An idea for how to deal with California, or other bankrupt states.

California’s pension system is based on impossible assumptions and deception of the taxpayers and legislators.     Though it is probably in violation of Article IV of the Constitution, any state that bankrupts itself and requires a Federal bailout should lose its status as a state, including representation in Congress and the Electoral College, for some determined length of time.  Let them go back to Territorial Status and apply for readmission when they can show that they can govern themselves responsibly.

Youtube video fun

The fun really starts just over a minute in:

This is really well done:

I like the opening sequence almost as much as the project itself:

For the entire text of what Bart wrote, go here.

Assorted links and commentary

Time to bring back hanging them from the yardarm : current international law is insufficient for the growing piracy in the Gulf of Aden region.

Winston Churchill is undoubtedly turning over in his grave:  the Obama/Cameron era marks the end of the “Special Relationship” between the US and Great Britain. Both nations, and the world, will be worse off for the lack of it.

Vodkapundit notes two stores about doctors in the Lone Star State:  they’re dropping Medicare patients due to reimbursement cuts that make it economically impossible for them to treat them.

“You do Medicare for God and country because you lose money on it,” said Culpepper, a graduate of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. “The only way to provide cost-effective care is outside the Medicare system, a system without constant paperwork and headaches and inadequate reimbursement.

And the doctors that stay in the system are almost always trained abroad.  Will they be able to provide the same level of care?

The Religious Zealotry of the Left, plus some other links

The political zealotry of the Left increasingly resembles religious fervor:

Even the Obama campaign’s ubiquitous logo—the letter O framing a rising sun—would not have surprised the scholar Eric Voegelin. In The Political Religions (1938), Voegelin traced rulers who employed the image of the sun—a symbol of “the radiation of power along a hierarchy of rulers and offices that ranges from God at the top down to the subject at the bottom”—from the pharaoh Akhenaton to Louis XIV and eventually to Hitler.

Environmentalism is a cult with many practices:

Environmentalism does indeed tell its adherents “what to eat” (pesticide-free organic food, preferably grown nearby to cut down on trucking) and “how to travel” (by public transportation or, better yet, bicycle). But it also lays down rules on nearly every aspect of life in a consumer economy: how to wash your clothes (seldom); how to wash yourself (take a shower, not a bath, and use a low-flow showerhead); how to light your house (with fluorescent bulbs); how to choose your TV (look for the Energy Star logo!); how to go to the bathroom (with high-efficiency toilets and recycled paper); how to invest, clean, sleep, and dress (in environmentally friendly companies, with nontoxic chemicals, on sheets made of “sustainable fibers,” and in clothes made of the same); and even how to procreate (Greenpeace has issued a guide to “environmentally friendly sex”). Think about the life that a truly conscientious environmentalist must lead! Compared with it, the devout Muslim’s five daily prayers and the pious Jew’s carefully regulated diet are a cakewalk.

And they claim they are outside the limitations imposed by the First Amendment:

The emerging liberal religions are very different: as emotionally captivating for some, at least for a time, as Christianity or Judaism, but untrammeled by any constitutional amendment; as grounded in faith, but pretending to dwell in the realms of reason and science.

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John Fund on how Democrats are trying to bring Puerto Rico in as the 51st state, in the interest of increasing their hold on Congress, and against the wishes of native Puerto Ricans

George Will on Greece and GM, and the insanity of bailouts when the government is borrowing 40% of every dollar it spends

The “polarization” of our politics starts at the top:  with Obama’s liberal agenda and his disregard for those who disagree with him

Why doesn’t the world want to know what is in the Soviet Archives???

Funny things from around the Interwebz

No real rhyme or reason, just found too many fun things while browsing, and didn’t want to over-clutter Facebook.

The coming Middle Eastern War

For more in the vein of my last entry, see this interesting post by Daniel Jackson.

For Israel to attack first will immediately set off rocket bombardments from Syria and Hizbullah. The lunatics in Hamastan will also join in but they will be the first to feel the IDF fist. There will be no pulling punches this time. The question is whether the West Bankers will also open fire. The general Israeli feeling, given their training, is that the expectation is that all hell will break loose.

Israel has required all new housing to include bomb shelters–BIG ones built into the foundations of all new constructions–iron, steel, and thick concrete. These things will hold; so, the majority of damage will be real estate. Ironically, those at risk are those who have been flaunting the housing codes–many of the Israeli Arabs in the north. As in 2006, rockets can’t tell the difference between believers and infidels.

In 2006, Hizbullah lacked both accuracy and power. This will not be the case in this war. Their fire power is hot and heavy. But they are up against a professional army that has been drilling and preparing constantly for the last four years under a tough and charismatic infantry soldier. This will not be an IAF war. The IDF is prepared. After the missiles, expect the Israelis response to be strong.

