Did too many regulations doom implementation of the Affordable Care Act?

So argues economist Tyler Cowen:

For instance, the tangle known as government procurement has exacerbated problems with the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges. The required formal processes made it difficult to hire the best possible talent, led to nightmare organizational charts and resulted in blurred lines of accountability. It’s hard to turn on a dime and fix such problems overnight, no matter how pressing the need.

Chomsky on Kennedy

Noam Chomsky offers an unflattering portrait of John F. Kennedy, highlighting the aggressive military actions and lack of commitment to civil rights which characterized Kennedy's presidency, and discussing the cult of his memory which has grown up since his assassination.

A Vintage of Canaan

Archaeologists announced a discovery of an ancient wine cellar which stored vast quantities of Canaanite wine:

A chemical analysis of residues left in the three-foot-tall jars detected organic traces of acids that are common components of all wine, as well as ingredients popular in ancient winemaking. These included honey, mint, cinnamon bark, juniper berries and resins used as a preservative. The recipe was similar to medicinal wines used for 2,000 years in ancient Egypt and probably tasted something like retsina or other resinous Greek wines today.

In Memoriam

A post in honor of my dear friend, Bob Bashore (1926-2013), who passed away last week after a brief illness. 

Bob was an English professor at Bowling Green State University who specialized in 19th century American literature; he was especially interested in Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Melville. 

If Bob were still with us, I would have told him today about an article I recently read, about Western Buddhists' interpretation of the Pali Canon. In "The Buddha via the Bible", Thanissaro Bhikkhu argues persuasively that Western Buddhists interpret the Pali Canon through the lens of the Romantics' and Transcendentalists' reading of the Christian Bible.

Countdown to 2150 AD

Haw Par Villa Theme Park in Signapore

A vivid depiction of the Buddhist hell realms. 

The shape of things to come

"That is not dead which can eternal lie, yet with stranger eons, even death may die." -- H. P. Lovecraft

Meco

I recently learned that record producer Meco (Dominico Monardo) made a disco version of the Star Wars theme that went platinum, and a dance remix of the Ewok celebration ("Yub-Nub!") song.