Recent commentary: how about that Hope and Change?

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:22 PM

How far have we come in the past year?

(published 2-Nov-2009, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Most folks that voted for "Hope and Change" were simply happy that a Democrat became President. The fact that he's African-American is just icing on the cake. It doesn't matter what he accomplishes; his most endearing feature is that he isn't George W. Bush. But the government has horned in on the financial services industry, the automobile industry, and is trying its darnedest to horn in on the health insurance industry. Some people aren't too happy that we're not out of Iraq or Afghanistan yet, unemployment still hovers near 10%, and inflation will kick in from the huge amounts of money pumped into the economy from government printing presses. Looks like SSDD to me: Same Stuff, Different Day. Dennis Miller put it very succinctly, as usual: it isn't that Empe ... Read More »

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Meat and the sun

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 3:20 AM

I read a story in the London Times Online about Lord Stern and his contention that we should all stop eating meat in order to stop global warming. As I, a confirmed carnivore, was chuckling over Lord Stern's hand-wringing (“I am not sure that people fully understand what we are talking about or the kind of changes that will be necessary”), I read some of the comments to the story.

One chap had it very right, I think. He posted links to two photos of the sun. This one shows the sun in 1997:

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Recent commentary: my favorite conspiracy

By Steve Erbach on Friday, October 23, 2009 10:44 AM

What is your favorite conspiracy theory (either due to its sheer outlandishness or one that you think may have truth behind it)?

(published 26-Oct-2009, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Oh, boy! Conspiracies, man! Neil Armstrong did NOT walk on the moon -- it was all faked. Roosevelt knew beforehand about Pearl Harbor and said nothing. Auto companies have squelched fuel efficiency inventions for decades. Commies put fluoride in our water supplies. Bill Clinton rubbed out dozens of his political opponents. So many to choose from! My favorite conspiracy: it wasn't a Boeing 757 that destroyed part of the Pentagon on 9/11. It was ... wait for it! ... the government!

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Normal human reaction

By Steve Erbach on Friday, October 16, 2009 5:02 AM

One of my family's favorite movies is "How to Steal a Million" with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. It centers around the theft of a valuable statuette from a highly secure museum. O'Toole is the thief and Hepburn is his willing accomplice. The theft is pulled off in large part because of what O'Toole's character refers to as "normal human reaction".

For example:

If a highly valuable statuette is guarded by a seemingly impenetrable alarm system, watch what happens when the alarm is set off: the guards all leave their guard room and go scurrying about trying to catch the thief.
If a very important political person calls the head guard to complain about the noise the alarm makes, then the head guard becomes more concerned for his job if the ... Read More »

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Don't know much about history

By Steve Erbach on Sunday, October 11, 2009 10:55 AM

Never before in human history has a single generation been asked to make such difficult and consequential decisions.

That's from erstwhile Vice President Al Gore's press conference in Madison two days ago. To what is he referring? Political action on human-induced climate change, aka "global warming".

You've heard of the phrase, "tipping point"? The point at which overall climate changes irreversibly. Well, it ain't about actual climate changes anymore:

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Recent commentary: what keeps Wisconsin going?

By Steve Erbach on Monday, October 05, 2009 10:34 AM

What are our area's economic strengths?

(published 5-Oct-2009, Appleton Post-Crescent on-line)

No volcanos, typhoons, or global warming. No mountains, canyons, or deserts either. We DO deal with tornados, flooding, humidity in the summer, lake flies, mosquitoes, snow shoveling, salted streets, potholes, plow damage, and ice storms...and snow. Yeah, we get snow sometimes.

We don't go in too much for ostentation. About the biggest extravagances we indulge in are sports stadiums. We don't got no steenking Picasso Plazas in Wisconsin ... though we DO have that Hadzi ... thing ... monument ... sculpture ... whatchamacallit in Appleton.

Local and state governments can be as bone-headed here as anyplace else, and businesses can find friendlier tax rates in many other states, too. As a result, some businesses have moved their headquarters elsewhere. K-C comes to mind. ... Read More »

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Global warming johnnies have to get their act together

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, October 01, 2009 9:00 AM

Early last year, in March, I think, I joined an Amazon discussion group on global climate change. I threw in my two cents worth from time to time and watched what others posted to get a feel for how serious was the belief that we were all going to perish from an excess of human-induced global warming.

The group is still going almost 400 posts and a year-and-a-half later. But two of the most recent posts (yesterday, as a matter of fact) showed me again that it's hard to take the global warming johnnies (GWJs) seriously.

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