stcynic
Posts by this author
June 10, 2004
I just went to my local grocery store to pick up a few things for home and there were 2 women outside the store canvassing for signatures on a petition. As I walked out of the store, one of them asked me if I would sign their petition to "restore voting rights to the people of Michigan." I said I…
June 10, 2004
Good game this week, I won $85. That's a bit below my average in this game, but a win is a win. And most of the winnings came on 3 big hands. I had the nut flush twice, slow played it both times, got bet into both times, and had my large check-raise called both times, once by a small straight and…
June 9, 2004
One of the hallmarks of my business is that I spend an enormous amount of time waiting. As I sit in my office all day long, I don't really do all that much work, but the work I do is in five minute increments here and there. I print up docs and fax them off, then I have to wait for someone to fill…
June 8, 2004
One of the issues involved in the evolution/creationism battle is the question of demarcation - what separates science from non-science? One of the most popular and, in my view, compelling arguments against Intelligent Design Creationism (IDC) is that it is not a genuine scientific theory at all…
June 7, 2004
The leadership of several religious groups, including the Presbyterian, Lutheran and Episcopal churches, has sent an open letter to Congress opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment that would ban gay marriages nationwide:
"Although we have differing opinions on rights for same-sex couples, we…
June 7, 2004
From my colleague Glenn Branch, the deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, a new article assessing the latest anti-evolution strategies being thrown at school boards around the nation. The ID crowd, who are as good at public relations as they are bad at doing science, have…
June 7, 2004
I've been pondering what to say about Ronald Reagan over the last couple days, and reading what others have to say. The first thing I said to someone when I heard he had died is that we would now have to endure wildly exaggerated obituaries from both his political supporters and enemies. His…
June 6, 2004
On my recent trip to Denver to see my brother's graduation ceremony, my father and I talked a lot of politics, as we always do when we're together. My father is a lifelong Republican who has, to my knowledge, never voted for anyone but a Republican in any race above the local level. Nonetheless, he…
June 4, 2004
I didn't think that anyone could possibly come close to Scott Thomas for June's Idiot of the Month Award, but it took only a few hours to find an article that is at least on the same level of sheer stupidity. This one is in the Washington Dispatch (the same webrag that printed Brian Cherry's…
June 4, 2004
His name is Scott Thomas and he apparently is another right wing radio host. He wrote this obnoxious piece of falsely patriotic bullshit, which includes this statement:
Patriotism in the United States is loving God and country -- in that order -- and appreciating the blessing it is to live in…
June 4, 2004
Los Angeles County has decided to remove a tiny cross from their county seal under threat of a lawsuit from the ACLU. A lot of Christians are up in arms about this, and for once I agree with them, at least in part. No one is a more outspoken proponent of separation of church and state than I am, as…
June 3, 2004
The Snohomish Public Utility District released transcripts and tapes of phone conversations by Enron employees that show that Enron manipulated the recent California energy crisis in a number of ways. First, by cutting deals to move production facilities offline, thereby pushing the price through…
June 3, 2004
David Horowitz, who has made a career and likely a fortune as well out of his conversion from left-wing nutcase to right-wing nutcase (a giant step sideways, in my book), has a blog. It includes this little gem, about the death of Archibald Cox:
Archibald Cox died over the weekend. Cox was a spear-…
June 3, 2004
Remember last week, when I said I hated poker after the most frustrating session I'd ever played? Well I love it again. Last night made up for last week. It was unreal. I got absolutely run over by the deck all night long. I lost count of how many straights I flopped, but it was at least 15 or 20.…
June 2, 2004
May's Idiot of the Month Award goes to Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women for America, for this ridiculous screed in - where else? - the WorldNutDaily. Even by the standards of WND, Knight succeeds brilliantly in making himself sound like a…
June 2, 2004
Timothy Sandefur writes of the Libertarian Party nominating Michael Badnarik as their presidential candidate:
I think the Libertarian Party is far more often an embarrassment than an aid to defenders of freedom.
I wish I could dispute that, but I can't. I'm a longtime libertarian voter, but I don't…
June 1, 2004
Via Atrios, who got it from here, who got it from here. This eloquent letter speaks volumes to the anti-gay crusaders:
Letter to the Editor
by Sharon Underwood, Sunday, April 30, 2000
from the Valley News (White River Junction, VT/Hanover, NH)
As the mother of a gay son, I've seen firsthand how…
June 1, 2004
The WorldNutDaily is famous for their breathless, moron-level headlines and writing, but this one may take the cake:
Divine intervention sought in presidential race
And to no one's surprise, the article is really just an advertisement for a new book called We Will Pray for Election Day, by Thomas…
June 1, 2004
There is a battle going on in Europe as they try to write the first constitution for the European Union. It's the same battle that was fought over the American constitution during its writing and ratification, over whether it should include references to God and/or Christianity. The US Constitution…
May 31, 2004
Check out Jon Rowe's exchange with Randall Terry. Jon initially wrote this essay about Thomas Fleming, dubbing him an "honest theocrat" in distinction to Randall Terry, and Terry replied to him in an e-mail. Jon dutifully shreds his arguments, which are, predictably, poorly thought out and riddled…
May 30, 2004
I've made no secret of my utter distaste for Robert Bork and his ideology. In previous posts (here, here and here, as well as in several essays dealing with constitutional law in general) I have made the case that Bork is, for all intents and purposes, an advocate of theocracy and authoritarianism…
May 28, 2004
Yesterday I was reading an article about anti-gay protests at a gay pride parade. One of the protestors was holding a large sign that said, "Got AIDS yet?"; another had one that said "AIDS: Kills Fags Dead". My first thought was that it's too bad there isn't a disease that afflicts the ignorant and…
May 27, 2004
Timothy Sandefur has written a brief reply to my post on Miles Davis, in which he states:
I cant imagine Miles Davis being on someones second tier. If Miles is on your second tier, your tiers are broken.
I suppose it depends on what we're talking about. As a composer, I would certainly place Miles…
May 27, 2004
Okay, so I love poker. But last night was the most frustrating night of poker I think I've ever had. We had a new guy at the game, Joe. He works near us and my brother invited him to the game. Joe was simply the worst poker player I've ever seen in my life. He lost at least $250 in less than an…
May 26, 2004
Okay, I spent enough time ripping on the typical commencement speech, how about a good one? William and Mary brought in alumnus Jon Stewart, host of the Daily Show on Comedy Central and one of the funniest stand up comics working today, to give their address and bestowed an honorary doctorate on…
May 26, 2004
Thanks to Timothy Sandefur for reminding me that today would have been Miles Davis' 78th birthday. Miles is in my second tier of jazz icons. I never cared for the tone of his trumpet playing all that much, it always sounded a bit tinny to me (I prefer the deeper tones of, say, Wynton Marsalis or…
May 26, 2004
I just had a conversation with one of my loan officers about Frank Sinatra. In my experience, you either get Sinatra or you don't. I've talked to people who just don't understand his appeal, and if they don't get it, you really can't explain it to them. Sinatra was simply the coolest man on the…
May 26, 2004
Since half the blogs on the net seem to be making lists of their favorite movie quotes, I thought I'd add some of mine. Some movies are just goldmines of great lines - Caddyshack, almost any Kevin Smith movie, Bull Durham. Herewith some of my absolute favorites, without the title of the movie so…
May 26, 2004
Mblog seems to have had a temper tantrum and deleted all of my posts from yesterday. And a couple of them were quite good, I thought. I really must find a more reliable hosting service soon, don't you think?
May 24, 2004
This is amusing. A blog called ChristWeb has a post on the Justice Department intervening on behalf of a Muslim girl who was told by her school that she couldn't wear her headscarf. They correctly informed the school that the student had the right to wear religious clothing in schools. You'd think…