Double Birds

From the Washington Post "Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi escaped a NATO missile strike in Tripoli on Saturday, but his youngest son and three grandchildren under the age of 12 were killed , a government spokesman said." In God we trust? If so, we must, with Jefferson, tremble for our country when we reflect that God is just.

Behold the mind-blowing Barack Hussein Walker Bush. George III ? Most of us have given Obama the benefit of the doubt.  The guy inherited two wars, and Guantanamo .  But he started another war, and Guantanamo remains open.  The hope of his campaign turned out to be nothing but hype. Hope Croaks If you want to end the endless wars of aggression, vote for the only anti-war candidate— Ron Paul . From Zazzle .

Thuggish police beat, tased, and broke the arm of a student for wearing baggy pants .  It was in an effort to rid the school of its "gang culture." Who's gangsta now? This is what happens when you give a guy a gun, a taser, and bat; immunity from the law; and tell him to go enforce the law. Since the police force is a government monopoly, it has been removed from market forces.  There is no feedback mechanism to tell them whether they're serving the customer or not. Monopoly is why government services (think DMV) suck.  If Costco were to tase customers who wore baggy pants, they would lose customers, get sued, and probably go out of business.  If a police officer abuses customers, our taxes still pay them. People tend to scoff at the idea of breaking up police monopoly.  The main argument I've heard: Q: In a free market, wouldn't only rich people would have police? A: In our free market, poor people have access to almost every good imaginable (for example—p...

With headlines like " Obama knows political fortunes tied to gas prices " it's clear we're going to hear a lot of nasty things about oil speculators this political season. Politicians (known for their honesty and good character) blame speculators for the rise in gas prices.  This cringe-inducing lie is wrong for two reasons: 1. Speculators alleviate  gas crises. 2. It's the effin politicians who are responsible for rising gas problems, and ensuing gas shortages. Speculators Here's a chart of gas prices, to explain how speculators help us out at the pump: Chart (modified) from this excellent article . When prices are low, speculators buy, when prices rise, speculators sell.  This is how money is made on the stock market.  The overall effect is to even out turbulence in prices.  Selling when prices are high floods the market with oil, causing the price to fall.  If prices dip down, speculators buy up oil shares, limiting supply, which causes oil prices to...

The best way to learn traditional econ. and Austrian econ. Keynes represents popular econ .  Hayek (the bald one) represents Austrian econ. See part 1 .

The war on black people continues. Antoine Dodson, the heroic young youtube star who saved his sister from a rapist (but gained wider fame for his hilarious personality) was arrested for " possession of marijuana second degree ." The War on Drugs , and the War on Poverty—despite the good intentions and positive rhetoric behind them—have become a war on black people, and other minorities. The racism behind the drug war is captured in the words of the first director of the federal Bureau of Narcotics,  Harry J. Aslinger : “ Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men .” Similar comments were made about Mexicans as well. Mexican-hating  William Randolph Hearst , who owned several dozen newspaper companies, staunchly supported the War on Drugs.  The War on Drugs began in ignorance and hate, and there it remains. Blacks are disproportionately  harassed , arrested, and  imprisoned  on drug charges.  This charge against Antoine gives him anot...

The TSA gropes children to "keep them safe."  Last time I checked, being molested is the opposite of being safe. Being a TSA agent would be the ideal job for a child molester.  He could get paid to molest children in public.  Great idea, or greatest idea? What's that? A TSA agent was indicted on child-pornography charges? See, I told you it was a great idea. No joke.   This TSA employee  went cross-eyed looking at child porn. The TSA needs to hire fewer child molesters, and more adult molesters .

Paul: "You believe in the income tax?"  Colbert: "Hell no!" I was reading The Teachings of The Prophet Joseph Smith and came across this quote: "The Constitution tells us what shall not be a lawful tender.  Art. I, Section 10 declares that nothing else except gold and silver shall be lawful tender." (p.279) I know of no other potential presidential candidate who holds this view, other than Ron Paul .

War is bad for freedom and the economy.  See what the vikings have to say over at FilmEcon . The only photo I could find of Craig Ferguson not  giving the bird.

It is not a crime to live in America.  It is not a crime to work.  It is not a crime to eat, drink, or to own things. Yet, for these innocent actions, many people have been shot, beaten, and threatened by police officers; thrown into prison; and deported. You tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to be free can go eff yourselves. (Edited by Double Birds) Our legislature has criminalized actions that are not criminal.  The law has been corrupted—instead of being a bulwark to defend our liberties, it has become a weapon to abuse them. We should not restrict the freedoms of those who would wish to come here.  We pretend that they do not have the same freedoms as we do, because they are not Americans.  But freedom is not bestowed by the government, it is given by God .  The government is supposed to protect freedom, but when it instead turns to oppression, it proves its own illegitimacy.  Calling a person "illegal" is wicked nonsense. The very term "ill...

A chemist explains why gold is the best choice for money:

I like this take on Easter "What we recall at Easter is the show trial and judicial murder of Jesus of Nazareth. A mob is manipulated into calling for his death. The judge, who knows he is innocent, feebly gives in. Such things are common in the real world, to this day. The resurrection, which some of us still celebrate today, symbolises the ultimate defeat of cruel and cynical human power by a far greater force. Among other things, Easter enshrines the idea that what we do here matters somewhere else, that there is an absolute standard by which our actions are judged. Down 20 centuries, this idea has restrained the powerful. They do not like it. Never have. Never will. The worship of Christ, victim of a lynch mob and a crooked judge, is dangerously radical." Jesus is much cooler than you'd think from meeting Christians. There's also a song. Jesus inspires me to fight against the status quo.  He told the churchy people in his day, " This prostitute will go to he...

Head over to Film Econ to learn about the EPA causing the apocalypse in Ghostbusters. Sorry.  This isn't your day. And here's the saddest quote ever by a man whose business was destroyed by the state : "The way the government goes after places like [my business] is by an accumulation of laws, regulations, and subjective decisions they are allowed to use to express their intent. Essentially they remove your security, increase your risk or liability, and increase your costs. This makes the closing of [my business] and similar manufacturing and accumulation of issues and not a single issue. They simply grind away until you either quit or they find methods of bringing serious charges or fines that force you to close."

To get you in the mood for Earth Day, here's a classic rant by the late George Carlin (warning: he swears). LDS doctrine teaches that we are stewards over the Earth .  We will be held accountable for what we do here, whether we make the desert blossom as a rose , or turn fertile river valleys back into deserts .  The most powerful scriptural backing for why we should care for the Earth is found exclusively in LDS scripture . So I care about Earth, and think we should take care of it.  Unfortunately there's a dark side to "going green. " Some think, for example: "To feed a starving child is to exacerbate the world population problem." "We have wished, we ecofreaks, for a disaster or for a social change to come and bomb us into Stone Age." "The extinction of the human species may not only be inevitable but a good thing." (Source: Frightening Quotes From Environmentalists ) These people have murder and hatred in their hearts.  Is there a...

Dr. Paul Wrote: As we stand together, a critical part of our plan must be to educate our family, friends and neighbors about the important issues that we face. So, to help in these efforts, I have written a new book: Liberty Defined .  Liberty Defined, released just yesterday, is a collection of 50 essays on 50 topics and explains how freedom and free markets can best solve so many of our problems. I believe deeply in these ideas and think this book can be a wonderful tool in our political efforts in 2012. I will be working hard to promote Liberty Defined, with book signings and speeches around the country and a major media tour including appearances on Fox, CNN, The View and the Colbert Report. And, we are already seeing great results! As I write this letter, Liberty Defined is number nine on Amazon’s best sellers list!! If we keep up our efforts and push Liberty Defined to the top of the charts, we will generate tremendous attention for our ideas and for our potential efforts ...

60 Minutes just posted an "expose" on Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea , and president of the Central Asia Institute , who has built dozens of schools for children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The "evidence" appears damning, but let's take another look. #1 The so-called accountant, Daniel Borochoff, accused Mortenson of spending more money in the U.S. than he spent in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Do not ever hire Daniel Borochoff to do your accounting.  For a guy who works with money, he seems to know very little about it. A Pakistani can expect to make about $2,400 a year .  That's at least a tenth of what Americans make.  For this reason, things in Pakistan cost about 70% less than they do in the U.S.  Because of exchange rates, you have to spend a lot more money in the U.S. than you do in Afghanistan to get things done.  1 dollar equals about 80 rupees (also used in Hyrule ). Borochoff did not take exchange rates into account when accusing a good...

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