Quick Hitts

I used to like cops. I thought there were just a few bad ones, and that most of them performed a vital service. Some of that opinion was the result of conversations with them on GEnie, a pre-internet dial up service similar to CompuServe and Prodigy. People paid six bucks an hour for a 1200 [...]

After Standard & Poor downgraded the credit rating of the US, the government announced they were investigating S&P for “improper ratings.” What a punk-ass move. They claim the investigation started before the downgrade. I’m guessing that several months ago, somewhere in the bowels of the government, a conversation took place between a few government weasels. [...]

I’m not surprised that the federal government is telling us what kind of light bulbs we can use. There is no aspect of our lives too trivial for them to meddle in and no excuse too ludicrous for them to use as justification. It’s disheartening to see how many Americans United Statists think this is [...]

So now the FCC is in charge of the internet, and Big Brother’s lovers are cheering.  “Big Brother has saved us from a mortal danger that we have been imagining might happen someday!” The generic argument against government regulation should be the default position for anyone even remotely interested in liberty. Laws (and regulations are [...]

Since it was formed The Theatrical Security Agency has been trying to figure out just how much crap Americans will tolerate before they say “screw it, I’m driving.”  They have heaped inconvenience upon stupidity upon insult upon indignantly, and still we keep flying.  But they may have finally achieved their goal with their full body [...]

For decades business have been required to inform the IRS if they paid any non-employee more than $600 a year. That’s about to get much more complicated and difficult due to a new clause in the Obamacare bill. Now business will be required to send 1099s to every business they’ve paid more than $600. This [...]

The Left Coast has always been a hotbed of woo, junk science and nanny alarmism.  I have power tools labeled “WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.”  Damn, and I’d been planning on French kissing my router.  There goes my Saturday [...]