If you haven’t been paying attention to the situation surrounding Iran’s elections over the weekend, take some time to catch up as soon as you get a chance.  How long have we heard that the Iranian youth movement wanted real change for their country?  Well, it looks like the time may be at hand.

Even though the State has done all it can to suppress the media, and sever all external ties to the outside world in an attempt to control the flow of information, the Internet (and specifically Twitter #IranElection) is getting the truth out…

Reports from the streets are likening this to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and the revolution that finally toppled the Soviet Union.

It’s increasingly clear that Ahmadinejad and the old guard mullahs were caught off-guard by this technology and how it helped galvanize the opposition movement in the last few weeks. That’s why they didn’t see what those of us surgically attached to modems could spot a mile away: something was happening in Iran. If Drum is right, the mullahs believed their own propaganda about victory until reality hit them so hard so fast, they miscalculated badly and over-reached.

The key force behind this is the next generation, the Millennials, who elected Obama in America and may oust Ahmadinejad in Iran. They want freedom; they are sick of lies; they enjoy life and know hope.

This generation will determine if the world can avoid the apocalypse that will come if the fear-ridden establishments continue to dominate global politics, motivated by terror, armed with nukes, and playing old but now far too dangerous games. This generation will not bypass existing institutions and methods: look at the record turnout in Iran and the massive mobilization of the young and minority vote in the US. But they will use technology to displace old modes and orders. Maybe this revolt will be crushed. But even if it is, the genie has escaped this Islamist bottle.

From The Daily Dish.

I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge a superb effort put forth by Pittsburgh last night.  They out-skated, out-worked, out-hit, out-shot, and generally outplayed the Capitals in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals last night.

In the aftermath, it’s easy to see that the Pens were desperately seeking to avoid going down 3 - 0 in the series, especially on home ice.  There’s also a better than fair chance that the Caps might have been coasting on their 2 - 0 lead, and started to believe that they might be able to make this a short series.

As a Capitals fan, I was obviously disappointed in the loss, but there are a couple of things that I can take solace in.

• The Capitals brought their most lackluster effort of the playoffs last night.  There was no speed, no precision, and no concerted effort.  The Penguins brought everything, including the kitchen sink.  Their reward was a 1 goal, overtime victory.  If, given the disparity of play between the two teams last night, all you get is a 1 goal overtime victory, on home ice, the Pens have to be scratching their heads this morning.  What will it take for them to steal a game on the road?  Their best chance is to hope for a Capitals forfeit.
• Simeon Varlamov is playing like the Patron Saint of Goaltending.  We knew, when he played in the regular season during his few brief appearances, that he had the potential to be very good.  We knew, after the Rangers series, that he was both skilled and composed.  We know, now, that we are witnessing something very special.  Whether it is a solitary outstanding playoff performance, or the start of a magnificent career, is still up in the air.  All I can say is that at this point, when the Penguins score, I am genuinely surprised, since Varlamov seems to be a 6 foot tall, 10 feet wide whirling dervish of stick wielding, glove flaring, body hurling wall of stone in front of the net.

After getting humbled for approximately 70 minutes last night, I am sure that the Caps will pull together a far more respectable effort for Game 4 Friday night.

As a relatively new fan, not burdened by all of the soul crushing playoff defeats of the past at the hands of the Penguins, I still think these Caps are the superior overall team, and that they will win this series.  I think they’ll get it done on Friday, and I think they’ll finish the Pens off on Saturday, in Game 5, here in DC.

This will be the start of a new era in this rivalry, where the Caps have the Pens number…

“In social cooperation everyone in serving his own interests serves the interests of his fellow men. Driven by the urge to improve his own conditions, he improves the conditions of other people. The baker does not hurt those for whom he bakes bread; he serves them.”

- Ludwig von Mises

If it were possible, I’d import this Brit, and make him President.  Sure it’d require a Constitutional amendment, and my idiot countrymen would probably elect Arnold Schwarzenegger first, but after that, this is the guy.

“Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders, no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle.”

- Ludwig von Mises

Obviously, the potential payment of millions of dollars worth of bonuses to AIG executives isn’t sitting well with most of America.  It doesn’t sit well with me, either, but not because of the bonuses.  My problem was with the original, and continued bailout funds that continue to flow into this swirling vortex of a failed company.

Now our wise leaders are trying to force AIG to either not pay the bonuses, or to pass some quicky legislation that would tax the bonuses at nearly 100%.

This is very dangerous footing people…  There are two slippery slopes we’re walking on here:

• First, government is interfereing in contract law.  These bonuses, as I understand them, are contractual obligations, and as such, they should be inviolate.  It sickens me that these people, whom many believe are directly responsible for running AIG into the ground, are going to be paid for doing a lousy job, however, a deal is a deal.  If AIG doesn’t want to pay them, then they should fire these employees.  This, combined with the so-called “Cramdown” legislation, where judges can come in an re-write the terms of mortgages (another contract), are two cases where contract law is being completely destroyed.  Bad, bad, bad.
• Second, to try to confiscate 100% of these payments via a hit and run tax, is despicable.  Regardless of whether these people did a good or bad job, to come in after the fact and steal the money that they are contractually entitled to is simply government gone mad.

Contract Law is sacrosanct.  Nobody enters a contract forcibly.  You must enforce the terms of the contracts, whether you like them or not, unless the parties involved are willing to alter the terms of the agreement.

This is a terrible thing…

“If they gave out Olympic medals for fiscal irresponsibility, President Bush would take the gold, silver and bronze.”

- North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, July 2008, commenting on a projected 2009 deficit of $482 billion.

“I would describe it as a good beginning.”

- Sen. Conrad, February 2009, commenting on President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget.  Projected deficit: $1.75 trillion.

Seen here.

I got a tip that Ron Paul was going to be interviewed on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” so I recorded it over the weekend, and watched it on Saturday night.  He came off well, even though Bill Maher asked him the typically uninformed loaded questions.  I hope some of what he said managed to reach people.

Later in the show, we were treated to the panel discussion, and one of the panel members was Rep. Maxine Waters (D), from California.
She was calling for criminal investigations of so-called “predatory lenders,” who tricked all of these people into accepting mortgages that they could not reasonably afford, which is part of the issue leading to the huge numbers of mortgage defaults.  Naturally, she also calls for dramatically increased regulation.

The irony here is palpable.  “Regulation,” in everything but name, is one of the reasons that these predatory mortgages exist in the first place, not to mention the huge increase in mortgage defaults.
It is Government Regulation that caused this…

• They are the ones that have pushed the story that “Home Ownership is the best investment a person can make.”
• They push it through the tax code, encouraging people to buy homes so they can write the interest off on their annual taxes.
• The passed the Community Reinvestment Act, forcing banks to lower their lending criteria so that minorities and “the disadvantaged” could qualify for mortgages that they would not have been able to qualify for ordinarily.
• They threatened legal action against banks for not approving loans to the insolvent, calling them discriminatory.
• They created Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, to federally secure these bad loans, allowing the banks to forgo their typical conservative approach to lending, creating a hazardous lending environment.
• They are the ones calling on the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low, encouraging borrowing (and the Fed is a willing accomplice).

What we’re looking at folks is not a failure of the free market.  Don’t let them con you into believing that.  The government, in its pursuit of driving up home ownership, encouraged banks to reduce lending standards, offered to secure the bad loans, and ensured that interest rates would remain lower than they should have been if they were correctly tuned to market forces.

The issues we’re facing today are the net result of government intervention in the marketplace.  Anyone that says differently is either a) knowingly lying about it, or b) unable to connect the dots to reveal the real causes and effects.  In either case, you’re being sold a bill of goods.

The solutions these people are advocating will only make things worse, and extend the duration of the downturn.

Last couple weeks:

The Revolution: A Manifesto

By Ron Paul

Congressman, Republican Presidential candidate and author Paul (A Foreign Policy of Freedom) says “Let the revolution begin” with this libertarian plea for a return to “the principles of our Founding Fathers: liberty, self-government, the Constitution, and a noninterventionist foreign policy.” Specific examples demonstrate how far U.S. law has strayed from this path, particularly over the past century, as well as Paul’s firm grasp of history and dedication to meaningful debate: “it is revolutionary to ask whether we need troops in 130 countries… whether the accumulation of more and more power in Washington has been good for us…to ask fundamental questions about privacy, police-state measures, taxation, social policy.” Though he can rant, Paul is informative and impassioned, giving readers of any political bent food for thought. With harsh words for both Democrats and Republicans, and especially George W. Bush, Paul’s no-nonsense text questions the “imperialist” foreign policy that’s led to the war in Iraq (”one of the most ill considered, poorly planned, and… unnecessary military conflicts in American history”), the economic situation and rampant federalism treading on states’ rights and identities (”The Founding Fathers did not intend for every American neighborhood to be exactly the same”). Though his policy suggestions can seem extreme, Paul’s book gives new life to old debates.

Snow Crash

By Neal Stephenson

In California of the near future, when the U.S. is only a “Burbclave” (city-state), the Mafia is just another franchise chain (CosaNostrastet Pizza, Incorporated) and there are no laws to speak of, Hiro Protagonist follows clues from the Bible, ancient Sumer and high technology to help thwart an attempt to take control of civilization–such as it is. When he logs on to Metaverse, an imaginary place entered via computer, Hiro encounters Juanita Marquez, a “radical” Catholic and computer whiz. She warns him off Snow Crash (a street drug named for computer failure) and gives him a file labeled Babel (as in Tower of Babel). Another friend, sp ok/pk Da5id, who ignores Juanita’s warning, computer crashes out of Metaverse into the real world, where he physically collapses. Hiro, Juanita, Y.T. (a freewheeling, skateboard-riding courier) and sundry other Burbclave and franchise power figures see some action on the way to finding out who is behind this bizarre “drug” with ancient roots. Although Stephenson ( Zodiac ) provides more Sumerian culture than the story strictly needs (alternating intense activity with scholarship breaks), his imaginative juxtaposition of ancient and futuristic detail make this a cult favorite.

Economics In One Lesson

By Henry Hazlitt

Hazlitt’s “one lesson” is simple, and told in Chapter 1. The rest of the chapters are all stories in which the lesson plays a prominent role. In short, Hazlitt doesn’t merely tell us the lesson, he actually shows us the lesson — over and over and over, until we’ve got it.  With stories on tariffs, minimum wage, rent controls, taxes, unions, wages, profits, savings, credit, unemployment, and so much more, Hazlitt takes some of the most difficult economic concepts and makes these easily accessible to the lay person who has no economic training, background, or even inclination.

You know, every once in a while, somebody surprises me.  The New Hampshire legislature has done just that, by introducing House Concurrent Resolution #6 (HCR 6).

Here’s an excerpt:

That any Act by the Congress of the United States, Executive Order of the President of the United States of America or Judicial Order by the Judicatories of the United States of America which assumes a power not delegated to the government of United States of America by the Constitution for the United States of America and which serves to diminish the liberty of the any of the several States or their citizens shall constitute a nullification of the Constitution for the United States of America by the government of the United States of America.

Considering that our Federal Government is about to forcibly borrow another $9.7 Trillion from our future, I think this is very timely.  I hope that the legislators from New Hampshire go through with this, and further, I hope that other States jump on the bandwagon.  I’ll be forwarding a copy of their resolution to my own State legislators here in Virginia.