Sobering Thoughts |
|
|
Comments on politics, the culture, economics, and sports by Paul Tuns.
I am editor-in-chief of "The Interim," Canada's life and family newspaper, and author of "Jean Chretien: A Legacy of Scandal" (2004) and "The Dauphin: The Truth about Justin Trudeau" (2015).
I am some combination of conservative/libertarian, standing athwart history yelling "bullshit!"
You can follow me on Twitter (@ptuns).
Archives
|
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Three and out 3. At his Pinstriped Bible blog for the Yes Network, Steven Goldman makes the (strong) case for not choosing among Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Chien-Ming Wang for the final two spots in the rotation. Instead, says Goldman, the New York Yankees should use them as needed for two starting spots and long relief: "the Yankees really don't need to be making aggressive decisions about Wang, Chamberlain, or Hughes short of just doing what seems most productive on a day-by-day basis." For years, Goldman reminds us, this is how pitching staffs were used. For a number of reasons (that Goldman acknowledges) it is difficult to do that today and if it didn't work, such "unconventional" pitching staff usage would open manager Joe Girardi to enormous criticism. Better to fail following the herd than risk success (and failure) with a little creativity -- even if it was tried and true. 2. Speaking of following the herd and the Yankees bullpen, the Bronx Bombers lost in Cleveland today in the ninth inning while using David Robertson and Phil Coke instead of Mariano Rivera. Tied 4-4 at the bottom of the ninth, Girardi used middle relievers, as is the practise. Too many managers use their closers just to closer; never bring them in until you have a one, two or three run lead in the ninth. But there is no better time to bring in the light's out guy (the closer) than a tie late in the game. Sadly, hardly any managers do that. Today, following conventional wisdom, Joe Girardi and his Yanks blew the chance to win by playing lesser pitchers in a high leverage situation. But he won't be criticized for that because that is what managers do. If they played Rivera in the ninth (and tenth) and the team lost in the 11th, he would have been criticized for using Rivera too early in the game. Baseball is a conservative sport and tradition dies hard, even if they are counter-productive. 1. FoxSports is reporting that the Washington Nationals will draft phenom pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg in the June amateur draft. Strasburg could command a $50 million deal before he even throws a professional pitch. Whether he is worth the money is an open question, but he does seem to be worth the risk of not being able to sign him. Indeed, as Ken Rosenthal explains, with the first and tenth picks overall this year and being on pace to land the first overall next year, they will be in fine shape if they can't come to a deal with Strasburg; the Nats would get the second overall in 2010 if they can't sign their number one this year. Not a bad "failure" if that is the result; it is conceivable that is the plan. Tiller shot and killed The abortionist George Tiller, nicknamed by opponents Tiller the Killer, was shot and killed at church this morning. See the Wichita Eagle, Washington Post and LifeSiteNews.com for details. The whole pro-life movement will get smeared because of the actions of one person who may oppose abortion but who is certainly not pro-life. We will likely find, as is often the case in such circumstances, that the perpetrator's life was touched by abortion (such as by an ex-girlfriend or something). Pro-lifers don't resort to violence to solve the abortion mess. Many do, however, pray for abortionists, for their conversion to pro-life so that they may end their gruesome practise and seek forgiveness for their sins. No to universal preschool Stanford's Hoover Institution resident education expert Chester Finn in the New York Post: Most parents are delighted to share their childcare expenses with taxpayers. Yet there's shockingly little evidence that this costly dash to universalize the preschool experience will do much good for American education, particularly the kids who most need help preparing for kindergarten. It's more like a new middle-class entitlement -- and an expansion of the public-school empire.He then explains the five basic flaws of such an idea. Go read it all if this type of thing interests you, but this point is worth highlighting: We must also recognize the contradiction in advocates' dual promise: if gap-closing is the goal, universal programs don't get us there. In fact, they usually do more for the haves than the have-nots. To boost the school-success prospects of seriously challenged kids -- chiefly daughters and sons of poor, young, single moms with little schooling of their own -- policy makers need to focus intensive educational help on them, starting at birth and involving their parents, too. That's not cheap, but the sums already flowing into -- and promised to -- this field would suffice if properly targeted rather than spread over millions of families that don't really need it.I would suggest that the goal is the creation of a middle class entitlement to curry favour with voters. I don't entirely disagree with Hanson's minimal morality Robin Hanson on morality: [I]t is usually good for people to do things to get what they want. So this seems to me the natural limit of minimal morality: trust this basic pattern only, and not any subtler corrections. This basically picks a goodness measure close to preference utilitarianism, which is pretty close to the economist’s usual efficiency criterion.The operative word is usually, which Hanson acknowledges. Bryan Caplan calls Hanson's view, "the least plausible moral principle since 'Might makes right'," because that usually ends up being pretty important limit and there is no common morality to adjudicate those times when what you want to do interferes with what I want to do. I would add, however, that more tolerance of what others want to do would lead to fewer conflicts because most of the time a person wanting to limit what another does is merely to force them to a new preference (the interfering party's) than to prevent actual harm. Consider this From George F. Will's Washington Post column: State governments, too, are expected to accept Washington's whims, but plucky Indiana is being obdurate. Gov. Mitch Daniels, alarmed by what he calls the Obama administration's "shock-and-awe statism," is supporting state Treasurer Richard Mourdock's objection to the administration's treatment of Chrysler's creditors, which include the pension funds for Indiana's retired teachers and state police officers and a state construction fund. Together they own $42.5 million of Chrysler's $6.9 billion (supposedly) secured debt.Will notes that "Promise-keeping, including honoring contracts, is the default position of a lawful society." Obama's America is lawless, elevating the whims of government intervenors to the overbearing and overwhelming determinator of, well, everything. Four and down (Four things I think I think about the 2009 NFL season) 4. It is too early to make a guess how the Dallas Cowboys will do. I am convinced that the 'Boys need to increase their running plays by 20%, which would get them near league average for runs as a percentage of plays. I don't know if they are going to do that or not and my guess is they won't, not with their "In Romo We Trust" philosophy. We'll have some indication by the end of September. 3. The Cincinnati Bengals will surprise fans and pundits in 2009, finishing 8-8. I like the changes they've made and they'll have a healthy Carson Palmer returning under center. They will be the big surprise '09. 2. Green Bay will challenge the Minnesota Vikings for the NFC North title and will, at the very worse, get a wild card spot. They lost four games by four points or less, more than any other team in 2008, which means they were not as bad as their 6-10 record would seem to indicate. Their defense was atrocious and they've worked to improve it. QB Aaron Rodgers has a full year's experience. 1. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were 9-7 last season, will struggle to win seven this year and might be as bad as 5-11. I'm quite open to changing this and I think Byron Leftwich, the backup QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season, will be an improvement over Jeff Garcia -- if Leftwich wins the starting quarterback job. But the Bucs really slid in the final weeks of 2008 and the off-season roster changes everywhere but quarterback have been for the worse. Stuff 1. P.J. O'Rourke on the automobile in the Wall Street Journal. Grab a coffee and enjoy this read. 2. From Slate: "Frying Nemo: Do Fish Feel Pain." 3. The Wall Street Journal reports that English soccer is hurting. 4. Professor Ian Plimer video on the climate change religion being a bunch of bull. 5. "Alien Technology and Economic Growth," from Ecocomics, in which the economics of comics blog examines the question: why "the worlds in our favorite comics still have potholes, poverty, and petroleum-powered cars." Saturday, May 30, 2009
