Bizzy’s AM Coffee Biz-Econ-Life Links (071306)

Free Links:

• Hey, gee, Rachel C,
  How many died without DDT?
  (HT Redhawk Review)
• Florida’s crime rate is at its lowest level since 1971, decreasing 3.7% last year while crime nationwide went up (though the Florida and FBI national stats may not be strictly comparable). Florida passed a concealed-carry law last year, and though statistics show that the presence of such laws has reduced crime elsewhere, it’s too early in my opinion to declare concealed-carry a factor in Florida’s improvement.
• Microsoft has officially ended all support for Windows 98 (this also includes Windows ME). The company estimates that there are still 70 million users. From visiting remote locations of well-known companies, I would guess that this estimate is low. I suppose if the computers involved don’t access the Internet it’s not a big deal, but how many such computers can be out there? Any Win 98 or 2000 computer connected to the Net is a sitting duck for viruses and spyware.
• I think it’s legitimate to worry that 20 years from now we’ll still be dealing with stories like this one (”Teen sues district after ‘Ave Maria’ silenced”; HT Return of the Conservatives) and the other examples cited later in the article. That’s because all too many public school systems will not only continue to pursue a “Godless” curriculum, but will also never own up to the fact that they see doing so as a part of their mission. Side note: Consider me a skeptic that a saxophone (held by Kathryn Nurre in the picture at the link) works in “Ave Maria.”
• If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss yesterday’s OpinionJournal.com piece (may require e-mail registration, but after 24 hours, maybe not) on how the best way to “soak the rich” is to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. My preferred language, since the current tax system has been in place for three years, is “make the current tax rate structure permanent.”
• The Land of 1,000 Subsidies, World Cup runnerup France, has come up with Number 1,001 –
  

  France to Offer Low-Cost PCs to Families
  Jul 11, 4:14 PM (ET)

  PARIS (AP) - Low-income French families will be equipped with a computer and an Internet connection for 1 euro ($1.27) a day under a new government proposal.

  Families who sign up will receive a computer, a high-speed connection, software and a class on how to use the equipment, officials said Tuesday after an inter-ministerial meeting.

  The program is expected to start early next year. Later this year, officials will announce which incomes qualify.

  About half of French homes have a home computer - a figure that Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin wants to boost to 68 percent in three years.

  Families in the program will contribute financially for three years, the government said. The program will have both state and private funding, with the state guaranteeing bank loans for families, while Internet providers give sharp discounts for access.

  Many details were still being worked out.

  Though there’s always a chance that this time a government program will actually pan out, I’d say the odds are that it will be an underachieving boondoggle like the USA’s Universal Service Fund (USF) has been. Even if it accomplishes something in its initial stages, there is a high chance of repeating the type of mission creep the USF has experienced. The whole enterprise reflects a nation that thinks it can subsidize its way to wealth instead of freeing up the engine of private enterprise and growing its way there.