Fightin Bob

Economic Crisis: Inherited or Generated?

bobnifty — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:35:56 +0000

“The Dow has dropped 20% since Inauguration Day“, Jobless rates are above 8%, there is talk of nationalizing Banks, whispers of another depression. We’ve talked about why it started, but why isn’t it stopping? No one expects everything to go back to normal for at least a year or two but that doesn’t explain why things are still getting worse.

I would argue that the election and policies of Barack Obama scare the entire private sector. He is engaging in a war, against ‘Greedy’ bankers, ‘profit gauging’ Oil companies, ‘Extravagant’ CEO bonuses etc. This message has not been misheard. Businesses were already suffering from the credit crisis but now scaling back everything in hopes of surviving not just the credit crunch but the Obama Tax increases, New ‘Cap and Trade CO2′ regulations, and in cases of the banking industry, avoiding nationalization.

It is a war between Government power versus free markets, free people and being free to choose. The battle is Obama vs the economy. The worse it gets, the more power government can snatch ‘temporarily’ to avert the ‘crisis’ . If Obama wanted to help the economy, he could declare a temporary tax holiday. Instead he’s going to raise taxes.

In fact, if I could pick the worst things to do during a recession, they would be: raise taxes, regulate CO2 emissions of a dying car industry, threatening to seize/nationalize banks and projecting doom and gloom during every public speech, leaving all observers uncertain about the future. Exactly what Obama’s doing.

I can’t think of one thing he’s done that has helped the economy. Not one! Can you?

Atlas Shrugged Sales up!

bobnifty — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:12:21 +0000

If you’ve ever thought about reading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Now’s the time, sales have tripled over this time last year. It’s never been more relevant than now, as many events in the book are horrifyingly paralleled by current events.

Consistently rated as the second most influential book after the Bible, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is a must read for people needing a deeper understanding of the philosophical and moral questions raised by nationalization during crisis, incremental government power and why selfishness is not only ok but morally good. It’s my favorite book hands down and a must read to understand what’s happening in America today.

Here’s a trailer of sorts:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOt6rUkU5xY

TAX REFUND

bobnifty — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:31:04 +0000

Today was like my birthday and Christmas sprinkled with a little TGIF and Payday, I got my tax refund! Just getting it was a great relief because it was my first time filing for a federal tax refund and I filed electronically. So I was very nervous when I checked the status of my return only to find it had been delayed because of an error! But when I checked back the next day, the IRS provided some more information. Turns out they owed me more money than I thought! 50% More! So WooHoo!

If there’s one thing I hate more than a socialist…

bobnifty — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:36:02 +0000

It’s a Fascist…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6DmjBneGBc&eurl=http://www.texasrainmaker.com/

Listen as the ‘One’ in stark contrast to the Gipper promotes statism and ‘Fundamentally transforming the United States of America’. To what? State control of the economy, medicine, and ultimately everything about your life. Any democrat that denies this is lying to themselves. But I doubt any truly support what Obama and the Congress is trying to do, but tragicly I also doubt any will admit this mistake before it’s too late.

They may take our money but they’ll never take our Freedom!

Infuriating

bobnifty — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:05:57 +0000

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw-0RHbr-7A

Do as I say not as I do.

Dalai Lama loves the President

bobnifty — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:43:10 +0000

Obama? It can’t be Bush! Can it? Actually it was.

The Dalai Lama, a lifelong champion of non-violence on Saturday candidly stated that terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa because the minds of terrorists are closed.

He said that the only way to tackle terrorism is through prevention. The head of the Tibetan government-in-exile left the audience stunned when he said “I love President George W Bush.” He went on to add how he and the US President instantly struck a chord in their first meeting unlike politicians who take a while to develop close ties.

What an interesting perspective.

Government PSAs on Hulu.com

bobnifty — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:11:01 +0000

I was trying to watch a movie on Hulu.com tonight, The Manhattan Project (a great movie about a kid that makes a nuke for a science fair) when I kept getting bombarded with stupid PSAs during the commercials. Now I know there have to be commercials on TV and even Hulu.com, but does the government have to keep telling me to do stuff!
First there were two different ads telling me to yell at my friends if they are driving erratically, then an ad about forest fires and finally a stupid ad about a credit fairy. I want to explicitly elaborate on the heinous hypocrisy of the last ad. Not only is the government using my money to tell me not to spend money I don’t have, they are using money they don’t have to air it and even worse, for them there is a credit fairy! They can just raise taxes! What happened to people selling stuff during ads!

Qualifier

bobnifty — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:49:10 +0000

Today I finished part two of the Spring qualifying exam for the Purdue Physics PhD program and I am cautiously optimistic that I passed. Part one yesterday was horrible but today’s had a few problems that were fairly standard. I’ll find out how I did next week sometime. So now life returns to normal. Here’s a recap of break:

Besides studying I spent a lot of time with my family, which was great. We saw a movie, went skiing, skating and did lots of shopping. I also got to see some friends from high school and Michigan Tech. It was nice to see some familiar faces after spending all semester at a new school. For Christmas I got new Bose computer speakers, a popcorn popper, an Uber large George Foreman Grill and lots of socks.

Home for Christmas

bobnifty — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:49:43 +0000

Well, I finished my first semester of grad school. It was rough but now I only have two more ‘core’ classes to take in the spring and I will be eligible to be a research assistant this summer (assuming that I pass my qualifying exam Jan 8-9). So that’s mostly what I’ll be doing over break, studying for the qual. So I guess, more posts after I pass it. Until then have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Globe Warming to Skepticism

bobnifty — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:09:54 +0000

Global warming’s green house of cards will soon fall over : More than 650 International Sciencists Dissent over Man Made Global Warming Claims.

I’ve been saying it for a while. Global warming is a way to fight industrialization of select countries. If it were really about stopping emissions, China and India would be included in international treaties limiting CO2 as much as the USA. As a scientist in training I really hate seeing such weak pseudoscience being followed without question by the masses led by a few mystics of science and politics (Gore).

I think one quote puts it best.

Warming fears are the “worst scientific scandal in the history…When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.” – UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.

People should never follow ‘experts’ blindly. They should read about it, ask questions and then make a decision.

PS Sorry for lack of posts. With finals next week, I’m really busy.