1. Last night, skimming channels between innings of the Twins game, I stumbled upon a debate between the two Republicans vying to face Rep Tim Walz, D-MN, in this fall's congressional election. It's either humorous or alarming to listen as two Republicans try to top one another in appealing to The Base. Both agreed that the Affordable Care Act should be repealed. When asked what should replace it, one, Allen Quist, said we have to "get back to free-market principles." In his next breath, he said that scrapping mandates on insurance companies should be a top priority, and in the one after that he said we had to "listen to what consumers want." So: Let insurance companies cover whatever they want and listen to what consumers say they need. His opponent, whose name is Parry, did not dare point up the absurdity, and they were soon on to other topics, such as how oppressively horrible it would be if ordinary citizens were barred from owning military-style assault rifles. If only the good moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado, had armed themselves before heading out to the show. Honest!
From now on I'm staying on Fox Sports North. It's entertaining, in its way, to stay abreast of wing-nut orthodoxy, but better to know about the deals to be had at Menard's.
2. Here's an amusing anecdote to cure you of your notion that famous philosophers are a bunch of bloodless intellectuals unwilling to engage with "the real world." The logical positivist A.J. Ayer was something of a dandy and, at age 77, was attending a party hosted by a famous fashion designer when he observed boxer Mike Tyson making clearly unwanted advances upon Naomi Campbell. Ayer approached and told Tyson to stop. I'll let Wikipedia take it from there:
[T]he boxer said: "Do you know who the fuck I am? I'm the heavyweight champion of the world," to which Ayer replied: "And I'm the former Wykeham Professor of Logic. We are both pre-eminent in our field. I suggest that we talk about this like rational men." Ayer and Tyson then began to talk, while Naomi Campbell slipped out.
The only thing that would be better is if Ayer had hooked up with Campbell later that night, but life is not like that. (I know.)
