Category Archives: Media Criticism

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Philosophy, Political Commentary

The Oil Spill

17 Comments

…doesn’t make the case for Big Government:

…the idea that because a person or thing can do some things brilliantly doesn’t mean they do everything well. Some writers can’t count past 10 without taking their shoes off; some artists are tone-deaf; some math whizzes cannot learn languages.

Franklin Roosevelt and Albert Einstein were exceptional talents, but asking them to trade occupations would not have been clever. Like Einstein and Roosevelt, markets and government do different things well.

Government is a big and blunt instrument, while markets are smaller and flexible tools. Government acts for the whole, and gives things one direction; markets react to and serve individuals, respond to a great many small discrete interests, and facilitate the pursuit of happiness by creating demands for a great many diverse and various skills.

The frustrating thing is that doing all sorts of things in which it has no business, and isn’t very good at, it’s neglecting the things that it’s supposed to be doing, and being even more incompetent at them in general.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary

That’s No Lady

14 Comments

…it’s my Supreme Court nominee. Of all the things for the left to get its panties in a new wad about.

Though this does remind me of a pet peeve of my own, and a much more egregious one (I just heard it again yesterday morning on the local news). The female anchor (not to pick on her, men do it, too) was describing some sort of brutal crime, after which she said that the police were still looking for the “gentleman” who perpetrated it.

Apparently, many people are no longer familiar with the meaning of the words “lady” and “gentleman” (it just occurs to me that people in show business compliment their audiences by addressing them as “ladies and gentlemen” — do they say that at WWE events? Wishing to see such an exhibition doesn’t seem very ladylike…). They are not synonyms for (respectively) “woman” and “man.” They are describing a particular sort of woman or man. As far as I know, and from all I’ve heard about her public conduct (and ignoring rumors about her private life, about which I’m indifferent), Elena Kagan is a lady. And the guy the news reporter was describing was no gentleman.

Education, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

The Left’s War On Science (Cont.)

4 Comments

More thoughts on the Harvard law controversy, from Peter Berkowitz. I wish that the student had stood up for her beliefs. She had nothing to apologize for, and in doing so, she only encouraged more of this anti-scientific oppression. In fact, I wish that she’d file a defamation suit against Minow. That might get these idiots’ attention. I wonder if FIRE is on the case?

[Looking……..]

Nope, don’t see anything. Maybe we should establish a legal fund. Of course, you probably won’t do very well in law school if you sue your dean for libel. Which is why she was so quick to needlessly apologize.

Also, this seems related somehow. The continuing struggle of the left to understand the Tea Partiers:

It’s like watching a 3 year old struggle with a jigsaw puzzle for AGES 14 AND UP.

The 3 year old thinks he’s grown up enough to do the puzzle, but after hours of frustration, throws the box of pieces at the wall in anger and screams “RACISTS!”

Well, they’re sure not going to learn how to do it at Harvard.

[Mid-morning update]

Via Derb, here’s an interesting piece by a refugee from a school of education, anonymous for obvious reasons, on the three views of racial disparity — the “progressive” view (and the only one acceptable in education colleges), the “values” view, and the “Voldemort” view. If we had schools of education based on the latter two views, we’d be a lot better off, but the very notion would be an oxymoron, which is why schools of education should be razed to the ground.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Four Ways

6 Comments

…that Congress caused the financial crisis. And they seem determined to continue (completely leaving Fannie and Freddie out of the new legislation).

[Update a while later]

Some thoughts on popping bubbles and the demonization of short sellers by clueless politicians.

[Update mid afternoon]

Don’t know what happened to the second link above — it was working when I put it up.

Meanwhile, Matt Welch points out that we are out of money. Or more precisely, we are out of other peoples’ money, which is, as Lady Thatcher famously pointed out the point at which socialism quits working.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space

Where Is My Critique?

89 Comments

You know, the essay I wrote at The New Atlantis last summer has been up for many months now, and I have never seen anyone critique it, with the exception of an idiotic attempt by Mark Whittington. I’ve received nothing but praise for the most part (which is why I wish more people would read it). The editor has also told me that he received no letters to the editor objecting to it. Is anyone aware of a serious, informed critical review? If there are none, I suspect that one of the reasons why is that I circulated drafts of it among a lot of smart people in the process of writing it.

The reason I ask is because I’m in the process of working up a book proposal, and I want to hone it, if there are any serious and useful issues with it, because a lot of the book will be based on it. And of course, people will be reviewing drafts of the book as well.

[Saturday morning update]

I’m not looking for suggestions for improvement (I have no plans to rewrite it or republish anywhere else). I’m looking for things that people think I actually got wrong.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space

Some Sanity From Jay Barbree

21 Comments

He has a surprisingly (for him — considering what an Ares koolaid drinker he’s been over the past few years) calm and objective assessment of the state of the new plan. I don’t know whether he’s right or not, but it’s politically plausible, for the near term. If we have to waste a few billion continuing to pretend to develop an Ares-based heavy lifter for a few years to keep the Florida rice bowls full, I can live with that, as long as the orbital technology funding doesn’t get starved for it. I’m still hoping that eventually, and before we sink too much money in that money pit, we’ll realize that we don’t need it. As for lunar landings and bases, there’s also plenty of time to change peoples’ minds on that. Everything planned for the deep-space missions will support it, and all we’ll need is a lander (which Masten and Armadillo, not to mention Blue Origin, are developing prototypes of now). If a fueling depot is established at L-1, that’s a natural time to decide whether to use it as a staging point for lunar surface activities.