You can purchase and download it as either an MPEG-4 or a Virtual DVD which you can burn on your own computer.
9 March, 2008
Klaus Nails It
Vaclav Klaus’ speeck on climate alarmism vs. freedom is a must read. This is a man who remembers clearly what it was like to live under communism, and recognizes the same “fatal conceit” in the environmental alarmists’ zeal for control. One key point that he makes bears repeating: “from the very beginning, the IPCC has been a political rather than a scientific undertaking”.
It’s not about climate, it’s about freedom.
Too bad he can’t run for president here.
8 March, 2008
1957’s Most Notable Crop
The Swiss didn’t do it on the scale of the Italians, but they did it well.
7 March, 2008
It’s Not Easy Being Green
Prop 98 Lives
Continuing the tiny signs of hope in California is this decision.
Sacramento, CA – Today, proponents of Proposition 98 announced a major court victory for California property owners. The Honorable Timothy Frawley of the Superior Court of California rejected a lawsuit by a coalition of politicians and developers against the State of California contending that Proposition 98’s ballot title and summary is misleading. The court ruled with the State that the “chief” purpose of Prop. 98 is to reform eminent domain abuse and other related procedural and compensation reforms that protect property owners.
“The court rejected the attempt by opponents of Proposition 98 to characterize the initiative as merely a ‘rent control’ measure. Finding their claims to be ‘without merit,’ the court went on to hold that the ‘chief’ purpose of this measure is to constrain government’s authority to take property by eminent domain. It naturally follows that much of the statement of the measure’s purpose should relate to eminent domain,” said Prop. 98 legal counsel Thomas W. Hiltachk.
“The judge also rejected the attempt by opponents to include a false claim that Proposition 98 would have ‘far reaching’ impacts on land use regulations, finding their arguments to be unpersuasive,” said Hiltachk. “Interestingly, opponents of Proposition 98 did not attempt to assert the prior false claims they have made publicly regarding water storage and conveyance projects.”
So there’s be something to vote for in June.
June? You mean we have to vote three times this year?
Don’t Call It Insurance
Charlie Martin is exactly right, and lays it out in clear language. Health Insurance ain’t health insurance.
It’s exactly the same situation as if we charge a 25-year-old the same amount for a year’s term life insurance as we charge his 75-year-old grandfather: it may make the insurance more affordable for Granddad, but it does so by overcharging young Elmo. Add in the “mandate,” so Elmo can’t opt out, and we have a universal care plan that forces Elmo to pay for services he doesn’t get so that Granddad can pay less for the services he gets. But it’s “voluntary” — you get to pick your insurance plan to some extent — and it’s not “tax-supported” because you are just paying the insurance company directly.
And Megan McArdle points out why it’s wrong to force people to pay for something to “protect them from themselves“.
We force everyone to pay into fire departments because fires have very bad negative externalities: if your house catches on fire, unless you live on a rural farm, there’s a good chance that your neighbor’s house will burn down too. Fire prevention is a genuine public good; most health care, with the exception of things meant to stop the spread of infectious disease, simply isn’t.
(A commenter at her site points out that even forcing payments to fire departments isn’t historically necessary.)
Home Schooling NOT Imperilled in California
An important correction via the Ace of Spades:
The short version: The LA Times got it wrong in the first sentence of their article. Parents without teaching credentials can still educate their children at home under the various exemptions to mandatory public school enrollment provided in § 48220 et seq. of the Cal. Ed. Code. The parents in this case lost because they claimed that the students were enrolled in a charter school and that with minimal supervision from the school, the children were free to skip classes so the mother could teach them at home. There is no basis in law for that argument. If only the parents had attempted to homeschool their kids in one of the statutorily prescribed methods, they would have prevailed.
So the California Despair-O-Meter drops back down to a mere 7. And we all get a slap on the wrist for trusting the LA Times.
6 March, 2008
Nanny in Jackboots
California continues its slide into abject totalitarianism with this state appelate court ruling that home schoolers must have teaching credentials.
What a crock.
Beyond Creepy
Is this a presidential campaign, or are a lot of airheads going to be lining up for Kool Aid soon?
This is just the sort of thing that will have you shaking your head in despair at how much some folks can resemble sheep.
Or maybe it’s really an Onion parody. So hard to tell anymore…
Update:
Someone made a video antidote to what Goldfarb calls “L. Ron Obama“.
Beyond Parody
The Nanny State would be hilariously funny if it weren’t so dangerous. Suppose you’re an air-headed elite city councilman in Chicago, and you’re understandably concerned about the illegal drug problem. Do you advocate stiffer sentencing for dealers? Minimize welfare so it stops creating fatherless households? Hire more cops?
Don’t be silly. You’d ban little baggies. Because dealers would never figure out they could use regular sized ones at a near zero marginal cost.
5 March, 2008
Out of the Blue
A fascinating article on Blue Brain, a computer which is successfully modeling a tiny bit of brain – the neocortical column in the somatosensory cortex of a two-week-old rat.
