Assorted links:
1. The greatest strength of America is the people who want to live there — its diversity and immigration.
2. 25 minute video presentation from Michael Clemens on why we should support immigration of all forms, and debunking the myths around illegal immigration.
3. Best photos of 2009 from the LA Times.
4. How to prevent a sneeze if you feel one coming on.
5. A restaurant that splits the bill to show what each person ordered. Brilliant.
6. The right minimum wage question.
7. A matrix breaking down leaders by four dimensions: highly educated, not highly educated, central planning, and decentralized.
8. Kurt Vonnegut's writing advice.
9. One way to debunk a thinker or writer: the stuff that's good isn't new, and the stuff that's new isn't good.
Kudos for the insightful information regarding immigration. I live on the rural side of American life, and I hate to hear the thinly veiled resentment of otherwise educated persons regarding those who allegedly steal away health care resources from ‘legitimate Americans’. It is not only the anachronism of it that pains me, but the irrational scorn hidden with flimsy excuses. Now we all have our prejudices, myself included, but I just can’t stand it when the vulnerable status of others signals an easy scape goat. Immigrants are vulnerable to many hardships, but they are still human beings with the need for human dignity like the rest of us, many of whom, frankly, are descendents of immigrants legal or illegal. This is not to hide the fact that illegal immigration is illegal for valid reasons, however, even if you just scratch the surface of the laws on immigration you will see that many policies in place are contradictory or counter-indicative and so it would do a lot of good, in my opinion, to reform with a clear, uncluttered purpose mindful of both the founding principles involved and the need for diversity in this country. Didn’t mean to rant so long on this…
Keep up the great work on a thought-provoking, timely, and informative blog!
Hi There, good list but I expected a more insightful and out of this world list from an “intellectual life.”
I still enjoy other writings. š