Moar links!
Thursday, July 3rd, 2014- I thought the Hobby Lobby decision was the right one. I also think the owners of Hobby Lobby appear to be flaming hypocrites on the subject of contraception.
- Right from the moment of legalization, Washington state authorities have treated cannabis use with gentle good humor. The latest: a series of ads about things that it’s now legal — but not necessarily smart — to do while stoned.
- One-armed man fined for riding bike with only one handbrake.
- It might be no surprise the Microsoft security people just broke a chunk of the Internet The surprise (to me at least) is why the fedgov would give one private company control over another private company’s e-turf in the first place.
- The way various govs have been treating Uber and Lyft is such a perfect example of the real agenda of government: protect the cartels.
- So apparently Chris Christie still thinks he has a shot at running for president. He’s playing pro-gun this week.
- Dumb robbers.
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July 3rd, 2014
The PUC contends that both companies are operating as unlicensed transportation brokers in the state and are using non-certified drivers to provide their services.
And the requisite licenses and certificates will be issued in…
Right?
I lived in PA for one (1) year. They lost both my car titles in separate booboos, and charged me to replace them.
July 4th, 2014
Claire – Do you honestly expect anyone who invests in a mutual fund to know EXACTLY what companies that fund is buying and selling? Unless someone can point to DIRECT investment by Hobby Lobby (and not the administrator of their 401K) in Contraceptive Manufacturers I have too call bad logic on that editorial. My company has a 401K and I have NO IDEA what stocks they are choosing to buy and sell.
July 4th, 2014
I’m opposed to wars of aggression.
Every bank (probably even in China) buys U.S. Government bonds. These finance wars of aggression. It would be immoral for me to have a bank account.
My former employer has a bank account. He even paid me by check! I was obligated to quit.
And I can’t use Federal reserve notes. Barter only.
But I can’t barter computers, or cell phones, or furniture; all these companies make money by selling to military personnel.
Wait! The cardboard box I live in contained a GE refrigerator. GE makes military engines and cannons.
I’m such a hypocrite.
July 4th, 2014
Hobby Lobby: It’s been a while since I had a employers 401k, but as I recall it, I chose which mutual funds my money went to. And while I could request a list of investments held by the fund, holdings were subject to change without notice as the fund manager juggled them to maintain profits. So Hobby Lobby didn’t invest “In Numerous Abortion And Contraception Products While Claiming Religious Objection”; they provided a 401k through which employees voluntarily chose mutual funds without a realtime way of knowing what companies the fund invested in, and one or funds invested in companies.
Forbes is claiming that HL should monitor which funds employees choose, constantly monitor the investments made by the funds to micromanage them (which defeats the purpose of a mutual fund), track down those companies, get a full list of their product line, analyze the products for intended use and off-label use, determine which uses are offensive, and demand changes in a fund in which HL employees are only a small part of the pool of investors.
Right.
They do have an interesting point regarding the the Timothy Plan and the Ave Maria Fund. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d never heard of them; I hadn’t.
But it’s a strawman argument anyway. Let’s say I’m a person who believes that self defense is a human right, an expression of basic survival instinct, but that I’m opposed to State-waged wars of aggression. MagPul makes magazines that government soldiers use in war. Should I refuse to support the company by purchasing their magazines for my own self defense use, because someone else uses them for purposes of which I disapprove?
July 4th, 2014
“I fish, therefore I am. … Scholars have long known that fishing turns men into philosophers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher’s salary.” – PatricK F. McManus
July 4th, 2014
The only hypocrisy involved in the Hobby Lobby thing is their idea that some people should have “rights” denied to others. The exemption because of “religious beliefs” blindly bypasses the real problem. The thing they are being exempted from is a violation of everyone’s rights, soup to nuts.
Since it is obviously wrong to impose any action on anyone, whether it is repugnant to their faith or just their personal opinion, the whole idea of exemption for religious (or feminist, or any other) reason is wrong no matter what the nazgul think. If something is wrong to impose on one person or group, it is wrong to impose it on anyone.
July 4th, 2014
Followup:
http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/order-restored-to-universe-as-microsoft-surrenders-confiscated-no-ip-domains/
July 4th, 2014
Mama Liberty….Spot on.
That pesky ‘equal protection under the law’ thingy again….
July 4th, 2014
Hobby Lobby….. Its just character assasination of a company run by people with Morals.Cant have that.
I applaud the decision.If you dont like what the company stands for,go work somewhere else.They dont owe you a job,or any healthcare for that matter,contrary to what Obama says.
July 4th, 2014
If your “right” has to be bought and paid for by someone else who didn’t have a say in the matter, is it really a right?
(Wasn’t there a Hardyville rule about that?)
My employer does not buy my ammunition, is he denying me my right to bear arms? No, because I buy it myself with the money he paid me. And the money he paid me was a voluntary exchange of labor for dollars. No rights are infringed upon on either side.
Likewise, my employer does not hand me a loudspeaker or drive me to church. That doesn’t mean he has denied me my right to speak freely or practice my chosen religion.
Why can’t people use their take-home pay and buy their own birth control? Absolutely nothing is stopping them. Including their employer.
July 4th, 2014
We’ll have to thank Washington state DOT for informing us of their thuggery.
About Uber and Lyft, there was a similar case in Portland that was just classic. Some poor dude immigrated from Ethiopia (I think) to Portland (to be free, I suppose) and started a cheapo cab service for poor folks in Portland. The cartel shut him down. It was one of the examples that finally got me understanding the ruling class does not give a rat’s ass about poor people or anybody else but themselves, despite their claims to the contrary.
Here are a couple of articles:
http://nwlaborpress.org/2012/07/cabbie/
http://portlandtransport.com/archives/2012/11/will_portland_f.html
What a bunch of fascist nonsense.
BTW Portland is the only place I see Priuses being used for cabs, heh.
About the Hobby Lobby thing, I can’t get on the Forbes website for some reason (scripts gone awry) but I will comment on this point by MamaLiberty:
[Since it is obviously wrong to impose any action on anyone, whether it is repugnant to their faith or just their personal opinion, the whole idea of exemption for religious (or feminist, or any other) reason is wrong no matter what the nazgul think.]
In my opinion we need to look at it from the points of view of the different players. It is indeed wrong for legislators and judges to pick winners and losers, no argument there. But among the people being regulated and controlled, I see no problem with accepting whatever “benefit” from the state (assuming the benefit is not something positive, like stolen cash, but simply leaving them alone) – even if a special case has been created for them to receive it.
July 4th, 2014
If people bought their own birth control, or purchased their own medical insurance, they might want to choose their own treatments and select their own doctors.
Then how would the government make sure they got the approved regimen?
July 5th, 2014
I could hardly believe it: the one armed man who got a ticket for having only one brake on his bicycle received an APOLOGY from the cops! Wow. A good outcome, and cops admitting a silly mistake. Oh…..that was in Germany. Figures. A U.S. cops would have put out a statement that an investigation showed all proper procedures were followed and the one-armed man must install a second brake or be arrested.
July 5th, 2014
As has been echoed here by others, I too find it hard to believe the Greens understand/have knowledge of every single company in the 401. I don’t have any experience with 401s, but I vividly remember inheriting a trust that had 15 pages of companies whom Merrill Lynch had invested the money with (their choices, and their connected companies on top of it). I’m pretty sure the majority of employees have never researched companies in such depth and the ones who have and may have objected will still be outnumbered by the ones who just care about return money. I use to chuckle when a proxy would come, as a shareholder we’d have to vote, and it would come with directions on who or what we should be specifically voting for (because they know very few have a clue what to vote for). And I too believe that if ANYONE wants to make their own choices, use their own money and brain to do so. The whole problem with the Hobby Lobby case all comes down to people wanting other people to pay for their stuff. And I too think that if someone doesn’t like how a company is run, they need to find a new job and not be so narcissistic to think the entire company should change to their whims. This is a real problem now a days, in so many situations, and is really dangerous to everyones’ freedoms. It’s out of control.
But I also think Hobby Lobby has found a way to stand against Obamacare in a way that may just work. I remember thinking when it all began that it sounded like they were just not going to sit there and accept this shoved down their throats, period. They found an angle that just might work or at least be the start of the crumbling.
July 7th, 2014
In a race between Christie and Clinton, I’d vote for Elizabeth Warren (not that I vote).