Murphy's First Law: Nothing is as easy as it looks.
Chart of the Day: The Dysfunctional Centralization of Lower Education
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| Courtesy of Mercatus Center |
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| Via Libertarian Catholic |
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| Via Being Classically Liberal |
Rand Paul: Wrong Call on ISIS Intervention
I think it's totally political, aimed at defusing the isolationist smear. But I think first of all, it does very little to defuse the neocon claims against Rand; second, it alienates his base, including people like myself who have been defending Rand against his libertarian detractors whom still haven't forgiven Rand for endorsing Romney in 2012 after Ron Paul was mathematically eliminated.
I won't repeat here what I say below in FB Corner; I simply see his policy as incoherent. He seems to link crushing ISIS to protecting an embassy in northern Iraq and on humanitarian grounds. We have embassies and consulates in almost every nation, not to mention almost every country has in some sense violated some form of human rights; this seems to be a prescription for perpetual meddling; is he serious about getting DoD costs under control?
Even as a supporter of Rand Paul, I see this as an unprincipled flip-flop, and I would like to be a fly on the wall when Rand Paul tries to explain this essay to his dad. And so I reluctantly put Rand Paul on my short list for this year's mock award, Bad Elephant of the Year.
The Free Market and Hong Kong
Wasserman-Schultz Wins JOTY Nomination
Using domestic violence terminology to describe your political opponent? Utterly pathetic, desperate and unconscionable. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
The Florida congresswoman said: "Scott Walker has given women the back of his hand. I know that is stark. I know that is direct. But that is reality."On Challenging Pelosi: Just Follow the Yellow-Brick Road
Wasserman Schultz added: "What Republican tea party extremists like Scott Walker are doing is they are grabbing us by the hair and pulling us back. It is not going to happen on our watch."
The Police On Official Business Have No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy
Facebook Corner
(Reason). "Gone for good are the days when Miss America could be dethroned for old nude shots coming to light, as happened to Vanessa Williams in 1984 (Williams is now even listed as a winner at the pageant’s official site)."
Of course, many celebrities have done nude scenes, probably the most controversial was Ms. Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews, who went topless in her own husband's feature movie (S.O.B.) However, particularly in the case of Kate Upton, she had decided for career purposes not to do a potentially lucrative pictorial in Playboy, at least in the near future, and no doubt it could have effects on her professional opportunities (say, endorsements, etc.)
In an Internet reality where hundreds (if not thousands) have knowingly gone nude or partially nude in front of a camera, a few more celebrities may not seem a big deal. Certainly most computer-literate people know that there are security risks to whatever connected device on which you have stored data, images, etc.
Still, I would have hoped that Gillespie had focused more on privacy rights. I also worry about the coarsening of our culture where social norms erode, with unintended consequences.
(Reason). "Hacked celebrity pics should not be an excuse to throttle our free and open Internet." -Nick Gillespie in TIME
Agreed, but at the same time I believe that there is a claim to be made against parties which steal, profit or do damage from unauthorized private images.
(Drudge Report). RAND PAUL: OBAMA HAS CREATED 'JIHADIST WONDERLAND'...
Rand Paul is materially violating a key principle of non-interventionism; as a fellow fusion libertarian-conservative, I'm appalled by Paul's inconsistency; he has just contradicted his case against the unconscionable Obama/Clinton activist extension of Bush interventionism and is a slippery slope away from the world's overextended policeman. Why? Just to refute imbecilic claims of isolationism? No, we free marketers welcome global trade....
(Mercatus Center). Federal outlays for elementary and secondary education in 2010 were more than 15 times higher than comparable outlays in 1960. During that same time period, average reading and math scores remained stagnant. See chart above.
Progressive trolls need to comment elsewhere. Standardized testing is absolutely necessary for benchmarking student/teacher performance. The idea that public monopolies are not dysfunctional is a state of denial. I am not sold even in the case of testing, it is necessary to federalize education; local administration/control need benchmarks to assess educational performance.
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| Via We the Individuals |
Come on! Who has lived long and prospered under socialism?
(Cato Institute). "A radical fringe has hijacked the conversation in an attempt to undo two decades of bipartisan consensus against heavy-handed government control of the Internet.”
Should we be surprised that Big Content Providers would want to engage in regulatory capture? I'm read the typical economically illiterate trolls below whom first of all don't understand the nature of IT and second, are utterly lacking knowledge of how regulation has been used in the history of economics to handicap up-and-coming competitors. There are well-known critics on the myth of natural monopolies (e.g., see DiLorenzo and Woods).
Cato Institute is, as usual, spot on; the lightly regulated Internet has provided equality of opportunity to consumers and suppliers everywhere. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. We all need to reject the sham rationalization of pushing-on-a-string net neutrality forwarded by the fascists.
Pretty sure only big telecom business would agree w you. The VAST majority of small online business would be destroyed without net neutrality
"Progressive" hogwash as usual. We have seen small retailers multiply in presence and sales, all without fascists inventing a rationale to intervene.
total garbage. Advocating for a pay to play system when the tax payers paid for the start up and infrastructure is a joke.
Is this yet another imbecilic claim that government invented the Internet? It wasn't until government got out of the way that the Internet boomed...
Sorry CATO, this is garbage. Every now and then, regulation is necessary: this is one of those cases.
The state of the telecom industry in this country is abhorrent. We're a first-world nation with third-world Internet speeds, because of a limp-wristed, crony-infested FCC that caters to the interests of people more interested in squeezing consumers than keeping America competitive.
Pushing-on-a-string regulation is the reason we have a $1.8T drag on the economy. It's shooting the crown jewel of our economy in the foot.Pushing-on-a-string regulation is the reason we have a $1.8T drag on the economy. It's shooting the crown jewel of our economy in the foot.
Proposals
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Dana Summers via Townhall |
Petula Clark, "This Is My Song". A Charlie Chaplin remake...
