Posted on July 29th, 2008 by Kip
I certainly hope not, but Pausch was a Unitarian Universalist, his notoriety was precisely for his courage and spirituality (his non-Christian spirituality) in confronting his unfortunate circumstance, and he died on Friday — meaning the news coverage about it lasted all through the weekend. The shooting took place early Sunday morning. To review: UUA.org: What [...]
Filed under: Gay Rights and Issues, Society, Religion, Culture Wars | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 28th, 2008 by Kip
Tax Policy Blog relays an anecdote about a pet peeve of mine: hotel taxes — Today at the National Conference of State Legislators in New Orleans, one speaker referred to raising hotel taxes as a great way to raise new revenue "without taxing your own folks." That's certainly true in a narrow parochial sense. But [...]
Filed under: Economics & Finance, New York City & State, Taxation & Fiscal Policy | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 28th, 2008 by Kip
–Is "the YouTube era" responsible for a new mental illness, "Truman Show Delusion"? ("My family and everyone I knew were and are actors in a script, a charade whose entire purpose is to make me the focus of the world's attention.") –A Special Guest Question: Is it "Racist" to Dislike Spicy Food? –Another Special Guest [...]
Filed under: Questions | Comments Off
Posted on July 28th, 2008 by Kip
To review: Even before District v. Heller was handed down, finding an individual right to keep and bear arms, some jurisdictions not only allowed private citizens to bear arms, but actually went out of their way to trample property rights by requiring private property owners to allow, against their will, people to bring guns onto [...]
Filed under: Law, Property Rights | 9 Comments »
Posted on July 27th, 2008 by Kip
Time to clean out the aggregator — ITEM: Congress snuck into the "bipartisan" housing bailout bill an increase in the ceiling on the national public debt by $800 billion, to $10.6 trillion. One of several posts on the national debt here. ITEM: The 1998 Internet censorship law, the Child Online Protection Act (which I once [...]
Filed under: Updates | Comments Off
Posted on July 27th, 2008 by Kip
(Or: "They Boo Arithmetic!") George Will recently gave a great talk and Q&A at the Cato Institute, which everyone should definitely find the time to listen to. Full Event Video (54:32 minutes) Summary Audio Podcast (8:44) My own edited version of the highlights:
Filed under: Gay Rights and Issues, Libertarianism | Comments Off
Posted on July 27th, 2008 by Kip
One more in the Wine Gum inspired "candy on the carpet genre" — I'm pretty sure I'd prefer Minstrels to Wine Gums, even if they are, as calumrb22 suggests, possibly "racist." Sunday CuteTuber™ FAQ
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Posted on July 26th, 2008 by Kip
Taken on my morning walk to work a few days ago: You can't tell from this angle, but he is not repairing the traffic light — he's washing it. He had just finished washing the "Walk / Don't Walk" sign on the corner. Washing lights. On a weekday. During the morning rush. In the rain. [...]
Filed under: Humor, New York City & State, Taxation & Fiscal Policy | 2 Comments »
Posted on July 26th, 2008 by Kip
–Since we already have (for some reason) a taxpayer-funded "Surgeon General," does it not follow that we should also have (for some reason) a taxpayer-funded "National Nurse"? –A Special Guest Question: Are you smart enough to be a German citizen? –Who said the following: I know that America was created by God and it was [...]
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Posted on July 25th, 2008 by Kip
How about, "So unconstitutional that the judge awarded the ACLU $42,000 in lawyer fees"? Yesterday, a federal District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana awarded the American Civil Liberties Union $42,000 in attorneys' fees in a case they brought challenging the legality of a picture of Jesus Christ that was displayed at the Slidell [...]
Filed under: Atheism, First Amendment - Religion, Law, Libertarianism | Comments Off