This hour long lecture by Dr. Burt Folsom is very entertaining. Its called The Myth of the Robber Barons. Its an incomplete history of subsidized enterprise in the United States that includes the steamship business in the 1800's and the Railroad wars between UP and CP.
The lessons are relevant to our subsidized industries of today. One solution proposed to solve the biased CBC problem would be to create another CBC. We would have a CBC red and a CBC blue. The literal battles between UP and CP show that doubling up on subsidized entities only introduces competition in stupidity. Two wrongs are not right.
It also reminds us that our times do not have the monopoly on stupid adventures with taxpayer money. There have always been subsidy salesmen. There will always be moron socialists who buy in on our behalf. What is different is that now we have the observed history of failure by government intervention. Speak out against government subsidies.
(h/t Capitalism)
Monday, July 25, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Is the Last Shuttle the High Water Mark for Western Civilization?
Usually I have nothing but harsh words for the media.
Yesterday was different and it was because of the last Space Shuttle launch. Thanks for the coverage.
I used to be a huge space buff. I still am, but I had to put my limited resources into saving the country from the stupidest politicians. Now that the least stupid ones are sitting in the most dangerous positions we can relax a bit.
I especially want to thank Charles Adler for his show yesterday. He had Robert Zubrin and Seth Shostack among others on today to talk about Mars and Alien contact respectively. I haven't heard those names in so long and I remember now how much I admired them.
If you get the chance watch the BBC series Hyperspace. Its a bit old now but its narrated by Sam Niel and its very well done. BBC's politics might be biased but they do make some fine documentaries.
The thing that struck me about all this is how far we've (humanity) dropped since the heyday of Apollo and the Shuttle programs. The last Space Shuttle mission might be the high water mark for western civilization. All that is left now is the hitch-a-ride-on-old-communist-junk program. Its sad. I look at movies like Avatar and think of how remote that vision of the future is today.
Remember Avatar? Its about a dark and terrible future where we can travel the gap between stars, grow alien clones in a tank and pilot them in complete sensory emersion virtual reality from a fortress on another planet. That wasn't stupendous, it was wrong and oppressive and a vehicle for atrocity. Do you see what they are doing to us?
There will be no epics among the stars or even our own planets. Some say there never was a future like that. The people who think the space future of the fifties was all a dream forget about the Cold War. The most powerful nations built fleets of tens of thousands of rockets and buried them underground to collect cobwebs. Thank goodness. We got our space future. It was just different than expected.
Now there is nothing and no plans to go anywhere or do anything except to try and validate Global Warming so that the socialists can control everything. Disgusting. Nasa's Rick Hansen is one the primary little green men who push Global Warming hysteria with their every breath. He is even proud of sabotaging the air conditioners at landmark hysteria conferences for good visuals of overheated bureaucrats. That sort of attitude pervades the warmist community.
The end result will be the stifling of growth, the decline of the economy and the ultimate inability to project human will into outer space for the benefit of all mankind. Freedom loving human beings from all races and religions who read this must realise that the hydra of socialism, the cult of giai environmentalism, and defeatist liberalism are a poison and a curse on us all. They must be fought wherever their stink is found. They must be pushed back, discredited and dismantled.
So thanks again for talking about space and reminding me what the quest is all about. Its a war for the future.
Yesterday was different and it was because of the last Space Shuttle launch. Thanks for the coverage.
I used to be a huge space buff. I still am, but I had to put my limited resources into saving the country from the stupidest politicians. Now that the least stupid ones are sitting in the most dangerous positions we can relax a bit.
I especially want to thank Charles Adler for his show yesterday. He had Robert Zubrin and Seth Shostack among others on today to talk about Mars and Alien contact respectively. I haven't heard those names in so long and I remember now how much I admired them.
If you get the chance watch the BBC series Hyperspace. Its a bit old now but its narrated by Sam Niel and its very well done. BBC's politics might be biased but they do make some fine documentaries.
