Oct 20, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From WPVI Philadelphia:
People who came out to see the anti-Kerry film, "Stolen Honor" were already upset that management of the Baederwood Theater cancelled the showing after threats of civil disturbances. Ultimately the anger reached a higher level when Bush supporters clashed with Kerry supporters. [...] Abington police had to move in several times to keep ardent Kerry and Bush supporters from coming to blows. This after the documentary "Stolen Honor" which was to debut to a sellout crowd of 600 people was cancelled."
Joanne Dalbey/WARRINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA: "It denied me the right as an American citizen to see a movie that every American should have the right to see."
Ryan Sweeney/SOMERTON: "I think it's terrible, I think it's ridiculous that they're gonna shut this down and at the same time they're gonna show Michael Moore the day before the election."
The producer of the film blames Kerry operatives for shutting down the showing of the film.
Carlton Sherwood/FILM PRODUCER: "The underhanded coercion and intimidation tactics of John Kerry, here's my reaction, what is John Kerry so afraid of with this documentary?"
Kerry supporters were pleased the showing of the film had been cancelled. [WPVI Philadelphia, "Anti-Kerry Film Showing Canceled" October 19, 2004]
Oct 20, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
Charles Johnson and other bloggers have tried to call attention to a contradiction in John Kerry's presidential campaign. Though Kerry and other Democrats keep raising the fake spectre of a Bush military draft, it is Kerry who has promised a plan for mandatory national service in the form of a community service requirement for high school students.
His proposal was touted during the Democrat primaries, but you will no longer find evidence of it on Kerry's web site. In Kerry's Vanished Draft Proposal, Johnson provides links to a deleted Kerry web page and its replacement. The former said (all emphasis below has been added):As part of his 100 day plan to change America, John Kerry will propose a comprehensive service plan that includes requiring mandatory service for high school students and four years of college tuition in exchange for two years of national service.
Though no longer on Kerry's web site, for while the above quote could be seen on a Kerry page archived online at Way Back Machine. If you click on that link, you'll find that the page is no longer available there either. But since the proposal was part of speeches and at least one press release from Kerry, traces of it are found elsewhere on the Internet.
A web site called Bank of Knowledge archives Democrat campaign speeches. In a May 2003 speech on National Service, John Kerry said:So I propose that all high school students should also be required to do community service before they graduate.
A New Hampshire political news web site reported on the speech: Kerry pushes mandatory national public service.Speaking to veterans and to students at his former high school, Sen. John Kerry proposed a $3.5 billion national effort to involve more Americans in public service building on the framework of other programs and mandating that all high schools incorporate service requirements for graduation.
Slate magazine reported in July 2003 that The Agenda of John Kerry includes:3. Institute mandatory and voluntary national service. Kerry would provide four years' tuition at a public university to any American who performed at least two years of national service. He would make some sort of community service a prerequisite for graduation from any U.S. high school. The high-school programs would be state-designed but federally funded.
The online encyclopedia Wikipedia contains this line from their entry on the John Kerry presidential campaign:Kerry supports supplementing national service in nearly all aspects of American life, including requiring community service for high school students to graduate [...]
In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Gazette posted a press release from the Kerry campaign dated November 20, 2003: Kerry Presents Vision of 100 Days to Change America. "As part of his Action Plan for the First 100 Days, Kerry vowed to ..."Make national service a way of life by requiring mandatory service for high school kids and giving Americans the chance to earn four years of college tuition in exchange for two years of service.
Using Google, I found a dead link for the above press release at the Kerry web site. But if you look at the first entry in this Google search, you can still see what used to be on Kerry's site: "... national service a way of life by requiring mandatory service for high school kids and ...".
John Kerry and some of his supporters continue attempts to scare up votes by saying that Bush will institute a military draft, even though Bush has unequivocally rejected conscription as an option, and even though a recent Democrat draft proposal was overwhelmingly defeated in Congress (2 votes for, 402 against).
