As if it’s not bad enough that the state of Texas spent $490,000 to purchase what is purportedly the last letter written by Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett, some people are now questioning the letter’s authenticity.
no third solution
Blogging about liberty, anarchy, economics and politics
Category Archives: Potpourri
Weekend Update
I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. If you are a Michigan fan, I know you didn’t. I am not a Michigan fan, and the loss to 1-AA Appalachian State thrills me, although I do feel a certain amount of pity for the UM players whose entire season is for naught, now.
I’ve basically been out of touch with the world since 3pm, Friday, when I left work. I went kayaking on the Muskegon river on Saturday, and got to ride a John Deere M-dozer on Sunday morning to tear out a stump or something. Neat. Unfortunately, no pictures.
Eli Israel’s story, and eventual “other than honorable” discharge from the U.S. military is a fascinating read. I’d previously blogged about 1Lt Ehren Watada, whose trial ended in a mistrial back in February.
I finally saw Blood Diamond last night. I say “finally” because I have wanted to see it ever since it came out on Cable – but the 2.5 hour length was often prohibitive. It was a very good movie – exciting and dramatic. Although I’m sure there was ample use of poetic license, most people have no idea what sort of wars ravage the third world, or why. They’ve been led to believe that “those people” are just violent, or backwards, or whatever. I’m not sure if I’ll have more to say about Blood Diamond at another date, I’ve so far failed on my promise to review Vonnegut’s “Player Piano,” nearly two months ago. I did finish reading it, and actually I did finish reviewing it, but the review is handwritten in a notebook somewhere – I can’t just press a button and blog it.
In any event, the blog carnival will be published late, because the host is AWOL. It should appear tomorrow, at Without Hyphens. I’ll be linking to it when it publishes, so check back later.
What else is in the works? I’ve got some stuff on communism & entrepreneurship, property & anarchy, specie currency, and libertarian hyperbole, all in various stages of completion. Also, when I catch up on my current events, I’ll have more on those, too.
Joe Six-Pack on Taxes
Earlier in the week I noted that Michigan’s new “No-Child-Left-Behind-Everyone- Can-And-Will-Go-To-College-For-Free” program is not off to a good start. The Detroit Free Press article I linked to, I believe is where I found the following comment, which in my opinion represents that of the average man:
“Not very good test results, and yet these schools want more of our tax dollars. The taxpayers should demand better results for our money.”
Good grief. Of course, most people at least tacitly understand why we shouldn’t be giving these State agencies any more money: they’ve not proven themselves good stewards with what money they’ve taken, there is no reason to believe they’ll fare any better if we simply give them more. A spendthrift is a spendthrift is a spendthrift. A rich spendthrift just wastes more money.
What the taxpayers should demand is to have more (or preferably, all) of their tax dollars back where they belong – in their own pockets. Whether it’s the war on drugs, education, poverty, pot-holes, or code enforcement – nobody ever asks why we have to give them money to begin with.
