My Beauty Best Teacher

Micheal Barone, writing for the Washington Examiner, from his article The Unhappy Warrior, best sums up President Barack Obama's much touted speech on jobs yesterday:

Barack Obama looked and sounded angry in his speech to the joint session of Congress. He bitterly assailed one straw man after another and made reference to a grab bag of proposals which would cost something on the order of $450 billion—assuring us on the one hand that they all had been supported by Republicans as well as Democrats in the past and suggesting that somehow they are going to turn the economy around. He called for further cuts in the payroll tax (which if continued indefinitely would undermine the case of Social Security as something people have earned rather than a form of welfare) and for a further extension of unemployment insurance (perhaps justifiable on humanitarian grounds, but sure to at least marginally raise the unemployment rate over what it would otherwise be). He called for a tax credit for hiring the long-term unemployed (unfortunately, these things can be gamed). He gave a veiled plug for his pet project of high-speed rail (a real dud) and for infrastructure spending generally (but didn’t he learn that there aren’t really any shovel-ready projects?). He called for a school modernization program (will it result in more jobs than the Seattle weatherization program that cost $22 million and produced 14 jobs?) and for funding more teacher jobs (a political payoff to the teacher unions which together with other unions gave Democrats $400 million in the 2008 campaign cycle). “We’ll set up an independent fund to attract private dollars and issue loans based on two criteria: how badly a construction project is needed and how much good it would do for the country.” Yeah, sure. Like the screening process that produced that $535,000,000 loan guarantee to now-bankrupt Solyndra. And Congress should pass the free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea. Except that Congress can’t, because Obama hasn’t sent them up there yet in his 961 days as president.

Obama assured us that this would all be paid for. But as far as I could gather, he punted that part of it to the supercommittee of 12 members set up under the debt ceiling bill. He now blithely charges it with coming up with more than its current goal of $1.5 trillion in savings by Christmas. Oh, and he’s going to announce “a more ambitious deficit plan” that will “stabilize our debt in the long run”--11 days from now.

In the meantime, he called for higher taxes on “a few of the most affluent citizens”—as if this could pay for all the spending he’s been backing...

...Straw men took a terrible beating from the president. He assailed “tax loopholes” for oil companies, the chief one of which is that they are treated like other companies classified as manufacturers. The administration proposal is that the five largest oil companies shouldn’t be, because—well, because we want to get our hands on more of their money. Today’s Republicans, he gave us to understand, want to “eliminate most government regulations” and “wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades.” And, he suggested, they would never have created public health schools or the G.I. Bill or research universities.

When Barack Obama says, “This isn’t political grandstanding,” you have a pretty good clue that that is exactly what it is. Lest anyone doubt that, consider this from the third-to-last paragraph. “You should pass it. And I intend to take that message to every corner of the country.”

In other words, this was a campaign speech...

When I asked my students what they thought of Obama's speech, they said it sounded good but that they wanted to see the details and felt that the price tag for this sort of 'jobs bill' was going to be way too high for our nation to afford. The students also thought that this sort of stuff has already been tried and did nothing to help and only added more debt to our nation- you see, young people frequently are concerned with the amount of debt that older people are dumping on them to live their wonderful lifestyles of leisure and retirement. Hearing comments like these give me hope for our future; on the other hand, my students are being trained to think and reason and look at things critically and are less apt to fall for the straw man and false choice rhetoric that has come to characterize the President's speeches.

An invasion of America is taking place, and every day it is becoming more clear that the fabric of space-time has been ripped open and denizens from Bizarro World are settling here and joining the Democratic Party. The evidence of this can be seen in the increasingly disconnect between what Democrats say and what they do and the fact that they no longer even pretend that 2+2=4. In Bizarro world, society is ruled by the Bizarro Code, which states that you must do the opposite of all normal things, and when residents of Bizarro world come to America and join the Democratic Party, you can see that they still operate under this code, stating the exact opposite of the truth in their words and deeds.

Take for example new Democratic Party Chairwoman Representative Debbie Wasserman Shultz. Chosen by the Democratic Party to represent their party, she has recently stated two strong opposites- one, that Republican presidential candidates supposedly favor foreign auto manufacturers, and two, that the GOP agenda is "anti-women" and "a war on women". Let's take a look at those two statements and see how they are in reality the exact opposite as stated.

First, the accusation that Republican presidential candidates supposedly favor foreign auto manufacturers is remarkable coming from someone who drives a 2010 Infiniti FX35, a Japanese car whose parent company is Nissan, another Japanese company (and the car appears to be hers, since its license plate includes her initials).

On one hand you have Republicans, many of whom opposed the taxpayer-bailout of the domestic auto industries (for reasons ranging from comparative advantage, creative destruction, corruption in the process, unaccountability of the money, or lack of constitutional authority) but yet use their own personal money to buy domestic auto products. On the other hand, you have Democrats, who voted to use taxpayer money to bail out struggling domestic auto companies to subsidize rich investors (who had preferred stocks) and labor unions and yet used their own personal money to buy foreign made cars.

To me, it is clear that the person who makes the personal choice to support something supports it more strongly than the person who uses other people's money to support something while personally supporting something else.

Wasserman Shultz second point was that the GOP agenda is "anti-women" and "a war on women", but this is clearly not true as well. The Republican Party has several outstanding women candidates in office or running for President, at least on par with the Democratic women, and although Democrats hold a slight marginal edge in women voting, it is not large and is perhaps related to other factors other than gender.

Besides- if Democrats are unwilling to recognize that terrorists are at war with us or that Hamas/Hezbollah are at war with Israel, then I really don't think that they understand what the word 'war' means so that they can use it effectively in a sentence.

The Democratic Party Chair must simply be another Bizarro world refugee, saying the exact opposite of reality.

In a bid to recreate the luscious greens of foliage, the artist may reach for any blue and green pigment and blend them together, but murky brown materialises. Hopes for a vibrant purple, as seen on grapes could be quashed when a blend of blue and red yields a dingy grey. In other cases, the colour is too garish, too dark or too wishy-washy or just doesn’t hit the mark. How can the artist mix any colour required for subject matter in painting?

Colour Theory in Art

The Language of Colour Explained Rachel Shirley

If asked what the primary colours are, the automatic reply might be red, yellow and blue. However many pigments containing these labels contain other pigments. Lemon yellow, for instance, has a greenish cast. Cadmium red contains a lot of yellow. Ultramarine blue contains a lot of violet. Since Ultramarine is biased towards red, it would not be a fitting blue counterpart if a piercing green mixture was the objective.

The true definition of a primary colour is one that cannot be made by the mixture of two other colours. By this definition, magenta, yellow and cyan, as found in printing ink, is the most fitting answer, although no pigment can truly match the purity of filtered white light.

The Best Colours for the Artist’s Palette

Despite this, pigments closely approximating this purity exist on the market and which will produce clean secondary colours. Paint manufacturers use varying labels to denote these primary colours. Some may refer to them as “process” or “Winsor” colours. Gleaning colour charts and making comparisons with the primaries of printing ink is how I chose my primary pigments.

Cadmium yellow (pale) is a vivid yellow and is pretty close to the primary yellow of printing ink. Pthalo blue, like cyan, is a sharp blue, although is deeper in tone. Red is not in fact a primary colour, but a secondary colour for it can be achieved by mixing magenta with yellow. Magenta for this reason is a primary colour of an intense rose hue. In terms of oil pigment, resembles permanent rose, which will produce clean violets and indigoes.

Cadmiun yellow (pale), pthalo blue and permanent rose will enable the artist to mix just about any colour needed for painting. More accurate colour judgments can be achieved by examining three factors of the subject matter:

• The colour temperature,
• The degree of the colour
• And the tonal value of the colour.

Colour Temperature in Painting

As well as the hue, observe the colour temperature of the object, as red can be warm or cool, as can blue. The warm blues found on a summer sky can be achieved by using ultramarine and white, or introducing a little cadmium red or burnt sienna into the blue mix. Cool blues, as seen in lake reflections can be achieved by introducing pthalo blue and a little burnt umber into the mix.

Degrees of a Colour

Of course, few objects are simply “red” or “purple”, but degrees of a hue. This involves toning down the colour with earth colours and neutrals. The subdued blues of distant mountains can be achieved by toning down blue with burnt sienna. Dusty pinks as seen on pansies can be recreated by adding a little burnt sienna, ultramarine and white with the red mix. When it comes to neutral pigments, many are not required. Burnt sienna and burnt umber are the only earth colours I include in my palette, as too many can often result in dirty and lifeless colour mixes.

Tonal Values of Colour

Colours can get in the way of what is light and dark. This interference can cause tones to be overlooked. To filter through this chromatic interference, half-close the eyes. This will break the setting down into areas of light, dark and mid-tones.

Rather than use black or dark grey to darken a colour, try mixing opposing colours, also known as the “complimentary colours.” The complimentary colour to a given colour can be found on the opposing segment on the colour wheel. The complimentary colour of magenta (not red), for instance is green; the complimentary colour of violet is yellow. Introducing a colour’s complimentary to a given colour will produce rich darks rather than dingy blacks.

An evergreen houseplant that harbours lots of shadows can be darkened with any colour on the opposing segment to green. In terms of pigment, this can be permanent rose, cadmium red or burnt sienna, depending upon the intensity and the colour temperature of the darks. Similarly, the shaded areas of a banana can be achieved by adding violet or any colour containing violet, (perhaps ultramarine, or a blend of pthalo blue and permanent rose) to yellow.

Accurate Colour Mixing for Painting

With the above in mind, the artist can recreate any colour with reasonable accuracy, but the real key is to observe the objects in front. Look for slight colour shifts in temperature, intensity and tone. Try out the colour mix on a scrap piece of card before applying it onto canvas. Lastly, look out for colour relationships. How does one colour of an object compare to another? Is it paler, softer, cooler, deeper? Keying in each area of colour with another in a still life will help the painting make sense.

Relevant Articles on Colour Mixing

• The colour wheel theory
• How to mix oil paint
• How to paint mist
• Books on oil painting
• Oil painting materials

Doug Ross has put together a wonderful gift for the holidays- a letter book of US regulations for children! Sure to by a favorite for future czars and bureaucrats! Over at the original link you can see all the pictures that go with each letter, but if you want to just use your imagination, here are the letters:

The Obama Administration's Official Alphabet Guide for Learning Government's Role in Your Life

Hi, I'm Omar, the Obama administration's official kid's ambassador. Today I'll be guiding you through some of the many necessary regulations that government imposes on us for our protection -- and we'll learn the alphabet at the same time!

• A is for auto. The size, speed, fuel and bumpers of autos must be regulated to protect us from ourselves!
• B is for business. Government must levy taxes, regulations, fees, surcharges and paperwork on businesses, lest they take advantage of workers.
• C is for cupcakes. Every aspect of child nutrition must be controlled -- because we can't leave it up to the parents!
• D is for doctor. Health care guidelines make sure every doctor practices medicine the same way.
• E is for electricity. Americans must expect to do without electricity from time to time, because we use so much of the world's resources. That is why American coal, nuclear, gas and other sources of energy must be restricted.
• F is for fare. Cab fares must be tightly controlled down to the tenth-mile because small business owners simply can not be trusted.
• G is for ginkgo and other medicinal herbs, which can not be sold without oversight by the FDA, state and local agencies. They're looking out for us!
• H is for Happy Meals. Selling toys with food is an evil marketing tactic, which kids and parents should not be exposed to!
• I is for immigrants, documented or not. We must welcome everyone into our country, because open borders and a welfare state promote tolerance and unity.
• J is for junk-mail. No longer can marketers promote their products without a complete review by federal, state and local authorities.
• K is for knives. Even pen knives and bottles of shampoo represent threats to airline safety and must be confiscated for our protection!
• L is for lollipop. Only organic lollipops that contain less than 25 grams of sugar can be sold in the U.S. It's for our protection!
• M is for MRI machine. Overrated tests and diagnostics aren't always needed for seniors, based upon the government's "Complete Lives System", which ensures fair and equitable treatment for most healthy Americans.
• N is for NEA, the teacher's union that has its first priority educamating us kids (after electing big government politicians, that is)!
• O is for oil, the source of automotive energy around the world. Government must prevent drilling for oil because cars represent freedom to move around the country.
• P is for prescription drugs. For safety reasons, government must put drug manufacturers through decades of testing and regulatory hoops even if certain patients could use experimental drugs. These dying patients could actually die if they're exposed to drugs that aren't ready for the market!
• Q is for QWERTY keyboards, the electric current, operation and safety for which must be reviewed by multiple agencies for our protection.
• R is for the rich. At some point, they've made enough money. Those who have grown too wealthy on the backs of the workers should have their excess riches confiscated for redistribution.
• S is for shower-head. Unrestricted flow wastes water, which is why government must regulate how all shower-heads work.
• T is for toilet. All toilet designs must be reviewed by federal officials to ensure less wasted water.
• U is for unions. Unions are collectives of workers who band together to protect workers and elect big government politicians.
• V is for vending machine. Government needs to set standards for what kinds of drinks and snacks may be sold to gullible consumers.
• W is for warmal colding, the climate change phenomenon caused by humans which results in crazy streaks of hot and cold weather.
• X is for X-ray machine. X-rays are discouraged in medical settings (for cost reasons) but used extensively in airline security.
• Y is for yacht. Democrat leaders like John Kerry use yachts to visit constituents, but others who own them should be considered overly rich.
• Z is for zebra-suits -- the nickname for federal prisoners who violate the hundreds of thousands of regulations that protect us 24 hours a day!

My earlier post was about Michelle Rhee the person- what she did and what the results were of her actions. But this post will focus more on her actions with regards to educational reform and my thoughts on these issues.

Via Newsweek I saw this article- "Why Michelle Rhee Isn't Done With School Reform." Here are some selected passages from it:

...When I started as chancellor in 2007, I never had any illusions about how tough it would be to turn around a failing system like D.C.’s; the city had gone through seven chancellors in the 10 years before me. While I had to make many structural changes—overhauling the system for evaluating teachers and principals, adopting new reading and math programs, making sure textbooks got delivered on time—I believed the hardest thing would be changing the culture. We had to raise the expectations that people had about what was possible for our kids.

I quickly announced a plan to close almost two dozen schools, which provoked community outrage. We cut the central office administration in half. And I also proposed a new contract for teachers that would increase their salaries dramatically if they abandoned the tenure system and agreed to be paid based on their effectiveness....

Rhee offers up several structural changes to the system, increased efficiency in both facilities and in human resources, and changed the culture of the biggest aspect of education, the teachers. All of these proposals are fascinating, but it is the teacher's pay one that I am the most interested in.

According to wikipedia, Rhee had two proposals:

In 2008, she also sought to renegotiate how the school system compensates teachers. Rhee offered teachers the choice of: being paid up to $140,000 based on what she termed "student achievement" -- but losing tenure; or, retaining tenure -- but earning much smaller pay raises. This controversial move to end teacher tenure and promote "merit" pay was strongly contested by the teachers unions.

In 2010, Rhee and the unions agreed on a new contract that offered 20% pay raises and bonuses of $20,000 to $30,000 for "strong student achievement," in exchange for weakened teachers' seniority protections and the end of teacher tenure for one year. Teachers were observed by administrators and outside professionals for five 30-minute sessions during the year, and the teachers' performance was rated during those sessions. Teachers who received fewer than 175 out of 400 points were deemed ineffective and were dismissed. Teachers who received between 175 and 249 points were deemed minimally effective and given a one-year warning to improve their performance. Under this new agreement, Rhee fired 241 teachers, the vast majority of whom received poor evaluations, and put 737 additional school employees on notice.

As a teacher whose students achieve superior results on AP tests (I've taught 3 different AP courses in recent years and steadily raised test scores and enrollment in these courses) and on common assessments (I've taught 4 other classes in recent years and had my students (including mainstreamed students) outperform other teachers on our common exams), I'm quite comfortable with being judged on student achievement. And my worth isn't just measured in the classroom- I run the most popular club in the school, volunteer on our teacher leadership team, run several charities, mentor students during my prep hour, and coach part-time. It would be nice if I was rewarded for this sort of effort rather than watching teachers who perform at a much lower level make the same amount as me.

To think that I could be being paid like the professional that I am- with several advanced degrees and extensive background experience- rather than as a factory drone that simply moves students through the system! It is an exciting thought, but I don't want to dwell on how it would benefit me personally- imagine how exciting it would be to my fellow teachers who also perform exceptionally in the classroom. Because I'm going to let you in on a little secret right now- there are a lot of exceptional teachers in education, who haven't been drained and wearied and discouraged by the system and who make my efforts pale in comparison. I'm driven by these other teachers, who I am in competition with for test scores and achievement, and we are driven in spite of the system and not by it. It makes me excited to think that these other teachers could be rewarded for their tremendous efforts in education!

And the downside? Bad teachers lose their jobs. Teachers who are unqualified, teachers who do a poor job of teaching their students, teachers who do not achieve measurable results, and teachers who everyone in the building knows are bad will lose their jobs. Oh, it's no big secret who these people are- ask anyone in my building who would be fired first, and they'd look knowingly at you, since they know who these people are. There are not a lot of them, but they are there, sucking up resources and sucking down students, bad apples ruining the bunch, souring students on learning, while giving teachers a bad name. They'd lose their jobs.The union shouldn't be protecting them.

So what's the next step? Continuing from the Newsweek article...

....When you think about how things happen in our country—how laws get passed or policies are made—they happen through the exertion of influence. From the National Rifle Association to the pharmaceutical industry to the tobacco lobby, powerful interests put pressure on our elected officials and government institutions to sway or stop change.

Education is no different. We have textbook manufacturers, teachers’ unions, and even food vendors that work hard to dictate and determine policy. The public-employee unions in D.C., including the teachers’ union, spent huge sums of money to defeat Fenty. In fact, the new chapter president has said his No. 1 priority is job security for teachers, but there is no big organized interest group that defends and promotes the interests of children.

