Worth Reading for June 2008

6/30 Poking fun at the enemy. I’m late to the game of Penn & Teller’s series of short videos. Here are three: signing petitions to ban water, two nasty and petty WalMart critics, a (painfully hilarious) look at recycling fanaticism. Of course, some lefties write as though they’re setting themselves up for a Penn and Teller routine, so here is Johan Norberg’s critique of
Naomi Wolf’s shockingly bad Shock Doctrine.

6/29 Fascinating developments in automobile manufacturing. Which makes one wonder why Ford is doing this in Brazil and not the United States. (Thanks to Karen for the link.) And Sean Casten, CEO and President of Recycled Energy Development, give examples of how regulation of the energy industry
slows innovation in energy efficiency.

6/28 Reena Kapoor has this exasperated response to Indoctrinate U, a documentary about p.c. run amok on college campuses. And John Palmer has an item on why, not to be outdone by American universities, one British council has banned “brainstorming”. I had no idea how insensitive I’ve been all these years. Meanwhile, at the other end of the rhetorical sensitivity spectrum, Isaac Amirian investigates the often-used category scheme
People I Agree With, and People Who are Just Like Adolf Hitler.

6/27 Jerry Kirkpatrick, author of Montessori, Dewey, and Capitalism reflects on excellent teaching and “turning caterpillars into butterflies.” By contrast, here are two chilling examples of anti-human environmentalism, one urging children to “find out what age you should die at so you don’t use more than your fair share of Earth’s resources.”

6/24 A brave article by Jed Perl on the vacuous nihilism of the high art world. A key quotation: “For Matthew Barney, Richard Prince, and now Cai Guo-Qiang, having a retrospective at the Guggenheim is like being a Visigoth who has been given the keys to Rome. At the Guggenheim, the staff no longer curates exhibitions. They simply invite an artist to come in and rape the place.”

6/23 Architect Peter Cresswell has a fine collection of posts on examples of excellence in architecture. Architecture student Brett Holverstott discusses his three favorite architects. And for fun, a New York City apartment that is also a scavenger hunt puzzle. (Thanks to Chris for the link.)

6/20 Dark humor from the grim past: a collection of Soviet Communism jokes. (Via EclectEcon.) My favorite: Question: “Why do the KGB operate in groups of three?” Answer: “One can read, one can write, and one to keep an eye on the two intellectuals.” Some interesting observations here: “The symbol of the Communist Party of the United States is copyrighted, as is their website. The website sells advertising space. The Communist Party of USA website has an on-line gift shop selling anti-capitalist slogans, bumper stickers, t-shirts and books (postage extra). You can pay with any major credit card. The site moves at a sluggish, socialist snail’s-pace.” And for the punsters: “Why do Communists only drink herbal tea? Because proper tea is theft.” More seriously: Steve Butterbaugh posts the text of Ayn Rand’s short essay “The Only Path to Tomorrow”, originally published in Reader’s Digest one year after the publication of The Fountainhead and eighteen years after she left the Soviet Union. Lest we forget: Worth an online tour are Bryan Caplan’s Museum of Communism and a Czech Museum of Communism.

6/19 The lessons of politicized health science: the case of AIDS. Update: Lester Hunt has this commentary. And art as political propaganda: the table of contents for the latest issue of Art in America sums up the current zeitgeist very well. (Via 2 Blowhards.)

6/18 Over at the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship, Professor Shawn Klein has three one-minute videos on three courses he teaches – Introduction to Philosophy, Business and Economic Ethics, and his new Sports Ethics course. 6/16 Rossputin has this sharp response to junk science believed by those who should know better. And Not PC explains where the new atheists are weak.

6/12 More fruits of the Enlightenment: The New York Times reports that U.S. life expectancy reaches new record high. (Subtitle: “Environmentalists blame George Bush.”) Here is an eye-opening historical table with data on Life Expectancy by Age, 1850-2004.

6/11 Is the old adage false? “Americans see a solution for every problem. Europeans see a problem with every solution.” Rich Karlgaard on rising Euro optimism. Maybe this is a sign of new times: after slipping again in the international art-sales rankings, France moves to deregulate its art markets. Yet whatever the troubles in Europe and America, be glad you’re not an albino in Tanzania.

6/10 This is cool: a fifty-five meter wide photo of the Milky Way, on display in St. Louis. At the other end of the size spectrum, scientists discover bacteria that have survived in 120,000-year-old ice in Greenland. And evolutionary enlightenment at last: Why men have breasts. Didn’t need to know about the manzeer, though.

6/9 The future of international politics? In Orbis, John Fonte on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the ideological war within the West: liberal democracy versus transnational progressivism. (Thanks to Bob H. for the link.)

6/6 Progress round-up: Johan Norberg notes that, excluding Iraq, worldwide terrorism has declined 40% since 2001 and combat deaths in sub-Saharan Africa have decline 98% since 1999. Here is the full report (PDF). Norman Borlaug on agricultural productivity in the twentieth century. And our flourishing sports culture means that so many people can make big money doing what they love – Sports Illustrated lists the top fifty money-making athletes and notes that Tiger Woods will likely become the first billion-dollar athlete. (Interesting that while such numbers bring out some ignorance and envy by commentators, business professionals’ earning similar amounts brings out much more vitriol.) However, I can confirm that, as of yesterday, progress has not been made here: Chicago O’Hare is the nation’s most time-draining airport.

6/5 Do voters know enough economics for democracy to work? A good summary article by George Mason University economist Bryan Caplan of his “The Myth of the Rational Voter” thesis. (Thanks to Frank for the link.) The full book was published in 2007 by Princeton University Press. And does this British Columbia (kangaroo) court know enough about free speech for Canada to remain a civilized and truly liberal nation? (Thanks to Charlie for the link.)

6/4 Japan round-up: I am re-reading Shogun, one of my very, very favorite novels. Here is Marsha Enright’s essay reviewing Clavell’s life and writings: “James Clavell’s Asian Adventures.” Turner Wright at Matador Study itemizes ten Japanese customs worth knowing before your next trip. And Tyler Cowen has these thoughts on Japanese cooperation.

6/3 Still a classic: sociologist Stephen Katz’s How to Speak and Write Postmodern. (Thanks to Bob M. for the link.) Or as I would have titled it: Analytics of Discursive Postmetanarrative Textualizations – Post-colonial Fragmentation or Neo-Antistructuralism?