Flat Tax Fever

I posted about Slovakia's Flat Tax and private pension system. John Fund at OpinionJournal documents its success in the former Soviet Union as Estonia, Romania, Georgia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine have all implemented flat rates.

Despite all of its advantages, the flat tax faces enormous ideological opposition. Envy and the lust for the political control that complicated tax regimes can provide are powerful motivations to keep progressive tax systems in place. Karl Marx in "The Communist Manifesto" was among the first to call for "a heavy progressive or graduated income tax" at a time when a flat rate was the norm in advanced countries. He listed it as second in the list of priorities for a new society based on the class struggle.

It is therefore ironic that every country that has adopted the flat tax is a former communist nation--except Hong Kong, the modern originator of the concept, which has seen its new communist rulers retain the flat tax as a centerpiece of its economic policies.

Given all this, why should the U.S. allow itself to continue to see its economic potential limited by a Marxist concept that most nations that followed that path are now fleeing from?

Clinton '08 Receives Key Endorsement

No surprise, but I do like the headline: Yahoo! News - Clinton: Hillary Would Be Great President

TOKYO - Former President Clinton (news - web sites) said Sunday that his wife, Hillary, would be an excellent choice as the first female leader of the world's most powerful nation.

Hangin' with the 87.5%

I like movies, but there's no way I could sit through more than 20 minutes of the Oscars. Music is my life and I can take far less of the Grammies.

I watched zero of last night's show. I'm glad Jamie Foxx won; he was born to play Ray Charles.

And I have always been a Chris Rock fan. That'll get me kicked out of the conservative club. But, Zogby International says most of my GOP buddies were not tuned in last night either.

The survey finds that 25% of American adults plan to watch the annual awards show, while nearly two-thirds (63%) say they do not plan to. Another one-in-eight (12%) have not decided whether they will watch the Oscars or not.

Oscar-viewing habits do have a lot to do with where a respondent lives, and where they line up politically. While four-in-ten (39%) Democrats say they will watch the Oscars, this drops to one-in-eight (13%) among Republicans. Unsurprisingly, political independents split the difference, with 22% planning to view the awards show.

"The Republican/Democrat split really isn't shocking," pollster John Zogby said. "This is the time when Hollywood liberals shine—the awards are dominated by them, and they are their most glamorous."

A racial divide has appeared in this year's awards viewership as well, with 39% of African Americans saying they will watch the program and 23% of whites saying the same—at a time when African American Rock is poised to host, and only three years after Halle Berry and Denzel Washington made history as the first African Americans to win Oscars for best actor and actress. There is also an urban-rural divide, with nearly one-third (31%) of residents of large cities planning to watch Sunday night's program, while half as many rural residents (15%) say the same.

Watched Buffy Season Two, Episodes six and seven, "Halloween" and "Lie To Me." I'd make that same choice any night of the year.

Ward Churchill: Principle vs. Principal

Belmont Club links to a Denver Post story about The University of Colorado's latest attempt to extricate itself from the Churchill contretemps. (Whoa doggies -- that's a bad sentence!)

But the good perfesser has his principles. He is making a brave stand for free speech and the values of anti-capitalism. And he will not be bought, er, cheaply:

University of Colorado officials are considering offering Ward Churchill an early retirement package that could end an increasingly uncomfortable standoff with the controversial professor. ... David Lane, Churchill's attorney, said he has not been contacted about a buyout offer. But, he said, while his primary focus is on protecting Churchill's constitutional right to speak out, he would be willing to listen to a university proposal. "If they offer $10 million, I would think about it. If they offer him $10, I wouldn't," Lane said.

I wish I could really believe that Churchill is an outlier. My guess is that a large portion, if not a majority, of liberal arts instructors at major universities hold similar thoughts. I hope most of them hold more academic credentials but don't guess that they hold wiser opinions.

Being a drop-out feels pretty good this week, perhaps I am just enjoying the sour grapes.

UPDATE: Maybe CU can save a million or two if they can fire him for plagiarism.

A Real American Hero

Saturday evening, I met someone you don't meet everyday.

A real American hero.

After our SePA YCOP kickoff meeting, I and three other compatriots (one of which was frequent pstupidonymous commentor and Montgomery County Vice Chair Mark Haupert) went over to Bryn Mawr's Great American Pub for some brews and political conversation.

Whilst the four of us were drinking and discussing the battles of the Revolutionary War (of all things), a young Marine in full uniform walked in, alone, and sat down. A chest full of medals, including a Purple Heart on top of them all.

Immediately the four of fell over ourselves thanking him for his service and buying him drinks. We rearranged ourselves to include him in the middle of our group.

He spoke of General Washington (not President, but General as Washington himself had preferred), and his role in the revolution, as well as the founding of the Marines, and the significance of the decor on an officers hat.

Eventually we got to asking about his medals, particularly the Purple Heart.

The level of humility he showed was incredible. Very humble, speaking very softly, he was just there doing his job, doing what he was asked to do.
A Hero. This was the real deal.

As it turns out, he was with one of the first groups of Marines into Baghdad, and was wounded when changing the barrel on a 50 caliber machine gun. A thirteen year old kid fired an RPG at him. He woke up in Germany.
Incredible.

What struck me the most when speaking to him was how young he looked. He was drinking, so he had to be 21, but he looked like a kid; but most importantly and perhaps most inspiringly, a hero.

Egyptian Elections (Yawn)

Yahoo! News - Mubarak Orders Egypt Election Law Changes

CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered a revision of the country's election laws Saturday and said multiple candidates could run in the nation's presidential elections, a scenario Mubarak has not faced since taking power in 1981.

Hmm. I wonder what prompted that?

UPDATE: Tigerhawk thinks it may have been Secratery Rice's "displeasure..."

Bush's Europe Trip

Larry Kudlow posts a complimentary report of the President's European trip and speech in Brussels.

He compliments the Sharanskyesque focus on Democracy, the nod to the Slovakian flat tax -- all worthy of high marks.

He then closes with W's view on climate change, praising his Schumpeterian approach over the European regulatory method.

Then Bush shows his hand on global climate change. But it is not the Kyoto version, which would punish economic growth and drive up unemployment. Instead, the President relies on “Emerging technologies, such as hydrogen-powered vehicles, electricity from renewable energy sources, clean coal technology, will encourage economic growth that is environmentally responsible.”

Now here comes a clear reference to the eminent economist Joseph Schumpeter, who created a model of economic growth that puts the entrepreneur at the center in search of technological advances and applications that launch new long cycles of economic growth. Bush says, “All of us can use the power of human ingenuity to improve the environment for generations to come.”

He then adds, “By researching, by developing, by promoting new technologies across the world, all nations, including the developing countries, can advance economically while slowing the growth in global greenhouse gases and avoid pollutants that undermine public health.” Implicit here is the Schumpeterian concept of invention and innovation through technology to foster growth and better serve humankind. The power of human ingenuity is itself a powerful idea. It takes a free market economy with appropriate tax incentives and open trade to set the framework necessary for non-polluting prosperity. Bush also implicitly suggests the use of nuclear power.

The President ends with the grand vision thoughts of the “principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law.” This was a good speech, full of big thoughts. It is characteristic of this president. Cynical intellectuals and media pundits scoff at Bush. But once again the Texan reveals himself to be a man of ideas. Very good ideas, at that.

On Hating Hillary

James Taranto at the WSJ expands a Political Diary post from a couple of days ago into a full column today. In "Hillary's Secret Weapon" he lays down a very plausible GOP failure in '08.

They may help her in the general election, too. One reason Democrats failed to unseat President Bush was that they were blinded by their hatred for him. This made them overconfident, as they mistook their emotions for facts, assuming that because they couldn't stand him, he must be (as one candidate put it) a "miserable failure." They obsessed over nonissues (Halliburton, Mr. Bush's National Guard service), and they failed to realize that their totally negative campaign reflected badly on them, not on Mr. Bush. If Mrs. Clinton is the nominee in 2008, Republicans risk repeating these mistakes.

Sanator Clinton can capture the nomination in spite of some moderate stances, then run right in the general. I am frequently pessimistic in politics, but I think she is virtually unbeatable. Unless the GOP runs Secretary Rice.

Slovakian Import

The WSJ Ed page wonders abot a Solvakian import...

President Bush got the warmest European welcome of the week yesterday in Slovakia, where he returned the compliment by hailing its tax reform. "I complimented the Prime Minister on putting policies in place that have helped this economy grow," Mr. Bush said about Mikulas Dzurinda. "The most important responsibility we have at home is to make sure our people can find work. And the President put a flat tax [at 19%] in place; he simplified his tax code, which has helped to attract capital and create economic vitality and growth."

The result has been an economic boom, with growth last year of 4.9%, a plunging jobless rate and a Laffer Curve effect of rising tax revenues. Oh, and by the way, Slovakia has also introduced pension reform that includes private accounts of the kind Mr. Bush is proposing in the U.S. Is there any way we can trade Congress for the Slovakian parliament?

Corporate vs Community

Karl at phillyfuture.org asks (or cites)...

Would you rather have community or corporate control?

That's what Free Press asks in a recent piece.

I think WiFi as a public utility makes sense and if you foster decent competition between public and corporate as in the UPS/FedEx model, great innovation will occur.

Federal law dictates that you if want to ship a letter via UPS or FedEx (or any third party), they must charge you twice the USPS or three dollars. Which ever is greater.
Doesn't exactly meet my standard of competition.

Not exactly the same thing, but it would be if....
The city of Philadelphia let you use Comcast or Verizon if they had to charge you $2/Gb vs $0.50/Gb or free.

Competition and innovation online occur not in delivery, but on content.
Installing wide scale wi-fi, while not trivial, isn't exactly building a Pyramid, a Gothic Cathedral or an Apollo project. There isn't any innovating in installation. Many pockets lined, many dollars changing hands. Call my cynical, but I don't think any new technology will come out of it.

The question is, do I want community or corporate control? With community control, it immediately becomes a political question. And you can get nonsense like this. Corporate control means open the taps, I can sort it out, and if I don't like it, I have options and I can take my business elsewhere.

But around here, I'm preachin' to the choir.

Che - No!

Here is a free blog ad for a great product. I am buying one but we'll see whether or not I have the stones to wear it around Boulder. I'll try the Trident Bookstore/Coffeehouse/CommunistHQ -- that'd be fun.

Order your own here.

Alex chimes in:
Don't forget the dirty hippies!
I wear that to remind the 60s refugees I work with.

Reason-based Progressives

When I read Jonathan Chait's TNR piece I knew I had to blog it. My first thought was "this is the craziest thing I have ever seen, I have to show everybody how wacko these folks are!"

And I still think they is.

Then reading AlexC's excellent post on Social Security and basic Democratic intransigence, I was tempted to add this as a comment.

But it needs its own post and what I hope will develop into its own comment thread. TNR is not "The Nation;" they are partisan but they are thoughtful. So hear it is. Folks really believe this to be true.

The Cliff Note version is that God comes down (see, we already lost JohnGalt) and tells one political party that the other one is right. Chait is well balanced in his summaries and descriptions, but the thesis is that the thoughtful lefties all say "it's a fair cop!" and turn Conservative ---- but those ideological right wing moonbats, boy...

Now imagine the opposite were to happen. God appears in order to affirm liberal precepts: Current tax levels barely affect economic incentives, social programs provide tremendous economic security at modest cost to growth, and most regulations achieve their intended effects without producing undue distortions. Would economic conservatives likewise abandon their views? Some certainly would, but a great many would not. Economic conservatism, unlike liberalism, would survive having all its empirical underpinnings knocked out from beneath it.

And not because conservatives are necessarily more stubborn. (Indeed, on an individual level, liberals may well be just as stubborn as conservatives.) Rather, conservatism, unlike liberalism, overlays a deeper set of philosophical principles. Conservatives believe that big government impinges upon freedom. They may also believe that big government imposes large costs on the economy. But, for a true conservative, whatever ends they think smaller government may bring about--greater prosperity, economic mobility for the non-rich--are almost beside the point. As Milton Friedman wrote, "[F]reedom in economic arrangements is itself a component of freedom broadly understood, so economic freedom is an end in itself."

I'm no less a partisan hack than Chait (and, yes, he's a much better writer) but I would have little difficulty asserting the exact opposite. The left is driven by ideology and the right wants to optimize growth and have the trains run on time.

My example would be globalization. It has brought untold wealth and diversity to rich and poor, but the left fights it because it doesn't measure up to their standards of fairness.

Hearts and Minds

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page sums up (free site) a story that was traversing the blogosphere this week.

