This Great, Bipartisan Housing Bill Has a Major Flaw

Another example of how the road to hell is paved with good intentions!

"... the bill includes a provision, Section 901, that would hollow out its core promise."

"Titled 'Homes Are for People, Not Corporations,' the provision requires large investors who build or purchase homes specifically for rental to sell those homes to individuals within seven years, regardless of market conditions at the time. The section’s ostensible goal is to prevent those investors — companies that own at least 350 homes — from competing against individual home buyers. But its end result will be the evisceration of one of the fastest-growing and most promising sources of new family-oriented housing in the United States today: build-to-rent communities.""

This Great, Bipartisan Housing Bill Has a Major Flaw

A UK ban on TV junk food ads before 9 p.m.—and a total ban for online ads—takes effect today. Really!

Once a beacon of individual liberty, the decline of the UK continues since Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher!

How lousy is Prime Minister Keir Starmer?

Such nonsense government prohibitions are a sure Road to Serfdom!

No lessons learnt from the many failed ad bans on alcohol and tobacco products in the 20th century by Western countries! 

Notice also the Orwellian language used like "less healthy food". What the heck is that!!!

"... as part of a wider effort to tackle childhood obesity; the Advertising Standards Authority [???] will serve as the watchdog and enforcer for the bans. ..."

"... From 5 January 2026, ads for “identifiable” less healthy food and drink products will be banned from appearing:

• on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm 
• in on-demand programme services between 5:30am and 9:00pm  
• in paid online media at any time

..."

Global Health NOW: The Struggle to Stop Maternal Bleeding; and New Year’s Resolutions from the ‘Mother of Injury Prevention’

New rules and guidance for less healthy food and drink advertising (original news release)

Keir Starmer, official portrait (Source)

Environmentalism Is a Convenient Excuse for Authoritarianism and Socialism in Western countries

So true! The Road to Serfdom!

The main tools are alarmism and hysteria as well as demagoguery! 

The best example of our times: The man made global warming hoax and climate change religion! Some of the scientists involved are spreading medieval superstition, but very sophisticated.

Caveat: I did not read the article.

Environmentalism Is a Convenient Excuse for Authoritarianism | Mises Institute

Inside Uzbekistan's nationwide license plate and car occupants surveillance system

Is this part of the future? Automated traffic violations enforcement?

How often are these records deleted or how long are they retained? Who monitors?

Do we want government to be able to know all the time where we are going? Orwellian? The Road to Serfdom?

Caveat: I did not read the article.

Inside Uzbekistan's nationwide license plate surveillance system | TechCrunch "Across Uzbekistan, a network of about a hundred banks of high-resolution roadside cameras continuously scan vehicles’ license plates and their occupants, sometimes thousands a day, looking for potential traffic violations. Cars running red lights; drivers not wearing their seatbelts; and unlicensed vehicles driving at night, to name a few."

This Is The Latest Example In The UK's Disturbing Decline—And Is A Warning To The US: Steve Forbes

Very recommendable! Largely abolishing the trial by jury is surely a bad idea and unusual for the UK!

EU actions against food and textile waste. Really!

More signs that the EU is morphing into a top down socialist dictatorship! Remindful of Hayek's famous "The Road to Serfdom"! Terrible!

Apparently, there is a new EU law requiring private households to cut food waste by 30% until 2030! A leading German newspaper reports about it as if it was some kind of salvation (see German link below)! Can you believe it!

Will the EU citizens finally stand up for more freedom!

"

• 2030 targets to reduce food waste
• Producers to cover costs of collecting, sorting and recycling waste textiles
• Each European generates 132 kg of food waste and 12 kg of clothing and footwear waste per year

...

On Tuesday, Parliament gave its final green light to new measures to prevent and reduce waste from food and textiles across the EU.

Cutting down food waste

The updated legislation will introduce binding food waste reduction targets, to be met at national level by 31 December 2030: 10% from food processing and manufacturing and 30% per capita from retail, restaurants, food services and households. These targets will be calculated in comparison to the amount generated as an annual average between 2021 and 2023."

