Yglesias » What’s the Point of Medicare Privatization?

Yes, absolutely. What Matt says....

Yglesias » What’s the Point of Medicare Privatization?

Yglesias » Higher Education From 50,000 Feet

Matt nails it again.

Yale is “better” than the University of Connecticut so funds flow to it. But in our current setup, better simply means more exclusive. It’s a measure of the quality of the inputs, not the quality of the instruction. The result is that both the public sector and the civic sphere are essentially acting to redistribute wealth and opportunities upwards.

Yglesias » Higher Education From 50,000 Feet

The Wayback Machine

Peter Baker dixit:

Mr. Clinton’s lowest postelection moment arguably came less than 24 hours before he began his comeback. In April 1995, he was reduced to arguing at a news conference that “the president is relevant.” The next day, bombers blew up an Oklahoma City federal building, and Mr. Clinton’s steady, reassuring and empathetic response made him more of a national leader.

I remember the "Is the President still relevant" meme from way back when, and I have only one question (two, actually): Who were the journalists pushing this meme back then, and, if they are still in business, why are they still in business?

Odd Man Out | Open Mind

Tamino schools Anthony Watts yet again. I fear there's dirt in my yard smarter than Watts....

Odd Man Out | Open Mind

DeLong Smackdown Watch: Nick Rowe Metaphysical Necessity of Monetarism Edition - Grasping Reality with Both Hands

Brad DeLong gives us an economy of baristas and yoga instructors as a way of explaining the (late?) recession.

DeLong Smackdown Watch: Nick Rowe Metaphysical Necessity of Monetarism Edition - Grasping Reality with Both Hands

Tax Deal Puts Economy between a Rock and a Hard Place - TheFiscalTimes.com

I'm afraid Bruce Bartlett may be right. Which is bad news, indeed.

Tax Deal Puts Economy between a Rock and a Hard Place - TheFiscalTimes.com

Leaked Fox News Emails Show Deliberate Slant On Health Care Coverage

I'm shocked. Just shocked.

The greatest track and field performance of all time?

I could mount an argument for Daniel Komen's 7:20.67 3000 meters race from 1996, equivalent to a 7:55 for 2 miles.

Monbiot.com » Impervious to Learning

Quote of the day: "Journalism is a mistake waiting to happen. With tight deadlines, big rewards for shock and awe and small rewards for methodical, less spectacular work, with an inverse relationship between volume and truth in public life, reporters tend to stumble from one accident to another."

--George Monbiot

Monbiot.com » Impervious to Learning

Yglesias » The News From Iceland

Years of growth wiped out. But Iceland is still doing better than Ireland, etc.

Yglesias » The News From Iceland

3 Oregon deer attack and injure barking dog - Odds and Ends - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

So this is why Zoe has stopped barking at the deer in our yard...

Ah, London

For everyone (like me) who truly, madly, deeply loves London...

Who and what are we?

So many fundamentalist Christians seem to model themselves on the God of the Old Testament, that vengeful, wrathful, judgmental Deity. But they (and we) are not vengeful, wrathful, judgmental deities; we are fallen, flawed creatures for whom humility is the correct response to the riddle of life and compassion the correct response to the suffering of our fellow humans.

On An Overgrown Path: Now we rise and are everywhere

"Evensong sung by the college choir in the 15th century chapel is one of the great free experiences of the Western world"

And one of these days...

On An Overgrown Path: Now we rise and are everywhere

On An Overgrown Path: WFMT Chicago shows the Brits a thing or two

Everyone should be reading "On An Overgrown Path."

On An Overgrown Path: WFMT Chicago shows the Brits a thing or two

More on torture

Torture is the act of inflicting pain and suffering on an individual over whom we have complete control. As such it is the exemplar of extreme human cruelty. I can accept that someone may be driven to torture because of circumstances that are overwhelming at the moment. That person I can forgive. I cannot accept torture as policy. Leave aside the illegality. Leave aside the sophistry that would have us believe that after centuries waterboarding is no longer to be considered torture. To torture is to darken one's soul. As an instrument of national policy, torture darkens the nation's soul.

On Torture

Anyone who chooses to support torture is on the horns of Plato's dilemma: to paraphrase,

Are we good people because we do good things? Or do we do good things because we are good people?

If we choose the latter, I'm afraid it's all too easy to justify actions because of our "goodness". When it's pointed out that waterboarding is a technique used by the Spanish Inquisition and the Khmer Rouge (and a technique used primarily to elicit false confessions) torture supporters, like Mark Thiessen, become enraged: when they did it it was bad; When we do it, it's good, or at least morally neutral, because our motives are pure, and our enemies are so evil. Or they try to point out trivial differences: we didn't tie our victims down with wire, but used less "painful" restraints. I find it difficult to conceive of a more morally incoherent position. Their arguments reduce to "We're Americans. We're special."

One could be tempted to use the principle of double effect to justify torture, as Aquinas did in justifying murder in self defense. Motives are important, and it's tempting to justify torture in terms of protecting us and our loved ones, our country. But the action of torture cannot be morally neutral. The intent of torture is to inflict pain and suffering on someone totally under out control. It cannot be merely a by-product or side effect of actions taken for honorable purposes; and the Catholic Church, I think, has it right: torture is morally abhorrent in all circumstances. One does wish, though, that the church was a bit more forthright about their actions in the past, some of which involved the torture and murder of some of my wife's ancestors in the Albigensian Crusades.

I think Thiessen is a tribalist; which is to say that he is a type of relativist who believes that moral law allows us to treat those not of our tribe differently. He is not alone. I have heard a particular priest creep very close to that position in a number of sermons not long after 9/11 (but not recently; I fancy he feels differently now...).

There's also the problem of the innocent. Torture supporters seem unable to admit that many of those we tortured were not terrorists at all, but people who ended up in our custody for any number of reasons, from tribal rivalries and treachery to the payment of bounties, always a source of corruption. How does one possibly justify the torture of innocents?

Nietsche was right: "Avoid people who have a strong impulse to punish."

Beamish & Crawford Brewery, Cork, Ireland, Private Treaty Sale, Brewery Equipment for Sale, Brewery Auctions | Moody Auctions

Boy, is this depressing.

I had a pint of Beamish at a pub within sight of this brewery a few years ago.

Beamish & Crawford Brewery, Cork, Ireland, Private Treaty Sale, Brewery Equipment for Sale, Brewery Auctions | Moody Auctions