| Reviving the legal basis for our economic liberty N Ali Bokhari, now 39, emigrated from Pakistan in 2000 and eventually settled here as a taxi driver. The Supreme Court, which is supposed to resolve such contradictions among the circuits, should seize the opportunity to correct a 139-year-old error. The court said the law did nothing to protect the public and merely shielded licensed funeral directors from competition. He also has some enemies, including taxi and sedan companies, and a city government that is, as interventionist governments generally are, devoted to regulations that protect the strong by preserving the status quo. With the quiet support of the taxi companies, which have not raised rates since Bokhari and some similar entrepreneurs went into business, the limo companies got regulators to mandate a $45 minimum charge for any ride. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Tennessee law that prohibited anyone without a license from selling caskets. In 2004, however, the 10th Circuit upheld an Oklahoma law requiring online casket retailers to have funeral director's licenses that could take several years to get. In 2002, the 6th U. In 1873, in a 5-4 decision in the Slaughterhouse Cases, the Supreme Court, without any warrant from legislative history of the 14th Amendment, construed "privileges or immunities" so narrowly as to make it a nullity. The 10th Circuit is right about the practice but is disgracefully tolerant of treating economic liberty as a plaything of politicians, who ought to be forbidden from favoring some interests and disfavoring others. Now, however, Bokhari may help catalyze reconsideration of the constitutional basis of economic liberty. Represented by the Austin, Texas, office of the Institute for Justice, the nation's only libertarian public interest law firm, Bokhari is seeking judicial recognition of his constitutional right to economic liberty. Bokhari bought a black Lincoln sedan and began offering cut-rate rides — an average of $25 — to and from the airport, around downtown, and in neighborhoods not well served by taxis. Giving the latter scant protection, courts have . Now he has 20, and 15 independent contractors with their own cars and a website and a lot of customers. But the Constitution, and especially the 14th Amendment, is supposed to protect the individual's liberty, including economic liberty, from government's depredations. But he had an idea: "I can build a better business model for something Nashville hasbeen missing. |
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Reviving the legal basis for our economic liberty
Can't attend SXSW? SeeTalkGrow brings the industry to your desktop
| Can't attend SXSW? SeeTalkGrow brings the industry to your desktop
HOUSTON, March 31, 2012 -- How does an ambitious, industrious woman stay active and involved in the music industry - or any other industry for that matter - with a bun in the oven? How does she stay on top of her business activities with a baby on board? Or a toddler in tow? That's the question I asked myself as I sat on my living room sofa pondering my new baby bump and lamenting the fact that there was no way on earth I could attend SXSW - the biggest music industry conference in the USA - for at least the next few years. Not. They say necessity is the mother of invention. This was a brainstorm to end all brainstorms, no doubt. All this amity is an ideal, real-life example of why surrounding oneself with good, honest, hardworking people is so essential for success both in business and in life. She assisted in a campaign that raised more than $100,000 for CrimeStoppers and was commended by musician Tori Amos for her charitable efforts on behalf of domestic-abuse victims. I decided that the answer to all my maternal challenges was to launch my own live online music, film, technology, and writing conference. Thankfully, I have enough resourceful friends in the industry, many of whome are based right here in Houston conveniently enough. Upcoming SeeTalkGrow events include two online concerts featuring folk singer-songwriter, Michelle Cowan on April 3, and Stevie Nicks tribute artist, Brooke Alyson on April 6. Jennifer's accomplishments include being nominated Houston's best female vocalist and best songwriter and was named best keyboardist in the 2010 Houston Press Music Awards. Jennifer has released three CDs, the most recent of which, "Serpent Tales Can't attend SXSW? SeeTalkGrow brings the industry to your desktop |
4 relaxing bed-and-breakfast inns in Prescott
| 4 relaxing bed-and-breakfast inns in Prescott
Dawn Delaney is not Danish and didn't know what an ebelskiver was until she thumbed through the Williams-Sonoma catalog and was drawn to a pan used to make the stuffed pancake balls. There are two rooms, one an 850-square-foot Country Suite that is often rented for long stays. Breakfast is in the couple's kitchen upstairs and includes fresh eggs from their chickens. Rates are $149. Polly the donkey can shake on command. The inn is less than a mile from downtown. Arizona history buffs should stop by the Sharlot Hall Museum on their way to Courthouse Square and Whiskey Row. One guest, business traveler Laura Pedersen from Tucson, asked for the recipe. Delaney, 55, returned from the kitchen with a cookbook. Owners' dining tips: Papa's Italian Restaurant for fettuccine Alfredo, the Raven for falafel and hummus, and steaks and weekend entertainment at Dry Gulch cowboy steak house. Here are three more bed-and-breakfast options in Prescott: Pleasant Street Inn Bed e front license plate of their red Volkswagen Beetle: Two Crazy Ladies. They bought Prescott Pines, which is a bit more than a mile from downtown and Whiskey Row, a year ago and are still putting their stamp on it. Regular rooms start at $99 per night. The lodge starts at $250 per night and does not include breakfast. ) The three-bedroom, two-bath A-frame cabin, set just behind the inn, sleeps up to 11. The stately, 106-year-old Victorian home, within walking distance of downtown, has a large living room and an inviting front porch that fronts its namesake street. I stayed in Foxglove, a lodgelike suite with a skylight, kitchenette and family room with fireplace, because the regular room I had reserved was unexpectedly being worked on. The rooms have amenities commonly found at upscale hotels, including microfiber bathrobes, flat-screen televisions and Keurig coffee machines with an assortment of brewing options from tea to hot chocolate. Bottled water and Wi-Fi are included. (The previous owners called it the Chalet. The couple are adding a spot for weddings. One of the inn's best-kept secrets for families and other groups is the renovated Lodge at Prescott Pines. Rates start at $130 a night; check the website for occasional special offers for multinight stays. "We went home and turned this place upside down," Delaney said. The inn's lodgings are individual units, rather than rooms in a large house. "I never had any reason to look anywhere else," she said. Hidden Acres Bed business consultant and handles the inn's books, cooks occasionally and, at breakfast, is the resident "fruitista. |
New runway may cost Ocean County more
| New runway may cost Ocean County more When the wind blows hard out of the southeast this spring, pilots coming into the Ocean County Airpark can make their "crabbing" approach – pointing into the wind as long as they are able to, until they are low enough for touchdown. Ocean County Planning Director David McKeon says the county government has been acting in good faith with the Pinelands Commission, agreeing up front to certain conditions proposed by the staff instead of insisting on analysis and studies that would delay the crosswind runway beyond the five years already spent planning. "It's been a long, long process and the commission made the right decision to move it forward," McKeon said Friday, after a commission panel voted to leave the land fund question open and send the proposed agreement out to a public hearing. The search will have to be at some distance from the airpark – in Berkeley and neighboring Manchester, Lacey and Waretown – because the county has already bought a great deal of additional land surrounding the airpark property, Roth said. If the commission approves an agreement in May, the county can apply for a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for 90 percent of the $7 million project. Environmental activists went further, calling it a misuse of the trust fund. "You can't use the money in order to satisfy a permit requirement for destroying natural resources," complained Emile DeVito, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation's science director. Commission staffer Stacey Roth says thinning the woods could in theory improve the habitat for northern pine snakes. As a pre-existing use, the airpark was allowed to keep operating after the 1979 Pinelands Protection Act and subsequent adoption of an extensive management plan for the region. To compensate for the clearing and forest disturbance, the county will have to pay to permanently preserve 485 acres, to be chosen with help from the Pinelands staff. The agreement would give Ocean County up to three years to buy the additional land, a window county officials say they need to locate the best candidate properties. But McKeon rejected that. That makes for some very unhappy Pinelands commissioners, who say the rare act of allowing major construction in the Pinelands preservation area demands that the county dedicate new funding for the land purchase, above and beyond what it now spends on general open space projects. The small airport operation is rooted in Ocean County's ambitious economic development plans in the 1960s, which for a time included a whole new city center in western Lacey and high-speed roadways across the pines. Besides the crosswind runway, the county would build nine T hangars, small garage-like structures for single aircraft, and taxiways for moving aircraft. Airport advocates talk about that incident as evidence of the need for a crosswind runway, and now Ocean County and the state Pinelands Commission are at the verge of an agreement to build it. McKeon said the county bought out neighboring landowners "because it was the right thing to do" rather than wait in hopes of using those transactions as future bargaining chips with the commission. Ocean County proposes to use money from its Natural Lands Trust fund – the open-space program funded by a dedicated county property tax – to buy some 485 acres in the Pinelands to compensate for paving the new runway and disturbing wildlife habitat. |
