The Freeway to Serfdom
"One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his picture turns up on your driver's license." - P.J. O'Rourke
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Organized Crime vs. Organized Crime vs. Organized Crime
News - Montreal - canada.com network: Hundreds of police officers stage biker raids in Montreal
The Globe and Mail: Opposition assails Chrétien as author of scandal
So what's new in Haiti these days?
News - Montreal - canada.com network: Hundreds of police officers stage biker raids in Montreal
The Globe and Mail: Opposition assails Chrétien as author of scandal
So what's new in Haiti these days?
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Winter Doldrums
It's nice to see I'm not the only blogger swamped at work or in a bit of a seasonal slump. I'm up to my neck at the office, with the big boss man away next week. I've also been busy formulating correspondence with my City councillor encouraging her to let that axe swing wildly during the upcoming 2004 budget deliberations.
The beauty of the blogosphere is like that of a highly adaptable and diverse economy, when one sector is in the dumps, there are plenty of others ready to take up the productivity slack:
Trudeaupia has tabulated the Liberals latest desparate scheme to bribe themselves back into power with our own stolen money. (clearly PM Paul's "affordable housing" press release hasn't had its hoped for pacifier effect on the electorate)
Trudeaupia: Boondoggles to the Boondocks
Gary Cruse gives us a glimpse of real socialized medicine and the path down which it leads. Oh, I don't know Gary, looks like this latest $385 M bailout (just one last time!) is all the system needs to get back on its feet.
The Owner's Manual: Guns or Band-Aids?
Polyscopique stumbles across some appropriately juxtaposed moneymaking scams via Google. I wonder which one has a more rigid approvals process, though?
Le blog de Polyscopique: Encore plus d'AdScam!
And finally, for those of you in the process of filling out your annual tax collection paperwork as the open sewer of Adscam continues to gush forth, before you lose the mood, make sure you take the time to read Brad Edmond's recent "Abolishing Government" series over at LRC.
Had Enough Yet?
It's nice to see I'm not the only blogger swamped at work or in a bit of a seasonal slump. I'm up to my neck at the office, with the big boss man away next week. I've also been busy formulating correspondence with my City councillor encouraging her to let that axe swing wildly during the upcoming 2004 budget deliberations.
The beauty of the blogosphere is like that of a highly adaptable and diverse economy, when one sector is in the dumps, there are plenty of others ready to take up the productivity slack:
Trudeaupia has tabulated the Liberals latest desparate scheme to bribe themselves back into power with our own stolen money. (clearly PM Paul's "affordable housing" press release hasn't had its hoped for pacifier effect on the electorate)
Trudeaupia: Boondoggles to the Boondocks
Gary Cruse gives us a glimpse of real socialized medicine and the path down which it leads. Oh, I don't know Gary, looks like this latest $385 M bailout (just one last time!) is all the system needs to get back on its feet.
The Owner's Manual: Guns or Band-Aids?
Polyscopique stumbles across some appropriately juxtaposed moneymaking scams via Google. I wonder which one has a more rigid approvals process, though?
Le blog de Polyscopique: Encore plus d'AdScam!
And finally, for those of you in the process of filling out your annual tax collection paperwork as the open sewer of Adscam continues to gush forth, before you lose the mood, make sure you take the time to read Brad Edmond's recent "Abolishing Government" series over at LRC.
Had Enough Yet?
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
3 Snarky Questions
For the 3 prospective official opposition leaders: (inspired by Balko's 20 Questions TCS article)
1) If you were elected Prime Minister, what existing Federal Government department, if any, would you take immediate action to abolish? Abolish. Period. Full Stop.
2) Looking back on the 20th century, would you suggest that socialism has, in any place or any era proven itself to be a viable economic system? If so, is socialism as currently applied to our health care system sustainable in your opinion?
3) You are all in agreement that marijuana production and consumption should remain criminal offences. In contrast to history's failed attempts to prevent alcohol production and consumption, explain why you believe this particular economic activity should remain illegal, how you propose to prevent ongoing illegal activity and why your particular approach will be successful?
For the 3 prospective official opposition leaders: (inspired by Balko's 20 Questions TCS article)
1) If you were elected Prime Minister, what existing Federal Government department, if any, would you take immediate action to abolish? Abolish. Period. Full Stop.
2) Looking back on the 20th century, would you suggest that socialism has, in any place or any era proven itself to be a viable economic system? If so, is socialism as currently applied to our health care system sustainable in your opinion?
3) You are all in agreement that marijuana production and consumption should remain criminal offences. In contrast to history's failed attempts to prevent alcohol production and consumption, explain why you believe this particular economic activity should remain illegal, how you propose to prevent ongoing illegal activity and why your particular approach will be successful?
This is just too rich
Socialism collapses into a black hole:
CBC - New Brunswick: Canadian Labour Congress Hits Picket Line
[via Bourque]
Socialism collapses into a black hole:
CBC - New Brunswick: Canadian Labour Congress Hits Picket Line
[via Bourque]
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Insufferable Smugness Alert
The Globe's Alan Freeman struggles mightily to stifle his contempt for All Things American:
"America Has Super Sized"
"Who could drink 20 ounces of carbonated brown syrup in one go and not explode? Looking around me, I soon realized that 292 million Americans do it every day and think nothing of it."
Yes, somebody please free Alan from this nation of disgusting fatbodies. Every single American is taunting him with their overconsumption of carbonated beverages.
"But nothing prepared me for Des Moines, Iowa, in mid-January. It was like the scene from a science fiction film after some nuclear disaster. Not a soul could be spotted walking down the cold, windswept streets. Instead, massive SUVs with hefty names like Escapade, Navigator and Yukon cruised around like earthbound aircraft carriers, disappearing into the massive parking garages that abutted every highrise office building"
Sounds so unlike the warm, pedestrian friendly streetscapes of, say, Dundas Street in Missisauga, or Merivale Road in Ottawa.
"All of this just confirmed a pet theory of mine, that the problem in America is that food and gas are simply too cheap"
You know what would be great for those living on the fringe of poverty? More expensive food, transportation and energy! That'll keep those unwashed masses in their place. (man, and they think libertarians are cruel)
"With the help of abundant land and tax-subsidized mortgages, it has suburbanized America and destroyed public transit in most cities. And in turn that all helps make people fatter still"
Thankfully, abundant public transit has staved off obesity epidemics in Canada. and Sweden. and Britain. These societies are so much more progressive in dealing with public health issues than the lardass Yanks.