The truth is that John Kerry has publicly promised a special draft of his own, and it now appears he wants to hide it. The immorality of a draft does not arise from the fact that it is military service. A draft is immoral because it is involuntary service, and involuntary servitude is a violation of individual rights whether it occurs in fox hole or a soup line. And it is exactly involuntary servitude that Kerry has planned for high school students.
John Kerry's use of a trumped-up draft scare is sleazy enough as it is. Turns out it's hypocritical, too.Oct 19, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum: 
From the New York Post: Democrat Primer: Play Phony Race Card By Charging Vote 'Intimidation'. (Via Rodger Morrow)Republicans ripped into John Kerry yesterday over a stunning new internal manual that advises Democrats to launch "pre-emptive" strikes charging the GOP with voter intimidation -- even if none exists.
The "Election Day Manual" -- written for Kerry's Colorado campaign workers -- includes a menu of options Democrats can follow next month to claim Republican intimidation, ranging from issuing press releases to organizing minority leaders to denounce the practice.
It was unclear last night whether the manual had been penned by the Kerry campaign or the Democratic National Committee, although questions about it were fielded by the DNC.
Democratic leaders dismissed the charge, insisting the manual was aimed at providing guidance for "preventing and combating" voter intimidation from happening in the first place.
Oct 18, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
AFP reports: Kerry comment about Cheney daughter may have backfired. (Via Little Green Footballs)John Kerry has come under renewed criticism for raising the case of Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, during a presidential debate.
Five days after making the comment, Kerry remained at the centre of a media controversy for highlighting Cheney's sexual orientation.
Political talk shows, newspaper commentators and an opinion poll have all kept the gay comment in the public. Democrats have bravely called it a storm in a political teacup and Kerry's campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill has said Cheney's daughter is "fair game".
This cartoon was inspired by comments today from James Taranto: "Blogger Rodger Morrow suggests that [Kerry] is being forced to resort to a "Hail Mary" approach..."
And in today's TIA Daily, Robert Tracinski wrote of the incident (The Washington Conundrum): "Kerry's gratuitous violation of a simple rule of campaign etiquette reveals an unacceptable lust for power."The motive [for the drafting of Mary Cheney into the Kerry campaign] seems to be the vaguely cynical hope that Kerry could pit Cheney's own daughter against her father's ticket, that the controversy over the coming days would be: what does Mary Cheney think about her father's campaign? How has he treated her? And so on. A group of leftist "gay rights" activists have been trying to do this for a long time, demanding that Mary Cheney state her own views publicly -- demanding, in effect, that she denounce her father in public. Last Wednesday's comment seems to be Kerry's attempt to pick up on that somewhat disreputable far-left campaign.(This is not the first time that Kerry has picked up a loony-left rallying cry and given it a respectable, mainstream spokesman -- from the Winter Soldier smear in 1971, to the Howard Dean anti-American foreign policy, to the more recent claim that Bush secretly wants to bring back the draft.)
Oct 18, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Dr. Ellen Kenner's site deals with "The rational basis of happiness and ways to learn about the scientific nature of genuine long term happiness." Best feature: the archives of her past shows.Oct 18, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Monday, October 18th
Why Businessmen Should Be More Selfish by Alex Epstein
In this lecture, Alex Epstein, junior fellow at The Ayn Rand Institute, will argue that Ayn Rand's ethics of rational self-interest is the moral, practical alternative to conventional "business ethics." We invite you to come judge for yourself which alternative leads to business success.
8:00PM-10:00PM (Doors open at 7:30PM), The Kimmel Center - Room 914, 60 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012
All Non-NYU attendees must make a reservation by emailing their names and the names of any non-NYU guests they plan on bringing to objectivist.club@nyu.edu. In addition, to be admitted to the building on the day of the speech, those non-NYU attendees with reservations must bring government identification (drivers license, passport, etc...). For more information visit: www.nyu.edu/clubs/objectivistOct 18, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Monday, October 18, 2004
"The Moral Case for Supporting Israel"
by Dr. Yaron Brook, president and Executive Director of Ayn Rand Institute
Since its founding in 1948 Israel has been under siege--courageously fending off hostile neighbors while defending itself against Arab terrorists. In a Mideast dominated by Arab monarchies, theocracies and dictatorships--Israel is a free country standing as the lone bastion of Western civilization in that region. Yet for decades Israel has faced growing international pressure--often led by the United States--to compromise with its enemies, and act against its self-interest. In this talk, Dr. Brook argues that the United States should unequivocally support Israel's effort at self-defense; that allowing Israel to rid itself of terrorist and foreign military threats is in America's best interests. Israel is our only true ally in the Mideast, and supporting it is the only moral thing for the United States to do.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 5:00pm, 150 Animal Sciences Lab. Free of charge and open to the public.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
"Religion vs. Morality"
by Dr. Andrew Bernstein, professor of philosphy at SUNY Purchase and Concordia College
Conventionally, most people believe that morality can only be based in religious faith - that in a world without God no principles of right and wrong could exist. Related to this, philosophers have long held that no objective, fact-based, rational code of values is possible. Regarding both points, Dr. Andrew Bernstein argues that the exact opposite is true. The purpose of morality is to guide human life on earth - and religion is utterly incapable of it. Flourishing life requires a code of secularism, rationality, egoism and freedom. Religious faith clashes with every principle of a proper moral code, and, as such, has led, and can only lead to, hell on earth.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 7:30pm, 314 Altgeld Hall. Free of charge and open to the public.Oct 17, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
An excerpt from Robert Tracinski's article "How to Be an Anti-Bushite for Bush: Working for a Pro-War Opposition and a Secular Right" is online at TIADaily.
Oct 17, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
From yesterday's New York Times: Nader Emerges as the Threat Democrats Feared.With less than three weeks before the election, Ralph Nader is emerging as just the threat that Democrats feared, with a potential to tip the balance in up to nine states where President Bush and Senator John Kerry are running neck and neck. Despite a concerted effort by Democrats to derail his independent candidacy, as well as his being struck off the Pennsylvania ballot on Wednesday, Mr. Nader will be on the ballots in more than 30 states. Polls show that he could influence the outcomes in nine by drawing support from Mr. Kerry. They are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Wisconsin.
Usually we post cartoons three or four days a week. But in the run up to election day, we've decided to fill in the empty days by reposting cartoons that are still relevant (we'll go back to the old schedule after the election). This cartoon was first posted on February 18, 2004.
UPDATE -- October 19: From FoxNews: 'Nader Factor' Still a Concern.Politicos on both sides of the aisle are pondering just what effect independent candidate Ralph Nader may have on the 2004 presidential election -- a race that could hinge on the number of votes the independent candidate pulls. On Monday, Nader announced a 10-state campaign swing he is embarking on between now and Election Day, which will include Alabama, Connecticut, Louisiana and New York as well as key swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
"We're trying to get as many votes as possible, which means we're going into states that are characterized as safe states, battleground states and states that fall in between," he said at a Washington news conference.
Oct 17, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
FoxNews reports: Annan: Iraq War Hasn't Made World Safer.The U.S.-led war in Iraq hasn't made the world any safer, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a British TV interview aired Sunday. "I cannot say the world is safer when you consider the violence around us, when you look around you and see the terrorist attacks around the world and you see what is going on in Iraq," Annan told the ITV network. "We have a lot of work to do as an international community to try and make the world safer," he said. Annan has previously described the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein as "illegal."
FoxNews also reports: Oil-for-Food Probe Includes Annan's Son.The Justice Department criminal probe into the U.N. Oil-for-Food program is focusing on several individuals, among them U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's son, FOX News has learned. Kojo Annan, the secretary-general's son, was employed by a U.N. contractor that monitored food and medicine shipments that were flowing into Iraq as part of the multibillion-dollar program created in late 1996. The Oil-for-Food program is now being probed by the Justice Department and Congress as a boondoggle that enriched Saddam Hussein and others. A report delivered last week by Charles Duelfer found that Saddam was able to "subvert" the $60 billion U.N. Oil-for-Food program to generate an estimated $1.7 billion in revenue outside U.N. control from 1997-2003. [...] FOX News was unable to locate Kojo Annan for comment but his father told reporters at the United Nations earlier this year that there was no connection.
UPDATE -- October 20: From Claudia Rosett at The Wall Street Journal: La République des Bananes: Kofi Annan tries to explain away France and Russia's Oil for Food wrongdoing.In defending Russia, China and France, Mr. Annan further implied that Saddam's traffic went only to companies, not governments, and therefore could not possibly have swayed state policies. Perhaps Mr. Annan has forgotten that all Saddam's contracts were funneled into Oil for Food via the official U.N. missions of the respective countries. Although earlier this year Mr. Annan and some of his aides were busy excusing Mr. Annan's Secretariat from any responsibility for Oil for Fraud, by way of blaming the U.N. member-state missions, especially those on the Security Council.
Maybe Mr. Annan also forgot that both China and Russia, however nonbanana their status at the U.N., have yet to enter the era of genuine private property rights. In both these nations, there is a hazy line between state and private sector, no fair and impartial rule of law to define that line, and no press free enough to delve deeply into such matters as when, by whom and at what price it might have been crossed. Maybe Mr. Annan also forgot that large business interests, even when private, can wield a certain amount of lobbying clout, even in France.
And maybe he just hasn't had time to read the lists of oil vouchers handed out liberally by Saddam to assorted French former officials and Russian politicians and state entities--alleged bribes now presumably under investigation by the U.N.'s own "independent inquiry" led by former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker. Earlier this year, an aggrieved Mr. Annan warned critics of the Oil for Food program to shut up and wait for Mr. Volcker to wend his way toward a final report. Apparently, when it comes to Saddam's biggest clients, Mr. Annan sees no problem with his own policy of pre-emptive exoneration.
Oct 16, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
When asked to name his heroes, John Kerry named three people:
1) Michael J. Fox (actor afflicted with Parkinson's Disease who has endorsed Kerry so that government money will be thrown into stem cell research, thus guaranteeing that Parkinson's is never cured.)
2) Christopher Reeves (who just died, and who his running mate claimed would have walked again had Kerry been the President.)
3) Former Georgia Senator Max Cleland who lost both legs and one arm in Vietnam.
It's amazing that all of his "heroes" either actively support his campaign, or represent an emotional link to one of his few popular election issues. Also, all of his heroes were/are cripples, people striken with debilitating ailments. Of course if the same question were asked to President Bush, I'm sure one of his answers would be that carpenter from Nazareth. Why can't any of these people pay homage to a real hero once in a while? Has no one ever heard of George Washington????Oct 15, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
This is the final of three new Michael Moore cartoons that we created for a companion book to the new DVD, FahrenHYPE 9/11. It turns out that we're not only in the book. We were pleasantly surprised to see three Cox & Forkum cartoons in the movie.
My impression after one viewing: FahrenHYPE 9/11 is a very welcome rebuttal to Moore's film. (You can view a trailer here.) Using relevant facts and context, the documentary takes Moore to task for many of the deceptions in Fahrenheit 9/11, covering issues such as: the 2000 election, quotes from Bush, the Afghanistan pipeline, American-Saudi relations, the Iraq war and much more. Featured commentators include: Dick Morris, Ron Silver, Zell Miller, Ann Coulter, Dave Kopel, David Frum, Frank Gaffney, David Hardy and Jason Clarke. And other people appearing in the film explain why they consider themselves to have been exploited by Moore.
I was also impressed that the film is not merely a fact-checking critique. It goes further, naming Islamofascists as the enemy, briefly recounting their attacks against America over the years, and even listing attacks that have been thwarted in America -- all of which make Moore's claim that "there is no terrorist threat" that much more ridiculous (as if the 9/11 attacks weren't enough to do so).
I have not completely read the companion book, but it appears to be as informative as the movie (we have one personal complaint: some of our cartoons are stretch out of proportion!). The book contains interview transcripts, editorials, commentary on the making of the film, and lots more editorial cartoons besides our own.
In short: Not only does FahrenHYPE 9/11 help set the record straight, it is also a refreshing presentation of people standing up for America's right to defend herself against terrorists and their state sponsors.
Obviously Cox & Forkum played a small part in this project, so you can take my recommendation for what it's worth. But I think FahrenHYPE 9/11 is a much-needed exposé of Moore's smoke and mirrors, in his own medium. The companion book adds further details and entertainment. I recommend both to anyone interested in 9/11, the Islamic terrorist threat, and the presidential election -- especially if you've already seen Fahrenheit 9/11.
ATTENTION STUDENTS: Some students are showing FahrenHYPE 9/11 on their college campuses as an antidote to presentations of Fahrenheit 9/11. Jason A. Nunnelley has set up a Web site to help with such efforts: MustHaveInfo.com. If you'd like to do the same on your campus, contact Jason.
UPDATE -- October 20: Michael Moore recently appeared on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. Ryan Schenk wrote the following about the event:Last night, Michael Moore came to the campus of the University of Wisconsin, and gave a speech on the Student Union outside by the lake. It was packed. I went to it, not wanting to miss a spectacle, and to see with my own eyes what it is we're fighting. And I saw it.
If anyone is still wondering whether the Left is actually rooting for our enemies, namely Islamic Fascists and their terrorist comrades, let me quote Michael Moore: "We cannot win this war! We can't. We SHOULDN'T win this war...I mean, who the hell are we!!!! The ARROGANCE!!!! We're like, 'Oh, we're going to come and invade your country, and force you to be free,' and then wooptie woo, f*** you!" This was met with loud cheers, applause and laughter by the audience.
Much of the speech consisted of the usual America-bashing, ridiculing the idea that America is such a great country; and of course there was tons of class warfare, charges of racism, sexism, etc.
He screamed out to the Bush supporters, who were yelling out "four more years" and such, "Why don't you go fight in the war. I have some enlistment papers right here; come up and sign them if you think you're so brave!" Then I walked over to this group to give them some support, and to see the inevitable confrontations.
One guy, who looked like a professor, said to me, "You're a bunch of Nazis. Why don't you shut the hell up." I gave him a word or two, in a semi-respectful way. Another guy tried to dump a pitcher of water or beer on us, but missed and hit two girls who were screeching at us to "shut up." He got pulled away by the police. It was pretty orderly. And the group that I joined was not obnoxious at all. I couldn't hear the speech while with them, but only because I was right in the middle of the "four more years" and "flip-flop" chants.
What I was most amazed at was how the crowd cheered with joyous rage at the most evil statements, by such an evil person. The cheers were the loudest when the speech was about how terrible America is, and how we don't have the right to defend ourselves militarily.
Oct 15, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Sinclair Broadcasting plans to air a program over its 62 stations, based on a documentary critical of John Kerry's anti-war activism. Excerpts from Brit Hume's interview with Mark Hyman, V.P. Corporate Relations for Sinclair Broadcasting:
MARK HYMAN: [...] We've decided to produce a 60-minute program that is going to deal with specific allegations made by these Vietnam POWs. So far, nothing is scripted. There's nothing that's been finalized. We've only invited one person to join us, that's Senator John Kerry. So far, nothing has been shot. There is an existing documentary, which provides the basis for these allegations. This is where these allegations are made, but there's nothing else that's been done. So complaints about content about a program that doesn't even exist is like complaining about a referee's call in a game that has not yet been played. There's nothing to complain about. [...]
HUME: [...] we heard a little bit from the Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton earlier. I want to get your reaction to something else that Chad Clanton said, if we can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[KERRY SPOKESMAN: CHAD] CLANTON: I think they're going to regret doing this, and they better hope we don't win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUME: Now, Clanton went on to say when questioned, that that there wasn't a threat. However, how do you interpret that?
HYMAN: I'm at a loss for words, almost. It certainly sounded like a threat. And for a campaign official for a presidential candidate to imply that they might use something, such as the independent regulatory process of the FCC, to exact revenge against media organizations that they find to be enemies or not supportive of their cause, is just astounding. And it's something that should cause concern for every media organization in the country, if this is going to be a precedent for this campaign or any other campaign should they win.
HUME: And the two complaints that have been filed about this program that is, as you point out, a work in progress, one says, of course, that it's an improper political contribution. And the other says that it is a violation or an improper use of the public airwaves. Your reaction to that charge — those charges.
HYMAN: Well, I understand there have been some suggestions that if there's information in this program that might be unflattering toward John Kerry that it should be considered an in-kind contribution to George Bush. Using that same logic, or that same reasoning, that would suggest that every bomb from here on forward that goes off in Iraq that's reported in the news, should be considered an in-kind contribution to John Kerry. The notion is absurd.
The news is what it is. It's going to be good, it's going to be positive, it's going to be negative. It's going to have all sorts of effects on candidates always. And when the news comes out, it ought to be reported. There shouldn't be a moratorium based on legitimate news, just because it may or may not affect one candidate or the other. That's just absurd. [FOX News, "Special Report With Brit Hume:Why Does Sinclair Broadcasting Want to Air Anti-Kerry Film?" October 12, 2004]
Also FOX reports: "FCC Chairman Michael Powell said Thursday the federal agency would not block Sinclair from airing the program, noting that the commission has never taken such action and that no rules allow it to prevent the broadcast. On Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission contending that airing the film should be considered an illegal in-kind contribution to the Bush campaign."Oct 14, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Contrary to popular belief, last night's presidential debate made perfectly clear the nature of the choice Americans will have when they enter the voting booth on November 2nd.
President Bush flaunted the mentality of a Medieval mystic by announcing that his method of dealing with reality was to make ritualistic incantations to invisible spirits. When asked, "What part does your faith play on policy decisions," Bush proudly admitted: "First, my faith plays a lot -- a big part in my life... I pray a lot." He then proceeded to enumerate his wish list: "I pray for strength. I pray for wisdom. I pray for our troops in harm's way. I pray for my family. I pray for my little girls." And, sources say, he wants Santa to bring him a pony because he's been a really good boy this year.Senator Kerry was even less civilized. Despite his comparative eloquence, Kerry mistakenly revealed a horrifyingly stunted, pre-conceptual mentality reminiscent of Cro-Magnon. While criticizing Bush for somehow causing a "partisan" divide in congress, Kerry declared: "I've never seen such ideological squabbles in the Congress of the United States." Ideological squabbles? A "squabble" is a disagreement over petty, insignificant details. An ideology is an (hopefully) integrated system of ideas about human life, society and politics. There is no greater, more significant disagreement possible between two men than a disagreement over ideas, and only a mind completely devoid of any ideas whatsoever would think to call it a "squabble."So, while the quality of the final presidential "debate" was embarrassing, at least Americans were left with a clear choice: on one side is a man dumb enough to fight against religious zeal for "Allah" with religious zeal for "God," and on the other side, well...there isn't even a man.Oct 14, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
PARIS (Reuters) - French philosopher Jacques Derrida, whose work is credited with originating the school of deconstruction, has died of cancer at the age of 74, France Info radio has said...[Jacques Derrida] said the traditional or metaphysical way of reading makes a number of false assumptions about the nature of texts. His thinking gave rise to the school of deconstruction, a strategy of analysis that...is heralded as showing the multiple layers of meaning at work in language. [Reuters, "French philosopher Derrida dies", October 9, 2004]
Deconstruction is a philosophy of nihilism that seeks to misuse language to attack the values of Western philosophy under the guise of honest criticism and intellectual creativity. On both counts Deconstructionism is both dishonest in principle and destructive in practice.
According to Deconstructionists, the entire history of Western philosophy suffers from "logocentrism" (system building on central principles or "centers") and "structuralism" (the idea that words, and sentences, refer to things in, and ideas about, reality) that must be transcended. Under this view, words and sentences are indeterminate in their referent and meaning--they do not have fixed referents in reality, but can refer to, and thus mean, anything. All that remains is a "flow" of language--words that refer to other words ad infinitum (to infinity). All that remains is to "deconstruct"--that is reinterpret--texts with no "bounds" (such as logic, context, or reduction) on ones "play." An ugly sort of skeptical egalitarianism replaces logic as the means of discovering the truth.
