Memorial Day
On this day, as I do every day, I spare a long moment to give my deep and abiding gratitude to those who have served this nation and died in that service. Thank you.
Continue readingMonth: May 2012
Government perverts the marketplace, destroying true value analysis.
I have been following with interest the running comment thread on my post asking about whether electric cars are actually cleaner, or if they just shift pollution outside of the consumer’s view. Very quickly, and probably inevitably, the post shifted to a cost-benefit analysis, which aimed to compare fossil fuel
Continue readingKudos to Madonna
I’m not a Madonna fan. Aside from the fact that her music doesn’t work for me, I think her decision to use sex as her primary sales pitch contributed to a decline in our young people’s culture (or lack thereof) over the past couple of decades. Nevertheless, I do believe
Continue readingBe a part of a Memorial Day parade — without ever leaving your home
I got an email Virtual Boots on the Ground, which I’m reprinting below. I can’t decide if this is a gimmick or a wonderful idea. On the principle that there’s no harm if it’s a gimmick and a lot of good if it’s a wonderful idea, I signed up. Dear
Continue readingOooh! So cool! I’m mentioned in a Jack Kelly column. (Oh, and Obama’s not so bright.)
Jack Kelly, the well-known columnist who writes for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, has taken on the claim that Barack Obama is the smartest president ever. Those of us at the Bookworm Room have always derided this contention, which is built on fairy dust and unicorn
Continue readingPresidential pot trajectory
1988: A serial liar, bomber, drug dealer, and criminal claims, without any corroborating evidence, that he sold pot to Vice Presidential candidate Dan Quayle. Despite these allegations (which were almost certainly false), the Bush-Quayle ticket wins. 1992: Governor William Jefferson Clinton contends that, while he put a joint to his
Continue readingHurrah! It’s Everybody Blog About #BrettKimberlin Day *UPDATED & BUMPED*
[UPDATE: This is why what we’re doing is so desperately important. Not only are some police turning a blind eye to Kimberlin’s activities (as described below), some of them are being innocently coopted into becoming armed weapons in Kimberlin’s campaign.] [UPDATE: Bumped this so new visitors to the site can
Continue readingA rockin’ Star Spangled Banner that even a purist can love
I’m a fuddy duddy when it comes to the Star Spangled Banner. I hate howling ululations and piercing shrieks. It turns out, though, that if you give me a rockin’ good anthem, sung by guys who believe in every word, I will get those familiar chills down my spine that
Continue readingA soldier sends a gift from the other side, which makes me think about the daily gifts our troops give us
Private Chris Kershaw, 19, a British soldier, didn’t really send a gift from the other side. What he did, though, was think about the ones who would be left behind in the event he died in battle, and he left them a letter: The youngest of six British soldiers blown
Continue readingThe most important self-help book I’ve ever read
“I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms. So when I went fishing, I didn’t think about what I wanted. I thought about what they wanted. I didn’t bait the hook with strawberries and cream. Rather, I dangled
Continue readingStop the OPUEM trade!
DQ raise very important points about the power of language. The examples of “austerity” and “stimulus” certainly need to be addressed. But, let me address another problematic term: “government spending”. Far too many people seem to equate government spending (syn. taxes, benefits, welfare, rebates, investments, stimuli, grants, outlays, funding, etc.)
Continue readingWhat’s in a word?
DQ here. I’ve been reading about the financial problems in Greece, and Europe generally, for a while. The problems there are, after all, the ones we will face in America one day soon. I’m struck, though, by the use of two key words: Stimulus — The effort to spend your way out
Continue readingFTC v. POM — and POM’s fighting back *UPDATED*
I have no opinion whatsoever about POM’s pomegranate juice. I do, however, have strong opinions about bullying government agencies that use threats, economic blackmail, and death by bureaucracy to further agendas that may be costly, counter intuitive, politically driven, or otherwise disturbing to someone who, as I do, has a
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