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The makers of Kazaa are suing record companies for copyright infringement. It seems the companies have been pursuing downloaders using unauthorized copies of their software.

To tell the truth, I hope the downloaders win their battle with the entertainment industry, because I think it would be better for culture if the culture business were … More ...

Totalitarianism asserts its perfect goodness and power, so it naturally claims improbable triumphs. North Korean election returns have shown 100% popular participation and 100% approval for the Party slate. During the Soviet purges it was said that “the Organs [of state security] never make mistakes.” Our petty totalitarians claim achievements that are similarly startling, although … More ...

When I visit the doctor I usually catch up on mass culture a bit by reading the magazines in the waiting room. Most of it’s flashy junk and nothing more, but yesterday at the eye doctor’s I ran into something worth reading, an article in New York Magazine about a distinguished professor at New York … More ...

Trading favorable coverage for access is commonplace among journalists who cover politicians. John Burns, a New York Times reporter and apparently a principled man, complains that in Saddam Hussain’s Iraq that routine variety of corruption turned into something pretty horrible: “There Is Corruption in Our Business”. Cozy relationships are only one of the ways … More ...

A man was arrested in North Carolina for successfully passing a $200 bill. The bill included a picture of George Bush and slogans like “We like ice cream” and “The USA deserves a tax cut.” The cashier apparently thought that was good enough for $150 worth of groceries and $50 change.

It’s not clear … More ...

What is liberalism, where does it come from, and is it all bad and of a piece or can you mix and match? I’ve argued that liberalism is One Big Thing growing out of the decision to base political order not on substantive ultimate goods (like God) but on subjective human preferences. History is complex, … More ...

An annotated reading list on Islam from the Claremont Institute that seems intelligent: Reading Up on Islam. In line with general practice, the discussion takes Western liberalism as fundamental and wonders how to fit Islam into it. To my mind that’s a disadvantage, because I don’t consider Western liberalism in any form as a … More ...

Phyllis Schaffly makes the obvious but intelligent point that Congress could do a great deal about the federal judicial usurpations that have led to the suppression of the 10 Commandments at the Alabama Supreme Court by simply exercising its constitutional power to withdraw jurisdiction over such issues from the federal courts.

They won’t, of course, … More ...

The ever-useful Keith Windshuttle has collected a remarkable collection of stupid, wrong-headed, and sometimes downright evil responses from intellectuals to September 11. To my mind the most outrageous case he recounts (pointed out by PC Watch) is the following:

There were some academics who, in the heat of the moment, overlooked the prevailing politically correct

There’s new hope for Europeans worried about vanishing pensions, a problem we just commented on: they can go to Switzerland and get humanely put down. From a recent survey it appears that 51% of all deaths in the country result from “end-of-life” decisions. A few old fogies are concerned about “suicide tourists” who want … More ...