tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59879292023-11-05T03:28:33.085-06:00Maintaining Optimism in the Face of Reality. Occasional observations on the state of the world, society, business and politics. Usually anchored by facts, always augmented by opinion.Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1117460061833144202005-05-30T07:35:00.000-05:002005-05-30T08:34:21.893-05:00

I had a couple of my friends since college visit this weekend. It was good seeing them. We discussed a variety of things, but on Sunday morning, the conversation for some reason turned to Walmart. My friend from L.A. was particularly surprised that I, a business owner and typically pro-business Republican, am actually very much in favor of municipalities using zoning to prevent Walmarts from

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1115053686738070482005-05-02T11:51:00.000-05:002005-05-02T12:08:06.740-05:00

Last year, the then-head of the Minnesota Lottery, George Anderson, committed suicide shortly before a probe of the lottery's finances and operations was the be released. At the time, I thought this was pretty unusual. It's one thing for there to be some kind of misfeasance or malfeasance, and entirely another when a public official kills themselves before the report's release.Well, it seems the

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1114839746464741902005-04-30T00:20:00.000-05:002005-04-30T00:42:30.803-05:00

I had to do some travel earlier in the week to visit a client's client down in Lexington. Since NWA doesn't fly direct to Lexington, I had to connect through Detroit. All went well on the trip down, but on my return flight idiocy struck (I did mention I was flying Northwest, so I'm sure you were already expecting some sort of fuckwittage).The problem came up at the Lexington airport, where my

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1112117175805834792005-03-29T11:17:00.000-06:002005-03-29T14:47:51.376-06:00

My friend (previously referred to as Slats Grobnik) e-mailed me this great tidbit from The Guardian today. "Big Mac Rap May Mean Artists' Payday". The basic idea is taking product placements out of the movie and television world and putting them in the recording arts.Rap artists are accustomed to name-checking prestige car, clothing and jewellery brands in their lyrics. But if McDonald's has its

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1110301350818106482005-03-08T10:46:00.000-06:002005-03-08T11:11:06.053-06:00

I really enjoy movies. I went and saw Constantine last night, on which an old college friend (and fellow blogger at Deliberate Cinema) worked. It reminded me that I still have not seen The Machinist, which I would love to see, but I apparently will have to wait for it to come out on DVD. Why? I think there are one of two possible reasons:1) It has not and will not be shown in my small rural

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1109863495426674162005-03-03T09:18:00.000-06:002005-03-03T11:22:30.923-06:00

....there's never a suicide bomber around when you could really use one.While the King of Pop has his own media circus going on out west, France is doing a mass prosecution of 66 pedophiles for sex crimes against 45 children ranging from 6 months(!) to 14 years of age.More information via the BBC.Ironically, the trial is taking place in a town named "Angers"...kind of appropriate, as the whole

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102437456569188912004-12-07T10:04:00.000-06:002004-12-07T10:37:36.570-06:00

It appears NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will be announcing his candidacy for Governor of New York. [Reuters via Yahoo] This should come as a surprise to exactly no one. Obviously, one would presume he has had this on his mind for a while. After all, he did run on a platform of cleaning up state government but apparently figured that getting buried back in the "State News" section or only

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102403249095636102004-12-07T01:07:00.000-06:002004-12-07T01:09:06.506-06:00

I was alerted by Powerline to the new blog from Richard Posner and Gary Becker. Becker is a Nobel-winning economist and Posner is a federal judge, and for years was a leader (the leader, arguably) of the law and economics school of jurisprudence at Chicago. These are very powerful minds and the fact that they will be blogging is everyone's good fortune. I agree with Deacon's comment on Powerline

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102398660834588692004-12-06T16:57:00.000-06:002004-12-06T23:51:00.833-06:00

I was under the impression that, in general, juries are "triers of fact," while judges apply, and as necessary, interpret, the law. So I guess I was a little confused when I read the article about a federal jury determining that for purpose of the payouts with nine insurers, the WTC attack was two separate events (two planes, after all). [WSJ] [Reuters via FT] Needless to say, this will have a

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102369843528639912004-12-06T15:48:00.000-06:002004-12-06T15:52:24.716-06:00

john snowApparently nothing to smile about. Snow just doesn't look like a salesman. Internet treasure hunt: try to find a picture with John Snow smiling.Time to update the scorecard as Treasury Secretary John Snow's gotta go, according to the Bush administration. [NY Times] That's understandable, given that Bush's man at Treasury is going to have one hell of a sales job, explaining why everyone

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102350098279037292004-12-06T09:12:00.000-06:002004-12-06T10:21:38.280-06:00

Busy times with the U.N. lately. Coleman calls for Kofi Annan's resignation, Danforth resigns from the U.N. ambassadorship for "personal reasons", and last Friday, outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell provided a slight endorsement of Kofi Annan, calling him a "good" Secretary General. [Reuters via Yahoo] Over the weekend, the Bostin Globe's Jeff Jacoby ("Annan is a symptom of UN's sickness..

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102217515087936512004-12-04T21:31:00.000-06:002004-12-04T21:38:12.300-06:00

I just finished one of the most interesting and though-provoking pieces of writing I've read in recent memory. It is the English translation of French philosopher Alexandre Kojève's "Outline of a Doctrine of French Policy." The translation is from the August '04 issue of Policy Review, the Hoover Institution's journal. The issue also includes an essay, "Kojève's Latin Empire," by Robert Howse of

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102196180727842452004-12-04T15:36:00.000-06:002004-12-04T15:36:20.726-06:00

If you just want a quick guide to the changes in the Bush cabinet since the start of his first term, and now with Tommy Thompson becoming the eighth cabinet change since before the election. I've included the extended cabinet, not just the main Secretaries. PostOriginalCurrentFuture Chief of Staff Andy Card Agriculture Ann Veneman Mike

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102182268205783062004-12-04T11:44:00.000-06:002004-12-04T11:44:28.206-06:00

I don't normally post just to pass along links, but I stumbled across the MythicJourneys.org site "The Big Myth." Geared probably toward children, it is a really quite interesting overview of a variety of cultures' creation mythology. It's done with Flash, and has voiceovers to accompany all of the written text as well. The narrator has the appropriate solemnity for the material. Even though it

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102122873250741922004-12-03T16:53:00.000-06:002004-12-03T19:21:00.523-06:00

I am assuming most readers have heard of JFK Reloaded when it was launched a couple of weeks ago. If not, it is a simulation (some would say a game) that allows you to reenact the events in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. You play Oswald, or multiple shooters, placed in different locations, including the proverbial grassy knoll. As an aside, I'm surprised no Democrats have claimed Karl Rove

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102094466938873422004-12-03T11:21:00.000-06:002004-12-03T11:21:06.936-06:00

German CondomsGerman condom "superstore" Vinico: size matters. According to their study only 18% of German men wear a properly-sized condom, with 34% buying too large and the balance buying too small. [Reuters via Yahoo] One British site gives the story a more insulting headline.Sparked by the article, I actually visited the Vinico website. Quite a selection...I think my favorite was the "Pullit.

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102020716837591312004-12-02T14:20:00.000-06:002004-12-02T14:51:56.836-06:00

New York Times columnist David Brooks is in the Twin Cities today. He'll be speaking at the University of St Thomas in St Paul tonight [info] (tickets are $20, with a discount for MPR members). His topic this evening is the polarization in America. While he was in town he was over at MPR studios for an interview an call in on Midday with Mike Mulcahy. Brooks is my kind of conservative, and I

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1102007616103410462004-12-02T10:22:00.000-06:002004-12-02T11:17:59.036-06:00

President Bush has called for a full and open investigation into the United Nations' administration of the Iraq Oil-for-Food program, although he didn't go as far as Norm Coleman in asking for Annan's resignation. Actually, I think Bush was fairly diplomatic about it all things considered. [Reuters via Yahoo] I'm not sure if he was just being diplomatic when he said: "In order for the taxpayers

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1101932151823814522004-12-01T13:16:00.000-06:002004-12-05T12:29:19.136-06:00

My post yesterday on France brought me a message from a long-time friend in Chicago, I'll call him Slats Grobnik (I'm sure he won't mind). Unlike Mike Royko's Slats who was a commonsense working-man, I consider this individual one of the most erudite and articulate people I have the fortune to know, and do find it unfortunate that we have lived in different cities since college. However, as

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1101917972467917312004-12-01T10:19:00.000-06:002004-12-01T10:34:09.296-06:00

Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman has an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today calling for Kofi Annan's resignation. Those who have followed the news on the Oil-for-Food scandal are certain to immediately understand why this should be necessary, but I think Coleman sums up the main reasons fairly well:The decision to call for his resignation does not come easily, but I have arrived at this

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11825987394029567648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1101851391078629792004-11-30T14:22:00.000-06:002004-12-05T12:28:06.410-06:00

I will be the first to admit that we Americans seem to go overboard on our derision for the French, but it is a two-way street in many ways. Of course, many liberals take it upon themelves to defend all things attacked by the majority, whether it be high taxes, partial birth abortions or, in this case, France. Witness the "I hate Pat Robertson" blog. Now, any regular reader probably knows that I

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1101832138320773492004-11-30T09:21:00.000-06:002004-11-30T10:28:58.320-06:00

Yesterday the other cynical Barry Johnson commented about the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the Massachusetts gay marriage case. He said: Some conservatives will be chagrined that the Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to Massachusetts' gay marriage law. Some liberals are no doubt disappointed as well, since this development doesn't really fit their whole "Jesusland" narrative.

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1101748063020806212004-11-29T10:59:00.000-06:002004-11-29T15:08:53.076-06:00

vs. While normally one might think that a 20-to-1 deficit would indicate some kind of loss, this is one case that I think we can be happy coming it such a distant second. So what are the above numbers? The word lengths of the not-yet-ratified European Union constitution compared to our comparatively brief U.S. Constitution, including all of the amendments it has taken on over the past 200-plus

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1101595929090813332004-11-27T16:05:00.000-06:002004-11-27T16:52:09.090-06:00

Apparently Bill Gates learned something from Saddam Hussein's using of bribery and payoffs to help with gaining support for a more relaxed and permissive attitudes by those ostensibly focused on reigning in their capacious appetites. [For recent discussion of Saddam's "Oil for Alliances" program, you can start with a recent update that provides backlinks.] Just as Saddam spread ill-gotten wealth

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987929.post-1101523139004911552004-11-26T18:41:00.000-06:002004-12-01T10:35:56.476-06:00

In the process of analyzing some data for clues about how informed Americans are about the news (the answer is not very, read the full post for the breakdown), I decided to look at the verbatim poll results from a 2002 Pew survey for the question "Can you tell me who Yasser Arafat is?" All of these people had initially answered, "Yes" to the question of "Do you know who Yasser Arafat is?" In

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0