Friday, August 31, 2007

What a Joke!

Judge Smith is an idiot. They go to all that trouble. All those attorneys, briefs, depositions, testimony, cross-examination. The judge finds Knife-Honk in criminal contempt of court. And then sentences Mikey to one day in jail.
We should have known that Judge W. Osmond Smith III would do something like this. He was the presiding judge during the pre-trial proceedings of the Duke rape hoax case. It was an obvious frame-up and nothing was done about it until the state Attorney General's office took over.



Jail Time for Knife-Honk?
Naw.....all he did was withhold exculpatory evidence in a case that could have sent three innocent young men to prison for 30 years. And then he lied to the court saying he had furnished the defense attorneys with ALL the DNA evidence.
Oh.... and he also used race-baiting smear tactics against the young men that fanned the flames of racial hatred in Durham, resulting in murder threats against the falsely-accused men.
And he also falsely prosecuted a taxi driver who served as an alibi witness for one of the falsely-accused men. When Durham police officer Gottlieb arrested the driver he asked the man if he had any changes to make to his statements regarding David Evans.
The only problem is, if Mikey does get jail time it will be a mere slap on the wrist. For what he has done, life without parole would be quite appropriate.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Terrorist Attacks Continue in Northern Ireland

Never mind the lies that Sinn Fein/IRA tell about laying down their weapons and seeking peace. Terrorist attacks continue in Belfast, and the nature of their intended targets reveal what cowards these terrorists really are. In the first case, they are attacking a pregnant woman and an 18 day old baby boy:


Tuesday night's petrol bomb attack on the home of a young couple and their new-born baby
was the latest chapter in the ongoing nightmare on north Belfast's Twaddell Avenue. A young couple targeted by petrol bombers in the latest of a summer of attacks on Twaddell Avenue in north Belfast say they've no option but to leave the area. Their 18-day-old son was lying sleeping just feet beside the living room window when it was engulfed in flames late on Tuesday night.The baby's father, who did not want to be named, said his son would have been burned alive if the petrol bomb had broken through the window.He and his girlfriend have endured five years of sporadic attacks on their terrace home on the frontline of the interface with the nationalist Ardoyne.However, with the welfare of their firstborn in mind, they've now decided enough is enough and are set to move away.

And in this case, they are attacking elderly people who live on the border between a catholic and a protestant neighborhood:


Dark days go on for petrified pensioner

LEN Kane has read plenty about Ulster's bright new dawn of late.
The 82-year-old former professional footballer has also heard all about the shared future everyone has supposedly embarked upon.But from the window of his Twaddell Avenue home he’s yet to see much evidence of any of it.Len lives on the unionist side of the volatile interface with the nationalist Ardoyne area. He’s done so for 57 years.He’s seen the Troubles come and go, but one thing hasn’t changed – Len still lives in constant fear of attack.“This isn’t a new Northern Ireland here,” he said.“We’re having daily trouble. It’s hard to say what can been done, but to me it will never settle – we’ll always get these hit-and-run attacks coming in and out.“Nobody can control them because it’s a hit-and-run set up. They fly in and fly out again.”

And do their catholic neighbors feel the same fear?

John McVicker from the Greater Shankill Community Council said Twaddell Avenue was “a very settled community, disproportionately high with elderly”.The nationalist side of the interface is not attacked in the same way, he said.“I keep asking nationalist and republican residents how many times houses in Brompton Park, which would be equivalent of Twaddell Avenue [on the Ardoyne side], have been attacked in last 30 years – it would be minimal.”

Tuesday, August 28, 2007


Actress of the Week: Sophie Marceau

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Texas Governor Rick Perry Responds to Euroweenies

I previously posted about how the EU asked the governor of Texas to declare a moratorium on the death penalty. Governor Perry has responded on his website:


Statement by Robert Black, spokesman for Texas Governor Rick Perry, concerning the European Union’s appeal that Texas enact a moratorium on the death penalty:
“230 years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination. Texans long ago decided that the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens. While we respect our friends in Europe, welcome their investment in our state and appreciate their interest in our laws, Texans are doing just fine governing Texas.”

It's amazing how some people overestimate their own importance.

Liberals' War Against Liberalism

I have written before about how the word 'liberal', as currently used in the USA, means the complete opposite of what it originally meant. I consider myself to be a classical liberal. I believe in free people, free markets, free inquiry into any issue, and above all, getting the facts out. If someone disagrees with me on some issue such as global warming, affirmative action, or the proper role of government then that's fine with me. I might voice my disagreement with them. I might even ridicule them. But I will never question their right to express their opinion, nor would I ever dream of using the government to force them into silence.

