Deregulator: Alive since '85!

When you think Californians can't get any goofier. Hat tip: The Corner.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy (who passes for a conservative among Euro pols, BTW) has come up with a novel way to keep newpapers from folding: a government bailout! From French blogger Frederic Filloux: Young people reaching 18 are now entitled to a free subscription of the paper of their choice, the publisher providing the paper, and the government paying for the delivery. And, from a tax perspective, when you pour money into a newspaper this is treated as investing in a foundation. In the past, industrialists used the press as an ego booster, it has now become a charity business. Such a thing would never happen in the U.S. (we hope), but the idea of providing direct government aid to news organizations not named NPR or PBS has gained some currency on the left, as in this recent LA Times op-ed. The op-ed mentions postal discounts periodicals have received since the founding of the Republic as examples of government subsidies to the media. But expanding that subsidy would only hel...

Democrats: Stimulus no quick fix for economy.

And Merlefest. Here's a 2007 performance featuring Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton and Byron House -- an hour or so before they joined Elvis Costello on stage! As Sam Bush said, "You get out of your house, the winter's over, and you go to MerleFest."