Contributed by: filbert Friday, July 09 2010 @ 08:30 AM CST
La Nina to form in July as storm, drought fears flare [*2] — What do we need to make the Great Depression II? Stupid government economic policies causing economic bubbles? Check! Even stupider government policies delaying the economic recovery? Check! A return of the Dust Bowl? On the way? Gee. All we’ll need to get out of this is a world war. Oh, wait, the government debt is already where it was at the END of World War II. Oopsie. Hey, here’s an idea! Let’s RAISE TAXES! Yeah, that always improves the lives of regular people. Heck, they’d rather have all that free time than have to waste time at a job anyway! It’s like we’re doing them a favor by making it impossible for them to find a job! Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Green Economics and the Void of Desire [*3]
Consider the purchasing and investment decisions of our three hundred million citizens as a widely dispersed intelligence of tremendous complexity. Resources are allocated through a vast number of individual decisions, made with impressive speed. Each citizen becomes one element of a mighty network. It is capable of intuition, as sophisticated communications allow consumers to react to trends and opportunities in a cascade of email, website postings, phone calls, and casual conversation. It is creative, because it’s not restrained by ideology or central directives. People adopt new technologies with astounding speed. With apologies to Alvin Toffler, the only “future shock” nowadays is felt by manufacturers, as the best high-tech products go from the expensive indulgences of trendy nerds to household items in a matter of months.
Obama-style command economics are a far more primitive form of intelligence. They are directed by small groups of people wearing ideological blinders. Politically unacceptable alternatives are ruled nonexistent. Command economies move with glacial speed, receiving corrective input only once every couple of years at the ballot box. They are wasteful, as vast resources are allocated to pay off valuable constituencies, or absorbed by a useless political class through graft.
Emphasis in original. The simple fact remains that the “progressive” agenda is, in actuality, profoundly regressive, essentially taking us back to a primitive, Dark Ages view of human beings and their relationship to government–a relationship of subjects and rulers–of serfs and lords (and guess which one you’re going to be?). It wipes out hundreds of years of long, slow progress towards increasing individual rights, returning us to a neo-feudal–almost tribal–situation where the rights you have come from the group you belong to, instead of being inherent in you by virtue of simply being a human.
Like in so many other things, the very word that the authoritarians use to describe themselves, “progressive,” is itself a blatant lie. It is, in fact, The Big Lie. Again. They are not “progressive.” They are not “liberal.” They are the exact opposite of progressive and liberal.
Health care, welfare, the environment–all are not ends in themselves for the “progressives.” They are, for “progressives,” noble-sounding rhetorical tools which they cheerfully, cynically use to pry your individual, inherent rights away from you.
You have a choice: do it the “progressive’s” way, or go the way of freedom. The goals of the “progressives” and the true liberals may be the same–a better life for everybody. But the true liberals know how to get there–increase the freedom, liberty, individual power, and personal responsibility of every single human being. The “progressives” are flailing in the dark. The Dark Ages dark.
Choose the light. Choose freedom. Choose liberty.
Iowa Federal Court Finds Sheriff Denied Concealed Carry Because of Applicant’s Political Activity, Orders Sheriff to Take a First Amendment Class [*4] — Actually, all law enforcement personnel–and actually, all government employees at any level–should be required to pass an extensive (week-long?) training session and test on the original intent of the United States Constitution and the federal system of government. Taking elected office should be contingent on passing that course with an “A.”
I’m serious about that.
How can you have people in your government who don’t understand the fundamental concepts of your government? Current experience proves that you can’t. Revealing polling data about which the White House cares little — That could, of course, apply to pretty much any poll nowadays, as Obama and his policies continue to tank nationwide . . .
56% Oppose Justice Department Challenge of Arizona Law; 61% Favor Similar Law In Their State [*5]
Mosque Arsonist Caught, Lefties Hardest Hit [*6]
Uh oh: BP stops paying the bills? [*7]
Volunteers Take Better Care of Detroit Than Elected Officials [*8]
Marine General James Mattis Named To Head Central Command [*9]
President Pitching Wedge: “Absolutely Clear” Economy Is Heading In The Right Direction [*10] — Let him be clear . . .
Is Reid Campaign Hiding Its Activities To Evade Campaign Finance Laws? [*11] — Considering that Harry Reid is one of the slimiest political operators ever to disgrace the United States Senate, and considering that’s saying a lot . . .
New Black Panthers: The Dumbest SOB’s On The Planet [*12]
Fireflies Blink in Synch to Send a Clear Message [*13]
Vitamin B3 as a Novel Approach to Treat Fungal Infections [*14]
Popular food additive can cause stomach ache [*15]
$200 Million GOP Campaign Avalanche Planned, Democrats Stunned [*16]
Video: New Black Panther Party to meet Tea Party [*17] — All we are saying, is give freedom a chance . . .
Financial regulation bill dictates ethnic, gender quotas [*18]
Rep. Paul Ryan Walks the Walk on Fiscal Reform [*19]
With video, Palin goes pro [*20]
Opinion: Is Obama Spurring Growth, or Knocking It Down? [*21]
Change Comes to the National Health Service [*22] — Wherein the British cotton onto the thought that doctors might, after all, know a little more about patient care than government bureaucrats . . .
The Wit & Wisdom of Dr. Donald Berwick, Your New Medicare-Medicaid Jefe [*23] — Hey, look, a government bureaucrat pretending he knows how to deliver health care! And, BONUS! he actually is a Marxist!
Mr. President, You Are Sick With Self Love [*24]
Credit Card Hackers Visit Hotels All Too Often [*26]
How the Expiring Bush Tax Cuts Affect You [*27] — Yeah, that whole “I won’t raise taxes on 95% of taxpayers?” Sorry, chumps, pay up, starting in January, 2011.
ABC calls Obama out [*28]
Poll Data Tailor-Made for GOP Ads [*29]
Peer Review is No Panacea [*30] — “Peer Reviewed” has little meaning other than “yeah, I understood most of the words.” It certainly doesn’t mean “Lookie here, this is Wisdom From On High!”
Iran Heats Up: The Bazaar Strikes Back [*31]
The Elite Turn Against Obama [*32]
Threat of ‘cyberwar’ has been hugely hyped [*33]
Debunking the Top 10 Energy Myths [*34]
Why Cities Are Broke or, There is Something Tragic About a Train… [*35]
The Problems Writers Face Creating Villains and Some Solutions [*36]
The 1920 Census [*37]
Modeling the big toasty [*38] — When you don’t know with any degree of precision exactly how the climate works, climate predictions is a bit like throwing darts at a chart on the wall. Let’s see where Stanford’s darts landed, shall we?
SDSU gets $2M ag endowment [*39]
How (and Why) to Clone Your Mac Hard Drive [MacRx] [*40]
In a silent way, cont’d [*41] — You do have to give the Washington Post credit by continuing to employ Charles Krauthammer as a commentator. Would that other major media follow that example of giving powerful, right-leaning voices prominent platforms. Instead, we get goofs like David Brooks. Please.
Parallel Lives: Liberty or Power? [*42]
Dave Weigel Couldn’t Fill Sarah Palin’s Pumps [*43]
Retail numbers mixed, affluent shoppers pull back [*44]
The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy: Union ‘card-check,’ cap and trade, and so much more. [*45]