|link| Posted 5:57 PM by Brian Linse

Yes, Kevin, It Is Tiresome

CalPundit has grown tired once again of the broad stroke Left-bashing that is so rampant in the blogoshpere. This time, he riffs off of a Matt Welch post regarding the lack of Lefty condemnation of Castro.

Matt should know better, and he usually does, but I know that Castro is a hot personal issue for him. CalPundit's post is very clear on why Matt and any other critics should focus their fire a little better, so I'll sign on with Kevin.

I do, however, normally approve of the criticism that guys like Matt and Layne (and, yes, even that wayward Lefty Mickey Kaus) dole out to the silly and stupid amongst our ranks. But this time I think Matt has let an issue that he feels strongly about slop up an otherwise good point. I know that a lot of the Lefty Bloggers don't agree with me, and feel that criticism should only be directed in partisan attacks, but that's not what liberal inquiry means to me. We should never hesitate to criticize our own.

I have been through this debate so many times that I usually let them go. But this time, Kevin's post was so on target that I thought I'd join the fun. At the end of his post, Kevin reminds me of something I posted over a year ago in response to Tim Blair, but which is more timely in the current environment:

For me, the political spectrum is like a clock. At 12, you have moderate republicans rubbing elbows with economically conservative democrats. As you move to the right (clockwise), you get progressively more conservative, and to the left (counterclock) progressively more liberal.

At Six O'clock, you're a fascist asshole no matter how you got there.

|link| Posted 2:51 PM by Brian Linse

Foodcrime Theory

Eugene Volokh explains his theory of "Foodcrime".

|link| Posted 12:58 AM by Brian Linse

Kill Two Birds And Get Stoned

The infamous Kinky Friedman blew through LA last week on a book promo tour for his new novel, Kill Two Birds & Get Stoned. The Kinkster was in good spirits, and in better spirits after he'd had some spirits, but was downright happy after getting word that he'd been well reviewed in the Sunday New York Times. Here's a couple of pics of the festivities:



Kinky, LA music legend Chuck E Weiss, and Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night



Kinky, composer Van Dyke Parks, and Brian

For my suffering as his friend I got an autographed copy of the book: "For Brian, Can You Take Some Constructive Criticism? Go Fuck Yourself! Love, Kinky" But you will have to buy a copy, and I highly recommend you do so by following this link.

|link| Posted 7:01 PM by Brian Linse

The Lott Plot Thickens

Kevin Drum directs us to Tim Lambert's John Lott Update page for what appears to be a new twist involving Glenn Reynolds and Dave Kopel. It's a bit involved, so just go to Lambert's page and read the timeline.

What I find interesting is the consideration of this angle along with Glenn's relative silence on the Lott controversies (at least compared to the relentless "Bellisilles Updates", remember those?), and the fact that the person being smeared, Steve Levitt, is an expert in econometrics. Lott's research method for his book was an econometric model, and as I have noted before, it is a model that is prone to bias for a predetermined conclusion. Other researchers used Lott's exact data and model, and found that when Florida was removed, his numbers evaporated.

The gunboys like Glenn, Eugene Volokh, and Kopel have a tendency to go mute when the gun issue doesn't fit their beliefs, but this time Reynolds and Kopel are directly involved through a professional bit of journalism in the NRO, and they really should offer up some answers.

I'm still waiting for any of them to comment on the Robert Ricker testimony and the NAACP suit against gun manufacturers in New York. I fear I'll have a long wait...

TUESDAY UPDATE:It seems that InstaPundit has replied to a firearms regulation mailing list that Tim Lambert cites, but has still not denied that Lott was the source of the quote in the NRO that found it's way into Lott's own book. [link removed] Also check out Tom Spencer, who thinks Reynolds should be ticked off at Lott, and asks a very good question at the end of his post