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Index for this page...(Be aware some links below may have expired.)
All The Following Items Were Posted On May 1, 2006 1. Plato (427-347 B.C.) Ancient Greek philosopher
Read about Plato in The Radical Academy. 2. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) French existentialist philosopher
Read about Jean-Paul Sartre in The Radical Academy. 3. Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German physicist and philosopher
Read about Albert Einstein in The Radical Academy. 4. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) Ancient Greek philosopher
Read about Aristotle in The Radical Academy. 5. Josiah Royce (1855-1916) American Idealist philosopher
Read about Josiah Royce in The Radical Academy. 6. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) English naturalist philosopher
Read about Charles Darwin in The Radical Academy. 7. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) French rationalist philosopher
Read about Blaise Pascal in The Radical Academy. 8. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) French existentialist philosopher
Read about Jean-Paul Sartre in The Radical Academy. 9. Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German physicist and philosopher
Read about Albert Einstein in The Radical Academy. 10. Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945) Recent German philosopher
Read about Ernst Cassirer in The Radical Academy.
FOR THE RECORD 1. Director Jason Reitman - Thank You For Deciding For Yourself Jason Reitman won't tell you not to smoke. He thinks it's your business if you do. Not his. And certainly not the government's. Spoken like a true libertarian! And that's exactly what Reitman, who directed the satiric new movie, Thank You For Smoking, says he is. He told the Toronto Eye Weekly (March 23): "I consider myself a fairly libertarian person; someone who doesn't like being told what to do. I don't have a problem with people smoking -- it's their right." He told the Arizona Republic (March 24): "As a libertarian, I don't like government control. People should be left to their own devices. If people want to put a gun to their head and kill themselves, that's fine with me, and if they want to do it slowly by smoking cigarettes, that's their choice, too." Freedom of choice is one of the major themes of Thank You For Smoking, which is about a charmingly amoral tobacco industry "spin doctor." Played by Aaron Eckhart, the PR flack encourages school children to "think for yourselves" about cigarettes and earnestly explains that Big Tobacco wants to keep cancer victims alive so they can smoke more. But the movie doesn't actually advocate smoking. As Reitman told the Philadelphia Inquirer (March 24), "The movie is about freedom. But beyond freedom, it's about personal responsibility -- and beyond that it's about parenting. That you can't simply tell your kids not to be smokers. You have to teach them to be good, independent thinkers so that one day they can make the right decisions." Based on the 1994 novel by Christopher Buckley, Thank You For Smoking also stars Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, Sam Elliot, William H. Macy, and Robert Duvall. Critics have called it "breezy and entertaining," "one of the year's hottest indie breakouts," and "a sharp, irreverent satire." The movie opened in limited release on March 17. Reitman, a Canadian citizen, has a Hollywood pedigree; he's the son of Ivan Reitman, who directed Animal House and Ghostbusters. Reitman studied English at the University of Southern California, got his first short movie into the Sundance film festival at age 19, and directed commercials for Burger King, Wal-Mart, and Buick. Thank You For Smoking is his first feature film. Sources:
2. 2006 Pig Book: $29 Billion In Waste Oink! Oink! The 2006 Pig Book is here! The Pig Book is published annually by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. It's a compilation of thousands of pork- barrel projects in the federal budget. Pork is generally defined as local projects that are inserted into large federal spending bills without a hearing. It amounts to a sort of legal vote- buying. Incumbent Congress members dole out federal dollars to buy local goodwill -- and votes -- for themselves. This year's Pig Book, released just last week, is a stunner. It identifies a whopping 9,963 pork projects for fiscal 2006. Worse: the total cost is a record $29 billion, or 6.2 percent more than last year's total of $27.3 billion. Highlights -- or rather, lowlights -- include:
Many of the projects funded by pork spending are worthy, of course. But they're hardly legitimate expenditures for the federal government, particularly in a time of budget crisis, soaring deficits and war. Some would argue there is no Constitutional authority for such federal spending under any circumstances. Just how much is the federal government wasting in this manner? CAGW has identified an incredible $241 billion of pork since 1991. "Pork-barrel spending illustrates and contributes to the meltdown of spending restraint in Washington," CAGW President Tom Schatz said. "Instead of averting an impending fiscal crisis, members of Congress are grabbing the spoils to support their own re-election." Source: Citizens Against Government Waste 3. Good News! Loads of Coffee OK For The Heart Heavy, long-term coffee drinking does not appear to raise the risk of heart disease for most people, according to a large new study. The study, which involved analyzing health and dietary records from 128,000 men and women, showed that drinking filtered coffee - not espresso or French-style brews - did not raise the risk of heart disease. "We believe this study clearly shows there is no association between filtered coffee consumption and coronary heart disease," said Dr. Esther Lopez-Garcia, of the School of Medicine at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain, who worked on the study. The researchers found more than half the women and 30 percent of men who drank six or more cups of coffee a day were also more likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and use aspirin, and were less likely to drink tea, exercise or take vitamin supplements. But once these factors were accounted for, there was no difference in heart attack risks between the very light and heavy coffee drinkers. "This lack of effect is good news, because coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world," said Dr. Lopez-Garcia. The study appears in the journal Circulation. Source: NewsMax.com They're down there: The government has opened a new front on the War on Drugs -- in the sewers. According to the Washington Post (March 27), the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is now testing sewage from several cities in Virginia for "urinary byproducts of cocaine." The tests will reportedly allow the government to determine what percentage of the population indulges in illicit drugs. Source. Big government exposed: Aaron Russo hopes to premier a new documentary, America: From Freedom to Fascism, at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The movie exposes the IRS and the "growing authoritarianism" in American life. Previously, Russo produced Hollywood blockbusters like The Rose and Trading Places. Source. 2006 Muzzle Awards: President Bush and the Justice Department are among the "winners" of the 2006 Jefferson Muzzle awards, given by the non-profit Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression to the worst First Amendment violators of the year. Bush won First Place for authorizing the National Security Agency to tap the phones of U.S. citizens. The Justice Department won Second Place for its demand that Google turn over thousands of personal internet records, a move the Center feels could throttle online freedom of expression. Other winners: the Department of Homeland Security for stopping an air marshal from expressing concerns about public safety; the Yelm, Wash., City Council for banning the words "Wal-Mart" and "big-box stores" at public hearings; and University of Connecticut students who heckled rightwing columnist Ann Coulter. Source. "Now those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth, and let me remind you they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyranny." -- Barry Goldwater (1909-1998), Conservative Republican, U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953-1965, 1969-87), Republican candidate for president in 1964. He was criticized in 1964 as a radical reactionary, yet he energized a conservative grass roots movement which sixteen years later helped to nominate and elect Ronald Reagan. After 1981, however, he took libertarian positions and harshly criticized the influence of the Christian Right on the Republican Party. [Note: Some of the above items are courtesy of Bill Winter, editor of The Liberator Online, published by Advocates for Self-Government]
COUNSELING CORNER: The Problem With Learning English If you ever feel stupid, then just read on. If you've learned to speak fluent English, you must be a genius! This little treatise on the lovely language we share is only for the brave. Pursue at your leisure, English lovers. Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:
If you didn't have any problem correctly pronouncing all the words within the proper context, then relax. You don't need any counseling.
A LITTLE OF THIS & A LITTLE OF THAT A Little Wisdom: "Do not try to solve all life's problems at once -- learn to dread each day as it comes." -- Donald Kaul A Little Advice: "Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret." -- Ambrose Bierce A Little Question: What if there were no hypothetical questions? A Little Put-Down: "She got her good looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon." -- Groucho Marx A Little Proverb: It's a great satisfaction knowing that for a brief point in time you made a difference. A Little Reflection: To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it. A Little Observation: "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." -- Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice President regarding pollution. A Little Quote: "You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you." -- Eric Hoffer A Little Definition: Antonym - The opposite of the word you're trying to think of. A Little Quip: Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else. A Little Natural Law: Law of Highway Biology - "The first bug to hit a clean windshield lands directly in front of your eyes."
