Month: August 2005

Somewhat related to the question of consensual sex between adults is the idea of consensual financial transactions between adults. What I’m unable to fully understand (in the philosophical sense) is why the former should be freely legal, but the latter is subject to government regulation. I’m not talking solely about direct exchange of money for…

More on conversion. I realized that I barely scratched the surface of the “conversion” issue, as the dynamics of the phenomenon are everywhere. Responding to Eugene Volokh’s post (about whether straight-to-gay conversion is a myth), Orin Kerr brings up that exquisite perversion known as “golf”: If I understand Eugene’s response, his argument boils down to…

As Glenn Reynolds pointed out, it was “gay day” at the Volokh Conspiracy the other day, and I was quite fascinated to read about the idea of conversion. (Eugene Volokh takes issue with the idea that gays converting straights is a myth. Well, sort of.) But I’m — really and truly — too damned tired…

I almost missed this week’s RINO Sightings Carnival, hosted by Nicholas Schweitzer at The World According to Nick. This is rapidly becoming my favorite carnival, because RINOs pull no punches (probably because they’re best known for refusing to follow party lines.) A few examples: Dean Esmay (who has an amazing knack for melding passion with…

Sean Hackbarth discovered a wonderful all-purpose gift idea — a genuine seventy nine cent vibrator personal massager. Hard as it is to believe at that price, it’s apparently the real thing. Here’s Amazon’s description: The personal massager provides you with a discreet quiet intimate massager and multiple speeds to pleasure any mood. Sensational design control…

What the hell am I to make of Pat Robertson’s latest outburst? In all honesty, I don’t know. For starters, I don’t even know what to call him. Is the man labelable, and should he be labeled? Glenn Reynolds and James Lileks both seem comfortable with the term “idiotarian,” and I much enjoyed the latter’s…

A review of medical evidence by a group of researchers in California concludes that fetuses likely don’t feel pain until the final months of pregnancy, a powerful challenge to abortion opponents who hope that discussions about fetal pain will make women think twice about ending pregnancies. And just now a mass of fascistic christers busily…

Well, I guess after the Baghdad Bob business, I was asking for something like this. My dog Coco has been dragged into the Air America war. I hope this won’t be considered a form of dog abuse, but after all, she’s only reached the still young and tender age of nine months, and I really…

Recently, a friend tried to interest me in the Green Party, and urged me to attend an upcoming convention in Washington. This startled me a bit, as I make no secret of my political views, which I think are not especially compatible with either the Green Party, nor with the views of most members of…

Unless I am reading him wrong, Professor Bainbridge seems to think that success in the Iraq war should be measured by whether it benefits partisan (in this case conservative) politics: The conservative agenda has advanced hardly at all since the Iraq War began. Worse yet, the growing unpopularity of the war threatens to undo all…

Via Bill Hobbs, a post by Bob Krumm led me to Peggy Noonan’s recent piece on abortion (in this case, reactions by a modern audience to an older play): An important moment in the plot is when a character announces she is pregnant, and considering having an abortion. In fact, she tells her mother-in-law, she’s…

I’m wondering whether sexism is raising its ugly head in New York’s Senate race: ALBANY, N.Y. – Is this a Senate race or country music? Cheating husbands. An out-of-wedlock child. Prison bars. Strong, independent women standing by their wayward men. The stuff of late nights, neon-lit jukeboxes and smoky roadhouses? Not quite. These women are…

Pandagon has responded to my last post: If you’re going for grade-B wingnuttia, Classical Values shows off the humorless, clueless, mildly dishonest weaseldom that conservatives do so well. As a hint to Eric: the issue is not that “trackbacks are a right”. I have no right to comment on a blog, I have no right,…

La Shawn Barber has had it with annoying trackbacks, and I don’t blame her. I don’t like them either, but I’m sure she gets far more than I do because of her status as an outspoken black conservative. Lots of bloggers don’t allow trackbacks, but if you do, prepare for annoyances. Anything from spam trackbacks,…

Moments after writing the last post about San Francisco’s political rejection of a historic U.S.S. Iowa, my attention was drawn to Glenn’s link about the feasibility of constructing a space elevator. Technologically, it’s a solid, practical idea, but my concern is that it might be more politically impractical than it initially seems. Bradley Karl Edwards…

In a brazen display of Michael Moore style triumphalism (and a slap in the face of all World War II veterans), the San Francisco City Council has refused to allow the historic U.S.S. Iowa a home in San Francisco’s maritime museum: The USS Iowa joined in battles from World War II to Korea to the…

My fishing expedition is far from over, but this item was so good I just had to come back and tell you about it. I’ve been remiss in letting so much time elapse, but better late than never, eh? The following is an eye witness account of a Kass sighting at the American Enterprise Institute.…

Here’s a local event which is becoming national. Talented anti-gay activist and former Clinton White House intern Michael Marcavage is now claiming that “Christians” defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, by making them lose: A Philadelphia-based Christian group is claiming victory over the Phillies after displaying an anti-gay banner at the team’s annual Gay Day game. Thursday…

Bad news. The search for pregnant mother LaToyia Figueroa (a search which activated the blogosphere) is over, as police have found her body. Boyfriend Stephen Poaches is being charged with murder: PHILADELPHIA – A former boyfriend of LaToyia Figueroa, a pregnant woman whose month-long disappearance attracted national attention, will be charged with her death, authorities…

I have repeatedly questioned the fitness of Jamie Gorelick to sit on the 9/11 Commission because of what I see as a conflict of interest. I now see (via InstaPundit) that Ann Althouse has gotten into trouble with an angry left wing chorus accusing her (and Glenn) of engaging in a “smear.” What I want…