The victims of such an assault are reason (which becomes not guided by logic, but by subjective whim), truth (which becomes the arbitrary), knowledge (knowledge of what?), clarity (replaced with ambiguity--this lack of clarity in academic circles is referred to as "creativity" and "brilliance"), and (no surprise) capitalism. Derrida is the dead-end of Modern philosophy.
"Jacques Derrida is Dead." Deconstruct that!Oct 13, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From CNN:
Islamic courts in Nigeria sentenced two women to death by stoning for having sex out of wedlock, but two men whom they said they slept with were acquitted for lack of evidence, authorities said Tuesday.
Unbelievable.
Both sentences, which were passed within the last month in the northern state of Bauchi, have to be confirmed by the state governor before being carried out, and they are open to appeal. Nobody has been lawfully stoned to death in Nigeria since 12 northern states introduced Islamic Sharia law in 2000, because all such sentences have been overturned on appeal. [...] The adoption of Sharia law in northern Nigeria has polarized Africa's most populous nation, whose 130 million population is split roughly evenly between Muslims and Christians.
Someone go call Jesse Jackson...wait a minute the Nigerian government isn't white. Never mind. [CNN, Nigerian court condemns women to death by stoning, Hat Tip: Cox and Forkum]Oct 12, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
Over the past few months, several groups of individuals in Iraq have taken to kidnapping, torturing, and beheading innocent civilians, bombing vehicles and buildings at random times in random public locations, and generally intimidating the population in an effort to coerce the U.S. and other governments into meeting their fanatical religious demands.
The definitions below are taken from the Merriam-Webster OnLine dictionary.
rebel (noun): one who rebels
rebel (intransitive verb):
1 a : to oppose or disobey one in authority or control b : to renounce and resist by force the authority of one's government
2 a : to act in or show opposition or disobedience b : to feel or exhibit anger or revulsion
Note that the word "rebel" is reminiscent of Luke Skywalker's resistance against an evil empire, but that it also includes much more mild forms of disobedience like rebelling against "conventions of polite society."
insurgent (noun):
1 : a person who revolts against civil authority or an established government; especially : a rebel not recognized as a belligerent
2 : one who acts contrary to the policies and decisions of one's own political party
Note that "insurgents" do not necessarily spread violence and terror, and that this word should probably be reserved for those who are "not recognized as a belligerent."
terrorist (adjective or noun): [defined via the definition of "terrorism"]
terrorism (noun): the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion
Sound familiar?
When characterizing the situation in Iraq, journalists seeking legitimacy might do well to take these definitions into account. (Sorry, Dan, it's already too late for you.)Oct 11, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
The actor who played Superman died today at age 52. From the BBC:
Superman star Christopher Reeve, who lobbied for medical research after being paralysed in a fall nine years ago, has died aged 52. He had been suffering from an infection as a result of a pressure wound and died on Sunday, his publicist said. He suffered a cardiac arrest at his New York home and slipped into a coma, Mr Wesley Combs added.
Reeve was paralysed in 1995 when he broke his neck after being thrown from a horse. He later became an advocate for spinal cord injury research. In recent years, he had regained sensation in some parts of his body....Film director Michael Winner called Reeve the "archetypal movie star". "I think he grew to personify a heroic struggle against disability," said Winner. "We all kind of believed that we would one day see him walk again and instead we see him die really very young." He added: "He was a kind of action actor and to see an action actor who played Superman paralysed and hardly able to speak was terrible, but we all had hope for him and it is tragic that those hopes have been dashed."Reeve broke his neck in May 1995 when he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia. He then became a tireless campaigner for stem cell research, forcing it on to the political agenda. Before the actor's death, Senator John Kerry mentioned Reeve in a presidential debate, calling him a friend and pledging support to stem cell research. [BBC, "Actor Christopher Reeve dies" October 11, 2004]
Related Articles:
To Ban Cloning Would Be a Moral Abomination by Alex Epstein
In a huge breakthrough for medical progress, scientists from South Korea have finally created a cloned human embryo and extracted its stem cells--a feat that makes life-saving embryonic stem-cell treatments that much closer to reality.
AFP reports: 
From yesterday's New York Times: 
FoxNews reports: 