How helpful!: Those of you shopping for my birthday will be happy to
see that I have made a handy list at Amazon for your shopping
convenience.
Posted by: TMS / 8:56 PM
This day in history: Today is the 43rd anniversary of Nikita
Khrushchev�s �we will bury you� speech.
And yet college students across the nation are taught, from the words
of Howard Zinn, that the Cold War was just a big trick, a mechanism
for keeping the poor oppressed, and deluding people into thinking that
communism was evil. �Revolutionary movements in Europe and Asia were
described to the American public as examples of Soviet
expansionism�thus recalling the indignation against Hitler�s
aggressions,� writes Zinn. Ah, yes, it was all a big trick by
corporations to keep down the �revolutionary movements.�
The victims of Prague Spring, meanwhile, did not fall for such lines.
And neither, thank god, did Ronald Reagan, who said �We stand here on
the only island of freedom that is left in the whole world. There is
no place left to flee to...no place to escape to. We defend freedom
here or it is gone. There is no place for us to run, only to make a
stand. And if we fail, I think we face telling our children, and our
children�s children, what it was we found more precious than freedom.
Because I am sure someday�if we fail in this�there will be a
generation that will ask.� He and countless others kept a moral
clarity about the Cold War that finally brought the Berlin Wall down,
and that ensured that Khrushchev was wrong: the grandchildren of his
era do not live under communism. In fact, just the opposite.
Speaking of which, check out the beautiful sculpture, �The Day The
Wall Came Down,� by Veryl Goodnight.
Please do not forget.
Posted by: TMS / 10:28 AM
Survival at sea: Amazing story here of survival at sea.
Posted by: TMS / 8:52 AM
No meaning no: The question of no meaning no is at least as important
for the man, who may be accused of rape, as for the woman who might be
the victim. The rule I adopted long ago is that at the word �no,� I
stop, no matter what. Other words, I might continue, but the word �no�
is an absolute bar to further action. I think this is a good rule,
because if she didn�t really mean �no,� she will feel a bit upset when
you completely stop touching her or kissing her or anything, and she
will then make clear that she didn�t really mean �no.� Dropping her
like a hot potato when she says �no� is therefore a good way to force
her make it clear whether she really means no or not.
Which reminds me of a letter from Thomas Jefferson.
In 1776, Jefferson was the most active member of a committee to revise
the criminal code of Virginia. He proposed a bill for apportioning
crimes and punishments which decreased many punishments from death to
what was at the time considered humane. Castration was made punishment
for rape. But when he arrived in France, he was criticized for this,
and he reported to Madison, �In the criminal law, the principle of
retaliation is much criticised here, particularly in the case of Rape.
They think the punishment indecent and unjustifiable. I should be for
altering it, but for a different reason: that is on account of the
temptation women would be under to make it the instrument of vengeance
against an inconstant lover, and of disappointment to a rival.�
(Letter of Dec. 16, 1786, in 1 The Republic of Letters 457, 459 (J.
Smith ed. 1995)).
Posted by: TMS / 8:44 AM
The little totalitarianism on the hill: Ah, Hillsdale. Up to its old
tricks. The Delta Tau Delta fraternity is in trouble for hazing. So
the school revoked its charter and sent all the brothers back to the
dorms. But even that isn�t enough. Dean Aaron Petersen �added that if
the ex-Delts wore DTD hats or shirts on campus, it would be an outward
sign of an underground group.� Underground groups, you see, are not
allowed at Hillsdale. Educating for liberty, right?
The summer before I showed up, a few members of another fraternity
tarred and feathered one of the statues of eagles that decorate the
campus. The school expelled and fined the students responsible, then
revoked the fraternity�s charter and tore down the house. Visions of
Carthage, no? The dean (not Petersen, at that time) then continued to
harass the fraternity�s former members over the next few years, with
midnight room searches and sporadic questioning in his office, because
he suspected he hadn�t found all those responsible for the prank.
I�ve said it before and I�ll say it again. Libertarians should not
donate money to this school. Hillsdale is not your friend.
Posted by: TMS / 8:23 AM
From the commonplace book: Electromagnetic wavelengths:
Micropulsations�more than 300,000 km
Radio waves�300,000 km to 30 cm
Microwaves�30 cm to .3 cm
Infrared rays�0.3 cm to 0.000076cm
Visible light�0.76 micrometers to 0.38 micrometers
UV rays�3800 angstroms to 100 angstroms
X rays�100 angstroms to 0.1 angstroms
Gamma rays�less than 0.1 angstroms
Posted by: TMS / 8:08 AM
Last night: Conversation with the lovely Erin last night. She says, �I
once made a list of things I want to do before I die.�
�Yeah?�
�Yeah. I want to see Ireland. And I want to go to Oklahoma and visit
the Cherokee reservation. And I want to donate one of my kidneys��
�Wait a second. You want to donate a kidney?�
�Yeah!� (as if my question was utterly ridiculous.)
�I�ve never known a person whose big dream in life was to donate a
kidney.�
Posted by: TMS / 8:05 AM
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