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Libertarian
Commentary on The News
Posted May 14, 2012By Nathan A. Barton © 2012 Monday, May 7th, 2012 Theft by Government Movie Production Incentives in the Last Frontier (Tax Foundation) In 2000, only three states offered subsidies for movie production; by 2010, the number of states offering incentives had peaked at 40... Welfare expands to consume all available money - this is just another form of welfare, disguised as economic development. Government steals money from businesses and private individuals and gives part of it to other businesses to bribe them to come to their jurisdiction: a lose-lose-lose bidding war. Stupid government Tricks – New religions: environism Can the Environmental Protection Agency Fairly Regulate the Shale Gas Revolution? (American Enterprise Institute) A string of incidents underlines the partisan style of the Environmental Protection Agency as a whole that rushes to accusations and forms data to fit its preconceived conclusions... Can the EPA do ANYTHING fairly? It is a tyrant - thugs looking constantly for more power, more control, more things to rule or ruin. Like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, the EPA (like the IRS, the DEA, the BATFE, and many others) is evil and uses causes like conservation and clean air and water as excuses for tyranny and destruction. Crash of 2009 A Teen with a Job Becomes a Rarity in U.S. Economy (MSNBC.com ) Only about 25 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds are currently working, a drop of 10 percentage points from just five years ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics... Considering that a JOB seems to be a rarity in too many places... We are NOT in a recovery, jobs are STILL being lost, people are having to do withOUT more and more, and inflation is killing even those people who have jobs (except, of course, for a few government types). Stupid government Benefits of Private Infrastructure (Bloomberg) Highways, railways and bridges are all auction-worthy assets that can bring much-needed funds to state and local governments... Maybe… One problem is, the assets can be seized again by the governments. When ever they have the votes to do it. But worse, it is often counterproductive: the states sell off the assets to raise more money to keep spending more money – not pay off debts. And these aren’t really “privatized” – the states still control them: it is not much more than a reverse mortgage. Mama's Note: Gives new meaning to the old saw about selling Brooklyn Bridge... Crash of 2009 – Theft by government Workforce Productivity Falls (Wall Street Journal) U.S. nonfarm productivity -- defined as output per hour worked -- declined at a 0.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter... This is not just a statistical event, and not just “business is getting lazy.” Explaining it will take a special article, but let me give the punchline: government is a LOT of the reason, and why it is getting WORSE. Stupid UN Tricks - Stupid Tranzi Tricks US must give lands back to AmerInds UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) The United States must do more to heal the wounds of indigenous peoples caused by more than a century of oppression, including restoring control over lands Native Americans consider to be sacred, a U.N. human rights investigator said on Friday. James Anaya, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, just completed a 12-day visit to the United States where he met with representatives of indigenous peoples in the District of Columbia, Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Washington State, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. He also met with U.S. government officials. ... He said indigenous peoples feel they have too little control over geographic regions considered sacred to them, like the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona and the Black Hills in South Dakota. Anaya suggested such lands should be returned to Native peoples. "Securing the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands is of central importance to indigenous peoples' socioeconomic development, self-determination, and cultural integrity," Anaya said. FYI: James Anaya is a Regents Professor and the James J. Lenoir Professor of Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (USA), where he teaches and writes in the areas of international human rights, constitutional law, and issues concerning indigenous peoples. (Resume) This piece of work is clearly a biased and subjective observer and his bogus “visit” to the US an excuse for false claims and pulpit-pounding by a Tranzi. I couldn’t find what nation he belongs to, or was born of: he is a disgrace to whatever people he came from. As for his claim: well, the Pahasapa was Lakota for only 101 years: from 1776 when the Lakota Saoni defeated the Cheyenne and their allies the Kiowa and Arapaho for its possession, until 1877 when Congress ratified a treaty (claimed to be bogus) and passed a law stripping a 50-mile wide strip and a few other areas off the Great Sioux Reservation. But even the Cheyenne probably stole it from earlier occupants, such as the Numu - the Comanche, who moved south to New Mexico, Texas, and Southern Colorado and Kansas and Western Oklahoma sometime in the late 1500s or early 1600s to be closer to the sources of horses. Although the Numu may have just abandoned it, they certainly have an earlier claim to the land. And the Black Hills are as sacred for the Cheyenne as for the Lakota. As for the San Francisco Peaks, they are claimed as a sacred mountain by the Navajo, who have four: they currently own one, but the third one is Hesperus Peak near Durango, Colorado (about 30 miles NE of Dinetah (Navajo Land or Navajo Reservation), and the fourth one is located nearly 200 miles EAST of Dinetah: Sierra Blanca in the Sangre de Cristos, only a few dozen miles southwest of Pueblo, Colorado, on the Front Range of Colorado. Since the Navajo claim that the four mountains are the true boundaries of Dinetah, that would mean millions more acres in places like the San Luis Valley, the Animas and La Plata Valley, and the Montezuma Valley. AND the lands currently owned by the Southern Ute, the Ute Mountain Ute, the Jicarilla Apache, and probably a third of the Pueblos. Of course, the Navajo, like their sister Apache tribes (Yes, the Navajo are just another band of Apache) pushed into the area and took it from PREVIOUS owners sometime around the 1200s or so: probably a combination of Ute and various “Ancestral Pueblo” peoples who are commonly known as “Anasazi” (a Navajo word meaning “ancient enemy”). So which “indigenous Americans” (a term I despise as much or more than “Native American”) are going to get these “sacred lands?” Of course, then many of us Americans can go back to the Brits