Don't Buy Political Bulbs by John R. Lott, Jr.

The hidden costs of compact fluorescent bulbs.

Don't Buy Political Bulbs by John R. Lott, Jr.

The real public service

Thomas Sowell wrote:

Those who have helped the poor the most have not been those who have gone around loudly expressing "compassion" for the poor, but those who found ways to make industry more productive and distribution more efficient, so that the poor of today can afford things that the affluent of yesterday could only dream about.

If you really want to be of service to others, then let them decide what is a service by whether they choose to spend their hard-earned money for it.

Thomas Sowell

Indiana GOP Convention Ups & Downs -- Hoosier Access

Excellent commentary on winners and losers at the Indiana Republican Convention Monday by Hoosier Access, including the following "sound bites":

But what blogs have done is provided unprecedented transparency to a process that would have otherwise happened entirely in the shadows. Never again will a state party in Indiana hold a convention where delegates will be strong-armed. No candidate will want to risk the backlash that would come with being exposed... No contested convention campaign in Indiana is going to be able to ignore blogs in the future...

The Governor’s peeps... were utterly unable to deliver a victory for the man their boss had endorsed. Not only did they fail to deliver a victory to Jon Costas, but word of their apparent use of antiquated strong-arm tactics spread via the internet and caused a backlash that contributed to the impressive margin of Zoeller’s victory...

Hopefully, the Governor will learn from the bungling of his underlings before they ruin something else that can’t be so easily undone...

These are arrogant, bullying people who have yet to realize that they will get much further with the base of the party with friendship, respect, and persuasion...

The chairman of the Marion County GOP worked hard to deliver his county for the Governor’s man. He packed his delegate appointments with dependable votes... He also reportedly demanded loyalty oaths... In the end, however, his packing scheme failed to help Jon Costas carry the day and it caused a popular backlash on the internet and out in the rest of the state that probably more than offset the gains such tactics provided...

Indy Establishment... support seems to be the kiss of death in Indiana politics these days...

HoosierAccess » Blog Archive » Convention Ups & Downs

Senate Panel Says Bush Administration Based Iraq Invasion on Exaggerations | The New American

"Had the Bush administration been able to wrap up business in Iraq neatly and quickly, the American public would probably be as disinterested in the behind-the-scenes intrigue leading up to it as it has typically been regarding previous wars. But the botched-up and prolonged way that this war has been playing out has given too many people too much time to ask too many questions... The time for the American people to demand credible answers is long overdue."

Senate Panel Says Bush Administration Based Iraq Invasion on Exaggerations | The New American

How the GOP kept the Pauliacs Quiet on Monday

Excellent report on the Indiana GOP Convention from fellow delegate Eric Rowe.

The Facts Were These… » Blog Archive » How the GOP kept the Pauliacs Quiet on Monday

The Hoosierpundit: Ignorance Is Bliss, I Suppose

The Hoosierpundit: Ignorance Is Bliss, I Suppose

Becky Skillman the most underestimated politician in Indiana

I am impressed with Lieutenant Governor Skillman as well.

Too bad they saved her speech for last at the convention when the crowd was dribbling away, after the AG results had been announced.

Prosper Group Think: Becky Skillman the most underestimated politician in Indiana

Ron Paul revolution at the Indiana GOP Convention?

Interesting comments here too.

Prosper Group Think: Ron Paul revolution at the Indiana GOP Convention?

Random Indiana GOP Convention Thoughts

Some interesting thoughts on the GOP convention I also attended as an elected delegate.

HoosierAccess » Blog Archive » Random Convention Thoughts

McCain Staffer Supports Dictatorship | The New American

Salon's Glenn Greenwald has reported that Michael Goldfarb, a Weekly Standard staff member, has been named Deputy Communications Director of John McCain’s campaign. Goldfarb believes, or so he says, that a president of the United States has near dictatorial powers.

McCain Staffer Supports Dictatorship | The New American

The Hoosierpundit: The Zoeller Convention Video

The Hoosierpundit: The Zoeller Convention Video

The Revolution: A Manifesto

Good review.

"Ron Paul's outstanding book is must reading for everyone who values liberty."

The Revolution: A Manifesto

WI GOP Convention: Party Rejects Founding Principles

Entertaining, but sad, account.

WI GOP Convention: Party Rejects Founding Principles

Paul has best showing yet, in Idaho, 24%, 27 May 2008

Paul has best showing yet, in Idaho - 2008 Presidential Campaign Blog - Political Intelligence - Boston.com

Sowing More Big Government with the Farm Bill

Ron Paul writes, "Subsidies for agribusiness should be stopped and the free market should be allowed to work. With commodity and food prices on the rise, Congress had an opportunity to scale down government controls and taxpayer funding of agriculture. Instead, despite the warning sent by an 18% approval rating, Congress stubbornly opted for more of the same."

Farm Bill

The Gun Thing by Tricia Shore

Tricia Shore writes, "What will happen when federally-trained police officers, many of whom have been trained to kill in the unconstitutionally declared Iraq war, come to your door demanding your children, as officers did recently in Texas? Do guns look so terrible, so ominous, when these things occur?"

The Gun Thing by Tricia Shore

Can You Really Love Your Country?

Sheldon Richman writes, "Insisting on the alleged virtue of loving one’s country mainly serves to give those in power a blank check."

Can You Really Love Your Country?

The State Punishes Mom/Wife/Peaceful Individual for Escaping Government's Dungeon-- KarenDeCoster.com Web Log

Thus it's not about being peaceful and not committing crimes, for that's not what the state actually desires in the end, though its propaganda will tell us otherwise. It's all about falling into line with the rest of the herd and setting a good example for acquiescence to the state and its collective prescriptions for determining how you will live your life.

KarenDeCoster.com Web Log: The State Punishes Mom/Wife/Peaceful Individual for Escaping Government's Dungeon Archives

Arm Yourself by Charley Reese

Excellent and sobering advice.

Arm Yourself by Charley Reese

Don't Lower the Barr! - Property

Thought-provoking discussion of what an employee is allowed to have in or on his car while parked in his employer's parking lot.

