"There are men, in all ages, who mean to exercise power usefully; but who mean to exercise it. They mean to govern well; but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters; but they mean to be masters." Daniel Webster

Monday, November 30, 2009

No State Tuition for All

Gun Van Horn has a rejoinder to a Jeff Jacoby column I linked to a few days ago.

Cat House

Japanese homes designed to be cat friendly.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Sheriff Joe's at It Again

Deputies force a woman to give birth while chained to her bed.

Billy Jack Is Back

The kids have a word for this. I believe it's WTF.

By the way, if you are shopping for a Christmas present for me, this is pretty cool.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

The Conservative As Victim

John Payne with more thoughts on how conservatism is no longer a body of ideas or even a set of traditions but just another form of identity politics.

What's Going on in Japan

Justin Logan says the government is starting to show a little independence in its foreign policy and that's good.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Higher Immigration, Lower Crime

Daniel Griswold writes:


The past 15 years have witnessed two undeniable trends: dramatically rising levels of immigration, both low-skilled and high-skilled, and an equally dramatic plunge in crime rates nationally. I don’t argue that increased immigration in the past 15 years is the primary cause of falling crime rates, but I do argue that the evidence punches a gaping hole in the Lou-Dobbs contention that immigrants have clogged our prisons and unleashed a new wave of crime.

They Don't Show This in the Syndicated Version

Thursday, November 26, 2009

The True Meaning of Thanksgiving

Economist Richard Ebeling presents a litte history. Sorry to get this up so late. I've had a wicked headache most of the day and didn't feel like doing much.

The World According to Americans

This map pretty much sums it up.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Lou Dobbs Reaches Out to Latinos

He supports plans to legalize illegal immigrants who have been "living upright, positive and constructive lives."

Fried Turkey Disasters

This is why you should stick to turducken this Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Eastern Europeans and Mormons

Why are all of the professional dancers on "Dancing with the Stars" either from the former Soviet bloc, Mormons or both?

Quote of the Day: Government-Controlled Medicine

I quit when medicine was placed under State control, some years ago…Do you know what it takes to perform a brain operation? Do you know the kind of skill it demands, and the years of passionate, merciless, excruciating devotion that go to acquire that skill? That was what I would not place at the disposal of men whose sole qualification to rule me was their capacity to spout the fraudulent generalities that got them elected to the privilege of enforcing their wishes at the point of a gun. I would not let them dictate the purpose for which my years of study had been spent, or the conditions of my work, or my choice of patients, or the amount of my reward. I observed that in all the discussions that preceded the enslavement of medicine, men discussed everything–except the desires of the doctors. Men considered only the “welfare” of the patients, with no thought for those who were to provide it. That a doctor should have any right, desire or choice in the matter, was regarded as irrelevant selfishness; his is not to choose, they said, only “to serve.” . . . I have often wondered at the smugness with which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind–yet what is it that they expect to depend on, when they lie on an operating table under my hands? Their moral code has taught them to believe that it is safe to rely on the virtue of their victims. Well that is the virtue that I have withdrawn. Let them discover the kind of doctors their system will now produce. Let them discover, in the operating rooms and hospital wards, that it is not safe to place their lives in the hands of a man whose life they have throttled. It is not safe, if hes is the sort of man who resents it – and still less safe, if he is the sort who doesn’t. - Dr. Thomas Hendricks Atlas Shrugged

Mexican Police Sketch

Monday, November 23, 2009

Progressive Insurance

For the third time in about six weeks a relative of mine has been hit by a driver carrying Progressive insurance. I'm beginning to think Progressive only insures shitty drivers.

In-State Tuition

Jeff Jacoby says undocumented immigrants should get it.

Why are you trying to do sex to me like I'm Mrs. Obama?

Here's the Saturday Night Live sketch everyone is talking about.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Kurt Greenbaum Is a Pussy

Here's the site. Here's the explanation. Read the comments. Lesson learned. If you act like a dick and get someone fired, make sure you haven't posted all your personal information on the Web.

George Lopez: Sarah Palin Is Latina

"Sarah Palin, Latina. Believe me. She's got all the signs. She works and her husband don't."

"She has a child and a grandchild the same age, and the tell-tale sign is she needs to get her roots done."

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Marv Albert Is a Bad Man

But 50 Cent should still look into a new posse.

China Ethnicity of the Week

Here it is.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Thursday, November 19, 2009

This Ended Surprisingly Better Than I would Have Predicted

Man speaks only Klingon to his son for the boy's first three years.

Did Texas Ban Marriage

Oops.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Pledge of Allegiance Is Un-American

Michael Lind has a pledge that's more fitting for a free people.

Police Kitty



The story behind the video can be found here.

Reverse Remittances

Mexicans help down and out relatives in the United States.

Chindogu

The shirt with the grid on it actually seems quite useful.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Has Any of This Made Us Safer?

Jim Harper looks at rules making it harder to get driver's licenses and asks if they have done anything other than harry citizens.

Matrix Cat

Monday, November 16, 2009

Conservative Crybabies

I can't really disagree with this post by Clark Stooksbury.

Japan Bans Fat People

OK, they've set maximum waist sizes for men and women and penalties for companies who have workers who exceed those standards. Here's a report on how it is working.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

What Will Health Reform Do to Your Insurance?

Andrew Heinze and Mario Rizzo have each looked at how it will affect them, and they don't like what they see.

Japanese Bar Codes

Yes, they are better than American bar codes.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

The Hubris of Barack Obama

Barack Obama has spent more money in 10 months that Bill Clinton did in eight years. He is pushing a health care reform bill than will cost more than $1 trillerion, and now, he says he wants to cut the deficit.

The Hubris of George W. Bush

He's founding a free market think tank. What's next? He writes a book calling for a sensible foreign policy?

Friday, November 13, 2009

Time to Get Rid of Football Helmets

Some scientists now believe that football helmets actually increase brain injuries. This probably won't surprise any economist, as they have long know that rules, even private ones, can have unintended consequences.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Who Won the Cold War?

John Payne tallies up the score.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I Know This is a Pot-Kettle Thing

But dang, Miranda Lambert has some big thighs.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Aristocracy of Pull: Health Care Reform

Where will the money be if health care reform passes? Econmist Steve Horwitz has the answer.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Quote of the Day: Children

Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein

Sunday, November 8, 2009

For Jimmy Linderman

Florida's Government Insurance Option

Florida has long had a government options for property insurance. Economist Randall Holcombe explains how it works.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Doug Niedermeyer

I don't know Chattooga High School principal Jimmy Lenderman. I'd never even heard of him until he became the school's athletic director, but what little I do now of the man causes an image of Doug Niedermeyer to appear in my mind.

Anyway, Jimmy Espy has more on Niedermeyer's, I mean Linderman's mutilation of this year's CHS yearbook.

Fedor Just Did to Brett Rogers What Pelosi Is Trying to Do to Health Care

And the economy.

The Senate Health Bill Will Fund Faith Healing

No wonder they don't want to read it.

Quote of the Day: Freedom

To be free is better than to be unfree - always. Any politician who suggests the opposite should be treated as suspect. - Margaret Thatcher

Friday, November 6, 2009

Forget it, Jake. It's Maricopa County.

A Maricopa County, Arizona, deputy is caught stealing a document from a defense attorney, and the justice system yawns.

Quote of the Day: Responsibility

The free market punishes irresponsibility. Government rewards it.
- Harry Browne

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Oh, definitely. That's all he ever talked about.

Watching TV tonight has been like watching that Saturday Night Live sketch, the Nightline parody about the man who killed Buckwheat. Every person they interviewed talked about how the guy was a loner who kept to himself, and when Ted Koppel (Joe Piscopo) would ask them "Did you ever think he would kill Buckwheat," they'd say "Oh, definitely. That's all he ever talked about."

Quote of the Day: Safety

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

From what I found out, there was an orgasm.

I'm sure Scott was very concerned about his wife. I'm also sure he was thinking "Damn, I'm good.".

Go to Hell. Get Out of Japan

Some Japanese are upset at visiting Americans turning one of their subway trains into a moving Halloween party. Can't say I blame them.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Old Dogs

Gene Weingarten looks at what makes them special.

Quote of the Day: Washington

Washington, DC is to lying what Wisconsin is to cheese. - Dennis Miller

Monday, November 2, 2009

Censorship at Chattooga High

Shirtless guys playing basketball have the new principal all hot and bothered.

Your Papers, Please

The New American on the perils of a national ID card.

Quote of the Day: Government

Feeling good about government is like looking on the bright side of any catastrophe. When you quit looking on the bright side, the catastrophe is still there. P.J. O'Rourke

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Summary of the House Democratic Health Bill

Sheldon Richman has it here.

U.S. Continues Quagmire-Building Efforts in Afghanistan

The Onion has an uncomfortably funny take on the situation.

HT: Abu Muqawama

Mexico Offers Amnesty to Illegal Americans

Yeah, you read that right.

From Log to Chair

Quote of the Day: War

It is in war that the State really comes into its own: swelling in power, in number, in pride, in absolute dominion over the economy and the society. - Murray Rothbard