tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32703792012-01-19T14:36:36.444-08:00Opinions you probably won't find elsewhereDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.comBlogger5261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-88886451511282731762012-01-01T20:33:00.000-08:002012-01-01T21:09:29.258-08:00

It's time for ICBW's annual predictions post...First, a review of last year's predictions:The US economy will continue to recover in 2011, and unemployment will drop, although not sharply. Inflation will remain tame, and short-term interest rates will therefore be kept very low, although long-term interest rates will rise substantially. Real estate will decline slightly again. The dollar will

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-86615045980704722102011-11-16T06:07:00.000-08:002011-11-16T06:38:09.052-08:00

The socioeconomic context of the "Occupy Wall Street" protests and its imitators has been most astutely analyzed by Volokh Conspirator Kenneth Anderson and blogger Megan McArdle. Riffing on columns by Anne Applebaum on the bifurcation of the American middle class and Ross Douthat on privilege protection by liberal interest groups, Anderson and McArdle identify the OWS movement as a cry of despair

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-77093044839105037582011-10-14T10:03:00.000-07:002011-10-14T10:57:46.936-07:00

Numerous American journalists seem to be having great difficulty believing the US government's claim that the Iranian government attempted to get Mexican drug cartel members to assassinate the Israeli and Saudi ambassadors in Washington DC. Their argument? That the Iranians would never be so stupid and sloppy as to risk being exposed this way as direct, flagrant perpetrators of a terrorist attack

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-89344887922641454872011-08-11T21:44:00.000-07:002011-08-15T22:16:28.413-07:00

Amidst all the commentary about the recent rioting in Britain, one simple fact has been consistently ignored: for all their scale, the rioters represent a tiny minority of British "young people", or even "lower-class British young people". (Most of the rest, no doubt, are cowering at home with everyone else.) Those who interpret the unrest as proof of the foolish callousness of the government's

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-85382068545165089102011-07-26T21:56:00.001-07:002011-07-28T22:37:08.445-07:00

The amount of attention being paid to the current negotiations in Washington DC over the debt ceiling simply baffles me. Granted, if the US government really defaults on its obligations, then the consequences could well be quite severe. But there's no significant chance of that happening--the political risks for all the participants are simply too great. And once that danger is discounted, the

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-31685269617745817272011-03-20T22:11:00.001-07:002011-03-22T21:24:05.171-07:00

The haphazard American response to the various upheavals in the Middle East, and in particular the current civil war unfolding in Libya, has provoked a great deal of speculation about the underlying strategy and reasoning guiding the Obama administration's foreign policy. This is a bit odd, since the underpinnings of its foreign policy have been crystal clear since at least the unfolding of the

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-52938783051089691832011-03-07T23:00:00.000-08:002011-03-13T20:58:12.101-07:00

The recent resignation of the director of the London School of Economics over his university's lucrative and academically suspect relationship with Muammar Khaddafi's son has highlighted the general shamelessness of academics in courting wealthy foreign despots. (Daniel Drezner has a nice roundup of reports.) Middle Eastern studies gadfly Martin Kramer has been having loads of fun citing examples

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-7157589897463265882011-01-17T21:47:00.000-08:002011-01-17T22:16:02.907-08:00

This past weekend's New York Times story on the Stuxnet computer worm contained a wonderful, fiendishly clever little detail: The computer program also secretly recorded what normal operations at thenuclear plant looked like, then played those readings back to plant operators,like a pre-recorded security tape in a bank heist, so that it would appear thateverything was operating normally while the

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-76744253854984903812010-12-26T22:15:00.000-08:002011-01-01T22:47:06.247-08:00

2010 wasn't quite as good as 2009 for this blog's annual end-of-year predictions, but it wasn't too bad, either. Here's a wrap-up of the results, followed by a new batch of prognostications, sure to demonstrate the principle of "regression to the mean"... The US economy will grow only modestly in 2010, and unemployment will remain high. Consequently, the stock market will end the year down

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-19581600506295950192010-12-26T20:13:00.000-08:002010-12-26T21:05:37.667-08:00

The notoriety of Wikileaks completely baffles me. The huge collection of US State Department cables it recently published is interesting enough in places, but the reality is that Wikileaks' involvement in the cables' publication is entirely incidental. There are literally thousands of sites that happily accept and distribute anonymously uploaded material, any one of which could have been used by

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-74863875261937320212010-10-27T11:00:00.000-07:002010-10-27T11:00:03.483-07:00

I, too, have been thinking about everybody's favorite children-blowing-up movie, and the minds of the people who released it. Of course, the only way to think about it that doesn't make my own head explode is that it was made as a satire of environmentalists, by their opponents. In that context, it makes sense to ask whether or not it is fair, whether or not it is funny, and whether or not it is

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-70067693778041195982010-10-24T22:50:00.000-07:002010-10-24T22:53:17.823-07:00

Michael Kinsley is fond of pointing out the contradiction between anti-abortionists' moral absolutism and their rejection of its natural consequences. If abortion is, as pro-life groups routinely claim, morally indistinguishable from murder, he notes, then violence in defense of murder victims--murder of abortionists, for instance--ought to seem eminently justifiable to the entire movement,

