Freakonomics Quorum on Urbanization

On a related note, the Freakonomics blog has a quorum on urbanization in general.

Lagos la Vida Loca

Here's an interesting piece on Lagos, Nigeria, the fastest growing city in the world. It makes for a good case study concerning the movement of people, poverty, property rights, and crime.

Candidate threatened with jail time for promising to give her paycheck back to voters

http://freekeene.com/2007/11/02/nh-attorney-general-threatens-candidate-julia-miranda/

Illegals are not a drag on health care

Illegal immigrants contribute far more to the economy than they take out of it.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26407393.htm

Bad news from Russia

It's getting pretty ugly there.

Israel woos Syria

The situation is unbelievably weird, and even more complicated.

Democrats shift focus on Iraq

What does it mean if the surge has worked? Is it relevant?

FBI says Blackwater guilty of 14 murders

Their murderous antics finally caught up with them.

F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 — Federal agents investigating the Sept. 16 episode in which Blackwater security personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according to civilian and military officials briefed on the case.

More

CIA Deputy Director: Privacy means the Government handles your private information responsibly

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/11/terrorist.surveillance.ap/index.html
This is horrible and absurd:
"Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information."

Coupled with its behavior elsewhere, the Bush adminstration has essentially said that the government has an unlimited right to keep its own secrets and an unlimited right to intrude on the secrets of every individual. This is a highly irresponsible point of view, and a prime reason for intervention by other branches of government in executive affairs.

Georgia declares a state of emergency

It seems that another ally in the region isn't so democratic. It makes you wonder how we can be spreading democracy when we're allied with despots.

TBILISI, Georgia, Nov. 10 — Anticipating demands from a senior American diplomat that he immediately lift a state of emergency, President Mikheil Saakashvili said Saturday that the emergency decree would remain in effect as long as the Georgian government deemed it necessary.

President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia during a meeting with businesspeople on Saturday in his office in the capital, Tbilisi.

In comments broadcast on Georgian state television, Mr. Saakashvili said he would probably lift the decree within days, but said he would not be influenced by “somebody’s recommendation” in making that decision.

“We know better what is good for Georgia,” he said.

More

China's Oil Subsidy

http://www.minyanville.com/articles/china-india-US-subsidy-crude-dollar/index/a/14767/from/yahoo

China's oil subsidy must end soon, and they will face the same problems Iran and Burma face, on a much larger scale. The problems may not manifest themselves in social unrest like in the other two countries, but they will definitely cause economic distress as the price of oil rises to the actual price.

Dictatorship vs. Theocracy: Musharraf suspends Constitution

"Musharraf suspended Pakistan's constitution and deployed troops in the capital Saturday, declaring that rising Islamic extremism had forced him to take emergency measures that included replacing the nation's chief justice and blacking out the independent media that refused to support him."

Speaking of secret societies...

GMU copies us.

Westboro Baptist Church Finally Gets Its Comeuppance

Westboro Baptist Church, known for its motto "God Hates Fags," its statements that Katrina, 9-11, and other disasters are God's punishments for American tolerance of homosexuality, and its protests at military funerals, was found liable for invasion of privacy and intent to inflict emotional distress in an $11 million suit.

Annual Alcohol Policy Notification

We all received this in our inboxes. Let's discuss it.

Bureaucracy a UVa

How can all this needless bureaucracy be eliminated at UVa?

The Shenanigans of the Purple Shadows

Why is the Society of the Purple Shadows still respected?

Intellectual Property

Are the laws on intellectual property acting as protectors of property, like all other laws, or are they functioning as a sort of corporate welfare?

FEMA's Fake Press Conference

FEMA has been accused of staging a phony press conference on Thursday about their efforts in Southern California. Apparently they used agency staffers as fake reporters, then later called their actions an "error in judgment."

Funding Priorities

Bush asks for more war funds - $187 billion. Apparently this is enough to save New Orleans, all the babies, and all the kids in the US....... AND fund Hillarycare with what's left over.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2246733720071022

The case for open immigration

Let the borders be opened.

McCain and Brownback

John McCain broke, relies on his 95 year old mother to help him out of his self-made mess.

Also, Brownback drops out.

Misplaced Nukes

I got this story off CNN. Apparently about a month and a half ago, the US Air Force flew some cruise missiles from a site in North Dakota to Louisiana; however, they forgot to remove the nuclear warheads from the cruise missiles beforehand. Needless to say, this was a major screw up. After a six week investigation, several people have lost their jobs and others have been demoted. But how did this happen in the first place? What does it say about the efficacy of Homeland Security if we can't even keep track of our own nukes? How should the government react to such a slip-up, and how should we properly oversee dangerous weapons in the military?

Crisis brewing in Turkey

Turkey has been concerned about militant Kurdish separatists operating on their border with Iraq. The United States would prefer that Turkey not invade Iraq, but has very few levers to use against Turkey. A recent resolution passed by a House committe would condemn the World War 1 Turkish killings of Armenians as genocide - and as evidence of how seriously Turkey takes this, their constitution forbids anyone from referring to any sort of "genocide" in World War 1. How should the US congress react?

Mugabe denies responsibility

Mugabe says that his people are starving to death due to Western sabotage, while still having accepted foreign aid from the West.

Justice for the Jena Six! and the Cavalier spirit.

ok Seth here are some posts:
1. There was a piece in the Cavalier Daily a week ago on the 180-degree turn in morality that follows a 180-degree in politics (aristocracy to democracy -- morality as political prejudice or side-effect):
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=31059&pid=1626

Who is this guy? Whoever he is, he's incredibly smart and deep -- probably extremely good-looking too.

2. Current events: a racially-inflammatory piece demanding justice for the Jena Six.
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=31108&pid=1628
(The original title was "Justice for the Jena Six," but irony and light humor usually don't survive the rigorous CD editing process.)

No Meeting Today

Due to Fall Break, the Classical Liberal Roundtable will not convene today. Continue to post to the blog, however, because we will address two weeks worth of posts at the next meeting on Sunday, October 14.

The collapse of the conservative coalition?

Two articles, one in the Wall Street Journal and another in the New York Times discuss the evolution of the GOP from different perspectives. David Brooks of the NYT examines the issue philosophically, while the WSJ examines the numbers behind the issue

From the NYT:

Over the past few decades, the Republican Party has championed a series of reforms designed to devolve power to the individual, through tax cuts, private pensions and medical accounts. The temperamental conservative does not see a nation composed of individuals who should be given maximum liberty to make choices. Instead, the individual is a part of a social organism and thrives only within the attachments to family, community and nation that precede choice.

Therefore, the temperamental conservative values social cohesion alongside
individual freedom and worries that too much individualism, too much
segmentation, too much tension between races and groups will tear the underlying
unity on which all else depends. Without unity, the police are regarded as alien
powers, the country will fracture under the strain of war and the economy will
be undermined by lack of social trust.To put it bluntly, over the past several years, the G.O.P. has made ideological choices that offend conservatism’s Burkean roots. This may seem like an airy-fairy thing that does nothing more than provoke a few dissenting columns from William F. Buckley, George F. Will and Andrew Sullivan. But suburban, Midwestern and many business voters are dispositional conservatives more than creedal conservatives. They care about order, prudence and balanced budgets more than transformational
leadership and perpetual tax cuts. It is among these groups that G.O.P. support
is collapsing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/opinion/05brooks.html?ex=1349323200&en=18d87f2dabf769af&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

From the WSJ:

Some of the most compelling evidence suggesting a redefinition of the
Republican Party comes from prominent Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio. Earlier
this year, he surveyed 2,000 Republican voters, updating his similarly
exhaustive poll of 10 years ago. In 1997, about half of Republicans said they
were motivated mainly by economic issues, and about half by social and moral
issues. This year, the culturally conservative wing was roughly the same size,
but economic conservatives accounted for just one in six Republicans. In the
wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the ranks of Republicans whose main concern
is defense have grown after subsiding with the end of the Cold War.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119127620102645595.html

Imaginary War Drums

Letter to the Editor on Iran in CavDaily

Liberals Take Aim at Conservative Media

Rush Limbaugh phony soldiers incident
Bill O'Reilly racist comments? Juan Williams=happy negro

Health care is not a right

An editorial to the Cavalier Daily has commented on whether or not people have a right to health care. What is fundamentally different about health care that people prioritize it as something that should be treated different than other economic resources?

