My continued apologies to anyone looking forward to upcoming alpha posts — I assure you, they’re coming. The next one, the 3-posts-in-one from the weekend retreat, is nearly finished! Sadly, technical difficulties are preventing me from finishing. (I’ll be looking for a public WiFi tonight, though.) So, stay tuned; they’re coming!
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Don’t confuse human ability with miracles.
(Update: As usual, Roger Ebert does a far better job discussing the issue; and, he has person experience with it.) As I write this, the last of the Chilean miners, trapped underground for more than two months, has been rescued successfully! I can’t even imagine the trials they must have faced, and the joy and [...]
READ MORE »Atheist Meme of the Day: Atheism is not nihilistic
Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy! Atheism is not nihilistic, cynical, or despairing. Most atheists experience great meaning and joy in our lives, and are passionate about engaging with the world and making it a better place. [...]
READ MORE »Atheist Meme of the Day: Beliefs should be verified
If you care whether the things you believe are true, you need to ask whether those beliefs can be confirmed or verified. And that includes religion. Religion is not a subjective experience that’s true for some people and not others — it’s a hypothesis about the external, non-subjective world. Pass it on: if we say [...]
READ MORE »Offshore drilling–a forgotten yet most important reminder.
Alex Palazzo has a brief blog post with pretty charts letting us know how next to inconsequential opening up offshore drilling would be to U.S. gas prices and economy (although it would be a huge boon to the oil lobbyists working in the McCain campaign and the oil companies they lobby for) Let’s talk about [...]
READ MORE »What would Jesus do as CEO?
A few days ago, in the post “The right to persecute” I made a follow-up comment regarding how at a Promise Keeper’s rally nearly every speaker (and comedian even…everyone except the musicians) exclaimed to enthusiastic approval that atheists are ruining the country and must be eradicated, likewise feminists and socialists. And, being a somewhat newly [...]
READ MORE »Science education vs. proud ignorance.
I was having an imaginary conversation with myself yesterday, debating the question of why not allow people to have their misguided pseudo-scientific beliefs. I was thinking about it in context of things like ghost-whispering psychics, and wheat grass juice, and Airborne supplements, etc. Things which seem harmless enough (except for Airborne. You risk vitamin E [...]
READ MORE »Thoughts on this year’s ICFA.
(Note: At some point my blog decided it no longer liked the word “from.” It wouldn’t post if I had too many of them. So after a while you’ll find “frm” instead. Sorry for the inconvenience.) Spectacular! I got back from this year’s International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts just this morning. Was [...]
READ MORE »White House Building Straw Terrorists
CIA Casts Doubt on Iraqi Militia Link to al Qaeda You’ll need to scroll down to the 2nd item for that article. The administration is grasping at any straw to try to justify the war, completely ignoring the evidence to the contrary and trying to make evidence fit even if it means twisting it all [...]
READ MORE »What In the NAME of God?
This is some great information on the origins and evolutions of the name of the Judeo-Christian God (Yahweh, Elohim, Abba, etc.) http://northernway.org/fathergod.html A lot of the information we have on the evolution of the Judeo-Christian God has come from the discovery of the proto-Hebrew Ugaritic writings. Probably as important a discovery to Western religion as [...]
READ MORE »I Started Jogging The Other Day…
…and I quickly gave it up, and started walking the other day. Man! I am SO out of shape. I’m kinda fat, I admit, but not too bad. But I’m VERY out of shape and get tired just reaching up over my head! So, in an effort to tone up and get some endurance, I [...]
READ MORE »Commercial Space Flight
If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was a joke! http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/06/02/private.space/index.html The first time a non-government ship will leave Earth’s atmosphere! I almost never thought it’d happen in my lifetime. If it works, it will mean the opening of a whole new world of space exploration! http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/body.htm As cynical as I am about commercialism [...]
READ MORE »“I, Robot” Debacle
Holy mother of god, the movie “I, Robot” scares the b’jeebees out of me! Seen the trailer for it yet? Take a look here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/ in the “20th Century Fox” section. Now, I don’t know how many other people out there have read Issac Asimov, I have a feeling very few. He was one of [...]
READ MORE »Who Killed Christ?
http://www.skeptic.com/PassionOfChrist.html Well, I can’t let TOO much time pass without my making a religious comment. =) Came across this really thought-provoking article today I’d like to share.
READ MORE »Near Darwin Award
Student drinks lab chemical on a dare There’s someone who will hopefully be taking themselves out of the gene pool before long.
READ MORE »Political Humor
He’s a radical left-wing liberal, but most of his comic strips are still either funny or very thought provoking. Check it out: This Modern World
READ MORE »Same-Sex Marriage
http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=16523 I think that kind of gets the point across. If you oppose same-sex marriage, great. That’s your right. What should you do about it? Protest if you want, speak out, avoid marrying someone of the same sex. But what right does the government have in determining for consenting adults who they can marry? Is [...]
READ MORE »Current Music – Never Tire Of It
I’m fortunate in that I can listen to music at work. I’ve ripped my entire CD collection onto my computer, and it takes up almost 5 GB. I ripped the tracks at 128 to 160 bit, which sounds perfect to me and is a convenient size. Anything more than 160 tends to cause speaker distortion. [...]
READ MORE »Score One Against Spammers!
Yahoo! In the midst of some terrible totalatarian, negatively ultra-conservative government and corporate actions (eg: FCC crackdowns, holding U.S. citizens indefinitely and without any rights under SUSPICION of terrorist activities, John Ashcroft in general,) the government is starting to make good on their fight against cyber-terrorism, or “Spam!” http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/04/29/internet.spam.ap/index.html I love the quote regarding one [...]
READ MORE »Maybe We Should Have Rethought It…
Something comedian and “fake” anchorman Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” said the other night got me thinking. He was interviewing the author of a book about freedom and the Middle East, and Jon asked, “Is part of the problem with Iraq that they don’t have a good story to go with their liberation? In [...]
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