RSS has been damaged by in-fighting among those who advocate for it

Syndication feeds such as RSS and Atom have the power to automate the delivery of all forms of digital content. The word “content” can refer to weblog posts or MP3s, the U.S. President’s last speech or the photos of your last family vacation that you’ve uploaded to Flickr. If you subscribe to a podcast (perhaps using iTunes) then you’re using an RSS feed. Any form of content that can be digitized can be delivered through a syndication feed, and therefore ...

The Wunderkammer: An interview with Martha Mendenhall

I did a few interviews with the actors and actresses of the 2006 Wunderkammer. I plan to post them all here, soon. ————– On October 3rd of 2006 I interviewed Martha Mendenhall about the Wunderkammer (the great theater production she helped organize, which ran in Charlottesville in July and August of 2006). Lark Davis then transcribed the interview and gave it a first edit. We hope to eventually publish interviews with each of the core team of the Wunderkammer. Below is the ...

The information revolution changes adolescence

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Icarus Diving looks at the most common “how to” searches on Google and jokingly suggests that Google is replacing mothers as the source for information on girl stuff (his post is quite funny and worth reading):

I might, slightly more seriously, suggest that if people are looking to Google to learn about tampons, condoms, marijuna and music players, then Google is replacing both parents and peers. I recall ...

The man shot by the vice-president now apologizes to the vice president

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Conservatives and chimpanzees have this in common – they prefer strong displays of dominance and submission. Here you have a case a public act of extreme, absurd submission – a man gets shot and he apologizes to the man that shoots him. We read in history books of things like this happening in the court of the Chinese emperors – if ever anything threatened them with a ...

Please help us spread the word about the Cory Maye petition

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

The case of Cory Maye is depressing – he still sitting on death row for defending himself and his daughter from intruders who broke into his house in the middle of the night. The intruders turned out to be police, who were breaking into his home by mistake. The police thought Maye’s apartment was in some way connected to the adjacent apartment, which was the target of ...

The Radicalism of the American Revolution

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I’m reading a terrific book called The Radicalism Of The American Revolution. It is by Gordon S. Wood. This bit, from page 230-232, reveals how early in American history conservatives began arguing that America had too much democracy:

The federal Constitution of 1787 was in part a response to these popular social developments, an attempt to mitigate their effects by new institutional arrangements. The Constitution, the new federal ...

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A Little Matter Of Genocide

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I am a little slow. And my politics are, apparently, a little out of date.

Last year, 2005, there was some sort of uproar regarding an essay by Ward Churchill. I did not follow it at the time. I had the sense that right-wingers were upset and felt that Churchill was saying things that were not true. I may have confused Churchill with some of the other scandals ...

Should employees carry guns?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Interesting article in Inc Magazine:

A Florida bill that critics say would guarantee people easy access to firearms at work has sparked debate over the rights of gun owners versus those of their employers.

…Baxley, who owns a funeral-services company with close to 70 employees, says he is well aware of how this issue might affect business owners. “As the owner of a small business, I understand the concerns ...

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The Ring of Truth

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Written by Walker Willingham

As we sort through a week of headlines, or the news of the day, we latch onto those stories which for us have the “ring of truth”. For me this week, the ring of truth shouted loudest in the words of Paul Pillar, who concluded his long career in the CIA by serving as National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia ...

Bitch says

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Down with a world in which the guarantee that we will not die of starvation has been purchased with the guarantee that we will die of bordeom. -Situationist graffittiParis 1968

This is the opening quote to Elizabeth Wurtzel’s, “Bitch In Praise of Difficult Women” My only complaint about the book, which I am clearly just beginning, is the cover. What woman wants to carry around a book with ...

In mice, and maybe humans, bullying leads to social withdrawal, unless treated with anti depressants

They first subjected mice to a different dominant mouse daily for 10 days. Even 4 weeks later, the “socially defeated” animals vigorously avoided former aggressors or unfamiliar mice. BDNF and an indicator of gene expression increased markedly in their social memory circuit. Yet, the social avoidance behavior was reversible by giving the animals antidepressants.

Next, borrowing a page from gene therapy, the researchers injected mice with a kind of molecular magic bullet (using transgenic techniques and a virus) that selectively turned ...

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This is not a place of honor

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

* This place is not a place of honor. * No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. * Nothing valued is here. * This place is a message and part of a system of messages. * Pay attention to it! * Sending this message was important to us. * We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture. * This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.

What is liberalism? The child’s edition, part II

Dear Emma,

Wow, those are some really good questions you asked in the comments. Your mom tells me you followed the conversation that developed in response to my earlier post. I’m sorry it’s taken me two months to respond to your questions. Let me go through your response one paragraph at at time:

I like Liberalism. The government isn’t really controlling or taking over – it is just there to support and help. But with this government it seems that people can ...

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Is Russ Feingold worth supporting for President in 2008?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I don’t know a damn thing about Russ Feingold. I do, however, have a great respect for the opinions of Avedon Carol and Lindsay Beyerstein, so I am intrigued that they disagree so completely regarding Feingold.

This is what Avedon Carol says:

David Podvin’s “It only hurts when you breathe” mentions something I missed:

In keeping with America’s continuing political narrative, the confirmation of Samuel ...

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Petition admin note

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Written by Laura Denyes

If you haven’t already signed the petition… sign it now. Thank you to all those who have. We are nearing one tenth of our goal. Maybe we’ll see 10,000 signatures by the end of the week! I am thrilled to report that I’ve gotten cross-eyed scanning names for double postings. Due to various reasons there will be the occasional glitch. As this is still ...

We want at least 10,000 signatures on the Cory Maye petition

We want at least 10,000 useable signatures on the Cory Maye petition. Right now we’re about 5% of the way toward our goal. When I say “useable”, I mean those signatures with some kind of address after the name. The more full the address, the more validity the signature has. When we get 10,000 useable signatures, we will print the petition out and mail it to governor of Mississippi and to the major newspapers. If those in charge of Cory ...

Cory Maye is to get top-level pro-bono legal help from the firm of Covington and Burling

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I’m extremely pleased to see over at Radley Balko’s site that Cory Maye is going to get some world-class legal help with his case:

I just got the okay to post that the D.C. firm of Covington and Burling will be providing pro bono assistance to public defender Bob Evans in the Cory Maye case.

Covington’s a well-funded, very prestigious law firm, with offices in D.C., New York, San ...

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Could it be Mohammed?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Fafnir has discovered this cartoon, which could, after all, be a portrait of the founder of Islam. I very much hope no one has to die, now that this cartoon has been revealed to the world:

Cross-Ideological Alliances

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Written by Walker Willingham

It was over a year ago that I wrote about cross-ideological alliances, but the case of Cory Maye is an instance where such an alliance shows some signs of coming to fruition.

With divisive partisanship, culture wars, and worldview analysis all seemingly on the increase, is there reason to hope for moderation, compromise, and indeed simply the willingness for those on different sides of a ...

What would it take for our politicians to value creativity?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Often when people say “Our politicians don’t represent us!” what they mean is “Why does the majority of the public support things I disagree with?” Often people rail against laws that are stupid or injust, yet popular. Laws against marijuna would be a favorite of mine – it’s insane that marijuna is illegal, but I don’t blame the politicians, because I know a lot of people who ...

When people believed they could change the world for the better

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Digby reminds of an era when idealism was the rule and hope ran rampant. After suggesting that the long dark ages of apathy might finally be coming to an age, she quotes Robert Kennedy, speaking from another era, another mindset and, in some ways, another country:

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, ...

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Joel Stein: people who buy little yellow ribbon magnets for their cars don’t really Support The Troops

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Joel Stein is talking about the little yellow ribbons people buy and put on their cars, the one’s that say “Support Our Troops.” Stein says the people who buy them don’t really support the troops, they just feel guilt, and buy those yellow ribbons to make the guilt go away:

The real purpose of those ribbons is to ease some of the guilt we feel for voting to ...

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John Derbyshire does not give a damn about Egyptian lives

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Progressive Gold Beta points to this callous remark by John Derbyshire:

In between our last two posts I went to Drudge to see what was happening in the world. The lead story was about a ship disaster in the Red Sea. From the headline picture, it looked like a cruise ship. I therefore assumed that some people very much like the Americans I went cruising with last year ...

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Iraq: the musical

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

The folks at Freeway Blogger have done a short online musical animation about Iraq. If you have a broad band connection to the internet, I strongly suggest you give it a look. You’ll need the Flash plug-in, but supposedly 94% of all web browsers have them, so if you’re not sure, chances are on your side.

