Free kibbles

ECONOMY:

The US government added nearly half a million jobs because of the census, temporarily lifting unemployment to 9.7 percent, but the private sector did nothing. When these census workers quit working, unemployment is going to spike again. We should subtract government jobs in employment figures and subtract government spending from private sector output to really understand the state of our economy. This is good news for Obama and bad news for Americans because every one of these jobs increases the burden of government on Americans and makes us all poorer.

The wold economic problems explained in less than three minutes. This is fabulous.

The Dow closed below 10,000. More people are recognizing the emperor has no clothes.

TAX AND SPEND:

Federal debt surpasses $13 trillion, but it's only that low if you don't count Social Security and Medicare.

GLOBAL WARMING:

Democrats were slow to jump on this bandwagon, but they finally realized they didn't want to let the Gulf oil spill crisis to go to waste. They're using that spill to push their cap and trade bill by calling it a comprehensive energy bill that will prevent spills in the future. They lie without conscience. They have more in common with serial killers than with normal people.

Study shows climate cycles tend to follow astronomical cycles. Imagine that. It's like we live in a universe that's much bigger than us or something.

WAR:

We now have special forces operating in 73 countries. Wow. Frankly, this article makes them sound similar to al Qaeda cells, which isn't very promising.

"Special Operations forces have grown both in number and budget, and are deployed in 75 countries, compared with about 60 at the beginning of last year. In addition to units that have spent years in the Philippines and Colombia, teams are operating in Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.

Commanders are developing plans for increasing the use of such forces in Somalia, where a Special Operations raid last year killed the alleged head of al-Qaeda in East Africa. Plans exist for preemptive or retaliatory strikes in numerous places around the world, meant to be put into action when a plot has been identified, or after an attack linked to a specific group."

Retaliatory strikes? Retaliation shouldn't be our policy. That's what the terrorists claim to do. Stopping plots to kill Americans and taking out people who have launched attacks on America should be our policy. I've said for a while the war on terror should be fought as an intelligence war, not a hot war, so I don't have a problem with this aspect of it, but I have no doubt government is screwing it up. It can't help it. This strategy should only be a stop-gap measure as we implement our long-term strategy: bring all our troops home and engage mainstream Muslims in mutually beneficial voluntary exchange, enabling the most powerful force in the world - the American people - to earn their trust and respect so they will side with us against the terrorists.

George Bush has no regrets about waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. I wouldn't either.

80 percent of al Qaeda leaders in Iraq 'removed'.

"About 80% of al-Qaeda's leaders in Iraq have been captured or killed during the past three months, says the country's top US commander.

Only eight of the group's 42 chiefs in Iraq remained at large, Gen Ray Odierno told a Pentagon news conference.

But he cautioned against complacency, saying that, even with the setbacks, al-Qaeda was trying to regroup and would remain a problem for years.

"I will never take my eyes off of al-Qaeda," said the general.

He added that the number of attacks and casualty figures suffered by US troops had fallen to their lowest level since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

"All of those statistics for the first five months of 2010 are the lowest we've had on record.""

That's great. Let's get our troops home and allow the Iraqis to determine their own fate, and General Odierno can focus on protecting Americans from al Qaeda.

FOREIGN POLICY:

Obama's partner Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dorhn helped organize the Gaza flotilla. You got to be kidding me. Pat Buchanan calls to end lift the siege of Gaza.

"That bloody debacle in the Eastern Mediterranean last Sunday was an inevitable result of Israel doing what it always seems to do: going beyond what is essential to her security, to impose collective punishment upon any and all it regards as hostile to Israel."

I'm glad I'm not the only one who recognizes Israel's need to defend itself against Hamas but who saw that Israel went beyond that when it boarded the Gaza flotilla and killed those people.

"But that 2 a.m. boarding of an unarmed ship with an unarmed crew, carrying no munitions or weapons, 65 miles at sea, was an act of piracy. What the Israeli commandos got is what any armed hijacker should expect who tries to steal a car from a driver who keeps a tire iron under the front seat."

Good for Pat Buchanan for saying this.

"But we have a blockade of Gaza, say the Israelis, and this flotilla was a provocation. Indeed, it was. And Selma was a provocation. The marchers at Edmund Pettus Bridge were disobeying orders of the governor of Alabama and state police not to march.

Yet, today, liberal Democrats who regard Martin Luther King as a moral hero for championing nonviolent civil disobedience to protest injustice are cheering not the unarmed passengers trying to break the Gaza blockade, but the Israelis enforcing the blockade."

Interesting parallel.

"Israel has a right to secure Gaza to deny Hamas access to weapons, especially rockets that could reach Israel. But that does not justify denying 1.5 million people what they need to live in decency."

But this doesn't jive with reports that Israel allows in all aid that comes to Gaza. It just stops weapons from coming in. The Israeli government says it, and the press parrots it, but is it true? It makes sense to me that it would be true. Israel has nothing to gain by blocking supplies other than weapons from Gaza, but it has plenty to lose by doing so. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure government aristocrats loot those supplies, but not so much that it would create an international outcry.

"According to The Washington Post, "80 percent of the population (of Gaza) depends on charity. Hospitals, schools, electricity systems and sewage treatment facilities are all in deep disrepair.""

How is this Israel's fault? The Israelis have no responsibility to keep Palestinian facilities working. That's the responsibility of the Palestinians. They have no working economy because Hamas loots the people to wage war on Israel, and the people support Hamas. I'm under the impression this is a self-inflicted problem.

"Obama should tell the Israelis that Joe got it wrong. There is space between us. The Gaza siege must end. And America will herself be sending aid, but will also support Israel's right to inspect trucks and ships to see to it no weapons get through to Gaza."

I agree, but the government shouldn't send aid. The American people can send it or not as they choose.

I asked Pat Buchanan how the Israeli's are responsible for broken Gaza infrastructure and how they keep out the necessities for life. He was kind enough to reply with a short note saying that Israel doesn't allow cement into Gaza so the Gazans can't rebuild their broken infrastructure. Assuming that's true, that's an incredibly damning policy. Why isn't this well known? This article says Israel just started allowing clothes and shoes for the first time.

"Israel prohibits shipments of cement and steel to Gaza on the grounds that Hamas could use them for military purposes.

Its long list of controlled goods also includes items that critics say have no apparent military value, such as children's crayons and books."

OK, this is stupid. No wonder people are so mad at Israel. It has nothing to gain by rejecting such things, and it has everything to lose by blocking them. Naturally, the aristocrats and the press weren't telling the truth.

A few days ago I heard Sean Hannity hyperventilating that Iran had enriched enough uranium for two nuclear weapons. You would have thought the world was going to end, but Hannity I didn't believe it because Hannity is supreme propagandist. I was so skeptical, I forgot all about it and didn't even look it up. Today I remembered to look it up. The bold in this quote is mine:

"In their last report before the United Nations Security Council votes on sanctions against Iran, international nuclear inspectors declared Monday that Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that experts say would be enough, with further enrichment, to make two nuclear weapons."

Hannity forgot to mention that part, at least in the 30 seconds I listened to. I'm sure plenty of non-nuclear countries have enough enriched uranium to make bombs, with further enrichment. Call me when they start enriching it to weapons grade. Right now the best approach is lift the embargoes that harm the Iranian people and keep them from being able to overthrow the mullahs.

POLITICS:

The Chicago way plunders the private sector. I guess he means plunders it more than normal government actions.

Hold on to your wallets. Obama has empaneled yet another bipartisan panel ostensibly to investigate the Gulf oil spill.

The Messiah who set such high expectations has only himself to blame because he can't possibly (and doesn't want to) meet them.

Jimmy Carter + Rod Blagojevich = Barack Obama. It's funny because it's accurate.

Wall Street employs 73 former members of Congress as lobbyists. Our power is valuable and aristocrats sell it, so corporations buy it.

MISC:

I must have missed the power to spread happiness in my copy of the Constitution. Do you think happiness can be spread at the point of a gun?

A poll shows baseball fans want MLB to overturn the blown call that prevented a perfect game and they want instant replay implemented for such calls. This highlight a symptom of what's wrong with America - people want central authority to solve problems and right wrongs. They don't understand the consequences are worse than the original problems. If MLB overturned that call, it would open up a can of worms that would harm baseball which has become boring enough. If they implement instant replay, baseball will become even more boring an lose fans. These ideas are silly, but these busybodies, my guess is they watch very few baseball games if any every year, want to use a central authority to impose their will on others over issues that don't matter to them. Yuck.

Two chemical processes identified on Saturn's moon Titan could be associated with life. If life was discovered on Titan, it would be the biggest discovery in history.

I bet 200 years ago every person in the world knew the health benefits of natural foods like honey.

"It contains vitamins B1, B2, C, B6, B5 and B3 all of which change according to the qualities of the nectar and pollen. Besides the above, copper, iodine, and zinc exist in it in small quantities. Several kinds of hormones are also present in it. Approximately one half of the human diet is derived directly or indirectly from crops pollinated by bees. Today honeybees are an essential part of a healthy agriculture economy.

If you have allergies, honey can be beneficial. If you eat honey that is local to your area, it may prevent your seasonal allergies. Bees use the pollen from local plants and eventually it ends up in your honey."

According to this article, honey treats skin conditions, sore throat, cuts, ulcers and diarrhea. Honey is an antioxidant, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, supports blood formation, has healthy enzymes and is easy to digest. I bet almost nobody knows this stuff any more. This wasn't taught in my health class. We're losing our wisdom, and we're worse off for it.

Lord of the Rings online embraces free business model. I'll try it once it becomes free. Funny how that works.

It's about time bandwidth services started using data pricing. Those of us who use little bandwidth will be rewarded. ISPs should do the same.