What Recession?



A recession is defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth of real gross domestic product. For some time now, the lefties have been crowing that the US economy is going into recession, scarcely unable to conceal their delight.



So, the economy grew at the positive rate of 0.6 percent during the first quarter. This in spite of the fact that residential fixed investment dropped by 26.7%.

We don't have a recession. Perhaps real GDP might drop in the second and third quarters of this year, but we won't know that until some time in November.

The Racist ABA

Gail Heriot in the WSJ discusses how the American Bar Association forces law schools to adopt racial preferences in admissions policies:

If you have ever wondered why colleges and universities seem to march in lockstep on controversial issues like affirmative action, here is one reason: Overly politicized accrediting agencies often demand it.
Given that federal funding hinges on accreditation, schools are not in a position to argue. That is precisely why the U.S. Department of Education, which gives accreditors their authority, must sometimes take corrective action. George Mason University's law school in northern Virginia is an example of why corrective action is needed now.

GMU's problems began in early 2000, when the American Bar Association visited the law school, which has a somewhat conservative reputation, for its routine reaccreditation inspection. The site evaluation team was unhappy that only 6.5% of entering students were minorities.
Outreach was not the problem; even the site evaluation report (obtained as a result of Freedom of Information Act requests) conceded that GMU had a "very active effort to recruit minorities." But the school, the report noted, had been "unwilling to engage in any significant preferential affirmative action admissions program." Since most law schools were willing to admit minority students with dramatically lower entering academic credentials, GMU was at a recruitment disadvantage. The site evaluation report noted its "serious concerns" with the school's policy.

Having worked in academia, I can testify that accreditation agencies such as NCA and SACS can often be a joke. The main criteria for whether or not a university receives accreditation is how well they can prepare the reports that the agency requires. That is why diploma mills like the University of Phoenix and Nova Southeastern can get accredited, even though degrees from those universities have little or no meaning.

In such an environment, it is not surprising that charlatans like the ABA would use their authority to promote their hateful political philosophy.

It would be interesting to know what Barack Obama's undergraduate GPA and LSAT score were when he was accepted at Harvard Law School.

Boo Hoo for Barack!

As is well known, Barack Obama attended a church for about 20 years where the pastor routinely said things like "God Damn America" and claimed that the US government invented AIDS to commit genocide on blacks.

Now the North Carolina GOP are running an ad with film clips of the race-baiting Reverend Wright in order to criticize two Democrats who have endorsed Obama. This is a perfectly valid political tactic. We can often judge people by the company they keep.

Predictably, the leftwing media are crying foul. The New York Times calls it a "Shameful, Ugly Ad". Bonnie Erbe at USA Today says "GOP Dirty Tricks Dupe Media". Bonnie goes on to compare the ad with the 'Willie Horton' ads used against Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race, ignoring the fact that it was Al Gore who first raised the issue, during the Democrat nomination battle that year.

CBS News says "Amid Negative Ads, McCain Claims High Road", McCain is free to run his campaign however he wants, but he should know that if he had attended a church run by a pastor who made anti-American statements from the pulpit, the Democrats and their lackeys in the leftwing media would be all over him.

Tough luck, Barack. You chose to attend Wright's church for 20 years and you knew damn well that he was spewing lies and hate. You showed a lack of judgement and the voters will take this into account.

More on Vlaams Belang, Fascism, Gates of Vienna, and Little Green Footballs

Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs has lately been on a tear. First he calls Dymphna at Gates of Vienna a 'fascist sympathizer', because she has disputed his accusations that the Belgian party Vlaams Belang are fascist. Then he claims that Gates of Vienna 'toys with genocide' because they publish an essay that theorizes that the result of muslim immigration into Europe may be genocide.

Hey Charles, if I were to write a biography of Timothy McVeigh, would that mean that I approve of blowing up buildings?

I have previously written about how Vlaams Belang do not sound like a fascist party. To illustrate the difference again, I will first quote from some people who really were fascist.

