A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a person. Kites rise against, not with the wind.
John Neal
A Follow-Up Note on Beck's Final Daily Show
First, I was happy with Stossel's segment on the first post-Beck show in the slot. Second, one thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's post was an unfair comparison between Beck and Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Beck was doing an apples-and-oranges comparison, pointing out that the Stewart show has a much larger staff and costs. I'm not exactly sure why Beck felt the need to make a comparison, but a humor show like Jon Stewart's by the nature of the work requires more resources.
US Federal Appeals Court Overturns Voter Ban On
Michigan University Admissions Factor Consideration:
Thumbs UP!
My personal opinion on the application of affirmation action criteria (e.g., race and gender) is based on the nature and extent of the criteria along with contextual factors. For example, nothing is achieved by admitting students unable to complete their degree program.
But my issue is this: I do not believe that majoritarian fiat, such as a ban of consideration, trumps individual rights. My understanding is these criteria are constitutionally valid and I believe there is a strong Fourteenth Amendment argument.
Lemonade Busters: Progressives Run Amok
Any regular reader knows I have an affinity for lemonade stands (I've written multiple post segments on child-operated lemonade stands); it's a natural, simple business model which ends up confronting what is, at heart, anti-business, anti-growth government, using public health fear-mongering to justify an unconscionable intervention in the marketplace. Millions of glasses of lemonade are consumed daily, in homes, outside, at city parks; there are no exposes of lemonade-based epidemics. (It reminds me of a former very tall girlfriend whom was into nutrition, grew her own herbs, etc.--and got ill more often than I did. I started looking into nutrition later, more for weight reasons.) The local government stands vigilant against any outbreak of free market economics--and in particular they feel the need to stamp out any outbreak of capitalism among the nation's youth: it's important to crush the spirit of children in the bud, so they'll know better than to start job-creating businesses when they grow up. The fact that this video stems from one of the highly liberal, "educated" collar counties of Maryland around Washington DC doesn't surprise me; now you understand how difficult it is to be a conservative in this state.
But the story goes beyond that. Six beautiful children (aka gifts from God) were trying to raise money for pediatric cancer research in a relevant access area on the first day of the US Open before the County "Mr. Grinch" Inspector slapped them with a $500 fine for operating without a vendor license. Although public pressure eventually led to cancellation of the fine, I want to leave you with a really hard quiz of the day: how do you think professional local government bureaucrats responded to the kerfuffle? (1) flexibly, with common sense and decency; (2) "rules are rules" . HINT: How do TSA personnel respond when you question patdowns of your young children?
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| Courtesy of Amanda Voisard/The Washington Post Alina (3) and Sofia (9) Fernandez among 6 children Half the proceeds going to pediatric cancer fight |
Political Humor
North Korea has shut down all of its universities for 10 months so students can work in factories. Or, as they call it in North Korea, “spring break.” - Conan O'Brien
[They ran out of enough younger children to run their factories... "Spring break" refers to the annual event of new college graduates leaving North Korea to find jobs in China or South Korea.]
An original:
- Maria Shriver filed for divorce from the former Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger; the Marriage Terminator promises that Arnold "won't be back".
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Chicago, "Love Will Come Back". The last segment in the Chicago retrospective...
