PROCEEDING BOLDLY

Do not give in to evil, but proceed ever more BOLDLY against it.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Weekend Update, No. 8

Timeless article just discovered by your editor leads off the barrage this week.  Mr. Rose finishes strong, so read through to the end.

The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment, by C.S. Lewis
Fantastic essay demonstrating that our current model is inherently tyrannical rather than humanitarian.  Defends the Retributive Theory, where punishment is determined based on the concept of what is deserved, or just, though the proponents of the Humanitarian Theory dismiss it as barbarous.  The Humanitarian Theory determines punishments based on the twin false gods of deterrence and cure.  Though widely accepted by society, it is not difficult to fathom how this foundation inevitably leads to abuse and loss of liberty.  Some fantastic quotes from this one article include "but every modern State has powers which make it easy to fake a trial."  Written more than fifty years ago, now even more frightenly true.  And the classic:
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.  It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
No doubt can exist that we suffer under the rule of such busybodies today.  This fact is truly unfortunate, "For if crime and disease are to be regarded as the same thing, it follows that any state of mind which our masters choose to call ‘disease’ can be treated as a crime; and compulsorily cured."  How many crimes have we allowed the busybodies to transform into disease?  His concluding remarks would apply equally well to the USA of today, "One last word. You may ask why I send this to an Australian periodical. The reason is simple and perhaps worth recording; I can get no hearing for it in England."

America has arrived at Huxley's destination, the year 2540 frightenly fast.  Though Orwell's 1984 gets most of the notoriety, Huxley's vision of our modern dystopia is even more uncannily accurate.  For example, "what Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one."

Dean and Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech explains that any questioning of popular wisdom results in career suicide.  Details the cases of successful, widely published, respected scientists who dared to question the cause of AIDS, global warming, the big bang theory, and comet impact causing dinosaur extinction, all finding themselves excommunicated.  He concludes, "But science nowadays IS like this: Disagree with the conventional contemporary scientific wisdom and you won’t get grants, won’t get published, will be compared to Holocaust deniers....  Genuine science, the search for better understanding, has been hijacked by self-interest and vested interests and is now captive to knowledge monopolies and research cartels."  Wow.  He promises to explain why in an upcoming article.  Stay tuned.

Uses the news to explore more fully the concept of peak oil, which is believed to be yet another one of the power elite's promotions.  Goes on to explain why this is thought to be the case, in intriguing fashion.  The highlight is the new (to these eyes) concept of abiotic oil, whereby oil is not generated through the decomposition of dead dinosaurs, but rather is an entirely geologic process.  The conclusion is that new oil is continuously being generated!  Questions why you haven't already read of this theory in more popular media. Certainly an area for further personal research and education.

Taibbi doesn't have a clue when it comes to his favorite liberal passions, but he does have an uncanny ability to ferret out the disgusting web of corruption involving Washington and Wall Street, and describe it in the most curiously profane manner.  His lengthy article is best summed up by Taibbi himself when he notes "the point is that an economic team made up exclusively of callous millionaire-assholes has absolutely zero interest in reforming the gamed system that made them rich in the first place."  Unfortunately, like most liberals, Taibbi again confuses that "gamed system" with capitalism, instead of what it truly is, a facist merger of corportate and government power.  At least liberals are waking up to the fact that Obama isn't who they thought he was, and isn't the answer to any of our problems.

More evidence of big business in bed with government.  Time and time again, the regulations that big businesses supposedly decry were lobbied for and written by the businesses themselves.  In this case, Mattel's lobbying budget increased by over 600% just as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CSPIA) was passed.  You already know this piece of garbage as the one outlawing the resale of any children's product containing lead, thereby creating and empowering new legions of bureaucrats to shut down thrift stores and garage sales, and fine and/or imprison those involved.  What you don't know is that the fine print exempts Mattel and only Mattel from submitting their products for outside testing.  Not a bad return on their lobbying dollar.

Despite all of the government's wailing about unemployment and its ridiculous summits and attempts to alleviate the problem, it completely fails to notice that government itself is the sole cause.  Richman explains the basic economic fact that in a free market, there is always a shortage of employees, not jobs.  Though shocking to some, it simply follows from the fact that we have infinite desires yet are limited by scarcity.

