Archive for 2012

STACY MCCAIN WONDERS what happened to all that “new civility” stuff?

Related item here. “I notice that Mr. Farrell did not respond to my most serious charge against Crooked Timber: that they systematically left out Professor Loomis’s most-vile comments. This omission probably gained many signatures for their statement but cost Crooked Timber some credibility.” Meh, it’s not like they had much to lose.

UPDATE: Henry Farrell responds.

MY MENTION THE OTHER DAY of the Orgreenic Frying Pan produced this email from reader Scott Boone:

I know you probably don’t want to do a whole big bleg on cookware, but I saw your post earlier on the Orgreenic frypans. Of course, you’ve used them personally, so that’s a pretty strong endorsement, I wanted to throw a hat in the ring for SCANPAN too. I’ve been using mine for years and it is awesome! They were one of the first ceramic-coated nonsticks, I believe. (ceramic titanium…oooooh) They’re more expensive than the Orgreenic, but have a lifetime warranty (a Danish company that’s been around) and you can use METAL UTENSILS with them! And I do, regularly–forks, knives, turners–never a problem. Can cook a steak tonight and do an omelet or fried eggs tomorrow morning. Really fantastic cookware.
http://amzn.com/B0000CDUUH

Also, another kitchen essential that I think NO chef should be without, a good silicone spatula/spoon.

(I don’t personally like the black color, I have white…and a red one, for tomato sauces. But looks like Amazon doesn’t have those in stock right now.But this design is great; all enclosed construction with no wood or stick-hole to trap nasty bacteria. Yuck.)

Maybe I’ll try the Scanpan out next time I’m looking for nonstick cookware. It’s pricier, but the construction quality seems higher.

NEW JERSEY TOWN FOLLOWS THE NRA’S ADVICE: “We’ve made a collective decision as a town that we need armed security in each of our schools.”

UPDATE: Reader Mark Simon points out the political genius of the NRA: “NJ will have cops at every school for one reason. UNIONS. The cops are being driven back in their Over-time and the schools just provided justification as well as another local need for those hundred of so township police departments.”

THE PARANOID STRAIN IN AMERICAN POLITICS via Michael Mann. “The return label says COSTCO Photo Center, not Heartland, not Koch Brothers World Headquarters, and not ‘Skeptic Lair’. I guess Dr. Mann really is out of touch with the common man, because all he had to do was visit COSTCO photo center to see for himself that ANYONE can create and order calendars, and have them sent to friends or family, just like I did. No Koch Brothers credit card needed.”

JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Bohemian Rhapsody on ukelele. “You know, this is the underdog of all instruments.” He’s the Stevie Ray Vaughan of the ukelele. No, really.

THE ARCHIES: Sugar, Sugar.

MARIO LOYOLA: The Federal-State Crackup.

For decades, Democrats and Republicans alike have invested heavily in governance schemes that erode the Constitution’s separation of powers and mar its proper functioning. The Federal judiciary has uniformly rubber-stamped these schemes. The consequence has been an unsustainable spree of borrowing, spending and overregulation at the Federal level, cyclical fiscal crises at the state level, and less accountable and less representative government at every level.

These governance schemes are generally of two kinds: one erodes the separation of powers between Federal and state governments, while the other erodes the separation of powers within the Federal government. In the first category is “cooperative federalism”, whereby the Federal government uses monopoly powers to coerce and subvert the prerogatives of state governments. In the other is Congress’s delegation of vast rule-making authority to administrative agencies.

These two categories of concern are often treated as being entirely distinct, but they share profound similarities. Both are methods for Congress to escape accountability by hiding its power in other institutions of government. Cooperative federalism allows Congress to hide its power within the decision-making of state governments, while its delegation of rule-making authority allows it to hide its power in the far-flung bureaucracy of the Executive Branch.

The Federal judiciary has a crucial role to play in maintaining and policing the boundaries of America’s basic institutions of state. It is a role it abdicated when confronted with the popular nationalist programs of the New Deal. The constitutional doctrines the judiciary has invoked to let Congress blur these critical separations of power are deeply flawed as a matter of constitutional law, and they have ultimately become unsustainable as a matter of political economy.

Yes. And a “living constitution” approach will recognize that the New Deal doctrines are poorly adapted to a changing world, and return to limited government.

THE NEVERENDING SCOURGE OF Ever-Present TVs In Restaurants. “So while we diners polish off our pepperoni, we get to hear about a body being unearthed from a serial killer’s basement in Iowa.”

UPDATE: Yes, there is a technical solution. But is it right?

WHAT TURNED JARON LANIER AGAINST THE WEB.

99 CENTS ON KINDLE: From Joseph Bottum, Wise Guy: A Christmas Tale. You probably know him from his writings in the Weekly Standard.