What does the Department of Homeland Security think of you?

You can request information from your file from the Department of Homeland Security. I found this on BoingBoing.

Rep. Doggett on the Surge

Religious Utopianism in the Middle East

Fighting Utopia with Utopia is doomed to failure, according to Anthony Stevens-Arroyo, regardless of the form it takes.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/anthony_m_stevensarroyo/2007/09/religious_utopias_gone_amuck.html

Is the surge working? Maybe

The debate continues.

"Natural" Events

Flooding in Africa, opening of the northwest passage, climate change?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6994995.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6995999.stm

I got an email from a woman named Sarah Myers who thought you all might be interested in this opportunity. If you are, you need to RSVP to sbm6x@virginia.edu so that she will save you a spot.

Risa Goluboff
The Lost Promise of Civil Rights
Monday, September 17, 2007
11:00 AM

Risa Goluboff, associate professor of law at the University of Virginia, has published a new history of the civil rights movement in the 1940s. Her book, hailed by reviewers as "brilliant" and placing her "at the front rank of twentieth-century American historians," shows how movement activists focused on redressing prejudice faced by agricultural and industrial workers before desegregating public secondary and elementary schools. Goluboff argues that when NAACP lawyers succeeded in Brown v. Board, they marginalized the host of other problems afflicting most African Americans. Goluboff earned a Ph.D. in history from Princeton University and a law degree at Yale Law School, where she was senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. She clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer. A book signing will follow her Forum.

General Betrayus

Moveon.org ad in the New York Times before General Petraeus' testimony before Congress

What is ethical to teach in a classroom?

What is ethical to teach in a classroom? Is this?

BBC Survey

BBC Survey: Iraqis feel surge has made security worse, increasingly blame American soldiers for high level of violence.

Interestingly enough, foreign jihadists are the second most blamed party, but they are percieved as being less to blame since the surge began. The Iraqi army and police are not largely considered aggravating the violence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6983027.stm

Ron Paul

I recently got this facebook message. I said that our organization couldn't (and wouldn't) officially support Ron Paul, but that several individual members might be interested. Thus, I am passing it on to you...


Nicole Gugliucci
1:13pm September 7th
Report Message
Hello! My name is Nicole Gugliucci, and I'm a third year grad student at UVa. I was looking for a college libertarians group on campus for the purpose of getting people interested in the Presidential campaign of Ron Paul. Someone on the Ron Paul Facebook group mentioned that you might be a good contact for UVa. I'm one of only a few UVa students signed up at the Charlottesville Ron Paul MeetUp. We would like to start some kind of activities on campus, but I for one, as a grad student, am not very familiar with student groups on Grounds. First, I encourage you to check out out MeetUp group (http://ronpaul.meetup.com/120/?gj=sj5) and let me know if you have any suggestions for our UVa activities. Our next meeting is Monday at 7pm, and they are a really great group of people. Also, does the Libertarian group still meet on grounds? The Student Activities Center website listed it as "not active." Thanks for your help!

Bush wins; there will be a troop surge

There is an impending troop surge in Iraq. What would the efficacy of this be? How did this happen politically?

Part of the PATRIOT Act has been overturned

The FBI can no longer "obtain ISP and telecom subscribers' billing, calling and Web surfing records without court approval," because it "violates the U.S. Constitution."

Link

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/New_book_details_backroom_White_House_0904.html

Poor performance from VPO

The Cavalier Daily had an article about the VPO's poor performance. Let's discuss who is at fault, and focus on what the committee does, and how.

University of Nevada arms teachers.

Teachers may carry guns.

Comprehensive human environment law comes into force in EU

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6712029.stm

Europe is tackling the problem of toxicity in chemicals throughout the EU. It's requiring immediate action on the chemicals which are most toxic and/or most common, and forcing companies to either immediately (that is, before 2010) replace the chemicals should they be found toxic, or defend their use.

