Posted by Ryan W. McMaken at November 29, 2008 10:50 AM
Please pardon me while I vomit:
Says msnbc:
"The Obamas represent a welcome change as an openly affectionate and romantic couple for many Americans. Some experts say that the soon-to-be first couple embody the ideal healthy relationship, and that they can stir up love around the country. The New York Daily News even predicted a baby boom attributed to election night friskiness inspired by the Obamas. "
Even if I were an Obama supporter, the sheer idiocy of this article would make me throw up in my mouth a little bit. "...stir up love around the country...?" I've heard Celine Dion lyrics that are less trite and meaningless.
This is the sort of hard-hitting journalism we need in times like these: Fawning reports about irrelevant issues.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Bush Wants History To See Him As A Liberator Of Millions
He is more likely to be seen as the man who killed the Republican Party for years to come!
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081128185323.mpq7bsa8&show_article=1
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081128185323.mpq7bsa8&show_article=1
Thursday, November 27, 2008
The Toxic Wife
Imagine that. In this age of equality and political correctness, there are still golddiggers around.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/3527803/Recession-When-the-money-goes-so-does-the-toxic-wife.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/3527803/Recession-When-the-money-goes-so-does-the-toxic-wife.html
A Thanksgiving Day Thought
A Vivid ContrastPosted by Butler Shaffer at November 27, 2008 01:12 PM
As Barack Obama gurgles the collectivist mindset that "we rise or fall as one nation, as one people," it is fitting to recall the contrasting thoughts of William Bradford of the early 17th century Plymouth Plantation:
"At last after much debate of things, the governor gave way that they should set corn everyman for his own particular... That had very good success for it made all hands very industrious, so much [more] corn was planted than otherwise would have been ... The experience that has had in this common course and condition, tried sundrie years, and that amongst Godly and sober men, may well evince the Vanities of the conceit of Plato's and other ancients, applauded by some of later times; that the taking away of propertie, and bringing into commone wealth, would make them happy and flourishing, as if they were wiser than God."
[With thanks to Robert Anthony Peters.]
As Barack Obama gurgles the collectivist mindset that "we rise or fall as one nation, as one people," it is fitting to recall the contrasting thoughts of William Bradford of the early 17th century Plymouth Plantation:
"At last after much debate of things, the governor gave way that they should set corn everyman for his own particular... That had very good success for it made all hands very industrious, so much [more] corn was planted than otherwise would have been ... The experience that has had in this common course and condition, tried sundrie years, and that amongst Godly and sober men, may well evince the Vanities of the conceit of Plato's and other ancients, applauded by some of later times; that the taking away of propertie, and bringing into commone wealth, would make them happy and flourishing, as if they were wiser than God."
[With thanks to Robert Anthony Peters.]
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
"Sour Grapes" Huckabee
Poor Mike Huckabee. Despite being a big government Republican preacher, he can't even get the evangelical leadership to support him!
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1859539,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1859539,00.html
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thought For Today
Writes Bob Higgs:
As we consider the world’s rulers, one question overshadows all the others: are they fools or charlatans? Having thought about this question for nearly half a century, I lean toward the view that they are both. If the masses were to arrive at this answer, of course, the entire apparatus of legalized robbery and abuse we call government would quickly crumble to dust. Therefore, rulers appreciate that they must busy themselves in prominent displays of their deep concern for the public’s well-being and in make-believe efforts to “solve the problems” that trouble the common people.
The latest such exhibition took place in Washington, D.C., on Friday and Saturday, when the leaders of the G-20 nations met to give the appearance that they are, as AP reporter Jennifer Loven reports, “battling a dire and deepening economic crisis.” Fortunately for everybody, these clown princes failed to reach agreement on any Grand Plan to Save the World. Such plans invariably make matters worse. Let us pray for gridlock
As we consider the world’s rulers, one question overshadows all the others: are they fools or charlatans? Having thought about this question for nearly half a century, I lean toward the view that they are both. If the masses were to arrive at this answer, of course, the entire apparatus of legalized robbery and abuse we call government would quickly crumble to dust. Therefore, rulers appreciate that they must busy themselves in prominent displays of their deep concern for the public’s well-being and in make-believe efforts to “solve the problems” that trouble the common people.
