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FOXNews.com - 30 Years of Global Cooling Are Coming, Leading Scientist Says: "Oranges are freezing and millions of tropical fish are dying in Florida, and it could be just the beginning of a decades-long deep freeze, says Professor Mojib Latif, one of the world's leading climate modelers.
Latif thinks the cold snap Americans have been suffering through is only the beginning. He says we're in for 30 years of cooler temperatures -- a mini ice age, he calls it, basing his theory on an analysis of natural cycles in water temperatures in the world's oceans.
Latif, a professor at the Leibniz Institute at Germany's Kiel University and an author of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, believes the lengthy cold weather is merely a pause -- a 30-years-long blip -- in the larger cycle of global warming, which postulates that temperatures will rise rapidly over the coming years.
At a U.N. conference in September, Latif said that changes in ocean currents known as the North Atlantic Oscillation could dominate over manmade global warming for the next few decades. Latif said the fluctuations in these currents could also be responsible for much of the rise in global temperatures seen over the past 30 years."
No one predicted the temperature reduction, but now that we see it, it all fits in with global warming. So what wouldn't fit it with global warming?
Monday, January 11, 2010
FOXNews.com - More Stimulus? Analysis Finds Funds for Roads, Bridges Has Had No Impact
FOXNews.com - More Stimulus? Analysis Finds Funds for Roads, Bridges Has Had No Impact: "regions and states that received ample stimulus funding for building roads and bridges had equally high unemployment rates as areas that didn't get cash from the $787 billion recovery package signed in February of last year, a new Associated Press analysis found."
"Part of the reason for the minimal impact is the small percentage transportation spending consumes in the nation's $14 trillion economy -- even with "shovel ready" projects ready to go.
"It would be unlikely that even $20 billion spent all at once would be enough to move the needle of the huge decline we've seen, even in construction, much less the economy. The job destruction is way too big," said Kenneth D. Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America."
"Part of the reason for the minimal impact is the small percentage transportation spending consumes in the nation's $14 trillion economy -- even with "shovel ready" projects ready to go.
"It would be unlikely that even $20 billion spent all at once would be enough to move the needle of the huge decline we've seen, even in construction, much less the economy. The job destruction is way too big," said Kenneth D. Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America."
Campaign For Liberty — Money For Nothing
Campaign For Liberty — Money For Nothing: "The list of blunders begins with the second installment of TARP, bringing to $850 billion the total appropriated for the expressed purpose of purchasing toxic assets from banks. How many of these toxic assets got purchased? Not a single one.
Next we spent over $40 billion for the expressed purpose of keeping GM and Chrysler from going bankrupt. And then both GM and Chrysler went bankrupt.
The $787 billion economic stimulus bill was passed with the expressed purpose of creating 3 million jobs and keep unemployment below 8%. Except that we lost 3 million more jobs, and unemployment is now over 10% and climbing.
Cash 4 Clunkers spent $4 billion for the expressed purpose of convincing people who were going to drive their old cars to buy fuel-efficient American cars instead. People who were going to buy a new car anyway bought Hondas.
And then there was the Mortgage Bailout bill - $75 billion for the expressed purpose of keeping 5 million homeowners from losing their homes. Oops - only 650,000 actually qualified, a small fraction of those were actually refinanced, and more than half of the loans refinanced went delinquent again within 3 months.
The Senate is about to pass an $871 billion health care bill whose original expressed purpose was to provide universal coverage, spending reforms, and a public option. After months of bribing votes out of individual senators, the final bill will do none of those things; instead it cuts care for seniors and raises our taxes by half a trillion dollars.
Not to be outdone by Congress, the Federal Reserve doubled the money supply (yes, doubled it) in the last quarter of 2008 for the expressed purpose of forcing banks to expand credit in 2009. Credit issuance contracted by 15%."
"$2.6 trillion could have purchased 2,600 new Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants; enough capacity to generate all the energy we could ever conceivably use for all purposes - for several centuries.
