Walter In Denver

Hits Aren't Everything

But I like 'em. This trend is encouraging.

The chart covers the time since this blog left blogsplat.

Routt County Court Case Links

This morning I find Jacob Sullum discussing Colorado's medical marijuana case.

David Kopel, in this today's Rocky, compares local newspaper coverage of the story.

Big Deal

Pete Guither has the story of the first day of relaxed marijuana laws in Britain:

It'll be interesting to see how things settle. That's what will matter. The greatest fear of the drug warrior is that marijuana will be used commonly and the sky won't fall. (Much like this summer in parts of Canada when it was temporarily legal to possess cannabis.)

Here's the analogy:

Certain anti-war activists hoped that the Iraq invasion would end badly, humbling the U.S. and the Bush administration. Similarly, prohibitionists hope that legalization will backfire, and we'll see a rash of violence and disorderly conduct.

Countries I've Visited

OK, this list is a little weak, but I actually lived in most of the countries on this list.


create your own visited country map

I'll try to get out a little more.

Mini Interviews

I wrote a few questions for a some bloggers, and some results are up. Cal Ulmann reponds here, explaining why we should vote Libertarian.

Matthew Edgar discusses cooking and what to do with Republicans.

Still to go, Matt Moore explaining the mysteries of Aurora, CO.

Holding Hands?

The more cynical among us suspect that someone in the Democratic party has a connection in the Denver Post. I guess that wouldn't be much of a shock, would it?
Some Democrats suspect the same thing. I don't know why anyone at the newspaper would have a strong bias toward any of the Democratic contenders, but Colorado Luis calls this a 'hit piece.'

States

Here's a neat application:

create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide

I may have been in other states as child, but these are the ones I can remember.

Via the newlywed Jay Solo.

Spend, Spend, Spend, Your Money's Not So Dear

Remember Bush's Medicare overhaul, the one with the $400 Billion price tag? Well, it hasn't even gone into effect yet but the price is up to $540 Billion. I doubt many will notice or care, as it's hard to comprehend such large dollar amounts.

Of course if you pay any attention to Libertarian Party press releases this price increase will come as no surprise. They predicted it back in August:

The most frightening aspect of the legislation, Seehusen said, is that the cost will be even more astronomical than the $400 billion that Congress claims.

"In 1965 Congress predicted that Medicare would cost $12 billion a year by 1990," he said. "Instead the price tag spiraled to $98 billion a year -- or eight times as much. At that rate, Bush's bill could easily cost an astounding $3.2 trillion in just five years.

SFGate link via Stephen Green.

A free beer to the first to recognize the very obscure 80's song referenced in the title of this post.

Clear View

Even from across the pond Antoine Clarke sees the plight of small political parties in the U.S:

Sitting in London and watching the New Hampshire primary is a strange experience. The 'Republicrats' have a disgraceful advantage built into the US election process with different laws applying to their candidates than for those of other parties.

For British readers it is as though the Liberal Democrats had to get up to three or four million signatures on a petition to be allowed to appear on the ballot paper, as opposed to the £150 fee and a copy of the party's constitution to the Electoral Commission and 6,590 voters to sign nomination papers for the whole country.

This country sees the two big political parties as extensions of the state. The primary process, essentially an internal process of what should be private organizations, is funded by millions of dollars in tax money. Smaller parties are on their own.

At least Colorado is threatening to not hold a presidential primary.

Wonkette

Now would be a good time to throw out a link to Wonkette.

I wasn't gonna be invited to any parties here anyway.

What's up with prominent bloggers still using Blogspot? Even this little blog left the womb months ago.

Miraculous

We've witnessed a bit of a miracle of science around here as of late. Here are the details.

In March of '02 we adopted a dog. We already had a dog, a Malamute. His name is Edgar, a beautiful thing that we found in a pound on the south side of town. He would be a show dog, except that he has some blue in the corner of one eye, and Malamutes are supposed to have brown eyes. We surmise that's the reason his original owner abandoned him.

But that was a decade ago, so that March we thought we'd look around for a younger dog to keep the Edgar active. We've grown partial to Malamutes, so the idea was we'd search area rescue kennels for a younger Mal to add to the household. Turns out that Mals are hard to find. I looked all over, and was about to give up when I found a lonely mixed breed Mal in a sububan municipal pound. She was scarcely recognizable as a Malamute, mixed with who-knows-what. But I was getting frustrated looking for Mals, and if the pound claimed she was a Mal that was enough to pique my interest. So I took her out of her cage and took her for a walk.

