Random Observations about...
December 2007

Naomi Wolf: A Facist America in 10 Easy Steps

Naomi Wolf has been in the news a bit lately for alleging that America is a nearly fascist nation. I...

Pierre Grasse and Evolution

Today I stumbled upon an interesting character, Professor Pierre P. Grasse, who was an eminent zoologist who served as the...

Stark Lunacy, Parts 2-3

Earlier (much, really) I responded to an atheist named Tommy's various critiques of Rodney Stark's new book Discovering God. Dr....

Sam Harris Advocates Capital Punishment for Thoughtcrime

Via Jonah Goldberg, a comment from Theodore Dalrymple (an atheist whom I admire much): This sloppiness and lack of intellectual...

Applying the Golden Rule

Even as a somewhat lackluster (purported) follower-of-Jesus, I'm a huge supporter of "the golden rule", which actually harkens back to...

Bathroom Humor (Updated)

The New York Times carries an article about badly-designed (so-called "smart") machines and the people who must battle them to...

Hillary Clinton

Hey, I thought her main qualification was supposedly her "experience": In the abstract, Hillary is a captivating idea. The first...

Why Do They Hate Us?

Because some of us tell them to: As of last April, the late Edward Said's "Orientalism," originally published in 1978,...

Chávez and True Democracy

Interesting: As reported in El Nacional, and confirmed to me by an intelligence source, the Venezuelan military high command virtually...

Is College Worth It?

A contrary view....

Is a "Negative Faith" a Religion?

Madison, Wisconsin: The Freedom From Religious Foundation (FFRF) aims to stir up controversy at the Wisconsin State Capitol this holiday...

Gospel of Judas: "Shoddy Work?"

I have a friend who frequently reminds me not to attribute to bad motives that which can be explained by...

Mac Usability

Given that my faithful old Toshiba Satellite now takes up to ten minutes to do certain things, and has finally...

Europe and the NIE

From the New York Times, via Insty: Speaking at a joint news conference at the Élysée Palace, President Nicolas Sarkozy...

Movie Review: I, Robot

Warning: This essay is nothing but a huge spoiler. Leave now if you have any interest in seeing the movie,...

Japan Funds Adult Stem Cell Research

Several years ago, Japan formed a huge research center in Kobe to focus on "regenerative medicine technologies like embryonic stem...

Bush Administration (Rice) Respects and Enforces Racism

Jerusalem Post: This week the Bush Administration legitimized Arab anti-Semitism. In an effort to please the Saudis and their Arab...

Pluripotent Skin Stem Cells?

I hope this is not premature, but pardon me while I engage in a breach of etiquette: From the beginning,...

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