What I'm Reading
From: LewRocwell.com
Synopsis: Judge Napolitano (Andrew, not Janet) makes the case that not only can the government not protect us, the more it acts, the more less security we will have.
From: HotAir.com
Synopsis:What else needs to be said?
From: Chronicle of Higer Education
Synopsis:At least not in the humanities. The author makes the case that PhDs in the humanities are being overproduced while the number of full time positions is shrinking. Moreover, if you fail to make tenure, you find yourself suddenly almost unemployable. Think carefully.
From: John Birch Society
Synopsis: The reactionary title is the author's conclusion to the news that many schools have stopped teaching spelling. She maintains that the written language is a code and that spelling is the key to encoding and decoding. Without spelling, there is no sense in reading. She recommends a strong dose of phonics and spelling as the antidote to the moribund effort we call modern education.
From: Michael Pollan
Synopsis:Michael Pollan does a fabulous job describing how U.S. government agricultural policy not only influences what is grown in the United States, but U.S. obesity rates and world hunger. So next time you complain about being overweight, you can blame the government. It sounds silly, but that conclusion is not too far fetched. (I do disagree with his conclusion that additional policy is needed to fix things. Just get rid of ALL U.S. government intervention in our culinary lives.
From: Food Inc.
Synopsis:This is a preview of Food, Inc., a movie documenting Big Agriculture. For those of you who know me, you might be wondering why I would be posting, such an "anti-capitalist" flick. The answer is the at Big Agriculture is a creation of fascist and socialist government policies dating from (if not before) the New Deal.
Big Agriculture and its government patrons are extremely anticompetitive (anti-capitalist). This year, the Congress is working on new legislation that could potentially destroy farmer's markets. Of course liberal websites like this one downplay the danger, because although the fine could apply to small farmers and farmer's markets, they don't think the fines will be applied against the little guy. It's funny, because that same logic was used when Congress implemented the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) targeted at a mere 155 of the "uber-rich" and the same logic was used in laws prohibiting concealed carry (they'll only be enforced against blacks).
But WAIT!!! There's more! Barack Hussein Obama appointed a former Monsanto (one of the largest agricultural companies in the world) executive as his "food czar"—yet more proof that the more things change, the more they stay the same. So yes, there are some kooky, silly, wacko-leftist sentiments among those who support the movie, but overall, I think we need to hear the message, especially the part where we have power to change, after all, "You are what you eat."
From: Lewrockwell.com
Synopsis:Like many things the media tells us, the case for petroleum is murky. Like Chicken Little, they tell us the world is ending, and one of the means of its destruction is that we will run out of oil. The author makes the case, the while yes, eventually we will run out of oil (just like eventually the sun will run out of hydrogen and burn out) we will not do so in the foreseeable future and compiles a large amount of evidence to support his case.
From: Lewrockwell.com
Synopsis:The mainstream media likes for us to think of them as watchdogs protecting us from the abuses of power. In reality, they are proponents and cheerleaders of government abuse as long as the story fits their anti-capitalist template. This article summarizes and illustrates some of the abuses.
From: ClimateGate
Synopsis: Describes a scientific paper debunking Global Warming. The paper is linked in the article, but sometimes things disappear from the internet, so the paper is also attached to this page for posterity.
From: Mises.org
Synopsis: One of the things that has lead me back to the libertarian position is the realization that mainstream Conservatives don't really advocate small government at all. Not even bastions of Conservative thought like William F. Buckley, Jr. Most normal people who identify themselves as Conservative do so, I think, because they know that they are not Liberal so they must then be Conservative. I now believe this is a false dilemma illustrated by P.J. O'Rourke's line, "Republicans are the party that says big government doesn't work and then gets elected and proves it."
The last eight years under Bush and the Republican Congress only serve to underline O'Rourke's point—and illustrate Dr. Hoppe's argument in this article. Dr Hoppe synthesizes Conservative rhetoric supporting government all the while pretending not to—much like the pigs in Animal Farm. It's time we either stop being conservative or kick the "conservatives" out.
