The 1960s Superhero Who Powered Up By Smoking

“8-Man” originally ran as a weekly comic strip in Japan from 1960 to 1963, then a half-hour cartoon from 1963 to 1964. The show eventually moved overseas to air on American television as well, starting in 1965. The U.S. version had a few changes to suit American tastes, was re-edited, dubbed into English, and renamed The Eighth Man.

Eighth Man centered on a police detective, Peter Brady (Detective Yokoda in the Japanese version), who was killed. After his death, in true comic book style, Brady’s body was claimed by- who else? – a scientist. The scientist’s name was “Professor Genius” (Professor Tani in the Japanese version) who experimented on the body. While he’d tried it seven times before Brady and failed, Genius’ experiment to bring Brady back to life worked… sort of. He was able to successfully transfer Brady’s life essence into an android with amazing abilities.  Kind of an early Robocop.

8-Man would recharge his “atomic energy supply” with a substance manufactured in a laboratory and put in rolled papers, very much resembling cigarettes; a few puffs on his special smokes and 8-Man was revitalized and ready to take on the evildoers of the world. 

8-Man wasn’t the only superhero to have a questionable power source (or powers) in that era: 

- Super Chicken was another who transformed from his alter ego, Cabot Henhouse III, after drinking “Souper Sauce”. (Booze anyone?) 

- Underdog also seemingly had an addiction problem, getting his powers from popping pills.

- Marvel Comic’s Squirrel Girl was a high school student who could control squirrels and used them to fight villains. She also had a 3-4 foot tail, buck teeth, claws (and retractable knuckle-spikes a-la Wolverine), and lips that tasted like hazelnuts… She wanted desperately to be Iron Man’s sidekick, but he rejected her, even after she saved his life- though he did tell her when she was older, perhaps she could join the Avengers.

 - Zeitgeist was another Marvel character. After finding out he had super stomach acid, he naturally decided to use it to fight evil. How did he find out about his super power? After getting drunk and making out with a girl, he fell ill and vomited all over her, burning the poor girl’s face and disfiguring her. The good news is that Zeitgeist now realized he had a super power and began using it for good by vomiting all over the bad guys. His stomach acid was so potent, that it could burn through a 4 inch thick steel plate in half a minute. 

- Rainbow Girl was a DC Comics character who controlled the powers of the emotional spectrum, which would give her extremely unpredictable mood swings. Essentially, Rainbow Girl’s superpower was a raging case of PMS.

Via Today I Found Out.

My grandson's a Civil Air Patrol cadet - here's his squadron meeting Honor Flights at Dulles

 

Worst French Horn Player - Star Wars Theme

via

The real story behind the song 'I Drive Your Truck'

OK, so I don't listen to country music and had never heard this song (or even heard of it), but it just won a country music award, and this video is lovely:



via Examiner.

Star Wars snowflakes as free printable PDFs.

Free printable PDFs of the snowflakes below, plus more, are available here, via The Mary Sue.

Must read Jonah Goldberg: The Government Thinks You're Stupid - government force and fraud is for our own good

Read the whole thing at NRO, of course.  Excerpts:

The government thinks you’re stupid, or at least ignorant.

This isn’t just an indictment of the current government or an indictment of government itself. It’s simply a statement of fact. At its core, the government exists to do certain things that people aren’t equipped to do on their own. The list of those things has gotten longer and longer over the years. In 1776, the federal government’s portfolio could have easily fit in a file folder: maintain an army and navy, a few federal courts, the post office, the patent office, and maybe a dozen or two other pretty obvious things.

Now, the file folder of things the federal government does is much bigger. To paraphrase Dr. Egon Spengler from Ghostbusters, let’s imagine that the federal government in 1776 was the size of this Twinkie (take my word for it, I’m holding a normal-sized Twinkie). Today that Twinkie would be 35 feet long, weighing approximately 600 pounds. 

And that’s just at the federal level. Each state government is a pretty giant-sized Twinkie, too. 

The justifications for all of these laws and all of these workers — the good, the bad, and the ugly — have one thing in common: the assumption that the rest of us couldn’t get by without them, whether we like it or not. 

Conservatives tend to see government as a necessary evil, and therefore see policymaking with some humility. Liberals tend to see government as a necessary good, and see ordering people to do things “for their own good” as a source of pride, even hubris.

