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HOW ABOUT REAL QUESTIONS INSTEAD OF GOTCHAS?

Richard Rahn January 15, 2016

Do you know what type of person the various presidential candidates would appoint to the Supreme Court?

The next president is likely to be able to pick several Supreme Court justices, and those decisions will influence the direction of the American republic for decades in the future.

Despite the fact that we have had numerous "debates" between the candidates, we still know little about their governing philosophies. It would be helpful if the moderators for this Thursday's debate (1/14) delved more deeply into the way they would conduct themselves as president than just asking questions about current events or what they think about the other candidates.

Here are some real questions the moderators could ask instead of gotchas.

HITTING THE PAUSE BUTTON

Dr. Joel Wade January 15, 2016

Anybody can become angry – that is easy; but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy. – Aristotle

It’s easy to get caught up in emotions, to follow the flow and intensity of our impulses. It’s natural… animal… primal. And without intervening with our consciousness, it can be dangerous. This is how we operated throughout much of human history… which is why most of human history was so terribly, horribly violent.

It’s also what characterizes violent criminals.

But it’s not how most of us today usually operate, because we have a choice. Over time, particularly through the Enlightenment, we’ve culturally refined our ability to choose – and that ability is central to what makes us human.

When we feel like reacting with anger, fear or hurt feelings – anything that feels like it’s an automatic, purely emotional response – we can react without thinking, blindly following the tides of our emotions.

Or we can choose to do something different.

THE EMPTY SEAT PRESIDENCY

ToThePoint January 15, 2016

EmptySeat

HALF-FULL REPORT 01/08/16

Dr. Jack Wheeler January 8, 2016

It was last night over a glass of Russian River’s Pliny the Elder Double IPA that I decided to open this week’s HFR about beer and freedom.

I came of age in days of yore, when “American beer” – Schlitz-Pabst-Miller-Bud – was a watery tasteless oxymoron compared to real beer like in Germany or Belgium. Today is completely different.

From Denmark’s Faroe Islands north of Scotland to Gibraltar, I have had guys in pubs tell me they had to admit the best beer in the world now is American. Look at RateBeer’s Top 100 Beers in the World. 79 are American. The American craft beer industry has left the rest of the planet in the dust.

That’s because there is a connection between beer and freedom…

There’s something that Ted Cruz did this week that I dare not make explicit. I can only allude to it, and if you get it, you’ll quickly grasp that he’s not just smart, he’s scary OMG smart…

Let’s go global and see what’s been afoot in the world this week. Germany is getting exactly what it deserves for idiotically letting in Moslem welfare beggars by the million. And North Korea did not set off an H-bomb. We explain why….

And it’s obvious who’s the Hero of the Week.

BARACK OBAMA HAS DELIBERATELY WEAKENED AMERICA

Marco Rubio January 8, 2016

[This is the text of Marco Rubio’s foreign policy speech in Hooksett, New Hampshire yesterday January 4^th]

Though the media isn’t covering it, today is actually the anniversary of a historic moment in global affairs.

Eight years ago today – January 4th 2008 – was the first day many people around the world heard the name Barack Obama. They awoke to the news that a little-known Senator from Illinois had won the Iowa caucuses the night before, and that a political frenzy was sweeping the United States.

As that year went on, many around the world who resented America’s influence found a lot to like about this man.

There have always been voices in our country who say America’s not that different, that every country thinks they’re special – voices who question our role abroad, who think of America as a bully rather than as a leader. But in 2008, for the first time ever, one of these voices was elected president.

A man was elected who condemned America for having “arrogance” and the audacity to “dictate our terms” to other nations. A man who apologized for America and bowed pitifully to foreign leaders. A man willing to abandon our allies, make concessions to our enemies, and worst of all, to make historic, devastating cuts to our military and intelligence capabilities.

For a while, many thought all of this was the result of naivety. But it wasn’t. It’s now abundantly clear: Barack Obama has deliberately weakened America.

HOW CRUZ CAN WIN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND THE NOMINATION

Fritz Pettyjohn January 8, 2016

It’s the ethanol, Sherlock. As in IBD’s editorial yesterday (1/05): A Profile In Courage In Iowa: Cruz Won't Bow To Ethanol Lobby.

Ted Cruz thinks he's going to win Iowa on Feb 1^st, and then compete for the nomination with whomever of the establishment candidates wins New Hampshire on Feb 9^th. But he's selling himself short. He should also win New Hampshire.

Winning both would give him the clear momentum to win South Carolina on Feb 20^th, Nevada Feb 23^rd, SC 20^th, NV 23^rd ST March 1^st

allowing him to wrap up the nomination on Super Tuesday March 1^st with 45% of the delegates needed (565 out of 1236).

Here’s the key: if Cruz wins Iowa, he will have defeated the ethanol lobby. And beating Big Corn on its home turf is what can propel him to a win in New Hampshire.

People in New Hampshire hate ethanol. Ethanol is corrosive, it destroys engines. Go to any tavern in New Hampshire and you'll hear an earful. And they despise craven politicians seeking the White House whoring in Iowa for the votes of a special interest that the rest of the country is forced to put up with – like Donald Trump, declaring “I love ethanol” at rallies in the state.

IT’S NOT GOING WELL FOR IRAN

Michael Ledeen January 8, 2016

It’s always a challenge to check on information having to do with Iran, and the latest round of rumors and this information has confirmed the rule.

There were stories that the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, had been rushed to the hospital, while the other major figure in the regime, General Qassem Suleimani, had recovered from his battlefield injuries and had met with his co-conspirator Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. Khamenei’s health is awful, but no worse than usual. General Suleimani, on the other hand, remains hospitalized. He’s had at least one big transfusion, and his prognosis is not great.

Meanwhile, the Iranians have appointed a new commander for the Syrian theater, where their casualties continue to be high.

WHY DOESN’T THE ECONOMIST UNDERSTAND ELEMENTARY ECONOMICS?

Richard Rahn January 8, 2016

Those who have not studied economics often rely on the press, who are often equally ignorant of economics and, hence, are unable to differentiate between sense and nonsense. While The Wall Street Journal (and particularly the editorial page) normally gets it right, The New York Times and many other newspapers too often let political bias get in the way of the facts.

It is particularly disappointing when a former great newsmagazine, The Economist, allows very sloppy reporting and analysis on serious economic topics. This week, The Economist published an article, “Indecent Disclosure” (1/02) describing tax reform proposals of the Republican candidates as “exorbitant,” putting forth “hugely expensive” plans before “accounting for economic effects.”

The whole point of tax reform is to reduce the economic drag of the current US tax code -- which The Economist correctly describes as “a mess.”

But the article implies that higher tax rates will always bring in more revenue (which they appear to view as desirable) and lower tax rates will bring in less revenue. For very low rates that is true, but for high rates, it is false.

HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE ON PURPOSE

Dr. Joel Wade January 8, 2016

Look behind every championship team and you'll find an extraordinary coach. That's why men like John Wooden, Vince Lombardi, Bear Bryant, Don Shula and Phil Jackson are household names.

The same phenomenon exists in business. What would Apple have been without Steve Jobs or Berkshire Hathaway without Warren Buffett?

In our own lives, we face personal challenges too. We often get off track or struggle in our personal relationships. Wouldn't it be great if someone could consult with you and guide you, to lend encouragement and practical advice to help you live the life you've always dreamed of living?

Well, in fact, it is possible. There are now hundreds of licensed psychotherapists and family counselors in the United States who work as certified life coaches. I know. I'm one of them.

As a life coach, my goal here in these Virtue of Happiness columns – for 12 years now in To The Point! – is to show you:

How to maximize your wellness.
How to live your life on purpose.
How to design and create the life you desire.
How to be a catalyst for others' growth and development.
How to be a better spouse (or partner) and effective parent.

Let me begin by explaining a little bit about what I do...

REAGAN’S JOKE ON US

ToThePoint January 8, 2016

HALF-FULL REPORT 01/01/16

Dr. Jack Wheeler January 1, 2016

Welcome to 2016 – the last year of the worst presidency in American history. With all the doom and gloom being predicted that 2016 will be even more ghastly than 2015, it’s time to cheer up!

Recall the advice given to the fellow who was sad and depressed: “My friend said, ‘Cheer up! Things could be worse!’ So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse!”

First the bad news about 2016, then the good.

The bad news is that it is going to get worse. 2016 will be the Year of Zero Unleashed. His hatred of America will be fully vented in an explosion of vindictiveness wreaked upon us, an orgy of fascist rules, executive orders, and flat-out lawlessness designed to abolish our freedom, ruin our economy, decimate our culture, and surrender to our enemies.

