Posted in on certain arts, writings and performances, tagged attire, clothing, dating, funy, humor, life, satire, scarves, stuff white people like, writing on April 30, 2008 | No Comments »
Stuff White People Like is hilarious.
“I like the guy in the white American Apparel shirt with the glasses.”
“Which one? there are eight.”
“The guy with the keffiyeh.”
“Oh yeah, you’re right. He does look smarter and more political than the other guys. He’s clearly more sensitive to wind, so he’s probably more sensitive in general. You should [...]
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Is shown most starkly by the graph below.
(Source: NYCLU)
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Posted in education, libertarianism, tagged absurd, anti-discrimination, civil rights, college, course, dartmouth, discrimination, education, freedom of speech, funny, harassment, laws, lawsuit, priya venkatesan, professor, studies, title vii on April 30, 2008 | 1 Comment »
This case is so absurd that it is difficult to take it seriously. Priya Venkatesan, who taught writing this year at Dartmouth College, is threatening to sue former students under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for criticizing her in course feedbacks. This report has the details along with snippets of Ms Venkatesan’s own [...]
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This is one of the most interesting ideas I have seen in a while.
Needless to say, I am excited. Yet a part of me tells me that it will result in something like what one commenter predicts:
It sounds like a great idea, seeing as anyone with a boat could hook up to whichever jurisdiction they [...]
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“Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
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Posted in libertarianism, tagged amsterdam, ban, drug, drug laws, drugs, dutch, laws, liberty, magic mushrooms, mushroom, mushrooms, netherlands, personal responsibility on April 28, 2008 | No Comments »
This is very depressing news.
The Dutch cabinet has proposed a ban on the sale of all hallucinogenic “magic” mushrooms because they could induce life-threatening behaviour.
A bill will now pass to the Dutch parliament, where a majority of lawmakers are expected to back a ban after a teenage French girl who had eaten mushrooms died jumping [...]
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Posted in libertarianism, personal, tagged beliefs, change, coercion, coming of age, faith, force, freedom of speech, government, growing up, ideology, liberty, life, maturity, personal, rationality, reason, religion, science, scientific spirit on April 28, 2008 | No Comments »
Apropos of nothing…I remembered myself from ten years back.
When I hated all mongerers of superstition; when I simply could not fathom why the government did not declare the practice of astrology, quackery, faith-healing and all related unscientific mumbo-jumbo illegal; when I would have liked all religious extremists and preachers of hate put behind bars; when the ultimate [...]
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Posted in libertarianism, politics, tagged decriminalization, drug, drug laws, free state project, laws, liberty, live free or die, marijuana, new hampshire, pot on April 27, 2008 | No Comments »
The Senate judiciary commitee of New Hampshire has voted against a bill that would decriminalize possession of up to one-quarter of an ounce of the drug. That represents the end of the marijuana decriminalization efforts in that state, for now. It also demonstrates that public opinion (about 60% of NH residents support decriminalization) is not [...]
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Posted in news and links, sci, tech and gizmos, tagged ariel, atom, car, cars, driving, fast, speed, sports car on April 27, 2008 | No Comments »
Yes, thats the Ariel Atom for you. At $35,000, it is much, much cheaper than the other fancy sports cars around. And it beats them all in speed.
I would love to own one. Wouldn’t you?
(Link via Instapundit)
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Posted in news and links, politics, tagged atheism, atheist, belief, discrimination, freedom, harassment, iraq, jeremy hall, military, religious freedom, soldier on April 26, 2008 | 4 Comments »
From a CNN news story:
Like hundreds of young men joining the Army in recent years, Jeremy Hall professes a desire to serve his country while it fights terrorism.
But the short and soft-spoken specialist is at the center of a legal controversy. He has filed a lawsuit alleging he’s been harassed and his constitutional rights have been [...]
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Posted in India, education, libertarianism, tagged affirmative action, arjun singh, caste, discrimination, education, equality, freedom, indian laws, laws, liberty, private institutions, quotas, reservations on April 25, 2008 | No Comments »
Buoyed by its Supreme Court success on the reservation issue, the Indian government now wants to introduce quotas in private educational institutions as well.
I quote from the report in the Telegraph (emphasis mine) :
The Centre plans to table a bill to introduce quotas and control fees in private higher education institutes in the monsoon session [...]
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It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense. I dont have anything additional to say. It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, I don’t have anything more to say….it’s nonsense. I reject it categorically.
John McCain’s take on his endorser Rev. John Hagee’s remarks that Hurricane Katrina was punishment for the gays and sins’of New Orleans.
Well, I [...]
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I discovered this really cool site today. Among other things, it allows you to upload your favourite piece of music, edit it to make a customized ringtone and then download it to your phone.
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Posted in politics, tagged barack obama, consumer, economics, energy, environment, fiscal, fuel, gas, gas prices, obama, petroleum, policy, prices, subsidy, tax, tax-breaks on April 24, 2008 | 2 Comments »
One of the rare economic issues in which I support Obama’s stance. A gas tax-holiday, at this stage, is little more than a populist gimmick. It is bad fiscal policy, bad energy policy, bad environmental policy and – as previous experience shows — will do little to provide consumer relief.
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Posted in politics, sci, tech and gizmos, tagged cap and trade, carbon tax, economics, environment, global warming, permit, postrel, science, virginia postrel on April 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Virginia Postrel writes in the dynamist blog:
It’s infuriating how all three presidential candidates prattle on about the need to fight global warming while also complaining about the high price of gasoline. The candidates treat CO2 emissions as a social issue like gay marriage, with no economic ramifications. In the real world, barring a massive buildup of [...]
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