EU-Gesetz gegen Verschwendung: Auf den Teller statt in den Mülleimer "Privathaushalte sollen die Menge der ­Lebensmittelabfälle bis 2030 um 30 Prozent verringern. So sieht es ein neues EU-Gesetz vor. Auch für Alttextilien gibt es neue Vorgaben."

Parliament adopts new EU rules to reduce textile and food waste (official news release of the European Parliament) 

EU actions against food waste - European Commission

The long march into food socialism

Milton Friedman - The Road To Serfdom

Recommendable!

Argentina's President Milei Has Deregulated Something Every Day since December 2023

Good news! Bravo! What a splendid record by Milei!

Bring the chainsaw to Western countries and liberate them from many burdensome, useless regulations that have accumulated over decades!

The Road to Serfdom never ends unless you do something about it!

"Argentina’s President Javier Milei promised to take his chainsaw to regulations when he assumed power a year ago this week. His newly created Ministry of Deregulation began functioning in July, and virtually every day, Minister Federico Sturzenegger announces one or numerous regulatory reforms. ...

We should note that prioritizing deregulation makes sense. A legacy of the corporatist state that Peronism entrenched, Argentina is one of the most regulated countries in the world. On the Fraser Institute’s economic freedom index, Argentina ranks 146 out of 165 countries in terms of regulatory burden.

Measuring regulatory reform is challenging. Argentine government data is sometimes incomplete or vague. How to quantify reform can also be open to judgment. (Does the elimination of various articles of a regulation affecting different forms of economic activity count as one reform or several? What about the elimination of an entire law or its modification?)

The best source on deregulation in Argentina is the deregulation czar himself, Federico Sturzenegger. We used his posts on X and those of his ministry, where deregulations are regularly announced, and cross-checked them on other government websites. We were conservative in our quantification. If one or dozens of articles were eliminated or modified within one law, we simply counted that as one deregulation. (Each law that was deregulated, no matter to what extent, counted as one deregulation.) 

What did we find? From December 10, 2023, when Milei assumed the presidency, to December 7, 2024, there were 672 regulatory reforms. On average, that means that during his presidency, Milei has been issuing 1.84 deregulations per day, counting weekends. Out of the total amount of reforms, 331 eliminated regulations and 341 modified existing regulations. ..."

Milei Has Deregulated Something Every Day | Cato at Liberty Blog

Negotiators fail to reach global agreement on plastic pollution treaty. Cheers! Two thumbs up!

Excellent news!

As I have e.g. described here this plastic alarmism and hysteria would be used like climate change as another pretext for Big Government to step in!

As Hayek reminded us decades ago in the Road to Serfdom (published 1944), there are always plenty of little, obsessed tyrants trying to take control over our lives pretending to do this in our best interest!

Or another case when the cure is much worse than the disease!

Alert: Plastophobia is a serious disorder. Please seek immediate medical help! (Caution: satire)

Negotiators fail to reach agreement on plastic pollution treaty | AP News

Ein Zitat zu lebenslangen Berufspolitikern

Empfehlenswert! Zur Erinnerung! 

Amtszeitbegrenzung wäre eine längst überfällige Reform (die aber von den  meisten gewählten Politiker vehement verhindert wird). Demokratie wird legitimiert durch ihre Bürger und deren aktive Partizipation und nicht durch lebenslange Berufspolitiker. Mehr politischer Wettbewerb ist dringend notwendig!

Die Bananenrepublik D mit ihren über 700 Bundestagsabgeordneten ist ein schauriges Beispiel! Der deutsche Bundestag ist seit vielen Jahren völlig aufgebläht!

"... Politiker: Menschen mit individuellen Schwächen. Und es sind nicht die besten Menschen, die es an die Spitzer der Politik schaffen. Der Ökonom und Nobelpreisträger Friedrich August von Hayek beschrieb das schon in seinem Klassiker „Der Weg zur Knechtschaft“ [zuerst veröffentlicht 1944]. Die Anreize des politischen Betriebs bringen nicht die Schlauesten oder Moralischsten an die politische Macht, sondern diejenigen mit dem größten Willen zur Macht. ..."

