1787 Constitutional Convention

As Madison conceded, the specter of slavery haunted the convention, and he argued that “the states were divided into different interests not by their difference of size, but principally from their having or not having slaves.... [The conflict] did not lie between the large and small states. It lay between the northern and southern.” For many southerners, the slavery issue allowed no room for concessions, and they supported the Virginia Plan in exchange for protecting their peculiar institution.

-- Ron Chernow, “Alexander Hamilton”

Wittgensten and Russell

An inside look at the philosophers' lives. On what some people think is Wittgenstein's betrayal of philosophy to the scientists, reducing philosophy to logic-chopping and handing over all the interesting questions to the guys in the white lab coats.

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Given this extreme pessimism about the potential of philosophy — perhaps tantamount to a denial that there is such a subject — it is hardly surprising that “Wittgenstein” is uttered with a curl of the lip in most philosophical circles. For who likes to be told that his or her life’s work is confused and pointless? Thus, even Bertrand Russell, his early teacher and enthusiastic supporter, was eventually led to complain peevishly that Wittgenstein seems to have “grown tired of serious thinking and invented a doctrine which would make such an activity unnecessary.”

-- Paul Horwich, "Was Wittgenstein Right?" at The New York Times

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The "Abortion Battles" Game

Here's a little something to excite the anti-abortion activists and their 'culture of death' rhetoric.

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A video showing several students at Hunter College playing a game of "abortion battles" has surfaced, provoking the anger of some in the pro-life community.

The game was apparently played during a birthday party celebration at the college, in Manhattan.

The video, titled "Chaz's 20th Birthday Hunter College," has been removed from YouTube. It features students shoving balloons up their shirts to simulate a woman's pregnany, and then attacking each other with plastic knives in an attempt to pop the other's balloon.

Bystanders can be heard in the background yelling "kill that baby!"

According to The New York Post, Marco Rosales, who posted the video to YouTube, left a comment. "We were introduced to this epic game called 'Abortion Battles,’" he wrote. "It’s somewhat unorthodox, but it’s really fun! Lol!.”

Hunter's dean of students is investigating the incident.

“I think it’s immature, but it’s not like they were doing anything that bad,” a female student told CBS.

“You can play around, but not call it something like that,” another woman said, referring to the "Abortion Battles" title.

"The laughter surrounding the game and the cavalier nature towards life should chill the hearts of anyone with a shred of concern for the sacredness of life," write the pro-life blog Creative Minority Report.

-- LJ-News

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A little callous, I grant you. But they do worse things at college. College is a sometimes rough and cavalier place and time - so transgressive and free.

Jay Leno

"When I was a kid, I had two jobs," wrote Leno. "I worked at a Ford dealership and at a McDonald’s. I’d spend the money from one job and save the money from the other. That’s still the way I am now. I live on the money I make as a comedian, and I put all the TV money in the bank. I’ve never spent a dime of TV money—ever."

-- Jay Leno

I guess a person can have so much money that they don't know what to do with it. I think he gets, what, twenty million per year for his "Tonight Show"? I recall a story, when the show was going to lay off some staff, or maybe it was paycuts, Leno stepped up and said he would take the hit on his end. I guess that should be easier to do when you don't use any of that money anyway.

Canada's Stripper Visa

Ah, I see that Canada had a special visa track for importing strippers. Very enlightened.

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Since the 1970s, a specific visa process for foreign strippers has been in place, although it has vacillated between expedient carte blanche and Victorian prejudice. So many people want this visa window closed for so many noble reasons. For humanitarians, you can protect women from this way of life; or, if you’re nativist, you can appeal to “keeping it Canadian.” And haven’t you heard of human trafficking? A 2010 RCMP report said that criminal groups exploited the visa policy to induct foreigners into the underground sex trade, the stats slippery but terrifying.

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The stripper visa was radical, even if it existed for all the wrong reasons, and now it is lost: a federal policy that required Canada to meet its infinite demand for libidinal energy. The country had opened its arms to the legitimacy of the sex trade and the beginnings of considerable social mobility. A Romanian could raise herself up with only her body, and Windsor’s streets could be paved with worn US dollar bills.

-- Ryan Healey

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I am sorry to see Canada regress. It seems to be becoming more like America all the time. To where can we dream of running? Certainly not Mexico.

Daily Fun

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