Daily Archives: September 30, 2010

“The Reality Is That ‘Green Energy’ Actually Causes the Economy to Contract”

September 30, 2010
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“The Reality Is That ‘Green Energy’ Actually Causes the Economy to Contract”

  by Mike Gray At The Freeman, William Anderson tells us about a whole new economic sector that depends on failure: Keynesians and semi-socialists claim that “clean energy” will create jobs and net economic growth. From Al Gore to the New York Times, “green energy” is almost religious in scope, as advocates claim that not only will it give us better air and weather, but it also will be a fundamental building block of economic recovery. To speak out against this is tantamount to treason in some quarters . . . . . . . . As Robert Bryce notes in his eye-opening book, Gusher of Lies, much of what proponents claim about these “new technologies” not only is untrue but will remain untrue because of the first and second laws of thermodynamics: The laws of science stand in the way of these projects ever becoming profitable on their own, and Congress cannot repeal either economic or scientific laws.

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CBS’s ‘$#*! My Dad Says’ Nicely Transcends Gimmick Origin

September 30, 2010
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CBS’s ‘$#*! My Dad Says’ Nicely Transcends Gimmick Origin

Sure, the new CBS sitcom $#*! My Dad Says is based on a very thin gimmick: a snarky but funny and very popular Twitter feed by previously unknown writer Justin Halpern. And sure, William Shatner plays a parody of his recent TV persona, as the weird blowhard named in the show’s title. And sure, sitcoms populated with quirky characters are a dime a dozen. But Shatner is a really talented comic actor, and he and the producers have given the show and its main characters a good deal more depth than one might have any right to expect. The concept turns out to have some potential for interesting situations reminiscent of real-life problems most people encounter. The story is laid out in a simple and direct manner in the pilot, but festooned with plenty of comical one-liners. A young, unemployed man and his cantankerous, hard-nosed father attempt to reconnect after years apart because of a divorce. The son barely knows the father, but he shows up on his doorstep anyway because he has nowhere else to go, having been laid off from his job. He is in fact rather afraid of the old man, for good reason, as the latter

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Books That You Might Find of Interest

September 30, 2010
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Books That You Might Find of Interest

by Mike Gray Poor Lenin’s Almanac: Perverse Leftist Proverbs for Modern Life Mark Musser’s review at Accuracy in Media: Bruce Walker does a masterful job exposing the corrupt Marxist leftovers from the 1800’s that is currently rotting America from the inside out as many leftist ideals have subtly and slowly replaced our Judeo-Christian heritage.  Using a satirical method that rivals Juvenal’s satire of the debauched Roman Empire, Mr. Walker distills for us in common language the rotten fruits of communistic ideology.  This political burlesque is not only revealed by the title, but continues throughout the entirety of the book.  Each short chapter is satirically labeled to encapsulate 52 vices of Marxist ideology that are currently wreaking havoc on the political and moral fabric of our society. Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism Shawn Ritenour’s review on MisesDaily: Washington’s stunning economic power grabs — healthcare centralization, Keynesian fiscal stimulus, and Federal Reserve bailouts — are creating an unintended consequence: an increasing demand for freedom literature. Exhibit A would have to be F. A. Hayek’s 66-year-old Road to Serfdom recently hitting number one for all books on Amazon.com. Those desiring an even deeper education in the ideas of liberty are well advised

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Henry Hazlitt on the Gold Standard

September 30, 2010
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Henry Hazlitt on the Gold Standard

by Mike Gray The supply of gold is governed by nature; it is not, like the supply of paper money, subject merely to the schemes of demagogues or the whims of politicians. Nobody ever thinks he has quite enough money. Once the idea is accepted that money is something whose supply is determined simply by the printing press, it becomes impossible for the politicians in power to resist the constant demands for further inflation. — Henry Hazlitt In a 2004 article in The Freeman Online, Jude Blanchette summarized economist Hazlitt’s views on unwise banking practices and the value of money: Hazlitt was well known for his views on monetary theory and specifically his advocacy of a gold standard. In its final, polished form, his case for the gold standard was profound and persuasive. What’s more, the clarity and precision of his work made the subject accessible to the intelligent public. Nobody seems to believe Jefferson when he asserts that “paper is poverty.” The days of the “almighty dollar” are over, thanks to decades of self-inflicted monetary destruction. A few of Henry Hazlitt’s books: Man vs. the Welfare State — Time Will Run Back (a novel) — The Inflation Crisis, and

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Response to National Drift Requires Understanding of Fundamental Principles

September 30, 2010
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Response to National Drift Requires Understanding of Fundamental Principles

There are some false dichotomies in Thomas Friedman’s New York Times column denigrating what he calls the Tea Kettle movement (such as that diagnosing symptoms somehow makes it impossible to offer policies, that popularity makes a movement automatically suspect, etc.), but he does get a couple of things very right: the description of what kind of presidential and congressional leadership is needed today, the point that real decisions about spending cuts have to be made if the current public dissatisfaction with government is to have any policy relevance (although he actually denies this as a possibility), and above all, what America’s competitive advantage is: “our ability to attract, develop and unleash creative talent. That means men and women who invent, build and sell more goods and services that make people’s lives more productive, healthy, comfortable, secure and entertained than any other country.” Of course Friedman, like today’s elites in general, tends to think that nothing happens except what’s reported in his own dreadful newspaper, so he claims that the Tea Party people were content with the Bush years of spending hikes. That is a falsehood, at the very least in the important sense that he is making an unfounded positive

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Tony Curtis Defined the Limits of the Hustler Persona

September 30, 2010
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Tony Curtis Defined the Limits of the Hustler Persona

The late Tony Curtis, who died yesterday at the age of 85, was once one of the most popular and celebrated actors in Hollywood. Unfortunately, the same things that made him a star drove his career into the doldrums in his later years. Curtis had some acting talent, but his popularity and box office appeal were really based on his rather prissy handsomeness, a quality that elevated several other actors to stardom at the same time: Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Paul Newman, Rock Hudson, Warren Beatty, etc. Curtis gave some appealing performances and conveyed a good deal of personal charm on-screen. Once his looks faded, as they must for all, he could not find a persona that would work for him as a middle-aged and then an elderly man. The hustling scammer type was a good character for him in his early years, and it made his career, but he wanted to play the hero. It was not to be. Curtis just didn’t have the seriousness and evident strength of character that are required to make audiences like a person as an antihero (as, for example, Marlon Brando, Clint Eastwood, and Dennis Hopper did). There was a certain slightness to

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Why We Can't Farm Out the Teaching of Writing

50 Years of Barnstorming the Sports Beat: ‘Over Time,’ a Memoir by Frank Deford

Clive Thompson on the Importance of Fan Fiction

A Trillion Dollars of Student Loans: A Crisis Created by Washington

What Will Become of the Paper Book? How their design will evolve in the age of the Kindle

Joseph Epstein - My Way on the Highway: A wry and revealing history of American car-buying habits can hit uncomfortably close to home

On 'Mad Men,' Beatles Tune Misses The Mark

Naomi Schaefer Riley: The Academic Mob Rules: Instead of encouraging wide discussion, the Chronicle of Higher Education fires a blogger.

Klavan: Gay Creeps, Black Thugs, and Horrible Women: The Left’s Idea of Tolerance

Jason Statham: The Last Action Hero

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