The thing that struck me about all this is how far we've (humanity) dropped since the heyday of Apollo and the Shuttle programs. The last Space Shuttle mission might be the high water mark for western civilization. All that is left now is the hitch-a-ride-on-old-communist-junk program. Its sad. I look at movies like Avatar and think of how remote that vision of the future is today.
Remember Avatar? Its about a dark and terrible future where we can travel the gap between stars, grow alien clones in a tank and pilot them in complete sensory emersion virtual reality from a fortress on another planet. That wasn't stupendous, it was wrong and oppressive and a vehicle for atrocity. Do you see what they are doing to us?
There will be no epics among the stars or even our own planets. Some say there never was a future like that. The people who think the space future of the fifties was all a dream forget about the Cold War. The most powerful nations built fleets of tens of thousands of rockets and buried them underground to collect cobwebs. Thank goodness. We got our space future. It was just different than expected.
Now there is nothing and no plans to go anywhere or do anything except to try and validate Global Warming so that the socialists can control everything. Disgusting. Nasa's Rick Hansen is one the primary little green men who push Global Warming hysteria with their every breath. He is even proud of sabotaging the air conditioners at landmark hysteria conferences for good visuals of overheated bureaucrats. That sort of attitude pervades the warmist community.
The end result will be the stifling of growth, the decline of the economy and the ultimate inability to project human will into outer space for the benefit of all mankind. Freedom loving human beings from all races and religions who read this must realise that the hydra of socialism, the cult of giai environmentalism, and defeatist liberalism are a poison and a curse on us all. They must be fought wherever their stink is found. They must be pushed back, discredited and dismantled.
So thanks again for talking about space and reminding me what the quest is all about. Its a war for the future.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Doubt of the Benefit
I'm trying to get my head around this story from Sun Media today.
Conservatives send congrats to Chinese communists
I don't get it. Why would our president go out of his way to send birthday wishes to the Communist Party of China? Ironically the acronym for both parties is the CPC. Funny.
Is this a result of the recent security breach of the Conservative website? Is it just Chinese propaganda? Is John Walsh looking to make a spectacular exit?
If he really did write this letter then I suggest his resignation letter is soon to follow. It had better be.
I'm trying to imagine what benefit would come from sending the Communist Party a birthday note. There is no political benefit. There is a substantial cost in fact. Was there some favor owed or solicited? Maybe he really doesn't understand what the heck he is president of and thought he was doing a good thing.
Diplomats I can understand. Being nicey nicey to their evil hosts can only make their jobs easier even if its all crap.
This makes no sense. I'm going to need an explanation. I'm still a loyal CPC supporter but I can't in good conscience participate in a party who's president honestly believes 90 years of totalitarian Communist control is something worth congratulating.
Did you send the letter Mr. Walsh? Is this out of context somehow? I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt because I greatly doubt the benefits of this move.
Conservatives send congrats to Chinese communists
I don't get it. Why would our president go out of his way to send birthday wishes to the Communist Party of China? Ironically the acronym for both parties is the CPC. Funny.
Is this a result of the recent security breach of the Conservative website? Is it just Chinese propaganda? Is John Walsh looking to make a spectacular exit?
If he really did write this letter then I suggest his resignation letter is soon to follow. It had better be.
I'm trying to imagine what benefit would come from sending the Communist Party a birthday note. There is no political benefit. There is a substantial cost in fact. Was there some favor owed or solicited? Maybe he really doesn't understand what the heck he is president of and thought he was doing a good thing.
Diplomats I can understand. Being nicey nicey to their evil hosts can only make their jobs easier even if its all crap.
This makes no sense. I'm going to need an explanation. I'm still a loyal CPC supporter but I can't in good conscience participate in a party who's president honestly believes 90 years of totalitarian Communist control is something worth congratulating.
Did you send the letter Mr. Walsh? Is this out of context somehow? I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt because I greatly doubt the benefits of this move.
