Ballot access expert Richard Winger's blog is an invaluable resource to a minor party/indy enthusiast like myself.  Lately he's done some work detaling the large amount of unopposed incumbents for state legislature this year.

Many have said that President Bush's 2004 victory was at least in part due to the large amount of ballot measures that preemptively restricted same-sex marriages or civil unions. In light of that, we may want to take a look at some measures on the ballot in the coming election. These measures in swing states may prove to be the difference between President McCain and President Obama.

Hat tip to Arnold Kling

An article in the WaPo looks at a debate going on at the state level in RI over Medicaid spending. Its state budget bursting at the seams, the state legislature is embattled over what to do with Medicaid, which comprises about a quarter of state expenditures.

Actually, I should correct that:

Chicago's GOVERNMENT and its special interests say "NO" to Second Wal-Mart .

Hat Tip to Russ Roberts who facetiously titles his post Always looking out for the little guy.....indeed.

In what I characterize as a stunningly invasive intrusion into our homes the state is about to mandate that each new home and each newly renovated or remodeled home in California be fitted with a “programmable communicating thermostat” or PCT

What’s being proposed is a revision to Title 24. Title 24 is a 236 pages of state-mandated standards for building energy efficiency. Most of the time these standards and regulations are designed to help, unfortunately, this particular intrusion into the sanctity of our homes is not one of them. Energy Commission’s newly-proposed rules about your thermostat (PDF, see pages 63-64)

promoted by John

A bunch of political bigwigs are making noises about the need for "bipartisanship" in the next President's administration . These bigwigs include Mike Bloomberg, Chuck Hagel, and several former Senators. While these politicians seem to be as respectable as any politician, their call for "unity" and "bipartisanship" creeps me out. They probably view their project as the embodiment of George Washington's warnings against factionalism , but I have a feeling that the reality would be more akin to fascism.

Always interesting to look at the Census figures for each year. They just released estimates for state population change from July 1, 2006 to July 1, 2007.

Let's face the facts. One man cannot make a difference. At least not by voting, certainly: the probability that your vote will affect the outcome of any election is essentially zero. Maybe by persuasion you can influence a few friends of yours, but big whoop. The probability of changing the outcome is still zero. Maybe your career happens to be in journalism or politics or teaching or somesuch, in which case you can maybe make a bit more of a difference. But, even here, let's be real: how many people enter these fields hoping to "make a difference", and how many actually do?

This Video would be a great way to spend about 45 minutes this weekend. Great stuff. It's an Interview with Thomas Woods about his new book, 33 Questions about American History .

The video is embedded below the fold.

Once through discussing the book, the later parts of the interview go through recent American History and weave together an fascinating take on our current climate.

It's a not libertarian rant but rather a look at history through an un-typical lens of analysis that looks many captivating topics that Dems, Repubs and Independents alike will enjoy (I think).

Reason Magazine has been putting out a series of articles on Kartrina and the media-driven myths that surround the tragedy. The articles are Daniel Rothschild who is working with George Mason Univeristy's Mercatus Center . The Mercatus Center does a variety of a scholarly research and writing including ongoing special research about Katrina.

Myth #1 :

Lack of Federal Money.

Rothschild pulls no punches. He assesses blame on all levels of government for confusion, "inadvertent sabotage" thru clumsy micro-management, waste and grandstanding and the media as well for trying to apply clumsy and "trite narratives" to explain what went wrong. Lack of federal funds is a the biggest myth of all he says. The inclination for the media to measure help with sheer dollars is the primary reason for this.

I, too, am a human being, who has not only met, made friends with,  and talked with a number of people who've been caught up in given situations in some way oir other (notably Boston's busing crisis during the mid to late 1970's, as well as the years leading up to it), but I have also  done a good bit of research and reading on this subject as well, hence enabling me to form opinions on it, even though I grew up in a suburb roughly 20 miles northwest of Boston, moving into the city later, which I'm glad I did.

The same thing holds true, to a certain extent,  with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, even though I've never met or talked to anyone who's been caught up in this conflict in any way.  Yet, doing my own research/reading on the subject has enabled me to come up with and form my own opinions on this matter also.  I believe that the time for Israel to withdraw its troops  from West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, evacuate the Israeli jewish settlers from those territories, and to either dismantle the settler's housing or hand it over to the Palestinians, is long overdue and must be started in earnest....now.