Sadly, the so-called 'liberals' don't feel the same way. Some of them have advocated jail time for people who question the orthodoxy of human-caused global warming. Some have advocated making criticism of 'affirmative action' to be a hate crime, with criminal prosecution and jail time.

And when it comes to getting out the facts and thoroughly researching some issue, most 'liberals' want to suppress, not encourage research. In my previous post just below, we see how 'affirmative action' advocates refuse to allow access to data because it "risks stigmatizing African American attorneys". And I wrote about how Senators Snowe and Rockefeller tried to stifle research into the causes of global warming.

Frank Miele wrote an excellent article on this subject, concerning global warming: The liberals’ war against liberalism: What is so scary about free thought?


Week after week, I endeavor to write columns which raise questions and propose answers. Week after week I am told by my liberal friends that my questions are foolish and my answers are stupid. Yet I wait in vain for anyone to read my last two columns on global warming and show me where I went wrong. What I hear instead is that “all” the climate scientists in the world agree that global warming is man-made and ruinous, with the implication left hanging or spoken aloud that I am supposed to shut up, get in line and do what I am told.Sorry, but I don’t work that way.What I believe in is looking at the evidence for myself, weighing it with the scales of logic and reason, and then making up my own mind. I have been studying the evidence on global warming for more than two years, and for all the reasons already listed the past two weeks I am convinced that this is a manufactured crisis.Telling me that “all” the climate scientists in the world disagree with me doesn’t counter my argument; rather, it demonstrates that my opponent is willing to fabricate evidence. Many, many scientists disagree with the hypothesis that human industry has accelerated global warming to a dangerous level. To claim otherwise does not make it so.

To those of you who so zealously believe in human-caused global warming, why don't you discuss the facts rather than resort to ad hominem arguments? What do you have to say about the fact that fluctuations in the sun's output of radiation have been observed on other planets, not just the earth? Why is the ice cap on Greenland expanding rather than contracting? Why is 1934 the hottest year recorded rather than 1998 as was once thought?

With baited breath, I await your reply.

Friday, August 24, 2007

The Perils of Racist "Affirmative Action" Preferences

As is well known, UCLA Law Professor Richard Sander published a study that concluded that racial preferences in law school admissions caused a decrease in the number of black attorneys. Some agreed and some disagreed with his conclusions, but you would think that all would agree that more research into the issue would be helpful. It turns out that all do not agree, and some are trying to stifle additional research by refusing to release the data:

Three years ago, UCLA law professor Richard Sander published an explosive, fact-based study of the consequences of affirmative action in American law schools in the Stanford Law Review. Most of his findings were grim, and they caused dismay among many of the champions of affirmative action -- and indeed, among those who were not.

Easily the most startling conclusion of his research: Mr. Sander calculated that there are fewer black attorneys today than there would have been if law schools had practiced color-blind admissions -- about 7.9% fewer by his reckoning. He identified the culprit as the practice of admitting minority students to schools for which they are inadequately prepared. In essence, they have been "matched" to the wrong school.
No one claims the findings in Mr. Sander's study, "A Systemic Analysis of Affirmative Action in American Law Schools," are the last word on the subject. Although so far his work has held up to scrutiny at least as well as that of his critics, all fair-minded scholars agree that more research is necessary before the "mismatch thesis" can be definitively accepted or rejected.
Unfortunately, fair-minded scholars are hard to come by when the issue is affirmative action. Some of the same people who argue Mr. Sander's data are inconclusive are now actively trying to prevent him from conducting follow-up research that might yield definitive answers. If racial preferences really are causing more harm than good, they apparently don't want you -- or anyone else -- to know.
Take William Kidder, a University of California staff advisor and co-author of a frequently cited attack of Sander's study. When Mr. Sander and his co-investigators sought bar passage data from the State Bar of California that would allow analysis by race, Mr. Kidder passionately argued that access should be denied, because disclosure "risks stigmatizing African American attorneys." At the same time, the Society of American Law Teachers, which leans so heavily to the left it risks falling over sideways, gleefully warned that the state bar would be sued if it cooperated with Mr. Sander.