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-62471114833605301422010-10-08T06:01:00.000-07:002010-10-08T06:28:28.360-07:00

The story of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide after his roommate broadcast live video over the Internet of him engaged in gay sex acts in his dorm room, has certainly confused a lot of commentators. To begin with, it's clearly not, as some have claimed, about "cyberbullying". There is no indication that Clementi was harassed or threatened in any way, and the

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-20601327217625160192010-08-26T21:57:00.000-07:002010-08-26T22:13:30.285-07:00

Two comparisons brought to mind by recent events in the world of pop culture:The evolution of pop music lyrics over the last forty-three years: from here to here (foul language warning), over essentially the same melody.In film: from terrorist to would-be pop star; in real life: from would-be pop star to terrorist.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-39232873396922463962010-08-22T21:30:00.000-07:002010-08-22T23:44:12.934-07:00

The standard social conservative argument against gay marriage is that it undermines and trivializes traditional forms of marriage and the family, by incorporating into them relationships that lack the same level of solemn responsibility and commitment. Two prominent moderate conservatives, Ross Douthat and David Frum, have finally managed to identify the main problem with this argument: it gets

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-10020151810084732662010-05-31T19:15:00.000-07:002010-05-31T22:14:18.815-07:00

A maybe-not-so-old joke tells of a party of explorers of several different nationalities captured by cannibals in some remote jungle. The cannibal chief offers each a last wish before being eaten, and each responds in a noble-but-feckless manner befitting his nationality. The last captive, an Israeli, asks, oddly enough, for the chief to punch him in the stomach. The chief, nonplussed,

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-3458484121072284112010-05-30T22:09:00.000-07:002010-05-31T22:17:29.096-07:00

Peter Beinart's cri de coeur in the New York Review of Books about how non-liberal American Jews aren't liberal enough, or something, will be familiar to readers of his small coterie of fellow anguished liberal Zionists, such as Jeffrey Goldberg and Leon Wieseltier. But in practice, it's not substantially different from the critiques of more straightforwardly Israel-bashing liberal Jews such as

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-3524494410010769392010-05-13T22:38:00.000-07:002010-05-13T23:21:53.417-07:00

Third in a series: Here's the last modern pop song you'll ever need to listen to (caution: dirty words again)...

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-59139876069524151862010-03-13T21:06:00.000-08:002010-03-13T21:10:54.141-08:00

As a followup to my previous service to readers, here's the trailer for the last Hollywood film you'll ever need to see.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-66016691079809816882010-03-01T17:17:00.000-08:002010-03-01T17:17:30.356-08:00

More Advice For MenI discussed here what we learned from the films "Groundhog Day" and "Superman" about how a typical man should go about winning the heart of the woman he desires. But what if, in addition, he wants to regain the respect of his nine year old son?(Spoilers ahead!)Fortunately, Hollywood has some answers for us here as well. One helpful film is "Night At The Museum". Ben Stiller is

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-42620819887303428622010-01-29T07:58:00.000-08:002010-01-29T08:01:26.974-08:00

As a service to readers, here's the last television news report you'll ever need to watch. (Note: contains a naughty word.)

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-26325320585229993362010-01-16T21:56:00.000-08:002010-01-20T21:43:10.835-08:00

I went to see Avatar prepared to see a hackneyed eco-hippie-themed noble-savage-vs.-evil-technology plotline, richly decorated with spectacular visual effects. And the film fully met my expectations on both counts, although the latter were a bit too derivative (of past jungle/rainforest films, from Tarzan to Emerald Forest; of sci-fi flicks such as Star Wars, Aliens and The Matrix; and of

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-19175663845192710302010-01-01T21:49:00.000-08:002010-01-01T21:54:49.412-08:00

2009 may not have been one of history's most outstanding years, but it was a pretty good year for this blog's annual predictions, as you'll see in this year's review and preview. First, the roundup of last year's list:Barack Obama's first year in office will go as badly as his mentor's, as the sluggish economy and unresolved conflicts between the moderates and progressives within his own party

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-65008665776865590922009-10-01T21:34:00.000-07:002009-10-01T22:06:47.151-07:00

How obviously wrong are Roman Polanski's defenders? Heck, even Nina Burleigh, of all people, recognizes that "[w]hat matters is that the rape of a 13-year old girl, in a nation of laws". She does concede, however, that "Great Men - and other men - sometimes do find pliant, young flesh irresistible. Geniuses are usually forgiven for it." Well, she would know, wouldn't she?