Don't Lower the Barr! - Property

More on Fiscal Conservatives in Indiana AG Race -- The Hoosierpundit

The Hoosierpundit: More on Fiscal Conservatives in AG Race

Costas Endorsements See More Shrinkage -- HoosierAccess » Blog Archive

Indiana GOP Attorney General race update.

HoosierAccess » Blog Archive » Costas Endorsements See More Shrinkage

Climate-change Bill Would Devastate Families and Industries | The New American

Urge your U.S. Senators to vote against this damaging legislation.

Climate-change Bill Would Devastate Families and Industries | The New American

Must a Christian be a Libertarian?

Good, thought-provoking article on political philosophies.

Must a Christian be a Libertarian?

Socialism and the Chinese Earthquake - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

Socialism and the Chinese Earthquake - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

McCain and Able: How the GOP lost the evangelicals in 2008 and put Obama in the White House « Doug Wead The Blog

Doug Wead, Special Assistant to former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, writes:

Like it or not, unless something happens to change things, something beyond the control of the media and John McCain, his campaign is now cooked. Obama only has to avoid public attacks on Christians. And when he does so privately, he better make sure that this time, all telephone cameras are turned off.

McCain and Able: How the GOP lost the evangelicals in 2008 and put Obama in the White House « Doug Wead The Blog

Global Warming Petition Project

Scientists rebutting the human-caused global warming myth.

Global Warming Petition Project

The Enemy Is Always the State - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

"Let me state this as plainly as possible. The enemy is the state. There are other enemies too, but none so fearsome, destructive, dangerous, or culturally and economically debilitating... none are as horrible as the hydra known as the leviathan state."

The Enemy Is Always the State - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

"The Revolution: A Manifesto": We Americans have a Tradition of Rebellion

Good review. I really liked Congressman Paul's book too.

The RogueNation: "The Revolution: A Manifesto": We Americans have a Tradition of Rebellion

Nothing New by Charley Reese

Charley Reese gets it right (although he overlooks presidential candidate Ron Paul).

The only thing that delaying our departure from Vietnam accomplished was more casualties on all sides. The only thing that delaying our departure from Iraq will accomplish is more casualties on all sides.

Why would it be a stain on our honor to end the occupation of Iraq and hand the country back to the Iraqi people to govern as they please? It is, after all, their country, not ours; the oil is their oil, not ours. Not one candidate has the guts to say, "As soon as I'm president, I will order American troops to begin withdrawal." What happens after we leave is an Iraqi problem, not ours.

Americans had better get shut of their imperial delusions and fast, because we are following the path of every empire that has ever existed toward bankruptcy. Do you really want high gas prices, food rationing, health-care rationing and unbearable debt? What kind of standard of living do you think we can maintain with a collapsed education system, a broken infrastructure, a debilitated manufacturing sector and a debt-imploded failed economy?

One reason we are so in debt is that the brainless in our country have been paying for the defense of Europe and Japan ever since the end of World War II.

That allowed Europe and Japan to modernize their factories while ours deteriorated...

For a republic to survive, it needs a well-educated people with self-discipline and high morals, healthy agricultural and manufacturing bases, sound money and a frugal but wise government. I don't see much of that around these days.

April 26, 2008

Nothing New by Charley Reese

We Need Immigrants

Good, thought-provoking review.

We Need Immigrants

Costas v. Zoeller, the Indiana GOP Attorney General Race « Reclaim Our Heritage

Excellent analysis!

Just heard Zoeller speak to a room full of Indiana GOP delegates and I was very impressed.

Costas v. Zoeller, the Indiana GOP Attorney General Race « Reclaim Our Heritage

Why You Need to Meet the Real John McCain

Toto pulls back the curtain (The "real" John McCain) - Homeschoolers for Ron Paul (Vance, AL) - Meetup.com

Ron Paul: The Little Engine That Could « Doug Wead The Blog

Ron Paul: The Little Engine That Could « Doug Wead The Blog

Hawaii Republican Convention report

"They are looking for sheep to hand in the ballots they want."

Hawaii Reporter: Hawaii Reporter

Hawaii Republican Convention

Pretty sad story here from the Hawaii Republican Convention.

Hawaii Reporter: Hawaii Reporter

Is Melissa Hughes the only one embarrassed? | End the War on Freedom

Is Melissa Hughes the only one embarrassed? | End the War on Freedom

But What About the Children? - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

Excellent warning about trying to resolve social issues by the power of government.

But What About the Children? - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

Doug's Blog: Joe Farah on The Texas CPS Seizure of 400 Children

Excellent commentary.

Doug's Blog: Joe Farah on The Texas CPS Seizure of 400 Children

What Ron Paul’s Book Accomplishes by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Good book review.

What Ron Paul’s Book Accomplishes by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Ron Paul on Bailing Out Banks

Bailing Out Banks

Homeland Security blinks on Real ID: No hassles on May 11 | The Iconoclast - politics, law, and technology - CNET News.com

Homeland Security announced Wednesday that all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be technically Real ID-compliant by the May 11, 2008 deadline--even though many states actually have rejected the concept and have zero plans to embrace a national ID card.

Homeland Security blinks on Real ID: No hassles on May 11 | The Iconoclast - politics, law, and technology - CNET News.com

Liberalism, Bureaucratization

Words of wisdom regarding regulation of business by government, penned by von Mises in 1929.

As long as enterprises look only to profit, they are proof against all the evils of bureaucratism. The bureaucratization of privately owned enterprises that we see going on about us everywhere today is purely the result of interventionism, which forces them to take into account factors that, if they were free to determine their policies for themselves, would be far from playing any role whatsoever in the conduct of their business. When a concern must pay heed to political prejudices and sensibilities of all kinds in order to avoid being continually harassed by various organs of the state, it soon finds that it is no longer in a position to base its calculations on the solid ground of profit and loss...

The result is that these and other considerations foreign to the profit-seeking principle of entrepreneurial management come to play an ever increasing role in the conduct of business, while the part played by precise calculation and cost accounting concomitantly dwindles in significance, and private enterprise begins increasingly to adopt the mode of management of public enterprises, with their elaborate apparatus of formally prescribed rules and regulations. In a word, it becomes bureaucratized.

Thus, the progressing bureaucratization of big business is by no means the result of an inexorable tendency inherent in the development of the capitalist economy. It is nothing but the necessary consequence of adopting a policy of interventionism. In the absence of government interference with their operations, even the largest firms could be run in exactly as businesslike a way as the small ones.

Liberalism, Bureaucratization

U.S. House passes big hike in global AIDS funds -- unconstitutional!

This may be a fine charitable cause for private donors, but the U.S. government has no Constitutional authorization, and therefore no business, spending our tax dollars in this sort of fashion.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to more than triple spending to fight AIDS in Africa and other parts of the world, one of President George W. Bush's foremost foreign aid quests.

U.S. House passes big hike in global AIDS funds | International | Reuters


In 2004, Congressman (and current presidential candidate) Ron Paul wrote:

The question nobody in Washington wants to answer is this: What gives the Congress the right to send American tax dollars overseas in the first place? Certainly not the Constitution. Why should American taxpayers, many of whom are poor themselves, be expected to fund foreign welfare? Remember that the poorest Americans are hardest hit by the inflation tax, which is the direct result of deficit spending and the printing of new money to service federal debts...

Even the worst domestic program is better than useless and meddlesome foreign aid.

Saving the World With Your Money by Ron Paul

Another Unexpected Recovery from a Brain Dead Accident Victim | The New American

Ann Shibler writes:

Forty-eight days after being declared dead, Zack returned home under his own power...

These types of "miracles" that come to our attention really do challenge the medical community’s protocols when it comes to medical treatment of the minimally conscious and even brain-dead patients. But this can only be for the better. The more miracles there are, the more improved and longer-lasting treatments will become. Perhaps others will be given the time and care they need to recover, and not so quickly relegated to the morgue.

Another Unexpected Recovery from a Brain Dead Accident Victim | The New American

The Supreme Court Lessens Executive Power | The New American

This looks like a good ruling.

"Some 70 U.S. treaties may be affected by Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling making the president’s unilateral imposition of treaties unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruled that treaties are not binding on states unless they explicitly say so or if there is legislation to make that clear."

The Supreme Court Lessens Executive Power | The New American

FIRST THINGS: On the Square » Blog Archive » Evidence-Based Standard of Care

Excellent perspective on having a child with Down syndrome.

"And I will try to remember the fear and shock I felt when the words “Down syndrome” first became a part of our reality, and have compassion for every person who has trouble understanding the blessing Penny is to our family. And yet I will also hope and pray that physicians advising women and families who are frightened and uncertain and faced with life-changing decisions will offer those women a true choice, an informed choice, a choice based on the evidence that all of life is fragile and uncertain, with potential for heartbreak and potential for great joy."

FIRST THINGS: On the Square » Blog Archive » Evidence-Based Standard of Care

Radio 4 news hit by giggling fit -- BBC

I love this.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Radio 4 news hit by giggling fit

Beware of Fantasy by Charley Reese

Charley Reese writes, "Americans in particular should keep in mind that we are currently engaged in mismanaging two occupations of two countries that we illegally invaded. Neither enterprise is going well. Neither is our economy. In short, we have enough on our own plate without trying to steal a bite off of China's plate. We should make sure that Afghanistan and Iran are the last wheezes of the sick American Empire and shut it down and return to our republic."

Beware of Fantasy by Charley Reese

William F. Buckley Jr.: the Establishment’s “House Conservative”

William F. Buckley Jr.: the Establishment’s “House Conservative”

The FBI Hyperlink Honeypot, and what you can do to stay safe

The Liberty Papers »Blog Archive » The FBI Hyperlink Honeypot, and what you can do to stay safe

Agricultural Welfare

Deroy Muroch, writing for Scripps Howard, has a column on how ridiculous farm subsidies are in the present conditions.

Masson’s Blog - A Citizen’s Guide to Indiana » Agricultural Welfare

How Saudi Justice Is Sometimes More Merciful Than American Justice

The Liberty Papers »Blog Archive » How Saudi Justice Is Sometimes More Merciful Than American Justice

New York Global Warming Conference Considers 'Manhattan Declaration'

We, the scientists and researchers in climate and related fields, economists, policymakers, and business leaders, assembled at Times Square, New York City, participating in the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change,

Resolving that scientific questions should be evaluated solely by the scientific method...

recommend --

That world leaders reject the views expressed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as popular, but misguided works such as "An Inconvenient Truth."

That all taxes, regulations, and other interventions intended to reduce emissions of CO2 be abandoned forthwith.

New York Global Warming Conference Considers 'Manhattan Declaration' - by Heartland Institute staff - The Heartland Institute

Ludwig von Mises on the folly of the minimum wage

The 1927 comments of Ludwig von Mises on government interventionism still ring true in 2008.

Generally, however, in the capitalist system, with its rapid strides in improving human welfare, progress takes place too swiftly to spare individuals the necessity of adapting themselves to it... The worker too must adjust himself to changing conditions, must add to what he has learned, or begin learning anew. He must leave occupations which no longer require the same number of workers as previously and enter one which has just come into being or which now needs more workers than before. But even if he remains in his old job, he must learn new techniques when circumstances demand it.

All this affects the worker in the form of changes in wage rates. If a particular branch of business employs relatively too many workers, it discharges some, and those discharged will not easily find new work in the same branch of business. The pressure on the labor market exercised by the discharged workers depresses wages in this branch of production. This, in turn, induces the worker to look for employment in those branches of production that wish to attract new workers and are therefore prepared to pay higher wages...

If, however, the government fixes minimum wages by law above the height of the static or natural wage, then the employers will find that they are no longer in a position to carry on successfully a number of enterprises that were still profitable when wages stood at the lower point. They will consequently curtail production and discharge workers. The effect of an artificial rise in wages, i.e., one imposed upon the market from the outside, is, therefore, the spread of unemployment...

What does create a new situation in the labor market is the element of coercion involved in strikes and compulsory union membership that prevails today in most of the industrial countries of Europe. Since the unionized workers deny access to employment to those who are not members of their union, and resort to open violence during strikes to prevent other workers from taking the place of those on strike, the wage demands that the unions present to the employers have precisely the same force as government decrees fixing minimum wage rates... Thus, the higher wages exacted by the trade unions become a cause of unemployment...

For the unemployed to be granted support by the government or by the unions only serves to enlarge the evil... The jobless worker who is on relief does not consider it necessary to look about for a new occupation if he no longer finds a position in his old one; at least, he allows more time to elapse before he decides to shift to a new occupation or to a new locality or before he reduces the wage rate he demands to that at which he could find work. If unemployment benefits are not set too low, one can say that as long as they are offered, unemployment cannot disappear...

It is obviously futile to attempt to eliminate unemployment by embarking upon a program of public works that would otherwise not have been undertaken. The necessary resources for such projects must be withdrawn by taxes or loans from the application they would otherwise have found. Unemployment in one industry can, in this way, be mitigated only to the extent that it is increased in another.

From whichever side we consider interventionism, it becomes evident that this system leads to a result that its originators and advocates did not intend and that, even from their standpoint, it must appear as a senseless, self-defeating, absurd policy.

Liberalism, The Organization of the Economy

The War on Recession - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. writes, "Take a look at Murray Rothbard's book The Panic of 1819. Here we have America's first big financial panic. The public was going nuts demanding answers. Congressmen proposed this and that. Debates raged in the papers. But government ultimately took no action at all. Sure enough, the panic went away on its own. So it was in 1920 and 1921. The government didn't intervene and voila normalcy returned."

The War on Recession - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

Congress Raises the Debt Ceiling To Accomdate Bush’s Legacy | The John Birch Society - Truth, Leadership, Freedom

When President Bush took office, the national debt stood at $5.7 trillion. Today it is $9.2 trillion and rising, projected to increase to $9.7 trillion by the time President Bush leaves office — up by $4 trillion in eight years. This is the legacy our children and grandchildren will inherit from the fiscal policy of this administration.

Congress Raises the Debt Ceiling To Accomdate Bush’s Legacy | The John Birch Society - Truth, Leadership, Freedom

More Lies From the Fascists by Paul Craig Roberts

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. Mr. Roberts writes:

The choice between FISA and the Protect America Act has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism, at least not from foreign terrorists. Bush and his brownshirts object to FISA, because the law requires Bush to obtain warrants from a FISA court. Warrants mean that Bush is accountable. Bush and his brownshirts argue that accountability is an infringement on the power of the president.

To escape accountability, the Brownshirt Party came up with the Protect America Act. This act eliminates Bush’s accountability to judges and gives the telecom companies immunity from the felonies they committed by acquiescing in Bush’s illegal spying.

Bush began violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in October 2001 when he spied on Americans without obtaining warrants from the FISA court...

As the lawmakers who gave us FISA understood, spying on people without warrants lets a political party collect dirt on its adversaries with which to blackmail them. As Bush illegally spied a long time before word of it got out, blackmail might be the reason the Democrats have ignored their congressional election mandate and have not put a stop to Bush’s illegal wars and unconstitutional police state measures.

Perhaps the Democrats have finally caught on that they cannot function as a political party as long as they continue to permit Bush to spy on them. For one reason or another, they have let the Orwellian-named Protect America Act expire.

With the Protect America Act, Bush and his brownshirts are trying to establish the independence of the executive branch from statutory law and the Constitution. The FISA law means that the president is accountable to federal judges for warrants. Bush and the brownshirt Republicans are striving to make the president independent of all accountability. The brownshirts insist that the leader knows best and can tolerate no interference from the law, the judiciary, the Congress, or the Constitution, and certainly not from the American people who, the brownshirts tell us, won’t be safe unless Bush is very powerful.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison saw it differently. The American people cannot be safe unless the president is accountable and under many restraints.

Pray that the Democrats have caught on that they cannot give the executive branch unaccountable powers to spy and still have grounds on which to refuse the executive branch unaccountable powers elsewhere.

Republicans have used the "war on terror" to create an unaccountable executive. To prevent the presidency from becoming a dictatorial office, it is crucial that Congress cease acquiescing in Bush’s grab for powers. As the Founding Fathers warned us, the terrorists we have to fear are the ones in power in Washington.

The al Qaeda terrorists, with whom Bush has been frightening us, have no power to destroy our liberties. Compared to the loss of liberty, a terrorist attack is nothing.

Meanwhile, Bush, the beneficiary of two stolen elections, has urged Zimbabwe to hold a fair election. America gets away with its hypocrisy because no one in our government has enough shame to blush.

More Lies From the Fascists by Paul Craig Roberts

The Anti-war Speech That Earned Eugene Debs 10 Years in Prison

Prominent labor organizer and political activist Eugene Debs delivered a speech in Canton, Ohio, on 16 June 1918. Because of it, he was prosecuted under the Sedition Act for interfering with the draft, leading to a 10-year prison sentence and the stripping of his US citizenship. Mr. Debs said:

The feudal barons of the Middle Ages, the economic predecessors of the capitalists of our day, declared all wars. And their miserable serfs fought all the battles. The poor, ignorant serfs had been taught to revere their masters; to believe that when their masters declared war upon one another, it was their patriotic duty to fall upon one another and to cut one another's throats for the profit and glory of the lords and barons who held them in contempt. And that is war in a nutshell. The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose -- especially their lives.

They have always taught and trained you to believe it to be your patriotic duty to go to war and to have yourselves slaughtered at their command. But in all the history of the world you, the people, have never had a voice in declaring war, and strange as it certainly appears, no war by any nation in any age has ever been declared by the people.

And here let me emphasize the fact -- and it cannot be repeated too often -- that the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish the corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace. Yours not to reason why; Yours but to do and die. That is their motto and we object on the part of the awakening workers of this nation. If war is right let it be declared by the people. You who have your lives to lose, you certainly above all others have the right to decide the momentous issue of war or peace....

You need at this time especially to know that you are fit for something better than slavery and cannon fodder. You need to know that you were not created to work and produce and impoverish yourself to enrich an idle exploiter. You need to know that you have a mind to improve, a soul to develop, and a manhood to sustain....

They are continually talking about your patriotic duty. It is not their but your patriotic duty that they are concerned about. There is a decided difference. Their patriotic duty never takes them to the firing line or chucks them into the trenches....

The Memory Hole > The Anti-war Speech That Earned Eugene Debs 10 Years in Prison

Bernanke: Federal Reserve caused Great Depression

Despite the varied theories espoused by many establishment economists, it was none other than the Federal Reserve that caused the Great Depression and the horrific suffering, deprivation and dislocation America and the world experienced in its wake. At least, that's the clearly stated view of current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Bernanke: Federal Reserve caused Great Depression

Vision Forum at the Supreme Court Hearing on the Second Amendment: Part I

Bob smiled. “Well, if you are going to use that evidentiary argument, then do you realize that in every state that has passed concealed carry laws, the crime rate has dropped in each of those states? So I believe that the Supreme Court should affirm the appellant decision overturning the gun ban, and thus allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons.”

Doug's Blog: Vision Forum at the Supreme Court Hearing on the Second Amendment: Part I

von Mises on "The War on Drugs"

Excellent commentary by von Mises in 1927 on the folly of our present-day "war on drugs".

By way of context, this was written midway through the 1920 to 1933 of the legal prohibition of alcohol production and consumption in the United States.

Also, the meaning of the term "liberal" has morphed into almost the opposite since von Mises wrote. The present-day equivalent would be closer to today's libertarian.

von Mises writes:

As the liberal sees it, the task of the state consists solely and exclusively in guaranteeing the protection of life, health, liberty, and private property against violent attacks. Everything that goes beyond this is an evil...

It is universally deemed one of the tasks of legislation and government to protect the individual from himself. Even those who otherwise generally have misgivings about extending the area of governmental activity consider it quite proper that the freedom of the individual should be curtailed in this respect, and they think that only a benighted doctrinairism could oppose such prohibitions...

No words need be wasted over the fact that all these narcotics are harmful. The question whether even a small quantity of alcohol is harmful or whether the harm results only from the abuse of alcoholic beverages is not at issue here. It is an established fact that alcoholism, cocainism, and morphinism are deadly enemies of life, of health, and of the capacity for work and enjoyment; and a utilitarian must therefore consider them as vices. But this is far from demonstrating that the authorities must interpose to suppress these vices by commercial prohibitions, nor is it by any means evident that such intervention on the part of the government is really capable of suppressing them or that, even if this end could be attained, it might not therewith open up a Pandora's box of other dangers, no less mischievous than alcoholism and morphinism...

For if the majority of citizens is, in principle, conceded the right to impose its way of life upon a minority, it is impossible to stop at prohibitions against indulgence in alcohol, morphine, cocaine, and similar poisons. Why should not what is valid for these poisons be valid also for nicotine, caffeine, and the like? Why should not the state generally prescribe which foods may be indulged in and which must be avoided because they are injurious? ...

We see that as soon as we surrender the principle that the state should not interfere in any questions touching on the individual's mode of life, we end by regulating and restricting the latter down to the smallest detail. The personal freedom of the individual is abrogated. He becomes a slave of the community, bound to obey the dictates of the majority...

All mankind's progress has been achieved as a result of the initiative of a small minority that began to deviate from the ideas and customs of the majority until their example finally moved the others to accept the innovation themselves. To give the majority the right to dictate to the minority what it is to think, to read, and to do is to put a stop to progress once and for all...

The propensity of our contemporaries to demand authoritarian prohibition as soon as something does not please them, and their readiness to submit to such prohibitions even when what is prohibited is quite agreeable to them shows how deeply ingrained the spirit of servility still remains within them. It will require many long years of self-education until the subject can turn himself into the citizen. A free man must be able to endure it when his fellow men act and live otherwise than he considers proper. He must free himself from the habit, just as soon as something does not please him, of calling for the police.

Liberalism, The Limits of Governmental Activity

The Fed's New Tricks Are Creating Disaster - Frank Shostak - Mises Institute

Frank Shostak writes, "The engine of economic growth is not money, however, but real savings. If the pool of real saving is declining or stagnating, then the economy -- also in terms of GDP -- will follow suit, irrespective of what the Fed is doing."

The Fed's New Tricks Are Creating Disaster - Frank Shostak - Mises Institute

von Mises on the power of ideas

The more I read by Ludwig von Mises, the more I find to like.

von Mises writes (1927), "Repression by brute force is always a confession of the inability to make use of the better weapons of the intellect -- better because they alone give promise of final success. This is the fundamental error from which Fascism suffers and which will ultimately cause its downfall... The ultimate outcome of the struggle, however, will not be decided by arms, but by ideas. It is ideas that group men into fighting factions, that press the weapons into their hands, and that determine against whom and for whom the weapons shall be used. It is they alone, and not arms, that, in the last analysis, turn the scales."

Liberalism, The Argument of Fascism

Ludwig von Mises on the Iraq War

Some 1927 words of wisdom from Ludwig von Mises seem relevant to our war in Iraq today.

"Only a group that can count on the consent of the governed can establish a lasting regime. Whoever wants to see the world governed according to his own ideas must strive for dominion over men's minds. It is impossible, in the long run, to subject men against their will to a regime that they reject. Whoever tries to do so by force will ultimately come to grief, and the struggles provoked by his attempt will do more harm than the worst government based on the consent of the governed could ever do. Men cannot be made happy against their will."

Liberalism, Critique of the Doctrine of Force

Truncating the Antecedents by Robert Higgs

Robert Higgs writes, "Many people are misled by formalities. They assume, for example, that the United States went to war against Germany and Japan only after its declarations of war against these nations in December 1941. In truth, the United States had been at war for a long time before making these declarations. Its warmaking took a variety of forms. For example, the U.S. navy conducted "shoot [Germans] on sight" convoys, which might include British ships, in the North Atlantic along the greater part the shipping route from the United States to Great Britain, even though German U-boats had orders to refrain (and did refrain) from initiating attacks on American shipping. The United States and Great Britain entered into arrangements to pool intelligence, combine weapons development, test military equipment jointly, and undertake other forms of war-related cooperation. The U.S. military actively cooperated with the British military in combat operations against the Germans, for example, by alerting the British navy of aerial or marine sightings of German submarines, which the British then attacked. The U.S. government undertook in countless ways to provide military and other supplies and assistance to the British, the French, and the Soviets, who were fighting the Germans. The U.S. government provided military and other supplies and assistance, including warplanes and pilots, to the Chinese, who were at war with Japan. The U.S. military actively engaged in planning with the British, the British Commonwealth countries, and the Dutch East Indies for future combined combat operations against Japan. Most important, the U.S. government engaged in a series of increasingly stringent economic warfare measures that pushed the Japanese into a predicament that U.S. authorities well understood would probably provoke them to attack U.S. territories and forces in the Pacific region in a quest to secure essential raw materials that the Americans, British, and Dutch (government in exile) had embargoed."

Truncating the Antecedents by Robert Higgs

The Ron Paul Campaign: The Glass is Half Full, by Rand Paul | Ron Paul for President 2008 - Ron Paul Revolution

Dr. Ron Paul's son, Dr. Rand Paul, writes, "My prediction for 2008: an utter crushing defeat for Republicans. Not out of anger for Ron Paul's loss, I think he won, but because Republicans are failing on two fronts: not living up to the promises of limited government and balanced budgets and failing to understand how unpopular the Iraq War has become. One last prediction! We will elect at least one Ron Paul Republican to Congress this year."

The Ron Paul Campaign: The Glass is Half Full, by Rand Paul | Ron Paul for President 2008 - Ron Paul Revolution

Twenty-five tips on staying married

Twenty-five tips on staying married fit for wedding gift : Opinion Columnists : Evansville Courier Press

Upskirt Invasions, Urinary Usurpations::By Paul Jacob

Paul Jacob writes, "Just as I would not want some Peeping Tom taking pictures up the skirts of my daughters, I would not want some local school forcing them to urinate into a cup simply to make it easier for school personnel to kick out a few drug abusers... Call me crazy, but I prefer freedom. It is demonstrated criminal behavior that should warrant the intrusions of police power. Not mere generalized suspicion... For some reason, though, the lovers of power keep lurching to policies that diminish the liberties of all rather than attack invasive behavior of the few."

Townhall.com::Upskirt Invasions, Urinary Usurpations::By Paul Jacob

Big Government at Home and Abroad, Part 2

Jacob Hornberger writes:

Unfortunately, that limited-government foreign policy was ultimately abandoned in favor of an extensive overseas empire, one which now stations U.S. troops in more than 120 countries and in which the federal Leviathan now serves as the world’s international policeman, invader, occupier, torturer, and executioner.

Equally tragic is how U.S. officials, with the support of many Americans, have used the blowback from U.S. foreign policy to suspend the freedoms of the American people. There is spying on Americans, including monitoring of phone calls and email. There are secret courts and secret judicial proceedings. There are “signing statements,” which enable the president to ignore laws enacted by Congress. There are “executive orders,” which enable him to rule by decree.

Worst of all, there is the “enemy-combatant” doctrine, which now authorizes the military to take any American into custody, torture him, and keep him incarcerated for the rest of his life, despite what the Bill of Rights says about due process of law and trial by jury. With its direct military power to arrest, torture, and detain indefinitely, the enemy-combatant doctrine easily constitutes the most direct assault on American liberty in our lifetime.

Is there a way out of all this? Yes, but it involves a return to the founding principles of our nation, not just in domestic affairs but in foreign affairs as well. Private property. Individual liberty. A limited-government republic. The Constitution. The Bill of Rights. Due process of law. Habeas corpus. Trial by jury. Such principles constitute our heritage. Herein lies the key to extricating ourselves from the morass into which we have been plunged.

Big Government at Home and Abroad, Part 2

planadviser - Cooling Off Periods?

However, the energy-savings numbers often cited by lawmakers and others come from research conducted in the 1970s – which, according to researchers, overlooks the prevalence of air conditioning today. The most recent study showed that while an extra hour of daylight in the evenings may mean less electricity is spent on lights, it also means that houses are warmer in the summer when people come home from work. Conversely, during daylight-saving time's cooler months, people may crank up the thermostats more in the morning.

planadviser - Cooling Off Periods?

Warning Signs: Two Weeks Away from a Revolution

Alan Caruba writes:

Americans are being screwed by their own government. It’s being led by a President who insists we are “addicted” to oil and a Congress that will not permit the exploration or extraction of the oil we have, so we have to import most of it.

It is a Congress whose leadership such as Rep. Pelosi, Sen. Reid, Sen. Lieberman, and others keep lying about global warming. Sen. Hillary Clinton wants to seize oil company profits and spend it in some fashion, presumably not to find any new oil. Sen. McCain is a global warming believer, too. All of these people are a danger to the future of this nation and there doesn’t appear to be a damn thing we can do about it.

Thanks to them, life for Americans is going to get more expensive.

One wonders when the revolution will begin?

Warning Signs: Two Weeks Away from a Revolution

LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS TO THE HOUSING CRISIS

The historical experience of the past decades is that subsidized housing quickly deteriorates and does not help those it was intended to. On the contrary, it provides unfair competition to the remaining private landlords who offer apartments to low income families, thus deepening the shortage in private units.

LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS TO THE HOUSING CRISIS

Can Foreign Aid Save Africa?

I agree with Ron Paul.

Why are politicians in the United States deciding what is best for people in Africa? And why are taxpayers in the United States being forced to fund –- for example -- family planning facilities that perform abortions?

Africans should decide what is best for Africa. American taxpayers should decide what charities deserve their money. Forcibly taking money from the United States and sending it overseas is unconstitutional and immoral.

It is sadly symptomatic of the trend toward bigger government that instead of private fundraising efforts, people put their hand out to Congress. It is unfortunate that some activists prefer funding taken by force, to donations freely given.

Can Foreign Aid Save Africa?

Letter to the editor: Eastern DST uses more energy

Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 18:08:11 -0400
From: "Bill Starr"
To: "John Harmon"
Subject: Letter to the editor: Eastern DST uses more energy

The morning daylight arrived one hour later Sunday morning, just as we all expected with the first day of DST.

However, if it feels like you're losing about two hours of morning daylight this time of year, there's a good reason.

According to the US Naval Observatory, the sun passed overhead in Columbus on Saturday, March 8 at 12:54 pm (http://tinyurl.com/2setkh). So we already had 54 minutes of daylight shifted from morning to evening the day before starting DST, just from being on eastern time rather than central.

On Sunday, the solar transit was 1:54 pm, so we had almost two full hours of daylight shifted from morning to evening with DST on March 9.

When a public referendum was held in 1956 asking Hoosier voters their preference on Eastern versus Central time and whether to use daylight-saving time in the summer months, the only clear consensus that emerged was that most opposed the "double-fast time" that would result from being on Eastern Standard Time and switching to Eastern Daylight Time in the summer (http://tinyurl.com/296mt9).

Shifting two hours of daylight from morning to evening in March would be more tolerable if it were saving us energy, per the conventional wisdom. That was the supposed justification for Congress's extending DST from 7 to 8 months starting in 2007.

However, a recent study of Hoosier energy usage by University of California-Santa Barbara researchers indicates that DST actually increases energy usage by 1 to 4 percent, and therefore costs us money. The study does not indicate whether the artificial "DST" effect of being in the geographically incorrect time zone might be adding even more cost.

The original paper dated 5 Feb 2008 can be found at "http://tinyurl.com/366x8x". A Wall Street Journal summary by Justin Lahart on 27 Feb 2008 communicated the findings to a broader audience (http://tinyurl.com/35oz8d).

Mr. Lahart wrote, "Having the entire state switch to daylight-saving time each year, rather than stay on standard time, costs Indiana households an additional $8.6 million [per year] in electricity bills. They conclude that the reduced cost of lighting in afternoons during daylight-saving time is more than offset by the higher air-conditioning costs on hot afternoons and increased heating costs on cool mornings... The energy-savings numbers often cited by lawmakers and others come from research conducted in the 1970s. Yet a key difference between now and the '70s... is the prevalence of air conditioning."

If you'd like to see a more equitable share of morning daylight, and potentially cut your utility bills as well, here are two actions to consider.

1) Encourage your two state legislators to sponsor and support legislation like this session's Senate Bill 34 (http://tinyurl.com/2x5wgm), which would request the DOT to move Indiana back to the central time zone.

Even if the 5 counties by Louisville and Cincinnati stayed on eastern, we'd still increase the number of Hoosiers in a single time zone from 81.6 to 95.7 percent.

2) Encourage your three U.S. Congressmen to sponsor and support legislation to cut the DST period back to 7 or 6 months, or even eliminate DST altogether.

Besides cutting energy use and costs, who knows how many person-hours the country could put to better use than changing clocks twice per year.

Sincerely,
Bill Starr
Columbus, Indiana
Sun, 9 Mar 2008, 6:08 pm EDT

Intellectual Conservative Politics and Philosophy » It Takes a Village to Raise an Idiot: California and Parental Rights

Dr. Brian C. Melton writes:

Today, people reflexively expect the state and federal governments to assume control. This is unfortunate on at least two levels. First, the government (especially as influenced by modern educational theorists) is the least qualified to act in a parent’s stead. Second, as we see here in California, the government tends to go after just those parents who are the least likely to need supervision: parents who care enough about their children’s future to take a personal hand in shaping it.

Intellectual Conservative Politics and Philosophy » It Takes a Village to Raise an Idiot: California and Parental Rights

Virtual Fence at Arizona Border Doesn’t Work | The New American

John F. McManus writes:

There is one step that would greatly ease the illegal immigration problem, if not end it completely. All that’s needed is to put a stop to providing a variety of taxpayer-supplied benefits to those who have broken the law to come here. No more education, medical care, food, housing, etc. No more anchor babies who are then cited as legal justification for family members to be here. Let those who aspire to live and work in the United States aspire to complete the process of legal immigration.

Virtual Fence at Arizona Border Doesn’t Work | The New American

Policing the World Not the Job of Our Nation’s Military | The New American

John F. McManus writes:

The question has to be asked: Is it the task of our nation’s military to seek, find, and attempt to destroy a person suspected of attacks not directed at the United States?

Waging a "war on terrorism" will never end. It provides an excuse for military operations and diplomatic meddling here, there and everywhere. It certainly endangers those who serve in the U.S. military and who are repeatedly tasked with missions that never would be authorized without claims they are directed at terrorists.

We repeat: Our troops should be brought home and used only for the role the American people expect of them and what they are willing to be taxed for, not for the role of policing the world they are now filling.

Policing the World Not the Job of Our Nation’s Military | The New American

Making Government Indoctrination Compulsory | The New American

Selwyn Duke writes, "The social engineers want a monopoly over the heart and mind of man; hence hate-speech laws, speech codes on college campuses and in workplaces — and campaigns against natural schooling... What we really need is a separation of school and state."

Making Government Indoctrination Compulsory | The New American

Cute take on atheism.

Cute take on atheism.

athe.jpg (JPEG Image, 450x450 pixels)

Masson’s Blog - A Citizen’s Guide to Indiana » DST quote

I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind. I even object to the implication that I am wasting something valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer of moonlight I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to reduce my time for enjoying it. At the back of the Daylight Saving scheme I detect the bony, blue-fingered hand of Puritanism, eager to push people into bed earlier, and get them up earlier, to make them healthy, wealthy and wise in spite of themselves.

– Robertson Davies, The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, 1947, XIX, Sunday

Masson’s Blog - A Citizen’s Guide to Indiana » DST quote

The Numbers Guy : Why Your Clock Changes Sunday

Good DST discussion.

The Numbers Guy : Why Your Clock Changes Sunday

Clock: Update your PC for the new Daylight Saving Time

Infmom writes, "Meanwhile, if the goal is to get people to go to bed earlier and get up earlier, just shift the TV schedules ahead by an hour."

This is a very creative solution I have not heard before. Would probably need to be coordinated with flexible summer work hours to work effectively.

Clock: Update your PC for the new Daylight Saving Time

Press 'ignores' terrorist stopped by armed student

"America's acquiescence to anti-gun hysteria has led to one tragedy after another," Gottlieb stated. "This disastrous policy has given us nothing but broken hearts and body counts, and it's got to end. The heroism of an armed Israeli seminary student halfway across the world sends a message that we needn't submit to murder in victim disarmament zones. That's why his actions are getting such short shrift from America's press. It's a story they are loathe to report because it affirms a philosophy of self-reliance that they despise."

