From The Law, by Frederic Bastiat:

How did politicians ever come to believe this weird idea that the law could be made to produce what it does not contain — the wealth, science, and religion that, in a positive sense, constitute prosperity? Is it due to the influence of our modern writers on public affairs?

Present-day writers — especially those of the socialist school of thought — base their various theories upon one common hypothesis: They divide mankind into two parts. People in general — with the exception of the writer himself — from the first group. The writer, all alone, forms the second and most important group. Surely this is the weirdest and most conceited notion that ever entered a human brain!

In fact, these writers on public affairs begin by supposing that people have within themselves no means of discernment; no motivation to action. The writers assume that people are inert matter, passive particles, motionless atoms, at best a kind of vegetation indifferent to its own manner of existence. They assume that people are susceptible to being shaped — by the will and hand of another person — into an infinite variety of forms, more or less symmetrical, artistic, and perfected.

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Given the current mystery surrounding Weinergate, there’s an interesting Tweet that (as of this writing) still remains in Rep. Weiner’s Tweet stream. While we’ve gone to some length to protect the identity of the woman involved, we have confirmed and can document, if need be, that she hails from Seattle, Washington. So the question is, why would Weiner be mindful of the time in Seattle (see the hashtag below) hours before the time he now claims his Facebook account was hacked by someone who then sent an explicit image via Twitter to … a woman in Seattle?

Here’s s a transcript of the Tweet in question:

Heading to 30 Rock to chat with Rachel at 9. #Thats545InSeattleIThink
about 17 hours ago via TweetDeck
Retweeted by 18 people

In fact, the Seattle woman in question who later received the explicit image — and who is now being identified at other sites, actually re-tweeted Rep. Weiner’s tweet: Below is a (redacted) screenshot of her retweet:

Because Twitter timestamps show the actual time in which you’re viewing or screen-grabbing, below is a reconstruction using Weiner’s “Seattle-time Tweet” as our starting point. So, Weiner Tweets that he will be on with Rachel Maddow and uses a hashtag (#Thats545InSeattleIThink) to specifically point out what time his appearance will broadcast in Seattle, where the later recipient of the explicit photo apparently resides. Then, nine minutes after that, Weiner Tweets:

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Meet ‘Scabby the Rat.’

Over the last 20 years, Scabby and his fellow inflatable rodents have become icons in the world of union protests. With their big, beady red and rubber fangs, unions have found Scabby to be a reliable symbol to protest the use of non-union labor on construction projects. As Scabby’s popularity has grown, the inflatable balloons have begun appearing in other types of labor disputes as well. However, Scabby’s mainstay has been (and remains) protesting the use of non-union labor—the rat being the symbol of the non-union worker and his employer.

Earlier this week, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision that, while not unexpected given the NLRB’s union extremism, gives unions the unfettered right to display Scabby the Rat and other forms of “banners” (such as a faux coffin and a costumed Grim Reaper) in front of an employer with whom the union has a dispute.

More importantly, however, the NLRB’s decision also affirms unions’ ability to use Scabby the Rat in front of a employer’s suppliers and customers’ businesses too. (more…)

In just a bit over two years, Barack Obama has exponentially expanded the size of the federal government and the number of Americans dependent upon it for their well being. He has taken over our healthcare system, two of our largest automobile manufacturers, and overseen spending that has placed our national debt at over $14,000,000,000,000. Gas prices are up sharply – more than 100% increase in per-gallon-price since Obama took office – yet his solution to such prices is characterized by a continued reliance on OPEC, coupled with a de jure ban on offshore drilling and a de facto ban on the expansion of onshore drilling (in places like the western states and Alaska).  Unemployment is at 9%, illegal immigrants are largely getting a pass, the housing slump continues, and inalienable rights are quietly being attacked “under the radar.”

At times like this, when the American people feel their wallets and bank accounts squeezed more tightly at every turn, it’s only natural to wonder how things might be different if we were to take the reins of power out of Obama’s hands in 2012 and put them in the hands of someone else.

And what if that ”someone else” was Sarah Palin?

In other words, what would it be like to live under government according to President Palin?

For starters, there would be a vast reduction in the size of government instead of an exponential growth of the same: the record spending spree would stop. Palin has said repeatedly that she supports “cutting taxes and shrinking government,” that we need to “go back to what Reagan did in the early 80s, [and] stay committed to those common sense free market principles that work.” As she said during her speech in India in March of this year: “We need job growth. And that won’t come from ‘top-down government planning’…[but] from the ‘Free Market Ingenuity’ of ordinary American entrepreneurs.”

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From The Law, by Frederic Bastiat:

What, then, is law? It is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense.

Each of us has a natural right–from God–to defend his person, his liberty, and his property. These are the three basic requirements of life, and the preservation of any one of them is completely dependent upon the preservation of the other two. For what are our faculties but the extension of our individuality? And what is property but an extension of our faculties?

