In San Antonio for a couple of days. Got to listen to Ed Kane talk about the subprime crisis. I agree with him that the worst thing the government can do is to bail out the people who made the poor decisions.

William F. Buckley: 1925 - 2008

Cry Me a River

Khmer Rouge murderer Kaing Guek Eav reportedly wept when taken to the spot where thousands of his victimes were killed

The chief executioner of the Khmer Rouge wept when he returned to the place where thousands died on his orders.
Around 15,000 people are believed to have been taken from the S-21 torture centre in Phnom Penh, where Duch was commandant, to Choeung Ek just outside the city, known as the killing fields.

While Duch sat smoking on a mat under the trees they were made to kneel at the edge of pits and clubbed on the back of the neck to save bullets.
Duch, 65, a born-again Christian whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, wept and prayed before the tree on which his subordinates dashed out the brains of babies and small children.
"He cried and apologised to the victims," said a policeman who was present during the preliminary session of the international tribunal, which is run under the joint auspices of the Cambodian government and the United Nations.
A group of 80 judges, witnesses and court staff took part in the visit. Duch, whose full trial will begin in the summer, intends to plead not guilty to the murders on the grounds that he was following orders. He and four others face life imprisonment if convicted.

Why didn't you try showing some remorse back in 1975, dipshit? Or were you and Pol Pot too busy trying to "build socialism"?

Even worse than this piece of human excrement are the "progressive" socialists and marxists here in the USA who cheered the victory of the Khmer Rouge in 1975. Did they go to live in Cambodia and enjoy the socialist paradise? No, they stayed in America or in Western Europe and toughed it out in a capitalist democracy. People like Noam Chomsky have not shown the slightest remorse, and many of them have even tried to blame the USA for the holocaust in Cambodia.

This happened while I was in high school and coming of age politically. Jimmy Carter became president in 1977 and spoke of an "inordinate fear of communism". Judging by what happened in Cambodia, the fear was not inordinate, it was insufficient. This is why I have no respect for the left, whatsoever. They deserve none.

The Earth Ain't Warming

If, like me, you have been freezing your butt off this winter, you're not alone.

Global warming sceptics are pointing to recent record cold temperatures in parts of North America and Asia and the return of Arctic Sea ice to suggest fears about climate change may be overblown.

According to the US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the average temperature of the global land surface in January 2008 was below the 20th century mean (-0.02°F/-0.01°C) for the first time since 1982.

Temperatures were also colder than average across large swathes of central Asia, the Middle East, the western US, western Alaska and southeastern China.
The NCDC reported that the cold conditions were associated with "the largest January snow cover extent on record for the Eurasian continent and for the Northern Hemisphere".
In some parts of China and central Asia, snow fell for the first time in living memory, the NCDC noted.
"For the contiguous United States, the average temperature was 30.5°F (-0.83°C) for January, which was 0.3°F (0.2°C) below the 20th century mean and the 49th coolest January on record, based on preliminary data".

Much of North America was also hit by the heaviest snowfall since the 1960s.
Meanwhile, the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre found the January 2008 Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent, while below the 1979-2000 mean, was greater than the previous four years.
And the January 2008 Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent was significantly above the 1979-2000 mean, ranking as the largest sea ice extent in January over the 30-year historical period.
Generally there were cooler-than-average conditions in the southern oceans and in Niño regions, where the average temperature decreased markedly in January.
Canada's National Post reported that there were so many snow and ice storms in Ontario and Quebec that the property market has suffered because buyers did not want to go out. And in the first two weeks of February, Toronto received 70 cm of snow, smashing the record of 66.6 cm for the entire month set back in 1950.
Asked about the Arctic ice cover, Gilles Langis, a senior forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa, told the Post the Arctic winter had been so severe, the ice has not only recovered but was actually 10 to 20 cm thicker in many places than the same time last year.
"OK, so one winter does not a climate make. It would be premature to claim an Ice Age is looming just because we have had one of our most brutal winters in decades," writes Lorne Gunter in the National Post.
"But if environmentalists and environment reporters can run around shrieking about the manmade destruction of the natural order every time a robin shows up on Georgian Bay two weeks early, then it is at least fair game to use this winter's weather stories to wonder whether the alarmist are being a tad premature."

Sinn Fein to Memorialize Dead Terrorist

The Sinn Fein/IRA terrorist sympathizers in Northern Ireland want to memorialize Maireád Farrell, who bombed a hotel outside Belfast

The NI Assembly Commission has not reached a decision on two contentious events to be held at Stormont.
The cross-party grouping discussed the issue and adjourned its meeting until later in the week.
Sinn Fein plans to hold an event celebrating IRA member Maireád Farrell. The DUP plans an event to celebrate the SAS during the Troubles.
Farrell was one of three IRA members shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar 20 years ago.

Assembly member Jeffrey Donaldson is making the DUP application. He said Sinn Fein's plan should not go ahead.
"I believe we should celebrate the lives of role models but who in their right mind could view a terrorist who was prepared to kill innocent men, women and children as a role model?"
He added: "However, it is right and proper that we should celebrate and commemorate our armed forces who stood against terrorists such as Farrell."
DUP leader Ian Paisley led a party delegation to meet assembly speaker William Hay to discuss the proposed event.
Speaking after Monday's meeting, Mr Paisley said: "We had a useful and frank meeting with the speaker and my colleagues and I expressed in very forthright terms our opinion that this disgraceful proposal should not be given the go-ahead."
He added: "The DUP will oppose any commemoration for murderers in Stormont and will use all of our influence to prevent this event from taking place. I am confident that we are bringing closure to this issue."
Gibraltar
Maireád Farrell was shot dead in Gibraltar in 1988 along with two other IRA members by the SAS.
Keys to a car found in her handbag led to the discovery in Spain of five packages of Semtex explosive.
Farrell had previously been jailed between 1976 and 1986 for the bombing of the Conway Hotel in Dunmurry, outside Belfast.

What if CAIR held a memorial service for Mohammed Atta in southern Manhattan, how well would that go in New York? That gives you an idea of how Irish protestants feel about memorializing Farrell.

Currency-Indexed Treasury Securities?

Since 1997, the US Treasury department has issued inflation-indexed Treasury Notes and Bonds. These securities promise a real return to investors by increasing or decreasing the pricipal and interest payments as the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rises or falls.

However, the inflation indexing does not remove all sources of risk from the bonds. Another source of risk for both domestic and foreign investors are fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. The US dollar has fallen by 43% against the euro since June, 2001 and by 28% against the British pound.

Should the Treasury department issue Notes and Bonds that are indexed to some trade-weighted foreign exchange rate index? Or perhaps some indexed to specific currencies such as the euro, pound, or yen?

I doubt that this will happen. But it is interesting to speculate on how the bonds would be priced if they did.

'Scuse Me, While I Kiss the Sky

Mysterious haze found on Venus

Bright hazes that mysteriously appear and then disappear on Venus in a matter of days have revealed a new dynamic feature of the planet's cloudy atmosphere that is unlike anything on Earth.

The European Space Agency's Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) captured a series of images showing the development of a bright haze over the southern latitudes of the planet in July 2007. Over a period of days, the high-altitude veil continually brightened and dimmed, moving towards equatorial latitudes and then back towards the south pole.
These transient dark and bright markings indicate regions on the cloud-covered world where solar ultraviolet radiation is being absorbed and reflected by sulfuric acid particles, mission scientists said this week.
Gaseous sulfur dioxide and small amounts of water vapor are usually found below altitudes of about 43 miles (70 kilometers) in Venus' carbon-dioxide rich atmosphere. These molecules are usually shrouded from view by cloud layers above that block our view to the surface at visible wavelengths.
ESA scientists think the sulfuric acid particles that make up the bright haze are created when some atmospheric process lifts the gaseous sulfur dioxide and water vapor high up above the cloud tops where they are exposed to ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
The UV radiation breaks up the molecules, making them highly reactive. The fragments of the molecules eagerly seek each other out and combine to form the sulfuric acid particles.
"The process is a bit similar to what happens with urban smog over cities," said mission team member Dmitri Titov of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany.
Exactly what causes the sulfur dioxide and water vapor to well up is not known, but Titov says it is likely some internal process of Venus' atmosphere.
The transient dark markings on the VMC images are even more of a mystery. They are caused by something that absorbs UV radiation, but scientists don't yet know what the chemical is.

They don't mention the color of the haze. Is it purple?

UPDATE: It is purple. At least in UV light.

Star Wars, Give Me Those Star Wars!

US Navy Shoots Down Satellite


I recall back in the 1980s when President Reagan started the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), aka Star Wars, in an attempt to protect the USA from nuclear missiles. The geniuses on the left smugly asserted that it would never work. I'm not clear as to how they were able to evaluate some technology that had not yet been invented. But it seemed to me that we should make an attempt to protect ourselves in the event someone throws a nuclear missile at us. I guess the lefties wanted to depend on the good intentions of a tyrannical government that had slaughtered millions of its own people.

Another development that seemed significant to me at that time was the fact that the Soviets were very, very concerned about Star Wars. I think it was that, and Gorbachev's bizarre behavior during the negotiations at the Reyjavik summit, that finally brought them to the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith a meaningful arms reduction agreement.

Bill Clinton, in his infinite stupidity, canceled all research on the SDI during his administration. But W brought it back and now we are beginning to see the results of the research bear fruit.

Another important fact to note. The people who so confidently predicted in the 1980s that SDI would never work are the same group who talk about the scientific "consensus" that human CO2 emissions are causing global warming.

The Joys of Socialist Health Care

Those who wonder what Hillary's "Universal" health care will be like should listen to the experiences of our Canadian neighbors:

Rahaf Harfoush

Community Editorial Board
As a generally healthy person, I never thought the reports of a looming doctor shortage would ever have an impact on my life. Then I caught the mother of all sinus infections.
Feverish and congested, I was far beyond the help of over-the-counter medication. To make matters worse, since moving to Toronto, I had yet to find a local doctor.
So, I ignored the myriad symptoms and tried to pretend that everything was fine. Needless to say, this brilliant strategy didn't work. Sinusitis became bronchitis and I became desperate.
While waiting for three hours in a walk-in clinic, I finally understood first-hand the plight of our health-care system.
For months I had been trying to find a clinic that was accepting new patients. My search began with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario website.
Initially, I marvelled at the simplicity of the entire process. After inputting my postal code and preferences, the system would helpfully find any available medical practices in the area matching my specifications. My search yielded six names.
Confident that I would have the entire matter wrapped up in one afternoon, I proceeded to call each listing. None of them were accepting new patients.
I figured that this was a minor setback, so I widened my search parameters and tried again. Two weeks later I had called 14 clinics around my neighbourhood – with no luck.
Puzzled but still in good spirits, I turned to the almighty Google. Its business locator feature showed me several practices that hadn't come up in my previous searches.
After hitting several more dead-ends I finally found one that was accepting new patients. My thrill was short-lived, though, as I was informed that I needed to come in for a "screening interview" with one of the doctors.
I arrived early and filled in a lengthy form detailing everything from my marital status to my family history. During the face-to-face portion of the interview, I shared information about my occupation, diet and fitness routines, and even general life goals.
After all of this I was given some unfortunate news: I was too healthy to be accepted into this particular clinic. Due to the high population density of the area, they had to give priority to patients with chronic health concerns. They told me the walk-in clinic would be my best bet and I was sent on my way with the knowledge that a formal rejection letter would be in my mail in a few weeks' time.
Then came the above-mentioned bronchitis episode. After an agonizing wait, a round of antibiotics and lots of bed rest, I renewed my search, fuelled by my desperation to never have to wait so long for a doctor again.
As a last-ditch effort, I called my MP, Carolyn Bennett, and my MPP, Michael Bryant. Both were very helpful. Bryant's office provided me with an extensive list of doctors in the area that I continued to work through. After seven months, calling 21 doctors and attending three interviews, I finally was accepted into a small family practice!
It could have had something to do with the fact after a few "auditions" I had developed a good sense for what needed to be said and exaggerated some of my health ailments so as to not appear "too healthy."
If there is one lesson I have learned from this ordeal, it is that I cannot continue to ignore the warning signs of what is happening to our health-care system without expecting serious and crippling consequences.
This is not a problem that will go away by itself. The symptoms are there for us to see. I wonder how bad things will have to get before we decide to do something about it.