Press 'ignores' terrorist stopped by armed <I>student</i>

Daily Herald - Changing clocks is a downer

Daily Herald - Changing clocks is a downer

Watching Those We Chose: DST actually COSTS energy

Watching Those We Chose: DST actually COSTS energy

Things I've Learned from being a Ron Paul Supporter | Ron Paul for President 2008 - Ron Paul Revolution

Things I've Learned from being a Ron Paul Supporter | Ron Paul for President 2008 - Ron Paul Revolution

Rands In Repose: I Don't Multitask

I'm not quite sure why, but I like this.

Rands In Repose: I Don't Multitask

Rands In Repose: I Don't Multitask

I'm not quite sure why, but I like this.

Rands In Repose: I Don't Multitask

The Right to Sell Organs

Sigrid Fry-Revere asks:

Why, in a society where the exchange of money for goods and services is the norm, should people be limited to the two options of giving their bodies away or having the government take them without asking?

To make a real dent in the organ shortage, states don't need more laws, more police investigations, more active recruitment of donors, or more aggressive tactics to get families to donate; what they need is a legitimate market.

The real way to stop the transplant nightmare is staring us in the face. Just let people do what they naturally do — exchange money for goods and services.

The Right to Sell Organs

You Are What You Spend - New York Times

If we look at consumption per person, the difference between the richest and poorest households falls to just 2.1 to 1.

I heard about this article on Neal Boortz and again from SchansBlog.

You Are What You Spend - New York Times

Could Ron Paul Trigger a GOP Revival? by Colin Colenso

Colin Colenso writes, "It is time for mainstream Republicans to welcome and assist the Ron Paul Republicans in reviving a stronger GOP with a clear and powerful voice for the future. It is time for mainstream Republicans to support Ron Paul as their best chance, for not only winning the election in 2008, but in reviving the Republican party and its conservative ideals."

Could Ron Paul Trigger a GOP Revival? by Colin Colenso

Daylight Saving Wastes Energy, Study Says - WSJ.com

Having the entire state switch to daylight-saving time each year, rather than stay on standard time, costs Indiana households an additional $8.6 million in electricity bills.

Just what a lot of us have been thinking.

Daylight Saving Wastes Energy, Study Says - WSJ.com

Bombed if you do...

Ron Paul writes, "The truth is Iran is being asked to do the logically impossible feat of proving a negative. They are being presumed guilty until proven innocent because there is no evidence with which to indict them. There is still no evidence that Iran, a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has ever violated the treaty's terms – and the terms clearly state that Iran is allowed to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful, civilian energy needs. The United States cannot unilaterally change the terms of the treaty, and it is unfair and unwise diplomatically to impose sanctions for no legitimate reason."

Bombed if you do...

On Illegal Immigration and Border Security

Ron Paul writes, "Right now we are subsidizing a lot of illegal immigration with our robust social programs and it is an outrage that instead of coming to the United States as a land of opportunity, many come for the security guaranteed by government forced transfer payments through our welfare system."

On Illegal Immigration and Border Security

The True Cost of Taxing and Spending

Ron Paul writes, "So, a family of four would pay $46,000 just for this war."

The True Cost of Taxing and Spending

Gates Announces More Foreign Entanglements | The New American

John McManus writes:

Why should our country maintain a military arm? The only answer that makes any sense is that we have a military force to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the American people, the people who pay for it. That's all! Not to intervene when two factions in some far-off nation start killing each other. Not to decide it is America's right and duty to decide what type of government exists in some foreign land. And not to enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions — which is the incredibly wrong justification that was employed for sending our forces into Iraq.

Gates Announces More Foreign Entanglements | The New American

Real Inconvenient Truths.... About Abortion | The John Birch Society - Truth, Leadership, Freedom

Doesn’t the similarity between your defense of abortion, and Douglas’ defense of slavery, bother you in any way?

Does it raise in your mind any suspicions at all that you might just be on the wrong side?

Real Inconvenient Truths.... About Abortion | The John Birch Society - Truth, Leadership, Freedom

Common Sense and the Drug Problem

Hank Sames writes:

There are doctors, lawyers, and other professionals who smoke pot as casually as drinking a cocktail. This disregard for the law from otherwise law-abiding citizens is not good for society. Legislating personal behavior that does not inflict violence on others encroaches on personal freedom, and when citizens do not perceive harm to themselves, the law becomes unsustainable in a free society.

One of the great harms that come with making drugs illegal is the criminal activity that goes along with it. The organized-crime gangs that are involved in the illegal drug trade have become both rich and violent. The money they receive from drugs allows them to corrupt local law enforcement and politicians.

Our law-enforcement system is overwhelmed because of the drug war. The more time that law enforcement spends on drug cases, the less time it spends on crimes of violence.

What would legalization of drugs do? First off, it would relegate drug use and abuse to the private sector, where it rightly belongs. It would also shrink the prison population and relieve the courts of those cases. That would create huge cost savings. Legalization would relieve citizens of the tremendous tax burden to fund the drug war.

A country that is educated about drug use and abuse and has personal freedom as its core value is a much healthier society. It is time for Americans to face the drug war — and its failures — head on and put a stop to this decades-long, failed, and destructive policy.

Common Sense and the Drug Problem

Dishonest Scales by Larry L. Beane II

Larry L. Beane II writes:

So, why was there no inflation (devaluation) of the currency until 1913? That's the year the United States created a central bank. The Constitution makes no provision for the Federal government to do any such thing, and the Constitution even specifies that money must be backed by gold and silver. But, of course, the folks that tell us the Constitution is a "living document" will tell us that the dollar simply must be "flexible" (while the same people would never in a thousand years propose a "flexible" foot, pound, or gallon to shrink over the course of time).

Today, the dollar has no definitional standard – unlike the highly regulated gallon or inch. Rather, dollars – freed from any tie to gold or silver – are printed on paper out of nothing. Every year, the government incurs an ever-increasing debt, and constantly prints more money to pay its bills (great gig, huh?), which lowers the relative market value of every dollar in your pocket (or in your money market fund, in your stock portfolio, or even dollars that you have yet to earn).

Uh, what does Scripture say about "dishonest scales" again?

Dishonest Scales by Larry L. Beane II