Recommended reading while I'm gone: "The Peoples Cube."

Masthead from the Peoples Cube.

Ridicule is one of the great ways to highlight the absurdities of arguments for those with the skill to do it. The Peoples Cube is a great faux Marxist website that excels at this. My attention was drawn to them by their take on the stimulus packages:

Enlarge Your Economy in Just Days with Stimulus Package

By Red Square

Did you ever ask yourself is your economy big enough? Do you feel insecure about the pork in your portfolio? Do you want to stop your Dow Jones from shrinking at the most embarrassing moments? It is finally possible with the only economy enlargement product that works. You can become a lean, mean and fierce economy-stimulating machine in just days! Satisfy your community's dream of having a representative with a massive Stimulus Package. Enhance, enlarge and upsize the economy today! Stop settling for second best, get your huge bailout here!

Recent discoveries in social science have shown that, like everything else that the government touches, the economy can also grow beyond its current size and last long in a fossilized state when fully stimulated. Forget the old, flexible, trickle-down economy of the past! The new Economy Enlargement Stimulus Package will penetrate your community from the bottom up, distributing satisfaction equally for everybody.

Unlike tax cuts, Stimulus Package delivers results that are permanent. This is why nine out of ten TV economists call this life-changing product a breakthrough in the history of economic enlargement. Economic growth, as we know it, will never be the same. ......

I promise you there is something there for everyone, even the climate fetishists with:
Anthropogenic Continental Drift: An Incoherent Truth

Iran can kill its people; The idea stays alive.

"Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come."

Victor Hugo.

(This quote seems to appear in a number of variations, so either the author revisited it a few times or it has been reported differently.)

Oppressive regimes tend to believe the myth that fear overcomes dissent, but while the human body is fragile and easily dealt with ideals of liberty are indestructible. We have observed with disgust the Iranian regime killing and brutalizing its dissenting people while the mainstream press announce that control has been reestablished, the dissent has evaporated, the demonstrations have stopped, and so on.

The video here indicates that this is a crock, and the spirit of rebellion is alive and well in Iran. Note where the camera pans to a street full of protesters. H/T Libertarian Republican.



Perhaps we should Revisit Hugo:

"When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right."

Well; She got the votes.

Photo: from Ben and Bawbs Blog.

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. – Will Rogers

Creatures of the state will generally argue that in these complex times it is necessary to have a strong centralized authority to control and regulate the activities of the general population. In reality however, the more complex things are the less equipped a central authority is to deal with it as it is too remote from where the action is. Smaller autonomous jurisdictions close to the local populations will always have a better feel for the needs of the local population, and as to whether any action is needed at all.

The following is a great example of just why government decisions need to be as far as possible decentralized to the smallest possible level.

From Ben and Bawbs Blog.

Here in Fly-Over country, we have long been on the receiving end of endless mandates and edicts spewed forth by the "elites" on both coasts regarding how to run things out here. These dictates usually come from big city weenies whose feet have never left pavement (let alone stepped in cow shit) in their lives, who think meat is "produced" under plastic in the back of supermarkets, and who have never, ever had the occasion to "pee* behind a tree".

For instance, I believe it was a female senator from New Yawk State who proposed Federal budget savings (an admirable goal if you know what the heck you're doing) by firing all the cattle guards** in the Western United States. The only problem is that cattle guards are not "guards" per se, but rather a device consisting of steel rails that is implanted in the roadbed. Livestock are not able to cross over these cattle guards. Thus, vehicles can travel roads freely without stopping to open and shut gates at every fenceline.

These edicts, arbitrarily produced with absolutely no input from the regions affected, usually prove to be utterly unrealistic, totally unworkable, and downright asinine. Not that that is, in governmental logic, any reason to rescind any previous fiasco nor to stop spewing forth more.

Read the rest here.

This is a classic example of an elected idiot thinking that being a member of the ruling elite, confers some sort of infallible wisdom.

Central government always pushes for a one size fits all solution, ignoring the fact that different regions have differing economic situations, cultural values, aspirations and so on. This combined with their unacknowledged ignorance, conceit, arrogance, and delusions of relevance, conspires to inflict bad results on most occasions.

It is generally accepted that what suits Queensland doesn't suit NSW, what suits WA doesn't suit Tasmania, and what suits Victoria, is bad for everybody.

Editors note:

* Pee in the US is a piss here.

** Cattle guard over there is a grid here.

3 libertarian-leaning GOP Congressmen sign on to Posey bill demanding birth certificate for Presidential eligibility

Controversy still rages in certain circles as to the origins of Obama, the man with little verifiable past. Much of it could be eliminated if he would become sufficiently condescending towards the American people to show an actual full copy of his birth certificate. It first came to light when Obama surrogates questioned McCains standing as he was born in Panama. The McCain response was to release documents proving that he is definitely a US citizen.

When his own credentials were questioned in turn Obama refused to release the original document. A move is now afoot to pass a law which will prevent this type of action which undermines the office of the President happening again.

Blackburn, Campbell & Culberson now co-sponsors.

by Eric Dondero

While it may be too late to revoke Barack Hussein Obama's hold on the Presidency, it is not too late to make the issue of his birth outside of the United States, most likely in Kenya, an issue for Campaign 2012.
With that in mind, a coalition of conservatives and libertarians around the Nation are pushing for the enactment of HR 1503, introduced by freshman Republican Congressman of Florida Bill Posey. The legislation would require proof of birth in the United States of America or its Territories to run for the office of the Presidency. This shall take the form of a valid hospital-issued birth certificate, and not just a receipt for such a certificate as Obama has released.

The legislation got off to a slow start. It was introduced back in March of this year. And only Rep. Bill Goodlatte (R) of Virginia, agreed to sign on as a co-sponsor. Then a few weeks ago, Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, came on board. Within the last two weeks, 5 Republican Congressmen have signed on. Besides the 3 mentioned, co-sponsors include: Reps. Marsha Blackburn (TN), John Carter (TX), John Culberson (TX), Ted Poe (TX), and Dan Burton (IN). Notably, Burton and Blackburn are considered leaders of the GOP House Caucus.
Of note, on the Senate side, the Hon. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has gone on record in support of such legislation in that body.

There are some notable Representatives who have yet to sign on, including some libertarian Republicans. It would also be nice to have a principled and honest Democrat or two as co-sponsors.

Please take a moment to contact your Representatives by email, phone or letter to urge them to support HR 1503. Just tell them it's the "Posey Bill" requiring a birth certificate for Presidential eligibility.

It may be too late to do anything about Obama's 2008 election, but not too late to make this an issue for 2012.

Contact your Congressman website.

“The RAT Scheme will destroy jobs, jobs, jobs.”

By Viv Forbes, Chairman of the Carbon Sense Coalition.

Picture from "The Peoples Cube."

Any politician interested in preserving Australian jobs must vote against “The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme”. It will destroy real jobs faster than green jobs can be created.

This deceptively misnamed bill is not about “carbon” nor about “pollution reduction” – it is designed to Ration and Tax human production of carbon dioxide (CO2). It is correctly named “the Carbon Dioxide Ration and Tax Scheme” or “the RAT Scheme” for short.

There is no human activity or business that produces zero carbon dioxide – every activity (even sleeping on the job) produces CO2, either directly or indirectly. And for Australia’s chief industries, there is no feasible alternative on the horizon. Electricity generation, transport and tourism, agriculture and food processing, mining and mineral processing, infrastructure and construction, forestry and fishing, metals and cement, electronics and appliances – all depend for most of their energy on hydro-carbons – coal, oil and gas.

Even with a crash-through program of investment in alternative energy, the base load power will still be required, with boilers charged and staff on standby to cope with the many times when there is neither sun nor wind energy available. Given time and the political will, nuclear power could take up base-load power generation (at higher costs). But that looks unlikely to occur any time soon.

The first thing the RAT Scheme will do is establish a “cap” - a ration or limit on the production of CO2. (The exact level of the cap, and the base reference year will apparently be set using a roulette wheel in Penny Wong’s office.)


A Carbon Energy Ration Card from an Earlier Era.


