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Culture

 

Science as Politics Occasionally Contaminated by Reason or Truth, But Only Inadvertently:

Fred Reed

December 6, 2007:

Just now the "scientific community" is busily frying James Watson of DNA fame. It seems that he has stated the unstatable, which of course one mustn’t. In an interview with the Sunday Times, he said that he was inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really." Which is exactly what the testing says. The venomous treatment that Watson has received is hypocritical and unjust of those who dispensed it, according to Fred Reed.

 

He's Gonna Find Out Who's Naughty or Nice... or Stupid:

Selwyn Duke

December 6, 2007:

Selwyn Duke is astounded over the recent insanities of those who would persecute long-standing Christmas traditions. Latest on the list of things attacked is Santa Claus saying "ho-ho-ho" and allegedly being "too fat" and thereby a negative role model for children! How far will the absurdity of political correctness extend?

 

The Fault With No-Fault Divorce: 

G. Stolyarov II

December 9, 2007:

The legal status quo of no-fault divorce is one of the greatest hindrances to the stability and endurance of American families. There are considerable moral and prudential objections to no-fault divorce, but an even stronger case against it can be made. Mr. Stolyarov writes that no-fault divorce is a violation of the individual rights of the party that does not initiate divorce proceedings as well as of any children that a marriage might have produced.

 

Economics

 

Capitalism: Second to None: 

Robert P. Murphy

December 9, 2007:

Dr. Robert Murphy writes that the reason “the West” grew rich at precisely the historical time that it did is that these countries respected the private property rights of their citizens. They weren’t (and aren’t) perfect, of course, but the idea that a man’s home was his castle, and that even the king couldn’t trespass on it, was peculiar to Western Europe. Nowadays we call this system capitalism.

 

Politics

 

Keeping Promises to Seniors:

Ron Paul

December 4, 2007:

Official reports show the social security trust fund having assets of $2.1 trillion.  In reality, writes Ron Paul, those dollars are just IOUs the government is writing to itself when it borrows from the fund to spend on unrelated programs. There are no real assets in the Social Security Trust Fund.  This is similar to taking money out of your savings account, spending it, then replacing it with an IOU to yourself, and calling that IOU an asset.

 

On Illegal Immigration and Border Security:

Ron Paul

December 4, 2007:

Ron Paul writes that we have security issues at home and our resources are running thin. Our education system is stretched, and immigration accounts for virtually all the national increase in public school enrollment in the last 2 decades. There is a worker present in 78% of immigrant households using at least one major welfare program, according to the same study. It’s no surprise then that often times these immigrants can afford to work for lower wages. They are subsidized by our government to do so.

 

Tax Reform Promises Treats, Delivers Tricks:

Ron Paul

December 4, 2007:

Rep. Charles Rangel's proposed plan boasts loudly about repealing the alternative minimum tax (AMT), but under the Democrats’ pay-as-you-go rules, actual tax cuts are not allowed.  Congress must replace any tax revenue reduction with an increase somewhere else, and of course, there are no rules preventing tax hikes.  Thus, a new 4% surtax on incomes over $150,000 for singles and $200,000 for couples is proposed to "pay for" the estimated lost revenue.  This simultaneously raises $36 billion MORE than simply leaving the AMT alone, and creates a huge new marriage penalty tax. Ron Paul argues against Rangel's proposal.

 

Arrested for the Truth: 

G. Stolyarov II

December 9, 2007:

During this Thanksgiving weekend, police officers in Gwinnett County, Georgia, arrested and imprisoned Bob Roethlisberger, alleging “vulgar and obscene” behavior as the justification. What prompted such charges? Roethlisberger, a driver of one of Operation Rescue’s Truth Trucks, refused to take down graphic images of aborted babies, which urged onlookers to “stop abortion NOW!”  Mr. Stolyarov maintains that such a response by police and by the local government to civil political and ethical expression is unconstitutional and intolerable.

 

Global Warming Lies Create a Climate of Crisis: 

Alan Caruba

December 9, 2007:

The United Nations conference in Bali, attended by some 10,000 participants and observers, is likely to make future generations conclude that ours was deranged to be discussing how humans could have any affect whatever on the climate. They will, in retrospect, agree that the global warming theory was a lie whose agenda was to retard anything that might extend and enhance life on earth. As the anti-capitalist forces meet in Bali, Alan Caruba writes that the rest of us must demand that we shall not be penalized and threatened by limits imposed on industries and agriculture around the world.

 

American Education Fails Because It Isn't Education: 

Tom DeWeese

December 9, 2007:

With all the recent programs and attention on education, how can it be that the performance of American students is continually declining? Tom DeWeese answers that – to coin a well-worn cliché – "it's the programs, stupid." More precisely, it's the federal programs and the education bureaucracy that run them. It is simply a fact that over the past twenty years America's education system has been completely restructured to deliberately move away from teaching basic academics to a system that focuses on little more than training students for menial jobs. The fact is, the restructured education system has been designed to deliberately dumb-down the children.

 

"Each little thing despised too much finds methods of revenge."

~ Gotthold Ephraim Lessing