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Must Reads For The Week 12/15/18

December 17, 2018

Egypt Restricts The Sale Of Yellow Vests Suspecting That Egyptians Might Copy The French, at egyptianstreets.com.  This could be a satirical headline. But it’s true. These geniuses can’t possibly believe that the vests are causing the protests, can they? Just remember these are the same people who think guns cause murder.

Shocking Data Show 40% Of American College Students Never Graduate, at zerohedge.com. 80% of those who don’t finish college have student loan debt. Why do we push college on individuals who have no business going in the first place. College is a racket. All it does is create debt serfs.

Elon Musk’s Taxpayer-Funded Gravy Train, by Allan C. Brownfeld, at mises.org. Elon Musk is a multi million dollar welfare recipient. His businesses wouldn’t survive unless they were subsidized by taxpayer dollars.

House Passes $867 Billion Farm Bill Which Rejects Curbs On Food Stamps, at zerohedge.com. I’m surprised Elon Musk hasn’t figured out a way to get his hands on some of this money. The Government is confiscating the production of some people and redistributing it to others people who haven’t earned it. What is sad is that the supposed party of small government (Republicans) voted for this big government bill.

McKenzie Adams, Alabama 9-Year-Old Who Hung Herself, Faced Racist Bullying, Her Family Says, by Issac Stanley-Becker, at washingtonpost.com. This story is an example of the main stream media shaping the news by what they don’t report. I read the first page of articles of this stories google search. Not one article mentioned that the bullies were black kids. If you read the headlines you would think white kids bullied her. Ask yourself this, if it was white kids doing the bullying, would it have been front page news.

How Government Bureaucrats And The New York Times Are Misleading The Public About Climate Change, by Robert P. Murphy, at mises.org. The government and the media are teaming up to feed us propaganda about global warming.

We Need Unilateral Free Trade With Post-Brexit Britain, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. The EU and pro EU bureaucrats in Great Britain are trying to over turn the vote of the British people who decided to get out of the EU. Bureaucrats say they can’t come up with a Brexit deal they can agree on. Why do you need a new “deal” to get out of the old deal. How about you just state that the EU rules no longer apply. That’s one sentence. These bureaucrats are fighting the Brexit straw man they created in order to run out the clock and force another Brexit vote in the hope it turns out different this time.

“Peak TV”: Streaming Originals Overtake Basic Cable, at zerohedge.com. This is an example of the creative destruction of the market. Streaming came into the market and has provided a lower price product that individuals like.

What Is Economic Growth? (And What Is It Not?), by Per Bylund, at mises.org. Increasing productivity is economic growth. In other words producing more output with less imput. Here is an except from the article: “….increased productivity really increases the purchasing power of all money, including (and most importantly) low wages, thus making it much more ‘affordable’ to satisfy one’s needs and wants. But note that the distribution of such prosperity cannot be equal or instantaneous: any new innovation, new good, new service, etc will be created somewhere, by someone– it cannot be created for seven billion plus people instantaneously. So anything new, including new jobs and new productive abilities, has to spread–as ripples–across the economy.”

The Myth Of The Neutral Interest Rate, by Frank Shostak, at mises.org. It is impossible for Federal Reserve policy makers to know what the neutral interest rate should be at any particular time. Excerpt from the article: “Now, even if the Fed were to know the level of the neutral rate it could not achieve economic stability. The reason being that the Fed would have to pursue active monetary policies to maintain the neutral rate target”

“This act however, will lead to boom-bust cycles and economic instability. Hence, there cannot be such thing as the neutral interest rate policy, which will result in economic and price stability.”

“Rather than targeting the money market interest rate towards the unknown neutral rate by means of monetary tampering, which leads to more instability, a better alternative is to leave the economy alone, In a free market economy without a central bane, no one would be conducting any kind of monetary policies.”

“In the absence of central bank monetary policies, which enrich some individuals at the expense of other individuals, interest rates that emerge will be truly neutral.”

“In a free market, no one then would be required to establish whether the interest rate is above or below some kind of imaginary equilibrium.”

 

THE BREAK DOWN OF THE RULE OF LAW

DEEP STATE INSIDERS ABUSES OF POWER

Google CEO Exposes Shocking “Full Extent” Of Russian Meddling In 2016, at zerohedge.com. There is very little Russian meddling compared to how much is portrayed by the main stream media.

