Author: Justin

I’ve heard people say that Too much of anything is not good for you, baby… The finitude of life is a blessing for every individual, whether he knows it or not. Oh no… I wish to make the case for the virtues of mortality. But I don’t know about that… If the life span were…

Oh yeah, and will civilization as we know it come to a screeching, agonized halt anytime soon? No, no and no. Well, regarding that last one, certainly not because of Peak Oil. But, mightn’t there be hard times ahead? Well, yeah. Always and ever. But their exact nature is sometimes difficult to ascertain. As Doris…

Back in March of last year I noted a hopeful milestone. The Methuselah Mouse Prize had passed the million dollar mark. Ten months later I’m happy to report that the prize fund now stands at 3.23 million. Also, they’ve spiffed up their website, adding some attractive new features. If you’re so inclined, I would urge…

Beck is right. The market will not be denied. But that doesn’t mean that we have to meekly submit to its abuse. We can step up and take a more active role. We can all be part of the market. Maybe the smarter part, if we’re lucky. A case in point would be rising fuel…

As you may remember, back in September James Kunstler had this to say… Take a good look at America around you now, because when we emerge from the winter of 2005 – 6, we’re going to be another country. The reality-oblivious nation of mall hounds, bargain shoppers, happy motorists, Nascar fans, Red State war hawks,…

Virginia Postrel March 8, 2005 I’ve long argued that there are two completely distinct worldviews here: one (the traditional zygotes-are-persons view) that supports the end (longer, healthier lives) but not the means (embryo research) and another (the Kass view) that opposes the end and, only incidentally, the means (embryo research). If there’s one thing Leon…

Via Wired News… Recently, the Family Research Council, a powerful conservative Christian organization, was invited by Leon Kass, the former chairman of the President’s Council on Bioethics, to submit suggestions for new IVF rules. What a thoughtful thing to do. Anything to further the national dialogue, eh? The Christian group demanded that “the practice of…

Get comfortable. This is going to be a long one. All of the variations in typeface were added after the fact by yours truly. Likewise, all of the links. C.S. Lewis on Moral Education by Gilbert Meilaender When we think about C.S. Lewis? understanding of morality, we have to distinguish three elements: (1) what moral…

If you’re as big a fan of Vernor Vinge as I am, this should interest you. His newest novel is only five and a half months away. Rainbows End (Zones of Thought) Thanks Amazon.com! Here’s their bland summary… Four time Hugo Award winner Vernor Vinge has taken readers to the depths of space and into…

Lately, I’ve been trying to ignore this business about Intelligent Design. Not because it’s not fascinating, but because I don’t see any way to definitively settle it. Perhaps I just lack imagination. Anyway, I’ve been fairly successful so far, but a post I saw at Dean’s World got me to thinking. What if I.D. could…

Via Fight Aging and Stephen Malcolm Anderson, an interesting interchange at Dean’s World regarding life and its true worth. Read the whole thing. Samples follow, to tempt you over… I make no secret that I side with the anti-aging forces. Senescence is a horrible killer, a disease that should be fought with every available weapon.…

When I posted part I of Leon Kass’s courtship essay, I promised to locate and post an actual defense of Dr. Kass. Maybe even two of them. Well, here they are, gleaned from the comment sections of other blogs who got there ahead of me. Is it morally questionable to do this? Perhaps. I’m hoping…

Via Fight Aging, an interchange between Aubrey de Grey and one of his critics. Much substantive criticism began the cycle of sarcasm… Dear Aubrey: I saw you on TV the other day, and was hoping that now that the aging problem has been solved, you might have time to help me in my publicity campaign…

Events have conspired to delay this long promised post. However, like marriage, some things are worth waiting for. Here at last is “The End Of Courtship“, part two. As usual, I’ve front-paged a few especially relevant excerpts, then taken excessive liberties with emphasis and boldface. Also worth waiting for is the Bradley Prize, which Dr.…

Okay, so I’m old enough to remember the original. So what? It’s funnier if you can remember the original. “Age of Aquarius”, anyone? Without further ado, Iowahawk‘s “Age of Eurabia“… When Mahmooooud is in the Notre Dame And prayer rugs line Versailles Then this will please the Prophet We’ll get hot chicks in Paradise! This…

Via Hobbyspace, a long and quite informative article on the Japanese Hayabusa asteroid mission. Much interesting stuff is due to start happening… After overcoming a host of obstacles, including several life-threatening solar flares on its 1-billion kilometer journey (about 620 million miles), the JAXA spacecraft finally arrived at Itokawa in September. Currently, Hayabusa — which…

As a general rule, I would never chase after a story that Glenn Reynolds has already linked to. I mean, you’ve already read it there, right? Why indulge in pointless redundancy? But in this case, the link was rather inconspicuous, and the word “NanoBioTech” may have discouraged some readers from clicking through. That being the…

He wanted you to have it.

Over at The Ergosphere, there’s an interesting post proposing that alternative energy is civil defense. What with one thing and another, we all live in potential disaster areas and I’ve long thought that we don’t emphasize civil defense enough in this country. Though one can argue over the details of what makes for a more…

There’s almost always something worthwhile going on over at Defense Tech. A couple of articles caught my eye today. First, this evaluation of troop morale… Over three weeks in and around Baghdad this July, I spoke to dozens and dozens of soldiers about their views on the conflict. For the most part, morale among these…