Vladimir Bukovksy, the 63-year old former Soviet dissident, fears that the European Union is on its way to becoming another Soviet Union. In a speech he delivered in Brussels last week Mr Bukovsky called the EU a “monster” that must be destroyed, the sooner the better, before it develops into a fullfledged totalitarian state.

Russell Roberts on Freedom of Speech:

As a Jew, it never ceases to amaze me that people think the most important lesson of the Holocaust is that anyone, even civilized Germans who love Bach and Beethoven, can become murderers. Or that the most important lesson is that hatred is wrong. Hatred is immortal. People say, "never again" as if saying it is sufficient to prevent future holocausts. But saying it is not sufficient without limiting the power of government to imprison and kill people.

To me, the most important lesson of the Holocaust is that only governments can kill millions of people. Murdering millions requires absolute power. So I want governments to be weaker rather than stronger. That's why I like the First and the Second Amendments. And why I'm glad I don't live in Austria.

Joey leaves Iraq:

While cleaning up my room the other day I came across a copy of my will. A document that I wrote in a somber mood, thinking of my own death, now seemed hilarious to me. All of my petty knick-knacks meant for one friend or family member or another. I remember just what I was thinking when I wrote it, that I might not make it out of this and that I wanted one last way to tell people back home that I love them. I’m not really sure why that seems funny to me now. Maybe because I did make it through and that a particularly large weight has been taken from my shoulders. We no longer have to worry about people trying to kill us. We’re going home. Now the only thing I need to worry about is the infamous "ironic death." We’ve survived a year in one of the most dangerous places on earth; now we just need to avoid choking on a hotdog back home or getting hit by a garbage truck. Other than that, the ever present feeling of danger and uncertainty has taken its leave. Now I can concentrate on less weighty issues like the high price of fuel or the girl drama that I will inevitably get my self into. Back to life as usual and damn does it ever feel good.

Alex Tabarrok on constitutional interpretation:

Liberals are claiming that President Bush has violated constitutional restrictions on torture and spying on Americans. Don't they understand that the constitution is a living document that must be reinterpreted in light of new events and understandings? An originalist reading of the constitution would throw us back into the primitive past when the minimum wage was unconstitutional. Fortunately, conservatives know that constitutional interpretation must change with the times and never more so than now. We live in a different world. The Founding Fathers may have been great in their time but they did not face the problems that we face today and we should not be bound by their 18th century ideas of liberty and executive tyranny.

This might be satire.

Who's next?

myspaceisgay.com

Richard notes the live episode of Will & Grace.

It is very funny.

Tyler Cowen on how to visit a museum:

A key general principle is to stop self-deceiving and admit to yourself that you don't just love "art for art's sake." You also like art for the role it plays in your life, for its signaling value, and for how it complements other things you value, such as relationships and your self-image. It then becomes possible for you to turn this fact to your advantage, rather than having it work against you. Keeping up the full pretense means that you must impose a high implicit tax on your museum-going. This leads you to restrict your number of visits and ultimately to resent the art and find it boring.

I never trusted kittens before this, but now I really don't.