Wednesday! Thomas Sowell! (Part II)

In this continuation of Sowell's column from yesterday, he again points out the danger of "ideas" and idealism - things that may sound good, but really aren't.

An excerpt:
If there is any lesson in the history of ideas, it is that good intentions tell you nothing about the actual consequences. But intellectuals who generate ideas do not have to pay the consequences.

Academic intellectuals are shielded by the principles of academic freedom and journalists in democratic societies are shielded by the principle of freedom of the press. Seldom do those who produce or peddle dangerous, or even fatal, ideas have to pay a price, even in a loss of credibility.
...
Even political leaders have been judged by how noble their ideas sounded, rather than by how disastrous their consequences were. Woodrow Wilson-- our only president with a Ph.D.-- was an academic intellectual for years before entering politics, and his ideas about a war to end wars, making the world safe for democracy, and the right of self-determination of peoples, have been revered in utter disregard of what happened when Wilson's notions were put into practice in the real world.

No one today takes seriously the idea that the First World War was a war to end wars, and many now see it as setting the stage for a Second World War. Indeed there were those who predicted this result at the time. But they were not listened to, much less lionized, like Woodrow Wilson.

Commenter Doug says, "One point that Sowell has made repeatedly over the years is that decisions that affect many should never be entrusted to people who pay no price for being wrong."

Couldn't have said it better.

Tuesday! Thomas Sowell! (Part I)

A smart - even brilliant - person does not fit into the 'intellectual' category unless other intellectuals deem that person to be one of them. Huh. Looks to me like being an intellectual doesn't even require actual intelligence. But maybe that's just my ignorance talking...

I love Thomas Sowell. I love the way he thinks, and I really enjoy reading his columns. Don't miss the one today - Intellectuals and Society.

From commenter Georgia Boy 61 at Townhall.com:
Wisdom does not reside in the academy, any more than it resides in the theater, the music studio or the sports stadium. One cannot acquire wisdom without being in contact with the hard edges of the real world.

Tuesday! Thomas Sowell!

Can you bear another column on BarryOCare and the coming demise of private health insurance? Sure you can, because it's written by Thomas Sowell. The POINT of this column?

The only rational explanation for such haste to pass a bill that will be slow to go into effect is to prevent the public from knowing what is in this massive legislation that even members of Congress are unlikely to have read. That is also the only reason that makes sense for postponing the time when Obamacare goes into action after the next presidential election.

Excellent column, as usual.

Chilly here this morning - +37 and still dropping. Almost like...WINTER in NEFL! Have a wonderful day, thanks for stopping by.



PS - Please continue to read and support JewishWorldReview.com - Binyamin is improving, but he needs all the help he can get...and he's finally willing to accept.

Thomas Sowell - The "Science" Mantra

The batteries in my mouse are dying, so before I get in the shower and start the rest of my day, here's a link to Thomas Sowell's column at JewishWorldReview.com. Binyamin has been getting help with publishing and running the site from volunteers, and I am grateful to all of them.

Mr. Sowell has some great thoughts about the handling and mishandling of ClimateGate. I need no more proof that the arrogance and determination of such people is paving the way to totalitarian government, and an end to We The People...

As for politicians, Senator Barbara Boxer has urged prosecution of the hackers who uncovered and revealed the e-mails! People who have in the past applauded whistleblowers in business, in the military, or in Republican administrations, and who lionized the New York Times for publishing the classified Pentagon papers, are now shocked and outraged that someone dared to expose massive evidence of manipulations, concealment and destruction of data — and deliberate cover-ups of all this — in the global warming establishment.

Zey haf VAYS to make you obey!

Thomas Sowell - This holiday season, give the gift of wisdom

Feel awful, hubby home because he goes to work this afternoon...trying to stay out of his way...so go read Mr. Sowell's column!

One way to reduce the wear and tear of shopping at the mall is to give books as presents. Books can be bought on the Internet, and they can be matched to the person who receives them without having to know that person's measurements.

It's Tuesday - with Thomas!

