Category: Uncategorized

Christianity has always been considered almost synonymous with charity. Yet in order for charity to be charity, it has to be voluntary, for absent free choice, it ceases to be charity and becomes a tax. Now, I’m no theologian, but even by the most cursory analysis, it would seem that Jesus was reminding his followers…

Not content with nail biting (their own) over the prospects of health care reform Democrat operatives have begun finger biting (other’s). It seems particular unfair to me – this finger tax. Couldn’t they just have asked for the shirt off his back? Or a twenty year lease on his first born? Well actually no one…

Dr. Helen’s headline “Health care for Clunkers” reminded me of the “care” they actually give the “clunkers” — many of which are perfectly good cars. The care? It’s called “pour in gunk to make the system lock up then gun the motor until it seizes” and it’s dictated by the federal bureaucracy which wants to…

It is being widely reported that mayhem occurred at a pro-Obamacare rally in Los Angeles area yesterday, but I’m having trouble figuring out what happened. According to most accounts, a MoveOn.org member punched an anti-Obamacare protester and the pro-Obamacare protester had a finger bitten off in the process. However, in these versions of the story,…

As companion to this brilliant must-read piece from Megan McArdle that lays out the libertarian philosophy on health care beautifully… But even after you get beyond that, the more “practical” considerations remain. If the government crowds out private health insurance for many people–a result that a number of analysts on both right and left think…

Yes. It is true. We are temporarily running out of peak oil. A lot of new oil has been discovered. BP is British Petroleum. BP has reopened the debate on when the “peak oil” supply will be reached by announcing a big new discovery in the Gulf of Mexico which some believe could be as…

Esquire Magazine has an interesting piece with the exciting (for me, at least) title of A Radical Solution to End the Drug War: Legalize Everything: One cop straight out of The Wire crunches the numbers with Esquire.com’s political columnist to discover that America’s prohibition of narcotics may be costing more lives than Mexico’s — and…

In my previous comparison of Ted Kennedy to Henry VIII, I touched on how unaccountability — a feature of both traditional royal prerogative and Kennedy family prerogative — can be buttressed by populism: Ted Kennedy does remind me of Henry VIII in one important sense. Both men believed in their ultimate unaccountability, and neither really…

I just voted “Yes” in a Facebook poll which asks, Would you vote for an openly gay candidate for president if you agreed with his or her other positions? So far, it seems to be winning handily. However, because I’m a contrarian, it almost makes me want to do a poll along the lines of…

If this anonymous commenter is right in his assessment of the current political climate, then I’m clearly not living up to my responsibilities: In recent months, the totalitarian left has finally begun reveal themselves in public. Masks Off indeed. The radical dems are acting like they never need face the voters again – like the…

Alan W. Bock writing in the Orange County Register has some interesting things to say about how decriminalization in Portugal is going. Since decriminalization lifetime prevalence rates (any consumption over a lifetime) have decreased, especially for the critical adolescent-young-adult population cohort. For 13-15-year-olds the rate decreased from 14.1 percent in 2001 to 10.6 percent in…

Barbra Oakley has a very interesting article in Psychology Today explaining what is wrong with journalists. The whole article is a must read, but I especially liked the closing. As far as investigating the dark side of the Major Issues, there’s a critically important concept that students of journalism are rarely taught. It’s easy to…

Jos&eacute M. Guardia quotes from a piece by Javier Rupérez — Spain’s ambassador to the US between 2000 and 2004 and currently Consul General in Chicago remembering Ted Kennedy: Shortly after the Iraq war started I saw Senator Kennedy in a public session of the U.S. Supreme Court. As we were taking our seats he…

As I suspect is the case with many people who get email, I often get multiply forwarded emails making all sorts of claims, with all sorts of emotionally appealing quotes from famous people. By emotionally appealing, I mean saying stuff I like to hear and want to believe. Like the drinking quotes. There is something…

So “explains” the officer who works at the Fairfax Public School, as he threatens to arrest a man for displaying an anti-Obama sign he does not like. From Veeshir, who adds, This stuff is supposed to happen in North Korea, China and Massachussetts, not Virginia. So where’s the ACLU when you need ’em? MORE: Link…

A fascinating video by Hans Rosling on development, income, and health outcomes. The software he uses in the video can be found at Gap Minder. The exact page is Gap Minder World. It is fun to play with. Possibly even educational. H/T Betruger at Talk Polywell Cross Posted at Power and Control

On the road earlier, I was reminded of the tedious, irritating, and downright dangerous nature of some of the people who are Out There In The Real World (where they clearly don’t belong) talking on their cell phones while driving. When this happens, I always remind myself that stupid people almost always provide the justification…

Just saw this incredibly irritating notice at YouTube: We will be phasing out support for your browser soon. Please upgrade to one of these more modern browsers. No really, here it is: I realize that the above is protected by the First Amendment, but I think it’s worse than so called “hate speech,” because I…

Last night, I made the mistake of flipping through the channels on my television. Whatever movie Robert Osborne was showing on TCM had failed to hold my attention, so I scrolled down with the channel button, and stopped on A&E Biography. It was a maudlin, fawning, sentimental puff piece on Ted Kennedy. Ugh! Worse yet,…

In light of M. Simon’s earlier post, I thought a brief word about Glenn Beck would be in order. As Simon points out, “some folks are unhappy with Glenn Beck and want advertisers to boycott his show.” I don’t like Glenn Beck, and I don’t watch the show. While I agree with a lot of…