Erin Judge talks about Spain, Bush, and bin Laden.#

So Instapundit and a bunch of other conservative blogs (no links from me; google their shit if you want to read it) are declaring Spain's election of the Socialists a tactical victory for Al-Qaeda. Please. 90% of the Spanish population opposed Spain's participation in the war in Iraq. They're not bowing to pressure from Al-Qaeda, they're doing what they want to do instead of bowing to any more pressure from the United States.

[...]

A lot of these right-wing political bloggers indicate that the election in Spain was a vote against George Bush and for bin Laden. If those are our options in this world, I'd like to request that any nearby cults building and/or expecting a spaceship in the near future contact me as soon as possible. If our only options on this planet are two different flavors of murderous billionaire religious fundamentalism, then we're definitely on a sinking ship.

Peter Lindberg links to a Nature article about using evolution to understand linguistics.#

[They] use the rate at which words change to gauge the age of the [language] tree's roots - just as [evolutionary] biologists estimate a species' age from the rate of gene mutations. [They] analysed 87 languages from Irish to Afghan. Rather than compare entire dictionaries, they used a list of 200 words that are found in all cultures, such as "I", "hunt" and "sky". Words are better understood than grammar as a guide to language history; the same sentence structure can arise independently in different tonguges.

This is talked about in The Third Chimpanzee, by Jared Diamond.

James Moore on outsourcing:#

The only way that the current trend is good for Americans is if in the broadest sense outsourcing yields a worldwide redistribution of wealth that in turn enables high levels of social stability and environmental responsibility. Outsourcing is helping to economically develop the wider world--and if that creates world-wide peace and spreads middle class values, perhaps the bargain is worth it for Americans. But no American politician, and few economists, are exploring the topic this way.

Indeed, conservative politicians, economists, and corporate CEOs are working overtime to distract us with theoretical arguments for free trade based on outdated ideas introduced in 1817! See the BusinessWeek article excerpted below for a clear debunking of these arguments. [emphasis mine]

Remember, that any time you get into a plane or hear someone talk about gravity or calculus, they are talking about theoretical ideas introduced in the 1600s! They couldn't possibly be accurate, seeing as they've survived this long under scrutiny!

Chip Gibbons writes about DonorsChoose.org.#

With all the billions that we spend on education in this country, it's amazing that teachers are left to beg for things like pencils and paper. It's also amazing that people are having these children without the financial resources to take care of them, feed them lunch, or educate them. But that's what happens when people start believing that others have an obligation to care for them.

The great thing about DonorsChoose.org is that it is voluntary unlike the forced taxpayer funding of public schools. In addition, as donors become more directly involved in the educational process, they will hopefully become more aware of how messed up education is in this country and begin to consider how it got to be that way.

Cynthia Rockwell links, and quotes, some awesome advice for writers.#

5. You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop, You Know.

I mean, Christ, people. All that tapping and leaning back thoughtfully in your chair with a mug of whatever while you pretend to edit your latest masterpiece. You couldn't be more obvious if you had a garish, flashing neon sign over your head that said "Looking For Sex." Go home, why don't you. Just go.

Admittedly if everyone followed my advice the entire economy of Park Slope would implode. But look, do you want to write, or do you want to get laid? No, don't answer that. Anyway, if you really want to impress the hot whomevers, you'll bring your bound galleys to the coffeeshop to edit. That'll make the laptop tappers look like pathetic chumps. We're talking hot libidinous mammal sex for days.

Alex Tabrrok on various means of punishing crimes.#

From an economic point of view, fines are the best punishment because they benefit the punisher as they punish the violator and imprisonment is the worst punishment since it punishes the punisher as well as the violator.

Many people don't like fines, however, because they seem to allow the rich to get away with anything so long as they pay the price (see Tyler on progressive fines). But in theory, if the fine is set equal to the expected cost of the crime, everyone should face the same fine irrespective of wealth and if the benefit of violating the law exceeds the fine then paying the fine and violating the law is the efficient solution. Economists think this argument is obviously correct but it leaves most people cold.

Fines do have another disadvantage if you don't trust the government (i.e. take this disadvantage seriously). Precisely because the fine is a revenue to the government it encourages them to fine more. And precisely because imprisonment is costly we expect government to be more restrained in its use.

Chip Gibbons discusses the dangers of being "under God."#

Mark Bernstein writes about a problem with the Vatican Museums that I felt as well.#

Of course, the Sistine chapel is a problem for the Vatican, just as the Mona Lisa is a problem for the Louvre: the museum has to deal with a stream of tourists who have come just to spend a moment in the presence of The Famous Thing, to purchase some evidence that They Were There, and who then want to rush off to the next marvel. The Vatican Museum makes great efforts to accommodate these people, and does what it can to guide them. It's learned some lessons from Disney -- keep the line moving, lead people to expect even longer delays than they'll experience, give them stuff to look at as they shuffle down the corridors but keep everything focused on the E Ticket Experience.

The price is that, if you'd like to see the greatest collection of ancient art and epigraphy in the world, I guess you need to know Somebody, and you need to know what you're looking at.

Tyler Cowen links to an article about welfare in Western Europe and the United States.#

Why is the latter system (45% of GDP) bigger than the former system (30% of GDP)?

While 29% of Americans believe that poor people are trapped in poverty, 60% of Europeans share this belief.

While 30% of Americans believe that luck determines income, 54% of Europeans share this belief.

While 60% of Americans believe that poor people are lazy, 24% of Europeans share this belief.

The hypothesis proposed is about racial diversity and seeing people like yourself benefit from welfare. I would also guess that part of these differences has to do with Western Europe's history of aristocracy and the entrepeneurial spirit that has always been in America.

In an aristocracy, your birth (chance) determines your well-being (income) and traps you there, more or less. And, being subjugated to someone else generally means you work harder and are not lazy. These conditions are opposite in non-aristocratic society.

I'm not saying that today the situation is the same in either area, just that historically these things have been true and what have a continual influence on the mores and opinions of the different peoples.