Year: 2006

January 13, 2006

Shake your groove thing

Many of you may have already heard of the new line of Levi’s jeans due out later this year, the iPod compatible RedWire DLX jeans: “With a joystick remote control built into the watch pocket, the new jeans will allow wearers to play, pause, track forward or back and adjust the volume on their iPods without having to take them out of their pockets.” Continue Reading...
January 12, 2006

‘A superb butler’

Continuing the discussion of energy usage from yesterday, check out this review in the New York Sun of Children of the Sun (W.W. Norton), by Alfred Crosby, emeritus professor of history, geography, and American studies at the University of Texas. Continue Reading...
January 12, 2006

Concerns about a la carte

Some new developments on the idea to move cable television to an a la carte subscription model: Christians and minorities are “concerned.” According to the Christian Science Monitor, FCC chairman Kevin Martin is pressuring cable providers to move away from the tier-based subscription system to “a full thumbs-up/thumbs-down choice of individual channels.” Continue Reading...
January 11, 2006

King’s dream: beyond black and white

As the nation prepares to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 15, it’s time to broaden the discussion of race relations in America to include not just blacks and whites, but Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans. Continue Reading...
January 11, 2006

All wet

Jeffrey Tucker at the Ludwig Von Mises Institute: You might say that water needs to be conserved. Yes, and so does every other scarce good. The peaceful way to do this is through the price system. Continue Reading...
January 11, 2006

Speaking of oil

Arnold Kling at the excellent EconLog says that “the government should empty its strategic petroleum reserve and buy energy futures contracts instead. At some point, the futures market has to be taken seriously.” Continue Reading...
January 11, 2006

Apocalypse now (and forever)

Check out this review of James Howard Kunstler’s new book, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century (Atlantic), which describes it as a “litany around the increasingly fashionable panic over oil depletion.” Continue Reading...
January 11, 2006

Beating back the socialists

There are two good articles out there in today’s press about socialist thinking, which alas is all too prevalant, especially in issues concerning the environment. The first is a tribute to Arthur Seldon in the Daily Telegraph. Continue Reading...
January 10, 2006

Morse on modern sex and marriage

Check out this interview with Acton senior fellow in economics Jennifer Roback Morse from the Zenit News Agency, “Righting the Wrongs in Modern Sex and Marriage.” She talks about writing her recent book, Smart Sex: Finding Life-Long Love in a Hook-Up World (Spence) and says, “I wanted to write a book for the ordinary person who wants to get married and stay married. Continue Reading...
January 09, 2006

Federal vouchers are coming!

The long wait is finally over. Federal vouchers are coming! Before you get too excited, however, I have to inform you that the vouchers are not for education. You can’t use these vouchers to send your child to the school of your choice. Continue Reading...