I can already picture Her Thighness licking her chops over the possibilities of "universal" health care. It will be universal all right --- for those who prove to be "cooperative".

Marxists Wax Nostalgic Over the Sandinista Dictatorship of Nicaragua

The Mail and Guardian has a hilarious article about the brutal dictatorship of the Ortega brothers in Nicaragua in the 1980s:

It was the 1980s and Nicaragua’s Sandinista revolution was captivating hearts and minds around the world. The olive-uniformed guerrillas had overthrown the hated Somoza dictatorship and were trying to build a more equal society by empowering women, giving peasants land and teaching the illiterate to read. But it was the Cold War and where others saw hope, the Reagan administration saw a communist beachhead in central America. It imposed sanctions and sponsored insurgents, the contras, to strangle the revolution.

But the author of the article does not see fit to mention that the Sandinistas slaughtered hundreds of Miskito Indians in Nicaragua. Nor do they mention the fact that the Ortegas refused to hold free elections in Nicaragua until after the Soviet Bloc collapsed (eleven years after seizing power), in which they were promptly voted out.

They go on about some aging hippies who went to Nicaragua in the 1980s to help deprive the Nicaraguans of their freedom. I guess if they want to be slaves of the government, that is their decision, but there is something truly asinine about going to another country to work for a dictatorship. No one bothered to ask the Nicaraguans if they wanted communism until 1990 when they responded with a resounding "NO!"

The Ortegas got back into power in Nicaragua in 2006 because the vote for the freedom-loving parties was split, giving the marxists a plurality. If and when free elections are held again, I am confident that the Ortegas will be unemployed and these idiots will have to make some more excuses.

http://supportdenmark.com/

Leftist Ideology Caused by Mental Disorder

We have known this for years, but now a psychiatrist has confirmed that so-called "liberalism" is the result of mental illness:

"Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness." "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."

For more than 35 years he has diagnosed and treated more than 1,500 patients as a board-certified clinical psychiatrist and examined more than 2,700 civil and criminal cases as a board-certified forensic psychiatrist. He received his medical and psychiatric training at the University of Chicago.

"A social scientist who understands human nature will not dismiss the vital roles of free choice, voluntary cooperation and moral integrity – as liberals do," he says. "A political leader who understands human nature will not ignore individual differences in talent, drive, personal appeal and work ethic, and then try to impose economic and social equality on the population – as liberals do. And a legislator who understands human nature will not create an environment of rules which over-regulates and over-taxes the nation's citizens, corrupts their character and reduces them to wards of the state – as liberals do."
Dr. Rossiter says the liberal agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:
--creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
--satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
--augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
--rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government.
"The roots of liberalism – and its associated madness – can be clearly identified by understanding how children develop from infancy to adulthood and how distorted development produces the irrational beliefs of the liberal mind," he says. "When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims, rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious."

The only issue I take with Dr. Rossiter is his use of the oxymoron "liberal" to describe people who are about as liberal as the Waffen SS. "Leftist" or "socialist" are more accurate terms.

