Paul M. Jones

I'm moving to Nashville on Saturday, and I'm spending time this week packing up (and cleaning, and giving-away, and throwing-away). Fight Club has been on my mind during the process, where Tyler Durden says (in the book) "Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you." I got this sentiment before; I'm not one to become attached to particular material stuff. But moving it all makes me remember how I am responsible for it: both for its presence, and for its care.

Here is Cal Evans' latest interview of me at VOTE; we talk about the Microsoft JumpIn event, and about the new Aura project. Listen to the in-page player, or download the MP3 here. Thanks Cal!

Tonight looks to be the last Steak Night at Casa de Jones in Memphis. Benito fixed a porterhouse with peppers, onions, and mushrooms, with a great claret (2007 Faithful Hound from Mulderbosch). I bought a bottle of the 25-year Highland Park scotch, seeing as I fell in love with it on my recent trip to Seattle, and we finished off dinner with that -- mmm mmm.

Picture courtesy of Ben Carter.

At long last, home from the Microsoft SQL Server JumpIn event. Great time there; Microsoft were excellent hosts. Seeing old faces, and meeting new ones, was fantastic. Excellent trip back as well. Happy dogs and good food greeted my return; thanks, Benito, for taking care of things so well in my absence.

Saudi women are risking arrest, the loss of their jobs and the loss of their children to challenge the driving ban. 

For those of you who are not aware of it, women in Saudi Arabia are forbidden from driving cars on their own. Drive to your freedom, ladies. Via Saudi Women Driving: The Beginning of the World's Largest Prison-Break? - Ricochet.com.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has long sold weed killer. Now, it's hoping to help people grow killer weed.

In an unlikely move for the head of a major company, Scotts Chief Executive Jim Hagedorn said he is exploring targeting medical marijuana as well as other niches to help boost sales at his lawn and garden company.

"I want to target the pot market," Mr. Hagedorn said in an interview. "There's no good reason we haven't."

via Scotts Miracle-Gro Looks to Help People Grow Marijuana - WSJ.com.

Climate alarmists and campaigning environmentalists argue that the industrialized countries of the world have made sizable withdrawals on nature’s fixed allowance, and unless we change our ways, and soon, we are doomed to an abrupt end. ...

It is a compelling story, no doubt. It is also fundamentally wrong, and the consequences are severe.

Emphasis mine. Read the whole thing. Via A Roadmap for the Planet - Print - Newsweek.

Lying about sexting apparently isn't Rep. Anthony Weiner's only gray area.

When Weiner (D-Queens, Brooklyn) was photographed by the Daily News fleeing the Capitol in his Nissan Pathfinder, it was clear the July 2007 registration sticker in his window was expired, and there was no inspection sticker to be seen. Weiner, through a staffer, said the 1988 Nissan Pathfinder was registered in New York State.

Not so, said the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The New York license plate bolted on Weiner's Pathfinder - US Congress 9 - had expired as of 2006, according to the DMV.

"That license plate should not be on a car," a DMV spokeswoman said. It wasn't even issued to the Pathfinder, but to another one of Weiner's cars, a Honda, according to vehicle records.

Valid plates were issued to Weiner's Pathfinder, but they don't have the helpful words "US Congress" on them, and so look less official. It's unclear what happened to those plates.

via JammieWearingFool: Above the Law: Weiner's Pathfinder Has Different Plates, is Unregistered.

The federal Department of Education doesn’t employ a single teacher but it does have a SWAT team: They kicked down a front door in Stockton, Calif. last week and handcuffed Kenneth Wright (erroneously) in connection with a student-loan “investigation.” “We can confirm that we executed a search warrant,” said Department of Education spokesperson Gina Burress.

The Department of Education issues search warrants? Who knew? The Brokest Nation in History is the only country in the developed world whose education secretary has his own Delta Force. And, in a land with over a trillion dollars in college debt, I’ll bet it’s got no plans to downsize.

via Obama’s Road to Nowhere - Mark Steyn - National Review Online.

Most people expect agencies like the FBI to be well armed for law enforcement purposes.  But the Railroad Retirement Board?  He reports that federal agencies far and wide now have armed agents, including the Small Business Administration.  For what?  To scare away phony 8(a) applications??  The United States Department of Education bought 27 Remington Model 870 12-gauge shotguns last year.  Here is the request for proposals to sell the weapons.  Perhaps the contracting officer, Holly Lee, knows why on earth the Department of Education needs a weapons arsenal. Maybe for the Department of Education SWAT team.

via The PJ Tatler » Weaponizing the Small Business Administration and Railroad Retirement Board.