Admin Mod to Trolls: “Drop Dead”

New York Times ^

[Buck Ninety-Nine]

WASHINGTON, May 31 — After vowing to steer a greater share of antiterrorism money to the highest-risk communities, Department of Homeland Security officials on Wednesday announced 2006 grants that slashed money for New York and Washington 40 percent, while other cities including Omaha and Louisville, Ky., got a surge of new dollars.

Homeland security officials said the grants were a result of a more sophisticated evaluation process

[NicknamedBob]

I like stealing the sobriquet and implied insult away from the libs.

A resurging market? Good economic times? -- It's Bush's Fault.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Makes $$$ for the state....goes back to the weird history of alcohol use we have in the US.

And why should drinking establishments close at a set time, I ask you?

[Monkey Face]

I was amazed at the different types of alcoholic beverages that were for sale in CA, once I left Utah. Some states are governed by times they can sell it...7:00 AM to 1:00 AM in some places, but in NV, it's 24 hours, every day.

In TX, you can't buy it until noon on Sundays, and from 7:00 AM to midnight, other days. Fiscal idiocy...

[Monkey Face]

And I could forget that how?

*snort*

[NicknamedBob]

"Who'd have thought that the market is self-regulating!"

Aside from the difficulties involved in the existance of monopolies, the market has always been self-regulating.

It is, after all, the Law. (of Supply and Demand!)

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Makes $$$ for the state....goes back to the weird history of alcohol use we have in the US.

well, Prohibition was wierd - not least that it was brought in by Republicans and revoked by Democrats.. you'd think it would have been the other way around! ;)

And why should drinking establishments close at a set time, I ask you?

I know, we have the same thing over here - closing time doesn't make us Irish drink any less, and closing time means there is a bottleneck - drunken people arrive out on the street at the same time - recipe for trouble.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

[Knitting A Conundrum]

New Orleans and Las Vegas don't have such stupid concepts, I believe...In fact in New Orleans there are (were?) bars that specialized in the late night crowd, say after 1 in the morning...

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Even with monopolies... true monopolies don't exist under a truly unregulated market - you get companies like Coca Cola or McDonalds who dominate certian sectors, but they never have complete control of a particular industry.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

The UK is introducing (has already introduced?) 24 hour licences - we'll see how it works out.

Nothing worse than the state telling an entire population when they've had enough to drink!

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Is that your house?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Why should they?

During the Olympics here a few years ago, they had a very early close to beer sales at kiosks set up for the crowds. Once, a tent closed a few minutes early. There was a riot.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

It is. Old, big and expensive to heat and cool, but it is home for a few months more.

[Monkey Face]

Las Vegas is a 24 hour town. You can shop in the grocery stores, buy liquor, even have supper at 6:00 AM with wine or beer. You can even shop the casino malls and watch movies 24/7. Even a power failure doesn't slow Vegas down...everyone goes to back-up generators...

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Seems strange to me when you can't do that....but then there are more than a few similarities between the two cities, not counting climate!

Lots of wildfires starting in your general area this afternoon. Hope they catch them all before they can smoke you out!

[NicknamedBob]

"... true monopolies don't exist under a truly unregulated market ..."

I have to take exception to this. There is a tendency, particularly at a certain stage of growth, for some enterprises to consider methods of unfair competition.

Just look at the drug trade. Rather than reduce prices to get more customers, the pusher considers other techniques to reduce competition.

Unfortunately, an even larger entity, (the state), often has to provide a regulated environment, or the pushers eventually will become the state. (See South America)

[Irish_Thatcherite]

It is. Old, big and expensive to heat and cool, but it is home for a few months more.

It's a grim prediction I make considering my line of work - I foresee people buying/building smaller houses because of the price of oil, and the uncertainty of supply... I dunno if there will be a market for stairs in the years to come...

[Monkey Face]

I haven't watched the news, yet today, so I have no idea what's going on. I need to get off here for a bit. I'll be back.

Later...

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Closing time is very frustrating for drinkers - a mad rush to get the last orders in, then if a premises closes sooner than expected... bang!

[Irish_Thatcherite]

If you look closely enough, you'll see an anti-market regulation behind monopolies... an entry barrier, or some enviromental/health/safety regulation that pushes smaller businesses out of the market.