Why I am a Libertarian, part 4, Ruby Sue Issa edition ! ! !

Because of reconnecting with old friends on Facebook, I've been doing a series of posts about what makes someone go from political near-apathy to rabid Libertarian.  You can hit the "Why I'm A Libertarian" label down below if you want to see the others. 

From the 3rd grade to the 12th, I was educated in a small private school in north Mississippi called North Sunflower Academy.  At NSA, generations of students learned history and social studies from a lady named Ruby Sue Issa. 

By the time the class of '79 came along, Mrs. Issa had been at it for decades.  She had a list of stories and anecdotes that she used to illustrate the topic of the day.  Most of them had been in circulation for a while, and for the most part we were all too cool to pay much attention.  But some of it, against all odds, sunk in.  Or maybe it sank in.  Sunk? Sank?  Should've paid more attention in English.  I have no idea which one is the past tense.  Mrs. DuBard, please advise.... 

I remember Mrs. Issa talking about the U.S. Constitution, and the issue of illegal search and seizure.  One of Mrs. Issa's stories had the Mississippi Highway Patrol pulling someone over for speeding, and they pumped his stomach because they thought he ingested a baggie of some sort.  Mrs. Issa was outraged. 

Our class, however, didn't understand the outrage.  Even those who had "illegal smiles" knew, just knew that if you were carrying weed or anything else, that's just the risk you take.  Why, if the Highway Patrol can't pump your stomach, how are they supposed to do their jobs?  Plus, regardless of lifestyle choices, we we knew that all badness must be punished by any means necessary. 

But Mrs. Issa planted a seed that day, and it grew into this:  I belong to me, and you belong to you.  I own myself, you own yourself.  We don't belong to King George III, George Washington, George Bush, Barack Obama, or The Mississippi Highway Patrol.  This is mine, dang it.  Keep your grubby little hands off of it.

She did her best to teach us about the Constitution and how it shouldn't be abused, even if intentions were good.  She saw history as a long, long story that kept looping around and repeating itself.  A story where people kept making the same types of mistakes over and over again.  The purpose of the Constitution was to be sure that we avoided those mistakes in the future, regardless of the "emergency". 

Before Mrs. Issa started teaching me, I used to wish that I had grown up in a place where history happened.  Somewhere near Civil War battlefields, or New York City, or anywhere except the Mississippi Delta. 

Mrs. Issa told us about what it was like when her husband's cafe in Ruleville was first integrated, and what a big change that was for her.  She told us about the sit-ins and the Freedom Riders.  This was in a segregationist academy, and Mrs. Issa was a product of her time and place, just like all of us were (and still are) regarding race, but I think she kinda enjoyed holding up contradictions between our supposed ideals and our actions.

Bob Fisher and I both remember the time she told us that "All barbarian invasions come from....The North."
 
She told us (multiple times) about Bob Dylan coming to Greenwood in 1963, and playing "Only A Pawn In Their Game" at a Civil Rights rally.  We didn't get it.    By 1978/1979, Bob Dylan was as dated as Bing Crosby, and by the standards of the time, Bob Dylan couldn't sing.  (I now own every non-bootleg Bob Dylan has ever recorded, BTW.)

But because of Mrs. Issa, it eventually dawned on me that I was growing up in a place where important things were happening.  I was in The Most Southern Place On Earth, the Ground Zero of our biggest societal change since the Civil War.  I started paying attention to the news, and seeing U.S. history as a story of our progress toward liberty - first for white landowners, then for white men, then for black men, then for women, then for gays, lesbians, people who want to smoke weed, people who don't want to buy health insurance, people who own 200 guns, or guys who want to put on womens' clothing and walk around the mall. 

I own me, you own you.  If it doesn't harm you, it's none of your business. 

So it has taken me about 30 years to figure it out and to acknowledge it.  Thank you, Mrs. Issa.  Some of us really were paying attention.  It sunk in.  Or sank in. 

Mrs. Issa's picture came from Duff Dorrough's Facebook page.  One other thing....Mrs. Issa was a huge fan of Teddy Roosevelt.  Here's a picture of President Roosevelt riding a swimming moose, just in case you ever need one. 

Best. Correction. Ever.

Every now and then, people get in a hurry and have to issue a correction. 

Go here. 

Andrew Marr fears socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed young men who can type

From a British civil service lifer named Andrew Marr, who feels threatened by amateur typists....

Mr. Marr is the former political director of The BBC, which would sink like a stone if the British government allowed a true competitive market in broadcasting. 

"A lot of bloggers seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed young men sitting in their mother's basements and ranting. They are very angry people," he told the Cheltenham Literary Festival. "   "....the so-called citizen journalism is the spewings and rantings of very drunk people late at night."

Marr is wrong, wrong, wrong.  I'm not young ,socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed. spewing out drunken rants late at night. 

I'm fairly old and married.  The late night drunken rants are produced at my own dining room table.   

Here's a little more on the BBC, where Andrew Marr is still employed.  This is courtesy of Wikipedia  (Yeah, Wikipedia.  I'm in a hurry.  Gotta get a lot of work done early so I can get drunk tonight and start typing....)

. The BBC is an autonomous public service broadcaster that operates under a Royal Charter.  Within the United Kingdom its work is funded principally by an annual television license fee which is charged to all United Kingdom households, companies and organisations using any type of equipment to record and/or receive live television broadcasts;  the level of the fee is set annually by the British Government and agreed by Parliament. 

Good Lord, can you imagine the self-righteous crap we would have to endure if National Public Radio and Public TV were 100% supported by the Feds with some help from involuntary "donations" from every U.S. household?  And no real competitors were allowed ?
Hell, the hardware stores would instantly sell out of torches and pitchforks. 

I keep wondering how much longer the Brits are going to put up with this. 
Be afraid, Andrew Marr.  Be very afraid.  We're angry, pimpled, inadequate, and drunk.  And we're proving that ANYBODY can sit down and start typing. 

The picture of Andrew Marr's pasty Brit complection (that doesn't show his baldness level) came from here. 

The Federal Government Wordle

Here's a Wordle based on the recent Gallup survey of opinions about our Federal government. 

If you need some help finding the correct answers:

The word "sucks" is hidden away inside the second "O" of "Too Big". 
"Crooked" is above the "T" in "Too Big". 
"Out Of Control" is immediately above "Incompetent". 

Jan Schakowsky defends the constitutionality of ObamaCare. Kinda. Sorta.

Bill Clinton attacks Rand Paul and Republicans and gets some of it right

From Bill Estep, of the Lexington Herald-Leader.  This is ex-President Bill Clinton, on Wannabe Senator Rand Paul's radical ideas:

Former President Bill Clinton stumped for fellow Democrat Jack Conway on Monday, delivering a strongly-worded repudiation of Republican Rand Paul and his “radical ideas” for a smaller government.

We might as well start there, with the "radical ideas" for a smaller government.  There is no moderate, prudent, incremental way to get out of a 14 trillion dollar debt.  Screw it, it can't be done. 

Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race is between a practical, progressive moderate who has a plan....

....O God, another Democrat with a plan.  He's also a "moderate".  I'm sick of moderates who reach across the aisle in a bipartisan effort to work with the other side to move the agenda forward and "get something done for the American people".  I wish we could boil our choices down to the extremists in each camp. 

Moderates have almost compromised us out of existence. 

.... versus a guy “with radical ideas and no record to back it up,” Clinton told a few thousand people gathered outside the Administration Building at the University of Kentucky.

Once again, the job is going to require radical ideas.  Radical ideas aren't a defect.  They're a selling point. 

Clinton said Paul would roll back federal protection for people with disabilities....

When time permits, go here to see how much the Americans With Disabilities Act has helped Americans With Disabilities.  (Their employment rate was increasing nicely until our government decided to help 'em out.)

.... while pushing tax cuts for rich people.

This dead horse has been beaten until it's a pulpy mess that even vultures are avoiding.  The top 50% of the earners pay 97% of the taxes.  If taxes are going to be cut significantly, if we're going to get more money out into the productive economy, if we're going to stop politicians from giving your money to their friends, contractors, military suppliers, drug warriors, hangers-on, deadbeats, regulators, worry-warts, global warmists, human barnacles, bureaucrats, slot-fillers, inspectors, teachers who can't teach, African Genital Washers, border guards, obesity police and ethanol subsidizers, then the tax cuts are going to have to go to the people in the top income levels.  It really is that simple.  You can't cut any lower than zero, and the non-rich are already at zero. 

He also mentioned the possibility of cuts to food safety....

These are the people who gave a huge thumbs-up to Oxycontin, but continue to outlaw medical marijuana.  For decades, they advised that you eat 6-11 daily servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta. 

....air traffic control....

Heck yes !  Privatize it ! 

 ....education....

Oh, for the love of God and all things holy.  Is there any dollar amount that will ever be enough?  In the last 25 years we've almost doubled the spending on education, and the needle hasn't budged.  Privatize it tomorrow.  Let a thousand flowers bloom.  See what else works and watch parents flock to it. 

 and workplace training

In the last 9 months, I've probably cycled through 100 Temp Employees.  Almost all of them have been through some kind of workplace training, courtesy of Community Colleges, Job Training Boondoggles, or even Porkulus funds.  One of them, one out of a hundred, could do a halfway decent job of making some numeric signs with Microsoft Word.  I think we can cut Uncle Sam's workplace training programs with no loss of national productivity. 

....among other things. Republicans try to portray Democrats as the party of big government spending while claiming to be the party of restraint, Clinton said.

Well, he got that right.  Until Obama, Reid and Pelosi made them look like skinflint penny pinchers, Republicans spent more than Democrats.  If you're interested, here's something I wrote back in the bright sunshiny period of 2008, back when I actually thought that there was no way ANYONE could EVER outspend George W. Bush.  It's pretty funny to look back on. 

Sheesh.  Obama has made Bush look like Ebeneezer Scrooge. 

Anyway, back to my point....There is no moderate way to get us out of a 14 trillion dollar hole.  Seriously, can you imagine the Republicans shutting down the Department Of Energy?  It's the biggest waste in Washington, but no Republican candidate has mentioned closing it.  Department of Education?  No way.  How about privatizing Social Security, or at least letting us opt out of the program?  Nope.  That's the 3rd rail. 

Republicans spend like there's no tomorrow, usually on a war against drugs or terror or imported wheat or illegal Messicans. 

So please consider the Libertarian Party this November.  We don't want to run anything, we simply want to kill The Beast.  We don't want to lead you, we want you to be left alone.  We want to march on Washington and demand.....nothing. 

And remember what Bill Clinton said, and what has been the case for the last 30 years or so.  If you want a smaller government, voting Republican is a wasted vote. 

A letter from home

Tennessee Titans 34, Dallas Cowboys 27, and The Tower Of Babel

Please gather around, boys and girls.  Our children's sermon today is the sad story of The Dallas Cowboys, The Tennessee Titans, and the recently constructed Tower Of Babel.  Did you know that the Tennessee Titans just beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-27 ???  
Children, have you heard of the Tower Of Babel?  The Tower Of Babel is in Arlington, Texas.  I'll show you pictures of it in a few minutes.
This story is in a book that we call "The Bible", and this little story is from the Bible's book Of Genesis, Chapter 11.

1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.

2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

4. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves....

and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.

6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city, (and they also stopped any plans for being in a hometown Super Bowl).

9 That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

And that, boys and girls, is what happens if you steal peoples' homes to build a sports arena.  God gets angry, and your team loses.  

Pics for this epic came from here and here and here and here and here and here and here.

In Praise Of Temp Services

A friend and I have been having Spontaneous Entrepreneurial Seizures (that means we want to start a small sideline business). 

We've been brainstorming the thing for a while, looking at possibilities. 

This afternoon, I was going through an online checklist of things to consider before taking a large step like this one.  One of the items was employees.  Where are you going to find them?  What are you looking for?  How much will you have to pay to attract the talent you need? 

Without even thinking about it, I made a note to myself to call a couple of Temp Services on Monday. 

Temp Services?  What the heck? 

1) Temp employees cost anywhere from 50% to 100% per hour more than the same employee is willing to work for as a permanent employee. 
2) The temp will leave you at the drop of a hat if he finds something better (and he often has the temp service in his corner working to achieve that objective.)
3) My "keep to hire" rate with temps is somewhere below 2%, and I bet I've worked with more than 100 this year alone.  I spend a lot of time re-training. 
4) My "keep for the lifetime of the project" rate with temps is somewhere below 25%.  Many of those guys are not invited back to work the next day.  Some don't even last until the first 15 minute break. 

So why in the world would anyone hire a temp, instead of hiring the worker outright? 

1) The employer doesn't have to mess with tax witholding (income tax withholding has been a temporary wartime measure since 1943).  I don't want to be in charge of paying anyone's taxes for them.  It is totally insane. 

 
2) If I hire an employee who doesn't work out, he or she can sue me for a large number of real or imaginary offenses should I end the work relationship.  It is totally insane. 

3) There's something in the works called ObamaCare ® .  You may have read something about it.  It is totally insane. 

 

4) The business we're considering is not particularly dangerous.  But have you looked at Worker's Comp insurance rates lately?  I'd rather insure an offshore oil rig than 10 typists.  It's totally insane.  Temp Services take care of insurance for you.  Yeah, it's included in the rate you pay, but the Temp Service deals with the government, not you.     

5) Then there's the gloriously mis-named Employee Free Choice Act, which would do away with secret ballots in unionization votes.  It's totally insane.   

6) In all of our conversations about starting this little sideline, we haven't had a single conversation about "Saving And Creating Jobs".  Not a single one.  We've only talked about creating something that people will value more highly than the amount it will cost us to produce it.  Can you imagine us pitching our idea to a legit bank or investor and starting the conversation with "We've come up with a way to create 50 jobs ! ! !"

No, if we want to be taken seriously, we'll have to walk in the door with a scheme that involves fewer people, not more.  The current bunch of Thieves & Looters in D.C. seem to reward people for taking the opposite approach, don't they? 
So until that mindset changes, I don't see us hiring anything but short-term temps.  The current political mess it totally insane.   

7) All businesses are forced to pay into an Unemployment Compensation Fund.  The amount you are charged depends on the number of people you release back into the marketplace without just cause.  I don't want to go through a demeaning song and dance of finding reasons to fire someone who hasn't done anything wrong, when I could pay a bit extra and have the problem taken out of my hands.  The mess my employer goes through in Human Resources is....totally insane.   

That's the way I see it right now, on 10-10-2010.  I could change my mind tomorrow.  Temp Services rule ! !

OK, Next question:  Why aren't more businesses hiring?

Fresh coats of Whitening to here and here and here and here for the pics. 

Why I don't like foreigners

There are lots and lots of reasons to dislike foreigners, immigrants, and people who aren't like us. 
Look what we're having to put up with, courtesy of WGN in Chicago:

An elderly couple says Cook County sheriff’s police on a drug raid smashed into their Southwest Side house late Thursday night, terrorizing them before admitting they had the wrong house.

With her husband already asleep, 84-year-old Anna Jakymek was just turning out the lights when she heard loud noises at the back and front doors about 11:30 p.m.

Ok, let's start there.  What kind of name for an American is Jakymek?  Americans should be named Smith, Jones, or Patterson.  

Her initial thought was that her 89-year old husband had fallen out of bed, but she realized something else was happening when she looked into the front room.
“I see maybe 20 guys come in and see the door knocked open,” she said…
Son Andrew said the most potent drug in the home is aspirin.

Right.  With a name that sounds like something from a bad brewpub?  Jakymek?  I'm not buying it. 

“They don’t smoke, drink or even watch TV. They believe in America,” he said.
He added that his father, Andrij, suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease and has terminal cancer.
“He won’t even take pain medicine,” he said…

Andrij ??  Andrij ?? Someone named Andrij isn't rolling up a fat one every night?  Gimme a break.

His mother, he said, called him after the raid at the request of the supervising sergeant on the scene. When he got there, he said he was told the officers had raided the wrong home.

“When I arrived the officer explained they had misinformation, but said his job was over, and he was leaving. They left a copy of the warrant, but he absolved himself of any responsibility for the raid or the damage,” Andrew Jakymec said.

Don't these freakin' foreigners know that there's a drug war going on?  And that we're in a constant battle to save people from....themselves? 
Can Andrew Jakymec pull his Eastern European head out of his rear end long enough to see the truth?  We need to preserve the monopolies of the Mexican Drug Lords and the Afghan Opium Poppy farmers. 
Every once in a while, somebody's gonna get hit with friendly fire.  Don't try playing the victim card just because you have a funny name.
We're in a drug war.  Love it or leave it.  

He estimated the damage to broken doors, locks and windows at up to $3,000.
“Everything was violently opened. Cabinets were ripped open, clothes and sheets were everywhere, and pieces of wood where the doors were rammed were all over the place,” he said.

Radley Balko is claiming that the Jakymeks came here in the 1960's from the Ukraine.  Something about escaping Soviet oppression. 
Well, if they're going to be bitching and moaning every time our police bust up the wrong house looking for small amounts of marijuana, they can take their asses back to Russia. 
How are we going to justify building a border fence without a drug war, Mr. Radley Balko? 
How can we "save and create" jobs for border patrol guards unless we continue our twin policies of drug prohibition and sharia law? 
Do you think we can continue fighting in Afghanistan for the next century without giving our enemies a monopoly on opium products?  Why, if we were to end prohibition, the Taliban would go broke in a month.  Then who would we fight?  
Now that I've had time to think about it, what kind of name is Balko?  It doesn't sound Texan.   

Remember: Foreigners bad.  Drug war good. 

Mario Vargas Llosa has won the Nobel Prize for Literature

Mario Vargas Llosa, a self-described "classical liberal", has won the Nobel Prize for literature. 
("Classical liberal" is what the rest of the world calls libertarians.) 

I don't know how they allowed this to happen.  I mean, the man can WRITE ! 
Heads will roll.

Another "Instalanche"

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has looked upon my typing and smiled. 
This is my second "Instalanche" - that's what they call it when Reynolds links to something you wrote and sends you a small fraction of his 300,000 hits per day. 

If I'd known this was gonna happen, I would've used spell-check. 
Go here.  I'm the 4th link from the top. 
And yes, being excited about this makes me a total geek. 

Albert Mohler and Christian Yoga

Since everyone else is attacking Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville Kentucky, I can't help but jump on the dogpile. 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Southern Baptist leader who is calling for Christians to avoid yoga and its spiritual attachments is getting plenty of pushback from enthusiasts who defend the ancient practice.

Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler says the stretching and meditative discipline derived from Eastern religions is not a Christian pathway to God.
Mohler said he objects to "the idea that the body is a vehicle for reaching consciousness with the divine."
"That's just not Christianity," Mohler told The Associated Press.

Well, it will soon be Christianity, if enough people decide that it is. 

Sometime around the year 325, people decided that "The Trinity" was Christianity.

About 1500 years after that, Protestants decided that Infant Damnation was no longer part of Christianity.  They invented something called "the age of accountability".  It worked, it was handy.  Everyone felt better.  The Catholics already had a place called Purgatory, so it helped us keep up with 'em.

Religious beliefs are fluid.  They change.  They evolve. 

Tortillas were not a part of traditional Christianity, since Christianity first grew and developed in the Middle East.  Tortillas originated someplace in Latin America, perhaps more than 10,000 years ago.  Many Christians, even in Louisville, Kentucky, have been known to consume tortillas. 

Mohler said he objects to "the idea that the body is a vehicle for reaching consciousness with the divine."

Good lord in heaven, what a bass-ackward witch doctor is Albert Mohler.  Let's start from the top:  Christians kneel.  Christians clasp their hands in prayer, as a gesture of supplication.  Christians sometimes lift their hands, with their palms turned upward, as if to receive whatever heaven is offering.  Christians bow their freakin' heads.  Those are the examples most likely on display in the Protestant churches of Louisville. 

Branch out geographically and historically, and you'll find examples of Christians fasting, mortifying the flesh, flogging themselves and going through all sorts of other contortions to escape the idea that "this" is all there is. 

It boils down to this:  Yoga is different from anything that Dr. Mohler grew up with.  It's also a threat.  You don't need Albert Mohler with you if you're going to practice yoga. 

There's nothing in the curriculum at Dr. Mohler's Louisville Angel Factory that prepares him for this.  If current trends continue, theologians will suddenly discover a pre-existing Baptist/Yoga tradition that goes all the way back to W.A. Criswell. 

I could go on and on with this, but I'm starting to break out in stigmata. 
 
