Postage, Language and Music: The New Synthesis

Before I exit the arena for the night, I'd just like to recommend a few links. The first is to Wendy McElroy's excellent discussion of the postal monopoly, which does a good job summarizing the history of the USPS's monopoly on first-class mail, arguing that the purpose of the postal monopoly is "to control the flow of information by defining what is 'unmailable,' " a consideration that is relevant to the current situation, especially in the context of the affront to that control that encrypted electronic communications offers.

I'd also like to recommend From Genes to Words, a nice summary of current research into the role that genetics played in the development of language. It should be obvious that genetics must have played a role in that development; finally the first indications of what that role actually was are starting to be discovered.

And, finally, it is with sadness that I note that the new Napster, launching today, appears to have gone over to the dark side, as it appears their content will only be available in the intrusive and platform-dependent Windows Media Player format. I don't do the music-download thing, but if I did I would certainly choose the iTunes Music Store over the new Napster.