Posted tagged ‘Free Speech’

Must Reads For The Week 4/16/22

April 18, 2022

Survivors of Communism Warn About America’s Future: ‘Americans Became Soviet’ Through Cowardice, at justthenews.com. “From the article: “Survivors of communism are concerned about America’s future as they see Marxism spreading”

“Tatiana Menaker, a refusenik who escaped from the Soviet Union after not being allowed to emigrate, said that when she attended San Francisco State University, she “found such brainwashing machine of Marxism, which I even didn’t have in Russia, in the Soviet Union. American professors are all in delirium of Marxism.”

“Menaker also recalled how she “was kicked five times from Facebook, seven times from Quora. Actually, censorship in America reminds me of my old Soviet Union.”

“I feel I am at home now, finally,” she also said, laughing.”

“Menaker later added: “Americans used to be nations of brave. Now it’s a nation of cowards. [I]t’s not tyrants who create slaves. It’s slaves who create tyrants. And Americans became slavish. We do whatever we’re told to do. They give everything we’re asked to give. It’s Soviet Union.”

What is sad is that many Americans who have lived here their whole lives don’t see this move toward Tyranny.

Secret Service Agents Knock Jen Psaki’s Response To Attacks By Biden’s Dog, at justthenews.com. If a press secretary would spin or lie about something as unimportant as the presidents dog biting a secret service agent. Do you think they would spin or lie about things that are more politically important?

Palm Springs Looks To Create A Universal Basic Income Pilot For Trans Residents. at NPR.com. I may be nit picking but, “Universal” mean everyone. Doesn’t it? This is an example of socialist central planning being accepted as a great idea, without any rational thinking.

AG Committee’s Cammack: ‘Out of Touch’ Dems Ignore Food Crisis, Fixate On ‘Tesla Charging Stations’. at justthenews.com. Democrats are marching down the green energy road to serfdom. Just another example of Socialist economic central planning. Great idea! Lets exchange the decisions of some “experts” for the decisions of 100’s of millions of consumers.

Political Propaganda? Look At The Time Line Of These Articles.

Biden Wants Congress To Slap Fees On Oil Companies Not Using Drilling Permits On Public Lands, at justthenews.com. This article was published on March 31 2022 at 12:46 PM. –Biden Announces Release Of Oil From Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Blames Putin, Oil Companies, at justthenews.com. This article was published On March 31, 2022 at 2:56 PM. –Oil Execs Defend Selves Over House Democrats Claims Of Profiteering, Gouging At The Gas Station, at justthenews.com. This article was published on April 6 2022. –Biden Administration Will Open More Public Land To Oil Drilling, at justthenews.com. This article was published on April 16, 2022.

Blaming the oil companies for not drilling on land that doesn’t have oil under it, is like giving me a permit to fish for Blue Marlin in the Ohio River.

Then the administration decides to release 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease rising gas prices. Which means they do understand the law of supply and demand. But, all of the energy policies put in place by this administration from day one, have caused less oil to be produced in the U.S. So, since they understand supply and demand, can we assert the administration wants the price of oil to go up? The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was set up for emergencies. Not for politicians to save themselves from the consequences of their policies. Tax payers are going to get stuck refilling the Reserve with oil that cost around $100 a barrel. Instead of filling the Reserve with lower priced oil like Trump wanted to (read here). Buy high sell low only works when tax payers are paying the bill.

Blaming Putin is spin. The price of oil was in the high 90’s before Putin stepped foot on Ukrainian soil.

And as sure as night follows day, oil executives will be dragged in front of congress every time the price of oil sky rockets. I’ve seen this happen over and over again. Once again this is political theater to find a scapegoat for the consequences of government intervention into the economy.

And now the Administration is going to open up more land for drilling.

Why would we believe anything a politician or bureaucrat says? History tells us not to trust individuals who have the ability to wield government power (aka politicians and bureaucrats).

Biden Infuriates Environmentalists, Oil Refiners By Allowing More Ethanol In Gas To Lower Prices, at zerohedge.com. Let’s try to sift through the BS.

The overriding point is, Politicians are not “public servants”. They are self interested actors playing on a political stage.

Biden needs lower gas prices to survive the upcoming election cycle. So he (the EPA) will do away with regulations which disallow high ethanol gasoline being sold during the summer months. Higher ethanol content lowers the price of these blends. But the reason high ethanol gasoline is disallowed during the summer months is because it causes smog. So Biden is willing to sacrifice his beloved environmental and climate change issues on the alter of his parties political future.

Senators Grassley and Ernst, Republicans from Iowa, praised this news. Why? Iowa is the leading corn producer in the U.S. and 33% of our corn crop is used to produce ethanol. So it helps Grassley and Ernst, politically, and everyone involved in the ethanol industry, financially, at the expense of millions of consumers and tax payers who are paying the cost of the ethanol scam.

