Archive for the 'MichaelW’s Page' Category
Milton Friedman vs. Naomi Klein
MichaelW on Jan 02 2008 | Filed under: Developmental economics, Economics, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page, Milton Friedman Memorial Page, social science
Happy New Year! To start off the year right, let’s have a look at a mock-up of a debate between Naomi Klein, reporter-activist extraordinaire, and Milton Friedman, king of economic liberty (via Instapundit).
This video was put together by Devil’s Advocate at Copious Dissent, where you can find the others in this series.
This […]
Fred Thompson’s New Iowa Ad
MichaelW on Dec 28 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, MichaelW's Page
I’ve received a few emails alerting me to the fact that the blogburst for Fred Thompson was a success (congratulations to Rick Moran for spearheading that), and as a result, the following commercial “Substance” will be airing in Iowa:
If your so inclined, go here to donate to Fred’s campaign. If you are unsure whether […]
Somebody’s Gearing Up For A HUGE Party
MichaelW on Dec 28 2007 | Filed under: Humor, MichaelW's Page
Someone in Georgia is apparently planning on hosting a kegger for a small division [HT: my wife].
Thieves took tractor-trailers loaded with beer and swiped the suds twice within the past week, authorities said.
Dougherty County authorities are investigating a report of a missing 53-foot-long trailer that was loaded with more than 2,300 cases of […]
McQ On The Depletion Of The Officer Corp
MichaelW on Dec 28 2007 | Filed under: MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Over at QandO, McQ offers his take on a thoughtful article by Andrew Tilghman entitled “The Army’s Other Crisis: Why the Best and Brightest Young Officers are Leaving.”
Here are the nut graphs from McQ:
So we should certainly be concerned about the loss of CPTs. And while the fixes are obvious, given the mission, they aren’t […]
Top Al Qaeda Operative Nabbed In Iraq, and Other Good News
MichaelW on Dec 28 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Bill Roggio has the scoop at Long War Journal:
The Iraqi Army claimed to have captured the minister of defense of the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda’s political front organization. Ahmed Turki Abbas was captured after being wounded in a skirmish near Mahmudiyah and “claimed the rank of defense minister,” Qassim al Moussawi, Iraq’s military […]
MichaelW on Dec 27 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Media, MichaelW's Page
Freddy-come-lately is gaining some steam in Iowa, picking up an endorsement from the Ottumwa Courier this week:
Thompson is unapologetic on his views and is a straight-shooter.
“These are clearly challenging times. I don’t think we’ve fully come to terms with the kind of world we live in,” he told members of the Courier editorial board recently.
Indeed, […]
You Say You Want a Revolution
Keith_Indy on Dec 27 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Keith's Page, MichaelW's Page
These are the events that can kick off revolutions, civil wars, and even God forbid world wars…
Let’s hope and pray this will be a more bloodless revolution.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318510,00.html
Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a homicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally.
The former prime minister died in Rawalpindi […]
Grinchwald’s Stocking Stuffer
MichaelW on Dec 26 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Glenn Greenwald's Carnival of Fisking, Media, MichaelW's Page, Religion and theology
It shouldn’t surprise me the lengths that Greenwald will go to distort what people say in order to lambaste his enemies, but his Christmas offering really takes the figgy pudding.
Mike Huckabee’s Christmas ad — like everything Huckabee does — provoked all sorts of vehement, angry, un-Christmas-like attacks from Republican pundits. The GOP establishment almost uniformly […]
“XMas” Origins
MichaelW on Dec 26 2007 | Filed under: Culture, History, MichaelW's Page, Religion and theology, Society
Jon Henke posts an interesting history lesson concerning the origins of the well-known abbreviation for Christmas:
Growing up, I sometimes heard - in church and from various religious scolds - that XMas was a secular attempt to “take Christ out of Christmas”, rather than, say, an attempt to save valuable space on signs.
Jon then links to […]
MichaelW on Dec 21 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Media, MichaelW's Page
Although the Silly Hat story seems to have died on the vine (thanks to bloggers jumping on it quickly, I might add), the reporting of Roger Simon (sans-L) is still under scrutiny. Bob Owens examined some of the discrepancies between what Simon reported and what the video revealed with respect to the Silly Hat […]
MichaelW on Dec 21 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Economics, Environment, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page
According to the press release (my emphasis):
Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called “consensus” on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made […]
MichaelW on Dec 20 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Media, MichaelW's Page
In all the kerfuffle yesterday over just what transpired in Silly-Hat-Gate, I somehow neglected to mention that the author of the Politico post, Roger Simon, is not the same as the PJM Editor, Roger L. Simon, who has this to say about the incident:
having viewed the video, I can say this: I don’t know what […]
MichaelW on Dec 20 2007 | Filed under: Media, MichaelW's Page, Society
“Teen pregnancy can happen to everybody.”
Bill Albert, Deputy Director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, commenting on the recent revelation that 16 y.o. Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant.
I’m guessing that I don’t need to explain why that’s stupidest thing I’ve heard all week, and probably this month. It’s certainly in […]
MichaelW on Dec 19 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, MichaelW's Page
Via Allahpundit at Hot Air, it seems that Politico is a little down on Fred’s campaign visit to Waverly, Iowa:
Thompson rode four blocks to the local fire station. Local fire stations always have captive audiences (unless there is a fire).
