The baseball page has been revamped, especially the search function. I always wanted to be able to make custom searches of a historical baseball database, but I never could. So I wrote it myself, and now I can, and so can you.
Oct 052002
Oct 052002
Google’s new page-ranking algorithm may have hurt better blogs than mine, but who cares? I’m now the #1 Haspel, ahead of my mother and sister, who write (about food) for actual money, some camera service in the Netherlands, and the summer-suit purveyors who own the eponymous domain.
In a related story, I’m on page 14 of the Aarons, behind Hank Aaron, Aaron Copland, Aaron Burr, Aaron Carter, Aaron’s Tracheostomy Page, and the notice that Aaron’s Tracheostomy Page has moved.
Oct 052002
Canadian Customs seems to believe that pamphlets entitled “A Moral Defense of Israel” may constitute “obscenity or hate-propaganda.” These were to be distributed for a lecture by the noted obscene hate-speakers at the Ayn Rand Institute.
Of course it is impossibly stupid to confiscate this particular pamphlet, even according to the Customs guidelines, which say, according to the National Post story, “that ‘full recognition should be given to freedom of expression’ and goods that may constitute hate propaganda will not be classified, for example, if they express a religious opinion in good faith or are discussing a matter of public interest.” Surely Israel’s right to exist constitutes a matter of public interest. The Customs officials finally released the pamphlets, after three days. But the real evil is the guidelines — the idea that someone can decide what constitutes “hate speech” in the first place — not the particular stupidity.
Silver Lining Dept.: I wouldn’t be surprised if this incident prompts a public reconsideration of “hate speech” statutes, simply because of its monumental idiocy. Hard cases often make bad law, and easy cases sometimes make good law, for similar reasons.
(Thanks to Arthur Silber for pointing out this horror.)