My Favorite Posts of 2005

Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech

A Different Perspective on the Ward Churchill Affair
Free Speech and Limited Government
What Is the Point of Academic Freedom?
How to Deal with Left-Wing Academic Blather
Here We Go Again
It's Not Anti-Intellectualism, Stupid
The Case Against Campus Speech Codes
Treasonous Speech?

Affirmative Action and Race

Affirmative Action: Two Views from the Academy
Lamm (Soft of) Lays It on the Line
Affirmative Action, One More Time
A Contrarian View of Segregation
Much Food for Thought
A Law Professor to Admire
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
After the Bell Curve
A Footnote . . .
Schelling and Segregation

The Constitution: Original Meaning, Subversion, and Remedies

Can the Town Take Your Home?
Unlimited Government
The Constitution in Exile
The Legitimacy of the Constitution
The Wrong Case for Judicial Review
Raich and the Rule of Law
The Last Straw?
An Agenda for the Supreme Court
Judge Roberts and the Defense of America
What Is the Living Constitution?
Senator Specter Abuses the Constitution
Liberals and the Rule of Law
A Challenge to My Senators
The Supreme Court: Our Last, Best Hope for a Semblance of Liberty
The FEC and Bloggers: Stay Tuned
The Legality of Teaching Intelligent Design
The Legality of Teaching Intelligent Design: Part II
Tom DeLay and James Madison
The Case of the (Happily) Missing Supreme Court Nominee(s)
Kelo, Federalism, and Libertarianism
States' Rights and Skunks
A Useful Precedent
Speaking of States' Rights and Judge McConnell
"Equal Protection" and Homosexual Marriage
Law, Liberty, and Abortion
An Answer to Judicial Supremacy?
Oh, *That* Privacy Right
Don't Just Take My Word for It
A New Constitution, Revised
The Original Meaning of the Ninth Amendment
Substantive Due Process, Liberty of Contract, and States' "Police Power"
Privacy, Autonomy, and Responsibility
Amend the Constitution or Amend the Supreme Court?
The Solomon Amendment
Great Minds and the Constitution
The Constitution and Warrantless "Eavesdropping"
NSA "Eavesdropping": The Last Word (from Me)

Economics: Principles and Issues

A Century of Progress?
Social Security Privatization and the Stock Market
Understanding Economic Growth
The Problem with Voluntary Personal Accounts
Oh, That Mythical Trust Fund!
The Real Meaning of the National Debt
Socialist Calculation and the Turing Test
Social Security: The Permanent Solution
The Population Mystery
The Bankruptcy Bill in Perspective
The Social Welfare Function
Funding the Welfare State
Apropos Bankruptcy Reform
A Mathematician's Insight
Social Security Transition Costs, in a Nutshell
Libertarian Paternalism
Traffic-Congestion Hysteria
The Economy Works, in Spite of Zany Economists
A Libertarian Paternalist's Dream World
What Economics Isn't
Talk Is Cheap
Giving Back to the Community
Computer Technology Will Replace Concrete
The Short Answer to Libertarian Paternalism
Second-Guessing, Paternalism, Parentalism, and Choice
Too "Right" for a Leftist
A Non-Paradox for Libertarians
Another Thought about Libertarian Paternalism
Judge Roberts and Women
Katrina's Aftermath: Who's to Blame?
"The Private Sector Isn't Perfect"
A Modest Proposal for Disaster Preparedness
No Mention of Opportunity Costs
Whose Incompetence Do You Trust?
Enough of Amateur Critics
Debt Hysteria, Revisited
Why Government Spending Is Inherently Inflationary
Thoughts That Liberals Should Be Thinking
More Thoughts That Liberals Should Be Thinking
The Economics of Corporate Fitness Programs
Understanding Outsourcing
Much Ado about Donning
Joe Stiglitz, Ig-Nobelist
How to End the Postal Monopoly
Red vs. Blue Charity
Taxes, Charitable Giving, and Republicanism
Where's the Outrage?
A Simple Fallacy
Ten Commandments of Economics
Professor Buchanan Makes a Slight Mistake
A Little Putdown of Politically Correct Shopping
More Commandments of Economics
Three Truths for Central Planners
Bits of Economic Wisdom
Productivity Growth and Tax Cuts
Zero-Sum Thinking

Humor, Satire, and Wry Commentary

Who Looks Like a Republican?
PC Madness
Why Not Marry Your Pet?
The Seven Faces of Blogging
DWI
An Insensitive Proposal, or Two

Infamous Thinkers: Cass Sunstein and Others of His Ilk

Killing Free Speech in Order to Save It
Slippery Sunstein
I Dare Call It Treason
Brian Leiter Is an Idiot
Nicholas Kristof Is an Idiot
Through the Looking Glass with Leiter
The Illogical Left, via Leiter
An Open Letter to Michael Moore
Like a Fish in Water
Joe Stiglitz, Ig-Nobelist
Peter Singer's Agenda

Justice

Crime and Punishment
Abortion and Crime
Alter's Ego
Saving the Innocent?
Saving the Innocent?: Part II
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Further Erosion of the Employment Relationship
A Useful Precedent
Oh, *That* Privacy Right
More on Abortion and Crime