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-42208081018896319442009-08-08T20:49:00.000-07:002009-08-09T22:51:12.377-07:00

The latest proof of the extent to which an aristocratic, ruling-class mindset has permeated the political left and its cultural allies is Ellen Ruppel Shell's new bestseller, "Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture", which might as well be subtitled, "Let Them Eat Cake". It should no longer surprise anyone that a magazine writer with impeccable liberal credentials would casually accuse ordinary

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-75513066116825004692009-07-04T06:58:00.000-07:002009-07-05T22:42:01.037-07:00

Let's say you're the "supreme leader" of a large Asian country ruled by a party with a radical ideology based on a belief system that predicts that the entire world will one day submit to its precepts. Your charismatic predecessor led the overthrow of the nation's ruling monarchy and anointed you as his successor, but the regime you inherited retained some inconvenient vestiges of liberalism and

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-37401804359178874142009-06-08T21:01:00.000-07:002009-06-15T22:21:16.510-07:00

Should doctors be using computers?, Part 2I discussed here the complaint by the New York Times about the administration's "headlong rush" towards the computerization of medical records. That was the Bush administration of course, and we all still have the whiplash to show for it. By contrast, Obama recently held a health-care summit at which "the flagship proposal ... was the national adoption of

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-30215418846015036412009-05-25T20:57:00.000-07:002009-05-26T20:45:02.943-07:00

According to virtually every press account, the recent credit card law means trouble for customers who pay their balances in full every month. Deprived of extra profits from interest rate increases on heavy debtors, the logic goes, credit card companies will have to recoup the extra revenue from non-balance-carriers. Some commentators even go so far as to argue that monthly interest payers are "

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-76885526287578250962009-02-25T21:12:00.000-08:002009-02-25T21:21:07.658-08:00

The Madoff affair--in which prestigious Jewish financier Bernard Madoff bilked investors, many of them observant fellow Jews and Jewish foundations, out of billions of dollars via an elaborate, long-lived Ponzi scheme--is a fascinating lesson in the nature and evolution of social trust. Even before Edward Banfield made it a topic of social scientific research, the idea that the degree to which a

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-80162923310708043632009-01-20T22:17:00.000-08:002009-01-20T22:21:20.986-08:00

A group of seventy-odd British residents "of Jewish origin" have written a letter to the Guardian comparing Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto, and urging British sanctions against Israel. No doubt they are highly atypical of their self-declared demographic, but then, out of a population of some 280,000, one could no doubt find seventy to endorse just about any point of view, including the view that

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-72805461382529712382008-12-31T20:02:00.000-08:002009-01-01T12:47:12.537-08:00

Well, it's that time of year again. Here's my annual assessment of the previous year's predictions, and a futile attempt to do better this year:Hillary Clinton will be elected president in November, by a solid margin, in an election with relatively light turnout by recent standards. The Democrats will retain control of both houses of Congress.Well, she would have, if her staff had been competent

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-80521890161596711662008-12-14T19:28:00.000-08:002008-12-14T19:49:46.790-08:00

I've already noted that the extraordinarily successful are a poor choice of model for those who would understand how to achieve more mundane varieties of success in life. Now, along comes Malcolm Gladwell to devote an entire book to this poor choice, studying a few off-the-charts-successful cases such as Mozart and Bill Gates in order to try to understand how people in general manage to succeed.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-34088427747862401552008-12-14T06:47:00.000-08:002008-12-14T19:45:57.233-08:00

Yossi Klein Halevi and Matthew Wagner have both written lately about the remarkable relationship between Chabad/Lubavitch and secular Israelis. Unlike other ultra-Orthodox sects, which all coldly reject both the state of Israel and secular Israelis as betrayers of Jewish law and observance, Chabad considers itself a kind of internal missionary organization, winning over secular Jews to piety

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-51684238378959181632008-11-05T21:58:00.000-08:002008-11-06T22:09:22.850-08:00

Say you've just been elected President of the United States after campaigning on the themes of "hope" and "change". Your opponent, an aged former military pilot, had campaigned as an experienced statesman whose decisiveness contributed to a major military achievement in Iraq. But a sharp economic downturn shortly before the election made his foreign policy expertise seem somewhat irrelevant, and

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-33139089803549385822008-10-30T21:32:00.000-07:002008-11-04T21:23:19.681-08:00

In the aftermath of the Republican electoral wipeout, conservative intellectuals will no doubt continue to busily plug their thoughtful treatises on how to resuscitate the conservative movement. That's understandable--after all, if your stock in trade is formulating and marketing partisan ideas, then it's natural to believe that the cure for what ails your party is more and better

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-36211246919456082422008-07-04T19:33:00.000-07:002008-07-07T22:37:28.295-07:00

Crooked Timberite and global warming zealot John Quiggin inadvertently asks a very important question: "I don’t see how AGW [anthropogenic global warming] differs [from] other examples like mainstream medicine v homeopathy and AIDS reappraisal, evolution vs creation." In other words, what is the difference between bucking the scientific consensus regarding global warming and, say, doubting that

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-28702423718383954052008-06-25T14:59:00.000-07:002008-06-25T16:12:01.735-07:00

The Jerusalem Post's Caroline Glick, in typical sky-is-falling ultra-hawk fashion, has declared that defense minister Ehud Barak's enthusiasm for Israel's recent truce with Hamas has two possible explanations. Either Barak is risking the lives of Israeli soldiers and civilians to pander to the most radical elements of Israeli society while seeking to win sympathy points from Cairo in a general

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-81631345937916056192008-06-25T14:51:00.001-07:002008-06-25T14:59:08.387-07:00

For some reason local Starbucks outlets are peddling copies of this novel, which is narrated by an unusually deep, insightful dog. (The advertising slogan is, "Narrator. Philosopher. Dog.") Without having read a single word, I can already write a summary review (or perhaps just a review headline): "Jonathan Livingston Beagle".

