Update on the Darth Mauling
Following up on this post, Arwel Wynne (dressed as Darth Vader) avoided jail time for his assault on the founder of the Jedi Religion in the UK. I assume using his amazing mind powers.
Also of note from the article:
In the 2001 United Kingdom census, 390,000 people - 0.7 per cent of the
population - listed Jedi as their religion.
They are not alone - 20,000 Canadians also listed their religion
Tue, 13 May 2008 16:21:14 -0500
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Payday Loans for Businesses
On Thursday, I had a couple folks from a bank drop in for an unannounced visit.1 They were partly there just for introductions, but were specifically interested in presenting a product of theirs where I could sell them my 30 or 45-day invoices to get cash sooner.
I instantly thought of the payday loan analogy (though said nothing along those lines) and found it interesting how successful
Sat, 10 May 2008 11:32:03 -0500
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Obama's secret imperialistic plans
He let's the cat out of the bag - when Obama's President, there will be 57 states!
More than likely, he was just tired and meant to say 47 states. But I think this is the funniest campaign moment since the Huck-Chuck facts.
Update
1) I just found out that Chuck is in town tomorrow. (Liberty commencement speaker)
2) The jokes write themselves:
See, Obama, this is why you wear the flag on your
Fri, 09 May 2008 23:58:18 -0500
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Silverman, Obama, Clinton mashup
It may not be appropriate for work, but when has that stopped me from linking?
Sun, 04 May 2008 06:39:09 -0500
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Free Comic Book Day
is today. You can find your nearest participating store here.
I missed out on cone day (there's not a B&J in Lynchburg and even the Blacksburg store wasn't participating this year).
Sat, 03 May 2008 08:28:31 -0500
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In Da Jeopardy pool
I have nearly completed the academic competition hajj.1 Today I got entered into the contestant pool for Jeopardy. Ken Jennings willing, I'll get selected for a taping sometime later this year, which I won't be able to tell anyone anything interesting about until 3 months after the taping (when it airs).
So if I get on, Polyscifi will be 2 for 4. Matt, Jeremy - come on slackers, you're holding
Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:19:42 -0500
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The conservative in me
was just appalled to see a National Guard recruiting ad in all Spanish....
The libertarian in me says, you go where the market is....
I'm going to go eat some late-night Frosted Mini Wheats.
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:04:52 -0500
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Academic Awesomeness
I think this ranks up there with PhD Comics. (h/t mankiw)
Stronger from ticoneva on Vimeo.
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:54:08 -0500
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Polyscifi Bracket Results
First: Steven (Hungarian Horntail) 147 points (Kansas)
Second: David (Kelvin's 3-way winner) 133 points (Kansas)
Third: Nick (xthecritic) 91 points (UCLA)
I was ninth (out of 11) with 69 points - a score somehow appropriate for my entry name (Client #2). The maximum possible was 32x6 = 192.
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:42:10 -0500
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On the phone with the IRS
I knew I had a complicated tax question to answer (reason numero uno I would prefer a consumption tax to an income tax - a consumption tax is soooo much simpler), but I've now been kicked up the IRS response chain two three times when the representatives had no idea how to answer my question.
While complicated to answer, it's pretty easy question to state - I have a sole proprietership with a
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:18:58 -0500
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Darth Mauling
If Star Wars had been set in the real world, this is what would've happened between Episodes III and IV.
Jedi Master Jonba Hehol - known to family and friends as Barney Jones, 36,
of Holyhead - was giving a TV interview in his back garden for a documentary
when a man, dressed in a black bin-bag and wearing Darth Vader's trademark shiny
black helmet, leapt over his garden fence.
Wielding a metal
Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:35:03 -0500
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Why I'll be one the first up against the wall when the revolution comes
I remember too much.
Like this earlier study from 2002 which "proved" exactly the same thing as this more recent study. Both claim that there's been no scientific study that recommends 8 glasses of water a day and no recommendation by any governmental body to that effect (that's how ABC read it last night).
Except while googling down the memory hole today (a problem with remembering things that
Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:23:52 -0500
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Bracket madness
Yahoo info (you know what to do)
League ID# 62470
Group Name: Polyscifi
Password: polyscifi
Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:11:10 -0500
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Random business related news
Got cold-emailed today by a Sandhill road VC firm (that's a wiki link explaining the significance, not a link to the actual firm) asking for a phone call. It's a bit before I was planning on traveling that circuit, but it never hurts to talk and it's cool that they sought me out as typically it's the company that contacts the VC.
I view this as the result of a) doing an insanely good job of
Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:43:44 -0500
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Perhaps a *very* useful stick for Obama to use
If the following is true: "[Hillary] did not have a security clearance," then Obama (and the press) should beat her with it until she cries uncle. Without a clearance, there is no legal way she could've participated in the kinds of things she implies in the 3 AM phone call ad (national security deliberations, briefings).
If true and she persists in claiming to have greater experience than Obama
Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:34:27 -0500
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In which I agree with George McGovern
In fact, every single word of this editorial.
It's basic theme is that protecting people from themselves is generally a bad idea for the feds because one-size-fits-all is inherently less efficient than what results when you let people choose for themselves and also be personally responsible for the outcomes that come from those choices.
Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:01:56 -0600
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Now I have to vote for McCain
as a vote against Obama and I'm not happy about it. Certainly the patriotic corporations act had a role in that decision, but it's really a decision I made after seeing Obama lay out specifics on his national defense policy in this video.
Some quick notes.
1. Contra my prior assertion that Obama wasn't being very specific in his speeches, this is pretty specific. So maybe he's getting more
Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:50:48 -0600
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Democrats for the FairTax
Here - it's argued along the lines of soak the rich (wealth, not income) / help the poor (eliminate payroll taxes), which is unfortunate from my perspective (don't like the group-oriented mindset as opposed to the individual / institution mindset), but I've long thought the FairTax was a no-brainer for Democrats (eliminate payroll taxes + tax wealth) and Republicans (improve economic efficiency).
Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:40:55 -0600
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Collectivism and fascism/Fascism
*Warning post in progress*
I'm posting this half completed because a) I have work to do, b) I think this could turn into a nice little essay and feedback in progress could be useful, c) it really forces me to eventually finish writing this, d) I can. Concepts likely won't change, but formatting and wording definitely will.
In the comments to a post below, Matt wonders if I really mean
Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:44:43 -0600
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Futility Vote
Just voted for Fred. In related news, spitting in the ocean was recently found to have a negligible effect on sea levels.
Update
But when you spit on the sidewalk, it's really easy to see. I was one of two voters for Fred in my precinct (scroll down to precinct 402 - TJ elementary went FT 2, JM 115, MH 244, MR 3, RP 11, RG 2). Preethi thinks my neighbor was the other one. I'll ask her next time
Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:00:50 -0600
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Obama, fascist Everyman
Ilya has a post up on Volokh wondering why Obama's appeal to unity is resonating so well.
One of Barack Obama's major campaign themes is the promise that he will "unite" America. Obama is an incredibly skillfull campaigner, so I must assume that he wouldn't be pushing this trope unless there were good reason to believe that it works. Of course, Obama is far from the only politician to promise
Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:22:11 -0600
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How I hate the govt part N
Just spent 40 minutes on hold to register my business with the Social Security registration so I could file my annual W2s. Turns out that the registration webpage is wrong and I should not register first over the phone. It should all be done online, so there's an hour lost.
After about a week, I can expect to get an ID mailed to my home address (?!?!? why not business address???) at which point
Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:34:38 -0600
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In the local paper from a planning meeting
I'm "quoted" in today's News and Advance (that's the Lynchburg paper) lead article.
My actual points for which I'm being "quoted" (Among other things, I said "vetted" not "imbedded"; embedded doesn't even make sense in the context.) were responses to the argument that the townhouses would make the neighborhood unsafe because of the planned occupants (H2B workers) and their proximity to local
Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:15:57 -0600
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Sitemeter amusement
A little bit ago there was a visitor to my company's website from menloventures. I read this as
men love ntures
and thought "hmmm... must've been a robot from a gay porn nature website... I knew the blog got those, but didn't think the main site did too..."
Then the light went on...
Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:26:13 -0600
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South Carolina Fall Out (Updated)
Based on his speech last night, it looks like Fred is going to be out soon. I don't see much difference between the remaining candidates (I'm still discounting Paul) and the Democrat candidates. So I don't know who I'll end up supporting. Maybe this guy.
Update
I've changed my mind (in a very short period). If I'm voting for someone who has no chance to win, I might as well vote for my first
Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:37:54 -0600
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