Monthly Archives: January 2012

40,000 Years B.C.: Four Human Types, One Earth

If you were to get in a time machine and go back to 40,000 years B.C., you would find at least four types of humans on Earth. That, at any rate, is what is reported in the New York Times today in … Continue reading

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Reading the Poem, “Advice for Dying Fathers,” at Butler’s Coffee

On Friday night, one of my poet friends (Niccelle Davis) took a picture of me reading a poem to an audience at Butler’s Coffee in Palmdale, California, and posted it at her blog. I didn’t look too fat, so I asked her … Continue reading

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“Multiverse of the Gaps” vs. “God of the Gaps”

Have you noticed? Contemporary theists and atheists, in their debates with one another, tend to invoke gap arguments that mirror each other. For the theist, God-of-the-gaps arguments are designed to introduce mind into an explanation; for the atheist, multiverse-of-the-gaps arguments … Continue reading

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Newark Mayor Cory Booker on Gay Marriage: Don’t Put Civil Rights Issues on the Ballot

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, contra New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, makes an intelligent and impassioned plea not to put gay marriage up for a vote in New Jersey. This is perhaps the most eloquent impromptu defense of gay civil rights you’ll … Continue reading

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Welcome Home

_____ You are home. _____ Image source: NASA (Suomi Satellite, January 4, 2012)

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“Oh, Wow! Oh, Wow! Oh, Wow!”: When Singularities Come Nigh

At Evolution News and Views, IDer William Dembski reflects on the problem of explanatory continuity: Science is not merely about discovering continuities in nature that can be described by a seamless naturalistic story. Sure, areas of science are like that. … Continue reading

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The Speech: Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels’ SOTU Retort

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is bland oatmeal, but he’s civil and gave as good a speech as Barack Obama did for his 2012 State of the Union (SOTU) address. As a liberal who plans to vote for President Obama in … Continue reading

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Contemporary Iconoclasm: Jesus Statue Beheaded in Boston

Jesus beheaded! What would Freud say? Here’s the Boston Globe this morning: [P]olice are looking for the vandals who knocked the head off a statue of Jesus outside a Roman Catholic church named for Mother Teresa. The Rev. Jack Ahern of Blessed Mother Teresa … Continue reading

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President Barack Obama’s Long Game

A number of things have, indeed, gotten better since Barack Obama became President of the United States. The following video is a useful reminder. _____ And don’t forget the end of George Bush’s sanctioning of torture. That’s a big one. … Continue reading

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Mao Luther King?

I don’t like the look or feel of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C. For one, he looks fat, and he wasn’t particularly fat. And there’s something weirdly Maoist about it—a throwback to 20th century communist … Continue reading

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Heaven Can Wait: Cuddly Bear to the Rescue!

I actually find this charming and life affirming.

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American Pathetic

Groveling-for-votes cowardice is what Rick Santorum displays in the following clip: ____ And calling into Rush Limbaugh’s radio program today, a hysterical Rick Santorum supporter had this exchange with him: I feel like he [Rick Santorum] is the true conservative.  … Continue reading

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Critical Thinking Watch: Background Knowledge, Coherence, and Reflective Equilibrium

_____ In the context of this post, the above Amadeus clip should make sense momentarily. But what I really want to direct your attention to, after you read my set up comments here, is the below video by Massimo Pigliucci. Pigliucci … Continue reading

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2012: Love for President

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The Other 1%

That would be the black Republican primary voter in South Carolina. Here’s the FOX Noise exit poll from yesterday: ____ Absorb that. Blacks are 28% of South Carolina’s population, but are 1% (or less) of Republicans in the state. How does … Continue reading

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Newt Grointwitch Tops Willard (Mitt Romney) in South Carolina

Evangelicals in South Carolina have spoken. For president, they prefer a thrice-married serial adulterer and unapologetic Herderian to a Mormon. Informative. Who ever said the world was perfect? Andrew Sullivan lays out a plausible route forward for Republicans this year: … Continue reading

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Glamour Girl: Barack Obama Sings Al Green

Conservatives have never quite gotten President Barack Obama’s glamour. They didn’t understand the Beatles or JFK’s glamour, either. Or, rather, they got it, but didn’t like it. The same goes for Obama’s glamour. Maybe conservatives do get it, but just don’t … Continue reading

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Mitt Romney, Playing the Demagogue, Tells an Occupy Protester to Love America or Leave It

In the below video is some shameless demagogic grandstanding on the part of Mitt Romney. In it, he tells an Occupy protester that his concerns are not American. The exchange says a lot about Romney. The Occupy protester asks him … Continue reading

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Definition: What is a Fundamentalist?

The word “fundamentalist” is bandied about—most typically as an insult—across a broad range of contexts. There are: Muslim fundamentalists market fundamentalists Hindu fundamentalists Marxist fundamentalists Christian fundamentalists Of course, there are other “fundamentalists”—but you’ve probably never heard someone called a … Continue reading

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Salman Khan’s TED Talk and Website

______ And here’s his exciting website.

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