Quick Roundup 294

Dalton on Bush Bulbs

(Or: Mr. President, I've got your legacy right here.)

Andrew Dalton, considering Bush Bulbs, has unearthed one of those nuggets of truth The Onion stumbles upon from time to time.

And in the process of discussing the fact that the President signed into law the banning of Thomas Edison's most famous invention, Andrew has reminded me of a news article I scanned over the weekend to the effect that Bush is starting to think about his legacy as President.

President Herbert Hoover, a "Progressive" Republican whose statist policies helped initiate the Great Depression and thus permitted the left to unjustly attack capitalism, was remembered by the term "Hooverville".

As I see it, Bush should be remembered by the term "Bush Bulb" -- unless, perhaps, he acts to repeal that foolish piece of legislation. This is not his biggest blunder, but it best symbolizes his betrayal of the principles that made this nation great.

You can help secure President Bush's just desserts -- I mean, his legacy -- by doing whatever you can think of to inject the term "Bush Bulb" into the vernacular.

And Speaking of Bush Bulbs and Hoovervilles, ...

Kendall J adds his $0.02 to a Steve Forbes article on the weak dollar policies of the Man Who Banned the Light Bulb.

Fittingly enough, Forbes digresses, relating a story about what Bush Bulbs and worthless money will mean to many Americans:

Here's a harbinger of the crisis to come from an item in Investor's Business Daily: "According to an article in the Apr. 12, 2007 issue of the Ellsworth [Maine] American, [Brandy] Bridges was installing [a Bush Bulb] in her daughter's bedroom when it dropped on the floor and shattered. Luckily, Brandy knew CFLs contained mercury and called the store where she bought hers for advice. She was advised to call the Poison Control hotline, which in turn directed her to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. DEP showed up and found that mercury levels in her daughter's room were six times the state's 'safe' level. The DEP specialist gave her a 'low-ball' estimate of $2,000 to clean up the room." [bold added]

Had Al Gore or John Kerry been backing this legislation, perhaps the Republicans in Congress might have stopped it.

Thanks to his party affiliation, Bush has proven to be worse than an amalgam of the two.

Misguided Generosity

Stella over at ReasonPharm has some interesting thoughts about charity directed at the third-world countries of Africa:

Yesterday, I was speaking to a woman who frequently travels to Africa for her job, which is related to HIV/AIDS. She spoke of a problem of what she called "misplaced generosity" -- that philanthropic organizations, anxious to do good in Africa, send over sophisticated equipment for testing and treatment, but the equipment ends up unused in basements because clinics lack electricity or other resources required to use that equipment. What Africa really needs, she implied, is donations of more basic needs: water purification, food, anti-HIV medicines. I submit that even these gifts are misguided in their generosity. [bold added]

Stella agrees, but thinks her interlocutor isn't going far enough. I agree with Stella and would add that foreign aid of the sort that is now most common often even contributes to Africa's continued impoverishment.

The topic reminds me of an excellent analogy by an Objectivist acquaintance of mine from around the time that the tsunami struck Indonesia. Considering the choice between contributing to the relief of the tsunami victims or donating money for the spread of more rational ideas, he opted to fight the more destructive catastrophe: the "intellectual tsunami", as he called it, that has devastated the culture of America.

The Name of the Rose

Martin Lindeskog cites a blurb about the movie that was indirectly responsible for my introduction to Ayn Rand. I haven't seen it in ages, so perhaps it will go to the head of my Netflix queue....

Islamist Entanglement Update

Scott Powell will be starting the next course in his A First History for Adults series later in February than he had previously planned, reducing its price, and offering new payment plans. Check his blog for details. (HT: Objectivism Online)

Two More Roundups

Rational Jenn hosts the latest Objectivist roundup at her blog and Bo has a big roundup of submariner bloggers over a geezer's corner.

In answer to Bo's question: You'll rip the fabric of space-time only if two roundups point to each other. Whew!

-- CAV