Free kibbles

SOCIALISM:

I just got an email claiming that 1 in 8 of every new private sector job is being created in Indiana because Indiana adopted a right to work law. I believe it. This is why unions fought that law so hard. It's why they fought reforms in Wisconsin so hard. Unions know, because they have the power of coercion gifted to them by government, they're looters. They know that every reform expose that, so they mobilize national resources to fight these local reforms.

"This is just the latest in a growing body of evidence on the economic advantages of Right to Work laws, not to mention the strong moral case that workers should never be compelled to support a union against their will."

I agree, and I think we should mention the moral case over and over and over every opportunity we can. I think libertarians lost so much by focusing on the practical instead of the moral and just using the practical as backup.

"In one of their most absurd arguments, union lawyers actually contend that Indiana's Right to Work law violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on slavery."

They've proven, as many before, the Orwell quote that "Truth is treason in an empire of lies." This breakthrough in Indiana threatens to snowball like the concealed carry law did in Florida. The benefits are so profound they cannot be denied. That's why unions will do anything to turn it back.

ECONONY:

By what standard is the IT industry hurting for women? It he right number 22.18471089461290641987649 percent? Or is it 35.2863460200293643 percent? How do we know? Is the mining industry hurting for women? Is the MLB industry hurting for women because it has 0 percent of the market? What a bunch of crap.

TAX AND SPEND:

Romney admits he isn't going to cut spending because it would hurt the economy.

A couple of local treasurers have figured out how to share. Most of us learn that as children, but government officials are usually the most selfish and sociopathic individuals in society, so they don't cooperate well with others. Why share when you can legally steal anything you want? It's nice see the people have forced them to learn to share and they have managed to do it.

REGULATION:

Corporations establish patent troll. I'm not so sure this is big news.

FEDERAL RESERVE:

In this article defending tax havens, this guy does a terrible job advocating for them.

"Maybe it is prudent to clarify that numbered Swiss accounts do not exist and indeed never have. Tax havens do not allow you to deposit suitcases full of money with no questions asked. They are all regulated and have KYC procedures which are internationally approved and they all report criminal activity if detected."

Why are they regulated? Why don't they let me deposit a suitcase full of money with no questions asked? Why don't they let me store my gun there? They don't sound free at all.

GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY:

Yet another paper shows that there's no relationship between extreme weather and global warming. These papers are coming fast and furious just like papers supporting the connection between solar activity and climate change. It's like a dam has broken. I don't know whether the climate frauds have lost their grip on the peer review process or whether honest scientists have developed a different method of publishing that circumvents that corrupted process.

WAR:

The US military performed a joint military training operation with 90 countries in Tampa, site of the upcoming Republican convention.

"The US military staged a mock drill in violation of 130+ years of the Posse Comitatus Act that bars domestic forces from active use on US soil. It wasn't just the US, either. Some 90 nations supposedly participated in the drill, which aimed to "rescue" Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, supposedly kidnapped by terrorists. There were helicopters overhead and a tactical assault showed up by water. Then special ops teams invaded a "terrorist village" near the Convention Center and rescued the mayor, who said he was grateful."

This seems like an intimidation tactic. Maybe they think people will be comforted by this, but I doubt it.

Cuts in defense spending might be disastrous for defense contractors, but they would good for the American people.

There seems to be a problem with dealing with PTSD in the military. They don't seem to understand it. Let me guess. The resources to deal with PTSD are probably allocated based on statistics of past wars. But our current wars aren't like past wars. Many more soldiers survive, thank goodness. But a much higher percentage of casualties lose limbs. I'm sure a much higher percentage suffer PTSD too. The military bureaucracy and the self-servicing Congress have yet to adapt to the destruction they've wrought on the young men who managed to survive their wars of conquest.

"“The Army clearly realizes they have a nationwide, systematic problem on their hands,” Murray said in a statement. “But the bottom line is that the Army needs to fix the inconsistencies we have seen in diagnosing the invisible wounds of war.”"

This pretense of incompetence covering for gross, aggressive, systematic immorality breaks my heart. More info:

"The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has increased its mental health staff 41 percent since 2007 and increased money spent on mental health care by 39 percent since 2009.

The agency has budgeted $6.2 billion on mental health for the next fiscal year. Still, veterans complain about getting treatment, specifically wait times. Their complaints were supported by a VA report that the agency’s claim that veterans who need first-time mental health evaluations are seen within 14 days as “not accurate or reliable.”

The report concluded less than half the veterans are seen within 14 days, and most have to wait an average of 50 days."

Or rulers make our troops suffer in wars of aggression, then they make them suffer when they come home traumatized. I expect nothing less from the sociopaths running our country.

FOREIGN POLICY:

Claim that Jews are driving Christians out of Israel.

"This morning our pastor, a frequent pilgrim to the Holy Land, recounted how hard it is to be a Christian there these days. Where the population of the Holy Land was 37% Christian just fifteen years ago, today it has fallen to one percent, he said."

