Notes on video games as culture.
My co-Gent Barrett, in his post “Computing in virtual worlds,” writes: “…there exists a faction represented by such people as Roger Ebert who believe that one may refer to one’s self as cultured while...
Monthly Archive: November 2010
The Manhattan Declaration and the Definition of “Christianity”
This dovetails with the most recent post by Mr. Kupp. You may read the whole thing at my other group blog here. A taste:
Fear and Failures of Interpretation
By Kyle Cupp In his post on Islamic terminology, Ned Resnikoff observed: Whereas Talmudic scholars disagree with one another of the interpretation of their holy text, there’s vast disagreement within Islam about what constitutes...
Computing in virtual worlds
I’ve mentioned Dwarf Fortress here before, and will have occasion to do so at much greater length in the future, if only in pursuit of balance; there exists a faction represented by such people...
Le Juke-box de vendredi
Okay, if anyone wants to do a more straight-faced version of the Friday jukebox, please feel free. I just wanted to think of a way to announce that I’m off to La France for the...
Best 2010 Election Results News
Here’s the best news to come out of the 2010 elections: Fewer than one in five self-funded candidates won their elections. The data comes from Bradley S. O’Leary of The PM Group, and is...
$200,000,000 per arrest
The 4,000 air marshals who have been put in place on the ridiculously insignificant chance that they will be in a position to stop a hijacking or other significant event make about 4 arrests...
Enhanced Security
I’m not a big fan of those videos with the really obnoxious computer-generated voices. But of course that didn’t stop me from making one of my own. So here’s my take on the TSA’s...
The Nation defends TSA against Evil Koch Brothers
This Nation piece is a ludicrous exercise in silly partisanship. Mark Ames and Yasha Levine go to great length to show just how all this crazy outrage over TSA agents groping people – including...
Bill O’Reilly on Robert Tilton (Jews In New York)
I can’t tell whether the Inside Edition is running at a higher speed or whether O’Reilly’s voice sounds higher because he’s younger.
On the “Investment Climate” Argument
Not everyone like my claim that U.S. policy is creating an adverse investment climate. So here’s this from Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution. Headlines read “UK maintains growth momentum” and “German business confidence soars.”...
Studying one Thing to Learn Another
I quite enjoyed Will’s post asking just what it is that an academic degree confers, and was struck by this sentence in particular: “I’m told that my undergraduate experience provides a framework for critical...
Happy D.B. Cooper Day!
It’s the 39th anniversary of the semi-legendary D.B. Cooper’s hijacking of a Boeing 727 for $200,00 ransom. Receiving the money, Cooper then made his escape by parachuting out of the airplane. The case remains...
Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom
A thought that every post-election pundit should ponder. Economist Charles Plot talking to law professor Michael Levine. Most people think that voting tells you the ‘preferences of the group.’ But you know, Mike, groups...
Ludwig und Yeezy.
I’m at my desk listening to the new Kanye West album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I’m not going to argue with the pop critic consensus: it’s good. When the staff of the music...
Speaking of plagiarism…
Sometimes I fantasize while struggling through this *#$&! dissertation, but I ever actually did plagiarize, I think I’d have a nervous breakdown with worry. If I was a tenured academic authoring a Congressional study,...
Undergraduate education and the aura of expertise
Rufus, our rogue classicist, has written a smart response to that Chronicle of Higher Education article on a guy who makes his living writing students’ papers. In the original post, I kinda-sorta gestured at...
Dealing with the DPRK
Image via Wikipedia Given that I’m very far from an expert on East Asian politcs — and that North Korea is the most opaque nation on the planet — I recognize a certain need...
Virginia Postrel on the Allure of Having Friends and Enemies
(Cross-posted from @TAC.) Virginia Postrel argues this weekend that environmentalists favor high-speed rail and wind power not because they reduce carbon emissions but simply because they look good. “These technologies,” she writes, aren’t just about getting from...
My Most Popular Post From My Personal Blog
Apparently, I’m one of the few places that reproduces this letter from Robert Reed (Mr. Brady) to the producers of the show bitterly criticizing its writing by comparing it to Shakespeare (Reed was a...
