First Principles

Robert Fellner has an interesting piece on the GOP’s platform plank to resist the expansion of on-line gambling: The stated justification for this horribly intrusive, un-Constitutional, un-American, nanny-state action that the most hardcore Progressive would be proud of, is that “compulsive gambling is a serious disease” blah blah blah, Why is there no call to […]

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I didn’t know about this until recently, but every Friday in Idlewild Park here in Reno is a little food truck gathering. There is plenty of room to lay out a picnic blanket, open a bottle of wine, and enjoy some tasty and unique cuisine from small business owners who are showing some nice innovation […]

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I tweeted out this Big Journalism story on the trap Republicans were falling into on this whole birth control mandate issue, with the added commentary, “Focus, people.  Focus.”  It drew several questions and comments both on Twitter and Facebook that I felt were worth discussing. The issue is an important one, but it is important […]

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I wish this debate had happened sooner.  Although it definitely helped that there were fewer candidates on stage – it’s not an accident that fewer candidates and no absurd timeclock led to a far more substantive debate than we’ve seen in the past. I haven’t seen a lot of the post-debate spin from other people […]

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Republicans in Clark County have been up in arms over some new election regulations being pushed through by the Secretary of State’s Office over the holidays.  I admit, the timing is very suspicious, and should alone raise all kinds of red flags.  But the article on it is frustrating, because nowhere is there any hint […]

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I don’t understand why the following concept is difficult to understand:  If you are are working for or with a particular candidate, and then you write and publish an opinion piece lovin’ on that candidate or hatin’ on his or her opponent, you must disclose that relationship if you want to maintain any credibility whatsoever. […]

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Via Ralston, Mark Amodei’s statement on the Congressional Insider Trading scandal (is there a “-gate” for this yet?) reminds me why he’s one of the few politicians I’ve ever enthusiastically voted for: “The American people don’t have a lot of trust when it comes to Washington, D.C. and Members of Congress. They say that sunlight […]

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I keep thinking about Christina Green, the 9 year old girl who was murdered in Tuscon this weekend. I think about how many political events I’ve been to, and how many times my family has been with me.  I think about my own little girl.  I think of the many drawers full of felony cases […]

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I used to listen to NPR all the time.  My dad listened to it all the time when I was a kid, from the time his clock radio went off in the morning to whenever Prairie Home Companion finished.  When I was in high school, I had a 45 minute drive to school.  I listened […]

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Well, no big surprises.  He made the same promises that he made a year ago, and the only difference is that now we can be even more sure he won’t keep any of them. The big takeaway from me on this was just how unserious this speech was. 

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Burning Man is underway, and right now there are thousands of people partying in the desert and taking pictures of them and their friends with their own cameras of the event.  And despite their illusions of freedom, they don’t own a single one of those pictures.  Not really. But the Government of Black Rock City […]

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Considering the absurdity and pointlessness of some lefty protests I’ve seen, I’ve never been sure.  But a friend of mine sent me this article from the New York Times on the subject, which in its left wing absurdity (domestic terrorist Bernardine Dohrn contributes) got me re-thinking that question in terms of the Town Hall/Tea Party […]

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Nancy Pelosi’s article calling the Obamacare protesters “un-American” is, of course, ridiculous.  It is beyond parody.  If I wrote it word for word under her name as satire, I would be accused of straining hyperbole to beyond all limits and beyond.  Only slightly less absurd are the “factual” claims she makes in the piece. But […]

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Literally:

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James Hansen, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and […]

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John McCain gave a fantastic speech today on judges, surrounded by conservative legal stalwarts like Ted Olson and Fred Thompson.  It was music to the ears of anyone who believes that, when it comes to protecting the sovereignty of the individual, there is no more important issue in a presidential election than picking the right […]

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Local curmudgeon James Bennett has undertaken a mission here in Reno to purge or purify all the impure patriots in town. It seems that most flag displays used by local citizens are actually unpatriotic.

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Today’s Reno Gazette-Journal has an opinion piece from Gene Policinski of the First Amendment Center lauding the “journalist shield law” that is now under consideration in the US Senate. Ironically, for being the Executive Vice President of an organization dedicated to educating the public about the First Amendment, Mr. Policinski badly misunderstands both the words […]

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