An interesting take on the credit downgrade

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Oscar Gordon

S&P may have just handed congressional moderates on both sides the ammo needed to start getting us out of this mess.

As much as I hate the idea of new taxes, or of perpetuating the hugely draining welfare state, I don’t see a reasonable way out of either.

We can not reasonably slash social security or medicare without drastically changing the retirement & medical landscape.  I think the best idea I’ve heard so far is to terminate SS except for people above a certain age (essentially the folks who are too old to have any hope in hell of building up the savings needed) and below a certain savings.  If you are wealthy, young, or have a healthy 401K &/or pension plan, no dole for you.  Not surprisingly, the AARP aggressively opposes this idea.  As for Medicare/Medicaid, that would require either going full on single payer, or changing the laws for insurance companies such that they can not deny coverage to the elderly, or spike their rates (which of course means no one is allowed to not have health insurance, which leads to all sorts of arguments).  Also, means testing might not be a bad idea.  If you have a health plan as part of your pension plan, you got no need to be on Medicare.

As for taxes, I think we’ll see a lot of the special tax breaks for certain industries disappear.  Personally, I’m all for a flat tax, either personal, or corporate, makes no difference to me (since individuals will be paying it either way), but I ain’t giving up breathing or sex waiting for that to happen.  Maybe we’ll get a reduction on regulatory burden for businesses, although I know the favorite idea is regulations that only apply to big companies and are waived for smaller ones (not sure how that will fly with regard to equal protection).  Still, those regulations are a big revenue source for governments, so I’m not sure how much that will happen, even if it would make businesses more profitable and offer larger tax reciepts (politicians at all levels have a hard time thinking that far ahead).

sigh…

There are times I really want to just build a WIG & a seastead and go grow algae for biodiesel in tropical waters somewhere.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

I’ll call your full house . . .

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Dave RNS Photographer

from top left clockwise: S & W 1006, Kimber Eclipse II, STI Edge and pre-CZ Dan Wesson Razorback

with four 10’s.

Posted in Gratuitous Gun Pics | 4 Comments

A couple that shoots together

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Phil Kadath

Is safer.

On Friday, Uncle posted on the topic of the violent and racist flash mobs that have become more and more regular. This one was not an actual “flash mob”, more of an open ambush scenario.

One of the things I saw in the comments section was a continuation of the idea of “more is more” in ammunition capacity. It’s a wonderful idea I can get behind. As proof, I’ve gone from an 8+1 1911 to a 13+1 Browning HiPower. I’ve also upped my practice time due to the lower cost of 9mm versus .45ACP.

However, one of the things I didn’t see mentioned by the guys in the post’s comments writing about having their spouse also carrying. If one person carrying 52 rounds of 9mm is good, two people carrying 52 rounds of 9mm is better.

And now, with this idea breached, how much tactical training do you and your spouse do together? I don’t mean sharing a lane at the range. I mean talking about a “What do we do if X happens?” plan.

Let’s not think of a mob scenario to start. How about just a simple “Goblin pops around the corner with a knife/gun demanding your wallet and her purse as you walk down the street” scenario.

In the pause between that paragraph and this one, through the magic of the intarwebs, I hear multitudes of “Double draw and fire, bro. Dead goblin count plus-one.” Yeah. Right. Sure. Keep telling yourself that, stud. I hear most ER’s have free wi-fi. When you’re there getting stitched up/zipped up, or worse, your wife is, write me and tell me how that plan worked for you.

Now that we’re back in the real world, do me a favor and actually think about that scenario.

I don’t care how fast your draw is, he’s already got his out. The only time you’ll win that one is against paper at the range. So, he’s got you beat on the draw, so now all you have left is to out maneuver him, and because forward means pain, there are only two directions you can go: Left/Right and Backwards.

In Scenario Reaction #1, you and your spouse move sideways or diagonally in opposite directions. The goblin will have to choose one to focus on, and the other engages. This has its risks, of course, because there is little time for the element of surprise. Because a draw is not something that can be done subtly, somebody is going to have be waving their arms or jingling keys or something to hold the goblin’s attention.

In Scenario Reaction #2, you and your spouse act just as he is expecting you to act: Like victims. You put your arm around her and move her behind you. You continue to to act like a victim talking to the guy with the “Please don’t hurt us” speech while she is behind you, unseen by the goblin, drawing her pistol. The biggest risk in this scenario is that you are fully exposed, and if he sees her drawing you may have to act as a bullet sponge for her (but you already promised to do so at that altar, remember). Also, you now have a person on both sides of you with a weapon. However, if you and your spouse practice this maneuver, which direction to move so she can fire and when, this second danger can be lessened. An upside is that even if only you are carrying, she can grab it while she is behind you.

Whichever scenario you choose, or you come up with one of your own, so long as you practice together, life together will be better and may last longer. Which is a good thing.

Posted in Evil walks the earth, Have Gun, Will Travel | 10 Comments

Who Wants A Shipstone?

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Alaska

Bill Gates’ traveling-wave reactor designuses an uranium so common on Earth it can provide everyone on the planet with the same level of power consumption Americans enjoy — for a million years.

Demo reactor scheduled to be built in 2020. As someone often says, Faster Please.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Incredible Shrinking Survival Cans

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Alaska

 


While repacking our pantry, I noticed something. Over the past two years, for both our pantry and our survival packs, I’ve been buying Libby’s canned beef thru Amazon (I stopped this year when Costco started carrying its superior canned beef again) — well, at some point during that time Libby’s shrunk their cans.

 


All cans in the photos are the same 12 oz. Net weight beef, and the difference is so small I can’t see it with the naked eye when holding individual cans side by side, but….

 

 


Notice the height difference in the adjacent stacks. Same number of cans, different heights. I knew manufacturers were reducing can sizes (from, say, 12 oz. to 10 oz. at the same price) to save money, a sort of hidden inflation — but I didn’t know they were putting the same portion in smaller cans.

That’s either a fascinating look at the single-minded pursuit of cost-cutting, or I’ve discovered that Libby’s is engaging in massive fraud. Oh well, I’ve moved to Costco’s Kirkland brand anyway.

 

IKEA Billy bookcase if you were wondering, mounted on steel casters for earthquake.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Posted in By Ourselves, For Ourselves, Color me confused | 7 Comments

Us vs. Them Mentality

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Phil Kadath

There are the members of Congress who are in the Tea Party Caucus. They are signified, for the most part, by their want of smaller government and/or less government spending.

And there are members of Congress who are in the Teat Party Caucus. They are signified, for the most part, by their want to get as many people addicted to the milk of larger government and/or larger government spending.

I would appreciate more of the former. Though I’m sure I’ll be disappointed.

I would also like to claim that I had the idea for the above phrase, but I cannot. I’ll give that credit to Brian Micklethwait.

Posted in The Left is Never Right | 1 Comment

RNS Quote of the Day: 08/05/11

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Phil Kadath

Hope is not a plan.

Paul Krugman

I distinctly remember that not being what you said in 2008, Paul.

Posted in Quote of the Day | 1 Comment

Islamic Extremist Culture Destruction Proceeds Apace

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Alaska

Under the surface, I suspect the increasing spread of porn is doing the heavy lifting in the ongoing slow march of the West to achieve the goal of destroying radical islam’s culture. (Another of widespread porn’s many benefits, btw).

But on the surface, you get this. Kewl.

Posted in Evil walks the earth, Freaks, Mutants, and Morons | 3 Comments

Biutiful Barcelona

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Alaska

When we visited Barcelona a couple years back, I noted the patently obvious government make-work construction jobs, and other signs the Spanish economy was not all it had been cracked up to be.

However, the parts of Barcelona we visited by and large seemed full of happy, relaxed folks going about their business.That’s because they were the tourist areas.

The one exception was when we wandered into the El Raval district west of La Rambla. We were following my mom and brother, who were chatting in condition White a half-block ahead, and by the time I myself awoke to what surrounded us, we were many blocks deep in the barrio. I didn’t like what I was seeing at all and cajoled everybody into getting the heck out of Dodge before we got more attention from the barrio’s residents.

Well, the excellent film Biutiful, which should have won Best Picture of the Year were there any justice, takes place primarily in Barcelona’s dark underbelly, El Raval included.

The film’s well worth seeking out. Its depiction of that subsection of the Spanish economy resonates even more given current events in Europe.

For the DOOM!-minded, it would make a good pairing with Time of the Wolf, but that’s another topic.

Posted in Kewel! | Leave a comment

Pay Attention! There Is No Man Behind The Curtain Anymore!

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Alaska

The Sun Is Setting On Our Rigged Markets.

The author may or may not be a contrarian as advertised in the column heading (I’ve never read the guy before), so perhaps it’s usual for him to characterize the markets as “rigged,” but I was a bit surprised to see that sort of ZeroHedge-style phrase popping up in a mainstream business publication.

Note that he’s attributing the global/US selloff to the realization that the implied market backstop by governments is no longer a sure thing; quite the contrary, in fact.

Which, although he doesn’t actually state the name, is due to what? The Tea Party. Damn terrorists.

Posted in Academia and Other Nonsense, Armageddon | 2 Comments