This is a letter I sent out to all of my Jukt Micronics co-workers last week.
I have a new project: I'm going to take some time off work to publish a book.
I have the talent and the track record and I’m certain it will be a success. I'm asking each of Jukt Micronics' 500 employees to lend me $50. I will repay the entire amount ($25,000) in 10 years. Of course, it will be a zero-interest loan. And I will pay you back only if I sell my book. But if I sell nothing, you get nothing.
Some of you may try to refuse, not understanding that my project will create economic wealth. The publisher will earn a profit, I’ll buy a new laptop, hire a professional typist, buy plenty of paper, eat at restaurants near my house, and hire a contractor to add a decent office to my home. Add the income tax from all these jobs to the taxes generated by the sale of my book, and this will be a win/win/win for industry, government, and most of all, me.
Besides, our book industry must be competitive. I've read that many French authors who writes on the same subject as me receive subsidies from their government. It would be unjust and suicidal for our industry not to subsidize me, too. Our country won't be what it is today if we don't unite and protect working families who produce Free Market Rants.
You still refuse? You say you prefer to put your $50 in a safe investment, earning an eight-per-cent compounded annual return that will add up to $108 in 10 years, instead of your original $50 that I’m offering to give you back in ten years? You say it’s more important for you to keep this money for your daughter’s college tuition than to use it to further my career and stimulate the economy? I don’t get it.
But it doesn’t matter what you think. You have no choice. My good friends who are trying to stimulate the economy by "saving and creating jobs" are going to withold the money from your checks. If you refuse, they'll send you to jail. My friends in the Democratic and Republican Parties think it’s a good project, and so should you. After all, who are you to know what to do with your money? You're the one who didn't get us into this mess, not the people who did and who are now trying to get us out of it.
ARLINGTON — A city judge on Thursday levied the maximum fine — $15,500 — against a property owner who provided unauthorized parking on his land for Cowboys Stadium events. A six-person Municipal Court jury took 40 minutes to find Michael Anthony Caldwell guilty of 31 misdemeanor counts of violating city permit requirements. The rules were adopted last year to regulate pay-for-parking operations in the entertainment district.
And why, you ask yourself, did those parking lots need regulating?
The 31 tickets were just a fraction of Caldwell’s violations, officials said. He has about 360 tickets pending with potential fines totaling $180,000. Caldwell has 30 days to pay Thursday’s fines or arrange a payment plan, Municipal Judge Stewart Milner said. After the trial, Caldwell said he still plans to offer parking on his 1-acre lot, at 210 E. Randol Mill Road, for the NBA All-Star Game at the stadium Feb. 14. He said he will appeal the verdict and fines and then will likely sue the city, challenging the ordinance as an unfair restriction on business. Caldwell, 50, who said his occupation is running a Dallas hotel and booking special events there, acted as his own attorney during the trial. Before setting the maximum $500 fine per ticket, Milner scolded Caldwell for refusing to heed the repeated warnings of code enforcement officers who were among about 10 city officials who testified during the one-day trial.
Ten city officials? Ten of them? Arlington, Texas, has that many people drawing pay, pensions, and other expenses who are worried about a guy using his land the way he chooses, providing a service that people consider themselves lucky to use? Is there any doubt in your mind why Arlington TX needs every fee, tax, permit and kickback it can possibly find?
"There are ways if you don’t like an ordinance to address those issues," Milner said. "To simply thumb your nose at the system and say 'I’m going to keep doing this’ is not acceptable." During in his brief opening comments to the jury, Caldwell said he and other property owners "believe you have the right to do whatever you want to with your property."
Hell yes, they have that right.I think this is the perfect issue for the Libertarian Party in the 2010 elections, don't you, Mr. Spivey?
He tried to focus attention on the fairness of the ordinance but faced objections from prosecutor Elisabeth Kaylor, who said Caldwell’s point was irrelevant. Milner agreed. Caldwell ended up submitting no exhibits, testimony or closing argument. Milner urged Caldwell to hire an attorney before challenging the rest of his tickets.
Well of course he did. If we're talking about this Judge Stewart Milner, it's because he's a lawyer. He wants people to hire lawyers for the same reason that I want people to hire freight brokers.
It was the city’s first prosecution of a case involving the special-event permit ordinance. The city has 97 permitted parking lots, providing nearly 12,000 spaces. Caldwell’s site is among 14 unpermitted lots identified on the city’s Web site.
Jerry Jones and the City Of Arlington charge up to SIXTY Freakin' dollars to park a car. I wouldn't pay $60.00 to see The Resurrection, much less park my truck outside the tomb. Is there any wonder why they're wanting to put up barriers to entry for parking competitors?
Caldwell does not qualify for a permit because he does not have a permanent building and business on the site. A building that had been there burned down.
Can someone tell me how a Taco Bell in the middle of a parking lot improves the parking experience? Does it make it safer? More wholesome? Does it help immerse the Cowboys Fan in that down home Arlington Texas goodness?
City Attorney Jay Doegey said the purpose of the ordinance is primarily to protect the public from shady practitioners. But it also gives existing businesses a chance to benefit from the stadium and doesn’t encourage the expansion of lots just for parking.
Here are some questions for you, Jay Doegey. Is it your land? No. Is it any of your business what Mr. Caldwell chooses to do with his land, as long as it doesn't cause physical harm to anyone else? No. Will the area surrounding the new Cowboys Stadium be a parking lot wasteland within 10 years anyway? Yes. Please stop pretending that the stadium will be a boon to retailers and restaurants. That was just marketing. Please give Mr. Caldwell his money back.
"This is an important case for the city," Doegey said. "If the jury didn’t support us on this, it would encourage people not to comply with the law."
Mr. Caldwell was providing a service for people who were glad to find him. Having to purchase unnecessary permits from the City Of Arlington is no different than paying protection money to the mob. Exhibit A: Go here to witness Jay Doegey in action, in what many think of as aiding and abetting in land theft.
One other thing....This is the Wal-Mart Supercenter that had the misfortune of being located next to the Jerry's Kids land grab. I'm hearing that this WalMart won't be open long. I bet it will be one of those "lots just for parking" once Wal-Mart vacates Jonestown North. And I bet Arlington can't find a "permanent business" to occupy the building. Wagers, anyone? The picture, along with so many other good things in life, came from Durango Texas. He's got great pics of the forced evacuation of the North Arlington indigenous people, the destruction of their habitat, etc. Makes you wonder if Jay Doegey is Jerry Jones' avatar, doesn't it?
I used to run something called "Carnival Of The Libertarians", where various bloggers could submit their liberty-oriented posts for linkage and commentary every month.
It was fun at first, but once this site started getting a decent number of hits, the spammers turned it into a burden.
About a year ago I posted several pointless rants about the new Cowboys stadium, how taxpayers were taking the risk while Jerry Jones took the profits, and how the stadium would be a net loss for the City Of Arlington. At about the same time, a massive sinkhole opened up someplace in Texas. The earth actually opened, and started sucking in trees, houses, lakes, etc. I posted a comparison between the two, complete with a picture of the stadium construction. It got passed around and emailed a lot, people got some giggles out of it, and then it died.
Now check this out. You know those encyclopedia-type articles you can find all over the internet, the ones that rely on Flickr, Google Image tags, etc. for their pictures?
Go here. Look at the section "Images Of The Texas Sinkhole". A picture is worth a thousand words.
John Stossel's program tonight is on The Food Police. Can't wait ! ! !
Bud Light – Check. Mrs. Renfro’s Habanero Picante Sauce – Check. Tortilla chips – Check. Leftover fried corn nuggets that The Aggie left in the fridge a couple of weekends ago – Check. Slimfast bar – Check.
Stossel started his show eating a bacon cheeseburger. I wish I had one of those, too. The food police are coming, because you’re not eating right. They want to put taxes on things you shouldn’t eat, and they want to subsidize foods that you should eat. Stossel showed the Surgeon General stating that obesity is worse than terrorism. NYC, Baltimore, Philly, and California have already banned trans-fats (despite their ability to keep food fresh longer.) L.A. banned the opening of fast food restaurants in “poor” neighborhoods (as if Tavern On The Green wanted to open franchises in the ‘hood.) Numerous states have put an extra tax on Cokes. Illinois has a 6% tax on candy. They’ve even put a stop to school bake sales in some places.
