I know better too, I believe

(Post edited)
Since Sharon’s death [Roman Polanski's wife Sharon Tate was murdered] … and despite all appearances to the contrary, my enjoyment of life has been incomplete.In moments of unbearable personal tragedy some people find solace in religion. In my case the opposite happened. Any religious faith I had was shattered by Sharon’s murder. It reinforced [...]

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More on Polanski

Many of those who believe Polanski forcibly raped Geimer rely on the Grand Jury testimony as their primary piece of supporting evidence. So I think it would be nice to also take a look at the actual probation report, made at the time of the incident, by Santa Monica deputy Irwin Gold. The whole report [...]

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The Polanski arrest

I may be on some sort of unannounced blogging hiatus, but how can I possibly go without writing a word on the arrest of Roman Polanski ?
The facts are well-known and I will keep it short: Polanski was accused in 1977  by the authorities of  plying then 13 year old Samantha Gailey with champagne and [...]

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George Sodini’s blog

George Sodini, the gunman who murdered four people and wounded nine others in Philadelphia on Tuesday maintained a rambling online blog for the last many months. The blog has now been taken down, and I am not sure how long the copies of it that remain in various other news sites will survive, so I [...]

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“Where the sick soul’s desire for solitude turns into misanthropy”

I find this passage from Arianna Huffington’s old article “Bernard Levin remembered” rather poignant for several  reasons. The italics are mine.
We started a relationship which was to last until the end of 1980, when I left London to move to New York. And he was, in many ways, the reason I left London. I was [...]

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“And then they came for me”

This is probably familiar to anyone who has been following the civil war — now declared over by the government — in Sri Lanka, but I missed it till today. It is an oped by Lasantha Wickramatunge, former editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper of Sri Lanka. It was published posthumously and is a chilling piece [...]

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Funny true story

I’ve heard several good stories at the math workshop I am attending currently but this one takes the cake.
Famous old mathematician asks a certain female international grad student in his depaterment how she likes it there.
FIGS: Oh it’s great. Except for the cocks.
FOM: Cocks?
FIGS: Yes cocks! There are too many cocks in my bedroom.
FOM is [...]

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Republican Liberty Caucus tries to expose the Agitator

This is so freakin’ hilarious!
For those lazy to follow through the above link, here’s the story. The Republican Liberty Caucus published a piece of news that attempted to portray Radley Balko as a liar. Except that they forgot that Forbes.com is not the same as Foxnews.com. Here’s what the Caucus post stated:
Liberal (and ersatz libertarian) [...]

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From a six-figure salary to a happy existence

How a fired advertising executive became a Starbucks waiter and now thanks the coffee chain for saving his life.

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I heart capitalist girls

A few weeks ago, I linked to this story of a 22 year old female college student who took advantage of prostitution-friendly Nevada laws to auction her virginity online for $3.8 million. Her explanation?
Like most little girls, I was raised to believe that virginity is a sacred gift a woman should reserve for just the [...]

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Nicole Carroll doing overhead squats

Of late I have enrolled at a gym for Crossfit and Krav Maga. I will write a detailed post a month or two later, but for now, watch this video of the amazing (and beautiful) Nicole Carroll of Crossfit fame attempting 15 overhead squats of her bodyweight (125 lb). 

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Eric Posner profiles Cass Sunstein

Eric Posner’s article on Cass Sunstein is an excellent profile of the man’s views and positions and it also accurately summarises why I am happy about the Sunstein appointment.

Sunstein has strong liberal instincts—his work is animated by his concern for the rights and well-being of poor and vulnerable people and oppressed groups—and he believes that government [...]

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An old Obama speech on religion

[Post edited] I discovered this video today. It is a recording of a speech Obama made more than an year ago. The familiar themes of collectivist altruism (this is Obama after all!) have their place but the speech is mainly about religion in a political context. Having heard many good and not so good Obama [...]

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Change that gladdens me

No, I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God…. Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I’m just not very high on atheists.
– George H. W. Bush on Aug 27, 1987.
The greatest freedom we have or one of the [...]

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Harry and PC hypersensitivity

So apparently there is a raging controversy about Prince Harry’s use of politically insensitive terms during his military stint (he jokingly called a friend a ‘raghead’ and referred to another of Pakistani origin as a ‘our little Paki friend’). The army has announced it will commence an inquiry and newspapers are calling for Harry to [...]

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