When I first heard that statistics had a long-running dispute| yarchive.net
I once read a description of the Code Duello, the formal set of rules that existed to govern duelling, which stated that it was a finely crafted, well-thought-out code which, in its entirety, should not exist. It seems to me the same is true today of the whole system of law that regulates trade unions and how businesses must deal with them. The Code Duello assumed belligerence, and tried to tamp down unfair aspects, while still leaving duellists free to kill or maim each other. It had rules f...| Norman's blog
Academic freedom has always seemed a weird concept to me. I mean, universities generally promise it to their professors; I’ve seen many people argue for it; I’ve hardly seen anyone argue against it (at least not in principle – it’s always “this is an exception” rather than “the rule is wrong”); but still, the whole idea seems so naive. When someone has been hired as a world-class expert, has been entrusted to teach others, and then reveals himself to be a prize ass, how can an...| Norman's blog
The Wire is one of the great shows of our time: exciting yet sticking close to reality. I generally disdain TV shows and movies, and have hardly even heard of most of them. But The Wire has the reputation of being highly realistic, which is what got me to watch it in the first place, and it didn’t disappoint. It doesn’t get absolutely everything right, though. One of the big things it gets wrong is the conduct of top-level gunfighters, of which it has two: Omar Little and Brother Mouzone....| Norman's blog
The cause of the recent inflation seems clear, but a lot of people are getting it wrong. Kamala Harris is blaming price gouging, dismaying even people who are trying to cheer for her. Donald Trump, in his interview with Elon Musk, pointed to oil price increases as the main driver of inflation – which is plausible enough to deserve an actual refutation, since transportation prices do drive up the price of other things, and oil is also a chemical feedstock. But the early-2000s oil price jump ...| Norman's blog
A recent post by Eugene Volokh describes a legal case which hinges on a rule of libel law that most people are likely unaware of: “It has long been the law of Pennsylvania that statements made by judges, attorneys, witnesses and parties in the course of or pertinent to any stage of judicial proceedings are absolutely privileged and, therefore, cannot form the basis for liability for defamation.” Volokh makes no comment of his own regarding the merits of this rule, but I have seen a devast...| Norman's blog
Reparations for slavery were paid a long time ago. They were paid in blood, perhaps the only suitable currency for such a payment. As Lincoln put it, “…every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword…”. In context, that was an unwanted possibility rather than a threat or a promise; but by the time he spoke those words in his Second Inaugural speech it likely had already happened. I’m not going to attempt a calculation of drops of blood (or gallo...| Norman's blog
“It’s made of plastic” is a common put-down. Marketers selling higher-end bits made of plastic (like gun parts) try to evade the stigma by calling it “polymer”, but that’s just a stupid euphemism: every plastic is a polymer, though not every polymer is a plastic. The word “polymer” says nothing to indicate that this might be a superior sort of plastic. Yet there are superior sorts; plastics vary widely in their characters. Some analogies between plastic and human characters: P...| Norman's blog
The argument is often made that although some group committed a violent aggression, they were provoked into it by an act that was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. The South at Fort Sumter; the Russians in 2022; the Nazis: all those have had that argument made for them. The people who make that argument too often forget that the red flag only works because the bull is a bull. Humans react to the waving of a red flag by asking “Why are you waving that thing at me?” There are human...| Norman's blog
The prostate gland causes entirely too many problems. In the US,| yarchive.net