“An Incompatible Combination”
I’ve watched every presidential debate thus far in the Republican primary. And I’ve done more than my fair share of laughing, weeping, and sometimes just staring blankly at the television screen. In a way,...
Monthly Archive: October 2011
Clearly, Hand Grenades Are the Answer
Every time I see a sign like this this — “CAPITALISM DOESN’T WORK” — I can’t help but think of a graph like this:
Puts You There Where Things Are Hollow
Today’s question from the good doctor makes me ask a more basic one. Why do people crave fame? Is fame useful for something else? It’s obviously not always a platform to wealth. It’s not always a...
Is This A Thing?
Is this a case of someone blowing something out of proportion, or is this an actual thing? Louisiana bans using cash in sales of second-hand goods?
Gridlock, Graft and Governance
There seems to be a libertarian tendency to celebrate gridlock. Given that this is running off the top of my head, the latest example by Prof Hanley can’t afford either “low key” government or...
Health is the War of the State
Healthcare is a political football in every Western country to some extent. In countries with extensive government healthcare the debate is about what the government should pay for, in the US it’s about whether...
Whose Translation Is It, Anyway?
“Which translation do you prefer?” has spent the past half-decade climbing my list of least-favorite questions. While still somewhere behind “Favorite book/author/album – Go!” it is somewhat more mendacious in that it’s hard to...
Weekend Jukebox: Retro style! (as if we do it any other way)
So, as the newcomer, its my turn to do the weekend Jukebox. Enjoy folks! And for something which everyone should know… Consider this an open thread.
Weekend Open Mic Poetry Reading That Has Nothing To Do With Either Tea Parties Or Occupy Wall Street
Oliver Wendell Holmes Senior will kick us off: Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay, That was built in such a logical way It ran a hundred years to a day, And then...
Richard Muller and the BEST Climate Data Review
Richard Muller’s Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature review has almost exactly duplicated the consensus on climate change. In the process, Muller’s gone from a self-proclaimed climate skeptic to a believer. Is his work enough to...
George Washington was wrong
~by Creon Critic Reacting to the news the US would deploy 100 armed advisers to central Africa to help defeat Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony, Michelle Bachmann cited George Washington, “I will...
This is my Prime Minister
Its election season again in the US (when is it not). Election season just finished for us a month ago in Singapore. So, something I want to ask you guys is this: This is my...
The Truth is Out There, But is It A Fantasy?… on the X-Files and the difference between sic-fi and fantasy
(Note: Some of my thoughts here are riffed off of comments I made in Jaybird’s Explanation! post over at Mindless Diversions. I recommend that site a lot. For those that have never jumped over...
From the Comments: Justice and Sweatshops
by Creon Critic, in a rejoinder to Murali (1.) Should there be any limits on working conditions? Are their any abuses that are intolerable in and of themselves, abuses which need be stopped irrespective...
Would J.R.R. Tolkien Have Occupied Wall Street?
I’m not sure where this came from originally (I found it on Facebook) but it’s pretty hilarious. Of course, it’s hard to say what Tolkien would have thought of these particular protests. He was...
Our Feckless Discourse About Immigration
Just a quick followup on Tod’s post about the debate. As has been widely reported for several days now, Obama set a new deportation record in the last fiscal year (narrowly edging out the previous record,...
Libyan Spider Hole
The Beeb is reporting that Muammar Quaddafi has captured by Libya’s transitional government, hiding in a spider hole much like Saddam Hussein had been. Or maybe he was killed. (UPDATE: Al-Jazeera and the Gray Lady are...
Pop Quiz
Article Five: “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States,...
