Microblog Weekly Updates for 2012-02-19

Posted on 19 February 2012 by JC
  • Good deal. “@TwangNation: Best Americana Album Grammy goes to Levon Helm! #grammys
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Blue Over Red Tape

Posted on 18 February 2012 by JC

Quick post.  The Economist cover story this week calls out an important inconvenience in American public policy.

Over-regulated America

The home of laissez-faire is being suffocated by excessive and badly written regulation

…But red tape in America is no laughing matter. The problem is not the rules that are self-evidently absurd. It is the ones that sound reasonable on their own but impose a huge burden collectively. America is meant to be the home of laissez-faire. Unlike Europeans, whose lives have long been circumscribed by meddling governments and diktats from Brussels, Americans are supposed to be free to choose, for better or for worse. Yet for some time America has been straying from this ideal….

Two forces make American laws too complex. One is hubris. Many lawmakers seem to believe that they can lay down rules to govern every eventuality… Far from preventing abuses, complexity creates loopholes that the shrewd can abuse with impunity.

The other force that makes American laws complex is lobbying. The government’s drive to micromanage so many activities creates a huge incentive for interest groups to push for special favours. When a bill is hundreds of pages long, it is not hard for congressmen to slip in clauses that benefit their chums and campaign donors…

America needs a smarter approach to regulation. First, all important rules should be subjected to cost-benefit analysis by an independent watchdog. The results should be made public before the rule is enacted. All big regulations should also come with sunset clauses, so that they expire after, say, ten years unless Congress explicitly re-authorises them.

More important, rules need to be much simpler. When regulators try to write an all-purpose instruction manual, the truly important dos and don’ts are lost in an ocean of verbiage. Far better to lay down broad goals and prescribe only what is strictly necessary to achieve them. Legislators should pass simple rules, and leave regulators to enforce them.

I often wonder why I got myself into public policy.  Most of my friends pursued honest, fulfilling careers in the private sector.  Unfortunately, I felt drawn to tilting at windmills in land use planning and economic development.  I feel passionately about building really great communities.  Yet I also believe passionately that the best government governs lightly—good fences make good neighbors, but we build the fences too rigid and we build ourselves our own private prisons.

It’s a fine line between fencing out and fencing in.

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Microblog Weekly Updates for 2012-02-12

Posted on 12 February 2012 by JC
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Trading our Future for Pottersvile

Posted on 9 February 2012 by JC


Fast Tube

A future Pottersville?

February 9, 2012

To the editor:

Many of us enjoy watching Frank Capra’s classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” at least once during the holiday season. Jimmy Stewart’s all-American community of Bedford Falls is starkly contrasted with a Pottersville of saloons, casinos and slums.

It seems some Minnesota politicians think our home state needs more liquor and gambling, loose morals and wasted public funds for pro sports stadiums. Something to consider this election season. Do you really want to trade Minnesota family values for a future in Pottersville?

John Shepard

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Elko Cowboys Up

Posted on 8 February 2012 by JC


Fast Tube

Last week the nation’s greatest celebration of the American West took place in Elko, Nevada:  the 28th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

This shindig, produced by the Western Folklife Center, has both kinds of music—country and western. It is more country than anything Nashvegas will come out with, and more western than most any pro rodeo you’ll happen to see.

This year’s bill included luminaries like large-animal veterinarian Baxter Black…


Fast Tube

They had folk heroes Ian Tyson and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Martha Scanlan and the always smokin’ hot Hot Club of Cowtown, not to mention genuine cowpokes Wallace McRae, Waddie Mitchell, and Paul Zarzyski and a herd more.  Oh, and a guitar player you might have heard of by the name of Michael Martin Murphey.  Here’s MMM  a couple years ago at the Palace Theater in Luverne (where city slicker Rick Santorum spoke last week):


Fast Tube

Did I mention Montanans Paul Zarzyski and Wally McRae?


Fast Tube

Someday, cowpokes, I’ll make the migration, out to the high desert of Nevada some cold winter’s January.  Until then, close the gate behind ya.

#NowPlaying Various Artists – Elko on #Spotify http://open.spotify.com/album/6F366Rak2f62dG7zlvLHM9

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Microblog Weekly Updates for 2012-02-05

Posted on 5 February 2012 by JC

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Senator Santorum in Luverne, Minnesota

Posted on 31 January 2012 by JC

Senator Rick Santorum made a quick stop at the Palace Theater, next to the Pizza Ranch in beautiful downtown Luverne, Minnesota, on Monday 30 January 2012.  Luverne, Minnesota, you say?  Why, yes, Luverne, Minnesota:


Fast Tube

He talked about his faith and his family, about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  He talked about our God-given rights—if government gives you rights, they can surely take them away.  He talked about what it means to be an American.


Fast Tube

Mostly he talked about families as the foundation of our nation.

Audio: Santorum in Luverne: Family not the State

And he talked about how problems in families lead to problems in our economy and the rest of society.  The home is the first economy.


Fast Tube

I did a quick check on the prison statistic at the end of the last clip.  Wiki says 2.3 million, plus twice that on probation or parole.  That is a sad state of affairs.

Senator Santorum wrapped up his remarks with a call to action:

“This is the greatest country in the world.  Go out in this caucus and gather people who believe this.”

