Thursday, July 30, 2009

Freedom Pig fights for us all

Posted by Logan at 11:29 PM

Despite my Patriot colleagues best efforts, I am very much pro-pig.

A feral pig in rural Florida is being hailed as a libertarian hero for its evasion of oppresive agents of the state.

The pig is now a local libertarian hero. Supporters describe the animal as a freedom-loving outlaw with a taste for corn. His Facebook page lists more than 200 fans, like Mary K. Sittman, who asked this week, “Is the pig a symbol of our desire to live free of government controls?”
At this point, a lesser man would attempt to draw grandiose conclusions about the freedom pig's connection to politics and the national discourse on the issues.

I will not. Enjoy the article.

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A slice of delicious irony

Posted by Alex Fitzsimmons at 7:29 PM

After spending the better part of four years excoriating his predecessor’s foreign policy, who would have guessed that just eight months into Barack Obama’s presidency, some of the liberals who clamored for a new direction in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the War on Terror would advise their dear leader to seek the advice of the anti-Christ?

Newsweek, a center-left magazine, is saying just that. In an opinion piece published today, the magazine suggested President Obama dismiss Middle Easy envoy George Mitchell and replace him with, you guessed it, George W. Bush.

Isn’t the irony positively scrumptious?

Not that Gregory Levey speaks for the entire liberal movement, but this particular liberal (and Newsweek) should be applauded for mustering the cojones to break with ideological orthodoxy.

And the best part: it isn’t even a bad idea.

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DC Elected Officials Get Paid More Than State Governors

Posted by Will Frey at 3:45 PM

DC elected officials are getting paid big bucks. In fact, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Council Chairman Vincent Gray get paid more than 49/50 state governors. Wow. What a cushy job! The Council doesn't even have any real authority, since DC laws are subject to congressional approval anyway.

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The School Without Walls re-opens today.

Posted by W. Hunter Patterson at 9:51 AM

The DC public school system's most passive attempt to prove how incompetent their own teachers are, The School Without Walls (Go Penguins!), re-opens today after a multi-million dollar renovation that both DC and GW financed. The reason it is called "School Without Walls" is because students take classes all over the city (Read: private universities, prep schools, etc) and have little to no interaction with the mass of over-paid, heavily unionized teachers of The District's system.

That being said, the renovations look pretty nice and the new building looks almost entirely made of windows (No Walls...get it?!?!)

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Voodoo statistics

Posted by Alex Fitzsimmons at 1:06 PM

Numbers don’t lie, but insatiable pigs do. As usual, left-wing statists (and perhaps Chuck Grassley) are trying to swindle the public into endorsing their gluttonous spending by summoning the awesome powers of Voodoo statistics to masquerade the most bloated government program in American history as deficit-neutral health care reform.

While leftist pigs waddle through the halls of Congress armed with their magic math, the CBO reports HR 3200 would increase the deficit $239 billion over the next decade. But who has time to read those pesky reports anyway, especially when you have a 1,000-page bill to thoroughly inspect with all the tender loving care it deserves?

Just to put the argument to rest, here’s the official CBO report. For such a scary field as budget analysis, rife with dense methodological jargon we couldn't possibly expect our elected officials to understand, the CBO report is astonishingly straightforward.

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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Don't worry about Academics....

Posted by W. Hunter Patterson at 10:47 AM

GW is the most politically active school in the nation, we have the 8th (only 8th?) best dorms and live in the 2nd (too high) best college town.

All can be read here.

Look, I get that everyone at GW (myself included) loves to discuss politics, campaign all over Northern Virginia and brag about how awesome our fall internships are, but is this something to really be all that proud of? I like to bring up that we have been stagnant in the "Academics" category for that past four years. And with our president's fixation on "sustainability" and falling asleep at university functions, don't expect GW to move up any of the important rankings anytime soon.

Update:
HuffPo has a list of the most "green" universities, guess who is not on the list?

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Ridiculous.

Posted by Will Frey at 9:30 PM

Apparently, the summer reading for the incoming freshman class was a book about global warming written by Thomas Friedman.


Don't get me wrong, forcing inviting naive frosh to read a book isn't all that bad. But at least make it a classic book - one that might be of practical use for incoming students who have willingly agreed to throw $200,000 of their parents' cash into a giant, bottomless money hole.

I know, I know. Why should I be surprised? It's only natural that this book was chosen, since the University is trying to pander to the sensibilities of smelly self-hating fascistic "sustainability" whores who constantly nag you about how your energy usage will kill all of the cute little polar bears. However, the most prominent advocates for energy taxation are often the ones with the biggest carbon footprints; for example Thomas Friedman's and Al Gore's are huge, despite their climate rhetoric. And when I look at the green movement, I see a disconnect between those who preach it at the highest levels and those who buy into everthing they say. It's kinda sad, really.

As an alternative, I would like to see Our Fair University give students at least some basic perspective on economics [prior to coast with Trost of course] especially given the current financial climate. I'm sure parents would appreciate any attempt to educate young skulls full of mush freshmen on the implications of economics. Lesson number one: the opportunity cost of a $200,000 education is four corvettes, or 100 Macbook Pr0s, or 50,000 venti vanilla bean frappuccinos. Yum.

Anyway, to counteract the liberal bias in the summer reading, here's a better list for all you sane freshmen out there.

Two books:

The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith
Capitalism and Freedom, by Milton Friedman

Alternatively, if books are too difficult or if learnin' ain't from easy, I suggest forcing inviting frosh to read George Washington's farewell address. Or just watch an educational video about the life of our university's namesake. Either way, it still beats reading a book by the eco gestapo, right?


Notes:
  1. I actually like Dean Siegel. Perhaps this book pick was not his doing? Whoops. Guess not.
  2. Prof. Trost is awesome, take his class. *Also* for those who have not taken Trost, "Coast with Trost" is a phrase used by Professor Trost himself to describe how to do well in the course [i.e. do the work]. The alternative, "Roast with Trost," would only be a possibility if one does not put in the time to at least learn the material.
  3. Would you trade your GW education for: four corvettes, 100 Macbook Pr0s, or 50,000 venti vanilla bean frappuccinos?

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Why am I not surprised

Posted by Logan at 7:15 PM

A few years back, someone thought it would be a good idea to build a baseball stadium in DC and bring a team here.

And while the merits of that notion are debatable, one thing is true for certain: it cost a shitload of money to build that big ass stadium. Somewhere around 600 million.

And so unto the citizens of the District of Columbia, a tax was levied. This tax was intended to pay down the debt that the District had incurred building the stadium.

However, in the face of budget turmoils, DC now wants to use that tax for, uhh, other things. Anything. Whatever.

Hmm. A dedicated tax intended to make a large government expenditure viable being diverted in order to pay for other things that politicians want to spend money on.

Sound familiar?

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Fall Fest now Grind Fest.

Posted by W. Hunter Patterson at 2:51 PM

Word on the streets is that PB has signed reggae-R&B fusion star Sean Kingston to headline Fall Fest.

This is sure to lead to dozens of white people grinding in U-Yard. I can't wait.

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Monday, July 20, 2009

Poker is not a Crime!

Posted by Logan at 9:09 AM

Forgive me as I indulge a pet issue, but this is National Poker Week, as declared by the Poker Player's Alliance.

The week is focused on raising awareness on the unfair and unnecessary ban on online poker called the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act), which was intended to crack down on internet gambling.

Poker, my friends, is a game of skill; it is not gambling.

If you have a moment, you can send a quick email to your congressperson on the issue.

And take some time this week to play some poker. It's a great american pasttime.

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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Worth it.

Posted by Logan at 12:55 AM

Your Stimulus dollars at work.

(Take a gander at the price and the description of 'work performed')

Tell you what, gub'mint. Next time you have that kind of contract, give me a call. I can do that for half the price.

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Friday, July 17, 2009

God, Guns, Guts and American Pickup Trucks

Posted by Will Frey at 5:02 PM

The owner of a Missouri car dealership is giving away free AK-47s with the purchase of any truck.

Oh, and a CNN News Anchorette with an agenda gets owned by an everyday American. Check it out:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/07/17/am.muller.truck.ak47.cnn


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Briefly Noted

Posted by Logan at 9:12 AM

Government plans 18 million dollar website.

Fantastic. I'm sure it'll have some sick graphics and a baller-ass font.

First Wal-Mart opens in India to fanfare.

Imagine that. People actually excited to get (somewhat) quality goods at low prices.

Americans, visibly outraged, said that this would kill the mom-and-pop rickshaw sales business and demanded higher taxes on Wal-Mart.

DC's police chief denounced iPhone app that warns of speed traps.

The chief also requested that drivers be blinded so that they could not see the cop cars hiding to give them tickets.

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Bail Out the Renters!

Posted by Logan at 10:26 PM

Being a Californian (of the Northern Variety) and from the SF Bay Area, I often follow with a mix of exasperation and amusement at the highly predictable and ridiculous antics of what I claim as my city. Mandatory composting, anyone?

Indeed, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom is one of my least favorite politicians in the country, and god save my state if this slimy dirtybag is elected Governor.

However, I am a firm believer in the philosophy of 'credit where credit is due', and in standing up to the demands of tenent activitists (SF has every kind of activist, believe you me), Newsom deserves some credit.

Newsom recently vetoed a "Renter Relief" package passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. (Anecdote: During a summer I spent working at an advocacy group in SF, I had an openly gay and moderately liberal co-worker tell me "if there were ever a thing that would get me to join the Republican Party, it would be the San Francisco Board of Supervisors".)

Rent controls are the worst kind of pandering and feel-good politics, and this bill was a rent control on steroids. Limiting the amount that landlords can charge for apartments and restricting their ability to increase rents when necessary are terrible hamstrings on the free market.

After all, what good is a great deal on an apartment if no one can get one? DC has rent controlled apartments, and that's great for the people who can get them. But if you miss out, you're SOL. Rent controls drive down the prices for people lucky enough to qualify and raise prices on everyone else to compensate.

Or, if like the SF Supe Board, one attempts to bring down EVERYONE's rent, you end up driving apartment buildings out of business. If rent controls really worked, why not set the price at 100$ a month? And if you can see the ridiculousness of that, can you really not see the ridiculousness of any rent control?

So GW students, the next time you look at your rent check and cry, just imagine how expensive it would be if it were cheap.

FUN ADDENDUM: Even communists realize how stupid rent control is.

A “romantic conception of socialism” ... destroyed Vietnam’s economy in the years after the Vietnam war, Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach said Friday.

Addressing a crowded news conference in the Indian capital, Mr. Thach admitted that controls ... had artificially encouraged demand and discouraged supply.... House rents had ... been kept low ... so all the houses in Hanoi had fallen into disrepair, said Mr. Thach.

“The Americans couldn’t destroy Hanoi, but we have destroyed our city by very low rents. We realized it was stupid and that we must change policy,” he said.

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

What Happens When We Run Out of People to Tax?

Posted by Logan at 4:02 PM

Sometimes it can be fun to fill in the blanks and draw connections between news stories of the day.

Sometimes it's a bit more scary.

I read with interest a story about the declining numbers of millionaires in the DC Area (as well as everywhere else).

Then read with disgust a story about the House of Representatives plan to pay for healthcare. (Hint: it's related!)

It's one of the simplest maxims of economics; when you tax something, you get less of it. What happens if we run out of millionaires?

SIDE NOTE: These two articles are actually using two different definitions of the word "millionaire". The article on their declining number defines a millionaire as people who have a net worth of a million or more dollars. The article on taxation defines a millionaire as someone who makes a million or more dollars a year.

The traditional definition is that of net worth, but it seems the word can be used to describe either. Or maybe it's a situation where not all millionaires make a million a year, but all people who make a million a year are millionaires.

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Monday, July 13, 2009

School Choice Benefits Everyone (Well, Except Teacher's Unions)

Posted by Logan at 7:12 PM

Reports out today indicate that DC students are making gains in reading and math skills.

The most salient passage here:


D.C. public charter schools, which serve about one-third of the District's 70,000 schoolchildren, also showed a rise in test scores. They registered their biggest gains at the secondary level, increasing math proficiency by nine percentage points and reading by nearly seven.
Charter schools, as you may or may not know, are schools set up with public money but free from many of the restrictions, regulations, and union strangleholds that hamstring most public schools.

It's very little surprise that students in the charter schools outperform the public school students, but less obvious is the benefit it has even for the kids who remain in public schools.

Imagine a giant corporation with a near monopoly on a product. We'll call that company, um, say, Microsoft. Now, this "Microsoft" has virutally no competition in the market for the products it produces (we'll say, perhaps, "operating systems"). Therefore, it produces shitty products. Like, say, Windows 2000.

Now imagine a competitor comes along. Less burdened by a stagnant culture and old ideas, this new competitor (maybe call him "Apple") comes along with a great product. And even though this "Apple" doesn't have a huge part of the market share, "Microsoft" has to adapt and improve. They have to take their shitty product and make it better, otherwise they lose customers. So even the people who DON'T use the "Apple" product end up getting better software.

OK, that metaphor went on way too long. I'm sure you can follow though. Microsoft is traditional public schools, the product is an affordable education, and Apple are the charter schools.

Charter schools, as well as Washington DC's voucher program, which puts low-income children in private schools, are benefiting all children in DC, and the results are showing.

However, like any good idea with a basis in economics and proven results, it is under threat from the Administration and Congress, who favor a more, um, anti-children approach.

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Thursday, July 09, 2009

A message of thanks and explanation.

Posted by Logan at 8:24 PM

Hi there.

Many of you know me from my super awesome greatest SA blog ever.

I just wanted to write a quick note and introduce myself, and give a bit of a hint as to what I'll be writing about in the coming year.

First of all, I'm honored (well, less than that) to join the staff of the Patriot. Up until now, I had considered this austere organization to be above my talents. However, now that the show is being run by Hunter "when there is a blemish on an apple there are options" Patterson as well as Will "I can't figure out how to make the font on my blog posts match the rest of the blog" Frey, I feel that the standards have fallen low enough to merit my input.

I will not be posting any SA news, thoughts, or opinions on the Patriot. Inside the SA is my fun pet project, and I will put all my SA related posts there. On the Patriot, I will endeavor to move beyond the circus of student government and post on more general student issues, as well as college culture and politics.

I can't promise to bring back Bill's wit, JJ's intelligence, or Pat's... um, whatever it was that Pat did.

But I promise to be a better writer than Hunter.

Won't you come along for the journey? It should be a fun year.

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New Bloggers

Posted by Will Frey at 5:39 PM

I would like to introduce Patriot readers to our new contributors: Thomas Bird, Alex Fitzsimmons, and Logan Dobson.

Logan, as many of you know, is the blogger behind the strikingly irrelevant Inside the SA site. He'll be filling JJ's role and focusing on economics, and I'm sure he'll tool it up and post some SA stuff as well.

Thomas Bird is new to the GW blogosphere. I have known Tom since I first came to GW; he's always up for a good philosophical discussion, and I know his opinions will generate excellent feedback from our readership. An ardent libertarian, Tom will serve as the Patriot's voice for social toleration and strict adherence to the Constitution. His role will be similar to what Bill Flanigen's was this past year; he'll also be the Colmes to everyone else's Hannity, if you will. It's important for the Patriot to have at least a modicum of intellectual diversity, and Tom brings just that.

And last but certainly not least is Alex Fitzsimmons, who will add a strong conservative voice to the Patriot. He’s the Scheduling Coordinator of Jeremy Jones for Congress 2010 and the Membership director for the GW College Republicans. Politically, Alex cares more about balancing the federal budget than preventing abominable sodomizers from pursuing their insidious vices, and is an avid fan of the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Welcome to the Patriot, Alex, Logan and Tom!

I’m looking forward to what you three can bring to the blog. We’ve got a heck of a year ahead of us, folks!

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