We feel your pain, Alan. With any luck, the Globe's assignment desk will airlift you out of that wretched backwater before you unwittingly super-size yourself.
The Globe's Alan Freeman struggles mightily to stifle his contempt for All Things American:
"America Has Super Sized"
"Who could drink 20 ounces of carbonated brown syrup in one go and not explode? Looking around me, I soon realized that 292 million Americans do it every day and think nothing of it."
Yes, somebody please free Alan from this nation of disgusting fatbodies. Every single American is taunting him with their overconsumption of carbonated beverages.
"But nothing prepared me for Des Moines, Iowa, in mid-January. It was like the scene from a science fiction film after some nuclear disaster. Not a soul could be spotted walking down the cold, windswept streets. Instead, massive SUVs with hefty names like Escapade, Navigator and Yukon cruised around like earthbound aircraft carriers, disappearing into the massive parking garages that abutted every highrise office building"
Sounds so unlike the warm, pedestrian friendly streetscapes of, say, Dundas Street in Missisauga, or Merivale Road in Ottawa.
"All of this just confirmed a pet theory of mine, that the problem in America is that food and gas are simply too cheap"
You know what would be great for those living on the fringe of poverty? More expensive food, transportation and energy! That'll keep those unwashed masses in their place. (man, and they think libertarians are cruel)
"With the help of abundant land and tax-subsidized mortgages, it has suburbanized America and destroyed public transit in most cities. And in turn that all helps make people fatter still"
Thankfully, abundant public transit has staved off obesity epidemics in Canada. and Sweden. and Britain. These societies are so much more progressive in dealing with public health issues than the lardass Yanks.
We feel your pain, Alan. With any luck, the Globe's assignment desk will airlift you out of that wretched backwater before you unwittingly super-size yourself.
Friday, February 20, 2004
Liberate the LCBO
If McGuinty actually pulls off the sale of this liquor leviathan, I'll give him his due props for accomplishing what alleged free-market conservatives never got desparate enough to seriously attempt. Cue outraged NDPer Gilles Bisson, who likes his intoxicating beverages socialized, thank you very much. Sample his vintage labor wine:
"I urge all Ontarians that want to stop the LCBO selloff to wrap up your empty wine bottles or liquor bottles and send them to the premier"
He suggests people tuck a note inside the empty bottles opposing the sale of the LCBO before packing them carefully and mailing them off to Queen's Park.
Actually, why don't I just spare the wasteful packaging and just ring an empty 40 ouncer directly off Dalton's pointy little socialist skull? As a supporting gesture, of course.
If you need a more utilitarian reason to get the state out of the liquor retailing business, I present Buchananite/Dobbsian brewer Lakeport demanding more visible shelf space in order to spare them the indignity of "begging and groveling" with individual retailers to convince them to stock their product.
"Why do I have to fight for shelf space against an import?" chief executive Teresa Cascioli said in an interview.
Why do you need to use the levers of government to coerce people to drink your bargain-priced skunk piss, Teresa?
If McGuinty actually pulls off the sale of this liquor leviathan, I'll give him his due props for accomplishing what alleged free-market conservatives never got desparate enough to seriously attempt. Cue outraged NDPer Gilles Bisson, who likes his intoxicating beverages socialized, thank you very much. Sample his vintage labor wine:
"I urge all Ontarians that want to stop the LCBO selloff to wrap up your empty wine bottles or liquor bottles and send them to the premier"
He suggests people tuck a note inside the empty bottles opposing the sale of the LCBO before packing them carefully and mailing them off to Queen's Park.
Actually, why don't I just spare the wasteful packaging and just ring an empty 40 ouncer directly off Dalton's pointy little socialist skull? As a supporting gesture, of course.
If you need a more utilitarian reason to get the state out of the liquor retailing business, I present Buchananite/Dobbsian brewer Lakeport demanding more visible shelf space in order to spare them the indignity of "begging and groveling" with individual retailers to convince them to stock their product.
"Why do I have to fight for shelf space against an import?" chief executive Teresa Cascioli said in an interview.
Why do you need to use the levers of government to coerce people to drink your bargain-priced skunk piss, Teresa?
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Odds 'n Ends
1) Maverick Urban Planner Peter Gordon has a weblog: "A blog exploring the intersection of economics and urban planning/real estate development and related big-think themes." One to watch for sure.
2) Peter Bondra is donning the BlackRedGold tonite and looks poised to light up the visiting Thrashers. This season has been a dreamlike alternate universe for Sens fans, long condemned by debt, high taxes and a sagging loonie to bargain-shopping for useful offence/toughness. Now we finally have our platinum forward and a bouncer to pummel the shit out of unibrowed simian Tie Domi.
3) I haven't been ignoring the government sponsorship scandal, so much as I've been rendered utterly speechless by it. All I can do is shake my head and point out the frankly, terrifying intersection of our Prime Minister, our national police force, judge-issued search warrants, shady bank loans and an arson investigation just adds grist to the mill for us paranoid "black helicopter" libertarian-types.
4) Holy shit, Crawly Amphibian. Movin' on up the food chain....
1) Maverick Urban Planner Peter Gordon has a weblog: "A blog exploring the intersection of economics and urban planning/real estate development and related big-think themes." One to watch for sure.
2) Peter Bondra is donning the BlackRedGold tonite and looks poised to light up the visiting Thrashers. This season has been a dreamlike alternate universe for Sens fans, long condemned by debt, high taxes and a sagging loonie to bargain-shopping for useful offence/toughness. Now we finally have our platinum forward and a bouncer to pummel the shit out of unibrowed simian Tie Domi.
3) I haven't been ignoring the government sponsorship scandal, so much as I've been rendered utterly speechless by it. All I can do is shake my head and point out the frankly, terrifying intersection of our Prime Minister, our national police force, judge-issued search warrants, shady bank loans and an arson investigation just adds grist to the mill for us paranoid "black helicopter" libertarian-types.
4) Holy shit, Crawly Amphibian. Movin' on up the food chain....
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
If This Is 'Smart' Growth What Does 'Retarded' Growth Look Like?
The provincial Liberals, anxious to pacify their affluent GTA voting block after a series of 'setbacks' in blocking development on the Oak Ridges Moraine and toll increases on the 407 (I would dare to call them affirmations of the rule of law) are now pushing the creation of a 'no-build' zone around the perimeter of Toronto.
