the pilcrow press

Visiting Fulbright Chair in the Theory and Practice of Federalism and Constitutionalism

2010-07-15T11:46:00.002-05:00

Visiting Fulbright Chair in the Theory and Practice of Federalism and ConstitutionalismMcGill University, Department of Political Science and Research Group on Constitutional Studies, 2011-2012.Open to US citizens (who are not also Canadian citizens or permanent residents); must have received Ph.D. by the end of 2010.Stipend of $US 25,000 for stays of 4-9 months.Specializations: Normative,

G. A. Cohen is dead

2009-08-05T15:30:00.003-05:00

G. A. Cohen died last night of a stroke at 68, an age that, at least for academics (and more so for him), is still ripe and young. There are brief online notices by Chris Bertam, Lawrence Solum, and Brian Leiter. Many link to his valedictory address. I regret never to have met him, as I hear from all places that he was a pleasure to behold, but I have been deeply challenged by his criticisms of

Our long national nightmare is over

2008-11-05T15:50:00.002-06:00

Last night in Grant Park...Hello, Chicago.If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by

Typing the nation

2008-10-23T09:28:00.007-05:00

Via ilovetypography.com, an exhibit on the relationship between type design and national identity.This is from the discussion of type design that sought to transcend national character:Nationalistic fervor went hand-in-hand with the tragic political history of 20th century Europe. Many designers, particularly in the wakes of the world wars, argued that the modern world demanded a more

Law and self-promotion

2008-10-06T15:51:00.002-05:00

I've just been told that a snippet of a review I wrote of Harold Berman's Law and Revolution II festoons the back cover of the paperback edition.¶ This must be a new low in the history of self-promotion.Well, I am flattered that Berman (or the publicist) thought my opinion quote-worthy, but I'm mostly grateful for his work and legacy.

The more things change...

2008-08-10T12:08:00.004-05:00

Via kottke, the New Republic has an article about Chicago's transformation into a European-style (or, for that matter, Latin American-style) central city.In the past three decades, Chicago has undergone changes that are routinely described as gentrification, but are in fact more complicated and more profound than the process that term suggests. A better description would be "demographic inversion

Teach the controversy!

2008-08-08T09:55:00.004-05:00

There are plenty of witty t-shirt sites on the Internets, and most are occasionally funny. But this is a minor masterpiece.The geocentric model shirt will also be a hit among those interested in Adam Smith's exhaustive treatment of epicycles.And many more!

Wish-list while you work

2008-06-22T13:06:00.009-05:00

UPDATE: Thanks Andrew! My first bleg, and aswered oh so quickly.I'm about to leave the country for a while, and want to take full advantage of my customs allowance, so I'm thinking of ordering a few things to bring back. The first item on the list is this seemingly wonderful contraption, which should save me (read: my RA) lots of time and trouble.:CueCat!My intention is to scan my entire library

Unexpected Rawlsiana

2008-04-02T12:24:00.002-05:00

From David Reidy's introduction to the Ashgate volume on Rawls (with links added):Rawls himself painted – mainly in the abstract expressionist style – until the early 1960s; he cited Pollock and de Kooning as his artistic heros.

Rawls on the web

2008-03-25T20:50:00.002-05:00

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has posted Leif Wenar's article on John Rawls. I have some things to finish before I get to read it, but a quick glance at the table of contents suggests that it will be a worthwhile read, and a good resource for students in theory courses needing a quick introduction to Rawls. Kudos for discussing overlooked themes like the role of political philosophy,

The political type

2008-02-20T07:47:00.003-06:00

UPDATE: The other campaign banners I saw must have been John Edwards'. Thanks to Lars Modest for the pointer.The folks at Helvetica: A Documentary Film have posted a clip about the development of the Gotham typeface. You will recognize it as the face on the Barack Obama "Change We Can Believe In" banners. Obama's use of Gotham is not news, but the clip is interesting, especially because Jonathan

McGill mourns with NIU

2008-02-15T19:34:00.004-06:00

This, alas, is becoming all too common. Our sympathies to the NIU community.McGill mourns with NIUFebruary 15, 2008On behalf of all faculty, staff and students in the McGill University community, Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum has expressed her deepest sorrow and concern at the tragic news of the deadly shootings at Northern Illinois University on February 14.“We are shocked

Prime time

2008-02-12T19:05:00.001-06:00

UPDATE: The clip is online. Click on Episode 7 (Nov. 20, 2007) and then on "Mercer: At Harvey's with Chrétien".So I'm watching a rerun of the Rick Mercer Report.¶ No, I didn't know either, but it's like a Canadian version of the Daily Show. The point is, I had a realization: Jean Chrétien is a very, very funny man. And that's my daily lesson in Canadian politics.

