Author: Simon

So I’m having an ongoing discussion with a guy and he has me pegged. MSimon believes that it is every individual’s right to consume whatever drugs in whatever quantities that an individual so chooses. What is your plan to prevent that? Because that is exactly the nature of current reality. The legality or otherwise makes…

The Tektronix 475 Oscilloscope I ordered last Friday arrived yesterday at about 3:30 local time (2030z). I have had it on the bench since then testing it out. It was advertized as used and I must say it is well used. The Digital Voltmeter (the LED readout on top) appears to be defective. No great…

We now know why Rick Perry thinks making pot legal may not be the best idea for Texas. The Texas economy is dependent on the dope trade. Before a federal judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison earlier this year, prosecutors established that between 2006 and 2010 Herrera had been a conduit for more…

Occupy Wall Street? You might as well send them a check. The only way to get business out of government is to make government smaller. There is no “government” solution to the government problem. Update: I see comments here and there around the www about how messed up these kids are. I dunno – Wall…

Grace when she was part of a Great Society, before she became part of an Airplane. And remember to feed your head.

Yep. The above gentlemen have started a computer chip company. GreenArrays. And you thought making chips was a young man’s game? It is true the young guys can work harder. But old guys can work smarter. And with enough coffee, on occasion they can work just as hard. The chip company is more than old…

Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia says the drug laws were a mistake. “It was a great mistake to put routine drug offenses into the federal courts,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal went on to report Scalia’s belief that the laws forced Congress to enlarge the federal court system, and…

We don’t usually do this sort of thing around here. You will note there is no donation button anywhere. I’m going to add one temporarily because I could use some help with a project. Think of this as sort of a kick starter for something that could prove useful in fairly short order. ====== As…

A commenter at my post

Glenn Greenwald is having a look at Steve Jobs and how illegal drugs ruined his life. It’s fascinating to juxtapose America’s reverence for Steve Jobs’ accomplishments and its draconian drug policy with this, from the New York Times‘ obituary of Jobs: [Jobs] told a reporter that taking LSD was one of the two or three…

I got an e-mail today from some political organization complaining about the Solyndra deal in these terms. Start with labor costs. Thanks to the influence of labor unions, Solyndra paid its employees an average of about $100,000 per year. In China, a salary of $100,000 is unheard of. Most factory workers get paid about $.80…

I see by this statement that the private pot operations in California are seriously cutting into drug cartel profits. No wonder they needed a Haag to send the message. That is so ironic on so many levels. It is the government that keeps the real profiteers in business. Shouldn’t she be inspecting chopped liver or…

At about 1345z on 8 Oct 2011 my GA144 board booted. I’m going to have a beer and a nap and start in on the software after a good rest. Cross Posted at Power and Control

The small government party is at it again. The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill yesterday that would make it a federal crime for U.S. residents to discuss or plan activities on foreign soil that, if carried out in the U.S., would violate the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) — even if the planned activities are…

I’m putting together a work bench to do experiments on the GA 144 processor. I dug my oscilloscope out of (warm, dry) storage and powered it up for about an hour. Everything was fine at the beginning and then I hear a crackling and smoke is pouring out of the unit. And you know how…

I am rather fortunate to have grown up in the hacker era. To have heard of Steve and Woz before they became household names. The lights are going out. A lot of us were reaching for the brass ring Steve captured. Way to go guy. And lucky (and very good) you. You will be missed.…

Well it says so at this ABC News link. Nothing up at Conservatives For Palin yet. National Review has it. I’m one sad puppy today. About politics. But I do feel rather GA 144. Cross Posted at Power and Control

The moral I got from watching Part 3 of “Prohibition” a movie by Ken Burns, is that when the influence of the moralists wanes and the government needs money it will scrap prohibition in favor of commerce. Especially if the bodies are piling up in America. Mexican bodies? Not Our Problem. Where are we with…

Yesterday I looked at the lessons of Part One of “Prohibition”, a movie by Ken Burns. Today the lessons of Part Two. We will obey the law because that is what law abiding citizens do. For about 6 months or until supplies run out. Then we will buy from the “nice” guys until their supplies…

Alcohol Is The Enemy Of The Family And Civilization. There ought to be a law. That is my take away from watching the first two hours of Ken Burns “Prohibition”. Update: I said this in an e-mail. Drug Prohibition. Same old song. New lyrics. Cross Posted at Power and Control