4/30 Mathematical brilliance, hard work, and the serendipity of cultural networks combine to solve
a priceless tapestry puzzle. And here is a solid piece of applied math for business professionals on
calculating the sometimes-awesome economic value of networks. (Thanks to Joe for the link.)
4/29 The web log of
philosopher Irfan Khawaja of The College of New Jersey, where I taught for two years back in the early 1990s. Khawaja is also the new Executive Director of the worthy Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society.
4/28 Why the F.D.A.’s regulations kill more people than they save. Check out DB’s rants on government-run health care. And for some good news: stem cells cure dog.
4/27 Law professor Larry Ribstein’s essay on Hollywood’s anti-capitalist bias. (Note: PDF format. Thanks to Bob H. for the link.)
4/26 Historian Ralph Raico on
authentic liberalism in 19th century German thought. (Thanks to Brent for the link.)
4/25 Lisa Snell of the Reason Public Policy Institute wonders why the math abilities of America 15-year olds lag behind those of comparable students in other developed nations. Here is the
Carnival of Education, a round-up of blog postings on education. And keep up with Mark Lerner, who often blogs on education issues from the D. C. area.
4/23 William Shakespeare died on this day in 1616. Here are the complete plays of Shakespeare online. And at the Blowhards’: What Renaissance urban demographics can teach us about Romeo and Juliet.
4/22 Robert Bidinotto explains the psychology of conspiracy theories. And worth reading again is this answer to the question: Are the Masons secretly running the universe?
4/21 In The New York Times Magazine, a mostly-fine discussion of the
Constitution in Exile movement, with profiles of luminaries Richard Epstein, Chip Mellor, Michael Greve, and Randy Barnett. (Note: requires login at the NYT’s site.) Barnett is also the winner of this year’s Lysander Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty for his fine book,
Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty.
4/20 Actress and leftist activist Jane Fonda has published her controversial memoirs. Columnist Michelle Malkin diagnoses a case of Aging Celebrity Hippie Syndrome. (Thanks to Erika for the link.) And lawyer Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer’s book, Aid and Comfort: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam, indicts Fonda for her Vietnam activities.
4/19 The Art Renewal Center announces the winners of its second annual International ARC Salon Competition.
4/18 Peter Cresswell’s ironically-named blog, Not PC, which is, in fact, entirely P.C.
4/16 The future of the environmental movements? Stewart Brand makes some bold predictions. Here is a good source for environmental data and indicators. And here is Charles Krauthammer’s classic sane, humanistic approach to environmental values. (Thanks to Bob H. for the latter suggestion.)
4/15 The Objectivist Center’s Ed Hudgins on April 15 as a day of moral shame. And in the Washington Times, Hudgins argues that the tax code encourages predatory pocket-picking. Update: This year, Tax Freedom Day is April 17. Aaarrgghhhhhh.
4/14 Photographs of The Future Is In Our Hands, a masterpiece of sculpture in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Thanks to Brett for the link.) Here is the website of the sculptor, Stuart Mark Feldman.
4/13 Today is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. Historian David Mayer on
remembering Jefferson. And here are Jefferson’s official White House biography and the website for his home at Monticello.
4/12 From Delhi, India: The Liberty Institute’s profile of Ayn Rand. (Thanks to Bob H. for the link.) And Bettina Greaves reviews the latest issue of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies and asks: To what extent was Rand a Misesian?
4/11 Reflecting upon the death of Pope John Paul II, Lindsay Perigo launches a spirited discussion of what Objectivists can learn from Catholics.
4/9 Alvaro Vargas Llosa on
the individualist legacy in Latin America.
4/8 Canada versus free speech: When an idiot makes anti-Semitic remarks, what should one do – laugh at him, sneer at him, ignore him, or put him on trial for hate crimes?
4/7 A writer who would have been: Hong Zhang’s touching vignette of a literary soul growing up during communist China’s stifling Cultural Revolution. And a sobering reminiscence of life under communism in Albania – and measures taken against that dangerous capitalist weapon, the saxophone.
4/6 The Institute for Liberal Values, based in New Zealand, has a fine archive of
articles worth browsing.
4/4 Gene Callahan’s review of Jared Diamond’s geography-is-destiny theory of history. Philosopher Roderick Long takes on Diamond’s interpretation of the Icelandic minimal-government era. And here is my introduction to the fascinating field of philosophy of history.
4/2 Keeping up with Junk Science.
4/1 At the Independent Institute, Donald Downs summarizes attacks on free speech from both left and right. And here is a link to Professor Downs’s Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus, published last year by Cambridge.