stcynic
Posts by this author
July 30, 2004
I'm curious to see how some of the folks whose views I respect are reacting to the Democratic National Convention, so I'm doing a little roundup of some that I've read from other bloggers. First, Brian Leiter:
Let us put aside the chauvinistic masturbation that travels under the heading "patriotism…
July 29, 2004
I was reading Timothy Sandefur's blog and saw a thank you to another blog, No Blog Here, that has begun linking to him. Followed the link and found out that this same person is linking to me as well, along with Jon Rowe, Will Wilkinson and Crooked Timber. And he's from Michigan, even if he is a *…
July 29, 2004
Brian Leiter says that if us libertarian-minded bloggers aren't blogging about the ridiculous "free speech zones" at the Democratic National Convention, we ought to resign from the human race. That's a little strong, I'd say, but I certainly agree with him on the absurdity of what is going on. You…
July 29, 2004
In a thread below, Tim asks this question:
I wonder if you could explain the allure of gambling, in general. I have no religious, moral qualms against it, but I just don't understand the attraction (or is it a psychological compulsion?). I guess I can see that poker has some aspects of skill…
July 28, 2004
The Patriot Act, the most misnamed legislation in history, was used last year to levy a $10 million fine on Paypal, owned by Ebay, for allowing their clients to use the service to send funds to online gambling sites. What does this have to do with stopping terrorism? Not a goddamn thing. But it's…
July 28, 2004
My many thanks to Jon Rowe and Timothy Sandefur for taking the time to answer my inquiry about Leo Strauss. After seeing multiple references to Leo Strauss, the late and famous political philosopher from UChicago, I became interested in his work and those he influenced. I knew that both of them had…
July 27, 2004
A few days ago, I wrote a strongly worded but entirely accurate critique of an absolutely abysmal article by Robert Meyer. I pointed out that every single claim he made about Gould's views on evolution was not only false, but exactly the opposite of what Gould actually believed. That led to an…
July 26, 2004
Rusty Lopez has written a more thorough response to my post on morality. I specifically brought up Numbers 31, and Rusty has taken up the cause to defend the biblical passage and the genocidal command allegedly given by God. Here is his defense:
There are several avenues of response available to…
July 26, 2004
As I often do, I sent a link to my article, Idiot of the Week? Or Liar of the Week?, to the target of my criticism, Robert Meyer, and invited a response. That has led to a brief exchange of e-mails, which I will reprint here along with a further response to the last one from Mr. Meyer. I will put…
July 25, 2004
Matt Powell has continued the discussion that began here in a post on his blog. Here begins what is addressed to me:
You, like DarkSyde, keep switching the argument in the middle. If Moses simply claimed that God told Him to destroy the people of Canaan, but God did not tell him to, then Moses is…
July 23, 2004
Today's target is one Robert Meyer, who wrote this train wreck of an article, Were We Fooled by Stephen J. Gould ? on a site called intellectualconservative.com. If this article represents what they consider to be intellectual, it's time to redefine the term. It's one of those extraordinarily…
July 23, 2004
In a post about Linda Ronstadt and the Aladdin situation, someone mentioned that the opening act for her show was the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performing Rhapsody in Blue and other Gershwin songs. It reminded me of this story, which in retrospect I find very amusing. As a much younger man, I…
July 23, 2004
Matt Powell of Wheat and Chaff has responded, at least indirectly, to my post on evolving morality. That is, he is ostensibly responding to my friend DarkSyde's comments left on Rusty's kind-of response to my post, but he mentions me by name. The mistakes in Matt's post begin with the title itself…
July 22, 2004
In the last few months, I've given away numerous Idiot of the Week awards. This is the first time any recipient has ever replied. Mrs. Wilhite sent me an e-mail this evening. As we shall see, it is as badly reasoned and ridiculous as the commentary that won her this prestigious award in the first…
July 22, 2004
This is the text of a fundraising e-mail sent out by the Christian Family Coalition. I have not altered the text in any way, but I have added my own comments in italics just for fun.
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From: Christian Family Coalition
The National Gay and Lesbian Task…
July 22, 2004
You have to see his latest fisking, this one of Thomas Krannawitter. Krannawitter takes the social conservative position, that morality trumps liberty, against the libertarian position, that liberty is paramount unless one can show a compelling reason for violating it. Sandefur dissects him like a…
July 21, 2004
I would like to introduce my readers to an old friend that I have had the good fortune to get reacquainted with recently. His name is Aaron Dworkin and he is the founder and president of the Sphynx Organization, a non-profit group that helps black and latino students find a place in the world of…
July 21, 2004
Rusty Lopez at New Covenant has responded to my post on the evolution of morality. Well, he's kind of responded, by which I mean his response doesn't actually engage what I said very much at all. He doesn't deny the fact that today's common moral precepts are significantly different from those…
July 20, 2004
Thanks to Timothy Sandefur for providing the link, and a thorough critique, of the absolutely mind-boggling stupidity contained in this essay by Tamara Wilhite, entitled Gay Marriage and Terrorism. It's on a site called bushcountry.org that claims to be "promoting the ideals of conservatism". Mrs.…
July 20, 2004
I'm sure this story will be all over the blogosphere. Linda Ronstadt, a singer I've never much liked, performed a concert at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Here's the report on what happened:
Singer Linda Ronstadt was thrown out of the Aladdin casino in Las Vegas on…
July 20, 2004
Hat tip to Jon Rowe for the link to this blog, Electric Commentary. It reads like a list of my favorite things.
Caddyshack references? Check
Loves the Sports Guy? Check
References to the Will Farrell/Christopher Walken Cowbell sketch? Check
Wants Martha Stewart and Courtney Love to share a cell in…
July 19, 2004
As everyone who reads this blog knows by now, I am both strongly libertarian on matters of individual freedom and strongly pro-gambling (though I only consider poker to be partially a gamble). Well here's an opportunity to support both of those views. Before the Congress right now there is a bill…
July 17, 2004
Another "exclusive commentary" from the WorldNutDaily, which, as usual, means that no one else would publish such a ridiculous article so they get exclusive access to it. This one is from P. Andrew Sandlin, the president of something called the Center for Cultural Leadership, and is called In…
July 16, 2004
If you're looking for something substantive today, you best move along to the next blog. I'm just not motivated to write anything serious today. But I did find out that the immortal Sports Guy has his own domain now and, since he quit being a writer for the Jimmy Kimmel show, he's posting stuff…
July 15, 2004
Don M. sent me a link to the Discount Blogger and I came across this post on gay marriage, which includes the following statement:
I wish conservatives would just understand that this is something they're going to be remembered for 50...100 years down the road. When gay people are allowed to marry…
July 15, 2004
Mr. Sandefur writes this morning:
Again, Im sorry if my tone came off as overly hostile to Ed Brayton. Hes right that Mercers phraseology was silly, but the other things he said were wrong (and yes, I know Brayton was joking, but the joke was an attempt to express real beliefs, and it was baseless…
July 15, 2004
One of the things that irritate me most in the world is how conservative authoritarians have hijacked the word "family". The ridiculous phrase "family values" - as though all families had the same values, or should - is a textbook example. So I cheered last night when I read Jon Rowe's post that…
July 14, 2004
Cara from Shut Up Already has an interesting post up about John McCain's sellout to George W. Bush after the vicious campaign that Bush ran against him in 2000. I tend not to post much on partisan politics because I just don't really care about either party, but I was wondering if I was the only…
July 13, 2004
Boy, ya know, I send all those people to read his brilliant posts on constitutional law, and this is how he repays me! He thinks my post about the Randian grandeur of sex was mean-spirited, overly simplistic and betrays an ignorance of Rand's views on sex. To which I reply, "guilty as charged". But…
July 13, 2004
Joseph Farah, owner of the WorldNetDaily, has a commentary today about the Reverend Moon that is filled with hypocritical statements. He begins by telling of his experience over a decade ago, being invited to a Moon event in South Korea and sitting on the stage behind Moon as he declared himself…