Unqualified Offerings

Kevin Drum and Dan Drezner puzzle over the massive increase in “collateral damage” in the last two decades. They find this puzzling in part because of, in Dan’s words, “a revolution in precision-guided munitions — which, in theory, was supposed to reduce the likelihood of collateral damage.”
Kevin’s theory is that some intentional killing of civilians [...]

By Thoreau
Will never ring again.  Supposedly a strict reading of the state’s gay marriage ban also outlaws all other marriages as well.
All those Texans who thought they were married will now have to go to another state and get married all over again.  They’ll spend money on caterers, dress designers, priests, cake decorators, wedding planners, [...]

By Thoreau
I find myself using buzzwords occasionally in work, most recently when I wrote a letter of reference for a colleague.  I don’t use them very much, and I never fool myself into thinking that the buzzwords are necessarily very meaningful, but if I suspect that my audience might want  to hear  buzzwords (or that [...]

In an attempt to blog even less, I have gotten a public Twitter account, UOJim.

By Mona
Everyone “knows” that, right? Well Radley Balko’s Pulitzer-worthy journalism was the sine qua non of this. Or at least, his publicity-generating investigations mean that Cory Maye will now have a superb defense team. (And for those who may not know, Maye is an African-American.)
*****
Update: Balko quoted at Mississippi’s Clarionledger.com (scroll up a [...]

By Thoreau
I think that rock, paper, scissors is a good analogy for the Drug War.  There are 3 players:  The government, the drug dealers, and the non-gangster businesses (whether large corporate weed farms or local organic coca growers) who could enter the market if there were no prohibition.
The government can keep the non-gangster businesses out [...]

Way way downblog I hypothesized that in daily life vegetarians and vegans are more sinned against than sinning when it comes to food evangelism. I have to change the way I think about Sarah Palin now because she’s determined to prove me right, and I love being right. Apparently she’s got a new book of [...]

Speaking of Armistice Day, Jesse Walker reminds us of the ten thousand lives wasted after Germany surrendered in 1918. Perhaps that twisted real-life tale inspired his
IDEA FOR A MINISERIES: Extraterrestrials come to Earth promising hope and change. Gradually their sinister plot is revealed: They will take over the planet and run it pretty much the [...]

By Mona
[Please see all Updates, and read this post by Thomas Knapp. The effing Drug Warriors lace many painkillers with acetaminophen purposely. To "deter" recreational use. Assh*les.]
This past Wednesday, one of my dearest friends in the world died. His death was completely unnecessary. He was an alcoholic whose liver had become severely compromised, so several [...]

By Thoreau
Ladies and gentlemen, I have just spotted the most tender, juicy cut of veal ever seen on the face of the earth:  At the start of a midterm, a student looked at a diagram with two objects and asked “Which one is the right and which one is the left?”  The objects are on [...]