Tuesday Afternoon Cigar

Amazon Shruggs

Sunday Afternoon Cigar

Textbook Economics & Credibility

Name Calling, Part 8,483

Obama’s Great Gift — to Bush

Obama’s gift — it just keeps giving to Bush. Trumping Bush Barack Obama has oddly done a great service to George W. Bush. Almost every issue about which the media and our elite culture once faulted Bush for has been even more applicable to Obama himself. Bush and the Press? Obama has given far fewer press conferences; he [...]

On Receiving another Request to Protest, Write a Letter, Give Money—Anything to Save the State Worker and His Program

Fantasyland I am looking over a pile of form letters and going over emails of anguish, all decrying the cuts in state government. Indeed, I just got my regular alumnus email note from the UC system — outraged over the destruction of the university through massive budget cuts. Of course, there is very little self-reflection in all [...]

Dronism

California is a rich state — as the world found out the last century. It has the best farmland in the world, much of it watered by gravity-fed irrigation from the Sierra. Its timber acreage is vast. There is a lot of natural gas and oil still in the southern interior and off the coast. [...]

Obama Fatigue

Every President starts to wear on the public. But the omnipresent Obama has become wearisome in record time. Why? 1) Money: There is none. Every time the president talks of another billion for this, and trillion for that, the people sigh: “We don’t have it; he’s going to borrow it.” Unemployment is near 10%, so borrowing [...]

We Have Race on the Brain

The Present Mishmash What’s going on with race relations? I just read an account of racial tension at UC San Diego, involving largely white students  of a fraternity crassly parodying black history month. I remembered also that the Rev. Wright tapes were disturbing not just because of his lunacy, but due to the standing ovations from [...]