As we wrote in a post last week, a Guardian article by their Beirut correspondent William Christou (“US imposes sanctions on Palestinians for requesting war crimes inquiry“, 5 Sept) included the following erroneous claim: In an interim judgment in January 2024, the ICJ ruled that the claim of genocide was “plausible”… As we’ve noted in communications […]
Reading time: Whatever. . . You’ll probably guess from the title of this short (150-page) book by Agustín Fuentes (Princeton University Press) that I am not keen on its thesis, and you’d be right. In fact, the thesis is nothing new, even if you have read Fuentes’s article about it in Natural History and Scientific […]
Roger Partridge writes – Every day, New Zealand workers clock longer hours than their peers in most developed nations yet produce far less value per hour worked. This productivity paradox has haunted our economy for decades, condemning workers to lower wages and longer working days. Now, Parliament has a chance to help change this cycle. […]
In August of 1833 the British passed legislation abolishing slavery within the British Empire and putting more than 800,000 enslaved Africans on the path to freedom. To make this possible, the British government paid a huge sum, £20 million or about 5% of GDP at the time, to compensate/bribe the slaveowners into accepting the deal. […]
It appears that words no longer matter to Nancy Pelosi. For years, Pelosi and other Democrats have blamed President Donald Trump and Republicans for their “inciteful rhetoric.” In seeking Trump’s impeachment, Pelosi bellowed that the use of “words such as a cry ‘to fight like hell’” produces violence and added, “words matter. Truth matters. Accountability […]
I’ve written endlessly about the negative effect of high tax rates on productive behavior, as well as some quirky examples of how taxes lead to some unintended consequences. Today, let’s consider how government regulations distort behavior. We’ll start with a video from Reason about government policies that backfire. In this case, note the second example. […]
What Happens When You Have an Unjust Law A Halfling writes – This article focusses on the way that terrorism legislation and the designation of entities as terrorist organisations can have a chilling effect upon other civil liberties. I should make it clear that because the article concentrates on the group Palestine Action does not […]
A report published on the BBC News website’s ‘England’ and ‘Bradford’ pages on September 6th purports to inform readers about a legal case. Titled “Pro-Palestine activists sentenced over protest”, that uncredited article tells BBC audiences that: [emphasis added] “A group of pro-Palestine activists who staged a seven-hour protest on the roof of an aerospace and […]
The ‘appeal to authority’ fallacy is committed when arguments are presented as true simply because an individual or group deemed to have authority supports it, rather than being backed by evidence or sound reasoning. This fallacy, our research over the years has demonstrated, is employed continually by British media outlets to defame Israel, saving their […]
Roger Partridge writes – When a constitutional law professor warns of “dangerous foes” threatening New Zealand’s legal system, you might expect concern about genuinely destabilising forces – political interference with judicial independence, or threats to the rule of law itself. You would be wrong. Professor Dean Knight of Victoria University recently addressed the Institute of Public […]
A federal grand jury has indicted Cal State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Anthony Caravello for throwing a tear gas canister at federal agents during a raid at a Glass House Farms marijuana facility in Camarillo, CA. In addition to a large number of arrestees, the authorities found at least 14 child workers. Caravello has […]
Below is my column in The Hill on the chilling jurisprudence of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson’s description of opinions as an opportunity for commentary on contemporary issues is a radical departure from long-standing traditions on the Court. While justices have occasionally strayed into extraneous issues, Jackson appears to view her position as giving her a […]
Richard Prebble writes: A Royal Commission is our nation’s highest form of inquiry, reserved for the most important issues. To ensure confidence in its findings, commissioners have the power to summon witnesses and take their evidence in public under oath. In my research, apart from health reasons, the only person to have ever refused to […]
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he may strip comedian Rosie O’Donnell of her U.S. citizenship. He has made the threat previously, despite having no authority to do so. In the United States, political critics cannot be stripped of their citizenship, and pursuing such a course would be a fundamental denial of constitutional protections not only […]
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.
“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.
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