Stossel brought in some highschoolers who once were allowed to have bake sales for their extra-curricular organizations. One girl argued that by the time you hit high school, you’ve decided what you are and aren’t going to eat. Temptations from the soccer team aren’t going to determine your body type. He then asked his audience if any of them favored bans on school bake sales. No hands were raised. He expressed surprise that none of MeMe Roth’s fans in the audience stood up for their beliefs (perhaps they were overweight, and couldn’t stand easily?) Meme Roth turns out to be the first guest, and the head of something called National Action Against Obesity. NAAO was somewhat instrumental in stopping the sale of cupcakes in High Schools.
Roth said that obesity costs the country $147 billion dollars. She doesn’t want to pay the bill for this. It’s making her insurance premium go up. A national effort needs to take place to stamp out obesity. 20% of our preschoolers are overweight. 30-40% by the time they finish elementary school. “If people refuse to do what is right…..we refuse to eat properly and take care of our bodies, we need to make it a law, or we need to (eliminate obesity) ourselves…..if we refuse to hold people accountable, we need to have government intervention.” Roth thinks her grandmother may have been the first to get a Handicapped parking sticker because she was obese.
Good lord in heaven....the Fat Police are throwing grandmaw under the bus !
Roth thinks Girl Scouts are a great organization, but we shouldn’t be sending girls out to peddle Thin Mints. She suggest that since the girls are getting .60 per box, next time you’re asked to buy Girl Scout cookies, give the girl a dollar and tell her to leave the cookies on the shelf. Stossel appreciated Roth trying to convince and persuade people, rather than use force. Unlike the next guest calls himself the head of The Head Of The Food Police SWAT Team.
Cut to commercial. I need more beer, and the picante sauce needs to be cut with something milder.
John Banzhaf is a George Washington University law professor. He takes exception to being called The Head Of The Food Police SWAT Team. Now we’re getting some controversy going. Banzhaf claims he hasn’t tried to stop any adult from eating whatever he wants. But he’s lobbied for full caloric disclosure on ALL foods. He's fought against misleading advertising. WE USE LEGAL ACTION TO KICK OPEN THE DOOR !
The camera isn't kind to John Banzhaf. Professor Banzhaf might need to cut back on the cholesterol.
Roth gently interrupted Banzhaf and suggested he just calm down, and admit he’s the damn food police. Banzhaf then went into an anti-corporate rant against McDonald’s and KFC, forgetting who his audience was on this particular program. He bragged about the lawsuits won against those companies, as if the services they provide aren't voluntary exchanges. Stossel asked who this expense was passed on to…..
Mr. Banzhaf might need to spend less time reading labels, and more time on the stairmaster, because, because, ....
Banzhaf wants to label junk food. He argued that The Best And Brightest don’t need warnings, but the peons need them. Stossel brought out a stepladder. It had 41 labels on it. Some are legally mandated, and some are there to defend the manufacturers against lawyers/vultures like Banzhaf. Stossel questioned the value of these. Banzhaf argued that the labels are effective. Banzhaf asked “Why do you think governments put warning on products?” Stossel saw the pitch coming in slow motion from a mile away. “Because it helps governments grow.”
Roth sees this information as a “right”. Roth and Banzhaf brought out a life expectancy chart. It spikes upward. Banzhaf claimed this was because of his ban on smoking.
I’ve got to just come out and say it…..Is Banzhaf kinda fat??? Or is he morbidly obese??? Shit, physician, heal thyself ! ! !
Stossel trotted out an Onion parody headline “Hershey’s Ordered To Pay Obese Americans $135 Billion”. Banzhaf, who is full of more horseshit than the Fort Worth Stockyards, bragged about how McDonald’s “chickened out” and paid a 12.5 million dollar fine, rather than go before a jury of citizens and let them decide the issues.
