Free Market at Work in the Blogosphere

There is quite a soap opera going on at Just Another Pretty Farce regarding Mrs. Coble’s issues with JL Kirk & Associates.

Here’s a quick synopsis:

  • Mr. and Mrs. Coble felt ripped off by an employment agency, and she blogged about it.
  • JL Kirk & Associates got mad about that, and one of their employees posted some comments on to her post on Mrs. Coble’s site (that was stupid). These comments were rather nasty, especially coming from a company trying to defend itself publicly.
  • Mrs. C. has now received a letter threatening a lawsuit if she does not remove her post(s) about JL Kirk & Associates as well as all associated comments. I suspect this has little to do with their desire to eliminate her original post, and more to do with the venemous comment one of their own employees left there.
  • Countless people will now read the account of what happened, most of whom probably would not have read the account had she not been sent a threatening letter and had it picked up by the blogosphere.
  • Many more people will view JL Kirk & Associates as scam artist jerks than ever would have before. Whether they are scam artists and/or jerks is beside the point. They’ve gone a long way through their comments on Mrs. C.’s blog and by sending a letter to give that impression.

Their own actions will hurt them significantly more than Mrs. Coble’s ever could have. You have to love the free market.

Here are some highlights of the comments left by a JL Kirk & Associates employee in her original post:

And by the way, in Mrs. Cobles’ [sic] case, we would recommend (free of charge) to further her writing “career” she learn to spell “wizardry” and polish her grammar and punctuation skills.

Well, couldn’t we all use a little help there now and then? But free of charge? That’s going above and beyond helpful!

…Mr. Coble has had difficulty with sustained upward mobility.

Is the writer trying to stoke some sort of class warfare fire?

That comment is simply stupid.

This could be broadly applied to most comments on most blogs, but usually isn’t what one says when trying to win over an audience. I seriously doubt you’ll hear that in a presidential debate, although it wouldn’t be untrue.

Mrs. Coble’s spiteful meanness precluded her from asking me about it.

Mean and spiteful? I like Mrs. Coble!

Do a Google search on Katherine Coble! She is an angry, opinionated basher of many things

I don’t need to do a Google search. This statement sold me. From this day forward, I vow to be a reader of Katherine Coble’s blog and to never do business with JL Kirk & Associates out of fear that they will send certified junk mail to my house and an unprecedented amount of traffic to my blog.

On second thought…

Girls Just Wanna Have Fights!

And teachers are doing nothing about it!  This is news!!!  Local6 in Orlando has video as well, if that’s something you want to watch.  Not for me, thanks.

“The teacher was just sitting there, and as soon as they started hitting each other, the teacher had called someone else,” student Partrick Charite said.

Witnesses also told Local 6 News that the substitute teacher said, “Let them fight,” during the scrum.

First, let me state (again) that it makes my stomach turn every time I hear a fight or scramble for a basketball referred to as a “scrum”.  I don’t think it’s too much to expect professional writers to know the meanings of the words they use, especially when they are sports writers and are using a sports term.  

A scrum is not a frantic melee, but the most complicated and intricate aspect of rugby.  It is kept safe and controlled mostly because its participants are strong, technically sound, and agile.  Saying that a couple of out of shape seventh grade girls slapping and pulling hair is a scrum is like saying that two mixed breed dogs humping Continue reading “Girls Just Wanna Have Fights!”

Why Competition and Free Markets Benefit Everyone–Professional Wrestling

Huh? Think professional wrestling has nothing to do with legitimate competition? Read on…

I’m proud to admit that I’m a big fan of professional wrestling. I have been since I was a kid. Back then, when I thought it was real, I was drawn in by the characters, the storylines, the drama, and the suspense. Now that I’m all grown up and I’m wise to the game, I love it for the exact same reasons. The only difference now is that I seldom watch the matches anymore. Thanks to TiVo, I’m able to forward through them in order to get to the interviews and trash-talking. As I said, the characters and the storylines are what make it great for me. Continue reading “Why Competition and Free Markets Benefit Everyone–Professional Wrestling”

Minimum Wage Increase

The Farragut Press‘s commentary about minimum wage increases brings up some interesting points, primarily that raising the minimum wage won’t help poor people because the cost of everything will rise, and some companies will be forced to eliminate some jobs in order to pay the remaining employees the higher wages.

These are legitimate arguments, but the article leaves out the most important reason to abolish the minimum wage–the minimum wage is immoral.

Compensation for services should be decided between the person provided the service and the person purchasing it.  If they agree on the price, both walk away happy.