Mark Perry over at Carpe Diem continues to deliver the goods. The most recent is his post where he links to an Economics Literacy Test. This is a test administered in 1998 by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve. There are 13 questions on the test. Each question is multiple choice.
I took the test and finished in nearly 5 minutes; maybe a little more.
As an FYI, the average score for the test’s 404 participants was 45%.
I scored 92.3%. 12 out of 13.
Posted in Economics, Education
Tagged Economics Literacy Test, Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Yikes!
In Wisconsin, a properly elected Senate passed a bill that a properly elected State Assembly had also passed. Then, a properly elected Governor signed said properly passed bill into law.
The reaction from the far left at the time:
They are showing that citizenship is rooted in the willingness to listen to one’s opponents and to find shared solutions. The governor’s refusal to do the same shows his aim to rule by executive fiat. He is setting himself up as a notorious adversary of the democratic process.
I love it. Rule by fiat. Hardly. Walker signed a bill into law that was passed by the Senate AND the Assembly. Adversary of the democratic process? Hardly. It’s just that in this case, democracy delivered a solution that doesn’t agree with the hard left wing segment of the Democrat party.
Now, here in Carolina.
A properly elected Senate passes a bill that was also passed by a properly elected House. Then, a properly elected Governor vetoes the bill.
Said governor complains that life isn’t fair.
Said Governor then signs an executive order to get what she wanted the whole time:
RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Bev Perdue signed an executive order Friday to extend federal unemployment insurance benefits for thousands of North Carolina residents amid a battle with Republican lawmakers, who tied the extension to the state budget bill.
In April, the Republican majority in the General Assembly passed a bill to extend the federally funded benefits for up to 20 weeks…
The liberal hard left?
Perdue’s press secretary Chris Mackey said the governor gave “Republican leaders the chance to do the right thing and they didn’t. So, she found another solution.”
So, the lesson here, is that when “the right thing” and “other solutions” involve those things held most dear to the Leftist, fiat [using the right definition of the word] is fine; noble.
But, BUT, when a centrist republican follows the rule of law and signs a legally passed bill, he is called a ruler by fiat [using the Leftist’s version of the word].
Funny world, that.
What is the difference between this:
And this:
To me, it might be that one guy campaigns on family values and the other doesn’t. That makes it irony or hypocrisy. Or it might be that one guy actually think that family values are meaningful enough to run on and that what we have is a Tragic story in the failures of mankind. Or maybe its that one guy knows enough to resign and the other doesn’t.
Open thread- What do YOU think?
Posted in Idiots on Parade, Politics: National
Tagged Anthony Weiner, Chris Lee, Human Flaws, Men Are Pigs, Politics
The middle class. The Great MC.
What is it, how is it defined? Is it growing? Shrinking? Is it, more importantly, being exploited by the rich and the powerful to enable their largess?
Is Obama right? Is it true, in fact, that the folks-the “Us”- are being used and manipulated in some grand game to keep the rich richer?
For me, the rhetoric needs substance; needs some form of validation. There has to be some means by which the idea has a backdrop to judge the truth. There has to be a definition of the middle class that we can use to see if, in fact, what is being said is true. Or not true. And for me, it comes down to two things:
So, let’s take a look:
I just went upstairs to change clothes; I’m going to mow the lawn.
When I came down, my son had paused the Cubs game so that he could go to the bathroom.
My son is 5.
When I was 5 I didn’t have cable, couldn’t watch Cubs games and certainly had to wait until they changed sides to take a leak.
I think life is like baseball. Which makes it pretty hard to day that we don’t have it way WAY better today than we did 37 years ago.
Think government isn’t broken?
Think government can fix all our problems?
Even if it can’t fix ’em ALL, folks STILL think that government can generally do better than the public sector can do. Why this is true baffles me. Some folks claim that corruption reigns supreme in the private sector and is therefore blemished. Other folks think that profit reigns supreme in the private sector [and I think it does] and THAT makes the system inefficient.
Whatever it is, the idea that government can “do better than the private sector is one of the deepest misguided beliefs in human thinking. The government CAN’T operate more efficiently than the private sector.
And here is proof via Coyote Blog.
For a few years, Mike Haege’s sister lived in north Minneapolis. He knows the neighborhood at least a little bit, and when a tornado tore through the area on Sunday, May 22, he took notice.
On the news he saw trees strewn about lawns and streets. Then inspiration struck. He wanted to help. His schedule for Monday, May 23, was wide open. And, since he operates Custom Cut, a tree trimming business here, he figured his services could be put to good use.
Now check this out:
Posted in Government, Liberty, Politics: National, States Behaving Badly
Tagged Abuse of Power, Leftist, Liberal, Minnesota, Regulation
We all know how to mitigate risks. We do it everyday in our everyday life.
We drive a car to work, or to school or to a bus stop. Or we walk. Across a street or next to one.
We swim.
Or buy a gun.
We know, as rational people, what our risks are. And we are remarkable at acting in such a way, as a group, that our risks are minimized while our rewards are maximized.
We all do this. All. Of. Us.
So don’t think for a second that business owners don’t do this as well.
Posted in Economics, Government, Politics: National, Rocket Surgery
Tagged Barack Obama, Health Care, Regulation, Taxes, Unemployment
Yup.
It’s true.
Man made cancer is here! And we have to stop it!
Already, Democrat Senators in Washington are crafting legislation that would tax abusive profits that these large corporations are extorting from the public. All the while, their products are killing us.
A high ranking official in Northern Virginia is quoted as saying, “Unless we get back to 1980 levels, we’re gonna see more and more human death and suffering. We need legislation to protect the people from this alarming rate of damage!”
New calls for alternative technologies are being sounded. Taxes are going to have to be raised in order to fund emerging technologies. Whole new industries are going to have to be created, along with the jobs they drive, in order to fight this global pandemic.
Scientists now all agree, we are going to die!
An international panel of experts says cellphones are possibly carcinogenic to humans after reviewing details from dozens of published studies.
The statement was issued in Lyon, France, on Tuesday by the International Agency for Research on Cancer after a weeklong meeting of experts. They reviewed possible links between cancer and the type of electromagnetic radiation found in cellphones, microwaves and radar.
The agency is the cancer arm of the World Health Organization and the assessment now goes to WHO and national health agencies for possible guidance on cellphone use.
It’s over.
WHO and France, scientists and studies.
It’s over.
Throw your cell phones away or we will ALL die!
Or…..not.
Posted in Global Warming, Idiots on Parade, Politics: International, Politics: National
Tagged Cell Phones, France, WHO
I’ll admit, I didn’t find this site so much as it found me. However, in my defense, I really REALLY like this place.
They’ve got it all. Style, content, creativity and compelling product.
I may not agree with their overarching views, but there are some fantastic folks pumping out fantastic articles on fantastic topics.
We are seeing tornadoes across America.
And by the looks of things, it would seem the year is bad. Really REALLY bad.
But is it?
Well, the guys over at Poison Your Mind seem to think so:
We can’t link any individual event to global warming, but it’s a large-scale pattern that may be increasing the frequency or severity of types of events.
Nickgb creates some very compelling points in his post, I highly recommend reading all of it. And when you’re done, stop on back and see my critique.
Posted in Global Warming, Politics: International, Politics: National
Tagged Alarmist, Climate Change, Skeptic, Tornado