Month: October 2010

On Friday, I flagged a quote on my daily calendar which illustrates the pitfalls of either/or thinking. It didn’t seem important enough to merit a post at the time, so I set it aside. But now that I’m ready to make a stab at the post, I found my mental processes interrupted by the usual…

Finally, someone who actually deserves a Nobel Peace Prize gets it. The Chinese government’s response accentuates the necessity. I have to think there is a causative relationship between the government lying to the people and the people lying to each other. The reasons only liberal democracies become wealthy (aside from windfall wealth) involve a lot…

The Wall Street Journal is looking at Republican chances in November and uncovers the secret Republican Strategy. GOP strategists said the party’s focus this year on fiscal issues rather than social wedges such as abortion and gay marriage has helped give centrists comfort in backing Republicans. You see. Republicans can win elections if they want…

A statistician I am not. Nor do I believe in predicting (much less judging) what individual will do based on which statistical group an individual is said to belong. One of the things I hate about the insurance industry is the way they translate statistical correlations into individual judgments, and a perfect example is the…

What really surprises me this October is that the October surprises are coming so early in October. The normal time for them is the Friday before the election. Certainly no more than a week before the election. You don’t want to give too much time for counter battery fire. I think the Democrats are panicked.…

The KAOS kiddies have figured out an Internet strategy that will help them win this election. While checking their strategy this comment caught my attention. You do not have the choice to opt-out. Just like health care. OK. That was a cheap shot. And the comment was taken out of context. But still. This commenter…

This is a reprise of an oldie but goodie with an addition or two. The oldie can be found here if you want to see exactly how much I am plagiarizing myself. (can you do that?) In the video California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who is a Democrat, obliquely takes a shot at the Republicans…

I think he should get a “U” too. H/T Instapundit Cross Posted at Power and Control

This morning Glenn Reynolds linked the Blog Prof’s discussion of the race between political titan John Dingell, Obamacare sponsor and lifetime advocate of socialized medicine, and Dr. Rob Steele, a cardiologist who has had enough of what’s happening and decided to run for Congress. OK, Dingell happens to be my congressman, and FWIW, I wrote…

This video is Not Entirely Safe For Work. And it isn’t just the lyrics. There are hand gestures.

One of my social conservative friends and I were having the usual acrimonious discussion and he let slip that he didn’t give a fig about pushing social issues this cycle because the most important thing was defeating the current wastrels in Congress. Good. Because I really like working with social conservatives. Really. But it got…

I’m pretty sure it was Glenn Reynolds who linked this video of a woman having a fit and threatening a Human Events photographer, but WTH, I can’t find his link so maybe it was Memeorandum. I do try to be accurate in attributing links, but I also have to sleep. Nothing pretty about it unless…

Bet ya didn’t know that. Well it must be true because a few Federal lawyers say so. The attorney generals’ suit argues that the federal government can’t force people to buy a product merely because they are U.S. citizens. But federal attorneys say Congress can regulate interstate commerce and has imposed laws for more than…

I love the story of Charlie the Smoking Chimp, and I am sorry to read that he died, although I am delighted to see that by making it to 52, he outlived “normal” (which I assume means non-smoking) chimps by a decade. Charlie the chimp, known for his cigarette habit, has died at his home…

The only thing government does well. Provided it can do it at all. Cross Posted at Power and Control

Our favorite commenter here at CV (well Eric’s and mine, I haven’t checked with Dave) has a very nice one in response to “for the good for society”? Or for the good of the state? In America we think that improving our society does improve our country. But there’s a hidden assumption that many other…

I’ve been seeing a lot of Mark Kirk ads on the ‘net today. The teaser to get you to click is: The Problem is HIM Now which HIM did you think of? The ad is being run by Democrats. Own goal. Cross Posted at Power and Control

So, apparently the theory emanating from the left, especially in the person of Paul KKKrugman, is this: we need massive government spending, trillions of dollars, to grow the economy, and then everything will be great. Otherwise, we’re doomed. There’s a very simple, easily-understood reason why Krugman and the other statists are almost certainly wrong: marginal…