The Bethie Bee

I’m looking forward to hearing more about this. Not that I would ever dream of voting for someone on the “Unity” ticket (why does everything think being moderate is so admirable?) I do, however, hope that this may syphon a few votes from the Democrats.

I always wear my seatbelt, even if I’m just driving across a parking lot–it’s force of habit I suppose, and the fact that I just think it’s stupid not too. That being said, as it does every year, the annual “Click It or Ticket” campaign has gotten me rather pissy. Every time I see or hear one of those commercials I feel like I’m living in a police state; it’s one thing to require children, who have not yet reached an age of reason, to be buckled in, but adults?

I think it’s that mean voice saying “Click It or Ticket,” that bugs me the most…it literally sends shivers down my spine.

As usual, Walter E. Williams has some great commentary on the issue. As he says,

My letter went on to tell the secretary that I personally wear a seatbelt each time I drive; it’s a good idea. However, because something is a good idea doesn’t necessarily make a case for state compulsion. The justifications used for “Click It or Ticket” easily provide the template and soften us up for other forms of government control over our lives.

Allison Kasic posted this on Inkwell today.

Yesterday Campus Report Online posted a list of “101 Ways to Experience Diversity” that the faculty at Elizabethtown College received. It’s unclear where the list came from – no one is taking credit for it – so, it’s a mystery list of sorts.

A few of these might not be bad ideas for personal growth; but, for the most part, they’re just amusing. I found “have children” to be the most interesting–lets advocate people bringing children into the world, not because they want to raise children, but because they want to experience diversity. Anyway, that’s just one of many that made me laugh. Enjoy!

101 Ways to Experience Diversity
• Take risks
• Visit a place that scares you for some reason
• Hold hands with someone of your same gender in public
• Understand the importance of language – words hurt
• Eat Vegetarian for a week
• Demand a diverse faculty
• Work in the fields with migrant workers
• Confront inappropriate jokes
• Be a part of the solution
• Volunteer to read for the blind
• Read poetry by authors from diverse backgrounds
• Dream
• Visit a Native American reservation
• Learn to meditate
• Join a discussion group on the Internet
• Go to an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting
• Go to a meeting of a club or organization with members whose race or ethnicity is different from your own
• Go to a religious service from a tradition other than your own
• Go to a “Gay Bar” or similar establishment
• Volunteer at a homeless shelter
• Go to a group meeting for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgendered and their allies
• Move to an area that is poor
• See a gospel choir
• Explore the issue of violence related to all aspects of diversity
• Research the economics related to people of diverse backgrounds
• Enroll in a historically black college or university
• Take a race and ethnicity course
• Take a Women Studies course
• Study abroad
• Shop in a predominately Spanish speaking area
• Learn another language
• Adopt a grandparent
• Travel to another country
• Volunteer at a Children’s Center
• Watch a Spike Lee movie
• Volunteer at a Women’s Shelter
• Let down your defenses
• Tell someone about your own cultural heritage
• Ask someone about their cultural heritage
• Demand a multicultural curriculum
• Write a letter to the editor on a volatile topic
• Use reverse pronouns
• Walk around campus without using any stairs for a day
• Use non gender specific language when referring to dating
• Adopt an elderly person
• Take a martial arts class
• Vote
• Learn sign language
• Volunteer at an AIDS hospice
• Tell someone you are homosexual
• Read a book about another culture
• Go to a dance club in a wheelchair
• Hang out in the International Student Center
• Talk to a homeless person
• Go to a meeting of an International Club
• Listen to music other than your typical favorites
• Attend a rodeo
• Take a stand on an issue and then study the opposing view
• Get dressed without using your eyesight
• Listen to another group’s struggles and experiences
• Be open minded
• Read from the alternative press
• Visit the United States Holocaust Museum
• Celebrate the Asian New Year
• Visit the LGBT Center
• Fast on the Jewish Holidays
• Join the military
• Wear t-shirts or buttons that express your views
• Write to your elected representatives
• Join the Peace Corps
• Go to a Take Back The Night March
• See a step show
• See a drag show
• Learn to Merengue or Tango
• Ask someone who is different how to be their Ally
• Study the political struggles of Native people
• Visit Alaska or Hawaii
• Read magazines like Ebony, The Advocate or Ms
• Visit Harlem
• Have children
• Study the objectification of women in the media
• Join a good co-op or commune
• Confront oppression
• Wear different clothes and see who stares at you
• Learn about the “model minority” myth
• Visit the Women’s Center
• List five ways the dominant group benefits from oppression
• List five ways the dominant group is hurt by oppression
• Get a job
• Plan a National Coming Out Day rally
• Celebrate MLK Day
• Challenge ethnic stereotypes in film and on TV
• Get in touch with your feelings
• Know your family’s history
• Eat at an ethnic restaurant
• Join a Diversity Theatre Troupe
• See a film featuring Gay or Lesbian relationships
• Listen to NPR
• Make a new friend
• Ask tough questions
• Believe that you can make a difference

Need a baby shower gift? Check out this cute line of clothing…Pimpfants

The “About Us” section of the website reads:

Pimpfants is more than a name, it’s a movement! Our clothing bridges the generation gap between parents and kids, allowing babies and tots everywhere the opportunity to hit the playground with fresh gear and street cred.

Pimpfants uses only the highest quality products, so your shorties can represent in style and comfort.

If you want puppy dogs, ducks and frogs, you’ll have to visit the a zoo. But if you are looking for children’s clothing that defines a generation, look to Pimpfants!

Inspired by a decade of living on the streets of San francisco, our designer’s creations embrace the urban street culture and reflect the vibrant underground that has now become mainstream.

Pimpfants’ fresh designs fill the clothing void that has long been overlooked for the new generation of parents who want their children to be both hip and comfortable.

I’m wondering what mommy says when kiddy asks about what his “my mommy’s a M.I.L.F” shirt means.

Ridiculous.

Hat Tip: The Dawn Patrol

I normally don’t put stuff like this up on my blog; but, after years of debate with friends over whether it is “soda” or “pop” and whether aunt is pronounced “awnt” or “ant,” and after recently being asked if I was from Canada (look, I live close to the border, but I sure as hell don’t sound Canadian), I decided it was time to figure out just what kind of english I speak:

With a Master’s in Marketing Communications, I love looking at marketing campaigns…and this one is really cool. Look, I don’t believe poverty or hunger will ever be iradicated. But, here’s a campaign that is at least trying to fight poverty in an intelligent way.

As the Acton Institute website explains,

For people of faith, compassion for the poor is a non-negotiable. Compassion alone, however, doesn’t help the poor. In fact, many poverty programs exacerbate the very problem they were intended to solve. So how do we insure that we not only mean well, but also do good?

We have to learn to think economically. Don’t worry. At its base, economics isn’t supply/demand charts and complicated math. Rather, the “art of economics,” as Henry Hazlitt puts it, “consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.”

And, the ads are eye-catching and interesting to boot. Who could ask for more?

Who would have expected these words from Bono’s mouth? According to a Reuters Blog posting by Lesley Wroughton,

Bono acknowledges that four years ago when he toured Africa with then U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, bringing private sector with him would never have crossed his mind.

It’s a signal of changes in Africa over the past decade, but in part it’s Bono’s own advocacy that has helped shift attitudes toward the African agenda.

“I think it is bizarre that Africa got me interested in commerce,” chuckles the U2 lead singer in an interview with Reuters. “I am an activist but I looked at the mosaic of problems facing this magical place and I could see so many of the pieces intersected with commerce, trade and entrepreneurial spirit.

“And I’m saying, I believe that Africa can compete with China in terms of offering jobs to its people in the apparel sector, I believe Africa can compete with India in terms of offering jobs to people in the IT sector, if this problem of business efficiencies and strangulation of red tape and corruption can be dealt with,” he said. Africa’s political leaders know the influence he wields. Lesotho’s Minister of Trade and Industry Mpho Meli Malie is one of those who knows that having Bono pitch for Lesotho’s apparel sector could bring new investments. “A celebrity like Bono and with his organization DATA they should be able to penetrate and encourage some of the brands to consider Lesotho as a destination,” said Malie.

Hat Tip: Acton Institute Power Blog

According to an article in Auto Spectator “Hybrids Consume More Energy in Lifetime Than Chevrolet’s Tahoe SUV”. Yes, you heard that right…

CNW Marketing Research Inc. spent two years collecting data on the energy necessary to plan, build, sell, drive and dispose of a vehicle from initial concept to scrappage. This includes such minutia as plant to dealer fuel costs, employee driving distances, electricity usage per pound of material used in each vehicle and literally hundreds of other variables.

What were the results?

For example, the Honda Accord Hybrid has an Energy Cost per Mile of $3.29 while the conventional Honda Accord is $2.18. Put simply, over the “Dust to Dust” lifetime of the Accord Hybrid, it will require about 50 percent more energy than the non-hybrid version.

One of the reasons hybrids cost more than non-hybrids is the manufacture, replacement and disposal of such items as batteries, electric motors (in addition to the conventional engine), lighter weight materials and complexity of the power package.

And while many consumers and environmentalists have targeted sport utility vehicles because of their lower fuel economy and/or perceived inefficiency as a means of transportation, the energy cost per mile shows at least some of that disdain is misplaced.

For example, while the industry average of all vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2005 was $2.28 cents per mile, the Hummer H3 (among most SUVs) was only $1.949 cents per mile. That figure is also lower than all currently offered hybrids and Honda Civic at $2.42 per mile.

The article further explains:

“If a consumer is concerned about fuel economy because of family budgets or depleting oil supplies, it is perfectly logical to consider buying high- fuel-economy vehicles,” says Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, Inc. “But if the concern is the broader issues such as environmental impact of energy usage, some high-mileage vehicles actually cost society more than conventional or even larger models over their lifetime.”

So if you’re trying to save the world, forget the hybrid, get the Hummer.

Hat Tip: CRC - Greenwatch Blog

I know I’ve linked to this before, but this map of eminent domain abuse is so important and soo scary that it deserves mention again. How many abuses have there been in your backyard?

While sitting here in my “Viva La Reagan Revolucion” t-shirt, I stumbled upon an interesting column by Jeff Jacoby on the communist inspired fashion that is so popular these days.

As Jacoby explains,

The glamorization of communist imagery is widespread. On West 4th Street in Manhattan, the popular KGB Bar is known for its literary readings and Soviet propaganda posters. In Los Angeles, the La La Ling boutique sells baby clothing emblazoned with the face of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro’s bloody henchman. At the House of Mao, a popular eatery in Singapore, waiters in Chinese army uniforms serve Long March Chicken, and a giant picture of Mao Zedong dominates one wall.

“A French government agency, the National Lottery, was crazy enough to use Stalin and Mao in one of its advertising campaigns,” observed Stephane Courtois in his introduction to The Black Book of Communism, a scholarly survey of communist crimes. “Would anyone even dare to come up with the idea of featuring Hitler or Goebbels in its commercials?”

I wonder how many of the people wearing the Che and Hammer-and-Sickle t-shirts truly understand the meaning of those symbols and how many are just wearing them because they have some vague understanding of the symbols and think they’re “cool.” But, as Jacoby concludes, “Communist chic?” The blood of 100 million victims cries out from the ground. To wear the symbols of their killers is no fashion statement, but the ultimate in bad taste. ”
But, as Jacoby explains,