Druze leader and Lebanese parliamentarian Walid Jumblatt opposed the Iraq war and described Paul Wolfowitz as a "virus." But he has had a change of heart:

"It's strange for me to say this," he recently told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, "but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, eight million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world. The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing."

As, it seems, do the Lebanese. There were mass demonstrations in Beirut last week following the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. That was to be expected--a fitting tribute to the man who rebuilt Beirut from the rubble. What's remarkable is that the demonstrations haven't stopped.

On Monday, tens of thousands of Muslim, Christian and Druze protesters took to the streets to demand that Syria withdraw its 14,000 occupying troops and end its de facto control, via its intelligence apparatus, of Lebanese politics. Hundreds of Lebanese expatriates protested outside of Syrian embassies in Paris, Stockholm, London and Kuwait City. The Lebanese Prime Minister has offered to resign; his rubber-stamp parliament will likely be swept in forthcoming elections provided these are conducted fairly

A real opposition front is forming under the aegis of Mr. Jumblatt and exiled figures such as former Prime Minister Michel Aoun, who was ousted by the Syrians in 1990. If this isn't a Ukrainian-style Orange Revolution (yet), it may be the start of what some Lebanese are calling their own peaceful intifada--the "shaking off" of foreign rule.

Lebanon has a great history of pluralism and openness. Restoring it by way of yet another MidEastern democracy would be a huge advancement.

The Social Security Debate

Senator Santorum was in Philadelphia today talking about Social Security at my alma-mater(*).
YoungPhillyPolitics has a local liberal reaction.

The Social Security battle has never been about "fixing it," always about starting a process to kill it. And, it looks like Drexel Republicans have come right out and said it.

From Daily Kos:


In a surprising display of candor, Drexel College Republicans admitted to knowing the real plan for Bush's Social Security : ending it.

Today, I picketed at one of Rick Santorum's Privatization town hall meetings at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Anti-privatization forces and Drexel Dems out-numbered Pro-privatization forces and College Repubs. 6 to 1. There were about 40 of us total -- but CNN, the Washington Post, ABC were all covering our anti-privatization protest.

CNN started filming, so we started to chant "Hey-Hey Ho-Ho, Rick Santorum has got to go!" In response, the Drexel Republicans retorted with their own chant: "Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Social Security has got to go!" Our jaws just about jawed as CNN continued to film. We stopped our chant, and let the Repubs take over -- they were doing our job for us!

Who has been feeding Drexel Repubs the lead paint???


Well, at least they are honest. Ha.

Of course it's about ending Social Security. As we know it. You really can't chant that, I suppose.

Ulitimately, it's quite simple. With George Bush's ownership society idea, we'll start putting more of our own money into more of our accounts. Sure, now it's 1/3 (or 2/3 depending on your point of view), but sooner or later as the personalization catches on, it'll ratchet up to 4/5, 9/10s, maybe even 100%. At that point, Social Security would become a government mandated personal retirement account.

Despite my conservative neoliberalism (government is not always the best answer), it has to be government mandated because there's always going to be a knucklehead NOT saving for the future and we'll end up footing his bill anyway. Tragedy of the Commons in a way.

I'm a bit of a pessimist, so we should really account for future governments screwing it up, but that's the direction we're heading in right now; and it's a good thing.

Now, if your view of Social Security is a massive government run safety net for all individuals to contribute, and only some to collect from, then yes, Social Security is going to end. But fear not, fellow compassionate American, we're always going to support the handicapped or the infirm, or the tragically wronged with government funds. That's not going away. The ponzi scheme called Social Security is.

One question I'm left with is more of a meta-question.
When did the Democrats become the "let's do the opposite of what George Bush does" party? There was a Social Security crisis in the last decade, the President recognized it then. Did it miraculously fix itself? Was he lying then?

Social Security

I have a new favorite magazine. A few years ago, it was "National Review." Then "The Weekly Standard" overtook it. Now, I gotta say I get pretty excited when a new "The American Enterprise" rolls in.

It only publishes eight times a year, so it lacks the news quality of the other two. Yet TAE takes one topic on per issue and brings a dozen great thinkers and writers together to really flesh it out. Then the "Bird's Eye" column contextualizes all of them.

The March 2005 issue, From Alms to Ownership, is a perfect example. Social Security reform is examined from a market perspective by James Glassman, historical perspective by Stephen Moore et al, and a philosophical perspective by William Tucker.

The "Bird's eye" overview is interesting as it describes the America of 1935, giving us perspective on when the plan was engineered. "What a year," it starts out:

The world's first full-color feature film has just been released. Now there are whispers of special-effects-laden Hollywood blockbusters to come over the next several years. Two projects thought to be gestating: an adaptation of a much-anticipated new book called Gone With the Wind, and some kind of musical based on the Wizard of Oz children's stories. More films are also expected from the sensationally popular new comedy team that debuted last year: The Three Stooges.

Meanwhile, the red-hot new entertainment medium of radio continues to boost its audience. Fully two thirds of all Americans now have a radio in their own home. That's almost as many as have electrical service (68 percent). Peeking over the horizon, futurists claim that within just a few years, companies may start broadcasting radio-like signals that can be picked up by boxes known as "televisions"--which not only reproduce sounds but also small pictures! It remains to be seen if there will be any consumer demand for such a novelty.

One gadget that has definitely proven its popularity is the telephone. The proportion of American homes equipped with a telephone stood at 32 percent this year--and saturation is even higher in offices. The absolute cutting edge in communication breakthroughs, though, arrived this summer--in the form of an electrified typewriter invented by International Business Machines.

Even if you can't put down the fabulous sums for an electrified typewriter, relief for achy writing hands and messy fountain pens may be on the horizon. Within ten years, experts believe, it may be possible for ordinary citizens to buy something called a "ballpoint pen" which can be used for months without refilling! Initially, though, you can expect to pay at least half a week's pay for one of these amazing conveniences.

And while America is wiring itself for majority telephone ownership, it is deeply into economic depression and as yet-undiscredited Stalinism holds sway as the wave of the future.

So: Do you want to base your security in old age on a program engineered at the same time as the Model A and the vacuum-tube radio? Has work changed much since the era when slopping pigs for Auntie Em was a typical job? Does the boundary between state and individual look different now that the USSR has gone from progressive polestar to oppressive flop? Has American finance advanced from the decades when the only choices for ordinary savers were the passbook, the mason jar, or the mattress? Are the retirement goals of Americans still the same as in the days when the Bambino retired? Or is it time for Social Security to enjoy a major-league update?