Might (not) want to mention this to your friendly neighbourhood Tamil protester The Observer reports on young Tamils who were forced to fight for the LTTE, some of whom were not even teenagers when they took up arms. The paper reports: The accounts of these boys and girls who surrendered to the Sri Lankan army were shocking. They say they were dragged screaming from their families and sent into action with only a few days of basic training. The older members of the LTTE warned them to keep firing and advancing, or they would be shot by their own side from behind. Three and out 3. To trade or not to trade? Probably better not to trade says Tim Marchman at SI.com. Marchman says that on a dollar paid per win basis, the average prospect is a better deal over the course of his tenure with a team than a high priced rental. In theory this is true, but only when games are played on paper and not by real live bodies in actual games. In one sense, the theoreticians are correct: better to trade for players now than at the July 31 deadline and get superior players more starts or at-bats. If you have a reasonable chance at making the playoffs, would you rather pay a Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee or Victor Martinez $10-$15 million a year or keep a handful of prospects, only some of whom will make it to the Major League roster? 2. SI.com's Jon Heyman notices that the Seattle Mariners have six players that should garner serious interest from other teams: starters Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn and Miguel Batista, 3B Adrian Beltre, SS Yuniesky Betancourt and 1B Russell Branyan. I wouldn't think that Betancourt or Branyan are really up for grabs because of their reasonable price tags. And were it not for Carlos Silva's "bloated contract" he, too, would no doubt interest some teams; indeed, it is precisely his remaining $34 million contract that has the Mariners interested in moving him. Bedard is definitely the most attractive trade bait and Heyman is correct to suggest the Philadelphia Phillies should be making inquiries, but there are plenty of other teams that could use a quality left-hander who'll only cost $7.5 mil a year. I'd put the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets at the top of the list, along with Philly. 1. Forbes.com has a story and slide show on the secondary market for baseball tickets, where you can now buy tickets at below face value. The story also notes that many teams are offering discounts and special promotions. Labour polling third The Daily Telegraph reports that according to an ICM poll, the UK Tories have 40% support followed by the Liberal Democrats at 25% and Labour at 22%. When people are upset with the corruption of those in government, big government parties do poorly and small government or anti-government right-wing parties do better. (Bryan Appleyard might have another argument about why right-wing parties do better when people are upset with their MPs, namely that they are Nazis.) The MP expenses scandal is also hurting the Labour Party in the polls for the European parliament in advance of this Thursday's vote. ICM finds the Tories have 29%, Lib Dems 20, Labour 17, the Greens 11%, the United Kingdown Independence Party 10% and British National Party 5%. Gay Pride event at American embassy in Baghdad Amy Ridenour at the National Center blog on the decision of the Obama administration's decision to have a gay-themed party at the U.S. embassy in the Iraqi capital: Having a high-profile homosexual event in the capital of an Islamic country calls the diplomatic tact of the Obama Administration - already marred by inappropriate gifts to heads of state and embarrassing mistakes in translation - into question yet again... Stuff 1. Krispy Kreme doing to Fairfax County's sewage system what it does to the human body. 2. "A quick guide to alternative energy," by Ronald Bailey. 3. High heels for babies and other atrocities -- "something with personality for children to wear that complement moms who are modern." As one dad says, these are clothes that mothers would buy but that no father would consider dressing their daughter in such outfits. 4. Christopher Beam at Slate on Obama rewarding financial supporters and fundraisers with ambassadorships. 5. A list of summer reading lists. Friday, May 29, 2009
Playing Jack Kevorkian LifeSiteNews.com reports that Al Pacino is sleighted to play Dr. Jack Kevorkian in an HBO biopic directed by Barry Levinson. Three and out (Clint Hurdle edition) 3. Clint Hurdle is out as Colorado Rockies manager and that probably makes sense -- or at least as much sense as anything the 18-28 Rox could have done to appear to right their ship. (I called this before the season started, by the way, that Hurdle would be the first manager in the National League to be fired). Hurdle "earned" extra seasons with the team's improbable 2007 season in which they squeaked into the playoffs and made the World Series before losing to the Boston Red Sox; in eight full or part seasons, he guided his team to a 534-625 record and six fourth or fifth place finishes, putting together just one winning season. Anyway, promoting bench coach Jim Tracy, who has never shown an aptitude for quality managing in either Los Angeles or Pittsburgh, is a step in the wrong direction. Even as an interim arrangement this is a mistake. 2. As I note above, Hurdle has never been a great manager, at least as far as the record indicates. That said, it is notoriously hard to determine what influence a manager has on a team's record. Clearly, though, whatever influence he had, was not helping them to win. But too often a manager takes the fall for a team's inability to win. Perhaps in-game managerial decisions have led to the team's dismal 2-9 record in one-run games and 0-2 record in extra innings. Perhaps, but I'm don't know. Where it not for the Los Angeles Dodgers coming to Coors Field and sweeping the Rox while outscoring them 31-13, Hurdle might have kept his job a little longer. And until the Dodgers pummeled the Rockies, Hurdle's team had scored as much as it was scored against. I don't know what all this means, but I'm skeptical about putting the blame on the manager's shoulders, or at least predominantly on his shoulders. 