You can see the impact of this dynamic playing out every day. Policymakers, school-district administrators, and school boards who are beholden to special interests have created a bureaucracy that is focused on the adults instead of the students. Go to any public-school-board meeting in the country and you’ll rarely hear the words “children,” “students,” or “kids” uttered. Instead, the focus remains on what jobs, contracts, and departments are getting which cuts, additions, or changes. The rationale for the decisions mostly rests on which grown-ups will be affected, instead of what will benefit or harm children.

The teachers’ unions get the blame for much of this. Elected officials, parents, and administrators implore them to “embrace change” and “accept reform.” But I don’t think the unions can or should change. The purpose of the teachers’ union is to protect the privileges, priorities, and pay of their members. And they’re doing a great job of that.

What that means is that the reform community has to exert influence as well....

We have to exert our influence. That is why I blog- to change the system so that students and good teachers both can win, and by winning will make our nation greater.

For more on Michelle Rhee, check out THE BEE EATER: Michelle Rhee Takes on the Nation's Worst School District.

The artist who strives for realism may feel dissatisfied if a painting of a dog or portrait looks cartoonish. Mountains or rivers appear look cut out, shadows resemble dark smudges and flowers idealised. How does the artist create paintings that look convincing?

How to Make Paintings Look Real

Oil Painting with Realism Rachel Shirley

The reason why a painting lacks realism is often down to one thing: the dictatorial part of the brain that overrides what the eye actually sees. This dictatorial part of the brain may insist upon illustrating symbolic versions of objects regarding lines, shapes, colours and tone, which could be some or part of the following:

The sky is blue, all chairs have four legs, all fingers are long, children are scaled-down versions of adults, all shadows are dark, snow is white, the grass is green and all eyes are almond shaped.

When it comes to what the eyes sees, the above is often not true: Skies can be silver or indigo, chairs can appear to have three or two legs, fingers may appear stubby in foreshortening, children have different proportions to adults, snow can appear blue, shadows can be orange, grass can be violet and eyes can be lots of shapes.

These are simplified examples, but the dictatorial part of the brain may interfere with the painting process in very subtle ways which the artist may not always be aware of, such as how a line curves or the chromatic shift of the sky.

Why Paintings Look Disappointing

What is the solution to this dilemma? The theory is simple, the practice is more difficult: Shut off the dictatorial part of the brain. This will help not only the painting process, but the whole business of creating realistic art, including drawing, pastels and watercolours.

Illustrating the world how it actually is can be done by the following strategies:

View the subject matter in front as abstract shapes and lines rather than what it is. A cup is no longer a cup, but a jigsaw of colour and tone. Half-closing the eyes will help simplify this jigsaw.

• Keep looking at the photograph or subject matter in front. Not doing so means relying upon memory and the memory is the enemy of realistic art. Memory is where the dictatorial part of the brain takes over.
• If copying from a photograph, turn the photograph and painting upside down.
• Stand at least ten feet from the painting periodically. This will help the artist appreciate the painting as a whole rather than in its parts.
• View the painting through a mirror. This will reveal hidden errors in the painting.
• Take half an hour’s break from the painting and return with a fresh view.

Creating Realistic Tones in a Painting

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Working on a white surface will mislead the artist on the true tonal values of colours. Pale blue for instance will appear dark by comparison. Work on a toned ground. This entails the application of a thin wash of oil or acrylic paint over the painting surface, which could be grey or brown. This will kill the off-putting white and give a more accurate indication of the colour’s tonal value. I always include all tonal values in my paintings from pale to very dark to prevent the artwork from looking insipid or washed out.

Oil Painting Techniques for Realism

Overriding the dictatorial part of the brain will take the artist a long way towards creating realism. However, the artist may use art techniques to achieve a high finish. A combination of oil painting glazing and fine detail will create a photographic painting. Smooth effects can be achieved by applying two or three translucent layers of oil paint for skies or backgrounds for instance. A broken glaze can be applied for skin tones and dog fur. A few touches with a fine sable will create realistic hair and highlights.

Art Materials for Realism

The following are vital if the artist hopes to achieve photographic realism in paintings:

• Good quality photos.
• A good range of oil colours that include the primaries. Cadmium yellow (pale), permanent rose and pthalo blue are close to the mark. Other essential pigments are: titanium, ultramarine, cadmium red, burnt sienna, burnt umber, lemon yellow and viridian.
• Good quality fine sables such as Kolinsky. Winsor & Newton or Daler Rowney are good manufacturers of sable brushes.
• Linseed oil for thinning the oil paint to glazes.
• An alert artist.

There is more to achieving a high finish to oil painting than this article can cover, but the links below will explore glazing techniques and producing high detail in painting, as well as articles on this blog.

External Links on Creating Realism in Oil Painting

• Glazing techniques for oil painting
• Advice on buying sable brushes for oils
• Which art medium to use for glazing
• Using alkyds for glazing
• Mixing accurate colours
• How to draw accurately
• Flesh tones in portraits
• Oil painting art materials

In Foreign Affairs Nicolas van de Walle reviews Kate Meagher's new book "Identity Economics: Social Networks and the Informal Economy in Nigeria":

Within development circles, conventional wisdom has it that successful manufacturing sectors often develop in low-income countries thanks to identity-based social networks made up of producers working together. These networks are said to generate the social capital that can be used to overcome many of the shortcomings of underdevelopment. Meagher's careful study of two such networks in southwestern Nigeria -- of small, undercapitalized garment and shoe manufacturers -- suggests that the advantages for producers within the networks are being undermined by an increasingly dysfunctional state. Meagher shows that these networks, whose roots go back to the colonial era, bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and export their goods to states throughout West Africa. But in recent years, they have proved vulnerable to Asian imports and have largely failed to develop economies of scale, invest in new machinery, or generate new lines of production; these networks, it turns out, stifle innovation and consolidation, even as they protect their members. Informed by theory as well as sustained fieldwork, Meagher's study is a useful antidote to the purveyors of magic-bullet solutions for African development. It should be read by anyone interested in Africa's industrialization.

via Loomnie

Last year, Gary Peters published a set of principles for health care reform on his official House web site, standards by which he promised he would judge health care reform legislation when it was debated on the House floor. Rep. Peters even said that if a health care reform bill met these principles he would vote for it and, if not, he would vote against it. So how did our representative stack up against his own standards, the so-called “Peters’ Principles”?

