If there are no stupid questions, then what sort of questions do stupid people ask?
Dogbert
Chart of the Day
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| Courtesy of Mises Institute |
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| Via George Pavel on FB |
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| via Lawrence Reed |
Both Sides Now
The interviewer's questions are spot on; mocking a dying man's last words is uncivil.
Facebook Corner
(Lew Rockwell). "Cops are the most obese workers in America according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. No wonder they would rather shoot than chase someone," says Laurence Vance.
And to think the fascists are trying to blame Eric Garner's homicide on his obesity and asthma...
They see this as a zero-sum game where any tax credit or subsidy is a deduction from local public school monopoly.
(Lawrence Reed). "The 50-year embargo against Cuba has not worked. If the goal was regime change, then it sure does not seem to be working. It also hurts the people more than the regime, because the regime can blame the embargo for hardship" -- Senator Rand Paul.
Rand Paul, as usual, is spot on. The existing policy is an anachronism, morally indefensible. It is time to remove the embargo, which serves more to buttress nationalist/Communist propaganda obfuscating decades of failed socialist rule.
(Cato Institute). "One popular argument against a legalization, or amnesty, of unlawful immigrants is that it will merely incentivize future unlawful immigration....However, there isn’t any good evidence that amnesties increase the flows of unlawful immigrants after the amnesty goes into effect. "
Nowrasteh is spot on and compelling as usual. The anti-immigrants worship economically illiterate restrictive immigration laws, which are lose-lose propositions. They persist in their ignorance, even as Japan's aging, shrinking population has faced a stagnant economy with tough immigration controls over the past 25 years. You do not build a dynamic economy by suppressing the natural right to migrate. Take, for instance, North Dakota and the Bakken shale oil boom; how could that happen if there were speedbumps on entering, exiting the state?
Nowrasteh points out how dysfunctional unnatural restrictive laws are: the lack of a viable temporary foreign worker program serves to convert temporary workers into permanent ones because of the uncertainty of return; he indirectly points out the flimsy nature of the stalling mechanism talking point "border security first"; who we often catch are not workers but stranded family members longing to reunite. He compellingly shows that unauthorized entry is not due to some amnesty policy but the ebb and flow of a dynamic market, and we need an immigration policy flexible enough to accommodate a growth economy, not imitate the failed policies of Europe and Japan.
(Cato Institute). "In the midst of negotiations to avoid another government shutdown, Congress rammed through new sanctions against Russia...Congress appears determined to turn an adversary into an enemy and encourage retaliation against more significant American interests.....Now Russia believes that it must prevent a united Ukraine from aligning with the West... So far, Moscow perceives its interests in Ukraine to outweigh the cost of sanctions. Congress can keep upping the ante, but Ukraine always will matter much more to Russia than to the United States."
The commentary is spot on. Economic sanctions are counterproductive and unduly provocative, and there will be responses against American interests. The tendency of GOP legislators (with the exception of the pro-liberty group) to want to meddle in the affairs of other nations is troublesome and indefensible. Recall conservatives through the New Deal (e.g., the Old Right) were skeptical of activist policy. Unfortunately, pro-liberty patriots like Rand Paul and Justin Amash are outnumbered by interventionists on both sides of the aisle.
(Reason). cf. above video. "I Can Breathe": Watch pro-NYPD demonstrators rally, clash with anti-NYPD protesters
Whereas I don't like seeing the Garner homicide becoming a racial issue, mocking a dying man's last words is unconscionable. Anyone seeing a cop jump an unarmed civilian from behind, choke him and continue the hold even as the man was off his feet and objecting he couldn't breathe knows the rogue cop used unnecessary, excessive force. These "pro-police" demonstrators should be protesting the unprofessional rogue cops who couldn't handle a trivial victimless crime without the use of lethal force; it's the rogue cops who undermine public confidence. In this videotaped incident, clearly the cops are the terrorists; the other cops said and did nothing during the rogue cop's attack.
(Cato Institute). "Capitol Hill Bikes should be free to refuse service to Andy Harris, and Republicans and anti-drug activists should be free to refuse to patronize Capitol Hill Bikes. Every contract is an agreement voluntarily entered into on both sides, and no one should be forced to enter into contracts. Thus I support the right of D.C. businesses to refuse to serve those would-be customers who offend their conscience, just as I support the right (though not the rightness) of bakers, photographers, and innkeepers not to participate in gay weddings."
No. This comparison with Christian bakers/photographers refusing to service a gay event is invalid; this is not a matter of conscience, unless it involved Harris frequenting a marijuana business--certainly not a bike shop. You are punishing Harris for expressing his point of view; we all have points of view which others who transact with us may disagree with. Personally, if I was to boycott someone, it would be politically correct fascists who boycott people expressing their opinions.
I dislike economic acts of aggression, whether it's an embargo, a blacklist or a boycott. But to be frank, transactions are two-way streets, and Congressman Harris has the right to choose more civil bike shops for any or no reasons. That being the case, even though I think marijuana is a terrible way to abuse one's body, I do not support the feds imposing a prohibition over DC.
(Cato Institute). "While it’s very encouraging to see the president take a leadership role in pursuit of a good policy, getting Republicans on board is going to be difficult to say the least."
Embargoes and economic sanctions are counterproductive weapons of economic warfare. The current policy towards Cuba is a shameful anachronism from the defunct Cold War. It took an ardent anti-Communist Republican Richard Nixon to reopen relations with China. Those of us who are pro-liberty (Rand Paul, Amash, Massie, et al.) have long supported reversing this policy, which badly reflects on our international leadership and moral authority and contradicts the principles of free markets and free trade. Moreover, the rogue socialist dictatorship in Cuba uses the excuse of our embargo to mask its failed economic and other domestic policies; the sooner we repeal our bad policies, the sooner native Cubans will realize the reality of their inept leadership.
(responding to a troll arguing political change hasn't happened in China, and ending the embargo will simply line the pockets of the corrupt Cuban Communists)
False, China liberalized its economy and added millions to the middle class. Both American and Chinese consumers have benefited from trade. It is true that the Chinese Communists remain in political control, but there have been protests, and political monopoly has consequences in terms of social unrest. It's not US business to decide internal matters of other countries; in part, countries that trade don't want to war with each other.
Normalizing relations and resuming trade with Cuba is not a political strategy; it's a moral imperative and win-win for the combined people of America and Cuba.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of the original artist via IPI |
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| Courtesy of the original artist via Patriot Post |
Musical Interlude: Christmas 2014
Kenny G, "Xmas Jazz"