But let me ask you, does it makes sense to use carbon based fuels to plant, cultivate and harvest corn (which is food), truck it to an ethanol plant, then turn it into fuel used to power cars. Put simply, we use diesel to produce food which is then turned into fuel. Now factor into the equation that a molecule of ethanol produces less energy than a molecule of gasoline or diesel. So even if you pay less for ethanol, you are getting less miles per gallon than what you would get if you used gasoline.

Why are we are going through this whole ethanol charade? We are wasting time, land, labor and resources to produce less energy. It would cost less if we paid everyone involved in the ethanol industry to do nothing. They would be like welfare recipients leaching off the tax payer. But it would be better because we would save all the time, land, labor and resources being wasted on ethanol production. And we would use higher energy gasoline and diesel in our vehicles, all being a net gain.

And what about the potential grain shortage because of the Ukrainian Russian war. We could use the resources to produce ………….. uh………food.

Huh…………

Soros-Funded Prosecutor In St. Louis Admits To Wrongdoing In Greitens Case, at justthenews.com. Here is an example of using the legal system for political purposes. Just like the Russian collusion hoax.

In Shadow Of Hunter Biden Probe, Democrats Grapple With Corruption Scandals Galore In Own Ranks, at justthenews.com. Corruption and abuses of power happen to both Republicans and Democrats. But you don’t hear about the corruption on the Democrat side as much because of the cover up by the main stream media. Here are some examples.

Secret Service Agents Bribed By Men With Iran, Pakistan Visas Pretending To Be DHS Agents, at saracarter.com. Should this be an important story? –Judge Declines To Jail Two Men Accused Of Impersonating Federal Agents, And Giving Gifts, at justthenews.com. I guess not!

Dozens Of Disney Employees Have Been Arrested For Child Sex Crimes, at thenationalpulse.com. Excerpt from the article: “Amidst Disney’s opposition to Florida’s falsely monikered “Don’t Say Gay” bill – which aims to protect children from exposure to harmful gender ideologies and activism – the company’s long history of employing individuals arrested for a variety of child sex crimes has come under scrutiny.”

Hard to believe that sexual predators and pedophiles would gravitate to a profession that caters to children (their potential victims).

In a totally unrelated article –NYT Writer Admits Schools Are Grooming Children Into LGBT Identities, at thefederalist.com. They are grooming children to be future victims of sexual predators and pedophiles.

The Left Is Freaking Out Over Elon Musk Because Twitter Rigs The Game For Democrats, at thefederalist.com. Tyrants don’t want any arguments against their ideology. They hate free speech because their world view can’t stand up to scrutiny.

Robert Reich Goes Full Orwellian: More Freedom Is Tyranny, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article: “Reich explains that it is not about freedom by tyranny. More free speech means less freedom.”

It is the type of argument commonly used in China and other authoritarian nations–and an increasing number of American academics and writers. Indeed, his column is reminiscent of the professors who have called for the adoption of the Chinese model for censoring views on the Internet.”

Reich tells people not to be lured by freedom of speech: “Musk says he wants to ‘free’ the internet. But what he really aims to do is make it even less accountable than it is now.” What Reich refers to as “accountability” is being accountable to those like himself who can filter out views and writings that are deemed harmful for readers.”

They can’t lose control of the narrative because their ideology can only survive if it isn’t scrutinized.

(EXCLUSIVE) Experts: ‘Omicron Covid -19 Likely Came Fro A Lab, Too‘, at sharylattkisson.com. Excerpt from the article: “Now, some scientists examining the virus have concluded “vast” genetic mutations that likely occurred in a lab setting are what makes Omicron spread so quickly.

“Omicron was first detected in Botswana, South Africa, reported to have been brought by a foreign delegation from a country officials will not identify, making it more difficult for outside observers to track its origin.”

“To many scientists, the genetic differences that made Omicron so quickly transmissible caused it to immediately stand out as unlikely to be a result of a natural evolution…

Read this article. There is a lot here.

FDA Panel Mulls COVID Booster Issues Despite ‘Insufficient’ Data, at medpagetoday.com. Excerpt from the article: “Monto backed up his support for an 80% vaccine effectiveness threshold by saying that with the “development of antivirals and therapeutics, you can’t prevent everything with an evolving virus.”

“The need for revaccination will be dictated by the virus more than by us,” he noted.”

Marks said that VRBPAC would meet again in early summer to discuss “more specific detail” regarding the composition of future boosters to “stay ahead of future variants and outbreaks”

There is a lot to digest in this article. But this sounds like they are chasing all the COVID variants instead of getting out in front of the mutations. It seems like the “vaccines” and “boosters” are more like flu shots. And flu shots have varying degrees of effectiveness, if any at all. But antivirals and therapeutics work to fight the symptoms, so the individual can survive and create natural immunity.

