The Podium

It's been fun

2009-04-23T12:11:00.003-05:00

Well folks, the real world and a real career has caught up to me.

I will be leaving Iowa to take a job at an Ohio law firm. It's been a lot of fun sparring. Having been called a Republican jackass in the same 30-day span as being called a yellow-bellied liberal, I figure I touched everyone in some way.

My two last points:

1. The Iowa Mock Trial team finished in a tie for second place at the National Championship Tournament. Ravi Narayan and Kathryn Beary earned All-American honors. The Hawkeyes were 4 points away from being undefeated.

Those with a little school pride should know that a judge, from Des Moines, was surprised to learn that the University of Iowa "could hang" with the University of California-Berkeley. Hang we did; in fact, we took both ballots.

Since 1998 the University of Iowa Mock Trial team has qualified for the National Championship Tournament. Since 1999 we have finished in the top 15 (7 in the top 5) and won back-to-back national championships in 2002 & 2003.

Despite our success the team struggles for funding and recognition on campus. Unlike Debate we have no permanent practice facility; yet, every year we are a national championship contender. Interested students should check out the UIMT Web site.

Congrats to all of the hardworking students!

This year's case was named in memory of Brooke Walton, a former UI student killed by a drunk driver.

2. I will be moving back to:

http://midnightsprint.blogspot.com for those that are interested in talking about law, the war on terror, or anything else that comes to mind.

Thanks.
neal

It's Time To Get Perverted

2009-04-07T17:05:00.003-05:00

My new blog, Perverted Minority, is now fully functional. Come check it out. Here's the tagline, which explains the name:

Right-wing culture warriors are the real perverted minority. They doth protest too much against gays, recreational drug users, and other alleged degenerates. Having no regard for privacy or basic decency, they obsess voyeuristically over other people's personal lives to such an extent that they barely seem able to think about anything else.

I do still have a weekly column every Friday in the Daily Iowan. So please continue to read that as well. But this is my final posting here, so over and out.

Blog Delayed, Marriage Decision Imminent

2009-04-02T20:21:00.005-05:00

It's taking a bit longer than I expected to get the new site up because the Iowa Supreme Court will be ruling on gay marriage tomorrow. Of course, that's what I wrote my column about for tomorrow. And I'll be busy organizing and writing about whatever happens tomorrow. So please bear with me regarding the new blog.

In any case, if you live in Iowa, you should attend your local pro-marriage equality rally tomorrow evening. Check out the LGBT rights organization OneIowa's website for details. The one in Iowa City is on the Pentacrest, at the corner of Clinton St. and Iowa Ave. at 5:30 pm. Gay, straight, or none of the above? It doesn't matter. Be there!

Finally, if you're not doing so already, start following @PervMinority on Twitter.

Christopher Patton Has A New Blog

2009-04-01T13:36:00.003-05:00

Due to concerns about editorial control and intellectual property rights, I will no longer be blogging here at the Podium. Instead, I'm launching a new blog called "Perverted Minority." That site should be up and running later today. Click here to check it out.

Exactly What Bad Drivers Deserve

2009-03-30T15:15:00.004-05:00

Perhaps the best xkcd comic ever (click image to enlarge):

If anyone were able to actually go around Iowa City doing this to people who don't know how to park, I think they'd deserve a medal.

Good Discussion Of Marijuana On CNBC

2009-03-30T15:02:00.005-05:00

(Via Radley Balko.)

It's great to see this issue being treated seriously in the mainstream media.

So, all of you prohibitionists, are the experts who advocate for legalization in this CNBC segment just a bunch of pot heads trying to justify their vice?

Religion + Politics = Global Disaster

2009-03-30T14:07:00.005-05:00

(Via Andrew Sullivan.)

This is nothing short of insane. Anyone who asserts that we need not be concerned about human-caused CO2 emissions because only God will decide when the world ends has no place on a local school board let alone in the legislature of the most powerful nation on earth.

Sadly, this is just one more incident proving that the GOP base is not reality-based. These people don't care at all about empirical reality. And that's worse than ridiculous--it's terrifying.

Update:

Another example of the base not being reality based: Wired has a great article detailing the ridiculousness of the anti-science crusaders attempting to hijack the Texas educational system.

Science Saturday: Just A Theory

2009-03-28T17:15:00.002-05:00

(http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/18623)

Topics covered:

A sad fate for out-of-work science writers... John oddly cheered by news about prostate exams... George’s sleepover at the Vatican Observatory... The postmodern flavor of Galileo’s persecutors... Ancient violence and the fear of being eaten... Why John’s hoping for the end of war...

Science, Philosophy, And The Mind

2009-03-28T16:53:00.004-05:00

From Andrew Sullivan:

Philosopher Alva Noe:
Imagine that we find the Holy Grail of neurobiology, the patterns of neural activation that correlate perfectly with different events in our mental lives. We would still never understand or make sense of why those correlations exist. There is no intrinsic relationship between the experience and the neural substrates of the experience. We always need to look at what factors bring the two together. The environment, other people, our needs and desires -- all these things exist outside the brain and have to be seen as essential parts of our selves and consciousness. So we aren't just our brains, we're not locked inside our craniums; we extend beyond our skulls, beyond our skin, into the world we occupy.

This doesn't strike me as even mildly profound. In fact, it seems to be nothing but pointless hand-waving.

Of course one must take the stimuli we get from the outside world into account when delivering a full account of the physical processes that underlie consciousness. And so what? That doesn't mean we can't make sense of how our minds work. Why would it? Such an observation is no refutation of even the most hardcore physicalist reductionism, just a useful reminder that such a project involves more matter than what is contained within any individual human skull. At the risk of being excessively flippant: Duh.

Armed with nothing better than this kind of argument, I have difficulty imagining how much of the traditional philosophy of mind won't come crashing down as empirical science continues to expand its explanatory power regarding the functionality of the human brain/mind.

Homosexuality, Christianity, And Society

2009-03-27T17:21:00.004-05:00

From Andrew Sullivan:

I went through this myself - being gay and Christian and struggling to reconcile the two. It is never easy, but the voices of gay Christians, especially the young, are changing the world and the church in ways that, in my view, Jesus would embrace and rejoice in. Here's a trailer from an upcoming DVD you can buy here, "Through My Eyes." Even those orthodox Christians who refuse to compromise on Biblical literalism would, I think, benefit from listening to the experiences and testimony of the people they are actually talking about:

I also suggest reading Sullivan's excellent post today about the irrational fear that the far-right has regarding the mainstream acceptance of homosexuality.

On a much lighter note, check out this exploration of how patrons in a sports bar react to a gay couple:

(Via Joe. My. God.)

"Obama: Yup, We're At War In Pakistan"

2009-03-27T17:08:00.003-05:00

Wired's Danger Room blog reports:

Perhaps you were wondering whether or not the U.S. was really at war in Pakistan, as well as Afghanistan. Well, President Obama just put those questions to rest.

With everyone from Hillary Clinton to Robert Gates to General David Petraeus at his side, Obama announced this morning "a comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan." Not Afghanistan, with an occasional cross-border drone strike. Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Continue reading.

I highly recommend reading Danger Room on a regular basis. The writers there provide some of the best reporting on military issues that I've ever found.

Papa Obama Knows Best

2009-03-27T11:42:00.002-05:00

It’s a good thing we have President Obama leading this country. Without his enlightened guidance, ordinary little people such as ourselves would likely wander blindly, unsure of what path our lives should take.

But because we have Obama’s noble example to follow, we all know exactly what we should do.

To start with, school is important. As the president has said, dropping out of high school isn’t just a bad decision because it limits one’s options later in life. If people don’t live up to their maximal educational potential, they’re letting everyone down. And if one doesn’t live up to society’s expectations, how can one ever hope to have a fulfilling life?

Though studying the liberal arts or sciences at a four-year college isn’t for everyone, those who can excel at such pursuits are obligated to do so. An education isn’t just a way to expand one’s horizons and increase one’s earning potential. It’s a way to increase productivity.

Being maximally productive is key not because it allows a person to accumulate wealth that can be spent in the pursuit of happiness but because it benefits the whole community.

If a sharp-witted young woman is capable of success in law school, she possesses the ability to become a civil-rights attorney, a law professor, a legislator, or even president. In all of those positions such a person would be empowered to help those in need. Living as a public servant, she could attain the highest virtue, which is serving one’s fellow human beings.

And we all know that because Obama tells us so.

As he continually stressed during his campaign, the president knows in his heart that we are our brothers and sisters’ keepers. Logically, since we are obligated to provide for our fellow men and women, failing to choose the career that adds the most value to the economy is wrong.

For example, if our hypothetical young woman chooses to become a writer instead of a lawyer, she won’t be able to provide nearly as much practical assistance to her community.

If rather than studying political science and law, such a person were to study creative writing, she’d be unable to become a civil-rights attorney or law professor and far less likely to be in a position to even consider running for elected office. Especially if she never becomes a particularly popular author in her lifetime, such a woman would never produce as much tangible wealth for society through her labors. Perhaps working a simple service job to pay her minimal living expenses, our selfish writer wouldn’t end up paying nearly as much in taxes to her local, state, and federal governments. And without this much-needed tax revenue, those who, like Obama, have done the right thing and chosen to live the ideal life of public servitude won’t be able to help society as much as they could have if our hypothetical young woman had done her duty and worked herself into a higher tax bracket.

One may object that the young woman’s own satisfaction with her life would be greater if she were to live as she sees fit, but that would be missing the point.

The motivation to succeed ought not come merely from the desire to fulfill one’s own dreams. That’s just crass. As Obama has shown us, simply supporting oneself and refraining from harming others is not enough. Each and every one of us also has the moral obligation to serve the interests of humanity at large. And the best way to do that is unquestionably to be as much like the president as possible.

After all, reflecting on history, who is it who has done the world the most good? Is it service-minded politicians like Obama or self-serving writers, inventors, and entrepreneurs who strike out on their own individual paths and live by their own unique standards?

It’s not even a close contest.

(Cross-posted at the Daily Iowan's main site.)

Obama Is A Paradigmatic Political Hack

2009-03-26T15:29:00.003-05:00

The president clearly knows better than this:

All that the marijuana question's popularity says about the people who voted for it is that they actually know how to think clearly and independently about drug policy. This is in contrast to Obama who, though he has to be aware that the prohibition of marijuana is even sillier than the prohibition of alcohol, is still willing to parrot the conventional wisdom to maintain the support of the ignorant. And that's not change I can believe in.

So welcome to my long list of political hacks, Mr. President. You're just the latest addition to a long and ignoble list.

Love In The Time Of Commenters

2009-03-25T16:32:00.000-05:00

Topics covered:

Ann gets engaged to one of her blog’s commenters... Is the internet full of shy, lonely men?... Are women always in it for the man’s money?... Ann accuses Obama of excessive frivolity... Should we be more freaked out about the economy?... Reviving the Althouse vs. BhTV commenter rivalry...

The Big Picture: Mexico's Drug War

2009-03-25T15:06:00.003-05:00

This is the main result of the US and Mexican governments' war on drugs (click image to enlarge):

Go to the Big Picture section on the Boston Globe's site for the whole photo slide show.

Stay Informed With DI Twitter Accounts

2009-03-25T14:11:00.002-05:00

Are you a news junkie? Do you love finding out the latest breaking information as soon as it goes public? Or are you just interested in following a particularly obscure topic that doesn’t get mentioned often in your area newspapers or TV news broadcasts?

If you answered affirmatively to any of the above questions, there’s an increasingly popular online communications service you should check out. It’s called Twitter. And it’s free and simple to use.
Those who like getting the most up-to-date information from their local media sources have plenty of options on Twitter, even in eastern Iowa. The Daily Iowan, the Gazette, the Iowa Independent, and the Little Village all post information and links to full stories on their accounts. Numerous other regional, national, and global news outlets have accounts as well.

Here at the DI, we maintain several Twitter accounts. Our Metro section’s account, which can be found at Twitter.com/TheDailyIowan, sends out breaking news alerts as well as headlines from and links to top stories from the daily paper. Offering a more interactive and personable online presence, we also have an account at Twitter.com/DrDaily. But if you’re looking for updates that are more outspoken and provocative, then Twitter.com/DIOpinions is for you. There you’ll find links to a wide variety of sites with information related to some of the most frequently discussed topics on the Opinions page. Finally, Daily Iowan TV also maintains a presence on the service at Twitter.com/DailyIowanTV.

But what makes Twitter unique?

Perhaps the most initially confusing aspect of this service is that it limits users’ updates to 140 characters (letters, numbers, and symbols) each. That’s only two or three sentences and it severely limits the amount of information that a single Twitter message, also called a Tweet, can convey. But that’s part of the point. Twitter updates keep people informed in real time. The most important thing is getting the headline out there as fast as possible. But one can also include links in the updates that allow people to click through to read the whole story.

However, the main reason behind limiting Twitter updates to 140 characters is that Twitter is designed to integrate with one’s cell phone. After a person has signed up for an account at Twitter.com, he or she can then go to the settings menu and follow simple instructions to link that account with a particular cell-phone number. Having done this, one can then receive updates from users of one’s choosing as text messages. And it’s also possible to send texts from one’s own cell phone that then post as updates on one’s Twitter page. This way, people no longer have to either be working on a computer or have a mobile Internet device with them in order to remain aware of what’s going on in the world.

Twitter also has many other interesting uses and features, but most of them are better discovered online than described in print. So start up an account, and give it a try. It’s a whole new way to interact with your news outlets of choice — and give us feedback, both negative and positive.

Compelling Pro-Marriage Equality Testimony

2009-03-24T17:10:00.005-05:00

(Via Slog.)

How can anyone with a conscience say no to that kid? No wonder the Vermont State Senate passed the marriage equality bill by such a commanding margin.

Update:

Commenter Peggy writes:

Little James Neiley is a total pawn.

I agree with Yasmin Nair's take on this whole debacle.

My response:

Were 17-year-old black kids who took part in activism against Segregation in the 1960's pawns, too?

Have you ever even thought about what your view on this issue would be if you were gay?

I wish I had been half as brave as him when I was 17. I didn't even feel comfortable starting to come out until I was 21.

Peggy:

Save your comparisons to racism. Not even in the same league.

Nieley may be sincere but he's sincerely wrong.

He's going to spend the rest of his life proving himself above and beyond what is necessary - now that's stress!

Me:

Again I ask, have you ever even thought about what your view on this issue would be if you were gay?

Peggy:

What would your view be if therapy had been made available to you as a young man and you were able to re-orient your sexual attraction?

I can't promote anything that presents a danger to one's physical health.

Me:

First, mainstream medical science views such "therapy" as a hoax. There's no good research supporting it. About the only thing that's been determined from such studies is that being in an environment that is hostile to one's sexual orientation substantially increases the risk of teen suicide.

Second, my sexual behavior is no more dangerous than that of most of my heterosexual friends. I have never had sexual intercourse without a condom and am not promiscuous. Plenty of my straight male friends have more sex and are less likely to use protection than I am.

Finally, I'm happy with who I am. Even if given some hypothetical opportunity to become heterosexual, I would decline it.

But Scalia Really Is A Homophobe

2009-03-24T16:06:00.007-05:00

Fox News is slamming Barney Frank for calling Scalia a homophobe:

(Via Towleroad.)

But here's Scalia in his own words, as written in well-known dissenting opinions. I'll allow him to speak for himself.

Romer v. Evans:

The Court's opinion contains grim, disapproving hints that Coloradans have been guilty of "animus" or "animosity" toward homosexuality, as though that has been established as Unamerican. Of course it is our moral heritage that one should not hate any human being or class of human beings. But I had thought that one could consider certain conduct reprehensible--murder, for example, or polygamy, or cruelty to animals--and could exhibit even "animus" toward such conduct.

Lawrence v. Texas:

Today’s opinion is the product of a Court, which is the product of a law-profession culture, that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda, by which I mean the agenda promoted by some homosexual activists directed at eliminating the moral opprobrium that has traditionally attached to homosexual conduct.

...

One of the most revealing statements in today’s opinion is the Court’s grim warning that the criminalization of homosexual conduct is “an invitation to subject homosexual persons to discrimination both in the public and in the private spheres.” It is clear from this that the Court has taken sides in the culture war, departing from its role of assuring, as neutral observer, that the democratic rules of engagement are observed. Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children’s schools, or as boarders in their home. They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive. The Court views it as “discrimination” which it is the function of our judgments to deter.

Scalia is clearly saying that "murder, for example, or polygamy, or cruelty to animals" are morally equivalent to adult, consensual homosexual conduct. That is a paradigmatic example of homophobia. Equating being gay with murder or cruelty to animals is just so absurd that those who do must be motivated by either ignorance or hate.

Progressives Are Less Hackish Than Conservatives

2009-03-24T15:51:00.004-05:00

Glenn Greenwald writes:

One of the linchpins of the Bush presidency, especially during the first term (and well into the second, until he became a major political liability), was the lock-step uncritical reverence – often bordering on cult-like glorification – which the “conservative” movement devoted to the "Commander-in-Chief." An entire creepy cottage industry arose – led not by fringe elements but by right-wing opinion-making leaders – with cringe-inducing products paying homage to Bush as "The First Great Leader of the 21st Century" (John Podhoretz); our "Rebel-in-Chief" (Fred Barnes); "The Right Man" (David Frum); the New Reagan (Jonah Goldberg); "a man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius" who is our "Big Brother" (John Hinderaker); and "the triumph of the seemingly average American man," the supremely "responsible" leader who, when there's a fire, will "help direct the rig to the right house and count the kids coming out and say, 'Where's Sally'?" (Peggy Noonan).

...

Whenever I would speak at events over the last couple of years and criticize the Bush administration’s expansions of government power, extreme secrecy and other forms of corruption, one of the most frequent questions I would be asked was whether "the Left" -- meaning liberals and progressives -- would continue to embrace these principles with a Democrat in the White House, or whether they would instead replicate the behavior of the Right and uncritically support whatever the Democratic President decided. Though I could only speculate, I always answered -- because I believed -- that the events of the last eight years had so powerfully demonstrated and ingrained the dangers of uncritical support for political leaders that most liberals would be critical of and oppositional to a Democratic President when that President undertook actions in tension with progressive views.

Two months into Obama’s presidency, one can clearly conclude that this is true.

Continue reading.

If only we libertarians could ever get one of our own in the White House, I'm pretty confident we'd be even more critical of her or him than most liberals have been of Obama.

"Guantanamo State Of Mind"

2009-03-23T22:35:00.003-05:00

Jacob Sullum writes for Reason:

In January 2002, the Pentagon began imprisoning men it described as “very hard cases”—“the worst of the worst” terrorists in American custody—at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During the next seven years it released more than 500 of them. “What’s left,” Vice President Dick Cheney declared in the final week of the Bush administration, “is the hard core.” That was a few days before the Pentagon released half a dozen more.

Unless the Bush administration recklessly loosed hundreds of hardened terrorists on the world, its initial descriptions of the detainees were mistaken. That pattern of error reinforces the argument against allowing the executive branch to wield the unchallengeable authority it asserted at Guantanamo.

As President Obama proceeds with his plan to close the prison, he should recognize that Guantanamo is not so much a place as a state of mind. It’s an attitude that says: We know who the bad guys are, and we’re not about to let anyone endanger national security by second-guessing us.

Continue reading.

Super-kites To Tap High-altitude Wind

2009-03-23T19:23:00.001-05:00

(http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/492)

Juan Enriquez Explains The Biology Revolution

2009-03-23T18:01:00.001-05:00

Juan Enriquez Explains The Biology Revolution At TED 2009 from singularityhub on Vimeo.

(Via Singularity Hub.)

F.H. Buckley On "Libertarian Paternalism"

2009-03-23T17:12:00.003-05:00

From Reason:

Reason.tv caught up with F.H. Buckley of George Mason University to discuss his new book, Fair Governance: The Enforcement of Morals, and the appointment of "libertarian paternalist" Cass Sunstein as regulations czar in President Obama's administration.

Can certain rules make us more free? If opt-out rights are great, why not expand them? Are we becoming too risk-averse as a society? Is "libertarian paternalism" a dangerous oxymoron? Watch now for answers.

(http://reason.tv/video/show/711.html)

Law Professors Discuss The Politics Of Emergencies

2009-03-23T16:24:00.002-05:00

(http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/18503)

Topics covered:

Executive power in a time of emergency... Can the president change reality?... Obama’s political Ponzi scheme... Secrecy in the Obama administration... Jack vs. Eric: Should we fear the modern presidency?... Imagining an executive branch 2.0...

Portia DiRossi Apologizes For Being Married

2009-03-22T15:23:00.001-05:00

(Via Fark.)