Massachusetts takes rent-seeking to the next level, taxing ride-sharing services to subsidize taxis. Next up: Taxing cars to subsidize railroads and horses.
July in the U.S. was one of the least hot months ever. Maybe not in Austin, but elsewhere…
Speaking of which, the 1936 heat wave must have been a nightmare to live with without air conditioning. It hit 121°F in North Dakota…
At one level, this piece is a good look at Gawker’s demise. At another, it’s shows New York media professionals at their whiny, narcissistic, incestuous, entitled worst. “It’s an inevitable consequence of living in today’s New York: Youthful anxiety and generational angst about having been completely cheated out of ownership of Manhattan, and only sporadically gaining it in Brooklyn and Queens, has fostered a bloodlust for the heads of the douchebags who stole the city.” Waaaah, the world owes me Manhattan real estate because I think I’m so much cooler than people who can actually afford it!
I know that when I think of Jewish history, I naturally think of Yoko Ono. And when I think of people who need Kickstarter to get funding, Yoko is way up there…
The tragic history of RC Cola. Too bad Diet RC tastes like crap. (That goes for that crappy offbrand Maine soda as well.)
Important Safety Tip: Don’t have sex on a neighbor’s roof, naked and high on meth.
I’m not going to pony up $200+ to attend the Texas Tribune Festival, and I doubt I could finagle a press badge. But Phil Collins being there does indeed make it more tempting, if only I could be sure I could get all my old Genesis albums signed…
This Islamsists also came out on top in the election in Tunisia. Maybe the Arab Spring version of democracy will turn out to be the same kind that came to Post-Colonial Africa in the 50s and 60s: One Man, One Vote, Once. Liberals were big cheerleaders then, too.
Mickey Kaus points out that propping up public sector employment is a lousy idea even in Keynesian. But it’s a great idea if you want to keep Democrats in power as part of an ever-expanding government, thus providing even more opportunities for graft and kickbacks, as well as back-scratching campaign contributions from public sector unions. Which is probably the real reason Matthew Yglesias is so gung-ho for the idea. Or, as Alpha commenter Peter Schaeffer notes below Yglesias’ original post: “This isn’t about stimulating the economy, but providing slop to the public sector trade unions that dominate the Democratic party.”
NPR host fired for overtly acting as a liberal mouthpiece rather than covertly. Which is why the host of All Things Dismembered stepped down because of her husband’s job with the Obama campaign. Maybe NPR staffers need a refresher on their “We all work for the Democratic Party, but here’s how to hide it” orientation course…
Why people are moving to the South: “Ask transplanted business owners and they’ll tell you they like investing in states where union bosses and trial lawyers don’t run the show, and where tax burdens are low. They also want a work force that is affordable and well-trained. And that doesn’t see them as the enemy.”
Of course, that brings up an interesting question: Which left-wing news outlet would you most like to see go out of business first? To that end, I’ve created a poll: