Longtime readers of this blog will no doubt be stunned to learn that I’m very fond of San Diego, my old hometown (well, one of my old hometowns).
I’m likewise very fond of this video:
Somewhere Over China
Click this link for an amazing collection of aerial photos of China. Here’s the first one:
Never Merry When I Hear Sweet Music
It used to be a common practice for soundtracks to play “funny” music in certain scenes to, I guess, let the audience know that something funny was happening.
Some examples: at 1:55-2:08 in this clip from To Have and Have Not (1944); at 1:58-2:22 and 7:01-7:17 of these clips from the original 1960s Star Trek; and at 3:41-3:56 and 4:46-5:17 of these clips, likewise from Star Trek.
This practice has always really annoyed me; for some reason I’ve found it much more distracting than a laugh track, which I’m generally able to tune out. I’m not sure at what point in screen history this stopped being common practice, but I’m very glad it did.
I Was Somewhere Around Barstow Etc. Part Deux
Our Molinari/C4SS panel at the 2018 APEE:
Roderick T. Long, Nathan Goodman, Gary Chartier, Jason Lee Byas
Left-Libertarians at Libertopia
[cross-posted at C4SS and BHL]
Next month (3-6 May) in San Diego I’ll be speaking at the Libertopia conference, which is back after several years’ hiatus. Here’s my topic and abstract:
Hoppean Libertarianism as Right-Wing Tribalism: A Critique
Roderick T. LongOne of the main conduits by which many libertarians in recent years have been drawn into the orbit of the Alt-Right is the work of Hans-Hermann Hoppe. I argue that Hoppe’s views on such matters as racial difference, immigration, monarchism, and the desirability of culturally homogeneous communities are systematically mistaken, as well as incompatible with a libertarian understanding of human action.
My Molinari Institute / Center for a Stateless Society / Alliance of the Libertarian Left / Bleeding Heart Libertarians colleague Gary Chartier will also be speaking; here’s his topic and abstract:
How to Think About the Constitution
Gary ChartierLibertarians often defend particular theories of constitutional interpretation. But, at least for those who are skeptical about standard defenses of state authority, there’s a prior question: are we obligated to follow the Constitution? If we’re not, I suggest, then there’s no right answer to questions about the right way to read the Constitution. Instead, we should make constitutional arguments likely to advance liberty.
Other speakers include David Friedman, Scott Horton, Jeff Tucker, Spencer MacCallum, and many more. Check it out!
Never a Note, Never a Trill
A tantalising bonus scene from Star Trek: Discovery has been released. I have no idea why this wasn’t included in the final episode; it’s pretty significant for the plot, and it would have made a great post-credits scene for the season finale (and given that the show’s on a streaming service, they’re a bit more flexible as to running time than a standard network show would be).
SPOILER WARNING: Do not watch this scene unless you have finished watching the entire first season of Discovery: