Monthly Archive: July 2009

a question for anti-statists

How can anti-statists reconcile themselves with protectionism? This has become a kind of stumbling block for me.  I have slowly become more and more disillusioned with protectionism as policy because it seems that it...

Honduras: WTF?

I fully supported, and continue to support, Obama’s minimal to nonexistent intervention in the Iranian situation last month.  What I cannot fathom is why Obama would now think that intervention on behalf of Zelaya in Honduras...

“Seasteading”

Fascinating piece up by Brian Doherty on “seasteading” the anti-government project being pursued by grandson of economist Milton Friedman, Patri Friedman, to create modular, stateless “seasteads” on the ocean.  The question that leaps to...

are you kidding me?

In his latest column, Ross Douthat repeats an old canard from the campaign trail: That last statistic is a crucial one. Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with...

Economics As If The Bible Mattered

“Pushing on a string is difficult. Pushing a zombie on a string is even harder. Pushing a zombie bank on a string is impossible.” William Buiter — Warning: I’m about to go on a...

Congrats to Roger

On his Wimbledon final’s victory and his 15th (and record breaking) Grand Slam Championship.  I can’t speak to all the others (the Rod Lavers and Bill Tildens of yore), but Federer is the greatest...

Sunday Poem Series

Leda and the Swan by William Butler Yeats A SUDDEN blow: the great wings beating still Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill, He...

Sarah Sarah Quite Contraire

This explanation of Gov. Palin’s resignation seems to me to make the most sense (h/t Sam Stein): [See Updates Below for counter explanation] The head of the Republican Governor’s Association said on Friday that...

I have to think

that this Sarah Palin resignation was made under duress, because of some very negative information that’ll come out sooner or later. Some sort of a lie, or scandal. Time will tell.

a few thoughts on A Supposedly Fun Blog

I’m really intrigued by and happy about this Infinite Jest project, and A Supposedly Fun Blog, a group blog for people who are reading IJ this summer and reacting to it in print. It’s...

Blog Etiquette

After posting a response to critics of his Walmart/healthcare post without linking to a single critical entry, Matthew Yglesias decides to highlight this essay from Apartment 11D, lamenting the decline of blogospheric courtesy. WTF?

going camping for the 4th

This is about a twenty minute drive from my apartment.  We will be roasting marshmallows and drinking beer.  Fireworks, however, are illegal, so none of that…

localism vs neighborhood-ism

I have to admit, I haven’t been following the dust-up between the First Thingers/ Pomocons and the Front Porchers all that closely.  But I must say, that what I have read has been some...

r-e-s-p-e-c-t

James Joyner points to this piece by Mark Tapcott, in which he says a lot of what many of us have been saying about appropriate discourse and the importance of language especially in regard...