The Economist style guide available online
I was reading last week’s Economist on the metro and noted that they’ve published their style guide online. I’m fond of their clear, pithy style, especially after a day of reading legalese. More modern and accessible than Strunk & White, it should serve you well in all your writing.
Read MoreWhat would you ask a famous economist?
Tyler Cowen, economist, cultural omnivore, and proprietor of Marginal Revolution, has written a new book called “Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist.” As an incentive for people to pre-order the book, he has offered to create a personalized podcast for anyone that pre-orders…
Read MoreGood things to know about the workplace
Guy Kawasaki has an excellent post with the top 12 things he wished he had learned before graduating from college. My experience is that there are quite a few people well into their careers who still have not learned some of these lessons, such as how to write a five sentence email (“All you should…
Read MoreIowans for Tax Relief: Ron Paul not “Credible”
According to a press release from Iowans for Tax Relief, they invited all “credible Democrat and Republican Presidential candidates” to speak at the candidate forum on June 30, 2007. However, the Free Liberal confirms that Ron Paul was not invited. Iowans for Tax Relief will not allow Dr. Paul to participate in a debate they…
Read MoreResults Oriented Thinking in the War on Terror
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr works himself into knots in two convoluted posts about the al-Marri case (4th Circuit rules that Qatari student living in the U.S. can’t be held indefinitely as an “enemy combatant”). Prof. Kerr trots out a hypothetical familiar to anyone who has studied Criminal Procedure generally and the 4th…
Read MoreKenyan Economics Expert: “Stop the Foreign Aid!”
Spiegel International has an interview with Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati about foreign aid. They seem shocked that his main plea is for foreign governments to stop sending aid. SPIEGEL:Mr. Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is about to beef up the development aid for Africa… Shikwati: … for God’s sake, please just stop. SPIEGEL:…
Read MoreWhat is Atheism?
There’s a common misunderstanding when talking about atheism that has reared its ugly head in the stoic philosophy forum I participate in. This post seeks to identify the problem and work toward greater understanding between those who believe and those who do not. When an atheist describes his/her beliefs, he/she will typically use the phrase,…
Read MoreBostonians: Still Stupid
No, it’s not blinky cartoon characters this time, it’s a garbled fax from marketing. In a scene reminiscent of the Cartoon Network bomb scare that paralyzed the Boston area in January, police shut down a strip mall yesterday in this small western suburb after employees at a Bank of America branch mistook a botched fax…
Read MoreCongress Buys Pork with Soldiers’ Lives
Yesterday afternoon, right before they went on vacation, your 110th Congress (including the Maryland Senate delegation) decided to go against the wishes of almost 3/4 of the American people and give in to the President to pass a no-strings-attached war funding bill. As one blogger noted, there’s some goodies in the bill for the Democrats,…
Read MoreGames and Poems
Bruce Godfrey tipped me off to a nice blog post about the five games you need to play to live well. It’s a good post, and worth the read. In the section on gambling, there was a snippet from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If: If you can make one heap of all your winningsAnd risk it…
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