Shouldn’t individuals be given the information and then be allowed to decide what coarse to take? Of course they should!

SATIRICAL HEADLINES.

Dems Explain They Don’t Want Billionaires controlling Our Media Unless They’re Bezos, Zuckerberrg, Gates, Bloomberg, Buffeett, or Soros, at babylonbee.com.

Leftists Warn That If They Can’t Ban Opposing Viewpoints They’d Have To Actually Defend Their Beliefs, at thebabylonbee.com.

State Of California Rejects 100% Of Biology Textbooks For Stating There Are Only Two Genders, at babylonbee.com.

Economists Starting To Think Shutting Thee Economy For Two Years May Have Had Some Negative Consequences, at babylonbee.com.

Liberal Worried That Next COIVD – 19 Wave Might Be Too Mild To Use To Push Agenda, at babylonbee.com.

After Being Denied Tattoo, Sixth Grader Decides To Have Gender Reassignment Surgery Instead, at babylonbee.com.

Confused Biden Wondering Why Corn Pop Is At The White House, babylonbee.com.

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Must Reads For The Week 1/12/19

January 14, 2019

Starbucks Plans To Install Needle-Disposal Boxes In Certain Locations, by Dalvin Brown, at usatoday.com. The old bathroom policy at Starbucks stated that unless you were a paying customer you were not allowed to use their bathrooms. But that policy changed after national outrage was sparked when two African American males were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks after being told they couldn’t use the bathrooms because they were not paying customers. Because of the outrage, Starbucks changed the policy by allowing anyone entering a store to use their bathrooms. Because of the new policy, their bathrooms are now being used by drug users which leaves blood and syringes in their bathrooms. So instead of getting rid of the new policy that caused the unhealthy situation in the first place, Starbucks is going to train their employees to safely clean up these hazardous conditions. Starbucks is essentially going to try to cure the symptom of the problem they originally created by their new bathroom policy.

Grandfather Of Oklahoma Teen Killed By Homeowner In Burgalary Says AR-15 Made For ‘Unfair’ Fight, by Chris Enloe, at theblaze.com. Here is a quote from the Grandfather: “What these three boys did was stupid. They knew they could be punished for it but they did not deserve to die. Brass knuckles against an AR-15? C’mon. Who was afraid for their life?

So, should the homeowner have put down his firearm, put on a pair of brass knuckles and fought the three young men? Just to make it fair!

Mother Of Armed Robber Shot Dead By Man Defending His Children: ‘Why Did He Shoot Him Five Times?, by David Urbanski, at theblaze.com. The father pulled his gun and shot only after the perp pointed his gun at the father’s two kids. The father eliminated the threat without shooting anyone else. Pretty impressive.

Indiana Police Officer Gets Shot By Fellow Officer Who Was Shooting At An Aggressive Dog, by Trevor Peters, at wthitv.com. Is this a pattern? I posted this article (Read and Watch Here) a month ago about an officer killing a women as he attempted to shoot an aggressive dog. These are examples of ‘trained’ officers firing shots without knowing where the bullets will end up. Should the training related to aggressive dogs be changed? I’ve had aggressive dogs attack me when I used to go jogging. When they did, I would face the attacking dog and kick them in the mouth as hard as I could. That always worked.

‘Hate Speech’ Convictions Soar Tenfold As Sweden Cracks Down On Migration Critics, at zerohedge.com. If we don’t protect free speech rights in America, this will happen here. What happened to the adage “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me?” Political correctness and identity politics happened.

Court Says Masterpiece Cakeshop Owner Can Sue Colorado Civil Rights Commission For Its Hostility Toward Religion, by Leon Wolf, at theblaze.com. Jack Phillips won his case in the supreme court but the Colorado civil rights commission won’t leave him alone. “You will comply with the politically correct way of thinking or the full force of government will be brought down on you.

 

BIAS EXISTS IN ALL MEDIA.

Human beings are far from perfect. Varying degrees of bias exists in all human endeavors. Since politics is polarizing, politics by nature is biased. No matter how much you hate politics, no one is apolitical. I don’t buy into the big government Republican / Democrat political paradigm that exists today. I don’t like big government and it’s politics that exists today. There are probably no democrat politicians I agree with and a handful of republican politicians I agree with. But that doesn’t mean I am unbiased. I am biased toward shrinking the size and scope of government and increasing individual freedom. Is that a political position? I don’t know but at least I admit that I’m biased. The media won’t even admit they are biased. No matter how obvious the bias is.

 

Seattle TV Station Caught Doctoring Trump’s Face During National Address, at zerohedge.com. How did the editors not catch this? Bias?