1. There is plenty of blame to go around. Two regulars are hitting under 200: 3B Garrett Atkins is hitting 195/273/292 (BA/OBP/SLG) and INF/OF Ian Stewart is hitting 187/290/421. They have been given 261 at-bats and they have no production to show for it. Everyday SS Troy Tulowitzki is hitting barely above replacement level at 227/318/393. The starting catcher Chris Iannetta is hitting 231; starting 2B Clint Barnes is hitting 234. When more than half your lineup is hitting under 235, it is hard to win. Is Hurdle responsible for their collective prolonged slumps? Probably not. There is a good chance that several of them will begin to hit as they regress to the mean, and sadly Tracy or whoever is managing at the moment will get the credit. Never mind that only occasionally does a manager (or more likely his coach) make a suggestion to alter a swing or stance that makes the player better. That doesn't stop baseball pundits with crediting the new staff with miraculous powers of motivation or whatever magic they perform to suddenly get more out of the same players. This is why I am not enamoured with most managerial changes; they don't matter but almost everyone thinks they do. The Rockies will finish fourth or fifth, with around 70 wins, because they are a lousy team, not because of the ineptitude of their manager(s). Four and down 4. At TSN.com Mike Florio looks at a few players who should retire. I think former Indianapolis Colts WR Marvin Harrison who is a lock to take his advice which is a little unfortunate considering he might have a lot left to offer a team if he'd take the pay cut for a limited role as the second catching target. I wouldn't be surprised to see Chad Ochocinco have a much better season in Cincinnati and Jon Kitna is the backup QB in Dallas for no other reason than to change the mood in the clubhouse (which the Cowboys need). But Deuce McAllister and Brett Favre are demeaning themselves if they come back. 3. I saw my first season preview magazine on the shelf today. Had to buy the Yahoo! Sports/Pro Football Weekly Preview '09. It is the least good of the annual preview magazines but I need my fix. 2. Neat organizational rankings by Adam Schein at Foxsports.com. How does one choose between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots? The Pats are the model organization and the Steelers get a bump from the Rooney family ownership because they define class act. I think the Indianapolis Colts should be higher than seventh and Green Bay Packers warrant better than eighth. I think Schein gives Eli Manning too much credit and the New York Giants organization in its entirety is over-valued. I thought the Kansas City Chiefs would be higher but Schein convincingly defends the 20th overall rating, which seems to go counter the conventional wisdom about the organization. Both the 22nd-ranked Buffalo Bills and the NFL need to understand why playing in Toronto once a year hurts the team. And, as usual, coach Dick Jauron is over-rated. The Washington Redskins are quickly becoming the east coast version of the Oakland Raiders without the relocations and are probably be worse than their 24th ranking. (The St. Louis Rams, at least, seem to have a plan and probably have better coaches.) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a rudderless organization and I would rate them a little worse than 26th. I think it is too early to put the Denver Broncos at 29th although there is every sign that they are a completely different organization than they were two years ago and not in a good way. And just as it is difficult to choose between the Steelers and Patriots at the best, how does one choose among the ineptitudes demonstrated by the Raiders, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions? 1. Over at the ProFootballWeekly.com blog, Eric Edholm looks at the most over-hyped story lines in NFL circles today and says that he is tired about the all talk about Terrell Owens but that the Brett Favre coming out of retirement and the actual health of Tom Brady's knee are legitimate topics of discussion. He expresses my sentiments precisely: TO (wait "until he really does something stupid") and Favre and Brady ("the Patriots having their QB back and the Vikings potentially adding a Hall of Famer will have major impacts on their season"). Something to think about Kathy Shaidle: 'Tolerance' and 'diversity' are mutually exclusive 'Oral Sex Is the New Goodnight Kiss' That is a sub-head in an ABC News story on the casual sex as practised by (some) teens. The truth of the matter John Robson looks at politicians in general and senior Conservative politicians in particular and absolves them of lying, not because they don't utter falsehoods but because they don't know the truth. For example: When Flaherty said Monday that he wouldn't reveal the true deficit figure until June, do you think he had a firm intention to reveal it Tuesday? Or a firm intention not to? If so, you misunderstand his mental landscape. It doesn't contain such items.Robson says, that such non-truth telling fosters cynicism. I'm not sure that is a bad thing because skepticism about the words of politicians is long overdue. It is too bad, though, that politicians don't pay a price for this sad state of affairs. The politics of envy Don Boudreaux at Cafe Hayek: Nora ______ e-mailed me earlier today; she was terse: "How do you sleep at night justifying policys [sic] that make incomes more unequal???" Stuff 1. "10 scandalous facts about historical figures," from Listverse, including "Gandhi was a dirty old man." 2. Smurf that. The Daily Telegraph reports: "[A] group will paint themselves blue and don white gnome hats for the attempt on June 8. They hope to smash the existing record of 1,253 Smurfs in one place, which was set in the town of Castleblayney in Northern Ireland last July." 3. The "most expensive dirt" comes from Yankee Stadium and is pressed into coins. The quarter-sized mementos of the House that Ruth Built, taken from Yankee Stadium in its last game in September 2008, go for $89.95. 4. RealClearMarkets has "8 Companies We Loved and Lost to the Recession." 5. The Daily Telegraph reports, "A family breakfast turned into a religious experience when they spotted what appears to be the face of Jesus in the lid of a Marmite jar." 6. Golfers wear the strangest costumes. Or at least John Daly does -- check out the slide show at FanHouse. Thursday, May 28, 2009
A great question that gets to the truth of the matter Gerry Nicholls: According to this Globe and Mail headline "Canadian taxpayers" will soon own shares in General Motors. The unknown Che Listverse has "Top 10 Things You didn’t Know About Che Guevara." He was born Ernesto Lynch and was nicknamed "the pig" because of his bathing habits and his "weekly shirt". Not on the list is Che Guevera's murder and mayhem, which too few of his fans acknowledge. Four and down 4. Last week James Harrison, defensive player of the year and one of the heroes of the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl win, refused to go to the White House saying that the president doesn't really want to visit the Steelers because he only invites Super Bowl winners. I don't blame him for not wanting to go to the White House -- I wouldn't either -- but his reasoning is silly. As Ross Tucker said at SI.com: "Harrison implied that President Obama only invited the Steelers because they won the Super Bowl and that he would have invited the Cardinals instead if they had won. Yes, James, that's pretty much how it works. Does Harrison want Obama to invite the Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams instead? Maybe to boost their morale?" The president invites the championship team in all major sports, not the losers. Harrison might not like to fly (his aerophobia has been substantiated) or even the president (which he denies) and both would be legitimate reasons not to make the trip to the White House, but Harrison's argument that only winners get the honour of a photo and handshake with the president misses the point completely. 3. Time magazine has an article entitled, "The NFL's Huge Linemen: Healthier Than You Think?" A study, funded by the NFL, found that "when it comes to their hearts, NFL players may be as healthy as men of the same age in the general population." Some small problems with that statement. That is the study examines all NFL players, not just the behemoths that make their living as lineman. Also, as healthy as the general population is not quite a ringing endorsement. 2. Minnesota Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson isn't an accurate thrower and now his work ethic is being questioned. As JJ Cooper says at FanHouse, with the Vikes likely to sign Brett Favre, "Jackson would then likely become trade bait or the team's third-string quarterback heading into the season." What is Minny likely to get for him, especially now that Jackson's work ethic is being questioned? 1. Cold Hard Football Facts says that it is harder for a QB to lose 100 games than win 100 (there are only five 100-game losers). Interestingly, two of the seven top all-time losers (95 or more losses) -- Drew Bledsoe and Vinny Testaverde -- were coach Bill Parcells projects. Three and out 3. Jonathan Hale looks at change-up pitches at Hardball Times and says they are about much, much more than just changing speeds. 2. Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports is right to say that speculating that David Ortiz's power has disappeared -- one homerun in 161 ABs, 298 SLG -- because he is off the juice is irresponsible (there is no indication that he was using PEDs or, if he was, that he stopped). Rosenthal says that older players decline, which is true and may explain it. But more importantly is that Big Papi, as Rosenthal also suggests, appears to be losing his skills. Specifically, as I've mentioned before, is that his bat speed is not what it used to be before last season's wrist injury. That loss of bat speed, more than taking or not taking PEDs, can sap a player of power. Watch closely and it isn't that Ortiz isn't smashing the ball, it is that he isn't hitting the ball at the point he used to. 1. Dayn Perry at FoxSports.com has a list of "six deals that should happen sooner rather than later. In most instances, these swaps aren't based on the rumors of the day; rather, they're just hypotheticals that make sense for all parties involved." They make a lot of sense but I can't see any of them happening. The key to some of the deals is making them happen now because four months of better pitching is worth a lot more than two months of better pitching. I'd really like to see the New York Mets acquire Jake Peavy, but I don't see the San Diego Padres parting with him this season (contra all the rumours and the almost trade that didn't occur last week between the Pads and ChiSox). Conservatism gets its angry face back Fraser Nelson in the Daily Telegraph: David Cameron's scowl is coming on nicely. For weeks, he has never left home without it. Whether stepping into his car or the television studio he has been careful to suppress his jovial instincts and instead project anger and determination. Times have changed, and so we are witnessing a leader mid-mutation. The smiling Cameron's role was to detoxify the Tory brand, and seduce wavering voters. The stern-faced Cameron must persuade people that he is a man with enough resolve and ruthlessness to save the country.Righteous indignation works for both the Right and the Left. I don't like it, but politically speaking it's nice when it benefits our guys, and it usually does so when the indignation is against government and those who populate it. Being anti-government is in season again. Nelson is hopeful that it portends good things -- smaller government conservative things -- in the future: All this explains the recent ratcheting up of language and promises about how Mr Cameron intends to fundamentally redesign politics. It is the only possible narrative to explain the harsh spending decisions he will have to make – that politics has failed, and therefore he is re-engineering the whole system. This will mean more than sending people text messages to inform them of the passage of the Finance Bill. It will mean dissolving empires of bureaucracies and transferring power back to people by spending a lot less of their money. Getting 'getting tough on crime' wrong The Ottawa Citizen opens its editorial on "pandering" on crime thusly: Vowing to get tough on crime is irresistible to Canadian politicians. They all do it, to a greater or lesser degree, despite falling crime rates in most of the country -- and despite evidence that the "get tough" solutions, such as draconian penalties and more police, have little impact.This may all be true but it still misses the point. People do not -- or at least should not -- want tougher sentences because they deter crime or otherwise affect the crime rate. They want tougher sentences because criminals should pay a price for their law-breaking, especially for violent crimes. The popular saying among regular folks who don't read editorials in the large dailies is "you do the crime, you do the time." That isn't incarcerating Paul to stop Peter from robbing a store or beating up someone on the street. It means putting Paul behind bars because that is what Paul deserves. It's called just desserts. That is why the crime rate is not a relevant consideration to what a just punishment is; there is no correlation between how many crimes are committed and what a criminal deserves. To take the Ottawa Citizen argument to an extreme, let's say there was zero crime in Canada and out of the blue a person kills his neighbour. Would that killer deserve just a few days in jail? No, that is ludicrous -- he would still deserve a long time in jail (or death) because that is what murderers deserve. Editorial writers in many daily papers decry the popular desire for harsher punishments. Perhaps convicted criminals are getting the punishment they deserve, perhaps even they receive sentences that are too harsh. Let's have a debate about what an appropriate punishment is, not irrelevant side issues about deterrence and crime rates. The dividing line will remain the same with most Canadians on the get-tough-on-crime side and editorialists arguing for leniency. But at least it would be an honest debate. Cool things on YouTube 200 years that changed the world (economic development and health) Top 20 zombies from Dawn of the Dead H.L. Mencken interviewed (first of eight, the others are here) Rhinos fighting -- amazing ending Bullet trajectory analysis Wednesday, May 27, 2009
"When to say 'I love you'." Tyler Cowen from 2007: 1. Anxiousness and a desire to reassure oneself in the face of self-doubt. PC leadership candidates websites reviewed By Calgary Grit: Tim Hudak: "Hudak is the only candidate wearing a tie in his banner photo - read into that what you will." Randy Hillier: "He has the mandatory web 2.0 links, but hasn't been putting much effort into them..." Christine Elliott: "It shouldn't be too surprising, but Elliott's dog is given more prominence on her website than her husband, Jim Flaherty - this, despite many references to her being a mother throughout the site." Frank Klees: no review yet but considering that it took him a long time to get his website up, the wait is appropriate. Neat idea The Real Life film festival in Sudbury. This concept should be borrowed by other pro-life groups across the country. Liberals want more gag laws Gerry Nicholls notes that the Ignatieff Liberals want to extend the gag law period to the three months before an election. Nicholls says: Once you buy into the logic that it's OK to squelch free expression you start heading down a slippery slope; you can always justify further restrictions.That is especially true considering that the campaigning by the political parties never stops. (Where's the National Citizens Coalition? The gag laws used to be their issue.) Very cool and long overdue Ecocomics -- economics in comics. For a taste, here's the introduction to "Millionaires = Crazy": In the world of comic books any individual who has more than 5 million dollars in saving or assets immediately becomes bat-shit insane. It's a strange rule, but it seems that every independently wealthy individual in superhero comics decides that fighting/committing crime is the best way to spend their free time. They ignore possible hobbies like golfing, yachting, and collecting antique cars and go straight into wearing a mask and creating a global organization designed to save/destroy/conquer the world. The examples in comic book fiction are nearly limitless.Many entries are more involved -- both in the comics and economics. Second best can win The Toronto Star has an article on PC leadership candidate Frank Klees who is happy with, and positioning himself to be, second choice among Tory supporters. Klees can win with such a strategy because unlike Christine Elliott and Randy Hillier he has great growth potential. All he has to do is stay a close third (or second) on the first ballot. A brief history of the Tories on the current recession October 2008: during the election Prime Minister Stephen Harper said there was nothing wrong with Canada's economy and drastic steps were unnecessary. November - December 2008: during the economic statement, a little bit of stimulus was necessary because the economic turmoil affecting the world would have a limited effect on Canada. January 2009: the federal government announced $90 billion in deficit spending over five years to help fight the recession. Loads of stimulus spending. $34 billion deficit was projected for this year. May 2009: A $50 billion deficit projected for this year as the economic scenario the 2009 budget was predicated upon turns out to be a little rosy. Pro-life and pro-animal are not common enough common ground From Mary Eberstadt's "Pro-Animal, Pro-Life," in First Things: Vegetarians and pro-lifers are strangers to one another for reasons of accident rather than essence, and they also, furthermore, have a natural bond in moral intuitionism that should make them allies.That may be so, but as Joseph Bottum says (and quoted by Eberstadt): "Always for me it comes back to this touchstone: Anything that participates in the murder of a child ... is wrong. All the rest is just a working out of the details."In other words, vegetarianism and pro-life are nothing alike. Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Good news from the Left coast -- for now From the California Supreme Court decision today upholding Proposition 8: The new constitutional provision does not purport to declare the state of the law as it existed when the Marriage Cases decision was rendered, but instead establishes a new substantive state constitutional rule that became effective once Proposition 8 was approved by the voters. Thus, it is not accurate to suggest that Proposition 8 readjudicates the legal issue that was presented and resolved in the Marriage Cases.The pessimist in me says that California voters will rescind this constitutional amendment upholding the traditional definition of marriage no later than 2012. However, the good news is that the California Supreme Court upheld the law rather than create it. What I'm reading 1. Tommy Douglas: The Road to Jerusalem by Thomas H. McLeod and Ian McLeod. 2. "Pro-animal, pro-life," by Mary Eberstadt in the June First Things. 3. Strauss v. Horton, S168047; Tyler v. State of California, S168066; City and County of San Francisco v. Horton, S168078 -- the California Supreme Court decision upholding Proposition 8. 4. Bob Tarantino has a thoughtful, longish post on whether criminals should be able to profit from their crimes by writing books about their cases. Wonderful demolition of Edward Greenspan's Sun Media column a few weeks back. 5. Robert P. Murphy's review of the two volume Legacy of Ludwig von Mises (edited by Peter J. Boettke and Peter T. Leeson) in the current Journal of the History of Economic Thought. Poop or get off the pot Bruce Bartlett has a point at NewMajority.com: Colin Powell should stop saying he is a Republican and complaining about the division and begin to lead. I think Powell's vision for the Republican Party is the wrong one, but he needs to do something about the party he thinks is on the wrong course: [I]f Powell is going to make a point of staying in a party that doesn’t particularly want him — former Vice President Dick Cheney has more or less told him to leave — then Powell has a responsibility to do more than give the occasional television interview criticizing the GOP’s lack of inclusiveness; he needs to engage it on a systematic basis.I hope Powell fails in remaking the Republican Party into Democrats II, but his endless antagonism against party orthodoxy needs to end: either accept the party in its broad principles or fight like hell to change them. Complaining from the sidelines forever and being the media's favourite Republican for doing so helps no one but Colin Powell -- which might be predictive for whether or not the former chief of staff and secretary of state takes Bartlett's challenge. Libertarians and conservatives At Overcoming Bias, Robin Hanson wonders about the (failed) liberalterian movement and why libertarians and conservatives are a unnaturally natural alliance. Hanson suggests a plausible reason: It seems to me that libertarian self-made heroes are more similar to conservative community pillars than to liberal subgroup activists. Self-made men are mostly not made in the bedroom; their glory shows more in their income than in their subgroup identity.Until gays marrying and killing the unborn is more important than keeping the fruits of one's own labour, the uneasy conservative-libertarian alliance will stand. Stuff 1. The New York Times reports on efforts to resurrect Polaroid technology. 2. Are cartoons real? Christopher Beam at Slate examines the question: "Are Tasmanian devils really as aggressive as the Looney Tunes character?" 3. "6 Historical Villains Who Were Actually OK Guys," notably Antonio Salieri and "Prince" John. The insinuated slur against Salieri that he murdered Mozart was awful. Fun but egregiously incorrect film, that Amadeus. 4. Toronto at Adelaide and Bay at night in photos. 5. Japanese candy (not for the, em, prudish). Ditto I've made the same point that the 10-year-old in this conversation made, namely that the learning of "facts" today will be as useful in 20 years as learning to hitch a horse to a wagon was a century ago: "For the third time. Do your homework."Like it or not, the post-human future will soon be upon us. And to anticipate the argument that downloadable-to-brain data or implanting a microchip with the history of human knowledge is "unnatural" I'd ask one question: where in nature do parents send their children off to school? Monday, May 25, 2009
Watt on Hillier Representatives from each of the PC leadership candidates write in the Globe and Mail to assess the race thus far and here is Jaime Watt (a Christine Elliott supporter) on Randy Hillier: That said, one candidate has already won his race. Beginning with a turn-key base of Ontario Landowners — a largely rural alliance of small “c” conservative/libertarian activists — Randy Hillier has artfully rallied these members using specific, narrowly-targeted policy announcements delivered through online and social media with stunning sophistication. He has solidified his position as the unofficial leader of a very influential minority within the party and ensured his voice will henceforth be not only heard, but taken seriously.Of course Watt has an ulterior motive (he wants Hillier voters to support Elliott down the ballot), but he is still right, although I wouldn't concede that the conservative wing of the Progressive Conservative Party is a minority. Patrick's List: 15 Great Movie Speeches Patrick's explanation: These are by no means in order, nor are they the 15 greatest movie speeches of all time. They are simply 15 great movie speeches. The content of the speech may be not be true or accurate, nor do I necessarily endorse the content of the speeches, but I certainly enjoy watching them. 1. Network - "I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore" 2. Network - "There is no democracy" 3. Glengarry Glen Ross - "Always be closing" 4. Patton - "Opening Speech" General Patton's Opening Speech from 5. Any Given Sunday - "Minutes Speech" 6. 25th Hour - "F all" (not family friendly) 7. Pulp Fiction - "This uncomfortable hunk of metal" 8. Full Metal Jacket - "Drill instructor Speech" (not family friendly) 9. To Kill A Mockingbird - "Courtroom Speech" To Kill a Mockingbird - 10. The Great Dictator - "Final Speech" 11. Trainspotting - "Choose Life" (not family friendly) 12. Wall Street - "Greed is good" 13. On the Waterfront – "I coulda been a contender" 14. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington - "Filibuster" 15. Usual Suspescts - "Keyser Söze" Saturday, May 23, 2009
