Tuesday, July 8. 2014
 Beer: It's Good for Your Health
Pig Sex Is Becoming a Thing of the Past
Gay divorce
7 tips for having a great one-night stand
Is that the new normal? Women's Lib? Erica Jong?
The black slavery in Africa today
“This could be about information considered embarrassing to Saudi Arabia”
More make-work jobs for the youth?
A case for getting rid of Indian reservations
Why do we have them? Indians are just people, just Americans. I am one myself, technically, and it worked out for my family that the squaw Jane left the Indian ghetto to marry my ancestor farmer in Norwalk, CT.
Here’s How We Feed the Future
If You're Reading Reason.com, The NSA is Probably Already Following You
What's the matter with this country?
Government: All your children belong to us
Real Change in Egypt?
More Illegal Immigrants from China Crossing Border
HHS Will ‘Muzzle the Media’ During Tour of Immigrant Child Housing
School nutrition group turns on Michelle O, now fighting federal lunch regulations
VDH: California’s Hydromania
Clive Crook: I've reluctantly concluded that the U.K. needs to consider its options for becoming a non-European Union country.
This guy thinks the Texas Republicans are insane
"If I were Ted Cruz..."
Excellent choices. Problem is, Cruz scares people. He doesn't seem warm and cheerful.
George Gilder: Do you pass the Israel test?
Volokh, via Protein's “If Only Thomas Jefferson Could Settle the Issue”
“If Only Thomas Jefferson Could Settle the Issue”
The assumption of natural rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence can be summed up by the following proposition: “first comes rights, then comes government.” According to this view: (1) the rights of individuals do not originate with any government, but preexist its formation; (2) The protection of these rights is the first duty of government; and (3) Even after government is formed, these rights provide a standard by which its performance is measured and, in extreme cases, its systemic failure to protect rights — or its systematice violation of rights — can justify its alteration or abolition; (4) At least some of these rights are so fundamental that they are “inalienable,” meaning they are so intimately connected to one’s nature as a human being that they cannot be transferred to another even if one consents to do so.
This is powerful stuff.
Monday, July 7. 2014
I am not sure why Obamacare rules require coverage for sexual conveniences. Sex is not a disease and, indeed, it is a sign of health. I recall that major medical policies frequently do not even cover labor and delivery because pregnancy is not a disease either.
The Obamacare rules do not require coverage for cosmetic surgery, at least not yet. Somebody will lobby for "Sagging Jowl Syndrome," you can be certain, in the future. When government gets involved with medicine, medicine becomes politicized and "diseases", "disorders", and "dysfunctions" proliferate.
 It's the hurricane of illegals.
Not an Act of God, but an act of governments. Mexico is funneling these people through, and the administration doesn't really mind.
I care more about the status of people who attempt to immigrate legally. It can take many years, even if you are a nurse, an MD, or a Physics PhD, and even then it might not be OKed.
Don't we have enough unemployed Americans? Or have we given up on them by giving them food stamps, welfare, and disability? When you quit having citizenship expectations of people, they often quit having those expectations of themselves. A sad fact of human nature, especially for the weak-willed or the rent-seeking.
Sunday, July 6. 2014
Is it American? A good piece for Revolution weekend: Professor Hamburger argues that administrative law is unlawful, unconstitutional and illegitimate. A quote:
The history of government is largely a story of elite power and popular subservience. Americans, however, turned this old model upside down. By establishing a republican form of government, they eventually made themselves masters and made their lawmakers their servants. More than two centuries later, the shell of this republican experiment remains. Within it, however, another government has arisen, in which new masters once again assert themselves, issuing commands as if they were members of a ruling class and as if the people were merely their servants. Self-government thus has given way to a system of submission.
Thursday, July 3. 2014
The Problem With a Culture of Excellence - Asian Americans have become a model of academic achievement. This is bad news for basically everyone.
Is it?
Krauthammer: "If Fences Don't Work, Why Is There One Around The White House?"
