tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40798142024-03-12T23:20:53.546-05:00Saturn In RetrogradeBloggers Bill Ramey and Ernest Brown spout off about philosophy, religion, culture, politics, video games, and just about anything else.Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.comBlogger171125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-59374106964097766022013-02-16T23:55:00.000-06:002013-02-16T23:55:41.021-06:00Batgirl Vol. I: The Darkest ReflectionIn 2011, DC re-booted (again) its entire line-up of comics. I'm wary of these re-boots, but when I saw that Barbara Gordon has returned to being Batgirl and that Gail Simone is writing the new Batgirl series, I decided to read Batgirl Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection, which collects issues 1-6.I knew Simone as the writer of "Double Date," one of the best episodes of Justice League Unlimited, but Bill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-7007963527022041072013-02-13T12:47:00.002-06:002013-02-13T12:47:44.636-06:00You Dumb AmericansAccording to the Guardian, the linguistic quality of presidential speeches has declined steadily in terms of reading level. In other words, they're easier to understand. Why this signals a decline, the Guardian doesn't say. I can only imagine the cries of "elitism" if our contemporary presidents delivered complex speeches amenable only to the highly-educated--and I suspect Bill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-90724575435216060432013-02-13T03:07:00.000-06:002013-02-13T03:07:02.108-06:00Is This Thing On?Wow, the last post here was in 2007, which seems a lifetime ago. Perhaps it's time to remove the mothballs and begin anew.Bill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-7391914639044800472007-09-27T22:05:00.000-05:002007-09-28T00:05:26.768-05:00
Atheism vs. Objectivism
(Richard)
"Earnest, what do you mean by your use of the concept 'God?' Are you talking about a literal conceptualizing consciousness with a will and "super powers," or are you talking about the 'moral dimension of reality,' i.e., the 'vertical axis of existence,' as some of the Eastern religions attempt to frame it?" (end quote)
God is rational and a maximally Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-80754432949673295262007-05-17T13:22:00.000-05:002007-05-17T14:17:29.575-05:00The Falwell Paradox
Jerry Falwell was supposedly a bad man because he expressed "hate" and "intolerance." But his critics have expressed more hate and intolerance in response to his death than he ever did in his entire life. No doubt they think they're justified in spewing vitriol towards a man they regard as supremely evil, but their doing so belies the notion that they represent the tolerantBill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-35959910334656756422007-05-14T20:51:00.000-05:002007-05-14T22:02:10.695-05:00Dial E for Endarkenment
With all the touhoubou about Christopher Hitchens's new book, (I've read the advanced reader's copy, it is even more purile than Dawkins or Harris, and that is saying something), I thought that I would repost a Usenet reply to an article that Billy Beck linked back in 1999 that deals with part of Hitchens's intellectual pathologies:
REASON * Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1130085520222481982005-10-23T11:38:00.000-05:002005-10-23T12:04:16.560-05:00I oppose the Miers nomination
To answer NZ Bear's query, I oppose the Miers nomination, not because I have any insane delusions about an "originalist" Associate Justice saving us from ROE V. WADE or KELO or any other statist abomination the court has thrown up, but because it is a symbol of the embrace of foul, mediocre lowering of standards which typifies the "Endarkenment" we are now going Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1129838549457220202005-10-20T14:57:00.000-05:002005-10-20T15:02:29.463-05:00The Elitism of Achievement vs. the Elitism of Association
The thing that really disturbs me about the Miers nomination is the willful embrace of know-nothing populism by her defenders like Hugh Hewitt. In calling her detractors "elitist," they conflate the "elitism" of achievement, which is good, with the really negative connotation of the term, which refers to the -elitism- of association, cf. Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1128571773795611562005-10-05T23:08:00.000-05:002005-10-05T23:13:13.166-05:00Let Slip the Hounds of Love: Kate Bush Returns
If you're a Kate Bush fan, you can hear a sample of "King of the Mountain," the first release from her upcoming double album, Aerial. The entire song is available digitally on iTunes, Walmart, Napster, et al. I nabbed it from iTunes as soon as I saw it.
It doesn't have the immediate hook of "Rubberband Girl" or "Experiment IV," but instead soundsBill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1128391814973209112005-10-03T20:41:00.000-05:002005-10-17T17:54:30.526-05:00An Unsurprising and Disgusting Choice
Hugh Hewitt maunders on about Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court and wonders why "the base" is so upset by it.
"The base" is upset because they've been busting their humps defending Bush from the charge that he's a crony-loving corporate shill only to have the Bush Baby reward them by sticking his finger down his throat and projectile Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1128232564919962552005-10-02T00:56:00.000-05:002005-10-03T10:16:16.463-05:00Missing the point
Recently, I had the following quotations from Galt's Speech brought
to my attention:
"What are the evils man acquired when he felll from
a state they consider perfection? Their myth declares that he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge--he acquired a mind and became a rational being. It was the knowledge of good and evil--he became a moral being. He was sentenced Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1127285062457299972005-09-21T01:39:00.000-05:002005-09-21T01:44:22.463-05:00Welcome Pandas and Cats!
Welcome to readers of Pandagon and The Conservative Cat. Ernie and I aren't prolific posters, but there's still plenty o' stuff to read. Enjoy the show, folks.Bill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1126590483820442242005-09-13T00:47:00.000-05:002005-09-14T12:52:39.036-05:00Hitler's Pants: a Mini-Confirmation Hearing
Senator: It's a known, indisputable fact that in World War II Hitler wore pants. I can't help but notice that you're wearing pants. What does that say about you as a candidate for Chief Justice? And may I remind you not to interrupt me while you're trying to answer my question.
Judge Roberts: But ...
