RedStateEclectic

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As the Euro-Worm Turns

Economist and author Detlev Schlichter weighs in on the  recently hyped anti-austerity movement in Europe:

For a long time media pundits have treated us to the perceived wisdom that economic growth can only come from the actions of the government. Only devaluation through euro-exit, inflation through more money printing and more government deficit-spending, preferably by the still credit-worthy Germans and then fiscally-transferred to the maxed-out Greeks, can revive the economy because only this can lift aggregate demand, the magic cure-all of economic problems.

What is lost on these commentators is that the European mess is nothing but the inevitable result of government-stipulated aggregate demand.  Easy money funded the Spanish and Irish real estate booms and bankrupted their banks and by extension their governments. Easy money allowed Greece’s political class to go on a borrowing binge that has now bankrupted the country and lured large parts of the population into zero-productivity, soon-to-be-eliminated public sector jobs.

Do you still want the state to ‘stimulate’ the economy? – Be careful what you wish for.

Since when have the masses been careful with wishes?

My Newfound Drink

While my curiosity isn't enough to kill a cat, it can be piqued on occasion, well below the level of feline expiration. So it is that I found myself in downtown Aiken at a store called, ironically, The Curiosity Shop.

This store is neat. It's one of the few places where one can enter and have tea and scones, sample European food products, peruse bookshelves, clothing racks, and displays of various and sundry household items not normally chanced upon within the big-box stores. It is here that I bought my copy of 'For a New Liberty', by Murray Rothbard. Just the other day, I witnessed a young lad purchasing a Guy Fawkes mask and, if ever one needed to please an anglophile's lust for 'Dr. Who' merchandise, you need go no farther. Also, if of Scottish heritage, you will find popular Highland wear available in your clan's woven pattern.

On one particular venture, the kids and I were in need of refreshment. While they decided upon their crème soda, birch beer, or cherry-flavored Tango, I zeroed in on something called Kombucha - a kind of fermented sweet tea. I've never tried it but it sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a whirl. Upon opening the cap, one discovers a strong hint of vinegar, but the taste is that of a tangy, weak, sweet/sour Champaign that is very refreshing indeed. It has a slight effervescence and traces of alcohol: two pluses in my book. Being low in carbs as well, I had stumbled upon an instant winner; this is even before I looked at the other benefits.

Within this elixir one can expect to find a goodly portion of enzymes and probiotics, as well as 25% of one's daily intake of Folic Acid, and 20% of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, and B12, as well as stuff heretofore unknown to me listed below:

• 100 mg of EGCG: A potent antioxidant.
• 10 mg of Glucuronic Acid: Helps the body in making vitamin c, as well as a detox agent and liver cleanser. Also helps in regulating hormones.
• 30 mg of Acetic Acid: Helpful in controlling Insulin and blood sugar.

That's quite a drink! And to think… I now have even more reason to visit my favorite store in town. However, due to its acidity and price, it will never be more than an occasional indulgence. But there’s always the crème soda…

Rand Paul: Critiquing the Sausage-Makers

”Republicans have been correct in criticizing the president for trying to pick the winners and losers in energy production. Yet now, a majority of republicans are poised to vote for their own set of taxpayer-subsidized loans to the export-import bank. … The American people know hypocrisy when they see it. The American people know corporate welfare when they see it.”

Rand Paul: Polite Policy Questions

Notice how it is not the head of the department that is at fault, but the collective “we” and their processes which occur beneath him. They, who or whatever ‘they’ are, provide cover for all that is wrong. The singular in politics exists for promotion only.

I am compelled to quote Tolstoy once again:

“From the day when the first members of councils placed exterior authority higher than interior, that is to say, recognized the decisions of men united in councils as more important and more sacred than reason and conscience; on that day began lies that caused the loss of millions of human beings and which continue their unhappy work to the present day.”

Thanks, Republicans

CISPA, or the Cybersecurity Intelligence Sharing And Protection Act, passed the House yesterday. The bill is full of problematic intrusions into individual privacy and online liberty, and yet those members of the House who associate themselves with limited government were largely responsible for its passage.

“The complete roll call shows 206 Republicans voting for the bill, 28 against,” writes reason’s Tim Cavanaugh. “Democrats went 42 to 140 in the opposite direction.”

Of these Republicans, “47 of the 66 members of the House Tea Party Caucus” also supported the bill, notes Patrick Cahalan.

“For those tricky with the math,” Cahalan continues, “this means 88% of the overall GOP members (casting a vote) voted yea, 23% of the Dems (casting a vote) voted yea, and 71% of the Tea Party (casting a vote) voted yea (Paul and Pence didn’t cast a vote).”

Worse still, the bill underwent some last minute changes, which may have made CISPA even worse than in previous iterations.

…So why does a bill that lets government into some of the most private areas of our personal lives garner such support among self-avowed small government conservatives?

National security has become the last bastion of big government on the right, even within the more libertarian-leaning Tea Party caucus. Bastiat’s Broken Window Fallacy only applies to stimulus spending, not to military spending. And big government intrusions into privacy in the name of national security are justified even when they grow government in deeply troubling ways.

If there is a silver-lining it may be the fact that the Obama administration has threatened a veto.

Full Article.

The Friendly Skies

A republican congressman gets felt up like an ordinary person:

“As he was moving up my leg, he moved his hand aggressively up to my crotch and he hurt me,” Canseco said.  “The natural reaction is when someone goes for your crotch and it hurts, you’re going to pull back — and my right arm came down and moved away his hand briskly.”

That’s when the agent stopped the whole process, Canseco said.

“As I moved his hand away, he claims, ‘I’ve been assaulted, I’ve been assaulted,’” he said.

The agent then called the police over and asked them to arrest the lawmaker.

“I told him, ‘Hey, I’m the guy who was assaulted,’” Canseco said.

as·sault [uh-sawlt] noun

1. a sudden, violent attack; onslaught: an assault on tradition.

2. Law . an unlawful physical attack upon another; an attempt or offer to do violence to another, with or without battery, as by holding a stone or club in a threatening manner.

When an officer of the law cries assault, you’re in trouble physically and legally... unless you’re a high level bureaucrat. The actions leading up to such a claim suggest the slippery slope that is the legal definition of ‘assault’. Because of the ambiguity of the word ‘threatening’ an assault is now considered on a preemptive basis like many of our more recent government policies.

Since it was the republicans who gave us the TSA, it's kind of poetic that this should happen; not that I condone the TSA’s actions. Some may argue that travel is a privilege. It isn't. Travel is required to trade (and is a trade in and of itself) and trade is required to live. And life is, arguably, still a right in this country.

Just For Fun…

Google the word: Askew

or

Google: "Do a barrel roll"

This one is really good:

Type "illuminati" backwards and add .com to your address bar.

Big-Headed Presidents

The More Things Change…

“You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others, will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself - educating your own judgment. Those that stay must remember, always and all the time, that they are being molded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this society.” ~ Doris Lessing