Hi, I'm back

1. This is awesome:

He taught or lectured several times in the United States, including serving as a visiting professor at Bard College in the fall of 1987. At a party that same year held by fashion designer Fernando Sanchez, Ayer, then 77, confronted Mike Tyson harassing the (then little-known) model Naomi Campbell. When Ayer demanded that Tyson stop, the boxer said: "Do you know who the fuck I am? I'm the heavyweight champion of the world," to which Ayer replied: "And I am 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.

2. "It seems that I am, after all, more capable of shedding tears for the central argument of the Deduction of the Pure Concepts of Understanding than I am for a failed marriage or even for a deceased parent. I am not at all sure that is admirable, but it is closer to the truth about myself than I have ever come before." I empathize.

3. Are there actually any academics out there who think that "the United States is now, and has been throughout its history, the chief engine of injustice and oppression in the world?" I've spent a fair amount of time in the trenches with lefty loon academics. And, like, yes, there are plenty who think that the United States has sometimes been an engine for injustice and oppression in the world. I'd agree with that statement if the "sometimes" is kept small enough. See, e.g., chattel slavery -- I don't think any serious person could disagree that the slave trade was an engine of injustice and oppression. The lefty types and I just disagree on how often the United States has been an engine of injustice and oppression. But "chief" is too strong a word for nearly all of them, I think.

4. Intrepid blog commenter Phoebe, this one's for you: California has just voted to ban plastic bags and requires stores to charge for paper bags.

5. It would be awesome if the tea party guys started opposing the war on drugs.

6. There should be a category of posts devoted to finding the most ridiculous career advice directed at young attorneys. The latest entrant: don't use the word "I" in interviews. Also, not directed at young attorneys, but ridiculous nonetheless: dinging any applicant who asked the receptionist for a pen when filling out a form.