Pat Condell Thanks His Critics

Walter Williams, National Treasure

Sing it loud from the rooftops: Walter Williams rocks.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis warned, ‘The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.’ The freedom of individuals from compulsion or coercion never was, and is not now, the normal state of human affairs. The normal state for the ordinary person is tyranny, arbitrary control and abuse mainly by their own government. While imperfect in its execution, the founders of our nation sought to make an exception to this ugly part of mankind’s history. Unfortunately, at the urging of the American people, we are unwittingly in the process of returning to mankind’s normal state of affairs. Americans demand that Congress spend trillions of dollars on farm subsidies, business bailouts, education subsidies, Social Security, Medicare and prescription drugs and other elements of a welfare state. The problem is that Congress produces nothing. Whatever Congress wishes to give, it has to first take other people’s money. Thus, at the root of the welfare state is the immorality of intimidation, threats and coercion backed up with the threat of violence by the agents of the U.S. Congress. In order for Congress to do what some Americans deem as good, it must first do evil. It must do that which if done privately would mean a jail sentence; namely, take the property of one American to give to another… There is no question that if one were to ask whether we Americans are moving towards more liberty or more government control over our lives, the answer would unambiguously be the latter—more government control over our lives.

–Walter Williams

Don’t Blame Deregulation

Or, how cheap Chinese goods contributed to the credit meltdown – with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae pouring fuel on the fire.

When Newt is Good

He’s good.

Jerry Brown Strikes Again

Man am I ever tired of this guy. Now from his perch as Attorney General he has retitled Proposition 8 to be “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.” No bias there, huh. Granted, the original “California Marriage Protection Act” is also a tendentious name, but I thought the writers of the propositions got to pick the name. I’d like Brown to explain how this “eliminates” anything, or how one can “eliminate” something that doesn’t exist.

If his meddling works look for future tax relief propositions to be retitled “Kills Puppies and Crushes Kittens”.

Meanwhile, it’s just so annoying that yet again we have to vote on one of these thanks to some lame-brained judge who can’t read English.

ACLU: Blind Squirrel

Whatever the reason, the ACLU has landed on the right side of something for a change. Good on ’em.

Kilpatrick was driving her blue van in Pensacola on April 19, 2004, with the slogans “Remember the Children of Waco” and “Boo ATF” written on some of the windows when she was pulled over by police for questioning by the ATF.

Maybe we should all have “Boo ATF” tee shirts.

How Nutty Is This Election?

Now Anette Bening is the voice of reason.

Is Your Doctor For Real?

There are so many practitioners of “CAM” (Complimentary/Alternative Medicine) out there now that it really pays to know what kinds of questions to ask your doctor to make sure he’s not a quack. Just going to a hospital is no guarantee anymore, alas. There are actually nursing schools teaching “therapeutic touch” now. But how is the lay person to know all the scientific and medical details to evaluate a treatment? Fortunately the answer is that it’s not necessary. There are some red flags you can watch for, all of which are nicely explained in this article on Psychology and Alternative Medicine.

If the practitioner is ignorant of, or openly hostile to, mainstream science and cannot supply a reasonable scientific rationale for his methods, the would-be buyer should proceed with caution. If the “doctor’s” promotional patter is laced with allusions to spiritual forces or vital energies or to vague planes, vibrations, imbalances, and sensitivities, suspicions should also be aroused. Likewise, if the treatment provider claims secret ingredients or processes (especially if they are named after him- or herself), extols ancient wisdom and “other ways of knowing,” or claims to “treat the whole person, not diseases,” there is also good reason to question his or her legitimacy. If the therapist claims to be persecuted by the medical establishment, encourages political action on his or her behalf, and is prone to attack or even sue critics rather than answering their criticisms with valid research, alarm bells should begin to ring. Practitioners who sell their own supplements and other proprietary concoctions in their offices and stress the need for frequent return visits by healthy people, “in order to stay healthy,” are also a cause for concern. The presence of any pseudoscientific or conspiracy-laden literature in the waiting room ought to set a clear thinker looking for the nearest exit. And above all, if the promised results go well beyond those offered by conventional therapists, the probability is that one is dealing with a quack. In short, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

When people become sick, any promise of a cure is especially beguiling. As a result, common sense and the willingness to demand evidence are easily supplanted by false hope. In this vulnerable state, the need for critical appraisal of treatment options is all the more necessary, rather than less. Potential clients of alternative therapists would do well to heed the admonition of St. Paul: “Test all things; hold fast to what is good” (I Th. 5:12). Those who still think they can afford to take a chance on the hawkers of untested remedies should bear in mind Goethe’s wise advice: “Nothing is more dangerous than active ignorance.”

To all of his fine advice I’d add one thing: In my experience anything with the word wellness attached to it is at least 50% bantha poodoo.

Read the whole thing. Yes, it’s fairly long. How healthy did you want to be, again?

No Good Will Come Of This

Now we have CO2 auctions. The first one netted almost $40 million. Guess who gets the money.

What a neat trick! The government can create a pretend market in an imaginary problem, have “auctions” and act like it’s not a tax.

And no matter who gets the White House in January, they buy into this crap.

Ugh.

What Just Happened?

Senator McCain: The NRCC is handing you pearls. Use them.

Keeping Score

Charles Johnson has a brief summary of how the AP’s “fact checkers” did at the debate.

We’ve posted five articles now about serious mistakes and/or outright lies in Joe Biden’s performance last night—but if you read what the mainstream media have written about the debate, you won’t find a single one of these falsehoods. The media have almost unanimously declared the debate a win for Biden, and they’re ignoring his lies to focus on bashing Sarah Palin in article after article like this one from TIME magazine: Why Some Women Hate Sarah Palin.

Speaking of Creepy

Obama’s Cheerleaders.

But Don’t Question Their Patriotism

Democrats: Working hard to wreck the economy.

With, I’m sad to say, the passive assistance of feckless Republicans.

Best Analysis of the Night

The award goes to Mark Hemingway.

Hands down the worst answer of the night (and maybe of the eleventy billion debates so far this campaign) was Biden’s answer on Afghanistan. Let me try and unpack it: “Well, the commanding general in Afghanistan says a surge won’t work, but the general above him, Petraeus at Centcom, says it will. But Obama’s called for a surge in Afghanistan and we need that, but I’ve never supported McCain’s military strategy which is, by the way, the surge. Oh look, here’s a picture of a cat with a piece of bacon taped to it.”

Truth in Legislation

Glen Reynolds is right.

I think that the Congress should adopt a single-subject rule for bills, as some states have. There’s a proposal for a federal Constitutional amendment on that, called the “Truth in Legislation Amendment.” I think it’s a good idea.

If I could write the rules, every piece of legislation before Congress would be required to

1. be about only one subject
2. include a preamble stating exactly which clause of the constitution authorizes Congress to pass it
3. be posted on the internet it its final form for at least 24 hours before the vote
4. include the signature of each voting member swearing under penalty of perjury that he or she has personally read the legislation in its entirety. No signature, no vote.

Oh, and no voice votes. Everybody goes on the record or they don’t vote. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

I’m trying to find more on that proposed amendment. So far I only have the name of Brannon Denning, the guy who wrote it. If you know more, please leave something in a comment.

Republicans In Search of a Backbone

I’m with Andy McCarthy – and his emailer – on this.

Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Waters and the entire Black Caucus defend the running of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and prevent the very reforms which might have avoided the mess we are in today.  Yet the MSM and Republicans are silent.  Why aren’t these guys investigated, forced to step down and prosecuted as was Tom Delay??  Again silence from the White House, McCain and other Republicans.

Feel the anger.

How Strange Is This Election?

Classical scholars are doing parody.

Click for the Angels

Instead of linking directly, I’ll let the Mudville Gazette give you the lowdown.

I’m Voting Democrat

Because…

The Greenlining Institute

Zombie kicks over a rock in Berkeley and finds more thugs.

Welcome To Saudi Britain

I wasn’t going to link to this, but now that YouTube has deleted it for “terms of use” violations, I want everybody to see it.

Update:

I’m adding his name, Pat Condell, to make it easier to find via search engines. Pat Condell on Saudi Britain. Oh, and I’ll add the term “Islamic Porn” because my post of that name gets found pretty much every day by someone doing a web search for it. I’m sure it’s all for research.

What’s for Dinner?

Harriet Hall has a nice post up about Michael Pollan’s book. He’s the “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” guy.

We have been bamboozled by “nutritionism” – the idea that food can be reduced to a mixture of identifiable nutrients, that we can’t be trusted to eat right without scientific help, that we should choose foods to make us healthy rather than to provide pleasure (which fits right into the time-honored guilt trip that anything that feels good must be bad).

I really like her version of the rule:

Eat a variety of foods. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Do Not Fear the Change

The usa.gov web site needs a redesign.

Do not fear these changes! Like other similar socialist leaders and thinkers before him—Marx, Lenin, De Leon, Debs, Trotsky, Chavez, and others—Obama seeks to destroy only the most successful among us. You, as a member of the honorable and patriotic middle-class, will only benefit from these changes so that all Americans can enter the middle-class and all equally receive entitlement from our benevolent Socialist government.

I am shocked.

Shocked! To learn that a Chicago machine politician may be violating campaign finance laws.

Unlike the McCain campaign, which has made its complete donor database available online, the Obama campaign has not identified donors for nearly half the amount he has raised, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).

Federal law does not require the campaigns to identify donors who give less than $200 during the election cycle. However, it does require that campaigns calculate running totals for each donor and report them once they go beyond the $200 mark.

Surprisingly, the great majority of Obama donors never break the $200 threshold.

The right way to do campaign finance reform is not the idiotic, unconstitutional way McCain/Feingold did it, but with total transparency. You really only need two rules: 1) You must be a citizen to donate. 2) All donations, of any size, must be publicly recorded on a web site within 48 hours. Putting limits on donations is wrong, and only invites this kind of slimy behavior anyway.

Update:

At least his Muslim supporters aren’t violating any tax laws.