Links, my pets, links!

In light of the recent proposal by Senator Santorum to outlaw making taxpayer-paid-for weather data available to the public for free, this article from February, pointing out the large benefits the US has gained by making weather data free (compared to Europe, where Santorum-like weather data policy has strangled innovation and research), is worth another look.

Sucking the Whopper. I mean the teat. I mean the whopper. Just go look, okay? I snorted milk about three feet forward, I swear.

From Mark Klieman, another reason it’s cool to be Jewish: “A quick check with a concordance showed that the formula: ‘Do X, because you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord redeemed you’ occurs five times in Deuteronomy, in each case following a commandment about dealing fairly with the vulnerable.” Via Brad DeLong.

Right now I’m listing to the album “Let Yourself Go.” I’ve often been disappointed by the solo albums of vocalists I enjoy in Broadway shows, but not this time. Kristin Chenoweth is awesome.

Another thing I’ve listened to today is this radio interview with Catherine MacKinnon. Not as in-depth as her books, of course, but well worth a listen.

Two blogs have collected their posts regarding health care in other first world countries, compared to the USA: Angry Bear’s posts (see in particular this post puncturing the myth that socialized medicine equals long waits), and Ezra Klein’s nation-by-nation summaries. Short form: Damn, I wish I was French. Canada, the example American liberals often dream of, is actually pretty lousy by international standards. Via Political Animal. Avadon at The Sideshow, who has lived in both Britain and France the USA, provides more links and discussion.

Headline: “GM Industry Puts Human Gene into Rice.” Avedon’s comment: “So that’s what was wrong with her!”

When Right-Wingers Argue With Right-Wingers: Interesting inter-blog debate over the “Democrats discriminate against devout Christians” accusation, between conservative Professor Bainbridge and libertarian Cathy Young. Young clearly wins this round.

Julian at Hit and Run points to an odd case: “California’s high court has refused to hear an appeal by PETA in its false advertising suit against the state’s Milk Advisory Board.” Like Julian, I’m sympathetic with PETA on this one: the commercials emphasize the nice living conditions of the “happy cows,” which (if the cows aren’t actually kept in good conditions) certainly should qualify as false advertising. Julian continues: “As a government entity (its part of California’s agriculture department), the MAB is exempt from the state’s false advertising laws. That raises the disturbing prospect that an industry can get a free pass on fraudulent claims so long as it filters them through some state bureau set up to tout their goods.”

An unexpected benefit of day care: “A 15-year study of childhood cancers in Britain, said to be the biggest in the world, suggests that infants who have been to formal daycare in their first 12 months are half as likely as those with no socialising to succumb to acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, the most common form of leukaemia in the young.” Via Echidne, who has more.

Bean just pointed out the Bryline Catalog to me. Plus-size clothes for men and women, at good prices – and flat-rate shipping! It looks to me like this is owned by the same people who own the King Size clothing company; it’s a lot of the same clothes, only cheaper. UPDATE: Hmmn. On the down side, I can’t seem to find anything that’s actually in stock. What a tease.

“Perhaps the most regrettable (and, I imagine, unintended) by-product of the Roman Catholic Church’s selection of Josef Ratzinger as the new Pope, and the British tabloid press’s slinging around of the word “Nazi,” has been an outpouring of long-suppressed pride in Hitler Youth membership among Germany’s elderly.” Is That Legal? translates a lot of quotes from the German press, and it is a bit eerie.

By the way, Is That Legal? has been doing a series of thoughtful, interesting posts on what the new Pope’s young experiences in Hitler Youth – and, much more importantly, about how the Pope has remembered and spoken of those experiences. Start with “The Moral Importance of Papal Memory” and then follow the links backward and forward, if you’re interested. And on the same subject, Jeanne at Body and Soul is, as usual, asking all the right questions.

If you think you hate emoticons, that’s only because you haven’t yet read this brilliant post at Bounded Rationality. Via Unqualified Offerings.

Good (although academic) post at Left2Right argues that most people who argue against “moral relativism” have no idea what the term actually means.

On Alternet, an excellent Trish Wilson article argues against a presumption of joint custody in contested divorce cases. Congrats to Trish for being on Alternet!

Hugo discusses a couple of recent articles about “Porn, Youth and Optimism.”

Jill at Third Wave Agenda, one of my favorite blogs, has a question: “I have to wonder if any male bloggers my age have ever been told that they shouldn’t be in college, or that they should be at home creating families.” I’m a bit older than Jill, but I can say I’ve never been told that. (To be fair, it’s happened rarely enough to Jill that she seems genuinely shocked to have been told that.)