Time for an economics lesson. Prager University – Is Capitalism Moral? "Is capitalism moral or greedy? If it's based on greed and selfishness, what's the best alternative economic system? Perhaps socialism? And if capitalism is moral, what makes it so? Walter Williams, a renowned economist at George Mason University, answers these questions and more."
Our American Paradise is Not Lost "At first I was a bit hurt. Later, I became angry. Working on a family history project documenting the extraordinary life of my 87-year-old black dad, I noticed that a few relatives were not returning my phone calls. My brother said those particular relatives were nonresponsive because they want nothing to do with me. They disagree with my politics and are embarrassed by me and my website. They dislike me saying blacks are not victims in America. They also hate me criticizing blacks in front of white people. So in my relative's minds, I am one big Uncle Tom traitor.
"Meanwhile, I caught the local TV news while in Baltimore visiting my dad. Ten blacks, including a nine-year-old girl, were shot by blacks over the weekend, three died. Baltimore, along with other cities controlled by Democrats, continue to break records; reaching new heights of blacks murdering blacks. And my idiot relatives are angry at me because whites hear me criticizing such behavior. " . . . Read more
. . . "That's why I completely support Mr. Fanning's appointment as Army secretary. His military experience or lack thereof is irrelevant. He's going to be in charge of the largest social experiment on the planet Earth: the U.S. Army. I trust he will prioritize reorienting the army from fighting radical Islamists in the Middle East to dealing with feelings about same-sex attraction and having seminars with battalion and platoon leaders to discuss how to better handle these feelings among the men. What if a non-com falls in love with his platoon sergeant? How do they deal with public displays of affection while on duty? These are the kinds of issues that I hope Mr. Fanning gets the Pentagon to focus on, because the purpose of the military is not only to protect the nation, but more primarily to deal with issues affecting the gay and lesbian community.
. . . "Obama also could have picked an environmentalist to head the army. Imagine if we converted all our tanks to wind power. Think of how we could kill the enemy without increasing global warming! And what if our bombs were all solar-powered? We'd save a ton of money on explosives!" Read more:
"GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal unleashed a campaign video where he ripped Donald Trump, calling him a clueless narcissist and egomaniac. It’s easy to assert. Speaking to a group of rabbis last weekend, Donald Trump quoted the words God said to Moses, and added that God was right." Comedian Argus Hamilton
. . . "To be sure, Trump has provided a hugely valuable service by throwing political correctness out the window to identify real problems, talking back to the press, and giving a voice to voters who feel betrayed by both political parties.
"But...
"It continues to be clear that Trump is running on personality rather than substance; exhibiting a contagiously appealing vagueness mirroring that used by Barack Obama back in 2008. A phenomenon which we call "Yes We Can-sis." But, Toto, America is not in "Yes We Can-sis" anymore...or at least, it shouldn't be. Platitudes make for frighteningly flimsy platforms.
"Make no mistake: Hope n' Change would enthusiastically vote for any of the GOP candidates, including Trump, rather than any of the nightmare choices being offered up by the Left. But we're frankly concerned by the idea that Americans increasingly seem to be unable to tell the difference between "reality TV" and reality itself."
Vote, people! Vote for any Republican if only to cancel out a Democrat's vote.
Noisy RoomVia Thomas Talbot: This video shows that the supposed clock invention by a 14 year old is in fact not an invention. The ‘clock’ is a commercial bedside alarm clock removed from its casing. There is nothing to indicate that the clock was even assembled by the child. I suspect this was brought into school to create an alarmed reaction.
"you cannot very well go actively cultivating an atmosphere of paranoia and then pronounce yourself surprised by all the paranoia in the air."
. . . "President Barack Obama, never one to miss an opportunity for cheap moral preening, invited Mohamed to the White House. That’s an interesting gesture: Anybody want to hazard a guess as to what would happen if a young man showed up at the White House visitors’ center with a backpack in which was a homemade device full of circuit boards joined to a timing device? I do not frequent the White House, but I often am in the House and Senate office buildings in Washington, and my best guess is that if I’d tried to bring Mohamed’s clock into one of those places, there would have been guns drawn.
. . .
"Of course it is the very same self-satisfied lifestyle liberals who want to send your toddler to Gitmo for playing with a cap gun who are so theatrically appalled at what happened to Mohamed." . . .
Another of Obama's "the police acted stupidly" moments: Late arrival from HopeN'Change "We're sorry for Ahmed (although he's now a hero to everyone on the Left), but we don't appreciate Obama's none too subtle mockery of the authorities who were simply trying to protect innocent lives.
