Niall Ferguson, a noted British author, spreads Fear, Uncertainity and Doubt over at The Telegraph  while worshiping at the alter of the oft-discredited Malthus.  Ferguson, in traditional modern British style, forgets the influence of markets (good and bad) and the results of well-intentioned but stupid policies on the part of government in claiming that our bigger worry should be about grain, not oil.

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This site runs on servers at WebHost4Life. I use a shared hosting plan, which means my site can be on a server shared by up to 250 other sites.  For my site, this is a perfect solution, as I don't get enough traffic to really justify a higher-quality plan.

At the company I work for, due to client budgeting restrictions, we often put our clients on similar hosting plans.  Clients will readily pay $15-$20k for a site, but then go all wobbly-kneed at the idea of paying more than $20/month for hosting.  Not sure why that is-- especially when the site is such a core part of their business -- but it happens.

Recently, though, we've been pushing clients to use another host.  It's still a shared-hosting plan, but they limit both the number and type of sites they host per server, and they monitor things in ways that I find astounding.  Their support is OUTSTANDING-- it's not just quick, thorough, and responsive, it's actually informative.

The host I am talking about is PowerDNN.  If you are looking for a top-quality web host that still has competitive prices, give Tony Valenti a call over at PowerDNN. I can't say enough about them.  Once I get rid of some other bills, I might even move this site over there.  I am absolutely happy with the service they provide.  They are really pleasant to deal with.

Check them out:  www.powerdnn.com.

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Dear Mr. State Attorney General:

You are allegedly investigating a number of blogs according to a blogger who lives in Southern Delaware.

I would encourage you to tread lightly.  State Attorneys General have a spotty record at best in this vein, and given the questionable record of your predecessor before both Federal Courts and the Maryland Court of Special Appeals on cases involving Constitutional Rights, I would hate to see your first term become mired in a messy set of investigations that may tend to impugn the First Amendment rights of citizens in this state.

While you are perfectly within your rights powers to investigate threats, I would encourage you to do so in the light of public scrutiny to ensure that you are not accused of trying to chill the free speech of citizens.

If there is anything on this blog that you feel is of a nature that may concern your office, I encourage you to contact me directly.  You can write to me at blog@gunpowderchronicle.com.  Or, comment right here.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

The Gunpowder Chroncile

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Before any farmers -- and I know a lot, and I even live on a farm -- think this an attack on them, get your britches out of twist and read the whole post.

Big Agriculture has indeed won another big fight on capital hill, and for the rest of us -- including family farms-- the result is not good.  The agriculture bill recently passed by Congress is another in a long history of payoffs to big agriculture that go back to the founding of the Republic.

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Maryland State Government is an abject failure.  Why?  Because no one in leadership wants to own up to the simple fact about our structural deficit:  raising revenue will not fix it. And when I say "no one in leadership", I include everyone on the political spectrum, not just the lefty Dems that hold court right now.

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The city of Salisbury has allegedly decided to ban a certain website from their computers, and that website has responded by a) providing a proxy site as a way around the restrictions, and b) questioning the legality of such a move.  I thought I would share my insight as a member of the information technology community for nearly 15 years now.  I should say, that as the Solution Architect for my employer, I am part of the process of establishing such policies and advising the company leadership on what they can, and cannot do.  I am not a lawyer, and I do not play one on TV.  So if you are an employer confronting such issues, I suggest that you contact your counsel for a definitive list of what you can and cannot do.

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You no longer need to log in to post comments.

Note that unlike some other blogs, I don't moderate comments except at the request of the commenter.

Let the free-fire zone begin.

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Help me pick a lawyer for Jihad Joe's big lawsuit against me.  He informs me that "I'm going to need one".

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According to Jihad Joe, "a local attorney" in Salisbury is planning to sue me, and has invited Jihad Joe to join the case.  Jihad Joe claims I called him a terrorist and defamed his character.

Of course, one must possess character in order to defame it.

One also must be careful in what one chooses to believe.  Since Jihad Joe did not identify said attorney, this could be made up news -- just like most of Jihad Joe's made up assertions, accusations, insinuations, and suppositions based on nothing but stale air.  Until I am served, there is no case, as Jihad Joe has pointed out in other forums.  So I await the Baltimore County Deputy Sheriff with open arms.  Make sure on the service papers you say "go to front door".  I can't always hear someone knocking on the back door, and the doorbell button back there isn't working.

I am fairly confident that I would prevail, given a fair opportunity to present my case.

Just one important thing:  you shouldn't file in Wicomico County.  Most of the judges in Wicomico County know my father, and they would probably have to recuse themselves.  A lot of people in the potential jury pool know either me, my dad, or my late stepmother.  And since my blog is written in Baltimore County-- and hosted on servers in Los Angeles County -- I will intend to argue over jurisdiction.  Just where did the alleged offenses occur? 

I will be needing counsel, so if anyone is interested, please contact me at blog@gunpowderchronicle.com.  I figure Charlie Jannace can't, because he previously represented Jihad Joe. But, there are still a lot of good attorneys out there.  I definitely won't be representing myself, as only a fool has himself for a client.

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The Delmar Dego, The Wicomico Wop, Jihad Joe Albero slings insults and lies like a Taco Bell customer breaking wind.  But I think now he has gone overboard.  In the words of Howard Beale, "I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE."

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