If every person has the right to defend — even by force — his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights constantly. Thus the principle of collective right — its reason for existing, its lawfulness — is based on individual right. And the common force that protects this collective right cannot logically have any other purpose or any other mission than that for which it acts as a substitute. Thus, since an individual cannot lawfully use force against the person, liberty, or property of another individual, then the common force — for the same reason — cannot lawfully be used to destroy the person, liberty, or property of individuals or groups.

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The Obama administration has planned a new $500 million early learning initiative, designed to deal with children as young as five who can’t sit still in a kindergarten classroom.

As a clinical psychologist with 20 years of experience evaluating and treating children, I am expert at understanding five-year-olds who can’t sit still. I am also a parent of a Kindergarten student. I am here to inform taxpayers that this program is a colossal waste of money. I can save the government—meaning you, the taxpayer—a half billion dollars by solving this profound problem right here.

Spending $500 million to get five-year-olds to sit still is like getting a Democrat to stop spending other people’s money. In theory it sounds good—really good—but it simply goes against nature. The natural inclination for most five-year-olds is to be extremely active. Normal pre-schoolers spend much of their day practicing their gross and fine-motor skills, with boys being especially active learners. They are not inclined to sit still, shut up, and listen to a teacher for anything but short periods of time.

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We are hearing a great deal about a budding “Democracy movement” spreading throughout the Middle East. Many are calling it an “Arab Spring.” The belief is that after centuries of totalitarian oppression, the Arab street is suddenly pining for more freedom; rebelling against the elitist ruling class of kings, emirs, despots and tyrants. This is most likely true for a great number of those filling the streets of Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Bahrain and myriad other Middle Eastern, predominantly Muslim nations. But there is a less than honorable component amongst the rebellion that simply waits for the “right” to a democratic vote. Contrary to how the idea of a move to Democracy presents, in the volatile Middle East there are elements in play that could make it a move in the wrong direction.

Each and every day we hear the misnomer that the United States of America is a Democracy. We hear it from the average man on the street, the mainstream media and even from those we have elected to office. But the fact of the matter is this: we are not a Democracy. We are a Constitutional Republic. A thorough and convincing exhibit of the facts surrounding this reality is presented in Notes on Democracy: And the Republic for Which It Stands. The fact that this issue is even in need of address is a scathing commentary on the constitutional illiteracy of the American electorate and serves as a sobering reminder that, often times, what sounds good – what “feels good” – isn’t always as it presents.

The distinction – between the benefits of a Democracy and a Constitutional Republic – is incredibly important, and while some describe our nation as a Democracy in an error of ignorance, others – some with schemes of political opportunism – do so with a nefarious purpose and bad intentions.

James Madison, recognized as the Father of the US Constitution, said this about factions and Democracy in Federalist No. 10:

“Men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may, by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests, of the people…From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies 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. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.”

Why is this important in the context of what is happening in the Middle East at this very moment?

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Hacked or hung?

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY 9″) finds himself in a late night online pickle.

This evening a photo surfaced on Congressman Weiner’s yfrog account and in his verified Twitter timeline of a man in his underwear with an erection. The photo was reportedly sent to a woman on Twitter. We’ve protected her name and her account, which was at one time verified to be active but has since been deleted after the photo in question was deleted. Coincidentally, the rest of the photos in the congressman’s alleged yfrog account were also deleted around 11 p.m. eastern.

Is this the Tweet in question? Was Weiner hacked?

Weiner, who married Hillary Clinton’s longtime assistant, Huma Abedin, last year, has been Tweeting about hockey this evening. Confusion reigns online as puzzled Weiner followers wonder what occurred to Weiner’s timeline.

The photo, stored at Weiner’s alleged yfrog account, is connected to his verified Twitter account. Were his yfrog and Twitter accounts hacked as well?

Photo in question after the jump. (#NSFMDW Not Safe For Memorial Day Weekend) (more…)

Today, in 1588, the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon, heading for England. It wouldn’t end well for the Spanish.

Alice Walker, Author of the book “The Color Purple”,  and public campaigner with and for President Barack Obama, has cut a CodePink video in support of the upcoming Hamas Flotilla, scheduled for June 2011.

In the video, she compares Hamas and Fatah to black people of the segregated South of the 1950’s.

Let’s not forget that during the previous Hamas Flotilla, they chanted about Mohammed coming for the Jews – to kill them.

This was widely reported, so by continuing to support the movement wherein they chant about the Islamist dream of dead Jews, Alice Walker is de-facto endorsing this bloodlust.

Also, let’s remember how Hamas came to power:

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From The Daily Mail:

A U.S. Marine who was killed when he was gunned down in his home near Tucson, Arizona, never fired on the SWAT team that stormed his house firing 70 times in a hail of bullets, a report has revealed.

From The Hill:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said he will consider running for president in 2012.

Perry had previously taken himself out of contention for the Republican nomination but he has been walking back on that in recent days.

His comments on Friday were the strongest to date.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca and Senator Jim DeMint to discuss the attack on Boeing by unions and the NLRB, their threat to Right to Work states and the debt ceiling debate.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Should Bond Buyers Bet on Stalling US Economy?
Another Labor Board Power Play
Boeing faces NLRB persecution
The NLRB’s Opening Of Pandora’s Box Beyond Boeing

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There is no point in coming back to the chronology of the IAM-NLRB-Boeing case nor to the underlying interests of some stakeholders in the SEIU – Sodexo case anymore than we already did. What we would like to do in this article is to open the debate on the consequences of these events on the American business.

Entrepreneurs (both Americans and foreign ones) know that our American principles have been based on two pillars: free enterprise and a free country. Recent events in our country could change this perception. In the IAM-Boeing case, the NLRB filled a complaint against the airplane manufacturer on the basis that the company’s decision to locate its second production line had not been made on rational arguments (e.g.: diversifying its production centers) but had been a retaliation against past strikes led by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at Boeing’s plant in Everett, WA. Following the fuss made by the complaint, the NLRB felt obliged to explain that it did not order Boeing to relocate the second production line to Washington – yet this explanation was hardly convincing. A state agency that tells a company where and what to manufacture was the model adopted by some countries but had never been in place in America until now.

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Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of D.C. Public Schools and self-described “card-carrying, life-long Democrat,” said she was instinctively opposed to school vouchers because she was “on the side of the workers.”

In her former line of thinking, teachers’ unions oppose vouchers and teachers’ unions support Democrats, so Democrats should oppose vouchers.

Then she realized what vouchers were doing for the lives of those the teachers’ unions purport to care about.

She said she talked to parents who had researched their neighborhood school, figured out that it was a “failing school,” tried to move their child to a better school but were unable to due to enrollment caps.  Parents, unwilling to send their kids to a failing school, would ask Rhee what to do.

Using her own children as a guide, Rhee determined if she would not send her kids to a particular school, she should not expect other parents to, either.

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We have oft discussed the Orwellian manner Leftists do, well, everything.

And specifically how they go about naming their gaggles – the groups they form to advance their Leftist agenda.

The Media Marxists looking to eradicate all private ownership of news and communications – so as to have the government be your sole provider of news and communications – are a part of the Leftist misdirection that calls themselves “public interest” or “consumer interest” groups.

What could be better – and less innocuous – then that?

Just about everything.

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As far as the “consumer interest” – let’s rationally examine who has a real stake in it.

Is it the Media Marxist groups – who represent no one and nothing save for a shaved shard of a pro-government, free market-loathing constituency consisting almost exclusively of themselves?

Or is it the media companies – who seek to everyday deliver whatever it is the most consumers possible are interested in?  So as to entice these consumers to hire, watch, listen to and read them?

Obviously, it is the latter.

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The cry for America to wean itself off foreign oil is well founded. After all, we get our oil from a backward region of the world where anti-Americanism is institutional and academic. Since America possesses an abundance of natural resources, with real potential for a boom in energy production, those cries strongly resonate. A current estimate of natural gas in America is 2,047 trillion cubic feet. That is enough to power our nation for the next 100 years.

A study by the Congressional Research Service claimed that America’s supply of recoverable natural gas, oil, and coal is the largest on the planet. Furthermore, we have the ability to tap into an estimated 165 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Even with the current rate of consumption, our supply of oil is enough to fuel the country for at least the next 75 years. Even if we currently lack the infrastructure, the potential exists. And with the injection of revenue and capital investments from a nation as rich as ours, industry technology and innovation would increase likely lowering prices on extraction and production.

The powers that be, however, have a different view of these potentials. It is not a misunderstanding or differing arithmetic. Rather, it is ideologically and politically motivated. Democrats continuously marginalize America’s potential for domestic energy production. Their law makers, with the help of Obama’s pen and rhetoric, have declared war on energy. They chose to tax “Big Oil”, limit oil production and exploration, revoke leases for inland production and financially backbreaking businesses to drill on federally owned land. Democrats decry record profits made by the oil industries as evil and mislead the country to believe they are only leveling the playing field between consumer and producer. In actuality, the Earth-Democrats are engineering a sinister plan for blowback. A person who possesses even an elementary understanding of macroeconomics would know these added costs will simply be passed on to the consumer. Since the days of horse and carriage are long gone, and Americans still rely on oil and gas to commute and move produce across a country roughly the size of Europe, the market will survive out of necessity. That is until taxes on gas and mileage go up. The word is sabotage.

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Today, in 1941, the German battleship, Bismarck, was sunk.

Who will watch the watchers? In a world of ubiquitous, hand-held digital cameras, that’s not an abstract philosophical question. Police everywhere are cracking down on citizens using cameras to capture breaking news and law enforcement in action.

In 2009, police arrested blogger and freelance photographer Antonio Musumeci on the steps of a New York federal courthouse. His alleged crime? Unauthorized photography on federal property.

Police cuffed and arrested Musumeci, ultimately issuing him a citation. With the help of the New York Civil Liberties Union, he forced a settlement in which the federal government agreed to issue a memo acknowledging that it is totally legal to film or photograph on federal property.

Although the legal right to film on federal property now seems to be firmly established, many other questions about public photography still remain and place journalists and citizens in harm’s way. Can you record a police encounter? Can you film on city or state property? What are a photographer’s rights in so-called public spaces?

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