Boulder is a Stoopid Place

All Hail Breaks Loose | City Journal

The trial lawyers reap an undeserved windfall, and insurers simply raise premiums to recover their losses.

When lawyers are involved, common sense is not part of the vocabulary.

Allow me to translate. The media is going to start doing their job now that a Republican is in office – Press encouraged to turn up heat on Trump | Washington Examiner  Fine by me, just wish they would do it all the time.

Dr Helen – Oh, Hell Yes! | PJ Media

A new study shows women swear more than men. The election results prove this to be true because all I can say as a female small business owner is ‘Oh Hell, yes.’

Coming soon to a state near you – Stanford Study Reveals California Pensions Underfunded By $1 Trillion Or $93k Per Household | Zero Hedge

Earlier today the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research revealed some fairly startling realities about California’s public pension underfunding levels.

Common sense is not so common – Thanks To ‘Fight For $15’ Minimum Wage, McDonald’s Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide

It’s not just McDonald’s that has embraced job-replacing technology. Numerous restaurant chains (both quick service and full service) have looked to computer tablets as a solution for rising labor costs that won’t adversely impact the customer’s experience. Eatsa, a fully-automated restaurant concept, now has five locations—all in cities or states that have embraced a $15 minimum wage. And in a scene stolen from The Jetsons, the Starship delivery robot is now navigating the streets of San Francisco with groceries and other consumer goods. The company’s founder pointed to a rising minimum wage as a key factor driving the growth of his automated delivery business.

Of course, not all businesses have the capital necessary to shift from full-service to self-service. And that brings me to my next correct prediction–that a $15 minimum wage would force many small businesses to lay off staff, seek less-costly locations, or close altogether.

Tragically, these stories—in California in particular–are too numerous to cite in detail here. They include a bookstore in Roseville, a pub in Fresno, restaurants and bakeries in San Francisco, a coffee shop in Berkeley, grocery stores in Oakland, a grill in Santa Clara, and apparel manufacturers through the state. In September of this year, nearly one-quarter of restaurant closures in the Bay Area cited labor costs as one of the reasons for shutting down operations. And just this past week, a California-based communications firm announced it was moving 75 call center jobs from San Diego to El Paso, citing the state’s rising minimum as the “deciding factor.” (Dozens of additional stories can be found at the website FacesOf15.com.)

Is this called progress? Only time will tell. Color me very skeptical.

Stay classy Google – Google Maps Briefly Renames Trump Tower To “Dump Tower” | Zero Hedge

On Saturday night, anyone seeking to find the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York was met with an unexpected result: the Trump residence and transition campaign HQ was briefly renamed “Dump Tower” on Google Maps. The unofficial new name didn’t last too long, however, with the president-elect’s transition headquarters completely removed shortly after.