The Non-Defense of DOMA
I hate to interject in the middle of of the labor roundtable, which I’m enjoying a lot. Still, the Obama Administration’s decision to stop defending DOMA in the courts is important and seems like...
Monthly Archive: February 2011
Labor Roundtable: Erik Vanderhoff
by Erik Vanderhoff I’ve been chewing on this for quite some time now as I’ve watched the reactions of various pundits and thinkers to the growing battle over public servants and what, if any,...
Labor Roundtable: Why Market Anarchy Favors Labor
In response to Kevin Carson’s excellent post on reimagining the American labor movement and the role of the federal government in restricting that movement, Michael Drew writes: It seems like this should put to...
Labor Roundtable: Kevin Carson
by Kevin Carson [Editors note: This is the first post in a series – or ‘roundtable’ – on the rise and fall of organized labor in America. Other guest authors will be posting, and...
The Death and Life of the Great American Middle Class
I don’t agree with Andrew Sullivan on the issue of public sector unions at all but at least this post is a good deal more measured than many of his recent efforts. It’s also revealing...
Euripides: Electra, Avenging Angel of Patriarchy
This is the third version of the story of the gruesome murder of Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus by her own children, Orestes and Electra, in vengeance for her own bloody murder of Agamemnon,...
“Taking a deep breath in Wisconsin”
Nice post from Josh Barro on why the Wisconsin labor fight’s not as important as you might think.
US Intervention in Libya
After decades of botched meddling in other nations’ domestic affairs, American foreign policy reached fever pitch during the Bush administration. More often than not, our meddling has resulted in backlash or terrible unintended consequences,...
Liberal Academia (Part 1)
“An interminable making of interpretations is the duty of the teacher; in this duty of mindfulness, never fully to be discharged, he is freer than most citizens. That unique condition can only exist if...
News from Morocco
My sister, who lives in Rabat, Morocco, has been told to stay home today and later in the week, because “there are planned protests”. Does this mean Morocco will be the next Egypt? She...
A Basic Conflict
I’m a compatibilist by instinct. I don’t often see conflicts between fundamental rights. Maybe it’s because such conflicts are actually rare. Or it could just be a personal bias. But I tend to see...
Afterlife as an Afterthought
Last night, I attended a debate sponsored by the American Jewish University (formerly the University of Judaism or more colloquially, “Jew U”) ostensibly on the question “Is There An Afterlife?”; I style it a “debate”...
Messerschmidt
After the jump a bronze scupture by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt from his series of 64 Canonical Grimaces of the face, done in the late 1700s and now on view at the Louvre, after a...
The Death and Life of the Great American School System (part one)
All the bad crazy out of Wisconsin lately lines up really well with the book I’m reading at the moment, The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch. Ravitch...
Government Spending and Liberty
Erik pleads for public libraries, below. And Rufus plumps for the academic humanities. I’m inclined to let them win these debates, to the extent that any exist. I concede, even if the academic humanities...
Is South Dakota About to Legalize Pro-Life Terrorism?
[UPDATED] One of the stories making the rounds the last few days relates to pending GOP-sponsored legislation in South Dakota which recently made it out of committee by a 9-3 vote that would expand...
Labor 2.0 (initial thoughts)
This is going to be purposefully short. I want a discussion on this more than anything, as my thoughts are still very much forming. Does a revived labor movement require protectionist policies, increasing tariffs,...
Marriage and the Ship of Theseus
Rob at Waking Up Now is doing a great job analyzing Sherif Girgis, Robert George and Ryan Anderson’s article “What is Marriage?” from the Harvard Law Review. Here are parts one, two three and...
Down the Rabbit Hole
On the question of organized labor, outsourcing, and immigration Sam M writes: One complication, of course, is policing. Money flows more easily than bodies. So even the strictest programs would likely have more...
