Legalization of Drugs and Prohibition

This article confronts the idea that the legalization of drugs would be better for society by refuting the oft repeated myth that Prohibition was a failure in decreasing alcohol consumption. And as this is one argument I've used myself while playing Devil's Advocate with the drug issue, I was rather suprised to learn that in 1914, before Prohibtion, the average person consumed 22.8 gallons of alcohol, compared to 8.96 the year after Prohibition ended.

Contrary to myth, there is no evidence that Prohibition caused any big increases in crime. The real facts are these: As a result of Prohibition, 180,000 saloons were shut down, and 1,800 breweries went out of business. In ten years of Prohibition, the death rate due to alcohol decreased 42 percent, the death rate due to cirrhosis of the liver decreased by 70 percent, crime decreased by 54 percent, and insanity decreased by 66 percent." -Rev. Mark H. Creech, Prohibition and the Legalization of Drugs

In light of which it seems almost as foolish to suppose that doing away with speed limits would lead to safer roads. ;-)

What famous leader do you identify with?

Ran across this quiz on Abigail's blog awhile back, and couldn't help but take it. Apparently Einstein was as scatterbrained an introvert as me; now I just need to work on that bedhead look.

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

First TV Channel in Esperanto

Esperanto is fairly low on the list of languages I intend to learn, which means at my current rate of achieving fluency I shall reach this one around the year 3013. But when I do, I'll have one more TV channel I could watch!

URL: First Worldwide Internet TV

Virtual Real Estate Investing

This guy just paid out $100,000 for a piece of property that exists only on a harddrive:

Jacobs, an independent film director, recently invested six figures in a virtual space station in the online game "Project Entropia." He theorizes that the fertile hunting grounds, night clubs and housing on his new property will far more than repay his hefty outlay.

And while some might question the sanity of putting Ferrari money into an investment that would have no value if "Project Entropia" ever folded, Jacobs feels he is on safe ground.

It's been interesting watching the development of trade of online goods, but the idea of investing in imaginary goods seems to go against the grain of common sense. Though I guess it's not much different than making a living off the stock market without actually producing anything tangible for the good of society.

States I've Seen

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.