Month: August 2009

From actor Jon Voight, an interesting question: Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country? I don’t know whether he is or not. But I do know that I am against civil war, and against anyone who wants to create one — whether Barack Obama or his enemies. Civil wars have a…

Some useful links: www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com which redirects you to: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition And the Peter Moskos book: Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore’s Eastern District H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas Cross Posted at Power and Control

I don’t like the fact that Barack Obama has hiked the deficit to $9 trillion. And what the hell does it matter what the hell I like? Sometimes I don’t know what I find more annoying: the news or my annoyance with the news. Because it is the latter that triggers an annoying sense of…

Michael S. Malone looks at trust and betrayal, initially in the context of the failure of his Comcast service, but this causes him to reflect on why people distrust the government to manage life and and death issues: …nowhere is the burden of trust greater than when we enter into a relationship that requires us…

Mexico has legalized personal use of all kinds of currently illegal drugs. MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico enacted a controversial law on Thursday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging government-financed treatment for drug dependency free of charge. The law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs,…

In what I assumed was a form of political escapism, I’ve been reading a great deal lately about Henry VIII — a cruel and tyrannical narcissistic Christianist theocrat if ever there was one. I’m into my fifth book dealing with the period, which sounds almost obsessive, and I’ve worried that I might be carrying my…

I know it’s not nice to insult people, and I try to be nice. Nor is it logical to engage in ad hominem rhetoric or stereotype people, and I try to be logical. I’m not always successful at living up to these standards, though. Sometimes I feel like letting loose, and usually I check myself.…

While I try to avoid writing posts when I have no new or original observations to add, some things are so outrageous that I don’t mind saying the same thing that others are saying, and the fact that MSNBC had the gall to show a cropped image of a black man carrying a gun so…

I realize it’s not a contest, but earlier I contemplated this image from Gunzip that Glenn Reynolds linked: Most likely, such subversive ideas are Bill Whittle’s fault. But I share his distaste for the Obama logo, so I thought I ought to do at least try to do something. The logo is about change, right?…

There is a new book out called Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? which suggests that switching people from alcohol to pot could save lives. I haven’t read the book. But a former Police Chief has and has written a forward to the the book. Here is some of what…

There are ten Democrat Senators who are not happy about the “Climate Change” bill. Here is a bit of what they have to say: As Congress considers energy and climate legislation, it is important that such a bill include provisions to maintain a level playing field for American manufacturing. Manufacturing accounts for more than 10…

U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus says Social Security may go broke in two years. TUSCALOOSA – Social Security could face a deficit within two years, according to U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus who met with The Tuscaloosa News editorial board Tuesday. “The situation is much worse than people realize, especially because of the problems brought on by…

This is a disjointed post that I’ll probably regret publishing, but what the hell. (In blogging, it’s usually better to regret doing something than to regret doing nothing.) Quite innocently — and by that I mean I had no particular ideological axe to grind –last night I was reading about Elizabeth I of England and…

“Man Jailed Three Months for Breath Mint Possession.” I wish that I could say headlines like that were a joke, but no, it wasn’t. A man is suing the Kissimmee Police Department for an arrest over mints. When officers pulled Donald May over for an expired tag, they thought the mints he was chewing were…

In an earlier email, M. Simon mentioned Thomas Jefferson’s famous remark about a revolution every 20 years, and here is the exact quote: “God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion… We have had thirteen States independent for eleven years. There has been one rebellion. That comes to one rebellion in…

It seems our government has been holding out on us when it comes to drugs that may be helpful in fighting cancer. “Cannabinoids possess … anticancer activity [and may] possibly represent a new class of anti-cancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and the metastatic spreading of cancer…

Yo can find more Jimmy Smith at Amazon. Cross Posted at Power and Control

Do your part for global warming by supporting Tim Blair at the Green Awards: Blair continues to drive fast and furious and cackle publicly about leaving as big a carbon footprint as possible. Tim offers a rousing self-endorsement: Napkins? Ha! No napkin is more disappointing than me. Vote now! Tim’s got a good lead at…

“For the Left, war without Bush is not war at all,” argues Byron York. Nor are a lot of things considered what they once were. It’s the post-Bush double standard, and while I’ve been complaining about it, I worry that the problem goes to the nature of power. In general, most ideologues think that power…

There is some amazing news in the world of high energy batteries. Coors Ceramics thinks they have a way to make Sodium-Sulfur batteries that can operate at 90° C ( 194° F which is below the boiling point of water)and charge-discharge once a day for ten years. The battery breakthrough comes from a Salt Lake…