...It's time for Americans to moveoff their duffs and demand better government...^sm



Latest Analysis, Commentary and Opinion*
(The title of each article is linked to the complete article)

Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Global Carbon Footprint Scam
  GreeenIsm piece by Alan Caruba (11/21/09)

I never cease to marvel at the environmental alarmists who create one “crisis” after another using wretchedly bad “science” to support their scams. On Tuesday, November 24, the Global Footprint Network is going to “release new data on the Ecological Footprint of 100 nations and humanity as a whole, and the current ledgers are sobering.“

Friday, November 20, 2009

We Don’t Like to Stock That, It Sells Too Well
  Socialism piece by Guest: Michael R. Shannon (11/20/09)

I imagine the Postmaster General grinds his teeth when he thinks about how much easier his life would be, if he had a monopoly like the “public” schools. If customers were forced to buy the equivalent postage before they were allowed to ship FEDEX or UPS his competition worries would be over.

D.C. sued for blocking vote on marriage
  Police State piece by Offsite (11/20/09)

A lawsuit has been filed in Washington, D.C., challenging a decision by the city’s Board of Elections and Ethics not to allow citizens to vote on the definition of marriage, as had been proposed by an initiative.

‘Hacked e-mails reveal global-warming fraud?‘
  Global Warming piece by Offsite (11/20/09)

Top climate scientists discuss hiding contrary data, marginalizing dissenters - Officials at a key global warming research center in the United Kingdom have authenticated a series of e-mails and other documents apparently taken from their computer system by a hacker, but they cannot explain what scientists in internal exchanges meant by references to a “trick” that would “hide the decline” of global temperatures nor by instructions to delete contrary data.

Civilian Trials Provide Soapboxes for Terrorists
  Terrorism piece by J. D. Longstreet (11/20/09)

So now we are going to try the terrorists in civilian federal trials in New York City, just blocks away from the site of the former World Trade Center Twin Towers, where 3,000 innocents were murdered. Can you possible see how this move by the Obama Regime makes the US appear weak, indecisive, and just plain DUMB to our enemies?

Friday, October 30, 2009

From Hallow to Hollow, The Scariest of Figures
   Economics piece by FreeCongressFoundation: Marion Edwyn Harrison (10/30/09)

In Queen’s English All Hallows Eve, in American English Halloween, is almost upon us.  Hallow is the older English word for soul.  Thus, we have the Eve of All Hallows Day, Americanized and “modernized” into Halloween.  The noun hallow is only one letter off the noun hollow, which can mean empty or devoid of substance.  Are the stimulus spooks about to scare us upon this occasion?  Will future generations be snared as “the hollow men[?]” Read on.  The unprecedented spending of taxpayers’ money by the incumbent Administration and 111th Congress is sufficient to spook anybody.

Panel should not treat solar firms as utilities
   Energy piece by GoldwaterInstitute: Clint Bolick (10/30/09)

Many aspects of environmental and energy policy divide the authors of this column. But we join together to urge the Arizona Corporation Commission not to squelch an innovative approach to solar energy that benefits private and public entities alike.

Federal stimulus money makes state budget deficit worse
   Government piece by GoldwaterInstitute: Tom Patterson (10/30/09)

State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema recently rebuked U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl in the pages of the East Valley Tribune for recommending that “stimulus” funding be terminated. The federal government, by spending $308 million on infrastructure in Arizona, is providing a “much needed economic boost” to the state, she claimed.

Europe’s Disastrous Climate Policy - a Lesson for Congress
   GreeenIsm piece by Press Release: Richard Morrison (10/30/09)

Washington, D.C., October 29, 2009 - The Competitive Enterprise Institute today cheered the publication of a new report that could help save the United States from an expensive, damaging new system of global warming regulation. The report, published by the British think tank TaxPayers’ Alliance, details the failure of Europe’s “Emissions Trading Scheme,“ which was meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the continent. Congress is now considering its own version of the EU’s scheme, known as a cap and trade system of emission control.

Halloween: The real end of summer
   Society piece by John David Powell (10/30/09)

Labor Day, by an act of Congress, is the official end of summer.  Our kitchen calendar says summer ends September 21.  But all of us kids know Halloween is the real end of summer.