The answer, I think, is obvious. Nothing but a government welfare program could ever last this long in unimproved form. Our transportation networks, our medical services, our economy are all light-years better than they were in 1935. So why are we still stuck with a gramophone/Hupmobile/fountain pen system of public pensions?
[...]
The most important aspect of ownership is not that it makes you rich, but that it makes you free. Ownership gives you independence, choices, a measure of control over your own life. Possessing property can liberate you from capricious bosses and suffocating government alike. Opponents of the Ownership Society completely fail to understand that...

This is the big domestic political issue for this next Congress and this Presidential term. You can read a sampling of these articles online but I would encourage anybody to purchase and read this issue cover-to-cover. You will not see a better exegesis on the conservative position on Social Security reform anywhere.

Threesources regulars: holler and I'll buy it for you or take you out to lunch when you're finished so we can discuss it.

Success has many fathers

Trying to honestly appraise the "US went it alone in Iraq" argument, I had to admit real disappointment with our friends to the North. Sure, France and Russia were bought off by UNScam, but the Anglosphere was broken. It should have included Britain, Australia and Canada.

I know Canada has moved left and I know the conservatives up there have failed to construct a national party, yes, I do read Mark Steyn. But that was one country I felt should've been on freedom's side.

Martin will announce 30 troops and a million Canadian dollars (I would normally make a weak currency joke about Canada here, but with the dollar trading at 1.32 Euro today I'll pass...)

Paul Martin to announce that Canada sending 30 soldiers to train Iraqis

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada will contribute up to 30 soldiers to a NATO-led force that will help train the new Iraqi army, senior federal officials confirmed Friday.

The formal announcement will be made when Prime Minister Paul Martin gathers with other leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting Tuesday in Brussels.

Ottawa also plans to contribute $1 million towards a NATO-managed trust fund that will help pay the expenses of Iraqi officers who take part in the program.

Well done, eh!

Hat-tip: Belmont Club

Hey The FDA Did Something Good!

This would be the second time I have written something good about the FDA. I wrote favorably about Dr. Mark McClellan's appointment to be Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Dr. McClellan tried his best with the giant bureaucracy and I was sad to see him leave.

Yet, there is a bright moment at the FDA under acting FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford. The WSJ Ed page points out (paid site) that at a three day hearing, those who would keep a drug off the market for fear of whom it would harm were forced to account for those whom it could help.

Particular credit here goes to acting FDA Commissioner (now the official nominee for the job) Lester Crawford, for convening an unprecedented three days of open hearings on the issue. Cox-2 critics -- including the FDA's own David Graham, who has been feted as heroic in the press -- were given a fair hearing. But in front of the panel of distinguished outside statisticians and clinicians (read: doctors who actually treat patients), he came off as less than fully scientific and, well, a bit uncaring.

Dr. Graham's case against the acceptability of any increased cardiovascular risk for Cox-2s rests on the relatively small percentage of patients who develop full-blown stomach ulcers from older pain medicines like naproxen and ibuprofen. But that small percentage still means a high absolute number (15,000-plus) of deaths annually from gastrointestinal bleeding. And it utterly misses the point that most vulnerable patients never develop ulcers because stomach discomfort causes them to drop their medications long beforehand. Dr. Graham's implicit advice to the pain patients who can't tolerate those drugs: Grin and bear it.

Grin and bear it. Unless you died of colon cancer while the FDA was dreaming up more hurdles for Erbitux. The drug was finally approved, but 15,000 people died and Sam Waksal and Martha Stewart went to prison. Another day's work for the FDA.

Death of a Playwright

Arthur Miller died last Thursday. The playwright most famous for "Death of a Salesman" received a lot of accolades, yet some conservative press has veered off "de mortuis nil nisi bonum" and pointed out some problems with his work and his philosophy.

Sugarchuck e-mailed me about Terry Teachout's Wall Street Journal Piece -- he found it very harsh.

Well, Mark Steyn is no friendlier. In today's Spectator, he has a go at Miller's anti-Americanism and the esteem to which he is held in Britain. I liked this line:

Even in his disparagement, Miller was right to grasp that the salesman is a critical American archetype. In the dictatorships he admired, from the USSR to Cuba, you don’t need them: there’s no competition, no choice, nothing on the shelves, and every checkout line in the supermarket is perforce for five items or less. And in a one-party state, politicians don’t need to be salesmen, either — or at least not to their own people: Gorbachev and Castro were very canny in the way they flattered Miller, understanding that a man of such unbounded self-regard judged the health of nations and political systems in the same way he did the health of the American theatre — by how fulsomely they acknowledge his genius. And Fidel and Gorby were applauding long after Broadway had fallen silent.

It's just one more work of art that leans left: I can't not read Steinbeck -- or Stephen King -- because I disagree. I watch "It's a Wonderful Life" every year with my internal economist bound and gagged. I enjoy the art and just know that they're wrong.

Willy Loman is one of the archetypical characters in American fiction. Sugarchuck ranks him with Huck, Tom Sawyer and Gatsby You create a character like that and as Lileks would say you've proven you can "hit the right keys."

Requiescat in pace.

Happy Presidents Day

Well, I'm working but the market is closed and the blogosphere is silent -- a pretty dull day. My friends at research arms of major Universities are working today, though they got MLK day off. Worthy of a blog post? We couldn't have had Dr. King without Presidents Washington and Lincoln. Naaah.

But here is an interesting fact: this lawyer claims that there is no paper trail for a legal change from Washington's Birthday to Presidents Day. We all act like it happened, but Jason Bezis says it didn't:

For instance, it has been widely accepted as fact and reported -- by numerous major newspapers and educational Web sites -- that Richard Nixon dubbed the holiday Presidents Day in 1971.

But a Nixon archivist said last week there is no evidence the 37th president signed such a proclamation, which appears to be a myth spread, in part, by an Arkansas newspaper columnist writing in the voice of his dead cat.
Bezis, a onetime calendar monitor at a Livermore kindergarten, a former White House intern and a graduate of George Washington University, has persuaded the World Almanac and the New York Times to ditch Presidents Day for Washington's Birthday.

