Posts Tagged ‘history’

Here is a great measure for the “competing” rallies in Washington this weekend

Posted: August 28, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, opinion/news
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I’ll never forget an event I covered where a crowd was padded by union members ordered there by their steward. I remember the man scanning the crowd to make sure the people he ordered to be there showed up.

I’m very curious how many of Sharpton’s attendees will be “ordered” and bussed to Washington. I also wonder how many are professional paid protesters after all it was a year ago this month that we had this moment:

This clinic is adjacent to Denver’s day laborer pickup street, Park Avenue. Being fluent in Spanish, El Marco asked these guys “¿hablan ingles?” “casi nada” was the reply from our amigo on the left. I asked him if he could tell me what the signs said. “¿Quien sabe?” (who knows?) was all he said to me, with a big grin. I’m kicking myself for not asking them how much they were getting paid to support the grassroots.

The base post is here

I can’t help but remember the Cuba scene from Godfather II

Like in Denver I suspect we will have a set of protesters who are paid to be there (Sharpton’s) vs those who are coming of their own accord (Beck’s). Make sure you take a look at the photos that are run. You won’t see as many wide shots of Sharpton’s crew, particularly not as compared to Becks. The media will present them as equal and opposite. One voice here one voice there. In all things visual you won’t be able to tell the relative sizes of the groups.

Last year’s unbelievably huge 9/12 crowd defied attempts to lowball it:

This year the plan will be to over-count Sharpton & co. I wonder which crowd will leave a cleaner area.

One caveat here, For many in the tea party movement two trips to Washington within two weeks is prohibitively expensive. Don’t be surprised that this march is smaller than the 9/12 one since many tea party groups are going to Washington on 9/12. And the reverse is of course true. In that sense Beck’s Restoring Honor rally is about the power of Beck.

Update: The NYT reports on “parallel rallies” even though the Washington post reports live from the Sharpton event that he has drawn “hundreds”

As town hall says:

There is no equivalence between these two rallies. That won’t stop the MSM from trying to portray them as ‘competing’ gatherings, though.

Guess which narrative the MSM will use?

memeorandum thread here.

What the Economy Needed was Time What it got was Obamanomics

Posted: August 27, 2010 by datechguy in Uncategorized
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In 1864 the incorruptible but unqualified general Nathanael P. Banks led his army up the Red river to what would become an inglorious (or glorious depending on what side you were on) flogging by forces under Richard Taylor.

One of the things that complicated his retreat was that the annual rise of the Red River didn’t materialize. Banks was unlucky in that he hadn’t realized that in 1855 and 1846 (every 9 years) the river failed to rise. Now Banks had no idea about said cycle so perhaps he can be excused for this mistake, but whatever his deficiencies as a general his experience as both Governor of Massachusetts and Speaker of the House of Representatives provided him with the sense to listen to Major Joseph Bailey a person with practical experience in dams, but no formal education. Bailey was not only able to save the fleet by his exertions but provide a dry-shod crossing at a second point in the retreat saving the army.

What does this have to do with the economy? Just this: An economy like the Red River had a regular cycle and during those cycles you can usually tinker a bit without a lot of issue, but the best solution is to wait things out and let the business cycle take it course.

Once in a while however the cycle is extreme, just like the 9 year cycle of the Red. During those times it is very hard to convince people to wait it out. Particularly if previous tinkering have made things worse. When this happens you need people with actual practical, rather than theoretical experience to make a difference.

Right now we are in an extreme business cycle. Like any cycle the best move is to hunker down, not panic, and wait for the cycle to finish.

The problem if you are a political animal is that there is no credit to be had for the business cycle, and when times are bad the people demand action. The trick it to attempt to tweak the cycle so that you are able to take credit when the cycle is in your favor and divert blame to your foes when the cycle is against them.

Now president Obama is not a man with practical business experience. He is surrounded by and has emerged himself with people who’s experience is not in the business cycle, the creation of jobs or the stimulation of an economy and frankly his goals and priorities are in the direction of government control not the free market.

If president Obama had a Joseph Bailey to advise him, he could make tweaks to actually stimulate businesses to hire. He would decrease regulation, drop taxes and make transactions for small business and manufacturers more fluid.

But president Obama decided instead that his statist agenda was the way to go and convinced democrats that his tinkering with the business cycle and allocation of stimulus money would mean a better economy come election day, just in time to keep them in office, and they believed it, the more fool them.

Will the president change course after the election? I don’t think think so, he doesn’t have a Joe Bailey and he wouldn’t listen to one if he had. The republican party will have to do it for him, if they are willing that is.

In appreciation of William Hartnell: the first Doctor.

Posted: August 21, 2010 by datechguy in doctor who, hobbies
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When you see polls of the most popular doctors William Hartnell seem to be often forgotten, very few of his episodes survive as a whole and although we have seen glimpses of him in the current series he remains largely ignored as the generation that watched his episodes are in their late 50’s or above.

As I discovered the series with Tom Baker I had not seen him period, my first glimpse was an image in The Brain of Morbius, the Five Doctors featured a different actor in the role. It wasn’t until I saw the three doctors on WENH 11 that I actually saw him perform in a limited role.

Every other actor who has been on the show has had the burden of living up to an iconic role, but each one of them also had the advantage of an established franchise. An actor who is cast as a companion of the Doctor has a ready source of income for their entire life, the actors who play the doctor even more so. Doctor Who is a multi million dollar worldwide industry that supports and entertains millions upon millions of people.

None of that would be true without the performance of Hartnell. He had none of the history to carry him nor the existing fan base. Like any actor with a new series it was up to him as the primary star to carry the show. A show totally unique in the history of Television. He needed to carry off the role of an almost all knowing and commanding presence while still being appealing to young children. And all of this is done without the special effects and CGI of the modern days.

The combination of knowledge and courage combined with a fatherly figure made him iconic. It is very true that excellent writing and the creation of the Daleks made a huge difference, but if Hartnell failed this would be at best just another set of $1 DVD in a bin if the episodes were saved at all.

Get your hands on an episode or two if you can. Ignore the limited special effects and lack of CGI look at the performances, and let yourself appreciate the grand bequest given first to the British people and then the world

And now a complement for our president

Posted: August 20, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news, war
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As has been reported the last combat troops left Iraq this week. Garrison troops remain and will likely continue to remain for years.

It is fact that George Bush pushed the surge that made victory possible, and that then Senator Obama along with most of the media and intelligentsia opposed it bitterly.

It is also a fact that despite this after assuming office the president continued the policy that allowed this withdrawal to take place in victory rather than in defeat.

With his base angry with him it would have been so easy to demagogue Iraq to appease them with a midterm coming up, he choose not to do so.

Yes it is a bit disconcerting to hear they take credit for what they opposed and watch the media praise them for it, but its a lot better than listening to them describe defeat.

Eyes on the prize, the goal was victory in Iraq, if the price of that is watching people I disagree with do a little victory dance, who cares?

The win in Iraq is good news, the country should be happy and the president can and should take a respectful bow, not only on behalf of himself but of the nation that fought and paid for that victory.

Good show!

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