tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-130796572024-03-07T04:02:43.942-06:00Leviathan Slayerhackin' away at the beast...jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.comBlogger517125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-6398056032394034102009-03-01T09:07:00.003-06:002009-05-11T13:19:05.967-05:00where is jmc?As you can see, this blog has been comatose since December 2007. I may some day start it up again, but for now all my active blogging can be found on my personal <a href="http://twitter.com/jcesarone">twitter page</a> as well as my <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Zinfandelity">wine twitter page</a>. Please follow me there if you are interested. I also do some blogging at my Campaign for Liberty <a href="http://www.campaignforliberty.com/profile.php?member=jcesarone">page</a>. Thanks for reading!jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-39240928056302623552007-12-26T09:42:00.001-06:002007-12-26T10:05:30.104-06:00thomas sowell: establishment hackIn his rundown of all the Presidential candidates in <a href="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDllMTU2YmMxNjg2YzM4ZDQ3MDk5ZTNlNTcyMmE1MTU=">his NRO article today, </a>Dr. Sowell doesn't even mention Ron Paul. Yet this supposedly libertarian conservative has this to say about Fred Thompson: <blockquote>"Fred Thompson seems to have the best policy positions and the best political track record among the Republican candidates"</blockquote>I guess this bit at the end is his cowardly way of attacking Ron Paul without mentioning his name: <blockquote>"As for the other candidates in both parties, the big question is why anyone takes them seriously as candidates to lead the nation at a time of huge dangers that terrorists will end up with nuclear weapons, whether from Iran or Pakistan."</blockquote>Uhm...maybe because Dr. Paul will remove the main incentives for any attacks while securing our borders at the same? <br /><br />Dr. Sowell can't see the Ron Paul Revolution freight train coming right at him - maybe his trademark glasses need some new lenses. Rather than offering any reasoned arguments about why Ron Paul should not be President, he childishly ignores the good doctor's candidacy. Despite his scholarly contributions in the defense of laissez-faire economics, I'm afraid Dr. Sowell's efforts at political commentary have exposed him as just another establishment hack.jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-42726325571295669432007-12-16T16:20:00.001-06:002007-12-16T17:15:18.294-06:00going back to the gold standardI had a discussion earlier today with my co-blogger, jmc, about the gold standard. We were both wondering how a transition from our current fiat standard money to a commodity-based money might be managed. I pointed out that passing the Honest Money Act (HR 2756), introduced by Congressman Ron Paul, would be a good start. There's <a href="http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/2007/dec/05/ron_pauls_honest_money_act">a good explanation of the bill</a> over at Downsize DC:<blockquote>Congressman Paul has hit upon the easiest way to end inflation, and the booms and busts that follow in its wake. Simply repeal the legal tender monopoly enjoyed by FRNs, and allow monetary competition. Not only would this help to end inflation and recessions, it would also limit the ability of politicians to hide the true cost of government through the inflation tax.</blockquote>Text of the law can be found <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d110:39:./temp/~bdqAcR::|/bss/d110query.html|">here</a> and as Congressman Paul's website summary states, it would simply repeal section 5103 of title 31, United States Code.<br /><br />Of course, that's only the beginning. Once Legal Tender laws are abolished, people would be free to use whatever medium they wanted for exchange. But what would happen to all the Federal Reserve Notes in circulation? I fear that the transition would be pretty painful because the currency has been so badly inflated over the years. I think that if the Fed slowly reduced the amount of money circulating, it could ease the pain, but that assumes the Fed could do a good job of it. <br /><br />At the very end of <span style="font-style:italic;">The Case Against the Fed</span>, Murray Rothbard spends several pages suggesting how the Fed might be abolished with a return to the gold standard. Basically, Rothbard argues that the Fed should be treated as a bankrupt corporation and be liquidated, with its gold stock being revalued to pay off its "debts". Using Rothbard's 1994 figures, this means that an ounce of gold would be worth $1555. Rothbard's plan is so simple it's hard to believe, but it's also hard to believe that his plan wouldn't cause massive financial disruption. <br /><br />Frankly, I just don't see how we can move to a gold standard without a lot of pain.