Despite Comey’s Struggle With Amnesia, Ex-FBI Director Confirms Dossier Totally Unverified, at zerohedge.com. “I Don’t Recall.” This is the phrase that will get you out of a perjury trap. I learned this from the Clintons back in the day. Comey and all insiders know the importance of this phrase. They use it all the time when being questioned. But let me give you better advice. Don’t talk to law enforcement. Assert your fifth amendment rights.

Judge Overseeing Michael Flynn’s Sentencing Just Dropped A Bombshell, by Margot Cleveland, at thefederalist.com. They set a perjury trap for Flynn. He pleaded guilty to a crime he didn’t commit because he didn’t have the resources to fight an all-powerful government.

Former FBI SSA Exposes McCabe & Mueller’s “Unethical, Target & Destroy Coercion” Tactics, Defends Flynn, at zerohedge.com. If you are ever questioned by law enforcement always remember this little fact before you decide to talk or not talk. They can lie to you, but if you lie to them you can be charged with perjury.

DOJ Destroyed Missing Strzok/Page Texts Before IG Reviewed Them, by Bre Payton, at thefederalist.org.  –  Also –  Mueller Destroyed Messages From Peter Strzok’s iPhone, OIG Recovers 19.000 New “FBI Lovebird” Tests, at zerohedge.com. Hillary did this and got away with it. She destroyed Emails after they were subpoenaed. You or I could never get away with this. Only Insiders can get away with this.

 

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

Clintons Outnumber Crowd At Latest Speaking Engagement, at babylonbee.com.

Ninth Circuit Court Rules Border Wall Must Be ‘Short’ Enough That A Pregnant Woman Carrying A Child In Each Arm Could Be Expected To Scale It Without Difficulty’, at babylonbee.com.

Steph Curry Questions Whetherr Michael Jordan Actually Went To Space To Help Bugs Bunny Win A Basketball Game, at babylonbee.com.

Hollywood Working ON Official List Of Comedians It’s OK To Laugh At, at babylonbee.com.

Heisman Winner Proves If You Work Hard And Believe In Yourself, You Can Gave Journalists Try To Ruin Your Life By Combing Through Your Old Tweets, at babylonbee.com.

CNN Opens Up 24-Hour Anonymous Tip Line For Anyone With Synonyms For ‘Meller Closing In’, at theonion.com.

 

CARTOONS

from theburningplatform.com

Political Cartoons by Steve Kelley

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

Political Cartoons by AL Goodwyn

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Must Reads For The Week 9/1/18

September 3, 2018

THE COLLEGE SCAM

What You Really Pay For In College: Credentials, Not Education, by Doug French at mises.org. Traditionally, getting a high priced piece of paper, aka a college degree, was important to employers. It showed “that students have the discipline to suffer through the boredom to conform to what society expects and what employers want.” The changing economy and the high cost of college education is changing this traditional way of looking at employees.

11 Rage-Inducing Facts About America’s Wildly Out-Of Control Student Loan Debt Bubble, at zerohedge.co. Here are three important points from the article.

#1 The student loan debt bubble has now grown to 1.4 trillion dollars.

#2 In 2007, the total amount of student loan debt in the U.S. was just 545 billion dollars.

#9 From 2007 through 2017. “college tuition costs jumped 63 percent, school housing surged 51 percent and the price of textbooks by 88 percent.”

The increase of borrowed money being used for college education is the reason the costs of college education has increased so much. It is a bubble.

No College, No Problem: Silicon Valley’s Student Loan Solution, at zerohedge.com. Many companies are beginning to rethink the importance of a college education as a requirement for employment. This is a good trend.

OTHER STUFF

Boy Punished For Calling His Teacher Ma’am’,  And A Mother Was Investigated For Letting Her 8 Year-Old Walk The Dog, by Micheal Snyder, at lewrockwell.com. This is not satire from The Onion. It is just two examples of public school education insanity.

Crushing The “Blame Climate Change From Wildfires” Narrative In 1 Simple Chart, at zerohedge.com. More acreage was burned in the early 20th century than today and it is not even close.

