All entries by this author

Hostility to French Hijab Ban Fades *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

‘School is not a place for religion. It is a place where we are all French and we are all equal.’… Read the rest



Burqa Ban in Belgium *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

One woman resists law; her husband is suspect in Madrid bombing.… Read the rest



Eric Foner on Katrina as a New Selma *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

The sight of the emaciated children of Lawrence strikers transformed public opinion.… Read the rest



Julian Baggini on Our Role as Cosmic Measurers *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

Humans have to do the job not because we’re so great but because there’s no one else.… Read the rest



Scott McLemee on Views on Katrina *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

Bush doesn’t read, but there were pictures. Niall Ferguson has an odd take.… Read the rest



Return of Book Reviewing *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

Scott McLemee notes that journalism has its own metaphysics.… Read the rest



Pray Harder *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

Allbaugh called FEMA an oversized entitlement program, urged reliance on ‘faith-based organizations.’… Read the rest



Barash on Lloyd on Female Orgasm *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

Plasticity is not evidence against selection.… Read the rest



Overenthusiasm for Drowning *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

Conservatives want to cut government ‘down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.’… Read the rest



What a Treat for the Wretched of New Orleans *

Sep 7th, 2005 | Filed by

They get to go to Houston! Barbara Bush is so pleased for them.… Read the rest



Stop, These People Have More Money Than You

Sep 7th, 2005 2:39 am | By

Everyone’s already seen this, but I just wanted to keep it for the record. I saw it in several places, but this one is from the Guardian on September 3.

At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line – much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome since last Sunday. ‘How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?’ exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their line. The National Guard blocked him as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests

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Rushdie in Michigan

Sep 6th, 2005 11:35 pm | By

This … Read the rest



Up is not Down, Out is not In, Yes is not No

Sep 6th, 2005 7:49 pm | By

Ah – things become a little clearer. I became curious about a commenter who keeps conflating theism with theology, so I googled and found a blog, where conflation turns up again.

Early in the month, a friend called my attention to this Salon interview with philosopher of science Michael Ruse, talking about evolution-vs-creationism. Ruse is pointing out some of the argumentative excesses of science (for example, the rantings of Richard Dawkins, which I’ve blogged about before) and he’s trying to stake out space to allow someone to endorse both science and religious faith. I liked what he had to say. As I’ve seen argued elsewhere, atheism didn’t exist before the Enlightenment.

Just by the way, that’s not true. Consider … Read the rest



Cass Sunstein on William Rehnquist *

Sep 6th, 2005 | Filed by

He limited judicial activism in one direction and expanded it in another.… Read the rest



Newsflash: There’s Poverty in America *

Sep 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Old news, but each generation of Americans discovers it anew.… Read the rest



Bush’s Islamic Republic *

Sep 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Irony that US will help establish Middle East’s second Shiite Islamic state.… Read the rest



John Gray Reviews Thomas Friedman *

Sep 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Neoliberals lack Marx’s insights into self-destructive qualities of capitalism. … Read the rest



Matthew Lockwood on Anti-developmentalism *

Sep 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Argues that African states actively discourage business, trade and innovation.… Read the rest



Revealed at Last

Sep 5th, 2005 10:46 pm | By

So the truth is out. The well-kept secret that there is a large and growing gap between rich and poor in the US has suddenly tumbled out of the bag and into the spotlight. Well whaddya know – you mean all those people working in Walmarts and motels and chicken-processing plants and McDonald’s aren’t earning enough to buy a big house in the suburbs and an SUV? Well I’ll be damned – I coulda sworn everybody who did an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay in this country got to be a millionaire in a couple of years or so.

As President Bush scurries back to the Gulf Coast, it is clear that this is the greatest

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Sharia Court Protest Spreads to Europe *

Sep 5th, 2005 | Filed by

Protests are planned September 8 in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Düsseldorf and Stockholm.… Read the rest