and demand that the lands of our Scots and Irish ancestors be returned to us, because, after all, we’ve been displaced and abused - and it was only 400 years ago - or less. And the Welsh can do the same to the English, because after all, injustice has no statute of limitations, and it was as late as the 800’s AD that Saxons and Anglos took over the land from the old Celtic owners (whom at least the Romans let live in their ancestral lands). Nor must we forget the Egyptian Copts (christians) driven from the Nile Valley in the 600s by the Muslim Arab invaders - or the Romano-Celts driven from their ancestral lands in Iberia and Gaul by Visigoths and Franks in the 400s and 500s - or the Hebrews driven into exile from Canaan (“Judea” and “Galilee”) by Roman conquerers in the AD 70 and AD 119 era. Opps! That we can’t allow to be returned, because the Jews or Hebrews are imperialist American-loving (-obeying/-controlling) pigs... (And of course, there are claims that the Celts themselves in Ireland and Wales and Scotland are actually ancient Hebrews: the Sons of Dan or Danaan, who must have taken those lands from someone else - who surely is some persecuted minority somewhere today. Mama's Note: As I've said many times... there is no magic reset button on history. If currently living people can claim property, by whatever means, and identify those who actually took it from them by force or fraud, I'm all for it to go before arbitration and be settled honestly. Otherwise, it's exactly the same as the insane "reparations" for the descendents of black slaves. None of the black people who live today were ever slaves (any more than the rest of us are enslaved to government today), and none of the people who actually held black slaves is alive either. Wouldn't it actually be much more productive to enter the future - TODAY - by not stealing from, murdering or defrauding anyone else? Why not start by eliminating all of the gleeful slave holders and land grabbers in "government," at every level all around us? Corrupt government Strange bedfellows urge EPA-to-improperly stop pebble mine (Conservative Action Alerts) Robin Hayes, chairman of North Carolina’s Republican Party, painted a target last month on Alaska’s proposed Pebble Mine. In an open letter, he endorsed the Environmental Protection Agency’s use of an unprecedented regulatory gimmick to veto the mine in advance, even before its plans are complete — ostensibly to protect Bristol Bay salmon runs and fishermen. ... The EPA was using a disputed clause in Section 404 (c) of the Clean Water Act to conduct a “watershed assessment,” whose purpose is to justify the killing of the mine project before anyone even applies for its first dredge-and-fill permit. This would not just affect one mine in Alaska. It would also create a new and unlimited power for the EPA. If it can kill the Pebble Mine this way, it can kill any type of development in advance, and kill it anywhere. For businesses potentially facing the same treatment from the EPA in the future, this was a line-in-the-sand conflict. ... The Hill tacked a short profile of Hayes to his letter, saying, “He is a frequent visitor to Alaska’s Bristol Bay, where he stays at Brian Kraft’s Alaska Sportsman’s Lodges.” This is double-barreled. FIRST, the EPA is trying (once again) to increase its power, to become MORE a tyrant than ever. SECOND, the so-called conservative party, the GOP, has this thug ex-Congressman and current State Chair, using his political clout and SUPPORTING the EPA’s growing tyranny. Try and tell me and hundreds or thousands of mine operators that there is a difference between liberals and conservatives as seen in THEIR ACTIONS in power. Stupid government tricks – East Asian Edition Japan: Thousands march as last nuclear reactor shuts down (Business Week) “Thousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the switching off of the last of their nation’s 50 nuclear reactors Saturday, waving banners shaped as giant fish that have become a potent anti-nuclear symbol. Japan was without electricity from nuclear power for the first time in four decades …” (05/05/12) Yes, stupidity CAN kill a nation – especially one that is already seriously ill. The entire panic has come to this: cutting off their nose to spite their face. Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 Theft by government- Breeding stupidity Taxation, American Style (Reason Magazine) Aggregately, net social welfare outlays in the United States consumed 27.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2007 -- above the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 23.3 percent... As discussed, stupidity can kill a nation. The entire spend-spend-spend has gotten worse in the last five years, also, so I suspect that this number is WAY up from 2007. We are now talking six and eight generations of people receiving welfare, especially since the generations are getting shorter and shorter: 14-18 years now. As the next story points out, more and more of our “living” goes to support this parasite called government. Theft by government Americans Pay More in Taxes than for Food, Clothing and Shelter (Tax Foundation) In 2012, Americans will pay approximately $4.041 trillion in taxes, which is $152 billion, or 3.9 percent, more than they will spend on housing, food and clothing... As I am fond of pointing out: (1) it is considered slavery when government consumes more than God demanded in the Old Testament, or 10%. (2) Americans are some of the weakest-gutted people in history, because we have not already rebelled against this. (3) Federalism, as it is practiced (poorly) here in America, is part of the problem because we don’t see it all the way ancient farmers did when the soldiers showed up to take their 10% of his grain: instead we are nibbled to death. Government-run, tax-funded schools – STUPID IDEAS Let the Dollars Follow the Child (Education Next) The federal government should absolve itself of many of its funding priorities in education and instead provide this money directly to schools... Prior to about 1957, the ONLY way the FedGov got involved in education was to train soldiers and pay for veterans to go to college (GI Bill). This is so INCREDIBLY stupid that I cannot believe that any SANE person would suggest this. The federal government should get OUT of education. Now, completely, in every way: AND stop collecting taxes and borrowing money associated with it. Devolve back to the states (briefly) then locals – now we are back to about 1860. And go another half-century or so back to PRIVATE education. To let the FedGov do ANYTHING in education is insane. Mama's Note: Here, let me fix that for you... To let the FedGov do ANYTHING Stupid government U.S. to Set Rules for Fracking on Federal Land (Wall Street Journal) New rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal lands will