statism

Are telegrams dead?

"In India, the telegram held on a bit longer because it was used for internal government communications. The peak year was 1985, when 60m telegrams were sent, according to BSNL. But since then the number has dropped, and the number of telegram offices in India has fallen from 45,000 to just 75. Yet telegrams survive in a few other countries, including Belgium, Japan and Sweden, where former telecoms monopolies maintain them as a nostalgic novelty service. And in many other countries private firms offer telegram-delivery services. So despite several recent reports to the contrary, the telegram is not quite dead, and will probably never die." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAre telegrams dead?

Germany stops Icelandic whale meat shipment to Japan in environmentalist victory

"Six containers of whale meat are on their way back to Iceland after German authorities removed the controversial cargo from a ship bound for Japan, Icelandic media reported on Friday. The batch was first stopped by German customs in Hamburg, where the containers were unloaded and then sent back via Rotterdam in the Netherlands. 'Transportation of products between Iceland and Japan is in accordance with international law,' Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson told RUV. Iceland 'will now consider how to react to the transport of whale products being stopped and will stand firmly on Icelandic interests in this matter,' he added." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGermany stops Icelandic whale meat shipment to Japan in environmentalist victory

Paul Rosenberg: 9 Plagues That Are Collapsing Capitalism

"Our marginally capitalist, partly-free market systems are approaching a massive collapse. Not because of what capitalism is, mind you, but because the powers that be have bastardized it. Capitalism can bear many distortions and abuses, but it is not indestructible. And, make no mistake, the ‘capitalist’ system we have today has been massively corrupted, so much so that it’s sagging under the load… and will continue to do so until the proverbial straw breaks its back." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Rosenberg: 9 Plagues That Are Collapsing Capitalism

What Bothered Me Most About the Zimmerman Trial

"Toward the end of the state’s summation, it was said that if a person wanted to do what George Zimmerman did 'you’d better have one of these' (whereupon a photo of a policeman’s badge was projected onto the screen). What the state was implicitly acknowledging – whether such was its intent or not – was the real-world dual standard that operates on the streets of virtually every city in every state: a police officer will almost never be held to account, criminally, for wrongs committed against innocent victims. Take the identical facts in the Zimmerman case and change just one: have George Zimmerman be a city-appointed police officer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Bothered Me Most About the Zimmerman Trial

Burn your Obamacare card

"Without premium payments by millions of young adults under 40, Obamacare can’t work. Younger Americans make up the bulk of the uninsured today because health insurance simply costs too much relative to their needs. If they don’t obey the mandate, premiums will be higher than expected in the new government 'exchanges,' people will be driven away, and a vicious cycle will set in, ending in the scheme’s failure. This suggests an opportunity. If all of us, especially millennials, were to become health care draft resisters, we could hasten Obamacare’s inevitable collapse and pave the way for a patient-centered system." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBurn your Obamacare card

Will bourbon help Kentucky swallow Obamacare?

"I took a longer look Wednesday at the extreme measures states are taking to get young people signed up for Obamacare programs. They tend to be taking on a regional flare: Oregon might do branded coffee cups, for example, whereas Seattle is looking at doing outreach at music festivals. It only makes sense, then, that Kentucky would be doing outreach at multiple bourbon festivals across the state. When I asked Kentucky spokeswoman for health reform Jill Midkiff where they might find young people, here’s what she e-mailed me back. That’s no fewer than three bourbon festivals on the Kentucky marketplace’s agenda. Drink up!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWill bourbon help Kentucky swallow Obamacare?

U.S. eyes high-tech security boost at Canadian border

"A U.S. senator said a low-cost, high-tech sensor system could be installed along the U.S.-Canada border to increase security without harming business. Blue Rose, based on fiber-optic technology, is an in-ground perimeter defense and security system developed by the Naval Undersea Warfare, CBC News said. The system detects sound and vibration of intruders moving near the sensor. Surveillance technology could monitor who's approaching the border, helping to prevent drug smuggling and terrorism, Tester said, and could be particularly effective in areas such as Montana." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. eyes high-tech security boost at Canadian border

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Which Country Has the Most Expensive Bureaucrats of All?

"Germany is significantly better than the United States, whether measured by the cost of the bureaucracy or the size of the bureaucracy. Japan also does much better than America, notwithstanding that nation’s other problems. In the I’m-not-surprised category, France does poorly and Switzerland does well. To see where the trends are most worrisome, look at the changes over time. The total cost of bureaucracy, for instance, jumped considerably between 2000 and 2009 in Ireland, Greece, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain, and the United States. So much for 'austerity.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMirror, Mirror on the Wall, Which Country Has the Most Expensive Bureaucrats of All?

Obama Wants to Triple Airport Travel Tax

"The Obama administration is calling in its fiscal 2014 budget for the so-called Sept. 11 security fee to rise up to threefold, raking in $25.9 billion over a decade – and adding several dollars to the price of many tickets, reports Jennifer Waters. The security-fee proposal seeks to raise the maximum Aviation Passenger Security Fee to $7.50 by 2019, through 50-cent annual increases. The budget also proposes a new $100-per-flight departure tax, which would be paid by the airlines, as well as raising the passenger facility charge to $8 from $4.50 per flight and hiking other fees related to customs and immigration." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Wants to Triple Airport Travel Tax

Oregon ‘Pay It Forward’ Tuition Plan Punishes Graduates’ Success

"If Oregon makes the program mandatory, its colleges will in effect become the only ones in the U.S. that charge students with higher earnings potential more for their education, because they will contribute more over 25 years than everyone else. Motivated students wishing to major in engineering or finance will, quite rationally, opt for private colleges or out-of-state public colleges where they won’t have to subsidize liberal arts majors. A college financing program that requires students to sign away a chunk of their future income would also be unappealing to wealthy families that have the ability to pay cash. They would probably opt for private colleges, too." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOregon ‘Pay It Forward’ Tuition Plan Punishes Graduates’ Success