Joey Is Right Here: December 2006

Misc stuff

I put my obligatory keep-my-travel-blog-active post on whereisjoeytoday.blogspot.com for Birmingham

Not quite Rome.

Speaking of traveling, I am also doing a little research for traveling again. I am looking into going to China in '08 for the olympics (either as a spectator or as an athlete--I'm thinking biathlon). So once I start grad school up I may enroll in a 7 week installment Mandarin class. Mei Wah

--Joey

Global Warming and Abortion

In some ways the debate on global wqarming is like the abortion debate. Most people would like to end both, but can't tolerate consequences. The zealots in both cases don't want an answer to the problem, they want their answer to the problem. For example, if you want to minimize abortions, have plentiful, accessible (free from charities, or from the government*?) birth control (more syringe than pill). Rabid moralists will complain that people will just have more sex out of wedlock (maybe true) and therefore they do not like the idea, even if it means fewer abortions. For them, the reduction has to occur by making abortion illegal and changing the creating a culture of abstinence.

Conservationists, hate the idea of geoengineering. For example, some have suggested trying to reduce the temperature of the planet by deflecting 1% or so of the sunlight away from Earth. But that isn't good enough for the religious environmentalists. The solution must come from sacrificing our "wasteful" way of life.

--Joey

* How very unlibertarian/conservative of me. True, however, since social programs aren't going away anytime soon, this is a bit of an ounce of prevention is worth 6 pounds 11 ounces nine months later.

Raising the Minimum Wage

The Democrats have made a 100 hour promise to Americans and one of the first orders of business will be raising the minimum wage. Who will this affect?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics only 2.5 percent of the population (16 years and older) makes at or below the Federal Minimum Wage... $5.15 and hour. Wait, below? Sure, some occupations are exempt from minmum wage legislation. 1.9% of the population makes less than $5.15. So 0.6% are potentially affected.

The size of the increase will determine what side effects occur as a result. Given that so few people earn 5.15 an hour, I would think very little. While there are some theoretical (and philosophical) arguments to not increase the minimum wage, few people can/will understand the reasons behind the objection so Republicans (and fiscally conservative Democrats) should try to minimize the raise.

--Joey

Beer run

It is officially Christmas time. What do I go by? The stores? Hardly, there was ho-ho-hoing going on at International Mall on Halloween Day. Radio? XM has been playing Jinglebells since Thanksgiving. Today, though, Total Wine just got in a shipment of Delirium Noel. Seasons Greetings everyone!

I picked up 3 bottles since they said this was it for the year.

The other day I tried Bareknuckle Stout and Winter Bourbon Cask Ale. Both good if a little thin and both from Anheuser Busch. They are worth checking out a bottle at a time.

--Joey