Seek respect mainly from thyself, for it comes first from within.
Steven H. Coogler
Tweet of the Day
The evidence is clear: under "progressive" economic policies, too many people don't work. Let us protect our kids' future from Big Nana.
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 4, 2015
Obama would have us think that he has found the elixir to economic growth:tax, spend and regulate; don't pay down the debt/fix entitlements.
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 4, 2015
FCC Chair Wheeler's proposal to regulate the Internet as a public utility is not only bad, pushing-on-a-string public policy, but lawless.
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 4, 2015
The Economics of RobocopThe Other Side of Germany (Back in the USSR)
Worrisome Economic Notes
Mercatus' Veronica de Rugy, whose work I have frequently cited over the life of the blog, has reminded us in her most recent piece the GOP-controlled Congress, despite Obama's tax-and-spend $4T budget, needs to combat the cost drivers behind over 70% of the budget (and climbing)--social security and government-sponsored healthcare.
In my Internet surfing and various emails, I've noticed a number of troubling things: this past December's consumer spending the weakest since 2009, a fifth straight month of factory order declines, increasing stock market volatility, we have central bank madness spreading all over the world:
So far this year, 17 central banks have instituted some form of easing. Among the notable central banks to cut rates were…Moreover, we have a distinct deflationary whiff overseas with government banks, even blue chip corporations offering bonds at NEGATIVE interest rates:
Australia
Canada
China
India
Egypt
Pakistan
Peru
Russia
Turkey
Also, the European Central Bank began buying 60 billion euros of debt a month.
Government bonds from Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland, France, Belgium, and Switzerland all sport negative yields. That's nine major sovereigns with negative yields. According to the Wall Street Journal, 16% of the global government bonds have negative yields. Short-term euro-denominated bonds from Swiss food company Nestlé have gone negative. That's a first for Nestlé, and it may be the first time in history the yield on a corporate bond maturing in more than one year has gone negative. You can now pay for the privilege of lending money to a good company.
The Last Bee Gee
Facebook Corner
(Reason). Requiring that people vaccinate their kids if they want taxpayers paying their bills should boost immunization rates without making the treatment worse than the disease.
I think that participants in a government-sponsored health plan should be required to do their part in mitigating the risk of getting or spreading a contagious disease.
I'm pro vaccine all the way - but I am not pro-using-the-tax-code-to-promote-behaviors-we-think-are-right , that's f*cked up
It's not just about you, but you spreading the disease to other people who, for instance, may not be able to be vaccinated.
I keep thinking reason advocates individual choice. Then I see this nonsense.
Your right to have a contagious disease stops when your disease is a threat to my own health.
This is the most profoundly idiotic debate I've ever seen my felllow libertarians engage in. You do NOT have the right to expose someone's new-born infant or an immunocompromised patient to the increased risk of acquiring a debilitating but completely preventable disease that can result in death or life-long disabilities. End of story.
We are living in an increasingly totalitarian state where the government spies on us, bombs the shit out of countries without Congressional authorization, and bails out favored businesses left and right. We also have an $18 trillion dollar debt. Taking a stand against vaccination needlessly endangers lives and is a political loser. What the holy F* are you idiots thinking? [OP]
The fact that sophistic anti-vaxxers have spammed this thread confirms that the OP is spot on. Read some real science, from peer-reviewed journals, not some "natural health" website trying to spin Big Pharma conspiracy theories or anecdotal horror stories of adverse events (AE), e.g., "We found evidence that some vaccines are associated with serious AEs; however, these events are extremely rare and must be weighed against the protective benefits that vaccines provide. Pediatrics 2014;134:1"
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists
Dusty Springfield, "I Only Want To Be With You"