Adolf Hitler, Speech in Munich. April 12, 1922:

At the founding of this Movement we formed the decision that we would give expression to this idea of ours of the identity of the two conceptions: despite all warnings, on the basis of what we had come to believe, on the basis of the sincerity of our will, we christened it ''National Socialist.' We said to ourselves that to be 'national' means above everything to act with a boundless and all-embracing love for the people and, if necessary, even to die for it. And similarly to be 'social' means so to build up the state and the community of the people that every individual acts in the interest of the community of the people and must be to such an extent convinced of the goodness, of the honorable straightforwardness of this community of the people as to be ready to die for it.

Benito Mussolini, "Doctrine of Fascism" (1932)

7. Against individualism, the Fascist conception is for the State; and it is for the individual in so far as he coincides with the State, which is the conscience and universal will of man in his historical existence. It is opposed to classical Liberalism, which arose form the necessity of reacting against absolutism, and which brought its historical purpose to an end when the State was transformed into the conscience and will of the people. Liberalism denied the State in the interests of the particular individual; Fascism reaffirms the State as the true reality of the individual. And if liberty is to be the attribute of the real man, and not of that abstract puppet envisaged by individualistic Liberalism, Fascism is for liberty. And for the only liberty which can be a real thing, the liberty of the State and of the individual within the State. Therefore, for the Fascist, everything is in the State, and nothing human or spiritual exists, much less has value, outside the State. In this sense Fascism is totalitarian, and the Fascist State, the synthesis and unity of all values, interprets, develops and gives strength to the whole life of the people.

From Vlaams Belang's Website:

Het Vlaams Belang kiest uitdrukkelijk voor de democratie als politiek model. Het volk beslist. Dat is meteen de kern van het Vlaams-Belangstandpunt terzake.Het Vlaams Belang wil een overheid die in haar inrichting en dienstverlening neutraal staat ten opzichte van de politieke opvattingen van haar burgers. In een democratische samenleving zijn de rechten van alle burgers, ongeacht hun politieke overtuiging, in het gedrang, indien de overheid - die een zo belangrijke rol speelt in onze complexe samenleving - geen neutrale overheid is of zich ten aanzien van de politieke mening van die burgers niet neutraal opstelt.

In English:

Vlaams Belang chooses explicitly for democracy as a political model. The people decide. That is the core of Vlaams Belang's beliefs.

Vlaams Belang wants a government which in its institution and services acts as a neutral state with respect to the political conceptions of its citizens. In a democratic society the rights of all citizens are preserved, irrespective of their political convictions. The government plays in this way an important role in our complex society - by establishing itself as a neutral party with regards to the political convictions of its citizens.

Clinging, Bitterly

Atlas Shrugged a Movie?

There have been several failed attempts to make a movie or miniseries out of Rand's novel. Will the newest attempt succeed?

It will be difficult to do the novel justice.

A Thin-Skinned President?

Senator Obama is revealing himself to be a very touchy person. A president can't afford the luxury of being irascible. Jed Babbin speaks of Barack's glass jaw:

The supposedly-brilliant Democratic wunderkind can’t take a punch. Like a Hollywood actor, he’s only comfortable, quick and charismatic as long as the crowd is oohing and ahhing. But the moment that he is challenged -- as we first saw in his presser after he lost the Ohio primary in March and again last week in the ABC debate -- the mask shatters. What we see is what we would get with an Obama presidency: a man whose range is so small and ego so huge and fragile that when taken out of his comfort zone, he not only fails to shine, he barely is able to speak.

Whoever is president has got to be figuratively bulletproof. And sometimes literally.

Edgar Degas

The next featured artist in the Provocateur art gallery is Edgar Degas. His depictions of dancers are very lifelike and compelling.

PJ Visits a Carrier

P J O'Rourke, former National Lampoon writer and libertarian par excellence visited the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and gave us his thoughts about John McCain vs. the Democrat candidates:

I look from John McCain to what the opposition has to offer. There's Ms. Smarty-Pantsuit, the Bosnia-Under-Sniper-Fire poster gal, former prominent Washington hostess, and now the JV senator from the state that brought you Eliot Spitzer and Bear Stearns. And there's the happy-talk boy wonder, the plaster Balthazar in the Cook County political crèche, whose policy pronouncements sound like a walk through Greenwich Village in 1968: "Change, man? Got any spare change? Change?"

Pope Benedict

Since Herr Ratzinger has deigned to grace us with his presence, I thought it would be interesting to reflect back on the time when many of our ancestors left the catholic church and became protestants.

The Papal Jurisdiction Act: "Concerning the jurisdictioune and autoritie of the bischope of Rome callit the paip", passed by the Scottish Parliament in 1560:

In the Parliament haldin at edinburgh the tent day of Julij the yeir of God JmVc&lx yeiris and thairefter continewit to the first day of august nixt thaireftir following with continewatioune of dayis vpoun the tuenty foir day of the said monethe of august The thre estaitis then being present vnderstanding that the Jurisdictioune and autoritie of the bischope of Rome callit the paip vsit within this realme in tymes bipast hes bene verray hurtful and preiudiciall to our soueranis autoritie and commone weill of this realme Thairfoir hes statute and ordanit that the bischope of Rome haif na Jurisdictioun nor autoritie within this realme in tymes cuming

And from the Westminster Confession of Faith:

There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.

British PM Gordon Brown Praises Bush

"The world owes President George Bush a huge debt of gratitude for leading the world in our determination to root out terrorism, and to ensure that there is no safe haven for terrorism and no hiding place for terrorists."

Huh? Drop in Bank Profits Leads to Stock Market Rally

Two of the five largest banks in the USA: JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo, reported decreases of 50% and 11% respectively in their first quarter earnings.
The stock market, desperate for good news, interpreted this as a good sign that the banks' earnings weren't even worse.

Obamania

After stepping in the doodoo last friday, Barack just keeps wading deeper and deeper into it. The poor clown doesn't understand what a huge faux pas he has committed. Hillary is beside herself. She can't believe her good luck, just when it looked like her campaign was almost finished.

I think the problem is that Barack isn't getting very good advice. All he has for advisors are people who think just like him. It's common knowledge to his clique that those of us who live in flyover country are just a bunch of stupid inbred hillbillies. Barack and his crew can't believe that we understand the level of contempt they hold for us.

Even though Hillary feels the same way as Barack, she has some good advice and is pumping this for all she can. Listen to her talk to the press. She sounds like a Republican now.

Obama's Non-Apology

Snobama made a lame attempt at an apology today:

“Obviously, if I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that,” Obama said in a phone interview with the Winston-Salem Journal.

The important word to note is the word "IF". By including it in his so-called apology, he verifies that he is insincere. That's how I always feel when I hear someone make an apology conditional, by including an IF.

If Barack truly felt contrite about his statement he made while speaking to the beautiful people in San Francisco, he would have said something like "I deeply regret wording things in a way that made people offended". By including the if, he weasels out of admitting any wrongdoing.

Obama Tries to Extract His Foot From His Mouth

Barack was speaking with some San Francisco lefties the other day, and thought he could get away with insulting rural people in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for him, his words have gotten around. Now Mr. Incredible is pathetically trying to dislodge his foot from where it is wedged deeply down his throat:

MUNCIE, Ind. - Democrat Barack Obama on Saturday conceded that comments he made about bitter working class voters who "cling to guns or religion" were ill chosen, as he tried to stem a burst of complaints that he is condescending.

"I didn't say it as well as I should have," he said.
As Obama tried to quell the furor, presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton hit him with one of her lengthiest and most pointed criticisms to date.
"Senator Obama's remarks were elitist and out of touch," she said, campaigning about an hour away in Indianapolis. "They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans."

