Rebane's Ruminations

About

November 2026
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  

ARCHIVES

OUR LINKS

YubaNet
White House Blog
Watts Up With That?
The Union
Sierra Thread
RL “Bob” Crabb
Barry Pruett Blog

  • Progressives et al on ISIS et al

    "… if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."  Sun Tzu

    George Rebane

    It’s now hard to figure out whether Sanders and O’Malley are Hillary’s stooges or, more generously, her shills.  Last night’s Democratic debate firmly tossed their supposed contest for the nomination into that corner.  Denting Hillary’s image was definitely out of bounds, her opponents would only gently remind viewers that Hillary voted for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but did not touch her other scandals and faux pas – e.g. Russian reset, Benghazi, spraying classified emails across the world.  Anything that would cause people to doubt her ability to be commander-in-chief appeared to be off limits.

    And as a Lucky Strike Extra, viewers were exposed to Sanders’ knowledge of the country’s economic history when he claimed that Eisenhower was a bigger socialist than he, since the top income tax tier was then at 90%.  Sanders is apparently unaware that the 90% rate was window dressing to mollify the masses, literally no one paid that rate because of the lavish exceptions, deductions, and write-offs (aka ‘loopholes) then available to the high earning cognoscenti.  But today that citation still makes good copy for the gullible gruberized.

    Regarding Islamic terror and Friday’s attacks in Paris, the Democrats are having to turn themselves into lexicographic pretzels as they twist and turn when they describe and discuss their non-denominational ‘war on terror’.  The big idea to promote according to the Obama Doctrine is that ISIS and its sought after caliphate is not a reflection of Islam.  On the other hand Iran (the country that took us to the cleaners on the nuclear deal while it continues to vow our destruction and the defeat of western civilization) is not isolated from Islam, nor are the Palestinians, nor are the prominent Wahabi elements in the governments of the Arabian Peninsula, nor is the populous movement in Pakistan, nor …, but you get the idea.  All of them have the identical warm thoughts about the west, and the Great Satans – United States and Israel.  And Iran, now financially reconstituted, is the acknowledged leader of state sponsored Islamic terror around the world.

    Led by the US, the west continues its la-la land lauding of Islam as the ‘religion of peace’ in the same breath pointing out that all the millions of Muslims in western countries have not strapped on explosive vests to detonate themselves in the midst of gathered infidels.  Never mind that Islamic terrorists are radicalized and constantly emerge from such 'peaceful communities' to join ISIS and/or launch their attacks in western lands.  As long as they don’t assemble en masse to blow themselves and us to bits, in the progressive mind they will forever remain the unassailable practitioners of peace and reason.  We may not even discuss, let alone join their faith to the horrific events that now punctuate our lives on every continent.

    (more…)

    Posted at

    in

    , , ,
    58 comments on Progressives et al on ISIS et al

  • The NC BoS is non-partisan, really?

    George Rebane

    We have been told forever by the Left that our county’s Board of Supervisors is a non-partisan governing body.  No one believes it, especially our progressives, but the message must be repeated endlessly to the county’s light thinkers.  The existential fact is that the supes are all partisan and readily exhibit their individual ideologies during their terms of office.  I always get a kick out listening to someone argue that they are among the pure and untainted when they assess and evaluate social policies – ‘I don’t care much for politics’, ‘I’m not an ideologue; I make my decisions on the merits.’

    Today we are gearing up to elect three new supervisors next year.  Nate Beason, our senior and three-term supervisor from District #1, will (sadly) not seek a fourth term.  His seat will be contested for by the very liberal Heidi Hall, and the (best that I can tell) left-center bike shop owner Duane Strawser.  This leaves a yawning spot for someone of a more conservatarian bent to also throw their hat in the ring.  Actually, someone obviously from the Right might do very well next November since there is a good chance that Hall and Strawser will then split the Left vote.  But as we all know, election season brings out the political chameleon in those seeking office. 

    Mr Strawser may wrap himself in a new cloak for the coming year, and that will make things interesting.  I am not familiar with the man’s voting record during his turn on the Nevada City city council.  But given the perennial silly season that that elected body has enjoyed over the years (decades?), a more conservative candidate could make it hard for Strawser to conveniently tack starboard during the coming months.  More knowledgeable heads about the county’s local governments should weigh in on this possibility.

