So maybe the Fed did it to save itself too

Meaning, what if the reason the Fed covered up what banks among those “too big to fail” banks were getting money, was to cover their own behinds? They said they feared a rush on the banks that got the money from them if they told who they were. Ha. Then banks everywhere would be more hesitant to do the bidding of the Fed..

Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion – Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html

“When you see the dollars the banks got, it’s hard to make the case these were successful institutions,” says Sherrod Brown, a Democratic Senator from Ohio who in 2010 introduced an unsuccessful bill to limit bank size. “This is an issue that can unite the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. There are lawmakers in both parties who would change their votes now.”

And we have Ron Paul to thank for getting that information..

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29 November, 2011 03:20

Gingrich just said he wants to let teenagers work and that the child labor laws are bad for kids. He may have something there… He wants to attract attention and play the conservative, but then he’s a johnny-come-lately in the Audit-the-Fed conversation, and still supports the militarism that is draining the country’s resources along with the entitlement programs.. and the interest on the debt…

I once had a newpaper stand, a newspaper route, worked for a grocer, worked for a pharmacy, through high school, plus made potholders and sold them door to door when I was a lot smaller than that. (Neighborhoods were safer then). Kept the proceeds.

Child labor laws and school truancy laws, along with minimum wage laws, only have a warping effect of keeping the supply of labor artificially high. Stories about abuses make us think that’s the only side to the picture blah blah and there of course human nature being what it is, there are going to be abuses among the millions and billions of humans on the earth.

But sometimes the cure is an abuse you don’t feel because you can’t perceive the difference. Here’s one guy who in earlier and tougher times, a child of 12 had to work to support the family when his father died. Giving such families payouts does not help matters, as we can see with the way the “Great Society” has crashed…

When Samuel was 12, his father died of pneumonia, and at 13, Samuel left school to become a printer’s apprentice. After two short years, he joined his brother Orion’s newspaper as a printer and editorial assistant. It was here that young Samuel found he enjoyed writing.

At 17, he left Hannibal behind for a printer’s job in St. Louis. While in St. Louis, Clemens became a river pilot’s apprentice. He became a licensed river pilot in 1858. Clemens’ pseudonym, Mark Twain, comes from his days as a river pilot. It is a river term which means two fathoms or 12-feet when the depth of water for a boat is being sounded. “Mark Twain” means that is safe to navigate.

Maybe Gingrich has been getting some education from the “Austrians”.

The Trouble with Child Labor Laws:
http://mises.org/daily/2858
You might be surprised to know that the laws against “child labor” do not date from the 18th century. Indeed, the national law against child labor didn’t pass until the Great Depression — in 1938, with the Fair Labor Standards Act. It was the same law that gave us a minimum wage and defined what constitutes full-time and part-time work. It was a handy way to raise wages and lower the unemployment rate: simply define whole sectors of the potential workforce as unemployable.

By the time this legislation passed, however, it was mostly a symbol, a classic case of Washington chasing a trend in order to take credit for it. Youth labor was expected in the 17th and 18th centuries — even welcome, since remunerative work opportunities were newly present. But as prosperity grew with the advance of commerce, more kids left the workforce. By 1930, only 6.4 percent of kids between the ages of 10 and 15 were actually employed, and 3 out of 4 of those were in agriculture.

You missed one, Freaknomics: Why Enviros Go After Coal and Not Cows

Although I’m not surprised.

The Freakonomics guys like to think that they think outside the box, but in the original book I read they don’t on some things. They did a chapter on gun control (they seem to favor it) but their criticisms of John Lott were flaccid. By the way, it still boggles my mind that control freaks can’t wrap their minds around the fact that good decent citizens have a better chance at preventing and reducing crime and stopping bad guys with a weapon in their hand (ask any Marine), and they don’t shoot at their wives when they’re angry either. Just because a liberal thinks they can’t control themselves doesn’t mean the rest of us are like that.

But give the Freakos credit here for observing something new (to me anyway). Yes, we’ve pretty much all heard that cows belch like a zillion tons of methane into the air –that’s a “greenhouse gas” so-called.

But they expose professional environmentalists with this one:

Freakonomics » Agnostic Carnivores and Global Warming: Why Enviros Go After Coal and Not Cows
http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/11/16/agnostic-carnivores-and-global-warming-why-enviros-go-after-coal-and-not-cows/

They are baffled because the studies they quote say that if mankind were to become vegan and give up eating meat, man’s contribution to “greenhouse gases” would be reduced, oh, somewhere like ten times more than shutting down coal-fired plants and the rest.

So he asks why they’re going after a pipeline down the middle of the country instead of getting everybody to stop eating meat. He does hit on what is probably the major immediate reason, that going after meat would be going after most people’s individual choices, while going after smokestacks is not so personal.

What do you know, that’s exactly why the EPA didn’t just up and say “carbon dioxide” is a pollutant. That would have made humankind itself a major danger to the environment along with every single animal on the planet, every insect, every worm and octopus, and every summer backyard barbecue. No can do.

But there’s more, in my opinion. If they really truly thought it were a disastrous situation, they would go after the animals. This is a clue.

The main thrust of environmentalism, I have said for a long time, is that they are just going after ways to get us into the habit of letting their pet political-class approved hand-picked “scientists” to tell us to obey the politicians, without letting it look like an order.

Hey freakos, here’s one: Tell the enviros if they’re really truly serious then support the real alternatives like the ones funded by Eugene Mallove’s http://www.infinite-energy.com/ and http://www.infinite-energy.com/resources/youtube.html. The “science” [sic] establishment has a billion-dollar gravy train with hot fusion, but this one is an up-and-comer and has shown promise and is making believers out of a growing number of real sceintists around the world.