affect about 90 percent of the 3,400 wells that are drilled on public lands each year... I know – it is supposedly “their land” (not your land, not my land) so they should get to decide. BUT this is EVERYONE’s land and this rulemaking is obviously designed to END fracking on private land and therefore wreck the entire natural gas boom – one of the few bright spots around. Cheap and abundant natural gas SCARES these people: the Tranzis and the bureaucrats. Why? For one thing, though a compressed natural gas truck or car has a huge tank and lesser range, natural gas can be compressed and converted to automotive use incredibly easily and cheaply: unlike converting crude oil into gasoline or diesel. Stupid government More Than Good Enough for Government Work (The American) Public pensions nationwide are underfunded by a total of $4.4 trillion, despite efforts by many state governments to reform pension programs... The problem here is two-fold: unions and sweetheart deals that created pension retirement plans that are incredibly rich: multiples of private business plans, and then underfunding them to keep taxes low. Both of these are the fault of corrupt politicians, but enabled by the idiots who kept voting them back into office. There IS no good solution: but all in all, seizing the wealth of the various governments (their infrastructure, parks, recreation facilities, etc.) and the politicians themselves to pay off (on maybe 50 cents on the dollar) the retirees might be a solution that the Tea Party Movement would support. If these cities and counties and states collapse into bankruptcy, the politicians (even if long retired) may well get lynched, and the public retirees will get nothing. Wednesday, May 09, 2012 Culture Wars: Homosexual “Marriage” Rep. Nadler: Obama's 'Taking Supportive Actions' on Same-Sex Marriage (CNSNews.com) I suppose that is an accurate statement of the First Citizen’s flipflop. Culture Wars: Bashing the US 24 Countries, Including Socialist Nations, Top U.S. As Best Place to Be a Mother (CNSNews.com) Oh, dear, yet another example of the stupid “pick and choose your statistics and get the ones that prove what a worthless nation this is and how we are all evil heartless monsters who really hate Mom and Apple Pie. This study is a worthless piece of garbage. Politics 2012 AP Headline: ‘Primaries Reflect Conservative Enthusiasm for 2012’ (CNSNews.com) The conservatives I’ve talked to, before and after primaries and state conventions, reflect more disgust and despair about elections this year than enthusiasm. Politics 2012 – First Citizen Convicted Extortionist Takes 41% of Vote to Obama's 59% in W. Va. Democratic Primary (CNSNews.com) The lesser of two evils? Mama's Note: This is a truly strange story. I wonder how this person got the money to file in the first place. Most people who are incarcerated are first relieved of all their ready cash by either the courts or the lawyers, far as I can see. The old, "follow the money" would seem to apply here. Where did the money come from? That might tell us a bit more about why anyone would bother doing this. Politics 2012 – First Citizen Obama Moves ‘Forward’ with Campaign Slogan Even on Official Presidential Travel (CNSNews.com) We all know the power of the incumbent, especially when it is the POTUS election we are looking at. We also know how this man surrounds himself with scumbags who really wish they could dispense with the actual election, and just do the campaigning for the next decade or so, to hide the way they are changing more and more. Politics 2012 – First Citizen Is It a Campaign Fundraiser or a Presidential Event? (CNSNews.com) Honestly, is there any difference? Especially with the current Occupant of 1600 PA? Politics 2012 – First Citizen/Second Bootlicker Biden Ignores That Bush, Not Obama, Achieved Unanimous U.N. Measures Against Iran (CNSNews.com) As with his “boss” so with this piece of work: a schematic of the man would be a giant ego (maybe with a random insult generator) coupled to a mouth. I am surprised that I don’t hear more GOP comparing him (unfavorably) to Dan Quayle. For more of this man’s ravings: Biden: U.S. was 'the problem' on Iran (WND) Congress in action – Theft by government Ryan and House GOP: Automatic Budget Cuts Would ‘Decimate’ the Military (CNSNews.com) What a crock. It is not the automatic cuts, it is the poor decisions made by the Pentagon (the civilian leadership, mostly), the White House, and Congress that would damage the military. Stupid government – Stupid media HBO Joins Gov’t Effort to Fight Fat: ‘Obesity Will Crush the United States' (CNSNews.com) Yet, this comes after new data shows that the “obesity epidemic” is on the wane in the US. Of all the bogus horrors that are used to show us how much we need government, this is the most hokey. Sadly, it is the one that government is most likely to solve. How? As the parasite (government) kills its host (the society and economy in particular), the collapse of infrastructure and trade caused by a mega-depression will ensure that very very few Americans will have enough to eat: voila! Instant elimination of obesity in much of the population (followed, I admit, by massive die-off due to starvation, but that is government for you: they don’t know when to quit). Theft by government – Stupid government Farmers Markets Getting Taxpayer Money to Accept Food Stamps (CNSNews.com) Direct welfare subsidies rather than indirect? Stupid government Energy Department Advising Architects, Engineers, Contractors on New Hospital Construction (CNSNews.com) While my opinion of the currently faddish architects designing hospitals (like that abomination called St. Anthony’s on the Denver Federal Center) is extremely low, my opinion of the DOE beggars description. I dredged through my mind to find something to compare it with, but couldn’t find anything that fit: having Planned Parenthood help design a nursery, maybe – or having Vlad the Impaler advise you on reaching out to Muslims for free and honest elections. Politics 2012 – Congress in action Congresswoman: Obama Campaign’s ‘Julia’ is ‘Dependent on Gov’t,’ GOP is About ‘Empowering Women’ (CNSNews.com) Good comeback. The truth is, BOTH old parties are dangerous to women - to their liberty and their livelihoods and their families. Mama's Note: Amen... dangerous to men AND women. The only "empowering" anyone needs is to be left alone to work it out for themselves, in voluntary association and cooperation with those of like mind, of course. Not-so-stupid animals Orangutans at Miami Zoo Use iPads to Communicate (CNSNews.com) Well, if Congressmen and the Tranzi rank-and-file can use them, why not Orangutans. Of course, L. Neil Smith is able to preen a bit about this news. Mama's Note: Hmmmm, and how soon will the orangutans be a productive, working part of society and buy their own iPads and so