    In any event, the Nevada County BoS slots are very political, and whoever fills them will determine how much the county will bend over to grab its ankles when the diktats come down from on high.  And in the worst case the supes may go on a regulatory binge to save us all again from climate change, chemical food additives, pedestrian safety, hate speech, various forms of marijuana, low cost housing, and fatty foods.  It has happened before, and today we are in a much weakened state when it comes to welcoming more of leviathan’s tender mercies into our lives.  Just look at the highly educated yokels demonstrating on our university campuses.

    Posted at

    in

    ,
    78 comments on The NC BoS is non-partisan, really?

  • Scattershots – 11nov15 (updated 14nov15)

    George Rebane

    Today is Veterans’ Day, a national holiday with a bit of a convoluted history (here).  It started out as Armistice Day to honor those who served and fell in WW1.  Then through a series of congressional acts starting in 1954 it became a day to honor all veterans who served in the nation’s armed forces, and its observance was returned to 11 November.  Memorial Day is reserved, as it should be, for those who gave their “last full measure of devotion” to America.

    My thoughts on this day also turn to how our military is now constituted as an ‘all-volunteer’ fighting force.  The bar to get into the services has been significantly raised so that many young men and women who might benefit from the experience will not qualify.   I side with those who believe that in a broadly franchised liberal democratic republic everyone who is able to contribute to the forceful defense of our nation should be required to man the ramparts – in short, I would like to see a new version of the draft returned, similar to the one that provided millions of our young, especially the men, with an irreplaceable coming-of-age institution.  Yes, it may be a less efficient way to defend our country, but having an all-volunteer professional military in its stead also comes with dangers known and unknown.

    Last night’s Republican debate sponsored by Fox Business News and the WSJ set a new standard for how such events should be conducted.  The moderators – Neil Cavuto, Maria Bartiromo, Gerard Baker – showed everyone how professionals can and should draw out the substantive policies, beliefs, and backgrounds of the candidates.  The bookend to this debate was the last one by CNBC where the obviously leftwing moderators couldn’t outdo each other in their attempt to discredit the whole Republican field with questions like, ‘Senator A, in his recent campaign ad Mr B calls you an asshole, how do you respond to that?’  From the latest debate that gave ample time for candidates to speak, we learned the candidates’ positions on important issues focusing on the economy and the nation’s foreign policy.  This morning on countless blogs and media outlets you can read how these positions compare/contrast, and how well thought out they are at this stage of the campaign.  We will welcome more of this kind of debates.

    IMHO progressives are bad news for the country in whatever form they express themselves.  The latest, of course, are the insane student demonstrations on our college and university campuses.  These young people and their useless professors are functional idiots who have to a large degree changed our centers for learning and new ideas into Orwellian enclaves where allowable thought and speech are today dictated by people who really should apply for tuition refunds because their schools failed to teach them anything, even in the lightweight majors they have attempted to study.  The Univ of Missouri situation has become the most recent posterchild of how students from union K-12 schools are now participating in the destruction of our institutions of higher education.  And don’t get me wrong, their politically correct and cowardly administrators and teachers are aiding and abetting the ongoing travesty.  We have to remember how many generations have been intellectually polluted since the Great Society vulture spread its wings over academe.  You can read a brief but insightful summary of these goings on in ‘Bonfire of the Academy’.

    [Later]  And as more inquiry is devoted to the U of M affair, it appears that no one can provide any evidence for all the alleged race-based infractions that got the campus light thinkers agitated.  It turns out that even the report of the football team walking out en masse is wrong, only a few players refused to play if the resignation demands were not met.

    Especially on this Veterans’ Day, this video is worth watching.  (H/T to reader) 

    [14nov15 update]  Friday the thirteenth in Paris – bad omen.  ISIS, Obama’s JV team of terrorists, is operating freely on three continents, and most freely in western countries with liberal democratic societies.  Yesterday’s attacks in the City of Lights is a definite game changer, and will also affect attitudes about the hordes of illegal Muslim migrants now swarming across Europe’s borders.  My irritation continues with the know-nothing journalists who still continue to call this the ‘war on terror’ of which it is nothing of the kind – as before, WW2 was not a ‘war on the mechanized division’.  For a broader view about the portents for Europe and perhaps America, I direct your attention to this Stratfor report – ‘What to Expect After the Nov. 13 Paris Attacks’.

    WorplaceViolence

    Posted at

    in

    , ,
    120 comments on Scattershots – 11nov15 (updated 14nov15)

  • Catalonia yearns for independence

    George Rebane

    So contrary to the progressives’ push for a global leviathan are the yearnings of uncounted peoples each of whom share a common language, faith, heritage, traditions, and history.  The collectivist mind does not understand that such people above all want self-determination and independence, and a corner of the world in which they can be with their own kind.  It isn’t that each of these cohorts thinks that they are better than the others or that they harbor hatred for people who are different, but it is that they want to live their daily lives among neighbors they know, neighbors whose social behavior they can reliably predict, neighbors with whom they can celebrate their history and with whose children they can educate and raise their own in a manner that upholds and values their origins and the legacy of their ancestors.

    Catalonia01Catalonia forms the eastern part of Spain with Barcelona as its capital.  Its 7.5 million Catalans have a long history of being autonomous, semi-autonomous, and a forcibly integrated part of other empires.  Through it all the Catalans have retained and practiced their own culture and today see themselves as distinct and wish to separate from the central government of Spain.  In spite of strong opposition by Madrid, several political initiatives are again being set in motion to move Catalonia toward complete independence.  (more here, here, and here)

    The Catalans are joined by numerous other ethnic peoples on all continents who seek their roots and their own place in the sun.  In Europe alone there are activist movements in 25 countries to separate and declare their autonomy (more here).   Here in the United States we have outlined a number of movements of various people who no longer believe that the current political map of the country serves in the best interest of the several ethnic, cultural, and political groupings of Americans.  To all these yearnings our leftwing central planners and their gruberized constituency are totally blind.  Their fantasy is the opposite of the existential global yearnings.  They seek instead to pursue the objectives of UN’s Agenda 21 and work for a unified and homogenized world order under one central government that shares all the important aspects of Marxist-Leninist thought for how humanity should organize itself.

    It is a sad commentary that here in the land of the free and home of the brave, every day fewer Americans are able to perceive these massive and longstanding tensions as our elites trumpet the benefits of an Orwellian future through their eagerly compliant lamestream outlets.  Those of us who still care to preserve some of that which the Founders left us advocate for separations like the formation of Northern California (nee State of Jefferson).  So let us wish the Catalans success in their ongoing efforts to retrieve and live in their own sovereign nation-state.

    Posted at

    in

    , ,
    3 comments on Catalonia yearns for independence

  • RR Glossary & Semantics – V9nov15

    George Rebane

    From time to time RR's Glossary & Semantics is updated to provide readers with the more precise definitions of words that I use in my scribblings.  Since the information carrying capacity of English is decreasing, due primarily to run amok political correctness and the increase in national dumbth, such a glossary becomes necessary when we join to slice, dice, and debate complex issues and current events.  The latest version of this post may always be accessed from the top right panel of this website, and the pdf of the document itself is available here -  Download RR Glossary&Semantics_v190206

    Posted at

    in

    No comments on RR Glossary & Semantics – V9nov15

  • Frank Pinney on Preventable Global Warming

    George Rebane

    Kudos to Mr Frank Pinney for placing a full page ‘Paid Advertisement’ essay on the PGW hoax in the 9nov15 Union.  He summarizes in one place extensive data and information (covered here and on other regional blogs over the years) into one piece that also has a distinctly local flavor to it.  Its appearance now is timely due to the UN Climate Change Convention scheduled in Paris for later this month.  The figure below is copied from the online edition of The Union.  Click on it to enlarge and use the magnifying glass and/or ‘Ctrl +’ to further enlarge for comfortable reading.

    FrankPinney_AGWad

    Posted at

    in

    , , , , ,
    31 comments on Frank Pinney on Preventable Global Warming

  • ‘Put down your arms, resistance is futile!’

    George Rebane

    I sent the following letter to The Union after reading the latest ‘resistance is futile’ offering from a well-meaning neighbor in Auburn.

    ***

    Mr Gregg Littell’s thoughtful 7nov15 piece, ‘The idea of 'armed rebellion' in the U.S. is ludicrous’, disturbs on several counts.  First and foremost his arguments ignore historical and ongoing realities.  More distressingly he paints a hopeless picture for humanity since tyranny is the most easily attainable and stable form of governance known – tyrannies replace tyrannies ad nauseum.  With an armed populace the American Revolution showed humanity how it could answer ‘Can man govern himself?’ with a resounding YES!

