June 05, 2006

Gun-Free and Proud: a new tactic for a new generation
By Nathan A. Barton (TM and © 2006)

I've finally been convinced by Goldie and Michael and Oprah and Whoopie - we have evolved beyond the need for or desire for guns, and we must turn our backs on our atavistic tendencies to solve everything with a rock (which is, after all, what guns are about: throwing very small rocks very, very fast, while not smashing our fingers). It is time to bite the... no, that isn't a very good metaphor - time to grit our teeth and admit that EVERY home should be a gun-free home. After all, even animals are getting smarter, so surely, isn’t it time that humans did, too. People don’t want to hurt you if you don’t want to hurt them, after all. And owning a gun is just one way of saying “I hate you and I want to kill you and will take any opportunity to do so.” … (Read the rest here)

That'll Teach 'Em
By Lady Liberty

I had lunch with a friend of mine on Saturday. She and I hadn't seen each other in awhile, and we had some real catching up to do. Unfortunately, some of what she had to tell me was more than a little unpleasant to listen to. She wanted to talk - like most mothers - about her children. Though I'm quite a bit fonder of cats than kids, I was happy to listen to what I thought would be a litany of this year's proud accomplishments by her two school-age children. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Her middle school daughter had, up until this school year, attended a Catholic school. Though the family isn't Catholic, they believed that the quality of education she'd get at the parochial school was better than she'd receive in a public school classroom. Unfortunately, finances dictated that she'd have to attend a public middle school this year. (Read the rest here)

Why Ruin the World's Best Anti-Poverty Program?
By Alexander Tabarrok

Winston Churchill famously said “If you put two economists in a room, you get two opinions—unless one of them is Lord Keynes, in which case you get three.” Churchill, however, was wrong. Brad DeLong worked for the Clinton Administration and regularly calls for the impeachment of President Bush. In contrast, Greg Mankiw speaks warmly of President Bush and headed his Council of Economic Advisors. Readers of their respective blogs (DeLong, Mankiw) will know that no love is lost between these two. Yet, both these economists were early and enthusiastic signatories to my Open Letter on Immigration (I didn’t tell them that the other had signed until the letter was publicized, however!).

DeLong and Mankiw are not alone. In a survey, economists and the general public were asked whether “too many immigrants” was a reason for bad economic conditions with 2 being a major reason and 0 not a reason at all. The public rated immigration a 1.23, economists just a 0.22. (Read the rest here)

U.S. Hypocrisy in Cuba
by Jacob G. Hornberger

If there was ever a charge against the U.S. government on which most foreigners would agree, it is the charge of hypocrisy.

Most Americans continue to view their federal government as a beloved parent, one who never lies to them; who takes care of them and gives them "freedom" in the form of welfare, health care, Social Security, education, grants, subsidies, and protection from drug dealers, immigrants, terrorists, and oil companies; and who is devoted to spreading freedom and democracy around the world.

Most of the rest of the world sees the reality -- an increasingly oppressive and military-oriented government whose cruel and brutal foreign policies have engendered deep-seated anger and hatred, whose officials often lie, especially if "national security" is involved, and which is now employing the time-honored tactic of using "terrorism" as an excuse to suspend the rights and freedoms of its citizens, even while preaching about the importance of "freedom and democracy" to the rest of the world. (Read the rest here)

"Doin' Right Ain't Got No End"
by Bob Wallace

When I was in college I lived in an old two-story frame house, built in the 1890's. It was a co-ed house with 13 people in it, and ha ha! I was the only renter who had a room to himself! Because I got there first, before everyone else, that's how! Downstairs was the family room, or living room, or community room, or throw-all-the-beer-cans-in-it room, or whatever you want to call it. It came with a TV, which finally disappeared into some cokehead's car and was never seen again.

The year that we had the TV, it brought in three things: the only broadcast channel in town, which had a newscaster who would change his coat when he went from news to sports; another channel from 35 miles away, and a cable channel from who knows where. I think it might have been Chicago, and don't ask me how we got it. This was a good ten years before everyone else got cable, and I didn't have a clue how it worked. It was just there. (Read the rest here)

The Day The Matriarchy Came To Power
By Carey Roberts

It was a bloodless coup. It happened under the penumbra of the law. In fact chief justice William Rehnquist presided at the event. The date was January 20, 1993.

The recent November elections had announced the Year of the Woman, with Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Carol Moseley Braun, and Patty Murray all sweeping into the U.S. Senate.

Everyone knew the federal bureaucracy was a stronghold for those domineering patriarchs. Obviously that needed to change. (Read the rest here)

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