The Fall of The Wall. 20 Years of Liberty

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the day officials of the East German government opened borders for citizens to leave the impoverished communist country. The Berlin Wall, the largest symbol of communist tyranny was overcome that day, and would make the beginning of the end of communism in eastern europe, and the collapse of the soviet union. While to this day more work needs to be done to repair the decades of stagnation and poverty, time will work its magic, its only been 20 years but progress has been made for Europe at least.

I have found a few very nice reads on the subject.

Celebrate in Berlin with world leaders.

Read a little about Reagan’s role in this Time article.

Here is Doug Bandow via CATO, about why and what we celebrate. Also via CATO an Indian perspective about why the wall fell, in regards to freedom by Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar. I’ll add that CATO has a bunch of articles related to socialism and communism this week, do check them all out.

I’ll do my best to find some more articles, but for now please enjoy. Mark the day by taking advantage of those freedoms you enjoy.

Another post is in my head for Wednesday, can you guess what it will be about?

Wherever you are goodnight and good luck.

Quote of the day: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall. – Ronald Reagan

Looking Back: The Eagle Has Landed.

An occassion such as this deserves a post. Today, July 20th 2009 marks the 40th aniversary of apollo 11’s landing on the surface of the moon. Apollow built off of the Mercury and Gemini missions, of which explored the tech and skills needed to survive in orbit and in space.  After the tragic deaths of the apollo 1 crew, the remaining missions prepaired for the procedures needed to travel and land on the lunar surface. Apollo 8 and 10 both went to the moon without landing.

Our culture and future was forever changed the moment Armstrong stated

“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind”

That moment and the years that follow are a game changer. later it would be shown that the space race was no race at all, and exposed that the Soviet union was falling apart economically. The world was forever changed due to the advances made during the program.

So there you have it I could say alot more but I won’t. You should spend the time reading about it. NASA has audio photos and video up on their website, there’s always wikipedia. I’ll leave you all today with the words left there at the landing site 40 years ago today:

“Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”

Anticipated Games of 09.

I thought I’d do some light hearted fun for therapy from my previous endeavour.

Just want to point out some of the games I’m looking forward to this year. Now as with every form of entertainment there are always surprises. Films you have no clue about until they come out and they blow you away (the matrix, sixth sense) It’s pretty hard for games to do that, but not impossible, perhaps it’s a game that’s just under your own personal radar, or one you don’t have high expectations for, until either you try it out or your friends/ media types bug you until you do. Anyway.. Aside from those mystery titles here are a few I’m pawing after at the moment:

Ghostbusters:

I’m so pumped for this one. Written and voiced by the minds behind the films. Brilliant! This game looks better and more pretty each time I see it. Some game play was showed off around GDC this year and it looks great.  Most people don’t know this but there was a pretty good Ghostbusters game out already way back on the genesis. A side scrolling contra esq shooter, where you fought minions, wrangled ghosts, fought bosses, earned money and bought weapons. Everything from that game is back in this one. Mind you the last one was missing a character (Winston just like the other games left him out) and that game got pretty hard near the end. Anyway I’m digressing. This game has everyone in it, it looks great, it’s exactly what I’ve always wanted in a Ghostbusters, or movie licence game. Looks like it will be pretty hard to mess it up from this point, and I’ll be playing it even if it scores 3’s across the board.

Batman Arkham Asylum:

This looks great. It looks as if Rocksteady has put a lot of love into this game. They aren’t pigeon-holed into making a game based on an upcoming movie, and that allows them to be creative with the visual style, story, and game play elements.  They seem to be using their own take on the character, similar to a more modern style. This batman looks as if he kills, which is darker and grittier then we often see. The look of the game is gritty, twisted and dark.  They put their own spin on the characters, and the game play is trying things in concert that haven’t been done before. Playing the mind games with the AI in stealth mode looks great, and from what else I’ve read, the combat works very nicely. It seems this too, if all goes well, will pan out wonderfully, and I am super juiced for it.

The Beatles: Rock Band.   Do I need to say anything? Not much is known about the game, other then it will differ from standard Rock Band formula. I could speculate on and on about what I think is in it, or should be in it. For instance it would be nice to have 3 guitar tracks per song, keyboard/piano tracks, singing in harmony and every single song period.  When it comes down to it in the end, I’d be happy just to get a good quality sound and a natural feeling, fun note-track out from Apple and Harmonix respectively. There is no doubt it will turn out great with Harmonix track record, popularizing the genre with Guitar Hero, Breaking the mould with Rock band, and a near perfect history of fun and respectful note tracks. Rockband tracks just play better than Neversoft’s GH tracks.  Just about a month or 2 ago Harmonix and EA unveiled that the game would indeed be labelled with the Rock Band name. My guess was that Apple wanted to differentiate its product from everything else, but gave into pressure. It’s clear that the Rock Band name carries with it a lot of weight and will attract some business.  So yeah can’t wait to get my hands on that.

Update: Bioshock 2: Good interview here with Gamespot.

We don’t know too much about the new game , other then it takes place a few years later, and you play a big daddy.  Many people were worried when they heard a startup developer in Take Two was handling the game.  Then we found out however that 2k Marin is made up of ex 2kboston/Irrational developers, fresh of of Bioshock. Next I heard that the lead on the game was the creative design lead on the Fort Frolic stage from Bioshock, and that set my mind at ease. I can’t wait to play this, i’m sure so long as the story is engaging and they don’t go overboard with new features that Bioshock 2 will be another amazing creepy adventure.

On top of that, there is , Assassins’ Creed 2 and the halo 3 expansion Halo3con aka Halo: ODST.

There seems to be a theme developing. Every game I’m looking forward to (besides being on xbox360) is that it’s either a licence or a sequel.  I guess there is nothing wrong with being safe.  However I wouldn’t discredit any of them. The licensed stuff seems to being doing new and interesting things and the old stuff well that’s just a little more of what I already love.  It all comes back to those mystery games, for me. What games get added to my planed purchases?  My guess is a lot of unannounced stuff, with E3 a few months away, we will see some games that were under the radar and others that will be seen for the first time.  Thus is the life of the modern gamer, always a waiting game.   But if I can afford it, I still have a lot already to sink my teeth into. From games of yesteryear, to DLC and just stuff I haven’t completely milked or finished, I’ll be pretty busy this summer.

So I’m a Racist Now, Janeane?

Uggg It’s so hard being a libertarian sometimes. Depending on the issue I can be accused of being a baby-killing hippie who hates the troops and wants the terrorists to win, or a greedy flat-earther who is violently resistant to change.  I assure you I am none of those things. Guess what? Apparently you can add a few more things to that list.

Have a laugh at this.

I found the story on Hotair, and I haven’t been this angry with anyone in a while. Not only does she say the stupidest and most hateful things, but she says them without confrontation. Apparently only liberals are sane logical people, while everyone else has a brain disorder. It all makes sense now!  Your argument is completely won, seeing as because you are the only rational, logical people, you must be always right. If that wasn’t bad enough she has the audacity to say that anyone not supporting socialistic Obama government, those in favor of responsible fiscal policy for which the country was founded, are  RACIST.

No no no. we don’t have an opinion. We don’t care about taxes; we don’t care about pork, we don’t care about authoritarian government. It doesn’t matter the issue; even if Obama’s slices spending in half, catches Osama bin Laden and wins the world series with the Cubs all in one day, we would come out to rally against him because he is a BLACK man in the WHITE house! Forget the fact that the tea parties are just as against republican pork spending as well as the democratic congress and administration. Forget the fact that we are just as upset at the Bush spending as we are the bailouts and other bull.

She speaks about the brain as if she is an expert. probably citing some bullshit non peer-reviewed quak study.

Does Keith step in to say ‘wait a sec , is what your saying actually true, or is this just your opinion?’  Ugg why isn’t there someone from the other side of the argument there? Heck, I’d settle for a democrat, there are plenty of democrats on this side of the tax issue. Fiscal Conservative democrats or independents?  Can’t Keith get someone on his show to counter point this nut job? Not everyone that opposes crippling deficit spending or big government is a toothless gun toting, bible thumping republican.

