The Cars Are Evil School

For John, BLUF:  .  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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'ALL CARS ARE BAD':  Pete Buttigieg's Equity Advisers Want You To Stop Driving

Here is the sub-headline:

Transportation secretary's equity committee aims to bring 'diversity' and 'inclusion' to America's infrastructure

From The Washington Free Beacon, by Reporter Charles Hilu, 1 September 2023.

Here is the lede plus three:

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is appointing a group of "leading experts" to advise him on "transportation equity," including several who argue that cars cause climate change and promote racism and therefore should be phased out.

Buttigieg earlier this month appointed 24 new members to his Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity, an Obama-era body that Buttigieg is reviving after the Trump administration scrapped it.  Included on the committee is Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, a "spatial policy scholar" who says "ALL CARS ARE BAD" given that they cause "a myriad of environmental issues and conditions."  Another Buttigieg appointee, self-described "transportation nerd" Veronica Davis, argued in an August essay that cars perpetuate "systemic racism" and are therefore "the problem" in America's transportation system.

Buttigieg's appointments—and his decision to revive the equity advisory committee—reflect the Biden administration's whole-of-government emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion.  President Joe Biden shortly after taking office in 2021 issued an executive order that called on federal agencies to "pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all."  Under the order, agency heads must conduct an "equity assessment" to identify policies that create "systemic barriers" in minority communities.

The committee will advise Buttigieg on "promising practices to institutionalize equity into agency programs, policies, regulations, and activities" and plans to meet for the first time this fall, according to Buttigieg's August announcement.  Marpillero-Colomina told the Washington Free Beacon that she is not "advocating for a complete erasure" of cars but intends to push Buttigieg to move America away from its reliance on private motor vehicles.

Regarding equity, we should all be in favor.  However, we should all have a sensae of the future we are lookoing for.  Is it one where we roll back the advantages of some to gain equity. or is it one where we advance some so they have equity with others?  The folks at this Equity Advisory Committee of the Department of Transportation sound like they are the "roll back" kind.

Free Enterprise, and oother freedoms, have allowed hundreds of millions to lead a better life.  I would hate to see that global progress come to a halt, so we can have equity at a lower level of prosperty.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Dining Out/Dining In

For John, BLUF:  I don't think we want businesses rejecting customers on political grounds.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Would you ask someone to leave your restaurant?  Boston owners say that’s tricky

From The Boston Globe, by Reporter Janelle Nanos, 26 June 2018.

I guess it's OK.  Although once the person or party has been seated it seems not just rude, but also a sign of incompetence.  How did they get past the person seating people?

On the other hand, if one is looking for political theater the time with the most drama is best.

On the other other hand, you throw out A, not realizing her cousin, B, is your lawyer in your divorce case and in court B tells the judge she can no longer represent you because you are an Un-American slimeball and an admirer of L. Beria.  Awkward.

You want more Trump?  This is how you get more Trump.

Regards  —  Cliff

National Health Service Fail

For John, BLUF:  It isn't quite the T-4 Program, but once the medical bureaucrats decide nothing can be done, then nothing will be done.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Sixteen Democratic Senators Are Questioned On Socialized Healthcare After Alfie Evans And Go Completely Silent

From Red State, by Brandon Morse, 2 May 2018.

Here is the start of the article:

The evils of socialized medicine were on full display during the few days the world watched Alfie Evans suffer to death at the hands of the British government’s National Healthcare System (NHS).

After his death, the Daily Signal decided to get the comments of the 15 Democratic senators currently co-sponsoring the “Medicare for All Act of 2017,” spearheaded by Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

According to the Daily Signal, what they got in return was an eerie silence from the Democrats who apparently decided to go dark after the world watched their beloved system of choice fail so spectacularly:

I am not saying we don't need reform.  I am saying that the idea of Single Payer means that we will have more medical tourism, but overall choice will be reduced for the broad expanse of the population.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

May Day, Again

TRIGGER WARNING:  In which I suggest socialism just ruins things for the workers.

