It looks like the economy killing Warner-Lieberman misnamed Climate Security Act is going down in flames. Good riddance.
The same tyrannical judge who ordered 430 children be taken from their parents even though the state only produced evidence that 5 had been abused is defying the Supreme Court order to return those children to their parents because she wants to force more conditions on the deal. I hope the appeals court slaps down this judge hard. I bet she's elected, and voters will reward her for breaking the law instead of punishing her like they should. That's what she's betting too.
Democrats are pushing to nationalize hurricane insurance. So instead of property owners and their insurance companies assuming the risk for building in hurricane prone areas, taxpayers living in the midwest and all over the country would assume that risk. Of course Allstate and State Farm support this bill, it's a huge handout to them and to property owners along expensive coastlines. This just shows that how Democrats use government power to prop up big corporations and the rich elites at the expense of the common people they pretend to support. Democrats are NOT the party of the people. Republicans will probably join Democrats on this too. Government is not supposed to be an insurance company. This creates more moral hazard, and will lead to more damage, and more deaths.
Corruption in a police department? Or 2 departments? Cops stealing from drug dealers? Cops working with drug dealers? The story here is that some cops actually got in trouble for it because this behavior is widespread. This is the result of our disastrous war on drugs and our blind acceptance of outrageous police power. We forgot that the police are supposed to answer to us, not vice-versa. We forgot that about all of government.
Ford to build global car in Mexico. This will make easy for Democrats to demagogue NAFTA, but the reason Ford picked Mexico is the burden of government and unions in the US.
Zimbabwe army chief tells soldiers they must vote for Mugabe or quit the military. No rigging the election going on here.
France finally steps up to the plate to aid Iraq. Better late than never.
WHO calls for an end to all cigarette advertising. Phillip Morris would love that. It would effectively wipe out all the small competitors to the big guys.
Cameras on billboards monitor passers-by.
Iran won't discuss ending nuclear enrichment. What's Obama going to talk to them about then? Anybody who takes Putin's word that Iran is not trying to make a nuclear weapons is a fool.
Resolution to the Florida and Michigan delegates expected today. Don't count on it. Here's another example of how our self-indulgent voters and self-serving government aristocrats create America's problems.
Obama, who hasn't been to Iraq in well over 2 years and has never met with Gen. Petraeus, claims McCain, who has been to Iraq several times in the last 2 years and has met with Gen. Petraeus, doesn't comprehend the situation in Iraq. Every time Obama opens his mouth about Iraq, it's a victory for McCain. Obama keeps highlighting his lack of intelligence, his lack of information, and his lack of caring about our mission in Iraq. McCain is talking about the plan to draw down troops in a month or 2, and the press is trying to make it look like he meant the troops were gone today, trying to invent a gaffe, while they ignore Obama's stream of gaffes.
Obama just made up a statistic out of thin air, that hate crimes against Hispanics doubled in 2007, and the press is giving him a pass.
This Amazon tribe is no longer uncontacted.
Mars lander has minor short circuit problem.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Free kibbles
Fuel price protests spread across Europe. $4 US gas prices are still much better than Europe. Investigation into oil market to see if prices are being manipulated.
CIA chief Hayden reports that al Qaeda is nearly defeated and on the defensive, but still dangerous. I doubt liberals will admit that Bush's strategy is the cause of this. Iran and al Qaeda in secret talks. Sunni and Shia are a lot closer to each other than to the west.
Allegations of human rights violations by immigration enforcement officials.
Prototype EU plane has a camera in the back of every seat to monitor facial expressions of passengers. In 10 years, we will be watched everywhere we go outside our homes in many cities and computers will be comparing our movements and facial expressions to algorithms for criminal behavior, and we'll be arrested, tried and convinced if the computer decides our patterns matched those of criminals.
111 nations without cluster bombs ban them, while the big nations with them, don't.
Indian villagers burn woman alive for being a witch.
New pastor problem from Obama's radical racially charged church explodes in his face. He can't distance himself from the church and the rants he subjected himself and his family to for 20 years.
Obama is a gaffe machine, and the press is ignoring his unprecedented number of gaffes. He's had so many gaffes, and such bad gaffes, you have to question his intelligence.
Obama is staunchly against free trade, urging Bush to reject a free trade agreement with South Korea that would boost the US economy by $10 to $12 billion. How can that be considered populist? This is guy is wrong on everything.
Susan Sarandan vows to move to Canada or Italy if McCain is elected. Somebody finally came up with a reason to tempt me to vote for McCain. I bet this wins McCain a ton of votes from people who would love to see Sarandan leave the US. I wonder why she didn't pick Cuba or Venezuela, which seem more suited to her?
Preview of Google Android phone.
Congratulations to Tom Coburn for exposing the liberalism of big-government Republicans and explaining there's nothing compassionate about welfare or big government. Reason exposes phony compassionate conservative who tried to use Bible to justify the false compassion of welfare in a response to Coburn.
How can it be unconstitutional for a city to ban renting to illegal aliens? That isn't regulating immigration into the country. That's a bogus decision, and I wish the city would appeal it.
Where in the world does the government think it gets the power to block anybody from using the label "Try Legal Weed"?
4 day school weeks to save on gas. I bet the students love this.
"Save the Males" explains how our anti-male culture hurts families and children.
One of Milton Friedman's coauthors writing for Cato considers the Bernanke Fed to be a failure, creating moral hazard that has extended the credit crisis and left the economy vulnerable to disaster.
Cato explains that the technology doesn't exist to meet the Warner-Lieberman's misnamed Climate Security Act.
Cato has jumped on my plan to take the definition of marriage away from government and allow consenting adults to enter whatever life contracts they wish. I knew they'd come around. ETA: Boy was I wrong. This was published in 1997. I'm late to the party (though I did come up with the idea independently - great minds, you know).
Government policies make oil more expensive, make us less wealthy, and as a result make the world a dirtier place. Oops.
McCain is making hay with my plan for a world organization of democracies, which he calls a league of democracies, which I never did post here, unfortunately, though I did post it here. That old version was before Putin turned Russia back into a totalitarian nation. That's exactly why I suggested the organization have the power to boot nations out.
Thomas Sowell says liberals use blacks as mascots to make themselves look good, not to help blacks. No white person could possibly get away with those comments despite their accuracy.
Ann Coulter lampoons Obama's desire to talk to Ahmadinejad since he was scared to engage in a debate moderated by Brit Hume.
Hugh Hewitt suggest Barack Obama should read Michael Yon's book. Amanda Carpenter shows that McCain's invitation to Obama to visit Iraq is scoring points. Obama is looking less informed every day. And he doesn't seem very intelligent to begin with. Unintelligent and uninformed is a bad combination.
Muslims refuse to wear work uniforms, are fired because of it, and subsequently fight to change the dress code. The company should stand firm, and when the inevitable lawsuit happens, it should be tossed out.
In an absurd political stunt, Congressman threatens to have Rove arrested if he invokes executive privilege to avoid testifying about the non-issue of the firing of US Attorneys. Democrats would be far better served by doing something useful.
State by state analysis of how much our economy will be hurt and money will be lost if the Warner-Lieberman Climate Security Act supported by John McCain (and possibly Obama and Clinton, though they support a more draconian carbon tax as well) becomes law. Ohio would lose about 6,000 jobs by 2012 and 125,000 by 2030. Call or write your senators today.
The columnist/activist who wanted to execute a citizens arrest on John Bolton was blocked by security. Too bad.
Boortz presented this as a teacher getting her comeuppance, but it sounds to me more like this kid's parents are in denial about how rotten their kid is. Teachers aren't allowed to discipline children in schools anymore, so I bet it's horribly frustrating when parents send rotten brats to school then act like they're little angels and they refuse to discipline them at home. It sounds like this kid should have been removed from a well-behaved class long ago.
Chart of states that provide worker's comp to illegal aliens.
Government schools are teaching Islam to students. Liberals would have burst some arteries if this principal had taught Christianity like this. Where's the liberal outrage?
Apparently Geraldine Ferraro never noticed that the press has never just reported on a campaign but has always been a strategist and promoter for the Democrat. She only finally noticed because she was so used to it, she just expected the press would be the same for Hillary, but instead it worked for Obama. Sexism wasn't Hillary's problem. Falsely promoting herself as if she had some experience Obama did not, then assuming she was the going to win instead of planning for a long primary, then sticking her foot in her mouth over and over (which the press reported, while it didn't report Obama doing the same) finished her. If Obama hadn't been running the press would have been out there beating false sexism drums instead of beating false racism drums.
Canadian Imam uses polygamy to attack Canadian laws and gain ground for Sharia.
Bob Beckel must be doing drugs if he thinks Obama will blow out McCain. He even thinks Obama will win Ohio after Hillary spanked Obama here.
Karl Rove highlights how Obama parses, dissembles and blames others for every controversy surrounding him. He's very much like Bill Clinton in that regard. The reason Clinton was so successful at getting away with it was the press was his willing ally, and the same for Obama. But the internet is huge today compared to the 90s, so it'll be interesting to see if Obama gets away with it. I don't think any politician will be able to get away with being as slimy as Clinton was ever again, but Obama's going to try. The internet is a great tool for raising money, but I think every politician will be forced to be more honest in the future. It may not swing elections just yet, because both parties are full of liars, but politicians may have to change that. I'm hopeful.
Ralph Peters lists the good things that have occurred in Iraq since since the surge, the time that liberals want to pretend didn't happen. Besides having al Qaeda on the verge of defeat...
George Will doesn't like the idea of the president going to Congress for Q&A sessions because it will just become an opportunity by the president to grandstand and elevate his importance above Congress'. It's not like the leaders of Congress can't communicate with the president.
Victor Davis Hanson understands that we (baby boomers) are to blame for our own problems. The temper tantrums and self-indulgence of the 60s led to the hyper-partisan and self-indulgent government we have today. We have the government we voted for and the problems it has caused are our responsibility. Our government is a reflection of us. Our problems have been in the making since the 60s. The energy crisis has been decades in the making because we restricted developing our own supplies of oil and cost effective alternatives like nuclear and coal. The unsustainable entitlements have been understood for decades as well.
Life as a construct in a computer simulation.
CIA chief Hayden reports that al Qaeda is nearly defeated and on the defensive, but still dangerous. I doubt liberals will admit that Bush's strategy is the cause of this. Iran and al Qaeda in secret talks. Sunni and Shia are a lot closer to each other than to the west.
Allegations of human rights violations by immigration enforcement officials.
Prototype EU plane has a camera in the back of every seat to monitor facial expressions of passengers. In 10 years, we will be watched everywhere we go outside our homes in many cities and computers will be comparing our movements and facial expressions to algorithms for criminal behavior, and we'll be arrested, tried and convinced if the computer decides our patterns matched those of criminals.
111 nations without cluster bombs ban them, while the big nations with them, don't.
Indian villagers burn woman alive for being a witch.
New pastor problem from Obama's radical racially charged church explodes in his face. He can't distance himself from the church and the rants he subjected himself and his family to for 20 years.
Obama is a gaffe machine, and the press is ignoring his unprecedented number of gaffes. He's had so many gaffes, and such bad gaffes, you have to question his intelligence.
Obama is staunchly against free trade, urging Bush to reject a free trade agreement with South Korea that would boost the US economy by $10 to $12 billion. How can that be considered populist? This is guy is wrong on everything.
Susan Sarandan vows to move to Canada or Italy if McCain is elected. Somebody finally came up with a reason to tempt me to vote for McCain. I bet this wins McCain a ton of votes from people who would love to see Sarandan leave the US. I wonder why she didn't pick Cuba or Venezuela, which seem more suited to her?
Preview of Google Android phone.
Congratulations to Tom Coburn for exposing the liberalism of big-government Republicans and explaining there's nothing compassionate about welfare or big government. Reason exposes phony compassionate conservative who tried to use Bible to justify the false compassion of welfare in a response to Coburn.
How can it be unconstitutional for a city to ban renting to illegal aliens? That isn't regulating immigration into the country. That's a bogus decision, and I wish the city would appeal it.
Where in the world does the government think it gets the power to block anybody from using the label "Try Legal Weed"?
4 day school weeks to save on gas. I bet the students love this.
"Save the Males" explains how our anti-male culture hurts families and children.
One of Milton Friedman's coauthors writing for Cato considers the Bernanke Fed to be a failure, creating moral hazard that has extended the credit crisis and left the economy vulnerable to disaster.
Cato explains that the technology doesn't exist to meet the Warner-Lieberman's misnamed Climate Security Act.
Cato has jumped on my plan to take the definition of marriage away from government and allow consenting adults to enter whatever life contracts they wish. I knew they'd come around. ETA: Boy was I wrong. This was published in 1997. I'm late to the party (though I did come up with the idea independently - great minds, you know).
Government policies make oil more expensive, make us less wealthy, and as a result make the world a dirtier place. Oops.
McCain is making hay with my plan for a world organization of democracies, which he calls a league of democracies, which I never did post here, unfortunately, though I did post it here. That old version was before Putin turned Russia back into a totalitarian nation. That's exactly why I suggested the organization have the power to boot nations out.
