Non-daily Digest
Thomas Sowell snippets
Nothing illustrates the superficiality of our times better than the enthusiasm for electric cars, because they are supposed to greatly reduce air pollution. But the electricity that ultimately powers these cars has to be generated somewhere — and nearly half the electricity generated in this country is generated by burning coal.
What do you call it when someone steals someone else’s money secretly? Theft. What do you call it when someone takes someone else’s money openly by force? Robbery. What do you call it when a politician takes someone else’s money in taxes and gives it to someone who is more likely to vote for him? Social Justice.
Of all the arguments for giving amnesty to illegal immigrants, the most foolish is the argument that we can’t find and expel all of them. There is not a law on the books that someone has not violated, including laws against murder, and we certainly have not found and prosecuted all the violators — whether murderers or traffic law violators. But do we then legalize all the illegalities we haven’t been able to detect and prosecute?
Those wacky Canadians. Apparently drinking alcohol increases the likelihood of “unsafe” sex. Who knew?
Andrew Puzder, CEO, CKE Restaurants (Carl’s Jr/Hardee’s) — Job Creation Is Price for New U.S. Health Law
LA Times — A vast child obesity gap between affluent city, lower-income one
“We are trying policy-wise to make changes, but we can’t dictate what parents do in their homes,” said city recreation director Pam Wasserman. For parents on tight budgets, she said, healthful food isn’t always the least expensive option. “It is hard for us to compete with 10 tacos for $10.”
Wrong. I can very easily put together a very large, healthy salad that will feed a growing family for less than $10—and it doesn’t take significantly more time than running out for “fast food.” The obesity problem isn’t caused by poverty, but by choices. Cut the cable TV and the trips to McDonald’s and Taco Bell and buy healthy food.
BBC — Third arrest made after Anuj Bidve shot dead in Salford
But don’t they know guns are illegal in the U.K.? In that peaceful land they’re supposed to use knives. (Of course that begs the question of what she was supposed to use for self-defense.)
Michael Graetz, Wired — Energy Politics Is Lose-Lose
A thoughtful article, though I disagree with (among other things) his conclusions.
Although our government has enacted thousands of pages of energy legislation since the 1970s, it has never demanded that Americans pay a price that reflects the full costs of the energy they consume.
The problem is that it’s very difficult to convince Americans that we should pay more for energy when we know we have vast reserves of cheap coal, natural gas, and oil. Graetz wants us to pay for the cost of “green” energy, which is currently only marginally viable even with huge subsidies—which he correctly opposes. The American public isn’t convinced of the “global existential threat” posed by climate change, and we’re even less convinced we should pay through the nose for it.