The Whip, April 14, 2011 (Part One)

TODAY’S FEATURE ARTICLE
Is actually the introduction of a new topic title:

CLASSICAL LIBERALISM
Which used to just be called “liberalism” (if not “enlightenment”) before leftists and radicals hijacked the term and transformed it to be a synonym for “neo-feudalist welfare-statism”
Constitutional Refuseniks: Stewart Rhodes on his controversial group the Oath Keepers and the orders they won’t obey [*1]

Interviewing Thomas Sowell About Economic Facts And Fallacies [*2]

Economics at AoSHQ U: Part 1 – The Economy [*3] — Something that distinguishes classical liberalism from, well, pretty much every other intellectual system devised by mankind, is that classical liberalism is based on the world as it is, with a minimum of value judgments regarding The Meaning Of It All. That’s what religions like “progressivism,” Marxism, Islam, or Christianity are for (and some of those are more benign than others–Buddhism for instance tends to be quite benign, at least when it isn’t spreading enervating apathy . . . but I digress . . .) DEMOCRAT/”PROGRESSIVE” VOTE FRAUD, CORRUPTION, ABUSE, AND INTIMIDATION
Or: “The appearance of corruption is in itself corruption.”

A Massachusetts Miracle In Wisconsin [*4] — Sometimes, when you hold a big stick over somebody’s head and tell them to do something, what happens is that somebody just gets very, very angry with you.

THE OBAMA DISASTER featuring but not limited to Obamacare, Keynesian economics, and other relics of 19th Century “Progressivism”
An Arizona city’s sports mania encounters a hard check [*5] — Wherein John McCain stands revealed, once again, as a true “progressive,” Tweedle-dum to Obama’s Tweedle-dee.

Pay No Danegeld: Teaching Western Civilization [*6] — If you don’t know what Danegeld is, you are insufficiently educated.

Bam’s fiscal feintThe next round of lip service [*7] — I get the impression that the New York Post’s Michael Walsh is not an Obama fan . . .

Why the debt limit fight will be different [*8] — Because neither side is yet serious about dealing with the fundamental structural problems of the federal budget?

Paul Krugman: Hey, I’ve Got a Great Idea! Let’s Raise Taxes on the Middle Class! [*9] — I was about to ask how this moron possibly won a Nobel Prize, but then I realize that Barack Obama, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, and Yasser Arafat have also won them, too (yes, I realize Krugman’s was in economics and the others were the much more ridiculous “peace prizes,” but still . . .)

Paul Krugman Wonders Where The President He Thought He Was Voting For Went To [*10] — . . . uh . . . one wonders if perhaps there shouldn’t be an entire section here dedicated to the K-man. But then, he has whole blogs [*11] devoted to deconstructing his . . . um . . . product.

How Safe Is Your Roth IRA? [*12] — They will take it, you know, if you let them. “Them” being the federal government.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/04/how-safe-is-your-roth-ira/237081/ [*13]

WH: Obama regrets vote against raising debt limit [*14] — As the saying goes: “Where you stand depends on where you sit.” And hey presto! Obama happens to now be sitting in the White House. He finds the view somewhat different than as a back-bench, no-experience Senator with no real-life experience that any productive American would realize and recognize as a “job.”

The Austrian School’s Critique of Marxism [*15] — Yes, in fact, this does fit here. Go. Read. Learn.

Chevy Recalls Cruze After A Steering Wheel Falls Off [*16] — Government Motors: Your Tax Dollars At Work.

Dred Scott’s Revenge: By applying positivism instead of natural law, 19th century courts burdened American racial history to this day. — Tracing a direct intellectual path from the racists of the 18th and 19th Centuries to the “progressives” and their “living Constitution” doctrine today.

Welfare for the Well-Off: The case against government subsidies for public broadcasting [*17]

“Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home” [*18]

Bad Medicine: RomneyCare Unpopular Even In Massachusetts [*19] — “Progressive” and “Democrat” are not synonyms. There are plenty of Republican “progressives.” McCain is one. Romney is another.

THE ECONOMY, TEETERING ON THE BRINK OF DISASTER–or WE ARE SO SCREWED
We’ve Promised More Than We Can Deliver [*20]

America, It’s Your Fault! How’s That For Change? [*21]

Farm Subsidies May Not Have Their Revenge In Washington [*22] — Businesses should not be subsidized by government. Farms are businesses. Therefore . . .

California’s giant sucking sound [*23]

KC Leaders Call For End To Poaching Of Businesses: 17 Business Leaders Send Letters To Governors Of Kansas, Missouri [*24] — Yes, tax breaks for companies to move or expand anywhere should be illegal. I’d be for a Constitutional Amendment to that effect, actually. It’s an obscene use of public money.

IT’S A DANGEROUS WORLD
Yemen [*25] — “I say we take off and nuke them from space. It’s the only way to be sure.” – Aliens
Unfortunately perhaps, this would not only be technologically unfeasable, it would also catch many (several?) innocents in the various blast radii, and hence would be unnecessarily harsh.

ELECTION 2012: IF NOT SARAH PALIN, THEN WHO?
Trump: If I Can’t Have The Presidency I’ll Make Sure Obama Wins [*26] — I can’t quite figure out if Trump is an idiot, or an Obama stalking horse. The two are not mutually exclusive, of course. In fact, the latter pretty much assumes the former.

SPORT
Five hot topics for college sports [*27]

Has Gordon finally figured it out? Even he isn’t sure [*28]

NEWS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE ABLE TO USE
How To Take A 100% Tax Write-Off For A New Porsche, BMW or Cadillac [*29] — First, you have to want one . . .

Study: Older brains less nimble at multi-tasking [*30]

Air France A380 spins Delta regional jet in JFK collision [*31]

SCIENCE FICTION–READIN’, WRITIN’, WATCHIN’
The growing problem with death in science fiction movies and TV shows [*32] — Basically, characters don’t stay decently dead. And the author of the article is beginning to find that really annoying.

Periodic Table of Storytelling [*33]

TV Tropes [*34]

Short Stories vs. Novels – “natural length” and the fractal structure of stories [*35]

99 cents only works if you actually sell more copies [*36]

Dystopian Fiction: An Introduction [*37] — ” . . .you could be living in a dystopia and not even know it. . .” Indeed.

Schedule, Schedule, Schedule [*38] — I’m very, very bad at this . . .

Why do today’s movies, including science fiction ones, suck so hard? [*39] — Um, at a guess . . . because the people making them have little to no actual connection with reality any more?

DEEP, MAN, REALLY, REALLY DEEP
The Social Function of Insurance [*40]

The Bad Word [*41] — That other “F-word” . . .