes from a pretty balloon, giving little warning of what is to come, to a shattered mess, with no hope of repair.
For decades, we have been blowing up the balloon of the economy with the gas of national debt, increasing the pressure, stretching our economy thin. We don't know exactly when it will pop, but pop it will, unless we start to release the pressure instead of increasing it. When it pops, it will pop because, in one tiny place in the economy, the forces of the debt will exceed the cohesive forces of the economy.
An event happened today that may indeed herald the passing of forces that will burst the economy. For the first time in the history of Social Security, Social Security payments exceed Social Security receipts. Until now, much of the deficit has been masked by Social Security lending money to the other facets of government and collecting Treasury Bonds (IOUs) in return. Now, to pay its bills, the Social Security Administration will do the reverse. It will sell bonds that the federal government must buy.
This adds a double-hit to the pressure on the economy. We can no longer "borrow from ourselves" and must borrow from others (mostly China). And, we must borrow more, because now Social Security has moved into deficit spending along with the rest of the federal government.
Is this the tiniest of holes in our economy that will rapidly shred the rest of it? Quite probably. If it isn't, it still represents a tremendous increase in pressure. If we don't release that pressure, the economy will pop. It will pop soon, and it will pop loudly.
At some point in time the material stretches to only a few molecules thick. Cohesive forces between the molecules counteracts the pressure trying to push the molecules apart. Naturally, the whole surface of the balloon is not exactly the same thickness. At least one place on the balloon will be thinner than the rest of the places on the balloon. At that place the differential in the forces separating the molecules and the cohesive forces holding the molecules together get very close to zero. In the shortest of instances and the smallest of spaces, the force pulling the molecules apart will exceed the cohesive forces by the tiniest amount. The most microscopic of holes, many times smaller than the hole a pin might make, will form, just large enough for the smallest of molecules of the gasses inside the balloon to escape.
As these molecules escape, these gas molecules, propelled by the pressure, will pass rapidly by and between the molecules of the balloon material, forcing a few more molecules to lose their cohesiveness. More and more molecules of the balloon will lose their cohesiveness more and more rapidly, causing a larger and larger tear in the balloon, until sufficient gas has escaped to release all of the pressure trapped in balloon. All of this happens in a tiny fraction of a second. It happens so fast that some of the gasses escape faster than the speed of sound, creating the distinctive popping sound.
In an instant, during the inflation, it very loudly goes from a pretty balloon, giving little warning of what is to come, to a shattered mess, with no hope of repair.
For decades, we have been blowing up the balloon of the economy with the gas of national debt, increasing the pressure, stretching our economy thin. We don't know exactly when it will pop, but pop it will, unless we start to release the pressure instead of increasing it. When it pops, it will pop because, in one tiny place in the economy, the forces of the debt will exceed the cohesive forces of the economy.
An event happened today that may indeed herald the passing of forces that will burst the economy. For the first time in the history of Social Security, Social Security payments exceed Social Security receipts. Until now, much of the deficit has been masked by Social Security lending money to the other facets of government and collecting Treasury Bonds (IOUs) in return. Now, to pay its bills, the Social Security Administration will do the reverse. It will sell bonds that the federal government must buy.
This adds a double-hit to the pressure on the economy. We can no longer "borrow from ourselves" and must borrow from others (mostly China). And, we must borrow more, because now Social Security has moved into deficit spending along with the rest of the federal government.
Is this the tiniest of holes in our economy that will rapidly shred the rest of it? Quite probably. If it isn't, it still represents a tremendous increase in pressure. If we don't release that pressure, the economy will pop. It will pop soon, and it will pop loudly.
Senator Gregg proposes health care mandate
Posted by eye95 (Editor-in-Chief) at Feb 12 2010, 09:37 AM. 0 comments
Senator Judd Gregg just spoke on Fox News about his health care proposal. It contains a mandate that everyone over the age of 18 acquire catastrophic health care coverage.
Is he not listening to the American people? By an overwhelming majority, Americans absolutely reject a health care mandate. From the numbers, it appears to be the one thing that Americans generally won't abide. (Of course, all the other features of the Dems' plan hang on that one, or costs go even more out of control.) To be sure, catastrophic coverage is the way to go. It's how we used to insure ourselves against financial catastrophe resulting from a health care catastrophe. The whole insurance system came crashing down when "health insurance" became "health care coverage," resulting in overuse of medical benefits for all of the minor stuff, for which people once made a rational decision about the allocation of resources. Now that, for twelve bucks, you can see a doctor for anything, folks see a doctor for everything, causing health care costs to spiral out of control.
But, let's let intelligence, not a government mandate, dictate that young and healthy people acquire catastrophic coverage. It is such a wise way to do things that many employers, including the infamous Whole Foods and my son's less infamous employer, offer catastrophic health care coverage, combined with health savings plans which, after a few years of pre-tax contributions, completely cover the annual deductible.
Call Senator Gregg and demand that he remove the mandate from his bill. His number is 1-603-622-7979.
Is he not listening to the American people? By an overwhelming majority, Americans absolutely reject a health care mandate. From the numbers, it appears to be the one thing that Americans generally won't abide. (Of course, all the other features of the Dems' plan hang on that one, or costs go even more out of control.) To be sure, catastrophic coverage is the way to go. It's how we used to insure ourselves against financial catastrophe resulting from a health care catastrophe. The whole insurance system came crashing down when "health insurance" became "health care coverage," resulting in overuse of medical benefits for all of the minor stuff, for which people once made a rational decision about the allocation of resources. Now that, for twelve bucks, you can see a doctor for anything, folks see a doctor for everything, causing health care costs to spiral out of control.
But, let's let intelligence, not a government mandate, dictate that young and healthy people acquire catastrophic coverage. It is such a wise way to do things that many employers, including the infamous Whole Foods and my son's less infamous employer, offer catastrophic health care coverage, combined with health savings plans which, after a few years of pre-tax contributions, completely cover the annual deductible.
Call Senator Gregg and demand that he remove the mandate from his bill. His number is 1-603-622-7979.
I propose a new verb: Iselinate
Posted by eye95 (Editor-in-Chief) at Feb 8 2010, 03:55 PM. 0 comments
I propose a new verb: iselinate (ize'-lә-nate), iselinating, and iselinated. Also, the noun iselination should be added to the language.
The verb can be used with an object or without. The object would be a statistic, usually a number. When someone iselinates a statistic, he repeats is often, can keep the number straight, and generally has made it up out of whole cloth. For example, Senator Iselin iselinated the number of communists in the Defense Department when he stated that "there are exactly fifty-seven card-carrying Communists in the Defense Department." Iselination would be the act of iselinating. Senator Iselin is guilty of iselination.
If you haven't guessed by now, the word is named after the fictional Senator Iselin from the movie The Manchurian Candidate (the original, of course). Senator Iselin repeated the communist statistic over and over again, never with the same number of known communists. Once, when being interviewed by a mob of reporters, he repeats the statistic twice, within seconds of each other, citing a different number each time.
From current politics, members of the Obama administration are iselinating the number of jobs "saved or created" by their stimulus bills.
Can anyone think of other examples of islenation?
The verb can be used with an object or without. The object would be a statistic, usually a number. When someone iselinates a statistic, he repeats is often, can keep the number straight, and generally has made it up out of whole cloth. For example, Senator Iselin iselinated the number of communists in the Defense Department when he stated that "there are exactly fifty-seven card-carrying Communists in the Defense Department." Iselination would be the act of iselinating. Senator Iselin is guilty of iselination.
If you haven't guessed by now, the word is named after the fictional Senator Iselin from the movie The Manchurian Candidate (the original, of course). Senator Iselin repeated the communist statistic over and over again, never with the same number of known communists. Once, when being interviewed by a mob of reporters, he repeats the statistic twice, within seconds of each other, citing a different number each time.
From current politics, members of the Obama administration are iselinating the number of jobs "saved or created" by their stimulus bills.
Can anyone think of other examples of islenation?
What did he know, and when did he know it?
Posted by eye95 (Editor-in-Chief) at Feb 4 2010, 09:39 PM. 0 comments
Gibbs has to check timeline.
Doesn't President Obama know whether or not he knew that the crotch bomber was going to be mirandized? If he does, given all the controversy, wouldn't he let his press secretary know? Even with the press so in-the-tank for our inexperienced president, wouldn't they have to ask the question eventually? It did take them quite a while to get around to it. Wouldn't the president have made sure the answer was available?
Gibbs having to "check the timeline" is doublespeak for "We need time to figure out whether we want to admit foreknowledge," or "We want to be sure we won't get caught if we don't tell the truth."
How long is the press going to tolerate the inexperience and incompetence from this administration before they wise up? They are as bad at reading the public tea leaves as the Obama administration and the Dems are. No matter how fed up the public gets, the Dems and the press will keep doing what they're doing while the U.S. burns. We can only hope that the voters will end the fiddle concert before the nation is completely in ashes.
Personally, I don't think we can stop them in time. I think an upcoming economic implosion will doom true freedom and capitalism. Elections have consequences. If we save ourselves in time, I hope the American electorate has learned this lesson.
Doesn't President Obama know whether or not he knew that the crotch bomber was going to be mirandized? If he does, given all the controversy, wouldn't he let his press secretary know? Even with the press so in-the-tank for our inexperienced president, wouldn't they have to ask the question eventually? It did take them quite a while to get around to it. Wouldn't the president have made sure the answer was available?
Gibbs having to "check the timeline" is doublespeak for "We need time to figure out whether we want to admit foreknowledge," or "We want to be sure we won't get caught if we don't tell the truth."
How long is the press going to tolerate the inexperience and incompetence from this administration before they wise up? They are as bad at reading the public tea leaves as the Obama administration and the Dems are. No matter how fed up the public gets, the Dems and the press will keep doing what they're doing while the U.S. burns. We can only hope that the voters will end the fiddle concert before the nation is completely in ashes.
Personally, I don't think we can stop them in time. I think an upcoming economic implosion will doom true freedom and capitalism. Elections have consequences. If we save ourselves in time, I hope the American electorate has learned this lesson.
If you aren't willing for everyone to read it
Posted by eye95 (Editor-in-Chief) at Jan 27 2010, 09:13 PM. 0 comments
The Democrats are embarrassed that this memo was leaked. However, as the title of this thread suggests, if you don't want everyone to read it, don't write it.
Politico Article
Here's the pertinent excerpt:
The questions disingenuously, in classic false-choice style, call inappropriately for a yes or a no. Instead of falling into these dishonest traps, the intended victims should just explain the applicable principles. Here's how the questions should be answered:
Q1. Do you believe that Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen?
A1. I don't know. President Obama has chosen not to put this issue to rest by being completely forthcoming. Until he permits the public to examine his original birth certificate, some will continue to question whether he is constitutionally qualified to be president.
Q2. Do you think the 10th Amendment bars Congress from issuing regulations like minimum health care coverage standards?
A2. That depends upon what the vague phrase "regulations like minimum health care coverage standards" means. If it means mandating, with the threat of a fine or jail time, that Americans have to buy "qualified" health plans, as defined by government bureaucrats, then the 10th Amendment, in conjunction with the enumerated powers of Congress, define the mandate as unconstitutional.
Q3. Do you think programs like Social Security and Medicare represent socialism and should never have been created in the first place?
A3. Now that these programs are in place, they cannot be revoked without breaking a promise to people who have paid into them their whole working careers. They are, however, by the definition of the word, socialism. If they had been instituted by the States, then individuals could exercise more freedom by choosing to live and pay and taxes in States with more or less socialism.
Q4. Do you think President Obama is a socialist?
A4. Senator Obama was, by far, the most left-wing member of the Senate. He definitely advocates programs that are socialist in nature. But, no, he is not a socialist. That does not mean we should accept his agenda that moves this country towards socialism and away from capitalism.
Q5. Do you think America should return to a gold standard?
A5. The gold standard is one way to keep a stable dollar--which would be far better than destroying the dollar by out of control spending with the attendant increase in debt and increase in dollars and dollar-denominated instruments. These lead to an unstable and inflated dollar. If we get spending under control, the dollar will be backed by the U.S. economy's ability to produce and will be just as stable as a gold-backed dollar. Knock off the drunken-sailor spending and folks won't feel the need to talk about returning to the gold standard.
Politico Article
Here's the pertinent excerpt:
- Quote:
The memo urges Democratic candidates to force their opponents to answer a series of questions on health care, taxes and some of the favorite causes of the far right:
“Do you believe that Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen? Do you think the 10th Amendment bars Congress from issuing regulations like minimum health care coverage standards? Do you think programs like Social Security and Medicare represent socialism and should never have been created in the first place? Do you think President Obama is a socialist? Do you think America should return to a gold standard?”
If a Republican candidate says no to any of the questions, the memo says Democrats should “make their primary opponent or conservative activists know it. This will cause them to take heat from their primary opponents and could likely provoke a flip-flop,
The questions disingenuously, in classic false-choice style, call inappropriately for a yes or a no. Instead of falling into these dishonest traps, the intended victims should just explain the applicable principles. Here's how the questions should be answered:
Q1. Do you believe that Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen?
A1. I don't know. President Obama has chosen not to put this issue to rest by being completely forthcoming. Until he permits the public to examine his original birth certificate, some will continue to question whether he is constitutionally qualified to be president.
Q2. Do you think the 10th Amendment bars Congress from issuing regulations like minimum health care coverage standards?
A2. That depends upon what the vague phrase "regulations like minimum health care coverage standards" means. If it means mandating, with the threat of a fine or jail time, that Americans have to buy "qualified" health plans, as defined by government bureaucrats, then the 10th Amendment, in conjunction with the enumerated powers of Congress, define the mandate as unconstitutional.
Q3. Do you think programs like Social Security and Medicare represent socialism and should never have been created in the first place?
A3. Now that these programs are in place, they cannot be revoked without breaking a promise to people who have paid into them their whole working careers. They are, however, by the definition of the word, socialism. If they had been instituted by the States, then individuals could exercise more freedom by choosing to live and pay and taxes in States with more or less socialism.
Q4. Do you think President Obama is a socialist?
A4. Senator Obama was, by far, the most left-wing member of the Senate. He definitely advocates programs that are socialist in nature. But, no, he is not a socialist. That does not mean we should accept his agenda that moves this country towards socialism and away from capitalism.
Q5. Do you think America should return to a gold standard?
A5. The gold standard is one way to keep a stable dollar--which would be far better than destroying the dollar by out of control spending with the attendant increase in debt and increase in dollars and dollar-denominated instruments. These lead to an unstable and inflated dollar. If we get spending under control, the dollar will be backed by the U.S. economy's ability to produce and will be just as stable as a gold-backed dollar. Knock off the drunken-sailor spending and folks won't feel the need to talk about returning to the gold standard.
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