Election Day Thought

“Our federal government is like a train on the track....There are people on the right and people on the left, they’re yelling at it. The train has no choice; it’s on its track"  Tom Wolfe

Enjoy!

Dogs are fun.   (h/t Radley Balko)

Post-election Dream

Dream: that the bile, snark, and sneer will disappear, that friends will not see their friends of opposite persuasion as seriously deluded, that the race for 2016 will hold off until late 2015, that the lion will lie down with the lamb. 

Finally....

I never thought this day would come: if Indiana University wins out, it goes to the Rose Bowl!!!!  (note of warning before you get too excited: it has to beat Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin and the representative from the Legends division to do so)

Freedom of Speech v Freedom of Association

Greg Lukianoff, president of The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, has an interesting guest blogpost on The Volokh Conspiracy discussing FIRE's policy on private colleges.  In short, FIRE evaluates private colleges by their upfront commitment to freedom of speech.  Hence institutions who are openly committed to religious values over freedom of speech do not have their feet held to the fire when they suppress free speech.  Examples he gives are Brigham Young and Liberty University.   Freedom of association, in short, has some weight when it comes to other commitments.  This one could argue is as it should be, as it to is a constitutional right. 

Those of us in academia should be familiar with this; at least when I was a new Ph.D. it was commonplace for some colleges to be explicit about what sort of commitments you were to uphold.  I remember one institution that required as a condition of employment a testament that the Devil was an actual person.  Similarly, my beloved Wabash  is permitted to refuse admission to females based on freedom of association. Such freedom of association has limits, and rightfully so, but there's something aesthetically pleasing about a country that allows like-minded individuals to gather peacably together.   

The Problem With Government Omnipotence

The more the government knows about its citizens, the more dangerous that knowledge becomes.  Traditionally amongst those of a libertarian persuasion, the worry was that if or when the government turns "evil," this knowledge would be used against the citizenry.  While this is a nagging concern, the likelihood of this seems slim.

However, there is another issue.  As recent events in South Carolina demonstrate, the government doesn't care enough about its possession of personal information as it should.  Hence 3.6 million South Carolinians have had their tax records hacked.

While the Governor was quick to provide free credit protection to the victims, this lasts only for one year.  Oh and by the way:  State law limits the state's liability to $600,000 per hacking incident!  Hence, if you, I,  and 298 other SC residents lose $20, 000 each because of this hack, we would each get 50 Cents from the state!  Isn't the coercive power of government a wonderful thing to behold?!!

Is the Internet Self-Regulating?

To a certain extent.  I offer to you Marc Randazza at The Legal Satyricon as supporting evidence.  He is bringing to light an odious case where it is likely that one and the same person is posting nude pictures of women without their consent and then,through an alias and for a fee, offering legal services to take them down.  Ken at Popehat is contributing his efforts.  Kudos!