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Tag Archives: democracy
Whips Used to Break-Up Pussy Riot Protest of Vladimir Putin at Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics
Those wielding the whips are Cossack militia. These are some brave women activists: ___________
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Tagged democracy, freedom, Olympics, Pussy Riot, Russia, Sochi
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In Light of Kiev, Will Vladimir Putin Be Tightening the Screws Even Further on Russian Dissidents?
Julia Ioffe, at The New Republic, thinks so: Moscow’s liberals are watching Kiev with a mix of horror, envy, and admiration: they’re just like us, but look at what they’ve been able to do against a president they didn’t like. … Continue reading
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Tagged democracy, freedom, Kiev, Moscow, protest, Russia, Ukraine, vladimir putin, women's rights
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Crowd Effects
The below video gives fresh meaning to Karl Marx’s amusing phrase, “the idiocy of rural life.”
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Tagged bandwagon appeals, comedy, critical thinking, democracy, herds, humor, life, marx, Politics
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Obama Surfs the Demographic Wave, But Through Target Marketing (the Use of Big Data), Not Reason
Jonathan Alter’s new book, The Center Holds, on President Obama and the 2012 election, was recently reviewed in The New York Times, and there are some revelations in it: [Alter] thinks the United States “dodged a bullet in 2012,” and … Continue reading
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Tagged America, democracy, demographics, Obama, Politics, Republicans
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Don’t Tread on Me (Epistemically)
This falls into the category of Stop the epistemic power-plays! It comes from a recent article in Scientific American written by Shawn Lawrence Otto: The Founding Fathers were science enthusiasts. Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer and scientist, built the primary justification for … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, democracy, determinism, free will, philosophy, science, the Enlightenment, Thomas Jefferson
3 Comments
Mike Bost Speaks Truth to Power
I don’t know if Mike Bost, an Illinois state legislator, is a Republican or a Democrat, but I’m impressed with his lucidity in the midst of strong emotion. His complaint: a giant bill has come to him without sufficient time … Continue reading
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Tagged activism, America, democracy, freedom of speech, mike boss
2 Comments
A Better Angel of Our Nature: Democracy and the Way of Bees
If alpha-male behavior (dominating, hierarchical, authoritarian) is, at some level, natural, it’s also possible that democracy too is natural. These contending impulses—the authoritarian personality and the democratic personality—may be competing evolutionary strategies that, in fact, take up habitation in different … Continue reading
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Tagged bees, chimps, Darwin, democracy, evolution, freedom, high RWAs, Nietzsche, rush limbaugh, steven pinker, the authoritarian personality
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When the Western Atlas Shrugs: The Economic Consequences of the Islamic Brotherhood Ruling Egypt
The majority of Egyptians are on the verge of getting their wish—a theocratic state—but they may rue the day that they did. The following quote comes from Middle East analyst Theodore May, and appeared as part of an opinion piece … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, atlas shrugged, Ayn Rand, capitalism, democracy, Egypt, fundamentalism, Islam, islamic brotherhood, muhammad
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Debating the Future of Islam in Egypt
The birth pangs of a new Egypt: a Hitler-like religious fanatic (living in London!) argues with an Enlightenment influenced liberal over the future of Egypt: Hat tip: Concerned Christian.
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Tagged Allah, cairo, cairo university, democracy, Egypt, God, Islam, liberals, muhammad, religion, the Enlightenment, Voltaire
7 Comments
California’s Governor, Jerry Brown, Gives a Great Speech
California Governor Jerry Brown gave an extraordinary State of the State speech yesterday. He anchored it in democratic principle and didn’t in any way evade the budget issues facing the state. It reminds me of why I voted for him: And … Continue reading
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Tagged abduction, California, democracy, freedom, jerry brown, Politics, taxes
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Handel’s Messiah in the Mall: Totalitarian Creepiness or Just a Song for the Holiday Season?
Even though I’m an agnostic, I love Christmas music and Christmas movies. I must, for example, have upward of 300 Christmas songs on my iPod. And every year my family and I watch Alastair Sim as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and … Continue reading
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Tagged agnosticism, atheism, Bill O'Reilly, Christianity, Christmas, democracy, evangelism, freedom of speech, Jesus, rush limbaugh, the war on christmas
13 Comments
Why Read Literature or Watch Good Films? Martha Nussbaum on the Role of the Imagination in the Cultivation of Empathy
Here’s a great quote from Martha Nussbaum’s new book, From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law (Oxford 2010, xvii): That ‘terrified’ gay teenager needs, and deserves, equal respect, and a sphere of liberty equal to that enjoyed by … Continue reading
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Tagged college, creative writing, democracy, education, ethics, film, literature, martha nussbaum, morality, poetry, teachers
4 Comments
Steven Novella, the Ambivalent Blasphemer
At SkepticBlog this past week, Steven Novella endorses blasphemy as social protest (sort of): There are those, for example, who champion blasphemy as a form of social protest. PZ, Penn and Teller, Christopher Hitchens and others argue that nothing should … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, blasphemy, Christianity, democracy, family, free speech, Islam, Jesus, Mohammad, Prometheus, steven novella, the oresteia
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Prometheus Unbound 