Category Archives: politics

Kelo v. New London

State control of the economy, maintaining the forms but not the substance of private property — isn’t that a definition of fascism? I’ve been puzzled, by the way, at the argument that the Fifth Amendment allows takings only for ‘public … Continue reading

Posted in constitution | 2 Comments

damned if you don’t

I’m likely to want to refer to this later: One of his friends was contemplating becoming involved in a drug-distribution scheme, and telephoned Nguyen for advice. After a lengthy conversation, Nguyen advised the friend to stay away from the scheme, … Continue reading

Posted in drugwar | Leave a comment

distributed knowledge wins

I’ve heard that Friedrich von Hayek (1899-1992) started thinking about spontaneous order because of an incident in the Great War. Austrian forces were routed in a battle in Italy, and fled leaderless through the mountains; and far more of them … Continue reading

Posted in economics, security theater | 1 Comment

commiseration to Ms Raich

Reading an account of oral arguments in Ashcroft Gonzales v. Raich, a couple of months ago, gave me a sinking feeling: the Court was clearly hostile and the good guys were failing to make what I considered obvious points. Guess … Continue reading

Posted in constitution, drugwar | Leave a comment

Almost Invented Here — again

Once upon a time, probably 1983, I had an idea to maximize diversity in a representative assembly. You vote for more than one candidate. The ballots are counted once for each seat. On each count one winner is chosen, and … Continue reading

Posted in constitution, economics | 7 Comments

it ain’t me, babe!

Some clown is using my address to spam everyone@amherst.edu with what appears to be an account of the bombing of Dresden. Why??

Posted in militaria, spam | 1 Comment

this and that

I’m sneezing up a storm today, and the good old allergy pill hasn’t helped. I do hope it’s not the same virus that afflicted my housemate for two weeks last month. Who is the center of the movie universe? Kevin … Continue reading

Posted in cinema, history, me!me!me!, race | 1 Comment