    Today, after decades of meticulous preparation, the American leviathan is in rapid ascent toward global governance with half of us applauding its progress.  Mr Littell’s hopeless analysis of the futility of armed resistance is contradicted by all autocratic governments, joined now by America, that acknowledge disarming its citizens is the sine qua non necessary and sufficient precondition to a centrally planned state with a compliant population.  Ultimately America’s freedoms will be reinstated and preserved by a newly educated citizenry that rejects a carefully crafted imperious America, and instead sees a truly exceptional nation that has delivered by far the most wealth, enlightenment, and hope to the world’s poor and oppressed.  My blog has a more complete response to Mr Littell’s counsel. 

     ***

    Of course there is much more to be said about the ‘futility notion’, and RR readers and I have pretty well covered the waterfront on these pages over the last eight years.  The Union’s 200-word letter limit didn’t allow me to add the following for their readers which here I summarize in a painfully abbreviated set of points.  Hopefully our learned and well-read readers can recall the appropriately extended arguments.

    (more…)

    Posted at

    in

    , , ,
    21 comments on ‘Put down your arms, resistance is futile!’

  • Sandbox – 6nov15

    [While Dr Ben Carson's political fate is being dissected on the 1nov15 sandbox, readers wishing to pursue other threads may now start fresh with sharing their insights on issues yet to be uncovered, or maybe not, for there are always a few dead horses out there who can do with another lash or two.  gjr]

    Posted at

    in

    163 comments on Sandbox – 6nov15

  • On the way to our Uncommon Core

    George Rebane

    [This is the transcript of my regular KVMR commentary broadcast on 4 November 2015.]

    America’s K-12 education has suffered hard times for over forty years.  Tons of money have been blown into the winds, and all kinds of state and federal programs have been tried to improve the amount our kids learn and then retain after high school.  The results have been disappointing to say the least, and an unmitigated disaster when we look at our standing in the competitive global marketplace.

    The latest fix for getting our young people educated is Common Core, a new educational program that everyone has heard about yet few people understand.  Common Core is supposed to be a set of teaching, knowledge achievement, and testing standards that is going to elevate educational performance to a new uniform and high level across the country.  These standards were not designed to define the details of curriculum.  But they turned out to be so confusing that most school districts trying to implement them had so many problems developing curriculum, that they started copying from those few districts which looked like they had cracked the curriculum code.  But developing compliant curricula was just the beginning of what has now turned into a trail of tears in the attempt to get all 50 states on the same educational page with uniformly executed standards and tests.

    When the federal government promised to fund some start-up costs, 45 states initially decided to adopt the new standard.  And when Washington started giving money to districts they thought were correctly implementing Common Core, it quickly promised to become a de facto federal standard.  A number of states did not like this, especially as it became clear that implementing Common Core would require a large effort to train teachers to teach the new curriculum, then to test the students with tests that were expensive and still not uniform, and finally to establish a new layer of liaison with other districts and the federal bureaucracy to make sure that your school district was doing it right.

    The response to date has been that many states have withdrawn from Common Core in ways ranging from complete abandonment, through drafting their own revisions, to opting out of specific components such as the uniform testing program.  In short, Common Core has delivered anything but its intended basis for a common curriculum and testing standards that span the K-12 grades.  And more states continue to declare that they are rejecting additional features of Common Core.  In some states the very name ‘Common Core’ has become such a toxic political issue that its use is officially banned, with people referring to it simply as “higher standards”. (more here)

    But the real bombshell is yet to come as the bumpy introduction of Common Core continues.  This administration has decided to join with progressive activists to change even more radically the face of education.  According to the new thinking, it turns out that all modern education has been based on a wrong premise – simply too much emphasis has been placed on merit, and too much effort has been expended to test and determine levels of our students’ meritorious achievement. 

    Last month President Obama led the way when he ‘recommended limiting the amount of time students spend on testing, stating that excessive testing “takes the joy out of teaching and learning.”’  So what kind of encouragement does this give to school districts still attempting to come up with tests that uniformly measure coast-to-coast student performance?

    Taking up the president’s challenge, today progressive activists like lawyer Erica Etelson present a much more radical argument that describes ‘How the Myth of Meritocracy ruins students’ and society.  According to this theory, the very notion of merit leads to all the social ills of discrimination and resulting inequality in everything from wealth, income, jobs, self-esteem, social standing, …, you get the idea.   And for that reason and that alone, schools should no longer test and differentiate on the basis of learning achievement and intellectual merit.

