Politics
Gene Expression
Category archives for Politics
Mike Duvall, “It wasn’t me!”
Posted by Razib Khan on September 10, 2009 Disgraced California lawmaker denies affairs: A pro-family values California lawmaker who resigned after being caught on tape boasting about his sexual conquests denied Thursday that he had extramarital affairs, saying “my offense was engaging in inappropriate storytelling.
Socioeconomic status, ideology & party
Posted by Razib Khan on August 19, 2009 Andrew Gelman has a post up, Who are the liberal Democrats and the conservative Republicans?, which shows that conservative Republicans tend toward higher incomes, while conservative Democrats tend toward lower incomes. I decided to see if something similar was discernible in the General Social Survey. I used the PARTYID, POLVIEWS and SEI variables to explore…
Sarah Palin resigning, the Obama effect?
Posted by Razib Khan on July 3, 2009 Palin announces resignation: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she was resigning her office later this month, a stunning decision that could free her to run for president more easily but also raises questions about her political standing at home. Palin disclosed the surprise news Friday afternoon from her home in Wasilla with her…
Pirate Party wins in Sweden!
Posted by Razib Khan on June 8, 2009 It looks like the PirateParty will gain 1 seat in the EU parliament. This means Christian Engström will have a job and income. He’s been spending the last 3 years as an activist living off his savings.
Categorizing ideas & humans
Posted by Razib Khan on May 25, 2009 Andrew Gelman has a post up titled Difficulties in trying to understand the views of others, responding to a Robin Hanson taxonomy outline the motivations of liberals, conservatives and libertarians. Gelman is skeptical of Hanson’s glosses of each group. The human ability to engage in Meta-Representation is one of the hallmarks of our species. We…
The myth of the rational electorate
Posted by Razib Khan on May 21, 2009 California, a Broke State, Reels as Voters Rebuff Leaders: Direct democracy has once again upended California — enough so that the state may finally consider another way by overhauling its Constitution for the first time in 130 years. The problem is simple. Voters approve services through ballot measures, and reject taxes which might result in…
Minorities don’t oppose gay marriage inordinately, blacks do
Posted by Razib Khan on May 14, 2009 I heard on the radio several times in the past few weeks commentators refer to minority opposition to gay marriage, specifically the fact that New York and California have large numbers of blacks and Latinos who are voters. I was curious if Latinos really are notably more opposed to gay marriage than non-Hispanic whites. So…
Free speech not as important in Eastern Europe
Posted by Razib Khan on May 6, 2009 With the whole controversy around Michael Savage being blocked from entering England because of his inflammatory comments I thought I would look at attitudes toward speech. One thing I’ve noticed is that Americans tend to be less instrumental when it comes to matters of speech; that is, speech is not justified as a means, as…
Religious people support torture
Posted by Razib Khan on April 30, 2009 John Schwenkler points me to Rod Dreher’s shock that religious people seem to support torture more than the non-religious: And get this: the more often you go to church, the more pro-torture you’re likely to be! What on earth are these Christians hearing at church?! Very sad indeed. John notes: There are plenty of data…
The biological roots of moral sentiments?
Posted by Razib Khan on April 8, 2009 David Brooks has a new column grandly titled The End of Philosophy. Heather Mac Donald at Secular Right chides him for his criticism of the New Atheists, while John Derbyshire offers guarded praise. It seems to me that the jab at the New Atheists was something of a throwaway line and I lean more toward…