"After all, one doesn't have to think very far back to remember another seemingly harmless Muslim kid who didn't get arrested for carrying a backpack containing an innocent-looking pressure cooker to the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Until, of course, it was too late."
How silly the US must look to Putin and Arabs. These major shifts and crises in the world and this shallow, silly juvenile president wants to play golf, then invite gays and transgendered representatives to greet the Pope.
"Once again, President Obama and his foreign policy team are stumped. Why is Vladimir Putin pouring troops and weaponry into Syria? After all, as Secretary of State John Kerry has thrice told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, it is only making things worse.
"But worse for whom? For the additional thousands of civilians who will die or flee as a result of the inevitably intensified fighting. True, and I’m sure Lavrov is as moved by their plight as by the 8,000 killed in Russia’s splendid little Ukrainian adventure.
Kerry and Obama are serially surprised because they cannot fathom the hard men in the Kremlin. Yet Putin’s objectives in Syria are blindingly obvious:" . . .
"The central mission of Barack Obama’s White House in the waning days of his administration is to communicate to the public that none of this is his fault. Their search for figures toward which this administration can shift blame for the suboptimal state of affairs is growing increasingly frantic, self-sabotaging, and reflective of an undisciplined political operation in the midst of a spiraling crisis.
"Given the increasingly dire state of geopolitical affairs, securing exonerations for Obama’s conduct is a particularly urgent imperative on the foreign policy front. The resurrection of the Islamist militant threat in the Middle East is perhaps the most glaring failure of this administration. The largely pacified Iraq that Barack Obama inherited is a boiling cauldron and bloody sectarian warfare. Even the most stalwart member of the president’s thinning clique of apologists would today concede that the withdrawal of every last American solider from Iraq in 2011 was shortsighted. They contend, however, that the president had no choice. . ."
Two lessons for George Stephanopoulos: 1. Never rely on Vox, and …
"Fresh off her excellent debate appearance Wednesday night, Carly Fiorina made an appearance on Good Morning America with George Stephanopoulos who tried to back her into a corner over comments she made about the horrific Planned Parenthood videos.
"Just as he did last spring with Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer, Stephanopoulos came off looking like a hack.
Carly Fiorina Nails Stephanopoulos on Planned Parenthood: Watch the Tapes
Former Democratic activist turned journalist George Stephanopoulos on Thursday went after Carly Fiorina for attacking Planned Parenthood during Wednesday’s presidential debate. The Good Morning America co-host grilled, “Another powerful moment last night was when you talked about those Planned Parenthood tapes. But analysts who’ve watched all 12-plus hours say the scene you’ve described, that harrowing scene you described, actually isn’t in those tapes.”
He wondered, “did you misspeak?” Fiorina shot back at the man who secretly donated $75,000 to the Clintons: “I don’t know whether you’ve watched the tapes, George….Certainly none of the Democrats who are still defending Planned Parenthood have watched those tapes.”
Just as Obama sided with the Ayatollahs who killed Iranian young people.
Pope plans to duck dissidents in Cuba, spawning criticism "Pope Francis plans to meet with Cuba's president and its priests, its young and its sick, its churchgoers and its seminarians as he travels around the island starting Saturday. But not its dissidents. "The absence on Francis' agenda of any meeting with the political opposition has sparked bitter critiques from dissidents who say they feel let down by an institution they believe should help push for greater freedom in Cuba. . . . "Papal observers say it's likely Francis will speak strongly to Cubans about the need for greater freedom in their country and may speak to President Raul Castro in private about the same topic. But in shying from meetings with dissidents, the pope is hewing largely to the Cuban Catholic Church's strategy of advocating for change within bounds laid out by the communist state rather than pushing the system to change as John Paul II did in Eastern Europe. There is no one Cuban officials consider more out of bounds than the country's dissidents, whom they call mercenaries paid by the U.S. government and Cuban-American interest groups in Miami."
. . . "As I drove up to the debate I first encountered about 100 demonstrators. When asked why they were there they did not respond. Then I asked what was their purpose of demonstrating; they said, “We are just here.” The United Service Workers West had signs supporting anchor babies, and “There is no hope without the Latino vote.” Later I found out that they did not answer any questions because they were asked to be there by their supervisor and should have instead been at work." . . .
. . . "After this encounter I went to the pressroom, waiting for the debate to begin, and saw only half of them standing for the National Anthem. " . . .Read more of this fascinating account from someone who was there.
Each candidate's performance discussed and rated: Second Debate Grades: Carly Fiorina Soars, Jeb Bush Tanks . . . "The debate may not have clarified the potential nominee – but it certainly clarified who won’t be a factor in the coming weeks. " . . .Tapper, in the interest of ratings, felt the need to begin the debate with half an hour of Vince McMahon-style “bumfight” provocations, thus focusing the American public on sophomoric attack after sophomoric attack. Only after 45 minutes of such nonsense did the debate settle into some semblance of policy discussion." . . .
. . . ""Carson backed off his position that we can’t deport 11 million illegal immigrants; he vacillated on minimum wage. Where does Ben Carson stand? Nobody knows. Carson appeared uncomfortable, bewildered, unprepared. And the vacuum he presents is no longer a viable, lasting option for dissatisfied Trump supporters."
GOP's Deep Bench Shines In Second Debate As Trump Stumbles . . . "From Marco Rubio's firm grasp of foreign affairs to the re-energized repartees of Jeb Bush on matters personal and professional, from Chris Christie's full-throated demonstration of why he's succeeded in a dark-blue New Jersey to Carly Fiorina's razor-sharp responses on, well, you name it — we saw an outstanding display of principled and well-articulated views."
. . . "The strength of the GOP field served to highlight a serious weakness of Donald Trump. While Rubio, Bush, Fiorina and the others explained the current dangers in the world in impressive detail, Trump fumbled." Donald Trump should be scared of Marco Rubio . . . "Sen. Marco Rubio, whose campaign trail attack on Trump prompted Tapper's questions, pounced. "You should ask him questions in detail about the foreign policy issues our president will confront, because you had better be able to lead our country on the first day," Rubio said to Tapper. "Not six months from now, not a year from now, on the first day in office, our president could very well confront a national security crisis. You can't predict it. Sometimes you cannot control it." Trump's response — "I am not sitting in the United States Senate. I'm a businessman" — was basically no response at all. It was a devastating indictment of the Donald's qualifications to be president, one well-pitched to a party that's become increasingly anxious about world affairs since the rise of ISIS." . . . Well, this is Vox after all.
"The Kentucky senator cut through the “childish, silly back-and-forth” to present reasonable alternatives on foreign policy, drug reform, and mass incarceration."
Candidates Use Second G.O.P. Debate to Taunt Donald Trump. . . "While moderators at the CNN debate tried repeatedly to pit one Republican after another against Mr. Trump, the candidates fought to break out of that dynamic, with Carly Fiorina emerging as an especially tenacious combatant who provided some of the few moments where Mr. Trump looked uncomfortable." . . .
Carly’s Night . . . "One hopes for his sake that there is someone around [Trump] who can approach him tomorrow and say, “Sir, I regret to inform you that you actually have to know something to run for president and that I have no choice to recommend that you read a policy briefing or two.” By the end of the three hours of his usual array of insults and airy, seat-of-the-pants answers, he felt a little tired and diminished, but who knows how it will affect his standing?"
Can Bernie Keep Socialism Alive? "Before Bernie Sanders was the hot challenger to Hillary Clinton, before he was even an oddball Vermont congressman from Brooklyn, the proud socialist made a documentary film—and a long-playing record—about Eugene Victor Debs.
"The 20th century’s most renowned American socialist, Debs has long been a hero to leftists and radicals of many persuasions. Numerous children were named after him; so were a radio station, a town in Minnesota and a couple of beers. In Sanders’ quaint, low-budget 1979 documentary, Eugene V. Debs—issued by the now-defunct American People’s Historical Society of 295½ Maple Street in Burlington—Debs is given the full Howard Zinn treatment, depicted as a fighter on behalf of exploited workers, a fearless critic of ruthless corporate power and a martyr to free speech." . . . Rest of the article here
. . . "In the end, the most radical ideas espoused by Debs and his fellow socialists—the abolition of capitalism and its replacement with a planned economy—never came to pass. But more targeted reforms they advocated proved popular and became national policy. It’s here that we find one final answer to the “Why no socialism?” question: While our two-party system has rarely made room for long-lasting third parties, it has proven flexible enough to incorporate those parties’ best ideas. Reforms such as ending child labor, making taxation progressive and funding public works were championed by socialists but quickly came to be understood as liberal ones." Note to Bernie Sanders: The God of the Bible Is NOT a Socialist . . . "Sobering thoughts, aren’t they? And most any sentient person would agree that the plight of the poor and indigent in this country demands action. But the difference lies in how Bernie Sanders plans to remedy this phenomenon and how the God of the Bible commands His followers to care for the less fortunate. "Sanders outlines his plans to deal with “income and wealth inequality” on his website. The 13 points would stagger your imagination, but here are a few of the points:" . . .
