The new healthcare legislation has apparently made some people so made that they’ve turned to threatening politicians with violence. Some citizens have also decided to battle it out amongst each other, including the driver who was so mad that he started a car—while driving—because it had an Obama-Biden sticker on it:
Duren had picked his daughter up from school and was driving to his Nashville, TN home when Harry Weisiger pulled up next to his car, pointed to the Obama-Biden bumper sticker on the back, and flipped him off . . . . At a stop sign he starting honking his horn and causing a scene and when the two were underway again, he hit Duran’s car. Being a normal person, Duren slowed to deal with the accident but Weisiger sped up and smashed into the bumper, causing serious damage.
My two cents: if someone is stupid enough to turn to violence about a political issue, they likely don’t have the intelligence to actually understand the political issue itself.
P.S. This is NOT an endorsement of the healthcare legislation, of which I have many doubts.
Regardless of ones’ views of the merits of the healthcare bill, it is unquestionable that the debate surrounding its passage was low-quality. Not just the debate between politicians, but also debate between citizens, and coverage by the news. Maybe I’ll write more on this over the weekend.
So I recently bought a 2010 Toyota Corolla. Naturally, I was disappointed when I heard that my car was recalled, along with many others, due to acceleration problems. However, I’ll say that my experience getting the car fixed was great.
I took my car to Koon’s Tysons Toyota in Northern VA. I called to make an appointment for 12:30pm. I got there at about 12:10 pm, gave them the keys, and sat down to do some schoolwork on my laptop. At about 12:45pm, they already called me to pick up the car. I also noticed that the customer just before me had the same exact experience. It did not appear that the service bay was empty—there were a ton of people that were getting their cars serviced at the time.
As for the effects of the repair, I drove about ten miles to get home after the repair, and I did not notice much difference. It seems like the brake is slightly more sensitive when I press it down, now. Though that could just be a placebo effect.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience, since it was very positive. I don’t know whether this experience is common throughout the US, or other dealerships, but I really enjoyed my service at Koon’s.
Absolutely hilarious line from Josh Blackman’s blog:
I don’t get the entire “Who Dat.” Thing. Why would a fan base pride itself on a poor command of the English language?
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Old News Anew: The unintended ripples from the biomass subsidy program
0 Comments | Posted by George in Econ, Politics
It sounded like a good idea: Provide a little government money to convert wood shavings and plant waste into renewable energy.
But as laudable as that goal sounds, it could end up causing more economic damage than good — driving up the price of raw timber, undermining an industry that has long used sawdust and wood shavings to make affordable cabinetry, and highlighting the many challenges involved in decreasing the nation’s dependence on oil by using organic materials to create biofuels.
In a matter of months, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program — a small provision tucked into the 2008 farm bill — has mushroomed into a half-a-billion dollar subsidy that is funneling taxpayer dollars to sawmills and lumber wholesalers, encouraging them to sell their waste to be converted into high-tech biofuels. In doing so, it is shutting off the supply of cheap timber byproducts to the nation’s composite wood manufacturers, who make panels for home entertainment centers and kitchen cabinets.
This sounds a lot like the dumbest idea of 2009: “Cash for Clunkers.” First, find a process that is relatively efficient (say, using leftover wood to make useful products, or, selling used cars to people who need them). Next, make that process less efficient and more exciting (for instance, by taking the wood away from making useful products and instead using it in a relatively inefficient biomass-to-energy conversion, or, taking used cars and permanently immobilizing them so that no one will ever drive them again). In both cases the government increases the price of products people need (wood products, cars) but claims it is doing something “green” while improving the economy. Bogus.