Libertarianism and Other Political Philosophies

Judeo-Christian Values and Liberty
Treasonous Blogging?
More about the Origin of Rights
Liberty, Democrarcy, and Voting Rights
Absolutism
More about Democracy and Liberty
Yet Another Look at Democracy
Redefining Altruism
A Footnote to My Theory of Rights
Where Conservatism and (Sensible) Libertarianism Come Together
Getting Neolibertarianism Wrong
Fundamentalist Libertarians, Anarcho-Capitalists, and Self-Defense
Conservatism, Libertarianism, and Public Morality
Another Thought about Anarchy
Where Do You Draw the Line?
The State, a Creature of Love or Fear?
Anarcho-Capitalism vs. the State
Rights and the State
Free Markets, Free People, and Utter Disgust with Government
The Essential Case for Consequentialist Libertarianism
The Principle of Actionable Harm
Three Axioms
Case Dismissed
Moral Issues
A Paradox for Libertarians
Conservatism, Libertarianism, Socialism, and Democracy
The Consequences and Causes of Abstinence
Shall We All Hang Separately?
Foxhole Rats
A Non-Paradox for Libertarians
Another Thought about Libertarian Paternalism
Judge Roberts and Women
Foxhole Rats, Redux
What Is the Living Constitution?
Religion and Liberty
A Values-Free Government?
Science, Evolution, Religion, and Liberty
Katrina's Aftermath: Who's to Blame?
"The Private Sector Isn't Perfect"
Common Ground for Conservatives and Libertarians?
Know Thine Enemy
Whose Incompetence Do You Trust?
Enough of Amateur Critics
Enough of Altruism
The Supreme Court: Our Last, Best Hope for a Semblance of Liberty
Thoughts That Liberals Should Be Thinking
More Thoughts That Liberals Should Be Thinking
Liberty or Self-Indulgence?
Barking Up the Wrong Libertarian
Kelo, Federalism, and Libertarianism
States' Rights and Skunks
The Corporation and The State
Killing Conservatism in Order to Save It
Speaking of States' Rights and Judge McConnell
Conservatism and Capitalism
Some Thoughts about Liberty
Libertarianism and Preemptive War: Part II
A False Dichotomy
The Media's Measurable Bias
Anarchy: An Empty Concept
The Pathology of Academic Leftism
Ethics and the Socialist Agenda

Movies, Music, and Musicians

My Views on Classical Music, Vindicated
But It's Not Music
On Seeing Dumbo Again
A Hollywood Circle
A Quick Note about Music
Movies
Like a Fish in Water
Rich October Skies
Christmas Movies

Nostalgia

As Time Goes By
Thoughts of Winter
Baseball Nostalgia
On a Lighter Note . . . (old comic strips)
The Next Winner of the World Series?
Ghosts of Thanksgiving Past

Politics in Practice

Great Minds Agree, More or Less
Base Closure: A Model for Entitlement Reform?
Rich Voter, Poor Voter, and Academic Liberalism
Tolerance and Poverty
The Threat of Anti-Theocracy
Illusory Progress
Class in America
An Alternative to Death and Taxes
Three More Cheers for the Great Political Divide
Judge Roberts and Women
Katrina's Aftermath: Who's to Blame?
Will Congress Buy It?
A Challenge to My U.S. Representative
A Challenge to My Senators
A Concession, of Sorts
The FEC and Bloggers: Stay Tuned
The UN and the Internet
Torture and Morality
A Little Putdown of Politically Correct Shopping
A 32-Year Error
The Media's Measurable Bias

Presidents and the Presidency

Lincoln, the Poet President
Ages of Presidents

Science, Pseudo-Science, and Economics as Science

Going Too Far with the First Amendment
Atheism, Religion, and Science
The Limits of Science
Three Perspectives on Life: A Parable
Beware of Irrational Atheism
The Hockey Stick Is Broken
Talk about Brainwaves!
The Creation Model
The Thing about Science
Religion and Personal Responsibility
Free Will: A Proof by Example?
Science in Politics, Politics in Science
Baseball and the Constants of the Universe
A Theory of Everything, Occam's Razor, and Baseball
Global Warming and Life
Evolution and Religion
Speaking of Religion...
Words of Caution for Scientific Dogmatists
Science, Evolution, Religion, and Liberty
Hurricanes and Global Warming
The Legality of Teaching Intelligent Design
Global Warming and the Liberal Agenda
Schelling and Segregation
What's Wrong with Game Theory
Science, Logic, and God
Ockham's Razor in the Age of Statistics
The Pathology of Academic Leftism

Self-Ownership (abortion, euthanasia, marriage, and other aspects of the human condition)

The Marriage Contract
Feminist Balderdash
Taking Exception
Protecting Your Civil Liberties
Libertarianism, Marriage, and the True Meaning of Family Values
The Consequences of Roe v. Wade
The Old Eugenics in a New Guise
The Left, Abortion, and Adolescence
Moral Luck
Consider the Children
Same-Sex Marriage
"Equal Protection" and Homosexual Marriage
Law, Liberty, and Abortion
Equal Time: The Sequel
Marriage and Children
Don't Just Take My Word for It
Oh, *That* Slippery Slope
Metaphor du Jour
Abortion and the Slippery Slope
More on Abortion and Crime
The Cynics Debate While Babies Die
Privacy, Autonomy, and Responsibility
Peter Singer's Agenda

War, Self-Defense, and Civil Liberties

Getting It Almost Right about Iraq
Philosophical Obtuseness
But Wouldn't Warlords Take Over?
Sorting Out the Libertarian Hawks and Doves
Now, Let's Talk About Something Else
Shall We All Hang Separately?
Foxhole Rats
Foxhole Rats, Redux
Know Thine Enemy
September 11: A Remembrance
September 11: A Postscript for "Peace Lovers"
The UN and the Internet
The Faces of Appeasement
Libertarianism and Preemptive War: Part II
Torture and Morality
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Non-Aggression?
We Have Met the Enemy . . .
Prof. Bainbridge Flunks
My View of Warlordism, Seconded
Whose Liberties Are We Fighting For?
Prof. Bainbridge and the War on Terror
The Constitution and Warrantless "Eavesdropping"
NSA "Eavesdropping": The Last Word (from Me)