Posts
Complaints prompt water park to end discounts for church groups | Fox News: "The Freedom from Religion Foundation, a national non-profit dedicated to the separation of church-and-state, got wind of what had happened, and a lawyer from the group fired off a letter to Ratliff, informing him that he'd better not reinstitute the discount for church groups in the future"
"A Pennsylvania atheist filed a grievance with the state's Human Relations Commission this summer after he learned that Prudhomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen in Columbia was offering a 10 percent discount on meals to people who brought their church bulletin with them."
Why does it matter if a private company provides a discount to a group? Does that mean that senior discounts are age discrimination also?
Monday, August 13, 2012
Call for probe in jet ski security breach at New York's Kennedy airport | Fox News
Call for probe in jet ski security breach at New York's Kennedy airport | Fox News: "a swamped jet skier was able to breach Kennedy Airport’s troubled $100 million security system"
"Neither motion sensors nor closed-circuit cameras of the Perimeter Intrusion Detection System, or PIDS, detected Casillo [in a bright yellow life vest], who was only busted when he approached a startled Delta Airlines worker near Gate 10."
"Neither motion sensors nor closed-circuit cameras of the Perimeter Intrusion Detection System, or PIDS, detected Casillo [in a bright yellow life vest], who was only busted when he approached a startled Delta Airlines worker near Gate 10."
Friday, August 10, 2012
You Didn't Build That? Oh, Mr. Obama, You Can't Be Serious | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary
You Didn't Build That? Oh, Mr. Obama, You Can't Be Serious | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary: "
Politicians scold citizens for consuming too much sugar, but the government provides subsidies for producing high fructose corn syrup that's widely used in sodas, cookies and other sweets.
Taxes are higher because government subsidizes some farmers to grow crops and subsidizes other farmers not to grow crops.
Government subsidizes home ownership and restricts the number of homes that can be built.
Politicians criticize business executives who take on too much debt, but government encourages debt by providing tax deductions for interest (no deductions for equity capital), and of course the government itself is deeper in debt than anybody else.
Politicians complain that companies invest so much money overseas, but the government imposes a 35 percent tax on earnings brought back to the United States.
Politicians bemoan our dependence on foreign oil, while restricting oil drilling on public lands and offshore.
Businesses can be prosecuted for (1) "predatory price cutting" if they charge too little, (2) "price gouging" if they charge too much or (3) "price fixing" if they charge the same as their competitors.
By providing billions of dollars of federal aid for attending college, government subsidizes demand, which has had the effect of making college more expensive and more difficult to pay for than it otherwise would be for everybody who doesn't get federal aid.
Politicians promote the virtues of small, high-mileage cars, and they enforce laws that make it hard to produce such cars profitably in the United States.
There are laws that make it harder for employers to hire people and laws that provide income for the unemployed.
The government shuts off water in California, intensifying a drought and leading to higher unemployment, all to save small fish, while proposing thousands of square miles of windmills that kill birds.
Politicians encourage more couples to get married, but there have been higher taxes on married people than on single people, providing incentives not to get married.
Politicians say they want more doctors, while enforcing laws that limit the number of students who can enter medical schools.
Government promotes health care inflation by channeling hundreds of billions of dollars a year into the health care sector, enabling people to bid up health care prices — and then the government tries to limit health care price increases with health care rationing, such as excluding more treatments from coverage.
Government provides subsidies for growing tobacco and enforces prohibitions on smoking."
"In 1978, when it was estimated that people spent almost a billion hours a year filling out federal forms, Congress passed the Government Paperwork Elimination Act" " It has been estimated that people now spend more than 10 billion hours a year filling out some 8,000 different federal forms."
"In 1985, it was estimated to cost $2.6 billion" ... "The project ended up costing $14.6 billion"
"The airport was supposed to cost $1.5 billion, but the tab turned out to be $5.3 billion."
Politicians scold citizens for consuming too much sugar, but the government provides subsidies for producing high fructose corn syrup that's widely used in sodas, cookies and other sweets.
Taxes are higher because government subsidizes some farmers to grow crops and subsidizes other farmers not to grow crops.
