Roxborough's Publius

Can't make this stuff up

2006-04-24T17:21:00.000-04:00

I seriously just heard Curt Weldon, US representative from Delaware County, propose a "windfall profits" tax on gasoline since the prices are too high. Un-friggin-believable. These people run our country.

20 Years Ago This Month

2006-04-18T16:49:00.000-04:00

From the outset, Prianichnikov suspected the accident was catastrophic, but without a dosimeter he found it hard to convince his neighbours of such a heretical idea: 'People wouldn't believe me - and they could give you eight years in prison for going around saying things like that.' When he finally got through to his boss at the station, he was told that an exercise was being conducted. But by the time the sunbathers had been hospitalised with nausea and vomiting, Prianichnikov had shut his wife and daughter indoors, and had them packed and ready to leave. That night, from the sixth-floor balcony of the flat, they watched yellow and green flames flare from the torn ruins of Reactor No 4.

On Sunday the 27th, Pripyat was finally evacuated. The population went quickly and calmly under the eyes of the militia, but were forced to leave their pets behind. Their coats hopelessly irradiated, many dogs ran after the buses as far as they could, but eventually fell back to the town, where they began to turn feral. A group of local hunters with shotguns was sent in to shoot the animals. By 29 April, the streets of Pripyat were littered with their radioactive corpses.

Read the whole thing here

"10 Best" Senator Takes Junket to Brazil on YOU

2006-04-17T11:41:00.000-04:00

Time Magazine's "10 Best" Senator, Arlen Specter (who gets there by being "contrarian" ), of recent "to hell with fiscal prudence" fame, decided to celebrate by spending the Easter weekend with fellow taxpayer advocate Jeff Sessions (R - Ala.) at a posh resort in Brazil. You'll be pleased to know they have chartered a military "executive 737" for the purpose... on your dime.

The Time article quotes his former chief of staff David Urban:

"You can find a lot of people who don't like Arlen Specter, but you can't find anyone who doesn't respect him."

Clearly, no one asked me.

All you GOP'ers who voted for Specter over Toomey in the primary a couple of years ago... How you liking your boy now?

Time to play...

2006-03-30T10:25:00.000-05:00

Where's Sasha?

I've Seen No Confirmation

2006-03-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

But this story about Belarussian officials posing as American diplomats illustrates how Lukashenko's people maintain their grip of fear. Of course, there are all sorts of wild stories floating around out there.

Diary of a Belarussian Patriot

2006-03-27T23:44:00.000-05:00

It’s so ridiculous and clumsy, but still some people believe it: they say that we are standing there simply for money. First they said we received 20 thousand Belarusian rubles [about $10], but then they realized that it looked ridiculous, so the authorities increased our ‘wages’ to $50 (almost 5 times more!).

Oh my God! Let those who believe it come there and try to stand under the looks and cameras of the people in civilian clothes. 14 hours standing there, growing numb, waiting for the dawn like a rescue. And see in the morning that there is so little ‘reinforcement’, as people simply cannot push through. And with every minute feel how the ring becomes rarer, because people do not bear it and have to leave to sleep, and there is no change. And every minute wait for a storm, beating, provocation. And know that probably tomorrow you will be excluded from the university, or fired, or taken to jail.

here

Europe's Last Police State

2006-03-25T14:22:00.000-05:00

Go to Ivan for details

Robert Meyer at Publius Pundit has more, with links to NY Times article, etc.

Andrei Khrapavitski has more as well, including the pics of the state TV channel's website hacked.

It has Come to my Attention

2006-03-25T00:45:00.000-05:00

,over the past couple months, that Danes rule.

On the Possiblity of Sanctions

2006-03-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of my new policy of lazy blogging if someone else has said something well, I won't bother duplicating efforts:

Sanctions won't make anybody's life better.

Speaking of sanctions, I think isolation would be the worst thing right now for Belarus. Ban on officials' travel is unimportant, it doesn't change much. But if the few Western companies doing business in Belarus are forced to leave, it will make things worse for ordinary Belarusians, especially those who want change, because they are more likely to be involved with such firms, whether as customers, or suppliers, or partners.

If anything, the West should engage Belarus as much as possible. Isolation would make Belarus more like North Korea.

Ivan Lenin at Russian Mushroom - who, by the way, has become for this Belarussian situation what Discoshaman at Le Sabot Post-Moderne was during the Orange Revolution. Hopefully he won' go AWOL as Disco has. Ivan, if you're in Philly I owe you a steak dinner. Seriously.

He is 100% right about sanctions. They are more than just ineffective. They are counterproductive. If you want to help Lukashenko stay in power indefinitely. If you want to ensure that he acchieves the greatest possible level of repressive authoritarianism, then initiate sanctions. The road to change in Belarus is through economic independence and technological advancement. The small resistance that we saw was due largely to the proliferation of cell phones and the internet. Products of economic development. Also, what support Lukashenko has is largely reliant on a narrow dependence on Russia. Sanctions will only exacerbate this situation. Cuba and North Korea are the clearest examples of the "results" that sanctions acchieve. To create this sort of national prison of Belarus would be a tragedy.

As I go to bed tonight, the 25th will be dawning in Belarus. The anniversary of the declaration of the first Belarussian republic. (which evidently lasted at least 15 minutes, but nevermind...) This "Independence Day" has become an occasion to rally for the opposition. Last year on this day, Lukashenko sent his goons in to bust heads. Milinkevich has called for a rally on Oktbraskaya Pl., scene of the police action last night. We'll see how that goes.

Militzia Storm the Tents!

2006-03-23T22:46:00.000-05:00

Lukashenko couldn't restrain himself any longer. Charter97 has pics.

Getting Noticed

2006-03-23T14:53:00.000-05:00

by the New York Times.

Gotta Have Goals

2006-03-23T00:17:00.000-05:00

Mine is to get arrested in a pre-emptive drunk driving sweep at the hotel bar when I'm in Texas next month. That's right. A pre-emptive drunk driving sweep at a HOTEL bar.

Idiots.

Day Three

2006-03-21T23:04:00.000-05:00

Still folks camped on the main square in Minsk. Check Robert Meyer's writeup at Publius Pundit. Milenkevich is calling for a rally on the 25th. I don't know if that's the best strategy. I fear whatever momentum there is may be exhausted by then.

The reports give the indication that the gathering in dwindling, but the pics posted by Charter97 sure make it look like they are still going strong. Let it not be said these folks don't have fortitude. It ain't exactly the best weather for a camp out. Combine that with the officials preventing folks from going out or in with food or hot beverages and you've got people who have earned my admiration.

And if I were rich, what would I do with my money? I'd find out who these folks are and pay their tuition in another country.

UPDATE: Ivan Lenin reports that people who can actually do something are way ahead of me:

On March 30th in Warsaw, presidents of Europe's biggest universities will meet to discuss accepting Belarusian students who got kicked out.

The day after

2006-03-20T09:12:00.000-05:00

Waiting to see what will happen on Oktyabrskaya Pl. today. In the meantime, there's this bit of insight from a blogger calling himself "Ivan Lenin" that jibes with what my wife and the in-laws are telling me:

Those who have voted for Lukashenka are at least 47% - according to the results by Levada & Co. The official results of 80% and higher will be taken only by the most naive Lukashenka sympathizers. Those who don't support the opposition are not necessarily Lukashenka's supporters. Many people I've talked to strongly dislike Lukashenka, but still don't have much respect for the opposition, because the "full-time oppositioners" take Western funding and don't have serious plans for winning.

I think such criticism is not without grounds. There is a certain opposition establishment in Belarus, whose full-time job is to show some results to their Western sponsors. In essense, they don't play to win: in fact, they are paid because they lose.

Limited Government, my ASS!!

2006-03-20T00:15:00.000-05:00

"The Republican Party is now principally moderate, if not liberal!" exulted Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), after the Senate -- including a majority of Republicans -- approved his budget-busting amendment to spend an extra $7 billion on domestic programs.

Just a week ago, GOP leaders gathered in Memphis and proclaimed the party's commitment to fiscal restraint; yesterday, the restraints came off. "All the talk in Memphis doesn't comport with reality," said Specter, savoring his victory in a leather armchair in the Senate press gallery. "I don't have any apologies to make for this 7 billion. I'm still not satisfied."
...
When Specter visited the press gallery to talk about his $7 billion, a reporter asked if the senator had employed "sort of a gimmick" to evade budget rules.

"It's not sort of a gimmick," Specter deadpanned. "It is a gimmick."

Arlen, you make me sick.

6000? or 35000?

2006-03-19T21:47:00.000-05:00

Depending on who you want to believe, that's the number of folks in the main square in Minsk this evening. Good move outta Lukashenko in not "wringing their necks like ducks" as he had threatened. Now, I bet there's another night or two of this and life goes on, business as usual. While I certainly believe the vote count is bogus, I also don't think there's the groundswell of support to oust Lukashenko. The best hope for a democratic Belarus is success in the countries surrounding it. A free and prosperous Poland and Ukraine will sway the people much more than anything else. The burden lies on folks like Viktor Yushchenko to prove that there's another way to succeed.

All in good time.

City Councilman Mariano Guilty

2006-03-17T23:31:00.000-05:00

Five to ten years in prison is a fair sentence. I'm sick of hearing about how nice a guy he his. So he smiles while he places the coercive power of government up for sale. Doesn't make me feel any better about it. In fact, I think I'd rather he acted like the extortionist that he is.

Bottom line? $30,000 worth of bribes to arrange deals worth $700,000 of confiscated dollars. Enjoy your stay in the big house. And for all the folks who were talking about how great a guy you are? I'll judge them by the company they keep.

Inquirer blog here

Including a link to the anonymous letter that started it all written by one Maggie Greer, bookkeeper for the Steel company involved. If anyone knows her, thank her for me.

Dear Honorable Rep. Fattah

2006-03-15T16:50:00.000-05:00

As long as confiscated dollars are funding your ride, what's the matter with a Toyota Corolla?

Chaka Fattah, D-Pa.: GMC Envoy, $8,513.50
total 2005 lease cost

full list here

Props to Ron Paul (among others, I'm sure) for being consistent to his principles and not making the list for so much as a 10 speed.

How to rig an election

2006-03-15T11:36:00.000-05:00

We are watching the elections in Belarus with a personal interest in the rox_castle. The in-laws reporting from the field indicate that the poll cited by the Guardian's Jonathan Steele here:

A poll in January by Gallup/Baltic Surveys, and reported in the emigre Belarusian Review, found only 17% in favour of Milinkevich and nearly 55% supporting Lukashenko.

is probably accurate, but the sitting president, Alexander Lukashenko, is taking no chances. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's "Belarus Votes" section has the rundown. Here's a handy little manual for you would-be dictators on rigging your election to assure the overwhelming support you so desire:

1. In the months leading up to the election, arrest opposition activists.
2. Then begin arresting potential opposition candidates
3. Rinse and repeat... as many times as necessary.
4. Refuse journalists entry, deport those there, arrest those who persist in reporting (be sure to listen to the recording), prevent publication of opposition newspapers, and censor opposition speech as needed.
5. Start the voting early, so your folks have plenty of time to ensure everything is going as planned. Encourage early votes, to avoid those pesky last minute ballots that are more difficult to alter.

Any other suggestions would be welcome. This manual is to serve merely as a primer, and is in no way comprehensive. Shall we start an over-under betting pool on the official percentage of the vote won by lukashenko? Price is right rules. Closest to the figure without going over. I'll open the bidding at 91%.

Our Newest Neighbor

2006-03-14T10:02:00.000-05:00

Go congratulate Girl Fiend and... um... Frank... on their addition to the family.

What's proper ettiquette on giving friends space when they just had a kid? I suppose a returning the "we had a boy" phone call with a "congratulations" is in order. Do I pile on with the sixth fruit basket of the week? Or is that too Mom-like?

Yeah. I have no social skills.

Well, here's a first

2006-03-02T22:39:00.000-05:00

A man I voted for in a presidential election has passed away.

I suppose this isn't as dramatic an event as it was for say, a young democratic voter in 1960 who's naive heart melted at the statement that he should "ask what he can do for his country". In fact, I expect it will go unnoticed by just about everyone I have contact with. Somewhere in the "never unpacked" boxes in the basement I have Harry's "Why Government Doesn't Work" in hardcover. It wasn't the definitive libertarian tome. By the time it came out, I was pretty much settled on my political viewpoints.

It did, however, pass into my hands at a time when I had recently had my life thrown into chaos as the victim of the unintended consequences of a change in Pennsylvania state law. Riding the bus back and forth to an unrewarding hourly wage job in Raleigh, North Carolina, I found myself thinking "THAT'S RIGHT!" and "DAMN STRAIGHT" page after page. Living on rice and beans and the apples so generously provided by a roommate's parents (they owned an orchard) while taking the bus to work ('cause the 20 year old car wouldn't start and I had no money to fix it) had me frustrated and wishing there were answers. And all this time the government was taking 12% of my paycheck for my RETIREMENT!!!??? Man I was resentful. Who the hell were these people? 60 years old, driving Lexi, and telling me at 21 or 22 that I had to stash 12% of my single digit hourly rate for retirement rather than using it to extract myself from my present situation?

So, Harry Browne was the representation of my right to make my own decisions. In a time before I read Reason or Liberty magazines, before there were blogs, before I knew what the hell Austrian or Chicago school economics were about, before I knew of John Stossel or Neal Boortz, Harry Browne and the Libertarian Party were the only representation of my political beliefs out there - that I knew of anyway. And so flawed and ineffectual as the LP may have been, I was a die hard supporter. I got supremely excited at the 3% election returns in some county in Colorado. This was the start of something big. Surely we would have 10% by 2000. And then the media would have to pay attention and then we'd really have something...

Instead the LP turned to Howard Stern and infighting over campaign money and Star Trek costumes at the conventions. But I give you credit for carrying the mantle, Harry.

RIP

Food, Porn, and the Nanny Staters

2006-03-01T19:07:00.000-05:00

Radley Balko's article on Morgan Spurlock, some virgin kid, and their plans to control your life ends in this awesome quote from H.L. Mencken:

"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it."

That should be emblazoned on the sidewalk outside the UN.

Time for a new direction

2006-03-01T18:58:00.000-05:00

I hate "why I haven't posted" posts. So I'm not gonna do it.

But here's a chance to start over, so I'm gonna take it. I'm dialing down the ambition and expectations from my already low standards. I'm not gonna cover all kinds of unique stuff, I am gonna rehash what others think, I will link to others quality work, thereby absolving myself of the need to produce my own, and no, I don't expect anyone to think that's fascinating or worthy of reading daily. Hell, I ain't gonna post daily, so let's stop pretending.

I feel better already.

Think I'll get me a beer.

Dear SEPTA

2005-11-01T18:21:00.000-05:00

Please stay on strike until you replace the entire management team and dsband the union.

Sincerely,

rox_publius

This is Your America

2005-09-12T13:36:00.000-04:00

via Radley Balko:

We're from the government and we're here to help.

Am I the only one who reacts to this with uncontrollable visceral anger? Am I the only one who thinks I should be able to determine what risks I do and do not take? Am I the only one who believes the home should be an inviolable sanctuary? WHY THE HELL AREN'T MORE PEOPLE PISSED ABOUT THIS?

Santorum and the Conservative Split

2005-09-07T20:39:00.000-04:00

Virginia Postrel (the smartest woman in America) points us to this article by Jonathan Rauch which fortifies my earlier dismay at the anti-individual attitudes of our state senator, Rick Santorum. What Rauch gleans from Santorum's book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, is a shift away from individual freedom that I would define as nothing short of frightening:

Freedom, for Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and others, was an end, not just a means. A government that allows individuals to pursue happiness in their own fashions, they believed, is most likely to produce a strong society and a virtuous citizenry; but the greatest benefit of freedom is freedom itself. Civic virtue ultimately serves individual freedom, rather than the other way around.

It was in this tradition that Goldwater wrote, "Every man, for his individual good and for the good of his society, is responsible for his own development." Note that first "and": Individual and social welfare go together -- they're not in conflict. All the government needs to do, Goldwater said, is get out of the way. "The conservative's first concern will always be: Are we maximizing freedom?" Reagan spoke in the same tradition when he declared that government was the problem, not the solution to our problems.

Goldwater and Reagan, and Madison and Jefferson, were saying that if you restrain government, you will strengthen society and foster virtue. Santorum is saying something more like the reverse: If you shore up the family, you will strengthen the social fabric and ultimately reduce dependence on government.

Where Goldwater denounced collectivism as the enemy of the individual, Santorum denounces individualism as the enemy of family. On page 426, Santorum says this: "In the conservative vision, people are first connected to and part of families: The family, not the individual, is the fundamental unit of society." Those words are not merely uncomfortable with the individual-rights tradition of modern conservatism. They are incompatible with it.

Santorum seems to sense as much. In an interview with National Public Radio last month, he acknowledged his quarrel with "what I refer to as more of a libertarianish Right" and "this whole idea of personal autonomy." In his book he comments, seemingly with a shrug, "Some will reject what I have to say as a kind of 'Big Government' conservatism."
They sure will. A list of the government interventions that Santorum endorses includes national service, promotion of prison ministries, "individual development accounts," publicly financed trust funds for children, community-investment incentives, strengthened obscenity enforcement, covenant marriage, assorted tax breaks, economic literacy programs in "every school in America" (his italics), and more. Lots more.

Though he is a populist critic of Big Government, Santorum shows no interest in defining principled limits on political power. His first priority is to make government pro-family, not to make it small. He has no use for a constitutional (or, as far as one can tell, moral) right to privacy, which he regards as a "constitutional wrecking ball" that has become inimical to the very principle of the common good. Ditto for the notions of government neutrality and free expression. He does not support a ban on contraception, but he thinks the government has every right to impose one.

Wow. No, really.... WOW!

Not that I was prone to thinking Santorum was true to "limited government" principles, but this is indeed a VERY frightening summary of his true agenda. It is said that at the far right and far left ideologies begin to converge. This is what we are seeing from Santorum. Given the keys to the kingdom, he would define every aspect of our lives in a manner no less than a Ted Kennedy or a Hilary Clinton would.

If Rauch is right, Santorum could prove to be more of a threat to Goldwater conservatism, libertarianism, or classical liberalism than anyone on the other side of the aisle. A reelection of Santorum which is perceived as an endorsement of his anti-individual agenda could complete a shift of the focus of the Republican Party from a party at least nominally supporting limited government to one whose intention of expanding and excercising government power is open and avowed - thus squashing any small voice that small "l" libertarians have in two party politics completely.

As of reading this column, I share with my collectivist friends a common goal - the defeat of Rick Santorum.

The Ministry of Truth

2005-09-07T18:04:00.000-04:00

is up and running:

The U.S. government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area.

The Ultimate Nanny State

2005-09-07T17:06:00.000-04:00

After days of pleading with residents to leave this partly destroyed city, local officials said today that they would begin forced evacuations of all residents, including people living in dry and undamaged homes.

From the New York Times

so, when does the revolution begin?

Central Planners Stymie More than Just the Red Cross

2005-09-07T13:14:00.000-04:00

Warren Meyer's been on top of it.

While turning down offers to help, when everyone agrees not enough is being done, may seem unthinkable, these are actually predictable outcomes from a bureaucracy of technocrats. Technocrats value process over results, order and predictability over achievement. More important than having problems fixed is having an ordered process, having everything and everyone under control. In this context, you can imagine their revulsion at the thought of having private citizens running around on their own in the disaster area trying to help people. We don't know where they are! We don't know what they are doing! They are not part of our process! Its too chaotic! Its not under control!

Nearly everyone who is in government has a technocratic impulse - after all, if they believed that bottom up efforts by private citizens working on their own was the way to get things done, they would not be in government trying to override those efforts. But most emergency organizations are off the scale in this regard. 99% of their time, they don't actually have an emergency to deal with - they are planning. They are creating elaborate logistics plans and procedures and deployment plans. Planners, rather than people of action, gravitate to these organizations. So, once a disaster really hits, the planners run around in circles, hit by the dual problem of 1) their beautiful plans are now obsolete, since any good general can tell you that no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy and 2) they are by nature still planners, trying to get order and process underway and create a new updated plan, rather than just getting every possible resource out there fixing the dang problem.

So is it gonna get better?

Unfortunately, I fear that the lessons from this hurricane and its aftermath will be that we need more top-down rules and authority rather than less. It is the technocrats on the sidelines who are most appalled by the screw-ups, and will demand more of whatever next time.

He's right, of course - and that's depressing.

The Best Newspaper in America

2005-09-07T12:26:00.000-04:00

is the New Hampshire Union Leader. Period.

Poor decision-making and indecisiveness at the state and local levels, combined with a federal bureaucracy that froze aid efforts in their tracks, stranded tens of thousands of helpless people who made the mistake of depending on the government. Some of them died for that decision. Next time, Americans will be less apt to make the same mistake.