That's what $2.6 trillion could have bought - perpetual energy independence and zero carbon emissions forever. Instead, we got nothing, unless you count a one-year raise for some union teachers. That is truly pathetic."
Next we spent over $40 billion for the expressed purpose of keeping GM and Chrysler from going bankrupt. And then both GM and Chrysler went bankrupt.
The $787 billion economic stimulus bill was passed with the expressed purpose of creating 3 million jobs and keep unemployment below 8%. Except that we lost 3 million more jobs, and unemployment is now over 10% and climbing.
Cash 4 Clunkers spent $4 billion for the expressed purpose of convincing people who were going to drive their old cars to buy fuel-efficient American cars instead. People who were going to buy a new car anyway bought Hondas.
And then there was the Mortgage Bailout bill - $75 billion for the expressed purpose of keeping 5 million homeowners from losing their homes. Oops - only 650,000 actually qualified, a small fraction of those were actually refinanced, and more than half of the loans refinanced went delinquent again within 3 months.
The Senate is about to pass an $871 billion health care bill whose original expressed purpose was to provide universal coverage, spending reforms, and a public option. After months of bribing votes out of individual senators, the final bill will do none of those things; instead it cuts care for seniors and raises our taxes by half a trillion dollars.
Not to be outdone by Congress, the Federal Reserve doubled the money supply (yes, doubled it) in the last quarter of 2008 for the expressed purpose of forcing banks to expand credit in 2009. Credit issuance contracted by 15%."
"$2.6 trillion could have purchased 2,600 new Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants; enough capacity to generate all the energy we could ever conceivably use for all purposes - for several centuries.
That's what $2.6 trillion could have bought - perpetual energy independence and zero carbon emissions forever. Instead, we got nothing, unless you count a one-year raise for some union teachers. That is truly pathetic."
Government vs. manufacturing jobs
January 8: "In November, Wisconsin has 435,800 manufacturing jobs and 438,200 government jobs.
Looking back 50 years, Wisconsin had 459,800 manufacturing jobs in 1959 and 155,000 government jobs."
Looking back 50 years, Wisconsin had 459,800 manufacturing jobs in 1959 and 155,000 government jobs."
Europe Slapping Rich With Massive Traffic Fines - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com
Europe Slapping Rich With Massive Traffic Fines - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com: "European countries are increasingly pegging speeding fines to income as a way to punish wealthy scofflaws who would otherwise ignore tickets.
Advocates say a $290,000 speeding ticket slapped on a millionaire Ferrari driver in Switzerlandwas a fair and well-deserved example of the trend."
If a rich man can get a huge fine for going twice the speed limit through a village because of the danger to people, why shouldn't everyone get a large fine for recklessly endangering everyone? Is a the value of a pedestrian's life determined by who is endangering it?
"The current law could lead to 'ridiculously low' penalties without any possibility of jail time for poor people who are caught driving drunk or speeding excessively, Stamm told the AP."
Shouldn't a poor drunk, who recklessly endangers pedestrian's lives, also get a large punishment?
Advocates say a $290,000 speeding ticket slapped on a millionaire Ferrari driver in Switzerlandwas a fair and well-deserved example of the trend."
If a rich man can get a huge fine for going twice the speed limit through a village because of the danger to people, why shouldn't everyone get a large fine for recklessly endangering everyone? Is a the value of a pedestrian's life determined by who is endangering it?
"The current law could lead to 'ridiculously low' penalties without any possibility of jail time for poor people who are caught driving drunk or speeding excessively, Stamm told the AP."
Shouldn't a poor drunk, who recklessly endangers pedestrian's lives, also get a large punishment?
