Five days work and on the road, so just now getting back to commenting on the news. Welcome to November and the end of daylight savings time for all of five months!
Abominable Act (ObummerCare) – Home front
Patients, Firms Shop for Better Health Care Deals
(Associated Press) Insurers, employers and individuals are shopping around for health care as they try to tame rising health care costs…
Nathan: Like so many other articles, this blames the “market” even though the Abominable Act has destroyed the last remnants of the free market, and takes away the little power left by consumers to “shop around.”
Economy – Crash of 2009
Who Really Employs Minimum Wage Workers?
(Wall Street Journal) Contrary to the rhetoric of organized labor and its allies, the vast majority of people earning the minimum wage aren’t working at large corporations with 1,000 or more employees…
Nathan: Once more, we see that the “information” put out by the left – by the transnational progressives – is nothing but propaganda, pure lies for the most part designed to sway the public opinion to their side and to further their ambitions to gain more power. (Not that conservatives are really any better: just different lies.)
Abominable Act (ObummerCare) – Home front
Docs Resisting ObamaCare
(New York Post) New York doctors are treating ObamaCare like the plague, a new survey reveals…
Nathan: Too little, too late. We’ve heard rumors of this for three years, but if they had made their stand clear immediately, they might not now be in such a bind, and their patients as well. We find doctors literally leaving the country, and many retiring or just plain quitting, which right now does little but give the White House and its bumblers perfect opportunities to create MORE controls and gain MORE power to “deal with the crisis” caused by these “kulaks” and their “betrayal” of the public trust.
Mama’s Note: On the contrary, I don’t blame any of the healthcare professionals who retire or leave the country. Many of those who “quit” are entering various aspects of the underground economy as well, and the entire situation is putting pressure on people to find viable alternatives for both health care and employment. None of that is lending itself to increased government control, actually… but the reverse. Obummercare is very, very likely to turn out to be a massive misstep, and an important break in government control as it spirals into insanity that even former supporters are starting to see all too well.
Abominable Act (ObummerCare) – Home front
Obamacare: ‘Adverse Selection’ Followed by a ‘Death Spiral’
(New York Times) Younger people, who tend to have very low anticipated medical costs, are supposed to help pay for the medical costs of older or sicker enrollees. Without them, so-called risk pools might become too risky, forcing insurers to raise premiums, says the New York Times…
Nathan: The contrast between the last article and this (and between the Post and Times) is interesting and even funny. The tone of this is to BLAME young people who have their own self-interests for messing up the rest of us. Why are ANY of us obligated to pay for ANYone else’s medical costs? Why are we not responsible for our own? This turns medical care into just another welfare program, in which the politically-favored are supported by the money stolen from the pockets of those who are singled out by the politicians for fleecing. And when some of those singled out wiggle off the hook, THEY are to blame and THEY are the evil villains, whom the thugs in government must punish.
Stupid government tricks
More Nonsense from the Energy Department
(Washington Times) To save customers $1.20 per year, Department of Energy standards push manufacturers toward a technology for microwave display clocks that can render half of their customers’ clocks useless within a week or so, says David Kreutzer…
Nathan: Ah, what else do we expect? Some bureaucrats no doubt got great ratings for coming up with this, and like all fads and most stupid ideas, it is run into the ground. This goes into the Hall of Infamy of Government Mandates like limits on toilets and bans on Freon, and bans on light bulbs: government run amok.
Culture wars
Polyamory on the rise
(CNN) Polyamorous families see an opportunity now to come out. They say polyamory isn’t swinging or cheating, but does involve multiple partners. Researchers say polyamory is more common, even appearing on TV. Some relationship therapists say polyamory can hurt relationships more than it helps.
Nathan: Thanks to Dave Jolly at “Last Resistance” for this CNN article. With the barriers falling to “same-sex marriage,” many have predicted that next would be polygamy and polyamory in general, similar to Heinlein’s Looney “gang marriages” and his “triads” (the novels The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Friday). Even in cultures (such as some AmerInd tribes and Arabic society) where this was common, evidence is that society is destabilized by this, even more than the “serial monogamy” which is now commonly practiced here in the US and many other Western nations. Indeed, the article fails to point out that a defacto polyamory exists in many inner-city “homes” in which a single woman may have multiple male partners, with children by several – but simply rotating between them. Given the high instability which already exists in the US, this is sure to create more problems. The article points out, again, the “revulsion factor” which has always been present, going back to the 50-year quarrel over LDS polygamy, now 120 years behind us.
Mama’s Note: Equating the revolving door welfare households with various forms of stable, committed relationships between several people is a bit disingenuous. The bottom line is that personal relationships are nobody else’s business. I would suggest that the problems are more related to all of the government theft and coercion involved. The “revulsion factor” simply indicates the age old desire of some people to control the lives of others.
