This & That, Ceci et Cela

Random but fascinating factoid and interesting nugget of history... "Passer Payez", a painting by Louis-Leopold Boilly, ca. 1803: At that time, most of the streets of Paris were not in all that great a shape, and many of them would become muddy morasses after a good rain, so that some entreprenurial lower-class Parisians would provide themselves with a long plank that ...

All these recent improper arguments caused me to dig up old college notes on Fallacies of Arguments. Although I try not to, I'm probably not exempt from perpetrating one of these once in a while... [From the bk 'Critical Reasoning, Understanding and Criticizing Arguments and Theories' (J. Cederblom and D.W. Paulsen) via Brimstone] What is a Fallacy? A Fallacy is an argument that is flawed by its very ...

Someone remarked that it was amazing to hear how many people think that it is only the wives'/girlfriends' business/problem when a man is cheating on her. I.e. Shouldn't we hold people responsible for their actions because their actions are wrong even when they are hurting someone other than ourselves? And I am always amazed to hear how others want to blur the boundaries between a person's public responsibility and ...

Brit journalist goes undercover as new cop and uncovers things like surprise, surprise, racism and prejudice are still alive and kicking strong. Reporter Mark Daly faces criminal charges over his move to infiltrate recruits as part of the work to assess whether institutional racism still exists within police ranks.  He claims to have recorded racist comments made, including one officer saying he would kill an Asian ...

On Californian gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger's apology to all those women he alleged harassed sexually: I doubt sincerity has anything to do with it.  He apologized because he had to; possibly incriminating evidence that wouldn't go away and also to stop accusations from gaining unruly momentum.  Surely, at least one woman along the way must have told him off but it apparently didn't stop it.  A most ...

Apparently depends on who is reporting and what the subject matter is. Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's speech at a Muslim summit incited controversy due to remarks about Jews. Based on the BBC report, it appeared that he was rallying Muslims use their brains and brawn to fight Jews because "they rule the world by proxy",etc. My immediate reaction had been to ...

Sometimes what is most annoying is not the opposing subject/viewpoint, but the flawed method of argument or presentation; e.g. people not arguing properly because they do not present/focus on facts and refuse to see the other side. I mean, how can we truly ascertain the shape of an orange if we cannot see the other side? Reminds me of a talk I attended given by Wole Soyinka (Nigerian Nobel ...

Two women have lost their High Court battle to use their frozen embryos against the will of their former partners. WTF? They honestly didn't think the guys should have a say in whether they could be forced to become fathers against their will? How would the women like it if the situation was reversed and they could be forced to become pregnant against their will? ...