From the former Seattle police chief regarding the legalization of drugs:

Our professional experiences have led us to conclude that the more dangerous an illicit substance—from crack to krank—the greater the justification for its legalization, regulation, and control. It is the prohibition of drugs that leads inexorably to high rates of death, disease, crime, and addiction

Can I hear an amen?

Somehow it was only today that I first heard the notion of Five Flags, the notion that one can have more freedom and fewer encumbrances by not having ties to any one country. While it seems to be little more than a complicated means of avoiding responsibility, it’s interesting.

On the Dilbert Blog, Scott Adams speculates about what the next mass-market rip-off will be:

I was one of Enron’s victims when that company manipulated the energy prices in California and looted the residents.
A recent report on 60 Minutes described how big banks, speculators, and hedge funds caused oil prices to skyrocket in 2008 despite falling demand and rising supply. I got screwed in that deal just like the rest of you.

And of course there was the Dotcom stock bubble that cost lots of people a bundle, thanks to the many unscrupulous financial “experts” and lying CEOs who made it possible.

Some would argue that the war on terror is really about channeling taxpayer money to the military industrial complex. I don’t think that’s the whole story, but the war in Iraq probably wouldn’t have happened unless someone was sure to make a profit.

Then there was the bogus move to ethanol that made food prices skyrocket. Thank you lobbyists!

Now the housing bubble and the mortgage backed derivatives are picking my pocket along with yours.

And he concludes:

Health care costs are going through the roof in the U.S. One assumes that increase is a simple function of an aging population, rising costs, malpractice insurance, patented treatment options, etc. I’d watch that area for the next big scam or bubble. It seems ripe because everyone already expects those prices to keep rising quickly.

You have been warned.

My only disagreement is that health insurance isn’t the next racket, it’s already going on. They are more profitable than defense contractors — they increase premiums to members while cutting payments to doctors, and we assume that costs have to rise. At some point, a bureaucracy becomes an organism that fights simply to sustain itself.

The best course of action is to use insurance as insurance — to cover against catastrophes, and not as a pre-paid healthcare account. It’s better that you do that yourself, at least there you get interest and tax benefits. Jay Parkinson, MD. runs some numbers to show how much you can save: about $55,000 over 10 years. Personally I think that number’s on the low end.

For about $10 million, you can go to cosmonaut training and have a chance at getting shot up into space. (If your launch gets cancelled or you get sick, the money is non-refundable.) Or, you could bring the wooly mammoth back from extinction

I’m a long way from having $10 million to spend on something random, but if I did, I don’t know which I would pick. Probably bringing back the extinct animal. Come to think of it, you could charge admission to see and maybe even pet it, and you’d probably even get your $10 million back in a few years.

Posted as a comment to an article one of my friends posted:

“I need y’all to be really, really quiet for this. I need you to really understand what I’m telling you. Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama’s running so we all can fly.” – Jay-Z

Whatever your political opinions may be, one thing is clear about an Obama presidency. While there are still barriers based on race, they are not anything that cannot be overcome with a lot of hard work. It’s a big step towards a post-racial society, and while I’m sure it’s wishful thinking, I am hoping it’s also a step towards a post-partisan society. I have a lot of friends who are registered republicans and I agree with them on more than I disagree, and getting 52 percent of the popular vote means there are a lot of GOP members who saw things the way I do.

I will have to admit, though, that we took an active role in this campaign starting in the primary season. We’ve given money, time and pizzas to the Obama campaign. We had volunteers staying at our house. I did four canvassing shifts on election day alone. I hope that Obama can run the country with the same skill, efficiency and strategic acumen that he applied to his campaign, which was truly the first 21st century political campaign.

While his victory, especially in Colorado, heightened our joy, I have to admit it’s increased my expectations as well. I put a lot of energy into him winning, so he better do a good job. As we’ve learned in Iraq, winning the war is the easy part. Winning the peace is the true struggle. This is a start

It looks like some legislation to bail out the world’s financial institutions will be ready soon. That’s surprisingly fast for congress to enact such a huge piece of legislation, and ironically I think that will be an unintended consequence of McCain’s decision to suspend campaigning. Congress, especially the Democrats, want to make it clear that they can do this themselves without any nagging from the presidential candidates, thank you very much.

Unfortunately it’s impossible to consider any viable alternatives to the treasury’s plan with this short a time horizon. My predicition is the Paulson plan will pass with some basic modifications. I’ve heard some interesting alternatives, though. One is to capitalize the financial institutions by passing a stimulus to savings. That’s the kind of win-win thinking I’d like to see examined a little more.

The Independant writes that massive amounts of methane gas are bubbling to the surface

There has not been any further confirmation or measurements of methane trapped beneath permafrost leaking to the surface, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on:

Methane is about 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and many scientists fear that its release could accelerate global warming in a giant positive feedback where more atmospheric methane causes higher temperatures, leading to further permafrost melting and the release of yet more methane.