Immigrants and Disease, at theburnigplatform.com. By law immigrants and refugees are mandated to go through medical screening. If they don’t pass, they are not allowed to enter. But it is impossible to medically screen illegal immigrants.

The Looming Threat of Video Game Regulation, by Matthew McCaffrey, at mises.org.  Here are the two reasons from the article that regulation of all industries takes place. “1) Politicians and regulators trying to control and manage the emerging industry. 2) Industry leaders using regulation to their own advantage and to the detriment of competitors.”

Facebook Engineer’s Stunning admission” “We Tear Down Posters Welcoming Trump Supporters”, at zerohedge.com. This is an admission of what we already knew. This is not an infringement on free speech because these are private companies. Free speech shall not be infringed by Congress as stated in the First Amendment. The answer is for an entrepreneur to supply a Facebook like platform that is truly uncensored.

The Energy Race Is On (Improving Fossil Fuels vs. Political Favorites), by Greg Rhemke at masterresource.org. This is really good. It is a must read for a reason.

Chart Of The Day: Oil Output In Texas vs. Venezuela, 1994-2018, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. This is really a contrast between socialism and capitalism.

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

Socialists Gather On Labor Day To Protest Concept Of Labor, at babylonbee.com.

Liberal Activist Explains Notion Of Tolerance To Man She Just Called A “Worthless [Expletive]’, at babylonbee.com.

Ocasio-Cortez Praises Venezuela For Making Everyone A Millionaire Through Hyperinflation, at babylonbee.com.

Ocasio-Cortez Severely Burned After Accidentally Touching Book On Basic Economics, at babylonbee.com.

CARTOONS

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Must Reads For The Week 2/10/18

February 11, 2018

 

THE FED AND THE STOCK MARKET

Is The 9-Year Dead Cat Bounce Finally Ending? By Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. The Feds double edged sword of artificially low interest rates and money printing have created bubbles in the financial markets. No one knows what is and is not a bubble activity. We just know printed money went into the financial markets. As Jim Grant has said, “It is money in search of mischief”. In other words, artificially low interest rates and printed money misallocates scarce resources to activities that would not exist under free market interest rates and stable money.

When the Fed raises interest rates and takes money out of the system by unwinding its balance sheet, the bubble activities will be revealed. Could this be what is happening to the stock market now. The Fed’s QE Unwind Accelerates Sharply, at zerohedge.com. The Fed created the financial bubble in the first lace and is now trying to figure out how to gradually let the air out, instead of popping it. They hope a stronger economy can help release the air slowly over time.

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan Warns: “We Have A Stock Market Bubble, at zerohedge.com. No kidding! You helped cause it by lowering interest rates and printing money.

The worlds Central Banks Holding Steady, But Promise More Rate Hikes, at mises.org. I scratch my head when I hear central banks talk about price inflation without mentioning that their policies are the cause of inflation. Prices will go up and down because of supply and demand. But this is not inflation. Money printing is the definition of inflation.

DEBT

Pentagon Auditor Can’t Account For $800 Million In Spending, at zerohedge.com. No shock here. There is waste, theft and fraud everywhere tax payer money is spent.

Credit Card, Student and Auto Debt All Hit Record Highs In December, at zerohedge.com. Borrowing money means you bring your future consumption into the present. How much more do you have to produce in order to be able to pay off the interest and inflated cost of present consumption and to also be able to consume when the future becomes the present?

Republican Fiscal Hawks Revolt Against Budget Deal, Suspension Of Debt Ceiling, at zerohedge.com. How can the Republicans in Congress say they are for small government when they pass a budget that increases the yearly budget debt by $400 billion? Only fiscally responsible Republicans stood against this budget. With the Fed saying they are going to increase interest rates, the $20 plus trillion national could increase exponentially.

Student-Loan Crisis Worsens; Looming Defaults Strain Govt Bailout Program, at zerohedge.com. Since the Government took over student loans it has become a bubble activity. The rise in the cost of college tuition is being caused by borrowed money being used to pay for college. When students get out of college and have more debt than income there will be defaults. These defaults will eventually be paid by you and me the tax payer. What a scam!