If things turn out as successfully as Ottawa's similarly misguided experiment, the good people of Toronto might someday be blessed with more artifically high housing prices and the equivalent of a 200 km moat across which obscenely expensive roads, sewers and utility lines will have to be built. Losers will include landowners whose soon-to-be-rendered fallow property is laying in the path of the green swath, winners will include inner city landowners and those lucky enough to be on the edge of a provincially-funded doggy walking pasture. Guess who the Libs are banking carries the most political muscle?
For the record, Ottawa has had a greenbelt for years (in this case, created at the expense of Federal taxpayers, score!) with the same high-minded purpose of saving us from dystopian urban sprawl. The three main suburbs of Kanata, Orleans and Barrhaven, which lie outside the sacred greenbelt, are projected to accommodate three quarters of the 20 year population growth and over half the new jobs. Needless to say, the road and transit 'schedule' is loaded with costly capacity enhancements intended to ferry people and goods across this artificial barrier:
I've never been able to grasp why urban 'sprawl' per se invokes such fear and disgust in people. To the extent that a lot of it is encouraged by grotesque subsidies to transportation and other municipal services, I can certainly sympathize. But to all who sneer at tacky big box stores and cookie cutter tract housing, have you ever even taken a look at a map or photo of your hometown 50 or 100 years ago? I'll bet you wouldn't even be able to identify the plot of land on which you currently reside, the office park you work at, or the transportation system that moves you between the two. If the folks depicted in that 19th century rendering were as indignant and fearful of change, there'd be no you to speak of.
UPDATE: This 1874 bird's-eye view of Ottawa-Hull provides some much needed context. Point to your house on this map, sprawl busters!
The provincial Liberals, anxious to pacify their affluent GTA voting block after a series of 'setbacks' in blocking development on the Oak Ridges Moraine and toll increases on the 407 (I would dare to call them affirmations of the rule of law) are now pushing the creation of a 'no-build' zone around the perimeter of Toronto.
If things turn out as successfully as Ottawa's similarly misguided experiment, the good people of Toronto might someday be blessed with more artifically high housing prices and the equivalent of a 200 km moat across which obscenely expensive roads, sewers and utility lines will have to be built. Losers will include landowners whose soon-to-be-rendered fallow property is laying in the path of the green swath, winners will include inner city landowners and those lucky enough to be on the edge of a provincially-funded doggy walking pasture. Guess who the Libs are banking carries the most political muscle?
For the record, Ottawa has had a greenbelt for years (in this case, created at the expense of Federal taxpayers, score!) with the same high-minded purpose of saving us from dystopian urban sprawl. The three main suburbs of Kanata, Orleans and Barrhaven, which lie outside the sacred greenbelt, are projected to accommodate three quarters of the 20 year population growth and over half the new jobs. Needless to say, the road and transit 'schedule' is loaded with costly capacity enhancements intended to ferry people and goods across this artificial barrier:
I've never been able to grasp why urban 'sprawl' per se invokes such fear and disgust in people. To the extent that a lot of it is encouraged by grotesque subsidies to transportation and other municipal services, I can certainly sympathize. But to all who sneer at tacky big box stores and cookie cutter tract housing, have you ever even taken a look at a map or photo of your hometown 50 or 100 years ago? I'll bet you wouldn't even be able to identify the plot of land on which you currently reside, the office park you work at, or the transportation system that moves you between the two. If the folks depicted in that 19th century rendering were as indignant and fearful of change, there'd be no you to speak of.
UPDATE: This 1874 bird's-eye view of Ottawa-Hull provides some much needed context. Point to your house on this map, sprawl busters!
Just One More on Speeding
Yes Jay, we get your point already, speed limits are tyrannical, blah blah blah. Actually, don't just take my word for it, go and read Highway's last two takes on posted speed limits and their effect on enforcement and motorist behaviour (yes there is another transportation engineer/blogger out there, small world). He prints this quote from a Maryland Transportation Official, which I think encompasses the professional, but not necessarily the political opinion on the matter:
"We're firm believers that traffic is able to set its own speed and do it very well," said Tom Hicks, director of the highway administration's office of traffic and safety. "Why have a number out there that everybody disobeys? It deteriorates the discipline we need in the traffic control business. We want our traffic signs to mean what they say."
Sounds fairly Hayekian, no?
I know this principle first hand from studies I've done on Nepean's Centrepointe Drive. The road is a four-lane, undivided major collector with an infantalizing speed limit of 40 kph (25 mph). Understandably, traffic flows at a steady 60 kph given the surrounding environment. The catch is that there is an 'S' bend in the road with a design speed of 30 kph. There is a yellow warning tab in place, but of course why pay any heed to this particular rectangular piece of metal fixed into the roadside? The bend has been a magnet for collisions and engineers are leery of publicly suggesting the unrealistic speed limit may have anything to do with it (those that want to keep their jobs, anyway). If the posted speed were consistent with the operating environment, people might actually take notice when a sign advises them to shed 30 k in the next 100 m.
Alright, there you go, now back to Sluicegate.....
Yes Jay, we get your point already, speed limits are tyrannical, blah blah blah. Actually, don't just take my word for it, go and read Highway's last two takes on posted speed limits and their effect on enforcement and motorist behaviour (yes there is another transportation engineer/blogger out there, small world). He prints this quote from a Maryland Transportation Official, which I think encompasses the professional, but not necessarily the political opinion on the matter:
"We're firm believers that traffic is able to set its own speed and do it very well," said Tom Hicks, director of the highway administration's office of traffic and safety. "Why have a number out there that everybody disobeys? It deteriorates the discipline we need in the traffic control business. We want our traffic signs to mean what they say."
Sounds fairly Hayekian, no?
I know this principle first hand from studies I've done on Nepean's Centrepointe Drive. The road is a four-lane, undivided major collector with an infantalizing speed limit of 40 kph (25 mph). Understandably, traffic flows at a steady 60 kph given the surrounding environment. The catch is that there is an 'S' bend in the road with a design speed of 30 kph. There is a yellow warning tab in place, but of course why pay any heed to this particular rectangular piece of metal fixed into the roadside? The bend has been a magnet for collisions and engineers are leery of publicly suggesting the unrealistic speed limit may have anything to do with it (those that want to keep their jobs, anyway). If the posted speed were consistent with the operating environment, people might actually take notice when a sign advises them to shed 30 k in the next 100 m.
Alright, there you go, now back to Sluicegate.....
