“We are the people of the book. We love our books. We fill our houses with books. We treasure books we inherit from our parents, and we cherish the idea of passing those books on to our children. Indeed, how many of us started reading with a beloved book that belonged to one of our parents? We force worthy books on our friends, and we insist that they read them. We even feel a weird kinship for the people we see on buses or airplanes reading our books, the books that we claim. If anyone tries to take away our books—some oppressive government, some censor gone off the rails—we would defend them with everything that we have. We know our tribespeople when we visit their homes because every wall is lined with books. There are teetering piles of books beside the bed and on the floor; there are masses of swollen paperbacks in the bathroom. Our books are us. They are our outboard memory banks and they contain the moral, intellectual, and imaginative influences that make us the people we are today.” — Cory Doctorow (via atomos)
(via condalmo)
“To be clear: members of the Washington establishment can be knaves and fools. Compromise can be just another word for capitulation. And there are reasons to be frustrated with the way things are done. At the same time, reflexive attacks on both “the establishment” and compromise are unwise. We were fortunate at the founding of America to have a political class consisting of individuals with governing experience, scholarly insights, and strong convictions. The best among them took the long view. They were conversant in both theory and practice. They were also undeniably members of the establishment of their era. And their compromises – including between those who favored adding a Bill of Rights and those who did not, between big states and small ones, and between northern and southern states – led to the greatest governing charter in history. These things are worth bearing in mind even, and maybe especially, for conservatives.” — The Establishment, Compromise and Conservatives
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To ask whether life is fair — either here and now, or at any time or place around the world, over the past several thousand years — is to ask a question whose answer is obvious. Life has seldom been within shouting distance of fair, in the sense of even approximately equal prospects of success.
Countries whose politicians have been able to squander ever larger amounts of a nation’s resources have not only failed to make the world more fair, the concentration of more resources and power in these politicians’ hands has led to results that were often counterproductive at best, and bloodily catastrophic at worst.
” — The ‘Fairness’ Fraud“
There is indeed every reason to think that the president made the worst of all possible decisions in killing a pipeline that could have cemented America’s relationship with Canada, rationalized production and distribution of oil in the United States, and reduced the risk of pollution by blunting spillage risk from tankers steaming toward China loaded with oil.
That’s all well and good. But recall that there is no evidence whatsoever that suggests that opening the pipeline or increasing domestic oil production, both desirable, will lead to some mythical $2.50 per gallon price at the pump any time soon. Once the right institutional arrangements are made on both of these points, supply should increase, and, on average, prices should decline as consumption increases. But we must never tie government policy to particular price levels. Politicians must set the right institutional arrangements and then let the cost of production and relative demand set prices.
” — The Oil Market Panic
The mini-meleon that is one of the smallest reptiles on the planet
Facts about America’s slow recovery.
This is what $8 of room service looks like at an Amman airport hotel (by andycarvin)
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Americans (including Republicans) know that their personal wellbeing is inextricably tied to the wellbeing of the various communities to which they belong, including the nation itself. Yet for some reason, Republicans seem uninterested — indeed, almost incapable — of speaking to the common good. Republicans are adept at making the case that their preferred policies, especially economic policies, are good for individuals. That’s a case they should continue to make. But they spend far too little time making the case that conservative policies are good for families, communities, and the country as a whole.
To be clear: This isn’t about changing conservative policy preferences; it’s about changing the way conservatives talk about the policies they already promote. From the debt to entitlements to Obamacare to high unemployment — the issues Republicans can win on all lend themselves to powerful appeals to the good of both individual citizens and the country as a whole. Republicans must argue explicitly and forcefully that the president’s administration has made America weaker, not stronger, and that their alternative policies will change that. Republicans must challenge the liberal myth that conservative policies are a drag on the common good, and the fatuous notion that the only way to form “a more perfect union” is for government to do and spend more.
” — Stephen P. White
“Happiness is a cup of coffee and a good book.” = FACT (vintageancho via BookRiot)
“Under Obama’s proposal, federal spending will rise from $3.8 trillion in 2013 to $5.8 trillion in 2022, an increase of 53 percent. He plans to spend a total of $47 trillion over the next decade, adding a cumulative $6.7 trillion to the federal budget deficit. If enacted, the White House plan would increase the debt held by the public—the amount owed by American taxpayers—from $12.6 trillion to $19.4 trillion over that same period, a 54 percent increase. As a share of GDP, the public debt is projected to increase from 74.2 percent to 76.5 percent by the end of the 10-year budget window.” — Obama Spend It Now | Washington Free Beacon