January 2012

My Role Model, Jenna Jameson

by Michelle Minton on October 27, 2010

in Nanny State, Personal Liberty, Precaution & Risk, Regulation

As a self-made business mogul, a mother and wife, and a cancer survivor, there are many aspects of Jenna Jameson to admire and emulate. That said, I’m not looking to Jameson’s movies for advice on safe sex; just as I wouldn’t turn to Martin Scorcese for lessons on how to be a successful cab driver in New York City. Movies are works of art, fiction, and fantasy. The argument that condoms should be made mandatory in pornographic films due to viewers potentially imitating what they see on screen is logically indefensible and somewhat shocking, considering that it is written on a site that regularly publishes articles defending freedom of speech, free expression, and keeping government out of the bedroom.

Kellee Terrell’s article, posted on Huffington Post yesterday, gives us a glimpse into the type of thinking that leads many intellectuals to advocate at one time for social liberty while at the same time demanding that government intervene in the personal choices of others. It stems from a condescending disbelief in the ability and the right of the average individual to make choices about their own life.

Why the Porn Industry’s HIV Problem Is Our Problem, Too:

While it is obvious that not using condoms on porn sets is a safety hazard, I have often wondered: How much of a safety hazard is it for viewers to consume condomless porn? How much does watching bareback sex influence or reinforce our desire to mimic that same behavior in our own lives?

…I am not so naïve as to believe that if the porn industry were to make condom use mandatory, that act alone would completely revolutionize how Americans view safer sex or condoms. But it cannot be denied just how powerful media is …

Perhaps now is the time for the porn industry to make some changes in terms of safer sex practices — not just for the sake of their own employees, but for the sake of all of us.

It is not the porn industry’s responsibility to teach anything to anyone. They make films and money. We can call them artists, or business people, and though some may release instructional videos, it isn’t fair to label them as custodians of anyone’s sexual decisions.  It may be interesting to examine possible correlations between behavior and viewing habits, but even a evident connection would not make actors, directors, or producers culpable for that behavior.

Based on Terrell’s logic couldn’t the argument be made that we ought to ban films and TV shows that feature rebellious youth (i.e. My So Called Life), dangerous driving (Rebel Without a Cause) or victimization of women (everything on the Lifetime TV Network) lest someone takes them as guidance for their life choices?

Obviously, this isn’t the case. It may seem incomprehensible that the same people arguing for a condom mandate are the same people who would normally scream at the top of their lungs if the government tried to regulate bedroom activities. However, because pornography is an issue of capitalism, of “big business,” they look upon the actors as victims in need of protection-whether they want it or not.

It is not the government’s right to regulate how adults engage in sexual activity; we each can and should take responsibility for our own sexual safety. And, as Jenna Jameson has proven throughout her career, adult film actors also should be left free from government interference to make the decisions that affect their lives and career.

Note: Jenna Jameson appears to favor either a condom mandate or at least some stronger regulations on set.  That doesn’t affect her status as a sharp business lady, but, like I said, I’m not looking to her for safe sex advice–nor am I looking to her for regulatory analysis.

Ethanol Shills Never Tire

by Brian McGraw on October 27, 2010 · 1 comment

in Energy, Ethanol

This time it’s retired general Wesley Clark. The language is anything but honest, and unfortunately very convincing to the average reader.

It’s an $821-million-a-day addiction to foreign oil. That’s $300 billion a year, or about $1,000 for every American—man, woman, and child. In June we sent $27 billion abroad; in July it was over $29 billion.

If a foreign country came here and said, “Pay us this tax,” we would consider it an act of war. Yet when a political party discusses trying to recapture $300 billion a year in taxes, it’s political suicide. Americans pay billions of dollars per month to foreign countries—some of them incubators of terrorism, nearly all of them unstable dictatorships—and it isn’t even a campaign issue.

…

That means we are still talking about a tax, or tribute, of as much as $9 trillion sent abroad to pay for oil over the next twenty years—unless we get moving toward energy independence on other fronts.

What’s the difference between buying oil from foreign countries and a tax? If you ask General Clark, apparently there isn’t a difference.

Voluntarily importing oil from foreign countries is not even close to being a tax. Is anyone forcing you to pay to consume oil? Clark’s dishonest use of language is appalling.