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Banana Republic Watch
Paul Martin: "The Liberal Party is not corrupt"
Jay Jardine: "I have never updated my blog from work"
Paul Martin: "The Liberal Party is not corrupt"
Jay Jardine: "I have never updated my blog from work"
Mugged By the State
The swarmings continue on our publicly-run transit system. Our publicly-run police force, meanwhile, is busy swarming motorists:
"Police do have one tip if you are pulled over, co-operate. Sarcasm and acting iritated will not help the process."
Well, that's actually pretty sound advice coming from an agency with legal monopoly on the use of force. Just keep your mouth shut; don't make any sudden moves and hand over that wallet nice and slow.
Question: You are presented with a fixed pie of law enforcement resources. How much of the pie should go to protecting citizens from force and fraud and how much should go towards chasing down motorists travelling 50 k in a 40 k zone (most of whom, in my experience conducting traffic studies, are the same residents and parents who live in the neighbourhood, not the nitro-fuelled fast 'n furious caricature)?
The swarmings continue on our publicly-run transit system. Our publicly-run police force, meanwhile, is busy swarming motorists:
"Police do have one tip if you are pulled over, co-operate. Sarcasm and acting iritated will not help the process."
Well, that's actually pretty sound advice coming from an agency with legal monopoly on the use of force. Just keep your mouth shut; don't make any sudden moves and hand over that wallet nice and slow.
Question: You are presented with a fixed pie of law enforcement resources. How much of the pie should go to protecting citizens from force and fraud and how much should go towards chasing down motorists travelling 50 k in a 40 k zone (most of whom, in my experience conducting traffic studies, are the same residents and parents who live in the neighbourhood, not the nitro-fuelled fast 'n furious caricature)?
Monday, February 16, 2004
Tax Consumers Throw a Tantrum
While the rest of you were at work, relaxing, or otherwise peacefully minding your own affairs, the City's Arts and Heritage communities continued their passive-aggressive sulking.
"The president of Heritage Ottawa, David Flemming, asked the crowd to mourn the cuts to heritage programs with a moment's silence."
At this Saturday's Annual Sweetheart Breakfast for the Arts, His Worship's jellied backbone was exposed as he was put on the spot by Ottawa Council for the Art's Ken Rockburn. Apparently Ken stood up and demanded the restoration of 2004's programmed arts and cultural funding. Little rat-face, sensing the electoral winds are shifting, has since been mumbling about the possibility of an outright property tax hike.
Man, I can only guess what Rockburn has pulled down over the years at his CPAC and CBC gigs, but there's no way he and the rest of these moaning wankers can't pony up to support their own festival fetish.
I challenge any supporter of public funding for the arts to explain to me why Ken and the gang can force me to pay for their wine and cheese circle jerks, but I can't force them to reciprocate with performance upgrades to my Prelude, this weekend's drinking activity, or any other cause I happen to be passionate about or that has the same potential for economic stimulus.
C'mon people, have a look at these wheels or this cold air intake and tell me that ain't art!
UPDATE: In all fairness, it's not just the usual budget goats that deserve an extra heaping of scorn. For unsavory, palms outstretched, rent-seeking, look no further than Gail Logan and the rugged individualists at the Ottawa Business Journal. Taggart Transcontinental they certainly are not.
While the rest of you were at work, relaxing, or otherwise peacefully minding your own affairs, the City's Arts and Heritage communities continued their passive-aggressive sulking.
"The president of Heritage Ottawa, David Flemming, asked the crowd to mourn the cuts to heritage programs with a moment's silence."
At this Saturday's Annual Sweetheart Breakfast for the Arts, His Worship's jellied backbone was exposed as he was put on the spot by Ottawa Council for the Art's Ken Rockburn. Apparently Ken stood up and demanded the restoration of 2004's programmed arts and cultural funding. Little rat-face, sensing the electoral winds are shifting, has since been mumbling about the possibility of an outright property tax hike.
Man, I can only guess what Rockburn has pulled down over the years at his CPAC and CBC gigs, but there's no way he and the rest of these moaning wankers can't pony up to support their own festival fetish.
I challenge any supporter of public funding for the arts to explain to me why Ken and the gang can force me to pay for their wine and cheese circle jerks, but I can't force them to reciprocate with performance upgrades to my Prelude, this weekend's drinking activity, or any other cause I happen to be passionate about or that has the same potential for economic stimulus.
C'mon people, have a look at these wheels or this cold air intake and tell me that ain't art!
UPDATE: In all fairness, it's not just the usual budget goats that deserve an extra heaping of scorn. For unsavory, palms outstretched, rent-seeking, look no further than Gail Logan and the rugged individualists at the Ottawa Business Journal. Taggart Transcontinental they certainly are not.
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Burn Trudeaupia, Buuuuuuurn!!!
The flames are catching:
Chrétien's allies say they `can't remain silent for long'
Martin can't recall 2002 letter about Quebec funds
the cracks in the foundation are growing:
Clarkson's $5.3M northern trip angers opposition MPs
bit by bit:
Gun registry cost soars to $2 billion
piece by piece:
'Boondoggle' minister leaving politics
(oh, God am I loving this. In a sick, jaded sort of way)
The only question I have for greater Canuckistan is: have you learned your lesson yet? Or will we finally work up the nerve to evict these criminals only to follow up with Conservative "Big Government: Done Our Way"? Legislative gridlock is looking pretty good to me:
IPSOS: LIB 39% CON 24% NDP 18%
This has been one long, bitch of a winter. The promise of an early spring election could bring us out of hibernation in a rather cranky mood.
The flames are catching:
Chrétien's allies say they `can't remain silent for long'
Martin can't recall 2002 letter about Quebec funds
the cracks in the foundation are growing:
Clarkson's $5.3M northern trip angers opposition MPs
bit by bit:
Gun registry cost soars to $2 billion
piece by piece:
'Boondoggle' minister leaving politics
(oh, God am I loving this. In a sick, jaded sort of way)
The only question I have for greater Canuckistan is: have you learned your lesson yet? Or will we finally work up the nerve to evict these criminals only to follow up with Conservative "Big Government: Done Our Way"? Legislative gridlock is looking pretty good to me:
IPSOS: LIB 39% CON 24% NDP 18%
This has been one long, bitch of a winter. The promise of an early spring election could bring us out of hibernation in a rather cranky mood.
Friday, February 13, 2004
Speaking of Automotive Decadence....
The second Porsche Carrera GT recently arrived in the United States: 0 down, $14,000 a month for 48 months.