Thomas Sowell says liberals use blacks as mascots to make themselves look good, not to help blacks. No white person could possibly get away with those comments despite their accuracy.
Ann Coulter lampoons Obama's desire to talk to Ahmadinejad since he was scared to engage in a debate moderated by Brit Hume.
Hugh Hewitt suggest Barack Obama should read Michael Yon's book. Amanda Carpenter shows that McCain's invitation to Obama to visit Iraq is scoring points. Obama is looking less informed every day. And he doesn't seem very intelligent to begin with. Unintelligent and uninformed is a bad combination.
Muslims refuse to wear work uniforms, are fired because of it, and subsequently fight to change the dress code. The company should stand firm, and when the inevitable lawsuit happens, it should be tossed out.
In an absurd political stunt, Congressman threatens to have Rove arrested if he invokes executive privilege to avoid testifying about the non-issue of the firing of US Attorneys. Democrats would be far better served by doing something useful.
State by state analysis of how much our economy will be hurt and money will be lost if the Warner-Lieberman Climate Security Act supported by John McCain (and possibly Obama and Clinton, though they support a more draconian carbon tax as well) becomes law. Ohio would lose about 6,000 jobs by 2012 and 125,000 by 2030. Call or write your senators today.
The columnist/activist who wanted to execute a citizens arrest on John Bolton was blocked by security. Too bad.
Boortz presented this as a teacher getting her comeuppance, but it sounds to me more like this kid's parents are in denial about how rotten their kid is. Teachers aren't allowed to discipline children in schools anymore, so I bet it's horribly frustrating when parents send rotten brats to school then act like they're little angels and they refuse to discipline them at home. It sounds like this kid should have been removed from a well-behaved class long ago.
Chart of states that provide worker's comp to illegal aliens.
Government schools are teaching Islam to students. Liberals would have burst some arteries if this principal had taught Christianity like this. Where's the liberal outrage?
Apparently Geraldine Ferraro never noticed that the press has never just reported on a campaign but has always been a strategist and promoter for the Democrat. She only finally noticed because she was so used to it, she just expected the press would be the same for Hillary, but instead it worked for Obama. Sexism wasn't Hillary's problem. Falsely promoting herself as if she had some experience Obama did not, then assuming she was the going to win instead of planning for a long primary, then sticking her foot in her mouth over and over (which the press reported, while it didn't report Obama doing the same) finished her. If Obama hadn't been running the press would have been out there beating false sexism drums instead of beating false racism drums.
Canadian Imam uses polygamy to attack Canadian laws and gain ground for Sharia.
Bob Beckel must be doing drugs if he thinks Obama will blow out McCain. He even thinks Obama will win Ohio after Hillary spanked Obama here.
Karl Rove highlights how Obama parses, dissembles and blames others for every controversy surrounding him. He's very much like Bill Clinton in that regard. The reason Clinton was so successful at getting away with it was the press was his willing ally, and the same for Obama. But the internet is huge today compared to the 90s, so it'll be interesting to see if Obama gets away with it. I don't think any politician will be able to get away with being as slimy as Clinton was ever again, but Obama's going to try. The internet is a great tool for raising money, but I think every politician will be forced to be more honest in the future. It may not swing elections just yet, because both parties are full of liars, but politicians may have to change that. I'm hopeful.
Ralph Peters lists the good things that have occurred in Iraq since since the surge, the time that liberals want to pretend didn't happen. Besides having al Qaeda on the verge of defeat...
George Will doesn't like the idea of the president going to Congress for Q&A sessions because it will just become an opportunity by the president to grandstand and elevate his importance above Congress'. It's not like the leaders of Congress can't communicate with the president.
Victor Davis Hanson understands that we (baby boomers) are to blame for our own problems. The temper tantrums and self-indulgence of the 60s led to the hyper-partisan and self-indulgent government we have today. We have the government we voted for and the problems it has caused are our responsibility. Our government is a reflection of us. Our problems have been in the making since the 60s. The energy crisis has been decades in the making because we restricted developing our own supplies of oil and cost effective alternatives like nuclear and coal. The unsustainable entitlements have been understood for decades as well.
Life as a construct in a computer simulation.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Free kibbles
Iran likely to have enough fissile material to make a nuclear bomb next year.
Foxnews has a special called Earmarks for profit. Not only do politicians buy votes with earmarks - earmarking money for the businesses of friends and family in return for campaign contributions - but they also earmark money for companies in which they own stock. The culture of corruption in Washington is so pervasive, our politicians do this in plane sight and even defend it (though they did try to hide the specifics by removing the earmarks from legislation and putting them in companion comments. Of course, these non-legislative earmarks are illegal by definition, and the Justice Dept. should prosecute every congressman who did it.)
Give me a break. A report concludes that human development (they call it losing nature), will reduce the world's GDP, disproportionately impacting the poor. If human development reduced GDP, it would stop. Nobody builds stuff to lose money. That's just dumb.
Texas Supreme Court orders the state to return Yearning for Zion Ranch children to parents. Another victory for the rule of law.
UN Chief acknowledges progress in Iraq, and the BBC reported it. I didn't notice it in any US papers.
Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan claims the charges against him of propagating nuclear secrets are trumped up. That's interesting.
China may have copied data from US commerce laptop. Why would a US official leave his notebook unattended in China? Our government is full of idiots.
The economy picked up to 0.9% growth.
McCain has definitely boxed in Obama about visiting Iraq. Obama has no choice but to visit Iraq or look cowardly and intentionally uninformed. When Obama goes, McCain should immediately claim that it was McCain's leadership and his ability to work across party lines, that got Obama to go.
Cato informs that fuel efficient cars pollute less than mass transit systems.
Cato reports that the Roberts Court is not ideological, but decides cases based on the law. That's what the Court is supposed to do, and it's a wonderful change from the activist courts of the last 50 years. The article mentions an interesting philosophical difference between justices on how much weight they give to precedent. I'm with Scalia and Thomas - the law is more important that precedent. Bad precedent should be corrected.
Stonehenge was uses a burial sight 500 years earlier than previously thought.
Petition to allow drilling for oil in currently forbidden areas.
Good for the WSJ to come right out and say Blame Congress for High Oil Prices. The essay shows how government policy today is similar to government policy in the '70s, and those policies created the energy crises then and now. 15% of the cost of gasoline is taxes and only 4% is oil company profit. Of course to professional politicians, taxes are good and profits are bad. And the oil companies don't set either the price of oil or gasoline.
Under the pall of $4 per gallon gasoline prices, the Senate begins debate on the Warner-Lieberman bill, a carbon cap and trade bill that is really a hidden tax, supported by John McCain that the WSJ says "would impose the most extensive government reorganization of the American economy since the 1930s." The article explains that this is really a massive wealth redistribution scheme camouflaged as environmentalism.
Animal incorporates genes from other species.
Scott McClellan and silly liberal blogger don't seem to understand the difference between leaking classified information and declassifying information to make it available to the people. The same liberals who say the Bush administration is too secretive are now attacking him for allowing the NIE on Iraq to go public.
Fear of Obama will make people hold their nose and vote for McCain.
I sure hope this spotlight on unAmerican caucuses will lead to their abolishment. But since Democrats love coercion instead of freedom, supporting card check instead of secret ballot for unionizing, I doubt they'll get rid of the caucus system.
Walmart pressures suppliers to keep costs low. Hooray for Walmart and the free market.
Businesses are switching to 4 day work weeks and telecommuting to save employees gas money.
These people deserve to be punished for bestiality, but what law gives the judge the power to forbid them from ever owning dogs?
Spanish speakers outnumber English speakers in Miami. That's ridiculous.
Researchers discover the UN CO2 emission cutting program is a scam. What a surprise.
Foxnews has a special called Earmarks for profit. Not only do politicians buy votes with earmarks - earmarking money for the businesses of friends and family in return for campaign contributions - but they also earmark money for companies in which they own stock. The culture of corruption in Washington is so pervasive, our politicians do this in plane sight and even defend it (though they did try to hide the specifics by removing the earmarks from legislation and putting them in companion comments. Of course, these non-legislative earmarks are illegal by definition, and the Justice Dept. should prosecute every congressman who did it.)
Give me a break. A report concludes that human development (they call it losing nature), will reduce the world's GDP, disproportionately impacting the poor. If human development reduced GDP, it would stop. Nobody builds stuff to lose money. That's just dumb.
Texas Supreme Court orders the state to return Yearning for Zion Ranch children to parents. Another victory for the rule of law.
UN Chief acknowledges progress in Iraq, and the BBC reported it. I didn't notice it in any US papers.
Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan claims the charges against him of propagating nuclear secrets are trumped up. That's interesting.
China may have copied data from US commerce laptop. Why would a US official leave his notebook unattended in China? Our government is full of idiots.
The economy picked up to 0.9% growth.
McCain has definitely boxed in Obama about visiting Iraq. Obama has no choice but to visit Iraq or look cowardly and intentionally uninformed. When Obama goes, McCain should immediately claim that it was McCain's leadership and his ability to work across party lines, that got Obama to go.
Cato informs that fuel efficient cars pollute less than mass transit systems.
Cato reports that the Roberts Court is not ideological, but decides cases based on the law. That's what the Court is supposed to do, and it's a wonderful change from the activist courts of the last 50 years. The article mentions an interesting philosophical difference between justices on how much weight they give to precedent. I'm with Scalia and Thomas - the law is more important that precedent. Bad precedent should be corrected.
Stonehenge was uses a burial sight 500 years earlier than previously thought.
Petition to allow drilling for oil in currently forbidden areas.
Good for the WSJ to come right out and say Blame Congress for High Oil Prices. The essay shows how government policy today is similar to government policy in the '70s, and those policies created the energy crises then and now. 15% of the cost of gasoline is taxes and only 4% is oil company profit. Of course to professional politicians, taxes are good and profits are bad. And the oil companies don't set either the price of oil or gasoline.
Under the pall of $4 per gallon gasoline prices, the Senate begins debate on the Warner-Lieberman bill, a carbon cap and trade bill that is really a hidden tax, supported by John McCain that the WSJ says "would impose the most extensive government reorganization of the American economy since the 1930s." The article explains that this is really a massive wealth redistribution scheme camouflaged as environmentalism.
Animal incorporates genes from other species.
Scott McClellan and silly liberal blogger don't seem to understand the difference between leaking classified information and declassifying information to make it available to the people. The same liberals who say the Bush administration is too secretive are now attacking him for allowing the NIE on Iraq to go public.
Fear of Obama will make people hold their nose and vote for McCain.
I sure hope this spotlight on unAmerican caucuses will lead to their abolishment. But since Democrats love coercion instead of freedom, supporting card check instead of secret ballot for unionizing, I doubt they'll get rid of the caucus system.
Walmart pressures suppliers to keep costs low. Hooray for Walmart and the free market.
Businesses are switching to 4 day work weeks and telecommuting to save employees gas money.
These people deserve to be punished for bestiality, but what law gives the judge the power to forbid them from ever owning dogs?
Spanish speakers outnumber English speakers in Miami. That's ridiculous.
Researchers discover the UN CO2 emission cutting program is a scam. What a surprise.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Free kibbles
Intelligence officials expect al Qaeda to release a new tape calling for terrorists to use WMD. If our intelligence officials know this stuff in advance, why aren't we rolling up these terrorists?
Feds arrest owners of medical marijuana shops.
Bet your house that Gore will duck a debate on global warming with Czech President Vaclav Klaus. Skeptics plan carbon belch day (couldn't they just have called it exhale day?) to use as much carbon as possible. I don't have that much money for gas. While liberals will condemn this, maybe it will prompt the news to report the facts at least once.
Highlighting the effectiveness of liberals' beloved socialized medicine program in Canada, a woman lay on a stretcher for 5 days in a Toronto emergency room waiting for a bed. This is what Americans have to look forward to if socialists get their way here too.
British journalist plans stunt by performing a citizen's arrest on John Bolton. This guy doesn't want to report the news, he wants to make the news. He should go into government.
Nepal evolves from monarchy to republic.
Author wonders if the international community will abandon Lebanon. What has the international community done for Lebanon other than sit on its hands while Iran and Syria armed their proxy, Hezbollah, and terrorized the country?
Ohio Gov. Strickland names dean of OSU law school as interim Attorney General.
Seating Florida and Michigan is back on the front burner as Clinton gets ever more desperate.
Showing how much he's learned from the Clinton's Obama gets caught exaggerating his family's military role in WWII.
Scott McClellan rips Bush administration in new book.
Private journals of Barry Goldwater.
New analysis of gene variation shows that western Europe and Northern Asia once had significant genetic contact, and the people of North and South America have different origins.
Cato explains how both Obama and McCain have collectivist, albeit different, views.
Cato reports that climate change is not the world's biggest problem or even the world's biggest environmental problem, and that man is best served by adapting to climate change.
