Harvard Crimson editors explain to outraged students why the paper asks for comments from attacked people or groups

whyevolutionistrue's avatarWhy Evolution Is True

Because of the curfew in Valparaiso, I can’t go outside after 6 pm, and even during the day the town is dead, with most of the businesses shuttered (perhaps in fear of rioters or because business is slow). In short, I have some time in the evening to post. This will vanish when I board the ship.

And so to the matter at hand.

According to this “note to readers” in the Harvard Crimson, penned by the paper’s managing editor and its president (click on screenshot), Harvard’s students have their knickers in a twist. Why? Because the paper asked the targets of a recent student protest to comment for the story. It was simply the paper’s asking for a response that got the students upset. Read and weep:

Excerpts are indented:

Last month, The Crimson covered a rally organized by campus group Act on a Dream that called for the…

View original post 810 more words

Decision theory and the doom scenario of climate catastrophe

curryja's avatarClimate Etc.

by Lucas Bergkamp

Can decision theory help a rational person decide whether to believe in climate catastrophe?

View original post 2,472 more words

Image

Justin Trudeau Remains Prime Minister But Also Subject to the Caretaker Convention

J.W.J. Bowden's avatarJames Bowden's Blog

Results of the Election        

On 21 October, voters elected members to a minority parliament this week, the fourth in the last fifteen years. In this House of Commons, engorged to 338 members since 2015, a party needs at least 170 to form a majority, though 171 serves as a more practical barrier considering that the House of Commons usually elects a speaker from the governing party; majority governments prefer not to have to call on the Speaker to cast tie-breaking votes in favour of the government as a matter of course. The official standings gave the Liberals a strong plurality but left them 14 MPs short of a practical working majority. The Liberals would therefore need the support of either the Bloc or New Democrats, along perhaps with that of the Greens when the occasion permits.

View original post 2,475 more words

Shhh! The case of a British paedophile who was locked up with women is best not discussed on a Massey campus

poonzteam5443's avatarPoint of Order

The question of what process should be followed before people can change the genders recorded on their birth certificates may well have been discussed on Massey University’s Wellington campus.

Trouble is, a bunch of students with firm ideas on the subject and a militant urge to muzzle contrary ideas staged a sit-in and pressed for the university to cancel the event.

Massey’s administrators – anxious to cocoon sensitive staff and students from information or arguments that might offend or upset them – accordingly advised Speak Up For Women to find an alternative venue for its Feminism 2020 event.

The University has received external advice on its health, safety and wellbeing obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and its duty of care to the University community, and has made the decision on these grounds.

The legal advice we have received is that cancellation of the event, as concluded…

View original post 1,286 more words

From humans to asparagus, females are females

fondofbeetles's avatarFondOfBeetles

Many people attempt to undermine the material reality of sex by highlighting weird and wonderful examples of variation in the natural world.

“But clownfish change sex [therefore sex is not objectively defined]”

“But some animals don’t have X/Y chromosomes [therefore the human system is unreliable]”

“But some people have reproductive disorders [therefore sex doesn’t exist]”

Here is my response.

Clownfish. These fish, like many others, are sequential hermaphrodites. In the case of clownfish, a group contains one dominant female and if she is removed from the group, a male changes into a female to replace her. Sex change in clownfish occurs when the testicular tissue of the bipotential gonad is regressed and ovarian tissue promoted.  

How to recognise a female clownfish: She’s usually big. Oh, and she makes large gametes.

Anglerfish. These fish display extreme dimorphism between the sexes. The tiny males permanently fuse themselves to a female, adopting a…

View original post 723 more words

The Danes are awash in data. Shed a tear for your own job security if there is a death in the CEO’s family.

Image

Jennifer Doleac on crime

James Heckman on racial wage gaps and racial discrimination by employers

Image

We Need More Rapists In Prison, Not Fewer. Why AOC Is Wrong Again.

PA Pundits - International's avatarPA Pundits International

By Cully Stimson and Henry Featherston ~

Rep.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., recently offered another unusual idea on Twitter: Abolish prisons.

Seriously. The freshman congresswoman wants Congress to pass a law abolishing all prisons. Setting aside the fact that Congress has no authority to require states to abolish prisons, let’s take a look at her idea.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D.-N.Y., should use her influence to push for sensible ideas, not extreme notions of abolishing all prisons and jails. Pictured: Ocasio-Cortez answers questions from reporters Sept. 24 while entering a House Democrat caucus meeting at the Capitol. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Based on Justice Department numbers, abolishing prisons would set free 182,000 murderers, 164,000 rapists and sex offenders, 168,000 robbers, and other violent felons in state prison.

Ocasio-Cortez might better lead her party to put more rapists in jail by providing federal funds to help states eliminate the backlog of…

View original post 787 more words

MENACHEM BEGIN: A LIFE by Avi Shilon

szfreiberger's avatarDoc's Books

(Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin speaking to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset advocating acceptance of the Camp David accords, March 20, 1979.  Future Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzchak Shamir is seated to his right.)

In exploring the creation of the state of Israel over the last 67 years the dominant figure that emerges is David Ben-Gurion.  The head of the Jewish Agency before and after World War II, Ben-Gurion guided the nascent Israeli state and dominated its politics for decades.  However, another transformative figure emerged during the same time period that many outside Israel seem to avoid giving him his due, Menachem Begin.  Whether speaking about Begin’s leadership of the Irgun and the pressure he placed on the British to relinquish its Palestinian mandate; his political leadership that brought about his election to the Prime Minister’s office in 1977 which fundamentally realigned Israeli politics to this day; or his evolution as…

View original post 2,368 more words

A STATE AT ANY COST: THE LIFE OF DAVID BEN-GURION by Tom Segev

szfreiberger's avatarDoc's Books

Image result for photos of david ben gurion
(David Ben-Gurion)

A STATE AT ANY COST: THE LIFE OF DAVID BEN-GURION is an apt title for Israeli journalist and historian Tom Segev’s new biography of Israel’s first Prime Minister.  Segev is a prolific writer who is the author of seven books ranging from a biography of Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal; THE SEVENTH MILLION; 1967: ISRAEL, THE WAR AND THE YEAR THAT TRANSFORMED THE MIDDLE EAST; and  ONE PALESTINE, COMPLETE.  Segev’s books reflect impeccable research that includes archival work, interviews, and a strong command of secondary materials in addition to examining previously unavailable materials.  This approach dominates all of his previous books as well as his newest effort.  For those familiar  with Ben-Gurion’s life  and decision making it is clear that the creation of an Israeli state was paramount, even to the point of sacrificing refugees from Europe during and after the Holocaust or turning against other leaders and…

View original post 1,572 more words

Andrew Scheer Is Not Exactly Wrong: Forming Governments in Minority Parliaments

J.W.J. Bowden's avatarJames Bowden's Blog

“Whichever party gets the most votes and the most seats, if not an absolute majority, has the first right to seek to govern, either on its own or by reaching out to other parties.”

View original post 3,101 more words

Blind audition study: Truth or myth? | FACTUAL FEMINIST

Impartially weighing up all the evidence or post hoc rationalisations?

trustyetverify's avatarTrust, yet verify

climate explained header

The Conversation has a “Climate explained” series with articles centered around a (climate change related) question that get answered by an “expert”. The question of the article that is the subject of this post is “Why some people still think climate change isn’t real” and the expert who answers this question is David Hall, a Senior Researcher in, ahem, Politics.

He tries to explain in the article what drives the “deniers” and how to “undo” their denial.

View original post 1,049 more words

What happens to your labour surplus when the big boss gets sick?

Image

Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries

Thoughts from the North

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Fardels Bear

A History of the Alt-Right

Vincent Geloso

Econ Prof at George Mason University, Economic Historian, Québécois

Bassett, Brash & Hide

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Truth on the Market

Scholarly commentary on law, economics, and more

The Undercover Historian

Beatrice Cherrier's blog

Matua Kahurangi

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Temple of Sociology

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Velvet Glove, Iron Fist

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Why Evolution Is True

Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.

Down to Earth Kiwi

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

NoTricksZone

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Homepaddock

A rural perspective with a blue tint by Ele Ludemann

Kiwiblog

DPF's Kiwiblog - Fomenting Happy Mischief since 2003

The Dangerous Economist

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Watts Up With That?

The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change

The Logical Place

Tim Harding's writings on rationality, informal logic and skepticism

Doc's Books

A window into Doc Freiberger's library

The Risk-Monger

Let's examine hard decisions!

Uneasy Money

Commentary on monetary policy in the spirit of R. G. Hawtrey

Barrie Saunders

Thoughts on public policy and the media

Liberty Scott

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Point of Order

Politics and the economy

James Bowden's Blog

A blog (primarily) on Canadian and Commonwealth political history and institutions

Science Matters

Reading between the lines, and underneath the hype.

Peter Winsley

Economics, and such stuff as dreams are made on

A Venerable Puzzle

"The British constitution has always been puzzling, and always will be." --Queen Elizabeth II

The Antiplanner

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

Bet On It

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

History of Sorts

WORLD WAR II, MUSIC, HISTORY, HOLOCAUST

Roger Pielke Jr.

Undisciplined scholar, recovering academic

Offsetting Behaviour

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

JONATHAN TURLEY

Res ipsa loquitur - The thing itself speaks

Conversable Economist

In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”

The Victorian Commons

Researching the House of Commons, 1832-1868

The History of Parliament

Articles and research from the History of Parliament Trust

Books & Boots

Reflections on books and art

Legal History Miscellany

Posts on the History of Law, Crime, and Justice

Sex, Drugs and Economics

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law

European Royal History

Exploring the Monarchs of Europe

Tallbloke's Talkshop

Cutting edge science you can dice with

Marginal REVOLUTION

Small Steps Toward A Much Better World

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.

STOP THESE THINGS

The truth about the great wind power fraud - we're not here to debate the wind industry, we're here to destroy it.

Lindsay Mitchell

Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law