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In the event that you did not know it, you need a permit in Virginia to teach yoga. As Ilya Shapiro writes, getting a permit “entails paying $2500 and getting your “curriculum” approved by state bureaucrats, as well as other barriers to entry.” I don’t know what Virginia bureaucrats think they know about yoga, but apparently, they think highly of whatever knowledge they have, and believe that they can pass judgment on whether an individual is qualified to teach yoga to others. The mind reels.
Fortunately, the Institute for Justice is on the case, and fighting for economic freedom. But it is amazing that we actually have to have this argument. Equally amazing is the fact that we appear willing to put up with even more blatant examples of nanny-statism from the federal government.
TNL
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By Ernesto Londoño – microlimitedms@gmail.com
Read our UK charts: MW2 top, Tony Hawk tanks News for PC, PSP, DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii.
Activision and Infinity Ward's shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is still the best-selling game in the UK, despite a…
LoanSafe's worst media puppet of the week MSNBC's Keith Olbermann claimed that Fox News cooked up the ClimateGate story and that Steve Doocy, Gretchen.
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, December 7, 2009
BAGHDAD — Even as the U.S. military scrambles to support a troop surge in Afghanistan, it is donating passenger vehicles, generators and other equipment worth tens of millions of dollars to the Iraqi government.
Under new authority granted by the Pentagon, U.S. commanders in Iraq may now donate to the Iraqis up to $30 million worth of equipment from each facility they leave, up from the $2 million cap established when the guidelines were first set in 2005. The new cap applies at scores of posts that the U.S. military is expected to leave in coming months as it scales back its presence from about 280 facilities to six large bases and a few small ones by the end of next summer.
Some of the items that commanders may now leave behind, including passenger vehicles and generators, are among what commanders in Afghanistan need most urgently, according to Pentagon memos.
Officials involved say the approach has triggered arguments in the Pentagon over whether the effort to leave Iraqis adequately equipped is hurting the buildup in Afghanistan. Officials in the U.S. Central Command, which oversees both wars, have balked at some proposed handovers, and previously rejected an approach that would have granted base commanders even greater leeway.
U.S. commanders in Iraq say they have been judicious in assessing what equipment to earmark for donation. Alan F. Estevez, a deputy undersecretary of defense, wrote in an e-mail that “an important and vital goal is to leave behind fully functioning bases to the Government of Iraq to enable Iraq's civil capacities.”
But a U.S. military official critical of the process said the new regulations allow too much latitude to commanders, provide little oversight and fail to account for the urgent need of American forces in Afghanistan, which need the same kinds of items that the troops in Iraq are leaving behind.
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“How can a generator or an SUV or a relocatable building be excess if you are buying the very same thing and sending it to Afghanistan?” said the official, who is involved in the process and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“In Iraq, people drive around in new Yukons, Suburbans, Envoys and new pickups,” the official said. “In Kandahar, you find troops from the same U.S. Army driving around in broken-down, 15-year-old, right-hand-drive clunkers with bald tires.”
Brig. Gen. Peter C. Bayer Jr., the chief of staff for the ground forces command in Iraq, said that though the Army wanted to make equipment available to units in Afghanistan, it was often more cost-effective to donate vehicles and other goods to the cash-strapped Iraqi government than to pack and ship it.
“In many cases, we'll spend more between labor and transportation than the equipment is worth,” Brig. Gen. Bayer said. “We're not talking about green Army trucks or weapons systems or night-vision capabilities.” Under the surge that President Obama outlined last week, commanders in Afghanistan — a theater long eclipsed by Iraq — soon will need to accommodate 30,000 additional troops. The Pentagon had already begun moving gear and personnel from Iraq to Afghanistan, reflecting a shift that has made Afghanistan the new administration's top foreign policy priority.
Senior military officials have said that getting new equipment into Afghanistan presents a major logistical challenge. “To the extent we can leverage equipment that's being retrograded out of Iraq, we're going to do that to make that a little easier,” Brig. Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the director of the Pentagon's Pakistan-Afghanistan Coordination Cell, said last week in an online discussion with bloggers. “But a significant amount of this equipment will need to be brought in from elsewhere.”
Under federal law, government agencies must demonstrate that equipment they wish to donate is not needed by other U.S. agencies. If that criterion is met, equipment can be donated in exchange for “substantial benefits” to the United States.
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James M. Richards
Vidor,TX
US Navy 1969-1972 Damage Control
jmrichards@aoop.net http://www.myspace.com/stoneagegeek
Travel in Memory of: Pvt Clinton Victor Richards, (Uncle) WWI, USA, KIA, GySgt Joseph B. Richards ,USMC, (Father) WWII, Deceased, SSgt Leroy Richards, USMC, (Uncle) WWII, Deceased, Pvt Dewitt E. Rabalais, USMC, Father in Law, Deceased, Col Gilbert Meibaum, USMC, VN, AO, SN Larry Slaymaker, USN, VN, KIA and each and every Brother and Sister who has worn the uniform and lifted their right hand to make the Promise to willingly die if need be to defend the freedoms of our Citizens and the innocents abroad.
A Mother asked President Bush, “Why did my Child have to die in Afghanistan?” Another Mother asked President Kennedy,”Why did my Child have to die in Vietnam?” Another Mother asked President Truman, “Why did my Child have to die in Korea?” Another Mother asked President F.D. Roosevelt,”Why did my Child have to die at Iwo Jima ?” Another Mother asked President W. Wilson, “Why did my Child have to die on the battlefield of France ?” Yet another Mother asked President Lincoln,”Why did my Child have to die at Gettysburg ?” And yet another Mother asked President G.Washington, “Why did my Child have to die near Valley Forge?” Long, long ago a Mother (Mary) asked, “Heavenly Father, why did my Child have to die on a cross outside Jerusalim?” All the answers are so near the same. One died to save our Souls and the others died to protect our Freedoms.
GayPatriot » Carly Fiorina: big government policies to blame for CA’s collapse…
Thank you for submitting this cool story – Trackback from PunditKix…
Trackback by PunditKix — November 28, 2009 @ 2:45 pm – November 28, 2009
Lt. Col. North was opposed not only by the Democrat but also by the other Senator from Virginia…and also by another Republican who ran as an independent… You should add all the facts to your column… Semper Fi, Col. North…
Comment by toes192 — November 28, 2009 @ 3:38 pm – November 28, 2009
Interesting coverage of Carly. I must admit what I’ve seen of Boxer is enough to make me want any candidate besides Boxer. It’s good to see Carly has at least a few good qualities as well. What is her take on gays?
oh and your “fully operational blogosphere” comment a few posts back had “fully operational Battlestation!” ringing in my ears.
Comment by Argent — November 28, 2009 @ 11:08 pm – November 28, 2009
Argent, and I wanted those words to ring in your ears!
So far, Carly has not addressed gays in her campaign, except to say she voted for Prop 8. Her campaign has, however, included this openly gay blogger in a bloggers’ conference call and offered me (without my requesting it) a 10-minute interview.
Given how accessible she’s been in this, the first month, of her campaign, she’ll certainly have a chance to address such issues in the course of the race.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — November 28, 2009 @ 11:29 pm – November 28, 2009
Is there any realistic chance of California’s citizens ever supplanting Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi? I don’t live on the west coast so I don’t have a collective pulse of how they’re received.
Comment by Sharp Right Turn — November 29, 2009 @ 8:30 pm – November 29, 2009
Sharp Right, we can beat Ma’am, but not Nancy. The mood of the voters is very anti-incumbent. Carly just needs to keep playing offense as she has been doing.
Comment by B. Daniel Blatt — November 29, 2009 @ 8:36 pm – November 29, 2009
Pelosi is going to be in office for as long as she decides to run. There are that many patently-stupid people and welfare addicts in San Francisco to ensure that one.
That being said, turn a negative into a positive; every single Obama Party representative needs to be called out as her complete and total puppet, supporting every foolish and idiotic thing that she does and says.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — November 29, 2009 @ 10:29 pm – November 29, 2009
Has anyone noted that Nancy Pelosi has been out there saying the country wants even bigger government and even more deficit spending?
Comment by V the K — November 30, 2009 @ 7:58 am – November 30, 2009