The New York Times sums up some of the interesting work being done on the neurological bases of morality, in particular the finding that we seem to be hardwired to enjoy altruism. The piece is a little less precise than I might have liked: It should come as no surprise at all that there’s some […]

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No, no, I’m not talking about the local S&M club, but Hilzoy’s post on a recent report concluding that “harsh methods” or “enhanced interrogation techniques.” or (if you insist on being gauche) torture is not a very effective method for gathering intelligence: When I read arguments written by people who support torture, many of them […]

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I think Ezra hits an important point vis a vis Chris Hayes’ piece on neoclassical and “heterodox” economists: In academic journals and whatnot, mainstream economists are perfectly willing to incorporate good ideas from “heterodox” researchers. When they’re writing op-eds and policy papers, they hew to a simpler “trade is good” line. One of Ezra’s commenters […]

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David Boaz warns about Giuliani’s authoritarian streak, a drum Matt Welch has been banging for a while now.

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Insty writes: THAT’S NOT VERY NEIGHBORLY: Mexican audience boos Miss USA. If an American audience booed Miss Mexico, it would be racism. Well, probably, because the average American is not acutely aware of or vehemently opposed to important elements of the policy of the Mexican government. So racism would be a pretty good default explanation. […]

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Think Progress links a new Media Matters report claiming that conservatives are vastly overrepresented as the “face of religion” in media coverage: Religion is often depicted in the news media as a politically divisive force, with two sides roughly paralleling the broader political divide: On one side are cultural conservatives who ground their political values […]

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Chris Hayes has a long and somewhat muddled piece about “heterodox” economists in The Nation. The upshot is that an ossified neoclassical “mafia” is conspiring to marginalize people with all sorts of dissident views. (It could, mutatis mutandis, easily be a National Review piece on global warming skeptics.) But it’s a little tricky pinning down […]

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Glenn Reynolds: ALVARO VARGAS LLOSA: “Conservatism has always been pro-immigration.” Has it always been pro-illegal immigration, though? Because that’s what seems to be bothering some people. I don’t know Glenn’s own views here, so I don’t mean to pick on him, but this does remind me that I’ve always found something a shade disingenuous about […]

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I may have left the second bloggiest neighborhood in the country for the time being, but that doesn’t mean we’re without local fare. Via commenter Ronnie Roach, I discover OBX Republic, View from the Ridge, Queen of the Surf Pirates, and OBX Beach Life.

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An old friend based in Boulder, Colorado—whose name I’ll omit for the moment since she’s signing her posts “LP”—has just launched a blog. Give it a gander.

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