Roger Simon thinks he could actually win the presidency. I don’t know, but an interesting question is if so, which party would be helped by his coat tails.
Fauxcahontas’s Wealth Tax
Thoughts from Tom Maguire.
It seems unconstitutional to me on its face. We had to amend the Constitution to get an income tax, and I’m pretty confident that it would be required here as well. Anyway, as Jim Bennett noted on Facebook, we should reserve comment until we can properly understand the proposal by reading it in the original Cherokee.
[Update a while later]
Want to soak the rich and help poor people? Tax fringe benefits. Yes, this would help a lot with decoupling health insurance from employment, which is how the mess got started.
The U.S. Space Guard
The National Space Society has come out with a policy paper on it. I haven’t read it yet, but it should be a useful reference for those who continue to confuse it and the Space Corps/Force.
Buzzfeed
No, like Al Gore, it did not create the Internet. It didn’t even create Facebook.
From Brain Waves
…to synthesized speech. This could be a huge breakthrough for people locked in (one of my personal nightmares).
Colorado
Why would any state want the rest of the country to determine its electoral votes? Why even have states (which, like the Electoral College, the Left hates, at least when they lose). Sadly, this insanity is probably Constitutional, but the Founders would weep.
A Third Of A Century
Today is my birthday, which also means that it’s the anniversary of the loss of the Challenger and its crew (and the beginning of the long drawn-out end of the Shuttle program). Hard to believe it’s been that long.
Light And Scattered Blogging
We’re closing on the house (just signed yesterday, and should get funds next week) and Monday’s my birthday (and the 33rd anniversary of the Challenger loss), so we’re splurging on a trip to Vegas this weekend. Be good in comments.
Climate Models
When are they useful?
Venezuela
So God was Venezuelan. But the ruling class became corrupt, and wrecked the place. This was part of a disappointing global pattern, as many social democrats, many of whom had been active in the late Cold War fight against Communism, were corrupted, both in Latin America and Europe. The list of such leaders includes Nicaragua’s Carlos Andres Perez and European socialist anti-Communists such as Mario Soares (Portugal), Felipe Gonzalez (Spain), and Bettino Craxi (Italy), as well as Czech followers of Vaclav Havel.
Most of those countries have long since voted out the corrupt governments with which they were afflicted, but Venezuelans were not so fortunate. Not only was the economy ruined, but their rulers joined the ranks of a world-wide alliance aimed against the United States, Israel, and the West European democracies. Just look at the global lineup for and against Maduro today, and you can see it, just as General Mike Flynn and I wrote in our best-seller, The Field of Fight. Here is Maduro’s team: Cuba, Turkey, Russia, Iran, China, Nicaragua, and Hezbollah, Iran’s terror proxy. One will get you ten that North Korea is in there too.
That is the correct way to look at the turmoil in Venezuela. It isn’t just an internal affair; it’s part of a world war. You have surely noticed the reports of aircraft arriving in Caracas from Russia and other friendly countries. And you can bet that the Iranians and Russians are telling Maduro how to cope. You know what they’re saying: kill the ringleaders and arrest everyone else.
Yes, the war against communism never really ended with the fall of the wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. It just took on a new form. And now much (more) of the Democrat Party are on the other side.
[Saturday-morning update]