Instead of electing them to government office, we should get them the help they need.

Important Moments in the History of Freedom

Reading the Declaration of Independence made me think of other important documents and declarations. First and foremost, from the Declaration:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved

But it took the thick-headed Brits seven years to realize this, in the Treaty of Paris:

Article 1:
His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.

And then, of course, the Treaty of Velasco:

Articles of an agreement entered into, between His Excellency David G. Burnet, President of the Republic of Texas, of the one part, and His Excellency General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, President General in Chief of the Mexican Army, of the other part.

Article 1st

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna agrees that he will not take up arms, nor will he exercise his influence to cause them to be taken up against the people of Texas, during the present war of Independence.

Article 2nd

All hostilities between the Mexican and Texian troops will cease immediately both on land and water.

Article 3rd

The Mexican troops will evacuate the Territory of Texas, passing to the other side of the Rio Grande del Norte.

Mao Tse Tung Offered to 'Give' USA 10 Million Chinese Women

Chairman Mao, that darling of the left in the USA, once offered to give the USA ten million Chinese women:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Amid a discussion of trade in 1973, Chinese leader Mao Zedong made what U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called a novel proposition: sending tens of thousands, even 10 million, Chinese women to the United States.

"You know, China is a very poor country," Mao said, according to a document released by the State Department's historian office.
"We don't have much. What we have in excess is women. So if you want them we can give a few of those to you, some tens of thousands."
A few minutes later, Mao circled back to the offer. "Do you want our Chinese women?" he asked. "We can give you 10 million."
After Kissinger noted Mao was "improving his offer," the chairman said, "We have too many women. ... They give birth to children and our children are too many."
"It is such a novel proposition," Kissinger replied in his discussion with Mao in Beijing. "We will have to study it."

To this day, there are many leftists who admire Mao. And many who want to mimic his policies. The left view human beings as chattels of the state. For example, Fidel Castro (another favorite of the left) claimed that Elian Gonzalez was the "property of the Cuban government".

And thats exactly what the likes of Hillary Clinton want when they talk about "Universal Health Care". They're not concerned with making sure that everyone gets what they need. That is already the case for the most part. What they want is for the US health care system to be completely under government control (and thus under their control). Watch what happens if they get their way. Those who do not conform to leftist ideology will soon find themselves cut off from access to health care. For example, anyone who speaks out against the global warming hoax will find it difficult to schedule an appointment with a doctor. Anyone who criticizes the racist "affirmative action" programs will also have difficulties.

The left view human beings as so many cattle. To be used and abused for whatever purpose they see fit. Contrast the attitude of Mao Tse Tung with that of the founding fathers of the United States:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

So What is Barack Up To?

Apparently a pattern is emerging at Obama's speeches:

CLIPS FROM BARACK OBAMA RALLIES... EACH IS A WOMAN... EACH WOMAN STANDS DEAD CENTER, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE STAGE WHERE OBAMA IS STANDING AND SPEAKING... OBAMA SAYS "GIVE HER SPACE", REFERENCES EMT, AND HANDS THE WATER BOTTLE EACH TIME!...

Hmmmmm...... It appears that Barack is very handy with his bottle of water. Do people plan to "faint" in advance?

H/T to John Lott

Extinction of Loch Ness Monster Caused by Global Warming

No kidding....

Happy Birthday to the Valentine Doggy!

Daphne Iztaccihuatl SH is 6 years old today.

More People Killed in a Victim Disarmament Zone

Today four people were killed and several more injured at Northern Illinois University when a gunman opened fire in a goelogy class. Of course, the Lamestream media and their allies on the left will make hay out of this and claim that we need more gun control laws.

Actually what we need are less. Law-abiding people need to be able to carry guns to defend themselves. How many mass shootings have occured at sporting clays courses, rifle ranges, or police stations? Very few, because if someone started shooting then the potential victims could return fire.

