Category Archives: culture

The Big Lie

Am I the only one whose cynicism about politicians and the American public has been exhausted by the extent of the popular delusions and knowing falsehoods which are emerging during the whole “healthcare debate”? It is interesting to listen to … Continue reading

Posted in culture, politics | Tagged | 18 Comments

Libertarians vs. statists

In a post below, Anthony asks: Does the GSS or any other large poll have sufficient data to do this for the population at large? How to classify “libertarian” and “statist” is difficult in the GSS. After all, libertarians in … Continue reading

Posted in culture, data | Tagged | 7 Comments

Necessity and sufficiency of an organic movement

John Henke’s post Organizing Against WorldNetDaily has prompted some response in the blogosphere. This Conor Friedersdorf post is the second contribution he has made to the discussion. Much of the debate has revolved around the intellectual/elite vs. populist dimension. Because … Continue reading

Posted in culture, politics | Tagged | 5 Comments

Polls of 2012 Republican contenders

Released by Pew. Small sample sizes, and probably irrelevant anyhow….

Posted in culture | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Role of genes in personality

Inductivist has a post up on the public perception of the role genes play in personality via the “GENEEXPS” variable. Though he saw a trend for Republicans to lean slightly toward more of a role for genes, I was struck … Continue reading

Posted in culture, data | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Attitudes toward assisted suicide

Previous post prompted me to look to the General Social Survey in regards to attitudes to assisted suicide broken down by demographic variables. The variable I used was DOCSUI, which asks: How much do you agree of disagree with the … Continue reading

Posted in culture, data | Tagged | Comments Off on Attitudes toward assisted suicide

Slouching toward death (with a push)

Montana Court to Rule on Assisted Suicide Case: Robert Baxter was by all accounts a tough man. Even in the end, last year, as lymphocytic leukemia was killing him, Mr. Baxter, a 76-year-old retired truck driver from Billings, Mont., fought … Continue reading

Posted in culture | Tagged , | 1 Comment

From Christendom to the West

Rod Dreher has an interesting post, Is religion necessary to Western civilization? There are many specific points where I agree, and disagree, naturally. Some reactions:

Posted in culture | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

An atheist who favors Intelligent Design?

Over the past few days I’ve followed a slight controversy involving Intelligent Design proponent Michael Behe & John McWhorter (you can see the posts at ScienceBlogs, Michael Behe speaks on bloggingheads.tv affair, John McWhorter & Michael Behe bloggingheads.tv, 2 and … Continue reading

Posted in culture, science | Tagged , | 45 Comments

Jason Richwine on immigration

Some readers have wondered about the specific policy positions which contributors to this website might hold. In regards to immigration, I am in broad sympathy with Jason Richwine’s recent article in The American. Quality, not quantity. I understand the logic … Continue reading

Posted in culture, data | Tagged | 11 Comments