Author Archives: Anton

well, he’s got the Newspeak thing

Daniel Kurtzman: Learning to love Big Brother / George W. Bush channels George Orwell

Posted in politics, prose | Leave a comment

due care

Chris Leithiser writes: I want someone to start a free-condom-distribution program outside or near most major high schools, with the President’s slogan emblazoned on each package: “Leave no child behind.” That is what he meant, right?

Posted in general | Leave a comment

the ever-changing barrage

Do you ever get curious about changing fashions in junkmail? I haven’t had “we’ll submit your website to 312 search engines for $39.95” in years; on another hand, suddenly here’s a flood apparently intended for insurance agents. Tuesday: In about … Continue reading

Posted in spam | Leave a comment

a bundle of sticks

On the Straight Dope site: Semantic and geographic wanderings, over the past two centuries, of the words fag, faggot.

Posted in language | Leave a comment

I can see your house

View from high above a neighborhood where I spent quite a lot of time between 1971 and 1981; much has changed since then. Elsewhere: Dad’s house, which is new, is not visible – I can’t even identify his street. 2004: … Continue reading

Posted in California, eye-candy, technology | 2 Comments

pain matters

I’m surprised to find that this blog has not previously mentioned the problem of undermedication for pain, a side-effect of the War On Minority Drugs. Here is a personal anecdote. After seeing first-hand the lack of understanding and willingness to … Continue reading

Posted in drugwar | Leave a comment

a formerly original thinker

Brian Doherty writes in Reason: Obscurity is indeed the friend of much of the world’s evil, as [David] Brin insists when he rails that “financial privacy” concerns are just camouflage for drug dealers and tax evaders. Am I the only … Continue reading

Posted in tax+privacy | Leave a comment