Firefox 1.5

I pity the fool who is still using Internet Explorer. If you don't know what tabbed browsing is, you haven't surfed the web yet bro. Take two minutes of your time and download Firefox 1.5, you'll never use IE again.

The following is from Jeffrey Tucker's latest column.

One computer I found was six weeks old, and the IE browser had already been hijacked some 5 times. It once again underscores the most important thing that any windows users should do immediately: download Firefox and never again open IE unless you absolutely have to (and sometimes you do).

Why Microsoft spends untold billions on X-boxes and new software and online this and that, but can't seem to put out a decent and safe browser, is a mystery I can'’t fathom. Their browser remains the number one most dangerous threat you face to the value of your computer.

The Billy Gillispie Show

Finally the disgraceful football season is over. Perhaps Aggie Basketball will be more entertaining.

20 Amazing Facts about Voting in the USA

Click here to see the list.

Liberty Dollar Doubles on Thanksgiving Day

A message from Bernard von NotHaus, creator of the Liberty Dollar.

Now, while many people are crying over their loss of purchasing power and note “higher” gas and food prices, many more Americans are doing something to preserve their purchasing power. An increasing number of Americans have actually gotten ahead of “inflation” with the new $20 Silver Base Liberty Dollar. You must be ahead of inflation to profit, and that is exactly what the Liberty Dollar has done. Over time, silver will rise more, and the Liberty Dollar will Move Up to the $50, $100 and beyond, as it is designed to always keep you ahead of inflation and preserve your purchasing power.

But wait! I contend we do not have inflation. I can remember over 50 years ago that I could buy four gallons of gasoline for a dollar. At that time the dollar was backed by silver. And that same amount of silver will still buy four gallons of gas today! That just proves silver money holds its value. As a matter of fact, when you think about it, you realize that gas, food and almost everything else has NOT gotten more expensive. It only seems that way because the value of the green paper money is worth less so it takes a lot more of it to buy the same thing. We do not have inflation that the government’s economic whores would have us believe. What we have is theft of our purchasing power. Clear and simple theft!

Thank you for not being deceived by those damn whores. Happily you have discovered the Liberty Dollar, and you are not being ripped off by the rigged monetary system. Thank you for being one of thousands of concerned Americas who got the Liberty Dollar at the $10 Silver Base, which has now DOUBLED to the new $20 Silver Base. Congratulations!

Quote of the Day

"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." -Plato

Ron Paul on Helicopter Ben

Mr. Bernanke appears to have embraced the idea that the Federal Reserve can create prosperity more than Mr. Greenspan ever did. Like his predecessor, Mr. Bernanke views our system of fiat currency as a tool for creating wealth out of thin air by producing more dollars, whether paper or electronic.

"The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press, that allows it to produce as many dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost." - Helicopter Ben

It boggles my mind that someone as smart as Bernanke still thinks you can get something for nothing. Seriously, if they Fed could create prosperity, don't you think they would have done it by now?

The fundamental question is whether a central bank can manage the supply of money and credit better than the free market otherwise would. We shouldn't kid ourselves about the true nature of the Fed, which is inherently incompatible with real free market capitalism. Centralized planning of the money supply is a form of economic control that significantly affects prices, wages, and production levels. Remember how market economists once criticized central planning of prices, wages, and production levels in the former Soviet Union?

UFOs

Canada says they are for real, oh, and that the Bush administration is trying to kill them. Surprise, surprise. What is it with Bush and killing?

