Archive for March, 2012
Dave Killion — March 31, 2012
You might remember this post -
“That’s right… I’m boycotting the penny. Join me, and soon the government will get the message and quit wasting our money… the next time you buy something and the clerk is grabbing coins out of the till, I hope you will be like me and say, “No pennies, please.”
Well, it appears that our campaign has been successful -
“Canada’s government on Thursday announced its intention to withdraw the penny from circulation, saying it costs more to produce than its face value.
“Pennies take up too much space on our dressers at home. They take up far too much time for small businesses trying to grow and create jobs. It costs taxpayers a penny-and-a-half every time we make one,” said Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
“We will, therefore, stop making them.”
You’re welcome.
Dave Killion — March 30, 2012
“I do not doubt that conservatives are, in their heart of hearts, jugheaded buffoons who simply want to will away inconvenient truths by plugging their ears and covering their eyes when faced with cognitive dissonance. I’m confident that they argue from authority when it serves their purpose and then are muy skeptical when confronted with authority they don’t like. I’m metaphysically certain that many are repllent and repulsive and altogether awful and that they tend to love dogs and cats in the abstract more than they do their fellow human beings in the flesh. In all this, I suspect, they are incredibly similar to liberals and, alas, libertarians, and everyone else.”
Nick Gillespie
Dave Killion — March 29, 2012
Over at Hit and Run, Lucy Steigerwald writes about some recent news here in the Great White North -
“Portugal gets it; the president of Guatemala gets it; Now some Canadians are noticing that the whole be-like-the-U.S. and declare war on plants and people is not the best policy idea.
The chief medical officers of three Canadians provinces, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan have written a new paper for Open Medicine called ”Improving community health and safety in Canada through evidence-based policies on illegal drugs.” Its conclusions are a cautious version of the above; law and order harshness does nothing to sate appetites for drugs, marijuana in particular is not terribly bad for people, and U.S. policies are just awful so why emulate them?”
I think these physicians are correct in both their diagnosis and their prescription, however, I don’t look to physicians for policy advice anymore than I do movie stars. Of course, every individual is entitled to their opinion, but what am I to make of “International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War“, “Physicians for Social Responsibility“, or “Doctors for the Environment“? Is there something about obtaining an MD that bestows insight and ability concerning public policy? Well, the physicians themselves must think so, because there are an awful lot of ‘Doctors for This’ and ‘Doctors Against That’ in this world.
Mind you, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is a Ob-Gyn, so maybe there is something to all this. Either way, I welcome all allies.
Antony Zegers — March 28, 2012
After watching the first installment of Atlas Shrugged with some libertarian friends, I was surprised that no-one had been following Canada’s very own corporate battle of railway tycoons, currently in progress.
A hedge fund called “Pershing Square Capital Management” has launched a proxy battle for control of CP Rail. This means that they are attempting to overrule CP’s current management by having their proposal voted on by the owners of the company (ie, the shareholders). Their plan involves turfing the current CEO, Fred Green, and replacing him with Hunter Harrison, former CEO of CP’s main competitor, CN Rail. Hunter Harrison is a legend in the railway industry who transformed CN Rail from one of the least efficient railways in North America following its de-nationalization, into the envy of its peers, with the lowest operating ratio in the industry. Harrison’s gruff, no-nonsense approach, however, is threatening to many.
The railway industry can be very inspiring, as it hearkens back to an era when ambitious capitalists built prosperity in our society through their unrelenting pursuit of profit. Although there is some government interference on the sector, North America’s freight railway network remains a bastion of free market efficiency, adding much-needed value to our economy. Also, for those who doubt the practicality of privatizing roads and highways, our railway network offers a good example of how a privately owned transportation system can easily overcome many oft-cited worries.
