More grade inflation for President Obama

Seeded on Wed Jul 7, 2010 11:28 AM EDT (washingtonexaminer.com)

Contemplating President Obama's rise, sometimes you wonder, does this guy lead a charmed life or what? Six years ago, he's a state senator and part-time law professor on a long-shot bid for the U.S. Senate, when his two main rivals helpfully implode in scandals.

politics, presidents, obama, rankings

Fifth Anniversary of Kelo v. New London

Seeded on Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:22 PM EDT (cato-at-liberty.org)

With all the property rights news coming out of the Supreme Court and New York Court of Appeals in the last week, I almost missed Wednesday's fifth anniversary of the dreadful Kelo v. New London decision.

politics, law, supreme-court, kelo, property-right

A Look Inside the Dark Heart of the GOP

Seeded on Fri Jun 11, 2010 12:31 PM EDT (cato-at-liberty.org)

A disheartening look at the anti-gay bigotry that still lurks within the Republican party.

politics, gop, republicans, gay-rights, homosexuality

Repeal the 17th Amendment?

Seeded on Wed Jun 9, 2010 12:06 PM EDT (The Washington Examiner)

In the grade-school morality tale offered by Egan and others, noble Progressives pushed the amendment as an antidote to corruption. Yet Zywicki found "no indication that the shift to direct election did anything to eliminate or even reduce corruption in Senate elections."

senate, politics, progressives, tea-party, 17th-amendment

ObamaCare: Historic, but Is It Constitutional?

Seeded on Wed May 12, 2010 10:29 AM EDT (Cato Headlines)

On March 23, President Barack Obama signed one of the most sweeping pieces of social legislation in American history. The new health care law would require nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance or face fines and possible jail time. The U.S.

constitution, politics, health-care, obama, obamacare

Honestly, Who Else Would Fund Such Research? Reflections of a Non-Smoking Scholar

Seeded on Wed May 12, 2010 9:44 AM EDT (econjwatch.org)

Many public-health researchers are quick to raise charges of bias to explain away the few studies that reach politically incorrect conclusions. Claims of bias are often thrown at researchers who are funded by the industries targeted for aggressive intervention.

cigarettes, bias, research, science, smoking

A Warning Label --- on the U.S. Constitution

Seeded on Mon May 10, 2010 9:49 AM EDT (cato-at-liberty.org)

A great warning label found in a printed copy of the U.S. Constitution:

constitution, politics, law, legal

Kagan Nomination Launches Constitutional Debate

Seeded on Mon May 10, 2010 9:24 AM EDT (cato-at-liberty.org)

Kagan is certainly not the worst possible nominee from among those in the potential pool – that would've been Harold Koh, had President Obama been most inclined to appoint the first Asian-American justice – but others would have been better in various ways. Although all D …

politics, law, supreme-court, nomination, kagan

Greek protesters: Ready to face reality about the debt crisis?

Seeded on Fri May 7, 2010 5:05 PM EDT (Christian Science Monitor)

Your country is hailed as the cradle of Western civilization. This honor is justified, not least because of the unprecedented flowering there, 2,500 years ago, of that most wonderful, unique, and useful of all human abilities: reason.

economics, greece, world-news, progressivism

Spotting a Terrorist

Seeded on Thu May 6, 2010 3:27 PM EDT (Cato Headlines)

A man leaves an SUV on Times Square in New York City. It begins to smoke, and an alert vendor and a nearby police officer bring the NYPD bomb squad to the scene.

terrorism, times-square, us-news

Can Science Find the Truths of Morality?

Wed May 5, 2010 4:29 PM EDT

Sam Harris thinks it can. In this TED talk, he argues that (1) science is tasked with tracking down truth, (2) there are such things as moral truths, so (3) science can find moral truths.

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science, atheism, morality, sam-harris

The 7 Views Most Libertarians Have in Common

Wed May 5, 2010 4:17 PM EDT

I often find myself countering arguments about libertarianism by making statements of the following sort: “Yes, some libertarians believe [whatever policy the questioner is objecting to] but certainly not all of them.

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politics, freedom, libertarian, philosophy, libertarianism

123

Citizens United and Corporations as the Super Duper

Seeded on Fri Jan 29, 2010 11:11 AM EST (trevorburrus.com)

A nice piece of analysis by Trevor Burrus on the recent Citizens United Supreme Court decision on campaign finance regulation. Says Burrus,

politics, law, free-speech, supreme-court, campaign-finance, citizens-united

Credit Cards and Libertarians

Seeded on Wed Jan 6, 2010 4:42 PM EST (cato-at-liberty.org)

On the currently vogue topic of credit card companies targeting the mentally not-all-that-with-it in order to turn a turn a greedy buck -- and how this is somehow damning of libertarianism, my colleague Jason Kuznicki makes a good point:

politics, credit-cards, libertarian, libertarianism, greed

The Age of Abundant Communication and the Decline of Privacy

Wed Jan 6, 2010 4:34 PM EST

Brink Lindey's* The Age of Abundance elegantly poses a plausible answer to the question of American political division.

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technology, privacy, internet, communications

A Marble Temple Shining on a Hill: Reality and Michael Walzer

Mon Jan 4, 2010 10:44 AM EST

While rereading Michael Walzer's Spheres of Justice as part of my ongoing project to study the various serious, anti-libertarian arguments, I was reminded of the following essay I wrote years ago. Long gone from the Internet, I though it would be fun for it to return.

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politics, economics, philosophy, political-philosophy, communitarianism

Communitarianism's Fatal Misconception

Fri Jan 1, 2010 1:09 PM EST

I've recently set myself the project of studying the political philosophies in disagreement with my own.

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politics, philosophy, communitarianism

Mistaking Obama's Policies for Imperatives

Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:46 AM EDT

Bill Burr, of Washington, D.C., doesn't care much for a recent piece by Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie comparing Obama's economic policy to Jimmy Carter's. In a letter appearing in today's Washington Post, he opines,

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politics, economics, obama, stimulus

Populism and Anti-Populism: A False Dilemma?

Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:45 AM EDT

I’m reading “Here, the People Rule: A Constitutional Populist Manifesto” by Harvard law professor Richard D. Parker.

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politics, law

Jesus on TV

Fri Oct 17, 2008 1:50 PM EDT

Two weeks ago, on the generally excellent Fox show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a paramedic who was about to go on the run was given a bible by an FBI agent.

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entertainment, atheism

When Atheists Attack: A noted provocateur rips Sarah Palin—and defends elitism.

Seeded on Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:15 PM EDT (Newsweek)

Sarah Palin's religious beliefs are easily the most terrifying aspect of her candidacy and here Sam Harris does a fantastic job of explaining why.

politics, atheism

SAT Scores — What the Media Are Missing

Seeded on Tue Sep 9, 2008 2:57 PM EDT (cato-at-liberty.org)

CATO's analysis of the data coming out about SAT scores.

education, sat, education-and-child-policy

What I Learned from Writing a Novel

Wed Sep 3, 2008 5:22 PM EDT

The first draft of my first novel, an apocalyptic horror tale called THE HOLE, is almost done.

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writing, arts, advice, fiction

How the Bias for Intent Makes Fools of Us All

Wed Sep 3, 2008 1:53 PM EDT

Daniel Dennett calls it the intentional stance. Long ago, in our evolutionary history, it was better to think there was a tiger behind you than to pass that rustling off as just the wind.

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evolution, politics, economics