Popehat

A Group Complaint about Law, Liberty, and Leisure

Clark's Farewell To Popehat

by

A few years ago Ken and Patrick invited me to write at Popehat because we shared a commitment to defending free speech and other virtues of the Enlightenment. While that's still true, it's become clear that our tactics and audiences differ and it makes sense for me to excuse myself from Ken's living room and […]

The Current Refugee Crisis

by

translator's preface: rephrasing the following into early 21st century English is, to understate things slightly, a challenge. To even explain why it's a challenge would, likewise be a challenge. How does one explain the polyseme in vocabulary terms that existed in the 21st century? One might as well attempt to translate the 21st century word […]

Top Seven Things I Like About Internet Shame Mobs

by

7) Initial news reports are always completely accurate, so we know we've got the right guy. 6) Initial news reports are always full of nuance, so we know that we understand the situation and can distinguish sarcasm from seriousness, and being nearby from being the active participant. 5) Internet shame mobs weigh the evidence carefully […]

Gamer Gate vs Anti Gamer Gate A Civil Discussion on Inclusiveness

by

Like the Keynes Hayek rap…except @clarkhat and @freebsdgirl. Coming to a http://t.co/zoLKFmpfLY near you. https://t.co/CEUR49w08q — ClarkHat (@ClarkHat) June 19, 2015 Consider this post a teaser trailer. Randi Harper, author of a Gamer Gate block bot and I will be debating discussing the thesis "are the virtues of an open society / inclusiveness / debate best […]

Mad Max: Actually, It's About Ethics In Truck Driving

by

(note: nearly zero spoilers. perhaps actually zero.) The three genres of the Mad Max trilogy The interesting thing about the original Mad Max trilogy is that each movie belongs to an entirely separate genre. Mad Max is a 1970s biker film, Road Warrior is a western, and Thunderdome is NFL half-time show. In world-building, yes, […]

The Ken vs Vox Day Slap Fight

by

My wrong prediction The other day my friend Ken asked me (and the other Popehat contributors) for feedback on his idea of blogging about his depression. He specifically wondered if various folks on the net would attack him for it. I'm not a personal friend of Vox's, but I am an acquaintance (I have roughly […]

The Upward Surge of Mankind

by

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're not here to indulge in fantasy, but in political and economic reality. America, America has become a second-rate power. Its trade deficit and its fiscal deficit are at nightmare proportions. Now, in the days of the Founders, there was accountability to the citizen. The Jeffersons, the Washingtons, the men that […]

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

by

I'd like to thank Ezra Klein for his excellent work in creating a Readers' Digest version (1 November) of my post (21 October) and podcast (31 October) explaining the tribalistic aspects of Gamer Gate. It did a great job of simplifying the details for the lower IQ audience over at Vox, and my thesis didn't […]

Clark on the Ace of Spades Podcast

by

I've been reading Ace of Spades since way back in the early days of the blogosphere, so it was a thrill to be invited on the podcast last night to talk about the blue, pink, red, and gray teams, about #GamerGate, about John Scalzi and Vox Day fighting for the heart of science fiction, about […]