Blogs For Victory

Mish has an excellent run down of the sheer idiocy the IMF and ECB are carrying on regarding Portugal, Greece and rest of Europe’s bankrupt “PIIGS”. Meanwhile, over at Zero Hedge there is an excellent article of just what everyone can expect when (not if, when) Greece defaults. Not a pretty picture, anywhere you look.

Massive protests are spreading across Spain and unrest continues to grow in Greece and Portugal. People are demonstrating mostly over the tax hikes and benefit cuts being imposed to meet IMF and ECB requirements for more funding. To be sure, all of the European nations need to trim their socialist welfare system, but I’m all sympathy for the regular folks there. Sure, they voted in to office twits who promised them no work and high benefits, so this mess if fundamentally of their own making…but, then again, why should a Greek or Spaniard agree to a lower standard of living so that bond holders don’t lose money? Additionally, why should Germans and Frenchmen agree to tax themselves so that more money can be provided for profligate, bankrupt States?

But the wheels of the Ruling Class continue to grind forward. In Spain, the government’s response to the protests is to insist that no one is allowed to protest at the moment, so please go home (the Spanish people don’t seem to be listening, however). Protests, money printing, more loans to pay off old loans…all a bunch of nonsense. The bottom line is that countries like Greece and Spain cannot pay their debts – not now, not ever. Doesn’t matter how much they jack up taxes and cut benefits, there isn’t enough money in either country to pay off the full debt load and there never was. Essentially, financial gamblers bet that reality would never show up and kept loaning money to people who could never pay. The rational response to this would be to just default, pay off at, say, 50 cents on the dollar, and have done with it.

Ah, but the bond holders have the ear of government and governments are deathly afraid of a crash – it might result in the worst possible outcome: loss of office at the next election. So, they’ll keep twisting and turning and hoping against hope that something will turn up to avert catastrophe. They will be disappointed in their hopes – there is no way out of this other than by default. And default really isn’t the worst thing possible – all it does is allow everyone to find out what everything is really worth and then move forward. Sure, some banks will fold and unemployment will rise (though with unemployment already at 21% in Spain, this might not be as noticeable as you think)…there will be three or four bad years as everything shakes out. But once past it, you’re past it – debts defaulted upon cannot burden you a second time. With a bit of wisdom and grit (mostly in the areas of cutting back on the more lavish aspects of welfare, and then also being willing to work hard), things will improve fairly quickly…and in ten years it will be like it never happened.

Unless, that is, they really do keep trying to put it off – because the longer they put it off, the worse it will be when the wheels come off the cart. This, by the way, is why I’m a “gloom and doom” person regarding the economy – even if one wishes to believe that we are in a genuine recovery, the economic fundamentals around the world are so weak that another crash is bound to happen some where, and some time soon…and when the string does finally snap, it will take down one financial institution and/or government after another. It’ll be kind of like the collapse of the Creditanstalt in 1931 – just a bank, but when it went down it exposed the underlying bankruptcy of the global financial system…and that is when the thus-far normal depression of 1929 turned in to the Great Depression of the 1930s. We’re teetering right on that cliff right now…

From the Guardian:

Doctors are blaming financial pressures on the NHS for an increase in the number of patients who are not being treated within the 18 weeks that the government recommends.

New NHS performance data reveal that the number of people in England who are being forced to wait more than 18 weeks has risen by 26% in the last year, while the number who had to wait longer than six months has shot up by 43%…(emphasis added)

The government recommends that you be treated within 18 weeks. 18 weeks! That is four months. I know a man who was diagnosed with kidney cancer just a few weeks ago – a couple weeks from now he goes for his final consult, probably have surgery to remove it a couple weeks after that. Call it 10 or so weeks from start to finish. Over in socialized-medicine Britain, if they got to you in 18 weeks, they would consider that to be good performance.

And that is what Obama and the Democrats want to bring to America – government run health care, which means health care rationing. Because that is what this is – rationing on the sly. Rather than just bluntly tell people about it they just up the wait times…knowing that a certain percentage of people who need in-patient treatment will simply die, thus relieving the budget. This is where “death panels” come in, for real – people who decide whom to admit will be choosers of the slain, deciding who lives and who dies.

Government cannot provide health care. Not now, not ever. It simply isn’t possible. There isn’t enough money – let alone medical staff – to provide everyone with all the free care they desire at any given moment. Even with the best of intentions, the trick simply cannot be done. All you’ll do by putting government in charge is take yourself entirely out of the decision-making process. Sure, insurance companies are lousy in their own way, but you’ve got at least some leverage with them…you have none with government. With government, you just have to sit there and take it. There will always be a shortage of personnel and money for health care – choose what you want: a faceless, government bureaucrat who has been ordered to cut costs, or an insurance company afraid you’ll sue?

