Read it. Victor Davis Hanson points details how far our culture has degenerated.

Read it. No particular reason; it’s just interesting.

Read it. Economics. Nobody wants computer scientists (i.e. mathematicians); they want software engineers.

Read it. This is just silly. For the Democrat kid who has everything, I guess.

Read it. Pretty sad, when even the New York Times recognizes a program as being dim-witted.

The economics of corn ethanol have never made much sense. Rather than importing cheap Brazilian ethanol made from sugar cane, the United States slaps a tariff of 54 cents a gallon on ethanol from Brazil. Then the government provides a tax break of 51 cents a gallon to American ethanol producers — on top of the generous subsidies that corn growers already receive under the farm program.

Oh, it makes perfect sense — if you realize that it’s all about buying votes in the farm states.

Pork pork pork pork, pork pork pork pork….

Read it. Heck, Murtha could be a “corrupt list” all by himself.

Read it. More information that every American ought to know.

This well-written monograph is the best extant non-technical treatment of fixed costs and how they limit product diversity.

Read it. And yet all the focus is on the embryonic kind.

Read it. So meetings don’t really accomplish anything, they’re all about buy-in. I knew that.

Read it. Alex Tabarrok’s wife is smarter than most.

Read it. Turns statist proposals for forced “national service” on their heads — with interesting results.

Read it. What a surprise — businesses that cater to illegal immigrants see their business drop when illegal immigrants are forced out. Boy, what a shocker. Note the ill-concealed threat: Pass laws against treating illegal immigrants as if they were legal, and we’ll sue you into poverty. OF COURSE that’s the fault of the people who passed the laws, not the people doing the suing, right?

“People in many towns are now weighing the social, economic and legal costs of pursuing these ordinances,” he said.

Yeah, and people threatened by Mafia extortionists are weighing the costs of getting their legs broken, too. Doesn’t affect the morality of the situation.

Read it. This is knowledge that every American ought to have. Unfortunately, most of them have to take off their shoes to count past 10. I’m often deeply frightened by the sort of people who are allowed to vote in this country.

Read it. Well, I have my doubts — but it’s a clever idea.

Read it. Indeed, this is a great time to be alive.

Read it. Apparently not. (On the other hand — do you really expect the New York Times to tell you the truth?)

Read it. The thing I find most fascinating about rich people is that they don’t fit any of the stereotypes and clichés that people cling to, many dating from the Victorian era and outdated in our grandparents’ day — and yet they subscribe to them nevertheless. It seems to be a case of “Well, I’m not like that, but I guess the rest of them must be.”

Read it. Jeremy Wagstaff is one of the few people who actually thinks about technology rather than just looking at it.

Actually what I suspect happens in companies is that they just ignore the user entirely. This is partly because technical products are built (and much of them designed) by programmers and engineers. I hate to generalize, but these people thrive on complexity, not on usability. For them creating and mastering the opaque is an achievement, not a symptom of failure.

And there’s an Eternal Truth you can take to the bank — which will probably be closed.

Steve Sailer takes this theory more seriously than I do. (Part of that, of course, may be that its progenitor is a rabid socialist; I’m disinclined to believe that any socialist knows squat about intelligence.)

Reading his books, it’s pretty clear that, while he’s a bright, interesting guy, he pretty much made up his categories off the top of his head.

I rest my case. Much as with astrology, any congruence between these “intelligences” and the actual human mind is purely coincidental.

Christopher Hitchens is always entertaining, even when he’s wrong — which isn’t all that often.

Americans could also choose a complete crook like Richard Nixon, or a complete moron like Jimmy Carter, and we still had to watch our local politicians genuflect to the so-called Atlantic alliance.

And that really tells you all you need to know about American politics.

Don’t ask what a campaign against global warming has done for “peace”; that would be like asking what Mother Teresa or Henry Kissinger had ever done to reduce global conflict. The impression is the main thing.

And that really tells you all you need to know about European politics.

Read it. Boy, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

Read it. In case you were wondering. I know I was.

David Friedman does not hesitate to examine the most commonplace of activities.

Read it. More from Yaacov ben Moshe.

Read it. “Journalists” always insist on full disclosure — unless they are the ones not sharing.

Read it. I’m shocked — shocked, I tell you.

Read it. Most people don’t appreciate how many graduate degrees an officer will accumulate over the course of his career. It’s a rare colonel who doesn’t have at least a master’s and I don’t know of any generals who aren’t PhDs.

Read it. Like watching a snowman melt.

Read it. Probably not … although I’m sure that won’t stop the Times and its close from pontificating about it.

Read it. Religion of peace, sure.

Read it. So much for Manhattan going under water. The North Pole ice floats; it could all melt and sea levels wouldn’t rise a bit. But the South Pole is anchored to a land mass; the more ice there, the more sea levels will drop.

Mark Steyn does a fine obituary.

Read it. Also not news. But still worth reading.

Read it. This is news? This is like auto mechanics recommending a Universal Car Care Plan.

Read it. Of course, a fence would save all these people’s lives, but none of The Usual Suspects gives a shit because it doesn’t fit their political agenda, which is to get more illegal immigrants into the U.S. to vote Democrat.

Read it. Go, Fred.

Read it. Useful stuff.

Read it. I just find this terminally amusing — some guy in a Communist dictatorship suing an American company for violation of privacy. What’s beyond irony? Titaniumy?

Read it. An interesting article about an interesting fellow. Would that all of our wealthy felt that way about their own nation.

Safire on language. Always worth reading.

Read it. The Freakonomics guys bring up a serious case of Unintended Consequences.

Read it. Having the New York Times review Rand is like having Pravda review Edmund Burke, but it’s worth reading.

Read it. Boy, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

Read it. Milwaukee is a key part of the Dar al-Harb.

Read it. In case you were wondering. I know I was.

Read it.

Read it. Looks like the government of Hawaii is determined to enforce the law. How refreshing. Now if they could just run over a few protesters, it might make life easier for the rest of us.

Read it. Our enemies would have a harder time of it if we didn’t pay them so much.

Read it. Now there’s even a name for it: “Sudden Jihad Syndrome”.

Read it. Of course, they mention — but don’t dwell on — the real reason: Flying commercially these days is like volunteering to be processed for Dachau.

A first-class ticket no longer promises a first-rate travel experience: shoeless walks through security checkpoints and quart-size baggies of toiletries are just the latest indignities. Average flight delays at the busiest airports have doubled in the last five years. Meanwhile, routes are being cut back.

 While a commercial passenger waits hours to go through ticketing and security lines, business-jet travelers don’t even have to walk through a metal detector. They can drive straight up to their plane, hand their bags to the crew, and climb aboard.