Drop Progressive from Conservative Parties
Its time for a name change for parties that sport Progressive in their titles but are actually conservative. Sorry. Liberals and Socialists have taken up Progressive as one of their key words. It matters. Whenever the electorate begins to realize what socialists are all about, they change the name and keep the ideology.
This is why Socialists became Liberals and now Liberals are Progressives. Its more palatable they think. I know what was meant by Progressive when applied to Conservatives. The route word is progress while its anything but. Now progressive is about the progress of bigger and bigger government. Its about progress of the laws over people who follow them and coddling for people who don't. Its the same way that Liberals are liberal with spending good peoples money. The classical liberal is gone and so is the progressive. They are all just socialists.
Do you doubt me? Good. Google Progressive. Here is what you see when the Liberal Party shows up.
The Liberal "blog" goes out of its way to use the word progress and its derivatives in every post. "..The summer progresses..., ...we are making progress...'' etc... You might not want to drop your P word yet but they are obviously moving in on it.
Lets ask Alf Apps, Liberal Party President, what he thinks Liberals are:
The Alberta PC's can keep Progressive. They are more progressive than conservative. The rest of you PC's had better think long and hard about what progressive means and what its coming to mean. Do you really want to be socialist conservatives? Its not about progress.
This is why Socialists became Liberals and now Liberals are Progressives. Its more palatable they think. I know what was meant by Progressive when applied to Conservatives. The route word is progress while its anything but. Now progressive is about the progress of bigger and bigger government. Its about progress of the laws over people who follow them and coddling for people who don't. Its the same way that Liberals are liberal with spending good peoples money. The classical liberal is gone and so is the progressive. They are all just socialists.
Do you doubt me? Good. Google Progressive. Here is what you see when the Liberal Party shows up.
Lets ask Alf Apps, Liberal Party President, what he thinks Liberals are:
The Alberta PC's can keep Progressive. They are more progressive than conservative. The rest of you PC's had better think long and hard about what progressive means and what its coming to mean. Do you really want to be socialist conservatives? Its not about progress.
The End of the Beginning for Wild Rose
The introductions are over. Everyone knows the Wild Rose Alliance is on the scene and looking to clean out the decrepid old PC Party. We know that the Wild Rose Alliance is the real thing. They are the grass roots, once in a generation revival of true conservative principals here in Alberta. Their aim is nothing short of replacing the PC pretenders.
Who are PC's anyway? Progressive Conservatives. Progressive is the Politically Correct way to say Liberal in the west. Its as if they are ashamed of just being conservative. They have to qualify it with progressive.
Like the federal Liberals before them, the PC's have become a Natural Governing Party. Its not surprising that people who like to call themselves progressive will also think that a Natural Governing Party is the ultimate goal of a political entity. They think its a good thing. They see nothing wrong with becoming the uncontested supreme rulers of an electorate such that there is no choice for a responsible citizen but their choice. A natural governing party is the de facto government and not responsible to its citizens. Nothing is uglier to a freedom loving conservative than the specter of an entitled and entrenched natural governing party like the PC's.
This isn't just rhetoric. The progressive disease is deeply entwined with every move this Alberta Government makes. Lets run through some the larger controversies the PC government has caused recently.
The PC's have been sitting there so long I can't see a difference between the politicians and the bureaucracy. Its almost like bureaucrats colonized the PC ranks in the decades since their ascendancy. The route to any real power lies with the PC party. There isn't much left except people desperate to get in power and stay in power for their own sake.
There are some glimmers of hope for individual characters in the PC Party. I look forward to your inclusion in the Wild Rose Alliance.
The take home message for Wild Rose is that the PC party has to go. Its not going to go easily. Its going to get ugly and juvenile over there. Look at it already.
Keep your heads. Let them be petty because its all they've got. Enunciate the points above and keep bringing up new ones. People have to know clearly why the PC's are no longer acceptable. They have to see how this government reacts when it gets caught doing something bad and understand that if not for perceptive citizens they would have merrily continued and congratulated themselves for it afterwards.
People need to know that if the government can grab back leases they sold fair and square and shut down private businesses without hearings or trials then they can do anything! Your success is at the pleasure of the bureaucrats.
Its not enough to trot out the speech about Alberta's political history. You know the one. Social Credit was swept out and now the PC's are going to be swept out. It was awesome hearing that the first 10 times, even once on the CBC. What we have to know now is explicitly why the PC's should be swept out. The introductions are over. There is so much to work with too.
Take Stelmach for example. I've got nothing against him as a person, but as a premier? What an embarrassment. I felt sorry for him. He was in way over his head from day one. The only good thing he ever did was quit and look how long its taken him to just do that? -Not before he helped himself to a huge cash goodbye present though. He's got a sympathetic face but he is one self-entitled PC reject.
Our Wild Rose, Danielle Smith, will lead us to victory and as Premier be the shining example to Canada that we all demand.
Who are PC's anyway? Progressive Conservatives. Progressive is the Politically Correct way to say Liberal in the west. Its as if they are ashamed of just being conservative. They have to qualify it with progressive.
Like the federal Liberals before them, the PC's have become a Natural Governing Party. Its not surprising that people who like to call themselves progressive will also think that a Natural Governing Party is the ultimate goal of a political entity. They think its a good thing. They see nothing wrong with becoming the uncontested supreme rulers of an electorate such that there is no choice for a responsible citizen but their choice. A natural governing party is the de facto government and not responsible to its citizens. Nothing is uglier to a freedom loving conservative than the specter of an entitled and entrenched natural governing party like the PC's.
This isn't just rhetoric. The progressive disease is deeply entwined with every move this Alberta Government makes. Lets run through some the larger controversies the PC government has caused recently.
- The Royalty Review.
- The Health Care Review
- Carbon Schemes
- Summarily shutting down private zoos
- seizing oil sands leases
The PC's have been sitting there so long I can't see a difference between the politicians and the bureaucracy. Its almost like bureaucrats colonized the PC ranks in the decades since their ascendancy. The route to any real power lies with the PC party. There isn't much left except people desperate to get in power and stay in power for their own sake.
There are some glimmers of hope for individual characters in the PC Party. I look forward to your inclusion in the Wild Rose Alliance.
The take home message for Wild Rose is that the PC party has to go. Its not going to go easily. Its going to get ugly and juvenile over there. Look at it already.
Keep your heads. Let them be petty because its all they've got. Enunciate the points above and keep bringing up new ones. People have to know clearly why the PC's are no longer acceptable. They have to see how this government reacts when it gets caught doing something bad and understand that if not for perceptive citizens they would have merrily continued and congratulated themselves for it afterwards.
People need to know that if the government can grab back leases they sold fair and square and shut down private businesses without hearings or trials then they can do anything! Your success is at the pleasure of the bureaucrats.
Its not enough to trot out the speech about Alberta's political history. You know the one. Social Credit was swept out and now the PC's are going to be swept out. It was awesome hearing that the first 10 times, even once on the CBC. What we have to know now is explicitly why the PC's should be swept out. The introductions are over. There is so much to work with too.
Take Stelmach for example. I've got nothing against him as a person, but as a premier? What an embarrassment. I felt sorry for him. He was in way over his head from day one. The only good thing he ever did was quit and look how long its taken him to just do that? -Not before he helped himself to a huge cash goodbye present though. He's got a sympathetic face but he is one self-entitled PC reject.
Our Wild Rose, Danielle Smith, will lead us to victory and as Premier be the shining example to Canada that we all demand.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Happy Canada Day!
A very Happy Canada Day to you, your Family and all your Friends. Thank you each for making us all feel so lucky. Now, get out there and enjoy it.
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