Author: Simon

Charlie Rose discusses with brain scientists the nature of addiction. There are a few commercials at the beginning. Update: The NIDA woman just repeats the DEA line – drugs hijack the brain. She never explains why only 10% of those who try heroin ever become addicted. She also makes no mention of the fact that…

The protesters back in the 60s who behaved the way the OWS crowd is behaving elected Nixon in a landslide. The backers of OWS have to know this even if the rioters don’t. So the question for me is: why do the backers of OWS want a Republican elected? And just which Republican might that…

The researchers at Polywell Fusion have issued a report on their progress. Project Status More than 50% Completed Final Project Report Submitted No Project Activities Description Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services Quarterly Activities/Project Description As of 3Q/2011, the WB-8 device has generated over 500 high power plasma shots. EMC2 is conducting tests on Wiffle-Ball…

House member Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) says the Drug War is turning a whole generation against the system. Given that pot use peaks in the 16 to 25 year age bracket and that roughly 50% of that cohort are at least occasional users it seems like a really stupid move. “Marijuana is not the problem,” Rep.…

A little Boomer nostalgia for all my OF (alter kocker in Yiddish) friends.

Spengler explains the rise of the Tea Party as a war between the tax eaters (public unions mostly) and tax providers (working stiffs near or past retirement age). Which explains why the OWS is mostly young uns and why the Tea Partiers tend to be an older crowd. Has America become irrational? Not since the…

Commenter Frank sent me this link. Very scary. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in suburban Houston, Texas is preparing to launch operations with a newly received Shadowhawk MK-III unmanned aerial vehicle, paid for by grant money received by the Department of Homeland Security. The MK-III is a product marketed for both military and law enforcement…

According to Zero Hedge our financial system is on the brink of a collapse bigger than the one that happened in 2008. This all comes about because the risks the banks are taking internationally are accounted as if the financial system is going to work properly and cover them. But what if the system can’t…

It appears that industries powered by brains, commonly referred to as high tech, are also powered by marijuana. Almost 92% of the people that work in the technology and telecommunications industries answered “yes” to the survey’s question asking if they had ever smoked cannabis. “Obviously, cannabis users work in a variety of professions,” said James…

I got one of those annoying IM pop ups on my e-mail and for S&Gs I decided to engage (warp drive plus impulse engines). So I start chatting. Since I am not biting right away the female in question gave me a link to “her” site. Well she was looking good with not too many…

Thanks to Howard Wooldridge of Citizens Opposing Prohibition I have a link to what purports to be a Mexican Drug Cartel PR site. We Are The Cartels. They boast on their current front page: Mexican Drug Cartel Association – Now offering To-Your-Door Service in many cities. There is another page that I found interesting. Breaking…

This is a live version that I haven’t heard before. It is very good. And for something different here is Grace doing a Flintstone Commercial. Not Safe For Work

My friend Karradine is caught up in the Thai Flooding. He tells me that it will be about 30 more days until the waters recede. He could use some help (about $500). He told me that if he gets more than that he will use it to help others in need. You can contact him…

I came across an article from a while back discussing the impact of technology on employment. I’ve been arguing that as machines and software become more capable, they are beginning to match the capabilities of the average worker. In other words, as technology advances, a larger and larger fraction of the population will essentially become…

I detest the label “true conservative” because not many “true conservatives” fit the Reagan definition. “If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals — if we were back in the days of…

Lets see what that 5,000 a year would be in terms of the US population. Guatemala has a population of 13,276,517 according to the wiki.The US population is 312,468,000 according to the wiki. So 312,468,000 divided by 13,276,517 times 5,000 is 117,677 deaths a year. That is a very intense Drug War. H/T Drug Policy…

I was big into folk for quite a long time. I still am I guess. It all started in the late 50s when folk music was quite the rage. I remember the local folk club in Omaha (the Grape Vine was the name IIRC – it had something to do with wine) got shut down…

The job market is bad. The economic scene is worse. And Federal debt is spiraling out of control. How can America be on the mend? Ambrose Evans-Pritchard tells the story. He mentions shale gas. We now have at least a 50 year supply and maybe 100. Then there is shale oil. Total US shale output…

It seems the crackdown the Feds are doing on medical marijuana dispensaries is none too popular among Democrat voters. Medical marijuana advocates have reacted angrily to reports of the Obama administration threatening dispensaries, including some in the Bay Area. California voters passed a medical marijuana law in 1996, and many people use the drug to…

Eric is discussing my post Prevention Methods, and looks at the harms that making things illegal causes. A commenter chimes in with this bit of wisdom. …many of these “illegal drug” like Marijuana can be produced without a good means of tax revenue – another reason to outlaw them You can make quite a bit…