Monthly Archives: March 2019

Clutching Their Pearls

07 Thursday Mar 2019

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Just when you think all Republicans are wimps, this:

A handful of male lawmakers dressed up for a hearing they presided over Tuesday in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, donning pearl necklaces as activists testified about their experiences with gun violence.

Images from the statehouse — where legislators were considering arguments over a bill that would make it easier to take guns away from potentially dangerous people — caromed across social media as critics lobbed accusations of sexism and insensitivity at the necklace-wearing men.

The implication was clear, they said: These politicians thought gun-control activists were “clutching their pearls” in overwrought and self-righteous outrage — and, specifically, female outrage.

The advocates, who were volunteers with the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said they felt mocked, as if some of the lawmakers were not interested in hearing how gun violence has affected their lives.

“It really is shameful to behave that way when your constituents are being brave enough to share their stories,” Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, said in an interview. “They clearly did not come to this hearing with open minds or compassion for their constituents.”

Find that spirit, keep it, and you might actually conserve something.

Taxing Matters: Ranking the States

06 Wednesday Mar 2019

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From first to worst, or visa versa. Some are exactly what you’d expect. Others aren’t what one might imagine. All forms of taxes are equalized or adjusted as an equivalent of income.

50. Alaska
• Taxes paid as percentage of income: 6.5 percent
• Income per capita: $57,179 (10th highest)
• Income tax collections per capita: $0 (tied – the lowest)
• Property tax collections per capita: $2,001 (11th highest)
• General sales tax collections per capita: $0 (tied – the lowest)

49. South Dakota
• Taxes paid as percentage of income: 7.1 percent
• Income per capita: $48,818 (23rd highest)
• Income tax collections per capita: $0 (tied – the lowest)
• Property tax collections per capita: $1,381 (24th lowest)
• General sales tax collections per capita: $1,124 (6th highest)

48. Wyoming
• Taxes paid as percentage of income: 7.1 percent
• Income per capita: $57,346 (9th highest)
• Income tax collections per capita: $0 (tied – the lowest)
• Property tax collections per capita: $2,347 (6th highest)
• General sales tax collections per capita: $1,097 (11th highest)

A guide if you’re considering a move.

Tweetsie RR Trip – from TPC

06 Wednesday Mar 2019

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The Magic and Majesty of Tweetsie Railroad

*Author’s note: The following article originally appeared at my blog, back in December of 2015. Yes, it’s a rehash. But, the titular subject warranted a brief mention, here, a few weeks back. Wanting to elaborate, I spent the better part of an afternoon digging up this forgotten gem. (That sounds better than “I was busy and had a head cold…”).
When it chances to rain I sometimes don a high-quality, hooded raincoat emblazoned with a “12” logo patch. People occasionally inquire as to the meaning and origin of the garment. I love telling the tale.
Tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, about halfway between Blowing Rock and Boone, just off U.S. 321, there is the most remarkable hideaway. There one will find a tiny, tiny little (very small) amusement park on the side of a mountain.
Disney World it most certainly is not (praise God). It is a chapter from an older, homier book of Americana. It may be the ultimate roadside destination, a place to shame South of the Border or Wall Drug. Tweetsie Railroad is one of my absolute favorite places anywhere. Time stands still in the mountains.

READ AT TPC

The Enemy is Far More Consistent

05 Tuesday Mar 2019

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The effort to eliminate cash marches on, into America’s biggest and bestest house of bread and circuses.

Arthur Blank hopes to revolutionize the stadium experience yet again. AMB Group, which owns Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, announced Monday it will become the first pro sports stadium to implement a completely cashless model.

This will apply to all sporting events and nearly every concert, effective Sunday, March 10.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium is home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United and was the home for Super Bowl LIII last month.

Whether fans are buying a $1.50 hot dog, purchasing merchandise or even a game ticket — cash will no longer be accepted. The goal is to dramatically speed up transactions to keep fans from spending unnecessary time waiting in lines.

Making the trade of freedom for ever-valued convenience. And, all in a stadium built for a team mathematically incapable of winning. The Falcons are the GOP of sports.

Speaking of the professional losers: the GOP just can’t find enough issues to cave on.

Last month, in a turnabout, the Illinois Republican signed onto a letter with the top Republican of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that said “prudent steps should be taken to address current and future climate risks.”

“It’s just not worth the fight anymore,” Shimkus said in an interview when asked about his changing stance on climate change. “Let’s just see what we can do to address it and not hurt the economy.”

Shimkus is among a number of Republicans who — after years of sowing doubt about climate change or ignoring it altogether — are scrambling to confront the science they once rejected. They are holding hearings on the issue, beginning with one Tuesday. And they have pledged to invest in technologies to mitigate its impact and are openly talking about the need for taking action.

The shift in posture follows the public’s growing anxiety after catastrophic hurricanes, flooding and wildfires linked to global warming. Fully 74 percent of registered voters think global warming is happening and 67 percent said they are worried it, according to polling conducted by Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Among conservative Republicans, just 42 percent think global warming is happening but that is up five percentage points since a poll taken in 2017.

Stupid is as stupid votes. And polls.

Since Everyone Loves an Executive Order

03 Sunday Mar 2019

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From one year ago. Absolutely nothing came of this storyline. Forgotten. But, we are in the midst of another EO, the “emergency” in re the Southern border. One wonders what another year will bring. For now, a blast from the recent past:

perrinlovett's avatarPERRIN LOVETT

Vox Day offers a few suggestions for E.O. action on gun control:

In any event, this is what I would advise instead of doing nothing and trusting the states to be sensible.

Arrest Dan Israel, take Nikolas Cruz into custody, stop the demolition of the school, and order an investigation into the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the Secret Service, and every other federal, state, local agency that had any contact with that school in the last six months. Then publish the results of the investigation and have the DOJ prosecute the various guilty parties.

Criminalize the public advocacy of gun control, using the anti-BDS template. Any television or radio station advocating gun control would lose its broadcasting license. Any corporation advocating gun control would lose its federal contracts.

Announce mandatory carry reciprocity between states on pain of losing federal highway funds.

Stop all federal funding to all universities, colleges, and…

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Or, Maybe It Worked Too Well

01 Friday Mar 2019

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I saw this story and sat on it for most of the week.

Elections provide the bread-and-circuses staged drama that is passed off as democracy.

Despite the anything-goes quality of American culture, one thing remains verboten to say publicly: the U.S. Constitution has failed. The reason why this painfully obvious fact cannot be discussed publicly is that it gives the lie to the legitimacy of the entire status quo.

The Constitution was intended to limit 1) the power of government over the citizenry 2) the power of each branch of government and 3) the power of political/financial elites over the government and the citizenry, as the Founders recognized the intrinsic risks of an all-powerful state, an all-powerful state dominated by one branch of government and the risks of a financial elite corrupting the state to serve their interests above those of the citizenry.

The Constitution has failed to place limits on the power of government, on the emergence of unaccountable states-within-a-state agencies and on the political power of financial elites.

I tend to agree with the whole article. But… The primary purpose of the Constitution was to create a strong central government. That it certainly did. A success?