The Smarmy Carny

Money Flies

This alarming news arose a couple days ago and caught my attention. The G8 decided to consider imposing a levy on airline tickets to finance extra aid for African nations. This came shortly after G8 agreed to forgive the debts of poor countries. This seems to happen every few years, and it makes me wonder why countries keep loaning them money. Perhaps it's the thought of "If we gave you the money, we wouldn't get to forgive your debts later and look so overwhelmingly compassionate."

You don't have to go far to find people confused about this move. One of my favorite quotes on the matter is that it's "hard to see why aid for small business in Mozambique should be funded in part by a family travelling from Glasgow to Malaga for a holiday." A spokesman for easyJet said that "There would be no side-benefit for the environment as the tax would not give any incentive on people to alter their behaviour."

Not to fear, though, if you're American. U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow made clear that Washington has opposed this in the past and that our position had not changed. Ron Paul (R – TX) brought forth House Amendment H.AMDT.271:

An amendment numbered 10 printed in the Congressional Record to prohibit any of the funds in the Act from being used by the U.N. to develop or publicize any proposal concerning taxation or fees on any United States person to rause [sic] revenue for the U.N. or any of its specialized or affiliated agencies.

Read more about the levy at Reuters AlertNet and also about Paul's amendment at The Sierra Times.

As if there weren't enough reasons to object to this silly idea, you should know that the two primary supporters of this levy are France and Germany. I know . . . I was shocked to find out, too.

Fat Man Walking

Steve Vaught (aka Stephen James Liller) is a 39 year old, happily married father of two. He claims that he has a "pretty good life" in Southern California, but that he can't enjoy it because he has ballooned to 400 pounds.

Vaught has had enough, and had decided to take action. He is walking across the United states from San Diego to NYC to lose weight and regain his life.

Vaught started his journey on April 10th from Oceanside, CA. He has had some setbacks, which you can read about in his journal.

I admit that the website isn't the most professional, but The site seems to have been redesigned in a more professional manner and he supplies weekly updates on his progress. Don't expect him to finish in six months as he estimated early on . . . if he carries out his mission, he'll be walking a whole lot longer than that.

You can check on his progress by clicking on "Journal" at thefatmanwalking.com.

Want to try, too? Check out Walk Away the Pounds.