Moral Agency, Not an Agency of Morals
“Born into a world of enemies, surrounded by violent racial hate, with no obvious means of protection, Lupescu did what she had to do: she auctioned off her body – the only thing she...
Monthly Archive: July 2010
In Defense of Casting Stones at Mel Gibson
E.D., I have a great amount of respect for your frequent calls for us to rise above passing judgment over other people, and to keep in mind the inner turmoil that Mel Gibson is...
In defense of Mel Gibson
Perhaps this stems from my admiration of Mel Gibson the filmmaker or perhaps it is simply because I hate to see a piling-on when someone is so obviously in such a dire straits, but...
Top Secret America
The Washington Post series “Top Secret America” doesn’t contain many stunning new revelations, at least not yet. What’s stunning is how it collects so many things that were perhaps already known but not yet...
Picture. 1000 Words.
I know this is low-hanging fruit, but still…amusing. And poignant. Via Popehat.
Inception Nano-Review
After you get past the heavy-handed plot exposition by characters, the cutesy classical allusions and maybe-nothing-is-real philosophizing, I think the movie is actually meant to be a paean to Le Corbusier. The final, skyscraper-filled...
The Grand Ideology of Charles Hill: Episode 1
The cult of Charles Hill, of which I was not a member, was just beginning when I graduated from college 10 years ago. Hill, a former foreign service officer, began teaching at Yale in...
For the Book Clubbers
For those reading along at home, this CBC podcast has a great interview with Chris Hedges about “Empire of Illusion”, during the first 20 minutes or so, that asks a number of good questions about...
Guest Post: The Illusion of Progressivism
By: Transplanted Lawyer (cross-posted) At the suggestion of Ordinary Gentleman Rufus F., I undertook to read Chris Hedges’ new book The Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle. I...
A Liberal party? Positive conservatism? Both?
A while back I proposed a third party (I know, I know third parties are total pipe dreams. The barriers to entry are too high. Tell that to the Whigs and the Tories…!). I...
“Dignity and Respect”
I’m not sure why this hasn’t taken the Internet by storm, but Wired found a military comic from 2001 explaining how army personnel are expected to deal with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Fortunately (or...
By request
To avoid a hopeless threadjacking of Jason’s post, please put any and all thoughts on the latest Journolist revelations in this thread. Personally, I think it’s just the latest in a long line of...
Okay, So It IS a Tax. Whatever.
Long ago, in a more innocent time — that is, in December of last year — I wrote a little post arguing that one of the more significant components of the then-debated health care...
On hippie-punching
Mark writes: To the extent libertarianism is a political philosophy that is primarily concerned with anti-Marxism and “hippy-punching,” rather than being primarily concerned with limited government, I can’t dispute that Erik is absolutely right. ...
Notes on “Empire of Illusion”, Chapter 1., and Bad TV
I think it’s time we start collectively chewing on Chris Hedge’s book “Empire of Illusion”. I’d like to kick things off by offering some (scattered) thoughts on Chapter 1: The Illusion of Literacy… I...
Oh, Canaduh!
Rivaling the problems of John Stagliano in the U.S., Quebec make-up effects artist Rémy Couture is facing criminal charges for “moral corruption” under section163 of the Criminal Code of Canada for the content of both...
Euripides, “Hecuba” and Crimes during Wartime
After a war, for the conquered, comes unfathomable fate. The ceasefire is rarely absolute when directed at the losers and the terms of surrender are harsher for those who have no other choice but...
Uh Oh, Canada!
It takes a lot to get me to side with PETA on something, but this has to be one of the most egregious violations of free speech in recent Western memory. In fact, the...
Big Labor and Libertarianism
Erik writes: I think the real obstacle to a libertarian-left alliance is the labor movement. In the UK that movement has its own party. Here, the Democrats are the nominal representatives of labor. I...