The picture came from Christian Yoga magazine.
Additional pic at the request of Cedric Katesby (see comments).  This statue depicts Mother Earth being nuzzled by an infant Al Gore.  Also from Christian Yoga magazine. 
I don't think Cedric gets out much. 

On house fires and ObamaCare

You've probably heard about the South Fulton Fire Department - the one that wouldn't put out a house fire because the homeowner hadn't paid his yearly $75.00 fire protection fee. 



This thing is a great parable/metaphor for about a dozen different things, but let's hit some of the high points. 

* Let's start by saying that most of us would've put out the fire if we owned a fire truck.  We would have done it at no charge.  Once.  Maybe five or six times.  But after that.... 

* People fear what would happen if libertarians got their way and more and more government services were privatized.  (People wouldn't have access to government services if fees weren't paid, etc.)  Well, that's already happening with government services, isn't it? 

* Do you think that a lot of people who had not yet paid their $75.00 fee to the South Fulton Fire Department have now done so?  In a hurry?  Ya think? 

* If the South Fulton Fire Department had put out this fire, do you think anyone in his right mind would have paid the $75.00 fee next year? 

* If you were in the business of putting out fires for people who had paid a yearly $75.00 insurance policy, how many fires could you put out for no charge before you went bankrupt ?  Would anyone ever pay your $75.00 insurance policy if they knew that you were always on call and willing to sacrifice your time, equipment, and/or life for no charge? 

* And now the big one.... Once ObamaCare goes into effect, insurance companies won't be able to turn away people who haven't been paying insurance premiums.  If you're willing to pay a (relatively) small fine up front, they have to take you as a customer and start paying all your medical bills.  Will anyone in his right mind pay for insurance before he gets sick? 

* I'm going into metaphor overload.  Have a good day ! 

Top Secret Blogger Meetup - Campisi's in Dallas, October 4, 2010

About a month ago, I got an email from Nick Rowe of the P.O.W. in the People's Republic of California blog.  He was going to be in Dallas for a conference and wondered if we could get together. 

Of course we could get together !  We met at Campisi's in Dallas, and had a great time.  The world's problems can consider themselves solved.    Paul Krugman, resident Obama apologist for the New York Times, can consider himself mocked.  My misunderstandings about who insures banks against robbers can consider themselves eliminated.  The mysteries of Mormon underwear remain unsolved. 

Nick has now experienced Shiner Bock.

I would have invited more people to this gathering, but Nick (not his real name) works as an economist in a semi-government job, and must keep his identity a secret.  Those who labor in The Belly Of The Beast (or at least its pancreas) have to be careful about campaigning for sanity.   

Dr. Ralph, of The Journal Of Post-Ralphaelite Thought, took time out from supporting godless socialism long enough to meet us, knock back a few, and take these pictures.  He was careful about not revealing Nick's true identity.

Here's Dr. Ralph, still looking somewhat like Leon Trotsky, and Nick:

One of the many cool things about being alive in the year 2010....the world is getting smaller and smaller.  Dr. Ralph, Nick and I didn't even know each other three years ago.  We started pounding our interests into the internet, and next thing you know we're all sitting in the same booth, eating spaghetti.  Go figure. 

Good times, good times. 

Illinois or Mexico? Guess who has to pay higher interest

From Bloomberg News, via Newsalert, via Instapundit:

Illinois capital-markets director John Sinsheimer and Citigroup Inc. bankers took a globe-girdling trip from the U.K. to China in June to persuade investors that the state’s $900 million of Build America Bonds were a bargain.


The seven-country visit worked. The state sold one-fifth of the federally subsidized securities abroad the next month, tapping investors who are the fastest-growing source of borrowed cash for U.S. municipalities. Illinois, with the lowest credit rating of any state from Moody’s Investors Service, dangled yields higher than Mexico, which defaulted on debt in 1982, and Portugal, which costs more to insure against missed payments.

In other words, the children of the state of Illinois are going to be forking out Payday Loan-type interest rates.  All so their parents can support the political culture that produced Barack Obama, Rod Blagojevich, these 3 governors who have been to jail, Dan Rostenkowski, and the next mayor of Chicago. 

Mexico is a better investment.  I repeat, Mexico is a better, safer investment.  Look at these three guys.  Would you purchase a used hubcap from any of them???  Let it roll around in your brain for a few minutes.  According to people who evaluate risk, Mexico is a safer investment than Illinois. 

CAVEAT EMPTOR, dammit ! !

If you purchase the Illinois bonds, Obama is eventually going to print some money, give it to Illinois, and they are going to pay you back with .50 cent dollars.  Hide and watch.   
Mexico is a better investment. 

******
The Wanted Poster came from here. 

The Libertarian Purity Test

For everyone who thinks The Libertarian Party is too extreme, well, compare us to our friends in the Anarcho-Capitalist movement. 

When time permits, please take the Libertarian Purity Test. 

I scored a 105 out of a possible 160.

The test could use some clarification in places.  For instance, question #36 asks "Should we abolish welfare?"  I believe that publicly funded welfare could easily be replaced by privately funded welfare, and that's the way we oughta go.  So I don't believe we should "abolish welfare".  We should turn it back over to the churches, civic groups, benevolence funds, etc.

Question #42:  "Should the FDA and Medical licensing be abolished?"  Well, yes.  But only after some competing certifications have a chance to get themselves established.  Until then, we're like that video of Democrats stuck on an escalator.  We've forgotten how to walk. 



I would trust a Wal-Mart certification far more than an FDA certification.  Heck, the FDA has certified Oxycontin, but won't allow for marijuana.  Go figure.   

Anyway, it's nice to occasionally take a test that makes me seem moderate. 

Please post results below. 

On the difficulty of typing every day

I've noticed a trend. 

First of all, my overseas blog/Facebook buddy Obnoxio The Clown is hanging up his clown wig for the forseeable future. 

Here's something from his final post:

My inspiration to blog issues from a libertarian angle has waned. There's only so many times you can reduce things to first principles and argue the case and get the same stupid, meaningless counterarguments....

....The ****alition is not as astoundingly infuriating as the Labour Party were. They're just as ****ing inept, thieving, misguided and bossy, but they're much nicer about it. So that's fine.


I'm tired of trying to explain the concept of anarchism as something natural and workable to people who are happy to mindlessly defend extortion with menaces.



I can't even pretend that I will never, ever blog here again. My life may change again. I have no intention of deleting the blog, and I would be flattered to think that someone, somewhere may still find some of my writing interesting or inspiring.

I'll bet dollars to donuts that Obnoxio will be back within a month or so.  He won't be able to contain all the rage. 

Next, my friend Stephen M. Smith, of A Beginner's Guide To Freedom, is going through a dry spell.  He's only posted once in August, and about that many times in July.  Stephen is probably the best Libertarian writer in these United States. 
We asked Stephen about it at the last Tarrant County Libertarian Meetup, and he said something that all long-term libertarians have felt at one time or another.  (Or maybe I said it, and he agreed with me because I had beer in me....)
"How many times can you explain that all government activity is theft?  How many times can you point out the difference between government's stated goals and government's results?  After a while, you feel like the one-eyed man in the land of the blind."

Well, it ain't easy.  I know that the stuff I throw up here every day isn't always good or even coherent.  But somebody's gotta say it. 

Hit that link above to Stephen's site.  That post about "Lesson's Learned" is the best thing I've ever read about how our nation should go about escaping from the current fog.  I miss seeing that stuff every week. 

I hope Obnoxio and Stephen will find it in themselves to crank their sites back into action. 

In the meantime, here's a picture of Barack Obama picking his nose. 

He isn't Superman. 
He isn't our leader - he should only be an administrator (like every other politician). 
He doesn't have a clue about what's best for me, you or anyone else. 
Why would anyone give a Chicago Machine Politician this much power?
The Messiah is wearing no clothes. 
He picks his nose.   

Guys, you can always start with that. 

What Am I ??

Picture compliments of The Whited Mama.

Andy Barron - The Egocessary Prayer Candidate for Texas Governor

Since so many of you begin your Sunday morning devotions with a visit to this site....

Our text for today comes from the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 5:

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Please put aside your bibles, and turn to your internet.  Visit the site of Dr. Andy Barron, who is running for Texas governor.  Dr. Barron's first priority is as follows:

Prayer as a priority - Since 1962 when prayer was eliminated unnecessarily from public schools there has been a steady decline in morals of our society.