The latest such exhibition took place in Washington, D.C., on Friday and Saturday, when the leaders of the G-20 nations met to give the appearance that they are, as AP reporter Jennifer Loven reports, “battling a dire and deepening economic crisis.” Fortunately for everybody, these clown princes failed to reach agreement on any Grand Plan to Save the World. Such plans invariably make matters worse. Let us pray for gridlock
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Sirius In Serious Trouble
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/sirius-trouble-big-losses-cloudy-future.aspx
I have had satellite radio for several years, and it has always irritated me that I have to pay an additional fee to add additional receivers. As the analyst in this story indicates, it is a very discretionary expense.
I have had satellite radio for several years, and it has always irritated me that I have to pay an additional fee to add additional receivers. As the analyst in this story indicates, it is a very discretionary expense.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From Cafe Hayek
A T-Shirt or something, please
Russell Roberts
Seanooski comments:
It's still amazing to me that we just had an election where both candidates promised more intervention in the economy, because the market just wasn't grown up enough to handle being "free". By "free market", they must mean politically driven lending practices, price fixing in labor markets, price supports in agriculture, tarrifs in steel trade, illegals relegated to permanent underclass, artificially low interst rates, government enforced monopolies, and fake money.
This needs to be said over and over again just like we need to remind people that the Great Depression wasn't caused by laissez-faire.
That doesn't mean that free markets are perfect. Or that you can't have bankruptcies or meltdowns or bubbles or busts. But to get a really spectacular meltdown like we're in the middle of now, for that you need government.
That doesn't answer all questions. I think most of us, like Alan Greenspan and others who have yet to say mea culpa, thought the system had more stability even with all the distortions. We have plenty of work to do understanding how the system collapsed so utterly. Just don't tell me that it's all caused by market forces run amok or unfettered markets.
The basic point that financial markets are actually highly regulated and that manipulating the housing market is one of government's favorite hobbies needs to be on t-shirts, lapel pins, and 3x5 cards for giving out to friends when they explain the Bush years as the last gasp of laissez-faire. A folk song would be nice, too.
Russell Roberts
Seanooski comments:
It's still amazing to me that we just had an election where both candidates promised more intervention in the economy, because the market just wasn't grown up enough to handle being "free". By "free market", they must mean politically driven lending practices, price fixing in labor markets, price supports in agriculture, tarrifs in steel trade, illegals relegated to permanent underclass, artificially low interst rates, government enforced monopolies, and fake money.
This needs to be said over and over again just like we need to remind people that the Great Depression wasn't caused by laissez-faire.
That doesn't mean that free markets are perfect. Or that you can't have bankruptcies or meltdowns or bubbles or busts. But to get a really spectacular meltdown like we're in the middle of now, for that you need government.
That doesn't answer all questions. I think most of us, like Alan Greenspan and others who have yet to say mea culpa, thought the system had more stability even with all the distortions. We have plenty of work to do understanding how the system collapsed so utterly. Just don't tell me that it's all caused by market forces run amok or unfettered markets.
The basic point that financial markets are actually highly regulated and that manipulating the housing market is one of government's favorite hobbies needs to be on t-shirts, lapel pins, and 3x5 cards for giving out to friends when they explain the Bush years as the last gasp of laissez-faire. A folk song would be nice, too.
Let GM Fail
Bankruptcy was better
Posted by Michael S. Rozeff
"Fannie Mae lost $29 billion in the 3rd quarter and "needs" more money from the U.S. Treasury. AIG just got yet another $40 billion! American Express, one of Warren Buffett's favorite companies, is becoming a bank so it can get cheap Treasury financing. Is it too in danger of failing? It's in the black but very heavily levered (much debt). Isn't it about time GM went under?
The U.S. is fast becoming a version of British socialism with its nationalized firms that bled taxpayers constantly."
To see the magnitude of the outrage involved in a possible bailout, see
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/12/politics/otherpeoplesmoney/main4595068.shtml?source=RSS&attr=_4595068
Posted by Michael S. Rozeff
"Fannie Mae lost $29 billion in the 3rd quarter and "needs" more money from the U.S. Treasury. AIG just got yet another $40 billion! American Express, one of Warren Buffett's favorite companies, is becoming a bank so it can get cheap Treasury financing. Is it too in danger of failing? It's in the black but very heavily levered (much debt). Isn't it about time GM went under?