Some interesting & provocative articles on other websites: Contract approach to moral philosophy discussed: A professor of philosophy who has extensively researched ethical and political theory and applied ethics will visit Western Michigan University next week to discuss the contractarian approach to moral philosophy. Jefferson had it right on religion, by Walter Jenny Jr.: Jefferson was a key player in divorcing the church from the state. Before the Revolutionary War, the Anglican Church received financial support from taxpayers. Jefferson led the campaign to end the practice, contending "to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Immigration Quotas vs. Individual Rights: The Moral and Practical Case for Open Immigration, by Harry Binswanger: This is a defense of phasing-in open immigration into the United States. Entry into the U.S. should ultimately be free for any foreigner, with the exception of criminals, would-be terrorists, and those carrying infectious diseases. Without exception, by Lady Liberty: If we continue to "interpret" that which is obvious so that it suits our immediate needs, we'll have no freedoms at all except those that the government chooses to grant us (which is sadly and all too rapidly becoming the case). Sure, there will be reversals like "stand your ground" laws or legislation that curbs eminent domain now and then just to lull us into a false sense of liberty. But those exceptions will eventually prove the rule, and the entirety of the Bill of Rights will no longer be any such thing. America Bows to Islam, by Onkar Ghate: We must vociferously demand that our government declare publicly that, from this day forward, it will defend by force any American who receives death threats for criticizing Islam--or religion--or any other idea. We must demand that the government protect the stores and employees of Borders, of Waldenbooks, and of any other organization that reprints the cartoons. Leo Strauss and History - The Philosopher as Conspirator, by Claes G. Ryn: Those wishing to understand political and intellectual developments in today's America do well to familiarize themselves with the German-American political theorist Leo Strauss (1899-1973), who was a professor at the University of Chicago. Strauss's influence extends far beyond academia, where it has been a major force for a generation. Thank You for Smoking, by Peter Brimelow (nonsmoker, but tolerant): The hangperson's noose is unmistakably around the tobacco industry's neck. In Florida and Mississippi, state governments are attempting to force tobacco companies to pay some smoking-related health care costs. In Washington, D.C., the Environmental Protection Agency has claimed that "secondhand smoke" is a significant risk for nonsmokers and the Food & Drug Administration is making noises about regulating nicotine as a drug. Sticks, stones and hate speech - The case of a schoolboy prosecuted for calling a playmate 'Paki' has shown up the childish streak in Britain's speech laws, by Josie Appleton: The 10-year-old boy in Manchester, England, charged with a racially aggravated public order offence for calling a schoolmate 'Paki' was just being a typical nasty child. Boredom could be good for children, by Riazat Butt: It was Friedrich Nietzsche who wrote "Against boredom the gods themselves fight in vain". Although the musings of the German philosopher will certainly be lost on the millions of schoolchildren over the Easter holiday, their parents can find comfort in his words as they struggle to keep their kids entertained for a fortnight. Zero-tolerance policy for schools blasted in report as overreaching: Thousands of students statewide are being funneled into the juvenile justice system for offenses that should be handled at the local level, a report concluded. The creation of a phantom enemy, by David Perks: It is the scientific establishment's own self-doubt that lies at the root of the furore over creationism. Marijuana prohibition doesn't work, by Debra J. Saunders: In an age when so many politicians pander to popular opinion, why is it impossible to imagine Washington restoring so much as an ounce of sanity to the so-called war on drugs? Greed is good, by John Stossel: Greed gets people to cooperate. If you want to benefit from other greedy people, you have to make sure they benefit from you. Consider one of the wonders of our age, the supermarket. There are thousands of products on the shelves. How'd they get there? Encroachment of the Nanny State, by Lisa Fabrizio: Having first dispatched with the notion of private property rights with a "me-too" smoking ban two years ago, followed up by the lollapalooza Kelo v. New London eminent domain case, my home state of Connecticut has upped the ante to new heights of socialist nanny-statism. It took all of three hours for state representatives to pass a bill that, if the State Senate concurs, could send adults to jail for up to a year for serving alcohol on their property to those under 21 years of age. Religion and the Left - Why the Religious Left isn't the Answer, by John Kelley: There is a large movement in the Democratic Party to put on a religious sack cloth in order to fight the religious right. It is wrong, misguided and will yield the wrong result even if successful.
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