Sunday Potpourri: Free Health Care, Big Brother for Bikers, Energy for Education

Here's a potpourri of South Dakota notes on issues related to various Madville Times topics:

Group Offers Socialized Medicine in Sioux Falls; Social Fabric Remains Raveled: The Sioux Falls Parents Communication Network offered free health care yesterday. Parents could bring their kids to the SFPCN's back-to-school fair for free mini-physicals. The taxpayer-funded group's efforts do not appear to have caused overutilization, decline in quality of care, or general irresponsibility that the insurance companies and free-market fundamentalists need you to believe will happen if we choose to take care of our neighbors the way Europe does.

Big Brother Spanning the Globe from Beijing to Sturgis: Think Big Brother is limited to China? Ha! Go to the Sturgis Motor Rally to get your face on Government Candid Camera. The city of Sturgis has permanent surveillance cameras around town, and the state Department of Transportation has extra cameras it sends during the rally. State officials watch the live feeds to surveil and improve traffic flow. Really.

Neither Sibby nor I feel much safer. Nor should we: there's little hard evidence that such cameras fight crime.

Meanwhile, surveillance camera maker Axsys Technologies reported 40% growth in Q2 sales. Another company making snooping its bread and butter says networked video surveillance is seeing a sustained 44% annual growth rate.

Energy Crunch on Schools' Minds: In the latest Madison Central newsletter (available online, but PDF alert!), both Superintendent Vince Schaefer and new Board President Craig Walker mention energy costs as a big issue the district faces. As my wife observes over breakfast, it sounds like it's time for Madison Central to follow the lead of Rutland and Harrisburg and look into erecting its own wind turbine!