But the left want us to be unarmed peasants. Dependent on the government for our safety and helpless against criminals and despots.

Witch Hunt in Washington

I watched part of the Roger Clemens hearings this morning and it is clear that the Democrats in congress are looking to get him in trouble, probably because he is a successful white athlete. The congressmen appeared to be divided on party lines. I don't know what this has to do with partisan politics but you can count on the Democrats to pull crap like this whenever they can.

Congress Dan Burton (R-Indiana) made an excellent cross-examination of that Brian McNamee character and showed how he had lied to investigators and journalists on several occasions.

I don't have any way of knowing if Clemens or McNamee are telling the truth, but I certainy hope that Roger is and that he is cleared of the charges.

Separated at Birth?

Mark Steyn has a hilarious article about the race for the Republican nomination:

So, if Republicans went for McCain because he's the "national security sheriff," I think it's the sheriff part they like, rather than the national security. It's easy to see him moving down a dusty Main Street in a low crouch, hands ready to draw. Actually, now I do try to picture it, he's less like the sheriff and more like Yosemite Sam, and that doesn't usually work out as well.

John is now experiencing the problem of the chickens coming home to roost. He has been a maverick in the Republican party. So much so that he was Kerry's first choice for running mate in the 2004 campaign. He has opposed W and other Republicans many times, and gotten cozy with the likes of Teddy Kennedy on many issues, such as amnesty for illegal aliens.

I can certainly admire the fact that he is a maverick. But now John wants Republicans to unite behind him! He made a plea for 'party unity' during his recent speech at C-PAC.

Now that McCain is the presumptive nominee, he will have to deal with the phenomenon of other Republicans acting as mavericks. I doubt that there is much that he can say or do to try to convince them. Everyone has his record in the senate to go by. He is going to have to face the fact that many Republicans may decline to support him in the general election in November, or even......(gasp)....vote for Barack or Hillary.

Provocateur Hears From a Sinn Fein/IRA Sympathizer

With all the posts I have made about Northern Ireland, I'm surprised it took so long for a pro-terrorist to show up:

mayo rebel said...
They were fighting for old Ireland

to claim their very own

and the foremost of that gallant band

was Sean South from Garryowen

What we want in Ireland is what you Americans got in 1776, Independence from Britain.

Dear Mayo, there is a slight but crucial difference. Back in 1776, the majority of Americans wanted independence from Britain. But the majority of Irish in Northern Ireland do not want to leave Britain. The war that has raged in Northern Ireland since 1969 has not been a war of liberation. It has been a war waged by the marxist terrorists of Sinn Fein/IRA against the protestants, who are every bit as Irish as the catholics.

Even the people of the Republic of Ireland do not want Sinn Fein/IRA, as can be seen from their rejection of the terrorist party in the elections last year. And what is more, even though the IRA have accepted money and weapons from Americans, it is clear that they do not like America nor what it stands for. The IRA want a socialist dictatorship.

One of the purposes of this blog is to help expose the true nature of Sinn Fein/IRA. I have written about them several times in the past and will continue to do so as more information is available.

Hillary Claims to be the Savior of Ireland

Terrorist Allowed to Stay in the USA

Irish Terrorist/ Illegal Alien Seeks Sanctuary in the USA

Separated at Birth?

Terrorist Attacks Continue in Northern Ireland

Violence Continues in Northern Ireland

Way to Go, Kay!

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has done a magnificent job filing a court brief in support of our second amendment rights

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who might start run for Texas governor next year, has mustered support from a majority of Senate and House members to help persuade the Supreme Court to strike down the District of Columbia's gun laws.
Hutchison said Thursday she is filing a friend-of-the-court brief in a challenge to the laws. Fifty-five senators and 250 House members have signed the brief to be filed Thursday by her and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.
Hutchison has long opposed the district's ban on handguns and requirement that rifles and shotguns be registered, stored unloaded and either locked or disassembled. She has sponsored legislation several times to overturn the district's laws. Her 2004 bill passed the House, but not the Senate.
The district's law forced her to dismantle and return to Texas her .357 Magnum she brought with her when she moved from Austin.