Cato informs that Iranian President Ahmadinejad and his hardliners are facing a serious, moderate challenge despite their control of the electoral process because they of the harm they've caused to the Iranian economy.
What in the world is that idiot Carter doing telling the world that Israel has 150 nuclear weapons? Surely he knows that that's an Israeli state secret.
Website indoctrinating children into the global warming fraud. When these kids grow up and live in a cooler environment, they will become enlightened about distrusting authority far more dramatically than we ever did, so maybe something good will come of this global warming fraud in the end.
British prison is being taken over by Muslim gangs and becoming a breeding ground for al Qaeda. If you know it's happen, then stop it.
This is an interesting case - government is fining Amish school because of outhouses. The government has a legitimate interest in the safe handling of sewage, but it sounds like this law is over the top.
Britain to cut down 150 year old tree because its needles "pose a probable risk of serious injury to children". I wonder how British children survived that dangerous tree for 150 years.
Barack Obama blames the failure of a couple to pay their mortgage payments on the lender, then he blames President Bush for doing too little. He supports using taxpayers' money to coerce lenders to rewrite contracts (if that was in the lender's interest, they would already be doing it). He wants to create a $10 billion bail out fund for homeowners in foreclosure. He calls for a fair tax code, but he really means increasing the income tax punishment on wealthy people and small business owners, not the FairTax. And he wants to make sure that government never lets individuals alone to succeed and fail based on their own actions and decisions. Wasn't this Mao's platform?
Feds arrest owners of medical marijuana shops.
Bet your house that Gore will duck a debate on global warming with Czech President Vaclav Klaus. Skeptics plan carbon belch day (couldn't they just have called it exhale day?) to use as much carbon as possible. I don't have that much money for gas. While liberals will condemn this, maybe it will prompt the news to report the facts at least once.
Highlighting the effectiveness of liberals' beloved socialized medicine program in Canada, a woman lay on a stretcher for 5 days in a Toronto emergency room waiting for a bed. This is what Americans have to look forward to if socialists get their way here too.
British journalist plans stunt by performing a citizen's arrest on John Bolton. This guy doesn't want to report the news, he wants to make the news. He should go into government.
Nepal evolves from monarchy to republic.
Author wonders if the international community will abandon Lebanon. What has the international community done for Lebanon other than sit on its hands while Iran and Syria armed their proxy, Hezbollah, and terrorized the country?
Ohio Gov. Strickland names dean of OSU law school as interim Attorney General.
Seating Florida and Michigan is back on the front burner as Clinton gets ever more desperate.
Showing how much he's learned from the Clinton's Obama gets caught exaggerating his family's military role in WWII.
Scott McClellan rips Bush administration in new book.
Private journals of Barry Goldwater.
New analysis of gene variation shows that western Europe and Northern Asia once had significant genetic contact, and the people of North and South America have different origins.
Cato explains how both Obama and McCain have collectivist, albeit different, views.
Cato reports that climate change is not the world's biggest problem or even the world's biggest environmental problem, and that man is best served by adapting to climate change.
Cato informs that Iranian President Ahmadinejad and his hardliners are facing a serious, moderate challenge despite their control of the electoral process because they of the harm they've caused to the Iranian economy.
What in the world is that idiot Carter doing telling the world that Israel has 150 nuclear weapons? Surely he knows that that's an Israeli state secret.
Website indoctrinating children into the global warming fraud. When these kids grow up and live in a cooler environment, they will become enlightened about distrusting authority far more dramatically than we ever did, so maybe something good will come of this global warming fraud in the end.
British prison is being taken over by Muslim gangs and becoming a breeding ground for al Qaeda. If you know it's happen, then stop it.
This is an interesting case - government is fining Amish school because of outhouses. The government has a legitimate interest in the safe handling of sewage, but it sounds like this law is over the top.
Britain to cut down 150 year old tree because its needles "pose a probable risk of serious injury to children". I wonder how British children survived that dangerous tree for 150 years.
Barack Obama blames the failure of a couple to pay their mortgage payments on the lender, then he blames President Bush for doing too little. He supports using taxpayers' money to coerce lenders to rewrite contracts (if that was in the lender's interest, they would already be doing it). He wants to create a $10 billion bail out fund for homeowners in foreclosure. He calls for a fair tax code, but he really means increasing the income tax punishment on wealthy people and small business owners, not the FairTax. And he wants to make sure that government never lets individuals alone to succeed and fail based on their own actions and decisions. Wasn't this Mao's platform?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Power Corrupts
Power Corrupts
by Mark Luedtke
Everybody loves a sordid tale of sex and power, from Henry VIII and Louis XIV, to John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. They're older than Alexander, and they didn't end with Mark Foley or Vincent Fossella. Sex scandals and abuse of power are as old as sex and power and as long as aristocrats rule the people, they'll continue.
We all know the adage that power corrupts, but as a society, we invariably pretend to be shocked when our professional politicians, American aristocrats no different than any other aristocrats throughout history, get caught in sex scandals. Maybe it's because we expect politicians to be smart enough not to get caught. It's certainly not because we expect them to be paragons of virtue. We know better. With very few, commendable exceptions, they're all doing it.
Our political system rewards people who thrive on wielding power over others, and it rewards corruption. As a result, Washington and our state capitals are corruption factories, where people like Eliot Spitzer and Newt Gingrich rise to the top and use the power of their positions for sex. It's human nature for people to wield power for personal gratification.
Marc Dann and Columbus are no different. What separates Marc Dann from most professional politicians is that he isn't smart enough to keep from getting caught.
We can't count on the press to report the affairs of our politicians because the press is in bed with them. Literally. Barbara Walters didn't report on the affair of Senator Edward Brooke. She had the affair with Senator Brooke. Marc Dann's wife was an award winning journalist, until she married Dann. Even if the reporter isn't the one sleeping with the politician, journalists get most of their news stories from politicians, so reporting on their affairs is like cutting off the hand that feeds them. They'll never get another scoop in their career. So reporters feign surprise.
Typically, one of the few, meaningful differences between Republicans and Democrats is how they handle scandals. Wanting to promote the appearance of moral superiority, Republicans tend to force scandalized Republicans to resign. Democrats tend to circle the wagons, protect their scandalized comrades, evening defending sexual predators like Gerry Studds, who took a 17 year old congressional page to Europe for sex.
According to formula, Republicans claimed the moral high ground in the Dann case, calling for him to resign and preparing for impeachment if Democrats fail to act. Dann performed all the standard apologies and genuflections, claiming human frailty, a Democrat needs to perform to win his second chance from other Democrats. But the interesting twist to the story is that Democrats are calling for Dann to resign or be impeached anyway.
Gov. Strickland captured the role of leading hypocrite. Strickland supported Bill Clinton when he did worse than Dann, including perjuring himself, and in return Hillary campaigned for Strickland in his hotly contested congressional race. But now Strickland leads the Democrats' charge to impeach Dann if he doesn't resign. Strickland changed his position on philandering because Democrats have to win Ohio to win the White House and he is on both Obama and Clinton's short list for vice-president. How he handles the Dann scandal could determine our next president and Strickland's future.
Neither party cares about right and wrong. It's just politics. Democrats understand that the only reason they're in power in Ohio is because the corruption of Republicans finally became too much to bear during Taft's tenure in office. But neither party has a leadership position on corruption, and Dann's predicament threatens to remind the people of that, so Democrats also want to claim the moral high ground by ousting Dann. The Ohio Democrat party is threatening to revoke its endorsement of Dann, leaving him isolated as an independent.
But Dann's desire to fight for his job puts Democrats between a rock and a hard place. If they don't impeach Dann, they'll lose the public's trust. If they do, every politician who has an affair amid accusations of sexual harassment will be subject to impeachment. That precedent would put them all at risk. And you can bet Marc Dann has dirt on many Columbus politicians. He has the resources as Attorney General to dig up all the dirt he wants, and he'll do anything to save his job. So after much blustering, Democrats' moderated their impeachment rhetoric with calls for a slow process and a thorough investigation. Democrats hope to delay dealing with the scandal until it fades away, but that puts them at odds with Strickland's desire for a decisive resolution. And Republicans would love to pick up the ball if Democrats drop it.
Regardless of the politics, Dann should lose his job. Marc Dann blasted Republicans for abuse of power during his campaign while fully intending to do the same when he got in office. He brought in cronies from Youngstown, including a mafia wannabe who bragged about mob connections in the office. The 3 of them set up a fraternity house in Dublin and treated the Attorney General's office as their personal hunting ground and the women in it as prey. Dann had a second chance to clean up his office every day, and he never did it. His vow to clean up his office now doesn't mean any more than his vows to his wife. The only thing Dann is sorry about is that he got caught. Gov. Strickland and Democrats everywhere are sorry he got caught too.
Vote Buying Masquerades as Economic Stimulus
Vote Buying Masquerades as Economic Stimulus by Mark Luedtke At an event to celebrate the life and work of Milton Friedman on his 90th birthday, then Federal Reserve governor and current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke validated Friedman's ground-breaking work analyzing the cause of the Great Depression by saying, "You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again." With that admission Bernanke not only acknowledged that government, specifically the Federal Reserve, caused the Great Depression, he made it clear that nearly all our economic problems are caused by government and made worse by more government. And the Fed wasn't solely responsible for the Great Depression - the protectionism of Herbert Hoover and FDR's New Deal made the depression deeper and longer than it should have been. We've known since the United States was founded that government is a burden on Americans and our economy. Government is a necessary evil, empowered by the people to perform a few, very limited duties. But because our professional politicians, aristocrats that were never supposed to exist in America, long ago abandoned the Constitution, government is a titanic burden on Americans and our economy. The burden of our government dwarfs every other country. Thanks mostly to Republicans, the Federal Government will suck $2.9 trillion from taxpayers this year. We're paying interest on $9.5 trillion in debt. The US has the most punishing tax rate and complexity in the industrialized world. Individuals and businesses spent $265 billion in IRS compliance costs, over and above their taxes, in 2005. State and local governments double the burden. As a result, jobs and capital flee to more business friendly countries every day. Government interferes in every sector of our economy, and government interference created our current economic woes. Bill Clinton forced lenders to make high risk loans, creating the subprime mortgage problem. Early in this decade, Greenspan's Fed pumped too much money into the economy, much as the Fed did before the Great Depression. The resulting economic bubble burst last year, leading to our current (relatively minor) economic problems. If government stayed out of the way, the market would correct government's errors relatively painlessly. But in an election year, buying votes is the priority, not allowing Americans to fix the problems as painlessly as possible. The so-called economic stimulus proposals from our politicians are frighteningly similar to the failed policies of Hoover, FDR, Nixon and Carter. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are proposing government guaranteed loan rates. That's a euphemism for price controls. Democrats are threatening windfall profits taxes on oil companies and implementing the largest tax hike in history by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. Democrats seem nostalgic for Jimmy Carter's stagflation economy. They want taxpayers to pay people not to work by extending unemployment benefits. Federal, state, and local governments are hiring at a record pace, ostensibly to make up for private sector layoffs. But if the private sector can't afford to pay people to work in the private sector, it can't afford to pay them to work for government. Like putting more people on an airplane taxes the engines and sucks more fuel out of the tank, government hiring taxes the private sector and sucks money out of the economy. The result is higher unemployment and debt. John McCain and Hillary Clinton are proposing a gas tax holiday. That's exactly what voters want to hear, but it's bad policy. When gas prices suddenly drop, people will drive more, increasing demand and pushing the prices back up. The price of gas will instantly skyrocket when the taxes come back into effect. Worse, the gas tax holiday is more debt. Republicans and Democrats united behind tax rebates for poor and middle class Americans, but many recipients don't pay any tax in the first place. That's no rebate. That's just a taxpayer funded handout to buy votes from people who pay little to no taxes. And it's more debt. Reducing the burden of government would help. We should cut spending and pay off the debt. Since we're on the wrong side of the Laffer curve, we should cut taxes to increase revenue. Because a big part of the cost of oil is speculation, announcing plans to drill for oil in ANWR and off the coast of Florida, increasing future supply, would drive down the price. Reducing restrictions on nuclear and coal power plants, reducing future demand for oil, would drive down the price. Reducing restrictions on building refineries would drive down the price of gasoline. But the best economic stimulus package is the FairTax. The FairTax would replace all income and payroll taxes with a consumption tax. Every American would get a raise from keeping 100 percent of their paycheck. Tax compliance costs would disappear. With no tax on labor, investment, savings, or accomplishment, every company in the world would move jobs and money to the US. US products would compete on a level playing field with products from our trading partners, all of whom have adopted a business friendly VAT tax, instead of being at a 22 percent disadvantage like today. It looks like American workers and businesses already overcame this downturn before government could do more damage. The dollar is on the rise and the economy is swinging back already, but prepare for politicians to mess up the recovery. We have to take our power and freedom back from government aristocrats before they bury us under so much debt that we'll never recover.
Free kibbles
British representatives propose plan for carbon rationing card for every citizen. Maybe it will be like one of the radiation detector badges too, and it will measure how much CO2 (plant food) you exhale with every breath. This is the real goal of the Marxists who are pushing the global warming fraud - complete control of every individual on the planet by government. And every government aristocrat in the world loves that idea. Cato attacks Britain's plan for a carbon rationing card.
Americans are driving less. The price mechanism works. I'm sure the Marxists and actual environmentalists love the high price of oil. They don't want us to drill to lower the price.
House prices drop most in 20 years. The market is still correcting for the problems created by government. The flip side is that sales are up. For every lose, there's a winner. Now's the time to buy that new house. Of course, it's a bad time to sell your existing one. It always works out that way.
Farms opening up in Mexico are a good thing.
American businessman says he gave cash stuffed in envelopes to Israeli PM Olmert. That doesn't sound good for Olmert.
I doubt anybody is shocked that Iran is withholding information on its nuclear program.
UN peacekeepers abusing children.
Reason provides a review of how Bob Barr won a hard-fought battle for the Libertarian Party nomination. Notice reason calls Ruwart's child porn argument unforgettable, but doesn't condemn it. Condemning it isn't a true journalist's job, but Reason hasn't exactly been unbiased in its coverage - they clearly do not like Barr. Of course, this is the same Reason that keeps finding ways to praise Obama before mentioning he's the most overtly socialist candidate to ever run in America.
Every primary candidate has to say they think they'll be the stronger candidate in the general election, but to say the party is more likely to lose if Obama is a desperate way of framing it by Bill Clinton to keep Hillary relevant. He also stokes the sexism fires by calling calls for her to drop out "bullying". Calling for candidates to drop out is part of the process, unless they're directed at a girl, in which case they're "bullying". She's being treated "disrespectfully". Oh, the humanity! The reason Hillary's close friends have to try and convince everybody she's "genuine, principled and sane" is she's not.
McCain says he and Obama should go to Iraq together. That's an interesting ploy. Obama has to say no because by going to Iraq, he would be publicizing how much tremendous progress has been made, Iraq violence is at a 4 year low, but not going makes him look like he's afraid or hiding something.
Proving that the left is just as religious as the right, they just refuse to acknowledge it in themselves, Sharon Stone blames karma for earthquake in China. If Pat Robertson had done that, Sharon Stone would have been the second, behind me, to jump on him.
Cato explains that with the death of FARC's leader, half of their leadership, and the capture of many high ranking officials, FARC is in a crisis. I hope it falls apart. The sooner, the better.
Cato explains that increasing enforcement at the border won't stop illegal immigration, it will just increase corruption. The solution is remove the economic incentive for illegal immigration.
Americans are driving less. The price mechanism works. I'm sure the Marxists and actual environmentalists love the high price of oil. They don't want us to drill to lower the price.
House prices drop most in 20 years. The market is still correcting for the problems created by government. The flip side is that sales are up. For every lose, there's a winner. Now's the time to buy that new house. Of course, it's a bad time to sell your existing one. It always works out that way.
Farms opening up in Mexico are a good thing.
American businessman says he gave cash stuffed in envelopes to Israeli PM Olmert. That doesn't sound good for Olmert.
I doubt anybody is shocked that Iran is withholding information on its nuclear program.
UN peacekeepers abusing children.
Reason provides a review of how Bob Barr won a hard-fought battle for the Libertarian Party nomination. Notice reason calls Ruwart's child porn argument unforgettable, but doesn't condemn it. Condemning it isn't a true journalist's job, but Reason hasn't exactly been unbiased in its coverage - they clearly do not like Barr. Of course, this is the same Reason that keeps finding ways to praise Obama before mentioning he's the most overtly socialist candidate to ever run in America.
Every primary candidate has to say they think they'll be the stronger candidate in the general election, but to say the party is more likely to lose if Obama is a desperate way of framing it by Bill Clinton to keep Hillary relevant. He also stokes the sexism fires by calling calls for her to drop out "bullying". Calling for candidates to drop out is part of the process, unless they're directed at a girl, in which case they're "bullying". She's being treated "disrespectfully". Oh, the humanity! The reason Hillary's close friends have to try and convince everybody she's "genuine, principled and sane" is she's not.
McCain says he and Obama should go to Iraq together. That's an interesting ploy. Obama has to say no because by going to Iraq, he would be publicizing how much tremendous progress has been made, Iraq violence is at a 4 year low, but not going makes him look like he's afraid or hiding something.
Proving that the left is just as religious as the right, they just refuse to acknowledge it in themselves, Sharon Stone blames karma for earthquake in China. If Pat Robertson had done that, Sharon Stone would have been the second, behind me, to jump on him.
Cato explains that with the death of FARC's leader, half of their leadership, and the capture of many high ranking officials, FARC is in a crisis. I hope it falls apart. The sooner, the better.
Cato explains that increasing enforcement at the border won't stop illegal immigration, it will just increase corruption. The solution is remove the economic incentive for illegal immigration.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Free kibbles
EU plans broad talks with Russia.
UN concludes Russia shot down an unarmed drone in Georgian airspace.
Obama urges graduates to enter public service. That's nonsense. Everything we have in America comes from the private sector. Everything. The private sector pays for those public service jobs, but those jobs don't produce anything. Other than combat service, there is no more noble or effective way to help your fellow man than to start a business and provide jobs. The more and better jobs, the better the benefit for individuals and society. Calls to public service are wasteful nonsense. Following enlightened self-interest is the best path to an enlightened society.
Bob Barr won the Libertarian Party nomination.
Mars Phoenix lander lands safely in arctic polar region. New pictures from Mars. This is kind of sad to say, but they look like all the other pictures from Mars. I hope this mission finds some water, or it will be a let down after Spirit and Opportunity. Cool picture of the Phoenix with its parachute deployed as it descends taken from Mars Orbiter.
Oprah lost 7% of her ratings this year. That's what she gets for injecting herself into politics.
These proclamations that such and such a technology will end (game) pirating always look so foolish shortly afterwards, though hardware will make piracy a lot tougher.
Wikileaks has released a bunch of pictures and videos from the Chinese crackdown on Tibetan protesters. These are not for the squeamish.
Comparison of the checks done on casino machines versus those done on voting machines. The voting machines are much less open. This pictures assumes that the government oversight of the casino machines is a good thing. I doubt it, but there certainly needs to be transparency, not government oversight but oversight by the people, in the voting machines. Open source would be best.
Nice picture of the public airwaves - the breakdown of the frequency spectrum by the FCC. This is how they justify their existence. Somebody has to manage it, right?
Secret laws are growing. It's kind of a paradox. How can we celebrate the rule of law, when we don't know the laws?
A bunch of funny photos of current politicians.
Amazingly prescient description of the current times from 100 years ago. Also interesting is what they got wrong. The pace of technological improvement is so much faster today that I doubt anybody could come anywhere near this close to predicting the world 100 years from now.
Democrats continue to ignore the remarkable progress in Iraq.
George Will reviews Cato's The Cult of the Presidency, explaining how we've elevated the office of the president to include the office of the pope.
Pro-gay liberal explains how same-sex marriage undermines the institution of marriage and child-bearing. This is why same-sex life commitments, while they should have all the legal weight of heterosexual commitments, should never be called marriage.
UN concludes Russia shot down an unarmed drone in Georgian airspace.
Obama urges graduates to enter public service. That's nonsense. Everything we have in America comes from the private sector. Everything. The private sector pays for those public service jobs, but those jobs don't produce anything. Other than combat service, there is no more noble or effective way to help your fellow man than to start a business and provide jobs. The more and better jobs, the better the benefit for individuals and society. Calls to public service are wasteful nonsense. Following enlightened self-interest is the best path to an enlightened society.
Bob Barr won the Libertarian Party nomination.
Mars Phoenix lander lands safely in arctic polar region. New pictures from Mars. This is kind of sad to say, but they look like all the other pictures from Mars. I hope this mission finds some water, or it will be a let down after Spirit and Opportunity. Cool picture of the Phoenix with its parachute deployed as it descends taken from Mars Orbiter.
Oprah lost 7% of her ratings this year. That's what she gets for injecting herself into politics.
These proclamations that such and such a technology will end (game) pirating always look so foolish shortly afterwards, though hardware will make piracy a lot tougher.
Wikileaks has released a bunch of pictures and videos from the Chinese crackdown on Tibetan protesters. These are not for the squeamish.
Comparison of the checks done on casino machines versus those done on voting machines. The voting machines are much less open. This pictures assumes that the government oversight of the casino machines is a good thing. I doubt it, but there certainly needs to be transparency, not government oversight but oversight by the people, in the voting machines. Open source would be best.
Nice picture of the public airwaves - the breakdown of the frequency spectrum by the FCC. This is how they justify their existence. Somebody has to manage it, right?
Secret laws are growing. It's kind of a paradox. How can we celebrate the rule of law, when we don't know the laws?
A bunch of funny photos of current politicians.
Amazingly prescient description of the current times from 100 years ago. Also interesting is what they got wrong. The pace of technological improvement is so much faster today that I doubt anybody could come anywhere near this close to predicting the world 100 years from now.
Democrats continue to ignore the remarkable progress in Iraq.
George Will reviews Cato's The Cult of the Presidency, explaining how we've elevated the office of the president to include the office of the pope.
Pro-gay liberal explains how same-sex marriage undermines the institution of marriage and child-bearing. This is why same-sex life commitments, while they should have all the legal weight of heterosexual commitments, should never be called marriage.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Free kibbles
The Lebanese parliament elected the head of the army as president. This is the same head of the army who refused to fight Hezbollah, except in a couple of rare instances, when Hezbollah was terrifying the country. Terrorists are celebrating today. I don't think neutrality, defined by sitting on the sidelines while a terrorist militia runs rampant across the country, is a prized quality.
Mugabe threatens to expel US ambassador. The US ambassador should not be intimidated by this, and he should continue speaking loudly about the abuses, including trying to steal this last election, of Mugabe.
FARC confirms its leader has died. Hopefully FARC will die with him.
I like the idea of giant, floating wind farms, if they're cost effective, but the latte liberals of Martha's Vineyard would never allow them off their coast. Poor people have to look at them, not the elites.
Kennedy's outraged at Hillary Clinton's comment about Robert Kennedy assassination. I should hope so. But the Kennedy's have known what kind of people Clintons are for 16 years at least. Birds of a feather. Hillary's immorality is just phenomenal. Now she's blaming others for taking the out of context. She should be in a psych ward, not government.
Conservatives jump on McCain for his flip-flop on securing the borders before comprehensive immigration reform.
Florida Gov. Crist likely VP candidate for McCain.
Libertarian party debate.
Aftershock in China collapses 70,000 houses. 69 dams in danger.
Solar cycle 24 is still a virtual no-show.
Mark Steyn thinks its ironic that Congress is suing OPEC for limiting oil production while Congress is limiting oil production. I think it's sick. We need to put our government out of our misery.
I'm not the only one who thinks McCain will win big over Obama. It's a stunning repudiation of the Democrat party that their candidate is so terrible he's likely to win against the worst Republican to run in my lifetime. If it wasn't for how badly the Republicans have governed since Bush took office, Obama would be lucky to win a state.
I'm not surprised that Iran paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to terrorists to kill UK soldiers. I'm sure they've paid to kill American soldiers. It's a disgrace that we haven't punished them by striking Revolutionary Guards and Quds Force bases since we invaded Iraq. We should have never allowed interference from Iraq's neighbors. How'd that same strategy work for us in Vietnam?
Fred Barnes suggests 5 legislative priorities that will help Republicans because they help the nation. These are good ideas. How come Republicans didn't do this since they took power in 1994? They're not going to fool anybody into thinking they suddenly became responsible representatives.
How Sec. Rice has undermined the Bush doctrine and put us in weak bargaining positions because of it.
Mugabe threatens to expel US ambassador. The US ambassador should not be intimidated by this, and he should continue speaking loudly about the abuses, including trying to steal this last election, of Mugabe.
FARC confirms its leader has died. Hopefully FARC will die with him.
I like the idea of giant, floating wind farms, if they're cost effective, but the latte liberals of Martha's Vineyard would never allow them off their coast. Poor people have to look at them, not the elites.
Kennedy's outraged at Hillary Clinton's comment about Robert Kennedy assassination. I should hope so. But the Kennedy's have known what kind of people Clintons are for 16 years at least. Birds of a feather. Hillary's immorality is just phenomenal. Now she's blaming others for taking the out of context. She should be in a psych ward, not government.
Conservatives jump on McCain for his flip-flop on securing the borders before comprehensive immigration reform.
Florida Gov. Crist likely VP candidate for McCain.
Libertarian party debate.
Aftershock in China collapses 70,000 houses. 69 dams in danger.
Solar cycle 24 is still a virtual no-show.
Mark Steyn thinks its ironic that Congress is suing OPEC for limiting oil production while Congress is limiting oil production. I think it's sick. We need to put our government out of our misery.
I'm not the only one who thinks McCain will win big over Obama. It's a stunning repudiation of the Democrat party that their candidate is so terrible he's likely to win against the worst Republican to run in my lifetime. If it wasn't for how badly the Republicans have governed since Bush took office, Obama would be lucky to win a state.
I'm not surprised that Iran paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to terrorists to kill UK soldiers. I'm sure they've paid to kill American soldiers. It's a disgrace that we haven't punished them by striking Revolutionary Guards and Quds Force bases since we invaded Iraq. We should have never allowed interference from Iraq's neighbors. How'd that same strategy work for us in Vietnam?
Fred Barnes suggests 5 legislative priorities that will help Republicans because they help the nation. These are good ideas. How come Republicans didn't do this since they took power in 1994? They're not going to fool anybody into thinking they suddenly became responsible representatives.
How Sec. Rice has undermined the Bush doctrine and put us in weak bargaining positions because of it.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Free kibbles
Columbia's Farc leader reported dead at 78.
Neither voter fraud nor voter intimidation is pervasive.
The California congresswoman who walked away from her mortgage is now claiming the lender was wrong when it foreclosed on her.
Scenes from the Libertarian party convention. Second day.
Another contrast between Rev. Hagee and Rev. Wright is that liberals tried to twist Hagee's words to sound antisemitic, but Jews disagree. Nobody had to twist Rev. Wright's words. They were unambiguously hate-filled and insane.
Obama is smart to help Clinton out of her Robert Kennedy gaffe. Hillary said the same thing about RFK being assassinated last March. Apparently it wasn't a gaffe. I think Hillary is accurate when she says she doesn't get it. She's a sick, twisted human being, and Democrats love that. But not as much as a smooth-talking, manipulative, lying, backstabbing, messiah wannabe.
Peggy Noonan contrasts Hillary Clinton with Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, and Margaret Thatcher, none of whom whined about sexism during far more sexist times nor rode their husband's coattails to an elected office.
Excellent essay reminding us that everything we have we owe to capitalism. Including government services.
Fire at Russian air base sets off 2 missiles. The video is really cool since none of the rockets killed anybody.
This peak oil alarmist is full of it. We have at least decades if not centuries of oil in the ground. Our problem is our own government is keeping us from drilling for it. As a result, more oil will end up controlled by other, state-run oil companies.
New red spots on Jupiter likely caused by global warming. Sweet picture.
Maybe this NYCity surveillance helicopter is the real black helicopters we used to hear about in the 90s.
Neither voter fraud nor voter intimidation is pervasive.
The California congresswoman who walked away from her mortgage is now claiming the lender was wrong when it foreclosed on her.
Scenes from the Libertarian party convention. Second day.
Another contrast between Rev. Hagee and Rev. Wright is that liberals tried to twist Hagee's words to sound antisemitic, but Jews disagree. Nobody had to twist Rev. Wright's words. They were unambiguously hate-filled and insane.
Obama is smart to help Clinton out of her Robert Kennedy gaffe. Hillary said the same thing about RFK being assassinated last March. Apparently it wasn't a gaffe. I think Hillary is accurate when she says she doesn't get it. She's a sick, twisted human being, and Democrats love that. But not as much as a smooth-talking, manipulative, lying, backstabbing, messiah wannabe.
Peggy Noonan contrasts Hillary Clinton with Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, and Margaret Thatcher, none of whom whined about sexism during far more sexist times nor rode their husband's coattails to an elected office.
Excellent essay reminding us that everything we have we owe to capitalism. Including government services.
Fire at Russian air base sets off 2 missiles. The video is really cool since none of the rockets killed anybody.
This peak oil alarmist is full of it. We have at least decades if not centuries of oil in the ground. Our problem is our own government is keeping us from drilling for it. As a result, more oil will end up controlled by other, state-run oil companies.
New red spots on Jupiter likely caused by global warming. Sweet picture.
Maybe this NYCity surveillance helicopter is the real black helicopters we used to hear about in the 90s.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Free kibbles
China joins its ally in the new Cold War of Terror in condemning US missile shield. This is pretty transparent. China and Russia want to be able to nuke the cities of the US and our allies. They want their proxy states to be able to blow up Europeans cities. Too bad. It's telling that Medvedev's first official trip is to China to declare this opposition to a defensive system. Only aggressors would care.
People who think they were illegally spied upon may get day in court. If they were suspected to be terrorist sympathizers, it can't be illegal because of the president's constitutional responsibility to intercept communications of enemy sympathizers during a time of war. If they weren't, they may have a case.
Senate committee passes legislation requiring anybody working in the mortgage industry to provide fingerprints into the finger print database.
A number of the supposed children taken from the Yearning from Zion ranch were in fact adults. The burden of proof is on the state, not the targets of the raid. The state botched this big-time. But it's absurd to compare this abuse of power by civilian authorities in the US to prisoners of war, who don't have all the rights of prisoners of war because they don't wear uniforms and therefore don't get the protections of the Geneva Convention, being held by the military at Guantanamo.
With all the success we've been having in Iraq, victory seems more likely every day. Liberals hate that idea. But we haven't won yet, and we can't lose our will now. I have no problems with an Iraq embezzlement probe. Government did a terrible job managing taxpayer money in Iraq - just like it does everywhere else.
Another subpoena for Rove is just more congressional grandstanding.
Reason completely misrepresents the power imbalance in Washington when it claims the presidential power is the most important issue this election. That's absurd. Congress has spent over 200 years expanding its power, and the last 100 years, Congress has trampled the Constitution to the point it's nearly meaningless. You can't wipe your butt without Congress being involved in your life. But the president has almost no power over Americans. He has the power to charge you with crimes, which is the same as it always has been (though Congress has created a ton of new, ridiculous crimes), and he might wiretap your phone if he suspects you are a terrorist sympathizer during a time of war (which Congress controls). The president's impact on our daily lives is about zero. Congress' impact on our daily lives is crushing. There's no comparison (though the Court is expanding its power to compete with Congress).
While Republicans are losing seats in hard-core conservative districts, Britons are electing conservatives in hard-core liberal districts. The world is still conservative. This shows how badly Republicans have alienated conservatives and everybody else, when Democrats can convince Americans they are more conservative than Republicans, and quite a few are.
We all know that the Clintons will say or do anything - lie, cheat, steal etc. - to get their way, but this out there even for them. Hillary Clinton said in an interview that she's continuing the race because Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June. Then to cover up for it, she said the reason she said it was because Teddy Kennedy's cancer has been on her mind. If Hollywood has some horrible, evil character say this in a movie, we'd all stop watching because it would be so unbelievable.
Obama supporters are preparing the ground for the general election, calling any criticism of Obama "swiftboating" before the criticism even comes out. I hope we see the same kind of honest, accurate criticism of Obama as the swift boat guys gave of Kerry, allowing the voters great insight into his character. Mr. I was in Cambodia at Christmas 1968 when Richard Nixon was president - except he wasn't. If Obama has terrible skeletons in his closet, Clinton should have exposed them. That's the function of the primaries - vet the candidates so the winner doesn't get sunk in the general election.
Now that McCain is the nominee, he no longer cares about securing our border first, he's going straight to comprehensive immigration reform (read amnesty), just as many of us suspected. Plus Barack Obama names another corrupt Washington insider to his campaign to help select a VP.
Cato explains that Democrats have sold out to labor unions and are betraying our allies in Columbia by refusing a vote on the free trade agreement.
Congressman ups the ante on windfall profits taxes by proposing a new bureaucracy that would determine reasonable profits for companies and then tax the excess. I think the only history our government aristocrats ever studied was written by Karl Marx.
Government forbids drilling for over half of our oil and 40 percent of our natural gas. They tax gasoline mercilessly. Then they drag oil executives before Congress and blame them for high prices. Chuck Schumer busted for lying about the effect on prices from drilling in ANWR. And don't forget coasts where government forbids us from drilling too.
If officials enforcing illegal immigration laws didn't target Latinos, who would they target?
How stupid is it to have to cover up naked Egyptian mummies? Boortz wonders if the offended visitors were Muslims.
The European Human Rights Court will hear the case of a chimpanzee. This should have been summarily dismissed with extreme prejudice. Can the people who brought the case be charged with contempt of court?
Utopians love this idea of a centrally planned, carbon neutral, no car city in Abu Dhabi, but I bet the only way it works is if its heavily subsidized by oil money.
Funny rebate cartoon.
People who think they were illegally spied upon may get day in court. If they were suspected to be terrorist sympathizers, it can't be illegal because of the president's constitutional responsibility to intercept communications of enemy sympathizers during a time of war. If they weren't, they may have a case.
Senate committee passes legislation requiring anybody working in the mortgage industry to provide fingerprints into the finger print database.
A number of the supposed children taken from the Yearning from Zion ranch were in fact adults. The burden of proof is on the state, not the targets of the raid. The state botched this big-time. But it's absurd to compare this abuse of power by civilian authorities in the US to prisoners of war, who don't have all the rights of prisoners of war because they don't wear uniforms and therefore don't get the protections of the Geneva Convention, being held by the military at Guantanamo.
With all the success we've been having in Iraq, victory seems more likely every day. Liberals hate that idea. But we haven't won yet, and we can't lose our will now. I have no problems with an Iraq embezzlement probe. Government did a terrible job managing taxpayer money in Iraq - just like it does everywhere else.
Another subpoena for Rove is just more congressional grandstanding.
Reason completely misrepresents the power imbalance in Washington when it claims the presidential power is the most important issue this election. That's absurd. Congress has spent over 200 years expanding its power, and the last 100 years, Congress has trampled the Constitution to the point it's nearly meaningless. You can't wipe your butt without Congress being involved in your life. But the president has almost no power over Americans. He has the power to charge you with crimes, which is the same as it always has been (though Congress has created a ton of new, ridiculous crimes), and he might wiretap your phone if he suspects you are a terrorist sympathizer during a time of war (which Congress controls). The president's impact on our daily lives is about zero. Congress' impact on our daily lives is crushing. There's no comparison (though the Court is expanding its power to compete with Congress).
While Republicans are losing seats in hard-core conservative districts, Britons are electing conservatives in hard-core liberal districts. The world is still conservative. This shows how badly Republicans have alienated conservatives and everybody else, when Democrats can convince Americans they are more conservative than Republicans, and quite a few are.
We all know that the Clintons will say or do anything - lie, cheat, steal etc. - to get their way, but this out there even for them. Hillary Clinton said in an interview that she's continuing the race because Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June. Then to cover up for it, she said the reason she said it was because Teddy Kennedy's cancer has been on her mind. If Hollywood has some horrible, evil character say this in a movie, we'd all stop watching because it would be so unbelievable.
Obama supporters are preparing the ground for the general election, calling any criticism of Obama "swiftboating" before the criticism even comes out. I hope we see the same kind of honest, accurate criticism of Obama as the swift boat guys gave of Kerry, allowing the voters great insight into his character. Mr. I was in Cambodia at Christmas 1968 when Richard Nixon was president - except he wasn't. If Obama has terrible skeletons in his closet, Clinton should have exposed them. That's the function of the primaries - vet the candidates so the winner doesn't get sunk in the general election.
Now that McCain is the nominee, he no longer cares about securing our border first, he's going straight to comprehensive immigration reform (read amnesty), just as many of us suspected. Plus Barack Obama names another corrupt Washington insider to his campaign to help select a VP.
Cato explains that Democrats have sold out to labor unions and are betraying our allies in Columbia by refusing a vote on the free trade agreement.
Congressman ups the ante on windfall profits taxes by proposing a new bureaucracy that would determine reasonable profits for companies and then tax the excess. I think the only history our government aristocrats ever studied was written by Karl Marx.
Government forbids drilling for over half of our oil and 40 percent of our natural gas. They tax gasoline mercilessly. Then they drag oil executives before Congress and blame them for high prices. Chuck Schumer busted for lying about the effect on prices from drilling in ANWR. And don't forget coasts where government forbids us from drilling too.
If officials enforcing illegal immigration laws didn't target Latinos, who would they target?
How stupid is it to have to cover up naked Egyptian mummies? Boortz wonders if the offended visitors were Muslims.
The European Human Rights Court will hear the case of a chimpanzee. This should have been summarily dismissed with extreme prejudice. Can the people who brought the case be charged with contempt of court?
Utopians love this idea of a centrally planned, carbon neutral, no car city in Abu Dhabi, but I bet the only way it works is if its heavily subsidized by oil money.
Funny rebate cartoon.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Free kibbles
Oil tops $135. When will Americans realize we need more supply, and that the oil field in Alaska and off our coasts are worth more than all the gold mines in history. Don't pay attention to the grand-standing. Politicians love high gas prices. That's the real reason we don't drill for oil, build alternative power plants like nuclear, coal, or natural gas, and we don't refine more gasoline. Gas prices in Chicago are 20%. Increases in production from non-OPEC countries may bring prices back down. If we would drill in ANWR and off the coasts, the US would be producing even more. As it is, China and Cuba are drilling for our oil off the coast of Florida, and we're sitting on our hands.
