October 23, 2013
Originally, I was going to use this in Sunday’s installment of my “Informal Logic 101” series. But, I opted not to, ‘cuz it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. It is still worth commenting on, though, so… An example of a bad argument can be found in a recent editorial in Connecticut’s New Haven […]
Tags: Alan Grayson, Ann Coulter, assertions are not arguments, bad analogies, bad arguments, conservatives are racist, false accusations of hatred and bigotry, Fox News, hatemongering in politics, irresponsible accusations, KKK, Ku Klux Klan, liberal fearmongering, New Haven Register, race-baiting, racial division, Republican party is racist, smear tactics against Republicans and conservatives, Tea Party is racist, Ted Nugent
Posted in Politics |
October 20, 2013
Part 7: Causes and Comparisons “Correlation does not equal causation.” — many people, including me (‘cuz it makes me sound smart) We’re baaaaaaack, and we have a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get started! Clear thinking & reasoning require at least a basic understanding of causal relationships. Unfortunately, it’s also easy to make […]
Tags: Anthony Weston, bad arguments, cause and effect, causes and comparisons, clear thinking, Faulty analogy, good arguments, informal logic, Kenneth Samples, logic primer, logical fallacies, logical thinking, Non causa pro causa, Oversimplified cause, Post hoc ergo propter hoc, reasoning, Slippery slope
Posted in Politics, Politics / Science / Religion, Religion, Science |
October 13, 2013
It’s controversial holiday time, again. Yaaayyy!!! Columbus Day is celebrated as a U.S. federal holiday (since 1936) in honor of the intrepid explorer Christopher Columbus’ initial landing in the Bahamas and, therefore, the Americas. The facts that Columbus was a) not the first non-native to “find” the New World (ask Leif Erickson) and that b) […]
Tags: accusations of brutality, allegations of tyranny, Anthony Guzzaldo, anti-Columbus, anti-European, celebrate the positive, Christopher Columbus, Columbus as hero, Columbus as villain, Columbus Day, Columbus in America, countering revisionist history, demonizing Columbus, father of the transatlantic slave trade, historical revisionism, Howard Zinn, imperfect heroes, rumors of avarice, the truth about Christopher Columbus, voyages of Columbus, what was Columbus really like?
Posted in Politics, Uncategorized |
October 6, 2013
I have another excerpt from Dr. Ben Carson’s book America the Beautiful to share today. As an African-American man who grew up in the Civil Rights Era and struggled to become a respected professional in his field, Carson has had a front-row seat to both racial bigotry in America and to the great strides made […]
Tags: America the Beautiful, Carter vs Reagan, Civil Rights Act, civil rights movement, dependence on government handouts, Dr. Ben Carson, freedom and self-reliance, government charity, government-instituted do-gooderism, institutionalized compassion, plight of African-Americans, political compassion, racism in America, Republicans and Democrats to blame, road to entitlement, unintended consequences of government programs
Posted in Politics |
September 29, 2013
I’m not the first to try something like this, so some of these may sound a little familiar. Others, not so much. I limited myself to ten for the obvious biblical parallel, but obviously more could be devised. Hope you like it! The 10 Liberal/Progressive Commandments 1. Do not have any other gods before… Nah, […]
Tags: 10 commandments, alternative to Ten Commandments, liberal policies, liberal/progressive ideology, parody and truth, progressive agenda, progressive values
Posted in Politics, Politics & Religion, Religion |
September 25, 2013
“There are two ways of being happy: We must either diminish our wants or augment our means — either may do — the result is the same and it is for each man to decide for himself and to do that which happens to be easier.” — Benjamin Franklin Tonight’s post is just a quickie […]
Tags: America the Beautiful, Ben Carson, capitalism vs socialism, danger of socialist policies, dangers of abuse in socialist society, Founding Fathers on limited government, Founding Fathers on right to the fruits of one's own labor, Founding Fathers on wealth redistribution, insidious nature of socialism, Obamacare, quotes from America's founding fathers
Posted in Politics |
September 22, 2013
Hey, folks! In Part 1 of “Calculating God” earlier this month, I began by talking a little about my reading habits, including science-fiction, and introduced the reader (assuming you/they weren’t already familiar with him) to the Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer. His novel Calculating God (2000) is the source for the title of these two […]
Tags: biochemical design, Calculating God, Darwin's Black Box, evidence for design in nature, exoplanets, extrasolar planets, failure of gradualism, failure to find primordial soup, fine-tuning arguments, ID arguments, ID theory, Inherit the Wind, Intelligent Design, Intelligent Design Theory, Neo-Darwinian Synthesis, punctuated equilibria, questioning Darwin, religion and science in science-fiction, Robert Sawyer
Posted in Religion, Science, Science & Religion |
September 15, 2013
“Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.” — John Wayne, iconic American actor I actually started writing this post quite awhile ago, adding and/or adjusting verbiage now and […]
Tags: America is special, America is unique, American exceptionalism, American founding, American ideals, Beck quote, Chesterton quote, is America superior?, Krauthammer quote, Margaret Hoover quote, Obama on America, proud to be an American, Putin in New York Times, Spirit of America, United States of America, why America is exceptional
Posted in Politics |
September 8, 2013
I love Florida. (Or, at least, NE Florida.) There are certain things I kind of miss about NJ — well, the area where I lived, anyway — and I still have friends there. But, despite the humid summers and hurricane warnings, I’ve come to appreciate Florida. And, I also appreciate our (relatively new) governor, Rick […]
Tags: Americans for Prosperity, conservative policies, Defending the American Dream Summit, economic upturn in Florida, FL budget surplus, Florida, Florida defies its critics, Florida eliminates regulations for job-creators, Florida governor, Florida pays down debt, Florida reduces spending, Florida reduces taxes and grows jobs, Florida right-sizes government, Governor Rick Scott, pro-growth policies, Republican success, Rick Scott speech, Teddy Roosevelt "Man in the Arena" quote
Posted in Politics |
September 1, 2013
If you have followed this blog for very long, you know that it’s not uncommon for me to cite from, or at least refer to, various books on the topics of science, politics, and religion. Non-fiction stuff. But, I also read, watch, and listen to a lot of fiction, as well. As it turns out, […]
Tags: Calculating God, design in the physical constants, evidence for design in nature, fine-tuned solar system, fine-tunedness of the universe, fine-tuning arguments, ID arguments, ID theory, Intelligent Design Theory, multiverse hypothesis, religion and science in science-fiction, Robert J. Sawyer, Who's Afraid of the Multiverse
Posted in Religion, Science, Science & Religion |