Let it not be said America is a nation of sheep. This man is a wolf.

I sympathize with the BP agent who appeals to the driver at 13:00, but his reasoning is a complete catch-22: Anyone who surrenders their rights and subjects themselves to a search is non-suspicious. Anyone to refuses to surrender their rights is suspicious and must be searched.

Caption: “Scientists from the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a ‘home computer’ could look like in the year 2004. However the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use.”

April, 2008

“The FBI is pressuring states to become more secretive and limit even routine oversight of the bureau’s data-sharing arrangements with local police, a new document shows. . . . The memorandum, obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and released on Friday, says that any ‘disclosure’ to Congress of information shared with the Fusion Center can happen only ‘after consultation with the FBI.’ . . .

It also says that requests from media organizations even for non-classified material made under Virginia’s open government laws will be referred to the FBI and then strongly opposed.

It also indicates that the FBI is responsible for a Virginia state bill called HB1007 — introduced two days after the FBI signed the memorandum on January 6 — that would exempt the Fusion Center from open government laws.” (Read more from news.cnet.com)

Hoover was not a free marketer. Hoover’s massive intervention sowed the seeds of the Great Depression. FDR’s New Deal did not rescue us from depressions, it prolonged it.

Fast forward to 24:00 for a discussion of the myth that WWII ended the Great Depression.

Some of his statements seem obliquely inaccurate or highly unlikely to me. Nevertheless, this is an interesting talk. Judge for yourself:

“[I will] smash the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter them to the wind.” ~ John F. Kennedy

Protesters / Liberty Lovers:
STOP TAKING OUR MONEY!!! WE WANT FREEDOM!!!

FOX:
They said stop taking their money.* (*for anything except war, empire, bank bailouts, domestic spying, homeland security, welfare, UN, IMF, World Bank, Israel’s occupation, the Federal Reserve . . .)

ABCNNBCBS:
They hate black people, those racist, tea-bagging, wacko red-necks!!!

See Also: Protesters confront bias CNN reporter.

See Also: The so-called Right’s hypocrisy.

Ron Paul: “Some may notice that the neo-conservatives who masterminded the policy of global interventions are not complaining about the level of military and foreign spending. This is because rather than drawing down our costly interventions, Obama is largely staying the course on these issues. In fact, this week a group of leading neoconservatives met to discuss how best to support the President on foreign policy! I am disappointed and concerned that, in spite of a change in leadership, we will remain the policeman of the world, placing ourselves at grave danger in many ways.”

(Read more from campaignforliberty.com)

See Also: Caller to C-SPAN: Why Do You Keep Bringing These Neocons On?

“President Obama’s White House has tightened the cloak of government secrecy still further, saying in a letter this week that a discussion draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and related materials are ‘classified in the interest of national security pursuant to Executive Order 12958.’

Excuse me? A copyright agreement is a matter of ‘national security’? By what possible stretch of the imagination can only 10 pages of the 806-page treaty be free for citizens to read? Will the Defense Department be prosecuting copyright cases now?” (Read more from wendymcelroy.com)

Yes we can!

By Eric-Charles Banfield • February 1995

“Back when first cutting my teeth on the concepts of free-market economics, I was impressed by the argument that business firms have to satisfy their customers to survive. Firms have strong, natural disincentives against performing poorly or acting immorally because they would risk losing customers and going out of business. For some time thereafter, I defended ‘business’ on those grounds. Business is not an evil, I argued; indeed, businesses are almost ‘slaves’ to the shifting and elusive passions of the sovereign consumer.

But over the years, I found myself forced to refine my views regarding business firms. Three lessons stand out. First, being ‘pro-business’ is not the same as being ‘free-market.’ Second, regulation, which presumably works ‘against’ business, goes hand-in-hand with special privileges and artificial protections ‘for’ business. Third, the phenomenon of active and routine collusion between business and government made the business world seem less than the pure and benevolent social agent I once perceived. In short, I began to recognize that the concept of ‘the corporate welfare state’ goes a long way to describe some of the problems we observe in the complex nexus between the market sector and the government sector. All too often, businesses lobby government for special privileges they would not have in a true, free market.” (Read more from thefreemanonline.org)

The worst thing that might come from this crises is a loss of faith in free markets because of business-government collusion.

