Monthly Archives: February 2009

Two Links on the Stimulus that is now Law, 2/26/09

I don’t want to spend too much time on this, but the amount of misinformation I’m encountering on US gov’t spending is reaching ridiculous proportions. The two articles on the now-old-news stimulus I particularly like are: Why the Stimulus Plan Won’t Work, and Several Ideas that Might: fta – Will the goods and services in …

February 26, 2009 – 1:52 pm | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (1)

John Derbyshire’s “How Radio Wrecks the Right” is a waste of time

1. Short take: ugh, don’t read his article, it’s a waste of time and indirectly supports his poorly presented idiotic views. I’m writing because better conservative media exists: that’s what this blog is. 2. John Derbyshire’s “How Radio Wrecks the Right” has some significant flaws. I didn’t really want to write on it – I …

February 25, 2009 – 12:26 pm | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (9)

Links, 2/24/09

Should all development aid to Africa be halted? (h/t aldaily) Ario’s encounter with a fox speaks for itself. 250,000 $1 checks are supposed to stimulate the economy. No comment necessary.

February 24, 2009 – 2:40 pm | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (0)

It’s getting done.

Things are moving faster now – an important section of the dissertation is “complete.” I say that because while I don’t think it reads well at all, I’m writing more as we speak and that section is most certainly the antecedent of every idea in this newest section. The feeling that distracts me the most: …

February 20, 2009 – 4:58 am | By ashok | Posted in personal | Comments (2)

Links, 2/19/09

Pension funds are about to implode all over the US, because “socially responsible” investing is not the same thing as “good” investing. This nytimes profile of basketball player Shane Battier is really good, as it encourages thinking about what statistics exactly – if any – determine how much a player is doing for his team. …

February 19, 2009 – 4:34 am | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (0)

Rambling: Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1.1.15

Xenophon, Memorabilia 1.1.15, trans. Amy Bonnette: And he [Socrates] examined also the following about them [Sophists/pre-Socratics]. Just as those who learn human matters believe that they will do what they learn both for themselves and for anyone else they wish, so, too, those who seek out the divine things (ta theia) hold that after they …

February 18, 2009 – 5:42 am | By ashok | Posted in philosophy, xenophon | Comments (0)

Comments on Excerpts from Kierkegaard’s “Every Good and Every Perfect Gift is from Above”

for Bill Farris Note: I am working from the excerpts of this text in A Kierkegaard Anthology, ed. Robert Bretall, trans. David Swenson & Lillian Swenson. I cannot find the text as a whole online. The danger here is not only there could be a giant passage by SK [Soren Kierkegaard] saying “one day this …

February 17, 2009 – 12:53 am | By ashok | Posted in christianity, philosophy | Comments (2)

The Uses and Abuses of Political Philosophy: On Michael Ledeen’s “We are All Fascists Now”

Michael Ledeen’s “We are All Fascists Now” is an argument I sort of like, peppered with a generous helping of potential theoretical discussion. The argument is roughly: spending this $800 billion involves the state to an ever-increasing degree in corporations. A “third way” between between capitalism and communism has developed because of this “too big …

February 15, 2009 – 5:20 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Comments (5)

Links, 2/12/2009

Dissertation is coming along. I was tempted to put up excerpts last night. Anyway, some long overdue links to friends: Drowning in Vitriol’s post “Parachute Colors” contains some excellent observations about people who chronically attack religion: how come they’re the first ones to spout the most nonsensical thing about aliens and Zen Buddhism you’ve ever …

February 12, 2009 – 11:17 pm | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (5)

On Hopkins’ “Heaven-Haven”

Heaven-Haven Gerard Manley Hopkins A nun takes the veil I have desired to go Where springs not fail, To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail And a few lilies blow. And I have asked to be Where no storms come, Where the green swell is in the havens dumb, And out of the …

February 12, 2009 – 12:23 am | By ashok | Posted in christianity, poetry | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)