What's wrong with Kay having a .357? Are the gun-grabbers afraid she might successfully defend herself against some hoodlum?

Which is Greater: The US National Debt or the World Gold Stock?

Back when Marc Hulbert wrote about my paper on the investment potential and inflation-hedging ability of precious metals, co-authored with John Zimmerman, in the New York Times, I received a number of emails criticizing the research. Many of the critics claimed that the recent increases in the price of gold constitute evidence that investors expect the US inflation rate to increase substantially in the future.

Predicting the future is somewhere between difficult and impossible. But I see strong evidence that investors do not expect an increase in the US inflation rate from the yields on nominal US Treasury securities. As of today, a ten year Treasury Note has a yield to maturity of 3.77%. If investors expect the inflation rate to accelerate any higher than that over the next ten years, they would want a higher interest rate.

So who is right: Gold investors or the Treasury security investors? It is likely there is significant overlap between the two groups. Perhaps we can get an idea of the relative importance of the two indicators by looking at the size of their respective markets.

According to Butterman and Amey (2005), available world gold stocks total approximately 122,000 metric tons. At 32,150.7 troy ounces per metric ton, that is about 3.9 billion troy ounces. Multiply that by the current $903 spot price of gold bullion and you get a value for all the available gold in the world equal to somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.5 trillion.

To get the amount of US Treasury securities on the market, first look at this report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (see page 17) . Total US public debt is just over $9 trillion. Subtract from that the $3.958 trillion owned by the US federal government trust funds, such as the social security and medicare trust funds, and also subtract the $779 billion owned by the Federal Reserve Banks to get $4.269 trillion owned by private investors, both domestic and foreign.

Thus, we see that the net outstanding value of the US Treasury securities are somewhat greater than the world gold stock. Perhaps the investors who own these two types of assets are two mostly-separate groups with very different expectations about future US inflation. But I think a more likely explanation for the increases in gold prices over the last two years has little to do with inflation. The increases began in the fall of 2005, at the same time oil prices began to increase. This greatly increased incomes of the inhabitants of the middle east, many of who like to own gold. Likewise, the economy of India has been booming, and Indians have a strong affinity for gold jewelry.

We won't know until after the fact if inflation has increased. But I see little evidence that investors expect it to increase.

UN: Global Warming to Blame for Chinese Snowstorms!

There is no limit to the stupidity of the zealots who promote the global warming hoax. Now they are claiming that the severe recent snowstorms in China were caused by global warming!

GENEVA (Reuters) - China's devastating snowstorms and cold of the past months show that the world must prepare for new types of disasters caused by what was once called freak weather, United Nations experts said on Wednesday.
The experts said the Chinese events, which Beijing says affected some 100 million people and are likely to cost at least $7.5 billion, underlined the need for greater global cooperation on global weather forecasting.
"So-called freak weather is becoming more common, and reducing vulnerability to unexpected extremes must be a top priority for governments," said Salvador Briceno, head of the U.N's disaster relief agency ISDR.

And the pièce de résistance:

It is also warning that the country, now recovering as skies clear and power is restored from the freeze which killed scores of people, must be ready for more of the same as a result of global climate change.

You gotta love it!

Are These The Best We Can Get?

Am I the only Republican who feels that we are picking the wrong people? Or am I just in the wrong party?

There's no way I will vote for Huckabee, if he is the nominee. And I will have to talk myself into voting for McCain.

I voted for Romney in the Oklahoma primary today. Mit came in a distant third in my state. My first two choices were Thompson and then Giuliani. But they have both dropped out.

There is something VERY WRONG with our primary system.

Giants 17 Patties 14

Eli and Plaxico will receive all the praise, but the game was won by the Giant's defense. Holding the Patties to 14 points was an outstanding performance.