Posted tagged ‘The Burning Platform’

Must Reads For The Week 10/ 15/ 16

October 15, 2016

Obamacare’s Demise Has Arrived, at economicpolicyjournal.com. We tried to tell everyone that economic laws wouldn’t allow Obamacare to work. Now 60% of Tennessee’s Obamacare consumers will lose their coverage in 2017. Remember when Obama said: “if you like your plan you can keep your plan.” He was lying just like he was lying about those “shovel ready jobs”. Remember when he said: “it looks like those shovel ready jobs weren’t so shovel ready.”

1.4 Million Americans Who “Like Their Healthcare Plan” Set To Lose Them In 2017, at zerohedge.com. As insurance companies pull out of Obamacare exchanges, millions are going to lose their health insurance plans. Central planning provides less care at a higher price. Markets delivers the best possible care at the lowest possible price.

The Reason LA Has 10,000 Food Trucks And Chicago Only Has 70, at economicpolicyojurnal.com. The Chicago city council’s regulations has chosen the incumbent brick and mortar restaurants over the newer food truck businesses. Monopolies can only exist with government sanction. This is like the incumbant taxi cartel trying to get local governments to stop Uber from entering the market.

How Crony Contact Lens Manufacturers Are Trying To Destroy The Free Market In Contact Lenses, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Johnson and Johnson is trying to use government to restore its monopoly position in contact lens sales. Instead of using their time and effort to satisfy consumers, Johnson and Johnson is putting its resources toward lobbying government to regulate competitors out of business. Once again the consumer loses.

“Sharing Economy” Reveals That Licensing Laws Are Really About Shutting Down The Competition, by Brittany Hunter, at mises.org. The sharing economy has provided opportunities for individuals to start their own businesses. Existing businesses want to have the final say if these new competitors are allowed to enter the market. In a free market these existing businesses wouldn’t have the power to stop the competition. They would have to provide better service to keep their customers. Unfortunately we live in a hampered market economy where government has the power to force these competitors out of the market. Status quo businesses lobby government to get them to use force to keep competitors from entering the market. The status quo gains at the expense of the consumer and the upstart businesses.

When Government Fails Papa John Delivers, at economicpolicyjournal.com. An 87 year old Florida grandmother lost power last week because of Hurricane Matthew. Her family, who lived in Nebraska, couldn’t get a hold of her. They called area police and fire departments to get them to reach her to see if she was OK. When police and fire couldn’t get the job done, the grandson decided to call Papa Johns and have a pizza delivered to his grandmother. If it could be delivered, they knew she was OK. They had the delivery man call them when he arrived at her house so their grandmother could talk to them. Markets work better than government.

The Fed Who Cried Growth, by Jonathan Newman, at mises.org. The Fed can’t even predict it’s own behavior. They keep saying they will raise interest rates but for some reason they never pull the trigger. Maybe the economy isn’t in as great of shape as they are telling us it is.

Janet Yellen Tries To Explain The Elusive “Great Recovery”, at zerohedge.com. When you read, or worse yet, listen to one of these Fed central bankers talk it is mind boggling. They use words that sound like their saying something so nuanced that regular people can’t understand their brilliance, but they are actually saying nothing. And that is what they are trying to accomplish. Their monetary policies haven’t worked and they are trying to cover their asses with words.

Us Economy To Grow Just 1.4% In 2016 After Atlanta Fed Slashes Q3 GDP To 1.9%, Half Its Original Estimate, at zerohedge.com. The Fed can’t even print a solid GDP number, even though they have printed $4 plus trillion over the last 8 years. You would think that the policy makers at the Fed would have figured out that you have to first produce before you can consume. Money printing is consumption before production. All money printing does is allow the people who receive it to go out into the market and demand goods with pieces of paper. It is no different than if I counterfeited a $50 dollar bill and purchased $50 dollars worth of goods from a store. I would be stealing these goods just as if I had shoplifted the goods. The Fed is no different than a counterfeiter.

 

CARTOONS

From the burningplatform.

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

Political Cartoons by Steve Breen

Political Cartoons by Jerry Holbert

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Must Reads For The Week 7/16/16

July 16, 2016

Marine’s Attorney: If Hillary Clinton Wasn’t Prosecuted, This Officer Shouldn’t Be Discharged, by Jeff Schogol, at marinecorpstimes.com. This officer tried to warn fellow soldiers about a potential threat by sending them classified information over his personal email account. The bottom line is if Hillary Clinton wasn’t prosecuted, neither should this officer.

Martin Armstrong: James Comey Had No Problem Keeping Me In Prison Without Any Charges, at zerohedge.com. Remember what I said early in the week: The laws don’t apply to the ruling Aristocracy.

