Redstate has just banned truthers and birthers (link from Instapundit). Can somebody explain to me why the words "truther" and "birther" keep showing up in the same sentence ( Read more... )

This has been bugging me for a long time. Several years ago as my girlfriend (at the time) and myself were about to leave her apartment for the evening. I turned off a fan as she was going out the door.

She: Leave that on!

Me: Why?

Her: Because it's hot.

Me: But we're leaving.

Her: It's still going to be hot.

Me: Yea-a-a-ah?

Her: So leave it ( Read more... )

My last post was about the dependence of meaning on the paradigm being used by the speaker. There is some possibility of conflating this view (wrongly) with subjectivism -- the view that all truth is self-constructed. Subjectivism is usually called relativism, but this is a misnomer; it confused the relative with the subjective. Facts can be both ( Read more... )

The sun does indeed move and there is no error of any kind in speaking of it that way. I don't mean that the sun likewise orbits the center of the galaxy or orbits the center of mass of the solar system, what I mean is that the sun does in fact move through the sky each day.

The statement that the sun moves isn't in any sense figurative or non- ( Read more... )

When I was younger there was a big reprinting of Edgar Rice Burroughs books. Burroughs was the author of Tarzan and several other great adventure series. I read every one that I could find. So I was amazed, amused, and yes, a bit proud to read the following from a letter by Ronald Reagan:
I, of course, read all the books that a boy that age would ( Read more... )

OK, the title should have warned you off. If you didn't read the title, go ahead and check it out before deciding if you really want to read the rest of this. I'll wait here....

Back? OK, don't say you weren't warned. So here's the deal. After the fire at my apartment building (just smoke damage in my place), I was sent off to a hotel for several ( Read more... )