Wednesday, December 8. 2010
 That's what Freud wrote on his Austrian exit papers, when the Gestapo informed him that he could finally leave if he would put in writing that he had been treated well by them in the lengthy process. The grim sarcasm, no doubt, went over the heads of the Gestapo thugs.
Freud had a wry sense of humor which was rarely evident in his writing. He was 82 at the time, the Anschluss had happened, and his friends like Ernest Jones had to drag him out of Vienna to London, with the assistance of Pres. Roosevelt.
Fearful as he was of growing anti-Semitic sentiment, he did not want to leave home.
The NYT announced his departure on June 5, 1938. He died a year later, in London.
 From Powerline's Scott in a piece of the above title, mainly about Obamacare:
The economic "rights" asserted by Roosevelt in his second Bill of Rights differ and conflict with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They are claims on the liberty of others. If I have a right to medical care, you must have a corresponding duty to supply it. If I have a right to a decent home, you must have a duty to provide it.
The argument for the welfare state belongs in the same family as "the arguments that kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world. You will find that all the arguments in favor of king-craft were of this class; they always bestrode the necks of the people, not that they wanted to do it, but because the people were better off for being ridden." That's Lincoln again.
Lincoln memorably derided the underlying principle as "the same old serpent that says you work and I eat, you toil and I will enjoy the fruits of it."
It's too late now, but I'd like to see an experiment in which one state in the US would operate under the Constitution as it is written. See how it works out. See who would go there (me, for one) and see who would flee limited government power.
 Pic of Maggie's Farm office hours via Theo
The folks at Friends of Maine Mountains asked me to get this link right: Seems like lots of folks are getting out of the wind/solar scam market.
Some booze ads Capt. Tom liked
I like those real-time billboards.
More health care waivers
Tiger: Mortgage interest deduction may do more harm than good
Probably true. But getting rid of it, however slowly, would be like taking candy from a baby - and would lower home values since it is a de facto subsidy.
California's Parent Revolution - 'Triggering' school reform in Compton.
Great stuff.
Baby Aspirin Linked to Reduced Cancer Deaths
Some chance they reduce heart attacks too. Nothing to lose by taking one.
The Lightbulb Nazi has changed his mind
That's good. But it's a bit late. They already stopped making them in the USA.
EU Ref on Cancun:
... the really interesting issue is how scares so easily become exploited by regulators to pursue their specific interests – in what we came to call the doctrine of the "beneficial crisis" - and how slow people are to recognise the dynamic. This, with huge amusement we see in a WUWT post, where there is this observation:
What really strikes us is the fact that all this Copenhagen/Cancun stuff has nothing to do with the Climate, or saving the World. It's about political positioning, money, and plain old fascism cult promotion.
Well, you don't say! And if this is not a recognition of "Ursine subarboreal toilet activity" of the type identified by Dellers, I don't know what is.
The odd thing though is that so many of the clever little politics wonks you meet don't understand the scare dynamic either. They either ignore the scares or take the so-called scientific agenda at face value. They rarely appreciate that the "scare" or "beneficial crisis" is a means of institutional queue-jumping, a means of by-passing institutional inertia and democratic processes.
As always, look at a scare and you will find that science is only the dressing. At the heart, you will find it's the politics stoopid. It always is.
What's the next big thing? Blogging about blogging at the Other McCain's ‘A Communicational Schematic That Is Superior to Anything Else in Existence’
We are all traffic whores, cybersluts. We're disgusting.
Bill Gross on how to fix the economy
"Country Dumb":
Just finished watching the TV show Sarah Palin's Alaska. Stunned at the political brilliance of the concept.
I have lived in the South. Gotta watch out for those country dumb types.
Englishman: Thank goodness Climate Change is the number one priority for the Scottish Parliament. Related, in Scotland: Pupils banned from playing in the snow
HUD pushing low money down mortgages again
Worked out great last time. BTW, what's so great about home ownership?
Tim Blair tries to buy a used car
All the usual tricks of the trade.
Gaza growing rich on aid dollars
If they wanted to, the Palestinians could try to create a real economy like Israel did. They seem to prefer the victim role. Money for nuthin and the virgins for free.
Babalu:
Ever since travel restrictions to Cuba were relaxed by the Obama administration, more people from the U.S. are traveling to Cuba making the this country one of the regime's largest source of tourists and subsequently tourist dollars second only to Canada.
But...
