Politics
Even before Dobbs, it was clear that the devotion of many American conservatives to restricting or outlawing abortion was about regulating the lives of women, not about “life”. When you put that together with the “family values” fairy tale of a society where sexuality was reproductive and contained within a
Chapbook
But we must go on to say that while it may be true that morality cannot be legislated, behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless. It may be true that the law cannot make a man
History
The last 3 times the US armed forces went into combat for a campaign without air superiority were: The Philippines 1942 (largest surrender of US forces outside of the US Civil War) Guadalcanal 1942-1943, (First months of the battle, US forces dont have air supremacy and have to hold
Economics
[I]n response to complaints on the right that the crimes of right-leaning authoritarian regimes are somehow over-taught and left-leaning authoritarian regimes are under-taught [...] I should note that I took my Russian and Chinese history courses at the University of Massachusetts located in the beautiful People’
Chapbook
Freedom of speech in general and academic freedom in particular have always been placed under pressure or even active assault because they are, by design, uncomfortable. After all, no one needs the freedom or protection to utter comfortable pablum or to make statements which flatter the rich and powerful. Those
Libraries
§1 Lunar Days “As the summer turns / I seem to fall away / Gaps in the light / The Lunar Days…” §2 The Lion Sleeps Tonight Which cover version is better? Anne Reburn's five-part self-a capella? Or They Might Be Giants' rock re-intepretation (featuring Laura Cantrell)
Music
§1 Python A habit I'm working on breaking as I learn Python: Skimming lightly through the introductory material because “I already know that.” No harm is done by remaining open to the possibility that I don't. §2 “Skilljacking” “Will Truman” is the pseudonym of an ordinary
Humor
§1 Python Hello, World! My home computer now has the default Python 3.11.4 package. I'm using the IDLE shell for now, and plan to switch later to Nova, which I have been using as an html editor for years. §2 Philip Agre When I was in
Economics
Copying an idea from Mita Williams... §1 Python At 12, I taught myself BASIC programming. Can I repeat the trick at 52 with Python? My plan: Work through Allen B. Downey's Think Python, letting each section sink in before moving on. Once I've finished that book,
History
At Harvard Law School in the 1950s, I noticed the case books on property and contract law did not include commercial cases over slave 'ownership.' In pre-Civil War generations, the courts were full of litigation--slave families were valuable 'property' whose exploitation led to contractual
Chapbook
...some of the academics want to write like they're writing for The New Yorker, and The New Yorker does so many wonderful things, but I think The New Yorker has also convinced us all that we need to find one perfect avatar that embodies the complex story we
History
The view that the great cathedral of history is being built brick by brick by historians, some of them filling gaps and forming pillars, while the majority of them add their small bricks in the form of monographs […] is not entirely a wrong one–but we must recognize that the