Warren Buffett doesn't like Hillary Clinton's gas tax holiday. Doesn't much flip over an estate tax holiday. In fact, doesn't much like any tax holidays. But he does like taxes apparently.

He spelled it out for my colleague Liz Claman on FOX Business Network — did I tell you if you're not getting this fantastic business service, you're really missing out? But I digress.

Back to taxes. The world's richest man seems to like them. I think it's fair to say most other folks do not. I am not here to quibble with the sage, perhaps the single best investor who ever lived. I am here to quibble with his faith in government. After all, taxes support government. And more taxes support more government.

But you'd think this remarkable man, who places so much faith in the government with our money, would share the same view when it comes to his own money. He doesn't. He's already announced that he will give away his entire fortune to Bill Gates' charitable foundation. For good reason. Bill and Melinda Gates are doing a remarkable job at charity. And I guess, by inference, the government is not, speaking very charitably.

So think about that: When the smartest investor in the world had to decide the best use of his money for doing good in this world...he chooses not his Uncle Sam, but his friend Bill. I didn't follow his words. I followed something else. His money.

Neil Cavuto - "World's Richest Man Likes Taxes, but Most Other Folks Don't"

Despite his initial career uncertainty, Birch says he always knew he wanted to work for himself rather than someone else.

"When I was a kid I really liked playing chess, which is pretty geeky; I just enjoyed it - thinking, exercising my mind. And I found computers to be like an eight-hour day chess game. It was the same sense of satisfaction of problem solving and thinking. I really got into it."

So many aspects of life can be compared to chess... or poker... or both.

Michael Birch, Bebo founder: 'The Geek' plots his next move

"The serious problem of many Muslims"
Jamil Kazoun, 3/31/2008

So here we can see the true problem facing Islam in its current political incarnation and practice in Muslim countries. Islam is being used and abused by Muslim so-called extremists, by rules, and by outsiders. I am not interested in any theological debate about Islam and the merit of its values. What is clear to me is that anyone who discourages free speech, as a principal, is causing injury to himself, knowingly or most likely unknowingly.

Muslims and Christians can be equally cruel and unjust in characterizing the other side. The word Islam and Muslim has take a very negative connotation in many parts of the West. That can be very injurious to many. On the face of it, it seems to be out of ignorance. But the answer to such so-called hate speech is not oppression of free speech, but more free speech. You just have to tune out and not listen to bad or offensive speech, and tune your ears to intelligent speech. Freedom is when you can choose.

Islam and Free Speech

A worldwide shortage of hops -- a key ingredient for the pale ales Foye likes so much -- and rising prices for malted barley have pushed up the cost of imbibing a tall cold one. These days, he's paying $9.99 a six-pack, about 40% more than a year ago, for such California-crafted favorites as Union Jack India Pale Ale brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co. of Paso Robles and Racer 5 made by Bear Republic Brewing Co. of Cloverdale.

Add beer to the growing list of what many people consider basic foods -- like bread, coffee and pizza -- that are costing more. The cost of groceries has risen at an annual rate of about 5% in each of the last six months, the fastest food inflation since 1990.

Corona and Dos Equis are the only beers that I drink, but I usually keep Mackeson, Murphy's, and/or Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout on hand for my friends. So far, I haven't noticed any significant spike in the local prices of those imported brands.

After water, malted barely is the next-biggest ingredient in beer. It provides the sugars that turns into alcohol when the beer is fermented. Barley prices have risen because of worldwide demand for grains, including wheat, corn and rice. Philip Sutton, owner of Skyscraper Brewing Co., a small brewery in El Monte, said the price of a 50-pound bag of malted barley had jumped to $22, or 57% higher than a year ago.

Hops prices are soaring even more. Sutton paid $3.40 to $4.70 a pound for hops a year ago. The least expensive hops he has found this year were $12.63 a pound, and he's paid all the way up to $22.45. But that's only if he can find them.

"The hops that we like to use just aren't available," Sutton said. That has forced him to substitute other hops in some of his beer recipes "and that makes a different beer. It's still good but isn't what we would ideally have," said Sutton, who has raised his prices 20% to 30%.

Rising beer prices hard to swallow

WASHINGTON (AP) - John Dunbar:
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Tuesday his agency has all the authority it needs to prevent Internet service providers from discriminating against Web surfers and that new legislation is unnecessary.

The FCC has conducted two hearings on "network management" following admissions by Comcast Corp. that it sometimes delayed file-sharing traffic for subscribers as a way to keep Web traffic flowing.

Large network owners like cable and telecommunications companies are opposed to network neutrality legislation, saying it would add a layer of regulation that will hurt consumers. They say it is unnecessary and amounts to a solution in search of a problem.

So, exactly how will consumers be hurt?

Dunbar:
The hearing included some star power, with the appearance of Justine Bateman, best known for her role on the TV sitcom Family Ties. Bateman is now a founding partner of a new online media venture.

Did I read that correctly? "Star power"?

