"Don't hurt people and don't take their stuff" - Matt Kibbe

2/20/13

1984 Was Child's Play

By Grant Davies

Coming to your neighborhood in the not too distant future? Your Glock won't protect you from these kinds of threats. And the technology you see here is already obsolete. When you contemplate this, think twenty years down the road, or less. And think much smaller, quieter, and lethal as well.

The drones you see on TV right now will be thought of one day as laughable. Maybe this is why Obama and his new CIA nominee John Brennan won't rule out using drones against US citizens on US soil. Maybe it's why police departments all over the country are scrambling to get drones.

You might want to take note of new laws which I think will be proposed soon to outlaw the private ownership of these devices. Am I a conspiracy theorist?

Maybe I'm just not willing to rule this out as a possibility.




The video above is not a typical YouTube vid, so I hope it plays on your device. If not you can try reloading the page or you can follow the link to watch it on the original page at the Mail Online, a UK newspaper.

2/14/13

A Better State of the Union Address

Not long ago I made arrangements with a talented and totally rational blogger named Seth to have some of his posts appear here. His blog is titled, Our Dinner Table, and you really should visit it.

I won't waste a lot of virtual ink telling you what it is and why should should read it, I'll just hope you follow the link and see for yourself if you value reading it more than the time it takes to do so. All I will say is that it's thoughtful commentary on various subjects with no cyber screaming.

So meet Seth, our new contributor, as he delivers the version of the State of the Union Address he would give if he were President.



Good Evening.

It’s good to see you all here.

We kept you relatively safe for another year. Regrettably, bad things happened. We’re not perfect. I wish we were.

But, let’s give a warm round of applause to the brave members of our military forces who kept the vast majority of us safe.

Now, go forth and enjoy your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

If I’m not doing something that you think I should, please consult with the Constitution and point me to where I’m empowered to do that.

See you next year.

Good Evening.


2/13/13

State of the Union?

Various scholars from the Cato Institute give a fair non-partisan assessment of last night's State of the Union address. It's clear that they disagree with him on many, if not most, points. But it's not an anti-Obama rebuttal. Rather, it's a clarification of what the state of the union actually is, minus the political talking points.

Judge for yourself whether I'm correct about that and leave a comment as you feel led.








2/8/13

Dr. Carson Educates Barack Obama About Healthcare

By Grant Davies

In my opinion, this speech by Dr. Benjamin Carson is one of the best speeches you will hear for a very long time. And it will surely be one of the least "PC" speeches you have heard.

There is no political posturing or denigration of others who disagree with him. It's not all about healthcare. It is about other commonsense issues as well. It's 27 minutes long so I'm frightened that many people won't even begin to watch it. I often back off from such long videos myself, so I'm not casting aspersions on anyone.

If you aren't up to it right now you can start at the 18 min. mark or the 21 min. mark and get to a lot of the policy points. Unfortunately you miss a lot of very good things if you do that. If you do watch it in its entirety it will probably be the best 27 minutes you spend today.

The President is sitting within a few feet of Dr. Carson as he speaks. This man has courage. It is clear that he is respectful but not intimidated by anyone around him.

It appears on this site, not because it is anti-Obama, but because it is pro-commonsense and is littered with ideas that are pro-liberty. And this site is not an anti-Obama site; it is all about promoting individual liberty and personal responsibility.

Hardcore libertarians may find points to differ with Dr. Carson, but I won't apologize for that.






2/5/13

How to Create a Shortage - 101

By Grant Davies

If you want to create a shortage in a hurry, just pass a law to "freeze" the price of the target commodity. In this case, the commodity is food and the place is Argentina. The news came out yesterday in this story.

The economically ignorant people in Argentina are about to get a lesson in "How to create shortages 101." I suggest they get in line at the grocery store now while they can because it will be a while before the alternate retailers of food and other grocery items - also known as the black market - are set up to deliver the needed commodities to the Argentinian populace.

In case anyone needs a refresher course in "unintended (and bad) consequences", I refer them to the long lines at the gas stations that people my age had to endure just a few decades back, 1979 to be exact.

The price of gas was frozen by the economic literates back then and the lines became blocks, sometimes miles, long. Soon there was rationing schemes of every type being tried, and corruption and favoritism became rampant. The same thing happened with the supply of impossible to find "rent controlled" apartments in NY and other goofy places that tried the same nonsense with the housing commodity.

Here's what it looks like in Venezuela 
Sellers and buyers will soon find "workarounds" to the wonderfully low food prices in Argentina, but it will be messy as it all unfolds. And the people at the front of the line will be able to profit on whatever they can obtain - but don't need themselves - by selling it at a higher price to those who didn't get in line. So the commodity will find its price anyway.

Can't find what you need? Just buy something else while it's still available so you can trade it for what you do need. Just don't expect the quality or selection to be too high because the sellers will only be offering products that don't have sufficient demand to warrant higher prices, if they can find any, that is.

It's possible, perhaps likely, that hunger will find its victims if the nitwits running the show don't back down quickly.

In the end, since inflation (in the words of Milton Friedman) " is everywhere and always a monetary phenomenon" it cannot be stopped by trying to control the price mechanism. The law of supply and demand will always win out. It's a law the politicians never made so it cannot be repealed.

So what about us here in the good old US? Higher prices are coming to this country soon. They have already begun to show themselves in many commodities despite slack demand. So, the only question is; will the politicians here make the same stupid mistakes they have made before and copycat the Argentinian illiterates? Take a guess.

2/4/13

Arming Our Enemies

By Grant Davies

You don't like us? Your country is coming apart at the seams? Your leader says Jews are the descendants of pigs and monkeys? Your leader claims the holocaust never happened?

Well, we have a way of dealing with you! We hope this isn't too harsh, but we are forced to do it. Get ready, here comes your punishment...

Here's 20 F-16s! And tons of Abrams tanks! That should make it clear that we mean business and don't approve of what you are doing and saying. Think of all the work you are going to have to do now to figure out who to attack. That'll show you! Next time you'll know what to do and what not to do.