Tom Faranda's Folly

Gallup Poll: Do Americans fear Big Government or Big Business more?

Not even close. Fear of Big Government in a landslide.

Even Democrats are more afraid of Big Government!

Americans' concerns about the threat of big government continue to dwarf those about big business and big labor, and by an even larger margin now than in March 2009. The 64% of Americans who say big government will be the biggest threat to the country is just one percentage point shy of the record high, while the 26% who say big business is down from the 32% recorded during the recession.

At the link, a couple of easy-to-read charts and graphs show the data.

 

The alternate reality of DNC chairlady Debbie Wasserman Schultz

The things she can say with a straight face ... Bad news for the Dems if she is going to be the face of the Party, spewing nonsense from now until the election.

Cable "News" Race: Daily Show and Colbert whipping CNN and MSNBC

"News" in quotes, since they're not really news (Of course MSNBC isn't really news either, nor are Hannity or O'Reilly.

In fact, thinking abut it, the only real nws show in the list is Baier, and perhaps Cooper.

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,271,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,168,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,030,000
CMDY DAILY SHOW 1,642,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 1,440,000
CMDY COLBERT 1,281,000
MSNBC SCHULTZ 877,000
MSNBC SHARPTON 830,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 797,000
MSNBC MADDOW 722,000
CNNHN GRACE 696,000
CNN COOPER 634,000
CNN PIERS MORGAN 604,000

A military death; the commander; the widow

From today's Washington Post.

A worthy read -

At Army base, intimate and isolated, a soldier’s death brings intense emotion

The relationship between Vowell and Seana, at once distant and uncomfortably intimate, reflects an important change in the American military. In past wars, soldiers were mostly unmarried draftees who ­deployed to combat zones as in­dividuals. Commanders often barely knew their men.

Today, troops fight as units, living and training together for years on gated Army bases far from the country’s big cities. Retired Lt. Gen. David Barno, a former top commander in Afghanistan, calls the practice “exclusionary bonding.”

Poll: Only 35% oppose repeal of Obamacare

While 55% favor repeal. 20% difference - that 's a big gap, even if you figure Rasmussen leans toward the Republicans.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 55% of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law passed by Congress in March 2010, while 35% at least somewhat oppose repeal. The intensity remains on the side of the law’s opponents since these findings include 42% who Strongly Favor repeal versus 26% who are Strongly Opposed.

And here's more from Rasmussen -

Voters Still Trust Republicans More Than Democrats on Economy

And

69% Say Federal Government Lacks Authority To Force Purchase of Health Insurance

Brigid's birthday and a big Feast Day

December 12th is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe AND of course Brigid's birthday.

Having looked back over the past several years on Tim's birthday three days ago, here are a few Brigid pix going back to 2005

My all-time favorite picture, taken at Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica, in April, 2005.

And here's a similar shot, at Disney World, in April 2006.

Brigid climbing Breakneck Ridge, north of Cold Spring, NY, on August 8, 2007. That's Jeanne Marie Gagnon with her, along with Joe (Tom as photographer!).

 

Exactly one year later, Brigid did her first kayaking. After talking for several years about wanting to go kayaking, I got her one for Christmas. She went out for the first time on 8-8-08. The two other women are Rose and Hallie.

September, 2009 at a Church picnic, as Brigid makes a few theological points to our pastor at the time, Fr. Mike Keane.

April, 2010, and Brigid goofing around. The picture of her to the left is about 40 years old.

On the Appalachian Trail, June, 2010. Finishing a day hike from the "Elk Pen" to the "Lemon Squeezer" and back. About five miles. That's our hiking buddy Maria behind Brigid.

This year - May 25th, Joe's graduation -

And Tim's graduation on June 17th!

Brigid loves the fact that she was born on the feast of Gualalupe. And coincidence of coincidences - Tim's December ninth birthday is on the feast of St. Juan Diego, the Mexican Indian who met "the lady".

Here's the story, Our Lady of Guadalupe and a short video.

 

 

Can a Catholic be a liberal? Can a Catholic be a conservative?

A liberal? Yes, but with an asterick.

A conservative? Yes, but with an asterick.

But never mind what I think, here's what Boston College author and philosophy teacher Peter Kreeft thinks.

In the Spirit: Can a Catholic also be a liberal?

"To be a Catholic is to take the whole deal," he told the crowd.

Rugby: World Series 7's circuit

Seven-a-side annual IRB World Series is on. Here's the second day of the Dubai 7's.

 

Teacher's Unions oppose school bullying - unless it's the bullying of teachers who don't toe the line

This is nasty.

... it’s troubling to hear that Kristi LaCroix, the courageous public school teacher who had the guts to film a television ad supporting Gov. Scott Walker’s reforms, is being harassed by union zealots to the point where she wants to change careers.

“Going through and deleting my daily amount of hate mail that is sent to my work email. I have now been assured, by one of the emails (all of which I forward to my Principal) that there is an online movement called ‘Fire Kristi‘ where they are going to email, post and talk to everyone (telling) millions of stories to ruin my reputation, career and life.

“Kind of hard to keep my head up with stuff like this. I have said for a couple of years that I really need to leave teaching. I think that it is time for me to move on.”

Here’s a sample of an email that’s been sent to LaCroix:

“On Facebook there are lots of people willing to join the Fire Kristi movement. You are alone in a wilderness. Your financial help from the likes of the Koch brothers will dry up once your liabilities outweigh your assets, which will be very soon. Your best bet is to start a job search soon. Enjoy your isolation.”

School bullying, right? Hit the link for the whole story.

Not so clever: man gets himself stranded in Alaskan snow for three days; survives on frozen beer

Decides to see what's down the road ...

Alaska man stranded in snow 3 days survives on frozen beer

Clifton Vial, 52, climbed into the cab of his Toyota Tacoma on Monday night in Nome to see how far a road winding to the north would take him.

More than 40 miles out of town, at about 9:30 that night, he found out. As Pink Floyd's "Echoes" played on the stereo and temperature dipped well below zero in the darkness, Vial's pickup plunged into a snowdrift.

"I made an attempt at digging myself out and realized how badly I was stuck," Vial told The Anchorage Daily News. He was wearing tennis shoes, jeans and a $30 jacket from Sears. "I would have been frostbit before I ever got the thing out of there."

Sounds like he had more then a few beers before setting off ...

Tim turns 15 today

Here's a little something he wrote when he was four years old and attending Circle School.

My Mom is white. She likes to play outside with me. She's good at vacuuming. I don't know what she does when I'm at school. She never tells me what she does. I think she vacuums. She makes me laugh when she tickles me. I love her because she vacuums my room.

Ha!

Here are some pictures of Tim, going back to when we got our first digital camera, in 2005.

The first ones are from April, 2005, in Jamaica.

And with Joe in Mandeville, Jamaica -

Here's Tim a year later, April, 2006 at Disney World in Florida

EPCOT - GM

At Teatown with some buddies, July, 2007

Tim, Little League, August, 2008

Thanksgiving, 2009, with his cousin Gregory

October, 2010, Ossining Little League eighth grade football. Tim's # is 56 - which he's had cut into his hair on the back! (At least it's not a tattoo).

This past September, after his first freshman football game, as Stepinac frosh beat Cardinal Hayes, 28-6. Tim started at fullback & linebacker & kicked off & punted! That's his friend Chase, #32.

Tim is making good progress after his knee injury in September. His surgery was over two months ago, and he's started specific physio for his leg. And yesterday - since he's able to do upper body weightlifting - he had a PB (personal best) in the dumbbell incline press. He worked up to one rep with 80 pound dumbbells.

And he's doing well in school - and he's a great kid - rah rah rah!!!!!!!!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception: What did Mary look like?

Thanks to Ed Mechmann for sending around a link to this interesting post and video.

Mother of Us All – A Brief Pondering of the Question, “What does Mary look like?”

Embedded in the post is this video. Brigid tells me it's easy to do this "with the right program and hit a couple of buttons."

It's funny how what you find cool changes as you get older ...