JRB for Chief Justice

2005-09-06T13:21:00.000-04:00

Warren Meyer at Coyote Blog reports that Captain's Quarters has suggested the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown for the Supreme Court. Well, I am sure as hell on board.

Supply, Demand, and Gas Taxes

2005-09-06T12:56:00.000-04:00

Tyler Cowen has the lowdown:

Ask the man on the street what will happen to the price of gas if the gas tax is lifted and he will reply that the price will fall by the amount of the tax. It's no wonder then that politicians are talking about (temporary) gas-tax relief. The man on the street's answer, however, is wrong. What determines prices is demand and supply. If demand and supply don't change then neither does the price.

Does the lifting of the tax change the demand for gasoline? No. Does it change the physical supply? No. At least not by much in the short run and especially not by much when the tax relief is known to be temporary. Since neither supply nor demand change neither does the price. What does change is that with the tax the government collects the revenues, with the "tax relief" the suppliers of gasoline collect the (former) revenues. Either way, no gain to the consumer.

But, as we've seen so dramatically illustrated throughout this debacle, real solutions are not what government is about. Appeasing the ignorant public so as to remain in power is the true goal.

Cogent Analysis of Katrina

2005-09-05T20:14:00.000-04:00

The most cogent analysis of the government reaction to Katrina is coming out of Don Boudreax at Cafe Hayek.

I understand that the devastation spread by Katrina makes even the most ordinary daily tasks difficult or even impossible to do. There may be good, if regrettable, reasons for why FEMA is taking so long to get water and food to the refugees, and for why there’s too little police presence in the Convention Center. Maybe. But damn it, isn’t it time people reject as a cruel hoax the notion that government possesses superhuman powers and is motivated by angelic intentions? That it can do things that non-political institutions cannot do?
Who can still believe that, when the chips are down and there’s no one left to count on, people can count on their government for basic help?
Katrina, in addition to stripping my hometown of life, unmasked the pretenses of government as savior.

- Sept 1 : Cafe Hayek

Then, on Sept. 3, he alerts us to the fact that the government is LOCKING OUT the Red Cross and Salvation Army, because according to the Red Cross:

Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

Boudreaux, as usual, cuts to the heart of the matter.

Judging from the Red Cross's explanation (above), government apparently feared that the Red Cross would deliver relief with too much success. Why else would people choose not to leave a destroyed city, and even want to return to it?

So, government decided that letting people die was a better course than risking any success that the Red Cross would likely have at providing disaster relief.

It appears that politician's desire to keep the people helpless and dependent on government transcends basic domestic issues like healthcare and welfare, and extends to discouraging competition from private organizations in times like these. Warms the heart, no?

Well, given the evidence of the government's ineptitude and indeed its acting as an obstacle to progress here's my advice.

Get your own gun, your own food stash, and keep a couple bottles of water, cause if you gots to rely on a pack of baby kissers for your continued existence you're screwed. Period.

Politics and Katrina

2005-09-05T19:52:00.000-04:00

The Comissar has a roundup.

I, like he, will leave you to reach your own conclusions.

President rox_publius Issues Statement

2005-08-31T14:17:00.000-04:00

Dear world,

We appreciate your concern regarding the natural disaster that has so ravaged our Gulf Coast. In lieu of accepting the aid you were undoubtedly about to proffer, we would ask that you assign these funds to your own disaster relief efforts. In turn, we will be using those funds which we have earmarked for the next 100 years of natural disasters elsewhere to rebuild our own states.

Thank you again for your gestures of generousity, and we assure you that the funds freed by this arrangement will be put to good use.

Sincerely,

The Great Satan

Hero of the Week : Tom Sowell

2005-08-24T12:15:00.000-04:00

For this money quote:

Make no mistake about it, there are many people out there just itching to tell us what to do -- and make us do it. That is why the word "crisis" gets used so much, and not just about oil, in order to soften us up for their taking over our lives. That is a bigger problem than the so-called "oil crisis."

Full article here.

More Corruption Probe Fun

2005-08-10T12:44:00.000-04:00

Three more low-level bureaucrats were caught in the feds Philadelphia government corruption probe treating taxpayer money like lottery winnings. This time $13,000 for lavish parties.

Since I find something we agree wholeheartedly on, this gives me a chance to link youngphillypolitics.com, a great blog run by a well-intentioned bunch of misguided folks who I actually think I'd have a great time hanging with over a beer or three at the Standard Tap, before, of course, the obligatory wrestling match over the city wage tax. Anyways, money quote from DanielUA:

Those who simply want to pin this on John Street are just silly; this is clearly a systemic problem that started well before Street and/or Ed Rendell were Mayors. But, and this is a big but, Street is the Mayor now, and this is happening under his watch. As the leader of Philadelphia, it is his responsibility to try and change that culture. Unfortunately, I don't think he, or most of our leaders, particularly care about it. It is the system which brought them into power, which means it is probably good enough... right?

Iowahawk's Retreads

2005-08-09T12:54:00.000-04:00

are still worth a link 4 years later.

Not Content With Theft From Taxpayers...

2005-08-09T11:49:00.000-04:00

the late Ron White apparently felt no compunction to pay into the system which kept him fat and happy. No wonder city taxes can never be cut substantially. Those in power and their cronies that put them there just don't pay up. Not a problem. Working suckers like you and me are always there to keep the trough full.

Taking Up the Slack

2005-08-08T16:17:00.000-04:00

Here and here and here and here, Robert Meyer at Publius Pundit covers the recent events in Belarussian activism. Thank god someone's been paying attention while I've been gone.

The Problem With Santorum

2005-08-08T15:12:00.000-04:00

This disturbing quote from Reason's Hit and Run:

This whole idea of personal autonomy -- I don't think that most conservatives hold that point of view. Some do. And they have this idea that people should be left alone to do what they want to do, that government should keep taxes down, keep regulation down, that we shouldn't get involved in the bedroom, that we shouldn't be involved in cultural issues, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world. And I think that most conservatives understand that we can't go it alone, that there is no such society that I'm aware of where we've had radical individualism and it has succeeded as a culture.

As one who has ascribed to the credo of the radical individualist, how do I possibly vote for someone like this?

Transportation Pork Fest

2005-08-08T14:22:00.000-04:00

I was catching up over at Cafe Hayek, where Russell Roberts posted the honor roll of those 8 representatives who had voted against the transportation pork fest. Surprised I didn't see Ron Paul's name amongst them, I clicked over to the full roll call. I see for once, Dr. No abstained. Why so? More surprisingly, so did my own rep, Chaka Fattah. I'd have thought he'd never see a pork roll he didn't like. Wonder what that was all about. Too busy conferencing with Mayor Street on how to arrange their job swap in a couple years?

AWOL period done....

2005-08-08T13:05:00.000-04:00

....NOW!

Yes, I have been gone from the voter intimidation capital of the US for the better part of the last couple of weeks. And as I have been hanging with Grandma(s) and Mom for the better part of that time, let's just say wifi access was not the issue of the day. Explaining to an octagenarian why I wish the government would just do away with "my" social security, and why I don't think FDR was a great American hero were just a couple of the highlights of this rare period of family duty.

So now I return to my usual business of wasting my life away in front of a series of screens, and can resume pointing out items of interest to me, like this interview of Peter Jennings by Neal Boortz during the last set of New Hampshire primaries. Dude played hockey as recently as last year. Who knew?

Although I've long ago abandoned network news, I've always felt that of the Brokaw, Jennings, Rather triumvirate, Jennings was far and away the most professional. For better or for worse, never again will a single individual have the kind of power to shape the news that network news anchors of their era had. Rest in Peace, Peter... and the rest of you - don't smoke.

So, John Roberts it is...

2005-07-20T13:00:00.000-04:00

... uh, OK. Anyone want to help me out here? I see little that tells me anything of use in evaluating this choice either way. I guess that's how Bush wanted it. Less meat to throw to the opposition in confirmation hearings.

Matt Welch at Reason has a great column suggest seven questions that ought to be asked at the confirmation hearing. I extract key ones here, but go read the whole column.

- What isn't interstate commerce?

- How much reverence should be given to precedence?

- Quick—Recite the Tenth Amendment.

- You're on a lifeboat, but it can only hold 8 of the original 10 amendments without sinking, killing your whole family. Which ones go?

- What is your working definition of "public use," as spelled out in the Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment?

I expect none of these questions will be asked, three weeks will be devoted to any mention of abortion during a sophmore level philosophy class in Robert's undergraduate education, and two weeks on torture memos. Following this, lacking nay votes, dems will be forced to capitulate and Roberts will be confirmed with us being none the wiser as to anything substantial in his judicial record.

Daily News with a Rare Gem

2005-07-20T12:25:00.000-04:00

Great editorial outta Jill Porter, writing for the paper that officially endorsed Mayor Street's corrupt regime in the mayoral election:

Baylson meant the 10-year-sentence to be a deterrent to other city officials who might be tempted to sell their offices.

But it also ought to be a stinging rebuke to everyone who has portrayed the city's pay-to-play culture as routine and harmless and the historical status quo.

Corey Kemp will have a long time behind bars to rethink the responsibilities he assumed when he took his job and the only people to whom he owed his allegiance: the city's taxpayers.

Right on.

10 Years for Corey Kemp

2005-07-20T07:23:00.000-04:00

That's the bottom line for the former Philadelphia city treasurer for accepting "gifts, bribes, sporting tickets, a deck and $10,000 cash to steer municipal contracts to lawyer Ronald A. White, a Mayor Street confidant, and his allies." as well as "falsifying his income taxes, defrauding his church and a state welfare-to-work program."

The man took the police power of state and leveraged it to his advantage. The general opinion I have heard is that this is a particularly harsh penalty, and maybe too harsh. I disagree. Government figures need to be held to a higher standard. They are the only people legally entrusted with the use of force, be that to extract money or imprison. As such, when they abuse that power for personal gain, they deserve punishment commensurate with that betrayal of that trust.

Oh, and regarding your statement here, Mr. Kemp:

"I apologize to family, friends and the citizens of Philadelphia for having to endure this case," he said. "I'm not here to dispute facts, because I was convicted by a jury... . I'm asking for mercy. I made mistakes, but I did not have any criminal intent... . I gave my best effort to get the best deals for the city of Philadelphia."

BULLSHIT! Don't lie to us. You're only sorry you got caught. And best effort to get deals for the city? You really expect people to buy that load of crap? You gave your best effort to get deals for yourself and to hook up your boys. Period.

Enjoy your stay in the slammer.

