John Jay and slavery
Putting the Squeeze on Iran
"Issues" or "Reparations"?
What If Iraq Works?
Decline Seen in Numbers of People Here Illegally
Al-Qaeda leaving Iraq for Afghanistan: report
Eight reasons even the innocent shouldn't talk to the police
Provoking War
Sinatra: His Second Act
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
We Must Strike First
"Ahmadinejad said: ‘They [ask]: ‘Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?’ But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved.'" (October 28, 2005)
"U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S."
"Iran Heads Toward Nuclear `Breakthrough,' Israel Says (Update2)"
While Senator Obama is busy gratifying the desire of Native and African-American journalists to view themselves as victims and raising the possibility of awarding reparations for sins against their ancestors, we hear news of Iran performing tests of what can best be explained as a method of launching nuclear missiles from ships and exploding them over the United States.
Dr. William Graham was the White House science adviser under President Ronald Reagan and presently chairs the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, a panel established by Congress in 2001.
Dr. Graham had this to say in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee: “The only plausible explanation [for these tests] we can find is that the Iranians are figuring out how to launch a missile from a ship and get it up to altitude and then detonate it,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you would do if you had a nuclear weapon on a Scud or a Shahab-3 or other missile, and you wanted to explode it over the United States.”
Last April, the commission issued a report on the kind of devastation that such an attack would inflict on the United States: "If even a crude nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere between 40 kilometers to 400 kilometers above the earth, in a split-second it would generate an electro-magnetic pulse [EMP] that would cripple military and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure."
Let us connect a few dots together.
1. The President of Iran has publicly stated on more than one occasion that he thinks the world would be a better place if the United States ceased to exist (at least as a power that could oppose Iran and its aspirations for world domination.)
2. Iran has a nuclear program that it insists on pursuing in spite of any opposition and is probably not far from possessing a nuclear weapon.
3. Iran appears to be perfecting its ability to launch such a weapon from a ship and explode it above the United States.
If someone were to publicly state that the world would be a better place if I didn't exist and then proceeded to devise a means by which to make his wish come true, it would be foolish of me to sit around and wait until he carried out his plan.
It is extremely important that the United States determine for itself if these things are true and if they are, we need to make sure that Iran is not able to carry out its plans for our destruction. I am confident that a President Bush or President McCain will act in our best interest if this should become necessary. I am not as confident in a President Obama, who thinks that it is wise to negotiate with those who wish that we would no longer exist.
"U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S."
"Iran Heads Toward Nuclear `Breakthrough,' Israel Says (Update2)"
While Senator Obama is busy gratifying the desire of Native and African-American journalists to view themselves as victims and raising the possibility of awarding reparations for sins against their ancestors, we hear news of Iran performing tests of what can best be explained as a method of launching nuclear missiles from ships and exploding them over the United States.
Dr. William Graham was the White House science adviser under President Ronald Reagan and presently chairs the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, a panel established by Congress in 2001.
Dr. Graham had this to say in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee: “The only plausible explanation [for these tests] we can find is that the Iranians are figuring out how to launch a missile from a ship and get it up to altitude and then detonate it,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you would do if you had a nuclear weapon on a Scud or a Shahab-3 or other missile, and you wanted to explode it over the United States.”
Last April, the commission issued a report on the kind of devastation that such an attack would inflict on the United States: "If even a crude nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere between 40 kilometers to 400 kilometers above the earth, in a split-second it would generate an electro-magnetic pulse [EMP] that would cripple military and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure."
Let us connect a few dots together.
1. The President of Iran has publicly stated on more than one occasion that he thinks the world would be a better place if the United States ceased to exist (at least as a power that could oppose Iran and its aspirations for world domination.)
2. Iran has a nuclear program that it insists on pursuing in spite of any opposition and is probably not far from possessing a nuclear weapon.
3. Iran appears to be perfecting its ability to launch such a weapon from a ship and explode it above the United States.
If someone were to publicly state that the world would be a better place if I didn't exist and then proceeded to devise a means by which to make his wish come true, it would be foolish of me to sit around and wait until he carried out his plan.
It is extremely important that the United States determine for itself if these things are true and if they are, we need to make sure that Iran is not able to carry out its plans for our destruction. I am confident that a President Bush or President McCain will act in our best interest if this should become necessary. I am not as confident in a President Obama, who thinks that it is wise to negotiate with those who wish that we would no longer exist.
Headlines: July 30, 2008
Restaurant Chains Close as Diners Reduce Spending
Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Apart
Obama's Devastating 2006 Antiwar Performance-- Now on YouTube
Obama notes ‘tragic’ US past
House formally apologizes for slavery and Jim Crow
Audit says Dallas Housing Authority subsidized deceased clients
John Bolton: One world? Obama is on another planet
Einstein on bees
Zimbabwe devalues currency; 10B becomes 1 dollar
Bridge to nowhere video
Citizens against government waste pig book
U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S.
Fort Worth 2-year-old critically injured after TV falls from dresser
An AIDS Victory Up Close
Fix this medical ethics glitch
“After her oncologist prescribed a cancer drug that would cost $4,000 a month, the newspaper reported, ‘Wagner was notified that the Oregon Health Plan wouldn't cover the treatment, but that it would cover palliative, or comfort, care, including, if she chose, doctor-assisted suicide.’”
Booms, Busts, and "Krugpot" Economics
Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Apart
Obama's Devastating 2006 Antiwar Performance-- Now on YouTube
Obama notes ‘tragic’ US past
House formally apologizes for slavery and Jim Crow
Audit says Dallas Housing Authority subsidized deceased clients
John Bolton: One world? Obama is on another planet
Einstein on bees
Zimbabwe devalues currency; 10B becomes 1 dollar
Bridge to nowhere video
Citizens against government waste pig book
U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S.
Fort Worth 2-year-old critically injured after TV falls from dresser
An AIDS Victory Up Close
Fix this medical ethics glitch
“After her oncologist prescribed a cancer drug that would cost $4,000 a month, the newspaper reported, ‘Wagner was notified that the Oregon Health Plan wouldn't cover the treatment, but that it would cover palliative, or comfort, care, including, if she chose, doctor-assisted suicide.’”
Booms, Busts, and "Krugpot" Economics
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
An Evil Bailout
"Housing Bill Hammers Taxpayers"
"About the Next Crisis"
Is it right for the federal government to make it easier for people of low income to buy their own homes?
If left to itself, no one in their right mind would loan someone with a low income enough money to buy a house, at least not at a low rate of interest. The reason for this is obvious: there is a strong likelihood that a person with a low income will not be able to repay the loan.
That, unfortunately, is where the federal government comes in. After deciding that it would be a good idea to help people with low incomes buy their own homes, the federal government made sure that loans would be available at low rates of interest to such people. I am not sure exactly how this works, but presumably it involves the federal government paying part of the interest for the buyer (as in the case of student loans) as well as promising to repay the creditor if the borrower should default.
Lately the federal government has promised to do the latter of these in the case of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in order to make sure that investors do not withdraw their capital from these corporations. This is the last step in a series of irresponsible actions.
In the first place, people bought houses they could not afford. Then, Fannie bought these risky mortgages and investors bought stock in this risky corporation. When the people defaulted on their mortgages and investors were in danger of losing the money the invested, the federal government stepped in (with our money) to pay for any unpaid loans.
This is the most obvious way in which the federal government is taking money from those of us who live responsibly and giving it to those who are living irresponsibly. I am convinced that a society that rewards those who are irresponsible and punishes those who live responsibly cannot long survive.
The very existence of this program, however, even without a bailout, is unjust. Whenever the federal government gives people money to buy things they could not otherwise afford, it drives up the price on those items for the rest of us. This is true in the case of secondary education and medical care and it is also presumably the case in the housing market as well.
I wish the federal government would just get out of the business of helping people buy their houses. Let them work, make sacrifices for their children, teach their children to live responsibly, and they or their children or their children's children will eventually own their own home. In this way they will have earned it and not received the rewards of virtue without the exercise of virtue--and without receiving by the hand of government what rightfully belongs to someone else.
(See Hans F. Sennholz’s “Why is Medical Care so Expensive?” for a discussion of how the federal government drives up the cost of medical care.)
"About the Next Crisis"
Is it right for the federal government to make it easier for people of low income to buy their own homes?
If left to itself, no one in their right mind would loan someone with a low income enough money to buy a house, at least not at a low rate of interest. The reason for this is obvious: there is a strong likelihood that a person with a low income will not be able to repay the loan.
That, unfortunately, is where the federal government comes in. After deciding that it would be a good idea to help people with low incomes buy their own homes, the federal government made sure that loans would be available at low rates of interest to such people. I am not sure exactly how this works, but presumably it involves the federal government paying part of the interest for the buyer (as in the case of student loans) as well as promising to repay the creditor if the borrower should default.
Lately the federal government has promised to do the latter of these in the case of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in order to make sure that investors do not withdraw their capital from these corporations. This is the last step in a series of irresponsible actions.
In the first place, people bought houses they could not afford. Then, Fannie bought these risky mortgages and investors bought stock in this risky corporation. When the people defaulted on their mortgages and investors were in danger of losing the money the invested, the federal government stepped in (with our money) to pay for any unpaid loans.
This is the most obvious way in which the federal government is taking money from those of us who live responsibly and giving it to those who are living irresponsibly. I am convinced that a society that rewards those who are irresponsible and punishes those who live responsibly cannot long survive.
The very existence of this program, however, even without a bailout, is unjust. Whenever the federal government gives people money to buy things they could not otherwise afford, it drives up the price on those items for the rest of us. This is true in the case of secondary education and medical care and it is also presumably the case in the housing market as well.
I wish the federal government would just get out of the business of helping people buy their houses. Let them work, make sacrifices for their children, teach their children to live responsibly, and they or their children or their children's children will eventually own their own home. In this way they will have earned it and not received the rewards of virtue without the exercise of virtue--and without receiving by the hand of government what rightfully belongs to someone else.
(See Hans F. Sennholz’s “Why is Medical Care so Expensive?” for a discussion of how the federal government drives up the cost of medical care.)
Headlines: July 29, 2008
Bush to leave a record budget deficit of $482 billion
A Democratic Deficit
Dems Moving To Fund UN Agency That Aids China’s One-Child Policy
Registered Sex Ofenders Are Beneficiaries of Medicare Fraud
“Registered sex offenders and deceased doctors are among the beneficiaries of more than $60 billion in fraudulent Medicare claims paid by the U.S. government each year, according to experts.”
Billions in Payroll Tax Remain Unpaid to IRS
How much does Iraq war cost per month? $10.3 Billion
Muslims storm Protestant school in Jakarta, injuring 265 students
Obamanomics Is a Recipe for Recession
About the Next Crisis
“At issue here are what HUD calls its "affordable housing goals and subgoals" for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”
Texas likely to appeal bilingual education ruling
Reparations for Al Qaeda
Batman Bush true dark knight
Math Is Harder for Girls
Spengler: Why do nations exist?
Kansan sticks it to election system
"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"
Africans tell Bono: "Stop Sending Aid"
Can Foreign Aid Save Africa?, by US Rep. Ron Paul
A Democratic Deficit
Dems Moving To Fund UN Agency That Aids China’s One-Child Policy
Registered Sex Ofenders Are Beneficiaries of Medicare Fraud
“Registered sex offenders and deceased doctors are among the beneficiaries of more than $60 billion in fraudulent Medicare claims paid by the U.S. government each year, according to experts.”
Billions in Payroll Tax Remain Unpaid to IRS
How much does Iraq war cost per month? $10.3 Billion
Muslims storm Protestant school in Jakarta, injuring 265 students
Obamanomics Is a Recipe for Recession
About the Next Crisis
“At issue here are what HUD calls its "affordable housing goals and subgoals" for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”
Texas likely to appeal bilingual education ruling
Reparations for Al Qaeda
Batman Bush true dark knight
Math Is Harder for Girls
Spengler: Why do nations exist?
Kansan sticks it to election system
"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"
Africans tell Bono: "Stop Sending Aid"
Can Foreign Aid Save Africa?, by US Rep. Ron Paul
Monday, July 28, 2008
Headlines: July 27, 2008
Gunman Kills 2, Injures 7 In Tennessee Church
Baghdad suicide bombers kill 28
Death toll in Istanbul bombings rises to 17
Terrorist Attacks Unsettling India
Police Investigate Sixth Random Shooting
3 Female Suicide Bombers Strike Iraqi Pilgrims
Fuel Subsidies Overseas Take a Toll on U.S.
