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Finally
Submitted by Ellis Wyatt on Thu, 2008-06-26 21:08.In the malaise that is the present political environment, there occurs, every now and then, an event that pushes things closer to the right direction. The DC handgun ban was struck down today. Even more importantly than upholding the second amendment, with this ruling, the Supreme Court relegated to the proper level of hell the ridiculous notion that there are "collective rights" protected in the constitution. Good riddance.
Reading the majority opinion, one gets the impression that Justice Scalia had fun writing it. In fact, he probably wrote it all years ago, stuck it in a drawer, and waited for this gem of a case to pop up.
All in all, a good day for liberty.
The True Face of Global Warming Alarmists
Submitted by Ellis Wyatt on Tue, 2008-06-24 19:06.James Hansen testified before Congress today, calling for the trial of oil executives for crimes against humanity. Never let science get in the way of a good witch hunt, I always say. Hansen reveals the true motives for this kind of environmentalism: hatred of mankind. I especially like the part where he talks about the steps we need to take to "preserve creation." It really brings out the whole religious aspect of the global warming insanity.
I have absolutely no problem with scientists studying the possibility of human contributions to climate change. But any scientists that claims "we have the answer, the debate is over," is not a scientist, he's a priest. Science is constantly in flux, and free people are much more capable of responding to fluctuating understandings of the world than is static and draconian government regulation.
This is NOT what Globalization should look like
Submitted by Matt Simpson on Sat, 2008-06-21 17:07.
It's not quite the powers that be meeting in smoke filled rooms, but it's close enough.
At a morning-long event at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Clayton, Qishan held closed-door meetings with Missouri's two U.S. senators while business leaders pitched the region to a roomful of Chinese firms looking to invest in the Midwest. And several local companies and soybean industry groups held an official signing ceremony for $5.3 billion worth of export deals to China.
If Chinese firms want to invest in the St. Louis area, then they can simply, uh, invest in the St. Louis area. Bringing government officials into the mix tends to mean one thing: government handouts. And I don't just mean subsidies. Missouri is notorious for it's eminent domain abuses. If St. Louis wants to compete for the destination of all Chinese goods flowing to the midwest, then they can do that with lower taxes, strong police protection, and strong property rights. Handing out subsidies and redistributing property ultimately will undermine the intended end of economic development.
Also note the hypocrisy of the Missouri senators. It's perfectly ok for Chinese firms to invest in Missouri, but not Belgian firms. At least not when it comes to beer:
"I was very upfront," McCaskill said of her discussion with [InBev CEO,] Brito. After offering him a Budweiser and sipping one herself, she told him she would "do everything I could to stop this sale from going through … It’s a bad idea. I don’t want you to buy [Anheuser-Bush]. The people of Missouri don’t want you to buy it."
Normally anti-foreign bias is the strongest against countries with a significantly different culture because it fuels the 'us vs. them' mentality. In this case the opposite seems to be occurring. Any speculation as to why?
To All With a Bleeding Heart: Reevaluate Your Priorities
Submitted by Matt Simpson on Fri, 2008-06-20 10:46.Whether you are a bleeding heart liberal or a bleeding heart libertarian (what Will Wilkinson calls a liberaltarian), you think that some sort of government provided social safety net is justified in some way on the premise that the government should help poor people. We'll go ahead and assume that this premise is correct. Debate it in the comments if you like.
What is interesting is that it does not follow, then, that some sort of welfare system is justified. The fallacy is a disregard for people who don't live in one's own country. This is probably an inconsistency for most of the bleeding heart group. Do they really think that low income Americans (or Europeans, etc.) are the master race?
Probably not. So when they claim that the government should help poor people what should they really be supporting? Policies that help poor people abroad, not at home. Unless home happens to be a third world country. The marginal dollar spent on fighting poverty in America is almost assuredly to be less effective than the marginal dollar spent fighting poverty abroad simply due to the amount of poor people in either country. Despite the war on poverty, in America absolute poverty has been virtually eradicated. Low income Americans make far more than anyone in poverty by global standards. An annual income of $1000 means you are richer than more than half of the world.
So instead of focusing on the welfare state which only helps people already doing rather well by most standards, bleeding hearters should focus on policies which either help people abroad or help bring people abroad over here.
No Cartel Here
Submitted by Matt Simpson on Thu, 2008-06-19 20:59.
Nope. This is a full fledged market. Though I'm not really sure what a cartel in the market for ideas would look like. In any case, this is totally necessary. What's a republic without a market anyway? Impoverished, that's what. So consider this as an attempt by Jonathan to bring the republic out of poverty with the help of some outside consultants. Or at least to bring some more people into the community - bloggers, commenters, lurkers, and maybe a few trolls as well.
There will be anywhere from one to about twenty people blogging here at any given point in time, depending on the level of enthusiasm among the group I have gotten together. Hopefully we can generate similar levels of discussion as the Catallarchy and Community feeds, but part of that depends on you, dear reader.
But enough of all that. Without further adieu, the market is open for business! Remember guys, this is mutually advantageous intellectual exchange. None of that negative sum ad hominem crap is allowed here.