One of the lessons of history is that
nothing is often a good thing to do
and always a clever thing to say.
Will Durant
Tweet of the Day
For any puzzled reader, CNN Larry King successor Piers Morgan has been a particularly strident gun control advocate. The reference to pressure cookers refers to the containers used in the Boston Marathon terror bombings. Drudge means to point out that there are different ways to injure and kill people, all but impossible to prevent, and you cannot eliminate risk by infringing individual rights. There are millions of firearms and only an extremely small percentage have been used to harm other people.
Oh please no, not 4 months of Piers Morgan pushing for national ban of pressure cookers...Senate Gun Control Amendment Votes Go Down to Defeat:
— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) April 17, 2013
Thumbs UP!
A visibly irritated Obama ripped the GOP and groups that opposed the Manchin-Toomey amendment, saying they “willfully lied” about the contents of the background-check bill. He added that the vote represented a “pretty shameful day forI have previously argued that Obama and his fellow partisans were shamefully exploiting the Newtown tragedy. The assault weapon ban and magazine clip restrictions failed to muster majority support, never mind filibuster-proof. A bipartisan (Manchin-Toomey) proposal to expand background checks, fell 6 votes short of meeting the 60-vote filibuster target.Washington.” [Obama]
I am skeptical of any further federal restrictions on individual rights. No serious person can argue that the laws under consideration would have prevented the Newtown tragedy. I have argued that the school safety policy at Newtown should not assume firearms or other weapons in possession won't be in the wrong hands (say, via a black market in firearms or stolen weapons). The idea is to reform safety policy, harden infrastructure defenses, using lessons learned from past tragedies--a local/state issue, under police powers, not the federal government.
Low-Skilled Immigration Boosts the Economy, Too
One key takeaway is that availability of reasonably priced low-skill workers (say, nannies, lawn service, harvesting, etc.) makes it possible say for professionals and managers to make better use of their knowledge, experience and skills. Incremental income gain expands discretionary income which can be saved, invested or spent on other goods and services.
Mobility is also a factor that can affect professional employment. For instance, I have sometimes had to compete against H1B's living out of a suitcase, whom can easily migrate from one project to another in another city. I have something like 40 boxes of books from my days as a professor, so it isn't as easy to compete on projects when I have to spend thousands of dollars on relocation (clients typically refuse to cover travel or relocation in a difficulty economy). But there have been times during the last 2 recessions where I've been sorely tempted to move my stuff all into storage or even liquidate most of my possessions.
Skeetgate
If Obama goes 2-for-22 on the basketball court, imagine how many clay pigeons he can hit? No wonder he's been ducking a skeetshooting challenge from Congresswoman Blackburn! I've mocked the kerfuffle, suggesting that he prefers his skeet prepared with lemon juice and a touch of sea salt.
I don't doubt for a second that Obama has engaged in the Politics of Tokenism--Obama's version of negotiation is to anticipate his opponent's argument and offer a watered-down concession. I think the skeet shooting gimmick is a way of trying to identify with sportsmen and pay lip service to a weakened version of the Second Amendment.
Personally, I don't doubt that Obama has tried shooting in the same way I tried pig ears at feijoada in Brazil or I played a round of golf with my brothers-in-law. The difference is that I don't try to pass myself off as a golfer, even a weekend golfer. I think the big issue is not whether Obama has occasionally tried shooting; ir's whether he's a phony, trying to manipulate people's perceptions. If Obama was a shooting enthusiast, we would know it from spontaneous observations, e.g., his shooting partners, references to different models of firearms, references to his high scores, etc., but there's no such evidence, just anecdotal references versus, say, his many rounds of golf.
Federal Central Planners Vs. Federalism: Prairie Dog Control
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Chuck Asay and Townhall |
Kiss, "Calling Dr. Love"
