Since David's recent blog has attracted attention from some self-described Objectivists and Libertarians, let me say a few things to those new commenters.

It's clear that you feel that all taxes are illegitimate ("stolen money"), and do not believe in any social contract (a la John Locke) by which citizens preserve the maximum freedom possible for them by delegating their personal legislative rights to a freely chosen legislative authority. In short, you don't accept taxation with representation. We can argue the point, but many of you seem quite set in your convictions.

So, if the public services that taxes provide do not seem to be worth paying taxes, let's make a deal: [Read more]

I am kind, giving and strong. I am fair and law-abiding. I am smart and resourceful. I respect others and I do no harm. I follow the words of Jesus Christ. I am an American Boy. [Read more]

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. [Read more]

I have a few questions for you former Senator, is that how I shoud refer to you?   Can I Call you Al? Well Al, you really stepped in it, and you made me laugh hard. I always think you old guys will learn, you know, understand the public, even a little bit, but you don't do you? You old white guys are just plain out of touch with what it is to live in America as a regular person. And as much as you try, you just don't get it, do you. Will you all ever come around, will you ever get it? Listen up, I am going to tell you a few things you really need to know. [Read more]

Alan Simpson’s opinion of Social Security and those that accept it.

News/Politics

Pakistan Floods: The watery nightmare continues unabated.

NYC Cabbie Stabbed: Make no mistake, this was a text book hate crime. But what set Michael Enright off? [Read more]

The jury has been selected, and the trial begins this morning: the first prosecution of a Guantanamo detainee since Obama instituted his new, improved, Supreme Court-compliant military-commission system. Not at all like Bush's, except for every important detail.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/and-then-there-were-7-the-jury-who-will-decide-omar-khadrs-fate/article1669446/ [Read more]

The inevitable talking point about Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case overturning Proposition 8, is that it's "judicial overreach." Reason snaps together the prefabricated argument here. For the last generation at least, the allegedly "conservative" position is that judges should not be allowed to "make law" or to defy the will of the voters by ensuring justice or allowing equal protection under the law. Apparently, the self-described "conservative" position is that the judicial branch does not have equal Constitutional authority with the other two branches, the plain text of the Constitution notwithstanding. [Read more]

A judge has overturned California’s Proposition 8 as unconstitutional, because it is, and our country has moved one more step toward making marriage a universal right. Those who want marriage rights restricted will complain that this decision “undermines traditional marriage,” and in a way they’re correct. It does. And that's a good thing.
 [Read more]

The TeaParty has big dreams. They dream of third party status, becoming powerful, directing public policy, controlling the government. As a movement, they are big, big dreamers.

Throughout American electoral history social movements in search of political power have transformed themselves into pseudo political parties, often with quite limited success. Important examples include the temperance and agrarian movements, as well as efforts by leftist and labor groups and the Progressives of the 1940s. The National Organization for Women is just another one of those movements that attempted to build a third party, and failed. Of course none of these movements have become competitive political parties.
 [Read more]

Last week The Delta Cost Project, a non-profit that studies the cost of higher education, released a detailed report on revenue and expenses at American colleges and universities over ten years: "Trends in College Spending, 1998-2008." The report broke down the various sources of revenue, the different activities on which money was spent, and most interestingly the rate of increase of spending on each separate category. [Read more]

My friends, it has come to my notice that I'm a fantastic blogger. Seriously, borderline brilliant. My blog posts have brought joy and comfort to hundreds and hundreds of people over the years. For many, I am the only joy they will have all day.

Now, being this good is a burden. Namely because it gives me so many chances to commit crimes. And here's the thing - I should be able to commit these crimes. The only thing holding me back is the law. This must change. [Read more]

For nine months, it appeared that director Roman Polanski could face charges for raping a 13-year-old girl. Luckily, with the support of the Hollywood community, that won’t be the case.

From The Guardian:

Roman Polanski, the film director who has been under house arrest in Switzerland for the past nine months, has been declared a free man after officials decided not to extradite him to the United States. [Read more]

Jack Welch – former CEO of General Electric, Net worth, $720 million – had this to Tweet recently:

I wish the President would stop dividing us..Every day he has a new villain..bank execs, insurance companies, doctors, hedgefund managersetc

Sure, Jack, it’s the President that’s dividing us. It couldn’t be preachy people that are worth 30,000 times an average worker makes that divides some.

–WKW [Read more]

Flavia and The Fretful Porpentine have recently led some terrific discussion threads about how often students describe female professors as "intimidating" when those professors are behaving pretty much the way their male colleagues do. [Read more]

The Good news? You can live forever. The Bad News? You’ll have to be a jellyfish to pull it off. [Read more]

Two weeks ago, my co-bloggers urged the American government to press Israel to end its blockade of the Gaza strip. I was skeptical that American pressure would be effective. One universal truth of sovereign nation states is that no one appreciates self-righteous foreigners telling them what to what to do, especially self-righteous foreigners with their own tainted records. Prime Minister Netanyahu will not lose any elections by standing up to Obama, but he might lose his coalition if his hard-liner constituents think he's a sucker. [Read more]

It's no secret that I greet all information coming from the IDF skeptically. I expect bullshit, but I expect cleverly crafted, quasi-credible bullshit. So when I heard this 26-second audio clip from the flotilla encounter two days ago, I felt sure it was a scam -- a hoax by some nasty leftist agitators seeking to embarrass the Israeli military.

But no, there it was, reported straight-faced, on Drudge, on ynet, in the Jerusalem Post, in Yediot Ahronoth, even in much-respected Haaretz. Today, after the rest of the world stopped laughing, the IDF tried to restore its credibility: [Read more]