What an economically stupid idea. Particularly if you think that Washington can come up with one, one-size-fits-all, for the entire country, from Omaha to New York City.
Category Archives: Political Commentary
Modern Parenting
…may hinder brain development.
On Saturday, we took a guided tour of the Denali Park HQ area. The ranger pointed out a rock where the children of the early park officians used to play, a century ago. “We’d never let them do that today,” she said. “Kids today aren’t as tough.”
I spoke up, and told her, “Kids today are just like kids in any other day. It’s the parents that are different.” Several of the (older) people in the group nodded.
The STEM “Crisis”
“If there was really a STEM labor market crisis, you’d be seeing very different behaviors from companies,” notes Ron Hira, an associate professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology, in New York state. “You wouldn’t see companies cutting their retirement contributions, or hiring new workers and giving them worse benefits packages. Instead you would see signing bonuses, you’d see wage increases. You would see these companies really training their incumbent workers.”
“None of those things are observable,” Hira says. “In fact, they’re operating in the opposite way.”
And even if there was, the notion that NASA would help it is ludicrous. Particularly if anyone thinks it’s going to do so by building rockets to nowhere.
“The Republicans Have No Health Plan”
Calling out the demagogues on their Bravo Sierra.
These liars are just contemptible.
Happy Marx Day
So why do we have a Labor Day anyway? What is it about “labor” that deserves a day off (isn’t that ironic) and a three-day weekend, but not (say) Entrepreneurs Day, or “People Who Have To Meet A Payroll” Day?
I know, I know, it was a reaction to some of the brutal labor practices and strikes of the later nineteenth century, particularly Pullman. But as Detroit exemplifies, we went too far in glorifying labor, and we don’t seem to care enough about the people who actually create the jobs, to the point of abuse. It’s not surprising that, in the wake of ridiculous overregulation (capped by ObamaCare) they’re going on strike, and we’re becoming a part-time nation, at best.
The American Military’s Loyalty
Where does it lie, with the president, or the Constitution?
I’m very concerned that the president has been replacing officers sworn to the latter with those loyal to him at the top of the chain. In which case things could get very ugly if we have to find out how far down the ranks we have to go to find some loyal to their oath of service.
We saw a smaller-scale version of this with Bill Clinton, when he attempted to prevent his Secret Service agents from providing testimony about his behavior, as though they were some sort of praetorian guard. The potential Constitutional crisis Donald Sensing describes would be much more serious.
Cascade Effects
Some discomfiting thoughts on their implications for foreign policy and hapless presidents.
Speaking of cascade effects, there seems to be a preference cascade developing on the lack of both hap and feck with this president. It’s apparently becoming socially acceptable, even at the New York Times, to point out what a disaster he is.
Climate Change
The World Federation of Scientists says it’s not a planetary emergency. So #ScienceSaysSo, right? #Consensus.
Smart Diplomacy
Hey, at least he’s got the French on board. So he passes the Global Test.
Health-Code Violations
Looking for them because you don’t like someone’s political opinions.
Well, people voted for the guy who said he wanted to “fundamentally transform America.”
He got what he wanted. Did you?