Peters’ Principle 1: Bring down health care costs for businesses and middle-class families.

In retrospect... Obamacare increases costs for all . . .

Insurance premiums: According to an August 18 Bloomberg Report, about 63% of businesses plan to make employees pay a higher percentage of their premiums starting in 2011, and most of them expect their cost for benefits to rise by 9%.

Administrative costs: Obamacare triples the number of tax forms that every small business owner has to fill out annually by requiring even the smallest firms to prepare and submit IRS 1099 forms to every vendor with whom they do more than $600 in business.

Small business costs: Obamacare does nothing to “bend down the cost curve” that small businesses face relating to health care insurance coverage. The increased costs of health insurance will cause many firms with 50 or fewer employees not to offer coverage, drop coverage if they currently offer it, layoff workers or limit hiring.

Peters’ Principle 2: Strengthen Medicare.

In retrospect: Obamacare weakens Medicare through . . .

Reduced coverage: Medicare’s chief actuary, Richard Foster, recently reported that cutting $575 billion from Medicare to implement Obamacare will result in Medicare recipients replacing Medicaid patients at the bottom of the healthcare ladder as early as 2019—that’s when fees Medicare pays to providers will be slashed to below Medicaid rates, which are already well below market prices.

Obamacare cuts $145 billion from Medicare Advantage plans, which Medicare’s chief actuary believes will cause up to 50 percent of seniors to lose their current health care coverage.

Higher prices: Obamacare includes $107 billion in tax increases on medical device manufacturers, prescription drug companies, and health insurance providers. Medicare’s chief actuary believes all these tax increases will be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices. Seniors will pay the vast majority of these tax increases.

Obamacare includes a $210 billion 3.8 percent tax increase on unearned income for all Americans, which will hit seniors especially hard when they sell their houses to retire to smaller ones or use their homes for rental income.

Less access to medical services: Obamacare will cut $233 billion from Medicare Part A and B payments in order to pay insurance subsidies for 32 million new people, forcing one in seven hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and hospices out of business, according to the Medicare trustees April 2010 report.

Peters’ Principle 3: Be deficit neutral.

In retrospect: Obamacare adds to the deficit . . .

According to several analyses of CBO data, Obamacare does not control costs, and it does not reduce deficits. Instead, it adds an all new entitlement when we have no idea how to pay for the entitlements we already have.

Smoke and mirrors and financial gimmicks were used to pass the bill, which assumes 10 years of tax increases, about $500 billion, combined with 10 years of Medicare cuts, another $500 billion, to pay for only six years of spending which has been artificially reduced through the exclusion of the so-called Medicare “doctor fix”—the cost of which will eventually be paid anyway.

Recently published estimates place the true 10-year cost of Obamacare in ten years at $2.3 trillion, resulting in a $461 billion 10-year deficit—an amount which only Beltway insiders like Gary Peters would consider “deficit neutral”.

Peters’ Principle 4: Move through a thoughtful, transparent legislative process

In retrospect: Passage was anything but transparent and involved . . .

Just a few examples of how the will of the public was thwarted include: Last minute hyper-partisan deal making behind closed doors—no Republicans, no media allowed; Woefully insufficient time for legislators, media and the public to read, analyze and comment on the bill before its signing; Political gimmickry in which the House Democrats invoked “deem and pass” rules to bypass public debate, and the Senate entertained; using “reconciliation” to achieve passage, a tactic that has never been used for such a sweeping piece of social legislation; and “Vote buying” by Pelosi and Reid who coaxed needed House and Senate votes from Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, Carl Levin and others with partisan, pork-barrel tactics and promises.

What more needs to be said? Vote against Gary Peters this election and put someone in office who has principles and follows them.

Weeks after completing an oil painting, hair cracks begin to form on the paint layer. The dry paint may begin to flake off or become powdery to the touch. The upper layers seem to become brittle and dull. The reason for a cracking oil painting can go back to improper preparation.

Why Cracks Appear in Oil Paint

Reasons for a Cracking Oil Painting Rachel Shirley

I believe oils are the most robust and durable of all art mediums and little attention is required. But a cracking oil painting is a problem the artist most fears. The cause of cracking often goes back to poor practices in oil painting and associated materials. How can the artist prevent cracks appearing in an oil painting?

Oil Painting Do’s and Don’ts

Investing a lot of time in an oil painting deserves the best art materials, or the time will be wasted. The following advice will help prevent the frustration of a cracking oil painting.

As with anything, never use a substitute product for the one that is designed for oil painting. For instance, avoid using household emulsions or cheap primers to prepare the painting support. Some of these may not provide a sufficient barrier against the absorbent properties of the canvas or board. The result of this is that the still-absorbent support will suck the oil vehicle from the paint, causing it to brittle, and cracking may result. Stick to a recommended oil painting primer, such as Winsor & Newton or Daler Rowney, although a good quality acrylic primer is fine for oil sketches or quick studies.

Do not use mediums and solvents designed for household or industrial use in place of those specifically designed for oil painting. They can affect the permanence of the pigments. Turps, paint strippers and household varnishes will also ruin art brushes and emit powerful odours. Stick to artist’s agents such as Sansador or artist oil painting varnishes.

Never combine mediums with varying drying rates, such as stand oil (which dries slowly) with alkyd mediums (which dry quickly) in the same painting. This will cause stresses in the painting layer as it dries and inevitable cracking. Stick to the same medium in any one painting.

What is the Fat Over Lean Rule?

When working in layers such as when glazing with oil colours, introduce a little more oil medium into your oil paints. This practice merely entails mixing a little oil with the pigment before applying it to the painting. Known as “fat over lean” or “flexible or inflexible,” this practice provides flexibility to the upper layers of paint and will prevent it from cracking.

Linseed oil is most commonly used for fat over lean, but other oils are suitable, such as stand oil, safflower oil or oil of spike lavender. However, it is best to stick to the same oil medium for each painting as this will prevent conflicting drying rates in the paint.