Subventionen für DAX-Giganten - Liberale Geopollitik - Tocqueville - Research Fellow

EU unveils 'right to repair' rules to cut tech waste. Really!

How socialist dictatorship and central Big Government grows in the EU! Reminders of The Road to Serfdom! Socialism a la EU!

If there was a market for such repairs it would already exist! Let free market enterprise and sovereign consumers handle that very well without such draconian government intervention!

Federalism? Plurality and variety in Europe?  Lost due to progressive centralization in building the Empire of the EU! This is deeply disturbing!

"The EU's executive arm proposed new rules on Wednesday that would force manufacturers to allow customers to have broken products repaired, in a bid to cut the number thrown out. ...
Under the proposals—part of Brussels' ambitious green push—manufacturers will have to repair goods still under guarantee if that costs the same or less than a replacement. ..."

EU unveils 'right to repair' rules to cut tech waste

Recht auf Reparatur Wenn Elektro- oder Haushaltsprodukte kaputtgehen, landen sie heutzutage meist im Müll. Das soll sich nun ändern. Die EU-Kommission will die Hersteller zwingen, mehr Geräte zu reparieren.

EU-Abstimmung über Verbrenner-Aus wird verschoben dank der FDP

Bravo! Es wird aber auch langsam Zeit das die FDP unter dem dämlichen Lindner der mehr und mehr sozialistischen, totalitären EU widerspricht!

So viel Spinnerei in der EU ist unerträglich! Die im Klimawahn versunkene Bananenrepublik D. hatte dem wenig entgegenzusetzen bislang!

"Die für kommenden Dienstag in Brüssel geplante Abstimmung über ein Verbot von neuen Autos mit Verbrennermotor ab dem Jahr 2035 wird verschoben. Das teilte die schwedische EU- Ratspräsidentschaft am Freitag mit. Der deutsche Verkehrsminister Volker Wissing hatte zuvor erklärt, das Aus nicht mittragen zu wollen. Stattdessen sollten Verbrenner weiter erlaubt sein, aber mit umweltverträglicheren Kraftstoffen betankt werden müssen [????], sogenannten „E-Fuels“. ..."

EU-Abstimmung über Verbrenner-Aus wird verschoben Nachdem Bundesverkehrsminister Volker Wissing eine Blockade des EU-weiten Verbrenner-Aus angekündigt hat, ist eine für Dienstag geplante Abstimmung der EU-Minister in Brüssel verschoben worden.

So sieht ein Held der Freiheit aus. Er braucht jede Unterstützung!
Volker Wissing (FDP), Bundesminister für Verkehr und Digitales

Stop the Ban on Gas-Powered Equipment and tools

The crazy elites in Western Europe have already essentially banned gasoline powered vehicles!

The Road to Serfdom is always present! Authoritarians are everywhere! Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction!

As much as I prefer e.g. electric powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers, because they are quieter, it is an entirely different matter if Big Government prohibits them!

Stop the Ban on Gas-Powered Equipment by Minnesota Liberals New legislation would enact a California-style ban on the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment in Minnesota by January 1, 2025.

World Government Summit 2013-2023 (or was it the World Economic Forum)

I forgot or I was not aware that there is besides the annual World Economic Forum, there is also an annual World Government Summit!

Sounds like The Road to Serfdom! More and bigger government????

Where is the international conference for more federalism and plurality? we need a better conference!

Guess who is the keynote speaker of the World Government Summit 2023? Hint: His initials are KS 

(Klaus Schwab urges new mechanisms to boost international cooperation in a multipower world) Is this not hilarious or what! 😀

From the About:

"The World Government Summit Organization is a global, neutral [???], non-profit organization dedicated to shaping the future of governments. The Summit, in its various activities, explores the agenda of the next generation of governments, focusing on harnessing innovation and technology to solve universal challenges facing humanity.

Since its inception in 2013, the Summit has championed the mission of shaping future governments and creating a better future for humanity. The past editions of the Summit have successfully established a new model to collaborate on an international playing field to inspire and enable the next generation of governments."

 

Home | World Government Summit

Credits: Elon Musk chooses perfect venue to condemn one-world government: 'The whole thing may collapse'

European Parliament votes With 340 votes in favour, 279 against to ban approve effective 2035 ban on new fossil fuel cars and more

Incredible! Appalling! As if the former Soviet Union was resurrected! On the Road to Serfdom!

When Big Government dictates how we should live our lives and which industries survive or what they can produce!

Zero CO2 emission nonsense and the Global Warming hoax and Climate Change religion taken to the extreme! This is fanaticism! Climate change is the greatest hoax in a generation!

"The new legislation sets the path towards zero CO2 emissions for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2035 (an EU fleet-wide target to reduce CO2 emissions produced by new cars and vans by 100% compared to 2021). Intermediate emissions reduction targets for 2030 are set at 55% for cars and 50% for vans.

Other key measures foreseen by the regulation:

1. The Commission will present by 2025 a methodology to assess and report data on CO2 emissions throughout the full life-cycle of cars and vans sold on the EU market, accompanied by legislative proposals where appropriate;
2. By December 2026, the Commission will monitor the gap between the emission limit values and the real-world fuel and energy consumption data, report on a methodology for adjusting the manufacturers' specific CO2 emissions, and propose appropriate follow-up measures;
3. Manufacturers responsible for small production volumes in a calendar year (1 000 to 10 000 new cars or 1 000 to 22 000 new vans) may be granted a derogation until the end of 2035 (those registering fewer than 1 000 new vehicles per year continue to be exempt);
4. The current zero- and low- emission vehicles (ZLEV) incentive mechanism, which rewards manufacturers that sell more such vehicles (with emissions from zero to 50g CO2/km, such as electric vehicles and well-performing plug-in hybrids) with lower CO2 emission reduction targets, will be adapted to meet expected sales trends. From 2025 to 2029, the ZLEV benchmark is set at 25% for the sales of new cars, and 17% for new vans, and as of 2030 the incentive will be removed;
5. Every two years, starting from the end of 2025, the Commission will publish a report to evaluate the progress towards zero-emission road mobility."

Fit for 55: zero CO2 emissions for new cars and vans in 2035 | News | European Parliament

Two freedom minded institutes demand to abolish diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at public universities and colleges

Good news! I would not hire with any academic institution that would require me to consent to DEI in any form or shape!

I am not sure whether prohibition of these activities is the right choice, but something has to be done about it especially also when taxpayers are paying for this indoctrination!

"It’s a full-frontal assault on academic freedom: all around the country, progressive activists are using a toxic web of publicly funded, politically radical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices to take over higher education.

Look no further than Arizona’s public university system, where a new Goldwater Institute report uncovered that up to 80% of faculty job postings require applicants to pledge fealty at the altar of “wokeness” by providing mandatory “diversity statements.” As Goldwater Senior Fellow Jonathan Butcher explains, “DEI has become institutionalized on Arizona college campuses: you must consent to the prevailing ‘woke’ orthodoxy to be hired by a state university ...

But Goldwater has a plan to dismantle the ideological domination of DEI programming over public colleges. As detailed in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Goldwater and the Manhattan Institute this week released a package of legislative reforms that would abolish DEI offices, prohibit mandatory diversity training and diversity statements, and end racial and other identity-based preferences in admissions and hiring. ..."

Week in Review: I Pledge Allegiance to…Progressivism?

The Supreme Court’s Complicity in Our Loss of Freedom

Recommendable!

The Supreme Court’s Complicity in Our Loss of Freedom | AIER

190 nations forge historic global biodiversity agreement to save species. Really! At what price?

Let's recognize there is a method behind this madness! A crisis is manufactured by the elites to gain power and control!