If these "affirmative action" advocates are so eager to help minority students,then why are they afraid to allow the research to commence? Gail Heriot has an idea:

Sadly, the State Bar's Committee of Bar Examiners caved under the pressure. The committee members didn't formally explain their decision to deny Mr. Sander's request for this data (in which no names would be disclosed), but the root cause is clear: Over the last 40 years, many distinguished citizens -- university presidents, judges, philanthropists and other leaders -- have built their reputations on their support for race-based admissions. Ordinary citizens have found secure jobs as part of the resulting diversity bureaucracy.
If the policy is not working, they, too, don't want anyone to know.

This entire issue is strongly reminiscent of the brouhaha over global warming. Even though climatology and racial preferences have nothing whatsoever to do with each other, I find almost the exact same group of people bellowing about human-induced warming from CO2 emissions as those who favor "affirmative action" and oppose any research on its effects. In each case they don't want the facts to get out.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Media Mafiosa

Are the Media a Cosa Nostra mob? Yes, according to James Lewis:


The Big Media are a mob. That should be Politics 101. They are a tiny, unchecked power elite, locked into life-long careers in the remnant of a crumbling monopoly over America's national conversation. Like other unaccountable elites, they are monumentally fickle, self-indulgent, snobbish, vain, vulgar, entitled, incestuous, arrogant, ignorant, unprincipled, hysterical, and demagogic. They sound like a unified chorus for the same reasons that street mobs run as a group -- because by and large, they don't dare to stand alone. Media snobs are always looking over their shoulders to see if they are still singing from the same hymnal as The New York Times. The US media have been one-sidedly Leftist, while piously proclaiming their devotion to impartiality. Thus, they are also institutionally mendacious. Telling the truth is hardly their job. They're just not qualified.

Indeed. Their ideas are all derived from the same groupthink. Most of the left rarely if ever put any thought behind their beliefs. When they disagree with me I often find that they have few if any arguments to counter mine. Their method of 'debating' usually consists of trying to silence me by claiming I am discussing politics in an inappropriate venue, or trying to ridicule me. Or, they claim that I got my ideas just by naively repeating something said by Rush Limbaugh, Fox News Channel, or the Wall Street Journal. They can't argue the issues at all because they have no arguments.

Lewis explains how the results of the groupthink are catastrophic.

It's all very effective; with a more truthful media the Democrats wouldn't stand a chance in electoral politics. The entire American Left owes its existence and power to the Media Mob. And our national dialogue would be saner, better-informed, and more rational. We would have a much healthier world. Until then, a vigorous New Media provide our best hope.

Once again, I agree. But I also see a glimmer of hope on the horizon. There are recent polls that show that a majority of Americans realize that global warming is the result of natural causes and is not man-made. This in spite of the fact that the Mob are preaching the gospel of CO2 emissions causing it. The grassroots response to the ridiculous proposal to grant amnesty to illegal aliens was impressive. Recent polls have shown that Republican, Democrats, and Independents are equally opposed to the idea.


European Union Tries to Stifle Justice in Texas



As if it is any of their business, some jackasses in the EU are calling for a moratorium on executions in Texas:

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union urged the governor of Texas on Tuesday to halt all executions before the U.S. state carries out its 400th death sentence since reinstatement of the penalty in 1976. "The European Union notes with great regret the upcoming execution in the State of Texas," the Portuguese presidency of the 27-nation bloc said in a statement.
Texas is expected to hit the 400 mark on Wednesday -- putting it far ahead of any other U.S. state -- with the execution of Johnny Ray Conner for the 1998 shooting of a grocery store clerk.
"The European Union strongly urges Governor Rick Perry to exercise all powers vested in his office to halt all upcoming executions and to consider the introduction of a moratorium in the State of Texas," the EU statement said.

Here is some info about Johnny Ray Conner on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website:

On 05/17/98, during the nighttime in Houston, Texas, Conner robbed a store at gunpoint. A male customer entered the store and heard the suspect say, "Give me the money." The male customer came upon Conner and Conner fired one shot from a 32-caliber pistol, striking the adult male victim in the chest and arm. The customer then fled the scene on foot. Conner turned and fired 2 shots striking the adult female clerk in the head, causing her death. Conner fled the scene without any money.

Wasn't that nice?


