Terrifying Approach to Solving Global Warming

I find this article terrifying. Putting these silica particles into the air doesn't seem like a reversible mechanism of climate control.

The most interesting part of the article is that it says this technique will likely be used by private actors, NOT nation states! What do we think of that?

A Conservative Take on Jobs' Comments on Teachers' Unions

Interesting link! Note that Conde Nast's Wired Magazine is, while generally competent, very liberal in its interpretation of Jobs' comments. They assume he's crazy!

Here's what a conservative pundit had to say. Note: E.C. Maloney is a nutjob too.

Steve Jobs Attacks Public Schools' Teachers' Unions

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,72754-0.html?tw=wn_index_3

We could easily discuss Jobs attacking DRM, but what I find really interesting is his hatred of public schools' teachers' unions.

I know virtually nothing of how unions operate, in any sector, so I would be interested in the input of the fine folks that comprise CLR.

Is the Single Sanction Racist?

In the 2005-2006 year:

70% of Minority* Students who made it to trial were convicted, versus only 30% of Majority Students.

http://www.virginia.edu/honor/wnew/stats/trial2006.htm

Can we still uphold a Community of Trust that warrantlessly discriminates against minority students?



*In this definition, minority includes ethnic/racial minorities, as well as student-athletes, and international student

An article on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border (dated 2000 AD)

In the context of last week's discussion on small, distrustful groups, let's examine the crazy world as it was before it recently got crazier:

Every person I interviewed was sullen and reticent. One day a crowd of men surrounded me and led me to the back of a pharmacy, where they took turns denouncing America and telling me that the Taliban were good because they had restored security to Afghanistan, ending mujahideen lawlessness. The "external hand of India" was to blame for the local troubles between Sunnis and Shias here, I was told. Conspiracy theories, I have noticed, are inflamed by illiteracy: people who can't read rely on hearsay. In Pakistan the adult literacy rate is below 33 percent. In the tribal areas it is below that. As for the percentage of women in Parachinar who can read, I heard figures as low as two percent; nobody really knows.

[...]

[T]he West spends its political capital [in Pakistan] demanding a return to the same parliamentary system that bankrupted the country and resulted in the military coup. Given that the Subcontinent is a nuclear battleground where defense budgets are skyrocketing, and at the same time it is home to 45 percent of the world's illiterate people, I can see few priorities for the United States higher than pressuring governments in the region to improve primary education. Otherwise the madrassas will do it. What was so frightening about Mufti Naeem
was the way he used Western information-age paraphernalia in the service of pan-Islamic absolutism.

"The Lawless Frontier," Robert Kaplan, The Atlantic Monthly September 2000
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200009/kaplan-border

---

My editorializing begins here:

The basic phenomena of small, distrustful groups of humans poses a fundamental challenge to "libertarian" or "classical liberal" ideas. It is a fact that small political units do not get along. With that fact, transactions of business and mutual interest become distorted... And because these small groups are basic, they cannot be abolished by any theoretical fiat. Quite possibly, they can only be abolished by political force. So:

Does someone have to win through force before "everyone" benefits from the market? Or, is education a possible way out? Is "classical liberal" thought limited by this impasse? A successful synthesis would significantly increase the applicability and realism of classical liberal thought- so, let's get to it!

Drugs Are Bad; Don't Forget

So, Bush wants to spend $130 million more of your tax dollars on advertising about how drugs are bad. Well golly, that sounds like a GREAT IDEA!

Gender Selection Debate

http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/girl-or-boy-as-fertility-technology-advances-so-does-an-ethical-debate/

Should parents be able to select the gender of their children without feeling guilt?

Inconsistency

The war on drugs doesn't even have consistent logic!

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/118557.html

Smoking Ban

I received this e-mail this morning.

Are we expanding the number of victimless crimes?

-----


From: *******@virginia.edu
Subject: Housing notice: Smoking Policy Change
Date: February 5, 2007 10:03:23 AM EST
To: *********@virginia.edu

This message was approved for distribution by Mark Doherty, Chief Housing Officer.

Dear Housing Residents,

As of January 1, 2007, in accordance with Executive Order 41 (2006) shown below, smoking is not allowed in any on Grounds single student housing facility operated by the Housing Division. This Executive Order replaces any past regulations that allowed students the right to smoke in these facilities.

Housing Division, Accommodations Office
(434)***-**** or *******@virginia.edu

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Executive Order 41 (2006)

BANNING SMOKING IN STATE OFFICES AND STATE BUILDINGS

By virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor under Article V, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia and Title 2.2 of the Code of Virginia, I hereby ban smoking in offices occupied by executive branch agencies and institutions, including institutions of higher education. I further direct that smoking shall be banned in any other building operated by executive branch agencies and institutions, including institutions of higher education


Agency heads and heads of state institutions, including institutions of Higher Education may set appropriate guidelines for smoking outside on state-owned property, including appropriate signage. Such guidelines will be in accordance with guidance to be issued by the Secretary of Administration in consultation with the Commissioner of Health.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE ORDER AND IMPLEMENTATION

This Executive Order shall become effective, January 1, 2007.

Timothy M. Kaine, Governor

Injustice with the Suspension of Habeas Corpus

Oh, it's wonderful that we're living in a country with no habeas corpus.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/02/campaign_to_save_man.html

Civil Liberties Infringement? YES!

Check this out. To what degree should we take away minors' rights, in the name of safety? Where do we draw the line?