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Aquaman, Questing for Atlantis

  • The Man Upstair’s With Me On This One

    I don’t think it’s quite what Heinlein meant with Valentine Michael Smith’s “Thou art God” in Stranger in a Strange Land, but this new scientific finding certainly seems to fit. The scientists conducted a number of studies, but one of the more fascinating was an fMRI brain scan in which they [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 8:20pm EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • McDonough Should Review Immigration Stance and Allies

    Number of comments: 1
    Over at monoblogue Michael posted a press release from Delegate McDonough citing a study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform that purports to show just how much illegal immigration is costing Marylanders. Now a new study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (F.A.I.R.) has exposed the fact that illegals [...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2009, 9:28am EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Correction: Sherman Alexie is an Ignorant Enema

    Number of comments: 3
    Never let it be said I don’t correct my mistakes. A few months back I tore into author Sherman Alexie for delivering a foolish and misguided rant about the evil’s of e-books in general and the Kindle in particular. Considering how relatively low-profile my blog is, you can imagine my surprise [...]
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    Posted: December 08, 2009, 10:56am EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Why Stop There?

    I found it a bit hard to believe, but for once I’m pretty much in agreement with Ezra Klein. In an op-ed published today he highlights the fact that one of the biggest problems with our current healthcare system is the employer provision of health insurance. Mostly he focuses on the [...]
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    Posted: December 08, 2009, 1:14am EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Not To Say I Told You So…

    …But I did. That’s because the alternative isn’t an end to rationing. It’s a rearrangement of what drives it. Like it or not, when government becomes the arbiter of choice rather than the market, decisions cease to be driven by market forces and are instead driven by political pull. Try imagining [...]
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    Posted: December 03, 2009, 6:25pm EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Libertarianism in the Classroom

    This is an excellent video from a webseries called Justice. As described on its website: Justice is one of the most popular courses in Harvard’s history. Now it’s your turn to take the same journey in moral reflection that has captivated more than 14,000 students, as Harvard opens its classroom to [...]
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    Posted: December 02, 2009, 2:12pm EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • From the Department of Completely Expected News

    Maryland has fewer millionaires than it did before it passed a tax increase on top earners and state revenues are down as a result. The number of Marylanders whose returns indicate an income of $1 million or more dropped 30 percent – from 7,067 to 4,910 – between the 2007 and [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 7:42pm EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Thanksgiving Tradition

    I’m just putting it on the record now. Should I ever get elected President of the United States, I will not pardon the turkey. I will get an axe and personally cut its head off. And then it will be prepared, cooked and served for Thanksgiving dinner. That is all. Hope everyone [...]
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    Posted: November 27, 2009, 12:16am EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Spontaneous Order By Any Other Name

    There was a recent post at Boing Boing on roads and pathways Detroiters carved out for themselves when thick snow coverings covered the roads for days at a time. Both these paths and the (possibly anecdotal) experience of London following the Great Fire, which Mark Frauenfelder mentions in the post, [...]
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    Posted: November 24, 2009, 8:41pm EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • The Waterman Returns

    As I noted a few weeks back I was putting things here on the backburner due to the situation with my high school. Well luckily things have been quasi-resolved there – The Next Fifty Years Committee met their goal of raising $500,000 in a mere three weeks and the pastor [...]
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    Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:52am EST
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Posting Slow-Down

    Number of comments: 2
    I just wanted to give out a heads-up that I won’t be posting much for the next couple of weeks. Last week word came out that my high school has some serious financial issues and the parish (I went to a parochial high school) may be closing it at the end [...]
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    Posted: October 13, 2009, 4:25pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Don’t Blame Obama, Blame the Nobel Committee

    Number of comments: 1
    Back when Gore and the IPCC were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize I argued in The Liberty Bell that he didn’t deserve it since the policies he advocated would likely increase international tensions/resentment by pitting the developed world against the developing. With President Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, it [...]
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    Posted: October 09, 2009, 10:55am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • A Thought on Fox’s Red Eye

    Mediaite has noted that Fox’s late-nite show Red Eye is beating CNN’s entire primetime line-up. Red Eye averaged 432,000 total viewers and 202,000 in the demo. Let’s deal with the demo first – CNN’s 8pmET show, hosted by Campbell Brown, averaged 191,000 in the demo. Let’s just let that one sink [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2009, 9:21pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Cash4Gold and Capitalism

