"There are men, in all ages, who mean to exercise power usefully; but who mean to exercise it. They mean to govern well; but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters; but they mean to be masters." Daniel Webster

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Friday, August 24, 2012

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Why Are Gasoline Prices So High?

Economist Don Boudreaux looks at one factor.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Friday, August 10, 2012

The U.S. Army Plans to Crush the Tea Party

Take a look at what the military is teaching its senior officers.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

IQ and the Wealth of Nations

Ron Bailey has a look at the latest round in the discussion.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Monday, July 30, 2012

Gagne vs. Thesz

A full 30 minutes. Embedding is disabled, but here's the link.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Headline of the Day

Sounds like he really needed that book.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

When You Gotta Go?

A young lady's parents applied for a green card for her nine years ago. The government still hasn't processed her request, so when she turns 21 in a few days she'll have to leave the country.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Tax Payers and Tax Takers

Greg Mankiw has an interesting chart.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

RIP Donald Sobel

Encyclopedia Brown was a big part of my childhood.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Accountants Protect Themselves

By making it tougher to compete with them.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Is America a South Park Nation?

William Anderson looks at how the United States is coming to resemble one episode of the show.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Monday, July 2, 2012

Don't Mess with Shatner

Bill puts the mayor of some podunk town in his place.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Monday, June 25, 2012

China, Russia and Billionaires

Tyerl Cowen points to just how much of Russia's economy a handful of billionaires control.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

This Is Why I Miss Living in Los Angeles

You never know when drunken celebrities might stumble into your home.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Friday, June 15, 2012

Presideitnal Pandering

That's what the folks at Reason, who support more immigration, are calling Barack Obama's latest move.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Macho Church

The cult of Randy Savage.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Headline of the Day

Surely, they knew what they were doing.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Headline of the Day

And the story more than lives up to it.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Cat Helicopter

I would have been more impressed if he'd done this with a live cat.

Monday, June 4, 2012

I'm Not Much of a Dog Person

But even I could tell this is a wolf.

Eat More Salt

More than the government says anyway.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

First, Flesh-Eating Bacteria. Now, Zombies

Maybe I should get started on my looting.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Monday, May 28, 2012

Can Wikipedia Be Trusted?

Patterico looks at the entry (or lack of one) for Brett Kimberlin.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Not Very Advanced

Advance Publications moves several of its dailies to a thrice weekly publishing schedule, says it will slash staff, cut pay and expect remaining staff to write more.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

No Wonder the Kardashians Are Stars

Look at what the prestige media think is important.

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Modern Bowdler?

Shakespeare is only revered because of cultrual imperialism.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Propaganda Fail

On the part of Chinese commies.

Monday, May 14, 2012

They Call Her Faux-chahontas

Elizabeth Warren that is.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Police Brutality

Have we just gotten used to it.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Monday, May 7, 2012

Friday, May 4, 2012

Americans Now Pay More in Taxes

Than in food, shelter and clothes combined.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Headline of the Day

Or greatest viral marketing plan ever.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

The Cuban Sandwich Faceoff

I'm sorry Miami, but salami goes better with everything.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Coke Addict

Did Coke play a role in one woman's death?

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Monday, April 16, 2012

The Greatest Explorer of North America?

Could it be David Thompson.

Net Migration from Mexico Is Now Zero

And there are those out there who will say it was worth four years of high unemployment to get that result.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Saturday, April 14, 2012

A Congressional Hearing to Remember

With all of the hoopla this weekend surrounding the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I hope some TV show or newspaper article will also remember Sen. William Aldern Smith, who chaired the American investigation into the accident.

An attorney and career politician (Michigan House of Representatives, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate), Alden was dubed "Watertight Smith" by a mocking British... press after asking why the passengers didn't simply lock themselves in their watertight compartments.

A witness at the hearing had to patiently explain to Smith that 1) the watertight compartments were meant to help keep the ship afloat, not to protect passengers; and 2) they would have done the passengers no good after the ship sank

Friday, April 13, 2012

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

How to Survive the Titanic

Whatever else you may say about him, Steve Sailer is funny.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

He Ain't Chicken

He fears no man or Gus.

Monday, April 9, 2012

40 Acres and a Spaceship

J.d. Tuccille looks at property rights in outer space.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

The Men Who Sold the Moon

Former NASA employees and contractors are becoming entrepreneurs.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

From Warcraft to War

Meet the IDF's greatest anti-rocket ace.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Food Prices Soar

But Ben Barnanke says there's no inflation.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

RIP Chief Jay Strongbow

He wrestled under his real name, Joe Scarpa, in the 1960s. Well buolt (for the time) and one of the better workers of that era, he was star in places such as Georgia and Florida.

Then, in the 1970s, he changed his ringname, grew his hair out, put on weight, donned a feathered headdress and stopped doing any real wrestling and became a superstar.

For the last 20 years, he was a road agent for the WWE.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Duke Sux

They can't handle the truth.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Photo or Drawing?

I can't imagine the time it would take to do one of these.

A Little Sunday Music

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Maybe the Mayans Were Right

WWE has announced that "No Holds Barred," Hulk Hogan's debut as a movie lead, will be released on DVD this summer.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Next Richard Jewell?

The Los Angeles times looks at George Zimmerman.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Monday, March 26, 2012

Gold Plated

There have been rumors of things like this floating around for a while.

RIP Bert Sugar

Most people today, if they knew him at all, probably just knew him as the guy with the hat. But when he was editor of The Ring and Boxing Illustrated they were generally regarded as two of the best sports magazines ever.

But before he got into journalism, he was one of the top advertising men in New York, creating ads for some of America's biggest companies.

And before that, he earned an MBA and a law degree from the University of Maryland was an attorney.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Anti-Bernanke

The latest from economist George Selgin, a former grad school professor of mine.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Lou Thesz vs. Terry Sawyer

Lou would have been 62 when this was filmed.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Has Warren buffett Lost His Touch?

Berskgire Hathaway stock isn't doing well, and if not for crony capitalist deals it might be doing even worse.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Thursday, March 15, 2012

When the United States Was Multilingual

Good post from Lew Rockwell's site. People today just don't realize how recent a relatively uniform single American culture really is or how vast regional differences once were.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Michael Hayes and the Stone Cold Stunner

On his blog, Steve Austin writes about the origins of his finishing move.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Friday, March 9, 2012

"A Career-Killing Movie"

I've read several stories that report Hollywood insiders are saying that about Eddie Murphy's new film. Really? The man's career survived "A Vampire in Brooklyn," "The Adventures of Pluto Nash," "Norbert" and a transvestite streetwalker. How bad can this film be if it's the thing that ends it?

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Short Answer: He's On Our Side

How is Bill Maher's vulgar misogyny different from that of Rush Limbaugh.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

24-Inch Python?

Or little Hulkamaniac? TMZ reports someone is shopping around a Hulk Hogan sex tape.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Rousey vs. Tate

Headline of the Day

I'm waiting for someone to use this story to call for cannon control.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Rousey vs. Tate Controversy

The quality of that fight put women's MMA on the map. The ending could have set it back 10 years.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Antonin Scalia's Obamacare Problem

Damon Root explains why Scalia's past opinions may lead him to uphold Obamacare.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Friday, March 2, 2012

Welfare State or Immigration

An economist says liberals will have to choose.

Manufacturing Myths

The latest from economist Don Boudreuax.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

A Little Bit Me

A rare turn on lead vocals by the late Davy Jones on the Neil Diamond song.

The Shanghai Gesture

Weird but fun movie. God example of how the motion picture production code could actually make a film better. The stage play it was based on was set in a brothel. The movie in a gambling den. In the play, the heroine became addicted to drugs. In the movie, she became a gambling addict. The changes helped turn it from a straight-forward morality tell into an odd piece of film noir.

And a young Gene Tierney has to be in the running for the best looking woman of all time.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Is the Fed A Failure?

Barron's looks at the latest economic research.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Global Gangster

Former U.S. Army Col. Andrew Bacevich looks at the American military.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Friday, February 24, 2012

Immigrants Work Harder Than You

Economist Dan Griswold reports

The typical foreign-born adult resident of the United States today is more likely to participate in the work force than the typical native-born American. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2011), the labor-force participation rate of the foreign-born in 2010 was 67.9 percent, compared to the native-born rate of 64.1 percent. The gap was especially high among men. The labor-force participation rate of foreign-born men in 2010 was 80.1 percent, a full 10 percentage points higher than the rate among native-born men.

Labor-force participation rates were highest of all among unauthorized male immigrants in the United States. According to estimates by Jeffrey Passell (2006) of the Pew Hispanic Center, 94 percent of illegal immigrant men were in the labor force in the mid-2000s.



Via Bryan Caplan.

Fronts for the Natural Gas Industry?

Todd Zywicki looks at the environmental movement.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Layla

Here's an alternative take:

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

More Global Warming Fraud

From the people who brought you hide the decline.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Bouncing Back?

Private sector employment has still recovered less than half its losses during the recession.

Monday, February 20, 2012

The End of Football

Tyler Cowan and Kevin Greis say it could happen and quicker than anyone expects.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

The Most Interesting Man in the World?

Read the New York Times obit of John Fairfax.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Testing Milton Friedman

That's the title of a new series coming to PBs this spring. Looks interesting.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Thursday, February 16, 2012

California's Demographic Implosion

Heather MacDonald looks at the downside of immigration.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

And I Thought My Social Life Sucked

A Canadian man has spent the past 15 years digging out his basement with radio-controlled toy construction equipment.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Monday, February 13, 2012

Coming Apart

Steve Sailer reviews Charles Murray's new book.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

A Plan to Save the New York Times

From one of my former grad school professors.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

The Greatest Living Asian-American Athlete?

Tim Tebow or Jeremy Lin?

Friday, February 10, 2012

Quiet Professionals?

SEAL commander is told to STFU.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The Anti-Stimulus

Has Federal Reserve policy actually harmed economic growth?

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Squirrel Meat Is Back in Style

In some places, it never went out of style.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Slapping Paul Krugman Around

Steve Horwtitz makes it look easy.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Happy Birthday, Ayn Rand

Fox News looks at her legacy.

How Deserving Are the Poor?

Not very, in the united Statest at least, says Bryan Caplan.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

I hurt Just Reading This

Woman gives birth to 14-pound and 12-pound babies without anesthetic.

Obama's Enemies List

Are you on it?

Gingrich: Romney Starved Holocaust Survivors

Rod Deher says nothing is beneath Newton.

$10 Billion

That's how much Alabama's crackdown on illegal immigration has cost the state.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Monday, January 30, 2012

Whatever You Think of Mitt Romney

I don;t think he has killed 20 million people.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

Are You an Out-of-Touch Elitist?

Take Charles Murray's quiz to find out.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

$57.5 Million

That's the average box office take so far of the films nominated for the Oscar for best move.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Making It in America

The best economics article of the year?

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Friday, January 20, 2012

Empire of the Summer Moon

This biography of Comanche leader Quanah Parker was nominated for a Pulitzer prize, and it certainly deserves it. It's well written, detailed and doesn't sugar coat either the Comanches or their conquerors.

Quanah was half white, the son of "white squaw" Cynthia Ann Parker. The story of Cynthia Ann's capture by Comanches and her uncle's five-year search for her was the basis of John Ford's film "The Searchers."

Contrary to many Westerns, only the Comanche and their allies the Kiowa fought from horseback. Other Plains Indians were what the Europeans called dragoons, horse-mobile infantry who fought on foot. And the Eastern Indians didn't even adopt the horse until they shortly before they were moved to reservations.

Quanah was the last and probably the most successful of Comanche war leaders. But after being forced onto the reservation, he remade himself as a very successful cattle rancher and businessman dealing with and often out dealing whites. He also outmaneuvered several older, more established Comanche leaders to get the federal government to recognize him as the principal spokesman for the tribe. The government later came to regret that since he became an effective, and relatively honest, leader who demanded he live up to their treaty obligations.

Quanah, who hated whites in his youth, later adopted several white orphans, dressed in white clothing and built what was then the largest house in Oklahoma. He owned one of the first automobiles in the state, had gas lighting installed before virtually anyone else in the state and just generally seemed fascinated by new technology. But he refused whites' demands he cut his hair, get rid of his many wives or stop spreading the peyote religion.

He became a national celebrity, even riding with Teddy Roosevelt in his inauguration parade. That was much to the disgust of residents of West Texas, many of whom lived through Quanah's raid where the lucky settlers were killed in battle. Those who survived faced torture and mutilation if they were men and gang rape and mutilation if they were women.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

What Happened to All the Puerto Rican Major Leaguers

The New York Times looks at the decline of baseball on the island.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Age of Austerity

Investor's Business Daily looks at federal spending.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Roving Gambler

Flame and Citron

Flame and Citron is a noirish war movie based on the lives of the two most successful members of the Danish resistance in World War II. It's a solid effort, well acted. According to Wikipedia, a couple of the most improbable events really happened and were, in fact, even more like a move writer might dream up than how they are actually depicted in the film.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

The Bane of Civilization

My former grad school professor Don Boudreaux looks at the attacks Mitt Romney's rivals in the GOP presidential race are making on free enterprise.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Conservatives vs. Capitalism

Jay Nordlinger looks at the attacks his opponents are making on Mitt Romney.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Convention Center Glut

Doubling and even tripling down on bad bets.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Monday, January 2, 2012