Inevitability of Politics?

This is a truly remarkable performance.  The mindless state worship.... the condescension, the paternalism.  Breath-taking.  Here is what self-appointed dictator of others Dorman has to say for his big finish:

The non-reflexive-libertarian view does not require a market failure or a taste for paternalism.  It sees Conditional Cash Transers as policy initiatives to shift cultural norms regarding education and health.  (And, no, trying to shift norms is no more paternalistic than choosing to not shift them.  Welcome to the inevitability of politics.)  Recipients of transfers can reasonably be asked to meet education and health conditions because child-rearing is recognized as socially necessary work, and it is equitable to pay people for it provided it is done in a way that meets societal expectations.

Okay, so it actually works as follows...(continued below the fold)

Cross Talk: Arab Spring?

Alon Ben-Meir, Daniel Pipes, and I were on Cross-Talk.

OBL

l'affaire OBL: Nicely summarized by my friend Ed Cone. You gotta like the Al Jazera take on things.

Ross Douthat likewise is what I like: wise.

In Counting There Is Strength

Cool. The Dems still control the state apparatus here in NC, and they are going to try to steal the Ethridge seat. And who's to stop them? After all, in counting there is strength...
(Click for more bodacious image)
It will be Al Franken "winning" Wisconsin in 2008 all over again.

Small Business Myth

Veronique dR does a nice of abusing a silly myth.

Small businesses do create the most jobs. And destroy. It's like saying I have lost 600 pounds in the last year; true. But I have gained 860 pounds, and I still weigh 260. You need to worry about the NET change.

And government policies not only do not help small business produce more jobs, but those policies actually hurt. Veronique does a nice job of making it understandable.

Quotes entirely relevant for this election season

"Politics is a ridiculous profession populated by ridiculous people. Maybe if we elect increasingly clownish candidates, the public will eventually come to realize this, and finally realize that it’s probably not a good idea to put larger and larger portions of our lives and livelihoods in the hands of people who have achieved success in a field that rewards character traits you spend your entire tenure as a parent trying to teach out of your kids."

-Radley Balko

more here.

"Counties have needs...."

I call bullish.

Counties do NOT have needs, in spite of what is said here, and in which I try to rebut the claim in an interview.

The fact is that CITIZENS have needs, and counties exist to serve those needs. That is the only reason counties exist.... to serve citizens. If counties have needs let 'em take up a voluntary collection, not take the money at gunpoint.

The worst thing is the idea that it is okay to use taxpayer resources to run an ad campaign in favor of taxes. (Same column, on CJO)

LTE: Thank Goodness for...CONGRESS?

This LTE appeared in the Wilmington Star-News. I reproduce it in its entirety.

The 7th District and Mike McIntyre

Published: Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 6:08 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 6:08 p.m.
The 7th District is so lucky to have Mike McIntyre.

My company in Moore County has been looking at sites in North Carolina to build a new manufacturing plant that will create 40 new jobs.
Mike McIntyre’s Economic Development Director, Tony McEwen, in Wilmington, has been like a hungry Bass chasing a spinner bait in his efforts to bring our plant to southeastern North Carolina. Tony, with his rolodex of contacts in the state and in Washington, DC, gained through years of assisting Mike, has opened doors we found blocked, bridged communication gaps when we heard busy signals, and short-cut red tape to help us speed the day when we will send out help-wanted ads, pay taxes to state and local governments, and improve the economic picture in the Southeast.
I have never met Mike McIntyre. I have never donated to Mike McIntyre. I do not live in the 7th District so I have never voted for Mike McIntyre.
Mike has risen to a position in Congress that allows him to keep the spotlight on the needs of the people in the 7th District. Mike’s experienced staff has the capability to push aside road blocks and solve issues at home that only comes with years of learning where to go first and who to call at EPA, Department of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Corps of Engineers …the right call to the right people.
Yes, District 7, you are indeed lucky to have Mike McIntyre serving you in Congress. You just cannot replace that experience.
Jim Cummings
Wake County

Jim Cummings
Wake County

Oh. My. God. Why is a member of Congress even involved in creating an extension of an existing business, for 40 jobs? Answer: Mo "Better" Fiorina, and CONGRESS: THE KEYSTONE OF THE WASHINGTON ESTABLISHMENT. If you haven't read it, please do. It is going to be on the final.

The simple answer is that Congress creates the barriers, with bizarre laws and intractable agencies. And then Congress claims credit for "helping" us through the maze that it creted. Everybody wins! More jobs for bureaucrats, who vote Dem, and more reelections for members of Congress. People are actually grateful, as in the case of the LTE above.

Well, almost everyone wins. It sucks to be a taxpayer. Sorry....

(Nod to L. Smith, whose incredulity is intact)

The Grand Game!

It's been a while. But the Grand Game is back! It turns out that the folks who run England's criminal justice system would prefer to prosecute homeowners who try to defend themselves. It makes some sense, I have to admit. Homeowners can't run, and the state can hold them hostage because the state controls title and transfer of title.

Excerpt:

David Cameron has stoked the row over the prosecution of ‘have a go heroes’ by saying that burglars leave their human rights at the door when they break into a property.... The moment a burglar steps over your threshold and invades your property with all the threat that gives to you, your family and your livelihood, I think they leave their human rights outside,” he said.

Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has criticised the... proposal, saying that the current law for householders accused of attacking intruders: “works very well”.

Last month, Munir Hussain, a businessman, was freed from prison on appeal after being jailed for using a cricket bat to batter an intruder who had broken into his home and tied his family up, leaving the burglar with brain damage.

Mr Cameron has also spoken up in defence of Mylene Klass, the television presenter and musician, who was told off by police for waving a knife at intruders who broke into her garden, describing the warning as “ridiculous”.

Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, dismissed Mr Cameron’s suggestion that burglars should forfeit their human rights as a “wonderful sound bite”.

He told the BBC’s Politics Show: “What sort of country is he trying to create?

"Of course it will receive short-term public applause from those who want to get tough on burglars, as we do in our Government, but where's the practical common sense policy thinking?"

Here's my practical common sense policy thinking: If you break into my house, and then threaten and tie up my family, then I am not obliged to be careful in how I react. If I have a bat, or a 2-iron, and I do NOT hit you in the head, as hard as I can, I may get tied up, too. We aren't talking about some guy who got lost. THE INTRUDER TIED THEM UP. Time for Mr. Cricket Bat. Sure, I can't enslave the intruder, or capture him and torture him. But I am not trained to calibrate how hard I hit with the bat.

Anyway, KPC readers, please pick out the most asinine elements of the story, the beyond stupid quotes, and let us know, in comments!

ATSRTWT

(UPDATE: My bad. Nod to my man Craig Newmark.....Furthermore, a commenter on N's Door clarifies that the cricket bat beating took place outside. An interesting question, I guess. Clearly I can beat the guy if he is threatening me. If he runs, maybe not. And once he is outside.... I see the point. Always useful to have a few facts, what?)

Carter Wrenn Dishes

I understand that Bev Perdue claimed she was looking at ways to cut the budget.

And I understand that the News and Observer, ever credulous (that's the BEST interpretation...), reported it as fact.

But....allowing the state to make only no-bid contracts so that it can channel money directly to friends and cronies...wouldn't that be a place you would think of cutting, if you were serious? Why is it that the News and Observer only tries to go after the corruption of ex-governors? Why not question this horrible mess while they are still in office?

Look, even Mickey Michaux is surprised.

How Could This Possibly Be Funny? Or, Worse, Serious?

1. What kind of idiot could think that this was going to be funny?

TSA Agent plants white powder in bag....

Next: Hilarious pranksters plant bomb in ladies underwear! "I got punk'd! I got punk'd!" laughs victim.

2. This guy, Lt Gov of South Carolina, appears to believe that no humans should have an "ample food supply." You can see the point, I suppose, if you are a naive Malthusian, but his point would also appear to apply to charity soup kitchens and homeless missions. I'm a Libertarian, but even I donate money to homeless shelters and charities. As long as it's voluntary, those organizations do good work and I support them.

(Nod to Anonyman)

Yes, There IS Such a Thing as Left-Wing Authoritarianism

Paul Krugman reveals just how far he has gone in a totalitarian direction. Angus and I have long believed P-Kroog has sold out, but I at least have had the sense that there is some underlying part of his brain that still perceives some part of reality.

I am no longer sure. P-Kroog apparently believes that Obama does not, in fact, have enough midi-chlorians, and so (I'm not making this up) wrote a post called "He Wasn't The One We've Been Waiting For." Yes, he did. Russ Roberts gives the appropriate response, a combination of confused surprise and dispositive counterarguments. Will W also is incredulous, and rightly.

And he also wrote this unbelievable op-ed. I really thought that this was from the Onion at first. As my man Don B put it:

Polls show that health-care ‘reform’ of the sort the Senate passed is now overwhelmingly unpopular. Indeed, as Scott Brown’s victory makes clear, it’s unpopular even in Massachusetts – perhaps the most ‘Progressive’ state in the union. And the President and members of the House obviously believe these polls, otherwise they wouldn’t have so quickly run away from the Senate bill.

For Mr. Krugman nevertheless to insist that “the nation is waiting” for final legislative approval of this ‘reform’ reveals that Mr. Krugman’s arrogance has reached such Brobdingnagian proportions that he mistakes his own desires for those of the American public.

So, to Mr. Overwater: There IS such a thing as left-wing authoritarianism.

A Little Lunch at Nello's....

Russian billionaire Abramovich drops $50k for a nice lunch.

The Ward Boss writes, "Look, I had the Milanese, and the water. I'm not submitting receipts to be reimbursed for anything else...."

Good. I am not sure that the $7k+ "tip" would have made it through Duke's accounting office.

(A copy of the bill....) (Click to enlarge)
















Now, you are thinking, "3 bottle of wine? For $1,500? WOW!" But wait, check again, you missed a zero....Plus, tax is more than $3,200, and the tip is more than $7,300. Nice tip...

Hot Grandma N.E. Prostitute

Wow. The cops messed up.

Perhaps the cops should have to stay after school, and write 1,000 times: "Woman in tight clothing walking down street does NOT EQUAL prostitute."

(Nod to Anonyman, would never had to pay for it)

Lord Acton was, and is, correct

Power Increases Hypocrisy: Moralizing in Reasoning, Immorality in Behavior

Joris Lammers, Diederik Stapel & Adam Galinsky
Psychological Science, forthcoming

Abstract: Five studies explored whether power increases moral hypocrisy, a situation
characterized by imposing strict moral standards on others but practicing less strict moral behavior oneself. In Experiment 1, compared to the powerless, the powerful condemned other people's cheating, while cheating more themselves. In Experiments 2-4, the powerful were more strict in judging others' moral transgressions but more lenient in judging their own transgressions. A final study found that the effect of power on moral hypocrisy depends on its legitimacy: When power was illegitimate, the moral hypocrisy effect not only disappeared but reversed, with the illegitimate powerful becoming more strict in judging their own than others' behavior. This pattern, which might be dubbed hypercrisy, was also found among low-power participants in Experiments 3 and 4. We discuss how patterns of hypocrisy and hypercrisy among the powerful and powerless can help perpetuate social inequality.

Your Hugo Chavez update

As academics around the world emerge from the holiday and shuffle back to work, I know that one question is foremost in their minds: What's Hugo Chavez been up to lately?

Well here you go:

1. Chavez ordered that a Venezuelan judge, who released a prisoner that the Chavez government wouldn't put on trial or grant bail for two years, be sent to prison for 30 years. He helpfully suggested that she was lucky that he didn't have her shot.

2.  He put international automakers with plants in Venezuela on notice that they would be next on the nationalization list if they didn't start making the "right" kind of vehicles and stop worrying about profits.

3. He accused Colombia of sending drone aircraft into Venezuelan airspace as a preparation for invasion. When the Colombian defense minister said that it was probably just Santa Claus that the Venezuelans saw, Hugo didn't see the humor.

Meanwhile, Venezuela continues to deteriorate.

TSA--Whoopsie Daisy

Oops! Sorry, man. Here's a new computer for you. (Did they lose the other one?)

Excerpt:
As is usually the case in situations like this, the TSA hasn't admitted to doing anything wrong, and in a letter to Elliott's attorney, simply states that his subpoena is "being withdraw [sic] as no longer necessary."

(Nod to Anonyman, who also notes that it seems odd that confiscation was even an issue in a civil case, before there was a hearing.)

(UPDATE: Shawn notes, in comments, that this lady had her laptop "blown up" by Israeli TSA. And, it appears to be true. Yike!)

The Grand Game!

Sometimes here at KPC someone sends a link that is just SO sweet that we have to examine it, savor it, and then leave it by the side of the road to rot.

While Sweden has a large state and well developed public services, in Japan government social expenditure makes up an unusually small part (compared to other OECD countries) of its Gross National Income. The same contrast exists among US states - even between neighbouring states like Vermont and New Hampshire. Vermont takes the big government route and New Hampshire the small. But despite the contrast in how greater equality is achieved, Sweden, Japan, Vermont and New Hampshire all enjoy good health, lower rates of most social problems - i.e. all the benefits of greater equality.

Here is just such a link, a set of "studies" so noisome, so nonsensical... well, enjoy. Here is the "evidence" page. This is a rare combination of almost painful self-importance and bad social science.

Does ICE stand for "Idiots Couldn't Explain"?

Hans Joachim Keil is a U.S. citizen. Demonstrably. He has a passport. He served in the U.S. Air Force.

But he was arrested in Branson, MO by the intrepid folks at ICE. They said he was using a false passport.

Okay, maybe. ICE was worried about human trafficking, and there was a Western Samoan dance troupe there. (Here is their web site. Some pretty studly guys. Tommy the Brit: You are welcome!) There was some kind of investigation. So it wasn't just made up.

Except....except that ICE held Keil for three months. Are our records so bad that it takes three months to check on a passport? (He wasn't in jail, but he couldn't leave Branson. Is that "trailer park arrest," like house arrest but Branson style?

Then, Kiel was released, having never been formally charged. He is now trying to sue the gubmint (here is the actual complaint, listing the facts and the allegation; good luck with that...)

He is (pauses) A. US. CITIZEN. ICE should not be able to harass him, not in any way. But they did. And they could do it to you. If you say, "But I'm a U.S. citizen!" they will simply question your passport.

Ugh. Here is a claim that there was some kind of problem with the application for the passport, in 1967. But then why release him, and say he IS a U.S. citizen? It's the 90 days thing that is strange.

In December 2008, a year ago, the US Attorney's office in Springfield, MO filed a motion essentially certifying (get this) that Kiel was and always had been a U.S. citizen! No, really.

Oh, and one more thing: Keil is the Western Samoa Ambassador to America. If he does NOT have a U.S. passport, then he has diplomatic immunity. He can be deported, but under no circumstances can he be detained.

Bottom line: there are only two possibilities...Keil has, or does not have, a valid U.S. passport. If he does, then he is a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil and ICE can't touch him. If he does NOT, then he is a duly appointed ambassador of a foreign nation, on formal diplomatic business, and the ICE CAN'T TOUCH HIM.

The only thing I can think of is that Ambassador Kiel is a big d**khead, and the ICE is just harrassing him for bureaucratic recreation. But if the ICE can use "is a known d**khead" as an excuse to hold you for three months, then...well, Angus and I need to go into hiding!

(Nod: Reason Brickbats)

Larry got game!

As Noam Scheiber reveals in TNR:

A quick look at Summers suggests diving for drop shots isn’t really his game, though opponents say he’s deceptively agile. The typical Summers point will start with a cannon-like serve. If the return is weak, the bulky six-footer will cut the ball off and swing for a difficult angle. Each additional shot is more likely than the last to either be out or un-returnable--the shorter the rally the better. As a player, "Larry is very tenacious … like his personality," says Summers’s sometime coach, Nick Bollettieri. "I don’t think Larry ever smiles." (Adds Bollettieri: "I told Larry if he has enough money, I can still get him to another level.")

Yes that's THE NicK Bollettieri, erstwhile coach of Andre Agassi and tons of other pros. What's he doing in the story? Well:

Not long after leaving office in 2001, Summers and a Treasury colleague named Lee Sachs spent a long weekend refining their strokes at Bollettieri’s world-famous tennis academy in Florida. "He and I were making the adjustments to post-government life," Summers recalls. "His father lived down there, and we decided to try it for several days."

The trip soon became an annual ritual, with Geithner, Sperling, and several other former colleagues joining in. Each March, the wonks-in-exile would present themselves to the Bollettieri instructors for two days of extensive drilling.

Yikes!