New Millionaires in Austell, Georgia

This is a tragic story, but I have a wager on the outcome.

At Six Flags Over Georgia this past Saturday, a teenage boy was decapitated by a roller coaster. With all the inspections and safety precautions, how could such a thing happen? Well, the boy evidently lost his hat when he rode the coaster. So when he got off at the end of the ride, he climbed one 6 foot fence festooned with "Restricted Area" signs, then he scaled another 6 foot fence with "Restricted Area" and "Danger" signs in an attempt to retrieve the hat. He was hit by the coaster as it reached its top speed of 50 mph.

Whose fault was this accident? All right thinking people will say, "It was the boy's fault. He went where he was not supposed to go." But I can imagine when this case hits the courtroom, and there's no doubt it will, the jury will see only that a grieving family can get a large amount of money from a faceless corporation with deep pockets. Of course, the faceless corporation with deep pockets is insured -- maybe by a subsidiary of the same insurance company you use. And when they have to pay that big settlement, guess whose insurance will go up?

And, what the heck, let's sue the fence manufacturers as well. They know people who don't think the rules apply to them can climb 6 foot fences. And what about those signs? Shouldn't they be in Braille as well as written English? Sue the sign manufacturers, too. And of course, the roller coaster manufacturers. And lest we forget, the hat was what caused all this in the first place. Sue 'em! No more hats that may fly off your head when you're going 50 mph!

It may seem that I care nothing for the pain this family is undoubtedly enduring. That's not true. I just know how things work in this litigious society, and it's pretty much a given that when a horrible accident occurs, even one obviously caused by the victim's own stupidity, lawsuits will be filed, and the taxpayers' money will be wasted on hours and hours in the courtroom.

If the facts as stated in the newspaper are true, and if our judges and lawyers really care about justice, there won't be a case stemming from this incident. However, my money's not on whether or not there will be a case -- it's on how much the family's gonna' get.

What country did you say this was?

I pull the coupons out of each Sunday's newspaper. Here's the text from one I pulled today:

Cupon Del Fabricante Vence 30/08/08

Ahorra 50 Cents

al comprar Un producto cualquiera

Charmin de 6

rollos o mas

Charmin Ultra Strong.

Es resistente y deja

menos pedacitos.

*vs. la marca con textura ondulada ultra.

I've noticed at Wal-Mart that they are turning all the Spanish labels to the front of the shelves. I say we mount a protest -- all American citizens should refuse to buy anything with the Spanish label turned toward the front. We may have dirty clothes and go hungry, but at least we'll have made a statement!

Some good points from a brilliant man.

Thomas Sowell is a brilliant economist, but he is able to explain his theories and philosophies so that even people as unschooled in economics as I can understand what he's talking about. He had a very informative column in today's paper, and I think he made some very good points.

1) There are many critics of our economy who say we should do things like Europe -- for example, nationalized health care. But they've not said anything about the fact that for the second quarter in a row, we've had no downturn in the economy.

2) Measured by purchasing power, output per capita in the U.S. is the highest of any large nation. New Jersey, alone, produces more than the entire nation of Egypt. California produces more than Canada or Mexico.

3) There are lots of statistics showing the U.S. to be monopolized by the rich, but those statistics chart income categories, not people. There are people moving in and out of those statistical categories all the time.

4) Most statistics are for households, not individuals, even though the average number in a household is declining. Therefore, income per household may show a decline when, in fact, income per individual is climbing.

5) Imitating Europeans when they are not doing as well as Americans makes no sense.

So when you read all those depressing statistics, take them with a grain of salt and remember what the old accountant said when the boss asked him what the company's net income for the quarter was: "What do you want it to be?"

Score 1 for the 2nd Amendment!

The Supreme Court this week, correctly interpreting the Constitution for a change, struck down Washington, DC's ban on handgun ownership. I haven't read the opinion written by Justice Scalia, but talk radio hosts say it is a masterpiece.