 

The richest country in the year 2050 will be ...

Actually, us the U.S. of A., on a per capita basis.

You may have thought "China", right. HA! Wrongo! On a per capita basis they will actually trail Mexico.

Here's the article in Business Insider, quoting a Goldman Sachs analysis. it is a brief article, with a big bar chart.

Of course, this type of prediction can be wrong ...

CHART OF THE DAY: This Will Be The World's Richest Country In 2050

Goldman has a new report out on The BRICs countries after 10 years, and how global markets will continue to evolve.

"Mythbusters" test goes NOT as planned

Wow. Mythbusters is a very popular Discovery Channel show, which I occasionally watch in the gym.

A three minute video from CBS. It's actually worse then the title suggests. Sorry for the commercial.

'Mythbusters' cannonball hits Dublin home, minivan

Organizations are entitled to use NY public school property in off hours - except a Church

How ridiculous. and the court declines to rule ...

A small Bronx evangelical church on Monday lost the final round of its 16-year legal battle to force New York City to permit religious worship services in public schools, setting the stage for the city to eject dozens of churches and religious organizations that have been using schools for prayer.

The Supreme Court announced that it would not review a lower-court decision that backed the city’s decision to ban the evangelical congregation, the Bronx Household of Faith, from holding its Sunday services at Public School 15, where it has worshiped since 2002.

You have to hit the link to see all the hair-splitting that is done to get to this conclusion.

But ...

A legislative effort to rewrite the state education law that permits the city to ban worship services has already begun. On Thursday, a City Council member, Fernando Cabrera, is expected to announce on the steps of City Hall a resolution in support of a forthcoming State Assembly bill to change the law.

 

Harry Morgan

96 years old. A great run!

I guess best known for Mash (but I never watched the show) but in lots of other TV series - remember Dragnet - and movies.

Washington Post - Harry Morgan

And here's the wiki - Harry Morgan

Stepinac's football captain commits to Yale

Caleb Gilligan-Evans who Tim knows from football, and from Tim's doing the Stepinac summer program.

From the Journal News -

Football: Stepinac's Gilligan-Evans commits to Yale

"We knew from the first day we met Caleb that he was a special kid," O'Donnell said. "He was mature and he was smart. He has always done everything you asked the first time. When he started talking about Yale, we were very excited for him."

******

"I think Caleb found the perfect fit for him," O'Donnell said. "We are excited as a program to become big fans of Yale football."

those quotes are from the Stepinac coach, Mike O'Donnell.

And here, when he won the Westchester Con Edison Scholastic Sports Award

Congratulations To Caleb Gilligan-Evans of Archbishop Stepinac High School

In his four years at Stepinac, Caleb Gilligan-Evans has been the Captain of the Varsity Football team the last three of them. During this time, he has accumulated 3,207 rushing yards, 40 touchdowns and 33 wins while leading his team to two AA Championships & AAA Playoffs. This past week, Stepinac clinched the #2 seed entering this year's AAA Playoffs. During his time at Stepinac, Caleb has earned All-State, All-County, All-CHSFL honors and has been chosen a Daily News All Star and Lohud.com Super 11.

In his free time, Caleb is in on the Crusaders For Life committee and helped run the Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser last Fall. He received the Eisenhower Leadership Award from the West Point Parents Club and was chosen by Westchester Magazine as one of twenty students to watch in Westchester County. He volunteer coaches football at the Hillcrest Boys Club, the Eastchester Blue Devils and the Stepinac Football Camps.

 

Another dopey poll of people's preferences - that actually shows something ...

FULL DISCLOSURE: I don't belong to a political party

What kind of TV shows to democratic and republican party members prefer?

In the findings, “sarcastic” media-savvy comedies and morally murky antiheroes tend to draw Dems. While serious work-centered shows (both reality shows and stylized scripted procedurals), along with reality competitions, tend to draw conservatives.

the report goes on to list the shows favored - The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) for Democrats and liberals - no surprise there - and Swamp Loggers (Discovery) and Top Shot (History) for republicans and conservatives, who also like The Bachelor.

