Disengenuos liberal

For anyone interested in how the MSM (liberal) media routinely slimes  conservatives, which is to say every time they write a column about one, here is a piece by Joe Conason, a Boston Globe newspaper columnist, and James Taranto's deconstruction of that column here,.  What you find is a very good example of the genre: a) take quotes out of contact and use to impute bad motives to the speaker; b) accuse anyone who does something that can possibly be construed as racist of being a conservative or a Republican (whether you know he is for a fact or not); and c) simply lie about the the facts of an incident in order to slime your intended subject.  This is what these people do day in day out and have been doing so for many, many years.  It's nice to see someone call them on this "technique" of theirs once in a while:  thank you James Taranto of the WSJ.

A new wine site

The LATimes today featured a story about a wine site that has apparently revolutionized the wine retailing business by providing transparency in pricing that was not available before.  The full story is here.

Saul Alinsky

To this particular historical figure is ascribed most of the evils perpetrated by the left.  But wait a moment!  Turns out not necessarily to be the case as is seen in this review of a book written by one of Alinsky's followers, Nicholas von Hoffman.   Turns out he's more of a savior of the capitalistic system than anyone ever knew, a role some ascribed to Ralph Nader when he wrote Unsafe at Any Speed, wherein he excoriated General Motors for producing the innovative Corvair which, it is true, had severe handling problems in its first iteration. Alinsky apparently was very afraid of big anythin, including big government and big business.  He actually apparently shared some of the beliefs of the arch conservative Barry Goldwater who was afraid of the government involvement in the Civil Rights movement.

Requiem for Obama

There is nothing more to say about the Obama administration and the man than the analysis offered by Fouad Ajami in this WSJ article today.  From day one of his nomination as the standard bearer for one of the two major political parties in the US, many of us were incredulous that a person about whom no one seemed to know anything substantive, ended up in this position.  Once more was revealed about him, but not everything to say the least, it became even more improbable that he could possibly become the President of the US.  But he did, and we are now paying the very heavy price for the foolishness of those who joined Obama's bandwagon and elected an unqualified, inexperienced outsider to the highest political position in the country..  Ajami covers this catastrophic national failure in his article, so nothing more needs to be said here.

Investments

Here"s a view from the usually astute investment group at Pimco.  That the US should follow the Japanese history wherein severe deflation occurred for over 10 years, is really cause for alarm, at least for those who believe the equities market is the place to invest funds.  Clearly the "authorities" will fight this scenario with the printing press and every other means at their disposal, but so did the Japanese "authorities" attempt to solve their problem and failed.  Having visited friends in Japan a couple of years ago we can attest to the extremely high cost of living, at least in Tokyo.  A breakfast at the hotel where we stayed was upwards of $200 and there wasn't much special about the fare.  A cab ride from Narita airport to downtown Tokyo was about $400.  We took a bus service for $40.

Education Reform -- is it possible? revisited

A physics professor at UC Berekley sounds off here about the college education ripoff and suggests a few remedies.
The comments section of the professor's blog provides some really interesting insights.  Bottom line: reforming this monster is going to take a lot of thought and effort as many special interests are involved in the industry, including mega tax payer dollars from state and federal sources which of course serves to politicize the whole matter.

California's path to recovery

For those of us who have lived in California for the past few decades (our family moved here in 1973), it was just a matter of time before the loons caused the state to implode.  If the disaster scenario sits atop a three legged stool, the growth and subsequent power of the state employee unions was the first leg, the enviro-whacko green movement crowd was the second leg, and the out-of-control immigration from south of the border was the third leg. Joel Kotkin of newgeography.com catalogues these various causes in a narrative here, which pretty much accords with what sentient long time residents have observed happening for far too long.  It was just a matter of time.  Kotkin does hold out hope that the worm can turn and these trends et al can be reversed before the disease is terminal.  Welcome to this rat's nest whomever is the next governor and let's hope it's Meg who at least stands a chance of understanding the issues.  "Moonbeam" is way too much in the thrall of all the forces that led us where we are.