Pavlov's Cat

From Bliss

Proof of gods existence?

someone had a very bad day

What will be Hillary's true legacy

Camille Paglia has some harsh words for the Clinton and her campaign.

Hillary's desperate end-game gambit to turn the whole election into a referendum on gender does feminism a serious disservice. It wasn't sexism that cost Hillary the nomination: It was her own misjudgments and mismanagement of a campaign that had the massive support of the nationwide party establishment, constructed by her husband -- to whom she owes her entire career, which has thus far been dismayingly free of any significant, concrete achievement. What kind of feminism is this -- all smiley show and no substance? Hillary's latest pose as tribune of the people is contradicted by her snobbish history of catering to the rich and famous as well as her indifference to the legions of small vendors whom her extravagant campaign has stiffed. And no true feminist would tolerate or enable that decades-long pattern of brazen philandering and crude sexual harassment that will forever brand the Clinton chronicles. When will our paleo-feminist dead-enders wake up to the psychological reality that compulsive seducers are misogynists?

...

In point of fact, Hillary's sex helped her more than hurt her. What the media repeatedly claimed was her success in debate was predicated on her silencing of her male competitors, who were bullied into excess caution in dealing with a woman. Not one Democratic male dared attack or rebut her with the zest shown by all the Republican candidates jousting with each other. Hillary had to be coddled with elaborate deference -- or the delicate little woman would squawk bloody murder (as she did when she petulantly complained about always being given the first debate question). All of this rubbish was resurrected last week in the thousand mawkish excuses found by the media and her crooning acolytes for "giving her time" to withdraw from the race. No man would have been treated in that overconcerned way -- as a frail vessel of quivering emotion. Yet another blot on feminism, courtesy of Clinton, Inc.

The long, hard Bataan Death March to the White House

The long, hard Bataan Death March to the White House took another step forward today with Sen. Hillary Clinton's concession today in Washington.

The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand, is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States ...

Ironically it was one of her best speeches so far. It really demonstrates that had she run a competent campaign, she'd be the democratic nominee. She started this race in the lead with wide support from all democrats. Only through an incompetent campaign did she manage to loose her grasp on the nomination. It is also clear that Sen. Clinton will not just fade away and will continue to be a force to recogn with.

This is just wrong

Florida sunset

Spent most of last week in Florida for a conference. The air was heavy and warm, but not oppressive. On the last day a group of us drove down the Key's for the afternoon and were rewarded with warm waters, bright colors and a spectacular sunset.

Why is the cost of gas so high?

As anyone who drives an automobile has noticed that gas prices have spiked since the first of the year. A steady increase in the price of oil can be expected as supplies become more difficult to obtain due to both political concerns and the decline of easily obtained oil. But the recent soaring prices are greater than what this alone can explain. Popular theories include a dropping value of the dollar, speculation and market manipulation.

While its viscerally satisfying to blame oil company collusion, George Soros has been testifying that the root cause is largely due to domestic fuel subsidies in China and India.

A lengthy excerpt from Morgan Stanley summarizes the situation:

A quarter of the world's gasoline consumption is subsidized, and, in terms of population, half of the world uses energy subsidies. This policy has created an important distortion, whereby rising oil prices have been effectively prevented from destroying oil demand. Subsidies have artificially raised inflation in the developed world (through artificially high oil prices) and suppressed inflation in the developing world (inflation would have been even higher in the absence of subsidies). As fiscal pressures mount, some countries will be forced to incrementally remove these subsidies. The net result will be an unwind of these distortions...

As the fuel consumption in these developing countries increases, the price is driven up, but the self-regulating force of inflation is negated by artificially suppressing domestic prices. This is costing both India and China a lot of currency and can not be maintained indefinitely. On the other hand, maintaining accelerated growth is necessary for political stability in China, so its hard to say which will give first.

In the mean time, developed countries will faces significant inflationary forces due to soaring energy costs. While painful, this might prove to have some long term positive benefits if it results in the adoption of a coherent US energy policy.

Kelly's new friend

Kelly has a new four legged friend named Andy. Andy is 9 weeks old, weights eight pounds and is into everything. He's listed as a German Shepard mix - with the mixed part being something with a curly tail. He came from the Boulder Humane society. They have a beautiful facility.

His favorite activities are to eat, sleep, play in the grass, and wake us up in the middle of the night. He also likes to steal Kelly's stuffed animals. Kelly is extremely patient with him but for the most part ignores him unless he gets into trouble. Andy trots around following her like a little brother following his sister.

The rabbit menace