There are three things in the video that deserve special emphasis. First, bureaucrats are vastly overpaid. The government data cited in the video show that total compensation for the federal civil service is twice as high, on average, as it is for workers in the productive sector of the economy.
The bureaucratic meritocracy was the single identifying trait of Imperial China. And that eventually resulted in Mao Tse Tung, who killed more people than perhaps anyone else in history. From Wikipedia:[*2] "Mao played a personal role in organizing the mass repressions and established a system of execution quotas, which were often exceeded. Nevertheless he defended these killings as necessary for the securing of power."
Bureaucracies are dangerous. Is this a reach? Well, consider that the same Wikipedia article refers to Mao as a "radical activist." How large a leap is it to that from "community organizer?"
any moderately well informed individual knows that there is no Islamic extremism, nor even terrorism. There are only man made disasters. Everybody knows that we can borrow our way out of debt, that the welfare state is the sustainable wave of the future; that Egypt has no border with Gaza through which it can provide supplies if it wanted; that the UN has kept Hezbollah from importing hundreds of missiles into Lebanon; that the thought of a handful of Jews has kept hundreds of millions of oil-rich Muslims from attaining prosperity; and that Global Warming is the main danger facing the planet Earth. That these assertions are untrue hardly matters; that they are indisputable is what seems to count. For who shall dispute them?
Reality might. And therein lies the problem.
Here’s what is going to happen with one hundred percent certainty. All of these lies will explode with considerable force in the faces of political establishment. Nothing can prevent it. Just as reality eventually exposed the hollowness of the financial bubble and showed that nothing was “too big to fail,” eventually it will demonstrate to our extreme cost, that no lie can be maintained forever. That is the real reason anyone should really care about what happened on the “peace flotilla.” We are as corrupt as a preacher in a whorehouse. It ain’t what we don’t know that will hurt us, it’s what we know that ain’t so that will drive the dagger into our hearts.
Reality does have this annoying habit of whacking people upside the head when they start ignoring it too much. It's not the fall that kills you, it's that sudden stop at the bottom of the cliff.
Exposing corruption requires standing up to power, because power hates sunlight. We should have known they would try and ruin the reputations of those who try and expose them.
Web search group Google Inc is phasing out internal use of rival Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system because of security concerns following a Chinese hacking incident, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
11) What was the genesis of “Robot Theater?” It’s brilliant and the graphics rule. You should totally sue James Cameron. “Avatar” ripped off what is clearly “Red Eye” proprietary software.
If you go to the website, xtranormal.com, you can make them yourself. We do not create the graphics — we just write the scripts and pick the settings. Robot Theater came around as a fun way to poke fun of Media Matters chuckleheads, purely by confusing them. And it worked beautifully. We write that stuff in five minutes, while Media Matters spends days crafting press releases decrying and condemning thirty seconds from “Fox and Friends.” Compare jobs, and you see how miserable they must feel. Imagine spending your life criticizing an entity that simply works really hard every day. I think I would go mad, or at least grow a really funny beard.
Gutfield is the funniest man on TV today. Your Wellington has arrived, J. Stewart Napoleon . . . (and don't get me started on the atrociously abysmal "Colbert" . . .)
The fools are on dry land, as can be deduced from the ship-of-fools quality to the response to Israel's encounter with the flotilla.
"Flotilla" is a term used most usually for a detachment of warships. Remember that. The "activists" used that word for a very specific reason. This was not a peace mission. It was an act of war. Do not be confused by the rhetoric and spin from the wailing chorus.
Spain's Dropout Generation [*22] -- Spain's youth, enjoying the rushing of air through their hair and by their ears as they plummet towards the bottom of the cliff from which they've jumped. "No, really, 'social democracy' is right and fair and good!'"
The People Who Borrow [*23] -- Hey, let's ALL jump off the cliff! The people who decide not to will make sure everything comes out OK!
Idiots. The problem is that they're pushing the rest of us off the cliff with them.
Supreme Court: Suspects have to explicitly invoke right to remain silent [*42] -- My kneejerk reaction: this is a dangerous decision. Rights simply exist. They exist regardless of whether or not they are "invoked." I would have to look at the actual facts of the case---if the defendant was not merely informed of his rights but asked "do you understand your rights? Do waive your rights?" this would solve the whole problem in a reasonable and equitable way. Any answers other than "No; Yes" mean that the police "interview" is over, and any further questioning is unconstitutional harassment. When in doubt, I go to the Volokh Conspiracy[*43] lawblog web site. Sadly, nothing there yet, as of 10:10 am CDT.
TV Food Advertisements Promote Imbalanced Diets, Study Finds [*51] -- In other news, TV Newscasts promote fair, unbiased understanding of national and world events. Snort. TV is all about selling things--food, ideas--few of which are actually good for you.
Just try to tell me these thugs are "peace activists." Just try. "Peace activists" don't attack commandos as soon as they reach the bottom of a rappel line, like these thugs did.
U.S. offers jobs grant to Florida space workers [*84] -- An emergency grant. An EMERGENCY grant. What the hell is the emergency? It's not as if people haven't seen this coming for a long, long time . . .