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-40937141099013291942008-04-02T19:51:00.000-07:002008-04-03T21:41:15.907-07:00

The subprime mortgage crisis (useful primer here) has provoked the usual partisan reactions, with the left griping about "corporate governance" and "transparency", and the right telling everyone to just "suck it up". I fear that both sides are underestimating the severe and fundamental nature of the problem.First, some history: in the 1970s, Western economies all seemed to be going haywire

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-28835158802048005202008-02-06T19:30:00.000-08:002008-02-06T22:07:27.491-08:00

The widely praised recent film Juno, which bills itself as an edgy comedy, would be more accurately described as a disturbing psychodrama. The story is ostensibly straightforward: a sixteen-year-old high school student gets pregnant, and decides to have the baby and give it up for adoption. The film simply tracks her relationship with her parents, the adopting couple, and the baby's father

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-51807652426449124092008-02-05T21:55:00.000-08:002008-02-05T22:05:24.410-08:00

A quick you-read-it-here-first observation about the "Super Tuesday" results: Hillary Clinton's primary victories are concentrated largely in "blue" states (those that tend to vote Democratic), while Obama's are concentrated largely in "red" states (those that tend to vote Republican).Off-the-top-of-my-head explanation: As the establishment candidate, Clinton wins over Democrats in states where

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-27554495371558413912008-01-22T16:34:00.000-08:002008-01-22T16:36:47.616-08:00

But did they find Jake Gyllenhaal's shirt in his closet?

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-326805643930930322007-12-29T21:14:00.000-08:002008-01-03T20:11:06.579-08:00

Time for ICBW's annual predictions...First, a review of last year's...Any "surge" by US troops in Iraq, if it occurs at all, will be perfunctory and ineffectual. Likewise, any diplomatic initiative aimed at Iran or Syria will be half-hearted and come to nothing. Instead, Bush will rely on congressional pressure to force his hand, allowing him to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq while

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-90791938668730603212007-11-09T21:37:00.000-08:002007-11-09T22:06:14.912-08:00

Congratulate yourselves, readers--according to this site, you must all be geniuses (or, rather, genii). And I now have the perfect excuse for there being so few of you.Of course, I could put in a lot of extra time (if I had any) and effort into making my blog more readable. But given that most of my postings contain roughly a book chapter's worth of ideas, it's not clear that that strategy

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-26402380979598791152007-11-08T19:02:00.000-08:002007-11-08T19:23:35.486-08:00

The other day, I found myself driving behind a large white pickup truck bearing two bumper stickers. One bore the slogan, "Powered by Biodiesel--No Wars Necessary", and the other advertised a local "progressive talk" AM radio station.My immediate thought was, "there goes a real greenneck..."

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-58664191306140455852007-09-29T15:03:00.000-07:002007-09-30T23:05:13.719-07:00

I've written at length many times before about how many supposed foreign affairs "experts" exhibit complete historical ignorance and astonishingly poor understanding of basic international relations. Dan Senor's analysis of the Iranian threat in the Wall Street Journal is a case in point."Iran is not the Soviet Union," he writes, "and the post-9/11 struggle is not the Cold War. The deterrence

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-81560140124923499612007-07-29T21:22:00.000-07:002007-07-31T09:14:25.559-07:00

Should the US attack Iran? If so, how, where, and on what scale? Obviously, I have no idea, since I'm not privy to the kind of information that would allow someone to assess the likely outcomes of different types of attack with any accuracy. Those with the requisite intelligence data are presumably working through various scenarios as we speak, figuring out the worst-case, best-case and most

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1600216152573866752007-05-31T20:34:00.000-07:002007-06-02T20:33:07.079-07:00

Most partisan political debates are at least somewhat dishonest, with both sides concealing somewhat unsavory motives behind grand, idealistic rhetoric. The current immigration debate, however, may be setting new standards for bipartisan hypocrisy.Supporters of the bill--primarily Democrats--claim to be saving millions of poor, oppressed illegal immigrants by granting them legal status (so-called

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-63543885101043019712007-05-27T08:33:00.000-07:002007-05-29T15:54:50.337-07:00

It's a year before the presidential election. The president, a backslapping Texan doggedly pursuing a costly and unpopular war, will not be running again. His party's activist base is rumbling with dissatisfaction at the collection of establishment centrists who are contending to replace him, and itching for a more ideologically pure candidate to enter the fray. The opposing party, meanwhile, is

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-65578602616223688032007-05-03T20:22:00.000-07:002007-05-04T09:17:04.906-07:00

Michael O'Hare's May Day tribute to several generations of American Communists--including, he makes clear, thousands of loyal Stalinists--is a fascinating study in partisanship. "They were misled by their leadership more than once", he writes, "and there's a lot they didn't understand about how societies and people really work, but they were brave and their hearts were in the right place."The

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-61387820025317008362007-02-07T18:59:00.000-08:002007-02-10T23:28:44.960-08:00

I remarked some time ago that those who are ardently committed to one side in a political conflict rarely simply change their minds when faced with the moral or empirical unsupportability of their position, but rather tend to become more and more vehement in their partisanship, until they reach a "breaking point" at which they can no longer tolerate their own stance. The classic example, of

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-57205801746815368672007-02-03T21:14:00.000-08:002007-02-04T07:18:55.684-08:00

The wide availability of video editing software has spawned a number of new art forms, one of which is the imaginatively reinvented movie trailer (the "recut"). Three of my favorites are for Jaws, When Harry Met Sally, and Taxi Driver.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-55019035273052459082007-01-30T11:50:00.000-08:002007-01-31T21:02:27.236-08:00

A startling new research result is rocking the worlds of sociology and psychology. Apparently, when provided with certain artificial stimuli, under controlled conditions, a group of experimental subjects were found to be capable of reliably inducing in themselves an intense, satisfying sexual experience--one that they described afterwards as among the most powerful of their entire lives. These

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1167165312390170002006-12-31T10:50:00.000-08:002007-01-02T10:59:27.390-08:00

It's time for ICBW's annual prediction review and predictions...first, a look at last year's predictions:The focus in Iraq will turn to the corruption and ineffectuality of the newly elected government. The US will reduce its troop presence in the country, claiming as its justification the improving order-keeping capability of the Iraqi armed forces and police. But the insurgency will continue,

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1165095380974770582006-12-02T13:32:00.000-08:002006-12-02T13:36:21.026-08:00

Our blog has been selected to be part of a survey of political bloggers and their readers. If you'd like to participate, you are invitd to do so here.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1164695252747983372006-11-27T20:34:00.000-08:002006-11-29T20:46:38.260-08:00

The now-famous video of Michael Richards' racist tirade at some black hecklers has provoked a lot of shock, disgust and disappointment from people who wonder how such an entertaining comedian could express such ugly hatred. My reaction is very different: I'm not only not shocked--I'm not even convinced Richards has demonstrated himself to be a racist. Rather, his rant struck me as a totally

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1163604743803964452006-11-15T06:27:00.000-08:002006-11-17T09:26:10.903-08:00

Although I've made fun of international relations theorists in the past, there is one IR concept which, when properly applied, has its uses: the realist doctrine of "equilibrium", which can be interpreted in the Machiavellian sense of, "help my weaker enemy against my stronger enemy". This tactic can have several outcomes, all net positive: the stronger enemy could defeat the weaker enemy, but

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1161068750859087122006-11-05T16:34:00.000-08:002006-11-05T16:57:09.130-08:00

A recent study published in the British medical journal Lancet claims to have measured 650,000 "excess deaths" resulting from the US invasion of Iraq. (These include deaths indirectly attributed to the invasion, such as those resulting from the post-invasion weakness of Iraq's economy, basic services and infrastructure.) Opponents of the war are using this figure to bolster their argument that

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1157482639443904962006-09-05T11:47:00.000-07:002006-09-05T20:48:10.410-07:00

The Bush administration apparently wants to amend the War Crimes Act, so thathumiliations, degrading treatment and other acts specifically deemed as "outrages" by the international tribunal prosecuting war crimes in the former Yugoslavia -- such as placing prisoners in "inappropriate conditions of confinement," forcing them to urinate or defecate in their clothes, and merely threatening prisoners

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1149211182159817952006-07-10T17:55:00.000-07:002006-07-10T21:08:57.310-07:00

Apparently Charles Murray's new book talks up a fairly old idea: a universal guaranteed income. Supposedly, providing everyone with a government salary of a few thousand dollars a year would solve the problem of destitution (i.e., provide a "safety net"), while not giving people enough comfort to discourage them from improving their standard of living through hard work.The underlying assumption

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1151476456373765312006-06-27T23:22:00.000-07:002006-06-27T23:39:11.986-07:00

As Volokh Conspirator Ilya Somin notes, Author J,K. Rowling is apparently hinting lately that Harry Potter may die at the end of the seven-book series. Now, I haven't read any of the books, but after seeing the last movie, I concluded that the most natural ending for the series would be for Harry to sacrifice himself to save his child and kill Voldemort--just as his parents did before him. How

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1147749393950536942006-05-15T17:30:00.000-07:002006-05-16T20:01:28.000-07:00

Some political scientists at the University of Toronto have started a letter-writing campaign on behalf of a former colleague, Ramin Jahanbegloo, who has been imprisoned by the government of Iran on trumped-up "espionage" charges. Crooked Timber's Henry Farrell points out (approvingly, mind you) a rather unusual feature of this campaign: the organizersask that you be careful to adopt a

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1145578782965211162006-04-20T17:15:00.000-07:002006-04-20T17:19:42.976-07:00

I apologize for the lack of recent postings--since April 2nd, I've been preoccupied with a special project. Posting will resume when I have more time....