There are too many half truths and misleading statements in his essay to explain them all in detail. Aside from the “buying products is equivalent to a tax” falsehood, Mr. Clark also preys on xenophobia by noting that “nearly all of [the countries we import oil from] are unstable dictatorships” (here are the top 15 countries by import). Moreover, he supports economically destructive protectionist policies; equates what Brazil has done with ethanol to something the U.S. is capable of (see here why the situations are not comparable); overstates the efficiency of ethanol in vehicles (see here for a realistic assessment); washes away the effect growing corn demand has on food prices; and–like most ethanol cheerleaders–blames the EPA for artificially constraining their industry.

Clarity Regarding What the Left Believes

by Lee Doren on October 27, 2010 · 1 comment

in Economy, Labor

Recently, I wrote about french protesters shutting down France and destroying Paris. This is all due to the fact that Sarkozy is asking citizens to work two more years to receive their pensions. Apparently, someone needed to be an adult and explain that it is impossible to sustain a system where people receive five weeks vacation, produce very little and earn a pension at age 60. The math just doesn’t work.

Well, I was surprised to see Ana Kasparian of “The Young Turks” enthusiastic about the French protest. In the video below, you’ll notice that she says nothing about the sustainability of the system. Instead, she seems to be thrilled that these people are “fighting for their rights.” Does she ever consider that the money has to come from somewhere, which results in it just being other people’s money?

As with most Leftist ideas, there is no consideration whatsoever about whether the policy works. To Ana, she certainly feels good about it, and with the Left that is all that matters.

Foreclosure Moratorium Would Impose Huge Losses on Taxpayers

by Hans Bader on October 27, 2010

in Bailout Watch, Economy, Legal

“Taxpayers and the federal government would be among the biggest losers if officials heed calls from some legislators and homeowners rights groups to stop millions of foreclosures across the country because of possible paperwork problems,” reports the Washington Times. “The Treasury Department is majority owner of one of the biggest mortgage companies, Ally Financial, formerly GMAC.”

“Despite much political posturing over improperly assigned foreclosure documents, ‘robo’ signatures and other irregularities . . . there does not appear to be any substantive questions’ about the legal rights of banks and investors to foreclose against long-delinquent homeowners in most cases,” said Ed Pinto, a mortgage analyst and former chief credit officer for Fannie Mae (a position he held back in the days before it began buying up and mislabeling vast numbers of subprime mortgage loans, leading to its current taxpayer bailout).

A moratorium would also impose huge losses on investors and retired people.  As noted earlier, if your 401(K) has shrunken recently, it may be due to falling bank stocks, like Bank of America stock, which has fallen from over $19 a share to less than $12 a share over the last six months.   Many if not most 401(K)s indirectly own Bank of America stock, through their mutual fund holdings.  Its stock value has fallen due to the possibility that paperwork errors and securitization may thwart repossession of homes though foreclosure.   Law professor Richard Epstein says a halt to foreclosures would be a disaster for “prudent borrowers and lenders,” while AOL’s Marty Robins says it would delay “economic recovery” and increase mortgage “interest rates.”  A news story illustrated the negative ripple effects of halting foreclosures.  Bank of America also reported a $10 billion loss due to restrictions on debit cards contained in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, restrictions that will also harm consumers.

Morning Media Summary

by Lee Doren on October 27, 2010

in Economy, Energy, Environment, International, Legal, Personal Liberty, Regulation, Trade

Tech:

Free E-Books, With a Catch – Advertising:
“Barnes & Noble may kick off a fresh price war today for digital book readers. But the real news in digital publishing is a novel approach to the e-books themselves: Free books — with advertising.”

Vendors closing in on 1Gbps using DSL:
“DSL vendors are using a variety of methods such as bonding several copper lines, creating virtual ones and using advanced noise cancellation to increase broadband over copper to several hundred megabits per second.”

Look like its the end of the line for LimeWire:
“A federal judge has issued an injunction on LimeWire for copyright infringement and unfair competition. The music industry had claimed the infringement against the Lime Group which owns LimeWire back in May. LimeWire has issued an official statement on their blog today with more details. The biggest change is that they have to disable the following functionality as well as distribution of the client immediately.”

Inside Google’s Anti-Malware Operation:
“A Google malware researcher gave a rare peek inside the company’s massive anti-malware and anti-phishing efforts at the SecTor conference here, and the data that the company has gathered shows that the attackers who make it their business to infect sites and exploit users are adapting their tactics very quickly and creatively to combat the efforts of Google and others.”

