Monthly Archives: November 2009

Ross Douthat is back blogging

Posted on November 16, 2009 by David Hume

At The New York Times, Evaluations.

Posted in culture, data | Tagged | 1 Comment

Seeing 2012

Posted on November 16, 2009 by David Hume

Daniel Larison on Palin’s Extremely Long Shot At The Nomination. Daniel’s argument is persuasive, but, I would add that the probabilities one projects are extremely conditional on local temporal circumstances. Even in the recent past John McCain’s candidacy went from … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Real-World Morality

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

Secular Right’s readers have been raising the hoary “without God, no morality” topos again: The problem with creating a notion of “secular authority” is that you run into . . .  the “great sez who?” Eventually, without a belief in … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 67 Comments

Fake fact: Catholics care about abortion more than non-Catholics

Posted on November 15, 2009 by David Hume

Political punditry is rife with “fake facts.” Basically, empirical assertions which are false but assumed to be true. Perhaps the readership of political journalism is stupid. Perhaps the writers of political journalism are stupid. Perhaps both. No idea. So a … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Holder’s schizophrenic tribunal decision

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

The Bush administration never managed to shake the specious implication that military tribunals represented some unprecedented Bushian invention designed to evade justice, rather than longstanding historical practice.   I don’t understand why it failed so miserably on that count.  Yet the … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | 4 Comments

Creationism vs. Abortion, Left, Right, elites and the masses

Posted on November 14, 2009 by David Hume

As a follow up to the post below on Sarah Palin and Creationism, it strikes me that those on the Right & Republicans seem more divided and emotive on this issue than abortion. More specifically, libertarian and secular Rightists seem … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Yes, Sarah Palin is a Creationist (not that there’s anything wrong with that)

Posted on November 14, 2009 by David Hume

Memoir Is Palin’s Payback to McCain Campaign: Elsewhere in this volume, she talks about creationism, saying she “didn’t believe in the theory that human beings — thinking, loving beings — originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data | 49 Comments

The Bells, The Bells

Posted on November 14, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

Given the extraordinary record of success that Christianity’s various sects have shown in predicting the arrival of the apocalypse, this story made me laugh: GENEVA — The World Council of Churches on Thursday called on churches around the world to … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Faith | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Heaven For Climate, Hell For Company

Posted on November 14, 2009 by Bradlaugh

The front page of my New York Post this morning, following the news that foreign terrorists are to be brought to New York to be tried in civilian courts, showed a mock-up of a New York City postcard featuring the Twin … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, Science & Faith | 10 Comments

Greater New England

Posted on November 11, 2009 by David Hume

To the left is a map which shows the 1856 election results for president by county. In the blue are counties where John C. Fremont, the Republican, received a majority of the votes. The more intense the blue, the higher … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 10 Comments