How to find a reliable landscaper
| How to find a reliable landscaper
How do I find a reliable, competent landscaper? How should I go about getting a garden properly designed and built? What are the major pitfalls I should avoid? These are three of the most common questions asked by home-owners looking to hire a professional landscaper, either to design and build a total garden or to do specific one-off landscape projects, such as installing a patio, deck, walls, irrigation system, lighting or a water feature. For homeowners who can't afford to have all of the work done in one go, it can be a good idea to have a complete plan drawn up and then have the work done over a few years as funds become available. The golden rule of landscaping is that the permanent structures (hardscape) go in first, and the planting is done second, never the other way round. You need to sift the wheat from the chaff. It never hurts to ask if they are a certified member of the B. "Even the installation of a good hedge can raise the value of your home by 2. Society of Landscape Architects. This professional organization only certifies landscapers who have passed a challenging standards test. It is also pays to check the list of accredited landscapers posted at the Better Business Bureau's website at what you are trying to do through this process is minimize the risk of something going wrong. Landscape Standards, a set of technical guidelines for quality work drawn up jointly by the BCLNA and the B. But it is also true that there are talented landscapers who do not belong to the BCLNA. There are many of them, but there are also people posing as qualified landscapers. 5 per cent," she says. Landscape and Nursery Trades Association. Ask your landscaper for proof of liability insurance and also get an assurance that certifies sub-trades will be used to do technical work, such as installing gas-lines for outdoor barbecues and kitchens. Ask if the individual you are talking to when discussing the project will be the one on-site overseeing the project. A lot of people forget about this and wish they had done it at the same time as the main installation work was done. |
Readers' Choice: Ocean Blue Catering Wins Best Caterer
| Readers' Choice: Ocean Blue Catering Wins Best Caterer The people have spoken and Ocean Blue Catering is the winner of the 2012 Stonington-Mystic Patch Readers Choice Best Caterer. " The Mystic Aquarium catering group with its band of loyal and passionate customers who couldn't stop raving about Ocean Blue captured 80 votes and the support of all of the commenters. "I have attended multiple events catered by Ocean Blue Catering, both at the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration, and also at other private venues, and the food and the service is always top-notch," Stonington-Mystic Patch User Kyle Rathbun wrote. Thank You Ocean Blue. I first discovered Ocean Blue Catering when my workplace had their employee Christmas party at the aquarium, and I have been recommending their services ever since. Congratulations to Ocean Blue Catering and thank you to all who participated in this week's Stonington-Mystic Patch Readers' Choice by voting in the poll and leaving comments on the site. |
Augusta businesses busy with Masters Tournament customers
| Augusta businesses busy with Masters Tournament customers
The week leading up to the Masters Tournament can be a busy time of year for some Augusta-area businesses. Business triples at We Wash Windows for residential clients around Masters Week, owner Quincy Fuller said. Masters Week is the busiest time of year for Stars Discount Window Cleaning, "as far as having the most jobs in the shortest period of time," said registered agent Marilyn Marsh. His regular staff of 25 works additional hours and even Saturday and Sunday before the Masters to complete jobs, he said. "If we do one house a day typically, this time of year we're doing three or up to six houses a day," Fuller said. Ledford said his business doubles the week before the Masters. Andy Watson Landscaping Inc. Price brings in two to four seasonal workers to help his regular crew, he said. Allstar Rents Inc. The company started filling orders March 19 and plans to finish by Monday. Landscaping companies have been busy sprucing up yards for customers renting out their homes. Tents are also in high demand. Many clients are renting out their homes. "I'm going to do so much work during this month that it will cover certain expenses all through the year," he said. Fuller said that he hires three or four additional workers to meet the demand. "Just guaranteeing everything is in tip-top shape for their guests coming in," Price said. Despite the extra business, Ledford prefers not to hire extra workers for only a week. Twenty-five percent of his spring business comes from Masters clients. Calls started coming in at the beginning of February, he said. His company plants flowers and puts down pine straw and mulch. in Augusta has been busy setting up tents for mostly corporate customers, office manager Rachael Wolf said. |