Archive for the ‘Essays’ Category
Posted on October 16, 2007 - by Aaron Ross Powell
The Locally Owned Business Fallacy
William Gibson had a new novel out. Because he’s one of a very short list of authors whose works I make a point of buying as soon as they’re released and because he was doing a reading at a bookstore in town that weekend, I forwent my usual Amazon purchase and turned to the […]
Posted on December 9, 2006 - by Aaron Ross Powell
The Evils of Disability Advocates
Wrongful birth and life suits, in the context of disabilities, are brought when a doctor’s negligence causes a child to be born with disabilities. The plaintiff seeks damages for the resulting increase in hardship and financial burden over the course of the child’s life.
Disability rights advocates often oppose these suits on the ground that […]
Posted on October 13, 2006 - by Aaron Ross Powell
Why Techcrunch is Wrong About Paid For Blog Posts
The influential Web 2.0 news site Techcrunch has been on a campaign as of late against the evils of bloggers being paid by companies to talk about products.
The business model they’re concerned with is exemplified by PayPerPost, a relatively new startup that brokers deals between bloggers and companies looking to promote products. As a […]
Posted on July 18, 2006 - by Aaron Ross Powell
Stem Cells, Rationality, and Unicorns
The stem cell debate is raging in the Senate, Bush is threatening to veto, and the future of rationality is dangerously close to the chopping block. Once again, America is allowing unjustified superstition to impede potentially stunning scientific progress.
On the one hand, there’s a scientific community convinced embryonic stem cells hold the key to […]
Posted on May 31, 2006 - by Aaron Ross Powell
Clarifying the Abortion Debate
My last article about abortion created some controversy, most of it unnecessary. That’s the thing about the abortion debate: the parties of pro-choice and pro-life — and all the others not confined by this artificial binary — talk past each other, rarely hitting on the same — and crucial — foundational beliefs. What […]
Posted on May 5, 2006 - by Aaron Ross Powell
Abortion Protests: Missing the Point
Some issues aren’t easy. Abortion is one of them. But, as is often the case, the sides stoop to worthless hyperbole without so much as a batted eyelash. I recall seeing a photo once of a protester at an abortion rights march. The banner the young woman was holding up read: […]
Posted on May 4, 2006 - by Aaron Ross Powell
How to Dismiss Intelligent Design
Christopher Hitchens once said, when speaking of religion, “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” This simple statement gives us all we need to safely ignore the silliness of intelligent design.
Whether one thinks it is good evidence or bad, one cannot deny that there is evidence for evolution. […]
Posted on April 25, 2006 - by Aaron Ross Powell
It’s Okay To Kill: A Libertarian Argument for the Death Penalty
For those of us who believe in limited government and the fallibility of human certainty, the death penalty can pose quite a problem. Is it ever okay to kill someone because of his own criminal actions? I confess to being torn about the morally proper answer to this question. Even if I […]
Posted on April 23, 2006 - by Aaron Ross Powell
Intelligent Design’s Logical Fallacies
The many articles on Newsvine regarding creationism and intelligent design have sparked a good deal of comments from proponents of those views, several expressing the same tired arguments for why creationism ought to be afforded time in science classrooms across the country. Primarily, they argue that, because the evidence for evolution isn’t convincing (to […]
Posted on January 31, 2006 - by Aaron Ross Powell
How Gay Marriage Is Like Rock And Roll
Civil unions are like the prizes they hand out at the very end of an elementary school contest of skill. All the winners get books, crayons, or other cool trinkets and then the teacher says, “Because all the rest of you did such good jobs, I’ve got packets of Pop Rocks for everyone.” […]
