Archive | December, 2003

If you wonder what has gotten California in such an economic mess, here is a recent sample: The state legislature has passed a law requiring landlords to give tenants 60 days’ notice, instead of 30 days, before evicting them. In other words, if you are renting to a tenant who refuses to pay the rent, [...]

I’ve been a vigorous defender of the investment-banking and mutual fund industries against over-reaching shakedowns by regulatory vigilante Eliot Spitzer. But now, in at attempt to deflect attention from the scandals raised by Spitzer, the funds business has done something so sleazy that I’m practically sorry I ever said a kind word about it. The [...]

Early in our marriage, 40-some years ago, Mrs. Williams would return from shopping complaining about the unreasonable prices. Having aired her complaints, she’d then ask me to unload her car laden with purchases. After the unloading, I’d ask her: “I thought you said the prices were unreasonable. Why did you buy them? Are you unreasonable? [...]

“Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse or omission.” — Isabel Paterson, “The God of the Machine” Now that we’re in the thick of the holiday season, we’re again being warned to be wary of the commercialization, corporatism and greed that comes with Christmas. In [...]

Nationally, Police agencies are stepping up enforcement of seatbelt laws, and in the case of Nevada this means that if you’re pulled over for something (you can’t be pulled over for not having a seatbelt on) and aren’t wearing your seatbelt you will be given a ticket requiring you to pay a fine. Never has [...]

Moonie, my neighbor’s cat, sits predictably outside my front door every morning at 7 a.m. Moonie expects breakfast, and if unhappy with that day’s selection — fish, chicken, beef — Moonie sniffs indignantly and walks over to the front door and meows for his immediate release. Who knows where he goes? Perhaps he travels back [...]

In a hugely complex world, there is no way for the average person — or any person, for that matter — to be knowledgeable about even half the things that affect their lives. Most of us are necessarily ignorant of many fields, from botany to brain surgery. We can simply avoid discussing such things and [...]

Anti-Semitism in Europe was for nearly two millennia a Christian phenomenon; now it is basically a Muslim one. That is the basic message of an officially-commissioned study by the European Union (EU) which became notorious in recent weeks when the EU itself quashed the 104-page draft version. The Financial Times, which broke this story, reported [...]

Whenever I hear that familiar Yuletide condemnation “Christmas is too commercial,” I recall George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life” wishing he’d never been born. For just as he didn’t realize the positive impact he’d had on others, the anti-commercial brigade doesn’t realize the positive impact commerce has on Christmas. In the movie classic, an [...]