John “Breathtakingly Brilliant” Scalzi has made another breathtakingly brilliant post. At 800 comments and late at night, he finally said “Enough,” especially because everyone was repeating himself (and anyone who didn’t notice the non-sex-specific “he” in that sentence might have problems with this conversation). Point is, I had something to say about it, and, after [...]
There’s been some recent discussion–most of it, I believe, ironic–about winning arguments. It got me to thinking. Those of us who pride ourselves on logic and rationality hate losing an argument; it damages our self-respect. But that aside, none of us expect to actually win an argument of the sort we’re having here. In fact, [...]
It seems to me that it is in the interest of the public to have a list of all known domestic terrorists and terrorist groups–that is, individuals or minorities who attempt to use fear and terror to accomplish their political goals. Since the other lists I’ve seen are unreliable (I’m told Occupy Wall Street has [...]
Tags: Politics
Once again I’ve come across the old saw, “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Most of us first encountered it in Orwell’s 1984, where it was used to avoid questions the author preferred not to address, but it predates that. I’m not sure, but I think the original form says authority instead of power. But [...]
Inspired by this post. I haven’t gotten involved in the “anti-racism” discussion, and, really, I’m still not. I am replying to my good friend Will Shetterly’s comments on it, because I am a Red, and we Reds have a tradition of saving our vitriol for those who come closest to agreeing with us. I am [...]
Not terribly proud of this one, but here it is. I think the formatting is a bit screwy, so the changes don’t actually go where they appear to. Never Trust A Bureaucrat E A Negotiations broke down over benefits and pay. B7 E We put it to a vote [...]
Tags: Music · Politics · Steve
I don’t know why I feel like telling this story now, but I do; it’s the story of a moment–an instant–in my life that I look back on with intense pleasure. It was the winter of 1990, and I had left the Party some years before, but still considered myself a sympathizer. In International Falls, [...]
Tags: Music · Politics · Steve
Tags: Media · Politics · Steve
When Cory Doctorow and Neil Gaiman both say to sign it, I’m inclined to sign it, so I did.
Tags: Friends · Media · Politics · Steve
The Nobel Prize discussion quite reasonably morphed into a health care discussion. So, if anyone wants to continue that, here’s a place to do so. My position is as follows: For purposes of this discussion, “profit” refers to money that comes from appropriating the labor of others (“exploitation” in the strict economic sense). If a [...]