I personally find this fantastic news. The quality of life of every European citizen will increase several times over the next decade, as toxic chemicals are removed from the everyday environment.

The big question is, of course, why accept this regulation? Because the chemicals in question have large costs that are externalized- reproductive and mutagenic harms are placed out into the general public and companies don't have to pay a dime for that. There's a good argument to be made that environmental damage has been subsidized for far too long, and that the principle of "your right to punch me ends right before my nose" applies here.

In case you missed it...

Tensions between the West and Russia are reaching "cold war levels"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6599647.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6574615.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6708459.stm

Random News Roundup

So the theory about the mythic Republican Party discipline goes that it was forged under years in the minority. What about the Democrats? If a disciplinarian arose, would he amass power the way Gingrich and DeLay did? News flash- Rahm Emanuel's already here.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10141677&sc=emaf

Major leadership changes in France and the UK: Sarkozy in, Blair out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_presidential_election,_2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/13/blairh.xml

Sweden is experimenting with relinquishing public control of corporations
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/05/04/PM200705048.html

More on Responsibility

So, how responsible is society for addressing possible socio/psychopathy?

Farm Bill

Michael Pollan, author the The Omnivore's Dilemma, has a fascinating piece in the NYT magazine about how the government is decreasing the quality of food, making the cheapest food the poorest quality; thus, the poor become the most unhealthy. Also note that the amount of government interference here is directly proportional to the number of illegal immigrants coming to work on farms.

The question Pollan has, and we could discuss, is what kind of policy could fix this, because overabundance has been a problem for farmers in a free market.

The Effectiveness of a "Gun-Free Zone"

Reason comments.

School of Public Policy

There have been criticisms that the Frank Batten School is exactly what Thomas Jefferson did not intend the University to be. Should not every student be prepared for public service? Does this school aim to create a class of lifelong politicians and bureaucrats devoid of any connection to the working people of the world? What role would such a school serve in a University devoted to the illimitable freedom of the human mind?

Link to UVAToday article:
http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=1857

Feeling Safe

Reason prompts the question of how to feel safe on a campus.

Activism = Cool!

NON-VIOLENCE WORKSHOP AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZING 101

Interested in Social Justice?
Admire Activism?

Queer and Allied Activism, and the Asian Student Union are sponsoring an interactive workshop in non-violent resistance and community organizing. Come and learn about the history and practice of non-violence, as well as practical skills about activism and community organizing.

When: Wednesday April 18
Time: 8:30 PM
Where: Chemistry 305
Website: http://uva.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2314612755

Ayn Rand on the Libertarian Party

So, she comes up often enough that I wanted to open up a discussion of the connection to Rand, Objectivism, and libertarianism. It baffles me that she couldn't endorse something with nearly identical political goals.

This isn't political or philosophical, but it is about food, which is really important!


I have $110 plus dollars left for this semester. Do you all want food on Sunday? If so, what? I could order Dominos if you all tell me what kind of pizza you like.

Substituting Political Correctness for Free Speech

It's pretty obvious to me that free speech should be protected always. What I don't understand is how criticism of Islam is consistently considered to overrule freedom of speech, even when there were no riots about cartoons in the United States last year.

I thought this was interesting...

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Professor_who_criticized_Bush_added_to_0409.html

(also, sorry it took so long for me to get on this blog...I'm pretty technologically illiterate...)

Interested in news writing [but not for the CavDaily]?

You should write for The Virginia Sentinel, an alternative student news source that should be online by the beginning of next semester! We're looking for contributors, so shoot me an email if you have any interest at all in news writing. Our goal is to catch the stuff that the CavDaily misses, like news about research going on around grounds, in depth coverage about issues that students care about, etc.

News articles can be short [as little as 350 words!] or long, time sensitive [ie basketball games] or more broad [ie an investigation of what the BOV actually does]... basically you could write about anything on Grounds that you think is interesting and relevant.

Again, email me if you're intrigued. Please include any preferences you have regarding contributing ["I only want to write about sports," or "I only want to write every 16.5 days"].

Contact: M.Unterbrink@gmail.com

Imprisoned for No Crime

This question is an extremely tough one. I had never thought that I would ever even consider that a person should be imprisoned without committing a crime.

Bush Imposes Trade Sanctions on China

Is THIS fair? Watch the video in the URL below.

http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=ZCF1CYYQJjcUS0R8uZKFGMBOCGlD4Zmx

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration imposed new economic sanctions against China, a vivid reflection of the increasingly tough climate in the U.S. toward free trade -- particularly with Beijing.

The new duties apply narrowly to complaints that Chinese producers of glossy, high-quality paper used in books and magazines are unfairly subsidized by their government -- just $224 million of annual imports, or less than 1% of the total goods and services Americans buy each year from China.

But the action is likely to have much wider ramifications. It opens the door to a potential rush of similar complaints by American ...

BEIJING -- A Chinese commerce official said over the weekend that Beijing is "strongly dissatisfied" with the U.S. government's decision to impose anti-subsidy tariffs on imports of glossy paper from China.

"China strongly urges the U.S. to reconsider the decision and to correct it as soon as possible," said Wang Xinpei, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, in a statement posted early Saturday on the ministry's Web site.

Miracle Fruit Regulation

There's a miracle fruit that the government doesn't want to allow as an additive because of a potential disruption of the sugar industry.

Is torture ever justified? If so, when?

The US Government uses torture at Guantanamo. Is it justified? Is the goverment taking a responsible approach to serve the US citizens it represents?

WSJ Article Abstract:
Lt. Col. V. Stuart Couch, a former marine and current military prosecutor, declined to prosecute an alleged terrorist involved in the 9/11 attack because he came to believe the man was tortured into confessing while being held at Guantanamo Bay. The case is the first known instance where a U.S. military prosecutor refused to bring charges because essential evidence llegedly was tainted by torture. It may not be the last; Guantanamo prosecutors estimate that at least 90% of their cases depend on statements taken from prisoners, making the credibility, and admissibility, of such evidence critical to any convictions. (From WSJ Weekend Edition, 31 Mar 2007)

Restaurant Smoking Ban

I knew this "progressive" action would hit Virginia sooner or later.

Free Exchange on Campus Coalition

I got an interesting email, inviting us to take part in some activism. Are we interested?

My name is Kendra Wobbema; I work with the Free Exchange on Campus
Coalition, a network of faculty, student and civil liberties organizations
working to stop restrictions on what students are able to learn and faculty
able to teach in higher education. Specifically, we're working to stop the
so-called "Intellectual Diversity" bill being pushed in legislatures around
the country. This bill, similar to David Horowitz's "Academic Bill of
Restrictions," would stifle the free exchange of ideas on campus and
severely damage education for students.

This year, as you may have heard, members of the state legislature have
tabled a bill that would enact these restrictions in Virginia (HB 1643).
Proponents of this legislation are arguing that the biggest problem facing
higher education today is that students are incapable of being exposed to
new and controversial ideas in the classroom without being indoctrinated by
them. They claim that there is widespread indoctrination and discrimination
against conservative students in Virginia colleges, and that faculty are
acting inappropriately by bringing politics into the classroom. They also
claim that students don't have adequate recourse to deal with this problem.
Without proof of these claims, they're pushing for a bill that would
restrict what faculty are able to teach, presenting a tremendous threat to
the free exchange of ideas between students and professors. In effect, it
would place restrictions on what faculty could teach and what subjects were
open to debate in the classroom.

Across the country, when these proposals are introduced there is little to
no evidence of any problem, certainly none warranting legislation or
restrictions on what ideas college students can be exposed to and how
faculty can teach. In fact, the one state that has held formal hearings
into these claims, Pennsylvania, found that legislation was not necessary
and that academic freedom violations in the state were rare.

