The power of III

Summum ius summa iniuria--More law, less justice
--Cicero.

01 October 2011

Who is better at helping the poor? Capitalist vs. government agency?

Here is a real life example of how a "greedy" capitalist really helps people. He manufactures something others want, and are happy to pay for, because it makes their lives better. At the bottom of the quoted text, you will see what happens when the World Bank tries to help. Yep, makes things worse.

If necessity is the mother of invention, Paul Polak is one of its fathers.


For 30 years Dr. Polak, a 78-year-old former psychiatrist, has focused on creating devices that will improve the lives of 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 a day. But, he insists, they must be so cheap and effective that the poor will actually buy them, since charity disappears when donors find new causes.


His greatest success has been a treadle pump that lets farmers raise groundwater in the dry season, when crops fetch more money. He has sold more than two million, he said.


He also helped develop a $25 artificial knee and a $400 hospital lamp to save newborns with life-threatening jaundice.


...the treadle pump. It was brilliantly simple, it could be manufactured by local workshops, and a local driller could dig a 40-foot well and install it for $25. Studies showed that farmers made $100 in one season on that investment.


Retails for $25 US. Farmer can profit $100 in a season.




We talked to 75 little welding shops where they make things like bedsprings, and jawboned them into making treadle pumps.


As we were developing our pump, the World Bank was subsidizing deep-well diesel pumps that could cover 40 acres. The theory was that you’d get a macroeconomic benefit, but it was also very destructive to social justice. The big pumps were handed out by government agents; the government agent was bribeable. The pump would go to the biggest landholder, and he’d become a waterlord.


Link

Altas Shrugged: Francisco D'Anconia's Money Speech

28 September 2011

Ron Paul beats Obama: Harris poll


LAKE JACKSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In a new Harris Poll, 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul beats President Obama 51 percent to 49 percent in a general election race.

“This is yet another poll that clearly proves how competitive Ron Paul is against the sitting President,” said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton. “Dr. Paul is making strides, affirming that the American people are looking for conviction instead of the typical status quo rhetoric being offered by establishment candidates.”
These results come just a few weeks after a Reuters/Ipsos survey showed Ron Paul polling within striking distance of President Obama among registered voters. Furthermore, a late August Rasmussen poll showed him within 1 percent of President Obama in a head-to-head matchup.
Take notice: some people are starting to "get it".

Quote of the Day 9/28

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man; a debt he proposes to pay off with your money.


-G. Gordon Liddy

Political Cartoon of the Day

via Townhall.com



27 September 2011

Powers that be in Westchester County, NY use dirty tricks to keep Libertarians out of election

This is how things really work behind the MSM facade in the Land of the Free:

Verbatim letter from party chair to Libertarian Party mailing list in Westchester County, NY, just north of NYC:

This morning, I appeared in Supreme Court, Westchester County, to support our Westchester Libertarian candidates for Town Supervisor and Town Councilmembers in North Castle (Armonk), New York.

Even though they submitted sufficient signatures to qualify for a Libertarian line, a challenge was filed to nullify the petition because one of the witnesses (Howard Arden) previously signed a Republican pertition. While such action would have previously disqualified the signatures he witnessed, the relevant statute was changed in July 2009 such that now one only has to be a registered voter in NYS to witness signatures.

Nevertheless, on September 14, the Westchester Board of Elections disqualified 99 signatures Howard had obtained based on a law that was rescinded two years ago!

On September 14, Matt Rice called BOE and was advised that no decision was rendered. On Friday, September 16, he called and wrote to BOE and again was not advised that a decision had been rendered.

In fact, the BOE members and its attorney lied to Matt as a decision was rendered and snail-mailed to him on the 14th, which he received when he got home Friday evening, Sept. 16.

The statute requires that a court proceeding to overturn a BOE ruling be commenced within three days of the date of the determination. By mailing rather than faxing or emailing the decision, BOE acted to vitiate the time frame in which a proceeding could be commenced.

Having received the BOE petition, Matt Rice with input from Kerry Lutz, Gary Donoyan and me, worked over the weekend and on Monday, Sept. 19, only one business day after receipt of the determination, Matt Rice and Howard Arden filed an Order to Show Cause in Supreme Court. The Order was signed on Sept. 20 and served on the BOE and Objector per its terms on Sept. 21.

This morning BOE moved to dismiss the petition claiming it was served more than three days after the determination and that therefore its absurd ruling based on a law which is no longer in effect would stand.

Supreme Court Justice Joan Lefkowitz reserved judgment so that Matt and Howard would have an opportunity to submit opposition papers to the BOE's motion to dismiss.

As an aside, the Judge's clerk indicated that they believed we had a winning argument on the merits, but first we had to resolve the jurisdictional issue.   

It's rare that we see the tryanny of the Republican-Democratic duopoly manifest itself so blatantly as in this instance. I am advised that the members of the Westchester BOE answer directly to the leaders of the local political parties.

I thank those who have contributed generously of their money (Howard Arden, Willie Aponte, Carl Svenson, Michael McCarthy and one other) and especially Matt Rice for all his time and effort in this fight against those who will do anything to remain in power.

This particular battle is not over.

Mark Axinn
Chair

PS. As I will not be at Sunday night's teleconference, this constitutes the Chair's report as well.

How's that democracy thing workin' out for ya?

Can you wait 'til 2012?
Party activists want to make your visit to the polls memorable

NC Governor suggests suspending Congressional elections for 2 years

...so they can focus on creating jobs...LMFAO.  Oh, that's precious. Congress fixing a problem they created by tossing gasoline on a fire. 


How about suspending Congress' pay and benefits for the next two years? They can be paid if they meet certain benchmarks of performance.  I doubt Congress critters can be honorably incentivized, however.


Bev Perdue's suggestion is an example of how democratic socialism tends towards totalitarianism over time, especially during economic crises. She suggests that the Congress should not have to answer to their constituents, flouting a hard and fast Constitutional rule.  


Does anyone find that acceptable, in this economic environment? Let big State morons run amok in Washington without a two year long leash? Great idea!

As a way to solve the national debt crisis, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending congressional elections for the next couple of years.
I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”
Perdue said she thinks that temporarily halting elections would allow members of Congress to focus on the economy. “You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things,” Perdue said.

26 September 2011

Gunwalker update: Potential to be the most devastating scandal in American political history

Another coup by patriot bloggers Vanderboegh and Codrea:

ATF used taxpayer money,  in cash, to buy guns and hand them to Sinaloa cartel members.


If Vanderboegh/Codrea are correct — and for the duration of this scandal they have been dead-on accurate — Dodson [first whistleblower] was chosen by his superiors to become the “walker” of Fast and Furious guns in order to “dirty” him for his previous vehement arguments against the operations. The apparent hope was that if he was sullied in the operation himself, that he would be unwilling or unable to blow the whistle on crimes that he himself participated in. Obviously, they miscalculated his character.

The plot to ensnare Dodson sounds like a Hollywood mob movie for a very good reason; this kind of stunt has been revealed in multiple RICO prosecutions of organized crime.

The unraveling Gunwalker conspiracy has the potential of being the most devastating scandal in the history of American politics.

Link

Independent trader to BBC: Eurozone will crash, and hard; governments can't do anything about it

Rare candor on the Beeb.



Good night, and good luck.