Postscript on Creeping Environmentalist Totalitarianism

Speaking of “efficiency”, I knew that the EPA already had the power to tell us how much water could come out of our showerheads (which is bad enough), but I didn’t know that “The venerable Consumer Reports” had turned someone in; I’ve now independently verified that this appeared in the October 2009 issue of Consumer Reports (page 36):

. . . the $500 Hudson Reed Theme Thermostatic AS333 shower tower’s forceful spray seemed too good to be true — or legal. 

Lights Out

Did you know that Congress has already banned incandescent light bulbs in the future?  Neither do most Americans.  The law was passed in 2007; the phase-out begins with the 100-watt bulb in 2012.  (You can also read more about it at a Web site created for the movement to repeal the ban.)

Practically speaking, like most overweening big-government schemes, this will have unintended consequences.  In this case, we already know what some of them will be: 

1 — Scientists find that the main alternative, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), should be used sparingly and not left on for very long, because they are poisonous and may give you cancer: 

Popularity and Prosperity

I was talking with a friend the other day about gas prices.  We agreed that when gas prices (or unemployment, or the economy generally) improve, that will tend to help any incumbent president’s chances of re-election—and that, by the same token, when they worsen that will tend to hurt his chances—regardless of whether they’re his fault or not.  The question, then, was whether it can fairly be said that the recent high gas prices are partly President Obama’s fault or not.

So I was interested to hear that the answer may be an emphatic Yes: 

On Liberals, Conservatives, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Knowledge

Are liberals smarter than conservatives?  It’s an interesting question, if you like, and you can find interesting studies and speculations on whether and why, but intelligence isn’t the same as wisdom.  A person gifted with higher than average cognitive ability can still be a fool.

Some liberals certainly think that liberals are both much smarter and much wiser than conservatives.  Arguably that belief is an intrinsic part of the ideology of the American Progressive movement.  A commenter on this blog has said, “. . . the American people are by and large an idiotic bunch. . . . And these are the people that are voting!” 

On Conservatism and Global Warming

I had a conversation a few days ago with a (liberal) friend of mine about conservatism and liberalism, liberty and tyranny, regulations, “entitlements”, and other things.  It was a good conversation, but she asked one question that got lost in the back-and-forth and I never answered:

What is the conservative answer to global warming?

It’s a good question.  I have some thoughts.  My answer can be divided into two parts. 

More Fun with Translations

(Literally)

English: Fuel release button

French: Button of ejection of the gas

Spanish: Button of liberation of combustible

Even the Government Gets Things Right Sometimes

An “archived news release” from 1997:

“Governmentwide Electronic Messaging Survey Results Point to Bright Future for E-Mail”

Liberalism Caricatures Conservatism, Inadvertently Caricatures Self

From “Protest voices opposition to ALEC group”:

A group of conservative state legislators from across the U.S. met in Cincinnati last week and drew the ire of local college students and union members during a protest Friday.

. . .

The demonstration began with a play portraying the ALEC as a monster attacking the rights of women, minorities and workers. 

I don’t go out looking for these; I just happened to pick up a copy of the student newspaper today, and there it was, staring me in the face!

bin Laden Dead

You’ll have heard by now that our guys killed Osama bin Laden yesterday.  Apparently we were able to locate him because of intelligence obtained from detainees at Guantanamo Bay, which some suggest would not have been possible without waterboarding. 

A War by Any Other Name

While doing research for work, I ran into a brief history of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., which made reference to “the Civil War, Great Depression, World War II and other major defense conflicts”.  Defense conflict, huh?  Is that like a “kinetic military action” or an “Overseas Contingency Operation”?