The media have nearly warn out an adverb —“Unexpectedly!” — in describing bad economic news in the past two years. So what should we expect when we read a sentence that begins like this?
Um, are these the same economists who are caught by surprise week, after week, after week, when the miserable reports come out on new jobless claims?
I can see the headlines now: “Economists Caught Off Guard By Second Dip Into Recession.”
The Standard & Poor 500 this week suffered its seventh week of losses in the past eight weeks, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average again closed below 12,000 on Friday. The problem? In a word, Europe:
“Everybody is trying to digest how the European debt situation is going to shake out,” said Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at Glenmede in Philadelphia, which manages about $20 billion. “They’re playing an expensive game of chicken with Greece because the downside of not passing a bailout for that country is effectively a financial system meltdown.” . . .
A knife-edge vote in the Greek parliament on a new package of [spending] cuts is expected on Wednesday, with [socialist prime minister George] Papandreou desperately needing to convince his reluctant backbench MPs to approve the measures.
If Greece refuses to accept more austerity measures, the consequences for Greece, the EU and indeed the global economy could be dire.
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money,” Margaret Thatcher once observed, and for Greece, “eventually” is now.
“I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication . . .”
— Revelation 13:3-4 (KJV)
To summarize the case briefly: 58-year-old Thomas Ball committed suicide a week ago by setting himself afire on the steps of a county courthouse in New Hampshire. As his last testament, he sent to the local newspaper a remarkable 10,000-word letter portraying himself as the victim of police, child-protective agencies and the court system. To this, Marcotte responded by describing the dead man as a typical “abuser” whose only desire was to “make [his] ex-wife’s life a living hell . . . in an effort to hurt the woman they’re fixated on.”
As one blogger observed: “It’s pure feminist evil. . . . A man whose life was destroyed by anti-family courts burns himself to death, but Marcotte thinks a woman is the hardest hit.”
Indeed, Marcotte’s attitude is “pure feminist evil”: No matter the facts of the case, in any male-female conflict, the man is always to blame (unless he’s a liberal Democrat like Anthony Weiner or Bill Clinton, in which case he must be worshipped without reservation). Marcotte once again demonstrates how feminist rhetoric about “equality” is actually a dishonest demand for hegemonic female supremacy, insofar as feminism is really anything more than a partisan political tactic to trick stupid women into voting for liberal Democrats. Continue reading The Beast of Babylon Wears Bangs: Amanda Marcotte’s ‘Pure Feminist Evil’ →
Consumer (1.4G) fireworks are much safer today than in the 1960s, when most state fireworks bans were passed. Back then, the great danger was M-80s — quarter-sticks of dynamite — which actually originated as military-issue ordinance used to simulate artillery blasts in training excercises. After World War II, many army surplus stores sold M-80s, and they became popular as fireworks, so that every so often some kid would blow off his fingers. Cherry bombs were another popular high-explosive firecracker, and it was the injuries caused by these that caused the panic that led to so many states completely banning fireworks.
M-80s and cherry bombs have long since been prohibited for sale to consumers by federal law, and yet many state anti-fireworks laws remain in effect, outlawing the beautiful aerial effects of rockets, mortars and multi-tube repeaters which — when used according to safety directions — are as no more dangerous than your backyard barbecue grill.
Professor Glenn Reynolds lives in Tennessee, where consumer fireworks have never been prohibited. This time of year, highways in Tennessee are lined with booths and tents selling fireworks by the truckload. Utterly contradicting the fear-mongering of the anti-fireworks fanatics, fireworks-related injuries are no more common in Tennessee than in states where fireworks are banned.
Why is this? Because when fireworks are outlawed, only outlaws will have fireworks. That is to say, prohibiting fireworks only tends to discourage their use by the responsible and law-abiding, while the rowdy scofflaws will find some way to get their hands on the stuff. Worse yet, sometimes bans on fireworks will cause idiots to try to rig up their own homemade fireworks, often with disastrous results.
Being a stone-cold fireworks freak myself, I’ve written extensively about this issue:
You can see some photos of me and the kids assembling the 2008 show here. Alas, my friend’s video of our 2008 show has been deleted, but here’s video of the 2009 show I shot at Camp FUBAR on Lake Weiss in Alabama (which starts getting good about the 3-minute mark):
And here’s the monster two-minute finale of the big 4th of July show I shot, with the assistance of my then 12-year-old twin sons, in 2005:
If the current “Make My Wife Happy” fundraiser is successful enough to pay the overdue bills — and many thanks to all the readers who have contributed so far — perhaps Mrs. Other McCain won’t mind if I take the kids on a little Alabama vacation for the 4th of July.
So hit the tip jar — it’s for the children (and maybe the fireworks, too).
ALBANY — Lawmakers voted late Friday to legalize same-sex marriage, making New York the largest state where gay and lesbian couples will be able to wed and giving the national gay-rights movement new momentum from the state where it was born.
The bill was approved on a 33-to-29 vote as 4 Republican state senators joined 29 Democrats in voting for it. . . .
Senate approval was the final hurdle for the legislation, which was strongly supported by Mr. Cuomo. . . . Mr. Cuomo was expected to sign the measure soon, and the law will go into effect 30 days later, meaning that same-sex couples could begin marrying in New York by midsummer. “I am very proud of New York and the statement we made to the nation today,” Mr. Cuomo said. . . .
“New York Republicans,” IYKWIMAITYD.
UPDATE: Merely by looking at the headlines of the reaction, you can see what a blunderheaded disaster this was for the New York GOP, as well as for conservatives everywhere:
Look at that last headline, especially. Leaving aside entirely the current issue, are Gov. Cuomo and “gay rights activists” friends of the conservative movement? They are not. So if four Republicans vote to hand a “win” to liberals, what is the net political impact?
The first and most important impact is the utter demoralization of social conservatives in New York. Many people who don’t study these issues overlook the fact that about one-third of New York voters are Catholic. Many Catholics tend to lean leftward on economic issues, yet when social issues like abortion and homosexuality are front and center of the political debate, they will vote Republican — if Republicans clearly articulate a principled conservative position on those issues.
Republicans who go squishy on social issues do so under the mistaken belief that this somehow helps the GOP reach independent “swing” voters. But that kind of soft-headed thinking is based on a complete misunderstanding of who independent voters actually are.
Independents are not moderates, but rather are prototypical “low-information” voters, and aren’t really much interested in social issues one way or the other.
You know what independent voters truly loathe? Gutless backstabbing unprincipled two-faced flip-floppers.
Which is why John McCain lost in 2008, and why RINOs like Arlen Specter, Dede Scozzafava, Charlie Crist and Mike Castle were always worse enemies to the Republican Party than any outright liberal Democrat could ever be.
White House spokesman H.R. Haldeman strenuously denied reports that President Obama was planning to re-institute the military draft, mobilize the National Guard, mine Haiphong harbor and invade Cambodia.
Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist could not be reached for comment.
RE-ELECT OBAMA Because Bombing Foreigners to Smithereens Is Only Wrong When Republicans Do It!
