Sebastian

–by Sebastian    One facet of the discussion regarding the Islamic inspired attack on the gay Pulse nightclub in Orlando is the heavy political tribalism that is already shaping the narratives, particularly regarding whether it was an Islamic terrorist attack or an anti-gay hate crime. Team Blue takes the anti-gay hate crime side of the argument … Read more

–by Sebastian I don't often remember my dreams.  This morning I woke up into a dream where I was waking up in my bed.  I realized that the north and west walls in my room had transformed into a plexiglass and that there were no doors anymore.  There was some crazy straight guy yelling at … Read more

–By Sebastian Hulk Hogan's case against Gawker has caused quite a bit of consternation.1  The concerns seem to cover a few major topics: forum shopping2, the media being chilled from conducting their normal business, the size of the award, the immense costs of defending a lawsuit, the danger of having rich third parties fund lawsuits.  In case … Read more

–by Sebastian I'm attracted to the idea of the Universal Basic Income for all sorts of reasons that have been well hashed out elsewhere.  However I have a problem that I haven't seen dealt with very seriously anywhere.  It seems so obvious that I feel it should be dealt with somewhere, but I haven't seen … Read more

-by Sebastian In light of Hobby Lobby and the surprising and welcome storming of the gates by gay marriage advocates in recent years, there seems to be quite a bit of talk about the virtue of tolerance.  I'm not philosophically trained but much of it seems confused.  The proximate causes of this post are this … Read more

–by Sebastian Yesterday we were treated to yet another video of an armed officer using what appears to be excessive force against someone the officer is arresting.  (10 News )This case is murkier than some, because from the video it is still possible that the man is actually resisting arrest in some ways.  The man … Read more

–by Sebastian   The Supreme Court got it right on DOMA.  DOMA involved the federal government trampling all over one of the traditional areas of state power–definition of marriage. I'm also thrilled to have gay marriage in my home state of California.  I believe that is the best ultimate policy result, and should I ever … Read more

–by Sebastian This isn't really important, but it has bugged me for a little while and I was reminded about it when Julian Assange came back into the news recently.  Assange says that he doesn't want to go to Sweden because he is afraid that Sweden will extradite him to the United States.  The weird … Read more

–by Sebastian There has been a 'why Paul Ryan' explosion on the internet media channels.  Just about everyone is making the analysis too complicated.  There are two essential types of Vice President picks: solidify your base voters or attempt to broaden your appeal to swing voters.  A presidential campaign tends to choose which of those … Read more

–by Sebastian Over at Crooked Timber, Chris Bertram riffs off of the recent badminton game throwing scandal at the Olympics to offer support for an organizing principle of discretion by law enforcers.  There are people who devise and employ elaborate schemes to evade or avoid (I never know which is which) their taxes whilst staying … Read more