The Frugal Libertarian

Who knew that doodling on a desk at school was a crime worthy of handcuffs and arrest.  This is just another reason I will do everything in my power to make sure my children never set foot in a government school.

Minimum wage laws are supposedly meant to help the poor, but the reality is that it prices young low-skilled workers out of the job market.  Basically, employers cut jobs because the wage the government is forcing them to pay is worth more than the labor the employees could provide.   People would probably cut back on how much milk they drank if the government made us pay $10.00 a gallon.  It is the same for labor.  So, I was not surprised by this article saying that unemployment among young workers has increased dramatically since 2007.

According to the Pakistani government, the drone attacks that our “peace” President has been ordering have killed 700 civilians and only 5 accused terrorist.   Read about it here and here.  Still think they hate us because of our freedom?

The tallest man-made structure ever built opened this week in Dubai. The Burj Khalifa Tower stands at a little over 2,700 feet.  This opening comes at a time when Dubai is in the midst of a serious financial crisis.  So should the construction of the tower have clued us into the coming financial collapse?  Probably, according to the Skyscraper Index created by economist Andrew Lawrence.  A paper by Mark Thronton, Skyscrapers and Business Cycle, takes an in depth look at the Skyscraper Index.  It is long but worth a good skimming.   Basically, the paper explains that the Skyscraper Index “shows a correlation between the construction of the world’s tallest building and the business cycle.”  We often see a construction boom before a financial bust, but how accurate is the Skyscraper Index?  According to Thornton, accurate enough that we should probably pay attention the next time construction starts on one of these super-skyscrapers.

The Austrian Business Cycle theory argues that artificially low interest rates, set by central banks, lead to malinvestment of capital.  Businesses will start to favor long term capital projects.  What better example of a long term capital project than a big ass skyscraper.

I am not surprised by the results of a CBS investigation that concluded that H1N1 flu cases may be overestimated.  Apparently, most people that are diagnosed with the H1N1 are not tested.  The CDC decided at the end of July that it was no longer necessary.   I doubt they did so to save resources since that never seems to be a government agency’s priority.  I think it was a purposeful move so that they could continue to fuel the hysteria even if the H1N1 flu was not as bad as they had claimed it would be.  They would hate to be stuck with all those H1N1 vaccines if the bug fizzled out.

I think the majority of people that have “flu-like” symptoms and are therefore told they have H1N1 really only have a nasty cold.  The handful of people that I know that have been told they have H1N1 or that their children have it were sick for a couple days.  The flu, the real flu, last up to two weeks, the fever usually lasting 5 days.  The last time I had the flu (the only time) I was in bed sick for 4 days and felt like crap for about 10.

What I am concerned about is the possibility that H1N1 is actually more deadly than we are being told.  If fewer people really have it than they are saying than the percentage of people that get infected and die would really be higher than is now being reported.  I need to know the real risk of becoming severely sick before I can weigh the risks/benefits of a vaccine that was rushed to the market

I doubt we will ever really know what the real numbers look like.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Conscience of a Capitalist- interview with John Mackey CEO of Whole Foods.

The Unemployment Racket- I have posted before about why government unemployment benefits are a bad idea, but Laurence Vance goes into more details here.

Criminalizing Everyone- another example of out of control Federal prosecutors.

Here are two articles that made me say “What the fuck is this world coming to”.

State to mom: Stop babysitting neighbors’ kids.

Kids can’t walk or bike to school.

I often hear people ask “what freedoms have we lost” whenever they are supporting the government. My answer is always that I would rather list the freedoms will still actually have, because that is a shorter list, but the above articles are two great examples of the state over stepping their boundaries and trampling individual liberty.

Anyone who is still under the delusion that we are not living in a police state should watch this video.  The voice in the background telling people to disperse is very creepy.  Watch at about 3min as bystanders get maced.

Okay, maybe it is rude to interrupt someone while they are giving a speech, but it is more rude to lie to the American people and then steal more of their money to pay for the program you lied about, so I thought it was awesome when Rep. Joe Wilson heckled Obama during his healthcare speech. Anything that undermines the president (or any government official) is a plus in my book. What was not awesome was his immediate apology. What a pussy! It would have been the perfect time to put a nail in the coffin of Obama’s horrible healthcare plan.   Rep. Wilson should have presented a draft of a bill that clearly stated that illegal immigrants would get coverage. This would have completely undermined the president and his plans, but we got an apology instead. Decorum over truth I guess.