Category Archives: politics

Terror-mongering in Illinois

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

The Republicans are once again fear-mongering regarding the transfer of Gitmo detainees to maximum security federal prisons on the mainland: Several Illinois lawmakers say the Chicago area would become a terrorist target if Guantanamo Bay detainees are moved to a … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged | 8 Comments

Creationism & Abortion

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

Razib/David, in your follow-up post on the subject of Sarah Palin and Creationism, you comment as follows: It strikes me that those on the Right & Republicans seem more divided and emotive on this issue than abortion. More specifically, libertarian … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 6 Comments

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

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

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

Religious freedon in 2009

Posted on October 26, 2009 by David Hume

The US State Department has released International Religious Freedom Report 2009. Here the list of countries where “violations of religious freedom have been noteworthy.” Afghanistan Azerbaijan Brunei Burma China Cuba Egypt Eritrea Fiji India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Laos Malaysia … Continue reading →

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What We Do, Not What We Say

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Bradlaugh

From an academic friend who knows a very great deal indeed about polls, voting, and public opinion (as in: he’s written books about them). There are two ways to find out what people think, believe, want, and like:  (1) Ask … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data, politics | 12 Comments

Re: Attitudes Toward Immigration

Posted on October 19, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Mr. Hume:  Excellent post there.  With such a universal desire for less immigration, one has to wonder why the borders are still wide open, visa over-stayers are not tracked, and illegals, far from being deported, are fawned over as a … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics | 10 Comments

Attitudes toward immigration

Posted on October 18, 2009 by David Hume

Below, Art says: Of course the Republican and conservative segment of the population is strongly anti-immigration … They are strongly anti-illegal immigration. Most conservatives favor legal immigration, particularly skilled immigrants. This is not really true, depending on how you interpret … Continue reading →

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