Strange Times – Don Lemon, at economicnoise.com. Don Lemon’s comment, “We have to stop demonizing people and realize the biggest terror threat in this country is white men, most of them radicalized to the right, ad we have to start doing something about them.” gets a response from a former Navy Seal Ephraim Mattos: “…do not let Don Lemon’s ignorant words drive you into viewing yourself only by your race and religion. Identity politics does not lead to freedom. It only leads to hatred and division and an “us vs. them” mentality.”

Media’s Angry Response To Trump’s Oval Office Speech Comes Up Short, by Mollie Hemingway, at thefederalist.com. The media responded to the straw men they created.

A Neocon-Backed Narrative Control Firm Works To Destroy Alternative Media, at zerohedge.com. Fact checking sites need to be fact checked.

Co-Founder Of LinkedIn Acknowledges Funding Russian-Style Disinformation Effort During The Alabama Special Election, by Aaron Mak, at slate.com. No comment necessary.

If We Can No Longer Tell The Truth, We’ve Failed, by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. Everything is so politicized that we can’t even agree on what is true.

 

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

With Government Shut Down, Citizens Forced To Interfere In Their Own Lives, at babylonbee.com.

Mobs Of Women Protest Nation’s Logging Companies For Equal Work, at babylonbee.com.

Church Greeters Stationed At Southern Border To Deter Immigrants, at babylonbee.com.

Colorado Civil Rights Commission Updates Mission Statement To Simply Read ‘Destroy Jack Phillips‘ at babylonbee.com.

 

CARTOONS

from theburningplatform.com

Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez

Political Cartoons by Tom Stiglich

Political Cartoons by Mike Lester

Political Cartoons by Ken Catalino

Walter E. Williams: “Liberty Is Not For Wimps”

March 22, 2017
Walter E. Williams

Walter E. Williams states in this article, Liberty Is Not For Wimps (read here): “Most Americans, whether liberal or conservative, Democratic or Republican, do not show much understanding or respect for the principles of personal liberty. We criticize our political leaders, but we must recognize that their behavior simply reflects the values of people who elected them to office. That means we are all to blame for greater governmental control over our lives and a decline in personal liberty.”

Our founders told us that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. Since WWII we have not been vigilant at all. We vote and go back to living our lives. Being informed and active is the most important part of eternal vigilance. Voting is something that happens on one day every two years.

Why have not seen the growth in the power of Government over our lives? Because it has been an incremental increase.

When you see yourself in the mirror everyday you don’t realize how much you have changed over the course of 20 years. When you see a picture of yourself from 20 years ago you ask; “Who is that person?”.

This is what has happened to the growth of Government and the loss of our individual liberty. Unfortunately the majority of the people haven’t been shown a ‘picture’ of what individual liberty originally looked like. Their only picture from their past is a picture of Government solutions to every problem.

These people have not been taught about individual liberty in our schools and universities. In fact they have been indoctrinated into thinking Government is the end all and be all. They have to be educated about individual liberty before they can make informed decisions.

LIBERTY DEFINED

Excerpt from the article: “My initial premise is that each of us owns himself. I am my private property, and you are yours. If we accept the notion of self-ownership, then certain acts can be deemed moral or immoral. Murder, rape and theft are immoral because those acts violate private property.

“Most Americans accept that murder and rape are immoral, but we are ambivalent about theft. Theft can be defined as taking the rightful property of one American and giving it to another, to whom it does not belong. It is also theft to forcibly use one person to serve the purposes of another.”

“At least two-thirds of federal spending can be described as Congress’ Taking the rightful property of one American and giving it to another American, to whom it does not belong. So-called mandatory spending totaled $2.45 trillion in 2015. This, two-thirds of the federal budget goes toward Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, food assistance, unemployment and other programs and benefits that fall into the category of taking from some and giving to others. To condemn legalized theft is not an argument against taxes to finance the constitutionally mandated functions of the federal government; we are all obligated to pay or share of those.

RIGHTS DEFINED

Excerpt from the article: “Many say that government spending guarantees one right or another. That’s nonsense. True rights exist simultaneously among people. That means that exercise of a right by one person does not impose an obligation on another. In other words, my rights to speech and travel impose no obligations on another except those of noninterference. For Congress to guarantee a right to healthcare, food assistance or any other good or service whether a person can afford it or not does diminish someone else’s rights – namely, their right to their earnings. Congress has no resources of its own. If Congress gives one person something that he did not earn, it necessarily requires Congress drive somebody else of something that he did earn.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

Excerpt fro the article: “A very difficult liberty pill for many Americans to swallow is freedom of association. As with free speech, the true test for one’s commitment to freedom of association does not come when one permits people of voluntarily associate in ways that he deems acceptable.”

“The true test is when he permits people to associate in ways he deems offensive. If a golf club, fraternity of restaurant were not to admit me because I’m a black person, I would find it offensive, but it’s every organization’s right to associate freely.”

“On the other hand, a public library, public utility or public university does not have a right to refuse me service, because I am a taxpayer.”

CONCLUSION

Excerpt from the article: “The bottom line is that it takes a bold person to be for personal liberty, because you have to be able to cope with people saying things and engaging in voluntary acts that you deem offensive. LIBERTY IS NOT FOR WIMPS.

It is our job to make the case for individual liberty. As I said earlier, people are not being taught about individual liberty in our schools and universities. If people are not curious enough to educate themselves, it is up to us to educate them.

Walter E. Williams has been ringing the bell for individual liberty his whole life. You don’t have to try to save the whole world. You just have to influence the people in your little part of the world. People are starting to be curious about what is going on. The election of Trump proves that people know there is something wrong with the status quo. These people represent fertile ground on which to plant the seeds of liberty.

 

Related Article: Walter E. Williams: The State Against Liberty, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article: Walter E. Williams: Voluntary vs. Involuntary Exchange, or Seduction vs. Rape, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article: Walter E. Williams Speaks About The Economics Of Liberty, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article: Walter E. Williams: Are We Moving Toward More Personal Liberty of More Government Control Over Our Lives, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article: Walter E. Williams Talks About Individual Liberty, at austrianaddict.com.

Fake Headlines

February 3, 2017

https://thumb7.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/175957/227201005/stock-vector-vector-newspapers-eps-transparency-used-cmyk-global-colors-gradients-used-227201005.jpg

The headline of a news story is supposed to summarize what the news story is about. It is also supposed to make the reader curious to read the rest of the story. Unfortunately fake headlines have a different purpose. Fake headlines try to portray an ideological message, without the reader reading the rest of the article.

Headlines can and are used as propaganda.

Two days ago, Milo Yiannopoulous went to UC Berkeley to give a speech. Protesters forced him to cancel. Here are a few headlines from media outlets about the incident.

Protesters Force UC Berkeley To Cancel Far-Right Speaker’s Speech, at reuters.com.

Speech by Right-Wing Commentator Milo Yiannopoulous At Berkeley Canceled After Protest, at fox5sandiego.com.

Violent Protesters Block Berkeley Talk By Breitbart Editor, abcnews.go.com

Berkeley Cancels Milo Yiannopoulous Speech, And Donald Trump Tweets Outrage, nytimes.com.

The Real Headline.

First Amendment Rioters Bully Gay Conservative Commentator To Cancel His Speech At UC Berkeley.

Does this headline portray a different story?

The protesters wanted to exercise their free speech rights. The protest turned into a riot. The commentator was bullied into canceling the speech out of fear for his safety. The speaker was a Gay man. He was also an ideological conservative/libertarian.

I Have Some Questions

Was the original protest, which I have no problem with as long as it was peaceful, infiltrated by paid for professional rioters?

Were these rioters dressed in the black hooded sweatshirts part of the original protest?

Why weren’t the protesters confined to the place on campus that is designated as a free speech zone?

Do they have a free speech zone at Berkeley like other universities have?

Why didn’t any of the stories mention that Milo was gay?

Doesn’t being gay mean you are part of an identity group and can never be criticized?

Or does being a conservative and not politically correct trump your status as a gay person?

 

This is all very confusing. Will the left please write down the order of importance of the identity groups they’ve made up. I’m having a hard time knowing which group is more equal.

I know one thing for sure. If you don’t have a progressive left ideology, you are not considered a member of one of their identity groups. It is all about ideology, nothing else.

 

Related ArticleAre You A Democrat, a Republican, or a Libertarian, at austrianaddict.com.

Must Reads For The Week 8/5/16

August 5, 2016

Obama: Why We Paid Iran $400 Million In Cash, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Why am I letting this bother me? This is standard operating procedure for all administrations in general, and this administration in particular. First; was this a ransom for the hostages? Let’s answer a question with a question. Would Iran give back hostages unless they received something in return? The administration gave 5 Gitmo prisoners for Bergdahl. Was this exchange a ransom for a hostage?

This fudging of the truth (aka lie) isn’t what set me off. It’s this comment from his press conference. (Click on above article to watch what the President said, if you want to.) Besides telling everyone, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for“, here is what he said. “…the US government paid Iran in cash because the government has been so strict with sanctions they did not have a banking relationship with Iran, that we couldn’t send them a check. And we could not wire them the money…. It is not clear to me why cash as opposed to a check or a wire transfer has made this into a news story.