National founters

2008-02-09T19:10:00.000-06:00

This is funny.¶ Yeah, if only in this blog.Some of the original Guardian articles are here and there, and the twelve-year follow-up is yonderward. The Wikitravel guide overdoes it a little.

About time

2008-02-09T15:48:00.000-06:00

The University of Chicago's superlatively underwhelming home page is about to get a thorough makeover. I can't wait. From the looks of it, the style will be similar to the current Law School page, but more horizontally oriented.I never wondered who designed the Chicago page because, well, it doesn't seem designed at all. Compare that to Pentagram's work for Brown, or the old Yale website, since

Big Red Barack

2008-02-06T18:36:00.000-06:00

Looking at the NYT's Democratic results map, I noticed that ole' Tompkins is the only county in New York state to have gone for Obama. That New York would be solidly in Hillary's column doesn't surprise. But neither does the Tompkins exception. After all, it's been the only Democratic bastion in upstate New York for god knows how long, and Ithaca had an officially Democratic Socialist major for a

I get the joy of rediscovering you

2008-02-05T18:25:00.000-06:00

How often do you feel the urge to sin a Journey song to your own blog? ¶ ...That's what I thought. In any case, I decided to look around these parts, click on a few blogroll links, blow the dust off the sidebars and, whaddaya know? Blogstreet has moved to India. It's not outsourcing, it's an outright buyout. The logo is pretty much the same, but now they only list blogs about India or by Indian

Labels

2008-02-04T18:38:00.001-06:00

I have begun a long and arduous labeling process. And then I've given up on the "long and arduous" part and just decided to labels the most recent posts.¶ It's not like anyone reads this blog anymore.

Obamapalooza

2008-02-04T17:54:00.000-06:00

I got this off Eszter's post at Crooked Timber.The thread goes on and on about how the video is schmaltzy and won't change people's minds, and I have to agree, for the most part. I doubt that a hard-core Hillary supporter would switch sides over celebrity endorsements. If that is the intention of the producer of the video, then they are a bit deceived.An election advertisement, however, is only

Was this someone in my class?

2008-01-23T20:19:00.000-06:00

There's an "Overheard at..." at McGill! And this is what was heard here:Of Foils and PhilosophyFencer 1: See, I’m a dualist, and he’s a monist.Fencer 2: Well, since we’re fencers, we’re technically all dualists.Fencer 1: Yeah, I guess he just duals himself.- Fencing TournamentI'll have to read it in "Pluralism" tomorrow.

The non-identity problem. Not.

2008-01-17T19:05:00.000-06:00

Perhaps the significance of these philosophical meditations is only self-evident to a parent. But children seem to provoke them with unnerving regularity.

Cronología

2007-07-27T19:06:00.000-05:00

El 25 de julio es fecha importante:En 1593, Enrique IV—futuro rey de Francia—renunció al protestantismo como condición para entrar a París.En 1848, nació Arthur James Balfour, diplomático británico cuya Declaración Balfour sentó las bases de la eventual creación del Estado de Israel.En 1952, Puerto Rico adoptó la Constitutión del Estado Libre Asociado.En 1990, Lucien Bouchard fundó el Bloc

Today, I am a man

2007-07-01T14:49:00.000-05:00

Well, that's not entirely accurate (the part about today, I mean). But as of today, I am officially an Assistant Professor of Law and Politics at McGill University and, as these things go in Montréal, also a Professeur adjoint de Droit et Politique à l'université de McGill.

Spoonfeeding

2007-03-30T02:00:00.000-05:00

So it's 2am. I just finished writing two recommendation letters, and preparing the student list for the undergraduate housing lottery. As Lou Reed would (more convincingly) say, "I am tired, I am weary. I could sleep for a thousand years."So what am I doing looking at a Flickr gallery of airline spoons? Beats the hell out of me.

Dilemma

2007-02-20T15:48:00.000-06:00

What ought one to think of a book the first chapter of which opens with the word "Hegelianwise"?