Occasionally, an AdSense advertisement (see sidebar) shows up which is completely contrary to this website. I’m banning them, one by one. That’s where I found letsactnow.org.

I’ll admit, they are acting rationally for people who believe the end of the world is nigh, but the shrill cries against hamburgers terrify me. Bad science always results in bad public policy, and good science usually results in bad public policy.

From their website:

Although upgrading appliances at home, installing solar panels on the roof, and switching to a hybrid car will surely reduce our contribution to global warming, not all of us are able to do that right away. So, what can we do? Wait for politicians to pass laws to save the planet? Hope that someone else will take care of the problem? Isn’t there something we can all do now to make a BIG difference?

“YES WE CAN! ACT NOW. TODAY”

Which do you think is more responsible for global warming: a gas-guzzling SUV, or a hamburger?

Surprise! It’s the burger! Hard to believe? A United Nations report demonstrated that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars, trucks, SUVs, trains, planes and ships in the world combined. How much more? An impressive 40% more.

Hmmm. “Wait for politicians to pass laws to save the planet?” Between the appeal to government as the solver of problems, and their fear of hamburgers, I would expect complete fascism should these people ever gain power.

Pollution is best handled as a tort.

Here’s their sensationalist video:

“Your diet has a direct effect on the environment, on wildlife, on people, on water, on the weather, and on the overall health of planet Earth . . . and every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten.”

“Increased use of ethanol was responsible for about 10 to 15 percent of the rise in food prices from 2007 to 2008, but reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by less than 1 percent, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released this week.” (Read more from thehill.com)

Made possible by global warming hysteria?

The following is excerpted from mises.org:

Lincoln Memorial – Erected during the Progressive Era, the idea here is to entrench the perception that the consolidated state is irreversible, not only in fact but also as a matter of faith. Note that this is the “temple of democracy,” but the man is featured with his hands on the fasces.

The Vietnam Memorial – It is a rare case of a monument that isn’t designed to extol the glories of the state. Quite the opposite in fact.

Federal Trade Commission Statues – Hear a private talk about the true story behind the remarkable statues of “Man Controlling Trade.” The horse, you see, represents trade. And who trades? Well, we trade. That’s what the whole of society does, every day. Trade means that people cooperate to their mutual benefit. But look what happens. Some guy comes along and wrecks everything, stagnating progress and bullying us into not trading with each other. And this is supposed to be a great thing? From the government’s point of view, yes. Note that this statue went up in 1942, when prices were fixed, rationing was in effect, and people were being drafted as fodder for the state’s war.

Ronald Reagan Building – Everyone thinks that Ronald Reagan cut the state’s size. He is known as a champion of minimal government. But, of course, they know otherwise in the Beltway. He zoomed up the welfare and warfare state as never before, bringing boom times to the state, and it was especially impressive that he did it even while claiming to do otherwise � and being denounced for doing otherwise. In this building, we have truth telling. It is the most gargantuan monstrosity to ever visit the vast real estate of the Imperial City.

Random Congressional Subcommittee Meeting – Visitors have been known to experience severe bouts of boredom.

HUD and The Department of Labor – We visit the massive buildings that � unlike Congress, the capitol, and official seat of the government � house the institutions that are running the country on a daily basis.

Palaces of the World Bank and IMF – We visit the several palaces of the World Bank and IMF. We discuss the details of the employees’ very high and completely untaxed salaries.

Iwo Jima Memorial – Some are under the illusion that this memorial praising the United States’ offensive invasion force was a memorial for those defending the country. Fortunately the memorial brilliantly lists practically every country the US military has ever invaded, etched around the sides.

The Receptions – What never fails to make the biggest impression are the receptions. The lavish receptions are elaborate, decadent, and � most important �free to anyone with an attitude. One need never pay for a meal, and free scotch and shrimp are promptly available at 3:30 to anyone who knows where to go. This just doesn’t happen in the real world. For these events, tour members are encouraged to wear a jacket or suit and to exude the air of entitlement of a mid-level bureaucrat, party apparatchik, lobbyist, media member, think tank resident, or congressional staffer.

This brief lecture by the Mises Institute’s director of editorial affairs offers a fantastic glimpse at the long struggle for truth by economists of the Austrian School.