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1145030032946083592006-04-14T15:05:00.000-07:002006-04-14T15:11:25.600-07:00

The differences between Sunni and Shiite IslamSince it is looking more and more likely that the eagerly anticipated Iraq civil war may finally be upon us, a number of readers have written to me asking: "LTEC, can you explain the differences between Sunni Islam and Shiite Islam?"I'd be glad to. Keep in mind, however, that this is a very complex issue. The answer is not simple, but if my readers

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1143094030896362022006-03-28T20:40:00.000-08:002006-03-28T20:44:35.116-08:00

A joke for Islam Awareness WeekIslam Awareness Week, sometimes called Muslim Awareness Week, is celebrated at different times around the country. In honor of this event, here is an old but relevant joke.A congressman is touring a mental hospital. He comes across an especially heavily guarded room, and asks permission to speak with the patient. As soon as they are alone together the patient says

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1142211787167654462006-03-13T16:10:00.000-08:002006-03-13T16:15:58.506-08:00

A Russian joke for International Women's DayA (Soviet) Russian joke goes as follows:Word gets around that a particular butcher shop will actually have some meat on the following day. That day, by 3AM, there is already a huge line winding around the block outside the shop. At 7AM there is an announcement: "We're sorry comrades, but the shipment of meat is smaller than we expected. All Jews

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1140582113518940532006-03-01T21:55:00.000-08:002006-03-01T21:58:17.020-08:00

again with the academic freedomI wrote a post on Academic Freedom, Dan responded, I responded to him, he responded to me, and this is my response to that.1) Industry versus academiaFirst, to clear up one misunderstanding: I oppose (strongly) cracking down on gratuitous politicking in the classroom, but not because of the need to allow professors to say (for example) gratuitous antifeminist

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1140509471686805172006-02-20T20:33:00.000-08:002006-02-22T23:20:49.566-08:00

I recently drew an analogy between rioting Muslims today and rioting African-Americans in past decades, concluding, based on the American experience, that alienated and violent minority groups do not necessarily stay that way forever. And as I later pointed out in a comment on one of LTEC's posts, the reaction of the society at large to rioting members of a minority group--in particular, whether

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1139819277719010902006-02-13T00:17:00.000-08:002006-02-19T19:30:17.666-08:00

Some points in response to LTEC's latest arguments about academic freedom:1) I'm glad LTEC agrees that "to the extent that all 'time' is well-defined as being either company time or private time, politicking should be done on private time." But he goes on to say he opposes applying that standard to universities by cracking down on gratuitous politicking in the classroom. His reason? That

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1138843634296046292006-02-11T14:40:00.000-08:002006-02-11T14:50:39.983-08:00

Academic Freedom, againI wrote a post below on Academic Freedom, and Dan has posted a response to it. This is a response to Dan's response.I will defend myself against Dan's charges of hypocrisy below but I'llbegin with a discussion of issues of more general interest.1) What is "academic freedom"?Dan complains that my definition is too recent, and that we should stick with an older definition.

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1138527511122484722006-01-29T00:55:00.000-08:002006-02-02T16:02:57.896-08:00

I recently had the pleasure of seeing a much-talked-about recent film on the subject of doomed, forbidden love. It follows the story of two lead characters who are immediately attracted to each other when they meet, but know that society expects them to pretend otherwise. They soon consummate their smoldering passion in a beautiful rural setting, but part ways shortly thereafter, expecting

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1138261505485112002006-01-25T21:55:00.000-08:002006-01-29T16:53:34.003-08:00

On the subject of "academic freedom", my co-blogger, LTEC, is of the opinion that--well, actually, he has numerous opinions on the subject, most of which I disagree with. I will try to address them one by one."Within the University, the most important thing that Academic Freedom means is that no member or job applicant is discriminated against because of his views, unless those views interfere

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1138080128345633572006-01-25T18:40:00.000-08:002006-01-25T18:52:38.756-08:00

Academic FreedomAmongst supporters of academic freedom, there have been many criticisms of David Horowitz' "Academic Bill of Rights" and, more recently, the UCLAProfs.com academic freedom campaigns (here, here, here). (I'm ignoring criticisms that are thinly disguised efforts by enemies of academic freedom to stop people from interfering with the status quo.) Here is what I think is going

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1136540259929645032006-01-06T00:33:00.000-08:002006-01-07T20:11:25.676-08:00

I find the recent encomia to stricken Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon as an utterly irreplaceable visionary leader to be somewhat baffling. Put aside, for a moment, his rather checkered history prior to his election as prime minister of Israel. Even in office, his major initiatives, now touted as revolutionary master strokes (no pun intended), were in fact--with one glaring exception--

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1136052534837922392005-12-31T09:08:00.000-08:002006-01-02T10:11:16.166-08:00

