In the Pipeline: 6/10/13

Somewhere down the road, we might find ourselves switching back to PCs. You see, Apple used to be led by a man who was disturbed by the stifling impact of government on business and innovation in this country. Jobs was able to navigate this business environment and still build incredible value for all stakeholders. Today, Apple’s leadership is hiring Lisa Jackson to whitewash the company of the sin of success. Huffington Post (12/20/11) reports: “‘You’re headed for a one-term presidency,’ he told Obama at the start of their meeting, insisting that the administration needed to be more business-friendly. As an example, Jobs described the ease with which companies can build factories in China compared to the United States, where “regulations and unnecessary costs” make it difficult for them… Jobs also criticized America’s education system, saying it was ‘crippled by union work rules,’ noted Isaacson. ‘Until the teachers’ unions were broken, there was almost no hope for education reform.’ Jobs proposed allowing principals to hire and fire teachers based on merit, that schools stay open until 6 p.m. and that they be open 11 months a year.”

What’s the big deal? It’s not like we live in a free country or anything. Human Events (6/7/13) reports: “Another scandal in which the Obama Administration appears to have leaked confidential information for political purposes has reached the Senate.  The Washington Free Beacon reports on a bipartisan letter challenging the Environmental Protection Agency for releasing personal data on 80,000 farmers and livestock operations to environmentalist groups:”

What planet are these people living on? The bad guys worship “science”, yet here they are talking about energy as if the laws of physics are an outdated inconvenience. The Economist (6/7/13) reports: “Grid parity—when renewables are as cheap or cheaper than existing sources of energy—is within reach in America. The benefits will be immense. Public support for renewable energy remains high; wind and solar power are easily the most popular forms of energy in America (coal comes last). The politics, too, are less obvious than one might think. Many deep-red rural states such as South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas rather like wind power. These states have enormous wind resources and even though many of their politicians are sceptical about climate change, they are keen on the wind industry (and the PTC). Wind power allows rural states to diversify their economies and bring well-paying jobs to locations with little else going for them.”

The greenies need the environment to be “under attack” in order to justify their existence. So it only makes sense that blocking Keystone XL will do more damage to the environment than allowing its construction, and that Europeans are burning “renewable” wood chips that have been imported from yours truly, America. This article pretty much sums it up: these people are wackos. National Review Online(6/6/13) reports: “The Euros could reduce emissions the way the good old U.S.A. is doing, by hydraulically fracturing deep shale for natural gas. That increases supply to the point that it displaces coal for electrical generation, which results in cheaper power and half the carbon dioxide emissions. They could, but the same nutsos who think that reducing their emissions will have a detectable effect on global temperature also think shale gas is yucky… Why won’t they go our way? Because the green world is stark, raving mad… Destroying the forest for the good of the environment is insane, right? So is shaking down auto companies that produce profits by selling cars rather than indulgences, and so is giving folks who buy $100,000 cars an average of $10,000 of taxpayer largesse.”