I'm Sorry To Say...

... but the comments section of the Kadnine blog will remain closed for the foreseeable future. I simply cannot figure a way to halt the relentless spamming, and I won't have ads for porn on my blog. EVER.

If you have a comment or suggestion, please email me. The address is to your left.

Good Art Ain't Cheap, Mr. President

Those who can draw and paint, draw and paint. Those who can't, hire those who can, but preferably at market rates, please:

"The Obama campaign’s request for submissions says that it “is seeking poster submissions from artists across the country illustrating why we support President Obama’s plan to create jobs now, and why we’ll re-elect him to continue fighting for jobs for the next four years.”

According to the [Graphic Artists Guild,] the award for the selected artists has no actual value, unless the recipient sells it. The campaign estimates the signed artwork’s value would be approximately $195. The guild’s pricing guidelines suggest that the proper compensation for such artwork is approximately $4,000."

But I fully expect that some true believer will still unicorn his way into top consideration for no pay at all.

Gallup: Support for Mary-Jane Tops 50 %

I've been saying for 20 years that we're ten years away from decriminalization. Perhaps now I finally get to be right? AllahPundit's theory:

"It may be that as people warm up to the glorious libertarian principle of “I don’t like it, but if it doesn’t affect me, whatever” vis-a-vis gay marriage, it’s informing their thinking on unrelated issues like marijuana too. But I don’t know; my own views might be coloring that. What am I missing here?"

I think a resurgence of libertarianism is indeed responsible for this Gallup poll result. For the record, I personally don't use marijuana, it's just that I don't have a problem with those who do. So, like AllahPundit, my own views might be skewing my judgment here. My major vices are TV, movies, and the Olympic Summer Games.

UPDATE: Ilya Somin wrote about the poll yesterday saying:

"If we get to the point where 60 or 70% of the public supports legalization, I predict that the status quo is likely to become politically untenable even in spite of interest group lobbying. And, if present trends continue, we might well reach 60% support within the next 10–12 years."

So I'm not the only one throwing around ten year predictions, I just don't know if we're right on the math.

An important note on internet filtering

Online giants like Google, Facebook and NetFlix are actively feeding you content you already agree with. Watch.



To be clear, I don't necessarily have a problem with this practice. Successful companies are, by definition, in the business of making their customers feel happy with their content. But, like the news (as those of us who speak a coupla languages and occasionally check out foreign language news-feeds know) the info out there isn't always homogeneously synchronized.

It's incumbent upon the information consumer to seek out multiple information sources. Google, Facebook, and NetFlix (while all excellent services) ain't gonna do the hard work for you, folks.

(Via: Vanderleun)