RANDOM THOUGHT: we're beginning to see policy proposals from the Republican candidates, some well thought out; some not. Have we seen any policy proposal from Hillary Clinton, other than 'more free stuff for the little people'?

CARLY FIORINA ON THE IOWA STATE FAIR SOAPBOX: "Everyone Of Us Is Gifted By God!"

THOMAS SOWELL has more random thoughts. Always worthwhile. Here's one:

Despite an old saying that taxes are the price we pay for civilization, an absolute majority of the record-breaking tax money collected by the federal government today is simply transferred by politicians from people who are not likely to vote for them to people who are more likely to vote for them.

And another:

Barack Obama wrote a book titled "The Audacity of Hope." His own career, however, might more accurately be titled "The Mendacity of Hype."

Read the rest. His final 'random thought' is worth seriously considering by every Republican presidential candidate.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS WASTED: NIH, the National Institutes of Health, spent $800,000 to study the dating habits of obese teen girls. (But not obese teen boys.)

To paraphrase Hillary, "What difference ... does it make (to know)?"

OKLAHOMA GUN STORE OWNER: This is a Muslim-free zone.

As noted, it's probably illegal, but then doesn't "no shoes, no shirt, no service" discriminate against nudists? And don't high prices discriminate against the poor?

Personally, I'm coming to favor repealing every anti-disrimination and 'fairness' statute passed since the founding of the Republic. If an honest cost/benefit study were ever to be done, I'd bet the real costs of anti-discrimination laws far outweigh even the perceived benefits of such legislation, much less the real benefits.

NO SHIT, SHERLOCK: “Today’s ‘progressives’ would have protested the horseless carriage.”

"[T]HE CAMPAIGN TO RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE isn’t being pushed for the benefit of the working class. It’s being pushed for the benefit of the political class."

PODCAST: Carly Fiorina drops by the Ace of Spades. Click here to listen.

Via Instapundit; the Ace of Spades link is here.

“YOU THINK WE’RE THAT STUPID?” Clinton team: Well, yes. Yes, we do.

And they may be right.

HMMM. "Just because cotton was grown principally in the South and harvested by slaves, does this make cotton a 'racial symbol'?" Also, cotton is white....

SO IS OUR PRESIDENT: U.S. fight against Islamic State is disorganized and incoherent.

A match made in Heaven somewhere else.

FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY: Nothing's changed.

AS A LAUGHINGSTOCK? Actual CNN headline: ‘Hillary Clinton revived America’s reputation in world.’

POWERLINE: Will 2016 be a climate hysteria election? Hopefully, no, it will be a return-to-sanity election.

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TODAY: Fearful, and looking for a big brother to protect them. At least that's what the 'intelligensia' in charge of the higher education experience would like you to believe.

ASSURING WORDS -- if you don't know much about history.

When it comes to progressives and history, I tend to think of the old B-grade fright movies, where the priest is shown holding up a crucifix to ward off the evil zombies, or vampires, or whatever.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) introduces NRA-supported background-check bill. Not a real surprise; though it's touted as a gun control bill, it's really a mental-health bill, which is in fact supported by the NRA, although there is some pushback from the fringes of the gun-rights movement.

My only wish is that the Cornyn bill addressed mental health generally, and not just within the context of weapons.

THE SHORT AND LONG OF IT:

Courtesy of Pardon My Planet.

HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT: NASA's Orion spacecraft conducts its critical design review (CDR), which is essentially the go-ahead for initial production.

KASICH: 'I don't read a Bible to figure out what I think'. And I don't need John Kasich to tell me what I should think.

CNN's bias is showing again....