And Now, Courtesy of Eastern Europe, Stilleto Heel Racing!
The hottest new sport is catching on like wildfire in Europe. There are competitions in Moscow, Warsaw, and Berlin. The winner in the Moscow race ran 100 meters in 12 seconds in heels. That's not a bad time for someone wearing track shoes!
How long before the newest sport reaches America?
More Illegal Immigration Lunacy

If anyone wonders why we have such a huge problem with illegal immigration in the USA and the subsequent criminal behavior from these lawbreakers, read this article and wonder no more:


While unauthorized entry into the United States is illegal, being in the country after having entered illegally is not necessarily a crime, according to a new ruling by the Kansas Court of Appeals.
In a Barton County case, a three-judge panel issued an opinion Friday that a judge could not deny probation and order jail time for convicted drug dealer Nicholas L. Martinez based solely on the grounds that Martinez is an unauthorized immigrant.
"While Congress has criminalized the illegal entry into this country, it has not made the continued presence of an illegal alien in the United States a crime unless the illegal alien has previously been deported and has again entered this country illegally," Judge Patrick McAnany wrote for the court majority.

In other words, it's unlawful to enter the country without the proper visa. but if you succeed in sneaking over the border, then you're ok! Now get a load of what this guy did:

The case arose from the sentencing of Martinez, who pleaded guilty to felony possession of cocaine and endangering a child by having his young son deliver drugs to an undercover officer, according to court documents.

Do all of you open border advocates really want this guy in our country? Apparently so.

Sunday, August 19, 2007




We Lose a Talented Man






Michael Deaver, one of the initial troika of Ronald Reagan's Chiefs of Staff, passed away from pancreatic cancer yesterday. Deaver was Reagan's closest confidant and a magnificent aide to a magnificent president. He was convicted of perjury relating to his lobbying activities after leaving the white house. But whatever Deaver's sins were, they were minor compared with subsequent activities of the Clintons and members of their administration. I wish I had a dime for every time a Clinton aide said something like "I don't remember" when testifying under oath.




Pancreatic cancer is an almost certain death sentence. I lost one of my best friends, the brilliant economist Byron Chapman, last year to pancreatic cancer. Byron was a staunch libertarian and believer in free markets and free people. He was outspoken in his views and never minced words. He could be absolutely exasperating at times, yet one would be hard-pressed to find a more sincere, loyal friend.

Saturday, August 18, 2007


Game bird of the Week: Zenaida macroura
Just two weeks until dove season starts.

Friday, August 17, 2007


(T)Hugo Chavez to be President for Life of Venezuela



There are many naive simpletons on the left who believe it is possible to have political freedom without economic freedom. Thugo Chavez is proving them wrong with his newest quest: To be president for life of Venezuela.

The Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez has anointed himself president for life by proposing sweeping changes to the country's constitution.
Setting out his plans for completing his socialist revolution in the oil-rich Latin American nation, he proposing radical constitutional reform which has at its centre indefinite re-election for himself. In a rambling televised speech reminiscent of his close ally and friend Fidel Castro, Mr Chavez told the national assembly of 33 changes he plans to make to the constitution he introduced in 1999 which will cement his grip on power. "We have broken the chains of the old, exploitative capitalist system," said Mr Chavez. "The state now has the obligation to build the model of a socialist economy."

I can just picture Hillary green with envy. She is watching what Chavez is doing and thinking to herself: "First I will be elected president of the USA, and then....."

Wednesday, August 15, 2007


A Victory for Racial Justice
The "affirmative action" advocates are weeping the bitter tears of defeat today after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict that Orleans Parish prosecutor Eddie Jordan violated the civil rights of dozens of white employees when he fired them after taking office in 2003 and replaced them with black workers.
But of course, the left won't see it as a victory. They believe that it is perfectly OK to discriminate against whites, especially white males. In fact, many of them believe that it isn't discrimination at all. And even worse, they believe that people like me who protest against such discrimination are racists.
Is a Recession Coming?

I hope not. But one fairly reliable indicator says yes: The yield curve. Short-term rates on U.S. Treasury securities have been higher than long-term rates for most of the past six months.

In the past, such a condition has indicated that a downturn of the economy is imminent, and that the stock market is headed south. You can view the evidence in my paper regarding the role of stock prices in business cycles.

Monday, August 13, 2007

How Can This Be?

A report by the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide & Global Change finds that the Greenland Ice Sheet is expanding


The Greenland ice sheet would appear to have experienced no net loss of mass over the last decade for which data are available. Quite to the contrary, in fact, it was likely host to a net accumulation of ice, which Zwally et al. found to be producing a 0.03 ± 0.01 mm/year decline in sea-level.