Let’s throw the BS flag, go to the replay official, and look at it. 1) I thought the Iranian deal made sanctions null and void. 2) You or I could probably set up a bank account right now using our smart phones. 3) Mr. President have you ever used an executive order to circumvent the law? 4) You or I couldn’t withdraw $10k from our accounts without scrutiny from government. 5) If we did have $10k cash on us, we would have it stolen by government officials under civil asset forfeiture laws. 6) Ever heard of the war on cash? One of the reasons governments wants to do away with cash is because “cash makes it easier for criminals and TERRORISTS to do business”. Cash transactions can’t be traced. Do you think Iran deposited this cash in the ” National Bank of Iran”, showing up on the credit side of the ledger? The biggest State sponsors of terrorism gets $400 million in cash! What could possibly go wrong?

Venezuela’s Economic Collapse Is So Bad People Are Slaughtering And Eating Zoo Animals, at zerohedge.com. Everything happens on the margin. Prices originally rationed food. Then lines rationed food. People on the margin have now decided that standing in line for 12 hours with no guarantee of getting any food isn’t worth it. The new marginal activity to get food is to slaughter zoo animals and eat them. What could the next marginal activity be in this socialist utopia?

Student Body Vice President Suspended For Tweeting, #Forget Black Lives Matters, More Like All Lives Matter, After Dallas Cops Shot, at zerohedge.com. Why do we tolerate the intolerance of the left? Who is the bully here?

“We Have Lost Our Way….Someone Has To Stand up For The Truth“, at zerohedge.com. The answer to all of our problems is individual liberty. Government shackles on Individual liberty have to be taken off and clamped on our government.

Racial Discipline Quotas Create Chaos In St. Paul Schools, at thefederalist.com. Parents have to take back schools from their anointed betters who have pushed this kind of lunacy. It won’t be changed unless parents say ‘enough is enough’.

Shocking Undercover Videos Reveal Just How Easy It Is To Commit Voter Fraud, at zerohedge.com. Which party wrote the book on voter fraud?

New UN Report: Tax Meat Until It Is Too Expensive To Eat, at economicpolicyjournal.com. And I thought Socialists didn’t understand the economic principles of supply and demand. When you raise the price of a good, less of that good will be consumed. The UN wants to reduce the consumption of meat, because the production of meat causes “Global Warming”. I’d rather be hot while eating a medium rare steak, than cool while eating a tofu burger.

Concealed Carry Saves Cop Pinned By Meth Addict, at thefederalist.com. The citizen showed poise and restrained in the use of his gun. This perp would have been shot by most cops.

Switzerland, Land Of Peace, Sees Gun Sales Soar After Terror Attacks, at usatoday. And it is not because the Swiss President is talking about gun control. Gun sales go up in America after a mass shooting because our President starts talking about “common sense gun control laws”. The Swiss want to protect themselves from terrorists, while Americans want to protect themselves from our elected tyrants.

The FDA’s Insane Definition Of ‘Tobacco Product’ Drives Vaping Innovation, at reason.com. Another example of a government agency, namely the FDA, grabbing power by making law. Legislating is supposed to be the job of congress. They abdicated this right decades ago. The good news is Americans always try to get around every law the government passes. Americans ‘don’t tread on me’ attitude is part of the DNA we inherited from our founding fathers.

Obama To Bulldoze Chicago Lakefront For Presidential Library, Environmentalist Silent, at tammybruce.com. Is Obama going to get an ‘environmental impact statement’ to build this library? Let’s see! The IRS and the Tea Party groups. The FBI and Hillary’s EMail server. The EPA and Obama’s library. “I report, you decide”.

A Women Ran For President In 1872, at targetliberty.com. Talk about your glass ceilings! This was before women had the right to vote. I guess Hillary isn’t going to make history.

Father Of Benghazi Victim: Hillary Lied To Me And The American People.

Who do you believe? The father of a Navy Seal, who happens to have contemporaneous notes about what Hillary said to him; Or Hillary, who was called a liar about her EMails by FBI director Comey,  and actually convicted herself with her own previous statements?

Must Read “Leftovers”

December 8, 2015

Why The Fed Has To Raise Rates, by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. The US dollar is the worlds reserve currency. This puts the Fed in a situation of trying to control the domestic economy and the international economy. It can’t help both at the same time. An action that helps one, hurts the other. The Fed is trying to use it’s policies to steer the economy. It doesn’t understand that economic laws are trying to correct the Feds steering.

Bernie Sanders Is Right: The US Is Already A Socialist Country, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. Money quote, “..if a democratic socialist of the 19th century were to get into a time machine and travel to the modern United States, he’d be forced to exclaim “mission accomplished!”

A Resurgence of Intolerance, by Thomas Sowell, at jewishworldreview.com. College administrators surrender to students storm trooper tactics.

Free Speech, by Walter E. Williams, at jewishworldreview.com. Colleges don’t want diversity of opinion on campus. They want to ban free speech.

Learn Economic Nonsense From The Fed, by Patrick Barron, at patrickbarron.blogspot.com. Print money, print more money, print even more money.

