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3 Nov
“Fired Up” for Tonight’s Results?
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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 1:11 pm | 13 views
Stats
While campaigning for Owens in NY23, Biden went after Sarah Palin’s “drill, baby, drill.”
AT has an excerpt of Sarah’s response. Clown like Biden and others are going to have to learn to leave her alone, she clobbers them every time.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/11/biden_vs_palin_no_contest.html
No thugs at my Virginia polling place – but then again, thugs don’t tend to get up very early and I voted at 6 a.m.! As a precaution, I was accompanied by my friend the Celtic Warrior Woman. No Dems in sight – only Independents and Republicans were visible. Voting was silky smooth and seamless. My sister voted at 10:45 a.m. and she had the same experience!
I like the elephant video.
We didn’t have any thugs either. But then, we didn’t have any for the presidential election either.
Popcorn is ready, beer is on ice. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve!!
(Jeez..that’s pathetic. I guess it’s the small things for now.
)
@Patvann:
You are having quite a day, are you sure it’s these elections that’s got you all excited? I have my doubts.
@Gayle Miller:
Thanks for the update Gayle! Sounds good! Hope it is going as well for others!
Mike, fun video! I was groovin’ on the song!
I know donkeys are kinda cute, but I’d much rather be associated in my political party with those cute lil’ (and BIG) elephants!!
Every vote counts all of you in New Jersey and New York! (VA polls closed now). So, go do your civic duty and vote!!
Our guys and gals are in harms way overseas to protect our freedoms, and one of those is VOTING!!!!! Hep two!!
@Missy.
OK..Ya got me.
*does happy-dance all over the kitchen*
Heck, I might now consider moving to Virginia!!!!
@SoCal Chris: Total sweep of the top three offices in Virginia! A huge turnaround from Obama’s victory margin in the Old Dominion.
O.K., that was the easy one… now, on to NJ and NY!
@Mike’s America:
I know, totally awesome!! I’m staying positive!! I know NJ is tight (I think), but WOOHOO anyway!!!
Republicans took VA and NJ on Conservative values. Woo Hoo!! Cantor just said the message is, “Enough with this radical agenda!” NY polls just closed. Good luck Hoffman!
Congressman Connolly (VA 11th), Senators Warner and Webb:
11/3/2009 – Virginia has spoken tonight, are you listening?
Nice Video Mike. I am glue to my TV set, NJ worries me eventhough Karl Rowe said that Christie will win. (I do feel like having a nice beer too…a beer summit anyone? Ha!)
It seems that Hoffman is losing in NY. Can anyone verify that?
Also, Bloomberg may not get re-elected, it is very closed in NY.
Buenas Noches Muchachos!
Don’t forget to pray for our men and women in the Armed Forces.
Well, tonight is shaping up nicely and I am going to enjoy my IPA’s tonight(and right now).
Now if we could get rid of the demosocialistacrats here in Oregon(beserkly of the north) that would be a grand thing. I know if a vote was held today here in commie, comrade laden
Oregon, it would tilt more so towrads the red, like in conservative red. A national trend shaping up? I think so! Just need to wait and see how us conservatives take the lead and keep this rolling. Obuma was a great help in swinging these elections. And thanks Joe Biden, you actually
have proved to be worth soemthing after all. To the opposition! We AMERICANS(LEGAL ONES,
PLEASE!) must continue to let our opinions and voices be heard. 2010? Maybe looking alot better
after tomorrow is all said and done.
URI: A beer summit is good anytime, just without the far left trolls and leftards.
A diversion guys, is the Democrat icon a donkey, a jackass, or a mule? If someone knows this piece of trivia, please enlighten me. There is a considerable difference between the three animals. Of course the mule is a hybrid cross between a jackass ( a breeding donkey or burro) and a mare or female horse. The donkey, I believe is the general breed name for the donkey or burro type equine.
I drink cabernet, but I could use a burrito with sour cream and jalapenos. I have never eaten of the equine family despite extensive travels in countries that love to eat our four legged equine friends. However, when this thing turns around, I might just have an authentic burrito for purely symbolic purposes.
@Skookum: It is a Donkey…but I suppose it could depend on your perspective. Lately, it’s been more like a Jackass…
@URI: Rove also said that the 23rd is a very big district and it may not be in until midnight or later. He said some parts of the district refuse to post by computer. Let’s hope he makes it a triple win.
Christie wins and not by the sqeak by that they predicted.
Thank You A & M, you have probably heard the expression, “as much class as a stud monkey,” a jackass is known for the same antics. They are difficult to deal with, actually they are usually disgusting; but the jackass is surely the typical reference in most horsemen’s minds.
New Jersey is a win. Two for two, if we can get the 23 rd, it will be quite an evening. Yippeee!
Looks like Owens is going to win. The bright side is that his time in office may be brief.
Really, until Hoffman came along liberals had a guaranteed lock on the seat.
I’m sure newt and the newtbots will scream we told ya so, but that will only prove they still don’t get it.
A “liberal Republican” who votes with the dems is no better than having a dem in that spot and actually is more harmful to us.
If Hoffman doesn’t win, it’s still quite a showing. Came in late and had to run against two liberals. Also, apparently he doesn’t live in the district…?? But, I’ll wait until all the votes are counted, could be as late a 9 or 10pm PT. The best news is they outed the RINO. Wonder what she’ll get from Rahm? Surely she won’t try to take up space pretending to be a Repub? Seems like that ship has sailed. There’s lots more separating the wheat from the chaff to go.
Great news so far. I understand that Hoffman is 3% behind now, and also that some of the voting machines have been impounded (?), due to glitches that caused a switch to paper ballots. Paper ballots appearantly won’t be counted until a week from today when they are counted with the absentee ballots. 21 districts in the county that had the glitches. Still could eek out a win here, but still, like others have said, and outstanding showing!
Sarge
Hoffman still has a good chance and if he does lose,
it was a great battle that he waged on very short
notice. This has been a good night, a very good
night.
Well, if Hoffman wins that great but the real value of NY23 was the grassroots revolting against an obvious rino picked by the local committeemen (and approved by the NRCC) because they thought she was squishy enough to win. Hell, Owens was more conservative than her and the Dems will have to defend this seat in a year. It exposed Newt as being as cynical as a dem. It brought Sarah and the other real conservative republicans off the bench and into the game. Most importantly it’s given the GOP time to prepare for 2010. If some real conservatives are chosen to run and if the message can be communicated that being a conservative doesn’t mean that freedoms are taken away, that the poor will be starved, that big business will be given carte blanche to screw the little guy then 2010 can be a truly epic year for America.
What’s the take home message? Referendum on Obama? What’s a better barometer: state governorships or a traditional GOP congressional district?
District 23 hasn’t elected a Democrat since 1852 (or so says Jon Stewart, which is currently on as background TV).
With 87% of the vote in, the combined vote of the RINO (said to be more liberal than the Democrat) and the Democrat are 55% and the Dem is up 49-45, with 6% for the RINO. This is in an off-off year election where the youth vote is way down, as is the vote of the non-white minorities. This vote won’t be so low in 2010, much less 2012.
So, what’s the take home message?
Did Gingrich have it right, or did Palin?
Dems took Congress not by enforcing ideological purity, but by running moderates in moderate districts. This enabled them to pass health care reform (preview of coming attraction). Will the GOP do the same, or will they only support “true conservatives?”
Just curious.
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
District 23 just DID elect a Democrat!!
Congratulations to the Governors who won, by the way. I don’t see those losses by the Democrats as a repudiation by the voters, but I also don’t see it as an affirmation of Obama either. Most interesting to me is Palin and Company squeezing out the Republican effectively gave the Democratic caucus in the House one more member. Sarah should have went and campaigned for her choice instead of phoning it in via Twitter, but then again, she always quits halfway thru something and they probably couldn’t pay her the speaking fees she wanted….
Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, all heavy hitters in the Conservative world put their chits on Hoffman, apparently they were no match for Acorn (sarcasm)
In light of the well earned wins by Republicans tonite, the big news is that Democrats picked up a House seat not held by a Democrat for the last 157 years!
@openid.aol.com/runnswim: Obama invested a huge amount of time and resources in NJ hoping to mobilize the base which helped him win that state a year ago. The young stayed home and the Independents deserted him.
Same deal in Virginia where Obama invested less time, but still put out ads with his famous call “fired up.” And it was a blowout.
You can play games all you want about NY-23, but the fact is that the total vote going to candidates other than the Dem was greater than that which the Dem got. Owens will have to give that seat up a year from now.
And if Newt is paying attention, he’ll be doubly shy about endorsing another backstabbing liberal RINO.
All in all a good night. And in New Jersey A GREAT NIGHT!
openid.aol.com/runnswim, Palin got it right. Conservative, not Republican. A New Age.
mooseburger, a New Whore in Congress?
Oh Boy! Look forward to Gummint Cheese, Food Stamps and watching Oprah until they turn Your Cable TV off.
I’m sure You are very proud. Did You get a Reach Around, a Kiss or more fund raising letters?
In another 6 months you will be celebrating dire poverty and unemployment large scale and wondering why.
They won by not enforcing ideological purity? Tell that to lieberman. Besides, all they had to do was bash Bush to get elected. We’ll see how that goes in 2010.
You also miss the point, dede was not a moderate anything. In fact, owens appears to be more moderate than her.
Like I said before, the second dede was picked, the dems were going to take the seat for sure until Hoffman came along. For Hoffman to do so well in such a short period of time while being a novice to campaigning speaks volumes.
Gloat all you want lefties, this is the canary in the coal mine issuing it’s warning. It’s not going to get better for you, but it will for us.
Hooray for NJ and VA!!! Congrats to McDonnell and Christie for a win well-deserved. Well, if this victory ain’t a referendum on Obama’s policies, I don’t know what is! Thank you to all the NJ and VA voters! You all stepped up to the challenge and came out winners!
And, to Mr. Hoffman, he deserves our gratitude, too, and congratulations for putting up a great fight. He had quite a lot of courage to get in the race to begin with. 46,746 votes to Owen’s 50,712 isn’t too shabby, I’d say. Way to go!
@Old Trooper:
Old Trooper, welcome home! At least, I’m assuming you are home again? Been praying for your safety.
Old Trooper: I remember that Government Cheese, it was really good cheese! And I appreciated Reagan for a creative idea on that too.
I think Bill Owens is a retired Veteran, and I doubt if he charges for his services, like most Whores do….or others who charge very high speaking fees….see comment 28
I’m not really proud, but just entertained watching the biggest Conservative heavy hitters back a guy that the district didn’t want, didn’t even live in that district, build him up and diss the local Republican choice, pour money into his campaign, and end up taking much of the shiny shine off of the night for Conservatives. He was endorsed by the Conservative heavy hitters only for his beliefs, but the guy didn’t even know much about the district he was running to represent. Truthfully, I really thought that Hoffnam would probably win, and I didn’t think the Scozzafava endorsement of Owens would do anything but help Hoffman. Scozzafava is the one who is proud and laughing today, not Palin and friends. I hope Conservatives can do the same thing in Florida, purge the unbeliever Obama embracer Charlie Crist….That man is way too liberal…. maybe we can sneak another one in with your all help.
This is a take on the night from a GOP strategist (quoted by Curt, in another thread):
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzA5YjVhMzM1ODY1MzBlY2IwNjVmMTFlZjYxYjc3ZjE=
The NJ race was much more about corruption than about Obama:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1913871,00.html
Governor’s races are about state issues. Red states often elect Dem governors and Blue states often elect GOP governors.
But a traditionally GOP congressional district in the year of the stimulus and health care reform and in an off/off year election with low turnout of young people and non-whites minorities? And it’s not like it was an under the radar election.
LW/HB
@ Skookum
Andrew Jackson’s opponents called him a Jackass. Jackson liked it, ’cause he was weird like that. It became his mascot.
@mooseburger
So moosey, let me get this straight. If the DNC came to your district and picked a candidate for that race that happened to be: pro-life, wanted welfare reform, wanted to seal the borders, put a stop to illegal immigration, believed in the private sector instead of Obama-care, but had a D. behind their name…you’d vote for them? Yeah, didn’t think so.
Democrats have their own issues, don’t worry about how we deal with ours. In case you Big Tent, all inclusive Dims haven’t heard:
Larry, what these elections say about Obama is that now he is a lame duck president! Not even a year in his presidency and these 2 states which are next door to him, turn red and telling him to change his approach. Never seen before and who said it yesterday? Bill CLinton said that the elections last night were a referendum on Obama!. Of course, the Liberal media is going to spin the story.
Larry, the independents donot want the Health Care Reform that Obama is bringing to the table.
Americans are not ready for neo socialism. Hillary got that message decades ago and Podesta cannot take no for an answer.
The question now is…Is this administration going to choose to go forward full speed ahead with their ideology or are these czars going to listen to the people?
No matter what, Obama is a lame duck president now!
PS: Howdy Old Trooper! Hope you are safe.
@URI: I do like bold predictions; thanks for yours. I’ve got an honest difference of opinion with you, however. Obama’s approval ratings in Virginia are currently higher than were his polling numbers just before the election, a year ago. Voters do tend to vote for people and not so much for policies, at the Presidential level. To only a lesser extent at the Governor’s level, as well, e.g Schwartzenegger being one of several current examples.
What I’d personally like to see is for health care reform to pass and for a real energy program to pass, with disincentives to burn carbon and incentives for alternative energy. Once these have been achieved, I’d like to see the GOP gain control of congress in 2010 and for the following six years to be a time of bipartisan tax and spending reform (putting both into balance).
My bold prediction is for the Democrats to maintain narrow control of the House, the Senate to end up close to 50-50, for the economy to recover, for Americans to like the health care reform which was passed, and for Obama to be easily re-elected in 2012.
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
@ openid.aol.com/runnswim (Larry)
You want tax and spending reform, but not until government gets their share of one sixth of the economy through healthcare and even more with energy? I don’t even know where to start. Last night may not have been a referendum on Obama, I’m perfectly fine with that. I believe voters are still trying to send a message that just isn’t being heard. They sent it when the democrats took over the House in 1998. The republicans were spending money hand over fist. The presidental election was another story. Obama promised everything to everyone and he hasn’t done squat. And if you haven’t read this NY Times article, you should. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/us/politics/03year.html
Now, I think the voters have sent another message. They are tired of the spending. How hard is that to understand. I think everyone wants some sort of healthcare reform. But if you think anything with a public option that is going to cost over 1 Trillion smackers is going to pass, you are seriously delusional. If no one else got the message last night, the Blue Dogs did. If they have any hope of being re-elected, they will not be passing a big spending healthcare bill. Cap and Trade…never will it see the light of day. Build smart grids, offer incentives for alternative fuel sources, use LNG, clean coal, drill for oil. In the words of Sarah Palin, all of the above. I highly recommend this article to see how government involvement in subsidizing alternative energy is going to bite us in the rear should we go down that road: http://windconcernsontario.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/germany-is-seen-as-a-leader-in-renewable-energy-but-its-experience-has-been-a-costly-waste/
The private sector will respond to demands of alternative energy. Consumers are looking for more efficient energy. Cap and Trade is not the answer. It will drive up costs dramatically.
I think the message that was sent last night, to both sides, is knock off the spending. There are other ways to make reforms without spending our children and grandchildren into debt. Now we’ll see who is listening in 2010.
Larry, be realistic. It is too expensive. HC will not pass. Cap and Trade is ridiculous, it is the decapitation of economic growth and it will make these economic depression last longer. Plus, what are you going to do with unemployment? Too much for too long can create unrest.
A recommendation: Concentrate in Afghanistan. Forget about the Left wing Radicals anti-war, postpone any HC and C&T reform until next year. Try to lower the unemployment rate.
The common sence people are looking for a gradual change in HC plus tort reform( a must). The neo socialists believe that bringing governemnt as a competidor in the market is the fair approach. Government is incompetent, corrupt and driven by ideology. Americans have too much Webber and Von Hayek in them to suddently make them a Marx. At the end of the day, you need profits to make you feel good. Government does not recognize profits.
@openid.aol.com/runnswim: You can spin all you want but I would refer you to this from the Politico:
“unmistakable rebuke of Democrats”
Besides, Curt’s post doesn’t name the GOP strategist who saw it otherwise. Sorry, but I don’t put all that much cred in anonymous citations.
@Aqua and @URI:
Thought provoking comments. Thanks.
Just a couple of brief reactions:
I’ve explained what I think is wrong with the US healthcare system before, why it needs fixing, and how I think it should be fixed. My views are pretty consistent with those of a majority of medical professionals in this country, according to a variety of studies recently published. I believe that the current proposals before Congress are a first step toward taking the nation where it should be going, with regard to health care, which is a safety net to provide coverage for all and to minimize personal bankruptcies from catastrophic illness, while preserving a system wherein employers and individuals could pay more, if they wanted a concierge level of care. Pretty similar to the continental European and Japanese systems.
I believe that the current Congress will find ways to discourage carbon and encourage alternatives. Mandates do work. This has been proven at both state (e.g. California) and federal levels.
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
@ openid.aol.com/runnswim (Larry)
Larry, I’m not going to go into a healthcare debate again. I think you and I have been through this enough. However, the current bill(s) in Congress offer no such thing. Not that it matters, the current bill(s) will not make it to either floor. They need to start over.
I lived in California from 1985 until 1996. I was stationed at March AFB in Moreno Valley, separated in 1990 and moved to Palmdale and commuted to Burbank to work. California should never be brought up as an example of how to do things right. They are about to ban big screen TV’s. It will complete the exodus that is currently taking place. California is fiscally, morally and intellectually bankrupt. Even the democrat State Treasurer told the assembly they were idiots. And sure, federal mandates on CAFE standards for cars have worked…not! Car makers have to make a certain amount of cars with those standards. At what sacrafice? They replace steel with aluminum to make the vehicles lighter and much less safe. What did the consumers do? Those that could afford them went with the SUV’s. Heavier, safer, less fuel efficient. It’s not that consumers want to spend money on gas, we just want to be safe. Sorry Larry, wrong on both accounts.
@openid.aol.com/runnswim: “My views are pretty consistent with those of a majority of medical professionals in this country, according to a variety of studies recently published. “
Don’t start up with those phony studies again Larry. You might as well stick to your previous SEIU/ACORN approved talking points.
But, as we learn today, you’ve been wasting your time. See my newest post for more.
@Mike:
.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/361/14/e23
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/361/14/e24
n.b. These findings were entirely consistent with the results of an earlier “phony” study, published by different authors in a different peer-review medical journal, which I previously cited and linked.
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
@mooseburger:
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, eh?
Samuel Stratton (D):
Michael McNulty (D):
Well damn! If it weren’t for Samuel Stratton and Michael McNulty, you would be correct.
Heh.
Aye: Well, this is what happens when I go with the mainstream media and don’t check into the facts for myself…I stand corrected on the 157 year drought comment.
In fact that area has been redistricted often and has had a slew of Democrats represent that area over the years:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York%27s_23rd_congressional_district
It can’t be disputed that the Democrats scored an upset victory though in the 23rd and Limbaugh, Beck and Palin have yet to deliver a winner in spite of all their influence. I say keep makin’ them tea bags and kudos for spotting my repetition of wrong info.
@Aqua:
Quoting you:
Not precisely. I’ve lived here since 1979. I have quite a different perspective. Did you read the recent Time, with the cover story about this?
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101091102,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1931582,00.html
It’s still an amazing place to live and work.
With respect to fuel economy mandates, there was a famous and oft-quoted 2002 study which concluded that there was a significant improvement in overall fleet fuel economy over that which would have occurred without the fuel economy mandates.
With respect to auto safety, you are correct that big SUVs are safer than subcompacts (I say this as someone who most of the time drives in subcompacts and compacts). But here’s something interesting, California-wise.
http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/States/StatesFatalitiesFatalityRates.aspx
Click on States/Fatalities/Fatality rates. Turns out that you are almost twice as safe, driving in California than you are driving in Mike’s South Carolina. I don’t know if it means anything, politically, tax-wise, regulation-wise, but a perusal of that table indicates that you are generally safer — driving-wise — if you live in a blue state than if you live in a red state. Maybe this will slow the non-existent “exodus” from CA. And fatality rates overall across the USA are going down, as more safety is being engineered into cars. So we have, overall, fewer fatalities and better gas mileage.
Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
@ openid.aol.com/runnswim (Larry)
Don’t get me wrong Larry, I loved California. I spent some of my happiest days there, without a doubt. Of course Pete Wilson was Governor at the time, for the most part.
It’s tough to get into an auto accident when the average speed is 15 mph. It’s the only place I’ve ever lived where there is a traffic jam at 3am. I rode a motorcycle to and from work, because I could white line. I was hit 3 times, luckily I never went down. Just some bumps and scrapes. And I won’t argue about the safety of cars these days, but that isn’t government driven, it’s consumer driven. People would like to have smaller cars that are more fuel efficient, but they want to feel safe.