From a conservative perspective, telling people how to run their lives when not absolutely necessary is an abuse of power. For liberals, telling people how to run their lives is one of the really fun perks of working for the government.

You can see the frustration on the president’s face. It’s almost like the ingrates who refuse to understand that his were necessary lies for their own good are spoiling all his fun.

Friday links

Lost Star Wars Return of the Jedi Deleted Scenes Found on Laserdisc: Here's the full 30 minutes.

23 Oddly Satisfying GIFs You Could Probably Watch Forever.

30,000 pigs: ten of the best newspaper corrections ever, including a 2001 apology to Mark Steyn.

Buy Thor's Castle And Live Like An Avenger.

How The World Will End, According To 1939.

Maybe you should do your drinking at home: markups on alcohol at bars.

ICYMI, yesterday's links are here.

Artist Draws Nine Portraits on LSD During 1950s Research Experiment

During the 1950s, a researcher gave an artist two 50-microgram doses of LSD (each dose separated by about an hour), and then the artist was encouraged to draw pictures of the doctor who administered the drugs. Nine portraits were drawn over the space of eight hours. We still don’t know the identity of the artist. But it’s surmised that the researcher was Oscar Janiger, a University of California-Irvine psychiatrist known for his work on LSD. The web site Live Science has Andrew Sewell, a Yale Psychiatry professor (until his recent death), on record saying: “I believe the pictures are from an experiment conducted by the psychiatrist Oscar Janiger starting in 1954 and continuing for seven years, during which time he gave LSD to over 100 professional artists and measured its effects on their artistic output and creative ability. Over 250 drawings and paintings were produced.” The goal, of course, was to investigate what happens to subjects under the influence of psychedelic drugs. 

More at Open Culture.

NC traffic alerts warned drivers to stay home because of "women drivers, rain, Obama Care"

Update: FYI, today's links are here.

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A NCDOT contractor lost his job after six erroneous traffic alert messages went out over the NCDOT's Traveler Information Management System, or TIMS on Wednesday.

NCDOT apologized for the content of the erroneous TIMS alerts and assured citizens that the alerts were not official messages.

The alerts sent out Wednesday warned drivers to "stay home" because of "women drivers, rain, Obama Care." Other messages warned of "bad drivers."

After an investigation, NCDOT learned that an IT contractor, hired less than six months ago, was performing routine tests on the TIMS RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and emails it generates. Officials said the individual violated procedures by failing to turn off the external feed while testing and for the inappropriate test message content.

The contractor was let go immediately for this action.

NCDOT said it will take additional steps to prevent this type of incident from happening again.

Lost Star Wars Return of the Jedi Deleted Scenes Found: Here's the full 30 minutes

Including why Yoda didn't want Obi Wan to tell Luke about his dad.

What would you do if you found a laser disc with deleted scenes from Return of the Jedi? Charlie Owen from Virginia has already been offered $10,000 for his $700 eBay purchase, but he's a collector and doesn't have any interest in selling.  Charlie from just decided to put it on the internet for all to enjoy, first via clips on Facebook and now the full 30 minutes on YouTube (posted below). 

Here's the backstory:

In 1984 a laserdisc with 30 minutes of raw footage from Return of the Jedi was used at a Las Vegas convention to demo a system called EditDroid that Lucas Film was developing.  That laserdisc was never seen again and was thought lost until recently when it was purchased on eBay.

Portraits of soaking wet dogs

From pet photographer Sophie Gamand:

I got my #Obamacare Enrollment Packet today...

Common Core Slips Creepy Politics Into English Lesson, UPDATE Lesson in place since 2007

UPDATE: Common Core May Suck, But It's Unfairly Blamed for Politicized Public School Lessons

Read the whole thing.  Via Kruiser, who asks, "Did someone resurrect Stalin to outline this program?".  Excerpts:

It’s exactly what critics of the Common Core school curriculum warned about: Partisan political statements masquerading as English lessons finding their way into elementary school classrooms.

Teaching materials aligned with the controversial national educational standards ask fifth-graders to edit such sentences as “(The president) makes sure the laws of the country are fair,” “The wants of an individual are less important than the well-being of the nation” and “the commands of government officials must be obeyed by all.” The sentences, which appear in worksheets published by New Jersey-based Pearson Education, are presented not only for their substance, but also to teach children how to streamline bulky writing.

“Parents should insist on reviewing their children’s school assignments,” said Glyn Wright, executive director of the Eagle Forum, a think tank that opposes implementation of Common Core. “Many parents will be shocked to find that some ‘Common Core-approved’ curriculum is full of inappropriate left-wing notions, disinformation, and fails to teach the truth of American exceptionalism and opportunity.”

The politically charged lesson appears in a worksheet titled “Hold the Flag High,” in which students are taught about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. The assignment asks students to make examples of sentences; “less wordy by replacing the underlined words with a possessive noun phrase.” They are then presented with a half-dozen sentences describing the job duties of a U.S. president.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL WORKSHEET

But if the lessons are meant as a primer on the Constitution, there's another problem, note critics. The job of making sure laws are fair is not the president's, but the judicial branch's. The executive branch's duty is to administer laws. And the example that places the well-being of the nation above the "wants of an individual" appears to run counter to the basic principles of the Bill of Rights.

Gatorade Releases New Performance Suppository

CHICAGO—Gatorade officials unveiled Tuesday the newest product in its G Series line of drinks and supplements, G Push, a performance-enhancing suppository engineered in the company’s sports laboratory to hydrate and energize athletes for a full digestive cycle. “G Push has the electrolytes of four 20-ounce Gatorades in one, easily inserted gelatin capsule,” Gatorade’s director of marketing Alfie Brody told reporters, debuting the first trio of suppository flavors: Arctic Chill, Watermelon Thrust, and Lemon-Lime. “At Gatorade, we’re continually trying to innovate new ways to improve athletic performance, and we think G Push is about to revolutionize the way we amp ourselves up for competition.” The product’s new commercial reportedly features a smiling LeBron James holding a G Push suppository in his palm before the screen suddenly goes dark and text appears reading, “G Push: Is it in you?”

South Park kids try to un-bundle their cable package

As is typical for South Park, possibly NSFW (due to a lot of nipple-rubbing).

Ian McKellen shows off his Gandalf underwear: You Shall Not Pass!

Via io9

Thursday links

The story behind Monty Python's 'Dead Parrot Sketch', with bonus Maggie Thatcher.

Noble Country Living: Gallery of engravings from a 1682 text on agriculture and homestead management in Austria/Germany.

If you burglarize a house, make sure the occupant is not a competitive ax-thrower.

How big of a lawn would you have to have so that when you finished mowing you'd need to start over because the grass has grown? (Reminiscent of Dr. Seuss)

In 2006, Kurt Vonnegut sent this excellent letter to a high school class.

Gallery of Creepy Abandoned Toy Factories and Shops.

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here.

The story of Monty Python's 'Dead Parrot Sketch', with bonus Maggie Thatcher

The “Dead Parrot Sketch” developed out of something Cleese and Chapman had previously written for a one-off special called How to Irritate People. Produced by David Frost, How to Irritate People was a collection of sketches introduced by Cleese, and co-starring Chapman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Michael Palin, Connie Booth, Gillian Lind and Dick Vosburgh. The program was notable for being the first time Palin worked with Cleese and Chapman, a year before they created Monty Python’s Flying Circus, as Palin explained in Bob McCabe’s biography of Chapman, The Life of Graham:

‘...that was the first time I’d ever worked with John and Graham, as an actor, and that was very much like a miniPython, except that I wasn’t writing with Terry [Jones]. I was an actor with their material, but we changed it a little bit in rehearsal and we’d really enjoyed doing that, even though the end result had not been successful, largely due to problems with recording.’

The show appears never to have been shown on British television, but was aired in the US on January 21st, 1969. The program contained elements of material later used on Python, in particular the “Car Salesman” sketch, which eventually became the famous (Dead) “Parrot Sketch.”

