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ECONOMY:

Peter Schiff warns the worst is yet to come.

"Bernanke is being praised for avoiding a collapse in the financial system. While he has forestalled some short-term pain, he has in turn forsaken long-term gain. The "green shoots" that set the pundits alight are nothing more than the direct effects of massive monetary expansion. What we have is nominal growth in the unproductive service and consumption sectors. In short, Bernanke is being praised by the drug addicts for not cutting them off. But the thing about addiction is that the longer you stay hooked, the more deadly the withdrawal.
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To get a sense of Bernanke's ultimate legacy, look no further than Argentina. Though many of the rich and powerful had moved their savings abroad, a currency collapse wiped out the middle class in that historically prosperous country. Is such an outcome worth the short-term comfort of avoiding the severe but temporary pain of unemployment and mortgage defaults.
Bernanke's re-nomination is a politically safe decision for President Obama, and at least Bernanke is a devil we know. However, this lack of a "change" for the better should squash any "hope" for a genuine recovery. If the Bush years were as bad as the Democrats claim, then it is curious that they are mimicking and magnifying the same mistakes. No one has been held accountable for a financial crisis that the professors, pundits, and politicians told us would not come. All the same players are running the game, always changing the rules so they stay on top. Real "change we can believe in" would be a return to our roots in the rule of law and a system of sound money – but it's hard to stay grounded when you're throwing money from helicopters."

Thank you Peter Schiff. How sick is it that the powers that be and their pundit mouthpieces ridiculed Schiff when he predicted this recession, and now those same powers that be and pundit mouthpieces are still ridiculing or ignoring him?

In Lew Rockwell interview, Robert Murphy compares Bush/Obama to Hoover/Roosevelt. I floated that comparison a year ago, and it's looking more apt every day.

HEALTH CARE:

Yet more on Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Obama's adviser on health care oppression:

"Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health adviser to President Barack Obama, is under scrutiny. As a bioethicist, he has written extensively about who should get medical care, who should decide, and whose life is worth saving. Dr. Emanuel is part of a school of thought that redefines a physician’s duty, insisting that it includes working for the greater good of society instead of focusing only on a patient’s needs. Many physicians find that view dangerous, and most Americans are likely to agree."

With an intro like that, how can you not read it?

How to make using the toilet as expensive as health care in America. Too true.

POLITICS:

Of course now that Democrats are in charge, money is flowing to New Orleans. It was only those mean, evil Republicans led by George Bush that kept New Orleans from recovering. That undertone to this story is a crock. At least the article acknowledges that attempts at central planning were what held up progress and abandoning central planning ignited the boom.

"As a result [of Mayor Nagin's central planning failure], a legion of activists, residents and nonprofit organizations gave up on working with the mayor and instead launched their own recovery plans for New Orleans. Those efforts have become the backbone of the city's resurrection."

Everything positive about New Orleans's recovery from the day the hurricane hit has been done outside the government because government is an impediment to all progress.

GLOBAL WARMING:

It's 12:44 PM in August, and the temperature is 61 degrees. I have the door and windows open. I love global warming.

MISC:

For the first time in 54 years, Japanese voters kick out liberals and elect a party promising to reduce the size and scope of government. Let's see if it delivers. Liberals are being ousted all around the world by voters. Socialism is being rejected all around the world. Only in America, where Republicans governed like Democrats for 8 years, have liberals managed to take power and advance a socialist agenda. Of course in America, there is no major party that promises to reduce the size and scope of government. Both major parties are parties of ever-expanding government.

Cato makes case against software patents.

Ex-Israeli PM Olmert indicted on three charges of corruption. How come we don't indict every politicians in Washington on conspiracy?

Praising Ted Kennedy, done by both sides, is like praising a recently deceased bank robber for his wonderful technique and successful robberies. How hypocritical was Kennedy to have Obama hand deliver a note to the Pope before he died?

Golden parachutes for bureaucrats will sink us all.

Half of UK doctors refuse swine flu shots because they haven't been tested enough or because the swine flu is so mild.

It's hard to imagine any more blatant failure of government than the southern California wildfires year after year after year. Forest management is not that hard. Can you imagine a private company allowing its land to catch on fire year after year and burn down houses and kill people? It's unthinkable. Only government could be that incompetent.

These fires are not only a foreseeable event, they are a certainty. It's the responsibility of anybody who lives in this area to be prepared and deal with the consequences. Don't whine if your house burns down.

India about to complete a stealth fighter built mostly in Russia. That means Russia has stealth fighters too.