Ok, here’s the libertarian point to all this….If I decide to eat at Big Botulism’s House Of Salmonella, it’s nobody’s business but mine. There is NO issue for a jury of citizens to decide, UNTIL Big B does me some harm.
I’m down two beers. Time to reload. Eric Oliver is the author of “Fat Politics” and is a poli-sci professor at The University Of Chicago. He says the reason for our obesity “epidemic” is the arbitrary levels where our fitness professionals have placed the boundaries between “Healthy”, “Overweight”, and “Obese”. These classifications, using the Body Mass Index formula, mean that George W. Bush and Johnny Depp are overweight, and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Cruise are borderline obese ! Banzhaf and Oliver went back and forth about causation for a while.
Banzhaf is probably classifiable as obese. I’m just guessing here. He needs an intervention. A full-blown Barack Obama government-must-intervene intervention into whatever the hell he's been eating. I wouldn't bring it up if Banzhaf were willing to leave us all alone. I'm just sayin'....
Oliver says that statistics suggest that, for people over 65, the people with the longest life expectancy are those who are overweight. My goal: to live forever. I need more beer, just as insurance.
Coming up next: Former Arkansas governor Mike Freakin’ Huckabee, who made every country-bred, corn-fed Arkansas student “weigh in”.
Only one beer down in that segment. Must train harder. I must train harder. Will restock during the next commercial.
Mike Huckabee lost 100 pounds by running marathons. Huckabee justified his school “weigh in” by saying the info went straight to the parents as a warning. Huckabee says you would be amazed by how many parents don’t think about their kids weight. He claims that Arkansas kids' weights started to decline after the weigh-in. All he did was give parents the info. But the Center for Disease Control says that the kid’s weights went up. Huckabee doesn’t want the government to be the Grease Police, or the Sugar Sheriff. (I think he’s used these phrases before.) He says that watching diets is one of the best ways to save the State a lot of money.
Cut for commercial and more beer. The chips are running low, too.
The L.A. City Council has banned additional fast food restaurants in SOUTH Los Angeles. Stossel brought in Jan Perry, a City Councilwoman to explain. Ms. Perry says that residents want more supermarkets and a diversity of food choices. Stossel wondered why, if that’s what residents want, entrepreneurs aren’t coming in.
New York mayor Mike Bloomberg has banned soda and bake sales in public schools. They’re trying to reduce salt usage. But the media has caught him eating all sorts of junk and putting salt on almost everything, INCLUDING PIZZA.
Reason magazine’s Nick Gillespie was brought in for some commentary. (He recently named Bloomberg the “Nanny Of The Year”.) Gillespie says that weight isn’t a crisis, just an excuse for politicians to boss people around. Gillespie noted that almost every guest on the show says that poor people, fat people, etc., make poor decisions and they need prodding and guidance to make the right choices. Choices like these aren’t a public matter.
The fact that we have to pay for these decisions is a GREAT example of why we should get rid of Medicaid and Medicare. Roth couldn’t let that stand. She argued that we need to catch kids before they get too fat and do an intervention. Nick argued back that kids have parents. Parents should be the first source of info. Weighing should not be a focus for a school. An “epidemic” is a contagious disease. Salt and fat are tasty, and when people have money, they prefer foods that taste good.
One thing missing in all of this: The biggest contributor to obesity in the U.S. is corn. We have prohibitive tariffs in place against sugar, so the candy and Coke folks are forced to use corn syrup. And guess which crop our government subsidizes?
Roth interrupted some more, and said that as long as other people are paying the price, you force all of us to give an opinion on how you live your life. Gillespie: then the solution is to get rid of socialized medicine. Brilliant.
Next up: Who gets to decide what you eat? The government, or you? Don’t need more beer. Typing to fast too drink. Getting hungry, though.
So who owns our bodies? Government officials, or us? Stossel ran an experiment with his studio audience. He put out two types of food: junk food vs. fresh fruits and vegetables. Many people went for the junk. What gives the government the right to decide for us? We should be responsible for ourselves. The war on trans-fats, for instance. Scare mongers bring out the latest theories. Activists rally to get the government to ban the food. Lawyers sue to force companies to change, it's For The Children ®. Then the law is passed. But what about those that don’t have a cholesterol problem? We’re punished. The artificial substitutes cost more. Given the choice between government force and voluntary action, voluntary is better. End of story. Here’s some Milton Friedman:
Let government give us the information. But let it leave us free to choose what chances we want to take with our own lives.
I've found myself watching MSNBC more and more. As stated earlier, it has been like discovering a sophisticated culture that hasn't discovered The Wheel. I'm fascinated by the mindset there. Where else but MSNBC can you find stuff like this?
How did Obama change Matthews' perceptions? By being articulate? Not wearing his pimp suit? Voluntarily leaving all his bitches and Ho's back at the crib for the State Of The Union?
I'm from an area known as The Most Southern Place On Earth. I've heard some racist statements in my time. This was one of them. Good lord in heaven, can you imagine if Bill O'Reilly or even Larry King had said this?
One last thing on the State Of The Union.... Have you ever heard such a clumsy mishmash of bewildering wealth transfers? We're going to take away the stuff we earlier gave to the unpopular group (banks) and give it back to the larger group (you) in the form of a popular goal (free healthcare) that has an unpopular form (Obamacare)? We're going to give tax breaks to small businesses (good) and working families (good) and pay for it by taxing large businesses (bad) the same way we always have, and eliminate tax loopholes for people who don't poll well (bad)? It just went on and on and on. The Bush tax cuts (bad) created this mess, so we're going to enact more tax cuts (good). If we could only find the perfect theft ratio, our problems would be solved.
I haven't thought of Obama as black in a long, long time. Race is irrelevant. There are other, more descriptive adjectives available.
The long-awaited Keynes vs. Hayek smackdown rap video, courtesy of the good folks at Cafe Hayek. For those new to the conflict, Fast Freddy Hayek, the bald guy, believed that markets, economies, and ummm....YOU should be left alone. Keynes, the guy in the dark suit, believed that everything should be run by people from Cambridge.
Here are the lyrics: (The phrase "animal spirits" was Keynes' term for acting on emotion rather than logic, or acting because of a desire to do something rather than nothing. IMAO, that's a perfect explanation for why people favor Keynesian flurries of spending whenever there's a financial crisis. But that's just me.)
We’ve been going back and forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Hayek] Blame low interest rates. [Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
[Keynes Sings:]
John Maynard Keynes, wrote the book on modern macro The man you need when the economy’s off track, [whoa] Depression, recession now your question’s in session Have a seat and I’ll school you in one simple lesson
BOOM, 1929 the big crash We didn’t bounce back—economy’s in the trash Persistent unemployment, the result of sticky wages Waiting for recovery? Seriously? That’s outrageous!
I had a real plan any fool can understand The advice, real simple—boost aggregate demand! C, I, G, all together gets to Y Make sure the total’s growing, watch the economy fly
We’ve been going back and forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Hayek] Blame low interest rates. [Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
You see it’s all about spending, hear the register cha-ching Circular flow, the dough is everything So if that flow is getting low, doesn’t matter the reason We need more government spending, now it’s stimulus season
So forget about saving, get it straight out of your head Like I said, in the long run—we’re all dead Savings is destruction, that’s the paradox of thrift Don’t keep money in your pocket, or that growth will never lift…
because…
Business is driven by the animal spirits The bull and the bear, and there’s reason to fear its Effects on capital investment, income and growth That’s why the state should fill the gap with stimulus both…
The monetary and the fiscal, they’re equally correct Public works, digging ditches, war has the same effect Even a broken window helps the glass man have some wealth The multiplier driving higher the economy’s health
And if the Central Bank’s interest rate policy tanks A liquidity trap, that new money’s stuck in the banks! Deficits could be the cure, you been looking for Let the spending soar, now that you know the score
My General Theory’s made quite an impression [a revolution] I transformed the econ profession You know me, modesty, still I’m taking a bow Say it loud, say it proud, we’re all Keynesians now
We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Keynes] I made my case, Freddie H Listen up , Can you hear it?