Proper Use Of Oil Painting Products

Always read the manufacturers’ instructions properly, as some art products might require special preparations. Items such as rabbit skin glue or oil primers often need to be used in a specific way.
Never varnish an oil painting until it is thoroughly dry. Oil paint that is not quite dry could adhere to the varnish layer and cause it to “move” with the varnish as it dries and contracts, causing the oil paint to crack. Further problems may present themselves in the future when it comes to removing the varnish for cleaning, as some of the oil paint may come off with it the varnish.

Art Materials to Prevent Cracking in Oil Paint

Linseed oil click to buy from Amazon

It is essential to use proper artist products for oil painting rather than those designed for industrial use. Linseed oil, Sansador, Stand oil or Turpenoid are suitable for thinning the paint and cleaning the brushes. Similarly using proper artist primer for sizing will prevent the absorbent painting support form sucking the oil from the oil paint. Artist’s gesso or acrylic polymer primer is most often used.

Any oily art medium can be used for the fat over lean rule to prevent the upper glazes of oil paint from cracking but linseed oil is most often applied. Artist varnishes are available for any finish from matt to gloss, so long as the oil paint is thoroughly dry (after six months or so). With this in mind, oil paint is a very forgiving medium, and few artists have encountered cracking in their oil painting, even with short cuts.

Links Relating to Oil Painting Practices

• Advice on oil painting materials
• Advice on buying oil painting mediums
• Advice on oil painting varnishes
• Oil painting materials shop
• Books on oil painting

How to Make Art Brushes Last Longer

Durable Artist Brushes Rachel Shirley

• Constantly using a thin brush of size 6 or smaller to cover a large area of oil painting.
• Using a fine sable to apply paint onto a rough surface such as coarse canvas, dried impasto or a montage.
• Being heavy-handed with the fine art bristles such as when scumbling, scrubbing on paint or pressing too hard.
• Using cheap household turps or white spirits to clean the brushes.
• Not cleaning the paint brushes properly at the end of the painting session and allowing a residue of oil paint to dry near the ferrule (the metal collar where the bristles meet the handle) causing the bristles to splay.
• Allowing the paint brushes to dry bristle-end down, causing the hairs to lose their shape and damage the flags (the split ends on the bristles that allow the brush to hold more paint).
• Buying poor quality art brushes or brushes that are unsuitable for oil painting such as watercolour brushes, which are not designed for heavy paint.

How to Save Money on Oil Painting Brushes

To avoid art brushes from unnecessarily wearing out quickly, the following advice on care of the art brushes will double or even triple the life span of the bristles.

• Never use fine sables, such as kolinsky for impasto, rough paintwork or for covering large areas of a painting such as skies or water.
• Reserve such an art technique for hog hair brushes or similar stiff brushes. Impasto brushes need not be purchased from art shops, but DIY stores at the fraction of the price. Household brushes can be used for covering large areas of an oil painting or for glazing.
• Use sable brushes only for what they are designed for, which is fine detail, delicate oil washes and soft blending.
• Never use household turps to clean art brushes. Not only are the odours powerful, the brushes will lose their natural oils and become brittle. It is best to use Sansador, Turpenoid or similar artist white spirit.
• At the end of each painting session, clean the brushes thoroughly. Massage neat washing up liquid into the ferrule and run under a warm tap until the water runs clear.
• Once clean, massage a little Vaseline into the bristles and press the hairs back into shape; in the case of round sables or riggers, to a point. Other nourishing agents such as conditioner or olive oil can also be used.
• Store the brushes in a jar with the bristles pointing upwards.
• It is false economy to purchase cheap oil painting brushes. Recommended art brush manufacturers such as Daler Rowney and Winsor & Newton will last longer and are worth the investment.

Tips on Using Oil Painting Brushes



Hog hair brushes click to buy from Amazon

  Using just one or two brushes during a painting session will force the artist to frequently clean the bristles between colour mixing, causing unnecessary wear and tear. To avoid constant washing, use several brushes in one go. Reserve one brush for pales, another for darks and others for different colours. This will dispense with the need to constantly washing the brushes.


• Advice on buying art brushes
• Art brushes shop

Via Powerlineblog I discover this Wall Street Journal Story A Water Fight Over Luxury Showers:

(Government) regulators are going after some of the luxury shower fixtures that took off in the housing boom. In May, the DOE stunned the plumbing-products industry when it said it would adopt a strict definition of the term "showerhead" in enforcing standards that have been on the books—but largely unenforced—for nearly 20 years.

The showdown is a challenge to President Barack Obama and his energy secretary, Steven Chu, as they try to cajole—or compel—Americans to use water and energy more efficiently. Mr. Chu, a self-described "zealot" for energy efficiency, says he crawls around in his attic in his spare time installing extra insulation.

A 1992 federal law says a showerhead can deliver no more than 2.5 gallons per minute at a flowing water pressure of 80 pounds per square inch. For years, the term "showerhead" in federal regulations was understood by many manufacturers to mean a device that directs water onto a bather. Each nozzle in a shower was considered separate and in compliance if it delivered no more than the 2.5-gallon maximum. But in May, the DOE said a "showerhead" may incorporate "one or more sprays, nozzles or openings." Under the new interpretation, all nozzles would count as a single showerhead and be deemed noncompliant if, taken together, they exceed the 2.5 gallons-a-minute maximum.

In May, the DOE's general counsel, Scott Blake Harris, fined four showerhead makers $165,104 in civil penalties, alleging they failed to demonstrate compliance for some devices.

I particularly enjoyed how the government changed the rules, didn't inform anyone (or didn't give manufactures the years it would take to comply with the new rules), and then fined them. Those are the actions of a tyrannical government that is disconnected from law and human decency, a government that should be opposed and fought.

To summarize, in the name of 'environmentalism' (which is a religion based around a false god that demands sacrifices of energy and luxuries), the government uses a law passed by the Democrats (who controlled Congress in 1992) based on a tortured view of the commerce clause to control the kinds of showerheads that manufactures can build, with the intent on driving these manufactures out of business and stopping Americans from buying the kind of showerheads that they want.

Life less enjoyable, liberty and freedom violated (both the manufactures and the consumers), and pursuit of property denied.

A paper by John E. Akotena and Keijiro Otsuka on Kenyan Garment clusters shows:

...that the well educated and highly socially networked tailors who are capable of producing a certain product quality standard are likely to link up with traders to become mini-manufacturers over time. This suggests that transactions with traders enable mini-manufacturers to outperform tailors, thereby contributing to the transformation of the mode of industrial production in developing economies.

