Freespace

The new Lochnermobile

Here it is: the new Lochnermobile. I've actually had it for a few weeks now, but I wanted to wait to get the license plate transferred over before I blogged it.... For those of you new to Freespace, yes, that is the case citation for Lochner v. New York. And I'm proud to say it's not a goddamn Government Motors car. Which I guess means that I paid for a Honda and a GM car.... But I'll rot in hell before I buy another GM product.

 

Unleash the dogs of peace

Here’s an interesting take on the U.N. and “peacekeeping”:

We don’t condone “mercenaries,” sniffs the UN. But a system where the top 10 payers of peacekeeping dues (rich countries like the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, etc.) rely on the top 10 troop contributors (poor countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Jordan, Nepal, Ghana, etc.) to do their dirty work sounds pretty mercenary to me. Countries that provide troops get roughly $1,100 a month per soldier, many times the salary of a Bangladeshi private at home—not that he’d see much of it. Critics worry about accountability of private military companies, since they operate in a murky legal environment. But their forces seem no less accountable than, say, the miscreant UN contingents serving in Congo, and they would certainly be more effective. Some UN relief agencies already rely on military contractors for security. Why not extend that protection to the populations they’re trying to keep alive?

HT:A&G

Rhode Island to change name to Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island is still officially the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Evidently they now want to drop the last part...which nobody uses anyway...because "Many critics feel the 'formal name' conjures up images of slavery." How lucky are we that we can spend time on such foolishness?

By the way, Rhode Island enacted the first law to prohibit slavery in America, in 1652.

This is not news

The Obama Administration chooses indefinite detentions. As predicted.

Shakespeare on dying declarations

The Green Bag has published my letter to the editor on Shakespeare's reference to the dying declaration exception in King John.

A pretty good article on Ayn Rand

In the British magazine Standpoint. 

(HT: Robert Hessen)

Dancing mania...and not in a good way

Here's something I'd never heard about before: the dancing mania of 1374. According to Matt Datillo, these manias were not unheard of during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In one incident in 1518, hundreds of people danced themselves to death in France.

Now that is weird.

See also the Tanganyika laughter epidemic of 1962.

Remembering a proud day in Irish history

The Irish Times remembers a great moment when Ireland chose freedom:

Irish aviation illustrated brilliantly that monopolists charge you too much and produce too little. The parliamentary revolt in 1984 changed the way we think about aviation in an outer offshore island. Low-cost access to this island boosts national competitiveness.

The success of Irish aviation in international markets over the last 20 years contrasts with much of the subsidy-guzzling quango-based waffle that passes for industrial policy here.

The Irish parliamentary revolt of June 27th, 1984, was essential to ending the cartel domination of international aviation and is admired internationally.

Read the rest...

Realizing Freedom

Tom Palmer's new book Realizing Freedom arrived in the mail today. I'm very much looking forward to reading it. It collects several of his essays, including one of my favorites, "Madison And Multiculturalism," which very presciently explores the likenesses between the theories of Lani Guinier and John C. Calhoun.

A Sweet victory for economic liberty

A very gratifying development in one of my cases.