The whole purpose of the cap is to force Australia’s backbone industries to reduce production of CO2 (unless of course they are exempted, but that would make the whole exercise even more pointless and unfair than it is now). There are no real alternatives available in many applications (solar aircraft? wind powered trucks? geothermal fishing trawlers?) Thus the cap must thus reduce production.

This rationing of production will cause the first round of job layoffs.

Then comes the tax whammy.

Most industries will have to pay for their cap entitlement – ie they have to pay to do what they have previously been doing for free. Even after they have paid for production up to their rationed entitlement, any business which wishes to return to its pre-Rat scheme production levels (above the cap), must buy new ration permits in a speculative Emissions Permit market. This is another tax which has to be recovered from customers, other businesses or shareholders.

The first law of fiscal policy is this: “If you tax something, less of it will be produced.” This is the real aim of the RAT Scheme and it will achieve that aim.

There are always marginal businesses in all industries. An increase in taxes will cause a few of them to close their doors or move to a more enlightened country. And there are always nervous bankers ready to pull the plug because of the extra risk in the speculative carbon trading market.

In the green new world there is also no room for new projects or new jobs in traditional industries – any new project will need to force closure of an old project by buying its Ration permits on the market.

These new and uncertain taxes on existing production will cause the second round of job losses.

Even those businesses that survive the production cap, the ration fee and the excess carbon tax, will be forced to increase their prices to recoup the extra costs. This makes them less able to compete with imports in the Australian market, or with other exporters in the world market. Countries such as India, China, Brazil and South Africa, who have no intention of embracing the shackles of a RAT Scheme, will be the chief beneficiaries. Overseas is where the real new jobs will be created.

This unfair competition from foreign firms will cause the third round of jobs layoffs.

To date we have only looked at things from the perspective of existing industry.

There is also a whole gamut of global warming policies that will directly or indirectly subsidize regulators, inspectors, auditors, lawyers, bankers, carbon traders, international conferences, and the manufacture and operation of subsidised facilities such as wind farms, solar arrays, carbon forests and facilities granted exemptions from the costs everyone else must bear.

The second law of fiscal policy is this: “If you subsidise something, you will get more of it”.

We will thus get more of these costly subsidised things – the Climate Change Industry looks like becoming the biggest industry in the world. It will compete with real industry for materials, labour and rationed energy, but will not put cheaper food on our plate, cheaper or more reliable electricity into the grid or make a net contribution to tax revenue.

The growing costs of the Climate Change Industry must filter back to the real economy, causing more job layoffs.

Three places in the world have already tested the Green Job Creation Myth – Spain and Denmark with massive wind and solar power developments and California which tries to lead the world in everything green.

All three have seen loss of jobs as industries close or relocate because of costly or unreliable electricity supply. A recent study in Spain has concluded that more than 2 real jobs were destroyed for every green job created. In addition Spain has 17% unemployment, electricity shortages, and power costs up by from 30% (homes) to 100% (businesses). Denmark is selling unreliable wind power at a loss, and California’s climate madness has caused a huge loss of jobs and tax revenue.

info@carbon-sense.com

For more information on Green Job destruction in Spain go here.

“Kevvy Sucks.”

I got this by Email from one of my associates. It’s a shame that the names of the originators of some of these get lost as they deserve credit for their efforts.


Photo from “Kevin RuddRLess.”

On a bitterly cold morning in Canberra, Kevvy is being chauffeured to Parliament House. It is so cold that Lake Burley Griffin is frozen over.

As he jumps out of the limo Kev looks over the lake and notices that someone has peed on the ice and left the message "KEVVY SUCKS". 



Kevvy is enraged and orders ASIO to investigate with "no expense spared" and to report within two weeks. 



Two weeks later the head of ASIO reports to the PM and says....”Our investigation is over and I have three pieces of news for you... good news, bad news and terribly bad shocking news". 



Well says Kevvy give me the good news. The head of ASIO says..."We spent $5 million dollars on the investigation and have come to a successful result."



Well says Kev what's the bad news? 



The head of ASIO says "The DNA testing shows that the urine is Wayne Swann's." Kevvy is shocked beyond belief. 



Looking pale, Kevvy says "and what is the terribly bad shocking news?"


The ASIO chief replies..." it’s Julia Gillard’s hand writing!"