Tampa, FL – Last Friday an old friend passed away. That friend was the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, CO.

As a youngster in the 1950s I remember my grandfather reading the “funnies” to me from the back pages The News. As I got older and became interested in the world around me The Rocky Mountain News became my paper of choice with breakfast, lunch or even dinner.

When I set out to start shooting news as a freelancer, a couple dozen of my pictures made it into their pages over the years. Two made the front page and one of those went around the world.

Rob Reuteman and the staff at the Rocky Mountain News encouraged me and gave me my first steps in toward photojournalism. Those basics kept me out of trouble and made me a better shooter.

The Rocky Mountain News was Colorado's first newspaper. Just short of 150 years after the first edition hit the dirt streets of Denver in 1859, "The News" went to bed for the last time Friday morning.

My last trip to Denver for the Democratic National Convention showcased the many changes Denver went through since I moved away in the 1990s. To me a big part of my home town was The Rocky Mountain News. Now even that is gone.

All things change over time. I know this. A newspaper is a business. Businesses, start up, get sold, merge and many eventually fail.

Knowing all this, why do I feel like a good friend just died?

---

It's the people who make a newspaper.
- John Temple, Rocky Mountain News

Tampa, FL - Two juvenile court judges in Luzerne County, PA recently entered plea bargains in a case that went so far over the line that there is open hostility from most who hear of it, myself included. According to news reports, Judge Mark A. Ciavarella, Jr. and Judge Michael T. Conahan entered into a quiet arrangement with PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care. Those two companies operate private jails, including juvenile facilities.

According to the federal complaint the first step the judges took was to shut down the competition, the local county juvenile facility.

With Judge Conahan serving as president judge in control of the budget and Judge Ciavarella overseeing the juvenile courts, they set the kickback scheme in motion in December 2002, the authorities said.

They shut down the county-run juvenile detention center, arguing that it was in poor condition, the authorities said, and maintained that the county had no choice but to send detained juveniles to the newly built private detention centers.
NY Times: Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit

Once that little formality was taken care of, they began handing down time for a huge number of their juvenile cases, no matter how mundane or ridiculous the charges.

For years, the juvenile court system in Wilkes-Barre operated like a conveyor belt: Youngsters were brought before judges without a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses.
MSNBC: Pa. judges accused of jailing kids for cash

Even posting a spoof MySpace page that was clearly labeled as a joke was good for a three month stint in the private facility.

At worst, Hillary Transue thought she might get a stern lecture when she appeared before a judge for building a spoof MySpace page mocking the assistant principal at her high school in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She was a stellar student who had never been in trouble, and the page stated clearly at the bottom that it was just a joke.

Instead, the judge sentenced her to three months at a juvenile detention center on a charge of harassment.

She was handcuffed and taken away as her stunned parents stood by.
NY Times: Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit

It bears repeating for emphasis that neither one of these Titans of Virtue saw fit to advice their juvenile defendants they had a right to legal council.

That same article indicates the now defrocked judges will serve seven years each. Seven years for screwing up a teenager's life, possibly forever. Seven years for selling their bench and literally selling the children of their constituency up the river. Seven years for countless future nightmares and forever changed young adults.

My thoughts on these two go beyond anger. In the past I snared my share of juvenile offenders and handed them over to the police for justice. I've got little sympathy for the miscreant playing Billy Bad in place of business. But I handed them over always with the knowledge that if this was their first screw up, chances are there would not even be a record of it a year down the road. I considered it a life lesson, part of growing up. These kids learned from their misdeeds there are boundaries and they must be respected or there will be penalties.

Perhaps it might have been a public service. It was painfully obvious the parents damn sure missed out on showing some of those kids right and wrong.

When I think of these two judges, mentally calculating how much they can get for the defendant before them rather then what is going to serve the interests of their community and that juvenile best, anger burns within me that I haven't felt since Jane Fonda and her trip to Hanoi. The rage that I feel knowing they will only do seven years for selling out the lives of their juvenile clients is off the charts.

The justice system is failing all those juvenile defendants a second time. It is a disgrace that shames the entire system nation wide.

---

"There is no justice, only me."
- Death speaking in Terry Pratchett's Disk World Novel "Mort."

Clearwater, FL - *uplinktruck clears his throat and sings... badly*

Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday to you...
Happy Birthday dear mieaga...
Happy birthday to yoooooouuuuuuuuuu....

May this day bring you joy and happiness beyond all expectations.

---

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old.
- George Burns

Tampa, FL - At breakfast this morning, while discussing the pathetic state of California's finances with the server, song broke out. A group of fraternity brothers from FSU, serenaded their server with a most excellent choral performance. The group of ten or so knelt before her in the isle and sang as nature if herself were guiding their voices. Val's service must be exemplary as this morning's performance was nothing short of outstanding.

Val, the serenaded server, said she was surprised with the extent of the performance. Blushing slightly even after the song, she said these are regulars that always sit in her section. She said that a couple members indicated they would sing for her someday, but until today, she was unsure what that meant.

I talked briefly to the group and then promptly erased my notes. I do remember they said they perform all over the Tampa area with the goal of bringing music to anyone and everyone that wants it.

Nice job guys and a great way to wrap up a good breakfast.

---

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
- Berthold Auerbach

This was originally written as a comment on another blog. But buried in a comment on another blog seemed like kind of limited exposure for all that work.

So here is a less specific, somewhat enhanced version of that post. It shows the mistakes Congress and President Obama are making with the Democratic Christmas in February Bill Stimulus Package and their plans for future government bailouts.

A brief economic overview of the Great Depression

After the stock market crash in 1929 President Hoover made a recession into a depression using tools like the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and the Revenue Act 0f 1932 which raised personal income taxes on people making over $100,000 to outrageous rates exceeding 50%. The highest rate was 63% on incomes of a million or more. Both of those actions did nothing more then to drive wealth (a/k/a investment capital) off shore and keep it there. That was the last thing the United States needed at that point in time.

But to take the depression President Hoover started and make it into a really Great Depression required the services of President Roosevelt and his "brain trust" headed up by Rex Tugwell. Tugwell and other members of the brain trust traveled to Russia to check out the "great experiment." They came back thinking Stalin was a genius, but did not go far enough in his totalitarian control. (Even today it is unclear if Tugwell and company new about the early violence against Russians that did not want to go along with the program. It is painfully clear Tugwell was aware of it in later years, but said nothing.)

President Roosevelt, guided by Tugwell and the brain trust came up with the National Industrial Recovery Act. This gave the government almost God like power over private business and formed the National Recovery Administration. The NRA crafted rules and regulations outside the legislative process that had the force of law behind them. Those rules micromanaged almost every facet of business from fixing wages and prices right down to dictating how and in what order produce, meat and slaughter animals were sold.

As an example, the end customer was no longer allowed to pick out which live chickens they wanted to buy. NRA regulations required the butcher select the birds based on which one was closest to the cage door. In Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States the Schechter Brothers spent a year in jail because of perceived violations of NRA regulations and out right false charges apparently added in as penalty for their failure to roll over and play dead. After sitting in jail and losing their business the Supreme Court turned over the case flatly stating the federal government had no place dictating procedure to a local chicken merchant.

But it wasn't just the little man taking this kind of abuse at the hands of the US Government. The US Government went into competition with several private industries, public utilities being chief on that list. The Tennessee Valley Authority is one of the most famous examples of the financial destruction President Roosevelt brought to the private sector in the name of the New Deal. Samuel Insull was a forward thinking industrial developer with a solid track record of making things happen for both industry and investors. He began electrifying the south with plants in several states including Tennessee.

President Roosevelt and Co. could not stand the idea of energy being in private hands. They formed the TVA in direct competition with Insull's existing utilities. Then they used the full force of the government under the authority of the NRA to make it virtually impossible for Insull to expand or even operate what he had at a profit. This probably didn't generate a whole lot of guilt among the Roosevelt Brain Trust as Insull was an outspoken critic of and litigated against New Deal policies from the very beginning.

Insull's empire came crashing down. The Roosevelt Administration promptly pointed fingers and used this collapse to pass the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. They said all this knowing full well they deliberately set out to accomplish that very thing. In doing so the US Government through the TVA and NRA wiped out hundreds of thousands of investors large and small. That loss alone contributed another major down tick in the economy of the time.

At this point it should be pointed out that most of Europe (with the exception of Germany, which was operating under the back-breaking terms of their surrender from World War I) recovered much faster from their economic woes of the time. Much of that recovery was due to the vast quantity of cash Hoover's tax rates drove off shore. Roosevelt's open hostility to wealth and his short sighted New Deal policies made sure that cash stayed there.

People with that kind of money do not leave it stuffed in the mattress. The United States was a mess and the administration was fond of finding ways to take wealth away from private citizens. So they took their money and invested it abroad where they got a far better deal on returns from their investments and taxes.

The supreme court eventually gutted most of the National Industrial Recovery Act and effectively put the National Recovery Administration out of business. That decision and the resounding judicial rebuff of theAgricultural Adjustment Act lead President Roosevelt to attempt to stack the Supreme Court Bench in his favor with the Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937. Under this bill Roosevelt would have been given the power to appoint an additional Justice for every sitting member over the age of 70 and a half up to a maximum of six.

Around 1938 even Roosevelt had to admit that the "Brain trust's" ideas were so much pie in the sky and had no chance of working in a real world environment. He was beginning to roll back many of the New Deal policies when on Dec. 7, 1941 Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto did what 12 years of social engineering could not and ended the Great Depression for us.

Even in recent history, the Japanese proved that government spending cannot fix a broken economy. Tremendous amounts of government spending only pulled the Japanese economy farther down and pushed their recovery back several years. The Japanese call the period from 1991 to 2001 The Lost Decade.

I know many of you reading this are not buying any of it, let alone all of it. Even with the links to back my positions you are still saying, "Hogwash!" If you are not afraid to learn the truth of what went on during the Great Depression and then compare it to the plans being made today, I recommend this book: The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes

With a few additions and one minor contradiction (which may be a simple case of gray hair syndrome) The Forgotten Man pretty much lines up with everything I was taught in high school and college. Those of you that still believe we can tax and spend our way our of this beware, this book may destroy your current view of reality.

---

By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.
- John Maynard Keynes

Tampa, Fl - I wish I would have seen this a couple weeks ago...

"There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jump start the economy."

— PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA, JANUARY 9 , 2009

With all due respect Mr. President, that is not true.

Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians andthat we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan's "lost decade" inthe 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and areduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.

• Burton Abrams, Univ. of Delaware
• Douglas Adie, Ohio University
• Ryan Amacher, Univ. of Texas at Arlington

• J.J. Arias, Georgia College & State University
• Howard Baetjer, Jr., Towson University
• Stacie Beck, Univ. of Delaware
• Don Bellante, Univ. of South Florida
• James Bennett, George Mason University
• Bruce Benson, Florida State University
• Sanjai Bhagat, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
• Mark Bils, Univ. of Rochester
• Alberto Bisin, New York University
• Walter Block, Loyola University New Orleans
• Cecil Bohanon, Ball State University
• Michele Boldrin, Washington University in St. Louis
• Donald Booth, Chapman University
• Michael Bordo, Rutgers University
• Samuel Bostaph, Univ. of Dallas
• Scott Bradford, Brigham Young University
• Genevieve Briand, Eastern Washington University
• George Brower, Moravian College
• James Buchanan, Nobel laureate
• Richard Burdekin, Claremont McKenna College
• Henry Butler, Northwestern University
• William Butos, Trinity College
• Peter Calcagno, College of Charleston
• Bryan Caplan, George Mason University
• Art Carden, Rhodes College
• James Cardon, Brigham Young University
• Dustin Chambers, Salisbury University
• Emily Chamlee-Wright, Beloit College
• V.V. Chair, Univ. of Minnesota
• Barry Chiswick, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
• Lawrence Cima, John Carroll University
• J.R. Clark, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga
• Gian Luca Clementi, New York University
• R. Morris Coats, Nicholls State University
• John Cochran, Metropolitan State College
• John Cochrane, Univ. of Chicago
• John Cogan, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
• John Coleman, Duke University
• Boyd Collier, Tarleton State University
• Robert Collinge, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio
• Lee Coppock, Univ. of Virginia
• Mario Crucini, Vanderbilt University
• Christopher Culp, Univ. of Chicago
• Kirby Cundiff, Northeastern State University
• Antony Davies, Duquesne University
• John Dawson, Appalachian State University
• Clarence Deitsch, Ball State University
• Arthur Diamond, Jr., Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha
• John Dobra, Univ. of Nevada, Reno
• James Dorn, Towson University
• Christopher Douglas, Univ. of Michigan, Flint
• Floyd Duncan, Virginia Military Institute
• Francis Egan, Trinity College
• John Egger, Towson University
• Kenneth Elzinga, Univ. of Virginia
• Paul Evans, Ohio State University
• Eugene Fama, Univ. of Chicago
• W. Ken Farr, Georgia College & State University
• Hartmut Fischer, Univ. of San Francisco
• Fred Foldvary, Santa Clara University
• Murray Frank, Univ. of Minnesota
• Peter Frank, Wingate University
• Timothy Fuerst, Bowling Green State University
• B. Delworth Gardner, Brigham Young University
• John Garen, Univ. of Kentucky
• Rick Geddes, Cornell University
• Aaron Gellman, Northwestern University
• William Gerdes, Clarke College
• Michael Gibbs, Univ. of Chicago
• Stephan Gohmann, Univ. of Louisville
• Rodolfo Gonzalez, San Jose State University
• Richard Gordon, Penn State University
• Peter Gordon, Univ. of Southern California
• Ernie Goss, Creighton University
• Paul Gregory, Univ. of Houston
• Earl Grinols, Baylor University
• Daniel Gropper, Auburn University
• R.W. Hafer, Southern Illinois
• University, Edwardsville
• Arthur Hall, Univ. of Kansas
• Steve Hanke, Johns Hopkins
• Stephen Happel, Arizona State University
• Frank Hefner, College of Charleston
• Ronald Heiner, George Mason University
• David Henderson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
• Robert Herren, North Dakota State University
• Gailen Hite, Columbia University
• Steven Horwitz, St. Lawrence University
• John Howe, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
• Jeffrey Hummel, San Jose State University
• Bruce Hutchinson, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga
• Brian Jacobsen, Wisconsin Lutheran College
• Jason Johnston, Univ. of Pennsylvania
• Boyan Jovanovic, New York University
• Jonathan Karpoff, Univ. of Washington
• Barry Keating, Univ. of Notre Dame
• Naveen Khanna, Michigan State University
• Nicholas Kiefer, Cornell University
• Daniel Klein, George Mason University
• Paul Koch, Univ. of Kansas
• Narayana Kocherlakota, Univ. of Minnesota
• Marek Kolar, Delta College