For the motorhead equivalent of Paris Hilton pics, click here.
Yes, I am consumed with envy.
The second Porsche Carrera GT recently arrived in the United States: 0 down, $14,000 a month for 48 months.
For the motorhead equivalent of Paris Hilton pics, click here.
Yes, I am consumed with envy.
Dinner, Flowers and 35,000 Thundering Clydesdales
Hooooooooweeee!
What better way to celebrate the love that exists between two people than by sharing in the romantic spectacle of the Great American Race? "Honey, even George W. will be on hand. You like President Bush, don't you sweetheart?"
And this season is shaping up to be a dandy. NASCAR faces are getting younger and feistier, and a long-awaited point system restructuring produces a 10 race quasi-playoff to ward off the inevitable equipment "stroking" by late-season leaders.
Although my sentimental favorite remains Rusty Wallace, he has a woeful record on the restrictor-plate tracks. I'll throw in with his mechanical-engineering degreed teammate Ryan Newman. He should have won the Cup last year and is well suited to take advantage of the new scoring system. Adding to the intrigue is his tumble through the infield at last year's event and the fact that his car is sponsored by Alltel, rival to series sponsor Nextel.
I'm so excited, I just might have to renew my cable TV service.
Hooooooooweeee!
What better way to celebrate the love that exists between two people than by sharing in the romantic spectacle of the Great American Race? "Honey, even George W. will be on hand. You like President Bush, don't you sweetheart?"
And this season is shaping up to be a dandy. NASCAR faces are getting younger and feistier, and a long-awaited point system restructuring produces a 10 race quasi-playoff to ward off the inevitable equipment "stroking" by late-season leaders.
Although my sentimental favorite remains Rusty Wallace, he has a woeful record on the restrictor-plate tracks. I'll throw in with his mechanical-engineering degreed teammate Ryan Newman. He should have won the Cup last year and is well suited to take advantage of the new scoring system. Adding to the intrigue is his tumble through the infield at last year's event and the fact that his car is sponsored by Alltel, rival to series sponsor Nextel.
I'm so excited, I just might have to renew my cable TV service.
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Budget Bloodbath 2004
While the rest of the blogosphere jackals bite into the juicy flesh of the recent auditor-general's report (as of this morning National Post columnist Andrew Coyne's weblog remains utterly farked under the deluge of visitors), I turn my attention toward reaction to Capital City's latest attempt to carve $100 million bucks out of its bloated municipal budget:
Councillor Alex Cullen: "It's clear to me the cuts are so unpalatable the consequence will be a tax hike"
Former Councillor Alex Munter: "I just can't believe that the majority of citizens of Ottawa want to live in a community where we take away wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs from people"
Sierra Club spokeswoman Andrea Peart: "We're appalled that every priority environmental service has been cut"
Peter Honeywell of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa: "It's pretty devastating. Basically the arts program seems to be gutted"
Jay Jardine, raving libertoid nutjob: "Hey, this is a pretty damn good start!"
I was amused, but not at all surprised, to hear affluent co-workers, most of whom make orders of magnitude more money than me, lament the loss of frills such as wading pool hours and leaf waste pickup service. As a happily childless and lawnless urban resident, I say Tough Shit. This puts the lie to the endless wailing of public sector unions that cuts will kick the poor to the curb. If anything, it just might suppress the appetite of the upper and middle class folk trying to maintain their lifestyle choices at the expense of everyone else (90 year old widows and young renters included).
Mayor Bob Chiarelli says he is challenging the people of the city to tell council what kind of city we want Ottawa to be.
Since you asked, Bobby, I'd like a city where politicians mind their own goddamn business, and keep their grubby little hands out of my wallet. Capiche?
UPDATE: A reader emails: "My city would not include the Alexes or the Sierra Club. As to the lack of wading pools, who cares: kids don't pay taxes."
While the rest of the blogosphere jackals bite into the juicy flesh of the recent auditor-general's report (as of this morning National Post columnist Andrew Coyne's weblog remains utterly farked under the deluge of visitors), I turn my attention toward reaction to Capital City's latest attempt to carve $100 million bucks out of its bloated municipal budget:
Councillor Alex Cullen: "It's clear to me the cuts are so unpalatable the consequence will be a tax hike"
Former Councillor Alex Munter: "I just can't believe that the majority of citizens of Ottawa want to live in a community where we take away wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs from people"
Sierra Club spokeswoman Andrea Peart: "We're appalled that every priority environmental service has been cut"
Peter Honeywell of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa: "It's pretty devastating. Basically the arts program seems to be gutted"
Jay Jardine, raving libertoid nutjob: "Hey, this is a pretty damn good start!"
I was amused, but not at all surprised, to hear affluent co-workers, most of whom make orders of magnitude more money than me, lament the loss of frills such as wading pool hours and leaf waste pickup service. As a happily childless and lawnless urban resident, I say Tough Shit. This puts the lie to the endless wailing of public sector unions that cuts will kick the poor to the curb. If anything, it just might suppress the appetite of the upper and middle class folk trying to maintain their lifestyle choices at the expense of everyone else (90 year old widows and young renters included).
Mayor Bob Chiarelli says he is challenging the people of the city to tell council what kind of city we want Ottawa to be.
Since you asked, Bobby, I'd like a city where politicians mind their own goddamn business, and keep their grubby little hands out of my wallet. Capiche?
UPDATE: A reader emails: "My city would not include the Alexes or the Sierra Club. As to the lack of wading pools, who cares: kids don't pay taxes."
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
They Came and Took It
My little Bravenet counter down there clanged off the 1,000th visitor to this site since opening for business in September 2003. Sorry, I don't have any prize for you, I.P. #207.61.165.166, but I hope you enjoyed your brief glimpse of life on the loony libertarian fringe.
So here's to you, dear readers. Don't be shy, those comments are there for a reason. Feel free to tell me I'm full of shit at any time. I'm hoping to further enhance the site over the next few months, perhaps with guest bloggers to pick up slack when I'm blogstipated.
Cheers!
My little Bravenet counter down there clanged off the 1,000th visitor to this site since opening for business in September 2003. Sorry, I don't have any prize for you, I.P. #207.61.165.166, but I hope you enjoyed your brief glimpse of life on the loony libertarian fringe.
So here's to you, dear readers. Don't be shy, those comments are there for a reason. Feel free to tell me I'm full of shit at any time. I'm hoping to further enhance the site over the next few months, perhaps with guest bloggers to pick up slack when I'm blogstipated.
Cheers!
More of the Same
CTV.ca - Auditor general slams sponsorship fiasco
'Fictitious invoices' used in scheme to give ad agencies hefty commissions - The Globe and Mail
Spare me the manufactured outrage, fellow Canuckis. You voted for these thieving tyrants for the past 10 years, and come spring you'll do your duty as good Liberals and reward them with another 10 years. The rest of us anti-social cranks are advised to find a nice, soft pillow and bite down hard, as The Gimp known as the Canadian Welfare State goes back to work on us.
CTV.ca - Auditor general slams sponsorship fiasco
'Fictitious invoices' used in scheme to give ad agencies hefty commissions - The Globe and Mail
Spare me the manufactured outrage, fellow Canuckis. You voted for these thieving tyrants for the past 10 years, and come spring you'll do your duty as good Liberals and reward them with another 10 years. The rest of us anti-social cranks are advised to find a nice, soft pillow and bite down hard, as The Gimp known as the Canadian Welfare State goes back to work on us.
Monday, February 09, 2004
Coyne Torches Kinsella
After ex-Chretien toady Warren Kinsella's vile anti-American smear job appeared in (where else) the Toronto Star (read this if you want to see your BP go through the roof), Andy Coyne delivers a succinct take-down straight to Warren's inbox:.
"By "nationalist," I take it you mean "smug, condescending, and splenetically anti-American." For God's sake, they're at war! The weeping wussie on whom you poured your silent contempt may just possibly have a brother serving in Iraq. They've got tens of thousands of kids fighting and dying overseas, and hundreds of thousands more who remember what that's like, and millions more who know somebody in that situation, or know their families, and worry for their sake. They had 3000 people incinerated in the middle of their biggest city on a workday morning, and are in a desperate and probably losing race against time to prevent the same or worse from happening again. If anything like that ever happened to us, I suspect we'd produce our own Toby Keiths.
Or maybe not. In a country that considers it impolite to object to its own dismemberment -- a subject on which you and I are agreed -- perhaps we would just lie down and take it.
Final thought. For disgusting displays of nationalist bombast, which ranks higher on the gag-me-with-a-spoon-o-meter -- Toby Keith, with his purple odes to freedom and duty, or the Joe Canada rant, a chippy, defensive whine about the horrors of being misunderstood by your neighbours."
Couldn't have said it better myself. Kinsella symbolizes all that all that I have come to truly loathe about this once great country.
After ex-Chretien toady Warren Kinsella's vile anti-American smear job appeared in (where else) the Toronto Star (read this if you want to see your BP go through the roof), Andy Coyne delivers a succinct take-down straight to Warren's inbox:.
"By "nationalist," I take it you mean "smug, condescending, and splenetically anti-American." For God's sake, they're at war! The weeping wussie on whom you poured your silent contempt may just possibly have a brother serving in Iraq. They've got tens of thousands of kids fighting and dying overseas, and hundreds of thousands more who remember what that's like, and millions more who know somebody in that situation, or know their families, and worry for their sake. They had 3000 people incinerated in the middle of their biggest city on a workday morning, and are in a desperate and probably losing race against time to prevent the same or worse from happening again. If anything like that ever happened to us, I suspect we'd produce our own Toby Keiths.
Or maybe not. In a country that considers it impolite to object to its own dismemberment -- a subject on which you and I are agreed -- perhaps we would just lie down and take it.
Final thought. For disgusting displays of nationalist bombast, which ranks higher on the gag-me-with-a-spoon-o-meter -- Toby Keith, with his purple odes to freedom and duty, or the Joe Canada rant, a chippy, defensive whine about the horrors of being misunderstood by your neighbours."
Couldn't have said it better myself. Kinsella symbolizes all that all that I have come to truly loathe about this once great country.
Heroic Photo Radar Resistance
Breaking out across Blighty. [via Crozier]
Makes me wonder how far the police have to go to rouse the motoring public from its slumber. Ottawa's own Buford T. Justice dishes out 12,000 tickets in a month? "YAWN", comes the collective reply.
Breaking out across Blighty. [via Crozier]
Makes me wonder how far the police have to go to rouse the motoring public from its slumber. Ottawa's own Buford T. Justice dishes out 12,000 tickets in a month? "YAWN", comes the collective reply.
Fire Don Cherry
....and the rest of the CBC parasites, too. Bottom line: bias is in the eye of the beholder. If the CBC were a private organization that offended me, I could exercise my right to turn off the tube and deprive the sponsors of revenue. Because this is not the case, Don Cherry and the entire HNIC crew live off my stolen money. This necessarily drags every overtaxed Canadian into the mire when "hurtful" words are spoken. Do I really need to walk everyone through this again? If I refuse to pay my share of the CBC budget on my tax bill, I will risk arrest, harassment and further seizure of my property at the hands of FedGov. Should I resist this aggression, lethal force could be used against me. How many of you are honestly willing to take a bullet for "This is Wonderland", the East Coast Music Awards, or Mary Walsh's "Open Book"?
Frankly, I'd love to use this space to tee off on the tolerance police and tell them to suck it up and grow a pair, but to the extent that they find themselves aggrieved by the "reprehensible" comments of a personality on the public dime, I sympathize in their anger whenever I'm subjected to socialist gabfests disguised as "debate", "news" "reports" on the latest eco-scare/scam or anti-capitalist bile masquerading as "consumer advocacy".
DC and HNIC can easily find useful work elsewhere on the broadcast spectrum. As for the remaining leftist rot, who knows, maybe there's some call centre jobs available on the east coast. The world is your oyster, gang. At least then we'd be truly free to hang up on these hangers on.
....and the rest of the CBC parasites, too. Bottom line: bias is in the eye of the beholder. If the CBC were a private organization that offended me, I could exercise my right to turn off the tube and deprive the sponsors of revenue. Because this is not the case, Don Cherry and the entire HNIC crew live off my stolen money. This necessarily drags every overtaxed Canadian into the mire when "hurtful" words are spoken. Do I really need to walk everyone through this again? If I refuse to pay my share of the CBC budget on my tax bill, I will risk arrest, harassment and further seizure of my property at the hands of FedGov. Should I resist this aggression, lethal force could be used against me. How many of you are honestly willing to take a bullet for "This is Wonderland", the East Coast Music Awards, or Mary Walsh's "Open Book"?
Frankly, I'd love to use this space to tee off on the tolerance police and tell them to suck it up and grow a pair, but to the extent that they find themselves aggrieved by the "reprehensible" comments of a personality on the public dime, I sympathize in their anger whenever I'm subjected to socialist gabfests disguised as "debate", "news" "reports" on the latest eco-scare/scam or anti-capitalist bile masquerading as "consumer advocacy".
DC and HNIC can easily find useful work elsewhere on the broadcast spectrum. As for the remaining leftist rot, who knows, maybe there's some call centre jobs available on the east coast. The world is your oyster, gang. At least then we'd be truly free to hang up on these hangers on.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Hockey Hockey Hockey....
Colby Cosh:
"Show of hands: who thinks the Leafs are really, really better than the Sens? Congratulations, you have just self-diagnosed Down's Syndrome."
Don at All Things Canadian wakes me out of my coma and links to Hockeyfights.com. The information dissemination capabilities of the internet continue to astonish and humble me.
For the record, the Sens have fought Tie Domi 9 times since 98-99. The Leaves are the fourth most fought team by the Sens. Should be a dandy tilt in Kanata tonite.
UPDATE: Well that was the hoof to the 'nads I felt I needed this week. Lalime deserves to be shot and pissed on. Oh well, back to lying on the couch in a fetal postion, waiting patiently for the day we get over on the Blue and White....
Colby Cosh:
"Show of hands: who thinks the Leafs are really, really better than the Sens? Congratulations, you have just self-diagnosed Down's Syndrome."
Don at All Things Canadian wakes me out of my coma and links to Hockeyfights.com. The information dissemination capabilities of the internet continue to astonish and humble me.
For the record, the Sens have fought Tie Domi 9 times since 98-99. The Leaves are the fourth most fought team by the Sens. Should be a dandy tilt in Kanata tonite.
UPDATE: Well that was the hoof to the 'nads I felt I needed this week. Lalime deserves to be shot and pissed on. Oh well, back to lying on the couch in a fetal postion, waiting patiently for the day we get over on the Blue and White....
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
The J.J. Manifesto
The more I re-read it, the more I believe the Lone Mountain Compact (LMC) has to be one of the best statement of principles ever produced by a committee. It's the Declaration of Independence for Free-Market Urbanologists. Signatories include the ubiquitous Wendell Cox, Ken Orski, Peter Samuel and Randall O'Toole, most of whom are conveniently blogrolled to my right. Add this Jane Jacobs reading, New Urbanist respecting, traffic engineering geek to the list.
I note that it's been a while since urban sprawl peaked in the issue-attention cycle,(anyone remember Al Gore's Stalinesque "Livability Agenda"?) although well-intentioned politicians and bureaucrats continue to beaver away at coercive 20 year Master Plans in just about every humble 'burg in the western world, waiting patiently for an incensed electorate to grant authorization to take action against traffic, crowded schools, green space, pollution, etc, etc.
RPPI's blog does yeoman's work as a planning movement watchdog. Recently, they linked to a feisty debate over the LMC at Planetizen (the urban planner's web clearing house). The responses, and the site in general, are worth a read in order to fully appreciate the planning mindset and understand why granting increased powers to a supposedly enlightened land-use authority should scare the hell out of anyone with even a passive interest in maintaining their property rights. Better yet, browse through a few of the more deluded comments, and then go and re-read the condensed version of "The Road to Serfdom". Freaky stuff.
UPDATE: My two cents have been published, a sort of futile "can't we all just get along?" plea.
The more I re-read it, the more I believe the Lone Mountain Compact (LMC) has to be one of the best statement of principles ever produced by a committee. It's the Declaration of Independence for Free-Market Urbanologists. Signatories include the ubiquitous Wendell Cox, Ken Orski, Peter Samuel and Randall O'Toole, most of whom are conveniently blogrolled to my right. Add this Jane Jacobs reading, New Urbanist respecting, traffic engineering geek to the list.
I note that it's been a while since urban sprawl peaked in the issue-attention cycle,(anyone remember Al Gore's Stalinesque "Livability Agenda"?) although well-intentioned politicians and bureaucrats continue to beaver away at coercive 20 year Master Plans in just about every humble 'burg in the western world, waiting patiently for an incensed electorate to grant authorization to take action against traffic, crowded schools, green space, pollution, etc, etc.
RPPI's blog does yeoman's work as a planning movement watchdog. Recently, they linked to a feisty debate over the LMC at Planetizen (the urban planner's web clearing house). The responses, and the site in general, are worth a read in order to fully appreciate the planning mindset and understand why granting increased powers to a supposedly enlightened land-use authority should scare the hell out of anyone with even a passive interest in maintaining their property rights. Better yet, browse through a few of the more deluded comments, and then go and re-read the condensed version of "The Road to Serfdom". Freaky stuff.
UPDATE: My two cents have been published, a sort of futile "can't we all just get along?" plea.
Monday, February 02, 2004
Why Didn't Somebody Tell Me It Was His Birthday?
While we were out tear-assing around Hull, the Stalinist Freakshow (a.k.a. The Truncated Mute of North Korea) was blowing out his birthday candles!
The ultra-creepy Central News Agency fills us in on the rockin' good times had by all:
Kim Jong Il's Birthday Celebrated Worldwide
"The chief of the Group for the Study of the Juche Idea of Poland at a film show said that Kim Jong Il is a great leader of the people, indeed, adding that the future of Korea is rosy as he wisely leads the Korean people.......screened at the film shows were the Korean films "Native House in Mt. Paektu Preserved to Its Former Glory", "They Were Always Together in the Way for the People" and "The Respected Comrade Kim Jong Il Is the Great Thinker and Theoretician".
Party on dudes! Take it easy on the poison cabbage, though, mmmkay?
While we were out tear-assing around Hull, the Stalinist Freakshow (a.k.a. The Truncated Mute of North Korea) was blowing out his birthday candles!
The ultra-creepy Central News Agency fills us in on the rockin' good times had by all:
Kim Jong Il's Birthday Celebrated Worldwide
"The chief of the Group for the Study of the Juche Idea of Poland at a film show said that Kim Jong Il is a great leader of the people, indeed, adding that the future of Korea is rosy as he wisely leads the Korean people.......screened at the film shows were the Korean films "Native House in Mt. Paektu Preserved to Its Former Glory", "They Were Always Together in the Way for the People" and "The Respected Comrade Kim Jong Il Is the Great Thinker and Theoretician".
Party on dudes! Take it easy on the poison cabbage, though, mmmkay?