Barack can try to explain and deny all he wants. But the problem that both he and the PIAPS have is that leftist ideology, and hence the politics of most Democrats, is condescending by its very nature. They believe that a few government officials in Washington know how to run the lives of 300 million people better than those people themselves do. That is why no Democrat running for president has carried a majority of the popular vote since 1976.

Mayor of Los Angeles Tries to Interfere in US Immigration Policy

This is a hoot. Antonio Villaraigosa wants the Feds to lay off Los Angeles businesses that hire illegal aliens.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is asking federal officials to rethink their policy on workplace immigration crackdowns that involve established businesses and to focus on employers that mistreat workers instead.
The mayor said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that work-site raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement could have "severe and long-lasting effects" on the local economy, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

Allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the USA will have even more severe and long-lasting effects.

Villaraigosa accused federal officials of targeting "established, responsible employers" in industries that rely on "workforces that include undocumented immigrants."

Hiring illegal immigrants is a flagrant violation of federal law. Is that what you call 'responsible' Antonio?

Here's the best part:

"In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote in the March 27 letter.

That's BS, if I've ever heard it.

Muslim Leader in Netherlands Tells Dutch Children "Non-muslims are Dogs"

In an effort to develop "understanding and respect for other cultures" the PC thought police in Holland took a group of elementary school children to a mosque

THE HAGUE, 09/04/08 - A primary school in Amsterdam wished to provide its pupils with an understanding for other cultures. But during a visit to a mosque, the children were told they were dogs.
With a view to developing understanding and respect for other cultures among children, primary school De Horizon regularly organises outings to various religious organisations. The chairman of the El Mouchidine mosque told the children from group 7 (aged 10) and their chaperones however that non-Muslims are dogs.
In a letter to the children's parents, the school expresses its regret at the incident: "We are shocked that during the guided tour, the mosque's chairman told the children and chaperoning parents that non believers were dogs. We consider this statement as unacceptable since we allow our children to partake in this project to develop respect for freedom of religious choice".
In the meantime, the school's management has addressed the mosque on the undesirable behaviour of the chairman. Both parties will say nothing further on the matter. "We will resolve the matter amongst ourselves and I have no inclination whatsoever to discuss the matter with the media", as newspaper De Telegraaf quoted the school's spokesperson Mariet ten Berge. "We have been to the mosque before and it always went well".
Angry parents had sent the letter on to De Telegraaf but were reportedly rapped on the knuckles by the school's management. "The school wishes to play this down. That is precisely the problem", as one mother commented.

I believe the school met one of its goals but not the other. Perhaps more outings like this would be a good idea, so that more people can understand the "religion of peace".

University of Texas Sued Over Racist Admissions Policy

Abigail Fisher of Sugar Land was denied admission to the University of Texas because she is white. She has filed suit in federal court

An 18-year-old Sugar Land student sued the University of Texas at Austin on Monday, challenging the school's use of racial preferences in its admissions policy.
Abigail Noel Fisher, a senior at Stephen F. Austin High School in Sugar Land, was named in the lawsuit filed on her behalf by the Project on Fair Representation.
Project director Edward Blum, an activist against race preferences in Houston before he moved to Washington, D.C., said Fisher, who is white, will graduate in the top 12 percent of her class next month but learned in late March that she was not accepted at UT-Austin.
The lawsuit doesn't challenge the top 10 percent law, which guarantees admission to those who finish in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school's graduating class. Instead, it contends that UT-Austin unlawfully uses racial and ethnic criteria to select other students.

I am a UT alum and I hope my alma mater loses this lawsuit. Racial preferences have no place in a civilized society. It doesn't matter if you give such policies nice-sounding names like "affirmative action" or "diversity". They belong in the same trash bin with the Jim Crow laws.

Judge Strips Texas of Its 'Pole' Tax

This is too funny.

An Excellent Idea

Rumor has it that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice wants to be McCain's running mate. If he picks her, then I will vote for him.

