:: walterindenver ::

:: Friday, November 22, 2002 ::

Chili/e

A week ago I made an offhand comment saying chili should contain no ground beef. That got Jim Henley to say, rightly, that it should have no beans. That set off a blog flurry of comment, and I was compelled to clarify my position in an e-mail I sent to him.

Since I started this no beef/no bean thing I feel I should clarify what I meant.
Chili/e should be green and contain pork. (Chile con Carne) Sometimes this is referred to as New Mexico, or green, chili/e. This contains no beef, beans, or tomato. Red chili has tomato in it and normally contains no meat at all. This is used as a sauce, often on enchiladas. (Spanish word for 'in chile') The thing that most in the US are used to is Texas chili, a beef and bean concoction that while pleasant enough, isn't a Mexican food. I was referring to Mexican chile recipes.

I hope that helps.

:: Walter 8:09 PM [+] ::
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Da Blogroll

I've replaced a couple of off-topic or dormant links on the left over the last week or so. New-ish; Arthur Silber and Dean Esmay. I'm looking to add a (very) few more. If you have a blog that you think I may have overlooked feel free to hit the 'comments' button above and tell me about yours. If you're already getting a thousand hits a day then I'm probably already aware of your blog. If you have an obscure corner of the blogosphere, like mine, that you think deserves more attention, then tell me about it. Your political orientation isn't too important. A current events or public policy emphasis is what I'm looking for.

:: Walter 6:24 PM [+] ::
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Homeland Security and Data Mining

If you're not scared of the Homeland Security Dept. yet, (and where have you been?) then you should read what Kim du Toit has to say. Appearantly this is his field of expertice. It's a long but worthwhile piece, it ends this way:

Folks, this is the final frontier of our personal freedom in the United States. I am uncharacteristically somber when I say this, because it happens to be the truth. When you have no secrets left, you are completely helpless, and depend on the goodwill of the person who knows them all.
It's far worse when that "person" is the State.

Read the whole thing.

:: Walter 5:33 PM [+] ::
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Matthew in Denver (or some tranquil suburb thereof - edit)

Matthew Edgar responds to some stuff written on this site.

Walter has a lot to say about the difference between Republicans and Libertarians. I am not a partisan R or a partisan L. In the last election I did in fact vote for some Republicans. I voted Mike Coffman for treasurer for example. For my local house district I voted for the Republican (Rob Fairbank). Why? Coffman has the right ideas. He is anti-tax. He is anti-cigarette taxes, but he can do nothing about it. As treasurer, he has no other job than watching the money.

I'm stunned that Matthew voted for Coffman and against my favorite candidate, Gaar Potter. Gaar is the only person on the ballot, any ballot, who once appeared on the cover of Modern Drunkard, a hilarious magazine devoted to, well, you know. I keep hoping Gaar will get his own blog and the whole world will get to read his work, instead of a lucky handful here in Colorado.

Rob Fairbank has done some things I disagree with, but ultimately I agree with him 70% of the time. (Well, in that race, no L ran.) Partisanship is ultimately a bad thing as it creates a good deal of uneeded hostility to other parties, some of which might have the right ideas. More than that, it makes a party, which should be merely a tool to get elected, into a religion.

Well, it would be much easier to build a successful religion than a successful Libertarian party. More lucrative, too, I imagine. The question I ask before voting in any election is, 'what choice will best promote liberty?' I'm willing to vote for anyone who best answers that question, regardless of party affiliation. My argument is that Republicans normally do more to harm liberty than help the cause. There are some rare exceptions, and they have my support.

UPDATE: Matthew has more!

:: Walter 8:26 AM [+] ::
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Unqualified Offerings

On the Republican vs Libertarian debate, Jim Henley gets it:

But the Republicans! Their offense is not disagreement. Their offense is much worse. They appropriate our rhetoric, drawing the support of many who appreciate our principles - small government, voluntary exchange, self-defense and free enterprise, responsibility and liberty - but they besmirch those principles by their actions. Instead of free enterprise, corporate welfare. Instead of small government, trivial nips and tucks calculated to annoy no crucial interest group, instead of free trade, price supports and tarrifs, instead of responsibility, drug wars. Republicans traduce our ideals, and the public comes to associate their practice with our principles. It's not fair, but it's the way the mind works.

:: Walter 7:53 AM [+] ::
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Criminal Activity at the Fed's Drug Office

Fed drug czar John Walters toured the country in the last year campaigning against various drug decriminalization ballot initiatives. It looks like there may be a lawsuit in the works. You see, using federal funds for campaigning is usually illegal.
Poetic justice = John Walters behind bars for criminal activity. But, I doubt the judiciary would let that happen.

Link via (who else?) Dale Amon at Samizdata.

:: Walter 8:38 PM [+] ::
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A New Adjective

Evan McElravy, debating with Jesse Walker on some point of ancient Greek literature/philosophy, creates a new modifier:

...to be fair to Hanson, that's not much of a distortion, let alone on a Bellesilian scale.

A-ha. Major distortions are Bellesilian. Minor distortions are what, Clintonian? ('I supported welfare reform.') Bellesilian. I like it. How do you pronounce it?

:: Walter 8:04 PM [+] ::
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More on Republicans vs Libertarians

Jim Henley writes about neolibertarians who rejoiced in the Republican victory:

The other thing that's alarming the otherwise pro-war folks mentioned in the first paragraph is the swift passage of the Homeland Security bill. Glenn Reynolds has been in the forefront of hoping this monster would die of gridlock, but he's had company from many like-minded fellows. (On this issue, UO definitely counts as a like-minded fellow.)
Really, guys, what did you expect? Bush proposed it, Bush campaigned for it, Bush insisted the day after the election that the newly Republican congress pass the thing as submitted, and here it is. You mostly cheered the end of the gridlock that was all that kept this turkey in the freezer. Now we get the HSD and the IAO...

Any libertarians, neo- or otherwise, who voted Republican should have expected this result. I'm sure they expect the GOP to deliver something, a big tax cut, Soc. Security privatization, something, but I'm far from convinced that the cause of liberty will be advanced at home in the next few years.

:: Walter 9:12 PM [+] ::
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Google

Walter in Denver is the # 6 site found for the search "Ed's Funky Diner." There's not much cooler than that.

:: Walter 8:03 PM [+] ::
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GOP vs LP

There's been much debate lately (like here, and here) about the Libertarian Party's effect on Republican election results in the past election. The assumption made by some is that LP votes would go to the GOP if there were no LP candidate on the ballot. That may be true in some rare cases, including the South Dakota senate race, but LP voters that I know, and I know lots, made a careful and reasoned decision when they left the GOP. That's assuming they ever were with the Republicans, many were Democrats or split ticket voters before they saw the light. Most of us are painfully aware that voting GOP is voting for stuff like this: (found at TalkLeft)

Once again we see how federal sentencing decisions lie not in the hand of judges, where they belong, but to prosecutors under the federal sentencing guidelines. Prime example, in today's news: The U.S. Attorney in Boston is seeking much longer drug, gun sentences...
Already in Colorado, according to our sources (and recent clients' charges) pot growing cases of under 100 plants are now being brought in federal court. The Assistant US Attorneys are not happy about having to prosecute these small cases, but we've been told (and not from an AUSA) that this is happening at Ashcroft's insistence.

This sort of thing (and many other reasons) is why LP members take delight in voting against Republicans, and even try to spoil Republican results. As long as partisan Republicans are blind to this there will be no winning over LP voters.

:: Walter 10:39 AM [+] ::
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