• Roger Koppl, Fairleigh Dickinson University
• Kishore Kulkarni, Metropolitan State College of Denver
• Deepak Lal, UCLA
• George Langelett, South Dakota State University
• James Larriviere, Spring Hill College
• Robert Lawson, Auburn University
• John Levendis, Loyola University New Orleans
• David Levine, Washington University in St. Louis
• Peter Lewin, Univ. of Texas at Dallas
• Dean Lillard, Cornell University
• Zheng Liu, Emory University
• Alan Lockard, Binghampton University
• Edward Lopez, San Jose State University
• John Lunn, Hope College
• Glenn MacDonald, Washington
• University in St. Louis
• Michael Marlow, California
• Polytechnic State University
• Deryl Martin, Tennessee Tech University
• Dale Matcheck, Northwood University
• Deirdre McCloskey, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago
• John McDermott, Univ. of South Carolina
• Joseph McGarrity, Univ. of Central Arkansas
• Roger Meiners, Univ. of Texas at Arlington
• Allan Meltzer, Carnegie Mellon University
• John Merrifield, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio
• James Miller III, George Mason University
• Jeffrey Miron, Harvard University
• Thomas Moeller, Texas Christian University
• John Moorhouse, Wake Forest University
• Andrea Moro, Vanderbilt University
• Andrew Morriss, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Michael Munger, Duke University
• Kevin Murphy, Univ. of Southern California
• Richard Muth, Emory University
• Charles Nelson, Univ. of Washington
• Seth Norton, Wheaton College
• Lee Ohanian, Univ. of California, Los Angeles
• Lydia Ortega, San Jose State University
• Evan Osborne, Wright State University
• Randall Parker, East Carolina University
• Donald Parsons, George Washington University
• Sam Peltzman, Univ. of Chicago
• Mark Perry, Univ. of Michigan, Flint
• Christopher Phelan, Univ. of Minnesota
• Gordon Phillips, Univ. of Maryland
• Michael Pippenger, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks
• Tomasz Piskorski, Columbia University
• Brennan Platt, Brigham Young University
• Joseph Pomykala, Towson University
• William Poole, Univ. of Delaware
• Barry Poulson, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
• Benjamin Powell, Suffolk University
• Edward Prescott, Nobel laureate
• Gary Quinlivan, Saint Vincent College
• Reza Ramazani, Saint Michael's College
• Adriano Rampini, Duke University
• Eric Rasmusen, Indiana University
• Mario Rizzo, New York University
• Richard Roll, Univ. of California, Los Angeles
• Robert Rossana, Wayne State University
• James Roumasset, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa
• John Rowe, Univ. of South Florida
• Charles Rowley, George Mason University
• Juan Rubio-Ramirez, Duke University
• Roy Ruffin, Univ. of Houston
• Kevin Salyer, Univ. of California, Davis
• Pavel Savor, Univ. of Pennsylvania
• Ronald Schmidt, Univ. of Rochester
• Carlos Seiglie, Rutgers University
• William Shughart II, Univ. of Mississippi
• Charles Skipton, Univ. of Tampa
• James Smith, Western Carolina University
• Vernon Smith, Nobel laureate
• Lawrence Southwick, Jr., Univ. at Buffalo
• Dean Stansel, Florida Gulf Coast University
• Houston Stokes, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
• Brian Strow, Western Kentucky University
• Shirley Svorny, California State
• University, Northridge
• John Tatom, Indiana State University
• Wade Thomas, State University of New York at Oneonta
• Henry Thompson, Auburn University
• Alex Tokarev, The King's College
• Edward Tower, Duke University
• Leo Troy, Rutgers University
• David Tuerck, Suffolk University
• Charlotte Twight, Boise State University
• Kamal Upadhyaya, Univ. of New Haven
• Charles Upton, Kent State University
• T. Norman Van Cott, Ball State University
• Richard Vedder, Ohio University
• Richard Wagner, George Mason University
• Douglas M. Walker, College of Charleston
• Douglas O. Walker, Regent University
• Christopher Westley, Jacksonville State University
• Lawrence White, Univ. of Missouri at St. Louis
• Walter Williams, George Mason University
• Doug Wills, Univ. of Washington Tacoma
• Dennis Wilson, Western Kentucky University
• Gary Wolfram, Hillsdale College
• Huizhong Zhou, Western Michigan University