On this same site, Viscount Monckton talks about the alleged 'scientific consensus' about global warming

It is often said that there is a scientific “consensus” to the effect that climate change will be “catastrophic” and that, on this question, “the debate is over”. The present paper will demonstrate that the claim of unanimous scientific “consensus” was false, and known to be false, when it was first made; that the trend of opinion in the peer-reviewed journals and even in the UN’s reports on climate is moving rapidly away from alarmism; that, among climate scientists, the debate on the causes and extent of climate change is by no means over; and that the evidence in the peer-reviewed literature conclusively demonstrates that, to the extent that there is a “consensus”, that “consensus” does not endorse the notion of “catastrophic” climate change.

And there is also a refutation of the idea that the sun doesn't affect the climate:

When Lockwood and Froehlich go on to say that the intensification of solar activity seen in the past hundred years has now ended, we don't disagree with that. We part company only when they say that temperatures have gone on shooting up, so that the recent rise can't have anything to do with the Sun, or with cosmic rays modulated by the Sun. In reality global temperatures have stopped rising. Data for both the surface and the lower air show no warming since 1999. That makes no sense by the hypothesis of global warming driven mainly by CO2, because the amount of CO2 in the air has gone on increasing. But the fact that the Sun is beginning to neglect its climatic duty -- of batting away the cosmic rays that come from 'the chilling stars' -- fits beautifully with this apparent end of global warming.
- Nigel Caulder, PhD

Are al-Gore and his flock of disciples on the left going to listen to any of this? I am sure that they won't.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Blog of the Week: The Anchoress

Another one of my favorites is the Anchoress. Her insights into many contemporary issues can be very revealing, for example her comments about the PIAPS' “we’re going to have to take some things away from you for the common good”:



I…do not begrudge the hyper-rich their riches.
What we do begrudge them is their “superior” disdain for our values, and their hectoring that we are somehow less compassionate, less well-meaning, gosh darn it just LESSER people because we believe in giving a hand, rather than a hand-out.
I mind gazillionaires like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, Jon Corzine […and Hillary Clinton] pretending that our yearly income, our solidly middle-class income (and very modest emergency fund) is too, too much for us, unfair to others, undertaxed, greedy, ignoble and selfish. I mind people who are bouncing on fluffy pillows of honest-to-goodness wealth shaking a rhetorical finger at us for daring to try to get comfortable on our foam rubber mats of hard-earned wages.

My feelings exactly.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Violence Continues in Northern Ireland

Here is the latest I have heard from Ulster. An attack by IRA terrorists on protestants:

My sister phoned me today as her daughter and husband were attacked overnight by some taigs. They heard a noise at 1.30am and Gerald got up in his underpants to find a man in the living room.The guy beat up Gerald causing cuts and bruises to his face,chest legs and feet. He got him on the floor and stamped on his bare chest,legs and feet in front of his wife and 4 year old son. There were 4 more of them outside in a car. All their windows and front door were broken and they drove off shouting slogans like "Orange Bastards" and "Up the 'RA". They were after the car keys to steal the car. Nancy got the number plate on their car as it was driving off. The police and forensic team arrived and the car was traced to IRA terrority{Falls Road},it was a stolen car they were using. Gerald is only 26 and thought he was going to be shot. The forensics took some blood samples that were wiped on Gerald to see if they can find a DNA match.
At least they went away empty handed as he wouldn't hand over his car keys.

And then the most appalling part of the story:

It was told to them "off the record" that it wasn't worth pursuing the attackers as it causes disturbances in Republican areas which could lead to a breakdown in the peace process.
Every time the police have to enter their areas they come under attack from riots, petrol bombs, fireworks and bottles.
The British Government will put up with anything to keep Sinn fein happy.

That peace agreement isn't worth the paper it is written on!

Thursday, August 09, 2007


Stamp of the Week: The Blackjack
Issued during the civil war. It's one of my favorite. I can't get enough blackjacks.
Did Terrorists Cause the Foot and Mouth Outbreak?


Some in the UK are speculating that the recent outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease may have been a deliberate act of terrorism:
The deliberate release of viral material, possibly in an act of sabotage, may have caused the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, officials said last night.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said in a report ordered by the Prime Minister that “release by human movement [of the FMD virus] must be considered a real possibility”.