The good doctor gives us more specifics on his Issues page:

■Prayer and Religious Speech Protected Under 1st Amendment



■Establishment Clause Requires the Government to be Neutral Toward Religion, and Does Not Justify the Exclusion of Religious Speech


■Legislative Prayer Is a Permissible Acknowledgment of Widely Held Religious Beliefs in this Country


■The Rights of Students to Pray at School


■The Rights of Students to Pray at Graduation


■Equal Access allows individuals and groups to use government facilities for prayer and worship on the same basis that other individuals and groups are given access.

By all accounts, Dr. Barron is a great guy.  He has already accomplished more good in the world than I ever will. 
Unfortunately, he is focused on reviving one of the problems that our nation's founders were trying to escape. 

Dr. Barron grew up in Texas and went to Baylor.  The organizations he belongs to are predominantly Protestant, so let's assume he's a Protestant.  

Dr. Barron and other Christian Protestants can pray any time, anywhere.  In between this paragraph and the previous one, I prayed a simple prayer.  "God, please let this be a great post, and if it's okay with you, please let it be emailed around the world.  Please help Kathie Glass be elected Texas governor.  I want a pony.  Amen." 
You can't stop me from praying, at least in the Protestant sense of the word.  You can't stop me, and I can't stop you.  The legislatures can legislate all they want, and it doesn't do a bit of good. 

But there's another kind of prayer, the kind that Jesus was irked about in this morning's Bible reading.  Dr. Brent Beasley (of my own Broadway Baptist Church) calls this "Egocessary Prayer"  (That's a play on words with the phrase "intercessory prayer", where you ask God for blog hits, election results and ponies).  "Egocessary Prayer" is the kind I grew up hearing in school, at graduation services, before football games, and before most public events.  It basically means "praying out loud in public". 

For instance....
Before a Mississippi private academy football game, a preacher gets on the microphone and asks everyone to bow their heads, and asks God to bless (so and so).  Then the preacher thanks God for (so and so), and asks that He keep our young men safe on the football field while they are trying to kill each other. 
Then the preacher outlines the plan of salvation, not because God is fuzzy on the details, but because the preacher's congregation needs to know that the preacher is earning his pay and trying to convert the Catholics and Episcopalians. 
Bonus points are given for length, style, use of verbs from The King James version, and for passion.  I once heard the equivalent of a double reverse backflip triple-axle, when a preacher at a graduation service shoveled in something about the superiority of full-immersion baptism. 
And then finally, the preacher says "we ask these things in your son's name, Amen."
Then you can go on with your football game, graduation, or city council meeting.

What will happen down in south Texas when someone is asked to lead a public school prayer, and a priest decides to take advantage of the teachable moment and educate everyone on how to pray with a rosary?  (Note to Yankees, Europeans, and Aussies: No one living north of Waco can imagine this ever happening.)
Is Dr. Barron prepared to purchase storage facilities for Muslim prayer rugs? 
Is there time before a high school graduation to perform the "Festival of Ramen", the only way known to appease The Flying Spaghetti Monster?  Will the schools have to make reasonable accomodations for all the tongs, salad sporks, colanders, and cheese graters?  And if you think kids coming to school in gang colors are a problem, just wait until those who have been Touched By His Noodly Appendage show up in full pirate regalia. 

There are only 2 reasons for Egocessary prayer, as opposed to praying silently:

1) To show off.
2) To evangelize. 

There's no point in the first one, and The Founders were opposed to the second.  End of story. 

One last thing about the Barron candidacy, check out this video.  It's only 30 seconds long. 

Regardless of how you feel about Andy Barron as Texas governor, regardless of how hard you work to get him elected, or whether you do everything in your power to prevent him from becoming governor, none of that matters. 
You don't matter. 
Polls don't matter. 
Effort doesn't matter.
Planning doesn't matter. 
Andy Barron wasted his time becoming a doctor/dentist.  If people's health/teeth were going to improve, it was going to happen anyway. 

Please check out the video. It's only 30 seconds long.  I don't know why I'm bothering to ask you to watch it, since if you watch it, it was bound to happen anyway. 



Aren't you glad you got it over with?