Additional economists who have signed the statement

• Lee Adkins, Oklahoma State University
• William Albrecht, Univ. of Iowa
• Donald Alexander, Western Michigan University
• Geoffrey Andron, Austin Community College
• Nathan Ashby, Univ. of Texas at El Paso
• George Averitt, Purdue North Central University
• Charles Baird, California State University, East Bay
• Timothy Bastian, Creighton University
• Joe Bell, Missouri State University, Springfield
• John Bethune, Barton College
• Robert Bise, Orange Coast College
• Karl Borden, University of Nebraska
• Donald Boudreaux, George Mason University
• Ivan Brick, Rutgers University
• Phil Bryson, Brigham Young University
• Richard Burkhauser, Cornell University
• Edwin Burton, Univ. of Virginia
• Jim Butkiewicz, Univ. of Delaware
• Richard Cebula, Armstrong Atlantic State University
• Don Chance, Louisiana State University
• Robert Chatfield, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Lloyd Cohen, George Mason University
• Peter Colwell, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Michael Connolly, Univ. of Miami
• Jim Couch, Univ. of North Alabama
• Eleanor Craig, Univ. of Delaware
• Michael Daniels, Columbus State University
• A. Edward Day, Univ. of Texas at Dallas
• Stephen Dempsey, Univ. of Vermont
• Allan DeSerpa, Arizona State University
• William Dewald, Ohio State University
• Jeff Dorfman, Univ. of Georgia
• Lanny Ebenstein, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara
• Michael Erickson, The College of Idaho
• Jack Estill, San Jose State University
• Dorla Evans, Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville
• Frank Falero, California State University, Bakersfield
• Daniel Feenberg, National Bureau of Economic Research
• Eric Fisher, California Polytechnic State University
• Arthur Fleisher, Metropolitan State College of Denver
• William Ford, Middle Tennessee State University
• Ralph Frasca, Univ. of Dayton
• Joseph Giacalone, St. John's University
• Adam Gifford, California State Unviersity, Northridge
• Otis Gilley, Louisiana Tech University
• J. Edward Graham, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
• Richard Grant, Lipscomb University
• Gauri-Shankar Guha, Arkansas State University
• Darren Gulla, Univ. of Kentucky
• Dennis Halcoussis, California State University, Northridge
• Richard Hart, Miami University
• James Hartley, Mount Holyoke College
• Thomas Hazlett, George Mason University
• Scott Hein, Texas Tech University
• Bradley Hobbs, Florida Gulf Coast University
• John Hoehn, Michigan State University
• Daniel Houser, George Mason University
• Thomas Howard, University of Denver
• Chris Hughen, Univ. of Denver
• Marcus Ingram, Univ. of Tampa
• Joseph Jadlow, Oklahoma State University
• Sherry Jarrell, Wake Forest University
• Scott Kelly, Albany State University
• Carrie Kerekes, Florida Gulf Coast University
• Robert Krol, California State University, Northridge
• James Kurre, Penn State Erie
• Tom Lehman, Indiana Wesleyan University
• W. Cris Lewis, Utah State University
• Stan Liebowitz, Univ. of Texas at Dallas
• Anthony Losasso, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
• John Lott, Jr., Univ. of Maryland
• Keith Malone, Univ. of North Alabama
• Henry Manne, George Mason University
• Richard Marcus, Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Timothy Mathews, Kennesaw State University
• John Matsusaka, Univ. of Southern California
• Thomas Mayor, Univ. of Houston
• John McConnell, Purdue University
• W. Douglas McMillin, Louisiana State University
• Mario Miranda, The Ohio State University
• Ed Miseta, Penn State Erie
• James Moncur, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa
• Charles Moss, Univ. of Florida
• Tim Muris, George Mason University
• John Murray, Univ. of Toledo
• David Mustard, Univ. of Georgia
• Steven Myers, Univ. of Akron
• Dhananjay Nanda, University of Miami
• Stephen Parente, Univ. of Minnesota
• Allen Parkman, Univ. of New Mexico
• Douglas Patterson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and University
• Timothy Perri, Appalachian State University
• Mark Pingle, Univ. of Nevada, Reno
• Ivan Pongracic, Hillsdale College
• Robert Prati, East Carolina University
• Richard Rawlins, Missouri Southern State University
• Thomas Rhee, California State University, Long Beach
• Christine Ries, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Nancy Roberts, Arizona State University
• Larry Ross, Univ. of Alaska Anchorage
• Timothy Roth, Univ. of Texas at El Paso
• Atulya Sarin, Santa Clara University
• Thomas Saving, Texas A&M University
• Eric Schansberg, Indiana University Southeast
• John Seater, North Carolina University
• Alan Shapiro, Univ. of Southern California
• Thomas Simmons, Greenfield Community College
• Frank Spreng, McKendree University
• Judith Staley Brenneke, John Carroll University
• John E. Stapleford, Eastern University
• Courtenay Stone, Ball State University
• Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, UCLA
• Scott Sumner, Bentley University
• Clifford Thies, Shenandoah University
• William Trumbull, West Virginia University
• A. Sinan Unur, Cornell University
• Randall Valentine, Georgia Southwestern State University
• Gustavo Ventura, Univ. of Iowa
• Marc Weidenmier, Claremont McKenna College
• Robert Whaples, Wake Forest University
• Gene Wunder, Washburn University
• John Zdanowicz, Florida International University
• Jerry Zimmerman, Univ. of Rochester
• Joseph Zoric, Franciscan University of Steubenville

</div>
From a full page ad run by the the Cato Institute

I wish I could have sent that to my congress critters. Not that it would have done any good. With very few exceptions, the Democrats are marching in oblivious lock step, eyes screwed shut toward a bridge that is not there.

A simple overview of American History from 1929 through 1941 will show even the most naive out there that loads of government spending and higher taxes do not equal economic recovery. In spite of historical proof that this simply does not work, the left is bound and determined to see it through oblivious to the consequences.