For John, BLUF:  Springtime for Stalin.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Remembrance of May Days Past

From Pajama Media, by Sarah Hoyt, May Day 2018.

Here is the lede plus three:

I woke up this morning and realized it was May Day — and was unutterably relieved things have changed from the May Days of my childhood.

May Day was a holiday — no work/school — being International Worker’s Day.  I remember dreary days with nothing on the TV but the might of the USSR and its satellites, in fantastic display.

Troops and groups of workers, flying red flags paraded before podiums ornamented with red paraphernalia, a seemingly invincible might, a proud and unquestionably enthusiastic multitude of workers and soldiers, of farmers and peasants.  It seemed the whole world was submerged in red for the occasion, and our own local idiots would demonstrate and commit acts of senseless violence, which was the reason I resorted to the TV.  Mom wouldn’t let me go out.

(I believe people in Seattle and other US enclaves afflicted by the Marxist bug still make themselves a nuisance on May Day.  As in Portugal at that time, this is mostly the sport of students and “intellectuals” not of anyone who has ever done an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.)

There are those who believe there is a worker's paradise out there, but it is not to be found in Venezuela or in North Korea or any other nation with some form of Socialism.  Free Enterprise creates wealth.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Personal Freedom Requires Economic Freedom

For John, BLUF:  The more the Government controls your life, the less freedom you have.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I Grew Up in a Communist System. Here’s What Americans Don’t Understand About Freedom

Here is the sub-headline:

Only in a free-market system can we truly achieve individual liberty and human flourishing.

From The Foundation for Economic Education, by Carmen Alexe, 9 March 2018.

Here is the lede plus three:

Individual freedom can only exist in the context of free-market capitalism.  Personal freedom thrives in capitalism, declines in government-regulated economies, and vanishes in communism.  Aside from better economic and legislative policies, what America needs is a more intense appreciation for individual freedom and capitalism.

I was born and raised in communist Romania during the Cold War, a country in which the government owned all the resources and means of production.  The state controlled almost every aspect of our lives: our education, our job placement, the time of day we could have hot water, and what we were allowed to say.

Like the rest of the Eastern European countries, Romania was often referred to as a communist country.  In school, we were taught it was a socialist country.  Its name prior to the 1989 Revolution to overthrow the Ceausescu regime was the Socialist Republic of Romania.

From an economic standpoint, a petty fraction of property was still privately owned.  In a communist system, all property is owned by the state.  So if it wasn't a true communist economy, its heavy central planning and the application of a totalitarian control over the Romanian citizenry made this nation rightfully gain its title of a communist country.

Notwithstanding Mr Karl Marx working in the British Museum, and the existence of the British Labor Party, Communism is not compatible with the Rights of Englishmen.

Regards  —  Cliff

Dilly Dilly

For John, BLUF:  Advertising genius.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Genius of the “Dilly Dilly” Commercial

From the Foundation for Economic Education, by Mr Jeffrey A. Tucker, 4 December 2017.

Here is the lede plus two:

Sometimes a commercial appears that both shatters a paradigm and creates a popular meme that truly sticks.  The genius is undeniable but extremely hard to manufacture from a formula.  It just works.  Think of “I’d like to teach the world to sing,” “Where’s the beef?”, “Mikey likes it!”, and “Do you have any Grey Poupon?”  All these were huge cultural moments that managed to achieve what advertising is supposed to achieve:  brand recognition, pride in consumption, affirmation of cultural identity.

We had another one come to us in 2017.  It’s Bud Light’s Dilly Dilly commercial that first ran during an NFL game.

I ordered a Bud Light at a random bar in Chicago this weekend.  The bartender said “Dilly Dilly” to me and I said it back and we smiled and moved on.  When I was speaking the previous day, I kept a Bud Light on the podium and, at some point, held it up and said “Dilly Dilly” and half the audience lost it (while the other half was just lost).

