stcynic

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…

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 *…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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. ------------------------------------------- From: Christian Family Coalition The National Gay and Lesbian Task…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…