RANT: A comment about Gooferment Skrules

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Despite having no children of my own, I fought about this during the NJ Tax Revolt of the 80’s. This is a multi-part problem. And, it’s not ALL the fault of the Teachers’ Union. The politicians and bureaucrats have created a mess and “We, The People” have allowed it to happen.

First problem is the Parents. Yup, they are part of the problem; probably the most important part. They tolerate this “barbara streisand”. No one has children and wants to see them ruined. Yet, that very decision they make to procreate, I am expected to pay for. Education is the parent’s responsibility. First and foremost. No one else’s. To assume that the Gooferment has a role, any role, in “education” is to cede the very ground that the battle must be fought on.

So now let’s deal with the situation at hand. We can’t wave a magic wand and make it “magically delicious”. People have been trained, like dogs doing tricks, into thinking that this is the best or only way. We have to reverse that over time and allow people to adapt.

Right now, “we” have Gooferment Skrules. The Gooferment “pays” and “operates”. So I would suggest we have to adapt out of it in two steps. Two twenty year plans! (Yeah, I know it sounds like the USSR and its always failing Five Year Plans.) Focus first on operation. Create vouchers equal to 20k and give them to 5% more students each year. At the end of 20 years, parents will have been trained to “buy” their children’s education. Then, for the next 20 years, reduce the voucher by 5%. This will push the bill more and more to the parents. (They decided to have them and they will have to pay to educate them.) Churches, businesses, and a civil society will create new forms of schooling for new subjects and the poor. (Remember Catholic schools were created for the poor.)

I think this would solve the problem. Not quickly but eventually it would. Permanently!

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RANT: The Irish bishops are making a severe blunder

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=9343

Irish bishops condemn ‘selfish’ economic policies, support higher taxes
February 21, 2011

*** begin quote ***

Less than a week before elections in the Irish republic, the Irish bishops’ conference has released a statement charging that current public policies violate principles of justice and offend against the common good.

The statement released by the bishops’ committee on justice and peace, entitled From Crisis to Hope: Working to achieve the Common Good, said that the country’s current economic problems can be traced to immoral policies and perspectives. “Greed became dominant, trust was betrayed, and the result was the recession in which we now are,” said Bishop John Kirby of Clonfert, at a press conference in Dublin introducing the statement.

Bishop Raymond Field, a Dublin auxiliary who chairs the justice-and-peace committee, said: “Poverty and social exclusion, experienced by increasing numbers of people in Ireland today, North and South, represent gross violations of human dignity.”

The bishops’ statement called for greater efforts to relieve poverty, both in Ireland and, through foreign aid, in developing countries. The statement suggested that Ireland’s tax rates must be raised to support the necessary social services.

*** end quote ***

With all due respect to the Irish bishops, they are made a severe blunder. They are not fighting the evil King, defending human freedom, and protecting religious freedom.

They are buying into the meme of a government that does everything. The Nanny State.

A better meme is “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”.

They would be better served by learning from the Good Samaritan. He helped the victim out of his own pocket. He didn’t make others pay for his charity. He took pity on the victim but didn’t call for the Gooferment to fix the problem.

There are many reasons why the bishops are blundering. Two that come to mind right off the top of the head — charity to be effective has to be personal — AND — involving politicians and bureaucrats makes the overhead costs skyrocket.

Poverty can’t be fixed by stealing from some and giving to others.

The USA’s “War on Poverty” is an abject failure. The richest country in the world and in recorded history couldn’t “solve” poverty. Because Gooferment was the meme.

Is it charitable to keep the poor poor?

Gooferment “welfare” isn’t designed for people to prosper. It’s designed to keep the maximum number of voters voting and bureaucrats employed.

Peal away the disincentives to success and train people to stand on their own two feet and help themselves. Tough love. With Churches, Fraternal Organizations, Clubs, Societies, Families, Clans and groups to provide “help”. “Help” that really helps; not ensnares people in despair and multi-generational poverty as “welfare farmers”.

We can do better. And, the bishops should lead; not whine for more Gooferment handouts.

Argh!

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RANT: Just heard Huckabee on TV

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Huckster says R’s shouldn’t waste time on Obama’s birth certificate because “if there was any hard evidence Hillary would have found it”.

Sorry but what is being hidden?

I don’t agree with him. Where there’s smoke there is fire.

The Birgitta have raised a plausible and credible claim. Congress held hearings on McCain’s eligibility; why not Obama’s?

Was a deal struck between the D’s and the R’s?

As Judge Judy says about “notarized tongues”, I don’t trust any of them. Maybe Ron Paul, but none of the others.

