Welcome, one and all, to the most intense nightly read anywhere on the web; the BitsBlog Nightly Ramble.
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- A CHANGE OF JOBS: The last one? Yeah, for a while… maybe a month, we don’t know. I’m changing jobs, in case you don’t know. After more or less 20 years as an IT generalist, mostly in End User Support, I’m going to try my hand at long-haul trucking. It’s just time for a change. The money is about the same, as it turns out, once you get a year or two under you. Anyway, because of that change I’ll be more off the grid than I want to be for about a month or so. I’ll be getting a laptop soon as I can swing it, that will allow me to be on the grid again. How much I’ll be able to post between now and then from my smart phone, and whatever computer I can borrow, remains to be seen, but at the very least my access to this site will be limited. We’ve got some new authors in, as well as David who has been a vital part of BitsBlog for years, now. Getting David to write for us here was the best choice I ever made for this blog. I’ve got a friend from High School, Art Smith from Conservative Reader, monitoring the techie end of things, and adding his two cents as well. I’ll be sending pics from the road, and reports of my progress too, as I can. All that said, let’s get to this thing, here.
- FIND ANOTHER VENUE: The New York Daily News is reporting [2] that the White House has ordered the justice department to find other places to hold the 9/11 trials. Don Surber pipes up [3] and offers Guantánamo bay as a solution. I tend to agree. Let’s be honest, here. Part of the reason that the white house is scrambling right now to find contingency plans is because of the massive objection amongst the electorate regarding the closing of Gitmo. I think the ultimate outcome of this thing is going to be that Gitmo will end up being the site of the trial. In the end, there is no place in the United States that is not going to raise hell about being chosen for the site of such trials, and having to bear the financial burden and the risks. Michelle Malkin offers her take. [4]Betsy Newmark offers her take [5] as well.
- THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT SHAM…. AGAIN:The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis is breathlessly reporting a 5.7% increase in productivity in the fourth quarter of 2009. And given that the Commerce Department serves at the behest of the executive branch, it’s not hard to ferret this one out. As you might expect, the liberal media is all over this one, and the obvious implication is that the Democrats are doing their job correctly as regards the economy. Indeed, The New York Times [6] this morning is reporting that the economy has grown at the fastest pace in the last six years. Only one problem , and that is that almost 2/3 of this increase came from a slowdown in the liquidation of inventories. The reason for that slowdown is not that people are trying to dump stuff, but that there’s no money out there to buy those inventories, even at the substantially reduced prices involved with such a liquidation. Now I will point out, that this is a preliminary report, and preliminary reports from the Commerce Department since last November’s election have been routinely adjusted for the worse, months after the blaring headlines about how good our economy is doing, are issued. This one will be more of the same. And, keep in mind you’re going to have to look very closely indeed to witness those muted reports in a couple of months. In case you think I’m alone in this way of thinking about this report, perhaps a look at what Wall Street is doing today, [7] will give you a clue about others coming to the conclusion that I have. And, did anyone notice that wages rose in 2009 by the smallest amount on record? [8] What we have here is a case of the boy who cried “Recovery”. Nobody’s buying it, any more. The White House has squandered whatever credibility it had. The fact is, I predicted all of this the morning after the election. Indeed, I predicted it for a full year before the election, if either Hillary Clinton or Obama managed to get elected. I can’t recall being so annoyed at being so right before.
- RECALLS: Well, let’s see. First we had the Toyota recalls, now Honda [9]. As much problem is I have with what’s gone on with the domestic automakers I have even greater difficulty with foreign automakers.
- HEALTHCARE? WHAT HEALTHCARE? It’s a reaction to voter anger, to be sure. But health care, is suddenly off the table. [10]There are a number of Democrats who are hoping it won’t come back. [11] At least, for a while. the question is, have we really changed the minds of the democrats who have been pushing so long for socialized health care. Let’s remember, this is hardly a new thing; they’ve been pushing their socialist agenda for twenty years and longer. So, are they simply pulling back and regrouping? I think so. Never forget that under the appearance of leftist pragmatism, there is an agenda lurking.
- BORED? Byron York wonders if Obama has become bored with being president. [12] Is it boredom, or frustration because of incompetency?
- SCIENTIFIC POLITICAL AMERICAN:Roger Simon over at Pajamas Media looks at ClimateGate [13]