Quotes from the late Christopher Hitchens

By a nice chance, cupidity and avarice are the spur to economic development.
2007

corruptio optimi pessima: no greater cruelty will be devised by those who are sure, or are assured that they are doing good.
2002

Dribble at both sides of the mouth

You will find me to be very hostile to the class warfare rhetoric.  It is not so much hostility as the blatant, shameless arrogance of using the tactic and then thinking you can get away with it.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi praised the Occupy Wall Street Movement and proclaimed herself to be one of the 99 percenters.  This, one of the richest congresspeople, would have us believe she went from riches to rags in about five minutes.  Then, she went on vacation to Hawaii, where she paid the modest accommodation costs of $10,000 per night--something you and I could do every day, right?
I am afraid fairness mandates that I include our President in this sewer trout swim for he too is preaching the evils of wealth and income inequality.  This aversion to wealth and income inequality does not stop him from sitting down and playing a Larry Craig leg hug under the table with somebody who can afford the $38k ticket for the privilege of an evening of fawning.

Well....Long Green!!!!!!

General Electric recently announced the likely purchase of thousands of Chevrolet Volts from General Motors which recently posted record profits.  General Electric is in a losses carry forward situation to the extent that their US tax liability have been effectively zero.  Interesting to note that purchase of a Volt qualifies the purchaser for a $10,000 tax credit.  And interesting to note, GM pays no corporate income taxes.  All of this, of course, under the approving eyes of the administration.  An administration that is starting to look silly with its populist messages and the (C)ompany (ies) it REALLY keeps!  Sixe does make a difference.

If these guys are in charge of promoting peace and human rights....

As George W. Bush prepared to make war on Saddam Hussein, a number of peace activists announced they were going to Iraq to serve as “human shields”.  I never did find out if they carried out their self proclaimed mission.  By the way, where are these same people when the Syrian/Alawite government is committing war crimes against its own people?

Now THIS is a place where Mr. Sean Penn ought to stick his long nose.  I couldn’t think of a more noble mission than Mr. Penn and the peace activists confronting Syrian tanks. Stand up for Democracy and Peace!

The UN splits hairs while Syrian thugs split heads.

Is this what the UN has become?  Has the concept of a world decision making authority to mediate disputes and to prevent wars degenerated into a slimefest comprised of butchers, opportunists, terrorists of varying stripe, and other hangers-on?   It may time to tell the wealthy restaurateurs in New York that they had better start figuring out how to make money without serving fine food to a bunch of savages.

This ought to be enough to ignite the Occupy Wall Street crowd, but they obviously believe unsavory Wall Street practices are far worse crimes than the massacring of innocent women and children.

Back in the Saddle

I have been out of the country for two weeks, but have put together some material which I will post in the next few days.