The Rocky Mountain News yesterday ran an editorial excoriating Rep. Tom Tancredo for his stance against overseas outsourcing. Here's the meat of it:
So far as we know, Tancredo has yet to follow Sen. John Kerry's lead and indict executives who dare to invest overseas as "Benedict Arnold CEOs," but his rhetoric is creeping in that direction. We wonder if Tancredo and Kerry also believe corporations should be berated for replacing workers with machines. If not, why not? Automation forces many, many more workers, at least temporarily, "into lower-paying jobs" than outsourcing ever has. Meanwhile, though, the pursuit of efficiency through automation and outsourcing allows companies to invest far more in research and development, which in turn creates many more higher-value jobs.
As we noted at the outset, this process of "creative destruction" has worked economic miracles for more than 200 years. Americans today on average earn, after inflation, six times more than U.S. workers did just 100 years ago - even as a multitude of jobs and professions have been wiped out by automation and forms of outsourcing. But Tancredo, Kerry and many others now imply that this process of wealth creation has somehow run its course.
Nonsense. Job creation is indeed sluggish, but it simply is not true that the economy is being sabotaged by outsourcing.
Let me go a step farther and say the stance these two take is one of economic ignorance. The long term results of protectionism, whether of products or jobs, is to raise prices and suppress the economy.
Of course rhetoric isn't policy, and it's possible that Tancredo is merely grandstanding for the voters. It's still annoying to see an elected official taking such a position.
As a follow up to the RMBR I got a lovely e-mail from Suzy, who keeps this lovely blog. She would have liked to have this post in the Roundup, but she only found out about it after the fact.
I especially liked this post about the Yellowstone Caldera, a subject I wrote about a few months back.
It's time again to check in on Colorado bloggers and see what they're up to. What follows are links to what each writer has picked as the most important of the last few weeks.
James Freeman's blog White Dog features this heartwarming story of an Eagle Scout who's project is to inform 1,000,000 people of their rights as jurors. Well, it warms my heart.
In a debate continued from the last RMBR Janus says some people need to be educated. No sense in having a blog if you don't get to argue.
It was only a few weeks ago when it looked like Matthew Edgar was going to take over the Independence Institute and remake it in his image. Alas, he's been lured by the fame and fortune waiting at a think tank in D.C. Fortunately for him the RMBR is open to Colorado bloggers in exile.
The iPod as a military tool: Fusilierpundit has ideas! Be sure to look for baby pictures while you visit.
Zombyboy has some thoughts on reformers and terrorist in the Middle East. It's an internal cultural struggle over there.
An interested third party nominated this Publicola post for the RMBR. Our pseudonymous blogger is incensed at the "victim disarmament" advocates in our public schools.
Did you ever get a letter from Teddy Kennedy? Jeff Goldstein has. It made Jeff very, very happy.
Colorado Luis is surprised to find himself supporting a Republican sponsored ballot initiative, this one trying to require supermajorities for state constitutional amendments.
Jeralyn at Talkleft reports that many states are taking blood by force from DUI suspects. In addition to being questionable in terms of constitutional limits it seems a bit goulish to me.
Off In The Tall Weeds is a good name for a blog. You can't use it though, because Steven Wheeler already has. Here he's writing about the lack of civility in modern political discourse.
Spring is here, the flowers are blooming, and Denver is a great place to see them. Coyote Gulch has a brief guide.
Jed at FreedomSight finds a recent decision by the 10th Curcuit to be lacking. Seems they missed that part of the 2nd Amendment that says 'the right of the people...'
Military blogger Andrew Olmsted compares and contrasts Bush and Kerry's attempts to avoid Vietnam service way back when.
JB Holston at the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network examines the possible budgets cuts the state will have to impose in the coming years. Our state faces some tough choices. Welcome the RMPN to the RMBR.
Publicola's own nomination is this post about a legal spat between the Brady campaign and the ATF.
Last time around I forgot to include a post from my own blog. This time I'll give you this, a quick post about the screwed-up priorities of our news media.
Thanks to everyone who made this a record turnout for the RMBR. I kept it as short as I could as there are 16 entries above.
Several of you sent multiple entries and asked me to pick one, which is a dangerous thing to do considering my warped point of view. Next time around we'll go back to a rotation for hosting, so if you'd like to host send me an e-mail and I'll get you on the list.
Update: The World Wide Rant makes it 17.
I'm not too worked up by the 'under God' portion of the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm more creeped out by the statist overtone of the whole thing. Pledging fealty to a state isn't the sort of thing a freedom loving populace should enjoy.
Gene Healy has more on the history of the thing, of which some may be unaware:
It's probably too much to ask politicians to reflect a little before they lunge for a political hot-button issue. But any conservatives so inclined should think about what they're defending. What's so conservative about the Pledge?
Very little, as it turns out. From its inception, in 1892, the Pledge has been a slavish ritual of devotion to the state, wholly inappropriate for a free people. It was written by Francis Bellamy, a Christian Socialist pushed out of his post as a Baptist minister for delivering pulpit-pounding sermons on such topics as "Jesus the Socialist." Bellamy was devoted to the ideas of his more-famous cousin Edward Bellamy, author of the 1888 utopian novel Looking Backward. Looking Backward describes the future United States as a regimented worker's paradise where everyone has equal incomes, and men are drafted into the country's "industrial army" at the age of 21, serving in the jobs assigned them by the state. Bellamy's novel was extremely popular, selling more copies than other any 19th century American novel except Uncle Tom's Cabin. Bellamy's book inspired a movement of "Nationalist Clubs," whose members campaigned for a government takeover of the economy. A few years before he wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, Francis Bellamy became a founding member of Boston's first Nationalist Club.
National Socialists? If you're not creeped out yet, check out these photos of children giving the preferred salute when the Pledge was first instituted.
Given its origin, it's no suprise the pledge was matched with a similar salute used by the German national socialsts.
Healy link via Marginal Revolution.
Time to send in your posts for the Rocky Mountain Blog Roundup. You know, walter@walterin...
You have 'til Sunday night. Remember, last time around the Rocky Mountain News and Instapundit linked. Don't miss out.
Did you know that Peter Bagge, known for Hate and his work in Reason Magazine, among many other things, has a strip in the Weekly World News?
It's called the Adventures of Bat Boy. I actually paid for a copy of the paper instead of reading it while in the check-out line.
Friday I was invited to a tasting of the new Breckenridge Brewery product, 471 IPA Reserve. They showed me to a hidden back room, (really!) where there's a quaint wood paneled bar, and they were pouring the stuff into plastic cups.
"What is it?" I asked the fellow behind the bar.
"It's sort of like our Trademark Ale," he answered, "except we doubled everything. Hops, everything."
"It's got an alcohol content of 9.2%. We just measured it this morning." he added.
I drank two. That would be my limit. It's definitely not for wimpy beer drinkers. So far it's available at Breckenridge Brewery locations. Drink at your own risk.
The next go-round will be held next Monday, the 29th. All March posts will be eligible.
While I'm thinking of it I haven't asked for anyone to guest host lately. If you'd like to host just let me know, walter[]walterindenver[]com. All Colorado blogs are welcome.
Also, I have an unconfortable feeling that someone volunteered to host a few weeks back, but I can't find the message. If that was you be assured it's nothing personal, I'm just disorganized. Send me another note and I'll try not to lose it.
The World Wide Rant is two years old, which means it is now Officially an Institution. Andy and Co. may no longer dress in 'business casual,' [or bathrobes] while blogging. Nope, it's all suits and ties from here on out.
That may be the the downside, but on the upside WWR HQ will now be listed on the touristy guides that you find in hotels rooms when you stay in Denver. You can probably get a package deal, see the U.S. Mint and WWR HQ on the same ticket. Have your picture taken with Fiona for only $5 more.
In related news, Coors is planning on making a special edition Rant Lager to be available soon.
Plans to re-introduce wolves to the Colorado landscape are getting closer to fruition. It's a controversial idea - wolves are predators which cull the deer and elk populations. They also enjoy a nice juicy calf now and again. That may not seem like a big problem, unless you raise cattle for a living.
So years of study have already been completed, gaging Colorado's suitability for sustaining a healthy wolf population. The decision to start the re-introduction is entirely political, of course, which means there's no reason to think logic will have any influence on the decision. It gives me some pleasure, then, to see wolves taking matters into their own hands, umm, paws:
Wyoming has 234 wolves; Montana has 182, and Idaho about 340, said Ed Bangs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator. This after the animals were wiped out in the region early last century to protect growing livestock herds.
There are always lone wolves that break off, wandering sometimes hundreds of miles in their attempt to attract a mate and establish a new territory, and they are as likely to choose a calf to eat as a crippled elk.
Already a dozen wolves have been spotted as far south as Interstate 80 near Rawlins and Rock Springs, only a day's trot from Colorado
It looks like sooner or later wolves will make their way down here anyway. I have a simple suggestion for the people pushing for new wolf packs in Colorado. Take donations for a fund to compensate ranchers who lose livestock to wolves. It wouldn't take a huge amount of money, probably a few tens of thousands of dollars, and all sides walk away happy.
It's such a simple idea that I wouldn't be surprised if someone is doing it already.
The game was great, I met lots of nice people from the ole' alma mater, and then I come home to read this. Vegetarians who eat meat, courtesy of Zomby. Read and laugh.
Twelve hours from now I should be in Pepsi Center watching UTEP annihilate Maryland.
Go Miners!
At what point would you declare the actions of a government to be tyrannical? I think this would qualify:
WHAT do you give someone who’s been proved innocent after spending the best part of their life behind bars, wrongfully convicted of a crime they didn’t commit?
An apology, maybe? Counselling? Champagne? Compensation? Well, if you’re David Blunkett, the Labour Home Secretary, the choice is simple: you give them a big, fat bill for the cost of board and lodgings for the time they spent freeloading at Her Majesty’s Pleasure in British prisons.
The only possible bright side to this is that there's a legal battle over this, and hopefully there's at least one sane person in the chain of authority who will put a stop to this nonsense.
According to Jonathan Wilde, the great debate of the blogosphere isn't left vs right, but authoritarians against libertarians. I would like to think that's true.
That's where you'll find Frozen Dead Guy Days, an annual festival. Yes, there is an actual frozen dead guy.
You've just missed this year's event, but it's not too early to start planning for next year.
According to the GAO, lying is just part of the job for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Once again, Ron Paul is one of the few good people in Washington.
Jim Henley has a complaint, or two, about the Democrats:
Bill Clinton's stalwart guardianship of his own low pleasure rights drove conservatives nuts, but it also obscured how willing Clinton was to throw lesser beings to the lifestyle police - V-chips, drug prosecutions, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and a whole range of minor-to-major paternalisms Clinton either fostered, coopted or just couldn't be bothered fighting. (Remember school uniforms?) If it didn't involve terminating a pregnancy, your right to just about anything was, in Bill Clinton's view, negotiable.
It makes it harder, in these troubled times, for libertarians to work up much enthusiasm for cooperating with liberals. When, time after time, I have liberals complain that, since libertarians oppose affirmative action we lack "compassion" for African-Americans, I respond, "When you stop voting to keep locking up every seventh black guy for the crime of selling something other people want to buy, then come back and talk to me about my compassion deficit." And what I typically get is some mumble about, "Well, most liberals I know are against the war on drugs as currently practiced."
Great. And you and your friends have done what about that? Made it a litmus test for a nomination? Refused to vote for an enthusiastic drug warrior just because he or she bears the Democratic Party stamp of approval in the general election? Worked to elevate anti-prohibition candidates to office?
The advantage of being the minority party is the freedom to espouse reformist policy. Libertarian votes are up for grabs, and I'd consider voting for a Democrat with a reasonable drug policy. What are they waiting for?
I'm going to link to this just because everyone should know:
The Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty abetted a vicious ideological environmentalist smear campaign against Bjorn Lomborg by declaring two years ago that his excellent book The Skeptical Environmentalist, was "objectively dishonest." Naturally this accusation hit the headlines. However, in December, 2003, the Danish Ministry of Science and Technology overturned the DCSD kangaroo court's decision and sent it back to them. On futher reflection the DCSD members have now decided that perhaps they'd been a bit hasty and have completely dropped the matter[.]
I don't have anything to add. Follow the link for more info.
What a remarkable story this year in El Paso. The UT-El Paso basketball team has made its way into the WAC championship with a win last night over Boise St:
UTEP came from nowhere this season, from nowhere to somewhere -- and that somewhere is the championship game of this Western Athletic Conference tournament.
UTEP played its usual brand of tenacious defense, had great ball movement and good shooting to open a lead down the stretch. The Miners then won the resultant free-throw shooting contest.
UTEP 85, Boise State 73.
[...]
UTEP was 6-24 one year ago. The Miners now have turned that mark completely upside-down, moving to 24-6 with Friday night's victory.
They play Nevada tonight for the league championship.
For you Spanish readers, Madrid newspaper El Pais is reporting a change in the investigation of this morning's bombing. Interior Minister Angel Acebes has announced the finding of evidence of Arabic involvement. He hasn't yet ruled out the Basque seperatists, however.
Link via the World Wide Rant.
The bombing in Spain this morning is obviously a horrible tragedy, one with long term ramifications in world politics.
So what's the lead story on KOA radio this morning? The hockey fight. News 4 at noon did the same and then their second story was about the University of Colorado football scandal.
That's pathetic, folks.
"GEORGE MICHAEL will ‘retire’ from the music industry after his current album..."
How will we be able to tell?
There are some examples of private regulation that work in today's society, sports prominently among them. There are limits to the regulatory authority of sports governing bodies, and we're seeing those limits playing out with the now infamous hockey fight which injured Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore.
Andy Duncan wrote a bit about private regulation in sport, and how well it works, in Samizdata a couple of months ago. Here's a snip:
Notice, also, that little in the way of policing is required. The referee makes a decision, and that's it. Self-restraint and the need to save face in the 'society' of the game, gets most players obeying 'The Law', though occasionally team-mates and linesmen, acting as proxy-police, are needed to suppress hotspots of dissent. Notice also how powerful this effect of self-restraint becomes, before the face of this flimsy anarchist law. You've got a six-foot-five, 32-inch-waisted, nineteen-stone man, pumped with adrenaline, who has just had his testicles gouged with a bullocking boot, who has retaliated in kind, and who is shouting and remonstrating at an eleven stone referee, and yet the merest display of a red piece of plastic and the point of a finger gets this beast of a man to turn, to walk away, and to obey the instruction to leave 'The Pitch'. Okay, so he's often unhappy, and lip readers refuse to reveal what he's saying on family television, but he does ultimately do what he's told, even if kicking some form of bench, or bench official, on his way off.
So speedy inexpensive legal decisions, competitive judges, competitive systems of law, the lack of a need for much policing, binding second level arbitration, legal stability, and a complete acceptance of all parties as to the ultimate legitimacy of 'The Law'. Ladies and Gentlemen. I give you a fully-functioning anarcho-capitalist legal system, in action. It can work.
There's also an off-field level of regulation in league sports, and Vancouver Canuck player Todd Bertuzzi now finds himself at the mercy of NHL administrators. This case is also being investigated by local police, as the incident was so brutal as to catch their attention. There is a precedent for this action. In 2000, also in Vancouver, hockey player Donald Brashear was severely injured when Marty McSorley hit him in the head with a stick during a game. McSorley was given a lengthy suspension, and he never played in the NHL again. He was also sentenced to probation by the courts. Considering a professional hockey player's salary, losing a career, or even just a big chunk of a season, is a much more serious punishment than anything the courts are likely to impose.
Even Brashear agrees, and he hopes the courts won't get involved in the current case.
It would be useful if sports governing authorities codified the situations where they would prefer law enforcement to get involved. That's a better idea than waiting for lawmakers to do it.
Nighthorse Campbell won't run for reelection in the Senate, so the race is wide open. Just about any Colorado politician you've ever heard of has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Senate and all the politicians you've never heard of will run to replace the Senate candidates.
If you live in Colorado you've been reading about it in the paper, and if you don't live here Colorado Luis has helpfully written about it here. And here. Oh, here too.
Not that I care much. If Tancredo runs it might perk things up a bit. Nothing like a little insanity to stir up things. Maybe Tancredo V.S. Salazar.
Here's the Libertarian purity test, which I first found via Andrew Olmsted.
I took it twice, and scored 97 and 89. There's some ambiguity in some questions, and the quiz really seems to be testing for anarcho-capitalist purity rather than libertarian.
Update: Gary Farber has questions.
You've all heard about the water taxi which capsized off Baltimore. A tragedy, for sure, but it hits home when you find out one of the victims is a Cato empoyee, one of the people working for our betterment.
Ex-congressman Bob Barr was targeted by the Libertarian Party for defeat in the primaries during the last election cycle. His hard-line stance against medical marijuana made him a good target, and the LP ran TV ads attacking him on this subject. I don't know if it was the LP's efforts that made the difference, but Barr lost.
Oddly, he seems to hold no grudge. Here's the same Bob Barr:
While I am not a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party, I must say
that, after speaking to its members and listening to many of their concerns,
I've decided that Libertarians have much to offer Georgians of all political
stripes. I hope the media wakes up and pays more heed to the Libertarian
candidates and the substance of their positions. On many of the issues
comprising its platform, the Libertarian Party of Georgia has staked out a
position strikingly in accord with what I perceive to be positions favored
by mainstream Georgians. For example:
- The party understands the Second Amendment, follows legislation affecting
firearms rights, and intelligently articulates a reasonable position.
- Strong families, with a minimum of government interference, are favored by
their platform.
- Libertarians don't like the government collecting fingerprints and other
personally identifying data; neither do most Georgians.
- Libertarians share the growing concerns of many Georgians of all political
persuasions that in its zeal to fight terrorism, the government is showing
dangerous disdain for citizens' civil liberties, including our right to privacy.
- Like most Georgians, Libertarians understand that public expressions of
religious beliefs, so long as not forced on others, do not constitute a threat to the Republic.
- The Libertarian Party of Georgia champions clear criminal laws, and
consistent application and objective judicial review of them. If that's not
mainstream, we're in deep trouble.
- Bedrock protection of property rights, something we need more rather than
less of these days, remains a vital tenet of the Georgia's Libertarian Party
platform.
To be sure, the Libertarian Party adheres to some policies that are not shared by most Georgians. Notable among those are its advocacy of loosened anti-drug and anti-obscenity laws, and its pro-choice stance.
Maybe we've been too nice to the political opposition. We just need to beat them to make them like us.
...are found in the Carnival of the Capitalists, this week hosted by Catallarchy. It's good to expand the circle of blogs you read now and then.
I don't always write a post that qualifies for inclusion, but I had one this time.
A half-million marched today in support of the recall effort against President Hugo Chavez.
I think he has a clear choice; step down or try to violently supress his opponents. The latter choice will likely lead to a long and bloody civil war.
If you've come looking for the blog roundup click here. Or just keep reading.
As Hugo Chavez makes progress in turning Venezuela into another brutal dictatorship, the opposition grows. Milos Alcalay, Venezuela's embassador to the UN, has resigned. In announcing his decision, Alcalay listed his reasons:
"[The] situation that has presented itself in the last few days places in danger the three fundamental principles that dictate the functions of a diplomat: respect for human rights, respect for democracy, and the use of diplomatic dialogue as a norm.”
[...]
“The military and police repression against men, women, and children has had painful results. The dead and injured are joined in the news of the disappearance of political leaders, the multiple complaints of torture and other irregularities revealed through the media, national and international. which show our country in a model similar to those totalitarian or authoritarian regimes...which were rejected by the people of Latin America in ...80’s.”
Alcalay is well respected at home, and has survived as UN embassador through several administrations. His resignation could be a sign that larger numbers of Venezolanos won't tolerate Chavez's bloody class warfare. What happens from here is anyone's guess.
Related - Andrew Olmsted says Chavez is a "Castro wanna-be."
Once upon a time, when blogging was a new thing, there was this one blog. It was a funny, popular blog, and all the cool bloggers linked to it and read it daily. Now, this wasn't just any old blog, no, this blog careened drunkenly from one subject to the next, and it often ran over old ladies and kittens. It was quite a spectacle, usually hilarious, often obscene, sometimes incomprehensible, and always entertaining.
And then it died. Or maybe it was just hibernating, and since August of '02 it's been silent. But just now a few score fresh words found their way to Protein Wisdom.
Here's a dose of political incorrectness for you:
Ten hundred books could I write you about her
Because I felt if I could know her
I would know all women
And they've not been any too well known
For brains and planning and organised thinking
But I'm sure the women are equal
And they may be ahead of the men
Yet I wouldn't spread such a rumor around
Because one organises the other
And sometimes the most lost and wasted
Attract the most balanced and sane
And the wild and the reckless take up
With the clocked and the timed
That's the opening of a song written by lefty icon Woody Guthrie in 1942. The music was never recorded or set to paper, so when Guthrie died the music was lost. He did write down the words, and more than a half century later Billy Bragg, a noted leftist himself, set those lyrics to music, with spectacular results.
I wonder if Guthrie weren't a leftist if he would be so fondly remembered. Better still, what would happen if a musician sang those words today?
Last night I wrote about eminent domain and how economic ignorance keeps some from seeing how harmful the practice is. This morning I find this article by Thomas Sowell, subtitled, Why it's important for economists to combat public ignorance.
Some years ago, the distinguished international-trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati was visiting Cornell University, giving a lecture to graduate students during the day and debating Ralph Nader on free trade that evening. During his lecture, Prof. Bhagwati asked how many of the graduate students would be attending that evening's debate. Not one hand went up.
Amazed, he asked why. The answer was that the economics students considered it to be a waste of time. The kind of silly stuff that Ralph Nader was saying had been refuted by economists ages ago. The net result was that the audience for the debate consisted of people largely illiterate in economics and they cheered for Mr. Nader.
Read the rest for Sowell's real life examples of bad political policy through economic ignorance. The Sowell article link comes via Catallarchy, where Micha Ghertner adds, "I think one can safely say that systematic economic illiteracy is the most dangerous problem in the world today."
Rod Paige was wrong: I'd much rather face a terrorist group than the NEA.
Lynch mob at ten o'clock.
Andy made sure that I saw this editorial in the Denver Post today. The Denver suburb of Arvada attempted to seize a piece of a private property to use for a Wal-Mart parking lot but the town was thwarted by the State Supreme Court. The Post notes;
In overturning a district court ruling, the Supreme Court said the authority could no longer rely on the municipality's initial 1981 blight designation to condemn property. Further, the justices held, because blight had been eliminated from the parcel, the urban renewal authority no longer had any basis to exercise condemnation powers.
That ruling is a little to narrow for my taste. I'd like to see local governments blocked from that sort of action in general. The Post concludes:
One court victory doesn't mean the war is over: The legislature needs to make sure that homes and businesses aren't bulldozed merely because a big-box retailer wants to open a store, but redevelopment should not be made impossible.
The legislature is considering that option right now. The really despicable part of using eminent domain to favor one business over another is that it allows the favored business to bypass the market. In essence it's a subsidy for bigger business, in this case Wal-Mart.
Part of the probem is that a some people don't see that the displaced businesses were mis-treated - they were paid market prices for their property, weren't they?
That attitude underscores a fundamental ignorance of economics. The real estate market, like other markets, doesn't fix absolute values. The market can't do that, because there is no such thing. As Ludwig von Mises explained, economic values are subjective, that is, any piece of real estate is worth what you think it's worth.
Here's an example. Suppose you own a restaurant. You're very good at running the place, and it turns a nice profit. You're living comfortably, even if you're not wealthy.
Now suppose Wal-Mart wants the property where your restaurant sits. It's not the best neighborhood, so they don't expect to pay you much for your business. You ask for more money than they think it's worth, and they balk at the price. You won't sell at market price because you like your work, the place has been in the family for generations, and your talent in the business makes it more profitable the market would suggest. None of those three reasons are measurable by outside observers, only you can determine what monetary value they have.
That may sound like an extreme example, that most property owners aren't so attached to their property, but consider; if a property owner thinks the market price is a good deal for him then he doesn't need any additional incentive to sell.
If the above example happens in the city of Arvada, or many other municipalities, Wal-Mart can just go to the local government and and force the property owners to sell.
In that case it's fairly certain the property owner gets screwed.
All this comes from a single blog post:
"Ashcroft planned the attacks of 9/11."
"The rays eminated from the computer give me a headache and make my back hurt."
"Meat makes you sick!"
The moms with a Lexus buying $100 in vitamins and $200 in food: "Here is my food stamp card."
"I see no reason to wash my hair; shampoo is just a myth to make them more money."
"My husband's teeth came out on our wedding night."
"Jesus is poisoning my water because Jews live in my buidling."
These and many more can be found in the final installment of Matthew Edgar's job-inspired series.
Another great turnout for this edition, as famous and not-so-famous Colorado bloggers sent in their submissions. Most of the state is covered in a deep layer of fresh snow, so it's an ideal time to sit back and enjoy a fresh batch of bloggy goodness. There's something to offend almost everyone in the selections that follow...and remember, no wagering, please.
Over at the World Wide Rant Jon takes a look at theology and modern marriage. Is it still OK to marry POW's?
Matthew Edgar reminds us that the Public Utilities Commission is a financial burden on all of us. Just because the press doesn't understand doesn't mean you shouldn't know about it.
Here's an entry from new-to-me blog Chicks With Machine Guns. Writer Daryl Harb argues that the push for gay marriage is all about money. You'd think a blog with that name would have more pictures, no? I'm just sayin...
Talkleft has a sickening story about a fellow who spent eight months in jail after three little girls said he molested them. The problem? The girls made up the story out of thin air.
Coyote Gulch goes to Californy! I think a lot bloggers have gone to interesting places and met interesting people through blogs, and this is a good example.
Jed at Freedom Sight points out that politicians rely on ignorance to promote anti-gun legislation. Do 'assault weapon' bans reduce crime? Jed has a facts and an opinion.
Janus goes to the symphony, and some rude woman does her best to ruin the experience. You just can't reason with some people.
You remember that saying about lawmaking being akin to sausage-making? Publicola has a prime example, this one concerning gun permit legislation. This article is a great example of how blogs can do good work filling in the gaps in news coverage in the mainstream press.
Gary Farber of Amygdala fame sends this article about 'loon' Justin Raimondo and Antiwar.com. Seems there's been a defection of sorts.
On a more philosophical bent, Andrew Olmsted is writing about freedom and equality, and what those terms mean to different people. That's the sort of discussion that begs for participation in the comments, so have at it.
That's an even ten blogs, and a pretty diverse group included here. Thanks to all the bloggers who have made the roundup a success over the past few months, and thanks to all the readers who make it worthwhile.