…ruined by technology. These are pretty funny.
I Dub This “Ecofascism”
“At what point do we jail or execute global warming deniers — Shouldn’t we start punishing them now?”
Yes, they are obviously enemies of the people and the planet. They cannot be allowed to continue their thought crimes.
Comparing Software Installation
Between Linux and Windows. Well, it’s no surprise — we always knew that one was much more difficult than the other.
A Motorcycle Dispute
Over at Winds of Change. While Marc gets the better of the argument, and I’ve been long on record that Harleys completely suck and the world would be a much better place without them, I have to admit that a bike called the Hypermotard sounds like something that someone would ride after missing the short bus.
What Did He Expect?
Marty Peretz is shocked, shocked, that Obama only sees one country to be pressured in the Middle East. But I’ll bet he didn’t vote for John McCain.
On Being A Chicken Abortionist
Some meditations. I, too, have sinned, and probably will again in the morning.
On the other hand, there’s the old saying in management seminars about dedication to a project: in a ham and eggs breakfast, the chicken was “involved,” but the hog was committed.
Comments Hygiene Note
I finally got fed up with “jack lee” today. The last-straw comment can be viewed here. He will no longer be endimmening us with his ignorance and stupidity, at least with that IP address.
Commenting here is not a right. It is a privilege, and one that he has been abusing (as he abused our intelligence) for years. No more.
“A Conspiracy of Euphemism”
Thoughts on selective self-censorship by the press:
The news reader, Nora Raum, outlined the incident and stated that the shooting appeared to have “religious motivations.” She did not name the suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, or tell NPR listeners what those religious motivations might be. In other words, it could have been a radical Unitarian who gunned down the soldiers, or possibly a violent Presbyterian.
Why the shyness? Why not tell people what is actually happening in the world? We saw this a couple of weeks ago, when the press only gingerly acknowledged that the malevolent though incompetent suspects in the synagogue bombing-conspiracy case in New York were converts to Islam. How is the public served by this kind of silence?
As noted, it’s only one religion that seems to be fair game for discussion as motivation for criminal behavior.
An Absurd Ruling
At least based on this quote: “Federalism is an older and more deeply rooted tradition than is a right to carry any particular kind of weapon.”
That seems nonsensical to me. The right to self defense is fundamental in English common law, and goes back much further than federalism. I’m as big a federalist as the next guy, and more than most, but how can the First Amendment be incorporated, but not the Second? This will be going to SCOTUS.
[Update a few minutes later]
Eugene Volokh, unsurprisingly, has some thoughts, here and here:
…it’s not implausible, I think, to treat the Court’s precedents as stare decisis on the question of incorporation via the Fourteenth Amendment generally, rather than solely of incorporation via the Privileges or Immunities Clause (though I’d probably be inclined to the other position). But it seems to me that the case is not nearly as clear as the Seventh Circuit’s analysis suggests, and that the opinion’s not discussing the difference between the two Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment is a significant weakness.
As I said, the SCOTUS will almost certainly get this. And having Sotomayor won’t make any difference, since Souter would likely rule the same way as she does. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the court does.
[Update]
A thought, based on some good comments in Eugene’s second post. When self defense is outlawed, only outlaws will defend themselves.
What A Bargain
Your tax dollars at work:
According to today’s Washington Post, the company currently employs 88,000 workers in the United States. (That seems low, but that’s what the paper says.) GM has gotten $19.4 billion in loans from the U.S. government and Obama promised another $30 billion yesterday.
$49.4 billion divided by 88,000 workers comes out to $561,363.63 per worker.
Can that possibly be right? That in an effort to avoid layoffs, Uncle Sam has pursued a course more expensive than handing each worker a check for a half a million dollars?
Well, the math is correct, but it’s not right, in any sense of the word. I see some very interesting campaign ads coming out of this in 2010.