Video: Bowden Talks About The Enemies of Christopher Columbus on CSPAN
From the description, "Mr. Bowden talked about his book, The Enemies of Christopher Columbus, published by Paper Tiger. In the book, the author addresses the objections to the celebration of Columbus Day, attempting to help people celebrate the holiday as a remembrance of the core values of Western civilization without condoning less civilized behavior by Columbus in the past. Mr. Bowden included examples of how Columbus Day was observed in the past, including the first commemorative stamps and coins issued at the Columbian Exposition, in contrast with the protests of the present. After his presentation he answered questions from members of the audience."Watch the video here.Weiner on the FED & The Dollar
https://vimeo.com/141627749Keith Weiner is president of the Gold Standard Institute USA in Phoenix, AZ. He is CEO of precious metals fund manager Monetary Metals. He writes for Forbes and other major media outlets about free markets, money, credit, and gold.Some of the topics covered include: • What isn't the problem with the Fed and the dollar? • Forget about the spin, what is the real purpose of the Fed? • What does it do to labor? • What does it do to capital? • Effect of falling interest rates • What does it do to the culture? • Can’t the Fed just raise rates? • Is there hyperinflation occurring right now, unnoticed? • Is ZIRP helpful or detrimental for ordinary working people. • What is the remedy for fixing our monetary system? • What is the problem with debt never being extinguished? • How does fiat money play out in the end? • Explain about the marginal utility/productivity of debt in lay termsVideo: How Does Objectivity Apply to the Law?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCQpc1lzRQs"The safeguards provided by an objective legal system hinge on a proper understanding of what objective law is. This lecture by Tara Smith, professor of philosophy and holder of the BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism at the University of Texas - Austin, clarifies objectivity itself — not in epistemological detail, but in application to everyday living — and then charts its requisites for a proper legal system. We see how the function of government sets the terms for the just exercise of state power and how confusions about objectivity result in its corruption." -- Ayn Rand InstituteTara Smith Interview: How should judges interpret the law?
From Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System: An Interview with Tara Smith | The Undercurrent:
[Dr. Smith:] ...readers should care because the stakes are huge. We are talking about the law—about government power, about power to force you to do things you don’t want to do. Now that’s a legitimate power. But if we’re to have a just government that treats people as they deserve, that government must be constrained to do only what it needs to do, to do its job. The government’s authority is limited to that.Courts, through judicial review, when people challenge certain applications of the law, play a crucial role in keeping the government limited to its authorized activities. Judicial review is designed to make sure it is the law that governs, and not anything else.TU: Antonin Scalia is perhaps the most widely-known Supreme Court justice, and is seen by many as an authority in this field. What’s your estimation of Scalia’s approach to judging?Dr. Smith: It’s fatally flawed. There are isolated lines to like in some of his opinions, but there are far more serious errors—damaging errors. [...]
Read the rest of the interview to learn why.
Epstein: Pope Francis’s Crusade Against Fossil Fuels Hurts The Poor Most Of All
Pope Francis's Crusade Against Fossil Fuels Hurts The Poor Most Of All - Forbes
“The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.” This was Pope Francis’s summary of his Encyclical earlier this year on the alleged destruction of our planet. The leading culprit, in his view, is humanity’s use of fossil fuels, which he believes are immoral and should largely be illegal.
[...]But if he wants to help humanity, especially the poorest human beings, Pope Francis needs to recognize that fossil fuels make Earth not a “pile of filth,” but a far better, healthier, cleaner, and more bountiful place to live. Imagine a commoner from 300 years ago was magically transported from the Earth in its state back then to the Earth in its state now. What he would see is not “an immense pile of filth” but an environment that is beautifully clean and healthy compared to anything he—or even the Papal Royalty of 300 years ago—ever knew.He would marvel at the cleanliness and drinkability of the water, in contrast to the inaccessible and disease-ridden water he had been used to; the eradication of or inoculation against once-ubiquitous disease-carrying insects; the pure air compared to the indoor wood fires he kept warm by (when he could afford wood); the ability to access the most beautiful parts of nature. And he would marvel at the bounty he was surrounded by: the farms surrounding him with fresh food, the comfortable buildings, the affordable, abundant clothing, labor-saving machines. The Earth that once seemed so hazardous and so barren of resources has become a wonderful place to live.
Thanks to energy from fossil fuels.