The No Kool-Aid Zone Blog

I Don't Drink The Kool-Aid. For Anybody.

Telling the Truth Can Be Dangerous Business

By Byron / September 17, 2011 /

True confession: my wife and I like the film Ishtar.  Really like it, think it’s hilarious.  Yes, that Ishtar, the universally-panned, some-say-most-awful-film-ever.  We crack up at it.  If you have two minutes, watch the trailer, and note the irony in Dustin Hoffman’s words at the end: The signature song of the two aspiring songwriters (Hoffman…

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Here Comes "Big Chef"

By Paul Oyler / April 20, 2010 /

Well, Americans haven’t been good little boys and girls lately—at least not good enough, gastronomically-speaking, and thus along comes “Big Chef” to not only monitor, but to adjust how we eat: U.S. Plans Drive to Limit Salt in Food And this will likely raise few eyebrows among a populace dulled to the gradual-but-steady encroachment of…

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Chucky is at it Again

By Paul Oyler / April 15, 2010 /

OK, so Spirit Airlines decided, last week, to do something which strikes me as decidedly dumb, at least from a PR standpoint: charge $45 per carry-on bag for its flights.   The fact that Spirit plans to cut its fares by $40 will certainly be lost on travelers, and there is little doubt in my mind…

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What Should Minimum Wage Be?

By Paul Oyler / March 10, 2010 /

Zero, of course. In a great article published yesterday by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution–which does seem to be diversifying a little bit to the right in its editorial page, a welcome change–Richard Burkhauser makes the point that if we are serious about reducing unemployment—particularly among the young and inexperienced, who if allowed to remain chronically un-and…

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Stossel on Education

By Paul Oyler / February 18, 2010 /

Public education doesn’t work.  If that fact isn’t as plain as the noses on our faces, we’re ignoring reality.  Before I go further, quick aside: I always, when I write on education issues, try to be careful to signal my profound appreciation for the many good public school teachers/administrators out there, who take their jobs…

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