The Cure, at ericpetersautos.com. Excerpt from the article: “Imagine how different cars would be if people had to pay for them – as opposed to financing them. Debt – which is what financing is – allows people to buy more car than they can afford. It hides the actual cost of the car. It enables the government to impose costs in the forms of mandates which would otherwise be unaffordable – and so, objectionable. People would complain in the one language the government understands. They would not comply – because they could not buy.”

OTHER STUFF

“We Say Peoplekind”: Trudeau Mansplains To woman That “Mankind” Is Not an Appropriate Term, at zerohedge.com. This is the the idiocy of political correctness. Everyone with a brain knows what mankind means.

Lawmakers Want To Ban Tide-Pods From Looking So Delicious…. Seriously, at zerohedge.com. Who in their right mind would think eating laundry pods is a good idea? What kind of ego does it take to think it is your job to protect these idiots from themselves?

The Greatest Public Health Mistake Of The 20th Century, at mercola.com. We have been told for decades to stay out of the sun or wear sunscreen when you have to be out in it. But staying out of the sun causes a vitamin D deficiency. The study says that vitamin D may prevent 30 deaths for each death caused by skin cancer. Thomas Sowell is right again when he said, “There are no solutions in life. There are only trade offs.” We were sold a bill of goods on a bad trade off.

The Fragile Generation, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article: “Bad policy and paranoid parenting are making kids too safe to succeed…..This generation of kids must be protected like none other. They can’t use tools, they can’t play on grass, and they certainly can’t be expected to work through a spat with a friend.”

 

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Never Follow Your Passion, But Always Bring It With You.

June 8, 2016

In this video from Prager University, Mike Rowe critiques the adage, “follow your passion”. Many of us say this without thinking about the ramifications of following this advice.

Here are some excerpts from the video.

“Why would you tell someone to never give up on their dreams without even knowing what they’re dreaming? How can another person know where your passion will lead you? What happens when your passion and your ability have nothing to do with other?”

“If we’re talking about your hobby, by all means let your passion lead you. But when it comes to making a living it’s easy to forget the dirty truth; “Just because your passionate about something doesn’t mean you won’t suck at it.”

“And just because you’ve earned a degree in your chosen field it doesn’t mean you’re going to find your dream job. Dream jobs are just that, dreams. But their imaginary existence just might keep you from exploring a legitimate chance to perform meaningful work and develop a genuine passion for the job you already have. Because here’s another dirty truth; Your happiness on the job has very little to do with the work itself.”

“Consider the job market right now. Millions of people with degrees and diplomas are out there competing for very narrow set of opportunities that polite society calls good careers. Meanwhile employers are struggling to fill nearly 5.8 million jobs that nobody’s trained to do. this is “the skills gap”. It’s real and it’s cause is very simple. When people follow their passion they miss our on all kinds of opportunities they didn’t know existed.”

“….and while passion is why too important to be without, it is way to fickle to follow around. Which brings us to our final dirty truth; Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you.”

 

THE COST/BENEFIT OF A COLLEGE EDUCATION

Charles Hugh Smith: It’s Time To Ditch 4 Years Of Costly College For Directed Apprenticeships (read here).

In this article, Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com, asks the $64,000 questions about going into debt for a worthless college degree. Here are some excerpts from the article.

“So it turns out sitting in a chair for four years doesn’t deliver mastery in anything but the acquisition of staggering student-loan debt. Practical (i.e. useful) mastery requires not just hours of practice but directed deep learning via doing of the sort you only get in an apprenticeship.”

“Let’s start by admitting our system of higher education is unsustainable and broken:  a complete failure by any reasonable, objective standard. Tuition has soared 1,100% while the output of the system (the economic/educational value of a college degree) has declined precipitously.”

“The typical graduate of a short, intense directed apprenticeship says “I learned more in a month here than I did in four years of college.” this is a statement of fact, and it is the result of the methods deployed in structured on-the-job training.”

“Our higher educational system has failed so badly that many students are incapable of writing/communicating effectively….To “graduate” students with poor writing skills is completely unforgivable. Yet in the current system, if a student logs the requisite number of credits, a diploma is duly issued, regardless of how little he/she actually learned.”