Cartoons of Prophet Muhammad

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Robert Lindsay has up all 12 of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have inspired so many riots this week. As Lindsay writes:

Yes, folks, printed above are the cartoon charicatures of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that are arousing so much rage in the Muslim World, (they can also be found on the Internet here) including an incident on February 3 where 300 Muslim fanatics rampaged through ...

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I’m an Anne Zook dittohead

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

What Anne Zook said:

Even if I die in a brutal “terrorist attack” later today or tomorrow, never, ever torture anyone in my name.

Yeah, ditto, mega, mega ditto.

So many years struggling hopelessly against stone

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

It is a stunning thing to consider: a company brings together its brightest minds, it spends billions of dollars, it works hard for many years, and in the end it is left with nothing, no product, nothing to sell, no way to recoup its costs, only frustrated workers, befuddled managers, ruined careers, angry customers, investors who sue, lives destroyed, reputations tarnished, and bankruptcy looming.

For those of you ...

BattlePanda: Women in commercials still get all the household drudge work

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Angelica asks why commericals still assume women must be responsible for all housework:

I hate the unspoken implication in this ad that to be a cool mom, one should not demand that one’s children act reponsibly. One needs to cut loose and have fun and not bitch when taking care of the mess afterwards, because that would just cramp everybody elses style. It would have been a different ...

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How children change a marriage

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Bitch Phd, on how children change a marriage:

One of the challenges of having kids, maybe especially for marriages like mine, is that they exponentially increase the amount of work and committment within a relationship. Before PK, I had an astonishingly egalitarian marriage, one that was supportive enough of the mutual ambitions of each partner that we lived apart on and off for long periods of time ...

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Why is America so successful, when it is so poorly lead?

Anatole Kaletsky asks how America can be such a success, when it has such an idiot for a President?

For the past five years, America has been led by a president who is clearly not up to the job – a man who is not just inarticulate, but lacking in judgment, intelligence, integrity, charisma or staying power. Yet America as a nation seems to be stronger, more prosperous and self-confident than ever.

As the State of the Union address made clear, President ...

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Can parents hit their kids?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

This is an old story, but worrisome. Katie Granju recalls a shopping trip:

Yesterday I had a really terrible experience at Target. I was shopping by myself and from several aisles away I could hear a little kid crying as her mother kept telling her to “shut up,” and then following up by telling her that if she didn’t stop crying, she was going to “whup” her. It ...

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Robert McAfee Brown: Christianity is not inherently right-wing

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I’ve been reading a book by Robert McAfee Brown called The Spirit Of Protestantism, and I’ve been enjoying it greatly. Published in 1961, this is a classic statement of mid-20th century Christian thought. This excerpt deals with a subject that is still very much alive today: the strange alliance that has grown up in America between the Christian right-wing and the right-wing of economic thought.

(starting at page ...

She conceals her intelligence in social situations

Women hide their intelligence:

My daughter in law is extremely smart. So is my son, and she managed to snag him neatly. But the thing about her is this: she’s a blonde and when you first meet her, her intelligence is not at all apparent. She has a rather kittenish manner. It’s something I recognized about her almost immediately when I first met her: she conceals her intelligence in social situations. I recognized it because from the time I was in ...

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How to lose a war

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I saw this over at Body and Soul:

The Iraqi woman told Knight Ridder on Friday that she and eight other female detainees in her cell had often talked among themselves. She discovered that all of them were being held because U.S. officials had suspected their male relatives of having ties to terrorism. In some cases, men in their families were killed during U.S. raids, the woman alleged.

The ...

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Roots of Liberalism

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Written by Walker Willingham

At its core, modern liberalism is rooted in compassion and generosity.

That seems as good a place as any to inaugurate my participation here at “What is Liberalism?” So much is conjured up these days by ideological labels, that many lose sight of core meanings in favor of associating the label with side issues. The same can be said of conservatism, which at its core ...

A petition for Cory Maye

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Laura Denyes and I have been working on a petition for Cory Maye. We have asked dozens of webloggers for feedback in the hopes of getting the wording right. Maye’s case brought a supportive response from conservatives, libertarians and liberals and we were hoping to find a wording for our petition that might win an equally broad-based support. I hope that we have succeeded in this.

The ...

Will Cory Maye get a new trial? Hearing set for February 27th

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Radley Balko continues to dig up important information on the Cory Maye case. Among other things, a hearing date has been tentatively set for Febuary 27th regarding whether Maye will get a new trial. Balko also posts this:

But take a look at the autopsy report. That report, presumably authored by [the coroner] Hayne (given that he signed it) describes the gunshot wound as “slightly irregular in configuration ...

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A new member of our weblog team

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I’m pleased to say that Walker Willingham will be joining us here at What Is Liberalism and occassionaly adding his wisdom to that which we post here. You can read more of his writings at his other blog, Choosing Hope.

Doris Lessing: Those at the top never know what goes on at the lower ranks

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Those at the top never know what’s going on at the lower ranks. This bit from Doris Lessing’s book Prisons We Choose To Live Inside:

Laughter is a very powerful thing, and only the civilized, the liberated, the free person can laugh at herself, himself.

When the Shah of Iran was still on his throne, this happened in a village in Persia. A certain quiet, law-abiding and sensible man ...

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How large a gap exists between the opinions of the blogosphere and the opinions of the mass public?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Angelica at BattlePanda writes:

I watched well-nigh in amazement as Kerry rounded up primary after primary, building momentum on back of the fuzzily held idea of “electability” and soon became unstoppable. Before that point, I used to think of the blogisphere as an extension of the general populace, the politically aware avant-guard — we go where eventually they would follow. But in reality, it was more like ...

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Katrina death toll passes the 1,400 mark

Hurricane Katrina remains one of the few things where the vast majority of Americans feel President George Bush made a mistake. As such, the official death toll from the hurricane remains a political stick of dynamite. Although no one has died from the hurricane since September, the official death toll continues to rise. It has now crossed the 1,400 mark. 3,000 people remain missing.

Doris Lessing: We are group animals

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I’m surprised at how much these essays by Lessing overlap themes which a libertarian might put forward: the need for protections against popular thinking. Interesting that a former communist should have come so far toward the opposite view. Nice, also, that Lessing has never felt the need to break with the progressive tradition, but instead remains somewhat hopeful. (The following is from her book, Prison We Choose ...

How Thatcher brought mass marketing techniques to politics

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

This excerpt is from Doris Lessing’s book “Prisons we choose to live inside,” published in 1987. Her point is that the left seems (or seemed at the time) unwilling to use mass marketing techniques to sell its message, but conservatives have (or had) no such trouble. I suppose one of the major changes of the 1990s was the moderate center-left politicians (Blair and Clinton) who adopted ...

Mississippi expands self-defense law – but not for Cory Maye

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Bob Evans made note of this change in Mississippi law:

By the way, Mississippi’s legislature, presently in session, has passed or is on the verge of passing a “self-defense bill” whereby the already liberal (except in Cory’s case) MS law pertaining to self-defense is being widened to include your business and your vehicle.

Doris Lessing: Truth sounds like a cool, quiet, sensible tone of voice

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

A bit from Doris Lessing’s book, Prison’s We Choose To Live Inside (published in 1987):

Looking back over my life, which has now lasted 66 years, what I see is a succession of great mass events, boilings up of emotion, of wild partisan passion, that pass, but while they last it is not possible to do more than think: “These slogans, or these accusations, these claims, these trumpetings, ...

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An overdue Me Me

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Written by Laura Denyes

FIRST: It brings me great joy to admit that I firmly believed and felt confident in my pronunciation of the word “meme” as two small words, “me me”. As if the word were coined to proclaim, “this is who I am talking about!” A little disappointed in “meem”, short for mimetics. I elect to pronounce it wrong now as I like it better.

Pronunciation: ‘mEm ...

What is patriotism?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Kevin Carson elaborates on the meaning of the word “patriotism.”

Patriotism, in this [second] sense, is a love for one’s native soil (in the literal sense), an attachment to hearth and home, and piety toward the graves of one’s ancestors. It is a desire to defend these things, and the ordinary way of daily life that goes with them, against the violence of any outside enemy–including the central ...

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Why did Tookie Williams get so much attention, and why has Cory Maye gotten so little?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Kirsten over at the Enjoy Every Sandwich weblog is wondering why Tookie Williams got so much attention but Cory Maye gets none. That’s a damn good question:

Once again I see a prominent death row inmate in the news. Tookie Williams was hot for a while, but he’s dead now. The big man today is Clarence Ray Allen. Unlike in Tookie’s case, I’ve yet to see anything claiming ...

