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Windypundit

Classical liberalism, criminal laws, the war on drugs, economics, free speech, technology, photography, sex work, cats, and whatever else comes to mind.

2009 in Review

December 31, 2009 By Mark Draughn Leave a Comment

I like to end each year with a review of some of the things I’ve been posting about. I don’t know if any of you care, but it’s always interesting to me to see where I’ve been. This year I expected the pickings to be pretty slim because of all the turmoil surrounding and following my parents’ passing, but it turns out I wrote quite a bit.

In fact, here at Windypundit, 2009 was the year in which

  • I asked my hosting provider to move this blog to a new server.
  • I explained four ways to answer the question “Have you got something to hide?” Be sure to read the comments for Pete Guither’s awesome fifth answer, and few more from Jdog.
  • I explained the hedge from hell.
  • I explored my love-hate relationship with 24.
  • I uncovered the Shanghai Chooke domain name scam…er, well, linked to someone who uncovered it.
  • I got peeved at some of the bad tech in 24.
  • I started using Amazon Cloudfront to serve the blog design elements.
  • I slammed a stupid anti-legalization argument.
  • The Obama presidency had its high point.
  • I explained how to think about the problem of innocent people in jail.
  • The Nazi Zombie uprising reached Austin, Texas.
  • I invited people to make my dream of being a published author come true. It didn’t work.
  • I explained the difference between armed robbery and civil forfeiture.
  • The war on drugs reached the century mark.
  • I shredded a really stupid argument about evolution.
  • I explored Apple’s vision of the future…from 1987.
  • A cop wrote a silly blog post about Ryan Frederick’s conviction.
  • A prosecutor wrote a silly blog post about my response to the cop’s post.
  • A cop tuned up a 15-year-old girl for hitting him with a kicked-off shoe.
  • I explained how to keep people from walking off with your pens.
  • A minor genius took on Google and won.
  • I accepted the loss of Pluto as a planet. But I will Never Forget.
  • I fought with my computer.
  • I tried to bring back Friday catblogging.
  • I explained how The Stimulus could go wrong.
  • I gave my wife some tips for a gunfight.
  • I welcomed Jennifer to the blogroll.
  • My mother got very sick and I moved in with my dad.
  • My mother died.
  • My wife posted about my mom.
  • I smacked around Robert J. Samuelson for his absurd attack on Obama’s cap-and-trade plan.
  • I discovered that Melrose Park was not Mayberry.
  • I tried another video blog. And it also sucked.
  • I decided to enter the legal education market.
  • My dad told us it was time to put him in a nursing home.
  • I explained how much government is enough.
  • I evaluated Obama at 100 days.
  • The Supreme Court once again showed how much it trusted police.
  • USLaw.com didn’t bother me as much as it bothered Scott Greenfield, but then they turned psychotic.
  • I posted some random thoughts about my mother’s passing.
  • I fired an open volley in my healthcare blogging, elaborated on it later, and then again some more. 
  • I put my dad in a nursing home and got to go back to my home at last.
  • I commented on a shocking incident of police thuggery.
  • I tried to apply logic to the testimony of a gang expert.
  • I discovered that Justice Thomas may be a little crazy.
  • Lori Drew was acquitted…which was almost certainly a good thing.
  • I finally managed to work Lincoln’s 1838 address to the Young Men’s Lyceum into a blog post.
  • I posted some pictures of fireworks.
  • I claimed the title of greatest criminal defense blogger in Chicago and no one has risen up to dispute me.
  • I decided to try Chitika.
  • I got the story behind a slightly controversial photo.
  • I had a depressing vision of how the ubiquitous surveillance in 1984 could actually be possible.
  • I speculated about crossing the border with an encrypted hard drive, and then I got a few real answers from a Customs lawyer.
  • I started to explain why identity on the web is complicated, and got some puzzling responses. I’ll have to finish that someday.
  • I explored some of the mysteries of minimum wage.
  • I learned that Avvo Answers really was as bad as everyone says it is.
  • My father died.
  • I explained the evil of coupon settlements.
  • The Ninth Circuit tried to clean up the mess that is computer search and seizure law.
  • I questioned the ethics of force catheterization, and got a less-than-awesome response from the AMA.
  • Norman Borlaug died.
  • I found some truth in rock and roll.
  • I noticed that a lot of children are being charged as sex offenders.
  • The feds came after bloggers who get free stuff.
  • Photography was still treated like a crime.
  • I questioned the level of happiness in the kingdom of Bhutan.
  • I thought about the economics of the death penalty.
  • The Minnesota Supreme Court reminded me that sometimes the law is really stupid.
  • I gave the world a glimpse of the complex technology of my everyday life.
  • Mary Beth Buchanen’s reign of terror finally ended.
  • A woman who supplied Eliot Spitzer with hookers had a few questions about his ethics.
  • Meep.
  • I spoke truth to zombie alarmism.
  • I explained why the public option and healthcare reform are redundant.
  • I complained that juries are kept in the dark.
  • I was thankful for my friends.
  • Muvico screwed over its customers.
  • The Warlord of Maricopa took crazy just a little bit further…
  • I explained why people on the internet seem so rude.

See you all in the new year!

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