Free kibbles

ECONOMY:

Economists are pulling out the old argument that the US economy has reached a natural plateau and won't grow any more, the same argument they made in the 1970s, in order to apologize for the government. The only thing standing between us and a robust, growing economy is the burden of government.

"The arguments weren't credible then nor are they now because they fail to recognize that an economy is not some living, breathing entity, rather it is a collection of individuals acting in their own self-interest. Ideas and energy matched with capital are what drive economic advancement, and while the present may seem bleak, to suggest we've hit a plateau is to presume that individuals in the U.S. have run out of ideas. That notion is hard to countenance."

Hard? Impossible.

TAX AND SPEND:

The deficit projections the government are telling us about are not realistic. As bad as things are reported to be, they're much worse in reality.

Good for Cisco for keeping all that money out of the government's claws.

Ohio government repeals the estate tax, taking $18 million away from local governments and leaving it in the hands of the people. Wonderful.

"Repeal of Ohio’s estate tax is virtually certain today, leaving local government officials wondering how to replace the money, while critics of the tax are elated."

Don't let them replace the money. Force them to cut spending.

FEDERAL RESERVE:

Inflation is here.

"Since the inception of QE II, the money supply has grown at a 12.5% annual clip."

This is in the pipeline, and it's going to hurt.

HEALTH CARE:

The Sixth Circuit Court in Cincinnati upholds Obamacare mandate as constitutional. You got to be kidding me. Killing people affects interstate commerce. I guess the government can just kill people if it wants to too.

GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY:

If I had a nickel for every time I read a story about some breakthrough that would make solar panels cheap enough to play a significant role in energy production, I'd be rich. Yet they're still prohibitively expensive.

POLICE STATE:

More on the FBI corruption and ties to Whitey Bulger.

"Bulger had inducted several top FBI agents in the Boston office into his gang, and used the FBI as his enforcement arm to eliminate his rivals within his own Winter Hill Gang and in the Italian La Cosa Nostra (Mafia). According to his indictment, Bulger's gang committed at least 19 murders in a spree that lasted from 1965-1994. He spent 16 years evading federal officials, some of whom may never have wanted him to have been captured alive. Two FBI agents were eventually convicted of crimes related to helping Bulger commit murder, H. Paul Rico (who died in prison in 2004) and John Connolly (who will soon be transferred from a federal prison where he's serving time for a RICO conviction to Florida to serve 40 years for a murder charge).The two FBI agents convicted of crimes may have been only the tip of the iceberg. Howie Carr toldMSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell after Bulger's arrest that "Whitey altogether gave 'gratuities' to at least 14 agents in the Boston office. You know, he had a saying at Christmas, when he'd be sitting in the back of his liquor store putting all the cash in envelopes. He'd say 'Christmas is for cops and kids.' And the FBI gave him good value in return." In addition, Bulger had reportedly kept more than a dozen Boston police officers on his payroll. Carr is the author of two  books on the Bulger gang, including the best-selling The Brothers Bulger."

This is a good reminder that government creates crime and violence. It makes us less safe, not more safe.

US government claims the power through the Patriot Act to access data stored online in Europe.

WAR:

French forces are dropping arms to Libyan rebels. This is a good reminder that government makes laws for us peons to follow, not the ruling class.

The US government has already lost the Afghan war.

"The objective of war is to achieve political objectives, not to kill enemies.Politically, the US has achieved nothing in Afghanistan after ten years of desultory, destruction, and titanic expenditure.So in this sense, the United States has already lost the Afghan conflict, its longest war. Militarily its forces have been stalemated, meaning that it has lost the all-important military initiative and is now on the strategic defensive."

As I've often said, we won the Afghan war in 2002 after we ousted al Qaeda. That was the mission the American people supported. The rest has been about establishing a government in Afghanistan that would give America's ruling class access to Afghan mineral wealth at below market prices.

"The US has failed to install an obedient regime in Kabul that controls Afghanistan. It has made bitter foes of the nation’s Pashtun majority, and, in pursuing this war, gravely undermined Pakistan."

Because of this war and the Iraq war, we're more at risk now than we were before the government invaded.

POLITICS:

Obama scolds Republicans and gay activists. Shame on both sides for not realizing how wonderful he is.

I never understood people's passion for soccer, but viewing it as today's surrogate for tribal conflict, it makes sense.

"According to Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, when the U.S. team took the field it was "smothered in boos. ... Its goalkeeper was bathed in a chanted obscenity. Even its national anthem was filled with the blowing of air horns and bouncing of beach balls."How did U.S. coach Bob Bradley respond to the reception his team received in America's largest county? "Obviously ... the support that Mexico has on a night like this makes it a home game for them.""A home game" for Mexico – in Pasadena?"It's part of something we had to deal with," said the coach."

More evidence supporting my fear that California may return to Mexico as the US decline accelerates.

A liberal sees the light. The government is the tool the ruling class uses to loot us. It can never be any other way. The only way to stop the ruling class from using the government to loot us is to take the power to loot away from the government. A lot of libertarians are on this don't vote kick, but I'm not. I think of the vote as a tool. Most voters use that tool as a weapon against others by voting for Republicans or Democrats. I use mine in self-defense by voting for libertarians.

MEDIA:

Lindsay Lohan got the tweet right, but I don't think I'd be jumping on her bandwagon any more than Charlie Sheen's.

MISC:

I'm not surprised some Amazon reviews are corrupt, but I don't think it's a big deal.

Samsung tries to get the government to ban the import of Apple devices into the US because it claims they violate some Samsung patents.

Putting the decline of western civilization into perspective:

"Odds bodkins, zounds and strike me pinke. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has just been to Stratford-upon-Avon and paid this little old country of ours the most terrific compliment.Our economic growth may be only a tenth of Chinese growth rates; our tax rates may now – absurdly – be higher. We may have spent the past three years scratching our heads about how to replace the third runway at Heathrow while the Chinese have built literally 45 airports over the same period. The Chinese may be set fair to be the economic and political powerhouse of the 21st century, and I wouldn't be surprised if they again mop up more gold medals than anyone else at the Olympic Games; and yet Mr Wen has been to watch Hamlet and declared that we can still claim to be the birthplace of "the greatest writer who ever lived".Isn't that grand? It is, of course, a huge tribute to Mr Wen that he can follow Hamlet as Shakespeare wrote it, picking it all up off the bat in a way that most GCSE English students would struggle to imitate. It is worth asking how many UK politicians could go to China and say anything remotely convincing about, say, Ming poetry. The only one I can think of is the great George Walden, father of this page's Celia, and until George is recalled to the front bench I am afraid Parliament will always look pathetically ignorant."

Ouch. The truth hurts.