Trey Garrison: Why I don't want diversity in my neighborhood
Six killed in strike in South Waziristan
Feds arrest 58 undocumented workers in raids on 8 eateries
Al-Qaeda weapons expert believed killed in Pakistan
U.S. spends $1 Million Researching Syrians ‘Hooked on Hookahs’
Funds for Highways Plummet As Drivers Cut Gasoline Use
29 dead, 100 wounded in India serial blasts
The Greatest Scandal: The profound failure of inner-city public schools to teach children may be the nation's greatest scandal
Global Warming: The Debate Continues
Serial Rape Suspect's Trail Of Clues Leads to Violent End.
Strategies For Sustained Growth And Inclusive Development
The Growth Report: China’s Development Roadmap
More ice than expected in parts of the Arctic
“New data from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute shows that there is more ice than normal in the Arctic waters north of the Svalbard archipelago.”
ANWR Drilling Would Provide Quick Relief
Baghdad suicide bombers kill 28
Death toll in Istanbul bombings rises to 17
Terrorist Attacks Unsettling India
Police Investigate Sixth Random Shooting
3 Female Suicide Bombers Strike Iraqi Pilgrims
Fuel Subsidies Overseas Take a Toll on U.S.
Trey Garrison: Why I don't want diversity in my neighborhood
Six killed in strike in South Waziristan
Feds arrest 58 undocumented workers in raids on 8 eateries
Al-Qaeda weapons expert believed killed in Pakistan
U.S. spends $1 Million Researching Syrians ‘Hooked on Hookahs’
Funds for Highways Plummet As Drivers Cut Gasoline Use
29 dead, 100 wounded in India serial blasts
The Greatest Scandal: The profound failure of inner-city public schools to teach children may be the nation's greatest scandal
Global Warming: The Debate Continues
Serial Rape Suspect's Trail Of Clues Leads to Violent End.
Strategies For Sustained Growth And Inclusive Development
The Growth Report: China’s Development Roadmap
More ice than expected in parts of the Arctic
“New data from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute shows that there is more ice than normal in the Arctic waters north of the Svalbard archipelago.”
ANWR Drilling Would Provide Quick Relief
Sunday, July 27, 2008
AIDS Relief in Africa
"Senate agrees to triple anti-AIDS funding"
"The 80-16 vote committed the United States to spending up to $48 billion over the next five years for the most ambitious foreign public health program ever launched by the United States."
Is it right for the US to spend this much money to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa?
At the time of this writing, the US is $9,540,161,111,017.02 in debt. In addition, USA Today recently estimated that “taxpayers are on the hook for a record $57.3 trillion in federal liabilities to cover the lifetime benefits of everyone eligible for Medicare, Social Security and other government programs.” When state and local liabilities are added, the figure becomes $61.7 trillion.
There are many problems in this world that I and my family could address if we had sufficient means. As it is, we do what we can while staying within our means. We are certainly not morally obligated to help more than we are able and beyond a certain point we would become morally culpable for spending money that we do not have, even if we spent it on a worthy cause.
Considering the size of the debt of the US government and its already existing financial obligations, I do not think it is moral for the US to provide this assistance. We are simply spending money that we do not have and we will go deeper into debt if we do it.
Yes, there is a need in Africa and individual Americans would do well to give money to relieve the suffering of those who are in need. It is not, however, something that the US government is presently in a position to do.
"The 80-16 vote committed the United States to spending up to $48 billion over the next five years for the most ambitious foreign public health program ever launched by the United States."
Is it right for the US to spend this much money to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa?
At the time of this writing, the US is $9,540,161,111,017.02 in debt. In addition, USA Today recently estimated that “taxpayers are on the hook for a record $57.3 trillion in federal liabilities to cover the lifetime benefits of everyone eligible for Medicare, Social Security and other government programs.” When state and local liabilities are added, the figure becomes $61.7 trillion.
There are many problems in this world that I and my family could address if we had sufficient means. As it is, we do what we can while staying within our means. We are certainly not morally obligated to help more than we are able and beyond a certain point we would become morally culpable for spending money that we do not have, even if we spent it on a worthy cause.
Considering the size of the debt of the US government and its already existing financial obligations, I do not think it is moral for the US to provide this assistance. We are simply spending money that we do not have and we will go deeper into debt if we do it.
Yes, there is a need in Africa and individual Americans would do well to give money to relieve the suffering of those who are in need. It is not, however, something that the US government is presently in a position to do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