Big victory for the rule of law in Texas as appeals court rules that Texas had no power to seize children from polygamist ranch. Now that Texas is forced to obey its own law, maybe the legislature can craft a law that will work to stop this kind of brainwashing and abuse, but that's a scary proposition because you have to make sure such a law can't be used against other religions or families.
Gen. Petraeus expects to recommend troop reductions this fall. I bet he does, and I bet Bush gets credit for bringing more troops home right before the election, and that will boost McCain. Iraqi forces welcomed in Sadr City after Maliki negotiates the withdrawal of the Mehdi Army. This is another huge political victory for Maliki and the Iraqi government. Congratulations to all the Iraqis. We are watching the political progress and reconciliation most Americans have been hoping for.
What exactly has Bush's policy towards Iran been successful at, Sec. Rice?
San Francisco to charge pollution fee. As long as this doesn't apply to plant foods like CO2, this may not be a bad idea (it is). The problem is that government is involved, so it's inevitable it will be abused and cause more problems that it was intended to solve.
Reason thinks McCain is exaggerating the threat from Iran. Certain, you can't compare the threat from Iran to the threat from the Soviet Union, but McCain was right to blast Obama for downplaying the threat Iran would be if it had a nuclear weapon, which was the context of the exchange.
Bill Krysol thinks McCain will pick Lieberman. I bet he wants to, but Lieberman says he won't go for it because he intends to remain a Democrat. I don't know what his problem is. McCain's a Democrat.
Ted Kennedy is trying to pass off senate seat to wife. I hope not. The Kennedy's have done too much harm to the American people as it is.
Hillary compares the debate over seating the Michigan and Florida delegates to freeing the slaves and women's suffrage. She so delusional she probably believes her own self-importance crap, even though 6 months ago she was selling voters in Michigan and Florida down the river. She also compares the issue to the electoral problems in Zimbabwe. What a fruitcake.
God forbid Hillary Clinton ever become a Supreme Court Justice. As long as that rumor is floating, I think it hurts Obama because Hillary is still supremely unpopular and distrusted.
Chelsea in 2016? Please, no.
Female Obama supporter lampoons Clinton supporters' claims of sexism being the reason Hillary lost. "...she’s a lying, race-baiting insult to our collective intelligence." Thank you. But will she reject claims of racism when Obama is criticized?
Robert Novak points out how Obama keeps attacking McCain, then whining crying foul when McCain attacks him back. Those are the Obama rules, and the press will do their best to enforce them, but they won't win him this election. Apparently the Obama rules include the rule that Michelle is in charge.
McCain rejects endorsement of Pastor Hagee because of Hitler and Jews comment. That's class. As soon as McCain discovered the comments he decisively rejected the endorsement. He didn't make plans with the pastor to repudiate him later. He didn't ignore hate-filled comments for 20 years. He didn't try to change the subject when the comments became public. He didn't compare the pastor to his grandmother. The story here is the contrasts with Obama and Wright, not the similarities.
So that huge crowd in Oregon around Barack Obama was actually to see a free rock concert. Funny how the original story didn't say that. That's because the band is a bunch of communist-sympathizers that like to play the Soviet national anthem. Apparently Obama is out of the closet about his support for Marxism. What in the world is wrong with Oregon that 75,000 people would show up to watch a communist-sympathizer band?
41% of large companies read their employees' email.
Overfishing pushes sharks toward extinction. I have no idea if this article is accurate, or if it's just another eco-propaganda piece. It's a shame that the press is so unreliable, biased, and known for outright lies that you can't trust the news.
Here's your subprime borrower - a US congresswoman from California who just walked away from her mortgage until a news story exposed her and she renegotiated. Blame the lender and give the borrowers bailouts.
Trying to use accounting practices to cushion economic downturns. Yeah, accounting is the problem.
Polar bears have been listed as threatened according to the Endangered Species Act despite their population being at record numbers based solely on the same global warming computer models that are proven inaccurate and therefore haven't been accepted by peer review.
Cato explains that Republicans share the blame for the farm bill travesty as the House overrode the president's veto.
Cato is terribly wrong on why we failed to secure Iraq after we toppled Saddam. The problem wasn't that we had too many troops, it was that we didn't have enough and they didn't have the right mission to provide security for the people. The reason the surge in Iraq has been so successful is because we added troops and changed their mission to providing security, and that won us many allies. Of course, we made a lot more mistakes than that.
Cato points out that grain production is at a record high, and that export controls are driving up prices.
This is just crazy. Apparently Georgia's middle school students are failing so badly, the state is throwing out the results of tests and blaming the test and everything else but failing government schools.
Washington D.C. residents are harassing military personnel.
Bush bans bill that would ban insurers from using genetic information to adjust insurance policies and rates, which would have been a great tool to allow them to lower prices for Americans.
Dick Morris reports polling data shows Republicans are going to get slaughtered in November.
Nancy Pelosi's global warming ad violated McCain-Feingold. She'll get a pass. McCain-Feingold is about empowering incumbents, so this will be ignored. It was for a good cause, right?
To fight global warming, environmentalists would have to give up on these 10 other environmental issues. But the global warming fraud isn't being perpetrated by environmentalists, it's being perpetrated by Marxists posing as environmentalists.
Always entertaining random thoughts from Thomas Sowell. My favorite this time:
Hezbollah's victory shows why terrorism is so popular. All too often, it works. But as the author points out, this is far from over. It's far from over because there will never be peace as long as Hezbollah is armed.
Tom Delay is one of the big-government architects of the demise of the Republican party, so I don't put much stock in his advice to Republicans. He ran the house just like Democrats ran it for decades, and it cost Republicans and the country.
George Will on the folly of listing the polar bears as threatened.
Victor Davis Hanson hopes that the maverick colonels who went against Washington doctrine and successfully executed counterinsurgency in Iraq will be promoted to Generals because it will tell us about the health of our army.
Will a Democrat scandal in Pennsylvania affect Barack Obama? No. We accept that Democrats are corrupt. There's no need to even talk about it in the national press. Only corrupt local Republicans get national press.
Proving that Britain does not have freedom of speech, a British teenager is arrested for calling Scientology a "cult". This the Europe that liberals want us to follow.
NBC quietly undeclares civil war in Iraq.
Barack Obama is modeling his talking to enemy position after Kennedy and Khrushchev, but that meeting was a disaster for the US and helped lead to the Berlin Wall and Cuban missile crisis, which ended with the strategic loss of our missile base in Turkey.
Author claims economic growth is more closely tied to the value of the dollar than taxes.
Big victory for the rule of law in Texas as appeals court rules that Texas had no power to seize children from polygamist ranch. Now that Texas is forced to obey its own law, maybe the legislature can craft a law that will work to stop this kind of brainwashing and abuse, but that's a scary proposition because you have to make sure such a law can't be used against other religions or families.
Gen. Petraeus expects to recommend troop reductions this fall. I bet he does, and I bet Bush gets credit for bringing more troops home right before the election, and that will boost McCain. Iraqi forces welcomed in Sadr City after Maliki negotiates the withdrawal of the Mehdi Army. This is another huge political victory for Maliki and the Iraqi government. Congratulations to all the Iraqis. We are watching the political progress and reconciliation most Americans have been hoping for.
What exactly has Bush's policy towards Iran been successful at, Sec. Rice?
San Francisco to charge pollution fee. As long as this doesn't apply to plant foods like CO2, this may not be a bad idea (it is). The problem is that government is involved, so it's inevitable it will be abused and cause more problems that it was intended to solve.
Reason thinks McCain is exaggerating the threat from Iran. Certain, you can't compare the threat from Iran to the threat from the Soviet Union, but McCain was right to blast Obama for downplaying the threat Iran would be if it had a nuclear weapon, which was the context of the exchange.
Bill Krysol thinks McCain will pick Lieberman. I bet he wants to, but Lieberman says he won't go for it because he intends to remain a Democrat. I don't know what his problem is. McCain's a Democrat.
Ted Kennedy is trying to pass off senate seat to wife. I hope not. The Kennedy's have done too much harm to the American people as it is.
Hillary compares the debate over seating the Michigan and Florida delegates to freeing the slaves and women's suffrage. She so delusional she probably believes her own self-importance crap, even though 6 months ago she was selling voters in Michigan and Florida down the river. She also compares the issue to the electoral problems in Zimbabwe. What a fruitcake.
God forbid Hillary Clinton ever become a Supreme Court Justice. As long as that rumor is floating, I think it hurts Obama because Hillary is still supremely unpopular and distrusted.
Chelsea in 2016? Please, no.
Female Obama supporter lampoons Clinton supporters' claims of sexism being the reason Hillary lost. "...she’s a lying, race-baiting insult to our collective intelligence." Thank you. But will she reject claims of racism when Obama is criticized?
Robert Novak points out how Obama keeps attacking McCain, then whining crying foul when McCain attacks him back. Those are the Obama rules, and the press will do their best to enforce them, but they won't win him this election. Apparently the Obama rules include the rule that Michelle is in charge.
McCain rejects endorsement of Pastor Hagee because of Hitler and Jews comment. That's class. As soon as McCain discovered the comments he decisively rejected the endorsement. He didn't make plans with the pastor to repudiate him later. He didn't ignore hate-filled comments for 20 years. He didn't try to change the subject when the comments became public. He didn't compare the pastor to his grandmother. The story here is the contrasts with Obama and Wright, not the similarities.
So that huge crowd in Oregon around Barack Obama was actually to see a free rock concert. Funny how the original story didn't say that. That's because the band is a bunch of communist-sympathizers that like to play the Soviet national anthem. Apparently Obama is out of the closet about his support for Marxism. What in the world is wrong with Oregon that 75,000 people would show up to watch a communist-sympathizer band?
41% of large companies read their employees' email.
Overfishing pushes sharks toward extinction. I have no idea if this article is accurate, or if it's just another eco-propaganda piece. It's a shame that the press is so unreliable, biased, and known for outright lies that you can't trust the news.
Here's your subprime borrower - a US congresswoman from California who just walked away from her mortgage until a news story exposed her and she renegotiated. Blame the lender and give the borrowers bailouts.
Trying to use accounting practices to cushion economic downturns. Yeah, accounting is the problem.
Polar bears have been listed as threatened according to the Endangered Species Act despite their population being at record numbers based solely on the same global warming computer models that are proven inaccurate and therefore haven't been accepted by peer review.
Cato explains that Republicans share the blame for the farm bill travesty as the House overrode the president's veto.
Cato is terribly wrong on why we failed to secure Iraq after we toppled Saddam. The problem wasn't that we had too many troops, it was that we didn't have enough and they didn't have the right mission to provide security for the people. The reason the surge in Iraq has been so successful is because we added troops and changed their mission to providing security, and that won us many allies. Of course, we made a lot more mistakes than that.
Cato points out that grain production is at a record high, and that export controls are driving up prices.
This is just crazy. Apparently Georgia's middle school students are failing so badly, the state is throwing out the results of tests and blaming the test and everything else but failing government schools.
Washington D.C. residents are harassing military personnel.
Bush bans bill that would ban insurers from using genetic information to adjust insurance policies and rates, which would have been a great tool to allow them to lower prices for Americans.
Dick Morris reports polling data shows Republicans are going to get slaughtered in November.
Nancy Pelosi's global warming ad violated McCain-Feingold. She'll get a pass. McCain-Feingold is about empowering incumbents, so this will be ignored. It was for a good cause, right?
To fight global warming, environmentalists would have to give up on these 10 other environmental issues. But the global warming fraud isn't being perpetrated by environmentalists, it's being perpetrated by Marxists posing as environmentalists.
Always entertaining random thoughts from Thomas Sowell. My favorite this time:
The phrase "war on terror" is an unfortunate choice of words. It is the terrorists who openly declared war on us. Whatever the reasons for going into Iraq, that is where international terrorists have converged to fight their war against the United States. Pulling out of Iraq will not stop the terrorists' war on us, but only give them a huge victory as the war shifts to another front.Another:
If Barack Obama had given a speech on bowling, it might well have been brilliant and inspiring. But instead he actually tried bowling and threw a gutter ball. The contrast between talking and doing could not have been better illustrated.Michelle Malkin lists a bunch of Obama gaffs that make me think the guy isn't very smart.
Hezbollah's victory shows why terrorism is so popular. All too often, it works. But as the author points out, this is far from over. It's far from over because there will never be peace as long as Hezbollah is armed.
Tom Delay is one of the big-government architects of the demise of the Republican party, so I don't put much stock in his advice to Republicans. He ran the house just like Democrats ran it for decades, and it cost Republicans and the country.
George Will on the folly of listing the polar bears as threatened.
Victor Davis Hanson hopes that the maverick colonels who went against Washington doctrine and successfully executed counterinsurgency in Iraq will be promoted to Generals because it will tell us about the health of our army.
Will a Democrat scandal in Pennsylvania affect Barack Obama? No. We accept that Democrats are corrupt. There's no need to even talk about it in the national press. Only corrupt local Republicans get national press.