Where does Dilly Dilly come from?  I suspect the child's song Lavender's Blue:

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,
When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen:
Who told you so, dilly dilly, who told you so?
'Twas mine own heart, dilly dilly, that told me so.

Here is Burl Ives singing the song (on YouTube).

Hat tip to the Foundation for Economic Education.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Value of the Free Market

For John, BLUF:  If you want to know what could go wrong without free markets, think of Venezuela.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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My Middle Brother, the Progressive, was conducting an EMail exchange with his younger and older Brothers and one of the points he made was that when he listened to the readings at Mass they didn't seem to talk about Capitalism.  I think the point he misses is that the freedom provided by Christianity, halting though it may have been in implementation,♠ allowed for the growth of free markets.  And, the Protestant Reformation was a further impetus to economic growth.  While this article in Bloomberg View doesn't approach the question from a religious point of view, it does make the point that poverty is reduced through free markets.

Free-Market Failure Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

The sub-headline is:

Few things in human history have done so much to reduce absolute poverty.

The author is Professor Noah Smith.

Here is the lede plus one:

Harvard economist Dani Rodrik has a long and thoughtful essay about the shortcomings of neoliberalism -- the economic program of free markets and free trade. He writes:

Economists’ contributions to public debate are often biased in one direction, in favor of more trade, more finance, and less government.  That is why economists have developed a reputation as cheerleaders for neoliberalism, even if mainstream economics is very far from a paean to laissez-faire.  The economists who let their enthusiasm for free markets run wild are in fact not being true to their own discipline.

As someone who has done decades of pioneering work in the field of trade and growth, and who has been intimately involved in practical policy-making, Rodrik is as much of an expert on this topic as anyone.  But although his criticisms are accurate, he overlooks much of the good that neoliberalism has done.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Implemented by men, all of whom have fallen short of the Glory of God.

Trump in Poland

For John, BLUF:  Good words.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"President Trump Gives Remarks to the People of Poland."

Professor Ann Althouse talking about President Trump's speech in Poland, alongside Polish President Andrejz Duda, in Krasinski Square, in Poland.

Here is the text of the whole speech. And here is what Professor Althouse excerpted from President Trump's speech:

The world has never known anything like our community of nations. We write symphonies.  We pursue innovation.  We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers.  We reward brilliance.  We strive for excellence, and cherish inspiring works of art that honor God.  We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression. We empower women as pillars of our society and of our success.  We put faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, at the center of our lives.

And we debate everything. We challenge everything. We seek to know everything so that we can better know ourselves….

And if we fail to preserve it, it will never, ever exist again. So we cannot fail.

Nice, short sentences.  Easy to understand.  Yes, we have something special and we should preserve it.

Remember the late British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and her comment, "Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy."  Per Author Sarah Hoyt, that philosophy gives us a nation, "one founded on the belief that individuals can be self-governing and are the bosses of their own government."

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Who Is Going To Prop Up Venezuela?

For John, BLUF:  What is the "Left" saying in the US?  Joe for Oil, for example?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Guido Fawkes, at Order, Order, gives us "Hard Left Silent Over Venezuela Chaos".

In case you didn't know, hamburger is selling for $170 a pound.  On the Black Market it is 1/100th that, but for the average person in Venezuela it is hard.

From Guido, talking about the British Left,

The pro-Chavez cabal at the heart of the British left threw their full support behind President Maduro’s socialist tyranny when he took over Venezuela in 2013. Owen Jones, Seumus Milne, Diane Abbott and even Jeremy Corbyn all piled in to support the regime, with Corbyn’s spin doctor Seamus Milne declaring “Venezuela and its progressive allies in Latin America matter to the rest of the world… because they have demonstrated that there are multiple social and economic alternatives to the failed neoliberal system that still has the west and its allies in its grip.” So where do they stand on Maduro now…

