Steven Hilton wants to cover his car with Libertarian campaign stickers. Got any?

Mark Kleiman unwittingly expresses a case for limiting government in general:

This is a special case of an underappreciated general principle: the difficulty of judging consequences in advance means that we should pay more attention to means, relative to ends, than would appear at first blush. Since it’s easy to know that torture is horribly wrong in itself, and very hard to guess the circumstances in which it would prevent something even more horrible, a flat “no-torture” rule may well have better consequences (putting the moral absolutes aside) than some nuanced rule.

In that way, refusing to consider the use of torture is like respecting the results of legal processes or not cheating to win elections. It reflects not only a decent respect for the humanity of other humans but a sensible evaluation of one’s own ignorance.

Today’s assignment was in a building where I hadn’t worked before, so I didn’t know about the fascist gatekeeper. Luckily my Costco card has a picture of me.

I oughta make a laminated card with my picture and a name such as “Archibald ‘Harry’ Tuttle”. Suggestions of other names are invited.

Now class, who can tell us why this advertisement (The Economist, Nov.12, p.67) bugs me?

When you meet the men and women who serve America in the military and government, you find the strength and character of this nation. . . .

LOCKHEED MARTIN
We never forget who we’re working for™

The good news: the pseudo-judicial process at Gitmo isn’t absolutely rigged to find everyone guilty of terrorism. The bad news: innocence isn’t enough to get you out of the hole. (Cited by Gary Farber.)

I wonder what I did to deserve being blogrolled by Mutualist (Kevin Carson).

The price of eternal vigilance is indifference. —Marshall McLuhan