Robin Hoods....sort of

So, these kids in Keene, NH are going to have to face (at least) civil charges.

For harassing meter persons in the course of their meter duties.

Excerpt from the story: Members of the group place cards under windshield wipers that read, "Your meter expired; however, we saved you from the king's tariffs, Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Please consider paying it forward," and includes an address where donations can be sent. 

An interesting question:  can citizens legally follow law officers and taunt them?  Repeatedly?  To such an extent that the law officers quit, or become ill from the stress?

(Problem:  It's not clear those things will actually happen.  But, suppose, for the sake of argument, that that is what is happening.  It makes the case a more interesting problem.)

I guess I lean towards "no."  This is a protest, yes, I see that.  But are they seriously protesting fees for parking on city streets?  Here is the Keene city parking web site.

A video, from local Boston CBS station.    Call me a cynic, but my suspicion is that this is what is going on.

1.  Some of the RH's have in fact been aggressive and loud.  And it is quite possible that there has been overt "surveillance," as alleged by the meter guy who says the RH's were watching his family. 
2.  The city is "losing" a lot of money.  In fact, the city is losing enough that it has trouble justifying paying the meter persons.
3.  #2 is motivating the city to trump up charges based on #1, to try to harass and intimidate the RH's through the legal system, using lawyers and scare tactics.
4.  In short, and as usual, the state is actually doing something that if private citizens did it would be illegal.  The cute thing about this is example is that the state is actually accusing the private citizens of doing just. that. thing.  The state constantly conducts surveillance, harasses people, takes pictures of public gatherings, and makes threats.  The difference is that the state is not a bunch of skinny teenagers.  The state has guns.
5.  The state's job is not to protect "us," whatever that means.  The state's job is to protect the state.  I expect that the state will do its job.

Nod to Jeremy B.

Raleigh: America's Best City?

Raleigh is America's best city?

I happen to agree, mind you. Considering all the factors, I can't imagine a better place to live.

Lithuanian Mayor Deals With Illegal Parking

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Ya know, if the Bishop had had a big snow sled like this, he might have done the same thing in Providence, UT.

Do Black Mayors Improve Outcomes for Black Citizens?

Do Black Mayors Improve Black Employment Outcomes? Evidence from Large U.S. Cities
John Nye, Thomas Stratmann, Ilia Rainer | May 09, 2011

I was worried about endogeneity, but since they only looked at instances where the race of the mayor changed, it may work. I would still worry that the effect is a short-run "Kroog": taking money from citizens who ALREADY work, and paying unemployed people for fake jobs working for government, is not really growth. Yes, that's all lefty shills like Krugman care about, but not clear the effect is anything but transitory.

ATSRTWT

To what extent do politicians reward voters who are members of their own ethnic or racial group? Using data from large cities in the United States, we study how black employment outcomes are affected by changes in the race of the cities’ mayors between 1971 and 2003. We find that black employment and labor force participation rise, and the black unemployment rate falls, during the tenure of black mayors both in absolute terms and relative to whites. Black employment gains in municipal government jobs are particularly large, which suggests that our results capture the causal effects of black mayors. We also find that the effect of black mayors on black employment outcomes is stronger in cities that have a large black community. This suggests that electoral incentives may be an important determinant of racial favoritism. Finally, we also find that, corresponding to increases in employment, black income is higher after black mayors take office. Again, this effect is pronounced in cities with a large black population.

A Cautionary tale

I loved this mini-story / blog post by John Scalzi. It's titled When the Yogurt took Over" and is self recommending!!

One quick nugget:

A week later, during breakfast, the yogurt used the granola she had mixed with it to spell out the message WE HAVE SOLVED FUSION. TAKE US TO YOUR LEADERS.

Canada Celebrates Its Freedoms, Until Thugs Show Up

Multiple ironies, sad threats.

Now, I have been to the LSS before, myself. It is way out in the country. It is held on the grounds of a very large (40 acre) plot of land. The main structures on the plot are some outbuildings, and a legally zoned bed-and-breakfast.

No one parks on the street, and nothing is visible from the street.

Now, it is true that they have amplified speeches, and amplified music on Saturday night.

But the local gubmint thugs are after them for:

1. Health concerns. So they had the food professionally catered, instead of cooking it on bbq grills as in the past.

2. Sanitation concerns. So they had port-o-potties brought in, in the proper ratio for such an activity, with that many people.

3. Ex post giant d*ckhead concerns about this being a permanent commercial activity. Hard to predict the ex post part, to the tune of a $50k fine. This is already a commercially zoned property, by the way, because of the b-n-b. And the Institute for Liberal Studies is a registered non-profit. The LSS breaks even, every year. What makes it commercial? If five of us split the cost of some chicken, and cook it, would that be commercial? This was less than 75 people, one event per year, for two nights. Sure, if it was every weekend, that might be commercial.

But this is just thuggery. The local government is doing this because they can.

You Can Ring My Bell, CA

Craig N asks some good questions, and provides some amusing background, about Bell, CA.

Wilmington - Wrightsville Beach

Had a great time in Wilmington - Wrightsville Beach last week. Had some adventures. First, went to Redix several times. Hard to explain Reddix. Here is the sign out front:

So....yes, they really do sell fine clothing (if you are a frat boy like me, who likes orange and blue plaid pants with a pink polo shirt, all way over-priced. This is HEAVEN for my tastes in clothing.) (If you put Angus in Redix, he would be screaming like the witch in Oz after they poured water on her: "I'm melting! MELTING!"). And they really do also sell hardware and fishing tackle. You have to see it. Lots of hardware, and lots of appropriate clothes if your name is "Trip" or "Trey" or "Reg."

Of course, a declaration on a sign that anything is "in" is suspect. Perhaps they meant that they had just received a shipment of SillyBandz, but I think they were trying to tell their audience about style. (No hipsters go to Redix, unless they were sentenced to community service among the hip-impaired like me).

Later one evening we went to Jungle Rapids, a finely tuned entertainment complex that hoovers the wallets of parents most effectively. That's fine, I played pinball and put a new high score on the Simpsons machine, easy because I think no one had played it at all since the last power failure. Then we played Putt-Putt, and I got smoked by the EYM and the YYM, neither of whom have any respect for their elders. (If Angus had been there, he could have told the boys that I am really, REALLY good at Putt-Putt. But he wasn't).

There was one appalling thing at Jungle Rapids: This game below. You likely know the game "Whack a Mole!" where you take a mallet and hit the mole that pops up. Pretty fun, especially when I used to pretend all the moles were Ken Shepsle. (Okay... I still do that). But this game with the cow? You have to hit the lit tit, or rather milk it. They light up and go dark, quickly and in random sequence. If you look closely (click on the pic, for a better view) you will see that the back left tit is lit.

I watched for a while, and only saw one little kid play it. His parents thought it would be cute, and tried to take pictures. But when the tits started lighting up in sequence, the little kid (he was maybe 4) starting crying his head off. He was NOT going to grab those things.

Fire Protection Services

For you schmoes who dared doubt me, about provision of fire services.....

Well, read and cheer the mighty forces of private self-interest! That's 1979, Journal of Libertarian Studies, for the reference.

(nod to B-Doog, who knows stuff)