    In this new post-Common Core world, schools would be redesigned to remove discomfiting challenges, and return education to some bygone era filled with the joy of teaching and learning of which President Obama spoke.  The result, according to Ms Etelson would be a society in which wealth and achievement is distributed equally to everyone according to their need.  Now where have we heard that before?

    My name is Rebane, and I also expand on this and related themes on Rebane’s Ruminations where the transcript of this commentary is posted with relevant links, and where such issues are debated extensively.  However my views are not necessarily shared by KVMR.  Thank you for listening.

    Posted at

    in

    , ,
    22 comments on On the way to our Uncommon Core

  • Ruminations – 4nov15 (updated 9nov15)

    "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." – Mark Twain

    George Rebane

    NPR reported this morning that conservatives across the country had a great night celebrating Republican and Tea Party victories in yesterday’s elections.  Meanwhile, the know-nothing local Left continues its happy dancing that everything to the right of socialism is doomed, and soon we’ll all be together in that Great Global Collective where everything is finally equal.  (more here)

    In ‘The Next Climate Scandal’ Holman Jenkins reports that NOAA is refusing to turn over emails involved in its last doctoring of temperature data that had to massaged for the 16th time in order to hide the insults to which it has been subjected in order for it to confess the politically mandated global warming in preparation for the upcoming Paris Hysteria Fest.  Meanwhile, a body of international scientists are predicting a new cooling epoch (here), as countries across the world are busy adjusting upward their local temperature logs to better support the foregone conclusion from Paris, and argue how much they have been and will be damaged by the politically correct higher temperatures. (more here)  This circus promises to be extraordinary in its scope and demanded remediations. 

    SEIU, your favorite sleazebag public employees union, suffered a defeat in Washington state.  Their latest overreach was to gather home healthcare workers into their avaricious bosom, demanding dues for negotiating pay scales which compensate some of these workers.  This worked for a while until the Supreme Court said that was violation of the First Amendment, and the workers could quit SEIU any time they wanted.  Well, SEIU then fought against the workers being informed of their newly granted rights.  When that didn’t work and the word got out, more than 50% of the workers immediately dropped out and lent their data to the latest study about how fast people leave unions when they have a choice.  (more here)

    [6nov15 update]  Did you notice that the leftwing politicians are not picking up ‘Big Oil’s Windfall Losses’?  Along with the 6nov15 WSJ, I am reminded of the lamestream's silence surrounding the massive pullback in the oil and gas industry with thousands of job losses, cancelled projects, plummeting share prices, and huge reductions and even losses in profits.  According to progressives' received wisdom, such things were not supposed to happen to an industry that is the embodiment of evil and really has control of the world.

    Obama’s refusal to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built on his watch was the termination of a 7+ year game of political sleazeball.  The reasons given were so out of the park with reality that in my mind the occasion was another milestone on this administration’s rogue road to maximally damage the United States.   EVERYTHING this man and his minions have done (and refused to do) has been exactly 180 out of what would have benefitted America and Americans.  I cannot think of a single exception.  If we argue that his actions are the result of inexperience and being inept, then we should expect that at least one thing with his name on it would have accidentally been of benefit to the country.  But since that is not the case, simple probabilistics advises that the man had in mind to cause exactly the damage that we have witnessed and continue to bear.  January 2017 cannot arrive quickly enough.

    [8nov15 update]  The travesty that is Obamacare continues on many fronts.  The latest news of the collapse of more than half of the states’ insurance exchanges is creating chaos for hundreds of thousands of Americans who believed in the crap government ladled out about the national healthcare program.  The reality is that people are having their policies canceled, some cancer patients with tragic consequences since their care hospitals only admitted them into treatments if covered by Obamacare.  The alternatives for these people now remain in the greatly diminished private healthcare market.  But the other revealing aspect of this latest of Obamacare failures is that the leftwing lamestream is completely silent on the matter – for them and their readers (some of whom comment here) this catastrophe never happened, and the Kool-Aid keeps flowing from the administration.

    [9nov15 update]  Bernie Sanders is a certifiable idiot – evidence here.

    Posted at

    in

    , , ,
    6 comments on Ruminations – 4nov15 (updated 9nov15)

RR FUNDAMENTALS

About the Bastiat Triangle

Glossary & Semantics

A Conservetarian Credo

Commenting Rules

RECENT POSTS

RECENT COMMENTS

CATEGORIES

58 comments on Progressives et al on ISIS et al