Truth, Justice, and the American Way

My (and a few other’s) photos from Mises University 2005 are up.

Have you seen the new food pyramid issued by the USDA? I’ve been trying to decipher it, but all I’ve been able to figure out so far is that Nabisco, Kraft, Kellogs, the Milk and Beef lobbies, and PETA sent a lot of $ to Congress.

Check out Kevin Kelly’s article at Wired about the historical context of the web. He makes some interesting points about the influence of commercialization of the web, the shift in how content is created, and the way it functions as an extension of the human mind.

Steven Johnson writes in the LA Times about how violent video games are actually making kids smarter and safer – as opposed to “a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing” - high school […]

Have you been following the space news?

While the shuttle awaits its long-delayed launch, Congress has approved a $36 billion NASA budget for the next two years. The bulk of NASA’s budget is devoted to Pres. Bush’s “Vision for Space Exploration” – a plan to establish bases on the Moon and Mars and […]

I noticed an interesting difference between the racial traits of American and Japanese cartoon characters today. Japanese cartoon characters do not have racial distinctions as American carton characters do. Americans viewers often assume that the large-eye style and varied hair and skin color of anime characters refers to Caucasian traits, but this is […]

I normally don’t bother ranting about the evils of the “drug war” but this is just insane: after five years of ignoring the trade in “research chemicals,” the government is sentencing the vendors to life in prison for selling psycodelic drugs online. These are not stereotypical drug dealers – they are individuals who privately […]

IT IS the ultimate back seat driver. Motorists face having their cars fitted with a “spy” device that stops speeding.

The satellite-based system will monitor the speed limit and apply the brakes or cut out the accelerator if the driver tries to exceed it. A government-funded trial has concluded that the scheme promotes safer driving.

Drivers in […]

Google Earth 3.0 - a free download. This brilliant app provides hours of earth-surfing fun.

I recently redesigned the website for the academic journal Reason Papers to help Stephan Kinsella’s project of putting up 30 years (25 online issues) online in PDF format. Reason Papers is a mix of essays on economics, politics, ethics and philosophy. Check it out!

AMD launched an anti-trust lawsuit against Intel for “strong-arming major customers to accept exclusive deals.” AMD is taking the unusual step of using a public campaign asking consumers to “demand innovation.”

Well, congratulations AMD –- your campaign is working. After using four generations of AMD processors, I bought my first Intel chips -– […]

I was pleased to find this press release floating around the blogosphere:

Weare, New Hampshire - Developer Logan Darrow Clements filed papers with the Weare, New Hampshire code enforcement officer to get the ball rolling on a hotel project on property owned by Justice David Souter of the United States Supreme Court.

Souter voted in favor of […]

Gee, you mean that forcing a company to release a crippled product isn’t going to be a big seller?

PC makers and distributors are holding back from buying the new alternative version of Windows XP that Europe’s competition commissioner ordered Microsoft Corp. to offer as part of the punishment in the software maker’s long […]

World’s first bionic man gets mind-controlled limbs.

(From Cox and Forkum)

Freedom-loving Americans suffered a major defeat today, and they face another blow to liberty next week. In Kelo vs. New London, the Supreme Court voted that local governments can seize private property for private uses, so long as it serves the “public benefit.” The ruling legitimizes the already common practice of coercively redistributing […]

ThoughtCrime in Australia:

A Christian pastor found guilty of vilifying muslims says he is prepared to go to jail in protest over Victoria’s racial tolerance laws.

Two pastors involved with the Catch the Fire Ministries were last year found to have vilified Muslims at a Christian conference, and on a website, by suggesting the Koran promotes violence […]

Interesting read:

American George Weller was the first foreign reporter to enter Nagasaki following the U.S. atomic attack on the city on Aug. 9, 1945. Weller wrote a series of stories about what he saw in the city, but censors at the Occupation’s General Headquarters refused to allow the material to be printed. Weller’s […]

I kid you not:

Two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have been charged with animal cruelty after dumping dead dogs and cats in a shopping center garbage bin, police said. Police found 18 dead animals in the bin and 13 more in a van registered to PETA. The animals were from animal shelters […]

Great article on mises.org: The Myth of the Cell-Phone Addiction.