Debating J.P. Holding

You heard that right. On Saturday, 9 April 2011, at 5pm, I will be debating my "nemesis" J.P. Holding on the textual reliability of the New Testament ("Do We Have What They Had?"). It is being sponsored by the Christian congregation of Pastor Cameron English and will be held at the Amador Christian Center (see their events page; right now it's a little ways down the page). For directions and more

Abortion Redux

Recently Vincent Torley (of Uncommon Descent: Serving the Intelligent Design Community) asked the 25 Most Influential Living Atheists what their underlying views were on the issue of abortion and human rights. As I unexpectedly made that list, I received his questionnaire. It was well-formulated and honest (he allows for qualifications, for instance). I found it well worthy of an answer. He

MPLS is not a "successful" protocol

RFC 5218 defines what the Internet Architecture Board considers to be a "successful" protocol. A "successful" protocol is one that meets its original goals and is widely deployed, such as DNS, BGP, SMTP, and SIP. A "wildly successful" protocol far exceeds its original goals in terms of purpose and scale. Examples of the latter are IPv4, ARP, and HTTP. A protocol may be considered successful even

Factual Politics (3)

(This is Part II of III of the conclusion to a crazy debate on political philosophy. For the back-story to what follows, jump back to Factual Politics to start the whole thread. Or click here to read Part I)
  3. The Need of Facts and Logic
Social Security
Benjamin said... See what I had to say about the inevitability of government debt and the driving force behind it. And [when it comes

Factual Politics (4)

(This is Part III of III of the conclusion to a crazy debate on political philosophy. For the back-story to what follows, jump back to Factual Politics to start the whole thread. Or click here to jump back to Part II)



6. The Social Contract:
You're Either In or Out

Benjamin said... SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY IS MYSTICISM

No it's not. It's scientific fact, fully established by game theory

Factual Politics (1)

After posting on my blog a long while ago on the question Does Free Will Matter? a bizarre anarchist going by the local moniker Benjamin replied in elaborate length denouncing the very concept of all government whatever, insisting that if we got rid of it (all of it), everyone would live happily ever after in perfect harmony. Absurd. But nevertheless. He was insistent. Delusionally, he

Factual Politics (2)

(This is Part I of III of the conclusion to a crazy debate on political philosophy. For the back-story to what follows, jump back to Factual Politics)


 1. Being Logically Challenged
What Is Politics?

Benjamin said... Politics is force.
Politics is the regulation of force. Absent government, force is unregulated, and anyone can kill or rob or hurt or intimidate anyone they please.