Ranking of States by Personal and Economic Freedom

This is an interesting read. A Mercatus Center ranking of the 50 states according to the personal and economic freedom they allow.

Arizona is in the top 10 of course, but Colorado is number 2, with better snowboarding to boot. Hmmmm....



They said that even though New Hampshire is number 1 on the list, some changes the state government made since 2006 will make it lower the next time the list comes out.

The bottom 10? Not surprisingly, a lot of New England and west coast states. In fact the bottom 12 is pretty much the northeast, the west coast, Obamaland and Hawaii.

Getting Bigger

9 weeks. Seems like we're pretty solid, but Lia is as nutty as a Baby Ruth.

Mountain Biking Casto Canyon UT

I got to go to ride some trails near Bryce Canyon last weekend with Paul and Crystal D. and their friend Dylan. This is an area that Paul had been to before but the only riding I've done in Utah is around Moab, so I knew a little what to expect but have never been in this area.


Of course I GPS'ed all the trails we hit and the map below shows all of them together. We did a total of about 30 miles in two hard days of riding plus one short run on the last day only 4 miles but a steep climb.

Day 1 - Casto-Losee Loop

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Day2 - Thunder Mountain

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Day 3 - The Cassidy Trail Debacle and the Bryce Canyon Hike

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Bryce Hike

Big Al's Burgers, Kanab



The Fat Tire Menagerie. Yes, there were only four of us, but for the record I only brought ONE BIKE! I don't believe in going on a long camping trip and having more fresh bikes to ride than fresh underwear, unlike some people...Paul*cough*

A very dirty Ellsworth

The Obligatory Drop:

Unafraid In Greenwich Connecticut

A hedge fund manager finally stands up to the bullying of Chrysler bond holders by the POTUS, saying that investment firms and their clients have a right to the profit of their investments, and do not deserve the castigation for not "sacrificing like everyone else."

Here's a shock. When hedge funds, pension funds, mutual funds, and individuals, including very sweet grandmothers, lend their money they expect to get it back...

The President's attempted diktat takes money from bondholders and gives it to a labor union that delivers money and votes for him. Why is he not calling on his party to "sacrifice" some campaign contributions, and votes, for the greater good? Shaking down lenders for the benefit of political donors is recycled corruption and abuse of power.

Cliff Asness "I Am Ready For My 'Personalized' Tax Rate Now"

Jon Stewart: Agitator Dressed as a Clown

Here's another one for the "Just Shut Up and Entertain Me" department.

I'm pretty capable of listening to a comedian rant a rave about something I totally disagree with, as long as the comedian believes he's a comedian, and not trying to get into your head.

This is the case with The Daily Show. I've been known to watch it and laugh now and then (I liked it better when Craig Kilborn hosted it). Now though, it's pretty clear that the show has gone from short comedy skits disguised as news and turned into long editorializing diatribes disguised as comedy.

I wouldn't like that kind of thing even if I agreed with the content: when I want comedy, I want it without the politics. When Ron White talks about putting in an express lane on death row in Texas, it's okay, but it's funnier when he talks about hiding M&M's in Sluggo's jowls.

PJ Media has had a couple pieces on Jon Stewart in the last few weeks; one a written piece by Adam Graham, and another a video editorial by Bill Whittle. I've been following Whittle for several years, and I can tell he gets into this one, probably because it hits a little close to home.



Graham talks about the recent interview with Jim Cramer, the slightly insane stock guy on CNBC. Jon Stewart skewered Cramer, and Cramer did a hugely disappointing job defending himself and worse, of defending free market investing. But it turns out that's only what you see on television.

In truth, Stewart uses comedy to shield himself from criticism...Stewart uses the comedy defense as if to say, “What? Are you going to hit a clown?”

That to me is the perfect call for Stewart: he's trying to get by as the clown but in reality he's trying to be the Ivory Tower. This displeases me.