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-18135217184734867612007-12-13T20:45:00.000-06:002007-12-13T20:48:42.900-06:00not my kind of townI always have fun when I visit my co-blogger in Chicago, but sometimes the Windy City makes me sick. Radley Balko discusses <a href="http://www.theagitator.com/2007/12/13/want-to-get-away-with-murder-in-chicago/">the wretched state of the police in Chi-town</a>:<blockquote>An eight-month Chicago Tribune investigation of 200+ police shootings going back 10 years found that within hours of a police shooting, the police department convenes hastily-assembled, wagon-circling “roundtables” of law enforcement officials where police and witnesses are questioned but not sworn or recorded, where the officers involved are allowed to confer to get their stories straight before being questioned, and where the inevitable conclusion is always that the shooting was justified. From there, broader, show-investigations begin. Key witnesses go uninterviewed. Forensic evidence is ignored. And the shooting officer is inevitably exonerated.</blockquote>Kudos to the <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-071205cops-htmlstory,0,4405016.htmlstory">Chicago Tribune</a> for doing the legwork on revealing and compiling the details on this horrible state of affairs.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-14408810325799202192007-11-25T12:57:00.000-06:002007-11-25T12:58:28.303-06:00Congrats!My co-blogger and his wife just had their third daughter today! Expect his blogging to be even lighter than usual.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-21474093029952043132007-11-05T18:59:00.000-06:002007-11-05T19:02:04.254-06:00quote of the dayFrom "<a href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance125.html">Don't Enlist"</a>:<blockquote>So why do thousands of people continue to join the military? In most cases, the decision is a financial one – just like the decision to sell crack or become a prostitute.</blockquote>At least the hookers and crack dealers are providing a service that people want.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-5558736564623687852007-11-03T12:44:00.000-05:002007-11-03T12:47:37.957-05:00the fatal conceit (paul krugman edition)Brian Doherty catches a telling admission by Paul Krugman in the November 15th issue of <span style="font-style:italic;">Rolling Stone</span>. <a href="http://www.reason.com/blog/show/123318.html">Doherty notes</a>:<blockquote>Asked to name his great inspiration, [Krugman] says: Isaac Asimov's Foundation series--a tale of super social scientists who can accurately pinpoint laws of mass social behavior that allow them to predict, and manipulate, all of human civilization and future history. "That's always what I wanted to be," saith the economist turned pundit. Good luck with that project, Dr. Krugman.</blockquote>Yikes.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-85405715896145341732007-10-13T12:14:00.000-05:002007-10-13T12:18:57.537-05:00war is peaceJesse Walker has the best take on Albert J. Gore, Jr.'s Nobel Peace Prize win over at <a href="http://www.reason.com/news/show/122958.html">reason.com</a>:<blockquote>In 1973, the Nobel Peace Prize was shared by Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho. Kissinger's CV included the "secret" bombing of Cambodia and the "Christmas" bombing of North Vietnam; just a month before his prize was announced, he was complicit in the coup that installed a brutal dictatorship in Chile. So why did he win? Because he and Tho had reached a truce to end the Vietnam War. Tho wasn't a particularly peaceful man either, but at least he had the common courtesy to refuse the award.</blockquote>Great company to be in, Al!Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-14089191555706961532007-08-20T20:59:00.000-05:002007-08-20T21:02:48.401-05:00strippers for ron paulOne stripper, at least, supports him:<blockquote>Since my main interest in politics these days is financial, I’m a fan of Ron Paul. I believe he would be good for the economy and (most importantly) for my wallet...If Ron Paul gets elected I will be able to put off my plan of eventually fleeing to Malta for at least four years. That’s a chance worth taking, in my estimation.</blockquote>Read the rest <a href="http://hustleandcashflow.com/2007/08/20/ron-paul/">here</a>.