Sick Transit

A little bit of narcissism is healthy:

Via a discussion-board post, here are excerpts from an absolutely priceless article on female sexuality from the Watchtower magazine of 1961. And yes, this is real, I verified it.

There’s been a recent mini-storm in the blogosphere about Microsoft retracting their support for gay rights legislation in Washington in response to pressure from an anti-gay activist. Shakespeare’s Sister reports the latest instance, which is really going too far:

I think it’s regrettable that Microsoft caved to pressure, but after being strong supporters of gay rights for years, it’s unseemly for the activist community to react like this simply because Microsoft failed to support one bill. If Microsoft had violated gay rights in some way–e.g. eliminating domestic partner benefits, or supporting legislation that was harmful to gay rights–that would be different. But the gay rights community is treating them as pariahs simply because they’re not being as progressive as they once were. That’s not a good way to build political alliances.

Ratzinger’s election is unsurprising, but still disappointing. Given that the new Pope is 78 years old, however, I think this AP analysis is probably correct:

Ratzinger probably won’t be around for long; and consenting to his election this time around might just give the more liberal-minded cardinals more leverage in the next conclave.

Or not. At least to us outsiders, Vatican-watching often seems as obscure as Kremlinology.

This bit of local news here in Idaho is just a sad story all around:

It’s sad but understandable that a bureaucratic mistake got made. What really gets me is that the defendant did not speak up or say anything. He obviously didn’t understand the plea deal he signed; he felt powerless, and simply took what ‘the system’ meted out. The fact that Hernandez was apparently a nonviolent drug offender and needn’t have actually gone to jail at all just compounds the tragedy.

In an unintentional bit of humor at the Voloh Conspiracy today, David Bernstein denies that there is a ‘Constitution in Exile’ movement. Of course, one of his co-conspirators is Randy Barnett, author of Restoring the Lost Constitution.

If anyone can find a substantive difference between a ‘lost’ constitution and one ‘in exile’, let me know.

I don’t have anything to add to Todd Zywicki’s post, but I think it’s important enough to link to anyway:

I cannot ignore a direct request from someone I admire as much as Tyler Cowen. So if you want to be scared off your ass, go check out Tyler’s latest group blog, Avian Flu.

Capping off a recent exchange in the blogosphere over Democratic positioning in the culture wars, Matthew Yglesias shows clearly why the two sides keep talking past each other:

Matt lays out his concerns in a nutshell:

The issue is not just personal freedom, or moral relativism. For Matt, like Oscar Wilde and all the aesthetes, moralizing about art is itself immoral.

I agree with Matt, even though–as he recognizes–our position is a politically losing proposition. But that is why people like Matt and I, even when we accept some philistinism as a political necessity, are so frustrated when Ed Kilgore, Amy Sullivan, and other progressives propose it as a matter of principle.

Matt Yglesias has some good points on why single-payer healthcare might not be as bad as it’s cracked up to be. One of his strongest points is the comparison to Canada:

A couple of other points that I agree with:

I still don’t favor a single-payer system, because I think we already have enough of a problem with money being wasted because ‘insurance covers it’. A single-payer system would require cost controls that would make HMOs look like bleeding hearts.

Still, if we’re going to compare, we should compare fairly, and Yglesias does a good job of balancing the scales.

Tyler Cowen says that studies have shown that:

Maybe I’m just a Euro-wannabe snob, but I believe that squatting and touching are both extremely uncouth behaviors for a restaurant server, and if I am writing their tip, it will suffer accordingly. Along with this comment:

I’ve got to say that the trend in American restaurant service seems to be towards infantilizing customers.

Amidst the fervent de mortuis veneration of John Paul, and the countervailing criticisms by contrarians like Christopher Hitchens, Billmon strikes out an insightful and even-handed evaluation:

My favorite April Fool’s so far: Information Does Not Exist.

(Honorable mention also goes to Slashdot for best framing of a true story.)

Normally, I am quick to step up to defend my city of residence when bloggers use Boise as a synonym for Podunk. But for today, everyone should feel free to make fun of the state for electing such a bone-headed governor.

Republican Dirk Kempthorne is not planning to run for re-election in 2006 (word is that he’s angling for a cabinet position, or at least EPA Commissioner), so I guess he no longer feels accountable to the people of Idaho. The legislature had been a bit ambivalent about passing the governor’s proposed $1.6 billion highway reconstruction plan, and so Kempthorne decided it was time to prove his manhood:

The Republican-dominated legislature is in full revolt, with legislators of the governor’s party calling him “a petulant cry baby” on the record. As a Democrat in a state that is thoroughly squashed by the elephant, I suppose I should sit back and rub my hands as I watch Republicans insult each other. Unfortunately, the real loser in this dispute is going to be the budget and all of us who rely on state services.