Senator: You're being evasive Judge Roberts. Bill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1126312765823866392005-09-09T19:38:00.000-05:002005-09-22T00:04:29.240-05:00The "Science Marches on in My Name" Fallacy
Ernie and I aren't particularly fond of NRO writer John Derbyshire. He's supposed to be a conservative, but he's really a right-wing Social Darwinist who takes a majoritarian stance towards issues such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Of course, this label wouldn't bother him in the least, and my aim here is not to attack his views; it'sBill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1126296397821856112005-09-09T15:06:00.000-05:002005-09-09T19:43:21.750-05:00Bush Hates Black People: A Mini-Dialogue and/or Mini-Tragedy
X: Bush doesn't like black people.
Y: Really? Then why have our last two Secretaries of States been black?
X: Those aren't real black people. They're just Bush's stooges.
Y: So? Even if they are just "Bush's Stooges," that doesn't mean that they're not black.
X: No, but they're not the right kind of black people.
Y: That's whatBill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1126136489989069392005-09-07T18:41:00.000-05:002005-09-07T22:18:32.550-05:00Anne Rice: Interview with an Idiotarian
Anne Rice gets testy with America:
Why did America ask a city cherished by millions and excoriated by some, but ignored by no one, to fight for its own life for so long? That's my question.
I don't remember asking New Orleans to do this, but it's possible that I did and then forgot. I'll ask Ernie if he did. He probably did, knowing what a bad man heBill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1125725002818009852005-09-03T00:23:00.000-05:002005-09-03T00:24:33.023-05:00Jabbar Gibson vs. Kanye West
It is hard for me to stomach what is going on in this country. A lionized
punk who has become wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice in this country can't help but vomit all over it in support of murdering Morlocks at a venue designed to help victims of the Katrina tragedy.
Meanwhile, a stand-up MAN like Jabbar Gibson gets threatened with jail (!) for having the Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1125264180983488812005-08-28T16:23:00.000-05:002005-08-28T16:23:01.033-05:00Phone Etiquette, is it so hard?
If there is one thing that REALLY ticks me off, it's unsolicited phone calls. I've always hated phones, and the only reason I have one now is to get online. What really chaps me are the people who call and stubbornly insist on asking me who I am without providing Clue One as to who -they- are. I just had someone dial me up and blather on, "Is this Ernest Brown?,Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1125166587987233772005-08-27T13:16:00.000-05:002005-08-27T13:27:17.206-05:00Was Darwin a rank idiot?, or more ID idiotarianism
Glenn Reynolds approvingly links to an
Edward J. Larson op-ed in the L.A. Times. Here's the money-quote:
Intelligent design, despite its proponents' claims to the contrary, isn't modern science. It's part of that rebellion against it. Scientists look for natural explanations for natural phenomena. Their best explanations, if they survive Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1124420996658450882005-08-18T21:51:00.000-05:002005-08-18T22:09:56.666-05:00Yo Dawgs: It's Just "Diddy" Now
I've often been worried that the "P" in "P. Diddy" gets in between P. Diddy and his fans. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about that anymore:</>
Hip-hop impresario and fashion designer Sean "P. Diddy" Combs wants to make it easier for fans to shower him with adoration--so he's dropping the "P." from his stage name.
Word up.
Combs, 35, has said he wanted to "Bill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1124044208938788052005-08-14T13:09:00.000-05:002005-08-14T13:30:08.946-05:00Benighted Hypocrisy of the Left
The disgusting Cindy Sheehan spectacle that Bill references below only highlights the gross hypocrisy of the Left. They claim than the Right are "hypocrites" for not caring about her political position on the war since she is a mother, thus projecting onto their opponents the mindless undifferentiated emotionalism that the "Left" engages in in pursuit of its own Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1123802370894069372005-08-11T17:55:00.000-05:002005-08-12T01:37:49.276-05:00Dowd on Cindy Sheehan's Moral Authority
Maureen Dowd writes:
Selectively humane, Mr. Bush justified his Iraq war by stressing the 9/11 losses. He emphasized the humanity of the Iraqis who desire freedom when his W.M.D. rationale vaporized.
Note the loaded phrases "his Iraq war" and "his W.M.D. rationale." Is Dowd completely unaware that Saddam was universally thought to be a threat? That theBill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1120473946518063432005-07-04T05:45:00.000-05:002005-07-04T05:45:46.526-05:00Brian Williams Redux
Brian Williams complains that his critics have missed the point:
Today, apparently, on some radio talk shows and blogs, my friends in the media have accused me of labeling George Washington a terrorist. They apparently missed my point: That the BRITISH CROWN might have viewed American revolutionaries that way.
It's quite true that Williams never called Washington a Bill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1120228373957327202005-07-01T09:32:00.000-05:002005-07-01T09:32:53.966-05:00The One Man's Terrorist Argument
MSNBC's Brian Williams, in response to the story that Iran's new president might be one of the 1979 hostage takers, offers an iteration of the "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" cliche:
. . . several of us raised the point (I'll leave it to others to decide germaneness) that several U.S. presidents were at minimum revolutionaries, and Bill Rameyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14544337753306251246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079814.post-1115990243478565392005-05-13T08:13:00.000-05:002005-05-13T08:24:59.690-05:00Cal Thomas gets "pod-snatched"
Dear Cal Thomas,
Has a liberal pod infiltrated your mind and made some sort of weird lefty substitution?
Blogs DO have a corrective mechanism, other blogs, i.e. good, old-fashioned skepticism at work. You've been complaining for years about the vile, unchecked bigotry of the MSMer's against Christians, and rightly so. Where were the "corrective mechanisms" Ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483081149673778941noreply@blogger.com0