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American justice has gone blind

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Walker of the Choosing Hope weblog asks why our laws currently favor heavy punishments for all crimes, regardless of circumstance. Considerations of context and motive seem out of fashion nowadays, rather, it seems in vogue to punish anyone for any harm they may have caused. Thus Cory Maye shoots at an intruder in his house in the middle of the night and is put on death row ...

America is the enemy of free markets in Latin America

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Kevin Carson, quoting Max Speak, makes the point that America is the enemy of free-markets in Latin America. America often suggests it favors free markets and democracy everywhere, but the reality is often quite different:

[Says MaxSpeak:] “Hugo Chavez wins elections and the U.S. supports coups-d’etat, and Chavez is “anti-democratic.” Beautiful. The electoral victories of the Left pave the way for a Castroite “totalitarian bloc.” Chavez is a ...

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What are the moral limits to punishments for criminals?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

When humans live outside of government, and outside of society, what does the law of nature allow them to do, justly, to those who trespass against them? Locke’s view of the state of nature is, of course, much kinder than that put forward by Hobbes. Hobbes assumes injustice everywhere, “a war of all against all.” Locke assumes justice everywhere, arising naturally from first principles (God wants us ...

What is monopoly?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Angelica at BattlePanda made a terrific point in the comments to this post, which echoed agreement with Mark of Doubting to Shuo who had said “Capitalism doesn’t work without anti-trust laws.” In the comments, a libertarian named Cornelius van Vorst argued that there are no coercive monopolies, not even in company towns, because people can always leave, thus proving they have choice. Angelica responded:

You never face up ...

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The argument for torture reversed

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Jim Henley makes a good point about a law about torture:

So if it’s ticking bombs that worry you, what do we need laws permitting torture for? Do the crime, save the lives, then do the time. Leave possible pardons aside. We are hard men for hard times and we want hard make-believe conundra.

Don’t talk to me about the suffering you’d bravely inflict on someone else. Tell ...

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When self-defense gets you the death sentence

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I’m sad to see this story, over at Abolish The Death Penalty. This would be a sad story even if the girl’s alibi was under attack (that is, even if the court did not believe she was attacked) but, as near as I can tell from the article, the court did not question her story, and has sentenced her to death anyway.

An Iranian court has sentenced a ...

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Threats to the rule of law

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

I like the way he puts it:

A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government.

Our founding fathers were adamant that they had established a government of laws and not men.

They recognized that the structure of government they had enshrined in our Constitution, our system of checks and balances, was designed with a central purpose of ensuring that it would govern ...

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The death penalty is incompatible with the liberal tradition (however that tradition is defined)

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

David Elliot, writing at Abolish the Death Penalty, points out that increasingly abundant evidence that some innocent people are on death row has made a significant impact on public opinion regarding the death penalty:

For at least the past five years and maybe a little longer, the death penalty debate, in part, has been dominated by news of the number of wrongfully convicted people who have been ...

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Where does Liberalism come from?

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Liberalism, as a written intellectual tradition, begins with John Locke in the late 1600s. The interesting thing about Locke is that he does not start his career as a liberal. Rather, like England itself, he grows more liberal over the period from 1660 to 1688. His growing appreciation of tolerance grew from witnessing the harm that intolerance did to his country. Before 1660, like many middle class ...

The Legal Defense Fund for Cory Maye

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

Ask yourself this, do you believe a man has the right to defend himself and his daughter when armed, unidentified intruders burst into his home in the middle of the night?

If you answer “yes” to that question, then you probably think Cory Maye does not deserve to be on death row. More info on the case here.

The legal defense fund for Cory Maye needs your help. Please remember what Bob ...

Please write to Cory Maye and let him know that he is not forgotten

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

I spoke with Cory Maye’s attorney, Bob Evans, today, and asked him what measures might be taken to help Cory Maye. One idea that we discussed was a letter writing campaign to Maye. Being on death row is about as awful and isolated a place as any human being can possibly be. We can offer some small measure of solace to Maye by writing to him and letting him know that he ...

Is this cute?

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

The text reads:

Cute Industries (CI) has a 27-step verification process to ensure you get not only the most adorable, but most scientifically valid Cuteness™ on the Internet. Yet despite the hundreds of highly trained Cuteologists, massive verification process, and ISO-9001 certification, sometimes we make mistakes. Today, just such a mistake occurred. A person by the name of “Kelly Harrod-Lui” submitted a picture of a mouse ostensibly caught in a toner cartridge claiming ...

