The League of Ordinary Gentlemen

Odium Surplus/Odium Deficit

by Jason Kuznicki March 19, 2012

A common way to talk about crime and punishment is to liken them to debt and repayment: A crime creates a debt to society; if the criminal is caught and convicted, a just sentence will ensure his debt is repaid, but nothing more. This analogy appeals partly because it explains victimless crimes a lot better than a harm-and-restitution approach. If we agree that society has an ongoing interest in you, then it’s reasonable for society to enforce its rights against ...

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The Silence is Deafening, but not Illuminating

by Rufus F. March 19, 2012

Okay, don’t worry: this post is not about Rush Limbaugh or birth control pills. Alas! That stories so voluminously begun as the Chronicle of Limbaughpalooza 2012 (or Slutpocalypse Now) should come to so lame and impotent a conclusion. And yet, what kept popping up here in the course of that kerfuffle was an argument that strikes me as residing in the same rhetorical zoo as “when did you stop beating your wife?”- namely, the “silence is deafening” argument. So, let’s ...

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Walking Dead Season Finale: Open Thread (Spoiler Alert)

by Mike Dwyer March 19, 2012

What an episode! All those that have been complaining about a lack of walkers or action this season should be happy after last night. I thought the finale was handled beautifully and they did a great job of setting up next season.

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Reliving The Nightmare: The Washington Post Revisits The Grand Bargain

by Elias Isquith March 19, 2012

A new blockbuster report from The Washington Post serves as yet another retrospective on the failed Grand Bargain debt-ceiling negotiations of last summer, despite this being a period of our history that most Americans likely only dimly and hesitantly recall. For most of us, the memory of these few weeks sits in the section of our mental library reserved for those traumatic, drawn-out episodes of ineptitude and failure. It’s lodged in-between the chronicle of that first, agonizing high school break-up ...

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Road Trip with Husky

by BlaiseP March 19, 2012

Here’s the route we took, from Augusta, out to Rock Dam County Park and Mead Lake.

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Contraception mandate and liberalism (a.k.a Beating a dead horse) (updated 19/3/2012, 8:40am GMT+8)

by Murali March 18, 2012

Kevin Vallier over at Bleeding Heart Libertarians argues that liberals must oppose the contraception mandate. In order to determine whether a law or policy is illiberal, we must describe the various forms of coercion it involves. For the mandate, this is easy: the Obama administration will force religious organizations to use their financial resources to support a practice they find sinful. (Under the new policy, they will coerce health insurance companies associated with religious organizations to do the same.) No ...

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You Have Carbonite Sickness, But Your Sight Will Return Shortly – or, why Limbaugh didn’t really kill Carbonite, and the Left hasn’t really killed Limbaugh

by Tod Kelly March 17, 2012

Over at Not a Potted Plant, Will has been commenting one of the newer internet political memes: Carbonite. Carbonite is a publicly traded stock company that asked it’s advertising agency to pull ads from the Rush Limbaugh show after the Slut-gate. (Hey! I just coined a “-gate!” I am finally a real blogger.) The story that Carbonite is being brought down for daring to cross Limbaugh Nation has been widely discussed over the past week by Righty pundits. In the ...

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Refresher Course On Formatting Posts And Post Images

by Erik Kain March 17, 2012

I know everyone is sick of meta, but… It’s very important that any image included at the top of your post is properly formatted. Otherwise it won’t show up properly as a thumbnail down below, and could possibly throw off the formatting of other posts near it. It’s also important that “more” tags are placed after one or two lines or short paragraphs on all posts. This is because I’m shooting for a sort of uniformity on the front page that ...

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St.Pat’s Jukebox

by Mike Dwyer March 17, 2012

When St.Patrick’s Day falls on Saturday it’s always a special kind of awesome with my crew of friends. Like all good Catholics we’ve had some epic St.Pats over the years but the Saturdays remain shrouded in a fog of Guinness, corned beef and cheap green beaded necklaces. This year I will be wise enough to take a nice nap before we head out and my wife will be along to make sure I behave. To my fellow Leaguers a toast, “May ...

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I am a human, I consider nothing that is human alien to me and open thread

by Jaybird March 16, 2012

We are all more than familiar with a-ha’s debut single of “Take On Me” and their video that used all sorts of innovative this and that. You can watch it again here, if you are so inclined. The point, if I have one, of this weekend open thread is *NOT* solely that with which you are familiar but that with which you are familiar but that with which everyone else remains somewhat oblivious!!! Such as a-ha’s follow-up song (ALSO produced ...

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Trust Me, Kids — Peace Is Actually Pretty Awesome

by Jason Kuznicki March 16, 2012

James Fallows continues the Iran War watch. I can hardly believe, after all this country has been through, that we are seriously considering another war. Sold to us, I’d add, by the very same people who sold us the Iraq War. And on the very same terms. I spent yesterday afternoon talking to some exceptionally smart high school students about the Cato Institute, its mission, and its activities. Selfishly, I left a lot of time for questions. I always learn ...

