John Stagliano on Reason TV

I highly recommend the two part interview, embedded below, of pornographer John Stagliano with Reason TV. Stagliano, who has been mentioned previously in this blog, faces obscenity charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. He is a libertarian and a contributer to Reason Foundation.

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Liveblogging Gustav

Mark O’ Malley is ignoring mandatory evacuation orders and staying in New Orleans. There’s a good chance I’d have done the same. Riding out a category 4 hurricane is highly risky, even when you are in a sturdy three-story house with enough supplies to last several weeks. On the other hand, this is, simply, a [...]

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Cindy McCain, Sarah Palin

John McCain left both his first wife and Mitt Romney for beauty queens. Honestly, that’s the best political witticism I have heard in a long time. [Edit:] Check out this video.

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Piano concerto 15

Having just finished an enourmous sandwich at Panera’s, I walked towards my car in order to drive to a nearby coffeeshop (which is where I am writing this post from). Today is blazing hot and as I entered my car it felt like I was inside a pizza brick oven. I stepped on the brake, [...]

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Talking of free speech…

This is how it looks in one of the most liberal cities of the most free country in the world. (Hat Tip: The Agitator)

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The death of information

From the Telegraph report: For six days now, no newspapers have been printed in the curfew-ridden Kashmir Valley; and the ones from outside haven’t been distributed. Local news channels were blanked out by a government order a week ago on the grounds that they were telecasting “inflammatory” images; yesterday local operators retaliated by switching off [...]

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Who is Barack Obama?

In essence, Obama is declaring simultaneous loyalty to individualism and to collectivism, to independence and to dependence, to free markets and to state control. If you wonder which half of this self-contradictory agenda will win out, Obama doesn’t leave you in suspense. [..] It is the free market that he wants us to regard as [...]

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Speech reaction

Not a great speech like some of his earlier ones but pretty good nevertheless. He did what he had to do. Personally, I disliked quite a bit of the content, especially the economic populism at the beginning. But then, the speech was not aimed at me. I suspect that the democratic base and those who [...]

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Nudge to aim

An unusual tactic to stop make men from peeing on the floor: Authorities at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have etched the image of a black housefly into each urinal. It seems that men usually do not pay much attention to where they aim, which can create a bit of a mess. But if you give [...]

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Ban all stem cell research?

From the still-under-construction Republican platform for this election: On stem-cell research — The 2008 Republican Platform calls for a ban on all embryonic stem-cell research, public or private. On gambling — Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support legislation prohibiting gambling over the Internet or in student [...]

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The dangers of Obama’s national service plans

Jim Lindgren has an excellent article over at Volokh on the dangers of Barack Obama’s proposals on community service for middle and high schoolers. On the surface there is nothing wrong with the proposal. Voluntary community service can be an enriching experience both for the child and the community. The trouble starts when the government [...]

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Awaiting Obama’s acceptance speech

The last time Obama had to give a speech to save his life, he delivered a tour-de-force. You could see it coming a mile away. The trouble with Obama is that he is such a damn good orator that the expectations for tomorrow will be sky-high. Yet, he will need to surpass those expectations if [...]

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The great idea

“Once upon a time, there was a man who was convinced that he possessed a Great Idea.  Indeed, as the man thought upon the Great Idea more and more, he realized that it was not just a great idea, but the most wonderful idea ever. The Great Idea would unravel the mysteries of the universe, [...]

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Hillary, contd.

Earlier, I praised the emotional aspect of Hillary’s last night speech and it’s effect on Barack Obama’s electoral prospects. As for the actual political content though, my thoughts are closer to Matt Welch’s, whose excellent take on it I highly recommend.

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Biden, pit-bull

I have my differences with Joe Biden’s policies but I agree with Earl Warren — he will play the attack dog role to perfection. I mean, just watch this amazing clip from last October when Biden was still in the running: It will be entertaining to watch the VP debates.

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