Month: June 2011

  • Love in the summertime

    Coco has a new friend. A baby bulldog named Woodson is staying next door for at least a few days. Coco is quite taken with the wrinkly little chap and wishes he’d move in permanently. (He leaps into my lap and showers me with slobbery bulldog kisses, and has repeatedly tried to follow me home.)…

  • Blows Against the Empire (Suite)

    For liner notes you can visit the YouTube page. The lead, Paul Kantner was 70 on March 17, 2011. This was recorded March 20, 2011. Also available in 1080p.

  • Beware of invisible ink!

    Here’s an annoyance which has happened one time too many. The problem of disappearing cash register receipts! I have been in the middle of a long project for which I need to save receipts (both for tax purposes and in case things need to be returned), and when I was going through receipts yesterday, I…

  • Daley: Obama Policies ‘indefensible’

    I try to keep up. Really I do. But I missed Bill Daley, White House Chief of Staff, basically saying that the White House was clueless on economics. This report was from 17 June. White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley took heat from business executives Thursday for the Obama administration’s regulatory expansions. Daley also…

  • The Sum Of Their Parts

    One of the things that fascinates me about the world we live in – a world so dominated by media and “reportage of real events” is the often complete divorce of reality and things people “know.” Let me put this another way – when I was a kid, I would get up in the morning,…

  • Saying “NO” to being screwed

    In Ann Arbor where I live, there are potholes galore, and many people complain about the city doing a piss-poor job of fixing them. As one local analyst puts it, “Ann Arbor Has Third Worst Roads in Michigan and Some Seriously Fed Up Residents“: Since 2008, Ann Arbor has been at the top of MITA’s…

  • Do I have to be in a trench?

    A headline in today’s Wall Street Journal proclaims, “New York Gay Marriage Vote Alters Political Battle Lines.” Obviously, it is an indication of changing public attitudes, but I think (especially because of poll numbers) it might be a mistake for either side to see gay marriage as the issue worth a major showdown in politics…

  • Hey Kids, What Time Is It?

    Those of you of a certain age (what age is that?) will recall that ancient call. But for the rest of us that may become a reality thanks to a new government program. And what will that program do? It will let the frequency of the grid wander to better accommodate intermittent sources of power…

  • Let’s make everything free

    I cannot stop thinking about a comment to my post about panhandling. According to commenter John, no one using public transportation in Seattle can be required to pay a fare: Got hit up by a guy in Seattle who needed money for the bus because he only had 50 cents and bus fare was $1.50.…

  • Prescription Psychedelics

    The idea itself goes a way back in psychedelic history when LSD was used by Dr Humphry Osmond to treat alcoholism. And alcoholism is a symptom of PTSD. Sometimes. Sometimes it is a symptom of something else. In any case the treatment of PTSD with psychedelics is gaining ground. Let’s say an abuse-ridden childhood has…

  • Compare and Contrast

    As an addendum to Eric’s post below, here’s some quoteworthy snark making its way across the intertubes: “It’s a good thing Syria has gun control; otherwise the citizen-slaughtering troops could get hurt.” It’s noteworthy that in both cases, security officials want those being gunned down defenseless and dependent.

  • Freedom is racism

    Earlier I found an almost comical example of ignorance and stupidity which nonetheless shocked me. Not that comically ignorant stupidity is shocking per se, but it frightened me to see the kind of thinking that emanates from a chief of police in one of America’s largest cities. That’s because idiots with power are scary. Anyway,…

  • Divorce as a driving force?

    I don’t know why, but my heart just goes out to this 7-year-old boy who wanted to see his father so badly that he purloined his stepfather’s car and tried to drive to his dad’s place. When the cops finally pulled him over, he was crying and terrified: The boy was stopped while driving his…

  • Randian altruism — an impure byproduct?

    The most frequent criticism I hear about libertarians is that they are selfish. Cruel, even. The kind of “rugged individualists” who would leave people to sink or swim. Literally. For example, not wanting to fence off, hire lifeguards, armed goons, and a bureaucratic staff to police a river or natural lake (and of course raising…

  • Food fight!

    Took this the other day after feeding some giant carp. Wish I had the same kind of enthusiasm, but if you’re a fish, its eat or be eaten. One way of avoiding being food is to be poisonous. If you are (or if you just want to look like you are), it helps to advertise.…

  • Guns And The Drug War

    With Project Gunwalker so much in the news these days it is rather surprising to me that the 2nd Amendment Community is not up in arms (heh) about the Drug War. The biggest threat to gun ownership (at least according to those who initiated the Gunwalker Project) is the Drug War. And yet the silence…

  • Politics is not as hot

    Occasionally people renew my faith, and the latest is Hillary Clinton’s former aide Sammie Spades, who ditched a possible career in politics for more honest work: During her tenure with Clinton, Spades performed a myriad of office and administrative tasks but ultimately wanted to be a lawyer and political figure. “I was planning on becoming…

  • The Trouble With China

    The AEI Outlook Series takes a look at China and sees a few bumps in the road. Here are the main points: China is facing destabilizing inflation; capital has flowed into China must faster than it has flowed out, in part because Chinese residents are prohibited from investing abroad. China’s reported inflation rate on consumer…

  • Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

    It was (and still is) he longest day! I “celebrated” by making a rain barrel out of a 55 gallon barrel in the 95 degree heat. Here’s the finished product: The trickiest part was drilling the hole and fitting the hose bib in such a way that it hopefully will not leak. I’m letting it…

  • Carrying Cheese Causes Arrest

    Yep. Carrying cheese can get you arrested. And if it is concealed carry? Well I’m sure that would only add to the suspicion. ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — An enzyme found in cheese triggered false drug test results that led North Carolina deputies to think a man with 91 pounds of tortilla dough was actually carrying…