Inside, Thompson shook a few hands — there were only about 15 people there — and […]
MichaelW on Dec 19 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, MichaelW's Page
One big problem with that. It already exists:
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney suggested there was no way a landscaping company that worked for him could have known its employees were illegal aliens even though the federal government has an employer verification system that any employer in America, on a voluntary basis, can use for […]
MichaelW on Dec 19 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page, Philosophy
As told by Mother Jones … so yeah, it’s a little, umm, “slanted.” My favorite distortion:
1977: The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, is founded in San Francisco with funding from oil baron Charles G. Koch. The name comes from Cato’s Letters, newspaper articles written by two Englishmen using the pen name Cato the […]
MichaelW on Dec 19 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Law, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
The aptly named Unqualified Offerings has had its share of troubles lately, and I’m not usually one to pile on, but this is simply beyond the pale (emphasis added):
Have We Given Justice to Lindh?
By Mona
American citizen John Walker Lindh is now serving 20 years in this heinous prison for what appears to have been the […]
MichaelW on Dec 18 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
Apparently Hugo Chavez takes the resurrection of historical idols quite seriously. And much too literally [HT: Dave In Texas]:
President Hugo Chavez said Monday that Venezuela should open the coffin of independence hero Simon Bolivar to examine the bones, saying there are sufficient doubts about his death in 1830 to warrant a full investigation.
Although history […]
MichaelW on Dec 17 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
It seems that Hugo Chavez is not the only one having trouble instituting his Bolivarian dream state. Evo Morales is facing troubles in Bolivia as well:
Since the election of avowed socialist Evo Morales to the presidency of Bolivia, some have not been particularly happy with the direction he is trying to take the country. […]
MichaelW on Dec 16 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Humor, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page, regulation
Thaddeus Tremayne sees potential legal troubles for St. Nick in the UK:
A frosty reception awaits Santa Claus in Britain this year. It seems that the much-loved benefactor of children everywhere is, in fact, suspected of being guilty of a number of illegal practices.
The jolly fatman’s employment practices are demanding particular scrutiny:
The Equality Commission has also […]
MichaelW on Dec 15 2007 | Filed under: Libertarianism, Media, MichaelW's Page
In case you haven’t already seen it, go ahead and read this journalism professor’s condescending look at blogging. Prepare to wretch.
Supporters of “citizen journalism” argue it provides independent, accurate, reliable information that the traditional media don’t provide. While it has its place, the reality is it really isn’t journalism at all, and it opens […]
MichaelW on Dec 15 2007 | Filed under: Culture, History, Humor, MichaelW's Page
The linked post is a couple of months old, but the thoughts are yours to treasure for a lifetime.
Remembering the ’70’s:
Last weekend I put an exhaust fan in the ceiling for my wife’s grandfather. After a bunch of hours spent in The Hottest Attic In The Universe, he had a ceiling fan that […]
MichaelW on Dec 10 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Law, MichaelW's Page, Notes on the war
This is one of the most bizarre and disgusting stories I’ve heard in quite a while:
A Houston, Texas woman says she was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad, and the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident.
Jamie Leigh Jones, now 22, says that after she was raped by multiple men at a […]
MichaelW on Dec 10 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
In the wake of the Venezuelan electorate issuing Hugo Chavez a defeat (his first) at the ballot box last week, there was much speculation from blogospheric skeptics about the actual tally of the votes, and about whether or not Chavez manipulated the results. In a report by Jorge Castañeda for Newsweek comes […]
MichaelW on Dec 10 2007 | Filed under: MichaelW's Page, Military Matters
This is a follow-up post including new information for those who wish to send mail, gifts, care packages, etc. to wounded and covering soldiers.
About a month ago Keith drew our attention to a popular, yet erroneous, email floating around that encouraged people to send Christmas cards to “any wounded soldier”.
Recently an email similar to the […]
Death Has Never Been So Sexy
MichaelW on Dec 06 2007 | Filed under: Humor, MichaelW's Page
I learned in Shakespeare 101 that many mentions of “death” were really a wink and a nod to the peanut gallery alluding to an orgasm (from the French le petit mort). Consequently, the actor on stage could be professing his everlasting love for some lovely young lass, declaring how he would die without her, […]
Germany Warned About Minimum Wage Laws
MichaelW on Dec 05 2007 | Filed under: Economics, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, regulation
Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, called them a “brake on employment”:
The warning came after several competitors to Deutsche Post, the former state monopoly, announced redundancies and the cancellation of investments in response to Berlin’s decision to impose a minimum wage in the postal sector last week.
Minimum wages are shaping up as […]
It’s Time To Chase The Donuts!
MichaelW on Dec 05 2007 | Filed under: Humor, MichaelW's Page
Drunk driving isn’t funny. That is unless your name is Warren G. Whitelightning, you’re drunk, you’ve stolen eight giant red hot pickled sausages from a convenience store, and then you decide to take a Krispy Kreme truck for a joy ride. Soon, you have both University of Wisconsin police and Madison’s finest on your tail–which, […]
“I don’t like other people telling me what to do.”
MichaelW on Dec 05 2007 | Filed under: Environment, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page, Philosophy, Religion and theology
Amen.
One of the reasons I abhor communitarianism (and tend to see my political philosophy as the opposite of that) is because it vests communitarian thinkers with the self appointed power to tell me (and others) what to do. Provided, of course, that they come up with a claim to do so in the name of […]
Attorney-Gate: Leahy’s New Ploy
MichaelW on Nov 29 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Law, MichaelW's Page
Sen. Patrick Leahy is running a new gambit in order to force White House officials to testify before Congress, although I think there is another less-obvious goal here as well:
A Senate chairman acknowledged explicitly on Thursday that President Bush was not involved in the firings of U.S. attorneys last winter and therefore ruled illegal the […]
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