RedStateEclectic

Bastiat & Broken Windows

How many reports have you heard/read in your lifetime spinning a disaster as positive because it would help economically? Is our plight any mystery when we get our economic schooling from journalists?

Competition for the Other Good Doctor

Looks like Eric L. has his work cut out for him:

GRAND RAPIDS -- A Republican primary is set for state Rep. Justin Amash's, R-Cascade Township, 72nd District seat.

Eric Larson, 35, of Cascade Township, an anesthesiologist, will square off against businessman Ken Yonker, president of the Caledonia Board of Education and owner of Yonker Landscaping Inc.

Yonker was defeated in 2008 by Amash for the Republican nomination. No Democrats have filed with the state.

The district, which comprises Kentwood and Caledonia, Cascade and Gaines townships, long has been a stronghold for Republicans.

Amash is foregoing a second term to pursue the 3rd District Congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers.

No bias here, mind you. May the best Eric man Larson win.

Lew Rockwell Interviews Ron Paul

Listen here.

More Parents School-Homing Their Children

The Onion reports:

In addition to providing better supervision and overall direction, school-homing has become popular among mothers and fathers who just want to be less involved in the day-to-day lives of their children.

"Parents are finding creative ways to make this increasingly common child-rearing track work," Miller said. "Whether it's over-relying on after-school programs and extracurricular activities, or simply gross neglect, school-homing is becoming a widely accepted method of bringing children up."

[…] "It's really a matter of who has more experience in dealing with my child," Cincinnati- resident Kevin Dufrense said of his decision to have his 10-year-old son Jake, who suffers from ADHD and dyslexia, school-homed. "These teachers are dealing with upwards of 40 students in their classrooms at a time, so obviously they know a lot more about children than someone like me, who only has one son and doesn't know where he is half the time anyway."

The Tough Get Going (1)

The other day, on my accustomed hiking route along the Lauter, I met a lady and her dog, "Hexe" ("witch"), a deutscher Jagdterrier (German hunting terrier).

The lady explained she was looking for someone to take Hexe for walks, occasionally. Would I be interested? I said: no. Before I would contemplate dealing with a dog, I insisted, I would need to get a sound education in the art and science of canine matters. I thought that had settled the issue. Well, no.

Without much ado, the lady took me to a dog training centre.

My own sweet, unkempt self with Hexe, who had just dug a hole right down to the middle of the earth. To keep me healthy, Hexe's owner supplied me with a driver's jacket, which is purposefully colourful to minimise the chance of getting shot in the course of a battue.

 Hexe having clenched her teeth into the stick, does not relent even though we are spinning at high speed as if I were a discus-thrower and she the discus.

Surrounded by all kinds of dogs, including the most ferocious, I felt pretty intimidated at first. But as a day's lesson proceeds, one gets to feel more and more comfortable. The relaxing pertains equally to sudden flyovers of American military aircraft (from adjacent Ramstein Air Base) 200 hundred feet overhead.

The guys at the training centre envision making a dog trainer of me in exchange for my translation services. In a fortnight, we shall have our first workshop for Americans. (Readers of RedStateEclectic, expect terminology queries from me on dog related issues.)

Incidentally, the lady turns out to be in charge of the extensive hunting grounds surrounding the area where I live. Quite naturally, I am beginning to enjoy a hunter's education into the bargain.

As for low flying C 130s, the dogs at the kennel don't care a bit:

See also The Tough Get Going (2).

Let There Be Light

 
In contrast to what eco romanticists would like us to believe, nature pure and unadulterated is inimical to man, requiring our species to fight hard so as to create a tolerable environment for human beings. And mankind needs lots of energy to accomplish human surroundings where otherwise brute and cold wilderness would prevail.

The great Donald J. Boudreaux writes in one of his (hopefully soon famous) open letters:

Earlier this week your organization sponsored another worldwide “Earth Hour,” an event in which people demonstrate their commitment to the environment by turning off their lights for one hour.

In light (no pun intended) of your dark view of industrial and commercial activities, I recommend that the WWF create a special Lifetime Achievement Award for North Korea’s Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il.  As this nighttime photograph of the Korean peninsula makes plain, the Dear Leader – like his father before him – works tirelessly to keep his nation’s carbon footprint to a bare minimum; in fact, if you look carefully you can see what is likely his, and only his, office light glimmering in Pyongyang.

North Koreans show their reverence for mother nature not with a mere Earth Hour but, rather, with an entire “Earth Lifetime.”  That’s true commitment!  Indeed, you might want to invite Mr. Kim to join your board.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux

The source.

See also our post Earth Hour - Stunning Success in North Korea.

Policing For Profit

A to-the-point IJ video on Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse:

Check out the Policing for Profit pdf file and see how your state ranks in the forfeiture scheme. SC got a D+, although most states didn’t do too much better. This would explain all of the cop cars encircling suspected criminals on the highways around here. The leviathan must eat, you know.

No Saturday Post

Saturday mail could be one step closer to cancellation when the United States Postal Service submits an official proposal to a government regulatory board on Tuesday to eliminate six-day delivery. A new five-day delivery schedule could save the cash-strapped Post Office $3 billion annually, the agency said. Earlier this month, USPS said it plans to incur about $238 billion in losses in the next 10 years if it doesn't revamp its outdated business model.

I got news for ya’. If this had been a business, they would have started revamping a long time ago or gone out of business. It’s not a business. It’s a government subsidized monopoly – like our schools and car companies. And like all government programs, the worse off you are the more you get to scare the public with what’ll happen if you don’t get more money, pronto; like kidnappers describing in gory detail the repercussions of ignoring their ransom demands. Does that happen in the private sector?

“Oh sob. The local Kroger is going under. Where ever will I find food?” Oh, that’s right. We have a Publix, Bi-Lo, Food Lion, Aldi, and Walmart in town. I guess the Kroger folks will just have to innovate or go under. We can’t do that with government agencies because they displace the void of market failures, right? Riiiiight. You know what a market failure is? A bad idea to begin with.

This time, however, the people may actually possess the ability to conceptualize an alternative: email/phone calls/text messaging. Maybe the postals will have to bite the bullet after all.

“I Think They’re Stealing”

Actor Craig T. Nelson on paying taxes (or not):

Energy Shots

Sad, but it’s occasionally come to this lately: