Kieran Healy’s Weblog Sociology and other distractions

For All Suitably Restricted Definitions of ‘World’

Tim Dunlop encounters U.S. sports commentators at their most excitable:

Over the last few days I’ve heard four radio commentators refer to the Superbowl as the “most important sporting event in the world”. Those exact words.

This is especially true this year with the eagerly-awaited Lingerie Bowl at half-time. Depending on your outlook, the Lingerie Bowl is either (1) A measure of how deeply the Title IX revolution in women’s athletics has penetrated into the football industry, (2) A high-end version of the noble American tradition of powder puff football; or (3) Sadly available only on Pay-Per-View.

Anyway, the most important sporting event in the world is the All Ireland Hurling Final.

ID Rebutted c.1805

An episode of Blackadder I just watched makes a point relevant to recent discussion on the plausibility of alternatives to the theory of evolution:

Blackadder [to Baldrick]: If I don’t come up with an idea soon, in the morning we’ll both go to meet our maker. In my case, God; in your case, God knows—but I doubt he’s won any design awards.

Inequality and the Varieties of Capitalism

Lane Kenworthy on egalitarian capitalism

Drugs and Deterrence

Mark Kleiman notes that the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program has been killed.

Testing Ecto

Testing Ecto

Koufax Awards Update

Head over to Wampum and vote for your favorite blog named “Crooked Timber.” We are nominated for Best Writing, Best Series, Best Group Blog and Best Design. Unfortunately, the “Best Group Blog” and “Best Blog” categories seem mutually exclusive.

I just saw a documentary yesterday about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the […]