Best albums by year (since I was born) 1972: Exile on Main Street -- Rolling Stones 1973: (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd) -- Lynyrd Skynyrd 1974: Second Helping -- Lynyrd Skynyrd 1975: Physical Graffiti -- Led Zeppelin 1976: One More from the Road (live) -- Lynyrd Skynyrd 1977: Never Mind the Bollocks -- Sex Pistols 1978: Some Girls -- Rolling Stones 1979: Highway to Hell -- AC/DC 1980: Back in Black -- AC/DC 1981: Business as Usual -- Men at Work 1982: 1999 -- Prince 1983: She’s So Unusual -- Cyndi Lauper 1984: Purple Rain -- Prince 1985: Hounds of Love -- Kate Bush 1986: So -- Peter Gabriel 1987: Appetite for Destruction -- Guns N’ Roses 1988: If I Should Fall From the Grace of God -- The Pogues 1989: Full Moon Fever -- Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers 1990: Fear of Black Planet -- Public Enemy 1991: Achtung Baby -- U2 1992: Fully Completely -- Tragically Hip 1993: Siamese Dream -- Smashing Pumpkins 1994: Day for Night -- Tragically Hip 1995: Garbage -- Garbage 1996: Anthology 2 -- The Beatles 1997: Up Close and Alone -- Burton Cummings 1998: Devil Without a Cause -- Kid Rock 1999: Enema of the State -- Blink-182 2000: American III: Solitary Man -- Johnny Cash 2002: American IV: The Man Comes Around -- Johnny Cash 2003: Unearthed -- Johnny Cash 2004: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb -- U2 2005: Wolfmother -- Wolfmother 2006: World Container -- Tragically Hip 2007: Rock N Roll Jesus -- Kid Rock 2008: Black Ice -- AC/DC 2009: We are the Same -- Tragically Hip Me on TV Friday afternoon I did a taping of Behind the Story on CTS (which airs Sunday night in Ontario and Alberta at 7 pm). We talked about Conrad Black, Sri Lanka, the Tories' anti-Ignatieff ads, Catholic sex, human rights commissions, scholarships for non-aboriginals in Saskatchewan, Obama and Gitmo, and a whole bunch more. Cool things on YouTube Mark Steyn on the end of Europe (first of five) How states got their shapes (more than an hour long but mostly interesting) 12-year-old's five-minute presentation on why abortion is wrong Gang of Four's "The Hell with Poverty" live Obama-man/Candy Man from Greg Morton Human Development Index Bryan Caplan discusses the problems with the UN's Human Development Index (that Canada use to top in the early to mid-1990s) and concludes: The ultimate problem with the HDI, though, is lack of ambition. It effectively proclaims an "end of history" where Scandinavia is the pinnacle of human achievement. Admittedly, I've never visited Scandinavia. But when I see it for the first time this August, I'm pretty sure I won't say to myself, "Wow, it can't get any better than this!" Stuff 1. From the Wall Street Journal: "Light Cars Are Dangerous Cars: And other unintended consequences of strict fuel-economy standards." 2. From the Wichita Eagle: "Man who drove into City Hall gets 10-year sentence." I don't know; shouldn't this type of thing be protected free speech? (Just joking.) 3. Buying ambassadorships. Benjamin Sarlin at the Daily Beast: "Throw a dart at a map of Europe and you’re likely to hit a country whose ambassador’s chief qualification is his or her fundraising prowess for the party in the White House." 4. Time interviews Greg Kot, author of Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music. 5. How to make a handlebar garden. (Via Boing Boing) Marchman on Florida Tim Marchman explains Richard Florida's "creative class": [A]s far as I can tell involves a lot of drunk irresponsible hipsters doing the sorts of things drunk irresponsible hipsters do before having kids and moving to the suburbs and somehow transforming the nature of the American city so that all unsightly poor and old people are kept neatly out of place.That's pretty funny and accurate. (It's funny because it's true.) The comment is part of a longer post on Gang of Four and Dave Allen's post on "the end of the music album as an organizing principle" (or as Marchman calls it, "the end of the record as a distinct medium") and Florida's "literally incomprehensible" reaction to Allen. Friday, May 22, 2009
Three and out 3. San Francisco Giant fans might be suffering now (19-21, nine games out of first in the NL West), but Marc Hulet at Baseball Analysts says they could have an impressive team in the future. Five words: Matt Cain as fourth starter. And more, all of which assumes most of the prospects hit their ceilings. 2. Spray patterns can help make defensive judgements. Common sense, of course, but Max Marchi at Hardball Times has the data and loads of charts to show why. 1. The New York Yankees bring Chien-Ming Wang back early (from injury) and put the starter in the bullpen. He pitched tonight in a game which saw the Philadelphia Phillies end the Bombers' ten-game winning streak. Wang gave up two runs in three innings, helping to bring his ERA down to 25.00. Whatever problem he had before going to the DL still seems to be bothering him; he allowed six hits and a walk in those three innings, which incredibly also lowers his WHIP. In politics we sweat the small stuff Ottawa Citizen columnist John Robson on scandals in Canada and the United Kingdom: Let Stephen Harper or Dalton McGuinty promise no new deficits, then write bad cheques for tens of billions on posterity's account, and the public mind just boggles. We know they lied, played us for rubes and took our cash, but the sums are so huge we can't cope. Eighty-four billion might as well be a googleplex. Whereas in Britain they helped themselves to fancy items we understand and might want. Um, except the moat, which presents its own PR challenges because castles just scream aristocratic luxury. As with the Reform Party getting pretty good traction in the early 1990s over subsidized meals and haircuts for MPs, it's generally the small stuff that raises the biggest stinks... Can't we just get along? Michael Kinsley in the Washington Post on Carrie Prejean's views on gay marriage and whether they matter: I want the next Supreme Court justice to share my views on the Constitution. I don't care how she looks in a bathing suit, or halfway out of one. Miss California is a different story. Her qualifications, as a general rule, should be up to the people of California. Here in the state of Washington, we expect our beauty-contest winners to be able to split a log and appreciate good coffee. But Miss California's views on gay marriage have nothing to do with her qualifications for the job and shouldn't disqualify her for it.Kingsley goes on to say: Defeating this discrimination would be a better use of activist energy than demanding discrimination against people who disagree.Kinsley suggests shrugging off differences, but we are way, way past such common sense. Stuff 1. Incredible story in the Wall Street Journal: "The Stanley Cup Could Use an Editor." It is about the "decades of botched spellings, spacing gaffes, repeated words and the unsightly results of attempts to fix them" that are engraved on the NHL's most important trophy. 2. "How to stop your spouse from over-spending," by Tyler Cowen at CNNMoney.com. I think that his last point, that unless the spending is jeopardizing the household budget, that relaxing about the spouse's purchasing habits is the best course. 3. Has Congress gone to the dogs? 4. Chongqing officials nix China's Love Land sex theme park. 5. The seven biggest things ever stolen including a tank, an oil tanker, a bridge and the Empire State building. Thursday, May 21, 2009
