Month: December 2011

  • Happy New Year!

    I’m about 25 minutes early. For the World. It will be 00:00CUT 1Jan2012 in the very near future. Happy New Year World! (an old programmer joke).

  • And the password is…

    Passwords irritate the hell out of me. While I know they are a necessary evil, it is so easy to lose track of what password was created for what account, and this is even worse if I am on the road with a laptop. Unfortunately, I tend to become dependent on having the same computer…

  • Stepping Into The Ever Popular Ron Paul Quagmire

    Thanks to commenter Frank who alerted me, I left a couple of comments at Jade Haven discussing the coming election and Ron Paul’s place in it. I liked my last comment so much I’m repeating it here (narcissism only a blogger could love). Daphne, The US has taken over the role of the British Empire…

  • In The Ever Popular 420 Size

    The “420” refers to the YouTube pixel count. Across. It is only 315 high.

  • Self Reliance

    Show some self-reliance and go f**k yourself. Seen at Zero Hedge without the ellipsis.

  • “Embarrassing Candidates” Making Obama Look Presidential

    So says Charles Krauthammer. All I can say is that I’m having a rough time defending them (this was especially the case over the holidays), and I am getting sick of it. I wish I could just get the hold-my-nose-and-vote part over with. MORE: OTOH, the latest Rasmussen poll shows Romney handily beating Obama. Here’s…

  • An issue for the states, right?

    A ballot initiative is in the works in Michigan that would amend the state Constitution to legalize marijuana. An email from M. Simon alerted me to what I should have seen yesterday afternoon but missed because I was busy: local reporter Ryan Stanton’s excellent piece on the subject. Whether it will make it onto the ballot,…

  • Bridging the gap

    Reading Michael Yon’s interview with General Barry McCaffrey (via Frank) reminded me that there are very powerful people who are hard at work establishing in the public mind an ineradicable connection between drugs and terrorism (and hence the need to do Whatever We Can). They have to, because otherwise the use of extreme remedies such as…

  • Revulsion over Ron Paul Reductionism

    OK, I was going to ignore the latest round of recycling Ron Paul’s alleged racism (this all came up and was thoroughly discussed in the last election cycle), but this time there’s a new twist. Whether Ron Paul is in fact racist, homophobic, or anti-Israel, what galls me as a longtime libertarian is to see…

  • Cronyism? Say it’s not true!

    As one of my longtime favorite politicians here is Senator Chuck Schumer, I am shocked — SHOCKED — to learn that he his brother in law is becoming a federal judge. “SOME SUSPECT CRONYISM,” said Glenn Reynolds earlier. No way. That would never happen. I mean, we’re talking about the man who said, “I think Fannie…

  • “anyone questioning the facts is being disrespectful”

    From Glenn Reynolds, a good question to ponder: WHAT DO WE DO When The Internet Mob Is Wrong? You can point out that they’re wrong, and tell them what the truth is, but that approach falls on deaf ears if what is wrong is what they want to believe. Also, there is a well established meme…

  • Merry Christmas Everyone!

  • China Hacks

    I missed this from earlier in the previous week. China hacks 3 million Chamber of Commerce records. Hackers in China broke through the computer defenses of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last year and were able to access information about its operations and its 3 million members, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. There…

  • You Can’t Talk About It

    A lady who is the flack for a gun blog asked me to mention her blog and send them some traffic. I said I’d be glad to. “Send me a link to a post where one of your writers makes the connection between Drug Prohibition and the War On Guns and I’ll do a post…

  • The Corruption Of America

    Oliver K. Manuel in the comments at Climate Etc. alerted me to this post about the Corruption Of America. These problems manifest themselves in different ways across institutions in all parts of our society. But at their root, they are simply facets of the same stone. They are all part of the same essential problem.…

  • Drunk With Power

    The banners are up to their tired old tricks. Here in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to exercise its authority to ban menthol cigarettes, even though studies repeatedly have found that they are no more harmful than non- mentholated cigarettes. Drunk with power, regulators and those encouraging them are using…

  • No Newt is Good Newt

    (The following is a guest essay, sent to me by a friend whose pen name is “Liberty Guardian.”) Which contemporary political figure claims to be a Teddy Roosevelt Progressive, extols FDR as the best 20th century President, and lavishes praise on SEIU leader Andy Stearns? Who sat down on the couch with Nancy Pelosi to…

  • Merry Christmas Eve – Or Something

    I hate to say anything definitive for fear of contradiction (well actually I enjoy a good fight – sometimes even a bad one – but you may know how it is if you blog – you need to start off with something snappy in the hopes of holding some interest). OK Where was I? The…

  • Quaint distractions from Christmas shopping

    After being intrigued and somewhat enchanted in a semi-awake state this morning by Turkish military music which is intended to do just that — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Fyf63qI_E — I found myself puzzling over the historically important nexus between the Mongols and the Turks, and then I stumbled onto a fascinating coincidence. The great Mongol Turk chieftain and…

  • Happy Solstice!

    The event is undeniable. I’m liking the fact that we’ve turned the clock already. Meanwhile, another undeniable event — Christmas — is coming. (Whether the White House likes it or not.)