Tuesday, December 7. 2010
 Praising the Puritans, at First Things (h/t, AVI). Lawler begins:
There’s little less fashionable today than praising the Puritans, especially for their egalitarian political idealism, their promotion of genuinely humane and liberating learning, and their capacity for enjoyment and human happiness. Praising the Puritans is especially difficult for us because even most of our Protestants have abandoned them. When a European calls us Puritanical we don’t say, “yes, thanks a lot, you’re right.” Instead, we either deny it, saying we’re way beyond those days. Or we admit it, saying that, “yes, we should be less capitalistic, less repressed, and more free thinking, just like you.” But the truth is that the Puritans remain the chief source of the American difference—our ability to live freely and prosperously without unduly slighting the longings of our souls. It’s the Puritans’ idealism that made and even makes Americans civilized.
Read the whole thing. I do not know how, or whether, immigrants to the US can, or have been able to, or even want to, learn the code. I sure hope they can.
Picture is Jonathan Edwards, a member of the Maggie's Farm pantheon. You would not know from the prissy portrait, but he loved to have fun.
After live-blogging President Obama's presser, John Podhoretz comments:
Well…that was interesting…he spent the first half insulting Republicans and the conclusion screaming at Democrats and left-liberals…All in all, one of the strangest political events of my lifetime.
Look at the rest of Commentary's Contentions blog for more insights.
It's clear as day that Leftists are interested in restricting information flow and limiting, suppressing or intimidating dissenting voices. That's good old "Liberal fascism." They can't stand the new reality of diversity of news and viewpoints.
Have you ever heard a Conservative push the government to limit public access to cable, broadcast, or internet information or opinions? I haven't (except for porn).
True, we are opposed to PBS - but not because of their bias. It's because it's taxpayer-supported. I'd be fine with PBS as a donor-supported organization. We do believe that government-supported or controlled media is a terrible and frightening idea. At Maggie's Farm, we do not ask for a penny from the government to help us put our stuff out. So why PBS?
FCC push to regulate news draws fire
Sharpton: We’re Going To FCC… Limbaugh “Doesn’t Have The Right” To Use Public Airwaves
What’s Next for Internet Regulation?
 Bird Dog Bay. Looks like a nice haberdashery - even if a stylistic cousin of Vineyard Vines.
Nice cufflinks.
We mentioned the cross country prehistoric obsidian trade last week in Capitalism is not a theory.
Here's a piece on the West Coast obsidian trade of the Paiute.
Parts 2 and 3 below the fold -
Continue reading "Obsidian trade"
I checked Google News to see what the nation’s press has to say this year on the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and throughout the Pacific. Very little. A little about how few survivors are still alive today. A little about the dedication of the renovated Memorial over the USS Arizona. A few scattered services.
What does December 7, 1941 mean today?
Mankiw wonders, and concludes:
I should note, by the way, that economists who strongly favor the extension of UI benefits, such as those who signed this letter, also tend to favor more income redistribution in general. I suspect, therefore, that the foundation of their support comes not from having weighed the specific pros and cons of UI per se, but rather from a more general desire to "spread the wealth around." That issue is, as I tell my students, more a matter of political philosophy than it is of economics.
For years, it was assumed that a rapidly growing economy could pay for added programs. The result was the careless use of government for almost anything that made a good slogan or could support a lobby. The underlying economic assumptions were overoptimistic. Now, an aging society and uncontrolled health costs will automatically expand the size of government well beyond today's tax base. Demographics mean government will become supersized unless we trim its responsibilities.
We need a new public philosophy that acknowledges these realities.
Seems like lots of folks are getting out of the wind/solar scam market
Watts: More on the Wikileaks Climate Cables - http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/12/04/more-on-the-wikileaks-cimate-cables/
Pushing the right to bear knives - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/us/05knives.html Some link probs today -
Government Website Promotes "3% or Less" Down
Market Power: "Ethanol on the Run"
...the Senators dryly noted, "Historically our government has helped a product compete in one of three ways: subsidize it, protect it from competition, or require its use. We understand that ethanol may be the only product receiving all three forms of support from the U.S. government at this time."
Image on top via Washington Reb
A friend iPhoned this pic from New York's Central Park on Saturday.
Monday, December 6. 2010
Here. h/t Thompson. I see no '96 Explorer there.
Via Phi Beta Cons,
Listen to this illuminating interview Peter Schiff did with a student who is $200,000 in debt for a sociology degree from Northeastern University. He gets right at the root of the problem: government-guaranteed student loans.
If advocates of capitalism want more sympathy, it’s past time to expose and shuck many so-called capitalists whose self-interest undermines capitalism.
Objectivist Richard Salsman cries for capitalism in Forbes, Where Have All The Capitalists Gone?
The collapse of socialist regimes two decades ago didn’t mean capitalism was finally being hailed for its many virtues; the historic event only merely reminded people of capitalism’s productive ability–an ability that already long-proven and long-acknowledged even by its worst enemies. Persistent animosity toward capitalism today rests on moral, not practical grounds. Unless rational self-interest is understood as the one moral code consistent with genuine humanity, and the moral estimate of capitalism thus improves, socialism will keep making comebacks, despite its deep and dark record of human misery.
All true. And, misses much.
After all the manifest advantages of capitalism are appreciated, the inclination of some who are unproductive to take from the productive is discounted, and the false bravado is revealed of some who are wealthy – protecting their own with expensive lawyers – to suggest higher taxes, there’s great and increasing unease and anger at many of the biggees of capitalism.
Continue reading "Crocodile Tears for Capitalism"
My sons and I were at the pancake breakfast last Saturday morning at Camp Pendleton paid for by Congressman Darrell Issa’s Family Foundation to gather toys and contributions for Homefront San Diego. Issa’s Family Foundation is matching all contributions. Homefront San Diego has no overhead and no payroll. Every cent of tax-deductible contributions directly benefits the lower enlisted active duty military families in the San Diego area. Just go to the Homefront site and make your contribution to those who serve.
As a former Marine Sergeant, of course I enjoyed who worked the line serving us Saturday morning, though they serve us every day.
Continue reading "Those Who Serve"
 For Christmas, Gnomeland security
High speed rail: Trains to nowhere
Presbyterians Against Israel
Lawmakers Weigh Deal to Extend Tax Cuts for All
I still find this amazing:
41% of [US] babies were born to unmarried moms in 2008. … More than half of the unmarried parents were living together at the time their child was born and 30% of them were romantically involved (but living apart).
Nanny to nix bake sales?
I didn't know this:
Foreign banks were among the biggest beneficiaries of the $3,300bn in emergency credit provided by the Federal Reserve during the crisis, according to new data on the extraordinary efforts of the US authorities to save the global financial system.
Sunday, December 5. 2010
A fairly serious essay by Prof. Bertonneau at Brussels titled A Lesson for Our Time in Three Late-Antique Narratives: Satyricon, The Golden Ass, and Confessions. One quote from this literary jeremiad:
Everyone has vices. Most people manage to overcome the worst of their viciousness. It therefore requires a mighty labor not to see the so-called explanations of vice as mere excuses – indeed, as lame excuses – for irredentism and indulgence. The claim of personal helplessness is the creed of people who like their vices and who will on no account reform themselves. These non-explanations nevertheless have wide currency, but so also do the indifferent notion that the self is a “logocentric” illusion and the relativistic opinion that to flout a stricture is morally equal to observing it. The political religions of the Twentieth Century all relied on – and indeed mandated – these views as part of the ‘correct” view of existence. Socialism generically predicates its own inevitability and it then necessarily also predicates the emptiness of individual determination or action. Radical restructuring of society comes upon us inevitably, the vanguard always argues; and restructuring is justified because there are whole classes of victims whose misery is supposedly not of their own making, but has impinged on them from an outside beyond the control of the afflicted. In its less acute form of the multicultural welfare state, socialism insists that victim-groups not only cannot help themselves but that they cannot actually be reformed and that it is the duty of everyone else, first, to refrain from any condemnation of counterproductive behaviors and, then, to subsidize the pathological consequences of those behaviors.
Read the whole thing. It's a good reminder about those three classic texts, too, which we all read before we had the age on us to really appreciate what the authors were talking about.
Non-technical education is wasted on the young, because they are too interested in questions about themselves than in the big questions. These books were not written for adolescents.
Matthew 3:1-12
3:1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,
3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
3:3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"
3:4 Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
3:5 Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan,
3:6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
3:8 Bear fruit worthy of repentance.
3:9 Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
3:10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Saturday, December 4. 2010
This beauty has been working the same land in CT for 63 years.
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Global Warming Hysteria: Stop Face Lifts to Save the Planet!