Exposing PETA's Secrets

One of my least favorite liberal movements has to be People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Few causes are as vocal while being as irrational and their mission is as ridiculous as it is implausible. Trying to end everything from pharmaceutical testing on animals, to seeing eye dogs, is a step in the wrong direction for a civilized society. I was pleasantly surprised to come across PETA Kills Animals which is chock full of data and facts surrounding the sordid goings-on at Team PETA. According to the page, PETA kills an estimated 85% of the animals they "rescue"; seems a bit hypocritical to me. Apparently after guilting the public into turning over stray animals and unwanted pets to PETA, they turn around and eradicate them quicker than Milosevic after two cups of coffee.

Another disturbing fact about PETA is that they have been known to contribute money to domestic terrorist groups such as the "Earth Liberation Front". Perhaps you've heard of them, they are the peace loving, uber-leftists that think setting Hummers and condominiums on fire is the most effective way to express their anti-capitalist hatred. Donating resources and money to ELF is tantamount to a nation harboring terrorists. Perhaps after Iran and North Korea, Bush should set his sights on PETA and ELF.

I'm hopeful that the more press the Peta Kills Animals movement gets, such as the billboards in Times Square and Hollywood, the less mindless bandwagon participation the nation will give PETA, inspired by mindless celebrities who lead the charge. That being said, I'm going to go eat a steak.

Lottery for NC

Lucky NC will join the rest of its east coast peers with a state run game of chance. A large majority of the populace here believes that the government getting involved with gambling is a good idea. Here' my opinion: I think gambling is great, as long as the state has nothing to do with it.

So what do we have here...basically another form of revenue generation for the state. Here's a craaaazy idea - why not allow private gambling (casinos) in specified areas to be permitted? That way you could tax the living hell out of the earnings (of the gamblers and the casinos) and get the same revenue at the end of the day. Hey, "I got 'n idea'r" why not ear mark all of the casino tax revenue for education, just like the lottery (hah), and there ya go. All of the revenues, without a new government dept of gambling. And guess what, instead of the revenues coming from the poor and the old, the revenues would come from city dwellers with large disposable incomes.

Oh well, I can't say that I am heartbroken that we now have a lottery. God knows after we passed "Amendment One" on the grounds that everyone else is doing it, a lottery couldn't be far behind. The truth of the lottery is that government will grow, and the poor and the old will pay for most of that growth. Nobody has a gun to their head, so cheers to the new NC lottery.

It's Easy Spending Other People's Money

The Cato Institute makes an interesting observation:

There's no reason why money spent on natural-disaster relief should not compete with spending in other areas of government. If the relief spending is truly more necessary than other programs in the budget, then those less essential programs should be pared back to make room for it. Congress does not seem concerned about how the federal government (read: taxpayers) is going to pay for any of this. Yet now is exactly the time to figure that out. Charity does require sacrifice, even from big-spending politicians using other people's money for charitable purposes.

Sadly, the truly fiscally-conservative wing of the Republican Party no longer exists; there will be no cutbacks to compensate for Katrina.