Author Archives: Josh Smith
Internet Regulation: We Must Make the Circle Square
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] Megan Meier’s sucide happened over two years ago, but the trial of Lori Drew drew to a close just recently, with the jury finding her guilty last Friday of three counts of accessing a computer without authorization, and not guilty of felony conspiracy. According … Continue reading
Another Potential Meaningless Victory for the Nanny State: Bike Helmets
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] Helmet laws are a popular mechanism by which state and local governments like to insert themselves into the lives of their citizenry, and the recent news out of Saint Louis County is no exception. Naturally, I oppose this on ideological grounds, but I am … Continue reading
The Gun Buyback May Not Come Back
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] An article from the Post-Dispatch tells us that, despite a request from the police chief to repeat last year’s gun buyback, the Board of Police Commissioners failed to approve funding for the program. The matter failed on a 2-2 tie vote, with the mayor … Continue reading
In Awe of Freedom
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] One of the problems with advocating market solutions and disparaging government solutions is a complaint often uttered by free-market advocates, and it is a version of the broken window problem. Government solutions are imminently visible and localized (in one agency or project), whereas market … Continue reading
Every Time I Go to the Pump, It’s Like the Sale of the Century
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] The title of this post comes from something I overheard another QT customer commenting to the person next to them at the pump. I realize I’ve blogged about this recently, but I feel sure that it is an economic issue that hits close to … Continue reading
Won’t Someone Think of the Children?
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] One of the top stories in the Post-Dispatch today reports that registered sex offenders will be closely monitored by increased police presence on Halloween. There are some problems with sex offender registration as a whole, so it may not be worth the increased police … Continue reading
Shout Out to Mr. Tiebout
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] According to a Post-Dispatch article the city of Joplin will no longer allow teachers in its public schools to show any visible tattoos. Now, at first blush, this seems like an infringement on liberty, and perhaps it is. But it may also be a … Continue reading
Health Is a Right; Health Care Is Not
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] There’s a nice short article on KOMU Channel 8’s website advocating increased public funding for health care in Missouri. Now, I am not a monster. I do think it would be better if more people had better health care — but I am not … Continue reading
Stock Slump Provides Bridge to Cheaper Gas
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] The stock market troubles that have made the front page of CNN’s website almost every day for the last two weeks (at least) are fairly generally accepted to be part of a national economic slowdown, which is almost certainly much older than the recent … Continue reading
Police You Can Count On
[This post was originally written for my employer’s blog, Show-Me Daily.] The Post-Dispatch reports that St. Louis has a new police chief. My favorite part of the article: [New chief Daniel] Isom said he will take a more modern approach by decentralizing the decision-making. “I want to push resources down to the district level in … Continue reading