forth? That seems to be the missing link here. Anybody ready to hire orangutans, or rent them an apartment? Otherwise, they are trained and dependent animals, not sapient beings. (I'm with L. Neil there and think it would be a kick in the head if they ever got to be sapient and productive, however.) Crime – Her Majesty’s Subjects? Child-sex ring: 9 Muslims jailed in U.K. (WND.com) Normally, we’d not be surprised at WHAT religion a bunch of pedophiles claimed to follow, but anyone who has studied the Koran, the Haditha, and Shar’i’a understands that not only does “orthodox” Muslim religion (including both Shi’a and Sunni) fail to condemn this sort of thing or even establish norms that prevent or discourage it, but the history of the religion shows a marked preference for such evil. Politics 2012 Tea-partier unseats Lugar in Senate primary (WND.com) And another one bites the dust! Lugar’s record of “moderation” simply means that he combined the worst of the liberals and the conservatives (neo-cons, at that). This does of course shake the media claims that the Tea Party Movement is a has been. Europe’s Fall – Socialism’s Failure Beyond Austerity (Defining Ideas) European nations serve as a near-perfect model for how labor markets should not operate if an economy is to gain traction on the road to recovery... This is a good study of what NOT to do, of course, and how this comes as a surprise only to those who refuse to understand liberty and free markets. New religions: Environism – Politics 2012 Green Jobs Report: Less Than Meets the Eye (Heritage Foundation) A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report counts 3.1 million green jobs, but it defines green jobs broadly enough to include such occupations as trash collectors, bus drivers and Salvation Army employees... This once more lets us see how statistics – especially government statistics – lie and lie and lie for a “good” cause: in this case, not just to get their green-worshippers on their side, but to get people in general to think that we are doing better. Government-run, tax-funded schools – Stupid ideas Putting the Schools in Charge (Education Next) In a country of hundreds of thousands of schools, it makes more sense for schools to be given the resources to fix their own problems than for far-off governments to prescribe solutions... What an INCREDIBLY bad idea: instead of consumers (parents and children and students) paying what they are willing to pay voluntarily for the services that they want or need, we still have this garbage. Yes, if an education degree was worth more than the blank piece of parchment which was ruined by printing it on it, this MIGHT make sense. But all administrators and school boards (politicians) and staff – even most teachers – will do is line their own pockets and beg for more money “for the children.” A free market – even a PARTIALLY free market – is what is needed. Home front California's Class Divide (City Journal) By 2010, California families in the 90th percentile had incomes 12 times higher than the incomes of families in the 10th percentile -- significantly higher than the national ratio... I would love to see a story looking not just at California but at all Fifty States: the Indian Reservations are worse than this, but for exactly the same reason: socialism – government control and intervention into the market, and the killing effect on the economy and the poor. Let me suggest “The Non Violent Zone” for a good discussion. Crash of 2009 Restoring Trust in Mortgage-Backed Securities (Reason Foundation) There remains profound lack of confidence in the models used by credit rating agencies to assess residential mortgage-backed securities... No, really? Government could not have done a better job of messing up what SHOULD have been a sensible financial procedure for protecting investors – AND borrowers – against default. Now, everyone is worried that no one will TRUST these pieces of paper as long as government has something to do with them? Mama's Note: And, just maybe, the silver lining to that disaster might be a general reduction in the mad dash to take on debt of any kind. Well, we can hope anyway. Debt is NOT a good investment, really. It is like medical insurance and should be used for catastrophic emergencies only. Home front – Religious freedom Florida: Church defies produce stand order (Fox News) "A Florida town is ordering a church to move a produce stand where the needy can get free food grown by the faithful, saying its location violates zoning laws. Members of the Believers' Fellowship Word of Faith Church in Lakeland started a garden on the 6-acre church grounds two years ago, growing everything from zucchini to onions to watermelons. At first, they gave the food out for free. But when demand outpaced supply, they added inventory donated by other local growers, expanded the tent to the roadside and began taking optional donations. All proceeds (500 in a typical week) go back into the garden for seeds, fertilizer and more." (05/09/12) It is becoming illegal in more and more places for churches to give ANY food away: whether prepared meals in a soup kitchen, or even for them to have potlucks where people bring food from home. This is just another example of the mindless local tyranny that seeks to denigrate and punish churches for being benevolent. And just the mindless local tyranny, no matter what the reason or excuse. Mama's Note: It isn't about food, safety, benevolence or ANYTHING but control - of everything. The only thing stopping the governments all around us from achieving total control is the fact that they fight endlessly among themselves. The consolidation of power into the hands of a few is, therefore, most to be feared and resisted. Europe’s Fall The growth imperative (Il Sole-24 Ore) The elections of May 6 have revealed the dramatic split between politicians and citizens. To prevent it from degenerating, we must abandon the obsession with austerity and discussions in small committees and restart the engine through the solidarity and integration that are the hallmarks of Europe, according to one columnist. The Mainstream Media does not understand it: they want MORE of the same: massive spending, massive taxes, more love for politicians, more collectivism. Sadly, the brainwashed “citizen” masses of Europe, like their Roman counterparts, want bread and circuses, and are unwilling to speak, think, and act for themselves as responsible self-governors. One more reason the doom of Europe is upon it: even those who are afire with faith in a false religion for which they are willing to die are better at controlling Europe than these slaves of their own passions and desires. Europe’s Fall – New Religions: Environism Shale gas no longer popular (Gazeta Wyborcza) France, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic have decided to suspend the