Beware of the Siren songs! Why are we not listening to Cassandra!

This is part of the globalism ideology! This is Big Government at an unprecedented scale to impose central planning on many aspects of our daily lives. It sure will reduce free markets and individual liberty! As if we had learnt nothing from the totalitarian ideologies/dictatorships of the 20th century!

These international agreements are a wonderful instrument for authoritarians to circumvent and violate e.g. the pesky U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence! Pacta sunt servanda (Roman law: contracts must be kept), right?

We are still on The Road to Serfdom! Totalitarian dictatorship has become more refined and subtle unlike those of the 20th century!

What is absolutely horrifying here that there is so little resistance! So many go along with this! What a tyranny of the minority over the majority!

The claim of loss of biodiversity (or more dramatic the Sixth Extinction)  crisis follows roughly a similar playbook as the greatest scam of our time, i.e. the Global Warming hoax and Climate Change religion.

Then we have rich countries dictating and bribing poorer countries what to do and so on! Some poorer countries use the opportunity to extort richer countries and so on!

"... countries around the world have cemented a deal to safeguard nature — and, for the first time, the agreement sets quantitative targets for biodiversity. In this sense, they are similar to the one that nations set seven years ago to limit global warming to 1.5–2 ºC above pre-industrial levels. ...
In the early hours of 19 December, more than 190 countries eked out the deal, known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework ... A key target that it sets is for nations to protect and restore 30% of the world’s land and seas globally by 2030, while also respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples, who depend on and steward much of Earth’s remaining biodiversity. Another target is for nations to achieve a 90% reduction in the extinction rate for all species by 2050. ..."

Nations forge historic deal to save species: what’s in it and what’s missing At the COP15 summit, many countries celebrate, but some say their voices were not heard.

Footnotes

1) The Wikipedia article on pacta sunt servanda sucks!

Gastronomie: Kunden dürfen künftig Mehrwegverpackungen verlangen in der Bananenrepublik D.. Wirklich!

Typisch Bananenrepublik D.! Dazu bedarf es eines Gesetzes????
Wenn Grüne Idioten regieren!

Munter weiter auf dem Weg in die Knechtschaft!

Wenn es denn der Kundschaft ein so dringendes und wichtiges Anliegen wäre, würde eine freie Marktwirtschaft diesen Nachfrage automatisch und selbstverständlich  bedienen. Jedem Anbieter ist es frei gestellt solche Angebote zu machen und sich dadurch unter Umständen von der Konkurrenz abzusetzen mit der Aussicht auf mehr Umsatz und höhere Gewinne! Darf man nebenbei Fragen, was dieses fragwürdige und autoritäre Gesetz die Anbieter kostet?

Walter Eucken, Franz Böhm, Ludwig Erhard u.a. können so viel Dummheit und groben Unverstand überhaupt nicht fassen! Die Freiburger Schule lange vergessen in der Bananenrepublik D.!

Gastronomie: Kunden dürfen Mehrwegverpackungen verlangen Ob sie ihre schnelle Mahlzeit aus einer Einweg- oder Mehrwegverpackung essen wollen, sollen Kunden im neuen Jahr selbst entscheiden können. Dann gelten neue Vorgaben aus dem Verpackungsgesetz. Was ändert sich?

When Western governments started to love emergency powers

These are the signs of the times Western citizens live in! Only 70 years after World War II and less than 45 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union empire the use of emergency powers has become normal for Western governments!

Western governments more frequently impose comprehensive emergency powers, because they claim that the so called "climate crisis" or the global pandemic leave no other choice. The cure is worse than the disease!

The rapid centralization, expansion, and harmonization rigidly enforced and pursued by the European Union at the expense of federalism is another bad omen.

Western citizens high time to wake up and renew the spirit of Western civilization where small and limited government, civil society and philanthropy, plurality, federalism, and individual liberty reign supreme!

It reminds strongly of Hayek's Road to Serfdom! Perhaps, time to read it again!

Ronald Reagan: “Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again.”