Milton Friedman (1912-2006)

2006-11-16T15:14:00.000-06:00

Milton Friedman has died, at 94. The University of Chicago has an obituary.

Celebratory caution

2006-11-08T14:43:00.000-06:00

Philister über dir, Simson!—Pastor Götze (Jena, 1693)Believe me, I am as glad as any yellow dog about the Democratic sweep of the House and their probable control of the Senate. Just a few years ago I heard William Galston mournfully predict that the Democrats were more likely to retake the Presidency than to win either chamber, mainly because the Democratic Party has historically been unable to

Keep crescating your sententiae

2006-11-05T22:35:00.000-06:00

Those old friends of the pilcrow, Will Baude and co. at Crescat Sententia, have been nastilly swindles off their righteous URL but, hardy folks that they are, they've wasted no time setting up a new shop.So update your links: Crescat Sententia is now at www.crescatsententia.net.And let the old URL never be mentioned again in these parts.

Shrimpy

2006-10-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

The featured recipe on the back of my Morton's Coarse Kosher Salt box is Baked Asian Shrimp with Thai Sauce. Delicious, I'm sure, but decidedly not kosher.Not that there's anything wong with that. I mean, kosher salt is the gourmet chef's salt of choice, and gourmet cheffery is not limited to any one religious persuasion, but come on. Couldn't they have chosen Baked Asian Brisket?

The time's a-coming

2006-10-10T16:16:00.000-05:00

[Via Will at Crescat, ultimately.]These days, few things exercise me enough to post here, and this is one of them.For too long, Republicans promised smaller government and less intrusion in people?s lives. Yet with a government dominated top to bottom by Republicans, we?ve seen the exact opposite. No one will ever mistake a Democrat of just about any stripe for a doctrinaire libertarian. But we?

Happy day-after-Bastille day

2006-07-15T12:02:00.000-05:00

I forgot to note this year's Bastille day on the blog, though I did remember to toast the French Revolution yesterday, with champagne and friends. Salut!

Empirical questions

2006-07-14T18:24:00.000-05:00

I read this in the NY Times, and again quoted in Haaretz:A distinction must be made between legitimate resistance and uncalculated adventures undertaken by elements inside (Lebanon) and those behind them without recourse to the legal authorities and consulting and coordinating with Arab nations," a statement carried by the official news agency [Saudi Press Agency] said.These elements should bear

Where least expected

2006-07-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

The Jewish presence in Puerto Rico is about 0.0001% of the population. Why, then, do I hear nothing on the radio but anti-Semitic drivel that could have been lifted straight from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? This morning some nameless commentator was arguing that the reason for the United States veto of the latest Security Council resolution was that the Jews control education, government

1188 lüftballons

2006-03-24T12:06:00.000-06:00

At 5:06 minutes in duration, it should be possible to play 99 lüftballons twelve times in one hour one minute and twelve seconds, which is apparently what VH1 intends to do on Sunday. I'm sure that interest was sparked by our recent comments.Thanks to Emily for the link.

Voter's remorse

2006-03-21T17:02:00.000-06:00

Today is the Illinois primary... and I voted for G-Rod, and I feel sick about it. I did it for the party, because I thought that Topinka would be more difficult to beat if an outsider with no machine support and no benefit of incumbency was running against her. But I shouldn't have done it, and I wish I could take it back. G-Rod doesn't deserve to win again. On the other hand, the new

As I write a paper and listen to Nena

2006-02-13T16:32:00.000-06:00

The 1980s were not a good time for politics or fashion (with the exception of the Wall falling, although I was more ambivalent about it then). But the music was great. Not that it made any sense. I mean, what the hell were those ninety-nine lüftbaloons doing in the war zone anyway?UPDATE: Heard it again. I seems that a couple of spoiled children of some Politburo honcho released them from their

December 2nd

2006-02-12T10:49:00.000-06:00

I suppose that I owe someone an explanation for my silence on this blog since December of last year. The answer is quite simple: the day after my post on James Mill, my son was born. ¶ No, I didn't name him "John Stuart" as a result.In any case, I've had to restructure my time to keep on top of parenthood and academia, and my blogging has been put in deep freeze for the time being. I'll let you

James Mill

2005-12-01T09:49:00.000-06:00

Cross posted at Political Arguments. From the Stanford Encyclopedia, an article on James (he's more than John Stuart's dad!) Mill, by Terence Ball. James Mill (1773?1836) was a Scots-born political philosopher, historian, psychologist, educational theorist, economist, and legal, political and penal reformer. Well-known and highly regarded in his day, he is now all but forgotten. Mill's

Trashy

2005-11-17T11:18:00.000-06:00

From Essey, a Danish design firm, comes Bin Bin, one of the prettiest trash bins I've seen.(Via Core77.)

The ingestion of tradition

2005-11-16T09:15:00.000-06:00

My campus paper reports that the USDA made a surprise visit to one of the student eateries a little over a week ago and found that some "meat and poultry dishes from several Hyde Park vendors did not comply with federal regulations."According to Amy Conners, the general manager of Cobb, the food was problematic because the vendors required a processor's license from the USDA in addition to a

Tuckness on Lockeness

2005-11-09T17:25:00.000-06:00

Cross posted at Political Arguments. Alex Tuckness, a political theorist at Iowa State, has just published an article on Locke's Political Philosophy in the Stanford Encyclopedia. John Locke (1632-1704), is among the most influential political philosophers of the modern period. In the Two Treatises of Government, he defended the claim that men are by nature free and equal against claims that

Alito bit of this, Alito bit of that

2005-11-06T19:23:00.000-06:00

Cross posted at Political Arguments. I haven't had the time to comment on the Samuel Alito nomination; I've been too busy with a paper submission and an upcoming fellowship application. Man does not live by blog alone. So I thought I'd refer y'all to Cass Sunstein, from the University of Chicago Law School, who's discussed the matter at some length in an Op-Ed in the Washington Post and an

I am an anachronism?

2005-10-29T16:17:00.000-05:00

Via Feministe. I couldn't resist. You are a Tortured Conceptual Artist. Your fellowpostmodernists call you an anachronism, butyou've never cared much about the opinions ofothers. After all, most of them are far toosimple-minded to appreciate the nuances of yourwork. They talk, while you are part of a livedtradition. What kind of postmodernist are you!? brought to you by Quizilla I suppose

Keep your Sox on!

2005-10-27T01:15:00.000-05:00

I don't follow sports much, but I am a proud Chicagoan now and this is very good news:The White Sox completed their incredible conquest Wednesday night, eliminating the final demons that haunted the franchise since their last World Series title in 1917.They completed their stunning run in a manner that mirrored their amazingly successful season, riding the pitching of Freddy Garcia and the

Reflections on the Revolution in Victor

2005-10-26T00:04:00.000-05:00

I am slowly and reluctantly realizing that I am a rather conservative Rawlsian. I find myself quoting Edmund Burke and A Theory of Justice in the same sentence (both approvingly!) and falling back on theories of the "ancient constitution" to counter contemporary democratic absolutism. All the while defending gay rights, reproductive rights and the legalization of, well, everything. Strange trip,

The Phoebean condition

2005-10-20T22:24:00.000-05:00

Cross posted at Political Arguments. Some of the contributors to this blog are bound to get a kick out of this: Let me say this: Hannah Arendt was super-cool. I would venture to say she might even beat Ed Koch in the smart Ashkenazi Jew department. Reading Arendt, or just reading about her, is the intellectual equivalent of seeing Amanda Peet at the City Bakery—why can't that be me? If there is

Comment of the week

2005-10-18T18:45:00.000-05:00

Cross posted at Political Arguments. From Reason's "Hit and Run": Q:What do you give the girl who has everything? A:Imperium I thought it was funny.

The little things

2005-10-13T10:22:00.000-05:00

Bloglines has unveiled a very useful new feature. They now display new and saved posts separately on the feeds list, separated by a colon. ¶ If none of this is comprehensible to you, then you are still safe. Walk away now. There is still hope for you. It was originally a bit confusing to me, since, in my line of work, numbers in the form 15:3 usually mean "volume 15, issue 3" in a journal. But

Ombudsing

2005-10-09T13:03:00.000-05:00

The latest issue of The University of Chicago Magazine ran a piece on the Office of the Student Ombudsperson, which I currently head. The article was written by Hana Yoo, a student in the College and a summer intern at the Magazine.It is an office of the students, by the students, and for the students. Student staffed and answering only to the University president, the ombudsperson?s office, "

What though the field be lost?

