Daily Archive: April 28, 2013

“You don’t ‘seize’ the center, you create the center”

When I learned it, I thought the motion for this month’s Intelligence Squared U.S. debate – “The GOP Must Seize the Center or Die” – was simply dreadful.  How could the opposing case possibly be made without fighting a losing battle with the proposition itself?  Of course the GOP needs to win more votes from the center; of course they’ve been successfully characterized as out-of-touch with centrists.  And indeed, the pre-debate poll showed a staggering 65% in favor of the […]

Judging FIRST

by Mad Rocket Scientist During the last weekend in March, I was able to once again participate as Judge in the Seattle Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.  This was my second year doing so, and...

Taking Sides

A recent petition to stop using the terms “illegals” and “illegal immigrants” generated the following response from the New York Times (emphasis mine): On Tuesday, The New York Times updated its policies on how it...