The Bad Idea that Wouldn’t Die! Somehow “Social Security Reform” still includes the idea of private retirement accounts. Private accounts mean less money goes to the Social Security fund, and “everybody knows” the problem is that the fund won’t have enough money! If the goal is really — as proponents claim — to have more people investing more money towards their own retirements, raise the limit on IRA contributions.
Fisher-Price My First Veto. Bush’s first veto — be sure to look at the graph near the bottom of the article — happens to be for a bill the vast majority of Americans want passed! Do not be fooled. Embryonic stem cell research is not “killing babies.” It is using extra embryos from IVF treatments — with permission of the donors — that would otherwise be flushed down the drain. This usage would ultimately help save people who have actually been born. For more information on the bill and it’s possible future, take a look at what Tom Harkin has to say.
A study documents what many apartment managers already knew, the additional expenses associated with being poor in the city are pretty steep. The catch-22 is that if they were in a better neighborhood they would be spending less money, but they can’t afford to get out of the neighborhood because they are spending so much money.
Workplace Zen! A local bar has been fined for not going “smoke free.” The quote that blows my mind, emphasis mine: “[The manager] said the club had tried to establish a smoking room, but it was not approved because employees were exposed to the smoke. She said the law’s protection of employees ‘doesn’t make sense’ because employees can find work elsewhere if they wish.” Now don’t get me wrong, I voted against the smoking ban. I thought it was dumb to make it law. But I am deeply offended by the concept of “If you don’t like a workplace littered with known carcinogens, find another job!” All I can say is that Mr. Smithers had better watch his step if Montgomery Burns ever gets wind of this manager!
There’s Evangelical Christians, and then a bit farther to the right, there’s Christian Nationalists.
And finally, I summon the Iron Science Teacher!
In regards to the smoking ban:
It is nothing short of failure when humans must resort to legislation for disagreement to be “solved,” and a great loss when an abbreviation of liberty occurs resultantly.
In a populated area, ones actions impact others and the actions of individuals have compunded effects (a concept I try to convey to those who think that one tinkle in the river or a few orange peels on the floor of the national park are inconsequential – allow a few million visitors per year to do the same and soon yer knee deep in rinds and washing down yer vitamins in…well…) Common sense and mindfulness…
At the same time, humans engage in self-destructive activities and the free market has responded with the creation of whole industries catering to the production and distribution of soothing toxins. And who has the right to tell you what you may introduce into yer body and to restrict correlary activities? There are times when common sense gets left at the coat check; vice, it seems, is always at odds with rationality.
As for a free market solution (finding work elsewhere) perhaps a workable solution could be found in: grandfathering leniency into the restriction for existing establishments ( a period of years or measured in employee turnover,) a no-quarter enforcement for new establishments, and the creation of “vice zones” for establishments catering to such activity ( these need not be relegated to secific geographic zones but rather specific site requirements to reduce or eliminate impact on non patrons.
There is a danger that taking all of the sharp edges out of the world will result in a stultifying state of “security.”