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RANT: Bears’ Duerson shot himself

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Bears’ Duerson shot himself; brain to be studied – Chicago Breaking Sports

Bears’ Duerson shot himself; brain to be studied

February 19, 2011 6:52 PM |

By Dan Pompei and Duaa Eldeib

*** begin quote ***

Former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Tribune.

His death has been ruled a suicide, but the Miami-Dade police department has yet to make the information public.

*** end quote ***

Sad. Maybe the “game” needs more safety?

# # # # # posted 2011-02-20 05:08


RANT: TLE gets surpressed?

Saturday, February 19, 2011

<Broken Link>

https://ncc-1776.org/

Federal Marshals Threaten, Censor «Libertarian Enterprise» By L. Neil Smith

*** begin quote ***

“I’ll remind you all, however, that for government, existence is a privilege, not a right.” L. Neil Smith

For the first time, in its sixteenth year of publication, this journal of libertarian views and opinion — bound by an absolute moral resolve never to initiate force against anyone for any reason, nor to advocate or delegate its initiation — has been threatened by agents of the federal government and ordered to remove content from its website.

We have done so. When you learn, in a general way, what that content consisted of, you will be perplexed, at first, then angrier and angrier as you see what has been done to what was once a free country, and realize precisely who is most responsible for having done it.

Last August, _TLE_ ran a piece by our frequent contributor Jim Davidson about the hypocrisy of the federal judiciary. Three federal judges had just authorized a practice in which armed government agents could feel free to trespass on a citizen’s property without a warrant or probable cause, in order to affix a GPS tracker to that citizen’s car.

Our columnist’s natural and logical response was to deprive these judges of privacy the same way they were allowing the privacy of the individuals who pay their salaries (however involuntarily) to be violated. Using only publicly available sources, he published their names, addresses, and other information. Let me state that again, so there can be no mistake: he published their names, addresses, and other such information which he had obtained from purely public sources.

This week — six months later — we have been notified, first by our domain registrar GoDaddy.com, then in an e-mail from the U.S. Marshals’ “service” that we must remove the offending article from _TLE_’s website, in order to assure the safety of the judges and their families. (This, of course, begs the question, why in the hell their information is publicly available if it constitutes a threat to their safety.) GoDaddy.com has refused to answer reasonable questions about this affair — such as precisely what Terms of Service we were in violation of — instead simply repeating the order to remove the material.

We have complied.

*** end quote ***

Clearly, The Elite are becoming very concerned that “We, The People” know where they live. The Mundanes have no privacy; the Efete Elite do!

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RANT: Bribes to Brazil to Continue

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Bribes to Brazil to Continue | Cato @ Liberty.

*** begin quote ***

An amendment to end what Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) rightly called “lunacy” failed this afternoon in a depressing show of cowardice on cotton subsidies. The amendment [Amendment No. 89] would have ended payments to Brazilian [yes, sic] cotton farmers that cost U.S. taxpayers $150 million a year.  The House rejected the amendment 183 to 246.

*** end quote ***

Argh!

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RANT: Advertisers offend this fat old white guy injineer

Friday, February 18, 2011

Now it probably doesn’t mean a hill of beans to the advertisers, but I’m going to take a stand.

I REFUSE to buy any product whose advertising denigrates men!

First candidate: Hillshire Farms. You know the “Go Meat!” folks.

Who think that young girls can make young boys look dumb.

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RANT: Gooferment abuses its power

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41372870

http://www.loweringthebar.net/2011/02/immigration-officer-puts-wife-on-the-no-fly-list.html or http://tinyurl.com/4qghpxg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351937/Immigration-officer-fired-putting-wife-list-terrorists-stop-flying-home.html

http://tinyurl.com/67ofkgo

*** begin quote ***

A UK immigration officer decided to get rid of his wife by putting her on the no-fly list, ensuring that she could not return to the UK from abroad. This worked for three years, until he put in for a promotion and — during the routine background check — someone investigated why his wife was on the no-fly list.

Okay, so he’s an idiot. And a bastard. But the real piece of news here is how easy it is for a UK immigration officer to put someone on the no-fly list with *absolutely no evidence* that that person belongs there. And how little auditing is done on that list. Once someone is on, they’re on for good.

That’s simply no way to run a free country.

*** end quote ***

Gooferment just does stuff. No appeal. No checking. No oversight.

There’s a reason that the judicial systems requires a battle of adversaries to determine the truth.

Where’s the “Appeal to God” when you need it? You know like in the movie “Ivanhoe”.

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RANT: This shows that medical regulation is hopeless

Thursday, February 10, 2011

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3403090/Brit-wannabe-hip-hop-star-Claudia-Aderotimi-died-after-her-illegal-op-went-tragically-wrong.html

Bottom implant op kills hip hop girl
By ALEX WEST, CAROLINE GRANT and PETE SAMSON, US Editor

*** begin quote ***

THIS is British wannabe hip-hop star Claudia Aderotimi, who died after an illegal cosmetic procedure to enhance her bottom went tragically wrong.

*** and ***

Police said she and her pals checked into the cheap Philadelphia hotel to have the illegal procedure.

But almost 12 hours after receiving the injections in her rear she began complaining of chest pains and was rushed to hospital, where she died at 1.32am on Tuesday.

It is suspected she may have been injected with industrial silicone normally used as a sealant instead of the more expensive variety usually used for legal breast enlargements.

It is also thought the substance was mistakenly injected into a vein.

US cops were last night seeking the “doctor”, who left after giving the jabs in room 425 of the Hampton Inn hotel, near Philadelphia airport.

*** end quote ***

RIP Claudia. You looked beautiful; you were beautiful. What made you think you needed more?

Perhaps if we had LESS Gooferment regulation of medical stuff, this might not have happened.

Hard to believe that a free market in medicine would not have made her more suspicious of a strange practitioner, given her options that she could afford, and permitted her to have it done at a cost she could afford safely.

In this case, the Gooferment has failed in its only duty to protect “We, The People” from force or fraud.

“Medical tourism” gone awry. Why didn’t she go to Asia or India like the other folks do?

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RANT: Responding to a comment about “Gooferment Skrules”

Monday, February 7, 2011

http://channel-surfing.blogspot.com/2011/02/private-funding-for-public-schools.html

>Corporate America, … are all on board for school “privatization”

In America, I doubt you could get that lot “on board” for anything. And, btw, the Facebook guy gave his money to what? Wasn’t it a “public school system”?

>charter schools and school vouchers would be dead in the water

The really ARE “dead in the water”. The Teacher’s Union will ensure that they are crippled out of the box with restrictions and conditions.

>libertarians hate public schools because they are selfish

No, this little L libertarian hates Gooferment Skrules because they are funded by force.

>just don’t want to pay taxes.

You’re right. I want to buy services in the marketplace where I can pick and choose. Yes to Burger King; no to Wendy’s. I don’t want to be forced to fund McD’s and then told “but you’re free to go elsewhere.” If you steal my wealth, (what little of it I have), then I am NOT free.

>They got their public education

Nope; I got none of that there “pub lick eddykation”.

>attitude is tough luck to the children who are

>being educated in public schools.

Were that they WERE being “educated” in those Gooferment Skrules! They are being propagandized! And, poorly at that. If you look at the stats.

>I received a public education

Well, good for you. Nice to hear that the money poured down the rathole wasn’t totally wasted. And, I’m sure you will tell us how wonderful that Gooferment education was. No propaganda or brain washing there. You’re just defending anything the Gooferment does because that’s the right way to do it.

>I consider it to be an investment in the future.

I love when folks muddle the language. “Investment” is when someone puts capital at risk in hope of a return. My capital was seized by the State and I have no hope of a return. It ain’t “investment” to spend stolen wealth on the euphemism of “public schools”. It’s about “milking the system” for the benefit of politicians, bureaucrats, and their “friends”.

> I got my public education and I want current and future kids to receive a public education.

And, I want to be thin, young, hndsome, and live in peace with my neighbors. It ain’t going to happen! For as long as you and your gang of costumed thugs continue to rob me like a mafia.

>We pool our tax dollars for the common good

No, WE DON’T “pool”. We are ROBBED to fund the things that the elite think are important.

Why do I have to be robbed to to fund any of those things. If I want that “service”, I should be allowed to “buy” it.

Just because, you yell about the Gooferment paying for stuff, doesn’t make it the only way or the right way to do it.

Because ALL Gooferment actions are rooted in FORCE — forcing people to pay for this stuff, those actions are IMMORAL and doomed to failure.

Those things that are NOT outright failures — and it’s hard to think of one thing that is not, are too costly when compared with “private” alternatives. (That’s because a “greedy” businessman is incentivized to satisfy the buyer at the lowest possible cost.)

> NJ public schools are top rated

That’s like saying I have the “prettiest pig in the pen”.

>graduation rates

Are manipulated by politicians and bureaucrats. For example, dropouts are not counted.

>population living in poverty

We disagree about the definition of “poverty”, but I blame the Gooferment for what you cite.

>some schools with serious challenges

Like graduating children scarred for life by not being able to read!

>If we had universal health care and state supported after school care

We’d all be broke and the problems would still exist!

>Germany or Finland have

So why are you here, trying to turn us into them.

>School choice is not a free ride

I don’t like anything that uses tax dollars. Parents had the children; they should educate them. It’s NOT my responsibility!

>Chinese immersion charter school is approved with no input from tax payers.

All Gooferment Skrules are nuts!

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