More On "Yoah papizz, pliss"

Libertarian extremist and firearm-totin' nutjob (those are compliments, by the way) NP sent me this link. (Following up this, which link he also sent to me, but which I didn't credit him for, because he owns a semi-automatic assault rifle, and a vintage Enfield, and I didn't want to out him without permission. An Enfield bullet will go right through even me; scroll down about halfway and you'll see life-size shells. Oi.).

Anyway, here's a quote from the article about world IDs:

Mr Chertoff said yesterday that it was vital to seek compatibility, holding up the example of the "video war" of 25 years ago, when VHS and Betamax were in fierce competition to win the status of industry standard for video recording systems.

"I certainly hope we have the same chip... It would be very bad if we all invested huge amounts of money in biometric systems and they didn't work with each other.Hopefully, we are not going to do VHS and Betamax with our chips. I was one of the ones who bought Betamax, and that's now in the garbage," he said.

Mr Chertoff also proposed that British citizens wishing to visit the US should consider entering a "Trusted Traveller" scheme. Under this, they would forward their details to the US embassy to be vetted. If successful, they would receive a document allowing "fast- tracking" through the US immigration system.

Again, ATSRTWT.

This reminds me of the old Public Choice criticism of "good government" types (we call them "goo-goos", when we have on our Adam Smith ties and are passing around the scotch). Given the concentration of coercive power in government, and its susceptibility to corrupt interest groups, the inefficiency and incompetence of government agencies is our last ditch defense. The LAST THING we want is an efficient government.

I have to give the nod to NP for something else, also. He suggested an old album ("Freedom is a State of Mind") by those really pissed off Indians, Corporate Avenger. I am going to use two of the tracks ("Fault the Police [I don't]" and "Christians Murdered Indians") this fall. (Lyrics of "Christians...": WARNING--EXPLICIT AND DISGUSTING).

That ought to shake things up a little. I'm not saying I agree with CA's views, but that is pretty powerful stuff. And, factually, they aren't entirely wrong by any means.