I feel like a pile of garbage again this morning...but the cough has become "productive," if that's not too much information...still hurts, still have just enough fever to be in a foul mood, with a headache I could do SO much better without. Ah well. Got NOTHING done here over the weekend, so spent yesterday with 3 curtain-climbers and an extra-large helping of laundry and dishes. Why is it that one less person in the house causes twice as much cleanup to be done when the one less person gets back? Sheesh...

Thomas Sowell's column today comes from JewishWorldReview.com, even though Binyamin is still very ill. He has imposed upon his assistant* to update a very few of his columnists, and to my great delight, Thomas Sowell is one of them!

Read the column to find the answer to the burning question - How can there be more unemployment after so many jobs have been "created"?

I also reprint here the most recent update from Binyamin's assistant, with a request that you add them all to your prayer list.

12/8/2009, MIDNIGHT UPDATE (from Binyamin's trusty assistant): Binyamin remains VERY ill. He is in need of your prayers and has asked that you do an extra act of kindness in his merit. "Something; anything," as he described it. Binyamin, mindful of his beloved readers as ever, also asked that I publish a couple of articles to prevent "JWR Withdrawl". Here are three: Wesley Pruden, Cal Thomas:, and Thomas Sowell.

Messages can be sent to schmooze@jewishworldreview.com

*"Able assistant" would no doubt do anything Binyamin asks that is within his/her power, believing it to be no imposition.

The Wisdom of Thomas Sowell - "Some people are so busy being clever that they don't have time enough to be wise."

Yesterday was Tuesday - I bet you already knew that. I've been feeling like dog meat, plus busy, so didn't get my usual Thomas Sowell Tuesday column link posted...not that you can't find it without me, of course!

I feel even worse today, but Thomas Sowell's column is another of his Random Thoughts, and I just LOVE those. So, here's the link at JewishWorldReview.com, and an example - or two - from the column.

Many colleges claim that they develop "leaders." All too often, that means turning out graduates who cannot feel fulfilled unless they are telling other people what to do. There are already too many people like that, and they are a menace to everyone else's freedom.

...

People who are urging us to do things to win the approval of other countries seem to put an excessive value on other country's approval, as distinguished from their respect that we can lose by such bowing to "world opinion." Do the world champion New York Yankees try to curry favor with teams that are also-rans?

Time for more coffee, aspirin, decongestant and shower before my Pixie gets here for the day. Thanks for stopping by!

Thomas Sowell on Tuesday!

From Thomas Sowell's column today:

No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems-- of which getting elected and re-elected are number one and number two. Whatever is number three is far behind.

...

What is stupid is believing that politicians are trying to solve our problems, instead of theirs.

And from the comments, with MANY thanks to PB in WA:

Put a human in a situation where he votes for his own raises and can custom-design his medical, retirement & other perks, and on top of that gets to decide what everyone else is allowed under law, and you pretty much have a monster on your hands, one who will never relinquish what he has been handed.


House full of little ones again soon, y'all have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday = Thomas...Sowell, that is

So, after years of "delay," the Current Occupant and His Merry Band of Weasels are going to try the 9/11 killers as if they were American citizens who robbed a bank. Isn't that special.

Thomas Sowell's column - as usual - is an insightful and scathing opinion piece that mirrors my own thinking. Without the snark and cynicism I tend to exhibit.

This is not the rule of law but the application of laws to situations for which they were not designed.

Maybe the punishment will be 1000 lashes with a chalkboard eraser.

Frugal Living

Here are some reader tips in a column by Sara Noel. We've made pumpkin seed snacks for years, but I never had the directions written down...and we washed them, which I see was NOT necessary.

Thomas Sowell has Part III on The 'Costs' of Medical Care. You can find Part I here and Part II here.

ADDED: Thomas Sowell's The 'Costs' of Medical Care, Part IV is here.

I am feeling low today. Overtired. Money...or lack thereof. Mostly overtired, I think. How do I tell someone who really needs my help that I am not physically capable of doing what she needs, and doing it well, along with my other duties...*sigh*

I think the Pixie and I will see if we can find something unhealthy for breakfast...like raisin toast, maybe... Might be more later, but I won't bet on it, cuz My Chief gets off work early today. Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday with Thomas Sowell

So, it's Election Day in a few key places around the Nation. Do us all a favor if you're voting today - vote for the good of the Country, not the party.

If you voted for the Current Occupant a year ago, I 'hope' you've come to your senses about it. As a Constitutional scholar, BarryO doesn't need to "learn" what he should and shouldn't do, he knows exactly what he's doing and is getting exactly the results he knew he would get. And even with his unConstitutional use of 'czars' to help run things, he has to have the help of the CongressWeasels in most of his schemes. There is still a system for 'change' in this country, and San Fran Nan is not the idiot we wish she was...

Thomas Sowell points out some hard truths today in his column about The Costs of Medical Care. A bit from that column:

Letting old people die would undoubtedly be cheaper than keeping them alive — but that does not mean that the costs have gone down. It just means that we refuse to pay the costs. Instead, we pay the consequences. There is no free lunch.

Providing free lunches to people who go to hospital emergency rooms is one of the reasons for the current high costs of medical care for others. Politicians mandating what insurance companies must cover is another free lunch that leads to higher premiums for medical insurance — and fewer people who can afford it.

ADDED: Mona Charon gives a personal story about the costs of the coming health care fiasco.

UPDATE: Thomas Sowell's "The 'Costs' of Medical Care, Part II" is here.

Can you see the snake?

BarryO does not make his decisions about those who populate his administration from lack of knowledge about what they are and what they believe. He knows full well who they are and what they will do when given all the power of the federal government. I have thought this for a long time, and also thought that those who think he'll 'wake up' are the ones who are delusional. Much as I hate saying that about some people whose writing and opinions I usually admire, it's still my belief that they still don't see the snake.

Thomas Sowell sees the snake.


"Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many "czars" appointed by the President, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private businesses by 50 percent or 90 percent?

Did you think that another "czar" would be talking about restricting talk radio? That there would be plans afloat to subsidize newspapers — that is, to create a situation where some newspapers' survival would depend on the government liking what they publish?

Did you imagine that anyone would even be talking about having a panel of so-called "experts" deciding who could and could not get life-saving medical treatments?

Scary as that is from a medical standpoint, it is also chilling from the standpoint of freedom. If you have a mother who needs a heart operation or a child with some dire medical condition, how free would you feel to speak out against an administration that has the power to make life and death decisions about your loved ones?

...

Barack Obama has not only said that he is out to "change the United States of America," the people he has been associated with for years have expressed in words and deeds their hostility to the values, the principles and the people of this country.
...

Among the people appointed as czars by President Obama have been people who have praised enemy dictators like Mao, who have seen the public schools as places to promote sexual practices contrary to the values of most Americans, to a captive audience of children.
...

Those who say that the Obama administration should have investigated those people more thoroughly before appointing them are missing the point completely. Why should we assume that Barack Obama didn't know what such people were like, when he has been associating with precisely these kinds of people for decades before he reached the White House?"

It's past time to think about how to stop BarryO and Bill Ayers and Friends from taking over the administration. NOW we have to work on keeping them from taking over the rest of America.

Do you know the snake for what it is, not for what it says?

Tuesday with Thomas

Our retreat was everything it was created to be, and as usual I am STILL a bit...out of sync. It isn't as far off my routine as it is off Duffy's, but evidently it doesn't take much to throw me out of whack these days. I may post a picture or 2 later, depends on how much time I have and whether I can make my brain take orders.

Tuesdays are the days I read, post, and comment on Thomas Sowell's most recent column, and today is no exception. With one exception. My brain isn't taking orders just yet, and I have no comment on this column - I merely ask that you read it, to get the reasoning behind this Wisdom:

"The courts should not be the only line of defense. Common decency should be the first line of defense..."

For now, I'm getting some coffee and a bite to eat. Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday means Thomas Sowell

Mr. Sowell's column today has nothing at all to do with his opinion - or mine - of the Nobel committee. Aren't you thrilled about that? I DID find a column about that - by Rich Lowry - that you might want to take the time to read. Let's just say that it isn't complimentary to any of the participants.

