What are some signs that the person you are dealing with is arguing in bad faith? That is, he is not interested in the truth of the matter, only trying to assert his own position for other reasons. For background: for the past year or two, YouTuber Ross Scott has been spearheading a campaign called … Continue reading How to Identify Bad Faith Arguments
Videos
Saturday Sundry: ‘Lusitania’, ‘Dorian Gray’, and ‘Starship Troopers’
1. A YouTube channel I've discovered recently is Oceanliner Designs, which provides extremely detailed documentaries on famous ships and disasters at sea, illustrated with some very pretty animation. Of course Titanic is a regular feature, but the host also examines other famous liners, including Titanic's two sisters, Olympic (the one survivor) and Britannic (which was … Continue reading Saturday Sundry: ‘Lusitania’, ‘Dorian Gray’, and ‘Starship Troopers’
Saturday Flotsam: RIP Val Kilmer, Kingly Saintly Families, and Miscellaneous
1. RIP to Val Kilmer, who passed away this week at the age of 65 of complications from pneumonia (no doubt exacerbated by his bout with throat cancer that left him almost incapable of speech in his later years). Mr. Kilmer was one of that rare brand of 80s action-star heart-throbs who were also legitimately … Continue reading Saturday Flotsam: RIP Val Kilmer, Kingly Saintly Families, and Miscellaneous
Bowser vs. Dr. Eggman
Death Battle is a web-show pitting fictional characters against each other in death matches. It's generally pretty entertaining, though it's sometimes a little uncomfortable seeing beloved characters getting eliminated (even if it's all meant to be hypothetical). The funny part is how much effort is put into the analysis, with extensive engineering calculations trying to … Continue reading Bowser vs. Dr. Eggman
Friday Flotsam: Miscellaneous
1. I ended up missing three whole days of school this week due to my illness. I kept thinking I was coming out of it, then another symptom flared up. 2. I had happened to hear Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA recently, and I was thinking to myself "You know, Weird Al's version is … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Miscellaneous
Friday Flotsam: Thanksgiving and More 80s Movies
1. Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! 2. Yesterday was my first 'solo' Thanksgiving. My stuffing didn't turn out very well, but at least I had some turkey legs. Per tradition I opened the holiday season with a viewing of The Star Wars Holiday Special courtesy of rifftrax ("there's murder in his eyes; I like where this … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Thanksgiving and More 80s Movies
Vintage Tribute by the Decade
I found these excellent video tributes to pop culture by the decade. I would say they tend to draw too much from the same sources (e.g. the 1980s one has about ten clips each from Aliens and The Breakfast Club and not one from Nightmare on Elm Street or Return to Oz), but the editing … Continue reading Vintage Tribute by the Decade
Pilgrim’s Pass on Musashi
Fascinating video by the ever-entertaining Pilgrim's Pass about Miyamoto Musashi and the figure of the holy warrior and the potentially redemptive role of violence in society. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTqyQq09Wo4
Passing on an Appeal: Help Stop Game Destruction and Preserve Ownership
I almost never do things like this, but I think this is an exception. No, not the most important issue in the world (by a long shot), but it's one that actually has some meat. I'm not much of a gamer myself (just don't have the time right now), though I respect video games as … Continue reading Passing on an Appeal: Help Stop Game Destruction and Preserve Ownership
50 More Quotes for AFI
It's hardly definitive, but I still like the AFI '100 Years, 100 Quotes' list, especially this excellent montage someone put together of it. It's a fun sort of quick summary of film history. That said, it was definitely missing a lot of lines I would have wanted to see included. So, I decided to take … Continue reading 50 More Quotes for AFI
Serpent's Den 