Neither Jones nor Milne have mentioned Venezuela on Twitter in a year, while Abbott and Corbyn have remained silent now for three. The failed Maduro regime, now falling apart, was always going to be the tyrannical logical conclusion of Chavez’s policies that these left-wingers ardently advocated at home and abroad. Shortages, hyper-inflation, riots, the regime’s continued crackdown on opposing voices and recent threats to nationalise private industries as a way to “radicalise the revolution“ show all the hallmarks of a desperate regime on the verge of collapse. The Corbynista “economic alternative” model has failed spectacularly in Venezeula…

Yes, the free market has its problems, but with Socialism "you eventually run out of other peoples' money" and then it is time for tyranny.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Right View of Economics

For John, BLUF:  Economic Freedom pays off.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I believe this chart, from the Blog of Daniel J Mitchell, and his post "The Right Kind of Class Warfare: Workers vs. Looters", shows the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

In the diagram below we have, on the left, the Democrat Party view on the problem and the enemy.  On the right is the Republican view of the problem and the enemy.

The thing that goes along with this is the fact that Capitalism works.

From the American Enterprise Institute we have "Don’t tell Bernie Sanders, but capitalism has made human life fantastically better.  Here’s how".  The author is Mr James Pethokoukis.

Here is how world GDP took off and grew.

For those who say, well, the population exploded, here is a per person look.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Private Enterprise in Space

For John, BLUF:  The Chinese are apparently following suit and bring on commercial enterprise in its space program.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Mr Alan Boyle and Geek Wire we have this good news—"Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser mini-shuttle will join NASA’s space cargo fleet".

NASA says it will add Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser space glider to its cargo-carrying lineup of robotic spaceships as early as 2019.  It’s likely to be the first winged vehicle to fly in orbit for NASA since the space shuttle fleet’s retirement in 2011.

Regards  —  Cliff

Hidden Beauty

For John, BLUF:  Sure, there have to be some limits, but limits can kill the value.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the Twitter feed of Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Author of The Black Swan) we have:

The free-market system lets you notice the flaws and hides its benefits.  All other systems hide the flaws and show the benefits.

But then I like the free-market system.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

To The Edge of Space

For John, BLUF:  At the link, a video of 6:07, but pretty boring.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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In today's Houston Chronicle Reporter Eric Berger gives us "Blue Origin soars into space from West Texas".  That would be Jeff Bezos’ rocket company.

Powered by a BE-3 engine, the spacecraft flew to 307,000 feet, the edge of space, and returned smoothly to the ground.  The company said it was able to recover the reusable spacecraft.

But, not the rocket engine, this time.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Partners in Distillation

For John, BLUF:  notwithstanding the obstacles, small businesses still thrive.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the web presence, War on the Rocks, we have this offering, "WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT IS THE HOTEL TANGO DISTILLERY?".  It is about a craft distillery out in Indiana.  A craft distillery with a military theme.  Well, actually, per the Indiana Legislature, in July 2013, [PL 109-2013], “artisan distillation”.

For those who just have to know what Whiskey Tango Foxtrot stands for, EMail me at crkrieger@me.com, or leave your EMail Address on the Comments section.

Anyway, it is a nice story about military service and love and friendship and the spirit of small business.

Regards  —  Cliff

Making Deliveries

For John, BLUF:  Apparently incentives work.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Yes, that is the creed of the US Postal Service, and old as the Postal Service is, going back to Ben Franklin and 1775, the saying is older, going back to Herodotus, about 500 BC.

Today I came to wonder if the mantle has not fallen to United Parcel Service.  I ordered a pair of mittens from L L Bean and the promised delivery was this coming Wednesday.  Instead, they arrived yesterday, Monday afternoon.

The US Mail?  Not so much.

Kudos to "Brown".

Regards  —  Cliff

Google Joins SpaceX

For John, BLUF:  Space is the place.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Here is some good news, from Gizmoto—Google is investing (along with some others) about $1 Billion in Elon Musk's SpaceX Internet project.