Islamic world
Five arrested in Arabia for raping 3-year-old
(Gulf News) Manama: Police in Saudi Arabia have arrested five people in connection with the rape of a three-year-old girl. The suspects, three men and two women, were apprehended in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the police spokesman for the local police, Nawaf Al Bouq, said. …A private hospital had alerted the police about finding the girl in front of the front gate. The victim had bruises and bore traces of violence on her body and was bleeding in the vagina, the daily said. Her clothes were torn. The police launched a wide manhunt and were able to arrest the suspects who were remanded in custody pending the investigation.
Nathan: THREE YEARS OLD. Mohammed (peanut butter und honig) at least waited until his “wife” was NINE. This story is related to the last one: Although “polyamory” is supposed to be inclusive of 1male-Xfemales, 1female-Xmales, and Xmales-Xfemales, apparently it tends to weigh heavily on the 1male-xfemales: that is, polygamy. And historically, polygamy seems to be closely connected with pederasty and abuse of children (and women) in general. Perhaps it is because such societies seem to always end up with a surplus of unattached males. Or because such systems provide significant opportunities for psychological damage to the women and men, both as children and adults. Two of these arrested in this case WERE women, only three men raped the child. But women are also officially very much second (or even third) class citizens in countries with Shari’a law. In the United States, this sort of thing is almost always the action of some (obviously deranged) individual, but this is just one of several examples of gang rapes this year in Islamic nations which have been prominent in the news.
Politics 2013
Billboard advocating jury nullification concerns local prosecutors
(Washington Post) The illuminated billboard in the Judiciary Square Metro station near the F Street entrance was strategically placed. Prospective jurors who take the subway to D.C. Superior Court and exit near the National Building Museum see these words: “Good jurors nullify bad laws” and “You have the right to ‘hang’ the jury with your vote if you cannot agree with other jurors.” Since the billboard went up this month, District prosecutors have been worried that the message could sway their cases. In the past week alone, they have asked judges in three cases to ensure that jurors had neither seen nor been influenced by the billboard.
Nathan: This is part of a three-city campaign, and indeed, “the hit dog barks.” Public knowledge CAN have a big impact, if done right and consistently.
The Price of Liberty 
Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-42A: This and That
Five days work and on the road, so just now getting back to commenting on the news. Welcome to November and the end of daylight savings time for all of five months!
Abominable Act (ObummerCare) – Home front
Patients, Firms Shop for Better Health Care Deals
(Associated Press) Insurers, employers and individuals are shopping around for health care as they try to tame rising health care costs…
Nathan: Like so many other articles, this blames the “market” even though the Abominable Act has destroyed the last remnants of the free market, and takes away the little power left by consumers to “shop around.”
Economy – Crash of 2009
Who Really Employs Minimum Wage Workers?
(Wall Street Journal) Contrary to the rhetoric of organized labor and its allies, the vast majority of people earning the minimum wage aren’t working at large corporations with 1,000 or more employees…
Nathan: Once more, we see that the “information” put out by the left – by the transnational progressives – is nothing but propaganda, pure lies for the most part designed to sway the public opinion to their side and to further their ambitions to gain more power. (Not that conservatives are really any better: just different lies.)
Abominable Act (ObummerCare) – Home front
Docs Resisting ObamaCare
(New York Post) New York doctors are treating ObamaCare like the plague, a new survey reveals…
Nathan: Too little, too late. We’ve heard rumors of this for three years, but if they had made their stand clear immediately, they might not now be in such a bind, and their patients as well. We find doctors literally leaving the country, and many retiring or just plain quitting, which right now does little but give the White House and its bumblers perfect opportunities to create MORE controls and gain MORE power to “deal with the crisis” caused by these “kulaks” and their “betrayal” of the public trust.
Mama’s Note: On the contrary, I don’t blame any of the healthcare professionals who retire or leave the country. Many of those who “quit” are entering various aspects of the underground economy as well, and the entire situation is putting pressure on people to find viable alternatives for both health care and employment. None of that is lending itself to increased government control, actually… but the reverse. Obummercare is very, very likely to turn out to be a massive misstep, and an important break in government control as it spirals into insanity that even former supporters are starting to see all too well.
Abominable Act (ObummerCare) – Home front
Obamacare: ‘Adverse Selection’ Followed by a ‘Death Spiral’
(New York Times) Younger people, who tend to have very low anticipated medical costs, are supposed to help pay for the medical costs of older or sicker enrollees. Without them, so-called risk pools might become too risky, forcing insurers to raise premiums, says the New York Times…
Nathan: The contrast between the last article and this (and between the Post and Times) is interesting and even funny. The tone of this is to BLAME young people who have their own self-interests for messing up the rest of us. Why are ANY of us obligated to pay for ANYone else’s medical costs? Why are we not responsible for our own? This turns medical care into just another welfare program, in which the politically-favored are supported by the money stolen from the pockets of those who are singled out by the politicians for fleecing. And when some of those singled out wiggle off the hook, THEY are to blame and THEY are the evil villains, whom the thugs in government must punish.
Stupid government tricks
More Nonsense from the Energy Department
(Washington Times) To save customers $1.20 per year, Department of Energy standards push manufacturers toward a technology for microwave display clocks that can render half of their customers’ clocks useless within a week or so, says David Kreutzer…
Nathan: Ah, what else do we expect? Some bureaucrats no doubt got great ratings for coming up with this, and like all fads and most stupid ideas, it is run into the ground. This goes into the Hall of Infamy of Government Mandates like limits on toilets and bans on Freon, and bans on light bulbs: government run amok.
Culture wars
Polyamory on the rise
(CNN) Polyamorous families see an opportunity now to come out. They say polyamory isn’t swinging or cheating, but does involve multiple partners. Researchers say polyamory is more common, even appearing on TV. Some relationship therapists say polyamory can hurt relationships more than it helps.
Nathan: Thanks to Dave Jolly at “Last Resistance” for this CNN article. With the barriers falling to “same-sex marriage,” many have predicted that next would be polygamy and polyamory in general, similar to Heinlein’s Looney “gang marriages” and his “triads” (the novels The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Friday). Even in cultures (such as some AmerInd tribes and Arabic society) where this was common, evidence is that society is destabilized by this, even more than the “serial monogamy” which is now commonly practiced here in the US and many other Western nations. Indeed, the article fails to point out that a defacto polyamory exists in many inner-city “homes” in which a single woman may have multiple male partners, with children by several – but simply rotating between them. Given the high instability which already exists in the US, this is sure to create more problems. The article points out, again, the “revulsion factor” which has always been present, going back to the 50-year quarrel over LDS polygamy, now 120 years behind us.
Mama’s Note: Equating the revolving door welfare households with various forms of stable, committed relationships between several people is a bit disingenuous. The bottom line is that personal relationships are nobody else’s business. I would suggest that the problems are more related to all of the government theft and coercion involved. The “revulsion factor” simply indicates the age old desire of some people to control the lives of others.
Islamic world
Five arrested in Arabia for raping 3-year-old
(Gulf News) Manama: Police in Saudi Arabia have arrested five people in connection with the rape of a three-year-old girl. The suspects, three men and two women, were apprehended in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the police spokesman for the local police, Nawaf Al Bouq, said. …A private hospital had alerted the police about finding the girl in front of the front gate. The victim had bruises and bore traces of violence on her body and was bleeding in the vagina, the daily said. Her clothes were torn. The police launched a wide manhunt and were able to arrest the suspects who were remanded in custody pending the investigation.
Nathan: THREE YEARS OLD. Mohammed (peanut butter und honig) at least waited until his “wife” was NINE. This story is related to the last one: Although “polyamory” is supposed to be inclusive of 1male-Xfemales, 1female-Xmales, and Xmales-Xfemales, apparently it tends to weigh heavily on the 1male-xfemales: that is, polygamy. And historically, polygamy seems to be closely connected with pederasty and abuse of children (and women) in general. Perhaps it is because such societies seem to always end up with a surplus of unattached males. Or because such systems provide significant opportunities for psychological damage to the women and men, both as children and adults. Two of these arrested in this case WERE women, only three men raped the child. But women are also officially very much second (or even third) class citizens in countries with Shari’a law. In the United States, this sort of thing is almost always the action of some (obviously deranged) individual, but this is just one of several examples of gang rapes this year in Islamic nations which have been prominent in the news.
Politics 2013
Billboard advocating jury nullification concerns local prosecutors
(Washington Post) The illuminated billboard in the Judiciary Square Metro station near the F Street entrance was strategically placed. Prospective jurors who take the subway to D.C. Superior Court and exit near the National Building Museum see these words: “Good jurors nullify bad laws” and “You have the right to ‘hang’ the jury with your vote if you cannot agree with other jurors.” Since the billboard went up this month, District prosecutors have been worried that the message could sway their cases. In the past week alone, they have asked judges in three cases to ensure that jurors had neither seen nor been influenced by the billboard.
Nathan: This is part of a three-city campaign, and indeed, “the hit dog barks.” Public knowledge CAN have a big impact, if done right and consistently.
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About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.