BIG XII PICKS

Week 12: Straight Up 1-2 vs. Line 2-1
Season: Straight Up 64-16 vs. Line 42-37-1

WEEK 13

Texas -27.5 @Texas A&M
TU/A&M

@Colorado -15.5 Nebraska
COL/NEB

Iowa St. -2.5 @Kansas
ISU/ISU

@Oklahoma -19.5 Oklahoma St.
OU/OU

NFL PICKS

Week 11: Straight Up 10-6 vs. Line 10-6
Season: Straight Up 99-61 vs. Line 77-81-2

WEEK 12

Atlanta -3 @Detroit
ATL/ATL

Denver -2.5 @Dallas
DEN/DEN

@Kansas City -3 New England
NE/NE

@Cincinnati -9 Baltimore
CIN/CIN

Carolina -4 @Buffalo
CAR/CAR

@Tampa Bay -3 Chicago
CHI/CHI

San Diego -3 @Washington
SD/SD

@Minnesota -4 Cleveland
MIN/CLE

@Tennessee -7.5 San Francisco
TEN/SF

St. Louis -4 @Houston
STL/STL

Jacksonville -3 @Arizona
JAX/ARZ

@Oakland -7 Miami
OAK/OAK

@Seattle -4.5 NY Giants
SEA/SEA

@Philadelphia -4.5 Green Bay
PHI/PHI

New Orleans -1.5 @NY Jets
NYJ/NYJ

@Indianapolis -8 Pittsburgh
IND/PIT

NFL PICKS

Week 10: Straight Up 9-5 vs. Line 6-8
Season: Straight Up 89-55 vs. Line 67-75-2

WEEK 11

Carolina-3 @Chicago
CAR/CAR

Jacksonville -4 @Tennessee
JAX/JAX

@New England -9.5 New Orleans
NE/NE

@St. Louis -9 Arizona
STL/ARZ

@Atlanta -6 Tampa Bay
ATL/TB

@Washington -6 Oakland
WAS/OAK

@Dallas -8 Detroit
DAL/DAL

@NY Giants -7 Philadelphia
NYG/PHI

@Cleveland -2.5 Miami
CLE/CLE

Pittsburgh -3.5 @Baltimore
PIT/PIT

Seattle -13 @San Francisco
SEA/SEA

Indianapolis -5.5 @Cincinnati
IND/IND

@San Diego -11.5 Buffalo
SD/SD

@Denver -13.5 NY Jets
DEN/DEN

Kansas City -7 @Houston
KC/KC

@Green Bay -5 Minnesota
GB/MIN

BIG XII PICKS

Week 11: Straight Up 4-2 vs. Line 3-3
Season: Straight Up 63-14 vs. Line 40-36-1

WEEK 12

@Texas Tech -7.5 Oklahoma
OU/OU

@Baylor -3 Oklahoma St.
OSU/OSU

@Kansas St. -2.5 Missouri
KST/KST

Pull Out of Iraq?

Finally some action on Capitol Hill. Since we made a mistake invading in the first place, why not pull out immediately? We should have pulled out yesterday. Iraq was never a threat to us, why should we keep wasting a billion dollars a week?

Harry Browne's New Article

He hasn't been publishing many articles lately, but they're always good when he does. In this one he sets John Gibson from Fox News straight.

In fact, George Bush lied over and over. He may have believed his lies would somehow turn out to be true. But, nonetheless, he stated as fact assertions that he had no evidence for. He said Hussein had WMD; he didn't say Hussein might have WMD, or that it was his opinion that Hussein had WMD. He said he knew that Hussein had WMD. That was a lie.

It is time for thoughtful commentators to stop playing lapdog for the Republican Party. Abandoning George Bush doesn't mean climbing in the lap of Al Gore or John Kerry. It simply means starting to think for yourself and not echoing any party line.

Federal Budget

Dr. No rips the Republicans in Too Little Too Late.

Remember, this is a Congress that has increased spending by 33% since President Bush took office in 2001. And we're not talking about national defense or anti-terrorism spending. We're talking about a one-third increase in garden variety domestic spending. This is also a Congress that passed the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, the single largest increase in entitlement spending since the Great Society programs of the 1960s. So there's not much credibility to be found on Capitol Hill when it comes to reducing the federal budget.

The spending culture in Washington creates an attitude that government can solve every problem both at home and abroad simply by funding another program. But we've reached a tipping point, with $8 trillion in debt and looming Social Security and Medicare crises. Government spending has become a national security issue, because unless Congress stops the bleeding the resulting economic downturn will cause us more harm than any terrorist group could ever hope to cause. And we're doing it to ourselves, from within.

NFL PICKS

Week 9: Straight Up 11-3 vs. Line 5-8-1
Season: Straight Up 80-50 vs. Line 61-67-2

WEEK 10

@Buffalo -2 Kansas City
KC/KC

New England -3 @Miami
NE/NE

@Chicago -13 San Francisco
CHI/SF

@NY Giants -9 Minnesota
NYG/NYG

@Detroit -3.5 Arizona
ARZ/ARZ

@Jacksonville -6.5 Baltimore
JAX/BAL

@Indianpolis -17.5 Houston
IND/IND

@Carolina -9 NY Jets
CAR/CAR

Denver -3 @Oakland
DEN/DEN

@Tampa Bay -1 Washington
WAS/WAS

@Seattle -7 St. Louis
SEA/STL

@Atlanta -9.5 Green Bay
ATL/ATL

@Pittsburgh -7.5 Cleveland
PIT/PIT

@Philadelphia -3 Dallas
DAL/DAL

BIG XII PICKS

Week 10: Straight Up 4-1 vs. Line 1-4
Season: Straight Up 59-12 vs. Line 37-33-1

WEEK 11

@Oklahoma -13 Texas A&M
OU/A&M

@Missouri -8 Baylor
MIZ/BAY

@Nebraska -6 Kansas St.
NEB/KST

Texas Tech -23 @Oklahoma St.
TT/TT

@Texas -33.5 Kansas
UT/UT

Colorado -2.5 @Iowa St.
COL/COL

Internet Oscars

10 web moments that changed the world.

Who's Your Daddy?

Not the government. Good article by Jacob G. Hornberger.

Bush’s bird-flu plan also serves as a powerful reminder of why the future of our nation lies with libertarianism. Unlike the conservative and liberal vision, the libertarian vision has a consistent commitment to moral principles, individual liberty, free markets, and a constitutional republic. Unlike conservatives and liberals, libertarians do not live their lives consumed by fear and thus are unwilling to surrender their rights and freedoms to the federal daddy, not even “temporarily.” Unlike conservatives and liberals, libertarians are committed to ending the federal government’s role as welfare-warfare daddy, thereby helping to restore the sense of can-do, self-reliance, independence, compassion, and fortitude that characterized our American ancestors, whose libertarian vision also rejected the federal government’s role as national daddy.

U.S. Forces Used Chemical Weapons in Fallujah

Isn't that one of the main reasons we invaded Iraq? Because Saddam supposedly gassed his own people like 20 years ago. It now looks like the wonderful U.S. military is getting in on the action.

NFL PICKS

Week 8: Straight Up 10-4 vs. Line 8-6
Season: Straight Up 68-49 vs. Line 55-59

WEEK 9

@Minnesota -1.5 Detroit
DET/DET

San Diego -7 @NY Jets
SD/SD

@Cleveland -3 Tennessee
TEN/TEN

@Kansas City -3.5 Oakland
KC/OAK

Cincinnati -3 @Baltimore
CIN/CIN

Carolina -1 @Tampa Bay
CAR/CAR

@Jacksonville -13.5 Houston
JAX/JAX

Atlanta -2.5 @Miami
ATL/ATL

Chicago -3 @New Orleans
CHI/CHI

NY Giants -11 @San Francisco
NYG/SF

Seattle -4 @Arizona
SEA/SEA

Pittsburgh -3 @Green Bay
PIT/PIT

@Washington -3 Philadelphia
PHI/PHI

Indianapolis -3.5 @New England
IND/NE

Legalize Drunk Driving

Cheers to that. Good stuff by Lew from a few years back.

