Eric Rasmusen’s Weblog

Rasmusen Weblog Archives By Date

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These are archives, arranged by date.

September 15, 2003. Ω.
AUCTIONING OFF ISRAEL.

Ω. AUCTIONING OFF ISRAEL. In an earlier post, I discussed the idea of auctioning
off Palestinian immigrants– paying any of them something on the order of $10,000 if he
would be willing to emigrate to the West, and then auctioning off who would take them
among the US, France, Canada, and so forth. When Julie Mortimer was visiting from
Harvard last week, I brought this up, and it led to another application of the same
idea: How about auctioning off all of Israel? <
[… permalink "03.09.15a.htm">
03.09.15a.htm ]

September 13, 2003: Χ.
BELIEF AND EVIDENCE. Ψ. SCIENCE AND OPINION. Ω. SOME SOURCES OF
EVIDENCE.

Χ. BELIEF AND EVIDENCE. Last night I gave a half-hour lecture to the Intervarsity
Christian Fellowship on belief and evidence, taking off from the William James essay
I’ve recommended here before. I’ve posted my lecture href="_religion/Will.to.believe.lecture.txt"> notes in ascii and href="_religion/Will.to.believe.handout.ppt"> handout in powerpoint. They don’t
include the dig at Harvard that I, a Yale and Indiana man, added at the last minute
(Harvard’s seal says “Veritas”; those of Yale and Indiana University say “Lux et
Veritas”, Light *and* Truth).
[… permalink "03.09.14a.htm">
03.09.14a.htm ]

Ψ. SCIENCE AND OPINION. I’m slowly working my way through my emails. (Intermittent
outages of my home internet connection are no help.) I’ve gotten several of the
following sort:
[… permalink "03.09.13b.htm">
03.09.13b.htm ]

Ω. Homosexuality and Pedophilia Evidence. I thank E.R. (not myself!), E.N.,
M.M., and J.O, for the following links on child molestation and homosexuality, which
take various positions on the issue. (If you don’t mind having your full name mentioned,
just let me know and I’ll update this.) I haven’t really looked at them yet, but I will
one of these days, and will try to summarize them then. For now, though, readers might
like to look at them directly. I also list the old Iain Murray post that responded to
my initial exchange with Professor Volokh. [… permalink "03.09.13a.htm">
03.09.13a.htm ]

September 12, 2003: Ψ.
SMITH,
MARSHALL, AND SCHUMPETER. Ω. ONE-LINE COMEBACKS, INSULTS, AND REAL DISCUSSION.

Ψ. SMITH, MARSHALL, AND SCHUMPETER. We had a very good class yesterday, turning
from
mathematical methods to intellectual history and mixing the two nicely. If you like
economics, and have Powerpoint, you might like "http://mypage.iu.edu/~erasmuse/g601/04.Classics.Smith.Marshall.Schump eter.ppt"> my
overheads quoting these three economists. There’s lots of research to be done based
on single sentences in these writers. I found one quote in Marshall interesting in light
of the current Enron conviction, the exception that proves the rule:
[… permalink "03.09.12a.htm">
03.09.12a.htm ]

Ω. ONE-LINERS, INSULTS, AND REAL DISCUSSION. Kirk Nathanson, a freshman here,
emailed to say that he thought my September 10 post
in which I quoted an unnamed professor attacking me and then called him a “Captain
Ahab” style of Quaker was not a good reply to the attack. Kirk’s question deserves an
answer, and since it has general implications, and is at the crux of the controversy
over my web-log, I thought I’d write it here.
[… permalink "03.09.12b.htm">
03.09.12b.htm ]

September 11, 2003: Ω.
JEWS FOR JESUS.

Ω. JEWS FOR JESUS. One point I hope to make with this web-log is that theology
is as interesting and intellectually challenging a subject as politics or economics. I
don’t know the religious affiliations of any but one of the Volokh Conspiracy folks, and
I may not be up to date on the one exception, but that web-log is proving my point. Not
only was there the interesting topic of whether Christians should object to Hindus as
schoolteachers even more than to homosexuals, but the more recent thread of what status
others Jews should give Jews who convert to Christianity while retaining Jewish customs.
For a fascinating discussion, see "http://volokh.com/2003_09_07_volokh_archive.html#106320269716640706"> David Bernstein
and Eugene Volokh "http://volokh.com/2003_09_07_volokh_archive.html#106313286382675807"> here and href="http://volokh.com/2003_09_07_volokh_archive.html#106320046214533 736"> here.
Professor Volokh "http://volokh.com/2003_09_07_volokh_archive.html#106314537439393 668"> says he
has gotten more than the usual amount of email on this topic, so my interest apparently
is not idiosyncratic.

[… permalink "03.09.11a.htm">
03.09.11a.htm ]

September 10, 2003: Ω.
MILITANT QUAKERS.

Ω. MILITANT QUAKERS. Well, on September 9 I said that I hadn’t gotten any
faculty saying I should take down my website, as opposed to staff, but I actually got my
first paper letter today, and it was a doozy. It was from someone in the humanities
whose webpage says:
[… permalink "03.09.10a.htm">
03.09.10a.htm ]

September 9, 2003:
Φ.
LESSONS OF THE WEB-LOG CONTROVERSY. Χ. WEB-LOG SOFTWARE. Ψ. BUSY WEEK.
Ω.
HELL AND REMORSE.

Φ. LESSONS OF THE WEB-LOG CONTROVERSY. Here is what happened. (I’ll have to add
links
later, since I’m running short of time.)

For some months, I have kept a web-log, with few readers, as a sort of commonplace
book. The Volokh Conspiracy raised the interesting question of why people object to
homosexuals as schoolteachers, but not Hindus, since idolatry is a greater sin than
sodomy. I replied with some arguments distinguishing Hindus from homosexuals, and The
Volokh Conspiracy linked to my reply and answered it. My guess is that someone at IU
read the Volokh Conspiracy, followed to my web-log, and complained to friends at IU, who
circulated the news of my web-log by email. [… permalink "03.09.09a.htm">
03.09.09a.htm ]

Χ. WEB-LOG SOFTWARE. Someone complained that I didn’t have a comment section on
this
web-log. Sorry, but I’m not using specialized software so I don’t know how to do it. My
permalinks are inconveniently set up, too for that reason. I like to use a minimal
number of software programs. What I do is use the simple shareware text editor Textpad
to write HTML code, which I then post on a website. That’s why this doesn’t look like
other web-logs. [ "03.09.09b.htm">
03.09.09b.htm ]

Ψ. BUSY WEEK. Readers may have wondered what the “site” referred to in the
September
6 udpate was. I had a typo in the HTML, so the link didn’t work, but I’ve fixed it now.
This is the second week of classes, with teaching and administrative matters keeping me
busy (not to mention the research papers I didn’t quite finish over the summer, and the
referee reports still to be done…), so my web-log may be a bit untidy for a while,
especially in terms of cross-linking within the site. I’m trying to keep it going
strong, though, lest intolerant people think they’ve discouraged me, and because my main
purpose with this website has been to use it as a commonplace book to jot down thoughts
and sources before I forget them. My email responses may be slow, too. A tip: if
something obvious seems to be missing: check the SOURCE Html and see if it is hidden
there because of a typo. [ "03.09.09c.htm">
03.09.09c.htm ]

Ω. HELL and REMORSE. It’s not that I’m having a bad time (in fact, my class is
going very well indeed), but I happened to be listening to Don Giovanni in the car and
thought about how many chances Don Giovanni is given to repent before the statue carries
him down to Hell at the end of the opera. What other literary and religious stories do
we have on sinners facing punishment and their willingness or unwillingness to repent?
This will have to be a later day’s web-log in detail, but the list would include: > [… permalink "03.09.09d.htm">
03.09.09d.htm ]

September 8, 2003: 3.
ANTI-RECORDING LAWS. 2. ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS THIS WEB-LOG. 1. UPDATE:
HOMOSEXUALITY AND PUBLIC OPINION.

3. ANTI-RECORDING LAWS. Before I forget it, let me follow up on an earlier post, which
I’ll link to later when I have time, on the laws some states have forbidding a person to
tape record a conversation he is having. This is the law that they were going to
prosecute Linda Tripp on (whatever happened to that?) after she made an enemy of
President Clinton. Reader R. Geoffrey Newbury pointed me to an appalling case he had
heard about from some other blog he’s now forgotten, the Massachusetts "http://www.socialaw.com/sjcslip/8429.html"> COMMONWEALTH vs. MICHAEL J. HYDE (2001).
It seems some traffic police were obnoxious to a motorist they stopped, who made a
tape of the conversation and used it to make a formal complaint at the police station
about their obscenities, etc. The policemen were exonerated by the internal process,
but:
[… permalink "03.09.08a.htm">
03.09.08a.htm ]

2. ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS THIS WEB-LOG. I’d hoped to write up some lessons I’ve learned
from this controversy tonight, but it’s gotten too late. Teaching this afternoon wiped
out my energy, and followed some fancy footwork trying to get diagrams to work right in
Scientific Workplace on my office computer, which has been deranged by Indiana
University’s policy of re-imaging operating systems after the MSBlaster worm hit. And
then my Internet provider at home wouldn’t let me on till 11 pm. So if you want to see
an extended production from me, see the new "http://mypage.iu.edu/~erasmuse/GI/chapters/chap03_mixed.pdf"> Sections 3.5 and 3.6
of my game theory book, which I taught from today.

[… permalink "03.09.08b.htm">
03.09.08b.htm ]

September 7 2003: 2.
VEGGIE TALES BANKRUPTCY. 1. ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS THIS WEB-LOG.

2. VEGGIE TALES BANKRUPTCY. The company that makes the Veggie Tales videos has filed for
Chapter 11,
Christianity Today says. It’s the not uncommon story of a young company with great
products overextending and getting into trouble. The company will keep operating and
producing new videos– bankruptcy doesn’t necessarily shut down the operations of a
firm– but it will be taken over by a different company, and the owners will not be
as rich as they were a couple of years ago. What is nice about the story is that the
CEO accepts responsibility, and without feeling sorry for himself:
[… permalink "03.09.07a.htm">
03.09.07a.htm ]

1. ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS THIS WEB-LOG. I’d meant to write up lessons of the
controversy over this website this weekend, but got too busy revising Chapter 3 of Games
and Information for my class tomorrow, and I really ought to answer the polite emails of
the past few days. Tomorrow night I’ll do the write-up. In the meantime, here’s one
thought: Rather than emailing me with counterarguments to my position, various people
seem to have tried to get IU to shut me down. The result? My web-log still exists and
has over ten times the number of readers it used to have. The lesson: intimidation can
backfire.

[… permalink "03.09.07b.htm">
03.09.07b.htm ]

September 6 2003: 2.
ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS THIS WEB-LOG. 1. HOMOSEXUALITY AND PUBLIC OPINION.

2. ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS THIS WEB-LOG. I briefly moved this web-log to Geocities because
some people at Indiana University disapprove of the views expressed in it. Officially,
at least, that has now been worked out. I’ll comment at length in a day or two, after I
finish some work on the game theory book I’m teaching from. For now, the "http://www.idsnews.com/story.php?id=17959 "> Indiana Daily Student and "http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2003/09/06/news.0906-HT-A1_J LR11130.sto ">
Bloomington Herald-Times and, not as fully, the "http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/9/072007-5509-102.html"> Indianapolis Star
stories have some straight reporting on the controversy. Commentary is available at the
Volokh
Conspiracy and
Crooked Timber. [… permalink "03.09.06a.htm">
03.09.06a.htm ]

1. HOMOSEXUALITY AND PUBLIC OPINION.
Pollingreport.com reports on three Gallup polls, all in 2003:
[… permalink
03.09.06b.htm ]

September 5 2003: 1.
THE MARSHALL PLAN AND IRAQ.

1. THE MARSHALL PLAN AND IRAQ. National Review has a nice "http://www.nationalreview.com/may/may090503.asp"> Clifford May article on the
politics of rebuilding Iraq. He first points out that Germany and France wouldn’t want
to contribute troops or other personnel to the task.
[… permalink "03.09.05a.htm">
03.09.05a.htm ]

September 4 2003: 1.
STATUS OF CONVICTIONS WHEN AN APPELLANT DIES.

1. STATUS OF CONVICTIONS WHEN AN APPELLANT DIES. "http:
//www.boston.com/news/local/BCWorkbench/site/news/local/BCWorkbench/site/news/local/mass
achusetts/articles/2003/08/27/geoghans_death_voids_conviction_prosecutors_say/"> The
Boston Globe reports:
[… permalink "03.09.04a.htm">
03.09.04a.htm ]

September 3 2003: 2.
JUDGES AND THE DEATH PENALTY. 1. BUSTAMANTE AND MECHA.

2. JUDGES AND THE DEATH PENALTY. James Taranto’s WSJ "http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110003962"> Best of the Web makes a nice
point:

“A federal appeals court overturned more than 100 death sentences in Arizona, Idaho and
Montana Tuesday, ruling that condemned inmates in the three states were wrongly sent to
death row by judges instead of juries, ” the Associated Press reports. But if judges are
incompetent to render death sentences, what makes them think they’re competent to
overturn them?

[… permalink "03.09.03a.htm">
03.09.03a.htm ]

1. BUSTAMENTE AND MECHA. I guess I should repeat part of "_blank"> my post from August 30. I see plenty of people criticizing Lt.Gov.
Bustamante for not renouncing his membership in Mecha. But it’s much worse than that:
he publicly voices *support* for the group, as "http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95871,00.html"> Fox News tells us:
[… permalink "03.09.03b.htm">
03.09.03b.htm ]

September 2 2003: 3.
HOMOSEXUAL TEACHERS. 2. BORING BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. 1. OFFENSIVE CHRISTIANITY.

3. HOMOSEXUAL TEACHERS. Eugene Volokh has a "http://volokh.com/2003_08_31_volokh_archive.html#106243768327964965"> new post on
the homosexuals-and-Hindus as schoolteachers issue. This is focussed just on the
argument that homosexuals are risky as teachers because they are more likely to molest
their students (as opposed to the moral examplar argument, or the parental preference
argument). Professor Volokh says, [… permalink "03.09.02a.htm">
03.09.02a.htm ]

2. BORING BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. Which is the most boring book of the Bible? After some
thought, I’ve decided on Jeremiah, largely on account of its length. How about the most
interesting? The Gospels, with Matthew on top in a compromise between length and
interest. Then Jonah– a lot of interest packed into a small space. Then Ecclesiastes,
Genesis, and Acts, perhaps. Note that by “interesting” I don’t mean “important”.
[
03.09.02b.htm ]

1. OFFENSIVE CHRISTIANITY. Somehow I just remembered something Chris Atwood told me, to
the following effect, about how not to offend. If you have to mention the spiritual,
at least don’t mention God. If you have to mention God, at least don’t mention Jesus. If
you have to mention Jesus, at least don’t mention the Crucifixion. And if you have to
mention the Crucifixion, at least don’t mention blood. Needless to say, the Christian
ought to sometimes offend. [ "03.09.02c.htm">
03.09.02c.htm ]

September 1 2003: 1. LAND
OWNERSHIP IN PALESTINE.

1. LAND OWNERSHIP IN PALESTINE. One thing I’ve always wondered about is who owned the
land in Palestine before 1948 and who owns it now. I’d be much more concerned over
expropriation of private property than over transfer of tax rights from the Ottomans to
Britain and then to Israel or Jordan.
[… permalink "03.09.01a.htm">
03.09.01a.htm ]

August 31, 2003: 1.
ALLENDE AND CHILE.

1. ALLENDE AND CHILE. The web-log Valediction had "http://val.dorta.com/archives/000343.html"> a good post on Allende and Chile a
while back that summarizes his downfall nicely, quoting from left-wing historians. Some
excerpts on the question of legitimacy (much of the post is on how Allende wrecked the
economy, which is a bit different issue):
[… permalink "03.08.31a.htm">
03.08.31a.htm ]

August 30, 2003: 3.
HOMOSEXUALITY AND CHRISTIANITY. 1. CONSERVATIVE FACTIONS AND BUSH. 2. RACISM IN
CALIFORNIA.

3. HOMOSEXUALITY AND CHRISTIANITY. The idea that Christianity teaches the
homosexuality should be illegal simply because God commanded thus in the Bible needs to
be clarified, I see from the postings of "http://volokh.com/2003_08_24_volokh_archive.html#106225983206916439"> Eugene Volokh
and "http://lsolum.blogspot.com/2003_08_01_lsolum_archive.html#106191262134377003"> Lawrence
Solum. They assume that sodomy laws are religiously based, but I don’t think that’s
the case. [… permalink "03.08.30a.htm">
03.08.30a.htm ]

1. CONSERVATIVE FACTIONS AND BUSH. Gideon’s Blog has "http:
//www.gideonsblog.blogspot.com/2003_08_01_gideonsblog_archive.html#106149466491255326">
a good comment on which kinds of conservatives should be happy with President
Bush, and which kinds unhappy. He divides them into Catos (whose focus is on limited
government), paleos, Christian Right, business, and neo-cons. [more,
permalink,
03.08.30b.htm ]

2. RACISM IN CALIFORNIA.
By now it’s well-known that the Lieutenant-Governor of California belongs to an
organization with a motto that makes it rather more racist than the Ku Klux Klan
(which, I think, likes at least to pretend to give *something* to Blacks). Via "http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95871,00.html"> Fox News:
[… permalink
03.08.30c.htm ]

August 29, 2003: 1.
PLAME/CIA UPDATE/CORRECTION. 2. OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING.

1. PLAME/CIA UPDATE/CORRECTION. UPDATE, AUGUST 29. I regret having gotten caught up in
this, given the time it takes, but Mark Kleiman wrote me a good, conscientious email
catching me in a mistake and bringing up points I hadn’t addressed, so I’ll correct and
elaborate. Many of the ideas below (though certainly not the conclusions from them,
which are usually opposite) are his.