Our Feckless Leader Apologizes For US ‘Role’ In Global Warming, at tammybruce.com. This is not from the Onion. President Obama used a quote from Martin Luther King to stress the urgency of fighting global warming.

Innocent Man Paralyzed After Being Mistook For Suspect By Cops – Struck 50 Times, at copblock.org. HT libertypenblog.blogspot.com.

CARTOONS

Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy

Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy

 

Must Reads For The Week 6/6/15

June 6, 2015
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Why Butter And Eggs Won’t Kill Us After All: Flawed Science Triggers U-Turn On Cholesterol Fears, by Chris Brooke, at dailymail.co.uk. So your telling me that global warming science isn’t settled! I can’t wait to have bacon with two eggs over easy and real butter on my toast this Sunday morning. Hat Tip lewrockwell.com.

Rent A Car Drive For Uber, at money.cnn.com. HyreCar is a start up that brings individuals who want to rent their personal car and people who want to drive for Uber or Lyft. Technology is helping us use our scarce resources more productively.

zTailors – High-Quality Affordable Tailoring At Your Door, at aTailors.com. Tailors making house calls.

North Korea Is Kind Of Awesome At Earth Hour, by Sean Davis, at thefederalist.com. If only crazy environmentalists could be as committed to not using electricity as the North Koreans are.

The Danes Are Revolting: Tax Administration Set On Fire, at zerohedge.com. No comment needed.

Free Speech Facebook And The NSA: The Good The Bad And The Ugly, at zerohedge.com. Do you think the NSA quit collecting data for the three days prior to the Patriot Act being reauthorized? Not a chance. Data collection, in violation of the fourth amendment, is here to stay. What would government do with the massive data collection center in Utah?

Protecting Perks, Power, And Profits Has Perverted The Entire System, at zerohedge.com. Electronically printing counterfeit money brings the future into the present before its time. Here is an excerpt form the article, “Cronyism depends on the credit bubble. the future is where new wealth is created. When you try to stop and twist the future into the shape you want, you prevent the future from ever happening. So you switch from creating wealth now to taking wealth from the future so you can consume it now.

From Whence Cometh Our Wealth- Peoples Labor Or The Fed’s Printing Press? by David Stockman, at davidstockmanscontracorner.com. If you were stranded on a deserted island you would have to use labor to produce food, whether is was knocking coconuts out of a tree, or catching fish. If I could give you a million dollars would it do you any good? The money would only have value in starting a fire or for use as toilet paper. It would have no exchange value.

CARTOONS

 

 

 

Must Reads For The Week 5/9/15

May 8, 2015
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

ECONOMIC LESSONS ABOUT PRICE FLOORS AND CEILINGS

NYC Mayor: Lets Bomb New York City With Rent Controls, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Rent control is a price ceiling. When the price of rent is not allowed to go above what the price would be under normal market conditions, an artificial shortage is created. Less is supplied at a lower price than a higher price, and more is demanded at the lower price than a higher price, creating a shortage of housing and a surplus of renters. It’s simple supply and demand.

Robert Reich: Economic Malpractice On The Minimum Wage, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. A minimum wage law is a price floor that a wage can’t go below. Watch the difference between the explanation about the minimum wage from Robert Reich, and the explanation by the Kahn Academy. Robert Reich is trying to fool people who are economically ignorant. When a wage is set at a rate higher than what that labor produces, the demand for that labor will decrease, creating unemployment. Less labor will be demanded at a higher rate than a lower rate, and more labor will be supplied at a higher rate than a lower rate, creating a surplus of labor or a job shortage.

Meet The Hotel Robot That Will Battle Minimum Wage Hikes, at economicpolicyjournal.com. When a wage is set higher than what the labor produces, the labor will go away. Automation is one way this will happen. Robert Reich forgot to mention this as well as some other salient points.

Free market prices coordinate supply of and demand for scarce goods and services. Government price controls, like minimum wage laws and rent control laws, are interventions that are factored into the economic law of supply and demand. Government force can’t do away with the economic reality of scarcity, it can only distort the coordination process.

MORE GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

Ripple Labs Faces Fines From FinCEN, at payments.com. Ripple Labs is the first virtual currency exchanger to be fined by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The Government wants to keep its monopoly on money creation via the Federal Reserve, by making virtual currency providers comply with anti-money laundering laws. This is curious because the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve are running the biggest money laundering operation in the history of the world.

Obamacare Killer? Global Spending On Cancer Drugs Surges To $100 Billion, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Obamacare has taken over decision-making from what was left of a free market system in the healthcare system. Coordination of supply and demand through prices barely exists. Lobbying Government for protection and favors through Government decision-making is no way to run an industry, just ask the former USSR.

