Freespace

Smoky side up

Dgm had a close call with the San Diego fires.

I admit I don't know anything about football...

..but is this how it's really supposed to be played?

Shame on CNN (again)

This story purports to advise you on how to hire a qualified ghost-hunter. You know, as opposed to those ghost-hunters that are quacks and frauds?

If you have creepy sounds or other indicia of spookery, you’re supposed to first “rule out the natural causes,” you see, and then “get in touch with a legitimate ghost researcher [sic].” How can you tell a “legitimate” ghost researcher from, you know, someone who believes in pseudoscientific balderdash? Well, you should “avoid ghost hunters who dabble in magic, the occult, or offer ‘magical cleansings’ of homes.” Except that ghosts are “magic” and “occult.” You might as well look for basketball players who don’t play sports.

Also, “find out if he’s affiliated with a research group or a national organization, such as the American Ghost Society. Being affiliated with a group with a good reputation can help you make a better decision about allowing him into your home.” Yes, that’s the same American Ghost Society that proudly proclaims its history of “psychical research,” and offers a $65 “home study course” in ghost “research,” as well as books featuring the long-discredited “Brown Lady” ghost photo.

Oh, and you should make sure that “the investigators know how to use their equipment.” You know, like their EMF detectors that go off all the time because of the electrical wiring in your house. And, “if there is anything you don’t understand, ask them to explain. If they can’t, you may have a problem.” Definitely, because every con artist should have a pat bullshit explanation ready at any moment.

And don’t be afraid, because This Old House editor Keith Pandolfi, why, he knows what he’s talking about: “Let me assure you, though, that ghosts are not present to hurt anyone and in almost every case, a family can peacefully coincide with a spirit.” That’s a relief. Keith has a bachelor’s degree in English, and I’m sure he knows how to use an EMF detector. That, of course, does make him just as much an expert on the “paranormal” as any other “investigator.”

One expects this kind of baseless crap from CNN’s foreign or Washington D.C. bureaus. But in their “living” section?

Update: More at the Rogue's Gallery.

From the Commonplace Book

“The law of England, and all laws, hold these degrees of injury to the person, slander, battery, maim, and death; and if there be extraordinary circumstances of despite and contumely, as in case of libels and bastinadoes and the like, this Court taketh them in hand, and punisheth them exemplarly. But for this apprehension of a disgrace, that a fillip to the person should be a mortal would to the reputation, it were good that men did harken unto the sayong of Consalvo, the great and famous commander, that was wont to say, a gentleman’s honour should be de tela crassiore, of a good strong warp or web, that every little thing should not catch in it; when as now it seems they are but of cobweb-lawn or such light stuff, which certainly is weakness, and not true greatness of mind, but like a sick man’s body that is so tender that it feels everything.”

-Francis Bacon, quoted in Daniel R. Coquillette, Francis Bacon 169 (1992).

How not to be mugged in Japan

Use your dress to disguise yourself as a soda machine.

(HT: Erik Peterson)

More on jihad denial

Jeffrey Imm has another excellent post at Counterterrorism Blog following up on his earlier post on jihad denial. Excerpt:

America's concern is with Pakistan fighting "terrorists." How successful is such a tactic going to be when a meaningful portion of Pakistan supports political Islamism? How meaningful will the results of Pakistan's "war on terror" be when we have no policy on the growth of Islamism in that nation? If Pakistanis have to choose between Islamism and an alliance with the United States, what is their decision likely to be?

Similar issues could be raised with U.S. "ally" Saudi Arabia, where the majority of the 9/11 attackers came from, or various other Islamist nations with which the U.S. has friendly relations.

Moreover, our ally, the United Kingdom, has reported that over half of its mosques are run by Deobandi Islamists. As the London Times has reported, Deobandi "Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani argues that Muslims should live peacefully in countries such as Britain, where they have the freedom to practice Islam, only until they gain enough power to engage in battle." This is the same UK where its citizens have attempted three mass-casualty terrorist attacks on the United States homeland.

If America is to fight global Jihad, how can it not have a policy on Islamism itself, and how does that align our diplomatic, trade, and economic support for such nations? Certainly, American diplomats have no desire to offend such nations, especially those nations where the U.S. has significant trade and financial reliance. But the idea that fence-sitting on Islamism will allow us to "fight terrorists" and still retain such relationships will only continue to undermine our very national security concerns that were awakened by the 9/11 attacks themselves.

As Muslim Dr. Zuhdi Jasser suggests, if America does not stand up to Islamists, how will it win this war...?

In a free world, principles matter. And in a free world, facing up to anti-freedom ideologies proves the courage of our convictions. The question remains, will Americans have the courage of their convictions to face up to the ideology of Islamism?

No doubt, some big-hearted liberal will be quick to call Imm a "racist" for this.

Law And Irrational Beliefs

Prof. Somin has a post at VC about Stamvosky v. Ackley, which happens to be the first case I was ever assigned in law school, and a case that continues to bother me to this day. The dispute involved the purchase of a “haunted” house: the buyers complained that its “haunted” status had not been disclosed to them, and therefore that they’d been injured. The court agreed.

Amusing, yes, but the case involves a serious problem: to what degree should courts address the alleged injuries arising from people’s irrational subjective beliefs? Suppose my neighbor puts a voodoo curse on me, and sure enough, the next day, I break my leg. Should I be able to sue him for battery?

Cats in the morning

How true it is...

(HT: Amber Taylor)

Kay Nolte Smith’s novels

I’ve had a lot of time to read during my recent travels and recently finished a few novels by Kay Nolte Smith: The Watcher, Elegy for A Soprano, and Mindspell. Smith was part of Ayn Rand’s circle and wrote aesthetic commentaries for The Objectivist, and her fiction writing is very heavily influenced by Rand. Many of the sentences are an almost eerie imitation of Rand’s style. Of course Smith was excommunicated like everyone else, and certainly is persona non grata for using Rand as the model for the murder victim in Elegy for A Soprano. But her writing is touched in places with brilliance, and although I’ve never been a fan of murder mysteries, hers are intriguing and often very intelligent.

"Nostalgia Fascists"

Pablo's a bit worked up, but I like the term "nostalgia fascists" for people who dream of a changeless world (something I talked about here). The problem is that all fascists are nostalgia fascists, since fascism and nostalgia are deeply interrelated.