Tilting at Windmills

 

Tilting at Windmills.  Red state socialism TOM KNIGHTON JAN 5   READ IN APP   Photo by Kyle Wagner on Unsplash Socialism is defined as a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. More generally, though, we call something socialism if the government controls even a single aspect of production, distribution, or exchange. Take singe-payer healthcare, as an example. It takes over the exchange of healthcare from free enterprise. And people in red states, by and large, hate it. They hate it for good reason. It’s an absolute trainwreck and doesn’t benefit anyone, really. What’s funny is how many of those people in red states have socialism right in their back yard. See, 2023 saw me really get into whiskey as a hobby and not as a method to get intoxicated. In Georgia, I can hit a bunch of liquor stores and compare prices, build relationships with management, and acquire a collection of quality whiskeys—mostly bourbon—in a way that benefits both me and the liquor stores I choose to frequent. Next door in Alabama, I can’t really do that. Alabama is an alcohol beverage control state. All sales of spirits for off-premises consumption is through state-owned liquor stores. That means prices are controlled and inventory is controlled at these stores. People can’t necessarily buy what they want and what a store owner wants to sell them. They can only buy what a bureaucrat will let them buy. This is, for all intents and purposes, socialist control of the liquor trade. Now, before it seems like I’m picking on Alabama, I’m not. There are a number of red states with similar restrictions, including Iowa, Idaho, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Mississippi, among other states that tend to vote Republican for statewide offices also have states that control at least some aspect of the liquor trade. And before someone figures it’s just some holdover from evangelical temperance ideologies, let’s remember that a number of non-red states also have alcohol beverage control laws such as Oregon, Maine, and Vermont. Among others. While I’m exempt from having to deal with this kind of nonsense, I don’t like seeing socialism exist in the United States. Socialism never provides the best for consumers—some Alabama whiskey appreciators report having to pay a markup higher than what they find in non-ABC states, for example. Instead, it’s simply about control. ABC laws are a holdover from the temperance movement that created Prohibition. When that fiasco was repealed, states were still allowed their level of control, which some took up. Yet they don’t actually mitigate people’s drinking and, so far as I can tell, doesn’t actually produce enough “profit” to justify this intrusion into the free market. Honestly, it’s time we start seeing this nonsense ended and allow free trade in liquor sales and distribution.  Tilting At Windmills.  © 2024 Tom Knighton 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe

Russia Invades Georgia, World Distracted By Games

Georgia says Russian tanks mean 'war' in South Ossetia
This is bad.

Russia sent troops and dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles into the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia today, vowing to protect its citizens in a move described by Tbilisi's pro-Western Government as an act of war.

A South Ossetian rebel minister said that more than 1,000 people had been killed in overnight shelling of the city of Tskhinvali, the separatist capital which Georgia claimed today to have captured.

In probably the most serious regional crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, at least 50 Russian tanks – and possibly many more – rumbled through the Roki tunnel, which cuts through the Caucasus mountains separating South Ossetia from the Russian province of North Ossetia.

The Russian incursion came after Georgian forces moved to regain control of the region that broke away along with rebel Abkhazia in the 1990s. Russia backs the separatists in both provinces and has its own peacekeeping forces there.

"One hundred and fifty Russian tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles have entered South Ossetia," President Saakashvili of Georgia told reporters in Tbilisi. "This is a clear intrusion on another country’s territory. We have Russian tanks on our territory, jets on our territory in broad daylight."

Mr Saakashvili added that Georgian forces had downed two Russian jet fighters over Georgian territory.

Georgia mobilised its reservists yesterday and launched a massive offensive overnight. Fighting raged today around the city of Tskhinvali, the regional capital, as Georgian troops backed by tanks and warplanes pounded separatist forces,

A senior Russian military commander said parts of Russia’s 58th army were approaching the rebel capital.

"We cannot allow the deaths of our countrymen to go unpunished. The guilty parties will receive the punishment they deserve," President Medvedev told a meeting of his security council in the Kremlin.

"I am obliged to protect the lives and dignity of Russian citizens, no matter where they are located."

Mr Medvedev's predecessor, Vladimir Putin, now Prime Minister, warned on a visit to Beijing, where he attended the Olympic opening ceremony, that the Georgian action would bring "retaliatory measures".

Both Nato and the White House appealed for an end to the fighting as international diplomacy went into overdrive and Mr Putin discussed the crisis with President Bush at a gathering ahead of the Olympic ceremony. A US official said that 100 American military trainers working in Georgia were all safe.

"Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory," he told CNN as Russian armour rolled into South Ossetia.

"It’s not about Georgia anymore. It’s about America, its values: we are a freedom-loving nation that is right now under attack."

Tensions between Georgia and Russia have been rising over the last few months over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Georgia accuses Russia of fermenting trouble in both regions and supporting the separatist governments as a way to put pressure on Georgia and foil its attempts to join Nato. Russia has given out passports to a majority of South Ossetians and Abkhazians.

More: Russia, Georgia seek control of South Ossetia capital

Ironic

Severe Weather Drill Postponed Because of Bad Weather

ATLANTA (AP) -- State officials have postponed the severe weather drill planned for today because of bad weather. The drill is now scheduled for Friday.

A spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency -- Ken Davis -- says the statewide drill is a chance for schools, families and local governments to practice responding to a weather emergency.

The drill is planned as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Judge Decides Election Fraud Is A Constitutional Right

Three weeks before municipal elections will be held statewide, a federal judge has suspended Georgia's new voter ID requirement after finding the law imposes an unconstitutional poll tax and will not effectively combat voter fraud.

"The U.S. Justice Department reviewed and approved this law, saying it complied with the Voting Rights Act of 1965," House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) said. "Despite this review and approval, a Jimmy Carter-appointed judge has now ignored that decision, thwarting the best interests of the people of this state."

Legislators who voted for the measure said the ID requirement is needed to regulate voting and prevent voter impersonation fraud. They said the law allows anyone who cannot afford a voter ID card to sign an affidavit declaring they are indigent, allowing them to get the cards for free. A five-year state-issued voter ID card costs $20; a 10-year cards costs $35.

Huh, so the ID card is free but this ass claims it's a poll tax.
To quote Neil Boortz:

Look. This is all very simple. Why did Democrats oppose the law in the first place? Because Democrats want people who are not legally entitled to cast votes to go to the polls on election day. Democrats know full well that illegal aliens, felons, non-citizens and others not qualified to vote are far more likely to vote for Democrats than for Republicans. In several states there are proposals to allow non-citizens, and in some cases illegal aliens, to vote in local elections, and in every case those proposals are being put forward by Democrats. Democrats believe that their political survival might well depend on their ability to generate illegal votes on election day. They have a huge ally in Judge Harold Murphy.

Harold Murphy Says Showing ID at the Polls is a Tax

Should a valid ID be required to vote?