Freespace

The Pima County Railroad to Nowhere

Howard A. Hubbard, A Chapter in Early Arizona Transportation History: The Arizona Narrow Gauge Railroad Company, University of Arizona Bulletin 5(2) (Apr. 1, 1934) (Tucson: University of Arizona Social Science Bulletin No. 6) 

Are libertarians best off supporting "liberal" Supreme Court justices or "conservative" justices?

At The UnPopulist, I explain why I think a Supreme Court that's roughly evenly balanced between "liberal" and "conservative" justices is probably the best for freedom. Excerpt:

One way to read this is that both “liberals” and “conservatives” have important contributions to make in protecting liberty. Those labeled “conservative” have typically been protective of more categories of individual rights—preserving private property, free speech, gun rights and religious liberty—while remaining willing to invalidate government racial preferences and government bureaucracy. They have also been more regardful of the autonomy of states, a principle that can help promote freedom by preventing Congress from imposing one-size-fits-all mandates on the country. “Liberals,” meanwhile, have been more concerned about the rights of the accused, the rights of personal privacy, and the rights of students and prisoners, although their conservative colleagues have often joined them in doing so.

Read the rest...

Two new books on art

In the Objective Standard, I review Luc Travers' Stories in Paint and Sandra Shaw's Windows on Humanity. The first is an invitation to people who might feel that they don't "get" art; the latter is a philosophical study of ancient art from the cave man days to the fall of Rome, as viewed through the art of the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures. Excerpt:

Nobody entering an art museum should have to arrive armed with a “grounding in art theory, art history, and knowledge about the cultural and art historical contexts” before being able to comprehend and evaluate the pieces inside. But such information can and should help enrich the experience—an experience that properly starts with such simple questions as: What is this artwork saying—and what do I feel about it? By giving us doorways into a wider world of art and ideas—and doing so without the backing of any major publishing houses—Travers and Shaw have not only done us all a great service but have testified to the enormous value of art in all our lives.

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Goldwater’s brief in the big ICWA case

The Goldwater Institute, joined by Cato and TPPF, filed a brief today in the big Indian Child Welfare Act case in the Supreme Court (called Brackeen). We represent several families that have been victimized by the Act, and in an unusual Q&A format, we explain, in layman’s terms, why the common arguments in support of ICWA’s constitutionality fail.

You can read about it here. 

Update: I talked about the case and some other things with my friends on the Armstrong and Getty show, and you can listen here. 

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