Proving that Britain does not have freedom of speech, a British teenager is arrested for calling Scientology a "cult". This the Europe that liberals want us to follow.
NBC quietly undeclares civil war in Iraq.
Barack Obama is modeling his talking to enemy position after Kennedy and Khrushchev, but that meeting was a disaster for the US and helped lead to the Berlin Wall and Cuban missile crisis, which ended with the strategic loss of our missile base in Turkey.
Author claims economic growth is more closely tied to the value of the dollar than taxes.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Populism and libertarianism
I still think most Americans are libertarian at heart. The problem is the 2 parties have systematically excluded them from the political process because libertarians don't like social - either liberal or conservative socialism. Add in the press, and I mean all the press including talk radio, which presents every issue as if government must act to solve it, and libertarians turn away from the process. Libertarians naturally prefer to be left alone anyway, so it's natural for them to sit on the sidelines.
That's why we need a libertarian to hijack the Republican party. Reagan managed it, but we have to acknowledge that Reagan failed in the long run. He managed to bring libertarian Democrats (Reagan Democrats), libertarian Republicans, libertarians who usually didn't vote, conservatives and neo-cons together. But Reagan failed to change the debate in this country from what can government do for you to what part of government can we abolish next to promote freedom and prosperity. He didn't advocate or win big enough reforms. If Reagan had been a stronger leader, he would have done that, but he failed.
I'm not running down Reagan. He had a Cold War to win, so he had to compromise. But he defined the model we need. We need a staunch libertarian to step forward with a bold agenda, and I think libertarianism is the natural populist movement, but the only people in the press advocating libertarianism are latte libertarians. They do it wrong. Here's how a charismatic libertarian hijacks the Republican party using populist methods and wins the presidency:
1. I'm going to give everybody a raise. Everybody bring your last pay stub to the campaign event and look at it. Look at the difference between your take home pay and your gross pay. It's a lot of money, isn't it? If you elect me president, we will enact the FairTax, and everybody in America will keep 100% of their paychecks. Wave your pay stubs in the air for the cameras now please.
2. Government is the problem. I will establish a commission to develop a road map to cut the size and scope of government in half over the next 20 years. I will start by freeing your children from failing government schools by abolishing the Dept. of Education. Would you let Teddy Kennedy teach your children? What about George Bush? Then why would you allow government to have a monopoly on schools? Your children deserve better.
3. We will win the new Cold War of Terror being waged by China and Russia, and we will do it the same way Ronald Reagan won the first Cold War - by reducing the burden of government on the American people. When we adopt the FairTax, every major company in the world will either build their next plant in the US or move their headquarters to the US. That means more jobs and better paying jobs. That means your job will pay more. The richer you are, the more powerful America is. Does anybody here think that Chinese workers can outproduce American workers on a level playing field? Hell, no. America workers are the most productive workers in the world. After Reagan reformed the tax code, American workers outproduced the Soviets and brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union, and after we adopt the FairTax and take steps with our allies to limit the aggression of the Russians and Chinese, American workers will win this new Cold War of Terror too.
4. Professional politicians are aristocrats like any other aristocrats throughout history. What's good for them is bad for us and vice-versa. They're worried about their careers and their families just like we're worried about our careers and our families. Raising taxes helps them and hurts us. Increasing government spending and power is good for them and bad for us. This is never what the Founding Fathers intended. They expected our government representatives to spend most of the year working alongside you and me, not spending an entire year wining and dining with lobbyists or going on junkets to the world's great vacation spots with them. We need term limits so our representatives will be citizen-representatives, who's livelihoods are tied up in the economy, not government spending as it is for professional politicians. When we cut the size and scope of government in half, our representatives will spend half a year with you and me instead of partying with lobbyists.
I think these are the big 4. I could go on about how Americans deserve inexpensive health care and how government makes it expensive, and how the FairTax would fix that, but you get the idea. Economic populism, the FairTax, and libertarianism would allow a charismatic leader to hijack the Republican party, bring the libertarian mainstream of America into the political process, and make real, lasting reform.
That's why we need a libertarian to hijack the Republican party. Reagan managed it, but we have to acknowledge that Reagan failed in the long run. He managed to bring libertarian Democrats (Reagan Democrats), libertarian Republicans, libertarians who usually didn't vote, conservatives and neo-cons together. But Reagan failed to change the debate in this country from what can government do for you to what part of government can we abolish next to promote freedom and prosperity. He didn't advocate or win big enough reforms. If Reagan had been a stronger leader, he would have done that, but he failed.
I'm not running down Reagan. He had a Cold War to win, so he had to compromise. But he defined the model we need. We need a staunch libertarian to step forward with a bold agenda, and I think libertarianism is the natural populist movement, but the only people in the press advocating libertarianism are latte libertarians. They do it wrong. Here's how a charismatic libertarian hijacks the Republican party using populist methods and wins the presidency:
1. I'm going to give everybody a raise. Everybody bring your last pay stub to the campaign event and look at it. Look at the difference between your take home pay and your gross pay. It's a lot of money, isn't it? If you elect me president, we will enact the FairTax, and everybody in America will keep 100% of their paychecks. Wave your pay stubs in the air for the cameras now please.
2. Government is the problem. I will establish a commission to develop a road map to cut the size and scope of government in half over the next 20 years. I will start by freeing your children from failing government schools by abolishing the Dept. of Education. Would you let Teddy Kennedy teach your children? What about George Bush? Then why would you allow government to have a monopoly on schools? Your children deserve better.
3. We will win the new Cold War of Terror being waged by China and Russia, and we will do it the same way Ronald Reagan won the first Cold War - by reducing the burden of government on the American people. When we adopt the FairTax, every major company in the world will either build their next plant in the US or move their headquarters to the US. That means more jobs and better paying jobs. That means your job will pay more. The richer you are, the more powerful America is. Does anybody here think that Chinese workers can outproduce American workers on a level playing field? Hell, no. America workers are the most productive workers in the world. After Reagan reformed the tax code, American workers outproduced the Soviets and brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union, and after we adopt the FairTax and take steps with our allies to limit the aggression of the Russians and Chinese, American workers will win this new Cold War of Terror too.
4. Professional politicians are aristocrats like any other aristocrats throughout history. What's good for them is bad for us and vice-versa. They're worried about their careers and their families just like we're worried about our careers and our families. Raising taxes helps them and hurts us. Increasing government spending and power is good for them and bad for us. This is never what the Founding Fathers intended. They expected our government representatives to spend most of the year working alongside you and me, not spending an entire year wining and dining with lobbyists or going on junkets to the world's great vacation spots with them. We need term limits so our representatives will be citizen-representatives, who's livelihoods are tied up in the economy, not government spending as it is for professional politicians. When we cut the size and scope of government in half, our representatives will spend half a year with you and me instead of partying with lobbyists.
I think these are the big 4. I could go on about how Americans deserve inexpensive health care and how government makes it expensive, and how the FairTax would fix that, but you get the idea. Economic populism, the FairTax, and libertarianism would allow a charismatic leader to hijack the Republican party, bring the libertarian mainstream of America into the political process, and make real, lasting reform.
Free kibbles
The Dept. of Education plans a power grab to start providing, instead of just guaranteeing, student loans. This will soak the taxpayers, drive up the cost of education, and take us one step closer to a Soviet-style collapse. Cato exposes the waste of government education subsidies.
Pakistan surrenders northwest territory to terrorists. That's not how you extend the rule of law to the land. The Taliban and al Qaeda will love this for launching attacks in Afghanistan.
Hezbollah wins a huge political victory in Lebanon, getting veto power over any cabinet members in new government. Hezbollah's promise not to use its weapons internally is a farce.
Israel and Syria are in peace talks.
Myanmar (Burma) continues to refuse US Navy access for aid. Reason explains that Myanmar's poverty is self-inflicted.
Oil hits $132.
Clinton supporters continue to accuse their fellow Democrats of sexism because Hillary won't win. Her fundamental dishonesty had nothing to do with it. This is going to get 10 times worse when Democrats start accusing the entire nation of racism any time Obama is criticized. And if Obama loses, they're going to accuse the entire nation of racism for 4 years.
Highlighting just how divisive the Democrat primary is, Obama wins Oregon by 16 points, but gets crushed in Kentucky by 35. Obama claims majority of pledged delegates. Clinton tries to remain relevant. List of the Obama campaign's lobbyist connections.
Obama changes his tune. Yesterday, Iran was a tiny threat. Today it's a grave threat. I really don't think Obama is very smart.
Obama has $37 million in the bank compared to McCain's $22 million. Ouch.
McCain thinks that Ahmadinejad is the leader of Iran, not the Mullahs. Oops. Reason doesn't trust McCain to appoint justices who acknowledge that the Constitution means what it says, and neither do I.
McCain makes the standard argument for low taxes, small government and free trade Republicans always make before they get in office and expand the size and scope of government.
Kenyan mob burned 11 women alive for witchcraft.
Bush Derangement Syndrome continues as View host uses Bush's grandfather's corporate ties to Nazis to attack Bush. Liberals say Obama can't be criticized for his decision to stay in Rev. Wright's church for 20 years and to meet with a Weather Underground terrorist, but Bush can be criticized for the actions of his grandfather before Bush was even born.
Women in the UK no longer need men to reproduce. Children don't need fathers. Men are now obsolete.
California company offering cloned dogs and cats. Brittany, Paris and the rest of the Hollywood crowd can clone their pets forever.
Positive review for new Indiana Jones movie.
Google rejects Lieberman's request to remove all al Qaeda related videos from YouTube. Too bad they didn't show that same spine with China. Google should show some national consciousness and take down al Qaeda videos.
Cato thinks Obama appeals to libertarians. I disagree. Anybody who votes for Obama and his nearly $300 billion of new social program spending is not a libertarian, imo. What in the world is Boaz thinking? I know the Cato folks spend lots of time drinking lattes with latte liberals, but Obama is the most overt socialist we've ever had run for president. Maybe that appeals to Boaz, but not libertarians in general.
Cato calls the Cuban embargo a failure. I disagree. That embargo kept communism in the west bottled up in Cuba, and that's a huge success. I support Bush's move to allow cell phones to be sent to Cubans. That will improve communication with the outside world and help Cubans overthrow their dictator.
Scientists accidentally spot supernova right as it happens.
Liberal claims the reason McCain didn't attack his fellow Vietnam veterans is because he missed all of their misdeeds while being a prisoner of war. To this guy, it's not possible for a Vietnam veteran to be proud of the military in Vietnam.
If the Sec. of the Interior didn't want the courts to set CO2 standards via the Endangered Species Act, then why did he list the polar bears as threatened even though they are thriving in historically high numbers? There's so many polar bears, Inuits are calling for them to be culled. I think Bush attempted to compromise on this issue, and we're all going to pay the price for this appeasement of fanatics. Check out the bald-faced lie at the start of the first article.
UN Sec. General tries to restrict corruption investigations and keep the results from the public. For anybody naive enough to think Ban Ki Moon would really be different, hopefully this will put that to bed.
The "solution" is always another tax. Greenpeace wants developed nations (meaning the US) to pony up $30 billion to fight deforestation.
This article explains how New Jersey's health insurance regulations and mandates drive up the cost, making them unaffordable. The same applies to every government mandate and regulation.
Somebody is scared of the Large Hadron Collider.
RFID passports aren't secure, they're a gift to terrorists because anybody with a reader can extract all your passport information. The passports turn international airports into target-rich environments for identity theft.
Study shows gays don't know laws regarding being gay.
Pakistan surrenders northwest territory to terrorists. That's not how you extend the rule of law to the land. The Taliban and al Qaeda will love this for launching attacks in Afghanistan.
Hezbollah wins a huge political victory in Lebanon, getting veto power over any cabinet members in new government. Hezbollah's promise not to use its weapons internally is a farce.
Israel and Syria are in peace talks.
Myanmar (Burma) continues to refuse US Navy access for aid. Reason explains that Myanmar's poverty is self-inflicted.
Oil hits $132.
Clinton supporters continue to accuse their fellow Democrats of sexism because Hillary won't win. Her fundamental dishonesty had nothing to do with it. This is going to get 10 times worse when Democrats start accusing the entire nation of racism any time Obama is criticized. And if Obama loses, they're going to accuse the entire nation of racism for 4 years.
Highlighting just how divisive the Democrat primary is, Obama wins Oregon by 16 points, but gets crushed in Kentucky by 35. Obama claims majority of pledged delegates. Clinton tries to remain relevant. List of the Obama campaign's lobbyist connections.
Obama changes his tune. Yesterday, Iran was a tiny threat. Today it's a grave threat. I really don't think Obama is very smart.
Obama has $37 million in the bank compared to McCain's $22 million. Ouch.
McCain thinks that Ahmadinejad is the leader of Iran, not the Mullahs. Oops. Reason doesn't trust McCain to appoint justices who acknowledge that the Constitution means what it says, and neither do I.
McCain makes the standard argument for low taxes, small government and free trade Republicans always make before they get in office and expand the size and scope of government.
Kenyan mob burned 11 women alive for witchcraft.
Bush Derangement Syndrome continues as View host uses Bush's grandfather's corporate ties to Nazis to attack Bush. Liberals say Obama can't be criticized for his decision to stay in Rev. Wright's church for 20 years and to meet with a Weather Underground terrorist, but Bush can be criticized for the actions of his grandfather before Bush was even born.
Women in the UK no longer need men to reproduce. Children don't need fathers. Men are now obsolete.
California company offering cloned dogs and cats. Brittany, Paris and the rest of the Hollywood crowd can clone their pets forever.
Positive review for new Indiana Jones movie.
Google rejects Lieberman's request to remove all al Qaeda related videos from YouTube. Too bad they didn't show that same spine with China. Google should show some national consciousness and take down al Qaeda videos.
Cato thinks Obama appeals to libertarians. I disagree. Anybody who votes for Obama and his nearly $300 billion of new social program spending is not a libertarian, imo. What in the world is Boaz thinking? I know the Cato folks spend lots of time drinking lattes with latte liberals, but Obama is the most overt socialist we've ever had run for president. Maybe that appeals to Boaz, but not libertarians in general.
Cato calls the Cuban embargo a failure. I disagree. That embargo kept communism in the west bottled up in Cuba, and that's a huge success. I support Bush's move to allow cell phones to be sent to Cubans. That will improve communication with the outside world and help Cubans overthrow their dictator.
Scientists accidentally spot supernova right as it happens.
Liberal claims the reason McCain didn't attack his fellow Vietnam veterans is because he missed all of their misdeeds while being a prisoner of war. To this guy, it's not possible for a Vietnam veteran to be proud of the military in Vietnam.
If the Sec. of the Interior didn't want the courts to set CO2 standards via the Endangered Species Act, then why did he list the polar bears as threatened even though they are thriving in historically high numbers? There's so many polar bears, Inuits are calling for them to be culled. I think Bush attempted to compromise on this issue, and we're all going to pay the price for this appeasement of fanatics. Check out the bald-faced lie at the start of the first article.
UN Sec. General tries to restrict corruption investigations and keep the results from the public. For anybody naive enough to think Ban Ki Moon would really be different, hopefully this will put that to bed.
The "solution" is always another tax. Greenpeace wants developed nations (meaning the US) to pony up $30 billion to fight deforestation.
This article explains how New Jersey's health insurance regulations and mandates drive up the cost, making them unaffordable. The same applies to every government mandate and regulation.
Somebody is scared of the Large Hadron Collider.
RFID passports aren't secure, they're a gift to terrorists because anybody with a reader can extract all your passport information. The passports turn international airports into target-rich environments for identity theft.
Study shows gays don't know laws regarding being gay.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Free kibbles
Ohio's march toward totalitarianism continues as Canton promises to imprison citizens who don't cut their grass.
Right after the US expands agricultural subsidies and spending, the EU plans to reform its wasteful agricultural spending. Once again, we're moving in the wrong direction while the rest of the world moves in the right direction.
Senators are loading up the Iraq war spending bill with tons of domestic spending programs. These people are sick. Stop wasting our money!
In response to Iran's nuclear program, 13 middle eastern nations have nuclear programs. I hope we do a better job of insuring their nuclear energy programs, not nuclear weapons programs. And we're funding all this by not drilling in the US and developing alternative energy power plants. Thanks to our government, the middle east is going to be weaned off oil before we are.
In the name of the war on terror, UK plans to create a database of every phone call, email, and time spent on the internet. This doesn't help fight terrorism. It helps government abuse the people. You can bet our government will follow this plan.
The China earthquake buried 32 sources of radiation, 30 of which have been secured. Death toll tops 71,000.
India and Pakistan resume talks with India asking Pakistan to control terrorism.
Obama has connections to lobbyists too.
Geraldine Ferraro calls Obama sexist and says she may not vote for him.
Hillary Clinton claims popular vote lead. Of course, she's counting Florida and Michigan, where she pulled underhanded tactics and campaigned while the other candidates didn't.
Cato reports that there's nothing surprising about states failing to meet the mandates of No Child Left Behind. Mandates from on high are worse than useless. The solution to our failing schools, and everything else that ails us, lies with free people working together in the communities, not with ever more oppressive government.
UK law allows the creation of human/animal hybrids. I don't mean a gene here and a gene there. I mean half-human, half-animal.
New hacker attack uses firmware flashing mechanism to permanently destroy systems.
Christopher Hitchens like McCain's idea of the president appearing before Congress and answering questions every week.
Manhattan restaurant charges $175 for a burger.
I hope Teddy Kennedy recovers from his malignant brain tumor, but I'm sick to my stomach hearing about what a great man he is. This is the drunk who killed a woman and got away with it, and he's spent the last 40 years trying to destroy this country. I sure hope his days in government are over.
House passes bill empowering the Justice Dept. to sue OPEC. I'm sure they'll find sympathetic juries, but nothing will happen. This will only make relations worse.
I'll sleep easier knowing that scientists found half of the missing matter.
In an interesting take on collectivism, that small, organized groups of activists form a sort of collectivist minority, author points out that Obama failed the farm bill test, voting for handouts to many special interests at the expense of the people, while McCain passed the test and may have found a huge issue to run on - government reform.
This is a stunning expose of the consequences of tax policy in the US. In post-WWII USA, tax revenues are always 19.5% of GDP independent of tax rates! To increase revenue faster, we have to increase GDP faster, and that means we should lower tax rates. We've always know lower tax rates increase revenue, but to have this shown so clearly is wonderful.
Ralph Peters is bitter that the media isn't covering our success in Iraq.
All the predictions of the global warming alarmists are wrong. Climate change is getting colder, not warmer. Warmer temperatures reduce hurricane activity.
"The Europeans are irrelevant to the world’s great issues, obsessed by internal process, culturally arrogant, craven in the face of the US and blind to the rise of Asia." The security welfare we provide Europe makes them act like welfare recipients. Thanks to us, they're satisfied enough with the outside world that they can just sit on the sidelines and criticize. They don't have to lift a finger.
US negotiators claim North Korea is about to declare its nuclear program. I guess that's a step forward, but what good does it do us? We know they have nuclear bombs. We have no way of knowing how many or where they are, and we have no reason to suspect NK will tell us the truth. I'm sure NK enjoyed everything we've given them so far for the nothing (NK mothballing a decrepit nuclear facility was not a gain for us) we've received in return.
France admits it held informal talks with Hamas. International support is the only thing that makes Hamas dangerous.
Iraqi detainees and the parents of juveniles detained in Iraq want to stay in prison and get educated. This fits with the information that the military has been giving out that the vast majority of detainees were just opportunistic, not hard-core terrorists, and we're providing them with a better opportunity.
Florida Democrats embrace school choice, but what are the graduation rates for those in the program?
Americans are fat because of inadequate federal dollars.
Yet another plan to make students feel good by giving them a minimum of 50 points even if they earn fewer. Nobody has ever explained how making students feel good about themselves by artificially inflating their grades helps them learn. That's because it doesn't. All it does is teach the kids they don't have to perform as well to get better grades, and that's counter productive.
Sexually engineering, providing hormone treatments to make them appear as the opposite sex, a child because the child feels like he or she is trapped in the body of the opposite sex is insane. This is a behavioral issue, all children feel it to a lesser or greater extent, and no child should be subjected to such sexual engineering regardless of the child's wishes. One of the doctors in this article proved this was a behavioral issue because one identical twin had it and not the other, therefore it couldn't be a genetic issue with that child (and most likely no others), but the doctor saw it the other way and sexually engineered the child anyway. Sexually engineering a child, whether the child wants it or not, is grotesque child abuse. This is like cutting off a child's hand because the child thinks the hand is trying to hurt it.
The people of Gaza support Hamas while it kills Israelis, kills Muslims, and takes money meant for public services to buy weapons to kill more people. But will they continue supporting Hamas after they cut off internet porn?
Right after the US expands agricultural subsidies and spending, the EU plans to reform its wasteful agricultural spending. Once again, we're moving in the wrong direction while the rest of the world moves in the right direction.
Senators are loading up the Iraq war spending bill with tons of domestic spending programs. These people are sick. Stop wasting our money!
In response to Iran's nuclear program, 13 middle eastern nations have nuclear programs. I hope we do a better job of insuring their nuclear energy programs, not nuclear weapons programs. And we're funding all this by not drilling in the US and developing alternative energy power plants. Thanks to our government, the middle east is going to be weaned off oil before we are.
In the name of the war on terror, UK plans to create a database of every phone call, email, and time spent on the internet. This doesn't help fight terrorism. It helps government abuse the people. You can bet our government will follow this plan.
The China earthquake buried 32 sources of radiation, 30 of which have been secured. Death toll tops 71,000.
India and Pakistan resume talks with India asking Pakistan to control terrorism.
Obama has connections to lobbyists too.
Geraldine Ferraro calls Obama sexist and says she may not vote for him.
Hillary Clinton claims popular vote lead. Of course, she's counting Florida and Michigan, where she pulled underhanded tactics and campaigned while the other candidates didn't.
Cato reports that there's nothing surprising about states failing to meet the mandates of No Child Left Behind. Mandates from on high are worse than useless. The solution to our failing schools, and everything else that ails us, lies with free people working together in the communities, not with ever more oppressive government.
UK law allows the creation of human/animal hybrids. I don't mean a gene here and a gene there. I mean half-human, half-animal.
New hacker attack uses firmware flashing mechanism to permanently destroy systems.
Christopher Hitchens like McCain's idea of the president appearing before Congress and answering questions every week.
Manhattan restaurant charges $175 for a burger.
I hope Teddy Kennedy recovers from his malignant brain tumor, but I'm sick to my stomach hearing about what a great man he is. This is the drunk who killed a woman and got away with it, and he's spent the last 40 years trying to destroy this country. I sure hope his days in government are over.
House passes bill empowering the Justice Dept. to sue OPEC. I'm sure they'll find sympathetic juries, but nothing will happen. This will only make relations worse.
I'll sleep easier knowing that scientists found half of the missing matter.
In an interesting take on collectivism, that small, organized groups of activists form a sort of collectivist minority, author points out that Obama failed the farm bill test, voting for handouts to many special interests at the expense of the people, while McCain passed the test and may have found a huge issue to run on - government reform.
This is a stunning expose of the consequences of tax policy in the US. In post-WWII USA, tax revenues are always 19.5% of GDP independent of tax rates! To increase revenue faster, we have to increase GDP faster, and that means we should lower tax rates. We've always know lower tax rates increase revenue, but to have this shown so clearly is wonderful.
Ralph Peters is bitter that the media isn't covering our success in Iraq.
All the predictions of the global warming alarmists are wrong. Climate change is getting colder, not warmer. Warmer temperatures reduce hurricane activity.
"The Europeans are irrelevant to the world’s great issues, obsessed by internal process, culturally arrogant, craven in the face of the US and blind to the rise of Asia." The security welfare we provide Europe makes them act like welfare recipients. Thanks to us, they're satisfied enough with the outside world that they can just sit on the sidelines and criticize. They don't have to lift a finger.
US negotiators claim North Korea is about to declare its nuclear program. I guess that's a step forward, but what good does it do us? We know they have nuclear bombs. We have no way of knowing how many or where they are, and we have no reason to suspect NK will tell us the truth. I'm sure NK enjoyed everything we've given them so far for the nothing (NK mothballing a decrepit nuclear facility was not a gain for us) we've received in return.
France admits it held informal talks with Hamas. International support is the only thing that makes Hamas dangerous.
Iraqi detainees and the parents of juveniles detained in Iraq want to stay in prison and get educated. This fits with the information that the military has been giving out that the vast majority of detainees were just opportunistic, not hard-core terrorists, and we're providing them with a better opportunity.
Florida Democrats embrace school choice, but what are the graduation rates for those in the program?
Americans are fat because of inadequate federal dollars.
Yet another plan to make students feel good by giving them a minimum of 50 points even if they earn fewer. Nobody has ever explained how making students feel good about themselves by artificially inflating their grades helps them learn. That's because it doesn't. All it does is teach the kids they don't have to perform as well to get better grades, and that's counter productive.
Sexually engineering, providing hormone treatments to make them appear as the opposite sex, a child because the child feels like he or she is trapped in the body of the opposite sex is insane. This is a behavioral issue, all children feel it to a lesser or greater extent, and no child should be subjected to such sexual engineering regardless of the child's wishes. One of the doctors in this article proved this was a behavioral issue because one identical twin had it and not the other, therefore it couldn't be a genetic issue with that child (and most likely no others), but the doctor saw it the other way and sexually engineered the child anyway. Sexually engineering a child, whether the child wants it or not, is grotesque child abuse. This is like cutting off a child's hand because the child thinks the hand is trying to hurt it.
The people of Gaza support Hamas while it kills Israelis, kills Muslims, and takes money meant for public services to buy weapons to kill more people. But will they continue supporting Hamas after they cut off internet porn?
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