Photo courtesy of Donkey Crossing

An otherwise effective oil painting could be spoiled by a garish tree, a black splodge or a grey expanse of water that is not in keeping with the vibrant colours of the painting. In an attempt to put the painting right, the artist may fiddle with the area, overworking the paint until it looks a muddy mess. How can the painting be put right?

Culprits to Making Mistakes in Oil Painting

Correct an Oil Painting Rachel Shirley

Few things are more frustrating for the artist than completing a satisfactory oil painting, except for a particular area. The view holds true that an oil painting is only as good as its weakest point. No matter what the artist does, the offending area of oil paint will continue to draw the eye unintentionally. The undesirable option of scrapping the painting and starting again may seem to be the only option. The following may have brought the artist to this point:

• Completing the painting in one go causing the final part to be rendered when tired or in a rush
• Guesswork an area of painting by trying to paint it from memory, for instance by using green paint neat from the tube for grass or trees
• Trying to work from a poor photograph
• Fiddling too much with an area of the painting, causing the area to lose life and become muddy
• Trying to erase a mistake by adding ever thicker layers of oil paint
• Having insufficient colours within the palette to express the colours required, causing the artist to use substitute colours which are unsatisfactory
• Using cheap brushes, which do not control the paint sufficiently
• Not thinking through the composition properly until the paint has been applied when it is too late

How to Put an Oil Painting Right

Scrapping the painting need not always be the only option, unless the overall painting is unsatisfactory. If only one area is at fault, the following may be worth trying:

If the area is quite large, such as a lake painting or area of sky, for example, carefully wipe the paint off with a clean soft rag. Keep wiping the area with a clean area of cloth until most of the paint is removed.
With a little linseed oil on a clean rag, wipe the last remnants of the oil paint from the painting surface
Leave the area to dry for two days or so, or until the painting surface is dry

If the offending area of the oil painting has completely dried, the area can be lightly sanded down with fine glass paper to remove any impasto effects and paint ridges until smooth. Using a dust buster or vacuum will prevent the dust from lodging into another area of the painting.

Tonking an Oil Painting

If the offending area is close to an intricate area of detail, the artist may use a method known as “tonking,” named after sir Arthur Tonks, who came up with the idea. It is quite simple and is akin to blotting.

• Cut or tear a piece of clean paper (newspaper will do) into roughly the size and shape of the offending area of the painting
• Place the paper over the area and press down with the palms of the hands
• Gently lift the paper off
• Repeat with more clean paper
• Lift off again
• Repeat until no paint can be seen lifting off with the paper
• The painting can be left to dry over a day or so and new paint can be reapplied over the area

Essential Art Materials for Successful Oil Painting

click to buy from Amazon

Mistakes are unavoidable and are part of learning how to oil paint. However, the following will help minimise mistakes from spoiling an otherwise effective oil painting:

• Good quality artist’s resources, such as clear photographs or sketches
• Including the primary colours for colour mixing
• Having good quality sable brushes or bristles
• Stick to recommended oil painting manufacturers such as Winsor & Newton or Daler Ronwey
• Composing the picture properly before applying the paint

When tired or time is running short, don’t rush it, put the painting away. It can be completed the next day.

Links to Advice on Oil Painting

• Oil painting tonking technique
• Oil painting books

The beginner’s floral artwork may portray flowers as having bright colours such as pinks, oranges and reds. The flower heads look flat and idealistic, the same flower head shapes echoing throughout the painting. In an attempt to give the flowers form, the artist may introduce black or dark brown into the colour mix, resulting in dirty colours.

Troubleshooting Floral Art

The culprit of an unsatisfactory oil painting of flowers will often result from the following practices:

• Painting flowers with the preconception that flower heads always contain bright colours
• Representing the foliage around the flowers with one green pigment, or a mixture of one blue and yellow throughout
• Trying to darken a bright colour with black
• Painting flowers with preconceptions about the shapes of the flower heads, resulting in an idealised flower shape
• A profusion of too many bright colours may rob the painting of any focal points
• A cheap artist’s selection box that does not contain the true primary colours is often insufficient to create all the colours required for flower painting, resulting in inferior colour mixes
• Trying to paint flowers from memory, if the resource at hand is insufficient

The Secret to Painting Flowers with Realism

Dispelling beginner’s mistakes as described, will take the floral artist a long way towards painting more satisfactory botanical art.

• Never try to darken a bright colour with black. It is better to darken a colour with its complimentary colour, which is the opposing colour on the colour wheel to a given colour. The complimentary colour of red, for instance, is green; the complimentary colour of yellow is violet.
• Flower heads often contain sombre colours, such as dark earth colours and neutrals which can be seen if the flower heads are in shade
• Fluorescent colours often seen when sun shines through petals can be emphasised if the background around the bright colour is dark
• Applying a neutral-coloured wash of diluted acrylic paint prior to painting flowers will help the artist measure the tonal values of flowers, as opposed to applying bright colours straight onto a white painting surface.
• Observing flowers out of their normal context, such as next to rusty tools or from an unusual viewpoint, such as from above, will help the artist get a fresh view of flowers.
• Sensitive observation of the shape of flowers will often surprise. The robust shapes found in a painting of sunflowers, or the graceful loops found in the clematis deserves exploration

Oil Painting Mediums for Painting Flowers

click to buy from Amazon

Experimenting with different artist painting mediums will provide a multilayered feel to a painting of flowers. Mixing linseed oil into a colour mix and applying it over a dry area of paint will provide an effect like tinted glass. This oil painting technique is known as “glazing.” To emphasise texture, impasto medium can be mixed with the oil paint and applied onto the flower heads to make them appear to stand out of the painting.

Essential Art Materials for Floral Art

The primary colours must be included within the artist’s palette when painting flowers. These are labelled differently according to the paint manufacturers. Some include the word “process” or “permanent” with the hue name. In oil paint, permanent rose, cadmium yellow (pale) and pthalo blue will provide clean colour mixes.

White with a hint of burnt sienna will provide brilliant creams often seen in bedding plants. Viridian green, a garish green on its own, will provide beautiful greens if muted with burnt sienna, burnt umber or permanent rose. However, keen observation will reveal that any colour can be found in flowers, some of which will surprise.

Links on Painting Flowers

• Advice on floral artwork
• How to photograph flowers
• Mixing green paint
• How to paint sunflowers
• How to paint petunias
• How to paint clematis
• Painting flowers wet into wet
• Books on painting flowers

Colour mixes in oil painting could end up looking dirty if the colour theory is poorly understood. The most common problem occurs when painting shadows, silhouettes or trying to darken a bright colour. The resultant colour mix ends up looking muddy and lifeless which could ruin a painting. How can muddy colour mixes be avoided, and how can this problem be put right?

The Causes of Muddy Colours

Understanding the cause of dirty colours will help find a solution. The following bad practices will create dirty colour mixes:

• Trying to darken a colour with black
• Using more than four colour within a colour mixture
• Overworking a painting or fiddling too much within a particular area
• The inclusion of too many earth colours, ochres and greys within the artist’s palette
• Introducing too much dark colour in a colour mix at once and trying to lighten it again with white, causing the colour mix to lose life

How to Avoid Dirty Colour Mixes

The following simple tips on colour mixing will help prevent muddy colours:

• Dispense with black altogether
• Try to use no more than three, or at the most, four pigments to attain a colour mixture
• Darken a colour with its complimentary colour instead of black or a dark colour. The complimentary colour is the opposing colour on the colour wheel to a given colour. Red’s complimentary is green; yellow’s complimentary is violet
• Try not to overwork the painting. Allow streaks of colour to remain in the brushwork to retain its vibrancy
• Don’t over-mix a colour, or it will end up as a solid lifeless block

Darkening Colours for Shadows

A summer’s sky will appear darker at the zenith than at the horizon. Darkening blue can be achieved by introducing a little violet or even crimson into the blue mix, as red is an opposing colour to blue on the colour wheel. Introducing this complimentary colour in increments will help get the best result. Similarly, darkening green foliage can be achieved by introducing a little red.

Painting shadows as pools of black or dark brown is a common mistake and will kill the life out of any painting. Looking closely will reveal a multitude of colours within shadows, including crimsons, greens and violets.

A Cure for Dirty Colour Mixes with Tonking

click to buy from Amazon

A muddy splodge on a painting cannot be put right. The best thing to do is start again. This does not mean starting the painting again. The area can simply be wiped off or carefully blotted out by a process known as “tonking.” This is an oil painting technique where the oil paint is lifted off by placing a newspaper over the area concerned, pressing it down and lifting it off. This can be repeated several times until little of the paint can be lifted from the painting.

With the paint lifted off, the area can be wiped gently with a clean rag to rid of any oily residue, and allowed to dry over a day or two. The area can then be begun again.

Essential Art Materials to Prevent Dirty Colour Mixes

Oil pigments in primary colours, which will be labelled differently according to the manufacturers. In oil, this will be pthalo blue, permanent rose and cadmium yellow (pale). In other mediums, this could include the word “process” or “permanent” with the colour label, such as “permanent yellow.” Winsor & Newton and Daler Rowney are established and trusted manufacturers in oil painting pigments.

Related Articles on Colour Mixing

• Primary colours in art
• How to mix oil paint
• How to paint light and shadow
• The colour of shadows
• Books on oil painting

If you talk to Americans, most of them loved the Cash for Clunkers program, and support similar programs. But a further evaluation of this program proves that in the end, it achieved little good at great cost. John Stossel evaluated the program in a recent column on Real Clear Politics:

"The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups."

If you only look at the immediate effects, Cash for Clunkers appears pretty good. People traded in gas-guzzlers for more fuel-efficient new cars. The program cut carbon emissions slightly and gave the auto industry a boost.

"Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life, and consumers bought fuel-efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood bragged. American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to the Cash for Clunkers program."

But wait. Shouldn't that be some consumers and some workers? And only in the short run?

Let's start at the beginning. The government paid car owners to trade in their old cars, which will be destroyed. But the government is running a deficit. So it doesn't have $3 billion to hand out. It must borrow the money, which reduces the amount of money for other investments. Moreover, the government must raise taxes in the future to pay back the principal and interest -- or the Federal Reserve will monetize the debt through inflation. Either way, we pay.

That isn't all. Those car buyers were either going to trade in their used cars soon or they weren't. If they were, Cash for Clunkers simply moved up the schedule. The stimulation of the auto industry occurred earlier. Big deal. But if buyers planned to keep their cars longer, the program imposed costs that are less visible. Without the government incentive to buy cars, consumers would have bought other things -- computers, washing machines, televisions. The manufacturers and sellers of those products didn't get to make those sales. Why should the auto industry get privileges at the expense of others?

Then there are the mechanics who would have serviced those used cars. They've lost business. Some will be laid off. Nor should we forget low-income people who depend on the used-car market for their transportation. The cheap cars they would have bought were destroyed.

What about the alleged environmental benefits? Assuming that cutting carbon emissions is worthwhile, was Cash for Clunkers helpful? It's hard to see why. People who traded in inefficient cars for efficient ones will likely drive more and therefore use more gasoline. Even if carbon emissions are cut by a lot, economist Christopher Knittel says the program will cost more than $365 per ton of carbon saved.

Finally, there is something revolting about the government subsidizing the destruction of useful things. It reminds me of the New Deal policy of killing piglets and pouring milk down sewers to keep food prices from falling.

Leave it to politicians to think we can prosper by obliterating wealth.

Hat tip to Toxic Taxation for pointing out this article.

Michael Cook at African Liberty writes:

The assumption is that dismantling so-called North-South trade barriers, cancelling subsidies by rich countries to their farmers and manufacturers, and an end to dumping their products on poor countries will provide a quick but enduring fix that will help the poor to trade out of poverty.
On average, sub-Saharan African countries impose a 34% tariff on agricultural products from other African countries and 21% on manufactured goods--the most protectionist region on Earth. International agencies estimate that eliminating such tariffs would generate immediate gains to sub-Saharan economies of $1.2billion...[continue reading]