The best thing we can do for ourselves and the people in our lives is
- to love them unconditionally
- forgive them without reservation and
- to accept them exactly as they are.
Trolls on Facebook and Elsewhere
It might surprise readers to know I don't really go back to see how many "like's" my comments pick up; in fact, it could be possible I've gotten responses and don't know (it often depends on the placement of the comment). But apparently some get some very positive feedback; I think I had something like 10 like's for a comment I made in response to a Goodman piece via the Independent Institute. (Goodman is a healthcare policy expert I've cited several times over the tenure of ObamaCare.) Sometimes I poke at bears with sticks, which I usually don't republish in the blog. For example, there's this one progressive troll whom for God knows what reason spends a lot of time at the Illinois Policy Institute page. The editors are admirably very patient with the guy; you can almost hear the other commenters roll their eyes, "There he goes again!" I'm more patient with people whom are genuinely confused, less so with people whom are simply trying to stir the pot.
I did get a couple of contacts over the weekend. One was a flame from someone whom didn't like my comment about privatizing the education market. Really, now, I taught for 8 years in academia; I once saw a note of a student fantasizing about my demise... Out of curiousity, I wanted to see if he was some crony public educator. Worse than that, I found that he had taken a quote from Bastiat, the famous nineteenth-century French free-market advocate and foe of socialism and anti-property anarchists, out of context. When Bastiat refers to plunder, he is talking about Statist parasites stealing from productive workers and businessmen; it was clear from context this "progressive" troll thought that Bastiat was bashing corporations. It's one thing to insult me, but to insult a great French thinker's memory is blasphemy...
One blog reader reached out to me sometime back because I did a Cole Porter series in my musical interlude feature. More recently I got a friend request from some lady whom apparently is a big fan of Bill Clinton. (Talk about you don't know me...) I have relatives with hundreds of FB friends but most of mine are relatives, not even academic or professional contacts--and I'm selective about my relatives. I don't think I've set up my FB account for followers. I do have a Twitter account but have yet to send out my first tweet. If I start tweeting I'll probably announce it in the blog.
Time to Cool the Rhetoric on Crimea
We have to understand Russian sensitivity over concerns that Ukraine might one day be part of NATO. After all, JFK almost went to war over Soviet missiles in Cuba. Now, personally, I share the late Robert Taft's concerns with NATO. Personally, I think Putin's concerns about European expansion are overblown; the Europeans have enough problems of their own with high unemployment, low growth, and massive unfunded liabilities. And I think people are wisely skeptical over a vote taking place on Crimean desires to rejoin Russia while Russian troops are occupying the peninsula.
But economic sanctions are a lose-lose proposition and further destabilize the situation. I, of course, reject the strident rhetoric of the neo-cons and the feckless foreign policy of this Administration under Clinton and now Kerry. Clinton comes under scrutiny here for her amateurish, irresponsible comparison of Putin with Hitler.
Facebook Corner
(Illinois Policy Institute). No matter how you feel about government spending, most of us agree that the people have a right to know how their tax money is being spent. This means that before a local government raises taxes on their citizens, it should be transparent about how current tax dollars are being spent.
Unfortunately, most of Illinois’ 6,963 local governments are not transparent about how they are spending taxpayer dollars. Only 53 local governments in Illinois have won our Sunshine Award.
Tax hikes without transparency might happen in the Tuesday primary elections, as residents across the state will be voting on 117 local tax increase referendums in 57 different Illinois counties.
Everyone knows that the cockroaches scatter when we turn on the light... But at least two other things before you even consider putting economy-killing tax hikes on the table: (1) insist on a multiple of spending cut dollars before any new tax dollars and (2) EVERYBODY must get taxed, no exceptions. Everybody must be vested in wasted legislator spending. No self-serving hypocritical reaching into other people's wallets.
(Illinois Policy Institute). The progressive income tax is being sold as a "tax on the rich." The truth? The progressive tax would hike taxes on hardworking families in Illinois. ...
Anyone who believes there are enough stupid rich people in Illinois able or willing to fulfill Statist spending fantasies and empty promises (like fully funded public pensions) has forgotten Martin Niemöller's famous lesson ("first they came...") and is in a state of denial.
(Cato Institute). "It is clear that minimum wage laws kill jobs."
The Cato Institute is just a shrill propaganda machine that supports the interests of regressive billionaires who have enough wealth to fund this type of information polution for 100 generations. I follow them because I like to know my enemy.
"Progressive" trolls have a problem with math, Somewhere around 2% of jobs pay minimum wage, and many of those are young, inexperienced workers not heads of household; these are often starter jobs that often provide training and experience which lead to higher pay within a short period of time. Most minimum wage workers don't work for billionaires, and I don't think billionaries see much to gain from squeezing low-wage workers. The issue is freeing workers and employers to come to a win-win agreement without a third party sabotaging it.
Despite dire warnings by the reality-challenged Tea Party, projected job losses total an approximate 500,000 workers, or a .3% flux in employment numbers. Note the decimal, which may confuse Tea people, being math and all. The report makes it clear that while the losses could be more, there is a significant chance it could be a lot less. This supports the findings of seven Nobel Prize winners and 600 economists, who concluded a minimum wage increase would have little to no influence on job numbers.
Even 600 economists are not in a state of denial about the law of supply and demand, and this includes labor prices. What this economic illiterate troll doesn't point out is the reason there is a modest effect is because somewhere around 2% of jobs are minimum wage. What he also fails to point out is that starter jobs tend to progress organically in compensation with the worker's value/productivity. All that minimum-wage laws achieve is cutting off win-win opportunities for other prospective workers, which we believe is grossly unethical.
(Cato Institute). Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that has arisen as society tries to reconcile corporate rights with religious liberty. Brush up on your legal arguments with the newest Cato Institute ebook, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, a comprehensive primer on religious accommodation in the context of the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate: http://store.cato.org/sebelius-v-hobby-lobby
I am opposed to many, if not all, the wars I have paid taxes to support. Why should hobby lobby be allowed to play the religion card and not me?
Are you seriously comparing Hobby Lobby, which cannot force its customers to transact, to the State which forces you to pay taxes and obey laws? And the last time I checked there was a conscientious objector status for pacifists with respect to drafts. Hobby Lobby pays its employees money which their employees can spend as they please, including on uncovered health services/products. They are being forced to directly sponsor things against matters of conscience. They are willing to sponsor health insurance--just not certain new mandates. One can argue you share in the benefits of a common defense (even if you don't agree with certain interventionist missions) but the State has no business in intervening in the voluntary contract between employer and employee.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Lisa Benson and Townhall |
Linda Ronstadt, "Dreams to Dream". One of my favorite compilations is a Linda Ronstadt "Very Best"--but 3 of my favorite performances are missing: "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me", "How Do I Make You", and this tune, which is her second hit from the Fievel cartoon movies.
I've mentioned and/or cited it in multiple posts, including on Barry's first inaugural. But I attribute my love for the track to my beautiful niece Megan, whom was entranced by Fievel's tales as a youngster; I remember buying a small Fievel collection for her. Every time I hear the two Ronstadt tunes, I think of my beautiful niece...
