Join the Pirate Party now! 17 Jun 2009 As Pastafarians know, global warming is inversely related to the number of pirates in the world. But slightly more seriously, the Pirate Party in Sweden has gained a seat in the EU Parliament. They stand against the encroachment on individual privacy by the increasingly draconian Intellectual Property activists of industry. Their sudden success follows the jail sentences for the administrators of the Pirate Bay website. I am increasingly concerned at the advent of democratic governments using these provisions to control what can, and cannot, be said in public forums like the internet. It basically means that culture is owned. That is as bad, in my view, as patenting ethnic DNA or some plant that grows naturally. So I have “joined” the Australian Pirate Party. This gives me better cred than PZ ArrrMatey. Via Crooked Timber. Also, see Wired. Censorship Freedom Politics
Humor Vote now! 4 Nov 2008 At the time of writing the vote was evenly split four ways between A Moose, Immanuel Kant, Saul Kripke, and any Four Dimensionalist. Beat the tie now by voting. [Hat tip to Leiter] Read More
Evolution Christianity Today = Inanity Today? 29 Aug 2007 Oh honestly. Christianity Today reports the travel of the Australopithecine fossil “Lucy” to the US with the closing paragraph: It should be interesting to see what the interest in Lucy is, given that according to opinion polls roughly half of the American public has expressed serious reservations about the theory… Read More
Politics The wealthy are often sociopathic. Why? 15 Aug 201827 Feb 2019 I have been encountering, in these days of political “incorrectness” (i.e., bastardry), more and more well-to-do folk who treat other folk as if they were lesser beings. Ranging from stepping over homeless people (literally) to failing to give way when you drive a Korean car and they a European one… Read More