Peak FBI Corruption? Meet Bryan Nishimura Found Guilty Of “Removal and Retention” Of Classified Material, at zerohedge.com. Hillary got a mulligan, Bryan Nishimura had to play it as it lies.

FBI Agents Were Told To Sign A Very Very Unusual NDA In Hillary EMail Case, at zerohedge.com. The Queen must be protected. Politics trumps the law.

No, Obama, It’s Not Easier For A Teenager To Buy A Glock Than A Book, by Sean Davis, at thefederalist.com. It is hard to believe a politician would lie fudge the truth just to advance his agenda.

We’re Witnessing A Complete Breakdown In Western Values, at theburningplatform.com.  Excerpt from the article: “The West adopted core values, like the sacrosanct protection of private property; the ability for an individual to work hard and build wealth; and spirited intellectual debate. This is how western civilization became the most prosperous that history has ever seen. Now people know they’re getting screwed. and they are.  They just don’t know why. They have no idea how central bankers who conjure money out of thin air have rigged the entire economy against them. So they blame “capitalism” and naturally embrace its opposite socialism.

Get A Warrant: Federal Judge Throws Out Stingray evidence In Drug Case, at rt.com. This judge should be applauded for ruling in favor of our fourth amendment rights. We need to remain vigilant because you know the left will appeal this, and shop for a judge who is an enemy of the constitution.

Too Many Laws: Why Police Encounters Escalate, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. If our politicians wouldn’t pass so many petty laws, the police, and citizens, wouldn’t cross paths as much.

Elon Musk Is The Face Of This Bubbling Stock Market, at zerohedge.com. Musk is building his empire with government (tax payer) subsidies.

Why Helicopter Money Won’t Push Stocks Higher, by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. If production. increases wealth, consumption destroys it. By creating money out of thin air, money that does not represent corresponding production, you promote consumption. You destroy wealth. Consuming more than you produce can only go on for so long.

The Market Is True Democracy, by Matthew McCaffery, at mises.org. Quote from Ludwig von Mises: “It would be more correct to say that a democratic constitution is a scheme to assign to the citizens in the conduct of government the same supremacy the market economy gives them in their capacity as consumers. However, the comparison is imperfect. In the political democracy only the votes cast for the majority candidate or the majority plan are effective in shaping the course of affairs. The votes polled by the minority do not directly influence politics. But on the market no vote is cast in vain. Every penny spent has the power to work upon the production processes.

Technology Is Amazing. Meet Farmbot.

 

Some Cartoons from the burningplatform.com.

Political Cartoons by Chip Bok

Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy

 

Must Reads For The Week 2/6/16

February 6, 2016

Obama To Propose $10 Dollar A Barrel Tax On Oil, at economicpolicyjournal.com. We can’t win. An increased supply of oil because of fracking, plus a stagnating global demand for oil has brought the price of oil down to around $30. Now this guy wants to increase the cost of oil by $10 dollars a barrel. Do you think this tax will ever be rolled back when the price of oil goes back up?

Texas Adopts New York Values On Fantasy Football, by Tho Bishop, at mises.org. Most people hate big business because they lobby government for favors. I contend that these businesses would have no incentive to lobby for special favors if the government hadn’t usurped the power to regulate these particular businesses. In a true free market these businesses only incentive would be to satisfy customers, not lobby government for protection or favors.

Oops Again? A Key Server Gets Wiped By IRS, by Steve Sherman, at townhall.com. Is it just me or is this becoming a pattern?

The Fed Wants To Test How Banks Would Handle Negative Interest Rates, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The bank of Japan has recently adopted negative interest rates. Would you have ever believed 5 years ago that we would be talking about this. Negative interest rate is a ploy to get individuals to take their cash out of banks and spend it. It’s just another attempt at stimulating the economy by negative incentives. The previous QE stimulation apparently hasn’t worked as the central planners planned.

Was The Ethanol Lobby The Big Loser In Iowa This Year?, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. Ted Cruz won in the corn state of Iowa even though he was for phasing out the taxpayer-funded Ethanol subsidies.

Advanced Reactor Nuclear Power Resurgence In The US, by Ronald Bailey, at reason.com. The radical environmentalists should be all in for nuclear energy if they were serious about cutting CO2 emissions.

An Open Letter To Barack Obama About Gender Payback Regulations, by Don J. Boudreaux, at cafehayek.com. The President is using the apples and oranges comparisons between men and women’s pay differences to push for more government regulations. Even though he pays men on his staff more than the women on his staff. When will we ever learn? Read here, Obama Proposes New Rules To Close The Sex Pay Gap Even Though There Is A 16% Sex Pay Gap In His White House, at carpediemblog.

Can Anyone Doubt That Hillary Clinton Failed To Safeguard State Secrets, by Andrew Napolitano, at reason.com. The fact that she used a private server to conduct State department business is a violation of the law. The fact that some of these E-mails were classified just adds to the number of charges that can be brought against her.

School Gives Handicapped Children The In Bathroom, at thefederalistspapers.org. Another example of the politically correct left having a scale of value on who’s important. Handicapped people are ranked below transgendered people. The left will throw previously protected people overboard for newly protected people. Which group will someday over take the transgendered as their most favored group?

Anti-Capitalist Club Desperate For Money To Pay Its Bills, at libertarianrepublic.com. I’m amazed that these anti-capitalists protest the very system that has produced the wealth that has allowed them to protest it. Maybe they will start to realize that there is no free lunch?

A Surprising Opponent Of The War On Cash, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The German Government has joined the war on cash. So has JP Morgan.  JP Morgan Continues The War On Cash, at economicpolicyjournal.com.

Isn’t it Strange? by Walter E. Williams, at jewishworldreview.com. Lets end with the Great Walter E. Williams. Excerpt from the article, “Isn’t it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture but …after a shooting, the problem is the gun?

 

Cartoons from theburningplatform.com. Click here for more.

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

Political Cartoons by Steve Kelley

I wish this was true for the Republican leadership establishment. I know it’s true for a vast majority of the grass roots.

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

Must Reads For The Week 10/10/15

October 10, 2015

French Workers Attack Air France Executives Rip Off Their Clothes, at economicpolicyjuornal.com. How can businesses survive the costs of the benefits mandated by government? Compensation for working more than 35 hours a week, subsidized travel, restaurant lunch vouchers, paid days off for weddings and funerals, subsidized healthcare, guaranteed maternity and paternity leave, thirteenth month bonus pay, and minimum wage are just a few. Politicians who mandated all these benefits employers have to provide are the ones who caused these layoffs. These protesters are attacking the wrong people, they should be attacking the politicians for losing their jobs. We are not far behind France. Just look at the mandated benefits listed in the article; do they sound familiar?

Politicians Keep Chasing The Green Jobs Fantasy, at freedomandprosperity.com. Green energy is nothing more than a money and power grab. Green energy is not a viable alternative to fossil fuels. It can only become an alternative if its unsubsidized cost per kilowatt-hour is lower than the cost per kilowatt-hour from fossil fuels. Fracking has pushed the green dream farther into the future.

Michigan’s Wind Energy Mandate Costs Each Family $4,000, at michigancapitalconfidential.com. Because of the higher cost 24,000 jobs went away. When will we learn that central planning doesn’t work? Markets don’t necessarily pick winners. Markets allow the winners to be revealed. And it puts pressure on them to continue to please the consumer or another winner will take its place.

Recycling Was ‘Garbage’ In 1996, It’s Still That Way Today, And The Future Looks Even Worse, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Recycling is now seen as a moral imperative, when in reality it is a waste of resources, time and money. Quote from John Tierney: “We’re not just reusing our garbage, we’re performing a rite of atonement for the sin of excess.

Adidas 3D Printing Is A Sneaker Industry Game Changer, at esquire.com.

Swash 10-Minute Clothing Care, at swash.com. Swash is like having a dry cleaner at home.

Chile’s Private Social Security System Should Be Globally Emulated, Not Locally Emasculated, by Dan Mitchell, at freedomandprosperity.com. Chili privatized its social security system in the 80’s. Its success speaks for itself. The governments recent drift toward socialism puts the pension money in the cross hairs of the central planners.

Government Planted Questions For ’60 Minutes’ Interview With Snowden, at economicpolicyjournal.com. What about the separation of press and state. Does this surprise anyone?

Two Journalists Banned From Debate On Whether Feminism Stifles Free Speech, at tamybruce.com. The headline says it all.

Why America’s Oil Output Refuses To Collapse, at bloomberg.com. Fracking comes with new ways to extract more oil from existing wells at a lower cost. Cooperation in a market produces better results than top down decision-making from central planners. If President Obama had his way he would have shut down fracking. He is trying to do it through EPA regulations like he crippled the coal industry.

TIME TO LAUGH

Bear Reacts Logically To Mixed Signals Given By Insane Lady

Video starts with insane lady talking to a bear.

Lady: “Thank you for leaving my kayak alone.”

Bear: No response

Lady: “I’m going to pepper spray you in the face, that’s what I’m going to do to you.”

Bear: “You insane b*$@#! Now watch what I do to your kayak.”

Her voice is like finger nails on a chalk board (click here).

 

PICTORIAL ESSAY: 18 Things I Did That My Grand-Kids Can’t Do Without Someone Getting Arrested, at theburningplatform.com.

Here are a few.

Guns!

We played Cops and Robbers! People DIED! We used ketchup as blood to make it look real. We took cap pistols to school …so we could play Cops and Robbers during Recess. I believe that in rural areas kids could even take bb-guns to school. No one gave a rats ass. Ever.

Sensible Punishment

Practically the only way to get expelled was if you actually put someone’s eye out. They didn’t expel kids willy-nilly for every imaginable offense.

Baths Were For Wimps

Even today, at age 81, my mom’s house is so clean you could perform open-heart surgery in any room. After playing outside all day, the chances of me walking in the house were exactly zero. I’d strip to my underwear, and mom would hose me down. She had a big heart though. In the winter time she’d use a warm bucket of water.

CARTOONS

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

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The Model For Obama And The Pope? North Korea

October 2, 2015

The Burning Platform (click here) shows us that the Pope and President Obama would consider North Korea a perfect model for every nation to follow if we want to stop global warming. Electrical usage in North Korea has decreased since 1980, while South Korea’s electrical usage since 1980 is 14 times greater. We all know that electric power is produced by carbon based fuels, which emit CO2, which is used by plants along with water and sun light to make sugar for the plants and oxygen for us. Wait a second! Does using electricity produce oxygen?

 

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO

I have a question for the Pope and the President. If everyone followed your examples and spent their days pontificating or bloviating about poverty; Who would produce all the stuff that you want us to give to the down trodden? It’s hard to give something away that doesn’t exist. Production comes before consumption. The Pope should know this from reading Genesis 4:19 “By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread.” And President Obama should know this from reading Karl Marx, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs“.

The people who rail against capitalism, do it under all the comforts that capitalism has produced. They are ignorant of the processes that allows them to do what they do, because they’re born in the middle of the story.

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

Here is a great article by Mark J. Perry at Carpe Diem Blog titled What Four Previous Popes Had To Say About Socialism. Needless to say they didn’t give socialism glowing reviews.

Related ArticleWhat Comes First Production Or Consumption, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleWe’re All Born In The Middle Of The Story, at austrianaddict.com.

Let’s End The Week With Some Humor

January 22, 2015

Here are some cartoons to help us get through the week.

Political Cartoons by Lisa Benson

sheep

Here are some more cartoons at theburningplatform.com.

 

Rare Historical Photos: From The Burning Platform.

October 29, 2014

The burningplatform.com, posted some great old photos, some I have seen before but many I haven’t. Here are a few of them. Click Here to see the rest.

Under water detonation of a 15 kiloton nuclear weapon.

Abandon boy holding a stuffed animal in the ruins after the Germans bombed London 1940.

The last Jew In Vinnitsa, 1941.

Hitler rehearsing his speech In front of mirror, in 1925.

Using banknotes as wallpaper during hyperinflation in Germany 1923

Observations From The Margin

October 21, 2013
Observation Tower

Observation  (Photo credit: mooglet)

– If you were a number one draft choice, and you hired the republican leadership to negotiate your contract with the team that drafted you. You would probably have to pay the team a signing bonus to play for them.

– What a sweet deal Government workers have. They will receive back pay for not working for two weeks. Maybe they should ask for unemployment compensation to go along with their two week paid vacation.

– The republicans were convinced they would lose seats in the 2014 election if they continued the shutdown and didn’t extend the debt ceiling. The deal they agreed to just delays dealing with the problem for three months. I have to ask, If you were afraid of losing seats a year out from the election, how much more afraid will you be nine months out? Do you think the republicans will be more eager to surrender or fight?

– The administration wouldn’t pay death benefits to families of soldiers killed in combat during the shut down. When they finally passed the CR to fund Government, section 134 specifically gives a death benefit for the widow of Senator Frank Lautenberg (his net worth is $56.8 million). What’s the difference between being a serf and being member of the ruling aristocracy? A serf is used as a pawn to be sacrificed in the political chess game, and nothing can be denied what is the birth right of the ruling class.

– During the shut down, I heard people talk as if the Government is the economy. Question, does the Government produce what it consumes, or does the private sector produce everything and Government confiscates what it consumes? Who is the parasite and who is the host in this relationship?

– When a politician uses the phrase, “the American people” want or need or think something, he is presuming more knowledge about how individual Americans think than he can possibly know. It’s a phrase designed to stop arguments that are counter to his position, by claiming a majority agree with him.

– Some related cartoons from, The Burning Platform. See more here.

138981 600 Congress kicks the can cartoons