Month: February 2011

One of the more ridiculous side effects of the debate over gay marriage is the way it has tended to sexualize politics on both sides. To the majority of liberal activists and to an ever-increasing number of social conservative activists, a consensus has emerged that human sexuality should be part of a political litmus test. …

The kind of victory that brings defeat is a Pyrrhic Victory. I’m going to discuss a few things before I show you why that idea is important to the general flow of American politics. This thought train was inspired by a discussion at What If They Gave A Revolution And You Didn’t Show Up? A…

  I got so angry when I saw Glenn’s link to a Reason piece about the FCC’s latest attempt to regulate the Internet that I had to calm down before I could write a post. That’s because the jurisdictional power grab may already be a done deal: Genachowski [close friend, basketball buddy, Harvard Law classmate,…

In a discussion of the GOP Presidential field (with a chart) commenter Ken Mitchell has this to say: OK, this graph is CLEARLY bogus. Huckabee is a religious populist, and isn’t ANY kind of a conservative. He’s a big spending big government guy, and the only difference between Huckabee and Obama is what they plan…

As regular readers know, I am anything but a sports fan. However, in the two years I’ve been in Ann Arbor, I have developed quite a taste for college football, at least when the Wolverines are playing. That taste, however, did not translate into excitement for Sunday’s Superbowl. I tried to watch it, but I…

What Happened to Global Warming? For more details on the above image see Watts Up With That? – Widget Cross Posted at Power and Control

I should really be working, but I thought I’d share a few thoughts before returning to my 70-hour workweek. Nick Gillespie was very impressive in person, witty and well-read. A better ambassador for libertarianism we couldn’t hope for.  Contrary to rumor, he does take off the leather jacket when swimming and dining. Ron Bailey was…

A full page ad in the Washington Times (PDF here) maintains that allowing a group of gay conservatives to be at CPAC is a betrayal of Ronald Reagan or something. Yawn. Of course, I hasten to point out that many on the left — especially the gay left — would agree. That’s because they believe…

People who think the Muslim Brotherhood is the driving force behind the protests in Egypt should read this USA Today report that the initial protests — and much of the enthusiasm — were generated by tech-savvy youths: CAIRO — The uprising that threatens to topple Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and transform the Arab world started…

The President says we need to treat drugs as a medical problem. Gee I didn’t know they were sick. Is there a plant pathologist in the room? Today, in response to a video question from a former deputy sheriff about whether it is time to discuss legalizing and regulating drugs in light of the failure…

In a comment to my post about ineffective sudafed substitutes, Joseph Hertzlinger reminded me that there is a method to their madness: While we’re advocating legalizing cold remedies that work, maybe we try relegalizing toilets that work as well. Insane as it may sound, it does seem that America is at war with Things That…

Cynical as I am, I have to say that I was a bit taken aback to read that in this day and age, nine out of ten Egyption girls are made to endure female genital mutilation (FGM). But that’s what a piece Glenn linked earlier said: Nine out of ten Egyptian women suffer genital mutilation.…

Speaking of government regulation of drugs, Paul Hsieh, M.D. has a great PJM piece (“America’s Other Drug Problem”) in which he points out that the maniacal bureacrats at the FDA are preventing Americans from getting the life-saving drugs, and thwarting their ability to get the health care they need. Melly Alazraki of Daily Finance reports…

Eric in his post An “effective” war on drugs means war on drugs that are effective! directed me to this Megan McArdle post The Goals and Means of Meth Control where I found the following exchange most amusing: RobM1981 Here is a paradox that always makes me think about libertarianism: How many meth-lab operators have…

Here is an excerpt from Death of a Musketeer, coming out later this month from Naked Reader Press. This will be the first time the novel has been available in digital format. If it does well enough for NRP, I will resume the series with number six, The Musketeer’s Confessor, probably early next year. Enjoy!…

Eric e-mailed me a link to a rant by Matthew Jarzen discussing the social conservative (socon) pull out from CPAC. I have discussed it before at The Real Enemy and Is It Religion?. Matthew, who is evidently going to college at the present time makes some points that I would like to follow up on.…

Spengler at Asia Times makes a very good point about how Asian prosperity is hurting Muslim countries lacking exportable resources. It wasn’t the financial crisis that undermined dysfunctional Arab states, but Asian prosperity. The Arab poor have been priced out of world markets. There is no solution to Egypt’s problems within the horizon of popular…

Having just complained about cold remedies that don’t work, I thought I should praise one of the best remedies I have encountered to date. While I mentioned it in a previous post, this stuff is so effective that I thought it merited a post all its own. I refer to “African Sea Coconut” brand cough…

After discussing Megan McArdle’s thoughtful analysis of the sudafed crackdown brought about by the war on Meth, Glenn Reynolds said something that made me want to join the sudafedayeen! I want my goddamn Sudafed. What I’ve noticed is that they keep making it harder to get, but we keep getting more meth labs. Naturally, the…