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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/ZZCBxW-eOIk/vote_on_the_bad_faith_awards.php http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/vote_on_the_bad_faith_awards.php The New Humanist hands out a yearly slap-in-the-face to the most deserving noisy believer of the year — last year's winner was Sarah Palin — and this year they have a full slate of worthy apologists for superstition. It's an internet poll, but who should win this one isn't at all obvious — they're all contemptible. Here are the results so far:
Adnan Oktar, aka Harun Yahya
94 (8%)
Anjem Choudary
72 (6%)
Anthony Bush
22 (1%)
British Chiropractic Association
197 (16%)
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor
51 (4%)
Dermot Aherne
84 (7%)
Damian Thompson
66 (5%)
Pope Benedict XVI
388 (33%)
Terry Eagleton & Karen Armstrong
57 (4%)
Tony Blair
128 (11%)
I think it's sweet that the Pope is in the lead, since he is a traditional favorite and the Church has done such a good job of stepping in the malodorous mushy fecal slime of evil this year. I'm also fond of Cormac Murphy O'Connor for decreeing that atheists are "not fully human," a state to which I aspire but am constantly foiled by my merely human genetics and physiology. My clicky finger was also drawn to Oktar, who is not only a creationist of the foulest, dumbest sort, but may even be clinically insane. I finally voted for Eagleton/Armstrong, simply because I think their brand of gooey, meaningless drivel is far more common than Christian or Islamic fanaticism, and they represent it so well.
But don't use my choice as a guide! This is one of those polls where it wouldn't be bad if it ended up in a 10-way tie. Read the comments on this post... |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/H8D8-094Fn4/argument_from_ignorance_ignora.php http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/argument_from_ignorance_ignora.php She has so much of it to spread around, too. Sarah Palin's memoir reveals her unsurprising opinion about evolution.
Elsewhere in this volume, she talks about creationism, saying she "didn't believe in the theory that human beings — thinking, loving beings — originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea" or from "monkeys who eventually swung down from the trees." In everything that happens to her, from meeting Todd to her selection by Mr. McCain for the Republican ticket, she sees the hand of God: "My life is in His hands. I encourage readers to do what I did many years ago, invite Him in to take over."
Unfortunately, about half the American electorate will think what she wrote is just ducky. Those words won't dissuade very many voters at all, so don't make the mistake of thinking this revelation will somehow cripple her campaign to become president of the US. Read the comments on this post... |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/sLEh1jigrFE/oh_yeahthat_debate.php http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/oh_yeahthat_debate.php For those who were wondering, it's still happening. 7:30pm tonight, at the North Star Ballroom in the St Paul Student Center, 2017 Buford Ave. S. The topic is "Should Intelligent Design be Taught in the Schools?". I'll be there. It's going to be recorded. I'll probably be available for conversation afterwards, briefly…I still have to drive all the way back to Morris tonight.
The infamous Skatje will also be in attendance. Read the comments on this post... |
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Nov. 16th, 2009 @ 10:24 am
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http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2009/11/rudy-giuliani-and-republicans-are.html Rudy Giuliani and Republicans Are Goddamned Cowards:
One of the things we often cringe to admit is that the worst stereotypes exist. The loca chica, the gangsta, the asshole Wall Street exec, they all are real. Gay male stereotypes, too. In New York City, you will find every kind of limp-wristed, mincing, lisping queer guy that would give Fred Phelps nightmares (or, more likely, dreams come true). Skinny jeans-wearing twinks, chorus boys who shriek for episodes of Glee, fashion diva queens, and more, all gay in that cartoon way gay haters portray gay men. And nearly every single one of those proudly cocksucking twinks, boys, and queens is more macho than Rudy Giuliani or just about any Republican.
Because you can put money on the fact that the Republicans are bigger pussies about the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others in New York City than just about any of the good gay guys listed up there. What the fuck happened to the right? The party of Ike and Teddy Roosevelt? What a bunch of Marys they've become in the wake of Eric Holder's announcement that Mohammed would be tried in a federal court in Manhattan. Not only that, but if our justice system sucks so hard, then we should probably do something about that.
Snarled Giuliani on This Week with George Stephanopoulos's Hair regarding the previous successful prosecutions of terrorists in New York, which Giuliani had himself praised, "[W]e also demonstrated that our federal system has an enormously protracted process that's going to go on forever. That it grants more benefits than a military tribunal will grant. There's always the possibility of acquittal, change of venue. And the reality is, George, it also creates an extra risk that isn't necessary. It creates an extra risk for New York."
