Reason Magazine - Staff > Ben Falk > Hit & Run Posts

Europe's Next Step.

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 16:59:49 EDT

What's next for Europe? The Observer's Will Hutton says the project of European integration is at a turning point:

If mishandled, the crisis may even lead to closure, protection, recession and the disintegration of the euro - and the balkanisation of Europe into mutually suspicious and hostile camps. The end of an era of easy movement from country to country embodied by cheap flights, a single currency and growing interpenetration of each other's economies is now in prospect. Historians may come to say that Europeans never knew they had it so good, but then they threw it away.

How's this: wider integration is where it's at, deeper integration is the Pandora's box of the European experiment. Drop the political, salvage the economic and finish the job developing and integrating the east.

Deeper integration, political integration is the elephant riding Europe. Jean Monnet's "United States of Europe," according the BBC's John Simpson, is dead. Forcing member states to sacrifice political autonomy to Brussels will be met with harsh consequences that could sink the single market and the euro. Instead of producing a richer Europe, the political carnage will leave an economic shell behind.

A Subtle Statement

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 08:06:18 EDT

For the third time in his presidency, President Bush rejected Congress' request to implement trade sanctions on China. Congress requested the sanctions after China continued to refuse to devalue its currency and update its system of linking the yuan to the dollar. The Bush administration, while balking at senators who point out that the cheaper Chinese goods hurt US manufcaturing industries, is subtly making a statement about the US economy. The administration is saying, albeit softly, that manufacturing jobs are not what the United States can rely on and placing sanctions on a giant such as China hurts US service industries (which are the bulk of the US economy) that depend on trade with China.

"Golden Straightjacket"

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Fri, 27 May 2005 10:19:43 EDT

The international community has finally agreed to fit Iran for, as Thomas Friedman puts it in The Lexus and the Olive Tree, the "golden straightjacket" of international trade. The WTO will allow Iran to begin accession talks after the US blocked its entry into the organization 22 times since 1996. Entry into the WTO was the carrot used to entice Iran into renewing its pledge not seek nuclear weapons.

Ohio Knows Best?

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Thu, 26 May 2005 10:24:27 EDT

If Governor Bob Taft (Republican) gets his way, Ohio will double the excise tax on alcohol from 18 cents to 36 cents. Beer drinker Fred Lisy promises the new tax will not keep him from drinking, "It's just the principle of being taxed like that. It's distateful."

He's referring not just to the new alcohol tax, but to sin taxes in general. Such levies are easy to impose because they punish unpopular goods or services (smoking, drinking, etc.) that most people have no problem condemning. That makes them an ugly combination of paternalism, social scapegoating, and -- given that they are mostly used in times of budget shortfall -- fiscal irresponsibility. They're great if you want to pick on drinkers or punish small businesses, but not if you want to respect your citizens' freedom.

Custody Battle

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Wed, 25 May 2005 11:55:11 EDT

The California Supreme Court is hearing cases regarding whether or not a lesbian mother who has no biological connection to her child can receive joint or partial custody. Opponents of granting such rights argue that since one parent has no biological connection to the child, anyone who had a hand in raising the child or even planning the pregnancy could claim parental rights.

In this era of advanced reproductive technologies, the only person harmed by such ambiguity in the law is the newborn child that everyone says they want to protect. We know that "being a parent" isn't about the biological relationship, but the emotional relationship. Why remove that distinction when it comes to homosexual couples?

Dramatic License

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Tue, 24 May 2005 12:16:52 EDT

In a Glenelg, Maryland, high school, Jim Frisby, a black student, and Nick Lehan, a white student, performed the song "Muddy Water" from the theatrical version of Mark Twain's Huck Finn. The only difference was, Frisby played Huck and Lehan played the slave, Jim.

This was all well and good until C-Span tried to air the performance on Close Up. R & H Theatricals, the Rogers and Hammerstein organization that owns the license to the play, denied Close Up permission to air the song, arguing that "when you're dealing with a theatrical work and race or ethnicity is a key factor, many authors or playwrights feel strongly that ethnicity has to be reflected in the actors who portray the characters." Frisby's father says that's racism. Mark Twain could not be reached for comment.

Ego Boost

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Mon, 23 May 2005 12:27:07 EDT

According to an Associated Press report, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California (Republican) has scheduled a special election on three issues: an initiative to "delay tenure for teachers to help districts weed out the poor ones," the redrawing of congressional districts and an "automatic cap on state spending."

Critics see this election as an $80 million confidence booster, especially since regularly scheduled elections are just over a year away. Giving the people more say in state policy, through referendums, is noble. But these issues lack the urgency that warrant a special election. Gov. Schwarzenegger should save the $80 million and attach these referendums to the regularly scheduled vote.

A Bus Stop with Bells and Whistles

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Thu, 19 May 2005 12:10:19 EDT

Senator Theodore "Uncle Ted" Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has managed to appropriate $1.5 million for a bus stop in Anchorage. While the senator claims "it is supposed to be a lot more than a bus stop," it does not feed children or heal the sick; it is merely a place for buses to stop.

Generation Gap

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Wed, 18 May 2005 13:37:22 EDT

Robert Richards won "Most Whipped" for 2005 at Boynton Beach High School in Florida. The yearbook picture given to this prestigious award winner features Richards in chains and shackles being held by his girlfriend, Melissa Finley. There is only one hiccup: Richards is black and Melissa is white.

Jacqueline Nobles, Richards' mother, thinks that's racist. But her son, the bound boyfriend, doesn't think there's anything wrong with the picture. The older generation, he argues, is simply more conscious of race than his is. If his case is typical, I'd say he's right.

Of the approximately 700 yearbooks that were printed, 240 have already been distributed. The principal is holding the remainder hostage while the school investigates the photo. Mrs. Nobles wants the other copies recalled.

A Little Thrift

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Tue, 17 May 2005 09:45:13 EDT

The Department of Defense has proposed closing 33 major military bases across the country, a move it says will save $49 billion over the next 20 years. Next: watch roughly 33 congressman scramble to save their constituents' jobs and their own political lives.

Bio vs. P.E.

info@reason.com (Ben Falk) — Fri, 13 May 2005 11:22:16 EDT

Bow High School in Bow, New Hampshire, won't let Isabel Gottlieb graduate because she is missing a P.E. credit. It bears no significance that Gottlieb plays three varsity sports and gets more physical activity than even that pesky P.E. class provides. If it were up to them she would drop AP biology to make room for physical education.

At least someone in the education biz has their head on straight. Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, has accepted Isabel without the P.E. credit (and without the diploma) provided she gets her GED.