A man was arrested at an airport on charges of disorderly conduct. His crime? Stripping down to his boxers, thus exposing to the world … the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, written on his chest. Aaron Tobey is suing the TSA, proving that not all lawsuits are frivolous. Officials wanted to know “his affiliation with, or knowledge of, any terrorist organizations.” Yeah, I’m sure […]
Michigan View
Right hand, left hand, CFL edition
Congress has ruled: We must do away with most incandescent light bulbs in the pursuit of “green” living. Here’s yet another exhibit of the fact that federal energy policy is out of touch with reality: A county government in North Carolina (and most likely county governments across the country) is hectoring residents to make treks to official depositories of “potentially dangerous chemicals” — and their fluorescent […]
Anti-human environmentalists
Henry Payne was spot-on in his observation that increased societal wealth brings about changes that help a country minimize the loss of life that comes from natural disasters such as earthquakes. Yet too often we hear disdain for policies that bring about economic growth. Usually these are phrased in terms of “protecting the environment.” A few years ago, there was an earthquake in western China. It […]
North to Alaska . . . for filming
If offering sweetheart deals to film makers is a permanent thing, is it worth the bother? Last week I spoke with some people with the Anchorage Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Did you know there are 9 different reality shows based in or focusing on Alaska? The person I spoke to suggested that a film credit the state enacted a few years ago was at least partly […]
Hypocrisy and special pleading vs. taking what is available to you
Is it hypocritical to denounce a tax credit that you personally take? I don’t think I agree with View editor Henry Payne, who says “it’s important for us film credit critics to differentiate between hypocrite profiteers like Michael Moore – who applies for Michigan film credits even as he denounces corporate tax breaks – and simply misguided supporters of tax breaks for corporate fat cats.” Moore […]
Replace the EITC with the NIT
Since the Earned Income Tax Credit has been discussed here in the last few weeks, I thought it worthwhile to bring up an article from City Journal (one of the finest publications around when it comes to public policy) on the negative income tax. In case you don’t recall, the negative income tax (NIT) was a proposal by the late Milton Friedman to do away with […]
CFLs contribute to “everyone must recycle” mantra
Consumer Reports, which actually provides some useful content when it isn’t busy asking for more government intervention in the economy, recently had this to say about the bulbs that our “green” overseers want to replace the faithful incandescent: “Tossing CFLS in the trash isn’t a bright idea; the bulbs contain small amounts of mercury.” Mercury, you say? I imagine that CR was among those calling […]
Chrysler ad touts faded glory
Though I linked to the Chrysler/Eminem ad, I didn’t comment on it, wanting instead to let my colleagues who actually work or live in the city comment on it. Now that they have, I’ll add what I thought of when I saw the ad: public schools that have the worst graduation rate in the country. Also I thought of a resentment towards outsiders that has […]
Manufacturing has changed, not ended
Is manufacturing in the U.S. dead? No, but it certainly has been transformed. Syndicated columnist Jeff Jacoby points out that that 20 percent of the world’s manufacturing output comes from the United States. “A vast amount of ‘stuff’ is still made in the USA, albeit not the inexpensive consumer goods that fill the shelves in Target or Walgreens.” http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/watercooler/index.php?blogid=1647
Republican and/or conservative singers
I’m always amused at the attempt that some people make to classify celebrities as political conservatives, as if one’s political beliefs ought to be determined by people who are famous either for creating an alternative reality (actors), crafting a tune, or who are famous simply for being famous (the Kardashian sisters, whoever they are). Still, I took the bait and looked through the musicians on […]