Free kibbles

TAX AND SPEND:

NASA is probably the most conspicuous example of government looting to Americans. Can this guy be any more confused?

"“I think it’s a shame that our country allowed us to be in this situation,” said Michael Heil, president of the Ohio Aerospace Institute in Cleveland. “But I view it as being temporary.”Heil said cooperating with the Russians isn’t all bad because it will allow the U.S. to continue important work, such as crucial climate research, while buying time to develop faster and cheaper ways to gain access to space through the public-private partnerships."

Our country? How do our country do this? Our government is not our country. And climate change research? That's another conspicuous example of government looting intended to enable more government looting.

Video on China's economic bubble:

"A stunning video documentary by Dateline (Australia) about the 64 million vacant apartments in China, a result of the government building 10 new cities each year. All this to keep up the appearance of endless economic growth. A classic example of what happens when policy is determined by chasing favorable statistics (reality be damned). It goes without saying that the only thing that makes this possible is the fact that it’s paid for with “public” spending."

GDP is a flawed statistic because it pretends government spending is beneficial.

Fools that we are, after the media spends days and weeks telling us how great this budget deal is, I bet we'll see polls showing most Americans approve of the $38 billion in slower growth of government.

The world didn't end.

"States and communities across the country are coming together to commemorate the Civil War's sesquicentennial without federal funding or a national commission."

I'm shocked. Who knew that people could actually get together and accomplish things without government funding?

EDUCATION:

Back in the health days of American education, before government started funding it, universities competed for top students. Includes Harvard entrance exam from 1869. And unless you're well versed in Latin and more, you can't pass it.

HEALTH CARE:

This is the sad truth that makes me crazy when I hear from libertarians bubbling with optimism about the coming collapse:

"While I completely abhor government involvement in  healthcare, and I do believe these programs need to be phased out, I know the clowns won’t let that happen.It seems that the only way to “reset the system” is with the imminent dollar collapse, but that’s a heck of a way to reset the system. And I can tell you for sure that there will be many people, particularly the chronically ill and elderly, who will die when the dollar crashes."

It's true. I know I and others have made this case over and over, and many public libertarians have modified their messages of optimism, probably because of angry feedback from people like me. We need to do the best thing we can for these people who are dependent of government, and that means managing the dramatic reduction in government so people significantly less burdened by government can develop an alternative support structure for the most vulnerable Americans before government is forced by economic reality to abandon them and they're left to die alone.

GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY:

Another global warming true believer opens his eyes and sees through the fraud.

"The debate about global warming has reached ridiculous proportions and is full of micro-thin half-truths and misunderstandings. I am a scientist who was on the carbon gravy train, understands the evidence, was once an alarmist, but am now a skeptic. Watching this issue unfold has been amusing but, lately, worrying. This issue is tearing society apart, making fools out of our politicians."

I agree with almost all of this, but this issue isn't making fools of politicians. They couldn't care less one way or the other. They're working on behalf of themselves and their cronies regardless of the science and pseudo-science. They'd support a scientist who said up was down and left was right if they thought they and their cronies could profit by doing so.

WAR ON DRUGS:

The war on drugs pushes Manny Ramirez out of baseball.

WAR:

UN helicopters fire on palace in Ivory Coast. Now the UN is directly waging war? I thought it was all about dragging others into war on its behalf, but apparently now it can wage war all by itself.

FOREIGN POLICY:

British Prime Minister Cameron busted for telling the truth that Britain's imperial era created much of today's international conflicts.

POLITICS:

At first I thought Trump was pretending to run for president as a marketing ploy, but now I think he thinks if he can find the truth behind Obama's birth certificate, he can win. And he may be right. We all know Obama's hiding something - if he wasn't, he would produce his full birth certificate - but we don't know what. If Trump uncovers the greatest fraud in modern history, he has a very good chance of winning the presidency. Even if he didn't win, it would be the greatest marketing coup in history. Trump has nothing to lose.

MISC:

Dying brick and mortar company rails against Google. What's funny about this is Google is already becoming the old, uncool digital company. It's following Microsoft's path, but much more quickly. Get used to change. It's only going to come faster.