Hayek sings:
I’ll begin in broad strokes, just like my friend Keynes His theory conceals the mechanics of change, That simple equation, too much aggregation Ignores human action and motivation
And yet it continues as a justification For bailouts and payoffs by pols with machinations You provide them with cover to sell us a free lunch Then all that we’re left with is debt, and a bunch
If you’re living high on that cheap credit hog Don’t look for cure from the hair of the dog Real savings come first if you want to invest The market coordinates time with interest
Your focus on spending is pushing on thread In the long run, my friend, it’s your theory that’s dead So sorry there, buddy, if that sounds like invective Prepared to get schooled in my Austrian perspective
We’ve been going back and forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Hayek] Blame low interest rates. [Keynes] No… it’s the animal spirits
The place you should study isn’t the bust It’s the boom that should make you feel leery, that’s the thrust Of my theory, the capital structure is key. Malinvestments wreck the economy
The boom gets started with an expansion of credit The Fed sets rates low, are you starting to get it? That new money is confused for real loanable funds But it’s just inflation that’s driving the ones
Who invest in new projects like housing construction The boom plants the seeds for its future destruction The savings aren’t real, consumption’s up too And the grasping for resources reveals there’s too few
So the boom turns to bust as the interest rates rise With the costs of production, price signals were lies The boom was a binge that’s a matter of fact Now its devalued capital that makes up the slack.
Whether it’s the late twenties or two thousand and five Booming bad investments, seems like they’d thrive You must save to invest, don’t use the printing press Or a bust will surely follow, an economy depressed
Your so-called “stimulus” will make things even worse It’s just more of the same, more incentives perversed And that credit crunch ain’t a liquidity trap Just a broke banking system, I’m done, that’s a wrap.
We’ve been goin’ back n forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it [Hayek] Blame low interest rates. [Keynes] No it’s the animal spirits
“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.”
John Maynard Keynes The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”
Some predictions for tonight's State Of The Union speech.
1) Michelle Obama will be seated beside A) a Haitian B) some Iraq/Afghanistan vets C) a survivor of the flight almost blown up by Captain Underpants, and/or D) someone with a serious healthcare issue.
2) I'm setting the over/under for "Let me be clear" and "Let there be no mistake" - type formulations at two and a half.
3) He won't use his patented "There are those who say...." strawman as blatantly as he has done in the past. He will, however, find a way to point to an extreme position on the right, an extreme position on the left, and then reveal something in the middle personified by his own awesome, glorious self.
4) Nancy Pelosi won't jump up and start applauding halfway through each sentence.
5) He will begin by saying "The state of The Union is good". This is traditionally met with a standing ovation. Republicans will go through the motions of participating, but it will seem weak.
6) It's not going to take him nearly as long to get to the podium as it used to. He might be able to make it to the front of the room in record time.
7) Regardless of which network you're watching, out of 100 Senators and 435 members of the House, the camera will zoom in on Joe "You Lie" Wilson at least three times. Especially when the network thinks Obama is lying.
8) Because of his actions at the beginning of the current recession, Obama will take credit for saving the planet, not prolonging a correction.
9) During the spin-doctor interviews after the speech, no one will ridicule the idea of "jobs created and saved".
10) During the spin-doctor interviews after the speech, no one will ridicule the idea of taking money from taxpayers to pay for jobs in favored companies as a "stimulus". Republicrats and Demoblicans are making too much money off the scam to criticize it.
11) When Obama announces a 3-year spending freeze (and he'll have a straight face when he does it) there will be members of Congress who have to break down and start laughing.
This is why I love capitalism. I'm not saying I would EVER go to Egypt and eat in a Pizza Hut. But some people living in Egypt now have that as an option.
The campaign contributors are now bloated. Fuller than dead ticks. Wall Street's losses have been covered. They'll be back to splitting 5's against dealer 6's in no time at all. Pork has been shoveled into every nook, cranny and crevice.
Some government agencies simply can't spend it any more. They literally cannot spend it as fast as The Teleprompter Jesus has scooped it in their direction. They should outfit their buildings with something like the (mythical) Roman vomitoria, a room where the wealthy rulers of the empire can go puke when they've consumed too much, but still want to eat more.
