The Sakura Dojo

Actually a day late, yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition! A good time to reflect on the lessons of Prohibition and if we should end drug prohibition.

From Alexander Cockburn over at CounterPunch (a newsletter I did not know of before but will now have to follow).

If you do not feel like reading it all, ( Here is the snippet that lead me to read it: )

I voted today, all other Georgians (as in people who live in the US State of Georgia) can vote early too (details here).

I advise everyone out there in the US to vote and to vote for the candidate or party that most appeals to you, especially if it is a third party. The Democrat-Republican Duopoly has not been doing much good for the US, remind them that their are other alternatives. I recommend that you vote Libertarian as they are one of the few parties actually suggesting reducing the size and intrusiveness of government.

The Democrats and Republican seem intent on recreating the Europe of the 1930s in their campaigns and our choice is between the big government of the left ("Change you can believe in", if you mean rolling back the clock) and big government of the right ("Country first!" is a least accurate if exceeding nationalistic). Both campaign neglect to support such American ideals as freedom, liberty, personal responsibility and the right to be left alone.

And if you think lack of government regulation caused our current economic crisis, I direct you to this summary. If that is not detailed enough, what about Sebastion Mallaby's version or Michael Flynn's short history. Still not convinced, perhaps you think that Europe is under regulated too?

It strikes me as politics at its most disingenuous to have the Democratic leadership blame the Republicans for failing to pass the bailout when they only managed to get 60% of their own representatives to vote for it! (Vote rollcall here.) Note that I am extremely pleased that it did not pass.

Reason's analysis here.

This article from Reason sums up my problems with both major US parties. Read it and weep for liberty.

So, Gov. Palin gave her speech at the RNC last night. Fluffy personal stuff mixed with attacks on the Democrats. At least she spoke against 'big government' which I suppose is better than nothing. Mostly, in cold print, it just seems empty.

Giuliani's speech was surprisingly supportive of smaller government and free trade. Still do not like the man, but it was an interesting speech and at least a nod to the limited government wing of the Republicans.

I cannot resist sneaking clandestine looks at the Democratic National Convention through BBC America's reporting and online articles. The BBC had this soundbite from Hillary Clinton's DNC speech last night:

"He [Barrack Obama] built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down. He knows government must be about “We the people” not “We the favored few.”

If the Democrats actually believed and operated on that principle, I would be voting for them. But look at the rest of the speech, it is all how the government (the "top down" one, the Federal government) will punish the wicked, save the planet, give everyone jobs . . . and rainbows and a pony! (OK, I added that last part, but it is implied.)

In regard to my earlier observation, I have been watching the news about the Russo-Georgian conflict. Interestingly enough, the International Criminal Court is also trying to find out what happened in South Ossetia and Georgia to determine if any war crimes were committed.

So, what seems to have happened is that the South Ossetians kept provoking the Georgia forces with minor attacks until the Georgians finally snapped and struck back, admittedly with excessive force. When they did, the Russians had their excuse and it was on.

A sad and rather humorous, in a dark way, article in defense of the Russia actions by Mikhail Gobachev. He does say one important thing, "The region is a patchwork of ethnic groups living in close proximity." But neglects to mention that it was Russian (and then Soviet and now Russian again) policy to encourage, support and sometimes create such a patchwork to insure their ability to 'intervene' as needed.

The Russian military, intelligence and diplomatic services mounted a very well coordinated and effective campaign, though not everything went the Russians way, overwhelming force tends to make up for small mistakes.


And a minor kerfuffle in the gaming blogosphere, one of McCain aides made a statement (in reference to questions about a story McCain tells about his path) that was insulting to D&D players. However, he has since apologized.

Edit: The apology was from an earlier kerfuffle apparently. Though I am quite amused by it in any case.

Can I help but be amused by the debate over the politics of superheroes? Starting over here at Newsday with an article by Elliott Serrano and moving to the much more geekish (and interesting) article on the TOR website by Jim Henley (and pointed out to me on the Reason Hit&Run Blog).

Best line on Spiderman's politics: ". . .find Objectivism on your political map; now go to the opposite spot."

Radley Balko of Reason magazine has some probing questions for both Senators McCain and Obama which I as well would like to know their answers to.

Sp!ked makes an argument for decriminalizing drugs, now, the argument uses British statistic but the same argument works for the US too.

Interesting article on the curious mind of John McCain. And here you can follow the money of the Obama campaign.