I’m fed up with media on the left and the right, if its not Oberman being a retard, its Glen Beck being a moron. At least there are some voices of reason on tv.  Sure this is a little aside but I can’t wait for this democratization of media to kick itself up a notch.  At least @aplusk gets it, I was happy to hear him mention Kevin Rose and digg as an example on Oprah.(WHAAT? My mom told me and Kevin tweeted it!) The sooner we get real journalism on the web, the sooner I dont have to listen to quaks and alarmists and crazies just trying to push ratings.

EDIT: Dobbs on Garofalo (normaly not a fan of Dobbs) but he is dead on here. Thanks Chris.

EDIT2: Mark Levin :  on the subject

Alright well I’ve learned my lesson for the day, my brain doesn’t function properly and I’m a racist. now if you excuse me:

I gotsa lynch mob to attend, where’s my pointy hood?

PS  Janeane… you were the WORST actress in Mystery Men. Oh yeah, I went there.(I love that movie ) But YOU suck. Now I’m glad you know that you suck!

PPS: If you love me, digg this story and follow me @Mr_GRE3N

Bailouts and Bull:Public Pre-k, a Wall and the American Dream.

Previously on Sirius Thought.…

I am passing along John Stossel’s special “Bailouts and Bull“(full segments here , you might have to dig after a week), ran during the 20/20 block on ABC. For years John has been the only member of the mainstream media to tackle lousy government policy, expose porkulus spending, and support libertarian ideas, and promotes free market capitalism.  His weekly 10 minute segment on 20/20, “Gimmie a Break” is probably the best reporting on TV each week it airs.  It’s a miracle his bosses at ABC haven’t fired him years ago, but my guess is they value his dedication to real journalism, and he brings in quite a bit of viewership.  Every once in a while he will get his own hour-long special, which are always fun to watch.

Milton Friedman once said of John “Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety.”

Good enough for ya? lets continue..(and now the conclusion)

**PartIII**

Obama and friends and many Americans want the government to nationalize pre-k. This is crazy; we all know that the pre-k sector is highly competitive. It is big business, and it should be that way.  Parents that want to make sure their small children are in good hands.  They want to know that their child is learning to play and learning to socialize, and the competition in the marketplace, provides various programs and unique ideas for accomplishing these goals.  Mind you the cheap places are overrated babysitters, and some parents think there is nothing better for their child then their own time and attention.  The bottom line is that privately controlled and funded Pre-K provides choice. Choice for parents on how to teach their children, when or if they need to be away from them for work.  The liberals will argue that this is an equity issue, that not all parents can afford decent pre-k schooling, not everyone can send their kids to expensive schools.  Universal Pre-K will allow all children to enjoy the benefits of early schooling. I call bull; U.P.K. will ensure that all children get poor schooling, that the government will force you to be away from your children, that they can start indoctrinating them even sooner in life.  Public schools K-12 are already poorly managed.  People say public schools need more money and they will get better, that is bullshit, the government has spent more and more money year after year and the schools are still crumbling.  It isn’t a money issue it’s a management issue, teachers unions, no competition between schools, fixed curriculums and a lack of creativity are some of the factors leading to the poor public school system.  And now the Dems want your kids in the system earlier.

“The government is providing K-12 education. and unfortunately, we’re in the toilet,”  “to say that they are the ones to define what quality is, is laughable.” says Mia Levi a parent, and owner of 6 pre-schools.  She realizes the truth that without choice and without competition quality degrades. She knows running 6 daycares that if her services aren’t exceeding expectations then parents will take their children elsewhere. If you are a parent I urge you to fight this with everything you have. It might seem like the easy way out, but in the end you are just damaging your child’s development. You are the best thing for your child, and to take away your choice means the government raises your child.

That is all I have to say about that for now, I could go on and on and on.

Next topic, I’ll keep brief.  John tackles the bull about the need for a wall preventing immigrants from entering the country.

Those that want a wall along the border are not seeing the whole picture; they do not understand the complexities involved.  For one they don’t understand the benefits of a mobile workforce between 2 countries.  To say this bluntly, the Mexicans are willing to do jobs Americans won’t do, and they will do it for less money, because they are better off doing that, then staying in Mexico. The bottom line is that people will do whatever they can to get in, wall or no wall, because America provides opportunities they do not have. This isn’t about taking jerbs, on the surface that is what it seems, but everybody fails to realize that in a generation these migrant workers will be in a position to create jobs.  America is a nation of immigrants, every single last one of them, and same for Canada, you are all related to someone that came here from Europe or Asia (I’m looking at you ‘Native Americans’!)  We are all leaves on a family tree, whom at its roots reside people that came here with nothing or next to nothing, and built themselves a society we are all proud of, 2 of the largest economies in the world, and the cultural envy of many.

