Letters to the Editor
jmklein
Published Letters: 32 Editor's Choice: 2
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Libertarian and Pro-Life
[Read the article: Ron Paul's Internet cha-ching ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Abortion is a wedge issue amongst libertarians, but it can be possible to believe both pro-life and pro-choice positions with libertarian philosophy.
On the pro-life end, libertarianism holds that government force is justified in protecting the right of a human being to continue existing, and if, on scientific grounds, one believes an unborn fetus to be a human being, then government force can be justified in the libertarian framework.
On the pro-choice end, if one believes on scientific grounds that a fetus is not a human being then it makes no sense to use government force in protection. In this equally libertarian framework it becomes an ordinary medical procedure that women should be free to undergo.
Personally, I believe the answer is in the middle somewhere. While I believe that nothing significant happens when a fetus comes in contact with the atmosphere (simply an act of transportation of the same organism to different environments) I understand the arguments of many pro-choicers that very early term fetuses are possibly not recognizable human beings and killing them may not constitute a homocide.
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Asian Racism
[Read the article: Hillary Clinton: The Asian-American choice]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Asians can be racist too, though I'm glad there were still enough analytic ones to vote for obama.
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What if minorities vote on issues and logic?
[Read the article: Hillary Clinton, the first Latina in chief?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I find it extremely offensive and racist that every article on the demographic votes assumes that racial groups are incapable of the rational western style thought of political philosophy. It seams modern liberals think minorities are born with different brains incapable of true rational thought and are bound by birth to vote by their race. This is in contrast to the white liberal, who stands tall upon the mountain, and makes judgements by his mind.
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There is something undemocratic about Congressional superdelegates
[Read the article: A non-paranoid's guide to superdelegates]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In ordinary elections congressmen vote; but like the rest of us peons. In the superdelegate system, they get 20,000 votes, because so,e democrats are more equal than others. Does it bring you no shame teh republicans have a more de,ocratic process?
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I object because she's a bitch
[Read the article: The dude vote]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Plenty of reasonable honest non warmongering women i would vote for...
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Thank you
[Read the article: The cold truth about climate change]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thank you for the invitation to real scientific debate over climate, I am a denier but I seriously appreciate your respect of the scientific method.
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wow, that is unrelated beyond the power of language to describe
[Read the article: The rhetoric of slavery and climate change]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For starters global warming is a scientific claim, slavery was a state of law. A law can be overturned with another law and enforced by police. Global warming cannot be simply overturned by a law, dealing with its effects is itself a scientific debate. For instance, emmissions reductions versus geoengineering, or simply mitigation measures such as irrigation and seawalls.
So while the slavery debate was about up or down on a law? global warming is a scientific debate over various theories and approaches to solving complex systems.
And take a good note that your article sounds extremely shrill and desperate.
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omg a blist OMG!!!!
[Read the article: Anonymous no more]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is totally gonna work like all blists do...
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His station in law enforcement makes it important
[Read the article: Who cares if Eliot Spitzer hires prostitutes?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Spitzer voluntarily took on the job of governor of New York where he personally destroyed the lives of countless people involved in sex work. It would be manifestly unjust if he were spared the punishment that he so consensually inflicted on others. In the very least he absolutely must resign for flagrantly violating the law that he swore to protect.
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So is it getting warmer?
[Read the article: Obama and Clinton plan to cool it]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I hate to sound old fashioned but I want to see the dice on this. Temperatures have been falling since 1998 and this year we saw such a drop that it eliminated "gains" since the 1970's. So, where is the evidence, not the model, that global warming is causing global warming?
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Libertarian Swing Voters
[Read the article: Why Hillary Clinton should be winning]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]All I can say is that I would vote for Obama, but otherwise for Bob Barr. Not on my grave would I vote for that two faced warmonger.
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Planning and True Libertarianism
[Read the article: Is Barack Obama a libertarian paternalist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When the libertarian paternalists say they will make planning less invasive to the citizenry they miss the entire point of libertarian systems. The whole notion is that instead of planning you rely on spontaneous orders of actors as minimally bound as possible. The sum of this spontaneous order is itself the social good, as it is defined chaotically by society itself at the maximum speed of social transmission. To plan, however benignly with the softest velvet glove is still to plan.
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Ron Paul Was a Better Fundraiser
[Read the article: McCain maintains menacing money problems]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Seriously
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Tearing off a Bandaid
[Read the article: What will they really do about Iraq?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We just gotta rip it off and suck up the pain.
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Awwww, thats so cute...
[Read the article: Attention, pundits. It ain't over]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Then perhaps the democrats should throw this complete give-away election just to give the adorable voters of the remaining states the once in a lifetime experience of assuring 4 more years of neocon reign.
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Less Money is Never Better
[Read the article: What Pennsylvania tells us]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Every dollar spent on this primary is a waste for the party. Think about it, the Republicans aren't going to roll over and play dead...
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Governments have Clients Too
[Read the article: Nationalize the rating agencies!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Its odd you imagine the government agency would not also manipulate ratings for patrimony.
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Sell your vote for $30
[Read the article: Obama is wrong about the gas tax]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://www.reason.com/news/show/126347.html
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I have the uneducated voters! w00t?
[Read the article: Was Hillary channeling George Wallace?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Its great how she brings up the fact that more uneducated and stupid voters support her more. Yes, I see the pattern.
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Every Issue is a Separate Empirical Question
[Read the article: A "True Enough" reading in San Francisco]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I propose a radical solution to the denial question.
Let us posit a hypothesis about the events in question and then run experiments in the material world to see whether the hypothesis matches the data.
For the election this could be done with statistical analysis looking for highly unlikely irregularities. For AIDS denial we could run experiments comparing the T-cells of infected persons with those of the non infected and draw conclusions. For 9/11 we could run engineering experiments to see if the conspiracy hypotheses match materials response.
Overall, this method allows us to examine things scientifically instead of politically.
No hypothesis is wrong to propose. There is nothing wrong with hypothesizing that AIDS does not exist, as long as you follow through with the empirical analysis and find the overwhelming results.
And there is nothing wrong with hypothesizing that C02 forces climate as long as you look at the real world observations and realize that it's a dead end (computer models are not experiments, real world in the flesh measurements are).