If you can get out of town, and the sky is clear tonight, the Lyrid meteors are peaking.
Joe Lieberman
…is no Harry Reid:
We should not surrender in the face of barbarism.
Can someone explain to me how a man with as much negative charisma as Reid ended up being Senate Majority Leader? I mean, it’s like he almost sucks the charm out of a room.
What He Said
John Scalzi, on how he decides what to put up on his blog:
I’m not nearly organized enough about this site to say to myself “Hmmm, you know, I have a book tour coming up, maybe I’ll do a whole bunch of self-promotey things, and then after that I’ll write some more about politics and then put up a picture of my cat, because the kids always love that.” Honestly and truly, what I write about here is whatever I’m thinking about at that moment. There is no plan, there is no agenda, there is nothing except me sitting in front of my computer banging out words. Sometimes you’ll get what you want to read, sometimes you won’t. The only thing you know that you get from it is what I want to write. That is the guiding principle.
Same thing here. Some people complain because there’s too much politics, some people complain because there’s too much space (though probably not lately). Don’t come to this site with the expectation that you’re going to get either. What you’re going to get is me, in whatever mood I’m in, set off by whatever event set me off that day. This isn’t a regular publication, with publishing deadlines, themes, advertising. It’s just (as Virginia Postrel used to call it before the word “blog” caught on) a me-zine. Take it or leave it.
How Can This Be?
I’m pretty sure that JSC is a gun-free zone.
“A Monopoly On The Use Of Force”
Professor Volokh has some thoughts:
I want to claim that this echo of Weber (who said “Today … we have to say that a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory”) is utterly inapt in gun control debates, at least such debates in a Western country.
To begin with, note that, read literally, my friend’s proposal is not “old-fashioned.” It’s not new-fashioned. It has never been the fashion in any jurisdiction in America.
“A Monopoly On The Use Of Force”
Professor Volokh has some thoughts:
I want to claim that this echo of Weber (who said “Today … we have to say that a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory”) is utterly inapt in gun control debates, at least such debates in a Western country.
To begin with, note that, read literally, my friend’s proposal is not “old-fashioned.” It’s not new-fashioned. It has never been the fashion in any jurisdiction in America.
“A Monopoly On The Use Of Force”
Professor Volokh has some thoughts:
I want to claim that this echo of Weber (who said “Today … we have to say that a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory”) is utterly inapt in gun control debates, at least such debates in a Western country.
To begin with, note that, read literally, my friend’s proposal is not “old-fashioned.” It’s not new-fashioned. It has never been the fashion in any jurisdiction in America.
Yurimania
TechRepublic has some photos of Yuri’s flight, and Yuri’s Night, here, and here.
And The Economist wonders if private space is finally ready to take off.
Where Are The Grownups?
Peggy Noonan wonders (sorry, the Journal doesn’t seem to believe in permalinks for current articles):
The last testament Cho sent to NBC seemed more clear evidence of mental illness–posing with his pistols, big tough gangsta gonna take you out. What is it evidence of when NBC News, a great pillar of the mainstream media, runs the videos and pictures on the nightly news? Brian Williams introduced the Cho collection as “what can only be described as a multi-media manifesto.” But it can be described in other ways. “The self-serving meanderings of a crazy, self-indulgent narcissist” is one. But if you called it that, you couldn’t lead with it. You couldn’t rationalize the decision.
Such pictures are inspiring to the unstable. The minute you saw them, you probably thought what I did: We’ll be seeing more of that.
Why Is He Still There?
I hope that this puts to rest any insanity about nominating Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court. If they are going to have an Hispanic affirmative action nominee, he should at least display some level of intelligence and competence.