Speaking Truth to Power
Michelle Obama says Americans are “downright mean“.
Well. Buttle’s World fearlessly meets the rhetorical challenge:
Michelle Obama has cooties.
So there.
Why Chavez fears Bolivian Victory
Austin Bay analyzes why Chavez supports the narco-marxist FARC.
Perhaps tellingly, captured FARC laptops reveal who they want as U.S. President. (Link includes a photo of FARC leader Raul Reyes at room temperature. He looks pretty messed up. A summary, for those who want to avoid the photo, is on LGF.)
When Bad Religion Loses
Everybody wins.
“I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over us,” said Sara, a high school student in Basra. “Most of the girls in my high school hate that Islamic people control the authority because they don’t deserve to be rulers.”
And just look at the word that slipped into a New York Times article:
For that reason, the American liberation tasted sweetest to the Shiites, who for the first time were able to worship freely. They soon became a potent political force, as religious political leaders appealed to their shared and painful past and their respect for the Shiite religious hierarchy.
That may be as big a sea change as Iraqi youth making jokes about Islamic clerics. Hard to beat this, though:
“I used to love Osama bin Laden,” proclaimed a 24-year-old Iraqi college student. She was referring to how she felt before the war took hold in her native Baghdad. The Sept. 11, 2001, strike at American supremacy was satisfying, and the deaths abstract.
Now, the student recites the familiar complaints: Her college has segregated the security checks; guards told her to stop wearing a revealing skirt; she covers her head for safety.
“Now I hate Islam,” she said, sitting in her family’s unadorned living room in central Baghdad. “Al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army are spreading hatred. People are being killed for nothing.”
Sgt. Murphy, meet Sgt. Allen
Men like Sgt. Allen are why we win battles.
He reminds me of a cop I met once. One glance at him and I thought, “If I ever call for help, I hope he’s the one who shows up.”
4 March, 2008
3 March, 2008
Hillary Covers the Bases
“In case this other endeavour doesn’t work out I can come back to Bob Evans.”
Who are the rubes this time?
More evidence of consistency from the Imperfect Vessel.
NB: I understand that a big ego is a prerequisite for national politics. But shouldn’t there be some sort of size limit on egos instead of spending limits?
1 March, 2008
If School Boards are Idiots
then teachers’ unions are just plain evil. Check out Drew Carey’s coverage of an education revolt in Watts.
There are signs of hope in the world.
Laugh Line OTD
“There was no immediate comment from the Obama campaign.”
Kudos to Brian Ross, et al, for even mentioning it. Could the MSM eventually scrutinize He Who Must Not Be Middle-Named?
29 February, 2008
This Just In
Senator Barak Hussein Obama is a politician.
It will be rather hard to distance himself from Goolsbee at this point. If Goolsbee spent time reassuring the Canadians sotto voce that Obama was merely demagoguing on NAFTA, then voters need to understand that the supposed “new politics” of Obama smells very similar to that of the same old lies and empty rhetoric we have heard from the Beltway for decades. And without that “new politics”, Obama is nothing more than an empty suit with a pleasant voice.
I think there’s another line of work where they say whatever people want to hear. Reagan alluded to it.
28 February, 2008
Obama’s Women
Michael Ledeen linked to this column about Obama, his wife, and his mother. You must read it. You will know more than anybody else at the office about Obama.
And what you learn will be scary.
Obama the Surrender Monkey
If you had just told me he said this I’d think it were a parody. But BlackFive links to the video.
If McCain doesn’t hammer the crap out of him on this I’ll know he’s not in it to win. This is just terrifying. Obama makes The Nasty Little Man look like Barry Goldwater. At least the peanut farmer didn’t try to give away the nukes.
Neither Gods Nor Goo
A good article on irrational fears of nanotechnology is up at Reason.
In the meantime, Leigh contents himself with miracles like making water droplets run uphill, thanks to tiny, twisting “motors” created by simple chemical reactions between a few atoms. Similarly, the Livingston-based company Memsstar is creating more efficient surfaces for industrial coatings and wafers by, for instance, finding ways to keep them dry with microscopic gyroscopes. Leigh recognizes that this is “complete sci-fi stuff,” but he suggests it’s a wonder we haven’t made more use of such processes before. “Nature uses molecular machines to do everything…every single biological process,” he says. “We used controlled molecular motion for nothing. Nature isn’t using it for nothing. When mankind learns to make molecular machines, it’s going to change everything.” He expects that revolution within a decade.
Why I’ll Vote for McCain
Our choice this fall will be between a bad president and a disaster. Here are the two points which decide it for me:
McCain will try to win the war. Barak wants to lose it.
There is a chance that McCain will appoint good judges to the Supreme Court. There is no chance that Obama will.
There you have it in a nutshell. It doesn’t matter that McCain will spend four years poking his finger in our eye. Frankly, he’s just a slightly farther Left version of George W. Bush. And while W has not been a very good president, at least he wants to win the war and appoints (pace Meyers) good judges.
Think about the long term implications.