Musk recently revealed some details about his as yet unnamed space internet project to Bloomberg.  A team of about 5o employees at the new SpaceX office in Seattle are working on a project that would use about 700 small satellites to provide internet access to the entire planet, with a strong focus on rural and developing areas.  SpaceX declined to comment on the plans and the Google investment in an email to Gizmodo.

Sure, I worry that Google is evil, but the idea of a free (or low cost) Internet, outside the control of the FCC and all the other global censors, appeals to me.

Regards  —  Cliff

What Do You Think is Next for Cuba

For John, BLUF:  It is a long way from American recognition of Cuba to Freedom for the Cuban People.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Foreign Policy we have an Article by Think Tank Head Gordon Adams, a thoughtful man.  The headline is The Liberal Fallacy of the Cuba Deal.  The subheadline is:

Don’t get me wrong:  I support the normalization of relations.  But believing it can remake the regime in Havana is the worst kind of American exceptionalist fantasy.

I once interviewed with Mr Adams for a job doing defense spending analysis.  The good news is that I didn't get the job, which would have meant I remained down in the DC area, rather than coming up here to Lowell.  Although maybe you, dear reader, think that is a bad deal for Lowell.

At any rate, I agree with Mr Adams.  Even if we make the current embargo of Cuba go away by the 10th of January, there is no promise of a Cuba with representative government and a free economy.

Regards  —  Cliff

Illegal Immigration

For John, BLUF:  Where did all those people come from?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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If you want to see what unrestrained illegal immigration looks like, go shopping at the Hannafords on Rogers Street in Lowell this afternoon.

A normally tranquil grocery with a couple of checkout lines, it was a madhouse.  All the checkout lines were in use, as well as the "help desk" at the north end of the front of the store.  They are restocking as they went.  I saw a skid of frozen ice cream in the middle of an aisle.  I picked up the small bottles of Caffeine Free Diet Coke right from the guy restocking the shelves, who had just arrived in the soda aisle.

Because there so many "foreigners", there were maps at the store entrance, explaining the store.  And, people in red Hannaford T-Shirts walking around answering question—and they were busy.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Market Basket thing is a mess, and that forcing Author T out was a mistake.  And that is from the effectiveness and long term profitability angle, not even counting all the good that Artie T has done for this and other communities.  On the other hand, there are lots of ways this Market Basket shoot-out can go and many of those are not good ways.

By the way, if anyone knows where the Sorbet is, please leave a comment.  No joy on the Sorbet during my trip through the store this afternoon.  And I had a guy in a red T-Shirt helping me.  Everything else was right where it was supposed to be.

Regards  —  Cliff

Walmart v The New York Times

For John, BLUF:  Having an Internet reduces the value of buying ink by the barrel.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I wonder if anybody at The Old Grey Lady even noticed this "Fisking" that has been making it around the Internet.  The original article by Mr Timothy Egan, "The Corporate Daddy  Walmart, Starbucks, and the Fight Against Inequality", can be found here.

The Fisking can be found here.  To quote someone, "the chickens have come home to roost".

Regards  —  Cliff

Another Commercial Space Success

For John, BLUF:  Private enterprise meeting the Space challenge.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

From The Space Review Jeff Foust tells us about the latest commercial space entry, "Antares rising".  The launch was this last Wednesday.

Orbital Sciences Corporation had a successful launch of its Antares rocket, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia. Following this successful launch, Orbital will try to fly its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Now attention turns to the next Antares launch this summer to fly the first Cygnus spacecraft. “I’m not going to hold my breath any less on the next one than I did on this one.  Every launch is a challenge,” Culbertson said.  “Rockets are hard.  Spaceflight is difficult.  And getting off the ground is a real challenge.”  It is, though, as Orbital demonstrated Sunday and others have in the past, an achievable challenge.

This brings some competition to the commercial space area.  Late last year Space-X delivered a package to the International Space Station.  The Station Commander, US Navy Captain and NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams referred to it as taming the Dragon as the capsule was hauled in.

Regards  —  Cliff