Remember the question mark guy who appeared on those late-night commercials pushing all those "'free" government programs that would allow you to get Uncle Sam to pay your tuition or for some money-making scheme? Well, he's come up with a new "commercial" relating to the federal bailouts:
This video is quite funny:
It reminds me of the great Simpson's number "The Garbage Man Can.":
Hopefully Americans wake up and realize that government simply can't and shouldn't do everything for us.
Yesterday I had a letter in the Albuquerque Journal on our recent analysis of the conflicting New Mexico film industry studies. Then I saw this little missive from film industry hack (he's the business agent for the local film industry union) Jon Hendry.
Hendry sure is an arrogant fellow. First he hits the Journal. Thankfully, the newspapers are not getting 25% back for every dollar they spend in New Mexico as is his industry, but if they were, you can bet the Journal would be doing just fine. Then he explains that Ernst & Young has a lot of employees (so what) and uses this as a supposed argument to discredit the Arrowhead Center. He certainly seems to have something against Arrowhead, but he never makes a specific argument, he just throws mud. And then he finally attempts to "trash" me. No links, no real arguments, just a bunch of b.s.
If Jon Hendry is the best the IATSE 480 local can do, what does that say about the sad state of union leadership in this country? If you're going to take the time to write a several paragraph blog posting, at least give me some facts to chew on, not just a bunch of ad-hominem and disrespect for anyone who disagrees with your perspective. Mr. Hendry, if you want to engage on the issue, I encourage you to give it your best shot here on this blog.
I hesitated and delayed for weeks. I don't fancy myself to be on the cutting edge when it comes to technology...in fact, I consider myself to be a "late adapter" when it comes to most technology. But, other free market advocates have been very persuasive in convincing me of the benefits of Twitter. So, in case you are interested in following what I (and the Rio Grande Foundation) are up to, sign up to follow me at my Twitter profile page.
If you're not sure about whether to make the plunge or not, find out more about Twitter here.
Three liberty-loving guys are coming to Albuquerque, NM as part of their year-long quest to find liberty. I was just in Los Angeles with these guys at the Heritage Foundation's Resource Bank and Atlas Liberty Forum. The difference is that I flew back while they are driving their motor home all over North America, meeting and talking with people in an effort to find liberty in their travels in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
You can read up on the travels of these liberty-lovers at the Motorhome Diaries website. Better still, you can come out and meet them in Albuquerque at the Independence Grill -- the location of the Tax Day Tea Party -- this Saturday night, May 2nd, between 7pm and 10pm. The event is free and open to the public. Jason, Pete, and Adam are great guys and it is sure to be a fun evening. If you plan to come, please let us know by emailing: info@riograndefoundation.org
As I wrote last week, analysts on both the right and left don't completely "get" the tea party movement. And while I'll never change my opinion that both parties are to blame for our current economic problems, given some of the reaction from the left to the tea parties, it would seem that there are some particularly out-of-touch people out there. Take Janeane Garafalo and Keith Olbermann...please.
Rather than going into their entire sorry and absurdly ignorant viewpoint discussion of the tea parties, I'll let the New Mexico-based blogger Moralia do the job. Too bad Janeane and Keith didn't come to Albuquerque. They'd have seen a broad-based movement with people of all races and from all walks of life taking part in a non-partisan expression of their concern over the direction in which our country is heading. If there was so much as a racist thought expressed among the crowd, it was not voiced.
A decade ago, if the board game Monopoly were created, there is no doubt that Microsoft, a company that the government deemed to be "too competitive" and successful would have been the central focus of the game's creators.
As bad as it is for a company's competitors to use government power to fleece one company and their customers, if "Monopoly" were created today, the theme would have been even more depressing. For a humorous look at the way the game might have looked today, check out this link. For a taste of what we're talking about, check out the following "Chance" card.
As John Stossel points out, Ms. Kennedy fulfills the qualifications. Of course, Stossel being Stossel, his qualifications for Senator are a bit less lofty and unrealistic than those ascribed to senators by many Americans and the media.
I was downtown the other day and received a ticket on my car. I wondered what I did wrong and when I took a look at the ticket, I saw this. How many of you, dear readers, knew that parking more than 18 inches from the curb was an infraction? It would seem that our City's meter maids are being charged with closing at least part of Albuquerque's budget gap.
It would seem that if Albuquerque's meter maids are going to be so aggressive it kind of limits the usefulness of efforts to get people to come downtown, right?
George W. Bush remains an enigma. Does he really believe in the free market? Does he completely misunderstand how markets work? Or, does he simply pay lip service to markets while continuing to undermine them? Regardless of his innermost feelings, there is no doubt that Bush abandoned free markets early and often in his presidency.
Unfortunately, as this recent story illustrates, Bush continues to imply that he was a free marketeer until he decided that a little (or a lot) of socialism was needed.
As Matt Welch points out over at Reason:
The real failure here is one of nerve, of imagination, of historical memory. You cannot save something by destroying it, or abandoning it, or even giving it a few stiff raps in the kneecaps. "Paternalism" is too mild a word for the mentality that produces such a sentiment, let alone the disastrous policies to back it up.
I would go even further and argue that the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill, No Child Left Behind, Sarbanes-Oxley, massive regulation, and massive spending increases under Bush should put lie to the President's claims of adhering to free markets, but that is just a starter list. Unfortunately, he continues to besmirch and discredit free markets the more he opens his mouth.
Call me crazy, but how much worse can President Obama really be? At least he doesn't paint himself as a free market believer.
Over at the left wing FBIHOP blog, we at the Rio Grande Foundation are accused of believing that voters are "dumb" for voting, albeit narrowly, to raise the gross receipts tax to fund the Rail Runner. Of course, I never said that voters in New Mexico or elsewhere are dumb, rather, I simply argued in a recent Albuquerque Journal column that government should not be able to use taxpayer money to fund campaigns in support of ballot measures. FBIHOP apparently interprets this as my saying that voters are dumb.
Nonetheless, lets not let the facts get in the way of a perfectly interesting discussion. Are voters really informed when it comes to voting on the issues? If anyone watched the JayWalking or other "man-on-the-street" segments about the presidential candidates it seems pretty obvious that voters are not always well informed.
While it is easy to criticize ignorance, as Reason Magazine writer Bryan Caplan wrote voters tend to make boneheaded decisions on basic economic issues when they go to the polls. This is not a sign that they are inherently "dumb," rather it is a sign of rational ignorance in which people concern themselves with their jobs and succeeding in their daily lives rather than keeping track of politicians and policy issues.
While overcoming rational ignorance is difficult, it would seem that at the very least policymakers should stop government bureaucrats from using taxpayer money to sway voters to vote for bigger government.
Nick Gillespie over at the Reason blog points out that with the automakers' bailout practically a done-deal, the states and cities are using infrastructure investment to get their own "bailout."
Among the infrastructure items funding is hoped for:
* a proposed "O'Malley Road Reconstruction" in Anchorage, Alaska, that will cost $30 million but provide 300 (count 'em!) jobs;
* a Gadsen, Alabama "Hoke Street Sidewalk Construction to serve new Department of Human Resources facility" that's a real steal at $150,000 but will take almost surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band off the public dole (at last!);
* Police Facility Solar Panels for Lake Havasu City, Arizona, for only $400,000 and 75 jobs;
* Stormwater Settlement Ponds for Beloit, Wisconsin for $1,428 million and five whole jobs, which will feed a family of four in the Badger State, especially if they only eat government cheese;
Bastiat disproved the idea that government can improve our economic situation by wasting money on worthless projects. Unfortunately, if Congress and the White House cave to the governors and mayors we'll be pushing off any economic recovery and making us all poorer.
