Monthly Archives: June 2008

The Launch

Due to popular demand, I’ve thrown my hat into the race. (HT: My Best Man)

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Who are the ‘ideal’ Vice Presidential Candidates…

for each party? Well surprisingly enough, the ideal candidates for Obama and McCain are… Colin Powell. This is the result of a survey which was powered by an Affinnova algorithm it calls “evolutionary optimization”. Powell seems to occupy a special … Continue reading

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Elect Phil Gramm!

From an interview by Stephen Moore (HT: GR): So what if a President Barack Obama were to impose 50% or 60% tax rates on these CEOs and other big earners? Mr. Gramm pounces: “When you help a company raise capital, … Continue reading

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Ignoring Chad

David Axe writes on one of the world’s biggest ignored crises—right next door to the much more hip, much more visible crisis in Darfur. The Central African Republic has been spiraling into conflict, forcing over 60,000 people into refugee camps… … Continue reading

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Marriage Defenders Unite!

It is telling that some of the most outspoken anti-gay Republicans out there, who attach their name to anti-gay marriage amendments no less, are tranny bottoms, cruisy sluts, and whore-mongers. Not that there is anything fundamental to Republican Christian conservatism … Continue reading

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GVO Summit: The Power of Organized Utopianism

One of the subtextual themes coming out of the conference so far is what can almost be called a double-standard: the participants demand the right to unrestricted speech, but recoil in horror at the consequences such speech brings. It is … Continue reading

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Global Voices Online Citizen’s Media Summit 08

Hey everybody. First off, Budapest is a great city! We’re about to start the GVO meting, which is focusing mostly on net censorship. Considering my other blog, Registan.net, is definitely blocked in Uzbekistan, and quite possibly elsewhere, this matters tremendously, … Continue reading

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Kool-Aid Man on the Loose on North Side Chicago

Oooooh yeah!

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Hungary Hungary Hippies

Pic: simplistic political activism at the Blaha Lujla metro stop in Central Budapest. My own thoughts on the matter are here. And no, Michael, the Gellert baths were not as molest-y as you made them out to be. Rather, the … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Josh's Page | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Future Savages

Check out this creepy photographic project by Oliviero Toscani. Children are dressed up as heroic “eco-warriors for the future,” in some kind of luddite Lord of the Flies homage. It’s a nightmare vision…but it’s doubtlessly many others’ vision of a … Continue reading

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Hippocrates Unbound

The idea of state funded and administered universal health care is a bugbear of libertarians everywhere, and especially those who are subjected to such a system as a matter of course. Routinely held up as one of the worst of … Continue reading

Posted in Health Care, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

George Lakoff: Neo-Syndicalist

Over the weekend I read with fascination William Saletan’s review of the new offering from George Lakoff, “The Political Mind,” and was struck by the remarkable similarities between it and the revolutionary syndicalism espoused during the prior fin de siècle. … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Domestic Politics, Election 2008, History, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page, Philosophy, social science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

I’m Leaving

But not forevs. Tomorrow I hope on a plane and fly to Budapest, Hungary, for a well-deserved break from the grunt and grind of every day. At the tail end of the week, I shall be attending the Global Voices … Continue reading

Posted in Blogs, Foreign affairs, Josh's Page, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Because Who Really Needs Evidence Anyway?

Unbelievable: The Motion Picture Association of America said Friday intellectual-property holders should have the right to collect damages, perhaps as much as $150,000 per copyright violation, without having to prove infringement. “Mandating such proof could thus have the pernicious effect … Continue reading

Posted in Law, regulation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

World of Weigant

Chris Weigant demands an immediate end to the “pervasive” pro-McCain and anti-Obama bias of the media. Yeah. No word yet on when Chris will take up the equally necessary cause of converting the Pope to Catholicism.

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Kelo 3 Years Later

Damon Root at Reason takes a look at what’s happened in the three years since Kelo v. City of New London. By now, even non-cynical people can’t be surprised. So what’s the status of the “comprehensive” and “revitalized” development site … Continue reading

Posted in Chris' Page, Domestic Politics, Law | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Different Perspective on the Election

Certainly no “lock of the week”, but Sunday Morning Quarterback has Obama going all the way this year. HT: Burnt Orange Nation

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Bumper Sticker Politics

According to social psychologist William Szlemko, people who adorn their cars with bumper stickers are far more likely to engage in road rage. Seems like a perfectly sensible conclusion to me. Anyone who would in effect vandalize their own car … Continue reading

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It’s the Pollution, Stupid

Or more specifically it’s the soot, from our tailpipes, our industries, most of our electricity generation—and also from forest fires, volcanoes, and the wind. Black carbon soot is causing most of the loss of polar ice according to this recent … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Peter's Page, regulation, science | 1 Comment

A rather vigorous use of government largesse or More Bang

It seems a rather racy, though well known, merchant is giving some rather startling deals for those who wish to spend their $1200 checks from our government.  They will even send a signed thank you card to President Bush from … Continue reading

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I Like Pirates

Allow me a moment of selfish promotion. One of my best friends, Mike, got his “band” profiled at NPR, where they’re going on about how easy it is to make music these days with these kids and their laptops. It’s … Continue reading

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McCain’s Social Surrender

Ben Adler observes the painfully obvious fact that McCain’s social media strategy is largely nonexistent, and ineptly executed where it does exist. Yeah, tell you something you didn’t know right? Well, I’m just wishing somebody would tell Mark Soohoo, McCain’s … Continue reading

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Hot Water and Civilization in Ukraine

In much of the former Soviet Union, urban heating is still managed at the block rather than per-building level. This is causing some protest from a population growing accustomed to a new ethos of individual convenience. Something we’ve always taken … Continue reading

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Obama on Firearms

Covertress gives us 21 reasons why gun owners might be justifiably doubtful (and not a little alarmed) about Barack Obama’s commitment to their constitutional right.

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Breaking: Tim Russert Dies Of Heart Attack

R.I.P. Tim Russert: Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after being stricken at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58. Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the … Continue reading

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Guitar Lust

Me Want. Badly.

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“I for one want to go out and kill a dolphin.”

Eco-tainment ain’t all is was apparently cracked up to be.

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Boumediene — The Great Sandbagging

UPDATE: Welcome QandO readers. Please look around after you’ve finished with this post, but McQ says you have to go back over to QandO when you’re done … but I won’t tell if you won’t. _____________________________________________________________ The recent Supreme Court … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Law, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Paralyzed Woman Sues Chiropractic for Half Billion

It seems a chiropractor in Canada was manipulating a patient’s neck and paralyzed her. Luckily she isn’t dead from a stroke. Sandy had been going to Stiles regularly for more than seven years, receiving adjustments to her back and neck … Continue reading

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Broadcaster Freedom Act – A Call To Action

First they came for the Press, and I didn’t speak out, because the press didn’t speak for me. Then they came for television, and I didn’t speak out, I was tired of watching their bias anyway. Then they came for … Continue reading

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DC’s Hottest Blog of the Summer

Matthew Yglesias introduces us to DC’s hottest blog of the summer, m4intern. M4intern, DC’s most common sexual preference.

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Did We Ever Escape the Nineties?

Yo Yo, a flash in the pan empowered-but-sexless female rapper (try selling that today), got her big break by teaming up with Ice Cube on her 1991 debut Make Way for the Motherlode. Why, here she is, being so early-90′s … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Paglia on Rush

Meanwhile, conservative talk radio, which I have been following with interest for almost 20 years, has become a tornado alley of hallucinatory holograms of Obama. He’s a Marxist! A radical leftist! A hater of America! He’s “not that bright”; he … Continue reading

Posted in Media | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

The End is Nigh

McCain Condoms Obama Condoms Have to go with the McCain brand myself. Trust my troops with it more and I have to pull out too early with the Obama brand.

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Toddler’s Way of Getting Things Done

#1 Mastering six words is enough: Yes — No — Mama — Papa — That — Bah Read the rest…

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Is The Evidence In On Minimum Wage?

When the most recent unemployment numbers were released, the media bleated about the highest percentage increase in the jobless rate since 1986. For example, The New York Times lamented: The unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent in May from 5 … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Economics, energy, Media, MichaelW's Page, regulation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Fashion Is Cheap

How remarkable: As luxury fashion has become more expensive, mainstream apparel has become markedly less so. Today, shoppers pay the same price for a basic Brooks Brothers men’s suit, $598, as they did in 1998. The suggested retail price of … Continue reading

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The Unbearable Deification of Obama

Perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of this (unbearably) long campaign season is the rare opportunity to witness deification in process. From Mark Morford, a San Francisco Gate columnist: Is Obama an enlightened being? Spiritual wise ones say: … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Humor, Media, MichaelW's Page, Religion and theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Potent Quotables

I’ve always loved that quote from Charles Austin Beard about earning a reputation as a “dangerous citizen” by quoting the founding fathers. This quote is from the man who made the “dangerous citizen” a cinematic icon, including in one of … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Libertarianism, Media, MichaelW's Page | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

(Relatively) Measuring Success

This is the most recent of a series of posts on Registan.net where I explore some of the fundamentals of conflict within the tribal areas of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. At the end of this post is a link to the … Continue reading

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What’s Good Enough for Fallujah Is Good Enough For DC

One of the strongest arguments against current COIN doctrine has been made by the anonymous blogger Fabius Maximus—namely, that if we are so great at engineering societies we can write a slim manual about it, why haven’t we done so … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

“This is what I wish, to be martyred”

From Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s statements to the U.S. military court today: The accused al Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks stood in a U.S. military court on Thursday, sang a chant of praise to Allah and said he would … Continue reading

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Is Larry Johnson Credible?

David Weigel at Reason gives all of us another reason to say, “No”. David looks at the reports coming out in the past few days about the alleged tape of Michelle Obama going off on a racist rant and finds … Continue reading

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A Socialist Reads Hayek

A very interesting read and perspective. H/T Reason. EDIT: Excellent comments at the reason link.

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Bob Barr on The Colbert Report

Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr appeared on the Colbert Report last night. Check out the video after the jump. Some commentary from the American Spectator here.

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Greatest Judicial Opinion of Our Time

This has to be seen by all judicial and college football fans. I’m not sure what the original complaint was, but the opinion is great. Pay special attention to the footnotes to learn that it is the official opinion of … Continue reading

Posted in Chris' Page, Humor, Law | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Her Tenure Was a Monumental Failure

Isn’t it great when our Chief Diplomat doesn’t really see the need for diplomacy?

Posted in Around the Web, Foreign affairs | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

From the Horse’s Mouth, So To Speak

Today, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight heard testimony from Sheikh Khalaf al-Ulayyan of the Sunni Accordance Front and Nadim al-Jaberi of the Shiite (and anti-Moqtada, anti-Maliki) Fadhila Party. Both oppose a long-term presence … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Thoughts on Brains

Guess what part of your brain is not primarily for storing information about a two gyrating hippos on a camping trip. The right parahippocampal gyrus. Much to your (and my) surprise, that part of the brain is used to detect … Continue reading

Posted in Humor, MichaelW's Page, science | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Food For Thought

After speculating upon Hillary Clinton’s strategic thinking with respect to the Democratic nomination, James Taranto concludes (emphasis added): To summarize, Mrs. Clinton maximizes her chances of becoming president if she (1) does enough damage to Obama to snatch the nomination … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Humor, MichaelW's Page | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment