When “social activists” spread fear-mongering bullshit about some product or technology (e.g., cell phones, artificial sweeteners, corn syrup, GM crops, or whatever), companies in related industries will inevitably defend their products from those attacks. This isn’t sinister or unexpected. You should be equally skeptical of their statements as those of their detractors, but you shouldn’t … Continued
“President Obama Vows to End the Perpetual War”–so reads the New York Times‘ editorial about President Obama’s speech on counter-terrorism policy. The Times hailed the president’s remarks as a “momentous turning point in post-9/11 America,” but given Mr. Obama’s history of broken pledges, failed expectations, and underwhelming performance, we are less than enthusiastic about this latest among … Continued
The Founding Fathers are always everyone’s top choice when looking to bolster their argument, and despite being a generally skeptical lot (Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Paine, and Franklin were deists), they are frequently and inaccurately invoked by the religious to support the claim that “America was founded as a Christian nation.” But despite so many irreligious … Continued
The income tax might be terrible, but it is (in fact) the law that is terrible.
The recent revelation that the IRS targeted conservative political groups is now moving into the second stage of a DC scandal: the first is finding out what happened; the second is finding out how high up it goes. Although it is important to find out many, if any, high-level officials are culpable, high-level participation is … Continued
The liberal is “as far from the crude rationalism of the socialist…as from the mysticism” of the conservative.
Guest post by Sandra Sanchez. Cross-posted from our friends at Thoughts on Liberty. In the later half of the 20th Century, the Central American country of Nicaragua was undergoing a revolution. In 1983, two Nicaraguan immigrants came to the United States seeking asylum due to the Nicaraguan Revolution. Both of them were children of the Revolution and … Continued
It occurred to me, while researching alleged quotations from historical figures, that for every time someone cites a source for a quote, there are about 10,000 instances where people simply stick the purported author’s name under it with an emdash (—), as though it was a sufficient reference. This is quite maddening, because even if … Continued
