Archive | July, 2004

Jim Powell’s FDR’s Folly is a good but flawed book. He does a very good job at showing the economic irrationality of a wide range New Deal policies, and of bringing the latest economic research to bear on the effects of those policies. On the other hand, the book is written in a polemical, over-the-top […]

Rep. Istook (R-Okla.), joined by 34 other Representatives, has proposed the following bill, HR 4892: (a) IN GENERAL- Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. (b) JURISDICTION- (1) U.S. SUPREME COURT- The Supreme Court of the United States shall have original jurisdiction to hear and […]

The First Circuit has just published a detailed and thoughtful opinion on the subject, which I think is probably right given the serious security risks involved, though I share the judges’ caution about the matter, and suggestion that the result might have been quite different had the facts been somewhat different. (Note also that this […]

Reader Margaret Schoen writes: An issue I don’t think I’ve seen covered in your discussion of the JibJab debate. Could the JibJab song possibly be construed as a cover of the original song, as opposed to a parody of it? I believe copyright holders are required to issue compulsory or mechanical licenses for covers of […]

Which character in Cryptonomicon is likely a descendant of Eliza, the Quicksilver/The Confusion character? (show)Rudy von Hacklheber, the crypto expert (as was Eliza herself) and sometime lover of Alan Turing’s. Lothar von Hacklheber’s son, who seems likely to be Rudy’s ancestor, was of course actually the son of Eliza and Bonaventure Rossignol, also a crypto […]

I also much enjoyed Alexander Bystrisky‘s very witty “Doctor of Deep Thoughts” CD.My favorite song is the one serious one, “Na Nedel’u”; my second favorite is “Ballada o Pam’at’i” (for those who know Russian but not recent Russian history, note that Pam’at’ is the name of a Russian anti-Semitic nationalist movement, as well as of […]

Just heard and read an Okudzhava poem (one of his war poems) that I hadn’t known about before, and liked it very much; check it out both the lyrics and a recording here.

Am I really supposed to take seriously a party that not only gives dangerous loathsome ex(?)-anti-Semitic demagogue (and Tawana Brawley hoaxer) Al Sharpton a prominent forum at its convention, but then rewards him with a standing ovation at the end of his speech? If there was anyone at the Democratic convention whose moral compass led […]

I’d always thought Judge Learned Hand’s name was mighty cool — and apt, given his high reputation — but I’ve wondered what parents would have the chutzpah to give a boy a name like that. It turns out that they didn’t; he was born Billings Learned Hand — which of course would also have been […]

Earlier, I linked to and quoted Mark (“Fair and Balanced”) Kleiman’s challenge to Libertarians to reconcile their concern for individual rights with warfare. Mark’s question (found here and here) presupposes that there is a unique Libertarian “doctrine” on these sorts of issues, when the very point of MY initial blog challenge was to provoke a […]

Always thoughtful and provocative, Ilana Mercer takes up the challenge of how Libertarianism does have foreign policy implications in her column, Return to Reason, on WorldNetDaily. (In the process she both ridicules antiwar Libertarians and the war in Iraq at the same time.) Along the way, I learn that she had previously made the argument […]

EFF’s Deep Links reports: Turns out Woody Guthrie lifted the melody of “This Land is Your Land” essentially note-for-note from “When the World’s on Fire,” a song recorded by country/bluegrass legends, The Carter Family, ten years before Guthrie wrote his classic song. Here’s a short snippet (380k mp3) of the song (the song can be […]

I’m reading Cryptonomicon for the fourth time now — yes, I know I should be reading something new instead, but I can’t just help myself — and enjoying it almost as much as the first time. (It’s particularly nice to reread it after having read Quicksilver and The Confusion, since I can then notice some […]

A friend of mine just wrote: Vacation not quite over, but just finished Cryptonomicon (moments ago). You were exactly right: fantastic! I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks for the recommendation! A few weeks ago, my wife mentioned that a friend of hers, to whom I had recommended Cryptonomicon, told her the same thing. Both he and […]

What would Woody do? Jesse Walker (Reason) suggests that Woody wasn’t that big on private property. Creative Commons also reports the following, though I haven’t checked the facts myself: Joel Blain recently wrote in with an interesting observation: “I’ve been reading a bio on Woody Guthrie. It’s pretty interesting. The book reprints one of the […]