Network Neutrality - Senators debate future of Web

In common with most Allied air officers, Major Blake, who was responsible for Richthofen's remains, regarded the Red Baron with great respect, and he organised a full military funeral, to be conducted by the personnel of No. 3 Squadron AFC.

Richthofen was buried in the cemetery at the village of Bertangles, near Amiens, on 22 April 1918. Six airmen with the rank of Captain — the same rank as Richthofen — served as pallbearers, and a guard of honour from the squadron's other ranks fired a salute. Other Allied squadrons presented memorial wreaths.

Truly, a different era.

Manfred von Richthofen Shot Down 90 Years Ago Today

Vodka will be stressful for a fish that is not anesthetized.

I'm going to work this sentence into a conversation, if it's the last thing I do.

Apparently, Fish Don't Like Vodka

Everyone knew it was coming, they just didn't know when. Well, now we know: On April 15th, Sony will issue firmware version 2.3, which will add support for the DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) and DTS-HD High Resolution (HR) to the PlayStation 3 (PS3). In combination with the recent BD-Live firmware, this allows the PS3 to play all Blu-ray titles at their optimal functionality.

Fox and New Line exclusively use the DTS-HD MA format on their Blu-ray releases to ensure a "master quality" reproduction of the sound. Similar to Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA takes the audio directly from the master and compresses it in a way that maintains the same audio fidelity in a much smaller file size. Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, and PCM are considered the ultimate way to experience a film soundtrack.

Brian Towne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Division at DTS commented, "We are extremely pleased that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) is adding the full spectrum premium DTS-HD Master Audio codec into the PS3 so that more than 10 million owners of one of the best selling computer entertainment systems can have the best sounding, most efficient and flexible audio technology available system as well. DTS-HD Master Audio is fast becoming the must-have feature for high definition entertainment enthusiasts."

PS3 Getting DTS-HD Master Audio Support

NEW YORK (CNN) -- My name is Glenn Beck, and I am a recovering alcoholic.

It took me a lot of years and a lot of pain to be able to say those words and really believe them. Along the way, I was arrogant, greedy and self-destructive.

But the worst part was that I didn't see any of it.

Even at the lowest, darkest points of my life, I still thought of myself as that successful guy who everyone loved. I was the life of the party, the guy who could do no wrong -- the guy who everyone else only wished they could be. At least that's what I thought.

Now I know better. People weren't looking at me with envy; they were looking at me with disgust as they watched me throw away everything I had worked so hard for.

I think America can relate.

Through hard work and unwavering principles, America took itself from a far-fetched idea to the greatest, most compassionate, most free country the world has ever known. But as our success has grown, so has our arrogance.

We've compromised our values, sold out our principles and used our freedoms to justify giving more power to the government. In the first century of America's life, its government was afraid of its citizens. Now, it's the other way around.

Maybe America should consider starting on the same kind of 12-step program that's helped millions of other addicts who couldn't see that they were slowly killing themselves. Here's my version of it, condensed to six steps since I know that Americans are way too lazy to stick around for all 12.

Step One: Admit we are not powerless.

Take a look at our Constitution. Not just a transcript; find an actual picture of it. The first three words, "We the People," are at least four times larger than the others. Do you think that was an accident? Of course not. Our framers chose those words, and made them that size, because they knew they were the answer to any problem we would ever face.

Step Two: Believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.

I think this one pretty much speaks for itself.

Step Three: Decide to take our power back.

A recent polls says 81 percent of Americans now say that our country is on the wrong track. If you're one of those people, who do you blame? The Bush administration? Congress? The media?

Here's a crazy idea: How about blaming ourselves?

If you don't like the fact that your city has led the country in poverty and homelessness for the last 10 years, then ELECT SOMEONE NEW. Stop voting for the same people from the same party every year.

Our power hasn't gone away (see Step One), it's just been masked by politicians who are tearing us apart for their own gain. We need to reclaim that power, and then we need to use it.

Step Four: Make a complete and fearless moral inventory.

Alcoholics aren't exactly big fans of introspection and self-examination, but this is one of t... [ Read More (0.3k in body) ]

Glenn Beck: America needs a 12-step program

Chris Richard:
The men you always see under her [Hillary Clinton] are to a person passive-aggressive, sadistic, mean, little, petty beta-male pieces of work who would not naturally succeed in a common male-type hierarchy. By that I mean an environment that values straightforward achievement rather than the darker political arts.

Camille Paglia:
I agree that the male staff who Hillary attracts are slick, geeky weasels or rancid, asexual cream puffs. (One of the latter, the insufferable Mark Penn, just got the heave-ho after he played Hillary for a patsy with the Colombian government.) If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say Hillary is reconstituting the toxic hierarchy of her childhood household, with her on top instead of her drill-sergeant father. All those seething beta males (as you so aptly describe them) are versions of her sad-sack brothers, who got the short end of the Rodham DNA stick.

Damn...

Paglia, Clinton, Politics, Gender