Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Fox News Sucks
If you want a 'conservative' viewpoint on the news everybody knows Fox News is the place to go and if you prefer a more liberal news room you can watch MSNBC and CNN (dubbed PMSnbc and the Communist News Network by political pundit Michael Savage). Naturally, liberal thinkers don't tend to fancy Fox News and favor alternate news sources. In his post today, Scout Finch brought to the attention of his readers that apparently conservatives now hate Fox News as much as liberals do. Recently Fox News denied Ron Paul the opportunity to appear in their candidate forum, and because of this the conservative supporters of Ron Paul were very upset. Outside some political rally there was a mob of people waving Ron Paul signs and repeatedly chanting "Fox News Sucks!" Right after their little parade started who shows up but none other than Republican cheerleader Sean Hannity. The mob chases down Mr. Hannity continuing their chant and sometimes one witty member of the rowdy throng yells "Sean, you suck!" If you click on the link at the top of the article, you can watch the video of the protesters, which I encourage you to do so.
To say the least these conservatives were acting in a very immature and pathetic manner. Finch (the blogger) thinks the whole situation is quite humorous. He certainly is not a fan of Mr. Hannity's radio show and thinks that it's funny that Hannity must deal with a group of conservatives that do not like him or the Fox News program. I would argue that most people who liked and regularly viewed Fox News before Fox refused Ron Paul the same treatment as the other Republican nominees will continue to like and watch Fox News after what happened. The only people who are upset about this are those who wish to vote for Ron Paul and among those people, an even smaller group who watch Fox News. The people shown in the video certainly showed their level of astuteness in their choice of words and actions.
Monday, January 7, 2008
The FED is to blame for the rising oil prices.
Oil and the Dollar, The Wall Street Journal Friday, January 4, 2008 A10
Over the past six years the price of oil has risen considerably, now up near $100 per barrel. There are various reasons for the rise in the price of oil including the growing economies of India and China causing a higher demand for oil in these countries. Supply and demand have indeed played a prominent role in the rising oil price, but this article argues that the main reason for the absurd price of oil is the failing U.S. dollar. "If the dollar had remained as 'good as gold' since 2001, oil today would be selling at about $30 a barrel and not $99." Also if the U.S. dollar had remained as strong as the euro throughout the past decade, the price of oil would be around $57 per barrel and not $100. The author of the article blames the poor fiscal policies of the FED for the feeble U.S. dollar.
I thought this was a very interesting article concerning the price of oil. It suggests that the problem of exorbitant gas prices lies in the policies of the FED rather than the profit hungry oil companies whom people are so quick to point fingers at.
The article this post is about is found in the hard copy Wall Street Journal, and thus I cannot provide a link to the entire article.
An economist arguing the opposite side of this debate can be found on this link. Click Here.
Over the past six years the price of oil has risen considerably, now up near $100 per barrel. There are various reasons for the rise in the price of oil including the growing economies of India and China causing a higher demand for oil in these countries. Supply and demand have indeed played a prominent role in the rising oil price, but this article argues that the main reason for the absurd price of oil is the failing U.S. dollar. "If the dollar had remained as 'good as gold' since 2001, oil today would be selling at about $30 a barrel and not $99." Also if the U.S. dollar had remained as strong as the euro throughout the past decade, the price of oil would be around $57 per barrel and not $100. The author of the article blames the poor fiscal policies of the FED for the feeble U.S. dollar.
I thought this was a very interesting article concerning the price of oil. It suggests that the problem of exorbitant gas prices lies in the policies of the FED rather than the profit hungry oil companies whom people are so quick to point fingers at.
The article this post is about is found in the hard copy Wall Street Journal, and thus I cannot provide a link to the entire article.
An economist arguing the opposite side of this debate can be found on this link. Click Here.
White Flight
White Flight is a Racist Notion by Patrick Krey
In this blog entry Krey argues that "white flight," a term that refers to white families moving out of the city to the suburbs, is a racist term and should not be used. He says that it is natural for any person who wishes to raise a family to move away from poverty and crime. -If I was raising a family I would want to move them out of the city to where there was less crime and pollution so as to raise them in a safer atmosphere.- Krey says "The notion of “white flight” says that a community cannot prosper without racist white people living there. I think that is extremely racist!" Krey says that to fix the problem of poverty caused by the weak economy, the government should eliminate the barriers in business, lower taxes, and cut spending. Krey finishes with, "Using the term “white flight” might make you feel superior to the supposedly “evil” middle class but, in reality, it is racist and demeaning to non-whites." I encourage you to read Krey's entire entry by clicking the link above.
I would agree with Krey on what he says in most aspects. Living in the city, for the most part, is dangerous. Anybody has the right to move where ever they please no matter what their skin color is. Attempting to blame white people for the problems related to inner-city schools and inner-city living in general is nonsense. Although I do agree that cutting taxes and spending is a good thing, I don't know if I agree that it would solve the problems of poverty in cities. Reversing urban decay is a difficult task, something that might not be fixed by cutting taxes... although I can't think of a situation where it would cause the problem to get worse. Over the long haul cutting taxes would probably help the situation, but probably not initially.
In this blog entry Krey argues that "white flight," a term that refers to white families moving out of the city to the suburbs, is a racist term and should not be used. He says that it is natural for any person who wishes to raise a family to move away from poverty and crime. -If I was raising a family I would want to move them out of the city to where there was less crime and pollution so as to raise them in a safer atmosphere.- Krey says "The notion of “white flight” says that a community cannot prosper without racist white people living there. I think that is extremely racist!" Krey says that to fix the problem of poverty caused by the weak economy, the government should eliminate the barriers in business, lower taxes, and cut spending. Krey finishes with, "Using the term “white flight” might make you feel superior to the supposedly “evil” middle class but, in reality, it is racist and demeaning to non-whites." I encourage you to read Krey's entire entry by clicking the link above.
I would agree with Krey on what he says in most aspects. Living in the city, for the most part, is dangerous. Anybody has the right to move where ever they please no matter what their skin color is. Attempting to blame white people for the problems related to inner-city schools and inner-city living in general is nonsense. Although I do agree that cutting taxes and spending is a good thing, I don't know if I agree that it would solve the problems of poverty in cities. Reversing urban decay is a difficult task, something that might not be fixed by cutting taxes... although I can't think of a situation where it would cause the problem to get worse. Over the long haul cutting taxes would probably help the situation, but probably not initially.
Blog Blogs
http://blog.freeny.org/
Link to "Free New York Blog" a libertarian minded blog.
http://www.dailykos.com/user/Devilstower/diary
Link to Devilstower section of the Daily Kos, a liberal minded blog.
I am planning on reading and discussing the opinions and comments of these two blog writers. Both The Daily Kos and Free New York blogs are a conglomeration of a few different individual bloggers, so to keep it simpler I have chosen to read the sub-blogs of Devilstower (Daily Kos) and Patrick Krey (Free New York). If one of these bloggers doesn't write on a specific day, then I may reflect on the ideas of another author on their site, since other authors on the same site will share similar political views.
Link to "Free New York Blog" a libertarian minded blog.
http://www.dailykos.com/user/Devilstower/diary
Link to Devilstower section of the Daily Kos, a liberal minded blog.
I am planning on reading and discussing the opinions and comments of these two blog writers. Both The Daily Kos and Free New York blogs are a conglomeration of a few different individual bloggers, so to keep it simpler I have chosen to read the sub-blogs of Devilstower (Daily Kos) and Patrick Krey (Free New York). If one of these bloggers doesn't write on a specific day, then I may reflect on the ideas of another author on their site, since other authors on the same site will share similar political views.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Losing Weight is a Good Thing
This Year I Will Lose Weight by Devilstower on Daily Kos
Devilstower has come out with a new year's resolution to lose weight, much the same as many other people in the United States. But Devilstower (I can't tell for sure yet, but I think its a woman) is not talking about weight as in being too fat, she's talking about reducing her carbon footprint. She wants to stop using her car as much and walk places more often. She plans on getting rid of her extra clothes and giving them to poor people. She's going to live a simpler life and attempt to eliminate all of her excess junk.
To illustrate a life that she believes should be emulated, Devilstower tells the story of a co-worker and friend of hers. This woman left the her job and traveled the world in the simplest manner that she could. She wanted to find out what the lives of women were like around the world. She reduced her possessions to what could fit into a backpack and moved to Haiti. She lived with families for weeks at a time anywhere from Haiti, to Moscow, to Zimbabwe. She stayed in Zimbabwe long enough to become a citizen, adopt an AIDS stricken child, and flee the country. Currently she resides in St. Louis with her child.
This is what Devilstower wrote about for January 6, 2008. Reducing the amount of energy you use is an honorable thing to do. In regards to her resolution to reduce her carbon footprint, I commend her, but I think in the end what she personally does will probably have little effect on the world. If it makes her feel good that she's causing less wasted energy, then that's great, but I do not believe that this is necessary for everybody to do. The amount of heat that is created by my computer being on all the time is not enough to make the world a worse place to live... and inversely turning off my computer is not going to make the world a better place to live. Worrying about my computer being on all day seems laughable when you think about all the other stuff out there causing pollution and heat.
The whole story about her friend that went around the world didn't really seem relevant to the point she was trying to make. The story would have fit better had her friend's travel purpose been more related to to cutting carbon emissions rather than to find out what women are like in other cultures.
Devilstower has come out with a new year's resolution to lose weight, much the same as many other people in the United States. But Devilstower (I can't tell for sure yet, but I think its a woman) is not talking about weight as in being too fat, she's talking about reducing her carbon footprint. She wants to stop using her car as much and walk places more often. She plans on getting rid of her extra clothes and giving them to poor people. She's going to live a simpler life and attempt to eliminate all of her excess junk.
To illustrate a life that she believes should be emulated, Devilstower tells the story of a co-worker and friend of hers. This woman left the her job and traveled the world in the simplest manner that she could. She wanted to find out what the lives of women were like around the world. She reduced her possessions to what could fit into a backpack and moved to Haiti. She lived with families for weeks at a time anywhere from Haiti, to Moscow, to Zimbabwe. She stayed in Zimbabwe long enough to become a citizen, adopt an AIDS stricken child, and flee the country. Currently she resides in St. Louis with her child.
This is what Devilstower wrote about for January 6, 2008. Reducing the amount of energy you use is an honorable thing to do. In regards to her resolution to reduce her carbon footprint, I commend her, but I think in the end what she personally does will probably have little effect on the world. If it makes her feel good that she's causing less wasted energy, then that's great, but I do not believe that this is necessary for everybody to do. The amount of heat that is created by my computer being on all the time is not enough to make the world a worse place to live... and inversely turning off my computer is not going to make the world a better place to live. Worrying about my computer being on all day seems laughable when you think about all the other stuff out there causing pollution and heat.
The whole story about her friend that went around the world didn't really seem relevant to the point she was trying to make. The story would have fit better had her friend's travel purpose been more related to to cutting carbon emissions rather than to find out what women are like in other cultures.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)