You want to do something about politics AND crime? Do something about PTSD. There is a political party that caters to PTSD sufferers (drug users, the sexually ambivalent, the sexual deviant etc. ) the Democrat Party. Now I don't object to any of those behaviors from a principled stand point. They are adaptations. What I do object to is that the Right is doing exactly zero to dry up the wellspring of its opposition. Child abuse. Oh. The Right is perfectly happy to fight the symptoms. With negative results (how will the traumatized react to further trauma?). But dry up the well? Not even under the dimmest of consideration.

When there are not enough criminals we make laws to manufacture them. - a rough approximation from the work of Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum Which brings up my main point: Ken Burns’ movie “Prohibition” about Alcohol Prohibition airing on PBS on 2 Oct. will bring the Drug War into the election mix. I have some thoughts on how the Ds might exploit it at: http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2011/09/looking-for-counter-strategy.html

I was hoping for Paula Simon and Arta Garfunkel. M. Simon (no relation to Paul or Paula)

It is my opinion that the bucket kicked Osama. And BTW Good Job Obama! - was that ever hard to say. Worth all the more for it.

Why anyone with the ability to see beyond the classic left wing talking points escapes me and most of the sentient beings on this planet. You might want to reconsider the construction of that sentence.

Their homes and families are nearby. These people have faced an unprecedented set of accident conditions that I never dreamed could ever come about. Naval nukes have to contend with high velocity projectiles filled with high explosives. Direct hits plus near misses. i.e. tsunami + earthquake. All well above design margins. Some times there is nothing you can do but take a swim. OTOH thinking about "what would I do if...." is a very handy exercise. More dreaming is in order.

Who knows, out of the 6 low pressure pumps they should have, there is a decent chance that 1 of them is ok. Sure. And there is a chance the plumbing is intact. And there is not too much crud in the coolant loop. Now pack all that in your fault tree and run the odds. I'm not optimistic. BTW I was slightly optimistic for the first three days. But what I'm seeing is that the Japanese are continually behind the curve. It may be the accident. It could have been the mindset (save the plant vs safe the plant). It could be they panicked. I'm looking forward to some decent accident reviews in 3 to 6 months. I think future reactor designs are going to have to be more nearly intrinsically safe.

The failure of the Black family is due in part to the drug war. And of course the rationale for the drug war is that drugs destroy families. Too funny. Imprisoning so many urban black males is discouraging marriage and the formation of families, thus contributing to moral and social breakdown. For more see: http://www.issues.org/13.2/courtw.htm

And SW how do you explain the fact that drug use among Blacks is slightly lower (or equal) to white use? I guess the New York Times was correct about Negroes: they can't handle drugs. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60B14F7345F13738DDDA10894DA405B848DF1D3 and from the NYTs 1914: http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/negro_cocaine_fiends.htm

Shrink Wrapped, Substance abuse is a symptom - not a cause. That is in fact the state of American medicine these days. Ask the psychological intake nurse at your local hospital. Why are you so far behind the times? To begin your re-education may I suggest: PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System: http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2006/04/ptsd-and-endocannabinoid-system.html

I would like this stuff a lot better if it was a girldate. I'm not much into mandates.

Most of what you are describing is technological progress which in this country is heavily underwritten by taxpayers Maybe. So why did IBM produce the PC and not some government agency? And let me ask further: what is bringing to market an idea produced by government worth? The Soviets were not lacking in ideas. They were lacking (severely) in PCs. Why? Ideas are a dime a hundred weight and less in bales.

Re: molly | January 05, 2011 at 07:06 PM The alternative is bankruptcy followed by exactly the same ills you decry - only worse. Which brings up Winnie. ”Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They will have war." Winston Churchill

And let me add: where in the Constitution is the Drug Prohibition Amendment? I can't find it.

Why Soros is against the Drug War: http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2010/11/overthrow-competition.html

Sex.

It is not just the BBC. This story is catching on like wild fire across the Interwebz. fusor.net is getting a mention in many of the articles. Look for a traffic spike. A BIG traffic spike.

I'm going to be somewhat of a contrarian here (given the comments I have read so far - I haven't read them all) and say the General - whether intended or not - has taken one for the troops. Let me add that if the Afghan situation is not stabilized we will be back in 6 or 10 years. Jimmy Carter II, only worse. Why worse (other than the correlation of forces)? Because we have recent history to give us a reasonable idea of the results of this administration's policy.

Johnson/Palin, As to Iraq/Afghanistan - Resident obama called for retreat there as well. The logic of events has changed his dynamic. Or maybe the Saudis and Euros whispered in his ear. I imagine if Johnson wins - the dynamic will change him too. And drug legalization - the WSJ has come out in favor of it (in a number of recent columns and videos). Is the WSJ uniformly pro legalization? No. But the Mexican situation is changing the dynamic. In two more years the situation may be totally different. The question is - are there enough libertarian Republicans/cross over Democrats so that Johnson can win the primary battle.

I saw your comments at Ace's and it reminded me I haven't been by in a while. === My water heater broke down and I went without hot water for a week (it's a long story), It made me extremely thankful. == A couple of OT links you might like: The premise: Government is a Criminal Enterprise Based on the premise - what to do about abortion: What To Do?

Have the AGW folks have been cooking the books? Do we have a smoking gun? No. A fire at the Colt factory. An explosion at the ammo dump. Three fish just above the keel. Abandon ship. Sauve qui peut. http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2009/11/climate-files-hacked.html http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2009/11/some-verification-of-hadley-cru-files.html

Billy, Arnie got in on a fluke. And he had no support in the legislature because culture war Republicans are not very popular outside of Orange County. So Arnie caved. I do believe libertarian Republicans could do rather well in California and Illinois. Libertarian Republican Given the choice between Obama and Keyes I voted for Obama. Just to poke a finger in the eye of the culture war Republicans. A lot of other Republicans did the same. Look at the votes of Bush/Kerry vs Keyes/Obama in that election. Obama/Keyes vs Kerry/Bush The country is going socialist because the Republican Party has one principle above all others: Culture War. Fiscal Conservatism is a distant second. So who to vote for? I don't much like Kirk. But if the Rs run a culture warrior again I'm voting Democrat again. Enjoy the descent into hell. I will. Culture warriors have the power to dominate the Republican Party. They do not have the power to win State wide elections. Heh. The do not call the Republicans the stupid party for nothing. I estimated that it would take about 16 or 20 years for the Republicans to get tired of getting whipped. That estimate was made in 2008. Because the Ds are SO BAD that will get reversed temporarily in 2010. If the R Congress reverts to its culture war proclivities expect a resurgence of Ds in 2012. The worst possible time. I am not against culture wars per se. I believe they should be done in the private sector. But the allure of government enforcers is just too great.

Is the Illinois Republican Party going to go the way of the California Republican Party? A Culture War Party that does very poorly in State wide elections? Alan Keyes ring a bell?

The Real Pro Family Candidate is Alan Keyes. If only we could get him to run again. Some one should have a word with Dave Syverson and see if that couldn't be done. Again.

Society of Mind is one of the best books on the subject of the mind I have ever read and it corresponds to the psychology of Gurdieff/Ouspensky. Short version: We all have patterns we call up depending on the situation. Which is why military guys train. To teach the neural networks so they can find patterns even when there is a LOT of noise. To make a responsible soldier you need a program that is in charge that can call up the necessary patterns and shut them down when not needed. When there is no in charge program we don't see an "integrated" personality but all the fragments out of control and working against each other. Thus a lack of situational awareness. etc.