Only part of the whole situation that I do regret is that, as his lawyer, L. George Parry, stated, "If this were a baseball team, Corey Kemp would be the bat boy." Well, maybe not bat boy, maybe more like a middle reliever. My hunch is the star starting pitcher is still comfortably in office.

But perhaps there's still hope more will come from all this. Asked if there were more corruption indictments on the way, the government's lead attorney stated "The probe continues."

Ten Points for Effort

2005-07-19T13:26:00.000-04:00

To the Institute for Justice for trying to get the Supreme Court to reverse its assanine ruling in Kelo v. New London, but I hold no hope for success.

Terrorism Succeeds

2005-07-19T13:05:00.000-04:00

via Publius Pundit,

Barcepundit has translated a document found on the computer of a "key perpetrator" of the March 11 attacks in Madrid:

The document was recently found by police, according to the Cope radio network who has seen it. It says: "those who were suprised for our quick claim of responsibility in the battle of Madrid, let them know that there were other circumstances. In the case of Madrid, the time factor was very important in order to put an end to the government of Aznar the ignoble.

So there can be no doubt about the purpose of the bombing, and if you weren't quite sure:

when he was brought before a judge after the first 72 hours in isolation (permitted by Spanish anti-terror legislation), the first thing asked by Jamal Zougam, another of the key suspects of March 11, was: "Who won the election?".

Bottom line? While it is possible that this may not have swung the election against Aznar, it is unquestionable that the terrorists acchieved the outcome that they desired. In their eyes (and mine) they killed innocents and were rewarded magnificently. I cannot see how this does anything other than to encourage further terrorism. There's a template out there that can be followed, with concrete results to point to as motivation. I would expect more and greater examples of this kind of action in the future.

Dig Out Your Checkbooks

2005-07-18T13:25:00.000-04:00

The prescription drug entitlement boondoggle is about to go BOOM!

The economics of the new program depend on the assumption that large numbers of relatively healthy people will enroll and pay premiums, to help defray the costs of those with high drug expenses. Insurers say the new program cannot survive if the only people who sign up are heavy users of prescription drugs.

BUT

People who said they were healthy said they saw no immediate need to buy the Medicare drug coverage. People who said they were ill said the benefit seemed meager. And local insurance counselors said they shuddered at the complexity of the program.

Imagine that! Only people who see immediate benefit are gonna sign up. Jeez, never could have seen that coming. And what's that you say? If no one agrees to carry the program on their backs, there's gonna be a huge shortfall? And if there's a huge shortfall, we have to take MORE money from the unestablished youth and transfer it to that population segment with the highest net worth - retirees? And all this in addition to a Social Security system that does the same? And there's a hell of a lot more retirees than young folks to carry them in the very near future?

So which party was I supposed to vote for in order to avoid this whole mess? Which one was committed to fiscal sanity and smaller government?

Well, I guess we will have to comfort ourselves in the knowledge that it's entirely possible that the legislation's purpose has been acchieved. It did indeed buy enough votes from the aging to get Bush back into office. Ain't democracy grand?

More Kelo Fallout

2005-07-15T12:57:00.000-04:00

Maia at House of the Dog brings another local eminent domain seizure probability to our attention. This time, Ventnor, New Jersey - a shore community that wants those pesky working class folks OUT DAMMIT!! Especially if they happen to look different. Don't they know this is the damn shore? They can't live here next to my million dollar condo.

So, if you want a bunch of pesky poor folk out, what do you do? Well, thanks to the wisdom of Supreme Court justices Stevens, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Souter, and Breyer, you just invoke your right as a municipal government to seize property as you see fit and hand it over to whoever might bribe more, bribe their friends to vote for you, get you Stones tickets, or have access to really good pot. Of course there is that pesky thing about "just compensation", but really, if it was all that just, would we be taking it by force? You didn't fall for that bit, did you?

So, off go the poor minorities, their houses siezed for demolition, and lets bring in the rich folk. Upscale vacation condos.... now we're talking!

But... but... "what about the good of the community? What about bringing prsperity to all?", asks the silly, naive Inquirer columnist:

As mayor, Kreischer had a number of options to solve Ventnor's so-called quality-of-life problems.
He could have sent in the cops and code-enforcement officers.
He could ride absentee landlords and offer programs to help renters buy and live the American dream.
Instead, he's bringing in bulldozers.

Mad props to Monica Yant Kinney for bringing this stuff to light. Welcome to the new America, Monica. Sure hope you don't live anywhere they could want to put up a WalMart.

So hockey is back

2005-07-14T13:08:00.000-04:00

I'm a hockey geek, so I'll be watching... and about 15 other people who still care. I'd like to personally thank Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow for being complete idiots and costing us a whole season simply in order to settle upon essentially what was on the table from the beginning. Special props go out to Goodenow, who won exactly NOTHING for his union members while screwing them out of a full year of their relatively short playing careers.

Oh, and now we're gonna end the games with shootouts? That's right. The NHL should go out of their way to emulate all the success that soccer has had here in North America.

BRILLIANT!!!

Ah, hell. I bitch now, but I'll be as pumped as anybody in October.

LETS GO FLY-ERS!!!

Ukranian Reform Very Slow Going

2005-07-08T12:56:00.000-04:00

Robert Meyer at Publius Pundit has a money post up summarizing the polical situation in the Ukraine, particularly the failure to pass economic reforms needed for accession into the WTO. He references a great article by Tammy Lynch which directly addresses the politics surrounding this vote and specifically prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's inability to push the vote through. And why? Meyer's conclusion is that Yushchenko is not getting his hands dirty enough:

Yuschenko’s biggest problem, however, has been his hands-off approach to government policy. This is unfortunate because he has a very pro-market and pro-investment philosophy. Because of this, instead of setting policy, he has served as a more corrective function to Yulia Tymoshenko’s mismanaged populist tendencies.
The biggest example of this was her response to rising gasoline prices. She blamed the rise on a Russian conspiracy due to their virtual monopoly. True, the Russians corner much of the market, but the Yushchenko response would have been to diversify sources of energy. The Yulia response was to input a price ceiling, which caused the oil companies to back off Ukraine altogether, resulting in kilometres of lines at the pumps. When meeting with the heads of the Russian oil companies, Yuschenko publicly scolded her in front of them, though she later said it was necessary so he could assert his authority.
A similar move was instituted on beef prices. The ceilings had to go.

A great deal of my optimism and excitement surrounding the Orange Revolution was based on Yushchenko's background in economics and his reputation as a western-style free marketeer. While I stand by my earlier assessment of some of the early pessimism regarding Yushchenko's presidency, if Yushchenko abandons economic reform, Ukraine will be no better off than it was under Kuchma, and a frustrated populace is likely to cry out for a centralized economy once again - a proven recipe for failure. Change can be slow in coming, but abandoning the fight ensures failure.

If I still lived in DC

2005-07-08T12:40:00.000-04:00

I'd walk on over to the Big Hunt to give the nanny state a big ole FU.

And no, I don't smoke.

The Correct Response

2005-07-07T12:55:00.000-04:00

As outlined by Tim Worstall, via Andrew Sullivan:

tomorrow we’ll find out whether Britons are, still, in fact, Britons. Many years ago I was working in The City and there were two events that made travel into work almost impossible.

The first was a series of storms that brought down power lines, blocked train routes and so on. Not surprisingly, the place was empty the next day. Why bother to struggle through?

The other event was an IRA bomb which caused massive damage and loss of life. Trains were disrupted, travel to work the next day was horribly difficult and yet there were more people at work than on a normal day. There was no co-ordination to this, no instructions went out, but it appeared that people were crawling off their sick beds in order to be there at work the next day, thrusting their mewling and pewling infants into the arms of anyone at all so that they could be there.

Yes, we’ll take an excuse for a day off, throw a sickie. But you threaten us, try to kill us? Kill and injure some of us?

Fuck you, sunshine.

We’ll not be having that.

No grand demonstrations, few warlike chants, a desire for revenge, of course, but the reaction of the average man and woman in the street? Yes, you’ve tried it now bugger off. We’re not scared, no, you won’t change us. Even if we are scared, you can still bugger off.

Well, whatever the reponse, I certainly believe it to be imperative that it contain the sentence "Fuck you, sunshine." In fact, if Tony Blair could work that into a speech, I believe he could remain prime minister indefinitely.

I Don't Stand Alone

2005-07-06T12:45:00.000-04:00

In decrying the misguided call for foreign aid for Africa:

Andrew Sullivan:

I'm relatively dismayed by the way in which some of the most paleo-liberal notions of aid to developing countries have gained traction with the antics of Live-8 and other lame pop-star posturing. There's something actually racist, I think, in arguing that Africans somehow cannot work and trade their own way to prosperity.

(and while you're there, check out the email of the day from the "tolerant" left

Michael Stastny:

Adam Smith noted that "what is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom." This he applied to trade, but surely it holds for credit policy too. Think about your financially troubled friends and relatives. It is usually the case that the last thing they need is more money or pity, but rather bourgeois virtues that create prosperity.

Andrew Mwenda:

Taxation is a politically explosive exercise - why should any government alienate political allies in the name of tax collection when international donors are willing to pick up its bills? By acting as a subsidy to government corruption and incompetence, foreign aid creates disincentives to fiscal reform.

...good governance is less a moral aspiration and more a product of enlightened self-interest. If international donors began to cut off the aid taps, governments in Africa would be forced to reform their fiscal policies or stare regime collapse in the eye.

Mark Steyn:

Two decades ago, Sir Bob was at least demanding we give him our own fokkin' money. This time round, all he was asking was that we join him into bullying the G8 blokes to give us their taxpayers' fokkin' money.

The system that enriched them could enrich Africa. But capitalism's the one cause the poseurs never speak up for. The rockers demand we give our fokkin' money to African dictators to manage, while they give their fokkin' money to Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts to manage. Which of those models makes more sense?

Okay, I'm done with this for now. It's clear where I stand.

But did anyone hear the rumor that 50 Cent backed out cause he disagreed with the premise? Apparently he read some Milton Friedman and had an epiphany. Someone wanna give me odds on that one?

Battlestar Gallactica?

2005-07-06T00:13:00.000-04:00

Not a science fiction type on any level, but if Virginia Postrel is convinced it may "very well be the best show on TV" I may have to Tivo it.

JRB - Anti-Statist Super Heroine?

2005-07-05T23:50:00.000-04:00

I have decided to come out full force in lobbying for the appointment of Janice Rogers Brown to the position of Supreme Court Justice recently vacated by Sandra Day O' Connor. This will come as a great relief to our president, George W. Bush, who has clearly been seeking my direction on the issue.