Government subsidizes home ownership and restricts the number of homes that can be built.
Politicians criticize business executives who take on too much debt, but government encourages debt by providing tax deductions for interest (no deductions for equity capital), and of course the government itself is deeper in debt than anybody else.
Politicians complain that companies invest so much money overseas, but the government imposes a 35 percent tax on earnings brought back to the United States.
Politicians bemoan our dependence on foreign oil, while restricting oil drilling on public lands and offshore.
Businesses can be prosecuted for (1) "predatory price cutting" if they charge too little, (2) "price gouging" if they charge too much or (3) "price fixing" if they charge the same as their competitors.
By providing billions of dollars of federal aid for attending college, government subsidizes demand, which has had the effect of making college more expensive and more difficult to pay for than it otherwise would be for everybody who doesn't get federal aid.
Politicians promote the virtues of small, high-mileage cars, and they enforce laws that make it hard to produce such cars profitably in the United States.
There are laws that make it harder for employers to hire people and laws that provide income for the unemployed.
The government shuts off water in California, intensifying a drought and leading to higher unemployment, all to save small fish, while proposing thousands of square miles of windmills that kill birds.
Politicians encourage more couples to get married, but there have been higher taxes on married people than on single people, providing incentives not to get married.
Politicians say they want more doctors, while enforcing laws that limit the number of students who can enter medical schools.
Government promotes health care inflation by channeling hundreds of billions of dollars a year into the health care sector, enabling people to bid up health care prices — and then the government tries to limit health care price increases with health care rationing, such as excluding more treatments from coverage.
Government provides subsidies for growing tobacco and enforces prohibitions on smoking."
"In 1978, when it was estimated that people spent almost a billion hours a year filling out federal forms, Congress passed the Government Paperwork Elimination Act" " It has been estimated that people now spend more than 10 billion hours a year filling out some 8,000 different federal forms."
"In 1985, it was estimated to cost $2.6 billion" ... "The project ended up costing $14.6 billion"
"The airport was supposed to cost $1.5 billion, but the tab turned out to be $5.3 billion."
Feds: Student rights violated in east Miss. city | Fox News
Feds: Student rights violated in east Miss. city | Fox News: "incarcerates students for disciplinary infractions as minor as dress code violations"
Connecticut town threatens to take overgrown pet bunny from girl, 7 | Fox News
Connecticut town threatens to take overgrown pet bunny from girl, 7 | Fox News: "Zoning Enforcement Officer Arthur Hausman issued a cease-and-desist order to the Lidsky family two weeks ago, informing them that they were violating town zoning regulations because their property was smaller than the 2 acres required to keep rabbits and other types of livestock."
"North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda said town officials are not trying to take the bunny away from the girl, but are instead trying to get Josh Lidsky to respond to neighbors' complaints about blighted conditions on his property."
They want them to clean up there property so they bug them about the rabbit?!?
"North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda said town officials are not trying to take the bunny away from the girl, but are instead trying to get Josh Lidsky to respond to neighbors' complaints about blighted conditions on his property."
They want them to clean up there property so they bug them about the rabbit?!?
2 Pa. teens cited for parking lot chalk drawings | Fox News
2 Pa. teens cited for parking lot chalk drawings | Fox News: "Doylestown police Chief James Donnelly says although chalk washes off, the drawings are "an attempt at vandalism.""
Let's ban finger painting in kindergarten because it might lead to vandalism!
Let's ban finger painting in kindergarten because it might lead to vandalism!
Make Profits, Not War - Gary North - Mises Daily
Make Profits, Not War - Gary North - Mises Daily: "In the days before the income tax, anyone could come into the United States. There were no passports. Late in the 19th century, there was an entry point at Ellis Island. Immigration bureaucrats blocked the entry of sick people. This meant that immigration restrictions were a public-health issue. The authorities blocked out microscopic invaders by blocking the people who carried them. But healthy people were allowed to enter the nation."
"When immigrants could become citizens and vote their way into other Americans' wallets, the barriers went up."
"You mean we should charge Americans an extra 20 percent or 30 percent because the government on the other side of the line is going to nuke us? Does this make sense?"
