Current Events

Rand Paul turns out to be a neo-con

Sukrit Sabhlok — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:05:34 GMT

What good is it to win if you don't stand for anything? This is very disappointing.

BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY – Leading United States Senate candidate Rand Paul today criticized the Obama administration’s decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and try terrorism suspects in United States Civil Courts.
“Foreign terrorists do not deserve the protections of our Constitution,” said Dr. Paul. “These thugs should stand before military tribunals and be kept off American soil. I will always fight to keep Kentucky safe and that starts with cracking down on our enemies.”

Lew Rockwell is right to stay away from the dirty business that is politics. Rand Paul deceived his supporters, and took money from them without telling them about his fundamental ideological differences with his more principled and honest father.

The Day that Global Warming Died

NewLiberty — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:58:29 GMT

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/hadley_hacked/

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100017393/climategate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-anthropogenic-global-warming/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/20/climate-sceptics-hackers-leaked-emails

http://www.examiner.com/x-28973-Essex-County-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m11d19-Hadley-CRU-hacked-with-release-of-hundreds-of-docs-and-emails

http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091120/full/news.2009.1101.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8370282.stm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576009,00.html

"So the 1079 emails and 72 documents seem indeed evidence of a scandal involving most of the most prominent scientists pushing the man-made warming theory - a scandal that is one of the greatest in modern science. I’ve been adding some of the most astonishing in updates below - emails suggesting conspiracy, collusion in exaggerating warming data, possibly illegal destruction of embarrassing information, organised resistance to disclosure, manipulation of data, private admissions of flaws in their public claims and much more. If it is as it now seems, never again will “peer review” be used to shout down sceptics."

"Climate change is driving poor women to prostitution"

Alex the Amused — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:47:19 GMT

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/177346/climate-change-pushes-poor-women-to-prostitution-dangerous-work

“Climate change could reduce income from farming and fishing, possibly driving some women into sex work and thereby increase HIV infection," Mukherjee said during the Wednesday launch of the UNFPA annual State of World Population Report in Pasay City."

I've almost become immune to nutters using women and children as a cheap-shot to push their arguments; it has practically got to the point where starving children and prostitutes deserve their own fallacy. But really, this takes the cake. Global warming being linked to women being forced into prostitution. The term "Bleeding Heart" liberal has never been so appropriate, although, I suppose its fitting for the times we're in.

Their suggested solutions, although with the wording they uses it means absolutely nothing but could be used to justify almost anything:

Bring a better understanding of population dynamics, gender and reproductive health to climate change and environmental discussions at all levels;
Fully fund family planning services and contraceptive supplies within the framework of reproductive health and rights, and assure that low income is no barrier to access;
Prioritize research and date collection to improve the understanding of gender and population dynamics in climate change mitigation and adaptation;
Improve sex-disaggregation of date related to migration flows that are influenced by environmental factors and prepare now for increases in population movements resulting from climate change; and
Integrate gender considerations into global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

UK, soon the EU and next the whole world takes on file-sharing

Jonathan M. F. Catalán — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:36:49 GMT

Source: http://torrentfreak.com/uks-terrifying-anti-piracy-plans-leak-091119/

Tomorrow morning Lord Mandelson will present the Digital Economy Bill to the public, which among other things is aimed at reducing illicit file-sharing. According to parts of the bill that leaked today, the legislation could lead to jail terms for file-sharers and unprecedented power for the entertainment industries.

Over the past months the UK government has tried to tackle the issue of online piracy. This has resulted in a proposal from Lord Mandelson, who plans to disconnect alleged file sharers without any judicial process.

Tomorrow the exact text of the bill is expected to be made public, but according to early reports, the legislation will open all doors for a digital police state where alleged pirates will be crucified by private companies.

Judging from some of the plans that leaked earlier today, the endless lobbying efforts of the entertainment industry by anti-piracy outfits including IFPI and the BPI have definitely paid off.

Cory Doctorow has the scoop on BoingBoing and he told TorrentFreak that the information comes from someone “very close to the Labour government” who he trusts implicitly.

If accurate, the new legislation will be a disaster for the privacy of all Internet users while giving unprecedented powers to the entertainment industry. Under the new bill the Secretary of State would be able to pass secondary legislation without Parliamentary oversight in order to protect rights holders.

Three reasons are given:

1. The Secretary of State would get the power to create new remedies for online infringements. (for example, he could authorize jail terms for file-sharing, or create a “three-strikes” plan that costs entire families their Internet access if any member stands accused of infringement)

2. The Secretary of State would get the power to create procedures to “confer rights” for the purposes of protecting rightsholders from online infringement. (for example, record labels and movie studios can be given investigative and enforcement powers that allow them to compel ISPs, libraries, companies and schools to turn over personal information about Internet users, and to order those companies to disconnect users, remove websites, block URLs, etc)

3. The Secretary of State would get the power to “impose such duties, powers or functions on any person as may be specified in connection with facilitating online infringement” (for example, ISPs could be forced to spy on their users, or to have copyright lawyers examine every piece of user-generated content before it goes live; also, copyright “militias” can be formed with the power to police copyright on the web)

The leaked information mainly shows that the Secretary of State will have the power to introduce all kinds of draconian measures without Parliamentary oversight. More details on concrete policy dealing with alleged file-sharers and the proposed three-strikes system have yet to be announced.

Colleges Deserve an Award

Daniel — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:07:46 GMT

They deserve the award for promoters and marketers of the recent past. They've managed to convince millions of kids and their parents, whom obviously lack understanding of the law of supply & demand, that going to college is worth the kids' time and their parents' money. They sell a lifestyle; be an intellectual, and a bad one at it; feel superior over the dropouts who have produced wealth for society; gain a sense of even greater entitlement, especially for stuff that other people have earned; and earn a high paying job, with a degree that meets the requirements for the Starbucks across the street from campus. Colleges lace curriculum with snippets that reinforce their importance to the students. You can't be a human nor understand what it is to be human without being taking a course on the humanities; you can't understand how humans cooperate without taking an economics course that teaches that the state provides the infrastructure for civilization; you can't find yourself without the help of someone who has never left college. Lastly, they've even managed to convince the average voter that a college-educated citizenry is a peaceful one and is necessary for prosperity; simply ignore Ted Kaczynski and Henry Ford.

Continental Convention

cryptocode — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:04:52 GMT

MUST WATCH the Continental Convention 2009!!! Increadible! I was crying while watching the opening ceremonies. And the speaches are great. Not all the speakers are great speakers, but the information is fantastic. All the representatives were elected by their States. It's at www.cc2009.us

Strangely enough, though it's been live streaming for 3-4 days, today my computer can't find their film server. I wonder why? Could it be the powers that be?

November 14th Mises Circle in Newport Beach, CA

Daniel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:27:35 GMT

Anyone going to the November 14th Mises Circle in Newport Beach, CA?

32% Inflation in UCLA Tuition Causes Near Riots (14 Arrested, 1 Tasered)

Daniel — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:38:27 GMT

So let's get the facts straight. The state steals money from taxpayers to pay for college education. Now state says, "hey, students, we can't steal more money, so, we're gonna have to charge you guys more money." The students get angry and protest.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Jeffrey Tucker at Salamanca Conference

Daniel — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:35:21 GMT

http://juandemariana.blip.tv/file/2848965/

Digital Gold...buying in "goldgrams" on line

john m — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:15:01 GMT

I find this interesting that at www.goldmoney.com the members buy and sell to each other in a digital currency called "goldgrams." If governments don't go to something similar, will private citizens worldwide take it upon themselves to do this? This would be easier than carrying gold to make purchases, will keep the "velocity" of transactions high for efficiency, and I think could be self regulated.

Disclaimer: I have absolutely no vested interest in goldmoney.com but I find the concept of interest and I would like to hear from others as I respect the insight and opinions of the Mises Community.

Is the Gov keeping tabs on libertarians?

Snowflake — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:29:42 GMT

http://www.dailypaul.com/node/85970

"The MIAC report specifically describes supporters of presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr as “militia” influenced terrorists and instructs the Missouri police to be on the lookout for supporters displaying bumper stickers and other paraphernalia associated with the Constitutional, Campaign for Liberty, and Libertarian parties."

Is this going to become a trend? Does anyone know if all the domestic spy surveillance is being used on folks like us?

The state is going berzerk

Capital Pumper — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:58:03 GMT

IRS continues war against offshore tax evaders

State thugs in Detroit engaging in wanton forfeiture of private property

New Canadian military uniforms designed as camoflouge for Toronto urban environment

But that's okay since the real threat is Mexicans and desert nomads. Once those are dealt with everyone will be enjoy a high standard of living and their own unicorn.

Council Meetings Set Property Violations?

limitgov — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:49:43 GMT

I thought homeowners associations set fines for grass being too tall on private property? Not Town Councils.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/043122.html

am I missing something? When did cities take control over this?

mises.org internet stats

abskebabs — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:14:26 GMT

I'm a bit of a geek on this type of subject, so I thought I'd share what I've found to be some interesting recent results with regard to mises.org's user stats. Please feel free to add any more as this thread goes on, and your own feelings and comments as this thread goes on.

I was quite impressed with the website recently breaking the 0.01% barrier for daily reach, I think that's pretty impressive! The Economist magazine's website is the only other that I can think of as having a major reach while being an Economics dedicated website.

I made some bogstandard calculations based on the stats and came up with the following figures, you may want to compare the 2 website's statistics in terms of daily reach. I used the 7 day average for each:

DAILY REACH (7 DAY AVG.)

Worldwide users US users

Economist.com ~1.11 million 380646

mises.org ~184000 121494

So daily, for every 5 people worldwide who browse the economist, one person browses mises.org. And for every 3 US citizens that access the economist, one US citizen goes to mises.org. Good work mises.org team!

Also, my impression is that mises.org has been undergoing a much longer term growth aided by the recent spike in interest given the recession whereas my impression is the economist's figure's are only benefitting largely from only the seasonal spike. Then again I'm pretty biased

Nov 14 Newport Beach Mises circle

Laughing Man — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:28:51 GMT

So Daniel, Lilburne, JonBotswik [sp?], Jonathan Catalan and myself all went to the Newport Beach conference with Peter Klein, David Gordon, Doug French, Robert Murphy, Tom DiLorenzo, and George Reisman. I'm sure these guys want to share their experiences so I will just give a funny story that happened to me. I was in the bathroom during the break and washing my hands [ good hygiene ] then Robert Murphy comes to the next sink and I say to him in a joshing fashion 'I can't believe I'm washing my hands next to Robert Murphy' And being that Robert Murphy has a quick wit he says:

'Yea, some people wait their whole lives for this moment'

I told him 'I will tell my kids about this one day'

Great conference though, got to talk to all the speakers. I got a few books:

Introduction to Economic Reasoning by Gordon

Philosophical Foundations of Austrian Economics by Gordon

Mystery of Banking by Rothbard

Betrayal of the American Right by Rothbard

Men Against the State by James Martin [ This book was really interesting because it is about 19th century individual anarchism in America, brand new book. Looks very sweet. ]

Non-government funded Charities

johnclonts — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:03:44 GMT

Does anyone here know of a source of locating/choosing charities which obtain no government funding?

I found charitynavigator.org, which has a "top-10" list of such, but it only has 10. I didn't see a way to locate any others.

Thanks,

John

Ft. Hood Report - Typical Wall Street Journal Crap

limitgov — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:56:35 GMT

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125804778767245615.html

I love how at the beginning of the article they state although he had tied to terror organizations he definitely acted alone....absolutely no one else helped him shoot off over 100 rounds at a military base.....

of course, they don't mention the 100 rounds......

My Jolly old lad Brown!!!

you12 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:29:36 GMT

The secret brother of GWB. I am sure the British readers here would be aware of his recent immigration speech. I am just angry at the man and his stupidity,so let me take it out on him. Plus the forum here is vehemently focused on the issues of the USA, so this will be a nice change.

Contradictions ahead:

Population "That net inward migration from both within and outside the EU is not rising but falling – with the annual figures showing that overall net immigration is down 44% on last year."

It means the market is working, People are obviously not going to come when there are no jobs, keep your hands off and everything will be fine. Bureaucratic controls can only distort costs.