It's time for ICBW's annual prediction review and update. First, last year's predictions....There will be a major effort to rejuvenate the Middle East peace process, following the upcoming Palestinian Authority elections. The effort will come to absolutely nothing, and attempted Palestinian terrorist attacks and Israeli military incursions into Palestinian towns will be roughly as frequent at

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1131499541196801002005-11-10T17:30:00.000-08:002005-11-10T17:38:41.203-08:00

Helpful words from the Imams of Paris, and Frank SinatraRecent efforts by Imams to stop the rioting in France remind me of a story I once heard a comedian tell about how Frank Sinatra saved his life.The comedian was walking down an alley in Las Vegas when suddenly two goons jumped him and started beating him horribly. Just when he was sure he was going to die he heard Frank Sinatra walk up and

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1131154454268837892005-11-05T06:40:00.000-08:002005-11-05T06:51:00.726-08:00

Why are they rioting?I'm sure we've all read this many times before:"I've always loved visiting that part of the city. The people are so nice and friendly, and I feel warm and safe whenever I go there. Now I hear that those people are rioting. They must have very legitimate and severe grievances if they're willing to engage in so much violence."Actually, I've never read that. Incredibly, I have

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1130912734822094282005-11-01T22:13:00.000-08:002005-11-04T23:40:42.363-08:00

As far as I can tell, this New York Times article is completely serious. Personally, I'm not yet convinced that the earth's millions of square miles of desolate, uninhabited frozen tundra are in imminent danger of being replaced by lush, pleasant temperate zones. But who wants to take that chance?

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1127451181717845472005-09-22T21:15:00.000-07:002005-09-25T00:41:21.893-07:00

Is the de facto opening of the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip a danger to Israel? In the short term, of course, it will allow an influx of weaponry and even terrorists into Gaza, with predictable consequences. Similarly, the rise of Hamas as a political force in Gaza seems to bode ill for the prospects of peace in the region. But in the long term, the real problem is more basic: a

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1125649501285335052005-09-01T22:42:00.000-07:002005-09-02T08:52:44.410-07:00

I visited New Orleans once, fourteen years ago. Apart from my standard tourist experiences of New Orleans' "SeedyLand" theme-park-of-tawdriness atmosphere, my most vivid memory is of my departing flight from New Orleans airport. I've never in my life experienced a more chaotic flying experience. Passengers were shooed without boarding passes onto the already-late plane, where harried flight

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1125091975157443592005-08-26T14:25:00.000-07:002005-08-26T14:32:55.163-07:00

Welcome, Slate readers! For your enjoyment, here are some links to a selection of my previous rants on the subject of the judiciary's naked usurpation of democracy...

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1124408707148895202005-08-24T14:35:00.000-07:002005-08-24T23:46:26.963-07:00

Gideon Rose, editor of the prestigious Foreign Affairs magazine, demonstrates the brain rot at the heart of the field of international relations in his latest New York Times op-ed. Rose contrasts the "overenthusiastic idealists of one variety or another" who "have gotten themselves and the country into trouble abroad" with the "prudent successors brought in to clean up the mess" by applying "

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1123656460390313132005-08-09T23:35:00.000-07:002005-08-09T23:47:40.400-07:00

You may never in your life hear any music more bizarre and disturbing than this.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1121665414437446052005-07-17T20:01:00.000-07:002005-07-19T07:28:55.156-07:00

As a result of certain recent events, I happen to have been strategically placed to witness the United Kingdom's reaction to the recent bombings of the London transport system. A few observations:The reputation of the BBC notwithstanding, I found the political bias of British television news to be comparable to that of American network news--and hence, quite possibly more in line with its

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1120577682987276552005-07-05T08:33:00.000-07:002005-07-05T08:34:42.993-07:00

In honor of my honeymoon, this blog will now observe two weeks of silence.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1120257999647826962005-07-01T14:49:00.000-07:002005-07-01T16:27:47.550-07:00

Speaking of the real estate bubble, The Volokh Conspiracy's Todd Zywicki has an, er, interesting take on "exotic mortgages" such as "interest only" mortgages, where the purchaser spends a few years only paying interest on the mortgage, before actually beginning to pay down the principal and acquire equity in the home. The problem with paying down the principal on your mortgage, he writes, is

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com87tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1119774955677485342005-07-01T00:30:00.000-07:002005-07-01T16:04:51.330-07:00

It's amusing to see conservatives taking a brief breather from fulminating against the Imperial Judiciary (a favorite hobby of mine, too, as readers well know) to lambaste the Supreme Court's recent failure of Imperial will in the Kelo decision. Apparently, when it comes to the municipal government requiring you to sell your house to a developer, it's just fine, say conservatives, for the

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1119594519907826712005-06-26T22:09:00.000-07:002005-06-27T00:09:29.043-07:00

Bloggers are quite understandably having lots of fun ridiculing this unbelievably asinine New York Times op-ed column, in which a Muslim Arab-American Harvard student contrasts her chance encounter with a polite, gentlemanly Al Gore with the "everyday hostility" she claims to endure as a headscarf-wearer in Cambridge, Massachussetts. Sure, it's fun to laugh at the author's sophomoric

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1119720697525428712005-06-25T12:20:00.000-07:002005-06-25T12:27:27.180-07:00

Where Have All the Frogs and Toads Gone?According to this article: Frogs and toads are becoming extinct all over the world. It's the same magnitude event as the extinction of the dinosaurs.What is the reason? Toads and frogs are dying out under pressure from the expansion of agriculture, forestry, pollution, disease and climate change, NatureServe said.In other words, they haven't got a clue.

