It’s a virtual Friday, isn’t it? This will bring a smile to your face and give you a headache all at the same time.
Enjoy “Hibi no neiro” by the band Sour.
2 July, 2009
Time On His Hands
Check out the Clock Project. (Try clicking on a clock a couple of times. Then wait a minute or so. Repeat.)
Think Cap-And-Trade is Expensive?
You have no idea.
The United States emits about 9 billion tons of CO2 per year. Therefore, at a rate of $15/ton fee for emission indulgences, the bill would impose a tax of $135 billion per year on the nation. Divided by the U.S. population of 300 million, that works out to a cost of $450 per year levied on every American man, woman or child, or $1,800 for a family of four. While for wealthy individuals like Al Gore such an impost might represent a mere pittance, for working families struggling hard to make ends meet it would be a very significant burden.
But that is not even the worst part of it. As a result of the markup of carbon costs, a lot of those working families will be out of work and unable to pay their existing bills, let alone new ones. Consider: Burning one ton of coal produces about three tons of CO2. So a tax of $15 per ton of CO2 emitted is equivalent to a tax of $45/ton on coal. The price of Eastern anthracite coal runs in the neighborhood of $45/ton, so under the proposed system, such coal would be taxed at a rate of about 100 percent. The price of Western bituminous coal is currently about $12/ton. This coal would therefore be taxed at a rate of almost 400 percent. Coal provides half of America’s electricity, so such extraordinary imposts could easily double the electric bills paid by consumers and businesses across half the nation. In addition, many businesses, such as the metals and chemical industries, use a great deal of coal directly. By doubling or potentially even quadrupling the cost of their most basic feedstock, the cap-and-trade system’s indulgence fees could make many such businesses uncompetitive and ultimately throw millions of working men and women onto the unemployment lines.
And that doesn’t even count what it will do to the world food supply. Read the whole thing.
Update:
It’s not just coal and food. There’s what it’ll do to the price of oil.
Another Update, and bumped:
Oh, and private homeowners will have to perform federally-mandated upgrades to their homes when they sell them. (Where in the constitution is congress authorized to do this, again?) Anyway, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Mission Creeps
That could be the new nickname for the jackbooted dimwits at the TSA (Too Stupid for Arby’s).
No one questions arrests made after TSA runs into evidence of drugs or other crimes during weapons searches. A bulge in baggy pants can be investigated, for example, because it might be an explosive. If it turns out to be cocaine, TSA is expected to report it to police or Drug Enforcement Agency officials.
But once TSA has determined that someone doesn’t have weapons or explosives, agents sometimes keep searching—leading some legal experts to wonder whether questioning people about how much cash they’re carrying, the number of credit cards they have and even prescription drugs in their bags stretches the intent of airport security law.
The kabuki theater at the airport is beyond stupid anyway. We should be looking for terrorists, not weapons. Of course, the TSA doesn’t have the market cornered on ineptitude. The hand-inspection of my backpack as I boarded a flight from Mexico City recently almost made me laugh out loud. The woman made a big show of unzipping the laptop compartment and sweeping it with her official, gloved hands. She completely ignored the other, larger compartments with the camera, cables, and my bottle of hand sanitizer.
At the Phoenix airport we were treated to a condescending routine by a young, male TSA goon who clearly relished his position of authority. But I guess it’s hard to get a job there if you don’t first pass the Stupid, Abusive and Rude aptitude test.
If you think the TSA makes you a whit safer than you were on 9/10, I have bad news for you about the Easter Bunny.
Update:
Meanwhile, they’re finally getting their wrists slapped over their absurd plans for General Aviation. It would be better, of course, to just disband the TSA. But this is something. Leave it to a unionized, government entity to come up with onerous procedures to prevent a non-existent threat.
Newspaper Finds Novel Revenue Stream
Apparently the WaPo has decided that as long as it’s in the tank, it may as well sell tickets.
“Underwriting Opportunity: An evening with the right people can alter the debate,” says the one-page flier. “Underwrite and participate in this intimate and exclusive Washington Post Salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth. … Bring your organization’s CEO or executive director literally to the table. Interact with key Obama administration and congressional leaders.”
Update:
Read this without laughing.
“It suggests that access to Washington Post journalists was available for purchase,” Brauchli said. The proposal “promises we would suspend our usual skeptical questioning because it appears to offer, in exchange for sponsorships, the good name of The Washington Post.”
