Their ranks are big and proud all around the world.
10 CommentsMonth: July 2010
Y’know, there’s one thing nice about government. Really. There is. One thing. Government is very consistent. That is, once any government anywhere embarks on a stupid course, you can be sure that nothing short of the heat death of the universe will stay the bureaucrats from their dedicated stupidity. You gotta admit, that’s impressive consistency. To wit: You recall a teeny little flap the economy had a few years back involving subprime loans? Yes, I think you probably do. In fact, you don’t have to remember very far back — not more than 30 seconds ago — because we’re still…
10 CommentsI was just about to make a minor little blog entry today, when I found this comment by Jackie Juntti dropped into yesterday’s post. I think it’s better than anything I’d have written, so without taking the time to ask Jackie (sorry, J.), I’m moving it from comment to full-fledged blog. I had no idea until now that my old friend Jackie was Jack Case’s daughter. Jackie and I don’t agree on all things (not even on the importance of Bastille Day). But she’s always got a great spirit. And now I can see where she came by it. Anyhow,…
4 CommentsYou saw the recent, all-too-true cartoon The 24 Types of Libertarians. Embarrassingly funny. Well, here’s the remix: The 24 Types of Authoritarians. Also true. But not so personally embarrassing. Yeah. Right. The Obama White House is reaching out to business in a desperate, pre-election attempt to “end tensions.” But you know darned well that, if anything at all comes of the effort, it’ll be nothing more than the usual favors to big business. More competition-killing regulations. More subsidies. More strategically targeted taxes. More you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch yours. Hey, Obama: You want to really do something for business? Get the government the heck…
4 CommentsYou remember “historian” Michael Bellesiles. He won the Bancroft Prize a decade ago for his wildly falsified history of guns in America. He lost the prize — and his reputation — when real historians of firearms like Clayton Cramer proved Bellesiles was a liar who created his “history” according to a surreal anti-gun agenda. You wonder how a man like Bellesiles can ever come back. But he keeps going like the Energizer bunny. And it seems he goes right on fabricating and prevaricating according to his own agenda. Per J.F. (with head-shaking thanks) and via the good work of Jim…
4 CommentsPat was the first commenter to notice: They caught Colton Harris-Moore yesterday. At least the Bahamian cops had the presence of mind and decency not to shoot him. (I expect most U.S. police would simply have blown him away, under the circumstances.) That boy. Neither monster nor hero. But oh, what a story! Might be silly, but I’m proud to have had a small connection to his adventures. (Yes, it’s a tenuous connection, I admit. But there’s a tad more to it than I’m at liberty to tell right now.) Interested in paleo/primal nutrition and exercise? Free the Animal may…
6 CommentsSorry for the “lite” posting this week. I hope I made up for the lack of volume with the quality of Wednesday’s post. (The quality of response to that post has certainly been outstanding.) I had some bad news Wednesday. Nothing earth-shattering, but a setback that … well, it drove me to eat four whole squares of chocolate (a huge indulgence at the very end of my month of primal-nutrition purity). It’s kept me in the doldrums since then. You may remember that I’ve been debating options about where to live. The more I explored, the more I realized I…
13 CommentsIn the great movie The Shawshank Redemption, Brooks Hatlen, the prison librarian (James Whitmore), is the totally institutionalized man. He’s carved out his safe little niche. He no longer knows how to survive outside the walls — and he realizes he’s unfit for the real world. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), on the other hand, is always and emphatically his own man. He is never owned by the prison, even as he’s subject to the prison system’s every whim. No matter what’s done to him, his inner strength holds him steady. “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman) stands between them. He’s the guy…
31 CommentsCommon sense comes to a public school near you. Can’t possibly last. You heard the tut-tutting because more than a quarter of Americans recently polled didn’t know what country the famous forefathers won independence from. But what if respondents were just funnin’? C’mon. Everybody knows it was the Soviet Union. Which brings back fond memories of the witty (and now retired from writing) Patty Neill and her hysterical take on “How We Got the Data for the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse” Old. But timeless. On the more serious side, here’s an excellent Forbes piece from Michael Pento on…
4 CommentsThe word Jefferson obliterated. (Alternative link if the WaPost link gives you trouble.)
13 Comments