The scary part is that this was a 5-4 decision. We have four Justices who do not believe the Constitution guarantees our right to bear arms. If Barack Obama is elected and appoints even one Justice, the next case bearing on the 2nd Amendment is lost. Can you imagine a Justice Jeremiah Wright, or a Justice Al Sharpton, or how about a Justice Michelle Obama?

The Court also this week, on another 5-4 decision, struck down the Louisiana death penalty for child rape. Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority, said that "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child." Sure -- if it's not your child. At least we'll have guns to protect ourselves and our families when some bleeding-heart liberal judge lets one of these animals out on a technicality.

Throwing good money after bad?

I'm no financier or economist, and I'm the first to admit I know very little about the mortgage industry, but this housing bill Congress is about to pass sounds like one of the most stupid things I've ever heard. The refinancing plan in this bill would "let the Federal Housing Administration back $300 billion in cheaper new home loans for an estimated 400,000 distressed borrowers who otherwise would be considered too risky for government-insured, fixed-rate loans."

Did you get that? Or am I the one not getting it? They are going to lend $300 billion to people who have proven they probably will not pay back the money. President Bush is planning to veto the bill, and I say, "Go, Pres!" At least somebody in Washington is demonstrating a little common sense.

Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees. . .Verse 2

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the reasons people believe teenagers get pregnant. Gloucester High School in Massachusetts has been in the news the past few days. It seems 17 girls there are pregnant, and the rumor is that they had formed a pact to all try to get pregnant so they could raise their babies together.

One of those girls was just on "Good Morning America" with her boyfriend. Chris Cuomo (who, by the way, conducted one of the most sickening interviews I've ever seen) asked the boy why he thought so many girls at the school had become pregnant. "The girls are just unlucky, I guess," he said. WRONG! They became pregnant because they had sex!

And then there was The Dallas Morning News editorial by Bob Herbert. I'm still not sure I understand his point. I think it is that the reason we have so many fatherless families is that men can't make enough money now to support a family. Go figure! Anyway, he says "one of the main reasons out-of-wedlock births have skyrocketed in recent decades is because it has become so difficult for poor and poorly educated young men to earn enough to support a family. . . Declining economic fortunes of young men without college degrees underlie the rise in out-of-wedlock child-bearing." WRONG! The reason out-of-wedlock births have skyrocketed is because people who aren't married are having sex!

I just don't quite get this guy's point -- why young men who have no jobs can afford to father children out-of-wedlock, but they can't afford to have them if they're married. Oh, silly me -- now I get it! If they have them out-of-wedlock, I get to support they're irresponsibly conceived, illegitimate progeny, and they don't have to worry about keeping their sagging pants zipped!

The pot calling the kettle black

The Dallas Housing Authority has a problem. They have 500 rent vouchers for needy families that are going unused. You'd think there would be 500 needy families in a city as large as Dallas -- and you'd be right. In fact, they have almost 8000 families on a waiting list. They're not even taking new applications. But the 500 vouchers available come with stipulations. They are for black families only -- whites need not apply. And they are for white neighborhoods only.

Why haven't black families snapped these up? Because many of the landlords won't accept them because the families have poor rental histories -- I think that means they tear up the properties and they don't pay the rent. Other families say they don't want the vouchers because they like their black neighborhoods -- that's where their relatives live, where their churches are, and that's where they like living. Other black families say they depend on public transportation, and the white neighborhoods are not convenient to catching the DART.

DHA must use the vouchers by December or lose funding for them. Let's analyze this -- if they have them now, and they're not being used, why does it matter if they lose the funding?

My main gripe with this is that if I, as a private citizen, built an apartment complex and reserved one block of apartments for whites only, I would be paying a heck of a fine to the federal government, and I might even find my little self in prison. Or if I built a house in a black neighborhood, and said, "This house is for whites only, because this neighborhood needs to be integrated," I don't think the government would stand for it.

My secondary gripe with this is that it's obvious the government's main concern is NOT providing housing to those who need it. If it was, those vouchers would go to the families who needed them, and they would be allowed to use them wherever they could. It is absurd that families needing housing are being denied because of the color of their skin or where they want to live. It appears the government's main concern is social engineering, and I believe that's what gave Hitler such a bad reputation!