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The changing tone of homophobia

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

The misogyny and homophobia directed towards lesbians is always there, but in recent years it’s been changing forms. Whereas the old complaint was that lesbians were ugly and man-haters, the new complaint is that they are not really lesbians at all, just gold-diggers trying a new trick to appear sexy.

GoogleZone: Is this what the future will look like?

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

I don’t like science fiction that takes current trends and projects them into the future, since we know how inaccurate that is. Like the weather, some variables that have invisible significance at the beginning of the time period under study eventually have great importance. History is not linear, otherwise it would be easy to predict.

However, there is place for drawing out current trends to their logical conclusion – doing so gives us ...

Bob Evans… we are with you on this

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

Written by Laura Denyes

Oversight. Just stumbled across the grand news that Bob Evans has been let go from his position as public defender for Jefferson Davis County over at The Agitator. sheesh. Occurs to me suddenly we need to direct folks there for current events on the case. So here ya go…

Roderick T. Long: knee-jerk anti-leftism discredits libertarians

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

Knee-jerk anti-leftism.. That’s what Roderick T. Long objects to in the libertarian circles in which he runs:

Does Norm mean that concerns about patriarchy, white supremacy, etc. – unlike antiwar concerns – are intrinsically tied to an anti-market agenda? If so, I deny it; on the contrary, these concerns were originally libertarian concerns, and libertarians’ alienation from such concerns, and from their “left-wing” heritage generally, throughout much of the 20th century is a ...

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ON BEHALF OF CORY MAYE

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

Written by Laura Denyes

I may not be an old-timer in the blog world, but I’m no newbie to advocating for a cause I care about’, ‘(background info on Cory Maye)

Hi, everyone. It’s me… pounding on everyone’s door again… will you sign a petition? With a legal defense fund already established, every little bit helps, and it is a simple step to state your opposition to the death sentence of Cory Maye. ...

A legal defense fund has now been established for Cory Maye

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

I’m pleased to learn that a legal defense fund has now been established for Cory Maye. Once again, we can thank Radley Balko for moving this case in the right direction. There is no guarantee that we can see Cory Maye freed from prison, but it is injust that he is in jail, and his case presents an urgent need for us to push our judicial system toward doing the right thing. ...

Divorce and marriage, in America and Japan

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

Two stories catch my eye today. One is over at Foreign Dispatches. It mentions, first, that last year Japan became the first of the advanced nations to lose population in absolute terms. The current expansion of the world’s population began around 1750, and this loss in Japan is probably the first time since then that one of the advanced nations has lost population. The decline in Japan’s population has been predicted for ...

Where is the Petition for Cory Maye? I’d like to sign it.

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

Written by Laura Denyes

Buttons to link to www.mayeisinnocent.com for case info are available below.

First. So far as I can tell clicking through Angelica’s extensive list of supporters… no one has as yet actually started a petition, however informal, on Cory Maye’s behalf (I’m still looking… correct me if I’m wrong). I don’t know the first thing about taking legal action beyond recruiting a list of like-minded individuals. That seems like the place to ...

If there has to be a Dead Man Walking… I don’t want it to be Cory Maye

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

Written by Laura Denyes

[Update 01-08-06 – thinner buttons here]

Had no intention of writing a moderately empathic message and signing off on my civic duty nestled warmly in my suburban bubble. Cory Maye needs our help. Help me keep the story alive, so we can keep Cory alive. Calling all bloggers!! We need something to keep Cory Maye on the front page while other stories cycle through. Help get the word out and ...

What is “What is Liberalism?”

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

Written by Phillip Honenberger

Lawrence and I met face to face a few days ago. In an age where electro-communications are often most convenient, it is still refreshing to meet a person in person.

I wonder exactly how much of politics still has to do with bodies: the actions of bodies, the positioning of bodies, and so on.

It leads me to wonder further about the ontological status of the web-log. I spend most of ...

Steve Kubby has a hearing Friday (Today)

[ this post was originally published on a weblog called What Is Liberalism ]

Written by Laura Denyes

Thanks for bringing it to our attention Stephen Gordon of Hammer of Truth. So far as I can tell, this guy’s being kept from what seems like fair treatment. Odd power trip in the political system keeping him from utilizing medication that has clearly proven to keep him alive. There’s a call for phone calls at Kn@ppster. That seems to be the best method ...