FactsPlusLogic
A Careful Look at Issues
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ATOMImprobable Events Happen Regularly
“Look at that! Things like that don’t just happen. There must be something behind it, and I’ll tell you what it is.” This type of argument is called the Argument from Incredulity. This type of argument may be valid for provoking a further look, but it is never conclusive. Often a further look reveals fundamental errors in supposing just how unlikely the event actual is.
Christmas as a Festival of Ideology
The important difference between Christmas in Japan and Christmas here in the United States is that in Japan they are allowed to call Christmas trees Christmas trees whereas here we have to call them holiday trees, or some such nonsense. Christmas is both a religious holiday and a secular holiday. That shouldn’t be a problem, but due to odd concepts of political correctness currently in vogue it has become one.
Colmes Departs Hannity and Colmes
What I want from news commentary are ideas, either new facts or new ways of looking at facts that explain why events unfolded as they did. Hannity and Colmes succeeds at doing that through the guests they have on the show. Neither host contributes as much as they could to the process. Hannity is too often a preacher delivering a limited number of canned sermons. Colmes listens to what guests have to say and responds to it, but often fails to advance the subject by analyzing what was said.
Environmentalism is a Religion
There is nothing wrong with wanting clean air and clean water. The environmental movement has moved well beyond those reasonable goals to become a religion that demands irrational behavior to please unnamed, but clearly assumed, gods of nature. It’s time to sort out the unfounded religious beliefs and recognize them for what they are.
By torturing coach class passengers, airlines are able to sell wildly overpriced first class seats to people who have the money to afford escape. This is not a good situation. One possibility is for government to require minimum levels of service, for which airlines may compete with their pricing of fares. However, before leaping to regulation of that sort, let’s try just requiring disclosure of the level of service. Customers will know what they are buying at what price. Seat space is the most important thing being sold, so that ought to be the first thing disclosed.