Mohammed ain't Magneto, nemesis of the X-men. He's not going to use his mutant Islamic powers to melt the chains and blow up the heads of the dozens of snipers around him, all while ululating some sinister shout that'll bring back the dead of the Crusades to liberate him. In other words, this ain't a movie. He's beaten man who'll be spouting crazy blather in hand and ankle cuffs while shitting his diaper who wouldn't even be coming to trial if his case wasn't a done deal, who will be sentenced to death. And if anything happens that could lead to acquittal, he will be taken right back into indefinite detention. In other words, we're not doing this for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He'd over. We're doing it for us.
And then there's the one big aspect that so many on the right are just flat-out fucking wrong about. Here's Giuliani, whose creepy-ass grimace and passive aggressive sneers are just played out, this time on Fox "news" after Chris Wallace asked him about bringing the Gitmo torture victims to New York City: "We generally don't bring people back to the scene of the crime for justice."
No, actually, that is what we do. It's what the Constitution says in the Sixth Amendment: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law..." Even if a change of venue is granted, it is usually in an area in reasonable proximity to the scene of the crime. Now, the Rude Pundit may not have a fancy law degree like America's (Most Craven Manwhore Desperate to Cash in on Being) Mayor, but that amendment seems pretty fucking clear.
Giuliani kept making the bizarre assertion that the trials and convictions for the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, which, again, he once said demonstrated how strong America is, were wrong because we didn't predict 9/11 happening (although how another kind of trial would have prevented it is a connection he doesn't make). And he kept saying that Mohammed wants a trial in New York and "I didn't know we were in the business of granting favors to terrorists." Which is like saying that if he asked for water, you'd have to be a total asshole to give it to him. Finally, Giuliani fell back on military tribunals, which are being used for other Gitmo prisoners who attacked the USS Cole. The tribunal system could still be found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. But, if that happens, then Giuliani would have something else to gnash his painful-looking teeth at.
Still, no one out-wrongs or out-pussies Bill Kristol, and The Weekly Standard editor, who, one should always be reminded, was Alan Keyes's presidential campaign manager, didn't disappoint. Also on Fox, he repeated what is becoming a mantra of the right on Mohammed: "There are huge problems with this. These guys were not given their Miranda warnings...[W]here was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed arrested? In Pakistan in a pre-dawn raid. He wasn't read his rights."
Oh, calm down, Nancy. Mohammed was captured in Pakistan. The most stomach-churningly charitable reading of his torture and treatment for years at Gitmo is that he was like a detained suspect in a crime who is questioned before being formally arrested. That's the whole "enemy combatant" status thing. You can pretty much bet that he'll be Mirandized once he's officially under arrest, if he hasn't already. But, no, don't let that stop another talking point that sounds like it's from an episode of Law and Order: STFU.
We on the left have now become the defenders of law and order by simply saying the rules should be followed. We're the tough guys and they're the fruitcakes. The right has become the cowering wimps who want to toss the rulebook in the shitter when it doesn't suit their game. Put up or shut up, motherfuckers. You don't like what's in the Constitution? Then try to change it. Otherwise, it's goddamned obvious that we're doing what should have been done six or seven years ago. |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/OVhF1E0G9uk/as_others_see_us.php http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/as_others_see_us.php I found this comment, left on the blog of the negligible Bryan Appleyard, to be immensely entertaining. It's the combination of hyperbole, unintentional irony, and oblivious incompetence, all spiced with a germ of truth, that makes it amusing.
Myers, like Dawkins when he's tired and especially the gruesome Dennett, survives entirely on scorn and venom. His response to any challenge is simply to increase the number and volume of schoolyard taunts. These guys are intellectual alchemists who have perfected the art of using invective to turn philistinism into apparent sagacity. The formula goes something like this:
Step 1--Begin by describing a philosophical challenge with a mixture of anger and fatigue, much as you would describe discovering a termite in your house after the extermintor had been through and presumably destroyed them all. The contempt must ooze front and center before you even address the argument so that anyone who might be inclined to take the challenge seriously is forwarned and suitably cowed. Don't skimp on the insulting adjectives.
Step 2--Deflect the issue from the profoundly philosophical to the mundane by suddenly talking lab gobbledegook about genes, mutations, etc. Use words like phenotype liberally and try to throw in a diagram. Extra points for insisting Darwin himself was well aware of what you are saying and would have agreed with you unreservedly;
Step 3--Insist that any argument that comes within a hundred miles of religion, no matter how ethereal or tentative, leads directly to biblical literalism, perferably as practiced in the American South. Show in one paragraph how it is the root of every atrocity in history, will lead to the end of scientific inquiry and justifies the bombing of innocent villagers by the U.S. Air Force.
Step 4--Bask in the glow of hundreds of one-sentence comments thanking you profusely for your courage and agreeing you have proven there is no need to read what your opponent said to know that the stupid twit isn't even worth reading.
Step 1 must be a good one, since it's the tactic the commenter is using. I wonder if he noticed?
Step 2 is my favorite. I like his admission that the "profoundly philosophical," to his mind, is untainted with mundane reality, and that when talking about explanations for our origins (which is usually what prompts my scornful interventions), genes and mutations are mere "gobbledygook". I know exactly where he is coming from, then — the land of the ignorant, where people are baffled and resentful of the intrusion of evidence. This must also be why he finds Dennett so gruesome.
Step 3, unfortunately, is way off base. I'm one of those guys who thinks even moderate, liberal theism is wacky in and of itself: I don't need to tie Karen Armstrong to Ken Ham to make her look absurd. I also think people would commit atrocities without religion prodding them on, too. I don't believe the South is particularly deserving of scorn; the Grand Old Man of Fundamentalism operated out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, for instance. I never endorse bombing any villages anywhere, sorry. His diatribe would have been improved if he'd left out this one point, which is so baseless it undermines the rest.
Step 4 has a tiny leavening of truth because there are lots of people who find common ground with me and are predisposed to agree with my interpretation of events, and so yes, this blog is a meeting place for mobs of atheists. So? Unfortunately for my ego, a few of the comments will be disagreements, while most are people wrangling with each other; the long threads get that way because I spark something that leads to discussion and argument. I don't get to accept even all the insults, because I'm mostly irrelevant to the conversation within a few hours of starting it!
But otherwise, I'm afraid people don't have the luxury of completely bypassing my target's words. I link back and quote liberally (gosh, there they are, the commenter's whole screed, right there in my post), and people are always tossing in fresh new absurdities from the source. A perfect example is right there in the post which made Bryan Appleyard indignant: I quoted him at length and rebutted him in detail, and poor Mr Appleyard is simply left mostly speechless, only able to screech that his feelings were hurt at being called a bad writer…and unable to address one whit of the substance of my criticisms. Read the comments on this post... |
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It was only Friday morning that I was crowing about receiving the draft of the map my illustrator was doing for The Buccaneer's Apprentice. I got a copy of the final map—missing only the labels for places that my publisher will add—less than twenty-four hours later. It's totally gorgeous.
(There's a big picture behind the link.)
I always envy people who've skills I haven't.
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/N6dFOb96sp4/hey_jay_hosler_has_a_blog.php http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/hey_jay_hosler_has_a_blog.php Those of you who are fans of his books, like Clan Apis and the Sandwalk Adventures and Optical Allusions, should know that he has been keeping a blog, Drawing Flies, that is all about the intersection of science, education, and art. It's got comics! You can't go wrong! Read the comments on this post... |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/jHb2ebNRjmE/our_american_madrassas.php http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/our_american_madrassas.php I am impressed with the discipline imposed by the traditional madrassas: students are expected to memorize the Koran, word for word, which requires that they spend day after day reading and reciting. I don't deny that it's hard work and is a kind of achievement, but it's not education — it doesn't teach people how to think for themselves.
So I find this story about kids memorizing the Bible rather dismaying. These are clearly kids with brains, discipline, and a kind of warped ambition, who have the potential to do interesting things, and our Christian leaders have apparently seen some virtue in the madrassas model, so they've got them engaged in the pointless and backwards-looking exercise of Bible drills. It's such a waste.
At least it's all-American and thoroughly capitalist. The winner of the Bible bee got $100,000. I only hope he takes the money and uses it to get a good secular education so he can do something productive with his mind. Read the comments on this post... |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/m-DBQFkL-S0/the_uk_needs_more_god-botherer.php http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/the_uk_needs_more_god-botherer.php That seems to be the idea behind forming a council of key policy advisors, whose qualifications seem to be the fervency of their obeisance to an invisible man in the sky.
The move has been criticised by secularists who warned that it represented a worrying development.
However, Mr Denham argued that Christians and Muslims can contribute significant insights on key issues, such as the economy, parenting and tackling climate change.
Oh, really? How? I suppose tithing and refusing to allow money to be lent at interest are a kind of economic strategy…just not a very productive one. And I don't quite see the point of consulting with a gang of grisly old virgins on parenting, or asking some bearded imam whose chief talent is the memorization of the Koran about what to do about carbon emissions. I wish Mr Denham had gone on with some specifics that he hopes superstition can address.
He does have a few general platitudes.
"Faith is a strong and powerful source of honesty, solidarity, generosity - the very values which are essential to politics, to our economy and our society."
Ah, I see. I had no idea how different the government of the UK was from the government of the US. Here, honesty and generosity aren't exactly common currency in government, or at least are in conflict. I suppose one could argue that Washington has been very generous to defense contractors, but they aren't very forthright about it. I suppose there are principles of solidarity at work, with our most religious party, the Republicans, being monolithic in their opposition to equality, social support, and science, and Democrats straining to achieve some kind of unity — maybe they'd benefit from religious rigidity, too. I suppose if the UK government did model their political system after the Muslims and Christians, they could end up with a nice, pretty political system like ours, with Republicans and Democrats.