‘In From the Cold - Finally?‘
   Politics piece by FreeCongressFoundation: E. Ralph Hostetter (10/30/09)

A major shift in American politics apparently has occurred, perhaps marking the greatest change from liberalism to conservatism since the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Some 16 Gallup polls conducted from January to September 2009 show 40 % of U.S. citizens now describe their political ideology as conservative, a shift from 2005 to 2008, when moderates weighed in as nearly even with conservatives.  Today’s figures show conservatives at 40 %, moderates at 36 % and liberals at 20 %.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Poll: 61% of voters in Arizona approve Arpaio’s job approach
   Law piece by Offsite (10/28/09)

Arizona voters like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s approach to his job and disagree with the federal government’s immigration-related decisions with the sheriff, according to an Arizona State University and Channel 8 (KAET) poll released Tuesday night. The poll indicates a 61 percent job-approval rating for Arpaio, while 34 percent of voters disapproved, according to a telephone survey of 652 registered voters around the state.

This time it is not business as usual…
   Elections piece by Guest: Carolyn Hileman (10/28/09)

Just a note to those politicians still out there who even bother to wonder what the American people think. This election and every single one after will not be business as usual anymore…. Just because the republican or democrat party backs you as a candidate, it does not mean by a long shot that the people will. We have been watching and we don’t like what we have been seeing and we plan to fix that. You see, we happen to know that there are qualified people living among us who can and will do a better job of listening to the people and doing their will. As a matter of fact, right now being the chosen one from any party could be your downfall.

Constitutionality of health overhaul questioned
   Health Care piece by Offsite (10/28/09)

On top of all the other obstacles facing President Obama in his quest to pass health reform is this one: Does the U.S. Constitution allow the government to require uninsured Americans to buy medical insurance or impose a tax penalty if they refuse?

‘A Trans-Atlantic Track, Grasping Virginia to France?‘
   Transportation piece by FreeCongressFoundation: Marion Edwyn Harrison (10/28/09)

The Free Congress Foundation (“FCF”) Center for Public Transportation is active in myriad ways, to a limited extent reflected on the FCF website(1).  A word of possibly quixotic comment might be interesting, maybe amusing, about the latest fate of an heretofore American and American-owned rail line.

Freaked Out Over SuperFreakonomics
   Global Warming piece by Offsite (10/28/09)

Suppose for a minute - which is about 59 seconds too long, but that’s for another column - that global warming poses an imminent threat to the survival of our species. Suppose, too, that the best solution involves a helium balloon, several miles of garden hose and a harmless stream of sulfur dioxide being pumped into the upper atmosphere, all at a cost of a single F-22 fighter jet.

Washington’s Suicide Mission
   Economics piece by Offsite (10/28/09)

Members of the Obama administration have taken turns deploring the billions of dollars in year-end bonuses the finance industry is getting ready to hand out. Never mentioned is what they think firms should do with the money. Give it back to their customers? Spend it on office decorations?

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I And Many Others Don’t Feel So Lonely Anymore
   Progressivism piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (10/27/09)

Over time a lot of folks have opined the the Marxist Progressive Socialist movement is a “cult or religion”, seldom has a recognized observant columnist chimed in to support the position.

FACT CHECK: Profits for Health Insurance Companies Far From Fat
   Health Care piece by Warner Todd Huston (10/27/09)

The Associated Press posted an interesting piece(1) revealing that the health insurance industry is far from the image that Democrats and other leftists want to present. Insurance companies are so often presented as rapacious, fat-cats ripping off all their customers and growing fat on profits. But the AP finds that reality does not quite fit the left-wing image.

Government Intimidation Destroys a Free Society
   Police State piece by Tom DeWeese (10/27/09)

For years I have been issuing warnings about the growing government surveillance state. REAL ID and E-Verify have been sold as weapons necessary to stop illegal immigration and the threat of terrorism. Now, Congress says it has improved those weapons by creating the PASS Act.

How Healthcare Will Tax Middle Class, Poor
   Taxes piece by Offsite (10/27/09)

Despite President Obama’s promise to refrain from raising any taxes on families earning less than $250,000 a year, the healthcare bill being considered by the Senate does just that.

No more excuses for state of our schools
   EdukShun piece by GoldwaterInstitute: Matthew Ladner (10/27/09)

This summer, Goldwater Institute Senior Fellow Dan Lips and I published an article in the journal Education Next explaining why a student’s race, ethnicity or family income are not accurate predictors of their future academic success. We were very pleased when the Chancellor of New York City Schools, Joel Klein wrote a letter in response to the article.

Turkey: An Ally No More
   Middle East piece by Daniel Pipes (10/27/09)

“There is no doubt he is our friend,“ Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says of Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, even as he accuses Israel’s foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman of threatening to use nuclear weapons against Gaza. These outrageous assertions point to the profound change of orientation by Turkey’s government, for six decades the West’s closest Muslim ally, since Erdogan’s AK party came to power in 2002.

Ex-Treasury official: Dump dollar
   Dollar piece by Offsite (10/27/09)

A former assistant secretary of the Treasury for international affairs is warning dollar deficits might no longer be funded by foreign nations, including China.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Real Democrats And Real Republicans Can Win Big In 2010
   Elections piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (10/26/09)

Demercrats and Republicrats will have a tough road to hoe.

‘Are You Ready to Subsidize Reporters?‘
   Newspapers piece by Offsite (10/26/09)

Have you ever stumbled on an oxymoron so stunning that it takes your breath away? Try coupling this with a case of chutzpah so revealing that the lack of shame on the part of those involved serves as prima fasci evidence that their elite cultural isolation has rendered them incapable of critical thinking.

Why Does Obama Hate the Poor? Part Two
   Demercrats piece by Warner Todd Huston (10/26/09)

On August 13 I posted a piece wherein I facetiously asked “Why does Obama hate the poor?“(1) Then I pointed out that the cash for clunkers program was likely to cause the price of used cars to skyrocket in the near future. I also asserted that the reason this will be so is because Obama’s clunkers program was set to destroy hundreds of thousands of otherwise perfectly functional cars all of which would have ended up on the used car market were it not for Obama’s interventionism.

Amelia is Lost in the Clouds
   Entertainment piece by Aaron Goldstein (10/26/09)

Hilary Swank has no peer when it comes to portraying doomed women.  It has resulted in her winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress – one for playing the late Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry and one for playing female boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby.  No actress is better suited to play Amelia Earhart.

American Idea
   The Republic piece by Offsite (10/26/09)

Americans are harder workers, more philanthropic, individualistic, self-reliant, anti-government than people in most other countries. We’ve turned what was an 18th-century Third World nation into the freest and most prosperous nation in mankind’s entire history. Throughout our history, United States has been a magnet for immigrants around the world. What accounts for what some have called American exceptionalism?

Investment Portfolio Protection Strategy
   Economics piece by Guest: Steve Selengut (10/26/09)

A participant in the morning Working Capital Model (WCM) investment workshop observed: I’ve noticed that my account balances are returning to their (June 2007) levels. People are talking down the economy and the dollar. Is there any preemptive action I need to take?

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Get ready, America: Great Depression 2.0
   Economics piece by Offsite (10/25/09)

Drawing striking comparisons between the Japanese economy in 1988 and the American economy today, a new book by an author who predicted the current crisis warns it’s going to get much worse before it gets better.

Progressive Police State 101
   Police State piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (10/25/09)

The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act adds yet another politically correct protected victim group: homosexuals and “transgendered”.(1

Educating teachers, schools on Constitution
   The Republic piece by Offsite (10/25/09)

The Rutherford Institute has launched its annual campaign to educate educators and the public on the U.S. Constitution.

Success! Adult stem cells overcome spinal-cord injuries
   Medicine piece by Offsite (10/25/09)

A new report from researchers in Portugal and at Wayne State University documents use of adult stem cells to treat spinal-cord injury patients, none of whom had use of their legs prior to treatment. Dr. David Prentice with Family Research Council summarizes the positive results from the treatments.

Government-school ‘edjikation’
   EdukShun piece by Offsite (10/25/09)

A few months ago, a homeschooling friend called in tears. The curriculum she’d purchased for her three children was patently unsuited to her 16-year-old daughter, Jane. Jane was rebelling for the first time.