And I fear that their suspicions may be well-founded. Ingrid Newkirk, the president of PETA said she wanted foot and mouth disease to spread to the USA:

"I openly hope that it [foot and mouth disease] comes here. It will bring economic harm only for those who profit from giving people heart attacks and giving animals a concentration camp-like existence."


These people are truly scary.




Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Independence for Northern Ireland?

Many of the catholics in Northern Ireland want their province to leave the UK and join the Republic of Ireland. Many of the protestants want to stay in the UK.

Why not do some altogether different? Leave the UK and don't join the Republic of Ireland. Become a sovereign country and a full-fledged member of the EU and NATO.

The catholics and protestants in Northern Ireland have more in common with each other than they do with the Irish in Southern Ireland, or with the English, Scots, and Welsh of Great Britain. Becoming a sovereign country would force the Northern Irish to face their common goals and challenges and would expose the folly of Sinn Fein's socialist ideals. Southern Ireland has done quite well by adopting free-market economic policies and Sinn Fein was summarily rejected in the recent elections there.

Northern Ireland would have a population of approximately 1.6 million which is close to the size of Estonia or Slovenia. I predict that independence would result in a politically stable and peaceful country.


Barry Bonds


Is not the home run king. His drug-enhanced record is meaningless. Same goes to the records of Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa. They have no more credibility than the Olympic medals won by the former East German team.

They Won't Give Up
After the American people, including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, overwhelmingly rejected the idea of granting amnesty to illegal aliens, Senator Arlen Specter (RINO - PA) has come up with a "new plan":


Some Republican leaders say they smell a rat in Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's compromise proposal to get an immigration-reform bill through the Senate this year.
Mr. Specter now suggests the 12 million illegal aliens he says are already here should be given the equivalent of "green card" status but "without the automatic path to citizenship" that critics labeled "amnesty."
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called the Specter proposal a form of congressional extortion.
"Specter is asserting that the Congress is blackmailing the American people," Mr. Gingrich said. "The Congress will not enforce current law and will not insist on employers obeying the law unless we give an unknown number of people legal status. This is amnesty by blackmail — after the American people vehemently rejected amnesty a month ago."

There is only one solution to the problem: Deport all illegal aliens.

Monday, August 06, 2007


A Really Cool Site
This site has a number of photographs taken at either sunrise or sunset by servicemen. The above pic is of a USN battleship (probably the USS Iowa) taken off the coast of Costa Rica in 1986.
Hat tip to small dead animals.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Venezuela Tries the Old, Tired, Socialist Paradigm

The WaPo is reporting on Venezuela's attempts to build socialism. Here is my favorite part:
Workers are tutored on socialist values, and officials frequently call for the creation of a selfless and patriotic "New Man."

Don't you just love it? Socialism will work if you can just get some suckers to be converted to selfless slaves of the government. All you have to do is put the economy under government control, suppress civil liberties so that some reactionary like me won't put the wrong ideas into peoples' heads, and educate them properly to turn them into unthinking socialist bots.

This is why capitalism works and socialism doesn't. Capitalism doesn't require people to change. They can go ahead and be greedy and doing so will usually help the economy. Capitalism doesn't require suppression of free speech and free press.

Moon of the Week: Oberon
It orbits around Uranus and.....no, I won't say it.

Thursday, August 02, 2007


Cristina Kirchner Says She's No Hillary
The First Lady of Argentina says that comparisons between her and the Oinkubus are invalid:


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Argentina's first lady and front-runner in the October presidential election rejected on Wednesday comparisons with U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton despite both women's hopes to follow their husbands into office.
Sen. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York, also are lawyers who met their husbands at universities but Fernandez said the comparisons ended there.
"Hillary was able to position herself nationally because her husband was president. She didn't have a political life beforehand and that isn't my case," Fernandez de Kirchner said in an interview with CNN en Espanol, referring to her 30-year career in Argentine politics.

I should hope not...... Mamacita!

Wednesday, August 01, 2007


The Wall Street Journal Has a New Owner
What will Murdoch's purchase of Dow Jones do to the Journal? I have no idea.
Murdoch has done an excellent job with Fox News Channel. I think his purchase of the paper may be a good move for both. As an economist, I have been reading the journal for years. Their coverage of financial news has been excellent until recently. Now I have to refer to their online edition to get the data I need. Their editorials have usually been very good. With the exception of the issues of illegal immigration, and the question of fixed vs floating exchange rates, I usually find myself agreeing with their editorials and many of their gueat Op-Eds.