Uncle Trouble?

Apparently there's a new method for making meth that's causing an uptick in the drug's usage after years of declining numbers. The AP has a lengthy piece discussing the new "shake and bake" technique, which involves common drugstore substances being shaken up in a 2-liter, airtight bottle.

The best part of the piece, however, seems to be a warning from Marion County Sheriff Kevin Williams. "It simplified the process so much that everybody's making their own dope... It can be your next-door neighbor doing it. It can be one of your family members living downstairs in the basement."

For some reason it doesn't strike me as terribly odd that a relative living in your Alabama basement could be a meth head. Williams should have added that "it could be scary, scraggly guys living in beat up vans in the holler."

The Red Menace

Doing some daily reading, I enjoyed this piece in the NY Times about the rhetoric of socialism from the conservative camp. I found it interesting because a) I'm taking my first Econ class right now and b) I got into a heated email exchange with my uncle late in the campaign because he was insistent on calling Obama a socialist/communist without actually knowing the differentiation between those terms.

I suppose if an attack line works, use it. But still, it's a bit like the old days of playing Tekken against some kid who just uses the same combo move the entire match.

Aside from, as the article points out, the different shades of San Fran, Swedish and Venezuelan socialism, my Economics text keeps reminding me that we actually live in a state of Welfare Capitalism, where the government regulates and manages whole aspects of the economy. As the GOP casts about for a new leader, they may want to look at a famous pseudo-socialist of their own: The trust busting, environment preserving, Cuba invading TR!

UPDATE: Apparently, some in Fort Worth think a "Marxist Revolution" is being conducted in the White House! You know when Ron Paul's kid shows up at a rally you've got a message that's sticking.