Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy Old Year

Figured I'd get in one more post before the end of the year.

Here's hoping for a great 2008!

That is all.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Incandescent Light Ban

This is stupid.

And I say that as someone who uses only fluorescent bulbs - other than in a few places where the bulbs are on a dimmer or recessed (i.e. where the fluorescent bulbs say that should not be used, although I suppose dimmable and recessed-lighting safe fluorescent bulbs will probably soon be widelty available)* and for my Christmas decorations (I'll probably eventually switch to LEDs, after my current crop of bulbs dies out).

That is all.

*I have dimmable fluorescent bulbs for a lamp, but I don't know of any dimmable bulbs with traditional connectors.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Issues with a Co-Ed Military

Pregnancy, for one.

Yhis type of report indicates, if nothing else, that sexual integration of the military has not been as consequence-free as people would like to make it seem; which would tend to suggest that accepting open homosexuals into the military might also not be as consequence-free as its advocates claim.

That is all.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Tea Party Still Going

2 more hours.

Paul is at $5.2 million. Just a million more and we beat Hillary for one-day fundraising!

I donated $38.00. (On top of 4 previous donations for the 2nd quarter, 3rd quarter, Guy Fawkes Day, and a small donation to get some bumper stickers totaling - let's just say well past reportable levels).

If you haven't given yet, dig deep! (You can also call 1-703-248-9115).

That is all.

Ovet $1.4 Million Raised Today so Far.

As of approximately 9:12 am EST.

That is all.

Halfway Decent Articles About Paul

Well, it's a start.

Thanx and a tip o' the hat to LRC blog.

That is all.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Tea Party

Dear readers:

Remember to donate to Ron Paul on Dec. 16 (Sunday) in order to help make the "Tea Party of 2007" the most successful fundraising day ever.

So far, more than 30,000 have pledged to donate $100 - if everyone of the pledgers does this, that would be $3 million.

Pledge or don't pledge, donate what you can on Sunday, either online or by phone using a credit or debit card (check donations can't be guaranteed to come in on a certain day, they are welcome, but they won't cause the same amount of buzz as a "moneybomb").

Sad to say, but I won't be able to donate too much this time around. I have had a number of bills come due and am too tapped out to give more than $10.00 or $20.00. However, I have alraedy donated enough to Paul that my donations will have to be reported to the FEC (I'll be no more specific than that), so I don't think that my asking others to donate can reasonably be seen as "do as I say, not as I do."

That is all.

On the Latest GOP Presidential Debate

James Wolcott:

Ron Paul, whose answers are concise, emphatic, and deviate from the establishment orthodoxy regarding the ever expanding reach of American Empire. His devotion to the Constitution has the spike of authenticity, whereas you can imagine Giuliani treating it like a Chinese menu, picking and choosing which articles he's willing to abide by.

Even leftists are impressed by Ron.

(I know I found this post of Wolcott's through a link, as I don't read him generally, but I cannot remember or retrieve the linking website, so thanx and a tip o' the hat to somebody).

That is all.

Iraqi Refugees Returning - Mixed News

Refugees are returning as things get more peaceful, but some of the returns are due less to homesickness than to the increasing unfriendliness in the refugees' host countries.

Thanx and a tip o' the hat to Thoreau at Unqualified Offerings.

That is all.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Alas, We're Morons

More fun from Alas, a Blog, specifically Rachel s.:

Disclaimer: I think racial DNA tests are absurd, and are based primarily on social notions of race, not actual distinct genetic and biological human categories.

Yes, because DNA tests measure social notions, and not biology.

So apparently it has not been discovered that he has 16 times as many black-origin genes as other whites, but has 16 times as much "social notion" as other whites.

On the other hand, Steve Sailer has a good reason to be skeptical of the test results: at the individual level, these tests are less reliable than when combining the tests of a group, because there is so much more "noise" the smaller the sample size.

Too bad, I was hoping Watson might be able to reclaim the term "octoroon" for his people.

That is all.

The Church of the State

Interesting musings on public schooling from the Mises Institute.

That is all.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Empirical Questions are Best Resolved through Name-Calling

Mandolin at Alas, a Blog displays typical leftism.

As usual, anyone who dissents is banned, and they continually attempt to answer scientific questions by to their holy book.

Full disclosure: I do think that there is an a gap in average intelligence between people of African and people of European heritage, and that some of that gap is genetic. On the issue of a whether or not there is a correlation between pedophilia and homosexuality, I have no position, because I have never bothered to study it in any detail and because most of the proclamations that I have heard from either side of the debate come from people who were too biased one way or the other for me to trust them without looking into the matter myself.

That is all.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

"Progressive" DoubleThink

I have an interesting debate with some liberals about the nature of freedom and of imposition.

From his answers, it is obvious that "Tankard" either is being deliberately dishonest, or else he doesn't seem to grasp what I am arguing about. He is apparently under the impression that the issue I am arguing is whether or not embryos are people, whereas what I am arguing about is whether or not forcing a taxpayer who believs embryos are people to fund embryonic stem cell research is forcing one's beliefs on the taxpayer. My argument, it should be noted, is not based on what the basis of the belief about the embryo is, or on whether or not the belief is correct, or on whether or not the person supporting federal funding is right or wrong to do so. I am just trying to et soemone to admit that forcing a person to fund something he doesn't believe in is imposing your beliefs on him, and these people are either so obtuse or so dishonest that they cannot admit this.

That is all.

Paul on Sovereignty

An interesting article on the North America Union at WorldNetDaily.

That is all.

The Greatest Poem of All Time

Outside of the Bible, that is.

I vote for The Gods of the Copybook Headings by Rudyard Kipling.

I really think that the five words would make a great book title or book series title:

"with terror and slaughter return."

That is all.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Ron Paul's Next "MoneyBomb"

Sunday, December 16.

As I understand it, the other reported "Ron Paul Day," Saturday, December 15 (Bill of Rights Day), is a rally, not a moneybomb, so if you want your donations concentrated on one day, for the maximum media impact, donate the next day instead.

That is all.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Sorry for Absence

I was a home (w/o internet access) from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving until the Wednesday after, and on Friday (that is, yesterday, not the Friday after Thanksgiving) I had lithotripsy (they broke up kidney stone using soundwaves, what I like to call a "sonic laser"), and I am still recovering. So probably no or very light posting until sometime in the middle of next week.

That is all.