This is the real reason the White iPhone 4 is delayed:
“There have been numerous reasons why the White iPhone 4 may be delayed with one reason being the color mismatch between the home button and the body. Well this time there is another reason. A source has told CultofMac that the reason for the delay is a light leakage issue caused by the case being clear. Light from the case leaks into pictures taken by the back and front camera on the White iPhone 4 causing distorted pictures. This problem is non-existent on the Black iPhone 4 because of its already black case so Apple has been looking for a solution to this problem thus the delay of the White iPhone 4 till spring of next year.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

Natural Gas Stirs Hope and Fear in Pennsylvania:
“Along the narrow two-lane roads that wind through Washington County in southwestern Pennsylvania, there is little sign that the surrounding pastures and hay bales, barns, homes, and children’s swing sets all are sitting on one of the largest reservoirs of natural gas in the world.”

Insurance / Gambling:

Paul the Octopus, Prophet for Online Sports Betting, Died in German Aquarium:
“German gambling laws do little to prevent people from gambling. In fact, they are so liberal that until recently, an octopus called Paul had been wagering its lunch against his ability to pick the winners.”

Health / Safety:

Cholera kills E. coli, salmonella:
“Cholera bacteria are deadly to other bacteria that cause gastrointestinal illness — a finding that may provide clues about how cholera survives between epidemics.”

Health Care Vote Puts Democrats on Defensive:
“At the start of their debate here last week, the Republican challenger for Congress, State Senator Robert Hurt, paused only long enough to thank the League of Women Voters before ripping into Representative Tom Perriello for voting for “government-run health care.” Mr. Hurt returned to the topic seven times over the next hour, despite being asked only once.”

Caffeine and Alcohol Drink Is Potent Mix for Young:
“Mixing alcohol and caffeine is hardly a new concept, but a rash of cases involving students and others who landed at hospitals after drinking beverages that combine the two in a single large can has alarmed college and health officials around the country.”

Cows Work Overnight to Create Milk That May Help Insomniacs Sleep:
“A herd of 1,400 cows is being milked between the hours of 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. under the theory that they will produce more sleep inducing melatonin in their milk at a time when they are usually lying down in the dark.”

Economics:

China, US closer to G20 deal on trade imbalances:
“China and the United States have reached the basis for an agreement at next month’s Group of 20 summit on setting targets to rein in global trade imbalances, a report said Wednesday.”

Corrected – Puerto Rico unveils tax cuts to reignite economy:
“Puerto Rico’s governor on Monday announced plans to cut business and income taxes by more than a $1 billion annually over the next seven years in an attempt to jumpstart the U.S. territory’s economy.”

Home Prices Fell in August, Hovering Near Recent Lows:
“Prices of U.S. single-family homes fell for a second straight month in August, hovering around recent lows after the expiration of popular homebuyer tax credits, according a Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price report on Tuesday.”

Public Optimism in U.S. System of Government Hits a 36-year Low:
“Optimism in the country’s system of government has dropped to a new low when measured against polls going back 36 years, and the public’s belief that America is the greatest nation on earth, while still high, has fallen significantly from its level a generation ago.”

Legal:

North Carolina Department of Revenue’s Demand for Amazon Customer Records Violates First Amendment:
“Amazon pursues summary judgment as to its First Amendment claim that the DOR’s request for all information related to Amazon’s sales to North Carolina residents violates the First Amendment. The Court agrees and GRANTS the motion.”

Study Finds Street Stops by N.Y. Police Unjustified:
“Tens of thousands of times over six years, the police stopped and questioned people on New York City streets without the legal justification for doing so, a new study says.”

Broken Telephone in Court Opinions:
“In my Academic Legal Writing book, I caution students who are writing law review articles against relying on court opinions’ factual assertions about social science evidence, or even about past cases. Always read, quote, and cite the original source, I tell them (though I realize, of course, that many lawyers don’t have the luxury of taking the research time to do that). Don’t let the intermediate source’s errors become your errors.”

Sharron Angle campaign: Reid’s trying to steal the election:
“There’s no hard evidence yet that I know of, but take the hottest Senate race of the year, throw in a few voting-machine glitches, add some shadowy SEIU workers, and mmmmm that’s good blog content.”

Labor:

SEIU Controls ‘Glitchy’ Voter Machines in Clark County, NV:
“UPDATE: Americans for Limited Government have jumped on this issue and are pushing the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Nevada State Attorney General to get to the bottom of it, and now:”

Top Union Official Caught on Tape Discussing Voter Fraud:
“Top Official at NJEA (New Jersey Education Association) discussing what he describes as a rigged election in Hudson County, NJ.”

