Archive for January, 2010

This Clip on Keynes versus Hayek Is Well Produced

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Check it out:

I Took Heat From Many of My Readers

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

When I supported indefinite detention of some terrorists during the Bush administration. However, it looks like I was write to argue in favor of indefinite detention because those in the Obama administration are also advocating for this measure.

A Justice Department-led task force has concluded that nearly 50 of the 196 detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should be held indefinitely without trial under the laws of war, according to Obama administration officials.

Clearly we have acquired terrorists that are to dangerous to free but we can’t prosecute. So long as they are non citizens and proper checks are put in place the state should be able to hold them indefinitely. Its just good to see the Obama administration agree with me and against those readers who no doubt voted for Obama but disagreed with my point.

America Is Awesome

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Scott Brown beat out Coakley to break the filibuster proof majority in the US senate. How many different ways does the American people have to tell our legislators that Obamacare is to be rejected. Make no mistake about it, this election results is a referendum on this healthcare legislation.

It will be interesting to see what the Democrats next move will be.

Cheering for The Humans in Movies

Monday, January 18th, 2010

After seeing Avatar, Mark over at Libertas et Memoria comments that he cheers for the humans in movies that pit mankind against other species.

If I see a movie and it’s aliens vs. humans, I’m rooting for the humans. Sorry, that’s just the policy of Libertas et Memoria.

I have to agree with Mark on this one which is why i was cheering for the Na’vi. You see James Cameron only bothered to write one of the species in his move as human and that was the Na’vi. So in point of fact, to cheer for the Na’va was to cheer for the humans because they were the ones written to be human. This is similar to District 9. Those creatures taken from their ship and forced to live in ghettos were written to be the humans thus i cheered for them over the monsters that looked like humans but didn’t behave like humans.

Just because the monsters in your movie look like humans doesn’t mean they are human. Its just means you weren’t interested in writing a screenplay that accurately depicts humans and instead you relied on writing humans as monsters so you could make some lame and untrue point about humanity. If you want to make a point about humanity you better take the time to actually write the humans as human otherwise your lesson about humanity is wasting my time since you are making a point about monsters and not humans.

Colbert On Reid’s Comments About Obama

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Right to Private Property Aided In Civil Rights

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Private property is our most fundamental right. This opinion piece reminds us its importance in fighting for civil rights.

Driving is a liberating technology, and we ought to recognize this, especially as we approach Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

Let’s think back to 1955, when African Americans stayed off segregated buses in Montgomery, Ala. During the year-long boycott, 325 private cars, some owned by African Americans, some by whites, some by churches, picked up people at 42 sites around the town.

Police harassed the drivers — Martin Luther King Jr. was stopped for speeding (30 in a 25-mph zone) about 30 times — but oppressing people in private cars is harder than oppressing them in public buses.

The boycott was successful, in part because of King’s fiery rhetoric, but also because of car ownership.

How would the problem of bus segregation have been resolved in the idyllic world of public transport? Obviously, the private car solution would be out.

Couldn’t blacks have set up a competing, unsegregated bus company, unfettered by oppressive regulation?

Well, they tried in Montgomery, but that required a permit. And relying on the government that oppresses you to help you become self-reliant is an iffy proposition.

Said Mayor Gayle, as he turned down their application in 1956: “If the Negroes want to ride a public vehicle, they can ride the city buses. There is an abundance of public transportation in Montgomery for those who want to use it. If there is a group of people who don’t want to use this public transportation, that’s their fault.”

Lots of people on the left like to piss on car ownership mostly because they are unable to connected the importance of car ownership to liberty.

Way Awesome

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Unions. Is There Anything They Can’t Ruin?

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

A study was just released by the Health and Human Sevices that shows the 40 year head start program has had no discernible effect on children past the first grade. This federally funded program to help children in poor communities has wasted close to a 100 billion dollars of taxpayer money. Clearly this program needs to be eliminated. Lest you think I don’t care about the education of poor children rest assured I fully support the privatization of education. As Andrew Coulson notes from Cato, in DC, when a voucher program was in place to empower poor families to select their schools the current administration eliminated the program despite the phenomenal academic success of those children compared to public school children.

There are other government education programs whose effects actually grow substantially over time, and that are comparatively economical. Consider the federal DC voucher program. Just a year or two after switching from public to private schools, the effect of the private schooling was not big enough to rise to the level of statistical significance. But by their third year in private schools, the evidence was clear that voucher-receiving students were reading more than two grade levels above a randomized control group that stayed in public schools. This program, as I’ve previously documented, costs 1/4 as much per pupil as DC spends on public education: about $6,600 vs. $28,000.

I support privatizing education simply as a means to help the poor. Even though teachers unions claim to care about the poor at the end of the day their primary concern is taking care of their own. In their best interest they were able to put down a program that was showing great promises in helping the poor. They should be ashamed of themselves. Unfortunately they are likely to advocate for this failed Head Start program provided it continues to provides ways to line the pockets of the union.

NPR Defnds Satire

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Via, Instapundit, National Liberal Radio published a political cartoon that was derogatory towards the tea party movement. When conservatives demanded an apology from the supposed neutral news source the NPR executives declined. They argued:

“Opinion and satire are going to sting some members of the audience and soothe others,” NPR senior vice president for news Ellen Weiss told Shepard. “This one satire is not the only coverage on the topic and while it offends some members of the audience, I see no reason to remove it.”

I for one applaud NPR’s principled stand in favor of satire even when it may offend other people. We need more people with the courage willing to defend free speech even when others find it offensive. For example several years ago a Danish Newspaper got in trouble when it published cartons satirizing the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Many American publications refused to show the cartoons out of fear of hurting the delicate sensibilities of Muslims. Given NPR’s official position on satire towards tea party advocates, I’m confident they show the same kind of courage when showing the satirize version of the prophet of Mohammad during the cartoon controversy.

Senior news executives at NPR and its Web site, NPR.org, similarly decided against reproducing the cartoons.

Oh wait, they didn’t show the satirized version of the Mohammad cartoons. I know its crazy to suggest, but ever so often I think that NPR might not be objective in their news coverage.

Remember When Liberal Used to Mean Someone Who Fights for Freedom

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

French Feminists, presumably liberal, don’t see the importance of liberty:

Married couples in France could end up with criminal records for insulting each other during arguments.

Under a new law, France is to become the first country in the world to ban ‘ psychological violence’ within marriage.

You can’t make this shit up. This is why one should oppose hate crimes and other attempts to legislate thoughts. It leads to very perverse outcomes.