Getting back to the topic, what we need isn’t a wall; we need to make it easier for hard working people to legally immigrate.  I don’t like lazy immigrants, in my opinion anyone not worth their weight in gold should be shipped back wherever they come from, but people that will work hard, pay taxes and contribute to society are all right in my books.  My ancestors came from Ireland and Scotland and who knows where else, and made a life for themselves, a series of lives which ended up with me. I have no right denying that experience to anyone else that wishes to work hard. Some people with regards to the wall want to play the security card, but the fences and barriers up now are easily penetrated, spending millions on a wall will not accomplish anything. The 9/11 terrorists came into the country with tourist visas and some lived in the country for years before they did what they did. A few horrible exceptions shouldn’t be a reason to prevent any honest law abiding citizen from staying in our countries.

Lastly, John showcases a movement that seeks to degrade the idea of the American Dream. These people want to tell you that, in America (and I’m certain the argument can be said about Canada as well) a hard working person cannot make it anymore. That the system is designed to help the rich at the expense of the poor.  Besides the million things wrong with all of that, I’ll focus on one. And that is that the system is not against anybody.  If you are too lazy or unwilling to let it work for you, then you will fail. The brave gentleman in the special, set out to prove these people wrong.  He hid the fact that he was college educated. Moved to a random town with 25 bucks, picked up low paying low skill jobs, and managed to rent a decent apartment and buy a truck, within a year or so.  How many countries in the world can the poor do such a thing? Only the developed ones, only with countries that allow for easy labour mobility. These people claim there is an assault on the middle class, that people are getting poorer and poorer, as the rich get richer.  These are pure lies; the middle class has seen more than doubling of real income in the past 60 years.  Case closed.

For more detail visit the write-ups at abcnews.com or watch the videos. Those were my comments, I hope they were insightful. I’ll be back with more Sirius Thought some other day, for now, please take care.

Bailouts and Bull. Part 2. Private Roads and the War on Drugs.

Previously on Sirius Thought.…

I am passing along John Stossel’s special “Bailouts and Bull“(full segments here , you might have to dig after a week), ran during the 20/20 block on ABC. For years John has been the only member of the mainstream media to tackle lousy government policy, expose porkulus spending, and support libertarian ideas, and promotes free market capitalism.  His weekly 10 minute segment on 20/20, “Gimmie a Break” is probably the best reporting on TV each week it airs.  It’s a miracle his bosses at ABC haven’t fired him years ago, but my guess is they value his dedication to real journalism, and he brings in quite a bit of viewership.  Every once in a while he will get his own hour-long special, which are always fun to watch.

Milton Friedman once said of John “Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety.”

Good enough for ya? lets continue (Cue Lost opening theme)

**Part II**

The stimulus wants to spend a lot of money on fixing roads and the like? Besides asking if that is going to help the economy, we also have to ask is this the best use of taxpayer dollars, and is there another solution to fix our roads and ease congestion in cities?  The answer is yes and that is privatization.  Privately funded and operated roads and highways have seen great success, as John points out in this segment.  Not only is construction cheaper with a private company, but the roads and tunnels are off better quality and are better maintained then public roads.  Consumers pay a toll to access the roads, and prices change based on congestion and time of day. Gone are the days of toll booths, as electronic monitoring or photo snapshots of non subscribers take care of the billing.  The biggest example of government failure is Boston’s Big dig. It took 10 years and double the estimated cost, to finish the project, and even claimed a life, as the shoddy construction failed.  How can private companies do a better job? After all aren’t they greedy, trying to cut corners and make a buck? The fact of the matter is this isn’t true, if private companies can’t construct and maintain a good road, or any service for that matter, customers will leave.  There are a few great achievements, one of which Gottard Base Tunnel, a railway and roadway under the Alps. You can be sure if it was the Swiss government funding and planning the project, it would never get done.

