Maggie's Farm

Having young grandaughters I am quite familiar with the various princesses. The movies are great, I enjoyed them and the girls love them. I actually think it does help young girls feel more confident and helps them see themselves in a good light. I don't know that it really hurts boys. Most boys and certainly my grandsons are simply unaffected by what girls do or think. They are still gonna be rough and do what they want and like and don't seem to suffer from the same low self esteem problems that girls are supposed to be suffering from. Boys tend to have an attitude and tend to think overly highly of themselves and their abilities and aren't easily put off because their sister or friends sister's are bouyed up by princess stories. Or to put it another way boys pretty much don't give a damn about much except what they are interested in. This is not to say I don't see a problem in today's America with boys not maturing and taking on adult responsibilities. I think though the problem is simply that too many boys become man-boys simply because it's possible. Mom and dad let them live in the basement and society has that hammock we euphemisticly refer to as the safety net. I think that if someone is lazy the means and temptation is there to allow them to indulge that laziness. I also think this problem is worse for women. Welfare is a trap that very few escape. Anyway count me as being OK with the princess movies and stories. I just don't think they are the problem.

High Taxes, Regulations Send New Yorkers Fleeing

It does indeed send many people "fleeing". But like California many "rich" stay and the total population increases. Does this equate to a good thing? You have to look deeper. If you are middle class a hard worker and especially if you work for yourself New York or California has too many regulations and too much of a tax burden for you to succeed. So on the surface it may not appear that there is a problem but every year the percentage of people in New York who are dependent on government increase and the people who work for government increase while the self starters and innovators go elsewhere. Maybe that's as it should be. I would be quite happy if California and New York attact all the welfare class and leave the rest of the country alone. But my fear is that sooner or later California will force the federal government to pay for their mistakes and New York won't be far behind.