I'd like to see a reference.

Syria denies massacring 90. Who did it? Was it the criminal Syrian government? Was it the criminal rebels? Was it forces of criminal western governments? We have no way to know for sure. But we know history, and we can learn from it. Our government has been so criminal for so long, it's killed so many people all over the world for decades, it's likely that Assad is telling the truth and this massacre was orchestrated by the US, western, Israeli and client governments in the middle east. One of the clues is this over-the-top condemnation by Netanyahu. Another clue is this claim by US client government's in the middle east that they will arm the rebels, which they've been doing for a long time.

"The U.S. and European nations say they will not intervene militarily, and while Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Libya have said they will arm Syria's rebels, no country is known to be doing so."

No country is known to be doing so? This Israeli newspaper begs to differ.

"Saudi Arabia is arming Syrian rebels locked in a year-long rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad, a senior Arab diplomat told AFP Saturday."

But in this case, you don't have to go to Israel for the real story. The Washington Post reported two weeks ago

"Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials."

Maybe it's a coincidence this massacre occurred right after the US government, via its client governments in the middle east, provided more and better weapons to the rebels, but more likely the rebels have used these more and better weapons to massacre a bunch of civilians including 30-some children and blamed the Syrian government. Assuming I'm right, because I'm confident I am, let's follow the money. Via our government, US taxpayers send money and weapons to Saudi Arabia. Under directions from the US government, Saudi Arabia sends some of that money and some of those weapons to rebels in Syria. The Syrian rebels then use that money and those weapons to kill civilians including 30-some children. Can you see how the families of the people killed might want to retaliate against us for funding the murder of their family members? Now do you understand why people in the middle east want to kill us and mount terrorist attacks against us?

US policy in Pakistan is not working at best.

"In March, a joint session of Pakistan’s parliament unanimously approved resolutions calling for an end to U.S. drone strikes, “hot pursuit” military raids and the use of Pakistani airspace for the transport of arms and ammunition into Afghanistan. The proposals, sharply at odds with U.S. policies, reflect a divergence of interests between the two countries that existed long before last year’s Navy SEAL raid against Osama bin Laden.

There is little evidence that U.S. aid has ever served its interests in Pakistan — and, unfortunately, ample evidence that much of it has been funneled to U.S. enemies. A year before 9/11, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf declared at a news conference, “Afghanistan’s majority ethnic Pashtuns have to be on our side... This is our national interest... The Taliban cannot be alienated by Pakistan.”"

More likely it's counterproductive. Like pretty much all US foreign policy of coercion, this won't end well.

POLITICS:

Rand Paul did what he had to do and endorsed Mitt Romney.

I love this:

"Ron Paul 'bloodless coup' in Minnesota takes most delegates. Now what?

Ron Paul won 12 of 13 delegates in Minnesota's state GOP convention. If Mitt Romney has the nomination all but tied up and Paul has effectively ended his campaign, why continue the fight?"

Because freedom matters. Because we don't want another four years of big, growing, warfare, welfare government. Give me a reason why, other than some archaic political custom or decree by government propagandists, freedom lovers should stop fighting.

LOCAL:

The Dayton Daily News really reaches to find some good news:

"Slow economy, high gas prices ease traffic jams"

That's too funny.

Here's a headline that really exposes the higher education bubble:

"More head to college, even as tuition surges"

One of the laws of economics tells us that, if prices rise, demand falls. This is a bubble.

MISC:

The Onion captures the essence of Spurs basketball and why it's so fun to watch contrary to what pundits want us to believe.

"In arenas, sports bars, and homes throughout the country, the San Antonio Spurs' dominating run through the playoffs has transfixed the nation with the breathtaking spectacle of their pass-screen-pass-shoot offense. "There they go, passing, doing a screen, passing again, and shooting the ball!" said South Dakota resident Roger Siler as he reviewed Spurs highlights on his computer. "Sometimes you think they won't pass it that second time, but then they do. They almost always do! And then they shoot the ball, scoring points. Wow." Perhaps even more thrilling is the fact that before viewers can get a chance to catch their breath, Americans say, the Spurs then get back on defense."

The Spurs pass the ball efficiently, hit the open man, and the open man tends to hit shots. Then the Spurs get back on defense and force their opponents to take difficult, contested shots. That's how basketball is supposed to be played. It's fun to watch. But because they're a small market team, the talking heads constantly claim they're not fun to watch. That's bull. If this exact same team played in New York, those same talking heads would talk about how exciting they are to watch, how they put on clinics, and how every parent and child should watch them for their unselfishness, the way they execute, the way they break down defenses, make the extra pass then hit the shot. Tim Duncan would be considered the indisputable best player of his generation. Lately they've been running more isolations for Duncan, and that's not as fun to watch. I bet they do the same against OKC because the Thunder have nobody who can guard him.