Year: 2014
MIDDLE EAST DEPT.
Stealth In the Parking Lot
I did some grocery shopping at lunch today, and on my way back to my car, as I was threading my way through the parking lot, an empty car next to me started rolling forward. Several thoughts ran through my head: Was any part of it going to hit me? What was in it’s path?… Read more
SCIENCE DEPT.
How Bill Nye Debates Creationism
When word got around that Bill Nye (“The Science Guy”) was going to debate Ken Ham, the founder of the Creation Museum, I was skeptical because just understanding the science of evolution is not good enough, you also have to understand and be prepared for all the creationist criticisms of evolution, and most scientists have… Read more
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT DEPT.
Death Doesn’t Have to Knock: A Modest Proposal
In the past few years, the states have been facing increasing difficulties obtaining the drugs they need to carry out their death penalties. This is in part because manufacturers have been refusing to make the drugs available for use in executions. So instead of using the traditional three-drug sequence, states have been experimenting with new… Read more
FREE SPEECH DEPT.
No Need for the Truth Police
At the very liberal Addicting Info website, Justin Acuff is upset that politicians might be lying, and he wants the government to do something about it: There’s a first amendment case going in front of the Supreme Court right now that’s very, very dangerous. Why? Because it might allow religious opinion to become legal fact,… Read more
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT DEPT.
SORNA Challenge Update
Last summer, I expressed my doubts about scientific aims of the SORNA Challenge. By asking for proposals for “innovative” ways to measure the costs and benefits of the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, I felt that the National Institute of Justice was implicitly admitting that the widely accepted methodologies of sociology, criminology, and economics… Read more