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	<description>Political Philosophy and Applied Ethics for Regular Folks</description>
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		<title>Op Ed from Court Lewis: Is Politics the New Religion?</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2010/07/27/op-ed-from-court-lewis-is-politics-the-new-religion/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2010/07/27/op-ed-from-court-lewis-is-politics-the-new-religion/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:28:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=686</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The below is an unedited guest post from my colleague and friend, Court Lewis. &#8211;Matt&#8211;

If politics is a religion, then is it heresy to be politically active?  As  a religious and politically active person, I’ve become increasingly  disturbed by politics, political dialogue, media dialogue on politics,  and the political activities of religious [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>Supreme Court Decision Marks Death of NRA, Frees Gun Owners to Vote Democrat</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2010/06/28/supreme-court-decision-marks-death-of-nra-frees-gun-owners-to-vote-democrat/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2010/06/28/supreme-court-decision-marks-death-of-nra-frees-gun-owners-to-vote-democrat/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:19:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=653</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gun control groups like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence argued for years that the notoriously ambiguous 2nd Amendment only applied to the National Guard, leaving civilian gun owners at the mercy of state and local law. While the National Rifle Association has favored an interpretation that encompasses private citizens, they used the contested [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>Should Animals Have Rights?</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2010/03/08/should-animals-have-rights/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2010/03/08/should-animals-have-rights/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:07:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=638</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Switzerland JUST voted on a referendum to grant &#8220;domestic creatures&#8221; the right to sue in court. The vote is SO fresh (happened yesterday), even the Great Google doesn&#8217;t know the result! It&#8217;s too late to influence my Swiss readers, but what should the rest of us think?





&#8220;Treat like cases alike&#8221; is a meta-ethical principle penetrating [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>16</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ectogenesis: Abortion Debate Solved</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/11/05/ectogenesis-abortion-debate-solved/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/11/05/ectogenesis-abortion-debate-solved/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:44:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=629</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Would-be mothers sometimes have compelling interests in aborting—to keep a job or continue college or maintain a marriage. But unborn developing humans (UDHs) have great moral value—they’re potential persons, and in the later stages of pregnancy, already possess many of the features of personhood (consciousness, ability to feel pleasure &#38; pain, ability to form rudimentary [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>15</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Government Death Panels and a Duty to Die</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/08/23/government-death-panels-and-a-duty-to-die/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/08/23/government-death-panels-and-a-duty-to-die/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:56:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=617</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s health reform crunch time and the propagandists are busily at work. Increasingly louder are cries that government &#8220;death panels&#8221; will oversee end of life care, eager to pull the plug on grandma to cut costs. Advocates of a government option quickly dismiss the idea as a shameless scare tactic, something no civilized people could [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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		<title>Because Government IS the Problem&#8230; and now you have cholera</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/06/19/because-government-is-the-problem-and-now-you-have-cholera/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/06/19/because-government-is-the-problem-and-now-you-have-cholera/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:07:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=611</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Hey, I was once a libertarian, and know some VERY intelligent people who still are&#8211;so no offense to sympathizers. But here&#8217;s a cute vid on libertarian magic dust. Thanks to Monica Whitley for forwarding. 
]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>The Call to Nationalize America&#8217;s Oil Reserves</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/06/03/the-call-to-nationalize-americas-oil-reserves/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/06/03/the-call-to-nationalize-americas-oil-reserves/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:25:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=603</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Saudi Arabia did it. Venezuela did it. Heck, even Iraq did it. So why shouldn&#8217;t the US nationalize its untapped oil reserves too? Instead of letting a handful of undeserving private companies reap all those profits, why not use the money to fund healthcare, education, shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry&#8211;even to develop [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>Cigarette Ban and Government Mandated Exercise: The Implications of Universal Healthcare</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/05/18/implications-of-universal-healthcare/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/05/18/implications-of-universal-healthcare/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2009 22:05:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=570</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some people are born with heart defects, some have pianos fall on their head, and some smoke and eat their ways into an early grave. It seems unfair for people who get sick through no fault of their own to have to absorb the overwhelming costs, but it seems equally unfair to force the rest [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>17</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Too Big to Fail = Big Enough to Regulate</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/03/27/too-big-to-fail-big-enough-to-regulate/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/03/27/too-big-to-fail-big-enough-to-regulate/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:59:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=566</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“Too big to fail is the right size to regulate.” That quip from Representative Al Green, D-Texas, pretty much sums up my take on the new financial regulations suggested by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
A quick, straightforward and successful argument–if banks, megainsurance conglomerates and other entities typically supported by private funds expect to receive (or actually [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What&#8217;s the Purpose of College?</title>
		<link>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/03/21/whats-the-purpose-of-college/</link>
		<comments>http://socratesvotes.com/2009/03/21/whats-the-purpose-of-college/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:46:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Deaton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://socratesvotes.com/?p=556</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a college teacher, if I don&#8217;t understand the needs and desires of my customers, I can&#8217;t properly uphold my end of the bargain. Giving customers what they expect is a matter of professional integrity. And according to a recent conversation (thanks, Ed Gonzalez), I may not understand those expectations as well as I thought. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
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