As evidence of her superb qualification for this position I present a series of quotes posted on the website of a group vacuously named "People for the American Way" evidently in order to frighten good statists as to her real agenda. Rather than being frightened into climbing under the covers and sucking my thumb in the fetal position, I found myself cheering out loud. Here are some choice samples:

- We no longer find slavery abhorrent. We embrace it. We demand more. Big government is not just the opiate of the masses. It is the opiate. The drug of choice for multinational corporations and single moms; for regulated industries and rugged Midwestern farmers and militant senior citizens.

- I have argued that collectivism was (and is) fundamentally incompatible with the vision that undergirded this country’s founding. The New Deal, however, inoculated the federal Constitution with a kind of underground collectivist mentality. The Constitution itself was transmuted into a significantly different document...1937...marks the triumph of our own socialist revolution...

- We are heirs to a mind-numbing bureaucracy; subject to a level of legalization that cannot avoid being arbitrary, capricious, and discriminatory. What other outcome is possible in a society in which no adult can wake up, go about their business, and return to their homes without breaking several laws?

- At its founding and throughout its early history, this regime revered private property. The American philosophy of the Rights of Man relied heavily on the indissoluble connection between rationality, property, freedom and justice. The Founders viewed the right of property as “the guardian of every other right”…

Unfortunately, nothing I care about on any level will determine who will be appointed to the Supreme Court. It is an unfortunate consequence of Roe v. Wade that Supreme Court appointments will be single issue turf wars for some indefinite time period going forward. And we are all worse off for it.

I've Pulled Punches

2005-07-05T23:41:00.000-04:00

in deference to what I percieve as good intentions. Boortz doesn't:

Lets give thanks that Live 8 is over. What a bunch of sanctimonious, self-righteous, narcissistic jerk-offs. They top off their great multi-venue circle jerk Sunday with a demand that the United States cough up some more money for something they refer to as "aid and justice for Africa." These rock stars have a goal. They are demanding that the evil United States cough up 0.7% of its gross domestic product and send it to Africa. What these footstools don't grasp is that the 0.7% isn't theirs to demand or theirs to distribute as they see fit. That money belongs to the men and women of the United States who got up every morning and went out and damned well earned it. Personally, I don't give a flying fornication just how much of our money they think should be sent to Africa.

...

Sure, they like want to fight like poverty and like all that .. but that doesn't mean that they're ever going to like say one like negative word about any of the like dictators who like steal so much of the aid money and like keep their own people in poverty.

...

The problems faced by Africa are largely cultural. Though our illustrious rock stars wouldn't touch this, the dominant African culture is one of irresponsible reproduction, tribal warfare, submission to dictatorial despots, anti-capitalistic governments and unprotected sex leading to rampant disease. Live 8 isn't going to change this, and either is confiscating more American wealth to be poured into this mess.

Yikes! But he's spot on. Every word of it. As I would have put it if I were sufficiently insensitive.

Real Progress

2005-07-02T13:40:00.000-04:00

Was made this week with the adoption of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Yes, I know it's not truly free trade. Yes, I know that it subjects us to added bureaucracy. And no, I'm not happy with giving the UN added power in arbitrating disputes. That being said, the great benefits of FREER trade with lower trade barriers and reduced tariffs and subsidies outweigh the negatives that some portion of that trade will be subject to supergovernmental bodies and additional regulation. In short, we are better off with expanded trade under excessive regulation than we are in the absence of an agreement to make that trade possible at all.

Of course, in the ideal world, this agreement would be a page or two rather than the 1000+ pages that it is. Regardless, this agreement represents a profound step in the right direction for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic as well as for ourselves.

A.M. Mora y Leon has the roll call of Pride and Shame over at Publius Pundit.

The True Result of Foreign Aid and Debt Relief

2005-07-02T12:56:00.000-04:00

At the risk of having less anally retentive locals tell me to lighten the hell up, I present this post from Don Boudreaux, letting us know that the misguided call for debt relief as the cure all for poverty is not a recent development. The truth is that debt relief as called for by the well-intentioned organizers of Live 8 serves mainly to line the pockets of and perpetuate the rule of despotic governments. Ultimately counterproductive. There's no amount of money that can eradicate poverty in Africa without serious reform. From Boudreaux's post:

Prosperity is goods and services to consume; not money -- not even `resources,`for resources must be transformed into desirable goods and services. And transforming resources into desirable goods and services requires productive creativity and productive effort. These, in turn, are unleashed (and properly channeled) only by a system of secure and exchangable private property rights defined and enforced under a strong rule of law. (And a strong rule of law is not necessarily the product of strong government.)

All that being said... nationwide, and indeed international exposure for Philly is always good, and getting Pink Floyd back together, even if it's just for the day, is pretty wicked cool. And it's such an awesome day out...

Maybe I should just grab a beer and lighten the hell up.

Good News for the Hometown

2005-06-30T11:06:00.000-04:00

We're Still Number 5!

According to newly released estimates of the cities' populations, Philadelphia retains a slight edge on the Arizona capital, 1,470,151 to 1,418,041.

The numbers, which project populations as of July 1, 2004, come as something of a surprise. Estimates after the last decennial census declared that Phoenix would pass Philadelphia about May 17, 2004, and sparked a round of City Hall finger-pointing a year ago.

But those estimates assumed the cities would evolve at the same rate they did during the 1990s, when Philadelphia shrank by 4 percent and Phoenix grew by a torrid 34 percent.

Instead, Philadelphia's rate of decline slowed for four straight years. Last year, it lost only an estimated 6,802 residents, 0.5 percent of the population. That was better than 43 other big cities.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of retaining population for cities in general, and this city in particular. Urban renewal is not possible without the people to invest in their homes and neighborhoods. Homes are not bought in abandoned neighborhoods and businesses don’t get started without customers.

Naysayers in the Inquirer article refuse to get excited over the lessening of the population hemorrhage:

Critics, many of whom blame high taxes for a 45-year population slide, were less impressed. "It's pretty sad to turn cartwheels over the fact that we're only losing a half a percent of our population every year," said Brett Mandel of the antitax group Philadelphia Forward. "We want to be a city that is growing."

This kind of pessimism is ridiculous. Any progress in the right direction is worthy of celebration. Just because you recognize that high taxation is an obstacle to growth doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy other factors offsetting some of that liability and helping to cauterize the urban flight wound. The more folks that stay and fight for the city, the better the chances of reform taking place, and the closer our shared goals of lower taxation and stronger economic growth are to becoming reality.

So enough with the naysaying. The turnabout has begun, and sure, Philly’s got a lot of room for improvement, and net population growth is still a few years off, but we’ve got a hell of a lot going for us too, and fulfilling this city’s boundless potential begins with fewer people leaving and more people deciding this is a place worth investing in.

Pledge Your Loyalty to Our Great Leader

2005-06-29T13:32:00.000-04:00

or forget buying a baseball team.

Sally Jenkins calls out the power-mad GOP.

Some Republican lawmakers don't think George Soros should be permitted to purchase a Major League Baseball team because he's too liberal and he has some wacky notions. I must have been napping, and that's why I missed the part where we became a country in which Democrats are no longer allowed to buy things.

...

I don't much care about George Soros, and I don't care at all which rich guy gets the privilege of spending $400 million in heavy sugar on the Nats. But I do care when members of a ruling party start pushing people around, because next, it could be me. This is supposed to be the party that doesn't believe in government telling business or private citizens what to do.

...

If congressmen want to ban major Democratic fundraisers from MLB, could they please start with Peter Angelos? Surely he's a more "polarizing" figure than George Soros? And then there is Rupert Murdoch, who as the head of Fox was nominally in charge of the Dodgers. Another "polarizing" figure. A lot of people find President Bush rather "polarizing," and he owned the Texas Rangers

Rock on, Sally. If you ever want to move from the sports page to the Op-Ed page, I'll write up a recommendation.

I Wonder...

2005-06-29T00:32:00.000-04:00

if the "McCain for President" crowd is gonna pursue a lawsuit against me if I point out, within six months of the election, how idiotic and insanely unamerican his crown jewel campaign finance law is. Anyone who would sponsor this junk without being able to foresee the inevitable consequences is unfit to hold public office, much less be president.

Get Behind the "Lost Liberty Hotel"!!!

2005-06-28T14:59:00.000-04:00

Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.

Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.

Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.

The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."

Press release here

I propose a "Walk of Economic Liberty" where names can be etched in a brick in return for a reasonable investment. I'd certainly be in for one.

"Equality"?

2005-06-28T00:33:00.000-04:00

From KYW:

Crawley’s complaint, he later told reporters, was the mayor’s vendor plan for the Live 8 concert:

"If you’re celebrating African economic equity, and you don’t want to include African-Americans in that economic equity, it looks a bit hypocritical."

All Live 8 vendors will have to pay fees ranging from $750 to $1,500. Crawley says that’s too much for his members, who sell things like t-shirts and incense.

Have we abandoned any pretense of meaning in the word "equality"? Having a set price for all people is not "equal" enough?

Tonight's Bedtime Thought

2005-06-28T00:21:00.000-04:00

These houses will be stolen by Crate and Barrell through their force-wielding intermediaries in the government of Norwood, Ohio thanks to the decision in Kelo v. New London. Think it can't happen to you?

Live 8 Skepticism

2005-06-27T20:53:00.000-04:00

Note to Bob Geldof:

No, I am not going to feel guilty about living in an economically successful capitalist country, no matter what you call your stinking concert. No, I don't think the American taxpayer has an obligation to carry the bill for money stolen in a faraway land by corrupt dicatators, so I don't readily accept your call for no strings attached debt forgiveness. No, I don't think that your self congratulatory charity with money pilfered from common Americans is worthy of praise. No, I don't think your "Live Aid" event was the defining moment of a generation.

And now it appears the results were even worse than I could possibly have imagined.

Oh, and that insipid "We are the World" tripe that your adoring minions foisted on us back in the day? Well, this scathing analysis outta PJ O'Rourke puts it in its proper place:

We are the world (solipsism)
We are the children (average age near forty)
We are the ones who make a brighter day (unproven)
So let's start giving (logical inference supplied without argument)
There's a choice we're making (true as far as it goes)
We're saving our own lives (absurd)
It's true we'll make a better day (see line 3 above)
Just you and me (statistically unlikely)

"That's three palpable untruths, two dubious assertions, nine uses of a first person pronoun, not a single reference to trouble or anybody in it and no facts. The verse contains, literally, neither rhyme nor reason."

credit to commenter "Stevo Darkly" on the Reason Hit and Run blog

Elections in Iran

2005-06-25T00:24:00.000-04:00

Islamofacists scored a big victory.

