Year: 2011
Damn
I spend a day away from the internet and come back to find out that Vaclav Havel died. Update: Oh, but there’s good news too. Kim Jong Il is also dead. Read more
Boys Beware
I generally find anti-gay bigotry disturbing, but sometimes it’s also kind of amusing. I know that’s wrong — that gay people face real threats of discrimination and violence — but some anti-gay nonsense just makes me want to point and yell, “I didn’t know they still made people like you!” Which brings me to Rick Perry’s culture-war… Read more
Death to Pennies
Here’s something I never thought about before: It’s time to stop using pennies. Aside from its actual subject — the uselessness of pennies — this video is also worth watching because it’s a terrific example of how to make an argument. It’s clear, it’s concise, and in four minutes and 31 seconds I went from… Read more
A Less Sincere Form of Flattery
Over at Reason, they’re boasting because Business Insider chose Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie for its list of the only pundits you need to pay attention to between now and the election. I’m happy for Matt and Nick, but I want to draw your attention to something else that caught my eye. Go ahead and… Read more
Life at Conception
A few days ago, at the conservative Illinois Review, an unnamed author who I assume is editor Fran Eaton got excited about some basic science in a post titled “Biology Textbook Author Asserts Life Begins at Conception”: When does life begin? At conception? When the fertilized egg begins to multiply cells? When the zygote embeds itself… Read more