Some of us who spend too much time being careful like having an outrageous friend. The friend who makes broadly offensive challenging statements that undercut the generally vanilla consensus most of society gets by on. Sure, we don’t take what she says too seriously, but sometimes we’ll defend it as something that could be...
Not necessarily. You could be anti-immigration for racist reasons, or out of “cultural-erosion” fears. Or, if you believe most immigrants are non-working, non-consuming entities who will somehow place a cost on the system, you could believe that free enterprise needs the support of the powerful state to control market conditions. But otherwise, yeah....
Okay, I’m paraphrasing a bit. But here she is: Think about it. If you’re a police officer, you are constantly making difficult judgments. Yes, you have to enforce the law, but you only have a certain amount of time, and every infraction you address means a dozen others that will escape notice. Of course...
I Love America. This includes many pieces of America that, taken individually, I don’t like so much. Some, I loath. But altogether, put it in a big pile, and I’ll keep it. Fight for it. Whatever. Here are just a sampling of the many pieces of America: Giant balls of twine and three-story lava-lamps,...
Condorcet came up with a theorem about juries and how, if a group of people share their knowledge on a topic, they will come to a better decision than the average of the decisions each would make as an individual. Of course as soon as this sounds great, they start coming out with limitations: ...
During the movie Taken, one of my friends had a strong negative reaction to the torture sequence. Not because it was graphic, or even disturbing. He had a political reaction. Afterwards he said he nearly walked out because “torture never works”. My other friends thought it odd that he picked out that element. After...
Long lines at airports, to get through security, tell us something. They tell us that our government is doing something about terrorism. In fact, the government is mostly crowding travelers into large packs, in the midst of which large carts full of luggage are dragged along. It makes a pretty good target, but nobody...
The War Prayer by Mark Twain It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand...
Piranha II vs. Avatar
Piranha II is James Cameron’s first feature movie, and Avatar is the most recent. How has his moral message and story-telling evolved? In Piranha II, you were likely to get killed by a carnivorous flying fish if: You are female and naked. You have sex unconnected to romance. You’re a somewhat ridiculous older woman....
Read more »