News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
The richest company in history was The Dutch East India Co. which was in 1637 the equivalent of $7.4 trillion in today’s money. It lost a lot of its value that year, however, because it over-invested in tulip bulbs. It easily survived, though, and remained in business until 1800. The richest company today is Saudi Aramco with a value of $3.6 trillion.
They Did Not Fight For Political Correctness
I’m the ‘enemy’ because I like to think, I like to read. I’m into freedom of speech, freedom of choice. I’m the kind of guy who would sit in a greasy restaurant and wonder, ‘Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?’ I want high cholesterol. I want to eat bacon, and butter, and buckets of cheese, OK? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in a non-smoking section. I want to run through the streets naked with green jello all over my body reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because maybe I feel the need to, OK?
– Denis Leary’s character in the movie ‘Demolition Man’
Another Memorial Day is here, and with it the requisite cookouts, flags, and all things red, white and blue. What’s not to love?
Two things, actually.
Not to rain on the parade, but why does it seem that fewer and fewer Americans (especially the younger generations) have even the slightest clue as to what they are supposed to be celebrating? To them, Memorial Day is solely about going to the shore and living it up, to the point where “Memorial Day” are just words associated with partying.
They shouldn’t be.
Here’s a refresher: Memorial Day is the special observance where we honor those who fought to achieve – and later preserve – the unique freedoms that have made America the envy of the world for 250 years.
But even more disturbing is that America has turned into a nanny state at every level, an ever-restrictive society where we are voluntarily allowing our rights to be eroded.
And that is a stinging slap in the face to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of liberty. Translation: that’s not what people fought – and died – to protect.
Rather than embrace our pioneering heritage predicated on pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps, with the innate understanding that we the people – not government – know best, we have morphed into a citizenry wholly accepting of being told what to do, and how and when to do it – or else. What’s not yet clear is if a majority agrees with nanny state orders, or if the silent masses oppose them, but are paralyzed to act due to complacency or fear of being labeled offensive, insensitive – or, God forbid, a Free Thinker.
Just look at where things stand:
• We can’t even get into our cars without being told what to do. Don’t buckle up, and you’re greeted with the non-stop beeping demanding you comply – or face insanity, as the alarm never stops. If you own a vehicle that doesn’t have a God complex, you still face significant fines if you choose not to wear your restraint. And ignorance isn’t an excuse, as we are threatened with punishment via multi-million dollar government-sponsored commercials – courtesy of the forgotten taxpayers.
Mandating seatbelts for children is one thing – they are too young to make an informed decision. Fine. But in the same way that not wearing a motorcycle helmet should be a rider’s choice, not buckling up should be the driver’s decision, as any adverse consequences will be limited to that person.
And no, we shouldn’t favor mandates under the false premise that they save on insurance premiums, as A) insurance companies can charge more for higher-risk behavior, and B) at the risk of appearing callous, unprotected driving leads to higher death rates, thereby reducing costly long-term medical care. Bottom line: adult drivers should be able to make their own decisions without Big Brother constantly looking over their shoulders.
• Helicopter parents have taken the nanny state mentality to a new level, corrupting our youth in the process. Instead of fostering an atmosphere of discovery, too many are hell-bent on hovering over their kids’ every action – and our children are losing their childhoods because of it.
The result? We have warped a generation, producing manic children conditioned to fear everything, from walking to the bus, to playing cops-and-robbers, to banning tag and kickball. Everything is so precisely orchestrated that creativity and curiosity has been erased, replaced with a structure so unnatural that social skills are nonexistent.
Worse, under the pretense of avoiding “hurt feelings,” nanny state coaches and league officials often don’t keep score, and standings are frequently taken off-line so as to not offend the lower-ranked teams. Instead, everyone gets a trophy because we have mandated a homogenous society, and individual achievement is all too often frowned upon.
Our attempt to whitewash all that is “bad and unfair” – things that often teach children about life – has produced a generation that naively floats through life believing everything must be guaranteed “safe,” labeling anything not to their liking “offensive.” The result? A sense of entitlement so warped that it may never be brought in line with reality.
• Banning smoking in public buildings is one thing. But when government bans people from engaging in a legal activity in private restaurants (if you don’t like the smoke, patronize another establishment) and in outdoor public places (Times Square, beaches, parks, etc.), it’s clear government is out of control. Many people don’t realize it, but these laws hurt everyone, because they are never rescinded, and almost always lead to more regulations – such as how many ounces of soda can be dispensed at restaurants. Once the nanny door is opened, it never shuts.
• Perhaps most unfathomable is New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent edict that, should an employer or landlord not use preferred gender-neutral pronouns and titles – ze/hir instead of he/her, whatever that means – they can be fined $250,000. No, that’s not $250 bucks, but a quarter mil forked over to the city. Beyond the fact that this law absolutely incinerates freedom of speech, the practical aspects are sheer lunacy.
So if Caitlyn Jenner lives in the Big Apple, and someone addresses him/her with a non gender-neutral pronoun, they could be subject to a gargantuan fine, despite there being no way to verify what gender he/she is – and no way to know what identify is “preferred” on any given day. When is enough enough?
•
When did we go so astray of common sense? How did we devolve to such a low point that our national debates are about transgender bathrooms and “misgendering” people? What the hell is wrong with people who feel entitled to their “right” to do and say whatever they want – so long as it’s a one-way street?
Things have become so utterly exasperating that it’s all too easy to just give up. But in remembrance of those who battled for the “Land of the free and home of the brave,” we owe it to them to keep fighting the good fight so that the wings of liberty stop losing feathers.
How do you say snake in Portuguese? Cobra. So if your guest from Brazil screams “cobra” when he see the garter snake in your lawn, don’t laugh at him too much.
Pennsylvania Baseline Budgeting Must End
By Leo Knepper 
Some Pennsylvania legislators are proposing revolutionary changes to the state budget process.
And, by revolutionary we mean doing something that the private sector has been doing for decades.
On Tuesday, the “Taxpayers Caucus” released a report highlighting over $3 billion dollars in potential savings this year. Many of the items have been discussed separately in the past, but this is the first time anyone has compiled them in one place. In reviewing the report, there were items related to the budget process that stood out in terms the scope of the changes proposed.
The most interesting thing was the proposal to modify the budget process completely. Although this change did not have a dollar amount attached to it, following the report’s recommendations could save taxpayers billions over the medium term. Specifically, the report called for Pennsylvania to shift from “baseline budgeting” to a hybrid budget process comprised of performance-based budgeting and priority-based budgeting. Discussions about budgeting processes are usually enough to make one’s eyes glaze over, but switching to a hybrid budgeting process would represent a radical shift in how the Commonwealth spends your money.
Baseline budgeting is a simple (and terrible) way to allocate resources. What it means is that an agency or department looks at what their budget was this year and assumes that they will get a certain percentage more next year. Baseline budgeting means that spending will essentially never decrease. Furthermore, it is how agencies can claim that their funding got cut even though they got more money year over year.
Let’s say Agency X received $1 million last year. Their assumption is that they will get 5 percent more this year, or $1.05 million. Instead, the legislature increases Agency X’s budget by “only” 3 percent, to $1.03 million. Under baseline budgeting Agency X would now state that their funding was “cut”, but in reality, they just got a smaller increase.
In contrast, performance- and priority-based hybrid system eliminates the assumption that Agency X will automatically get more money, and more importantly it raises the possibility that the funding might go away entirely if the programs it administers aren’t performing as well as alternatives or if the priorities of the Commonwealth change. Most programs run by the state and federal government do not have a clear objective, or if they do there is very little information available on what progress is being made to achieve that goal. Economic Development, i.e. corporate welfare, and social welfare programs are notoriously bad at setting objectives and measuring performance. A real world example would be for a business to invest in all new servers to reduce downtime, but never measuring the downtime to see if it worked.
Priority-based budgeting is what CAP called for during the last few budget cycles. It is similar to how families budget. They know their income and make financial decisions based on the amount of money they have, which is a stark contrast to how government typically operates. The government generally decides how much to spend and then tries to figure out where to get the necessary money.
The changes proposed by the Taxpayer Caucus would drastically alter the culture of government from one of entitlement to one of results. The budgeting process is not particularly exciting and does not make good headlines. However, the basic assumptions underlying the allocation of resources affects Pennsylvanians in a profound way, and it is worth examining carefully.
Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.
Obaysch the Hippopotamus arrived at the London Zoo on May 25, 1850. He was the first zoo hippo in modern history. He attracted 10,000 daily visitors and inspired the Hippopotamus Polka, which was a hit back then.
Here is what it sounds like:
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-25-16 Hippopotamus PolkaThat jar lid keeps sliding and you can’t get a grip? Wrap some rubber bands around it. The slipping stops and the jar gets open.
Regulation Tyranny
By Scott Wagner 
This column is from a fed up and angry private sector business owner who also serves in the Pennsylvania State Senate.
I will be diplomatic – but fully realize that I get to see firsthand each and every day how Harrisburg and Washington are out of control with regulations on businesses.
It also seems like federal regulations coming out of Washington are being fired from a rocket launcher every single day.
I made a decision to run for the Pennsylvania State Senate because I was sick and tired of new regulations being piled onto my businesses every year for the last 30 years.
2015 was a record setting year for new regulations – as of Dec. 31, 2015 there were 81,611 pages of federal government rules, proposed rules and notices – this number DOES NOT include regulations in Pennsylvania.
At my waste company we have a MINIMUM of 60 State and Federal compliance requirements and regulations that we have to comply with either daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually.
In fact, last year my waste company hired a compliance manager to handle all of the reporting and paperwork.
On May 3, the Wall St. Journal published “Ending America’s Slow Growth Tailspin”. The article says that, “The U.S Economy needs a dramatic legal and regulatory simplification” – in simple terms, over regulation is choking our economy and slowing economic growth.
In the May 10 issue of Forbes magazine Steve Forbes wrote an article that stated, “The Obama administration has let it be known that the White House and the regulatory agencies will be issuing a blizzard of new rules and decrees in the waning months of his miserable regime.”
Forbes goes on to say that, “The President long ago grasped that you don’t have to seize the means of production: you simply smother companies and industries with rules and regulations – preferably vaguely written to give bureaucrats wide discretion – so they survive only at your sufferance.”
Steve Forbes’s words are powerful and very true – as a private sector business owner I know first-hand all about choking regulations.
Last week I was informed by a manager at my waste company that our website must comply with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Regulations.
Our website will need to be accessible to anyone with a disability (that includes people who are blind or deaf). Blind people use equipment called “screen readers” and the screen readers need to be able to work with our website software.
There have already been multiple lawsuits against companies who do not have websites that are ADA compliant.
Career politicians and career bureaucrats, many who are lawyers, simply don’t get it – all they understand is – “Let’s choke every business in America – they can deal with all of the regulations.”
The newest and latest genius idea out of Washington DC is the third bathroom requirement for transgender people – it is all over the news.
Also, Washington is enacting regulations on overtime pay for salaried employees – many businesses factor in some portion of overtime into salaries and also bonuses are paid to recognize outstanding performance and efforts.
There are four types of regulations – Good Regulations, Bad Regulations, Stupid Regulations and Over Regulations.
These are all regulations that effect a company that you may own or a company you may work for.
I think everyone would agree that good regulations are needed. The other three are not needed.
If we don’t stop all of this regulation madness – private sector businesses will have seen their best days.
The irony of all of the regulations impacting businesses in America is that virtually all of the people who are behind these regulations have never owned a business, started a business, taken a risk, or signed the front of paychecks.
The King of destroying businesses in America is Barack Obama – he is on a mission and he will not stop at anything.
The best example is what President Obama and regulators have done to the coal industry in America.
It is simple – too many regulations cost lots of money – lots of money that could and should go to creating jobs and providing good wages to current employees.
Businesses are being choked with rules and regulations – when are politicians and bureaucrats going to wake up and realize that they are killing jobs in America?
Who was Ivan IV Vasilyevich? He was the first Russian czar. He is better known to Russians as Ivan Grozny which means Ivan the Formidable. He is better known to us as Ivan the Terrible. It’s a bad translation thing.
Slavery Goal Of Modern Politicians — Richard Fernandez has a great column at PJMedia.com summing up modern politics and the goals of those who dedicate their lives to it namely slavery.
He describes an happy marriage of convenience between socialists and crony capitalists.
Those who do not own the means of production shall be legally compelled to work for those who do, and shall receive in exchange a security of livelihood, he says citing the great Hilaire Belloc.
It’s pretty obvious that this is the goal of the “never-let-a-crisis-go-to-waste” crowd.
Why is our $19.3 trillion national debt being downplayed by the official mouthpieces? Why are we letting in immigrants who hate our values?
Shrews are poisonous. The southern short-tail shrew has enough venom in its bite to kill 50 mice.
