Logic is one of the most valuable self-defense arts out there, because what it does (one thing, at least) is create wiring diagrams of conversation, so that you can see what connects up and what doesn't, what verbal switch or combination of switches work to make something else work, and what breaks the circuit or is completely irrelevant ( Read more... )

"She lied! She lied to us!"
--Grand Moff Tarkin, Star Wars, (1977)This is something that I've been kicking around for a very long time, and which I suppose doesn't really need a good "hook" to tie it to, as the problem never seems to go away. We talk a lot about "empathy," defined in Webster's as "the action of understanding, being aware of, being ( Read more... )

Prologue: "I Didn't Mean To Do Any Harm"

...But that moment the little lady leaned forward into the moonlight, and Curdie caught a glimpse of her eyes, and all the laugh went out of him ( Read more... )

By a curious coincidence I have been reading The Crucible this week, for the first time - we didn't do it in any of my school English classes and I never got around to it on my own, until last week one evening walking home from the bus stop I passed a box on the sidewalk, aftermath of a yard sale, labeled FREE BOOKS. (NB: this would be a good trap ( Read more... )

The one who tells the stories rules the world.
--Hopi proverb"Intersectionality" is one of those words that, like "dynamic", can seem to be (and is sometimes used as) a meaningless buzzword, but which really does have meaning and is a useful descriptor for discussion purposes, namely of the fact that the world is not a bunch of separate unrelated ( Read more... )

[primal scream]

Okay, I know this isn't the first time I've done a riff-rant on this topic, and sure as little apples it won't be the last, but there's no time like the present they say, so here goes ( Read more... )

I have to say, I am a little surprised at all the suggestions of the Vulcan non-interference proto-Prime-Directive being posited as examples of the Ming-the-Merciful "liberating" conquest of Earth with saucers and death-rays and giant robots and powered battle armor, moving into "Destroy the planet to save it" territory ( Read more... )

(Because The Messenger's A Jerk, So It's Okay)This is a general sort of post on the multifaceted subject of How Not To Be A Tool, concerning a behavior so common and widespread that I'm not going to single anybody out with examples, because I've seen the same bloggers complaining about it being done to them turn around and do it themselves to ( Read more... )

This argument in lots of comments over the claim the Clintons and their henchers aren't REALLY racists, they're just ACTING racist in order to win the votes of "real" racists seems like the essence of Distinction Sans Difference to me. It's a bit of a triggering claim, actually; it reminds me of people I knew in college, guys mostly, who would be ( Read more... )

Towards a Grand Unified Semi-Coherent Theory of Comment Management

~being Yet Another in the siding line of posts begun a while back and delayed due to my accident~A few weeks ago I brought the banhammer down only for the second time ever (deliberately annoying people until they go away doesn't count) as my stated and default policy is to let ( Read more... )