Author Archive

An Offer They Can’t Refuse

December 3, 2011 by fbk.

Well, my track record remains intact.  Once again, I have supported a Presidential candidate who then got out of the race early.  Last election cycle, I got so frustrated with my power that I turned it to evil uses.  I endorsed Hillary Clinton to get rid of her.  Then I forgot about my puissance, and after McCain named Sarah Palin as his running mate, I worked for his campaign.  We all know how that turned out.

 Still, this is a truly awesome power.  While I may not be able to help a favored Presidential candidate, perhaps I can help my financial situation.  So, Newt, Mitt, John Huntsman, etc., how much will you pay me NOT to endorse your bid for the Presidency?  Conversely, how much will you pay me to endorse, and therefore totally destroy, someone else’s Presidential bid?

Let the bidding war begin!

Posted in Politics, Ideas, Human Nature | Print | No Comments »

How to Get Elected

November 12, 2009 by fbk.

I’m going to change my name to “None of the Above” and run for President in 2012.  You?

Posted in Politics, Advice, Ideas, Human Nature | Print | No Comments »

Joe Wilson and Gresham’s Law of Manners

September 10, 2009 by fbk.

Gresham’s Law is usually stated as, “Bad money drives out good.”  Years ago the great author, H. Beam Piper, referred to Gresham’s Law of Manners, that bad manners drive out good manners.  I think Congressman Joe Wilson has illustrated this rather well.  The soi-disant Democrats or Progressives, who would more truthfully call themselves Socialists, Communists, and/or Fascists, have been using bad manners for years while the Republicans were supposed to hold themselves above that.  Barack Obama has been lying and calling others liars when they dare bring up the truth.  And after all of the lies and insults, I gather that Congressman Joe Wilson could no longer hold his tongue.  In an outburst during the President’s speech to a joint session of Congress, Congressman Wilson showed the bad manners to yell at the President of the United States of America.

Now, mind you, what Congressman Wilson said was entirely truthful.  Barack Obama was lying.  Or perhaps Barack Obama is trapped in a fantasy land spurred by some sort of psychosis?  I’m not sure that would be better for the country, but if it makes you feel better, have your own fantasy that a Democrat politician might be honestly hallucinating rather than lying.

For those of us who have been waiting for a little more tit-for-tat, a little dose of bad manners by a Republican to match the outrageous behavior of the Democrats, Joe Wilson’s honesty was refreshing.  Was it an appropriate act of taste and decorum?  Why should we care?  Democrats have been doing much worse for at least forty years.

Joe Wilson for President!

Posted in Politics, Human Nature, Government, Culture, Manners | Print | No Comments »

Note to Spammers

May 22, 2009 by fbk.

Don’t bother.  All comments on this blog have to be approved.

Posted in Attila the Hun School Announcements | Print | No Comments »

Welcome to Venezuela

February 10, 2009 by fbk.

Welcome to Nueva Venezuela!

I continue to watch as President Obama and his followers turn the US into the next Banana Republic.  We have probably passed the point of no return.  The Constitution doesn’t matter.  The law doesn’t matter.  All that matters is, “What has the federal government given me lately?”  For those who watched it happen in Cuba, China, Venezuela, and other places, the pattern is very familiar.  Or should I compare it to Zimbabwe?  The current so-called “stimulus” actions are only going to promote runaway inflation.

 Cod help us!

Posted in In the News, Human Nature, Government | Print | No Comments »

The Barbarians are Rising

February 4, 2009 by fbk.

“I’m sorry, Prince Edvard. You had a wonderful civilization here on Marduk. You could have made almost anything of it. But it’s too late now. You’ve torn down the gates; the barbarians are in.” – Lucas Trask, Space Viking, H. Beam Piper

***

“Don’t you? You were there; you saw what’s happening. The barbarians are rising; they have a leader, and they’re uniting. Every society rests on a barbarian base. The people who don’t understand civilization, and wouldn’t like it if they did. The hitchhikers. The people who create nothing, and who don’t appreciate what others have created for them, and who think civilization is something that just exists and that all they need to do is enjoy what they can understand of it–luxuries, a high living standard, and easy work for high pay. Responsibilities? Phooey! What do they have a government for?”

Trask nodded. “And now, the hitchhikers think they know more about the car than the people who designed it, so they’re going to grab the controls. Zaspar Makann says they can, and he’s the Leader.” He poured a drink from a decanter that had been looted on Pushan; there was a planet where a republic had been overthrown in favor of a dictatorship four centuries ago, and the planetary dictatorship had fissioned into a dozen regional dictatorships, and now they were down to the peasant-village and handcraft-industry level. “I don’t understand it, though. I was reading about Hitler, on the way home. I wouldn’t be surprised if Zaspar Makann had been reading about Hitler, too. He’s using all Hitler’s tricks. But Hitler came to power in a country which had been impoverished by a military defeat. Marduk hasn’t fought a war in almost two generations, and that one was a farce.”

“It wasn’t the war that put Hitler into power. It was the fact that the ruling class of his nation, the people who kept things running, were discredited. The masses, the homemade barbarians, didn’t have anybody to take their responsibilities for them. What they have on Marduk is a ruling class that has been discrediting itself. A ruling class that’s ashamed of its privileges and shirks its duties. A ruling class that has begun to believe that the masses are just as good as they are, which they manifestly are not. And a ruling class that won’t use force to maintain its position. And they have a democracy, and they are letting the enemies of democracy shelter themselves behind democratic safeguards.”

– Conversation between Otto Harkaman and Lucas Trask, Space Viking, H. Beam Piper

***

H. Beam Piper’s Space Viking is, unfortunately, the novel for our time.  “The barbarians are rising; they have a leader, and they’re uniting.”  We’ll soon reach over 50% of the people who pay no taxes, but instead, receive largesse from the public bourse.  We are in the position of Rome, though, not Marduk, as in this novel, or Germany in the 1940’s.  If we go fascist, there is no external power strong enough to pull our chestnuts from the fire.  Most of the other soi-disant “free” countries are already halfway to National Socialism themselves.  Rather than face down a United States that goes down this path, they will be more likely to join us in giving all power to the UN, just as most of the European states, although not the people, have ceded their authority to the European Union.

We had a wonderful civilization here in the West, especially the United States. We could have made almost anything of it, and did do much with it, raising living standards around the globe with our ingenuity and free trade. But it’s too late now. We’ve torn down the gates; the barbarians are in charge.  Beam Piper saw it coming more than forty-five years ago.  I suppose it isn’t hard to see for a student of history.  I’ve seen it coming, too.  But it’s different when it’s on your doorstep and knocking to come in rather than being held at bay in a kennel in the yard.  Can we hope for a Reagan to emerge?  Can we hope that there might only be need for a Reagan, as there was with the Carter years?  If not, we’re more likely to need a Washington, and they are even more scarce than Reagans in the history of this country.

Read the book.  You can buy it, or check Project Gutenberg:  http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20728

Posted in Books, Ideas, Human Nature, Government | Print | No Comments »

The World’s Wisest Liberal

November 15, 2008 by fbk.

The world’s smartest and wisest liberal was walking along a beach when he saw something glass sticking out of the sand.  Thinking that someone might trip or step on it and get cut, the liberal started working the piece of glass up out of the sand.  When he had fully unearthed it, he saw that it was a beautifully worked and intricate multi-colored glass bottle.  Out of curiousity, he pulled out the stopper.

Suddenly, he was engulfed in a cloud of smoke that formed above his head into a giant figure.  In a booming voice this figure cried out, “At last!  I have been freed!  20,000 years couped up in that bottle, and I’m free.”

Looking down at his bottle prison, the Djinn noticed the liberal standing with his mouth agog.  “For freeing me, I will grant you one wish, but only one, so choose wisely.”

For a moment the liberal stammered, then he pinched himself, obviously to determine if he dreamed.  Finally, he said, “I have always believed and been acknowledged by my peers as the smartest and wisest person they know.  I always have the answers ready,” after a pause, he went on in an aggrieved tone, “But I never believed in people who could be trapped in bottles or grant wishes.  This means that there are things that I don’t know.  I want to know everything and truly be the wisest being that exists.”

The Djinn looked down sadly while shaking his head, “I cannot make you God, nor can I make you wiser and smarter than I am myself.  Perhaps I can make you wiser and smarter than you are, though.  Maybe by 20,000 times, to celebrate my freedom.  Would that be acceptable?”

The liberal thought about it, and he couldn’t even imagine being 20,000 times smarter and wiser.  He thought of all the things he could do with such intelligence and wisdom, and envisioned being the world’s first trillionaire.  Greedily, he nodded his head in agreement with the Djinn.  The Djinn waved his hand, and the liberal found himself transported from the beach, he also felt confused and anxious and realized just how little he really knew. 

“Wait!  I don’t feel wise or smart.  I feel uncertainty and confusion.  All of the things I used to believe are foolish, and what I now am certain of are almost the opposite.  If I’m 20,000 times smarter and wiser, why do I feel this way?”

“In your former state, you believed you were wise and smart, but now you truly are.  Things are neither as simple or as nuanced as you previously believed.  Good luck!  I have to go now,” and so saying, the Djinn evaporated into a mist that dissapated into nothingness.

The man who was formerly the world’s smartest and wisest liberal looked around the office he had found himself in, just as a man in a black suit came in to announce, “Mr. President, it’s time for us to start moving to get to the inauguration ceremony.  If we move fast enough, we can be there before President-Elect Obama.”

Posted in Human Nature | Print | 1 Comment »

How Much Can We Learn?

July 30, 2008 by fbk.

One of my favorite topics is how organizations adapt.  I think there will be an excellent chance to watch forced adaptation in progress with the franchisee-run Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale restaurants. 

When a parent organization dissolves, but several children are left, there is heavy pressure for speciation.  Years ago, an international organization went into receivership.  It had many local chapters, where the members wanted to continue their local activities.  One of the chapters bought the name from the creditors of the parent organization.  Several others changed their names slightly, incorporated as independent organizations, and continued.  Some affiliated with other large organizations.  Over time, developments continued.  Some chapters kept the original focus.  Some others went defunct.  Still others changed focus.  One of the chapters that became independent, over the next several years, moved its focus from business strategy to public sector strategy.

Another example would be when AT&T was broken up.  What were the long-term effects?  For me, my current local and long-distance carrier is now AT&T.  There were name changes along the way: AT&T ==> Michigan Bell ==> Ameritech ==> SBC ==> AT&T.  While some of the children might still be running loose, many of them consolidated into the same entity.  Of course, the Ma Bell breakup wasn’t natural, in the way that Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale could be seen as natural.

In the Bennigan’s / Steak & Ale situation, I expect several responses from the independent franchisees:

  • Affiliate with another chain, such as TGIF or Applebee’s,
  • Try to continue to operate independently, perhaps combined with a name change,
  • Some might try to band together as an association to save the Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale names from the liquidating corporation.
  • Where operations were marginal, this might be a final impetus to go under as a business.
  • Other miscellaneous strategies that I haven’t thought of, perhaps.

I don’t have the time or funding to study the long-term effects of this liquidation on the market and the adaptive strategies it engenders, but perhaps someone else does?

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The Mirror of their Souls

July 23, 2008 by fbk.

Victor Davis Hanson had a post on The Corner recently that reminded me of some old spiritual teachings.  Here is the money quote:

“What is fascinating about the tingly-leg press is that they are exhibiting the very symptoms of arrested development and star-struck immaturity that they always accuse America in toto of suffering. The usual critique of the elite media is that we are a nation of mindless followers, who go from one fad to another, and value looks, youth, and pizzazz over substance.”

I’ve long found the best measure of a man is what he says about others.  Dr. Hanson seems to be seeing an example of the old spiritual teaching that the outer world is a reflection of the inner world.  What we see outside of us is what is actually within us and what we are.  Pay attention to what politicians say about others:

“That’s not the man I knew all of these years.”  Sounds like a man who will be different than what you have seen on the outside, doesn’t it?

Posted in Politics, Human Nature | Print | 1 Comment »

“Be gone you rogues You have sat long enough”

June 20, 2008 by fbk.

Five members of the Supreme Court of the United States have made another power grab.  Perhaps it is time that Congress acts to impeach these rogues.  Better that than that the people rise.  Eventually, if Congress doesn’t do their job, the people will.

Posted in Government | Print | 2 Comments »

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