Limbaugh; You Can’t Dump Your Dog on the Street – But Can Dump 50,000 Kids From Central America
These people can't wait to get arrested. It means they're home free. San Diego Border Patrol: One Airplane of Illegals to Arrive Every 72 Hours
 Building a Better Pig
Life at 60 - How does the former alcoholic drug addict AA Gill feel about reaching this milestone? Surprised, mostly, but happy to ruminate on sex, travel and friendship
Americans Have Almost Totally Lost Faith In Government
It's un-American to have faith in government
Good Americans: Ace, Hayek, Hoffer, Sowell
How the Supreme Court Changed America This Year - Nineteen legal thinkers run down the court’s most important decisions.
A Nuclear Weapon Free World and Other Delusions
Mark Zuckerberg Group Not Giving Up, Urges Congress to Pass Amnesty ASAP
Why?
Williamson:
So, liberal friends and neighbors, how’s everybody liking their one-size-fits-all, federally dominated model of health care this week? A wee bit less than you were liking it Monday morning, I’d wager. I understand, completely...
Lefty Media Slam ‘Parasitic’ Ridesharing Companies Like Uber
Why?
Concerns about Islamic Extremism on the Rise in Middle East - Negative Opinions of al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah Widespread
Wednesday, July 2. 2014
July 4 photo above of girls killing the planet by burning carbon and eating meat is from Pirate
10 Reasons Why El Camino Santiago Sucks
Are You a Breeder?
I have heard gay guys refer to women as "breeders and bleeders."
Dante And David Brooks
Fight Birth Control Battle Over the Counter
Dude, You Need to Get Into Nursing
Fantasizing, in writing, on the internet, about terrible crimes — cannibalism — when is it a crime?
Happy Birthday, Bastiat!
Bastiat was one of the first economists to warn us of the dangers of crony capitalism and protectionism, one of the most eloquent and articulate defenders of individual freedom and liberty ever, and probably the strongest advocate for the consumer in human history.
Buffalo Makes Kindergarten Mandatory
New York’s highest court strikes down cyber-bullying law
Where are the Palestinian Mothers? A culture that celebrates kidnapping is not fit for statehood. (WSJ paywall)
UConn Grad Student Files Anti-Affirmative Action Claim Over Scholarship Switch
‘Freedom’ is just another word for nothing left to buy
World Cup erases women?
Barone: The Tyranny of Sclerotic Government - Three new books show how clunky statism and overregulation stifle our economy.
Hillary Clinton thinks SCOTUS upholding a law that her husband signed is "deeply disturbing":
Tuesday, July 1. 2014
"Walking around money" has been a feature of big city politics for 100 years, but it's rare for any Democrat to get busted for it. Republican THAD COCHRAN CAMPAIGN MANAGER Busted in Vote Buying Scheme.
It's difficult to believe that this guy, a pastor, incriminated himself in the interview. He is going to need a very good lawyer.
 Image stolen from Am. Digest
San Francisco: It’s America’s largest gated community.
Jolene, slowed down
Millennials 101: How to Enjoy Your Parents' Basement
BlackRock ETFs near $1 trillion as it loses market share to Vanguard
Borges hated soccer
On the imaginary hobgoblin of ‘income inequality’ and the 80% reduction in world poverty, thanks to freedom, markets
Legal Pot in the US Is Crippling Mexican Cartels
Laundering Illegal Money? There's Ultraluxury New York Real Estate For That
What is debt?
Let Your Right Brain Run Free - For too long, conservatives have ceded the popular culture to the Left
How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed
Lefties seem to believe that black Americans cannot compete in the marketplace
Republicans Should Just Say No To Export-Import Bank
Another Plea to Global Warming Alarmists on the Phrase "Climate Denier"
I agree with him completely
Science needs women?
Basketball needs Asians
Hillary said this: “It’s my turn. I’ve done my time, and I deserve it.”
I tried saying that once, and it did not work
D’Souza’s America - Dinesh D’Souza takes on Obama, Hillary, Saul Alinsky, and Howard Zinn in a single bold film.
