Month: December 2012

The government can mint two platinum coins, declare they are worth $1 trillion each, deposit them at the Fed, and then move the money directly into Treasury accounts. Don’t laugh! Economists are actually endorsing this harebrained idea: …the U.S. Mint would produce (say) a pair of trillion-dollar platinum coins. The president orders the coins to…

It really is. Nothing like setting up the mike in front of Phil Lesh’s speakers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABCBE5N3Tio “Brother Esau” had a haunting quality when the Dead first started playing it, and it still does. I think the lyrics are good in their own right. However, they are typically subject to interpretation. (As typically as the long…

I grew up liking the American idea of the melting pot. At least in theory, people of all kinds of races, religions and backgrounds could come here and become assimilated Americans. Obviously, it didn’t work out for everyone, and institutionalized racial segregation and bigotry was an appalling example. But I always thought the theory —…

It’s December 7, the 71st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and I’m glad to see it is being remembered. Recent events have caused me to worry that this country has still not learned the lessons of World War II, or 9/11. It’s hard to believe Pearl Harbor was that long ago, as the…

This speaks for itself, really: Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year’s Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they cheered and sparked up in unison. … Officers will be advising people not to smoke in public, police spokesman Jonah…

Anti-pit bull bigotry both irritates and intrigues me. As a longtime pit bull owner, it pisses me off, and that’s not merely because I am biased. I actually worry. Once bigotry reaches the hysteria stage, it can have a way of invading the lives of people who try to ignore it. There are a number of…

Reason’s Ron Bailey has an article I found fascinating: Study Shows Smart Liberals, Conservatives, and Libertarians Are Easiest to Fool We reason to persuade, not to find truth. The above problem has long vexed me. ….both liberals and conservatives displayed ideological bias when assessing the validity of the cognitive reflection test. When climate change skeptics…

Interesting news from Zhongguo: Party leaders will no longer be greeted wherever they go with cheering crowds, banners, red carpets and elaborate flower displays, said a statement on Chinese state media after a meeting of the new 25-man Politburo. The updated rules also ban dull, long speeches and fawning write-ups in the state newspapers, as…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLi0ppwOOwI (They don’t write songs like that anymore.)

Republicans are having a hard time with religion. Well not actual Republicans actually. The problem is that the Republican emphasis on religion denies them votes. Some Republicans are making an effort to do something about it. Since the 1980s, organizations like Focus on the Family, the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition cemented religious conservatives…

I’m all for celebrating Christmas, and I would be disappointed if the White House didn’t have a Christmas tree, but do they need 54 trees? Amazing how a reelection can reshape an incumbent’s thinking about many things. Now safely ensconced in the White House for 49 more months, the Obamas have decorated the place with…

I got an e-mail from Commentary Magazine with the breathless announcement: Christine Rosen reviews Naomi Wolf’s Vagina Ii wonder if that will be in the “Food and Dining” section?

Earlier I was asked what I thought would be a quick and easy question to settle. Does the term “single mom” include divorced moms? I had always assumed that single moms were mothers who had kids but never married. At least, that would seem to be the narrative implied by the term in common usage.…