A left-liberal at AlterNet, where nationalism is taken for granted, hashes out some of the nuts-and-bolts questions that would be involved if the so-called red states were to pursue secession . Talk of secession is, of course, “pretty silly,” the author assures us. After all, everyone… Read More
Archives for February 2013
How Rand Paul Thinks
Over at The American Conservative, editor Dan McCarthy — who opposes the Hagel filibuster — explains (without necessarily defending) the thinking behind Senator Paul’s decision to support that filibuster. Rand, he says, has positioned himself from the start as the opposite of the RINO, the guy… Read More
Earth-Like Planets Right Next Door
Well, 13 light-years away, but that’s closer than researchers thought. From a Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics press release : Using publicly available data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) have found that six percent of red dwarf stars have habitable, Earth-sized planets. Since red… Read More
Would Hayek Have Supported Obamacare?
Yes, says Erik Angner , a professor at George Mason University. In The Road to Serfdom and The Constitution of Liberty , Angner correctly notes, Hayek indicated that there was no need to take a dogmatic position in opposition to government-furnished safety nets. On the other hand, Hayek probably was opposed to government takeovers of entire… Read More
Conservatives Congratulate Themselves
For delaying the Hagel confirmation . The latest outrage is that Hagel once indicated that decisionmaking in Washington might in some way be influenced by Israel. How preposterous! Crush him! No dissent allowed! Give us another rubber stamp! There’s the “conservative movement,” 2013 edition.
I Knew Dudley Moore Played the Piano, But…
…I just discovered this.
Beware a ‘Deflationary Spiral’!
Or so we’re told. The idea is that if prices fall, people will expect them to continue to fall and will therefore postpone purchases, awaiting still better deals. The postponement makes prices fall still further, which makes people postpone their purchases still longer, and so… Read More
GOP Voters Have Learned Nothing
Now they want Marco Rubio. Gary North poked fun at his State of the Union response. Many of the comments were unfriendly. On his subscription site, Dr. North noted today : It was a pathetic speech. It was maudlin. It pandered to welfare state voters. It invoked his relatives,… Read More
Rand Paul Endorses Filibuster of Chuck Hagel
Senator Rand Paul has told CNN that he considers it appropriate for the Senate to filibuster the Chuck Hagel nomination . I’m starting to have some doubts and my doubts are that if you’re going to run the Department of Defense, you really need to reveal if you’ve had financing… Read More
Potential Papal Candidates
This list of papal candidates seems reasonable. Far and away my two preferences would be Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith of Sri Lanka, whom I have liked for a long time, and Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera (and not just because he wrote the foreword to one of my books ). Both would be good news liturgically, especially Cardinal Ranjith. Naturally, though, both… Read More