Quote of the Day
There is no sensual pleasure in the world comparable to the delight and satisfaction that a good man takes in doing good.
Tillotson
Politically Motivated Boycotts and Bans: Thumbs DOWN!
The use of economic weapons to achieve politically motivated ends seems to a dubious tool at best. No doubt people of color not being welcome customers in stores and restaurants or not allowed to sit at any available open seat on a bus had reason to object to arbitrary, unjust policies with no clear business-related objection. If I'm in the business of selling widgets, and my competitor is unwilling to sell to 15% of the local population, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to let that 15% of the population know I'm willing to sell them all the widgets I have at a good price.
Of course, buyers can also engage in discriminatory practices. When I was growing up, there was iceberg lettuce and South Africa boycotts. Supposedly at least 300 Fox advertisers refuse to sponsor Glenn Beck's program. There has been a pro-abortion choice boycott of a national pizza chain because its founder is pro-life. Personally, I think boycotts are very inefficient, counterproductive, and unfair, with unintended consequences (e.g., affecting the livelihoods of employees whom do not have anything to do with an owner's political belief system). I often will act in a contrarian manner; an example during the history of this blog was my announcement of car fillups with BP gasoline in the aftermath of the BP spill.
The first example is a particularly heavy-handed attempt by a coalition of Wisconsin unions attempting to extort businesses to show explicit support for the unions in their battle against Governor Walker's public union reform bill. The businesses are explicitly warned that neutrality is not an option: if you are not for us, you are against us, and we will declare war on your business: union members will boycott your business and drive you out of business.
Let me make myself clear: these shameless "public servants" are self-serving, morally corrupt entities whom have no entitlement to the public purse. The private sector individuals and businesses work hard to make money to pay taxes which fund well-compensated public sector positions. Unfortunately, unlike the private sector, which earns more by focusing on productivity in generating goods and services, there is no comparable concept in the public sector: in fact, if anything, one sees less productivity (e.g., lowering student to teacher ratios). Collective bargaining reform is not personal--it's business. The collective bargaining process has hampered accountable public sector executives from controlling budgets.
The second example focuses on the Manhattan Declaration, which I support and referenced in last year's Feb. 19 post. The Manhattan Declaration, among other things, strongly supports the traditional definition of marriage between a man and a woman. The organization built an iPhone/iPad app, which was initially approved by Apple was later removed, under pressure from gay activists in a blatantly un-American act of politically correct, one-sided censorship. The Manhattan Declaration attempted to revise the app and resubmitted it, but Apple once again rejected it. Never mind the fact, of course, that Apple has no qualms about carrying apps that are deeply offensive to those of us espousing traditional moral beliefs. Shame on Apple; I look forward to other technology companies being more tolerant and even-handed.
The first example is a particularly heavy-handed attempt by a coalition of Wisconsin unions attempting to extort businesses to show explicit support for the unions in their battle against Governor Walker's public union reform bill. The businesses are explicitly warned that neutrality is not an option: if you are not for us, you are against us, and we will declare war on your business: union members will boycott your business and drive you out of business.
Let me make myself clear: these shameless "public servants" are self-serving, morally corrupt entities whom have no entitlement to the public purse. The private sector individuals and businesses work hard to make money to pay taxes which fund well-compensated public sector positions. Unfortunately, unlike the private sector, which earns more by focusing on productivity in generating goods and services, there is no comparable concept in the public sector: in fact, if anything, one sees less productivity (e.g., lowering student to teacher ratios). Collective bargaining reform is not personal--it's business. The collective bargaining process has hampered accountable public sector executives from controlling budgets.
The second example focuses on the Manhattan Declaration, which I support and referenced in last year's Feb. 19 post. The Manhattan Declaration, among other things, strongly supports the traditional definition of marriage between a man and a woman. The organization built an iPhone/iPad app, which was initially approved by Apple was later removed, under pressure from gay activists in a blatantly un-American act of politically correct, one-sided censorship. The Manhattan Declaration attempted to revise the app and resubmitted it, but Apple once again rejected it. Never mind the fact, of course, that Apple has no qualms about carrying apps that are deeply offensive to those of us espousing traditional moral beliefs. Shame on Apple; I look forward to other technology companies being more tolerant and even-handed.
