Michael Bell
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Reason #5 for School Vouchers—Mahmoud v. McKnight
Read more: Reason #5 for School Vouchers—Mahmoud v. McKnightFolks, it’s on rare occasions that I need to actually think before writing a blog post. Usually I only describe and transcribe the bizarre and dysfunctional events unfolding around us, such as the recent trial Tamer Mahmoud v. Monica B. McKnight. This was the landmark trial and ruling by Judge Deborah Boardman that denied the…
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Booze in MoCo: Part 2, Debunking the ABS’s Justifications
Read more: Booze in MoCo: Part 2, Debunking the ABS’s JustificationsThis is part 2 in a 4 part series debunking the excuses ABS uses to justify its existence, identify who benefits from this monopoly, and what (if anything) can be done to dismantle it. You can read part 1 here. The county’s Alcoholic Beverage Service justifies its corporate monopoly in the following video. Viewing with…
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Booze in MoCo: Part 1, How We Buy Alcoholic Beverages
Read more: Booze in MoCo: Part 1, How We Buy Alcoholic BeveragesThis is part 1 in a 4 part series debunking the excuses ABS uses to justify its existence, identify who benefits from this monopoly, and what (if anything) can be done to dismantle it. John and Jerry, residents of Silver Spring, are preparing a small summer wedding and an even smaller reception. They go to…
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Who Serves on the Committee Against Hate/Violence? Kristin Mink!
Read more: Who Serves on the Committee Against Hate/Violence? Kristin Mink!In 2018, the Trump Administration took the United States out of the hypocritical United Nations Human Rights Council, arguing that no nation that itself abuses human rights (Venezuela, China, Saudi Arabia) could serve on that body. Fast forward to 2023: one of the members of Montgomery County’s Committee on Hate/Violence is Council Member Kristin Mink,…
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Reason #4 for School Vouchers—Prejudice
Read more: Reason #4 for School Vouchers—PrejudiceThe most common justifications for school choice and school vouchers are curriculum and quality. Parents and students want a curriculum that has an emphasis different from what the public schools offer; parents and students are desperately seeking a way out of their failing neighborhood school. There are significant populations within Montgomery County that fall into…