I Went There

I had a dream over the weekend that someone broke into my apartment.

I had fitful dreams after that of buying a shotgun.

Can anyone convince me now that I should not keep my firearms at home?

Eat It

I thought Brent Musberger was going to cry when Penn State won.

Let's keep making Brent depressed.

My Long Night

I was forced to attend a panel discussion of this economic...business we appear to be in. It was pretty good and informative, because the panel was extremely intelligent and full of experts on the stuff.

There was a palpable drop in IQ when the questions began. Just awful. I wouldn't ask Euler to demonstrate that there is no greatest prime, y'know?

I know John Derbyshire has been really dumb again. I'll get to it if I can, dudes. You'll notice that I never make posts about Finno-Ugric grammar. That's because I freely admit I know nothing about it. But then why does John Derbyshire post on things under the same circumstances?

No idea.

The Golden Horde

Hey look, time to update before the day changes.

I wonder if cruelty is a virtue.

Meandering Mind

Blogger has been weird, but if all goes well, you will be able to read this somewhat large update in the other blog. People uninterested in that blog should stay away, for their own sakes.

Hey, I avoided the election the only way I knew how.

Yaaaay

I'm sure you all have been told but my financial situation has been entirely cleared up. I have gone from 0 to awesome, and it only took four or five weeks. So, that's that, huh?

Maybe actual content tomorrow, though I can't promise it will please anyone.

Teehee

It turns out, dudes with MBAs instead of Ph.D.s in economics aren't really that awesome at valuing stuff.

OOPS

This will be funny until it hits my earning potential, which should be right around May.

Question

Does buying an iPod put me out of the cabal?

I hope not.

Thought of the Day

If Internet comments are anything to go by, Europeans are all maniacs who obsessively mutter about how stupid/evil/greedy Americans are under their breath. As with all schizophrenics, their words make a lot more sense to them than to the frightened observer.

Seriously, dudes, get some help. We have meds that can fix these disorders, y'know?

Meh

Everyone's become unhinged about this election. The Volokh Conspiracy is the latest victim. Partisan politics is not doing anyone's reputation any good. Follow my lead, and ignore it! You'll feel better, and you might get around to posting important content.

I haven't, yet, but...I'm getting around to it.

Meanwhile, how 'bout them Patriots?

My Idea

I have an idea, and I'd like to solicit suggestions from...all three of you.

It's a sort of "Europe vs. the United States" but with beer. That is, in a number of categories, I compare the best European beer and the best American beer. My problems are determining the categories and selecting the best example in each. Soooo...

Suggestions?

Casualty

Has Brian Leiter done any interesting philosophical work I'm not aware of?

Because he's really kind of a tool otherwise.

Just wondering.

Behind the Curtain

The Supreme Court is inviting other people to cover for its mistake.

That's not quite fair. Literally everyone involved in the case - petitioner, respondent, amici, justices, and each and every clerk - completely blew it. Though the error (failing to notice that there was a federal statute applicable to members of the military that authorized the death penalty for rape, for those of you out of the loop) was missing something that could probably have been dismissed with a clever enough argument, the majority never even knew it had to be clever. Because Justice Kennedy wrote that opinion, I'm sure no mere facts will change the outcome, but the oral argument (if any occurs) should be good fun for the dissenters, who can spend the time beating up on Kennedy and his cronies for their blunder. That the dissenters made the same mistake in missing that statute won't, of course, give them any pause.

This is all merely a tidying-up of the doctrine, nothing that will have any effect on the result. Five philosopher-kings made their decision and will stick by it, but they have to put on a show of actually taking into account the relevant law.

Crisis Deferred

I'm in no immediate danger of Bad Things, although the financial aid office still hasn't done much of anything to help. The problem that ground the bureaucratic wheels to a halt has been remedied, so those wheels are now free to turn very, very slowly, but I am optimistic that I will be saved from poverty sometime within the next eleven days. Yep; it's been three or four weeks already, and my best-case scenario is having everything settled in a further week and a half, even though all the paperwork can't take more than fifteen minutes to process.

So, I have money, my rent is paid, and I have books. I'm still a law student. For now.

So, to more pleasant things? No, of course not, because this is 2008. We are having a presidential election, in case you didn't know, so otherwise sensible people talking about a wide variety of subjects have felt obligated to drop their common sense and talk endlessly about the minutest details of this stupid, shark-vaulting campaign. People have become partisans in a contest where the only clear way to win is not to participate.

I'm sick of it.

I'm not going to pretend that the candidates are equally bad, because they really aren't. Neither is very appealing, but one isn't a Marxist pseudointellectual, so I'll pass on any moral equivalence between them. It's sort of an easy decision now - there are no surprises with these dudes. One guy will tax you to death and act like an idiot overseas. The other dude will be belligerent and do aggressive things to other countries. Neither one will do anything about the immigration crisis except to amplify its ill effects.

This is the New Skeptic, but proper skepticism doesn't mean an eternally open mind. We know who the candidates are; it's enough already. If the election can't occur tomorrow, why can't we at least shut up about it until it does come?

I guess people like reading about this garbage, but I don't. Once again, my tastes are superior to yours. I can't wait until the election is over and sensible people can talk sensibly again.

So, any suggestions for how I avoid hearing about politics? I mean, even watching pro football I was subject to this crap. Should I go all Thinkery on you dudes again, and post nothing but abstract philosophy?