“The entire “campus experience” should be jettisoned, not just as an overly expensive infrastructure but as a detriment to fast, deep learning that is the foundation of mastery…..the most successful incubators of talent around the world are generally in makeshift of decrepit buildings, not fancy new gleaming buildings of the sort that dot American college campuses. Surrounded by luxury, who feels any hunger to learn anything voraciously?”

“Short, intense directed apprenticeships that teach students how to learn on their own to mastery are the future of higher education. We can continue to squander trillions of dollars on an ineffective system until it finally collapses under its own weight, or we can admit the current contraption is unsustainable and a failure, and move on to a better, cheaper system.”

 

Related Article – Young People Get Hooked Into Huge Debt When They Take The Student Loan Bait, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Follow Up To Student Loan Debt Post. Government Creates The Problem, It Isn’t The Solution, at austrianaddict.com.

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Student Debt: Game Of Loans. By Prager University

November 15, 2015

Ronald Reagan said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the Government and I’m here to help“. No words are truer when you consider student loan debt. What is portrayed as benevolent Government providing student loans to make college affordable, is a scam. The cost of college has risen because of all the money the government has provided. Government is stimulating the demand for college through easy to get college loans. And as we all know prices go up when too much money is chasing too few goods. The reality is these students become debt serfs to the government for years after they graduate.

This video titled, Game Of Loans, from Prager University, explains how Government has lined the pockets of colleges at the expense of students aka debt serfs.

Here is an excerpt from the video. “It’s because of politicians who promise college students more and more aid, in league with the colleges, that college tuition became more expensive in the first place.”

Related Article – Young People Get Hooked Into Hugh Debt When They Take The Student Loan Bait, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Follow Up To Student Debt Post: Government Creates The Problem, It Isn’t The Solution, at austrianaddict.com.

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Must Reads For The Week 8/15/15

August 14, 2015

The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

Fed Finally Figures Out Soaring Student Debt Is Reason For Exploding College Costs, at zerohedge.com. The Fed has figured out that when money, from debt and money printing, is injected into a particular area of the economy, it raises the price (creates a bubble). Does this revelation hold true for all of the Feds printed money that has gone into the stock market?

The Doctor Won’t See You Now, at Forbes.com.  The laws of economics will be strictly obeyed.  The money quote from the article, “Many exchange policies limit patients’ choices of doctors and hospitals in order to keep premiums down in the face of Obamacare’s intrusive regulations and costly mandates.”  Who could have predicted that?

Navajo Nation Vows To Hold EPA Accountable, at zerohedge.com.  The EPA is responsible for releasing 1 Million, 3 Million gallons of toxic waste water into Colorado’s Animus River.  Like all Government agencies they are currently blaming the contractor for the accident.  Tough luck for New Mexico and Utah who are downstream from the toxic release.  I haven’t heard a peep from the media or environmental groups about this.  I guess it’s neither illegal nor a big deal if the government does it.  I wish the Navajo nation good luck in any lawsuit.  It’s great to be the tyrant, king!

Did EPA Intentionally Poison Animus River To Secure SuperFund Money?, at zerohedge.com.  It appears that a retired geologist predicted that the EPA would foul the Animus River a week before it actually occurred.  The implications of his accusations are chilling.  Never let a good crisis go to waste?

The Battle Intensifies: Police Raid Uber’s Hong Kong Office, at economicpolicyjournal.com.  Car Wars! Return of the Jitneys continues.  At this point, a rational government would realize they can’t put the genie back in the bottle.  Protecting special interests always trumps rationality but it can’t defeat the basic laws of economics.

Going Breadless in Venezuela, at economicpolicyjournal.com.  Socialism and price controls rear their ugly head again as bread shortages are the new norm in Venezuela.  Weren’t there food riots last week?  Don’t they have a toilet paper shortage as well?  Hey, let them eat cake!  Sorry, that’s reserved for the rulers.

Minimum Wage Effect?, at Carpe Diem Blog.  January to June job losses for Seattle area restaurants reaches 1300.  While there are many reasons for declining employment, artificially raising the price of labor means you will have less of it.  Businesses must make adjustments to increased costs.  My guess is that one unintended consequence will be less tipping for servers.

