http://bkmarcus.com/blog individualism for the masses Sat, 10 May 2008 20:05:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I was recently forwarded this 2-year-old Non Sequitur as part of an email "memorial chain" for the victims of the Holocaust. My suspicion is that this is an exercise in preaching to the choir: the recipients of this email memorial will probably say "Amen," but think nothing new and do ... http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/05/confessions-of-an-unrepentant-political-extremist "Criminals are never very amusing. It's because they're failures. Those who make real money aren't counted as criminals. This is a class distinction, not an ethical problem." – Orson Welles (1915–1985), Mr. Arkadin (1955) http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/05/because-theyre-failures Jeffrey Tucker writes:The phrase "Merchants of Death" takes center stage in the movie Iron Man, which is a spectacular exposé of a subject that dominates the American economic landscape but about which Americans have very little knowledge. The phrase and the movie deal with the odd juxtaposition of capitalism and ... http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/05/iron-man-vs-merchants-of-death I'm a big fan of highbrow Cliff Notes. For example, Kant's famous metaphysical treatise is called Critique of Pure Reason; I eventually had to read it for an upper-level course on Kant, but in 101, we read his much shorter Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics, which was, our intro professor ... http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/05/the-doctrine-of-preemptive-cruelty http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/05/the-sphere-of-economic-calculation My father, who in one of his professional incarnations was a college English instructor specializing in Shakespeare, is currently reading Conn Iggulden's Emperor series, historical fiction based on the life of Julius Caesar. He's also watching the HBO/BBC series Rome, at our enthusiastic recommendation. He wrote me today about the complexities ... http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/05/et-tu As neural told me, "Interesting (but brief) article on the history of the ampersand." http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/04/per-se-and I just learned this great quote from Dr. Mardy: "Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory." – Leonardo Da VinciIf I quote Da Vinci during a debate, am I committing the appeal to authority fallacy? http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/04/ironic-fallacy The quotemaster at qotd.org, G. Armour Van Horn (who signs his introductory comments "Van") has given some hints before of having libertarian leanings. He's suspicious of government in general, has expressed a past appreciation of Ayn Rand (with the standard disclaimers), and has a fondness for Thomas Jefferson. I've never ... http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/04/antipolitical-quotations A new picture book about plastic surgery aims to explain why mom is getting a flatter tummy and a 'prettier' nose. (via AC & Carolyn) Well, it horrifies me less than Why Mommy Is a Democrat. http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2008/04/why-mommy-just-cant-stop-smiling