Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Pajamas Linkfest

Here are a few interesting links from Pajamas Media, a collocation of bloggers. They tend towards libertarianism, but my interest in the stories below are not primarily political.

-- NASA’s ‘Shuttlyndra’ a Massive Waste of Tax Dollars by Rand Simburg who also blogs at Transterrestrial Musings.

-- Literary B-Sides: Five of the Most Under-Rated Books from Famous Authors

-- The Sicko Side of the Sci-Fi Circuit. I'd never heard any of this before, but I've never been to a SF convention.

-- Islam's History of Forced Conversions. Interesting, but purely anecdotal. He sees parallels between a recent event and an event from several hundred years ago. He needs to point to more than two examples in 500 years to make his case.

-- No More Harems: The Hidden History of Muslim and Ex-Muslim Feminism. Inspiring.

-- Hey Lady Gaga, Kids Have a Time-Tested Answer for Bullies: Punch Them in the Mouth. Fairly self-explanatory.

-- Deconstructing Mad Men’s Title Sequence. I watched some of the first season, but it didn't do anything for me. The title sequence, however, is haunting.

5 comments:

Ilíon said...

"He needs to point to more than two examples in 500 years to make his case."

Really? Are you a fool? Do I need to stop reading your blog because I don't want to waste my time with fools?

Jim S. said...

Well, you could I guess. Perhaps you're equating my skepticism about his methodology to skepticism about his general thesis? Of course I don't deny that Islam has made its way in the world primarily through warfare and forced conversion of those conquered.

As I side note, in order to develop philosophical acumen I had to sacrifice a significant amount of brain matter otherwise devoted to common sense. This results in my being a moron about many things.

Ilíon said...

I didn't ask if you are stupid; I asked if you are intellectually dishonest. In the context, I was asking whether you were willing (for whatever reason you might have chosen) to lie about the history and nature of Islam.

"Of course I don't deny that Islam has made its way in the world primarily through warfare and forced conversion of those conquered."

Since you will state the obvious truth, I can continue to read your thoughts ... even if your statement that prompted my question, and its attempted justification, is essentially pointless.

Ilíon said...

... for, after all, when dealing with the things humans choose to do in furtherance of an ideology, what other methodology is there but to look at the things they do in light of the ideology?

Jim S. said...

Well, I don't think my comment is pointless. I'm saying his argument does not establish his conclusion. That's a relevant and valuable point. I agree with his conclusion and do not want to see it promulgated by weak arguments.