Monthly Archives: June 2014

Jesus and Ayn Rand

Posted on June 29, 2014 by

What sort of conservatism blends Jesus with Ayn Rand? Oh, that would be contemporary Tea Party conservatism. But why isn’t it more widely noticed that “Christian libertarian” is an oxymoron? I would argue that this has to do with the … Continue reading →

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Breeding for Intelligence? A Google Employee Asks the Question to Researcher Stephen Hsu of the Beijing Genomics Institute

Posted on June 25, 2014 by

In the below Google Tech Talk, Stephen Hsu talks to Google employees about the search for the genes behind intelligence (and seeks to recruit them into an ongoing study being conducted at the Beijing Genomics Institute). I shit you not. … Continue reading →

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An Awesome, Awesome Documentary on the Women’s Movement

Posted on June 24, 2014 by

I recently watched the first two hours of a three hour documentary on the American women’s movement (I found it at a local library, then bought it at Amazon to have my own copy). It’s titled, Makers: Women Who Make … Continue reading →

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God Exists And Evil Is Always For The Best?

Posted on June 23, 2014 by

Sounding like Dr. Pangloss in Voltaire’s Candide, the Thomist philosopher Edward Feser recently made the following statement at his blog: [I]t is not just God’s existence but also divine providence which can be known via purely philosophical arguments.  Hence, even … Continue reading →

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Hillary’s Fate: Mitt Romney’s?

Posted on June 17, 2014 by

I personally think that Hillary Clinton’s calculated insincerity, so persistently on display whenever she opens her mouth in interview (or writes a book), is going to doom her as a candidate. Her husband was insincere, but he knew how to … Continue reading →

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What Dave Bratt Means

Posted on June 12, 2014 by

I see Dave Bratt as signalling two big things: (1) Republicans will solidify their image as anti-Hispanic over the next couple of years, making it harder for them to win national elections (especially in the 2020s); and (2) Hillary has … Continue reading →

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Atheist Andrew? Is Andrew Sullivan on His Way to Becoming an Ex-Catholic?

Posted on June 6, 2014 by

The grotesque story coming to light of the sexual shaming of single mothers and their children in Tuam in mid-20th century Catholic Ireland–and the septic tank there that was used as the collective and unmarked grave for bastard children–800 of … Continue reading →

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Can Feminism Endure Questioning?

Posted on June 5, 2014 by

At Feministing, Juliana Britto is impatient with privileged white males who, in conversation, play the “devil’s advocate” for non-feminist perspectives. Here are three quotes from her essay (as a representative taste): These discussions [surrounding patriarchy] may feel like “playing” to … Continue reading →

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Humans Cause Global Warming By Tipping The Balance

Posted on June 1, 2014 by

Is it true that humans make only a tiny contribution to the Earth’s carbon cycle each year? Yes. Does this mean that humans aren’t causing global warming? No. Science journalist Graham Wayne explains: Although our output of 29 gigatons of CO2 … Continue reading →

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Global Warming: Converging Lines of Evidence

Posted on June 1, 2014 by

The link below provides a nice example of converging lines of evidence from different scientific disciplines leading to the same conclusion: the planet is warming. Two weeks ago, NASA announced accelerated melting of ice in Antarctica, and this week it … Continue reading →

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