    Number of comments: 2
    Michael Arrington is reminding readers at TechCrunch that there is nothing evil about a business that works by aggressively negotiating low buying prices for gold while providing a premium of convenience in the business transaction. Considering how frequently you hear people assaulting the fundamental principles of capitalism these days, it’s nice [...]
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    Posted: October 04, 2009, 7:55am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Question on Cars, Guns, and Healthcare

    Number of comments: 1
    As anyone who follows the healthcare debate knows, if you account for the higher rate of homicide and auto fatalities, the U.S. life expectancy suddenly looks an awful lot like European life expectancy rates (in fact, it’s a little bit better than most European nations’). Sen. Ensign brought this point up [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2009, 11:52pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Or Maybe You Know, Change the Law?

    Number of comments: 1
    If you are among the hordes of people worried about the incredibly dangerous threat of people buying cigarettes in Virginia as a response to draconian vice taxes, don’t you worry – Comptroller Franchot is on the case! Take this case for instance. Zaur Rakhamimov was arrested in Worcester County for possessing [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2009, 9:45pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Vile, Offensive, and Unquestionably Criminal

    One of the big items in the new is that Roman Polanski has finally been arrested for drugging and raping a 13 year old girl 32 years ago. I would never have thought this was an issue worthy of debate. The girl was 13, he pumped her full of champagne and [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2009, 10:13pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Hypocrisy Fun

    Number of comments: 3
    I was listening to the radio earlier today and heard that our president is heading to Copenhagen to lobby for Chicago as the next Olympic statement. Setting aside the question of how ridiculous it is that a president is personally lobbying for Olympic site selection (something apparently no other U.S. president [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2009, 1:24pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Anyone Else Think This Is Stupid?

    Number of comments: 1
    Maryland is among 22 other states that have a ban on texting while driving. While I personally disagree with this, one can at least understand the logic behind it. In most cases, these laws, while designed to ban texting, cover a broad range of phone usage while driving, with the operative [...]
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    Posted: September 21, 2009, 9:07pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Sacrificing Children Upon the Altar of Safety

    Sometimes you read a blog post and there’s nothing you can say that would add to it. This is one of them. Go and read it. Then think about it the next time you hear about a kid who got arrested for a picture on a phone, or for something [...]
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    Posted: September 20, 2009, 5:05pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Studies in Government FAIL

    Since I was on vacation last week I didn’t do the weekly poll and let it run an extra week. With the extra voting time the final results from the poll were a tie between the school touching ban and pedophile viagra. As for this week, you get: Arabic Flashcards Get Student [...]
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    Posted: September 19, 2009, 2:42am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Is That So ThinkProgress?

    Number of comments: 1
    I’ve gotten a bit tired of writing about the healthcare debate. I’ve made my thoughts clear on why I oppose the reforms proposed thus far and I hold no illusions about the degree of influence (or more properly, the lack thereof) this blog has on the political scene. But I can’t [...]
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    Posted: September 19, 2009, 1:25am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Another Kind of Truther

    Number of comments: 1
    9/11 Truthers used to get a lot of scorn – and rightfully so – but I think we all need to remember another group of Truthers. Truthers try to convince people something we all know isn’t true. These Truthers try to convince people of things everyone already knows. I speak of course, [...]
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    Posted: September 18, 2009, 10:33am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • The True Face of Wal-Mart

    Number of comments: 3
    I’m back from vacation and therefore back to blogging. However, I am also now one of the gainfully employed so I doubt I’ll be able to maintain quite the same pace of posting (although I’ll do my damnedest to try). Now to something of substance. Earlier today a friend of mine [...]
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    Posted: September 16, 2009, 3:38am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Vacation

    Number of comments: 2
    I’m on vacation this week. Expect posting to be minimal if it happens at all. [...]
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    Posted: September 06, 2009, 10:24pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Things Worth Reading

    I’m sitting at the Kent County Library waiting for a job interview (as often happens, I got here ridiculously early), so I thought I’d throw up a post. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything particularly substantive to write about, so, since I’m in a library I’ll post two things definitely worth [...]
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    Posted: September 05, 2009, 11:01am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Studies in Government FAIL

    Number of comments: 1
    Last week’s top Government FAIL was police that now steal from you too. This week we have: Schools Ban Touching In response to overhyped fears of the overhyped swine flu pandemic schools in a Long Island district have taken the completely logical approach of banning students from touching each other. U.S. Wants To Get [...]
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    Posted: September 04, 2009, 5:25pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Can You Guess What’s Wrong Here?

    CampusProgess posted this cartoon earlier today. Take a look at it and see if you can spot what’s wrong. No, it isn’t the man wearing brown shoes with a black suit. Nor is it the unibrow on the person on the far right. It’s the implicit suggestion that any level of unemployment [...]
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    Posted: September 04, 2009, 4:20pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Heat Gets Turned Up On Frank Kratovil

    In the last few days more pressure is coming to bear on Rep. Frank Kratovil. Even though I’m opposed to Frank and don’t like a lot of the positions he’s staked out, I can’t say I’m terribly excited about either of these items. First up is this ad from the NRCC I [...]
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    Posted: September 02, 2009, 11:40pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Combined Reporting in Maryland

    I noted in my reaction to Del. Saqib Ali’s recent post at Maryland Politics Watch that I was going to pass on commenting on the issue of combined reporting, mostly because I wanted to focus on the malt beverage question. Well, Judd Legum has picked up on the issue, and made [...]
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    Posted: September 02, 2009, 3:51pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Obnoxious and Stupid is No Way to Go Through Life

    Number of comments: 1
    I just finished reading through Del. Saquib Ali’s “Saquib Ali and Nancy King Discuss Progressive Issues” series over at Maryland Politics Watch. Setting aside the obvious problem with calling something a debate when there’s only one participant, and ignoring my desire to go off on his glowing endorsement of combined reporting [...]
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    Posted: September 01, 2009, 11:41am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • The Moral Fiber of the Politician

    Number of comments: 2
    My friend Tim wrote up an interesting set of thoughts on a recent scandal in Australian politics. I have no idea who any of the players are or the implications thereof, but he raises a point that really grabbed me and that I want to build off of: I find it [...]
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    Posted: September 01, 2009, 9:13am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Studies in Government FAIL

    Number of comments: 2
    Glad to see last week’s poll got a nice boost in votes. The winner was the mint mix-up that left a man in prison for 3 months. For this week there’s: Taxpayer-Funded Graffiti The city of Calgary decided to get some “urban street artists” to decorate a wall in its new Shaw Millenium [...]
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    Posted: August 28, 2009, 8:37pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Uncle Sam Could Own Your Computer

    Well, maybe it’s not quite that bad. But it’s still pretty awful. CNET is reporting that S.773, a bill written by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, appears to permit the president to seize control of private-sector networks during a cybersecurity emergency (the definition of just what that is conveniently is exceedingly vague). The new [...]
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    Posted: August 28, 2009, 2:54pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Immigration Outrages

    This is completely unacceptable. In the space of 5 minutes I just got two stories that truly make me wonder what the hell is happening to America. First story: Apparently not content with harassing businesses and seizing peaceful, hardworking men and women that happen to be here illegally and unsatisfied with [...]
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    Posted: August 27, 2009, 3:58pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Let’s Go Livonia!!!

    Sorry for the light posting the last few days. I saw this video recently and was inspired to undertake a new endeavor: techno remixing. Here’s the finished product. Enjoy. And with that I’ll be back to something more along the lines of my normal posting. [...]
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    Posted: August 27, 2009, 9:34am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Friggin’ Sweeeeet (Pun Intended)

    It seems sweet potato fries may be appearing on fast food menus sometime in the vaguely near future. Sweet potatoes, long touted for their nutritional attributes, are soon to make a cameo in the fast food world. To keep up with the mushrooming demand for sweet potato fries — a snack which [...]
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    Posted: August 25, 2009, 11:51pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Maryland Needs Transparency

    Number of comments: 1
    Maryland Politics Watch is reporting that while thousands of Marylanders are canceling their EZ-Passes in response to the new fees, 128 of the 188 state legislators aren’t likely to since they get free ones courtesy of the Maryland taxpayers. Even more reprehensible though is the fact that no one knows which [...]
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    Posted: August 24, 2009, 5:18pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Not Evil, Just Wrong

    This past Wednesday I got to see an early screening of the documentary Not Evil, Just Wrong. Directed and produced by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, it’s an exploration of the dangers of acting without thinking when confronted with dire claims of what will happen if nothing is done – [...]
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    Posted: August 24, 2009, 10:38am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Want to Know The Real Reason for Separation of Church and State?

    Number of comments: 1
    Because when God gets involved with politics people like Michele Bachmann and Sean Hannity are the ones he calls on to run. [...]
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    Posted: August 23, 2009, 2:40am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Why I Oppose the Government in Healthcare

    In many ways I’m building off of and reacting to Megan McArdle’s explanation of why she is opposed to national health care (If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend going, reading it, and then coming back here to read this post). Megan’s case, as I understand it, is centrally driven [...]
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    Posted: August 22, 2009, 10:00am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Studies in Government FAIL

    Number of comments: 2
    DMV Workers Furloughed, Then Given Overtime Pay to Make up Difference was the winner of last week’s poll. This week the following stories are lined up for you: Police Reject Candidate for Being Too Smart Robert Jordan, like all individuals applying to be a policeman in New London, CT took a test. He [...]
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    Posted: August 21, 2009, 4:33pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • FIRE Update: Online Speech Threatened at UCLA and Santa Rosa Junior College

    UPDATE: FIRE is reporting that UCLA has withdrawn its un-Constitutional demands. Santa Rosa Junior College has yet to take action. Another update from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Apparently Santa Rosa Junior College is still violating its students’ free speech rights and UCLA has joined them in the act. [...]
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    Posted: August 20, 2009, 11:43pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • More on MD-01

    It seems my earlier post on E.J. Pipkin and MD-01 has generated a bit of a stir. To begin with, I’d like to clarify a few things I might have been a bit unclear about in my earlier post. It was no way an attack on E.J.; the post was meant [...]
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    Posted: August 20, 2009, 11:05pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • In Which I Mourn for my Generation

    Erica Williams, deputy director of Campus Progress, has posted up her screed with all the reasons for why she supports Democratic health reform and how her chief reason for support – moral imperative – sets the Millenial generation apart from the others. And all of those reasons would be true. But [...]
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    Posted: August 20, 2009, 4:33pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Switzerland Gets the Neville Chamberlain Award for Cowardice

    Last month I celebrated the Swiss government telling the United States the IRS could kindly mind its own business after they made the statement that: “Switzerland will use its legal authority to ensure that the bank cannot be pressured to transmit the information illegally, including if necessary by issuing an order [...]
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    Posted: August 19, 2009, 10:54am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Deaths Leave Liberty Movement the Lesser

    I’m not going to make any substantive comment on Rose Friedman and Robert Novak other than to hope they rest well and remember all that both did for the cause of liberty. I would highly recommend reading up some of the eulogies written for these two figures. Brian Doherty on Rose Friedman Doug [...]
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    Posted: August 18, 2009, 4:46pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Non-Coercive Way to Fight Racism

    One of the bigger problems some people have with libertarianism is its acceptance of private discrimination (although it would be more accurate to say its refusal to have the state take action against private discrimination). I’m not going to get into the ethics of that question right now. Instead, I’m going [...]
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    Posted: August 18, 2009, 4:30pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Pipkin and MD-01

    Number of comments: 2
    The Baltimore Sun – in an excellent case of non-story coverage – is reporting that State Senator E.J. Pipkin still hasn’t announced his plans for 2010. Of course, snark aside, the fact that Pipkin still has yet to make up his mind is a story considering that his waffling on whether [...]
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    Posted: August 18, 2009, 3:43pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • At Least We’re Not California

    Brian Doherty on the California Coastal Commission: In April 2007, feeling aggrieved by the notice of violation hanging over their property, which was due mostly to the crime of moving dirt off a poorly maintained old paved road so they could access a higher point on their land to do organic [...]
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    Posted: August 18, 2009, 12:19pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • At Least We’re Not California

    Brian Doherty on the California Coastal Commission: In April 2007, feeling aggrieved by the notice of violation hanging over their property, which was due mostly to the crime of moving dirt off a poorly maintained old paved road so they could access a higher point on their land to do organic [...]
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    Posted: August 18, 2009, 12:19pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Sherman Alexie is an Ignorant Douchebag

    Number of comments: 1
    In my opinion Reina was far too lenient with her comments on Alexie’s diatribe about the  Kindle and e-books in general. For those not familiar with his statement (I wasn’t until I read Reina’s post, but then again I’d never heard of Alexie either) here’s what he said: At a panel of [...]
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    Posted: August 15, 2009, 2:17am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Net Neutrality and Entitlement Whining

    Crunchgear’s Nicholas Deleon seems to have his panties in a bunch over the country’s biggest ISPs refusing to take stimulus dollars for broadband development. I’m not going to get into his two theories for why they are choosing to act the way they are (although I think they made the right [...]
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    Posted: August 15, 2009, 12:25am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Studies in Government FAIL

    Last week’s winner was MN Government Gives $50 Million in New Contracts to the Two Companies Blamed for Bridge Collapse. This week’s collection of government stupidity is: Due to “Funny Accent” English Comedian Held as Suspected Cuban Illegal Immigrant English Comedian Paul O’Grady was detained by U.S officials who suspected him of being [...]
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    Posted: August 14, 2009, 3:49pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Transparency Win on Judicial Records

    To balance the major fail on transparency, I thought it worth mentioning this win when I read about it. I’m not well versed on it, but apparently the federal judiciary’s public records are transparent in only the most tortured, stretched-out meaning of the term. As Timothy Lee explains: Transparency is a fundamental [...]
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    Posted: August 14, 2009, 1:01pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • American Spectator Breakfast with Chuck DeVore

    Chuck DeVore was the speaker at the American Spectator Newsmaker Breakfast today. Here’s my synopsis of what he had to say. Campaign The big focus, both of DeVore’s opening statement and the questions after it was his campaign to defeat Sen. Barbara Boxer. According to the DeVore he stands an exceedingly good chance [...]
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    Posted: August 13, 2009, 4:48pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Transparency FAIL

    From Slashdot: “The U.S. government recently approved an $18 million contract for Smartronix to build a website where taxpayers could easily track billions in federal stimulus money, as part of President Obama’s promise to make government more transparent through the Internet. However, the contract, which was released only through repeated Freedom [...]
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    Posted: August 13, 2009, 4:43pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • E-Book Controversy or Much Ado About Nothing

    I may be one of the only people not particularly bothered, specifically, by Amazon’s deleting of 1984 and Animal Farm from people’s Kindles, and, more generally, Amazon’s DRM approach to the e-books it sells. On both counts, it comes down to a simple point: No one forces anyone to buy a [...]
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    Posted: August 13, 2009, 2:23pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • The Folly of Prohibitionism

    Number of comments: 1
    The point’s been beaten to death by commentators far smarter and better spoken than I, but it still needs to be reiterated: Prohibition doesn’t work. You’d think this would be easy to understand. The United States had a clear and explicit experiment with it using alcohol back in the 1920’s-1930’s. It was [...]
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    Posted: August 12, 2009, 8:00pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Should I be Angry or Confused?

    It’s a hard call looking at the latest news from Illinois: Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill into law making it illegal for registered sex offenders to register with and use social networks. On the angry side, this is simply absurd. Sex offenders who have been convicted and served their time should [...]
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    Posted: August 12, 2009, 3:42pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Happy Cost of Government Day!!!

    Today is Cost of Government Day for 2009. For those not familiar with it, Cost of Government Day (COGD) is the day on which the average American has earned enough to pay for his or her share of the total costs of government. Unlike Tax Freedom Day, COGD doesn’t just include [...]
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    Posted: August 12, 2009, 12:30pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Speed Cameras and Queen Anne’s County

    Number of comments: 1
    Good news on the speed camera front. For those not familiar with all the details of the situation, Maryland passed a law this past legislative session allowing for the use of speed cameras. Luckily, while the law does allow for their use, each county is still require to pass its own [...]
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    Posted: August 11, 2009, 10:45am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Bailouts in Everything?

    We’ve seen financial bailouts and auto bailouts, so why on earth would I be surprised at a language bailout? There is absolutely no good reason for a language to be subsidized by the government in order to ensure its survival. Language is nothing more than a tool, a convenient device we [...]
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    Posted: August 10, 2009, 5:18pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Why Government Rationing Matters

    Number of comments: 1
    Matt Yglesias recently posited the following question: Meanwhile, as with all anti-rationing talk you really have to wonder what rightwingers think happens in a free market system. I certainly can’t speak for any free market advocate besides myself, but I would say the answer is exactly what Yglesias highlights it is – [...]
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    Posted: August 10, 2009, 4:34pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Comparative Healthcare Spending

    Over at Americans for Tax Reform Tim Andrews has posted this rather astonishing new graph. Maybe this will finally lead to universal healthcare advocates ceasing to claim that our current system is a failure of the free market and allow for some substantive discussion of free market healthcare alternatives. But of course, [...]
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    Posted: August 10, 2009, 2:43pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Kratovil To Vote Against House Healthcare Bill

    …or at least his rhetoric compels him to. Over at Red Maryland Mark Newgent has an excellent write-up on the townhall Rep. Frank Kratovil had in Rock Hall yesterday. He focuses on the inherent contradiction between Kratovil’s simultaneous support for a public plan and opposition to any proposal which takes away [...]
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    Posted: August 08, 2009, 9:12pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Studies in Government FAIL

    Number of comments: 1
    Last week actually had a clear winner – Every Word Except “Exit” Spelled Wrong on Wisconsin Road Sign. Here are this week’s entries, vote for the one you like best: Mom Fined For Grieving Too Long A mother in Australia Britain was fined ÂŁ86 for spending too much time grieving at the casket [...]
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    Posted: August 07, 2009, 4:11pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Opportunity in Annapolis

    http://annapoliscapitalpunishment.blogspot.com/2009/08/next-comp-plan-meeting.html [...]
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    Posted: August 06, 2009, 2:17pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Answering the White House’s Call

    Most everyone knows by now that the White House has crowd-sourced the call for reporting on fishy claims with regards to the new healthcare reforms by e-mailing them to flag@whitehouse.gov. I decided it was only right that I fulfill my patriotic duty and report one such case I found. Here’s the [...]
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    Posted: August 06, 2009, 12:51pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Twitter Appears to be Working Again

    Life can resume as usual. That is all. [...]
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    Posted: August 06, 2009, 11:56am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Create Your Own Economy

    Yesterday I went to a forum at the Cato Institute for Tyler Cowen’s new book, Create Your Own Economy (It was moderated by Brink Lindsey with Robin Hanson and Matt Yglesias as the panel member along with, obviously, Tyler Cowen). The forum was interesting, enough so that I picked up [...]
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    Posted: August 05, 2009, 4:01pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Mark Your Calendars (or TiVo or What Have You)

    I got the following in my e-mail. Penn & Teller: Taxes are B.S. The Penn & Teller B.S. episode entitled “Taxes” will premier this Thursday, August 6, at 10 p.m. on Showtime. Here is the episode preview The episode features Americans for Tax Reform and ATR President Grover Norquist. The show’s camera crews made a [...]
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    Posted: August 05, 2009, 9:38am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Every Now and Then Life Imitates Art

    I wrote earlier today about how Britain is doing its level best to realize the world of George Orwell’s 1984. Turns out I didn’t quite have the full picture. Things are actually worse than I thought. Britain isn’t just miming the book’s pervasive surveillance state. It’s also begun implementing Oceania’s Anti-Sex League [...]
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    Posted: August 03, 2009, 5:47pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Doubleplusungood

    Number of comments: 2
    Orwell has to be rolling in his grave. Britain already takes the lead in monitoring its own citizens. Studies indicate there are at least 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain – one for every 14 people. There are cameras that yell at people when they behave badly. And now this: Government CCTV [...]
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    Posted: August 03, 2009, 1:35pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Socialism is Never Beautiful

    Number of comments: 2
    I know it’s probably old news at this point, but The Hill released their 50 Most Beautiful People 2009 last week. For those not familiar with it, it’s a yearly feature where they highlight those people considered to be the most beautiful individuals on and around Capitol Hill (a mix [...]
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    Posted: August 03, 2009, 12:40pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Grade the Government

    CNN has a flash application up that lets you grade various elements of the U.S. government such as President Obama (on multiple different issues), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Congress, and your respective Senators. Overall, this thing probably won’t be worth anything since it’s self-selecting and its just a flash web [...]
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    Posted: August 03, 2009, 1:53am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • What Isn’t Killing Newspapers These Days?

    Number of comments: 1
    In case you were wondering, you can go ahead and scratch Harry Potter off of that list. This is nonsense on stilts, but who ever let that get in the way of a good study. Here’s what one of the authors had to say: “Since literature can play an important role in [...]
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    Posted: July 31, 2009, 3:25pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Studies in Government FAIL

    Number of comments: 2
    Last week was another tie, this time between cops enforcing the wrong speed limit and pickled chameleon freak-out. And now, without further ado, here’s this week’s selection. Hawaii Residents Must Pay Taxes on Gambling Winnings – and Losses A new Hawaii law alters the state tax code so that gamblers must pay taxes [...]
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    Posted: July 31, 2009, 9:40am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • A Little Logic Goes A Long Way

    Matt Yglesias is taking issue with the complaints over the numerous czars in the Obama administration (for the record, I rather dislike that spelling and prefer “tsar,” it’s much closer to the Russian pronunciation). Setting aside the whole issue he ignores – how exactly do Congress or the President delegate [...]
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    Posted: July 30, 2009, 6:07pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Avoiding Big Brother: Portable GPS Jammer

    There hasn’t been much talk about it lately, but there was a time not so long ago when Ray LaHood and others were talking about replacing the gas tax with a mileage tax. For the time being the proposal failed (probably something to do with the huge invasion of privacy involved [...]
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    Posted: July 30, 2009, 1:44pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Corporations and Criminal Law

    There’s currently a print debate being hosted by PointofLaw.com titled “Criminalizing Corporate Conduct: How Far Is Too Far?” with John Hasnas and Mike Seigel as the participants. I cannot recommend enough that everyone go and read the discussion. I’m not familiar with Seigel, but I met Hasnas last summer when he [...]
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    Posted: July 29, 2009, 2:04pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Local Secession

    First Point Pleasant organized a recall on its mayor after his attempt to raise taxes. Then a nice clean-out of corruption. And now a court has given the OK for a cul-de-sac to secede from Toms River and join Lavalette. According to Neighborhood Effects: The private cul-de-sac was left unplowed during a [...]
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    Posted: July 28, 2009, 6:04pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Seriously, WTF?!?

    Why are so many of the grassroots crowd so goddamn stupid sometimes? There’s being controversial in ways that get media attention without alienating anyone but extreme hardliners of the other side. And then there’s this. What the hell did the schmuck holding that think he was accomplishing? Anyone who’s going to hang [...]
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    Posted: July 28, 2009, 5:16pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Technology and Social Progress

    The Brass Tack and Daniel Strauss have done interesting write-ups on their science-fiction preferences (both go for messier, less clean visions of the future and advanced societies as opposed to the clean, uniform, organized societies of Star Trek and the like). Strauss brings up an interesting point on what drives human [...]
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    Posted: July 28, 2009, 2:07pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Good Videos

    Nothing much of substance in this post, just three two excellent videos I came across on the interwebs (the third was Will Shatner reading part of Sarah Palin’s resignation speech but NBC had the video pulled from YouTube). [...]
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    Posted: July 28, 2009, 12:35pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Heinlein Prognostication

    Like a lot of science-fiction authors it’s always interesting how right or wrong they are in their visions of the future and what developments they predict vs what actually happens. Jules Verne, for example, notably imagined things like air conditioning and the Apollo missions well before they became reality. My favorite [...]
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    Posted: July 27, 2009, 11:43am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Studies in Government FAIL

    Number of comments: 1
    Last week’s winner was a tie between the NYPD still paying for typewriters and Social Security execs gone wild. Here’s this week’s contestants: Pickled Chameleon Sparks Emergency A fire brigade sent 18 officers, three engines and a specialist equipment unit to clean up a broken jar containing a pickled chameleon in formaldehyde. Maine Town [...]
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    Posted: July 24, 2009, 2:24pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Well-Deserved Smackdown

    Megan McArdle delivers one hell of a smack-down to a challenge to justify the organ dealer in the NJ corruption sting yesterday. I’d rather see him justify not paying for kidneys, when this is the result of the shortage. Justify driving organ sales to the black market, where the brokers get [...]
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    Posted: July 24, 2009, 12:20pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • NJ Corruption and Organ Markets

    Number of comments: 1
    I assume that by now everyone has heard the news about the multiple arrests in NJ for corruption and international money laundering (mayors of at least Hoboken and Jersey City as well as several state legislators and randomly some rabbis). One part of the story really caught my eye though. Mr. [...]
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    Posted: July 23, 2009, 1:00pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • More on Page 16 of House Health Care Bill

    I see Ezra is trying to discredit the critiques of the language of page 16 in the House Health Care Bill. It would help if he engaged with a more serious analysis of it (most definitely not suggesting mine though, I have a very realistic opinion of my own analysis) [...]
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    Posted: July 23, 2009, 12:52pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Exactly What We Predicted Would Happen

    Number of comments: 2
    Government is shutting down private health insurance. President Obama told us it wouldn’t happen. Congressional Dems told us it wouldn’t happen. Liberal bloggers told us it wouldn’t happen. So why are we surprised when it did. Investor’s Business Daily is reporting that the House Healthcare Bill has, on page 16, language [that] indicated to [...]
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    Posted: July 23, 2009, 10:33am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Who Watches the Watchmen Indeed?

    I saw two stories yesterday that really caught my eye. First one. The Maryland Transportation authority is looking to install audio surveillance equipment on all of its trains and buses. I don’t think I need to go into depth on how unpleasant the thought of the surveillance state expanding to that [...]
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    Posted: July 22, 2009, 2:17pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • A Challenge to Lefty Bloggers

    Number of comments: 1
    Over at Hit & Run Reason senior editor Radley Balko has put up a challenge to lefty (Unrelated, but what’s the proper spelling, lefty or leftie? Or is either acceptable) bloggers: Every initiative announced by the Obama administration pushes us further into uncharted territory on both fronts, so it would be [...]
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    Posted: July 21, 2009, 3:28pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • I Hate Tom Tancredo

    Number of comments: 2
    I loathe Tom Tancredo. I have ever since he flat-out said during one of the 2008 primary debates that we ought to close the border and not re-open till you don’t have to hear 1 for English, 2 for any other language. It was pure, blatant, unashamed racist bigotry. (Sorry the [...]
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    Posted: July 21, 2009, 3:17pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Anne Arundel County Council Makes Wrong Choice

    Last night the Anne Arundel County Council unanimously rejected a bill put forth by Ed Reilly, the former councilman who was chosen to replace Janet Greenip as State Senator. The bill in question would require any individual putting forward a zoning complaint to have their name attached to it. This was [...]
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    Posted: July 21, 2009, 2:00pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Tax Revolt in Point Pleasant, NJ

    The good folk of Point Pleasant, NJ have decided enough is enough with regards to Mayor Vincent Barella and his attempts to raise taxes. They’ve organized a recall election in response to his request to the state for special permission to levy a number of new taxes. The movement to recall [...]
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    Posted: July 21, 2009, 12:19pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • FIRE Update: Free Speech Chilled at Santa Rosa Junior College

    I don’t remember if I’ve ever blogged about them before, but the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is an organization I have an incredible amount of respect for. Simply put, they fight for the Constitutional rights of every college student, frequently, but not always, focusing on issues of [...]
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    Posted: July 20, 2009, 4:08pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Belgian Big Brother

    I have absolutely no idea if anyone from Belgium reads this blog, but if you do, be warned. According to CrunchGear, the Belgian tax service is now monitoring people’s online presence in order to check for potential discrepancies in their tax statements. From the article: The local version of the IRS, the [...]
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    Posted: July 18, 2009, 10:55am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Studies in Governmet FAIL

    Number of comments: 2
    Here’s the best/worst cases of Government FAIL I saw on the net this week. I leave it to you all to vote on which one should be the winner. (I think I’ll make this a weekly feature if people like it). Court Knew Man Jailed for a Year for not Paying [...]
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    Posted: July 17, 2009, 1:32pm EDT
    by Kevin Waterman

  • Avoiding Big Brother

    I just read an interesting way to ensure security officials at customs cannot access your laptop. Since I’m all for snubbing the efforts of nosy government officials whenever possible I thought I’d pass it on (I haven’t implemented it yet since I don’t fly that often, but I might if [...]
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    Posted: July 17, 2009, 10:44am EDT
    by Kevin Waterman
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