He Shoulda' Tipped His Hat to the Crowd

Federer-Nadal, Australian Open:

U.S. Constitution Not a Good Model

In an interview by an Egyptian journalist, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she would not recommend the Egyptians look to the U.S. Constitution for guidance in structuring their own. Instead, she mentioned the constitutions of South Africa, Canada, and the European Convention on Human Rights as worthy models to examine.

Terrific. One of the people charged with upholding the U.S. Constitution has serious doubts about its worthiness. Link.

An Offer to Paula Deen

I have, using all the powers at my disposal, resisted the urge to weigh in on the Paula Deen scandal of recent weeks. I have expressed my dislike for her activities in this space before, but have resisted the urge this time.

However, Dr. John McDougall has done a good job addressing her situation—and made her an amazing offer. The man is nothing if not confident in the power of a starch/plant-based diet to fix diabetes. Read it here.

Turn Yourself Around

Seen on a T-shirt:

The Hokey-Pokey Clinic

A place to turn yourself around.

Should the Department of Education Be Abolished?

In the three-plus decades since the Department of Education was established in 1980, the decline in American education compared to other nations is well-known. One wonders what good the Department serves.

Charles Murray (B.A., Harvard; Ph.D, M.I.T.), a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, makes a strong case for the abolition of the Department of Education, using three tests: Constitutionality, whether there are problems with the American education system that can only be fixed at the federal level, and track record. He says the Department fails on all three counts.

This article appears in the January 2012 issue of Imprimis, the free monthly print publication of Hillsdale College. If you aren't one of the 2.1 million monthly readers of Imprimis, you can subscribe here. Charles Murray's article is online here.