Feast / Famine

I haven't posted in several weeks, because the work was overwhelming. A great problem to have, as now illustrated by having almost none.

With some down time, I've decided to go forward with one of the many projects I've put to the back burner for years- selling my record collection.

I think I'm going to start selling piecemeal, beginning with the 7" records. I doubt I'll start anywhere in particular, just start pulling them out of the boxes and listing them on eBay. I think I have around 2,000 or so. Best case scenario is that I end up with about 10-15, those with sentimental value, where the artist thanked me on the sleeve, or like the My Dad Is Dead "Shine" 7", numbered "0001/1500", which I invested in. I'm keeping that one!

If you want something, looking for a particular 7" record from some '77 punk band, or early 90s noise rocker, drop me a line. Just know that I'm selling, and looking to supplement my dwindling income with this. No stimulus checks coming my way, after all. I'm not too big to fail.

I'll post the eBay links when the time comes.

A Useful Way To Think About Health Care Solutions

I was very taken by Harvard economist Greg Mankiw's blog post about institutions and trust. He and I are of a like mind.

In sum, Mankiw asks, If you are more apt to trust government as an institution than free market competitors, AND you don't trust government run by Republicans, why would you put something as important as health care in the hands of the federal government, when historically Republicans run the government about half of the time?

Quotes, from Mankiw's post:

I tend to distrust power unchecked by competition. This makes me particularly suspicious of federal policies that take a strong role in directing private decisions. I am much more willing to have state and local governments exercise power in a variety of ways than for the federal government to undertake similar actions.

...

This philosophical inclination most likely influences my views of the healthcare debate. The more power a centralized government authority asserts, the more worried I am that the power will be misused either purposefully or, more likely, because of some well-intentioned but mistaken social theory. I prefer reforms that set up rules of the game but end up with power over key decisions as decentralized as possible.

I would add that even if the power is given to a well-intentioned and correct social theory, it will become distant, static, and inefficient as a bureaucracy develops and becomes entrenched. Certainly, this is a large complaint about the insurance giants, and they have nothing on the federal government in that department.

We Want To Give Power?

Why am I so opposed to government run health care? Because I'm hard pressed to think of anything important that government does well. For reference, consider our economy.

Yes, the Federal Reserve is a private bank, but it is given power to control our currency by our federal government. Ben Bernanke is the 'Czar' of the Fed. He was wrong about housing, wrong about the poosibility of recession, wrong about the strength of economic fundamentals.



Video courtesy Lew Rockwell. Great article.

This is typical. 'Stimulus' packages don't work, so our federal government does stimulus packages. Inept people run the show. Socialized medicine doesn't work, so of course we are headed that way, and no doubt, some inept clown with be the 'Czar' of health care.

If I had a surgery I was putting off, I'd get it done pronto.

(h/t: Wayne Kirk)

Indy Star Rushes to Irrelevance

Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that trying to view the Indianapolis Star online now requires a password? Go ahead- give it a whirl: http://www.indystar.com/

The management seems hell-bent on making sure nobody reads. If I can't look for free at the Indy Star, no problem, I'll look at other free sites for news. There are plenty of them. The Star doesn't generate enough original content to make it worth my while to subscribe, and besides, they treated my campaign poorly, so I won't subscribe on principle.

I can think of just one or two subscription news websites that make any money. The Star's management has to know this. Maybe they just want to fold at this point.

Enjoy your accelerated trip to oblivion, Indy Star!

Update: Followed up on Todd's comment and found the Star fully accessible once again.

Obama Explains Shrinking American Job Base, Inadvertently

Freudian slip! From a NY Times report:

One evil he came here to fight is the pernicious mix of greed, famine and war that has kept Africa down. He delivered a blunt message that from his predecessors might not have been received the same way. Instead, it was cast by aides as hard truths from a loving cousin.

“No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers,” he said. “No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the port authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end.” (emphasis mine).

Physician, heal thyself! Obama's Administration oversees an IRS that punishes American businesses just as he advises against. Does he comprehend anything that crosses his teleprompter?

RIP Billy Mays

Now, here is a celebrity I'll miss. From CNN's report:

The 50-year-old known for his shouting OxiClean ads was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. The Hillsborough County medical examiner will perform an autopsy, Tampa police Lt. Brian Dugan said.

Mays was on the US Airways flight from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Tampa on Saturday that had a hard landing at Tampa International Airport when the plane's front tire blew out. There were no reported injuries on Flight 1241, US Airways told CNN.

According to a local Tampa TV station, Mays said: "All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."

While always amused by Mays' delivery, I first got some greater insight into the man as one who was at once deadly serious about his business, and yet able to laugh at himself and enjoy the absurdity of it, thanks to Sex Pistol Steve Jones' old radio show, Jonesy's Jukebox. Ever since that show, I absolutely loved hearing Mays' pitches. This is a great bit of fun:

Pathetic

(Charlevoix, MI)- So, we arrived in Charlevoix for Ame's first marathon, and after a long drive dinner was beckoning. TVs were on in the place, and it was all Michael Jackson.

I could care less.

Really- We have a vote on cap & trade coming up, North Korea throwing nuclear rocks at the knees of the United States, Iran is coming unravelled, unemployment is rising and nearing double digits, the US is still in Iraq and Afghanistan... and people are riveted to coverage, 98% Michael Jackson, 2% Farrah Fawcett.

Bread & circuses. We are a very pathetic, very distracted nation and society. Watch this hideous cap & trade be passed while people watch 'news' reports about the pedophile.

Update: I just got a call from Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty, urging me to contact my Congressman about cap & trade. Thank goodness he's not distracted. I had already contacted Dan Burton's office. I hope you contact your House Rep also.

Craig Coxe Interview Posted

I was happy to see my lengthy interview with ex-NHL player Craig Coxe posted at last on HockeyFights.com. 

The main thing that delayed the posting was the ambition of it. There is so much that could be done with it, because the interview was videotaped by Steve Wainstead. The video of Coxe sharing his stories really brings life to the mere dialogue. More than that, the ability to run Coxe's voice over clips of his fights is an incredible opportunity... but a lot of work. So, at least for now, the transcribed interview is posted. Check it out via this link.

For a look at what is possible for this interview, take a look at this snip from it, where Coxe talks about his scraps with Bennett Wolf, in the AHL:

Now, look at a clip of the scraps themselves:

It would be awesome to edit the clips such that you are watching the fight, and hearing Coxe speak about it.

A lot of potential there. Coxe talked about scraps with Joe Kocur, Dave Brown, John Kordic, Troy Crowder, and Ken Baumgartner, plus the Madison Square Garden incident. For now, I'm extremely pleased to see the interview itself have the light of day. Coxe was a magnificent interview subject.

How Did This Happen?

I received a copy of the property tax statement from the Hamilton County Treasurer, and found that my property taxes went down by about 12% from last year.

This is remarkable, because they went down 10% the year before. I am astonished. So, why?

One large item: A "Supplemental Deduction" item added to my table of deductions, roughly equal to my Homestead Deduction.

It's still quite a soup sandwich. The "State property tax relief" item went down by 90%, meaning, I liked that one a whole lot more last year... but it's hard not to like this "Supplemental Deduction". Here's an interesting breakdown on the distibution on my property tax money, by taxing authority, by percentage change:

State: -100%
County: -15.73%
Township: +98.26%
School District: -54.06%
Corporation: -12.76%
Library: -18.31%
TIF: -22.5%

I guess that's a plug for eliminating Township Government. Everybody else seems to get that the economy is down, and therefore so should the spending be down.

Next year, the property tax caps will kick in for residential property at 1%. As my net liability was under 1% this year, I'm pretty happy with the progress there. It still isn't the elimination of property taxes, but it is movement in the right direction.

Now, I'll be interested to learn how others are affected. I still expect Marion County, and others, to feel it moving in the wrong direction.

Light Rail Crash in DC Area

No mode of transportation is without risk. Rail commutes are often touted as a safe alternative to auto commutes. I'd like to see comparisons on injuries and fatalities per passenger mile. I know this: When the train wrecks, many people are injured at once, with fatalities. From a USA Today report:

One Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another at the height of the capital city's Monday evening rush hour, killing at least six people and injuring scores of others as the front end of the trailing train jackknifed violently into the air and fell atop the first.

Cars of both trains were ripped open and smashed together in the worst accident in the Metrorail system's 33-year history. District of Columbia fire spokesman Alan Etter said crews had to cut some people out of what he described as a "mass casualty event." Rescue workers propped steel ladders up to the upper train cars to help survivors scramble to safety. Seats from the smashed cars spilled out onto the track.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said six were confirmed dead. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin said rescue workers treated 76 people at the scene and sent some of them to local hospitals, six with critical injuries. A search for further victims continued into the night.

Horrific stuff. Inexplicable quote:

"I don't know the reason for this accident," Metro's Catoe said. "I would still say the system is safe, but we've had an incident."

Yeah. Ok. Nothing to see here. I get it. What a load. If 6 people are killed when a train has crashed violently, and you cannot explain it, the system is decidedly unsafe, and dangerous. When you can explain the cause, and have it fixed, then the system is safer. Not safe, but more safe, since no mode of transportation is safe. All entail risk.

I know I don't want this in Fishers, sound economics aside.

No Doubt About ABC's Bias

For years, many have asserted that the media is biased to the left, and many others have countered that it isn't, or that corporations own the media, so it is biased to the right. Then there's Fox News.

Say what you will for the rest of the media, but ABC has removed all doubt. From the Drudge Report:

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda: ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

The Director of Communications at the White House Office of Health Reform is Linda Douglass, who worked as a reporter for ABC News from 1998-2006.

Ok, my friends on the left. Not even Fox News does this. Can we at last say that ABC is liberally biased? I can't see how one could say otherwise.

Now, for my friends on the right who are about to have an aneurism, take a breath. You believe in private property, so remember that ABC has every right in the world to take whatever bias it wants, to air whatever it wants, to not air at its' whim, and to refuse any advertising, for any or no reason at all. You don't have to watch, and you certainly never have to listen to anyone who defends ABC as non-biased ever again.

I read the statement from the Republican Party, and concluded they are missing something. Again, from Drudge:

The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.

ABC is a private company. The notion of the 'public airwaves' is crap. That Republicans don't get it is telling. Besides, cutting the Republicans out of the debate hardly means it can't be bi-partisan. It's time for the Libertarians to steal the show.

Good For Him!

The Indiana soldier on his way to Iraq who put his original 1788 copy of The Federalist up for auction has cashed in. Per the Indy Star report:

An Indiana soldier’s rare leather-bound first edition copy of volume one of “The Federalist” has sold for $80,000 at an auction.

Indiana National Guard Capt. Nathan Harlan was in high school when he paid $7 for the 1788 book that’s the first part of a two-volume book of essays calling for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

I love that someone treasures the volume to the tune of $80,000, and that the money went to a soldier.

Now, be sure to read a few essays. I'd recommend Federalist 84. For as much as I disagree with Hamilton's general vision for the scope of the Federal Government, he was spot-on about how an enumeration of the people's rights could well undermine the interpretation of a constitution meant to limit government, and not the people. It was controversial in its' day, and the matter has hardly been resolved. A goodie.

Bailouts & Stimulus Are The Problem

You've probably heard of Peter Schiff- the man who was the town crier, telling anyone who would listen that the sub-prime market would collapse, and then it did. Here's Schiff on the Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Peter Schiff
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

Republicans set the fire. Democrats brought gasoline to 'fix' it. You need the Libertarians now more than ever.

H/T to Eric Schansberg for the clip!

Federalist Papers Going Once!

I love this item. A Hoosier soldier had the good fortune to stumble across an original edition of The Federalist, edition 1788, and picked it up for $7. From the Indy Star:

A rare leather-bound book that played an influential role in America's early history could bring a windfall for a soldier training for his second tour in Iraq.

Indiana National Guard Capt. Nathan Harlan was a high school junior when he paid $7 for a 1788 first edition of volume one of "The Federalist" -- a two-volume book of essays calling for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

I hope he gets a big pile of cash. I also hope this story might spur even one Star reader to investigate and read The Federalist. A boon for the soldier. A boon for our society.

Tooting My Own Horn

The most recent installment of the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast turns the tables on me. Rather than hosting as the interviewer, I am the guest, as the Chair of the Hamilton County LP. The guest host was more than capable. LPIN Executive Director Chris Spangle is a radio pro, a former producer at Indy's WXNT for the Abdul in the Morning show.

I answered Chris' questions about my plans for growing the Hamilton County affiliate, and the challenges in reaching voters in a traditionally Republican county, and one that is split between the highly developed suburban landscape of Carmel, Fishers, and Noblesville, and the rural and small towns of Sheridan, Atlanta, and Strawtown.

Here's the link to the podcast archive.

You can also subscribe to get every podcast episode downloaded to your iTunes or other service. Follow this link to subscribe. All 30 podcasts are available!

No TV? No Big Deal

In five days- you know, unless they can't pull it off, as was the case in January- all the broadcast TV stations will switch to digital, and the Kole household will lose the remaining 7 or 8 channels we have had since we pulled the plug on cable two years ago. Per the Indy Star:

The clock is ticking if you haven't made the switch to digital. On Friday, federal law requires television stations to stop broadcasting in analog. Recently released Nielsen data show Indianapolis is the 16th-least-prepared market. More than 40,000 households -- or 3.6 percent -- are not ready.

Only 3.6%? I'm amazed at how crucially important Americans find their televisions to be. Or, for that matter, how important entertainment is regarded.

If you ask me about movies made in the last 10 years, you'll get a blank from me. I'm astonished at how so many who are not named Ebert or Socey have encyclopedic knowledge of every movie Ben Stiller has ever made... and yet couldn't begin to tell you what the 4th Amendment is about, or what the Enumerated Powers are, or what their state income tax rate is, or who their representative in municipal government is.

So, government colluded with electronics retailers to needlessly create demand for new devices? Count me out. I don't need it. TV is the heroin that helps keep the populace distracted and stupid... and poorer. I can't believe how many 'poor' people subscribe to cable at $100/month. It's all an incredible misplacement of values.

Best Wishes, Andy Horning

With Andy Horning departing Indiana for Texas, after so many mostly Libertarian campaigns for office, we're seeing many nice tributes to the man, several of which go, "I'm a Libertarian because of Andy Horning".

Well, I can't say that's my story too. I was a Libertarian back in Ohio, when it became apparent in mid-2002 that I would be moving to Indianapolis with Ame. I didn't know anybody in Indy. I didn't even have a job lined up, so I was looking to make associations right away. So, I called the Libertarian Party of Indiana's office, talked with then-Executive Director Brad Klopfenstein, asking where I could get active upon arrival.