PC leadership race Isn't it cool that Randy Hillier actually believes things. And isn't afraid to speak out on issues. Might not be good politics, but it is a refreshing change to politics as usual. Something to think about Tim Worstall: MPs are not not thought either competent enough or trustworthy enough to rule themselves. WTF with the NCC? A press release earlier this week noted that: The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT) welcomed another new member to its ranks today with the agreement of the National Citizens Coalition to join the fight against the spread of illegal cigarettes in Canada.How does "fighting the spread of illegal cigarettes" advance the cause of liberty? The NCC, the release states: [I]s Canada’s largest organization that stands for the defence and promotion of free enterprise, free speech and government that is accountable to taxpayers. Founded in 1967, the NCC continues to fight for more freedom through less government.According to the NCACT website, the problem with contraband cigarettes is that the market is unregulated and that the products aren't taxed. How does that fit in with the pro-freedom agenda of the NCC? In fact, it seems like quite the contradiction. I understand that there is a cost to society due to the contraband cigarette market and that it is wrong for these cigarettes to end up in the hands of minors (although the "for the children argument" is a favourite tactic of interventionists everywhere). But in no way does this represent the grassroots, small-c conservative base of the National Citizens Coalition. To fight contraband cigarettes the government should lower taxes, but it is hard to find such a call on the NCACT website. That, however, would be an NCC issue. No, the NCACT is about regulation and government intervention under the guise of keeping cigarettes out of the hands of teens and children. I hope that the NCC is being well-funded by the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers’ Council (the tobacco industry) for its support of the NCACT. Stuff 1. How do former vice presidents make a living? (from Mental Floss at WSJ.com). 2. "Click, Change: The Traditional Tube Is Getting Squeezed Out of the Picture," on TV with the television, by Paul Fahri in the Washington Post. 3. The Name that Language quiz. I got 5 out of 10. 4. Dry shampoo is not as good as washing one's hair, although Laura Moser says it does have it's advantages. According to this interesting NPR story, Americans wash their hair about twice as often as Italians or Spanairds but that a century ago, women washed their hair about once a month. 5. The Sartorialist is an interesting fashion blog I found on Rondi's blogroll. I enjoy the On the Steet shots. Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Oldweek Noemie Emery doesn't like the new Newsweek, which she says is too much like the old Newsweek -- hopelessly liberal and out of touch: "Newsweek executives are gambling that advertisers will support the equivalent of shifting from beer to wine," [Washington Post media columnist Howard] Kurtz says helpfully. But it's the same magazine, so readers may need to shift from wine to something more potent. In fact, you have to be drunk to think Newsweek is changing. You have to be drunk to even read Newsweek. I still don't like Newsweek, and I drink wine a whole lot. I'm with Caplan Bryan Caplan challenged Arnold Kling to a bet which Kling accepted. Caplain said: I predict that Republicans will regain control of at least one branch of the federal government at some point between now and January 20, 2017 (two inaugurations from now). So Arnold, how about a $100 bet at even odds?Kling responds that he will win for a combination of seven reasons, namely: 1. Increasing number of city dwellers. 2. Increasing number of Hispanics. 3. Increasing number of young voters. 4. The growth of government presents challenges to Republicans they are unprepared to meet. 5. A divided party (socons vs. libertarians) 6. The unimpressive GOP leadership. 7. GOP will dig a deeper hole in the Senate in 2010. These are all true, right now. I'd bet that between now and 2016, things will change, and probably change a lot. It's foolish to make political predictions more than one presidential cycle out. I recall Republicans talking about decades-long ownership of Congress in the early 2000s, with re-apportionment favouring the GOP in 2010. (Grover Norquist wrote about thise numerous times in The American Spectator.) But those predictions were so very long ago and they look very foolish. Obama will eventually disappoint and if he trips up badly the Republicans might win on anti-Obama sentiment. But who knows if that will be the 2010 or 2014 midterms or the 2012 or 2016 presidential election. Who knows? Ontario PC race Stephen Taylor has the total amount of money each of the candidates has raised. Christine Elliott has raised twice as much as Tim Hudak and about equal to what her three opponents raised combined. About half of Elliott's funds come from ten donors who gave at least $10,000. More than half of Randy Hillier's money comes from MP Scott Reid and himself. As this information gets teased out a bit by bloggers, reporters and others, people can draw their own conclusions, but it would appear that Hudak is doing the best job raising money among the grassroots and Elliott is the candidate of the rich. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) Most importantly, as Taylor notes, the meagre fundraising efforts of Klees ($62,517) might translate into a difficulty getting out his vote. Says Taylor, "He’ll need to raise a lot more in order to effectively convert the thousands of memberships that he’s reportedly sold come (leadership) election day." All of this is very interesting up to a point. Membership sign-ups and donations are important but now its a game of getting one's supporters out and winning over others to be ranked the second choice on the party's preferential ballot. Something I'm thinking about a lot these past few days is growth potential and from what I'm hearing, Elliott has very little of it. Hillier's support is likely to go overwhelmingly toward Klees and the majority of Hudak's people are likely to break the same way if Tim Hudak is dropped before Klees is. It could very well be that Klees could finish third on the first ballot and still win it all. Nationalizing abortion policy, deepening the rancor Barack Obama's position that we should all just get along contradicts his own recognition that the two sides of the abortion debate are irreconcilable -- at least until one side just gives up. Morally there is no splitting the difference, although a political compromise which seeks to truly reduce abortion is certainly possible. (I say pro-lifers should challenge the president to sit down with them to develop a strategy to reduce the number of abortions, but only a plan that does not include abortifacient or potentially abortifacient drugs from RU-486 to the morning-after pill or oral contraceptives.) Anyway, Jacob Sullum has some good observations about the divisiveness of the debate and his conclusion sums up why these debates are so politically rancorous in the United States: When abortion laws throughout the country hinge on a single judicial nominee, it's not a situation conducive to "open hearts" or "fair-minded words." What I'm reading 1. A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder - How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and on-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman. This is yet another example of a good thesis taken too far, taken to the point of ideological commitment to a counter-intuitive argument that is right in some cases but not nearly to the extent the authors claim. Would have made a great and convincing article, but the point is belaboured in book form. 2. Wild Justice: The moral lives of animals by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce. There is a good review of the book at NewScientist.com. 3. Survival of the Fattest: An Irreverent View of the Senate by Larry Zolf, a wonderful book on Canada's chamber of sober second thought published in 1985. 4. "Preparing Prisoners for Employment: The Power of Small Rewards," a Manhattan Institute report by Anne Morrison Piehl. 5. "No More Mr. Nice Guy: The Supreme Court’s stealth hard-liner," by Jeffrey Toobin in the May 25 New Yorker. Three and out 3. In his annual examination of how much teams gauge fans at HardBallTimes.com, Chris Jaffe finds that the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays are the worst offenders. They are the only teams to add an extra $10 or more to the price of the lowest-end tickets. 