Read it.

Markets always emerge, even when you don’t want them to.

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A good reason to avoid Germany. If you need one.

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That ought not to surprise you. The worst disasters in history were all caused by government action.

The crisis has its roots in the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, a Carter-era law that purported to prevent “redlining” — denying mortgages to black borrowers — by pressuring banks to make home loans in “low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.” Under the act, banks were to be graded on their attentiveness to the “credit needs” of “predominantly minority neighborhoods.” The higher a bank’s rating, the more likely that government regulators would say yes when the bank sought to open a new branch or undertake a merger or acquisition.

But to earn high ratings, banks were forced to make increasingly risky loans to borrowers who wouldn’t qualify for a mortgage under normal standards of creditworthiness. The CRA, made even more stringent during the Clinton administration, trapped lenders in a Catch-22. “If they comply,” wrote Loyola College economist Thomas DiLorenzo, “they know they will have to suffer from more loan defaults. If they don’t comply, they face financial penalties . . . which can cost a large corporation like Bank of America billions of dollars.”

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Notice that this is taking place in Britain, and that it isn’t a professional association for teachers that is having this debate, but a teachers’ union. I know that everything is unionized in Britain these days — I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the homeless and indigent have a union (International Brotherhood of Useless and Unproductive People?) — but unions are for people who have no bargaining power as individuals because their skill sets are fungible and easily acquired. What does it tell you about teachers that they fit this category?

If you’re still not depressed, think about the fact that most American government workers are unionized. What does that tell you about the quality of our government? Hm?

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… I see a lot of good that came from having a headstrong blowtorch of a man speaking truth to power.

And that’s why David Ignatius is an idiot, with an idiot’s cluelessness about how both the military and the government operate.  But read it and make up your own mind.

Read it.

A good regressive can find identity politics in the most unlikely places. It’s a gift.

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Everybody wants good health care, but nobody wants to pay.

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Would that the CIA were as effective as these eco-freaks.

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I certainly plan to.

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How badly do you have to suck as a Senator to be behind Al Franken, even in such a pinko state as Minnesota?

Steve Sailer has an interesting illustration of how combining one silly notion (identity politics) with an entirely silly career path (sociology) makes for entertainment for the rest of us.

I have spent my life studying the pictures and symbols of racism and slavery,…

And there’s his problem right there.  If you only have a hammer, problems tend to look like nails; if you spend your life studying racism and slavery, you’ll find it crop up in the most unlikely places. That’s why they warn med students not to get too excited when they think they’re developing the symptoms of every new disease they study.

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And I might win the lottery.

You might not think it but Reuters used to be a news agency.

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Records also show that Jessie Dotson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 1994 and spent 14 years in prison. He was released from prison in January.

It always astonishes me that opponents of the death penalty can sleep at nights.

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Things you don’t even need to read it to know:

1. He’s got a book coming out.
2. He wouldn’t have gotten any mention at all if he were supporting what he’s now condemning.

There are some situations for which the word “meretricious” is clearly appropriate.

Also the word “whore”.

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Well, yeah. All they read in the papers and see on TV is how shitty the economy is getting. Cry wolf long enough and people start barring the door.

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Takeaway bite:  “For months, teams of journalists and academic researchers dug into the workings of all 50 states and graded them….” Can you think of a more chattering-class mentally-masturbatory proceeding?

Were they using corporate CEOs or Army generals — you know, people who actually have to do this crap day-to-day — it would be impressive. As it is, it is merely sad.

Read it.

Europeans are discovering what Republicans have always known: The foundation of the modern Democratic platform is to sacrifice any possible foreign policy interest, ours or any ally’s, for the sake of gaining and keeping domestic political power.

Thanks, guys.

Read it.

A useful discussion of why the Democrats are wrong on foreign policy.

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It is not a pretty sight.

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Apparently their politicians are as pig-ignorant as our politicians. Who knew?

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Democrats are corrupt. No surprises here.

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Yaacov ben Moshe looks at the modern world. It is not a pretty sight.

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A civil disturbance would result in the complete shutdown of the financial system in the capital. Watch for any preliminary signs of organised violence, closure of shops and businesses, and attacks upon civilians.

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Regressives want more centralized control of schooling. Adolf, call your office.

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An excellent and useful addition to the language.

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More inconvenient truth.

One of the great truths about the Left is that they have no abiding principles (such as respect for the individual or a skepticism about human wisdom). All the Left have is a lust for power. And because of that they can turn on a dime when it suits them. And history is a good tool for showing that. But with their command of the educational system, the Left have ensured that only selected bits of history get taught in the schools or mentioned elsewhere. So the lessons of history are usually well-hidden from most people.

I wonder what the reaction would be to reproducing that classic poster today?

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It’s just a sham … which reinforces the notion that Russia is just a Third Worl country with nuclear weapons.

The answer, I think, can lie only in the ruling clique’s fundamental insecurity, odd as that sounds. Though the denizens of the Kremlin do not, cannot, seriously fear Western military attack, they do still seem to fear Western-inspired popular discontent: public questioning of their personal wealth, public opposition to their power, political demonstrations of the sort that created the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. To stave off these things, they maintain the democratic rituals that give them a semblance of legitimacy.

This also gives us a good look at what Germany would be like if National Socialism had fallen from power “naturally” rather than through the country being pounded into rubble in war. Imagine Heydrich as Chancellor of a “democratic” Germany.

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Well, in tribal cultures, that’s what happens when one of your guys gets elected to public office: He gets spaces at the public trough for as many of his tribe as possible.

Remind me why the British decided to allow these people to govern themselves.

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Guess some women are more womenly than others. Or something.

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Yeah, when the economy is strong the Democrats all wring their hands about how bad the recession is.

Every time you hear a Democrat complain about how piss-poor the economy is, perk up — it means things are going well.

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Of course, we’ve got the technology to do individualized instruction, so why have “classes” at all?

Ask the bureacrats in the schools why they’re using a process model that hasn’t been updated since the textbook was invented in the 16th century.

Go ahead, ask.

Read it.

Once again, political fashion gets smacked upside the head by the Law of Unintended Consequences.

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When in doubt, sue. That’s what Americans do.

Besides, nobody likes Harvard anyway.

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And about time, too.

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Just a suggestion.

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No word on whether they help prevent heart attacks, like cats.

On the other hand, if a mechanical dog is sufficient to cure your lonliness, perhaps a less expensive solution, like a Pet Rock, would do as well.

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All your nightmares about Microsoft validated.

Your challenge: Find a Microsoft employee who’s a Republican. (Hey, if it were easy, anybody could do it, right?)

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If Obama shows up one day without a hand, well….

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My, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

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This is what happens when literature majors deal with computations requiring something beyond taking off their shoes.

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Doesn’t pay to cross the union, apparently.

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Not to mention that your Friendly Neighborhood Fascists behind zoning regulations and housing codes won’t let you do this most places.

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And why not? He’s being paid.

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It’s always amusing when people who don’t understand markets attempt to do things in what they think is a market-oriented way.

It’s like watching cargo-cult natives in operation.

Read it.

It would be funnier if there were a bunch of endangered-species birds sitting around laughing themselves sick. But one can’t have everything.