No hesitation. Brad directed me to Andy's campaign for Congress.

I was most impressed. I was leaving a state where the Libertarian Party lacked ballot access. I was never deeply involved with the LPO, because it was scarcely like a political party at all. If you can't get on the ballot, you essentially don't exist. But Andy Horning fulfilled everything I expected a Libertarian candidate for Congress to be: He is something of a statesman. His positions are well-reasoned. His delivery smooth and sure. His temper even. I felt great about my move, politically. Everything that Ohio couldn't be, because of the repressive ballot access laws, Indiana seemed to be. Before I even knew my neighbors, I was delivering the Hoosier Libertarian newspaper to every door in my neighborhood, in an effort to promote Andy's campaign.

Andy Horning is one large reason I ran for Secretary of State, beginning in late 2004. Yes, by then he had jumped ship and was running for the Republicans, but the purpose for my running was established: to preserve the ability of Libertarian candidates to have the ballot access.

I was delighted when Andy came back to the Libertarians, and accepted the 2008 nomination for Governor. He was running with us, on the ballot access I helped preserve. That was a private observation and pleasure, until now.

The last political thing I did with Andy was to sit down with him for an interview for the Libertarian party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast. He was working in Louisville, and when the issue of state sovereignty began to arise in Indiana and several other states, there was no other person I wished to interview on the subject. Andy answered as sometimes only Andy can- with a somewhat confounding, surprising response, but one that was wholly consistent with his view of the US and Indiana Constitutions. He was speaking off the cuff, but he was as scholarly as a university professor... and he was truly just gabbing on his lunch break.

So, I'll miss you, Andy. Indiana's loss is Texas' gain.

Never Wonder Why Some Libertarians Dislike Democrats

I couldn't believe what I was reading this morning, in an article on Andy Horning's leaving Indiana later this month. From the Indy Star report:

A confident public speaker and skilled debater, Horning has been the face of the Indiana Libertarian Party for a decade and has run for offices ranging from county recorder to governor.

"I don't think he made any good points, but he made his points in a way that you didn't dislike the man," said Dan Parker, the Democratic state chairman.

This makes Andy rather unlike Dan Parker.

It seems that Indiana Democrats know only one speed: attack. If there's one time when one can say nice, flattering things about a member of an opposing party while they are still alive, it's when they are leaving your area. Alas, Parker.

When I was running for Secretary of State a few years ago, Ame & I hosted some fundraisers in our home, and she was always taken aback, as a Democrat herself, by the contempt some Indiana Libertarians hold for Democrats. This is pretty typical fare, so there shouldn't be any surprise at it.

Hamilton County Libertarian Meet-Up

Our Meet-Up group meets the first Thursday of every month. Come join us tomorrow in Noblesville! The discussion is informal, the food & beer is delicious, and our group is growing each month.

Thursday, June 4, 2009
Barley Island, Noblesville
7pm - ?

RSVP here, if you plan to come. It helps us allow Barley Island how many people to expect. They are dedicating a server to our group, since we slammed them last time.

We can talk about anything, although the GM bailout and the Indiana budget are bound to be hot topics. See you there!

Quick Reaction To Sotomayor Nomination

I don't know much about Sonia Sotomayor. Why would I? Judges are not known to us the way lawmakers are, or even governors of other states are. I figure that's as it ought to be, justice being blind and all.

So, the first article I read on the nomination has two passages that have me hoping for a miracle defeat:

Even before she was nominated, conservative activists were describing her as a judicial activist who would put feelings above the Constitution.

Sotomayor seemed to take the matter head on. She said the rule of law is the foundation of all basic rights and the principles set forth by the Founding Fathers endure. "Those principles," she said at the White House, "are as meaningful and relevant in each generation as the generation before."

and

Sotomayor has spoken about her pride in her ethnic background and has said that personal experiences "affect the facts that judges choose to see."

"I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging," she said in a speech in 2001. "But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage."

I don't want a Supreme Court Justice, left or right, who puts feelings ahead of the Constitution. It seems to me that we have eight Justices that do that now, and as such, the next appointment will merely replace one of those eight. No improvement. I hope Justice Kennedy lives to be 135.

And I certainly don't want a racist, sexist Justice. That last quote makes me very uneasy. Imagine if a white man had said that. There would be references to linens as costume, and organizations using the letters between J and L. But instead, this racism and sexism is 'historic'.

Thus, I don't like the nature of the nomination. From the same article, the first statement:

Reaching for history, President Barack Obama on Tuesday chose federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court

I don't want nominations, appointments, or elections based on the color of one's skin, one's sex organs, or one's national origin. I want this done on the basis of a resume, and resume only. Let's stop this idiocy of being 'historic'. Rule of law, not of men.

Bush's Third Term

I hope the folks who sported the "No Third Term" bumper stickers in the Fall of last year as tasting the buyer's remorse. President Obama is changing so little besides the names we call certain policies. It's so apparent, that even the commentators on the Left can help but notice it.



Three cheers for Rachel Maddow! I deeply respect her integrity for this report. It would have been easy enough for her to report on Obama's anti-Bush remarks while sweeping the subtance that makes Obama's policies exactly the same as Bush's under the rug. Change, my eye!

So, what about the Right? From Gene Healy at Cato at Liberty:

Since Rich Lowry, Karl Rove, and Charles Krauthammer have all admitted that Obama’s anti-terror policies are substantially the same as Bush’s, I assume they’ll refrain from arguing that Obama’s making the country less safe, and they’ll hold the recriminations if and when there’s another terrorist attack. Right?

I wouldn't hold my breath.

Excellent Convention

I spent Saturday in Clarksville, Indiana (north of the Ohio River of Louisville) for the joint conventions of the Libertarian Party of Indiana, and of Kentucky. I was rather impressed.

Right off the top, I liked the cost savings made available by working jointly. Rather than having two sets of expenses, one set allowed for more money to be allocated for speakers, and I have no doubt that the quality of them had a great deal to do with the record attendance for an off-year, where not a single candidate for office was nominated. I also enjoyed the opportunity to discuss regional differences with our neighbors to the south.

I suspect the attendance growth also can be explained by the sense I get of growing dissatisfaction with the two older parties. There were many new faces among the Indiana delegates.

But due to my 2006 campaign for Secretary of State, it was terrific to be with so many of the people who worked alongside me, and in support of me. I only wish I could have stayed an extra day.

On to business, the convention was a gold mine of interview subjects for the podcast. In no particular order, I interviewed:

Al Cox, Brown County
Ed Coleman, Indianapolis
Ryan Liedtke, St Joseph County
Doug Horner, Fort Wayne
Rebecca Sink-Burris, Bloomington
Sam Goldstein, Chair, Libertarian Party of Indiana
Ken Moellman, Chair, Libertarian Party of Kentucky
Luke McKellar, Ohio Central Committe Chair
Wayne Allyn Root, candidate for President 2012

I also recorded the speeches of:

Daniel Williams, on drug policy
Goldstein, acceptance speech
Radley Balko, Senior Editor, Reason Magazine
Root, on the media and his campaign

Look for much to come from the convention on the podcast in the next several weeks!

Podcast Posted

The latest is an interview with Mark Rutherford, former Chair of the Libertarian Party of Indiana. Mark reflected on his tenure, and the many ways the party grew during that time, and since. 

I think the most insightful comments were about the Party surviving certain transitions. Small and growing organizations can become stale if one person leads for too long. Worse than that, weak organizations fail to make transitions when the time comes. 

Here's the link to the podcast archive.

Rutherford will be speaking at the LPIN's joint convention with the Kentucky Libertarians this weekend, in Clarksville IN, just north of Louisville KY. The convention has a pretty exciting list of speakers, topped by Reason Magazine contributor Radley Balko, who also runs The Agitator blog, which has long been linked on my blog, at the right. Dr. Eric Schansberg, Wayne Allyn Root, and Daniel Williams round out a list of fine speakers.

See me in Clarksville. Who knows? I may interview you for a future podcast!

NPR on Pepsi Throwback

Because all politics and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Linkage.

Then again, the reason high fructose corn syrup is used more generally than cane sugar is political, with tariffs making sugar more expensive than true market price, and subsidies making HFCS less expensive.

iTunes Now Carrying Podcast!

I'm very excited to report that the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast is now available to anyone worldwide via the iTunes Store!

I had recently submitted the podcast feed information, and just checked a few minutes ago with the search 'Libertarian Party', and there it was.

If simply searching with the word 'libertarian', the podcast is currently #95 on the list. As more people download for free and subscribe, the podcast will climb the ladder and bee seen sooner by folks searching the random world of free libertarian podcasts. You know what to do.

Hooray, Pepsi!

I've never been a big fan of Pepsi, as I was raised in a Coke household. I like Coke better because it's not as sweet as Pepsi. I'm sweet enough already, thank you.

So, this post may seem ironic, because I'm celebrating PepsiCo's "new" product line, their Throwbacks: Pepsi & Mountain Dew. Throwback? They're made with sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. From an AgWeek report:

FARGO, N.D. - A trial marketing campaign with sugar-containing soda pop manufacturer Pepsi called Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback.

That’s good news for the sugar industry, says David Berg, president and chief executive officer of American Crystal Sugar Co.

“We’ve known this is coming for some time, but the brands are on store shelves now,” Berg says. The product is available in Fargo in single 20-ounce bottles and Berg’s sources tell him 12-packs of 12-ounce cans will be on local shelves by May 1. The campaign is being supported by radio advertising.

Bert says trade publications say the campaign is an eight-week trial.

No need to wait! I bought a 12-pack of Pepsi Throwback at the Target store in Fishers. If it's here, it's probably at your grocer too.

I go out of my way for sodas made with sugar. I sometimes get a Coke at the Mexican grocer, because they make it with sugar in Mexico. Passover is a good time to get Coke, because the sugar version is Kosher. I know the stores that have A&W root beer in the bottle, made with sugar (For instance, there is a Marathon off Exit 36 on I-65, that has A&W and Sunkist. When in Cleveland, I go to the Marc's stores. Etc.). So, having a sugar Pepsi in mass production, even if only for eight weeks, is sweet news indeed.

Sodas I savor. They have sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.

The sweetening of drinks in the US is a result of politics. Sugar flat out tastes better than HFCS, but because there are tariffs on imported sugar making it artifically more expensive than it could be, HFCS is generally used instead, because its' price is artificially lower thanks to corn subsidies.
This Wikipedia link is a good springboard for sugar/HFCS reading.

For those who wonder what the fuss is in terms of drinking the stuff, here's your chance to find out. Line up a regular Pepsi with a Throwback and taste test them. The sugar sweetness is far less sticky in the mouth, and leaves me less thirsty than when I started. Drinking an HFCS drink leaves me thirstier than before drinking!

Hey Coca-Cola? You paying attention?

Build It And They Will Come, Eh?

(Crawfordsville, IN)- One of the current 'stimulus' spending targets is high-speed passenger rail service, and as a railfan, it caught my attention that one corridor singled out for attention is Cincinnati to Chicago, through Indianapolis. From an Indy Star report:

The administration identified the corridor linking Chicago, Indianapolis and Cincinnati as one of 10 where the president wants to see efficient train service zipping along at 79 mph to 150 mph.

Dennis Hodges of the Indiana High Speed Rail Association said passenger routes from Indianapolis to Cincinnati and Chicago now run at about 45 mph; upgraded tracks and trains would raise that speed to 110 mph.

Crawfordsville in on that current route. Amtrak currently serves this run, so I thought it might be meaningful to look at its' current standing. From Amtrak's website:

One can currently commute from Crawfordsville on Amtrak's Cardinal #51 train. It departs Crawfordsville at 7:28am, and arrives in Chicago at 10:35am, all times local. The cost is $19 for a regular coach seat. Coming home, Hoosier State #850 departs Chicago at 5:45pm and returns to Crawfordsville at 10:35pm. The return trip is another $19.

Pretty workable, if you have a late starting work day. It's a long day, but what else would you expect, commuting from 150 or so miles away? These are the only trains that pass through all day, in either direction, so do make sure to be on time!

How many people ride? Hard to say definitively, but here's the evidence I could collect in the late morning:

Amtrak's current station is the thing that looks like a bus shelter, standing here in front of the old Monon RR station, that is now the home to a massage therapist and other businesses. There is no staff here: No ticket agent, no porter. There isn't even a rest room.

Amtrak's dedicated portion of this parking lot in Crawfordsville has 12 spaces. 5 are occupied by commuters. One is my car.

Who knows? Maybe there is a lot of walk-up ridership. Maybe each vehicle had seven people carpooling. Maybe, though, people choose not to ride.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers has statistics on Amtrak's various routes. According to NARP, 31,099 fares rode the Hoosier State in 2008. See pg 37 of NARP's factsheet. For comparison? According to the most recent (2002) INDOT count, the least travelled part of I-65 north of Indianapolis saw 26,330 vehicles PER DAY.

I know how it goes with these programs: If they had a lot of riders, it would stand as proof of the public's support and therefore the worthiness of public funding. As it shows few riders, it's proof that if only the service were upgraded- made to run faster, in this case- surely more people would ride. No matter what, though, shovel more money at it.

There is no comparing Europe's high-speed rail to American passenger service. I've ridden Spain's AVE train from Madrid to Sevilla, and it's a hoot. It runs at about 180mph. Total trip time is about 2 hours. What makes it different is that the rails are dedicated solely to the AVE train. No slow passenger trains to clog the rails with, and no freight trains.

In the US, and on the former Monon at Crawfordsville, the rails are owned by the freight companies, here, by CSX. Passenger service is second fiddle. The railroads had been trying to rid themselves of passenger service from the 1950s until finally in 1971 Amtrak was formed. Until then, the federal government forbade American railroads from eliminating passenger service, forcing those companies to operate these trains at a loss for years or even decades.

The Administration's plan is to upgrade the rails on existing routes. Well, that's nice. I'm sure the freight railroad will appreciate that gift. But it doesn't change the fact that the freight trains still take priority over passenger trains. Do this math for me: A passenger train capable of 200mph is going to go how fast if trailing a freight train going 35mph?

So, what are we going to do? Kick the freight trains off their own tracks? Build new dedicated corridors? Anybody think that land acquisition through Chicago will be easy or cheap?

Notice, I haven't even begun to talk about the operational subsidies that allow Amtrak to survive. A quick look at Amtrak's balance sheet shows that passenger fares barely cover salaries and benefits to Amtrak employees, and don't even cover bothersome things like train operation (you know, the core of the enterprise), or fuel.

In 2007, Amtrak lost more than a billion dollars. Who ate that? We did. Those of us who don't even ride.

Kole At Hoosiers For Fair Taxation

I have accepted Melyssa Donaghy's invitation, along with Indianapolis City-County Councilor Ed Coleman, and recent Congressional candidate Sean Shepard to contribute to HFFT. Here's my first post there:

Introducing Mike Kole

Many thanks to Melyssa for her invitation to me to contribute to Hoosiers For Fair Taxation while she takes a breather.

HFFT is one of the blogs I have long linked to on my own blog, Kole Hard Facts of Life, because I value the perspective that so long as we have to have taxation as a necessary evil, for the funding of government (another necessary evil), it should at least be fair, and above all, taxation should be prioritized such that the proper functions of government are funded first, and everything else last and least, or in a better world, not at all.

Not a single day goes by that I see a news account of government funding something that, in a better world, would be funded exclusively by private funds. Today's example come from an Indy Star report:

Hundreds of Hoosiers braved patchy rain and cool winds swirling around Monument Circle at noon Monday to rally in support of the arts.

Known as "Indy Culture Matters," the rally was organized by the Indianapolis Consortium of Arts Administrators to raise the public profile of cultural institutions and their value, particularly amid the economic crisis.

John Pickett, executive director of the Indianapolis Opera and vice president of the consortium, acknowledged last week that in addition to simply raising awareness, the rally stemmed from frustration at the level of financial support given to the arts in Indianapolis.

This year, for instance, the Arts Council of Indianapolis received $1,870,000 from the city budget and the Capital Improvement Board in public funding for the arts -- a decrease of $673,500 from 2008.

Pickett is frustrated? Nearly $1.9 million received for something that is nothing like a proper function of government? And, at a time of economic downturn? I believe the phrase you're looking for is 'Thank You".

The more I learn about the Capital Improvement Board, the more I have come to believe it should be eliminated entirely. What about art is a 'capital improvement'? I think the time has come not merely for the CIB to explain itself on selected spending misadventures, but to justify and explain its' very existence.

Art is a wonderful thing. It's also a personal thing, a personal expression of the individual artists, whether painters, sculptors, stage performers or musicians. It is absolutely wrong to take the money from the community as a whole to fund the personal expressions of select artists of political favor. You see, a great deal of art is supported very fabulously commercially. But the various arts that line up at the public trough tend to be the favorites of yesteryear, lacking the ability to attract enough willing support, i.e.: customers, so they turn to political favor instead, where they need not be popular to support themselves, just popular enough to sway a weak-kneed politican or two.

Mr. Pickett, you have raised my awareness. Now I wish you less public money for 2010 than 2009, and in a better world, none. Please consider approaching those who claim to value the various arts, and ask them for their personal expression of support, in the form of a donation, leaving the pockets of those who don't unpicked.

The Kole Garden

For the benefit of my old hockey teammate Colin Sikon, here's the visual proof that there really is a garden, and that I'm not merely a great fiction writer. Goalies always are a little odd.

The reason I decided to build a raised garden was that when our property was developed, the topsoil was scraped off and sold, rather than stored and replaced. I was planting into clay. The carrots couldn't push through the soil at all.

The framing goes 6' x 14'. Proper drainage, always.

Sifted topsoil, although I added sand at the north end, for the benefit of the cucumbers.

Lettuce, cilantro and basil, after five weeks. The rosemary is crowded out between the lettuce & cilantro.

The big downfall last year was that my work travel schedule was still heavy, and I built the raised bed over several weekends. I didn't plant until July 1! The lettuce was bitter, and the carrots didn't mature until November. I had to water furiously, starting plants in the height of the summer heat.

Having planted on time this year, I'm hopeful for better lettuce. Thing is, I don't know how much better I could hope for anything else to be. That beautiful topsoil made such great produce last year! I had never eaten tomatoes or carrots so delicious. Well, my friend Greg McNair grew awesome tomatoes at his farm up in NW Indiana, and made the most incredible pizza with homemade sauce and sliced several varieties of tomatoes to top it. That was pretty great, too.

Garden Largely Planted

I got a chuckle out of the reactions to my Facebook comments that I had pretty much planted my garden, what with Fishers being relatively in the Deep South as far as all of my gardening friends back in Cleveland are concerned. Yes, we get a good jump on it way down here.

Funny enough, I planted peas and lettuce back on March 7. They can withstand the frost and snow.

Anyhow, I planted more lettuce and peas, spinach, red bell peppers, tomatoes, basil, oregano, and parsley. I still have to add cucumbers and cilantro.

My criteria for planting is unchanged from the last few years: We like 'em; I can grow 'em cheaper than I can buy 'em; the taste is superior to what we can buy; I can grow 'em easily, without pesticides. Last year's tomatoes were the champs of the garden, as they met all four criteria. They were amazingly good, as were the carrots. I had never had carrots with so much flavor. We found out how much flavor carrots lose in transit.

The herbs are wonderful, as they also meet the criteria. I used so many herbs in soups this winter that I added the oregano and parsley. We dropped broccoli and green beans, as the broccoli was absolutely eaten alive by the cabbage moth caterpillars. The beans were just kind of ordinary, and I can get that at the grocery store any time I please.

There's some variety within the things I plant:

Basil: Genovese and Lemon

Lettuce: Four Seasons, Black Seeded Simpson, Granada, Aragula, and Endive

Tomato: Brandywine... so far.

I have room for six more tomato plants, which I will plant in stages so as to stagger their output. I still haven't settled on which varieties to go with, although I'm thinking about these heirloom varieties: Black Krim, Martino's Romas, Purple Calabash, and Livingston's Golden Queens. Anybody ever grow any of these?

Yesterday Was Tax Freedom Day!

I was surprised to learn that April 13 was 2009's Tax Freedom Day.

What is that? It's the day the average American is now working for himself. Up to this point, from January 1 through April 13, every cent you earned was committed to paying taxes.

The good news is, this Tax Freedom Day comes 8 days earlier than last year's Day. The bad news?

(1) the recession has reduced tax collections even faster than it has reduced income, and
(2) the stimulus package includes large temporary tax cuts for 2009 and 2010. Nevertheless, Americans will pay more in taxes than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.

Does anybody think it just that we spend more on taxes than food, clothing and housing combined? Please chime in if you do.

Again, this surprised me. The conventional wisdom is that when Democrats take office, taxes go up, right?

Oh, right. Smoke & mirrors. A shell game. Deficit spending. That which made Ronald Reagan a criminal. That which the glorious Clinton Administration didn't engage in. That which Democrats so recently campaigned against. Any cognitive dissonance, Democrats? Or, is all justified when the a guy wearing blue does it?

New Podcast - Libertarian Participation in Tea Parties

I sat down with Travis Zellers for the latest podcast. Travis is the membership coordinator for the Marion County Libertarian Party, and is helping to coordinate Libertarian participation in the Indianapolis Tea Party.

Listen via this link to the podcast archive.

Because the Tea Parties are non-partisan events in which Libertarians will be joining forces with a wide range of participants, just like the recent Revolt at the Statehouse, I was interested to learn what lessons were learned to control our message, and to avoid negative associations being cast on some participating groups.

Tea Party? Count Me In!

I will be participating in the Indianapolis Tea Party, proudly. Sure, the message isn't about 'taxation without representation' as it was in Boston back in 1773, but the spirit seems the same to me. It's about justice.

The Colonists objected because they lacked a literal voice in government and in the taxes that affected them, because it was unjust that they shouldn't have a voice. Tax protesters are up in arms primarily about the bailouts, started with the Bush Administration, and continued by the Obama Administration.

My position is that it is unjust to transfer wealth to private corporations, or individual citizens, to relieve them from the predictable outcomes of their bad decisions and often fraudulent actions.

I don't believe it was just that a single penny was sent to AIG, or Bank of America, or Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or to any mortgage holder. I do not want to see the Capital Improvement Board bailed out in Marion County, either.

It was wrong to wantonly print money in order to give it largely to politically connected friends, calling it 'stimulus'. It was unjust to devalue our currency this way when the Bush Administration did it, and unjust again when the Obama Administration did. It doesn't work, besides.

In sum, democracy can be a real sham on freedom when some citizens are declared losers by a majority of representatives, and others winners. It's worse than taxation without representation, because you want to have faith that your representative is one who defends you, rather than sells you out to some corporate interest that contributed mightily to his campaign warchest. As the Franklin quote goes, 'Democracy must be more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner,' yet that's exactly where we are. Representatives gather to decide who should have his pocket picked, for the benefit of another.

That should make any decent person mad as hell. Hence, a protest.

There are a few lessons that seem to have been learned from the 'Revolt at the Statehouse' from a couple weeks back, where the result was diffuse, and the Libertarians were singled out for mockery. I like these items from the Indianapolis Tea Party website:

RULES FOR A PEACEFUL PROTEST
NO STICKS ON SIGNS (Statehouse Grounds rule)
No violence, no racism, no law-breaking
Absolutely no obscene words or gestures
Treat Law Enforcement Officers with respect
Do not block sidewalks and streets with your bodies or signs
Avoid conflicts and any physical contact with any opponents. Our 1st Ammendment Rights are their rights, too
Take the high road....be CIVIL at all times

SIGN IDEAS

FRIENDLY REMINDER:
Stick to the point and stay on message! No abortion, marriage issues, or Obama bashing signs. We need to come across united and focused
Use black, red, or dark blue markers for visibility
Anticipate the adversary’s tactics and create a few counter-point slogans

These are the kinds of things protesters at large economic summits could learn a thing or two about. Seattle and Quebec come to mind. And, even though I agreed with their basic position, Iraq anti-war protesters have often lost me on some of their messages. I'm glad to see an admonition not to attack President Obama. The important thing is to focus on policy, not people. (More on that later.)

Partisan Civil Liberties Disorder

I love political cartoons for their ability to sum up so much using so few words.

Major hat tip to Varangianguard, who directed me to this very recent Matt Bors comic:

This is what I've been on about lately! The hypocrisy of both Left and Right is absolutely on parade these days, as each winks at their own side's transgressions, while jumping up and down about the other side. Here's an idea: hold your own side to the fire. You might get something done!

Or, for a lack of cognitive dissonance, just back the Libertarians who are always pro-civil liberties.

New Podcast Posted

For LPIN Weekly Podcast #19, I took a different approach, reaching outside the roster of Libertarian Party leaders and recent candidates to Doug Masson, a Lafayette blogger and lawyer who has common ground with libertarians, especially on civil liberty issues, but is not a partisan Libertarian.

Several things occurred to me in leading me to ask Doug to sit down at the microphone.

1. One strategy employed by the Libertarian Party has been to court disaffected supporters of the party with majority power. For several years, it was a courtship of disaffected fiscal conservatives, as Republicans delivered smaller government rhetoric alongside exponentially growing budgets and bureaucracies. As power has shifted to Democrats, we are quickly seeing the delivery of pro-civil liberties rhetoric met with restrictive policy by the Obama Administration.

2. When you only talk amongst those who completely agree, the tendency to develop blind spots grows. I wanted to hear from someone outside the partisan-Ls in what ways the Libertarian Party is missing the opportunity to draw from the Left.

3. Doug's blog, Masson's Blog, is really excellent. It is the one on the Left that I read daily, without fail.

This and all podcasts are available via this archive link. You know what to do.

Many thanks to Doug for taking the time to sit down with me for this interview.

Today's Government Spending, Graphically Explained

If reckless spending is what got us into this mess, is more spending really the answer?



As Democrats were pointing out during campaign season, one of the great hallmarks of the glorious Clinton Adminstration was the SURPLUS left behind. Anyone think there's a snowball's chance in hell that the Obama Administration will measure up to Clinton's record? Bush's?

Obama Indistinguishable From Bush, Yet Again

Civil libertarians are getting a real good look at what Obama meant by 'change'. It means, 'status quo'. Cue up that line from that Who song, and read this item from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Friday evening, in a motion to dismiss Jewel v. NSA, EFF's litigation against the National Security Agency for the warrantless wiretapping of countless Americans, the Obama Administration's made two deeply troubling arguments.

First, they argued, exactly as the Bush Administration did on countless occasions, that the state secrets privilege requires the court to dismiss the issue out of hand. They argue that simply allowing the case to continue "would cause exceptionally grave harm to national security." As in the past, this is a blatant ploy to dismiss the litigation without allowing the courts to consider the evidence.

It's an especially disappointing argument to hear from the Obama Administration. As a candidate, Senator Obama lamented that the Bush Administration "invoked a legal tool known as the 'state secrets' privilege more than any other previous administration to get cases thrown out of civil court." He was right then, and we're dismayed that he and his team seem to have forgotten.

Sad as that is, it's the Department Of Justice's second argument that is the most pernicious. The DOJ claims that the U.S. Government is completely immune from litigation for illegal spying — that the Government can never be sued for surveillance that violates federal privacy statutes.

This is a radical assertion that is utterly unprecedented. No one — not the White House, not the Justice Department, not any member of Congress, and not the Bush Administration — has ever interpreted the law this way.

Ok, so I was wrong. Obama is worse than Bush. Yikes.

I guess power is so tempting, so delicious, that when the people around you build you up endlessly, you start to believe that even though that same power was dangerous in the other guy's hands, because you and you alone are righteous, the old arguments don't apply.

That's hypocrisy, of course. Pure civil libertarians like EFF are noting it. The partisan left seems defensive, not wanting to face up to the disappointment of the Administration not yet 100 days old. When you bought the lines "hope" and especially "change", you might have thought it could wane in time, as memory fades. But in less than 100 days? We're in for a long, rough ride.

Free Speech Under Attack

The wolf comes wearing sheep's clothing. American newspapers are faltering for their refusal to evolve (covered in this previous post), and here comes a US Senator, offering to 'help'. From Reuters report:

With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.

A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements. (Emphasis supplied.)

From time to time, I feel the need to remind readers that I am a former Democrat. This becomes necessary because I so frequently write about things economic, and because I defend the free market as generally the best solution to issues surrounding exchange, I get pegged as a Republican of some sort.

No, I was a Democrat. My biggest issue was the 1st Amendment. So, the first big doubts I ever had with the Democratic Party came in the late 1980s, when Al Gore's wife, Tipper Gore, began railing against music with salty lyrics. It hit me like a total betrayal. I was always told by my fellow Dems that it was the Republicans who had fascistic tendencies. So, how to explain Tipper Gore?

So, this just looks like part of a continuum to me. Just as Republicans love to enjoy the reputation of being free marketeers and friends of smaller government, but aren't, Democrats love to enjoy the undeserved reputation of being steadfast defenders of free speech.

In either case, D or R, the commitment is to government control. This bill is an attempt to worm control into the newspapers, as government worms into anything- slowly, and in the guise of 'help'.

I'm glad there are no co-sponsors to date.

Note to my Democratic friends: Your party is becoming just as drunk with power as the Republicans were after the 2002 elections. Be on guard! You need to smack your party down, lest they go the way the Republicans went, crossing their base over and over again, especially on the things the base is correct about, to the extent that you eventually lose the entire middle.

Here's the text of the First Amendment, for those who need the refresher, including Senator Cardin:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (Emphasis supplied.)

Pretty simple.

The More Things Change...

So, Obama has ordered more troops into Afghanistan. I get the feeling the nation could have had that by voting for McCain. From Time Magazine's article, "Obama Afghanistan Plan Breaks Old Ground":

Did George Bush leave one of his old speeches in the Resolute Desk? As President Obama unveiled his Afghanistan-Pakistan policy Friday, it was hard to miss the echoes of his predecessor's "surge" strategy in Iraq. Indeed, says James Dobbins, the State Department veteran who served as President Bush's first envoy to Afghanistan, Obama's plan is "largely an extension of where the Bush Administration, in its last years, was heading, with some refinements and additions."

Will we be seeing lefties putting bumper stickers on their cars with an 'O' with a circle around it and line through it? Or perhaps an "01.19.2013 - Obama's last day in office" sticker? The wars were the Number One reason the left was against Bush until the economy tanked. Well, Obama is doing exactly what Bush did to prop the economy- stimulus packages and bailouts.

I imagine that dissent isn't as patriotic to some as it was a half-year ago. Imagine that? Partisan blindness. Who'd a thunk it?

I admire the protesters I saw in San Francisco last Saturday. They were not blind partisans. They believe in their anti-war positions enough to see the continuation of the same policy for what it is, and they called it out. What about our Blue Hoosiers? Will they just shove it on down and look the other way? Or, will they call Obama out on it?

More Change You Can Believe In

I might have thought that this one was made up by The Onion. Alas. The Washington Post reported this item, that should turn anyone who is half-conscious or has even a shred of intellectual honesty into a cynic:

The Obama administration appears to be backing away from the phrase "global war on terror," a signature rhetorical legacy of its predecessor.

In a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department's office of security review noted that "this administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' [GWOT.] Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.' "

And the stand-up comics lamented the passing of the Bush Administration. Bwaaaahahahahaha! The White House is always a barrel of laughs.

RIP, Jonesy's Jukebox & Indie 103

You may have noticed a little set of links to the lower right under the header of "Stuff I Like". Nothing political there, just other things that brighten the world for me.

Well, sadly, Indie 103, a Los Angeles radio station, was plowed under in January in favor of programming in Espanol.

I loved that station, as much as a guy in Central Indiana could. Steve Jones was the main attraction for me. The Sex Pistols guitarist did a very entertaining daily show, where he played things he liked, because he wanted to hear them. He invited guests from his musical background, but also tapped into the Hollywood celebrity network to do interviews that were not the standard.

Jones would often break out his guitar and into song mid-thought. He would whistle a tune. It was decidedly unformatted, and a lot of fun for this college radio lifer. I listened to every podcast, and often listened to the live stream while I worked at my desk. Now it's gone.

I completely relate to what Jones had to say about his future prospects in radio, via the LA Times:

"Wherever I go, I will still do my show the same; I wouldn't change it. I don't think I should, and I hope any of these people that are thinking of hiring me aren't going to try to mold me into something else," Jones said. "I'd be bored out of me brain. I'd last two weeks if they had me reading some nonsense. If you want someone to read a piece of paper, just hire someone else. There's loads of people that do that."

Bingo. That's exactly why I never ventured into commercial radio after the college radio days, because after having the freedom to do exactly what I wanted as a creative process, I couldn't take being on a radio assembly line. I can't listen to it, either.

I had a brief exchange on Facebook about self-indulgence and artists, where this quality was issued as a put-down. For my money, the best art is created by the self-indulgent, perhaps narcissistic individuals. I don't think of Jonesy as the latter, but certainly his show was the former, and it was all the better for being a reflection of him rather than being something that pandered to an audience, or tried to generate an audience via calculated moves. When I think of my favorite artists (Dali), authors (Clancy, Quinnell, O'Brien, Dostoyevsky, Rand), bands (Sex Pistols, Gary Numan, Minutemen/Mike Watt), it is the idiosyncrasies and self-indulgences that make them notable, distinct, and worth my time.

Jonesy's Jukebox was spontaneous and riveting, which is about the best compliment I can issue to live radio. Commercial radio has generally choked the daylights out of spontaneity and wonders why it is dying on the music side. Notice that the talk thrives, even if it is doctrinaire, because the hosts have talent enough to be spontaneous.

It's a shame to see Indie 103 and Jonesy's Jukebox go. I'm glad the station was podcasting highlights of JJ, because I still have the MP3s. Sadly, I'll have to delete something special from the "Stuff I Like" list.

Yes, We're In San Francisco Now

(San Francisco, CA)- A notice was just slipped under the door by the hotel's management. It seems that there is going to be an anti-war rally and march very near to the hotel, and management wanted to let patrons know so that they could allow extra travel time.

I thought about it for a moment. March 21... Hmm... Why, that's the day the US began, not declared in the Congress, war against Iraq. So, I did a generic Google search on 'anti-war San Francisco' and turned up this link, for the sponsor of the event. 

There are still references to President Bush as a 'war criminal'- one that is carefully worded to give President Obama a pass on that charge. Check out the language from their flyer:

The U.S. leaders who have initiated and conducted this criminal war should be tried and jailed for war crimes.

The war in Afghanistan is expanding. Robert Gates, Bush's defense secretary, who was kept at his post by President Obama, has announced that the troop levels in Afghanistan may double in the coming months. Both he and Vice President Biden predicted higher casualties in the coming period.

Amusingly partisan. If one official is a criminal for conducting a criminal war, how is another not a criminal for continuing to conduct that war? Nation of laws, not of men, folks.

Don't give Obama a free pass. He has been in office for 60 days now. He could have withdrawn the troops by now, if it were any priority to him. It obviously isn't. If he were an anti-war politician, he wouldn't be planning to expand in Afghanistan. He obviously isn't. If the left gives Obama a free pass, they will get delivery on anti-war issues in the same way conservatives who gave Bush a free pass on fiscal issues, which is to say, no delivery. 

So, the protest. I might go out there and support a limited anti-war part of their message, nad tweak 'em on their warmongering President Obama.

My Mecca

(San Jose, CA)- After about 30-35 road trips to see the San Jose Sharks play places other than San Jose, I finally went to the HP Pavilion, aka the Shark Tank, to see my favorite team play. It was an excellent experience!

I started the evening with the CalTrain trip from San Francisco. It was great to see Sharks fans board at the stops along the way, wearing their Sharks jerseys.

It was really great not being one of the odd fans wearing the road team's colors, 'accidentally' having beers spilled on me when my team scores. Loads of fun to see fans having jerseys with names from the past, like Gaetz, Wilson, Makarov, Nolan, and Damphousse.

CalTrain station at 4th & King, SF

I went to the fights and a hockey game broke out. Staubitz vs. Tootoo, win Staubitz

Staubitz is the new local hero. Big cheers during the post-game interview

Bay Area Fun

(San Francisco, CA)- I have often raved about the medical profession, for their genius in placing conferences in places people actually like to visit. This stands in stark contrast to the engineering profession. I've gone to conferences in Madison, WI in January, Pittsburgh and New Jersey. No, with Ame's conferences, we've gone to Hilton Head, Los Cabos Mexico and now San Francisco.

The Bay Area has so much to offer. Yesterday, I took Isabel to Ghirardelli Square for ice cream and chocolate, and then Ame jogged up the Embarcadero to meet us at Pier 39 for lunch.

One happy little girl!

Isabel watches the sea lions struggle for territorial dominance on Pier 39.

Today's adventure involves a trip north across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods, and perhaps a trip on a ferry!

New Podcast Added

This week's edition of the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast features 2008 candidate for governor Andy Horning. We discussed the Indiana Federalism bill vis-a-vis state sovereignty, and why he loves constitutions: rule of law vs. nation of men.

Check it out via this link.

Andy surprised me a bit in not being thoroughly ecstatic with the bill proposed in Indiana. As always, though, Andy has deep thoughts to back up his positions.

Longest podcast to date, and very substantial.

New Podcast Posted

I spoke recently with Chris Spangle, the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Executive Director, about the sort of nuts-and-bolts things an executive does to run a state party.

The thing that struck me is that he's an organizational person. That's different, because when there are many hats to wear, EDs tend to be Political Directors, since the policy is what got them into the game in the first place. Chris is very interested in social networking, and is looking to recruit the people best suited to wear the hats he isn't best suited to wear. Sounds like a good plan.

Check it out by way of this link.

New Podcasts Posted

Go to the LPIN podcast archive to check out the following:

3/9: Two-term Hagerstown Judge Susan Bell discusses her election and re-election, and her acceptance as a Libertarian office holder.

3/6: Tim Maguire talks about the political fallout related to Ed Coleman's party switch. He discusses the rules that address the inclusion, or exclusion, of third party council members. It is clear that most government bodies lack rules that fully address the integration of third party members.

From the archive page, you can subscribe and have new podcasts automatically downloaded to your iTunes. Pretty snappy.

Dying Newspapers

A friend who grew up in Cleveland with me sent me a link to a Time Magazine article, saying that Cleveland's only remaining daily newspaper might close, and is among the 10 most endangered US papers.

I have a twinge of sadness about that, because I was a carrier for the Plain Dealer when I was a teen, and was a big team player. (We hated the Cleveland Press, advancing the rivalries managements had. We had rivalries with the kids who carried The Press, and celebrated when The Press folded. We picked up many of their former customers.) I have a twinge of sadness now for the rapid death of the newspapers, because they were once great institutions, at least when there were the rivalries, and papers tried to get the scoop on- get this- the local news!

But I do like to chuckle and enjoy the idea that the writers at any American daily tend to be left-of-center, that those left-of-center tend to believe in evolution, and that their livelihood is dying because they have failed, no, refused to evolve.

Going back to Cleveland, I'll never forget how The Guild refused to write for Cleveland Live when it started, because they were The Guild, and therefore above that newfangled internet fad. Cool by me! I was a free lance writer, and picked up some supplemental income on the 'fad'. Then The Guild reversed course after boatloads of money was spent on freelancers- because they were The Guild! The true professionals that belonged as the face of the 'newspaper'! Bwaaahahahaha!

I believe that newspapers made themselves irrelevant by refusing to be local. Hell- I can get all the national news I want as it happens- on cable news, talk radio, and internet. What do I need a repeat of what I know for, especially when that AP report is printed tomorrow? Even if they gave it as they happened, what makes their carriage of an AP report different than anyone else's? Look at the Indy Star, the Plain Dealer, or any other American daily, and you'll see the bulk of the paper filled by AP reports, or articles from the Washington Post or New York Times.

It's foolish. We have the national papers that have made their national niches: the NY Times, by virtue of being in NY; the Washington Post, by virtue of being in DC; the Wall Street Journal, by virtue of being on Wall Street. Every other paper in the US is dooming itself to go the way of the dinosaur, for refusal to evolve. Hell- those papers are national in a large way because they are local! Their locality happens to generate news of national interest.

Most papers have pretty good sports sections. Well, that's local news. How can they be so blind?

Darwin, newspaper! Darwin!

Yet Another New Podcast Posted

Beyond the petty retribution Ed Coleman received, another thing revealed was that the City-County Council may have rules that address the political parties and where they fit into the structure of power, those rules are vague at best, and at worst do little more than protect the two parties currently holding power.

As the Ds and Rs consistently fail to deliver, I can foresee a greater number of third party victories at all levels of government, not just for Libertarians, but for Greens and perhaps a new party or two. The voters aren't going to be happy to learn, when the day comes, that the people they elect are essentially without a voice- and that it's all perfectly within the rules.

I spoke with Tim Maguire about the rules. Maguire is the Chair of the Marion County Libertarians.

Link to the podcast archive.

More Podcasting on Ed Coleman

When then-Republican City-County Councilor Ed Coleman left for the Libertarian Party, I felt 100% certain that there would be a political price for him to pay. Talking with party insiders, the general consensus was that he would probably be removed from one or more of the committees on which he served.

In fact, he was removed from all of them on Monday. Again- no real surprise. Politics is a bare-knuckled game, and retaliation, no matter how silly or childish it may seem, is a way of political life just as much as favors and back scratching is on the flip side.

I got a better sense of why Ed left yesterday, when I interviewed him again for the Libertarian party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast. This wasn't the first retaliation against Ed by the Republicans, nor the first time he was stripped of a committee appointment. Because Ed was speaking out on issues against the grain of his former party's leadership, he was stripped of committee appointments, and then assigned to different committees. To summarize Ed, he was advised that being reassigned was a warning, and that he should shut up and toe the line.

Here's the link to the podcast archive. Check out Podcast #011, released March 5. It is incredibly revealing in details about how local government works. Or doesn't.

I asked Ed if the members of the City-County Council read the ordinances they vote on. Interesting answer, to say the least.

Still In Iraq

Barack Obama has been President 42 days, and we're still in Iraq, and looking at the prospect of increasing war activity in Afghanistan.

If McCain was elected, I doubt that the left would agree that August 2010 would be soon enough for withdrawl from Iraq. Why is it ok for the Obama Administration?

Latest Podcast Posted

#10 features Ed Angleton, the former 2-day Jeopardy champ and recent candidate for Indiana House in Marion County's District 100. Ed contributes to the Libertarian Party of Indiana's legislative review blog, and shared his thoughts on the best and worst law before the state's legislature this session.

Link to the podcast archive.

LPIN's legislative review blog is yet another thing the other parties won't do, because it entails taking a broad stand for or against a bill. Sure, there's room for diverging viewpoints, but if a political party is supposed to be a vehicle for moving public policy in a defined direction, how can it hope to do so unless it is willing to publicly take a stand one way or another? Is it any wonder our states and nation seem to be busy, but never moving the policy anywhere in particular?