China’s Currency Policy: Devastating Manipulation or a Form of Generous Foreign Aid to Americans?, at Carpe Diem Blog.  This is a very different take on China’s recent efforts to devalue their currency.  Government intervention in currency whether it is printing counterfeit money, zero point interest rates, fractional reserve banking, or devaluing will always have unforeseen and negative consequences.  As for devaluing currency, how do you jump off a cliff halfway?

The Disturbing Messages In Police Recruiting Videos, at The Washington Post.  You don’t have to watch all the videos to get the point.  Why would you stress violent confrontation in your recruiting videos?  Even the Marine Corps doesn’t do that and they have the best military recruiting videos bar none.  If it is part of the recruiting tactics then it is likely the emphasis of their training.  When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.  Make sure you check out the last recruiting video by the Decatur Alabama police.  Quite the difference!

Serfdom USA!, at economicpolicyjournal.com.  Let’s end the week with some laughs.  This is for all of the true Austrian Economics Addicts out there.

 

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Must Reads For The Week 8/1/15

July 31, 2015
The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

Happy 103rd Birthday Milton Friedman, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Yesterday was Milton Friedman’s birthday. Milton Friedman had a talent for explaining complex economic concepts in a way that regular people like me were able to understand. This post by Mark J. Perry has some great quotes and a link to some great videos. Here is a video of Milton Friedman at his best as he takes on leftist Phil Donahue.

Here is the full episode with Friedman on the Donahue show. This is a great lesson on how to talk to a leftist.

Same Attorney In Charge Of Retrieving Lois Lerner’s IRS E-Mails Now In Charge Of Retrieving State Department Benghazi E-Mails!, at investmentwatchblog.com. A cleaner is a person who gets rid of incriminating evidence at the scene of a crime. Former IRS cleaner Kate Duval, is now going to the State Department to apply her craft to the Benghazi e-mails. Read a previous post titled, Hillary and Benghazi: Call In The Cleaners.

Former Obamacare Chief To Lead Top Insurance Lobby, by Paige Winfield Cunningham, at washingtonexaminer.com. The incestuous relationship between government bureaucrats and crony capitalists is here for all to see. Here is a quote, “There is no better individual than Marilyn to lead our industry through the increasingly complex health care transformation that is underway,” So let’s see if I understand this. A bureaucrat makes the health care system more complex for businesses, and then gets hired to help businesses with the complexity of the system. Who says government doesn’t create jobs?

Shocker: Louisiana Shooter Was On Psychotropic Drugs And Was Denied A Gun Permit, at theburningplatform.com.   If psychotropic drugs increase the risk of suicide. It doesn’t seem like a big jump to say that they increase the risk of homicide.

Total Collapse: Greece Reverts To Barter Economy For First Time Since Nazi Occupation, at zerohedge.com. Greece is moving towards barter because citizens can’t get to their money. When you move toward barter you are moving toward a lower standard of living, because transaction costs are higher.

Meanwhile In Venezuela…. The Socialist Paradise Has Arrived, at zerohede.com. Like F. A. Hayek said: The centrally planned socialist road leads to serfdom and poverty.

Jim Grant: Financial Prices Should Be Discovered, Not Administered, at zerohedge.com. Free market prices convey information for how scarce resources can be used in their most efficient way. Artificially set prices convey false information channeling scarce resources to less efficient uses.

Feds Get The Power To Seize Medical Records On ‘Fishing Expeditions’ With No Subpoena From A Judge, by Mark Fitzgibbons, at americanthinker.com. Another example of the violation of citizens fourth amendment rights to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant.

New Male Privilege Tax, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Watch this short video of Mark Dice getting people to sign a petition to pass a “Male Privilege Tax”. Can we survive this kind of ignorance?

How Student Loans Create Demand For Useless Degrees, by Josh Grossman, at mises.org. Student loans have create a couple of things. 1) Debt serfs who will be making payments for years. 2) Young people with meaningless degrees. 3) Rising college prices. Student loans have created a bubble in college education.

 

 

 

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Must Reads For The Week 6/13/15

June 12, 2015
The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

Government Subsidies Helped Elon Musk Attain $13.3 Billion Net Worth, at ipwatchdog.com. Crony capitalist Elon Musk says his companies would still be in business without government assistance. Why doesn’t he try it without our tax dollars, just to see if he is right.

Obamacare Is Working Even Better Than President Obama Expected, by Peter Sunderman, at reason.com. The president either had low expectations, or he expected healthcare premiums to “necessarily sky-rocket”.

Department Of Justice Uses Grand Jury Subpoena To Identify Anonymous Commenters On A Silk Road Post at Reason.Com, at targetliberty.com. A quote by George Washington comes to mind. “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force, like fire it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.”

Lake Wobegon On Steroids, Where All The Students Are Valedictorians, by Mark J. Perry, at Carpe Diem blog. From the article, “Roughly 20% of all graduating seniors at Dublin Ohio’s three high schools were awarded valedictorian status”.  With 222 recipients, there really is no status in being awarded valedictorian status.

Jail For Missed Days At School? The Madness Of Truancy Laws, by Walter Olson, at reason.com. From the article. “Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak has reported on a 13-year-old straight-A piano prodigy charged with truancy in D.C. for taking ten days off to play on international concert stages.” Remember the above quote by George Washington, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force, like fire it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.”

Texas Police Officers Shutdown Girls Lemonade Stand Because They Didn’t Get Health Permit, at huffingtonpost.com. These two young entrepreneurs learned a great lesson about what the greatest impediment to their success will be, government intervention. The good news is they did what we all do when it comes to government regulation, they found a way around it. The cop said this, “We just have to enforce ’em, we don’t write ’em.” This is the problem. There laws regulating everything. Police Chief Clyde Carter stated this gem, “It’s illegal to sell lemonade without a permit. But we didn’t tell them to shut down, we just asked them to get a permit.” I have a question for Chief Carter. If they wouldn’t have gotten a permit, would you have shut them down or let them continue. I think verbal sleight of hand artist Chief Carter has a bright future in politics. “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force, like fire it is a dangerous servant…...”

House Approves New NSA Reform Measure, at districtsentinel.com. Representative Thomas Massie got his amendment concerning collusion between the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the NSA, and the CIA concerning encryption standards. I know it’s hard to believe but these agencies were weakening encryption on consumer telecom services, so they could put back doors into the software for the purpose of spying on you without a warrant. “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force……”

U.S. Tech industry Appeals To Obama To Keep Hands Off Encryption, at entrepreneur.com. Does this have anything to do with the above article? “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence…..”

Channel Stuffing The Economy: There Has Never Been More Cars “On The Sidelines“, at davidstockmanscontracorner.com. Cars are counted as sold when manufactures sell them to dealerships. So even though consumers haven’t purchased the cars they are still counted as sold. You can show increasing sales by stuffing your cars onto dealers lots.

20 Years Later, Bill Clinton’s Home Ownership For America Is Dead, at zerohedge.com. Lowering lending standards created demand for borrowed money to purchase housing. The Federal Reserve supplied this demand with electronically printed counterfeit money. This brought future consumption into the present. What will replace this future consumption when its time comes? If you look at the chart in the article, you can see the government induced boom and corresponding bust. This boom and bust shows how real future consumption was moved forward in time, followed by less demand as the future became the present. A lot of future demand for goods and services was and is being used up by mortgage payments. Fed counterfeiting and Keynesian government spending distorts markets, enriches those who receive the counterfeit money first, and wastes scarce resources.

The Simplest Way To Describe Keynesianism In One Photo, at zerohede.com. Keynesian government spending takes water out of the deep end of the pool and dumps it into the shallow end.

Cartoons From The Burning Platform.

Political Cartoons by Chip Bok

Political Cartoons by Dana Summers

 

 

 

 

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George Will Outlines What Should Be In Every Commencement Speech

June 11, 2015

In this video from Prager University, George Will covers truths that most commencement speakers would never consider uttering.

Here are some excerpts from the video.

“….Your tuition has been much too costly, for which you can blame the Federal Government and the avarice of the University. Washington has produced a bubble in higher education just like it produced a bubble in housing. Some Government planners decided that too few people owned homes. So the planners decided to force an increase in home ownership. They lowered lending standards for people seeking a mortgage. This produced a glut of sub-prime loans and sub-prime borrowers, and then a crash.”

