Eric Raymond has a great response to Howard Owen’s and my blathering about liberals and conservatives.
I always put it less thoroughly, but a bit more succinctly: It’s a choice between the people who gave you the S & L scandals and those who gave you the DMV.

Conventional wisdom has unpopular Gov. Gray “SkyBox Liberal” Davis in a lock for this election over his stiff and inexperienced (but wealthy) opponent Bill “Daddy’s Money” Simon Jr. in the election for Governor of California. Could the CW be wrong? Today’s S.F. Chronicle suggests that an election could break out in California this fall.
At this point I can’t in any conscience vote for Simon; but in opposition, I’d rather get my hands chewed off by a woodchipper than vote for Davis, who is a corrupt, small-minded, visionless functionary. Fun decision, no? Is Mel Brooks running?? Gov. LePetomaine, anyone?

…sorry, Professors Reynolds and Vokoloh…
Check out my neighbor, Little green Football: EU shuts off the money.
I’m off looking for confirmation.

TAP backs up Lou Dobb’s assesment that the Islamists are the threat.
They also set out a pretty good agenda for the Democrats, if the Democrats had anyone bold enough to stake out a position.
Thanks to Instapundit for the lead.

Gene Expression, written by three scientists and a venture capitalist.

that has nothing to do with the post, but I couldn’t help the pun.
Eric Raymond, author of ‘The Cathedral and the Bazaar’ (and of the cool blog ‘Armed and Dangerous’) dings me a bit:
I find it interesting that, in that article, you imply a strong critique of the top-down “single massive project” approach to social change. Yet in explaining ‘liberalism’ you still champion centralization and state intervention.
There is a contradiction there with which I do not think you are yet dealing.
Actually, no. I may not yet have expressed it clearly, but here’s my chance to start.
Bazaars don’t spontaneously appear, and most important, don’t spontaneously thrive. There are a host of conditions which control their presence and growth – geographic, cultural, seasonal, legal, and political. We can either simply assume that they appear spontaneously, according some arbitrary ‘hand of God’, or we can study the preconditions and, if we want to encourage successful bazaars, attempt to replicate them, or manage the success of the bazaar.
I do not imagine that the sponsors of open-source software projects do so with no intentionality or direction; they are often surprised by the direction the project takes, but they reserve the right to prune unsuitable branches.
I believe that we need to replace the Stalinist (hyperbole alert) ‘large footprint’ liberal programs that we are familiar with much finer-grained, dynamic programs in which the participants participate, rather than simply stand in line and receive.
The machine-tool program I mention earlier, the Grameen Bank programs, and I am sure, other programs which I don’t yet know about are excellent examples of what I’m talking about.
There are other government programs and tax structures which could encourage this kind of thinking, and which I’ll address over the next few days as time and attention allow.
But to summarize as simply as I can: I don’t believe that the bazaar, or spontaneously organized social or economic activity is directionless. I believe that when you read the classic ‘I, a pencil’, that we were better at making them than they were in the Soviet Union.
And I believe that it is possible to design and have a hand in organizing self-organizing systems such as markets. That what we do here in the U.S. Anyone who believes that the market here is not created by and reflects political and social organizations is just ignorant. Why do homeowners get tax relief and not renters? What is DMCA?
And I believe that it is possible to design and influence a better market; one that improves on the things which I and other liberals hold important while at the same time preserving the freedom and dignity, and individual energy of the free actors who participate in it.
Dinner calls.

It looks like this is working again. Buy a pizza and soda or ice cream for an IDF patrol.
If there was one to buy for Palestinian peace activists, I’d post it as well.

Owens suggests that I need to cut the apron strings. It’s a good post, and I think I can use it to elucidate some of our differences, but a) I want to take some time and respond thoughtfully; and b) there are chores to do before I can blog much more today.
Check this space soon.

I got an email from a John Lott Jr., who turns out to be that John Lott Jr., author of More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws. A terrific and interesting book, and one that has not, as far as I know, been effectively answered by the anti-gun folks. He corrects me on the issue of state monopoly on violence, as I mention here, by pointing out that I probably meant “state monopoly on legal violence.” Uh, of course I did!!
I can only compare being corrected in an issue like this by Lott to the time Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped by the gym I belonged to and explained to me that I was doing my situps wrong. I trust that this correction will have a more lasting effect.