Apple is the news, charged by Congress with evading taxes. In any discussion about taxation, the following quote from the great judge Learned Hand1 should be kept in mind: Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall…
Monthly Archives: May 2013
Economics, Education, Interesting Links, Law, Technology
Interesting Articles: Syria, Free Speech and Privacy Online, Dogs, Fossil Fuels, How to Win at Poker, and More
by Rafe Kinsey •
A good article by Dexter Filkins in the New Yorker on Syria. A really complicated situation. An interesting etymology from the recent New Yorker article (paywall) by Rivka Galchen about Elmhurst Hospital: The word “pedagogy” comes from the Greek term…
Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy
A Sonnet for Morgenbesser: Dear Astrophil, Love Stella
by Rafe Kinsey •
Two summers ago, I sat in on a wonderful introductory poetry course taught by John Whittier-Ferguson. Among the poems we read was Sir Philip Sidney’s sonnet Astrophil and Stella 63 (“O Grammar rules…”). In this sonnet sequence,1 Astrophil is less…
Education, Interesting Links, Literature, Technology
Interesting Articles: Humanities Make Money, The Purchase of Instagram, Kierkegaard, and More
by Rafe Kinsey •
UCLA English professor Robert Watson writes a very interesting article about the economics of higher education: Bottom Line Shows Humanities Really Do Make Money I have a good deal to say about the misleading arguments often made about the cost…
Economics, Sports
Larry Summers and Glenn Hubbard Shooting Hoops
by Rafe Kinsey •
This week’s New York Times magazine features an article by Adam Davison about economists Larry Summers and Glenn Hubbard. Forgive me for being superficial and ignoring the weighty macroeconomic topics discussed in the article; instead I’m going to offer three…
Interesting Links, Literature, Science, Sports
Interesting Articles: The Dickens/Dostoevsky Hoax, the Mars Rover, Jason Collins, Janet Malcolm, Einstein’s Hoagies
by Rafe Kinsey •
If you haven’t read Eric Naiman’s fascinating article about the hoax of Dostoevsky meeting Dickens yet, you should. (It’s a long but fun read; give yourself time to enjoy it.) A great New Yorker article on NASA’s Curiosity rover to…
English 125, Gamut, Linguistics
John McPhee and the Irregular Restrictive Which
by Rafe Kinsey •
It’s been a busy few weeks with research and the end of the semester. I promise I’ll get to writing substantive posts very soon. In the interim, I’d like to express my incredulity at John McPhee’s ignorance of the “irregular…