Treason?

There are strongly opposing views and opinions on the “cap and trade” bill. Supporters claim that dissenters are committing “treason,” while dissenters are calling supporters “traitors.”

Cafe Hayek links to two responses to liberal author Paul Krugman’s charge that dissenting opinions regarding the bill are tantamount to “treason against the planet.”

LGF conveniently ignores the wild statements of Krugman and, instead, Charles Johnson cites a blog entry that criticizes other anonymous bloggers who call supporters of the bill “cap and traitors.” Johnson and the author of the post to which he links must think that a few dissenters are more troublesome and warrant more attention than Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman.

Meanwhile, in the real world, influential writers, e.g. Nobel Laureate Krugman, are calling dissenters traitors and big blogs, e.g. LFG, are ignoring this abuse of influence.

Zotero/GMU Update: Judge Dismisses Case

Earlier this month:

A Virginia Circuit Court judge dismissed a lawsuit… against George Mason University’s Center for History and New Media.

Link

The lawsuit was, of course, over the Endnote/Zotero dispute between Thompson Reuters and GMU. Here’s another related link.

Controlled Substances

Thinking about selling your worn-out copy of Guitar Hero:  World Tour on eBay?

Think again.

In America, and most other so-called “Capitalist” societies, private individuals are free to buy and sell products and services in an open market with a short list of general and democratically determined exceptions, some examples include:

1. Certain drugs are illegal for individuals under a certain age, others are illegal for everyone
2. Certain chemicals are regulated because they may be harmful to the environment
3. Architectural structures must meet certain specifications in order to be deemed safe for occupancy
4. And of course, transactions involving fraud are illegal.

So why on Earth do people think the U.S. court system should step in and tell companies what they can and can not do?

This is exactly what folks think about Chrysler:

Three Indiana state pension and construction funds want the Supreme Court to block Chrysler’s sale to Fiat so they can pursue an appeal in hopes of getting a better deal.

Also filing emergency papers at the high court Sunday were lawyers representing consumer groups and individuals with product-related lawsuits.

An appeals court in New York approved the sale Friday, but gave objectors until Monday afternoon to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene. Chrysler LLC wants to sell the bulk of its assets to a group led by Italy’s Fiat Group SpA as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

…

The Indiana State Police Pension Fund, the Indiana Teacher’s Retirement Fund and the state’s Major Moves Construction Fund claim the deal unfairly favors the interests of Chrysler’s unsecured stakeholders ahead of those of secured debtholders such as the funds.

The funds also challenged the constitutionality of the Treasury Department’s use of money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to supply Chrysler’s bankruptcy protection financing. They say the government did so without congressional authority.

…

Chrysler had hoped to close the sale by the end of this past week.

Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler has maintained that the sale must be completed quickly to save the automaker from complete collapse. If the deal doesn’t close by June 15, Fiat has the option of pulling out. Production at Chrysler’s manufacturing plants remains halted pending the closing of the sale.

So, let me get this straight. Obama and the Dems keep a dying company, Chrysler, alive with tax dollars or borrowed money that will have to be paid back with tax dollars. Obama and the Dems stipulate that the life-support will stay on as long as Chrysler finds a foreign (who knows why?) company to be BFFs with. Chrysler finds FIAT and a deal is in the works, but, Obama and the Dems say that if the deal isn’t done by the ides of June, then they pull the plug and all the tortuous hours that execs at Chrysler put in trying to please Obama and the Dems will have all been in vain. However, since the precedent of Big Government intervention has already been set regarding the operation of Chrysler, people are crawling out of the woodwork trying to get U.S. courts to decide how the company should be run. Basically, Obama has been keeping a company in its death throws alive with tax-payer money when anyone with half of a brain could have predicted the consequences and the inevitable failure of Big Government-run company (Cf. Fannie and Freddie).

Is Obama a Sadist?

But more importantly, since this whole ordeal is basically arbitrarily directed against the way one company (Chrysler) does business, who’s to say that similar meddling won’t soon be in store for other private individuals or companies providing, selling, using, and buying services and products in America? What will prevent these mobs from using the U.S. courts to stop the sale of Guitar Hero to the highest bidder because they hope to negotiate a better deal with the seller?

An Offer He Could Not Refuse

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford did not want to take the money. After all, it is not at all clear that the “stimulus” is actually working as Big Government has planned. However, Sanford has been issued “a writ of mandamus, which orders the governor to apply for the money” by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

How dare Gov. Sanford defy The One?