•Rights "The right to stay permanently will no longer follow automatically after living here for a certain number of years … Instead, we have said that after living here for five years, migrants will have to apply to become probationary citizens – and at that point they will have to pass a points-based test."

Second class citizens. I thought we were all about equality man.

•Stress on public services "Where there are short term increases in the numbers of children at your local school, or patients using GP services, extra resources should be provided."

The welfare state argument. There is only so much you can give away at someone else's expense. Would he be willing to introduce one child policy like China if the population growth was white and with British citizenship?

•Security "The measures to strengthen our borders are now more co-ordinated than ever – our new Border Agency, biometric visas, electronic border controls counting people in and out, and ID cards for foreign nationals."

Need I say more. Nations don't die, they commit suicide. And Gordon Brown is willing to be the executioner.

And this comment on a related Guardian article:

I didn't really understand what Brown's policy was on highly-skilled brown-skinned non-Islamic immigrants.

It seems his ilk are not happy with people who meet the Tier 1 Points based criteria as well.

Does he have complaints about the City choosing to pay me more than the remaining 98 percentile of the workforce ? With my qualifications I'll get equivalent pay anywhere in the EU or 'across the pond'.
Does he want the top B-schools to shut their doors in my face, or encourage the market to offer me less pay because I am non-white ?

What riles me is, even though I pay off more than 40% of my hard-earned money in PAYE and NI, I am not entitled to any of the benefits of the state.
Plus I get to hear this tripe about immigrants getting preferential treatment at housing, NHS etc.

Why do I call it 'tripe' ?
Because 'No recourse to Public funds' on the British Tier 1 visa means the immigrant worker has to rent a house without any assistance from the State; long queues at the NHS means getting a private medical insurance cover like BUPA, and paying for it out of your own pocket, without any assistance from the State;
Yet million-dollar deals won at the market makes British firms richer, British economy richer, and not even a word of gratitude.

The sad thing is most British people are hardly concerned about society or cohesion. Their concern is purely about who gets the benefits. They all want state to stop others and take from others to give them something.

Immigrants are an easy target, but then they will come for you. But in Britain's case, they already have.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/12/gordon-brown-immigration-speech

Lew Rockwell and Jesus Huerta de Soto in Salamanca (videos)

Daniel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:27:54 GMT

Lew Rockwell: http://www.juandemariana.org/video/4164/lew/rockwell/the/economic/world/ (English)

Jesus Huerta de Soto: http://www.juandemariana.org/video/4159/jesus/huerta/soto/400/years/

Health Care Reform: All our problems are solved!

Snowflake — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:03:28 GMT

Alright! They finally passed it!

220-215. 50.6% voted for the plan, 49.4% against. Rounding up the winners' vote to 100% and the losers vote down to 0%, democracy is clearly of the people and by the people.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act will apply to everyone whether they want it or not because that's just how it works this is a democracy case closed.

A short summary of provisions is posted on wikipedia, but I would like to add some clarifying notes for all those naysayers out there who doubt the wisdom and good will of lobbyists who spent millions of their own dollars pushing this bill through. All for our benefit.

They are as follows:

"prohibit health insurers from charging different rates based on patients' medical histories or gender [and] prohibit health insurers from refusing coverage based on patients' medical histories" Because you have a right to the pooled resources of other people. They have NO right to deny you entry into their free and voluntary associations.

"repeal of the exemption for insurance companies from anti-trust laws" Because otherwise government would be in violation of anti trust laws, and government is NOT a monopoly.

"requiring most employers to provide coverage for their workers or pay a surtax on the worker's wages up to 8%" Because those greedy employers hate poor people! If the government didn't require employers to offer health benefits they wouldn't.

"An expansion of Medicare to all low income Americans." Because what if someone needed pharmaceuticals or they'd die? We need to stop people from dieing so lets massively expand the pharm industry. It had an annual 17% growth rate before this bill, I wonder what will happen next? :D

"provide a subsidy to low to middle income Americans to help buy insurance." The subsidy will also be paid for by low and middle income Americans.

"a central insurance exchange where the public can compare policies and rates" Because that information isn't available anywhere else!

"a government run insurance plan (public option)" Because the free market isn't competitive enough for some reason...

"requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance or face penalties" Because people are dumb! What if you had an accident and didn't have insurance? You should have bought insurance! For your own good you should be forced to buy some.

"a 5.4% tax on personal income over $500,000 (individuals) or $1,000,000 (families)" Because those people are rich and greedy! Don't worry though, The valuable rich people of society like doctors and lawyers will more than break even under our expanded health care system.

"reductions in projected spending on Medicare by $400 million per year" Because we'll spend less... eventually. But right now we need to expand the $#@! out of health care. We can stay on budget just like we always do.

"a 2.5% excise tax on medical devices" Because we're going to pay for health care by taxing health care...

Anyway, I hope this answers your questions! Libertarians just seem not to get it. Hang in there mises people, you'll come around sometime ;)

Totalitarian Britain

Jonathan M. F. Catalán — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:23:06 GMT

Did anybody see this post on the Adam Smith Institute's blog?

David Cameron has stressed the need for a cultural change in Britain, and indicated how big a task this will be. Nowhere is this needed more than in officialdom. A report yesterday told how a 67 year-old grandfather was arrested for using one swear word to a council official. Six days after the incident, police staged a dawn raid on his home at 5.35am, made him dress, took him to the station, held him in a windowless cell for 6 hours, took his fingerprints and DNA, and fined him an £80 fixed penalty.

Scary stuff.

California's problems

Deist — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:49:16 GMT

Everyone should be shocked at the sheer size of California's budget problems but I do not think there is enough info out there that explains the institutional reason why (beyond it having a government).

Here is a list of issues that people in the establishment have brought up to point to the problem and due to the nature of the people finger pointing, it raises my eyebrow:

1) Term Limits: Nope. Every state that has implemented term limits has increased tax cuts and reduced pork barrel spending as well as cut the amount of bills that are passed. This is not because the politicians are better people because of term limits but because it creates chaos in creating legislative coalitions. The different politicians are not around long enough to return favors on the same time frame as in non term limited chambers. I am aware of the theoretical arguments on this site against term limits but long term politicians need to eternally pander for short term goals whereas Monarchs and short term legislators do not.

Term Limited politicians do not have the super short time frame some people think they have since they are not constantly trying to be re-elected to the same postion. That turnover limits the kind of incumbent seniority power that legislators have such as here in 90% re-election rate Massachusetts. Massachusetts alone if not the Federal government cause me to trust term limits legislature FAR more from what I can see. Are they perfect? Not at all.

2) Two thirds to raise taxes: Definitely not. I do not think I have to go any further here. This state constitutional amendment goes back to 1978.

3) Two thirds to create a budget: This has the tendency to reduce overall spending since the majority doing the looting has to consult with the minority that may be getting looted or simply not like that kind of looting. This state constitutional amendment goes back to 1933 to fight high spending.

All three of those things cannot possibly be the cause and here is why. California is a SUPER DEMOCRACY. They only need something like 50% of the vote on a proposition to amend their state constitution. Due to that amendment process everything from education, transportation, mental health, and prisons are beyoned the the control of both legislative chambers and the governor.

The Californian Constitution has mandatory spending for over 60% of its annual budget. If you include Federal mandates on spending it shoots up to 80-85%. That means the legislature only has control of 15 -20% of the state spending budget.

As for Term limits they were added onto the state constitution after several of these mandatory spending amendments were already added. On top of that they have been in place as more and more of these mandatory spending amendments were added.

Check this article out:

http://www.sanjosemagazine.com/main/?p=330

Peter Schiff vs. The Final Boss of Statism

Capital Pumper — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:20:12 GMT

Man, Peter is attracting quite a few cranks from the bottom of the barrel lately. This was just too funny to pass up.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

450 Peer-Reviewed Papers Supporting Skepticism of "Man-Made" Global Warming

Poptech — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:47:35 GMT

450 Peer-Reviewed Papers Supporting Skepticism of "Man-Made" Global Warming

It is a common myth that no peer-reviewed papers exist supporting skepticism of "man-made" global warming or the economic or enviromental effects.

Myth Debunked.

Gutzman and Woods on Fox

Laughing Man — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:04:25 GMT

Woods and Gutzman are on Fox News right now.