Medicare--The Mammoth in the Living Room, by Judy Kopulos
Yes, everyone's favorite government program and sacred cow ain't what they think it is.  It's socialized medicine, and like all socialist programs, it is failing miserably.  It alone has the power to destroy the entire country's finances.  "When something is free, it is human nature to abuse it."  Repeat.  Repeat again, until it is pounded through the thickest of liberal do-gooder heads.

Inflating Away Our Human Rights, by Ben O'Neill
Great article describing the process whereby our true human rights are eliminated, namely making up nonsense new 'rights.'  Effectively compares the inevitable destruction wrought from within through inflation of currency.  Uses the example of a budding female entrepreneur who wished to offer female-only tour groups.  The local diversity police just couldn't let that happen, as they found that so doing would violate the 'human rights' of men.  Suddenly I want to vomit.

Not Even a Peanut, by Alexander Cockburn
Another liberal gives up on Obama.  What he needs to do is give up on the system.  Just as more and more are waking up to the fact that it simply doesn't matter who occupies the sacred throne of the US presidency, it always gets worse.

The Vision of the Founders: Dead and Gone, by Kevin R. C. Gutzman
How the Supreme Court has ended Constitutional government by refusing to abide by the provisions of the 10th Amendment, preferring instead to rule absolutely over the states based simply on the individual preferences of the justices.

Climategate: The Video Everyone Should See, by James Delingpole
Brief one minute video that splinters the hockey stick.  Yes, Virginia, the world was considerably warmer about 1000 years ago, long before us dirty, despicable men started spewing carbon (except for breathing, of course).

New Regulations Will Destroy the Insurance Market, by Eric M. Staib
Even without the public option, Obamacare will devastate private insurance companies through ridiculous new regulations that will further corrupt the simple premise of what insurance actually is and seeks to accomplish.  As Staib puts it, Obamacare is a welfare program.  What will be the inevitable result as insurance companies are made to suffer?  Why, of course, the suffering will be directly transmitted to their 'customers.'  And who will be waiting in the wings to swoop in and save the day?  Yes, that's right, our old friend government!  Single payer anyone?

Think gold is in a bubble?  We haven't seen anything yet.  Deflation?  Nope.  The dollar is down 98.3% vs. gold since 1909, and the money printers have that final 1.7% squarely in their targets.  If you've got most of your money in bonds and cash, take notice.  More wisdom from the Swiss.

Do Antiwar Libertarians Hate the Military, by Laurence M. Vance
Of course not.  And they aren't leftists, either.  But this is what mainstream conservatives believe and use to justify their rants against them.

Opposing the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, which would prohibit anyone in the US from doing business with "any foreign entity that sells refined petroleum to Iran or otherwise enhances Iran’s ability to import refined petroleum such as financing, brokering, underwriting, or providing ships for such. Such sanctions also apply to any entity that provides goods or services that enhance Iran’s ability to maintain or expand its domestic production of refined petroleum."  In itself, an act of war.  But that's not a negative for most who can't wait to see us expand our war efforts even further.  Well, how about the effect on our economy?  Not good.  How about the effect on Iran?  Their citizens will suffer, but their government will be strengthened.  Confusing?  Ron explains it all.

The Trinity is Complete, by J. Grayson Lilburne
Baptised and made holy through the popular media and their ridiculous prizes and awards.  The latest predictable announcement being Time's Man of the Year going to Bernanke, who doubled the US monetary base and bought up much of the big banks' toxic assets which now serve as backing to the dollar.  Yes, Krugman, Obama, and Bernanke... truly gods amongst men.  The first commenter posts a perfect quote.  "When small men have large shadows, it means the sun is setting." ~Lin Yutang.  Other commenters note that Hitler also was Time's Man of the Year (plus Stalin twice, and Ayatollah Khomeini).  Doesn't it seem more and more that we are trapped inside someone's cruel joke?

Please Enslave Me! by Larken Rose
Ridicules the pleading of those Americans who love nothing more than to be sheared by their master.  Breaks down the government-subject relationship through comparison with carjacking.  After reading the brief dialog, it won't sound so ridiculous.  His point numbered 4 is even more persuasive.  Put another way, if three people were the entire society, and two voted to live in the third's home and have him be their servant, would it be praised by all as for the common good?  Obviously not, but when scaled up to much larger numbers, the same logic is supposed to make sense.

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