Just watch this.
The Market Ticker - Inflated
12 hours ago
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Synchronized Debating
For any of you who feel that the presidential debates were worth watching... Who thought that it was an actual debate, vs. a carefully scripted chance to expound talking points from previous speeches... Who didn't realize it was the same tired rhetoric over and over and over again...
Just watch this.
Just watch this.
A 3rd Grade Civics Lesson
Originally posted on the Campaign for Liberty blog, courtesy of Don Rasmussen (via his mother)
Before you dismiss this, honestly think about it.
The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade. The presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest. I decided we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote.
To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members. We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot.
The class had done a great job in their selections. Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia’s mother. The day arrived when they were to make their speeches. Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best. Every one applauded. He sat down and Olivia came to the podium. Her speech was concise. She said, “If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream.” She sat down. The class went wild. “Yes! Yes! We want ice cream.”
She surely would say more. She did not have to. A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn’t sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it. She didn’t know. The class really didn’t care. All they were thinking about was ice cream. Jamie was forgotten. Olivia won by a land slide.
Every time Barack Obama opens his mouth he offers ice cream, and fifty percent of America reacts like nine year olds. They want ice cream. The other fifty percent know they’re going to have to feed the cow.
Before you dismiss this, honestly think about it.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
I was briefly listening to NPR today, as they were scoffing at the current charge of "Socialist" being tossed at Barack Obama. That's ridiculous, they said. We've all known socialism doesn't work; the USSR proved it!
True, very true. That doesn't mean that we're not headed that way, and rapidly. Soon, we'll be more centrally planned, controlled, and socialist than China. That's not crazy conspiracy theory talk; it's a matter of public record.
Some interesting reads on the economy... If you want to read up on that, that is.
Marc Faber predicts the US will go bankrupt soon.
Duh!
Greenspan says it's not his fault! He can't believe the free market did this!
Putz.
Disaster Capitalism for Dummies... And guess who the dummies are? That's right; the American people.
Grand Theft America! An even more pessimistic look at where we are. Sadly, I haven't much to refute it.
Finally, a light-hearted look at socialism: Wackonomics.
Enjoy! Liberty and Justice for all... Until now, that is.
True, very true. That doesn't mean that we're not headed that way, and rapidly. Soon, we'll be more centrally planned, controlled, and socialist than China. That's not crazy conspiracy theory talk; it's a matter of public record.
Some interesting reads on the economy... If you want to read up on that, that is.
Marc Faber predicts the US will go bankrupt soon.
Duh!
Greenspan says it's not his fault! He can't believe the free market did this!
Putz.
Disaster Capitalism for Dummies... And guess who the dummies are? That's right; the American people.
Grand Theft America! An even more pessimistic look at where we are. Sadly, I haven't much to refute it.
Finally, a light-hearted look at socialism: Wackonomics.
Enjoy! Liberty and Justice for all... Until now, that is.
Explaining the Tax System with Beer
I encountered this in the comments to Rachel Lucas' blog. I thought it quite eloquent.
Explaining Our U.S. Tax System with Beer
==============================================
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beers by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.’
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free, but once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!” “Yeah, that’s right,”exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got TEN times more than I!” “That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!” “Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!” The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something very important….they didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics University of Georgia
Explaining Our U.S. Tax System with Beer
==============================================
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beers by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.’
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free, but once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!” “Yeah, that’s right,”exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got TEN times more than I!” “That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!” “Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!” The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something very important….they didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics University of Georgia
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Who's on First?
This is quite possibly the funniest skit I have seen in years.
It's from an Australian news parody known as "Newstopia." Incredibly funny at all times, but this was the best of the best. It takes the modern news "forums" and spins it in an absurdity unparalleled since the infamous "who's on first?" skit.
Just watch. Be prepared to pause for laughter - it is relentless in its pursuit of random humor.
It's from an Australian news parody known as "Newstopia." Incredibly funny at all times, but this was the best of the best. It takes the modern news "forums" and spins it in an absurdity unparalleled since the infamous "who's on first?" skit.
Just watch. Be prepared to pause for laughter - it is relentless in its pursuit of random humor.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Some more good reading
An excellent interview with Dr. Helen Smith titled "The Apex Fallacy"
On the economy - an EXCELLENT analogy showing the fallacies of the Keynesian economic assertions of current economic gurus such as Paul Krugman (recent Nobel laureate). It's called "The Importance of Capital Theory"
It amazes me that an economic school that so far has predicted every major turn of our economy for the last hundred years or so is considered "obsolete" - while the more modern schools of thought are completely flummoxed at our current crisis.
On the economy - an EXCELLENT analogy showing the fallacies of the Keynesian economic assertions of current economic gurus such as Paul Krugman (recent Nobel laureate). It's called "The Importance of Capital Theory"
It amazes me that an economic school that so far has predicted every major turn of our economy for the last hundred years or so is considered "obsolete" - while the more modern schools of thought are completely flummoxed at our current crisis.
Blogs I've been following...
Okay, best intentions in the world notwithstanding, I just haven't had a lot of time to write. But I'm going to start posting more, because there's a ton of interesting stuff out there.
Here are a couple of cool reads:
On politics - Chance Litton's "A Revolution in Thinking, or How I Stopped Drinking the Kool-Aid"
Also on politics - Jack Hunter's "Don't Throw Away Your Vote"
On a different note, I've been hearing non-stop about this "Twilight" book. From everything I could tell, it was another cheesy vampire romance. Like we need another one of those. Weren't the last fifty thousand bad enough? But every girl seems to be enthralled. So I decided to read a couple reviews. This one summed it up well enough that I don't think I need to bother reading it:
"Examining Twilight"
All I can say is that I don't understand why women read this trash. It's utter, worthless, dreck. It lacks plot, originality, substance, style. It's just plain shit. Women just don't have the intellect to read real worthy material like men do, I guess.
Did I say intellect? Shit. I think that might be the wrong word.
Here are a couple of cool reads:
On politics - Chance Litton's "A Revolution in Thinking, or How I Stopped Drinking the Kool-Aid"
Also on politics - Jack Hunter's "Don't Throw Away Your Vote"
On a different note, I've been hearing non-stop about this "Twilight" book. From everything I could tell, it was another cheesy vampire romance. Like we need another one of those. Weren't the last fifty thousand bad enough? But every girl seems to be enthralled. So I decided to read a couple reviews. This one summed it up well enough that I don't think I need to bother reading it:
"Examining Twilight"
All I can say is that I don't understand why women read this trash. It's utter, worthless, dreck. It lacks plot, originality, substance, style. It's just plain shit. Women just don't have the intellect to read real worthy material like men do, I guess.
Did I say intellect? Shit. I think that might be the wrong word.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Rachel Lucas is SO channeling me!
Check it out!
Hey, at least I wrote it first! As far as I know, that is... Of course, she does it with actual quotes, pics, and even a DeMotivational Poster.
I'm low-budget, okay?
Jester
Hey, at least I wrote it first! As far as I know, that is... Of course, she does it with actual quotes, pics, and even a DeMotivational Poster.
I'm low-budget, okay?
Jester
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