For a country where officials are not accountable in local elections directly to the electorate, there is a lot of road building, resurfacing, and repair going on. Virtually EVERY major roadway has been resurfaced right down to the matrix. Amazing. One might say that these roads are now able to handle loads of up to 50 tons on 18 wheels.

Security is tight. Young men and women in green dress in Kevlar now as a matter of course. Small convoys are everywhere–earlier this week on my drive to the Negev, I saw numerous squads of green armor clad warriors on foot going house to house. Route 443 that runs from Jerusalem to Modi’in has new razor wire as of yesterday. AND, the reserve police (in green) are staffed by gristled men our age patrolling parks and back roads.

Read the whole thing.

This is where our inaction has trapped us

“The coming war.”  So Caroline Glick describes the nearly inescapable conflict brewing in the Middle East, in a chilling article in the Jerusalem Post.  She describes the preparations by Iran and its satellites:

Syria and Iran have armed Hizbullah with some 40,000 missiles and rockets, including hundreds of Scud missiles and guided surface-to-surface solid fuel M600 missiles with a 250 km. range. This week, Hizbullah threatened to attack Israel with non-conventional weapons. Syria itself has a formidable chemical and biological arsenal as well as a massive artillery and missile force at its disposal.

As for Hamas, since Operation Cast Lead Iran’s Palestinian proxy Hamas has expanded its own missile arsenal. Today it reportedly has projectiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and beyond.

From the open preparations for war that Iran and its clients have undertaken, it is clear that if they initiate the next round of fighting they will fight a four-front war against Israel. That war will be dominated by missile attacks against the entire country, aimed at breaking the will of the Israeli people while forcing the IDF to divert vital resources away from Israel’s primary target – Iran’s nuclear installations – to contend with Iran’s proxies’ missile stores.

If Israel is to act, on its own, against Iran’s nuclear program, then it will have to take all this into account as part of its plans, and will be required to preemptively strike all these enemies:

the side that initiates the conflict will be the side that controls the battle space…  Armed with these understandings, it is apparent that Israeli contingency plans for war must have limited goals and should be guided by the overarching aim of beginning and ending the war quickly. Luckily, Israel excels at limited, swift campaigns.

Israel must launch a preemptive strike against Hizbullah’s missiles and missile launchers, Syria’s missiles, artillery and launchers, and Hamas’s missiles and launchers. As for their short-range rockets, Israel should do its best to intercept them and otherwise hunker down to weather the storm of Katyushas and Kassams. Life of the homefront won’t be easy.

And, inevitably, Israel will be roundly denounced by every Arab nation, the United Nations, and many in Europe.  Iran may close the Persian Gulf to oil traffic.  Economic markets will be roiled.  Terrorist cells may be unleashed.  Pandora’s box is opened, and who knows what horrors rush forth.

Over a year of Obama’s vaunted “smart diplomacy”, and still the Iranians march relentlessly towards possession of nuclear weapons, and therefore towards placing Israel in the position of having to make a fateful decision.  Perhaps it is Obama’s intention that Israel be forced to act, and so spare the US the need to do so.  And Israel gets to take the heat.

Turbulent times are coming.

F*&K the War on Drugs

I’m in favor of enforcing the law….and I’m not convinced that legalization would solve anything, but this sort of thing should not be happening in the United States of America! (warning for language and violence):

What appears to have been a very average middle class home, with a perfectly normal family, and they get the fucking stormtrooper raid treatment?  They only found enough marijuana for a misdemeanor charge–less than 35 grams in Missouri!  And what’s even more rich, they filed a charge of child endangerment against him, when they are the bastards who came into his home, armed to the teeth, and killed his dog in front of his 7 year old son.

I’m fucking pissed.  I can easily imagine myself in this situation, and I’ve never even possessed marijuana.  But I can imagine myself being as bewildered and frightened as this family was, and that makes me angry.  This is the fucking United States of America.  I’m not supposed to be frightened of my government.

Which is the Party of the Rich, again?

Floodblogging

I’ve been posting things to Facebook all day, sharing things I find informative or enjoyable.  I thought it might be useful to post a bunch of the links I’ve been following in one place.

The slideshows at the website of WSMV Channel 4 have been great for seeing photos of the damage.

I’ve been monitoring the Cumberland River level all day, watching for how it might impact Nashville.

At TVA’s website you can see how much water is being released from the major dams in the area in any given hour.   At this hour, the Old Hickory Dam, which releases water from Old Hickory Lake into the Cumberland River, is releasing 222,400 cubic feet per second, the most it has ever released at one time.

The Tennessean’s website, and the website of News Channel 5, have been great sources of info, pictures, and video.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) website has been useful for getting some sense of the scale of the disaster.  Be sure to click on “Road Conditions” at the left, and let the page update.  The blue lines show roads deemed unusable.

The Mayor’s website has good info, including road closures.

This is Music City after all, and one gifted songwriter has composed a great little ditty about the event: