Politics

NASA Woes and Jet Hijinx: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Posted by on October 14, 2018 at 10:47 pm

Have you heard of the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket? From the summary in the Wikipedia entry: “After their parents’ death in a fire, [three] children are placed in the custody of a murderous relative, Count Olaf, who attempts to steal their inheritance and, later, orchestrates numerous disasters with the […]

The Wall and the Womb: Two Failures in the Current Spending Bill

Posted by on September 23, 2018 at 7:19 pm

“I want to know, where is the money for Border Security and the WALL in this ridiculous Spending Bill, and where will it come from after the Midterms? Dems are obstructing Law Enforcement and Border Security. REPUBLICANS MUST FINALLY GET TOUGH!”  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), September 20, 2018 Last week, the U.S. Senate passed […]

Cops on Mars: Lookin’ for Law in Non-Normal Spaces

Posted by on September 16, 2018 at 6:51 pm

“If we are going to imagine a Mars P.D., then it is imperative that we also imagine that police department’s potential flaws.” All sorts of people (e.g., Elon Musk, Newt Gingrich) are excited about colonies on the Moon and Mars, planning and talking about the realization of such plans in (possibly) the next few decades, […]

Censorship of Politically Incorrect Science

Posted by on September 9, 2018 at 9:57 pm

“In all my years in academia, I have never once seen a comparable reaction from a journal within days of publishing a paper that the journal already had subjected to peer review, accepted and published. One can only assume that the response was in large measure due to the intense lobbying the journal received, and […]

The Downside of #MeToo Feminism and Reverse Discrimination

Posted by on September 2, 2018 at 6:54 pm

“Our nation is about to be transformed, thanks to the #MeToo movement…. #MeToo is going to unleash a new torrent of gender and race quotas throughout the economy and culture, [and] the net consequence will be a loss of American competitiveness and scientific achievement.”  — Heather MacDonald, the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan […]

Gun Confiscation without Due Process

Posted by on August 12, 2018 at 11:02 pm

“When a person is stripped of their constitutional rights, albeit temporarily, without being given the chance to make their own case based on what can be entirely arbitrary accusations, this is the removal of due process.”  — Matt Agorist, independent journalist and Editor-at-Large at the Free Thought Project Following the mass-shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas […]

Rush Misses the Point

Posted by on August 5, 2018 at 8:11 pm

I’m not a regular listener of Rush Limbaugh. But, on those rare occasions when I’m driving and find him on the air, I often find his monologues interesting and even insightful. He has been around quite awhile and deserves much respect. But, even he can’t recognize everything that’s going on in the socio-cultural politisphere. To […]

Democratic Socialist Twit

Posted by on July 29, 2018 at 11:22 pm

I’m a bit pressed for time this week, but I wanted to call your attention to a recent tweet by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez is a 28-year-old educator/activist/community organizer (for Bernie Sanders) and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, who has been endorsed by various progressive and civil rights organizations (e.g., BLM, MoveOn) and individuals. […]

Superpowers, Supervillains, and Constitutional Law

Posted by on July 22, 2018 at 6:15 pm

“[E]xplore the hypothetical legal ramifications of comic book tropes, characters, and powers, down to the most deliciously trivial detail.” Don’t worry, you’re on the right blog. Not long ago on my “Heroes and Aliens” pop-culture blog, I shared three posts in which I presented some material from the book The Law of Superheroes (2012) by […]

Still Happy to Be an American

Posted by on July 8, 2018 at 6:14 pm

“Gallup reports that just 32 percent of Democrats call themselves ‘extremely proud’ of their national identity, compared with 74 percent of Republicans who say the same.”  — Ben Shapiro, Newsweek The amount of anti-American sentiment these days is truly amazing. Even those who benefit from the (relative) freedoms and wealth of American society and business […]