Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 8, 2012, 8:13 am
One of the criticisms I make is to what I refer to as more of a libertarianish right. You know, the left has gone so far left and the right in some respects has gone so far right that they touch each other. They come around in the circle. This whole idea of personal autonomy, well I don’t think mo...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 7, 2012, 6:49 pm
The current Catholic controversy regarding certain interventions emanating from Obamacare highlights the problem with statism. For an interventionist government to succeed, it can't back down every time a faction of the public is angry at an intervention. At some point, interventionist government...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 7, 2012, 5:47 pm
Most Americans now know that we have a huge debt and that it's problem, but I'm not sure enough Americans understand why we're broke. Everyone most likely has their private idea of what should be cut and what's a waste, but I suspect very few Americans have thought deeply about our welfare/warfare s...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 7, 2012, 5:14 pm
As I wrote earlier, the political class has become entertaining, especially at the top. Today Obama was talking about his decision to take Super Pac money after condemning it, and he said it's impossible to get the message out now without lots and lots of money. This coming from someone on tv...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 7, 2012, 10:53 am
The Left is fond of saying with great irony and smug amusement that a policy they are pushing which is receiving much push-back was once a proposal that received bi-partisan support. This is supposed to show how hypocritical Republicans are and how they will say no to anything Obama does. The...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 7, 2012, 10:37 am
The political class is all a'flitter that Santorum might win one today. What will that mean? Oh, it surely means Romney is on the ropes and Santorum is on his way to upsetting Romney's inevitability. How much longer is this nonsense going to continue? I'm still waiting for the surprise announ...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 7, 2012, 10:12 am
http://reason.com/blog/2012/02/06/ron-paul-psychobiographized-by-the-new-y It's easier to psychologize the personality of those who espouse uncomfortable ideas than it is to grapple with the ideas. If Ron Paul's ideas can be explained away by his upbringing, then the ideas aren't as dange...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 7, 2012, 7:56 am
On Morning Joe today there were several topics not related to Romney or Gingrich. I think I notice a weariness with Republican candidates, so maybe media will stop their obsessive disorder with the primary and look at what's happening around the nation and world. The guests during the first ...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 6, 2012, 9:26 pm
http://armedforcesjournal.com/2012/02/8904030 Those who criticize people like me as un-patriotic who call for an end to the war need to understand what's happening in Afghanistan, and then decide what's patriotic and what's not. What we're doing with our troops right now in Afghanistan is u...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 6, 2012, 5:09 pm
I wrote this morning about Ezra Klein's hissy fit, pitched this morning on Morning Joe when Joe Scarborough called Klein's fondness for government interventions in the economy "progressive". To Klein and the Left, the interventions are only pragmatic applications of good policies. Klein's spin to av...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 3, 2012, 7:36 am
On Morning Joe today the guests were John Meacham, Steve Rattner, Sam McKinnon, Eugene Robinson, David Gregory, Bill Press and Chuck Todd. The topic for the first hour and a half I watched was the state of the Republican primary. Who better to give an objective, insightful analysis of the Republica...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 2, 2012, 2:23 pm
I've written lately that I'm mystified by the support for Newt Gingrich coming from the likes of Palin and Limbaugh. Now, the conservative rush to join the Left in piling up on Romney helps me understand what's happening here. Conservatives are afraid that if Romney runs away with the primar...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 2, 2012, 2:10 pm
This manufactured outrage in media over what Romney said yesterday about the very poor, middle class and rich is a patheitc display of deceit. I don't know whether it's Orwellian or McCarthyian, but it reveals a class of wimps and manipulators. Everyone knows what Romney meant, yet we're having th...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 2, 2012, 7:35 am
I couldn't watch but an hour and a half of Morning Joe today. I knew they were going to run with the Romney "gaffe". So, over and over they expressed their amazement at Romney's insensitivity and tone-deaf-ness. They also brought on the usual suspects from the Left to pile on, and they even showed ...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 1, 2012, 7:22 pm
I've seen and heard numerous reports of Romney's "gaffe", with one conservative reporter asking if this "gaffe" will cost him the election. Romney said he's not concerned with the very poor because they have a safty net, and he's not concerned with the rich because they are doing quite well -- he...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 1, 2012, 3:15 pm
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/us/politics/obama-proposes-mortgage-relief-with-romney-in-mind.html?partner=rss&emc=rss Obama is proposing that government intervene in the housing sector and force banks to renegotiate loans, whereas Mitt Romney has proposed allowing the market to work -- re...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 1, 2012, 12:14 pm
The valuations placed on Facebook are bogus, in my estimation. I know investors are hungry and everyone wants to be on board of the New Thing, but if we've learned anything in the last few decades, it's that if you can't understand why a company is valued highly, it's probably overvalued. In the wo...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 1, 2012, 12:06 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16832359 Perhaps Obama can stop campaigning and smearing industrious Americans long enough to realize that by keeping US troops in the mideast he's putting their lives in danger for no good reason except political expediency, but expediency is no good rea...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 1, 2012, 11:50 am
http://michellemalkin.com/ Oh, I'm sure there's a mention here or there, but for the most part, the MSM are busy covering Romney singing America the Beautiful and Obama channeling Al Green. Our political realm is now in competiton with X Factor. I prefer X Factor. This is just the tip...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Feb 1, 2012, 8:19 am
On Morning Joe today Donnie Deutsche actually made sense, which is amazing. Deutsche urged the whining hosts to stop using the term negative ads and to stop predicting the ads will hurt Romney -- Obama has used and will use more "negative" ads than anyone in history. The ads merely show the ideas an...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Jan 29, 2012, 6:10 pm
From 1/29/2011 through 1/29/2012, 84 single family and townhomes sold in the downtown area of Savannah. In real estate, we call this Area 1 and it's approxiamtely from Gaston Street to River Street. The median sales price during the last twelve months was $305,000. The median Sales Price per Squar...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Jan 25, 2012, 4:16 pm
Helpful packing tips for your next move Let’s be honest, no one likes moving. It always ends up being a nightmare of confusion and way too much work. Plus, there is that added displeasure of realizing that you are leaving the place you have come to call your home. However, there are things that ca...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 24, 2012, 6:21 pm
It's been entertaining watching all the Republican candidates reject the establishment. They all say the establishment is conspiring against their campaign. Ron Paul is the only one who's correct. The establishment might want Gingrich out, but not because he's a threat to moderate statism on the Rig...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 24, 2012, 4:35 pm
Warren Buffett is a dishonest man, and the President has been dishonest pushing this idea that Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. They all know that this is bunk, and it's a sign of quick decline in the political class. Hyperbole and political games are one thing, but this arrogant, ...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 24, 2012, 8:27 am
On Morning Joe today the guests were John Heilemann and Steve Rattner during the first segment, and the topic was the Republican primary, plus Obama's State of the Union address. Scarborough says Gingrich will not be the nominee. Everyone thought Romney did well in the debate and that Gingrich doesn...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 23, 2012, 10:47 pm
I watched most of the debate and I thought all four candidates did well. Romney and Paul were especially strong. Santorum came across as angry and far too eager to start a war with Iran, although he forcefully made his points. Gingrich is posing as front runner, above it all, and continues to focus...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 23, 2012, 4:18 pm
I know -- I don't like it when nobodies write speeches they think will win an election. No speech will win an election -- there has to be more. But if a candidate doesn't establish the beliefs and ideas that move voters from calculation to committment, then there's no deep level support. Below is an...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 23, 2012, 3:40 pm
Are Republicans fighting for this project, or are they simply allowing one man, Barack Obama, to block thousands of jobs? I don't hear any fury coming from the Republican Party -- all I see on tv is how the GOP base doesn't like Romney and Gingrich is surging. Is anything happening outside the GOP ...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 23, 2012, 8:08 am
On Morning Joe today the guests were John Meacham, Mark Halperin, David Gregory, Chuck Todd and Gingrich's campaign manager, and the topic was the SC primary victory for Newt Gingrich. Last week it was fun for media types to push the Gingrich surge and speculate on an interesting and wild race, bu...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 22, 2012, 9:52 am
On Up with Chris Hayes, the panel talked about the primary results, then about the state of the Republican Party and so forth, but then there was a short conversation about the Fed. David Stockman was on the show and he basically agrees with Ron Paul that the Fed has protected the Big Corporations f...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 22, 2012, 9:32 am
I'm disappointed in South Carolina conservatives. On Meet the Press today, David Gregory interviewed Newt Gingrich and then Chris Chrisitie. The topic, of course, was the SC primary results -- Gingrich won in SC. I had to smile when I heard Gingrich say with a straight face that he's leading ...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 21, 2012, 7:45 pm
I was wrong about Ron Paul doing better than expected in SC. It looks like SC is going to break their streak of picking nominees. Who knows how this race will turn out, but SC is certainly not representative. Once this race goes to Nevada and Arizona, Michigan and Ohio, Georgia an N.Carolina, Newt G...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 21, 2012, 4:21 pm
Maintstream Media have inserted themselves into the Republican contest for the nominee to run against Barack Obama in ways unseen before. It's not only what they've done and said, but what they're not doing and saying. Ron Paul is practically ignored by all major media sources. Neil Cavuto on Fox i...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 21, 2012, 8:50 am
On Up with Chris Hayes this morning the guests were Ezra Klein, Melissa Harris-Perry, Gary Johnson and Michelle Goldberg. Of course, they had to talk about the dysfunctional Republican candidates. Talking about Republicans and the primaries has become pablum to help the public forget our terrible ...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 20, 2012, 11:29 pm
The political buzz in SC is that Gingrich is rising and will likely beat Romney. Giving SC the benefit of the doubt, I'll assume they haven't embraced progressivism from the Right and simply want to extend the race so that Romney and Paul are not the only two left. If there's a large faction...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 20, 2012, 1:10 pm
Because he yelled at the John King for asking a stupid question? Uh, that really wasn't part of the debate. I've heard at least 10 times now that Gingrich won the debate because of his opening rant against media. Surely there was a real debate following the rant.
