Month: December 2003

We love N.Y! (from a safe distance)

by

From the NY Times, via Harley in comments: Tom DeLay wants Republican delegates to the 2004 convention to stay in an enormous cruise ship safely away from the dirty, dirty city. Excerpts: “Our floating hotel will provide members an opportunity to stay in one place, in a secure fashion,” said a spokesman for Mr. DeLay, … Read more

Stupid Patent Tricks

by

While perusing the frozen food aisle at my local supermarket, I came upon it. The Sealed, Crustless, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich (SCPB&J Sandwich). Stunned, my jaw dropped. I started to boil over with excitement, like water reaching 212 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time. Sure, I knew the SCPP&J Sandwich, but only from the … Read more

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (And Women)

by

*I recalled Prof. Anastaplo while paging through Professor Volohk‘s writings on the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms), which generally argue that the Second Amendment is a personal right (like the 1st Amendment) and not merely a right afforded to the state or community (like, for example, the 10th Amendment). Professor Volohk bases his argument, in part, on the supposed original intent of the founders. Professor Anastaplo, on the other hand, argues that the original intent of the founders was precisely the opposite, and reads the Second Amendment to convey a community right. Indeed, in his much-earlier The Amendments to the Constitution, Professor Anastaplo considers and refutes (pre-refutes?) many of Professor Volohk’s better “original intent” arguments. (Which is not to say that Professor Volohk is wrong in his analysis or history — only that it’s not the open-and-shut case sometimes suggested by Professor Volohk.)

Thirty-One Days Left in 2003.

by

I bring this up because, well, remember those resolutions you made back in January? You know the ones that I’m talking about; yeah, those. Not much time left to get them resolved, after all… and there’s no way that you’ll be able to reassign them for next year, remember? Next year’s 2004, and that’s a … Read more

This is either kind or cruel of me.

by

I give you the opposition to Bush in the 2004 primaries. Take a gander, oh my Leftist brothers and sisters: these people are your only hope for a contested GOP primary run. Inspiring they ain’t; well, that’s unfair. We’re a special country; regular people really can grow up to be President. Just as long as they start early, pay their political dues, do a lot of unglamorous scutwork, learn how to play by the rules, never misstep and don’t try to do end runs around the entire system, of course.

Hey, there’s 270+ million people in this country. The process by which you get to lead them for four to eight years should be arcane and frustrating, buddy.

Read more

The Long-Awaited Posting Rules

by

Which, given that they were lifted from Tac’s Posting Rules (who mined them from the Agonist, shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Here we go: Be reasonably civil. No profanity. For the record, ‘hell’, ‘damn’ and ‘pissed’ are not considered ‘profanity’ for the purposes of this rule; also for the record, the more offensive … Read more