The Blue Pill and the Red Pill

Which do you choose the truth or the fantasy?

What is a jobless recovery?

What we are seeing is it. The stock market continues to rise, good for those who still have money in it and a job or are able to survive  on reduced hours, bad for those who don’t have a job and are cleaning out what money they have saved. But why does it happen? The economy is in a recession so sales are bad and companies lay off people. Because companies are cutting costs they are able to show a profit therefore their stock goes up.

The sad thing is that the economy could rebound quickly if the Democrats were more interested in growth policies than they are in expanding the government. If cap and trade, the healthcare reform, and energy policy (support for wind and solar but the exclusion of nuclear, coal, and oil) are shelved (in other words if Obama, Pelosi, and Reid fail) the economy will quickly turn around. If not, get ready for much worse unemployment and extended stagnation.

The bright spot is that Americans are beginning to understand the choice.

UPDATE: Here is an article that explains it well.

Doing what you wish you could do when you don’t have the time.

When I’m dragging myself out of bed during the school year I almost always ask myself, “Where would you rather be and what would you rather be doing?” So today I did that. I would rather be visiting the Grand Canyon and having lunch on the ski slopes in Flagstaff. The scenery was surreal. Judge for yourself.

Kinder Crossing July 12-14

I decided to approach the Mogollon Rim the back way by as much dirt road as possible so I took the Apache Trail through Fish Creek Canyon past Roosevelt Dam (and Lake) connected with Highway 188 then Highway 288 which has sections of blacktop and dirt through Young all the way to the top of the rim to Highway 260.

I took the Rim Road all the way from Highway 260 to Highway 87, approximately 50 more mile of dirt. Cell phone service was very spotty so after a quick call to Vicki it was off to Clint’s Wells for some fuel and as it turns out the only place to go to make a cell call.

About 10 miles of highway and 5 miles of Fr95 gets you to the Kinder Crossing turn off. Another mile of dirt and the trail starts. I decided to camp at the trail head since the road ended in a steep canyon.

On the trip back the KLR was loaded like something from the Grapes of Wrath (except for the mattress). Controlled burns caused thick smoke to move in at the whim of the wind sometimes making a road almost undrivable. As soon as I came off of the hill outside of Sunflower the heat from the desert hit me in the face like a frying pan full of grease. I arrived in Fountain Hills at 8:58 am; it was 108. What a contrast from the cool on the rim!

"Never let a serious crisis go to waste."

The vacuum in international leadership could be the best thing that ever happened. With the US stuck in the mud with Big O the rest of the world (those who have a survival instinct) can accomplish what we can’t, bring down North Korea and Iran. Both regimes live on a tightrope, oppressed people surrounded by relative freedom. All it would take is a nudge.

Caroline Glick writes:

“Unfortunately, whereas in the 1980s the leaders of the Free World were committed to winning the Cold War against the Soviet Union by securing the freedom of those who lived under Communism's jackboot, today, led by Obama, the Free World behaves as though the Berlin Wall fell of its own devices. The will of free men and women risking everything to oppose tyranny had nothing to do with it, we are told. If we care about peace, we should appease the likes of Ahmadinejad and Kim, not bring them down.

On Tuesday, an insect wrecked Ahmadinejad's victory speech. As he bragged that Iranian democracy is a role model for the world, a large moth zoomed around him, breaking his train of thought. Ahmadinejad was brought low before his people by a moth he couldn't swat.

If a bug could humiliate Ahmadinejad in what was supposed to be his moment of triumph, surely the willing nations of the world - or even just Israel - together with the brave Iranian people can bring him down. It would certainly be more cost effective than trying to negotiate a deal with a nuclear-armed mullocracy.

And certainly the South Koreans and the Japanese can feed the starving North Koreans and free them from the bondage of their monstrous regime. Doing so would be vastly less expensive than living under the shadow of Pyongyang's nuclear-armed psycho-regime.

Just because the US is currently on vacation from its role as leader of the Free World doesn't mean that other free people cannot do the right thing.”

2nd Quarter, How’s That Stimulus Working?

 

These results reflect the “stimulus”, Government Motors, the House of Representatives passing “cap and trade”, and anticipation by business owners of what lies ahead. Wait till you see what happens when the Senate actually passes cap and trade and the destruction really begins. That and the healthcare debt “fix” should really make those lines jump!