9/29 Photographs of nature close up.
9/26 “Dull,” “silly,” and “fatuous” are only the beginning: the pretentiousness of Damien Hirst, darling the of “wannabe collectors,” is punctured by art critic Robert Hughes. (Thanks to Bob H. for the link.)
9/25 Exotic travel photos: Shahbasharat’s Kashmir photo show at Flickr. And the good-spirited phenomenon of Matt Harding dancing around the world. (Thanks to Beverly for the link.)
9/22 For 3:AM Magazine, David Thompson interviews Ophelia Benson, co-author with Jeremy Strangoon of Why Truth Matters. (Thanks to Bob M. for the link.)
9/19 I’m reading up on the financial messes, and in Excel I made this draft version of a flowchart on the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The subtitle could be: Footnote to Atlas Shrugged, Number 1,617. Please send comments and suggestions for improvements and feel welcome to tinker with it. Update: In the Chicago Tribune, Steve Chapman makes the strong case against the bailouts. (Via Division of Labour.) Update Two: BB&T CEO John Allison has this measured list of points on the bailout issues. Update Three: Craig Depken has this choice item on bank bailouts, 1908.
9/17 Bizarrely fascinating: Soeren Kern itemizes how a surprising amount of Anti-Americanism in-Europe is fueled by ignorance. (Via The InstaPundit.) And The Onion is on a roll: Evolutionists Flock to Darwin-Shaped Wall Stain. I’m booking my flight right now.
9/16 Peter Cresswell has started a new series of tutorials on architecture.
9/15 The NEA and the $1.3 billion poem: only at The Onion? (Thanks to Sam for the link.)
9/14 On government bailouts for government-supported entities: Ed Crane explains why the Cato Institute rejected a $100,000 grant from Fannie Mae. In the New York Times, law professor Tim Wu on how airwave regulation is stifling the internet’s potential: “Our current approach is a command and control system dating from the 1920s. The federal government dictates exactly what licensees of the airwaves may do with their part of the spectrum. These Soviet-style rules create waste that is worthy of Brezhnev.” (Thanks to Chris for the link.) Meanwhile, Anurag Wadehra explains how capitalism is helping to break down India’s caste structure.
9/13 Now this is a very cool beginning: an interactive map that lets you follow famous journeys such as Magellan’s circumnavigation, Lewis and Clark’s expedition, and the Old Silk Road.
9/12 Richard Dawkins’s takedown of postmodern pretensions. (Thanks to Bob M. for the link.)
So what comes after postmodernism? The Onion explains. (Thanks to Chris for the link.)
9/10 Amusing: Hollywood movies explained in exactly five words. (Via Houston’s Clear Thinkers.
9/9 What are science’s ten most beautiful experiments? And I’m not sure why Europe’s good news is supposed to be America’s bad news, but here’s a frowny-faced report on CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.
9/8 Good question: After listening to both major parties, Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Chapman asks: When did the idea of freedom become a political orphan? (Thanks to Steve B. for the link.)
9/5 Gavin Colvert’s fine review (beginning on p. 637) of
Douglas Rasmussen and Douglas Den Uyl’s Norms of Liberty. And here is Aeon Skoble’s collection of critical essays: Reading Rasmussen and Den Uyl: Critical Essays on Norms of Liberty.
9/4 Our wonderful world: great photographs of London at night and the Denali, Alaska area.
9/3 They are still at it: the Taliban kills two women, accusing them of prostitution. (Via ifeminists.) In Pakistan, five women are buried alive because they wanted to choose their own husbands. (Thanks to Bob M. for the link.) And importing dysfunctional religion and tribalism: an inside look at a British mosque. (Via David Thompson.)
9/2 A site lovingly devoted to the work of Rafael Sabatini, author of Scaramouche, The Sea Hawk, and Captain Blood. If you are new to the swashbuckling genre, you might want to try Alexander Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo and Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel.