Patterico's Pontifications

2/7/2009

Feeling Unstimulated? Watch This.

Filed under: Economics,General — Jack Dunphy @ 6:36 pm



[Guest post by Jack Dunphy]

In the below video, Milton Friedman takes Phil Donahue to school on the value of free markets. He expresses what not so long ago were America’s guiding economic principles. These principles may rise again, but not, I fear, before much “stimulating” damage has been done.

If the video inspires an interest in Friedman’s work, I recommend reading Free to Choose, which he co-authored with his wife, Rose.

“Stimulus” Deal Reached

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 2:02 pm



Democrats have reached a deal on a stimulus, along with “Republicans” Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter. It’s $780 billion — only $5652 per taxpayer. What a deal. Thanks guys!

UPDATE: Meanwhile, even though newspapers have told us that the current economic climate simply demands a stimulus, there are credible people saying that a stimulus is exactly what we don’t need, and that there are other, better ways to improve the economy.

So it’s close to a trillion dollars and may have the opposite effect of that intended. Yay.

Andrew Sullivan CATCHES SARAH PALIN IN A LIE!!!!!!1!!1!!!!!!!

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 12:29 pm



Except that, really, he doesn’t.

All he does is reveal the journalistic thoroughness of someone who thinks that Wikipedia is research.

Octomom Says All 14 Kids Came from Same Sperm Donor

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:57 am



I haven’t said much about the local mother of octuplets — a mother whom local radio talk show hosts are calling “Octomom” — but this is a little creepy.

Suleman said she went to the same in vitro fertilization clinic to have all 14 of her children. All were conceived with donated sperm from the same father, Suleman said.

Suleman told Curry that the father is a bit overwhelmed right now, but she is hoping that he will want to get to know his children when he is ready.

As iowahawk says: “Pay up, sucka!”

Still “Preposterous,” Mr. Rutten?

Filed under: Current Events,Dog Trainer,Law — Jack Dunphy @ 11:19 am



[Guest post by Jack Dunphy]

In two posts from early last year (here and here), I discussed the ongoing dispute regarding a provision in the federal consent decree governing the Los Angeles Police Department that requires gang and narcotics officers to provide financial disclosure information to auditors as a means of preventing corruption. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing rank-and-file officers, has contested the implementation of this provision, and the case is now under review in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

One objection officers have to providing this information is that there is no guarantee that it will be safeguarded as promised, exposing the officers to such mischief as identity theft or perhaps worse. L.A. Times columnist Tim Rutten scoffed at this, calling the officers’ concerns “preposterous” and “baloney.”

Ahem.

Today the Times reports on the inadvertent release by the LAPD of a confidential report on officers accused of racial profiling, a report that included the officers’ names. The release, says the Times, violated LAPD policy and perhaps even state law. The blunder was blamed on a “clerical error.”

Not so preposterous now, is it?

–Jack Dunphy


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