She was not a show dog. In spite of our plan to get a younger dog she seemed older than Edgar. Whatever her heritage was it had left her with some odd brown markings on her face, and she has a sort of Marilyn Manson look, one eye dark brown and one pale blue. She had one irresistable trait, though. She was uncommonly affectionate. Once I had scratched her ears she was hooked; she kept pushing her nose into my hand and insisting that I continue to pet her. I brought Mrs. Indenver out to see the dog and she named the dog Natasha and we all came home.

Natasha was in bad shape. She was overweight and it soon became apparent she had been cooped up in a small space. She took one look at our staircase and freaked out. It took a good ten minutes to coax her upstairs, and as soon as she made it to the second floor she peed on the carpet. Not a great start, but after a few days she got used to the stairs. After a few weeks of running around our yard she dropped the excess weight.

Adopting an older dog, we knew we'd have a limited time with her. So it wasn't a great surprise when a couple of months ago we noticed Natasha wasn't moving very well. She stumbled often, and was slow to get to her feet. She went into a rapid decline. Three weeks ago, I took her to the Vet. The prognosis was poor. She wasn't able to extend her legs, and it looked to be either severe arthritis, or worse, a neurological problem, perhaps a brain tumor. We put her on an arthritis medicine. She perked up a bit, but only for a day. After two weeks she was almost paralyzed. She wouldn't move, and I often had to carry her around. It looked like Natasha was at the end of her days.

I called the Vet. He recommended taking her to a neurologist. I hesitated. We're expecting a baby, money is tight, and the neurologist gets $175 just to see a dog. Any potential treatment would cost much more. What else could we do?

The vet suggested, without much hope, that we change arthritis medications and try a steroid based pill. Thursday I gave her the first dose. Friday she got up and walked around. Saturday she chased around the house like she hadn't in months.

Last night I took both dogs for a walk. Natasha ran ahead, dragging Edgar and me as she did her best to race through the neighborhood. She's more lively now than any time since we got her.

It's closest thing to a miracle I've ever seen.

What You Andy has Always Wanted to Know

Continuing from here, five questions. I think this will tell you more about Andy than me...

1. Libertarians and tax-funded interstate highways - are they compatible?

Pragmatic Libertarians say yes, dogmatic say no. I think technology will soon allow for pay-per-mile tolls on every road, and I'd like to see that. But only if it means we can be rid of the taxes currently funding highways, like the 40+ cents tax on each gallon of gas

2. What's in Jimmy's Magic Drawer?

Nothing illegal. Aren't you all surprised.

3. Would you rather live in someone else's idea of a socialist utopian dreamworld or be probed by a painstakingly detail-oriented alien proctologist?

Isn't that the same thing?

4. Why is Coors so popular in the Denver area when it tastes remarkably like the piss of an elderly, sick cat?

No one knows. Actually, of the Big Three, I'll take Coors. But Denverites can take solace with the knowledge that we have a bunch of good microbrews around here. New Belgium, Breckenridge, Odells, and a bunch of others. Kind of evens things out, no?

5. What are you doing tasting the piss of an elderly, sick cat anyway?

Hey, she told me she was eighteen! I didn't realize that's 136 in human years.

There you have it. I'm sure you all learned something.

THE RULES

1. Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3. You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

Notice, you don't have to send $20 to the name at the top of the list.

Fun Little Contest

I entered this Blogmadness thing. It's a contest pitting posts selected by blog writers in a playoff format against each other. [ed. What? Me, 'Oh, just go take a look.'] It's a useful way to find new blogs and the contest is sort of novel. You can find my entry on this page. Be sure to read my opponent's entry if you want to vote. It'll be worth your while. It's from a blog called Asterisk*, written by D. Keith Robinson, a web designer.

Vote honestly, not just because you love me. Zomby has an entry on the same page, and if we both do well we'll be paired against each other in a later round.

"John Edwards and How He Got Rich"

Dr. Chris Rangel has the story. Here are some select bits:

...[W]hat Edwards own web site does not mention is that he earned tens of millions by suing obstetricians over allegations of "botched" deliveries. The problem with this is that cerebral palsy (an umbrella term referring to several conditions of neurological damage present in newborns or neonates) has many different causes other than negligent malpractice by the obstetrician at the time of birth.
[...]
Yet as recently as 1997, Edwards successfully litigated a case of a "botched" delivery and "beat his own record" by winning $30 MILLION dollars for the plaintiff (he won another case that year for $23 MILLION). I don't know the details of these cases but one has to wonder if North Carolina was suffering a crisis in completely incompetent obstetricians! The physicians in these cases must have done something bordering on criminal activity (assault?) in order to have lost the case on the order of tens of millions . . but I doubt it.

Rangel's article is one of those cases where a blogger knows more about the subject than the professional press. I highly recommend reading it.

Out of the unlikeable bunch of Democratic presidential hopefuls Edwards might have emerged as my least favorite.

Tick,

Here's the Drug War Clock. Kind of depressing.

I found that via The Binary Circumstance, a blog written by Chip Gibbons, who may be an Ayn Rand fan.

If you know what I mean.

New Look

Have you seen Samizdata's new design? That might be the best looking blog on the net.

They've also updated their Blog Glossary, which is a must if you're not familiar with all this blogging business.

Routt County Case Update

The medical marijuana court case (previous episode here) has the feds working against the state court. Here's the latest court motion from Friday:

The U.S. Attorney's Office on Friday asked a federal judge to dismiss a contempt charge against federal agents who seized marijuana from a Colorado man who had state permission to smoke it for medical purposes.

Attorneys for the federal government argued in a brief filed Friday that the agents were following federal law, which treats marijuana as contraband. But Colorado law allows authorized medical patients to possess up to 2 ounces of loose marijuana and three live plants. Colorado has authorized about 300 patients to smoke marijuana.

If the Feds had used an ounce of common sense and not raided the poor guy in the first place they wouldn't have this problem now.

A motion was also made to have the case moved to Federal court, where presumably the Federal agents will receive more favorable treatmeant.

Update: TChris, a lawyer posting at Talkleft, has some analysis. This case may go to the Supreme Court.

Drug Policy Follies

One of the really fun things about opposing the drug war is that drug war proponents are so easy to mock. Here's Drug WarRant:

$23 million for children's piss

Sound like some kind of perverse pedophiliac pecuniary pursuit? No, it's the President of the United States, putting forth the notion that the world will be a better place if we spend $23 million to force children to pee in a cup.

It's not hyperbole, it's not satire, it's really what the President wants to do.

They tee it up, and we hit it out of the park.

Another Gun Ban

Randy Paul reports that Brazilian authorities are considering a national handgun prohibition. Gun violence in Brazil is already pervasive, but lower crime rate countries which enacted similar bans have seen disastrous results. Britain and Australia, for example, have seen surges in violent crime immediately following gun prohibitions.

Perhaps Brazil's crime rate is so high it can't get any worse. Too bad the gun ban will be a social experiment measured with victim's lives, because if past experience is a guide many innocent people will pay that ultimate price.

Reading

I've just finished reading Jim Kalb's three part interview over at 2Blowhards. Part three is here. I can't recall when I've last read something that I've disagreed with so heartily. Go read it yourself and see what you think, especially the comments about libertarianism. I'll try to write a response as I find the time.

What's interesting is Mr. Kalb and I would probably agree on most elements of government policy.

SOTU

24 hours removed here's the best State of the Union response I've seen:

I don't want your 'strengthening of the economy'. You have screwed it up enough already.
I don't want your 'sanctity of marriage'. It's not your business.
Quit trying to define everything as right or left. The world is not binary.
You don't end poverty. You create it.
I don't want your retirement plans. I know my unique circumstances best.
Consensus support does not signify 'bipartisanship'. It is simply honor among thieves.
I don't want your entangling alliances. They endanger rather than protect me.
I don't want your education guidelines. My education is personal and lifelong.
Tonight was not a great 'political event'. It was the very reason for eternal vigilance.
Government does not 'create jobs'. It only takes them away from honest individuals.
I don't want your 'leadership'. Sovereign individuals are their own leaders.

No argument here.

Ron Crickenberger, RIP

Libertarian activist Ron Crickenberger has passed away after an illness. Perry Willis says:

Ron Crickenberger deserved to live a lot longer than he did, but
illness is no respecter of merit. If it were, the man who was always
there, would be here still. His passing saddens me greatly, and I will
always remember him - as should all who care about human liberty.

"Not left or right, but forward!"

Blog Madness

This here is a Serious, Staid blog, where I discuss Serious issues in a Serious manner. Of course, this sort of thing is beneath this blog. Even if Zomby entered, I won't.

OK, I lied.

Tancredo Speaks

Tom Tancredo spoke at the Independence Institute last night. Matthew was there.

I wasn't invited.

But is it 'Fair Trade' Coffee?

Andy brightens our morning with the news of civet dung coffee, which is pretty much what it sounds like.

Remember, any cup of coffee tastes better with Bailey's in it.

Mythology

As is often the case, Ed Quillen's column was the most interesting part of the Sunday Denver Post. This excerpt concerns Colorado historical myths:

For instance, in this part of the state, it's hard to go more than a few miles without encountering some reference to "Alferd Packer, the only man in American history to be convicted of cannibalism." And there was the judge who sentenced him with "You voracious man-eating son of a bitch, there was seven Democrats in Hinsdale County and you ate five of them."