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Vermouth bleg, and cocktail open thread

by Russell Saunders March 15, 2012

Way back in the misty ether of the past, Jason posted about the advantages of vermouth in a quality martini. (My apologies for failing to find the link.) Paraphrasing a bit, he noted that drinking one’s martinis very dry (in other words, drinking a glass full of chilled gin) doesn’t make one sophisticated, it makes one boring. As I live in mortal fear of being boring, I took these words to heart and starting trying more vermouth. Turns out that ...

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Contraception and Causality; r/K Selection and Population Growth

by Christopher Carr March 15, 2012

Tod’s recent post on contraception contained this thought-provoking segment: Another note of interest was this argument by Connell: “Birth control as it is now practised in the United States is bound to bring about a notable decline in our white population in the near future.” I think in may ways this comment deserves more consideration, and maybe at some point a different post. And not because I think thisargument shows that those that are either anti-birth control or pro-religious freedom ...

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New ADA Guidelines Expose Pool Operators to Private Lawsuits

by Tim Kowal March 14, 2012

The Washington Examiner reports that, according to a DOJ guideline issued January 31 interpreting a provision of the ADA, all operators of publicly accessible swimming pools—including cities, HOAs, hotels, spas, and gyms—must install a permanent fixed lift at a cost of $8,000 to $20,000 each. If the facility has a separate pool and spa, lifts must be installed for each. The guideline takes effect tomorrow, March 15, and could subject violators to stiff penalties and attorney’s fees. From the Examiner: ...

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My Friends, A Conspiracy Is Afoot

by Ryan Noonan March 14, 2012

Imagine, for a second, that it’s August 27, 2012, and you’re in Tampa. If you need some assistance with that, go stand in a hot shower. Or the oven. I can wait. Back? You are at the Republican National Convention. Willard “Mitt” “Mittens” Romney is about to be crowned the Republican nominee for President of the United States. There’s his delegation over there. They seem nice enough. Men, in suits. Probably job creators. The salt of the earth, real Americans…. ...

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Space

by Mike Dwyer March 14, 2012

The other day David posted a video of Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson has become a passionate and outspoken advocate for NASA and continued space exploration. His distinct voice, his intellect and, I daresay, his race, have made him extremely popular on the speaking circuit. Someone put together a video that collects many of his quotes and it is a powerful piece. See below:

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Jane Austen, philosophical psychologist

by Rose Woodhouse March 14, 2012

Here’s kind of an odd, but very interesting post, arguing that Jane Austen is a better moral philosopher than a writer, and she’s not a writer with much psychological insight. I think the contrast between good philosopher/bad writer-psychologist was originally meant to be more stark, but an update at the end of the post indicates the author was persuaded by others that she’s actually a pretty good writer. (Because, you know, she is. Like, the best.) I agree with his general ...

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Some Underwhelming Reflections on “3/11″

by Christopher Carr March 14, 2012

Sunday was the one-year anniversary of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that killed 20,000 people, and I feel I kind of owe it to myself and others to share my thoughts. I haven’t really gleaned any kind of wisdom in the one year since Japan’s disaster – it could be I’m still a little bit shocked, or still picking up the pieces of my life, or just doing what I have to do – so there hasn’t been any sort ...

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Religious Rights, Natural Law, and the Imperfect Pragmatic

by Tod Kelly March 13, 2012

The religious freedom issue created (highlighted?) by the Obama administration’s newest healthcare mandates is a hard one for me to grapple with. Part of the reason for this is my aforementioned agnosticism. As I have mentioned in the threads this past week, being a non-believer I feel eminently unqualified to tell a Catholic person of faith which moral precepts are OK for them to ignore, and which should be used to draw lines in the sand. More than that, though, ...

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The Importance of Farm Subsidies

by Mike Dwyer March 13, 2012

It’s almost that time of year. Farmers around the country are buying seed and other supplies, getting their equipment in working order. Last year was a boom year for agriculture and this year is expected to be nearly as good if Mother Nature permits. Commodity prices remain high. This recent success presents an interesting dynamic as our leaders in Washington decide whether to tackle the 2012 Farm Bill this year or leave it to the next Congress. A major topic of ...

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The War on Justin Bieber

by Tod Kelly March 13, 2012

As long as you can remember, you have been a music lover. Though your tastes have always been somewhat eclectic, you have always had a soft spot in your heart for independent singer-songwriters that combine technical proficiency with thoughtful and original lyrics. You’ve even got your school’s principal to agree to let you and your best friend Andy start an after-school music appreciation club, so that you can find others that share your passion and together spread the message of ...

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