Retired Federal Judge Vaughn Walker Is Gay
Say It Ain't So, Joe...
The federal judge who struck down California's Proposition 8, which restored the traditional definition of marriage to the California constitution after an activist California Supreme Court declared an older version unconstitutional (despite coexisting gay-relevant domestic partnerships also legally recognized and protected), is gay. He claims that the fact he is gay played no role in the decision. Yeah, right...
Say It Ain't So, Joe...
The federal judge who struck down California's Proposition 8, which restored the traditional definition of marriage to the California constitution after an activist California Supreme Court declared an older version unconstitutional (despite coexisting gay-relevant domestic partnerships also legally recognized and protected), is gay. He claims that the fact he is gay played no role in the decision. Yeah, right...
Latest Two Nominees for 2011 Jackass of the Year
This dishonor reflects the "intrinsic ability of progressive Democrats to distinguish themselves with profound lapses of civility, personal ethics, or partisanship or to do or say outrageous things." Our current year nominees include the Wisconsin state senate Democrats, Weiner (NY), Attorney General Eric Holder, Markey (MA), and Wasserman-Schultz (FL).
Without further ado:
- Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY) told a pro-abortion choice rally that the GOP freshmen have come to Congress to "kill women". Ms. Slaughter instantly becomes front runner for this dishonor.
- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) implies that 6 million senior citizens participating in home-delivered meal programs may starve if federal subsidies are reduced. [Just a reminder: charity organizations like Meals on Wheels welcome volunteers, car donations and personal and corporate donations.]
Fukushima Nuclear Incident Update
Today's review is shorter than usual. For the first time in the last few weeks, the Hiroshima Syndrome blogger did not post a daily entry, and most of the blogs I normally view largely duplicated each other. The primary discussion was a rundown of other nuclear power sites affected by yesterday's aftershock. The Fukushima Daiichi incident continues to stabilize. Of course, cold shutdown is the goal, and we are still probably weeks away from that, as we wait for cooling pumps to become operational.
NEI notes:
Political Humor
Today's review is shorter than usual. For the first time in the last few weeks, the Hiroshima Syndrome blogger did not post a daily entry, and most of the blogs I normally view largely duplicated each other. The primary discussion was a rundown of other nuclear power sites affected by yesterday's aftershock. The Fukushima Daiichi incident continues to stabilize. Of course, cold shutdown is the goal, and we are still probably weeks away from that, as we wait for cooling pumps to become operational.
NEI notes:
- daily: No major nuclear plant issues resulted from yesterday's 7.1 Richter scale aftershock, as work continues to restore electrical power for any diesel generator use. There were some radiation fluctuations in Fukushima Daiichi reactor pressurized vessel for reactor 1 probably due to aftershock effects. Overall ambient radiation levels continue to decrease, some shipping restrictions on vegetable and raw milk from the Fukushima region have been lifted. Work continues to clear capacity for local transfer of higher-contaminated water.
IAEA notes:
- daily: The earthquake was reclassified from Richter scale 7.4 to 7.1. (I revised yesterday's post accordingly.) Only one spinach sample from Ibaraki prefecture among Fukushima regional samples of milk, vegetable, and other foods tested above safety benchmarks (for iodine).
Political Humor
"The shutdown would mean that all non-essential workers would stop coming to work. I’m OK with that. Why do we even have non-essential workers?" - Jimmy Kimmel
[You know what that means... Yup, President Obama is going on another vacation...]
"A lot of people wonder what a government shutdown would be like. I think a lot more people wonder what a government running properly would be like." - Jay Leno
[Drilling permits will be delayed, the Congress won't be able to get anything done, and President Obama will be dithering on decisions. In other words, it'll be just like today.]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
ABBA, "SOS". One of my favorite ABBA songs. The way I've always visualized this song in my mind as this gorgeous female Navy officer is on a sinking ship, I'm on the rescue ship, and then just add "An Officer and a Gentleman" ending to it....
