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

Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Audacity Of Progressive Stupidity!
   Progressivism piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (7/19/09)

The Progressive Demercrats are busy eliminating any people with large incomes, the so called “evil rich people”, even as they raise taxes on those “evil rich people”.

Sorry Apple, Windows 7 RC Runs Circles Around OSX 10.5.x (Updated)
   Computers piece by Editor (7/19/09)

Windows Vista is a little better than OSX 10.5.x but not much.

China Moves to Internationalize Currency
   Economics piece by Offsite (7/19/09)

China is turning its talk about making the renminbi an alternative to the dollar into action, said Qu Hongbin, China chief economist at HSBC.

World Bank: Global Economy Faces Deflation
   Economics piece by Offsite (7/19/09)

The World Bank has given warning that the global economy will fall into a “deflationary spiral” unless urgent action is taken to reduce high levels of excess capacity in industry, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reported in the UK Telegraph.

The Long, Agonizing Decline of the United States
   Socialism piece by Thomas E. Brewton (7/19/09)

We are following the downward path of Great Britain, one of the two greatest of Western history’s empires.

America Is Becoming Like The Home Run Derby
   Government piece by J.J. Jackson (7/19/09)

This past week Americans got to once again enjoy the spectacle of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game as well as all the festivities and side events that go along with it.  One of those events is, of course, the Home Run Derby where sluggers flex their enhanced and unenhanced muscles in a duel to see who can put the most balls over the fence.  The problem that I have always had with the Home Run Derby is that it really is not all that indicative of a player’s skill at hitting Home Runs which requires a keen knowledge of the opponent on the mound pitching to him, what pitches he likes to throw in given situations, where that pitch might be, luck, and then, on top of everything else, actually putting lumber to leather to crank a particular pitch into the stratosphere.  The Home Run Derby eliminates many of these factors and dumbs down to art of hitting home runs to the point where I cannot even watch it.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Galactica Conclusio Philosophicus
   MSM piece by Frederick Meekins (7/18/09)

In one of the climactic scenes of the conclusion of “Battlestar Galactica”, Gaius Baltar remarks that an unseen hand had been guiding events all along up until that point.  Just as the characters were propelled by something from beyond themselves, the producers behind this show may have been driven by ideas originating from sources other than their own fertile imaginations.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Walter Cronkite Has Left The Building
   MSM piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (7/17/09)

Mr. Cronkite died today at age 92.  He did much for “news” and also did much to undermine “news”.

Shortsighted Demercrats Undermine National Security For Political Purposes
   National Security piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (7/17/09)

If Demercrats succeed in their effort demonize the CIA and FBI, the terrorists will be free to do as they wish.

Senate votes to expand federal ‘hate crimes’
   Progressivism piece by Offsite (7/17/09)

WASHINGTON -(AP)- People attacked because of their sexual orientation or gender would receive federal protections under a Senate-approved measure that significantly expands the reach of “hate crimes” law. The Senate bill also would make it easier for federal prosecutors to step in when state or local authorities are unable or unwilling to pursue those acts deemed to be hate crimes.

Firestorm in Spokane
   Sustainability piece by Tom DeWeese (7/17/09)

In March, 2009, I traveled to Spokane, Washington to address the annual Republican Lincoln Day Dinner. I reprinted my speech (Part 1, Part 2) in the April issue of The DeWeese Report (Vol. 15, Issue 4), under the tile, “The Wrenching Transformation of America.“ That speech caused a firestorm in Spokane as I detailed exactly how an organization called the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is operating in more than 600 American communities (including Spokane). That group is guiding the local officials to impose Sustainable Development, the UN monster that transforms their community into a little soviet, with top-down control, robbing people of their private property, as it operates through non-elected boards and councils.

Waste, fraud, and abuse: the weird sisters of healthcare costs
   Health Care piece by John David Powell (7/17/09)

Here’s a quiz.  Your car won’t start because the battery is fried.  Do you A) buy a new battery and continue your careless habits; B) buy a new battery and take better care of it; C) buy a new car?  Only the very stupid choose C.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Apollo 11 And America, Forty Years Later
   Culture Wars piece by Christopher Adamo (7/16/09)

For some, the decade of the sixties will be remembered for anti-war protests, flower children, love beads, and Woodstock, along with all of their accompanying societal debauchery. Among others however, a far more glorious aspect of that tumultuous time will always remain preeminent.

Morocco’s Local Elections and Decentralization
   Middle East piece by Guest: Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir (7/16/09)

On June 12th, 2009, the same day that Iran had its contentious presidential elections, Moroccans also went out to polls to participate in local elections. In stark contrast, Morocco’s elections were viewed to be both free and fair, and boasted a 15 percent increase in turnout from the 2007 parliamentary elections.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Supreme Court And The Commerce Clause
   Supreme Court piece by Thomas E. Brewton (7/15/09)

The Constitution’s commerce clause has been stretched beyond recognition to justify traveling the road to tyranny by obliterating the 9th and 10th Amendments in the Bill of Rights.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Lettuce Examine Job Creation By Business
   Economics piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (7/14/09)

Employees cost every business, the general numbers are pretty well known by everyone but government bureaucrats.

Continual Camera Agitators and the Dignity of the Federal Judiciary
   Law piece by FreeCongressFoundation: Marion Edwyn Harrison (7/14/09)

On what become known as Bastille Day, in 1789 King Louis XVI wrote in his dairy one word, Rien, French for “Nothing.“ Some amateur and/or pro-Revolutionary historians have cited that entry to further their unkind attacks upon the King.  Although a devout Catholic, he wasn’t very bright, the fault of genes, not self-limitation; nor well-informed, the fault of courtiers and contemporary communications, neither his doing.

How To Fail A Child - The American Foster Care Way
   Society piece by Thomas D. Segel (7/14/09)

Harlingen, Texas, July 13, 2009:  For the more than one half million children in foster care across the United States, the number “18” is forever on their minds.  For some that number means the birthday they must reach to be “aged out” of a system they find restrictive and abusive.  For many others it means the birthday they will reach and find themselves cast out of a home environment into a world they are ill prepared to face alone.

‘How Did I Get Here?‘
   Bird-Brain Flu piece by Alan Burkhart (7/14/09)

How did I get here? That has to be the question Staten Island teen Alexa Longueira was asking when she suddenly found herself down a New York City manhole.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Polite Conversation
   Demercrats piece by Robert R. Owens (7/13/09)

People avoid silence because they’re afraid of what they might hear.  Although we value our freedom of speech, polite conversation in America is subject to one crushing rule, “Don’t talk about religion or politics!“  Most of us were raised with this stifling warning in our ears.  The purpose was to avoid arguments at the dinner table but the result is a population illiterate in the two subjects affecting life the most.  I can only talk about the weather for so long which displays the wisdom of memorizing sports stats and watching American Idol.  With the two biggest topics off the table we’re faced with either trivial pursuit or silence.  Bored with the weather and having neglected my memorization and viewing options I propose a topic to stimulate vigorous conversation without causing any bickering, economics.

California: From Golden State to Foldin’ State In One Generation
   Progressivism piece by Jayme Evans (7/13/09)

The late, great state of California used to be the envy of the entire world. One of the most laid back, diverse and accepting places on Earth, it has outstanding weather, hundreds of miles of beaches and every other conceivable recreation opportunity. It is home to countless economic engines, such as Hollywood, the film and music industries and technology-rich Silicon Valley. It also produces some of the finest wines available in the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma counties. With all of that going for it, you’d think a state like California, with its economic powerhouses, vast resources and some of the highest tax rates in the nation, would at least be financially solvent, if not prosperous. But nothing could be further than the truth.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Editorial: Comrade King Obama Is Responsible For His Minions Actions!
   Socialism piece by Editor (7/12/09)

The “Obama Regime” promotes itself as “offering change and hope” for the “world”.  However, his minions are doing the opposite.

The Demercrat Progressive Socialists Changed The Rules, Lettuce Use Them
   Socialism piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (7/12/09)

It’s no holds barred, so they are all now fair game!  Every trick they have played needs to be played on them!

NY Times Targets Renewable Energy
   GreeenIsm piece by Guest: Dennis T. Avery (7/12/09)

CHURCHVILLE, VA - Just as congress is set to tax fossil fuels out of the U.S. economy, the New York Times has reasserted its utterly foolish demand that we tear out existing hydroelectric dams - the dams that provide most of our renewable energy in the form of water-generated electricity..

How’s Your Investment Portfolio Doing? Seven Long-Term Indicators
   Economics piece by Guest: Steve Selengu (7/12/09)

Before Wall Street and the media combined to make investors think of calendar quarters as “short-term” and single years as “long-term”, market cycles were used as true tests of investment strategies over the long haul. Bor-ing.

‘What Kind Of Care, Anyway?‘
   Health Care piece by Warner Todd Huston (7/12/09)

For those that want universal healthcare, the panacea of “coverage” is expected to “give” all those currently without healthcare coverage the access they need to the medical care they now lack. This sounds wonderful all things being equal. It sounds caring and big hearted of them to want everyone to get medical care. But what is the practical outcome of this desire with a system in government hands?

A “Crisis” of Governors
   Government piece by Alan Caruba (7/12/09)

If you can have a pride of lions and a gaggle of geese, then I suggest that the forthcoming July 17-20 meeting of the National Governors Association can be described as a “crisis” of Governors.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Buy/Subscribe To A Newspaper = 90% of The Time Your Supporting Socialism
   Newspapers piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (7/9/09)

If you don’t believe in Socialism, STOP!

Misleading Stats and Mishandled Solutions
   Progressivism piece by Offsite (7/9/09)

Today’s headlines include an allegation that over 500,000 families are homeless in America.  This may well be true, but no attempt is given to define the term ‘homeless’ although we can gather that from the methods used for collecting the data as well as the source.

‘Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security - Alarms Ring, Statistics Sing, Does Anyone Do Anything?‘
   Economics piece by FreeCongressFoundation: Marion Edwyn Harrison (7/9/09)

The last two months, May and June, 2009, have produced somewhat of a crescendo of alarming statistics about the solvency of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.  The context, to phrase it mildly, is troublesome: A national and universal recession; our Federal Government running an unprecedented - and apparently too unpredictable to measure - deficit; and “Stimulus” taxpayers’ money dished out in huge sums, with highly questionable theory, application and results.