From the monthly archives:

March 2003

Disgusting and Vile

March 23, 2003

The American soldier who tried to kill his colleagues with a grenade looks to be Muslim. So this dipshit (shame on Instapundit for linking with apparent approval to this post) writes:
I’m angry right now, and I may regret these words. But, I think it is entirely reasonable for Americans to suspect the loyalty of American [...]

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The Darkness of the Shade

March 23, 2003

Stop what you are doing right now and read this amazing essay by Paul Berman on Sayyid Qutb, the philosopher of Islamism, whose works have gone, to our great detriment, neglected and unanswered. Berman’s immensely informative piece makes perfectly clear what I have suspected all along: the war against Islamic terrorism is a war of [...]

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It’s On

March 19, 2003

– Somehow, I feel both sick and hopeful. May it end quickly. May we leave soon.

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The Theory of Optimal Disenchantment

March 17, 2003

– The fascinating discussion following Steven Pinker’s recent presentation to the President’s Council on Bioethics led me to consider whether there is an optimal level of realism about the physical world, human nature, and our relationship to the universe. Let me say what I mean by this.
Think of a continuum running from an extremely [...]

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The Social Change Project

March 14, 2003

– There’s still a lot to do, but, after a long wait, my program at Mercatus, the Social Change Project, finally has a website. Having a website is kind of like… existing.

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Yglesias on Libertarians and Reason (and the reality of numbers, intuitionistic logic, the ontological status of moral properties, etc.)

March 12, 2003

– I’m a big fan of facile, wandering philosophical argumentation (if you seeks its monument, look around you). In this post, Matthew Yglesias, does it with gusto, but, I fear, dabbles overmuch in confusion and irrelevancy. Matthew’s initial topic is why there is a tendency among libertarians to maintain that their politics partake more of [...]

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If Iraq is Such a Direct Threat, Why are We Willing to Wait?

March 11, 2003

– Good column in the Orange County Register by Cato’s Ted Galen Carpenter. Here’s the thrust:
If Iraq poses a dire threat, why has the United States bothered to go to the United Nations? Again, the contrast with America’s actions in Afghanistan is stark. In the latter case, the United States invoked the right of self-defense [...]

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Igby Goes Down Goes Down

March 10, 2003

audblog audio post
Almost as annoying as having a drink with me after a movie!

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My Retarded Audblog Debut

March 10, 2003

audblog audio post
You know, people tell me I must really like the sound of my own voice, but, you know, now I’m not so sure…

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The Uses of Truth

March 10, 2003

– Lovely little essay by Dennett against the postmodernists. (Link from A&L Daily).
Let me quote just one line, in appreciation of the metaphor. Dennett is speaking of the way disputes on the frontiers of science provide for some the impression that science isn’t reliable, or is just one style of assertion among other.
“[T]he warfare [...]

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The Costs of War

March 6, 2003

– Bush asserted tonight that “Saddam Hussein and his weapons are a direct threat to this country.” If so, he knows something the rest of us don’t.
As I’ve said before, I eagerly welcome Hussein’s overthrow and the liberation of the Iraqi people. And I eagerly welcome Mugabe’s overthrow and the liberation of the Zimbabwean people. [...]

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