Sunday I saw some Ron Paul banners on overpasses in Santa Clara County, one of which read

Ron Paul
REVOLUTION

— where the letters EVOL were really LOVE backward and slightly misaligned to make the point, whatever it is, more obvious. Tuesday I saw someone hanging an improved version of that sign, with EVOL in red.

Ron Paul is an obstetrician by trade, so I’m reminded of GWB’s remark about his colleagues who “aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country” because of frivolous malpractice lawsuits.

Charity finds that U.S. food aid for Africa hurts instead of helps. Oh dear, CARE has been taken over by evil selfish libertarians. What else could explain such a conclusion?

What American accent do you have? I got Philadelphia on the first try, and I’ve never even visited Philadelphia. I went back and changed Mary/merry/marry from “marry is different” (a conscious affectation on my part; I value distinctions) to “all alike”, and got Midland, no surprise.

The Serious Organised Crime & Police Act 2005 forbids protesting in the vicinity of Westminster Palace without a permit. What is a concerned comedian to do? (three parts, about 29 minutes total)

A woman volunteered to donate an organ to her mother, but mom’s pee tested positive for marijuana, so no go. I could understand disqualifying the disobedient from receiving an organ from the limited pool of dead strangers, but how does this make sense even by drug war logic?

The first letter in this week’s Economist is from Nikolai Wenzel, assistant professor of economics at Hillsdale College, who says in part:

. . . as of 2004 only 55% of America’s health spending was private . . . . this 45% does not capture the so-called “Cadillac effect” that comes from the American Medical Association’s guild-like stranglehold on providing medical services, the distortion from the tax treatment of certain health and insurance expenses, and many other unseen costs of government regulation and subsidies.

I am fond of observing that my ideological opponents, whenever they want to gloat about the inadequacies of the private sector, invariably point to the most heavily subsidized and regulated industry of all; illustrating Hayek’s law that intervention creates distortion which provokes clamor for more intervention.

time flows differently in the funnies (except Gasoline Alley and For Better or For Worse)

how to argue with a libertarian (Degrees of Freedom)

arguments against state support for schools, including some that I had not encountered before

Amara Graps writes: “Not being a blogger, myself, I’m seeing if the bloggers I know want to pick up this story I wrote.”

What happened to Bush’s Cadillac 1?

As recorded by a viewer of the motorcade and posted to YouTube, it apparently sputtered to a stop. [The car first appears at 3:20 in this video.] It broke down, right there, on via del Tritone (near the Trevi fountain) in Rome, in the middle of the motorcade. He was ripe picking for a sharp shooter too; no wonder the police were pushing people further back, off of the street. ( . . more . . )

I’m surprised to see it acknowledged in two teevee shows that heroin is useful as a painkiller. (Charlie Stross, a former pharmacist, mentioned that “diamorphine (aka Heroin™) is carried routinely in ambulances in the UK.”)

In the first series of 24, Jackie’s arm is broken and her kidnappers inject her to keep her quiet. Kim, her fellow kidnappee, starts to protest but appears to accept that it’s the least bad thing to do at the moment. (I don’t think the drug is named, but the paraphernalia are those of heroin.)

Late in the second season of Lost, (spoiler) lies dying of (spoiler) wounds and Jack, MD, gives heroin — very explicitly this time.

Both shows were broadcast, not in the Freer Speech Zone of premium cable. So where’s the uproar from drug-warriors that they contradicted Official Truth?