As a libertarian, I don’t like to have the government mandate anything, but I see this as a national security issue which is firmly within the province of the executive and legislative branch.

I am not a scientist or an economist. Someone who took a class or two in those subjects can give me the unintended consequences of Dr. Zubrin’s plan in the comments.

UPDATE: John McCain is seeming like a fiscal conservative and copying my conversion.

As I wrote before, more to follow. I’m ready to learn some Arabic and explore some Californey. BTW, I’ve been to San Fran twice already and it is a cool town…except the commies. Go Celtics!

Shared by Seamus

Fuckinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Fouhteeeeeeen Beaaaahs!

Attorney: I drank 14 beers last night.
Admin: You counted?
Attorney: I counted this morning. That was a solid performance, if I do say so myself.

Pearl Street
Austin, Texas

Post taken from Google Reader

Shared by Seamus

So what they are saying is they made monkey cyborgs… Great… No trouble will come from that…

http://truemors.com/?p=29593

Science is one step closer to granting victims of paralysis movement. Scientists out of Pittsburgh have successfully installed electrodes into the brain of two Monkeys that allow them to move a nearby robotic arm with only their thoughts. They hope to extend this technology to humans within the next two years.

Post taken from Google Reader

Shared by Seamus

Jesus Fucking Christ…. is it 2009 yet?

Maybe Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri really is a bad man. Or maybe he’s another Jose Padilla, and guilty of far less than what the government is claiming. What’s clear, is that what the government is arguing is some scary, scary stuff:

Al-Marri’s capture six years ago might be the Bush administration’s biggest domestic counterterrorism success story. Authorities say he was an al Qaeda sleeper agent living in middle America, researching poisonous gases and plotting a cyberattack.

To justify holding him, the government claimed a broad interpretation of the president’s wartime powers, one that goes beyond warrantless wiretapping or monitoring banking transactions. Government lawyers told federal judges that the president can send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a resident and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.

If the president gets these powers, it’s the end, gang. The writ of habeas corpus is 400 years old. The Bush administration is, rather incredibly, arguing that the “commander in chief” power of the U.S. Constitution authorizes them to vaporize it. Even if you subscribe to a Hinderaker-esque view of the current president, just remember, every future president will have this power, too. Think about the asinine process by which we chose our presidents. Think about what sorts of character traits it takes to want to go through all of the bullshit we’ve seen already this campaign season, and what traits it takes not only to endure all of that, but to win. Now think about giving those people these kinds of powers.

The Bush administration has defined “terrorism” in broad, vague terms. As Charlie Savage points out in his book Takeover, it includes not only Islamic terrorism, but domestic terrorism, and the Bush administration claims these powers not just against terrorists, but against the people who “aid” them. Savage explains that, for example, a more liberal president could claim these same powers against the farmers in the mountains of North Carolina who are suspected of helping Olympic Park and abortion clinic bomber Eric Rudolph evade the police.

Keep in mind, this isn’t a question of whether such people, or whether such people as al-Marri, should be prosecuted. We’re talking about whether we should give the president the authority to arrest and detain such people—American residents (and, the Bush administration has argued, American citizens)—without giving them a trial . . . forever.

The Bush administration is claiming its wartime powers give it this broad authority. But the war the administration says we’re fighting isn’t against Iraq or Afghanistan. It isn’t a war for which there will ever be a peace accord or the signing of a treaty. It’s a war against “terrorism.” It’s a war that quite literally is never going to end. And so any “wartime” powers we grant the executive, are powers we’re granting to the executive permanently.

It’ll take decades to figure out just how much damage this president has done to the Constitution. And it’s really almost impossible to overstate just how serious this is.

Post taken from Google Reader

Professor Lynne Edwards has resurrected Buffy, Spike, Willow and the entire “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” gang for some serious academic study. The Ursinus College professor edits an online journal of undergraduate research into “Buffy” and its spinoff series, “Angel” and also served as the editor for an upcoming book titled “Buffy Goes Dark.” Edwards isn’t the only academic studying the cult TV hit; the third “Buffy” academic conference will kick off in June at Henderson State University in Arkansas.

Post taken from Google Reader

Shared by Seamus

Yes, please tax me, that got me to quit drinking and boozing.

With obesity on the rise, could there be a seemingly easy solution? The One Cent Solution to obesity: Require a minimum price of 1 cent per calorie of food at restaurants and fast food outlets. Would you order Outback Steakhouse cheese fries if they cost $29.00? Jack in the Box’s Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger at $10.70? Hmm, would cheap fast food become renowned fancy foodie fare?

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Shot of my bookcase, just screwing around seeing if I can move the post generator from the full feed to one set

Moving the WP-O-Matic from the whole flickr feed to a single set only, pictures I want to add to the site will go into this set.