Keynesianism, here we come again.

---

By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.
- John Maynard Keynes

Tampa, FL - It is being widely reported that Chicago Tribune Reporter and television panelist Jill Zuckman is going to join the Obama administration in the public affairs division of the Department of Transportation. This brings the total to four former national media personnel Obama brought in to work in his administration.

The others are (if memory serves me correctly) Time magazine's Washington Bureau Chief Jay Carney, Washington Post's Warren Bass (I think he got a gig at the UN) and a reporter for the Los Angeles times who's name escapes me right now. It should be pointed out that all of these media people worked for huge news organizations that treated then Senator Obama with kit gloves while slamming his opponent and everything he stood for.

Now don't get me wrong. I think anyone is entitled to what ever job they want and can get. But this record bears pointing out because no other administration has appointed so many former media members right out of the gate. In fact, as near as I can tell no former administration has ever had four former national news media employees in their administration. At least not in recent history.

There is nothing that proves this is political payback for a job well done during the campaign. But on the surface it looks far from squeaky clean.

What really gets me is how quiet the news media has been on these appointments. Remember the outrage and cries of cronyism when President Bush had the unmitigated gall to hire Tony Snow as his press secretary? Oh the shame! The desecration of that great position with someone as hateful and closed minded as Tony Snow.

What a load of crap.

Tony Snow will probably go down in history as the best White House Press Secretary to date. He was certainly the most entertaining. Tony delighted in his verbal duels with members of White House Press Corps. He held them to the facts with zero tolerance for rambling speech making questions designed to set up the answer the reporter wanted. That garbage stopped the first day he stood behind that famous podium in the White House Press Briefing Room.

Where is the outrage at these choices?

President Obama has been tight with the media since he began running for office. Two former CNN employees, producer Kate Albright-Hanna and reporter Aneesh Raman worked full time on the campaign. I am told a former reporter for another major network also worked in a high level position on the Obama campaign, but I've never been able to verify it.

That might explain why Obama media events were light years ahead of the rest when it came to dealing with the media and their technical needs. But now it is hard to not wonder how many favors were cashed in. How many phone calls and e-mails were made to former colleagues pushing a point here, throwing a damper on a hot spot there, adding a just a touch of spin on a timely issue... You get the idea.

All's fair in love and politics. Scary, isn't it?

---

We live in an anaesthetized society.
- Tony Snow

Ft. Myers, FL - As a rule The Onion does not amuse me. It must be that too old and grouchy to get it thing. But the video linked here is hilarious.

NOT WORK SAFE for vast quantities of bad language - The Onion: Sony releases new stupid piece...

A tip of the hat to Neal for sending this one my way...

---

Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own.
- Jonathan Swift

Tampa, FL - There is something depressing about eating dinner out alone on Valentine's Day. You look at all the happy couples. You can almost feel the romance in the air.

It was interesting observing the rest of the people in the restaurant. There were a couple of super-cool decked out rapper and/or gang wanna-bees complete with indoor sunglasses in some kind of contest to see who could be the more slouchy, quiet, ominous and scary. All this while their dates chattered away like high school girls on a double date.

Young adult couples dressed up in the latest urban styles chatted and ate. Several older couples shared some quality time over drinks.

But no matter who they are, or how they are dressed, one universal theme came through. They were happy to be there with their dates. Even the wanna be tough guys cracked a smile now and then.

*sigh*

You know, I would have taken just about anyone to dinner with me, my treat, no strings attached, just so I didn't have to eat alone tonight.

---

"To all the girls I've loved before..."
- Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson

Tampa, FL - ourladyofsound is on her way home from a long tour working for an American Network in and around The Gaza Strip. She saw many things this trip and said, "That handful of zealots in Gaza will not be satisfied until they force Israel to level it." Her general take on the whole thing is the local population really doesn't give a damn about Israel one way or the other. their chief concern is to be able to do business with the Israelis. Most of the rocket launching is being done by people coming in from outside the region, doing the deeds and then high tailing it back to where ever they came from leaving the local residents to bear the brunt of the wrath.

There were a couple of close shaves on this trip, also scary to hear about.

I am very happy she got out of this one with her skin. Whenever you read this, welcome home.

---

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.
- Ernest Hemingway