Kaus: Obama’s amnesty strategy isn’t a partial shambles
ISIS Promises to Destroy the Kaaba in Mecca
Sheesh. Religion of peace.
But... Huffington Post Has Seen the Real Face of Evil: The Bacon Cheeseburger
Yum.
Want birth control? Go buy it. Nobody is stopping you.
Chinese teens trafficked into US through Central America
Barack Obama may be Silicon Valley's last hope for immigration reform in 2014
Sumner, via Cafe Hayek:
Can anyone imagine that the masterfulness, the overbearing disposition, the greed of gain, and the ruthlessness in methods, which are the faults of the master of industry at his worst, would cease when he was a functionary of the State, which had relieved him of risk and endowed him with authority? Can anyone imagine that politicians would no longer be corruptly fond of money, intriguing, and crafty when they were charged, not only with patronage and government contracts, but also with factories, stores, ships, and railroads? Could we expect anything except that, when the politician and the master of industry were joined in one, we should have the vices of both unchecked by the restraints of either?
Monday, June 30. 2014
Bill Clinton: States should experiment with marijuana legalization
Pot should be decriminalized everywhere, state by state. It should never have been criminalized in the first place. All it does is make you stupid, lazy, and hungry. If you want to be a pothead, be my guest. Like heroin, you can already buy it cheap on any street corner in the US. It's a free country. Waste your life if you want, but not on my nickel.
How screwed up is the Ukraine? Very.
Canada pulls the plug on the U.S. Keystone Pipeline – will send oil to Asia
Such a greenie victory, to let the Chinese burn it. Great.
The SCOTUS decisions today? They don't really mean that much, despite the howling hysteria.
The racket begins to unravel, but only a little. US Supreme Court: Public union can't make nonmembers pay fees
Operatic Naiveté - The Metropolitan Opera’s indefensible decision to stage The Death of Klinghoffer
The home refrigerator, a vital but modest technology, is 100 years old.
5 Year-Old Bullying VICTIM Forced to Sign ‘Sexual Misconduct’ Confession
Peaceful Indians: Evidence of Hobbling, Torture Discovered at Ancient Massacre Site in Colorado
The race to stop Las Vegas from running dry
Duh.
US regulators okay Israeli-made robotic legs
Should You Get Your DNA Tested to See if You’re More Likely to Get Cancer?
Pentagon: Young Adults Too Fat, Tattooed, Uneducated for Military
All Education Is For-Profit Education
An Open Letter to Swarthmore's Board of Managers
Common Core Tests: So Difficult, Bureaucrats Had to Implement a Curve Under Which Kids Can Guess Randomly and Still Pass
The Week’s Climate Embarrassment
Putting Americans First…Not So Much
Barney Fife Meets Delta Force - Hypermilitarized police departments are more dangerous than whatever they fight.
How the middle class is hobbling the economy - Unless
incomes for these Americans can rise along with productivity growth
again, the country may suffer a long period of stagnation
What to do in a post-Great Books age?
Roger Simon on moral narcissism
Liberals Delude Themselves About the Tea Party
Dear Feminists: In The Name Of Fighting Poverty, Can We Call A Truce About Marriage?
From Sultan:
The ongoing problem on the right is that it talks 'extremist' and
legislates 'moderate' while the left talks 'moderate' and legislates
'extremist'.
Sunday, June 29. 2014
Gallup: Only 22% of Americans Favor Increased Immigration.
This poll did not ask about legal vs. illegal, it was just general. I think Americans feel that we already have enough unemployed, able-bodied, dependent people. Country is full of them, almost everywhere. At the same time, I don't think anybody minds legal immigrant math, physics, and computer geniuses from China and India. Lots of them in NYC, taking jobs from decadent and lazy Americans. It's not about race, it's about what you have to contribute to society.
If people want to change the immigration laws, then change them, but open borders ought to apply to Canada and China and The Philippines, not just Mexico.
Saturday, June 28. 2014
 Greedy Group to Sue Chief Wahoo for $9 Billion
#Instagramming Africa: The Narcissism of Global Voluntourism
A pic of ENIAC
Ted Dalrymple (Anthony Daniels, MD) takes a look at the Brit underclass
Transgender kindergarteners allowed to pick bathrooms in CA
"Unscheduled, unsupervised, playtime is one of the most valuable educational opportunities we give our children.
10 TIPS AND TRICKS TO PICK UP ANY LANGUAGE
Can Residential Solar Be Competitive Next Year?
Study: All Employment Growth Since 2000 Went to Immigrants
Despite White House Claims, Up To 80% Of Migrant Children Can Legally Stay In
Country
The EPA Overreaches Again - A new EPA rule is a disaster for farmers and the traditional
understanding of the relationship between the federal government and the
states.
Sweeping income and corporate tax cuts on the way…in Spain?
Is a Hillary Clinton Presidency Inevitable?
Elizabeth Warren: The Obama of 2016
Shocking Audio of Race-Baiting Ads Used In #MSSEN Race
It’s Jew-Hatred, Stupid
Chuck DeVore: Small businesses give CA 'F' grade
San Bernardino Surrenders - The bankrupt city gives in to California’s public pension giant.
Now what?
Of all the nations in the world, why is Israel the only one with a Divest Movement?
Fact Or Fiction: Humanity Still Surprised That 'Megalomaniacal Pricks' Decide Everything
“My old boss, my sorority president, my congressional representative, my current boss—they’ve all been soulless, backstabbing dickheads whose only concern is getting what they want,” said administrative assistant Sheryl Gittens of Fort Worth, TX, who went on to list the bully back in her seventh grade class, her homeowners association president, and the coordinator of her Bible study group among the legions of selfish jagoffs who have inexplicably been granted commanding roles by the acquiescent masses. “What’s even more annoying is that we essentially reward these people for only thinking of themselves and repeatedly screwing us over. If you stop and think about it, that’s pretty messed up.”
“Jesus,” she continued. “What the hell’s wrong with us?”
Thursday, June 26. 2014
19 Real Reasons Not To Go To The Beach This Summer
How Parking Lots Became the Scourge of American Downtowns
Socially precocious kids often do not turn out well
Greenpeace Cofounder Patrick Moore Lists Nine Inconvenient Truths
War ON WALL STREET: Obama Appoints Anti-Business Activist Head of DOJ
Division
'It stinks': Democrats criticize White House over meeting with billionaire Tom Steyer
Considering cost, fuel efficiency, options, comfort, durability and safety, today’s Subaru is far superior to a 1950 Chevy
The Looming Robotics Gap - Why America's global dominance in military technology is starting to crumble.
Are the Marines Procuring Their Way to Irrelevance as a Sea-Based Threat?
ISIL hell-bent on creating Islamic state to be launchpad for attacks on U.S.
Majority of Palestinians now oppose two-state solution, new poll finds
Tuesday, June 24. 2014
 I am convinced that juicy fat is healthy. All science in the past 30 years says so, but before that the experts said fat was bad.
From Williamson's Shut Up, Have a Cheeseburger - So you say you want the best solution?
“How should we do x?” The main problem is not the answer, but the question itself, and the assumptions behind that question, the belief that an answer exists.
Some policies must, by their nature, be implemented at the national level. If you’re going to have a sovereign nation-state, you need a national defense apparatus (which is not to say you need our national-defense apparatus; there are alternatives), and you probably need a national immigration policy, etc. The basic architecture of the current American constitutional order, which is a remarkably wise and intelligent piece of work, contemplates national policies in those areas in which the several states interact with foreign powers and in those cases in which the states cannot coordinate efforts or resolve disputes among themselves on their own. That, along with some 18th-century anachronisms (post roads, etc.) and some awful economic superstitions (political management of trade, a political monopoly on the issuance of currency), constitutes most of what the federal government is in theory there to do. That and fighting pirates and others committing “felonies on the high seas,” of course, which is awesome, and we can all feel patriotic about fighting pirates.
But . . . if we look at federal programs by budget share, almost nothing that Washington does requires a national policy. There’s national defense, of course, at around 20 percent of spending; you may believe, as I do, that that number is probably too high, but national defense is a legitimate national endeavor. But most federal spending is on various entitlement programs — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and various other welfare benefits. There is not much reason for any of these programs to exist at all — government is a criminally inept pension planner and a thoroughly incompetent insurance company — and there is very little reason for any of them to exist as uniform, one-size-fits-all national programs. Start digging into that non-defense discretionary spending and you end up with very little more than a catalog of crony payoffs and political favoritissm.
There is no more reason to believe that a single government-run pension scheme is in each individual’s best interest than to believe that a single city or single model of car is right for everybody. And the people who design and plan these programs know that. The point of Social Security — like the point of insisting that health insurance is “a right” rather than a consumer good — is to redefine the relationship between citizen and state. That is the real rationale for a national pension scheme or a national insurance policy. For several generations now, we’ve been changing the very idea of what it means to be an American citizen. It used to mean being entitled to enjoy liberty and republican self-governance under the Constitution. Eventually, it came to mean being eligible for Social Security, functionally if not formally. Now it means being eligible for Obamacare. The name of the project may change every generation, and its totems may evolve from Bismarck to Marx to “the experts” — that legion of pointy-headed Caesars who are to be the final authority in all matters in dispute — but the dream remains the same: society as one big factory under the management of enlightened men with extraordinary powers of compulsion.
Bravo to him. I hate Washington with the aggrandizing, pre-fascist pseudo-Roman pretensions of that town, as if it were an imperial city with its statues, monuments, pillars, and memorials imitating ancient Rome. I hate the idea of a luxurious presidential mansion. I hate the pomp, the parties, and all of the government limos. I hate all the money that flows through there, tax dollars, lobbying dollars, legal dollars. I hate the idea of a "national art gallery" and a national theater and all those sorts of imperial trappings. I hate those giant buildings filled with bureaucrats with power over me. I hate the amount of power which is ensconced there. I think all of the grandiosity and money and power and scheming and careerism and celebrity is disgusting and un-American.
I even dislike Arlington cemetery. Those boys and men should be buried at home with their families, in my opinion.
George Washington would have hated his monument, and Lincoln would hate his. Those were humble men, not seeking idolization.
 Fun with spurious correlations
Politico: Inside the vast liberal conspiracy
Walmart fact checks first draft of a NY Times article, but it somehow gets published in its inaccurate original version…..
Sultan: Hillary's War on Women
Mead: The Jihadi Menace Gets Real - ISIS is bigger, badder, richer, and better organized than any jihadi threat the United States has faced thus far. Its rise represents a foreign policy disaster of the first order.
OK, but how are they a threat to the US?
Supreme Court: EPA can regulate greenhouse gas emissions, with some limits
The scandal of fiddled global warming data - The US has actually been cooling since the Thirties, the hottest decade on
record
From The Parking Garage of the Fates:
Of all the cities in the nation, Washington, D.C., with its immediate environs, is the deepest in historical importance. The grotesquely sacrilegious monuments, the puerile exhibits within the museums, the ostentatiously-built neoclassical bureaucratic monstrosities—most of the District is a tribute to its own history of aggrandizement. It’s only in the little places, far removed from the shadows of the Lincoln and Washington apotheoses, that real moments of lasting impression are made. The swaps of journalistic scoops in classy restaurants, the sexual quid pro quos that either enhance or destroy careers, the backroom deal-making to ensure reelections; these ephemeral events end up defining the rooms, hallways, tables, and meeting spaces we normally take for granted.
Computer Experts Doubt IRS Lost Trove of Lerner Emails
Palestinian Leaders Don't Want an Independent State
It's an excellent review of the history
The End of Iraq? Kurdistan Leader Barzani Calls for Kurdish Independence
That's good.
|
The 
10 of Ben Franklin’s
Newly discovered 50,000-year-old poop proves the Neanderthals ate better than you do 
Good photos of Italian