Or did they?

Screw Eurovision

2005-06-24T13:11:00.000-04:00

Greenjolly helped win the REAL battle

from Radio Free Europe

Last year, the Ukrainian pop artist Ruslana, a brunette scantily clad in a leather and fur ensemble, won the Eurovision song contest with a song featuring traditional Ukrainian instruments. This year, another Ukrainian group, GreenJolly (right), vied for the top honor on home turf in Kyiv. But the trio placed only 20th out of 24 with their rap song "Razom Nas Bahato." Contributing to their weak finish were poor marks from the Russian and Belarusian judges. Journalists speculated that the judges panned the song not because they didn't find it catchy enough but because of its role as anthem for Ukraine's Orange Revolution

If you missed the catchy anthem of the Orange Revolution, check it out here courtesy of Dan McMinn at Orange Ukraine

Also up on Radio Free Europe is another inflammatory article suggesting the 2006 presidential elections are targeted for another youthful revolution:

Syarhey Salash, chairman of Skryzhavanne (Crossroads), an independent NGO dedicated to educating and training political active youth, declared that he is "absolutely sure our Belarusian youth will be very active in [Belarus's 2006 presidential] elections. They will be just as passionate as the youth in Georgia and Ukraine were and other countries of the former Soviet bloc. I am very hopeful that 2006 will be the year of great changes in our country."

And So It Begins...

2005-06-24T12:37:00.000-04:00

This is so goddamned infuriating

D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) said that the ruling should give the city apowerful hand during negotiations with the 33 property owners at the ballpark site.

"It puts to rest the issue of whether the city has legal rights to take the properties," Evans said. "This strengthens our hand to get control of the property. Hopefully, it will encourage owners to settle with the District and accept a fair price and move on."

The city is completing assessments of property on the ballpark site and expects to begin making offers in late July, said Carol Mitten, director of the Office of Property Management. Property owners will have 30 to 45 days to negotiate with the city, Mitten said. If a deal is not reached, the city will seize the land, and a court will decide the sale price.

As I Go to Bed Steaming Mad About Kelo v. New London

2005-06-24T01:39:00.000-04:00

Here's a great observation from Warren Meyer at Coyote Blog:

Little guy vs. big guy -- where is the Left? Well, the problem is that progressives generally support the erosion of private property rights. They like cases that reinforce the ability of government and politicians to take, redirect, or otherwise control private property for their own goals. In this case, I presume that they are willing to sacrifice a few little guys in Connecticut for the larger goal of increasing statism.

Polish Ex-pats Fuel Netherlands Economy

2005-06-24T01:30:00.000-04:00

Given the history of the Poles to over come adversity and their propensity work hard where ever they go, is it any suprise I'm not suprised?

Hey, the Pirate said it, I didn't.

A Dark Day for America

2005-06-23T12:59:00.000-04:00

Today the average American without connections to government elites lost big.

I've written about the New London Eminent Domain case before. I don't think I stressed strongly enough the absolute Pandora's Box of tyranical evils that this decision opens. Government power may now be employed in the confiscation of private property for the gain of a third party private entity. What this ruling does is nothing short of establish that nothing you have is truly your own. Everything you have is only in your possession at the whim of the all-powerful government. If they should choose to reclaim it for whatever reason, or determine that someone else can use it to what they deem a better purpose, then it ceases to be yours without any need for justification and with compensation only defined as whatever they feel to be reasonable.

This is the same attitude towards private property that existed in Stalin's Soviet Union, and I stand by my position that it's not an incomprehensible leap from the New London homeowners having their houses siezed to collectivization in the 1930s Ukraine.

My gratitude and admiration goes out to Justices O'Connor, Thomas, Scalia, and Rehnquist for their defense in a losing effort. To Stevens, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Souter, and Breyer... you have destroyed a massive component of a free market system, the cornerstone of a free society. We as individuals are left only to rely on the restraint of officials in power for the ability to maintain the product of our lives' labors - a tenuous situation at best. I can only hope that that restraint will be shown, by and large, for if it is not history will surely judge you harshly for the grave mistake you made today.

Via Politburo Diktat: See Arguing with Signposts for a roundup of the outcry.

Summer Spy Thriller

2005-06-22T13:28:00.000-04:00

Just finished reading Benjamin Wieser's A Secret Life, an account of the life of Polish Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski who operated as a spy for the CIA, passing some 35,000 pages of secret material from Polish and Russian sources to the US over the course of a decade. I am ashamed to admit I knew nothing of this story prior to picking up the book a few weeks ago, but apparently Kuklinski is a well known and obviously highly controversial figure in Poland to this day. In addition to the fascinating descriptions of covert missions, Warsaw Pact military strategies, and insight into the Cold War circa 1970-1980, the inevitable discussion as to the real meaning of loyalty and patriotism that this scenario raises is intriguing and difficult, even from this distant vantage point.

Obviously, as an third generation American first, and Polish descendant second, I am strongly biased, and consider Kuklinski a hero of the storybook variety. By overcoming the tendancy to glorify a system that had served him so well, by being proactive and seeking any way possible to work for the release of Poland from the prison of Soviet imperialism, and by being so completely selfless as to subject himself to the stress and dangers of being constantly alert and fearful for his safety and that of his family over the course of a decade, Kuklinski indeed defines heroism. There certainly were easier and more personally rewarding paths available to him as a high ranking officer in a Warsaw Pact nation.

Whether or not you share my disproportionate fascination with Eastern Europe and particularly the era late in the Cold War where the facade of indominable Soviet strength began crumbling at the foundation, I highly recommend this book as either a page turning spy novel that is coincidentally factual or as an intriguing real life account of the intrigue surrounding the CIA and the Warsaw Pact.

See also: The CIA account of Kuklinski and his service

Ukraine Update

2005-06-21T12:56:00.000-04:00

As one who was unabashedly enthusiastic about the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine sixth months ago, it's only fair that I point out this article from the Economist which shows a healthy skepticism.

I'm not nearly as pessimistic as Neeka, who claims that she wouldn't even vote for them next year.

For better or for worse, these changes can be glacial. The jury is still out, and I'm still giving Viktor and Yulia the benefit of the doubt.

Tax Cuts Work!!!

2005-06-20T13:23:00.000-04:00

I've stopped watching Hardball with Chris Matthews. Not because it's not a good show, or I have anything particularly against Chris, who amuses me with his what-the-hell-no-one-is-watching-anyway manner, but because I have this problem. You see, it seems every time there's a lefty pinko pundit on there, they talk about how the Bush administration is running the economy into the ground and charging up a huge deficit - okay so far - but then their explanation for the root cause of this is irresponsible tax cuts for the rich. This is the genesis of the problem. Upon hearing this, I become so furiously frustrated with the idiocy of people who actually hold power in this country that I take my trusty old Pedro Guerrero Louisville Slugger to my television... repeatedly.

I'll grant you that due to the great benefits of globalization, televisions cost significantly less than what they once did, but this is nevertheless far too expensive to have occurring on a regular basis. Hence I have removed the problem from my life and begun watching Tivo'd episodes of Mythbusters during the 11 o'clock hour (by the way, don't tell my wife, but Kari is just dreamy).

Anyways, the results are coming in, and low and behold it sure as hell seems that when we cut taxes, revenues go up. Check out the op ed in yesterday's Wall Street Journal:

Now we have overpowering confirming evidence from the Bush tax cuts of May 2003. The jewel of the Bush economic plan was the reduction in tax rates on dividends from 39.6% to 15% and on capital gains from 20% to 15%. These sharp cuts in the double tax on capital investment were intended to reverse the 2000-01 stock market crash, which had liquidated some $6 trillion in American household wealth, and to inspire a revival in business capital investment, which had also collapsed during the recession. The tax cuts were narrowly enacted despite the usual indignant primal screams from the greed and envy lobby about "tax cuts for the super rich."
Earlier this month the Congressional Budget Office released its latest report on tax revenue collections. The numbers are an eye-popping vindication of the Laffer Curve and the Bush tax cut's real economic value. Federal tax revenues surged in the first eight months of this fiscal year by $187 billion. This represents a 15.4% rise in federal tax receipts over 2004. Individual and corporate income tax receipts have exploded like a cap let off a geyser, up 30% in the two years since the tax cut. Once again, tax rate cuts have created a virtuous chain reaction of higher economic growth, more jobs, higher corporate profits, and finally more tax receipts.

The Credo of the Radical Individualist

2005-06-13T00:17:00.000-04:00

From the high priest, Don Boudreaux

I, a radical individualist, --

- put no faith in the notion that Jones knows better than Smith what’s best for Smith, and that Smith knows better than Jones what’s best for Jones;

- deny that a dozen or a hundred or a thousand Jones know better than Smith what’s best for Smith;

- have no interest in saving the souls of strangers, and only limited interest in saving the souls of people I know and love;

- am quick to anger whenever I encounter any stranger trying to save my soul;

- cherish the freedom of each adult to do as he pleases so long as he accords all others the same courtesy;

- have good reason to believe that each of us acts more responsibly when we attend to our own business than when we attend to the business of others;

- retch at the very thought of being part of any mythical collective consciousness, or of being obliged or even expected to act as if some larger, collective consciousness has a claim on me and my affections.

In short, I – a radical individualist – find no romance in local or national collectives or in the state. To fancy the first as real, or the second as some sort of transcendent expression of people's hopes and dreams, is to fall victim to vile abstractions. These abstractions perhaps afford some people temporary false comfort, but over the long-run they inevitably weaken the true fabric that alone gives real meaning to the term "human society": the voluntary market order.

I affirm my adherence to and full agreement with these values.

Full context, and link to the individualist's parable here.

Fear Not, Dear Reader

2005-05-05T12:55:00.000-04:00

(and I do intentionally use the singular) Despite your fervent pleadings, I have not gone away. No, I shall return to my usual mindless drivel shortly.

In the meantime, chew on this.

The Papal Lovefest Continues

2005-04-07T13:08:00.000-04:00

"The state under socialism treats the individual, not with dignity, but as a molecule within the social organism, so that the good of the individual is completely subordinated to the functioning of the socioeconomic mechanism."

- Pope John Paul II

Money quote extracted from a great editorial outta Jack Kemp.

Turns Out the GOP Really IS That Stupid

2005-04-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

Reason's Hit and Run blog alerts us to the fact that Memogate was a fake scandal.

Turns out I CAN be wrong underestimating the idiocy of the GOP party apparatus.

Unbelievable.

Going REALLY Local

2005-04-06T14:39:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure there's a hot enough spot in hell for the man who runs down a 12 year old on the sidewalk and leaves her for dead.