Lots more funky stuff if you hit the link, including a listing of shows the respective groups don't like. And not so oddly, the shows the groups most dislike, are close to the top of shows the other group most like.

MORE FULL DISCLOSURE: the only shows mentioned above that I've very occasionally watched are The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

The bombing in Kabul: CNN was taping when it occurred

"Jesus" indeed (as the cameraman called out).

CNN doesn't allow embedding of videos.

Video shows moment of Kabul blast

British "humor" - Goldfish Funeral

English, but sent to me by occasional contributor Dennis.

Note - a bad word bleeped out ...

 

Senator Coburn (R) of Oklahoma would find it "difficult" to support Gingrich

On FOX, via the Althouse blog.

"I'm not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich's having served under him for four years and experienced personally his leadership," Coburn told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace. "I found it lacking often times."

Pressed for more details about why, Coburn would only say, "There's all types of leaders. Leaders that instill confidence. Leaders that are somewhat abrupt and brisk. Leaders that have one standard for the people they are leading and a different standard for themselves. I just found that his leadership lacking."

 

A British view of the President's upcoming 17 day Hawaii vacation

From the UK tabloid, The Daily Mail -

It must be nice being President... Obama to jet off to Hawaii for SEVENTEEN DAY Christmas vacation

President Barack Obama has announced his Christmas vacation to Hawaii – for a staggering 17-day trip.

Obama, who visited the island just two weeks ago for an economic summit, will head to Honolulu on Saturday December 17 until Monday January 2.

******

It follows an 11-day stay in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, earlier this year, which is also believed to have cost the U.S. taxpayer millions.

Well, there's no doubt the prez is part of the 1%.

Saturday Night Live spoofs President Obama

Not great, but some of it's funny. I don't know the name of the actor (don't watch SNL) who looks the part, but doesn't sound like the Prez.

 

Newt vs. Obama when it come to smartness

Here's a good short posting by Ann Althouse -

Newt + Obama = the largest possible "how smart they think they are" minus "how smart they really are"...

Althouse makes the following point (she was born in '51, same year I was)

In my experience — and I'm old, so it's long — people who make a noticeable exhibition of their smartness are not the most intelligent people. They're not the dumbest people. But the smartest people are strategic about displaying intelligence. That's how they outsmart you.

 

Andy Stern (former head of SEIU Union) on why the Chinese economic model is superior to the US system.

An op ed in the Wall Street Journal last week that's been widely commented on. We should be glad the Journal published Stern, as it shows where he and his ilk really are, ideologically. It's well worth reading in it's entirety. And while Stern was head of SEIU he had the record for most visits by a non-member of the administration to the Oval Office (no joke).

Andy Stern is the current incarnation of Walter Duranty. (Duranty was the Moscow correspondent for the NY Times in the early 30's. He loved the place. Never bothered reporting on the deliberate starvation, etc, etc.)

The free-market fundamentalist economic model is being thrown onto the trash heap of history.

I was part of a U.S.-China dialogue—a trip organized by the China-United States Exchange Foundation and the Center for American Progress—with high-ranking Chinese government officials, both past and present. For me, the tension resulting from the chorus of American criticism paled in significance compared to reading the emerging outline of China's 12th five-year plan. The aims: a 7% annual economic growth rate; a $640 billion investment in renewable energy; construction of six million homes; and expanding next-generation IT, clean-energy vehicles, biotechnology, high-end manufacturing and environmental protection—all while promoting social equity and rural development.

Some Americans are drawing lessons from this. Last month, the China Daily quoted Orville Schell, who directs the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society, as saying: "I think we have come to realize the ability to plan is exactly what is missing in America." The article also noted that Robert Engle, who won a Nobel Prize in 2003 for economics, has said that while China is making five-year plans for the next generation, Americans are planning only for the next election.

"Five Year Plan". Where have we heard that term before?

While we debate, Team China rolls on. Our delegation witnessed China's people-oriented development in Chongqing, a city of 32 million in Western China, which is led by an aggressive and popular Communist Party leader—Bo Xilai. A skyline of cranes are building roughly 1.5 million square feet of usable floor space daily—including, our delegation was told, 700,000 units of public housing annually.

"Popular Communist Party Leader"?

 America needs to embrace a plan for growth and innovation, with a streamlined government as a partner with the private sector.

Yeah, a plan. The governmenat as "partner". Not as regulator; as partner. Remember when Japan bought Rockefeller Center 20 plus years ago? it was going to be "Japan Inc." ruling the world.  

Of course the fact is that China operates as a completely unregulated thuggish, brutish form of capitalism. It really is "The Free Market run by Thugs" (quoting myself).

At last! A book explaining left-handedness ... sort of ...

Here's a short review from the Washington Post which I - being mostly lefthanded - enjoyed. I especially liked the first sentence.

The Puzzle of Left-handedness

Let’s get one thing straight: It’s not weird that 10 percent of the human population is left-handed. It’s weird that 90 percent is right-handed. In all other animals that show handedness (or pawedness or flipperedness), the split is virtually even. So why are humans so lopsided? Nobody really knows.

Sorry, that last line should have carried a spoiler alert, because it gave away the ending — and the middle and the beginning — of “The Puzzle of Left-Handedness.”

******

Turns out it hasn’t always been that bad for lefties. Oh, sure, the left side of things has long been identified with darkness, magic, illness and death. And various cultures associate the left hand with — let’s just say — nasty functions. But all in all humans have conducted surprisingly little persecution of left-handed people, according to Smits. (Well, except for designing scissors, spiral notebooks, power tools and lots of other implements for the tyrannical convenience of the right-handed majority.)

Smits is no artist (unlike lefty all-stars da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael), statesman (unlike the five of seven most recent presidents who were left-handed) or super cool dude (unlike Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney), but he is a clever and thorough researcher. “The Puzzle of Left-Handedness” can get pedantic but is sprinkled with enough oddball characters and head-scratching factoids to keep you reading. Or at least 10 percent of you.

 

Global warming update: WSJ op ed "Absolute Certainty Is Not Scientific"

After going months and months without one, here's another GW Update, only three days after a prior one.

Good piece. A scientific theory is never a finished product. and can always be replaced by a better, more all-embracing theory (Great example;  Newtonian physics, replaced by Relativity theory/quantum mechanics.).

Environmental scientist Daniel Botkin on discomfort with global warming absolutists -

Global warming alarmists betray their cause when they declare that it is irresponsible to question them.

One of the changes among scientists in this century is the increasing number who believe that one can have complete and certain knowledge. For example, Michael J. Mumma, a NASA senior scientist who has led teams searching for evidence of life on Mars, was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "Based on evidence, what we do have is, unequivocally, the conditions for the emergence of life were present on Mars—period, end of story."

This belief in absolute certainty is fundamentally what has bothered me about the scientific debate over global warming in the 21st century, and I am hoping it will not characterize the discussions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, currently under way.

Reading Mr. Mumma's statement, I thought immediately of physicist Niels Bohr, a Nobel laureate, who said, "Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it." To which Richard Feynman, another famous physicist and Nobel laureate, quipped, "Nobody understands quantum mechanics."

I felt nostalgic for those times when even the greatest scientific minds admitted limits to what they knew. And when they recognized well that the key to the scientific method is that it is a way of knowing in which you can never completely prove that something is absolutely true. Instead, the important idea about the method is that any statement, to be scientific, must be open to disproof, and a way of knowing how to disprove it exists.

Therefore, "Period, end of story" is something a scientist can say—but it isn't science.

Excellent article, only another six paragraphs, so hit the link above for the rest.

 

Rugby: US international Zee Ngwenya scores against the Saracens (UK)

Playing for the French professional club Biarritz, as he has for several years.

And here, from April, 2010, as he burns the Welsh club Ospreys.

George W. Bush op ed: "No Retreat in the Fight Against AIDS"

A fine op ed in yesterday's Wall Street Journal by the ex-president, with vigorous support for our maintaining foreign aid.

Yesterday was World AIDS Day.

Humanitarian assistance, including AIDS relief, represents less than 1% of our federal budget. Reducing that would only increase suffering.

Just a decade ago in Africa, infection rates were soaring, millions faced the certainty of a wasting death, and whole nations were on the brink of despair. All this was taking place even though effective AIDS treatments were common in the developed world. The suffering of Africa was both vast and unnecessary.

The creation of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in 2002, and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) in 2003, tested the proposition that large-scale treatment, prevention and compassionate care could be done in nations with weak health systems. Some were skeptical, particularly about the possibility of treatment. That skepticism has now proved unfounded.

In 2003, there were just 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa on antiretroviral therapy to suppress HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Today, more than 4.7 million people receive AIDS treatment through Pepfar and the Global Fund. At least 450,000 children have been born HIV-negative due to Pepfar's diagnosis and treatment programs that prevent mother-to-child transmission.

******

Yet at the same time that a renewed commitment on AIDS is needed, there is a risk it could be weakened. America and Europe face fiscal constraints. During moments of economic hardship, there is a temptation for Americans to disengage from the world. But isolationism is always shortsighted and too often leads to greater hardship and despair in places that need our help.

******

Engagement serves our interests. It also reveals our deepest values. No nation can solve all the problems of the world. But a nation that believes human dignity is universal—that affirms that all men and women are created equal—will do what it can. In the U.S., foreign humanitarian assistance, including AIDS relief, represents less than 1% of our federal budget. It is not the cause of our fiscal problems. Reducing our commitment would only succeed in increasing the sum of suffering.

******

In lean budget times, the U.S. and the developing world must prioritize. But there can be no higher priority than saving lives. And there is no better way to save lives than to support and expand effective, proven programs such as Pepfar.

 

Here's a dire prediction regarding global debt

"Hard defaults."

While I don't agree - I think we're looking at the slow-motion default of inflation - this is worth a look.

Throughout history, he says, total debt-to-GDP only ever breached 200% when nations were spending on war. Today we're at 310%.

Says Bass: "There is no savior large enough with a magical pool of capital to stave off this unfortunate conclusion to the global debt super cycle. We think hard defaults are imminent."

British politician rips the European Parliament and the Euro

Nigel Farage is the head of the British Independence Party, a small party which opposes the European Union. Some good points about unelected officials callingthe shots in the European Union.

Not a good day

This morning we got word on two deaths. An acquaintance of mine - someone who is frequently in the news - lost his 31 year old son in a head-on car collision.

Then we were emailed that a member of our Church had died of metastatic cancer. She was in her 40's, with a husband and teenage children.

Spare a prayer for Jamiel and Fran, and for their families.

Stepinac football: Finishes ranked #15 in NY State

Pretty good going!

NY State football AA -A rankings

And state-wide Croton was ranked #3 in B division, with Dobbs Ferry #1 in the C division.

NY State football rankings B-C-D

Latest Read: Physical Education

Physical Education is the sixth in the series of detective-comedy-mystery-romances stories revolving around university prof Alison Bergeron. The series is authored by my friend Maggie Barbieri.

And the first book I've read on my new Kindle Fire reader/tablet (Had the KF for a week and I love it).

I've read and reviewed all of Maggie's books in this series and they're lots of fun. Here's the first in the series with my review Latest Read: "Murder 101" and this latest installment has a throwback to the first book: a dead body appears in the trunk of Alison's car.

And then it's off to the races with the usual twists and turns. The big twist in this one is how Alison is called upon to temporarily coach the ladies basketball team at the College (St. Thomas, on the secenic Hudson River - eerily similar to the author's alma mater, St. Vincent's in the Bronx).

The standard cast of characters, along with some new ones, and plenty of sub-plots. And of course Professor Bergeron is now married to Detective "Hot Pants" Crawford.

Alison is loaded with one-liners ("one day you're a basketball coach and the next youre selling candy") as she stumbles through to the satisfying conclusion.

All great fun! A modified version of this review will be going up on Amazon.

 

 

Westchester County executive Rob Astorino on County layoffs

210 jobs evidently.