Mike Walsh writes something very funny about me.#

Have you ever picked up a book or a magazine that has been read by someone who likes to highlight or underline stuff. I used to have a colleague like that and it was fun to sit at his desk and flip through the magazines and books he had lying around.

The MakeOutCity experience is kinda like that.

Note: When I read I don't underline OR highlight, but I use a weird system of a bookmark where I notate things I want to remember. (I write PAGE-COLUMN-PARAGRAPH(description) [with parts to the right being optional] then to /'s between chapters.) It's a good way of keeping track of quotes and things without messing up a book.

The Dog of Justice writes about "reverse affirmative action."#

An oft-cited benefit of eliminating affirmative action is that the non-Asian/Jewish minority members who are admitted would no longer be suspected to be "affirmative action admits", of lesser expected competence.

I was shocked a few days ago when I realized that eliminating affirmative action does NOT in fact accomplish this!

Michael Watkins describes the tenure process at the Harvard Business School and why it does not seem to "foster excellence."#

What I will not miss is the culture of management-by-and-for-insecurity that pervades Harvard. The sad truth is that few people at Harvard are allowed, or allow themselves, to enjoy their accomplishments. The institution attracts driven, insecure people who then tend to reinforce each other. The result is productivity, albeit of a narrow form. I was able to isolate myself from its effects to a large degree, but I'm certainly not going to miss it.

Michael Watkins on the Sharon government's policies in Israel.#

Why is this the case? Because with our vetos and our encouragement of their conduct we are rightly seen as supporting the agenda of the Right in Israel. This includes their annexation (with the fence) of occupied territory in the name of security, their continued building of settlements, and their willingness to risk widening the conflict with strikes outside Israel.

Let me be clear here. The day that the Israelis begin to genuinely dismantle the settlements - which, with a few exceptions, are nothing but an ideologically- based land grab - is the day that the conflict will be on the road to a sustainable settlement.

Why is Chai Tea Latte so funny? Vote later.#

Couldn't follow the routine, so I just ended up making little silly happy dances up kinda like the routine all by myself in the back of the class. I turn, I pirouette, I twirl and jump. I do a mini-charleston and cha cha cha. Dadadadeedeedee. Stop. Facing windows of studio that open toward the rest of gym. The next class is staring at me.

The Black Saint records a conversation that took place on the set of That '70 Show.#

Topher: Hey, I don't need to star in goofy sci-fi films. I was in Traffic andOcean's Eleven.

Ashton: Ooooh. And, tell me, how much pussy did you get as a result of that?

Topher: What are you, twelve? See, I'm an actor and I'm in this because of a love of the craft. The chance to work with Steven Soderbergh or even Nathan Lane is more important to me than box office numbers or dating old women who were in St Elmo's Fire. Anyway, I only did this film to pay for my theatre work.

Ashton: So, really, how much pussy did you get because of all that?

Topher (lowers head): None.

Steve MacLaughlin writes about Dennis Miller's new TV show.#

Based on his hit-flop-hit-flop track record, something tells me Dennis Miller is due for a success this time around. But Miller's seemingly new found conservatism has some media pundits puzzled. Is Miller going with the flow or going with his heart? The trend of shows with conservative hosts on Fox and MSNBC gives critics fodder, but a look at Miller's political stances throughout his career would prove otherwise. Dennis Miller has also gone on record that 9/11 put a lot of things into perspective for him.

Oliver Kamm writes of "do-it-yourself economics."#

The government has economic duties that are important and extensive. Those I would list at a minimum are providing public goods, levying taxes in a way that is widely accepted as fair rather than arbitrary, controlling inflation, maintaining an adequate level of demand, managing public borrowing such that the budget balances over the course of the business cycle, dealing with negative externalities that aren't efficiently corrected through the marketplace, providing social benefits and redistributing income in order to tackle poverty. These are ambitious goals with no obviously correct way of accomplishing them; any government that could claim tolerable success in them will have done a worthwhile job and a public service.

To claim that in addition the government has a duty to 'help our businesses compete in overseas markets' is a gross and impertinent non sequitur. I have read Jones's article several times, and I have no idea why he issues this stern injunction. Actually, that's not strictly true: the clue lies in his preposterous designation of other countries as 'rivals'. So they may be on the football field; they are not rivals or competitors in the international economy.

Tyler Cowen writes about paintings and the current market for them.#

My take: The current generation of earners doesn't care much about uniqueness or the original image. Younger collectors love to buy photographs, and don't care if they don't "own the original" or if that phrase has meaning at all. Many prefer that an exact copy of what is on their wall also hangs in the Museum of Modern Art. So look for photography, and painting/photography hybrids to continue their run-up.

Tracy Adams posts a pretty picture.#

Sanjay Suri reports that the Human Rights Watch organization does not consider the Iraq War to be a humanitarian effort:#

"Military intervention in a humanitarian cause would be justified only if there was imminent fear of mass slaughter, if military intervention was the last reasonable option, if the humanitarian cause was the dominant focus of the intervention, if efforts had been made to maximize compliance with international law, if it was reasonable to believe that intervention would make things better, and if such intervention had been sanctioned by the United Nations or at least a large body of nations," Roth said.

"But there were nothing like the kind of killings taking place that happened in 1988 with the genocide against Kurds," Roth said. "Such interventions should not be used belatedly to address atrocities that were ignored in the past." Nor had other requirements been met, he said.