Paying Bad People to Be Good:  Okay, I’ve heard it all now.  In the September 6, 2021, edition of Newsweek Magazine, there is an article that touts a new program initiated by an organization in San Francisco called “The Dream Keeper Fellowship (the article consistently misspelling the name of the city as “San Fransisco”).  Under this program, beginning in October, “high risk” individuals will be paid $300 a month not to shoot someone.  (“Have you shot anyone this month?  Dat’s a good boy; here’s $300.)  The article explains to us non-believers that this “new program in San Fransisco aims to lower gun violence by paying people not to shoot each other.”  The program is described as “not ‘transactional,’ but will rather focus on making investments in communities most impacted by violence.”  By not being “transactional,” we’re told that the program is not intended as a means of telling potential shooters: “‘Here's a few dollars so that you don’t do something bad,’ but it really is about how you help us improve public safety in the neighborhood.”  In other words, the program is intended to make “communities most impacted by violence” safer places to live and work by bribing bad people to act as the rest of us who, as responsible citizens, have acted for free since childhood.  “But wait; there’s more!”  The article also notes that participants can earn a bonus of $200 a month if they actively work to improve their community, such as by getting a job, going to school, and/or being a mediator in potentially violent situations.  It also notes that this program has been successfully tried in nearby Richmond, allegedly reducing gun violence there by some 55 percent. But whether or not this program works, you have to love the ingenuity of the powers-that-be in San Francisco.  Free hypodermic needles for the dopers, non-prosecution for the shoplifters, and now free money for those who are able to resist the urge to shoot and kill someone.  I can only wait with anticipation to see what comes next.