Monthly Archives: July 2013

A Nice Example of Ad Hominem

Ad hominem, adding or attacking the man as opposed to the argument, is on display for over nine minutes in this hilarious Fox News interview with Reza Aslan. Professor Aslan, you see, is a Muslim who wrote a book about … Continue reading

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Love Your Hippocampus, Don’t Eat It

This should motivate you to manage your stress better. In The New York Times this past weekend was the following on hippocampus research: Peter Gianaros, a neuroscientist at the University of Pittsburgh, […] found that, among a group of 48 … Continue reading

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Celebrating Beardage

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Life Perspective from Three Vantages

First vantage. Astronaut Suni Williams on what it’s like to look down on Earth from space: When you’re flying in space some of the things down on Earth seem trivial. Things like politics leave your mind. […] For me, [most] news … Continue reading

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Charles Darwin Gets the Hook to Jane Austen on British Currency!

__________ Charles Darwin has been on the ten pound bank-note for over a decade, but now The Guardian reports that Jane Austen is about to take a turn there: Austen will take her place on the £10 note in 2017, … Continue reading

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Why I Am an Agnostic and Not an Atheist

As Thomas Aquinas formulated it, I think the first cause argument is sound. To stop the infinite regress, there must be a first cause that has no cause and a first condition that has no conditions, and, as Aquinas puts … Continue reading

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Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” with Cate Blanchett in a Blanche DuBois Echoing Role

Woody Allen continues his staggering productivity as a writer and director. His latest film, Blue Jasmine, is getting rave reviews, such as this from David Denby at The New Yorker: Woody Allen, in his startling new movie, “Blue Jasmine,” has adopted … Continue reading

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Contemptible Republicans vs. Obamacare

__________ At National Journal, Norm Ornstein offers some brilliant analysis of attempts by the Republican leadership to sabotage the implementation of Obamacare: What is going on now to sabotage Obamacare is […] sharply beneath any reasonable standards of elected officials … Continue reading

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Louis Black on Texas v. Illinois, California, and New York

A nice volley in the American culture wars.

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An Update on My Request to Mayor Parris for the Expression of a Moment of Doubt at City Council Meetings

I’m a member of the doubting community, not the faith community, and since my local city council in Lancaster, CA., gives an alternating member of the faith community a turn every two weeks to say a sectarian prayer at the … Continue reading

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A Moment of Doubt in Lancaster

The city council meetings in my hometown, Lancaster, California, start with a prayer, a minute or two long, usually to Jesus. I’m not saying these prayers should stop. But as a member, not of the faith community, but of the … Continue reading

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The Hobbits Found on Flores Weren’t Humans

This dramatic news item appeared in The New York Times a week ago: according to a new study, the “hobbits” found in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores were almost certainly not human beings: [T]he [new] findings complemented earlier research … Continue reading

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Stephen Barr on God and Science

Below is a talk by Stephen Barr, a Catholic and physicist who teaches at the University of Delaware. He has thought a lot about the relationship of science to religion, and his views are interesting. He also has an excellent book … Continue reading

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“Robo sapiens”

O brave new world! In the science section of The New York Times this week is a report on Atlas, a recently designed robot built for use by the Pentagon: “People love the wizards in Harry Potter or ‘Lord of the Rings,’ but … Continue reading

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Getting People to Sign Up for Obamacare in October

Here’s one way Oregon is trying to doing it: catchy and gentle persuasion. I like it. Carrots are better than sticks. But after October, maybe recycle this into the rotation at the Baby Channel? __________ Conservatives, I presume, will probably … Continue reading

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I Am the Sun (and You are Too)

This morning while riding my bike, I stopped to admire the morning sun breaking through clouds and thought, “How spontaneous the sun is in the streaming of its own life! I wish I could do that.” Then it occurred to … Continue reading

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Egypt’s Twelve-Year-Old Thomas Jefferson

The Islamic Brotherhood cult in Egypt is akin to the Nazi cult in 1930s and 1940s Germany, and this sharp young Egyptian sees right through it:

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Tennis and Freud

After watching the men’s Wimbledon final today, I would say that tennis is sublimated sword fighting with the addition of ball control.

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Curiosity at Rocknest

A pretty stunning Mars photo from Rocknest was released by NASA a couple of weeks back. Here it is in the event you missed it. __________ Of course, there’s also something distinctly gloomy about the photo, for it shows a … Continue reading

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A Good Reason For Meditators To Exercise A Lot (And Not Just Sit On Their Asses)

Want to be a calm Buddha with a highly attentive and awake “diamond mind?” New research suggests that maybe you should get out from under that Bodhi tree you’re sitting under and put on some running shoes instead, for exercise, … Continue reading

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