Transportation/ Land Use:

Tampa vote seen as crucial for high speed rail:
“”Tampa has nothing right now… Orlando has commuter rail,” said Republican Congressman John Mica. He says that if there aren’t ways to get around Tampa without a car people from Orlando won’t use high speed rail to get there. And that would leave taxpayers with a money-swallowing nightmare.”

Dear Mr. Biden: Vice Presidents Were Meant to Be Seen, Not Heard

by Alex Schibuola on October 27, 2010 · 1 comment

in Culture, Politics as Usual, Zeitgeist

Vice President Joe Biden claims: “Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive.”

I believe that Adam Smith wrote a very accurate description of Mr. Biden in the 18th century (before government vision and incentives too!):

The man of system…is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamoured with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government, that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it. He goes on to establish it completely and in all its parts, without any regard either to the great interests, or to the strong prejudices which may oppose it.

He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess-board. He does not consider that the pieces upon the chess-board have no other principle of motion besides that which the hand impresses upon them…

…in the great chess-board of human society, every single piece has a principle of motion of its own, altogether different from that which the legislature might choose to impress upon it. If those two principles coincide and act in the same direction, the game of human society will go on easily and harmoniously, and is very likely to be happy and successful. If they are opposite or different, the game will go on miserably, and the society must be at all times in the highest degree of disorder.

(Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759)

Would Mr. Biden like to also step up and claim credit for the following government achievements too?

Roosevelt’s Japanese internment camps, legitimacy of slavery in the world, inflation, war after war after war, Jim Crow laws, nuclear weapons, biological weapons, corporate welfare and bailouts, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Hitler’s Holocaust (12 million dead), Stalin’s Soviet Union (20 million dead), Mao’s Communist China (40 million dead), Kim Jong Il’s North Korea (body count still in progress), Chavez’s Venezuela (a.k.a. Titanic), Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, the suppression of liberty. I could go on and on…

Mr. Biden, I find your vanity and conceit to be overwhelming.

U.S. Slips to Historic Low in Global Corruption Index

by Hans Bader on October 26, 2010

in Bailout Watch, Economy, Legal, Politics as Usual, Property Rights

America has slipped to a historic low in the global corruption index, Reuters reports, and it is no longer one of the 20 least corrupt countries.  The Bernard Madoff scandal, in which the SEC failed to do anything about the world’s largest Ponzi scheme despite multiple warnings, was cited as one of several factors by Transparency International.

The SEC was recently rewarded for its failure with a big budget increase and provisions in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial “reform” law allowing it to withhold information previously available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department recently paid a Democratic donor to advertise a position for a new bureaucrat with expertise in using technicalities “to withhold information from release to the public.” In the face of public outrage and ridicule from conservative lawmakers, Congress eventually repealed the information-withholding provision in Dodd-Frank, in open-government legislation sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).

Earlier, the World Economic Forum noted that property rights are deteriorating in the United States, to the point where America now ranks behind third-world countries like Gambia and Jordan.  The U.S. ranks 40th in the world; last year, it ranked 30th.  Property rights have suffered under Obama.  The Obama administration ripped off bondholders in the government takeovers and bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, harming pension funds, and non-union retirees.

Afternoon Links: October 26, 2010

by Nicole Ciandella on October 26, 2010

in Zeitgeist

1. Atlantic readers calculate whether a plane would be too heavy to fly if it were outfit with power outlets at every seat.

2. As funding for public broadcasting comes under new scrutiny, PBS responds to criticism that they appeal to an elite minority of the population.

3. How did a Girls Gone Wild lawsuit spark a legitimate legal battle over free speech?

4. If you’ve ever had trouble getting a tape measure to stay put while you measure furniture, the free market has now solved your problem.

5. A new contraceptive gel for women is undergoing early trial tests and is showing to have far fewer side effects than the birth control pill.

Soda Regulations for Everyone!

by Nicole Ciandella on October 26, 2010 · 1 comment

in Nanny State

2010 hasn’t been a good year for soda.

As Americans tune in to reality TV shows like The Biggest Loser and Too Fat for Fifteen, soda continues to bear a large share of the blame for the  “nation-wide obesity epidemic.” Many cities are pushing taxes on all sugary drinks. Mayor Bloomberg wants to bar New York residents from using food stamps to buy soda. Apparently, American citizens need public officials to give them daily reminders that soda is unhealthy.

I have a post on BigHollywood about anti-soda propaganda in—strangely enough—a recent episode of Law & Order: SVU.

Global Food Crisis Forecast; Aggravated by Biofuels and Global Warming Legislation

by Hans Bader on October 26, 2010

in Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Ethanol, Global Warming, International, Natural Resources

A global food crisis is “forecast as prices reach record highs.”  “Rising food prices and shortages could cause instability in many countries as the cost of staple foods and vegetables reached their highest levels in two years.”  “Global wheat and maize prices recently jumped nearly 30% in a few weeks while meat prices are at 20-year highs.” “Meanwhile, the price of tomatoes in Egypt, garlic in China and bread in Pakistan are at near-record levels.”

Drought is one factor in the price spikes.  Biofuels and ethanol subsidies and mandates are another major factor.  According to the UN, “large-scale land acquisitions by foreign investors for biofuels is squeezing land suitable for agriculture.”

Ethanol subsidies have resulted in forests being destroyed in the Third World, and caused famines that have killed countless people in the world’s poorest countries.

These subsidies are expanded in the global warming legislation backed by the Obama administration.  Its ethanol subsidies will result in “damage to water supplies, soil health and air quality.”  The Washington Examiner earlier explained how the global warming bill backed by President Obama would cause deforestation by expanding ethanol subsidies, and thus increase greenhouse gas emissions in the long run.   It was larded up with corporate welfare: 85 percent of its carbon allowances were given away to special interests free of charge, thanks to lobbying that turned the bill into an orgy of corporate welfare.

Earlier, Ron Bailey wrote in Reason magazine about the “global food crisis” that has resulted in food riots across the world, in countries like Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia, Yemen, Haiti, and Egypt.   The crisis, he notes, is caused by “stupid energy policies” in the form of ethanol “mandates” and subsidies, which result in the world’s breadbaskets producing less food and more ethanol.

In 2008, two prominent environmentalists, Lester Pearson and Jonathan Lewis, published a Washington Post editorial, “Ethanol’s Failed Promise,” which explained how ethanol subsidies and mandates are destroying the environment and fueling hunger and violence worldwide.

Turning one-fourth of our corn into fuel is affecting global food prices. U.S. food prices are rising at twice the rate of inflation, hitting the pocketbooks of lower-income Americans and people living on fixed incomes. … Deadly food riots have broken out in dozens of nations in the past few months, most recently in Haiti and Egypt. World Bank President Robert Zoellick warns of a global food emergency.

Moreover, they noted,

food-to-fuel mandates are leading to increased environmental damage. First, producing ethanol requires huge amounts of energy — most of which comes from coal. Second, the production process creates a number of hazardous byproducts, and some production facilities are reportedly dumping these in local water sources.  Third, food-to-fuel mandates are helping drive up the price of agricultural staples, leading to significant changes in land use with major environmental harm. Here in the United States, farmers are pulling land out of the federal conservation program, threatening fragile habitats. … Most troubling, though, is that the higher food prices caused in large part by food-to-fuel mandates create incentives for global deforestation, including in the Amazon basin. As Time Magazine reported this month, huge swaths of forest are being cleared for agricultural development. The result is devastating: We lose an ecological treasure and critical habitat for endangered species, as well as the world’s largest ‘carbon sink.’ And when the forests are cleared and the land plowed for farming, the carbon that had been sequestered in the plants and soil is released. Princeton scholar Tim Searchinger has modeled this impact and reports in Science magazine that the net impact of the food-to-fuel push will be an increase in global carbon emissions — and thus a catalyst for climate change.

In Human Events, Deroy Murdock explained how rising food prices resulting from ethanol forced Haitians to literally eat dirt (dirt cookies made of vegetable oil, salt, and dirt), caused tortilla riots in Mexico, and fueled violent protests in unstable “powder kegs” like Pakistan and Egypt.

In 2008, finance ministers and central bankers called for end to ethanol subsidies and biofuel mandates. South African finance minister Trevor Manuel called such subsidies “criminal.” Earlier, the Indian Finance Minister Chidambaram noted that “in a world where there is hunger and poverty, there is no policy justification for diverting food crops towards bio-fuels. Converting food into fuel is neither good policy for the poor nor for the environment.”

The EPA is now ratcheting up ethanol use, heedless of the fact that ethanol makes gasoline costlier and dirtier, increases ozone pollution, and increases the death toll from smog and air pollution.  Ethanol production also results in deforestation, soil erosion, and water pollution.

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