exploitation of their shale gas fields for environmental reasons. Now that the EU is under pressure to adopt a similar position, Poland may be the last European country to continue seeking to develop this energy source. So, the campaign to blacken and prevent development of unconventional shale appears to have succeeded in most of Europe: the lies and exaggerations of the environists have been swallowed by four more nations. What a pity. Of course, the potential for the US, Canada, the Brits, and the Russians to sell more and more to them is tremendous. Thursday, May 10, 2012 Crash of 2009 324,000 Women Dropped Out of Labor Force in Last Two Months--As Number of Women Not in Labor Force Hits Historic High (CNSNews.com) Of course, this is all George Bush’s fault – well, that and the GOP war on women. But like men dropping out, this dwarfs the jobs that the current Administration claims that it “created” – green or not. There is NO recovery. Mama's Note: Plenty of work available for any woman who wants it. Not necessarily going to get them a paycheck, of course. Still, there are some serious rewards and perks for those who raise their children well, keep a clean home, and enjoy so many other things they don't need to leave home for. With a free market, and an end to government actions which destroy productivity, that would become a viable choice again. Abominable Act – Government-run, tax-funded schools Obamacare Hubs Coming to the Nation's Schools (CNSNews.com) Merging the worst of both worlds. Only thing I can think of that is worse would be merging TSA and USPS to help them save money and improve customer relations. Congress in action House Panel Cuts Obama’s Foreign Aid Budget, Targets United Nations Funding (CNSNews.com) “Cutting” the budget sounds great, but it really isn’t much at all; more an excuse for the GOP to bash the UN than any real cut in spending. First Citizen – World wars Obama: Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines Are 'Fighting on My Behalf' (CNSNews.com) "When I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," said Obama. Ugh. Is this creepy or what? The end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was rammed down the throats of millions of troops AND THEIR FAMILIES by this man, and now he uses THEM to justify his “evolution” into even more of a moral monster than he has been. Mama's Note: This is ghastly, quite aside from the homosexual question. I'd really like to hear the reaction of all these people he assumes are fighting on his "behalf." I thought most of them believed they were protecting AMERICANS from "terrorists," however misguided that is. When did the armed forces of the US become Obama's personal toy? Home Front – Culture wars: Homosexuality Calif. Bill Would Make It a Crime to Counsel Children to Change a Homosexual Orientation (CNSNews.com) California Senate Bill 1172 would make it illegal for therapists, psychologists, counselors and parents to engage in any kind of “sexual orientation change efforts” against children 18 and younger. Violators could be subject to arrest, fines, possible jail time. The bill … would also require adults to sign a consent form before they could seek therapy or counseling to change their sexual orientation. Why not? Just more evidence that anything goes in California except what is decent or honest. This is one more step to outlawing the teaching of Christianity to children, as was the law in the Soviet Union. Notice that teaching of and promoting of homosexuality is NOT to be forbidden. Mama's Note: Again, it isn't about anything except CONTROL. Congress in action House Passes Export-Import Bank Renewal – Record 93 Republicans Vote Nay (CNSNews.com) But still not a majority: they just can’t help themselves. Like the town drunk who knows his addiction is killing him… These 93 called it “corporate welfare” – which it is, but they could not get the rest to agree. Anymore than the GOP in the Senate will keep this next item from passing: Congress in action DeMint Urges Opposition to Sea Treaty, Citing ‘Redistribution of Wealth’ and ‘Freedom of Navigation’ (CNSNews.com) The LOST has been hanging around for a long time – and too many GOP Senators think it is a good idea. DeMint’s objections are a part of the reason it is so bad. Home front Justice Dept. Goes After Sheriff Joe Arpaio for Alleged Racial Profiling (CNSNews.com) What a choice? DOJ or Arpaio? I stand, in this case, on the sides, waiting for one to fall in order to better defend myself against the other. First Citizen – Politics 2012 One Day After Backing Gay Marriage, Obama Heads to Hollywood for Money (CNSNews.com) No connection whatsoever, of course. Move along, nothing to see here. New religions: environism Report: Ocean garbage impacting sea life (10 News) "An increase in plastic debris floating in a zone between Hawaii and California is changing the environment of at least one marine critter, scientists reported. ... During a seagoing expedition, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that a marine insect that skims the ocean surface is laying its eggs on top of plastic bits instead of natural flotsam like wood and seashells." (05/09/12) Is this an example of stupidity? This insect – is this like seagulls sitting on tops of piers instead on tops of rocks? And this is critical how? Man changes the environment – and always has: before we had houses, where did mice and rats live? Before we fed dogs meat we killed, what did they eat? Free markets The Moral Case for Capitalism (Manhattan Institute) Since 1800, the world's population has increased six fold, yet despite this enormous increase, real income per person has increased approximately 16-fold... Unless, of course, you believe that it is immoral for ordinary people and not just the Elite to have a decent standard of living and a good income. Free Markets – Politics 2012 Stock Market Reactions to Political Events (Mercatus Center) The implied value of George Bush's 2000 victory was equivalent to a transfer of over $100 billion in market capitalization from the firms in the pro-Al Gore portfolio to those in the pro-Bush portfolio... If true, this is truly a sickening thought, that picking the right or wrong side in politics could so greatly improve or harm your economic conditions. Government –run, tax-funded schools Great Teaching (Education Next) One year of instruction with a teacher in the top 5 percent of value-added measure ratings resulted in immediate end-of-year test scores gains of 4 percent of a standard deviation... Of course, imagine what it would be like with a good teacher and NO government interference were involved! Not that the current government-demanded test scores should be trusted. Stupid government Solar Project Opens on Federal Property (Washington Times) Seventeen solar power facilities, five wind farms and eight geothermal power