EUROPE’S VAT EXPERIENCE: VAT Rates Start Low, Rise; Income Tax Rates Remain High.
Archive for 2010
April 15, 2010
ESCAPED INMATES dress as sheep.
A MESSAGE FROM TODAY’S FORGOTTEN MAN: “My patience and pocketbook are reaching the breaking point. I am not for equal outcomes regardless of effort. I’m tired of being the mule.”
READER RICHARD NOIRET sends this Tea Party picture from Northville, Michigan.
Meanwhile, a reader emails:
My brother told that me that he will be attending a tea party today in Henderson, Kentucky. I asked him to record the event by taking pictures. I also suggested that he use his video cam to interview infiltrators.
I seem to remember that you asked tea partiers to keep you informed about the events. If it was you, would you please tell us what to do? If not, would you please tell us how to proceed?
Yes, send your tea party reports — including reports of “crashers” — to PJTV.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Donald Gately sends this picture of tea partiers starting to gather in Chicago.
MORE: Reader Corey Appleby writes from Pittsburgh:
I attended the Pittsburgh Tea Party Rally at noon today, and was shocked to find it absolutely packed with hundreds of people. The park it was in was totally full, and people were spilling out into the streets. The only negative thing I heard was when people walked by and called the tea partiers “traitors” and “racists”, and I saw no sign of any crashers attempting to smear us.
The entire crowd seemed on the look-out for any liberals up to no good, and several of the speakers specifically mentioned the smear attempts. All in all it was a pretty amazing event, one that I hope they’ll be repeating again closer to election day. If you aren’t aware Pittsburgh is a very, very Democratic city so this huge turnout is a really bad sign for Dems this year.
Very interesting.
ANN ALTHOUSE: Larry King is only 76?! Yeah, I was on his show nearly 20 years ago — which means he must have been in his 50s — and he looked 76 back then.
WHEN SCIENCE AND ADVOCACY CONFLICT: Suppressing good news.
SHOCKER: NSA exec charged with leaking classified info in 2006, 2007. “Kudos to the DoJ for pursuing the leaker. Having the Obama administration press this case makes it even stronger, I believe. It eliminates any hint of retribution and puts it firmly in the frame of violating our national security.”
WHAT’S GOING ON with the Lexus GX.
A.C. KLEINHEIDER on blogging, news, and aggregation.
IN THE MAIL: The Best of Fritz Leiber. With an introduction by Neil Gaiman, and an afterword by Michael Chabon.
FROM RAND SIMBERG: Obama’s Controversial Unveiling of a New NASA: Analysis.
THE WORLD’S FIRST SEAGOING TEA PARTY: Reader John Steele emails:
Greetings from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, literally. We are presently about 900 miles south of the Azores and 1300 miles west of the Canary Islands enroute to Tenerife in the Canaries. We are currently in Day 6 of a 14 day Royal Caribbean Transatlantic cruise on Navigator of the Seas from Miami to Rome. I thought you light like to see a picture of our little ad-hoc Tea Party.
As we are away from home on Tax Day and can’t participate in the nationwide Tax Day Tea Parties a group of us thought it would be fun to have what we believe is the world’s First “Tea Party at Sea” We had 27 people in attendance and there were many others aboard who could not attend due to schedule conflicts or problems as this was a spur of the moment gathering. The folks attending are from all over the US and all walks of life. Obviously the bulk of people on this cruise are “older” but all shared the same concerns about government spending and the eroding of our rights. We did discuss a number of concerns and issues along with how to get involved at the local level in electing candidates who subscribe to fiscal responsibility, smaller government and a return to strong support for the Constitution.
Sail on, brother.
JOHN HAWKINS interviews Amy Alkon about her book, I See Rude People.
THE INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE AND THE A.C.L.U. team up against forfeiture abuse.
INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS JUMP 24,000 — unexpectedly.
CHRIS STIREWALT: Libertarian Sentiment Has Finally Gone Mainstream.
DRONE WARFARE: The Upbeat News About The Obama Administration.
Plus, Is Harold Koh’s Defense of Drones Also the Defense of Targeting a US Citizen?
Plus, from Sandy Levinson: “It is widely known that Obama has ordered more drone strikes in his year in office than George W. Bush did in his entire administration. One can only wonder what the response of the left would be if it were Bush (and, say, John Yoo) engaging in (and defending) the actions that seem central to the Obama Administration’s policy in Pakistan (and Yemen and….).” Yoo and Koh — only two letters difference. . . .
Related: On “human rights,” more “rubes” self-identify.
MICKEY KAUS: “Sponsors, or Owners? Here are the sponsors of this weekend’s California Democratic Party convention. … And they say unions dominate the party! … I count 18 union sponsors, 7 professional associations or lobbies, three Indian tribes (gambling), two trade associations, two regulated utilities, and Oracle.”
CHANGES IN THE GUN CULTURE over the past 25 years.
AT AMAZON, a one-day sale on flash drives. I remember when 16GB was a respectable hard drive. And it didn’t go for 25 bucks . . . .
JAMES LILEKS: No Taxation Without Satirization.
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Tea Partiers Are At A Crossroads: “Thousands of Tea Party demonstrations are expected around the country today, but the movement must decide whether it’s purpose is merely to organize demonstrations and express outrage, or to move on to the next crucial stage of a successful grass-roots revolution — electing a new generation of public officials with the guts to make the hard decisions required to enact genuine reforms. That will require Tea Partiers — millions of whom have never before been interested in politics — to get involved in both political parties as volunteers, party officials, candidates for elective office, and campaign donors at every level of government.” Many are already doing that; more should follow suit.
UPDATE: Related thoughts from Dan Riehl.
ON OBAMA’S SPACE PLAN, it’s Buzz Aldrin vs. Neil Armstrong.