Archive for January 2007
By What Standard Indeed?
Quite fortunately for Kim du Toit, he happens to be more disposed to conduct his voluntary and consensual affairs in ways that happen to be legal in Texas, and more generally, the U.S. Although, with all the traveling around he does for his gun shows, I just wonder if he edges across the legal line in any of the states he must traverse to get from one place to the other. Not that I mind,…Read More
Hillary in 2008
These people have no earthly idea what they're seeing when they look at her. This is like being able to see through to the drooling alien mesmerizing children from inside the Santa-suit. I'd have to chalk that up as one of the most apt descriptions of what I perceive about her. I'm still pretty skeptical about her being able to win; but then again, it's difficult to predict anything in this upside-down, politicized world --…Read More
Blurring Distinctions
I have been on record here, many times, in support of killing terrorists (those who vow to kill us and are to be taken seriously), and by that, I mean them and their material support network. I also allow that because of the nature of this reality in which we live, it is wholly impractical to hold as a prerequisite for such self-defense that innocents can't be caught in the crossfire. Indeed, it is primarily…Read More
The Noblest Project I Can Imagine
Can you think of anything nobler than this? I sure can't. Every weekday, a truck pulls up to the Cecil H. Green Library, on the campus of Stanford University, and collects at least a thousand books, which are taken to an undisclosed location and scanned, page by page, into an enormous database being created by Google. The company is also retrieving books from libraries at several other leading universities, including Harvard and Oxford, as well…Read More
The 2007 Declaration of Independence
Hard to resist not just posting this in its entirely. I agree with George Reisman: a bucket of pearls. In addition to his complaint that the author wishes you to cast them before swine, I do have to say that the need to write another Declaration of Independence ought to to at least imply some reason to check a premise or two. I'm referring to the "Constitutional" nonsense, as well as the "Governments are instituted…Read More
Oh, Great!
My wife just informs me that I share my birthday with Oprah Winfrey. Great. I think I could have gone an entire 46 more years free of that knowledge. Just kidding. Oprah's Ok, and even I find some interest in some of her stuff that my wife saves on the DVR for me. I think what I respect most about her is her self-honesty, which is clearly apparent if you watch her any length of…Read More
Elegant Business Leadership
As a follow-on to my most recent entry on the subject of business, I post the following article in its entirely, with the permission of the author. Mr. Kimura operates the Vision in Action website. Elegant Business Leadership by Yasuhiko Genku Kimura Bill Gates, when he announced his impending retirement and intention to turn to full-time philanthropy, stated that he “needs to give back to the community.” This begs the question, as, for instance, renowned…Read More
BMOC
One of the blogs I link to from time-to-time is that of Warren Meyer, Coyote Blog. Warren has written a novel that I'd characterize it as part political and business intrigue, combined with organized crime (other than the government) and a murder mystery. Frankly, I wasn't going to bother with it. The title did nothing to really interest me, and besides, 95% of what I read is non-fiction. I enjoy good fiction, but I just…Read More
“Criticize by Creating”
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The Nuremberg Experiment
Well, that's what it ought to be called, anyway. ("We" failed again, BTW. Be sure to watch the video). I think I'll go pour another.Read More
I didn’t see it comin’
It takes a couple of minutes to get to the punchline, but it's well worth the wait.Read More
Unintended Consequences?
Quite naturally, if there was a market demand for ethanol in large quantity at the gas pumps, such would have existed for so long as such demand has existed. Nothing at a political level would have had to make it so. Now, I'm not up to speed on the various legislative and regulator mandates regarding ethanol and whatnot, but it would certainly be interesting if it turns out that our force-backed demand for corn-based ethanol…Read More
Freeflight Overview
A pretty-well-done BBC piece on hang-gliding, along with some decent flying clips.Read More
When Ears Deceive
In this day and age, I could just see someone putting something like this together with a dubbed soundtrack to create a humorous fiction. In this case, however, the truth is stranger. That's a DoobleBug harness with its Radne engine replaced with a small jet. It's just a demonstration, and not something that will ever be for sale anytime soon. Powered hang-gliders have been conceived and produced for a while, in various configurations, but I've…Read More
Four Easy Steps
Step One: Step Two: Step Three: Step Four: It's the Aeros AL-12M, from the Ukranian company that's been making excellent and very price-competitive hang-gliders for better than a decade, now. (Straub)Read More
Agitated, But Cool
I've very often wondered how Radley Balko does it. I don't feel like digging it up, but if you read regularly, you know I've called him the world's most important blogger, and that's because of the way he tirelessly finds (originally, not just always linking to other blogs) and documents the shame and disgrace represented by the forces of "justice" here in Amerika. That's just the start of all the good he does. But he…Read More
Guiltlessness
Nanuka ("Nuke") demonstrates, while catching her several-times-daily dose of radiation. If she appears lazy and lethargic, she's fooling you.Read More
The Principle at Work?
Balko points to a summary of why and how government grants and guaranteed student loans increase the cost of college education. Well, duh! It's easy to spend other people's money. In all the myriad permutations -- whether you're talking about outright grants, or loans that you would otherwise be unable to obtain -- the underlying principle is all the same. But it's not just in education. Health care is another example. I'm not all that…Read More
Indeed
Well, that was a fun exercise. Now we can wait for some "brilliant legal mind" to explain in a mountain of non-essentials why the original breakup and destruction of 70% of shareholder value was "necessary," other than, of course, the piles and piles of attorney fees generated; as well as the crucial self-importance felt by -- I will note -- people who had no hand in creating AT&T, or anything remotely like it. In a…Read More
Your Soul, for the Price of a DVD
I had heard of The Blasphemy Challenge somewhere, recently, but had set it aside without looking into it until being reminded of it while reading Daniel C. Dennett's response to this year's Edge question. The Evaporation of the Powerful Mystique of Religion [...] Why am I confident that this will happen? Mainly because of the asymmetry in the information explosion. With the worldwide spread of information technology (not just the internet, but cell phones and…Read More