2006-01-29
PZ Myers is right as usual.
Pharyngula:Spell already broken, and I haven't even read the book: "This assumption that religion must contribute to fitness is a standard panadaptationist assumption, and I disagree strongly with the entire premise. Deleterious traits can be fixed in a population, too, and complex properties like religious behavior aren't going to be so neatly dissected into simple causes. Religion is a parasitic side-effect, a by-blow of other characteristics (like social cohesion, curiousity, the need to explore causes) that are addressed sub-optimally by the simple shortcuts of religious dogma. Treating it as a good solution, rather than a pathological and limiting one, is conceding it far more credit and respect than it deserves."
2006-01-27
Sometimes the truth isn't what we want to hear.
This is precisely the reason why just invading a country and holding elections doesn't automatically mean freedom for the citizens of that country.
Salon.com How do you like your democracy now, Mr. Bush?: "Democracy depends not just on elections but on a rule of law, on stable institutions, on basic economic security for the population, and on checks and balances that forestall a tyranny of the majority. Elections in the absence of this key societal context can produce authoritarian regimes and abuses as easily as they can produce genuine people power."
Nod to Digby.
Salon.com How do you like your democracy now, Mr. Bush?: "Democracy depends not just on elections but on a rule of law, on stable institutions, on basic economic security for the population, and on checks and balances that forestall a tyranny of the majority. Elections in the absence of this key societal context can produce authoritarian regimes and abuses as easily as they can produce genuine people power."
Nod to Digby.
2006-01-25
The BEAST 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2005
The BEAST 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2005:
The best entry:
"13. God
Charges: If your answer to the age-old question of God's existence is 'yes,' your next question should be, 'Why is he such a dick?' After three major natural disasters, not to mention the eternal constants of famine, war and disease, to believe in God is to believe either that He enjoys fucking with us, or at best has totally lost interest in the whole 'people' thing. Never calls anymore.
Exhibit A: Mosquitoes, Ralph Reed.
Sentence: Forever listening to an unending stream of idiotic, mundane prayers uttered by the dumbest, most inarticulate people in His creation."
The rest is pretty good too.
The best entry:
"13. God
Charges: If your answer to the age-old question of God's existence is 'yes,' your next question should be, 'Why is he such a dick?' After three major natural disasters, not to mention the eternal constants of famine, war and disease, to believe in God is to believe either that He enjoys fucking with us, or at best has totally lost interest in the whole 'people' thing. Never calls anymore.
Exhibit A: Mosquitoes, Ralph Reed.
Sentence: Forever listening to an unending stream of idiotic, mundane prayers uttered by the dumbest, most inarticulate people in His creation."
The rest is pretty good too.
2006-01-20
The Secular Outpost
2006-01-06
Religion has infected EVERYTHING in this country.
I got a fortune cookie today with a fortune that read "God can help you overcome any harship." I don't ever remember any religious messages in fortune cookies before.
