Magnifisyncopathological

Austin-American Statesman: Noise complaint shuts down Unplugged at the Grove

For the first time in its 16-year existence, KGSR’s “Unplugged at the Grove” series at Shady Grove was shut down Thursday night after a noise complaint from a neighbor. Shady Grove owner Mike Young said the restaurant is in the process of applying for a variance that will allow a ceiling of 85 decibels. According to the current noise code, Shady Grove is classified as a restaurant that must comply at 75 decibels.

Thursday’s opening act Sahara Smith was in the middle of her set when Austin Police showed up with a decibel meter and ordered the show stopped. Headliner Jimmy LaFave never played in front of a crowd estimated at 600. “Unplugged” booker Marsha Milam said the complaint came from a neighbor who told Shady Grove management that he’d call the cops next week, too.

Copyright 2009 The Austin-American Statesman. All Rights Reserved.

Here's what I wrote to the City Council, the first time I think I've contacted them directly:

Other than violating private property rights, the noise ordinance is giving rise to other absurdities. For example: people who, after choosing to live near or in the downtown area of a city known for its after-dark music scene, complain about the loudness of that very scene. Though the person who complained about Shady Grove is the immediate source of concern, ultimately it is the local government's imposition of the noise ordinance that should take responsibility.

Neighbors should be able to resolve their problems without calling on people with guns to shut the other side down. How about we not give them that rather violent option?

-Charles Hueter

Posted by drizzten at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Consequentialism is the bread and butter of modern state justifications. Why embrace one of their central premises? If convincing others something is wrong because it doesn’t “work” then your opponents will logically cloud the discussion with various ways it does work…if only SoAndSo was in charge, if only NewLaw was passed…if only we acted for the benefit of others rather than ourselves…if only the human experiment was tweaked via collective coercion….etc.

I agree libertarian state reform is a functional contradiction and can’t work. But its morality isn’t affected by its pragmatic potential.

Posted by drizzten at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce Vice President Betty Price said, short of the school system and city services, the development corporation will become one of the town's biggest employers.

Copyright ©2009TWEAN News Channel of Austin, L.P. d.b.a. News 8 Austin

The above News8Austin article is frustratingly short on details of how the EDC lured Cinergy Cinemas to Copperas Cove. Was it a tax break? Property sold below market rates as a result of a tax seizure, condemnation, or eminent domain? Special treatment by waiving local business regulations? The EDC autofellatio is just as light on how they accomplished this; their 2008 annual report (PDF) also suffers from "Lookit us, we're awesome!" syndrome. Even if their efforts were limited to promoting the city's relative attractiveness compared to other areas, they were only able to do this through a "1/2 cent sales tax" imposed on businesses in the city limits. However, it appears they will go much further (PDF) if they want.

It is important to note how this is portrayed. The PR (both the news article and the EDC material) speaks only of the superficial consumer benefits and pays no attention to the means used to secure these benefits. This sets up a red herring the moment you voice opposition to the project. How could I be against the area's first R-rated theater, fancy new ways to enjoy movies, and a big source of jobs? I must be anti-growth or something!

Wrong. I'm anti-state and this project smells like typical state intervention into the market.

A government-funded and government-run education system. A government-funded and government-run utility and civic services system. Spillover effects from the largest US Army base in the world. Now, a huge entertainment venture that was convinced to break ground as a direct result of government intervention and will round out the top employers in the area.

I bet people over there think they live in a free market system and routinely talk about freedom and liberty.

Posted by drizzten at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by drizzten at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

[Updates below.]

Joe, it is possible that Mr. Olivia cares more -in this instance- about the protection of certain values from cultural erosion. It's the same rage I feel when I hear interventionism advocated by someone claiming the title of free market defender. These days, words are at best used to obscure meaning. With increasing frequency, they are used in direct contradiction of their clear meaning. When we're talking about people's lives and property, it is worth getting upset now and then.

But, Mr. Cowen's statement is not defensible on free market grounds. Obama is a typical statist with atypical persuasive skills. Press him hard enough and he will attempt to protect and preserve government power. He's awful on economics and that's because he's awful in other aspects of his philosophy. He thinks collective coercion is routine, unquestionable on pragmatic grounds.

This isn't some mean pox I'm trying to cast on him. This is something probably supported by 98% of the world.

And I'm under no illusions about where the direction of things points. While being nice and polite has it's place and should be used when one has specific tasks, that formality has value because not everyone deserves it. GMU has a public reputation for being libertarian. Not everyone there rejects collective coercion against the peaceful affairs of individuals using and exchanging legitimate private property. Press me hard enough and that's my standard before I'll accept someone as a market fundamentalist. I get the sense Mr. Olivia shares a similar minimum qualification.

People who call interventionists defenders of free markets, radical capitalists, or extreme libertarians should be called out on it.

Interventionists should be honest enough to reject the titles.

UPDATED 5/12/2009 8:55am
Someone pulled the blog post from the von Mises site but you can see the Twitter post that brought it to my attention here:

Tyler Cowen, Resign!: Tyler Cowen: "I do not agree with Obama on all points but he understands economic policy b.. http://tinyurl.com/o5yv7s

Posted by drizzten at 02:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Short of making the most difficult economic changes, however, there is the matter that even blue-dog Democrats ought to be able to handle without flinching: establishing the government as employer of last resort.

[...]

There is no natural rate of unemployment. But there is a natural – that is, fundamental – right to work. The social and economic costs of unemployment – lost income, crime, broken families, physical and mental health problems, interrupted educations, shattered retirements, social unrest – ought to be plenty to make providing full employment a slam dunk for politicians supposedly in tune with their constituents.

Once again, Meteor Blades demonstrates he knows jack shit about economics.

Posted by drizzten at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Third, there already is a free market in labor - it's referred to as free trade. The very point of free trade is that workers don't have to move across borders because products can. The movement of labor is not part of the free market because nations are, in a very real sense, the property of their citizens. The implicit goal of any modern, democratic government is supposed to be the welfare of its citizens, a goal that is actually explicit in our Constitution - that item about promoting "the general welfare," which refers to Americans, not the entire world.

In a free market I have the right to sell my goods or services in competition with Target, WalMart, whoever. That does not give me the right to walk into a Target or WalMart and sell my goods on their property in competition with them.

So, so many problems with the above quote.

Posted by drizzten at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Rob Ray passes on a cultural note perched on the to-and-fro of regular politics.

Posted by drizzten at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The last seven years have revealed that almost the entire American establishment views itself as immune to the moral and ethical rules it applies to every other country in the world. Now we know, at least.

Posted by drizzten at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)