I’m surprised it’s taken this long.
Shape of the Next Industrial Revolution
In Offshoring: The Next Industrial Revolution in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Alan Blinder, former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman, shows us why the New Economy had good currency at the Fed while he was there. He posits that as manufacturing takes up fewer and fewer jobs, the economy is going to mostly be two types of services: personal services and impersonal services. The former will be what almost everyone does in rich countries while they import impersonal services from poor ones.
This strikes many of the same chords as Glenn Reynolds’s new book, Army of Davids (reviewed here and here).
Peace And Tolerance
It’s almost impossible to parody stuff like this:
“Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity. That is why we have told him if he regrets what he did, then we will forgive him…”
Yes, we’re tolerant, so as long as he renounces his religious beliefs, we won’t kill him.
Is this what we liberated them for, and what American troops continue to die for?
[Update at 4:17 PM EST]
As I said, you can’t parody these folks. I was reading this Scott Ott post over at Free Republic, and at first took these first two paragraphs seriously:
(2006-03-24)
Still Going Strong
…over four decades later. Via Jim Oberg, here’s an interesting article about the first woman in space.
This part I found a little puzzling, though:
Astronaut Mary Ellen Weber , who went up twice on the space shuttle, was also in attendance at the dinner, as was Lori Garver, whose plans to go into space were shelved in 2003 after the Columbia tragedy.
Huh?
What did Columbia have to do with Lori shelving her plans to go into space? She was going to go on Soyuz. I thought she shelved her plans because she couldn’t find a sponsor to pay for it. Of course, it doesn’t say she did it because of Columbia, but that’s certainly the obvious inference to me, else why mention it?
GM with Universal Healthcare
(like the New York Times asks for) would have to lower wages further to compete with cheaper cars from Toyota North America. (Or would they just fail quicker because their employees would strike due to lower take home pay from higher taxes?)
What are People Asking about Space?
Joe Betcher, Lake Superior State, email interviews Sam Dinkin (reprinted with permission):
Betcher: In what areas has current space program failed to live up to expectations?
Dinkin: Settlement. Cheap access.
Betcher: What aspects of human spaceflight have been successful?
Dinkin: Dead end jobs. Glory among non space cognoscenti.
Betcher: What changes to human spaceflight can we expect in the future?
Dinkin: Business-like led by Russia.
Betcher: Do you believe the Vision for Space Exploration will be successful and if any changes are necessary to make it better?
Dinkin: Yes. Yes.
Betcher:What are some of the benefits of a trip to the moon or Mars?
Dinkin: Make it one-way and we are a bi-planet species.
Betcher: Do you believe the risks of sending people into space are worth it? Is there any way to make it safer?
Dinkin: Are the risks of pregnancy worth it? Practice makes perfect.
Betcher: In what ways can robots replace humans in space?
Dinkin: We can send a 77-year old robot around the planet a few times to do geriatrics research.
Betcher: What do you believe is in store for the future of human spaceflight?
Dinkin: Going to a store and buying a human spaceflight.
Live Coverage
…of the SpaceX launch, over at Out of the Cradle. Just a little over three hours to go, if all goes well.
Better Thinking on Iraq
Kagan’s Myths of the Current War has been referred by the WSJ today. Myth 5, “Most Iraqis ‘want us out,’…” is the most interesting:
The real issue about the popularity of American forces is the degree to which their presence fuels the fighting or contains sectarian conflict.
This issue of Foreign Affairs also has a fresh analysis:
The current struggle is not a Maoist “people’s war” of national liberation; it is a communal civil war with very different dynamics.
The War On The Easter Bunny
They’re at it again:
A small Easter display was removed from the City Hall lobby on Wednesday out of concern that it would offend non-Christians.
The display – a cloth Easter bunny, pastel-colored eggs and a sign with the words “Happy Easter” – was put up by a City Council secretary. They were not purchased with city money.
Tyrone Terrill, the city’s human rights director, asked that the decorations be removed. Terrill said no citizen had complained to him.
This is getting ridiculous.
Just What We Need
A lecture on democracy, at Columbia University, from Moammar “Looneytunes” Gaddafi:
He touted Libya’s political system as superior to “farcical” and “fake” parliamentary and representative democracies in the West.”
“There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet,” Gaddafi said to the conference at Columbia University in New York.
Libya’s Jamahiriyah system, under which Libyans can air their views at “people’s congresses,” is genuine democracy, said Gaddafi, who spoke through a translator and was dressed in purple robes and seated at a desk in front of a map of Africa.
I loved this:
Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, one of two U.S. moderators, said some of Gaddafi’s comments might have sounded jarring to Americans.
Gee, ya think? Talk about an ivory tower.