Um, No: We Can Both Not Want Executions and Still Care about Unfair Imprisonment at the Same Time

Ross Douthat has a strange article in the NYT this weekend. He seems to be arguing that the death penalty is good (or plays a worthwhile function) because it reminds us to be vigilant about who is put in to prison. He argues as follows: If capital punishment disappears in the United States, it won’t be because voters and politicians no [...]

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Do You Think Your Equipment Hinders that Pursuit: How Times Have Changed and the Mirren Interviews

This is amazing: What I find particularly interesting about this video is the way in which Sir Michael Parkinson cannot seem to get off the topic of Helen Mirren’s body. In fact, though her body is not that voluptuous and she is not dressed in a particularly revealing way. One of the best/worst parts happens [...]

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Pen Canada: The Other Side of Silence

I just attended an event put on by Pen Canada to raise awareness about a group of Eritrean journalists imprisoned since September 2001. The journalists were merely reporting on events, such as student protests, which the government did not like. The Eritrean government felt the journalists were only “reporting the bad” which gave power to [...]

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Commercials Done Right

I am often critical of advertisements on this blog because commercials are so often horrible: they reinforce rigid gender roles; they attempt to instill dissatisfaction in the viewer to urge purchases; they use emotional manipulation to get us to buy products that have little to do with the emotion; and they are increasingly turning up [...]

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The Utilitarian Calculus and Ordering Textbooks for Class

Utilitarianism is basically the moral view that in order to judge whether an action is good one should consider the consequences and then evaluate whether the act provides the most good to the greatest number of people. (It is more complex than that, as you can see from the description at this link, but the nuts and [...]

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I’m Always Hallucinating, But Who Really Knows?: Why Epistemology is Important

One area of epistemology, asks whether it is wrong to hold certain beliefs. William Clifford said: It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence. The “ethics of belief” is often used in intro philosophy classes to begin debates about God’s existence. The following video also provides an example of [...]

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Help! The Capitalist Broke Into My House!

I am writing this simply to boost the signal on another post “Microsoft Conducts a Home Invasion” over at The MassOrnament. I agree with them about the absolute outrageousness of this commercial: Note that her computer is only FOUR (4!) years old. Having a four year old computer apparently justifies Microsoft in breaking into your house and harassing you [...]

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