So what could possibly be the good news? It’s that we can look upon the Year of Zero Unleashed not as a disaster, but as an opportunity. A historically unique one to fundamentally re-transform America to the free country it once was. Here’s how.

THE CRUZ SLINGSHOT

Dr. Jack Wheeler January 1, 2016

There is a famous scene in the insanely funny 2006 movie Talledega Nights, where racecar driver Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) performs his Shake N Bake move: Slingshot engaged!

As all NASCAR fans know, the “slingshot” is a real racing tactic. Here’s professional racecar driver Alex Lloyd describing the maneuver:

“We all know about the Ricky Bobby ‘Shake N' Bake’ slingshot. And making use of the draft to complete a pass is crucial. The longer you can stay in the wake of the car you are pursuing the better. With each second your momentum gains and you pick up speed. Then at the very last moment pop out and use the slingshot to assist in getting you alongside and passing your competitor.”

Now let’s apply that strategy to Ted Cruz in his race for the GOP presidential nomination.

THE MALTHUSIAN MISANTHROPY OF THE LEFT

Matt Ridley January 1, 2016

For more than 200 years, a disturbingly vicious thread has run through Western history, based on biology and justifying cruelty on an almost unimaginable scale.

It centers on the question of how to control human population growth and it answers that question by saying we must be cruel to be kind, that ends justify means. It is still around today; and it could not be more wrong. It is the continuing misuse of Malthus.

According to his epitaph in Bath Abbey, the Rev Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), author of An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), was noted for “his sweetness of temper, urbanity of manners and tenderness of heart, his benevolence and his piety.” Yet his ideas have justified some of the greatest crimes in history.

By saying that, if people could not be persuaded to delay marriage, we would have to encourage famine and “reprobate specific remedies for ravaging diseases,” he inadvertently gave birth to a series of heartless policies — social Darwinism, eugenics, the Holocaust, India’s forced sterilizations, China’s one-child policy – and remains a hero to the environmental movement to this day.

Al Gore, for example, could be a poster child for Malthusian misanthropy.

MUD HUTS AND CIVILIZATION

James Delingpole January 1, 2016

I just started a Twitter campaign called #Rhodesmustrise. It’s in response to the lunacy currently embroiling the most revered and distinguished university on our planet – Oxford University.

That would be the #rhodesmustfall campaign for the removal from Oxford’s Oriel College of a statue of one of its benefactors Cecil Rhodes. Below is the letter that Oriel College should have written in response.

Dear race-hustling grievance mongers of Rhodes Must Fall:

Cecil Rhodes’s generous bequest has contributed greatly to the comfort and wellbeing of many generations of Oxford students – a good many of them, dare we say it, better, brighter and more deserving than you.

Oxford, let us remind you, is the world’s second oldest extant university. Scholars have been studying here since at least the 11th century. We’ve played a major part in the invention of Western civilization, from the 12th century intellectual renaissance through the Enlightenment and beyond.

And what were your ancestors doing in that period? Living in mud huts, mainly. Sure we’ll concede you the short-lived Southern African civilization of Great Zimbabwe. But let’s be brutally honest here. The contribution of the Bantu tribes to modern civilization has been near to zilch.

You’ll probably say that’s “racist.” But it’s what we here at Oxford prefer to call “true.”

DOES SAUDI ARABIA HAVE A FUTURE?

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard January 1, 2016

Saudi Arabia is burning through foreign reserves at an unsustainable rate and may be forced to give up its prized dollar exchange peg as the oil slump Dr.ags on, the country’s former reserve chief has warned.

“If anything happens to the riyal exchange peg, the consequences will be dramatic. There will be a serious loss of confidence,” said Khalid Alsweilem, the former head of asset management at the Saudi central bank (SAMA).

Dr. Alsweilem, now at Harvard University's Belfer Centre, said the Saudi authorities have taken a big gamble by flooding the world with oil to gain market share and drive out rivals. “The thinking that lower oil prices will bring down the US oil industry is just nonsense and will not work.”

The dollar peg has been the anchor of Saudi economic policy and credibility for over three decades. A forced devaluation would heighten fears that the crisis is spinning out of political control, further enflaming disputes within the royal family.

The crisis is getting so out of control that some international observers are speculating that Saudi Arabia might not have much of a future at all.

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