“You know, after giving it a whole lot of thought, Billy—and as much as I feel that I’ve been chosen by fate to join the ranks of the political elite—I’ve decided that putting pressure on Senator Feinstein from the outside would be more effective than working from the inside as a Senator, where entrenched bureaucracy and the need for things like artificial consensus and collegiality would only slow down the

An emailer whose wishes to remain anonymous (paranoid from his gage binging, no doubt), offers the following as a solution to the NSA controversy.  I present it with limited commentary, hoping instead that it will generate discussion all by its lonesome: I think I have a way for the Bush administration to pretty much the anti-surveilance Left. Legalize marijuana (and, preferably but impossibly, other soft drugs.) As a former paranoid

Well, so much for that argument I’ve been making about an active attempt to win the viral meme war… On the bright side, though, at least now we won’t have to hear about how the US hegemon is marinating the world with its pro-capitalist, materialist propaganda.  Instead, all we’ll have to do is put up with those same carpers noting (correctly, if this turns out to be the case, and

From “Brickbats” (Reason, March 2006): When the Olympics come to London in 2012, members of the “Olympic family,” including athletes, government officials, and corporate sponsors, will have special traffic lanes set aside for their use.  Ordinary drivers will be herded into the remaining lanes, and those who attempt to drive above their station will face 5000 (British Pounds) fines. That’s five times the maximum fine for most other traffic offenses

From NZ Bear: Right about now, Senators Coburn, McCain, Feingold, Bayh, Kyl, Ensign, Graham, Sununu, DeMint, and Cornyn are formally announcing the Pork Barrel Reduction Act. And right about now, the real fight against pork and for earmark reform is beginning. According to the sponsoring Senators, the bill does the following: – Creates a new point of order against unauthorized earmarks and policy riders. This point of order allows for

From CNN: Shortly after 9/11, al Qaeda began planning to use shoe bombers to hijack a commercial airplane and fly it into the tallest building in Los Angeles, President Bush said Thursday. The details were the first about the West Coast airliner plot, which was thwarted in 2002 and initially disclosed by the White House last year, Bush said. The plot was set in motion by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the

You and me both, Alabama.  You and me both… …Say, I sure could use a cold one right about now.  Y’all?

me: “Why do you insist on coming untied all the time?” shoe:  “Why should I knot?” me: “Well, is there something wrong with the way I walk, some oddity in my gait, that’s causing you—and not my right shoe—to come untied so frequently?” me: “Is there knot?” me: me: me: “WHAT IS SO GODDAMNED FUNNY?” me: “STUPID SHOE!”

Allah directs my attention to what I’ve come to expect will be the typical response to Muslim rioting over cartoon depictions of Mohammed from the “progressive”, soft-socialistic side of our contentious philosophical divide over autonomy vs. group identity here at home.  From University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy research associate Reza Aslan, concluding his Slate essay, “Picturing to Depicting”: