Engineering Matters! (Or, Why We'll Be Shopping for a Volvo)

Thursday night late, two miles from home after a four-hour drive, and out steps a nine-point buck into the path of our 1995 Volvo wagon. (Dark, narrow state road, I drive it ten miles under the speed limit.)

My bride says:  'Watch out for that(WHAM!)'

The airbags worked, the seat belts worked, the brakes and steering systems remained intact, as did the battery cables. The desperate 'Are you OK?' question, and 'Let's get out of the car, this smells hot.  Grab the laptops, and let's go!'

The doors opened without a hitch, and we walked away with bruises only. The emergency flashers worked, and a good Samaritan found us and called 911. (It took 35 minutes for the deputies to arrive. A volunteer fireman drove up on the scene and directed traffic in the pitch black.)

So, a public word of thanks to the Volvo engineers and technicians we will never meet, who in the mid-1990's designed and assembled the car that kept us alive.  The people who made sure the airbags were properly installed come to the top of the list.

And, literally, we thank Heaven.  A few inches either way, and one of us may have had to plan a funeral.  No shoulder on the road, ditches on either side, bounded by thick forest.

When we encountered the buck, the car had just shy of 418,000 miles on it, original engine and tranny. The suspension didn't eat the tires. We kept the oil changed,  would need the brakes inspected at the next oil change and rotation. The paint job was faded, and we needed to order a new cruise control kit. 

It just ran. And saved our lives.

Granny Rocks, or Thirty Seconds of Joy as Justice is Served

A perfect end to the week.

You go, girl.

Show us the way.

Green Shoots Awards: Arthur Cutten

This man can write!

And he is a voice of conscience that truly needs to be heard. His post from 14 October, 2009 'celebrating' Dow 10,000 is one of the best bits of prose I've read in years.

Most eloquently, he provides three charts at the bottom of his post, revealing the cold truth behind his warm words.

Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison

I'm laboring away, getting projects out the door, getting ready to travel tonight, the usual stuff.

One last check-in with Jesse, and I see this:

$140 billion for the Wall Street investment bank employees.

This time last year, they swore their backs were against the wall, and Henry Paulson demanded the right to raid the US Treasury to save them. After one final brave last stand in the House, he triumphed, and the feeding frenzy began. I don't wear a tin hat, honestly, but I remember this 'crisis' felt so contrived...

We now have 20% unemployment, and true poverty and misery stalk much of the world, made worse by our recklessness.

$140 billion for the Wall Street investment bank employees.

I'm no socialist, and believe in compensation and incentives for achievement, but this time last year, these folks held a gun to our heads, and told us the world would end if they did not get their way.

Average compensation per employee at investment bank Goldman Sachs, is set to reach about $743,000 this year, double last year's $364,000 and up 12% from about $622,000 in 2007, according to the Journal analysis....

If you are reading this from somewhere overseas, I plead with you to understand that average citizens here do not support this, in no manner approve of this. We have been hijacked by a consortium of politicians and business elites, and we covet your prayers.

Lord have mercy upon us.
Christ have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us.

Thoughtful Words on American Sovereignty

JEREMY RABKIN is professor of law at George Mason University School of Law, having been for 27 years previous a professor of government at Cornell University. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University and a B.A. from Cornell. He has published widely in newspapers and journals, including the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, the Stanford Law Review, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, and the Claremont Review of Books. He has also written several books, including Why Sovereignty Matters, The Case for Sovereignty, and Law Without Nations?


Professor Rabkin offers sobering words in the latest lecture published by Hillsdale College.  He details a bit of the hard slog undertaken to establish the idea of national sovereignty, and warns us show quickly it can disappear, to our harm.

Well worth reading and pondering, as it will become an active question in our lives, as the Obama administration seeks to use international law to supercede American law.

Is It Just Me?

Woke up a bit earlier this am, with a long drive to make to a friend's funeral.  Tim was a kind generous soul who left us way too soon.

Turned on the tube, to check weather while making coffee, and what do I see but Jim Cramer with Matt Lauer on The Today Show telling the world they oughta' be buying stocks, '...cuz 'we're gonna have a big recovery next year!', and 'All the banks that are gonna fail have failed already', and 'The Crash was last year. Anybody not buying now is missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime!'.

I was just stunned.  How could any responsible public figure be doing this?

The PE of the S&P 500 is about 129, Mish tells us.

There are still some 460 banks on the 'troubled' list, and the foreclosure wave is just now hitting commercial real estate and higher-end homes. I lose count of how many abandoned new strip malls I've driven by.  This morning, I drove by a vacant one, with another under construction 500 yards down the road.  (This has to be the definition of optimism!)

The real unemployment rate is 20% or so.

The states and counties are sucking wind for revenue to keep the schools open, including my little county here in Tennessee.

Yes, when times are bad, there are some opportunities to invest, but given the sea-change in the culture and economy, having some 'guru' on a national morning show urging small investors to buy-buy-buy before it's too late is just, well...

Is it just me?

Am I just being overly grumpy?

Don't these people understand that real lives, and families, are at stake here?

Have they no sense of shame, of compassion, of prudence as they talk to millions of people on the air?

Is it just me?