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1119242762893554042005-06-21T11:30:00.000-07:002005-06-21T11:33:54.113-07:00

Canada's Vaunted Health Care SystemThere has been some confused discussion lately about the issue of private health care in Canada. Canadians are the most confused about this, and they have been ever since most private medical care was made illegal about 20 years ago. In fact, most of them (based on a survey I've done consisting of frequent chats) don't even know that most private medical care

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com192tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1119140613957320152005-06-18T14:29:00.000-07:002005-06-19T23:55:21.440-07:00

Mark Kleiman is concerned about what he calls the "TGIF problem": that people don't enjoy their jobs enough. "What does make me unhappy," he writes, "is that, in what is by some measures the richest nation in the history of the planet, most people don't really enjoy the activity that occupies about a third of their waking hours."It's widely considered an ideal, of course, to be able to do for a

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com160tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1118471830276703352005-06-10T22:38:00.000-07:002005-06-12T13:13:23.070-07:00

The 1961 newspaper article by Peter Benenson that led to the founding of Amnesty International is a fascinating historical document. It harkens back to the era when "freedom of speech" was a rallying cry on the left, rather than the right--presumably because at the time, the left considered itself an insurgent political movement rebelling against an established order, not as the established

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1117995527388079022005-06-07T20:50:00.000-07:002005-06-07T20:58:59.253-07:00

Something is Very Wrong With 100% of the Faculty at MITMany people are writing about all the "diversity" nonsense at Harvard -- notably Heather MacDonald -- but almost no one is complaining about the sins of her sister institution just down the river.In a long article in the MIT Technology Review with the frightening title "Diversity Pledge", we learn that the MIT faculty has unanimously pledged

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1117848130413639652005-06-05T16:05:00.000-07:002005-06-05T16:10:02.703-07:00

Most Harmful Books?This list of the most harmful books of the 19th and 20th centuries has gotten a lot of attention and a lot of criticism (Darwin is harmful?), but I have two severe criticisms of my own: one inclusion and one exclusion.The wrong inclusion is Hitler's Mein Kampf. What harm did this book do? Almost nobody bought it when it first came out. It became popular later because Hitler

LTEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05830062956668562749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1117274280758168172005-05-28T01:44:00.000-07:002005-05-30T12:37:06.363-07:00

Oxblog's David Adesnik discusses the interesting question of whether the "Star Wars" saga--and the recently-released Episode III, in particular--is a political allegory, and if so, what lesson can be drawn from it. Apparently, George Lucas himself sees in it echoes of the US military invasion of Iraq, and an answer (of sorts) to the question, "how does a democracy turn itself into a dictatorship

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1116490163596644262005-05-19T01:00:00.000-07:002005-05-22T11:33:28.830-07:00

Mark Kleiman points approvingly to public policy professor Michael O'Hare's rather bizarre proposed solution to the problem of music copyright protection: simply have the government pay musicians to create music. The idea is for music makers to allow anyone to record, play, trade, distribute and otherwise use their music--in return for a government subsidy, which would presumably be in

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1116310085067998622005-05-16T21:51:00.000-07:002005-05-19T00:59:09.786-07:00

There's no question that Newsweek's now-retracted Koran-in-the-toilet story was a journalistic fiasco. But numerous commentators have made two assertions with which I must sharply disagree:Newsweek's mistake was so egregious because its article accused America of a heinous act; andNewsweek is responsible for the rioting, and resulting deaths, that followed its publication of the false

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1115964021909539022005-05-12T21:39:00.000-07:002005-05-15T10:39:05.936-07:00

There's something about procedural rules that brings out the hypocrite in just about everyone. Power Line's Scott Johnson catches distinguished Minnesota politician Walter Mondale succumbing to the temptation, with the support of his local newspaper. Mondale recently published an op-ed defending the Senate filibuster, now under attack by Republicans frustrated over their inability to confirm

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1115706520909280002005-05-09T23:19:00.000-07:002005-05-11T23:14:54.436-07:00

Economist/blogger Brad de Long has stirred up something of a controversy by lambasting an essay by German author Gunther Grass published on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversity of the defeat of Nazi Germany. Most commentators have understandably balked at de Long's characterization of Grass as "crypto-Nazi scum" (which de Long appears to have retracted). But the heated partisanship of the

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3270379.post-1114677141919096052005-04-28T01:23:00.000-07:002005-04-28T01:32:21.920-07:00

If you find this blog nearly unreadable, there's now scientific (or at least scientific-sounding) support for your opinion. You can obtain it here.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15686012908579078418noreply@blogger.com0