Arrogance

I have to admit, I am very surprised that the Board of Health approved the youth tanning ban. No one elected the Board of Health, so they have to be a pretty arrogant and self righteous bunch of people to think they have the moral authority to force their will on others. Really, it is truly fascinating that a group of people can be so full of themselves and at the same time have such a low opinion of the general public. Even if I thought that youth tanning was a bad idea, I wouldn’t have the audacity to force others to bend to my will as this Board of Health has done. This is no different than the government banning gay marriage, drugs, abortion, or any other activity between private citizens with no social consequences. Tanning is not a public health issue, it’s a private health issue that affects only those who choose to tan.

Think about it. Who would even allow their own physician to make decisions like this for themselves or for others? And Howard County allows the Board of Health, none of whom were elected and many of the members of which are not even doctors, to make social policy. Wow. That seems pretty dumb.

Beilenson led off the hearing by telling the board that "indoor tanning is quite simply bad for you." He called scientific arguments to the contrary "junk science. Don't let the tanning industry play games with the science as tobacco did before them," he said. Board members appeared to accept that.

"I feel this whole issue is based on a preponderance of scientific evidence," said board chairman Robert Sheesley, a former director of Baltimore County's Department of the Environment. Sheesley said he had used indoor tanning beds as a youth. "I've had numerous pre-cancerous conditions," in later life, he said.

Other board members said they considered the impact on tanning salon business owners and arguments that Maryland's new law requiring parental permission in person for minors to tan indoors is enough protection, but ultimately rejected them.

"Even if we are able to save one life it seems to me worthwhile," said board member Sue Song, who also said she's no fan of unnecessary governmental controls.

"We don't give our children permission to drink or smoke," added board member Vanessa Foreman-Islam. Approving the ban is "the safest bet" given the evidence of rising skin cancers, especially among young women.

Ken Ulman and Peter Bielenson pursued this absurd regulation in an effort to get their names in national spotlight. The Lance Armstrong Foundation even had a blog post about Howard County’s new regulation. It’s great that groups like the LAF work to find a cure for cancer, but special interest groups like the LAF are the worst imaginable groups to advocate for social policy. They view cancer in a very emotional and irrational manner.

Fortunately, a lobbyist has threatened to challenge the authority of the Board of Health to approve ridiculous legislation such as this. Normally I despise lobbyists, but I wish this one the best of luck.

Awesomeness

The below video is the first of five Youtube videos of Milton Friedman being interviewed on the Phil Donahue show in 1979. All five of these videos are totally awesome. Friedman concludes the fifth video with this very wise statement, which is just as true today as it was then:

Because you can find some valid function of government doesn’t mean that everything government does is valid. And the problem today is not that we have too little government, but much too much government.

Working hard for special interests

State Delegates Warren Miller and Guy Guzzone are helping the Licensed Beverage Association make sure that we pay as much as possible for liquor by decreasing competition among liquor stores. The Licensed Beverage Association is the same association that works to make sure we cannot get mail order wine, like from the Zagat Wine Club.

The bill limiting the number of new licenses for liquor stores, though not for restaurants, was requested by the county's Licensed Beverage Association, whose members are always worried about close competition. A recently approved license for a new store in a shopping center on U.S. 40 near St. John's Lane drew protests from residents and nearby store owners, though the license was granted.

Del. Warren E. Miller, a Republican, and house delegation chairman Guy Guzzone, a Democrat, are sponsoring the bill, but both said they wanted to spark a public discussion and haven't settled on exact provisions.

"It's mostly to give the association the chance to make a case," Guzzone said. Miller said he's had complaints about some areas where there is "an overwhelming number of licenses, one on top of another."

Angela Beltram, a former County Council member who protested the St. John's liquor store, said there are seven other stores within two miles of the new one. She said the proposed law might be a good idea, though she hasn't studied it. "Somebody has to set a limit," she said.

This is a classic example of "do gooders" aligning with business interests to maximize business profits under the guise of saving society from some "evil" product. Another coalition of Bootleggers and Baptists.

Saving money for a change

It's hard to believe that the county government uses 1,000 cell phones, but changes may be made to the phone policy to save taxpayers as much as $500,000. It appears that the county has been paying $90 a month for people to have cell phones that use them 15 minutes a month. I find it hard to understand why public safety and emergency workers need 700 cell phones. Oh well, it is at least refreshing to see Ulman saving money rather than spending it. With a $2 billion dollar budget, there are many more ways to cut costs.