2. My guess is that come mid-Summer, Tom Verducci will look stupid for writing this SI.com column about how the Texas Rangers are "for real": their starting and relief pitching are doing quite well, the defense is making their pitching look good, their offense is excellent (always is, although the numbers are inflated because they play home games at the Ballpark in Arlington) and they are the front-runner to get former Milwaukee ace Ben Sheets when he finally is healthy. All that is true today. I wouldn't bet on it being true 60 games from now. 1. Tim Marchman muses about how to replace injured New York Mets 1B Carlos Delgado, who will be out until sometime this summer. Marchman likes Aubrey Huff of the Baltimore Orioles, who can play all four corner positions, but he wouldn't come cheap. Others are prone to injury (Nick Johnson of the Washington Nationals) or probably not up for grabs (Adam LaRoche of the Pittsburgh Pirates). That might leave the perfectly useful, four corner type, Chad Tracy of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who might come cheap. (He is not a regular for the D-backs, so their asking price won't be that great.) In the highly competitive National League East, Mets GM Omar Minaya should make such a move, even if it is to rent a player until Delgado gets back. It probably won't happen because teams are loathe to acquire a player to replace another who is injured when the latter is likely to be out for a "mere" two months. I don't get that. Teams trade for would-be free agents at the July 31 trading deadline to get two months of service out of a player. Why not improve a team for two months in May and June and use the acquired player as a significant bench upgrade for the final three months? It makes a lot of sense but that isn't the way things are normally done, so it won't be this time. Baseball can be a frustratingly conservative sport. Four and out (Jon Gruden joining MNF edition) 4. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden will join ESPN's Monday Night Football, replacing Tony Kornheiser. I hate this for a bunch of reasons, which surprises me because Kornheiser was comprehensively awful as an on-air analyst. I don't find Gruden that insightful and I hate the three-person broadcasting team format. More about both in points 2&3. 3. SI.com's Phil Taylor says that the MNF franchise should cease looking for the magic threesome. I totally concur, but for slightly different reasons. It is not just that the Howard Cosell-led trio can't be replicated but that generally in sports three commentators is a crowd. Too often, and especially in baseball and football, discussion veers too far off what is happening on the field when the third man is added to the booth. The talk turns to (at best) speculation about other things in the sport and (at worst) subjects that have nothing or little to do with sports at all. Two people to a booth -- and that's all. Getting rid of Kornheiser was addition by subtraction. Why add Gruden? 2. Kissing Suzy Kolber -- a football blog that is not a family/office friendly -- thinks that EPSN did the almost-impossible: replaced Tony Kornheiser with someone who will be almost as bad. KSK says Jon Gruden "will most assuredly be stilted and awful, weighing down the broadcast with even more platitudes and cliches." What struck me about watching Gruden's almost universally praised Draft Day analysis was how uncritical is was: convention wisdom, not very deep, pablum for the football fan. That makes sense on the NFL Network -- the TV channel doesn't want to upset the suits in the biz. But ESPN? They could do better than safely conventional. In his first interview with ESPN after the announcement he said that any team thinking about signing former QB Michael Vick will talk about it among their brain trust. And regarding Brett Favre: "I'm excited to follow this situation." Wow. That's deep. And invaluable. 1. I'm just saying that Ron Jaworski, one of Gruden's new broadcast booth mates, is probably a better quarterback today, nearly two decades after retiring, than any QB Gruden ever developed as a coach. Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Lawfare conference Today, in Washington, there was a one-day Islamist lawfare conference co-hosted by the Legal Project, Federalist Society, the Center for National Security Law, and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. Philip Klein has a post on this The American Spectator's blog about the conference. This is notable: James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal argued that the free speech protections in the U.S. are strong enough that American authors shouldn't have anything to fear.To learn more about lawfare, read Brooke Goldstein's long essay on the topic at the Henry Jackson Society website, in which he notes that Canada's experience with the human rights commission industry provides an important lesson for Americans. Also, read Kathy Shaidle's article on lawfare in her Islam in America series for Right Side News. And, finally, Martin Solomon notes that CAIR objected to the lawfare conference -- surprise, surprise. Stuff 1. Human landscapes from above -- incredible photos. 2. From Forbes Traveller: Asia's most visited tourist sites. 3. Donald Trump has filed a $5 billion suit against a journalist because said journalist claimed that Trump is not a billionaire. 4. The Daily Telegraph has huge stone faces. 5. Slate on the Clios, the advertising industry's awards. Fighting protectionism with protectionism? Andrew Roth of the Club for Growth seems to like this story about Halton Hills, Ont., unanimously passing a resolution "that would have the Toronto-area municipality discriminate against any country that discriminates against Canada." It is an attempt to fight the recession-fighting Buy American provisions in the U.S. stimulus package. There will be a vote on a similar resolution at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The paper and Roth like the "mouse that roared" angle, but such pandering to populist interests and anti-Americanism is no way to promote free trade. Ponnuru on Obama's abortion rhetoric Ramesh Ponnuru at WashingtonPost.com: Pro-lifers often get annoyed when they see politicians with hard-line records in favor of legal and subsidized abortion talk, as Obama did, about how much he wants to reduce abortion. But that type of rhetoric, however little follow-through it generates, is itself a concession to the moral and political force of the pro-life case. The more politicians who favor unrestricted, subsidized abortion talk about what a tragedy it is, the more they undermine their own premises. If it's such a terrible thing, why fund it? Why not allow states to try different methods of discouraging it, including restrictions? Monday, May 18, 2009
The Politic contest Enter submissions for the most unconservative thing the Harper Conservatives have done at The Politic. (HT: Wonder Woman) Quotidian "In its boundless ambition, the Left understands that the character of a people can be transformed: British, Canadian, and European elections are now about which party can deliver 'better services,' as if the nation is a hotel and the government could use some spritelier bellhops." -- Mark Steyn, "Intrusion of Reality," at NRO (May 2) Legalizing prostitution I'm headed to full-fledged libertarianism, apparently. This from Free Exchange (about removing 'adult services' on Craigslist) sounded pretty reasonable to me: Sex workers who advertise on Craigslist tend to be on the lower end of the industry. Entry costs are small; ads on the site cost only $10 to place and $5 to renew. The presence of the internet has transformed the market for independent providers, but did not create it. But by reaching a larger pool of clients, there also is increased risk. Higher-end prostitutes often advertise on web sites devoted to escort services. Entry costs are higher; a prominent ad in a VIP section costs more than $300. Such providers also have an elaborate screening mechanism (it can take several days to book if you’re a new client). High-end prostitutes often provide more elaborate services and long-term business relationships, so their clients are more willing to endure the screening. Lower-end providers are more vulnerable because they often do not have the same means of screening and protection. Aspects of Craigslist provided that service for them; if that vanishes they will find other, less safe, alternatives. The best way to protect them would be to legalise and regulate the industry. That would be far more effective than forcing the work further into the shadows. |
