Pun Salad

… and a tickle on our backs:

• My home state makes the big time, as Reason.tv chronicles the battle between Kim Ong, owner of Kim's Spa & Nails in Derry, New Hampshire, and New Hampshire's Board of Barbering, Cosmetology, and Esthetics. Kim's sin was to offer fish pedicures. Comments Reason, reasonably:

  That's right, the state that lets adults motorcycle without a helmet or drive without a seat belt won't tolerate tiny fish nibbling at the dead skin on your feet. This is just one small example of a larger problem. Most people have no idea how many local, state, and federal regulations entrepreneurs struggle against, notes Adrian Moore, an economist with Reason Foundation. "Every day new businesses try to start but find out they're not allowed to because of some regulation or it's too expensive because of some regulation," Moore says.

  I hate to see my favorite magazine making fun of my favorite state. I pledge a $10 campaign contribution to any and all bona fide candidates to the NH legislature who will promise to disband the Board of Barbering, Cosmetology, and Esthetics.

• My local fishwrapper, Foster's Daily Democrat, commits, once again, its occasional sin of reporting opinion as fact. A recent article covered a Portsmouth gathering in support of the late "Granny D's" position on campaign finance "reform". Present were an array of activists; music was provided by the Leftist Marching Band. The Foster's reporter, Geoff Cunningham Jr., couldn't help but get caught up in the cause, irksome sentence emphasized:

  Meanwhile, the effort to push for fair elections continues. Task Force Chair and state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, said her group is looking to join Maine and Connecticut in establishing a public fund that could be drawn upon by those looking to run for state office.

  God yes. Why should politicians need to rely on people voluntarily giving money to their campaign when they can just arrange to to tap into a taxpayer-funded spigot?

• Speaking of Granny D, I wasn't aware until recently that she was a 9/11 Truther; her obituaries avoided mentioning that. As charming as the old lady was, she had a few rabid bats in her belfry.

• Further bit of trivia: that's the same statement Van Jones, President Obama's ex-"green jobs czar" signed, one of the reasons he's the ex-czar. He was embarrassed enough to have his name removed (it was #46) when it came to light last year.

• A rare bit of good news: Bastiat's "broken window fallacy" was illustrated in Sunday's episode of the Pearls Before Swine comic strip. What's next, Blondie taking on the perils of trade protectionism? Prince Valiant on the folly of the minimum wage and occupational licensure?

• Today's post title from here; actual lyric here.