The Mysterious Source Of Surging Demand For GM Cars, Revealed, at zerohedge.com. The first trick to increase sales was channel stuffing. The second was subprime car loans. Now the Government has increased its purchases from Government Motors. Maybe it does pay to get into bed with the Government! They bailed GM out. They subsidised purchases of the Chevy Volt. Now they are buying cars, (for whom, I don’t know).

Government Using Subprime Mortgages To Pump Housing Recovery, Tax Payer Will Pay Again, at zerohedge.com. This didn’t end well last time, did it?

MISCELLANEOUS

Meet Three Kids Alive Today Thanks To 3D Printing, by Ashley Welch, at cbsnews.com. We are only scratching the surface of what can be done with 3D printing.

Creative Destruction: Newspaper Ad Revenue Continues Free Fall, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. The market (decisions by individuals), picks the most productive goods and services. I predict the print media will, at some point, ask for a Government bailout.

CNN Anchor, Chris Cuomo, Ignorant About The Constitution And Hate Speech, by Robby Soave, at reason.com. And Chris Cuomo has a law degree from Fordham University? He must have missed the class when they talked about the first amendment!

Hello Al Gore: Low Sun Spot Cycle Could Mean Another ‘Little Ice Age’, by Chriss Street, at americanthinker.com. Who would have ever thought that the sun is the most important factor when it comes to the earths temperature.

CARTOONS THAT MAKE YOU THINK

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Must Reads For The Week 3/21/15

March 21, 2015
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Mesmerizing 3-D Printer Forms Objects Out Of Ooze, And Fast, by Tim Moynihan, at wired.com. The innovation in the field of 3D printing is amazing. Carbon3D’s Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) technology is mind-blowing. This technique is mush faster than printing an object layer by layer. The object actually grows out of a tray of resin. Watch the video below.

 

Solar Industry Fiascos Continue, at instituteforenergyresearch.org. When Governments try to bring a technology forward before it’s time through tax breaks, tax subsidies, and tax payer backed loans, fraud is ultimately the result. When politicians and bureaucrats are handing out a big pile of tax payer money, there will be no shortage of con artists trying to get their hands on it. Government officials make bad venture capitalists, because they never have to pay the cost of their failures. Tax payers do.

Forget Oil, A Water Revolution Is About To Gusher In Texas, by James Stafford, at economicpolicyjournal.com. New desalination technology has lowered the cost of purifying water from $8 per barrel, to $1.50 to $2.00 per barrel.

UNINTENDED OR INTENDED CONSEQUENCES?

Oakland’s Minimum Wage Hike Is Crushing Childcare Sector And The Domino Effect, at economicpolicyjournal.com. and Seattle’s New Minimum Wage Law Already Leading To Restaurant Closings And Job Losses, by Mark J. Perry, at aei.org. These two articles show the “unintended” consequences of intervention by politicians and bureaucratic busy bodies.

The Robot Lobby Loves A Minimum Wage Hike, atconsultingbyrpm.com. Consequences from Government intervention may actually be “intended”.

Oil Train Derailments In Canada Expose Folly Of Anti-Pipeline Movement, by Kenneth P. Green, at fraserinstitute.org. Environmentalists who have stopped the installation of oil pipelines, are responsible for more oil spills. Shutting down the pipeline doesn’t stop oil from being transported to refineries. More oil is being transported via rail and trucking which increases the chance of a spill. “Unintended” consequences?

German Court Places Nationwide Ban On Uber, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Government always tries to prop up the status quo. Government by its very nature is always tardy. It will always stand in the way of economic innovation that leads to the advancement of our standard of living. The recent passage of Net Neutrality by the FCC will eventually lead to regulations that will slow economic innovation. “Intended” or “unintended” consequences?

More Than 52,000 Canadians Left The Country For Medical Care In 2014, Bacchus Barua, at fraserinstitute.org. Government always produces a decreased supply of a lower quality product of service. The market produces an increased supply of a higher quality product of service. Obamacare will be no different from other socialist healthcare systems. “Unintended” or “intended” consequences?

MISCELLANEOUS

Snowiest Place In America Copenhagen NY, at syracuse.com. 21 feet of snow this winter in this upstate NY town. The pictures are amazing.

Students Attack Preacher Holding Anti-Abortion Sign, Cop Says Free Speech Has Limits On Campus, by Robby Soave, at reason.com. The free speech door only swings in the direction of the progressive left.

Dear Gay Community: Your Kids Are Hurting, by Heather Barwick, at thefederalist.com. Heather Barwick’s perspective on being raised by her mom and her moms same-sex partner. This makes you think.

The Difference Between Going To High School In 1970 vs. 2015, Perfectly Expressed, by Steve Straub, at thefederalistpapers.org. Younger people read this to see how much freedom you’ve lost. Older people read this and ask: How did we let this happen?

Nagging Wife Complains About Her Husband, Gets Unexpected Response, at thechive.com. I know this might come as a shock, but men and women think differently.