Was Robin Williams the Last Comedian with the Courage and Freedom to Make Fun of Islam?

Image: Eva Rinaldi
Image: Eva Rinaldi

The Objective Standard just published my article, “The Jihad against Robin Williams Speaks Volumes.” I link to one of Williams’s comedic routines in which he makes fun of jihad. (I’m not sure of the date of the performance.) Unsurprisingly, some Muslims responded with rage, praying for Williams’s eternal torture at the hands of Allah.

The Neo-Luddites

Image: Wikimedia Commons
Image: Wikimedia Commons

The Objective Standard just published my article, “New Technologies, Same Old Fallacies,” a reaction to Jeff Elder’s article for the Wall Street Journal, “Tech Experts See Good and Bad Sides of Robots.” I write (among other things), “Elder predicts that new technologies, including advanced robotics and self-driving cars, will soon be commonplace. Undoubtedly these technologies will make some jobs obsolete, but they will also give rise to many new career opportunities.”

On Freedom of Religion and Freedom from Religion

Image: Gage Skidmore
Image: Gage Skidmore

The Objective Standard just published my article, “Government Properly Protects Freedom of Religion and Freedom from Religion.” I write, “The right to freedom from religion means that nonreligious people and people of minority religions have a moral right not to finance the propagation of religious beliefs and not to be subjected to faith-based, rights-violating laws.” For my formulation of the right to freedom of religion, see the article (with which I’m very pleased).

Welfare State Violates Rights, AEI’s Claims Notwithstanding

Image: Gage Skidmore
Image: Gage Skidmore

The Objective Standard just published my critique of the American Enterprise Institute’s position on the welfare state (at least as expressed by its president and two of its writers): “AEI Writer Invokes ‘Implicit Contract’ and other Fantasies to Excuse Government Coercion.” Whereas representatives of AEI claim the welfare state is beneficial and moral, I point out it “relies on coercive, rights-violating confiscations of wealth.”

Note on Objective Standard Posting

In the past, I’ve linked to all of my blog posts published by The Objective Standard from my personal web page. But these days TOS is publishing most of my writing, so it seems pointless use my personal page to link to everything over there. Readers are welcome to check out my catalog of posts at TOS.

I’ll still link to my print articles and possibly to some of my more notable blog posts as well.

Along these lines, recently I wrote a post about a Colorado case in which the government is seeking to force a businessman to bake a cake for a gay wedding. That article has received a fair amount of play; check it out if you haven’t already done so.

TOS Blog Update: ObamaCare, Shutdown, Food Stamps, Buckyballs, and More

Here I link to my recent blog entries for The Objective Standard. See my TOS category for a complete listing of my work for TOS.

Surprise! Construction Slows as Government Violates Rights

Can You Tell the Difference Between Modern “Art” and Toddler Art?

ObamaCare: “What the Hell Kind of Reform Is This?”

Government Shut Down and All I Got Was this Blog Post

British Scientists Achieve Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s Research

Food Stampede Illustrates Depravity of “Welfare”

“You Can Become Whomever You Want to Be”

Craig Zucker Has the Balls to Fight Government Abuse

Get Government Out of Beer

In Attacking Malala Yousafzai, Taliban Assault the Mind

ObamaCare Supporter: “I Didn’t Realize I Would Pay for It Personally”

Feds Intentionally Inflict Pain in Park Shutdowns; Solution is to Privatize Parks

Kenneth Buck Admirably Protects Rights Despite Colorado Law

Colorado “Personhood” Measure Would Outlaw All Abortions and More

Institute for Justice Wins Battles for Free Speech

TOS Blog Update: Shutdown, ObamaCare, State Technology, the Devil, and More

Here I link to my recent blog entries for The Objective Standard. See my TOS category for a complete listing of my work for TOS.

Toward a Shutdown to Celebrate

Under ObamaCare, “The Doctor Can’t See You Now”

To Find “False Religion,” E. W. Jackson Should Look in the Mirror

Tiny Tile Promises to Find Your Lost Keys or Lost Child for You

The Devil Is in the Mysticism

Ted Cruz and Atlas Shrugged Against ObamaCare

No, Mariana, There Is No (State) Santa Claus Driving Technology

IRS Targeted Groups over “Anti-Obama Rhetoric”—As Enabled by Bad Laws

TOS Blog Update: Navy Yard Massacre, Living Wage, Spock’s Ethics, and More

Here I link to my blog entries for The Objective Standard for September 8 to 19 (in reverse order). See my TOS category for a complete listing of my work for TOS.

In Response to Navy Yard Massacre, Government Should Focus Exclusively on Protecting Rights

Minimum Wage Laws: Immoral, Crippling, and Nevertheless Supported by Many

New Yorkers Deemed Criminals for (Gasp!) Serving Dinner for a Fee

Rolling Stone Smears Defenders of Fossil Fuels

Helium-Lifted Craft and Other Advances Promise Better Living and Spiritual Fuel

Jonathan Hoenig and Wayne Rogers: Regarding Syria, Americans Should Be Selfish

Spock’s Illogic: “The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few”

War on Syria is Not the Means to Credibility and Security; War on Iran Is

Obama Administration’s Foreign Policy: Intentionally Ineffective

Government Extorts Money from Ebook Publishers; You Can Refuse to Participate

TOS Blog Update: Syria, Buckyballs, Government Schools, ObamaCare, Luck, and “Buy American” Nonsense

Here I link to my recent blog entries for The Objective Standard. See my TOS category for a complete listing of my work for TOS.

August 20, 2013
Dr. Josh Umbehr Explains How to Get Quality, Economical Health Care and Undermine ObamaCare

August 24, 2013
Peter Dinklage: “I Hate that Word, ‘Lucky’”

August 26, 2013
Alex Bogusky’s Self-Sacrificial “Buy American” Nonsense

August 27, 2013
Assad’s “Moral Obscenity” Does Not Justify Obscenity of Sacrificial Military Intervention

August 29, 2013
If You Berate Parents for Sending Their Kids to Private School, You Are a Bad Person

September 1, 2013
Government Killed Buckyballs, Now Seeks to Destroy CEO, Too

My Fall TOS Contributions: Umbehr on Concierge Medicine; Reviews of Star Trek, Oz, and Killing Floor

The Objective Standard published an interview I conducted along with several of my book and film reviews in the Fall 2013 issue:

Dr. Josh Umbehr on the Concierge Medicine Revolution

Umbehr says of his type of medical practice:

Patients want this. They want better care for less money. They want better value. They want more time with their doctors. They want quality and convenience and accessibility and all the things that we’re not offering to them right now. They want their doctors to answer the phone. They want their doctors to supply their medicine. They want their doctors to sit down and spend half an hour or an hour with them and not worry about what insurance is going to pay for or not pay for.

And here are my reviews (all largely behind paywalls):

Star Trek: The Original Films

Oz the Great and Powerful

Killing Floor, by Lee Child