Time Magazine? Seriously? Does anyone take them seriously any longer?
Interstate Bakeries…Leaving – http://realityalert.electionforum.org/Taxes-and-Regulations/Another-Company-Leaving-California-because-of-High-Taxes-Regulations.html
Novellus…Leaving – http://valueacceleration.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/jobs-leaving-california/
And another one…Leaving – http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090802/BUSINESS/908021069?Title=Leaving-California
And then there is this: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/business/Cost-of-Living-Sucks-Everyone-Leaving-California.html
~snip~
Emphasis mine.
That doesn’t look non-existent to me. Just saying.
@Aqua: I think that the Time magazine article does a good job of putting everything into perspective. It’s an enormous economy, and certainly some businesses won’t find the advantages California offers sufficient to offset the admittedly higher cost of doing business. You give examples of a contractor, a bakery company, and after market auto modifier, and Novellus, a company which makes chemical materials used in microchip manufacturing.
I was responding specifically to your statement that “California is fiscally, morally and intellectually bankrupt.” I might agree with you on the morally part of it and the state has a systemic problem of voters approving spending projects while putting into place laws which limit the ability of the state to pay for these spending projects (e.g. Proposition 13 and the 2/3 supermajority required to approve a state budget). But California is anything but intellectually bankrupt, and that’s why it’s going to continue to lead the nation with respect to creating entire new sectors of the economy.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1931582,00.html#ixzz0W0YP3tRi
California basically ratified the Kyoto Treaty. It’s an incubator to test the concept that strict environmental standards would be ruinous for the economy. We’ll see.
California also passed malpractice tort reform of the type being hyped as a cure for rising health care costs 30 years ago, while red state Texas only followed California’s lead in the last several years and the rest of the red state world is still ruled by the tort bar.
Not so intellectually bankrupt, methinks.
Driving fatality statistics, by the way, are based on fatalities per mile travelled, not on fatalities per time spent listening to Audiobooks. I am fortunate, however, to be self employed and to live 3 1/2 miles from where I work, a route which takes me only through suburban residential streets. I’m glad that you survived your motorcycle commuting, splitting the traffic lanes.
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
@Larry
I was among the first 50 employees of Novellus. It was started by Brad Mattson, who went on to start Mattson Technologies, where I was the 5th employee. As an aside, they do not make chemicals, they make the machines used to make semiconductors, primarily Chemical Vapor Deposition tools. Because of the environ-laws, they can not even have a demonstration lab, even though they don’t do manufacturing like AMD or Intel, without having to pay huge fines. An invention of mine was tossed by Tegal because our lab put out the same CO2 as it took in…The invention would have removed thousands of tons of Florine from the air, but to these idiots, CO2 is worse, even if the net-gain of CO2 used in the process was the same. (Like soft-drinks are.)
They are leaving because taxes and the new environmental laws, just as is the reason Tegal, Mattson, Intel, and many others in the industry are leaving. At one time these industries employed hundreds of thousands, now it is a shell of it’s former self. Those “brains” left as well.
I also used to do construction. Because of the draconian environmental laws, the last remaining cement factory went under. Now all cement comes from a horribly-polluting factory in Mexico, and the cement prices doubled, thus affecting EVERYONE who uses the stuff, primarily the states of CA, AZ, OR, and Nevada.
@Larry
I was among the first 50 employees of Novellus. It was started by Brad Mattson, who went on to start Mattson Technologies, where I was the 5th employee. As an aside, they do not make chemicals, they make the machines used to make semiconductors, primarily Chemical Vapor Deposition tools. Because of the environ-laws, they can not even have a demonstration lab, even though they don’t do manufacturing like AMD or Intel, without having to pay huge fines. An invention of mine was tossed by Tegal because our lab put out the same CO2 as it took in…The invention would have removed thousands of tons of Florine from the air, but to these idiots, CO2 is worse, even if the net-gain of CO2 used in the process was zero. (Like soft-drinks are.)
They are leaving because taxes and the new environmental laws, just as is the reason Tegal, Mattson, Intel, and many others in the industry are leaving. At one time these industries employed hundreds of thousands, now it is a shell of it’s former self. Those “brains” left as well.
I also used to do construction. Because of the draconian environmental laws, the last remaining cement factory went under. Now all cement comes from a horribly-polluting factory in Mexico, and the cement prices doubled, thus affecting EVERYONE who uses the stuff, primarily the states of CA, AZ, OR, and Nevada.