2005-10-08T12:08:00.000-05:00

We are reminded by Tyler Cowen that today is the three hundred and thirty first anniversary of John Milton's death. From Paradise Lost:"... What though the field be lost?All is not lost—the unconquerable will,And study of revenge, immortal hate,And courage never to submit or yield:And what is else not to be overcome?That glory never shall his wrath or mightExtort from me. To bow and sue for

Spirit of #76

2005-10-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

Via Jacob Levy (who isn't blogging, really!), we get Lawrence Solum ventriloquizing Alexander Hamilton's opinion on Miers... from beyond the graaaaaave!. In fact, it's from Federalist #76. But never have , , and had a funnier effect.Dan Drezner also collects a number of very pointed remarks from the right side of the blogosphere. Let's just hope that the Miers farce convinces

The word from Chicago

2005-10-05T13:30:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments.For folks outside the Windy city, here's the opinion of two University of Chicago professors on the Miers nomination. Geoffrey R. Stone—former Dean of the U of C Law School—points out that Miers is grossly underqualified for the position when measured against her potential brethren currently sitting on the Court.Nominees to the Supreme Court are supposed to be

Sayre-McCord on Moral Realism

2005-10-03T22:47:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on "Moral Realism" by none other than Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, one of the most important living metaethicians. I haven't read it yet, but will do so first thing tomorrow morning. It opens thus: Taken at face value, the claim that Nigel has a moral obligation to keep his promise, like the claim that Nyx is

Justice Miers it is

2005-10-03T07:50:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. Bush has nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Miers has no judicial experience at any level—state or federal—and no elective experience except for one term in the Dallas City Council. This could make for interesting cases, but I'm too attached to the civil-law idea of a judicial career to think it's a bonus. Judging requires

Unpaid leave

2005-09-30T15:33:00.000-05:00
It was not an entirely voluntary retreat from blogging. Rather, the abbysmal service provided by MCI drove me to cancel my phone and DSL instead of waiting for a change of address that never came. Of course, this cut me off from the rest of the virtual world for a few weeks, and only a month later am I catching up. My Bloglines page has thousands of posts, most of which I'll never get to. Oh well

Bad pilcrow!

2005-08-30T16:57:00.000-05:00
There is an unspoken contract between the blogger and the audience. I write, you read. I have not been keeping up my end of the bargain.¶ But surely, the paltry readership that this miserable blog gets each day—even on the good days, when it gets a nod from Crescat—makes for a rather flimsy contract, doesn't it? Shush! The first rule of pilcrow: we don't talk about pilcrow! Not like that

Where are YOU?

2005-08-19T14:21:00.000-05:00
Via Michael Green, there's a new toy in the pilcrow press chest: a visitor log that maps the visitors to this site. I have no idea of how it works, or if it's at all accurate. But just in case, let me extend a warm welcome to the anonymous reader from Tarzana, CA!

Collective and corporate

2005-08-09T11:20:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments.The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new and interesting article on Collective Responsibility: The notion of collective responsibility, like that of personal responsibility and shared responsibility, refers to both the causal responsibility of moral agents for harm in the world and the blameworthiness that we ascribe to them for having caused such harm

Little Green Book

2005-08-08T11:33:00.000-05:00
UPDATE: Will has set me right. The "Little Green Book" of note is an introduction to modern statistical mechanics, which has something to do with thermodynamics, photon gas and Monte Carlo. (I swear I didn't see the link in Ms. Bond's post originally.) I am still clueless, but at least now I know what I'm clueless about.CONTEXT: I realize that the post below may seem a tad obscure. It refers to

Never a Dulles moment

2005-08-05T08:37:00.000-05:00
I am please to have had my aversions reinforced by the good commenters over at John and Belle's.

Mystery

2005-08-05T08:29:00.000-05:00
For those of you who remain mystified by who this Jacob Levy character is, I do promise to explain soon. Do tell, Will. Do tell.

Good times never seemed so good!

2005-08-01T16:22:00.000-05:00
I feel compelled to report the celebrity sighting of the week. Wait, scratch that. Of my life.Today, as I was buying some new knitting needles and some very lovely piece-dyed wool yarn at Nina's on Division, I saw Neil Diamond (!). Surprisingly, not one woman of the multigenerational crowd recognized him until a few minutes after he left the premises, but once we figured it out, craziness

Stadtluft macht frei?