We know that there are bigger problems facing education in Virginia, and
that restricting the education students are exposed to can only hurt higher
education. To keep this bill from being re-introduced and passed in
Virginia, we're working with higher education organizations, students,
faculty and administrators to make sure the legislature understands what
actually happens in college classrooms, that it's hearing opposition to
these proposals, and that the media is covering our side of this debate. If
you or your student/faculty organization is interested in being a part of a
coalition in opposition to this "intellectual diversity" legislation, please
let me know. There are varying levels of involvement, from signing a letter
to gathering widespread support on your campus. I will be in Virginia April
9-13 and would be happy to schedule a meeting to further discuss your
involvement.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kendra Wobbema
Free Exchange on Campus Coalition
(312) 291-0349 x218 (office)
(310) 995-7219 (cell)
Kendra@campusspeech.org
www.freeexchangeoncampus.org

Transgenic mice see all colors

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070319/full/070319-12.html

So we've made another kind of supermice now- would we want to give humans IR or ultraviolet vision?

Taxes Stifle Innovation?

Here's a hilarious/depressing post from the folks at Reason.

Cockfighting Ban

Libertarian thought might break down in terms of basic decency when banning cockfighting is thought of as an infringement on liberty.

RIP Penn Radio

Penn Jillette's Penn Radio, the hour long radio show that ran on Free FM on weekdays, has ended. Daily, Penn stood up for liberty, and always defended the libertarian "nut point of view."

I just found out about this because I had been listening to the podcasts, with quite a bit of delay. The last show aired on March 2.

Don't fret though. The show ended because Penn is so busy. You can see him elsewhere because he's involved in a number of other projects, and there's a good chance that he'll be back in radio in the future.

Recording CLR would make a great podcast, come to think of it.

Virginia is for Lovers

Loving v. Virginia

A panel discussion on the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court case that outlawed Virginia's prohibition of interracial marriage.

Philip Hirschkop, Independent Virginia Attorney
Lead Counsel representing the Lovings before the Supreme Court

Robert A. Pratt, Department of History Chair, University of Georgia
Childhood Neighbor of the Lovings; author of articles on the case

Earl Dudley, UVA Professor of Law
Supreme Court clerk when the case was argued

Thursday March 15, 2007
4:00-6:00 PM
Kaleidoscope Lounge in Newcomb Hall, 3rd Floor
Light Refreshments Provided

Sponsored by the Carter G. Woodson Institute for
African-American and African Studies and the Center for the Study of Race and Law

Contact abd5e@virginia.edu for more information

Fun with Eugenics (?!)

The Undergraduate Bioethics Society will meet tomorrow (Tuesday) evening, March 13. The speaker will be Elizabeth Fenton, a graduate student in Philosophy who has just published the article "Liberal Eugenics & Human Nature: Against Habermas" in the Hastings Center Report.

Who: Elizabeth Fenton, Cand. PhD
What: Liberal Eugenics: Against the Critics
When: 7:00-8:15 PM, March 13
Where: 101 Cocke Hall

We are all rightly horrified by the kind of eugenics that inspired the Nazis and the American sterilization movement, but what are the prospects for a more benign, positive brand of eugenics--i.e., genetic enhancement for the betterment of individual lives, freely chosen by individual parents? Some critics, like the famous German philosopher Jurgen Habermas, claim that such genetic tinkering undermines the distinction between the natural and the manufactured, and thereby undermines the ability of "enhanced" children to see themselves as the authors of their own lives. They thus condemn genetic enhancement technology as unethical. Elizabeth Fenton disagrees.

Rumor has it that light refreshments will be served along with good conversation.

Any crime is domestic terrorism.

"Domestic terrorism" is weirdly broad.


Via BoingBoing.

Potential Legislation about Homosexuals in the Military

This story screamed CLR.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070228-113750-3284r.htm

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?

Brown College Short Courses

Hey everyone,

Both Wyatt and I are teaching short courses through Brown College this year- information about the courses can be found here. If one piques your interest, email the instructor.

http://www.brown-college.org/?page=courses

US Court System V. US Government

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/washington/26nsa.html?hp&ex=1169874000&en=9044950dc6386d92&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Seems like an appropriate topic for discussion.

First Meeting of the Semester

Hey kids, our first meeting will be this Sunday. Among the topics that anyone else wants to bring up, we'll talk about:

• The accumulation of power under George W. Bush
• Aramark food at UVA
• Increasing membership both among people who perform political actions and people who talk about issues