CO2 paranoia is the biggest scam ever foisted on the planet.
@patvann:
Thanks for relating your personal experience. Certainly very relevant to the present conversation! Hope that you got a good option package and had the chance to exercise them.
With regard to CO2, there are issues which go beyond climate change. One issue is that the era of cheap fossil fuels is coming to an end. Some nations and some states may fare better than others, if they prepare for this. Virtually everything which reduces CO2 has side benefits: less foreign oil, preservation of domestic oil reserves, reduced pollution by other gases, creation of new technologies and industries based on these technologies.
Another issue, which absolutely no one talks about is that humans did not evolve to breathe the levels of CO2 which we are now breathing. Our bodies utilize a bicarbonate/CO2 buffering system, and increasing CO2 produces more acid in our bodies, which must be buffered, and this changes our bioenergetics at the cellular level. Humans (homo sapiens) have never lived with CO2 levels where they are today, and they are continuing to rise with each year. We have no idea what this may mean for human health, disease, fertility, etc. For example, the effect of chronic CO2 exposure on development of cancers has hardly been studied at all, even in experimental animal tumors. And there are reasons for potential concern, e.g.
1. Chest. 1997 Sep;112(3):779-84.
We do know that there are unexplained increases in certain cancers (e.g. non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) and declining sperm counts and increasing autism and on and on.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ReproductiveHealth/story?id=3451404&page=1&page=1
It will probably take decades to confirm, refute, establish causality, refute causality, etc. In the meantime, CO2 keeps going up and up.
What we have going on now is the largest human guinea-pig experiment in human history, and it is anything but conservative to allow this experiment to continue.
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
@ openid.aol.com/runnswim (Larry)
Well, that does it for me. I give up. I’m going to go debate my rug. I think I stand a better chance of getting through.
One last thing though Larry. The brain-trust is leaving Cali. No one in their right mind would start up a business there. Business is in the business of making money, not having it removed by the government. If government doesn’t allow our businesses to do the things that make money, they will go somewhere that will. It sounds like Patvann’s company was doing something that might have helped the enviornment with net zero carbon production, but that was just to much for the Berkley Bunch.
@aqua:
Funny that the total amount of venture capital investment in California (10% of the US population) last year was greater than the combined VC investment in the other 49 states (90% of the US population).
Let’s send the psychiatric care emergency response unit up to Sand Hill Road, Palo Alto, CA. Lot of billionaires there who aren’t in their right minds.
- Larry W (aka “The Rug”)/Huntington Beach, CA
Larry W, I am not sure why you mentioned the residents of Sand Hill Road, but I have many customers scattered along that road and on into Woodside and Menlo. Let’s say you need to be an enduring and compassionate person to work for the country gentry type billionaires. Although there are some very genuine people among them, most of the locals are Liberals. Do you care to elaborate on the phenomenon of the wealthiest people in the world who either raped the earth or their “folks” ( to quote BHO ) did and now they are going to make the rest of us pay for their past transgressions with Draconian measures to keep us from enjoying life or building wealth. Like whores in church, they can become the most self-righteous and sanctimonious among us, we the more humble sinners.
I will be there in a couple of weeks, after twenty years of working for them, insight from a worldly and knowledgeable Liberal might come in handy while I tabulate their invoices.
If you detect notes of sarcasm, that’s good, I am always trying to improve my writing.
Yes Larry, with your vast knowledge of biochemistry, perhaps you can enlighten the humble and feeble among us who wonder at the peculiar traits of the carbon atom that facilitate life and whose presence on earth is the main ingredient for life to exist.
@snookum
We weren’t talking political ideology; we were talking high tech, biotech, and greentech. We are talking about where the people who are investing in America’s future are putting their money. More of that money is going into a state with 10% of America’s population than in the rest of the country combined. This was stated in response to Aqua’s assertion that “no one in their right mind would start up a business there.” Well, that’s were most of the new businesses in the tech fields are being started. And the tech fields are the world’s future; so if America is to stay competitive with the world, it’s going to be because of California.
Sure, we’ll lose some bakeries and some manufacturing — at the margins. We sure won’t lose construction, although some contractors may find it more profitable to work elsewhere. So we’ll have some bakers and manufacturing workers leaving the state (although the net population of the state is still growing). Say goodbye to the past and say hello to the future.
I’ve been in business in CA in the private sector for 22 years now, since leaving my academic job. I couldn’t have gotten started and survived elsewhere; fossilized Red State brains certainly would never have given me the chance. Too conservative. Conservative about politics; conservative about business. To change paradigms, you have to push the envelope. Nowhere does the envelope get stretched as much as it does here.
Just got a recent teeny bit of a shout out, by the way, on the blog of a minor celeb:
http://www.suzannesomers.com/Blog/post/Chemosensitivity-Tests-e28093-Why-Does-Big-Pharma-Know-About-Them-and-WE-Done28099t.aspx
Where’s Nagourney located, by the way? Also in California.
The point is that if you want to do something new, this is still the best place to do it.
With regard to your question about carbon:
I don’t understand what you are asking. You want to be enlightened about — precisely what?
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
@ openid.aol.com/runnswim (Larry)
“Fossilized Red State Brains?” Wow!. I don’t really stay on top of all the medical research going on out there, just as I’m sure telecommunications technology isn’t at the top of your list of things to read up on. But down here in lil ole Georgia, we have a little place called Emory University. You may have heard of it. Started up by fossilized Methodist Episcopal brains. Emory may have made a scientific contribution here and there. /And I know, the doctors and scientists may live in fossilized brain Georgia, but they are liberals because they are academics. /sarc.
Yep, you’re right. http://www.ssti.org/vc/index.php
Just barely, but nonetheless impressive. I checked out some other websites and it seems silicone valley reigns supreme. I’ll retract my intellectual bankrupt statement as it relates to the brain trust in Cali, but leave it in place as it pertains to the politicians.
But you may find this site interesting. http://bizleavingcalifornia.blogspot.com/2009/10/californias-hostility-to-business-56.html
This one got my attention:
I wouldn’t expect that from Steve Jobs. But if you look through the list, it’s not just bakeries and manufacturing.
I gotta get back to the books. I’m trying to pursue my Master’s degree. But my fossilized brain has been out of school for too long and I have to take some prereqs. Which is the schools way of saying they want some of my money before they will allow me to participate in their program. They sure are some greedy liberal academics out there. You’d think the road to enlightenment would be free.
@aqua:
Here’s where you and I are having a failure to communicate. Apple Computer is an enormous, well-established company, in an enormous, well-established industry. They are about as mainstream as you can get. They are large and diverse, and no doubt certain of their activities would be placed advantageously in environments outside of Cupertino.
It’s the difference between discovery, on one hand, and investigation, on the other. Investigation is an incremental, one step advance. It makes up 98% of all research, including University research at places like Emory. Investigative research is built on the shoulders of giants. It is low risk, as it is based on established paradigms. Discovery is a multistep advance, which creates new paradigms. It is very high risk. It has the appearance of disorganization, oftentimes, as the discoverer seeks to create a new paradigm.
This is the essence of California, in virtually all aspects of life. From lifestyle, to entertainment, to business. People taking risks to create new paradigms and having the true societal freedom to be given enough rope to hang themselves. This kind of thinking is supported in business in California as in nowhere else that I know. It shouldn’t be at all surprising that the venture capitalists who support these sort of businesses might also trend to have liberal politics.
I had an interesting debate on this blog some months ago about why academics tend to be liberal politically and why people with post-graduate college degrees trend Democratic by a 60-40 margin. There is this concept among conservatives that there is discrimination against conservatives in academia and this explains the liberal stranglehood there. But I pointed out that post-graduate academics is about discovery and that, even in disciplines such as science and engineering, university faculties are disproportionately liberal. By definition, conservatives are not looking to do things in new ways. By definition, liberals (who often like to be referred to as progressives) are very open to changing the status quo. This extends to judges, as well as to Presidents, legislators, and voters. It also extends to venture capitalists, trying to create new sectors of the economy.
Conservatism has great virtues, in daily life, in business, in politics, and even in science.
But SOMEONE has to be willing to take risks and in SOMEPLACE there has to be an environment supportive of risk taking. No state is as open to new ideas and as supportive of risk taking as California. Coupled with all of the other state resources, described in the referenced Time Magazine article, it is understandable that California will continue to lead the nation in the creation of the technology businesses of tomorrow, for the foreseeable future.
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA