Thursday, May 31, 2012

Nick Keith is a Moron

But his dad is smart.

Noticed, however, how they villainize the father.

Heck, if Keith's dad wants to pay my way through engineering school, sign me up!

Christ, 36 years old and 8 YEARS IN CULINARY SCHOOL??????

I Spy With My Little Eye

A reason this woman had to marry herself.

Anybody else see what I see?

I'll give you another clue from another woman who married herself.

I laugh thinking how when I was younger I thought I was the one with the problems.

ht

How Dumb Are You Keynesians?

Ka-ripes.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Manosphere

Welcome to The Manosphere!

I'm your lovable host Cappy Cap and I'm here to give you a basic break down and introduction to "The Manosphere" and the blogs that populate it therein.

The Manosphere has no one specific origin, but its manifestation can largely be attributed to the internet making it possible for men to compare notes and realize one thing:

"No, we're not crazy."

Understand, up until the internet, most men, as well as young boys, intuitively knew something was wrong.  We had a hunch.  But we could never prove it.  We were only relegated to our own experiences in our own local neighborhoods which led us to believe that not only was this phenomenon a local affair, but forced us to conclude that if there were any problems we had with dating, courtship, and our general social/sexual interaction with women it had to be our fault.  We were to blame.  We were not "aggressive enough" "too aggressive" "not sensitive enough" "too sensitive" all the while our single moms and society kept telling us "you're just not looking in the right places" or (my all time favorite) "maybe YOU just attract the wrong type of girl."

Of course, now since the advent of the internet thousands of men have compared notes, shared stories and made various philosophical, political, economic and even scientific observations, resulting in the millions of pages of wisdom that compose The Manosphere today.  These millions of pages are slowly coalescing into theories, laws, and rules that make for an entertaining social "science."  But most importantly this body of work has provided clarity, guidance and an explanation as to what has happened to society since the feminist revolution of the 70's, making it so that current and future generations of young boys needn't wander through the clueless hellish wilderness their predecessors did.  We introduce a (GASP) MALE INFLUENCE into the traditionally "feminist" dominated discussion about how the sexes should interact and behave.  We make it perfectly acceptable to voice politically incorrect and unpopular opinions when it comes to the sexes.  We provide guidance to young boys, young men, and disillusioned men to turn around and improve their lives.  We expose what is an evil and purposed agenda of feminists.  We fight for freedom, America, truth, reality and liberty.  We essentially supply the modern day male version of "Cosmo," "People Magazine," "Glamor" women have had for 50 years, but we replace the mindless drivel with intelligent, constructive and reality based thought and logic.

In short it is the first real haven for all men across the world to go to, be themselves, and think for themselves.  And for modern day feminists it means the jig is up.

There is no core or nucleus to The Manosphere as it is truly open source, nor is there any "mission statement."  The blogs that compose that Manosphere range quite widely, including women authors, just as much as they do men (because a lot of women actually do love the men in their lives enough to care about them).  However, they all have one thing in common - they are here to help.

Help how?

By destroying and exposing the lies foisted upon you, me and everybody else for the past 50 years - primarily by feminists - about how men and women "should be" instead of accepting how we actually are.

Naturally, there's a lot of backlash and controversy surrounding The Manosphere.  People politically invested in trying to get men and women to ignore their basic sexuality, desires and impulses hate us because we threaten their gravy train (what job would feminists have if women were actually programmed to like and support men?).  Young women who benefit financially and socially by manipulating relationships, marriage and courting, merely to extract billions of dollars in free drinks or trillions of dollars in divorce courts every year. Entire government agencies (their employees and union members of which depend HEAVILY upon having a government check replace fathers and husbands) hate us as well.  The legal system is also not fond of us and our bachelor-like non-marrying ways.  Socialists and communist despise us as we insist on independence, freedom and small government.  And (frankly) millions of men and women whose fragile feelings we shatter every day with reality also hate us.

But that's just the thing.  Reality.

The Manosphere, if anything else, is a backlash of men who just plain got sick and tired of being lied to about how society "should work," how we "should" behave, and what we "should" want.  It is also a  backlash of being lied to about the realities of the psycho-socio-sexual dynamics between men and women (for example we are shamed if we don't like fat chicks no matter how viscerally and biologically we are disgusted by them).  It is also a backlash as we see America, Western Civilization and our culture not just being mocked, ridiculed and villainized, but being destroyed.

And now, in true traditional male form, daddy's coming home and he's pissed.  A lot of men in The Manosphere worked hard with nothing to show for it.  They did all the right things, but they're still divorced, unemployed, underemployed, in debt, living in or near poverty and thus have nothing left to lose.  As they look for an explanation they'll find it, they will take "The Red Pill" (a vernacular you will see commonly), and they will respond by voicing their opinions in The Manosphere with little to no regard for political, economic or employment consequences because, once again, they have nothing left to lose.

Therefore as you explore and read through The Manosphere you will see a lot of anger, crass language, cursing, and vulgarity.  You will also see a heavy-handed truth being laid down.  Uncomfortable truths.  Politically incorrect truths.  And truths that make people angry.  However, The Manosphere doesn't care about your feelings, your political motivations, your ulterior motives or maintaining a status quo.  We are just concerned about one thing:

Truth.

The truth, or as I like to call it "The Reality Principle," is very simple - if people base their decisions in reality, it will prove much more beneficial for everyone in that our decisions will be effective.  A classic example is a re-visitation of the fat girl.  However, first please dispense your natural reaction to call me evil, mean or shallow for talking about "fat chicks."  Ask yourself what is the reality of the situation.

The reality is men don't like fat chicks.

What's the REALITY-BASED solution?

Hound and shame men for decades about them being shallow cads for liking skinny chicks in the hopes you change their genetic programming that has been developing for millions of years?

Or

Just lose the freaking weight?

Also ask yourself what is the outcome to the reality-based solution of the woman losing weight vs. the hounding-shaming option?  The reality-based solution is two people who are happier.  The non-reality based one is no one being happy.

Whatever the example, The Manosphere's obsession with truth is not to "gain an upper hand" over women in the battle of the sexes.  Nor is it for some ulterior political motive.  And no, it really isn't to insult or hurt people.  It is merely to make the best decisions possible by basing them in the real world to make EVERYBODY (women too) happy.

Now I could go on as there are many other facets to The Manosphere, but I believe the above in general covers what The Manosphere is about (and certainly up for debate by other members of The Manosphere).  However, in addition to an introduction to The Manosphere permit me to provide you a bit of a guide or a map to The Manosphere, highlighting various categories and members (please submit any you suggest, also understand I have merely categorized these blogs, not vetted them).

Female Manosphere Bloggers

Yes, we have them!  I started with them to immediately dismiss the 100%-guaranteed-accusation that The Manosphere is sexist or misogynist.  Though the term is MANosphere, understand there are a lot of women who didn't drink the feminist kool aid and actually LIKE MEN!  They have husbands, brothers, fathers, sons, uncles and nephews, and heck, some of them just have male friends they all love and care about.  They also realize that men account for half the population AND they also like to engage and enjoy the company of men.  Be it romantically, socially or through their families.

They also never swallowed whole the BS that a traditional "woman's role" was somehow shameful or to be looked down upon.  They are happy and proud to be stay at home mothers.  They are happy to be housewives.  And even though some of them aren't married or stay at home moms and are more career gals, they never ONCE would look down upon women nor belittled the importance of a stable, nuclear family to children and society.

Allow me to introduce:

Smalldeadanimals
Booksbikesboomsticks
Dr. Helen
Hooking Up Smart
The Thinking Housewife
Grerp
Haley's Halo
Fullofgraceseasonedwithsalt
Kathy Shaidle
Ema the Emo
Joan of Argggh!
Clarissa's Blog
Shining Pearls of Something
Verus Conditio
Owning Your Shit 
Red Pill Wifey

and I'd also recommend this tutorial for women on the Manosphere.

Divorce/Marriage/Religious Bloggers

From here The Manosphere dissects into different subsegments or "specialties."  Perhaps most notable is the Divorce/Marriage/Religious Group.  They are not just a support group for divorced men or men going through legal troubles in terms of custody, alimony or child support, but also an advice group for married people with a twinge of religion added in there.

Allow me to introduce:

The Spearhead
Dalrock
Christian Men's Defense Network
Shrink4men
Married Man Sex Life
Gaming My Wife
A Voice for Men
Free Northerner
Wintery Knight
Elusive Wapiti
Complementarian Loners  
Vitas Brennus
The Woman and the Dragon
A Voice for Men

Then there are generalist sites that provide readers with advice on everyday things and all that is being manly.  Working out, health, diet dating.  Everything that is being a man.

Allow me to introduce:

The Art of Manliness
Hawaiian Libertarian
Freedom 25
Matt Forney
The Professor
Bold and Determined
The G Manifesto
Post Masculine
Sober Down Under
ManfortheAges
Viva La Manosphere!

Economics and Political Philosophy

Part of being a man means you're independent.  That becomes harder and harder when feminists, communists and socialists brainwash the little kinder into voting for more and more government involvement into our personal lives.  Additionally, as you'll find out, "feminism" really isn't about helping women as much as it is a Trojan horse for communism.  Thus since freedom, wealth, profit, excellence and economic progress are not just key to a true man's ideology, but also under assault, the Manosphere has a subsegment on economics and political philosophy

Allow me to introduce you to:

Delusional Damage
Save Capitalism
Rational Male
Smallest Minority
Heretics Way
Apocalypse Cometh
No Ma'am
Red Pill Room
Real Free Market
ManWomanMyth
Dolnak
The Red Pill Room 
GL Piggy 
RedPill reddit
and of course me, Cappy Cap

PUA/Gaming Community

If there was a core or a kernel to The Manosphere, it got its origins from the "Pick Up Artist" or "Gaming" Community.  These blogs arose from the painfully obvious fact that what we were told women wanted (by women, single moms, and female friends) were just outright lies.  Naturally, doing what we were told didn't work and so developed a completely new and revolutionary approach - we experimented doing the complete opposite and it worked.  There is much more to it than that, and the science has refined itself, but the "gaming" section of The Manosphere is MANDATORY READING for all boys who either had no father, had an emasculated man as a father or had a single mom bring up up telling you girls liked "sensitive men" and "poetry" and other communist propagandist drivel like that.

Allow me to introduce:

Roissy (arguably the Godfather and creator of The Manosphere)
Rooshv
Fred on Everything (though people also claim Fred was the predecessor)
Tom Leykis (radio show version of The Manosphere)
The University of Man
Fly Fresh & Young
Badger
Danger and Play
The Private Man
Kane
Vox Day
Keoni Galt
Tenmagnet

A warning to all of you who read the above links.  These are MANosphere blogs.  There will be cursing, crass and lewd words used.  It's locker room talk.  If you're shocked by that and feel the need to "NARC" on them and get these people in trouble with their employers, then ask yourself the questions:

1.  Is it your right to force your perception of what's "appropriate" on men?
2.  How pathetic of a person are you that you have to go and tattle tale on them?

MGTOW

Another interesting segment is MGTOW or "Men Going Their Own Way."  These guys have checked out.  They're gone.  You won't see them, they've gone ghost.  Some would call them bitter, however, their numbers suggest this is more than a group of guys who had enough, grabbed their toys and went home.  Additionally, their philosophy is not one of "I'm taking my toys and going home."  It's one of "I'm finite, I'm going to die, and I'm not going to be in a miserable marriage with kids I can't afford and the daily fear of getting divorced.  I'm hopping on my motorcycle, climbing mountains, going fishing, starting a business and living a full and unique life before I die."

Allow me to introduce you to:

MGTOW
Barbarossa
Bernard Chapin
RockingMrE
girlwriteswhat
Bill Burr
MarkyMark
Buster B
Mirror of the Soul
Angry Harry

Finally I would also recommend reading RooshV's essay on The Manosphere as well as The Misandry Bubble as, like here, they also try to provide a top down view of The Manosphere.  No Ma'am also has a large archive you may wish to consult. Also for a woman's perspective (who is protective of her son) you may want to consult this.
And finally not really a "MAN"ifesto, but more of a declaration of what the true aim of the Manosphere is.

Hopefully, for those of you unfamiliar with or conducting research about The Manosphere this little post and directory provides you the basics as well as a good overview.  Again, this is just my humble corner and take on it, and opinions will vary, but hopefully this will prove to be a good launching point for your introduction and exploration of The Manosphere.

God Hates Communists

This will make your day if you're having a bad one.  It will also make your day if you're having a good one.  It will just plain make your day if you work for a living, love America and freedom, insist only citizens should vote and in general and hate parasites.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Perfect Graduation Gift

Graduation is coming up.  Lots of little kinder will be graduating and off to bigger and better things.  Matter of fact many of you probably have little kinder graduating or even nieces, nephews or neighborhood kids you've seen grow up over the years.  Regardless, the question is what do you get them for a graduation gift?  Very simple.  "Worthless."

My regular readers already know what Worthless is about, but for those of you unfamiliar with the book it is THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK high school and college-age kids can read.  It IS the perfect graduation gift and I do not say that out of hyperbole or salesmanship. I say it because I believe it's true.  "Worthless" is the perfect graduation gift.

The reason why is very simple.  Millions of kids make a huge and life-destroying decision every year - they major in a worthless subject.  Take your emotions or feelings out of it.  In today's economy, we really cannot afford the luxury of sparing their feelings and lying to them, saying,

"Hey kid, follow your heart and the money will follow.  You're going to be a great French Art History major!"

as we nervously put on a fake smile hiding our concern.

The amount of money they (or you) are going to spend on tuition, not to mention the sheer volume of their youth they will spend pursuing a degree, can NOT be wasted simply because nobody had the courage to tell the kids the truth about economics and the realities of the labor market. 

But you don't have to.  The book will do it for it you.

"Worthless" explains first and foremost to the reader that the reason somebody got them this book is because that person really cares about them.  And while it may not be what they want to hear, they will end up appreciating it in the future.  "Worthless" also goes into detail and explains in clear, understandable language the economics behind the labor market, showing the reader how and why some degrees are worthwhile and others are literally worthless. 

The book is $13 in paperback and only $5 on Kindle.  A miniscule fraction of the tuition and time costs of earning a four year degree.  Because of its potential to prevent kids from making a VERY costly mistake, the cheap price practically compels you to at least consider it.

So do a graduate you care about a huge favor.  Buy them "Worthless" for a graduation gift.  And if you're so kind, do me a favor and simply spread the word by sending people this post.

Why Saint Frick Doesn't Pay Minneapolis Property Taxes Anymore

“The kids eat a lot of junk already, and they get it at home,” said Nakisha Tyus, a mother of two. “If kids can get a better meal at the park, who better to give it to them then the city.”

Monday, May 28, 2012

But I'm Just an Idiot

Read this.

Then read this.

But whatever you do, don't listen to me.  No, I don't know what I'm talking about.  I'm an idiot and on top of it, I have no gray hair.  Me and the likes of me have not the ability or the youthful idealism and vision to revolutionize economies to the point our little debt problems would be squashed mercilessly into oblivion by massive economic growth.  And we wouldn't want that.  So whatever you do, don't listen to me and I hope you like cheap nursing homes because the status quo is your god.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Captain's Jazz Lounge - Charles Mingus

Enjoy the Decline

Hey hey hey.  You watch it with the plagiarism young man!

Regardless, you will visit.  You will obey.  You will conform.  Compliance is not optional.  Conformance is mandatory.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Press the Attack Forward, Men

Short story, then I'll get back to having fun.

I'm at a country bar right now.  Place is packed.  "Beatrice" who is 89 years old comes up and asks me to dance,

not once,

not twice

but thrice

She is happy as all hell to be dancing.

I find out she's was a WWII vet, part of the women's Air Corps.  Worked on B-25's or B-19's, I can't remember which, the music was loud.  Grin ear to ear when we're dancing.

Then I ask a 24 year old if she wants to dance.  She says yes, fights me every inch of the way while I'm trying to lead, and then when I want to move across the floor (2 stepping) she says, "no, I don't want to go out there!" and she walks off the floor telling me to ask her friend to dance in the middle of the bleeping song.

Not terribly surprised, I return to my laptop, but then, you know me.  Me and my "cynical theories" about modern day women compared to their older WWII idealistic counterparts.  Certainly nothing there but spurious anecdotal evidence.

Regardless, I just had to know.

So I walk up to the 24 year old and I ask her what she does for a living.

Anybody want to guess?

Engineer?  Pilot?  Accountant?  Surgeon?  Military?

Nope!

"Elementary school teacher."

Heh heh.

Continue the attack men, continue that bleeping attack until they all start to act and behave like true women, just like Beatrice.  I'll take an 89 year old WWII vet over a overpaid baby sitter any day, because that is a REAL woman.  Not some naive ditz that couldn't handle algebra 2 and found commensurate taxpayer-paid employment.

Post post Lieutenants!  Beatrice let me get a picture!

Yes, I am That Good

The true purpose of Worthless however is not just to entertain and embolden the faithful, to bestow strength and courage on those on our own side. Clarey conceived and wrote the book with the goal of it being used to deprogram teenagers and their parents, and save them from the conventional wisdom that education, education and still more education is the key to success. And this is where the book grows from more than just a fun and entertaining rip on one of our society’s great sacred cows, and becomes an incredibly effective tool you can use to spare your friends and relatives the financial, intellectual and spiritual costs of worthless education. 

you can and WILL read more here.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Day Bang by Roosh V

Roosh V, if you know him, is no shrinking violet.  Certainly part of the pick up segment of the Manosphere, which thusly means he curses, uses vulgarity and speaks like 1/2 the population does every day.  Sadly it is his vulgarity and cursing people focus on instead of the substance of what he writes when they start forming opinions about him.

Does he speak the truth about the realities between men and women?

Yes.

Does he speak the truth when theorizing about male and female sexuality?

Yes

But are these truths uncomfortable (contradictory as truths being uncomfortable is)?

Yes.

And therefore he is an evil misogynist that must be silenced and black listed from society.

Now I knew this going into buying "Day Bang."  I was expecting cursing, swearing and the use of words and terms even I find disagreeable, but actually, none of that materialized.  Matter of fact what did materialize was a well thought out book deserving of mention and recommendation that is neither vulgar or insulting, but rather quite helpful for both sexes.

I bought "Day Bang" for several reasons.  One, since I am already spoken for, it was the one book out of his series of books that piqued my interest the most.  Night game, regular game, sure, been there, done that, learned it empirically.  But how to pick up chicks during the day, now that's different.  Two, I wanted to see if what I learned the hard way correlated with what a professional recommended.  And three, well, he linked to my book and was kind enough to write a review, so you all better go and buy his book if this here review interests you.

First you must understand that this is not so much a novel or a book as much as it is a how-to manual.  I was at first originally peeved with what seemed to be the same example recited over and over again.  However, it dawned on me this wasn't The Grapes of Wrath.  This was a guide for men, of all ages, how to approach women during the day.  The examples were repetitive on purpose, but varied to

1.  re-iterate the basic principles of approaching
2.  give you multiple approaches and variations to adapt to different environments and situations.

The more I read, the more I realized Roosh has indeed thought these things through AND tested them multiple times AND in different environments so that readers would have an effective tool useable in many situations.

Second, to my surprise, the book had little to no vulgarity, let alone sexuality about it.  It WAS a very serious, borderline scientific book.  If you were expecting filth and foul and flarn and filth, you will be let down.  I think there are MAYBE 4 vulgarities in the entire book.  Additionally, he never mentions sex.  It is only to get the girl on the date, which may or may not lead to sex.  If anything it is a truly innocent book in that key to the entire strategy is having the mindset of an old, innocent man, approaching a young lady for help.  He may have one thing on his mind, but it isn't in the gutter and it certainly wasn't obvious in the book.

Third, he addresses and emphasizes the limitations of the scientific method.  He doesn't claim this is a silver bullet that will get a 100% success rate.  He admits the limitations and the requirements of day game AND also states up front it takes effort and investment.  You CAN'T just approach one girl per week.  You have to approach at least 3 girls a day.  You AREN'T going to get 90% of the girls to throw their numbers at you, at BEST it will be 40% with tight game.  You SHOULD be natural, never rehearse your lines or force a pre-scripted conversation, but still run through a couple trial runs at home to get used to general flow and general bullet points you may want to bring up.  If there is any "complaint" I have about the book, it's the FACT that you do have to put a lot of effort into this.  MGTOW and aging alphas may be reminded of the sheer time cost and investment required to chase the ladies.

As I said before I am already spoken for and this book is not for those of you who upped your game and are having success, nor is it for "retirees" from game who decided to buy a motorcycle and go.  But it IS a MUST for young men or boys who are about to enter the fray of dating, if for any other reason day approaches are easier and cheaper than night approaches.  You needn't waste your time or money on covers, booze, drinks, parking, etc.  You just go about the course of your regular day and the opportunities are bountiful and numerous.

In short, like many things in the Manosphere, "I wish I had this when I was younger."  But thankfully there are a lot of young men and boys out there that should be reading this right next to their freshman comp book.  Additionally, if you're a veteran, you might as well pick it up to see how your game compared, not to mention for the intellectual interest it provides for us old farts.  I had many outright guffaws as many as "aha, I see said the blind man" moments with this book.

Regardless, buy Day Bang!

Also available in Kindle.

Here's To You, Mr. Social Science Degree - Real Men of Genius

HAR!!!!  I also like the NASSDALT comment.

Remember boys, real men don't major in the humanities.

The Alcoholism, Anger, Temper Excuse

The Manosphere, if you could categorize it, falls ever so generally into three categories;

Pick up community
Men's rights
Theory/Political Discussion

All of which is fine and dandy, but if and when I write about Manosphere issues, it is usually more for the "Boyosphere" than anything else.  The reason why is that while men (our age and older) have used the Manosphere to compare notes across the internet to confirm that indeed something insidious, malicious and evil HAS BEEN perpetrated against us, understand that does nothing to address the poor boys of the FUTURE that WILL BE sent through the same meat grinder.

And therefore a plurality of my posts tend to be targeted more towards young boys so that there is at least something positive that comes out of this psy-ops war.

Today, though, I want to address something that no doubt you, me, and every other guy out there has gone through (thereby guaranteeing young boys coming onto the line are going to suffer the same) and that is the "Alcoholism, Anger, Temper Excuse" or "AATE."

Like many things, it took retrospect and hindsight to realize what was going on, but when you put the pieces of the puzzle together you realized a lot of women, if they don't want to go out with you any more, won't have the spine or gall to come outright and say,

"I don't think we should date anymore, I'm breaking up with you."

Instead they do something much worse.  They claim you have a problem or have somehow changed, and use that as the excuse to have a time out or fully break up.

For example, all three of the excuses - temper, anger and alcoholism - have been used on me by multiple girls in the past.

One girl claimed I had anger issues and she couldn't deal with such a "volatile" person.  Active?  Yes.  Bombastic?  Yes.  But was I "angry?"  No.  Or at least I didn't think so.  Of course I was young and stupid, so I thought, "Wow, maybe I'm angry and I just don't know it.  Maybe I'm unaware of how I'm scaring people or insulting them."  All in vain, misleading and quite damaging because I was trying to solve a problem I didn't have.

Another claimed I had a "temper."  I didn't have a temper.  I was having a good ole time dating this gal.  If anything I was relaxed and drunk half the time and never blew up once.  It was so obvious I didn't have a temper, even I knew this was some kind of ruse or BS.  When she broke up with me, it wasn't a surprise.

And finally, the "alcoholism" excuse.  Ah yes, the favorite among naive goodie two shoes girls who think if you have two drinks in a night you are a full blown, raging alcoholic, hell bent on driving drunk and training vigorously to beat your future wife.  Many-a-Christian girls used this one when they tried vainly to convince you to "find Jesus," but upon not being able to provide any conclusive, empirical proof Christianity is THE ONE TRUE religion, out they whip the "you're a raging alcoholic" excuse.  Never mind if you are drunk you're more relaxed and happy and the farthest away you'd ever be from "raging."  Nope, she knew this one friend of her's cousin whose uncle dated this woman whose sister had a father who got drunk and treated her mom mean one time back in the 70's.  Translation - you are 100% guaranteed to beat me if we ever get married AND the children too!

Naturally none of these excuses stand up to logic, but that's the whole point.  They're excuses, not reality.  The damage AATE causes young boys is not that a girl wants to break up with you and thus resorts to BS excuses to rationalize it, but it misleads you into thinking you have problems you really don't have and thus you try to change those problems.  It's just as bad as having problems you DO have and you DON'T try to change them.  Neither are based in reality and only make you a worse person.

So boys, look out for the AATE excuses.  And when delivered, just accept the girl doesn't want to date you, move on, and be happy someone so duplicitous is taking herself out of your life.

Public vs. Private Sector Pay

More pay for less work!  Thank you AFSCME and SEUI!


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Enjoying the Decline!

Pictures from my weekend trip to Buffalo, WY.  I also made a friend along the way.

















I call him "Pookey" the friendly roadside snake.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Updating the Factors of Production

If you recall high school economics or college freshman economics (both were the same, colleges just made you pay extra to re-learn what you did in high school) there were "The Factors of Production."
These factors were essentially the ingredients you needed in order for a business or an individual to "produce" something.  There were originally three of them:

Land - you can produce nothing without at minimum some kind of office space.
Labor - the machines will not only not take over the world, they'll just sit there unless a human spends his or her time running them
Capital - Nobody is doing nothing until they get paid.  And that includes the people who produce the tools and machines you'll need to get started.

A fourth one was entered as they realized even with the above three, nothing would get produced.  You needed a leader.  An innovator.  A man with the plan.

The entrepreneur.

Since there it was commonly accepted that there are three original, but most likely four real factors of production.

However, I would like to tender a fifth.

I'm doing this not to make things more complicated or to somehow be enshrined in the Economics Hall of Fame, but because our economy today practically proves there is a fifth and final factor of production that is required to produce, but is not accounted for in the current list.  That fifth component is:

A future.

Some would call it "political" or "economic certainty."  I'm calling it a future simply because if there is no hope an economy will be stable, MORE SO that you will be able to keep the majority of your gains, then you can have;

Land
Labor
Capital
and an entrepreneur raring to go

nobody's producing nuthin' if (oh, I don't know)

the government is racking up debts that literally call into question the integrity and viability of the future economy

the government is spending so much that it's a guarantee tax rates will go through the roof in the future

the people are so anti-business, anti-capitalism, anti-rich, anti-success that you're afraid they'll simply vote to take the fruits of your hard labor away.

I could go into more detail, but the point is simple enough.  You see it not just in the economy (companies are sitting on trillions in capital, people are DESPERATE for jobs, enterprenuers can't wait to jump ship and move to Singapore...ooops, I mean...start businesses), but in the housing market (nobody new entrants in the market want to buy....well nobody can AFFORD to buy), and the stock market (the same).

It won't be until there are guarantees enshrined via constitutional amendments that the government cannot confiscate/tax beyond a certain level and that private individuals property and income rights are maintained, that you will get people to start investing in the US again.  And so you can go ahead and come up with all the Keynesian stimulus you want.  The vast majority of the United States' economic strength will remain dormant, or just outright afraid.

Enjoy the decline!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

But Women Are Equal Now

Badger misses the fast ball across the plate, but I forgive him.  The correct response to this absurdity that "men don't pick up on our signals" is....

"Men and women are equal now.  Start acting like a man and approach us 50% of the time and express clear and obvious interest."

**"the absurdity of feminism" sigh**

OK, time for the lesson that the leaders of the 70's failed to tell you morons about choosing this idiotic path the country has obviously decided to go down:

Ahem....

You lovely ladies of the western world do not get to have it both ways.  You wanted to be treated like men, well little ladies, you got it.  Start "manning up," step up to the plate and start asking men out point blank.  You no longer get the excuse "well men should just be the aggressors" or "WELL I SENT HIM OBVIOUS SIGNALS!!! I LOOKED AT HIM!!!!."

So sorry, that won't do.  We're now going to pull up our lawn chairs, break them out, light up cigars, treat you like men and wait for you to approach.  Matter of fact, we have a lot of time to make up for when the men were oppressing you women.  Out of respect and retroactive apologies for our forefathers' evil oppressive behavior, we should just let you do all the approaching and asking for AT LEAST the next 50 years as reparations for our misogynistic behavior over the centuries.   

But, I'm sorry.

You know what.

That just isn't enough.

No.  I'm with you sisters!!!

We really oppressed you.

I mean we REALLY oppressed you.

And for that I am TRULY sorry.

So to make it up to you, we'll even do you the favor of "womaning up."  And by that I mean practicing our shooting down skills, our mockery laughter and our "say yes, but then cancel at the last moment" skills so you get the full male treatment.  I don't know how to flake, but I'm going to figure it out.  Trust me, you'll like it, because that's what you've always wanted, right?  To be treated as equals?  To be treated like men?  I'm with you sista, I am going to make DAMN SURE all you girls get what you deserve and are entitled to, and that is to be treated as GENUINE equals.