Some crazies don’t like the idea of private roadways, it’s unfair for The Man to earn a dollar off of transit, and it’s unfair that the poor or unwilling to pay must use the old pot-hole encrusted public highways. And many of these crazy groups have had success at shutting down the privatization of road systems across the country.  It’s unfair to assume that these private roadways are replacing the old ones that the man is forcing anybody to pay for the roads, as all of these projects and programs are alternatives to the public roadways. No one is forcing you to do anything, but for those willing to pay, they will enjoy a quick commute, and elevate congestion for everyone else, the 407 works in Toronto, it’s never jam packed and it’s always a smooth ride. (Just like the Cole Train) Every city should have them, and some smart ones should take even further steps to take care of their roads, or achieve related goals.  I might add that public transportation should be fully privatized and non unionized as well. This will save costs and create efficient systems, elevate commuter hassle and stress.

Alright next segment and it’s a big one. John’s next story is that of Charlie Lynch. Lynch ran a state licensed, approved and fully legitimate Medicinal Marijuana store, providing Mary Jane, in various forms (ice cream!) for people with whose doctors prescribed the legal use for their ailments.  Marijuana is proven to elevate pain caused by cancer treatments and other chronic stresses, without destructive side effects. Local law enforcement in an effort to justify their own existence targeted Lynch. They claim that although Marijuana use is legal for medical consumption (in California); it isn’t legal to sell it.  The police tried everything they could, first they tried entrapment sting operations to try and get Lynch or his employees to sell the herb to people without prescriptions. Law abiding citizens as they were, police were unable to buy time and time again, and surveillance couldn’t dig up a single un-lawful case.  Frustrated the local cops decided to screw the state of California and take their vendetta to the DEA. The feds don’t like the states, and they decided to make an example. The DEA and its agents raiding Lynches home at gunpoint, as if he were some inner city gangbanger. Lynch is now up to his eyeballs, he now faces 100 years in prison. WTF? Me, John and Drew (Carrey, whose Reason T.V is helping out this special) call bullshit! Here is a man who is providing a service, allowed and sanctioned by the local and state government, being shit on by the system and treated like a criminal. What do the feds do? They don’t punish the local or state governments that sanctioned his actions.

Another thing of note, drug cops really have something up their ass, they fail to see how much damage they do to society.  I could write 10 pages about the war on drugs, but I won’t, I’ll stay on THIS topic.  I will say this; I want to know why the local police have something up their ass about Lynch selling marijuana, the cop in the video says he recognized the right to use but not the right to sell.  Would he rather have users of medicinal marijuana buying from dealers on the street? Getting low grade possibly contaminated product, facing the dangers of being around a violently competitive marketplace.  At least buying from people like Lynch, you know you can sue him if something goes wrong, the government can crack down on him if he poisons people or rips them off, Lynch isn’t going to go down the road to his competitor and shoot the place up either. Personally I don’t believe in drug use, I don’t understand the appeal, but the fact that they are illegal creates more problems than it solves.(ok ok ok I’ll stop talking  about it now promise) Obama promised he would keep the Feds out of it if the states have laws supporting medical use. If Lynch is convicted he should pardon him, if he wants to keep his promise.   A little off topic, but Obama has insulted the fiscal conservative in me already, I hope he doesn’t disenfranchise the civil liberal in me either. Wouldn’t surprise me though, Barak has been one disappointment after the other.

Well that is part 2, Part 3 should be ready soon, and it tackles universal Pre-k, the uselessness of a boarder wall, and wonders if someone can still pull off the American dream.

Bailouts and Bull. Go John Go. Part One

Good day everybody.

Today I am passing along John Stossel’s special “Bailouts and Bull“(full segments here , you might have to dig after a week), ran during the 20/20 block on ABC. For years John has been the only member of the mainstream media to tackle lousy government policy, expose porkulus spending, and support libertarian ideas, and promotes free market capitalism.  His weekly 10 minute segment on 20/20, “Gimmie a Break” is probably the best reporting on TV each week it airs.  It’s a miracle his bosses at ABC haven’t fired him years ago, but my guess is they value his dedication to real journalism, and he brings in quite a bit of viewership.  Every once in a while he will get his own hour-long special, which are always fun to watch.

