Author Archives: skepticlawyer

I’m sorry, Big Brother is objectively crap

May 16, 2008 – 6:35 am

Kim over at LP is engaged in an interesting but - in my view - ultimately fruitless discussion of the relative merits of Big Brother. Unfortunately, this is by the by. Big Brother may be socially illuminating, an interesting commentary on class, a reflection of broader Australian cultural trends, etc. I do not quibble with [...]

Posted in Popular culture | Comments (9)

‘We’ve all come to look for America…’

May 15, 2008 – 8:08 am

As I mentioned over at Catallaxy, I’m one of those erstwhile lefties who decided that I didn’t want to visit the USA as a callow youth, and then - despite my politics shifting as time passed - I never got around to it. Last week’s conference was my first visit, and wasn’t the best introduction, [...]

Posted in Events, Popular culture | Comments (3)

Tyler Cowen’s ‘libertarian heresies’

May 10, 2008 – 9:03 pm

Tyler Cowen gave last night’s keynote address at the Institute for Humane Studies Fellows’ Research Colloquium, and in it he revealed a selection of five ‘libertarian heresies’. Three of them particularly struck me.
First, he made a cogent case for the idea that we (in the developed world, at least) are freer now than we were [...]

Posted in Economics, Law | Comments (15)

Welcome ter dis ere blawg…

May 8, 2008 – 6:27 am

Well, not strictly a ‘blawg’, but distinctly lawyerly. Do take the time to look around. Enjoy

Posted in General | Comments (6)

So, what does ‘progressive fusionism’ look like?

May 8, 2008 – 4:33 am

This piece had its origins in a pair of posts written by Don Arthur over at Club Troppo, and followed up by Andrew Norton, Andrew Leigh, Will Wilkinson and Backroom Girl. The idea that libertarians and ‘progressives’ could hammer out some of their differences and reach a compromise far more workable than that between [...]

Posted in Economics, Law, Philosophy, Politics | Comments (14)

Breaking the Habit…

May 3, 2008 – 7:06 am

I’ve been impressed with the imagery that rap/metal group Linkin Park wheel out for their music videos, and making a choice for a YouTube selection is very difficult. I finally settled on the anime-inspired Breaking the Habit, which was created by the artists who did the animated sequences in the first Kill Bill. Yes, it’s [...]

Posted in General, Music | Comments (0)

Oxford weirdnesses

May 2, 2008 – 11:46 pm

I’ve seen some pretty strange stuff in my life. No doubt, too, there are perfectly normal things that I think strange because, ahem, I’m pretty strange.
Anyhoo, that’s by-the-by.
The hot-penny-chucking ritual I witnessed yesterday was right up there on teh weirds list. A mate of mine suggested the RSPCA would be on your case if you [...]

Posted in Society | Comments (0)

The Devil went down to Georgia

May 2, 2008 – 9:53 am

I’ve always liked the classic fiddling number, The Devil went down to Georgia - made famous by the Charlie Daniels Band and covered by just about everyone else in country music. This version by alt metal band Primus really takes the biscuit, though, in part through some very clever animation.

Posted in Popular culture | Comments (1)

Guest post by Sinclair Davidson - Kevin Rudd, 20/20 and Tony Blair

April 20, 2008 – 10:16 pm

Sinclair very kindly left this in the comments, and it’s so timely I thought it deserved a post of its own. I’m watching this process from Blairland utterly aghast, even though a week after Rudd was elected I could ‘detect the Blair’ and was warning accordingly. Blair’s nanny-statism is slowly collapsing in on him, but [...]

Posted in Politics, Public Policy | Comments (73)

‘It’s all downhill from here…’

April 20, 2008 – 12:09 pm

The Oxford Union has moved on from political and historical wingnuts.
This time, they’ve invited an actor convicted of downloading child pornography. Chris Langham:
[W]ill talk to students on 27 May about his conviction and his “vilification” in the media, union president Ben Tansey said.
He said Langham had been invited because he was a respected figure [...]

Posted in Law | Comments (13)