Kurt Vonnegut made a passionate stance for not replacing Armistice Day with Veteran's Day. I think he and Mr. Bezis both have uphill battles.

I cannot think of two men more worthy of honor than Lincoln and Washington but feel both would be more inclined to have us go to work in their honor -- not hang out at the mall. For the record, I would apply that to Dr. King as well. It would be better to send children to school to learn of his works. That's honor.

Uncle Duke, RIP

I was a big Hunter S. Thompson fan way back when. But the last couple of his books I read not only made me question whether he had lost it -- they really made me question whether my original approbation was well placed.

But I don't have to think or write. Lileks has nailed it:

HST killed himself. He never would have “turned his life around” – that’s a hard thing to try when the room’s been spinning for 40 years. Depression? Wouldn’t be surprising. A bad verdict from the doc? Wouldn’t be surprising. A great writer in his prime, but the DVD of his career would have the last two decades on the disc reserved for outtakes and bloopers. It was all bile and spittle at the end, and it was hard to read the work without smelling the dank sweat of someone consumed by confusion, anger, sudden drunken certainties and the horrible fear that when he sat down to write, he could only muster a pale parody of someone else’s satirical version of his infamous middle period. I feel sorry for him, but I’ve felt sorry for him for years. File under Capote, Truman – meaning, whatever you thought of the latter-day persona, don’t forget that there was a reason he had a reputation. Read "Hell's Angels." That was a man who could hit the keys right.

I'll go with that assessment. Requiescat in pace.

UPDATE: When I die, I wish Tom Wolfe would write my obituary

Yet he was also part of a century-old tradition in American letters, the tradition of Mark Twain, Artemus Ward and Petroleum V. Nasby, comic writers who mined the human comedy of a new chapter in the history of the West, namely, the American story, and wrote in a form that was part journalism and part personal memoir admixed with powers of wild invention, and wilder rhetoric inspired by the bizarre exuberance of a young civilization. No one categorization covers this new form unless it is Hunter Thompson's own word, gonzo. If so, in the 19th century Mark Twain was king of all the gonzo-writers. In the 20th century it was Hunter Thompson, whom I would nominate as the century's greatest comic writer in the English language.

Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn's webpage is back up (Hat-tip: Samizdata), and his Chicago Sun-Times column is not to be missed (except that it's dated Feb 5, so I have obviously missed it).

Will Europe warm up to Bush climate change?

So much for the axis of ennui. Three years on, one-third of the evildoers is in jail, his people have been liberated, and their country has just held the most free and fair election in modern Middle Eastern history. That last wasn't supposed to happen, either. "They can't have an election right now," declared John Kerry, Senator Nuance himself, in the presidential debates. "I personally do not believe they're going to be ready for the election in January," said Jimmy Carter, winner of the Nobel Prize for Peanuts. "There's no security there."
[...]
In his third major speech of the week, Reid said . . . well, at the time of writing, he hasn't given a third major speech, but I do hope he does. For every year this guy's on TV as the official face of the party, you can kiss three Democratic Senate seats goodbye. Right now, the Dems are all exit and no strategy.
[...]
Unlike Eurocomplacency or Democratic reactionary torpor, Bush's boldness has the measure of the times. In this climate, you have to push your own changes.

Don't ice it, Mark, tell us how you feel!

Poltical Quiz

Here's a variation on the Libertarian Party's "Shortest Political Quiz."
What does it tell me?
If I believe the results, there are a lot of socialists out there.
My results are here.

Syrians Want Syria Out

Publius Pundit sees two ironic threads in the latest news from Lebanon. One, that Jacques Chirac stands accused (j'accuse?) of instigating the rebels. (Oui, oui!). The second is that the Syrian people would like their government’s occupation to end. He links to this New York Post story

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- The barrage of criticism aimed at Syria after the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has some Syrians saying it's time to withdraw the 15,000 troops their country has in Lebanon.

This is not yet the opinion of the Syrian government, which has spent the week denying responsibility for Monday's assassination and reaffirming its close ties to Lebanon. But some here feel the Syrian presence in Lebanon has become too troublesome.

"Syria should withdraw its army and intelligence agents from Lebanon immediately, today rather than tomorrow," said Michel Kilo, a prominent Syrian writer.

Their presence is a threat to Syria itself, Kilo warned. "The Syrian people and the Syrian government are the ones suffering as a result."

Ending this occupation seems an achievable goal, and would insert yet another democracy into the region.

Great Headline

Isn’t that an odd headline for a story about a bad headline? Maybe I can get an editing job at Associated Press.

The headline reads: Bush Says U.S. Won't Attack Iran This disappointed me -- why would you take something off the table? What about the inaugural address? Is Sharansky out and Brzezinski in?

Turns out that was pretty much the opposite of what the President said:

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Friday the United States does not intend to attack Iran to crush its suspected nuclear weapons project but added that "you never want a president to say never." He expressed hopes that a European diplomatic initiative would persuade Tehran to abandon any such program.

They same folks did the same thing to Secretary Rice.

U.N. Perfidy

Larry Kudlow has fixed his CAPS lock key and has written a nice piece on the UN.

He had Claudia Rosett on his show last night. I think it is significant that she wrote about UNscam, not only in the Wall Street Journal, but also in The New Republic. I don't think other non-right-of-center outlets are covering this story.

Larry says:

Who can deny that the ultimate responsibility lies with Kofi Annan? He knew he was helping Saddam Hussein to survive. He knew the program undermined U.N. sanctions. And he knew the U.N. secretariat was living off the corrupt financial benefits of this misbegotten deal.

According to pollster Scott Rasmussen, among those following the story closely: 63 percent believe Kofi Annan should resign; and 72 percent believe Saddam used the program to bribe nations such as France and Russia. Also, only 37 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the U.N.

I believe the U.N. can serve a constructive purpose in problem solving with rogue states such as Iran, Syria, and North Korea. But I also believe Americans will never be confident about the U.N. as long as Kofi Annan is still secretary general. And whatever happens at the United Nations, the United States must always act in its own national self-interest to protect our country.

Laser Virtual Keyboard

THIS IS COOL. The virtual laser keyboard (VKB) works by using both infrared and laser technology to produce an invisible circuit and project a full-size virtual QWERTY keyboard on to any surface. The virtual PC keyboard behaves exactly like a real one: direction technology based on optical recognition enables the user to tap the images of the keys, complete with realistic tapping sounds(!), which feeds into the compatible PDA, Smartphone, laptop or PC. Maybe cooler when it is integrated into my phone or my palm, but goldawgs! This is a good idea.

