Okay, now I know that I'm never flying to Bilbao, Spain!

Okay, now I know that I'm never flying to Bilbao, Spain!  Watch the videos of Bilbao landings below to see why:

It hurt my sphincter just to watch these – imagine what it would be like to be on those planes!

“Risk Corridors” being extended?

“Risk Corridors” being extended?  There's lots of chatter about this at the moment.  Extending the ObamaCare risk corridors is such a stupid idea, and will so obviously cost the taxpayers money, that we can pretty much assume That One's administration of bozos will do it.  Megan McArdle has the skinny, and she concludes (after stating the obvious: that extending the risk corridors would be illegal):

Of course, the administration has gotten creative before, so don’t count it out. But if it does extend the program, it is basically confessing two things: It thinks the law is whatever it says it is, and it never really cared how much the program cost.

Yup.

If you've been paying attention, this isn't news...

If you've been paying attention, this isn't news...   But if you don't know much about North Korea, this report may shock and surprise you...

A craftsman at work...

A craftsman at work...  Steve McIntyre absolutely demolishes one of Michael Mann's key assertions in his ridiculous libel suit against Mark Steyn and the National Review.  It's a pleasure to read Steve's meticulous work...

Another Communist state is dying before our very eyes...

Another Communist state is dying before our very eyes...  I'm speaking of Venezuela, of course.  Progressives – the heretofore loud promoters of Hugo's variety of Communism, rebranded as “socialism” to make to more palatable to Americans – are studiously ignoring the ugly collapse.  People suffering?  Move along now, nothing to see here.

I used to buy slide rules (which, as my long-time readers know, I collect) from a fellow in Caracas.  We had a few email conversations about the politics after Hugo took power.  Then one day he stopped responding to my emails.  A little later, I got a reply saying that his email address had been deleted.  I sent snail mail; it was returned.  His ads are no longer on eBay.  I fear the worst for him, and I am afraid that his political openness on email may have contributed to his undoing...

Situation: deteriorating, with people dying...

Situation: deteriorating, with people dying...  That's Ukraine right now, in a nutshell. The police and armed forces are attacking protesters, and over 20 died last night.  Reason has a good roundup.  The Wall Street Journal notes, disapprovingly, the absence of any effective intervention by the EU or US.

Americans have been struggling with how to respond to human rights outrages in foreign countries ever since the U.S. was founded.  There's a continuous spectrum of positions, from complete isolationism (no foreign involvement unless there's a direct threat to the U.S.) to being the world's policeman (intervening militarily every time a foreign government does something we don't like).  I struggle with this myself.  In this case, I don't think we should intervene militarily in Ukraine – but I do think we should be doing everything we can, covertly and overtly, to support the people fighting for their freedom.  I also think we should be doing everything we can to make life difficult for the supporters of the thugocracy there – mainly Vladimir Putin and his Russian thugocracy.  Unfortunately, That One's administration is doing virtually the opposite.

Well, what else would you expect from a would-be thugocrat with Hugo-envy?

Everybody seems to have their own “facts”...

Everybody seems to have their own “facts”...  What effect does raising the minimum wage have on employment?  Here are three answers.  I'll let you judge which one is more credible:

Historical experience: every single time in American history that the minimum wage was raised (including it's initial establishment in 1938), employment has gone down significantly.  Two major factors contribute to the reduction of employment.  First, as the minimum wage rises some jobs cost more than they are worth to the employer.  When I was a kid, sweepers and floor cleaners were a ubiquitous feature of retails stores.  I haven't seen a floor cleaner for years; now that job is done much less often (and usually less skillfully) by other employees as an adjunct responsibility.  Second, as the minimum wage rises some jobs can be economically replaced by automation.  For an object lesson in this phenomenon, visit a modern warehouse (such as Amazon's) or a modern shipyard (like Newark or Los Angeles).  The number of “muscle” jobs is remarkably small compared to what they were like when I was a kid.

The CBO: operating under bizarre and politically biased rules, even the CBO predicts that raising the minimum wage will cost jobs (though less than experience would suggest).

Obama: raising the minimum wage will cost zero jobs.  Their main arguments seem to be that the CBO has no idea what it's talking about, and historical experience is irrelevant – it'll be different this time.

There's something wrong with that...

There's something wrong with that...  Indeed.

Food for thought...

Food for thought...  Peggy Noonan:

We’re at a funny point in our political culture. To have judgment is to be an elitist. To have dignity is to be yesterday. To have standards is to be a hypocrite—you won’t always meet standards even when they’re your own, so why have them?

My first thought: I'm so very tired of this. 

My second thought: Debbie and I just experienced government of a very different – call it old-fashioned – kind, on our recent visit to Utah.  It was refreshing and invigorating, and I want more...