Heh heh.

I am so going to enjoy this decline.

The Sexual Attractiveness of Liberal "Men"

I have a long and lengthy theory about the socio-sexual-psychological-etc. of liberal men.


But the very short version is they're not attractive.

Job Creation Bush vs. Obama - Update

Time to update the data as a reader pointed out a story to me about job creation under democrats and republicans. 

Turns out from last we spoke, Obama and Bush are still more or less neck and neck in terms of job creation at this point in their presidencies.  At my last post Bush had lost 100k more jobs than Obama at this time, now he is only 40k down (one could also make the point Census workers should be taken out of this and close the gap further, but, eh).  Regardless, you'll note in the chart, just like Bush's first term, it's put up or shut up time for the Obama administration.  Both at this point in time during their first terms had suffered lack luster economic growth and a lack of a booming economic recovery that typically follows recessions.  Bush pulled through (though I don't believe it is a president who can create jobs and this whole discussion is moot), while Obama's growth has started to trend below Bush's.



The only additional thing I will point out is that while both presidents are essentially neck and neck in job creation, Bush managed to do this with a mere fraction of the amount of debt Obama has.  But don't let me ruin your fragile little Keynesian Land of Make Believe by pointing out the spectacular failure.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Destroying the Division of Labor

I am starting to believe more and more this was done by:

1.  Nefarious forces
2.  Originating from the Soviet Union during the cold war

I am not one of conspiracy theories, but the more and more I look at stuff like this or "global warming" I am finding it harder and harder to believe it wasn't orchestrated.

To destroy a country that is strong you must do it from the inside.  No better way than to start by destroying the natural and biological relationship between men and women.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Sinking the Men of the Yamato

Through my own personal conversations, the conversations retold to me of other men, and even those conversations I've heard on the Tom Leykis Show, all of us men have at one point in time or another been asked by women,

"Who screwed you over in the past?"

or a variant

"What girl did this to you?"

Usually this happens when women ask you about your opinions of dating, courtship, romance, etc., and when you speak the truth they are shocked and horrified that you have such a cynical or pessimistic attitude towards dating or women in general.  The logic they employ leads them to only one possible solution or explanation:

That ONE girl completely screwed you over and thus, unjustifiably and unfairly, soured your opinion of ALL women.

They believe there was this ONE, SINGLE, SOLE perpetrator that did not represent or resemble the majority of women and that is why you have this "irrational" or "inappropriate" response or view of women.  That the majority of women are too numerous and prevalent that it was only sheer dumb luck you ran into a single, sole, renegade operator who warped your perception of women so unjustifiably so. 

So let me introduce a little reality into the situation.

For the most part, I believe most women subscribe to the theory that "ONE" person did this to you, and therefore scarred you for the rest of your life, because it's simple.  The human brain (male or female) is more prone to select the simpler theory because it takes too much effort to accept and rationalize complex ones.  This is not a criticism of women, because men are just as susceptible to believe in a "simple" theory than a complex one.  But it's just easier to believe there was this ONE, SINGLE, MEAN, BADDIE of a girl that did something really mean to you and thus you swore off women forever. 

The REALITY is however, quite the opposite.

Yes, there are men who unfortunately suffered one, single death-knelling blow and they never got up again.  But for the majority of men, it is more akin to the sinking of the Yamato than anything else.

The Yamato was the premier Japanese battleship of WWII.  It was more or less unsinkable from sea and thus they had to resort to aerial bombing to sink her.  She took an AMAZING amount of punishment.  Three separate waves of attacks, from air and sea and she still kept on going.

Inevitably she DID capitulate and sink, but understand it was no one single bomb or torpedo that did her in.  It was a relentless, constant, repetitive, barrage and assault that essentially bludgeoned her into submission and defeat.  And thus is the way of most men you will face today above an age of 25.

The sheer hell and punishment, NOT in terms of single punishing blows, but in terms of constantly repetitive, NEVER ENDING attacks is what molds or galvanizes men into what they are today.  The accomplished Hugh Grant-like bachelor that eschews meeting your friend that is "perfect for him" was not sunk by a single woman, but a barrage of flake outs, stand ups, drama queens and suicide threats.  The confirmed bachelor who prefers to hang out with his buds instead of go to a club and meet a girl has had his deck strafed repeatedly.  The 40 something executive, committed to his job and his career and maybe calls you when he's in town, remembers starkly those days of getting the hell bombed out of him by ditzy girlfriend after cheating girlfriend after money-sucking girlfriend.

Did some girls cause more damage than others?

Yes.

Did any one of them sink the individual man?

No.

And so in the end if you look at the autopsy of this former "good guy" or "reliable man," you'll find that the cause of death was no single girl that hurt his feelings "really bad" back in college, but a never ending litany of flakes, frauds, drama queens, liars and just plain evil women/girls that were never strong enough or significant enough on their own to cause major damage to such a vessel, but a never ending barrage of them that just plain wore him down to the point of defeat.

Ergo, stop trying to blame the sinking of "good men" on mythical single, sole villains and start casting a wider net.  It is a problem that is more pervasive and wide-spread than most women will admit. And much like Christianity did, and Islam must in the future -have a reformation- so too must modern day women purge and shame through their ranks the women who find it fashionable, funny, entertaining and enjoyable to bomb, strafe, torpedo and attack men.

Because understand, those of us men of the Yamato class are simply forced to make a decision based on statistics and probability.  Enough girls attack, drop their bombs, and shoot torpedoes into our sides, we have no choice but to treat you all as enemies and give no one the benefit of the doubt, even the genuine and true "good girls."  And so there you sit at the age of 32 wondering "where have all the good men gone."  Whether you're a good girl or a bad girl, it doesn't matter.  By this point in the game it's revenge by proxy time.  If you're upset about that, then take it up with the feminists and evil women in your ranks that found it so necessary to villainize, mock, stand up, play mind, etc. with young men/boys, not the sinking Yamato's themselves.

Regardless, I sure hope it was fun (not to mention, worth it) playing with young boys' feelings and emotions in middle school through college.  Hope it was fun with the drama and suicide threats, and ultimatums and mind games and sh!t tests and whatever else Cosmo told you to do.  I hope "playing hard to get" and stringing along men/boys provided invaluable entertainment.  Because there couldn't possibly be a consequence to all that now could there?

You lovely western ladies enjoy that decline!

On a intellectual note, from Wikipedia about the sinking of the Yamato and just what kind of punishment it endured:

 Yamato avoided being hit for four minutes until, at 12:41, two bombs obliterated two of her triple 25 mm anti-aircraft mounts and blew a hole in the deck. A third bomb then destroyed her radar room and the starboard aft 127 mm mount. At 12:46 another two bombs struck the battleship's port side, one slightly ahead of the aft 155 mm centreline turret and the other right on top of the gun. These caused a great amount of damage to the turret and its magazines; only one man climbed out alive.[48][N 7] At 12:45 a single torpedo struck Yamato far forward on her port side sending extreme shocks throughout the ship. Because many of the hit's survivors were later killed by strafing or were trapped when Yamato sank, the details are uncertain, but authors Garzke and Dulin record that little damage was caused.[48] Shortly afterward up to three more torpedoes struck Yamato. Two impacts—on the port side near the engine room and on one of the boiler rooms—are confirmed; the third is disputed but is regarded by Garzke and Dulin as probable because it would explain the reported flooding in Yamato's auxiliary steering room. The attack ended around 12:47, leaving the battleship to list 5–6° to port; counterflooding—deliberately flooding compartments on the other side of the ship—reduced the list to 1°. One boiler room had been disabled, slightly reducing Yamato's top speed, and strafing had incapacitated many of the gun crews who manned Yamato's unprotected 25 mm anti-aircraft weapons, sharply curtailing their effectiveness.[48]
A large area of ocean with a warship in the middle distance. A plume of smoke is coming from the rear of the ship's superstructure, and the ship appears to be leaning to the left.
Yamato photographed during the battle by an aircraft from USS Yorktown (CV-10). The battleship is on fire and visibly listing to port.
The second attack started just before 13:00. In a coordinated strike, dive bombers flew high overhead to begin their runs while torpedo laden aircraft approached from all directions at just above sea level. Overwhelmed by the number of targets, the battleship's anti-aircraft guns were less than effective, and the Japanese tried desperate measures to break up the attack. Yamato's main guns were loaded with Beehive shells fused to explode one second after firing—a mere 1,000 m (3,300 ft) from the ship—but this had little effect. Four or five torpedoes struck the battleship, three or four to port and one to starboard. Three hits, close together on the port side, are confirmed: one struck a fireroom that had been hit earlier, one impacted a different fireroom, and the third hit the hull adjacent to a previously damaged outboard engine room, increasing the water that had already been flowing into that space and possibly causing flooding in nearby locations. The fourth hit (though unconfirmed) may have struck aft of the third; Garzke and Dulin believe this would explain the rapid flooding that reportedly occurred in that location.[49] This attack left Yamato in a perilous position, listing 15–18° to port. Counterflooding all of the remaining starboard void spaces lessened this to 10°, but further correction would have required either repairs or flooding the starboard engine and fire rooms. Although the battleship was in no danger of sinking at this point, the list meant that the main battery was unable to fire and her maximum speed was limited to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[50]
The third and most damaging attack developed at about 13:40. At least four bombs hit the ship's superstructure and caused heavy casualties among her 25 mm anti-aircraft gun crews. Many near misses drove in her outer plating, partially compromising her defense against torpedoes. Most serious were four more torpedo impacts. Three exploded on the port side, increasing water intake into the port inner engine room and flooding yet another fireroom and the steering gear room. With the auxiliary steering room already underwater, the ship lost all maneuverability and became stuck in a starboard turn. The fourth torpedo most likely hit the starboard outer engine room which, along with three other rooms on the starboard side, was in the process of being counterflooded to reduce the port list. The torpedo strike increased the rate of water intake by a large margin, trapping many crewmen before they could escape.[51]

At 14:02 the order was belatedly given to abandon ship. By this time Yamato's speed had dropped to 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and her list was steadily increasing. Fires were raging out of control in some sections of the ship and alarms had begun to sound on the bridge warning of critical temperatures in the forward main battery magazines.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Affirmative Action Job Does NOT Equal "Independent"

When you fleece the taxpayers

to pay for make work jobs that nobody wants

then you cannot claim to be independent or "self-reliant."

You are really nothing more than a welfare recipient playing "make believe corporate professional worker."

But don't let reality get in the way of you becoming the best taxpayer paid social worker professor non-profit administrator director you can possibly be.

I often wonder if the concept of the free market = reality is lost on most people.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Captain's Great Utah Adventure

You need to watch up to the point I slide down about 500 feet on a glacier on my butt.

Monday, May 14, 2012

But I Don't Like Math

Tough.

Stock Market as a Hedge Against Inflation

Two competing theories going on in my mind.

1.   The market is overvalued because of trillions of retirement dollars hitting the market over the past 40 years and the younger generations not having the purchasing power to continue to inflate that bubble.

vs.

2.  The market derives its value from future cash flows and profits.  These future cash flows generated by the assets of these companies will be priced in "future dollars" as the company will naturally increase prices to keep up with inflation and maintain profitability.  Additionally, a higher and higher percentage of sales are coming from foreign countries to offset the craptastic business prospects here in the US, providing an additional hedge against inflation.

Discuss and resolve!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

White Knighting in Charty Goodness Form

Heck, even I played Dungeons and Dragons and STILL didn't let my White Knighting days  handicap me past the age of 18.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Poetic Justice for California

Cuts in EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE and SOCIAL PROGRAMS!?????  Under the Mighty O?

Wait wait wait.  Lemme guess.  It's still "Bush's Fault."

Couldn't have happened to a more deserving group of people.

It's Called "Capital Flight"

You hipster 20 something Steve Job's worshiping DB's better start learning about economics.  Zuckerberg and his cohorts are laughing their asses off at you.

Is anybody else enjoying watching the country collapse as much as I am?

Friday, May 11, 2012

Alec Loorz

Professional crusader whose ego is more important than your standard of living.

What

did

I

tell

you

about

CRUSADERS???? (and no, don't just watch the first video, watch the whole damn thing)

Shooting Themselves in the Foot

I had linked previously to this post before about various governments (CT, MN, etc.) trying to unionize day care providers which I was originally against, but after thinking about it, I am totally for.  Unless my logic is flawed, the majority of women vote democrat and are always "for the children."  Of course they never pay for whatever the latest, bloated and completely unnecessary government program is, the taxpayer does.

However, if day care providers are unionized the price of an already expensive service is going to go through the roof and most parents do pay for that.  Even without unionization I've heard anecdotal stories of mothers opting to leave their job and (GASP!) RAISE THEIR CHILDREN because they were actually losing money going to work.  You throw in a 40% price increase with a 50% drop in quality and competence, women will not only be rushing to pull their kids out of day care, they'll abandon the democrat party in droves.

Or is the Captain just high on enjoying the decline on this one?

Shame on the Chronicle of Higher Education

I'll be brief because I'm hungry and it's Rumpie Time.

The Chronicle of Higher Education fires a blogger for being truthful and blunt about the merits (and I might add, employment prospects) of a hyphenated-American studies degree.

THEN they interview a PhD in History who can't find a job who also happens to be a minority

Are the people at the Chronicle of Higher Education TRULY THAT STUPID and IGNORANT they can't piece it together?  Or are they so cowardly they don't have the guts to tell minorities the realities of the labor market and that their degree is worthless in fear they'd be branded a racist/homophobe/sexist/bigot/etc?

Presumably the purpose of the Chronicle of Higher Education is to HELP PEOPLE in HIGHER EDUCATION. 

Speaking the truth about the worthlessness of various liberal arts degrees, ESPECIALLY those whose primary victims are minorities, might be a great place to start.

Oh, but that would require a spine now wouldn't it?

Thursday, May 10, 2012

"Permissive Parenting"

Holy crap, I thought one of my readers was just making it up.

Apparently it is true.  And apparently you idiots think somehow a generation brought up on this tripe is going to have the gumption and industriousness to produce enough wealth to pay for everything, not to mention protect us from hordes of Chinese invaders with weapons.

I better order some more Rumpie.

Success Story of 1970's Feminism

You too can achieve such great results.

For the Patron Saint's Name of Frick.

Head Further West Young Man

I'm already pretty far west, but I am going to live a childhood dream this weekend and visit the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

Any Agents in the Field recommend anything in that particular area of Utah for hiking, dust devil chasing, fossil hunting and other activities that scare aware American females?

A Spectacular Failure of a Father

She has a ring.  Which indicates a husband.  She has a kid.  Which indicates a father.  She's on the front cover of a national magazine with her 3 year old boy nursing.  Which indicates she has anything but a real man heading up that household.



Blame feminism all you want, this is more of a damning conviction of the lack of real men in this country. 

The Captain would have put his foot down a LOOOOONG time ago before anything like this would have happened with his theoretical wife.  Not to mention there is no way in hell I would let my child, ESPECIALLY A BOY, have this hanging over his head upon entering middle school.  This would be immediate grounds for divorce in the Cappy Cap home.

I predict she'll cheat on her husband, that's if she hasn't already...heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't even the husband's kid.

The Romney Obama Harlequin Romance Paradox

Permit me to chide a group of people in desperate need of chiding:

People who vote based on whether a candidate is good looking or not.

Now this can fall on both men and women (I am of course partial to Kristy Noem - she scores Super Num Num Points on the Cappy Cap Scale), but when it comes to presidential elections, since we've had nothing but male candidates, my ire in this particular instance is towards female voters.

So a question to all you ladies out there who've never watched CNN or Foxnews and instead get your political news form "The Daily Show" or "The Colbert Report" - how can you possibly choose between Romney and Obama?

I mean, it's gotta be like one of those Harlequin romance novels where the female hero is sought after by a rough and tumble blue collar stud AND AT THE SAME TIME a posh, Cary Grantish fellow, who is of course rich and powerful.  How does the poor woman's torn heart choose?

Of course in this upcoming election your choice isn't between a bad boy and a rich man (both are rich, both are powerful), but rather a much simpler choice-

pecks or hair?

Now I can see how you all fell in love with Barack Obama and deemed him worthy to be leader of the free world - pecks.  Yes, they were nice weren't they.  And the media was all too willing to post pictures of them glistening as he walked out of the ocean.

But you have to admit Romney has some really GREAT hair.  Not only is it full, but it has that touch of gray.  And he is a mature man, an accomplished man a "real" man.  Dare I say he almost has a twinge of "The World's Most Interesting Man?"  His hair screams "stability" and "don't worry, I'll take care of you, I'm an accomplished man."

But how does the uninformed, uneducated and ignorant female American voter choose?  Because unlike pulp fiction, there can only be one president and I'm very curious about the though process you ladies use to make such an important decision.  Does People Magazine speculate about who would be better on a date?  Does Cosmo give you detailed gossip about the private lives of both?  Or do you and other Harlequin Political Junkies just gather around Starbucks after you drop your kids off at daycare and sup cups of cappuccino on your husbands' dimes and debate the merits of pecks vs. hair?

Regardless, I am VERY interested in how you come to an informed and wise decision, ESPECIALLY given how nice Barack's pecks are and how full and lush Romney's hair is.

Though methinks I know how you're going to vote anyway, despite what they've been trying to do to you.

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Icky, Yucky, Gross Capitalism

These are pictures from East Germany before and after reunification.

I originally thought it was bombed out buildings after WWII UNTIL I saw one picture with graffiti.  Then it dawned on me, it was a simple, but stark comparison of the effects of socialism vs. capitalism.

Of course even this simple visual aid will fail to convert the Leftianity zealots.

For Your Wednesday Night Reading Pleasure

Most fathers could be reached for comment, but let's imagine we're holy and virtuous like widows anyway.

A chart of hell and where California sits in it.

New Yorkers deserve to pay higher prices for everything...and they do.

Didn't I just explain this?  It's called Jennifer Aniston Economics!

Oh ho ho!  Dr. Helen, you sure are funny.  "Picking up the check!"  That's a good one!

I just refuse to donate because statistically chances are my organs would go to a liberal.  I'm not joking.

Charlie goes into more detail about "Black Studies" than I cared too and pulls up what we all suspected.  Leftist claptrap that does nothing to actually help blacks.

See, see!  I included Tam this time!  I didn't forget! (unlike how she forgot about me and my book...sniff sniff).

Have At It

Hell, I say let them.

In the meantime I would like Megan Fox to show up at my doorstep with a new F-22 fighter plane and Barack Obama to resurrect Frank Sinatra so he can sing in my new 3,000,000 square foot house located on Mars.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Eliminating "Black Studies" Would Help Blacks

I'll try to be brief.

Understand any "hyphenated-American" studies doesn't teach its students a skill or a trade that would help them secure employment in life.  It doesn't increase their earnings power, it doesn't help them close any wage gaps.  All it does is teach them woeismeism and brings about a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure (not to mention a healthy dose of racism, sexism, and bigotry of the left's side of the isle as well).

In my book I PURPOSELY WARN minorities and women about degrees that PURPOSELY target them because of their gender or race, NOT because these college programs desire to help them, but because of the exact opposite.  They wish to profit off of them and the victim mentality they want to instill in them.

It is here, of course, we run into the paradox of people who genuinely wish to help minorities, women and other non-white-male classes, are usually punished by the powers that be, not to mention (ironically) accused of racism/sexism/whateverismleftistshaveintheirinventoryofbullshit.

I once tried to stand up for women being treated poorly in second and third world countries and was called a racist because I critiqued the cultures that kept women at home and out of schools.  Ironically no women or women's rights groups in this country came to my aid, matter of fact, they merely also accused me of racism, and so, now you know where the Captain's loyalty stands today in America and what he thinks of chivalry.

Ergo, I say, just remain quiet and let these people waste their money and lives majoring in worthless subjects.  If they're going to accuse you of racism or sexism or whatever variant of bigotry is being served this week, when you're merely trying to prevent them from making a major mistake in their lives majoring in a worthless degree, to hell with them.

They can continue to enjoy their pay gap despite our best efforts to close it.

The Captain Pisses Off a Dean of a (ahem) "College"

Uh oh!
Blogger Tom Fisher said...
The fact that these new faculty each bring in millions of dollars of outside funding that would not have otherwise come to the state makes them a real deal. They more than pay for their salaries and support tuition reductions for students working as their research assistants. The reason tuition has gone up at the University of Minnesota is that the state has cut its funding of the University so severely in recent years that it now comprises only 15% of the overall budget. Before you dismiss the University, you should get your facts straight.
7:32 PM
Delete
Blogger Captain Capitalism said...
Hey Tom,
Shove it up your ass and shove it hard.
Where do those "millions of dollars come from?"
Not the private sector I bet. Great, I get to subsidize spoiled people's hobby of "design" at a public institution. Can only imagine the quality of design being on par with the west bank's art department.
And yeah, I do have my facts straight. I stopped over at the old Art school (forget what it's called now) on the west bank to compile salary data going back to the 1970's because it isn't available on the internet. Something tells me your stats don't go back that far.  Mr. "Recent years." (added for post)
I also noticed how since my time there's about 40% more employees at the U of MN and only about 12% more students.
And you jerk off "deans" and "administrators" not only increase in numbers, but your salaries MAGICALLY never go down. Only up and up more than inflation.
And GOOD if the state has cut funding to your worthless programs (though, if I recall as a percent of GSP it hasn't gone down as much as you purport). Two of my friends went to the U of MN's "School of Design" back in the 90's and they sure as hell aren't working in design. I think living at home in their 30's is their primary occupation because ST. PAUL MINNESOTA ISN'T THE MECCA OF FASHION DESIGN YOU MORON!
Yeah, I sure Tommy Hilfiger recruits heavily from the St. Paul campus.
But hey, don't let me and my FACTS get in the way of you milking naive kids from the Twin Cities suburbs out of their tuition money while fooling them into thinking they're going to become the next Ralph Lauren.
Cripes, "University of Minnesota School of Design." You rank up there with degree mills like "Globe College" and "Arts Institute Intenational" and "University of Phoenix."