Government Intrusion

From the Detroit Free Press

Smokers who have bought cigarettes online are starting to get notices from the state to pay up the $2-per-pack cigarette tax they avoided.

A Canton woman who got a state bill last weekend for $2,500 in back cigarette taxes is among the bulk cigarette buyers learning that avoiding taxes -- the state can go back up to four years -- can be expensive in the long run.

The state's lost tax dollars were estimated at $1.7 million from just one of 13 online cigarette retailers.

In a bold push to catch tax scofflaws, the state Treasury Department has subpoenaed the online retailers in other states to get the names, addresses and purchase records of Michiganders who bought cigarettes from them. In virtually all cases, such sales do not include the cigarette tax that must be paid to the state, regardless of who the seller is or how much is purchased.

So far, the sweep has resulted in letters sent to 533 people the state says bought from just the one online seller.

If the government of Michigan were really interested in stopping people from smoking (as all good governments claim), they would have sent these people "How to Stop Smoking" packets or something.
Instead, they reveal themselves to be what we all knew... just out for the money.

And how long till we all get subpeonaed for purchases on eBay or Amazon or anyone of hundreds or thousands of online retailers?

A Win! (I Think)

We're all jawing about Social Security and permanent tax cuts, but we should take a moment to celebrate a win.

Bush Signs Bill Curbing Class-Action Suits

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Friday signed a bill that he says will curtail multimillion-dollar class action lawsuits against companies and "marks a critical step toward ending the lawsuit culture in our country."

This was an important part of the second term agenda and those of us rooting for the President should be glad for the win.

My sole concern is how happy I am about an anti-Federalist measure. Class action suits are national in scope and clearly belong in Federal court. I am not keen on the good folks of Beaverditch, Mississippi shutting down a major pharmaceutical firm.

And yet, celebrating the motion of authority from state to federal seems importune.

Free Lebanon

Publius Pundit says "I guess moral support really does help."

It helped Sakharov and Sharansky when President Reagan called evil by name -- why wouldn't it work in Lebanon.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bush called on Syria on Thursday to withdraw its forces from Lebanon as Lebanese opposition leaders vowed to topple the country’s pro-Syrian leadership.
…
Voices from across Lebanon’s various ethnic and religious communities, encouraged by the tough anti-Syrian stance of the United States and France, are now telling Damascus and its local allies it is time to go.

Look around the PubliusPundit site. It is dedicated to the advancement of democracy and freedom around the globe -- good stuff!

Hat-tip: Instapundit

A National Party No More?

It seems like there are at least a few Democrats who learned a lesson from November.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has actively recruited at least two abortion opponents to run for the Senate in 2006. And perhaps most symbolically, the party is seeking to enlist Robert P. Casey Jr., Pennsylvania's treasurer, to challenge Senator Rick Santorum, a stalwart foe of abortion rights.

Mr. Casey is the son of former Gov. Bob Casey, a hero to abortion opponents inside and outside the Democratic Party. After trying unsuccessfully to have the party's 1992 platform state that Democrats did not support "abortion on demand," Governor Casey denounced the party for refusing to let him speak at its convention in New York on behalf of other Democrats who shared his views.

In contrast, the younger Mr. Casey said that Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the party's senatorial campaign committee, had encouraged him to run as an opponent of abortion rights.

"He was very welcoming and very candid about the party's need to speak for a broad section of Americans," Mr. Casey said in an interview.

But Mr. Schumer's overture has roiled party loyalists who remain unyielding in their support for abortion rights, exposing a deepening rift in the party. Abortion rights groups that are major financial donors to Democratic campaigns say they may fight Mr. Casey in a primary with a candidate who shares their beliefs.

At least one early (like 18 months early) poll has Casey ahead of Santorum, 46% to 41%.

Great NYTimes Editorial

I have given Thomas Friedman a few thumbs-ups on his NY Times columns, and he deserves another today

There is no excuse anymore for Syria's occupation of Lebanon, other than naked imperialism and a desire to siphon off Lebanese resources. If the U.S. government and media really care about democracy in the Arab world, Mr. Hariri's envoy said, then the U.S. has to get behind those trying to rescue the oldest real Arab democracy, Lebanon, from the Syrian grip.

Well, Rafik, this one's for you. I am sorry you won't be able to read it.

Fouad Ajami has a guest editorial in today's Wall Street Journal (Paid site only)

There is talk nowadays of spreading liberty to Arab lands, changing the ways of the Arabs, putting an end to regimes that harbor terror. The restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty ought to be one way for the Arabs to break with the culture of dictators and police states, and with the time of the car bombs. Hariri sought for his country a businessman's peace. His way was a break with the politics of charisma and ideology that has wrecked the Arab world; he believed in philanthropy and practical work. His vision may not have been stirring. But there was dignity in it, and a reprieve from the time of darkness.

Is it my mood today? The most liberal and the most conservative major editorial pages in the country today are calling for war with Syria as surely as William Randolph Hearst called for war with Spain.

As a Sharansky devotee and neo-Wilsonian, I can't run from it, I am just surprised at the idea's velocity.

Sit Down Before Reading This

In policy terms, Kerry probably had a more serious democratization agenda than Bush. But, rhetorically, he never matched Bush's grandeur.

I sent this quote to James Taranto at Best of The Web (did I mention the two times that I was in BOTW? 1 2 Oh. I did?) and said "I don't know which part is funnier."

Kerry's audacious plan to democratize the Middle East? I somehow missed that one, Peter. And I never, never, never, thought even Beinart would say about a Democrat "rhetorically, he never matched Bush's grandeur." (Nuke-uh-ler...)

As usual, Beinart makes other good points in his piece but I wonder if this isn't a fundamental shift in the left. They don't plan to misunderestimate the President. I wonder if we won't see a grudging respect.

Lord STanley Weeps

The WSJ Ed page is a little disrespectful of my favorite sport, but their middle editorial today contains bitter truth.

As newspaper readers, we have a special fondness for headlines that disclose the end of something we didn't know was taking place. Such as, "Drought in Burma Finally Over." Millions of Americans may have a similar reaction today when they read that "NHL Commissioner Cancels Season." You mean they weren't playing hockey? We hadn't noticed.