Why do I think she would make a good VP and possible President? Because she is black? No. Because she is a woman? No. Unlike the lefties, I don't make decisions about people's competence based upon their skin color or gender.

I think she would mnake a good choice for VP because she is intelligent, she is honest, she has the ability to work well in Washington, and above all, unlike the lefties, she has the necessary minimum amount of common sense.

Comments Now Being Moderated

I apologize, but some spammer left me no choice. Comments are now moderated. I will approve all comments except spam.

So, lefties, feel free to post your objections to the posts on this blog. I may disagree with you. I may ridicule you. But, unlike you, I will never try to silence you.

Charlton Heston: 1923 - 2008

Big Gash on Mars

Have a look at some really spectacular photos taken by the ESA's Mars Express.

Who caused that big gash in the picture? Must be Bush's fault.

Hanoi Jane Endorses Obama

Barack Obama's campaign received a huge boost when Jane Fonda announced she is voting for him.

Thanks to Jane, if Barack wins the Democrat nomination, he is almost certain to sweep the marxist vote in November. This will also give him a significant boost among voters who despise Vietnamese and Cambodians.

Bill Clinton is STUNNED that Someone Would Lie to Him

Our beloved former president is quite taken aback that someone didn't tell him the truth:

The Bill Clinton who met privately with California's superdelegates at last weekend's state convention was a far cry from the congenial former president who afterward publicly urged fellow Democrats to "chill out" over the race between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama.
In fact, before his speech Clinton had one of his famous meltdowns Sunday, blasting away at former presidential contender Bill Richardson for having endorsed Obama, the media and the entire nomination process.
"It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended," one superdelegate said.
According to those at the meeting, Clinton - who flew in from Chicago with bags under his eyes - was classic old Bill at first, charming and making small talk with the 15 or so delegates who gathered in a room behind the convention stage.
But as the group moved together for the perfunctory photo, Rachel Binah, a former Richardson delegate who now supports Hillary Clinton, told Bill how "sorry" she was to have heard former Clinton campaign manager James Carville call Richardson a "Judas" for backing Obama.
It was as if someone pulled the pin from a grenade.
"Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that," a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.

Bill, could it be that Richardson determined that lying is OK, because the leader of a certain administration, for which he worked, lied repeatedly and got away with it? "Do as I say but not as I do" seldom works.

But Richardson denies that he ever guaranteed the Clintons an endorsement:

Still, word of Clinton's blast shot all the way back to the New Mexico state Capitol, where Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley reiterated Tuesday that his boss had never "promised or guaranteed" Bill and Hillary his endorsement.

Who is telling the truth? Unless the Clintons have it on tape or something, we will never know.

Who Wins in November?

I blew my prediction that Romney would beat out McCain for the Republican nomination. So, take it for what it is worth.

The problem for both Hillary and Barack is that they are both to the left of center in their own party, even more so for the country as a whole. I don't like McCain but he appears to attract many Democrats and Independents. Recent polls have shown him ahead of both Democrat candidates in some blue states. This will enable him to take the battle to their turf, while the Democrat nominee tries to hold his/her base

Here are the results of the last few presidential elections, in decreasing order. I have omitted 1980, 1992, and 1996 because they were three-way races.

1984:
Reagan: 525 electoral votes
59% of popular vote
Mondale: 13 electoral votes
41% of popular vote

1988:
Bush Sr.: 426 electoral votes
53% of popular vote
Dukakis: 111 electoral votes
46% of popular vote

2004:
Bush Jr.: 286 electoral votes
51% of popular vote
Kerry: 251 electoral votes
48% of popular vote

2000:
Bush Jr.: 271 electoral votes
48% of popular vote
Gore: 266 electoral votes
48% of popular vote

My guess: McCain will win by at least the same margin Bush Sr. defeated Dukakis in 1988. The margin might even be better than that, but unlikely it will be as good as Reagan's landslide of 1984.