Have just a touch of the commercial in you. Do not merely shop, but trade a little. Gracian #232
George Rebane
Been on travel with some friends for the last couple of weeks. We attended the Mercatus Institute’s annual retreat in Scottsdale. The big issue discussed was socialism’s onslaught on capitalism – ‘Can American Capitalism be Saved?’ – and who is doing what to bring it down. I’ll cover more of that in a future post. But here I just want to include an observation gleaned on our way to Scottsdale.
We stopped overnight in a Needles, CA RV park, and were pretty much shocked at the state of that once prosperous gateway town to California that lies on I-40. The town is an economic disaster area, a relic of former times, and a step away from being a derelict or even a ghost town. What made the sight of Needles so stark was its comparison with Arizona that lies a stone’s throw across the Colorado River. We wanted to eat out and also buy some RV items. Nothing available in Needles. But a drive across a little bridge brought us into a dynamic and bustling commercial area that was an extension of Bullhead City, AZ which lay twenty miles to the north. It was like driving back to West Berlin through the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie in the days when communism ruled East Germany.
The most telling part was instantly apparent from the bridge looking northward. The Arizona side was filled with well-kept and landscaped riverside houses, each with their own boat dock; the California riverside was weeds as far as the eye could see that continued a good piece inland. Huell Howser, RIP, could have done one hell of program on Needles and what happened to ‘California’s Gold’.
Governor Moonbeam and entourage are heading to China. Their purpose is to talk the Chinese into making investments in California that people more knowledgeable about the state won’t. They also want Chinese to buy more stuff made in California that we can’t sell elsewhere at prices that bring a profit. I can’t imagine China buying anything that we are selling save some technology that they still don’t have and want to copy. The same goes for making investments. They would like to take major positions in high-tech companies dealing in IT and genomics. One thing is for sure, they will not be buying any ‘green technology’ from us. There they have us beat on both price and performance, and will continue selling the stuff to us.
But come to think of it, they may talk Team Moonbeam into mandating and/or subsidizing the purchase of Chinese green stuff. Nothing like getting a twofer from being America’s creditor.
Connecticut has now taken the lead in nutty gun control laws, while again demonstrating that all states were not created equal in their ability to sensibly legislate. Today their Governor Malloy signed the “most sweeping” gun control bill in the nation that is supposed achieve new levels of “gun safety”. It will, of course, do none of that. (more here)
Meanwhile, despite President Obama’s national campaign to disarm America, more states are easing gun regulations than are bolstering them (more here). The message there is clear – don’t disarm sane, stable, law-abiding citizens, but do more to identify and intercede with people who are clearly not qualified to possess firearms, and maybe not even to walk on the sidewalk. To be fair, Connecticut’s new law also attempts to address that part which was the only germane factor in their Newtown massacre.
[5apr13 update] Here's a Quote of the Day from the Los Angeles Times about something I strongly believe and wish I would have said.
"Frankly, I don't know what it is about California, but we seem to have a
strange urge to elect really obnoxious women to high office. I'm not bragging,
you understand, but no other state, including Maine, even comes close. When it
comes to sending left-wing dingbats to Washington, we're Number One. There's no
getting around the fact that the last time anyone saw the likes of Barbara
Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Maxine Waters, and Nancy Pelosi, they were stirring a
cauldron when the curtain went up on 'Macbeth'. The four of them are like
jackasses who happen to possess the gift of blab. You don't know if you should condemn
them for their stupidity or simply marvel at their ability to form words."
— Columnist Burt Prelutsky, Los Angeles Times
rebanesruminations.com 
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