IntenseDebate - BlackSun

12 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - Confessions of a Refor... · 0 replies · +5 points

What is a latent right? It certainly doesn't help anyone if it cannot be expressed. The custody of minor children is a good example of how the law trumps a supposed latent human right of free association. And the custody rules are written not just for the parents or children, but also to protect the state from having a bunch of abandoned children to take care of. Also, many rights conflict, (private property vs. public right-of-way or interest, etc.) and it is up to the law to resolve those conflicts.

I'm not saying the outcome is always just, but as soon as people begin to interact, they lose some "rights" which they might have if they lived on a planet by themselves. The very concept of rights can therefore only be defined relative to the rights of others.

12 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - Mark Prophet, The Man ... · 0 replies · +1 points

Hi Bob, best wishes to you. Sean

12 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - Confessions of a Refor... · 2 replies · +5 points

Correct. That is because actual rights are only granted by either mutual consent or by governmental authority. The principle that we believe a human being should have inalienable rights exists. But in practice the rights themselves do not, unless defended by force or threat of use of force.

12 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - Right-Wing Texas Appla... · 1 reply · +6 points

I seriously wish it was only a few misguided young people who felt this way.

13 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - Can We Drill Our Way T... · 0 replies · +4 points

Futures contracts are merely a way for the collective intelligence of the market to translate into hard pricing data. They don't in and of themselves raise prices.

If people did not believe there was a long-term fundamental tightness in world oil supplies, futures contracts would not be higher.

13 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - The Pseudo Science of ... · 0 replies · +2 points

Ned, that's not "proof," it's personal experience. Which is notoriously fallible. We tend to see what we want to see--otherwise known as "confirmation bias." As to your second point, how can one person's words of prayer be a "benefit" and another's be labeled "tyranny?" That doesn't even make sense. In the marketplace of ideas, all words are fair game. I'm taking issue with deceptive claims for the efficacy of prayer. The burden of proof is on the claimant. And it will take much more to shoulder that burden than personal testimonials or wishful thinking.

13 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - Full Sean Prophet KULR... · 0 replies · +5 points

Hey Kirsten, of course I remember you! Great to hear from you. I'll send you a more detailed reply by email...

13 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - Late-Stage Climate Den... · 0 replies · +5 points

The incentives are still set up all wrong for renewables. If you want a market based solution, you have to ensure users of fossil energy are paying the full externalized costs. If that were the case, no one would need to be concerned about saving the planet. (Since fossil fuels are vastly more expensive--estimates of up to $900 per ton of Carbon pollution). And it's not the planet we should be concerned about, it's ourselves. By encouraging the headlong rush to deplete natural capital over the past two centuries, we've set ourselves up for an unprecedented resource crisis. This is a recipe for severe economic stagnation and even potential violence.

13 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - We Expect Christians t... · 0 replies · +6 points

More shaming and war-drumming from the feminatheist police. And a little "get in line" medicine for the girls who don't agree. Backed and linked by PZ Myers, of course:
http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/becau...

13 years ago @ Black Sun Journal - At... - We Expect Christians t... · 0 replies · +1 points

Angel. Yes it does. Thanks for your reasoned comments.

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