Xmas in Detroit!

A great video representation of Detroit's socialist nightmare.



While wild bears have been spotted in SE Michigan, I believe Crowder is mistaken about bears being spotted within the city limits of Detroit. Otherwise this video rocks.

edit:
Not sure the embedded player is working. The original url is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hhJ_49leBw

Anyone surprised?

U-M researchers say politics guided bank bailout allocations

What the article does not point out is that these researchers are also government employees.

Pod-cast on intellectual property.

I would like to suggest the following link regarding intellectual property for our next Pod-cast.

Detroit unemployment

According to this article in the Detroit News, the unemployment rate is actually almost 50% once you factor in part-time workers, those who've given up looking, and those who have gone back to school because they can't find jobs.

Next Meeting - Thursday 12/17/09

Thursday December 17, 2009
5:30 to 8:00 pm

Panera Bread
28551 Schoolcraft Road
Livonia, Michigan

Discussing chapter 8 & 9 of Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson, the questions on the corresponding study guide, Modern Day Protectionism by Vedad Krehic, and Jack Spirko's Survival Podcast #327

Once again I picked the podcast unheard, but I have since given it a cursory listening. I have never listened to one of his "listener questions" show and am pleasantly surprised by this one. Spirko does a good job of making himself look reasonable and not a conspiracy theorist nutjob. None of the topics are discussed in great depth. That doesn't seem to be a drawback other than the 401k question which leaves some things unanswered in my mind. The podcast and topics discussed are below. Spirko's "housekeeping" runs long this episode, so you can skip the first 7 minutes before getting into the actual questions & answers.

Episode-327- Listener Questions for 12-01-09 [52:06m]:

• What is better a well and private septic or city water and sewer or both
• What do I think of Bob Chapman’s latest predictions
• Will the government ever try to go after 401K earnings by changing the rules
• Is buying land today buying “stolen land”
• Thoughts on using paint cans for food storage
• What to plant on remote land
• Are the prices at coinflation the “spot price”
• Setting a gun argument between a husband and wife, is there a cut and dry answer

Another side effect of government intervention

One function of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act was to limit interest rates that the lenders could charge. This apparently cut in to credit card company profits.
In response, they are increasing and introducing other fees, including an account inactivity fee.

Everyone who voted for the Act failed at learning Economics in One Lesson: "The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy..."

I wonder how long it will be before someone proposes a new bill to prevent credit card companies from charging these fees.

Mainstream media admits that health care bill is robbery

We've been saying this all along, but this is the first time I've seen mainstream media so blatantly admit that the health care bill is robbery:

"Affordable insurance key for young adults" - Medill News Service via Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON -- The young invincibles. That's what the insurance industry calls the 13.7 million Americans younger than 30 who don't have health insurance because, they firmly believe, they just don't need it.

In the debate over health care, lawmakers and the health care industry agree that persuading this demographic to jump into the insurance pool is important because they're healthy and don't need costly medical care. Their premiums would help subsidize older, less healthy people, thereby bringing down average costs. That's one of the reasons why the health care bills circulating in Congress would require most Americans to get health insurance.

But for young adults to make the leap, experts said, Congress needs to focus more on affordability.

Young adults are more likely than people in other age groups to work low-wage, entry-level jobs that don't offer health insurance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. As a result, Americans 19 to 29 have the highest uninsured rate in the United States.

This contradiction is sickening.
Paragraph 1: Healthy people generally don't need health insurance.
Paragraph 2: Therefore, they should pay for the unhealthy people.
Paragraph 3: But don't rob the healthy people TOO much-- just steal an "affordable" amount.