Friday Detritus

Get yer Knowledge-Gettin’ On…

• The reality is that housing is not an investment. It’s shelter. That is all housing has ever been. Self-serving organizations like the National Association of Realtors like to tell people that buying a home is a good way to build long-term wealth, but this statement couldn’t be further from the truth. (Rent Vs. Buy Myths That Ruined the Housing Market - via Kottke.org)

  As a renter, it’s nice to hear this considering we’re all continuously led to believe that home ownership is a primary determinant in whether you’re a first-class citizen or not. (Full disclosure - the money I’m saving by renting isn’t exactly going towards true investments, so I’m hardly perfect.)

• Basically, the small plastic ball is called a widget. The purpose of the widget is to release CO2 from some of the beer in the can to create the head. It is meant to mimic the texture and head of Guinness on tap.

  I kinda thought everyone knew this. But the scientific explanation is pretty cool, if you’re into that kind of thing.

• Dr. Congressman Ron Paul’s supporters took “grass roots politics” to its ultimate, ridiculous extreme. They brought fun to politics — even if they didn’t see the humor — and the nation’s “Mainstream Media” will always be thankful for the Paul fanatics.

  Dismiss the fanatics (of which every candidate has) at your leisure, but dismiss the message at your peril. Make sure to read the comments from “June Melton” (4:55, March 8th) and “punkpunkbaby” (6:44, March 9th).

• Here’s one for all my buddies who use iTunes: Download Music from Your Friends’ iTunes Libraries Over the Internet with Mojo.
• Now we’re getting into personal territory when it comes to the dollar’s falling value (here’s a hint, guys: STOP BORROWING FROM THE FED AND STOP PRINTING MORE MONEY): This better not screw up my next visit to Amsterdam, because I’m going back to Amsterdam. They have beautiful canals.

I leave you with The Long Johns and a perfect, hilarious explanation of the subprime mortgage crisis…

I Voted.

For Ron Paul. You should too.

He’s not perfect, but at least he’s neither a Giant Douche nor a Turd Sandwich*.

* Nor is he Hillary Clinton, who’s a Giant Turdy Douche Sandwich.

No Big Shock Here

Here’s my results from a cool little online survey. It’s based on data culled from 2decide.com. Feel free to post your results in the comments section - I’d be curious to see how my friends stack up.

Paul 36
Embryonic Stem Cells, Kyoto, Guns - Background Checks

Gravel 25
Abortion Rights, Border Fence, Universal Healthcare

Kucinich 20
Abortion Rights, No Child Left Behind, ANWR Drilling, Assault Weapons Ban, Border Fence, Net Neutrality, Minimum Wage Increase, Universal Healthcare

Obama 11
Abortion Rights, ANWR Drilling, Assault Weapons Ban, Patriot Act, Net Neutrality, Iran Sanctions, Minimum Wage Increase, Universal Healthcare

Biden 9
Abortion Rights, Death Penalty, No Child Left Behind, ANWR Drilling, Assault Weapons Ban, Patriot Act, Net Neutrality, Iran Sanctions, Minimum Wage Increase

Dodd 9
Abortion Rights, Death Penalty, No Child Left Behind, ANWR Drilling, Assault Weapons Ban, Patriot Act, Net Neutrality, Iran Sanctions, Iran - Military Action, Minimum Wage Increase

Clinton 8
Abortion Rights, Death Penalty, No Child Left Behind, ANWR Drilling, Assault Weapons Ban, Patriot Act, Net Neutrality, Iran Sanctions, Iran - Military Action, Minimum Wage Increase, Universal Healthcare

Brownback 5
No Child Left Behind, Embryonic Stem Cells, Kyoto, Guns - Background Checks, Patriot Act, Guantanamo, Iraq War

Edwards 5
Abortion Rights, Death Penalty, No Child Left Behind, ANWR Drilling, Assault Weapons Ban, Patriot Act, Net Neutrality, Iran Sanctions, Iran - Military Action, Minimum Wage Increase, Universal Healthcare

Richardson 4
Abortion Rights, Death Penalty, Patriot Act, Border Fence, Net Neutrality, Iran Sanctions, Iran - Military Action, Minimum Wage Increase, Universal Healthcare

Thompson -1
Cox -4
Tancredo -10
McCain -12
Huckabee -22
Giuliani -24
Hunter -25
Romney -27

Chunks Of Liberty

• AOL News Blogger Dinesh D’Souza questions Ron Paul’s libertarianism with regards to Iraq, and is promptly out-reasoned by over 50 rational and relatively well-behaved commenters.
• “Writes Steve Dekorte: “What I don’t understand about the nationalized healthcare movement is why it must be done using the threat of force. If there are people in the US who wish to be a part of a healthcare system in which each contributes according to their means and receives according to their needs (with rationing), then aren’t they already free to form a private insurance organization of freely consenting members to do so?”
• “I’ve been a blogger for years and my Technorati account dates back to March of 2004. But, I’ve never seen anything like the sustained presence of Ron Paul in the Technorati top search terms. The Paris Hiltons and iPhones come and go and YouTube is almost always at the top. But a politician? When has that ever happened before? According to a Technorati spokesman, never.”
• And lastly, how encouraging.

Someone Alert Rudy - It’s NOT Because Of Our Freedoms

Excerpt from a letter written to Antiwar.com. I think it’s worth a read considering it was written by the former chief of the CIA’s Osama bin Laden Unit.*

Of the eighteen presidential candidates now in the field from both parties, only Mr. Paul has had the courage to square with the average American voter. We are indeed hated and being warred against because we are “over there,” and not for what we are and how we live. Our failure to recognize the truth spoken by Mr. Paul – and spelled out for us in hundreds of pages of statements by Osama bin Laden since 1996 – is leading America toward military and economic disaster.

Excerpt from an audio interview with Antiwar Radio. I think it’s worth a listen considering the interviewee is a former CIA counter-terrorism officer.

I think anybody who knows anything about what’s been going on for the last 10 years would realize that cause and effect are operating here – that, essentially, al Qaeda has an agenda which very specifically says what its grievances are. And its grievances are basically that ‘we’re over there.’

So all Ron Paul was basically saying was that – even as the 9/11 commission report indicated – there were consequences for our presence in the Middle East and if we seriously want to address the terrorism problem we have to be serious about that issue.

Giuliani indicated that he was not only not serious about that issue, but seemed to be ignorant of both the 9/11 [Commission] report and political realities in the Middle East.

UPDATE: Just a couple of hours ago, Ron Paul showed up at an event at the National Press Club with another former CIA employee in his corner, and promptly suggested some light summer reading for Rudy. (- via Reason Online)

*I bet when bin Laden and his buddies are all sitting around, pounding double-deuces of goat’s milk, getting high on incense, and grooving to some old-school chanting, one guy will be like “I helped orchestrate the attack on the Kohl” and then some other guy will be like “Big deal. I helped get the 9/11 hijackers into the country and then got them their flight training.” And all the while, bin Laden’s just sitting there, big grin on his face, and finally says, “Hey who here has an entire CIA division named and devoted solely to him?” and then all the other guys just shut up and are all like “You win.”

Ron Owns Rudy