COLLAPSED BRIDGE IMPLICATIONS

The bridges of Hennepin (and every other) county: "Last week, a bridge on Interstate 35W in Hennepin County, Minnesota collapsed, killing five people, with at least eight more missing at this writing. 'For more than a decade the state of Minnesota has known of problems with the metal holding up the Interstate 35W bridge,' according to Minneapolis CBS news channel WCCO. Around the nation, 75,000 other bridges have similar problems, and 'are rated structurally deficient like the span that collapsed in Minneapolis,' according to The Cleveland Plain Dealer .... The next time you cross one of those 75,000 bridges, give a moment's thought to the way your tax money is being spent. Meditate on the built-in incentives .... that lead government to spend your money in counterproductive, inefficient, and often violent or unhealthy ways, and which eventually deprive 'basic government services' of the funds they need."

The wrong lessons of the bridge collapse: "The collapse of a bridge in rush-hour Minneapolis must be well known by nearly everyone in the United States by now. Whenever anyone dies, it's a tragedy; when many die, and expensive property (dozens of automobiles) is lost, that's obviously a tragedy. When all this loss of life and wealth happens because government bureaucrats did their jobs poorly or correctly, that's a preventable and costly tragedy -- bought at the expense of many taxpayers who likely would have done other things with their money than pay those bureaucrats. Remember, those who might have done other things with their money include the dead victims."

Politics, bridges, and one possible solution: "Ah, say the advocates of nationalization, the state can't afford major projects like this so it behooves the federal government to step in. Of course the federal government is deeply in debt so what the term 'afford' means is difficult to pin down in this case. Either way the federal government appears set to provide around $250 million for a new bridge. As for Minnesota not being able to afford the new bridge? Apparently they could afford to spend a lot more than that for a massive welfare check to a wealthy businessman. The government handed over $387 million in funding to Carl Pohlad, the owner of the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise so that he could build himself a new ballpark. For good measure the legislature also stipulated, in the law, that the measure is exempt from any public referendum."

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Brookes News Update

US economy and the lessons of history: Unfortunately, what passes for economics and economic history today is simply unable to correctly interpret economic events even as they unfold before their eyes. The same thing happened in the 1920s and 1930s
Is the decline in housing to be blamed for US economic slowdown: As the effect from a tighter stance continues to gain strength bubble activities in various sectors of the economy are expected to come under pressure. Again the likely deflation of various bubbles is on account of the Fed policies and has nothing to do with the housing sector slump
China's economic growth is a boon, not a threat: Economic growth has been a process of providing for more and more people at ever-increasing living standards. (I guess this is why our green Herrenvolk detest the process). Therefore the idea that Chinese economic growth poses a dire threat to the planet is vicious green propaganda
Costs and protectionism: another economic fallacy re-emerges: Economics is emphatic about the benefits of free trade, just as doctors are emphatic about the benefits of a healthy diet. This fact should be borne in mind when reading the likes of Ross Gittins and Nick Gruen about the alleged detrimental effects of zero-tariff policies on output, wages and unemployment
Michael Moore's Sicko propaganda for Castro: It now seems that Michael Moore - the self-appointed tribune of the people - not only told outrageous lies (nothing new there) in Sicko, he also willingly collaborated with the DGI (General Directorate of Intelligence). This is Castro's equivalent of the KGB
Obama shoots self in foot, while media praises his flexibility: What a charmer that nice Mr Obama turned out to be. He has now publicly endorsed the murder of healthy newborn babies. I suppose that's another reason why America's Mainstream Media Party love him
Left smears war hero judicial nominee: Americans are becoming more aware of Judge Southwick's impressive credentials and the fact that he selflessly and heroically gave up a lucrative law practice so that he could bravely and honorably defend his country during a time of war
Israel - ratings down?: Our borders are open and criminals and terrorists are pouring in like water through a sieve. Then they wonder why the traffic is so bad

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ELSEWHERE

There are some good comments here about the weird economics spouted by the contenders in the recent Democrat Presidential debate.

A very interesting example here of that the media leave out -- the best part of a speech by Mitt Romney. They reported the bits before and after, though.



It's hard to believe but above is what a planned memorial in Arizona to the 9/11 victims is going to look like. It's in the shape of a Muslim crescent. The memorial glorifies the killers, not the victims. See LGF for more. Even more amazingly, it's not the only Crescent-shaped memorial to the 9/11 events.

BBC gave bonuses of 20 million pounds as it cut jobs: "The BBC spent nearly 20 million on staff bonuses last year, despite cutting thousands of jobs and missing performance targets. Almost half of its employees received bonuses, with an average payout of 1,805. One employee received 100,739. The corporation has also been criticised over the salaries of some of its biggest stars – such as the 18 million paid to Jonathan Ross – as it cuts 3,000 posts. A spokeswoman said: “Bonuses are a regular part of the BBC. They are extra recognition for exceptional performance, for staff who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.”

Former CIA Director: Terrorist Strike Within U.S. Real Threat: "Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey tells NewsMax in an exclusive interview that terrorists could strike the American homeland — possibly with a weapon of mass destruction — this summer or early fall. He also warns that if Iran fails to comply with international efforts to stop its nuclear weapons program, the U.S. will have no other option than to bomb it. "I think the threat of a serious attack in the next few months is very real," Woolsey said. A terrorist strike with a dirty bomb or with biological weapons was "a real possibility."

Europe to shoot its tourism industry in the foot?: "The European Union is threatening to impose tit-for-tat entry restrictions on all US citizens travelling to Europe in response to new American laws designed to strengthen security at airports and prevent would-be terrorists entering the country. US tourists can now travel to Europe without a visa. Franco Frattini, justice and home affairs commissioner, is drawing up plans for an EU-wide system of 'electronic travel authorisation' (ETA) similar to that written into US law by President George Bush late last week as part of new homeland security rules proposed by the 9/11 commission and endorsed by Congress."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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