Category: politics

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economics politics

Doesn’t this sound familiar?

“We need to pass this bill NOW in order to protect this country. It is imperative that this bill be passed post haste so that things do not get worse…”

This is, of course, the tack that Obama is taking in trying to get this spending bill passed. It is also exactly the same technique used by Bush to get no only the TARP legislation passed, but also the invasion of Iraq. Are people’s memories that short? Does no one remember what happened when congress was railroaded into those types of spending bills? Most of what is in this bill would not come online until 2011, so what’s the rush?

Categories
economics politics

Bailout rap

First saw this over at Mises blog. Can’t say a lot about the talent involved, but I do like the message…

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art culture freedom photography politics

A great picture

This came from the website of the Yemen Observer, one of the English language newspapers in Yemen.

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Her name is Boushra Almutawakel and she is a photographer in Yemen. Needless to say, a female photographer in Yemen is a rather unusual thing. You can read the article via the link above to read more about her. I want to say a few things about this picture.

There’s no way to know what she meant by it but I find it quite powerful. Many people in the US and Europe see the hijab as a repressive aspect of Arab culture. Of course those people have probably never asked one of those women why they cover up. Part of it is simply dressing appropriately in that culture. A woman here in the US might have a reason to go topless, but she would have to think about it long and hard before she did so. It just isn’t done for the most part.

A more important part of the hijab is its religious importance for those women. By wearing the hijab, they reaffirm what they believe. Here in the US and in Europe, it is also a marker of her faith. Women who wear hijab here know that they are in some senses representing Islam so they better act accordingly. I wish more people that wore a cross would remember that as well.

The hijab is very powerful symbolism when taken in context of faith. Women are quite literally taking refuge under it and by extension Islam. That is why, in my opinion, wearing the American flag as hijab is so powerful. It is not just a religious statement, it is political.

Of course, it is the kind of politics that I like. She is free to do this, the US constitution guarantees her freedom to not only make this statement but to be a Muslim as well. It is everything that makes this nation great.

She may have been making an “in your face” statement to Americans with it. She might have targeted those people that conflate Christianity and being American or it may have been some sort of statement about the so called War on Terror. I have no idea, but that’s one of the great things about art, the artist does their thing and we are left to makes sense of it. What I love about it is going to piss some others off. How an American acts will probably be different than someone living in the middle east. The many different responses that can come from this is what makes it a great work in my opinion.

You go girl!

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politics

Bush hatred and Obama euphoria

This is an excellent article about what is going on behind the hatred of Bush and the euphoria over Obama being elected. I do think that politics has turned into a search for redeemers and villains more so than looking for good managers. It’s an odd thing if you can get a perspective far enough away.

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economics politics

Political entrepreneurs

A really nice piece from Cato…

“I was asked by a radio host more than once this week what I thought of the fact that some big business leaders were standing by President Obama in his pursuit of the gargantuan “stimulus” package. There is an unfortunate public perception that supporters of free markets are knee-jerk supporters of anything that could be perceived as benefiting “big business.” As the thinking apparently goes, because free marketers favor business, and members of the business community favor the stimulus, shouldn’t free marketers therefore favor the stimulus?

Hardly. In his book, The Myth of the Robber Barons, historian Burton Folsom differentiates between market entrepreneurs and political entrepreneurs:”

There is a huge difference between those two. Market entrepreneurs innovate and compete on services and quality of the goods they produce. Political entrepreneurs lobby the government to “protect” them. Protect them from what? From competition, the friend of the consumer and the enemy of the business owner.

Any time you see a large company, or an industry group putting their weight behind legislation be on guard, especially if it will cost them money. Inevitably, the legislation will have been worth every penny they invested in it to get it passed…

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politics

This is what I was hoping for from Obama

This article is what I, and many other people were looking for from Obama. Imagine, a leader saying that the future is important! It is a relief to hear that he thinks that people in the middle east are important. Honestly, I think that W probably thought so to, but he never actually said it. That’s a big deal. There are plenty of people over here (believe it or not) that don’t think that W is a monster, so they are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, not so over in the middle east.

Anyway, a televised interview on an Arabic station is a huge first step, let’s hope he’ll continue the healing process.

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culture politics

People hear what they want to hear (Obama is a Muslim, etc.)

I had dinner with a friend of mine last night and she recounted a conversation she had with someone that was working on her car. He wasn’t real happy about Obama being elected and she asked him why. He told her of some of his fears like, “He is going to release all the people in Gitmo and let them out on the street, he’s going to give away all of our money and raise taxes, etc.” But the kicker was that Obama is a muslim! Now, my friend is an ordained Episcopal priest and lived, for a while, very close to where Obama went to church in Chicago. She asked the car guy to take her word for it when she said that Obama was a Christian. He just looked at her like she was nuts and said, “But he said he was during the inauguration!”

As you all know, I have some problems with Obama, but I like to think that any criticisms I level against him are based on his actions and agenda. I don’t make things up out of thin air… It was pretty obvious that this guy had heard rumors of Obama being muslim (his middle name is Husain, hello, how much more obvious can you get?) and then listened for something to confirm it for him. I have no idea what to do about people like that… All you can do is keep telling him no…

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politics

Worried about where our money is going in the bailout?

So is Russ Roberts over at Cafe Hayek. Like a true Hayekian, he understands the real information comes from the bottom up, not from the top down. This bailout bill is massive, there is no way any one person, or even a group can keep tabs on this and actually track where the money goes. So there is both a Wiki and a blog set up in order to take advantage of the wisdom of crowds. Ultimately, they will try to use these tools to keep track of the money that is disbursed by letting all people participate.

It’s an ambitious project, but it’s really the only hope we have of keeping track of things. This is also a non-partisan thing. Even though the democrats are the ones advancing this, I’m sure there will be many bones thrown the republicans’ way to grease the political wheels. Pork is an affliction shared by both parties…

So feel free to keep tabs on them, and if you know anything, or know anyone that would know something, please participate!!!

Categories
economics free market politics

From 1850

“The delusion of the day is to enrich all classes at the expense of each other; it is to engender plunder under pretense of organizing it.”

Quite so, some things never change…

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economics politics

Why is Obama spreading fear?

His remarks today basically amount to, “OMG! We need to do something now or else things will crash and burn! We need to do it now now now!!! Can’t you see how bad things are getting?”

A big part of consumer confidence is just that, confidence. If the next president, this so-called agent of hope and change, is saying that the end is near, are we so surprised that people aren’t spending money? Why on earth would they think that now is a good time to make purchases like houses, cars, etc. when the next president is saying we are on the brink of disaster?

So what should he do Isaac? Well, he should reassure us that the economy is going through a change, that things will not be the way they were before. But once those things that need to happen do happen (GM cough cough), the economy will pick up again. Even if that’s not the case, that is the message that he needs to spread, not doom and gloom. He doesn’t have to campaign anymore, he’s got the job.

Of course I know why he’s doing this. He sees this recession as a way of promoting his political aims. By making things sound awful, he makes it more likely that his ideas will come to pass because the politicians have to do something… Ugh…