whose arts writing I’ve always enjoyed in Commentary, has a quote about someone who tears pages out of the books he’s reading to make them easier to carry around. Teachout could never do such a thing in a million years, nor does he highlight passages in books, “even though I approve in theory of underlining, […]
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SAT scores:
Cathy Seipp properly criticizes an anti-SAT piece in the L.A. Times. I’m not an expert on the SAT, but to the best of my knowlege the Times op-ed has still more problems. Just for starters, Considering GPAs instead of SATs risks favoring students who go to schools where there’s a great deal of grade inflation. […]
Too unilateral:
One of InstaPundit’s readers complains to the Washington Post about one of their articles: In addition to the selective inaccurate quoting, the Post’s copy editors didn’t catch the Copy Editing 101 glitch in the piece. A policy can’t be “too unilateral.” It’s either unilateral or it’s not. There are no degrees of unilateral, just as […]
Libertarians vs. conservatives:
In response to my last post, I received this from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous: “Prof. Cowen, just a flippant note about the difference between men who describe themselves as libertarians and men who describe themselves as conservatives: Male libertarians are generally conservatives who want to date liberal women. For example, in law […]
“Much of the Patriot Act is neutral legislation for civil liberties”:
Who said that? Well, the executive director of the ACLU, Anthony Romero: “While much of the Patriot Act is neutral legislation for civil liberties, it contains about a dozen provisions that simply go too far,” Romero added. “These dangerous provisions increase the chances that innocent Americans will be swept into terrorism investigations by removing traditional […]
A couple of unrelated observations:
It’s not widely known that the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is not by They Might Be Giants, good as they are, but is in fact quite old. How old? Why, I was listening to it in the late ’70s! The words are by Jimmy Kennedy, the music by Nat Simon, and it apparently dates from, […]
The difference between libertarian and conservatism:
Jim Kalb speaks on this important topic: “Conservatism and libertarianism are both generally viewed as right-wing. Can you spell out the main differences between them from the conservative point of view? What, in your view, are libertarianism’s shortcomings? Kalb: They’re both viewed as right-wing because centralized bureaucratic control is the main engine of social rationalization […]
Secondary consequences of smoking bans:
Clay Whittaker, one of the youngest bloggers, recently posted the following: “I have just heard in the news that–as of today–Toledo bars have found a loophole in our smoking ban. As you all probably know, a few months ago a ban on all smoking in bars and restaurants in the Toledo area was passed, unless […]
Sauce for the Gander:
Matthew Yglesias complains in TAP about “a new standard for honesty whereby a Democrat is lying every time his or her comments neglect to include literally the whole truth, whether or not the overlooked fact actually contradicts the claim in question.” That’s funny. Isn’t this the same standard often used by the President’s critics (including […]
We’re all big spenders now:
Last night’s State of the Union included the usual laundry list of costly new proposals, further cementing President Bush’s record as a profligate spender. Even with increased economic growth, pursuing these initiatives will further delay deficit reduction. Alas, fiscal conservatives don’t have anywhere else to turn, according to this study by the National Taxpayers Union […]
A little bit of embarrassment seems to be in order:
An article in Sunday’s L.A. Times Calendar section (seems to be unavailable unless you’re a subscriber) reports on a new documentary about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (“an exceptional documentary, short-listed for this year’s Academy Award, a compelling emotional narrative laced with explosive political material”), who were convicted in the 1950s of spying for the Soviets, […]
Anti-Semitism and the Religious Right:
An interesting email from a reader:Concerning your post ‘Interesting findings from the American Jewish Committee survey…’, specifically the question which asks about anti-semitism in the religious right: I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian home. My father and grandfather were Southern Baptists ministers, my uncle an Assembly of God minister. I was a fervent believer […]
The Unconstitutional State of the Union Address:
An interesting post from my friend, Capital University law professor David Mayer, who has just started a new blog.
Happy blogday…
to Is that Legal? the blog from our sometime guest-blogger (and my fellow Brown alum) Eric Muller.
An on-line economics text:
Blogger Arnold Kling offers a short monograph in on-line form, replete with links. I love the title: “The Best of Economics.” I have only browsed through the contents, but I was very favorably inclined and I can recommend Kling more generally. Unlike many economists, Kling also has met success in the world of business, see […]