The U.S. is fast becoming a version of British socialism with its nationalized firms that bled taxpayers constantly."
To see the magnitude of the outrage involved in a possible bailout, see
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/12/politics/otherpeoplesmoney/main4595068.shtml?source=RSS&attr=_4595068
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Happy Veterans Day
Writes Phil Hensley:
On a day like today it is important to be thankful for all the freedoms we enjoy in this country:
In America, we enjoy the freedom of giving half our income to the government through various forms of taxes. We have the freedom to participate in a Ponzi scheme known as Social Security. We have the freedom to vote for the president. Unlike the voters of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, who only had one choice for president, we have two choices! We have the freedom to choose between Republican-led big government programs and Democrat-led big government programs. We have the freedom to use government-controlled money, which loses value every year. We have the freedom to subsidize the poltically-connected agricultural, automotive, and banking industries. We have the freedom of sending children through the compulsory government-run education system, and then pay for job training for those that get through 12 years of schooling and still don't know how to do anything. We have the freedom to own guns, provided that said gun is approved by the government and we pass the government-mandated background check. If we get the appropriate permits and stand in then proper free-speech zone, we have the freedom to protest.
Thanks to all the veterans that defended these freedoms and kept them from being taken away
On a day like today it is important to be thankful for all the freedoms we enjoy in this country:
In America, we enjoy the freedom of giving half our income to the government through various forms of taxes. We have the freedom to participate in a Ponzi scheme known as Social Security. We have the freedom to vote for the president. Unlike the voters of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, who only had one choice for president, we have two choices! We have the freedom to choose between Republican-led big government programs and Democrat-led big government programs. We have the freedom to use government-controlled money, which loses value every year. We have the freedom to subsidize the poltically-connected agricultural, automotive, and banking industries. We have the freedom of sending children through the compulsory government-run education system, and then pay for job training for those that get through 12 years of schooling and still don't know how to do anything. We have the freedom to own guns, provided that said gun is approved by the government and we pass the government-mandated background check. If we get the appropriate permits and stand in then proper free-speech zone, we have the freedom to protest.
Thanks to all the veterans that defended these freedoms and kept them from being taken away
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Will Grigg on President-Elect B.O.
"Given Obama's youth, the bottomless devotion of his followers, the depth of our impending economic disaster, the eagerness of the mass media to help the Holy One "make history," the well-earned political disintegration of the Republican Party, and the totalitarian powers of the office Obama inherits, he may very well become America's second president-for-life, following the course set by FDR before he died and went to hell."
http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/
http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Quote of the Day
H.L. Mencken writing in the Baltimore Sun on July 16, 1920:
[W]hen a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental—men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand. So confronted, the candidate must either bark with the pack or be lost… [A]ll the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre—the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
[W]hen a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental—men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand. So confronted, the candidate must either bark with the pack or be lost… [A]ll the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre—the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
You Just Can't Make Up Stuff This Good
I'll keep my eyes open for an equally amusing McCain supporter.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7704636.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7704636.stm
Obama a Socialist?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1030/p09s01-coop.html
Both major political parties advocate a combination of economic fascism and socialism. Under fascism, private ownership of the means of production is retained, but controlled by the state for the perceived "good" of the state (e.g., the actions taken by the Treasury and the Fed in the past several months). Another prominent characteristic of fascism is the use of public monies to generate private profits (e.g., sports stadiums), and its correlary of privatizing profits while socializing losses (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). Under socialism, the state owns the means of production. Being the pragmatic people we are, government in American draws from both to achieve its ends.
Both major political parties advocate a combination of economic fascism and socialism. Under fascism, private ownership of the means of production is retained, but controlled by the state for the perceived "good" of the state (e.g., the actions taken by the Treasury and the Fed in the past several months). Another prominent characteristic of fascism is the use of public monies to generate private profits (e.g., sports stadiums), and its correlary of privatizing profits while socializing losses (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). Under socialism, the state owns the means of production. Being the pragmatic people we are, government in American draws from both to achieve its ends.
How True!
H.L. Mencken observed, "Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right."
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