Theory of Escalation or Escalation of Theory.
Economist Steven E. Landsburg wonders in Slate why people walk up stairs but don’t walk up escalators. It’s a clever example of how economists think about problems and the kinds of mistakes they make. Some of his Slate readers don’t get it: You fool economists have way too much time on your hands. You ignore… Read more
The Truth About the Link Between Drugs and Terrorism.
According to an AP story, the DEA has shown that some illegal drug sales in the US are used to fund terrorism in the Middle East: “There is increasing intelligence information from the investigation that for the first time alleged drug sales in the United States are going in part to support terrorist organizations in… Read more
Comic Prejudice
I’m sure I’ve got the quote wrong, but I believe there’s an episode of the old Mary Tyler Moore show in which Mary is complaining to her boss Lou about her pay. In typical Lou fashion, he tries to reassure her that “It’s not because you’re not doing a good job. It’s just because you’re… Read more
Bill Dennis Rocks!
I just noticed in the stat logs that Bill Dennis gave me the traditional Bloggerville house-warming gift: A link from his Bill’s Content page. There’s only one referral in the logs, so I assume that was just Bill checking the link, but it was still cool. Thanks. [Note: This article has been updated to remove… Read more
“You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.”
The Miami Herald has reposted Leonard Pitts’ columns about the events of September 11. The very first one, written on the 11th and published the next day, is the best thing ever written about the attack. They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in… Read more
Classical liberalism, criminal laws, the war on drugs, economics, free speech, technology, photography, sex work, cats, and whatever else comes to mind.