Michael Bell
-
These People are Failing at Their Jobs; Why Do They Still Have Them?
Read more: These People are Failing at Their Jobs; Why Do They Still Have Them?Here is the really big problem with politics: you can smell the bad odor, but you can’t tell where it comes from. We have a board of education and a teachers’ union whose current leadership is characterized by a) ongoing parent and student demonstrations b) bogus attendance counts c) verbal abuse d) alleged predatory cover-up…
-
Raskin to Our Rescue
Read more: Raskin to Our RescueAs of the current timestamp (2023-10-01 17:01:11 EDT), a federal government shutdown has been averted. Actually, the shutdown has been postponed until the next farce of a budget resolution in November. Federal shutdowns affect every American in terms of operations: there are reductions in air traffic controllers and FDA inspections, national parks close, and much…
-
They Criminalized Leaf Blowers; What About the Rest?
Read more: They Criminalized Leaf Blowers; What About the Rest?Gas-powered leaf blowers are super annoying. I recently woke up 7:30 one beautiful Saturday morning to the NASCAR-like grinding of a leaf blower. My initial reaction was to confront my neighbor for working on his lawn during my prime snooze time, but it turned out is was my gardener cleaning up my lawn! Gas blowers…
-
Reason #6 for School Vouchers—Predators and Their Victims
Read more: Reason #6 for School Vouchers—Predators and Their Victims(Lead image from the Washington Post, August 11, 2023.) A high-school math teacher was, by all accounts, a very good teacher, but his social skills were affected by a streak of anger. During one class a student misbehaved. The teacher reacted far out of proportion to the offense; he pushed the student against a wall.…
-
Personal Thoughts on Street Safety
Read more: Personal Thoughts on Street SafetyThe lead image was photographed close to the Montrose Road offramp of the I-270. There is nothing more stirring, jolting, or heartbreaking than driving by a small memorial marking where a fatal accident occurred. We see them on Old Georgetown Road, Georgia Avenue, and interstate onramps. Was the victim a careless pedestrian looking at an…
-
Do You Own A Rental in Montgomery County? Sell it now!
Read more: Do You Own A Rental in Montgomery County? Sell it now!(Disclaimer: No investment advice is intended in this post.) If you own a rental in White Oak, Bel Pre, Aspen Hill, Gaithersburg, or Montgomery Village, you might want to sell. Today. The county government has developed a Community Equity Index that indicates what areas reflect the county’s prevailing diversity. (Actually, this index indicates what areas…
-
Marc Elrich’s Living Green Lifestyle is Sincere, His Coercion Less So
Read more: Marc Elrich’s Living Green Lifestyle is Sincere, His Coercion Less SoJust about every week County Executive Marc Elrich sends out a video message. Almost all of these messages pertain to policy, commemorations, awards, meetings, and the CE’s outs-and-abouts. The message from September 1 was quite different. He gave us a view of his home, his gardening, and to some extent his personal life. Mr. Elrich…
-
If You Own a Tesla, You’re Not a Racist
Read more: If You Own a Tesla, You’re Not a RacistWhen I see a Tesla, I emote four feelings that, surprisingly for me, do not contradict each other: pride (I am a member of a species that can conceive of such machines), admiration (for the investors, managers, and workers who make these machines), optimism (tailpipe emissions are slowly going somewhere else), and vituperative jealousy (McMahon…
-
Booze in MoCo: Part 4, How to Dismantle the ABS Monopoly
Read more: Booze in MoCo: Part 4, How to Dismantle the ABS MonopolyIn May 1773, the British parliament passed the Tea Act that granted the British East India Company, a government-chartered corporate monopoly with exclusive rights to sell tea in the colonies, to collect tax on that tea at the port. Americans, enraged at a tea tax being imposed without their due representation, reacted by boarding one…
-
Booze in MoCo: Part 3, Who Benefits from the ABS Monopoly?
Read more: Booze in MoCo: Part 3, Who Benefits from the ABS Monopoly?In Part 1 of this series we introduced the county’s corporate liquor monopoly Alcohol Beverage Services, and in Part 2 we refuted every single claim ABS gives to justify its existence. In this installment we’ll provide an indication of who really does benefit from the county’s corporate liquor monopoly. When we ask who benefits from…