Analytics

Monday, February 29, 2016

Miscellany: 2/29/16

Quote of the Day
The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality.
John Quincy Adams

My Tweets




Referring to losing GOP nominees McCain and Romney:

The parody Trumpbart account defines establishment as anyone who does not slavishly defer to Trump:







Image of the Day


Who NOT To Vote For (no candidate mentioned)



Sasse on Trump



Graham and I Agree



Cool Wagon For Hospital Kids



The Economic Miracle of Hong Kong



Facebook Corner

via Catholic Libertarians
 Damn right. As I tweeted over the weekend. how the hell does a man talk about his adult daughter in an intimate way, spend his life as sexually promiscuous, get married 3 times, and yet win a plurality of the evangelical vote?

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

Stevie Wonder, "Yester Me, Yester You, Yesterday"



Jimmy Kimmel and the Trump Conspiracy


“Trumped" Starring Matthew Broderick & Nathan Lane
From the producers of "The Producers," #Trumped starring Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman and Donald J. Trump...
Posted by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Sunday, February 28, 2016
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Sunday, February 28, 2016

Miscellany: 2/28/16

Quote of the Day
The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Oscar Wilde

Tweet of the Day
Image of the Day



The Donald Trump University Scam







Rubio Mocks Donald Trump



Political Potpourri

It looks like Clinton is set to sweep on Tuesday, the closest race being Massachusetts with a high single-digit lead. Her ads are so misleading, they make me want to rant.  One is a take on the alleged gender pay gap. This is knowingly disingenuous; for example, for single women without families any purported difference is nonexistent--in fact, more women in general are earning college degrees, which are linked to higher income. Many higher-paying jobs (say, offshore oil workers, lumberjacks, etc.) are physically demanding and/or dangerous and do not attract a lot of women. I have a niece-in-law engineer (a well-compensated profession) but only about 11% of practicing engineers are female. Some lower-paying professions, e.g., teaching, attract a disproportionate number of women. Pay, at least in the private sector, reflects supply and demand and productivity. Some married women with children don't want the long hours, travel schedule, etc. There are other factors as well; for example, a number of women do a lousy job negotiating salary, say accepting the first offer. (This means knowing the going wages for this type work.) But, and this is a point we free market people make, if a worker is making below her market value, other employers have an incentive to hire her away up to her market value. But the point of some grand conspiracy is ludicrous on its face.

Trump looks to have a good day; I've seen a couple of polls with Trump within the margin of error of Cruz for Texas, but the majority of more recent polls show Cruz with a double-digit lead.  However, Trump has double-digit leads in many polls, although I think Cruz or Rubio could take Arkansas, Georgia, and Virgina with any momentum from Thursday's debate. I think Cruz and Rubio waited too late to move against Trump; with 3 straight victories, Trump has momentum, and  we have over the last several days seen at least 2 governors, 1 senator, and 2 Congressmen have come out to endorse Trump (including the senator--Sessions--who Cruz always mentions on his poison pill amendment for the failed Senate immigration bill). We are now seeing polls with Trump scoring in the upper-30's or low-40's. Now keep in mind that Trump has 82 delegates and needs 1237, but we are moving to winner-take-all states soon. Assuming Cruz wins Texas, that makes 2; Rubio needs at least one somewhere. Now I think if Cruz loses Texas, he's done. Kasich says he'll drop out if he doesn't carry his home state in 2 weeks; I'm not sure it even matters now, but I've seen one Ohio poll with Trump ahead.

Choose Life: Big Sister Welcomes Twin Baby Brothers



Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Ken Catalino via Townhall
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

 Stevie Wonder, "My Cherie Amour". One of my favorites.

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Saturday, February 27, 2016

Miscellany: 2/27/16

Quote of the Day
Life is no brief candle to me. 
It is sort of a splendid torch 
which I have got hold of for a moment, and 
I want to make it burn as brightly as possible 
before handing it on to future generations.
George Bernard Shaw

Tweet of the Day
Image of the Day

via #NeverTrump

 Political Potpourri

Hillary Clinton, who had edged Sanders by a too-close 5-6% a week ago in Nevada, crushed Sanders in SC with almost 75% of the vote, heavily supported by majority black Dems statewide. This sets up Clinton nicely for a crushing sweep at least through the delegate-rich South next Tuesday. At Election Betting Odds, Clinton now has upped her numbers to 92% for the nomination and 58% for the general election, while Trump is now rated 74%  and 25% respectively. Interestingly, Cruz only is given about a 1% chance vs. Rubio's 18% for the nomination. Some have characterized the Texas contest as must-win for Cruz, and I agree. Reuters shows Trump at nearly half the vote, with Cruz at 25, and Rubio at 20, actually trending down since Thursday.

Reason Reviews the Houston GOP Presidential Debate



Learn Liberty



Is Trump a Truth Teller?



Cool Science



Political Cartoon
Courtesy of Eric Allie via IPI
Courtesy of Bob Gorrell via Townhall
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

Stevie Wonder, "For Once In My Life"

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Friday, February 26, 2016

Miscellany: 2/26/16

Quote of the Day
The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from 
those who are still undecided.
Casey Stengel

Tweet of the Day
A reply tweet suggests Trump will soon announce Kasich as his VP:
Confused tweet reply somehow suggests both Kasich and Christie. See separate tweet on Christie below.
Nowrasteh suggested tongue in cheek that Jeb Bush should follow Christie and endorse Trump.
A Trump cultist bitterly suggests the original tweeter is setting the stage for Clinton's inauguration:
Image of the Day


The Best Video Collage on Apple v FBI



Facebook Corner

(Acton Institute). Bernie Sanders says Pope Francis is a socialist like him. But what kind of socialist is Sanders?
Pope Francis is not a socialist; He's a Statist.
(separate comment).
Very good essay. I think I approach the subject somewhat differently. I would argue that democratic socialism would be more of a left-libertarian communitarianism, distrustful of the State monopoly that characterizes the authoritarian types of State socialism. You do see a lack of recognition of property rights, at least beyond a certain point for a bourgeois lifestyle.

 But it's very difficult to implement Bernie Sanders' economic nationalism without a strong State; he posits State-conferred positive rights as the author points to in FDR's second bill of rights. I see Francis as supporting the Church's notion of the principle of Subsidiarity vs. the strong central state. I would also say Bernie Sanders doesn't share Francis' concerns with migration rights.

 I see Bernie Sanders more as a left-fascist allowing a mixed economy where private businesses subordinate to State control with an expanded set of welfare state entitlement guarantees. It still eviscerates individual/negative rights to some implementation of majoritarian tyranny.

(Acton Institute). When politicians propose cutting "fraud, waste, and abuse" as a solution to the deficit crisis you can be sure of one thing: They think voters are stupid.
The fact is that every politician says always the same thing. But it never happens. I'll give a classic example not listed by the author: the USPS. Many, if not most post offices lose money; yet management lacks the ability to hire part-timers, contractors, close offices or reduce hours, price services, etc., all because of vested political interests. CAGW, Cato's Downsizing the Federal Govt, etc., all have outlined reforms--duplicated functionality, lack of shared resources, etc.

 The fact is that Donald Trump was bluffing a r esponse. He didn't even provide a statistic to show the magical waste number even cross-footed the deficit. This is the same guy who attacked Paul Ryan for entitlement reforms--when mandatory spending is 70% of the budget and rising. When he's not even addressing the cost drivers behind the deficit, he doesn't know squat about the budget. He talks about deleting 2 cabinets that don't even amount to a down payment on the deficit.

Political Cartoon
Courtesy of the original artist via Twitter
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

Stevie Wonder, "Shoo Be Doo Be Doo Da Day"



Trump Gets Schooled


So good, we had to watch it again.
Posted by National Review on Friday, February 26, 2016
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Thursday, February 25, 2016

Miscellany: 2/25/16

Quote of the Day
Dependent people need others to get what they want. 
Independent people can get what they want through their own efforts. 
Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.
Stephen Covey

Tweet of the Day
Image of the Day
Who would you vote for?
Guess who didn't have a good time in Houston?
Tech Revolution in Politics



 Obama's Use of Air Force One For Personal vs. Official Business



 Grammy-Winning Bus Driver



Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Chip Bok via Townhall
Musical Interview: My Favorite Vocalists

Stevie Wonder, "I'm Wondering"

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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Miscellany: 2/24/16

Quote of the Day
If I die tonight in my sleep: 
Let me have hugged and told my children that I love them, 
Let me have told my mother how much she is loved and appreciated, 
Let me have helped a friend or better, a stranger, 
Let me have worked very hard these past hours in the name of my personal progress, and,
Let me have gone to sleep with the knowledge that I did the very best I could do today.
Rick Beneteau

Tweet of the Day
Ted Cruz On Gun Violence



Choose Life: Baby Girl Welcomes Daddy Home









Facebook Corner

(continued from a Pro-Life Libertarian thread. The question is whether a pro-life libertarian could vote for a pro-abort libertarian, like Gary Johnson.)
So if the states want to execute all the Jews that live there, that's no business of the federal government?
No, the state governments by the fourteenth amendment section 1 cannot deprive people of their lives without due process of law (i.e., capital punishment) and moreover their laws must provide equal protection. This is ensured by the Supremacy Clause under Article 6 of the Constitution.
What about the "Life at Conception Act"? It sounds like it would trump Roe v. Wade. http://m.townhall.com/.../sen-rand-paul-introduces-life...
This basically conflicts with Roe v Wade, and SCOTUS is likely to strike it down. Also, it would never get past a Senate filibuster by Senate Dems.

Political Humor



Political Cartoon
Courtesy of Chip Bok via Townhall
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

 Stevie Wonder, "I Was Made to Love Her"

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