I’ve just read a couple of criticisms against Levitt on the subject and they leave out a bunch. Over 300 studies already show that an increase in CO2 spurs dramatic growth increases in plants. CO2 does so well at it that they are lots of machines on the market -“CO2 generators”– that make sure your indoor plants or hydroponic beds get plenty of it.

Honduran Teen Invents Cheap, Simple Eye-Tracking Device For Disabled

Open source programmed, uses a simple sensor that can attach to a simple pair of glasses or sunglasses, he built it himself while doing his senior year of high school, got accolades in fairs for it, and he’s selling it to support his way through college:

Honduran Teen Invents Cheap, Simple Eye-Tracking Device For Disabled:
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2011-11/honduran-teen-invents-cheap-simple-eye-tracking-device-disabled

At gizmag.com:
http://www.gizmag.com/luis-cruz-eyeboard-eye-tracking-computer-interface/20500/

You can invest here:
The Eyeboard – Low cost eye tracking system by Luis Cruz — Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lcruz/the-eyeboard

I think this is the Do-It-Yourself kit for just $99.00:
http://www.intelsath.com/

American Founders Explain the Trouble With Democracy

WallBuilders – Issues and Articles – Republic v. Democracy:
http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=111

[D]emocracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.2 James Madison

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.3 John Adams

A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction. These will produce an eruption and carry desolation in their way.4 The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness [excessive license] which the ambitious call, and ignorant believe to be liberty.5 Fisher Ames, Author of the House Language for the First Amendment

We have seen the tumult of democracy terminate . . . as [it has] everywhere terminated, in despotism. . . . Democracy! savage and wild. Thou who wouldst bring down the virtuous and wise to thy level of folly and guilt.6 Gouverneur Morris, Signer and Penman of the Constitution

[T]he experience of all former ages had shown that of all human governments, democracy was the most unstable, fluctuating and short-lived.7 John Quincy Adams

A simple democracy . . . is one of the greatest of evils.8 Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration

In democracy . . . there are commonly tumults and disorders. . . . Therefore a pure democracy is generally a very bad government. It is often the most tyrannical government on earth.9 Noah Webster

Pure democracy cannot subsist long nor be carried far into the departments of state, it is very subject to caprice and the madness of popular rage.10 John Witherspoon, Signer of the Declaration

It may generally be remarked that the more a government resembles a pure democracy the more they abound with disorder and confusion.11 Zephaniah Swift, Author of America’s First Legal Text

STUPID IN AMERICA (Sunday on FNC at 9pm EST) – Stossel’s Take Blog – Fox Business

http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2011/11/06/stupid-america-sunday-fnc-9pm-est

School spending has gone through the roof and test scores are flat.

While most every other service in life has gotten faster, better, and cheaper, one of the most important things we buy — education — has remained completely stagnant, unchanged since we started measuring it in 1970.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2011/11/06/stupid-america-sunday-fnc-9pm-est#ixzz1el5ejKoo

The free-market secret of the Arab revolutions

The Financial Times hides its content behind a pay wall, more power to them, but here’s a free morsel I found:

http://ild.org.pe/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=351%3Athe-free-market-secret-of-the-arab-revolutions&catid=59%3A2011&Itemid=484&lang=en

November 8, 2011 | By Hernando de Soto A few weeks ago I met Salem, the younger brother of the brave Tunisian fruit vendor whose self-immolation triggered the Arab uprising. When I asked him what his brother in heaven would say if we asked what he hoped his sacrifice would bring to the Arab World, Salem did not hesitate: “That the poor also have the right to buy and sell.”

It is worth remembering these words as experts busily debate the challenges for the future of the Arab revolution as countries balance the quest for democracy, fidelity to Islam, with secularism and tribal power.

To read the complete article, please visit the Financial Times

These are public “servants”?

BBC News – Public sector strike could see Heathrow ‘grind to halt’: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15884527

How about private security?

Now let’s see if they go after the education monopoly

This latest decision doesn’t exactly convince me about these regulators caring about us.

Give thanks to US regulators for blocking AT&T | Business blog | Business, finance, media and technology views from the Financial Times – FT.com:
http://blogs.ft.com/businessblog/2011/11/give-thanks-to-us-regulators-for-blocking-att/#axzz1eM2dAa8z

What about the government monopoly control over the health care industry now? The Mafia never had it so good.

Bipartisan doubletalk on military spending: When is an increase a “devastating” cut?

Crying wolf over military spending “cuts” – Stossel’s Take Blog – Fox BusinessL
http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2011/11/21/crying-wolf-over-military-spending-cuts

A snip:

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently said that the cuts would be “devastating.”

This is all ridiculous. Because as Senator Rand Paul told CNN yesterday, these are not real cuts. They are cuts in planned increases in spending.

Paul: “This may surprise some people, but there will be no cuts in military spending because we’re only cutting proposed increases. If we do nothing, military spending goes up 23% over 10 years. If we [make this cut], it will still go up 16%.”

Only in Washington is a 16% increase considered a “devastating” cut.

Unfortunately, this is how politicians always talk about spending. It’s why the entire deficit reduction compromise (including military “cuts”) that Republicans and Democrats reached after months of name-calling this summer ultimately boils down to this:

Projected government spending over the next 10 years

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2011/11/21/crying-wolf-over-military-spending-cuts#ixzz1ekT5sAWU

Thanks for the clarification, Mr. Stossel..