2005-07-30T18:53:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments.A few weeks ago Will Baude observed that the Connecticut legislature was taking steps—however provisional—to limit eminent domain in the wake of the Kelo v. New London ruling. Now the New York Times reports that the anti-Kelo trend seems to be spreading. ¶ Well, it would really be a pro-Kelo trend, no? You get the point. Or perhaps you want me to put '

Private orders

2005-07-29T19:27:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. I vaguely remember learning of this coming shift, but now it is confirmed: As of January 1, 2007, all book and book-related products must carry 13-digit ISBNs. All 10-digit ISBNs in circulation will have the 3-digit EAN prefix "978" added (which currently represents the book industry). This 13-digit ISBN is already represented, and will be identical, to

Designing reform

2005-07-27T11:41:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) has launched a competition to design a poster for their Prison Design Boycott Campaign. Why should architects, designers, and planners refuse to work on prisons? Don?t ask us? design a poster to explain it to design professionals yourself! This design competition calls for a poster than

It's official

2005-07-25T00:16:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. Isn't it? Well, Brian Leiter says so: Robert Gooding-Williams (African-American philosophy and political thought, Continental philosophy) at Northwestern University has accepted a senior offer from the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago, to start January 1, 2006. His is the fourth senior departure for the Northwestern department

Chicago connection

2005-07-24T13:36:00.000-05:00
I was watching The Princess Bride for the umpteenth time last night and noticed something I'd never paid attention to before: the story, of course, occurs in the fictional country of Florin, but the reading of the story takes place in Chicago. Either than or the Grandson (Fred Savage, of Wonder Years fame) has an inordinate obsession with Chicago sports teams. He's wearing Chicago Bears pajamas

Type Week

2005-07-20T11:49:00.000-05:00
This week is Type Week in New York City.Mayor Bloomberg has declared July 18-24 to be "Type Week" in Manhattan! This is, in our opinion, quite a coup for the design community?we don't recall ever seeing "Grammar & Spelling Week" for copy editors or "Lede & Nut Graf Week" for reporters or "Optimized Workflow Week" for the IT department. For type geeks watching from afar, there's always Typeradio,

Dread Justice Roberts

2005-07-20T11:05:00.000-05:00
Andrew is on a mission to slap a "Dread Pirate" meme on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. I'm a sucker for Princess Bride references, and heartily approve. Mr. Dilts also faults me for not jumping on this earlier. I've given my reasons elsewhere. But he's covering the blogospheric discussion well. I have nothing to add, so I'll just watch from the sidelines.

Gotham by the lake

2005-07-16T23:40:00.000-05:00
I went to see Batman Begins yesterday. It was a good film, definitely worth the nine dollars. ¶ They gave me some ridiculous fifty cent student discount; it was hardly worth the trouble of getting the ID out of the wallet. Much of the film was shot in Chicago, and many of the buildings were instantly recognizable, especially the faux-Gothic Tribune tower and Wrigley buildings, and the one

Aux armes, etc.

2005-07-14T19:01:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments.Lest the day go by without acknowledgement of the defining event of the modern era, I submit the following to mes chers citoyens et citoyennes.Allons enfants de la PatrieLe jour de gloire est arrivé !Contre nous de la tyrannieL'étendard sanglant est levéEntendez-vous dans nos campagnesMugir ces féroces soldats?Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras.Égorger vos fils,

The medium is the message

2005-07-14T16:05:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. A week ago, Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution pointed to two newspaper services. A third can be added to that list: Today's Front Pages (from the Newseum). It shows 435 front pages from 47 countries, and has link to those papers' websites. It's an especially interesting resource if you're interested in graphic design and typography in the printed news

Letras Libres

2005-07-14T11:26:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. A new issue of Letras Libres, arguably the premier liberal magazine in Latin America, is online. The main topic is Venezuelan caudillo Hugo Chávez: the origins of his regime, the rhetorical use of Bolivarian imagery, the lack of an organized domestic opposition, and the political use of corruption in Chávez's populist autocracy. What is one to make of

Canonica

2005-07-12T22:54:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. I can't help but post an inter-textual reference to Andrew's brilliant catechesis on the question of homosexuality and the Roman Catholic priesthood. First... Priests are required to remain celibate and refrain from sexual intercourse with anybody. The church only understands sexuality as an action, not an orientation, so technically, a celibate homosexual

Cuisine... NOT!

2005-07-12T18:23:00.000-05:00
I thought that the 1970s were an underappreciated decade. And then I found this on the internets. And I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.more...This is just a sampling. For the full effect, you have to read all of twentysix of them in sequence."Chicken Liver Bake: enjoy it with the ashes of a loved one.Or maybe what's left of the chickens are in that urn. Maybe the chickens were your loved

"Don't buy not knowing"

2005-07-12T08:49:00.000-05:00
I'm convinced that Bookfinder has saved me huge amounts of money over the years. But I don't carry a wireless web device into bookstores (as I don't actually own a wireless web device), so I'm often left wondering whether I can get a volume online at enough of a discount to justify delaying my gratification.Enter Amabuddy:You are in a bookshop or a record shop. You find something that interests

You're not alone, Nebraska!

2005-07-11T20:55:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. The people of Puerto Rico have spoken, and they're not going to take it anymore. Well, they're still going to take it, but differently. Simply. Unicamerally. In a referendum held yesterday the Puerto Rican electorate rejected half a century of bicameralism and opted for a unicameral legislature. They join Nebraska as the only US jurisdiction with a

Short-term memory gain

2005-07-10T12:24:00.000-05:00
Cross posted on Political Arguments. Emily points me to a Sunday Times report that Karl Marx has taken the lead in the BBC poll of the gratest philosopher's of all time. His influence may have waned on the global political stage, but Karl Marx seems certain to be voted the world?s greatest philosopher in a new poll. He is racing ahead of rivals two weeks before voting ends in the poll of

The most updated London coverage...

2005-07-07T21:41:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. ... is in Wikipedia. (Via Reason's Hit and Run).

London Underground attacks

2005-07-07T08:30:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments.Several bombs went off at rush hour today in the London Underground and bus system. As of now, forty people are reported dead and 300 injured, but the numbers are expected to rise. The pattern of the attacks resembles last year's Madrid bombings.The BBC has more news. I'll update this post as I come across other sources.UPDATE: Here's a list of reports from

Lenin loves the little children

2005-07-06T22:41:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. For those who enjoyed the plans for the reconstruction of Moscow, McGill University has a sample of children's books of the early Soviet era. Among the many radical changes in the Soviet Union after the 1917 Revolution, the transformation of children's books offers one of the most vivid reminders of the vast ambitions of the new social order. Building

Elder statement

2005-07-05T22:41:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. Gary Becker writes: If the 87 year old woman who lived in her house since birth did not want to sell at the government?s price, why should the government have the right to force her to accept their offer, and perhaps make her miserable and destroy her happiness? They should have to do what private business must do all the time: either offer her a price that

The Fourth on the fifth

2005-07-05T10:34:00.000-05:00
I generally abstain from discussing American patriotism, since my attachment to the US is more juridical than affective. Thus, it's nice to read such a wonderful post by deva on the Fourth of July. Especially for the many who've been unevenly blessed by the American experiment, the Fourth should be remembered as a day of promise as much as one of achievement.

UCC milestones, again

2005-07-05T10:10:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. The United Church of Christ proves once again that they're the coolest church around. ATLANTA, July 4 - The United Church of Christ became the first mainline Christian denomination to support same-sex marriage officially when its general synod passed a resolution on Monday affirming "equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender." [...] The United

To the barricades!

2005-07-01T14:50:00.000-05:00
Joshua Marshall, Armando at Daily Kos, Atrios, and Kate Cambor at TPM Cafe are all in agreement: now that O'Connor's retired, for the first time in a long time, Roe v. Wade is in real danger. Women's access to birth control, whether in the form of effective contraception or legalized abortion, is responsible for more profound and positive social change than any other development in this century.

Libertarian summer camp

2005-07-01T12:18:00.000-05:00
UPDATE: José has posted a whole slew of photos that show some other scenes from the IHS Workshop road trip to Monticello. (Hat tip, Naveen)Thanks to the diligent efforts of Emily and Naveen, pictures from the Institute for Humane Studies' Social Change Workshop for Graduate Students. ¶ To the IHS's credit, they genuinely seek out people of differentt political persuasions, as long as they're

O'Connor out, but who's in?

2005-07-01T10:46:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments.Sandra Day O'Connor, age 75, annouces her retirement from the Supreme Court. (Via Crescat Sententia) A week ago Slate put up a list of likely candidates for the next Court vacancy. Everyone had the Rehnquist vacancy in mind; does the O'Connor retirement make it likely that a woman will get the nomination? Yet among Slate's eight potential nominees there's only

Brooke Shields is awesome!

2005-07-01T09:46:00.000-05:00
Many people are insulted and upset when movie stars pretend to be experts on all matters political, economic, scientific. And often, people have a point. Cultural icons have every right—nay, duty—to participate in civic discourse, but they should stop short of claiming to be experts just because they read a couple of posts at Powerline or the Daily Kos. Or, in the case in point, because they

No irony

2005-06-30T21:25:00.000-05:00
"Nothing says 'shirt' like a shirt that says 'shirt'."

Three's company

2005-06-30T21:11:00.000-05:00
Whoo-hoo! The gang's all here now. I told all y'all that they were going to show up.

Hi from Patricia

2005-06-30T18:36:00.000-05:00
Hi--I've been lurking too long and Victor has been getting annoyed, so here I am, the third member of the pp. Unfortunately I have nothing to say right now. I think my brain has melted in the heat wave. But I shall say something in the near future.

For the Straussians among you, et al.

2005-06-30T14:29:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. The beloved Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new essay on The Influence of Islamic Thought on Maimonides. A visionary thinker and prolific author, Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) writes on topics ranging from physics to Jewish Law, theology to politics, psychology to Biblical exegesis, and from philosophy to medicine. Rich and complex in their own

A world shaped by fear

2005-06-30T08:29:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. The New York Times appraises the new "Freedom Tower" in Manhattan: The darkness at ground zero just got a little darker. If there are people still clinging to the expectation that the Freedom Tower will become a monument to the highest American ideals, the current design should finally shake them out of that delusion. Somber, oppressive and clumsily

Comments comments

2005-06-29T09:38:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments.There's some nasty diatribing in the comments section of one of my previous posts. Most of it is mine. Who would have thunk that a throwaway line in a throwaway post would stir up trouble?¶ Well, when the line is "I hope that we culture-war liberals are finally getting it" I can see the potential for acrimony.

Joyeux Anniversaire, M. Rousseau

2005-06-28T22:16:00.000-05:00
the pilcrow press On this day in 1712, philosopher-novelist-rogue Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born. While it's difficult to say which of his works is my favorite, I might provisionally choose the second discourse, all cringeworthy references to the southern hemisphere aside. For one, it seems to have quirkiest footnotes. And for another, it was my first taste of modern political thought written

New kids on the block

2005-06-28T17:48:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. Via Michael Green (17 June 2005; Green doesn't permalink), I notice that a number of Chicago folks started to blog philosophical. Eric Schliesser is doing movie blogging at Nesciocinema; a few others have taken up a home at Original Positions, a name that I wholeheartedly approve of. And though Original Positions I found this charming Guardian article

a day for dads

2005-06-19T16:10:00.000-05:00
the pilcrow press I thought perhaps I might break my long-standing blog silence to wish everyone's favorite father-to-be (and the Founding Father of the Pilcrow Press) a happy Father's Day! Father's Day is a favorite in my house, because it is our one day to spoil my father, who otherwise has trouble allowing himself to be fussed over. Still, he is a tough nut to crack, even after 28

Summer reading

2005-06-17T16:20:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments.I'll be taking a blogging break next week to attend the IHS Social Change Workshop for Graduate Students. While I'm gone, I thought I'd leave some reading material for the half dozen readers of this blog.John Nichols and Joel Rogers have several articles on the embattled liberal "urban archipelago" in the June 20 issue of The Nation."Urban Archipelago""

The Helvetica Meditations

2005-06-15T01:16:00.000-05:00
Typographica has some good images of uses and misuses of that most ubiquitous typeface: Helvetica. More can be found in a little book called Helvetica: Homage to a Typeface found here and reviewed there. I got it at Powell's; it's a gem. Helvetica was desiged by Max Miedinger in 1956. it quickly became synonimous with the no-nonsense Swiss school of graphic design. In 1983, Linotype Design

Trouble on the East Hill?

2005-06-15T00:40:00.000-05:00
Cross posted at Political Arguments. Via Crooked Timber, it seems that the president of my alma mater has resigned in less than clear circumstances. Lehman became president after I'd left Cornell; I never met him nor followed his short tenure there. Most of my years on the East Hill were dominated by Frank H.T. Rhodes, who'd been president since 1977. My last year saw the beginning of Hunter