Mr. Sowell speaks about economics in a way that even I understand, and he uses examples I can understand. Every politician who wears the label 'Elected Official' should be required take lessons from him...but of course, real Servants of the Republic would already know that, wouldn't they. The doublespeak and gobbledygook we get from them is DESIGNED to keep us ignorant of what they're really up to, because serving the cause of the People of the United States is not on their personal agenda. Making money and being reelected is their agenda. Sad, but so true. Some bits from the column that reminds us that THEY DON'T REPRESENT US:

Back in the days of the Soviet Union, two Russian economists who had never lived in a country with a free market economy understood something about market economies that many others who have lived in such economies all their lives have never understood. Nikolai Shmelev and Vladimir Popov said: "Everything is interconnected in the world of prices, so that the smallest change in one element is passed along the chain to millions of others."
...

While this may be easy enough to understand, its implications are completely lost on many people in politics and in the media. If everything is connected to everything else in a market economy, then it makes no sense to have laws and policies that declare some given goal to be a "good thing," without regard to the repercussions, which spread out in all directions, like waves that spread across a pond when you drop a rock in the water.
...

We are now living with those repercussions, which include the worst unemployment in decades. That is the price we are paying for increasing home ownership from 64 percent to 69 percent.
...

Mortgage lending standards were lowered, in order to raise the magic number of home ownership. But, with lower lending standards, there were — surprise! — more mortgage payment delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures.
...

The other big lie is that this was a failure of economists and others to foresee that the housing boom would turn to bust and set off financial repercussions across the economy.

In reality, everybody and his brother saw it coming and said so — including yours truly in the Wall Street Journal of May 26, 2005. As far away as London, The Economist magazine warned about the danger. So did many American publications and individuals. The problem was that politicians refused to listen.

UPDATE: If you can, please forgive any spelling or grammatical errors in post or headline. MOST times, I know how to write according to the way I was taught by mum, grandmother, and a few assorted teachers...but that doesn't mean that what my brain knows necessarily translates to my fingertips!

I love Thomas Sowell

Anyone who reads this blog for more than a week knows I think Thomas Sowell is the cat's meow. He writes a "Random Thoughts on the passing scene" column every so often, and I think they may be my favorites. Here are some of his thoughts for today, which I found at JewishWorldReview.com, but are also found at Townhall.com:

When politicians propose some hugely expensive new program and are asked how the government is going to pay for it, a standard ploy over the years has been to claim that they will pay for it by eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse." At a recent town hall meeting, a citizen raised the obvious question: If you can do that, why haven't you done it already?

What is called "universal health care" can turn out to be universal "don't care" medical treatment, when Washington bureaucrats can over-rule what you and your doctor want to do.

After political crusades for "affordable housing" ended up ruining the housing market and much of the economy with it, many of the same politicians are now carrying on a crusade for "affordable health care."

Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Muammar Qaddafi and Vladimir Putin have all praised Barack Obama. When enemies of freedom and democracy praise your president, what are you to think?

Tuesday is time for Thomas Sowell - "Do we want to become the world's largest banana republic?"

Thomas Sowell's column this morning is spot on about the dangers of brilliant people running things. I don't know about you, but I was under the impression that everyday workin' folk know more about living Life, solving Problems, and overcoming Troubles than any book- and classroom-educated Ph.D. Of course, Intelligent, Educated People with the right letters after their names, having been 'educated' far beyond their own intelligence at The Finest Centers of Learning, don't believe that for a second. Doesn't change the facts, does it?

There is usually only a limited amount of damage that can be done by dull or stupid people. For creating a truly monumental disaster, you need people with high IQs.

Such people have been told all their lives how brilliant they are, until finally they feel forced to admit it, with all due modesty. But they not only tend to over-estimate their own brilliance, more fundamentally they tend to over-estimate how important brilliance itself is when dealing with real world problems.

Many crucial things in life are learned from experience, rather than from clever thoughts or clever words. Indeed, a gift for the clever phrasing so much admired by the media can be a fatal talent, especially for someone chosen to lead a government.

Make no mistake about it - most people, most Americans, for that matter, are not dull or stupid. Eventually, by relying on our God-given instincts and following the principles of the Constitution of the United States, we come around, even when we've been lied to by omission or commission, even when we've been somewhat willfully blind and deaf to Reality.

Tuesday - Thomas Sowell!

When I saw the title for this column, I almost went against Pixie Place Tradition and skipped Sowell's column for today, replacing it with the always-enjoyable Mark Steyn or a video about Yom Kippur. Then I read the first couple paragraphs, and I have to post it. Despite the subject being FAR from anything in my personal life today, Sowell's writing and point of view have value.

This, for instance:

Among the things you need to know about a particular college is whether it has a real curriculum or just a smorgasbord of courses, so that it is possible to graduate knowing nothing about history, economics or science, for example. Some of the most prestigious colleges in the country are places where you can graduate completely ignorant of such fundamental subjects.

In discussing "Choosing the Right College," Sowell points to some things that aren't discussed about most institutions of learning, things it seems many people find out The Hard Way. I may yet look into finding it, just to set my mind at ease over my...umm...sneering, snarky (but hopefully well-hidden) attitude, shall we say...toward some people I know...

Second example:

"Choosing the Right College" also presents information on such things as black separatist organizations at Lafayette College, for example. Whether you are for or against such things, you need to know about them, in order to choose what you think is right for you.

I've had an attitude about "the Best" schools for a long time now, believing that giving money to a place to NOT learn anything was an exercise in foolishness and ego. To use the name of a university as a resume-booster may seem important to some...but at what cost.

More:

It also tells you whether the intellectual atmosphere is free or is hidebound with political correctness, and plagued by professors who think their job is to use the classroom as a place to sound off about their political ideology to a captive audience, even when the course is about chemistry or accounting.

Good stuff for a Tuesday morning, isn't it? Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday - Thomas Sowell!

Were you ever told the fable about the dog who had a bone, then seeing his reflection in the river and deciding to take what he believed was a bigger bone, he dropped the bone he had in the river, and ended up with neither bone?

Thomas Sowell's column at JewishWorldReview.com:

While I was told a story in my childhood to help me understand something about the real world, today adults are being told things to reduce them to childish thinking.

Surrender - on the installment plan (Thomas Sowell but NOT on Tuesday)

Thomas Sowell's column, today from Townhall.com, where there are dozens of other great analyses.

From the column:

It is not just a question of looking backward. The decision to second-guess CIA agents who extracted information to save American lives is even worse when you look forward.

Years from now, long after Barack Obama is gone, CIA agents dealing with hardened terrorists will have to worry about whether what they do to get information out of them to save American lives will make these agents themselves liable to prosecution that can destroy their careers and ruin their lives.

This is not simply an injustice to those who have tried to keep this country safe, it is a danger recklessly imposed on future Americans whose safety cannot always be guaranteed by sweet and gentle measures against hardened murderers.

Those who are pushing for legal action against CIA agents may talk about "upholding the law" but they are doing no such thing. Neither the Constitution of the United States nor the Geneva Convention gives rights to terrorists who operate outside the law.

What IS the rationale for giving murdering terrorists more mercy than they ever showed their victims...or anyone else, for that matter.

Thomas Sowell on Tuesday

This column is BRILLIANT!

Some of my favorite lines - single lines or paragraphs - compelling bits of words put together that say more than any 5 random columnists can say:

--Students are discussed largely as passive recipients of good or bad education.

But education is not something that can be given to anybody. It is something that students either acquire or fail to acquire. Personal responsibility may be ignored or downplayed in this "non-judgmental" age, but it remains a major factor nevertheless.

--The great escape of our times is escape from personal responsibility for the consequences of one's own behavior.

--There can be grave practical consequences of a dogmatic insistence on external explanations that allow individuals to escape personal responsibility. Americans can end up ruining the best medical care in the world in the vain hope that a government takeover will give us better health.

--"...there is a small minority of workers who do not rise and a large number of people who seldom work and who— surprise!— have low incomes as a result.

Seldom is there any thought that people who choose to waste years of their own time (and the taxpayers' money) in school need to change their own behavior— or to visibly suffer the consequences, so that their fate can be a warning to others coming after them, not to make that same mistake.

It is not just the "non-judgmental" ideology of the intelligentsia but also the self-interest of politicians that leads to so much downplaying of personal responsibility in favor of external explanations and external programs to "solve" the "problem."