Views I hold without much evidence

1. China will someday just get up and attack Taiwan.  Recent progress aside, how many rational decisions have Chinese governments made in the last six hundred years?  And its inability to get over the idea of conquering Taiwan will stop China from democratizing anytime soon.  I am not in general a "China hawk," but I view Taiwan as, sadly, a goner.  I remain amazed by how many "liberal" Chinese simply think Taiwan is "theirs."

2. High-quality American high school students study too much and have too many extracurricular activities.  Yes, I am thinking zero-sum game.  It would be better for most of them to go out and get jobs bagging groceries.  They would learn more about the real world.

3. Shaquille O’Neal is the greatest NBA player ever, bar none.  (Well, OK, there is some evidence for this.)

4. The first two Star Wars installments (yes, that includes the one with Jar Jar Binks) were excellent, and will someday be recognized as such.  Maybe you view those films as engaged in excessive pandering.  I see them as a Bildungsroman (Anakin/Darth) which makes few concessions to popular taste and also presents public choice theory in sophisticated fashion.  Lucas simply doesn’t care if the films make no sense in stand-alone fashion, nor should he.  By the way, in the interests of personal safety, I’ve decided to limit my number of car trips before May 19.

5. High-quality barbecue (alas, not available here in Virginia) is better than most expensive French restaurants.  And I love most expensive French restaurants, especially when someone else is paying.

6. Aesthetic judgments are, in principle, objective rather than arbitrary.