The Morning Blog

On a personal note...

If you drink, you probably shouldn't blog. And if you do drink and blog, you really, really shouldn't post up videos about the free market and try to present it as somehow significant to your personal relationship. Nobody is going to understand it and it's simply not going to go over very well.

However, looking at the last post, I realize that I may be the only person on Earth to drag Milton Friedman into an impromptu love letter. For that, I probably ought to be paid. Or shot.

But who cares? On with the MoBlo...

Over at the New York Times (you'll have to register to read the post. I've had issues getting through it, it kept throwing an error but whatever the problem was, it appears to be fixed), there's an article about the knife rights lobby. Evidently, they've won legislative coups in Arizona and New Hampshire and folks are now free to poke at each other with wild abandon. Which makes perfect sense to me. Sadly, I have yet to see a special interest group support the constitutionally protected right to give someone a good ol' PUNCHINNAFACE!!!!

Looks like they're going to have make "Avatar" all over again: Screw 3D, this time we'll be watching giant aliens have horrifying, ponytail sex via hologram! Seriously though, it's going to be interesting to see what sort of applications people come up with for this stuff once the price comes down. I'd imagine it could prove extremely useful to people in the medical field for example.

There's a brief piece up about Jeh Johnson, the Defense Departments general counsel and co-author of the report detailing military attitudes towards the repeal of "Don't ask, Don't Tell". The piece contains an interesting piece of information to give a sense of proportion on ending the ban on openly gay service men and women. Opponents of repeal have pointed out that 30% of military members and 60% of marines are opposed to lifting the ban. However:

The opposition to integrating the armed forces in the 1940s, Mr. Johnson said, was as high as 80 percent. “The lesson to be drawn from that,” he said, “is that very often the predictions about what is going to happen overestimate the negative consequences and underestimate the military’s ability to adapt.”

Colin Powell seems to have done quite nicely in the military, wouldn't you say?

In related news, Senator Joe Lieberman, who nearly became John McCain's running mate for the 2008 Presidential election has called out McCain for changing his standards on what would justify repealing DADT.

And finally, my last word on the subject of DADT for the day: The first man discharged under the policy has his say here. For crying out loud, they discharged a MARINE GUARD over this insane rule! That's simply maddening. On McCain and others opposition to repeal:

"It is sad. They're going to be seen as dinosaurs."

Really big game for the Steelers tonight. I wonder how much it's going to cost James Harrison?

Ahem...The FBI used a convicted forger to serve as an undercover informant on a bunch of scary, scary Muslims at their mosque. How'd that work out?

In the Irvine case, Monteilh's mission as an informant backfired. Muslims were so alarmed by his talk of violent jihad that they obtained a restraining order against him.

The GOP inches closer to fielding a mud dwelling amphibian for the 2012 race.

I'm trying to decide where I stand on this article about priests who essentially vanish after being accused of child abuse. On the one hand, I think that tabs should definitely be kept on these men. On the other, I think the church has just about as much legal authority as any other weekly book club. I for one, would be very alarmed by a religious group that made concerted efforts to track where their members were living and whom they were speaking with. Tom Cruise might disagree...

Where's George Smiley when you need him? A woman working for a British MP sitting on parliaments defense select committee has been arrested on espionage charges.

Apparently, modern foreign diplomacy is a bit like high school: If you say nasty things about your BFF they'll totally shun you. Hopefully, things will get patched up in time for prom.

You better savor that tuna sandwich you're eating...

What the hell is it with Italian politicians? How is it possible that so many of them seem so mind-bogglingly shameless in their racism? Calling it a "crescendo of idiocy" seems an understatement.

Here's an interesting view on Ireland's economic collapse. Now might be a good time to buy an Irish mansion. You can get 'em cheap.

I think that covers just about everything. Enjoy your Sunday!