Month: September 2010

I can’t keep track of the dates of these things or why I am doing them. I don’t even know the meaning of “Google Bomb!” So bombs away! The title is “A Negative Article About Democrats In Key Congressional Races” And you must read them all! Travis Childers Dina Titus Carol Shea-Porter Ann Kuster Harry…

Yesterday, President Barack Obama observed the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by issuing a call for tolerance. I’m all for tolerance, but I certainly hope he meant to include our “friends” the Saudis. There’s a very under reported news item about a Saudi defector — a diplomat who has asked the United States for asylum.…

The American prosecutor who prosecuted a Canadian for exporting pot seeds to America has defected from the Drug War camp and has joined the legalization camp. In a Seattle Times op-ed Saturday, former US Attorney for the Western District of Washington John McKay defected to the other side. As the federal prosecutor in Seattle, McKay…

When it comes to China everyone who is even slighly familiar with their financial problems is waiting for the first shoe to drop. Imagine that your local city and county controlled all land rights, and the only ownership a private builder or developer could secure was a long-term lease. Now imagine that 40% of the…

M. Simon’s post (as well as an earlier one) reminded me of a fascinating phenomenon, which is the profoundly irrational hatred of drug users by non-users. They often claim not to hate them, but that is belied by the plethora of snarky remarks like this: Do you hate marijuana smokers like I do? I hate…

I just learned that Dean Esmay lost a good friend. Her name was Dianne West, and while I’m sorry to say I never met her (because I heard so many good things about her from Dean), she lived right here in Ann Arbor, and when Dean would come to visit her we would get together.…

While radical Islam has been at war with the United States for decades (at least since the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini in the 70s), today — September 11, 2010 — is the ninth anniversary of what was the single worst attack. The horrors of that day should never be forgotten, nor should it be…

This is an article I wrote some time back. About 2003 or so. Eric reminded me of it when he sent me a link to this article by another LEAP Officer. The themes explored are similar. Why do people take drugs. And what, if anything can be done about it. === I have been discussing…

Well, it’s official. “Science” has weighed in on “the Tea Party”! Nature.com (a site which bills itself as an “international scientific journal”) has turned its “scientific” eyes on the Tea Party movement, which it sees as anti-science. Among the evidence for this, the scientific critics cite alleged “leanings”: The Tea Party’s leanings encompass religious opposition…

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gives the teachers union of his state a well deserved reaming. I’d like to see a lot more politicians who can run the numbers. Refreshing. Note to CV readers. I picked this up yesterday on my personal blog Power and Control and it appears that as of today it has…

The dark humor in a previous post notwithstanding, it isn’t my purpose to be running a conspiracy theory site here. However, I don’t think that questioning the timing is quite the same thing, and I find the timing of a recent series of suspicious Detroit fires at least as suspicious as the fires themselves. The…

Glenn has another post in a continuing series on the higher education bubble, this one asking if bypassing college might be a better deal. My wife, as it happens, is an object example. She is an excellent Java programmer, beloved by IT directors and VPs everywhere she goes. She is also fluent in two languages…

An article on automatic pilots sent me to the above video. I was amused. Just another bit to add to The History of Sex. Cross Posted at Power and Control

If there was any lingering doubt that Rauf was playing for fools the fringe of Americans who have been shouting “bigotry!” at anyone who thinks building a victory dialogue mosque in the 9/11 debris is offensive, these last tidbits should now put those doubts to rest. First, Rauf enthusiastically endorsed the Iranian Revolution… and hasn’t…

If a bill introduced in the state legislature passes, Michigan will become the first state to have roadside drug testing: The legislation would authorize police to administer a roadside saliva test for illegal drug use, just as they do breath tests for alcohol, when they stop a driver suspected of being intoxicated. State Rep. Rick…

Seriously, are there any benighted semi-despots out there Tom Friedman doesn’t have a bromantic poli-crush on? Some eight years ago, in February 2002, I interviewed then-Crown Prince-now-King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at his horse farm outside Riyadh. I shared with him a column I had written — suggesting that the Arab League put forth a…

The anti-Tea Party left are having a field day over the discovery that a violently anti-gay bigot was heading a Montana Tea Party group. One of the favorite headlines is “Tea Party president jokes about murdering GLBTQ people.” (Right. As if this clown is the president of the Tea Party itself!) Then there’s “Montana Tea…

A newspaper report out of Connecticut paints a dire picture of heroin use in America. The destruction of the country by these evil drugs is nearly complete. We have zombie Armies roaming the streets whose only motivation is drugs and death. Painter also sees a misconception about heroin addiction, and the hysterical fears of a…

I’m a bit late to weigh in on the president’s complaint that he’s being talked about like a dog, but Glenn has a nice roundup of posts. The consensus is that the president plagiarized a Hendrix line, and that’s received a lot of attention — including from non-Hendrix-fan John Hinderaker. I like Hendrix, and there…