Author Archives: James J Heaney

The Cynic’s Guide to 2016: Unflattering Assessments of Presidential Candidates

Every time I see a presidential candidate, there’s a little voice in my head that asks, “Sure, that’s what they’re saying.  But what are they really thinking?”  This is a cynical voice, and it’s often quite wrong, but, in politics, it’s … Continue reading

Posted in Pith, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Confederate Damnatio Memoriae Continues

I have long maintained that the Confederate flag should not fly over state capitols.  It is the symbol of an enemy power, opposed to the United States.  It has no business there.  It is starting to come down in the … Continue reading

Posted in Mere Opinion | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

I Supported Affirmative Consent Before It Was Cool (and Then I Gave Up On It)

A couple years ago, I was trying to figure out how best to deal with rape cases.  Rape is simultaneously one of the worst crimes that can be perpetrated against an individual and one of the hardest to punish or … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Law, Mere Opinion | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The President Should Be Impeached For Suspending the Employer Mandate

I wrote a version of this post on reddit about nearly two years ago.  I finally got sick of digging out the link, so I am finally getting it up on De Civ. BACKGROUND On July 2, 2013, Assistant Secretary of … Continue reading

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Civil Marriage Is Dead (& It Deserved To Die)

The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes being corrected. Even when the revolutionist might himself repent … Continue reading

Posted in Declarations, Marriage | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

5 Hacks for Identifying Legit (or not) News Sources

A friend asks, “How do I know what news sources are legit?  Like, ThinkProgress, for example?  Do they suck?  I know many sites, but I have no idea which ones are regarded as actually having good information.” This is a … Continue reading

Posted in Mere Opinion, Politics | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Net Neutrality: A Sorta-Technical Overview

This is the text of a talk I recently gave at the monthly meeting of Twin Cities Catholic I.T. Professionals, Inc..  It is aimed at computer professionals who want to get a deeper understanding of net neutrality, and goes into … Continue reading

Posted in Analysis, Law, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Translations of Some Church Documents, #1

I am Catholic, and I care a lot about the intricacies of Catholic teaching, so, from time to time, I am forced to look up very old, not very prominent Church documents, from papal allocutions to Decrees of the Holy … Continue reading

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