If anyone out there buys one of the new DRM free songs from the itunes store, I'd like to see the file.

I've been questioned on my politics recently by a number of people (my last post no doubt being a bit of a trigger -- I supposed I was asking for it). Sidestepping the politics, I found the following concept very interesting. As mentioned before, I think that party or election reform is desperately needed but I haven't had any concrete solutions. I ( Read more... )

Being a republican is no more, and no less, than this: the belief that, of all the possible ways to get something accomplished, having the government do it is the least effective and the least efficient. Anything more is a shameful co-opting of a powerfully simple conviction and anything less is missing the essential point.

Debate is an intellectual exercise. Perhaps I should use the more formal term "dialectic", although I consider that they both hold the same implication of argumentative rigor. In debate there is an (all too often implicit) accord that, should the logic of one side or the other be shown to be shown to have produced a contradiction, they must either ( Read more... )

I have renewed respect for Thomas Harris (and Hannibal Lecter of course) after coming across this on Wikipedia, while reading on Monoamine oxidase inhibitors and the cheese syndrome.

The first three items are familiar to Dr Hannibal Lecter, the fictional psychiatrist and serial killer. Hence his most famous line: "I ate his liver, with some fava ( Read more... )

It's been a few days since 2007 officially started, but I've been wanting to write more here and it appears fashionable to write about new years parties. In my case, I was invited by my tremendous roomie (link okay Z?) and ex-roomie-who-won't-leave (Syd) to come to a gathering of their old high school chums. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, even though ( Read more... )

Ran across this while reading Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door:

"Although I wouldn't recommend this tactic to everyone, here's my secret: If your are forced to walk somewhere dodgy, such as the Albayzin or Sacromonte areas of Grenada in Spain (tiny, thousand-year-old streets, a labyrinth where masked thieves -- usually little punk kids ( Read more... )

One of my greatest fears is to be thought of as some guy who's "smart but never really applies himself" or someone who's not willing to work hard. For a variety of reasons, I've got much farther down that road than I ever wanted to go. Not anymore. This is where I make my stand. I commit to working my ass off for the next six months until ( Read more... )

I've got a rant in the wings about the perversion of nomenclature in modern political discussion, but in the meantime I've personally come face to face with one of the more bizarre interpretations of the Patriot Act. Being in my last year of school, it's high time for me to officially sever one of the last formal ties that I have to my folks; ( Read more... )

Miranda Rights for the Internet

I. You have the right to remain silent.

You do not need to blog. You do not need to "Reply to this post." You do not need to Get MySpace, and you do not need to Facebook Me. If you  say nothing, the blogosphere will not deflate and strangers on message boards will not miss your advice. If you say nothing, the internet ( Read more... )