Cartoons in 2003

Jesse Walker, of Reason, pens a good article on how cartoons such as Southpark and King of the Hill have a libertarian/conservative bend to them. He also touches on the Simpsons and its all over the map politics. Cartoons have definitely growns up and growns up.

Not conservative. But not liberal, either. An intensely political show - really - South Park almost always comes down on the libertarian side of an argument. Its targets range from environmental crusaders to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to government-run sex education. And no, it doesn't preach a libertine sort of libertarianism. In addition to the sex-ed episode, it's satirized the extreme wing of the pro-choice movement and once devoted a half-hour to arguing that there's a good reason why TV should refrain from airing cuss words.

If South Park is libertarian, then King of the Hill might best be described as populist. It makes no bones about its heroes' failings: Hank Hill is naive and repressed, his family is eccentric and his best friends are a loser, a womanizer and a raving paranoid. But their world exists in a kind of balance, where everyone's good qualities make up for everyone else's flaws; you get the impression that their Texas suburb can take care of itself. Real trouble comes when outsiders try to interfere: regulators, managers with MBAs, Ritalin-dispensing doctors, left-wing or right-wing ideologues.


(via Ulmann)

DEBKAfile - Indications Saddam Was Not in Hiding But a Captive

Interesting article...

According to DEBKAfile analysts, these seven anomalies point to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein was not in hiding; he was a prisoner.

After his last audiotaped message was delivered and aired over al Arabiya TV on Sunday November 16, on the occasion of Ramadan, Saddam was seized, possibly with the connivance of his own men, and held in that hole in Adwar for three weeks or more, which would have accounted for his appearance and condition. Meanwhile, his captors bargained for the $25 m prize the Americans promised for information leading to his capture alive or dead. The negotiations were mediated by Jalal Talabani’s Kurdish PUK militia.

Best Performing Cities according to the Milken Institute

1. Fayetteville, Ark.
2. Las Vegas, Nev.
3. Fort Myers, Fla.
4. West Palm Beach, Fla.
5. San Diego, Calif.
6. San Luis Obispo, Calif.
7. Laredo, Texas
8. Brownsville, Texas
9. McAllen, Texas
10. Monmouth, N.J.


Of the top 10 most-populous U.S. metros, Washington, D.C. scored the highest, followed by Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, New York and, lastly, Detroit.

One trend this year is the success of many cities where government and higher education – which are less susceptible to business cycles – play an important role in the local economy.