Daily HotShots!

In this season when the political stakes are so high, when the republic's fate hangs by a thread ... when clichés rule the day, it helps to know there’re people out there really dealing with these issues.

Two Texts: An Election Eve Meditation The intersection of morality and politics has never seemed so relevant. Kant comes in handy in dissecting the mess the US finds itself in. And you thought philosophers just did circle jerks.


FRAME GAME A knock-em-out, string-em-up academic debate that has caused many college freshmen heart palpitations of political revelation. I note the mention of Pocock and Skinner--serious philosopher-historians whose work is worth a 1,000 Lakoffs, Chomskys or Pinkers.

Between Hope and Terror: Derrida and Habermas Plead for the Im/Possible Those old Europeans have centuries of terror in the blood. Is it possible to imagine the impossible and hope?

The Language Game of Responsible Agency and the Problem of Free Will Okay, the Wittgensteinian jargon might sound cute, but everyone wants to know about free will, right?

Neocon/Theocon Ruminations Theocon Richard Neuhaus on some background of the neocon/theocon alliance and the bad blood with the liberal press.

Liberal Realpolitik Covers Islamism and the biases and propaganda of how nuclear politics is formulated.

BOOK REVIEW: Annihilation from Within You might not like the conclusions, but the subject--again--is important. Didn't they used to tell us in high school history class about causes of wars in the past being the proliferation of weaponry? Well, this is a variation on that theme, except here the weapons are biological, nuclear, etc. Anyway, when the history of this era is written, I really do believe that a major discussion will be the exponential growth in weapons available to huge numbers of people with any and every possible political grievance. That sounds almost reactionary doesn’t it, especially since there might be people with just grievances who will want to resort to violence. The disaster of these weapons came home to me once gain when I watched The Constant Gardener this morning. BTW Here's an article that shows I'm not just making this up.

moral-order.pdf -- morality and capitalism I know it almost makes you want to do that George Carlin imitation about oxymorons—you know, like military intelligence (oh, that’s what John Kerry was doing…).

It Depends on What the Definition of "Victory" Is One of the subjects that needs to get out of the brains of specialisis and into the public sphere in terms that non-specialists can understand is how communication experts manipulate the news for political purposes. This link gives a n inkling insight into how that’s done. Contrary to the view expressed by Mojo, I don’t think it’s a matter of those in power not thinking that we can’t handle the truth but rather a matter of just good old lying and deception.

James Petras' New Book - The Power Of Israel In The United States Any book on this subject will be attacked as anti-Semitic as a matter of course. There is the danger of this subject buying into that ugly and shameful bias. Yet, that fear should not forestall undertaking a common-sense, fact-based analysis of political exploitation of those fears.

Baptist Convention told: Muslims 'are here to take over our country' They are.

Richard Dawkins on South Park The guy’s made plenty of cash enlightening us dull bulbs about religion’s delusion, so South Park returns the favor.

Paradise Now - A Review I doubt you'll see this film at your local playhouse, but if you see it in the bargain bin, you might have a look-see.

Culture Corner: Disparate Posts on Pasolini's Porcile -- The writer's religious, affects some fin de siecle dandyism that's redolent of Huysmans but he writes really well 1, 2, 3, 4