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 20, 2012, 8:54 am
Morning Joe continued with their superficial political analysis, and they didn't show any signs of shame, which is quite remarkable. Newt Gingrich was right about one thing in the Republican debate last night -- the elite media are upping the attacks on Republicans and working overtime to protect ...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 19, 2012, 6:55 pm
As many in Congress and all throughout the political realm conjure up more interventions to fix the prior interventions regarding Citizens United, any problems caused by Super Pacs are being solved without government intervention. Colbert and Stewart, for instance, although unintentionally silli...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 19, 2012, 5:40 pm
We see over and over that Ron Paul is the only candidate with consistent principles and integrity. Perry first marketed himself as a limited government/free market federal ass-kicker from Texas, but now he endorses perhaps the biggest statist in the GOP field. None of these candidates, except Paul,...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 19, 2012, 12:21 pm
On Megyn Kelly's Fox show yesterday, two people interviewed in the King of Bain 27 minute ad against Romney stated they were totally misquoted in the ad and that their words were turned around completely. They both spoke well of Bain on Kelley's show. This type of dishonest smear campaign wil...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 19, 2012, 11:38 am
Gingrich is the type person who loves power too much -- he's addicted to power. On one hand, Gingrich made his name as a conservative revolutionary, but Gingrich is not a limited government/free market true believer. I'm sure Gingrich has a general predisposition to "small" government, which means e...
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Mike F. posted an article on Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog - Jan 19, 2012, 9:33 am
  Here is what serves as a critique of Paul's views on the Taliban, an excerpt from McCarthy's lastest Paul bash: Paul’s claim that the Taliban is just opposed to foreign interference in Afghanistan is patently absurd. To begin with, the Taliban’s creation was a direct resul...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Jan 13, 2012, 11:28 am
http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=5562274737595355150&ids=djoOdjoPdj0UdjgTd3oVczoRdiMVdz4RdjgOcjkVdj0MdjwOdzkRb30RcjkRcPkVdjsPdPgTcz8SdjkIejgOcjgPdzkTcPgPej0MczoRdiMMcj4QczATcPcOdPgMd34NdzkR&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod2-b-ttl-2&ut=3k5iuDNrPnlB41 In 2012 there will lots of...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Jan 8, 2012, 7:45 pm
Commercial real estate in Savannah Ga has been affected by national trends and the economy. At one time we all said real estate is local, but that's not true right now. Below is a video regarding some of the trends and problems in commercial real estate nationwide. Tight financing is still a problem...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Jan 5, 2012, 11:15 pm
In all of 2011 I worked exclusively as a buyer agent and didn't take any listings. In 2012 I will start taking listings again. I quit taking listings in 2011 because the market had turned and many sellers had not yet realized that prices were going lower. I believe now that home sellers are more rea...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Dec 10, 2011, 8:04 pm
http://www.mikefromsavannah.com/savannah-ga-photos/savannah-townhomes/ Savannah has some of the most beautiful townhomes in the country. You will find a variety of European styles, and most are three stories with an apartment downstairs. The townhomes usually have sizeable courtyards in back ...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Dec 4, 2011, 2:40 pm
http://bostonglobe.com/magazine/2011/12/04/things-consider-before-buying-multifamily-home/YBAlehh8PSm8fSz7dlofNJ/story.html This Boston Globe article recommends buying a multi family home in this market if you are concerned about losing your job. The specifics of the Boston real estate are d...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Dec 3, 2011, 5:44 pm
I went for a walk the other day in the Victorian District, and I noticed quite a bit of renovation still taking place. This is a good sign. I ran into a friend who has just built a new home on a vacant lot at Bolton Street and Lincoln. It's unusal to see new construction downtown but there are a few...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Nov 23, 2011, 10:25 am
http://www.8newsnow.com/story/16106011/real-estate-tug-of-war-on-appraisals As stated in the article linked to above, laws regarding appraisals have changed, so before taking an appraisal at face value, find out about who did the appraisal and then assess whether the appraiser is competent and obje...
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Mike F. posted an article on Savannah Ga real estate - Nov 7, 2011, 7:47 pm
  The Rural World Outside of Savannah -- Written by Jasmine Reese    Savannah is a beautiful city. Every year, millions visit the Atlantic seaport, historical district and gorgeous parks. What tourists might miss, however, is the world developing right outside o...
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