He’s the mayor of a conservative (mostly Muslim) suburb of Amsterdam: Ahmed Marcouch, 41, is on a self-appointed mission to end homophobia in Slotervaart, just a stones’ throw from the capital but light-years away from its anything-goes mentality. To make his point, Mayor Marcouch recently invited Amsterdam’s annual Gay Pride parade to pass through his [...]
Some day down the road, I hope to sift all my thoughts on empathy and “wise Latinas judges” in light of Nietzsche’s wealth of insights into perspectival knowledge as a more virile knowledge than the emasculation that comes through objectivity. (Genealogy of Morals III:12) But to hold us over in the meantime, here is Joseph [...]
From Feministing, worth reading in full: But then the argument goes: surely for the women who choose to wear the burqa, the garment is a choice not a tool for suppression. This argument obscures the fact that there is a pervasive, sexist propaganda in many Muslim communities in favor of the burqa. Many women are [...]
Daniel Larison complains Obama’s critics have no sense for important distinctions in their zeal to criticize: When Orwell used the phrase “objectively fascist” during WWII to criticize pacifists, he at least had the advantage of talking about a situation in which there were actual fascists involved. Roger Simon, on the other hand, is complaining about [...]
And her Republican colleagues afraid that Republcian supporters will follow Bachmann and essentially help disenfranchise themselves are trying to stop her: Three House Republicans on the subcommittee overseeing the 2010 Census are asking Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to reverse her decision to boycott the national population count, fearing others will follow her lead. “Boycotting the [...]
Ted Olson and David Boies, the lawyers for Bush and Gore respectively in Bush v. Gore are beginning a federal challenge of Proposition 8 which would put the issue on a path towards the Supreme Court. Pam’s House Blend has an in-depth account of how this has come about and the expected road ahead.
“”The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States” Why? Because only then will we defend America “violently” enough. See, we won’t defend ourselves adequately enough unless we are attacked. Paradoxically, if we’re not attacked, we’re not safe.
Thank God: Asked if he has plans to run for public office, he replied, “I hope not. You know, I talked to God about that and he was like, ‘No.’” “I believe he’s gotten me on this grassroots movement. If I can encourage leaders to step up, that’s what I would like to do. That’s [...]
Via 538 Warner (1991) and Warner and Steel (1999) study American and Canadian mothers and fathers. The authors’ key finding is that support for policies designed to address gender equity is greater among parents with daughters. This result emerges particularly strongly for fathers. Because parents invest a significant amount of themselves in their children, the [...]
Old news from when I was not blogging that I want to make sure I have a post which is a resource on this topic. Lou Dobbs and Christopher Hitchens with invaluable report on UN Resolution And for more about the issue of the Orwellian UN resolution against “defamation of religion,” these two articles by [...]
I loathe witch hunts over people’s personal lives. What interests me are some observations on sincerity and hypocrisy which seem apparent to me watching the bizarrely unself-aware and narcissistic way that Sanford has acted as though he is a character in the Bible or some other morality tale in which he is the star. I [...]
The last year or more I’ve been a devoted reader of Andrew Sullivan’s blog. But it was the last three months of the presidential campaign that I have the warmest nostalgia for and much of that time his blog painstakingly logged ever one of Sarah Palin’s lies and character flaws. It was a great source [...]
In case you missed it, here’s a link to the video and one to the transcript. Dan Savage isn’t blown away: my first impression after a quick read is that Obama wants credit for all the great stuff he’s asked Congress to do for gay and lesbian Americans—and he’s only asked Congress to do this [...]
Daniel Larison excellently states the case for personal support for Iranian freedom but non-involvement by the US government: Something that I don’t quite understand is why anyone would conclude that silence or minimal comment condemning the Iranian government’s violence by government officials requires that private individuals refrain from expressing their moral support. There has been [...]
The Washington Post reports: Election and polling results show a diminishing influence of radical Islam acroos the Middle East and other Muslim countries. Radical political parties are losing clout, support for suicide bombing and terrorist tactics is dropping, and the deteriorating situation in Iran mark the beginning of the end of radical Islam. Regardless of [...]
A youtube point-counterpoint on this topic (on which I am still interested in your thoughts). Click here for Njustus’s stab at the topic and my attempt to play devil’s advocate against him. Pro-ban: Anti-ban: Your Thoughts?
Njustus has kindly accepted my gauntlet to readers to offer on the possibility of the French government outlawing women from publicly wearing burqas. And his reply is a good one: From a Lockean ’social contract’ perspective, I believe the state should have the power to regulate the wearing of burqas if it can offer a [...]
Cosmologist Lawrence M. Krauss on the incompatibility of God and science. The whole piece is worth your time. This succinct statement summing up the article, however, hits the nail on the head: My practice as a scientist is atheistic. That is to say, when I set up an experiment I assume that no god, angel [...]
France, which has already banned headscarves in schools, purportedly as an effort to separate church and state, is now considering banning the burqa in public since it represents servitude and indignity for women (according to Sarkozy). Click here for the full story and links to perspectives on the option. Would the effects of this be [...]
A round up of only some of the numerous interesting stories about the progress of gay civil rights covered this week by Box Turtle Bulletin: Ireland now has civil partnerships “with many (but not all) of the rights, priveleges, and responsibilities to same-sex couples.” In Texas, 57% now support some sort of recognition of gay [...]
This week’s American theocrat is Oklahoma state legislator, Sally Kern has offered this resolution (and click for video): WHEREAS, the people of Oklahoma have a strong tradition of reliance upon the Creator of the Universe; and WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis; and WHEREAS, this nation has [...]
Andrew Sullivan isolates the essential result of the last two weeks in Iran: it seems totally clear to me that the curtain has been pulled from the Islamist Wizard. Theocratic regimes require some base level of reverence, and watching the old Supreme Leader lose it at Friday prayers a week ago, and the bare-faced martial [...]
Jürgen Habermas, whose powerful account of deliberative democracy every one should study at some point, turns 80 today. Here are some remarks they got from him about current events: ‘Politics ridicules itself if it moralizes, instead of basing itself on the coercive right of the democratic lawmaker” ‘In most countries of the continent there are [...]
One of the sad things about democracy is the openings for majoritarianism, and no one is a bigger victim of that then the most universally loathed minority of all, prisoners. And it’s telling that the little blog editor deep in my brain just screamed at me, “make sure you make clear you think they’re awful [...]
