
Few noticed that a significant erosion of liberty took place this week in a room in Washington where three Democrat party commissars voted to classify the internet as a public utility.
This means that over the next few years, slowly, almost imperceptibly, the federal government will levy increasingly heavy taxes on the internet. In ways both subtle and flagrant, internet content will be heavily influenced by Washington bureaucrats. Keep in mind that the internet is becoming indistinguishable from TV or even the movie screen. Thus, the greatest tool of propaganda—American movies—will, over the next few years, fall under the shadow of federal regulations.
The internet has been one of the greatest engines of innovation and free market capitalism since the invention of the printing press. The truth is, if the government had controlled the internet from the outset we’d still be using dial-up to get a slow-poke connection.
Of course, the Democrats understand that to control the internet is to control the message, which is what’s needed in order to centralize power. And the postmodern Democrat party is all about the exercise of raw power in order to establish a soft tyranny of the very highly paid whose mission is to redistribute every one else’s wealth and foster the illusion of liberty and equality.
We have gone from ObamaCare to ObamaNet.
And on that cheery note, let’s look at some moments in time that will, hopefully, brighten your weekend.





















Great PR response from Verizon to the Internet power grab: it was written in Morse Code, and transcribed using an old-fashioned typewriter…the message, of course, being that 19th century regulatory concepts are being applied to 21st century technologies.
I have no love for VZ, but this was very creative.
The FCC power grab is unconscionable as well as unconstitutional, but that argument has been ignored since the first presidency, so what else is new? Otherwise, so many thoughts in so many directions.
Celebrity photos with statues reminded me of two other Steichen photos:
https://www.artnet.com/auctions/artists/edward-steichen/merle-oberon
https://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/steichen-noel_coward-web.jpg
Hedy Lamarr and beer definitely seems a disjointed pairing. However, celebrity endorsement immediately reminded me of Laura (Gene Tierney) trying to sign Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) for a product endorsement.
http://kellyriggsmysteries.com/2012/07/laura-1944/
Interestingly, the closed-eyelids of the mask looked to me more like Jean Arthur than the photo of her very young face. The photo hides her more famous facial characteristics.
Finally, as an editor I would replace “anyways” no matter how many ways, but it is a word, however nonstandard.
From a post I wrote a few days ago (http://www.wolfhowling.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-fec-internet-constitution.html). As bad as the FCC’s actions are, they really are a small part of a much bigger, far more fundamental problem:
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The very first Section of the very first Article of the United States Constitution reads:
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Yet, if the unelected members of the FCC decide today to take over the Internet, they can do so unilaterally, no vote of our elected legislators. They will be doing no more or less than the unelected members of the EPA did when they unilaterally opted to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. Actually, that was even worse because it came on the heels of Congress’s refusal to pass just such a law.
We fought a Revolution over this.
. . . Today, Congress does not solely wield the legislative power of our nation. Indeed, Congress is very far from even being the most important source of our legislation. Our nation now most clearly resembles the socialist regulatory bureaucracy of the EU, where mountains of regulations with the full force and effect of law are passed by unelected bureacrats. In our nation today, individuals, businesses, and private and public organizations can be fined, sanctioned, forced to close, and jailed for violating federal regulations that have never been subject to a vote by our elected representatives, nor signed into law by the President. The genius of our Constitutional system of checks and balances is wholly obliterated in the tyranny of our modern the regulatory bureaucracy.
This is a grave issue under Obama, but it is also much bigger than just his wholesale abuse of the regulatory bureaucracy. The growth and dictatorial power of the regulatory bureaucracy is a systemic toxin overlaid upon our government by FDR, and its substantial growth now threatens to wholly undermine our form of government, taking our most important legislation completely outside the purview of our elected representatives.
This has reached crisis proportions under Obama and his administration, who have utterly run amok, passing mountains of regulations drastically effecting our nation, all of which have bypassed Congress. . . .
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The FCC’s power grab absolutely must be addressed, but so does the whole regulatory system. Our future as a republic depends on it.
Thank you for a nice set of photos. I enjoyed the “marksmanship” one.
On Hillsdale: it seems to be an interesting place. I became aware of it a couple of years ago. It seems to be the second oldest co-ed college in the USA (a title my alma mater, Lawrence University, claims though clearly not correctly so). It also holds the honor of being one of the very few universities in the USA that does not take government subsidies, and as a result is not obliged to follow government dictates on how to run its affairs.
Hillsdale puts out an excellent monthly small publication “Imprimis”, with each issue featuring an essay on liberty, politics, or related subjects. It can be found on-line, or a print subscription is available for the asking.
pkoning:
Glad you enjoyed the photos. Hillsdale is a wonderful college. I spent a few days there a few years ago and impressed with the student body and the faculty.