Cool site for data junkies like me — What Was the GDP Then?, which gives you U.S. data on U.S. nominal GDP, real GDP, and more for 1789 to 2002 (though of course keep in mind the usual caveats about the limitations of such data). UPDATE: Clayton Cramer points to this Inflation Calculator, another nifty […]
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More on “jetsetting”:
Duncan Frissell writes, apropos my jetsetting post from this morning: Just to put things in context…. My wife wanted to go to Europe in 1963. Pan Am’s 707 service out of Idlewild (IDL) to London cost about $625 (one way). She went Third Class on the Queen Mary for $125 instead. To add a bit […]
Martha Stewart convicted, on four charges.
Newspapers and potential criminal sentences:
A reader rightly objects to a common weakness of newspaper reporting (I haven’t checked the details myself, but the general point is certainly right): I know you like to point out where the press poorly reports on legal issues, and, at the risk of bringing a low-brow topic to your attention, I think major newspapers […]
Sentencing judge urges people to watch The Passion of the Christ: The Lansing State-Journal reports: District Judge Thomas Brennan Jr. isn’t exactly sentencing his drug court offenders to watch what might be the most controversial movie ever, but he’s strongly recommending it. Brennan saw “The Passion of the Christ” last week with a group of […]
Boomer Bashing:
As you may recall from prior posts, my boomer generation, especially those a few years older than me, are a pet peeve of mine. For a nice rant on the boomers–and it is a rant–check out How The Left Lost Younger Voters by Captain Ed. (Check out the comments too.) Here is a sample: the […]
New Blog:
Attorney Nate Oman has started a new blog, which you can find here. His former blog, A Good Oman, was well worth reading, and I’m sure this one will be, too. Little known fact about Mr. Oman: many years ago,when he was still an undergraduate at BYU, he served as my RA for the Summer, […]
Jetsetting:
I was just thinking about this word, and how much things have changed. Once upon a time, flying a lot on airplanes — no, not just airplanes, but jets! — was expensive and thus exclusive and glamorous; hence the word. Nowadays, being in the literal “jet set” is not something most of us would want […]
Point/Counterpoint on Bush:
I have been saying for a while that the biggest risk to the President’s reelection is the disaffection by “smaller government” elements of the Republican base. A nice summary of that sentiment is Don’t Underestimate Conservative Discontent by Tara Ross: Conservatives feel that the President has betrayed small government principles. They are upset about the […]
The traditional Greek drinking song:
I’ve just been listening to the CD of We’re All Dead, a show I saw in New York in December on the recommendation of my friend Todd Seavey. One of the good songs in the show is “The Traditional Greek Drinking Song,” which begins: Dress me up in a tunic, boys,Dress me up in some […]
Food in Orlando:
I’ll be several days in Orlando, at a Reason Foundation event, for one thing this will cut into blogging. But if you know of any good ethnic food there, please let me know. Don’t recommend anyplace that would show up in a guidebook or is owned by a corporation. Spicy is good, Cuban and Haitian […]
Blackmun Papers and vote switches:
SCOTUSBlog mentions a couple of interesting incidents, and also points to Nina Totenberg’s NPR scripts on the papers, which are posted on the Web even in advance of being aired. Very interesting reading.
Higher Education, Con’t.:
Thanks to Michael Mayans for sending me the link to the full version of Jim Harrick’s Basketball exam that I mentioned in an earlier post.
Rewards for private asteroid tracking:
“Amateur astronomers could receive awards of $3,000 for discovering and tracking near-Earth asteroids under legislation approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday. “Given the vast number of asteroids and comets that inhabits Earth’s neighborhood, greater efforts for tracking and monitoring these objects are critical,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, sponsor of the legislation that passed […]
Memo-Gateless:
Democratic computer security specialist Ira Winkler is disgusted over the Senate Judiciary Committee memo controversy — not with Republicans, but with his own party. As he explains, there was no “hacking” or stealth effort to access the files. They were left open for all to see: “This is not the electronic equivalent of physical breaking […]