It was a good crowd, a good turnout for a winter’s evening in Southwest Minnesota.  The Question & Answer period touched on Mitt Romney’s attacks on Newt Gingrich and visa-versa (which he deflected, mostly), the spiraling cost of higher education (Intellectual elitist left-wing indoctrination, he replied), 2nd Amendment (A+ NRA), health care & Obamacare (it’s a phony economy, consumers have to be involved in their own health care), and wasteful government spending (he’s running his campaign debt free).

I don’t know how many folks will turn out to caucus for the Senator next week in Minnesota.  Hopefully the people who make his sweater vests in Minnesota, do.  I know alot of liberals don’t like his principles and I’m good with that.  I don’t like some of his Pennsylvania positions; I haven’t made up my mind yet on which Non-Romney to support.  It was nice to see this Rick is just as nice in person as at the debates on TV.  There’s something to be said for that.

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Microblog Weekly Updates for 2012-01-29

Posted on 29 January 2012 by JC
  • Curious Case Of Grammy Nominee Linda Chorney – Blog – The Folk Alliance International: http://t.co/BosURsRt (I'm firmly in "Who the f* camp) #
  • Folky JohnSmith in Windom (@JohnScout safe at home not in Windom) http://t.co/LP5iErIo #
  • Fly #Fishing In Yellowstone National Park: (Bozeman) Blonds Have More Fun http://t.co/84kGMyGp #
  • The best kind. “@TwangNation: Can a break-up song be a love song?” #
  • Out into the storm. #
  • Wont keep schools from sucking the soul out of students “@nprnews: Higher Dropout Age May Not Lead To More Diplomas http://t.co/rfR1SXof” #

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Meth: “You’re holding a flame-thrower in your hands”

Posted on 24 January 2012 by JC
English: Anti-meth sign ("Stop Meth"...

Image via Wikipedia

The life cycle of our local (county) All Hazard Mitigation Plans has tracked the growth, and recently contraction, of methamphetamine use in rural America.  We classified meth as a hazardous substance, a technological hazard, due to the unique impacts of manufacturing—the devastating effects on property as well as people, and the large costs to clean up meth houses.

The ‘meth house’ hazard has moderated after recent state legislation restricting purchase of certain ingredients, however the illegal drug continues to pop back up in unexpected places.  The National Domestic Preparedness Coalition highlighted this article today on their feed:

‘Shake-and-bake’ meth fills hospitals with burn patients

By Jim Salter
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment — a burden so costly that it’s contributing to the closure of some burn units.

So-called shake-and-bake meth is produced by combining raw, unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle. But if the person mixing the noxious brew makes the slightest error, such as removing the cap too soon or accidentally perforating the plastic, the concoction can explode, searing flesh and causing permanent disfigurement, blindness or even death.

An Associated Press survey of key hospitals in the nation’s most active meth states showed that up to a third of patients in some burn units were hurt while making meth, and most were uninsured. The average treatment costs $6,000 per day. And the average meth patient’s hospital stay costs $130,000 — 60 percent more than other burn patients, according to a study by doctors at a burn center in Kalamazoo, Mich…

Be careful out there.

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(cross-posted from All-Hazard Mitigation blog)

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Microblog Weekly Updates for 2012-01-22

Posted on 22 January 2012 by JC
  • Competition, economy prompt closure of MT fly-fishing shop http://t.co/pCF7c90x via @billingsgazette #trout #
  • .@kimruehl Midnight in Paris reminds me how important Places are in shaping who we are. Midnight in Paris, Texas, a much different movie #
  • “@The_Tinder_Box: ♫ Check out The Tinder Box tour dates on Facebook! http://t.co/uNbIkxtn” Mankato New Ulm Sioux City Boulder #NoDepression #
  • “@CountryFriedRok: @TwangNation So, it's the Target vs WalMart crowd dividing line w/ Americana vs Country?” #NoDepression #
  • Et tu, NPR? “@nprmusic: First Listen: Tim McGraw, 'Emotional Traffic' http://t.co/PHvbfmqb” #crap #NoDepression #
  • Web Goes On Strike: Jan 18th! All-out blackout 2 stop #SOPA #PIPA. Petition @twitter and other sites to join us. http://t.co/7uRvtSHh #
  • Both my readers might wonder why… MT @AnnT: #SOPA Strike FYI http://t.co/yoAGCqra #
  • Ni! “@Mando_lines: My family is watching Spamalot tonight and I'm not. Makes me want to say Ni!!!” #
  • Yesterday I stayed offline for #SOPA #PIPA blackout. Can't say I missed the Internet that much… #
  • Cold cruel winds blow down intent / upon the Bannack mining camp… Vigilantes 1864: http://t.co/7o4rxwtq @cowboypoetry #
  • So Grammys opened arms race of self-promo “@TwangNation: The curious case of @TheGRAMMYs nominee @LindaChorney – http://t.co/piDar1Cp” #
  • Buy me some nails for my coffin… "Nails" – Audrey Auld: http://t.co/ISlH252D #NoDepression #
  • Schell's Deer Brand, New Ulm, MN RT @OwenTemple: Why hasn’t a brewery put a picture of a deer on a beer, to appeal to beer drinking hunters? #
  • Schell's Brewing Co est. 1860, one of oldest family-run breweries in US, also brews Grain Belt for non-hunters. @owentemple #
  • Beer is good. Deer Beer is great. RT @OwenTemple: Thanks @JCShepard for leading me to this- Deer Brand- http://t.co/qmxs1Hof #
  • Is it evil to wish ur kid lost a tournament game so u can go home early? Yea, I thought so… #

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