Knock this off
June Thomas at Slate thinks that Dan Savage is behaving like a bully toward Marcus Bachmann. Bachmann, the husband of right-wing firebrand, Rep. Michele Bachmann, and is a proponent of reparative therapy to “fix”...
Monthly Archive: July 2011
In Which I Return To Dangerous Territory About Which I Am Admittedly Ignorant
Here in California, Governor Brown has just signed a law mandating that the history curriculae of the public schools include coverage of “the contributions of gay, lesbian and transgendered Americans.” Below the fold, I have some thoughts about this...
Occasional Notes: Allaying Fears Edition
Leitmotif: I never do anything I don’t want to do. Nor does anyone, but in my case I am always aware of it. — Robert A. Heinlein Marriage: Rob at WakingUpNow defuses one of...
Department of Sardonic Understatement
In an excellent piece about the judicious pace the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal is taking, Capt. Adrian Bonenberger writes: The vocal minority asked whether soldiers could be compelled to serve alongside people whose...
Harry Potter the Jock
I’m going to write a few posts about Harry Potter in anticipation of seeing the latest, and final, film. Amanda Marcotte has a smart observation about Harry Potter and his band of non-misfits: I...
Harry Potter and the Ministry of Magic
I’m going to write a few posts about Harry Potter in anticipation of seeing the latest, and final, film. Alyssa Rosenberg has a good list of the political lessons found in the Harry Potter...
“Carmageddon,” Car-Culture, and Conservatism
The LA region is preparing for the weekend closure of the 405 freeway, one of the area’s main thoroughfares, for the planned demolition of the Mulholland Bridge to add carpool lanes to a 10-mile...
Life Imitating Fiction Watch
Given that Aaron Sorkin successfully predicted the major party candidates in 2008, Rahm Emanuel’s rise to Chief of Staff, the negation of an electoral rival by making them Secretary of State, presidential nicotine habits,...
At My Real Job: Expert Forecasting
At Cato Unbound, Dan Gardner and Philip Tetlock observe that expert predictions often miss the mark: In the most comprehensive analysis of expert prediction ever conducted, Philip Tetlock assembled a group of some 280...
The Most Important Sentence You Will Read about the Casey Anthony Trial
It comes from Radley Balko: Even as DNA testing continues to exonerate wrongly convicted people, including people who were nearly executed, it’s this rare case — in which a jury recognized that there was...
As retcons go…
In looking at Captain America: The First Avenger on IMDB, I cannot help noticing the sheer number of folks associated with “Hydra” (Hydra soldier, Hydra pilot, Hydra heavy artillery soldier) and the unsheer number...
Searching For Truth Versus Debating
I actually posted this on my sub-site two days ago, but Rufus suggested today that this would make a good cross-post. And since, like all writers, I will re-use a piece any chance I...
Punctuated Equilibrium
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 4/11/2011 – Christopher Carr to William, Robert, Becca, Kevin, Kevin, Adam, Caitlin, Joseph, Julie, Dmitri Hey guys, Wondering what you thought about this cover letter: Here’s the job description: Title: Junior Digital Video Production Assistant...
Mitch McConnell’s minor masterpiece
I tend not to buy too much into the whole “the Republicans are just so fiendishly brilliant at playing politics — that’s why the Dems never win (except when they do)!” meme. Maybe it’s...
“Libertarianism and Madisonianism
~ by James Hanley BlaiseP made the following Madison-inspired comment about libertarianism: It is a statement of sovereign truth that every scheme which believes men to be angels, that freedom is the highest good, that...
The Post-Drug War World
In what I think is an overly-pessimistic take on the United States after the War on Drugs, Walter Russell Mead makes a pretty interesting point about a possible shift from legal repercussions to private...
The Adventures of the Delineator: They Lost my Luggage?
~by Jon Stonger This is the first in a selection of short stories from The Adventures of the Delineator. These tales follow the clueless Captain Dave as he guides the small crew of the...
Libertarianism and Privilege
Well, the last few days have certainly be interesting around here, haven’t they? After Erik’s excellent and widely-commented-on post a couple of days ago, I’ve stewed over Freddie’s article, Erik’s reply and the replies...
The Banality of Good: The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
Over at my other site, I have put up a review of David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King for any who may be interested. The review contains some spoilers, but nothing really gets taken away.
