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.