Now, the immediate response goes this way: drunk driving has to be illegal because the probability of causing an accident rises dramatically when you drink. The answer is just as simple: government in a free society should not deal in probabilities. The law should deal in actions and actions alone, and only insofar as they damage person or property.

Bank robbers may tend to wear masks, but the crime they commit has nothing to do with the mask. In the same way, drunk drivers cause accidents but so do sober drivers, and many drunk drivers cause no accidents at all. The law should focus on violations of person and property, not scientific oddities like blood content.

Here is another article on the subject that came out yesterday.

Sure, drunken drivers might crash into other cars or innocent pedestrians, but they haven't done it yet. So how can they be arrested for doing nothing? All they have done is violate a law, the reasonableness of which is open to question. With apologies to the likes of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, how can drunken driving itself be a crime? No one has been injured, no property damaged. How can it be a crime simply to drive badly (i.e., impaired) according to the state's definition?

New Book by Boortz

Texas A&M former student and quasi-Libertarian, Neil Boortz, has a new book out called The Fair Tax Book. I haven't read it yet, but here are some interesting notes from the book.

The progressive income tax is noted as a major plank in Karl Marx’s ten-point plan for a communist society (p. xx–1) as are government schools (1)

The U.S. survived with no income tax for most of its history (10).

Corporations don’t pay taxes; only individuals do (32–37).

The employer’s share of Social Security and Medicare is actually paid by the employee (42, 125).

Corporations move offshore to avoid the high US tax rates (62–67).

America became great due to the freedom of the people rather than due to government programs (176).

BIG XII PICKS

Week 9: Straight Up 3-3 vs. Line 2-4
Season: Straight Up 55-11 vs. Line 36-29-1

WEEK 10

Texas -28 @Baylor
UT/UT

Nebraska -1 @Kansas
NEB/NEB

@Iowa St. -7.5 Kansas St.
ISU/KST

@Colorado -11.5 Missouri
COL/MIZ

@Texas Tech -16 Texas A&M
TT/A&M

Bush Cracking Under Pressure

I guess being the one responsible for killing thousands of innocent civilians starts to weigh on your mind eventually. Lots of people are wondering if he's started drinking again.

The Key to Happiness

according to Thomas Jefferson

He wrote this to his daughter while she was in France because he thought she was bored:

"A mind always employed is always happy. This is the true secret, the grand recipe, for felicity. The idle are the only wretched."

Buyer's Remorse

"Wait until we control Congress and then we'll finally be able to reduce the size of the federal government," is what most Republicans believed. Well it didn't quite work out that way. You guys got control and look what happened. You increased the size of the government far more than the Democrats could have ever dreamed, albeit in a different direction than the Democrats would have liked.

Following are a few observations from the article, Neocon, Interrupted by Steven LaTulippe

How does one explain our Middle East war to a foreigner? Most of us probably cannot even explain it to ourselves. Do we Americans really understand how and why we invaded Iraq?

How does one explain the fact that President Bush (unsuccessfully) nominated his personal lawyer -– a woman with no judicial experience and no particular expertise in constitutional law -– to be the next justice on the Supreme Court?

How does one explain the fact that former CIA director George Tenet, who ran the agency during the two most colossal intelligence failures in American history (9/11 and the Iraqi WMDs), sailed off into retirement with great acclaim and was subsequently decorated by President Bush with a Medal of Freedom?

How does one explain the fact that former FEMA director Michael Brown -– who oversaw the most inept relief effort in American history -– is still on FEMA'’s payroll as a "consultant"? (What useful information could FEMA possibly get from his consultations? Is he lending his expertise on how to bureaucratically gum-up relief efforts so as to maximize the body count?)

How does one explain that the man nominated to replace Alan Greenspan as Fed Chairman believes that dropping money from helicopters is a reasonable monetary policy for fighting deflation?