Analytics

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Miscellany: 1/14/15

Quote of the Day
There are just two rules for success: 1. Never tell all you know.
Roger H. Lincoln

Tweet of the Day



Chart of the Day: ATTENTION Pope Francis
http://cafehayek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/WorldIncomeDistribution1820to20001.png
HT Cafe Hayek
Image of the Day

Via National Review
Via Lawrence Reed


Sen. Bernie Sanders (Idiot-VT) Goes Full-Retard Mode: Keystone Approval Makes Earth 'Significantly Less Habitable’

It's bad enough that the self-styled socialist recites all the tiresome, repetitive cliche talking points of debunked politically correct climate change alarmism (whereby any climate event is de jure a consequence of human activity), but notice below how he tries to evade the interviewer's spot-on question. And we have the next JOTY moment. Pipelines traverse all across the US with modest environmental risks; Keystone will use the latest, greatest pipeline technology--it's certain not more risky than other pipelines. Other forms of transports (rail, tankers, etc.) have their own, greater risks. This economic illiterate then tries to explain that a 40% price drop recently means that the Canadian oil is too expensive anyway. This ignores the fact that there is a minor spread between demand and supply, the law of supply and demand with lower prices, and the limited supply capacity available at lower supply costs. Now imagine any global unrest that might take supply off the market, any kind of strengthening global economy, a reversal in the sharp multi-year rise of the dollar. Remember that we had low gas prices early in the Obama Administration--only to see them reverse course even in a sluggish domestic economy. The fact of the matter is that we depend on a significant percentage of oil from Canada, oil sands or other, all of which are transported by some means and can alternately be transported through the pipeline. Finally, any oil sold by Canada will be purchased at a market-clearing price, and big importers like China and India are more than willing to buy Canadian oil--which means anything Mr. Socialist is trying to do by stonewalling a pipeline is utterly futile and a wash in terms of global oil consumption.

But arguing pipelines make the earth less habitable is no better than arguing the same over powerlines. It is utterly clueless in not recognizing the role of energy in a robust global economy.



The College Football Cartel



DC Metro Riders: Meet Ayn Rand




Question to Justin Amash As To Why He Voted 'Present' on Keystone
Congressman Amash: it would help to explain what exactly is in this bill that makes it a violation of the rule of law versus the earlier Keystone bill you claim to have supported. It would seem both bills principally address a fairly uncommon phenomenon of the approval of a cross-border pipeline. Are there some anti-competitive provisions against other cross-border pipelines?
This is a follow-up on Amash's rant I republished a few days back. If I get a response (I'm not holding my breath), I'll republish it. Justin makes an assertion it violates the rule of law concept, e.g., we shouldn't have special-purpose laws that benefit primarily one company (say, a specialized tax break). But let's point out that Keystone pipeline went through the defined approval process, environmental impact studies, etc.; Obama has simply, for completely political purposes, refused to approve the project: that is the real violation of the rule of law, not TransCanada's request for approval under existing criteria. Now it could be what Amash is arguing for is a more general legislative fix to the approval process that currently allows Obama to arbitrarily filibuster a pipeline approval (but Amash does not reference process reform in his rant). But to argue, as Amash seems to suggest, that this is a case of crony capitalism, just seems at the outset wrong: TransCanada did not set out for a different set of rules for its approval: it has complied with existing legal requirements.

Political Humor

A new Republican Congress is taking over. Sen. Ted Cruz has been appointed to overseeing NASA in Congress. He says he wants NASA to focus on finding aliens so he can deport them. - Conan O'Brien
[Paul Krugman claims his multi-trillion dollar space shield will save the US economy.]

Mitt Romney is reportedly putting his 2012 election team back together. And somehow, miraculously, none of them were busy with other stuff. - Seth Meyers
[Mitt Romney lost his way to the White House in 2012. No doubt Hillary Clinton will say it's because he refused to stop & ask for directions.]

Facebook Corner

(Reason). When governments “do wrong we should overturn them...There is a role for the Supreme Court to mete out justice.” -Rand Paul
I don't like the way Rand Paul discussed the Brown v Board decision. The issue wasn't so much "separate but equal"--after all, the jurists could have simply ruled that the Topeka school system as a matter of fact violated this construct--but it denied a black student access to his white neighborhood school based on race, an arbitrary criterion. "Separate but equal" was, of course, a policy violation of economic liberty--it basically called for relevant private or public entities to duplicate accommodations to accommodate arbitrary majoritarian preferences, which is intrinsically inefficient. I would think Rand Paul might want to see devolution of state matters to state courts under state constitutions rather than centralization of judicial authority and argue perhaps that the public school system of Kansas was unconstitutional: the real problem was (and still is) the failing government monopoly on education for blacks; the solution is to enable private school competition in black (and all) neighborhoods.

(Reason). Under French law, insulting people based on their religion is a crime punishable by a fine of €22,500 and six months in jail.
I'm glad to see, a week after the tragedy and the hypocrisy of making the issue over free expression, Reason is finally rediscovering censorship laws in many Western democracies. It doesn't really matter whether the French courts eventually exonerated Charlie or others--the fact of the matter is they were charged under the law. The mere threat of an arrest has a chilling effect on free speech.

(Drudge Report). Do you agree or disagree with Rand Paul on Mitt Romney? “I think he's had his chance and I think it's time for some fresh blood.” - Rand Paul
A "turnaround specialist" who couldn't turnaround his own failing campaign? He had an easy strategy available: run against the 12 years of Bush/Obama policies of disastrous domestic and international intervention.

But it boils down to whether Romney can win over the 51% or so of the people who voted against him last time; I don't see it. Of the current crop, I really only see 1 candidate who brings new ideas and the potential to broaden GOP appeal--Rand Paul.
I think he announced he is not going to run.
Unless something has happened since last Friday I haven't seen, you're talking old news. There's a reason Drudge is asking the question. http://www.wsj.com/.../romney-tells-donors-he-is...

(Rand Paul 2016). Doomed from the start.
It's a typical entitlement scheme--look for instance at the recent attempts during the ObamaCare deliberations to expand Medicaid and Medicare. Do you think the objective is just 2-year colleges when many European, Gulf region, etc. colleges are "free"?

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

 Céline Dion, "The Power Of Love". This is the first of Céline's 4 #1's and the second remake which spectacularly overachieved the original on the US Hot 100. It takes chutzpah for a diva to take on an original hit from a singer with serious pipes like Patti LaBelle or Jennifer Rush, but Céline has the power and range to pull it off.



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