- Going backwards. Don’t imprison people because they’re too poor to pay fines.
- “The slope is, in fact, slippery,” says Kevin D. Williamson, as he gives a fascinating history of the laws and court edicts that led to Masterpiece Cakeshop.
- The Ars Technica deathwatch for 2018.
- Oh, Seattle. It appears the more “progressive” the city, the more slippery the slope gets.
- Idiot Twitter professor leaves his prestigious university job, because “persecution” and not because his twits were uber racist, cruel ignorant trash.
- Why Republicans need to deport themselves from D.C. Interesting article, though IMHO it mistakes the symptoms for the cause of the disease.
- Brad writes in praise of the humble hardware store and the freedom that makes it possible. To which I shout a big, “Amen!”
- In yet another classic “dumb criminal” move, teenagers steal jewelry from a department store then flag down cops because it’s too cold outside in the middle of the night.
- Flash fiction: “Term Limits,” (H/T MJR)
- “Does it fart?” A new book answers the question you always wanted to know about snakes, cockroaches, and other critters. (Amazon has it here)
Agree that the article about D.C. Republicrats is seriously misguided at best. The author doesn’t seem to have a clue that the lust for power and control is the central evil, no matter where the politicians are living or working. The location didn’t corrupt them. Their presence has corrupted a formerly ordinary swamp.
The comment section was very depressing. None of them (the few I read) managed to grasp the message of the article at all, merely indulging in a pissing contest over the usual partisan crap.
Brad writes in praise of the humble hardware store and the freedom that makes it possible. To which I shout a big, “Amen!”
I love the family owned hardware stores, even the smell of them with the open bins of nails and such! My Dad’s first job upon coming home after his Naval service in WWII was at a neighborhood hardware store on Hudson Ave in Rochester, kitty corner across the street from our church and school, St George (the dragon slayer). My Dad told me that he learned more from that job about carpentry, home and mechanical repair than anywhere else and Dad was pretty handy with building and fixing things.
When my wife and I bought our house in the 19th Ward in Rochester, there was a wonderful family owned hardware store, Hunt’s Hardware, that had been there since the neighborhood was first built. They were experts in the maintenance and repair of the homes in the 19th Ward, that were mostly built starting at the turn of the 20th Century on into the 1920s. Unfortunately, the neighborhood declined and competition with the big box stores that business dropped off to the point that Hunt’s had to close in 2015.
Until a few months ago, our little bitty town had three hardware stores! One closed recently, but the other two seem to be going strong. We also have two good grocery stores, and a number of other core businesses. The total population of the town is now about 2,500, with an additional 2,500 or so scattered all around, mostly on ranches and a few unincorporated neighborhoods. The nearest “big box” stores of any kind are at least 80 – 90 miles away.
Too bad that Williamson reaches the end of his history only to say that telling a black man he can’t work in a bank isn’t the same as the recent bakery spankings. As nasty, vile, as the first example might be, that, also, is nobody else’s business, save for boycotts, so on. (Leaving aside, of course, the fact that these days, banks are entirely creatures of the state, such that there is nothing right about any of them. And given bank’s entwinement with the state, hiring discrimination based on race might be forbidden there on the same basis as it is when passing out tax moneys through the myriad of guv programs.)
About that “first eligible applicant” code for Seattle landlords, I wonder if they will start applying a similar code to dating. The first eligible applicant to a woman must be accepted by her, even if he is a disgusting old ogre.
ML nailed it on the politicians.Its power,lust and greed,both sides.
The professor is an ahole,pure and simple.Guess what,you really cant say anything you want without repercussions.
The hardware store.Mine is about 7 minutes away in my little tiny town.Fixing my 1959 VW van,needed metric teeny weeny screws found inside and outside holding together the turn signal mechanism.They had em,goofy sized head and all.Since found several other oddball metric screws and bolts for it there.
Wanted a key made for it,guy says hold on,goes to attic and comes back with a key blank for it,makes my key.Wont get that service online or at lowes,but have found 2 guys,far away,that could make the keys.
ML is right. I live in a small, heartland, overwhelmingly Republican town, and the local politicos have just as long a list of laws and rules and regulations and taxes and fees and fines and subsidies and supports and…
[sigh]
A recent letter to the editor was by a woman calling on City Council to “revitalize” our downtown by reducing regulations inhibiting business. Instead they should limit height of signs and mandate landscaping and offer subsidies to coffee shops and fashion stores and zone vape shops and tattoo parlors out and…
[sigh]
I already told my hardware story.
The whole cake shop thing is baffling.
“We’re going to have a joyous celebration of love and commitment and family, but force the only local baker who thinks we’re an abomination to bake the cake.” The wedding couple hates on the baker. The baker hates on the couple. The couple’s friends hate on the baker. The baker’s friends hate on the wedding couple and friends. The courts get pissed off about the wasted time. All the other bakers in town get pissed off because the wedding couple is forcing their money on the only baker that doesn’t want it.
Now tell me, who wins?
And, by the way, I think I’ll pass on the piece of cake.
Term Limits is good, except I can think of much cleaner ways to retire the POTUS than by shooting her in the Oval Office. (Bullets are a lot messier than shown on TV.)
OTOH, the ending is realistic in that, even given the facts of the story, there would still be candidates for the job.
Last April our local police stopped to assist, and apprehended, a car thief when “his” 2016 Dodge Charger Hellcat ran out of gas on the Interstate.
Ever since the bakery thing hit the news I’ve wondered: If I forced a baker to go against his beliefs and inclination to bake me a wedding cake just to be a dick and prove I could, would I really want to bite into that cake?
Poor people paying fines? Dont worry,they will just put them on modern day chain gangs.Bottom line,you are state property controlled by pinheads (aka HOA board members)
I’ve wondered about that too, Joel. Even just a little Tabasco sauce in the cake would jazz up the wedding party.
“Whoops, sorry about that – I thought it was vanilla.”
Even if the baker was too ethical to bake anything but a good cake, I think I’d pass, based on the karma alone.