It should be noted that Catallaxy is not a libertarian blog but “libertarian and centre-right”. This seemed to matter, indeed irritate some people such as when I expressed my own serious misgivings about the legalisation of marijuana in Colorado. My main point, although not expressed as well as it might – but it is an old point of mine – was that the media will throw the book at someone depending on their politics. It has nothing to do with the issue itself, only the person involved. Rob Ford they don’t like so the book gets thrown. Nigella Lawson they do like so she is given a free pass.

In an era of possibly the most blatant and disturbing presidential malfeasance in history, it is Chris Christie, an almost-Democrat in every respect other than brand name, who was pilloried for what is a minor misdemeanor but not for a Republican. As I used to point out in 2012, it was a miracle that Mitt Romney had led such a blameless life that the normal slangs and arrows of American politics could generally evade him. Christie should be a reminder just how hard it will be to get a non-Democrat elected anytime soon. Not absolutely impossible, but unbelievably and unnecessarily hard.

As far as illegal drugs go, there is a case to be made on both sides but it is hardly cut and dried. And whatever you might say about grass and hash, to use the terms of my youth, you would be a lot more reluctant to say the same about heroin and cocaine, or at least you should be but who knows. LSD anyone? Any or all of these sold in high school tuck shops or across the road? No lines anywhere laid down by the community? Not for me, but maybe for you.

Anyway, here is a quiz that says it can assess your political orientation between left and right. It’s been put together by Time Magazine and who knows how normalised. But I worked out at 89% conservative based on questions, some of which I found perfectly transparent but answered them as I would in any case have done, and some for which I was surprised about the way the system gauged my left-right orientation. It’s not serious, just for fun and no one’s going to know except for yourself.