The “Car Salesman” was more than a piece of creative comedy, it was an idea suggested by Palin, and based on his own dealings with a less than scrupulous garage owner, as Cleese explains:

‘..that was based on a man called Mr Gibbins, which is Helen [Palin’s] unmarried name. And Mr Gibbins ran a garage somewhere in Michael’s area, and Michael started to tell me about taking his car in to Mr Gibbins if there was something wrong with it, and he would ring Mr Gibbins and say, “I’m having trouble with the clutch,” and Mr Gibbins would say, “Lovely car, lovely car.” And Michael said, “Well, yes, Mr Gibbins, it is a lovely car, but I’m having trouble with the clutch.” “Lovely car, lovely car, can’t beat it.” “No, but we’re having trouble with it.” “Well, look,” he says, “if you ever have any trouble with it, bring it in.” Michael would say, “Well, I am having trouble with it and I have brought it in,” and he’d say, “Good, lovely car, lovely car, if you have trouble bring it in,” and Michael would say, “No, no, no, the clutch is sticking,” and he would say, “Sign of a quality car, if you had a sticky clutch first two thousand miles, it’s the sign of good quality,” and he was one of those people you could never get to take a complaint seriously. And Michael and I chatted about this, and I then went off and wrote a sketch with Graham about a man returning a second-hand car…’

The sketch has Chapman dealing with Palin’s furtive car salesman.

How to Irritate People wasn’t successful, but when they started writing sketches for the first series of Monty Python, Cleese recalled the “Car Salesman Sketch,” instinctively recognizing there was “something funny in it”.

Cleese considered the garage a cliched location and together with Chapman, it was changed to a pet shop. They then discussed whether the pet should be a dog, whereupon Chapman suggested the idea of a parrot. (An earlier idea had a customer attempting to return a non-functioning toaster.)

After Chapman’s death in 1989, Cleese re-worked the “Dead Parrot Sketch” as the opening of his eulogy to Chapman (NSFW- language).

And even Margaret Thatcher (wiki) could “do” Python lines (although not very well):

via Dangerous Minds.

Obama-linked firm received ‘unauthorized’ $100,000 contract for Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity effort

Via Daily Caller:

The marketing firm that created first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” anti-obesity campaign’s logo, slogan and web design has close ties to the Obama administration and was paid $100,000 in an “unauthorized” no-bid contract, according to internal documents.

The 44 pages of documents — obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FIOA) request by the conservative government accountability group Judicial Watch — reveal that federal officials are looking into the Let’s Move contract with Shepardson, Stern & Kaminsky (SS+K) as an “unauthorized commitment.”

According to Judicial Watch, the contract violated federal contracting laws.

In a “Request for Ratification of an Unauthorized Commitment” form, the Department of Agriculture explained that the individual responsible for granting the contract “was not aware of the contracting process and the visibility and importance of this program necessitated an aggressive schedule that hindered his ability to research the process.”

According to the “Request for Ratification,” SS+K was paid $100,000 to create the “Let’s Move logo, slogan and artwork for the Childhood Obesity program, a joint effort by the USDA, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with the White House. They created the design for the Let’s Move website including the four pillars of the program.” The firm developed 20 designs and focus grouped the designs’ effectiveness.

Judicial Watch reports that David Lazarus, a political appointee who advised Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack, served as the National Rural Vote Deputy Director for Obama for America, and was an advisor to the Obama-Biden transition team, was the individual responsible for the contract.

In addition to SS+K’s participation with Obama for America, according to Judicial Watch, at least two of the SS+K employees working on “Let’s Move” also worked on Obama political campaigns.

According to the documents, the government took actions to prevent the individual responsible from more “unauthorized commitments” by having senior procurement officials speak with the responsible party and offer “additional training.”

“On March 17th, they provided training on procurement rules and process to all the senior advisors of the Department. The Senior Procurement Executive had intended to provide this seminar as part of the training that was given to the new incoming political appointees at the start of the administration, but through administrative oversight this wasn’t done,” the ratification request document reads.

No tag at recess wasn't enough - now it's no touching in a Canadian school

Wrestling and Patty-cake may seem like recess staples for many kindergartners, but one Canadian school is enacting a “no-touch” rule for tykes on the playground.

According to a letter outlining the new rule at Coghlan Fundamental Elementary in British Columbia, “We will have a zero-tolerance policy with regards to hands-on play, resulting in the missing of playtime and trips to the office for those who are unable to follow the rules.”

The letter states that some contact games have led to injuries, and therefore kindergartners will no longer be allowed to touch each other while playing.

After the Ball, a 1897 “adult” film

Slightly NSFWish due to skimpy Victorian undies. By Georges Méliès, this film was “marketed as being suitable for private screenings to broad-minded bachelors.” via Open Culture.

Nazi Art Bust: $1 billion worth of paintings Matisse, Picasso, Chagall and more discovered in Munich apartment

Nazi-Art Bust: The German government has "kept the secret" of the hoard for years, a magazine report says.

The legacy of Nazi war crimes resurfaced on Monday when a German magazine reported that a trove of artworks looted from Jewish collectors had been discovered in a Munich apartment. According to the weekly Focus magazine, the hoard of paintings could be worth more than a billion dollars, as it includes masterpieces by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, and Paul Klee. German authorities discovered the works almost by accident in the home of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of a Munich art collector.

How could the son of an alleged Nazi collaborator stay off the grid?

Gurlitt’s father Hildebrandt was known in international art circles for helping Nazi leaders monetize the artworks seized from Jewish families. Hildebrandt Gurlitt, an historian and art dealer who was Jewish on his mother’s side, had reportedly fulfilled this role at the request of Adolf Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. But the art dealer’s only surviving son managed to avoid registering with German tax authorities and social-services organizations for years. “He was a man who didn’t exist,” a German official was quoted by Focus as saying.

Why did investigators believe that the works had been destroyed?

At the end of World War II, Hildebrandt Gurlitt was reportedly captured by American forces and claimed during interrogation that his family’s art collection had perished during the 1945 bombing of Dresden, where the family had a home. Because of his Jewish heritage, the elder Gurlitt was deemed a victim of Nazi persecution and released. He continued trading art until his death in a car accident in 1956. It is not clear whether the postwar government in Germany ever tried to confirm whether Gurlitt’s art collection had really been destroyed.

How seriously does Germany take warrants for stolen art?

According to Focus, 200 of the works found in the younger Gurlitt’s apartment are the subject of international warrants. One of the works by Matisse reportedly belonged to the Jewish collector Paul Rosenberg, who was forced to leave his collection behind in Paris after fleeing the Nazi invasion of France in 1940. His granddaughter, Anne Sinclair, a prominent French-American journalist who was married to former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been campaigning for decades to get her family’s art collection back.

More at Time. via Mental Floss.

Pink Floyd fans, here's a nightmare for you: video of a disco version of Comfortably Numb

Comfortably numb by Scissor Sisters from Chris Hopewell on Vimeo.

It's been 6 years: A conviction in the murder of Redskins star Sean Taylor

(CBS/AP) MIAMI - A South Florida jury has convicted Eric Rivera, Jr., of second-degree murder in the 2007 killing of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor during a botched home burglary.

The 12-person panel reached its verdict after deliberating about 16 hours over four days. Rivera, 23, was also convicted of armed burglary.

Rivera told police in a videotaped confession that he shot Taylor after kicking in the bedroom door. At the trial, he said on the witness stand that his confession was given only under police pressure and amid purported threats to his family. He testified the confession was improperly coerced and insisted he never went inside. Rivera sought to blame the slaying on another would-be burglar.

Highlights:

In the confession, Rivera said the group of five young men, all from the Fort Myers area, had driven to Taylor's house planning to steal large amounts of cash he kept inside. They thought Taylor, 24, would be out of town at a game against Tampa Bay, but didn't realize until it was too late that he was home with a knee injury. Taylor's then-girlfriend, Jackie Garcia Haley, and their 18-month-old daughter, were also home at the time. They were not hurt.

According to CBS Miami, Rivera told the jury that he did not go inside Taylor's home, claiming he stayed in the car during the burglary and accusing another man, Venhjah Hunt, of being the shooter.

Three of the five defendants await trial. A fourth pleaded guilty earlier and was sentenced to 29 years in prison.

The death penalty is not an option for Rivera because he was a teenager at the time of the alleged murder, according to CBS Miami.

Tuesday links

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! God preserved us from the "secret contrivance and hellish malice of Popish Conspirators."

How Long Does a Person’s Heart Has To Be Stopped Before Medics Stop Trying to Revive Them?

20 Churches That Look Like Spaceships

Popular Mechanics: The 110 Best DIY Tips Ever.

Nazi Art Bust: $1 billion worth of paintings Matisse, Picasso, Chagall and more discovered in Munich apartment.

How Much Is G.I. Joe's Secret Headquarters Worth?

ICYMI, yesterday's links are here.

All Of The X-Men In One Handy Infographic

All of the X-Men, 1963 - present:

Click here to launch full size

This infographic created by artist Leigh Wortley to celebrate 50 years of the X-Men will help you keep them all straight. It’s available as either a t-shirt or a print, with or without a list of all their names included as a cheat sheet. How many can you recognize?  via Nerd Approved.

Click here to launch full size

80-Year-Old Man Survives After Falling Off a Cliff While Fighting a Bear

The Guardian reports that Yusuf Alchagirov, an 80-year-old Russian shepherd, was minding his own business in a raspberry field when he was attacked by a large, hungry bear. Rather than let the predator get the best of him, Alchagirov counter-attacked. Despite his age, the octogenarian managed to knock the bear off-balance with a flurry of kicks and headbutts.

Unfortunately, this beating failed to phase (sic) the furry attacker and the bear responded by knocking the shepherd off a nearby cliff. According to the Guardian, Alchagirov was hospitalised with “bruises, bite wounds and four broken ribs,” but avoided a potentially lethal mauling.

Via Time.

Monday links

Cats Wearing Tights

Holy Crap video: Fishing Boats In Rough Sea

Meet the American Nomads of Walmart’s Parking Lots.

A set of Pink Floyd disco covers.

Woman ran over boyfriend three times for refusing to stop at McDonald's.

Star Wars Characters Invade Thomas Kinkade Paintings.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here.

Star Wars Characters Invade Thomas Kinkade Paintings

I have to admit that I've never been a fan of Kinkade, but the addition of invading Imperial forces is a definite improvement.

Jeff Bennett on DeviantArt Via MyModernMet: "It’s as if the Empire has invaded a quiet Christmas village and turned it into an Imperial base."

4 Things 'Die Hard' Movies Need More than Bruce Willis

4 Things 'Die Hard' Movies Need More than Bruce Willis -- powered by Cracked.com

Who’d a-thunk it? ‘Cash for Clunkers’ was an epic failure in Keynesian-style stimulus at a cost of $1.4 million per job

Read the whole thing at Carpe Diem and follow the links. Excerpts:

Ted Gayer and Emily Parker of the Brookings Institution conducted an economic analysis of the 2009 Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) or “cash for clunkers” program, where they considered the numbers of vehicles traded-in, the impact of the program on GDP, the cost per job, the environmental impacts, and the types of consumers who took advantage of the program. Here are some of the main conclusions of their article “Cash for Clunkers: An Evaluation of the Car Allowance Rebate System” (press release here):

1. The evidence suggests that the CARS program provided a short-term boost in vehicle sales of approximately 380,000 vehicles, which were pulled forward from sales that would have occurred in subsequent months. The net result of CARS was a negligible increase in GDP, shifting roughly $2 billion into the third quarter of 2009 from the subsequent two quarters.

2. The $2.85 billion program provided a short-term boost in vehicle sales, but the small increase in employment (2,050 jobs) came at a far higher implied cost per job created ($1.4 million per job) than other fiscal stimulus programs, such as increasing unemployment aid, reducing employers’ and employees’ payroll taxes, or allowing the expensing of investment costs.

3. Compared to households that purchased a new or used vehicle in 2009 without a voucher,CARS program participants had a higher before-tax income, were older, more likely to be white, more likely to own a home, and more likely to have a high-school and a college degree.

Mark Perry: As is usually the case with government spending in general and government stimulus programs like CARS in particular, the government can shift and re-allocate resources, jobs, output, sales and income from one group to another group in the economy, or shift GDP, jobs and car sales from one time period to another period, but government stimulus can’t ever create an overall or net increase in jobs, wealth, income, output or prosperity. As I pointed out in a recent post (that quoted Henry Hazlitt and generated almost 200 comments) government stimulus can at most only re-distribute and re-allocate jobs, income and wealth. But in most cases, the government’s forcible redistribution will actually make us worse offbecause of government inefficiency (e.g. spending $1.4 million per job) and its inability to re-direct private resources to their highest and best use.