According to Ulman, budget director Raymond S. Wacks and chief administrative officer Lonnie Robbins, the idea is to switch from having the county obtain cell phones for employees and County Council members to having it pay a monthly stipend of either $40 or $90 to workers deemed to need the phones.

That could allow some to use one phone, rather than one for personal use and a second phone for county business.

"It just gets away from record-keeping," Robbins said.

In addition, the county would reduce the number of cell phones from the roughly 1,000 now used by county workers. The changes, expected to be announced in a few weeks, would save money and eliminate county record-keeping required by the Internal Revenue Service, Ulman said. Wacks said cost savings can be achieved.

"We're paying $90 a month for someone to use the phone for 15 minutes a month," Wacks said. Moving to a two-tiered system, Robbins said, could get employees who do need a phone but don't use it much the lower monthly stipend. Instead of maintaining a separate county phone, the money could help pay for the person's personal phone, leaving the record-keeping to them.

Robbins said most of the phones - about 700 - are being used by public safety and emergency workers, though each County Council member also has one.

To drift a little off topic, one of the arguments for a single payer health system is that government would increase efficiency by reducing administrative costs. Ha!

Reality check

“I believe, certainly, the owners of this property that brought this into the neighborhood are culpable on some level. That party doesn’t take place, the shooting doesn’t take place.”

-County Executive Ken Ulman in an Explore Howard article justifying why he wants to harass the homeowners where the Halloween shooting occurred with petty violations.


Do you know what else prevents these types of incidents? A criminal justice system that actually works like it's supposed to.

Johns Hopkins criminologist Doug Ward said cases such as Dixon’s — which show escalating criminal behavior with no rehabilitation — present a problem for law enforcement all over the country.

“This is a big problem everywhere,” he said. “We call it a criminal justice system, but it’s not much of a system. There are competing interests here. You have police officers who are trying to build good cases .... and you have a so-called correctional system, where part of the goal is to keep them in prison and part is to get them out as quickly as possible to free up beds.”

Ward said oftentimes parole and probation agents — who are supposed to keep a close eye on newly released inmates — are too overwhelmed by large workloads to do an effective job of monitoring ex-cons.

“Parole and probation agents are supposed to keep watch over them,” he said. “In a lot of cases, it doesn’t happen, and this is one of them.”

Noddin’ my head like yeah, shootin’ my Glock like yeah

It’s a party in the Fiefdom of Ulman!

Ken Ulman personifies everything that I despise about government. There were a lot of poor choices that were made by various parties which led to the shooting of two people during the infamous Halloween Party. I am sure the HOA of that neighborhood will crack down on residents who rent out their homes for parties. I am sure the family of the deceased victim as well as the family of the injured victim will each get their day in court with whoever proves to be negligent. I am sure the shooter will spend some time in the slammer.

But none of this is good enough for Ken Ulman. Ulman is actually wasting taxpayer resources by having his staff research various ways in which they can harass the owners of this home with B.S. like not having a rental license:

“I’ve instructed my staff to look at every possible angle of the situation that brought this mayhem into the neighborhood,” he added. “I believe, certainly, the owners of this property that brought this into the neighborhood are culpable on some level. That party doesn’t take place, the shooting doesn’t take place.”

Later…

He’s asked departments, including police; fire; zoning; inspections, licensing and permits; finance; health; and office of law, to determine what violations apply to the Halloween incident and past incidents at the address, possibly including liquor licensing, underage drinking, zoning violations stemming from the use of a house as a commercial establishment, and permit violations, since there was not a rental license on file for the residence.

Ulman said he acknowledges that there are many instances when a party can unexpectedly go awry, but that he believes there is a pattern of misuse at the Manorstone Lane house. He added that he is unsure if any new legislation is necessary to prevent such occurrences in the future, but would consider proposing legislation if current laws are deemed insufficient.

“We’re going to look at every possible violation that occurred in this situation,” he said. “We’re just untangling the web right now. This raises all kinds of questions.”

Ulman is like the father of the balloon boy that will do anything to promote himself. The Howard County Police can bust down the door of an innocent person, shoot a family dog in cold blood, and Ulman is completely impotent to do anything because it might upset the beloved police union. Nine months rolls by and not a peep from him or any of his staff, as if everything is just great. Yet three days after this shooting he is running his mouth to the newspapers about how he plans to harass homeowners who are obviously in financial difficulties and are already facing major legal issues.

What a coward.

More skate spot pics

Below are some additional pics (first batch here) of the new skate spot at Centennial Park North. This summer when it opened, a park official said that the skate spot cost about $130,000 which less than typical playground equipment, making them an attractive way to add new park features for relatively little money. This is how the skate park looks today:















Remember kids: safety first!