Thursday: Hili dialogue

Welcome to Thursday, October 2, 2025, and Yom Kippur, which occupies all day and ends at sundown (it began at sunset yesterday). Considered the holiest day of the year by religious Jews, it’s the Day of Atonement, marked by fasting, praying, and confessing.  There is no work for the very observant: no turning on ovens […]

Thursday: Hili dialogue

Unbeatable: The Brutally Honest Case for Free Markets | Bryan Caplan

Carole Hooven in Tablet on binary sex

Dr. Hooven (“Carole” to me) has a new piece in Tablet (click headline below to read for free) explaining why all sensible biologists see sex as a binary defined by two (and only two) types of gametes. Perhaps you’ll already be familiar with some of her arguments in the article below (click to read), as […]

Carole Hooven in Tablet on binary sex

Historical omissions plague BBC ‘Palestinian state’ explainer

On July 30th 2025 the BBC News website published an ‘explainer’ article by Paul Adams under the headline “What does recognising a Palestinian state mean?”. Since its initial publication, that article – which currently appears on the website’s ‘Middle East’ page – has been updated several times, including a recent amendment to its introduction: Original […]

Historical omissions plague BBC ‘Palestinian state’ explainer

Richard Dawkins stirs up things again in the Torygraph

I have to say this about Richard: he is fearless.  Of course he’s in a position to say what he wants and not lose much, though he is sensitive to erosion of his reputation, but that won’t stop him from speaking out. And one thing he will not apologize for is the claim shown in […]

Richard Dawkins stirs up things again in the Torygraph

Richard Brant and Lauren Butler: Reform UK’s Plans for “Getting Tough on Illegal Immigration”: From Legal Reset to Sunset 

On 26 August 2025 Nigel Farage (Leader of Reform UK) and Zia Yusuf (now Head of Policy at Reform UK) unveiled their plan titled, ‘Operation Restoring Justice’. Key points from the plan were also reiterated at the Next Step Conference on 05 September 2025. Reform UK address the topic of immigration in their plan, adding […]

Richard Brant and Lauren Butler: Reform UK’s Plans for “Getting Tough on Illegal Immigration”: From Legal Reset to Sunset 

“Scientific truth must prevail”

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is standing up for science against trans ideology: The slogan “trans women are women” is scientifically false and harms the rights of women, Richard Dawkins has said. In a new book, the evolutionary biologist warns that scientific truth must prevail over “personal feelings” and argues that academic institutions must defend facts above emotion. […]

“Scientific truth must prevail”

Not-so-killer acquisitions

Eric Crampton writes –  A lot of changes are coming in competition policy. Last week, the government announced a package of reforms that, overall, set the Commerce Commission on a more activist tack.   One proposed reform will align New Zealand more closely with Australia’s regime, guarding against so-called ‘killer acquisitions’.    

Not-so-killer acquisitions

Two bits from Bill Maher’s latest show

Here are two short (ca. 7 minutes each) clips from Friday’s “Real Time” show with Bill Maher; watch ’em before they take them down.  They’re both good–and larded with humor. The first is his opening monologue about the censorship and fear of American media. Maher points out that Jimmy Kimmel’s firing occurred exactly 24 years […]

Two bits from Bill Maher’s latest show

Local government elections 2025 for a libertarian

Libertarians don’t like local government much, generally. While some aspire for maximum devolution, similar to Switzerland, so that most government power (outside defence, foreign affairs and border control) is at the more local level, that would require a transformational constitutional change. Switzerland works because its best and brightest get concentrated at the canton level, and…

Local government elections 2025 for a libertarian

Shane Jones is right

Te Pāti Māori and the Greens don’t care about crime in New Zealand

Shane Jones is right

Better Permitting and More Building: Possible?

It seems natural enough, at least based on US experience, to believe that building and permitting are in a natural opposition: that is, stronger permitting means less building. Zachary Liscow has been looking for a way out of this opposition. He spells out some of his thoughts in “Reforming Permitting to Build Infrastructure” (Hutchins Center…

Better Permitting and More Building: Possible?

Guardian is AGAIN forced to correct false claim on ICJ ruling

As we wrote in a post last week, a Guardian article by their Beirut correspondent William Christou (“US imposes sanctions on Palestinians for requesting war crimes inquiry“, 5 Sept) included the following erroneous claim: In an interim judgment in January 2024, the ICJ ruled that the claim of genocide was “plausible”… As we’ve noted in communications […]

Guardian is AGAIN forced to correct false claim on ICJ ruling

Short (?) review: “Sex is a spectrum”

Reading time: Whatever. . . You’ll probably guess from the title of this short (150-page) book by Agustín Fuentes (Princeton University Press) that I am not keen on its thesis, and you’d be right.  In fact, the thesis is nothing new, even if you have read Fuentes’s article about it in Natural History and Scientific […]

Short (?) review: “Sex is a spectrum”

A labour law reform that works for workers

Roger Partridge writes – Every day, New Zealand workers clock longer hours than their peers in most developed nations yet produce far less value per hour worked. This productivity paradox has haunted our economy for decades, condemning workers to lower wages and longer working days. Now, Parliament has a chance to help change this cycle. […]

A labour law reform that works for workers

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