Links for May 31, 2011

YouTube | Junk Silver Coins are being used in Grocery Stores: George4title

A glimpse into our future?

Freedom Watch | First Libertarian President in American History?

I’d like to follow the Gary Johnson campaign.

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Links for May 16: Old, old stuff.

Fox 29 Investigates: Dental Controversy

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Part 1 of FoxNews’s investigative report. Note the absence of any allegation of physical harm to any patient. As far as I can tell, Jeff Cole is teaming up with the government to limit competition and consumer choice.

Fox 29 Investigates: Dentist Controversy

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Part 2 of investigative report. Still no particular allegations of harm, but Jeff Cole acknowledges criticism of the investigation. These news agencies do care what their viewers think. It’s a matter of letting them know.

Links for October 25, 2010: Interview with Marakay Rogers, Libertarian Candidate for Pennsylvania Governor; More “Quantitative Easing” to Come; others….

Marakay Rogers (OurCampaigns.com)

1. Campaign For Liberty — An Interview With PA Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate Marakay Rogers

   Not a great interview; It sticks mainly to some few libertarian talking points, but you won’t hear from her during the gubernatorial debate tonight.

2. BBC News – Q&A: Quantitative easing

   The BBC explains “quantitative easing”.

3. Reuters | Fed’s Lockhart: Quantitative easing must be big

   For those who aren’t in the know, “quantitative easing” is doublespeak for printing money.

Links for Monday, March 29, 2010: Reason.tv >> Certificates of Need Stifle Health Care Competition, Fish Pedicures Banned, others….

1. reason.tv | New Hampshire Nannies

   It’s for your own good.

2. reason.tv | Nick Gillespie Discusses Pet vs. Human Hospitals on Stossel

   Thirty-six state governments require a “certificate of need” before a new hospital may be built in a given area, thereby directly inhibiting the growth of the supply of medical services and increasing the cost of medical care. Where’s the outrage? Next week: Certificate of Need Pro/Con.

Links for March 17, 2010: Judge Jim Gray On What’s Wrong With Drug Prohibition; Will Weaking the Dollar Help the Economy?; others….

1. Reason.tv | Judge Jim Gray on The Six Groups That Benefit From Drug Prohibition

   The essential arguments against drug prohibition in under nine minutes.

2. Mother Jones | China's Empty Threat

   "If they started dumping their U.S. assets, China would lose money on the deal and the dollar would fall in value, which would help correct our trade deficit. What's not to like?"

   At some point, you gotta smell a rat.

Links for 2010-02-19: ACLJ on Free Speech and Teachers’ Mailboxes, a Poor Critique of Austrian Economics, others….

1. ACLJ | Content based discrimination Vodpod videos no longer available.

   A careless misstatement of First Amendment law from the ACLJ. Perry Educ. Ass’n v. Perry Educators’ Ass’n, 460 U.S. 37 (1983), ruled specifically that teachers mailboxes are not public fora for speech. The school may allow certain people to use the mailboxes for limited speech purposes and exclude others. The question is whether the caller’s religious message falls within the limited purpose intended by the school. Jay won in Lamb’s Chapel only because the Court held the Church’s message in that case fell within the school’s limited purpose for opening the forum.  A similar case out of the 9th Circuit: Edward Diloreto v. Downey Unified School District Board of Education, 196 F.3d 958 (9th Cir. 1999), in which the fence around a school’s baseball field was held not to be a public forum open to all advertisers, The school did not violate the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights by rejecting an ad displaying the 10 Commandments. This is settled law.

   Update: Time to correct my own misstatement. It is true that the school may not discriminate against the church simply because it is a church. It may, however, discriminate against the church’s message if that message is not within the limited purpose for which the forum was opened. The church is not entitled to put whatever it wants in the mailboxes merely because the school allows other groups to use the mailboxes.

2. YouTube | A Critique of the Austrian School of Economics

   
   The critic misstates why Austrians do not rely on facts and experimentation.

links for 2010-02-13

1. Aggressive Progressive | To win on jobs, we need to move beyond congress: progressive strategy on jobs part 2

   The second installment of an earlier linked series of articles.

2. World Socialist Party (US) | Inflation of Logic

   From 2008. “If our rulers are to be believed, high wages cause inflation.” — I’ve never once heard anyone ever say that high wages cause inflation. Maybe I’m not paying enough attention. The capitalist explanation for inflation is that it is simply an increase in the money supply. The article includes a link to the Marxian theory of inflation. His explanation is quite a bit longer than mine. Will comment later.

3. World Socialist Party (US) | The “logic” of Capitalism!

   I was hoping for some sort of explanation into possible logical fallacies in capitalist theory. No such luck. All I got was this interesting little bit of irony.