Related: Democrats Write Letters of Intimidation to Critics

Lebenswelt

In the early 20th century Edmund Husserl developed a new way of thinking about the world, he called his style of thinking “Phenomenology” as opposed to philosophy or science. Husserl wanted to grasp the phenomena that we encounter from a pre-reflective, pre-scientific point of view. This is because, of course, we have been conditioned by theoretical science to understand phenomena with an outlook that fits nicely with the “world of science and theory.” If we follow Husserl, then we will gain access to “the life-world,” in German “Lebenswelt.”

Here’s a cartoon about the practicality of suspending judgment on the validity of science while exploring “the life-world.”

Comics and cartoons | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Link of the Evening

@ Cafe Hayek:

Obama and Michelle, stimulating the economy.

Don’t Be So Hasty, Charles

LGF has been giving balanced coverage of President Obama’s actions. At times Charles criticizes, at other times he defends Obama and the Democrats. Over at HotAir bloggers are outraged over what seems to be a statement by Obama in which he asserts his intention to silence criticism: White House: We’ll cut off criticism of Porkulus. But LGF is claims that this is nonsense:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It’s a responsible move, to prevent abuse of stimulus funds.

Not so fast, Charles.

Cafe Hayek has already posted on the intimidation and thuggish tactics that the Democrats are using to keep criticism levels down. Here’s the text of a letter that the Democrats have sent to a private citizen who just so happens to oppose the way things are being handled in D.C.

Dear Mr. Frey:

We were outraged to read in today’s New York Times that you are actively opposing our efforts to achieve a diminution in foreclosures by voluntary efforts. Your decision is a serious threat to our efforts to respond to the current economic crisis, and we strongly urge you to reverse it. Given the importance of this to the economy and to what it means for future regulatory efforts, we have set a hearing for November 12, and we invite you now to testify. We believe it is essential for our policymaking function for you to appear at such a hearing, and if this cannot be arranged on a voluntary basis, then we will pursue further steps.

For the hedge fund industry, which has flourished for much of the past decade, to take steps so actively in opposition to what is currently in the national economic interest is deeply troubling and will clearly have serious implications for the rules by which we operate in the future if this posture of obstruction of our efforts is maintained. We very much hope you will be able to tell us very soon that you have reversed your position of trying to obstruct the operation of the bill that was overwhelmingly passed by Congress and signed by the President this summer, and we hope that you will also affirm your presence at the hearing on November 12.

This letter is signed by Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, Luis V. Gutierrez, Paul E. Kanjorski, Caroline Maloney, and Melvin L. Watt.

Here’s the pdf:

Letter of Intimidation

Obama seems to be taking a page from Barney Frank’s book of crime under the guise of politics. The President of the United States wants to control the expressed opinions of “anyone else exerting influence on the [stimulus spending] process.”

Charles at LGF misreads the restriction:

This restriction only applies to people who are competing for stimulus money. They’re not allowed to communicate with government representatives responsible for a particular claim unless they put it in writing, after the claim is filed but before the money is awarded. This is obviously intended to prevent corruption, and make sure that any claims for stimulus money are completely above board.

Well, no. The restriction applies to “anyone else exerting influence on the process,” as is stated in the White House blog post. An editorial in a newspaper would certainly count as an exertion of influence, would it not?

I would honestly like to believe that this is being done in the interest of full disclosure and transparency, so that the American people can read what would have gone on behind closed doors, but, given the the fact that Democrats like Barney Frank have already written letters of intimidation to private citizens in order to “urge” folks “to reverse their opinions,” it’s doubtful if the Obama Adm. is acting in good-faith here.

Erratum

Alec Baldwin made “an apology” to those who took offense at his making light of sex trafficking. Since the issue of sex trafficking, apparently, does not merit its own post on HuffPo, Baldwin tacks on a bit about “U.S. autoworkers.” It seems that Alec does not want them to lose their jobs. However, he does make the following statement:

But giving more money to Detroit means giving more money to GM, Chrysler and Ford, and that is a horrible idea.

Wrong.

Ford has consistently told Obama that they do not need bailout money. I’m sure Obama is disappointed. After all, his justification for the bailouts has been “we can not let the American auto-industry die.” Since Ford is an American auto company that doesn’t need a bailout, I wonder what Obama’s really up too. He’s already (ab)used his position to force the resignation of GM’s CEO, Rick Wagoner. I guess he thinks he can run the company better.

Quote of the Day!

This quote comes from the Irish translator of Plotinus, Stephen MacKenna. It summarizes what I feel during the final days before a term paper is due. Here it is:

“I doubt if there are agonies, this side of crime or perhaps cancer, more cruel than that of literary and intellectual effort that will not work out to achievement.”

Letters 1928 61, To Henry Hall p 255

Obama’s First 100 Days

I was reading a comments thread regarding Obama’s first 100 days in office, and I decided to respond to a comment that really “pulled my heartstrings” in the wrong way. Here it is, with my response below.

Thus far Obama seems to have found the heartstrings of public consciousness. If he can continue to successfully steer the unwieldy public opinion barge through rough waters (like his doppelganger Lincoln had), he should be in a good position to advance the administration’s agenda. On that point alone: give him an A.

And here is my response:

“On that point alone: give him an A.”

I will give him a B- on the point to which you refer: he does seem to have “found the heartstrings of public consciousness” (whatever that means), However, this is not true of “the public” at large. Many on the left and many many more on the right feel that he is making poor decisions and going back on some of the promises he made during the election. It seems that there is no possible way for him to not to raise taxes for the majority of the middle class. That’s something we will all feel no matter who has his eye on our “heartstrings.” But, it is true that, for the most, of the folks who voted for Obama, he is still viewed as something of a hero.

As for his answer to economic problems, that is, to throw money at it, this will solve nothing in the long run. In fact, we will be worse off than we are now, when he’s lost our money in companies that we all know are about to fail. It’s mind-boggling, really. He gets a D- for his economic policy.

Moving on to foreign policy and international relations, I give him a solid C. He’s certainly more likable than was Bush. However, let’s face it, Cuba and Venezuela are totalitarian nations. He should not have accepted anything from Chavez, nor should he have yielded to Cuba. But at least the world doesn’t hate us, so, a solid C.

Over all I’ll give him a C- thus far, but I agree with the commentator above, this “first 100 days” thing is arbitrary.

WTF, Obama!!!

Before election-day if this photo had appeared on blogs or on FOXNews Democrats would have been calling it “a smear,” or “guilt by association.”

First he bows to Saudi royalty, now he’s shaking hands with a friend of Sean Penn.

Tragedy on the High Seas

This is sad:

The entertainment industry won round one Friday in a legal battle against file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay, with guilty verdicts and one-year prison sentences handed down to four men accused of running and financing the popular site.

The defendants vowed to appeal, setting the stage for a lengthy copyright dispute between music and movie corporations and an online swap shop they say has deprived them of billions of dollars in lost revenue.

In its landmark ruling, the Stockholm district court convicted Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom of helping millions of users illegally download music, movies and computer games.

All four received one-year terms and were ordered to pay damages of 30 million kronor ($3.6 million) to entertainment companies, including Warner Bros, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI and Columbia Pictures.

But the fellas aren’t losing their resolve:

“We can’t pay and we won’t pay,” Sunde said in a defiant video clip posted on the Internet. Mockingly, he held up a hand-scribbled “I owe U” note to the camera. “This is as close as you will get to having money from us,” Sunde said.

Here’s a video statement that was posted on TPB earlier today:

more about “The Pirate Bay – The world’s largest …“, posted with vodpod

Godspeed, TPB, Godspeed.

2nd WOTD: Changeling

The second of the two words of the day is “Changeling.”

It is synonymous with the first word “idiot,” in the sense of:

a person of subnormal intelligence

WordNet

But it also has another sense,  namely:

a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy

This explains the title of the Clint Eastwood film “Changeling.”

WOTD: Idiot

Today’s first of the two words of the day was inspired by the Pittsboro “Plenty” that commenter Joewalker16 mentioned in my last post.

more about “Word Of The Day!“, posted with vodpod

Anyway, the first word of the day is idiot:

c.1300, “person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning,” from O.Fr. idiote “uneducated or ignorant person,” from L. idiota “ordinary person, layman,” in L.L. “uneducated or ignorant person,” from Gk. idiotes “layman, person lacking professional skill,” lit. “private person,” used patronizingly for “ignorant person,” from idios “one’s own”

You see, the folks who support this local currency are idiots, both in the sense of the Greek ἴδιος:

I. one’s own, pertaining to oneself

II. separate, distinct

and in the sense of the Late Latin idiota, which we see above means “uneducated or ignorant person.” Thus the driver that I saw yesterday with the bumper sticker that read “If we continue to buy imports, where will our children work?” is an idiot, for she is ignorant of the way imports and exports find a natural balance in the market.

Give me a break

Here’s a clip from FOX News. The guys are discussing practice of individuals or businesses printing their own currency. Obviously this is supposed to have viewers recall their U.S. history, particularly the “Great Depression.” At that time towns were so poor and isolated that it was necessary to barter and from there arose the need to print currency. However, these people have been printing their own currency since 2001 and not at all for the same reasons as the corporations in the 1930s.This is a joke.

more about "Give me a break", posted with vodpod