Hardy har har...But the analysis is spot on:

The more fundamental problem is that both sides failed to appreciate that in today's competitive sports world they aren't "management" and "labor." They are, or should be, business partners. The National Hockey League is just one of many pastimes bidding for the scarce entertainment dollar. Across a normal season hockey competes with basketball (pro and NCAA), golf, football, professional wrestling, figure skating, and for that matter the circus -- any spectator activity that North Americans pay to watch.

By refusing to compromise, the NHL's powers have only ceded the field to this competition. Of course, they've also hurt their fans by denying them a favorite winter diversion, but we suspect most of those who used to be the NHL's paying customers have been able to find other things to do and watch.

I played, as a kid and a grownup, and do love the sport. Missing a season has been disappointing but strangely not devastating.

Those Bastards!

It seems a drug company improved their product to help patients but -- they did it for money!

The Wall Street Journal broke this story (I remember reading it and thinking about the disparity between the News and Editorial staffs). But it took the New Yorker's anti-capitalist condescension to do it justice.

A friend sent me a link to the Critic At Large column, remarking "I am astonished at the level of bitterness towards drug companies, given that the people I know involved in drug research and development are so committed to improving the lives of patients."

Well, yeah, if they gave it away...

In short, AstraZeneca, launched an internal project to patent an improvement to its Prilosec so that the firm could continue to profit when the patent expired. They modified its structure to seek improvements.

Here's Malcolm Gladwell's take on this nefarious scheme:

AstraZeneca then had to prove that the single-isomer version of the drug was better than regular Prilosec. It chose as its target something called erosive esophagitis, a condition in which stomach acid begins to bubble up and harm the lining of the esophagus. In one study, half the patients took Prilosec, and half took Son of Prilosec. After one month, the two drugs were dead even. But after two months, to the delight of the Shark Fin team, the single-isomer version edged ahead—with a ninety-per-cent healing rate versus Prilosec’s eighty-seven per cent. The new drug was called Nexium. A patent was filed, the F.D.A. gave its blessing, and, in March of 2001, Nexium hit the pharmacy shelves priced at a hundred and twenty dollars for a month’s worth of pills. To keep cheaper generics at bay, and persuade patients and doctors to think of Nexium as state of the art, AstraZeneca spent half a billion dollars in marketing and advertising in the year following the launch. It is now one of the half-dozen top-selling drugs in America.

Oddly enough, the article eventually comes around to defending some pharmaceutical firms, pointing out that doctors or insurance companies could use the generic Prilosec.

Mr. Gladwell may not need Nexium (I could use a hit, reading his column) and feels that isomer selection doesn't rise to his high standards of chemical discovery, but the product was improved. It took scientists and lab techs and time and electricity and lawyers. Shouldn't he be glad it's there if he needs it?

He also hits the "cox-2 inhibitors are no better than Advil unless you have stomach ulcers" meme. Once again, these bastards are just trying to sell us $5 aspirin! I dare say if you have thin blood, ulcers, and are in extreme pain, it is might handy to have it around.

Yes, they're oversubscribed, yes a less expensive alternative probably works 90% of the time. But what if it's for your spouse and the Insurance company says use the cheap one. What are you going to say? What's your attorney going to say?

Hail Fiona!

I don't mind being a contrarian, but when nobody agrees with me, I have to question my position and maybe even keep my mouth shut.

But, now that I have one guy to back me up (and a serious guy at that), I will speak my peace (piece?)

I have always been a fan of Carly Fiona of HP. I thought the Compaq merger looked good on paper, and that her refusal to spin off the printer biz augured well for long-term viability of HP.

It's not like some folks disagreed -- all of Wall Street disagreed. And the Hayekian in me has to believe that the market is right. I was disappointed when she agreed to step down -- but again, Wall Street loved it.

Homan Jenkins, Jr. writes a WSJ Editorial that, mirabile dictu, shares my vision:

HP's printers were already going from being appendages of computers to being appendages of digital cameras, with or without a computer involved. The company argues, as a stopgap, that printers help sell computers and vice versa. That's why archrival Dell has recently added printers to its line-up. But, in the long run, HP is positioning itself for the digitization of all media, redrawing the boundaries between computers and consumer electronics. It's already used the imaging lessons gained from printers to roll out a line of plasma TVs.
It's also leading a consortium of companies to establish new standards to permit printers and other output devices to interact wirelessly with the cloud of digital devices that increasingly traffic in digital imagery, including Apple's new photo iPod. Would a stand-alone printer company command the same power to shape these crucial standards?

Jenkins wonders if you can build a business around proprietary ink cartridges (a great cash cow, but HP?) and states that her vision will remain for awhile, even though she has gone.

UPDATE: WSJ sez

Hewlett-Packard Co., a week after directors ousted Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, posted better-than-expected revenue for its fiscal first quarter and offered a relatively strong sales outlook.

No wonder she was fired...

Realignment

It's just anecdotal, but the summary in the WSJ caught my political eye: "Housing starts rose 4.7% in January to the highest level in nearly 21 years as booming activity in the South offset the effects of soggy, stormy weather elsewhere."

WSJ.com - Housing Starts Jump 4.7%, Bucking Forecast for Drop

Stormy, snowy weather in the Northeast and Midwest and heavy rain in the West had been expected to put a damper on building activity -- and indeed, starts did decline in the Northeast and Midwest. Analysts expecting a slowdown pointed to the government's recent report on payroll employment that showed the U.S. construction indudtry shed 9,000 jobs last month.

But robust activity in the South offset the declines in other regions. Starts climbed 19% in the South to 1.139 million units -- the region's highest level since February 1984's 1.187 million. Housing starts in the South accounted for more than half of the nation's building activity last month. Meanwhile, new construction fell 24% to 150,000 in the Northeast and 13% to 330,000 in the Midwest. Builders in the West broke ground on around 540,000 new homes, a 1.9% increase.

Ummm, isn't that a signal of more than expected growth for the most GOP dominated part of the country? Already, as Joel Kotkin writes in the Weekly Standard, folks are moving out of the Euro-cities to Cities of Aspiration

What differentiates these two Americas is not so much politics, but perspective on the future. Cities of aspiration like Reno accommodate job growth and attract young families who hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday.
They offer an environment that most of our forebears--wherever they might be from--would recognize as distinctly American. In the places people are leaving, what might be called Euro-America, the focus is on preserving older urban forms, cultivating refinement, and following continental norms in attitude, politics, and lifestyle.

