The passing of economist John Kenneth Galbraith.
My bit of rant: well, okay, so I’m not a driver and therefore I probably lack a bit of sympathy for drivers confronted with the rise in gas prices. But, while watching the news, seeing the reporter talk to a guy putting gas into his SUV — well, that gets to me. I mean, if you’re so pissed with the rising gas prices, then why the heck are you driving an SUV?! Get yourself a more fuel-efficient car, that, in all likelihood, isn’t nearly as expensive than those idiotic SUV’s. End of rant.
On the Day Without Immigrants, where immigration law protests and boycotts are going on – well, I’m a bit of a sympathizer (even if I really still haven’t developed my sense of where I stand on the issues – I’m too wishy-washy for my own good); at the very least, I despise hatemongerers. So I really meant not to make any purchases (ok, truthfully, more because I spent enough this weekend, than because of actual sympathy for the protests), but really, I tried. But, my desire for junk food was too strong and I’m too weak and so I spent my bit of money (darn you, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish).
Oh well. Hope the protesters will forgive me. In honor of the continuing quest and hope that this country will one day find a better way to reform immigration law, I’ll link to Fahreed Zakaria’s column in Newsweek, where he explains how America really shouldn’t pursue Europe’s guest worker tactics, because those tactics fail to take into consideration incentives to convince immigrants that they can become a part of the society in which they work and live, as a reward for working and living. (I thought he made a lot of sense anyway).
Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick comes up with a mock Supreme Court decision (re: whether Anna Nicole Smith loved her husband – “While the issue of whether Anna (aka Vickie Lynn Marshall) really loved her 89-year-old oil-baron husband, or if she was just some trashy gold digger was neither pleaded nor argued before this court, we have nevertheless reviewed the record below and herein find that Ms. Smith was indeed a complete and unrepentant opportunist. We further find as a matter of law that she never loved the guy.”), in honor of the real Supreme Court’s finding for Anna Nicole Smith in this twisted bankruptcy law/wills and estates law mix.
Prof. Tim Wu of Columbia Law discusses in Slate some concerns regarding possible controls of the Internet. Hmm. Sounds scary, and this isn’t an issue I was aware of at all.
An article on “House.” This week’s two episodes look quite good: Dr. Foreman’s life is at stake and Dr. House remains an ass. I like the episodes where they break out of their usual pattern of threatening someone else’s life; threatening the lives of one of their own (well, okay, character development stuff) can be powerful drama.