Friday, January 08, 2010
The Greatest Economic Charity - F.A. Harper - Mises Institute
The Greatest Economic Charity - F.A. Harper - Mises Institute: "A certain Talmudical philosopher once offered us this apothegm:
The noblest charity is to prevent a man from accepting charity, and the best alms are to show and enable a man to dispense with alms.[1]"
The noblest charity is to prevent a man from accepting charity, and the best alms are to show and enable a man to dispense with alms.[1]"
Curbing Medical Malfeasance | Robert A. Levy | Cato Institute: Commentary
Curbing Medical Malfeasance | Robert A. Levy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Take Missouri. Doctors and other businesses in the Midwestern state were closing their doors because of runaway lawsuits. Then a law was passed directing that cases be heard in the county where an alleged injury occurred; plaintiffs could no longer shop for friendly judges and juries. Missouri's malpractice claims are now at a 30-year low. Texas had similar success with its 2003 reforms. The number of doctors applying for licenses increased significantly, and insurance rates declined. In Pennsylvania, malpractice filings plummeted after certificate of merit requirements were adopted to weed out weak cases. Reforms in Mississippi have virtually eliminated what the Chamber of Commerce had characterized as 'jackpot justice.'"
A Note on the Supposed Independence of the Fed - J�rg Guido H�lsmann - Mises Institute
A Note on the Supposed Independence of the Fed - J�rg Guido H�lsmann - Mises Institute: "Economic theory suggests that unaccountable, legally protected monopolies are inefficient. Without monitoring, governance, competition, and feedback such organizations make bad decisions and tend to be captured by special interests. Why should central banks be any different?
Empirical evidence suggests that unaccountable central banks misallocate resources and retard economic growth. Since 1913, the year the Fed was created, the dollar has lost 95% of its value. Easy credit from the Fed has made the US economy debt-dependent. It has encouraged irresponsible investment on financial markets and elsewhere. It has redistributed real incomes on a massive scale from the general population to the Fed’s main business partners: banks, financial firms, and government. It has not stabilized the American economy, but has made it much more fragile and prone to severe crises such as the present one. Put simply: the Fed is a government central planning agency, and it performs about as well as every government central planning agency in history."
"The Fed has had one great success: it is by far the largest funder of academic research in monetary and macroeconomics, employing hundreds of economists, financing conferences and seminars, providing paid consultancies, and so on. Is it any wonder that the majority of academic monetary and macroeconomists support the status quo?"
Empirical evidence suggests that unaccountable central banks misallocate resources and retard economic growth. Since 1913, the year the Fed was created, the dollar has lost 95% of its value. Easy credit from the Fed has made the US economy debt-dependent. It has encouraged irresponsible investment on financial markets and elsewhere. It has redistributed real incomes on a massive scale from the general population to the Fed’s main business partners: banks, financial firms, and government. It has not stabilized the American economy, but has made it much more fragile and prone to severe crises such as the present one. Put simply: the Fed is a government central planning agency, and it performs about as well as every government central planning agency in history."
"The Fed has had one great success: it is by far the largest funder of academic research in monetary and macroeconomics, employing hundreds of economists, financing conferences and seminars, providing paid consultancies, and so on. Is it any wonder that the majority of academic monetary and macroeconomists support the status quo?"
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Ticket Scalpers Are Hidden Heroes - Briggs Armstrong - Mises Institute
Ticket Scalpers Are Hidden Heroes - Briggs Armstrong - Mises Institute: "Scalpers absorb the time risk associated with events. They absorb the risk associated with scheduling issues (i.e., whether or not fans can attend). They also absorb the risk that unfavorable events could occur. Anyone who has ever bought or sold a ticket knows that ticket resale values drop dramatically after a team has a few losses on its record. If the team does well, the scalper can make a nice profit; if the team does poorly, he can suffer a huge loss."
The Curse of Good Government - William L. Anderson - Mises Institute
The Curse of Good Government - William L. Anderson - Mises Institute: "maybe, just maybe, the mechanism of action we know as government cannot be operated in a 'proper' way at all, because no intellectual device exists that permits us to properly determine just what is 'good' or 'bad' government."
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