Contributed by: filbert Tuesday, June 15 2010 @ 10:29 AM CST
If you are a Democrat voter who is not a racist or a sexist, you really need to open your eyes and ears to what the people you are voting for are saying–because they are speaking for you. Oh, the racism and sexism are most often cloaked in high-sounding words like “fairness” and “rights” and “equality” but the core of all of those concepts, in the mind of a Democrat, is a very, very ugly view of people different from the Privileged Class–the Class for which the Democratic Party truly works to maintain.
Don’t like class-based politics? Don’t like race-based politics? Don’t like sex-based politics? Think that everybody truly should have equal access to law and opportunity? Think that people should progress based on ability, not on race, sex, class, or anything other than their determination and talent (and the usual little bit of luck?) Then you can’t vote for a Democrat, because while they say things that sound kinda like they support those things, what they actually do is consistently, profoundly destructive of equality before the law and the concept that “all men are created equal.”
Shocker: Government Subsidization of Movies Comes With Editorial Strings Attached [*2] — I’m not sure why people keep putting the word “shocker” in front of post titles. So many outrageous things happen, how can you really be shocked any more? Disgusted, yes. Appalled, yes. Enraged, yes. Shocked?
Media gets low ratings from public [*3] — I’d be OK with “shocker” in front of this title . . . for purposes of ironic humor . . . Meritocracy and teachers unions cannot coexist [*4] — Vouchers for everyone. Make schools–including and especially public schools–compete for students. I mean really compete, on the only thing that really matters: students learning what they need to become more successful in life. Everything else is fluff–at best.
And, demolish the U.S. Department of Education. Take off and nuke the entire bureaucracy from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Bloomberg Businessweek, on “the mother of all bailouts” [*5] — We can’t keep doing this. By that I mean, we will not be able to continue to do this. It will end. It can end while we have some kind of control over the situation (call it a “soft landing”) or it will end badly. Very, very badly. Weimar-Republic Germany badly. For now, we still have a choice. But the window of opportunity to fix this like rational, reasonable people is closing. Rapidly.
New Yeasts to Produce More Flavoursome Light Beer [*6] — Meanwhile, this is what the Europeans are wasting their money on . . .
Bob Etheridge’s Criminal Assault [*7]
Fox poll: 54% want independent investigation into Sestak, Romanoff job offers [*8] — Well, the rules are: Republican Administration: 20% is enough to get an independent investigation; Democrat Administration: 80% required to get a whitewash investigation, 115% to get an independent investigation. Because everybody knows Democrats are just that much more ethical than Republicans are. And if you disagree, they’ll punch you out for trying to video them.
About That Climate Change Consensus …[*9]
Stopping Piracy Matters [*10]
Unfair![*11]
The IPCC consensus on climate change was phoney, says IPCC insider [*12]
Warm-Blooded Marine Reptiles at the Time of the Dinosaurs [*13]
Hope and Change (and Hateful Stereotypes) Liberals Can Believe In [*14] — “Progressives” really can be loathsome creatures . . .
Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Cognitive Dissonance Tour [*15]
Etheridge on the assault: I’d had a long day, but that’s no excuse [*16]
Those who eat brown rice may have less diabetes [*17]
DeJesus may be center of attention in countdown to trade deadline [*19]
High ‘good’ cholesterol tied to lower cancer risk [*20]
New footage: The unedited Etheridge assault video [*21] — Why hasn’t Etheridge been arrested?
McIntyre and McKitrick to receive award [*22]
No Sex Please, We’re Rotifers: Tiny Aquatic Animals Can Clone Themselves Using Progesterone [*23]
How Bacteria Boost the Immune System [*24]
There’s more water on the moon than anyone thought [*25]
The Birth of Defiance [*26]
The American flag is not a symbol of conquest. It has passed above countless captive lands, and returned home when those lands were freed. Spoiled children love to whine about wars of conquest, fought for money and oil. What a sad little fantasy! The flag of the United States has never been carried by thieves. It rises over the sites of disasters around the world, glowing on the uniform of soldiers who shoulder their rifles to carry food and medicine. It stood watch upon the ramparts we built to save Europe from communism, after we saved them from fascism. We have made a gift of the future to broken nations across the globe, and often receive nothing but sneering contempt in return. We’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Friedrich von Hayek: The Road to Serfdom [*27] — There should be a semester of high school study set aside for the careful consideration of the arguments in The Road to Serfdom.
Take Back South Dakota, Part II [*28]
South Carolina voter: I voted for Alvin Greene because … his name reminded me of Al Green [*30] — I have a friend, who was once a fairly stalwart conservative, who voted for Obama because he “didn’t like the kind of people who were voting for McCain.” I hope he’s happy, because frankly, I thought then that he’s was idiot on this one, and nothing since then has caused me to doubt that judgment.
Daniel Hannan: I admit it — I was wrong to have supported Obama [*31] — This will become more and more common in the coming days . . . there are already anecdotal reports of people scraping the Obama/Biden 2008 bumper stickers off of their cars . . .
Oceania Cruises Upgrades Fleet — And Increases Gratuities [*32]
A Damning Indictment? [*33]
Some One Is Missing [*34] — Oh, the irony. Of course, everybody–EVERYBODY all around the world knew fully well that George W. Bush really would kick somebody’s ass if he thought it needed kicking. The best Obama can do is puff out his chest and talk about it.
What is Space Opera? [*35]
New Mac Mini Awesomeness [*36]
A Delta Hub In St Louis? Yeah, Right [*37]
New Mac Mini: A Tour In Pictures [*38]
Free Speech and Guns: Legal superstar Eugene Volokh on the Bill of Rights in 2010 [*39]
Frank Tipler: Was Einstein “bright”? [*40] — One of my personal heroes is Richard Feynman, who’s mentioned in the article . . .
Etheridge the Unready — and his enablers [*41]
NPR generic Congressional poll in 70 districts put GOP up by 8 [*42]
Students Turn On Narcissistic Anti-War Teachers – Want Them Fired [*43]
Remember who has been in charge from “day one” [*44]
Pollution and Government Failure in China [*45]
The smog and pollution in China provide us with a valuable lesson: the standard libertarian paradigm of property rights needs to be extended to the environment. First-use homesteading must be the basis of environmental rights, which are currently socialized property.
Pamela Geller Triumphs! [*46]
And You Thought that the Purpose of School Is to Learn [*47]
Petraeus Taken Ill At Senate Hearing, Is OK Now [*48] — Well, even watching Congressional hearings makes me ill lately . . . I can’t imagine actually having to testify at one . . .
German student attacks Hell’s Angels with puppy [*49]
How Freedom Died [*50]