It is good to have fans. Check this letter out from yesterday's Albuquerque Journal:
I FIND THAT the blatant bias of Leslie Linthicum's (columns) is becoming more and more intolerable. Her editorial comments do not belong on the front page where a portrait of the (columnist) becomes more noticeable than the actual content. ...“Run on Guns,” was full of tongue-in-cheek gloating. She selected to scold the fringe of conservative thought such as religious bigotry and gun loving. She does not take into account the heart of conservatism that has been broken by people who “just don't get it.”
Then she closed by preaching to us worried conservatives to stop wasting our time by being sore losers, closing with the admonition for us all to get along. Who selected her to be the conscious of the public?
I know she once said she could do as well as Sarah Palin, but I would like to see her credentials before I take her front-page grandstanding seriously.
I humbly recommend that you either put her on the editorial page where she belongs or you give equal front page time to Paul Gessing, who is one of the most thoughtful expositors of conservative thought that I have read in your newspaper.
SONJA BAUM Albuquerque
The Albuquerque Journal has apparently been receiving feedback to the effect that they have been carrying too much of our work. I'd like nothing more -- and I think it would be great for the paper -- if we did regular pro/con pieces with leftist organizations. Until then, keep those pro-RGF letters coming!
If the current economic malaise makes you want to cry, check this Arlo Guthrie song on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out.
By and large, left-wing Democrats dislike privatization. After all, nothing illustrates the superiority of free markets and limited government like comparing the ability of free markets and the government to provide particular services. Government is so incompetent, however, that sometimes even those who are philosophically opposed to letting the free market work are forced to do so.
Consider the case of the US Senate's dining services. According to the Washington Post, "the U.S. Senate's network of restaurants has lost staggering amounts of money -- more than $18 million since 1993...Come lunchtime, many Senate staffers trudge across the Capitol and down into the basement cafeteria on the House side," (a 15 minute walk, yet, "House staffers almost never cross the Capitol to eat in the Senate cafeterias." (The House cafeterias have been privatized for many years)
Because the situation had gotten so bad, the Senate recently voted to let a private company manage its food services. While a majority of both parties supported the decision (albeit quietly), some on the hard left dissented. In typical left-wing fashion, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), speaking for the group of senators who opposed privatizing the restaurants, said that "you cannot stand on the Senate floor and condemn the privatization of workers, and then turn around and privatize the workers here in the Senate and leave them out on their own."
Jonah Goldberg, writing in National Review Online, who will be speaking at Rio Grande Foundation events in Albuquerque and Santa Fe on September 19, covered the story recently as well.
As we approach Tax Day, April 15, you should probably know that the IRS claims that paying your taxes is "voluntary. No, I know it is April 1, but this is not an April Fool's Joke.
A filmmaker and friend of mine from the Washington, DC area managed to get an interview to discuss the "voluntary" nature with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid View the 4 minute long video here.
Last week I blogged an article I wrote for the Tribune about the generous subsidies being given to the film industry for them to set up shop in New Mexico. Now, I'm sure that part of the reason our political leaders have targeted the film industry is to burnish New Mexico's credentials as a tourist destination and remind people that we really are part of the good ole' US of A.
Needless to say, it was quite a shock to the system when I picked up today's Albuquerque Journal and read that not one, but two Hollywood stars ripped into Albuquerque after having filmed here. Jessica Alba, the star of a new film called The Eye said in a recent interview: "In Albuquerque there's really only one restaurant that's pretty good. You can only take Applebee's and Chili's so much. Our big day was hanging out at Walmart for five hours. It was like, "Yeah, Walmart!"
Adding insult to injury, Tommy Lee Jones, the star of not one but two films that were shot in Albuquerque, dissed the town, saying "Albuquerque is a really hard place to work. It's very noisy. There are crows there, planes, trucks, people working on their cars. It's just a noisy place to shoot."
As if scary aliens weren't a big enough reason to stay away from the Land of Enchantment, now Alba and Jones make Albuquerque out to be a noisy little hick town with nothing but Wal Mart's and Chilis. Publicity like that is priceless. Me, I'd rather save our tax money and let entrepreneurs decide what our city and state should be known for.
Yesterday, the Rio Grande Foundation announced the results of our outrageous law contest. We got a lot of great coverage out of the contest including this story (click and drag New Mexico Strange Law box) that appeared on the October 16 10 o'clock news.
Recently, the Rio Grande Foundation and the New Mexico Alliance for Legal Reform asked New Mexicans to find the craziest laws from around the state and submit them for cash and prizes. The idea behind the contest is to highlight the political and sometimes absurd nature of laws and the fact that new laws pass almost every day, but old laws rarely go away and are difficult to change. A total of three grand prize winners and five honorable mention entries were awarded cash prizes. They are listed below.
Grand Prize Winners:
Grand Prize Winner No. 1:
Shad Solis is awarded a $250 prize for his submission of New Mexico State Statute No. 30-21-5, titled “Improper use of official anthems “which bans singing, playing or rendering “The Star Spangled Banner” or “Oh Fair New Mexico” in any public place or assemblage except as an entire separate composition or number. Convicted violators are guilty of a petty misdemeanor.
Laws such as these are frivolous, seldom, if ever, enforced and serve no useful purposes in furthering the progress of our democratic republic. The law as written requires the entire composition to be performed. “The Star Spangled Banner” has four verses and “Oh Fair New Mexico” has three. Each time only one verse is performed, is the law being violated? Are District Attorneys and the police really expected to pursue alleged offenders? What would you call the TV show “CSI Karaoke”?
Grand Prize Winner No. 2
Robert Alston is awarded $250 for his entry pointing out the lunacy of a portion of the New Mexico income tax law. This law allows New Mexico to levy penalties and interest for underpayment of estimated income tax. The law which has been on the books for a decade was only aggressively enforced in the last year. The enforcement was done in Barney Fife fashion, when Taxation and Revenue got its regulatory bullet out of its pocket without regard to the impact of thousands of New Mexicans, and more importantly, without communicating the change in policy and without providing an easy method for the law abiding citizens of New Mexico to comply.
Governor Bill Richardson recently instructed the Taxation and Revenue department to relent and refund recently charged penalties. The department, however, vowed to return to its policy in 2008 with no excuses allowed.
The New Mexico law which loosely follows and set of IRS rules of the same ilk, is burdensome and produced many irrational outcomes such as being required to pay withholding taxes on money which is not yet earned. This law needs to be dramatically restructured in the upcoming legislative session, or better yet eliminated.
Grand Prize Winner No. 3
If a bad law poorly implemented falls in the bureaucratic forest and nobody cares, can the sound of the taxpayers still be heard? David Bruner is awarded $250 for his submission of what can happen when you cross a poor law with an inflexible bureaucracy. Per the Bernalillo County Treasurer’s Office, if your December property tax payment is processed as late, you will (quite correctly) be assessed a penalty fee.
However, it is against the law for them to notify you that your payment was late and you were penalized and owe additional money. Therefore when you send in your May property tax payment, they subtract the penalty from it first. Because the penalty was subtracted first, your property tax payment will be insufficient and you will be assessed another late payment penalty. That’s the LAW! Where is a modern day Reies López Tijerina to defend the poor oppressed property tax payers of New Mexico when you need one?
Honorable Mention Winners:
Honorable Mention Winner No. 1
Steffani Walsh is awarded a $50 prize for her submission of a law that dates back to the original Constitution of the State of New Mexico, adopted January 21, 1911. In addition to loosely worded voter eligibility requirements, part of this New Mexico law requires school elections to be held at different times than other elections.
The result of holding school elections at different times than other elections is a giant waste of money. Assuming there was once a good reason for this law in 1911, we can’t imagine a reason for continuing this part of the law today, well, at least a reason that benefits the taxpayers and citizens of New Mexico as a whole.
Honorable Mention Winner No. 2
Josh Gonze is awarded a $50 prize for highlighting several of the shortcomings of New Mexico’s child support laws. Unlike nearly every other state, New Mexico child support increases to infinity at a flat 11% of gross income for one child. Most other states legislate a ceiling, like Nevada's $800 per month, or require the court to use judicial discretion once income reaches a certain level, typically $100,000.
In addition, child support is automatically granted upon request by the custodial parent, even if the non-custodial parent has been voluntarily paying 100% of the costs of supporting the child and accepts his or her responsibility to provide the child’s needs. Furthermore, child support is automatic even if the custodial parent does not accept her responsibility for paying for the child’s needs and takes the child support to buy luxuries for themselves, leaving the child to starve.
The result is that the non-custodial parent pays regardless of the actions of the custodial parent. And if child support payments don’t actually go to support the child’s needs it is both “Let them eat cake” and “Tough Cookies”.
Honorable Mention No. 3
Melanie Drangmeister is awarded $50 for submitting the New Mexico law which highlights the growing problem with mathematics skills, at least among New Mexico legislators.
Under New Mexico, real estate law an associate broker must be at least 18 years old. A qualifying broker must also be at least 18 years old, and have at two years of experience as an associate broker. Using the formula, x=18+2, with x being the minimum age of a qualifying broker, it would appear that you would probably have to be at least 20 years old to be a qualifying broker. (We apologize for the use of algebra in a press release.)
Despite our tongue being firmly planted in our cheek, this a great example of the absence of common sense on how laws are written in our state. Experience writing instructions for income tax forms appears to be a common qualification among those who write legislation.
Honorable Mention No. 4
Amada Fillmore is awarded $50 for locating New Mexico Statue 30-8-12(d) which among other things makes it is illegal to spit “upon or in any public carrier, public sidewalk or roadway”.
We wholeheartedly agree that behavior of this sort is not desirable, but is a law at this level of detail really necessary even if you aren’t the sort of person who likes to take a pinch of smokeless tobacco and put it between your cheek and gums?
Honorable Mention No. 5
Shona Maria Lorenzo Ortega is awarded $50 for her discovery of an obscure set of laws called “onion laws” designed to protect Oh Fair New Mexico’s female population. This White Horse, New Mexico law states, “No married woman is allowed to eat onions on the Sabbath unless she is properly looked after.” Evidently onions and garlic were once considered to be aphrodisiacs.
The Rio Grande Foundation, along with the New Mexico Alliance for Legal Reform, is offering cash rewards for anyone who "turns in" the craziest laws whether they be statewide or city/county here in New Mexico. Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White is the honorary chair of the contest.
More information including instructions for submitting your entries is available here. Check out this listing of crazy laws in other states for ideas on what to look for.
Got a hold of a recent copy of US News & World Reports last night and they had an interesting article on the 10 Worst Presidents in US History. I have always felt that rankings like these, whether they have a "liberal" bias or not, tend to give undue weight to those who accrue power to the executive branch and expand the power of the federal government.
This survey is no different as presidents were ranked (positively) according to their doing the most "progressive" things during their time in office. My list looks quite a bit different: in no particular order Woodrow Wilson, FDR, LBJ, and Nixon are among my candidates for worst president for their roles in massive expansion of government.
Instead of being threatened by global warming as seems to be the consensus nowadays, polar bears are being threatened by a recent cold snap in Iceland. Apparently, the hapless bears have walked across ice that has made its way to Iceland -- an unusual occurance due to recent cold weather -- and when they arrive they threaten the townspeople and are often killed. I'm sure global warming has something to do with this recent turn of events.
The Governor's office sent out a press release this morning, "Governor Bill Richardson Appoints Linda Roebuck as
Behavioral Health Czar" that caught my attention. No, the Rio Grande Foundation hasn't taken a particular interest in behavioral health and as far as we know, Ms. Roebuck is a fine person...the problem is the job title "Czar." According to our friends at Wikipedia, Tsar (same meaning as Czar) means "is a contraction of the earlier tsesar, derived from the Roman title Caesar. Great, so now we have an "emperor" of behavioral health. Not only is the name derived from an imperial title, but if you've read any history you'd know that Russia's Czar's were not exactly a successful bunch and they eventually gave way to the Lenin and the Soviets...not exactly a great track record if you ask me.
My intention here is not to poke fun at Governor Richardson. After all, we have a federal "Drug Czar" and various groups are constantly lobbying for one czar or another. I just hope that before more czar's are named that more people understand that we shouldn't want a "czar" in the first place.
Headline in Friday's Albuquerque Journal:
"Gov. Details Plan to Cut Emissions"
HT: Robin
One of the great things about living in New Mexico is the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. I was reminded of that this morning when Robin brought me this:
Will he bring the cat? Find out May 24, 2007.
Here is an idea for you taxpayers who are tired of getting ripped off by the Guv's wasteful use of your money for "commuter rail." You could rendezvous at the Wheels Museum.
HT: Coyote Blog
Update 8/20/06
This morning Albuquerque Road Runners did their annual Lamy Run alongside the tracks from Eldorado to the Lamy Train Station. This is likely to be a future route for the train to nowhere. And look what we saw south of the tracks!
Did you know that the striking of one match emits sulfer dioxide, a poisonous gas more dangerous than one single cow flatulation? And at my age it requires a lot more than one match to light all the candles. Now we can make a difference! Find out how here.
1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.
2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the
Christian world.
4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.
HT: Wayne Unze
Be sure to eat an animal on March 15, but don't forget to kill it first.
Maybe it's just me, but while Iran is trying to get its hand on a nuke; while armed and uniformed Mexicans are shooting at U.S. law enforcement personnel along our borders; while congress is spending us into oblivion --- I somehow find it hard to get worked up over how we learned that Dick Cheney bagged an attorney.
- Talk show host Neal Boortz
HT: Chuck Muth
So far a Google search produces no Dick-Cheney / Aaron Burr comparisons. Give it time.
Quote of the Day (HT to John Fund of WSJ)
"Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), hosting a morning roundtable with
reporters, had nothing nice to say about Alito... Briefly, Kennedy
rewrote the outcome of the 1964 election. 'This nominee was influenced
by the Goldwater presidency,' he said. 'The Goldwater battles of those
times were the battles against the civil rights laws.' Only then did
Kennedy acknowledge that 'Judge Alito at that time was 14 years old'" --
Washington Post's Dana Milbank.
Chuck Muth has a nomination:
I hereby nominate lobbyist Jack Abramoff for Humanitarian of the Year. I'm dead serious. Ever since his guilty plea, scores of politicians from both parties have been donating money they received from Abramoff to various charities by the bucket-full. How long will it be before Howard Dean calls on a windfall profits tax on the American Heart Association on all the Abramoff money they've receive from politicians?
Good to the last dropping.
The know-it-alls have decided to spend the taxpayers' $225 million on a new spaceport rather than an NFL stadium. But they have ignored an important complement that we already have for the new stadium: a blimp.
Alaska has (or had) its bridge to nowhere; New Mexico has its train to nowhere. It will be interesting to compute how much this ultimately costs the taxpayer per rider.
We know our Guv had presidential ambitions; and he thinks he is quite important. But doesn't this sound like a bit much?
HT: Mickey Barnett
Answer is here. Hat tip to Robert Lawson for the link.
This BC cartoon would work especially well for NM too. How about bubbles that say "I'm a tax cutting governor," "education reform will work" and/or "more economic development incentives?" Email me if you have any more suggestions (hmessen@nmia.com).
Harriet Miers is the pick for me. I agree with what former Senator Roman Hruska once said about a failed Nixon pick: "G. Harrold Carswell is a mediocrity but mediocre Americans deserve representation on the court as well."
Hat tip to Charles Krauthammer via Mickey Barnett.
But they don't have a license!
Fooled you! Brown is Black.
Bad news about use of your tax money: Nearly 800 convicted s*e*x offenders in 14 states got Medicaid-funded prescriptions for V*iagr*a and other impot*ence drug*s. But also a little good news: Maybe the perver*ts won't be able to find their prey.
I am not making this up: Potty Parity may soon be coming to NYC. Hard to believe that Santa Fe is not setting the potty parity precedent.
Mason is on the front page of the Post today. GMU's youngest (18) and oldest (77) graduates in history graduated today. Amir Azad is the youngest. According to the article, "Azad admires the work of Friedrich Hayek and others who, he says, place the individual above groups, systems and political ideology. He is translating several articles into Persian, so that they may be more widely read in the Middle East."
Humbling and inspiring.
A few years back my brother passed along what I thought a delightfully fun fact: Jimmy Buffet is Warren Buffets nephew. Since then, Ive been passing this little nugget along to all who would listen (and probably a few who didnt want to but did anyway).
Unfortunately, yesterdays Wall Street Journal (subscription required) made liars out of both usnot to mention all the people we told (okay, so none of them cared enough to keep the fun fact going, but if they had, they would be liars too). It turns out that Jimmy and Warren might be relatedbut only distantly. Warrens sister is an amateur genealogist and contacted Jimmy and hundreds of other Buffets years ago in hopes of piecing together her family tree. Jimmy responded (after a year) and actually became good friends with Warrens sister. Soon Jimmy and Warren were good friends. Warren refers to the singer as Cousin Jimmy. Jimmy calls the financier Uncle Warren.
All of this has led me to question another fun fact that Ive been passing around. Is New Mexicos George Buffet (the man behind the candy cane) really related to Warren?
As usual, NM does things differently. Based on a survey of 120,464 people, here is a map showing what words people use when referring to soft-drinks. Casual observation seems to show the Land of the Enchantment is also the land of diversity. In fact, we seem to be the least-homogeneous of all the states. No sheep here!
Thanks to Tyler Cowen for the pointer.
Check out John Trever's cartoon of March 4, 2005. We could even add a little revenue enhancement to fund P-P-K. It's for the kids.
Here's wishing even the wishful thinkers a happy Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, not everyone shares my sentiment.
Here is one that has so far escaped Big Bill's attention. The only question: Would we stand for it? Thanks to Ralph R. Frasca at Division of Labour for the pointer.
Michael Munger does not think so:
"For one, the comparison defames prostitutes. Politics is the oldest profession. Second, in prostitution, it is the hooker who gets screwed. In politics, it is the customer."
That reminds me, have you noticed that Joe Thompson has decided to lobby for UNM? I'll bet hookers don't get $20K. (Okay, hookers don't have to do it for 60 days either.)
Let's face it, politics often trumps principle.
Look who dropped into our Toastmasters meeting Tuesday evening!
No shopping mall Santa, he proceded to distribute gifts purchased by each of our generous members. Reality based as it was, we all felt like kids again.
He left these parting words of wisdom: "It's too bad New Mexico cannot be reality based. We still have too many grownups who believe in the tooth fairy."
Moderation in all thingsincluding moderation.
Benjamin Franklin
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I propose that we add two new words to the English language:
wandingerous adj., colorless, feeble, tiresome and repetitious -- wandingerousness n. To see why you should read the opinion piece by Angela Wandinger-Ness in the Albuquerque Journal Friday (11/10).
In it she attacks our president John Dendahl for poor writing and lack of rigor. Here is a sample of what she thinks is good writing:
"There should be accountability and a factual basis that underlies a credible opinion."
I am not making this up. If you have a subscription to the Albuquerque Journal , you yourself can compare the writing skills of John and Ms Wandinger-Ness. Now tell me what do you think of my proposed new words!
With respect to lack of rigor, Ms Wandinger-Ness cites the ACLU website as evidence that John has not done his homework. The ACLU website???? Why doesn't she look here or here or here?
Ms Wandinger-Ness lost her PC constraint in the article. I guess the Academy will forgive her, since her personal insults are directed at someone who does not share the Academy's world view. Aren't you glad your tax dollars fund such wandingerousness?
Columbia University Professor of economics Xavier Sala-i-Martin offers a humorous rebuttal to Keynesian economics. The rest of his website is equally entertaining.