Leveraging Government to Squash Competition

2005-04-06T12:47:00.000-04:00

John Stossel tells us about Washington State politicians and their "Cosmetology Board" designed to crush upstart competition from entrepreneurs giving the consumer exactly what they want:

Some years ago, a married couple, Taalib-Din Uqdah and Pamela Farrell, went into business braiding hair, African-style. They called their shop Cornrows & Co. If politicians' speeches are right, Uqdah and Farrell were heroes: Inner cities need businesses, and the couple had built a booming business in Washington, D.C. They had 20,000 customers, employed 10 people and took in half a million dollars a year. Some women came from as far away as Connecticut, six hours away, to have their hair braided by Cornrows & Co.

Did the politicians honor these entrepreneurs for contributing to the community? Find ways to encourage others to do similar things? Well, the government did respond. But it wasn't with encouragement.

Local bureaucrats ordered Uqdah to cease and desist, or be "subject to criminal prosecution." Why? Because he didn't have a license. "It's a safety issue," said the regulators. Those who run a hair salon must have a cosmetology license. The chemicals they use dyeing or perming hair might hurt someone.

Hair dye is hardly a serious safety threat, but even if it were, Cornrows & Co. didn't dye or perm hair. They only braided it. That didn't matter, said the Cosmetology Board -- they still had to get a license. In order to get one, Uqdah would have to pay about $5,000 to take more than 1,000 hours of courses at a beauty school.

The ruse of using "liscensing" to isolate established businesses from competition is not limited to the hairdressers, but it's that much more transparent due to the trivial nature of business. In the great majority of cases, liscensing does more to "protect" the consumer from lower prices, greater innovation, and better customer service than anything else.

Thank God the Institute for Justice is there to fight for the freedom of individuals to conduct economic activities without such clearly ridiculous government interference.

Get Out Your Quills

2005-04-05T23:40:00.000-04:00

And write your congressperson. Lift the Jackson-Vanik trade restrictions on Ukraine. As Peter Savodnik writes for Slate:

...if the White House views Yushchenko as something more than a democratic motif, a scar-faced vindication of President Bush's free-people, free-market gospel, if the Americans truly wish for the Ukrainian to succeed, they must give him every bit of support they can. They should repeal Jackson-Vanik. They should help Yushchenko convince his people that they were right to tear down the old regime.

Goodbye, John Paul II

2005-04-02T15:42:00.000-05:00

When you are thirty years old, your last name is Kuszewski, you've attended 10 years of Catholic school, and your wife's birth certificate reads "CCCP", it's hard to overestimate the impact that Pope John Paul the Second has had on your life. Though at this point I attend church only when I am visiting my grandmother on the west coast and am called upon to drive her, I found myself this afternoon making the pilgimmage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, less as an affirmation of long suppressed Catholic faith, and more as small token of respect for a man who brought about profound change both prior to and during my lifetime.

Regardless of one's feelings regarding the Pope's moral stances regarding homosexuality or birth control or his decrees regarding the role of women in the church, I do believe that any honest evaluation of his reign on the throne of St. Peter would inevitably reach the conclusion that this is a man who masterfully leveraged the extraordinary ability to claim the authority of God for tremendous good and tremendous change in the world, and of course particularly in Poland and Eastern Europe.

Rather than rehashing the well-deserved adoring obituaries and tributes that will be plastered all over the media during the ensuing days and weeks, I will repost here from Lech Walesa his recounting of the inspiration he drew from Pope John Paul II, and express my immense personal gratification to John Paul for beginning the long chain of events that led to the fall of the iron curtain and, ultimately, to the opportunity for me to meet and marry the wonderful woman who I call my wife.

Here we have an amazing thing: The end of the 20th century is approaching, and also the end of the second thousand years of Christianity is approaching. I am convinced as a believer that it was a gift straight from heaven. When nobody believed, we got the Holy Father [Pope John Paul II], who undermines the system. He does not fight, but he is there. During a pilgrimage in Warsaw he said, "Don't be frightened, and change the face of the world." A year after these words, I myself, from 10 people a year earlier in opposition, I have 10 million people. People are not scared anymore, and they are trying to change the face of the world. I am not obsessed or saintly. I am a sinner, maybe an even greater one than all of you. But these are facts; almost all those people with whom I spoke are still alive. After this confirmation, after this gift at the end of the 20th century of Christianity, there is a movement 10 million strong which rises and grows. And we do just what you said. We undermine the leadership role of the party and the right of representation of the workers. We say that you do not represent us, you have no right to govern us. We kick into the soft abdomen of the system, and this encourages others. In other countries they are doing likewise. The rest you know.

- Lech Walesa

The EU Gets One Right

2005-04-01T13:01:00.000-05:00

It's rare from that collection of social democrat governments, but they are absolutely correct to raise a stink about protectionist trade and tariff redistribution policies by our government which is constantly lecturing others (and rightly so) about their need to liberalize trade.

In this case, money collected from tariffs on imported goods, paid for by American consumers, is then distributed to companies in America who have the loudest and sharpest whining delegations on K street simply because they are unable to produce a competitive product in open competition.

The sanctions the EU is threatening are precisely the correct response, and hopefully our government will see the wisdom of maintaining free markets and dispense with the Byrd amendment.

Grand Slam, Dick Morris

2005-04-01T12:38:00.000-05:00

Print this one and frame it.

...when we put ourselves in her place, more than 80 percent of us think we would want to die. To be told that we must linger in a non-life because of the dictates of a governor wedded to the religious right and a Congress in the grip of ideologically driven leaders seems to the vast majority of us a level of government interference we find too intrusive to tolerate.

Next to a decision that we must live as vegetables, OSHA regulations, IRS bullying and EPA stubbornness pale by comparison. How ironic that, at the precise moment when most of us are prepared to embrace the agenda of the libertarian conservatives, we find the Republican Party, their supposed champions, running screaming in the other direction.

And thus we limited government types are left abandoned in the process, ditched at the dance by our date without a ride home (well, there IS that crazy kid on the unicycle who keeps trying to get our attention - but he just keeps on making an ass of himself at all the key moments). A lot of us have been voting elephants over asses based on the idea that socialist economic policies have a proportionately greater impact on our daily lives than the FCC fining Nickelodeon for gay sponges on TV or the insistence that some funny bible story get equal time with the science of carbon dating in a biology class in Mississippi. But Dick Morris is absolutely correct in stating that this kind of interference has got to weigh more heavily than those other shenanigans - and that isn't in the GOPs favor.

Why We Need an ACLU

2005-03-31T12:35:00.000-05:00

Someone needs to call petty tyrants like this county sherriff on sticking their noses where it doesn't belong:

A Pender County dispatcher forced to quit her job last year after the sheriff discovered she had a live-in boyfriend is suing to overturn a N.C. law that makes living together a crime.
Sheriff Carson Smith told Debora Lynn Hobbs, 40, that she would have to marry, move or leave her job, said Jennifer Rudinger, executive director of the ACLU of North Carolina.
"I just didn't think it was any of my employer's business whether I was married or not, as long as I was good at my job," Hobbs said in a statement. "I couldn't believe that I was being given this ultimatum to choose between my boyfriend or my livelihood because the sheriff wanted to enforce a 200-year-old law that clearly violates my civil rights."

Getting Bullish on Belarus

2005-03-30T23:39:00.000-05:00

Bob at Abdymok is, anyways - issuing the call to Bush and Yushchenko to lead the charge in bringing freedom and democracy to Europe's last dictatorship:

yushchenko in his inaugural address on jan. 23 declared that ukraine will be “a reliable partner” in the fight against old and new threats, including tyranny and terrorism.

bush declared three days earlier in his own second inaugural address that the u.s. would “seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

there's no better place to turn these words into deeds than belarus.

....

belarusian pro-democratic organizations say that the efforts of most foreign donors, many kyiv-based, have been at best lacking in imagination and at worst self-defeating.

the only way to change belarus is to fight lukashenko — to aid the opposition, to discourage investment in the country, to do everything short of arming an insurgency. pro-democracy groups from belarus should not only be welcomed in kyiv. they should openly be coddled by the new kyiv government, and fed, financed and trained. and equipped.

the past policy of issuing grants only to belarusian non-governmental organizations should be replaced by flexible programs designed to identify and support those who are literally risking their necks to combat tyranny at home.

support must come out of the fog of official “dialogues” and “cultural exchanges” and flood across the polish ukrainian and lithuanian borders to minsk.

this means renting dozens of apartments in kyiv, warsaw and vilnius, buying computers and memory sticks and openly, transparently, publicly supporting the belarusian people.

all of them, all the time. afterall, there aren't many left.

both bush and yushchenko have at their disposal a wide range of diplomatic, informational, and economic tools that can be used to jettison europe’s last dictator.

the time to start using them is yesterday.

Amen, brother. Amen.

Minimum Wage and Retirees

2005-03-29T23:15:00.000-05:00

Russell Roberts over at Cafe Hayek points us to Warren Meyer at Coyote Blog, and in particular to a recounting of the effects of minimum wage increases on his campground concessions business. Apparently a good deal of his work is accomplished by retirees subsisting on pensions and social security, and work largely for subsidized campground slots and bingo money. He recounts the various ways in which raising minimum wage laws will poison what has otherwise been a grand partnership.

Those in favor of "living wage" laws will tell you that this is an exception. I would counter that most, if not all minimum wage jobs, are the exception. Few, if any, people spend entire careers working for minimum wage and raising a family. This is a caricature advanced by statists playing to emotions in order to advance government coercion as a factor in voluntary exchange between employers and employees. And even if you do consider retirees and students to be the "exception", there is never any provision made to exempt these folks from the laws.

Meyer presents us with a great case study of the unintended consequences of good intentions.

Playing to His Base

2005-03-29T22:52:00.000-05:00

from Radio Free Liberty:

(Belarussian) President Lukashenka has signed a decree ordering that the government increase pensions by an average of 8 percent as of April, Belapan reported on 28 March. The average pension is expected to increase to 187,300 rubles ($87).

"There. Now tell the grandkids to shut up and leave me alone, the overtime for riot police is killing me."

Inflation?
Schminflation...

Top Cop Gives Good Advice

2005-03-29T22:48:00.000-05:00

from this week's Citypaper:

Most murders occur in certain trouble neighborhoods, but police say they can't be everywhere at once to prevent them. "We recommend that people do what we do," says Commissioner Sylvester Johnson. "Stay away from those neighborhoods."

Lukashenko Up to His Old Tricks

2005-03-26T23:24:00.000-05:00

He's started another set of kangaroo court trails to railroad political opponents back into prison. From the Guardian:

Prosecutors opened a criminal case Saturday against more than two dozen protesters arrested in a rally demanding the ouster of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

...

Andrei Klimov, an opposition leader who organized the protests, said the Minsk regime's crackdown on political opponents showed that it feared it would be next.

``The opening of a criminal case shows that Lukashenko has really taken fright at the events in Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Georgia and is trying to crush any manifestation of democracy,'' said Klimov, who was still at liberty on Saturday.

``The last dictatorship in Europe is surviving on fear and repression,'' he said.

Go visit Stefania at Free Thoughts for the rest of the images of autocratic suppression in action.

Social Security and Welfare

2005-03-25T18:24:00.000-05:00

Robert Samuelson has a tremendous column in yesterday's Washington Post that makes me want to stand up and cheer. Quite simply, it insists that we call Social Security what it is - welfare.

We are a nation of closet welfare junkies, which helps explain why we can't have an honest debate about Social Security. Social Security and Medicare are our biggest welfare programs, but because Americans regard "welfare" as shameful, we've found other labels for them. We call them "social insurance" or "entitlements." Anything but welfare. Democrats and Republicans alike embrace the deception. No one wants to upset older voters. Well, if you can't call something by its real name, you can't discuss it honestly.

Absolutely. Welfare comes in many forms - corporate, elder, or underemployed - and I oppose all of it wholesale. I particularly like Samuelson's point regarding Social Security as "insurance":

In normal usage, insurance suggests protection against something you don't expect to happen -- a house fire, a car accident. By contrast, most people expect to grow old. Using the "terminology of insurance . . . [was intended] to mask the huge welfare payments being made," ... People falsely believe they're "only getting what they have paid for."

This is a big reason why the dual purposes of Social Security should be separated. The first is a welfare payment to older citizens. The second is a government insurance program to provide for those who are no longer able to work. By covering both with one blanket, we allow the specious argument that the 80% that falls into the first category is a "safety net" lumped together with the 20% who are disabled. There is no good reason to consider these programs together as they have fundamentally different purposes.

Samuelson contends, and I agree, that labeling social security as welfare is important because any other discussion is predicated on the misguided conclusion that baby boomers are just "getting back what they paid in".

Americans regard "earned benefits" and "welfare" differently. The first is a right, the second a privilege. In theory, welfare should serve some public purpose and not just enrich the recipients. By admitting that Social Security and Medicare are welfare, we allow relevant questions to be raised. Do all beneficiaries "need" or "deserve" their welfare? Is the cost "unfair" to taxpayers or burdensome to the economy? Have the social and economic conditions that originally justified the welfare changed?

And, of course, an honest appraisal of those questions lead to one inevitable conclusion:

If these costs are too high (and I think they are), the only way to curb them is to cut benefits. Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to face that reality. President Bush's proposal for "personal accounts" diverts the debate. To enhance their appeal, he promises to exempt anyone 55 or older (anyone born in 1950 or earlier) from any benefit cuts. Some other proposals lower the exemption to 45 (anyone born in 1960 or earlier). Well, that covers most of the baby boom, which stretched from 1946 to 1964. If the real problem is the baby boomers' retirement costs and you exempt baby boomers from benefit cuts, then by definition you ignore the problem.

On these issues, we can't think straight unless we talk straight. We can't control our welfare habit unless we admit our addiction. Don't hold your breath.

Minsk Demonstration Squashed

2005-03-25T16:31:00.000-05:00

Look's like Andrey Klimaw's protest went on with or without permission from the authorities. 1000 protesters was short of Klimaw's original intent of up to 100,000, but sizable enough to draw a reaction from authorities:

About 1,000 pro-democracy protesters tried to gather Friday near the palace of President Alexander Lukashenko, claiming to be emulating the popular uprising in fellow ex-Soviet republic Kyrgyzstan, but they were beaten and dispersed by police in riot gear, and several dozen were arrested.
It took the truncheon-wielding police about two hours to disperse the protesters, who chanted "Down with Lukashenko!" and "Long live Belarus!" A group of 100 or so opposition activists regrouped, only to be pushed away a second time.

The bad news for Lukashenko's opponents is that 1000 protesters just isn't going to get it done. The good news is that this is a rally without an immediate catalyst, and they still managed to get a fair turnout. What has happened in Georgia and Ukraine, and whatever has yet to unfold in Kyrgyzstan will have profound effects upon the aftermath of what will undoubtedly be another rigged "election" in 2006. Europe's last dictator has to be concerned watching what is going on around him and knowing there's no real way out of seeing this all come to a head at some point not too far down the road.

Take it Easy There, Commissar

2005-03-24T16:26:00.000-05:00

How's about if I give you credit here. No, it ain't no Instapundit, but I guarantee at least two more people will give you credit for your wise insight into the mocking of federalism.

The War on People in Philadelphia

2005-03-24T13:25:00.000-05:00

DanielUA over at YoungPhillyPolitics has a great post regarding the misguided "War on Drugs" and asset forfeiture. Besides pointing out the insane, immoral, and unconstitutional practice of seizure of property "involved" in a drug deal as the tyranny that it is, he also offers plausible reasoning on why it may not even serve as the great revenue stream that the abusive governments think it is:

But, lets forget basic moral questions for a second, and think about the public policy ramifications. We have a City with many struggling neighborhoods, that have abandoned homes, unstable populations, a plethora of mortgage foreclosures, and all the problems that stem from those issues. And within that context, we have the DA, the locally elected DA, helping to push these neighborhoods further into decline by taking long time residents out of their homes?

In the end, of course, the whole thing must actually cost Philadelphia money. Forget the real, but still somewhat abstract monetary effect that a Sheriff Sale has on a neighborhood (some estimates have been that it knocks $15,000 off of the property value of its neighboring homes). Forget the psychic cost to a population that sees a longstanding neighborhood resident forced out of her home by officials elected to represent the interests of Philadelphia residents. How about some very basic costs? Where, for example, do you think people are going to go when this happens? How about a homeless shelter ($$$)? How about public housing ($$$)? Can this really be justified?

Of course, these questions have never been asked. As with most of our drug policy, it is based on kneejerk reaction rather than legitimate cause and effect analysis. We've been persuing this War on Drugs for my entire lifetime, with no discernable positive effect. Isn't it time to reevaluate our tactics?

Coup in Kyrgyzstan

2005-03-24T12:09:00.000-05:00

In the wake of more post-Soviet disputed elections, the people have stormed the palace and the president has fled to Russia.

Visit Registan.net and Publius Pundit for coverage.

Speaking of Santorum

2005-03-24T10:51:00.000-05:00

Our own little Keystone State fake memo situation?

It's Rathergate all over again, and the same vigilant entities that brought about to the collapse of CBS News could now also cause heads to roll among Democratic Senate leadership staffers and further shame multiple news organizations that would appear to have fallen for another document hoax.

Very quietly, Senate Republican leadership aides to both Sen. Rick Santorum and Sen. Mitch McConnell, as well as the Senate Republican Policy Committee, have been using the Senate recess break to reconstruct the purported distribution of a document that media outlets, including ABC News, the New York Times and a number of regional newspapers, identified as Senate "GOP talking points" on the Terri Schiavo fight that unfolded over the weekend.

"There is a process here for documents like this that are passed around down on the Senate floor, which is where the media claimed that the 'talking points' were being distributed last Thursday," says a Republican policy committee staffer. "There was a lot of stuff going on Thursday, but a document like this one was not being distributed. As far as we know, the only documents being handed out related to votes on a series of amendments being pushed through before the recess. Schiavo wasn't part of that package."

...

However, Republican leadership staffers now believe the document was generated out of the Democratic opposition research office set up recently by Sen. Harry Reid, and distributed to some Democratic Senate staffers claiming it was a GOP document, in the hope -- or more likely expectation -- that it would then be leaked by those Democrats to reporters. In fact, the New York Times stated that it was Democratic staffers who were distributing the "talking points" document.

Hat tip to Grassroots PA, where they've been on this for a couple of days now. I'd like to take this opportunity to flip a big old metaphoric bird to both parties for politicizing the hell out of some poor woman's horrible fate. These people would exhume her corpse and take it on a traveling roadshow in late October if they thought it might solidify their position with the constituency. It makes me ill.

Santorum This Week Goes 1 for 2

2005-03-24T00:49:00.000-05:00

Right:

A new poll showing that Catholics are backing off support for the death penalty was no surprise to U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, an outspoken conservative Catholic, who says he has been re-examining his own view.

He has not become an abolitionist, and he believes church teaching against the death penalty carries less weight than its longer-standing opposition to abortion. But he questions what he once unquestioningly supported.

"I felt very troubled about cases where someone may have been convicted wrongly. DNA evidence definitely should be used when possible," he said.

That's right Rick, one innocent put to death by government is one too many.

Wrong:

"You have judicial tyranny here," Santorum told WABC Radio in New York. "Congress passed a law that said that you had to look at this case. He simply thumbed his nose at Congress."

Sorry, Rick. The 20th justice reviewing the case agreeing with the other 19 justices who reviewed the case does not equal tyranny just because it's not the outcome you wanted. Some (and by some I mean me) would argue that interfering in a state matter by a federal legislature which has no domain under it's written constitution to do so is much closer to tyranny.

Is that a Threat?

2005-03-24T00:35:00.000-05:00

A revolution is historically unavoidable in Belarus. March 25 will mark the beginning of the fall of this government

- Andrey Klimaw

Full context from Radio Free Europe:

The Minsk city administration has rejected a request by opposition politician Andrey Klimaw to stage a downtown protest rally on 25 March, Belapan News reported on 22 March. Klimaw says he intended to assemble up to 100,000 people to protest Alyaksandr Lukashenka's intention to run for a third presidential term. Klimaw told Belapan he is not surprised by the refusal, although the explanation baffles him. The city government told him that the location where he intended to hold the rally, Kastrychnitskaya Square, is not designed for events involving more than 1,000 people and that he had not produced a letter guaranteeing that he would pay for cleaning the square afterward. Klimaw said, "A revolution is historically unavoidable in Belarus. March 25 will mark the beginning of the fall of this government," Belapan reported.

100,000 people is a bit ambitious, I think.

Klimaw was an opposition member of parliament before Lukashenko forcibly disolved that body in 1999. Subsequent to criticizing the President for that power grab, he was put on a show trial for what certainly appear to be trumped up charges, and finally was released after serving 4 years of a 7 year sentence. Be watching Friday to see if he managed to pull anything off.