Archive | July, 2004

Speaking of Hit & Run, I notice a Badnarik for President blogad running there. (Right now it’s the 3rd blogad down, in the right-hand column.) The headline text is “A PLAN FOR PEACE.” Superimposed on the image of Badnarik are the words “The Peace Candidate.” And right below the image we get the words “Priority […]

The ACLU has a pretty funny Flash movie up on its website about surveillance; the basic idea is to imagine what it would be like if you called up to order a pizza and the person on the other line knew lots and lots of information about you. It’s a clever idea, but there is […]

Sports-writer extraordinaire Aaron Schatz has a new article up at TNR (registration required) about Kobe, Shaq, and class. Liberty & Power bloggers David Beito and Charles Nickolls have an article at Reason that should (but of course won’t) put the enduring infatuation of some libertarians with the Old South to rest once and for all. […]

Does tipping off a friend that he is going to be arrested constitute intentionally interfering with the official duties of an officer? A divided panel of the Ninth Circuit says yes, at least given the facts of the case before it and the language of the regulation in question. I’m not sure which side is […]

The twice-yearly Television Critics Association press tour (where I’ve been since July 8, and will be until Friday) is easy to mock: the occasionally oddball reporters with their bizarre questions; the endless network spin about new shows, most of which will be quickly cancelled; the “Lord of the Flies” atmosphere. But I find the TCA […]

“The best thing that could happen to the environment is free-market capitalism. In a true free-market economy, you can’t make yourself rich without making your neighbors rich and without enriching your community. In a true free-market economy, you get efficiencies and efficiency means the elimination of waste. Waste is pollution. So in true free-market capitalism, […]

Imagine that you’re back in elementary school, having a discussion on the playground with one of your classmates. It goes something like this: You: My dad can beat up your dad! Classmate: Nuh-uh! What is the proper response here? For me, it is and has always been, “Uh-huh!” But in the past few years, I’ve […]

Associated Press had a story last week about a toy creator named Ken Hakuta (known as “Dr. Fad” to kids), whose Adopt-a-Vote campaign aims to give the underage set a real voice in this election: According to Hakuta… children and parents [could] enter into an agreement pledging that the parents will vote according to their […]

Surely you have heard by now that Bobby Fischer was arrested in Japan, for violating U.N. trade sanctions against Yugoslavia/Serbia in the early 1990s. Here is the most detailed scoop I have managed to find. Here is just one bit of this sad story: If the United States had been serious about keeping tabs on […]

I’ve coined a new word, “preneymoon.” Nowadays, due to work schedules and other complications, many couples can’t get away for their honeymoon right after their wedding. Some couples opt to delay their honeymoon until a more convenient time. Others take a nice romantic trip together within a month or two of the wedding, either to […]

I was listening to one of our many kids’ CDs in the car the other day. That’s (many (kids’ CDs)), not ((many kids’) CDs), BTW. Anyway, it was from the Ralph’s World series, and the first track is a really catchy song that starts off like this: Everybody does what they do best the best […]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: one of my greatest blogospheric joys has been the chance to get introduced to the witty, insightful, and stylish writing of John Holbo. Over at “John and Belle Have a Blog” he’s got an epic post about epics, myths, and comic books that’s very funny and […]

Michael Moore sought to use The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” in Fahrenheit 9/11. As Moore tells the story: At the end of the film Bush says “Fool me once, shame on… me. I won’t get fooled again.” Clearly that moment demands that we hear Roger Daltrey scream, “Won’t get fooled again!” That’s how I […]

My 15-year-old daughter is off studying Russian at a language camp in Minnesota for a month. To which people generally ask incredulously: “Why Russian?” Last year, when she took French at Pasadena Community College, we got the same reaction: “Why French? Why not Spanish? Isn’t that more useful around here?” Well, no. What’s useful in […]

for when advocates on both sides of an ongoing debate switch rhetorical positions, and yet they insist on decrying the inconsistency of their opponents while overlooking their own inconsistency. You can see it in politics whenever there is a change in power. Advocates from the party that loses power switch to the standard what-you-say-when-you’re-the-opposition arguments, […]