ELSEWHERE

The New Deal debunked (again): "Macroeconomic model builders have finally realized what Henry Hazlitt and John T. Flynn (among others) knew in the 1930s: FDR's New Deal made the Great Depression longer and deeper. It is a myth that Franklin D. Roosevelt 'got us out of the Depression' and 'saved capitalism from itself,' as generations of Americans have been taught by the state's educational establishment."

There is also a great cartoon here on how FDR's New Deal "helped" black Americans. A reader comments: "It reminds me of an old Al Capp "L'il Abner" cartoon strip. Abner's hero -- bumbling cop "Fearless Fosdick" -- meets some do-gooder liberals. They figure Fosdick is earning less than the minimum wage and promptly storm the police chief's office demanding an end to this illegality. The chief chews his cigar and looks Fearless up and down and says "Fosdick: scram, you're fired!". The liberals run off cheering and patting themselves on the back. Another injustice eliminated". There was a similar post on POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH yesterday, noting how feminist policies had "helped" women in Sweden.

Islamic democracy not so impossible after all? "Only six years after casting off the shackles of deeply-entrenched authoritarianism, Indonesians have gone to the polls three times in six months and elected themselves both a parliament and, for the first time in their history, a president.

Great stuff! Lawyers made to bear all the costs of a foolish lawsuit that they hoped to profit from: "Lawyers for a policeman who lost a court case in which he sought "hurt on duty" benefits were ordered not to charge their client yesterday, after the state's highest court called his appeal futile."

A defeat for the drug nuts: "The hemp food industry declared victory Monday in its three-year battle over the federal government's effort to ban sales and consumption of bread, protein powders and other food products made from the psychoactively benign botanical cousin of marijuana. Federal officials declined to appeal a February ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting the Drug Enforcement Administration's attempts to block sales and consumption of hemp foods.

"Children at the Australian International School in Jakarta are at risk from terrorists and the school will be forced to close unless Canberra boosts its security, according to the school's principal. School principal Penny Robertson has written to Prime Minister John Howard urgently calling for more funding for security at the school, which has been singled out for attacks in the past.... The school has been closed until after the Australian elections for fear it may be targeted by terrorists."

For more postings, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH and SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. Mirror sites here, here, here, here and here

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That power only, not principles, is what matters to Leftists is perfectly shown by the Kerry campaign. They have put up a man whose policies seem to be 99% the same as George Bush's even though they have previously disagreed violently with those policies. "Whatever it takes" is their rule.

The conflict between conservatives and Leftists is not usually a conflict between realists and idealists. Mostly it is a conflict between realists and big egos who will say anything to win applause

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