elcome to Obama-land!

he wife and I will be in Italy the entire month of May. We will start in Milan, spend 9 days at Lake Como, several days in Venice, a few days in Tuscany, and then a week in Rome. I'll post pictures and stories sometime after our return.

Until then, arrivederci!

hink about this: The government cannot create wealth. If it could, it would have no need for taxes.

This is a simplification, of course. (Governments can support activities that create wealth.) But the main thing to keep in mind is that politicians and bureaucrats through their taxing power consume wealth that is created by others.

Parasites

Parasites are not necessarily bad. There are parasitic organisms that rely on a host and offer something in return. Some parasites are even necessary for the health of the host. But the distinguishing characteristic of a parasite is that it requires a host. It requires something to feed off of.

And even good parasites, when they get to be too many, can kill the host.

In an economy, in simple terms, there are hosts and there are parasites (some good, some bad, some good in small quantities).

Hosts create real wealth. Parasites consume the wealth created by hosts.

Real Wealth

What is real wealth (as opposed to unreal wealth or secondary wealth)? Which of the following would you say is real wealth?

1. The government prints up $10 billion dollars.
2. A man invents a process that yields 10 times as much corn per acre than before.
3. A bank takes in $1 million in credit card finance charges.
4. An insurance company collects $5 million in payments.
5. A man sees that his stocks are worth $100,000.
6. A woman has a 401K and a IRA that together are valued at $250,000.
7. A plaintiff's lawsuit results in $10 million in damages, divided up 50-50 with lawyers.

The answer is: Only number 2 is real wealth. All the rest are either unreal (1, 5, 6) or secondary (3, 4, 7).

In other words, only the man who invented a process that increases corn yields by 1000% has created real wealth. If you have trouble recognizing this, then you are a potential sucker for thinking parasites are hosts. You are open to being conned, by both conscious and manipulative parasites, and good-intentioned parasites.

Continue reading "Let's Talk Parasites and the Economy" »

'm sure everyone here has felt the initial rush of pleasure and the eventual pain of burden when they first created and then had to deal with credit card debt.

Financial debts are a form of enslavement, a kind of karma with interest where others enrich themselves with your unrestrained desires to have something now rather than later. It can destroy individuals and families.

So why do so many people think governments are immune to the consequences of debt? How many of you fail to understand the root cause of this planet's financial crises?

The founders of this country tried to prevent the situation America and the world finds itself in. I know, I know...it's popular to talk down on our founders, dehumanize them, usually in an attempt to avoid dealing with their wisdom...but how can we not see the prophetic nature of these words?:

"I sincerely believe... that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity under the name of funding is but swindling futurity on a large scale." --Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, 1816.

"I consider the fortunes of our republic as depending in an eminent degree on the extinguishment of the public debt before we engage in any war; because that done, we shall have revenue enough to improve our country in peace and defend it in war without recurring either to new taxes or loans. But if the debt should once more be swelled to a formidable size, its entire discharge will be despaired of, and we shall be committed to the English career of debt, corruption and rottenness, closing with revolution. The discharge of public debt, therefore, is vital to the destinies of our government." --Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin, 1809.

"To preserve independence we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses, and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes, have no time to think, no means of calling the mismanagers to account, but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816.

"All the perplexities, confusion and distresses in America arise not from defects in the constitution or confederation, nor from want of honor or virtue, as much from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation." --JOHN ADAMS, letter to Thomas Jefferson, August 25, 1787

America is now trillions of dollars in debt. And our last few presidents and congresses have through warfare and social welfare increased that debt beyond all reason.

All we hear now is a constant call to add even more debt, which once again no politician is ultimately accountable for. Actions have consequences. All debts must be paid. With interest.

So if I am a little less enthusiastic than many about government being a problem solver, I hope you are not surprised. As I've said before, giving money to a politician is like giving whiskey and car keys to a teenager.

Government is the root cause of the current crises. And since government is failing to take accountability for how they opened the doors of greed to the bankers and brokers (as well as to themselves), government will not be able to solve this problem, only make it worse.

TINSTAAFL: There is no such thing as a free lunch. Debt is slavery and every vote for debt is a vote to enslave others in this life and the next and interfere with their ability to acquire spiritual freedom.

It's all very simple, really.

(Just call me Mr. Happy.)

nce again, the thoughtful and balanced Jonah Goldberg says what's on my mind:

I am proud of and excited by the fact that we have inaugurated the first black president of the United States. He wasn’t my first choice, but he is nonetheless my president. And if ever there were a wonderful consolation prize in politics, shattering the race barrier in the White House is surely it.

Conservatives who try too hard to belittle the importance of this milestone are mistaken on several fronts. First, this is simply a wonderful—and wonderfully American—story. Any political movement that is joyless about what this represents risks succumbing to bitter political crankery.

For instance, you will not soon see a German chancellor of Turkish descent. Nor will a child of North African immigrants soon take the reins of power in France. It will be a long time before a Pakistani or Indian last name appears on the mailbox at 10 Downing St. And yet these countries bubble over with haughty finger-waggers eager to lecture backward and provincial America about race and tolerance. Why not enjoy rubbing Barack Obama in their faces?

Read the whole thing.

didn't vote for Obama (or McCain, for that matter) and I'm concerned that he may be a more radical socialist than he appears. (But, hell, in the last 20 years, Republican presidents have institutionalized more socialism than Democratic presidents.)

But there is no denying that some real transformations resulting from this election are worthwhile. And John McWhorter specifices the three big ones brilliantly in this Forbes opinion piece.

Here's the first one:

The studious black teen will no longer be tarred as "thinking he's white."

This has been a sad aspect of growing up nerdy for black students since the mid-'60s, when school integration left black students amid wary and often nasty white students. A natural response was a sense of school as the province of the other, i.e. "white."

Since then, black peers have passed this notion down the generations. For decades, there have been innumerable reports of black students faced with a choice between hitting the books and having black friends.

From now on, however, there is a ready riposte to being tarred as "acting white" for liking school: "Is Barack Obama white?"

It's the perfect smackdown—not even the most hardened black teen will disown the heroism of the first black president, in all of his nerdiness.

In the late '60s, black people who had been in middle school a few years before noticed that their siblings were suddenly being called "white" for liking school. Just watch: in 10 years, black people suffering this treatment now will notice that their younger siblings and cousins are not—and Barack Obama will be the reason.

Read the rest.

he Marine Corps has much to be proud of today. Let's remember those who have fallen and be grateful that so many of us do not know what it is like to live in a country without their protection of and commitment to America.

. Happy Birthday.

hile walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter. 'Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.'

'No problem, just let me in,' says the senator.

'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.'

'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the senator.

'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.'

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

'Now it's time to visit heaven.'

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.'

The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: 'Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.'

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above. The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

'I don't understand,' stammers the senator. 'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?'

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, 'Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted.'

merica has finally elected a black President. It's time to let go of the notion of a "Racist America."

It's good that we will have a President who can give a speech.

It's great to live in a country where, even though political emotions are high, there can still be a peaceful transition of power.

And finally, it's wonderful to be able to say...The election is over!

wo researchers at UCLA have published a study and determined that President Roosevelt's actions actually extended The Great Depression by seven years.

After scrutinizing Roosevelt's record for four years, Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian conclude in a new study that New Deal policies signed into law 71 years ago thwarted economic recovery for seven long years.

"Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump," said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA's Department of Economics. "We found that a relapse isn't likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."

In an article in the August issue of the Journal of Political Economy, Ohanian and Cole blame specific anti-competition and pro-labor measures that Roosevelt promoted and signed into law June 16, 1933.

"President Roosevelt believed that excessive competition was responsible for the Depression by reducing prices and wages, and by extension reducing employment and demand for goods and services," said Cole, also a UCLA professor of economics. "So he came up with a recovery package that would be unimaginable today, allowing businesses in every industry to collude without the threat of antitrust prosecution and workers to demand salaries about 25 percent above where they ought to have been, given market forces. The economy was poised for a beautiful recovery, but that recovery was stalled by these misguided policies."

Why do I get the feeling that Obama's election will mean a longer economic downturn (not to mention increased activity by all the global bad guys).

ll of the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arises, not from the defects of the Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.
John Adams in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, August 25, 1787

For a refresher, reread Evil Dictionaries and Money.

ave you seen the new film Total Eclipse?

You won't want to miss it! Read the review:

Every so often someone in Hollywood uses his power to break the movie colony's rules. Consider this year's Total Eclipse. Odd as it may seem, this is the first serious American film set against the background of the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact, the deal that allied Europe's two totalitarian powers against the West and helped plunge the world into war. With an ally on the eastern front, Hitler sent his Panzers west while Stalin helped himself to the Baltic states and invaded Finland. A film like this could easily have turned out as big a didactic dud as the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's 1982 bomb, Inchon, with Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur. But this time the verisimilitude of the script, carried by some outstanding performances, is the source of the film's dramatic power.

Dustin Hoffman's persuasive portrayal of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin obviously emerges from his close study of how power and perversity converged in the dictator. Likewise, Jurgen Prochnow sparkles as Hitler's foreign minister, Joachim Von Ribbentrop, and so does Robert Duvall as Vyacheslav Molotov, his Soviet counterpart. Duvall's delivery of Molotov's line that "fascism is a matter of taste" is a key moment, and deserves at least as much admiration as Duvall's famous quip from Apocalypse Now about the smell of napalm in the morning. The Molotov speech has drawn some objections for being over the top, but it was not invented by screenwriter William Goldman (Marathon Man); it's an actual quote.