Kids, don't waste your money on a degree at the University of Minnesota's "School of Design."  Buy "Worthless" instead.  Save your money, save your time, HAVE THE EXACT SAME EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS in the fashion industry WITHOUT the debt and the worthless piece of paper.

Jennifer Aniston Economics

As I have gotten older, done more and more research and honed my "Super Awesome Economic Genius (TM)," I have learned that we folks of the capitalist, liberty, free-market stripe are not so much battling a legitimate counter theory to our free-market economics, as much as we are a spectacular level of ignorance.  So spectacular that I wouldn't even call it "ignorance" as I believe it really is more of a mental disorder ("delusional" is what I believe psychologists call it).

Of course I am miffed in that I foolishly credited my ideological opponents with having intelligence, veracity, intellectual honesty and a desire to seek what is best for mankind.  Miffed, not because they turned out to be nothing but self-serving spoiled brats with no interest in searching for the truth, but miffed because I wasted so much time trying to engage them on an intellectually honest and mature adult level.  Literally thousands of hours wasted compiling chart after chart, pulling up data, crunching numbers, all the while thinking,

"Ah, this will prove my point and convince them!  And soon they will vote based on fact, empirical data and what's best for the country.  And soon our country will reap the benefits of an informed and educated population and we'll achieve new heights and income per capitas of $100,000."

But now that I've been proven to have overestimated the honor and integrity of my ideological opponents, there's just one thing left to do.

Mock them.

Of course they make this laughably easy in that they exhibit their delusion daily, refusing to live in the real world.  And I know that in violating The Reality Principle they are merely setting themselves up for an even harder crash in the future, but it's still fun to make fun of them while they're accelerating their lives into an inevitable brick wall.  But their behavior is so delusional it almost warrants it's own subsegment of economic study.  And so with this let me introduce a new concept:

"Jennifer Aniston Economics."

As you know the Captain has a soft spot for Jennifer Aniston.  If  she were to show up at my doorstep in a drunken stupor, I suppose I would do the good, correct and right thing all preacher's kids do and help the poor girl out.  She would make lewd advances at me and I would have to refuse those advances because it would be inappropriate.  She would no doubt recognize who I am and say,

"Say, aren't you Cappy Cap?  World famous economist, ballroom dancer, motorcycle rider, author and fossil hunter extraordinaire?  Please, let me don this french maid outfit I conveniently have in my car!"

And again, because of my pure and virtuous nature, I would have to refuse her wanton advances.

But that is the point right there about "Jennifer Aniston Economics."

I'm delusional.

Never mind the chances of Jennifer Aniston showing up at my apartment in an inebriated state is unlikely.  And never mind she has no clue who I am (despite my world-renown Super Economic Economic Genius (TM)).  I'm not going to let FACT or REALITY get in the way of what I want to  believe.  That is the epitome of "Jennifer Aniston Economics" and a trait that is the hallmark of every liberal and socialist in the world.  And so permit me a little case study in "Jennifer Aniston Economics" that prompted me to write this little post. 

I saw this article about people voting in the "anti-austerity" party or "voting bloc."  And it really drove the point home to me not only how delusional people were about the fiscal REALITIES of their countries, but how pervasive and widespread this mental sickness is.  In France the majority of voters spoke and opted to pursue a delusional, impossible reality.  In Italy and Greece people are starting to rally against the "austerity parties."  But whichever country and whichever the case, you have to realize the sheer insanity and sickness these people have.  Voting against the "austerity parties" is like voting against "gravity" or "air" or "Newtonian physics."  It's REALITY.  There's nothing you can do about it.

For example, I could show this chart to every idiotic moron in France, Italy and Greece who thinks the party can continue on;


and they'll all ignore it, no doubt calling me names in the process.

So that leaves us with only one option.  Let's test our Junior, Deputy, Aspiring, Renegade, Official or Otherwise Economist skills, shall we?

Do we:

a)  vote for more government spending
b)  pray to the gods that Jennifer Aniston shows up at the Captain's house in an impaired state
c)  work harder to pay more in taxes
d)  enjoy the decline
e) b and d
 

How Gen X & Y are Prohibited from Investing in the Retirement Ponzi Scheme

In addition to the social security ponzi scheme, a lesser known, though probably larger scheme, is the retirement bubble.

I've gone into detail at length before, but in short, with trillions of dollars already invested into retirement funds over the past 40 years, prompted by tax breaks provided by the government, all that has done is inflate stock prices above their intrinsic value.  This makes mutual funds, stocks other investments a bad deal for any Gen Y or Gen Xer's entering their earning years and looking to stash away for retirement.

But there's another funny little aspect to this whole retirement program thing.  Oh, you'll call me "cynical" for making this observation, but that makes it all the more true.

It's not an issue of whether younger generations SHOULD invest in retirement plans.

It's an issue of whether they even CAN in the first place.

In order to invest for retirement you need money.  And not just money, but enough money to pay for food, clothing and shelter AND have enough disposable income left over for retirement investing.  But given the wonderful economy we've had under President Fluffy Bunnies not only is that disposable income non-existent, the jobs necessary to provide ANY income is non-existent.  And thus without jobs the retirement bubble ponzi scheme I believe will collapse quicker than I thought before.

To see if data had bore me out, I pulled some stats recently from the ICI (which provided me the statistics to the post I mentioned above 6 years ago).  Since then they've made the data private, but I was still able to find two telling charts showing you that the flows into mutual funds just isn't there to continue to support the retirement bubble:

First is the net new cash flows into mutual funds.  The ICI breaks it down between regular mutual funds and money market funds.  Particularly shocking is not just the collapse of contributions to money market funds, but the complete withdrawal from them during 2009-2011.  And not just a withdrawal, but more than enough to offset the NEW contributions into the other types of mutual funds.

Translation - people are selling their mutual funds to make ends, NOT reinvest in other funds.

Also notable in the chart is how (despite the summer of recovery) investment in mutual funds just plain stopped in 2011.  Aside from the financial crash of 2008, this is the lowest level of investment into mutual fund AND THAT INCLUDES THE RECESSION AND DOTCOM CRASH OF 2000-2001!



To paint an even clearer picture, just look at net contributions into equity funds.  Ignore the red line as they are merely providing that as a reference to global stock price performance, focus only on the volume of money going into or out of equity mutual funds.  What is not only painfully obvious is that no new money is flowing into equities.  Worse still, is the volume being taken out of the market in 2011.













Again, what this suggests to me is not only is it so bad people are wary of the market,

not only is it so bad that the replacement generations don't have the money to invest in the market,

it's SO BAD PEOPLE ARE PULLING MONEY OUT OF THE MARKET TO MAKE ENDS MEET!

But, as you know, your beloved Captain always likes to end of a positive note, and thus the title of this post.

For you see, if there's one good thing Barack Obama did for the young blind lemmings salivating over his pecks or his turgid speeches it's that he made the economy so bad these 20 somethings won't have the money to invest in an overpriced market in the first place.

And that is the definition of "forward."

Enjoy the decline!