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-57355565100691235792007-08-12T19:08:00.001-05:002007-08-12T19:17:39.535-05:00an interesting factI've never read much about health care issues and it's always made me squirm that socialized medicine seems to work. E.g., countries with nationalized healthcare seem to have higher life expectancies than the U.S. How could the free market fail us? Well, apparently, it didn't. In a blog post over at Cato At Liberty, <a href="http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2007/08/09/a-challenge-to-jesse-larner/">Michael Cannon points out</a> that "once one controls for fatal injuries and homicides, our life expectancy stats come out better than all other advanced nations’".<br /><br />This is only one measure of a healthcare system, but it's important to carefully examine each stat before rushing headlong into a Cuba-style healthcare system, especially since we are quite far from a free market in medicine right now.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-44076514181640440432007-08-08T20:47:00.000-05:002007-08-08T21:09:42.637-05:00more on hiroshimaJustin Raimondo has a good column today on the continuing relevance of the murderous attack on Hiroshima. In <a href="http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11418">"Hillary, Hiroshima, and Hubris"</a>, Raimondo notes:<blockquote>Hillary's blanket statement about never making blanket statements regarding the use (or "non-use") of nukes is in line with the policy of American presidents stretching all the way back to Harry Truman. The U.S. government has never rejected the first use of nuclear weapons. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has followed a similar policy, and this is the default position of the "responsible" sectors of the foreign policy commentariat: Hillary is merely following in the footsteps of husband Bill and his postwar predecessors.</blockquote>I'm often stumped as to why the Democrats feel the need to be even more murderous than the Republicans. In what fevered imagination is America put at even the tiniest risk of attack merely by forswearing a nuclear first strike?Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-29653497737947375942007-08-07T08:35:00.000-05:002007-08-07T08:49:45.750-05:00thomas sowell: anarcho-capitalist?I'm a big fan of Thomas Sowell's work, but sadly he has been using his gifts over the past few years to defend the awful Bush administration, no matter how awful it gets. Today, however, Sowell turns in <a href="http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2007/08/07/a_bridge_too_far_gone">an excellent column on privatizing bridges</a>:<blockquote> A company that has to get the money to build and maintain bridges or other infrastructure through the voluntary actions of people in the financial markets, instead of being able to extract money from the taxpayers, is going to find financiers a lot more finicky about what is being done with their money. People who are putting their own money on the line are going to want to have their own experts taking a look under the bridges they finance, to see where there are rust, cracks or crumbling supports.<br /><br />When people know that the lawsuits that are sure to follow after a bridge collapses are going to drain millions of dollars of their own money -- not the taxpayers' money -- that keeps the mind focussed.<br /><br />Those who like to think of the government as the public interest personified may be horrified at the idea of turning a governmental function over to private enterprise.</blockquote>If only Sowell would turn his critical eye to the Bushies instead of defending the War Party at all costs!Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-16499866208938870202007-08-06T21:41:00.000-05:002007-08-06T21:46:10.423-05:00the monster trumanIt was sixty-two years ago today that the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. I've posted on this the last two years as well, but it was such a monstrous act that it's worth remembering every year. Antiwar.com reprints last year's column by economist David Henderson, <a href="http://www.antiwar.com/henderson/?articleid=11405">"Remembering Hiroshima"</a>. It's an excellent column that deserves to be re-read.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-80887008364684951602007-08-06T19:34:00.001-05:002007-08-06T20:04:01.840-05:00the simpsons movieThe girlfriend and I went to see <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462538/">"The Simpsons Movie"</a> last night and I give it a big thumbs up. It was very funny and had some great anti-state moments. Anthony Gregory gives a good libertarian overview of the movie in <a href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory142.html">"The Federal War on Springfield"</a>:<blockquote>In terms of both rough yet classic comedy and roughly classical liberalism, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Simpsons</span> movie delivers as well as the series’ best. In the movie, the federal government stars as the chief enemy of the Simpsons family and their beloved town Springfield. We might concede that our antihero Homer, in all his bad judgment, is Uncle Sam’s one indispensable ally. But the evil and heartless federal bureaucracy overreacts to Homer’s admittedly terrible shortsightedness with calculated cruelty and heartlessness.</blockquote>My only beef with the movie is that a key plot turn that some might interpret as the key message of the movie is unabashedly collectivist. The good news is that leftists are unhappy with the movie. Ben Adler from Campus Progress <a href="http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ben_adler/2007/08/the_simpsons_sell_out.html">whines</a> that it's "disappointing to see the hilarious new Simpsons movie engage in some weirdly illiberal gags."<br /><br />The Simpsons takes aim at all authority and leftists can't bear that. How dare anyone question the wonder that is the FedGov?Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-20365816876589956582007-07-06T09:08:00.000-05:002007-07-06T09:14:33.710-05:00presenting...the octosquid!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZjqBFoUHVHaqrweN6F7XiTle2I6_ISKSBBIca91JWnriAaMyiz0A3eJxV_UyszmcH9_zpjahfAWwkiwWqZarO0w48xgz_W7NFjvWgE_1fXZoNZtlxfcr7K5_CKs4VW9qDgj9/s1600-h/octosquid.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZjqBFoUHVHaqrweN6F7XiTle2I6_ISKSBBIca91JWnriAaMyiz0A3eJxV_UyszmcH9_zpjahfAWwkiwWqZarO0w48xgz_W7NFjvWgE_1fXZoNZtlxfcr7K5_CKs4VW9qDgj9/s320/octosquid.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5084086132463153330" /></a><br /><a href="http://starbulletin.com/2007/07/05/news/story03.html">This cute little bugger</a> was found off Keahole Point on Hawaii's Big Island, in a pipeline that runs 3,000 feet below the surface. I'm sure it's just one of many wonderful and mysterious creatures that will be discovered in that dark and once unreachable realm as technology advances. Found via Drudge.jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-48688903673616751652007-06-29T11:12:00.000-05:002007-06-29T11:27:21.090-05:00what a bunch of crybabies!Listen to these whiners! Prince has <a href="http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2114557,00.html">decided to gave away</a> his new album as a freebie inside of a Sunday newspaper (The Mail on Sunday), and the record store industry is throwing a hissy fit: <blockquote>One music store executive described the plan as "madness" while others said it was a huge insult to an industry battling fierce competition from supermarkets and online stores. Prince's label has cut its ties with the album in the UK to try to appease music stores.<br /><br />The Entertainment Retailers Association said the giveaway "beggars belief". "It would be an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career," ERA co-chairman Paul Quirk told a music conference. "It would be yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music.<br /><br />"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores. And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday."</blockquote>Translation: "Boo hoo hoo!! Mommy, the big bad Prince and The Mail are bypassing our expensive plastic disc distribution system!! Make them stop, Mommy! Waaaaa!!...."<br /><br />Paul Quirk's "threat" has all the validity of the arrogant boss who "fires" an employee after he already quit the job.jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-19329544305003791432007-06-13T23:29:00.000-05:002007-06-13T23:40:05.169-05:00ron paul rocks on colbert!First off, apologizes for taking such a long break from the blog - I really didn't intend to. But I organized the Greater Chicago Ron Paul Meetup Group 3 1/2 weeks ago, and it's been consuming just about every minute of free time I have. We've swelled to 217 members as of right now, second largest of 301 groups worldwide. We reached thousands at the Chicago Blues Festival this past weekend, and we're ready to hit all the major summer summer festivals throughout the city and the burbs. You've no doubt noticed the banner ad on the blog - if you're a Ron Paul fan, please join us or whatever Ron Paul meetup is local to your area. And speaking of Ron Paul...