A Stitch in Haste

You may have noticed the current Sidebar Sidetrack, which links to a survey of ugly buildings.
By sheer coincidence, word has come down that New York City's out-of-control Landmarks Preservation Commission continues to justify its own unjustifiable existence by finding new sharks to jump:
Silver Towers/University Village, three concrete towers designed by I. M. Pei that were [...]

[Read more →]

While I was not surprised to learn that the online dating site eHarmony would eventually be compelled to cease its policy of not accepting gays as clients, I was surprised to learn that the compulsion would come from New Jersey:
Under terms of the settlement between Eric McKinley, a gay match-seeker from New Jersey, and eHarmony, [...]

[Read more →]

Interesting:
A state appeals court ruled Wednesday that a western Pennsylvania township violated constitutional protections in forcing a sexually oriented business to close on minor holidays such as Flag Day.
…
The video and book store, Adultland XXX, faced the prospect of being shut down for a year because it conducted sales on Flag Day 2006. It previously [...]

[Read more →]

To review: There was a flash in the blogospheric pan a few months ago over a controversial book called Nudge, the authors of which (a law professor and an economics professor, both of some renown) insisted that "libertarian paternalism" is not an axiomatic oxymoron. I, along with almost every other libertarian commentator, was skeptical.
Through sheer [...]

[Read more →]

Mitt Romney, January 14, 2008:
Michigan is enduring a one-state recession, and the problem has only been exacerbated by poor choices made by some of the leaders in Lansing to raise taxes and take that course instead of cutting spending.
…
A lot of Washington politicians are aware of the pain, but they haven't done anything about it. [...]

[Read more →]

Bob Herbert is confused:
The famous Daily News headline, "Ford to City: Drop Dead," ran on Oct. 30, 1975.
New York was on the verge of bankruptcy, and President Ford (who never actually said "drop dead") had made it clear, after listening to conservative hard-liners both inside and outside of his administration, that he planned to veto [...]

[Read more →]

Anyone still pretending that China's authoritarians are committed to free-market principles?
Companies in two Chinese provinces, Shandong and Hubei, have been told they must seek official consent if they want to lay off more than 40 people. The order highlights the Chinese authorities' concern over mounting job losses.
…
The Chinese authorities are keen to avoid social instability, [...]

[Read more →]

Some hasty stitches regarding calls to use TARP money to bail out the Big Three automakers:

General Motors is not "the U.S. auto industry." The Big Three are not "the U.S. auto industry." There are many different metrics (vehicle production, revenue, employment, etc.) but a good benchmark is that the Big Three represent only about one-half [...]

[Read more →]

Attributed to Scalia in yesterday's oral arguments for Pleasant Grove City v. Summum:
"You can't run a museum if you have to accept everything, right?"
Right — Which is exactly why the government should not be running museums in the first place.
As for the outcome of this bizarre case, I think Chief Corky Roberts summed it [...]

[Read more →]

I've been sitting on this story for over a week, trying to figure out how best to approach it. But given how utterly incomprehensible it is, I've decided that there is no "best way" to approach it:
The letter from Hampshire Social Services was as brief as it was bewildering. "Please ring me on the above [...]

[Read more →]