And now, according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, now that our debt is up north of 12 trillion, now that China has said there isn't enough money on this planet for people to keep buying our T-bills, now that our great-grandchildren will have a diminished quality of life, this man.... ....this front man for a pack of Chicago gangsters and con artists is going to stand up in front of the nation Wednesday night and propose a 3-year freeze on discretionary spending. He's not going to reduce the deficit spending (hovering around $200,000,000,000.00 per month). He just wants to freeze it at the current level.
Imagine your worst identity theft nightmare. Imagine that East side crack whores have stolen your I.D. and your Visa and Mastercard. They know your ATM and bank account passwords, and they are running wild through every mall in the DFW Metroplex. You know they're doing it, and the police know they're doing it. The police come back to you, and say that the crack whores have agreed to keep their spending at a certain ridiculous level, and that you should be pleased by their heroic self-sacrifice.
Feel better? I didn't think so.
How much longer are you going to keep putting up with it?
Barack Obama never met Saul Alinsky, but the radical organizer’s thought helps explain a great deal about how the president operates.
Alinsky died in 1972, when Obama was 11 years old. But three of Obama’s mentors from his Chicago days studied at a school Alinsky founded, and they taught their students the philosophy and methods of one of the first “community organizers.” Ryan Lizza wrote a 6,500-word piece on Alinsky’s influence on Obama for The New Republic, noting, “On his campaign website, one can find a photo of Obama in a classroom teaching students Alinskian methods. He stands in front of a blackboard on which he has written ‘Relationships Built on Self Interest,an idea illustrated by a diagram of the flow of money from corporations to the mayor.
In a letter to the Boston Globe, Alinsky’s son wrote that “the Democratic National Convention had all the elements of the perfectly organized event, Saul Alinsky style. . . . Barack Obama’s training in Chicago by the great community organizers is showing its effectiveness. It is an amazingly powerful format, and the method of my late father always works to get the message out and get the supporters on board. When executed meticulously and thoughtfully, it is a powerful strategy for initiating change and making it really happen. Obama learned his lesson well.
I've read Rules For Radicals twice in the last year. It's a brilliant book on how to take control of an organzation. It explains a lot of what we saw during the Messianic Takeover.
But what happens when the Alinskyite structure starts to crumble? What happens when The Rules For Radicals are succesful, and an Alinsky acolyte becomes President Of The United States, but doesn't have a clue how to do anything but take power?
1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
This is from the New York Post, a newspaper that no longer believes that Obama has very much:
We the people of the United States owe Scott Brown's supporters a huge debt of gratitude. They didn't merely elect a senator. They ripped the façade off the Obama presidency. Just as Dorothy and Toto exposed the ordinary man behind the curtain in "The Wizard of Oz," the voters in Massachusetts revealed that, in this White House, there is no there there. It's all smoke and mirrors, bells and whistles, held together with glib talk, Chicago politics and an audacious sense of entitlement.
At the center is a young and talented celebrity whose worldview, we now know, is an incoherent jumble of poses and big-government instincts. His self-aggrandizing ambition exceeds his ability by so much that he is making a mess of everything he touches. He never advances a practical idea. Every proposal overreaches and comes wrapped in ideology and a claim of moral superiority. He doesn't listen to anybody who doesn't agree with him.
If that's not scary enough, do you know what comes next? Mr. Alinsky has a warning for us.
Check out this video, where John Jay Myers takes a deep breath, briefly sets aside his non-aggression policy, and fisks an Obama Town Hall meeting. He explains why the government has absolutely no business running a job creation crusade. (Look how well it worked out for FDR.)
This is why Texas needs John Jay Myers in Congress.
In the words of one of John Jay's friends, everyone in this Town Hall meeting should be beaten about the head and shoulders with a copy of Atlas Shrugged. JJM is having a fundraiser/campaign kickoff this Thursday night at Sambuca in Dallas. 6:00 p.m.
THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! !
Have I ever mentioned to ANYBODY out there that I'm from Drew, Mississipp? And that's the town that gave the world Archie Manning, who went on from Ole Miss to be drafted by the Saints in 1971 or so????? And that Archie went on to produce Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts AND Eli Manning of the New York Giants, and both of them have quarterbacked Super Bowl wining teams ??????
Have I EVER told anyone that? That Archie Manning came from a Mississippi town of 2,500 people? IS THIS GREAT, OR WHAT ??????
Note to self: write a post about the time you went to that meet and greet at Roger Staubach's house, and got to see a game from the Staubach skybox, and he told you that if he'd been drafted by the Saints and Archie had been drafted by the Cowboys, they would probably have had reversed careers. That's the exact same thing that every Archie fan said for years. Write about that. Be sure to write about that.
THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! !
Can you imagine how conflicted Archie Manning must be? He wore won of the few jerseys that have been retired by the Saints. Pieces of his backside have been embedded into the Saints astroturf. He did play-by-play for them for decades. He lives in New Orleans. If he still has all the car dealerships, they're in New Orleans. AND HIS SON, PEYTON MANNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS COLTS, WILL BE PLAYING THE SAINTS IN THE FREAKIN' SUPER BOWL ! ! ! !
THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! !
The dream lives ! Come Super Bowl Sunday, Archie Manning is going to be the most conflicted person on this planet. He's rooted for Saints black and gold for 35 years, and now his son is playing against them.
THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! !
Note to regular readers in England, Finland, Israel and Australia: This is a big, big deal. You know that game you people play in Europe and Mexico, the little game with the white and black ball, where you can kick it around, but can't use your hands? Take the biggest event in that game, like The World Cup (?) or something, and multiply it by 10. (We can use our hands, we hit each other, we kick field goals through openings higher than the TOP of a soccer goal, and WE HAVE JEREMY SHOCKEY.)
Drew, Mississippi, also produced Pop Staples (of The Staple Singers). Blues singer/guitarist Tommy Johnson lived there during the most creative time of his life. Three books have been written about Mae Bertha Carter, the African-American lady whose children integrated the Mississippi Delta schools because that's the way she wanted it to be. No city is associated with their team like New Orleans is with the Saints. And more than anyone else, the Saints are associated with Archie Manning.
Old joke about Mississippi: Do you know the names of the two biggest cities in Mississippi? Answer: Memphis and New Orleans.
Lord have mercy, this is great ! ! !
THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! ! THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL ! ! ! !
This hurts me to do. This is causing actual, physical pain. My teeth hurt, and my toes are curling under. But, hey, credit must be given where credit is due. Here is Michael Malone, of Pajamas Media, writing about She Whose Name Is Not Spoken. She has done a truly worthwhile thing, a thing that needed doing for my friends in China.
Two cheers for Google and Secretary of State Clinton. Last week we saw Google publicly complain about China’s growing censorship of the Internet – and worse, cyber-attacks on Google’s search engine that were, in all likelihood, backed by the Chinese government. The search engine giant went so far as to threaten to leave the Chinese market if these concerns weren’t addressed. Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a speech carried on the State Department web site, declared that unrestricted access to the Internet would become a top priority for the Administration – and directed sharp criticism at a number of countries around the world, notably Egypt and its recent arrest of 30 bloggers, for the recent spike in Internet censorship around the world. But she gave special emphasis to China, now with the world’s largest number of Web users, calling on that government “to conduct a thorough review of the cyber intrusions that led Google to make its announcement. And we also look for that investigation and its results to be transparent.” Secretary Clinton built her case on what might be called the “Three Internet Freedoms”: 1. The right of all peoples to have access to an uncensored Internet. 2. The right of individuals to exercise free speech on the Internet 3. The right of businesses and other organizations to have access to uncensored information on the Internet in order to compete fairly. Pretty impressive stuff, actually, and one showing a level of understanding about technology that one rarely encounters inside the Beltway. Kudos to Secretary Clinton for stepping up, in an era of kowtowing to dictators, for human freedom and (in the case of those Egyptian bloggers) liberty.....
Hit that link to read the whole thing. Even A Blind Hog Can Find An Acorn Every Now And Then Three cheers for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for standing up to the Chinese government.
