Walter In Denver

Another guest blogger

Hecate*, guesting over at Eschaton, wants to protest our election process "that appears designed more for the purpose of allowing skullduggery than for the purpose of ensuring fair elections."

'K, sure. Have at it, you might say. But Hecate's idea of protest is to put as many people possible out of work, and make life miserable for people in retail and associated industries. Well, I'm paraphrasing. Here's what's actually written:

This year, I’m urging everyone I know to refuse to spend money for Xmas as a protest. Stay out of the stores. For Goddess sake, don’t run up credit card debt. Give your family and friends the gift of your time and attention rather than a new sweater that they won’t wear or some object to clutter-up an already over-cluttered life. But just not buying isn’t enough. You’ve got to contact the retailers and credit card companies and tell them: I’m not going to be buying Xmas stuff and I’m not going to be charging Xmas stuff until this country has a system in place that ensures fair and verifiable elections.

Added bonus: If the protest works you can blame Republicans for the lousy economy!

* I have it on good authority that was meant to be spelled 'Tecate.'

Comment Spam Solutions

Like Zomby, I'm trying to deal with comment spammers making a nuisance around here.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disable comments on older posts. I regret doing that since some people come here via searches and leave interesting comments on posts from months or even years ago. Hopefully someone will come up with a better solution.

Narcissism

Google keeps a nifty page they call Zeitgeist - tracking the most popular search terms in various countries. In October 'Halloween' was most popular in Canada, the UK, Sweden and Brazil. Very practical. In Germany it was 'telefonbuch,' cuz those sentimental Germans like to keep in touch.

In France the most popular search term is, um, France.

Second in a series of real-time conjectural observations

From behind tinted limo windows Ron Artest is flipping you the bird.

Because you're a racist, of course.

A Real-Time Conjectural Observation

Somewhere in Utah, Jeff sees a road sign with the milage to Vegas. He checks the fuel gauge and does a quick mental calculation.

Crossposting for a few days.

Hunting Season Is Here

Note to lone nutjob in tree stand: Deer are the furry ones with four legs and hooves. Try to be more careful.

Sudan, Solved

Guardian headline: UN to warn Sudan over violence

A very stern warning, I'm sure.

Private Funding

Military spending a Libertarian can appreciate:

Adopt a sniper!

Comment

Last January I mentioned Clayton Helriggle, a young man killed in a drug raid - he wasn't a drug dealer, or a criminal of any sort. Just another innocent bystander. A couple of days ago this comment was left on that old post:

Clayton was my son. What a wonderful young man, killed in his prime - still searching to find himself. We know that Clayton did not have a gun and will continue to fight to prove it. The police had no evidence to go on...and we will prove that it was a vendeta.

Two years have passed, we are still standing and fighting. The corruption in our justice (injustice) system is sickening. We have not found yet how far reaching it is. Cops cover cops, lawyers cover lawyers, doctors cover doctors - as I was told by my own attorney. Is there any honor left in our government? It appears that there is not.
Posted by Sheri

I'm touched that she felt it fitting to leave her thoughts here. I don't have any personal insight into the case, other than the drug war is worse than useless, and her son died because of it.

Not Only Does Bush = Hitler...

Get an eyefull of this column in the Rocky Mountain News by Michael Tracey:

Faith, not reason gave Bush victory

I use the term in the same way that one might have described the success of the Wehrmacht between 1939 and 1941. Not something to be celebrated, but definitely recognized.

Now, I never thought Fox News was unbiased, but the Wehrmacht?

Tracey is a journalism prof at the U of Colorado, confirming some stereotype or other.

It's Your War

A Colorado man has been arrested for selling iodine. But selling iodine isn't illegal, you might say. You might be wrong. He's facing up to 12 years in prison.

Had Enough Democracy Yet?

I'm finding the Blue State secession talk amusing. Libertarians have never had a lot of faith in democracy. It's a fine way to pick political leaders, but there's no magic to it. A number of liberty-minded people have been advocating forming a new country for a while, or at least starting a libertarian enclave in a sparsely populated area.

It seems to me that some people on the Left are surprised that democracy failed them. After the 2000 election Bush's opponents often pointed out that he had fewer votes than Gore, implying that his election less valid, and that a majority would never vote for Bush. As if that matters at all.

Their frustration is understandable. As democratic socialists, they trust in a social contract that runs by the moral declarations of the majority. Taxes are moral, for instance, because a majority wants them. They can't stand to have Bush use the moral authority a majority gives him.

But we libertarians have always understood majority politics, or democracy of any sort, carries no moral weight. The war in Iraq is moral, or not, regardless of the results of some election. Income redistribution is immoral in spite of what the majority of the populace thinks. So I welcome this talk of secession, and even better, I hope that the American Left will become the new Federalists. Let local governments operate more independently and de-emphasize federal funding and control. Then each of us citizens can better choose the type of government we live under.

We're From the Government, We're Here To Help

Veteran's Day, the day we commemorate the brave souls who fought for freedom. What freedom, you ask? Why the FCC's freedom to censor the broadcast media, of course.

Tonight ABC plans to air the brilliant film, Saving Private Ryan, as heroic epic as ever was. Problem is, there's some naughty words and a slaughterhouse worth of blood and guts contained therein. So, as of last report, some 35 ABC affiliates are declining to show the film, citing recent FCC actions to levy heavy fines on stations which air such language and violence. They tried to get permission from the FCC beforehand, but the agency demurred, saying they don't (get this) engage in censorship, they only respond to complaints. As Julian Sanchez aptly puts it:

See, they don't want to censor anybody, heavens no. So, in effect, they say: "Take your chances; we'll only tell you after the fact whether something you've aired will garner you a hefty fine." If, in light of that uncertainty, stations opt not to take any chances, well, the FCC can always say that was the stations' choice: They weren't "censoring" anybody.

My first thought was perhaps these stations were engaging in some political posturing, publicly demonstrating against the unfair manner the FCC judges broadcasts. A very appropriate protest, I should add. But no; there actually is a conservative group poised to file complaints against the stations which do broadcast the movie.

Anyway, I'm sure the fine folk down there at the FCC will thank our veterans profusely.

Reading Around

Republican in Seattle? Good luck. I suppose you could substitute any number of larger cities. (h/t RNS)

French quasi-socialist economic policy may crown London as the world headquarters for French cooking. London!

Randy Paul disses Hitchens. Religious people often do try to put their religious beliefs into law, on both the left and right. They often just don't realize they are acting on their religious beliefs.

Go Miners!

I should point out, for Andy and Tom's benefit*, that UTEP's Mike Price coached football team is currently ranked at #24 in the nation. Alabama is decidedly not ranked.

*see comments at link.

Insomnia Cured?

One of the great underappreciated blogs is shutting down. Matthew's was one of the blogs that motivated me to start this one.

Make It So

If Bush can do this I'll regret not voting for him. Odds are against, methinks.

Travel News

After a difficult century, absinthe is once again legal in the country of its origen.

Arafat?

Arafat is dead. Arafat is not dead.

I think they may have to plunge a wooden stake through his heart just to be sure.

Analyzing the Election : Guessing Wildly

So it's a great election if you're a Republican - or if you are a Colorado Democrat.

So why did nearly 110,000 Colorado voters, about 5%, vote for Bush but fail to pull the lever for Pete Coors? And not just Coors, the Colorado state house will have a Democratic majority for the first time since bison roamed downtown Denver.

Perhaps the Democratic turn-out-the-vote effort was very successful, but many of their voters went ahead and voted for Bush anyway. If that is true, what issue drove people to vote for Bush? War would be the likely candidate.

I'd like to think that many voters appreciate the benefits of divided government. That would be an interesting topic for a post election poll.

Weather

The first break on election day goes to the Democrats, as Colorado's eastern plains are covered with blowing snow. Schools are closed or delayed, and travel is difficult.

These mostly rural areas are predominantly Republican.

Prognosticators

Collecting predictions for tomorrow's vote.

Jeralyn, Talkleft - Kerry 52%, Bush 47%, other 1%

Jesse Walker, "It's going to be close, but I think Kerry is going to take it."

Jeff Goldstein - "Bush 270 plus; screw John Kerry."

Real Clear Politics, Electoral Collage - Bush 300 to 238.

Prof. Bainbridge - Bush 48.9% to 48.1%, EC 296 - 242.

Luis Toro - Kerry, 49% to 47.5% and Ken Salazar in the Colorado Senate race.

Outside The Beltway - EC, Bush 286, Kerry 252.

Jay at Horserace Blog - Bush 51.0%, Kerry 47.3%, Nader and Others 1.7%.

More: Slate - An EC tie?

Some People Don't Care About The Election

That's Abigail. Her brother was unavailable for comment.