The biggest story of the week needs no link. They killed one terrorist fuck and caught his terrorist fuck of a brother. The city of Boston, Boston Police, ATF, FBI, and all the law enforcement proved themselves to be extraordinary throughout this whole ordeal. I frequently say not to talk to the police and to never give up your rights, but this is one of those times where if the police wanted to search my person or property in their efforts to find such dangerous individuals, I don’t think I would have impeded them. (That said, I still really like, appreciate, and support things like this.)
A fertilizer plant in Texas exploded, destroying a portion of a small town and killing many. It has been found that the plant failed to report the excessive amount of flammable materials it had, as required by the government. It isn’t clear if that contributed to the blast, but it is clear that any argument that private industry will do the right thing without regulation is bunk – just imagine how many companies would have unsafe practices if they weren’t willing to break the law like this one apparently did.
David Ortiz, DH for the Boston Red Sox, told Fenway today that “This is our fucking city.” The FCC chairman Tweeted this in response: David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today’s Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston. The same lack of action should happen every time someone swears on television or pops out a nipple, but I’m glad our government’s censorship board has at least a little perspective.
Kansas has passed an anti-abortion law arbitrarily defining life as beginning at fertilization. I thought all these Republican-led legislatures were about the economy. I’m shocked – shocked! – that they’re really about ill-conceived/considered social policy.
Maine’s Governor, Paul LePage, has once again made an ass of himself. He has claimed that a wind turbine at one of the state’s university campuses has an electric motor that’s used when people visit. A spokesperson literally laughed out loud at the comment, shooting down the false accusation. And why did LePage say something so stupid? It isn’t that he’s against wind power; he actually once lamented an environmental agency that blocked a private company from installing turbines on a mountainside. He just doesn’t like that the project is government-based. Apparently there isn’t a single thing the government can do successfully in the small minds of so many Republicans.
The Boy Scouts have proposed allowing gay youth but not gay adults. There’s no way around saying it: This betrays not merely an ignorant mindset, but a truly stupid world perspective and understanding. It is not inherent or characteristic that gay adults seek to molest, rape, or in any other way harm children. You’re an awful person if you think otherwise.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Recent news |
For the Sake of Science 
Whatever the government can do, the private sector can usually do cheaper, better and more efficiently. That’s really the heart of capitalism.
The expensive and less effective mercenaries we’ve had in Iraq don’t seem to be doing well. And I don’t see the private sector creating very useful labor policies. Nor has the private sector spent much time building roads that offer mobility to poor people. In fact, they don’t seem to build very many roads at all.
Plus the wind turbine works wonderfully.
1. The government of one country occupying another country is hardly an exercise in capitalism.
2. The private sector can’t create labor policies because the government already does it, for the most part anyways. History has shown that when the government isn’t involved in employer/employee relationships, workers salaries are higher.
3. Sure, wind turbines work wonderfully when they’re subsidized by the taxpayers. They’re not very cost-effective but they work great. I’m all for wind and solar power, it’s just that the technology isn’t there yet to make it a viable alternative. When it does become viable, the private sector will make better use of it than the gov’t ever will.
What’s it matter if it’s an exercise in capitalism? We have private companies over there doing the work of the military, and they aren’t doing a great job.
I have to strongly disagree with you on 2. Private employers, when left to their own devices, had low safety standards, if any standards at all. They didn’t tend to give their workers common sense benefits like sick days, and they would occasionally even screw these workers by paying them in ‘money’ that could only be spent at the other stores owned by the company/businessman.
Germany has done a lot of subsidizing of solar panels over the years. They seem to be experiencing a lot of success with how much effectively free energy they’re producing.
1. It matters tremendously. When you talk about private companies not doing a good job with security detail in Iraq, you’re arguing apples and oranges. Maybe I should have been more clear with my statement.
Private entities, employing private capital, working in a free-market economy will meet the demand of goods and services of the market with higher quality and lower cost than the government. Waging war is one of the things that I would agree with, should be left up to the government. Why? Because there is no economic gain to be had. War destroys, it doesn’t produce.
Look, I believe the government has a legitimate and specific purpose, but getting involved in the economy is not one of them.
2. Working conditions and wages are mutually agreed upon by both employer and employee in a free market environment. What you consider “common-sense” benefits may differ from person to person. Safety issues and employer negligence type situations are usually handled by the courts. Companies have an economic incentive to to keep their workers safe. If a worker is being “screwed” by a company they can quit.
3. Energy that comes from government subsidies is anything but free. The money has to come from somewhere. In order for the government to subsidize something, they must divert capital from the private sector, where it is used most productively.