Right now the demographic, economic, and political momentum belongs to the aspirational cities, places like Reno, Boise, Orlando, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City. They attract the most new migrants from other parts of the country, and an increasing number of immigrants from abroad. They have experienced some of the nation's sharpest increases in their numbers of new families.

Demographics definitely favors the red states; the WSJ article makes me wonder if it's not more pronounced than previously thought.

The Social Security Fight

Pete du Pont (I supported his brief Presidential bid way back when...) nails it in his OpinionJournal piece today. The solidarity seen in opposition to President Bush's Social Security reform is philosophical:

Ultimately the argument isn't about investment accounts, or stocks or bonds or "gambling" or "insecurity." It is about socialism versus individualism, about Attlee's social justice and Hillary's common good and Chomsky's economic solidarity. AARP CEO William Novelli is in favor of allowing the government to invest Social Security surplus funds in the stock market, but against allowing individuals to do so--exactly the socialist argument, that government should control the distribution of the nation's wealth.

When you increase an individual's wealth, he becomes less dependent on government, and his attitude towards government changes. Socialists can't allow that, for it erodes their fundamental principle that social justice can only be achieved when important segments of the economy are under government control.

And that is why today's very liberal Democratic Party is so vehemently arguing against personal ownership of Social Security market accounts. The government's Social Security system is socialism's last redoubt, and must be preserved at all costs.

Along the way, he points out that the AFL-CIO, AARP and government employees all use the type of plan W is proposing, even as they fight it.

I'll go further and point out that they have a lot to lose. Much of the government control agenda has been repudiated of late; Social Security remains one of the few popular forms of coercion. Any individualization would severely damage the progressives' agenda.

"V-Day"

In the words of my wife, who is a genuine genius, this is "not my style" but I find it interesting anyway. And it's timely, being that V-Day is the counter-culture, feminist, alternative to St. Valentine's Day.

I am, of course, familiar with The Vagina Monologues and considered it a feminist "feel good" play. Having no interest whatsoever in seeing or reading it, I hadn't realized it's philosophical vacuity. I'll leave it to Christina Hoff Sommers to give us the gory details in Sex, Lies and the Vagina Monologues (warning- adult language) but, as I mentioned in the comments to Competence below, the play dramatizes and glorifies statutory rape. The enobling aspect in this instance is that said rape is a lesbian affair.

But worse still, in my (ahem) "humble" opinion, is VM author Eve Ensler's least common denominator treatment of romantic love between men and women, popularly celebrated by Valentine's day. Because there exist men who commit violence against women, she says, no one should celebrate the existence, or value, or joy that results when any man treats a woman with reverence.

This attitude is the manifestation of collectivist ideology in the subject of human sexuality - "No woman may be desired so long as any are undesirable!"

The Laffer Curve

It always works -- and yet everybody is still surprised.

Well, not Larry Kudlow. His new blog is now providing follow up commentary for his new show (sniff! The one without Jim Cramer). It is a very effective format: watch the show, read the blog, buy the economist action figures...

He blogs about a great segment with Senator Jon Kyl and his effort to extend the Bush tax cuts. Here's the close:

Meanwhile dividend and capital gains tax collections are rising at a double-digit pace according to the most recent monthly Treasury statement in the non-withheld personal income category. At lower tax-rates, more investment is generating higher tax collections. Sound familiar? That's right, the scenario conforms to Arthur Laffer's curve.

Always works, always surprises...

For This We Elect Republicans?

Sensing that the government was not doing enough to hamper innovation and destroy valuations in the pharmaceutical sector, Congress has sprung into life:

Yahoo! News - New Board to Check Drugs After Approval

WASHINGTON - The government is setting up a monitoring board to keep checking on medicines once they're on the market and to update doctors and patients on risks and benefits.

I guess I'll just short Pfizer and learn to live with Multiple Sclerosis -- they got a public to protect!!!

"Allies"

I don't do it often, but if I ever blog an NRO piece I feel like I'm trespassing on JK's turf. Forgive me, JK.

William F. Buckley, in atypical brevity, lays out the interests of the Six Parties of Asia-Pacific nuclear detente. In a nutshell, America has much to lose from a North Korean nuclear first strike, but our friends in South Korea and Japan, and our "friends" in China and Russia have much more at stake. You see, while the American heartland is some 10,000 miles from the potentially charred and radiating remains of North Korea's industrial and population centers, the other four parties are not.

This is encouraging for America's safety, and does much to explain why W can afford to direct his attention toward Iran and Syria while Baby Kim dithers and babbles. But there's another tactic Mr. Bush may be applying, most likely in private, with the Chinese. If not then Jonah Goldberg suggests in today's Corner he give it some thought. Borrowing from a 2003 Charles Krauthammer column:

What to do when your hand is so poor? Play the trump. We do have one, but we dare not speak its name: a nuclear Japan. Japan cannot long tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea. Having once lobbed a missile over Japan, North Korea could easily hit any city in Japan with a nuclear-tipped weapon. Japan does not want to live under that threat.

We should go to the Chinese and tell them plainly that if they do not join us in squeezing North Korea and thus stopping its march to go nuclear, we will endorse any Japanese attempt to create a nuclear deterrent of its own. Even better, we would sympathetically regard any request by Japan to acquire American nuclear missiles as an immediate and interim deterrent. If our nightmare is a nuclear North Korea, China's is a nuclear Japan. It's time to share the nightmares.

The War on Terror is a global campaign and it's time the Chinese started pulling their weight.

I'll Miss the Team

I was suspicious last week. Now it looks official. The CNBC website is promoting Kudlow & Company James Cramer has his own show called Mad Money.

I'll still gladly watch Larry, but I will miss Jim's influence as a pro-growth, pro-business Democrat. I'll try his show as well but my hunch is that I'll turn more toward Larry.

Vote With Your Feet

Brian Micklethwait at Samizdata catches an interesting ratio. It seems 500 protestors marched on the US Embassy in London, taking exception to America's decision to back out of Kyoto.

Yet the same BBC estimated "thousands flocked" to the opening of a new Ikea store. Brian sez:

I think this contrast well illustrates the relative pulling power of shopping for bargains compared to political demonstrating, and shows that Western Civilisation will not necessarily be collapsing under the weight of its idiocy any time soon.