Groooaaaannn....
".....Now, if you drink a lot, and I do, it's hard to date the exact nascence of a bender. When is it that ordinary heavy drinking leaves off and a true bust, a tear, a bat, a jag begins? There's drinking in the morning - that's one sign, of course. Unless it's beer: there's nothing more delicious with sausages and eggs than beer. And a medicinal shot or two doesn't count. And if it's getting on to eleven o'clock - and in those days I was never awake before - it's nearly lunchtime, and you can hardly say you're launched on a hoolihan with a drink or three before the midday meal. Then there's the shakes and a bleary thirst, but those signify alcoholism, which is but the sickly repetitious cousin of a real rampaging toot. No, I think, at least with me, I'm on a bender when I start carrying a drink, a real drink with ice cubes in a cocktail glass, with me wherever I go: to the grocery store, for instance, or to the bank, or into the shower, which is a better place than you might think, if you pour your Scotch strong and use plenty of ice. A little warm water never hurt a good blend like Chivas or Dewar's, but a single malt should only be had on the toilet or at the sink....."
excerpted from "So Drunk" by P.J. O'Rourke.
My iron rule of drinking: if the timespan over which alcohol is consumed is cut in half, the inevitable recovery period shall double. I had alot of time to consider the implications of this rule post-stag, after finding myself locked out of house and home at 5:00 AM Saturday night. Note to self: falling asleep on doorstep of condo generally not a recommended measure to deal with such adversity.
While I spend the next few days filling in the blanks of this latest debaucle (surely my monthly credit card statement will be helpful in this regard), I'll be directing your attention to some items worthy of note from the nether regions of the blogosphere:
1) The Agitator quite aptly defends his opposition to the war in Iraq. I think he continues to best articulate the small "l" libertarian position on the whole mess, and one that I would very likely share, were I actually an American citizen, and not safely sitting it out on the Canadian sidelines.
Money quote:
"The post war effort creates for taxpayers a 51st welfare state, only it's a state populated with people who are rather ambivalent (to put it mildly) about our being there"
2) Anytime Milton Friedman speaks, you should shut up and pay attention. This Tech Central forum provides us with his insights on the drug-reimportation debate. Suffice to say our medical price controls leave us all in a pretty precarious position when it comes to enforcement of cross-border patent laws, providing sufficient incentive for new drug research and development, as well as, maintaining access to the latest drug technology.
Money quote (from participant Sally Pipes):
"Canada's pharmaceutical industry is an $8 billion industry. That is very small relative to the United States. They have 31 million people in Canada, and here in the US we have almost 300 million people. When Governor Blagojevich in Illinois is talking about importing all of the drugs for his state employees and his Medicaid recipients, he's talking about $2 billion worth of imported drugs. Now, as I mentioned, the Canadian industry is $8 billion. So a quarter of the Canadian drugs would be being re-exported to the United States, which I think just is not feasible"
3) And finally, as if you needed another reason to never get on a plane again, read the anti-government gadfly James Bovard on the Transportation Security Administration. If the US survives another year without a terror attack, it will not be thanks to these assclowns.
Money quote:
"The attacks of September 11, 2001, changed many things, but they did not make the federal government more competent or effective, and they did not make it more willing to respect the dignity or liberty of its citizens."
".....Now, if you drink a lot, and I do, it's hard to date the exact nascence of a bender. When is it that ordinary heavy drinking leaves off and a true bust, a tear, a bat, a jag begins? There's drinking in the morning - that's one sign, of course. Unless it's beer: there's nothing more delicious with sausages and eggs than beer. And a medicinal shot or two doesn't count. And if it's getting on to eleven o'clock - and in those days I was never awake before - it's nearly lunchtime, and you can hardly say you're launched on a hoolihan with a drink or three before the midday meal. Then there's the shakes and a bleary thirst, but those signify alcoholism, which is but the sickly repetitious cousin of a real rampaging toot. No, I think, at least with me, I'm on a bender when I start carrying a drink, a real drink with ice cubes in a cocktail glass, with me wherever I go: to the grocery store, for instance, or to the bank, or into the shower, which is a better place than you might think, if you pour your Scotch strong and use plenty of ice. A little warm water never hurt a good blend like Chivas or Dewar's, but a single malt should only be had on the toilet or at the sink....."
excerpted from "So Drunk" by P.J. O'Rourke.
My iron rule of drinking: if the timespan over which alcohol is consumed is cut in half, the inevitable recovery period shall double. I had alot of time to consider the implications of this rule post-stag, after finding myself locked out of house and home at 5:00 AM Saturday night. Note to self: falling asleep on doorstep of condo generally not a recommended measure to deal with such adversity.
While I spend the next few days filling in the blanks of this latest debaucle (surely my monthly credit card statement will be helpful in this regard), I'll be directing your attention to some items worthy of note from the nether regions of the blogosphere:
1) The Agitator quite aptly defends his opposition to the war in Iraq. I think he continues to best articulate the small "l" libertarian position on the whole mess, and one that I would very likely share, were I actually an American citizen, and not safely sitting it out on the Canadian sidelines.
Money quote:
"The post war effort creates for taxpayers a 51st welfare state, only it's a state populated with people who are rather ambivalent (to put it mildly) about our being there"
2) Anytime Milton Friedman speaks, you should shut up and pay attention. This Tech Central forum provides us with his insights on the drug-reimportation debate. Suffice to say our medical price controls leave us all in a pretty precarious position when it comes to enforcement of cross-border patent laws, providing sufficient incentive for new drug research and development, as well as, maintaining access to the latest drug technology.
Money quote (from participant Sally Pipes):
"Canada's pharmaceutical industry is an $8 billion industry. That is very small relative to the United States. They have 31 million people in Canada, and here in the US we have almost 300 million people. When Governor Blagojevich in Illinois is talking about importing all of the drugs for his state employees and his Medicaid recipients, he's talking about $2 billion worth of imported drugs. Now, as I mentioned, the Canadian industry is $8 billion. So a quarter of the Canadian drugs would be being re-exported to the United States, which I think just is not feasible"
3) And finally, as if you needed another reason to never get on a plane again, read the anti-government gadfly James Bovard on the Transportation Security Administration. If the US survives another year without a terror attack, it will not be thanks to these assclowns.
Money quote:
"The attacks of September 11, 2001, changed many things, but they did not make the federal government more competent or effective, and they did not make it more willing to respect the dignity or liberty of its citizens."
