You won’t see him in the debates, but he is beginning to get some buzz in the media. Texas Gubernatorial candidate James Werner’s coverage includes an article in the Dallas Morning News back in July (I know, old stuff), and more recently, in the Waxahachie Daily Light, an article where the title seemingly changed […]
From Hammer Of Truth
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
NY Times: Senate Passes Bill on Building Border Fence
I very rarely agree with Democrats, but as the saying goes: a broken clock is right twice a day.
“You don’t have to be a law enforcement or engineering expert to know that a 700-mile fence on a 2,000-mile border makes no sense,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin […]
From The Liberty Papers
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
The excellent Dr. John Crippen at NHS Blog Doctor on what is really happening with all that money in the NHS. Doctors are no longer examining patients, making diagnoses. It is now the specialist nurses (who he calls Nurse Quacktitioners) and if people are not dying of this yet, as a child nearly did in this case, it’s only a matter of time.
Mr. Eugenides (a small warning, his language is perhaps more colourful than the average maiden aunt would be comfortable with) with more on the health service, this time the massive computerization contracts. Accenture has apparently walked away from the whole project and CSC, well, there are questions about exactly what they have been doing.
James Waterton at Samizdata with a very gloomy analysis of the prospects for Russia. Demography matters, as Mark Steyn says, and a rapidly falling population isn’t going to help things.
On a more fun and weekendy note, Squander Two has an excellent idea on how to deal with an office full of the newish polyphonic ring tones.
If multi-channel TV doesn’t seem to have anything to excite you this weekend A Singapore Economist has links to all of Milton and Rose Friedman’s show, ‘ Free To Choose’. Sometimes it really is true that the oldies are the goodies.
Brad Delong may be a Democrat but he’s far too good an economist not to spot the errors in Duncan Foley’s new book, ‘Adam’s Fallacy’. Yes, it is our eponymous Adam who is supposed to have been fallacious and Delong does a good job of showing Foley’s own errors (perhaps that is too kind: his complete misunderstandings).
Many things have been said to contribute to global warming and tobacco smoking to contribute to many ills. Lemuel out in Slovakia finds that, it is said, Al Gore blames the latter in part for the former.
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Sacha Baron Cohen, an English Jew of Persian decent, has made a pretty good living the past few years with a shtick based on lampooning Arabs and Muslims. Mr. Cohen, (aka "Ali G." and "Borat") the funnyman in question here,…
From Strike The Root
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Remember, when someone annoys you, it takes 42 muscles in your face to frown, but it takes only 4 muscles to extend your arm and smack the fool on the head.
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
The Spectator carries an interview (by Matthew d’Ancona) with Senator John McCain – Republican front-runner for the 2008 Presidential race – where he delivers fulsome praise for David Cameron and compares him to J F Kennedy. He praises Cameron’s “youth, enthusiasm, willingness to embrace new ideas based on conservative policies,” and pays particular tribute to his fresh emphasis upon the environment. “It’s very obvious to me that what Mr Cameron is trying to do is what I’ve been trying to do: preserve your base principles and philosophies, but also see how you can shape those policies to attract what is viewed as the independent voter, or the great middle of the British electorate.”
“I have seen in them an attempt to restore confidence in voters that ethics, clean government, influence of money are priorities, and the influence of money and campaign contributions can be absolutely minimised so that there is less representation by the special interests, and more by the general populace.” he continues. An Iraq war hawk, he praises Cameron’s robustness on the issue, and expects him to preserve the ’special relationship’ across the Atlantic.
The interview comes ahead of McCain’s Conservative Conference next week. But his comments tell us more about McCain and US politics than Cameron and British politics. Praising the British Conservative leader plays well in the Republican core vote (or ‘base’) in the United States. The implication is that the ’special relationship’ will continue to be special between him and a Cameron-led UK. Calling Cameron a realigning politician with the potential of JFK is really an attempt to get people to think of McCain that same way. The environment is a key US issue, too. At the age of 70, he cannot claim to youth, but “enthusiasm, willingness to embrace new ideas” on subjects such as the environment are what he wants to underscore for his own electorate. Likewise, his view about the Conservatives reaching out to new voters – just as Arnold Schwarzenegger did for the Republicans in California.
Like Princess Diana, an early tragic death made JFK an icon. Aspiring to emulate his charisma is one thing; aspiring to some of his sillier policies would be quite another. But then JFK did of course cut taxes, with hugely positive results. Perhaps McCain should tell the Conservative leader to emulate that.
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
A story from earlier this month did not attract much attention, but is worth noting. Bryant Urstadt reported for Technology Review about a major discovery by oil firms Chevron, Devon, and Statoil based on new technology in sea level seismic data. The newly located reserve is in the Jack Field, about 250 miles south of New Orleans. It’s a big find.
The well sustained a flow rate of about 6,000 barrels a day, strong enough to encourage analysts to predict that the field may contain anywhere from three billion to fifteen billion barrels of oil, although the results of a second well test scheduled for 2007 will sharpen the accuracy of those figures considerably. If the higher-end estimate is correct, though, the discovery would approach Prudhoe Bay in size, and possibly increase total U.S. reserves by some 50 percent.The new field is “sub-salt,” beneath a signal-scrambling salt layer that major computing advances have enabled us to penetrate and read more accurately than before. The consortium is still working out whether to bring it ashore via a fleet of shuttle tankers, or whether to go for an expensive, but high volume, pipeline. Apart from the role new technology has played, the other thing worth noting is that the new reserve of oil is not dependent on politically unstable or capricious governments; except the US, of course.
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Senator James Inhofe, Chairman of the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has just made a major speech on media coverage of global warming. His basic case is that the media have given up any pretence to objectivity, in that alarmism is popular and profitable, whereas balance is not. The man is quite eloquent and quite well-informed, so I’ll let him speak for himself.
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Declared my recently-returned father, after enthusing over many aspects of Russia's cultural heritage and before waxing lyrical about the beauty of its landscape. He opined that the country appears to be in a sort of collective malaise; birth rates have declined markedly, with terminated pregnancies outnumbering their full-term counterparts significantly. The population is shrinking and the remainder are scared out of their wits - Dad surmised the latter opinion from his observation that Russian churches…
From Samizdata.net
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester has been further honoured for her bravery and coolness under fire. The United Service Organizations celebrated its 65th anniversary last night and honored troops from each branch of the military for heroism. "We are thankful that we are defended by men and women of character and courage, and we are grateful to all the USO volunteers to work to entertain them," President Bush said in a video message to the 65th…
From Samizdata.net
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
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