Bad Policy Begets the Same

As the U.S. creeps ever closer to socialism, with 'free' services for everyone, we invite democratic backlash like this.

Tom Tancredo is considering sponsoring a state constitutional amendment which would bar undocumented immigrants from receiving state services. Such an amendment would force us voters to decide between two unappealing policies, either continue stealing from Peter to give to Paul Pablo, or single out a certain class of people for unfavorable treatment by the government.

Ick.

Comment Promotion

As is a custom here, here's an interesting comment on an older post about captured Colombian rebel leader Simon Trinidad:

Why did Simon Trinidad join La FARC? When I read this question the first thing that came to mind was another communist named Fidel Castro. Castro, the same as Trinidad, had a very comfortable childhood. So now answer this question, why did Fidel Castro leave his wonder life to fight in the Sierra Maestra? Simon Trinidad was an informant for the FARC. He was giving them the balances on accounts, so they would know whom they could extort. I believe, meaning in my own opinion, that he ran when he got discovered. I grew up both in Colombia and here in the US. And when something like this is discovered you better hide. So, I believe that Trinidad did not join the FARC for the same social injustices that Castro fought for. I think it was for other reasons. And why was he helping the FARC when he had worked in the bank? Maybe he was kidnapped, threatened, and brainwashed. Who knows! My Brother-in-law was held by the FARC for 8 months. When he was released he told me that there was an American held with him who was released after a couple of months. When the day came to take him back to civilization he didn't want to go. He wanted to stay and fight with them. So could Trinidad be a victim of Stockholm syndrome?

Posted by Miguel R. at January 16, 2004 07:41 PM

I don't have any answers.

Foot-In-Mouth Disease

FIFA president Sepp Blatter:

... [T]he women's game needed different sponsors from men's soccer and could attract these clients with the use of "more feminine uniforms."

"Tighter shorts, for example," Blatter told SonntagsBlick. "In volleyball the women also wear other uniforms than the men. Pretty women are playing football today. Excuse me for saying that."

Two sports where female competitions are as popular, or moreso, than the male:

Tennis.

Volleyball.

Blatter might have no tact but he might be right.

Is Wie For Real?

14 year old Michelle Wie misses the cut at the Sony Open by just a stroke. That's the men's Sony Open. All indicators are she could be the best female player in the history of the game, but that's the sort of thing she'll have to prove over the years.
Her performance this week is better than Annika Sorenstam's attempt to play a men's event last year.

And Another

Chalk up one more innocent killed in a drug raid:

XENIA -- Greene County Prosecutor Bill Schenck said he intends to meet with investigators Feb. 2 to discuss possibly reconvening a Preble County grand jury to revisit the Sept. 27, 2002, shooting death of Clayton Helriggle by a police officer.

Helriggle was killed when, carrying a handgun, he came down the stairs of the home where he was living, surprising officers during a drug raid. One year ago, a grand jury declined to hand up any indictments in the shooting. Schenck, Greene County prosecutor, was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case, which was investigated by the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office.

"Some cases beg for their day in court. This case needs to be aired," Schenck said Monday. He and Suzanne Schmidt, a Greene County assistant prosecutor who also worked on the case, are concerned about a public perception that Helriggle was a drug dealer. They and investigators will look into possible perjury charges against Kevin Leitch, whose grand jury testimony in January 2003 conflicted with what he earlier told Eaton and Preble County law officials.

"I think it's fair to say there was no drug dealing by Mr. Helriggle," Schenck said.

This is a popular theme in drug investigations. A single witness, himself a druggie, provides 'evidence' that the police rely on to stage a surprise raid. It's a very dangerous practice.

Drug War Bystander Casualty Count: 21 dead, four wounded.

Hi Again

Dislogue is back. If ever anyone had an excuse to interrupt blogging, Dan does.

My condolences.

From the Federal Dept. of Bad Ideas

That would be one federal bureaucracy running at maximum efficiency. They have quite a track record. They've given us a war on poverty, which entrenched a permanent American underclass, and the war on (some) drugs, which continues to foster crime and corruption. Notice also how school performance falls steadily as federal involvement in the education system increases.

Their next target? Marriage:

Administration officials say they are planning an extensive election-year initiative to promote marriage, especially among low-income couples, and they are weighing whether President Bush should promote the plan next week in his State of the Union address.

The officials said they believed that the measure was especially timely because they were facing pressure from conservatives eager to see the federal government defend traditional marriage, after a decision by the highest court in Massachusetts. The court ruled in November that gay couples had a right to marry under the state's Constitution.

I wonder how much damage they can do with $1.5 billion.

Link via Arthur Silber.

The Oddest Places

Sometimes the best political/social commentary comes from the least expected source. The other day I heard the Food Network's chef Molto Mario refer to France as 'the F country.'

I haven't heard a professional pundit say anything quite so pithy.

(The only online reference to this quote I could find is here.)

Good One

Andy made sure I saw this article, which allows me to do something rare - praise the state lege. It looks like there's bi-partisan support for a bill to curb eminent domain seizures by local governments:

Efforts to curtail government's power to forcibly buy private land gained momentum and key political allies last week as lawmakers convened for the 2004 General Assembly.

Both proposals would sharply limit local governments' ability to condemn property in the name of urban renewal and transfer it to private developers. The issue has already caught the attention of Gov. Bill Owens.

It's surprising that it has that much support. Eminent domain seizures are almost universally supported by local government types. That's why the proposed legislation would be unique in the nation. I'll wait and see if anything meaningful is passed by the state. Here's the opposing opinion:

The legislative debate over eminent-domain change likely will be emotional and certainly will meet with fierce opposition from the Colorado Municipal League, a statewide group representing 264 local governments.

"The flip side is this is all about cities maintaining their economic vitality," Mamet said. "It's all about redeveloping and developing areas of the cities that need help."

What often motivates the local governments is the desire to increase their tax base. There have been several high profile cases in Colorado and other states in which viable small businesses are simply bulldozed to make way for bigger enterprises.

Coincidence?

I find it somewhat odd that Radley and I are listening to the same semi-obscure music. It's an even smaller subset of libertarians who get the references.

That's from the CD I mentioned here.

Today's Classifieds

Looking for a house in the Denver area? The Sleeper house, so named because of its appearance in the Woody Allen film, is on the market. I've seen only the exterior, and it's striking. Check it out.

Asking price, $10 million.

Rocky Mountain Blog Roundup

The latest and greatest, at Freedom Sight. Top notch blogging, once again.

Simon Trinidad

A week ago I wrote about the capture of the Colombian rebel leader. Randy Paul has more about Trinidad, including some very interesting links.

Excerpt:

The 51-year-old Trinidad is an oddity in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the overwhelmingly peasant rebel army known by the Spanish initials FARC. The son of a wealthy cattle ranching family and a former banker, he's more the sort of person who gets kidnapped by the guerrillas than the type who joins them.

Not that I condone anything he did, but my inquisitive nature would love to find out what convinced him to leave his wife and children and his comfortable life to spend sixteen years on the run in the jungle. There's got to be a compelling story there, like so many in Colombia's history since 1948 and the start of La Violencia.

Everybody Chant: We're Number Ten!!

The list is out, and the U.S.A. ranks as the tenth most free country, as far as the economy is concerned. Hong Kong is number one, and the U.K. is seventh. The U.K.? Free-er than the good ol' U.S.? Heaven forbid. Here's from the news report:

Published each year by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, the study measures the openness of world economies according to 10 factors, such as monetary policy, government intervention in the economy and fiscal burden, which measures how much a government taxes and spends.
"Domestically, the top marginal tax rates for individuals have been reduced several percentage points, and the partial elimination of double taxation on dividends leaves corporations less reliant on debt financing, and therefore less vulnerable to economic downturns," the report said.
The report said nearly nonexistent inflation and low interest rates continue to help the United States to achieve a good ranking.

You mean, lacking favorable economic indicators we would rank even lower?

I can see no excuse for us being anything but #1. We hold ourselves up as a beacon of freedom while other countries are more free? Let's fix that situation, and quick.

Postcards From Iraq

Someone in the Air Force sent Radley Balko some very cool photos from Iraq. Says Radley:

It's history told through trophy-souvenier photos.

Routt County MM Case Update

The fight escalates in Don Nord's medical marijuana case:

A judge has issued contempt citations to nine police officers involved in a drug raid that has led to a clash in state and federal laws over the use of marijuana by the sick.

The citations, issued Wednesday, accuse the officers of failing to return 2 ounces of marijuana seized from Don Nord, 57, last October.
[...]
Officials with the Drug Enforcement Agency have said they have no intention of returning the marijuana, which is illegal for any use under federal law.

The officers, who served on a federal task force that conducted the raid, must appear before Routt County Judge James Garrecht on Feb. 2 to explain why they should not be punished for contempt.

Much more to come, I'm sure. Read previous episodes of this story here, and here.

Here's a Blog

Nice name, Oceania. Maybe he needs some encouragement. Here it is:

Write more.

The Economy Surges Forward

Matt Moore is again employed.

In Another, More Transparent Universe

Colorado Education Association general counsel Martha Houser:

"We are dismayed to see some of our loyal subjects are attempting to leave the reservation. I'm pleased to report today that the attempt has been thwarted.
"This incident goes to prove how misguided some of our subjects are, and how vital it is that all of them be compelled, by force if necessary, to remain under our control. They simply cannot be trusted to make decisions on their own.
"We will remain vigilant, and future efforts to leave our institutions will be met with fierce resistance."

More on Regulation

Sometimes excessive regulation does more harm than just cause poverty. Ronald Bailey at Reason Online:

In Silent Spring, Rachel Carson asked, "Who has decided—who has the right to decide—for the countless legions of people who were not consulted that the supreme value is a world without insects, even though it be also a sterile world ungraced by the curving wing of a bird in flight? The decision is that of the authoritarian temporarily entrusted with power."

Banning DDT saved thousands of raptors over the past 30 years, but outright bans and misguided fears about the pesticide cost the lives of millions of people who died of insect-borne diseases like malaria. The 500 million people who come down with malaria every year might well wonder what authoritarian made that decision.

New Year's Goals

I don't do resolutions. I do have some goals for this blog, however. The first is very simple, I want to keep up with the state lege's attempts to mangle circumvent the TABOR amendment. This will be joint effort with Matthew Edgar, he just doesn't know it yet.

The second goal is a little more involved. I would like to explore the meaning of the term 'free country,' and all that implies. What does a country have to have in order to earn the label? How many countries on the planet deserve the term? Is the U.S. a free country?

I will be looking for input from all y'all.

Blog Farming

The ever popular and stylish Rocky Mountain Blog Roundup will be hosted by Jed at Freedom Sight. He's written out the guidelines:

Yes, it's coming here! I'm happy to be hosting the 3rd edition. If you're a Colorado blogger, please consider submitting your best entry for the 2 weeks ending Sunday, January 11th (inclusive) for inclusion. All you gotta do is let me know before midnight, the 11th (or veeeeerrrrrrrrry early Monday morning).

Bloggers, start your engines.

Dissent

Congrats to Pete Guither, who left a most thoughtful dissenting comment in response to my previous post. Here's his response in its entirety:

Interesting argument. Of course, if you're using the premise that wealth is a life-saver, then that premise can just as easily (or more easily) be used to argue FOR regulations.

When it comes to food products, I think there is a lot of over-regulation, and there is some free-market self-regulating that can go on (eg., after going through serious salmonella poisoning from eggs, I've developed my own ideas of what kinds of egg-producers I will trust to purchase from). However, it's very hard for a consumer/business relationship to deal with something like mad cow (where a business could operate unsafely and profitably for many years before any problem was detected in the market).

I thought through some of these potential arguments as I wrote that post and I was careful to limit my complaint to 'over-regulation.' Unlike some libertarians, I don't think regulation is a dirty word.

I agree with Pete's observation that wealth actually enables us to have more regulation than poorer countries. Interestingly, third world countries may actually have similar health regulation as the U.S. Mexico, for instance, may require as strict waste-water standards as the U.S., but since they're too poor to enact those requirements their regulations become irrelevant. If every Mexican town were forced to have U.S. standard sewers they would simply shut down, as they couldn't afford that level of infrastructure.

Complete governmental control isn't a guarantee of safety. The governments of both the U.K. and U.S. had complete control over beef markets before the advent of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. They still couldn't completely stop the spread of the disease. There's a balance to be struck between safety and access. Make housing safe, but not so safe that people can't afford to buy houses. Government is not adept at making those distinctions.

There is such thing as private regulation, as any homeowner knows. When you buy a house, and apply for a loan, the mortgage company requires you to have the house inspected. An inspector will go to your house and verify that the structure is sound. The mortgage company also requires the homeowner to carry insurance on the house. Neither the mortgage nor insurance companies care to have a financial interest in an unsafe house. They also have an interest in allowing people to have access to their services. There's a natural check and balance system at work.

Government is more likely to respond to whomever complains the loudest, which makes it more likely to over OR under-regulate. By happy coincidence, Talkleft has a great example of over-regulation up today. That's a case where regulation makes everyone poorer.

Wealth

Thomas Sowell's column from last week does a marvelous job of pointing out the obvious. He has to, though, because so many just don't get it.

Within a week of each other, two earthquakes struck on opposite sides of the world — an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale in California and a 6.6 earthquake in Iran. But, however similar the earthquakes, the human costs were enormously different.

Those who disdain wealth as crass materialism need to understand that wealth is one of the biggest life-saving factors in the world. As an economist in India has pointed out, "95 percent of deaths from natural hazards occur in poor countries."

This will be good to keep in mind as the nation debates beef regulation in the wake of the mad cow scare. How much testing is enough? Some will thoughtlessly argue that any amount of regulation is justified. The problem with over-regulation, not just in the beef industry, is that it tends to raise prices. Higher prices make us all poorer. Sowell's column points out that poverty kills.

As regulation causes the price of beef to increase, fewer people can afford to buy it. Even in a wealthy country like the USA some people on the margin will struggle to feed their families, so higher beef prices will contribute to more malnutrition, which leads to more disease, birth defects and the like. Over-regulation kills even more surely than under-regulation.

Wealth is a noble goal.

Nipply

The Weather Channel says it's exactly 0 degrees F right now, and we're headed for a low of -8. Or, as Zomby says;

Holy snotcicles, it's cold outside today.

Caught

Saddam's not the only nasty to be captured in the last few weeks:

In a major coup for the Colombian government, a senior member of the country's most powerful rebel army was captured in Ecuador and handed over to Colombian authorities.

Simon Trinidad, one of seven members of the secretariat of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was arrested by Ecuadorean police late Friday and deported Saturday. He was the highest-ranking guerrilla to be arrested during nearly 40 years of the civil war.

Some reports say the CIA helped track him down.

A Colombian military source said Colombian intelligence learned that Trinidad was suffering from prostate cancer and had gone to Quito for treatment.

Colombian officials also indicated that the United States played a role in Trinidad's capture, but declined to give details.

While FARC is mostly made of peasant fighters, Trinidad had the means to leave them behind, travel out of the country, and pay for medical care. Typical leftist.

Gov. Owens

The Post today published an overview of Governor Owens' tenure in office. The article notes that he is a rising star in the Republican party and is even mentioned as posible presidential candidate in some future election. He's been praised by the National Review as the best governor in the country, and (not mentioned in the Post article) the Cato Institute gave him their highest rating among governors. Both of those organizations credit him as a fiscal conservative, cutting taxes and controlling spending. But that's not the whole story.

Colorado has this thing called the TABOR amendment to the state constitution. It's probably the strictest spending control of any state in the Union. The state cannot increase spending or taxes without a vote of the people. Any excess taxation, that is, taxes which cannot be spent within the TABOR limits, have to be refunded to the taxpayers. Naturally, TABOR is very unpopular with the political class.

The tax cuts Owens supported were to get rid of taxes which were only being refunded to taxpayers in the first place. At no time has the state voluntarily cut spending, or spent less than the limits imposed by TABOR. In summary, no politician, including Gov. Owens, can take credit for limiting the size of the state government. No matter who the governor might be, the state cannot spend any more than it does.

The Post article hints that Owens isn't happy with the spending limits:

One of the biggest tests for the governor and legislators will be to determine if and how to change Colorado's constitutional requirements for tax limitations and education funding.

Owens said he is working behind the scenes with legislators on ways to do that.

Would Owens ditch TABOR, if given the chance?

Wiiners!

'Agitator' Radly Balko gives out his end of year Agity awards, including:

Agity Disappointment of the Year
George W. Bush. He's very close to a "lifetime achievement award" in this category. Bad on trade. Bad on regulation. Bad on spending. Bad on education. Bad on campaign finance. Bad on entitlement growth. Bad on civil liberties. And I haven't even touched his "humble," "no nation-building" foreign policy.

Ryan Adams. Released three albums in 2003, all of them crap.

I didn't listen to the Ryan Adams discs. The rest of it looks about right.

Housecleaning

The URL for Ari Armstrong's Colorado Freedom Report, A Libertarian Journal of Politics and Culture, has changed to Freecolorado.com. Please make the appropriate adjustments.

Welcome Rocky Readers

This morning's story: In a fit of insomnia I get up at 4 AM and write the little follow-up story about Tancredo, the post you see below this one. When Mrs. InDenver wakes up I cook breakfast, then play with the dogs a bit. It's snowing today, so I don't have to work, and she cancels her morning appointments. We crawl back into bed, and she tries to sleep off the nausea that a woman in her condition sometimes gets. OK, in her case all the time.

While she sleeps I read the paper. I sort out the sections and save the opinion section for last, sort of like dessert. I get to David Kopel's column, which I always enjoy - you've seen me cite it here, more than once.

I'm pleased to see he's writing about blogs today. The column is headlined, Blogs Unearth Dubious Sources. Kopel starts out by explaining how blogs "are transforming the media world." Nice. Then:

Here in Colorado, Web logs haven't reshaped the media landscape - yet. Even so, Colorado's best Web logs provide a very useful supplement to your media diet, providing you with news you may never find in the Denver dailies.

Oh, good. He's going to talk about Colorado blogs. I wonder if...

So it's time to announce the winners of Colorado Best Web Logs, 2003.

At the top of the heap is Walter in Denver (www.walterindenver.com).

Shock? Almost a coronary. Mrs. InDenver's nap was rudely interrupted.

Thank you, David Kopel. First time visitors - don't be shy, add your opinion to the comments.

Also, I keep a short list of other bloggers on the left side of this page. Talkleft, mentioned in the Rocky article, Amygdala, Matthew Edgar, Resurrection Song, The World Wide Rant, all those are based in Colorado as well.

Backtracking

Back in July I linked to Rep. Tom Tancredo's (R, Colo) interview in Right Wing News.

One of several bizarre things he said in the interview:

John Hawkins: Do you believe we should allow that, dual citizenship?

Tom Tancredo: Of course not, it's a horrible idea...and I said, "what do you mean 'increase the flow', why do you want to increase the flow?" He said there were a lot of reasons. The issue of remittances where we have millions of Mexicans working in the United States sending back dollars. He said they send back 10 billion dollars a year. Well, that's about 30% of the GDP of Mexico (Editor's Note: I was alerted that the 30% figure does not appear to be correct).

I don't recall seeing the editor's note the first time I read that interview. I do recall thinking that anyone with a passing interest in Mexico's state of affairs would recognize the number to be wildly innaccurate. Mexico's GDP, according to the Banco de Mexico, is 6,671.3 billion Pesos - that's about 590 billion US dollars, which puts the remittance percentage closer to 1.69%.

A simple mis-statement you ask? Seems not. Here's an excerpt from a speech Rep. Tancredo gave on the floor of the US House in January of '03:

Everything has changed on the border. The government of Mexico has decided to move as many people into the United States as possible, as I was told by Juan Hernandez, who was the head of something called the Ministry for Mexicans Living in the United States, a newly-created ministry in Mexico. He was at that time the minister, and when I asked him the purpose of such an agency, I had never heard of such an agency before, he said, well, no, it is new, and I am the first minister, and the purpose is essentially to increase the flow of people into the United States from Mexico. I said, why do you want to do that? And he said there are several reasons.

He was very, very candid. I must tell my colleagues I was astounded by how candid he was when he said, well, the reason why we are trying to get as many people into the United States as possible is so that eventually we will be able to affect American policy vis-a-vis Mexico just by the number of people who exist there. He said, of course, these people send money home to Mexico. It is called remittance and it accounts for almost 30 percent of their GDP. It is a very important function. It is a very important part of the Mexican government and the Mexican economy.

You would think anyone who claims to be an expert on US immigration issues, and a US Congressman no less, would be incapable of such an error.

War on (some) Drugs, Innocent Bystander Division

Another raid at a mistaken address, another lawsuit.

Mr. and Mrs. Kinnison allege the officers “busted the door” and began searching their home while the couple was feeding their animals. Upon returning, the couple said the officers pointed their weapons at them and told them to “kiss the floor” while they were handcuffed and searched.

Sue them for all you can, but be happy you're alive, folks. Many aren't that lucky.

Moozick

Everywhere I go people stop me and ask, "Walter what are you listening to these days?"

And if I really like these people I tell them I'm listening to Calexico's Feast of Wire, and Belle and Sebastian's Dear Catastrophe Waitress.

And maybe some other stuff, too.

Routt County Case Update

Don Nord, the medical marijuana user who lost his medicine to the DEA, is asking the judge in the case to cite the DEA agents for contempt for their refusal to return the pot. Good luck to him.

Many commenters, such as those following this post, see this as an issue of states' rights vs the fedgov's right to set drug policy. That's an interesting issue, but only a sidelight to what the real issue is in this case; human decency.

Imaging yourself to be one of those agents assigned to deny Mr. Nord his medicine. No matter what oath you've taken when you took the job, there are certain things that you cannot do, your ethical sense should prevent it. You cannot purposefully kill innocent people, for instance. The Nuremburg trial correctly set a precedent for such a thing. Claiming you were following orders does not absolve you of guilt.

Taking a cancer patient's medicine isn't quite at the level of outright slaughter of innocents. (although in Peter McWilliam's case*, the result was just as fatal) But it does go beyond what any decent person should allow.

*If you don't remember Peter McWilliams, or if you never read William Buckley's column about his death, you'll be very happy to read it here.