Author: Sandy Smith

Crazy

/ Sandy Smith / 1 Comment

Global warming keeps getting chilly…it snowed in April…in Washington, DC. I know up north this is no big deal, but it’s pretty unusual here.

Snowy Audi
Snowy Bushes

Wherein the Libertarian Stands Up for Scolds

/ Sandy Smith / 2 Comments

Let’s just get to the summary of this article:

Asian-American leaders are calling on a weekly newspaper to apologize and cut ties with a writer who penned a column titled “Why I Hate Blacks.”

In the piece, which appeared in the February 23 edition of San Francisco-based AsianWeek, contributor Kenneth Eng lists reasons why he supports discrimination against blacks, writing, among other things, “I would argue that blacks are weak-willed. They are the only race that has been enslaved for 300 years.”

An official at the nationally circulated paper apologized and called the column’s publication a mistake.

Yowza. It’s 2007. Yes, it’s within Eng’s rights to say it, but it’s also within my rights to tell the Asian-American leaders protesting the piece that it is right and proper to hold the newspaper accountable for printing such garbage.

Apparently this is “Sandy the libertarian informs people why they could afford to be a bit more liberal” week.

Eric Meyer came out against diversity not as opposition to artificial quotas, but lamely saying that there wasn’t anything he could do in finding non-white-males to speak at his conferences given that non-white-males aren’t well known. That it is a self-fulfilling prophecy seemed to escape him–I guess it’s all the book publishers’ faults.

Also, while the state shouldn’t be snatching kids because bad parents have let them get a little porky, a 218-pound 8-year-old is not “a little porky.” The kid can’t walk five minutes without vomiting or becoming completely winded. And he weighs more than me. And he’s eight. Pace extreme libertarians, I don’t think eight years old is quite advanced enough for taking sole responsibility for his own actions.

Go Be a Dodo in the District

/ Sandy Smith / 1 Comment

Passing along a note sent to me yesterday from Jason:

I’m sending this message to let you know about something cool that’s going to be happening this Thursday night, and to invite you to be a part of it!

As you may or may not know, today is Charles Darwin’s birthday. To mark the occasion, my friend Randy Olson is going to be having the DC premiere of his new documentary, “Flock of Dodos,” this week — Thursday night, to be precise. “Dodos” is a funny and insightful exploration of the “intelligent design” movement, and the failure of mainstream science to effectively rebut it. Randy’s personal cause is to help scientists communicate their work in plain English to the rest of us, so this isn’t your standard “evolution true, ID false” screed; it challenges both ID advocates (for misleading the public) and evolution advocates (for failing to reach the public effectively). If you’re interested in evolution specifically, or science in general, you will enjoy this movie. I’ve seen it and I believe it deserves a wider audience, which is why I’m letting you know about this opportunity.

Here are a couple of reviews of “Flock of Dodos”, if you want more information:

The premiere is happening this Thursday, February 15, at 8:00 PM at the Avalon Theater in DC. Tickets are $12 each, and there will be a Q&A with Randy after the film. This is the only DC showing currently scheduled, so if you’re interested in seeing this film, now’s your chance. Tickets can be purchased at the box office, or via the Avalon web site.