He had to be rescued.

Mrs. Shears and I just watched Houdini last night, the innaccurate but-touches-on-all-the-main-points, less-than-completely-engaging movie about the performer’s life starring Jamie Lee Curtis’s mom and dad. A movie bio that had to be made. It could easily be made again.

Actually what drew us to the site was the post about writing 300 reviews for $3 each. As Kojak would say, that’s volume, baby.

Higher State Tax on Beer

Isn’t it offensive, in general, that these high-tax types assume that people’s behavior will not change faced with a sudden 1500 percent tax increase?! In economic terms we are somewhat inelastic as far as our love-of/demand-for beer, yes, but if I was forced to live in such a place I’d have to consider my options, like bourbon. 

Someone needs to impart to these tax-crazy politicians the concept of dynamic analysis. Quoting Slovenian economist Rok Spruk: ”The higher the marginal taxation extends, [the more the] taxable basis shrinks.”

With Cali already having the highest state income tax rate in the Union, can they think of a way to make that formerly great state any more unlivable than taxing beer like this?

They’ll think of something. Mother’s milk maybe?

Beer Beer!
We’ll recount our ongoing search for a taste here in the US of that guru of brews from the spiritual and beer-drinking land of Tibet. Lhasa beer is owned by Carlsberg now and we’re hot on the trail of scoring a coupla-three bottles.

 Beijing was awarded the Olympics this year. The Olympics are not about sports, but about politics. You know this. We know this. And politics is not about peace, but about advantage (i.e., domination.) whether it be in your local council or in the United Nations. Maybe the modern games were about something else back in 1898 but since the Nazi Games of 1936 their power as a world propaganda platform has been quadrennially exploited. The Bob Costas’ of the world can dress it up in their gauze-headed color-analyst purply prose, but Bob Costas’ paycheck comes from NBC, and NBC will present the games on TV at the pleasure of the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China, granting these single-party brutes an equivalence to the pluralist democracies of the West.  

This year the games are rapidly coming to be about Tibet, and China’s brutal domination of that spiritual and beer-drinking land since its invasion in 1951.

Let’s play a drinking game. Let’s have a shot of tequila every time Costas mentions Tibet in this summer ’s NBC coverage. Mm. Never mind. Who wants to be sober all for two weeks straight? How about this? Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, though, and say Costas may mention Tibet ONCE as an inoculation for the rest of the games. When he does you can have ten shots of tequila! Hm. Could go either way.

As things heat up this summer, we’ll attempt to relay the important headlines as we are able.

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In an apparent attempt to turn PETA against communism, the Chinese have ordered Tibetan broadcasters to wear fur to further the cause of annoying the Dalai Lama:

Tibetan Broadcasters Ordered To Wear Fur

For more news from Tibet, check: Radio Free Asia

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The makers of the UK Channel 4’s news special. “Dispatches: Undercover in Tibet” on the systematic oppression in place there (including enforced sterilization of women) says it was ten times harder to work undercover in Tibet as it was in China itself for a previous story:

 Jezza Neumann on undercover reporting: ‘It’s hard to explain that fear in your gut’

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And we didn’t expect NBC or their sports anchors to make any bold moves with regard to the oppression, but then we found this link and were pleasantly surprised.

 US broadcasters threaten boycott of Olympics clichés

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That’ll do, pig. Here’s a link to the Tibetan Government in Exile for more news from their viewpoint.

Still looking for some Lhasa beer. I’ll keep you in the loop.

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Update: FYI, some in our audience didn’t recognize the Babe reference, above. Sheesh. Do I have to explain everything? “That’ll do, pig.” Was what the farmer would say when he had had his fill of the pig being so smart.

And this Brit agester sticks to what works even at the dawn of his second century of life. His secret? Exercise, and continuing his chosen method of celebrating success.