Say Anything Blog

It has come to my attention that a brewery in Canada is sponsoring a contest to solve the problem of “beer chill”, loosely defined as beer lost when it freezes out in the snow.  They’re hoping to get a model that will predict how long a case of beer can be left out there in given weather conditions.

Leave aside for a minute the hilarious idea that drunks will be able to use a complicated thermal model—that is of course why you see cases in the snow outside every nuclear power plant.  No, let’s go to a more important matter.

I’ve seen this claim a time or two, and by and large, I’m going to have to contend that, alas, there might not be very many things simple enough for “even a liberal” to understand.

Maybe not even for conservatives; John Dewey’s desire that the factory workers of the future (that’s all of us government school grads, double alas) not learn little things like “logic” and “rhetoric” in school has borne its fruit.  Perhaps an example will explain what I’m talking about.

Nope, not another lawyer joke, but rather a thought about UND’s mascot.  I hope I’m wrong, but I’d have to guess that within a few years, UND will need to be something else besides the Fighting Sioux.

And so, I’d have to recommend that maybe, just maybe, UND ought to consider someone who used to live on the Plains, and probably spent some time in ND.  I’m referring, of course, to Sue, the T-Rex found in Faith, SD a few years back. 

Yes, “she” was found in SD, not ND, and “lives” today in Chicago, but a girl’s got to eat, so I’d guess she spent some time up towards Rob’s house, don’t you think?  And the possibilities for UND are endless.

They could talk to Answers in Genesis and possibly get a fully animatronic T-Rex for use at games.  They could play “A boy named Sue” as the team came on the field.

And best of all, they’d get to annoy the politically correct.  What’s not to like?

Robert108’s recent post about capitalism elicited some, well, “interesting” responses from “Anarchist Vegetarian,” and these responses seem to justify a little post.

You see, AV claims he’s an “anarchist,” which strictly speaking would mean that he wants no controlling legal authority or government.  As an example of his ideas, he cites “Parecon”, by Michael Albert, as an example of how one can avoid the perceived excesses of capitalism without resorting to government as an aid in socialism.

More or less, “Parecon” advocates the establishment of “citizen committees” that can vote on the allocation of resources in a “democratic” process.

Fascinating discussion going on down in the post about cellulosistic ethanol by Carrick, and one of the most relevant questions is “what can we really do with efficiency?”.

It seems to me that most people are really concentrating on “top down” solutions like this; having government control your thermostat.

However, this is not only counter to freedom, but also counter to physics.  Let me explain.

Michael Medved thinks so.

Seems that a certain native of Dixon, Illinois might have had trouble for his tax-raising, pro-abortion history as governor were he to run for office today.

Just for kicks, I visited the campaign websites of most of the major contenders for both the Democratic and Republican presidential contenders—Giuliani, Thompson, Huckabee, Romney, McCain, Paul, Clinton, Obama, and even Edwards.

A lot of things were pretty standard.  Most websites ask for you to “join” them or contribute money before letting you in—Obama’s was the worst that way.  Interestingly, Hillary’s site is fairly unique in that it doesn’t do this—though the first screen still does say “contribute.”

Then you’ve got media releases, issues statements, and so on.  One thing that’s missing, as far as I can tell, from all the sites except for one, is a basic statement of principles that animate that candidate’s campaign.

In this time of ever-increasing political invective, including attempts to deny facts that are a matter of public record, Washington’s words in his Farewell Address about the “party spirit” are as apt as ever.

Take a look at your credit reports. 

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Remember, illegals cannot work in many of the jobs they take without providing someone’s personal information.  It just might be yours.

Taking a quick look can also be very helpful at tax time (who else is reporting income to your SSN?), when looking for a job, or when applying for credit.  Make it a tradition for you & those you care about each January.

With the rise of Huckabee and Edwards in the polls in Iowa, a lot of people are perplexed; why the current surge in populism? 

The reason is simple; populism is born out of the very real wrongs suffered by the working class, and we’re ill-advised to ignore their claims.

Watching the GOP primaries, it seems to me that the main candidates have a lot in common with the Chicago Bears; they’re renowned for tenacious defense, but when it comes to offense, they’re always a few draft picks away.

Don’t believe me?  Take a look at the platforms.  Do you see anything that resembles the Contract with America?  See anyone (besides Ron Paul) who wants to actually close a government agency?  See anyone (besides Paul or Huckabee) who really has a plan to deal with oppressive taxation?