Monthly Archives: November 2015

Isaiah Berlin: Half Right

Isaiah Berlin: As for the meaning of life, I do not believe that it has any: I do not at all ask what it is, for I suspect it has none, and this is a source of great comfort to … Continue reading

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“Another Emergency”

The Economist, at it again: THE political masters of the world are gathering in a Paris traumatised by terror to consider another sort of emergency, climate change. Trivialize much? Exaggerate much? The magazine’s ‘Erasmus’ goes on to note: The unusual … Continue reading

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Free Speech is not a ‘European Value’

The Local (Spain): [Three Spanish feminists] are facing charges for crimes against religion for mimicking Spain’s Easter processions – replacing the Virgin Mary with a giant plastic vagina. Three women who carried a giant plastic vagina during a march to … Continue reading

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Must-Read Interview with Sam Harris

The New Atheist’s interview with Salon – a publication largely hostile to the Bertrand Russell-style liberalism of Harris and his ilk – is better read at Harris’s own website, in its unedited form. (A portion of the interview that badmouths … Continue reading

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Intellectual Liberty and the Student Demands

Of the demands being made by protesters in the current wave of unrest on American campuses, some no doubt are well grounded and worth considering. Some of them, on the other hand, challenge academic freedom head on. Some would take … Continue reading

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They Like Murray Bookchin, Not Murray Rothbard

Here’s an interesting piece on Kurdish Syria, wherein the influence of American far-left thinking on the region’s secular politics is explored. Specifically, its influence on Kurdistan Workers’ Party co-founder Abdullah Ocalan, who is currently languishing in a Turkish prison: One of … Continue reading

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Multiculturalism, Free Speech: Choose One?

National Secular Society: Labour MP Keith Vaz has expressed his support for the reintroduction of UK blasphemy laws – provided they “apply equally to everybody.” His comments were reportedly made at an event organised by the Muslim Council of Britain … Continue reading

Posted in law, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

New Heights in Wishful Thinking

A Facebook friend posted this today: This person isn’t particularly political – a well-intentioned but corny meme isn’t really the stuff of those more consumed by politics, in my experience – but their taken-for-granted progressivism was kicked into gear following … Continue reading

Posted in politics, Religion | 1 Comment

Cognitive Dissonance in Paris

After reading this piece from Haaretz dubbed “In Paris Neighborhood Heavily Hit by Terrorists, Residents View Attackers as Victims,” one wonders if the idea of the “liberal mugged by reality” is itself more fantasy than real-life: They aren’t angry, at … Continue reading

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