Milton Friedman once said of John “Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety.”

Good enough for ya? Let’s get started.

**Part I**

The first segment deals with the bailouts.  The Obama administration and the rest of the government is using fear to spread their message that without a bailout, things are only going to get worse. Obama, Pelosi Biden and everyone else you can name that wants a buck has said we are in a crisis. A catastrophe that will get worse then the great depression, and if we don’t do something soon it will get there. F. U. C. Kayed!

Although the situation is bad, it isn’t that bad. The scariest part is the stock market plunge, but I have stated and even a few of my professors have said that a lot of that is due to uncertainty and poor expectations. Yeah the market took a huge hit with the bank failures, the cause of the recession. Markets need to readjust, it’s the capitalist system, and in our system no company no matter how large it is, is immune to failure. I’ve said it countless times that these banks should have just gone under, let the more stable banks buy their assets.  That sounds like a nightmare and it is for the thousands of people losing their homes. But we must remember these people couldn’t afford their homes to begin with, and it’s this climate of entitlment, and lack of regulation that put us all in this mess.

I know I just said something you would think contradictory to my previous preaching. Government shouldn’t regulate, but that not what I mean when I say things like that. Government must regulate where it protects people and businesses from getting a raw deal.  Whenever there is a possibility for someone to be cheated out of money, or freedom that is the job of government to act.  The Canadian banking system does not allow for people to walk away from debt as easily as in the US and the climate for issuing bad loans doesn’t exist as prevalently, if at all, as in the USA. So why are we in a recession, well if you are stupid enough to ask the question I might as well spell it out for you. The United States is Canada’s largest trading partner, and if the US is doing poorly Canada is always right along for the ride. If you need any proof, the biggest indicator that something is wrong in Canada, isn’t the banks, or housing market it was the fact that in December the country ran a trade deficit, for the first time since 1976.

Alright so back on topic. Stossel and the economists in this segment point out that unemployment is at 8 percent in the US, and that all the politicians seem to forget that it was worse in 1990’s when it reached 11% so how are things worse now than they were then?  The markets need to re-adjust, it needs to find the bottom, companies need to restructure and re-evaluate their plans and practices. The problem now is it isn’t happening. Companies are waiting for the check, before deciding what to do, and if they don’t get one, which most of them wont, they will have just wasted time. The stock markets are also waiting on the news; nobody wants to invest because everyone is waiting to see who is getting help and who isn’t. The Paulson Bailout and the Obama Porkulus, is interfering with the market’s ability to re-adjust. They are messing with the natural order. Everybody knows markets go through re adjustment, to fix its flaws. Recessions punish those companies that made bad decisions.  It is now a fact that the bailouts are extending the lifespan of this recession.  Until investors feel safe to re-enter the market, we aren’t going to get out of this, and the so called cure is really a self fulfilling prophesy. These bailouts are causing and will cause more problems than they solve. The ongoing failures of Paulson’s spending, the secretive treasury spending, and the Obama bailouts

This is just one big excuse for the government to spend on its pet projects, one big joke on the American people, which has allowed for more government spending and billions and billions of dollars in pork in both the stimulus bill and the budget. Hope and Change was the biggest lie in American history, I’m betting a lot of independent and moderate voters are wishing now they picked McCain instead.

John asks the question, as all of us are asking as well; if the problem is debt, how is more debt going to help us? He talks to Steny Hoyer and Maxine Waters, making them eat their own words and making general fools of them.

I ask how are wasteful spending, a ballooning government, pet projects and pork going to help the economy. Every time Obama opens his lying mouth the market tanks. Investors don’t want government solutions; they want them to stay the hell out of the way. Let them invest knowing that the other guy isn’t going to get a Monopoly Community Chest card(congrats you have poor business strategy and lost millions and might be a criminal, get out of jail free,  and pass GO a 50 thousand times). The government is going to have to print money to pay for a lot of this, and that means we are all well and truly Fudged. Over the next decade look for soaring inflation.  The sooner the government backs off the sooner we can get back on the road to recovery.
I’m going to call it quits for now, the rest of my commentary on “Bailouts and Bull” will be provided in subsequent posts. Take care everyone.