plants have gotten the green light to break ground on federal lands since Obama came to office in 2009... The damage to the environment per kilowatt hour from these fake-green operations is far greater than that of traditional oil and gas exploration and production (much less modern directional drilling systems) and probably is greater than that of traditional coal mining. The next story reminds us that the impact is not just environmental, but financial: Stupid government Why We Need to Terminate Big Wind Subsidies (Townhall.com) Despite tens of billions in subsidies, wind turbines still generate less than 3 percent of U.S. electricity... Imagine what could have been done if that money had been left in the hands of people and inventors and companies who would use and invest it in what might work, not what is politically correct? Friday, May 11, 2012 First Citizen – Culture wars: “homosexual marriage” For Obama, gay marriage [sic] stance born of a long evolution (Washington Post) Liberal bloggers were seated around a big table in the Roosevelt Room, peppering President Obama with policy questions. Suddenly, one of them turned to Obama and, struggling to overcome his emotions, made a very personal appeal. The WaPo drinks the koolaid: they are parroting the White House about this “long evolution” - correctly understood as a flipflop. With 53% of Americans opposed to “gay marriage” - tellingly much less than those who call a dog’s tail its fifth leg, though semantically equal - the First Citizen and Campaigner-in-Chief apparently hopes this “revelation” will invigorate his campaign the way Woodruff’s “revelation” enabled Utah to become a state. And maybe this person (whom I would call a piece of septic tank froth if I weren’t concerned about ending up in Fort Leavenworth as an inmate) is right. Of course, this COULD be nothing more than a response to the insanity in Las Vegas which elected Starchild to an at-large seat in the LNC. Politics 2012 – Media hypocrites Mitt Romney’s prep school classmates recall pranks, but also troubling incidents (Washington Post) Mitt Romney returned from a three-week spring break in 1965 to resume his studies as a high school senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School. Back on the handsome campus, studded with Tudor brick buildings and manicured fields, he spotted something he thought did not belong at a school where the boys wore ties and carried briefcases. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it. I find it amusing - and extremely hypocritical of the WaPo and the rest of the media - that we STILL do not have any complete account of the First Citizen’s first 25 years, including EVER hearing about or from someone his own age who ever knew him - or even MET him - in high school or college. But we see the WaPo vetting Romney’s high-school days, and others attacking his grandfather for being exactly what the First Citizen’s FATHER was: a polygamist. Does anyone else find it rather sick and stupid that it is okay (in the eyes of the Media and Tranzis) to be a MUSLIM polygamist but NOT an LDS polygamist? Mama's Note: Sure, and I find it just as sick and stupid to think that anyone should be in a position to control other people, regardless of religion, family history or country of origin. Nobody on earth is "qualified" to control my life because that's MY job. And really, I have NO desire whatsoever to read anything about Obummer's childhood or anything else to do with him. Politics 2012 – Media hypocrites GOP treads lightly on gay marriage issue (Washington Post) As the run-up to the general election intensifies, same-sex marriage offers the parties one of their sharpest contrasts. But in a reversal of strategy from eight years ago, when President George W. Bush’s reelection team seized on the issue to energize his party’s social conservative base and win over some swing voters opposed to gay marriage, the Republicans of 2012 are so far treating the issue gingerly. It is apparently about the GOP ELITE that the WaPo speaks - in just the 48 hours or so since the First Citizen made his announcement, I’ve heard a LOT of GOP members (rank and file) express their utter disgust and vow to fight harder: AND I’ve heard a lot of bottom-level Democrats do the same. Mama's Note: And the real problem, of course, is that they believe the peaceful interaction of other people is any of their business to start with. QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Here is the Golden Rule of sound citizenship, the first and greatest lesson in the study of politics: You get the same order of criminality from any State to which you give power to exercise it; and whatever power you give the State to do things FOR you carries with it the equivalent power to do things TO you." -- Albert Jay Nock (1870-1945) Source: The Criminality of the State, America Mercury Magazine, March, 1939 Medical Practice - Tyranny Why Nurses Need More Authority (The Atlantic) The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortfall of 29,800 primary care physicians by 2015 and 65,800 by 2025... This is foolish: the modern nurse has three times the training of MD’s just 50 years ago, and the real question to ask is do we really need that many more over-priced, over-educated, over-egotistical doctors, when we KNOW that nurses are capable of doing far more than they have been allowed to. And then we come to the question of midwives and others. The credentialing system (licensing) is one reason for this, as the next story points out. Of course, we know that the FedGov isn’t going to allow this to happen. As the next story points out, it is in government’s interests to ALWAYS have shortages of skilled professions. Mama's Note: Just wait until people see (and experience) the incompetence of the few doctors and nurses who will remain once Obummercare is fully implimented. I'm just one of many professionals who have already left the field, and we are just the first wave. But keep your eye on the underground economy... you might just get lucky. Stupid government - Tyranny License to Work (INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE) While only one in 20 workers in the 1950s required licensing, that figure has since risen to one in three... ONE IN THREE!!!! Even in late Roman times, that wasn’t the case. This, together with the regulatory system of permits for everything, makes it more and more difficult to do basic work and provide basic services. Mama's Note: The big excuse for licensing is the nutty idea that this provides a mechanism for good quality and integrity. My experience is just the opposite. I've seen very clearly how the barriers and lack of competition actually encourage incompetence and malice. Crash of 2009 Job-Creating Foreign Investment in United States Lags (REUTERS ) The United States attracted about 17 percent of global investment in 2009; this is down sharply from over 41 percent in 1999... It is a bad deal all around. And it is not getting any better. Mama's Note: Maybe more people need to concentrate on personal productivity/responsibility and liberty. I suspect the global investment would then nicely take care of itself. Home Front – New Religions: Environism Obama Is Losing the Keystone Pipeline Battle (Reason Magazine) Any dissolved hydrocarbons from a break in the Keystone XL pipeline that enter into groundwater would probably remain within 1,000 feet of the spill point... Even THIS is overstating the problem. The oil moving through the pipeline is far more like AC (asphaltic cement) oil than regular crude oil: It will quickly cool to ambient temperatures and not flow anywhere much at all: I’d estimate more like 50-100 feet than 1,000 with a 99% certainty. If THIS is a threat to the Sand Hills (or to the eastern Nebraska prairies, since the pipeline route was removed from the logical route to the PC route), then we better ban diesel and gasoline-fueled vehicles of ALL kinds from the area, lest one of them drip or leak. Theft by government (corporate welfare) Glendale's Public Hockey Project (Wall Street Journal) The National Hockey League has announced a probable sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to a private owner, but the resulting financial contract would put the city of Glendale on the line for $14.5 million annually until 2033... Welfare for the sports teams and their owners and workers. I am surprised that the FedGov doesn’t require professional sports players to have licenses. Mama's Note: I still can't manage to wrap my mind around the idea of a hockey team based in the middle of the desert... Sort of like ski lodges and lifts in Hawaii. Yes, it is technically possible, but hardly practical. Not quite as much stupid government US Mail drops plans to close post offices, will reduce hours ( Washington Post) "The debt-ridden U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday that it is scrapping plans to close thousands of post offices and instead will drastically reduce hours at most of its rural operations to as few as two a day. The shorter hours will affect more than a third of the country's 31,509 post offices. The abrupt shift in strategy – 10 months after officials announced that 3,700 money-losing post offices would probably be shuttered -- comes as Congress appeared headed toward deadlock on a plan to address the agency's multibillion-dollar deficit." (05/09/12) This is a plan that makes so much sense, I’m surprised that it was even brought up. Private business would do this automatically: the USPS should have been doing this all along. Mama's Note: Even better (can't remember where I saw it) was the idea to set up mini "post offices" in stores, hotels, and other businesses... you know, like they did at the beginning. One or two in each small town would be a lot more efficient and fiscally responsible than the current set up, even if government continued to control it. Of course, the useless rules and "laws" about post offices will have to be repealed first. I'd love to wander in to the Antler Hotel, grab a beer, then go check for mail and send my package - armed as always. Local Tyranny Texas: Man sues city over seizure of house with underground shelter (Austin Statesman) "Two years ago today, Joe Del Rio was awakened to find city officials at the door of his lifelong home in East Austin, demanding entry. Before it was over, the Police Department's SWAT team and the Fire Department had been deployed, and Del Rio said he was detained and questioned for about 10 hours because of what officials called a multilevel bunker-like space under the house with suspicious and unusual materials. After the city billed Del Rio in April for about $90,000 in repairs it said were critical to make the home on Canterbury Street safe, Del Rio sued the City of Austin last week for what his lawyers say was a heavy-handed and unconstitutional seizure of his property without compensation." (05/07/12) The bad thing is that we keep learning about these things years later – and the people who get beat upon (literally and figuratively) by the cops endure all sorts of abuse. What allows towns and cops to do this is the rapid proliferation of tens of thousands of pages of codes, each subject to myriad interpretations and able to be used any time the authorities want to abuse someone. First Citizen’s Bootlicking Second Biden to Students: You'll See 'Solar Energy as Cheap as Gas--Uh, Coal, Excuse Me, as Coal' (CNSNews.com) Foot ready? 1-2-3-MOUTH! Actually, he may be right: but so is a stopped clock, twice a day. His record isn’t as good. Biden Tells Students, ‘You Know You’re Spreading Socialism’ (CNSNews.com) Vice President Joe Biden mocked Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) on Thursday for comparing federal student loans to “stage three cancer.” Without mentioning Akin by name, Biden said, “I don’t want to single somebody out, so rather than tell you his name, I’ll read a quote. He compared federal student loans to ‘stage three cancer of socialism,’ the ‘stage three cancer of socialism.’ You all realize you’re spreading socialism, don’t you? Which is cancerous. I been here a long time, man, but this is--it’s taken on a new dimension.” … Akin was asked if he would support lowering the rate for student loans. “America has got the equivalent of the stage three cancer of socialism, because the federal government is tampering in all kinds of stuff it has no business tampering in. So first, to answer your question precisely, what the Democrats did to get rid of the private student loans and take it all over by the government was wrong. It was a lousy bill, that’s why I voted no,” Akin said. Again, 1-2-3-MOUTH. First, Akin didn’t compare just student loans; second, GRTF-schools ARE socialism. Third, socialism IS a cancer. But for dear old Uncle Joe, he thought he made a funny and that people really believe him. Tranzi Stupidity – Culture wars: “Homosexual Marriage” Pelosi: Her Catholic Faith 'Compels' Her to Support Same-Sex Marriage (CNSNews.com) But then, if there is someone who can make Biden look thoughtful and well-spoken… Mama's Note: Indeed... I about fell over when I read that headline. Nothing in the body of the article served to support the idea that the centuries long teaching of the Catholic Church against homosexuality could in any way be reconciled with support for same sex marriage. Islamic war: Persian front Don’t Burn Qur’ans in My Name, Pleads Iranian Pastor [sic] on Death Row for ‘Apostasy’ (CNSNews.com) Perhaps people will listen to him. Burning books comes AFTER you convert someone from their evil and false religion, not before. Mama's Note: And ONLY the "convert" should be burning them - those he owns. War against religion Colorado Day of Prayer Unconstitutional (9News.com) The Colorado Court of Appeals says that when former Governors Bill Ritter and Bill Owens made proclamations of a state Day of Prayer from 2004 to 2009, it was unconstitutional. The ruling Thursday by a three-judge panel of the court came in a case brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The court said the proclamations in question sometimes included biblical verses and religious themes and were effectively a government endorsement of a religion in violation of the state constitution. Notice, it was one Democrat and one Republican: carrying on a tradition that dates back more than 100 years. This comes as a town in Alabama decides overwhelmingly to defy this FFRF and put the Bible verses back up on the signs coming into town. 1 day ago – (Related: Alabama Town Bows to Atheists and Removes Bible Verse From Welcome Signs) ... The truth is that it stands for freedom of religion, and that's a ... Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ... I’ve got no dog in the fight, except for liberty: even people in office have SOME liberty to express their beliefs, and to call either of these things “endorsement” of a particular religion (which? Baptist? Lutheran? Catholic? Orthodox? They all were inclusive and all use this verse) is not supportable, except for people who hate all religions but their own (there is a difference between hating and just rejecting, after all). Although it is an issue that too many so-called Libertarians dismiss or in which they side with the Tranzis, clearly, it is an issue in which more and more people are willing to defy the government (courts) AND those seeking to take away even the watered-down civic religion. Mama's Note: If the signs were paid for privately, then what is on them is no problem. If they were paid for with stolen tax dollars, then there's some room for controversy. Personally, I can't figure out why so many people want to paint their religion all over everything. Why don't they mind their own business and spend their time actually practicing it rather than trying to impose it on everyone else? Islamic Wars: South Asian front Pakistan: Red Cross suspends operations after nurse's murder (Ogden Standard-Examiner) "The Red Cross has suspended operations across much of Pakistan following the killing of a British nurse working for the organization late last month, the group announced Thursday. The move means many thousands of people will go without medical and other development assistance for the duration of the suspension." (05/10/12) Those evil Westerners, punishing innocent Pakistanis by refusing to provide welfare just because the people get killed. Self-defense Pennsylvania: Veteran shoots intruder with gun carried during Korean War (Fox News) "An 84-year-old western Pennsylvania man and Korean War vet shot and wounded a home invasion suspect. Ricciutti said he heard a noise at about 4:30 a.m. and could see someone coming into the room. He pulled a gun out of a drawer, yelled a warning at Hiles and then fired once, hitting him in the neck. Ricciutti said the suspect lives across the street, and he's never faced any hostility in the town." (05/09/12) Good man, to keep a weapon he’s familiar with! And obviously with a bit of practice and skill. Politics 2012 South Dakota: RAPID CITY MAN WANTS OBAMA TOSSED OFF STATE BALLOT (Rapid City Journal) A Rapid City man is trying to remove President Barack Obama from the South Dakota ballot, saying he’s not a natural-born citizen and isn’t eligible to be president. South Dakota Republican Party chief dismisses complaint as a 'distraction'... Thomas Scheveck’s complaint will be heard on Friday by the state Board of Elections. Scheveck says Obama is not a natural-born citizen because his father, Barack Obama, Sr., was not a citizen. I don’t expect it to go far, but maybe it will! Islamic wars: Gulf Front Disrepect to Islam could result in death penalty (WND.com) The Kuwaiti parliament voted overwhelmingly for the strict blasphemy law. If approved by Kuwait’s supreme leader, the law will impose the death penalty on Muslims who insult Allah, the Quran, Muslim prophets, or Muhammad’s wives. As several have pointed out, there are not many modern religions in which faith and belief are so weak that the state and mosque both must constantly kill those who do not accept all its tenants. And so much for thinking that “democracy” will change the Middle East. Mama's Note: Actually, "democracy" is about the last thing I'd want them to adopt. I'd a whole lot rather they progress to complete individual sovereignty. That, of course, doesn't seem any more likely. Crash of 2009 US jobless claims dip slightly (San Francisco Chronicle) "First-time claims for jobless benefits fell last week to a one-month low, helping allay concern that the labor market may suffer an extended setback. Jobless claims dropped by 1,000 to 367,000 in the period ended May 5, in line with the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey and the lowest since the end of March, the Labor Department said today in Washington." (05/10/12) “Oh, look, I can see the very top of the chimney of the house sticking out from the flood water! The flood is over, we’re all going to be saved: just hold your breath for another week or two.” Hope springs eternal, especially in the hearts of mainstream media who so much want the First Citizen to have four more years to finish the job. One thousand less claims: that is about one-third of a percent: and probably less than the margin of error for several thousand counties nationally reporting. And never mind WHY the claims dropped: was it because they just don’t bother to try anymore? Mama's Note: Indeed... I stopped looking for a regular "job" in 2009. Never did claim any "benefits" either. Numbers don't lie, but liars love to use numbers... parts of them anyway. **************** Your comments and feedback are welcome! Now PoL has its own forum at The Mental Militia! Check it out Nathan Barton Written from the Four Corners, a land and community which has some (but not much) freedom left, but where even that liberty hangs by a thread. Nathan is a christian, a free-market anarchist, military officer, engineer, and writer. Feel free to contact him through The Price of Liberty. Special Feature! Add your signature to the NEW Declaration of Independence By Robert Greenslade To Read previous Commentaries, go to the archives page and click onto the link for the week. The commentaries are linked from the weekly front pages. Please note: Information about readers is never given or sold to anyone for any purpose. Remember, however, that many people can read and recover anything posted to web sites or email unless it is carefully encrypted. Please take personal responsibility for what you post anywhere. MamaLiberty) |
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