The following examples of insanity are from the latest edition of Reason magazine:
- Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that the billions of taxpayer money used in the bank bailout program, TARP, to rescue AIG will result in a measly loss to the country of only $5 billion. However, the inspector general in charge of keeping the books straight on the entire bank bailout effort, asserts in an October, 2010 report that this number is bogus under conventional accounting standards. Originally, the expected taxpayer loss to AIG was about $45 billion, or about $400 for every household in America. How does the Treasury Department get from $45 billion to a measly $5 billion? According to the inspector, the Department "abandoned the published methodology and failed to disclose the change" in accounting to greatly reduce the AIG monetary damage, the lower number had nothing to do with a better than expected bailout. The inspector concluded that "the department's self reporting fails to meet basic transparency standards."
This is not the first time that the Obama adminstration had fudged the facts to make itself look better. An EPA research report from a senior scientist in the EPA that cast considerable doubt on the theory of global warming was prevented from being published lest it be in conflict with the administration's position on the topic. Last spring, the administration issued a report that seriously stretched the truth relative to scientists' beliefs on the impact of the BP oil spill. Once is an accident but three times is a trend when it comes to lying about reality and suppressing the truth.
- A study by Great Britain's Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs published a paper in the November, 2010 issue of The Lancelot, a premier medical research publication. The paper reported on an analysis that was done which compared the societal harm of 20 drugs along 16 criteria. The criteria included a drug's lethality and the ecological costs of production and distribution.
Surprisingly, alcohol was ranked as the most harmful drug to society, attaining a score of 72 on a scale of 100. Heroin was a distant second at 55. Conversely, LSD and several other illegal drugs had single digit scores out of 100, basically having no negative impact on society. If you buy into any of these detailed findings and analysis, you reach the insane conclusion that the drug with the highest negative impact to society is also the only one that is legal while other drugs that have a much lower negative impact on society are illegal. Makes no sense.
It is this kind of silliness and nonsense that makes Step 26 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" so important. We have been fighting and losing the war on drugs for over four decades, possibly because of the above strategy where the most harmful drug to society is the only legal drug while the illegal drugs are significantly less harmful to society. We may have the whole illegal drug strategy backwards. Step 26 provides a process for a ground up view of what to do in this area that finally makes sense from a reality perspective, not a political class perspective.
To make this situation all the more insane, the founder of the Independent Scientific Committee On Drugs, David Nutt, was forced out of his job for suggesting legal changes in Great Britain's drug laws, changes based on his research findings. Guess the Committee was not that independent after all.
- The World Wildlife Fund wants Congress to establish a national registry for pet tigers in the United States. Regardless of why the Fund wants this registry established, why would the government get involved? Where would tiger registry fit on a rank ordered list of the top 100 concerns of American families? There are less than 10,000 privately owned tigers in the country, there is no evidence of illegal use of tiger parts are going on within the country, and only 14 people have been killed in the country since 1990 by tigers, the majority of which were tiger handlers. In other words, there is no reason for involving Congress in such a task when they cannot even handle the more important tasks of illegal immigration, failing public schools, etc. It is these types of trivial jobs and responsibilities that need to be stripped out of government to get it focused on only the important issues.
- A recent analysis by the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism indicates a strong correlation between the number of suicide bombers incidents in a country and the presence of foreign troops. According to the analysis and a new book by Robert Pape and James Feldman, "When you put the foreign military presence in, it triggers suicide terrorism campaigns...When the foreign forces leave, it takes away almost 100% of the terrorist campaign."
The analysis found that 87% of suicide attacks since 2004 were done by locals, not some international terrorist organization. Interesting findings. Makes you wonder whether invasions such as Iraq and Afghanistan have the perverse impact of increasing violence rather than bringing peace. Something for future politicians to consider before going gung ho on a foreign country and its people.
- In Oregon, Kami Charais' four year old and six year old daughters were recently ordered to stop selling pumpkins from their road side stand by the Idaho State Tax Commission since the two kids did not have a state sales tax permit to sell anything. Too bad, their pumpkin sales may have been able to balance the state government budget. What a waste of government and taxpayer resources, patrolling and cracking down on kids pumpkin stands. Very similar to a recent Oregon incident where the state government cracked down on an eight year girl selling lemonade from a stand on her front lawn.
If this is what state tax dollars are being used for then maybe it is really time to reconsider government's role in our lives. Maybe it should not include crackdowns on lemonade and pumpkin stands run by grammar school kids and the resulting savings in taxpayer funds should be returned to the taxpayers.
- Andrew Buck, principal at Brooklyn's Middle School For Art and Philosophy, recently sent an email message to teachers where he suggested that textbooks are not necessary for learning, that the textbooks had put him to sleep when he was in school, and that some of the school's kids could not read them anyway so why have them. Additionally, the email was rife with misspellings, incorrect grammar and incorrect punctuation. Is it any wonder why our kids are not getting quality educations if those responsible for providing that education are uneducated and ignorant themselves?
The following bits of insanity come from recent issues of The Week magazine:
- According to leaked diplomat documents released by Wikileaks, the North Korean government had approached the United States about arranging a concert starring Eric Clapton in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to build good will between nations. Forget about the U.S. Sixth Fleet, we just need a little "Layla" to solve the Korean crisis.
- According to recent research, if Americans reduced their daily salt intake by three grams or half a teaspoon, there would be 99,000 fewer heart attacks in America each year, a 13% percent reduction. Strokes would decrease by 8% and heart disease would decrease by 11%. If this research is true, and I would tend to believe a good research report over the political class any day of the week, then would it have not been easier to reduce health care costs in this country by eating a tad less salt than passing a 2,500 page piece of legislation that has absolutely no chance of being successful?
If we took these findings a step further and reduced the number of Americans who smoked, who ate too much, and got more Americans exercising, would not that not be a better, simpler, and more economical approach than the atrocity that is Obama Care?
- Want more proof that escalating health care costs in the country are a public health problem and not a political class/legislative problem? Other research found that ever hour of television viewing beyond average that a toddler watches makes them less engaged in class, worse at math, and more likely to be bullied by the fourth grade...and led to higher ratios of body fat because they snacked more and exercised less. Turn off the television, snuff out the cigarettes, eat a tad less salt, and get out and exercise and the drop off in health care costs would be startling without government intervention.
Just a few tidbits of insanity to make you laugh, cry, and wonder how government and politician priorities got so screwed up in this country.
Our recent book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment.org
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