Further details on evidence as to whether Mrs. Wilson is a covert operative for the
CIA. Mr. Corn’s
July 16 article reports that she is “a woman known to friends as an energy analyst
for a private firm”. The > July 22 Newsday article says [more]

[… permalink "03.08.29a.htm">
03.08.29a.htm ]

2. OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING. The State of Indiana has "http://www.in.gov/ai/licensing/"> a website on occupations that need licenses. The
health ones are:
[… permalink "03.08.29b.htm">
03.08.29b.htm ]

Wednesday, August 28, 2003:
1. PLAME/CIA UPDATE 2. THE CREDENTIALS OF AMBASSADOR CHARLES WILSON

1. More news is available on the Valerie Plame affair, in which Novak revealed that the
wife of former ambassador Wilson (who is outraged that the Bush administration didn’t
believe him when he said that his visit to Niger proved that Iraq didn’t try to buy
uranium there) works for the CIA. The affair looks more and more like silly Democratic
partisanship, though (Wilson is a Democrat.) There seems to be no evidence that Wilson’a
wife is a covert operative, as opposed to the far greater number of people who do
occasional work or are regular employees of the CIA. No wonder nobody much has picked up
on the news. [more]

[… permalink "03.08.28a.htm">
03.08.28a.htm ]

2. I just thought to check "http://www.ihc.ucsb.edu/events/past/winter03/wilson/"> the career of Charles Wilson,
the former State Dept. employee who went to Niger, couldn’t find anything new, and
publicly attacked the Bush Administration for not believing that he’d proved there were
no Iraq-Niger contacts about uranium.
[… permalink "03.08.28b.htm">
03.08.28b.htm ]

Wednesday, August 27, 2003:
1. PALESTINIAN RESETTLEMENT

1. Tyler Cowen "http://volokh.com/2003_08_24_volokh_archive.html#106201702756759579"> notes in
the Volokh Conspiracy that

"http://www.americanoutlook.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=
3015&pubtype=DailyArticles">George Liebmann has a provocative idea for making the
Middle East a more peaceful place: Offer Palestinians the chance to emigrate to the
United States and other Western countries.
[… permalink "03.08.27a.htm">
03.08.27a.htm ]

Tuesday, August 26, 2003:
HOMOSEXUALS AND HINDUS AS TEACHERS; AQUINAS ON TOLERATION; THE SEVEN NOACHIDE LAWS

HOMOSEXUALS AND HINDUS AS TEACHERS. Professor Volokh "http://volokh.com/2003_08_24_volokh_archive.html#106182323538204170"> posts the good
question of why Christians object to homosexuals as schoolteachers when they do not
object to Hindus, even though idolatry is the greater sin. This isn’t too hard to
answer, though.
[… permalink "03.08.26a.htm">
03.08.26a.htm ]

AQUINAS ON TOLERATION. Why has the United States had laws against homosexuality, but
not against idolatry, a
greater sin? —Because the laws against homosexuality are not motivated by religion.
Christians, Jews, atheists, and don’t-cares have all generally thought that sodomy was
wrong.

It was interesting to me to find out what Thomas Aquinas has to say about laws against
non-Christians.
[… permalink "03.08.26b.htm">
03.08.26b.htm ]

THE SEVEN NOACHIDE LAWS. Professor Volokh mentions that some people responded to his
post by citing the Noachide
Laws. These are commandments which in Judaism apply to non-Jews as well as to Jews. I
found a list on the web,
which says that these “mitzvot” some from the Talmud–Sanhedrin 58b.
[… permalink "03.08.26c.htm">
03.08.26c.htm ]

Monday, August 25, 2003:
BELIEF

WHY DO WE BELIEVE? William James has a good essay, "http://users.compaqnet.be/cn111132/wjames/The_Will_To_Believe.htm"> The Will to
Believe, which I mentioned in my
August 18 post on Al Qaeda.
[… permalink "03.08.25a.htm">
03.08.25a.htm ]

Sunday, August 24, 2003:
EPISCOPALIANS

THE ESSENCE OF EPISCOPAL CHURCH ORGANIZATION is the power of bishops over people and
property, and there is a close link to episcopal wealth too, which is one reason the
Puritans objected to it. The modern American Episcopalians are a good example, not
dissimilar to the 18th-century Anglicans whose secular comfort and religious sloppiness
lead to the Methodist exodus. Diane Knippers has a good article, "http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Protected/Articles/000/000/003/008jiufd.asp">
“The Anglican Mainstream: It’s not where Americans might think,” (Weekly Standard,
8/25/2003, 8,47).
[… permalink "03.08.24a.htm">
03.08.24a.htm ]

Saturday, August 23, 2003:
IMPEACHMENT IN ALABAMA

THE "http:
//www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/Constitution1901_toc.htm">
ALABAMA CONSTITUTION is strange. It is too long, like most state constitutions, but
what is unusual is that since 1901 it has accumulated 742 amendments. That’s right–742.
They include “Amendment 739: Promotion of Economic and Industrial Development in
Tallapoosa County” and “Amendment 740: Polling Places in Tuscaloosa County”. The state
has a problem. Folding all the amendments into the main body "http://ali.state.al.us/recompilation_1901.html"> has been considered as a
solution, but there must be something fundamentally wrong.
[… permalink "03.08.23a.htm">
03.08.23a.htm ]

Friday, August 22, 2003

THE RULE OF LAW can vanish without anybody noticing. In America, when law professors
say, “rule of law”, they ordinarily mean “rule of judges”. What this means is that they
refuse to acknowledge that what judges say the law is and what the law really is can be
different, and that judicial behavior can violate the rule of law.

A case in point is the Judge Moore controversy over the 10 Commandments in Alabama.
Judge Moore, of the Alabama Supreme Court, put up the 10 Commandments in his courthouse.
Some lawyers objected, and got a federal judge to issue a court order telling Judge
Moore to take down the 10 Commandments. He refused. Is he violating the Rule of Law?
[… permalink "03.08.22a.htm">
03.08.22a.htm ]

Is strikes me that LIBERTARIANS HAVE THE BEST WEB-LOGS. This is a refinement of what
happens in the journals of opinion, where right-wingers have the best commentators, but
where there are witty and bright conservatives as well as libertarians. (Though,
there, too, conservatism is in retreat– cf. National Review’s increasing acceptance of
modern mores, and the reluctance of commentators to forthrightly defend conservative
social positions without retreating to feeble excuses like “It’s just my religion.”) But
I haven’t seen many conservative web-logs, and while the ones I have seen are not
necessarily less intelligent or interesting than the libertarian ones, they are not
maintained as regularly and are not as cheerfully opinionated. I suppose it is the
nature of the people most attracted to the Web. Probably there are some good
evangelical web-logs I don’t know about, though— evangelicals certainly have taken to
the Web for posting religion texts and tracts.
[ "03.08.22b.htm">
03.08.22b.htm ]

Thursday, August 21, 2003

Ian Ayres has a neat idea about RECORDING PHONE CONVERSATIONS which he published in a
“Why Prosecute
Linda Tripp?” New York Times P. A17, col. 1 (August 10, 1999).
[… permalink "03.08.21a.htm">
03.08.21a.htm ]

Wednesday, August 20,
2003

David Bernstein writes on "http://volokh.com/2003_08_17_volokh_archive.html#106124648414725105"> THE GREAT
DEPRESSION in the Volokh Conspiracy:
[… permalink "03.08.20a.htm">
03.08.20a.htm ]

The FOOD CHANNEL is the best thing about having cable TV. Mr. Roker (who I realize now
has both the joviality and looks of a black Frank Buckley— and I might say, the wit
and brains, except that I know about scriptwriters– has one of the best shows. Last
night he featured Saxton Freymann, a vegetable artist you can read about in "http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues01/feb01/art.html"> Smithsonian > magazine and co-author of How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods and Play With Your
Food. That guy has talent! Art is not in decadence; it just isn’t featured in museums of
modern art.
[ "03.08.20b.htm">
03.08.20b.htm ]

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

An example of how a third-world country is ahead of the United States in efficient
allocation of resources, from "http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/08-23-03/opening_5.asp">World
magazine.

Thailand’s Communications Minister Suriya Jungrungraungkit is calling the fee for his
automobile license plate an investment. Last week he bid $95,200 at the country’s first-
ever auction of “lucky” license plates, winning the number 9999. (Plate number 5555 drew
the second-highest winning bid–$47,619.) The Thai official said the plate will either
pay dividends in good luck or in a profitable resale: “This is better than investing in
the stock market.”

How much does a special-request number cost in American states?
[ "03.08.19a.htm">
03.08.19a.htm ]

Monday, August 18, 2003

WHY DID AL QAEDA BLOW UP THE WORLD TRADE CENTER? Jack Hirshleifer pointed me to a good
article on that question which also says important things about belief and behavior
generally: Lee Harris’s “Al
Qaeda’s Fantasy Ideology” in Hoover’s Policy Review. The central point is that Al
Qaeda was not engaged in purposeful terror, but in dramatic theatre, and they cared not
about the effect on us, but about the effect on themselves. Mr. Harris starts by
pointing out a flawed assumption in our thinking:
[… permalink "03.08.18a.htm">
03.08.18a.htm ]

Sunday, August 17, 2003

RACIAL INTEGRATION has not had much in the way of policy-driven financial incentives,
though the free market provides very strong incentives. Here’s an example I like,
though, from > World magazine:

Black, white, and green
Shreveport, La., pastor Fred Caldwell wants to
integrate his predominantly black Greenwood Acres Full Gospel Baptist Church. So much so
that he’s offering white persons $5 an hour to attend Sunday services and $10 an
hour for Thursday night services. “God wants a rainbow in His church,” said
the pastor. On Aug. 3, between 30 and 50 whites showed up for Sunday services. Only five
asked for the money.

Not a bad idea for getting people in general to one’s church services.
[ > 03.08.17a.htm ]

Saturday, August 16, 2003

THE EPISCOPALIAN HOMOSEXUAL BISHOP has raised quite a fuss. I like that, but I’m a bit
surprised that it is news that the Episcopalians would do such a thing. The denomination
has been a liberal front for years. I think the fuss arises because, as I discuss in my
July 19 post in connection with
divorce, homosexuality violates natural law, not just divine law, and so arouses even
people who don’t know divine law or don’t care about it. (Also, the international
Anglican Church has mobilized only in the past few years.) But Mr. Robinson has a
disqualification even greater than that of his homosexuality which is hardly ever
mentioned: he believes the Bible should be ignored and is willing to say so.
[ "03.08.16a.htm">
03.08.16a.htm ]

Friday, August 15, 2003

Some details on CANADIAN LEGAL PROCEDURE are "http://volokh.com/2003_08_10_volokh_archive.html#106088947144609911"> posted by David
Bernstein on the Volokh conspiracy. What struck me is that the “loser pays” rule
applies not just to the outcome of the main case, but to all motions that are made. This
means that litigants do not try to smother the other side with trivial paperwork. Also,
there is a rule that if one side offers a $50,000 settlement and the other side wins,
but only wins $30,000, then the *loser* gets his costs paid, at a special high rate,
for any costs from the date of the settlement offer. Good ideas!
[ "03.08.15a.htm">
03.08.15a.htm ]

PILGRIMS BEING BLOCKED from holy sites was the cause of the Crusades, and we rightly
think that whoever ends up owning the Holy Land ought to allow pilgrims in. But the
Israelis are not. They are blocking *Jews and Christians* from the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem, because the Moslems object. See "http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%
5C200308%5CFOR20030807d.htm"> CNSNews.com on August 7. Maybe we should launch a
crusade against Israel.

Isn’t it interesting that Israel doesn’t simply raze the Dome of the Rock and restore
the Temple Mount as a Jewish site? There are religious reasons for not doing that–it
would embarass rabbinical Judaism considerably to have to deal with the possibility of a
new Temple, animal sacrifices, and so forth, just as it would embarass many Christian
churches to have to deal with the Return of Christ– but that kind of thing happens in
India every now and then, it seems.
[ "03.08.15b.htm">
03.08.15b.htm ]

Thursday, August 14, 2003

The SHERMAN AUSTIN anarchist website case is interesting as an example of (a) a plea
bargain, (b) a judge refusing to go along with a plea bargain, (c) a light sentence for
terrorist activity, and (d) the crime of promoting terrorism but not actually acting it
out. Sherman Austin posted instructions on how to make bombs on his website and the
website said to use them at the IMF and World Bank soon. Judge Charles Wilson thought
that the 1 month of prison and 5 months of “community confinement” in the "http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/raisethefist/plea.html"> plea bargain were not
enough.
[more at "03.08.14a.htm">
03.08.14a.htm ]

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

I saw a wonderful quip on GERRYMANDERING at the "http://theamericanprowler.org/"> American Prowler website:

Gerry-Rigged Democracy
Political Hay
We have gone from voters choosing
their representatives to
representatives choosing their voters.
John H. Fund,
8/13/2003 12:02:00 AM

Obvious, maybe, but that’s why it’s so good.
[ "03.08.13a.htm">
03.08.13a.htm ]

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

JOHN DONOHUE’S NEW PAPER, “The Final Bullet
in the Body of the More Guns, Less Crime Hypothesis,” is worth reading, but
disappointing. It starts with this purpose:
[… permalink "03.08.12a.htm">
03.08.12a.htm ]

Monday, August 11, 2003

THE TALMUD is hard to find on
the web, but I finally found it at the very useful site "http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm"> www.sacred-texts.com. Why is it so hard to
find when Judaism is such a bookish religion, and one that esteems commentary so highly,
compared to Christianity, which urges people to study the Bible but puts almost no
emphasis on studying commentary? There is a huge number of Christian texts on the web.
Is it that Christians mind translation less? But the Talmud is not even in the holy
language of Hebrew; it is in Aramaic. Perhaps it is simply that there are so many more
English-speaking serious Christians than English-speaking serious Jews, or that
Christians care more about spreading their religion.
[… permalink "03.08.11a.htm">
03.08.11a.htm ]

Sunday, August 10, 2003

BANS ON LIE DETECTOR TESTS are a great example of not just foolish but wasteful and
dangerous government regulation. But to see how useful lie detector tests are, one must
not ask scientists or lawyers; one must think about the data like an economist
or businessman. (I don’t mean to insult scientists and lawyers–but just because all the
smart scientists and lawyers agree on something is not a reliable guide to whether it is
good policy.) Law professor Instapundit’s "http://www.instapundit.com/archives/010783.php"> August 5 posting and the
recent National Academy of Sciences
report attacking lie detectors are prime examples of this. Using just these two
sources and the anti-lie-detector August 3, 2003 Boston Globe story that Instapundit
cites (now gone from the free site), we see that lie detectors actually are useful and
effective, even without going to pro-lie-detector sources.
[… permalink "03.08.10a.htm">
03.08.10a.htm ]

Saturday, August 9, 2003

WHAT IS HELL? It may be relative. However happy you may be now, maybe it is Hell if
being with God is good enough. That’s the idea of Dante’s First Circle (for the virtuous
pagans), I think. I saw this expressed well in Marlowe’s "http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext97/drfsta10.txt"> Doctor Faustus, I-iii:

[… permalink "03.08.09a.htm">
03.08.09a.htm ]

Friday, August 8, 2003

A MAJOR FIGURE IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT HAS PLED GUILTY TO A MAJOR FIGURE IN SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT HAS PLED GUILTY TO AL-QUAEDA.
Instapundit pointed me to "http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Aug/bch20030807021214.htm"> Geek.com:

An ex-Intel employee who was recently arrested now admits to attempting to aid the
Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Apparently, Maher “Mike” Hawash, who was instrumental in
designing the Multi Media Extension (MMX) technology, admits that he traveled to China
in 2001 in an attempt to cross over into Afghanistan, but failed to get to Pakistan.
[… permalink "03.08.08a.htm">
03.08.08a.htm ]

Wednesday, August 6, 2003

Is there a RIGHT TO DISCRIMINATE on grounds of race? This came up on the "http://volokh.com/2003_08_03_volokh_archive.html#106009562532763590"> Volokh Conspiracy
recently.
[… permalink "03.08.06b.htm">
03.08.06b.htm ]

Do we have a RACE PROBLEM IN BLOOMINGTON, or is it everybody who is unsafe, not just
blacks? Here’s my letter to the local newspaper on "http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2003/08/06/news.0806-HT-A1_JLR10321.sto">
something that looked awfully like the build-up to a lynching in downtown
Bloomington:
[… permalink "03.08.06c.htm">
03.08.06c.htm ]

ARE THE DOCTRINES OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH grounds for disqualification to be a
judge, according to the Democrats in the U.S. Senate? Of course. This is a simple
question of fact. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a sin. The
Democratic Party teaches that no one can be a judge who does not believe that the U.S.
Constitution grants a right to abortion, and has made the reasonable extension, given
the premise, that no one who believes abortion is a sin can be trusted to be a judge.
[… permalink "03.08.05a.htm">
03.08.05a.htm ]

DOES THE CATHOLIC CHURCH think the U.S. Constitution is OK now? Historically, it taught
that a good Catholic could not believe that a government was ideal if it tolerated non-
Catholic religions or if it ever disobeyed the desires of the Pope. To believe otherwise
even had a special name: it was the heresy of “Americanism”, so-called because American
Catholics found it awkward to take the same anti-democratic position as the Popes. Some
excerpts from official papal pronouncements:
[… permalink "03.08.05b.htm">
03.08.05b.htm ]

I’VE BEEN USING MOZILLA instead of Internet
Explorer for a few weeks now, and prefer it for various little reasons. The Mozilla
people ask for suggestions, and here are mine, which also apply to other browsers:

1. In the main browser window, all the controls the user wants to have handy should be
put on one line (one toolbar), not four (including below the displayed webpage), to save
more space for the webpage being viewed. The font for the controls should be
adjustable so the user can make it very small, to save space.
[… permalink "03.08.04a.htm">
03.08.04a.htm ]

SILVIO BERLUSCONI, the prime minister of Italy, has gotten The Economist magazine very
excited–hysterical, even. In its July 31 issue, "http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1957150"> the editors
condemn the new Italian law which exempts prime ministers from prosecution while
they are in office. Since he can’t be prosecuted now in the courts, they say, they will
bring public opinion to bear against him. But looking at just what The Economist itself
presents us, it looks to me like The Economist has gone bonkers.
[… permalink "03.08.03a.htm">
03.08.03a.htm ]

POLICE MISCONDUCT would seem to have a fairly simple remedy: punish the policeman who
did it. Instead, we seem to have two standard remedies: 1. Let the victim sue the
government and get money compensation, and 2. Let the victim go free if he committed a
crime. I’ll come back to those in a minute, since even if you like those remedies,
surely you would add remedy 3: fire the policeman, and remedy 4: put the policeman in
jail. (Of course, 3 and 4 would, like 1 and 2, have degrees of severity– sometimes the
policeman would just be suspended for a week and sometimes he would just be fined or put
on probation instead of jailed.)
[… permalink "03.08.03b.htm">
03.08.03b.htm ]

HOW DID THE EARLY CHURCH MANAGE to come out with a reasonably strong consensus on
orthodox belief? The Gnostics and Judaizers lost out, after all, and notwithstanding the
Arian controversy and suchlike subtle issues, the Christianity of the Apostle’s Creed
seems to have been universal by 300. In "http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Protected/Articles/000/000/002/941xyxgr.asp">
Professor Gary Anderson’s review of Elaine Pagels’ silly new book on gnosticism
(in the Weekly Standard), he raises this good question, as well as politely knocking
her out of the ring:
[… permalink "03.08.01a.htm">
03.08.01a.htm ]

THE MENTAL DERANGEMENT OF CONSERVATIVES was the subject of a notorious recent article
by four professors at top universities. Reading "http://faculty-
gsb.stanford.edu/Jost/_private/Political_Conservatism_as_Motivated_Social_Cognition.pdf"
> the article is a good start to seeing how worthless it is. James Lindgren, in a
letter posted on the
Dissecting Leftism web-log points to something that kills the study’s credibility
for me immediately:
[… permalink "03.08.01b.htm">
03.08.01b.htm ]

THE DINGELL NON-RESIDENT TROUBLEMAKER LETTER really needs to be read in full. The
Weekly Standard " http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Protected/Articles/000/000/002/930ciqru.asp">
quotes it (”Boss Dingell, Iraq, Penthouse, and more,” 08/04/2003, Volume 008,
Issue 45, closed site):

Mr. Connerly:

The people of Michigan have a simple message to you: go home and stay there. We do not
need you stirring up trouble where none exists.
[… permalink "03.07.31a.htm">
03.07.31a.htm ]

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

NORWAY HAS JUDGES just as unjust as American ones, I hear via James Taranto’s WSJ HREF= "http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/"> Best of the Web. As "http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=594014"> a Norwegian
newspaper tells it:

An Oslo man has had his drunken driving case thrown out of court because overeager
police didn’t wait until he sobered up to question him. The court rejected the
inebriated confession and let the 36-year-old go, newspaper VG reports.

…

Police questioned the Oslo man six hours after the test was taken, when he would still
have had a blood alcohol level of about 1.7-1.8 per thousand, which is above the point
where people begin to slur their speech.

I’m glad my ancestors left in time!

[ "03.07.30a.htm">
03.07.30a.htm ]

Tuesday, July 29, 2003

MARK STEYN’s obituary for Idi Amin, "http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=
/opinion/2003/07/27/do2710.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2003/07/27/ixop.html"> He will not be
Missed” is not be to be missed. The best part:
[… permalink "03.07.29a.htm">
03.07.29a.htm ]

Monday, July 28, 2003

VALERIE PLAME is the maiden name of the wife of Joseph Wilson, the retired diplomat
who attacked the Bush Administration for mentioning Niger uranium. Some web-logs are in
a lather because
Robert Novak wrote:
[… permalink "03.07.28a.htm">
03.07.28a.htm ]

CHURCH SERVICES can be reviewed, like any activity. The Christianity Today web-log
points to two of them, from the "http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-118-570163,00.html"> London Times
and Ship of Fools. The
reviews are astonishingly superficial, and give a good picture of how most people feel
about church and why atheist pastors thrive.
[… permalink "03.07.28b.htm">
03.07.28b.htm ]

Sunday, July 27, 2003

MORE HILARITY FROM MARK STEYN, in "http://www.suntimes.com/output/steyn/cst-edt-steyn27.html"> “Bush playing his cards
right in Iraq”:
[… permalink "03.07.27a.htm">
03.07.27a.htm ]

PASCAL’S COMBINATION OF MATHEMATICS, PSYCHOLOGY, AND THEOLOGY should be coming into
vogue now that we have things like Indiana University’s “School of Infomatics”. I came
across a very
stimulating passage in the Pensees on habit versus deliberation. The theological
application is incidental; this idea is just as important in economics:
[… permalink "03.07.27b.htm">
03.07.27b.htm ]

Saturday, July 26, 2003

JUDICIAL CORRUPTION strikes again, this time in the Illinois Supreme Court. As the HREF= "http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-judg25.html"> Sun-Times tells us
(I tip my hat to David Bernstein guesting at Volokh’s
web-log)

Setting up a potential constitutional
crisis in Illinois, the seven members of the state Supreme Court Thursday ordered state
Comptroller Dan Hynes to boost their pay from $158,103 a year to $162,530 a year and to
boost the pay of all judges in Illinois by about $4,000 a year.
[… permalink "03.07.26a.htm">
03.07.26b.htm ]

Friday, July 25, 2003

THE NEW YORK CITY CITY COUNCILLOR SHOOTING has some interesting features not widely
noted. The basic story is that incumbent city councillor Davis was shot to death in
City Hall by semi-serious primary challenger Askew. The two points of interest are the
implications for gun control of the concealed guns both were carrying and the
homosexuality of Mr. Askew.
[… permalink "03.07.25a.htm">
03.07.25a.htm ]

SHOULD A CHRISTIAN OWN A BMW? I bring this up because yesterday I drove to Louisville
and bought a 2003 Mazda Protege Mazdaspeed to replace my 1990 Protege.
[… permalink "03.07.25b.htm">
03.07.25b.htm ]

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

GOOD COOKING AND GOOD POLITICAL THOUGHT have their similarities. Digby Anderson, who
ought to write more than he does, says in his short piece, "http://www.arise.org/Digby.html"> “Tradition, Self-Restraint and Social Control,”
[… permalink "03.07.23a.htm">
03.07.23a.htm ]

Tuesday, July 22, 2003

THREATS AGAINST THE PRESIDENT are illegal, even though threats against ordinary citizens
are not. That is undemocratic and wrong, even when the law is applied only to serious
threats.
[… permalink "03.07.22a.htm">
03.07.22a.htm ]

THE TAWDRINESS OF EUROPEAN POLITICIANS is surveyed in "http://www.nationalreview.com/stuttaford/stuttaford072203.asp"> a piece by Mr.
Stuttaford in today’s National Review
[… permalink "03.07.22b.htm">
03.07.22b.htm ]

Monday, July 21, 2003

NATURAL VERSUS DIVINE LAW was my subject a
few days ago. I didn’t have citations, but here are some from "http://www.hti.umich.edu/r/rsv/"> the Revised Standard Version.
[… permalink "03.07.21a.htm">
03.07.21a.htm ]

Sunday, July 20, 2003

A NUMBER OF HISTORIANS filed a brief in the
Lawrence sodomy case before the Supreme Court. It turns out to be false in
several statements of fact, as shown by the comments following it at the History News
Network site.
[… permalink "03.07.20a.htm">
03.07.20a.htm ]

Saturday, July 19, 2003

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH and conservatives are appalled by the idea of homosexual
marriages, and rightly so. It is a weird idea, akin to house-man marriages— that is,
the terms in the phrase just don’t fit together. What it means, of course, is the
elevation of a certain kind of homosexual relationship to the same level of government
approval as marriage. But what interests at me at the moment is why it is this issue
which is exciting attention, rather than, say no-fault divorce, which has had such a
deleterious effect on the family and society that “gay marriage” has little left to
kill.
[… permalink "03.07.19a.htm">
03.07.19a.htm ]

Friday, July 18, 2003

MARK STEYN has scored another hit with his
column on European integration, "http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=
/opinion/2003/07/12/do1204.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2003/07/12/ixop.html"> “There was a
European, a European and a European . . .” A sample paragraph:

Under the convention’s proposals, a new European Trait Commissioner will be given the
authority to break down trait barriers within the EU and correct regional imbalances.
“Mr Berlusconi, for example, would benefit from being more Finnish and dour, or if
necessary Swedish and suicidal.” [ "03.07.18a.htm">
03.07.18a.htm ]

Thursday, July 17, 2003

Instapundit points
out a > CBS story on FBI incompetence. Translator Sibel Edmonds complained about
purposeful slackness and a Turkish spy, and was fired. Senator Grassley has been
investigating.
[… permalink "03.07.17a.htm">
03.07.17a.htm ]

Wednesday, July 16, 2003

JOE LIBERMAN was actually once thought to have more integrity than most politicians—
hard to believe, isn’t it? But he’s moved into more than just abandoning his
religion for his campaign, as "http://www.spectator.org/article.asp?art_id=2003_7_15_23_44_53"> the American Prowler
notes:

For example, both of the Lieberman children who are on the campaign are earning six-
figure salaries. While it’s fairly common for candidates of all ilk to bring family on
board, the Lieberman payouts were surprisingly excessive for a man who prides himself on
watching the bottom line.

I wonder if it would be illuminating to look at other candidates’ family loot?
[ "03.07.16a.htm">
03.07.16a.htm ]

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

DID THE FRENCH TRY TO TRICK US about the purported Niger-Iraq uranium contacts? Bush
cited British intelligence in his speech rather than documents which he had because the
documents seemed suspicious— and in fact were fairly clumsy forgeries, e.g., bearing
the signature of a foreign minister 14 years out of date.

Where did the forgeries come from?
[… permalink "03.07.15a.htm">
03.07.15a.htm ]

Monday, July 14, 2003

IRAQ DID NOT, IT SEEMS, PURCHASE URANIUM from Niger. Democrats therefore say that
President Bush is a liar. But they are lying themselves, as a "http://www.nationalreview.com/may/may071103.asp"> Clifford May tells us in
National Review, because that is not what Bush said. What he said in his State of the
Union address was:
[… permalink "03.07.14a.htm">
03.07.14a.htm ]

Sunday, July 13, 2003

GOING TO CHURCH is neglected by many people who call themselves Christians. That is a
mistake. If you really wish to serve God (a big if, admittedly), then you should realize
that churchgoing provides at least a minimal amount of each of several things you should
be doing weekly. These are things it’s pretty hard to argue with, no matter what your
variety of Christianity (as opposed to, say, Communion, the need for which is debated).
[… permalink "03.07.13a.htm">
03.07.13a.htm ]

Saturday, July 12, 2003 (http:
//mypage.iu.edu/~erasmuse/a1.htm#july12a)

ROTTEN ORGANIZATIONS do not indicate their rottenness so much by operational problems as
by the way they deal with the problems, and, in particular, how they punish those to
blame. A case in point is Brooklyn College. The Johnson tenure case shows that the
history department is thoroughly corrupt, but that does not by itself indicate that the
college is corrupt as a whole. The best organizations have the occasional problem. But
if it is a good organization, the problem is precisely the occasion on which its quality
is revealed.
[… permalink "03.07.12a.htm">
03.07.12a.htm ]

Friday, July 11, 2003

JUDICIAL SUBVERSION of the Constitution is old news, I guess, but "http://volokh.com/2003_07_06_volokh_archive.html#105788769924713715"> Eugene Volokh > points out a particularly egregious case by the Nevada Supreme Court. The Nevada
state legislature was deadlocked and hadn’t authorized state spending– a not uncommon
problem in legislative brinkmanship, and one that has often happened before in Nevada.
Also, the state constitution (a) requires the state to fund public schools, and (b) has
a 2/3 requirement for enacting tax increases. What the Court did in "http://nvsupremecourt.com/pdf/GPetition/41629.Decision.pdf "> Guinn v. The Legislature
, with just one dissent, was to order the legislature to fund the state
government immediately rather than wait until the start of the new fiscal year, and to
do it by ignoring the 2/3 requirement needed for new taxes. They do this quite
baldly. Rather than hint that they won’t object if the Legislature violates the 2/3
requirement they command the Legislature to ignore it– a command presumably
enforceable by jailing the legislators indefinitely for contempt until they obey the
Court’s order:
[… permalink "03.07.11a.htm">
03.07.11a.htm ]

Thursday, July 10, 2003

DEFINING “HUMAN” is not easy and it matters. Whose death can be murder? Who counts in
the utilitarian or Pareto calculus? Who has a soul that can be lost or saved? I just
came across a 1997 posting by Dean Sherwood
that introduces a new angle: the human as property-owner and contract-maker.
[… permalink "03.07.10a.htm">
03.07.10a.htm ]

Wednesday, July 9, 2003

SODOMY LAWS are an example of morality laws. Libertarians oppose such laws,which also
include laws against such things as private racial discrimination, drug use,
cannibalism, cruelty to animals, adultery, and prostitution. The American
intelligentsia is confused on this, leaning libertarian when it comes to anything to
do with sexual behavior but remaining against drugs and discrimination against blacks.
What is interesting is the weakness of the conservative press on morality. I had
thought an important element of conservative thought was that virtue is one of the ends
of government, or at least an important means to the end of happiness. Plato and
Aristotle, and, indeed, almost everyone would have thought so at one time. But even the
awareness of virtue as a possible end has vanished for many people.
[… permalink "03.07.09a.htm">
03.07.09a.htm ]

Tuesday, July 8, 2003

PRAYER IN SCHOOLS is supposed to have really bothered certain atheists. But did it
really? If people are really bothered, they start pulling their kids out of the public
schools and home-schooling them or starting private schools. Catholics did this on a
large scale, during the period of school prayer– because there weren’t *enough*
prayers, and not of the right kind. Nowadays, evangelicals do this on a large scale too,
partly for the same reason and partly because they rightly believe that the public
schools teach immorality as much as morality. Clearly, religious people care a lot
about education.
[… permalink "03.07.08a.htm">
03.07.08a.htm ]

Monday, July 7, 2003

POOR EUROPE. One of the best articles I’ve seen on its problems is "http://www.theamericanenterprise.org/taedec02a.htm"> “Old and in the Way,” by Karl
Zinnsmeister, American Enterprise, December 2002.
[… permalink "03.07.07a.htm">
03.07.07a.htm ]

Sunday, July 6, 2003

INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE and adoption are still surprisingly controversial. HREF= "http://www.humaneventsonline.com/"> Human Events mentions an
interesting fact in an article pointing out that William Pryor, the Bush judicial
nominee accused by Democratic senators of being a racist, is supported by Alabama
Democratic legislator Alvin Holmes as one of the bravest non-racists in the state:
[… permalink "03.07.06a.htm">
03.07.06a.htm ]

Saturday, July 5, 2003

WHAT DO WOODROW WILSON AND GEORGE W. BUSH have in common? They both aggravated the
French with their attitudes in the same way. Philippe Roger’s 2002 book, The
American Enemy (L’Ennemi Americain) reports that the French conservative Maurras
said
[… permalink "03.07.05a.htm">
03.07.05a.htm ]

APOPHATICALLY is a word not in any on-line dictionaries I checked, but useful
nonetheless. It means discovering by the via negativa of saying what something is
not, rather than what it is.

In the apophatic (or negative) way … one approaches God by stripping
away all concepts, definitions, and adjectives which would seem to “confine” the
infinity of divinity in order to stand in utterly open prayer before the Holy Trinity. (
“Connections to the World of
Orthodoxy” ) [ "03.07.05b.htm">
03.07.05b.htm ]

Fourth of July, 2003

IT’S THE FOURTH OF JULY, so let me think of some good things about America.
[… permalink "03.07.04a.htm">
03.07.04a.htm ]

ADVICE TO PARENTS is usually unwanted, but I was inspired to write some down. This is
applicable to children in the 1-4-year-old range.
[… permalink "03.07.04b.htm">
03.07.04b.htm ]

BEING A SOLDIER IN IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN is dangerous, but a soldier’s chances of death in
action are still trivial.
[… permalink "03.07.04c.htm">
03.07.04c.htm ]

Thursday, July 3, 2003

THE SUPREME COURT’S ARROGANCE in the " http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby= case&vol=000&invol=
02-102"> Lawrence sodomy case is the subject of "http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-cohn070203.asp"> a good National Review
piece by Jonathan Cohn.
[… permalink "03.07.03a.htm">
03.07.03a.htm ]

Wednesday, July 2, 2003

JUDICIAL TEMPERAMENT is important. But I see that it can be entirely misperceived. Via
Romesh Ponnuru at
National Review, I discovered that July 2 "http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=
archives/2003_06_29_dish_archive.html#10569513708061191"> Andrew Sullivan writes
of judicial temperament,
[… permalink "03.07.02a.htm">
03.07.02a.htm ]

Tuesday, July 1, 2003

FOOTNOTES are one of the more difficult parts of writing to get right. Here is some
advice on them from an unlikely spot that also has other good advice on writing,
Richard A. Posner’s review of William Miller’s Bloodtaking and Peacemaking:
Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland , Michigan Law Revew 90:
1495-1511 (May 1992) (at p. 1500):

It is easy when writing a scholarly piece to keep adding notes as new thoughts occur to
one or as new sources come to one’s attention. But at the end one should go back and
interrogate every note carefully, asking: Is this a qualification or continuation or
amplification of the text, and if so can it be worked into the text so that the flow of
discussion is not broken? Is it a minor point that can be dropped without impairing the
integrity of the work? Can it be consolidated with another note? [ HREF=
"03.07.01a.htm">
03.07.01a.htm ]

Monday, June 30, 2003

ADMINISTRIVIA IS A POTENT TOOL for destroying policies one dislikes. The Left has
used cumbersome procedures as a pillow to suffocate the death penalty despite its strong
public support. It should be even easier to use administrivia to wreck policies that are
publicly unpopular, and have been imposed by runaway courts.
Affirmative action is a good example. O’Connor’s "http://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions/legal/grutter/02-241.pdf"> Grutter
majority opinion
[… permalink "03.06.30a.htm">
03.06.30a.htm ]

Saturday, June 28, 2003

WHY FIRMS PAY DIVIDENDS has long been a puzzle in finance theory, since then
shareholders must pay taxes on the dividends, whereas if company retained the earnings
and the shareholders just sold shares, they could get the same amount and pay less in
taxes.
Even putting aside taxes, why should a firm EVER pay dividends?
[… permalink "03.06.28a.htm">
03.06.28a.htm ]

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

"http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol= 163&invol=537"> PLESSY
V. FERGUSON is the celebrated Supreme Court decision that declared that
segregation was lawful so long as it was “separate but equal”. This was interpreted to
mean that, for example, segregated schools were lawful so long as the school qualities
were equal. They weren’t, of course, so Southern school systems were in violation even
of existing law in, say, the 1920’s, but for many years nobody challenged them in
court. In the 1940’s, they started to, and Southern states started to hurriedly upgrade
their black colleges, knowing they’d lose lawsuits otherwise.

The lesson for today? That American universities will engage in racial discrimination
that is illegal even under our tolerant Supreme Court unless they are challenged in
court.
[… permalink "03.06.25a.htm">
03.06.25a.htm ]

THE GRUTTER
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION decision by the Supreme Court is full of interest as an example
of confusion and hypocrisy. One point is the claim that “Diversity” is not just a code
word for “African-American”.
[… permalink "03.06.24a.htm">
03.06.24a.htm ]

EDWARD SAID’S VIEW OF ORIENTALISM, like anything he wrote, should be suspect, since
his dishonesty is well known (is “honesty” perhaps a Western concept– but we must
include ancient Israel in that West?). A good demolition job is Keith Windschuttle’s
“Edward Said’s
`Orientalism revisited’ ” in The New Criterion (17, 5, January
1999). Said’s three big claims are that (a) Orientalist scholarship was a crucial
motivation and means for Western imperialism, (b) Western countries needed the East as
an “other” for their own cultural self- definition, and (c) Orientalists
mischaracterized Islamic culture, which is too diverse to be captured as a unified
culture.
[… permalink "03.06.23a.htm">
03.06.23a.htm ]

SCRIPTURAL COMMENTARY used to include a lot of allegory, but not in the past few
centuries. I was surprised to see Erasmus, one of the moderns, supporting it …
[… permalink "03.06.22a.htm">
03.06.22a.htm ]

CHECKING FOR BROKEN LINKS is a good process to automate. "http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html"> Xenu’s Link Sleuth , by Tilman
Hausherr, is good freeware for that. His writing style is superb, too, in the
specialized genre of information about software—he actually makes it interesting to
read, with his concise bullet lists, tangential discussion of Scientology, comparisions
with similar software, and so forth.

Have I fixed the broken links in my own webpages lately? No… after I finish those
pesky referee reports and get my presentation ready for the conference next week, maybe,
…
[ "03.06.21a.htm">
03.06.21a.htm ]

BUDDHISM is really an entire array of religions. World magazine has a
good series of Olsavky articles on " http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/06-14-03/international_5.asp"> early Buddhism, >
bodhisattvas the Japanese "http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/06-14-03/international_7.asp"> Tendai, Zen, and
Nichiren sects, and the "http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/06-14-03/international_8.asp "> Pureland sect. >
[… permalink "03.06.20a.htm">
03.06.20a.htm ]

HISTORY FRAUD seems to be rampant in that academic profession. "http://www.erinoconnor.org/"> Erin O’Connor’s June 19 blog is about a new book,
The Fabrication of Aboriginal History by Keith Windschuttle.
[… permalink "03.06.19a.htm">
03.06.19a.htm ]

INNOCENT PEOPLE WILL DIE if we make killing them pay well enough.
[… permalink "03.06.18a.htm">
03.06.18a.htm ]

THE FLYNN EFFECT is the huge increase in average performance on intelligence tests
from 1920 to 1995.
[… permalink "03.06.17a.htm">
03.06.17a.htm ]

THE NEW EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION is further evidence of European decadence. "http://www.nationalreview.com/frum/frum-diary.asp"> David Frum writes on June 15
of former French president Valery Giscard D’Estaing,
[ "03.06.16b.htm">
03.06.16b.htm ]

“DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ in the newspaper,” goes the old saying, but we pretty
much do anyway. Joel Belz has "http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/05-31-03/opening_1.asp"> a good short essay
on that in the May 31 World. He notes that despite being a sports
reporter and seeing how the newspaper made mistakes almost every time he phoned in
names and numbers, when he read other sections of the paper, he couldn’t help believing
that what he read was accurate.
[ "03.06.16a.htm">
03.06.16a.htm ]

THE DEATH PENALTY is extremely popular in the United States, where liberal politicians
have learned that overt opposition to it is fatal to their chances of elected office,
yet it is extremely unpopular with American and European intellectuals. The
Economist has " http://www.economist.com/books/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1811793a"> review of Franklin
Zimring ’s new book, The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment
.
[… permalink "03.06.15a.htm">
03.06.15a.htm ]

EDITING POETRY is a task made difficult by the modern notion that writing poetry is
trivially easy, as easy for a pre-schooler as for Pushkin.
[… permalink "03.06.14a.htm">
03.06.14a.htm ]

MORE NUGGETS FROM DANIEL PIPES’S BOOK, Militant Islam Reaches America:
[… permalink "03.06.13a.htm">
03.06.13a.htm ]

IS AN IDEOLOGICAL TEST DESIRABLE for candidates for public office?
[… permalink "03.06.11a.htm">
03.06.11a.htm ]

DANIEL PIPES’S BOOK, Militant Islam Reaches America, will probably make
it to my Christmas Recommendation List this
year. Although it is a thinly disguised compilation of his journalism, there is a
common theme: Islamism is a new political ideology that is dangerous in all its forms
but downplayed by governments and press.
[… permalink "03.06.09a.htm">
03.06.09a.htm ]

AMERICANS HAVE BEEN GETTING FATTER for a long time. A recent working paper, "http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/9446.html#download"> “Why Have Americans Become
More Obese,” by Cutler, Glaeser, and Shapiro has a nice analysis. During about
1900- 1950, American calories consumed actually fell, but people were working in more
and more sedentary occupations, and so weight rose. Since then, the main problem has
been not reduced physical movement, but– and here is the author’s contribution—
increased snacking. From roughly the 70’s to the 90’s, people didn’t eat many more
calories at mealtime (even though there was a shift from home to restaurant dining), but
they ate a lot more snacks.
[ "03.05.31a.htm">
03.05.31a.htm ]

HAS ANYONE NOTICED something strange about the South and Presidential races? Memories
linger of a Republican “Southern Strategy” of appealing to white Southern voters despite
the losses that entail among black Northern voters. But in fact, until 2000, Southern
whites were unimportant to the Republicans, while Northern blacks were highly
significant.
[… permalink "03.05.27a.htm">
03.05.27a.htm ]

A FALLACY OF REGRESSION TO THE MEAN is nicely illustrated, I think by something in the
Chronicle of Higher Education’s May 16 daily briefing
[… permalink "03.05.26a.htm">
03.05.26a.htm ]

IN FOREIGN RELATIONS, who are the winners and who are the losers from Gulf War II? We
Americans have been focussing on America, Iraq, and France, and I’ve seen a little
attention given to Britain and Poland. Instapundit picked up on "http://www.project-syndicate.org/series/series_text.php4?id=1208&lang= 1&setcookie=1">
a perceptive article by Michael Mertes that explains how German is actually the
biggest loser next to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
[… permalink "03.05.25a.htm">
03.05.25a.htm ]

Were we unfair to her? I don’t think so. (I should mention that we also point out that
what Dillon was circulating was not his “views and claims”, but rather his copies of
official law school memos with affirmative action data, plus a short cover letter.)
[… permalink "03.05.22a.htm">
03.05.22a.htm ]

OUR LOCAL AFFIRMATIVE ACTION STORY has made "http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-wood052103.asp"> National Review:

Dillon, overcoming months of foot-dragging by the university by filing a state public
access complaint, pried loose from the Law School the data on admissions from 1990 to
1999. The results are indeed extraordinary. As Dillon explains, “For each year for
almost a decade, the average black student offered admission had an LSAT score of
roughly the 30th percentile nationally, while the average non-minority admit had an LSAT
score in roughly the 80th percentile.” In view of this 50-point gap, what is “race” in
UI Law School admissions if not “determinative?” And if claiming an African- American
identity does not “necessarily” count more than any other factor, what other factor
makes up for a 50-percentile point deficit on the LSAT?

For the data, see > my website.
[ "03.05.21a.htm">
03.05.21a.htm ]

BUSH’S DIPLOMACY seems to have achieved what that of previous Presidents could not: it
has persuaded Syria to shut down the offices it allowed terrorist groups to publicly
flaunt. As "http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2697726,00.html"> the Guardian >says,

Remember how everybody’s been saying that Gulf War II may have been a success, but it’s
set back U.S. influence everywhere in the world? Not in the Middle East, apparently.
[… permalink "03.05.20a.htm">
03.05.20a.htm ]

CUBA UNDER CASTRO has in no sense been a success story. Sometimes you hear people say
that although GDP has not done so well, Cuba has good social services. That is
plausible, because a country can get good social services (and a good army) by taxing
away everything else. But it turns out that although the army is no doubt much bigger
than under Batista, pre-Castro Cuba *already* had strikingly good living conditions, as
I discover from "http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/2003_archives/001473.html"> Brad DeLong
via Instapundit:

Just because people begin their papers with quotes from Ludwig von Mises
does not automatically mean that they are wrong:

http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/asce/cuba8/30smith.pdf

http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/asce/pdfs/volume12/perezlopez.pdf

The hideously depressing thing is that Cuba under Battista–Cuba in 1957–was a
developed country. Cuba in 1957 had lower infant mortality than France, Belgium, West
Germany, Israel, Japan, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Cuba in 1957 had doctors
and nurses: as many doctors and nurses per capita as the Netherlands, and more than
Britain or Finland. Cuba in 1957 had as many vehicles per capita as Uruguay, Italy, or
Portugal. Cuba in 1957 had 45 TVs per 1000 people–fifth highest in the world. Cuba
today has fewer telephones per capita than it had TVs in 1957. [more,
"03.05.20b.htm">
03.05.20b.htm ]

BACK FROM TOWING A U-HAUL with furniture and books from my parents’ farm in Illinois, I
found a great
quote about Clinton, Nixon, Kennedy, and presidential morality in Jay
Nordlinger’s column on National Review:

It’s September 1998, and Clinton is conducting a cabinet meeting. Donna Shalala, the
health and human services secretary, has the temerity to say, Surely, Mr. President, a
president has some obligation to provide moral leadership. Clinton wheels on her,
furious, and says, By that logic, you’d have preferred Richard Nixon in 1960 to John
Kennedy.

I wish he had more of a cite, though.
[… permalink "03.05.19a.htm">
03.05.19a.htm ]

THE FILIBUSTER is an example of the kind of lovable tradition that is so much a part of
the English and American political systems, like the New Hampshire primary being first
and the Democratic and Republican parties alternating whose convention comes first. This
kind of tradition depends on fair play and reciprocity, though. The Democrats have
innovated by using the filibuster to establish a veto on routine appellate court
nominations. As many have noted, including "http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-eastman051503.asp"> Professor Eastman in
National Review, the filibuster is not only not in the Constitution; it pretty
clearly can be overturned by a majority of senators at any time. Just as the Senate of
2000 cannot pass a law that says that future Senates cannot ever pass a tax increase, so
no Senate can pass a law saying that future Senates cannot end debate except by a 60%
vote.

The filibuster, like the New Hampshire primary, has survived because it has been
tolerated–as part of “playing fair”. Now the Democrats have stopped playing fair. The
obvious response is for the Republicans to retaliate by adhering to the letter of the
Constitution, especially since that will also preserve its spirit, and to go further by
ending the filibuster for everything, not just for nominations.

The Democrats would not have done this if they had foreseen that response. Rather, they
expect the Republicans to either (a) acquiesce, or (b) return to the status quo, by
passing a rule that nominations are not subject to filibuster. In case (a), the
Democrats have succeeded marvelously. In case (b), they are no worse off than before.
Thus, this was probably a smart, if immoral, move.

It is curious that the Democrats pursue this strategy in domestic politics, while
eschewing it for foreign policy; and the Republicans do the opposite. Saddam Hussein
tossed out the weapons inspectors in the hope that either (a) Clinton would acquiesce,
or (b) Clinton would threaten war, and Saddam could back down and be no worse off than
before. Clinton’s response was to acquiesce.
[… permalink "03.05.15a.htm">
03.05.15a.htm ]

Jonah Goldberg brought up an example of this today– "http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg051403.asp"> students in the Bakke case:

Or recall the profile of Patrick Chavis, a black doctor who had been admitted to the
UC Davis Medical School under the race-quota scheme that rejected Allan Bakke. Bakke, of
course, sued and the result was the Bakke decision now under review by the Supreme
Court. In a 1995 article, “What Happened to the Case for Affirmative Action,” Nicholas
Lemann, a writer as talented as he is liberal, contrasted the two doctors. Chavis was a
heroic obstetrician working in Compton. Bakke was a mediocrity toiling in obscurity in
Minnesota. Giving Chavis an opportunity — according to Lemann and the activists and
politicians who rallied to the article — was a boon not only to Chavis but to the
community, the nation, humanity, indeed all carbon-based life forms. Alas, two years
after the article appeared, the Medical Board of California suspended his medical
license, partly on account of Chavis’s “inability to perform some of the most basic
duties required of a physician.” Chavis was found to have been guilty of gross
negligence and incompetence in three cases; the judge overseeing his case ruled that
letting Chavis “continue in the practice of organized medicine will endanger the public
health, safety and welfare.”

Goldberg got the story from William McGowan’s Coloring the News: How Crusading
for Diversity Has Corrupted American Journalism.
[… permalink "03.05.14a.htm">
03.05.14a.htm ]

PATRIOTISM IS SOMETHING nobody seems to want to be admit lacking. I think patriotism
is a virtue, but to be consistent, I think many other people should not. Take those
people who thought Gulf War II was an unjust war. If asked, “Did you want Iraq to win?”,
how should they answer? If they answer, “Yes,” they are being unpatriotic. If they
answer, “No,” then they are ascribing to the maxim, “My country, right or wrong.” That
is fine, but I’d like to see them acknowledge that they agree with the concept.
[ "03.05.10a.htm">
03.05.10a.htm ]

Britain was justified, of course, but that does not alter the fact that this was a pre-
emptive war against Germany, started by Britain not because of any imminent threat from
Germany, but out of fear that without a war in 1939, Germany would be strong enough to
beat Britain five or so years later. And, indeed, Germany’s U-boat program was not ready
yet, having been scheduled for a later war.
[… permalink "03.05.09a.htm">
03.05.09a.htm ]

That thought was stimulated by John Derbyshire ’s National Review column, "http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbyshire050803.asp"> “Confessions of a
Metropolitan Conservative”. Here is the part of it that poses the key question:

“Ah,” she said, in the tone of someone who has just had her worst expectations
confirmed, “that’s typical of you National Review types! Milk and water conservatives!
You talk a good game, but when it comes down to it, you’re just another bunch of
metropolitan liberals!”

I was thinking about this all the next day. The lady had a point, of course. I seriously
doubt there is anyone at National Review who would vote for a sodomy law. None of those
NR writers who have declared on the matter have come out in support of such laws. That
is not the same thing as saying that a state should not be permitted to have such laws,
if the people of that state want them. We are mostly Tenth Amendment, strict-
construction types here at NR, and I’m guessing that my position on the constitutional
point is widely shared. We don’t want to lock up homosexuals, though.

Now, 43 percent of respondents to a Gallup poll last May said that homosexual relations
between consenting adults should not be legal. So the uncomfortable question arises: If
we NR-niks are to the left of 43 percent of Americans on this issue, just what kind of
conservatives are we?

Derbyshire’s link to the Gallup poll is broken, but I found another link for the fact
that 42% of those polled
believed homosexuality should be illegal (for the year 2001).
[… permalink "03.05.08a.htm">
03.05.08a.htm ]

This is not the only situation where the Republican party has shown timidity. I suppose
it has something to do with its conformist, don’t-rock-the-boat instincts. Or perhaps it
is the idea of playing by the rules— even if the other side does not. Or perhaps it is
the lack of ideology of the Republican leadership in most areas–and in the Senate in
particular– combined with the strong ideology of the Democratic leadership.
[… permalink "03.05.06a.htm">
03.05.06a.htm ]

[May 13: I wasn’t the only one to think of "http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110003484"> this…]

“We haven’t found Saddam Hussein or his sons either. Does that mean they never existed?
“–Best of the Web Today, April 14

” ‘We haven’t found Saddam Hussein yet,’ says a senior Bush administration official.
‘Does that mean he didn’t exist?
‘ “– Newsweek, May 19 issue [… permalink "03.05.05a.htm">
03.05.05a.htm ]

BILL BENNETT”S GAMBLING is an interesting story. He is a rich man who thinks many things
are sinful, but, typical of Catholics, not gambling, and he does gamble large sums
several times a year. The best article is Jonah Goldberg’s in National Review, which
says,

“But the biggest reason I find these Bennett articles so troublesome is what they reveal
about the kind of society we ‘re building. Hypocrisy is bad, but it’s not the worst vice
in the world. If I declared “murder is wrong” and then killed somebody, I would hope
that the top count against me would be homicide, not hypocrisy. Liberal elites –
particularly in Hollywood — believe that hypocrisy is the gravest sin in the world,
which is why they advocate their own lifestyles for the entire world: Sleep with
whomever you want, listen to your own instincts, be true to yourself, blah, blah, blah.
Our fear of hypocrisy is forcing us to live in a world where gluttons are fine, so long
as they champion gluttony.”

The rest of the
article is well worth reading too.
[… permalink "03.05.05b.htm">
03.05.05b.htm ]

DIVERSITY sounds like a good thing in education. But so does uniformity. I hear lots of
complaints from professors that it is hard to teach a class because the students differ
so much in ability. It is easier to teach all smart students or all stupid students than
a mix, which is one reason required courses are tougher to teach— they get a random
sample of abilities.

I actually have never heard a professor say a class was hard to teach because the
students were not diverse. The closest is perhaps years ago when I heard Arthur Miller
of Harvard Law say that the class dynamics changed a lot if he had even one or two
outspoken conservative students in the class. I don’t remember if he thought the change
was for the better or not.
[ "03.05.05c.htm">
03.05.05c.htm ]