“Next some Government genius decided that there were too few college students. So Government made student loans and other tuition subsidies easier to get. Of course colleges and universities responded by increasing tuition to capture these Government subsidies. Which is why the cost of college has been rising four times faster than the rate of inflation…..There is now over a trillion dollars of student loan debt….Most of you are graduating today with debt. In effect you are graduation with a mortgage but no house. And what did you get for all this expense? A sub-prime education.”

This video is really good watch the whole thing.

Related Article – Best commencement Speech Ever? Adm. McCraven Gets My Vote, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Young People Get Hooked Into Student Loan Debt When They Take The Student Loan Bait, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Follow Up To Student Debt Post. Government Creates The Problem, It Isn’t The Solution, at austrianaddict.com.

 

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Must Reads For The Week 5/23/15

May 23, 2015
The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

LETS START WITH TECH

Electroloom Is a 3D Fabric Printer In The Making, by Natasha Lomas, at techcrunch.com. This is mind-blowing. Even when I watched the video of the 3D printer in action, I thought, what am I watching? The one question I had when I watched the video was; Why did they go to China to make Electroloom into a more usable product? Why couldn’t they do what they wanted to do here? Was Government regulations a reason they couldn’t finish there work here? I’m just asking, I don’t know why.

BioBots Is A 3D Printer For Living Cells, by Natasha Lomas, at techcrunch.com. BioBots can “build 3D living tissues and miniature human organs for research and pre-clinical screening, such as drug testing as a replacement for animal testing“. You can test on more complex human cells instead of less complex animal cells. A step forward to the possibility of 3D printing usable human organs.

Bocusini Will 3D Print Your Food Like A Fine Robotic Pastry Chef, by John Biggs, at techcrunch.com. The 3D printer uses small cartridges of chocolate, fudge, sugar, and marzipan, to create tasty small objects. I the day coming when you can fill the cartridges with some type of eatable food product that can be transformed to taste like your favorite meal.

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

Warning: Put Away All Sharp Objects!

Illinois, Chicago Run Out Of Options, Christine Williamson, pionline.com. Years of kicking the pension can down the road has finally caught up with politicians and bureaucrats.

Where Greeks Are Stashing Their Cash—German Cars, Not Mattresses, at davidstockmanscontracorner.com. When a currency is perceived to be loosing its value, people will not hold it. They will exchange it for goods. The Greeks are getting German cars, and the Germans are getting printed depreciating currency. It’s a something for nothing exchange.

School Cafeteria Food Fight: FLOTUS vs. Students, at tammybruce.com. Students are posting photos of their paltry lunches on social media. The US Department of Agriculture has decided to post photos to counter act the students photos. All I know is, you are not going to win a social media food fight with young people if you make it an, us against them scenario.

The Governments Message For Heavily Indebted Students: Don’t Pay Us Back, at zerohedge.com. The Federal Government takes over student loans. Than it hooks students into huge debt. Now it is taking the first steps to forgive the loan balances. Is this the start of Universal College Education, like Universal Health Care. Watch out tax payers.

Regulations Holding Back U.S. Energy Infrastructure Investment, by Mark J. Perry, at investors.com. In New England, a pipeline shortage caused by unpredictable Government regulations, has led to significantly higher costs of electricity and natural gas. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot with over regulation.

Net Neutrality: Obama’s FCC Puts Internet, American Innovation At Risk, by George Gilder, at discovery.org. George Gilder knows about the economics of technology. This is ‘the’ must read of todays must reads.

DEA Strikes Again: Seize Mans Life Savings Under Civil Asset Forfeiture Without Charges, at zerohedge.com. This is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. How can this go on in America. This is the kind of thing that happened behind the iron curtain back in the day.

Why Minimum Wage Laws Are ‘Phased In’, (Hint: It’s An Attempt To Hide The Terrible Consequences). by Bryan Caplan, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Obamacare was and is being phased in like this. When consequences happen gradually, people don’t notice as much. Even though the end result is still the same: fewer jobs at the higher price.

JUST LAUGH OR YOU’LL LOOSE YOUR MIND

Al Sharpton’s Daughter Suing NYC For $5 Million Over Ankle She Sprained On Soho Sidewalk, at dailymail.co.uk. She said the sprain left her in “permanent pain and mental anguish”. Who says kids don’t learn from their parents?

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