Maybe Denham should look more closely at our system. For instance, maybe he could pop over for the Bold Fresh Tour, and see how a couple of paragons of the idea of using religious principles in government represent honesty, solidarity, and generosity. Read the comments on this post... |
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http://www.penelopesloom.com/2009/11/hallgrimskirkja  Hallgrímskirkja, the largest church in Iceland
Photographed in Reykjavík, Iceland
November 12, 2009
at flickr
I loved the simple, clean architecture in this church. It was far more beautiful to me than many of the gaudy, ornate churches and cathedrals that can be found elsewhere in Europe.
NIKON D700 1/25 sec at f/4.5 14mm ISO:1000 |
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Tweets copied by twittinesis.com |
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The under of the stairs
The under of the stairs continues to bug me, and as well it continues to give me plenty of ideas how to use that space better. It's a small, dusty and dark corner but it has got so much potential. I fell in love with the thought of having to floors in the new home but never paid any attention towards this space. It has been suggested to use the space as an office - a good idea in itself but we don't need one after the study - or as a closet - another good one but we don't exactly need that either, if you don't count the larger storage boxes that could be stored somewhere low enough to actually have access to.
Me, I am starting to tilt towards a library, or more like a lovely cozy reading and chill out nook! The in-laws introduced us to the idea of buying us an armchair for Christmas, and us getting another one ourselves. Let's face it, we do need more seating possibilities when people come over, and we'd love a chair where one could easily use the laptop, too.
So, we've been looking into armchairs lately, and boy are there many! We've sat in a few and only one has been satisfying for the both of us: wide enough but not big or clumsy, with a good enough posture for one not to slump into, in other words perfect for some quality internet time and also reading and listening to music. All of this is much about our personal tastes of course but that is what we look for in a chair. And the one we've liked? It's a chair my sister has had for years, and it comes with a footstool, too.
Now, whereas we plan to keep the other one in the living room permanently, the other could go under the chairs to provide a place to sit down and read a book or listen to a few CDs. If needed, we could easily push it back to the more open space in the living room for extra seating, and it's only a few steps away anyway.
Other things we need for that perfect nook is some sort of storage for the books and CDs and such. I've been thinking this all over and again, and I think the best solution would be shelves on racks.
Elfa's take on the racks.
These racks come in different lenghts and therefore they could be fitted to make most of the sloped wallspace under the stairs. They are also adjustable, so we could change them according to our needs.
I would go for a wider shelf below for larger-sized books (children's literature, atlases, etc) and narrower on the ones above for regular-sized books and CDs (or boxes of CDs, more likely).
Then add the chair, a nice lamp, a small table and a rug... What do you think?
( Inspirational pictures )
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The city of Tampere starts the Christmas season with the Grand Opening on November 21st. The same weekend also hosts seveal other Christmassy things such as markets.
I'll collect some of them under this entry to keep track of what's available and where I could go. Do I need to say I'm just so very happy Christmas is here again!
( Events )
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http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/zara.asp Is the Zara fashion chain selling handbags adorned with swastikas? |
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So I'm sitting here knitting an elephant and watching Mystery Diagnosis (rare genetic disorder this time and, actually, nearly every other time come to think of it) when the fire alarm goes off.
I've lived here since January of 1992. The fire alarm goes off once or twice a year. Someone burns toast. The hairdress guy across the hall tried to cook up some new drugs. The idiot down the hall puts her chicken on to cook and goes out for a run... You know, the usual stuff...
I actually evacuated once. My Mom was in town and we went down the stairs to the outside in the cold and dark and stood around wishing we had stopped by a mirror on the way out. When we came back up my Mom asked, quite casually and with no judgement, "didn't you feel funny being the only one out there who left her pets upstairs?" Doh.
So I got carriers for each of them (there were a different two at the time but here were two) and got ready for the next time. But the next time, I was busy doing something and the thought of digging out the carriers and then digging out the cats (who immediately go try to hide from the noise) was just too much trouble.
And ever since, when the alarm goes off, I turn on Front Door TV Network and watch. Sometimes I get up and check the hall for smoke but mostly I just watch like I did tonight. I see who comes out and if they sent the cute fire fighters (no) and how long it all takes. Usually the fire department gets here way faster than they did tonight. By the time they got here tonight, the alarm had stopped shrieking.
We did not burn up, again. And, bonus this time... tomorrow is another Costco run with neighbors, Ron and Ann. They will have all the details so I don't even have to go hunt them down!Current Mood:  cheerful |
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One of the great things about this recent trip to Utah was that I was able to fly in my dad's airplane to see some of my favorite places.
Colorado River, east of Moab Utah.
( 11 more aerial photos ) |
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