The sheer unexpectedness of the film is almost as shocking as its content. In one of the film's more chilling sequences, the Soviets hand over a number of German Communists, Jews who had taken refuge in Moscow, to the Gestapo. Modern audiences may find this surprising, but that incident too is taken from the historical record. Indeed, former KGB officials are credited as advisers on the film, whose cast also includes some of their actual victims.

There has simply been nothing like it on the screen in six decades. It has taken that long for moviegoers to see Soviet forces invading Poland and meeting their Nazi counterparts. Audiences would likely be similarly surprised by cinematic treatments of Cuban prisons, the Khmer Rouge genocide, and the bloody campaigns of Ethiopia's Stalinist Col. Mengistu, all still awaiting attention from Hollywood.

Total Eclipse is rated PG-13 for violence, particularly graphic in some of the mass murder scenes, images of starving infants from Stalin's 1932 forced famine in the Ukraine, and the torture of dissidents. Director Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List) deftly cuts from the Moscow trials to the torture chambers of the Lubyanka. More controversial are the portrayals of American communists during the period of the Pact. They are shown here picketing the White House, calling President Roosevelt a warmonger, and demanding that America stay out of the "capitalist war" in Europe. Harvey Keitel turns in a powerful performance as American Communist boss Earl Browder, and Linda Hunt brings depth to Lillian Hellman, who, when Hitler attacks the USSR in September of 1939, actually did cry out, "The motherland has been invaded."

Painstakingly accurate and filled with historical surprises, this film is so refreshing, so remarkable, that even at 162 minutes it seems too short.

Read the whole thing. H/T Instapundit.

hmed Yousef, public relations official for Hamas: "We like Mr. Obama and we hope he will win the election...He has a vision to change America."

Libya's Muammar Khadafi: "...all the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man. They welcomed him and prayed for him and for his success and they may have even been involved in legitimate contribution campaigns to enable him to win the American Presidency."

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan: "...this young man [Obama] is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better... [Obama] could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."

Egyptian journalist Yasser Khalil: "Barack Obama represents a phenomenon that has drawn global attention and captivated the minds of Muslims around the world...this level of support for an American presidential candidate is unprecedented in the Muslim world...large segments of the Muslim population here remain fascinated with the election and have become big fans of Senator Obama."

H/T to The American Thinker

"A man's women folk, whatever their outward show of respect for his merit and authority, always regard him secretly as an ass, and with something akin to pity. His most gaudy sayings and doings seldom deceive them; they see the actual man within, and know him for a shallow and pathetic fellow. In this fact, perhaps, lies one of the best proofs of feminine intelligence, or, as the common phrase makes it, feminine intuition. The mark of that so-called intuition is simply a sharp and accurate perception of reality, an habitual immunity to emotional enchantment, a relentless capacity for distinguishing clearly between the appearance and the substance. The appearance, in the normal family circle, is a hero, magnifico, a demigod. The substance is a poor mountebank.

"The proverb that no man is a hero to his valet is obviously of masculine manufacture. It is both insincere and untrue: insincere because it merely masks the egotistic doctrine that he is potentially a hero to everyone else, and untrue because a valet, being a fourth-rate man himself, is likely to be the last person in the world to penetrate his master's charlatanry. Who ever heard of valet who didn't envy his master wholeheartedly? who wouldn't willingly change places with his master? who didn't secretly wish that he was his master? A man's wife labours under no such naive folly. She may envy her husband, true enough, certain of his more soothing prerogatives and sentimentalities. She may envy him his masculine liberty of movement and occupation, his impenetrable complacency, his peasant-like delight in petty vices, his capacity for hiding the harsh face of reality behind the cloak of romanticism, his general innocence and childishness. But she never envies him his puerile ego; she never envies him his shoddy and preposterous soul.

"This shrewd perception of masculine bombast and make-believe, this acute understanding of man as the eternal tragic comedian, is at the bottom of that compassionate irony which paces under the name of the maternal instinct. A woman wishes to mother a man simply because she sees into his helplessness, his need of an amiable environment, his touching self delusion. That ironical note is not only daily apparent in real life; it sets the whole tone of feminine fiction. The woman novelist, if she be skillful enough to arise out of mere imitation into genuine self-expression, never takes her heroes quite seriously. From the day of George Sand to the day of Selma Lagerlof she has always got into her character study a touch of superior aloofness, of ill-concealed derision. I can't recall a single masculine figure created by a woman who is not, at bottom, a booby."

from "The Feminine Mind" in A Mencken Chrestomathy by H.L. Mencken

OOSE