I’ll take the lousy insurance company…

From Reuters:

Some prominent Jewish Americans are rethinking their support for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election bid after he effectively called on Israel to give back territory it has occupied since 1967 to Palestinians.

The backlash after Obama’s keynote speech on the Middle East has Democratic Party operatives scrambling to mollify the Jewish community as the president prepares to seek a second term in the White House…

But will it really mean anything? The only other voting group which is more blindly loyal to the Democrat party is African-Americans. It is bizarre how both those voting blocks keep with the Democrats – liberal Democrat policies actually harm black people, and yet they stay loyal. Meanwhile, time and time again liberal Democrats have demonstrated both their hatred of Israel and their growing anti-Semitism, yet when election day comes around, Jews flock to the Democrat party. Obama just cut Israel off at the knees with his asinine speech about going back to 1967 – sure, it is causing some ripples, but I won’t believe it will change Jewish American voting habits until I see it in actual votes.

It is, though, time for American Jews to rethink their support for the Democrat party. Even if you have issues with Israeli policy and don’t support Zionism, it is clear that Jews are under greater threat than any time since the 1930’s. Whatever Republicans, conservatives and Christians may have done to Jews in the past, the fact of the matter is that in 2011, the only place Israel or a Jew can find a firm friend is among the ranks of Republicans, conservatives and Christians. And I’m not talking about just any old friend – we’ll actually go to war to defend Israel. All Israel and the Jews can expect from liberals is more speeches like Obama’s, increasing anti-Semitism and, “can you please still shell out the campaign bucks?”.

It is very much time for a change – and I hope we see it in 2012.

A bit of caution:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In (those) days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be (also) at the coming of the Son of Man…” – Matthew 24:36-39

Anyone ever trying to sell an end of the world story is lying. Period. No one can ever know this bit of information.

Naturally, because a few misguided people are claiming that today is the day, lots of people are trying to make it out as a Christian thing. As if Christians, in general, believe this to be the case. The work of a few fools is being used to ridicule the faith.

Of course, one thing which can happen literally at any moment is your own death. You do not know if you’ll be alive even to read the end of this post…so, be prepared. Do not wait until tomorrow to make your peace with God. The only time you have is right now, this very moment. Make the most of it.

UPDATE: The Anchoress has a Rapture Roundup

It has been announced that China will provide Pakistan, free of charge, 50 fighter jets. These are the JF-17 fighters built in cooperation between China and Pakistan, with Pakistan already set to obtain about 150-250 of the machines (these jets are built so that nations with worthless military forces can pretend they are powerful…for the most part, they get run down for lack of proper maintenance and then, if they offend us, shot down in droves by superior American pilots and aircraft…and the F-35 is so vastly superior to this JF-17 that they should be built with a self-destruct device so those who buy then can destroy them on the ground and save us the trouble). And so, the whole point of China saying they’ll pony up for 50 (whether additional to the original order or just as a discount) is to tweak America. China wants to do this because China is an enemy States which seeks to displace us in Asia. Pakistan wants to do it because parts of Pakistan are upset that we killed bin Laden. So, what do we do?

Tell the Pakistanis that if this happens, we’ll cut them off without a cent. It is, perhaps, time to advise the Pakistanis that while they are sandwiched between Afghanistan and India and are barely able to control their own territory, offending us is a bad idea. This can be done quietly – there is no need to rub Pakistan’s face in it – but it needs to be done. Third rate powers which seek to play us off against another power need to know that we don’t go along with that. We don’t need Pakistan, but they do need us – if for no other reason than to keep India from squashing them like a bug. It is best to advise the Pakistanis of this state of affairs as soon as possible.

From NRO’s The Corner:

An instant classic and hard-to-beat quote of the day:

In matters of sex, as of war, Europeans are from Venus. They mock Americans’ puritanism about the sex lives of public figures. For a politician to cheat on his wife in America is a sign of dishonesty. Witness the opprobrium heaped on Arnold Schwarzenegger over the new revelation that he had fathered a child out of wedlock. In much of Europe, affairs can be a badge of virility. That is the insinuation of an interview given by none other than Mr Strauss-Kahn’s wife, Anne Sinclair. Asked in 2006 whether she minded her husband’s reputation, she replied: “No, I’m rather proud of it! It’s important for a politician to seduce. As long as he seduces me and I seduce him, that’s enough for me.”

I hate to break it to the gentle lady, but unless her marriage vows included her husband saying, “I won’t forsake all others and will diddle with every tart I can find”, then he has broken his word each and every time he had an affair. In some circles, this is known as lying – as being dishonest. Traditionally, people who are routinely dishonest are not the best people to have in charge of important issues – such as where the International Monetary Fund sends money. The reason for this is that is that it is highly likely that a person who is commonly found to be a liar about one thing will almost certainly prove to be a liar about other things.

In addition to this, while Mrs Strauss-Kahn might have that degenerate, European upper class attitude about sexual affairs (and this has been prevalent in Europe for a long time – Google “Restoration rake” and see how far back it goes), there is the possibility that some of Mr Strauss-Kahn’s conquests had different ideas. Like, perhaps, that a sexual affair is a matter of importance and involves more than a rich, middle aged sex maniac getting his rocks off. When such a man set out to gratify his lusts, he almost certainly leaves a trail of women who have been hurt – even if the rape allegation proves false, that would not be an indication that all of Mr Strauss-Kahn’s affairs were harmless.

Such is the Ruling Class, my friends; much worse in Europe than in the United States, but our side seems to be determined to catch up – or, more accurately, “catch down”. It is a race to the gutter after all – even if it perfumed with money and fashionable clothes.

But out of this sewer, our Ruling Class proposes that we continue to allow them to tell us how to live. They really think they are above all that; superior alike to us and to basic decency. They know better than us, you see? All that tiresome bit about being honorable – in marriage, in government, in business – that is just for the little people, not for them.

And in case any out there still wondered why I’m a revolutionary…

According to the Daily Ticker:

The world is headed for an economic slowdown, according to the Economic Cycle Research Institute’s (ECRI) Long Leading Index of global industrial growth.

“It is not country specific, but imagine if you could add up all the activity in factories around the world and see if it was accelerating or decelerating, that is what this indicator is focused on,” says Lakshman Achuthan founder and managing director of the research center. “And it has been telling us very clearly, unambiguously, that we have a peak in global industrial growth this summer.”…

The good news is that they don’t predict a full-blown recession – the bad news is that I think that a lot of the data they are using to say it won’t be that bad is not exactly true…such as the alleged job creation numbers we’ve been seeing. But, the bottom line is that the economy is about to slide down – how far remains to be seen.

Fundamentally, a sound economy is based upon low debt, sound money, high productivity and careful savings. We have high debt, a weak currency and little to no savings – our productivity is good, but we’re also not producing nearly as much in the United States as we can or should. Our economy is unbalanced and incapable under current tax and regulatory policy of the sustained wealth creation necessary to re-employ all those who lost their jobs, let alone provide the rise in living standards Americans are accustomed to.

While Obama is President, we will simply not get the policies necessary for a genuine economic recovery. Even if collapse doesn’t happen, the economy will not recover until the brakes to recovery set up by Big Government and Big Corporation are removed. The doldrums is the best we can expect…but I fully expect things to get a lot worse.

HAT TIP: Mish’s

From the AP:

Showing no (willingness to commit national suicide), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat alongside President Barack Obama on Friday and declared that Israel would not withdraw to 1967 borders to help (ensure further attacks upon Israel). Obama had called on Israel to be (willing to surrender) just a day earlier.

The Israeli leader said he would make some concessions but Israel (simply isn’t that stupid)…(MSM report edited to reflect reality)

More important than that, what Obama did in his speech was give away the store – now the starting point for the Islamists is an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders, and they’ll be able to cite an American Presidential statement in support of their demand.

Obama’s speech goes beyond asinine. It is a complete refusal to see the plainest facts. Does anyone in Obamaland realize just how many Israelis would have to be “ethnically cleansed” in order to withdraw to the 1967 borders? Do they think that Jews would want to live under Hamas rule? Do they think that Hamas would permit Jews to live freely? When Obama talks about “land swaps”, does he mean that Israel would have to surrender part of its pre-1967 territory in order to “pay” the Islamists for cessions of formerly Arab territory? Obama’s statement is the result of someone who is sitting in an ivory tower – I refuse to believe that anyone in Defense or CIA had a hand in crafting it – no one in those two organizations can possibly be this stupid.

The best course of action is for the Israelis to pretend it was never said – nod your head, smile and then go back to the normal routine. If Obama brings it up again, just smile and nod one more time.

We simply have to get this clown out of office next year – the world is in danger as long as this utter fool is the head of our affairs.

If this is here, it means I’m still frightfully busy – so, enjoy this chance to vent in any way you want. There are still the standard discussions (how badly does Obama suck? can he suck even worse? If his suckiness increases, would even something like President Hillary seem better?), but you are also free to discuss the full range of current issues.

So, have at it.

From First Things – the conservative side of Generation X:

…X-Cons are often Goldwater-style conservatives, holding views that are more individualistic than aligned with historical conservatism. We also tend to have many cafeteria libertarians, those who pick and choose from the buffet of libertarian ideology. X-Cons may, for example, be in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana while opposing the legalization of prostitution. The libertarians in our cohort tend to be less pure than those that came before or after…

Do read the whole thing – I am not an X-Con; nor am I a Boomer. I was born in the last, technical year of the Baby Boom (1964), but am really of neither Boomer nor X generation. I’m kind of generation-less…though more in tune with X than with Boom.

Where do you stand?