<br /><br />Man, he kicked ass on Colbert's show tonight! I was a little concerned how he would do with a phony persona host like Colbert, but Ron was in great form and handled it like a pro. I am very impressed with how he handled each question. In an <a href="http://leviathanslayer.blogspot.com/2007/05/on-ron-pauls-performance-in-republican.html">earlier post</a> I mentioned how, after watching him in the first debate, I thought he really had to be a little more optimistic and lose his angry edge so he can connect with the American people more. I am pleased to report that he has done so in spades.<br /><br />Go Ron Paul!!!jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-87105606356922662792007-05-20T17:13:00.000-05:002007-05-20T17:35:26.129-05:00book review: bully boyI recently finished reading <i>Bully Boy</i>, by Jim Powell. It's the third president bashing book by Mr. Powell and the second one I've read. As a biography of Teddy Roosevelt, it's very weak, but as a libertarian survey of that era, it's worth a read. The main problem with the book is that the author spends pages upon pages describing the history of something (like railroads) with little reference to Teddy and then adds a few paragraphs describing Teddy's statist involvement.<br /><br />There is also a major gap in the narrative. The author barely mentions Roosevelt's failed run for President in 1912, surely one of the most destructive acts of his egotistical life. Roosevelt's third party run allowed Woodrow Wilson to get into office and eventually drag America into World War I, with disastrous consequences for the twentieth century.<br /><br />The other major flaw is the attempt to pin so much blame on one man. In the last chapter, Powell details much of the loss of freedom in the twentieth century and traces the beginning back to Teddy himself. Isn't it a bit of a stretch to blame TR for legislation in the fifties and sixties that gave more power to the FDA?<br /><br />All in all, I give the book a thumbs up, a worthy addition to any libertarian's bookshelf. The Progressive era is one that deserves more scrutiny and this book is a good intro even if it is not a great bio of Teddy Roosevelt.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-954913575516454582007-05-20T17:00:00.001-05:002007-05-20T17:07:24.676-05:00it's ok to blame america for 9/11, as long as you support the warOver at <a href="http://toughlove.catallarchy.net/blog/2007/05/19/a-falwellian-double-standard/">Liberty Belles</a>, Anastasia puzzles over conservative hypocrisy:<blockquote>When the Reverend Falwell got up on his bully pulpit to blame gays, People for the American Way, the ACLU, and secularists for bringing the terrorists’ wrath upon the United States, he was in essence blaming Americans for causing 9/11. . . And yet, very few of the Republicans’ core demographic spoke out against Falwell’s traitorous cowardice. Ann Coulter even published a glowing column in Human Events a few days ago celebrating Falwell’s life and defending his invective as pious patriotism.<br /><br />Yet when Ron Paul dared to suggest that our actions in the Middle East have consequences and that the terrorist attacks cannot be viewed in a vacuum independent of the last 50 years of American foreign policy, he was immediately shouted down.</blockquote>The answer is simple, my dear! Ron Paul opposes war and the state, Falwell embraces both.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01477077782541277126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-49841236288098035022007-05-19T23:15:00.000-05:002007-05-19T23:23:39.097-05:00karen kwiatkowski: ron paul rocks!Karen Kwiatkowski has a very good piece entitled <a href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski183.html">Ron Paul Rocks!</a> up on LRC this weekend. Her feelings about Dr. Paul and his campaign are very similar to my own. Excerpt:<blockquote>...I am pleased to be humbled by each new day of the Ron Paul campaign – to witness the raw power of ideas and debate – after such a long hiatus of ideas and debate from the American political game.<br /><br />The Greek concept of happiness, eudaimonia, keeps coming to mind whenever I think of Ron Paul as President. It is about faithful and right action, not human exultation or social extremes. It is about the happy and fulfilling marriage of knowledge and virtue. It is about reality over fantasy, faith over existentialism, doing good over doing evil.<br /><br />In other words, Ron Paul rocks!</blockquote>jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-38609232479294331132007-05-19T20:36:00.000-05:002007-05-19T20:39:22.978-05:00the whore is in denial of her fateCheck out <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16711064/">this</a> outrage from MSNBC.<br /><br />The latest version of their bi-weekly Republican presidential candidate rankings shows Ron Paul "last" and 12th in terms of electability, including 2 undeclared candidates (Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich). Under Ron Paul's description they simply state "Just please stop e-mailing us. Thanks."<br /><br />Those poor media whores, their condition is terminal but they just can't seem to progress from the "denial" stage to "acceptance". Perhaps another few thousand e-mails in support of Ron Paul will do them some good.jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-53963417583887337492007-05-15T23:08:00.000-05:002007-05-15T23:18:36.139-05:00ron paul wins debate! hannity's an idiot!Ron Paul clearly won this second round of debates. Yes, he could have been a bit smoother, but the truth trumps all. As for Sean Hannity, no matter how many times he utters his vacuous phrase "Ron Paul did not win this debate", the fact is, Ron Paul won this debate, and Hannity can't stand it! The neocons are reduced to childish contradiction, since they have no actual arguments to offer. How pathetic (and predictable).jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-39561268580545515132007-05-10T10:24:00.000-05:002007-05-10T10:34:23.639-05:00the evil rick perry admits defeatThe Texas governor and apparent agent of Merck admits defeat on his plan to force Texas schoolgirls to receive Merck's Gardasil HPV vaccine. No, he doesn't admit he was wrong, just that he can't beat the legislature with a veto.<blockquote>AUSTIN (Reuters) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry said on Tuesday he is backing down in his effort to require that pre-teen girls be vaccinated against a virus known to cause cervical cancer after the state's legislature overturned his order.<br /><br />The February order would have made Texas the first U.S. state to require that girls receive the Merck & Co. Inc.'s vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) so they can enroll in sixth grade, when most students are 11 or 12 years old. But social conservatives opposed it, saying it would lead to sexual promiscuity.<br /><br />The Republican-majority Texas Legislature passed a bill last month contravening the order by preventing the vaccination program for at least four years. Several other states are also considering requiring the vaccine.<br /><br />Perry announced on Tuesday he would not to veto that bill, meaning it will become law. Perry said a veto was futile because the legislature would vote to override it. He blasted the legislature for its decision...</blockquote>Read the rest of the article <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070509/hl_nm/texas_hpv_vaccine_dc_1;_ylt=AgNgKjuUk5u9GNxdqOLb_tIE1vAI">here</a>.jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-34424965858565301342007-05-04T00:39:00.000-05:002007-05-04T01:06:45.772-05:00on ron paul's performance in the republican debateWell, overall I am happy. I think Dr. Paul was able to get his message across, and now a lot more people know who he is and what he stands for. I think he is in a good position going into the next debate, however...<br /><br />I think he really needs to find a way to connect with the average American voter a bit more. I'm afraid Joe Sixpack was probably a little confused when Dr. Paul talked about the "inflation tax", even though it was an excellent point. I'm sure Paul would do much better in a debate with fewer candidates where he had more time to elaborate on his points, but all the other candidates face the same problem and some of them were able to do a much better job. Mitt Romney, although full of shit on many of the issues, always seemed to be able to smoothly get his points across in the allotted time. (What kind of name is "Mitt", anyway?) <br /><br />I also believe that Dr. Paul would be able to reach more people if he came across a bit more optimistic. Frankly, he comes across a little on the angry side. True, I'm the same way if not more so, but I'm not running for President!<br /><br />We have a rare and historic opportunity to actually advance a heroic, freedom-loving candidate through this ridiculous nomination thing, so we can't afford to blow it! Hopefully Dr. Paul will get a little bit of coaching to smooth out the rough edges before the next round.jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13079657.post-21433527952941389502007-05-03T11:21:00.000-05:002007-05-03T11:23:10.447-05:00go ron go!As I write this, Ron Paul's smiling mug is up on the Drudge Report - probably the most exposure he's ever received. Good luck to you sir in tonight's debate - knock'em dead!jmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538916283652337293noreply@blogger.com0