"When immigrants could become citizens and vote their way into other Americans' wallets, the barriers went up."
"You mean we should charge Americans an extra 20 percent or 30 percent because the government on the other side of the line is going to nuke us? Does this make sense?"
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Nobel economist: Inequality weighs on US economy | Fox News
Nobel economist: Inequality weighs on US economy | Fox News: "To Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, the economy's strange behavior can be traced to the growing gap between wealthy Americans and everyone else."
Why do we see Nobel prize winners so often making statements about areas in which they didn't win the Nobel prize? This guy got his prize for "research was on screening, a technique used by one economic agent to extract otherwise private information from another." It's like they are saying, "because I got a Nobel in one area, you should believe what I say in other areas." Krugman seems to do that a lot too.
Why do we see Nobel prize winners so often making statements about areas in which they didn't win the Nobel prize? This guy got his prize for "research was on screening, a technique used by one economic agent to extract otherwise private information from another." It's like they are saying, "because I got a Nobel in one area, you should believe what I say in other areas." Krugman seems to do that a lot too.
How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking | Gadget Lab | Wired.com: "the very four digits that Amazon considers unimportant enough to display in the clear on the web are precisely the same ones that Apple considers secure enough to perform identity verification"
"the Apple rep didn’t bother to tell me about the first call concerning my account, despite the 90 minutes I spent on the phone with tech support"
"Apple issued a temporary password. It did this despite the caller’s inability to answer security questions I had set up"
"First you call Amazon and tell them you are the account holder, and want to add a credit card number to the account. All you need is the name on the account, an associated e-mail address, and the billing address. Amazon then allows you to input a new credit card. (Wired used a bogus credit card number from a website that generates fake card numbers that conform with the industry’s published self-check algorithm.) Then you hang up.
Next you call back, and tell Amazon that you’ve lost access to your account. Upon providing a name, billing address, and the new credit card number you gave the company on the prior call, Amazon will allow you to add a new e-mail address to the account. From here, you go to the Amazon website, and send a password reset to the new e-mail account."
"the Apple rep didn’t bother to tell me about the first call concerning my account, despite the 90 minutes I spent on the phone with tech support"
"Apple issued a temporary password. It did this despite the caller’s inability to answer security questions I had set up"
"First you call Amazon and tell them you are the account holder, and want to add a credit card number to the account. All you need is the name on the account, an associated e-mail address, and the billing address. Amazon then allows you to input a new credit card. (Wired used a bogus credit card number from a website that generates fake card numbers that conform with the industry’s published self-check algorithm.) Then you hang up.
Next you call back, and tell Amazon that you’ve lost access to your account. Upon providing a name, billing address, and the new credit card number you gave the company on the prior call, Amazon will allow you to add a new e-mail address to the account. From here, you go to the Amazon website, and send a password reset to the new e-mail account."
Is There a Right to Unionize? - Walter Block - Mises Daily
Is There a Right to Unionize? - Walter Block - Mises Daily: "Yes, theoretically, a labor organization could limit itself to organizing a mass quit unless they got what they wanted. That would indeed be an implication of the law of free association.
But every union with which I am familiar reserves the right to employ violence (that is, to initiate violence) against competing workers — "scabs" — whether in a "blue-collar way" by beating them up, or in a "white collar way" by getting laws passed compelling employers to deal with them, and not with the scabs."
"Why, by the way, is it not "discriminatory," and "hateful," to describe workers willing to take less pay, and to compete with unionized labor, as "scabs"? Should not this be considered on a par with using the "N" word for blacks, or the "K" word for Jews?"
But every union with which I am familiar reserves the right to employ violence (that is, to initiate violence) against competing workers — "scabs" — whether in a "blue-collar way" by beating them up, or in a "white collar way" by getting laws passed compelling employers to deal with them, and not with the scabs."
"Why, by the way, is it not "discriminatory," and "hateful," to describe workers willing to take less pay, and to compete with unionized labor, as "scabs"? Should not this be considered on a par with using the "N" word for blacks, or the "K" word for Jews?"
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