White Sun of the Desert has moved to a remote Russian island which makes for some interesting reading. Just keep scrolling.
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Jane Galt and the CPI continued. She makes some excellent points about non-quantifiable changes in our standard of living. I can name at least three family members who would be alive today had the level of medical care been available when they were diagnosed (or misdiagnosed as the case may be). How many of you can grew up in a house without air conditioning? Or can remember when even retail shops didn't have it? FM radios in cars were an option. Color television was also an upgrade from the norm. Cable TV was an unheard of extravagance. Even if you did have cable it meant you had a whopping 30 channels half of which were standard over the air channels and a remaining third were useless. Basically, you were paying for HBO and later, MTV. Always look beyond the headlines. The real story is usually there.
Know your audience says Kevin Drum and he's precisely right. Part of being the party of the opposition is that you need only cast doubt. It's like being a defense attourney. You have a case to make that need not be in the affirmative. You need only tear down your opponent and his record. Offering an alternative plan (with specifics) only gives your opponent ammuntion. The calculating politician takes his cues from Collective Soul. They use the "Hints, Allegations And Things Left Unsaid" method. It's a page from a very old playbook but the Democrats don't realize that this plays well off-cycle but voters cast a skeptical eye toward it at the voting booth. Howard Dean's foot stamping in the WSJ is going to be met with eye rolling at best. If the DLC doesn't come up with something more substantive than this, they're going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in November.
Jane Galt on the 70's and the CPI . It's an interesting take on the intrisic lag CPI shows which may queer some economic modeling. I'm inclined to agree and think CPI is a useful measure but not the sina qua non that some think it is. It's one of the things that people alternately hold on high or dismiss depending upon which picture they're trying to present. Jane's article however, focuses more on the standard of living improvments in real terms irrespective of economic data. She points to common items that were once considered luxury items beyond the reach of most Americans. She makes a very good case for how things have changed despite the economic arguements to the contrary. Read it.
DelaWhare is (for once) cheering Walmart for offering discount drugs . surprisingly I wont be bashing them today, well not yet at least. I don't trust these guys but I do like the fact they are sticking it to the Pharma industry. This smacks of juvenile joy teenage vandals get from breaking something and getting away with it. Something I've never understood. Why is a good thing to "stick it" to the Pharma industry? I guess because they're a big scary corporation so they must be evil and perpetually trying to screw the little guy. There's more: I really don't see how this can be a bad thing. Man do I hate what Walmart has done with healthcare by passing the buck too the taxpayers, but this is really great for their customers. Target is apparently going to do the same thing. I love it! The MAN is stickin it to the MAN! One thread that permeates liberal thought in general and DelaWhare specifically is the hatred and loathing for rich people and corporat...
The Brits have gone insane : A DRIVER spent two nights in jail after being accused of "revving his car in a racist manner". I hope that if something that stupid ever happened here, the locals would storm the police station with pitchforks and torches and then tar and feather the constable for good measure.
Osama dead, finally? Color me skeptical. I sincerely hope the reports are right. Few things would make me happier vis a vis the GWOT. I'd be glad if he were dead but happier if the US military (or three letter agencies) were able to squeeze him for information first. But alas, you can't have everything. Others are calling it a pathetic death . I can't think of a more appropriate one. It's hard to lionize one who dies of slowly paralyzing organs. I'll wait until I see his head on a pike before I believe he's dead.
Wallace hits a nerve . There's more here Allahpundit here . I can remember three occasions that showed Clinton red faced and wagging his finger. First was when he was asked if he "honestly believed we could tax and spend our way to prosperity" by a citizen. He wheeled on the man and told him to study his history and that Germany, Britain and Japan all had to raise taxes and spend those revenues to grow their economies. The second time was the infamous, "I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky" quote. The third was with Wallace. I believe in all three occasions, the questioners hit a nerve. Clinton was taking a beating on the "tax and spend" philosophy from the GOP (which has since adapted tax and spend as it's own philosophy) and he was probably tired of hearing it. He also probably knew it wasn't going to work for very long. Tax and spend works in the short to stimulate certain narrow sectors of the economy but beyond that it...