Monthly Archives: October 2010

“Right Atheists” channel on Reddit

Posted on October 20, 2010 by David Hume

It has come to my attention that Reddit has a channel for right-wing atheists. The description: Atheist conservatives, right-wing Darwinists, South-Park conservatives, right-wing libertarians, anti-Sharia activists, non-conformists, controversialists and other politically incorrect freedom fighters: This is your community. Enjoy. Seems … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs | Tagged , | 9 Comments

The Skeptical Conservatives

Posted on October 19, 2010 by David Hume

CONSVLTVS of RESPVBLICA has created a nifty little badge for “Skeptical Conservatives”. The aim is to indicate a very small affinity group, bloggers and thinkers who are not religious, conservative, and, not necessarily libertarian in their presuppositions. The intersection of … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs | Tagged | 20 Comments

Don’t be shocked by polls

Posted on October 19, 2010 by David Hume

You all know about the issues of weighting samples to achieve representativeness. In polling this is an art. But even if you get to representativeness, depending on the average sample sizes the polls themselves will exhibit a distribution of outcomes about … Continue reading →

Posted in data | Tagged | 5 Comments

Rand Paul is probably not an atheist

Posted on October 19, 2010 by David Hume

In defending his criticisms of Jack Conway’s behavior the liberal columnist Jonathan Chait says the following about Rand Paul: Is Rand Paul misleading the electorate about his religion? Sure. But he’s not running on a religious platform. It’s Conway who’s … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged | 7 Comments

So How Come Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots?

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

This piece (from Mims’ Bits) on the difference between western and Japanese attitudes to robots is a stretch. Read the whole thing, but here’s an extract: Heather Knight, founder of the world’s first (non-industrial) robot census, has made the study … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Kentucky Fried

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

The Democrat takes the high road in the Kentucky race. Some background on the Aqua Buddha here.

Posted in politics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Godwin’s Pope (4)

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

The New York Times ran a piece yesterday on a new exhibit on Berlin dedicated to the Third Reich. This passage in particular caught my eye: BERLIN — As artifacts go, they are mere trinkets — an old purse, playing … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Breaker of idols

Posted on October 16, 2010 by David Hume

Jacob Weisberg, Yale graduate, and defender of the Center-Left Establishment (e.g., In Defense of Robert Rubin), has a long piece out in Slate attacking Peter Thiel. Thiel’s heresy is to encourage young university-aged students to work outside of traditional educational … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 22 Comments

Benedict & Bruni

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

Le Canard Enchainé is far from being the most reliable news source, but this story is too entertaining not to repeat (via the First Post): The Pope reportedly told French president Nicolas Sarkozy that his wife, Carla Bruni, was ‘not … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Uses of Skepticism

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

In a political era in which an Inquisitor DeMint can flourish, this little snippet from a recent Spectator piece by Toby Young was a bracing reminder of an altogether tougher-minded conservatism: Maurice Cowling, the late right-wing historian, used to ask … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged | 1 Comment