Walter In Denver

Socialised Medicine Update

Wait times in Ireland have reached eight years for some procedures. Seems the government is trying to keep this problem under wraps.

Further socialising (no, wait, here it's socializing) of medicine in the US remains politically popular, if the polls are to be believed.

In related news I've been reading The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan.

Bert Wiener

I just read that he passed away. Far too young.

He was witty, clever, and a joy to be around.

Here's his blog, last updated September 10th. Some of you may remember him from local blogger bashes. I knew him several years before he got into blogging.

If I were Bert I'd have something apt and humorous to say right now. I don't.

Here's One Form Of Bias

There's a saying in libertarian circles, that if a Democrat, a Republican and a Libertarian get together to debate politics soon the Democrat and Republican will join forces against the Libertarian. True to my experience.

Related: Radley Balko writing at Hit and Run -

Huffington Post is reporting that your next regular columnist for the New York Times will be…William Kristol.

A pretty uninspiring choice. It means the Times op-ed page will be well-represented by big government liberals (Krugman, Herbert), big government moderates (Friedman, Kristof), and big government conservatives (Brooks, Kristol). I do believe that just about covers the full range of acceptable political opinion, doesn't it?

Some of the Ron Paul phenomenon might be explained by libertarians being so accustomed to being ignored.

We Must Have Our Taxes. Must.

The headline says it all -

Plan Would Let Seniors Work to Pay Taxes

Because lord help us all if we can't squeeze every penny out of each citizen.

Two notes - Boulder, CO is a 'pioneer' in the practice. And the smugness of the city bureaucrat who "added that many stay in the program as volunteers after paying off their taxes."

Because these helpless old folks just need the city labyrinth for company and companionship, I can only guess. The next time some wild-eyed libertarian radical says something about taxes equaling (partial) slavery I'll be reminded of this.

The Ron Paul Question

Perry de Havilland writes what is the essential Ron Paul post to date, Ron Paul - so what is a pro-liberty hawk supposed to think?

So then along comes Ron Paul, the first US presidential candidate since Ronald Regan with any notion whatsoever that the state is way way way too big. Moreover here comes a person who thinks the only way liberty can be preserved is to take a radical axe to Leviathan's tentacles and re-establish constitutional limited government. Cool. Very cool, in fact. So do I really really like Ron Paul? Well I like him but less than you might think as some of his remarks are borderline delusional 'troofer' stuff and that does him no credit at all. Is he actually going to win? Probably not but that is not what this article is about (commenters please note). Do I even want him to win? Well that is what this article is about.
[...]
So what would happen if Ron Paul really did win the White House in 2008? Well in my opinion, domestically speaking the United States would experience the greatest growth of liberty and (consequently) prosperity since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Monstrous tumours on the American body politic like the abuse of eminent domain, the RICO statutes and the absurdly named Patriot Act would go into the garbage heap of history where the corpses of slavery and the Jim Crow laws rot away. Absurdities like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, something that has done more to export US jobs and capital than almost anything else in the last few years, would vanish like the morning mist. That magnificent pinnacle of the European Enlightenment called the US Bill of Rights would once again be worth the paper it is written on. If these things came to pass it would, in my not so humble opinion, be a very very good thing indeed.

There's much more, and a lively discussion in the comments.

Another Reason To Love America

Headline online at The El Paso Times tonight:

Price of tamales skyrockets to $10-$14 dozen

Two causes are mentioned in the article. Care to guess?

Right. Increases in minimum wage and and corn prices, the latter due to ethanol subsidies.

Tamales are a traditional Christmas dish. BTW, tamales is plural. It's one tamal. Glad to see the EP Times get it right! Ah, never mind.

Ron Paul Just Keeps Going

Six Million more dollars for his campaign today. Just wow.

Be A Hack Prosecutor and Publicity Hound...

...and see your mug here:

Andrew P. Thomas, or just Andrew Thomas, Maricopa County, Az. (Naturally!)

Explanation here. Anyone can play this game!

An Endorsement

I'm voting for Mike Huckabee, because he's magic:

MIKE HUCKABEE

I consider myself a conservationist. I think we ought to have some cap and trade. It worked with acid rain. I think it could work with Co2 emissions. I think we ought to be out there talking about ways to reduce energy consumption and waste. And we ought to declare that we will be free of energy consumption in this country within a decade, bold as that is.

Oooh! (bold by me, quote via the Sierra Cub's Clean Energy Watch.)

The IQ Debate

For years I've been following the debate on IQ, genetics, and heredity. The latest I've read on the subject is this in the New Yorker. I'm just bright enough to realize I have nothing to add to the debate.

But I do believe I've found a relevant intelligence test. If you find these people worthwhile you may be a moron.

Robert A. Levy

The man is a role model for decent people. I could hope to do as well.

Note to self: First step, get rich.