A Truism

Just came up with a truism:

"Superstition is like a loaded rifle that we can't set down and ought to be treated as such: in other words, keep it pointed at the sky and keep your feet on the ground."

Blatherings on Palin and Damon

Like I said earlier, I was concerned about Sarah Palin, but excited that other conservatives were excited about her. Her interview with Chris Gibson has not alleviated my concern in the least, and, while I think that her selection was a brave and smart move on McCain's part, I am not positive that it will prove a profitable one.

But, for the moment, here are some other thoughts:

I think that Matt Damon plagiarized Maureen Dowd in his embarrassing interview about how he "really needs to know" if Sarah Palin thinks that the dinosaurs were here 6000 years ago. He began by saying something to this effect: "It's like a bad Disney movie . . . she's gonna face down Putin and all that in her folksy way . . ." Maureen Dowd had written approximately the same ideas in the same order a week or two before. (Check out her Sunday column around that time.)

The Case of Rangel

I am not going to say that Charles Rangel should go to prison. I do not actually know the motives for why he failed to pay taxes on his Dominican properties for more than two decades. Maybe he did actually not understand the tax forms. But, at the very least, this incident should make him, as chairman of the Ways and Means committee, rethink the bureaucracy that underlies taxes. It's time for something that's either simpler (flat tax) or more ethical (consumption tax). I would prefer the latter myself, but I would also take the former if it were offered. It would be much better, I think, then having to pay those Social Security taxes. Here's hoping that this incident will cause Charles Rangel to rethink the bureaucracy. (I wouldn't count on it.)

First Lecture

Gave my first lecture in 8th grade history today. Talked about ancient Egypt and touched a bit on Hammurabi. My task for this year is to get all of the way from Egypt to Iraq (that is, post-U.S. invasion Iraq) and the U.S. Presidential elections, 2008. It's going to be an interesting year.

Sarah Palin

You (if anyone reads this blog) may have noticed that I've been avoiding politics more than I used to. The reason is that I felt that I posted too much before, but, any way that you look at it, it seems necessary to write something about the recent Veep nomination.

To start out, I'll say that I'm glad the Republicans did not pick a Joseph Biden (read Mitt Romney) and there is nothing in the ideology of Sarah Palin that I find objectionable. She appears to like guns, God and oil, and I am a big fan of all of these things myself. She's a woman--I've felt for some time that it was about time that the Republicans ran one. She's from Alaska, so I don't know her position on immigration yet--the only issue where I truck more with the Democrats; she will probably come out against it, but I suppose that doesn't matter too much. She isn't running for president; John McCain is. I also like that she's a union member and that she's a hocky mom.

That being said. I am a little bit concerned about her debate with Joe Biden. She's more lively than he is, but not as knowledgeable and quite honestly, I think that he's going to clean up the floor with her on international policy. However, if she can get in one cheep shot between the eyes, as Mark Shields would say, she can come away victorious. I am not sure what it would be at this point, but Joe Biden will be held to a higher standard and, therefore, has much more to lose.

The second concern is this brewing scandal about her brother-in-law. The media will be scrutinizing that from every angle within a week. This could lead to serious troubles for the message of reform.

But I want to end this post on a positive note. This is not only a day for Alaskans to celebrate, but also for Idahoans to remember, and especially those of us at the University of Idaho: After all, we've never had an alum running for the White House before.

World History I

If anyone's wondering about the "World History I" thing, I started that blog for my students. Just thought that I should offer some exposition on the subject.

The Problem with Central Planning

Another piece from Thomas Sowell that's worth reading:

Thomas Sowell :: Townhall.com :: Amateurs Outdoing Professionals