Links and Minifeatures 2008 12 09 Tuesday

I've been working a lot of hours, and writing new material for this site is about the only thing that can give.

Carnival of Personal Finance

Charles Krauthammer: The New Political Economy

The ruling Democrats have a choice: Rescue this economy to return it to market control. Or use this crisis to seize the commanding heights of the economy for the greater social good. Note: The latter has already been tried. The results are filed under "History, ash heap of."

Read the whole thing.

The Reregulation Mantra

Is deregulation is the culprit? It can't be. There was no relevant deregulation in the last 25 years. Meanwhile, highly regulated institutions eagerly bought risky government-guaranteed mortgages, stimulating excessive housing construction and an unsustainable price bubble.

Deregulation wasn't the problem, and reregulation isn't the solution.

Part of the problem was the government failing to enforce existing regulations aimed at protecting investors, while another part was that same government pushing hard on regulations meant to expand lending to those who did not meet lender's regular criteria. If you haven't figured it out yet, anytime the government mandates economic distortions, there will be problems.

Read the whole thing. Especially if you're a politician.

Anti-Prop. 8 Mob Watch: A new blacklist published

So now it's legitimate to strike at companies for their employees private donations?

I look forward to the debate when churches start blacklisting companies for their owners political causes? Or for the contributions of their employees. If it is legitimate for the Anti Prop 8 mob to blacklist companies for employees political contributions, then both of these are certainly legitimate activities - and yet I remember churches being attacked by gay activists for precisely that.

Or perhaps companies will forbid employees from making political contributions? I strongly suspect that doing so is unconstitutional. Hurting a company for not doing something unconstitutional, and getting themselves sued any number of times for such deed (not to mention the ever present "creating a hostile work environment"). By this logic, gay employees would be prohibited from making contributions to pro-gay causes.

I have really had it with this month long temper tantrum on behalf of the Anti-Proposition 8 forces. Their tactics and methods of operation are causing me to consider if perhaps I shouldn't reconsider my support of gay rights. After all, I'm not exactly eager to fight on behalf of the Nazi Party or KKK, and definitely not of intimidators or extortionists anywhere. Why should I support people who have taken to intimidationist and extortionist tactics?

There are positive outlets for this frustration at losing. Most obvious is to take it to the people again at the next election. To those who have been holding this month long (so far) temper tantrum, I say: Grow up. Be adults. Or at least act like adults. Rational, reasonable adults, who can tolerate opposing points of view, not bratty children or sociopaths who feel the need to punish those who disagree or argue against them. Martin Luther King, like Gandhi before him, won in large part because he demonstrated that he and those who followed him were responsible, desirable citizens who were making a valuable contribution to society - and left it to observers to infer that the opposing forces were considerably less valuable, considerably less law-abiding, and considerably less respectful of the will of the people.

It's a pity that the people throwing the temper tantrums are becoming what the average person identifies with the gay rights movement, as opposed to the relatively few gays I know who mostly sighed in frustration, accepted the outcome, and figured they had more work to do. I hope that the children throwing the temper tantrum realize soon that they are making things more difficult.

With an attitude like this, he doesn't need commiseration. More like heralds crying "Watch out world, here he comes!"

One thing about showing a lot of property is I get a lot of radio listening time while driving. This started getting popular on the independent alternative station, and now it's made the leap onto the corporate stations. I heard it just before a couple of rock classics I always like to hear the other day, and I kept wanting them to play this one again.

Yes, I have issues with most of today's so-called music. They don't apply to this one. If you haven't heard it, click the embed. You're in for a treat. This isn't a boy band or a pop tart. This one, and a few other artists I've been exposed to the last few years, are a reason to always keep seeking out the new.

Puppies save three-year-old boy lost in freezing Virginia woods

I'm a dog person from way back. You can't fool me. Those puppies wanted to snuggle for mutual warmth and mutual protection. That's what dogs do. Dogs are our oldest partner species precisely because each of us has advantages the other lacks. Yeah, the 3 year old probably wouldn't have survived without the dogs - but what they did was not only natural, but lessened the risks and costs of survival for those dogs, also.

Get a dog (I recommend dachshunds, of course) and treat them well. It's the cheapest investment you'll ever make that will likely pay off in huge ways - maybe even when you least expect it.

Ill. Gov. arrested in Obama successor probe

Federal authorities arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday on charges that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

What a surprise /sarcasm

Private Papers: Parallel Lives